The Sun.
London, England, 1859-04-30 00:00:00

Lord STANLEY, on coming forward, was received with
several rounds of cheering. Silence being restored, the
noble lord spoke as follows :—Gentlemen, I have to thank
you for the renewed mark of confidence you have this day
reposed in me, and to express to you, my gratitude in words
which, however inadequate to the occasion, will, I assure
you, be most sincere. (Cheers.) On the last occasion on
which you did me the honour of choosing me to represent
you in Parliament, feeling that the business of the country
ought not to be interrupted more than could be helped, you
generously dispensed with my presence; but upon this oc-
casion I deemed it but justice to be personally among you,
to thank you for the many marks of kindness which I have
received at your hands. (Cheers.) Gentlemen, I am not
insensible to the high position in which I have been placed
since the dissolution of Parliament. I know how to ap-
predate the offers which I have received from two great
constituencies, and should be Ungrateful if I did not
return my- most sincere thanks to' those gentlemen who
were prepared to support me ;. but those offers, flattering as
they were, have not induced me to waver for a moment in
my purpose of continuing your member until the course cf
nature makes it • impossible, or Until I shall receive a dis-
missal at your hands. (Cheers.) . While upon
.personal
topics I think it but bars justice to _refer to one point ; and
it is a point with respect to which the conduct of the consti-
tuencyi, naturally involves the disposal
Minister
of Lynn redounds to their credit. The position of
and
iconisntesidreoraf
consideration
tself,
Crown, besides being one of high honour
of very considerable patronage. ConsidEvable, however, as
that-patronage undoubtedly is, I speak with 'perfect truth
when I say it is not really so large as is generally supposed.
(Hear.) It is but natural to expect that my supporters in
this borough would conceive that they have more than or-
dinary claims upon that patronage, and therefore it is with
great pleasure I can say that during 14 months I have
hardly had as many applicants, and all the applications
most reasonable. (Hear.) Turning now to public affairs,
I ask what is the reason of our meeting together this day ?
Parliament, after two years' chequered existence has been
dissolved. I quite admit that a violent dissolution of Parlia-
ment is a disagreeable thing, and it is very natural that
many should find fault with_ those who counselled such a
proceeding. A general election, no doubt, is a serious .in-
terruption to the business of the country; it delays legisla-
tion, and it is a source of expense and annoyance to the
members themselves. Unless, therefore, it is undertaken
with a definite object, and.there are good reasons for sup-
posing that that object is attainable by such means, I quite
admit that it could not be justified. On this occasion, how-
ever, I am prepared to say that ample justification for the
adoption of such a course exists. The state of parties in
the House of Commons during the late Parliament was
such that no Ministry could command support. To say
nothing of the smaller sections, under separate and dis-
tinct leaders, there existed at least three principal parties
—the Liberals, under the leadership of Lord John Rus-
sell; the Whigs, or at least a very considerable portion
of them, under my Lord • Palmerston ; and the
great Conservative party, under Lord Derby, which out-
numbered each of the other political sections of the legisla-
ture taken separately, but which did not in itself possess a
majority whenever those sections thought proper to combine
their forces against the Government. Lord John Russell
commands the confidence of the great body of the Liberals,
and probably enjoys as much respect as is accorded to any
public man now living ; but notwithstanding his great and
l 8
0 f
Sir Robert Peel,as perhaps the
deserved popularity, if he formed a Ministry to-morrow,
based simply upon the support of the Liberal party, he
would probably meet with the most determined opposition,
not only from the Conservatives, who are as a body opposed
to his views, and whose opposition would be open, but from
that large portion of Whigs who are hostile to reform, and
whose opposition and hostility are not the less effective
wbe-
cause theyare disguised. (Cheers.) On the other hand,
most Lord Palmerston,
popw
arMinister
whom
since/ lat
contrived to lose that popularity more rapidly and more
signally than any other man whose name is prominent in
the political history of our times. (Hear, hear.) This is
neither the place nor the occasion in which to discuss the
fice h times 7,
causes of the decline in the popularity of. that noble , lord.
They were numerous, and, the misunderstanding with
France was neither the only cause nor the chief cause.
