The Sun.
London, England, 1861-02-02 00:00:00

..ast night, at seven o'clock, a ntgerottr ily
attended meeting of freeman and electors was held
at the Corn Exchange, Rochester, for the purpose
of hearing addresses from Mr. Sergeant Kinglake
end Mr. P. W. Martin, the representatives of that
city in the House of Commons.
The spacious room was decorated with flags,
banners, and evergreens, and over the platform a
tasteful device was suspended, with the motto, " The
tight men in the right place."
The chair was occupied by Mr. S. STEELE,
who commenced the proceedings by briefly
alluding to the past Services of the honour-
able members, and stated that the pre-
sent meeting had been convened at the Corn Ex.
change in order to obtain a fair hearing for their
representatives,
occasionPreseTilatics' who had been grossly insulted on a
former when they held a meeting at the
Town Hall.

Mr. P. W. MARTIN, who was received with
cheers, observed that it would have been more plea-
sant for him and his colleague to have convened a
meeting of the whole constituency at the Guildhall,
but they were aware that a number of men., on a
former occasion, created a riot, and thus upset the
meeting. With reference to his parliamentary
conduct, he believed that he was able to give a
satisfactory account of his stewardship. He had
warmly supported the commercial treaty with
France, and the free trade budget of the Chancellor
of the Exchequer, who was worthily following out
the principles of that great statesman, Sir Rebert
Peel. Those principles had conferred inestimable
blessings upon the nation, especially when it was
considered that, in consequence of the failure of the
harvest last year, we were compelled to depend to
a',great extent upon other countries for a supply of
food. He had voted for the repeal of tho paper
duty, and hoped that, notwithstanding the opposi,
tion offered, that measure would yet be carried. The
aggression of the House of Lords prevented the,
budget from being passed in an unmutilated state,
and he thought the Liberal party in the House of
Commons did not manage the paper question so well
as it might have been done. He was quite satisfied
that the right of taxation, or remitting taxes, rested.
with the House of Commons ; and should the rejee.-
tion of the paper bill by the Lords ever be urged as
a precedent, he should be one of the first to vindi-
cate the constitutional prerogative of the Commons:
At every Conservative meeting it was urged
that the budget 'had brought about distress
amongst the paper-makers and starvation amongst
the Coventry weavers. He had not sufficient
evidence to believe that much distress existed
amongst the papermakers, but as he resided
about nine miles from Coventry he could bear tes,
timony to the dire misery which had prevailed in
that city. At the same time he did not believe
that this poverty resulted from the budget, but it
arose from a diminished demand for the staple pro-
duce—ribbon. He believed, with Lord Brougham,
that war contained within itself every element of
evil, and he should strongly oppose any interference
on the part of this country with the affairs of foreign
nations. It was highly important to be properly
armed and prepared, and vigorous measures had
been taken to procure an efficient army and nary.
He trusted, however, that an attempt would now
be made to retrench the expenditure of the coun-
try, and on carefully looking over the estimates of
last year he could find many items which ought to
be reduced. The Reform Bill introduced by Lord,
John Russell had received his support ; but on
account of the pressure of public business the bill,
as they wore aware, was withdrawn. It was gene-
rally considered that the Reform question would
not be introduced by the Government during the
next session, but he should always be anxious to
vote for a real measure of Reform which would
enfranchise the working classes, and protect thorn
exercising it. Alluding to local questions, Mr Mar-
tin expressed his satisfaction that Rochester had,:
been admitted as one of the favoured ports for ale.
importation of French wines ; and the recent Adera.,
ralty order, combined with the Superanniiiiion
Act, would confer a great boon upon the dockyard
labourers,—who abounded in • that district. The
Rochester Conservatives had accused himself and
Sergeant Kinglake of being silent members ; but if
they did not often speak in the House, they were
constant in their attendance, and had not omitted
to vote upon all those questions which were im-
portant to the country at large, and affected the
interests of their constituents. Mr. Martin resumed
his seat amidst repeated applause.
Mr. Sergeant KINGLAKE, who was well received,
observed, that when returned for the city of:
Rochester he determined to enter the House (Af
Commons as a free and independent member, not
to obey the biddings of a faction or party, but to
maintain and endeavour to extend the great bless-
ings of constitutional freedom. At the commence-.
ment of the last session, the people looked forward
in anxious anticipation that many importe.iit
measures would be passed, and, above all, that the
great question of parliamentary reform, which had
so often been shelved, would be settled. These
hopes had not been fully realised, and it was the
opinion of many—and he confessed he shared in
that opinion—that much valuable time was wasted.
There were also many unavoidable circumstances
which impeded the progress of legislation, but it
was his firm opinion that the fate of the Reform
Bill resulted from the apathy, and even the obstruc-
tion, of numerous Liberal members, some of whom
sat for large constituencies, and who, in violation
of their hustings' promises, did not give the veteran
reformer, Lord John Russell,:that determined sup-,
port which he had a right to expect from tb,e
Liberal party. He was in the House of Commons
when Lord John Russell introduced his bantling.,
and witnessed the anxious faces of numerous
Liberal members, many of whom looked the picture,
of melancholy. It was a fact that some Libered
members who represented large boroughs, did not
fancy going through the ordeal of an election too
often, and when the bill was introduced they
reflected—Ali, is this the last time I shall held a seat
in this house. Then they looked to the other
benches, and
.saw the Conservative party smiling
—they fraternised together, and ultimately the
poor bantling reform bill was pinched and pulled
about, and tossed from one to tho other, until
after a few gasps and faint cries it expired, to
the great joy of many of its professed supporters.
Opinions were divided as to the
prospect
next
a Reform Bill being introduced during _
the nof
session. He had endeavoured to obtain some infore
mation on the subject, but at
believe that the
no-
thing which wouldpresentto he knew
rod
d on the subject, and he
opinions were unchanged Ministry intended to leadinthuire
such a measure. His
knew that if the Liberal party were in earnest they
could easily pass such ameasure of Reform as would
include within
the pale of the constitution all those
who were now unjustly excluded. Sergeant King.
like then referred to his votes during the past bCS.
axon
to various local matters.
A e
and
resolution expressive of continued confidence irt
a
the honourable members was unanimously adopted,
and after a vote of thanks to the chairman the
meeting separated.

IMPORTANT TO SPIRIT DRINKERS.-=Dr E. Smith,
says the Medical Times and Gazette, has recently exhibited,
in active operation, at the Medical Society of London and
the Society of Arts, the new French test for the detection
of alcohol in the breath and the perspiration. The test is
prepared by dissolving 1 part of bichromate of potass in 300
parts of strong sulphuric acid, and it is applied by simply
breathing or passing the vapour from the skin through a
drachm of it. M. Lallemand made his experiments upon
the skin of the dog; but Dr. Smith has shown that by en-
closing the arm of a man in a caoutchouc bag, through
which a current of air is made to pass, the presence of alcohol
may be detected at the end of one, two, three, and four
hours after alcohol has been taken, and doubtless it might
be shown for a much longer period. He finds that it is best
shown in those who perspire freely. The experiments are
very striking, and those upon the skin are full of interest
and importance.
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