The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-18 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JANUARY 18, 18&7

when they chanced to meet them, they would draw
a good many to their side. No doubt the Conserva-
tives were strong enough to gain the contest in Col-

chester without their assistance, but still it would
be a stiffish fight when it came to the struggle
for the double seats ; they might depend in any case

upon his doing his best, with his friend Mr. Kars.
lake, to carry the day. They would make a good

fight upon it, and if he had the honour at any future
time to represent the borough, he should be happy
to assist in every way in furthering its interests, as

well as the imperial interests of the country. The
_ _

amount of liberality and charity exhibited in the
town during the present severe weather was surpris-
ing, and he should consider it his duty to support
the various charitable interests of the town as much

as possible. (Hear, hear.) One word more before he
sat down ; as a Churchman he should support the
Church of England as long as he could stand.
(Cheer s.)
Mr. ICAnSLAKE, Q.C., said he could scarcely ex-
press the gratification with which he witnessed the
present great demonstration. That gratification was
_ .

,wo-fold—first, he could not help feeling the cor-

diality of the reception with which they had grati-
fied his excellent colleague and himself ; and,

secondly, because in meeting in numbers such as he
saw around him, the Conservitive electors of Col-
chester showed that they were not otherwise than
aware of the time in which we lived, and conscious
that we had arrived at a great crisis in our political

history. To borrow an illustration from his own
profession, he might say there was—he would not

say immediately, but before long—a great cause to be
tried, the cause of "Progress v. Revolution ;" and he

was happy to feel that many of those who in the last
House of Commons were sitting opposite to the leader
of the Conservative party were now advocating the
cause of progress ; while their opponents, the advo-
cates of revolution, were, he believed, dwindled day

by day. During the last few weeks since he had
escaped from the drudgery of his profession and be-

come one of her Majesty's counsel, he had been en

deavouring to make himself more worthy to be a re-
presentative of Colchester, as he felt certain he should
one day attain to that position, and he was devoting a
portion of every day to the study of the great subjects
which would certainly come before Parliament dur-

ing the next four or five years. He had taken the
opportunity to look over the revised speeches of some
of our greatest orators—such as the present Chancel-
lor of the Exchequer, Mr. Gladstone (of whom from
his great ability he should never speak otherwise
than with respect), and that enormous demagogue,
but great orator (for everyman should have his due)
Mr. Bright. He (Mr. Karslake) did not regard the
subject of reform as one of paramount importance,
but rather as one which was forcedupon Parliament;
he believed, however, the Government approached
that subject under the best possible circumstances.
He had looked lately over the nine speeches which
were made by Mr. Gladstone, who was one of the
most eloquent and gifted men of this age, and who,
as a Conservative, was ready to serve under Lord
Derby not many years ago ; and really, when he
read Mr. Gladstone's orations he was obliged to re-
mind himself every five minutes that they were
speeches uttered by a Liberal opponent, and not
speeches made on the Conservative side of the House
of Commons. In thelast of Mr. Gladstone's speeches,
when he moved that the orders of the day relating
to the Reform Bill should be discharged, Mr. Glad-
stone said, almost in words which Conservatives
would have uttered, that he deprecated upon prin-
ciple and upon an examination of precedents any
sudden changes in the constituencies. Indeed, so far
did he go, that after having referred to the view
taken of the matter by the present Lord Chief Jus-
tice of the Common Pleas, then Mr. Bovill, who
proposed an £8 franchise for boroughs, Mr. Glad-
stone said that, on the whole, he thought that a £7
franchise, and not a £6 one, was the best; his reason
being that he thought it was not desirable that any
sweeping or extensive changes should be introduced
into the constituencies of this great country. Well,
as one hoping to go to Parliament as a supporter of
Lord Derby'r. Government, what more could he say
upon the subject than this, although he should have
an opportunity at some future time of discussing
with his frionriq nt. enlehrsfort-114,1,.tni1s of the ques-
tion. Further, he found Mr. Gladstone saying that,
putting aside all narrow and selfish considerations, it
would be the duty of the Liberals, if a Ministry more
fortunate than themselves were able to introduce some
fair and prudent scheme for the amendment of
the representation of the people, to give it a fair
and determined support. This language gave him
(Mr. Karslake) a most haply confitlence in the posi-
tion of her Majesty's Government, for if a moderate
measure of Reform were brought forward by the
Government, then not only Mr. Gladstone, but also
those Liberal-Conservatives whom the right hon.
gentleman included in his speech under the term
" we," were bound to support it ; and he (Mr. Kars-
lake) could not believe that a great man like Mr.
Gladstone—a man celebrated in the present day,
but also a man who would live in history—would
violate the pledge which he had given. Revolution
and destruction would never go down with English-
men in the present day ;
_but progress was desired
by them all, and he (Mr. Karslake) believed that
Liberal-Conservatives and Conservative-Liberals
would work together, and enter first upon the ques-
tion of electoral enfranchisement, and, secondly,
upon the question of the redistribution of seats.
The first depended upon statistics which in the spirit
of Mr. Gladstone's first speech must be collected
and investigated with the greatest care ; the second
was a question which it would seem that almost
schoolboys could solve, although somehow or other
things which were most illogical in themselves suc-
ceeded in England. To give an illustration of what
he meant, Colchester, which was able to bring toge-
ther such a meeting as the present had two mem-
bers, while Andover, which he took beacioligoaarueds.reai
ridiculous
popula-
tion stutofi
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firsts
and
gh
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enxeaei
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do only, while
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merely
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oniegneedbtebntoehnneoieurecrewern
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borough
nfhl
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of between 20 and 25,000, should have two mem-
t
bers
boroughte neteei mritere bit ydote
duty,
satpton VthtoabeowawriuPftliohi:apaii
but to the country at large. This was why he said
that the question of electoral reform, although it
was one which must be met, and which could
not be blinked, was not a question which
ought to be regarded by the constituencies of Eng-
land as one of paramount importance. At the same
time, it was a question, which must be, and which
would be, met by her Majesty's Ministers ; and
having regard to their antecedents, he believed that
it would be met in a truly liberal spirit. He had
looked into these matters with some care, and he
hoped to improve himself upon them. He should
be happy to listen to suggestions not only from his
supporters, but from his opponents, because, if he
had the honour to be returned, he should consider
himself not only the representative of the Conserva-
tives of Colchester, but also of the whole borough.
He hoped that all personalities and acerbities would
be avoided, and that an attempt would be made to
gain the Liberals over by the Conservatives show-
ing them that their wives were the best. Colchester
not very many years ago returned two Conserva-
tive members, and he hoped that she would show
the Liberals that, although by some mistake which
the constituency now probably repented this was
no longer the case, Colchester had now gone back
to her former views, and meant to maintain them.
(Cheers.) He had invested is. 6d. recently in pur-
chasing the speeches of Mr. Bright, and amidst the
declamations of that great orator he found that he
insisted upon two points—first, that all English
householders had a right to the suffrage, and
secondly, if they had not, it was expedient that they
should have. Now, upon his (Mr. Karslake's)
cretion as a lawyer, he could not find any reason
why a householder should be entitled as a matter of
course to the suffrage more than that ho should be
entitled to keep a horse unless he could pay for it,
or than that he should be entitled to have a coat of
any particular cloth or texture. As regarded the ex-
pediency aspect of the question, we had the Ameri-
cans thrust upon us, but what possible analogy

