The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-04 00:00:00

TIIIS LAY'S MARKETS.

CORN EXCHANGE.
Although there was less excitement in tho demand for
English wheat here to-day, compared with Monday, most
of the factors refused to sell under higher qquuoatartetionn.s.
I::
the millers have operated with considerable caution, the
transactions in home-grown wheat
vwBe,e.mawreenotnloyf
from, la
and no quotable change took place in value.
Tthareleiymmpo_arts
it was by no means
porters generally were very firm, and prices were nominally
higher than on Monday.
2s per but the demand fo it et:
active. Fine malt produced rather more money, with a fair
demand.
Oats were active, and the turn deare
pease commanded extreme rates. r. Both beans and
Flour was firm, and town mad
54s per 280Ibs. made qualities sold at 52s to
quartersl,le.ldf faotraeigfnurtlvhereaitmaprrore

ARRIVALS TRIS WEEK
Wheat. Barley Malt. Oats. Flour.
English ...... 1,010 1 ; 2,080 ; 1,300 i 1,150
Irish ........ ; 60 ;
I
Foreign ...... 8,340 1,820 I
'-9,070 ; 1,860 sks
1 blie

WHITECHAPEL.
The demand for meat is rather inactive, as follows :
Beef, from 3s 4d to 48 4d ; mutton, 3s 10d to 4a 8d;
lamb, 4s 8d to 53 8d ; veal, 3s 10d to 4s 10d ; and pork, 38
2d to 4s 2d per 81‘)., by the carcase.

BOROUGH HOP.
There is a moderate business doing in most new hops, at
last week's currency. All other kinds are a slow inquiry.

STEAM TO STEW YORK.—SOUTHAMPTON, May 3•
—Twe sorew steamships sailed hence for New York t?:d.),'.!
viz., the Weser, Captain Gatjen, belonging to the North
German Lloyd, and the Borassia, Captain Tr,
belonging the Hamburg-American ComPa :
• - nya both vessels
takes the German and English marls an
The United
carry a fair amount of passengers and, freight.
nesleaves Havre on
The° Weser'
States mail steamer Arago, Captain Li • , s
the
• evening, with
Wednesday morning, and
expected off Cowes from New York with
steamer is hourly
•Freneht and English mails for Ne'N, York. The -anderbilt
the mails of the 23d ult

THE PANIC ON THE STOCK-

EXCHANGE.

