The Sun.
London, England, 1853-05-04 00:00:00

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' exparience to the fact that thel crowded state of the streets
formed a serious obstruction to business, and increased the
difficulties of competition -with other towns, especially since
free trade had introduced, unrestricted, the products of the
whole world to our markets.
Sir J. DUKE, M.P., stated that he had been called upon
to preside over large and influential meetings of his ion•
stituents in reference to the object of the deputation ; and
he was a witness to the unanimous and most cordial appro-
bation with which the project was hailed and supported.
In the ward of which he was the alderman, the site of the
prcrposed improvement and terminus was included, and he
could bear unequivocal testimony to the fact that the ex-
ecution of the plan was most anxiously desired by all the
inhabitants of the district, whose unanimity of opinion
upon the subject afforded the best proof that in their judg-
ment the admirable arrangements made for passengers and
vehicles, to and from the intended station, would form no
impediment to the free passage of the streets.
Mr. J. MASTERMAN, M. P., as member for London, was
in a situation to corrobora`o fully the statements of his
colleague as to the general wish of the constituency for the
accomplishment of the objects sought by this deputation.
There could be no doubt of the st ite of public opinion on
the subject, or of the advantage which would accrue to the
City from its being supported by the Government.
Mr. W. WILLIAMS, M.P., could assure his lordship that
the objects of this deputation were not merely local. As
representing a borough on the south side of the river, he
could attest the interest with which the inhabitants of
that borough looked to the progress of this movembnt as
generally calculated to promote the comfort of the poorer
classes, and to afford facilities for trade. He might add
that, as having been himself long and extensively engaged
in business in the city of London, he could vouch from
personal experience for the accuracy of much of the detail
of difficulties which had been laid before his lordship by
the commercial gentlemen who had preceded him.
Mr. APSLEY PELLATT, M.P., also represented a consti-
tuency on the south side of the river, and could speak from
1 a somewhat intimate knowledge of the subject. He had
attended several of Mr. Charles Pearson's expositions, and
having also carefully examined the documents and plans,
he was prepared to say that the execution of the works
would diminish the present crowding of the streets, pro-
mote sanitary improvements, and would be received' as a
great boon by the inhabitants of the metropolis at large ;
and it was so regarded by his constituents.
_ Mr. WILKINSON, M.P. said, as a metropolitan member,
he rejoiced in the prospect before them of seeing this pro-
ject carried out. He confessed that he regarded
as one of
its most important features the means it would afford to
artisans, mechanics, clerks and porters to enjoy the privi-
lne
igeen to fa
npda sshienagl thft hue il
r hnaibgihtatstiwoji2tsl?
atwheaiyr
ffroammilitehs
einacecaoenavoef-
their daily toil. A cheap railroad accommodation to the
heart of the metropolis would enable the Corporation and
the Government to proceed with this great street improve..
ment without adding to the overcrowding of the dwelling
of the poor, by destroying, as bad been the case, thousands
of houses, and driving their inhabitants to take refuge in
the wretched habitations that remained.
Mr. DUNCOMBE, M.P., bore testimony to the deep in-
terest the borough he represented took in the success of the
measure. The evils which had been so faithfully depicted
by preceding speakers were necessarily on the increase, and
as upwards of one thousand houses were in progress of re-
moval in Fleet Valley, it became necessary that no time
should be lost in securing to the public the benefits of the
project.
Mr. BARBER (Barber, Mead, and Howse), said that Lon-
don, though the greatest commercial city in the world, was
destitute of conveniences which were enjoyed in other
places. Birmingham and other large manufacturing towns,
had railway stations in the centre of their business. The
accomplishment of the present measure would place Lon-
don upon a level in' this particular with other towns.
Mr. HALY said the object of the deputation was not to
ask money from the Government, but to urge them to
carry out the principle of the commissioners' report. The
railway proprietors must look after their railway them-
selves, but the report required the Government to watch
over the publiC interests, and the duty therefore rested
with the . public authorities to support a project which
would effeclnuch a great public improvement.
Mr. BUCKMA-STER, late chairman of the West London.
Board of Guardians, said that the clergy and parochial offi-
cers were all favourable to-the plan on account of the im-
portant benefits it, would confer on the poor.
The Rev. Mr: JACKSON, being the incumbent of tha
parish of St. Sepulchre, would be glad to see the project
adopted on sanitary grounds alone, for he had nothing to
do with its commercial features. He felt sure it would be
the means of improving the wretched dwellings in which
the poor were compelled to live ; it would give facilities
for obtaining better habitations five or six miles from town,
where their families might reside in comfort and health.
Mr. HOWELL (of the firm of Ellis and Everington) de-
sired to impress upon his lordship the importance of giving
immediate attention to the subject, for all the causes, of
complaint were growing causes, and .20 years hence the
evils would be very much worse. There was now an op-
portunity of grappling with the difficulty at a compare-
tively small outlay by reason of the great extent of ground
already. laid open, which, if built upon, would not again
be rendered available, except at an enormous cost. If
the budget passed, the omnibuses and cabs would be so
cheaply kept, that the City would be deluged with them
to a still more inconvenient degree, unless better means
of conveyance were afforded by substituting cheap, prac-
tical, and expeditious railway trains.
Mr. WALKER (of the firm of I. and C. Boyd and Co.)
entirely concurred with preceding speakers as to the great
benefit thii measure would confer upon both the whole-
sale and retail traders of the City, by diminishing the
crowding of the st - and facilitating the means of
t ' transit for both p - , and goods. But he desired to
ar Os
direck the attention (worriment to the important .bene-
IA the county would derive from the improved postal
arrangements which's:. centrafterminus, in direct comnau-
nication with the Post-office, would afford. i .

