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THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 18, 1860,

applied, though they might not produce such splen-
did results, they would issue in great and consi-
derable advantage to themselves and to society.
(Hear, hear, and applause.) Whilst on this sub-
ject he alluded to the death of Robert Stephenson
and of Brunel; of Hallam and Macaulay; of Pres-
cott and Washington Irving; and lastly to the
death of Dr. Erskine, late dean of Ripon, who had
done so much to promote the education of the
people in mechanics' institutes. (Applause.) He
urged the necessity of studying political economy,
in order to become aware of the action of social
laws on society, and said that if the laws which
governed the re!ations of capital and labour, as
inevitably as those which governed the physical
world, had bean as generally diffused and attended
to, they would never have heard of the building strike
with all its attendant miseries and heartburnings.
A leader of that strike had said that if political
economy was against them so much the worse for
political economy. He might as well have said, on
going into a district infected with fever, that if the
fever seized him so much the worse for the fever.
Political economy id not profess to discover any-
thing, but certainly to point out the laws which
governed capital and labour—the relation between
the employer and the employed. The better, there-
fore, they understood political economy, the better
it would be for the country. Arising out of this
subject were all those philanthropic questions for
ameliorating the condition of the people, and
amongst these he might mention the reformatory
system as one in which he was more particularly
interested. That system had originated in the con-
viction that it was wrong to treat the offences of a
child in the same manner as those of an adult, and
the consequent adoption of a mode of dealing with
such offenders more in accordance with justice and
sound political economy. The result, he believed,
would be to strike at the root of a great portion of
crime, and he hoped that these children, instead of
passing from one offence to another until they
reached the gallows, would be restored to society,
and all the evils and cost of their crime avoided.
(Applause.) He congratulated them on the general
diminution of crime in the country, and on the
national prosperity and the well-being of all
classes, and continued by alluding to the mili-
tary spirit which had developed itself during
the past year. Though that spirit had only been
manifested during the last few months, it had long
been preparing. In his opinion the English
people had long watched the course of events on
the Continent, and become satisfied that with the
invention of steam they were not so secure as for-
merly in their little island home. At the same
time the military spirit of the Continent al ways made
it possible for some mad enterprise to be undertaken
whenever England was thought to be insecure and
undefended. Let it, however, be onto understood
all over Europe that the military spirit of England
was not extinct, that their youth were being trained
to the use of arms, that they would submit to no
foreign interference, but would defend their shores
to the utmost, and they would hear little of threats
of foreign invasion. (Hear, hear.) It was a truly
pacific policy, for whilst valuable as a means of de-
fence, it could not be used for purposes of aggres-
sion. (Hear, hear.) He :was glad to see this apart
from any notion of invasion, because the idea of
two civilised nations coming into collision with each
other was so horrible that he hardly could contem-
plate it for a moment. (Hear, hear.) He concluded
with a prayer that Providence would long forbid
such a calamity. (Applause.)

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tion had taken place in behalf of reform, still he
believed there was a widespread feelng throughout
the country that a revision in the representation of
the people was indispensable. (Hear, hear.) At
present the aristocratic element predominated, and
the popular voice could not command that weight
it ought to do ; but it was not merely by an ex-
tension of the franchise that Reform could bring
about those changes essential to the welfare
of the country ; it was by a redistribution
of members in proportion to wealth, se as not to
allow small pocket boroughs—which were nothing
more than rotten boroughs—to have the effect of
neutralising large ones like Manchester. The disclo-
sures which had recently taken place in the investi-
gations at Gloucesterand Wakefield were an index of
the state of those constituencies, th, disclosures sur-
prising even those who were familiarly acquainted
with electoral tactics ; and when a House of Commons
was returned like that, it was not surprising that
charge; should be made against it, more especially
upon looking at the large subsidies given to secure
a majrority upon a critical division. (Hear.) There
were other questions to be brought before the house
deserving of attentive consideration, and among
them was the Chinese war. That war had been
terminated, and a treaty entered into between the
Chinese authorities and Lord Elgin, which was
deemed satisfactory ; but in attempting to compel
tne signing of it a fresh outbreak took place. Mr.
Bruce assumed that he was called upon to exercise
force instead of awaiting fresh orders from home ;
and instead of going with a single vessel, when if
refused he might have retired from the mouth of
the Pei-ho with dignity, he went with a fleet with
which it was impossible to retreat, and a landing
was attempted which proved seriously disastrous.
Considerable naval and military forces were being
sent out, and it was to be hoped that the war would
bo terminated as speedily as possible ; but our
diplomatists should now be instructed not to stand

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MR. MONCKTON MILNE'S. M.P., ON

IfEC.H.d.hrICS' INSTITUTES.

