The Sun.
London, England, 1839-06-12 00:00:00

THE BALLOT

The ridiculous assertion of the Tories, that the
Country was with them, is already given up. It was
one of the bubbles forced to the surface during a brief
interval of agitation, and destined, in the calm that
succeeded, to go the way of all bubbles. The country
never was with the Tories—it never can be with the
Tories. To suppose the existence of any points of
agreement between the Tories and the mass of the
people, is about as reasonable as to suppose a union
between fire and water ; they are antagonist elements,
and th closer they approach the nearer they arrive to
the certain destruction of one or the other. Like all
irreconcileable bodies, the greater distance they keep
apart the better for both. The proper position for tl.e
Tories in this age, when Liberal principles are in the
ascendancy, is the opposition. It is a lucky thing for
themselves, as well as for the people, that they must
remain in the opposition, whether they like it or In t,
for an indefinite period. But the Tories have always
been lucky dogs !
The admission of the Ballot as an open question has
determined the wavering feelings of the Reformers.
They only wanted some distinct ground to meet and
co-operate upon, and they have obtained it in this ini-
tial proposition, which at once frees the constituencies
and leads the way to all other Reforms. The reception
throughout the country of the cheering intelligence that
Government was prepared to allow the Ballot to rest
upon its own merits gives an asseance of support that
can neither be mistaken nor undervalued. If any dif-
ferences yet exist as to the expediency of urging on other
measures at the same time, none can exist as to the
imperative necessity of straining every nerve to carry
this as speedily as possible. It is the " Open sesame"
that is to reveal to us the buried treasures of a repre-
sentative Constitution. Mr. Grote's motion, fixed for
the 13th, will decide not only the amount of support to
be looked for from the present House of Commons, but
the quarters from whence it is to be derived, which is a
still more important consideration in reference to the
future. When it is seen who are the advocates of the
Ballot; the subsequent progress of that question witl
either be accelerated beyond all former example, or an
advance in other directions can no longer be postponed.
The Tory journals, evidently alarmed at the events
that are casting their shadows so thickly before, affect
to think that the Ballot was always an open question
with the Ministry, and that, in fact, the Reformers will
gain nothing whatever by the recent toleration of the
Cabinet. This is a juggle. The Ballot was not an open
question ; it was treated with a reserve and caution
that was nearly equivalent to opposition. If the votes
of Ministers were not recorded collectively against it,
the weight of Ministerial influence was felt to be against
it. If one or two Members of Parliament holding
subordinate offices under Government, voted in favour
of the Ballot, they carried no official influence with
them ; there was neither responsibility nor authority
attached to their votes ; and the progress of the Ballot was
as effectually frustrated, to all intents and purposes, as
if the entire Administration had opposed it to
a man. But this powerful negation, irresistible
though vague, is at an end. A tone of confidence and
exhiliration is diffused amongst the advocates of the
measure, by a knowledge of the fact that, however in-
dividuals may vote, the Cabinet offers no obstruction
The natural consequence will be, to impart an elasti-
city to the question which it never possessed before, and
to surround it on the instant with an interest and an
importance greater than its most sanguine friends could
have anticipated, except through the action of some
overwhelming pressure from without.
The wisdom of anticipating such a provision—of giving
to legislation the dignity of independent action—will
hardly be denied to Ministers, even by the Tories them-
selves. Does any man in the country believe that the
Ballot, under any circumstances, could have been much
longer put off ? Ten years ago its supporters were few,
powerless, and isolated. It was dealt with as if it were
a mere fantastic theory. It was impossible to muster,
at la public meeting, half a dozen individuals of pro-
perty and station to hold up their hands for it. The
most impracticable chimera that ever entered the
brain of a day-dreamer, could not have been treated
with more derision and contempt. By slow and almost
imperceptible dekrees, it began to take a more tangible
shape, to occupy a share in general conversation, and to
be seriously discussed in the periodicals. Then came
the Reform Bill, which for a season lulled the uneasiness
of the public mind ; but the Reform Bill failed to work
cut the results that were expected from it ; the new
constituencies, corrupted and menaced by the Tories,
gave way. The reformsd House of Commons presented
the monetrotilk anomaly of a Legislative Assembly, nomi-
nally representative, but really hostile to the people, and
from that moment the Ballot became the rallying ques.
tion of the country. It ceased to be a speculation ; the
failure of the Reform Bill to realize the just hopes of
the people, resolved it at once into a strong and urgent
necessity. So long as any means of obtaining
a true representation in Parliament, more con-
sonant with English usages, and the spirit
of our Constitution existed, the Ballot could
never have acquired the extensive popularity by which
it is now sustained ; but it was no sooner discovered
that all such means were impotent to rescue the con-
stituencies from the tyranny of a wealthy and active
faction, who prostitute their power to the coercion
of opinion, than the Ballot was resorted to as the only
alternative that remained. It is a corollary from the
Reform Bill, as clearly substantiated by the inade-
quacy of that measure to secure the end for which it
was devised, as any known effect may be traced to any
known cause. The advocates of the Ballot do not now
include merely those who hold it to be good as a general
principle, but multitudes who, waiving the principle,
embrace it as a special necessity. It has made more
converts in a short period, than any question that has
ever been agitated in this country ; and so peculiar
are the circumstances by which it has risen into
importance, that no man need be ashamed of frankly
acknowledging his conversion. The history of its
progress is full of admonition, and pregnant with
useful suggestions. A few years ago it was the
clamorous tocsin of a small section of the disconnected
non-electors ; in a few nights hence it is to be submitted
to the House of Commons in a formal motion by Mr.
Grote, one of the Members for the city of London,
seconded by Lord Worsley, one of the Members for a
large English county, and encouraged to take a bolder
position than it has ever yet assumed, by being left on
the part of the Government to make its own impres-
sion. Thus it has gone on increasing the number of its
supporters by the force of events, and ascending from
neglect and ridicule to the rank of a vital question of
domestic legislation. Yet in the face of these facts,
the Tories, only one fortnight ago, boasted that the coml.-.
try was in their favour. Is it a proof of the Tory ten-
dency of the country that a measure which is re-
sorted to as a protection against Tory abuse should
have made such an unparalleled progress ? The
Ballot may be good, or the Ballot may be
bad : but, from ;whatever point it may be
viewed, it is unque tionably anti-Tory. Can it
be shown that/a single advocate of the Ballot
has gone over to the other side? And if it be as clear
as the sun at noon-day that this anti-Tory movement
has drawn by far the greater number of its present sup-
porters from the ranks of those who formerly opposed
it, we should like to know what becomes of the impu-
dent boast which the Tory journals have had the effron-
tery to tine the changes upon so lustily during the las
few weeks ?

