The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-14 00:00:00

THE SUN, LON tiON, FRIDAY EVEMNG, DECEMBER 14, 1866.

COURT OF COMMON CO

NCIL.

Yesterday a meeting of the Common Council
was held at Guildhall for the despatch of business—
the Lord Mayor presiding.
A communication was read from the directors of
the Albert Orphan Asylum, thanking the Court for
the loan of the Guildhall for holding a bazaar, and
stating that the net profits to the institution from
the bazaar had amounted to £1,400.
THE CITY OF LONDON SCHOOL.

On the motion of Mr. Alderman HALE, chairman
of the City of London School Committee, the sala-
ries of 1G of the under-masters of the school were
raised by stubs varying from £3O to £lO a year each.
NEW CENSUS OF THE CITY.

Mr. LAWLEY. chairman of the Local Government
and Taxation Committee, presented a report on a
census which had been obtained in reference to the
city, from which it appeared that the night popula-
tion of the city and liberties, consisting chiefly of
" care-takers" of property and the humbler classes,
numbered 113,387 ; the mercantile and commercial
population engaged in the city daily, but not in-
cluded in the last-mentioned number, amounted to
170,133 ; the total day population residing in the
city to 283,520 ; and the number of persons resort-
ing to the city daily, in 16 hours, not included in
the above, being customers, clients, and others, to
509,611. The persons frequenting the city daily in
12 hours, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., were 549,613; in
16 hours, from 5 a.m. to 9p.m., they were 679,744,
and in 24 hours they were 728,986. Mr. Lawley
stated, in reply to Mr. Dresser Rogers, that the
committee had not received any :official communi-
cation from parties now engaged in the movement
for creating metropolitan municipalities, but that
movement had his entire sympathy.
A HISTORICAL PICTURE.

Mr. J. E. SAUNDERS, chairman of the City
Lands Committee, brought up a report from that
body, recommending that the picture painted by
Mr. Alexander Melville, representing ;the ceremony
of the presentation of the freedom of the city to
his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, should be
purchased by the corporation for a sum not exceed-
ing £5,000. The report stated that the picture was
15ft. long and about 10ft. high, and covered 150
superficial feet of canvass ; that it represented 582
figures, of which 482 were absolute portraits, in-
' eluding those of many members of the Royal family,
and of about 80 members of the nobility. Mr.
Saunders, in moving the adoption of the report, said
in effect that the late Prince Consort was a steady
patron of the painter, Mr. Melville, and that the
latter had painted as many as 20 portraits of the
Queen. He read a letter addressed to the painter by
Sir F. Grant, President of the Royal Academy, in
which the writer stated that the picture was care-
fully and well executed, and that all the portraits
bore the stamp of individuality, which would lead
him to suppose they were faithful representations.
He likewise read a letter from Mr. Frith, R.A., to
much the same effect, and adding that the painter
deserved credit for the industry and perseverance
with which he had carried out a most laborious work.
Mr. Saunders caused some amusement by stating
incidentally that no member of the committee or of
the corporation had been asked his opinion as to his
own likeness in the picture, though in his opinion,
when members of that Court had assumed a con-
spicuous position in its proceedings their heads be-
came public property. He argued as a whole, from
his own knowledge, that the picture was historically
correct, but he admitted in one or two cases that

persons were represented in it who were not then
members of the Common Council, though they were
members now. He stated, in reply to Mr. R. P.
Taylor, that the painting was not undertaken in
any wayat the request of the corporation. He moved,
in conclusion, the adoption of the report, and that
it be referred back to the committee for execution.
There were 41 members of the committee recom-
mending the purchase of the picture, and it was
stated by the Town Clerk, in reply to a question,
that their report was signed by seven of them.
Mr. JOHNSON ridiculed the notion of its historical
accuracy, and contended that it was a fancy picture.
Mr. D. ROGERS moved, as an amendment, that
the report b.; referred back to the committee for
then to consider whether the picture was historically
correct, but it fell to the ground for want of a se-
conder.

Mr. FP.ICKER then moved an amendment that the
report lie on the table, that being the usual means
of avoiding a decision on the merits of a question
under consideration.

Deputy BURNELL, having asked whether it was
delicate iu them as a public body to sit in judgment
upon a picture composed for the most part of like-
nesses of themselves, contended that no one would
venture to say that to give £5,000 for it as a work of
art would be a proper disposition of public money,
and money, too, muck needed for urgent purposes.
Mr. R. P. TAYLOR opposed the purchase of the
picture, and created some laughter by saying, on
the point of historical accuracy, that his friend Mr.
D. Rogers was represented in it, and in uniform
too, though not at that time a member of the Com-
mon Council.

Mr. BEDFORD took the same side, contending
that it was not worthy their consideration as a work
of art, and that if the corporation purchased it they
would be guilty of an immense waste of public
money. As to its historical accuracy, be put it to
the Court whether—pointing to the painting in the
Council Chamber representing the siege of Gibral-
tar---if the figure of General Abercrombie were de-
capitated and the head of Mr. D. Roger substkuted,
it would be any longer a historical picture.
(Laughter.) He did not recognize in Mr. Mel-
ville's picture a single portrait to which the epithet
" speaking" could be applied. Likenesses there
were, but there was no mind, no soul in any of
them. (A laugh.) It was chiefly made up of like-
nesses of Common. Councilmen with the Prince of
Wales in the background. (A laugh.)

Mr. Deputy DE JERSEY urged that the artist was
never in any way commissioned to paint the pic-
ture, and said he should b. ashamed of being a
party to spending public money for their own self-
glorification.

Mr. C. REED argued, on the other hand, that the
occasion represented by the, picture was one of the
greatest events of recent times, and one upon which
the corporation spent a large sum of mo ney at the
time, and was, therefore, worthy of commemoration.
It would have been desirable, he said, for the cor-
poration originally to have given a proper commis-
Sion for such a work, but having let the opportunity
go by it was desirable for them to possess them-
selves of the work of Mr. Melville, who had laboured
at it continuously for three years.