There were aPpointments which startled and scandalised ;
there was a contemptuous indifference, if not aversion—
scarcely disguised—to ideas which the Liberals valued and
respected; there was aeonsciousness of power too obviously
displayed, as though a Minister, backed by a majority of
the House of Commons, was justified in treating all argu-
ment as mere cavilling. (Hear, hear.) In March, 1857,
Lord Palmerston was carried into power on the shoulders
of the people ; in February, 1868, he fell. No voice Itsns
raised in his defence, and the conviction must have
been forced upon his most sanguine admirers that
a second ministry having Lord Palmerston for its
head, during the existence at least of that Parliament,
was not possible. (Hear, hear.) It has been stated by my
friend Mr. Bagge, that the mere numerical principle of re-
presentation is not and has never formed any part of the
constitotion of this country i and he gavey, very fair illustra-
-timi of ninitcoriveale-nce NTlierfib ‘i'lfed out with perfect
accuracy the effect of applying that strict numerical test to
,the representation of this borough. I do not think that a
constituency ought to be disfranchised merely because it is
small, but if it be so small that the individual vote of each
elector acquires that degree of importance which greatly in-
creases any temptation to corruption, and if the constituency
be under the control and direction of one or two individuals
then I say that in either of these two cases you have to deal
with a clear abuse which you are called upon to remedy.
Besides this question of reform I do not think there is any
other subject of domestic legislation to which it is necessagy
that I should here allude. On the old church-rate contrg-
versy, I voted the last two sessions as I had voted before,
and I think the decided expression of opinion by Parlia-
ment on that subject and the yearly increasing majorities by
which the abolition of the rate has been carried, clearly
prove that the time for compromise has gone by, and that
there is only one manner in which that question can now be
settled. I have always supported, and always shall support
measures of law reform, especially those directed to the ac-
complishment of .that most useful object, the consolida-
tion of the statute law. Bills dealing with that portion
of the law were introduced introduced into Parliament
at the commencement of the session, and I suppose will be
again brought forward on the meeting of the new Parlia-
ment. A bill was brought in at the beginning of the session
for the purpose of simplifying and facilitating the transfer
of land—a bill which I believe, notwithstanding some pro-
fessional opposition, would have passed, and which I think
will still pass both houses, and will not only tend in a
great degree to increase the value of landed property, but,
what I regard tes much more important, will greatly tend to
facilitate the investment of capital in land. (gear.) All law
reforms I shall endeavour, if in office, to promote, and if not
in office to press on those who succeed us. Gentlemen, the
affairs of India, with which I am more especially and pecu-
liarly concerned, have been rendered so familiar to you by
the events of the last two years, and the transfer of the In-
dian government from the Company to the Crown occurred
so long ago, now that I will not waste your time by enter-
ing at any length on that .which is a matter of history. But
this I say, that those who have the administration of affairs
in India, whether in this country or on the Spot, have laid
upon them one of the greatest burdens of responsibility
which ever fell to the lot of any public man in this country.
There is involved in the case of the Indian administration
every element of difficulty. There is the distance, which
makes the necessary amount of supervision impossible, and
which makes all supervision difficult ; there is the reluctance
of men who are .able and. competent to undertake public
service in a country—service in which implies an exile from
England for the better part of a man's life. There is the
climate, which disables some and lessens the energy of all;
and there is that opposition of classes and jealousy of race
which inevitably attend the condition of a conquered com-
munity. Besides all this, you have there to deal with a
form of government which, however necessary and however
suited to the country in which it prevails; is not in accord-
ance with the habits and ideas of the natives. To all these
permanent causes of difficulty we have to add, that at the
present moment the finances of India are very greatly em-
barrassed, and that in consequence of the late disturbances
the whole administrative system has been so far deranged
as to render it necessary that it should undergo entire
revision. With regard to the change that took place last
year, you have heard two observations frequently made,
both of which are equally unfounded. On the one hand,
it is said that the present Government merely accepted ,
the measure of their predecessors, and transferred the
administration of India to the Crown without any check
or control. On the other hand it is contended that there has
been no change except in name; that the Indian Minister
sits in the one part of London instead of the ether ; andthat
with that exception things go on exactly as before. Now,
the truth lies between those two extremes. The government
of India has not been conferred on the Queen without any
species of check or control. On the contrary, there has been
interposed a body of men from whose industry, from whose
experience, and from whose public spirit—l refer, of course,
to the Council of India—we have every reason to hope for
the most beneficial results. (Cheers.) On the other hand,
so far from its being true that the position of the Minister
with regard to the Indian Government is the same as it
was previous to the change, the Minister for India is in
another position altogether. He has more power, he has
a more direct control over the affairs of India, and there de-
volves upon him a more immediate and direct responsibility.
