The Sun.
London, England, 1858-01-27 00:00:00

NAVAL AND MILITARY INTELLIGENCE.

Prince Adalbert, Lord High Admiral of Prussia,
proceeded to Portsmouth yesterday forenoon, ac-
companied by Admiral Sir G. Seymour, K.C.8.,
Commander-in-Chief of that port, to make an in-
spection of the ships and Naval Arsenal. His High-
ness and escort arrived at the dockyard about a
quarter past 11 o'clock, and proceeded to the Ad-
miralty-house to breakfast, at which Sir George
presented Rear-Admiral Martin, the superintendent
of the dockyard, who joined in conductinr, the
Prince over the establishment. Capt. G. H. Sey-
mour, C. 8., Flag Captain, was also in attendance.
The first ship selected to exhibit to the Prince Ad-
miral was her Majesty's gunnery-ship Excellent.
His Highness embarked at the north stairs of the
dockyard in the barge of Sir G. Seymour, and on
board the Excellent was received with all the hon-
ours due to his rank by Captain Hewlett, C. 8.,
and his officers. Shot and shell practice, Sac., (co-
vering a space of about half an hour's firing), was
exhibited, and all the other features of war sea ser-
vice afloat gone through. The Prince next went on
board the Victory, which is refitting in No. 3 dock
in which venerable ship he seemed mush interested
—thence he walked to the ships in progress of con-
struction on the building slips—the Bacchante,
51 ; Royal Frederick, 121 ; Prince of Wales, 131 ;
Duncan, 101 ; Victoria, 121; all screws except the
Royal Frederick, and all except the latter in vari-
ous stages of a lvancement. From these the Prince
was conducted to the steam factory, over which he
ffeerOrtinliti& YRLAIIT4Y,YIe chief engi-
more important features of its capacity. The
borough, 131, guns, screw three-decker, was the
next object visited, in No. 7 dock, adjacent. Tin,
ship is fitting to join the first class of the steam
fleet in reserve, and is expected to be the ship com-
missioned to relieve the Royal Albert as flag for the
Mediterranean command. From the Marlborough
the Royal visitor was conducted round the
steam basin, in which are lying the Duke of
Wellington, 131; the Royal Sovereign, 131 : the
Cesar, 91 ; the Algiers, 91 ; the Arrogant, 47 ;
and the Perseverance, 6, all screws, fitting out for
the steam reserve, and the Sphynx, 6, paddle-
sloop, under refit. This concluded the royal per-
ambulation, and the Prince returned to the Ad-
miralty-House, which he left about 3 o'clock for
town.
The Queen's yacht squadron, under the command
of Capt. the Hon. Joseph Denman, will leave
Portsmouth this morning at daylight. They com-
prise the Victoria and Albert, Osborne, and Fairy.
They will be joined in the Thames by numerous
other vessels.
Toe Prince Adalbert intended to visit the Vic-
toria and Albet t in Portsmouth harbour, and also
the Diadem frigate at Spithead, but time did not
admit of it.
The examination of candidates for the Royal
Military College at Sandhurst will
Burlington-House to-morrow and the
ttwakoefoplllaocwie.hatg
days, before the Council—Major-General Cameron,
The
examinations Portlock, and Col. Addison.
examinations of applicants for direct commissions
are appointed for the Ist, 2d,
and 3d proximo.
the
Admiralty following appointments were made at
Admiralty yesterday :
Mate.—J. W. G. Dawson to the Victoria and Albert
Midshipmen.--11. G. Fitzgerald and E. Fletcher to
the Calypso.

BALLOT DEMONSTRATION AT AYLESBURY.