The phenomena of the City have during the last
few days attracted the anxious attention of the
entire country. For a parallel to the panic wit-
nessed last week in the Stock Exchange men's me-
mories are carried back a score of years and more ;
and even then a parallel cannot be found, for the
mass of stock and share property ordinarily quoted
in the Stock Exchange, but recently rendered tem-
porarily unnegotiable, has increased immensely of
late years. The effect of a single week's agitation
has, indeed, been marvellous. Holders of £lO,OOO
in the British, foreign, or Indian funds, have learnt
with astonishment that their property had suddenly
become worth only £9,000, £B,OOO, or less. Men
of comparative wealth, who were so unfortunate as
to have speculative transactions of even moderate
amount open, have been brought, as by the stroke
of a wand, to hopelesss embarrassment and absolute
beggary- Most cruel of all has been the trial on
the Stock Exchange. It is the fashion in some
quarters to brand that establishment as a hotbed
where false reports are raised and unscrupulously
propagated. We have a shrewd suspicion that its
members are, in the majority of instances, the dupes
of canards set a-flying elsewhere, but which, even if
winged from the remotest corner of Europe, infal-
libly come to roost in Capel-court. In so far as the
experience of the last week is concerned the Stock
Exchange has assuredly been the victim, not the de-
ceiver. The outbreak of war between France and
Austria had been long foreseen and partly provided
against by persons engaged in financial transactions,
but universal dismay was occasioned and every cal•
culation overthrown by the false alarm sounded,
with a most imposing air of authority, by a leading
journal. For the habitual speculator we have little
compassion. His profession is a desperate one, and
he must accept all the risks attaching to it. His
aim ever is, either by superior acuteness or superior
information, to take his neighbour unawares and
despoil him. More especially, if he operate up ei
exclusive information, or what he believes to be
such, he plays with loaded dice. Pity it is that so
many- members of the various classes of the com-
munity, including some of the names best known—
we cannot say most respected—in the commercial
world, have arrived at such a degree of moral ob-
tuseness that pursuits of this spoliatory character
are even publicly avowed. Your large speculator
buys or sells with equal audacity enormous quanti-
ties of fictitious stock—fictitious, because be means
neither to deliver nor to pay for it, but merely to
gamble for the " difference resulting from the
fluctuations of the market : he shrinks not from the
public eye, even when endeavouring by every pos-
sible means to take the other party to the contract
at a disadvantage. His only apprehension is lest
the general drift of his operations may be dis-
covered; his grand object is to mystify all surround,
ing observers, in order that, when he wishes to re-
trace his steps, he may do so without impediment.
Even if his operations give rise to a series of false
rumours he is the better pleased. Like a cer-
tain fish, he retires most advantageously in the
midst of a cloud—perhaps an inky cloud—of his
own raising.
Had people of this class alone suffered through
the panic, its effects would be viewed with great
equanimity. But the area of disaster has been
wider far, and has embraced many an innocent
victim. There are few persons who cannot point
to some instance of severe loss in their own imme-
diate circle, apart altogether from speculative pur-
suits. We have instanced the case of the eight
hundred or one thousand gentlemen who form that,
to the popular mind, mysterious body known as the
Stock Exchange. Very few, indeed, even of those
who uniformly and upon principle hold aloof from
speculation, have escaped loss. Perhaps it would
be no exaggeration to say that, what withbad debts
and depreciation of securities held, the members of
the Stock Exchange are in the aggregate a million
sterling poorer at this moment than a very few days
ago. As very confused notions prevail with regard
to the peculiar functions and internal arrangements
of this important section of the financial community,
a few words of explanation may not be out of place.
The members of the Stock Exchange are divided
into two classes —viz., " brokers" and " jobbers."
The broker has, or ought to have, no private specu-
lations. His business is essentially unspeculative,
for he acts merely as the agent of the public.
Like every other glass of business, however, the
business of the stockbroker has its risks. His
principals may fail, or seek shelter in repudia-
tion of speculative transactions entered into
by him on their aecount. In the latter case, the
law, which nominally prohibits " time bargains,"
will afford him no redress, though by the rules of
the Stock Exchange he is made to stand in the
shoes of his defaulting principal as towards his
fellow-members. The functions of the "jobber" in
the Stock Exchange are equally important. He is
the " middle-man," who stands in the market all
