The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-17 00:00:00

Liberal Demonstration at Leeds

O a Tuesday evening a demonstration of the Li-
bera I party in the Northern Division of the West
RA' mg of Yorkshire took pl.ace at the Queen Hotel,
Lee ,ds, when several members of the Legislature
we re present. Mr. H. S. Thompson, M P., pre.
aided, and proposed the toast of " Her Majesty's
31" misters," saying that two of them (Sir C. Wood,
arAd Lord de Grey) br,d promised to be present, but
i,,nportant business connected with the occupation
of Denmark by Ceerman troops made it neccessary
that a Cabinet Council should be held, and that they
et..ould go to London.

Mr. B.:IINEs, M.P., proposed, " The House of
Morels." (Cheers.) Although they belonged to the
democratic portion of the Constitution, and the
Lords to the aristocratic; although they were most
of them earnest reformers, and although the House
of Peers was supposed to be rather conservatively
dispos'ad, yet, notwithstanding that, he believed the
noblamen of Yorkshire were not one-sided
cian s, but were cmpable of viewing more than one
aide of a question. Looking at history, and looking
around upon the Governments of the world, he
ti.,ought he had reason to be confirmed in our at-
tachment to our glorious Constitution—to that
mixed form of government of King, Lords, and
Commons which seemed to be pronounced by the
verdict of history to be more conducive than any
other to true liberty, solid prosperity, and peace at
home and abroad. (Cheers.) The House of Lords, he
e*tceived, was entitled to their respect, not merely
Tor its great antiqalty, which caused it to be rooted
in the very foto aation of the commonwealth of
England, but also because it had proved itself to be,
at mfeny of the most important periods of our his-
tor;, the best defender of the liberties of the people.
(C,heers.) Many a time and oft had the peers of
'ngland prevented the liberties of the people from
being swallowed up by the prerogatives of the
Crown. Ha need not say that those old barons who
assembled at Runnymede took for their motto,
" We will not that the laws of Englend be changed;''
nor remind them that at our glorious revolution the
foundation of that great change was laid in the
blood of a Russell, and cemented by the patriotism
of a Caveudish. (Cheers.) Nor need he tell any
of them that in our great modern charter—the Re-
form. Bill—the people had for their leaders Grey
and Brougham_ (Cheers.) Therefore, he thought
thee/ had reason to•pride themselves that the peers
of 'england had held an exemplary position in the
history of the liberties of this country, Theirs was
n history which he thought would not fall much
below that of any other class in any other country
of the world in brilliancy and real dignity. (Hear,
hear.) There were aristocracies which were of a
very different character to this. There were those
who .were so separated from the bulk of the com-
munity that a man Could neither descend from them
nor ascend from the plebian ranks to them—an
aristocracy which had been distinguished by being
exempted from the burdens of taxation, and by not
being amenable to the same laws as their fellow-
stebjects. But how great was the difference between
them and the aristocracy of England. (Hear, hear.)
'They were amenable to all the laws to which the
meanest subject was amenable ; they had to pay all
the taxes which any yeoman, farmer, manufacturer,
or artisan had to pay. They were also intermixed
in various ways with the bulk of the people, and,
RS commoners, the sons of peers had been distin-
guished as legislators by their wisdom and their
patriotism. In Yorkshire they had happy recollec-
tions of a Milton, a Morpeth, end a Gederich, most
belc,ved representatives of. that popular and. popu-
loris constituency who had ever been true to their
asrly lives and pledges. They were peers who rose
from the ranks of the Commons to the higher
Mouse, end he was happy to say that they bad
coo noble friend there—(Lord Houghton)—
they heti hoped to see two noble friends—who
bed beeu raised by desert the most unquestionable
to the dignities which had been conferred upon
them. It was a subject of great regret to Lord Mont-
eagle that he was not able to be -scith them that
evening, but he was happy to see the youngest
member of that illustrious assembly, the House of
lords, then present. (Cheers.) He classed him
-without hesitation in the same category as Lord
Monteagle, for he knew that the name of Richard

