The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-28 00:00:00

included Ministers and high personages. There was
dancing in the evening in the gardens after the tables
for dinner had been cleared.

Le Memorial Diplomatique states that Count
Jomini, son of the celebrated General, has arrived
in Paris on a mission from Prince Gortschakoff, the
object of which is to elicit from France (to sound)
what course she might be disposed to adopt "in the
eventualities of the conflict in Germany." This is a
specimen of the vague surmises which now agitate
the Bourse.

ELECTION INTELLIGENCE.

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Mr. Robert Dimsdale, of Essendon-place, Herts,
has issued the following address to the electors of
the borough of Hertford :

" A vacancy having occurred in the representation of
your borough by the lamented decease of your valued and
esteemed friend and member, Sir Minto Farquhar, I hasten
to offer myself as a candidate for your suffrages. On most
public questions my views are identical with those enter-
tained by your late member; and I hope, by a steady ad-
herence to them, to obtain and retain the confidence of the
electors of your town. The two subjects which promi-
nently engage the attention of Parliament are Parliamen-
tary Reform and our relations with foreign Powers. On
both of these you will expect a frank exposition of my
political sentiments. I share the opinion entertained by
moderate politicians of all sections, that it is highly impor-
tant that Parliamentary Reform —should be speedily
settled on a satisfactory basis. For more than
fourteen years it has occupied the attention of
the House of Commons, and at present seriously
hinders all legislative improvement. It should be our aim,
however, to effect a settlement not likely to be disturbed
for a considerable time ; and I cannot think that the bill in-
troduced by her Majesty's Government affords any prospect
of such a desirable consummation. Hastily devised, it
seeks to base the representation of the country on mere
numerical preponderance, and upsets completely the pre-
sent equilibrium of classes. There are other points in the
bill affecting yourselves. Hertford, already twice menaced
by the penalty of semi-disfranchisement, is again assailed.
To any measure containing such a provision I shall offer
the most strenuous opposition. The preservation of the
small borough element, I consider essential to the proper
distribution of electoral power; and I believe that nothing
would more fatally deteriorate the character of Parliament
than to vest in large constituencies only, whether urban or
rural, the right of returning members. I am convinced
that such an arrangement would promote a dangerous
antagonism of rival classes, and destroy the peace of the
State by exciting ceaseless local agitations. In regard to
Foreign Politics, I trust that we shall adhere strictly to
the principle of non-intervention, and that, by the wisdom
of those in power, England may be preserved from the
necessity of taking a part in the melancholy and disas-
trous war now raging in Germany and on the frontiers of
Italy. We cannot thoroughly sympathise with either
of the belligerents. On the one hand, war has been
provoked by the reckless intolerance of the Prussian
Minister, who has sacrificed the peace of Europe to
the aggrandisement of his country ; on the other hand,
while admitting that Austria's claim to Venetia
rests on the faith of treaties, and may be defended by the
letter of international law, I cannot but think it impossible
for her eventually to bind together, by the strong arm of
force, the bitter conflicting nationalities which exist within
her dominions. I am, by conviction, a friend to the Church
as by law established, and would defend her with all the
energy in my power. The maintenance:of the connection
between her and the State I consider necessary to the
truest interests of both. At the same time, I believe that
the days have passed away when the Churchman would
wish to claim any privilege for his communion which
might gall the conscience of the honest Dissenter, whether
Romanist or Protestant ; and I look forward to the not far
distant period when the much-vexed question of Church
rates will be finally set at rest. Social questions will, in
my judgment, take precedence for the future of mere
theoretical Reforms, and, provided the affairs of the State
are well administered, popular feeling will be compara-
tively indifferent to large constitutional chances. Educa-
tion without stint for all classes, improvement of the
dwellings of the poor, the abolition of the law of settle-
ment, and a better devised system of rating, will find in
me a warm and strenuous advocate. In a word every well
considered measure, calculated to advance the social and
moral condition of the working-classes, will obtain my
most zealous support. Local matters, affecting the welfare
and prosperity of Hertford, will always have a claim on
my sympathy and attention. I have been so long con-
nected with your town by the two-fold ties of family and
neighbourhood, that it will be my pleasure, no less than
my duty, to advance those interests to the utmost of my
power.