day, ever ready to buy or sell a certain description
of stock. Probably nearly two hundred of the
members are " jobbers" in Consols. Others deal
in Reduced and New Three per Cents., others in
Exchequer Bills, others in Bank shares, others in
Midland or North Eastern Railway stock, others
in French railway shares, others--a very important
market of late—in Lombardo-Venetian Railway
shares. Thus, of each kind of stock there is a knot
of dealers specially cognisant. The "jobber" has
nothing to do with the outside public. He only
recognises and looks to the broker, who in his turn
looks to his client outside. If we have saved a little
money, and wish to invest it, we go to a broker, who
having received his instructions, straightway hies
him to the "jobber" in the particular stock selected,
and makes a contract for the delivery of the amount
wanted at a price then fixed. The " jobber," on his
part, either has the amount of stock in question,
has previously contracted to receive a quantity from
some other member, or trusts to be able quickly to
rectify his position by purchasing. The " jobber's"
business is the most hazardous, but is also, fre-
quently, the most lucrative. In either case, it is
his legitimate business. The middle-man is a neces-
sity. Without him, even bona fide transactions in
the Stock Market would be attended with vastly
increased difficulty and delay, and, in many
instances, would become almost impracticable.
There are, of course, speculating brokers and
speculating " jabbers." Some brokers, there is
reason to suspect, are, to far too great an extent,
their own principals. Others have a speculative
clientele, and are consequently exposed to increased
risk. The panic which has just occasioned such
devast, 'ion has apparently numbered amongst its
victims . 3ral persons in each of these categories.
The great majority of the failures, however, have
occurred amongst the " jobbers." Each jobber,"
whiles dealing with the broker, also rectifies
his position by numerous interchanges with his
fellow " jobbers." At each fortnightly or monthly
settlement he has both to receive and pay large
sums. If any extensive failures occur amongst the
other " jobbers," he has to bear the brunt, for at
the settlement he must pay all the claims upon
him, whilst taking his chance of receiving what is
due to him. Further, in the event of the failure of
the broker with whom he has dealt, the position
of the " jobber" becomes doubly trying. It is,
therefore, scarcely so surprising as might at
first sight appear that the exaggerated alarm
lately raised and wantonly kept up by a portion
of the press has led to the failure of the enormous
number of fifty or sixty members of the Stock
Exchange. A depreciation of 6or 7 per cent.
in the English Funds, 20 or 30 per cent. in
Turkish Stocks, 8, or 10 per cent. in other Fo-
reign Government Securities, and of proportionate
amount in British, Colonial, Indian, and foreign rail-
ways and miscellaneous share property, represents
so vast an aggregate that we can only lorm a just
idea of it by considering it in relation to the amount
of the National Debt. The sudden pressure in the
Money Market at the same time caused all those
bankers and money lenders who had made advances
on stocks and shares to call them in with extreme
haste, thus greatly aggravating the temporary dif-
ficulty. A certain number of Stock Exchange firms
having; succumbed the pressure upon the others at
, the most critical moment became intense, since
every member felt called upon to provide, if possi-
ble, for his utmost liabilities, irrespective of the
sums due to him. The realisation of every kind of
security held was the natural resource. All were
sellers, none buyers, at a moment when every out-
side speculator had taken fright, when stock upon
which loans had been obtained was forced for sale
a tout prix in order to provide the means of repay-
ment, and when the monied public were deterred
from investing by the frightful political spectre
conjured up by the TimeA. As an inevitable result,
securities worth under ordinary circumstances
thousands of pounds became totally unsaleable, and
many members of the Stock Exchange were com-
Pelled to declare themselves defaulters merely in
handsorder ftooseeure awinding-up of their affairs at the
the official liquidator of the establishment.
The con,
quences of this remarkable and lament-
able state of things may prove of neither so disas-
trous nor so permanent
a character as might be
imagined.
the exceptional nature of
the circumstances
teliFegredit of the Stock Exchange,
as a body, will not
rity of the "estates" be much affected, for the majo-
resullitit is said, yield compara-
tively satisfactory
extraordinary extent of thes fall notwithstanding
esta-
blishment may gain in
reciation.
weeding out of a number of Weak
firms. Any excessive dep and speculative
WWI be rectified by the steady in. prices will
operations of a dis-
ceiia infr public. The mania for
,speculation,
riactli-ved a severe rebuke, which mayb too, has
e
argood fruit
' for gam time to come. The most painful associa,
' are,those connected with individwau si.
ces,
' I I*

