The Sun.
London, England, 1866-07-12 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, JULY 12, 1866.

ELECTION INTELLIGENCE.

KING'S LYNN.

The election of a member to serve in Parliament
for Lynn Regis, in order, in the language of the writ,
that the borough might not be deprived of the ser-
vices of one of its burgesses owing to the acceptance
of the office of one of her Majesty's Principal Secre-
taries of State by Edward Stanley, commonly called
Lord Stanley, took place yesterday at the Town
Hall, before Mr. J. 0. Smethen, the mayor, and a
considerable gathering of the inhabitants.
Mr. LIONEL SELF proposed the re-election of Lord
Stanley. (Loud applause.)
Mr. R. BAGGE seconded the nomination.
No other candidate being proposed,
Th e MAYOR declared Lord Stanley to be duly
electod. (Loud and prolonged cheering.)
Lora STANLEY rose, and was received with a
volley of applause. He said—Mr. Mayor, electors,
and non-electors of Lynn, I have come before you
after an interval of exactly twelve months since the
last general election to ask once more—and now, I
think, for the eighth time—a renewal of that trust
which you first reposed in me unknown and untried
as I was in political life, nearly 18 years ago—a trust
which ever since that time I have endeavoured to
the best of my ability to discharge—a trust which
I have ever held it a high honour to be permitted to
discharge, and a trust of the continuance of which I
hope I have done nothing and said nothing which
should render me now unworthy. (Applause.) Gen-
tlemen, with that trust you have invested me again ;
and for that I heartily thank you. The actual state
of affairs, the position in which I stand here as a mem-
ber of a Cabinet which has only once been called toge-
ther, is not a position favourable to much speaking.
With regard to the future, and especially with regard
to that great department with which it is my fortune
to be now connected, I am compelled to observe a
greater degree of reticence and of reserve than
in the position of a private member would be either
necessary or desirable. (Hear, hear.) With regard
to the past, retrospective criticisms are, as we all
know, of very little use. We can all of us be wise
after the event. What is done is done with. The
difficulties and mistakes of one year are not those of
the next. Old quarrels are better forgotten. Old
interests give place to others newer and fresher.
(Hear.) Still, some words of explanation are due
from me here. When standing in a position which
twelve months ago I never dreamed of occupying,
which has come to me unsolicited, unsought, and
even undesired, because although it is a position which
brings with it honour enough to satisfy a far more
aspiring ambition than mine, i t is also a position which
in the present state of the world brings withit enough
of difficulty, enough of anxiety, and enough of re-
sponsibility to try the finest courage and to damp the
most overweening self-confidence. (Hear, hear.)
Practically, since the last election, the time of Parlia-
ment has been occupied with only one subject. With
the exception of a few days at the beginning of the
session devoted to the cattle plague ; with the excep-
tion of a single and short discussion upon European
affairs, and with the exception also of the necessary
routine business, the only question dealt with in the
session has been that of Parliamentary Reform. Now
many of you, no doubt, have followed the debates
which have takan place on that subject, and all of
you know the result. (Laughter.) To what is that
result due ? That is a question which I shall endea-
vour to meet as calmly and as impartially as if it were
what indeed iu some sense it already is, a matter of
merely historical interest. Now, in the first place,
I hold it absolutely certain that the measure pro-
posed by the late Government went further as regards
the franchise. (Cries of " No, no," answered by
" Yes, yes.") Do not you think you had better hear
the end of my sentence—(bravo)—before you know
whether you agree with me or not ? (Hear, hear,
and laughter.) say that measure went further than
the majority of the House of Commons were pre-
pared to follow. (Laughter and cheers.) That house
was elected to support Lord Palmerston ; and
although Lord Palmerston had given his assent to
several Reform Bills, and had even as First Minister
of the Crown introduced one, it was nevertheless
thought, whether rightly or wrongly does not now
much matter, but I believe rightly, it was neverthe-
less thought that he was not very eager to deal with
that question, and that indeed he rather looked upon
it with dislike than otherwise (" Like you," followed
by laughter). Consequently the nominal Liberals,
or perhaps I should say the Palmerstonian majority
of 70 (" Adullamites") with which the session com-
menced by no means exclusively represented those
who were favourable to a large extension of the fran

