The Sun.
London, England, 1856-11-12 00:00:00

for them. (Cheers.) They had revenue for the clerge.,,
man in every parish church sufficient to provide fort 'Er!
due wirninistration of Church worship. Then, let the
not impcoe a contribution on the Dissenter.'lks
alluded just now to the question of the extension of tiler
franchise, which is comparatively useless without the. r.
vote by ballot. (Hear.) It may be said that vote by
ballot is un-Englisb, and so is intimidation. (Cheers.)
The elector, in recording his vote, roust be protected
from intimidation, and, without vote by ballot, the ex.
tension of the franchise would be a nullity and a farce.
(Cheers.) There are men who can vote in the light, but
there are others who must vote in the dark. (Loud
cheering.) The man who votes in the light may per-
haps see-my lord or my lady'r 'rine drive up to his
doer, when he is told " We will deal with you no longer."
In such a case the voter is entitled to demand of the
Legislature a remedy, and that remedy is vote by ballot.
(Hear.) There are other questions of importance which
must press on the attention of tt..e Legislature of this
country. One of those eues'ions is our foreign rela-
tions, or, as they are familiarly called, continental poli-
tics. That question must occupy the attention of the
Legislature in the coming session. The horiz in in that
quarter is dark and lowering. The alliance with France
is, I believe, cordial and eiucere ; upon our part it is.
Let us hope that that sincerity is mutual. I believe
that the alliance with England is essential to the Em-
peror's throne ; that with him it is a political necessity.
As a Liberal, I may not approve of the manner in
which the sceptre came to his hand. Like Augustus, he
seized the Crown, and amused his people with the
shadow of liberty. I should prefer to see in France re-
presentative institutions and a freedom of the press. But
the question is their own. If a nation so civil! ed and
so susceptible are satisfied with their present form of
Government, Engla'id has no right to comp ?tin. (Hear.)
We have an institution we value dearly, which we now
view as our birthright and inheritance; I mean the free-
d mof the press. (Cheers.) The Emperor of Freres
believes it to be dangerous to his crown. We know that
it adds stability to ours, and much as I value the alliance
with our neighbour—great as its acivanta:es are to
Sugland and to her commerce—l, taking a le.. selfish
view, say if this alternative is to be pre,euted—whether
a rupture of that alliance, or our press is to be sub-
ject to the dictation of the Monitcur, the Siecle, or the
Constitutionnel—that man is a traitor to his country who
would not prefer the former. If the editors of the Times,
the Daily News, and the Advertiser are to be gagged,
then I say, perish the alliance. (Cheers.) No absolute
monarch has a right to dictate to the press of this coun-
try. With respect tofree trade, I can only say I shall
ways be prepared to advocate the views a hicli the elec.
tore of Hull have-ever expressed. I have not had time to
icquaint myself as I propose to do with your local ;inte-
rests, but as regards the repeal of the navigation laws,
which permits compettion between British and foreign
sailors, I may say that neither the interests of the port
Hull, nor any other port, appear to have suffered by
hat measure. Where British enter, ri-tt pre.ails there
will it succeed, as Lerl Palmerston said. Free trade,
that great measure of importance, introduced and car-
ried by Sir R. Peel, is now settled. I have attended here
riot to ask you to pledge yourselves to any definite line
of conduct, but merely to express my opinions, in order
that you may consider them at your leisure. If any gen-
tleman present wishes to put any question to me, I shall
teal great pleasure in answering it. We have in our
own day seen very important measures carried. Civil
disabilities of Catholics have been removed; and the Test
Act has been repealed. I believe that the people have
confidence in the Administration of Lord Palmerston. I
believe that no statesman since Lord Chatham has done
se much to maintain our national honour. (Hear, hear.)
I believe that the cause of liberty in Europe has been his
guiding star, and I know that de-potistn quails at the
ntme of Palmerston. (Cheers.) He thoroughly under-
stands the genius and the feelings of the people of this
,treat country, and I augur that political and social pro-
gress will not be retarded under his Government. Paus-
ing after the fierce struggles of war, the country required
reform ; and it is not because that during the last session
there has been comparative inactivity that we are to have
no measures of improvement in that which is approach-
ing. That improvement can, and must, be carried out.
You must have the extension of the franchise, the educa-
tion of the people, the English and Iri-h Church must be
reformed, the affairs of our colonies must be conducted in
a more able manner, and the state of crime in this coma-
•ry must be forced on the attention of the Legislature.
As regards Church reform I may refer to a phrase of
Lord Eldon's—" If you elect a beadle of a parish with-
out administering to him the sacraments, you will shake
the constitution of the Church." That is mere rank
nonsense ; it is like shaking a tree full of apples ' • you
will only bring down the rot-ten fruit. Electors ofHull •
—you have seen, within comparatively a short period,
religious intolerance and the civil disabilities of the
Roman Catholics removed—you have seen the proudest
and wealthiest aristocracy which the world eversaw give
way to public opinion and concede the great principle of
free trade—who yourselves have perhaps reaped advan:
tage from the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts,
who have assisted, as the c?,lumn in your town records,
in the great cause of huma-ity, and struck the fetters
IrJtn the slave—who have enjoyed the franchise con-
ferred by the Ref arm Bili—you must feel that the course
,f legislation inn-t be onward—not rash or reckless in-
Jovation, but steady, sound, social, and political ad-
vancement. (Cheers.) The franchise must be extended
—the masses must be educated. All distinctions which
interfere with civil rights on the ground of religious opi-
nions must be removed and swept away. The govern-
?cent of ouryast empire in the East must be ameliorated.
Our colonial dependencies must be administered in a
aosealitseral and enlightened spirit—the vast ittorsasse.i....
crime and the reformation of the criminal must be'dealt
with in a comprehensive and statesmanlike manner—the
restrictions 9n commercial enterprige must be done away
with—the revenues of the English and Irish Church
must be fairly adjusted to the spiritual wants of the
people. Measures such as these are not, I believe, dan-
gerous innovations, but are calculated to strengthen the
-?eourity of property—to unite more closely the ties
which bind the two great orders of society together—to
attach the people to a love of order, to Parliament and
the Crown, and to render yet brighter and more glo-
rious the future and the destinies of this great empire.
(L2ud cheers.)