3.donckton Miln€,s, that was inscribed upon bright

pages in our literature, was honourebly known-in
the House of Commons, and was inscribed in the
hearts of a great number of students of our educa-
tional inetite tions, whom be at all times had
honoured ant.' encouraged. (Hear.) Mr. Baines then
remarked tliett he did not know any aspect in which
the intern., is of the House of Lords were adverse to
the intferrJsts of the great bulk of the people; on the
contraea.: , he believed their interests to be most
striet'q and indissolubly bound up with the safety.
the 'rumour, and prosperity:of the country. It might
be aimitted that the Lords were not directly repre-
sentative, nor were they directly responsible, yet
sul)stantialiy he thought they were both one and
tt,e other, and stood as much, or more, exposed than
etny class in the country to public opinion, which
no man in this age dared to set at nought and de-
spise. (Cheers.) He did not see any reason why
there should be any jealousy on the part of the
Souse of Lords of a full and free representation of
the people in the House of Commons. They gave to
the Lords most cheerfully the rights which for so
ta t°s' centuries they had held, and to which they
wets entitled • but they on their part claimed that
the _ e
°us of Commons should be a true and ade-
Ecri:,,tleatti .
representation of the people and Commons of
(Cheers.) He was glad to find that that
wee the opinion of
( the meeting as well as his.
Hear.) lit,
the questioato4;:lught they would not find that when
there
extension of the franchise was
approached
thel: 7ould be any opposition on
the part of
the part of thoseZ he was sure there was not on
held the principles of true
Conservatism,becteueot
Conservatism was always
in favour of real roan:a:it.
was only false Conser-
vatism which opposed
conrnaprove.ment indiscrimi-
nately, and of that false
atism he would not
them until it was
suspect
rteoexist. fiear.)
Lord HOUGHTON was received on rising
to respond. After expressing his
regret that the
West Riding would be for the
os. he alluded to his own
future in two divi-
sions for electoral purposes,
elevation to the peerage in the following terms
~,eracious Sovereign By the favour of our en and the
kind regard of the great and popular Mite
than
Minister am
placed on the threshold of another asseme,Y
that which 1 have been a part of for the-' last
and twenty years. I own that that eircunasf
would be to me one of unalloyed regret (and it is
accompanied with sufficient regret in leaving those
old friends, and those old benches, and those old
faces, and all the familiar aspects, and all the
tnmults and confusions of that period), I believed
that I was going to join an assembly which did not
"
permit me to continue my sympathies with the
popular cause. (Hear, hean) I believe—and the
assertion of Mr. Baines, veteran Liberal as he is,
proves that he at least believes—that by going into
that House I do not in any degree abdicate those
interests. (Applause.) I think that a man must
read very ill the signs of the times who believes that
any aristocracy can exist in this or any other country
which does not sympathise with and take an inte-
rest in the pursuits and progress of the people.
Not wealth, not hospitality, not the graces and ameni-
ties of society, not knowledge, not learning, not eves
virtue itself will preserve an aristocracy in its
iPower, its dignity, or even in its security in the times
n which We live, if it remains
exclusive, apart,
and alienated from the destinies of the people.
(Loud ehe„s. •
, ) That is the feeling with which I
approach that assembly—that is the feeling with
which I leave these with whom I have been so long
associated. I know it is said by many persons that
party interests are entirely extinguished that there
15 really no longer 505, °
difference between parties,
and that therefore it is of no importance whatever
what party is predominant in this country. Now,
it seercs to me, at least, a very strange mode of ar-
gum nt that our opponents, the gentlemen who
eyeseeed US 80 long, h i
s-oh.t. have come to this
' et we have brought the country into
so contented a
position tni .at theme,s ures which we
have passer have resul, much prosperity. 1
; to say to these
own that I tiTTI 1 , gentlemen
" Surely you can't fit :
fault if the Country should
13 who have produced
rather favour those person

conelasion,—tha