chise. Still I believe that with some modifications the
bill of the late Government might have been passed,
but for the declaration made by them early in the
session, and often repeated by them in the course of it,
that they would listen to no proposal of compromise
that in any way affected the numbers who were pro-
posed to be admitted to the franchise. (" No more
they ought.") If we had been assured that the late
cabinet would have accepted a £2O rentalin the coun-
ties and an £8 rental in the boroughs, supposing
these figures to have been carried by way of amend-
ment, I make no doubt whatever that a compromise
of that kind would have been accepted, I do not say
by the whole, but by a very large majority of the
Conservative members. (Hear, hear, and a cry of
" That is higher than Lord Derby's bill "). But,

gentlemen, it very soon became obvious that nothing
of that kind was possible, and those who thought that

in many respects the bill might be amended, and those
who upon other grounds thought it was a hasty and
ill-considered proposition, had no practical alternative
offered to them except to accept it as it stood, or else
to oppose it altogether.:(Hear.) But there were some
other minor causes of misunderstanding. The plan
with which the late ministry started, of keeping back
one-half of theirproposition until another session, and
BO of not allowing us to see what were to be the results
of that which we were about to do, was, from the
first, unpopular in the house, and I need not tell
you how late and how reluctantly that method of
proceeding was abandoned. Ido not wish to dwell
on personal matters. I have always spoken, and I
always shall speak, of the late Chancellor of the
Exchequer with that respect which is due to splendid
ability and to eloquence which has seldom been sur-
passed in Parliament. (Cheers.) But, neverthe-

less, must add that, as leader of the House of Com-

inons, he does not appear to me to have been alto-

gether fortunate. He seemed to feel from the first
that the House of Commons was not favourable to

the proposition he was about to submit. He made
that feeling apparent. He seemed desirous of bring-
ing popular prebsure to bear on our deliberations ;
and it is an invariable rule that when a Minister,

and especially a Minister who is in the position of
a leader of the House of Commons, shows his dis-

trust of that body, the House of Commons will re-
turn
the compliment and show distrust of him. I
do not refer to a few unlucky phrases that he used,
because it is inevitable that in a 10n0.r., and animated
dimissi - on, running over a period of three months,
something will be said that had better have remained
unsaid ; nor shall 1 argue the question whether it
was wise to abandon a measure of so much import-
ance on a point so
comparatively indifferent as that
of rental or ratingl shall not argue that, because '
I look on that defence as being rather the excuse
than the reason for the withdrawal of the measure.
By that time the latepp tCabinet had perceived that
which had become aareu
to every one else, that
i
Success as they desired it—that s!success in carry-
ing their plan whole and
ok the unmodified—was not at-
tainable. And that being so they t
oppor-
tunity, fairly enough in that point of o
I think not wisely as regards political tactics,
although
actics, they
took the opportunity of cutting the knot, and of
43
escaping by the shortest route from a
position
which had become untenable. (Hear, hear.)
matters stand ; and there the Reform question will.
remain till the next Session, when I do not doubt
that whatever may be the course of the Government,
after all that has been sail and done of late, you will
find members of the House of Commons ready to
take it up again. (Hear, hear.) It is not a ques-
tion that is likely to be allowed to go to sleep—
(" That it won't and no mistake")—and that fact
may carry some consolation to those who were so
entirely dissatisfied with the result of the present
session. There I shall leave the subject. But I

have understood, since I came down here, from one
or two personal f;iends, who are also my political

