The Sun.
London, England, 1859-04-29 00:00:00

TOWER HAMLETS.

The nomination took place this morning, at the hustings,
Stepney-green. The late members, Mr. Ayrton and Mr.
C. Butler, were returned without opposition.

GREENWICH.

The nomination of two persons to represent the borough
of Greenwich in Parliament took place this morning, in
fruit of St. Alphage Church, Greenwich.
The usual formalities having been gone through, the
candidates—Alderman Salomons, Montague Chambers,
Esq., A. C. Angerstein, and Sir J. Maxwell—were pro-
posed and seconded.

Alderman SALOMONS, in addressing the electors, said
he had no fear for the result. He had always, since he
had had the honour to represent Greenwich, done his ut-
most to further the interests of the borough. (Cheers.)
He avowed himself a thorough reformer, and ho was of
opinion that any Ministry that wished to remain in power
at the present time must give to the people a good and real
Reform Bill, and abstain from actually interfering
in the serious quarrels that were taking place
abroad. He had no fear for England. Her navy
was her pride and safeguard, and, if its aid should be called
into ragnimitinn, hw fplt eonficiont it waiiia maintain the
glory it had acquired of old.

Mr. MONTAGUE Cit.tuDERS said in his address ho had
stated clearly what his political opinions were; and with
regard to the Reform Bill that had been introduced by
Derby, he was opposed to it because he thought it was not
of a character to be satisfactory to the country. In his
opinion one very great defect in the bill was that it did not
declare that the proper mode of voting was by ballot. The
Government, by their proposition to disfranchise all the
dockyard servants, were clearly of opinion that they
were liable to some coercion, and yet at the same time
they did not adopt the only method that would give them
the opportunity of recording an honest independent vote.
He thought the policy England ought to adopt in the pre-
sent momentous state of foreign affairs was that of non-
interference, as that was the only way this country would
escape being involved in an European war. Having assured
the electors that he was not the cause of a division amongst
the Liberals of Greenwich, he concluded by stating that he
awaited the result of the election with the greatest confi-
dence.

Sir J. MAXWELL and Mr. ANGERSTEIN then addressed
the assemblage.
The show of hands was declared to be in favour of Mr:
Alderman Salomons and Mr. Angerstein.

A poll was demanded on behalf of the other two candi-
dates, which will accordingly open te-morrow morning, at
eight o'clock, and finally close at four p.m.

MARYLEBONE.
OFFICIAL DECLARATION OF THE POLL.
James .. 5,159
Hall 4 698

Stanley .. 1,088
The announcement was received with loud cheering.
Mr. EDWIN JAMES and Sir B. HALL having returned
thanks for the honour done them, the proceedings termi-
nated.

(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.)

The following nominations took place this forenoon, a
poll in each instance being demanded :

ANDOVER.—Cubitt, Fortescue, and Johnson nominated.
ASHEITRTON.--Moffat and Astell nominated.
AYLESBURY.—Wentworth, Bernard, Brine, and Smith
nominated.

BANBURY.—Sir C. Douglas and Samuelson nominated.
BARNSTAPLE.—Sir W. Fraser, Laurie, Potts, Stuckley,
and Davie nominated.
BATH.—Tice, Phinn, and Way nominated.
BERWlCK.—Marjoribanks, Stapleton, Gordon, and Erie
nominated.
BLACKBURN.—Hornby, Pilkington, and Vaughan
nominated.
Hon. F. L. Gower, Michell, and
Vyvyan nominated
BOSTON.—lngram, Staniland, and Holloway nominated.
BRADFORD.—Wickham, Salt, and Harris nominated.
i—a
pita UGEWATER.—Tynte, Kinglake, Padwick, and West-
rop nominated.
BRIGHTON.—Sir G. B. Pechell and Coningham nomi-
nated.

BUCKINGHAM.-Sir H. Verney, Barrington, and Hub.
bard nominated.

BURY (LANCASHIRE). Philips and Peel nominated.
BURY ST. EDMUND'S.—Lord A. Hervey, Sir It. Buxton,
and Hardcastle nominated.
CALNE.—Lowe and Marshall nominated.
CARDIFF.—Lord H. Lennox and Stewart nominated.
CARNARVON.—Hughes and Wynne nominated.
CHATHAM.—Sir F. Smith and Otway nominated.
CRELTENHAM.—BerkeIey and Schreiber nominated.
CHESTER.--Earl Grosvenor, Salisbury, and Humberston
nominated.
CHICHESTER.—Smith, Lord H. G. Lennox, and Freeland
nominated.
CHIPPENHAM.—BoIdero, Nisbet, and Lysley nominated.
CLITHEROE.—Hopwood and Aspinall nominated.
COCKERMOUTII.—Lord Naas, Steel, and Thompson
nominated.
COLCHESTER.—MiIIer, Papillon, and Rebow nominated.
CRICKLADE.—Lord Ashley, Sir J. Neeld, and Goddard
nominated. _ _ _

~v 13 0 ART. 3 TO. UT H . —Sir T. Holbert and Sehenley nominated.
DEVONPORT.-Sir E. Perry, Wilson, Peel, and Ferrand
nominated.

--DOVER.—Osborne, Sir W. Russell, and Sir IL Leeke
nominated.

EvEsHAM.—Sir H. Willoughby, Holland, and Chadwick
nominated.

