The Sun.
London, England, 1859-01-08 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, JANUARY .8, 1859.

PUBLICATIONS.

MR. LEITCH RITCHIE'S NEW WORK.
Now ready, in 2 vols., with Illustrations, 215., bound,
WTINTER EVENINGS.
By LEITCH RITCHIE,
Author of" Schinderhannes, " The Magician," &c.
Hurst and Blackett, 13, Great Marlborough-street.

Novi ready, at all the Libraries, in 3 vols.,
0 N. W A R D S
By the Author of " Anne Dysart," ac.
" One of the best of the new novels." —Examiner,
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it is set before us with the earnestness of the thinker, as well
as thepower of the novelist."—John Bull.
Hurst and Blackett, successors to Henry Colburn.

NOTICE.
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New Burlington-street, Jan. 6,1859.

BENTLEY'S QUARTERLY REVIEW.
The First Number will be published on MARCH 1.
Advertisements and Bills received until February 20.
New Burlington-street, Jan. 6.1859.

Now ready, in 1 Vol., Post Bvo, cloth, gilt, Price 70, 6d.,
THE-VERNEYS : or.. CHAOS DISPELLED. A
Tale of Genius and Religion. By Miss C. M. SMITH.
Arthur Hall, Virtue, and Co., 25, Paternoster-row.

This Day, Seventh Edition, Revised, with Woodcuts, 2s. 6d.,
AT, INERALS and METAISI. their 'Natural
-ALL History and Uses in the Arts ; with Incidental Ac-
counts of Mines and Mining. . .
London : John W. Parker and Son, West Strand.

Royal Bvo, 782 pages, 28s.
ANATOMY, DESCRIPTIVE and SURGICAL.
By HENRY GRAY, F.R.S., Lecturer on Anatomy at
St. George's Hospital.
This Work is illustrated by 363 large woodcuts, from
.original Drawings, chiefly from Nature, by H. V. CARTER,
M.D., late Demonstrator of Anatomy at St. George's,
London : John W. Parker and Son, West Strand.

This Day. , eioth, 2s.
LESSONS ON MIND.
By the same Author,
LESSONS ON REASONING. Ninth Edition, is. 6d.
LESSONS ON MORALS. Is. 6d.
LESSONS ON CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. Fourteenth
Edition, 6d.
LESSONS ON THE HISTORY OF RELIGIOUS WOR-

SHIP. 2a.
LESSONS ON THE BRITISH CONSTITUTION. 6d.
London : John W. Parker and Son, West Strand.

IQI a LETTS'S DIARIES,. ALMANACS,
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Kingdom. LETTS and Co., 8, Royal Exchange.

BOARD AND RESIDENCE. A Superior
Home is offered to a Gentleman of steady habits, en-
gaged during the day, by a family residing near Regent's-
Park. For a young man coming to London for the first time
tkis would be found a desirable residence. Terms moderate.
References to be exchanged. Address, J. P., Wright's
Dairy, Granby-street, Hampstead-road, N.W.

THE CA.TAST.ROPIIE AT THE POLY-
TECHNIC INSTITUTION.

It is much to be regretted that the report yes-
terday at the Middlesex Hospital as to the condi-
tion of some of the sufferers by the late sad accident
at the Polytechnic Institution is not so favourable
as it was on the preceding day.
The cases which excite the greatest anxiety, not-
ithstan din g the unremitting attention of Mr. Shaw,
the senior surgeon, Mr. Rix, and the medical staff,
are those of Sarah Coppin, who has received severe
injuries to the head, indeed a fractured skull and
concussion of the brain ; Ann Howard, fracture of
left' arm and right collar bone, with severe inter-
nal injuries ; and Fanny Flood, who has sustained
a compound fracture of the jaw, with injuries to
the head and concussion of the brain. The little
boy Clement Pike,brother to the child Emma Pike,
on whose body the inquest has been already opened,
and who received a scalp wound and other injuries,
had so far recovered as to be enabled to leave the
hospital.
With reference to the cause of the accident, Mr.
Marsh Nelson and Mr. Christopher Eales, the two
architects selected by the coroner and jury to exa-
mine the ruins arid remains of the fallen staircase,
have already commenced their labours, with a. view
to framing their report, but which will, of course,
not be permitted to tranvire until laid before the
coroner and jury at the adjourned inquest.
Amongst other points which have come out, it has
transpired that the weight of the iron treads, let
into each step in the form of lattice or trellis-work,
was in itself somewhere about 501b5., the openings
or interstices being filled in with heavy Portland
cement. Consequently, in addition to their own
original weight, weakened as they were by wear
and cutting to let in the iron, each staircase that
has fallen had to bear a permanent burden of up-
wards of a ton. _

It is only just to the directors of the Polytechnic
Institution to state that they have evinced the
deepest anxiety for the unfortunate sufferers, and
that, in addition to the medical aid they may have
obtained, either privately or publicly, it was re-
ported yesterday that they had obtained the ser-
vices of Mr. Thomas Wakley, jun., the surgeon, to
visit and make a report on every case which has
come to their knowledge.