opponents—a' ad lam happy to say that is a combi-
nation not ye' ty rare in England—I have heard that
here, as else- where, a motion which was made by me
in Parliame) at some six or seven weeks ago has been
the subject of some misunderstanding and some
misrepresentation, and therefore I think it due to
you and to myself to state simply how the facts
stand. (Hear, hear.) I have been myself charged
by a portion of the Liberal press, and the charge
has been copied into the journals that circulate here
with having tried to carry an amendment by a sur-
prise, by a trick, by taking the opposite party un-
prepared. Now, I meet that charge very simply. I
give it a distinct denial. (Hear, hear.) It would
have been an unfair thing to do; and whatever may
have been the defects of my political life I do not
think that any one has ever charged me with having
been led into extreme courses by an exaggerated
feeling of partisanship. (Cheers.) It would have
been not only unfair but silly and unmeaning, be-
cause a majority obtained by surprise could carry
with it no moral weight, and a decision so obtained
would have been liable to be reversed by a more
deliberate vote.
.(Hear, hear.) The simple fact of
the case is, that when I made that motion I made it
in [the full belief that the late Government knew
as well as I did what we were about to propose, and
I do not know that I was ever more astonished than
when I was informed by the Government that they
considered that sufficent notice had not been
given. As to the amendment itself—as to the
part I took on the motion of Lord Grosvenor at an
early period of the session, and generally as to the
course I have followed in the reform debates—l am
perfectly ready to answer any questions that may
be put and to give any explanation that may be de-
sired ; but as I have several other things to say you
will perhaps kindly allow those answers and that
explanation to remain till the questions have been
put. Well, now comes the question, why have the
Cabinet of Lord Derby accepted office without pos-
sessing an assured majority of the House of Com-
mons? To that my answer is twofold. In the first
place, it is very hard to say, in the actual state of
things, that any interest or any Government pos-
sesses any assured majority in the present House of
Commons. (Hear.) In the next place, we thought
that, in honour and in duty, no other course was
open to us than that which we took. If we had
shrunk from the task, if we had allowed the late
Cabinet to come back to the positions which they
have just vacated, they would have come back, as
it seemed to us, with a moral right to call upon the
house to reverse its deliberate decision. They would
have said—" We come back as the only possible
Ministry. If you take us you must take us on our
own terms ; you must take our bill with us; you
must surrender your right of criticism, because if
you don't take that bill as it stands, we shall resign,
and the whole business of the country will be at a
standstill." We thought that was not a position in
which the house ought to be placed. (Hear.) We
have not desired to form our Administration on any
purely party basis. There are many of the Whig
party -whose sympathies are well known to be
with us, whose support in debates and in divisions
we have no doubt of receiving, and whose official
co-operation, when asked, has been withheld, not
on account of any real or wide difference of political
opinion, but rather from that natural and honour-
able scruple which makes men shrink from an ap-
pearance of changing their party, or " walking," as
the phrase is, " across the floor of the house" under
circumstances where they may appear to be gainers
by the change. As to the future, he would be a bold
man who would undertake to prophesy. Next year is a
long way off—(hear, hear, and a laugh)—and for
the rest of the session I do not think you will hear
of any exciting debates. For myself, I think the

_ .
in-coming Government will not be able to do more

than wind up the course of routine. If any mem-
ber of the house of Commons thinks we are where
we ought not to be, there is a simple mode of bring-
ing on the issue. Let him move a want of confi-
dence. That is a fair and constitutional proceeding.
Whether it succeeds or whether it fails we shall
equally know where we stand. And if no such vote
is moved we have a fair right to assume that a ma-

jority of the House of Commons, although they
may not be absolutely pledged to support either the
Ministry or the measures which we bring forward,
are nevertheless satisfied that ours is the Govern-

ment which ought at the present time to be i

power. (Hear, hear.) Now, gentlemen, Ido not
know that I should have troubled you further, if it
had not been for that old charge alluded to two days
ago by Lord Derby in the House of Lords—a charge
utterly abandoned but perpetually reproduced—
that a Conservative Government is disposed to in-
volve England in war. I have never understood on
what historical basis the assertion rests—(a cry of
"America"). Very well ; we will come to America
presently. Only one European war has taken place
in the last 50 years in which England has taken an
part. That is the war against Russia; and that war
was made and carried on, not by a Conservative
Ministry, but by two successive Liberal Administra-
tions. It is going back a very long way to refer to the
wars of Pitt in 1792. (Loud laughter.) I have heard
it said that if Lord Derby had continued in power in
1859, at the time the Italian war broke out, you
would have been involved in a war with France. I
was a member of the Government of Lord Derby,
and I can say with perfect confidence that the very
last idea that entered into the mind of the cabinet was
the idea of a quarrel or misunderstan ding with France.
(Hear, hear.) Again, I have heard it said by im-
patient, friends down there—(laughter)—that the
Conservatives dislike the United States, that they
dislike republicaninstitutions, that they sympathised
with the Confederates against the Northern States,
and that if they had been in power during the Ame-
rican civil war they would have recognised the
South and encouraged them entirely in their quarrel.
I do not stand here to deny that a great many very
foolish things have been said in the house and out