‘'Mr. gmorr, this officer of ' Health to the city of London;
.said that great improvements had been made in the sani-
.tary condition-of the city by improved drainage and water •
t supply, but he felt convinced that by cheapening..railways
conveyance for the labour%g classes fietween the outskirts
'and the t entire Of 'the metfoTtlis, more would be done to
effectuate the wise and benevolent designs of the Govern-
ment and other public authorities in improving the moral
and sanitary condition of the poor than by any other mea-
sure that could be devised. The district which it was pro-
posed to elear'was the worst' in London, and very many of
the houses to be removed were unfit for human habitation.
Lord PALMERSTON said that, prompted as well by personal
feeling as by a sense of official duty, he should be happy to
do all in his power to promote any measure having for its
object so many advantages as had been suggested to him by
the respectableand influential gentlemen who had addressed
him. Every person who had occasion to go into the City
knew that it required almost as much time to pass through
one mile of its crowded streets as to travel thirty miles
by rail. It had been truly said, that the overcrowding of
the streets was daily increasing, and he might add that it
was fortunate that it was so; for the causes of that incon-
venience must be looked for in the increasing trade of the ,
City, the enlargement of the metropolis, and the growing
Orosperity of the country. In a measure like that under
consideration there might be parties who opposed it. He '
was not aware of any ; but reserving to himself a discretion
to consider any fair objection that might be brought for-
ward, he gave the matter his mostwilling consideration; and,
as far as he was at present informed, it was deserving the
support of Government. The details, of course, fell
within other departments. The railway portion of the
measure would devolve upon the Board of Trade for con-
sideration, and the pLoposed street improvements would
be inquired into by the Office of Works ; but he regarded
the project as a whole to be highly deserving all the sup.;
port that the Government and Parliament could fairly
give it.