FLINT BOROUGES.—Sir J. Hanmer and Douglas
nominated.
GLOUCESTER.—Sir R. W. Carden, Price, and Monk
nominated.
HASTINGS.—North, Robertson, and Powell nominated.
HAVERFORDWEST.—PhiIipps and Reeves nominated.
HELSTONE.—Truman and Rodgers nominated.
Hum..—Clay, Lewis, and Hoare nominated.
HUNTINGDON,—GeneraI Peel, Baring, and Dickson
nominated.
Irswicu.—Cobbold, Selwyn, Adair, and King nomi-
nated.
KIDDERMINSTER.—HuddIeston and Flower nominated.
KNARESBOROUGH.—CoIIins, Woodd, and Thomson
nominated.

LANCASTER.—Garnett, Fenwick, Gregson, and Saun-
ders nominated.
LEEDS.--Baines, Forster, and Beeemft nominated.
LEICESTER.—Biggs, Harris, Nuble, and lieygate
nominated.

LEOMINSTER.—Hardy, Hon. C. B. Hanbury, and Galton
nominated.
LlNcoLN.—Sibthorp, Heneage, and Palmer nominated.
LISKEARD.—Carew, Gray, and Rogers nominated.
LYME REGlS.—Treeby and Pinney nominated.
LYNN REGIS.—Lord Stanley and Gurney nominated.
MACCLESFIELD.--Egerton, Sir W. Yardley, and 13rockle-
hurst nominated.
M&IDST9NE,—Buxton, Lee, 4114 Iltgaurt uomivated.

• Ni;tr.noN.—Western, Peacock, and Meyrick nominated.
nated.
MANnHESTER.—BazIey, Turner, and Heywood nomi-
MERTIM TYDVIL.—Bruce and Elderton nominated.
nomNEWARK.—Lord Lincoln, Handley, and Hodgkinson
inated.
MNurrayEWCASTLE-nominated.UNDEß-LI-ME.-- Jackson, Jeffries, and
NORTHALLERTON.—Wrightson and Mills nominated.
Nonwrcx.--Lord Bury, Schneider, Sir S. Bignold, and
Lushington nominated.
OLDHAM.—Fox,_Cobbett, and Hibbert nominated.
PENRYN AND FALMOUTH.---Baring, Gurney, Gwyn,
and Foster nominated.
PETERBOROUGH.—WyIde,IVhaIIey, Ilankey, and Wing-
field nominated.
PrvmouTH.—Lord Valletort, Wilson, Collier, and
Whyte nominated.
POOLE.—Seyrnour, Franklyn, Touchet, and Haley
nominated.
PRESTON.—Grenfell, Cross, and Clifton nominated.
READlNG.—Keating, Pigott, and Benson nominated.
ROCHESTER.--Mitchell, Money, Martin, and Kinglake
nominated.
ST. IVES,—Paull and Giesler nominated.
SALFOR)).—Massey and Ashworth nominated.
SA.usnuay.—General Buckley, Marsh, and Chapman
nominated.
ScanEonotTGll.—Sir J. V. Johnston Dont, Hon. W. F.
Denison, Hon C. Duncombe, and Cayley nominated.
SHOREHAM.—Sir C.Burrell, Cave, Turner, and Pember-
ton nominated. •
SOUTH SHIELDS..—Ingham and Wawn nominated.
SOUTHWARK.—Sir Chas. Napier, Locke, and Pellatt
nominated.
STAFFORD.—Wise, Addison, Salt, and Alderman Sidney
nominated.
STOKE-UP oN-T RENT.—Alderman Copeland,Ricardo, and
Pope nominated.
SuNDERLAND.—Hudsort, Lindsay, and Fenwick nomi-
nated.
TAMWORTH.—Sir R. Peel, Lord ltaynham, and Daniel
nominated.

TAUNTON.—Labouchere, Beadon, Mills, and Bentinck
nominated.

DIETFORD.—Lord Euston, Locock, and Baring nomi•
nated.
TOTNES.—EarI Giffard, Mills, and Dunn nominated.
TRURO.—A. Smith, Vivian, M. Smith, Q.C., nominated.
WAKEPlELD.—Charlesworth and Leatham nominated.
WALSALL—Forster and Bagnall nominated.
WEYMOUTH.—Freestun, Campbell, Lord Grey de Wil-
ton, and Brookes nominated.
WIGAN.--Powell, Woods, and Col. Lindsay nominated.
WINCIIRSTER.—East, Fleming, Carter, and Lefevre
nominated.

Yonx..L.Westhead, Layard, and Col. Smyth nominated.

STATE OF THL POLLS (THIS DAL)

Walters
Edwards
Walker
Glover

BEVERLEY-10.45 A.M.

BIRMINGHAM-10.45 Ix.
Scholefield •
• • • • ••
Bright ..
•• .•
Acland - •

Vansittart
Hope ..
Grenfell

WINDSOR-10.45 A.M.

•• •• •
YARMOUTH-10.45 A.M.

1,792
1,728
621

[aeon
Stracey
Watkin
Young ..
CAMBRIDGE BOROUGH-10.45 A.M.
Twiselton
.. 367
Mowatt .. .. .. 362
Macaulay .. .. .. .. 314
Stewart .. .. „ .. 311
NOTTINGHAM BOROUGH-10.45 A.M.
Paget 1,169
Mellor 1,063
Bromley 819
Jones .. - • - - 90

569
545
485
468

PORTSMOUTH-10.45 A.m.
Elphinstone
Bruce ~ ••
•• ..0
Baring .. .
• •• •. 0•
Keppell .. ..
•• •• ••

NOMINATIONS _FIXED.