;_

''xt?

143

) ~~

suffering, and rain, which have been so widespread
that in the records and memories of thousands of
families Easter week, 1859, will never be forgotten.
—Daily News.

ELECTION INTELLIGENCE.

BERKSHIRE.

ABINGDON, May 3.
The nomination of candidates for the representa-
tion of Berkshire in the new Parliament took place
this morning at the Shire-hall in this town. The
only candidates for the three vacant seats were the
Hon. P. P. Bouverie, one of the late members, Mr.
John Walter, late member for Nottingham, and
Capt.
ham. Vernon,
It wasruwho
m,
ouredllast formerly
nighrtetphraetsetnhtee d Chat-
Conser-
vative party intended to bring forward another
candidate in conjunction with Capt. Vernon, but if
the intention was ever seriously entertained it was
not carried out.
The High Sheriff of the county (Mr. C. Duffield)
entered the hall at half-past 10, and was immedi-
ately followed by the candidates, who were accom-
panied by their respective friends and supporters.
Among the gentlemen present, besides those who
took part in the proceedings, were Sir P. Hunter,
Sir R. Throckmorton, Major Court, Mr. Benyon,
Capt. Walter, Mr. W. Mount, Mr. Norris, M.P.,
Mr. H. Walter, Mr. Bunbury, Mr. E. Tull, &c.
The hall was crowded.
The writ having been read by Mr. Graham. the
under sheriff, and the usual formalities having been
gone through,
The HIGH SHERIFF called upon any electors who
had candidates to propose to come forward.
Mr. EYRE, after paying a high tribute to the
merits of Mr. Robert Palmer, who at the dissolu-
tion of Parliament retired from the representation
of the county, and whom he said he honoured—
although he had not sympathised with him in
politics—as the type of an English county member,
nominated Mr. P. P. Bouverie for re-election, and
referred at some length to the Parliamentary ser-
vices of that gentleman.
Mr. MONCK seconded the nomination.
Mr. J. S. BOWLES, as a political opponent of Mr.
Palmer, expressed his warm admiration of that
gentleman's character and conduct. He then pro-
ceeded to nominate Mr. John Walter, reminding
the electors of the services rendered to the county
as its member by the late Mr. Walter, and express •
ing his belief that his son was eminently qualified
to succeed him in the representation, as one who
would be the advocate of enlightened and peaceful
progress.
Mr. HIBBERT, in seconding the nomination, ob-
served that Mr. Walter was well known as a resi-
dent country gentleman, and was honoured and
respected wherever he was known. (Cheers.) His
father had represented the county faithfully, im-
partially, and independently, in most arduous times,
and he himself was no stranger to Parliamentary
duties, as he had already occupied a seat in the
House of Commons for the last 12 years, where he
had acted honourably and consistently with the
Liberal party.
Mr. W. H. STONE echoed the sentiments of pre-
vious speakers with reference to their late member,
Mr. Robert Palmer, and proposed Capt. L. Vernon,
as a warm supporter of Conservative principles, and
one who would go into Parliament with a head upon
his shoulders, and brains in that head. (Laughter.)
Mr. L. LOUSLEY seconded the nomination of
Capt. Vernon, who, from his high character, was
entitled to the support of the Conservative party,
and who would prove true to the principles he pro-
fessed.
No other candidate being proposed,
The HIGH SHERIFF declared the Hon. P. P.
Bouverie, Mr. John Walter, and Captain L. Vernon
duly elected knights of the shire to serve in Par-
liament for the county.
Mr. BOUVERIE, in returning thanks to the elec-
tors, said—l trust I may regard my re-election as a
proof that in your estimation I have not deviated
from that course of political conduct which I under-
took to pursue when you first returned me as your
representative. (Cheers.) I may perhaps be allowed
to say a few vvords as to my conduct with regard
to the Reform Bill introduced by the present Go-
vernment during the late session. I had, as you
are aware, declared myself in favour of progress,
and, although I saw strong objections to the
measure, I felt great difficulty as to whether
I should or should not give it my support. I
was of opinion that I should be wanting in
my duty to myself and to you if I withheld my
support from a measure which pretended to
have for its object an amendment of the repre-
sentation of the people. It was, therefore, with
great pleasure that I saw Lord John Russell—
whose authority naturally carries great weight on
such a subject—give notice of a resolution which
relieved me from the difficulty in which I had felt
myself by placinguponrecordthe principal grounds
on which, in my opinion, a Reform Bill should be
based. The object of that resolution was to extend
the basis of representation. (Cheers.) It was desir-
able to extend the foundations of our social fabric
as far as it could be done properly and legitimately,
and as I had the honour of bearing a humble part