THE CONSERVATIVE LAND SOCIETY.—A deptation
from the executive committee paid a' second visit to
Yorkshire last week, to explain the objects of the society.
It consisted of the Rev. Dr. Worthington, R. N. Fowler,
Esq. (of the firm of Dimsdale and Co. Bankers), C. E.
Lewis, Esq., L. S. Gorman' Esq., and q.
G. Morgan, Esq
A public meeting was held at the de Gray Rooms, York,
on Wednesday, when a very full explanation and satis-
factory account of the-rapid progress of the society were
given by the various speakers. It was announced that
the deputation had viewed land in the neighbourhood of
York that day, and they might eventually purchase it
for the members. A meeting was held at the Odd-Fel-
lows Hall, Halifax, on the following day, over which
George Haigh, Esq.,. of Halifax, presided. Several
interesting speeches were delivered on the occasion. Mr.
R. N. Fowler, in the course of an able address in ex-
planation of the principles and plan of the society, said
it was not their intention to disguise the fact that this
was a Conservative Society, and that their object was to
further Conservative principles. If stronger efforts on
the part of the Conservatives were not made, ere long
all the county constituencies would be in the hands of
their opponents. Considered as a commercial scheme,
it was based on the same principles as other societies
founded by their opponents. It afforded to every
man the means of obtaining a small portion of
land, without the great difficulties which had
hitherto attended the purchase of small allotments.
Hitherto an investment to the amount of 501. required
o
get
snht m
te
taotohuen t
laonfd 5 ,
beingoo O /,
dTa
ishvimisduehdcandi
into
et
gifeslei nnaacallu mgproeenrattiaolmos npaeemdtoi In
the working men of
this country. But it .was very desirable that it should
be so divided, because the working man who invested
his savings in land felt an interest in the stability of his
man's formed a remarkably safe investment for anyl.
country that nothing else would give. The society
o Id be
money at a few days' notice, and no
e z
sav-
ings, because any one had the powernoefmeabelrin!um his
11 d 'a simple
society. In the first
place,mentyentirely in the hands of
held responsible for the debts or
angagements of the
of land
anything by
constitu-
tion, which left the manage
a ' Hamliefaina
mem-
bers could by any possibility
the members, and the next
pu rchashee advantage was,
joining. It was announced the committee were
t_ taking.
measures for an early. .
oasvgeronwnient
Branches of the society, with influential local committee,
ar in course of formation in the principal towns of
Yorkshire.
MEDITERRANEAN MAILS.--The Greek G
has concluded a postal convention with the GI .
Liverpool Shipping Company, which engages to esta-
blishandl
Malta, • Syra,
a communication three times, or at least twice,. a
month between Liverpool, Gibraltar
Smyrna, and Constantinople; The ention is made
for five years. The approbation of the Hellenic Cham:
bers is still requisite. The ratifications on either side
are to be exchanged withinfour months, or sooner, if
possoibLlAe.
L
MONTER IN TROUBLE.--The summary of news,
written in French in the New
of the 20th instant, contains a statementYorktHerald
respecting for
Lola Europe
Montes, of which the following is
New Orleans,
:h—‘•
bLola
arrested at the instance of Mr. George R. Rowe,
Montes, having returned to has been
at the Theatre of Varieties. Mr. Rowe charges with
having assailed him in the theatre, in company with Mr.
S. H. Henning. Mr. Rowe declares this upon oath ;
and the affair was to have been examined on the 4th
instant. On her part, Lola Montes has made an affidavit,
accusing Mr. Rowe of having, in January last, put his
hands upon her in a more than indelicate manner, and
to have accompanied these daring gestures with insulting
language." No mention of this is made in any'of the
English part of the Herald.

PRIZE ESSAY ON EUROPEAN STANDING ARMAMENTS.-
The Peace Congress Committee have just intimated
their intention to give the sum of 2501. as a prize to the
author of the best Essay upon the European Standing
Armaments and a second prize-of 1001. to-the author
of the second best essay upon the same subject.

THE WEATHER.—Sum Orna, MAY 4.
THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADS. •
57—highest since noon yesterday.
52-lowest this morning and during the night.
57 this day at noon.

BAROMETER, 30'14.
WIND, E. to E.N.E.—Light breeze, and dull, cloudy
weather.

b ....„..,‘,...,,..,_,......_......,, ,_:7,,Attli,•
...__ _vjporaik ..- ...
Z' •.‘44 ‘4'izs,..:-.V,!-1,-,,•-
,

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 1853.

