The Sun.
London, England, 1866-11-29 00:00:00

Conservative Demonstration in Essex.

The Malden Conservative Club celebrated its
anniversary dinner on Tuesday night, under the
presidency of Mr. C. Du Cane, M.P., one of the
junior Lords of the Admiralty. On the right and
left of the chairman sat Mr. G. M. W. Sandford,
M.P., and Mr. R. A. Earle, MX., and there was
also present Lord Eustace Cecil, M.P. for South
Essex.

After the usual loyal toasts,
The CHAIRMAN gave " The Army, Navy, Militia,
and Volunteers." (Cheers.) The hon. gentleman
mid there never was a time in the history of this
country when the maintenance of an efficient army_
and navy was of such vital importance to its internal
prosperity, and when a deeper responsibility rested
upon those who presided over our military and naval
administration. As far as the army was concerned,
he thought that the name of General Peel was one
which inspired confidence throughout the country ;
and speaking for the Board of Admiralty, of which
he (Mr. Du Cane) had the honour to be a humble
member, he could only say that that board was
deeply impressed with a sense of the responsibility
which devolved upon it. (Hear, hear.)
Capt. ISHERWOOD responded for the army, and
Lieutenant HUMPHREYS for the volunteers.
The CHAIRMAN, in giving the " Conservative
Members for Maldon, Mr. Sandford and Mr. Earle,"
said that although the political future was shrouded
to a certain extent in uncertainty he could not help
thinking that the events of last session, and the lan-
guage held on certain platforms during the past au-
tumn, had done much to strengthen that dislike for
organic constitutional changes which had mainly
led to the instalment of the Conservatives in office.
(If ear, hear.)
Mr. SANDFORD, M.P., in responding, said he did
not know what course her Majesty's Government
might pursue upon the question of reform, although
there were two oracles present from whom some-
thing might perhaps be extracted—(laughter)—but
he could not help pointing out that in all previous
reform bills some injustice had been meted out to
Maldon. Maldon, with its 900 electors, was placed
in schedule D as if it were a town with a population
of some 6,000 or 7,000 persons ; but one-half the
electors of Maldon were derived from 42 square miles
of country round the town, and surely some allow-
ance ought to be made for the population of these
42 square miles. If that population were taken into
account the borough of Maldon would figure with
between 11,000 and 12,000 attached to it ; at all
events, it would be in such a position that it would
certainly not be touched by any reform bill. (Hear.)
He did not wish now to go into any subject of
grouping. He retained his original objection to
any grouping, because lie was sufficiently selfish not
to wish to have any further trouble or expense en-
tailed upon him—(laughter)—but in the interests
of his constituents he was not sure whether a fair
system of grouping would not have at least one ad-
vantage. If the electors of Maldon were grouped
with some other place so as to make up a constitu-
ency of at least 10,000 or 15,000, instead of being shut
out on any future reform bill, they would be placed
in a position to last certainly as long as the British
constitution. When he spoke of the principle of
grouping he limited himself to existing constituen-
cies, because then, at all events, it was known
who your bedfellows were to be—(laughter)—
and respect was shown to prescriptive rights
and traditional interests. There was another
system of grouping which found favour with cer-
tain parties, and which consisted in tacking on to
Maldon places like Coggeshall and Braintree. Such
a system might suit the parties to whom he had re-
ferred, but he did not think it would suit those pre-
sent—and if such a system were proposed he should
give it, from whatever quarter it might come, the
most determined opposition. (Hear.) He had a
word to add upon the subject of our foreign rela-
tions. We possessed no official information upon
the subject, but what he had read in the public
journals as to the',tone of a recent despatch from Mr.
Seward had given him pain. He found that, refer-
ring to certain Fenians condemned in Canada, and
taken red-handed in as piratical an invasion of a
peaceful country as history ever recorded, Mr .
Seward, in language of menace and defiance, de-
manded a commutation of their sentence, and he
was sorry toadd that rumour said that her Majesty's
Government were inclined to comply with the re-
quest. Far be it from him (Mr. Sandford) to dis-
pute the possession by her Majesty of the attributes
of clemency and mercy, whcli were amongst the
highest as they were amongst the most sacred of the
prerogatives of Majesty ; but they were prerogatives
which should be exercised by our sovereign of her own
free will, and net at the dictation of the Minister of
a foreign power. (Hear, hear.) He
sincerely
trusted that her Majesty's responsible advisers had
given no such counsel to her Majesty as rumour
attributed to them upon the present occasion.
He thought he might venture to add that the
presence in the Cabinet of one whom above all
he respected—he meant Lord Cranborne—was a
pledge and a guarantee of a contrary policy ;
and he confidently hoped and• relied that
when the papers relating to the subject were placed
upon the table of the house a very different complexion
would be given to the whole transaction. If, on the
other hand, it should appear that the honour of Eng-
land had been tarnished, and that humiliating con-
cessions had been made at the dictation of a minister
of a foreign state, then so far as his humble vote was
concerned, if he was called upon to choose between
sd
o u
would
the cries of party and the cries of patriotism,he
neither hesitate nor palter in his choice, nor
he allow even his desire to retain aeouservative
Government in office to weigh for a single instant
in the balance against the honour and dignity of his
country. (Cheers.)
Mr EARLE, M.P., also replied. When he heard
.
the question of Parliamentary reform discussed he
owned that he felt much more anxious to ascertain
what would be the probable effects of Parliamentary
reform, than inquisitive as to the particular year in
which a reform bill might be carried. It appeared
to him that in all the discussions which arose upon
that subject there was, sometimes upon one side and
sometimes upon the other, a certain amount of ex-
aggeration. In the case of a reformed Parliament,
he believed the direction given to its first efforts
would mainly depend upon the individual influences
to which it might be subjected, just as in the case of
a ship its course depended upon the man at the helm.
In discussing the question of reform he had no doubt
that the members of the club would endeavour,
while seeking perhaps for greater vigour, still to
preserve the stability which they now enjoyed. If
they discussed the question with that view, he
thought they would agree with him that it must '
considered in a very different spirit from that in
which it had been treated on certain platforms since
the prorogation of Parliament. He hoped that in
dealing with this great question we should combine
vigour with stability, and that we should not be in-
duced to take a ticket in the lottery of revolution
unless we saw our way clearly to drawing a prize.
(Cheers.)
Mr. W. M. TUFFNELL proposed the " Conserva-
tive Members present."
Lord E. CECIL, M.P., acknowledged the cornpli-