(From the Aylesbury News.;

On Wednesday evening a meeting was held in the
Castle-street Lecture-room, for the purp)se of hearing
addresses from several gentlemen connected with the
Ballot Sooiety, and for promoting the adoption of vote
by ballot in parliamentary elections. The attendance
comprised many of the leading inhabitant; of the town,
but the room was chiefly filled by the working classes,
who evinced the roost lively interest in the proceedings,
every part of the room being densely crowded. We
understand that it had been intended to ask for the use
of the County-hall, but that the object o' the meeting
was not considered to come within the scope of the
regulations laid down for the guidance of the Visiting
Justices ; although certainly it is not easy to conceive
what harm could have resulted had the we of the more
public room been granted.
Mr. JOIIN GIBBS was called to the chaff, and said the
otject of the meeting was to promote the extension of
the franchise, protected by the ballot. For his own
part, he would not accept an extension of the franchise
unless it were protected by the ballot. It was now all
but universally admitted that every man ought to have
a vote who was cap.' 1. of forming an opinion ~n the
con,mon affairs of life. When he begat his political
career, hall a century age. tnere was an thjection raised
that the ina,,s of people were too ignorant ,o be entrusted
with ooli:ical power ; but, .I,atilts to the strides which
clucaii,m had made since then, that objection was eery
day losing its force. But, whoever mlght be entitled to
v,te, what harm would it do to protect hint by the bal-
lot ? SAne people said they did not wantit ; that every
man's vote would be known even if they nod it. If
people chose to wear their cockades si,.e plocla,m the
candidate of their clHce, no one would hinder them ;
nut if a man wished to give an honest vote wallow
being exposed to injury on that account, the hal'ot
would enable him to do so. The ballot vas,not a party
qi4estion—it was as much needed now to pr,itevt
the Conservative as it was half century ago to
proteat the Liberal. Some years ago, when he wont on
a political mission to a town in this country, be was told
h coold not have the large r')oiu at th::: moo f.)r their ;

me-ting, but in rue e.rnet• of it he spitcl the Itsilot-b•ix
which waR u8,(1 by tilt-, m3gistratem nt Vol!. ~ieetings to

prevent ill•feeling and enable them to give their deei,4ons
wholly unbiassed bv any eousidorati9ns. If the landed
gentry, who were inilependent of everybody, used the
bAlint in their own thlinerations. did not the tenants and

trades people, who were dependant on them, need it still
mare ? w.-uld not occupy more of their time, but
•t once introduce the speakers.
Mr. E. C. WHITEHURST, Vice-President of the Ballot
ziociety, then rose, and said—Her Majesty's Ministers,
in the speech which they put into the mouth of the
Soverei.:;ri at the commencement of the session, have told
. . .

us that attention will be called to the laws respecting the
representation of the people, with a view to determine
what changes may safely and beneficially be made. I
sea here with my friend, Mr. Campbell, to ask you to
come to the conclusion that the adoption of the ballot
would be a safe and beneficial change. I shall lay before
you the reasons why I tt ink it would be both safe and
beneficial. But first let me address myself to the
question whether the ballot is needed to repress undue
influence at elections, whether the present system does
give an unfailing and accurate expression of the public
opinion, or, whither the balance of influences ? This is
a question of fact, and on this point I have the misfortune
to differ from one of your represantat.ves —and an abler
advocate, a better lawyer was never sent to Parliament
by any constituency than the Attorney-General. Bat
the hon, and learned gentleman has said to me, on more
than one occasion that the feeling in favour tf the ballot

is dying out. I took leave to tell Sir Richard Bethel!
that I thought the ballot was the most popular of all
points of reform with the people of this country, and
that no Reform Bill would ever be carried which did

not include it. I think so, because every measure of

reform must be carried by a pressure on our representa-
t►ves, and that pressure must come from those who
already have votes. The Reuse of Commons will never
be in a hurry to reform itselr, and I don't think there
will ever be a strong and united pressure from the elec-
t•,rs, unless there is something in the bill that directly
affects them. Experience may be our guide hers—we
had a Reform Bill proposed by Lord John Russell in
1822, and a: other in 1854, neither of which contained