The annual soiree of the Pontefract Mechanics'
Institution was held on Monday night in the Town
Hall, when Mr. R. M. Milnes, M.P. for the bo-
rough, addressed the large audience. The hon.
gentleman said he desired to express the pleasure
which it afforded him to witness the increasing in-
terest manifested in these institutions. It was
natural that this should be the case. The farmer

when he put his seed into the ground expected to
reap the fruit; and those connected with these
institutions naturally expected that year after year
would produce an increased interest in their wel-
fare, and that the young, growing up in life, would
remember that they had derived advantages from
them, and would induce others of the same age also
to take advantage of them. (Hear, hear.) He did
not know whether it was by accident or not, but it
seemed to be the fact, that these meetings were
held at the end of the old year or the beginning of
the new, and he thought it was well that it was so,
for there was no time in which thoughtful men
could better meet together to take stock of the past
and hope for the future. In truth, education, such
as institutions of this kind professed to give, was
really nothing more than year after year teaching
them by tke dictates of experience, showing them
that however much they might advance in years
they might not always advance in wisdom ; and at
the same time showing them that they really had
as much to learn as the youngest child amongst
them. (Applause.) The mayor and the vicar had
alluded to the advantages of these institutions to
all classes, and he might add that amongst the
studies which were laid open to the members of
them there was hardly one which did not receive
some illustration from passing events. (Hear, hear.)
It was important, no doubt, to study history, and,
above all things, valuable to study and understand
the history of their. own country, and especially
the history of what was going on in their own day
—of the events in which they themselves took
part. (Hear, hear.) Somebody had said that if
every man wrote a diary—no matter how unimpor-
tanttis sphere of duty and insignificant his acts, yet
there would be a great interest at the end of the year
in what he had recorded. How much greater, then,
must be the importance and value of the events of
1 the stirring times in which they lived. (Hear,
hear.) He did not know that he could do better
that evening than direct their attention to the
events which had occurred during the last 12
months of their existence. (Hear.) Perhaps the
most eventful point of the year, constituting, as it
were the turning point of the time, was the history
of the rise and progress of the military and warlike
spirit in Europe. They would remember that
in the year when they visited the Great Exhibition
of the Industry of All Nations, many of them in-
dulged in the belief that wars between civilised na-
tions were almost, if not altogether, at an end, and
that they were to meet in a common jubilee of in-
dustry and amusement, but the dream had been dis-
pelled, and events had occurred which showed not
only that their ambitions were the same, but that
the difficulties and confusions of mankind were the
same ; which showed also that in these times brute
force could not be said to be more extinct than it
was 100, they might even say than it was 1,000
years ago. The great event of the year had been
the incursion in Italy by the French army, and the
political consequences which had resulted from it.
He was not going into disputed politics, but it
would be remembered that when he spoke on
this subject at the last election he found a gene-
ral accordance with his own views, namely, that
while England hail a right to remain entirely apart
from that contest, the sympathies of the country
were on the side of the liberty and independence of
the Italian people. (Applause.) And it was in-
teresting to see that how, without spending is. or
risking a single drop of blood, the moral action of
the English people, and their desire and hope had,
whilst apparently doing nothing, maintained the
power of this country abroad ; and the belief of
the Italian people was that England was the
best friend they had in the world. (Hear, hear.)
He was one of the few persons who considered the
peace of Villafranca much more for Europe and for
Italy than was supposed. In the first place, he
saw that the enormous bloodshed which had been
going on was stayed,and next that the large district of
Lombardy was taken away from a foreign nation
and restored to a free and national government.
These were great advantages, and he did not join
in the outcry against the peace because everything
was not gained that was hoped for and expected.
That was the language he held in the House of
Commons, and the events which had occurred had
strengthened his conviction that he was right.
Every month, every week, almost every day, deve-
loped and extended the prospects if Italian liberty
and independence, and within the last few weeks
there was every reason to believe that all that was
attempted by that expedition was being realised
without further bloodshed, and without further re-
course to arms. (Applause.) On the other side of
the water, in the United States, there had also been
a political difficulty, with respect to which he was
happy to say the American Government had acted
with great prudence, great good sense, and great
confidence in the good intentions of England.
(Hear, hear.) He was always glad when he could
speak well of what he could not help calling his
fellow-countrymen on the other side of the Atlantic.
He might say, however, that in the progress of that
great country it is more and more painful, though
useful, to see how that unsocial and unchristian in-
stitution of slavery carried with it inevitable evils,
confusion, and complication (hear, hear) —and
however great the progress of that nation in other
matters, yet the recurrence of such events as the
outbreak at Harper's Ferry, against which there
was no security, was a solemn warning to all man-
kind, that however great the progress of the
nation, without social liberty, the permanent pros-
perity of a people could not be secured. (Ap-
plause.) Another subject of study demanding
their attention was that of geography, which had
been rendered necessary by the varied news from
all parts of the globe, with which their newspapers
now abounded. (Hear, hear.) In connection with
this subject, he alluded to the important dis-
coveries of Livingstone and Burton, in open-
ing out a portion of Africa which had hitherto
been supposed to be an uninhabited desert, and to
the expedition of Captain M'Clintock in search of
Sir John Franklin, which had resulted in the dis-
covery of the fate of that gallant explorer, and of
the brave men who accompanied him. Another sub-
ject of study incidentally connected with laiptory
was that of biography, affording them as it did a
review of the lives of the great men whose career
had closed on earth, but whose example was still
before them. The extent to which biographies
were read showed how anxious they were to know
the circumstances under which others had lived.
Englishmen were especially interested in the lives
of those who had risen in life and who had been
born in the lower classes of society. He remem-
bered once being in the society of a nobleman who
who had risen to the highest judicial rank entirely
by his own exertions, and who said, " I can con-
owe nothing happier than the life of a man who
was born in the lowest condition of society compa-
tible with good education, and who through life
has gradually risen to the highest position.' Such
a man was George Stephenson, whose life every
one ought to read. From that life they would see
the advantage of a strong will acting in combina-
tion with good moral intentions and a high order
of intellect. He admitted that such a high order
of intellect could not be the gift of many, but there
were many who had the same power of self-con-
trol, of resisting temptation,._ and of fixing their
minds upon one subject, and if those powers were