meat, and,
in speaking of the reform question, I
said, although there had been enough of abuse
and vituperation in the deliberations of the Re-
form League, he was afraid that there had
been very little common sense or wisdom in
their councils. Al thel vials of the great agi..a-
tor's wrath hadbeen
ti:i
e Conservative
ol
o f ured out upon the de-
voted heads, not only
t_e
rke the seer
party, but
. of every respectable person in
The great Birmingham
Li
prophet had,
,o
\vn;
of old, been taken by the Reforu;
from mountain to mountain, but from town agtoue t not
but instead of cursing his enemies he (Lord E.
Cecil) ventured to say that in the opinion of every
unprejudiced person he had seven times blessed
them. (Laughter.) A little incident took place inthe
House of Commons last year which excited some
attention at the time. The hon. member for North
Warwick called Mr. -Whalley a Jesuit in disguise,
for the manner in which he advocated Protestant
interests in Parliament. (Laughter.) Well, when
he (Lord E. Cecil) remembered the speeches of a
certain other great personage he wondered that some
rather suspicious member of the Reform League did

not get up and call him a Conservative in disguise,
for the manner in which he advocated the Reform
question. But, apart from the strong language con-
tained in the celebrated but unhappy speeches of Mr.
Bright, it seemed to him (Lord E. Cecil) that there
were one or two fallacies underlying the hon. gen-
tleman's fervid declamation. The first of these fal-
lacies was that the artisans of the large towns, how-
ever much we might wish to see them admitted to
the franchise, constituted the people of England;
and the second was that everything good came from
the large towns, and everything bad and corrupt
from the small boroughs and the counties. On every
occasion, too, the great agricultural interest was per-
sistently vilified, and was constantly held lip as being
numerically inferior and politically of less importance.
Now, gentlemen who talked in this way entirely for-
got that the population of the counties comprised
11,000,000, and that of the boroughs 9,000,000,
and yet the counties only returned something-like
160 members, while the boroughs returned over 330
members. Notwithstanding these facts and figures,
the cry was constantly raised that the representation
of the agricultural interest was too great in the pre-
sent parliament. As to nothing good coming from
small boroughs, he thought he had only to point in
reply to the excellent speeches which they had been
favoured by two borough members that evening. As
to large constituencies being a safeguard against bri-
bery, without saying whether bribery or the revela-
tions which we had lately had at Totnes, Yarmouth,
and Lancaster, he would call attention to a few de-
ductions which he had made from a parliamentary re-
turn just issued with reference to the expenses of
candidates at the last general election. According to
the published return—and he only dealt with legi-
timate and published expenditure—(a laugh)—it
was stated that at Bristol the average expenditure
of each candidate was £2,037 ; at Manchester,
£1,656 ; at Glasgow, £2,817 ; at Dublin, £4,567 ;
in the City of London, £2,489 ; in Marylebone,
£2,031 ; and at Westminster—which was always
held up as the blue riband of representation, though
hethought there was a good deal of gold tinsel mixed
up with the blue riband—£4,oll. Now, at Maldon,
which he did not suppose was the least expensive of
the boroughs of England, the average expenditure
of each candidate at the last general election was
only £643, or just one-fourth of the expenditure of
each candidate at Glasgow, and one-sixth of the
average expenditure incurred by each candidate at
Westminster. These facts showed that the tendency
of large constituencies was rather to increase than
to diminish the expenditure of candidates, and that
before any bill passed which would represent all
classes, there were many other points to be consi-
