The Sun.
London, England, 1856-05-21 00:00:00

SECRET TREATY.

In reply to a qu,stion from the Marquis of GRANBY,
Lord PALMERSTON said no other treaty but that
laid on the table bad been concluded by the allied
Powers.

CORPORATION REFORII BILL.

In reply to Mr. BALL,
Sir G. GREY ,aid he did not think this bill could be
taken into consideration before Monday next.
TUE LATE FATA.L, A.CTIDEST AT
WOOLWICH.

[n reply to Mr. M. CH.IIII3EIIB,
Mr. F. PEEL said he was unable to say whether
the acci•.lent at Woolwich arose from the men being
engaged in manufacturing prrcuision caps or the fire-
works for the ensuing pea,ee celebi ation.
THE BALLOT.

Mr. Et. BERKELEY said that, pursuant to the no-
tice he had given, he rose to renew his entreaties to the
house to permit him to pass such a measure as might
extricate the electi)rs of Great Britain and Ireland from
the sad state of hutniliation and degradati in int ) which,
as he thought, they were at present plunged ttirough the
instru,mentality of open voting. It was, indeed, an en-
pleasant task to undertake, because while acknowledging
the induli,ence he had ever receivel fr on the house, and
especially from 11,)t) gentlemen opposed to him in
polities, he at the tame time knew the question was so
abhorrent to many members that he should not be sur-
prised if, applying to' hire the words of the poet, they
should ray that he was aintut—

"To cleave
The general ear
With %errant 'speech."
Sysiphian as was the taskhe had uodertaken, if he could
only roll the stone to the summit of the hill, or even only
halt way, he felt a conviction that it would be sustained
by the labours; rf who suoceeded him, and that the
people would, through the spread of education, the more
general diffusion of knowledge, and a proper apprecia-
tion of the value of the franchise, be enabled to claim
that as a right which be was now humbly craving for
them as a boon. Before he ix (weeded to grapple snore
closely with the question he might, perhaps, be permitted
to point out. to the house the-precise podtion in which it
stood. When last he had the honour of addressing them
on this subject he instanced a vast number of members
in that house, and ofdistingui-hed persons out of it, who
at one period or other had advocated this question. The
great tnajor!ty of these might still retain their convictions.
Some, it was true, had changed their opinions ; but it was
remarkable that many of those who bad changed their
opinions had ii.tewise ch eng,eil their politics ; and the few
who had not changed their politici had changed their con-
stituencies, and instead of representing large free bo-
roughs, in which something like public opinion existed,
they now represented counties, where 'the ballot was'
deemed a heresy again.st the landlords, or those rotten
boroughs, which were alio wed to blur the lair faces of the
Reform Bill to please a Whig nobility, ' from a partic's
pation in which they were unable to exclude the Tories,
such imoughs being, therefore, as much their own as
their boo es in 13elgraviaor Grosvenor-park. He confessed
that he could not view this as a party question, and
was unable so to argue it. It had, however, been. made
a party qoestton by the Tony gentlemen in this country.
He had nothirig to do with that ; he should treat it as an
open question above b•iard. True,-it had been made an
open question by Whig Miu;sters. Was be grateful f
that? He confessed that he was not, because he knew
that a Whig Ministry dare not make it a close question.
If they did, the majority of their supporters being in its
favour, they would lose their places. This was a very un-
pleasant question for a Whig Ministry tecope with, for
many reasons. In the &art place, when they attempted
to reply to the arguments in favour of the ballot they
I oked to the opposite breeches for cheers, and when t'ey
,t.nt into .the lobby.they. wear. in a select body opposed
to their friende, and joined themselves on to the tail of
the Tories, thereby securing 4 victory over their own