Droitwich.
Great Marlow.
Haddington Burghs.
Harwich
Inverness

591
560
637
499

SATURDAY,

Apia': 30.
Midhurst.
Monmouth District
Paisley.
Radnor Burghs.
Wilton
MONDAY, MAY 2.
Haddingtonshiro
Hertfordshire

Argyleshira
Berwiclhhfre
Brecknockshire
Buckinghamshire
Cardiganshire
Cheshire (South)
Clackmarman andKinross-
shire
Cumberland (West)
Derbyshire (North)
Devonshire (South)
Dorsetahire
Dumfries Burghs
Durham County (North)
Essex (South)
Fiintshire
Forfarshire

Huntingdonshire

Invemeasshire

Lancashire (South)
Norfolk (East)
Northamptonshire (South)
Oxfordshire
Perthshiro
Renfrewshire
Shropshire (South)
Staffordshire (North)
Suffolk (West)
Surrey (West)
Warwickshire (North)
Westmoreland
Wiltshire (South)
Worcestershire (West)
, MAY 3.
Ayrshire Northamptonshire (North)
Bedfordshire Northumberland (South)
Berkshire Nottinghamshire (North)
Cambridgeshire Peebles (County)
Cheshire (North) Rutlandshire
Cumberland (East) Selkirkshiro
Denbighshire Shropshire (North)
Dumbartonshire Somerset (West)
Elgin District Staffordshire (South)
Essex (North) Surrey (East)
Falkirk Sussex (East)
Fifeshire: Sutherlandshiro
Hants (North) Wigtownshire
Kent (West) Wilts (North)
Lanarkshire Warwickshire (South)
Lancashire (North) Worcestershire (East)
WEDNESDAY, MAY 4.
Lincolnshire (South)
Monmouthshire
Roxburghshire
Somerset (East)
Suffolk (East)
Sussex (West)
St. Andrew's Burghs
Stirlingshire

Gloeestershire (West) I
TUESDAY

Aberdeenshire
Buteshire
Cornwall (West)
Derbyshire (South)
Dumfriesshire
Edinburgh (County)
Glamorganshiro
Hants (South)
Kincardineshire
Lincolnshire (North)
THURSDAY, MAY 5.
Middlesex
Montgomery
Northumberland (North)
Ross and Cromarty shires
Yorkshire (North Riding)
FRIDAY, MAY 6.
Norfolk (West)
Pembrokeshire

Carmarthenshire
Carnarvonshire
Cornwall (East)
Herefordshire
Merionethshire

Ayr District
Gloucestershire (East)
Kirkcudbright

Radnorshire

SATURDAI

Yorks Eire (East Riding)

RACING FIXT

Chester Spring 3
Newmarket F. S 9
Doncaster Spring . 17
Shrewsbury l7
Salisbury l9

Ju
Chelmsford
Beverley, Hull, and E.R 8
Hungerford
Ascot 14
Manchester l5
Hampton 22

', MAY 7.
Yorkshire (West Riding)

'RES FOR 1859.

Ludlow 19
Bath 24
Harpenden 27
Epsom Summer

Newton
Newcastle
Odiham
Bibury Club 29
Stockbridge

I.ltrvr. .-Tilt; MALIK uruo, otAew
steamer, sailed to-day for New York, with 270 passengers,
a full cargo, and the United States Mail. The Montreal
Ocean Mail Company's screw steamer Anglo-Saxon also
sailed to-day with the Canadian mails and 110 passengers.
On Saturday next the Persia will be despatched for New
eYennr,lcedweitththtehpeeAst-meeffirieceantilnlia6i.l3so.
a.Lme.ttewirs,th&ca.
7.30 a.m., and on the landing stage 'until B.3olaarnte.maiee. beullTrhteiei
additional fee at the landing stage besides the usual postage
is ls., which must prepaid in stamps.
Yesterday sixteen men, part of the crew of the
American ship John Bright, were sent to prison for refusing
to proceed to sea after the ship had cleared the docks at
Liverpool.
A 3 compared with 1858, the number of paupers
in England and Wales at the end of the fourth week of
March, showed a diminution of 96,448. In the metropolis
alone the diminution was 13,680. The number of paupers
relieved in the 645 unions of England and Wales was
856,496, of whom 117,054 were in-door, and 739,440 out-
door recipients.
THE BLUECOAT BOYS.—On Easter Tuesday, ac-
cording to annual custom, the boys of Christ's Hospital
walked in procession, accompanied by their masters, to the
Royal Exchange ; thence they proceeded to the Mansion-
house, where they were regaled each with a glass of wino
and two buns, and each of 652 boys received a now shilling,
each of the 40 monitors a half-crown, and each of the 15
Grecians a guinea. They were joined by the Lord Mayor,
the Lady Mayoress, the Sheriffs, most of the Aldermen, the
Recorder, Under-Sheriff, the civic officers, and a distin-
guished company. Afterwards they proceeded in state to
Christ Church, Newgate-street, where the Rev. T. Briant,
M.A., the Chaplain to the Lord Mayer, preached a most
eloquent sermon.
THE LATE GALE.—HOLYHEAD, April 28._ We
regret to say that the effects of the heavy gale here last
night are being severely felt. The Lifeboat House of the
Royal National Lifeboat Institution was,. his
during its vio-
lence, entirely unroofed. One of the policemen going
rounds heard it shattering, and gave the alarm, but before
the lifeboat coxswain could get to the house, it had been
completely rolled up and deposited on the beach. The gale
was from east, very heavy, causing five wrecks in the har-
bour and much damage to the shipping. Our packet
was 9t hours' from Kingstown yesterday—the longest on
record since these boats have been on service. Much
damage has been done to the houses in this town.
WINTERTON, NORFOLK, Thursday.—During the
gale of the 24th inst., the new lifeboat of the Royal
National Lifeboat Institution, on this station, put off very
early in the morning to the stranded Swedish barque
Alecto, of Fredrickstad i her mainmast was hanging over
her side. The poor foreigners were assembled in the fore-
castle, and the sea was making a breach over the after part
of the vessel. It was blowing very hard from E.S.E. The
lifeboat's crew, however, persevered, and safely brought on
shore the wrecked crew of nine men. The expense attend-
ing this night service was £24 los.; various other expenses
on the Norfolk lifeboats, belonging to this valuable insti-
tution, have amounted during the past week to about £7O,

