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derick William rjemains as interesting to us as if she were still among us . Politically , the event is of no small importance ; H is a blood-tie between Liberal England and Liberal Prussia . Another peculiarly interesting event lias marked the course of the week . The centenary of the birth of Robert Burns has roused the country . In every quarter of the land the fame of Burns has been celebrated , and justice ( perhaps a little in excess ) haa been done to his greatness as a poet and to his virtues as a man . Even in Paris we hear of a marked recognition of the day being made .
The greatest demonstration , however , was at the Crystal Palace , where some fourteen thousand persons assembled to " assist" on the occasion . One of the notable incidents of this celebration at the Crystal Palace was the production of a prize poem , the sucessful competitor out of between six and seven hundred being a lady , whose verses were recited with great effect by Mr . Phelps . The poem is really a remarkable production j but it is still a matter of surprise that put of so large a number of competing poems this one of Miss Craig ' s should have been found to be best . It is a real triumph
for her . An incident of a very different kind demands notice : it is the abandonment of the long-talked-of Dublin meeting of Orange landlords . The movement has been : crushed . Those whom these coercing politicians looked to for countenance and support have turned their backs or indignantly denounced the uncalled-for attempt to rekindle the rebellious fire which has so nearly died but . A meeting of Irish members has given the finishing stroke to the atrocious blunder by declaring that in Ireland at this moment liberty , life , and property are as well cared for as they are in England . Strange if , after alii it were not so .
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The Labour Question . —Mr . Snuffles , I am sure Hodge is in debt , and I am afraid your bill will never get paid . " - —•• 'I keep a careful account , ma'am , " answered Snuffles , " and if ever Hodge can ,. I know he will , pay me . " - ;— " Hodge ' s employers—for he has had several— --don't speak well of him , Mr , Snuffles j they say he is a troublesome , surly fellow , never content with bis wages . "—" Mrs . Turnover , ma'am / ' said Snuffles ; " no labourer with a wife and six children ever was contented ,, that I have had . any conversation with ; unless he has become so stupified with trying to do what can't be done , that he gets past discontent , and gives it
up ; or unless he was a man , muddle-headed from the beginning ,-with not sufficient ideas to feel contented or discontented . " . — " Goodness , Mr . Snuffles 1 " I exclaimed , with a smile , " I didn't know you were a RadicaU" — - " No more I am , ma ' am , " replied the old man , drawing himself up . " ' For Queen and country , ' is all I know about politics , and all I care . But that don't prevent me from seeing and knowing that the labourers work very hard , and don't get paid in proportion . "— " They certainly do work hard , " I assented , " nobody will , or can deny that ; but people say , if they managed better , they might do very ' well indeed—might not only live said Snuffles
but save . " "If I thought ao , ma ' am / ' , " I wouldn't give trust as I do . But I know better . I wish Ididn't . I don't say but what they might manage better than they do ; but how is anybody to expect them to try * try , try , when , after all their trying , they will only come a step pr two further on the right road , without being able anyhow to reach the end of it ? A man must have a good hope , ma ' am , or he can't do anything ; and , as things are , he can ' t never hardly look forward to any thing better , after all his life and all his labour , than to die at last and be buried under the name of a pauper 1 " At this point of the conversation , sensiblo that it would have shocked and outraged all the magnates la Lightlande , especially the churchwardens ,
and feeling besides that it was getting dangerously political in upUe of the old man ' s loyal and » ownd profeaelona of opinion , X madean opportunity of bidding him good morning . Yet , after living some years at Lightlands , '¦ ' I am , afraid X becaitfe almost as heretical as finufflefl him 8 elf , - ^ Z >^< j ^ ' # « H < w < ih < pU Worth . ' Rumoured Sabpiniax I < oAN , r- "The twMpendance JBe ^ c nays ;—' «? Negotiations for a largo Pledmontcso loan to bo guamnteed by the French , Government have been going on for some time . The overtures were received aa badly as could be by all tho great moneyed Interests of Paris and London . For this reason It •¦« ems that a loan'by puWio eubaoriptlon , to be opened ImultaneQuoIy at Turin , London , and Paris , la decided HP ©» . .