Deputy ELmorr held that they, as trustees of
public money, were bound to spend it for municipal
purposes, of which this was not one, and suggested
that every member of the Co►nmon Council who
was represented in the picture should subscribe from
his own pocket £lO to compensate the artist for
his labour and skill. He bitterly regretted, he said,
having been caught in a weak moment to sit for his
Portrait on the occasion—(a laugh)--but he should
be Willing to atone for that by entering into an ar-
rangement such as he had suggested.
Dr. Saunders and Deputy Fry strongly urged the
claim of Mr. Melville upon the consideration of the
Common Council, and that the occasion was every
way worthy commemoration.
Mr. Ellis, Deputy Jones, and other members
spoke on the same side.
The TowN-CiLt rsK stated, in reply to a question,
that the painting belonginc, to the corporation, and
representing the presentation of their address to the
late King Louis Philippe at Windsor Castle, was
painted by a famous French artist, at the desire and
expense of the late King, and given to the corpora-
tion.

Eventually, on a division, the amendment reject-
ing the purchase of the picture was carried by a ma-
jority of 33 in a court of 151 members.
Mr. Sheriff WATERLOW then moved a fresh
amendment to the effect that the Court grant £5OO
to Mr. and Mrs. Melville to requite them for the
time, trouble, and great labour they had bestowed
on the picture. He explained that, while wishing
the Court to grant that sum, he did not absolve him-
self as an individual or other members of the corpo-
rationif they
the duty of subscribing privately in addi-
tion, they chose so to remunerate the artist.
The amendment was pronounced to be out of

order for want of previous notice, inasmuch as it
dealt with funds of the corporation.
Mr. 11. L. TAYLOR, as a means of g t!'ng out of
the difficulty, moved the committee be empowered
to confer with the artist and•ascertai.i from him the
minimum price at which the corporation might pos-
sess themselves of the picture when finished to their
entire satisfaction.

The amendment was negatived, on a division, by
12.

Mr. C. REED then moved to refer the matter back
to the committee to take professional advice as to
the merits of the picture, tut that also was lost on a
show of hands. In the end the Court adjourned
without coming to a definitive decision.

Mr. Doulton, M.P., and his Constituents.

-4...
Last night Mr. Doulton, M.P. for Lambeth, met
his constituents at the Walworth Institution, with
a view to explain to them his conduct with refer-
ence to the Reform question in the last session of
Parliament. The hon. member's invitation was ad-
dressed to " the electors and the non-electors," both
of whom attended in as great numbers as the ball,
which is not of very large dimensions, would per-
mit. Seven o'clock was the time fixed for commenc-
ing the proceedings, but nearly an hour before that
the platform and about half the body of the ball
were filled by persons admitted chiefly at the side
entrance, the rest of the building being speedily
_ _ _ . _

occupied after the doors were opened. The audience,
one, of course, of a somewhat mixed character, in-
chided a considerable proportion of "roughs," who,
though scattered here and there in different other
parts of the assemblage, had most thickly con-
gregated in the gallery. When Mr. Doulton
presented himself on the platform, accompanied by
some of his principal supporters, his appearance
was the signal for vehement and apparently
very general cheering, with the waving of hats
and handkerchiefs, interspersed, however, with
groans and hisses, which, beginning low, gradually
swelled into a louder and still louder chorus, until
the conflicting manifestations, which lasted several
minutes, grew almost deafening. Amid the din Mr.
T. P. Alder took the chair, and essayed to open the
business, but the tumult drowned every syllable that
fell from him.
Mr. DOULTON then stood forward to claim a hear-
ing, and was again greeted with mingled cheers and
yells, the uproar apparently proceeding chiefly from
the roughs and costermonger lads posted in the
gallery. The hon. member's friends gathered round
him as if to hold a consultation upon what was to
be done to allay, or at least to meet, the rising storm,
and several gentlemen in succession beckoned
was ateckoned
earnestly for silence, but in vain. There
length a momentary lull, which was seized by a Mr.
Weston, as we understood, who announced that he
had an amendment to move to whatever resolution
might be proposed to the meeting. His amend-
ment, he said, would be to this effect
That this meeting, having heard Mr. Doulton's so-
called explanation of his recent conduct in Parliament,
hereby declare that they have no confidence in him, and
that he no longer represents the borough of Lambeth iu
the House of Commons."
This amendment, however, rather prematurely
assumed one condition to have been fulfilled, which
was more than its author could guarantee—namely,
that Mr. Doulton should first receive a hearing.
This the hon. member now tried again, if possible, to
secure ; but he was assailed with another wild out-
burst of clamour ; and, utterly despairing of being
able to make himself audible to any considerable sec-
tion of the meeting he advanced to the very edge of
the platform, and addressed himself exclusively to
the representatives of the press who sat immediately
below. Although he bent his head low towards the
reporters, and strained his voice to its utmost pitch,
it was with extreme difficulty that they could catch
a few fragmentary and disjointed sentences of his
speech. The hon. gentleman courageously perse-
vered in the face of the most incessant and discor-
dant interruptions, his indomitable persistence, while
drawing repeated rounds of cheering from his sup-
porters, who seemed to form the great bulk of the
assemblage, especially in the front sections of the
hall, apparently served only still further to in-
furiate his opponents. Amid a scene which wholly
defies description,