(Hear.) I think that the arrangement which, after months
of discussion,- was at the close of the preceding session sanc-
tioned by Parliament, has on the whole avoided as near as
possible the double difficulty, en the one hand of increasing
the power of the English Executive, and on the other it has
avoided the danger of creating a new East India Companyin
place of that which has been destroyed. (Cheers.) There only
remains one more subject upon which I deem it necessary to
offer one or two remarks, although I fear there is upon that
very little that will be agreeable for me to tell or for you to
hear. I refer to the state of our foreign affairs, to that which
two or three days ago I should have called the chances, but
which I fear I must now term the certainty of war. It is
right, however, to say, while speaking on this subject, that
during the last few days, and since I first came among you,
I was not in the possession of an other than the ordinary
public sources of informhtion. If we may rely on those
sources of intelligence, I am afraid it would be almost
too sanguine to hope that war can now be prevented, and
all we can hope for is, that that war, if it breaks forth, will
be confined to that part of Europe in which it shall occur.
(Hear, hear.) Gentlemen, I own that a war like this, oc-
curring at such a time, appears to me one of those events
which must, if not totally destroy, at least damp that confi-
dence which we in this country are inclined to entertain in
the progress of civilisation and good government abroad—
(hear, hear)—for it will not be a war of opinion, it will not
be one of those great struggles recorded at different periods
in the history of human kind founded upon deep-lying dif-
ferences of political or religious principle—it will be one of
those mighty contests in which all the sacrifices, the suffer-
ings, and the miseries caused by war are in some degree
compensated by great ideas, in which the interests at stake
and the objects to be obtained are struggled for in a spirit
of disinterestedness, and in which to obtain them war is
rendered necessary. It will be a war wantonly, needlessly,
and I will say wickedly made. (Cheers.) It will be a war
dictated by the ambition of a few men placed in too high a

• •
*salon above the masses of mankind to feel that respect
for human rights or that sympathy for human suffering, a
due regard for which forms the bonds by which the human
race is banded together. (Loud cheers.) The independence
of Italy is the plea, but. it- is nothing retire than a plea.
(Renewed _cheers.) Gentlemen, so far as matters have
gone, the course which has been pursued by her Majesty's
Ministers has been a simple one. -We endeavoured to inter-
' fere in the interests of peace, as far as it has been possible for
England to ixiterferewithout compromising her own position
in giving pledges which might be productive of future em-
barrassment. (Cheers.) No effort has been spared, no
means have been left untried for the preservation of peace.
(Renewed cheers.) If in those efforts we have failed—if the
negotiationti;ol the last few weeks have only, concealed on
the part of other powers a premeditated purpose of going to
war—we have at least the consolation of knowing that- the
great misfortunes- which must accrue to Europe and to the
whole world will have been caused byno act ofours—(cheers)
—but that they will have taken place in spite of every exer-
tion which we could make to prevent it. (Hear, hear.> Not
only have we striven against it in the interest of peace, but
we have interposed in a spirit of perfect impartiality be-
tween the contending parties. We have not been led away
on the one hand by Italian sympathies, nor on'the other
have we been influenced by any jealousy of the power of
France. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) We have had no secret
preference, we have pursued -no underhandpolicy, (Hear.)
Explanations have been freely and frankly given, and there
is 'nothing, so far'as the conduct of England is concerned,
which we need either conceal or disavow. (Loud. cheers.) I
said just now that I believed the interruption of the Parlia-
mentary session- would have no effect on the conduct of
'foreign affairs, and I say so for this reason, that I believe
there is a general and ablest a singular unanimity among
English statesmen and Englishmen of all particular parties
with regard to the course which ought to be pursued.
There- is in this country one, and one feeling only, that
English intervention by arms ought only to take place
when English objects are involved in' thes.case of Italy.