dered besides a lowering of the franchise. Looking
into the political horizon, it seemed to him there
were several questions quite as important as reform
which demanded an attentive and close considera-
tion. There was the state of Ireland—(hear, hear)
—there was the reorganisation of the army and
navy, there was the administration of the Poor-law,
there was the insecurity of the holders of railway
property—(laughter)--besides various other ques-
tions affecting the Church and education. Whether
the Government of Lord Derby were allowed or
not to deal with these questions, the Conservatives
must not shut their eyes to the fact that they were in
a considerable minority in the House of Commons ;
at the same time there had never been the same
amount of difference in their ranks as existed
in the ranks of the opposite party, while they
would also receive support from a large amount of
the educated public opinion of the country. To that
large class who, without taking any very active part
in politics, still loved and revered the constitution,
he would confidently appeal ; and to Conservatives
he would say, adopting nearly the same language as
was used at a great meeting at Birmingham net
long since, " Remember the object for which we
strive ; care not for calumnies or for lies ; our object
is to uphold the British Constitution, with all its
freedom, for the British people." (Cheers.)
The CIIAIMIAN proposed " Prosperity to the Mal-
don Conservative Club," and after some humorous
observations at the expense of thelocal Liberal party
who, he said., at a recent meeting appeared to show
extraordinary despondency as regards the past, and
considerable apprehension as regards the future, the
hon. gentleman added that there was nothing in
Conservative principles, or in the past policy of the
Conservative party, to prevent them dealing with
the whole question of reform in a comprehensive
spirit, or to prevent them bringing in a Reform Bill
at once moregenuiiiely liberalin its details and more
in accordance with the ancient lines of the C3usti-
tution than the bill of last session. That was all
his friends or his opponents would get from him on
the subject of reform. (Laughter.) His esteemed
colleague (Sir T. Western), at a meeting at Maldon
last week, had remarked that he (Mr. Du Cane)
had indicated with very considerable significance at
Castle Iledin-gham what might be expected in the
matter of the malt tax from his friends now in power.
Well, what he did expect from his friends now in
power was that in allmatters of taxation the claims
of the agricultural interest to share fairly in the re-
ductions made should be fairly considered ; and if
he had thought that—provided the finances of the
country allowed 4—the present Government were
not prepared to deal fairly with the agricultural in-
terest in the matter of the malt tax, he should not
have felt Limself at liberty to accept office. With a
considerable doubt hanging over them as to whether
there would be sufficient surplus to enable them to deal
satisfactorily with the malt tax, and with alarge majo-
rity hostile at this moment to any proposal for the
reduction of that tax, it would not be wise for her
Majesty's Government to embarrass their position
and court certain defeat ; to do so would be fatal
not merely to the existence of the present Adminis-
tration, but also in the long run to the cause of malt
tax repeal. His friend Mr. Sandford had alluded to
certain matters connected with our naval expendi-
ture. He would undertake to deliver Mr. Sandford's
message word for word to Sir J. Pakington, and he
ad no doubt that Sir John would answer that mes-
,!ap.mrgaoetptoiensrisnthghee way that Mr. Sandford would most like
nun to answer it, viz., in his place in Parliament, in
thefifind
datvhya et
the
emates for 1867. In other
Saud-
ford would (Mr. Du Cane) trusted that Mr. Saud-
due regard for the honour presentandt G h
et:ovoedr Government
of
fad the
ae
country over which it presided. (Hear, hear.)
Several other toasts followed.

