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of that humanity . Musing on all this , and coming to the conclusion that judging of this enlightened country by the " votes" papers , it must be in rather a rotten condition , I arrived afc the Stranger's Gallery , and got into the hum of a crowded House , which had just finished private business , bad presented its petitions , and was awaiting the what next of that most interesting hour for announcements—hali-past four . Sad and solemn myself , I expected , perhaps unreasonably , some sackcloth and ashes expressions for the national sins in that augnst assembly ; at least it was natural to think that the tone of the week would be in the
proceedings . But the hum was a complacent hum . ; there was cheerfulness in individual attitudes ; the general group was decidedly bold , brisk , and lively . Suddenly there boomed through thehot Housethe presidential voice of anaxandronrc Shaw Lefevre , who announced " Lord John Russell . " Loud cries of " hear , hear / . " Was ho going tearfully to deliver a Jeremiad over EngKsh degeneracy and the social confusion of our civilization ? I saw the decorous faces of the House ; and the meaning and importance the Leader threw into his opening bow and preliminary " Mr . Speaker—Sir , " for an instant sustained the notion . But I heard some mumbling , and then
some reverential words about "the birth of a Prince ;" and the loud cheers—chuckling , jolly , welcome little strange cheers—disclosed the mystery . It was an address of congratulation to the Queen that she had got an eighth baby . There tlie baby was , you were requested to believe , lying in Lord John ' s arms , and being presented—by him as a sort of male Mrs . Lilly , to the host of constitutional papas—fo the " faithful Commons . " We are a domestic nation . It was a pretty scene . One expected next the Sergeant-at-Arms to advance with caudle , and Dr . Locock , to be immediately sent up to the Peers as the Lord Deliver us , to appear at
the Bar , as clerks in departments do , with returns . Lord John , having gently smirked through his business , with all his sympathies as a loyal subject and a paterfamilias aroused , sank back into his seat ; and another round of cheers hailed Mr . Disraeli , who , dark , and grave , and mysterious , pulled down his vest , put his white hand on the green box—the contrast is so telling—and had the honour of seconding the motion , being sure ( here every one remembered how the Court cuts him ) that these motions were something more than ceremonies ( here every one remembered the Coningaby chapter , in which he adjures the throne to emerge from its contemptible position as a Doge ' s
arm-chair ) , inasmuch as with the continuance of the reigning House —( here there were great cheers , —every honourable member felt the Queen and the Prince were constantly keeping the consideration in mind)—were indissolubly bound up the fortunes of the land . ( Loud cheers . ) The motion agreed to with acclamation ; the sweet , interesting episode—that little oasis of the finer feelings of our nature , &c , amid the stern , metallic desert of businesri—was over . The House , as usual , passed from its poetry to the orders of the day , just as the artillerymen fired tho guns , and then took them to the caserne and spunged them , to be ready for next time .
Joyous feelings being suppressed—loyalty put on one side again—the Speaker takes the paper in his hand , puts bis glasses on , and booms " Mr . Vornon Smith . " Mr . Vernon Smith has the first business ; and it happens to bo in jarring contrast to the dutj just got over so pleasantly . Alas ! one thinks , ifc is good to have many princes—it is good to be affectionately loyal ; but hero would appear something almost commanding a moment ' s oblivion of royal fruitfulness . But nobody dovhi on tho floor there notices tho contradiction they are going through . Tho mover there , the favourite nephew of the great Canon Smith ,
who could have said sonic bitter thing * about such an occasion , U nil smooth , smug complacency , and is going through his work as a joko worth gentlemen ' s attention before they go oh" to dinner , and out of tho way of that frightfuf Irish debate , which threatens to set in about seven . The business Mr . V . Smith lms in band in a motion for another address to her Majesty ¦—to congratulate her ?— -no , to ask her to issue a commission to inquire into tho corrupt . system believed by a certain Committee , which ought to know , to bo extensive ami permanent ; in the borough of
Cambridge . ( Loud cries of " Hear , hour , " too . ) I was the chairman of tho committee , Hiiid this right honourable and gentlemanly man , which inquired into the allegations of tho petition oompluiiiing of an unduo return for Cambridge ; and 1 can iiMHnro tho House tho < lwclosures wore really frightful . ( Hear , bear . ) Then ho went on to describe tho nyHloin . Ho wiih joculur about ono Samuel Long , Mm local Coppock ( I luul neon Coppock , o-s I C ! iin « in , in tho vestibule , surrounded by member * , with whom tie dinen every day , and who think him tho iViceal follow iu tho world ); and ho wua humorous , making tho JIouho grin , too , about how tho
bribes to the bribed were given , in Cambridge , by a lady—a lady with a fall—he did not mean in the immoral sense ; but who was veiled . And , really , he proceeded , this system is not confined to the poorer voters ; it is- —ah—the regular thing in Cambridge for all classes , high and low . And he was funny about that universality of the thing ; and made curious extracts from , the evidence to show that the witnesses admitted it . The House was delighted with the extracts . Then , with a lurch , Mr . Smith became moral . How was all this to be remedied ? A commission would do much ; it would be an exposure ; but it would
