The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-15 00:00:00

HERTFORD.

Mr. Dimsdale has issued the following address
,o the electors of the borough of Hertford :

" Gentlenien,—Under ordinary circumstances, I
should have hesitated to oppose the re-election of a
gentleman vacating his seat on the acceptance of
office.

" But the present juncture is peculiar. Only
two months since, a Government enjoying the con-
fidence of its Sovereign, and actively engaged in
the work of administration, was hastily expelled
from power by a heterogeneous coalition, banded
together for a temporary purpose, and united upon
no general question of public policy.

" It is at once constitutional and just that those
constituencies which have it in their power, should
pronounce a verdict upon the means by which the
present Ministry attained to office. Upon this
ground, I venture to appeal to you. Do you ap-
prove of the vote of the House of Commons, of Fri-
day, the 10th of June last, which sealed the fate of
the Conservative Governmernt ?

" That vote was obtained upon two specious, but
unsound pleas. First, that the English Ministers,
in violation of their declared neutrality in the late
war, were secretly taking the side of Austria.
&-condly, that they were faithless to the cause of
Parliamentary Reform.
" Neither of these allegations was substantiated.
Yet at a great Continental crisis, the leaders of the
Opposition engaged in a personal for office,
and did not hesitate to sacrifice, through it, the
public interests to the necessities of party.
" Of such conduct I will not believe that you ap-
prove ; and by opposing Mr. Cowper—one of those
who participated in that vote, and who now solicits
from you a renewal of the trust previously conferred
upon him—l invite you to express your deliberate
opinion upon the course which he, and his political
friends, thought proper to adopt.
" Upon general questions I would state mp opi-
nion with candour. Abroad, I would maintain that
neutrality which can alone preserve to England
her important and independent position in the
councils of Europe, and enable her at the right
moment effectually to arbitrate between the oppres-
sor and the oppressed
" Trusting that our country may long be kept
free from entangling alliances with Continental
States, I yet feel that the best security for peace is
to be prepared for war, Accordingly, I would
gladly support any Government in maintaining our
navy in a proper state of efficiency, nor would I
&low an undue regard for economy to weaken our
national defences.

" At home, it is impossible for any person to be
blind to the importance of the question of Reform.
It must be settled, and that speedily, upon a mode-
rate basis. Thus shall we take it out of the hands
of the agitator. and preserve, by well-considered
improvement, our glorious constitution. Upon
principle, I have long been convinced of the neces-
sity of preserving the small borough element in our
electoral system. It forms an useful counterpoise
to the class-tendencies of counties on the one side,
and the large manufacturing constituencies on the
other—and nothing would induce me to assent to
any of those extensive schemes of disfranchisement,
which would virtually base the representation of
this country upon numerical preponderance, at the
expense of both property and intelligence.
"A sincere friend to the Established Church, I
can reconcile the most ardent attachment to her
doctrines and discipline with the fullest recog-
nition of the now assured principles of religious
liberty.
" Social questions will, I trust, more and more
occupy the attention of future Parliaments, and to
every measure tending to improve the moral, phy-
sical, and intellectual condition of the working
classes, my hearty support would be given. Edu-
cation, free and untrammelled by the fetters which
shackle its operation on the Continent, will be more
and more widely extended—and as one means of
furthering this great cause, I would at the earliest
opportunity vote for the repeal of the tax upon
paper, which now cripples the efforts of our true
educational reformers.
"Your local interests will ever find in me a warm
and strenuous advocate; and intimately connected
as I have all my life been with your town, it would
naturally be my pleasure, as well. as my duty, to