The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-06 00:00:00

taunt which has been so frequently cast upon us
in these debates, that ours is
' A vulgar party race,
Struggling by dark intrigue for place.
And at the public meetings held during my elec-
tion, I repeatedly stated that the Liberal leaders,
by their recent mistreatment of the Reform ques-
tion, had disentitled themselves to public confi-
dence ; and of Lord Palmerston my words were,
that he was doubly disqualified, from having trifled
with Reform and truckled to France:
" And, at the meeting of the Liberal party at
Willis's Rooms, when it was determined summa-
rily to eject Lord Derby, I deprecated that hasty
course, because I said that no strong and durable
Liberal Administration could then be formed, and
it could only be attempted by a compromise of prin-
ciples and coalition of enmities that must eventually
embarrass public interests and damage public men.
‘• And, holding so strongly and repeating so fre-
quently these views, which vre the result of long,
close study of our Parliamentary condition, how
could it be expected that I should place confidence
in a Ministry that had gained power, as I thought,
by questionable means and must pursue an ambi-
guous policy ? That Ministry has presented for
our consideration four great questions—the Com-
mercial Treaty, the Budget, the Reform Bill, and
foreign policy. On the two first time will pro-
nounce its verdict, and of that verdict I entertain
no doubt. The Reform Bill is an affront to the
country ; and the foreign policy of the Cabinet has
produced such complications that it is difficult to see
how it can escape uncensured.
" It was my duty and my determination to deal
with every measure of the Government as it de-
served. Several of my constituents wrote to me
expressing a hope that I would support the treaty.
I gave them my reasons for not doing so. Did they
not know I should act upon them ? In the month
of January, 1857, I was summoned to a meeting of
my constituents, of whom no less than 500 signed
a pledge not to vote for me again unless I would
engage to vote for a repeal of the income-tax. I
refused to do so. I told them I was a representa-
tive, and not a delegate ; and I read to them a por-
tion of Mr. Burke's address to the electors of Bris-
tol, concluding with this paragraph :--
" But if I profess this impolitic stubbornness I
may not be again elected to Parliament. It is cer-
tainly not pleasing to be put out of the public ser-
vice; but I wish to be a member of Parliament to
have my share of doing good and resisting evil. It
would, therefore, be absurd to renounce my objects
in order to retain my seat. I deceive myself in-
deed, most grossly, if I had not much rather pass
the remainder of my life hidden in the recesses of
the deepest obscurity than be placed on the most
splendid throne of the universe, tantalized with a
denial of the practice of all that makes the greatest
situation other than a curse.'
" It was supposed that by the boldness of my
language on that occasion I had lost my seat, but I
have since been twice elected unopposed, and my
views therefore, of the relations subsisting between
a representative and his constituents cannot have
been misunderstood. I hold that men of busy avo-
cations judge of events as they are passing, but it is
the function of legislators to try to read the future,
and by that reading to steer their course, even in the
face of popular disapprobation. I have endeavoured
to pursue that course, and I shall continue to do so,
receiving always with deference and respect every
comminication made by my constituents, but ac-
knowledging at the same time even higher respon-
sibility than I owe to them. I opposed the financial
measures of the Government ; I condemn their Re-
form Bill ; and, if a fitting opportunity be given, I
may censure their foreign policy.
" In this course I believe I shall ere long be sus-
tained by the voice of the country, not excepting the
electors of Stroud.
" But, should this last hope unfortunately not be
realised—should Stroud be an exception to the
general feeling—and, when the time for reviewing
my public conduct arrives,:should the constituency
of Stroud not approve it—l can assure them and
you that I shall be the first to sever, though with
much sorrow, a connection which, under such cir-
cumstances, must be as embarrassing to me as it
would be distasteful and unfair to them.
"Believe me, very truly yours,
"EDWD. HORSMAN.
" Since writing the above I have received a letter
from a leading politician in London, who writes
thus My friends in Paris are furious at the con-
duct of your constituents, and they write to me for
explanations about it. Apparently you have
thought less about the matter than the people on
the Continent. The Moniteur put the paragraph,
taken from the English papers, into large type, and
in a conspicuous part of the paper.'
" The conveners of that meeting could little have
foreseen the use that was to be made of it by a
dexterous enemy of their country."