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

ISLE OF WIGHT.

It appears that the principal landowners have
recently held meetings to promote the formation of
a line in the Isle 'of Wight, which, on the comple-
tion of Stokes Bay Ferry, will complete the com-
munication between the metropolis and Ryde,
Newport, Cowes, Ventnor, and Bonchurch. The
proposed railway is to commence close to the pier.
at Ryde, and thence proceed to Rowlands, when
it will diverge to the right to Newport, and thence,
touching at Parkhurst and Northwood, to Cowes,
and to the left, proceeding coastward, to Sandown,
by Gatton, to Bonchurch and Ventnor. The neces-
sary plans have been deposited .for the purpose of
proceeding in the ensuing session for an act to
authorise its construction.

Form.

MB. TIM,. 2V.P.., ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS,

On Thursday evening Mr. Tite, M.P. for Bath,
addressed a very numerous meeting of his consti•
tuents at the Guildhall. Mr. G. Norman presided.
Mr. TITE, in reviewing the past session of Parlia-
ment, adverted to the overthrow .of Lord Palmer-
ston's Ministry on Mr. M. Gibson's motion, and ex-
pressed his opinion that this event was to some
extent caused .by Lord Palmerston not hav-
ing himself written a despatch to the French
Government. Had the division On Mr. Gibson's
motion not taken place, •as it did, on the Friday
night, and had the debate been adjourned until
Monday, he believed Lord Paltnerston's Ministry
would have .been in power at • the present time.
Mr. .Tite also referred to the • Jew' Bill, which,
he said, he had always voted for, because
he • never could understand :why a man's
opinions on questions affecting .the Jews should
make him a worse, citizen or a • worse • legislator.
On the subject of church-rates Mr. Tite said that,
though a Churchman himself by education and
principle, he could not see why he ought to call
upon a man who thought differently from himself
to support the fabric of a church in which he could
not conscientiously worship. It had been argued
that the church rates were, a charge upon the land
—that they were like the poor-rates and county
rates. If that were so,. where was the difficulty of
enforcing the payment ?. On this subject he very
much agreed with the Bishop of London that the
payment of church•rates• interfered so much with
Christian feeling and Christian propriety that they
ought to be abolished. During the recess he (Mr.
Tite). visited Cherbourg. In the arsenal he saw
nothing which gave him the least apprehension, but
'he confessed he saw with some alarm the character
of the fleet. The French sailors were worth some-
thing, though they were not, perhaps, equal to ou4,
own Jack Tars. If there was a large French
Channel fleet, of course there must be a large Eng-
lish one, and taxpayers must bear in mind that this
would be a very important item in the next esti-
mates. He now came to the great question of Re-
He was sometimes -asked, " Who wants
.eform ? what does it mean ?" It appeared to him
that the answer to this question was, " If nobody
wants it Why is everybody bringing it forward ?
Why have Government after Government brought
it forward ?" Nothing would have been more con-
sistent in a Tory Government than to say, " No, we
think some unimportant changes should be made in
the Reform Bill, but, as it was a final measure, we
see no necessity for going on bringing in Reform
Bills ; we will attend to the business of the nation."
It would have been consistent if they had said that,
but they did not say so. England was now so much
in earnest on the subject that if, when Parliament
met•, the Government said, " We won't have re-
form," they would probably soon be in a minority.
The country would then be appealed to, and they
would soon see whether reform was wanted or not.