NEWMARKET RACES.-(THIS DAY.)

DI ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.]
£6O HANDICAP PLATE.

Gallus _
1
Delusion
Fourteen ran.
QUEEN'S GUINEAS.

Beacon
Tournament
Sod bury
Roman Candle

SWEEPSTAKES OF 100 SOUS.
Glorduee Colt . ..
Lcrd of the Manor 2

ELECTION NEWS.

BIRMINGHAM.

The nomination of candidates took place yester-
day, at noon, in the Town-hall. The doors were
thrown open at 11 o'clock, and in a few minutes the
hall, which is capable of accommodating about 7,000
persons, was crowded in every part, chiefly by non-
electors. A more noisy and disorderly, but at the
same time better-humoured meeting could not be
desired. Sir J. Ratcliff, the mayor, presided as
returning officer, and requested a full and fair
hearing for all parties, but his remarks only elicited
a burst of laughter. When Messrs. Scholefield and
Bright appeared on the platform, accompanied by a
few of their more influential supporters, they were
greeted with several rounds of cheering, which
lasted at least ten minutes. Mr. Acland and his
friends, on the other hand, were hooted and hissed
with equal vigour.
Mr. Scholefield was proposed by Mr. P. H. Muntz,
and seconded by Alderman Lowden ; Mr. Bright
by Alderman Lloyd and Mr. Edmonds ; Mr. Acland
by Mr. Van Wart and Mr. Samson Lloyd. The two
last-named gentlemen, refused a hearing by the
meeting, addressed their remarks to the reporters.
Mr. SCHOLEFIELD first addressed the electors. He
said the contest was not so much between three
candidates as between two political systems--one a
system of slow and reluctant change, the other a
system of spontaneous and steady progress.
(Cheers.) The latter, by a singular misnomer, had
been called by angry partisans a revolutionary
policy. He denied that it deserved to be so de-
scribed. We could not have greater personal free-
dom than we had at the present moment, a freer
expression of opinion, or a better or purer adminis-
tration of justice. (Cheers.) No other country
But
so ample a measure of free trade. (Hear.)
But we had wants which ought to be supplied, and
which he believed would be supplied by a large
extension of the suffrage among the people. The
men whom his friend Mr. Bright proposed to
enfranchise were as honest, independent, and intel-
ligent as any to be found at present upon the elec-
toral roll. (Cheers.) He believed that an increase
of the political power of the working classes would
be followed by greater economy in the expenditure
of the public money, without impairing the national
defences, which ought to be maintained in full
efficiency—(cheers)—a reduction of taxation, the
repeal of the paper duties, no inconsiderable changes
of a beneficial character in the tariff, the abolition
of church-rates, and the establishment of civil and
religious liberty upon a firm and solid basis.
(Cheers.) If they thought that those objects were
not desirable, it was their duty, as it was their
right, to elect Mr. Acland ; but otherwise, they
ought to stand by Mr. Bright and himself, and put
them in a position where they would be able to
effect those reforms which they believed to be
necessary for the prosperity and happiness of the
country. (Cheers.)
Mr. BRIGTIT was received with enthusiastic and
prolonged cheering. He said—Gentlemen, if there
is any person disposed to deem me presumptuous in
-venturing to stand before this great constituency,
let me remind him that two years have not elapsed
since, when I was and had been for some time
secluded from public life, I was requested by you
to undertake the onerous responsibility which
attaches to your representative in the House of
Commons. At that time I was unfortunately unable
to be present, and the occasion differed from the pre-
sent in another particular. There were then no gen-
tlemen on the other side of the hustings; no candidate
appeared in opposition to your wishes. There were,
indeed, rumours of opposition ; there were shadowy
forms of candidates which passed for a moment
before the public eye, but none of them on the day
of election favoured you with their bodily presence.
(A laugh.) Now, we have a real candidate and a
real opposition. I know not whether it has oc-
curred to any of you to ask whence he has come,
although many of you believe you know whither he
is going. (Cheers and laughter.) I am told that
there lives in your neighbourhood—not many miles
from Birmingham—a gentleman who holds some
office under the Crown, and in connexion with the
present Government of Lord Derby. (A voice—
" Adderley.") I am told that he is a gentleman of
high respectability and of great personal kindness ;
that his benevolence extends so far that the appeals
of the distressed are seldom made to him in vain,
and that even though the destitute should come
before him in the guise of Whigs who have lost
their road and gone astray, or in the shape of that
hateful thing which is called for want of some
more completely expressive word, a political coali-
tion—an arrangement by which two parties endea-
vour to deceive each other, but succeed generally
only in degrading both—(cheers)----he is ready, as
on all other occasions, to extend to them his kind-
ness and his assistance. (Laughter.) I am told
further that he is one of those who " Do good by
