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752 THE LEADER. [Saturday,
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BEVERLEY EJECTION. A Letter has been add...
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THE SUSPENDED BOROUGHS. Gbnbbal Thompson...
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ROBERT OWEN'S PETITION. The following is...
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A TOBY VIEW OF THE PERIOD. An authoritat...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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• The Cholera. Tub Cholera Is On The Inc...
The disease continues to make way in every part of Europe . By the last news we find that at Varna every day there died eighteen English soldiers ; at the French camp matters are even worse , though the regulations are rigid and excellent . A Paris letter dated Wednesday , says : — " The returns of deaths by cholera in Paris sent in to the Mairies on Friday give , I am informed , upwards of 150 for that day , an increase which is attributed to the great variation of th « temperature . Of these 150 or 155 , from 40 to 50 are set down to the hospitals , and the remainder occurred in private houses , particularly in the Baulieue . Prom 50 to 60 are also the cases of persons who had been previously wasted by disease , which rendered them susceptifcle of being attacked by the prevailing epidemic . The accounts from Marseilles and other places where it lias raged with some intensity are more favourable . It has increased , however , at Tonlon . "
A letter , dated Perpignan , says : — " In the south , the epidemic now extends along the shores of the Mediterranean from Genoa to near the foot of the Pyrenees , and Marseilles and Toulon are , as they always have been , the principal foci of the cholera . For many weeks past the diligences have been crowded . with persons flying from the plague , to places not yet infected ; the roads have been covered with vehicles of ey « ry description carrying terror-stricken fugitives as far from their homes as their means would permit them to go ; and some , fearing not to
put a sufficient distance between them and the cholera , have crossed the frontier and passed into Spain . In fiict , in some of the towns near the Rhone the population , it is affirmed , is diminished to one-quarter of its amount before the commencement of the epidemic . 4 From Marseilles , which town has lost by deaths an incredible number of its inhabitants , the emigration still continues ; many of the fuyards going to Toulouse , where the cholera has not yet appeared , although some cases have occurred in the Lower ( iaronne , and at Bordeaux . " ¦
A deputation from Hackney district lias waited upon Lord Palinerston this week , and represented to him , upon medical evidence , that the cliolera prevalent in that neighbourhood is attributable to the " foul , ohnoxious , and loathsome condition of the Hackney Brook . " His lordship answered that "in a few months" the Brook should be covered up . The deputation thanked him for his " courtesy . "
752 The Leader. [Saturday,
752 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
Beverley Ejection. A Letter Has Been Add...
BEVERLEY EJECTION . A Letter has been addressed , to the Globe , by a Beyerley " Reformer . " The information contained in the following extract , as to Mr . Gordon ' s opinions , is important as indicating something of Lord Aberdeen ' s . " Prom the first Mr . Gordon declared himself a progressive reformer . He was in . favour of a large extension of the suffrage ( 5 A , or under ) , vote by ballot , and perfect religious equality Che emphatically declared that no man ought to pay for the support of the religion of another ) ; and liis private and public conduct attested that he was earnest and . sincere in his professions .
" The constituency numbers a little over 1 , 000 . Under the peculiar circumstances of tlie election , not more than about 800 could have possibly voted . Without any undue influence whatever , and on the strictest principles of purity , Mr . Gordon polled 493 . His opponent only polled 192 , all with a few exceptions Tories , and several of them members of a bigottei Tory Protestant association , of the Rev . Tresham Greg school . "
The Suspended Boroughs. Gbnbbal Thompson...
THE SUSPENDED BOROUGHS . Gbnbbal Thompson has addressed the following letter to a contemporary . After such a letter who can say that the General is too old , for public life ? " Eliot Valo , Ulaokhoath , August 8 , 1854 . " The readinoss with which your pages are opened to anything bearing on the interests of political reform , induces me to thinlc you will see the opportunity of doing service by publishing the following re < - marks on the subject of the suspended boroughs . If I apply to the case with whioU X happen to bo best acquainted , it will not bo contrary to any rule of philosophy that I am aware of . It is for the concerned to inquire , how far tho brick ia a specimen of the house . " The borough with which I am acquainted , is Hull . In tho evil days of English history , it wna a city set upon a hill . It afterwards Io 3 t caste , and for many years was deep in tho degradation of tho times . At tho Reform Bill , its character was retrieved ; in which I was art and part to the extent of being laid down and robbed at tho door of tho Houbg of Commons , to tho amount of ninny thousand pounds . One useful result -was , that the taking up of freedoms by what wore denominated the « old freemen , ' was -virtually abandoned on nil aides , there being no probability of profit in repayment of the cost . Success of course liad depended on tho union of what for ehprtness shall bo called Whigs and Radicals . If either of these terms is hereafter used in connexion with disgraceful acts , I bog to protest ogftlost intending any unjustifiable imputation !
and the great Whig body has it always in its power to clear itself by actions of any disreputable complicity . " Success on subsequent occasions depended on the same union . A candidate appeared , who called himself a Whig . He came to me of his own accord , and invited me to enter into an engagement with him , that if any dispute arose between our respective friends or followers , the first who knew it should communicate with the other , in order that he might use his personal influence to put it down . Of course so rational a treaty was immediately ratified . The locality ¦ was Market-place East flags , two-thirds of the -way from the Whig hostelry which was the Cross Keys , to mine which , was the Kingston . lake justices in an affiliation case , I love to be particular .
