The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-20 00:00:00

Sir J. irelawny on Public Affairs.

Sic J. Trelawny, 151. P., met his constituents at Tavistock
on Wednesday evening. In the course of a long speech he
said—The habit of members of Parliament to give an ac-
count of their stewardship is called "Extra Parliamentary
terances," I think. What can be meant by it I hardly
know, but the newspapers seem to deprecate what they call
" Extra Parliatneatary utterances," as if there ware some-
thing wrong in it. They seem to imply, I suppose, that the
addressee made are only to a portion of the public —really to
the electors of particular boroughs; whereas in respect of
our conduct we are responsible to the whole of the public.
(Hear, hear.) I suppose that must be intended by the use
of the expression to which I have referred. If that is so, I
ask, why is not the suffrage extended ? (Hear, hear.) Those
who say we are responsible to more than those who now
possess the privilege of exercising the franchise ought, I
think, in duty to myself and others, to consent to a farther
extension of the franchise, because then things would be
placed upon a proper and fair footing, and the members
account, not only to electors, but also to the great thinking
body of all classes of their fellow working men. (Hear,
hear, and applause.) But whether lam right or wrong in
thinking that those "Extra Parliamentary utterances are
good in themselves, I know not ; but all I can say is, that
I am in capital company, because the first person who has
adopted this course since Parliament has met was, I think,
Lord Palmerston--(hear, hear)—who has been down to
Bradford, but not yet to Tiverton, where I believe he in-
tends to go, But he has been to Bradford, and there he
has pronounced two or three sentences which have struck
me as rather remarkable, considering the past. Speaking
of the creation of Bradford, if I recollect rightly, he attri-
buted the formation of the town which he saw, and all the
wonders contained therein, to the energy and industry of
the great industrious class of this country, (Hear, hear.)
I think he descanted upon the manner in which a town had
been made out of that which was almost a waste, and he
seemed to think that this was owineto the energy of the
Britons and the manner in which they had contended
against difficulties of all sorts. But it struck me as rather
extraordinary that, holding that view as regarding the
energy, the ability, the capacity of the working classes of
England, it should never have occurred to him that they
were fit for something more than that which they now pos-
sessed, and that they might very fairly receive a portion of
those rights and liberties which are enjoyed by the rest of
their fellow countrymen. (Hear, hear, and applause.) It
seemed to me that the working classes might say, reason-
ably enough to Lord Palmerston, "My lord, fine words
butter no parsnips—we should like to see more substantial
results of these opinions of yours. You take office with the
Understanding that you are going to bring in a better Re-
form Bill than that which was introduced by Mr Disraeli
acting ender the Derbyite Government, and we supported
you in the belief that we were going to receive that instal-
ment of justice for which we have so long waited." (Hear,
hear.) But, unfortunately, as yet we perceive no progress
in that direction—and I confess that I, for one, should be
very glad if some of the energies of the Government were
directed in that channel, and if the suffrage question could be
definitively, and for ever, placed on an equitable footing.
(Hear, hear.) But the noble lord was not content with his
allusion to the working classes and their qualities—he
alluded to the great capacity of Government. I think he
said they were a Government composed of the most useful
men—in fact, that the Cabinet was composed of more
capable men than almost any other Cabinet which existed.
(Hear.) I think that was the substance of what he said. Well
the beat proof of the capacity of the Government would be
their manner of dealing with great questions. (Hear ) If
they have this extraordinary capacity, which I do not deny,
surely it might reasonably be expected that questions like
the church rate, the suffrage, the Irish Church, our rela-
tions with the colonies, and numbers of other questions to
which I might advert, would be dealt with effectually by
those who arrogate to themselves immense capacity--(hear)
—and who are perfectly conversant with the difficulties with
which they would have to deal. I think then we may fairly
look to Government in the future session to show more
energy than they have hitherto displayed in dealing with
these questions. (Hear.) While speaking of the capacity
of Government to which Lord Palmerston adverted, I admit
that there are men of great capacity in the Government.
(Hear.) There is Mr Gladstone, fcr example : he is a man
of immense power—(loud applause)—and we owe much to
him. He has done a good deal of good in many ways, and
I must say he has shown a genial interest in matters con-
nected with the interest of the working classes which does
him high honour. (Hear, and applause,) He spoke upon
the suffrage qaestion on the occasion of the introduction of
Mr Baines's motion, and he propounded a very sublime
theory with regard to the rights of those who were excluded
from possessing the franchise, unless it should be shown
there was reason against their holding it. He threw, in
fact, the onus upon other people of showing that they were
not fit to possess the privilege of exercising the franchise.
But this magnificent theory was entirely spoilt by a hazy
explanation a day or two afterwards. I suppose that, find-
ing the matter he propounded was a little too strong for
other members of the Cabinet, he slightly modified, or tried
to explain away, what he had said on a previous occasion.
(Hear, hear.) I confess I lika the theory better than the
explanation—(hear, hear;--but we muss be content with
the good we got, and certainly what Mr Gladstone said
upon that occasion was calculated to germinate eventually,
and bring about a better state of things. (Hear, hear.)
''here is, again, the Lord Chanceilor—a man of enormous
power—and I think Dissenters ought to be thankful to him
for the lesson which he read the bishops in the House of
Lords. (Hear, hear, and applause.) It was a very shock-
ing thing indeed that we should look upon these man of
peace in Convocation persecuting each other in the way they
did, assuming the Royal prerogative, and taking upon them-
selves to punish, not men, perhaps, but books, such as
" Essays and Reviews," and works of that description.
However, they reaped the consequences. They were in-
steueted—to their faces too—by she Lord Chancellor, that
they had been infringing upon the prerogative of the Crown.
(Hear, hear.) We know there is nothing which the Church
party in England—l refer to the ultra-Church party of
course ; I do not mean the moderate and sensible Church
party—are more fond of doing than showing that they will
stand upon their extreme rights in Church !natters as regards