It is wonderfully instructive to watch the pro-
gress made in their inquiries by the Committee
(now sitting) on Dockyard Promotions and Ap-
pointments. Seldom has the country, at any rate
of late years, enjoyed the opportunity of any such
amusing, but at the same time melancholy revela-
tions. For once we are admitted behind the
scenes at the Admiralty. We hear for once the
official whisper. We observe for once the
" aside"—generally inaudible to the vulgar com-
munity. Confidential remarks, uttered within
closed doors, are reported before Committee, and
noted down verbatim et literatim by the attendant
short-hand-writers. Confidential letters have
their seals broken, so to speak, in the mar-
ket-place, and their contents flaming in the
printed columns of the newspapers. At
one moment we are standing at the elbow of the
late Secretary to the Admiralty, listening to his
candid confession—" There's no use blinking the
question ; I can't help myself, I am so pressed by
the Government." At another we are watching
Vice-Admiral PARKER, as he tosses behind the
fire that important missive in which Sir BALDWIN
WALKER, as Surveyor of the Navy, takes the
liberty of respectfully tendering his resignation to
the Lords Commissioners.

Already we have commended the really sur-
prising lucidity of the evidence given by Sir B.
WALKER before the Committee of Inquiry into the
subject of Dockyard Promotions and Appoint-
ments. It is deeply to be regretted that
the evidence subsequently " taken down "
from the lips of Mr. AUGUSTUS STAFFORD,
is by no means comparable either in coherence or
explicitness. Throughout his replies there is a
painful sense of hesitation, if not indeed of actual
reservation. Beyond which, while there is not a
link wanting in the whole chain of evidence given
by the late Surveyor of the Navy, there is per-
ceptible here and there in the evidence given by
the late Secretary to the Admiralty a hiatus at
once suspicious and bewildering.
Another remarkable witness was examined
before committee only yesterday—one Mr. JOHN
BRIGGS—who during the last twenty-seven years
has been reader to the Board of Admiralty. His
evidence, it must be allowed, is sufficiently enter-
taining from its delightful preciseness. Witness
—as we learn from one part of these amusing
revelations—remembered distinctly the notable
interview which took place between Sir BALDWIN
WALKER and Mr. AUGUSTUS STAFFORD, in refer-
ence to the former official's memorable letter of
resignation. Tu fact, he seems to have blundered
in upon them during their conference. "On
my entering the room," remarks the wit-
ness, " the Surveyor of the Navy appeared
to be labouring under great agitation of mind,
as if something very unpleasant had occurred."
That, at least, is the surmise of Mr. JOHN BRIGGS,
reader to the Admiralty. Thereupon his curiosity
r'ecame naturally excited, more particularly when
he adds, " I heard some words [delightful indefi-
niteness t], and was about to retire [bashful
BRIGGS t], thinking something had taken place"—
marvellous instance of astuteness in ratioci-
nation ! Can it possiblybe our dear old
friend, Mr. BRwor
s of Punch—the beloved
of Josix LEECH, and " the bright particular star"
of the London Charivarilrbeiturn, however,
from idle surmises to this delectable
evidence, wit-
ness adds, "The Surveyor Was standing t the table
him
folding up his papers and I beardsay these
words Very well, Sir, I will gzetoin: that horaerset_
Somerset-
house, and return by and by,'
was much agitated, I said to Mr. STAFFORD [wee
presume by this time Sir BALDWIN WALKER had
quieted the apartment], I hope the Surveyor
has not resigned.' He [meaning of course
Mr. STAFFORD] said No :ho has re-
signed.' I said, What do you mean ?' "
Now let it be observed that Mr. STAFFORD'S reply
was simply, "No : lie has resigned"—a reply
to any ordinary mind as plain as a pike-staff. But
- -