in promoting the Reform Act of 1832 I thoughtthe
best mode of carrying out the system then intro-
duced was by an enlargement of the franchise.
(Cheers.) It seemed to me the resolution of Lord J.
Russell would effect the object which I desired to
attain, and I therefore gave it my support. (Cheers.)
That resolution declaredt he necessity of an enlarge-
ment of the franchise, without tampering with it in
the manner proposed by the bill of the Government.
Why, the effect of Lord Derby's measure would have
been to disfranchise 700 of the electors of Berkshire
as county voters. (Cheers. and a cry of no, no.) It
is true that, by a subsequent amendment, Lord
Derby proposed that these electors should retain
the franchise during their lives, but I regarded as
most objectionable a measure which would ulti-
mately deprive of their rights a large and indepen-
dent portion of the constituency. That bill would
have created a great number of faggot votes, and it
was, in fact, nothing but an attempt to counteract
the most valuable provisions of the Reform Act o
1832. (Cheers.) lam not for the ballot. I should
not wish to represent a constituency which adopted
the ballot ; but I am proud to represent in the
county of Berks a constituency bold enough and
independent enough, to express their own opinions
in an open and manly manner. (Cheers.) With
regard to the state of affairs on the continent, I
think our course ought to be to maintain peace as
far as we can. (Cheers.) As far as negotiation
can go we ought, in my opinion, to assist hers in
keeping the peace, but if they choose to fall out, and
their quarrel does not concern us, we ought to ab-
stain from joining in the war. (Loud cheers.) At
the same time, I think we ought to be prepared to
meet all the force which Europe or the world might
bring against us ; and this country is quite capable
of making such provision. (Renewed cheers.) The
hon. gentleman concluded by again thanking the
electors for the renewal of their confidence.
Mr. WALTER, who was received with loud and
prolonged cheering, said,—Gentlemen, if it be diffi-
cult for any candidate—as I am sure both my col-
leagues, as I have now the happiness of calling
them, must find it to be—to express in adequate
terms his sense of such favour as you have just
conferred upon us, how much more difficulty must
I experience in finding language adequate to ex-
press the feelings with which I now appear before
you to thank you for the high honour you have
done me in electing me as one of your representa-
tives ! lam sure it will be thought no disparage-
ment to my hon. friend Mr. Bouverie if I say that
he stands here to receive the renewal of your con-
fidence by virtue of that prescriptive respect which
it is the wise custom, I think, of most counties to
pay to those gentlemen who have already enjoyed
and have not forfeited their confidence as members
of Parliament. lam sure, also, that I only express
the opinions of all now present when I say that if
any man has earned a seat by his perseverance and
assiduity, the hon. and gallant captain has deserved
that honour. I trust he may long live to enjoy it,
and that, in spite of the " wars and rumours of
wars" with which his proposer threatened us, he
may still keep " his head upon his shoulders and
his brains in his head." (Laughter and cheers )
But, gentlemen, my position is very different from
that of either of my colleagues. I might well ask
what business I have here at all, were it not that
the verdict you have already passed upon me anti-
cipates that question. I am here for a reason
which, although most usually expressed in the
Scotch dialect, is equally intelligible in Berkshire--
I am here for " auld acquaintance' " sake, and for
" auld lang sync." (Loud cheers.) I am here to
renew a tie which was formed with infinite pains
and trouble by my late father--(hear, hear)—and
which was broken somewhat hastily and inconsi-
derately under the pressure of great bodily fatigue
and much mental anxiety, and to a certain extent
under the influence of disgust at what he thought—
and very naturally thought—thc misconduct of the
party with whom he had !formerly acted. I need
not say that I refer to the course which the great
Whig party took on the subject of the poor laws.
(Hear, hear.) No one can doubt that, had my father
thought proper to solicit a renewal of your confi-
dence up to the last hour of his life he would most
assuredly have obtained it. (Loud cheers.) That
conviction I have always felt justified in entertain-
ing, and the reception I have experienced this day
convinces me that my opinion was correct. So far,
therefore, as I am personally concerned I at least
have no reason to regret the dissolution of the late
Parliament, although, speaking not as a private in-
dividual, but as a member of the Legislature, I
thought at the time, and I still think, that that dis-
solution was a most rash and unadvised measure. I
believe it was nothing more than the last desperate