"Some short time afterwards , a very paltry dispute arose , which I could have settled in half an hour if the compact with me had been kept . Some of my friends spoke perhaps boastingly of their strength . Instead of applying to me , the Whig candidate said to them , ' What is your strength ? I hear . you have a list . Show me your list . ' The Radicals answered , that if they had a list , it was only for themselves . The Whig'replied , ' I know your list is only two hundred . i ? ow I will go and pay for two hundred new freedoms , and then I will defy your list . ' And he went or sent accordingly , with two hundred golden sovereigns at one time and a hundred at another , and openly offered to buy any man his freedom ' , who would sign a promise to vote as a named
individual should direct . And the two hundred promises were produced accordingly . He thought to steal a march on the Conservatives by going into the market on the last day appointed for taking up freedoms . But the Conservatives showed cause for demanding a week ' s extension ; and so they had time to purchase as many as they liked in turn . The Conservatives must te ' sensible they were very wrong ; ' but the deed was totally of the Whig ' s inventing , originating , and setting in motion . For authentication of all these operations on the market , reference may be made to the Reports of the Commissioners , and the proceedings of a public meeting of the constituency I called to take cognizance of the facts , and which may tie found in the Hull papers of about the 31 st of August , 1839 .
"In some very unbecoming correspondence . with me which was brought before this public meeting , the Whig complained bitterly that my friends should have a list he did not see . I wonder he did not complain there was not a community of wives . And why did he do all the damage to me and to the constituency which followed , in the teeth of his volunteered engagement to communicate with me ? I could have put it all down by return of post . To this act of his is owing all the misery and defeat which followed , and it will not be the fault of his supporters if it does not end in the disfranchisement of the town . " And this was followed up . In Commissioner Flood's report lately laid on the table of the House of Commons , I find the following passage :
" ' r *} nd * fc appears to me certain that it is to tho uncompromising opposition of Colonel Thompson to all imp roper practices , and to liis own ( Mr . Clay ' s ) acquiesence in them and belief that they were necessary to the success either of himself or of any other candidsite professing similar political opinions , that Mr . Clay alludes when declining in January , 1847 , to como forward as a candidate while Hull is 14 hampered by Colonel Thompson , who makes it impossible for any reformer to have a chance , " '—Commissioner Flood's Report . " Here then , because I refused to engage in
practices which would justly have expelled me from the society of gentlemen , and warranted the exertion of the summary power residing in the crown for tho purification of the Army List , I am found held up as the man who * hampers Hull' and * makes it impossible for any reformer to have a chance . ' These are your reformers ; I was in tho way , was I , as the man walking on one sido the street , is in the way of the man upon the other ? This cancels all condonations . If there is anybody in the country who honestly uses tho word Reform , there is matter for him to think upon at leisure ,
" Thus then stands the actual case . Tho author and originator of tho town ' s disgrace and all the mischief , is unseated , o , b ho ought to be , by a committee of tho House of Commons . His friends stand by him , and one association , I am sorry to say of tho working classes , declares ho is * endeared to tuom by ten thousand ties . ' I doubt whether it over amounted to ton thousand . Tho Whigs ( or so they callthemselvcs ) stick to him , and declare through tlwir organ in the press , that they will support nobody but his
nominee . I was asked if I would bo that nominco , with an understanding to make way for the father of . bribery when ho is ro- « ligiblo . And 1 replied —( it wua n rug-god speech , but I hope no honest person was damaged by it)—that I would as soon thinlc of selling my daughter for a concubine at Now Orleans . Tho recomniondutlon to this pleasant succossibn cornea endorsed from tlio Reform Club . It is to help bribers out uf the consequences of their deeds that this institution reavu Its head in Pull-mall , I wonder
an honourable profession , in which I have a right to take some interest , should see its member unwarned , putting himself into a bed which has been qualified in the rough terms described . " If the other boroughs were looked into , the same kind of things would be found ; and the public lessons from the whole are many and important . I calL upon the unrepresented , to wake out of sleep , and ponder on the nonsense of the pretended measures
taken against parliamentary corruption , with the real object of keeping the masses excluded from the fran - chise . I invite the Ballot Society to double their energies , and remember O ' Connell ' s story , of the man who had tried all ways of fattening his horse , till he was asked Did you ever try corn ? ' To the country at large , I would suggest the advantage of looking at the general case , aud seeing who is who , and judging them by their performance . All kinds of men are now upon their trial .