Mr. BRIGGS'S was not an ordinary mind. He was
evidently bewildered, for we find him adding—
" I said, What do you mean V " Fortunately,
Mr. BRIGGS was bewildered—fortunately, because
his bewilderment elicited from Mr. STAFFORD the
following explanation—" The Surveyor of the
Navy has been to the Duke of NORTHUMBERLAND,
and the Duke of NORTHUMBERLAND informed him
that he had never seen the resignation, and that
if he had seen his letter of resignation, he should
immediately have taken it to Lord DERBY ; that
the Surveyor had been to Admiral PARKER, who
had told him that he had not thought fit to bring
his letter before the Board, but that he had de-
stroyed it." According to witness, Mr. STAFFORD
added—" In fine, cuffed by the Duke, snubbed
by Admiral PARKER, with his letter of resignation
in the fire, the Surveyor of the Navy not only
comes to me and recites this in his own proper
person, but asks me what he had better do." Mr.
BRIGGS'S sensitive nature is startled by this plain
speaking. "My remark was," says he [by the way
he has never spoken of his remark before, any more
than Mrs. GAMF, but that ea passant], Mr. STAF-
FORD lam astonished at you, I am."' And so
the evidence of Mr. JOHN BRIGGS was conducted
throughout. Garrulous, minute, scrupulous as
to the most trivial circumstance, Mr. BRIGGS de-
poses from first to last, as the report informs us,
with " great importance and preciseness." His
evidence has been about the most amusing episode
in these entertaining and occasionally grotesque re-
velations. The whole transaction breathes rather of
the age of the Merry Monarch than of the age of Queen
VICTORIA. Conning these odd exposures of the
doings at the Dockyards, and reading them by
the light of Mr. BRIGGS'S evidence, we are almost
fain to imagine ourselves in the days when good
" Mr. SAMUEL PEPYS his Diary" recorded the
thoughts and deeds, official and domestic, of the
Secretary to the Admiralty Board of Commis-
sioners.

Slowly, but surely—we believe—Mr. CHARLES
PEARSON is breaking ground for the erection of
his proposed City Terminus. Under any circum-
stances he may be said to have already prepared
for the laying of its foundations. 'Additional
promise of this was afforded on Monday afternoon
by a cluster of representatives, described correctly
enough as " a very numerous and most influential
deputation," who waited upon the Home Secretary
according to special appointment. Altogether,
the interview proved more satisfactory than such
things are accustomed to do. Instead of leaving
the Members of the deputation just about as wise
on going out of the official apartment as they had
been on entering it, Viscount PALMERSTON ex-
pressed his views upon the subject of this pro-
jected metropolitan improvement with so much
energetic candour and lucidity, that it were idle
to doubt now for a moment the opinion enter-
tained upon the matter in question, by one at
least of the most influential members of her MA-
JESTY'S Government. It could scarcely have
been otherwise. The feasibility of the sug-
gested enterprise has already long since been
clearly demonstrated. The advantages certain to
accrue from it to the community at large have
been for some time past duly appreciated by the
majority of the inhabitants of London and West-
' minster. Besides all which, the Noble Lord, her
MAJESTY'S Principal Secretary of State for the
Home Department, was addressed in language of
such peculiarly forceful appropriateness, as applied
to himself personally, that it became in a manner
incumbent upon him for once to break through
that Minisebrial reserve which is no doubt as con-
venient to statesmen as it is annoying and bewil-
dering to the general population. Viscount PAL-
MERSTON, for example, had heard those closing re-
