The Aberystwith Observer

THE GENERAL ELECTION. SIR M. HICKS-BEACH. Sir Michael Hicks-Beach has issued the following address to the electors of West Bristol:- 0 Gentlemen,—In response to the request of those to whose generous support I am already so much in- debted, I again offer myself as a candidate for the representation of -the Western Division of Bristol in Parliament. It is not necessary for me to dwell upon those sub- jects, however great their importance, which until recently have divided parties and formed the main topics of political discussion. My views upon them were fully set before you a few months ago. Those views then met with your approval, and have not been changed. At that time I ventured to warn you that schemes more or less directly affecting the connection between Great Britain and Ireland would be forced upon the attention of the new Parliament. I expressed an opinion that the adoption of the creed of which such schemes formed a part would involve the commence- ment of an era of political and social revolution; and I asked your support for a policy very far removed from such dangerous projects. My anticipations in this respect have unhappily been more than realised, for the attack has come not from Irish Nationalists, but from Ministers of the Crown. In spite of his previous utterances, on which not a few Liberal can- didates in November last based their opposition to a separate Irish Parliament, Mr. Gladstone has sud- denly sprung upon the country an Irish policy which has been not only opposed by the Con- servative, party, but repudiated by his ablest and most trusted colleagues. Defeated by the indepen- dent judgment of the House of Commons, ha has appealed to the constituencies, and I ask for your support in resisting proposals which in my belief are alike dishonourable to Great Britain and disastrous to Ireland, and could only lead to separation or civil war. It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of the question thus presented for your decision, nor can its various aspects be adequately discussed within the ordinary limits of an election address. It will be my endeavour by other means to place my views upon it more fully before you, for I think you will not be deluded by the suggestion that has been made that the only matter for your consideration is the principle of establishing a legislative body in Ireland for the management of exclusively Irish affairs. Your common sense and your regard for those condi- tions which her Majesty's Government profess their dfesire to fulfil will preclude your acceptance of such a principle without proof that it could be carried into effect consistently with the preservation of the unity of the three kingdoms and the adequate performance of our responsibilities towards Ireland. That proof is entirely wanting, for the definite plan proposed by her Majesty's Government and rejected by the House of Commons ia now disavowed by its authors, and nothing has been suggestedin its stead. We are told that the adop- tion of the policy now offered to the country is but the concession to Ireland of her just rights, and that the only alternative is coercion." I hold that the rights of Ireland in this matter are neither more or lells than those of Great Britain. It should be our guiding principle to equalise as far as possible political privi- leges or disabilities throughout the United Kingdom, and I believe it to be necesssary for this object that in Ireland as well as in Great Britain the Imperial Parliament should be supreme in practice as well as in theory, and that sufficient power should be re- tained in the hand of the executive responsible to that Parliament to secure the just administration of the law, and protect the lives and liberties of the people. Under the legislative union Ireland has, at least, her full share of Parliamentary representation, and of the influence that flows from it in making and administer- ing the law. Irishmen are endowed as largely with political rights, and are as free to use them a3 Englishmen or Scotchmen; but neither in Great Britain nor in Ireland can political organisations be permitted to seek their ends through intimidation, backed by outrage and crime. To prevent this is the plain duty of any Government, for it is not coercion but the necessary vindication of con- stitutional freedom. We are promised that the result of Mr. Gladstone's policy will be relief from disaffection in Ireland and obstruction in Parliament, and the inauguration of an era of cordial affection between the nations. Such promises ignore the history of recent Irish agitation and the character and objects of its leaders, as described by the Prime Minister him- self. The smooth speeches of to-day cannot obliterate all previous records. The