MR. CONING YAM .AND HIS

CO2ITSTITU.ENTS.

(From the Brighton Examiner.)
The large upper room at the Town-hall was
densely crowded on Monday evening to hear an
address from our respected and Liberal member,
Mr. Coningham, previously to the reassembling of
Parliament for the ensuing session, in accordance
with his promise to do so at the end of each session.
The chair was occupied by Mr. M. Ricardo.

Mr. CONINGIIAM was loudly cheered- on rising,
and after thanking the meeting for accepting his
invitation in such force, said the last time he had
the pleasure of addressing them was on the occa-
sion of the elections. The Tory party deemed it
necessary to make an appeal to the country against
a verdict of the House of Commons, and Brighton,
amongst a majority of the constituencies of this great
kingdom, ratified that verdict. (Cheers.) The ques-
tion upon which that party were defeated was
ostensibly a domestic one—the question of the
Reform Bill, but a greater and a still more impor-
tant one lay behind it—it was the question of the
foreign policy of the country. (Hear, hoar.) The
policy of the Derby Government was essentially an
Austrian one, not a Liberal one ; but one opposed
to the opinions of the population of this mighty
empire ; and if the people—he used the word in
its broad sense—had not come forward, and de-
cided in the emphatic manner they did to put
a check upon the game which the Tories were
playing, England would have been within six
months engaged in a war with Francs, a war
which would have been fraught with
dis-
astrous consequences to the whole civilised
world. (Applause.) He had on many occasions
most strongly expressed his conviction—and he
repeated it—that the true peace policy is to keep in
close alliance with that great nation, whose true
interests were identified with our own. (Hear,
hear, and cheers.) It was, then, upon this question
of foreign policy that the vote of "no confidence"
was given in the House of Commons. Before the
division took place a meeting was called by the
Whig party; it was of the utmost importance that
the whole of the Liberal party should be united on
the vote about to be given, for a dozen votes would
have turned the scale; and, therefore, it was most
important that all should be consulted. The prin-
cipal movers were Lord Palmerston and Lord John
Russell, who entered into a full explanation of this
foreign and domestic policy, and they pledged
themselves, moreover, that the claims of the three
parties into which the Liberals were divided should
be represented in the Government which should be
formed ; the Pealites and Radicals, or the more ad-
vanced portion of the Liberal party—and the
Whigs were to be considered, and have their claims
recognised in the formation, or rather, re-canstrue-
tion of the Administration ; and how that promise
was fulfilled every one present was well acquainted
with. The Whigs, who seemed to think that place
was their birthright, took the lion's share ; the
Peelites, who, as a wag described them, were al-
ways putting themselves up to auction and buying
themselves in—(laughter)—were also fully, recog-
nised; but when the Radical or more Liberal
party were to be considered—though they num-
bered four times as many as the others—Mr. Sib-
son was offered a place which was accepted, and
Mr. Cobden was offered one ; but, as was antici-
pated, it was refused. (Hear.) Therefore, in the
construction of the Government, differing but a
very little from the old coalition one, justice was
not done to the Liberal party. (Hear.) But it was
not " place" which was wanted ; the possession of
" place" was the possession of " power," and to this
the Liberal party laid considerable claims ; and
when vacancies took place, they should be filled
from the Liberal party, and not be mere ministerial
seats for family benefit. (Cheers.) S 3 much for
the" party" question. The elections were a great
triumph for the popular party of the country, in
spite of. the influence of the Tories, the Court, and
the Coburgs ; and the Liberals gained the day, and
obtained a majority on their side of the House of
Commons. The most important questions were then
at stake; the movements of the French Emperor
were assuming a very formidable appearance ; the
expectations of the Italians had been aroused and
excited ; he had been looked upon as the emanci-
pator of Italy ; and by a kind of electric influence,
the whole of the Liberal party in Italy and Hun-
gary were aroused from their long slumber into
action, and although the campaign was prematurely
ended, there was sufficient feeling in the Hun-
garian nation and Scandinavian troops of Aus-
tria to show that the Austrian empire was very
seriously compromised. It was unnecessary to
recount the history of the campaigns which took
place in the Peninsula, and he passed on to the
more important question of the peace of Villa-
franca. It was true Napoleon appeared to give
way to the Austrian, but it was clear that he
had formed a resolution not to coerce the States
of the Italian Peninsula, where the people had
most unmistakeably declared themselves in favour
of Piedmont, and for the formation of the northern
States of Italy into a united kingdom ; and though
it was impossible then to accede to that request,
ultimately their wishes must be fulfilled. (Ap-
plause.) It was impossible for the Pope and the
Kaiser to coerce those States. A struggle was
likely to be made by the Papal Government to still
maintain its temporal power, but the existence of
it was incompatible with the peace of Europe ; and
he looked forward to no distant time to see the
complete emancipation of the whole Italian Penin-
sula. (Applause.) Turning from our foreign policy
to our domestic
. policy, Mr. Coningliam said it ap-
peared to him that we were approaching a session
which was likely to be fraught with most impor-
tant results to the community. Though no mita-