Mr. DOULTON was understood to say that, in ac-
cordance with his usual custom, which he conceived

to be a good one, he had convened that meeting,
and in doing so he needed no other promptings than
those which he had always felt since he had had the
honour of representing that borough. Ile was quite
aware that on that occasion he would meet with
those who were opposed to the course he had felt it

his duty to take ; but, nevertheless, he saw no rea-
son why he should depart from the rule which he
had heretofore observed, or • refrain from coming

there, as he had done that night, to offer them such
explanations as might seem to be necessary with re-
ference, to the line he had adopted during the last
Session of Parliament. It would be useless for him
then to attempt anything like a review of the pro-
ceedings of the last Session. Suffice it .Co say, that
upon the Reform measure submitted to the House
by the late Government, he felt it to be his duty to
vote in opposition to those with whom he had pre-
viously been politically associated. In his place he
had stated at length the grounds upon which he had
done so. It was, therefore, now only necessary for
him to say that the main grounds of his opposition
to Mr. Gladstone's Franchise Bill were these—first,
that it was an incomplete Bill ; next, that it pro-
posed a uniformloweringof the franchise ; and next,
that the Redistribution Bill, which was afterwards
connected with the Franchise Bill, would increase
the
su d.l
ffearneonalies and bevils under which they now
A uniform franchise, lowering the
' suffrage alike in all cities and boroughs, was a
principle that would not stand the test of examina-
tion. That might be proved by one or two striking
illustrations. There
as at present on the part
of some a demand
for household
wouldgi
ten ;ot
wouldnbdu dt
while household suffrage in Lambeth
more than 50 voters to the
constituency,
add something like 2,000,000 voters to the entire
electoral list of the country. After referring to the
case of Preston, and asserting that in some boroughs
a £6 franchise would not be more than equal to a
£lO franchise in others, the hon. gentleman ad-
verted to the agitation which had recently taken
place in the metropolis and the provinces. If, he
suffrage.said, there was any significance at all in that agita-
tion, it had been in favour not of the bill introduced
by the late Government, but of universal suffrage.
It was well, therefore, that they should ask them-
selves selves what universal suffrage meant. It did not
mean simply the admission of the industrious and
intelligent portion of the working classes to elec-
toral rights; it meant also the admission to political
power of that class which the secretary of the Re-
form League described in the public journals of the
previous day as " roughs and thieves of the lowest
order." Sometimes America was held out to them
as an example, and sometimes France, -where uni-
versal suffrage prevailed ; but God forbid that free
England should be reduced to either the political
debasement and corruption of the one, or the cen-
tralised despotism of the other. What was the
complaint at present of our working classes ? Why,
that in the existing House of Commons their order
was not truly represented. He did not for one mo-
ment deny that. lie yielded to no man in his desire
to see the working classes of this country fully and
freely represented. But he asked the working classes,
who were now complaining, what would be the state
of things if to the million or so of existing voters I
four millions more were added ? If he understood
the principle of representation at all, it was that
they should give a full, fair, and free represen-
tation to all classes of the community, but that
neither one class nor another should gain
such a supremacy as to be able to overbear all
the rest. That was the principle which had been
laid down by Mr. Gladstone, and advocated by Lord
Russell. He might be told that his argument against
universal suffrage did not really apply toMr. Bright,
the leader of the present movement, because that
gentleman was not in favour of universal suffrage.
hHoins
ersetpyl reply
with the giftswas
whichthe pity
God
of
do r
htldr .
endowedß r igit t 's
more
him, he encouraged an agitation from the results of
which he shrank, and laboured for the triumph of
principles in which he did not agree, in
order to - ex-

cite an antagonism against the middle classes, and
against those who felt it their duty to oppose the
Reform Bill of last session. At almost every meet-
ing he had lately addressed Mr. Bright had urged
the working classes to hang up in their workshops
certain expressions alleged to have been used in the
House of Commons, charging those classes as a body
with ignorance, venality, and drunkenness. Now,
he was not there to apologise for what had been said
in that way; but when he found Mr. Bright so con-
tinually reiterating such advice he could not help
entertaining a wish that, side by side with those ex-
pressions there should be placed extracts from what
had very lately been uttered by the ultra-Radical
leaders and their newspapers with regard to the
House of Commons, and what were called the ruling
classes. And, to surmount the whole, there ought
t be a statement of those measures proposed during
the last 10 or 15 years to the House of Commons
for the amelioration of the socipl condition of the
working classes which Mr. Bright had in any way
supported. Whether those measures related to the
abridgment of the hours of labour in factories, to the
regulation of the labour of women and children in
mines, or to any other question affecting the social
or domestic condition of the working classes,
not one of them had Mr. Bright assisted to
pass. Therefore, when members of the House
of Commons were accused—lustly or unjustly
he did not say—of expressing sentiments de-
rogatory to the character of the working men,
he ventured to assert that the language used at the
Reform meeting held at Beaufort-house last Mon-
day week towards the House of Commons was in-
finitely more reprehensible.
Hitherto Mr. Doulton's remarks had been not so
much " interrupted" as overpowered by one con-
tinuous accompaniment of deafening clamour, an-
swered now and again by loud cheers and waving
of hats on the part of his sympathisers ; but at this
point increased confusion arose from an" ugly rush"
towards the platform by some turbulent spirits in
the body of the hall. The pressure from this cause
soon became so great as to drive the reporters from
their seats, and force them to take refuge as best
how-
ever, l l might
maintained
upon
hs platform.greund, Mr.anDd osutrletovne to ,ho w
re-
sume the thread of his discourse, some of his stalwart
s still
friends forming a circle round him, and acting as a
sort of breakwater against the angry living sea which
threatened to sweep all before it. The hon. gentle-
man, continuing his observations to his immediate
entourage amid the same, or, if possible, a louder
and fiercer din than before, said, that if anything
were needed to show the tyranny of those who pro-
fessed at the present moment to be the peoples' leaders,
and to show how they would exercise their influence,
he thought it would be found in the infuriated at-
tempts which had been made by a portion of the press
during the last few weeks to render that meeting of
his impossible. To some extent, undoubtedly, those
attempts had succeeded, but he thought it would be
apparent to those around him that night that five-
sixths of those whom he had the honour of address-
ing were prepared, if not to agree with all the sen-
timents he might have uttered, at least to give to
him that which every accused man had a right to
expect—a fair hearing to vindicate his character.
He did not regret the agitation which had occurred
in this country for the last few weeks—he did not re-
gret the attempt made that night to stifle his voice,
and prevent him from defending the course which he
had pursued. It had taught him, and also, he be-
lieved, the great bulk of the middle class, what they
were to expect if those who were at the bottom of
interruptions of that kind once obtained a position
that would give them power. To adopt a phrase
very often used during the last session of Parlia-
ment by Mr. Gladstone, " they now knew with
whom they had to deal ;" and he would be much
surprised if the middle classes of England did not
resent as one man the attempts that were being made
to suppress that free discussion which they had been
accustomed to regard as the birthright of English-
men. It needed but a glance at those who were
then disturbing that meeting to see that they were
not the working men who walked in order and pro-
priety last Monday week from the park to Beaufort-
house. Yet they were those who would inevitably
be enfranchised by the adoption of the principles
advocated by the Reform League. His life had been
spent among the working men ; and amid all that
clamour he challenged any person to lay his finger
ou any act of his which could be fairly construed into
an attempt to deprive them of their liberty. One
word more and he had done. It was impossible for
him then to go into the statement which he had in-
tended to make ; but this he wished to say, that he
felt more than ever assured since he entered that
room that the great body of the electors of Lambeth,
though many of them might not approve every in -
dividual vote which he had given, would in the main
endorse the policy he had pursued in reference to
the recent Reform Bill. Yet, if that were not so,
if through the line that he had taken on that ques-
tion the connexion which had long subsisted between
him and that borough were to be dissolved, even
that were better far than that he should retain his
position by the sacrifice of his own individual con-
victions, and endorse a policy which in his conscience
he believed would not serve the interests of his con-
stituents, and which would be fatal to the well-being
of the community at large.
Loud cheers and renewed uproar greeted Mr.
Doulton's conclusion, and while the confusion was
at its height the form, if not the farce, was gone
through of proposing, seconding, and declaring
unanimously carried a resolution to this effect :
,‘ That this meeting, having heard Mr. Doulton's expo-
sition of his political views, desires to express its entire
and hearty concurrence in his Parliamentary conduct, and
its admiration of his manly and straightforward vindica-
tion of the principle of independent political action."