The ,Goveniment, however, had undertaken the
reform question, and it appeared to him that there
was nothing in the antecedents of the two
.great
leaders of the present party to make it inconsistent
with their professions or their position. Lord
Derby was formerly no enemy to reform, and it
was said that the Chancellor of the Exchequer be-
gan life as a Reformer. If, then, we were to have
reform, what was it to be ? This had occupied a
great deal of his thoughts. A very eminent legis-
lator, whose courage he always admired (Mr. New-
degate) had told them that the population of county
constituencies which voted for members of Parlia-
ment was 10,000,000 against 7,000,000 of consti-
tuents for borough members ; that the one returned
337 members, representing a population of
7,500,000 ; and the other about 150 members, re-
presenting a population of 10,000,000. This was
no doubt true ; but there were thrown out of the
account altogether those boroughs which were
operated upon by agricultural influence. Mr.
Bright had said very fairly that the House of
Lords represented the agricultural interest. Then,
the question of the distribution of electors with
respect to numbers was perfectly inconceivable.
There was the greatest possible irregularity in it.
The great borough of the Tower Hamlets had more
electors than the whole of the West Riding of
Yorkshire. Having read a number of statistics
showing the irregularity in the representation, Mr.
Tite proceeded to say that Mr. Bright had evi-
dently abandoned the idea of dealing with these
enormous difficulties, and was attempting some-
thing that was really practicable. What his
scheme was he could only comparatively con-
jecture. On the part 'of the Government not a
single fragment had escaped as to what their mea-
sure would be. With respect to the part which
Mr. Bright had taken, perhaps it was well ex-
plained in what might be considered the manifesto
of the Birmingham Reformers. Among the irre-
gularities in the Parliamentary representation
were the nomination boroughs, or boroughs which
represented the opinions of the gentleman who had
the power to nominate. It was sometimes com-
plained, too, that many of the small boroughs re-
turned literary men to Parliament—for instance,
that Midhurst returned Mr. Warren. But, on the

other hand, Macaulay was returned by the great
constituency of Edinburgh ; Sir Bulwer Lytton and
Mr. Disraeli were county members, and Mr. Glad-
stone was the member for the Uhiversity of Oxford.
These gentlemen did not owe their seats to the

small boroughs, but to their great merit and talent,
It was no complement to a learned man to be re-
turned by any of these nomination boroughs
with a constituency of 120 or 130 people. As men
of talent they were returned by much larger con-
stituencies. The number of boroughs which had
less than 500 registered electors was 59. They
returned 89 members, representing 20,376 electors,
representing a total population of 373,000. But it
was a most singular fact that even these boroughs,
in which the electors were under 500, often repre-
sented very large populations. He (Mr. Tite) was
at a loss to understand this state of things. Pro-
bably the qualification was too high to let in a large'
class of voters. After these illustrations of the
irregularities in our present system of representa-
tion they would, no doubt, ask him what remedy
did he propose for such evils. He 'confessed he had
nothing, because he considered it to be his business
to hold himself entirely unfettered. Here were
two parties bidding for his vote, and whichever
bade the higher should have it. (Applause.) With
this conviction he hoped his constituency would
pardon him for taking that course. He would hear
what they all had to say, and if a good measure
were brought forward he would be one of the first
to give it his support. (Applause.) The question
was sometimes asked, " Why should there not be
burgess 'voting ?" He did not know why there
Should not be. It was a system which existed
earlier than the Norman conquest, and he did not
see why burgess voting should not be adopted in
every borough. They could not deal with enor-
mous boroughs and their irregularities, some having
a population of 5,000 and some 160,000 ; but they
might very much simplify the question by adopting
the system of burgess voting, having the same
examination for a Parliamentary voter as for a
burgess voter. He hoped they would get rid of
the absurdity of compelling a man to prove that
`he had paid up his rates. (Applause.) He did
not see why the electoral franchise should be made
the means of assisting the rate collector. Where
there were poor men it not unfrequently
introduced the question of party, and per-
haps where there was a Whig or a Tory collector
men were sometimes left alone until after the last
day. (Applause.) He sincerely hoped that they
would not only have a large measure of reform, but
an honest and sincere one ; that the Legislature
would not seek to do that which would turn to the
advantage of party ; but that they would do that
which was honest, above board, and fair to all par-
ties. (Applause.) Mr. 'rite then referred to the
question of the ballot. Every day's experience, he
said convinced him of the necessity of secret voting.
He saw many able writers who were opposed to it,
but he would ask them to come and canvass• a con-
stituency on the Liberal side, and if they did not
come to the conclusion that the ballot was neces-
sary, they would not be open to the conviction
which should follow any honest and generous mind.
He was no lover of the ballot until he found it was
necessary. Why should a man's vote be printed in
a book, together with the amount of his rating, and
hawked about among his neighbours ? (Applause.)
It was said that it led to exclusive dealing on both
sides. If so it only made the necessity for its amend-
ment the greater. In conclusion Mr. Tite referred
to the recent dispute between France and Portugal
and expressed his opinion that France on that oc-
casion was not dealt with by England and by
Englishmen with sufficient vigour. He should be
sorry, however, if in the next session Parliament
should be much occupied with the discussion of this
question. They had more important matters to
attend to, though he should be the last man in the
world to say anything except in abhorrence of the
slave trade, and for the adoption of the strongest
means being taken to put it down.
At the close of Mr. Tites's address a vote of con-
fidence in him was unanimously passed.