upon mere littoral arrangements, but look more to
substantial advantages to be obtained by the open-
ing of the Yang -tse•kiang, and the obtaining pos-
session of the Grand Canal, by which the revenues
of the country would be at our disposal. Turning
to our Indian possessions, we may view them with
satisfaction—the mutiny had been successfully
terminated by Lord Clyde's active exertions, by,
which large 'forces would be at our disposol for hos-
tilities in China. Reverting to our domestic policy,
the hon. member proceeded to say there was one
question closely connected with representation, and
that was the system of taxation. He confessed he
had perused with great interest the scheme of Mr.
Bright--(hear, hear)—but he did not agree in all
the points ; still he thought the outcry made against
that gentleman most unwarrantable. (Cheers.)
He believed Mr. Bright had given expression in
many of his speeches to sentiments held by a very
considerable portion of the population •, but with
his financial scheme he (Mr. Coningham) was
in doubt, for he did not think a tax upon fixed
capital would be beneficial. (Hear, hear.) The
duty on tea, coffee, sugar, &c., could only be re-
duced by retrenchment, and he hoped to see that;
and also hoped to see that Mr. Gladstone would be
able to bring forward a measure to abolish a most
obnoxious tax—the paper duty. (Cheers.) It had
been designated, and truly so, "a tax upon know-
ledge," and he believed that half the misery in the
world was occasioned by ignorance—(hear, hear)—
therefore every means to dispel that ignorance
should be used, and a repeal of the paper duties
would bring a newspaper to every man's door.
(Hear, hear.) There was one more point in the
catalogue of Liberal policy to which he should re-
fer—that was the ballot. The history of that ques-
tion was a very strange one. Sometimes the ques-
tion appeared to be gaining ground, then it receded,
then it recovered its position, and again died away
as if there was a want of sincerity in the demand
for it. He was not aware that Government were
prepared to take action upon it, and he thought it
must remain an open question, for even the Liberal
party themselves were divided in opinion respecting
it. He had ever bee' a strong advocate for the French
alliance, but that opinion was not shared by many
people of this country; many distrusted, and not
without considerable ',rounds, the friendship of the
Emperor of the French ; but this final step which
he had taken was calculated to promote good feel-
ing between the two countries. (Cheers.) If free
trade be opened between France and England they
will take our raw material in exchange for their
manufactured article; and that would conduce
greatly to that wise policy of peace which he hoped
would prove successful. And as the Emperor had
shown himself thus far sincere in his desire to re-