of the house relative to that civil war—but un-
luckily, as many of these foolish remarks have been

made by distinguished Liberals as by their oppo-
nents. When Lord Russell, at the time Foreign
Secretary, told the country that the North were

lighting for empire and the South for independence;
and when Mr. Gladstone, then the leader of the
House of Commons, used the celebrated phrase
about the Southern President having not only
created an army and .a navy, but created a nation ;
when, on the other hand, you recollect that neither
the leader of the Conservative party in the House
of Commons nor I myself have ever used one phrase
showing a feeling in favour of either side in that
quarrel over the other, because we thought it incon-
sistent with our duty so to do—l say, when you
bear those facts in mind, it seems to me a little cool,
to use no stronger term, to assume that Liberals
alone were capable of conducting affairs with the
American Government at that crisis, and that adiffe-
rent and less prudent course would have been taken
by the Conservative party had they been in power.
In point of fact, I have no doubt whatever that if
any proposal for the recognition of the South in the
quarrel had been made in Parliament that proposal
would have been rejected, not merely by an immense
majority of the House of Commons but by a largo
majority of the Conservative party itself. (Cheers.)
Indeed, if the matter required serious argument one
might ask, what can the landed and wealthy classes
of this country to gain by a war? (Hear.) Is it
their interest that the national debt should be in..

creased ? (Hear.) Is it theirinterest that the taxes
should be heavier ? (Hear.) Is it their interest that

the demands of war should increase, and that labour

should become dearer ? ht
s e a r. )
successes I V
;and
a r
a has
its chances, its failures, as w(h'lelaar;
failure abroad almost inevitably involves political
discontent, if not political disturbance, at home.
(Hear, hear.) If at any time we are to be involved
in the risk of war I am convinced that the risk
would arise more from the prevalence of democratic
and revolutionary sympathy than from Conserva-
tive prejudice. But I do not speak of that as a
present danger, because if there is any one point on
which all parties are agreed it is on the duty of
keeping out of these continental quarrels. I do not
deny that there are within the range of possibility
exceptional cases, where the solemn faith of the
country has been pledged to ti particular course of
action, but those cases are few and well defined—
they are beforehand—and the improbability of their
arising is so extreme that I should not have referred

to them at all, but that I would not seem to deny or
ignore their existence. (Hear, hear.) I have often
spoke of these subjects before, and I have nothing
to modify or disturb. But there is a misunderstand-
ing in the public mind as to what is the proper
policy of non-intervention. It is spoken of as a
purely selfish policy, as if it meant that we were to
sit wrapped up in the contemplation of our own
happiness and our own privileges, quite indifferent
to the sufferings of the rest of mankind. Now, if
that were the view I took of it, it is a policy with
which I would have nothing to do. Mere selfish-
ness does not pay. (Hear, hear.) We shall find
that out sooner or later. And selfishness does not
alter its character, whether it relates to a nation or
whether it relates to an individual. The subject of
non-interference in continental disputes lies deeper.
It lies partly in our vast Indian and colonial interests
making up the British empire, and throwing upon
us duties and responsibilities with which continen-
tal states have nothing to do, and which are in
themselves a burden heavy enough for one nation
to discharge. It lies partly in the duty we owe to
our poorer classes at home, for whom we
are trustees, upon whom an increase of
debt, and consequently of taxation, must fall
with crushing weight. It lies partly in the con-
viction we entertain that example is worth more
than precept, and that by simply existing as we do
as a free self-governed nation, we are doing more
than could be doneby a thousand despatches or any
combinations we might put in practice against both
the policy of despotism and the policy of revolution.
(Loud cheering.) It lies also in our experience and
recollection of past mistakes, in the lessons which
our own history teaches, how often in former days
we have fought for objects which after all we did
not secure, or, if we did secure them, were not
worth the price we paid for them. (Hear, hear.) A
man may feel deeply interested in European affairs,
and yet may reasonably doubt whether hasty sym-
pathies and imperfect knowledge are the best quali-
fications for dealing wisely with such complicated
matters. (Hear, hear.) But th© result which Eng-
land expects her Ministry to work out is not of easy
accomplishment. We object to take action in con-
tinental quarrels ; but we object also to see our
moral influence lost or greatly lessened. How to
satisfy these apparently conflicting claims is the
problem we have to solve. That advice, or, if
needs be, mediation, should not be refused when
asked for and likely to succeed, and yet that it
should never be offensively obtruded ; that neutrality
should be maintained without a cynical affectation
of indifference; that, making peace at home our first
object, we should seek the peace of Europe—these
are rules easy to lay down ; the difficulty is to ap-
ply them in practice. (Hear.) To that end my
efforts shall be applied. Less than that I cannot
promise ; more than that those who can appreciate
the difficulties will say I ought not to promise. (Hear.)
It is the wish of England to live in harmony with all
her neighbours. (Hear, hear.) But there are two
powers which, by their greatness andposition, affect
us more peculiarly than the rest. One of these powers
is France, our nearest neighbour, formerly our rival
in arms, now our friendly competitor for the first
r place in the civilisation of the world. (Hear.) When
we speak of France with relation to public affairs
we necessarily speak of the Government of France,
and whatever judgment any individual may be dis-
posed to pass on the internal or general policy of the
Emperor of the French, a question with which we
have nothing to do, and which history alone can de-
cide in a satisfactory manner, no man can reason-
ably deny that to England he has been a firm and
a faithful ally. (Hear.) lam not aware that in 16
agitated years we have ever had occasion toreproach
him with a single hostile word or for a single un-
friendly act. (Cheers.) The respective lines of policy
of the two countries has not always been the same