Mr. 11. Hunt and Mr. J. Alderson were given as
the names of the mover and seconder of this reso-
lution.

Another resolution, moved amid similar difficul-
ties by Mr. GEORGE TAYLOR, and seconded by Mr.
STANTON, was declared to have been passed with
equal unanimity—viz.,

" That with a view of securing.the return of Mr. Doul-
ton at any future election committees be forthwith organ-
ised for tho division of the borough into districts, and for
the effective canvass of the individual electors."

The amendment of which Mr. Weston had pre-
viously given notice was, therefore, understood to
have been declared rejected.
Mr. DOULTON, in responding, promised that
I whenever the time came for another election for
I Lambeth to be held he would do his part if they
would do theirs. (Cheers and uproar.) He was
satisfied that the course he had adopted was approved
by the great body of his constituents, and he should
be ashamed of himself if he did not stand and afford
to every elector an opportunity of expressing his
views. (Great confusion.) He was not to be de-
terred redduftry by attemptsomthatwhich
he believed
as
eillevedthtoosebeinhaisdebotrat-
night. He had too much confidence in the fairness
of Englishmen to believe they would allow that
, system of intimidation to prevail at public meetings.
He wished them adieu, and would meet them again
at Philippi. (Cheers, laughter, and renewed uproar.)
Mr. Doulton then withdrew, escorted by a sort of
body guard of his supporters, whereupon the dis-
turbing element took possession of the platform,
and held a counter-demonstration, in which the
gs was almostete
masters
previous course of proceedings
reversed, with the exception that the opponents of
the hon. member, being now nearly e9mo
of the situation, were enable to go through their
part of the farce with comparatively little let or
hindrance. Mr. Leicester, glassblower, 111 r. Odgers,
and other persons, addressed the assemblage, which
agreed with fully as much unanimity as had been
displayed a brief half hour or so before in proposals
of quite an opposite character to resolutions de-
claring in effect that Mr. Doulton had forfeited the
confidence of his constituents, that Mr. Gladstone,
Mr. Bright, Mr. Mill, and Mr. Hughes deserved
the confidence of Reformer:4, and that manhood
suffrage, protected by the ballot, is the only sound
basis of a satisfactory representative system. •
The strange and almost unprecedented scene then
terminated.

BYRON AND BURNS.—,Mr. Bruce, M.P., at Liver-
pool, said, the other day, he remembered the witty retort
made in reply to the argument used by a champion of pub-
lic schools, that Byron was a /farrow boy. "Se was ; and
Burns was a ploughboy."

The Members for Finsbury and their

Constituents.

Mr. Torrens, M.P., and Alderman Lusk, M.P.,
met their constituents last evening in the theatre of
the London Mechanics' Institution, to deliver ad-
dresses upon the last Session of Parliament, accord-
ing to a promise given by them at their election.
Mr. R. Willshere, of Islington, was voted to the
chair. The hon. members were loudly cheered when
they entered the room.
After a few remarks from the chairman,
Mr. TORRENS, M.P., addressed the meeting. He
said since he last met his constituents events had
taken place that had materially changed the
aspect of political affairs both abroad and at home.
Many of the States of Europe that then existed
existed no longer ; they had been incorporated
into one great monarchy, and another vast mili-
tary power had arisen to add to the chances of war,
and it remained to be seen whether it might not also
add to the embarrassments of other contingen states.
Austria had lost her old position, and, it was stated,
was setting her house in order. And she had need
to do so, for her very existence was in peril. The
Greeks were once more endeavouring to liberate
themselves from a barbarous yoke. (Hear, hear.)
Russia, wisely biding her time, with English gold and
skill, was making vast military railroads, the use of
which, when she was asked, she did not hesitate to
avow was to try and do better next time. (Laughter.)
France, nettled by the failure of her attempt to found
a new empire in Mexico, and by the sudden uprising
of Prussia, announced that less than 800,000 regu-
lar troops would not suffice for her future dignity,
besides 300,000 home guards, making a total of
1,100,000 men. Spain lay garrotted by her own
police. (Cheers.) Belgium sat trembling and
smiling, afraid of being asked whether she suspected
anyone of wishing to do her foul play. And where
was England ? He trusted the answer in every
heart would be a consciousness of the security that
a great nation could only justly feel when she wished
no ill to her neighbours, and had put away that am-
bition that weighed upon the national heart, of in-
termeddling in the quarrels of other people.
(Cheers.) All that had happened in Europe had a
direct influence upon us. On either hand there
were whisperings and.bustlings of preparations for
future fight, and there had always unhappily been
men amongst the ruling classes who fancied that,
because others were armed we should be armed,
too, notwithstanding their knowledge that those
who were armed were powerless to pay without
new taxes or ißcreased debt. He feared that
before next session was over, the Government
would have to be asked to give a firm and decided
negative to the proposal that England should again
commit the folly of our fathers. They sinned and
were not, and we bore their iniquities. We had
eight hundred millions of reasons why we should not
vote another shilling for further army estimates.
(Cheers.) He trusted that the present administra-

