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Jorar Sfl » IflBgi] ^KI IEAPEB. 71 1
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Mil. CiiakijKS Matiikws, tho comedian, b...
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V [nr THIS - UBPARTMXNT, AS AIX OPINIONS...
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A REMONSTRANCE WITH THE CRITICS. (To the...
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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 Itarce Of Frome. Who Nuulo Sir Willi...
uo ^ nsrE . "Who made Major Boyle Member for Prome ? The Botus family . Neither of these places is to be found in the modern gazetteers ; but they divide between them a three-hundredth part in the government of the British Empire . Taken together , they represent as much parliamentary power as IVtarylebone , with its twenty thousand
electors , and its three hundred and seventy thousand inhabitants ; whereas their united registrations amount to little more than five hundred electors , and their united populations to less than fifteen thousand . This is a conspicuous illustration , of the plan by which onesixth of the registered voters of the United Kingdom are enabled to return a majority of the House of Commons .
"We say enabled ; but we might say forced . What is Calne ? A little borough mouldering on the banks of the Merlan , a relic of pot-¦ wallopper glory . Many German dukedoms are more important . Xiike those sovereign dukedoms , it has a constitution and a standing army , the constitution being a mayor , four aldermen , and twelve councillors , and the standing army a beadle . In ancient days , when BitucE and Buiot were candidates for the Scottish crown , when Coeviko was preaching to the Tartars , when Genoa
began to glow in marble on the purple coasts of the South when tlie Knights Hospitallers were retiring to Cyprus , the Merlan weavers , subjects of the Barons of Kex * ry , were first represented in Parliament by one member , and so have they continued , and now , being an appanage of the same family , with the eightfold coronet of Lansdowne , they elect the IjANSdowke member . Generally the Marquises have chosen one of their own blood to occupy
this seat in the House of Commons . JNow and then , however , they have picked out a favourite of their party , as Dunning , Bjurbe , Jektll , MiCAUiAr , and General Wim . iams . The constituent body , however , composed of five ancient burgesses and about a hundred and fifty-two ten-pound householders , is gradually dwindling away , so that , ultimately , a jury of broad-cloth weavers may represent the British Constitution at Calne .
Fronie is a more lively borough , the Botles not having bought ur > all the electors . Fromc possesses , in fact , an independent party , which has endeavoured to vindicate the eternal and inalienable rights of the human race , by declaring that though the Boyi . es belong to Promc , Frome does not belong to the Botles . The vote of one Somerset brewer , however , is said to have turned the scale , and the Earls of Cork and O intuit y are still the feudal Seigneura of l < Yomo .
The history of this borough involves us in less pedantry than is inevitable , when wo traco with admiration the chronicles of ancient ; Calno decaying on the banks of Merlan waters . Promo was not an integral part of tho Britisli Constitution until 1832 , when , to balance tho new constituencies , such as that of Birmingham , the Conic and Sukp-PAitn interest waa endowed with the votes of about throe hundred electors , there being , even then , a small independent party at Frome . Wo know not what has become of
tho Sn iopvakd people—of that Thomas hu icp-PA « n wlio progressed so magically from Liberalism to Liberal Conservatism , to Conservatism , mid to Protection ; or of hia heirs , representatives , and assigns . Certain it is that , fifteen years ago , tho Siitcvpa ni > s dincontinued their old practice of sending themboIvoh to Parliament . Whether their iniluonco whb bought , borrowed , broken up , or carried away ; or whether they retired , like weary on i porora , from publiccarea , the Hoy iyicr , whom they had defeated in two elections , olocted themselves in July , 1847 , July , 1852 ; March , 1853 , and July , X 85 G .
Three times "without opposition . But the cloth and silk-weavers > . ale-brewers ,, and iconworkers of Frome have long determined ! to see their borough free , and 3 > owaiiD Nxchoii , known to the City of London as an [ : E 3 > Sheriff , and to a certain class , in a certain way , as an employer , is the elect of the Frome Liberals . As when the Greeks and Trojans , Guelphs and Ghibellines , the Bed and White Roses , the Church and the Reformation , were at war , and shepherds saw from afar the smoke of burning cities , so did the battle rage , and telegraphs flashed hourly to an expectant Commonwealth the announcement that
Boyle had headed Nichox , or Nichol headed Botle , that the bloated aristocracy had trampled down the nation , or that the man of the people had triumphed , and asserted Magna Charta , the Bill of Rights , and those glorious principles which have made Great Britain all she is , and will make her all she can ever hope to be , with more to follow . Botle , however , beat ] STichol . In the
morning NicnoL was in a proud position , at the head of the poll , being two in advance of Botle . The Eoylians then , rallied , and JN ~ ickol , nine in the rear , was compelled to remind the Fromites that England expected every man to do his duty . Whereupon the independent electors made a national effort , and placed the two candidates upon a level . The heart of NichoJa throbbed .
But " a Botle , a Botle , " was sounded , and Wichol was one behind . Him rescuing , a pale silkweaver , passing through the ranks of three thousand non-electors—as base as the rabble of Braintree—gave his name firmly at the hustings , and once more it seemed that the vital principles of the Constitution for which our forefathers fought and bled , and which carried England in safety through the convulsions of 1848 , Sir , would have a memorable triumph at Frome . Coek and OitRERT , however , possessed a reserve , and , at the last moment , when ] STiciiol had not one voter left , that inauspicious brewer at the butt end of the election rolled to the
front , proved his qualification , gave his suffrage , and decided that the family , not the borough , should be represented iu Parliament . Meanwhile , at least three thousand nonelectors , full-grown men , looked on , or stayed at home , animated or otherwise by the farce . They were of the residue—if they had opinions , it would have been impertinent to repress them . The three hundred voters would " indirectly" guard their interests , and Major Botle , tho representative of a hundred and fifty-eight subjects of his family , would go to Parliament full of urbane resolves in their > elialf .
