The Sun.
London, England, 1856-11-20 00:00:00

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gestion of sound principles ; and this, which I hope I suc-
ceeded in doing, was takirr, a great question •out of the"
category of what are called " party subjects." When
Lord John Russell, one of the most eminent members of
our Legislature, acting as an independent member of Par-
liament, brought this subject forward in the very last ses-
sion, all he aimed at was t,o pass resolutions •which might
lay down the principles for future legislation. No; this
subject can only be settled—and I believe it will be so set-
tled— when the Ministers of the Queen shall determine to
grad* with it with courage and with determination.
In the meantime much depends upon public opin-
ion. I, for one, rely, and 1. rely with great confi-
dence, upon the ultimate result of the good sense and good
feeling of the people of England. Any Minister who
shall hereafter be able to say that he has enabled every man
in England to have a sound elementary education—that he
has enabled every citizen of this great country to learn his
duty to God and to his Sovereign, and to cultivate his intel-
lectual faculties, and so raise himself in his social position
to whatever extent tho capacity which God hasgiven him may,
permit—any Minister who shall be able to say that will be
entitled to the gratitude of his countrymen, and to the ad-
miration of posterity. (Applause.) I believe, I will hope,
let us all hope, that the day is not distant when her Ma-
jesty's Ministers, in the name of our gracious Sovereign,
may propose measures for the accomplishment of this great
and noble object; and whenever that day may arrive I,
for one, will not believe that Parliament will refuse its
support ; I will not believe that the Parliament of England
will then be slow to recognise that great principle enunci-
ated in those eloquent words which you have already heard
to-night—" The people want knowledge, and it must be
given theni."
The right hon. baronet resumed his seat amid prolonged
applause. His address occupied nearly two hours.
A vote of thanks was passed to Sir J. Pakington for his
address, and another to the chairman.

THE "ALLOT.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Stn,—Will you favour me by inserting in your paper
the accompanying letter, addressed to the editor of the
Times.—l am, &c,,

F. HENRY F. BERKELEY.
Victoria-quare, Nov. 19.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Victoria-square, Nov. 18.

Sir,—lf the ballot be like unto a mangy fox, still the
:ox is a beast of venerle, and has a right, even when
edisposed, to be hunted down by a fair sportsman and a
;horougl .red pack of hounds, and not to be pulled down
by a vulpicide aided by a sharp-bitten shepherd's cur.
Now my regret is, that the Times has ever employed•
the sharp-bitten cur, and not a fair pack of hounds, in
attempting to worry the ballot fox, and the shepherd's
cur on this occosion halts so lamentably that he cannot
catch it. In the first place, allow me to ask, what credit
it is that I should redeem with reformers? The Times,
of course, never shifts its course, never wheels about,
never one moment brings, its tremendous power to bear,
with the determination to lower and crash, and in the
next moment uplifts its most dulcet notes to raise and
encourage ; t►e Times, of course, has nothing to redeem
—its political character is spotless as snow.
The Times never contradicts itself, and standing
proudly conscious in its own position of unerring judg-
ment, honest principle, and unity of purpose, it can af-
ford to rail at less perfection. Still the Times, as it is
great and virtuous, should be just. During eighteen
years I am not aware of ever having had a single vote or
a single sentiment to recall, nor have • I ever lost any
credit which it is necessary to redeem. In that respect
I hope humbly, but confidently, that I am at least equal
to the Times ; but since that great organ has decided
that am "a very conservative of conservatives" on all
practical questions, I would respectfully commend this
discovery Only friends, the conservatives of Bristol, who
as yet have not become so enlightened. I pass now from
the personality of the Times to its attempt at argument,
and I find that it consists in the reiteration of an asset
tion which a reference to "Hansard" will show to have
been utterly knocked to pieces. The English people,
forsooth, are so loose of counsel that they cannot con-
ceal that which it would be ruin to divulge. This garru-
lous people manage to conceal from those who could or
would make a bad use of them, the secrets of their
business and other important matters—not to mention
the minor secrets of Masonry, Odd•fellowship, Forestry,
Druidism, and other secret institutions. A man's ♦ote
is, according to the Times, the one thing he cannot
keep to himself. Chatterers can conceal the votes they
give in clubs, and in the election of every conceivable
officer for every conceivable place, but they cannot con-
ceal their votes for members of Parliament ! Is such a
miserable farrago of nonsense worthy of the great ability
of the Times ? Can you urge nothing better than that ?
Stick to your cur with its sharp teeth of sarcasm and
ridicule, for when you try at sophistry on this subject,
as I have often pointed out, you fail. Who in England
is so glad of the protection bf secreirl and irresponsi-
bility as the Times? Who would be tempted to write
your clever and severe articles without the protection of
that principle which is solely and entirely the principle
of the ballot ? When your writers make an onslaught on
the Liteans, Cardigans, or Vanes ; when they apply lan-
guage beyond that admitted by the allowance of society
to individuals, are not they glad to seek the protection
of secresy—that protection which you deny to the
elector? I am the last man to object to this protec-
tion for the writers in the press, but the elector's duty
is equally onerous, and he has an equal right to be
cared for. I find the following able argument on this
subject in a speech made lately at Liskeard by the vice-
chairman of the Ballot Society :—" Who is the Times?
What is the Times? The Times is the secret work of a
few unknown men. Not one reader of it in a hundred
knows the names of the men who write in it. Not one
n a thousand knows who wrote any particular article.
This is a secret, irresponsible power, and is it there-
fore to be condemned ? No, the welfare of the people
requires the independence of the press. The indepen-
dence of the press reqaires that its writers be unknown ;
and just as the welfare of the people requires the inde-
pendence of Parliament, the independence of Parliament
respires that the constituencies be independent, and in
order That the constituencies be independent it is neces-
sary that :be votes of the electors be secret and un-
known." The cases are alike, and the parity of reasoning
unanswerable.