France is continental; we are insular. But I say
for the future, as I say for the past, the least appre-
hension which ought to disturb the mind of a rea-
sonable man is that of a quarrel with France. (Hear.)
The other country is the United States, which, by
its extent, by its population, by its rapid increase, by
the energy and intelligence of its people, and lastly,
by its display of naval and military strength, has
come to rank among the foremost nations in the
world. I look on a proper and friendly understand-
ing with the United States as almost the first requi-

site of English diplomacy. (Hear.) No one power
except France can do us so much harm. No other
power, not even France, is so closely bound to us by
tics of public interest. (Hear.) It would be idle
to deny, after the late war, that there was some
portion, perhaps there is still a portion, of the
American people that bears no good will to this
country. But I believe that portion to be utterly
inconsiderable—inconsiderable in point of numbers,
inconsiderable in point of power. (Hear.) No doubt
during the war there may have been some unplea-
sant feeling, and in our hasty and positive way of
judging our neighbours' affairs, I am not surprised
of that ill-feeling. (Hear.) But there has been time
for that feeling to have subsided. I believe it has sub-

sided, and if we look at the last action of the United
States Executive in the Fenian attack on Canada,
I think we must acknowledge that it has acted, I
will not say a friendly part towards England, but
that it has acted on a law-abiding and a law-re-
specting principle. (Hear, hear.) We have just
witnessed a new spectacle of a war being decided, if
it be decided, in a ten days' campaign. I do not know
what the settlement may be; but this we know, that
our whole interest lies in the return of peace ; not of
a mere truce, but the establishment of peace on a
lasting basis, and the comparative disarmament of
Europe. (Cheers, and hear, hear.) Ido not know
that I have more topics on which to detain you now.
Schemes of domestic legislation you can hardly ex-
pect at a time when the session is about to close, and
from a member of an Administration which has
hardly yet had time to consult together. The only ,
promise I can give you, because it is one I can be
sure to keep, is the promise of sincere gratitude for
your past and present kindness, and the assurance of
my earnest endeavour to play a part in your and the
public service which, whether it be or be not what
the world calls distinguished, which I care very little
about, shall at least be sincere and useful. (Cheers.)
An ELECTOR (Mr. Trenoworth) said the noble
lord had addressed the electors and non-electors—
would his lordship say what extension of the fran-
chise he would advocate ?

Lord STANLEY—My friend here asks me to pro-
pose a Reform Bill on my own account, at a very
short notice. (Hear, hear, and laughter.) A mem-

ber of an Administration which can only act collec-
tively is not justified in giving, apart from his col-

Leagues, a pledge as to what he will do in a future

session. (Laughter.)
The ELECTOR—I think I heard you say, on a
former occasion, that you would support a compre-
hensive measure of reform. Is that so ?