But there is yet one chance against him . There will be a scrutiny , and the result oi this scrutiny may bo that two of Major Botlk ' s constituents may be expunged , and the hundred and fifty-seven voters be represented instead of the hundred and fifty-eight . That will indeed be a triumph . Only , suppose the majority of tho nation Avere to object to tin a process , and to insist tliat an olection should be something more than a farce ? They might then substitute a real for an unreal representation , a serious parliament for a parliament that is superannuated and ridiculous .
Jorar Sfl » Iflbgi] ^Ki Ieapeb. 71 1
Jorar Sfl » IflBgi ] ^ KI IEAPEB . 71 1
Mil. Ciiakijks Matiikws, Tho Comedian, B...
Mil . CiiakijKS Matiikws , tho comedian , ban Hied his Hcluidulo iu tho County Court at Lancaster , tinder the Insolvent Dobtora Act . The-document contains a number of creditors . Tho debtw in tho aggregate are Hot forth at !) 7 HH . Of that suiri , ( 5207 . aro -without consideration . Upwards of 1000 / . aro raoro than oneo entered on the schedule ., reducing the debts for which value had been received to 7 f > 61 / ., incurred from Juno , 1 H . > -1 . The insolvency in attributed to the unfortuniiUi speculation in tho Lyceum Theatre ( by which 6000 / . worn lost ) , and to tho renewal of old debts under hid bankruptcy . Mit . Thaokkkav hnti a new serial work , in monthly part * , iu preparation .
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V [Nr This - Ubpartmxnt, As Aix Opinions...
V [ nr THIS - UBPARTMXNT , AS AIX OPINIONS , HOtTOVEB XXTBEME , ABE ALLOWED AH BEPBBSSIOV , IBS BIMTOB N & CRaSJJULT HOLDS HIXSEtT KBSPOUSIBLB FOB HONK . ]
A Remonstrance With The Critics. (To The...
A REMONSTRANCE WITH THE CRITICS . ( To the Editor of the Leader . ' ) Sm , —Although you seem to differ from me on some of the details of Italian politics , I trust you -will give me an opportunity of answering m your columns certain , unwarrantable remarks that have been made in the English press with reference to my recent work on the Subalpine Kingdom . I address myself to you , partly because on most matters of principle and political doctrine I cordially agree with you , partly because I know that the Leader is much read and respected in Italy . I wish my explanations to be known in Turin as well as in London .
I have often observed that if in ordinary life you make a statement , modified by restrictions , to an irritable person who expects you to agree with him unreservedly , he is apt at once to class you with determined opponents of his views . Because I have not joined in the foolish , unrestricted praise which has hitherto been lavished on Piedmont , or rather on the persons actually in power in that countrypraise put forward by interested individuals and repeated from -want of information—I am accused of being inimical to its progress . It is curious to notice that even in English papers Piedmontese politics are
discussed in this eminently Piedmontese way . Nothing satisfies Count Cavour and his party except awe-stricken admiration . The writers for the ministerial press of Turin are generally the pique-assiettes of some powerful courtier ; and it is easy to recognize the parasite in their style . It is not to be expected that such persons should have any very great regard for truth ; and accordingly the statements circulated in England , generally with reference to Piedmont , and particularly with reference to my work , are characterized by extreme recklessness . The ignorance of editors has been calculated on , and not without reason in some cases .
I should rather say that statements are made concerning me personally totally at variance with fact ; and it is this new style of criticism that chiefly pro - vokes me to write . Several journals have indulged in small biographical sketches , against which I must strongly protest . It seems to be agreed unanimously that having spent the greater part of my life among " Red Republicans" in Paris , I was transferred to the society of extreme liberals or democrats in Piedmont ; and that I have made it my business to reflect blindly the opinions of the men with whom I have come in contact . It is quite a revelation to me if this be the way that writers in the English press come by their ideas . I suppose that critics speak from their own experience ; and because they make themselves the echo of one circle , fancy that whoever disagrees with them must make himself the echo of another .
The time has not yet come for me to write my autobiography ; but such accusations having been put forward most perseveringly , I hope it will not be thought that 1 am eager to take an opportunity of speaking of myself , if I say that my system of obtaining information has always been the very opposite of that attributed to me . I did not go to Prance for my democratic opinions , —I was born and bred to them ; and before I went to Paris was too confirmed in my views to run any risk of being corrupted in that capital of extravagant theories and unpractical men . Where do the reviewers see any traces of my adoption of French ideas ? What French republican will accept mo as a comrade and endorse my
views of tho policy of his party ? It is quite true that I have not joined in the vulgar and ignorant abuse that has been lavished on men who , with all their faults , aro the most respectable that Franco possesses . It is quite true , also , that although I have taken my liberal principles from England , I have endeavoured to leavo behind English prejudices in discussing French facts ; and was not disgusted , because , when our neighbours overthrew a government which we would have overthrown ourselves , they took counsel of tho circumstances by which they were surrounded , of thoir past history , and their national character , instead of stupidly endeavouring to apply some English remedy to their case . monarchical
In tho absence of an honest dynasty , constitutionalism is impossible in France . Englishmen who become convinced of this fact fly into a passion , call for despotism , and , when it comes , say , " The only government lit for tho vagabonds I" i think I am more moderate and reasonable in maintaining that , respect for monarchy nnd respect for aristocracy being eradicated from tho Gallic race , tho establishment of a democracy would do no more than place that country on a level in progress witli ourhcIvch . An ISngltsh House of Commons , elected m a little fairer way than our presont one—say according to tho law withdrawn " iu tears" at tho commencement of tho war and never heard of nince—
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 26, 1856, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_26071856/page/15/
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