As regards the a,seertion that the ballot is a failure in
America, the Timcs otily condescends to repeat its former
assertion. Now I have completely answered all the
Times has ever said on this subject—vide " Hansard"
for 1846 and 1847 ; and last session I have shown, by
the evidence of distinguished Americans, that wherever
the ballot is preserved in its integrity in that country it
is perfectly ;successful, and is accompanied by purity of
election and perfect order, as in Holland, Belgium, Swit
zerlaud, and Sardinia, but that iu those states of Ame-
rica where the ballot is loosely maintained exactly the
reverse is found to be the case. The pro-slavery party
in America have made every attempt to defeat purity
of election by upsetting the vote by ballot, hich alccne
protects the abolitionists of slavery in giving their vote,t,
and the absence of which would compel thousands to
give a false vote or submit to Lynch law. With this
evidence already before the pUblic, and more which I
have access to and trust to make known, I can venture
to meet the assertion of the Times by a direct contradic
tioo, and to assert that recent events have strongly im-
pressed all good Americans with the necessity not only
of maintaining, but of further protecting the inviolability
of this glorious institution. The letters of your Ame-
rican correspondent I have carefully read ; they do not
bear out your assertion that every man's vote is known
in America. Neither, do I apprehend, was your cor-
respondent present at the elections in each of the 31
i
states of the union ; the system of ballot is different n
nearly every State, and before you can assume the uni-
versal failure of the ballot in America you must give
more exact information,. New York, from which the
letter in Tuesday's Times was dated, has of all States
the most 1 rose and imperfect system of ballot. While
alluding to foreign countries I invite your attention to
the evidence from Belgium, which I inclose, and which I
shall feel obliged by your inserting with this letter.
One last word, sir. 1 really do not think that I need
free myself from tie charge of being a conservative and
of wishing to keep everything as it is, becawe I desire
the cathedral service of the Church o England to be re-
tained in its purity and integrity. We have luckily at the
present moment organists appointed to cathedrals who are
scientific musicians, and lay clerks among whom there
are some of the best English vocalists. The boys of
our cathedral choirs have a rigid musical education, and
the choir itself has beautifally,devotional and difficult
music to perform, which would' be utterly ruined if al-
lowed to be joined in by the unlearned squalling of
charity children or amateur psalm singers. The same
sort of effect would be produced if the ladies and gentle-
men in the stalls of the opera put in some finishing vocal
touches
to Viardot or Mario. The Times may consider
per remiss in opposing such reforms, and may think the
introduction of a gentleman with a bassoon and a male
and female choir of charity children a desirable reform
in our cathedral service ; I c •nfess I am on that point
conservative enough to desire to hear a good organplayed by a scientific organist, with a choir of well-in-
structed singers, and I believe such to be more devo-
tional in its effects ; but there is no accounting far
tastes.—l am, &c., F. HENRY F. JERKELEY.

gc sir,—The society formed for the purpose of ro;
curing the establishment, at elections for members °I
of the English Parliament, of !voting in secret, or by
ballot, are anxious to obtain information as to the
reasons for establishing secret voting in Belgium, and
its operation in that country. The society have seen,
the `Commentary on the Electoral Laws of Belgium,
of which you are. the author. That work has convinced
them that you are the most proper person to whontito
apply for the information have l they seek, and they
direc-
ted me, as thea. secretary, to address to' you thislett.oe r..
"Your position, sir, as author of a work of such ao tb
rity as your 'Commentary' will, I hope, be accepted as
sufficient apalogy for the trouble I give you.
d of the " You arts
no doubt aware that the friends
liberty and, independence of electors desirethee
electors
destablish
1 ment of s ecret voting, or the bal lot, to prevent
being unuly influenced in
the uosred of their suffrage by
s: and other persons
their employers, creditors, landlords,
on whom they may be dependent.
," Our society believe that, for the flame reasoil the