~_.. ~i 4 Lai um

rates happen to be the law of the land, subject, of course, to
the voice of persons who have the power of voting; but
when they do vote it becomes the law of the land. The
bishops are very fond of standing upon theirextreme rights;
but now, supposing the Lord Coancellor's idea were to be
held obligatory upon him, and supposing the bishops were
to be proceeded against for having in Convocation infringed
upon the prerogatives of the Crown, he told them what the
consequence would be—l think he said that fat benefices
would be all seques,er d and their parishes would be
taken charge of by the State for State purposes. Their
money would be applicable to all sorts of purposes, such as
the army, navy, and the revision of education, and I don't
know what else ; but they incurred that risk. (Hear,
hear.) If we were to be very severe, we think we might
say—" Here is a fund which is very applicable for church
rates ; if you insist upon having a law for church rates,
here is an equitable one, which might at once be re-
sorted to." The Lord Chancellor read them a lecture,
which I think is a very beneficial one. Then there are
other very able men in the Cabinet, but I should rather see
the ability spread over a large surface. (Hear, hear.) I
think there are several men in the Cabinet, or oat of it, con-
nected with the government, who are by no means first
force, and various men have force enough for others as
wall as themselves. I recollect hearing a friend of mine—
a very able man and one of the best orators, in the true sense
of the word, in the House of Commons—saying to me,
" These men begin where other men end," alluding to the
young aristocracy, who being born to statecraft are at
once put in once and at once commence governing the
country. (Hear, hear,) He said, " These men begin where
other men end ;" that is to say, a man may be all bis life
working to occupy the same position, and just as he be-
comes really eligible on account of his fitness it is too late.
It was rather a melancholy reflection, and showed to me
there was something not altogether satisfactory in the
working of our institutions as regards the admission to office.
(Hear, hear.) No doubt the competitive system made a con-
siderable change in that matter, but still it is the case. There
is no doubt of the fact that there are numerous—l will not
say numerous, but several—persons connected with the Go-
vernment who are not equal to the situation which they
hold, and it is to them I think we owe some of the difficul-
ties which we see occur on all sides in managing the affairs
of the State. There are several other eminent men we have
lost. We have lost a very able man in Mr Lowe— (Hear,
hear, and applause) —and I think he was hardly treated—
(renewed applause)—bees use ha was pursued with consider-
able asperity on account of matters of which ho was perfectly
innocent, aa I believe, and he lost his position as repre•ent-
ing the depar raent of education in the House of Commons.
Again, there is another most able statesman we have
lost this session—l mean Mr Stansfeld. (Hear, hear,
and applause.) iMr Stansfeld was one of the most re-
markable and interes,ing men I ever met with. Ido nut
know him more than in the slightest and most casual man •
ner—in fact, barely at all; but I have watched him, and
obasrvad his career, and know what is said of him in pri-
vate. I have heard that when he entered the Board of Ad-
miralty, he introduced ideas which bad never before oc-
curred to them—(hear, hear)—and his knowledge of ac-
countancy surprised and astounded them, and for the first
time they began keeping regular accounts of all their trans-
actions. When I say this, I mean in the proper and mercan-
tile sense of the word. (Hear.) In fact, he was doing an in-
calculable amount of good in that office, when the unfortu•
nate business took place with regard to a foreigner whose
name you are well acquainted with, which led to his resign-
ing his post ; and I must confess, for one, I very deeply
regret that we have lost hie services in that office, (Hear,
hear.) These are eminent men, and no doubt it was to some
of these that Lord Palmerston alluded when he spoke of the
extraordinary capacity of the Government, but I cannot
help thinking that the corps requited no trumpeter when
he praised the Cabinet for its composition. It mighthave
been inferred—as he said the Cabinet was so capable—how
very capable it was of the man who had selected it, s, it
was one word for the Cabinet and two for Lord Palmerston.
(Laughter,) Well, Lord Palmerston is a man who deserves
well of his country, being, perhaps it may not be too much
Then there is a
to say, our first working-man in offioe.