Lord STANLEY—Whether I would support a com-
prehensive measure or not depends on what that

comprehensive measure is. (Laughter.)
The ELECTOR—Have you made up your mind to
what extent you would give the franchise?

Lord STANLEY—I am asked what are the provi-
sions of a Reform bill which I might hereafter sup-
port. Ido not think lamin a position in which I

can fairly answer that question. (Hear, hear.) I
have no objection to say this, that I have always
held that it was for the interest of the public gene-
rally, and I think more especially for the interest of
the Conservative party, if it can be done by a fair
and reasonable compromise, that the question should
be settled. (Cheers.)
" Three cheers for Stanley," given most enthusi-
astically, were followed by " Three cheers for Glad-
stone," with about the same degree of energy. The
meeting then dispersed.

ITUNTINGDON

In pursuance of the writ directed to the
Mayor
of the borough of Huntingdon (Mr. Cooch), a
meeting was held in the Court-hall yesterday morn-
ing with a view of electing a burgess to serve in
Parliament for the said borough in the room of
General Peel, late one of the members, who has
accepted the office of her Majesty's Secretary for
War. Inasmuch, however, as it was known that
no actual opposition would be offered to the re-elec-
tion of the gallant general, the meeting was literally
one of his friends, amongst whom may be numbered
men of all shades of opinion in the borough he has

so long represented, and, more notably still, the
ladies, a bevy of whom crowded the grand jury
gallery.
The MAYOR presided, and, after the usual forma-
lities, called for the proposition of candidates,
whereupon

Mr. DENNIS HERBERT proposed General Peel.
Mr. FREDERICK Howson seconded the nomination.
After having replied to some questions respecting
the franchise and other matters, the Mayor, no other
candidate being proposed, declared
_General Peel
duly elected.
General PEEL, on rising to return thanks, was re-
ceived with renewed cheers. He said—Mr. Mayor
and gentlemen, electors of the boroughs of Hunting-
don and Godmanchester,—lt is now exactly 40
years last month since I was first returned a member
of Parliament, and 35 of those years have been
passed in your service. (Cheers.) There are doubt-
less members—some 12 or 13, perhaps—who have
sat in Parliament longer than I have done, and some,
perhaps, have served the same constituency longer
than I, but I think there are few of them who have
had the necessity to present themselves on extra
occasions such as this for re-election ; but of this I
am certain—that none have received greater kind-
ness than I have done, and I beg to thank you for
the honour you have done in returning me once
more:as your representative to Parliament. (Cheers.)
I beg to thank those gentlemen who are opposed to
me for the way they have received me during my
canvass. I think every man is entitled to hold his
own opinions upon political matters—(hear, hear,
and applause)—and I am also much obliged to Mr.
Herbert and Mr. Howson for the very kind manner
in which they have proposed me. I little thought
last year that I should so soon have to present my-
self before you for re-election, still less upon the
occasion of having accepted office as a Minister of
the Crown. At the last election the Conservative
party were in a majority of 70—(A voice, "A minority
of 70," and laughter)-..1 mean in a minority of 70. I
allude to this matter to show that majorities are often
dangerous to the parties possessing them. Experi-
ence proves this, in fact, that the Government
possessing such majorities are often defeated by
them. In 1832 there was a large majority, but
in 1835 that majority defeated the Government,
and brought Sir Robert Peel into office. Sir Robert
Peel retired, and returned again with a majority of
90, and that very majority turned Sir Robert Peel
out. Again, when Lord Palmerston dissolved Par-
liament on the question of the war in China he was
returned by an overwhelming majority, who ulti-
mately turned him out. Now, it is not the case
that Lord Derby's Government has an overwhelm-
ing majority—there appears to be danger in such a
state of things, but we need not be apprehensive on
that ground—(laughter)—but I trust the measures
we shall propose will be of such a character that we
shall gain general support without having to guard
against any such contingency. (Cheers.) What
those measures are to be an infant Government can-
not of course proclaim ; and I may say at once that
no Ministry can be held responsible for any obser-
vations I may make upon such an occasion as this.
What the principles are upon which Lord Derby's
Government is formed may be gathered from the
admirable statement made by him in the House of
Lords on Monday last. I may say that I entirely
agree with that statement. I don't think there is
anybody who has so frequently maintained the doc-
trine of non-interference with the affairs of other
nations as I have clone. I have always beenthe ad-
vocate of maintaining peaceful relations with them,
without mixing up in their affairs—(applause) —at
the same time offering, when it is asked for, our own
best advice and mediation to maintain peace amongst
all nations. But the only plan by which we can main-
tain a dignified neutrality—that we can make our-
selves respected—is to keep our own forces in a state of
efficiency; and, as Secretary for War, I will take
care that the army is maintained in such a state.
(Cheers.) Now, lam very glad that Lord Derby
has not fettered himself by a pledge on the subject of
reform. I quite agree with him that the only chance
of passing a Reform Bill is to be found in some
mutual understanding between the two great par-
ties in the State, and Lord Derby has shown his
desire for that agreement by endeavouring to form
his Government on a broad basis, and to do away
with the line which really was perfectly nominal.
Lord Palmerston sat on one side of the house, the
Conservatives on the other, and there really was
nothing on earth to prevent us joining each other.
(Cheers.) I will read to you the very words which