stealth, and blush to find it fame." I can fancy him,
after dark, bringin a candidate to the boundaries
of your borough, thrusting him in among you, and
making his escape, beseeching the stars not to reveal
the object or the fact of his nocturnal expedition.
(Cries of "No," and laughter.) I shall admit, if
the gentlemen on the other side like, that I have
overdrawn the picture, that, in point of fact, I am
mistaken, because I hope the time will never come
when the constituency of Birmingham will allow
any person whatever to dry-nurse for them, and
provide them with representatives in the House of
Commons. (Cheers.) You require no pat-
ronage of that kind. (Hear, hear.) When I
look upon the great spectacle which I see before
me, I am happy to be allowed to speak for myself.
What can be grander than a meeting like the
present, or more calculated to stimulate everything
that is noble in our lives, or in our hopes for the
future ? What greater object can one wish for
than to be permitted even to aspire to represent
such a vast community in the senate of a great
empire, and in the first arena of the world to debate
those all-important principles upon which the pro-
sperity and the duration of States must be based ?
(Cheers.) What object apart from your interests,
or at variance with them, can I have in asking you
to send me to Parliament ? I have been for 20
years constantly employed in connexion with the
politics of my country. For several of those years
I was not a member of the House of Commons, but
was still engaged in prosecuting one of the greatest
contests in which a free people can embark.
(Cheers.) For 16 years I have sat in the House of
Commons. and during that time there has been
no charge brought against me of political incon-
sistency—(cheers)—of unfaithfulness to my trust,
of self-seeking in any way—(cheers)--of being
found at any time a hanger-on of political parties
—(great cheering, and a cry of "Do you hear that,
Tommy ?" addressed to Mr. Acland.) I have had
the high and glorious satisfaction of being one
of those through whose instrumentality was gained
the great battle of free industry, by which were
proclaimed glad tidings to all the sons of toil, not
in England only, but throughout the world.
(Cheers.) Government, in my opinion, is unjust
and unwise when it endeavours by fiscal laws to
strangle the industry of a people. Government is
unjust and acts tyrannically when it Wastes the
earnings of the industry of a people. (Cheers.)
Government is not securely based when it does not
rest upon so much of public opinion and public suf-
frage as shall give perfect security to freedom and to
a wise and just economy in national expenditure.
(Cheers.) Now, gentlemen, I charge the Govern-
ment of England in past years with having strangled
the industry of the nation. So imperfect was your
representation that it required years of agitation,
and the expenditure of hundreds of thousands
voluntarily contributed—nay, more, it required the
finger of the Omnipotenthimself in the Irish famine
—to induce, not to convince--for they were not
convinced, but compelled—the Government of your
country to give you liberty to toil, and freedom to
exchange the products of your industry. (Cheers.)
I say further that the Government of England has
grievously, recklessly, and notoriously squandered
and wasted the earnings of the people. If it had
not been so, how could you have at the present
moment a national debt of £Boo,ooo,ooo,—an an-
nual interest to pay, and to pay for ever, of
£28,000,000 or £30,000,000, and an annual amount
of taxation to raise approaching £70,000,000 ? Are
we so difficult to govern ? Do we require vast
armies and vast navies—(cries of " Yes")—countless
Police forces, and an enormous expenditure for the
prPtase of maintaining order in our own country ?
Cries of 6. No," and cheers.) Can any man point
to one of Your artisans, to a worker in the factories
of Lancashire,anybody who lives by
toanat
agricultural labourer, or to
is toil, and say that he is
richer, better, or safer because of the incredible ex-
penditure of the last 100 years ? (Cheers.) With
a Parliament constituted as your Parliament now
is, there can be no adequate security for economy.
I have seen men come forward year after year with
a marvellous patience to ask that the estimates
should be referred to a committee, and that something
be done to put a stop to the wasteful squandering
of public money, but I never found 50 members of
the House or Commons who would take any
determined course with a view to economize
the national expenditure. There are more than
fifty willing to do it, but there is an over-
whelming majority whose personal and family in-
terests are bound up with a great expenditure, and
I tell you honestly that unless you have a Parlia-
mentary Reform solid, broad, substantial, you never
can do anything to prevent the waste of the sums
you pay in taxes. (Cheers.) How, then, do we pro-
pose to have a Government and a Parliament that
shall at least be up to the work of the intelligence
and virtue of the nation, because, whatever be your
institutions, whatever your forms of election, you
have no right to expect that your Government
should be more intelligent or virtuous than the