'he ballot. They were not taken up with enthusiasm,

and they were withdrawn ; and the same fate will attend
any measure that may be proposed by Lord Palmerston
it which the ballot does not form a part Now, if the
Attorney• General is right in saying that the people do
,tot care for the ballot, it can only he ei, her because the

undue influences I have Token of no longer exit, or
because they do not, think the ballot wi,ul,l cure the
evil. Let us look only at the result; of the very last
election for this county. Did not the Conservative and
anti-ballot candidate crituplain bitterly of undue influ-

once t .As a strarger I have no personal knowledge of

the MAtter..huiLlithAm,he r..sebse influence was brought
Cavendish, and it was the balance of influences that
caused the return or Mr. Cavendish instead of Captain
Hamilton. (Cheers.) In the neighbouring county of
Northampton, what has tatreu place? Yon know !here
is a resolution passed every session against the interfer-
ence of peers with elections, and yet Lord Lilford, a
Whig nouleman, took upon himself to tell Mr. Hunt,
who aspired to represent the county as a Conservative,
that he did not think him qualified by property and
position, and " requests that his tenantry may not be
canvassed in his favour." So that unless a candi-
date, in the opinion of Lord Lilford, has a sufficient
number of acres, or is sufficient balance at his
nenker'a, the men to whom the law gives the right
of choice shall not even be asked to vote for him.
Then there was a Tory nobleinae, the Duke of Buc-
cleugli, who also has large estates, and his tenants re-
ceive a circular that "Mr. Payne (the steward) will feel
much obliged by Mr. -- attending the election on
Monday next. Mr. Hunt as the Dukesgood wishes."
Perhaps the Duke was not cognisant of this. I am not
one to indulge in tirades against the aristocracy, but
whether or no, how could any tenant of the Duke of
Buccleugh give an honest and independent vote! Mr.
thickthe
circumstances
and thin, says
Hunt himself, who would oppose the ballot through
Lord Lilford's and Lord Fitzwilliam's
Mr. F. Vernon had a ma' '
of thatthe thei,ea
ii, votesy, varied:that is according
tnot
piety in those districts where
for North Northamptorishire says that
Mr. Hunt had a majoritywhere thef B 1 I
wnere the Duke o ucc eug i
had influence. The Conservative and anti-ballot member
'estates lay, and
do not represent the wishes of the voters ; that he would
the votes given
have been twice elected before had it not beer. for the
intimidation practised by the master manufacturers over
their workmen. But the evil is not confined to landed
proprietors or manufacturers. I have here a letter from
a cwelestrgliymenatn landlord
Eleetion
.:-._"Tilelh hope you
yooub_ajercet of
likeths miysleeltft,eraigsothe
good
Conservative, and will vote for Sir w. Riddell. Land-
lord and tenant should always vote on the same side, and
if we go to a new lease, that will be one of my stipula-
tions." Now, I have had something
to do with leases ;
in some counties they reserve the metals, in most, they
reserve the hares and rabbits, but I never yet heard of
the vote of an independent man being treated liken heap
of copper or a covey of partridges. But I will come
nearer home. te
Vas your last borough election alto-
gether free from undue influences ? Was it only his
vote on the China question that sent Mr. Layard to
to the right about. (No, no.) At least Mr. Layard
did not think so ; he told you that you owed the loss
of one of your Liberal members to a far more de-
grading and abominable cause than that. (Cheers.)
[rho speaker here read a report of Mr. Leverd's speech
on the steps of the County Hall, at the close of the poll].
Wels again, not very far from the borders of your
county is the Borough of Windsor. How was it that
what is called the Castle party, who usu die support the
ministry, all turned conervative within 24 hours, and
' plumped for the Tory candidate I And don't le; it be
said that such influences are confined to small c•nastitu•
encies. We look upon
Manchester as a large and
powerful constituency, but in a certain mill there, there
was posted up the following notice—. 6 Tile hands in this
mill are requested to vote for Potter and Turner." And
after that, in other mills, this notice ran —" Th, hands
in this mill are requested to vote for Gibson and Bright."
One wanufacturer of machines, sstio thought he had
made great improvement in the `` Patent Screw Pro-
peller"—(cheers and lauguter)—s"
t eff his men in an
omnibus to vote under charge of a foreman, and, having
deposited them at a puolic-house, the omnibus came
Lack for another load. I leave YOU to judge whether
there was freedom of election there, Again, in Lanark,
previous to 1852, the tenants of the Duke of Hamilton
Were to a man all Tory, and since then, somehow or
other, they have become to a man
all Whig. Now it
does happen that there was a new -Duke in 1852, who is
a Whig, whereas the old Duke was a Tory. Again, in
Ayrshire--and in election matters you are always " put-
.-.ing up" a
Duke—in 1854, the Duke of Portland was
a Tory and all his tenants were Tory. But it became
. - d that the hew speaker was to be Mr. Evelyn
sseispere
Denison (a relative of the Duke) and forthwith
she tenantry set a Palmerstoniau member to Parlia-
ment. As I am at is," with one of your representa-
tives on a question of fact. I have thought it right to
give you the means of judging whether or no the
necessity for the ballot is dying out. (Cheers.) I
could mention other cases. In East Cornwall, the
anti Conservative and i-b candidate congratu-
lates the yeomen on having beaten the landed
gentry, for they bad Lords to fight in every quarter
(Cheers.) You have heard, again, of the Marquis of
Waterford, whose politics in his youth seem to have
been of the physical force school, (Laughter.) Well,
his tenantry ``approached" his lordship in an address
which was only a great deal too servile, requesting that
he would " be graciously pleased to permit them to re
cord their votes according to the dictates of their con.
sciences." The reply is an intimation from the agent
that his lordship " would wish them to vote for Mr.
Clark and Sir Henry Bruce."—At Staleybridge, one of
the largest unrepresented boroughs, the working men
were so conscious of the evils of undue influence in
municipal elections, that they sent a deputation to Lou-
don at their own cost, to urge on Refcrmers that tilt
extension of the suffrage without the ballot would be a
delusion. In Ireland the representation has been ex-
tended since 1832, viz., in 1849, and the reports from