Mr Z. P&tRSON begged to ask the learned gentleman
what were hii views regarding the repeal of the Sound
dues and shipping tolls, which pressed heavily on the
commerce of this country

Mr. JAMES —I think the Sound dues must greatly in-
terfere with the shipping terests of Hull, and I will
ive my best attention to the subject. I may here repeat
that I have not yet well considered the questions affect-
ing your local interests, which I shall he better prepared
to answer when next I have the honour of meeting you.
In reply to other questions by electors, Mr. JAMES
said he was opposed to the present system of promo-
tion in the army, than which nothing could be worse,
as advancement should be by merit, and not through
influence. With respect to the endowment of May-
nooth, the learned gentleman said he was on principle
opposed to all eudowusents ; but he thought Mr.
Spooner's motion on Maynooth savoured too much of
religious intolerance. If he bad the honour of becoming
their representative, which he thought he should—(hear,
hear)—he would take the liberty of moving that the
whole question of endowments, including the Regiunt
Donunt to the Presbyterians of Ireland, should be con-
was unfair that MaynOoth alone should
bsied eartetda,ckaes i t
attacked.
He would approach the consideration of
all endowments in a comprehensive spirit, but he would
not oppose any single endowment for the mere purpose
of gratifying bigotry.
An ELECTOR asked the learned gentleman's opinion
on the ticket-„f--leave system.
i ng
transported recently, in my capacity of
Mr. JAMES —I ani well qualified to give an opinion
two ticket-of-leave
men. In my judgment, nothing can be worse than the
present system. For instance, a criminal who imposes
Recorderon tha
of subject,
Brighton, hav
on lbe credulity of the gaol chaplain obtains his ticket
of leave, walks into a jeweller's shop, and murders the
jeweller. (Considerable merriment was here caused,
arising from the fact that the questioner was himself a
jeweller who had recently been robbed by ticket-of-leave
men.)
With regard to secret diplomacy, Mr. JAMES re-
marked that there was no oce•tsion for it, 84 when it was
going on mischief was always brewmg. His opinion of
the proper'y and income tax was, that the less they had
of it the better.
A vote of thanks having been passed to the chairman,
and three cheers having been given for Mr. James, the
meeting separated.