PHILIP AUGUSTUS' FORTRESS DISCOVERED.--In
Court the course of recent excavations made in the C
Louvre, the workmen came upon the foundations rt of the
of the
oca-
fortress built by Philip Augustus. This sovereigntre D
on
Dame
siderably enlarged Paris. In his reign (1180) N
was commenced, and the city surrounded with a wall, hav-
ingm on it 500 towers, with 130 gates. It is stated that the
exact site and plan of the fortress in the court-yard of the
Louvre were known from various historical documents
preserved in the Imperial Library ; the portions discovered
consist of one of the principal entrances and two flanking
towers.
DEATH OF GAVARNI.— -The arts have just sus-
tained a very serious loss. Gavarni, the well-known hu-
moristic draughtsman, whose pencil had seized different
types of contemporaneous society with so much truth and
versatility, expired at Paris on Friday night. He was born
at Paris in 1801, and was originally
an engine-maker. It
was only at 34 that he obtained an engagement o
t sketch
the fashions of the day for a weekly journal. He speedily
acquired a considerable reputation, and undertook the
management of the Journal des Gens du Monde. From that
time his position was assured, and ho began a series of
lithographic sketches exhibiting cleverness and philosophy,
and which at a later period he continued in the Charivari.
He received the Cross of the Legion of Honour in 1852.
To him we owe the illustrations in " Juif Errant" of Eu-
gene Sue, in the "Diable it Paris," and in the works of
Balzac. Ho also produced a great number of water-colour
drawings of great merit. Among his compositions may be,
mentioned the " Lorettes," the " Artistes," the "Coulisses,'
the " Debardeurs," the "Dais Masques," the " Chicards,"
the "Balivernes de Paris," the "Enfants Terribles," the
"Impressions des Voyages," the "Maris Venges," &c. It
is related of him that in 1819 he intended to come to
live in London, but that his spirits all at once gave way to
the spectacle of the terrible misery ho witnessed. The fre-
quenters of taverns, thieves, street-sweepers, the beggars
of St. Giles and Whitechapel, became the subjects of his
pencil, but even rags themselves acquired a kind of dig-
nitydel under his touch. It was in Paris, however, that he
afatiellgt_hytead Parisure
that
a remained, m
cahinieefldy, arnedfleietteids Pinarihisslliifgehitnanitds
as
e compositions. He took the name of Gavarni a
sketch by him of the Circus of Gavarni, out of the most
beautiful situations in the Pyrenees, which appeared origi-
nally in the "Muses des Families." Of late years Gavarni
gave much attention to the study
of aerostation. It may
be as,well to state that his real name was Paul Chevalier.

IRELAND.

DUBLIN, Nov. 28.