political instincts of Ire- land cannot be satisfied by plans which deprive her sons of their full share in the government of the Em- pire and yet fall short of the declared objects of the more dangerous fomentors of discontent. Such con- cession, if made,would only be used to promote further disintegration, and yet for this we are asked to break up that Parliament which has been a model of representative institution to other countries, and to impose immense liabilities on the taxpayers of Great Britain. For the moment the danger has been arrested by the House of Commons it rests with the constituencies by a clear and decisive verdict to remove it. At such a crisis party prejudice should be cast aside, old dividing lines be forgotten in one great AI effort to preserve that unity at home on which depends the strength of our Empire.-I remain, Gentlemen, your obliged and obedient servant, M. E. HICKS- BEACII. MR. JOHN MORLEY AT BRADFORD. Mr. John Morley, M.P., Chief Secretary for Ire- land, addressed a large meeting of Liberal electors at Bradford on Saturday. The chair was occupied by Mr. Alfred Illingworth, M.P., who was supported by Mr. Shaw Lefevre, M.P., and several local members of Parliament. Mr. Shaw Lefevie moved a resolu- tion expressing approval of Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule Bill, believing that only by that means could the union between the two countries, now maintained by force, be replaced by the true and lasting union of friendship and goodwill. Mr. Angus Howden seconded the resolution, which was carried with, however, several dissentients. Mr. Morley, in reply, said perhaps his friends at Birmingham would bask in the sunshine of Lord Salisbury's blandishments at Leeds on the previous night, but he would tell them that the time would come when they would have to pay a great price for these compliments, and Lord Salisbury need not think by bright words he would escape ransom at the hands of his right hon, friend, the member for Birmingham. He need not think he would not have to pay the penalty of those who "neither toiled nor spun." (Laughter and loud cheers.) Lord Salisbury had denied at Leeds that he advo- cated 20 years of coercion as an alternative, but if this coercion was only to be directed against those classes of the people his lordship named robbers, boy- cotters, and maimers of cattle, instead of against the country as a whole, why repeal it in 20 years? (Cheers.) On January 26 Lord Salisbury announced the policy of his then Government, which was to sup- press the Land League, and at that time he must have known from his advisers that that meant nothing less than the suppression of meetings, of censorship of the press, police visits, domiciliary search, and all the rest of the properties and paraphernalia of a despotic government. (Cheers.) When the Tory party said that, and said it was not for coercion, the country had a right to ask if they were not in favour of a policy which meant police action of this kind on an enor- mous scale, and which would leave them at the end of 50 years face to face with all their greatest difficul- ties, aggravated and accentuated, and feelings exas- perated, and themselves in very little heart to discuss the rational settlement of this long-standing quarrel. The barbarisation of Irish affairs which Lord Salisbury spoke of bad been brought about by the policy which the Tory lord wished to perpetuate, and which the Liberals wished to put an end to. (Cheers.) But what was the alternative, of local self-government which Lord Salisbury offered ? He referred them to his speech at Leeds on the ques- tion, and would ask them had they ever read any- thing more evasive in their lives" He said local government was an excellent thing, subject to times and opportunities. (Laughter.) Could they believe Lord Salisbury was prepared to extend to Ireland local self-government upon any considerable scale- (no, no)—or in the sense advocated by the Liberal seceders ? Lord Salisbury knew there was no alterna- tive to the Government's policy but coercion. His lordship now said the bill was dead, but no one be- lieved that the principle and the main conditions and the application of that principle in that bill were in the least dead, but, on the contrary, alive. No measure could go one atom behind the large liberality of the proposals the Government bad made in its bill. The Liberal party in its main body would never assent to a narrower scheme than this they had proposed. (Hear, hear.) It was absolutely contrary to all historic experience —it was contrary to their own knowledge of the facts of the present situation, to dream for a moment that after this great boon had been offered to the people of Ireland, and the people of England, too, that a less boon