marks of the Hon. Member for Northampton (Mr.
,RAIKES CURRIE), in the course of which, speaking
for himself and the gentlemen associated with him,
he assured the Home Secretary—" They, (the
members of the deputation) believe that the pecu-
liar energy, the pre-eminent ability, the indefati-
gable devotion to the public service which hare
long signalised your Lordship's career in one of
r the highest departments of the Government, may
now, under PROVIDENCE, be the means of con-
ferring domestic benefits no less remarkable, no
less deserving the labours of a great statesman, on
millions of your fellow-countrymen : and in this
point of view, and under these impressions, they
respectfully submit this important undertaking to
your Lordship's attention and favourable conside-
ration." He had heard one of the Representatives
of the City of London (Sir JAMES DUKE) bearing
witness to " the unanimous and cordial approba-
tion " with which, out of doors, the project is
hailed and supported. He had heard another
(Mr. MASTERMAN) assert that " there could be
no doubt of the state of public opinion on the
subject, or of the advantage which would accrue
to the City from its being supported by the Go-
verntnent." He had been reminded by the Mem-
ber for Lambeth (Mr. W. WILLIAMS) that " the
objects of the deputation were not merely local,"
and by the Hon. Member for Southwark (Mr.
A. PELLA TT), that the execution of the intended
works would, by diminishing the present crowded
condition of the streets of the metropolis, and by
materially promoting the cause of sanitary im-
provement, be received as a great boon by the
inhabitants. Another of the Hon. Members, the
Representative of Lambeth (Mr. W. A. WILKIN-
SON) had corroborated the assertions made by
his colleague ; while " last, but not least " in the
group of Legislators, the Representative of
the Borough of Finsbury (Mr. THOMAS
DUNCOMBE) had insisted, with some con-
siderable show of reason, that, "as upwards
of a thousand houses were now in progress of
removal in Fleet Valley," it became necessary that
no time should be lost in securing to the public
the benefits of the projected enterprise. Listen-
ing to all these arguments, and remarking that
they were arguments of a really authoritative
character, as coming to him from the lips of
Metropolitan Representatives, Lord PALMERSTON
could hardly have ventured to evade something
approximating to a definite explanation. Instead
of doing so, in fact, he avowed that, while " re-
serving to himself a discretion to consider any
fair objection that might be brought forward," he
gave the matter his most willing consideration,
and, as far as he was at present informed, believed
that it was deserving the support of her Majesty's
Government." Naturally, of course, he reminded
the deputation that- the details of the under-
taking fell entirely within other departments.
For example, the Noble Lord observed, that "the
railway portion of the measure would devolve upon
the Board of Trade for consideration, and the
proposed street improvements would be inquired
into by the Board of Works ;" but apart from
this, the Home Secretary distinctly avowed that
he regarded the project, as a whole, as highly de-
serving all the support that could fairly be given it
by the Government and the Parliament. After
this bold acknowledgment on the part of so emi-
nent an authority, it were frivolous to question the
probability of that same project being speedily real-
ised. An interval will, of course, be required for fur-
ther preliminary labours before the enterprise can
be commenced in earnest. Ultimately, however,
we may now count upon its completion, without
any degree of extravagance. Wherefore, once in
a way, at least, good may be said to have actually
resulted from a deputation.

