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

THE FREEMEN'S ORPHAN SCHOOL.

The Rev. Marcus T. Cormack, M.A., was-elected
Head Master of the City of London Freemen's Or-
phan School.
Deputy ELLIOTT, previous to the election of a
Master, desired to put a question. The Court, he
said, had received full evidence of the intellectual
fitness of the candidates, but evidence was still want-
ing as to their moral fitness touching the best inte-
rests of the orphans under their care, and on a sub-
ject on which people might conscientiously differ.
Some thought the searching secret teaching and ques-
tioning of some clergymen did tend to purify moral
conduct ; others, including himself, and he would
fain hope the majority of those present, believed as
firmly that such teaching tended to great depravity
of mind and manners. Therefore he desired, before
giving his vote, that the candidates should declare
if they approved or disapproved the ritualistic
opinions and practices of certain Church of England
clergymen.
The general effect of the replies of the candidates,
of whom there were three, was that they did not
approve such opinions and practices. The election
then proceeded with the result stated above.

BuNHILL-FIELDS BURIALGROUND.
The Court then, at the instance of Deputy Chas.
Reed, chairman of the special committee in relation
to Bunhill-fields burialground, proceeded to consider
a report of that body of proceedings under a refer-
ence to them by the Common Council of the 7th of
December, 1865, upon the letter of the Ecclesiasti-
cal Commissioners on the subject of the burial-
ground, and upon the petition of Mr. John Reming-
ton Mills, M.P., and others, to preserve it from de-
secration. The commissioners appear to have pro-
posed to accept, as the consideration for leaving the
burialground undisturbed, five-sixths of the pur-
chase moneys paid for the sales of vaults, &c., in

perpetuity to the corporation during the period of
the current lease of 97 years. The total net pro-
ceeds of the burialground during the current lease
amounted to £24,000, including the capital sums
paid for vaults and interments, being an average for
the 97 years of £247 odd a year. One-half of that
sum had been applied in connexion with the prebend
of Finsbury, and the other had been received by
the corporation. The Corporation Committee and
the Commissioners have not been able to agree
upon the question of the consideration money, and
the negotiations have, therefore, been suspended
for the present. The latest proposal was that of the
commissioners, which was to refer the whole matter
to arbitration, but that the committee declined,
alleging that there existed no ground whatever for
any legal claim upon the corporation on the part of
the commission, the latter having, in fact, advanced
nothing beyond a vague intimation of a possible claim.
The report, after setting out the correspondence at
great length, stated in conclusion that it appeared

to the committee that no useful result could be
obtained by further correspondence, and they re-
commended the Court to re-affirm their readiness to
undertake the charge of the burial-ground as trus-
tees for the public, defraying the cost of watching,
maintaining it in a proper condition, planting trees
and shrubs, keeping up the gravel walks, and pre-
serving the tombs ; so that it may form, within pro-
per hours, and under proper regulations, a decent
and ornamental " open space" in the metropolis, co-
venanting that in the event of failure in these re-
spects it should revert to the Ecclesiastical Commis-
sioners. They further recommended that they (the
committee) should be authorised to second the en-
deavours of any of the parties interested should they
apply to Parliament, or make appeal to the public,
with the view of securing the ground in perpetuity
from the possible perversion to other uses than those
to which it had been for centuries sacredly devoted.
Mr. REED, in moving the adoption of the report
and that it be referred back to the committee for
execution, stated that the last offer of the Ecclesias-
tical Commissioners was to submit the matters in
dispute to arbitration, buthe contended there was no
legal issue upon which to arbitrate. He dwelt upon
the circumstance that the property had been in pos-
session of the corporation for 500 years, and upon its
interesting historical associations as a place of sepul-
ture for 200 years, stating, by the way, that though
the consecration of the ground could not be vouched
1,000 cartloads of bodies were removed thither from
St. Paul's in 1543. It was consecrated ground to all
intents and purposes, and he hoped it would never
be allowed to pass from the Corporation without
some further investigation, and without their join-
ing with parties interested in preserving it from
desecration in an appeal to Parliament or otherwise
to avert such a result. (Cheers.)
. .

The spirit in which the Ecclesiastical Commis
sioners are alleged to have acted in the negotiations
with the Corporation was stigmatised in a discus-
sion which followed as pettifogging, mercenary, and
disingenuous by Mr. Bedford and Deputy Burnell.
The Commissioners, said Mr. Burnell, arrived at the
conclusion that the ground was worth £lOO,OOO,
and asked what the Corporation would give for
the privilege of preserving it. It had probably, he
said, never before entered into the minds of any but
some of the highest personages in Church and State
to evince such a spirit when the object sought to be
attained, by the Corporation at least, was the pre-
servation from desecration of a place devoted to the
holy purpose of human sepulture. He could only
regard it as a proof of their being " willing to wound
and yet afraid to strike," and of how grievous an
offence it was in the eyes of High Churchmen to be
a Nonconformist or a Dissenter. (Hear, hear.)
An amendment was moved by Mr. GOVER to
refer the report back to committee, with power to
consent to a reference to an approved legal arbi-
trator of the question whether the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners, as reversioners, will, on the expira-
tion of the present lease, be entitled to the £24,000
odd mentioned in the report, or any, and if any,what
part thereof, or to concur in stating a special case
on the subject for the opinion of one of her Majesty's
superior courts of law or equity. This was lost on
a division, and the original motion for the adoption
of the report, and for referring it back to the com-
mittee to be carried into effect, was passed.
The court then adjourned.

Conservative Demonstration at Colchester.