tion would not commit that fault. We were told

that we wanted more moneyand men to defend our
shores. Last year 25 millions of money were voted
for ordnance, navy, and regular troops, and now we
were told by people who loved warfare and soldier-
ing that this was not enough, and that the country
was not safe notwithstanding that great expendi-
ture. If that were so, the sole impression upon his
mind was, that we should cut down the army esti-
mates and save the money. (Cheers.) But he be-
lieved there was no truth whatever in the fear of any
power being developed in Europe that ought to
make us afraid. If reform in the army were neces-
sary, more shame for those who bad had the expen-
diture of such sums of money as Lord Grey, the
Duke of Wellington, Lord Melbourne, and the late
Sir Robert Peel never thought of asking from Par-
liament. If we were to have an army reform let us
have it in treating soldiers as we would other men.
(Cheers.) There was mental pluck and physical
pluck, which we were told must be stimulated upon
twopence a day more pension, and two extra ounces

of beef, hone included, for the soldier on duty. Let

the ►node of recruiting be changed by desisting from
catching the runaway and scapegrace, and from
buying the recruit drunk and beating him into dis-
cipline. (Cheers.) There was grief in the work-
ing man's family and sorrow around his hearth
whenever it was whispered the son had ab-
sconded to enlist. The very idea of enlistment
was a reproach, and was synonymous with the

confession that a man was good for nothing
better, and would settle down to nothing useful.
What was wanted wits to see the army representa-
tive of every class in the nation, and not collected

from the scum and refuse of society, and to have it
looked upon as a profession in which the pride of a
man's heart might exult, in which the hope of a
youth might have its legitimate ambition, and in
which the virtues, self-denial, order, and dignity
that befitted a free man might be exercised.. Give
up the lash, abandon degrading punishments, break
down promotion by purchase--(cheers)—and let
the man know that the career is open to him, and
that he who shed his blood for the state was its
honoured child, and that he who had the merit to
command the troops of the state should have the
command. (Cheers.) It was said something more
than regular troops were wanted, and while not dis-
puting that he looked to the true reserve forces of
the country in the reorganisation upon old consti-
tutional principles of the militia. They should not
be raised by ballot or compulsory enlistment; but
by a system that would enable a man to go out for
a few days' drill Near his home, and return to his
family with that pride which the volunteer felt
when called out to parade. Then we should have
without expense and demoralisation a militia com-
posed of men of all ranks to be a reserved power,
that would render us secure against possible attack
or insult. No doubt it was true what the Horse-
Guards and IV ar-office asserted, that what with re-

lief for Canada and India, it was no longer easy to
find men enough for the regular troops to keep up
the rotation of regiments the service required. This
was an excellent reason for abandoning the extra-
vagant and ill-advised attempt to hold down 150
millions of people in India by British youth and
vigour. If we could not govern India more cheaply
—that was more justly and more wiseli—that
was more economically; if India could not be
governed by the Indian people, we confessed we
were mere usurpers in the country—(cheers)—and
sooner or later the empire would crumble to dust.
As for Canada, the day had gone by when we could
afford to affect to garrison that colony by English
troops. The best thing we could do for Canada
was to assure her of our neutrality, enabling, en-
titling, and binding us to withdraw those small
garrisons that, not enough for practical defence,
were just sufficient to provoke and tantalise a neigh-
bour. There was another use of our army which
unhappily could not in the present hour be omitted.
Our camps, arsenals, and garrisons in England
were being denuded of troops, not because we had
found it necessary to send them against a threaten-
ing foreign foe, not as reliefs to a conquered land
like India, not for a distant colony like Canada,
but it was grievous to know that they were being
borne across the Channel to hold down by force an
apprehended rising in a portion of the United King-
dom with which we had been associated for 600
years. (Cheers.) Many of the rumours of the last
three weeks were probably due to panic and mis-
taken fears. He knew something of the Irish people.
He had read their history, and had lived amongst
them, and in acknowledging the great discontent
that existed in Ireland he could not forget the fatal,
blind, arrogant, and cruel policy which had con-
verted the country for generations into a condition
which every hour might make a field of blood. Let
no man go away with the impression he was parly-
ing with sedition. The duty of our executive
was to keep the peace ; and he thought the greatest
kindness they could exercise towards a susceptible,
excitable, and irritable population was to keep
them back from the brink towards which they
were struggling. But while hoping the Govern-
ment would perform its duty vigilantly and suc-
cessfully, he could not help looking forward to a
time when an account must be called for of what
had been done, and when the executive—Whig or
Tory—must be asked, " How long halt ye between
two opinions ? If Ireland be part of the United
Kingdom why do you not govern her in a way to
coutent her ? If she be not part of the United

Kingdom, wipe out the hypocrisy—the lie of the
thing you call an Act of Union, and tell Europe, if
you dare, that you do not know how to govern a
country within four hours' sail of your shores,
speaking your own language, subjected to your own
laws for generations, and represented in your House
of Commons." (Loud cheers.) Do not tell him
that the masses of an intelligent and educated popu-
lation, numbering millions in the ranks of the dis-
affected, had become disaffected without a cause.
Was there not a cause ? (Cheers.) Did ever the
world see a people living from father to son for
generations hesitating between the pains of exile
and the perils of sedition without reason. Twenty-
three years ago he sat under the gallery of the House
of Commons in an hour of anxiety like the present.
Ireland was said to be ou the 'brink of revolt. A
Conservative Governmmt was then in power, and
lie heard the great head of the Whig party tell the
executive they ought to be ashamed of the existing
state of things in Ireland, and that Ireland was oc-
cupied, not governed. At the present time Ireland
was occupied—was she governed? (No, no.) Why
not, then ? The first vote asked of the House of

