The Sun.
London, England, 1857-09-26 00:00:00

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SkU 144', (~ . SA 1

so far prevailed as to preventthose men (my prede-
cessors) being listened to. That to which I owe the
success of any efforts I have made in conjunction
with the House of Commons was, that public

opinion was ripening at that time, and finally
declared in favour of those measures of which
I have been the humble advocate. (Loud
cheers.) We all know, and we have seen it
in the present year, that upon the decision of those
who possess the franchise depends ultimately the
solution of the great and important questions which
from time to time agitate the country. The House
of Commons may be of one opinion, the House of
Lord of another ; the Crown may be dissatisfied
with the decision of one of those bodies ; the opera-
tion of the constitution may seem to be suspended
for a time ; but all persons ultimately acquiesce in
the decision of those who possess the franchise.
Now, gentlemen, in allotting the franchise in the
Reform Act, we who framed the act were solicitous,
while we made a large extension of the franchise,
while we destroyed nomination—at the same time
to carry those changes into effect peaceably and
quietly, because, whatever other classes may suffer
iu the course of violent changes, I am persuaded
that those who belong to the working classes of this
country are the most likely to suffer in any change
which sets at war with each other the different
classes of the community. That lam sure the wcrk-
ing men feel,land therefore it was that in the Reform
Bill, though at the time it was thought unduly
hold, and though many characterised it as rash,
Lord Grey and those who acted with him knew that
they framed their measure in a spirit of caution,
and that it was better to frame it in a spirit of cau-
tion than to run any risks to the peace of this great
community. Gentlemen, I believe the time has
come—and the Government of the day has allowed
that the time has come—when the franchise may be
further extended, and I think, nearly in the words
of the Prime Minifter, that large classes who have
not hitherto possessed the franchise should in future
enjoy and exercise that privilege. You will not
doabt, I hope, that I shall be very glad to see a
measure introduced by Government by which the
franchise will be thus extended. And I'am persuaded
that the time which has elapsed since the Reform
Bill of 1832 has enabled many classes to so improve
themselves and their means of judgment as to exer-
cise that franchise for the benefit of the community.
it is the diffe ence between this country and many
others that its institution rests upon a large basi-,
and that not only for the special purposes of
an election, but likewise in the constant and daily
operation of our constitution. You see it in your
municipal franchise ; you see it in the proceedings
that take place in various parts of the country, in
the expressions of public meetings, in the writings
of the daily press. It is thus in fine, and together,
that those changes that took place expressed the
will of the community. Perhaps it would be diffi-
cult to name another nation which exercises that
power with equal calmness, equal sobriety, and
equal temper and judgment. (Cheers.) But such
I am persuaded is the character of this nation. You
may differ from me, I may differ from you, on dif-
ferent occasions and on separate measures ; but I
go heartily with the working men of this country
to see their franchises extended, and that all classes
of the people may have increased satisfaction in the
working of their institutions. I think there has
been from time to time an undue jea'ousy between
one class and another. I have often seen with pain
that attempts were made to deprive those who are
in the ranks which entitle them and their descend-
ants to seats in the House of Lords of the good feel-
ing and sympathy of the country. My opinion-has
always been with one of our poets, that—

" They who on glorious ancestors enlarge
Produce their debt instead of their discharge."
(Cheers.) lam convinced that they who have an-
cestors to boast of are only more bound to consult
the welfare of the community ; and that, knowing
that this country has never flourished except in the

IRELAND.

DUBLIN, FRIDAY MORNING.
STATE OF BELFAST.

It appears that a meeting of the magistrates of
the town and neighbourhood of Belfast is to take
place this day, at the instance of the Marquis of
Donegal, to consult upon the best means of pre-
serving the peace of the town under the existing
state of excitement. Referring to th:s step, the
Banner of Ulster says,—

" We have reason to believe that some resolution will
be came to in reference to open-air preaching, and espe-
cially to the proceedings which took place on last Sab-
bath, in consequence of the telegraphic message sent to
our worthy mayor by his Excellency the Lord Lieute-
nant:. We believe if another such message be sent his
Excellency will find such difficulties in the way of its
execution as will make him pause before he sends ano-
ther. We can inform his Excellency that obedience to
his order on last Sabbath was not the most agreeable
duty the magistrates have performed in Belfast, nor one
which they would like renewed again."
Meanwhile the head and front of the excitement,
the Rev. Hugh Hanna, the would-be modern John
Ku ix, has addressed the subjoin=d manifesto to the
mayor and magistrates of Belfast :
" Gent!emen,—l know that by this time you are
keenly aware that on the past Sabbath you exceeded
your commission, and made grave infraction on the con-
stitutional rights of a large body of the most orderly and
respectable citizens of Belfast. I dispute your authority
to remove any assembly of peaceable citizens from the
private unenclosed ground whereon upon the past Sab-
bath I first encountered you. I dispute the power of the
Lord Lieutenant to invest you with such authority.
But, whatever may be the law on this point, any corn-
pe•Ent liwyer will inform you that you had no right to
enter on and expel us from the enclosed yard, the ulti-
mate position I occupied with my open-air congregation.
In a rude, and almost a barbarous way, you dispersed
an ucoffending people, dealing more rigorously with
them than you ever did with any riotous mob that da-
maged and diTraced the town. One of the men under
your command cocked his carbine and levelled it at my
breast, and many have to complain of the outrageous
conduct of the police under your command. What
coarse the hundreds whom you dispersed—each of
whom has ground of action against you—may adopt, I
cannot tell ; but for my own part, I now respectfully
demand from you an acknowledgment of your error
and an apology for your conduct. I am one of those
who look with extreme jealousy on every stretch of
Executive power, and I will strenuously resist in a con•
stitutional way its every infraction on constitutional
riglit and privilege. Your compliance with this demand
will vindicate the liberty of the eul j .ct and avoid the
necessity of litigation. " Yours respectfully,
"HUGH HANNA."

Referring to the snail's-pace progress of the Go-
vernment investigation the following observations
of the Belfast Afercnry are but the echo of public
feling, at least as far as persons at a distance from
the scene of action can be supposed competent to
form an opinion :

" It is really full time that the commis,ioners shonl,l
interfere to stay the interminable flow of irrelevent evi-

deuce which is- fast tending to bring the whole inquiry
into disrepute. What object is to be gained by heaping
evidence upon the top of evidence, the whole purport of
which is merely to prove that rioting took place ? It is
net, as we understand it, the duty of the commissioners
to report on the point whether a greater amount of
vagabondism exists in Sandy-row than in Pound-street
—their object is not to discriminate the minute shades
of cziminaiity that may exist between the desperate fac-
tions that are a disgrace to our town—on the contrary,
the plain purpose of their inquiry, according to their
cAunaission is to investigate into the origin of the riots,
and to report on the same, with such suggestions as they
may consider calculated to guard against their repetition.

There can be no doubt that the state of the labouring
population in Belfast is one favourable to such riots ;
out we opine it dues not form any part of the duty of
the commissioners to examine into the sanitary condition,
considered morally and religiou,ly, of that population.
We therefore discard the subject from present considera
tion, and desire to give a practical aim to the

inquiry. At present the commia•ioners, amidst the
vast mass of wholly irrelevant evidence, have

lone nothing more than ascertain the cause of the
July rioting. They have not advancad much
beyond this point. They have consumed nine days,
for the most part in listening to very ridicul )us
and inconclusive evidence, and this, too, while such a
protracted inquiry is calculated seriously to injure the
trade and prosperity of our town. It appears that up
to the present the inquiry has been without practical