The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-02 00:00:00

The Rev. J. ADDISON seconded the motion.

All the motions were carried by accclamation,
and the enthusiastic meeting concluded with a vote
of thanks to the chairman.

MEETING AT LEEDS.

A crowded public meeting was held in the Vic-
toria Hall, at Leeds, on Thursday evening, for
the purpose of taking into consideration the pro-
positions for Parliamentary Reform which have
lately been .made by ,the Government. Mr.
Joseph Lupton was called to the chair. Resolu-
tions were unanimously adopted condemnatory of
the mode of procedure pursued by the Government
respecting reform, and declaratory of an opinion
that the Ministerial proposition in respect of a re-
distribution of seats is unsatisfactory ; that it is
utterly inadequate as an extension of the franchise ;
and that no measure which does not give votes to a
much larger number of working men than would be
enfranchised by a £6 rating, or by the bill intro-
duced by the late Government last session, will pro-
mote the real interests of the nation, or satisfy the
just claim of the working classes. Speaking in ad-
vocacy of the first resolution,
Mr. BAINES, M.P., said he agreed with those
who considered that the great expression of public
opinion which had taken place since the Liberal
party relinquished office had brought about the
present still more promising position of affairs. He
believed the position of the Government and their
friends was one of vexation the most unbounded at
their infatuatel folly last year in not accepting the
very moderate measure that was then offered to
them. 11, e had now, however, extorted from the
Government an acknowledgment that they cannot
be irresponsible when they bring forward a mea-
sure of such vast importance. The more the Li-
beral party saw of the Government measure the less
it was liked. The Government party feel that
it is too much for them to give, and at the same
time know that it is too little for the country to
receive. There is a notorious defection within the
Cabinet itself. lie had been assured on very good
authority that the plan proposed by Mr. Disraeli on
the Sunday to bring forward was actually changed
before the Monday afternoon. He happened to be
passing Downing-street on his way to the House of
Commons at the time that numbers of the Tories
were coming out of the official residence of Lord
Derby there, and never did he see such long or such
pale faces. And when he sat opposite to them in
the house of Commons the universal remark was,
" What an aspect of utter dejection there is upon
the Tory party !" In his experience of the House
of Commons he could not remember ever to have
seen an example of such entire confusion in any
great party in the House. In regard to the Liberal
party, he was happy that he could report their
position to be one of union, and, what is better,
of re-union. And he was proud to say that Mr.
Gladstone bad conducted the party since the
meeting of the house this year with a degree of
dignity, of courtesy, of patience, and of skilful
management, which nothing could surpass.
The general effect of the Ministerial propositions
with regard to the working classes would be to en-
franchise about 100,000, where the bill brought in
by the late Government would have given votes to
twice that number. The votes given by the fancy
franchises of the Government plan would be given
chiefly to the middle classes. He believed that the
measure would have an effect of disfranchising almost
all those whose rates are now paid by the owners
rather than the occupiers. The passing of such a
bill would not settle this great question. The choice
of the Government was this : they must either bring
in a good bill and split their own party, or they
must introduce a bad one and be turned out of
office. The Liberal party, he could say positively,
would not take a bill embodying the present pro-
positions.

LIVERPOOL COTTON MARKET.
(This Day.)

The Market opens with a fair demand. Sales
probably 8,000 bales.

TUE CARTOONS OF RAPHAEL IN TAPESTRY.—It
was at Arras that the world-famed Cartoons of Raphael
were copied in tapestry. They were painted expressly for
this purpose, and the work was intended to decorate tho
walls of the Vatican. Two of Raphael's own pupils super-
intended it, but tho weavers appear to have had much more
regard for their own convenience in working than respect
for the fine arts, for they cut the masterly productions
into strips, and when they had done with them throw
them into the store-rooms of the manufactory,
where they were ultimately destroyed in the " troublous
times" which soon afterwards overtook the country.
There were 30 of these cartoons originally ; of these only
seven are now left—the seven that are in the South Ken-
sington Museum. Their pilgrimages were far and wide,
their vicissitudes great, in their early days. They
were carried away by the Spanish army during the sack of
Rome in 1526, and only restored by the zeal and generosity
of the French General Montmorenci. In 1798 they were
carried by the French to Leghorn, and there sold to a Jew,
who had the barbarity to bu►!n one of them to see how
much gold he could extract ft6m it ! Fortunately theex-
periment was not so profitable as ho expected, so that the
rust were spared ; and after being repurchased for upwards
of a.,thousand crowns, were restored to the Vatican—Lady
Scott im "TheAulett.7