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POLITICAL TOBESHADOWINGrS . Sir * J . Anderson , M . P . —The honourable member , at a dinner at Stirling on Thursday , made some brief allusions to politics . He said-r-I have always been in favour of Parliamentary Reform , deeming the peace and welfare of the country largely bound up with it ; and seeing the good results from the former bill— -r which , Ibelieve , must be apparent to every one—I believe the time has now come for a further step . While I am opposed to universal suffrage so long as we have so many ignorant and degraded men among us , I would lower the franchise , and adopt every practical means for having placed on the electoral roll every intelligent and well-doing man in this country . I care not which plan be adopted so that this end be attained ; and also that the voter , should be protected , by the ballot in the exercise of his privilege .
Messrs . R . Palmer , M . P ., Hon . P . P . Bouvbrtk , M . P . , and F . Pieorr , M . P . —At a meeting of the Reading Farmers' Club , on Saturday , these gentlemen severally referred to the subject of Reform . Mr . Robert Palmer declined at present to pledge himself to any particular course on the question , inasmuch as there were already two measures before the public , and there was still the Government Bill to be brought forwards He should , however , give his support to that measure which he considered best , after giving them all due consideration . —Mr . Boiiverie said the proposed measure of Reform , whether Lord Derby's , Mr . Bright '? , or the one propounded in the Times , deserved the appellation of an extension of the franchise rather than a Reform Bill .
Whatever those schedules might contain , until they knew to what extent the franchise would be enlargedwhat the number of voters would be under the new regime , it ''• was very difficult to say what places should be disfranchised . As his lion , colleague had stated , at present he should pledge himself to nothing . In Mr . Bright ' s scheme he thought there was a great deal that was good , and he thought also there was a great deal that was bad . There were at least forty members given to the metropolis . That seemed to him out of all proportion ; at the same time , he would avoid the-other extreme . Every man had his own nostrum , and he must confess that he rather liked the Scotch system , where three or four small towns were put together , and
they generally sent a very good representative ; but . if the small county towns were to be deprived of repre-r sentation he should think there ought to be more representatives given to the counties . If the number of voters , in counties was very much increased , he presumed that the counties would be subdivided . He never could for one moment acknowledge that the landed interest was not to be represented in the House of Commons because there was a House of Lords . —Mr . Pigott also expressed his determination to follow in the steps of his colleague , and pledge himself to nothing at
the present time . They all looked with the deepest anxiety for the measure of the Government . ; the production of that would show them at once what part they were to take , and , whatever part that might be , he trusted that they had but one object in view , that was the welfare and stability of the institutions of this great country . There could be no doubt that society owed much to the Reform Bill of 1832 ; times had very much changed since then , but still they were all in a progressive state , and it was necessary that institutions should undergo repair and renovation , the same as anything else . .
Mr . Kino Kino , M . P ., and Lord W . Graham , M . P . —On Thursday the members for the county of Hereford addressed their constituents in the Shire-hall , Mr . King , M . P' ., said , on the topic of Reform ;—" The extent and nature of the forthcoming measure being as yet Involved in mystery , he would not pretend to discuss the subject , but would ask for their confidence , that he might duly consider it , and deal With it according to its deserts when it made its appearance in the House of Commons . In 1864 the hon . member for the City of , London had withdrawn his bill because he found , that at that time nobody cared about Reform , and it might be assumed that the same state of things existed at the commencement of last year , for the noble viscount then at the head of the Government Con * fanned that be had not so much as a draft of a
Reform Bill in existence . In the moan time Reform had been talked about ; her Majesty had been made to promise some measure on the subject * and the Ministry were bound to redeem the pledge . But , of course , as conservatives , they had no special favour for the name of ?• Reform , '' which they generally associated with " revolution / ' . Still a measure under that name might bo a good and proper one . He then proceeded to advert to the speeches of Mr . Bright on the subject , and protested against the working classes In large towns being conv olderod the people of England , He wished to see nil classes treated alike In electoral matters . —Lord W . Graham , referred to the difficulties the Government would have to contend with In the forthcoming campaign , in which their sole reliance must be upon the country , whofle interest they would have eincerely at heart in any
measure they might introduce . Aftergiving a warning against any ilUconsidered mode of dealing with the Constitution , he said that although he was far from saying that there were not in Mr . Bright ' s measure parts which might be carried out , still the general bearing arid character of the measure was to transfer political power from one class to another , to take it away from the agricultural or country interest and confer it on large towns ; and this lie ( LordW . Graham ) considered ' neither fair nor just . If such a measure were
carried in its entirety , the farmers throughout England would hardly return one single member . The true object of Reform should be to represent more accurately , if possible ; all classes and existing interests ^—land , commerce , and manufactures ; not to disfranchise one class and swamp another , but to give each its proper position ; not to represent mere numbers , but property , education , and intelligence . Such he should call Conservative Reform ; such , he hoped ,, would be the kind of Reform that would be introduced , and such Reform , he thought , they would be able to support .