that country lead me to believe that, so far from
strengthening the voice of the people, the Extension of
the suffrage has only tended to the increase of lordly
power. I say, then, let us hesitate before we accept so
doubtful a boon as an extension of the suffrage without
the ballot. For, if the expression of the people's will
be defective, then the only authority t y which laws
ought to be made is not only corrupt, but pervertA.
Having a House of Commons almost exclusively com-
posed of men of property, what more natural than that
they should make laws mainly for the benefit of pro-
perty t And these, moreover, being chiefly men con-
nected with the landed aristocracy, what more natural
than that, instead of the Government being, as in
Holland, in Belgium, in America, open to al, it should
be confined to a few families, with now and then a

man sprung from the people to give a popular flavour
to the composition. There was one man known to
you—the Right lion. Benjamin Disraeli. He was
once the Radical candidate for Wyc3mbe, but he
found, to use the language of the ring, that
"that cock wouldn't fight ;" and since then he
became a member of the most Tory Govea mint we have
had for mazy years. Then again, another gentleman
known to you, Mr. Bernal Osborne, has given in one of
his speeches a description which I think applies most
accurately to himself. "If you find a representative of
a large constituency in such (ministerial) company, you
may be sure that his principle have suffered a change,
and that his patrons have treated him as gypsies are said
to treat the children they steal— di-gnised him in
order to pass him off for their own." (Laughter.) Now
would the ballot destroy or lessen this undue influence
at elections, and so destroy the monopoly of power by
the two aristocratic divisions—Whig and Tory 4 As
far as mechanical arrangements for protecting the secrecy
of the vote go, we have a most complete answer in what
has been clone in Australia. I am sorry that Mr.
Staveley, who could have explained these things to you
from personal knowledge, is detained in Ireland ; hut I
have here a plan of the Ballot room iu the colony of
Victeri.e. [A.. largo plan New here exhibited, and the
speaker pointed out that the voter receives his paper in
public, in- the presence of the scrutineers, in order to
prevent personation, but be votes (by striking out the
names of those candidate. whom be does not wi-h to
be elected) in private.] Now, the Times tell ns, and
truly, that this is not a question of philosophy but of
fact, and we have three large Anglo-Saxon communities