I made use of before the election of nuntingdon in
July last—" If the mere popularity of a Prime
Minister were sufficient to secure support to a Go-
vernment, he would himself, perhaps, be a supporter
of the Government of Lorl Palmerston. Nay, he
would go further, and say that if he were certain
Lord Palmerston would always carry out his own
opinions, he should probably be a supporter of his
Government, because he believed those opinions to
be perfectly Conservative. But, unfortunately, it
was notorious that upon some important questions
Lord Palmerston was overruled by his colleagues,
and in some of those colleagues he, for one, had no
confidence whatever." (Ilear,hear.) The result was
what I foresaw would take place immediately on
Lord Palmerston's death, and I could not have
joined that party. I could join no Government of
which they formed a part. I think that the fact of
Lord Derby having appealed to the Liberals to join
him only shows his desire to bring forward popular
measures. I can fully bear out what Lord Derby
said about the unanimity of the Conservative party
in sacrificing all personal considerations, in waiving
all private interests, and their readiness to make any
sacrifice in order to enable him to form a Govern-
ment on the basis he had laid down, and that we
would support such Government whether we were in
or out of offi?e. I not only agree with Lord Derby's
resolution not to bring in a Reform Bill, but also
with the opinion he expressed on the matter. I
say there are many not at present in possession of
the franchise who might be safely entrusted with it;
but with regard to the bill lately before Parliament,

there were no figures agreed upon. The house passed
without a division the second reading of the Fran-
chise and the Redistribution of Seats Bill, thus ad-
mitting the principle ; but when the bills got into
committee, it was decided that the franchise should
be founded upon rating, and not upon rental, by a
majority of 11. But there were no figures whatever
adopted. It was perfectly competent for the Govern-

ment to lower the rating from £7 to £5. The divi-

sion was upon rating versus rental, and the mem-
bers of the House of Commons were as good judges
as the Ministry upon that subject. I could not see
that the Government were justified in resigning
upon it. We must recollect, too, that what we were
passing was an English Reform Bill, and from first
to last, at every division, a majority of the English
members were against the Government. I do not
deny the right of the Irish and Scotch members to
vote on the question, but it is at least fair to say
that Englishmen have at least the best right to ex-

press the opinion as to what will best suit their own

country. (Cheers.) Now, I have been called an ultra
Tory. If the late Sir R. Peel was an ultra-Tory, I

am not only an ultra-Tory, but I glory in the title.
(Loud cheers.) I held office under him. I perfectly

coincided in his political principles,
and supported
all his measures. In truth, I was on the most
inti-
mate and affectionate terms with him, and I know

his earnest desire was to maintain the dignity of the
Crown, the priTileges of the House of Lords, the

purity and high character of the house of Commons,
and the honour and welfare of this country. (Loud

and long-continued cheers.) Now, during the course
of my visit to the electors, there was a gentleman
whom I waited on who was a gieat admirer of the
Morning Star. (Cheers and laughter.) He said he
took his politics from it, and told me he would not

vote for me because I did not vote for Mr. Bright's
Reform Bill. It was because it was Mr. Bright's Re-