Commons last session was to suspend the habeas

corpus ; and its last act was to renew the suspen-
sion. The late Mr. Cobden said, " Judging of the
Irish by ourselves, Englishmen, peace and prosperity
never should be hoped for, and never ought to be
hoped for in Ireland, while the present system of law
remains unaltered." (Cheers.) The late Viceroy of
Ireland, Lord Kimberley, declared in the House of
Lords that danger and trouble would never abate
in Ireland until the essential laws of land and creed
were fundamentally settled. (Hear.) If these
things were to be trusted, the electors of Finsbury
would authorise their members to go back to the
House of Commons, not to grant favours or gratui-
ties, or to do anything for Ireland but what they
would wish Ireland to do for us if she were the
stronger country—namely, justice. (Cheers.) The
hon. member then reviewed the business of the last
session, commenting upon the questions of interna-
tional law and extradition treaties, arguing respect-
ing the latter that the action taken by himself and
others when the matter came before the house,
although reproached at the time, was justified within
six weeks by the well-known case of Lamirande.
Referring to his bill to improve the dwellings of the
working classes, Mr. Torrens entreated the electors
to give their support to that measure, the third read-
ing of which he feared would not be passed without
a struggle. He was surprised to find that at the Man-
chester Social Science Congress it was argued that
the promoters of the bill had no right to ask the
Treasury for money at 3f per cent. to rebuild the
homes of the working classes. Those classes had,
by their savings up to the end of' the past year,
banked with the Treasury no less than £47,000,000,
and out of those balances the Chancellor of the
Exchequer had granted thousands and tens of thou-
sands of pounds to the country gentlemen to drain
their estates. (Shame.) In applying for loans at 3f
per cent., the working classes were only asking for
their own. The question of the day was Parliamen-
tary Reform. (Cheers.) In former Parliaments he
had under all circumstances voted for household
suffrage. He believed a rate-paying suffrage might
be made almost co-equal with household suffrage,
but the latter would be simpler and more just. At
present 200 shillings rent entitled a man to vote, and
the best mechanic that ever lived was disfranchised
if he only paid 195 shillings of rent, whereas the
most disreputable beer-seller in Totnes, if he paid
the 200 shillings, had a vote to sell. (Laughter and
cheers.) The fate of Mr. Gladstone's bill was well
known. They now wanted to see what the new Go-
vernment would do. (Hisses.) It was said that they
were about to propose a measure more liberal than
their predecessors. (" Walker," and laughter.) He
sincerely hoped it might turn out so. He should take
it for what it was worth. If it enfranchised any
great class of the community without taking away
with the other hand, he should think it a pleasure and
duty to support it ; if, on the other hand, it should
turn out to be what the opponents of the present
Government suspected, it was probable that the ad-
judication of the affair would be thrown back to the
electors. For himself he believed nothing short of
household suffrage would be satisfactory to the com 7
umuity. (Loud cheers.) The lion. gentleman, after
a few more remarks, thanking the electors for their
kindness, and assuring them of his attention to their
interests in the future, resumed his seat amidst loud

applause.
Alderman LUSK, M.P., next addressel the meet-

ing. Before their seats in the Howie of Commons
were warm the members, he said, were occupied
with the interminable subject of the cattle plague,
and night after night they heard of nothing but
hides, horns, and hoofs. (Laughter.) The end
of it was the house legislated upon the subject
in a panic, and the Government were left by
the country gentlemen in a minority. This was
his first experience of the landed interest, and it
convinced him that a preponderance of that class
was not desirable. (Cheers.) As to the Irish ques-
tion, there was one irritating sore that ought to be
cured at once—viz., the Irish Church. Mr. White's
motion on the reduction of expenditure, though very
important, fell on the house flat, stale, and unpro-
fitable, and nobody seemed to care anything about
expenditure, which was one of those matters to which
members should pay special attention. Legislation
should IJok after the outgoings as well as the incom-
ings. (Cheers.) On the principle that a felony ought
not to be compounded, the attempted compromise
on church rates met with his strenuous opposition.
It was absolutely necessary, now that Churchmen
were teaching things popular in the dark ages, and
making our salvation depend on rihands, that
the power held by the country over the Church
should not be given up. (Cheers.) If Church cler-
gymen, who were in the pay of the State, and there-
fore of the people, wished to act contrary to law and
custom, they must leave the Church. (Cheers.) A
great deal of good was done by the discussions on
reform, in bringing to the surface principles and
facts not before popularly known. The Liberals in
the late reform debates failed a little perhaps in over
estimating their own strength, and underrating that
of their opponents; in fact they were rather " bump-
tious." (Laughter.) The loss of the bill was not so
great as it was considered to be at the time, because
probably a little more would be asked for now.
(Cheers.)' A lesson should be learnt from the past,
and au additional pressure should at once be put
upon the constituencies to send right men to Parlia-
ment. Believing that men grew more by industry
than violence, he had given particular attention to
questions affecting trade and commerce. Our bank-
ruptcy laws were a disgrace to the country, and en-
couraged fraud. (Hear, hear.) He took considerable
interest in the bill respecting reformatory and in-
dustrial schools, his wish being to get children tent
to school before committting crime, instead
of afterwards. Tne religious element in the
house was very troublesome, and the passing
of the measure was much hindered by sectarianism.
He, with his hon. colleague, voted for the ballot,
although, owing to a variety of circumstances, they
were beaten. After referring to the supply of gas
and water in the metropolis, the hon. member in-
sisted that the first question to be considered next
session was reform, and he was ready to support a
reform bill, as he did last session.