which possess the ballot, from whose experience we may
judge. Now, to illustrate the fairness which the Times
always manifests towards opponents, let me give you
one instance. Shortly after the arrival of Mr. Nichol-
son in this country, there appeared in the Times extracts
from the Adelaide Weekly Dispatch, containing the
broadest assertion of the utter and complete break-down
of this miserable system. Now, Mr. Nicholson had
never heard of the Adelaide Weekly Dispatch. I en-
quired ~f other gentlemen long resident in the colony,
' I searched at places where the colonial papers are
filed, but I cannot find it, and my conviction is that
the passage purporting to be from the Adelaide
Weekly _Dispatch was:concocted, forged, and printed, i❑
Printing-house-square, and never was in Australia at
all. But I will read extracts from papers which are
publieheci in Australia. The Melbourne Herald states
that the result of the first election by ballot had not
only proved most satisfactory, but had won over many
persons who hitherto had been opposed to it. The
returning officer at St. although opposed on
principle to the ballot, bore testimony to its effect i❑
preserving order, and said that there had been less
noise in the polling booth than in a place of worship.
Other extracts, from the Melbourne-Age, from the Geelong
Obseracr, go to show that canvassing is altogether put an
end to (and I never could see any benefit from it, except
to make a caedidate acquainted with all the corruption
of the body he is to represent), and that no man is
liable to have a mortgage foreclosed because of his vote.
One of the scrutineers for Victoria told me that a
friend of his, one of the candidates, was in an agony of
suspense ail day, believing that the election was going
against him, but at the close he was at the head of the
poll by 300 votes, co that, in this ca,,ti at least, the
ballot did prevent the votes from being known. Again,
the ballot increases the number of voters. In one

case,outof
_B,OOO electors, 2,000 voted before the ballot

and 5,000 after, In one subdivision every voter except
one polled, and in another the successful candidate wa.,
elected only by a ca,ting vote. These accounts contain
another item that will be interesting to anti-ballot mem-
ber!. The ballot decreases to an enormous extent the

espouse of elections. You all know the jockeying that
goes on in the laet hour of the poll. Now, one correspon-

dent iellB us he believes that in Victoria the election di i

not cost so much for all the candidates together as it used
to cust a single eandidate. Depend on it, so long as elec-
tions are such expensive affairs, so long will your members
reimburse themselves by selling themselves and you
to the Minister of the day. (Cheers.) Well, let u,;
look now at some of the objections to the ballot. First,
we are told, that somehow or other a man's vote will he
known. How so, if he likes to keep his own counsel ?
Well, then, it is said to be uo-English. Why ! Is it

un-14.1mrlish to avid linsultiotr a man b♦ telling him he
bestow I Is it un-English to keep the amount of your
balance at the bank, or the amount you return to the
Income-tax Commissioners ? It is not un-English to
seal your letters, and Sir James Graham found to his
cost, whe❑ he interfered with that practice, that English
feeling was the other way. (Cheers.) Well, there is
another objection which Lord J. Russell every year, in
his peculiar style of elocution, with his hand under his
coat-tails, enunciates in the House of Commons—namely,
that the exercise of secret and irresponsible power is un-
constitutional and dangerous. Why, what is the Cabinet
doing this week, but deliberating in secret how to make
the beat of the Indian affairs, and how to evade the

promise of
a Reform Bill which Lord Palmerston was
rash enough to make I don't find fault with their
meeting in secret, bnt I say, " What is sauce for the
goose is sauce for the gander." (Cheers.) Again, the
officers of Courts Martial are bound by an oath not to
reveal the vote of any member—and a very wise pro-
vision, too—bnt does not a tenant farmer equally require
protection in the exercise of as equally important duty
Or, to take another instance—who is more powerful than
the journalist, and whose power is more secret and
irresponsible ! No man bath seen the Time; at any time.
The Times is an invisible, impalpable mysterious essence