COLCHESTER, Jan. 17

The Conservatives of Colchester entertained at
dinner last evening their two selected Conservative
candidates, Colonel Learmonth and Mr. E. R. Kars-
lake, Q.C. Between 600 and 700 sat down to din-
ner, and the proceedings were most enthusiastic.
Mr. C. H. Hawkins occupied the chair.
After the usual loyal and patriotic toasts,
The CHAIRMAN proposed " The better Health of
Mr. Miller, M.P.," the sifting Conservative member
for the borough, whom he warmly eulogised ; and
next in succession he gave the toast of the evening,
" The healths of Col. Learmonth and Mr. Karslake,"
stating that, in the event of a single vacancy occur-
ring, Mr. Karslake would probably be first put for-
ward, with the consent of Col. Learmonth.

The toast was drunk with three times three.

Col. LEARMONTII, in returning thanks, said this
was the first occasion on which he had the pleasura of
meeting his friends at Colchester. The party appeared
to be growing, and to-night they had a bumper
meeting. A more brilliant or splendid assembly he
had not seen in his time. It was a great surprise
and a great encouragement to go on and endeavour
to carry the point which all present had at heart.
They were all bound to carry on to, he hoped, a
successful issue the great contest which would come
off soon in the borough ; and, for his own part, he
was quite ready whenever he was called upon to do
his best to win the day. We had now a prospect in
a very few weeks of hearing the Queen's Speech,
which would be delivered from the Throne by her
Majesty in person, and which would be the poli-
tical programme of the next session. Of course any-
thing he could say upon the future course of poli-
tical matters must be naturally speculative, as no
one knew, not even the Under Secretaries of State,
what the programme of the Government was to be,
so well, and as he thought so prudently, had they
kept their secrets. Under these circumstances he
would only review the conduct of the Government
during the recess ; and he believed all parties—
even the Radicals—admitted that the administra-
tive ability displayed by the Government during the
recess had been very great. At the first outset a
trap was skilfully laid for the new Government,
and they narrowly escaped falling into it, although
they showed great ability in escaping from it. He
meant the trap which was laid for the Government
by the Reform League and Mr. Edmond Beales.
The Reform League people knew perfectly well
that they had no right to hold meetings in the park;
but when the Conservative Government came into
office they thought there was a good opportunity
to place them in direct antagonism with the
people. They signally failed, however, in this, for
instead of finding in Mr. Walpole a man who would
shut his door in their faces, and give them 'no satis-
faction, they met with a most courteous gentleman,
who treated them with more politeness than they
deserved. It ought not to be forgotten that Sir
George Grey had come forward, and in the most
manly manner admitted that he should have acted
in the same way that Mr. Walpole acted. An-
other demonstration was made by the same people
in the winter, and they found a place to speak in
in the park of a Conservative nobleman, so that
there again they were checkmated. He thought all
must admit that in other particulars the Govern-
ment had carried on matters in a most statesman-

like manner. He referred more particularly to Ire-
land, which had been for many months past in a
most fearful state of anarchy. Lord Abercorn had
administered the affairs of Ireland with very great
success and ability ; and he might say that the
gravity of the Fenian conspiracy had vanished
chiefly through the present Lord Lieutenant. In
Scotland the Lord Advocate had gained golden
opinions from both sides, and was doing wonders
for the Conservative party as well ; therefore, in that
country and in Ireland the Conservatives had not
lost from having their friends in office. A good deal
of abuse had been lavished upon the House of Com-
mons, and more particularly upon the Conservative
members of that house, but he need scarcely allude
to that ; it was too puerile, and had been well
answered by those who were better able to speak on
the subject than he was. To return more particu-
larly to the object which they had in view in Col-
chester, he belielred that Conservatives might lead
others to their own way of thinking ; but he would
wish them to do so in no other way than by argu-
ment and by putting things clearly before their
neighbours. They ought to ask them whether they
wished the country to be in a state of safety,
and to preserve their old institutions (repairing
of course, where there was need of repair), of
whether they wished to sweep them all away.
He thought, if any man reflected for five minutes,
he would say that he wished to keep things as they
were, as if we followed the advice of theßright party
we should all be pretty well swept into the sea
together. (Laughter.) He (Colonel Learmonth)
thought that if Conservatives held to their opinions
and explained them to members of the opposite party

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 ctse

upon his doing his best, with his friend ➢lr. 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.
(C heel s.)
Mr. KARSLAKE, Q.C., said he could scarcely ex-
press the gratification with which he witnessed the
present great demonstration. That gratification was
two-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-
presentativeof 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 forced upon 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 ha
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. Inthelastof 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 wbole, 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's 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 friends at Colchester the details 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 happy confidence 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. Kara-
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
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merely to represent the interests of that particular
borough the thing would be childish; but Andover
sent to Parliament, as a general rule, two most ex-
cellent and respectable men, who in Parliament did
their duty, not merely to the borough of Andover,
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.
Ile 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 thew 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 seine mistake which
the constituency now probably- repented this was
no longer the case, Colchester 'Lad now gone back
to her former views, and meant .to maintain them.
(Cheers.) He had invested ls. 6, 1. 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, t hat all English
householders had a right to tb.e suffrage, and
secondly, if they had not, it was e:cpedient that they
should have. Now, upon his (Mr . Karslake's) dis-
cretion as a lawyer, he could not find any reason
why a householder should be entidied as a matter of
course to the suffrage more than ti lat he should be
entitled to keep a horse unless he co hid pay for it,
or than that he should be entitled to have a coat of
any particular cloth or texture. As 11 !garded the ex-
pediency aspect of the question, we In Id the Ameri-
cans thrust upon us, but what pom;ble analogy