The Sun.
London, England, 1857-06-03 00:00:00

Mr. SPOONER gave next " the House of Lords."
The Earl of SHAFTESBURY responded.
The Earl of LICHFIELD, in prop-.sing "the House
of Commons,". expressed the great pleasure with
which he had joined in the ceremonial of the day.
W. SCHOLEFIELD, Eq., M.P.. replied.
The Duke of CAMBRIDGE again rose and said—
Gentlemen, I should_ never forgive myself if did
hot once more intrude upon you this evening..
After what I have experienced to-day, both in
feeling and sight, I cannot allow any other per--
son to deprive me of the gratification and
pleasure of giving a toast which I shall
now propose to you. I am persuaded
that there is nobody here who will not
cordially join with me in honouring . it.
We have been the guests of my worthy, friend:
who .is in the chair, and who I am sure has
as far as I am concerned, received me with liber- •
ality and the greatest poss:ble honour, which I ap-
preciate most sincerely. (Loud cheers.) His fel-
low-townsmen will admit that he has received. my
self and the other strangers in a manner which
really doe's him the greatest credit. I should be:
wanting in my duty—and a mo-t agreeable duty it
is—were I not to propose his health. (Hear, hear.)
I hope I may be allowed to add to the toast, ":Pro- •
sperity to the great and important town of Bir-
mingham." •••
The-toast wet-drunk -standiecrwith-. three.,ltmee

TheTMAYort was hailed with the heartiest mani-
festations of respect. He said the inauguration of
Calthorpe-park, affording as it had done pleasure
and gratification to thonsands, had caused that day
to be to him a day of deep enjiyment, and one of
the proudest days of his life. His royal highness
had thanked him (the mayor), but he had to thank
his royal highness for the great honour he had con-
ferred upon him (Mr. Ratcliff) and his native town.
If there was one object he wished to obtain more
than another it was to serve that borough.
(Cheers.) He was highly gratified, as were all who
had assisted him in that day's duties, and he sin-
ce! ely thanked them for the compliment paid him.
At noon to-day his royal highness left the Mayor's
residence, and proceeded to inspect some of the
principal manufactories, from which he had not re-
turned at half-past six o'clock.
The mayor has invited a large party- to lunch
with his royal highness at the Royal Hotel.

BIRMINGHAM, TUESDAY, 8.30 P.M.
The Duke of Cambridge has left by the Great
Western Railway for London.

THE ANTICIPATED WORM' BILL.

The Duke of Cleveland presided at a Conserva-
tive dinner at Darlington on Monday, given to Mr.
Ferrer, the late member for South Durham. About
450 electors were present.

In giving the -toast of the day—viz., " The
Health of Mr. Farrer,"