(Cheers.> What may happen hereafter, if this war should
become general and spread throughout urope, it is utterly
impossible for me or any one to say. There are pledges by
which we are bound, there are engagements which Eng-
land has to fulfil. It is possible--though God forbid that
in those general unforeseen complications of events to
which a European war may give rise—the time may come
when neutrality may be no longer possible. But we shall
cling to that neutrality so long as it remains
.possible, and
leave all the guilt, the misery, and the suffering to which
the war must inevitably give rise to those by whom it has
been provoked. (Cheers.) Gentlemen, I feel that r hive
detained you at far too great a length, but there is no other
political subject to which I have now to advert. I will
merely say, before I sit down, that while holding the office
which I now fill, my time is not my own, and I very much
regret that the brief stay which' I have been able to make
among you has not sufficed to enable me, as I should have
wished to do, to pay my respects to every elector. I intend
in - future years to take at least one opportunity a year of
meeting you' in this room to explain the policy I have pur-
sued, and to make such communications—although they
will be necessarily brief and imperfect—as may tend to
maintain the good understanding between us, and to keep
up that close relationship which ought at all times to sub-
sist between a member and his constituents. Whether I
shall meet you next year as a Minister or as a private mem-
ber of Parliament is more than I can venture to say. - To
myself it is a matter of little moment; but I confidently-
hope and expect that when I stand before you again in this
room I shall be able to do so with no pledge broken—
(cheers)—with no promise violated, with no friendship
alienated by any act of mine, with no inconsistency of po-
litical language or conduct to explain away, with no vote
recorded against mo in Parliament which I shall be unable
or unwilling to defend. (Loud and prolonged cheering.)
Gentlemen, allow me once more to dhank you for the
honour which you have again done me, and to assure you
that so long as you shall be pleased to continue your con-
fidence in me as your representative, my best energies shall
ever be devoted to your service. The noble lord resumed
his seat amidst enthusiastic cheering.

OXFORD (CITY).
The election of two members for the city of. Oxford took
place yesterday in the area at the back cf the Town-hall.
Although there was no opposition to the return of the late
members, there was a large attendance of electors and non-
electors, and the proceedings appeared to be regarded with
considerable interest. Mr. Nathaniel Castle, mayor and
returning-officer, presided.
The usual preliminaries having been gone through,
Mr. Alderman S&DLER proposed his hon. friend Mr. J.
H. Langston, as a fit and proper person to represent the
city in Parliament.
J. Bnomination.ell,asMr. the firm and J;
PILE
prsoellondciedmtrh.e ci
rdv
con-
sistent advocate of retrenchment, reform, and non-interven-
tion.

Mr. JOSEPH CASTLE seconded the proposal.
No other candidate being proposed, the Mayor at once
declared that Mr. J. H. Langston and the Right Hon. Ed-
ward Cardwell were duly returned to represent the city in
the ensuing Parliament. •
Mr. LANasrow' in thanking tb e electors for sending him
to Parliament for the ninth time as their representative,
congratulated them upon the fact of there having been no
contest, as proving that even all the money which had been
collected at the Carlton Club could produce no effect upon
this constituency. Referring to the melancholy news
which had been reeeived as to the state of affairs in Italy,
he said that it must be the opinion of all who were present
that it was the duty of whoever might be the Minister of
this country to do all he could to avoid the necessity of our
joining in the conflict. (Cheers.)
Mr. CARDWELL, who was received with loud and pro-
longed cheering, said, that gratifying as it must be at any
time to be returned by the unanimous consent of an inde-
pendent constituency, it must be doubly so at a Moment
like the present, when the wires of the electric telegi aph
were hourly bringing the most appalling intelligence, which
showed that our common country had need of united
hearts, and it might be of united hands, to defend
her against dangers such as perhaps no person then present
had ever witnessed. (Cheers.) The indictment upon which
the House of Commons was condemned contained two
counts—one that it rejected a bill brought forward by the
Government of Lord Palmerston, generally, and not very
favourably, known by the same of " The French Colonels'
Bill;" and the other that it had rejected the Reform Bill,
or as it might more properly be called, the anti-reform Bill
of her Majesty's present advisers. To the first of these
proceedings the members of the present Government were
themselves parties ; it was by means of it that they obtained
their offices. With regard to the second he had been asked
by many gentlemen why the Reform Bill was not permitted
to go into committee. That question admitted of the ver7
easy answer—if indeed any answer was required—that if
you want to defeat a measure it is not your business to sup-
port its going into committee but to vote against it upon
the second reading. (Cheers.) The main objection which
was taken to the Government bill was, that it did not give
a fair extension of either the county or borough franchise.