average of the intelligence and virtue of the people.
(Cheers.) We think that we could do something
towards the accomplishment of that object if we
largely extended the basis of our representation, if
we called in—not everybody, for that is hardly
possible, and it is not necessary, but a large num-
ber of the intelligent and good of every class to
form the solid basis upon which the structure of
our legislation should be built ; and we propose,
also, that whatever be the number of electors, poli-
tical power should be more equally distributed
among them by a fairer distribution of Parliamen-
tary seats. (Cheers.) Are you aware of the mon-
strous fact, that to-day and to-morrow and the next
day, 47 boroughs, whose aggregate population does
not exceed the population of Birmingham, will
return, not two members, the number which you
are about to elect, but 72 members to sit in the
House of Commons? (Cries of" Shame!" and cheers.)
That is not representation. Suppose that one of
your employers, taking down the money to pay his
wages, were to give to a few men ls. a piece, and
all the rest to a privileged half a-dozen or half-
a-score. The whole of the money no doubt
would be given away ; the form of paying wages
would be gone through ; but those who received
only is. would at once say. that they had no
adequate remuneration for their labour, and dis-
appointment, disgust, hunger, and starvation would
be the result. So it is here. The members are
elected ; somebody returns them—Lord Somebody,
Squire Somebody, or Attorney Somebody : a small
clique, perhaps, corresponds with the Reform or
Carlton Club, candidates are brought down, large
sums are expended nobody exactly knows how.
Whig and Tory play precisely the same game ; and
I venture to say, if you will permit me, that when
my hon. colleague and myself take our places in the
coming Parliament, we shall find ourselves jostled
on every side by dozens and scores of members
whose whole constituencies if they were added up
would not amount to more in number than the
great constituency which we have had the honour
to represent. (Cheers.) It has been said that the
distribution of seats which I propose is unfair, and
would give to the labouring classes, or at all events
to the inhabitants of towns, a predominant power
in the House of Commons. Any one may fairly
make objection to my bill upon that head ; the
question is one of fact ; T think I could show, at a
convenient time for going into detail, that the aim
and result of my proposition has been mistaken ;
but whether or not, I am free to say that I do not
desire to give any predominance to a particular
class, whether they live in the country or towns,
and that when I have an opportunity to submit my
bill to the House of Commons, I shall be able to
prove that in framing my schedules I have endea-
voured to act with the strictest impartiality, so as
to give members honestly and equally to the popu-
lation and the property of the kingdom. (Cheers.)
There is one other point connected with reform upon
which my hon. opponent has been honourably ex-
plicit. I do not quarrel with his opinion, for the
question of the ballot is one upon which men may
fairly differ ; but when I know what happens at such
a time as the present, not in great towns like Bir-
mingham, but in boroughs of much smaller dimen-
sions, when I know what preparations are made
for the polling day, how many. electors are spirited
away by themselves, taking journeys which they
never hoped for at the expense of somebody of whose
kindness they were, entirely ignorant, when I
know how as the list of neutral and doubtful voters
is gradually shortened, candidates and their friends
anxiously inquire, with respect to every unpledged
man, what influence can be brought to bear upon
him, whether anybody has lent him money or done
him a kindness, many voters in the smaller consti-
tuencies are subjected to a screw which, if there be
a spark of honour left in their bosoms, must degrade
and humiliate them for life. (Cheers.) There is,
probably, no other country in the world where a
representative system exists in which the ballot
has not been adopted. In the United States, in the
Australian colonies, in France, in Belgium, and in
Sardinia, the votes of the electors are taken by bal-
lot. It may be said either that the ballot has not
saved France from a military despotism, or that it
has been accessory to the change in the form of
government which has taken place in that country.
Let me tell you that whether your institutions be
those that exist across the Atlantic, or those that
exist here, or those that existed a while ago in
France, whatever be the form of your Government,
if you have in your midst 400,000 armed men,
whose whole business is war, who are separated to
a large extent from citizenship, who do not live at
home, but under canvass or in barracks, there can
be no security—no, not even for six months—for
anythin that deserves the name of civil liberty.
(Cheeii
rs. I would be ashamed myself to argue so
illogical y as to say that the military despotism of
France depends on or was caused by universal
suffrage. If the suffrage had been only half so
wide, or if there had been no suffiage other than
that which existed under Louis Philippe, and there