Exeter-hall can create saints as well as the
Vatican, and in some respects much more efficient
ones. Rome canonises the dead, but the English
beatifiers confer their honours on the living, and
however many of us may doubt the omnipresence
of departed spirits, or their prowess in sublunary
affairs, none of us disputes the occasional advan-
tage of fighting a political battle under the pa-
tronage of a flesh-and-blood saint of Exeter-hall
notoriety. At elections some of these unetherial
guardian genii of Protestantism have laid occa-
sionally a large constituency under a most holy
Anti-Maynooth spell, and returned in triumph
the favourite candidate of those who invoked their
aid. In the House of Commons, since Mr. PER-
CIVAL's exit, this race of beings has been nearly
ecixetsindcot indeed re sePenim. ens of the extijict spe-
canonised ones of old, without the
main, but using only the argu-
ments of the
testimonials of canontion) they present rather

a ludicrous than an imposing appearance. In the
House of Lords, however, there is still remaining
a specimen of the species now extinct in the
other hemisphere of Legislation ; one, more-
over, of such sterling worth, that we much
regret the unworthy purposes for which his aid has
been invoked. As the patron saint of Sabbatarian
movements, Protestant Alliances, Stafford-house
Addresses, baths and washhouses, model lodging-
houses, ragged schools, and of everything indeed
which bears the stamp of benevolence or anti-
Popery, the Earl of SHAFTESBURY has enjoyed the
long and just admiration of all the Protestant
MACHALES and LUCASES, and of all who delight
in benefiting the humbler classes of society by
direct charity. The sincerity of his charity, more-
over, has never been called in question. The
most rabid curs on the other side of St. George's
Channel would not venture to denounce him as
guilty of " soup-ticket proselytism." His Lord-
ship is, however, but one of " too many instances
in which the narrowest interpretation of a meek
and expansive faith is combined with a high de-
gree of religious and social excellence. This, no
doubt, was the reason why he was selected as the
standard-bearer of mediaeval bigotry and intoler-
ance on Friday night. Had Lord DERBY been
put forward, it would have been held all pretty
fair as a political opposition in his peculiar
position, but it would have been accounted
a purely political opposition. Had the Bishop
of EXETER moved the amendment, all his
resistance would, by worldly and malicious
minds, have been ascribed to views and habits so
uncourteously described the other night by Sir
WM. MOLBSWORTH. But, if Lord SHAFTESBURY,
whose motives none ever ventured to impugn—
Lord SHAFTESBURY, who has such a constituency
of the benevolent on his right hand, and the zeal-
ous Protestants on his left---4f he will but head
the ill-omened phalanx of civil and religious des-
potism, his name would be an answer at once to
many a taunt, and an authority with thousands
of followers. Nothing harsh could come from
the noble patron of factory operatives and ragged
schools ; nothing contemptuous to the Jews from
one who vies with BENJAMIN DISRAELI in extolling
"the Hebrew mind," as destined to make them
" the future sovereigns of the earth." Lord SHAF-
TESBURY'S name is sufficient to prove that it is both
Christian and benevolent to do to the Jews as we
would not that they should do unto us—to prove
that it must unchristianise the kingdom since he
thinks it would. Lords who, at bottom, chiefly
desired to give Lord JOHN RUSSELL a well-deserved
snubbing, since he chose to try his hand at " lead-
ing" their Lordships, as well as the House of Com-
mons, where he ought to have settled the whole
business; Lords who wished to tantalise the Coalition
a little; Lords who wanted to take breath after such
a mighty liberal effort as passing the Canada Clergy
Reserves Bill ; Lords who really believed that
there was such a thing as unchristianising a Legis-
lature by permitting Christian electors to choose
a Jewish Representative—and there really are a
few such Lords—chiefly those, no doubt, who
have personally retired from public life and com-
mitted themselves to the care of their wife and
the chaplain ; but chiefly the far greater number
of Lords who delight, in any safe contest, to nail
the good old Tory colours to the mast, and show
that they are Tory Lords still, and not the foot-
ball of a Reformed (1) House of Commons—all
these various classes of Lords could play their
part in this annual sham-fight to the very best
advantage under a leader far too good a man to
be a party politician. " I voted with the Earl of
SHAFTESBURY." That's answer enough to all the
gentler sex assuredly, and more than answer
enough to all who care for " our Protestant insti-
tutions." His Lordship performed the office of a
legislative CALCRAFT, of course, with his wonted
blandness. He strangled the last offspring of
Religious Liberty with a silken cord, but it was
strangling of the noblest kind of freedom still, and
gave a Bishop the opportunity to remind the
House of the " grievous wrong they had done the
Church in admitting Catholics and Dissenters into
the Legislature, and that admitting the Jews
would be but to perpetuate a greater wrong." Lord
SHA.FrEsnußvhimself partly adopteil the same argu-
ment, and ought, logically, to have adopted the
whole when he urged that a Christian Church
ought only to be legislated for by Christians.
Lord SHAFTESBURY and the Bishops, however, must
take care. They may find that the sentiment of
Religious Liberty is becoming hourly much stronger,
and the policy of State Endowments and State
Churches more and more extensively questioned.
We regard it as perfectly certain that if the two
should come of necessity into conflict, Religious
Liberty would gain the victory, and speedily too.
If the greater part of our politicians at all believed
that a system of exclusions from civil privileges
and offices were necessary to the preservation of
English Episcopacy, they would neither dare, nor
probably wish, to take their stand on the ground
of exclusiveness. On the debate generally we
have already expressed our opinion. We suppose it
is hopeless to expect the House of Commons under
a Coalition to assert the rights of Electors, or Lord
JOHN RUSSELL to kick at the House which snubs
him at pleasure. To us the People's Representa-
tives appear unendurably degraded when they
suffer the Upper House to hold the keys of the
Lower one—when, year after year, they invite
Baron ROTHSCHILD to take his seat among them.
But the Lords see fit to bar the door, not of their
own, but of the People's House, in his face.
Surely the day must be at hand when the good
old motto, that " Every Englishman's house is
his castle," will be adopted in good earnest by the
Englishmen who compose the House of Commons.
We want a " House of Commons Reserves Bill,"
of which the first clause should enact " that the
settlement of qualifications for a Representative
of the People should be determined by the Repre-
sentatives of the People ; and a second, that all
matters pertaining to the right of suffrage, the
mode of collecting votes, and the arrangement of
electoral divisions, should also belong exclusively
to the People's House."