not do all that was wanted . The House hear , heared . I am greatly afraid , said Smith , putting his head pn one side , talking in a low key , and with the air of a man quietly settling the question—the House being very attentive—that the evil is in the degraded tone of the constituency themselves . The House hear , h ^ red : it was pleasant to throw all the blame on the country—a relief from responsibility . Smith had made a hit : he felt that , and went on . I am afraid , he said , corruption is not felt to he a disgrace by a voter ; and I suspect , therefore , we must wait for some years before we can remedy the evil . ( Hear , hear . ) The House thought , certainly , it could afford to wait . My friend , Tom Duncombe , said Smith , asks us to wideu the electoral districts , and to have no constituency
under 20 , 000 voters . That ' s all nonsense : suppose you have 20 , 000 electors , parties may be so balanced , 100 or 200 will turn the scale ; and where there are voters who turn the scale , of course you must bribe ' em . ( Hear , hear . ) Every hon . member felt that . Smith was really talking well . I ask the House , continued the orator , whether it isn't true , that so long as there are men willing to be corrupt , there will always be money to buy ' em ? That was putting ifc epigrammatically : Q . E . D . Mr . Vernon Smith sat down , satisfied that he was a fine specimen of an English gentleman , and that he had hit the nail on the head , and would hear his small speech talked about as the " right sort of thing , sir—no humbug , " over cutlets in every club in London , in an hour .
I heard Mr . Labouchere , on the same national theme , on Tuesday . Mr . Labouchere is another heavy liberal , —one of the higher classes , too , wlio think that as the people is rather scoundrel , and business must be carried on , why they must be bought , —and he made the same sort of speech ; but he was somewhat more scrupulous . He spoke in mournful cadences of the rascality of Hull , to inquire into the corruption of which he was asking for a commission , in the same way . One of our oldest mercantile communities Shocking . Every one of the freemen got 30 s . at elections ; and not one of the 10 / . householders would vote ,
unless the candidate permitted hospitality , and hired a committee-room in their houses . But , said Mr . Labouchere , slowly and emphatically , and with that artificial solemnity which he got in the old time , and which be has never lost , and the peculiarity of which is that it is applied to small subjects and great subjects —to the question of a war or the question of a railway , with equal rigidity , "I do believe that tbore are , nevertheless , a large number of pure , independent , and respectable persons in the constituency of Hull . " Hear —hear , — the House had no doubt ; there might bo some . Ho waid why ho thought so ; had lie not made
this motion , the House would have received a petition from Hull , praying for enquiry ( I . e . disfrnnchisement ) . That settled tho matter ; tho commission , would not need the lantern ; there were , no doubt , more than two or three honest men hi ono of our most ancient mercantile communities . Then , deepening into darker solemnity , —finishing bis sentences with still abrupter spondees , which is ancient House of Commons style , — Mr . Labouchero went into tho general question . He had heard opinions that electoral corrupt ion in this country was on tho inoreuso ; be for ono did not believe- it . No , sir , his deliberate- opinion was , sir , Mint . corruption was on the decrease , —that at tlio last election it wan less than at tho previous election .- ) , — and that there was only more talk because there was mom
virtuous indignation—more public Hcli-res-j > ect . Von conld hoo a smile Hit along tho rows , as that came . Mr . Liibouebero gives excellent dinners , and is a great favourite , and is frightfully rich ; but , confound it , that was too absurd . He trusted , sir , to this growing public opinion ; it was an age of progress ; and , as an evidence , he instanced tho readiness with which the House gr ;* i , ed these Commissions . Ago of progress . Henry L : U : ou :: here « aw the age of rotten boroughs — . sat for ono of them ; bo was a zealot for tho Reform Hill of 18 . W ; and in 1851 ) bo ban to accuse our third port of only having " several " honest men in its whole community . IJut no ono is in tho House to meet such talk an all thin—to nay "it in not true : you aro twaddling , " " If this in true : let us abolish representative institutions : " and Hull had an low defenders ,
—remembrance of the civil wars should have inspired some one , —as Cambridge . The House is running from the horrors of the system , as a man flies from a tear , —dropping ono garment after another , to delay and feed the monster ; or as the shipwrecked do in a rotten boat—throw overboard the heavier cargo . The glaring , hideous , evil , is obvious , but nobody will face it ; and next year , the committees forgotten , we shall have the routine cry for " Keforin , " and Lord John , for decency ' s sake , suggesting a " measure . " There are
only two men Avho would talk the truth ; and these two would put it in opposite lights . Mr . Roebuck would make the House translate what it means , byhear hearing , the trash of the Smiths and Laboucheres ; Sibtborpe , on the spot , cynical about Britons , says his say briefly . Commenting on Mr . Labouchere , on Tuesday , be made bis usual reverent and pungent quotation from Job—" Ha—ha . " In the sham atmosphere , Sibthorpe sounded eloquent for once ; but , then , the voice was from the dim back bonches—it may not have been he .
