The Sun.
London, England, 1866-07-18 00:00:00

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independent of the wishes of those whose wealth
or position renders them valuable friends or
dangerous eneroiea ? Well-meaning men of
average character are not prepared for any
such Curtius-like sacrifices. Political questions
are not the all-important matters of life to them,
they are naturally inclined to consider first the in-
terests of themselves and their families. It is use-
less to argue from abstract principles instead of
from acknowledged facts. We have to deal with
ordinary men, not with a population of stoics and
philosophers, and if we legislate on high-flown
notions of what men ought to be rather than what
they are, we shall end by making them a great deal
worse instead of better. This, in fact, is the
tendency of the present system. Bribery and
corruption are increasing rather than diminish-
ing, and the scenes at our periodical elections
are lamented by men of all parties and opinions. As
a Tory candidate justly observed, " No evil can
equal that of wholesale and open corruption ;" yet
there is no denying that it existed to a large extent
at the very last general election. The clubs univer-
sally employ the Ballot to avoid the awkwardness
attending open voting, and their members find it
highly advantageous to the general interest without
injuring their public morality or destroying their
English qualities. Mr. MOWBRAY, who came for-
ward as the champion of the good old abuses last
night, told his hearers that there was no
analogy between the cases, since the one
was the election of a person for social
purposes, the other the election of a person to dis-
charge a great public trust. Does the hon. member
think " a great public trust " is more likely to be
fulfilled by the man who gains his election by his
guineas than by him who is obliged to depend on the
honest opinions of his constituents? Mr. MOWBRAY
made an eloquent appeal on behalf of the publicity
which is the great principle of the English Constitu-
tion. " Every act an English elector had to do," he
exclaimed,with virtuous indignation, " had to be done
in the face of day." Was Mr. MOWBRAY ever on an
election committee? Does he really believe that every-
thing is done in the face of day ? Are there no
such things as agents? Are there no secret meet-
ings, no money-changing hands in a contested elec-
tion ?—to be candidly of opinion that every man
walks soberly and independently to the poll to re-
cord his vote for the candidate whom he really pre-
fers. If Mr. MOWBRAY himself is fortunate enough
to represent such an immaculate constituency, we
can only doubt whether the experience of the other
657 M.P.'s would tend to confirm his opinion. Mr.
BERKELEY is at present the leader of a forlorn-hope,
but we need not despair. The common sense and
good feeling of the country are on his side, and he
has mixed too long in public life not to know that
the old adage about the ultimate victory of truth
and right is generally realised amongst us. The
prospect at first may seem cheerless enough, but
only let the cause be urged with sincerity, with per-
severance and with moderation, and the vic-
tory is certain. By degrees argument over-
comes prejudice, fact silences assertion, and the
public conscience speaks too loudly to be
mocked by interest or party feeling. It has
been the case time after time it will yet be the case
with the Ballot. We have only to convince these
who are honestly opposed to it that its benefits
will be greater than the drawbacks they apprehend.
We may leave transcendental moralists and elec-
tioneering agents to be silenced by the triumphant
evidence of a really independent election when we
get it.