throw of a political gambler—(loud cheers, and a
cry of " No")--and if you doubt it I tell you as a
matter of fact that nearly the whole of the Conser-
vative party went to Lord Derby and remonstrated
with him against the step. They must be the best
judges of what was for the advantage of their own
party, and I cannot congratulate them upon the
result of the present elections. (Hear, hear.) There
are two or three points upon which I ought, per-
haps, to take this opportunity of expressing my sen-
timents somewhat more fully than I have done in
the address I published a few weeks ago, although
within the last three weeks public interest has been
almost diverted from these topics by a question of
far greater importance, which will occupy our at-
tention when Parliament meets. The first great
question we shall be called upon to discuss will be,
of course, the prospects of the country with regard
to war or peace. Now, the best advice I can give
you on that subject is not to enlist your sympathies
on either side. (Cheers.) As time goes on you
will find that it will be very difficult to repress the
natural feeling of Englishmen to take part on one
side or the other even in quarrels in which
they have no personal concern. You will find
partisans of Austria, and perhaps still more nume-
rous partisans of Sardinia and France. My advice
to you as Englishmen, if you want to keep the peace
is not to enlist your sympathies with either party.
You all know the old proverb that " Pity is akin to
love ;" but if pity is akin to love, sympathy is cer-
tainly much more so, and if you allow your feelings
to be deeply engaged by either party in this quar-
rel you will certainly, sooner or later, be dragged
into it yourselves. For my own part, believing as I
do that both parties are in the wrong—that Austria
has for many years exercised must improper and
pernicious influence in Italy—that, on the other
hand, France is not actuated by disinterested mo-
tives in the assistance she has given to Sardinia,
but has interests of her own to promote—l still
think that so long as the question can be confined
to Italy it would be the greatest crime a government
could commit to plunge this country into war.
When our neighbour's house is on fire our own, if it
is next door, is in danger ; but our first duty to our
neighbour is to endeavour to prevent the fire from
spreading, and this ought to be the chief policy of
any government which has the destinies of the
country confided to its hands at a crisis like the pre-
sent. I don't deny, supposing it should turn out, as
I fear may be the case, that France has further de•
signs, and that some negotiations have been going
on between France and Russia which may tend, if
not to the partition of Europe, at all events to an
undue influence of those two Powers in tne counsels
of Europe—l don't deny that it may be very diffi-
cult ultimately to prevent the war spreading ; but at
present—during this year at least—l believe in my
conscience there is no probability of any event oc-
curring which would justify the Ministry plunging
this country into war. (Cheers.) With respect to
the question of reform, I took in some respects a
different line from that of my hon. colleague Mr.
Bouverie. I did nct vote in favour of Lord J. Rus-
sell's resolution, but I voted directly against the
bill. I did not vote in favour of Lord J. Russell's re-
solution, because I consider it did not deal with the
question in a straightforward manner. It is true that
Lord J. Russell's resolution expressed an opinion as
to the impolicy of tampering with the existing
rights of freeholders and the necessity of a consi-
derable enlargement of the franchise ; but it said
nothing at all about the transfer of seats from small
to large constituencies, which I believe to be a
necessary ingredient in any reform bill, nor did it
declare what I took the liberty of stating at the
time,!and what I now repeat—that it would be the
duty of any Ministry who proposed an extension of
the franchise in towns to show why a similar and
corresponding extension of the franchise should not
take place in counties. I cannot for the life of me
understand why if men occupying houses of a cer-
tain class in towns should be presumed to be fit to
have votes in the election of members of Parlia-
ment, the same right should be refused to men
occupying a corresponding position in counties.
(Cheers.) There are some who may, perhaps, think
that this is a very democratic sentiment, but of
all men in this room I am probably the least
democratic in opinion. I do not regard this as
a democratic question at all. So long as the
franchise is exercised in the fair, open, and straight-
forward manner in which it is at present exercised
I see very little, if any, danger, but rather a secu-
rity, in a very considerable extension of the fran-
chise. I have no belief whatever in those wild re-
volutionary projects which are attributed in some
quarters to a considerable portion of the English
people. Depend upon it, there is a great deal of
vitality both in John Bull and in the English Con-
stitution. (Laughter and cheers.) I have lived
long enough to have heard it predicted over and
over again that this country would be ruined by
this measure or by that. We were all to have been