The Fenian uniforms and arms seized yesterday
at Liverpool are probably the first fruits of a large
harvest to be gathered in transitu from America to
Ireland. There are some ladies in Dublin so alarmed
they are afraid to go to bed at night, especially since
they heard that Gen. Sir Thomas Larcom had re-
solved to sleep in the Castle with a strong guard,
and that other extraordinary precautions are being
used by the:authorities. The news that Stephens has
left America and is on his way to this country will,
of course, increase the fears of the timid ; but those
who reflect do not apprehend any invasion.
They expect that the Fenian armada will be
disposed of by our gunboats before it reaches Ban-
try Bay or any other harbour. Since the laying of
the Atlantic telegraph the Fenians should have
given up in despair. They would have done so pro-
bably, but for two causes—first, the pleasure of re-
ceiving large sums of money and exercising power
and patronage employed by the leaders, and next the
pleasure of annoying and tormenting England. This
is, perhaps, considered by many of the party as a
sufficient reward in itself for their labours and dan-
gers. The extentto which this stinging and goading
process succeeds, though carried on by venomous
creatures so weak, and so easily crushed if they could
only be caught, should teach the Legislature the
wisdom of removing, if possible, the matter in which
they are engendered ; for this plague is like the
cholera or the rinderpest—it can be stamped out
effectually only by destroying the sources whence
it emanates and the bad sanitary conditions by
which it is attracted. In the meantime the pesti-
lence seems to be spreading over the country.
What occurred at Boyle on Monday is probably
only a sample of what happens in most towns in
Ireland wherever there is a fair or any assembly
which serves as a pretext for the appearance of
strangers. There a great number of strangers
thronged the various lodging-houses, many of
them suspicious-looking characters. The wealthy
graziers could not have contemplated the
visitors with much comfort when they heard that
the police had been paying domiciliary visits, taking
dowv names and making other inquiries. People
feel now the truth of what you state—that this new
trouble arises in a great measure from the looseness
and leniency experienced 1•y the Fenian conspirators
last year. But the lesson will not be lost if pirates,
robbers, and ruffians caught in the act of making
war upon society are treated as they deserve, and
as they have a right to expect to be treated.
The arguments in the case of Denis D. Mulcahy
were resumed yesterday morning, with the same
forms as on previous days. The Lord Chief Justice
again betrayed his unaccountable impatience to
have a full argument on the right of the Crown to
reply, and his desire to give judgment upon it. Why
he should wish the public time to be wasted on a
discussion about a right which the prisoner's coun-
sel did not dispute is a mystery. The following
dialogue, which occurred at the opening of the court
yesterday morning, is curious :

The Chief Justice said, before Mr. Lawson proceeded
with his argument, he wished to state that the question as
to the right of the Crown to reply was not decided in the
present case, and whenever the question would again arise,
the Court were prepared to hear it fully argued and decide
on it.

The Solicitor-General stated that, according to Irish prac-
tice, the right of the Crown to reply was fully established.
Tho Chief Justice said the Court would require to hear
something more than Irish practice before they would decide
the point.
The Solicitor-General—As the case does not arise now
I Will say nothing more about it, but I am quite prepared
to argue the point whenever it may arise.
The Attorney-General observed that it was impossible to
argue a question that was not before the Court, and it was
likely that those who felt interested in the question would
argue it.

The,Chief Justice—l am aware of that, but I think it
right to intimate that if it is raised I shall requite it to bo
fully argued.

Mr. Lawson then proceeded to reply on the part of
the Crown. In the course of his argument be in-
troduced some new cases, to which Mr. Butt briefly
replied. This closed the arguments. The Chief
Justice then said that the case should stand over
for judgment till the second day of next Term,
which will be the 12th of January. The prisoner
was then formally committed to Mountjoy Prison,
and conveyed thither strongly guarded.
The Master of the Rolls was to have disposed
yesterday of the motion, fully argued before him
last week, about the Supplemental Charter, but he
stated that he could not then do so, but would go
fully into the facts of the case next Monday.