arose a man gaining by some hereditary claim, or
by deeds of prowess of his own, the confidence of
half a million of soldiers, I say, there would have
been an end to everything like freedom. (Hear.)
I come now, gentlemen, to a question of the
deepest importance. I hear to-day that there has
come down from London intelligence of the most
solemn and awful import to Europe and humanity.
(Hear, hear.) The war which for four months has
been coming on with stealthy, but not unseen or
unheard step, at last has made its appearance in all
its grim and devilish proportions.
" See where the giant on the mountain stands,
His blood-red tresses deepening in the sun,
With death-shot glowing in his fiery hands,
And eye that scorches all it glares upon."
(Cheers.) Such is the monster that now appears
above the horizon, and threatens to scatter desola-
tion and bloodshed and agonies unutterable through
the homes of countless millions of the population of
Europe. What are we to do ? Looking to the
past, I know what we are to do. We are for a time
to mediate when mediation is of no use. We are to
give a little encouragement here and a little
discouragement there. We are by and by to con-
nect ourselves with one side in such a manner that
the other will accuse us of hostility and perfidy.
Meanwhile some act, it may be of great cruelty or
great atrocity, may be committed by one of the
belligerent Powers. It may be told to us in words
of truth or in terms of gross exaggeration. If your
Government is disposed for war, there will be agents
of the press in London to magnify and distort
everything, and to stimulate you by appeals in
some cases to passions that are noble, but in others
to passions that are base, until at length this coun-
try, this precious gem set in a silver sea, which
alone rides secure amid all the storms and tempests
that agitate and perplex the world, will be asked
to mingle in the strife, and English blood and Eng-
lish treasure, as you know from past history they
have been, will again be poured out like water in
every part of Europe, wherever a battle is to be
lost or won. (Cheers.) A gentleman not particu-
larly remarkable for political consistency, who held
office under Lord Palmerston, and who now seeks
the suffrages of the West Riding to do the bidding
of Lord Derby, said in a speech the other day at
Leeds that he is for peace, but that it may be neces-
sary for the fleet of England to enter the Adriatic
and to protect the ancient city of Venice. (A laugh.)
I have been in the ancient and venerable city of
Venice and I say, excepting the people who live
there, let Venice sink into the seaweed out of which,
as the poet tells us, It first awde, rather than that
the fleet of England should take up a position
there, proclaiming to the world that we are become
belligerents in this great contest. (Cheers.) Others
have told us that we have solemn treaties with
Belgium, and that if anybody treads, as it were,
upon the very toe of that little kingdom, the might
of England must be called forth to defend its
capital and its monarch. I am no party to any such
treaty, nor are you ; and I say, as I have said before,
that the Minister who tries to force England
into this war convicts himself of the foulest
treason to the English Crown and the English
people. (Cheers.) You are all in the dark, how-
ever, as to what your Government will do. We have
had two speeches from Lord Derby, the second
intended to correct what he calls the false impression
which had been created by the first. No man knows
better than Lord Derby the use of words in the
English language, and I only hope that the second
speech more truly explains the policy of our Govern-
ment than the first. But remember that you know
nothing of the negotiations. Parliament knows
nothing. We are in total ignorance what obliga-
tions we are under to him who rules in Paris, or him
who rules in Vienna. My opinion is—and I com-
mend it to the gentlemen who differ from me—that
if the people of England were fairly represented in
the House of Commons, in all probability our foreign
affairs would be conducted with greater openness,
greater frankness, greater truthfulness, and we
should be less liable some morning to awake and
find this noble country, with all its industry, all its
intelligence, all its morality, and all its Christianity,
about to be plunged into the most fearful crime and
the most fearful calamity that can affect mankind.
(Cheers.) One more word upon the question of war.
Whatever may be the seeming necessity of a war at
any time—and I have never denied, and knowing
human nature somewhat, and having read history
somewhat, I shall never deny that there is at times
to the human eye and to the human heart an appa-
rent necessity for undertaking the responsibilities
and the sufferings of war—(cheers)—let every man
be able to acquit himself in the sight of God, who
knows the secrets of every heart, as to the course
which he individually may take in any emergency,
of that kind. (Hear, hear.) War is in its nature de-
structive and anarchical. There can be no freedom
in
p
Europe—there can be no permanent or assured
peace in Euro
oe--r so long as the great Powers main-
tain 3,000,004)4,000,000 of men in arms at a pe-