A VOICE—How far will you go ?
Alderman LUSK—Oh, as far as you like, pretty
well. (Loud laughter and cheers.) He then pro-
mised to oppose a large expenditure, to promote a
compulsory system of education, and to do all he
could to improve our good institutions and destroy
the bad.
Speeches were then made by Dr. Bruce, Mr. An-
son, Mr. A. Walker, Mr. R. N. Philips, Mr. J.
Baxter Langley, Mr. G. Brook, and others.
A resolution was then unanimously passed ex-
pressing entire approval of and confidence in the
hon. members. A second was submitted, assert-
ing that our representative system imperatively
demanded the immediate action of Parliament, and
hoping that a measure would be passed in the en-
suing session that would meet the just expectations
of the people. To this motion an amendment was
proposed, urging manhood suffrage and the ballot.
The amendment was carried by a large majority.
After Messrs. Torrens and Lusk had acknowledged
the vote of thanks the business terminated with for-
mal votes of thanks.
The meeting separated after 11 o'clock.

SPIRI r OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—If we have lately in these columns some-
what shunned the subject of the re-organisation of
the Austrian empire, it is not because we deemed it
at any time destitute of interest, or because it did not
earnestly, and we may almost say painfully, engage
our attention. It is only because we saw no appa-
rent progress in the question—none, at least, which
we could feel justified in confidently reporting. There
are threads in the web of human affairs which all our
boasted foresight, as grounded on experience, will
hardly enable us to unravel ; changes which it is as
difficult to trace to their first causes as to follow up
to their ultimate effects. It is not enough in some
cases that " Providence should shape our ends ;" the
mere task of " rough-hewing" them is above our
powers. It may not be difficult, for instance, to dive
boldly into the future so far as the West of Europe
is concerned. Happen what may, we need not anti-
cipate any material alterations in the present inter-
national ari angements. The Gaul and the Teuton,
the Latin, the Iberian, and the Briton, will, in all
probability, within a century be found within their
present territories. Some trifling squabbles about
border lines, the extinction of minor Stotes, much as
such events ought to be deprecated, would not per-
manently disturb the balance which makes the west-
ern nations all so many members of one family. But
foreknowledge is at fault when We turn our eyes to
the East. It is difficult to look forward to the inde-
finite continuance of the Turkish empire, nor can
one be free from misgiving about the stability of the
Austrian monarchy. How those two States may
stand or fall, and, in the latter event, what new
edifices may be reared in their stead, are the pro-
blems of the age—problems for which there is not
even any attempt to volunteer a solution. To
limit our remarks to that part of the subject from
which we took our start, on what policy, home or
foreign, is Austria about to settle after the disas-
trous struggle which shut her out both of Italy and
Germany ? Some of the German Austrians seem
indisposed to acquiesce in the disposition of the
Treaty of Prague, and to look upon their es-
trangement from the Fatherland as, at the ut-
most, a temporary arrangement. For what concerns
the German provinces the existence of the Empire
must be based on that supremacy of their own race
over the other nationalities on which it has ever
stood. They have in their favour the seat of govern-
ment, the military and bureaucratic organization of
the Monarchy, a superior culture, powers of combi-
nation, gregarious instincts. They will be sure to
do stout battle for their precedence, but were they
worsted, they would always have their brethren of
North or South Germany to fall back upon. In
antagonism with the Germans the Magyars aspire
to absolute independence of their kingdom on the
footing of mere personal union, failing in which,
they threaten a dissolution of the Empire, with some
vague prospects of the formation of an Eastern
State, with its centre at Pesth. They have on their
side the old traditions of their kingdom, their signal
services performed in behalf of the Hapsburgs, their
high metal and dash in battle, and a certain apti-
tude for political broil and intrigue. The Magyars,
however, can do more than demolish. Did they even
succeed in cutting Vienna and all the German Pro-
vinces adrift, and in making Pesth the seat of em-
pire, they could not by their numbers, by their wis-
dom and real valour, govern all the non-German
Austrian Provinces, or even the old dependencies of
their own kingdom. The first law of the Empire is
existence, and this must needs be bound up with
that capital and those German Provinces with which
the Monarchy has always been identified. The
Magyars could at the utmost only reproduce 1848,
and that year, if it had not ended with their subju-
gation, would have led to the dismemberment no
less of their kingdom than of the whole Austrian
Empire. The Magyars seem to be aware of this fact
and the moderate party, headed by Beak, have just
put forth a draught of an address which they would
fain represent as conciliatory. The main point in
dispute is, however, of the simplest. These so-
called Moderate Magyars demand the immediate
re-establishment of their Constitution, the con-
tinuity of their right as claimed in 1848, the
sanction by a constituted Government of con-
cessions wrested from a Government overthrown
by revolution. Such demands may well be
grounded on old rights and privileges ; but
the practical question is, are they compatible with
the existence of the Austrian monarchy ? The
Magyars are so convinced of the difficulty of recon-
ciling their own with the common Imperial interests
that they profess themselves ready to enter into all
desirable compromises. But they must have their
demands admitted to the full in the meanwhile;
future arrangements are left for negotiation and
discussion, which may as easily lead to nothing as
anything. Should this draught of the address be
voted by the Chamber; should the terms be ac-
cepted by the Emperor, the Magyars would have all
they ask for, and their Sovereign would get back
only what they, in their magnanimity, Lel
inclined to give up. The admission of the Magyar
claims, as at present preferred, would lead to a
dualism, reducing Austria to the condition of
Sweden and Norway; with this difference, how-
ever, that the two Scandinavian kingdoms consist
of two compact and homogeneous nations, while in
Austria each of the clniponent parts would be an
aggregate of hostile races which either- sheer force
or mutual jealousy has hitherto kept together, and
which would be amenable to no other cohesive
policy. General events may, indeed, sweep on
with such irresistible strength as either to crumble
Austria or to give her a decisive bias eastward ;
but even if, either under the Hapsburgs or under
any other dynasty, the Empire were to look for a
new centre in the Lower Danube, it would hardly
gravitate upon Pesth, or ground its power on
Magyar supremacy. The German element being
eliminated from the Austrian community, there
would be a struggle among the other races,
which, however it might begin, would scarcely
terminate in favour of the Magyar. The new agglo-
meration of races on the Lower Austrian Danube
could hardly take place without a simultaneous stir
among the other tribes further down on the banks
of the same stream. The Austrian atoms would
come into collision with the Turkish atoms, and
some new birth would struggle into existence, of
which it would be difficult to pre-conceive the na-
ture, but in which a: Roman, and not a Magyar,
element would in all probability preponderate.
There is nothing that we are less disposed to indulge
in than any idle speculation on remote contingent ies.
We deem it more profitable to deal with Austria
and Turkey as they are than to cast about for what
may happen when they cease to be. From any im-
mediate apprehension of danger from abroad we
believe both those empires perfectly free. Austria's
policy at the present moment should not look be-
yond the limits of her own territory. Her dispute
just now is not with Prussia or Russia, nor should
her hope rest on France. The great point is the
settlement of the Magyar claims. Concession or
resistance may be equally fraught with peril ; but
no sacredness of Magyar rights should prevail upon
Austria to cut her own throat. No fair words of
M. Deak and his colleagues should induce the Em-
peror to put hinaself at their discretion. Restore,
the Constitution of 1848, and you pull down Aus-
tria without building up Hungary. So long as
Austria is what she is, her real element of strength
lies in her German provinces. It is in that element
that, in extreme cases, she must seek her salvation.
POST.—The education of the people is a matter
of the greatest importance at all times, but in these
days, when a general demand is being made for their
admission to a larger, and even to the largest, share
of power in the State, and when there seems so
much probability of at least a part of the demand
being conceded, it is of the first importance that
attention should be drawn to the means of fitting
them, so far as can be done by education, for the
discharge of political duties and the comprehension
of political responsibility. It is unquestionable
that our present system—that is to say, what there
is of a system----of national education is so deplo-
rably defective that the mental state of our lower
classes is a reproach to us among the nations of
Europe. The recruiting returns for the year 1864,
which have just been issued, show that in that year
one man out of every three who presented them-
selves to the recruiting officer was unable to read
or to write, while one out of every five was unable
to do more than read. Considering the classes
from which recruits are drawn, they may be taken
not unfairly to represent what are called " the
masses," and, considering that the recruits do not
include women, who are generally worse instructed
than the other sex, it is probable that it would be'
understating the case to say that of the lower classes
only two out of three are able both to read and to
write. Such a state of things is hardly creditable
to our state of civilisation, and the disgrace of it
has long been recognised by all who have thought
upon the question ; indeed, the whole history of it
is a record of the independent, and often misdi-
rected, efforts of private individuals to accomplish
what is properly the business of the State, but what
the State has hitherto failed to do. The personal
opinions and religious tendencies of those who thus
have from time to time come forward to promote
education have naturally been very apparent in what
they have done, and the presence of so many anta-
gonistic elements has indeed always been one of the
greatest sources of difficulty in bringing the power
of the State into beneficent action upon the question.
If it were a question of funds supplied by the State
alone, it would not be difficult to devise a plan of
general education 7 but, under the present system,
the principle followed is to acquire a certain control
over the expenditure of money provided by private
persons, in consideration of a smaller sum provided
by the State ; and even this has awakened much
jealousy and distrust, and given rise to the most