would be taken as a satisfaction for just, right, and expedient claims. (Loud cheers.) They had brought forward a measure, and would be prepared to bring forward again a bill to deal with Ireland in the only way in which it could be treated. They were told the supremacy of Parliament was sacrificed. But, he asked, where was the supremacy of Parliament now, and where bad it been for the last six years? Thev were told they had given away the unity of the empire, but he would put a case to them. Suppose England was at war to-morrow with a foreign foe, would they have Ireland as a friend ? ("No, no.) Lentil the Irish Question was settled, Great Britain could scarcely ever enter into a great foreign enterprise. The position of England at the present time was not strong, but weak, and it was they, who were accused of disintegrating the empire, and nut Lord Salisbury, who were for the ascendancy and the strength of the whole realm. (Loud cheers.) They had been told in the House of Commons and at Leeds that the end of this would be separation. (Cries of Bosh.) He did not believe that the bulk of the Irish people desired separation, but even if they did under that irrational and mischievous system this country had too long pursued they would desire it no longer when they had freedom and power within their reach, and when they discovered, as surely they would, that their chiefest and most lasting interests were indis- solubly bound up in the Union with Great Britain and now that they were making every effort to bring about these closer and stronger ties he asked them not to raise their hand to thrust Ireland back into the sullen furnace of her late afflictions. ADDRESS TO THE AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS. Mr. Jesse Collings has issued a long address to agricultural labourers, in which he complains that the questions of land and of county government reform have been unjustly laid aside to bring forward a scheme for the government of Ireland which was not before the constituencies at the general election. The address proceeds :—You will be told that the Land Purchase Bill is dead and will not pass. Do not be deceived. Mr. Gladstone has declared that it is an inseparable part of his scheme." If the first bill-che Separation Bill-should pass, then the Land Purchase Bill is certain to become law. Candidates will tell you that, while voting for the Prime Minister's scheme, they will not support the Land Purchase Bill. They will not, however, be masters of the situation. Mr. Gladstone will have the aid of the Tories and the Whig landlords in thi3 matter, and he will be able to pass the Land Bill without difficulty. It is absolutely certain, therefore, that in voting for the Prime Minister's Irish policy you will be voting, not only for the Separation Bill, but for the Land Purchase Bill as well, thereby bringing a heavy burden on the neck of the taxpayers of this country. A distinct issue is thus clearly raised in the present elections. You will have to choose one of two policies. First, the policy which is contained in the two bills to which I have referred secondly, a Liberal Unionist policy which seeks to do justice to Ireland by giving a form of local govern- ment to that country which can be extended to Scot- land, Wales, and England, and which, at the same time, will secure the unity of the Empire by preserv- ing one supreme Parliament for the United Kingdom. This is the plain issue on which you will be required to vote. We advocate a system of self-government such as will do justice to the whole people of Ireland, both North and South, a system under which the local liberties of the country might be fully and peace- fully developed, and at the same time the Union and integrity of the United Kingdom maintained. We desire land reform in Ireland-the true key of Irish discontent-but such land reform as will benefit I' the labourer and peasant, and not the wealthy land- lord." LORD SALISBURY AT LEEDS. Lord Salisbury, speaking at the Conservative De- monstrati :n at Leeqte on Friday night, said the Irish Bill, on which Mr. Gladstone's Government staked its existence a week ago, had died, and before the death it was abandoned. It was a measure which threatened the Empire, in support of which the Conservative I party now appealed to the public. The Ministerialists had misrepresented their opponents. Mr. Parnell had stated, and Lord Spencer and Mr. Gladstone had directly repeated the charge, that the late Govern- ment were in favour of granting Home Rule, with protection for Irish industries, and that they only j abandoned their proposals when elections turned against them. It was a statement without any foun- t dation in fact. Leaving Lord Carnarvon's explana- tion to speak for itself, the noble Marquis said his views had never changed. With reference to the expediency of granting a legislature to Ireland, he always thought, and still thought the thing impractic- able, and, if it were conceded, it would ultimately lead to separation, to the severing of the last link, as Mr. Parnell had said at Cincinatti, which bound Ireland to England. Separation was the end to which the Government measure pointed. There was not a united demand for Irish legislature. He had never been in favour of coercion except against murders, robberies, mutilators of cattle, and those whose system of terror made life bitter to many. A vote of confidence in the Conservative leader was adopted.

