The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-13 00:00:00

MR. KINGLAKE AT NEWPORT.

Mr. A. NV. Kinglake, the author of "Eothen," has
addressed a numerous body of the electors of Newport,
Isle of Wight, as a candidate for their suffrages. In the
course of his speech, after arguing for the extension of
the franchise, the ballot, the abolition of Church rates,
a national system of secular education, &c., he observed:
—"I am strongly of opinion that the high offices of this
country are unduly distributed amongst persons of par'ticular families, and belonging to a particular class in
society, without due regard to their qualifications for
holding them. And what is the result ? Why that /0
a country abounding in intelligence and business-like
power there is always one firm which is breaking down/
' and that is the firm of the government. Here is a coun;
try where there are men who at a few monthe
notice will throw a railway from one city to another
—who will c rry the electric wire along the depths
of the ocean from one continent to another, and perforiu
all those marvels of that description which have made
this age a wonder to all. You cannot go to all
foreign eountry but you find Englishmen engaged /0
great works of this kind. In every foreign enterpriE°
you find an English engineer and English workmen eur
ployed ; and yet, in a country abounding in marvellous
intelligence and business-like power, we find that of
such materials is the Government of the country cone'
posed that the ministers are positively unable, with their
united abilities, to feed ani army of a few thousand men,
encamped at a d.stance of eight miles only from a seaport
occupied by their own ships. What is the cause of 511
this evil ? The cause is that the Ministers and persons
high in office are selected from too small a number,
(Hear.) If any of you, in conducting your business,
were to make to yourselves a law that you would only take
persons whose names began with the letter A, or persons
in a'particular street, how would your business go onl
Yet this is the kind of restriction which is practicall9
going on in the selection of men chosen to fill the high,
offices of the State. If you will bear with me I will
go for a few moments into.this important question. M
you know, all the high officers of State are taken either
from the House of Peers or the House of Commons;
The House of Peers consists of, I believe, 346 men, en',
the House of Commons consists of 658, so that, in round
numbers, you have 1,000 people from whom the Miniie
ters of State have to be selected. Very well. Now 0
the 346 peers, almost all, except our right rev. friend,
the bishops, and two or three law lords, are selected bl
the mere accident of birth. There remains, then, the
House of Commons from which to find the selected
talent of the country. Now, I am going to venture
upon telling you a home truth, an unpalatable truth.
,I
do say that the constituencies have been wanting in their
duty with regard to the selection of those whom did
send to the House of Commons, and I do say that it if
from this failure of duty on- the part of the constituencies
that there has been so much difficulty in finding men
to fill the high offices of State. Why, really, gentle'
men, we must confess, even though it may be an unpalat'
able thing to know, that the sprinkling of able inee
which you have in the House of Commons, although it I.
selected by the people, is not very much greater than l'll°
sprinkling of abler men in the House of Lords, where the
only test is the mere accident of birth. I have told you one
cause leading to the inadequacy of public men. I thiulc
there is another. I think there is an undue laxity inth°
members of the House of Commons. The duty of °
member of the House of Commons is of a double di?:
racter. One of his duties, and that is the one whio:
perhaps, you are most accustomed to consider, is that to
making laws, or refusing to make laws, and taking part
in legislative discussion. But another and a most illy
portant duty of every member of the House of Common°
is that of watching the formation of the success/ire
governments who are from time to time selected. 1 ut;
say that in the performance of that duty the House of
Commons has been too lax. There exists the practice
of asking men to give what is called confidence i°
the government, and the effect of that is thate.a
vernuient, though not consisting of men stfficienti/
able to govern—a government which would not .bear
criticism, when you came to inquire whether 0116
man or another is fit for the office he holds---'18
enabled to secure a space of toleration, because there
is a feeling that there will be an inconvenience in ,°,l
change of Government. That is the threat always keßft
out to induce men to avoid a vote rendering necessary °
change of Government. Many men have a great dread
of a change of Government. If they change so 0,1;
will
be it is said, the time will come when England "
he without a Government. Now, what they really mean
when they say that is, that England will be without 0
Government selected from the accustomed class—(hear)
—and when the day comes that England is to be wit,",
out a Government of that kind it will be a fortunsl`. day, and not a day of danger; for depend upon it you
.
can never have good government or economy at how:
—you never can have that foresight and management
which will bring success in war, until you withdraw Ore
exclusive right of government from a few families, and
seek for ability, combined with high character, where.
ever you can find it, from all ranks, from all classes'
and from all conditions of men."
Mr. Charles Seeley has withdrawn from the contest!
his views on the Sunday question being at variance wit.:
those of the majority of the electors, Major Cooke 1
at present the only other candidate in the field.