.

CAUTION TO MOTHERS. —An invetete
drinker in Boston lays the whole blame of his degradation
upon his mother, who, he says, weaned him on salt fish.—
, New York Sun.
; On Thursday, the 30th ult., a eoble belonging
to the salmon fishing station of Messrs. Hogarth, adjacent
to Whitehills, left the harbour at Biackpots, about eleven
t 1
o'clock in the forenoon, for the purpose of bringing on
shore their bagnet, which, owing to the violence of the
serf, was apparently driving among the rocks, where it
would soon have been torn to pieces. The cubic was
manned by four men, Charles Maclean, James Robertson,
and two lads from Rosemarkie, near Cromarty, who, pro-
ceedin,.; towards the net, the boat swung round broadside
on to the wave, and was struck by a heavy sea, and three
of the men precipitated into the water. One of them re-
gained the boat, which had (relieved of the men) again
righted, but full de water. This young man, being an ex-
icellent swimmer, rashly resolved, by the assistance of the
boat, to clear himself of the incumbrancc of his clothes,
and swim on shore, which, having partly effected, the boat
, being then sunk to the gunwales, he left her to make the
1
:iot t el rennpt
,t
h;
eb
wasutthe o tideon exthhaeuns
treudn,nai 715
wstrong,
much andei
aa
chuei
ty. surfhe
ye-ached the rocks, where he was dashed by a tremendous
Wave upon the very first rock ho reached, and killed on
the spot; his bod .
others, for a ver yhaa not yet been recovered. The two
,_.„_,,.._...,_. . y brief space,
.wer4 seen struggling Ho-
(
!iy, '1.0,14 r, ~ .ut soon disappeared. One of them
iscoePetigacw4ruitt'ep,„47;2'.'
.t: an.,cl.dr.ifted with her on shore, but
• oubtful: ra I
• .e.„,.,, , ims day (M
(Monday) his recovery is
- - id.
I

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