could be drawn between Englishmen and Ameri-
cans? We happened, as he (Mr. Karslake)
thought, most fortunately but as Mr. Bright
appeared to think most unfortunately—to have a
Queen, a House of Lords divided. into various
ranks, and a House of Commons, and to bring
arguments from America in favour of a change
was just as if a man was to say to him, " I know
you are fond of horses and give them hay and oats.
Well, I keep cows, and give them oilcake and grain,
and you would save a good deal of money if you gave
up the hay and oats, and gave your horses oilcake
and grain." Ile contended, in short, that the Ame-
ricans were a different kind of animal altogether.
(Laughter and cheers.) Ile believed that there was
a great difference between a community living as we
did under a constitutional monarchy and a com-
munity enjoying, as Mr. Bright would say, or as he
should sty, possessing, those democratic institutions
under which the Americans were governed ; and,
therefore, he contended that it was impossible to rea-
son from one to the other. (Hear, hear.) Upon the
question of Church-rates he found that a Dr. Brewer
had come down and declared himself a candidate for
the borough, stating that be was a churchman, but
that he was for the abolition of church rates. He
(Mr. Karslake) had inquired about Dr. Brewer, and
bad with the greatest difficulty ascertained his exist-
ence. (Laughter.) For a churchman to declare
himself in favour of the abolition of church rates ap-
peared to him (Mr. Karslake) almost as absurd as
for a master of hounds to bring in a bill for the
wholesale extinction of foxes or for a county member
who might be fond of shooting to bring in a bill ren-
dering the destruction of pheasants imperative.
(Laughter). At the same time, he (Mr. Karslake)
admitted that a compromise of this most difficult and
important subject upon equitable terms was most
desirable. He had said that he did not consider the
question of reform of paramount importance. What
he did consider of paramount importance was the
protection of the Established Church, and next to
that the maintenance of our Army and Navy upon
such a footing that while we abstained from unne-
cessary interference with other nations on the Con-
tinent, we should be so strong that no foreign coun-
try could meddle with us. (Cheers.)
Mr. W. R. HAVENS, who at one time contested
Colchester in the Radical interest, proposed " The
Conservative Members of the House of Commons,"
remarking that the language held of late to the
working classes by that great stump orator, Mr.
Bright, was flattery of the grossest kind. The work-
lug classes were the pride and glory of the country ;
but he (Mr. Havens) mistrusted the political intel-
ligence of such of them as listened with complacency
to Mr. Blight's flattery.
Several other toasts followed, and the proceedings
were protracted till a late hour.

select the hours for the examination which are best suited
to the climate and circumstances of the country, taking
care, however, to conform strictly to the number and dis-
tribution of the hours, as detailed in the foregoing regula-
tions. On the completion of the examinations General
officers commanding should transmit the candidates' papers
to the Vice-President of the Council of Military Education,
13, Great George-street, Westminster, with the least pos-
sible delay, in order to enable officers from distant stations
who may be successful in the competition to join the Col-
lege early in the following February. They will at the
same time forward to the Adjt.-General a return of the
officers examined with their certificates, as required by the
regulations. Officers serving abroad who may be success-
ful candidates will be allowed the regulation passage money
home on joining the Staff College. Tho names and ex-
amination numbers of the candidates who are successful in

the competition, as well as those who prove themselves
qualified, and the examination numbers alone of candidates
who fail, will be published immediately after the reports of
the examiners have been received by the Council of Mili-
tary Education, with the total number of marks gained by
each candidate, and his plac4 on the list. Candidates era
recommended to obtain the report of the last examination
for admission, with copies of the examination papers, pub-
lished by Taylor and Francis, Red Lion-court, Fleet-street.
"By order of his Royal Highness the Field-Marshal
Commanding• in-Chief,
" WILLIAM PAULET, Adjutant-General."