ijaiatA-!»faa3gaMgL^afcJ!v.n mum ".ilia uriri ii MR. GLADSTONE'S MIDLOTHIAN CAMPAIGN. On Friday night Mr. Gladstone inaugurated another Midlothian campaign by addressing a crowded and enthusiastic meeting in the Music Hall, Edin- burgh. He said just as Inkerman was the soldiers' battle, so was this the people's election, and he be- lieved the determination and strong sense of justice in the people would make up for the disaffections in the Liberal ranks. What he saw on Thursday convinced him that the people were determined to carry this measure, and he was sure Scotland would not be averse to it. The controversy must be brought speedily to a close, or public business would be interrupted and social order in Ireland would not be restored. He denied that th6 question could not be satisfactorily dealt with it could be if the country spoke out, and when it was settled people would wonder why they had opposed it, as they had wondered in the case of other great measures which bad become law. He pointed out that of the Conservative party, 40 mem- bers owed their seats to the Parnellite vote and had Liberals been returned, the question at issue might have been decided by now. As the matter stood, they did not ask Parliament to pledge itself to the details of the bill—indeed he always said there was not a particular which Parlia- ment was not free to change, and he should readily have welcomed any improvements which could have been made. What they wanted to do was to establish an effective local Legislative Body for Ireland, to manage Irish affairs, which should be compatible with the union of the Empire, based upon sound, economic principles, and equitable adjustment of imperial burdens, with reasonable safeguards for the minoritv. That was a sound and rational solution of the ques- tion, and that was what the bill was intended to effect. The bill was dead, but the principles survived, and he was disappcinted at the barrenness and servility of their critics. He expressed his surprise at the attitude Lord Carnarvon assumed in reference to Mr. Parnell, and said he was sure Lord Salisbury must have known of the interview which took place. He reviewed the alternative policies of Lord Hartington and Mr. Chamberlain, which were halting, shifting, and visionary, having no finality; and claimed for the Government policy that it would settle the question to the satisfaction of Ireland and the credit of England. On Saturday Mr. Gladstone remained in the Royal Hotel, Edinburgh, until about 6 o'clock in the even- ing, when, accompanied by Mrs. Gladstone, Mr. W. H. Gladstone, and Mr. and Mrs. P. W. Campbell, he drove to Beeslack, about nine miles from Edinburgh, the residence of Mr. John Cowan, chairman of the Mid Lothian Liberal Association. The party left Beeslack on the return journey to Edinburgh about 10 o'clock, and on arriving at Mayfield Toll, in the outskirts of the city, Mr. Gladstone, Mr. W. H. Glad- stone, and Mr. Campbell left the carriage, intending to walk to the hotel, the evening being fine, while Mrs. Gladstone and Mrs. Campbell drove on. The party bad reached Newington about quarter before 11 o'clock, when Mr, Gladstone was recognised, and in a short time they were surrounded by a large and enthusiastic crowd who pressed in upon the right hon. gentleman in such a way as to render his position very uncomfortable, if not somewhat dangerous. Superintendent Harding, of the County Police, Inspector Mackay, and Detec- tive Campbell, of the City Police, observing the position of affairs, came to the rescue, and with diffi- culty Mr. Gladstone was got into a passing tramway car, no cab being at hand. The crowd increased in dimensions until by the time the car reachpd the General Post Office several thousands of people had assembled. The car was bound for Leith, but instead of being sent on its journev it was turned west into Princes-street, and went direct to the Royal Hotel. On arriving there great difficulty ?ras experienced in getting Mr. Glad- stone removed from the car, the crowd being so dense and so eager to close around him. At length, through the aid of the