The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-26 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 26, 1864.

or five years ago: If they did not have some intimation,
upon the assembling of Parliament, that Government pro-
posed to introduce soma measure of reform, he said, God

give us a speedy time when the present Government shall
be removed from office." (Laughter.) The present Par-
liament had lived long enough; and although it had done
good, he did not think that it would do very much more.
He was quite sure that the longer their life was pro-
longed, the mero likely were they to undo the little good
they had accomplished. If there was to be a dissolution,
he trusted that it would not be upon the cry of "Palmer-
ston or Derby." It was humiliating to send members
to Parliament upon such issues as that. He believed that
during the next two or three months a resolution would be
submitted by a member of position which would test the
opinions of members of the House of Commns upon this
question, and give an opportunity to the constituencies of
seeing the views of their representatives upon it. He re•
gretted the government had not given direct intimation of
their intentions respecting the treaty of 1862 as regarded
the Schleswig-Holstein difficulty. It would do far more
than anything else to check an outbreak respecting that
treaty. If they were to have a war let it be for a holier
cause. If the sword was to be unsheathed, it appeared to
him that there was a more honourable field in Poland. (Ap-
plause.) He thought that Austria possessed a fatal and un-
accountable influence over the minds of persons occupying
important positions in this country, and that the reforms for
which Austria was given credit for did not exist. It was
necessary for the welfare of Italy that the hireling soldiers
of France should not comtinue to occupy Rome, and that
Austria should give up Venice, He felt utterly ashamed of
the course which we as a nation had taken with respect to
Poland. It would have been better to have kept our sym-
pathies to ourselves than to have led the Poles on with
delusive hopes. He would have advised the sanction of the
English Government to the proposed Congress, as it might
have done a great deal of good, and could not have done a
great deal of harm. Next session one of the earliest and
most important matters which would engage the attention
of the House of Commons would be the present position of
the criminal laws. (Great cheering.) During the past few
weeks public attention had been considerably excited by th.
cases of Townley and Wright, (Hear, hear.) He uttered
no word of regret that the life of one had been spared, but
if there ever was a premeditated diabolical crime committed
in which a man deserved the full punishment of the law,
it was in the case of Townley. (Continued cheering.)
Had Wright justified his crime by blasphemy, and athe-
ism—if he had had friends rich enough—(Hear)—to
have paid for the opinions of medical men, and friends in-
fluential enough to have obtained the opinions of sapient
justices of the peace, then possibly the case might have been
reversed. (Oh, and hisses.) The pardon of Townley and
the execution of Wright might have been within the " strict
letter of the law," as Sir G. Grey said, but that did not
alter the fact that the friends of one used something like
the aid off gold, and that the other was judicially murdered.
(Great cheering.) He hoped that Wright's death would
not be unproductive, but would lead to a change in the law
and the establishment of a court of appeal. (Cheers.)
In answer to questions,

Mr. DOULTON said that he would vote for a bill for the
abolition of capital punishment, and also for an improve-
ment in the lunacy laws. He would support a measure
which was for the welfare of Poland.

The following resolution was carried by acclamation, and
the meeting terminated with a vote of thanks to the chair.
man—" That this meeting tenders its thanks to Frederick
Doulton, Esq., M.P., for his able review of the past session
of Parliament and the present aspect of public affairs, and is
of opinion that he is eminently entitled to the continued con-
fidence of the electors of Lambeth."

which would hang them all up for the present, and after
due inquiry report which of them, if any, VioUld, if adopted,
be likely to preVe most beneficial to the public. (Hear,
hear.) As to p►rliamentary reform, as all parties professed
to be in favour of it, there must be a sham somewhere,