" Of my own course , few words will suffice . I will not be a , candidate , till the bribery nominee is with - drawn . The parties which support him know very well they cannot carry two . liven if there was not written ' Decency forbids , ' they should not draw me into their ambuscade . " Yours very sincerely , " T . Pekronet Thompson . "
Robert Owen's Petition. The Following Is...
ROBERT OWEN'S PETITION . The following is Mr . Robert O wen ' s recent Petition to the House of Lords presented , we believe , by Lord Brougham : — " To tlie Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament assembled . " The Petition of Robert Owen humbly shWeth , " That tlie Crystal Palace at Sydenham is not only the best day-school ever yet opened to the public in this or in any other country , but the best Surnday-school also . Your Petitioner , therefore , prays that it maybe opened to all classes every day in tlie year , and more especially because the mass of the people m these Islands are grievously in want of a sound system of instruction in common things , hi accordance with common sense . " And your petitioner will for ever pray , & c . " ltoBERT Owen . "
A Toby View Of The Period. An Authoritat...
A TOBY VIEW OF THE PERIOD . An authoritative Tory writer in the Press is t \\ vts felicitously rhetorical on the " crisis "—and the Conservative function therein : viz ., to act as a dead weight : — " None hut a violent and thoughtless partisan could find subject of unmixed exultation in the present parliamentary condition of the Coalition Ministry- However degrading to the Government , it is still more dangerous to the State . It is impossible to shut our eyes to the conclusion , that , if persisted in , tho Constitution of this country must receive a great shock , and that the government of public opinion , through the agency of parties , which has hitherto been our security against violent political revolution , must gradually
cease . The first effect of this change will jrobably bo to throw tho Administration of the country into the hands of courtiers , and , _ with a popular or discreet pourt , the inevitable injury to public spirit and peril to public liberty of such a course may not immediately bo recognised . Bat the process of degradation or disorder is certain . Either a powerful centralised Government will bo established , und its resources of multiplied corruption brought to bear upon , members ot Parliament in detuil , or the House of Commons , wrestling with the Court , and seeking refuge in an unconstitutional organisation , will resolve itself into committees , and invade tho various offices of the Executive . Tho most corrupt form of government in the world is that which combines a centralised Administration with n populur Chamber , as was seen recently in France ; and tho moat ofl ' onsivo and tyrannicul form is that which invests usscmblwith
a populur y executive as well ns legislative duties , as was felt two centuries ago in England . Vet there are the possible altcmntivefl , which may bo offered , anil oven soon , to tho only counlry in which Parliamentary Government has succeeded , and wliich , only so late buck aa 1811 , gave , by its agency , to Sir Robert reel tho most powerful Administration of t liu century . It ia clour , therefore * , that it was not tho Uefwin Act ot 1832 that destroyed , or even that impaired , party Government in England . " Wo nvo f « r from supposing that tho momLers of tho present Cabinet are blind to those ovila , or not discouraged by them . Many of tUom arc men of groat station m tho country , who lmvo risen to publio eminence in tho atmosphere- of tho House of Commons , nnd who , wo doubt not , highly appreciate our ayiitem of publio life . Although t lio
distempered ambition of Lord John KuhscII Juts been mainly instrumental in bringing about tho present hirncntublc stiito of uffuira , it is quito impossible that tmoh u mun , now tlint tho heat « nd fever of upsottin ^ tho Ministry of Lord Doi hy have pi & Btul , ohould bo lnaenaiblo to tho errors which ho htm committed , und not feel that , with a little patience nndcoit-Hlitulionul restraint , lio might perhaps « t thin moment Iihv < j been First Minister of tho Crown , at tho head of n lioinogonoous party . Lord Aberdeen JUhnsoH" hau novor « "lo in tho Hourto ot ComtnonH , and novor taken , until hia piubciit , ttotry diuplayHj a loading part in tho othor House No uiio over impntud Ho him uiiy fervid admiration of our pwljumontnry Hyufcom .. IJUh miud wn » funned in tho Auntiinu Chiuioury : ho Ijivit ulwiiyn been » votary of political , mid nut publics , lffo , of powcv without roB |) onalbility ( iuuI thorufwv rh littlu tus possible in thi ) publio gu / . u . liu in now iidvuncud in
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 12, 1854, page 8, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12081854/page/8/
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