Observing the conduct of the House of Commons in regard to these election matters , —its utter bewilderment and steady ignoring of general conclusions , and incapacity of consistent , systematic , conduct , —assuming the Smiths and Laboucheres to be faithful interpreters of the average notions and feelings on the subject , —assured that there is no deep sensation at all , when you get members out of the House , on the matter , but a " man of the world" sort of acceptation of things as they are , —it is very difficult to make up one ' s mind to the belief that when grave topics of national moment are approached there is any hearty faith either in the
present or the future among the debaters . There are other pieces played—and the dresses are different—but isn't it farce , too ? This laisser aller House would appear to the innocent public on Tuesday as having been very thoughtful and earnest on Monday about Education : and it would be a consolation to suppose that though there is indifference about the voting generation , as being ; utterly irreclaimable , there is anxiety to look after the human beings who are growing up , and will return an eternity of Smiths and Laboucheres in tho twentieth century . For all this rottenness and corruption , from Carl ton Club members who have
" an object , " as Colonel Dickson said , in " getting in , " to the ' 60 s . freemen of Hull , who are of course much . more contemptible , bcc . iuso their conscience and manhood go at so much lower a figure , the remedy would truly appear to be " National Educat"on . " If there was hope anywhere for u resurrection in tie Golgotbic , " so much ahead , " public spirit of the age , it was in Lord John ' s long announced measure , with which , as a first dish , the third course of the Session was to be commenced on Monday night . To see and hear all about it , it was necessary to be early at the gallery door , for on such a great nig lit , on such a measure , there would be
a rush . That was tho natural theory ; there were not twenty strangers in the Speaker ' s gallery : and that Speaker ' s gallery , observe , is a barometrical index of public interest , —a . s it lills or empties , topics excite or deaden , orators rise or sink . Then the House itself would at least be crowded P When Lord John Itussell rose to arrange- for ( bo enlightenment of the rising generation there were not one hundred members : and it is odd , but no sooner was be on bis legs than a third of those who had been thero disappeared . Perhaps Lord John now ranks with tho bores : but , remember , that it , was two hours to dinner still ; and whatever his
mvu cold , imsalrslyiny , common-place , ho was going to announce ( be intentions , on a great theme , of a strong Government , which included mtarly every statesman identified with the subject . And yet this leader of the House of Commons , of whom you will hear men say , " ¦ Can't be done without , sir , — Lord John has an enormous personal following , —a man who inspires allection , sir , "—commenced his talk by the remark , it was quite unnecessary to beseech attention to bis opening , wince the question was one in which was felt a universal interest . There was a mal apropos naive ! d
about thai , which forced a laugh , and gave a ludicrous turn to all that , was to follow . Why describe what followed ? lOvery one ' s mind is made up about the measure ; and perhaps the general conception is very accurate—Unit , it . was about the best measure a too religious country will admit , of , which proves much for our contentious piety , and littlo for tho enlightenment o * which we , talk at our public dinners :-- and the manner in which the measure was prollered was corresponding ; ¦ -a compromise between an oration and a comtiillmner without the slutu wiuioui
munication , —a so punctuation , nmnicalion , —a paper me punciuauon , tlui which Lord John ( t'itt put in the colons ) can . to any extent speak oil-hand . Always loose , languid , and lumbering , Lord John Russell waa , on this occasion , more than ordinarily bald , crude , cold , and disheartening . He was not proud of his ucboino : and tko tone was that of a man Momowhat " dowu" and asliamcd
Untitled Article
Ann *» , 18 B 3 . ] THE LEADER . 35 *
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Leader (1850-1860), April 9, 1853, page 353, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1981/page/17/
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