interminable disputes. The difficulties of carrying
out such a system to the extent requisite to make it
available for the education of the entire population
would be increased a thousandfold, and it is obvious
that, if a complete national system is to be devised,
it must be upon some other basis, including some
further elements, than that now iu existence. An
attempt to sketch out a system which would sup-
plement and harmonise with the present was made
on Monday last at a meeting in Manchester, where
the matter seems to have attracted much attention.
The chief feature of the proposal is that the matter
should be left to the management of the local
authorities and be supported by local rates. There
are, however, some objections to this plan, and
one of them is that as long as it is held that
secular education should be connected with religi-
ous instruction there would always be great difli
culty in inducing ratepayers to tax themselves P!
the support of a school, as to the merits of which ne
two of them would be agreed, and the result would
very probably be rather more quarrelling and no
more education than is produced from the present
system. Another feature of the plan is that power
should be given to enforce attendance at school of
all children within the jurisdiction of the local autho-
rities referred to. For this part, if it were dis-
severed from, and could be carried out without, the
other, there is undoubtedly a great deal to be said.
In Mr. Kennedy's report to the Educational Depart-
ment for 1865 is this passage :—" Amongst the
many defects connected with the education of the
poor which come under my observation in the large
towns which I visit, the most sad is that such large
numbers of children are still receiving either uo
schooling at all, or se little as to be worthless ;" and
he goes on to say that the result of a house-to-house
visitation in Manchester, in November, 1865, was
to show that " out of fifteen children between the
ages of three and twelve, one was at work, six at
school, and the remaining eight totally neglected as
regards education." " Two main causes of this
evil," he says, as regards the parents of the chil-
dren, are poverty and carelessness." Such is the
strength of the latter cause, indeed, that positively
nothing short of actual compulsion will induce many
parents to send their children to school. There
is, it is true, a great dislike of the word i; compul-
sion," especially with regard to education, which it
is truly said should be looked upon as a blessing
conferred and not as a duty imposed. But, as Mr.
Bennett remarked at the meeting referred to,
" We are all being compelled every day of our
lives in one way or other," and if ever there were
a case for the interference of authority it is
that of parents who, either through apathy and
carelessness, or positive brutality, refuse to allow
their children to obtain the educational advantages
within their reach. Besides, the principle has al-
ready been recognised and enforced in the Factory
Act, which absolutely does make it compulsory to
give every child employed for wages at least as
many hours of instruction as are employed in work.
Whatever reasons can be advanced for this regula-
tion are equally strong in favour of its further ex-
tension. It is, unhappily, but too clear that poveiti
and ignorance react upon this question to such an
extent that nothing short of a system of compulsory
attendance at school will ever be effectual to pro-
duce general education. And as the importance of it
becomes every day greater, it is to be hoped that
those who take an interest in this question will not
let it rest till either by this or by some other means
provision has been made for the elementary instruc-
tion of every child throughout the kingdom.