seeing that netting was done ; and he was not sure that
there was not more or less of sham among those classes who
would most benefit by reform. if the people wanted reform
they must agitate for it. They could not expect his col-
league and himself, and others in the same position, and
holding the same views, to have any weight in the
House of Commons unless they were properly backed
out of doors. (Hear, hear.) As to retrenchment, it might
be said that if European affairs remained in anything like
their present position, there would be greater difficulty in
carrying out such an object; but he believed that retrench-
ment might be effected to a very great extent without
impairing in one iota either of the services, or lessening in
the slightest degree the power of England. (Hear, hear.)
A word here in reference to courts-martial—a subject which
had of late occupied so much public attention. In this
country when a man had been tried and acquitted he had
very properly the benefit of his acquittal, but there was a
general impression, he belived, in the public mind that the
present system of trial by court-martial was not a sound, a
safe, or a cheap one, and that the ends of justice had not
been attained in the case of the Lilleys. (Hear, hear, and
cheers.) He thought it was due to a noble service, ever
ready to defend the country, that that system should be
altered, and he had no doubt that in the approaching session
some attempt would be made to alter it. (Cheers.) Another
question which had latterly engaged public attention was
the present mode of dealing with condemned criminals.
(Hear.) It must be clear to the mind of every man who had
watched the Townley case that the law ought not to remain
in its present state. (Loud cheers.) The Secretary of
State for the Home Department, be he who he might, ought
not to remain in his present position as respected condemned
criminals. (Hear, hear.) With regard to that unfortunate
man who was recently sent within a few days after the
crime which he committed—he might almost say without
trialr-before his Maker to be judged, he must say that any-
thing more horrifying then that case was not only never
witnessed, but had never been read by him at least in fiction.
(Hear, hear.) That was, he knew, a delicate subject to
deal with; it was difficult to deal with it without seeming
to place one's finger on the ermine, or saying something
that might be misinterpreted. The question must come be-
fore Parliament : the fact that the criminal belonged to the
humbler classes made it necessary that some explanation
should be given by the Government on that awful and
horrible subject. (Hear, hear.) The noble lord then alluded
in congratulatory terms to the recent royal birth, and ex-
pressed a hope that the auspicious event would prove an
alleviation of the sorrow of her Majesty,concluding with the
following words from an old Saxon ballad as in his opinion
appropriate to such an occasion :
" Let us ring ' God save the King'
From every church and steeple,
Yet while we ring ' God save the King'
We'll not forget the people."
—(Loud cheers.)
Mr. HARVEY LEWIS commenced by alluding to the bills
of the last session, of which he said 128 were public and 258
private, and with regard to some of which the members for
that boroagh were constantly receiving important commu-
nications. After justifying his opposition to the proposal
for purchasing the Exhibition building, and the Poor Re-
moval Bill, and Lord Raynham's Casual Poor Bill, be re-
ferred to the Metropolitan Turnpike Abolition Act. That
act, he said, provided for the abolition of 25 toll-gates and
56 side bars on the north side of the Thames, and relieved
51 miles of road ; and he succeeded in introducing a clause
which compelled the commissioners of roads to deliver them
up in a good state of repair. He also got a clause introduced
into the Telegraphs Bill which would prevent the roads from
being torn up without the consent of the vestries. As re-
garded mtropolitan railways he did not see why the inhabi-
tants of Tottenham •court-road and Oxford-street should be
injnred for two or three years in order that a person on
arriving from the country at King's-cross might proceed
thence by underground railway to the South Western or
some other terminus. (Cheers.) As regarded the measures
of the coming session, he strongly advocated a reduction of
the insurance duty from 3s. to Is., and expressed his belief
that the public revenue would with such a reduction soon
be recouped. He hoped that the sugar duties would also
undergo a reduction. He approved of the course pursued by
the Government with respect to the proposed congress,
while in relation to Poland he thought it would have been
much better if the Government had not interfered, and
thus caused Russia to tell them, in effect, to mind their own
business. The recall of such a valuable public servant as
Sir James Hudson he thought required explanation. He
(Nlr. Harvey Lewis) approved of the cession of the lonian
Islands. (A Voice, " What about Kagosima ?") On that
subject he thought whit had occurred was much to be re-
gretted ; but if it should turn out that the British fleet was
first fired upon, the case would be very much altered. It
should be recollected that England was a great trading
country, and that her trade depended for its prosperity on
the enterprise of her sons; and if the pioneers of her com-
merce were not protected against murder, whether from a
civilised or a barbarous people, England's greatness would
be gone. (Cheers.) Prcceeding to the Danish question,
the hon. gentleman said he thought it depended very much
on article 3 of the treaty of 1852, which was as follows :
" It is expressly understood that the rights and obligation'
of his Majesty the King of Denmark and of the Germanic
Confederation concerning the Duchies of Holstein and
Lauenburg—rights Ind obligations established by the
Federal Act of 1815, shall not be affected by the present
treaty." From that :t would appear that the present King
of Denmark was bound to perform what devolved upon him
as a member of the Germanic Confederation. He (Mr.
Harvey Lewis) would not, however, express any opinion
on the subject, except to say that he thought the whole
matter had better be referred to the metaphysical schools of
Germany and left there for 50 years to come. (Laughter.)
As regarded the American war, he agreed with his colleague
that it was their duty as a nation to preserve a strict neu-
trality. On this subject there was one little grain of cora-
, fort, and only one—namely, that let the war terminate how
it might, slavery must be at once and for ever abolished.
(Cheers.) In his concluding remarks the hon. gentleman
alluded, as his colleague had done, to the recent birth of a
prince, and said ho hoped one result of it would be that her
Majesty would throw off the deep gloom which had affected
her, and once more come amongst her subjects, who were
all ready to receive her with loyal arms, and to give her that
hearty welcome she so well deserved. (Great cheering.)
Mr. COLLINS, after speaking of the injustice inflicted at
present on many London tradesmen by metropolitan rail-
way bills, on account of the inadequacy of the law as re-
gards compensation, inquired whether Lord Fermoy and
Mr. Harvey Lewis were prepared to do what they could to
remedy that defect ?
Lord FERMOY replied that he would give all the support
in his power to an alteration of the Lands Clauses Consoli-
dation Act which would have a tendency to cause a more
just appreciation of the property damaged, whether in busi-
ness or any ether way, by the carrying of railways through
the metropolis.
Mr. HARVEY LEWIS gava a similar reply.
On the motion of Mr. COLLINS,
a resolution was unanimously passed by which the meeting
declared itself fully satisfied with the parliamentary con-
duct of their two members. seconded by Mr. FARRER,

who caused the mischief did not intend anything serious,
and that she was evidently sincerely sorry for her folly. No
doubt this case would act as a warning to young persons,
and in that way do a public good.
The jury returned a verdict of—Death from obscure
disease of the brain and hysteria, accelerated by a fright, and
that the said death was caused by misfortune.