police and others, the right hon. gentleman was got safely into the hotel. He was much excited, and so exhausted that he sat down for a few minutes on the steps of the stair leading to his apartments till he recovered himself. Meantime the crowd continued cheering outside, and it was not till close on midnight that it dispersed. On Sunday fore- noon Mr. Gladstone attended Divine service in St. John's Scottish Episcopal Church, and in the evening he went to St. Mary's Cathedral. On each occasion his arrival and departure were witnessed by large crowds. Mr. Gladstone addressed the second meeting of his campaign at the Edinburgh Music-hall on Monday afternoon. He denied the suggestion that he had cheered Mr. Sexton when the latter had taunted Mr. Chamberlain as having been Mayor of Birmingham, and said that the position was exactly up to the level of his ability. Mr. Gladstone had the highest admira- tion of Mr. Chamberlain's career in connection with Birmingham. Lord Salisbury bad avoided answering the questions Mr. Gladstone had put with regard to the Carnarvon-Parnell conversation, and he now re- peated them again, asserting that the country had a right to a reply. He suggested that Mr. Goschen might be more fittingly recommended to the suffrages of a Tory than a Liberal constituency. Ireland was a block to the progress of British legislation, and he asked the electors to achieve another victory in the interests of mankind. Mr. Gladstone received several deputations in favour of Home Rule later in the day. On Tuesday Mr. Gladstone travelled from Edin- burgh to Glasgow, wheie he met with an enthusiastic reception from the populace. He addressed a large meeting at Hengler's Circus, treating the Irish Home Rule question from a Scotch point of view, and, re- ferring to the National Radical Union, described its objects as absurd, contending that the idea of for- u mulating and obtaining simultaneous and satisfactory measures of Home Rule for England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland was utterly impossible. Mr. Gladstone left Glasgow shortly after, amid the cheer- ing of a great gathering, for Hawarden. At various places on the way crowds had assembled to cheer him, and at some of the stations he spoke a few words. MR. CHAMBERLAIN AT BIRMINGHAM. Mr. Chamberlain on Saturday night addressed a meeting of the electors of the Western Division of Birmingham in the Town Hall. He began, amid mingled cheers and hisses, to refer to the abuse and odium cast upon him in consequence of the course he bad taken in reference to the Irish question, and said that he sometimes had been tempted to ask himself whether the game was worth the candle, and whether be was called upon to pursue to the end this bitter struggle, which was foreign to all the objects with which he entered public life—objects which were now indefinitely postponed by the new controversy which had been sprung upon us, but which at one time he had hoped were almost within grasp. The answer to the question he had asked of himself must come from them. The other day in the House of Commons Mr. Sexton had taunted him with having been Mayor of Birmingham, and said that that position was exactly up to the level of his abilities. He (Mr. Chamber- lain) was surprised to see that Mr. Gladstone cheered that statement. He was surprised that any statesman who was seeking self-government for this country should cast scorn and contempt upon the work of local patriotism, which has done so much for England and for Scotland, But he was as proud of having been Mayor of Birmingham as of any position that he had subsequently been called upon to nil, or which the future might have in store for him. Mr. Chamber- lain went on to vindicate at some length the con- sistency of his attitude towards the question of Home Rule in Ireland, and described the negotiations between Mr. Gladstone and himself with regard to his entering the last Cabinet. Mr. Gladstone had offered him the position of First Lord of the Admiralty. He, however, thought that it was hardly congenial or con- sistent with a Radical's position that he should occupy the headship of one of the great spending and fighting offices of the State; and he preferred to accept a lower office in the Cabinet, because he thought that, as President of the Local Government Board, he might be enabled oO do something to carry out the policy which he had supported before. I told Mr. Gladstone at the time I took office exactly what my opinions were upon the Irish ques- tion. I told him that I did not believe it would be possible to establish a Parliament in Dublin and at the same time to maintain the conditions which Mr. Gladstone himself bad laid down as necessary and essential. Mr. Gladstone was good enough, in spite of the frank