form Bill of 1866, arid the
precursor of Mr. Bright's
Reform Bill of 1868, that I voted against it. lam
not going to say one word against Mr. Bright : I
have a high respect for him. (Hear, hear.) But the
hon. gentleman himself said that he accepted the
bill of the Government as a lever whereby he should

be able to carry out his own purposes. It has been
said that the figures 14 and 7 could not be altered,
because the alteration would break the engagement

made between the Government and the extreme

party on the left. I could never learn what that

engagement was. I never heard that the party on
the left had pledged themselves not to go any
further, and I will venture to say that if Mr. Bright
was to be asked the question to-morrow, he would

say he was not pledged to the maintenance of the
permanency of the measure. A great deal has been
said during the arguments upon reform about the
working men. I defy any man to say that I have
ever said a word in disparagement of working men.
(Cheers.) There is no family more indebted to the
working men than mine. Before the Reform Bill
I represented the working men of Norwich, and ex-
cellent men they were. They never changed their
colours, and if a freeman was asked, he would re-
ply, he was " born purple and orange," or " blue
and white," and though, of course, there was a
floating balance—some who were not perfectly pure
yet, if you will look to the last election you will
find that it was not freemen or the lower order of
voters alone who were subject to improper influ-
ences. (Cheers.) Another point. I will never
agree to the disfranchisement of a small borough
simply because it is a small borough. My first act
of disfranchisement would be to take away the power
of voting from any town where corruption prevailed,
be it large or small, but not at once, not until a com-
mission had proved corruption prevailed. I would
rather disfranchise such a borough as that than
yours which has, since 1290, I believe, returned two
members to Parliament, and has never been sub-
j ect even to the breath of insinuation of bribery. I
can only say that since I have represented it I
have never spent a shilling in bribery; but more, that
I have never been asked for it. The bill introduced
by the late Government was marked by anomalies
worth notice. The proposals as to the redistribution
of seats were perfectly astounding. For instance,
Tamworth, with a population of 10,000 and 500
voters, was to retain two members, while Lichfield,
a cathedral town, with 750 electors, was to have its
political power partially taken away from it by the
loss of one. Well, we are either the representatives
of the electors or we represent the whole popula-
tion, and the population and number of electors of
both these places considered, what becomes of the
argument that the working men are not repre-
sented ? It is clear we represent the electors, and
therefore we were bound to act in the manner best
calculated to conserve their interests. I promised at
your late wool fair dinner to tell you what had been
done with the view of giving the army breech-load-
ing rifles, and I repeat what I said then, that owing
to the discoveries of science matters are now deter-
mined, not so much by the numbers, skill, or bravery
of the troops engaged, as by the efficiency of the
arm employed, and I say we should have every ad-
vantage we cau attain towards saving our brave
soldiers' lives. Experience has proved that even a
very bad, or at least an indifferent breech loader, is
better than the best muzzle loader ; so it would be
unwise to delay for a single day to place breech load-
ing arms in the hands of our troops. Fortunately, no
thing has to be done upon the spur of the moment,
my predecessors, I am happy to say, having paid at-
tention to this subject. (Cheers.) They had already
made arrangements for converting 40,000 Enfield
muzzle loading rifles into breech loaders, and I am
perfectly certain those weapons as altered will be
superior to the " needle gun." (Loud cheers.) I
have made arrangements that that number shall be
increased from 40,000 to 100,000, to be delivered
from our o xn factories, and, as will be seen by this
day's papers, I have already with a view of giving
further effect to these arrangements, asked for ten-
ders from the trade. I am perfectly satisfied to
carry out the good work begun by my predecessors,
and which I am persuaded they would have done
had they remained in office. (Cheers.) I claim no
merit to myself in this respect. (Renewed cheers.)
I don't know that it is necessary I should detain
you one moment longer. lam perfectly aware of
the difficulties of the task that lies before us. The
principles of Lord Derby are to maintain peace, but
at the same time the prestige, the power, and hon-
our of this country. Having your approbation to-
day, I shall go back, determined to do my best to
carry out such measures as will, in my humble
judgment, most tend to the furtherance of the in-
terests of this country. (Loud cheers.)
The usual complimentary votes followed, and the
meeting broke up amid ringing cheers for "The
Ladies," proposed, as usual, by the gallant general.