riod of profound peace. (Cheers.) Even in England,
and to us what can be more anarchical and less con-
servative than war ? Look back to the war in which
we were engaged from 1793 to 1815. That was a
period of fearful suffering. It was also a period of
utter tyranny. There was no free expression of
opinion, no free press, no freedom to anybody unless
he chose to outstrip his neighbours in a foolish pas-
sion for war. So, too, from 1815 down to 1828, there
was no liberty in England, or little more than now
exists in the neighbouring country of France.
From year to year there was intense suffering, bad
trade, a depressed population, constant plots, secret
societies, incipient insurrections, dangers of every
kind to the institutions of the country. Such
things were the legitimate, natural, and inevitable
offspring of that gigantic and wicked war which
your rulers had waged for 2E years. (Cries of
" No," followed by cheers.) And no iv war again.
After that war, national debt and increased taxes ;
after those taxes, danger and discontent of every
kind in the future if you permit your Government
to meddle for one single hour in the armed contest
which is just commencing. (Cheers.) The other
day, in the House orCommons, a Minister had the
audacity to taunt me, not with having criticised the
House of Lords, but with having spoken in disparage-
ment of the Crown of England. Whoever did so
—for I was not present—on whatever occasion, I
throw the slander in his teeth. (Great cheering.)
The Crown of England will never be jeopardised
by a prosperous and contented people. (Cheers.)
Look to other nations and to the history of the
past. When a crown has been knocked off some-
body's head—when a throne has been trampled in
the mire--when a Royal family have been exiles
and wanderers upon the earth, it has been not the
result of a policy of justice, of mercy, and of peace,
but the punishment awarded by the Eternal to
those who have violated His laws and disregarded
His commands. (Cheers.) I need travel back not
more than five years to give you an example of
what I mean. You remember that famous siege of
Sebastopol—you remember the suffering of your
countrymen, not to speak of those of the French,
the Russians, the Turks, and the Sardinians. You
remember that on one occasion when an assault was
made upon our troops by the Russians, be it acci-
dent, be it the overruling hand of Prnv;Apyti,a,
be it anything to which you please to
ascribe it, but by something little short of
a miracle the English forces were preserved from
utter destruction. You remember the excited state
of the public mind. You remember the
fulminations of the most powerful organ of the
press. You remember the dark thoughts that
passed through every mind as news came home by
driblets—how men asked themselves what was to
become of our unfortunate countrymen and of the
honour of England. Suppose that everything
which only did not happen—and nobody has yet
explained how it did not happen—had happened.
In the then temper of the people of England, I ask
whether any man would have undertaken to guar-
antee the public peace for a single day, or whether
we have not every reason to believe that such an
event would have given a blow to your institutions
infinitely more severe than anything that has oc-
curred at least during the lifetime of any one who
now hears me ! (Cries of " No," " Yes," and cheers.)
No, of course not ; the danger is past. Men forget
the storm which had almost hurled them to the
bottom of the sea when once they set their foot
upon dry land ; but I tell you that out of such
events come national discontent, anarchy, the over-
throw of institutions, and the utter destruction even
of the most venerated dynasties. (Cheers.) Not to
detain you further upon a subject which is so
momentous that I cannot trust myself to speak of it
as my feelings would dictate, let us come to the
question immediately before us. Men of Birming-
ham, you are asked to-day to take your part—and
a most inadequate part it is, but I hope some day it
will be largely extended—(cheers)—in selecting
two men to meet the seventy-two to whom I have
referred in the House of Commons. lam not
ashamed to stand before you. (Cheers.) I walk in
the old ways which some of these gentlemen on the
other side once trod with honour. lam for " Peace,
retrenchment, and reform," the watchword of the
great Liberal party thirty years ago. Whosoever
may abandon the cause I shall never pronounce
another Shibboleth, but as long as the old flag floats
in the air I shall be found a stedfast soldier in the
foremost ranks. (Cheers.) Ido not care half so
much as some have said for forms of government.
The form of government may be the outward shell,
but there must be vivifying and sacred principles
within it to give it life and enable it to bless the
people. What I want to see are just, honest,
sound, moral principles of government. (Cheers.)
One of your most respected townsmen wrote
me a friendly letter, in which he explained
that the dissatisfaction of some gentlemen was
caused by the fact that I did not speak in honeyed
pnrases or the Mig-11A, .
Let us reason together for a moment upon that
point. Every man who has read what I have said
within the last six months knows that upon no
single occasion have I stepped out of my way to
bring any charge of a personal, or ungenerous, or
irritating nature against any single individual.
(A cry of No, and cheers.) The gentleman who
cries "No" has, no doubt, read many leading
articles, but it would have been more just to me if
he had read and considered my words. (Cheers.)
I have said, and I repeat it, that what is meant in
the ordinary language of certain persons by the
balance of the constitution is that which has so
long existed in the Government of England—the
undue supremacy of the territorial power. (Cheers.)
I know that you have in your neighbourhood many
connected with the peerage who are amiable, in-
telligent, benevolent, and excellent men in their
own private circles, and among their tenants and
neighbours. I never denied it. Far be it from me
to say that the hereditary order is so pernicious
that it destroys all virtue in all its members. What
I object to is the interference of peers with the
representation of the people. (Cheers.) Let them
preserve their dignity and their power in their
own branch of the Legislature, but the House of
Commons, by the constitution, never was intended
to be, and we are resolved that it shall not be, the
appanage and the property of the peerage, instead
of a true representation of the people of England.
(Cheers.) Let no man tell you without the crim-
son coming to his face, that the principles which I
have advocated since first I opened my mouth at
any public meeting are anarchical and revolu-
tionary. I, and such as I, have been the saviours
of the very order which I am charged with wishing
to destroy. In 1832 they would have rushed upon
their own destruction. In 1846, when millions
held out their hands for bread, had it not been for
the 'wavering and timid among them, and for the
enlightened opinions which we had created
throughout the country, they would again have
imperilled their own existence. (Cheers.) We
are come to that time in the history of England
when no institution, however venerable, lofty, or
deeply i ooted, no tradition or sentiment can dare with
impunity or safety to stand long against the united
and growing opinion of the people. The safety of
the highest, the safety of the titled class, the safety
of the wealthy and powerful, depend upon their
watching with careiul eye the manifestations of
public opinion, making themselves honestly ac-
quainted with what the country requires, and enter-
ing into those graceful concessions which, while
they do not humiliate those who make them, bless
Ond satisfy those to whom they are made. (Cheers.)
i nave never toeen an menu se v au,
England. lam told, indeed, that some fearful
calamity would happen if I did ever hold any posi-
tion of responsibility. (A laugh.) I have sought
no such distinction. I seek it not now. It is no
common honour, I grant, to serve the English
Crown, worn as it is in the happy times in which
we live—(cheers)—but it is a dignity not less great,
not less worthy of aspiration, to have the confidence
of the great body of the people among whom I live.
(Cheers.) I venerate the monarchy of Englanel, and
wish that its wisdom and its virtues may render it
perpetual. (Cheers.) lam not a servant of the
aristocracy, as you doubtless know, but I recognise
in that order a branch of the constitution created for
the interests, and subject, as all must be subject
eventually, to the will of the nation. I am, if I
am anything in political life—l strive to be at least
—a servant of the people and of truth. (Cheers.) I
have laboured for them, I have spent many of the
choicest years of my life in what I believe was an
honest devotion to their cause. (Cheers.) I offer
myself to them—it may be not always a wise, but
I believe always a faithful counsellor, and if the
constituency of this great town shall again place
me in the House of Commons, I pledge myself to
defend their interests, to guard their honour, and
to promote with all the faculties and all the powers
with which I am endowed, such measures as shall
give to us in permanency, happiness and tranquil-
lity within this realm. (Great cheering.)
Mr. ACLAND next rose to address the electors,
but he might have spared himself the trouble; the
meeting would not hear him. They hissed, they
yelled, they groaned, they laughed, they sang
popular airs, they clapped their hands, they beat
the floor with their feet, and they tossed about in
the immense area of the hall like a raging sea. The
hon. candidate raised his voice to its highest pitch,
but not a word could be heard. Several ineffectual
attempts were made by the Mayor to procure
silence, and Messrs. Scholefield and Bright were
equally unsuccessful. The scene lasted for upwards
of an hour, and during the whole of that time Mr.
Acland was not allowed to say more than he could
have said, if he had been permitted, in a few minutes.
He was understood to state that the real question
which the electors had to consider was what ought
to be the principles of the coming Reform Bill.
Mr. Bright and himself were agreed upon four