and full expression of my opinions, to invite me to join him in an inquiry into the subject, and I readily accepted his offer. I have doubted since whether I was right in so doing, and I will tell you that if I bad known what was to be the nature of the inquiry, and how limited it would be, I doubt if I should have thought it my duty to join the Govern- ment. Mr. Chamberlain referred to his addresses to his constituents and his recent speeches as evidence of his firm intention to consent to no plan that would not sufficiently guarantee the continued supremacy of the Crown in Ireland and the integrity of the Empire. He stood on the same platform now, and had not changed in any degree. As to the bills of the Govern- ment, he did not know who was consulted in their preparation, nor did he know who joined in the in- quiry to which be was invited. When the measures were explained to the Cabinet ir. March they appeared to him at first sight to be more objectionable than even he had supposed to be possible. Hore-igned his seat in the Government when, if he bad consulted his personal ambition, every inducement, political and private, would have led him to the other side. Nothing was wanting save two things. He should have lost, and deservedly lost, the regpect of every honest man and the approval of his own conscience. Mr. Chamber- lain then proceeded to examine the Government policy. Mr. Gladstone, in opening his present cam- paign, said the question simply was whether the Irish were or were not to be allowed to manage their own affairs. But this was not a simple question. If it had been, the Prime Minister would have reached its solution long ago. The issue was complicated. Neither Mr. Gladstone nor anyone else proposed to give the Irish people an unrestricted right to manage their own affairs. Hence the Home Rule Bill bristled with precautions and safeguards. None of the con- ditions named by the Prime Minister had been ful- filled in that measure, and that was the only ground on which an appeal was made to the country the conditions being the unity of the three kingdoms, the supremacy of the Imperial Parliament, and the pro- tection of minorities. If the two bills were really dead, Mr. Gladstone no longer held the field. Mr. Chamberlain referred to the Land Bill, and the enormous risk it entailed upon the British taxpayer. The people of England were being bamboozled about the Land Bill. It was ec' kept in the background because it was not convenient to produce it. But if the Home Rule Bill passed, the Land Bill would pass also. '.They and their chil- dren, and their children's children, and the industries of the country, and the national resources would be loaded for all time with the intolerable burden of an enormous addition to the National Debt. Mr. Cham- berlain next referred to the question of Ulster. He appealed to his hearers to say how they would like in the name of liberty, in pursuance of the grand idea that people ought to manage their own affairs, to be handed over tied hand and foot to the domination of an organisation controlled by men of whom Mr. Gladstone himself had said that rapine was their object," and that crime had dogged their footsteps ?" The leaders of the National movement spoke with bated breath and silken accents in the House of Commons; but the foul machinery and organisations of crime still remained in the land. Even the leaders were not able alto- gether to control the forces they bad called into being. With the real supremacy of Parliament maintained, there would be no necessity for provi- sions for the protection of the minority. In conclu- sion, Mr. Chamberlain said that if the electors again returned him he would bring an unprejudiced mind to I the consideration of any proposals which might be made by the Government in October but he would not pledge himself blindly to accept and swallow whatever might be offered to him. Measures and not men" was once one of the Birmingham great Liberal doctrines, and he did not believe that they were prepared to substitute for it the new doctrine of political infallibility. A resolution approving of Mr. Chamberlain's candidature, and pledging the meeting, in the event of a contest, to support him at the poll, was carried with about a hundred dissentients. LORD RANDOLPH CHURCHILL. Lord Randolph Churchill has issued the following address to the electors of South Paddington Gentlemen,— "A people's dissolution has come upon us. Such is the title given by Mr. Gladstone to the most wanton political convulsion which has in our times afflicted our country. The caprice of an individual is elevated to the dignity of an act of the people by the boundless egotism of the Prime Minister. The United Kingdom is to be disunited for the purpose of securing in office, if