Viscount Burt , M . P . —On Saturday his lordshi p addressed his constituents at Norwich . After explaining at some length the public duties which had engaged his attention in Canada , he adverted to the topic of the day . He said it would ill become him , however , to enter into the question of Reform without that due deliberation which he honestly confessed he had been unable to give to it , although , of course , the general principles of a . Reform Bill were fixed in his mind . He might refer : with some confidence to the votes which he had already given as an earnest of the votes which he should give ; but into the details of a measure of Reform he did not then intend to enter . Four Reform Bills would , if he was not mistaken , be submitted to the choice of the House of Commons ; and it would be his duty earnestly and with due deliberation to weigh the provisions of those measures . He should ask himself one question ,
" Are these measures calculated to enlarge that basis of rational liberty which is intended to be secured by the British Constitution ? " He had had an opportunity of seeing various countries all over the world , and he would fearlessly say that the people of England enjoyed a greater amount of rational liberty than the inhabitants of any other nation ; but he should still like to , see that liberty carried a little further , and any measure which had for its object the extension of rational liberty should receive his fullest support . With regard to the franchise , he was not afraid to . entrust it to an honest / industriousman who could understand the duties which a vote entailed . He hoped that in any Reform Bill which might be brought forward some means might . be found of more accurately representing the bone and sinew of England —her honest and industrious operatives—but he was not prepared to state the exact wny in -which he would do this .
Tjbb Right Hon , W . E . Gladstone . —Mr , Gladstone has accepted the Lord High Gpmmissionersbip of the Ionian Islands , though his tenure of that office will be of extremely short duration . He was to open the session of the Ionian Parliament on the 25 th inst . About the beginning of the second week in February he will be recalled and his successor appointed . So that , although this temporary acceptance of office vacates Mr . Gladstone ' s seat for the University of Oxford , he will be reeligible by the time a fresh election can take place ; while the primary measures connected with the better administration of the islands will be introduced with greater advantage than by any successor to his office . — Herald .
Oxford UNiVERSiTY . 7-i-The Vice-chancellor on Thursday received the resignation of Mr . Gladstone , who , it is expected , will be re-elected without opposition . The fact of the right hon . gentleman having accepted Office under Lord Derby ( Chancellor of the University ) will no doubt strengthen his position , and give him a much larger majority should an opposition be attempted . Metropolitan . — On Tuesday Mr . Ernest Jones addressed a yery crowded public meeting at the Parthenium Rooms , when the following resolution wob adopted : — " That in the opinion of this meeting any Reform Bill short of registered manhood suffrage , vote
by ballot , and a more just distribution of seats , with shorter duration of Parliament !) , not exceeding three years , will not bo beneficial to the general body of the people . " Thb Mktropomxan Boroughs Commutkb . — This body of Reformers have issued something like a programme of what they wish to promote , and which loints entirely to the redistribution and rearrangement of aeats . The committee are putting themselves in communication with the members for the various boroughs into which the metropolis is divided , and they intend to hold a series of district meetings . Kbnbingtojbt . -- meeting has been held , and a petition to Parliament adopted , praying that that place should be constituted into a borough returning two
members . ' _ , East Worobstphb « hxrb , —* Tho Hon . Frederick Calthorpe is a candidate for the seat vacant in consequence of the death of Lord Northwick . He declares that ho vm go to Parliament free , bound to no party , and shackled by no pledges . His father , Lord Calthorpe , {« « Conservative , and will * no doubt , ubp tb « great iuuua ce h «
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132 THE LEADEB . [ No . 462 January 29 > 1859 .
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 29, 1859, page 132, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2279/page/4/
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