—not one in a thousand of those who form their opinions
by the Mites' leaders know by whom they are written.
But does this mysterious irresponsible power subvert
the good government of the country 4 I ask to
whom is the voter to be responsible! Is he responsible to
the rest of the community Butat every election the com-
munity consists of as many elections as there are candi-
dates and to which of these, more than the others is he to
be held responsible 1 It is said, that as long as five men
out of six are without vote-, the sixth ought not to
exercise that trust without being held responsible.
The other day, at Tavistock, a working man put this
question to rue in the strongest shape. He said, "If
we combine with the middle classes, they will naturally
choo•e one like themselves, who will take the income-
tax off their own shoulders, and put other burdens on
ours. Ought we not at least to know hew they vote I"
I say the remedy is to extend the franchise, not to leave
the voter open to any influence that may be brought to
bear, for if the working men club together to make the
electors vote in a particular way, then they are virtually
the electors, and the men to whom the law gives a vote
are disfranchised. I say free the voter feom all control,
whether a peer or a working man. Well, then, there
is the moral argument against the ballot—and one can-
not but wish the aristocracy were as careful about their
own morals as they are about the morals of the electors.
It is said that men would promise to vote as their land-
lord or customer wished, and then break their promise.
Now, the first immorality is not here, for it is a moral
duty binding on every man to vote only f r the candidate
whom he honestly believes to be the best. Suppose a
man were summoned on a jury, and his landlord asks
him to give a particular verdict in a case in which he is
interested. The man says, " Bee, aux, I wull." He never
ought to have made the promise ; but it, yielding to the
weight of evidence, he, in the secret deliberations of the
jury (for juries deliberate in secret), goes for a verdict
the other way, true, he has broken his promise, but he
has kept his oath, and he has done the thing tbat in his
judgment was right. We have heard a great many
lachrymose prophecies about the ballot. We are told
the Crown and the ballot cannot exist together, but
they do exist together in Holland, in Belgium, in Sar-
dinia. "The ballot will lead to the downfall of the
Church." The Church will exist, with or without the
ballot, as long as she maintains her hold on the affec-
tions of the people, and if she loses that hold, the sooner
she ceases the better. " The ballot would destroy the
landed aristocracy." I say the ballot would compel the
aristocracy to become the leaders of the people by the
force of their virtues anti their talent, and not merely
by right ofitheir broad acres. I say the ballot would be
au eminently Conservative measure ; that all institu-
tions we value would be more deeply seated than ever
in the hearts of a united and loyal people—united and
loyal, because no man could dare to doubt that our
institutions rested on the immutable, unshaken founda-
tions of public justice. (Loud cheers.)
Mr. JAMES CAMPBELL (a member of the Ballot Com-
mittee) said this was a question in which every man
could be of use, because one great argument against the
ballot was, that the people did not want it. Now, every
Englishman knew whether he wanted protection,h odr
whether he saw around him those who did. He a
himself contested three boroughs, and, though be saw
very little of bribery, yet there was intimidation
sand
every form, and, beyond this, there were
courtesies,
" undue influences," in the shape of social a
and personal friendships, which tended to inedn
had the
uctcleemaahmaonf
to vote contrary to his convictions.
" n lef
considerable influence said to him, •49 gwe
influence ; it is only
ballot it would not diminish
the attorneys who get the beneofiatrof the presirectosuynstt join
And yet that gentleman would not on any
the Ballot Society. What would peo
Piesayofhihminin eitf
he did I In one case, a voter's wife implored
knowing that h had ealways
to canvass her husband,
and that. his livelihood. would be
voted oa that side,
endangered if he did so again. In another instance, a
man its a public situation was compelled, under the pres-
sure of the screw, to vote against him ; but he said, " I
will make up for it, for I will put the screw on the men
under me, whom they cannot touch, to vote the other
wxy.7 (Laughter.) The speaker thou commuted on