His GRACE took exception to a statement recently
made by Mr. Hutt, M.P., to the effect that until
the election of two Liberals this division of the
county had been unrepresented, and he contended
that this could with greater propriety be said by
the 2,000 electors, a great part of whom "plumped"
for Mr. Farrer. This led him to speak of the New
Reform Bill, on which subject the noble duke said,
—Gentlemen, I need. scarcely tell you that 1 am
waxing fast into years, and cannot boast of that
vigour and that power which are the characteristics
of youth ; but there is one advantage which old
age has, and to which I may lay claim—viz., expe-
rience, my experience being derived from having
been 45 years a menal)er of the Senate-30 in the
Lower and 15 in the Upper House. During thoSe
45 years I have endeavoured to make myself mas-
ter of the history of my country, and especially of
its Parliamentary his' ory, both ancient and modern.
The result of my experience and reading is this—
that, looking at counties (which even before the
Reform Bill of 1832 were-always large constituen-
cies) it has almost invariably happened that where
different opinions have been nearly balanced the
constituents have acknowledged that one party
should have one member and the other the other.
If the minority, however, should be so small as
only one-fif. h, then I think the four-fifths have a
right to return both members. The numbers,
however, were very nearly balanced at the last
election for this county, and whatever Mr. Hutt
may say to the contrary at to the last 10 yeats, I
say that 2,000. men are unrepresented at this
na, meat. But one thing is quite certain, before
another election we shall have a new Reform
Primeßill.
Minister, already
and
can been
be no
lannounced bby the
matter
of
doubt. Brought forward as it will be with the
whole weight and responsibility of the Govern-
ment, there can be no doubt that it will be well di-
gestedch a
atmtlel a
shallsnua rvee
bena ospt
rtseehpeeanrwelhd
canol
ien ilvyuentnr placeoy ca*o p in_
and considered beforehand, and I hope it
Pamnplaaoprynrliobaavebmeseuni t, whenever that bill comss before us, to
give it that serious attention which the subject will
deserve, and to assist in making such corrections as
the hon. members of the House of Commons 'now
present will.excuse me for saying are sometimes
necessary in bills that come from that house. (Hear
and laughter.) The subject is an extensive and
wide one, and it is impossible to say what may be
proposed. What most people are anxious for is an
extension of the franchises; But, to begin with, I
hope all anomalies will be got rid of, and the small
constituencies, of which there are so many, and
which I cannot help
saying are a disgrace to the
country—(applause)--be done away with and their
members given to larger bodies of persons. Now,
gentlemen, so far from holding that an extension
of the franchise in counties would be injurious, if
extended in the way it ought to be, and among
those who ought to huve it—those who from their
education and station in life ought according to the
spirit of the age to be enfranchised—l hold that the
cons.t tution would be materially benefited. What are
the classes to which I allude Well, there are many
with large money qualifications and resident in
counties, but who from various causes are not qua-
lified now to b 3 on the register, who ought, in my
opinion, to have a vote for the county in which
they reside. I will not only say that every max
who has 1001. a-year—but I would even go lower,
and say that those who have 501. a-year, no matter
from what it comes---ore fully entitled to the fran-
chise in counties. (Cheers.) This would include
all curates—(hear)—almost every village school-
master, clerks in mercantile offices, banks, and
railways, and others ; and it cannot be denied that
all these persons are entitled to the franchise, and
ought to have it. There is another class of persons
whom it has been attempted to bring in, but who I
hope to God never will be brought in, and that is
the renters of 101. houses. (" Hear," and laughter.)
Rely upon my words, if that is once done the landed
interest in every county iu England is extinguished
for ever. Upon what principle, let me ask, is the
journeyman masJll or carpenter, who resided in one
town in one county this year and in another town in
year—who has no permanent
any county--uponcounty vote The noble duke
what prin-
ciplea residencen o another
is.
sr hc
eooutrno
st
claim
e a
xi
nt
proceeded to remark that, with only one noticeable
exception, all the great landed proprietors of the
district supported Mr. Ferrer, and then asked—ls
the landed interest to be extinguished or not, or is
it to have its due share in the representation ?
Gentlernen, this is a question more for you than for
me, but whatever may be your opinions and what-.
ever your actions, you may always rely upon my
support. (Cheers.) We have heard some talk of
coalitions between candidates. I think them unjus
tillable, but they are within the law, and it is not a -
present possible to prevent them. lam not wit houtt
hopes, however, that in the new Reform Bill this
may be remedied. Lord John Russell, seeing the
hardship
isithiof 3,500 out of 6,000 (for example) mono-
:the whole representation by split votes, in.
psl
dicated a way in which this could be obviated. The
only way—and, though it was not his own proposi-
tion, he hoped it would be adopted—was to allow
electors in counties returning three members to give
only two votes. In Berks, Hefts, and other coun-
ties it had before now happened that, by coalescing,
three agricultural candidates had kept out their
oppnent—call him Whig, Radical, or what you
will. Now, a Reform Bill should not have regard
to particular interests, but should have for its ob-
ject justice to all, and he therefore hoped it would
be enacted that no county voter should be able to
vote for more than two out of three members, or for
more than one out of two. (Cheers.) This would be
the most effectual bar to coalitions, and the most
popular men would then be elected. (Hear.)
Mr. FARRER responded in a very effective speech.
Lord A. VANE TEMPEST, M.P., proposed " The
Health of the Chairman." • .
The Duke of CLEvElarrn, in responding? glanced