ruined politically by the Reform Act of 1832. We
were to have been ruined commercially by the re-
peal of the corn laws. We were to have been ruined
in soul as well as body by the admission of the
Jews to Parliament. (Hear, hear, and a laugh.)
But, in spite of these measures, we are not only
a more numerous, but a more prosperous, a
more happy, and, I believe, a more religious
family than we were 20 or 30 years ago. There is
now a better general understanding. No one who
recollects the disturbances of 30 years ago can doubt
that at this moment there is among all ranks and
all classes a far better understanding than existed
at that period. I believe, as education is extended,
and as people become better acquainted with each
other, that when the reform question is once settled
we shall hear no more of it for years and years to
come. There is another subject upon which I ought
to say a few words, because I know it is a sore point
with many, especially with the• clergy, and more
more particularly with the country clergy. I allude
, to the question of church rates. (Hear,hear.) Now,
I regard that question as having been virtually
settled, not by an act of Parliament, but by the de-
cision of the House of Lords many years ago.
Under the old state of the law church rates were a
compulsory tax. There was no option in the matter.
Clergymen and churchwardens had only to demand
a church rate, and it could be enforced as a matter
of course; but by the decision of the House of Lords
the church rate became a purely voluntary tax—as
voluntary as when a man puts his hands into his
pockets to place money in the plate in church. It is
simply a question whether the majority in a parish
shall have power to tax the minority. I think that
an invidious privilege. I have always opposed it
when it has been put forward with the view of
levying rates for education and other purposes. I
think that all the taxes we are called upon to pay
ought to be levied by the State, and not by mere
majorities of some eleven farmers over eight or nine
in any particular parish. In towns where church
rates have been abolished for years ample compen-
sation has been made by the free-will offerings of
the people. It is impossible to travel about the coun-
try without seeing abundant proofs of the liberality
and munificence of laymen, and of clergymen too,
wherever a case of need exists ; and, supposing the
church rate were entirely abolished, I believe that
in the very next year a sum equivalent to twice
tha amount raised by church rates would be ob-
tained from the free-will offerings of the people.
(Cheers.) I may mention the parish in which I live
as an example. Among others of the many good
deeds of my father's life he built a church which
affords accommodation to a large district. That
church and its establishment are entirely supported
by myself. We have no power to levy a church
rate, and yet we arc liable to pay church rates to
the mother church of the parish. So far, therefore,
I have reason to complain that I not only provide
church accommodation for all inhabitants in my own
district, but that if rates were levied I should be
obliged to pay them to a church from which I have
been separated in consequence of its not affording
the requisite accommodation. A harder and more
absurd state of things can scarcely be conceived. I
have therefore no hesitation in saying that I consider
the question of church rates as virtually settled. I
believe that nothing but the entire abolition of
church rates will be really satisfactory—(cheers)—
and that any attempt to patch up the question from
time to time will only show the utter impossibility
of effecting any compromise on the subject. (Cheers.)
It is impossible for me to go in detail into all the
questions which occur to one's mind on such an occa-
sion as this. I can only say that, as you have now
conferred upon me an honour which a month ago I
little dreamed of receiving, by returning me as your
representative, I shall devote the remainder of my
ahclina:dprsp:ihsnoeeesliso,
cheers.)
o ecy.aon(uAomnvlao3;
voice—"
eac—yo
As
if the continue your confidence,
to the service of the country in which I have the
long as
timeyo you
illieNt-tel,d"
that
withic tihfe
ever arrive when I have the misfortune to forfeit
your confidence,
leowherit•ieerniont
,a,
HfitarmmelervaLready, I
should say
" Let me he no assistant for a State,
But keep a farm and carters."
I hope, however, that day will never arrive, but that
you will find you have put the right man in the right
place ; and I trust that when we meet again on these
hustings you will have no reason to repent the con-
fidence you have reposed in me. (Loud cheering.)
Captain VERNON, who was loudly cheered, in re-
turning thanks for his election said,—You have
had to listen to eight speeches, and but for the
peculiar circumstances of the case I should hesi-
tate to inflict upon you a ninth. You have had
an instructive history of Reform, which I have

,
[stoned to with attention. You have had a fami-

liar treatise on our foreign policy, which I have
listened to with surprise. You have had an eulo-
logistic history of the house of 'Walter, which I have
listened to with respect—(.cheers)—and you have
had some passages in praise of Captain Vernon,
which I have listened to with satisfaction.