__ . ....
concile the interests of the two nations, England
was bound to make use of her powerful influence in
behalf of those depressed countries now struggling
for liberty. (Hea:, hear.) Mr. Coningham next
dwelt upon the blow which Louis Napoleon had
dealt the Pope, one which he trusted the Papacy
would never recover, because a Government which

possessed such a baneful influence and exercised it

was a curse upon the people under it. (Applause.)
He was making no appeal to religious fanaticism,
but what he said was the conviction of his mind ;
and he was convinced that the Papal Government
and the principles it embodied were incompatible
with liberty, and Europe would have to choose be-
tween Liberty and Papacy, for if the Pope and the
Kaiser were successful they would bind the hands
and the souls of men in a darkness which would

diffuse itself throughout the whole of Europe ;
and he could not believe that was the destiny
of those mighty nations. (Applause.) The
honourab'e member proceeded to show why
France and England could not quarrel ; and after
urging upon the constituencies of England to call
for .a real reform bill and not take a sham one, he
concluded with a few observations upon America,
remarking that no nation rhich encouraged slavery
could do well. They might hang that noble fellow
John Brown, but they could not prevent the result
of his martyrdom. (Appl Luse.) He was mistaken,
and did not set to work in the right way, but he
was sincere and honest in what he did, and if there
were a few such men there would soon be freedom
on the European continent, and even on the other
aide of the Atlantic. Mr. Coningham again thanked
the meeting for their attendance and attention, and
resumed his seat amidst loud cheers.
Lieut.-Colonel FAWCETT, after some observations,
moved the following resolution :—" That this meet-
ing returns its thanks to Mr. W. Coningham, our
excellent representative, for the bold exposition of
his political views; and also expresses its cordial
approbation of the general course of conduct pur-
sued by him in Parliament."
Mr. Alderman BURROWS seconded the motion.
Mr. HOMEWOOD, a railway operative, said he
was rather disappointed that Mr. Coningham did
not touch upon the question of taxation, and would
like to hear his opinion thereon •, and also upon
church rates. Mr. Coningham had said that it did
not appear that the people in this country wished
for the ballot, because they made no demonstration
for it ; but he (Mr. Homewood) thought the people
wanted it the more for that, because they were too
intelligent to rabble and mob for that which they
believe to be just and belonged to them. (Cheers.)
Mr. CONINGIIAM rose to give a few words of ex-
planation to the observations of Mr. Homewood;
and said, upon the question of the income tax, and
its unfair pressure upon certain clauses of the com-
munity, he for one was as strongly opposed to it as
any one could be, if the credit of the country could
be maintained consistently without it. He believed
that an income tax was less injurious than a direct
tax upon capital. With regard to the question of
retrenchment, he was not acquainted with any mem-
ber of the house who had expressed himself more
strongly upon the question than he had ; and he was
free to say that the boundless prodigality of the
House of Commons it was impossible to conceive
until one had sat in it for some time. (Hear.)
Millions were voted away as though they were so
many pence. The reason for this prodigality had
been clearly pointed out by Mr. Bright on various
occasions. The words which he (Mr. Coningham)
had inscribed upon his banner were " Reform, Re-
trenchment, and Peace." With regard to the ques•
tion of church rates he need only refer to the part
he took with respect to the resistance of the rates
in Brighton. As to the ballot, he had always voted
for it, and he had also subscribed to the Ballot
Society—(cheers)—and on every occasion, when he
had had the opportunity, ho had always expressed
a most decided opinion in its favour. (Cheers.)
The resolution was then put and carried unani-
mously, amid loud and reiterated cheers.
The meeting then separated.

FATAL GUN ACCIDENT.—A distressing accident
occurred on Monday at Treborough, near Dunster, Somer-
set. Mr. Henry Paul, wine and spirit merchant, of Clifton,
who had been on a visit to his brother-in-law, Mr. Fuidge,
of Treborough, went out shooting, and in the course of the
day, having discharged one of the barrels of his gun, pro-
ceeded to reload it, unmindful that the other barrel was
charged and the trigger at half-cock. The accident, which
has frequently before occurred, happened in this instance.
On the insertion of the ramrod the loaded barrel exploded,
and its contents, entering the eye of the unfortunate gentle-
man, completely blew off the upper part of the head, and
death was of course instantaneous. Mr. Paul, who held a
high position among the trading community of Bristol, and
was universally respected, has left a widow and a large.
fAntily to deplore his untimely death.