In the Cabinet itself there were two opinions upon that
question, and he believed that'if a measure had been pre-
pared in accordance with the recommendations of Mr.
Walpole and Mr. Henley it might have been read a second
time, and all minor points of difference might have been
settled in committee. The bill actually introduced was made
up of a variety of provisions taken from other measures,
and which the Government had treated as gipsies treated
stolen children--

" They tan their stolen elves
To make them tanned and ugly like themselves."
Mr. Locke King's proposal for the reduction of the county
franchise, which was by him intended to extend the in-
fluence of educated public opinion in counties, they had so
dealt with, that in substance the clause contained in their
measure would have enabled great proprietors to subdivide
their properties into holdings of £lO, to give these holdings
to friends who might reside within a short distance
of the Carlton Club, to furnish them with voting papers
which they might put into the post pillar opposite that
club, and by that means to counteract the very object which
the original proposal of the £lO occupancy franchise in
counties had in view. There were many other clauses in
the bill which appeared to be designed for the same pur-
pose, and which must have had the same effect. When the
Liberal party found all the clauses tending to the same
conclusion, they, by the common principles of reasoning,
deduced that that was the aim, object, and intention of the
bill. Even then, however, they did not absolutely reject ,
the bill on the second reading. They only laid down by
resolution certain principles, and said that before the bill
went further they would take care that those principles
should be recognised by the House of Commons, as those
to which the bill should be made to conform. This was taken
as a great affront by the Government, who were quite obli-
vious of what occurred upon the Conspiracy Bill, and
hence the dissolution. The Government did not go to the
country upon that bill, and the country did not know
whether they would propose it or any other in the coming
Parliament. (Hear, hear.) Turning to the question of
open or secret voting, the right hon. gentleman said that,
if the ballot were a question of freedom and purity on the
one side, and of coercion and correption on the other, his
choice would be made in a moment, he should vote heartily
for the ballot. (Cheers.) He was, however, unwilling to
support the enactment of a compulsory ballot—and a volun-
tary one would be of no avail—as long as he entertained
the hope, which he still cherished, that by. the enlargement
of constituencies freedom and purity might be obtained,
without the sacrifice of that publicity which was the life of
our political system, and the great guarantee and safeguard
for the conduct of our public men. (Cheers.) Considering
the period at which the dissolution took place, the country
had a right to ask whether, when they introduced a Reform
Bill which they knew that two of their most valued col-
leagues would rat her sacrifice office than support, they were
aware that the affairs of Europe were in a dangerous
and difficult position. If they were not, had they been
vigilant guardians of the interests and liberties of the
greatest people of the earth? (Hear, hear.) If they were
aware of it were they justified in leaving the country in the
position in which it now stood ? (No, no.) We are now
without a Government, because a Government which had
been condemned by the House of Commons was in the eye
of the constitution no Government at all. We were with-
out something else—we were without that free assembly
which alone in Europe could speak the language of mode-
ration, of freedom, and of peace, and could exercise an in-
fluence over despotic monarchies and contending armies.
(Cheers.) Was that a condition in which the country
ought to be left in circumstances such as those which now
existed P (No, no.) This, continued the right hon. gen-
tleman, is the state of the country at this perilous moment.
I hope and trust that in the new Parliament there will be
temper, wisdom, and patriotism which will rise above all
meaner considerations and will prepare us for the conflict.
Of the present state of Europe it behoves everybody even
upon these hustings to speak with the utmost prudence and
reserve. If there be a possibility of preserving peace there
is no man more anxious to maintain it than the individual
who now addresses you. I have before made sacrifices for
the sake of peace, of which not the smallest was the tempo-
rary loss of the good opinion of many of this constituency.
If thltre be a man upon earth who desires that the course of
Great Britain should be a pacific one, that we should restrict
ourselves to those conquests which industry and commerce
make under the aegis of peace, and that we should remain
free from those bloody conflicts which are the disgrace of
despotic monarchies and of standing armies, I am that man.
I would say in the noble language of our poet
" No more our sons shall dye with British blood
Red Iber's sand, or Ister's foaming flood."
(Cheers.) But these matters are not in our own power.
We must prepare to meet the defence of our country
should her interests or her honour be assaulted. We must
Prepare for thosestrictly defensive exertions which the exi-