only for a little while, by the aid of a disloyal faction subsisting on foreign gold, a Government deserted by all who could confer upon it character or reputation. Mr. Gladstone has reserved for his closing days a con- spiracy against the honour of Britain and the welfare of Ireland, more startlingly base and nefarious than any of those other numerous designs and plots which during the last quarter of a century have occupied his imagination. Nor are the results of the repeal of the union, whatever they may be, a matter of moment to him. No practical responsibility for tho&e results will fall upon his shoulders. He regards with the utmost un- concern, or with inconceivable frivolity, the fact that upon those who come after him will devolve the im- possible labour of rebuilding a shattered Empire, of re-uniting a divided kingdom. Let a credulous electorate give him, for the third time, a Parliamen- tary majority by the aid of which another Irish revolution may be consummated, and this most moderate of ministers will be satisfied-will compla- cently retire to that repose for which he tells us Nature cries aloud." Nature to whose cries he has for so long turned a stone deaf ear. I This design for the separation of Ireland from Britain, this insane recurrence to heptarchical arrangements, this trafficking with treason, this con- donation of crime, this exaltation of the disloyal, this abasement of the loyal, this desertion of our Protestant co-religionists, this monstrous mixture of imbecility, extravagance, and political hysterics, better known as the bill for the Future Government of Ireland, is furnished by its author with the most splendid attribute and clothed in the loftiest lan- guage. 1. Under its operation a nation of slaves, paying tribute, is to be filled with exuberant love for Britain, which it now hates, but with which it is now on a footing of perfectly political equality. 2. Persons who have subsisted and flourished on the effects of crime and outrage are to be immediately transformed into governors wise, moral, and humane. 3. A peasantry which has for years exhibited a marked disinclination to pay contract rents to many landlords, will instantly commence, and for the next 50 years will continue with cheerful alacrity and fidelity to pay rent to one single landlord this land- lord, moreover, assuming the garb of a foreign and an alien Government. 4. A people without manufactures, longing for pro- tection by which to create and foster manufactures, are to become in a moment ardent converts to the blessings of free trade. 5. A parliament in which any and every legislative project, or deliberative proceeding or executive act, may be vetoed for three years, is to abound in rapid legislation, and to surpass our ancient historic Par- liament in efficiency of procedure. 6. A financial system under which by no possibility can revenue be adequate to expenditure, is to perform prodigies of economy and scatter plenty o'er a smil- ing land." 7. A pauper population is to roll in riches 8. Law and order and rights of property are im- mediately to take their place as the most sacred and cherished institutions of a country a great portion of whose people hitherto from time immemorial have regarded them only to deride them and violate them, &c., &c. The united and concentrated genius of Bedlam and Colney Hatch would strive in vain to produce a more striking tissue of absurdities. Yet this is the policy, the last specific for Ireland, which is gravely recommended by senile vanity to the favourable consideration of a people renowned" for common-sense, the possessors of an Empire erected and preserved by the constant flow of common-sense, and, I doubt not, the progenitors of a posterity equally powerful, equally courageous, and equally wise. For the sake of this fifth message of peace to Ireland, this farrago of superlative nonsense, the vexatious and costly machinery of a General Election is to be put in motion, all business other than what maybe connected with political agitation is to be impeded and sus- pended; trade and commercial enterprise, now suffer- ing sadly from protracted bad times, and which political stability can alone reinvigorate, are to be further harassed and handicapped; all useful and desired reforms are to be indefinitely postponed, the British Constitution is to be torn up, the Liberal party shivered into fragments! And why ? For this reason and no other—to gratify the ambition of an old man in a hurry. How long, gentlemen, will you and your brother electors tolerate this one-man power? Since 1868, when this one-man power began to show itself in an acute form, have you enjoyed domestic security or foreign credit ? From that time to the present day Ireland has been a struggling victim in Mr. Gladstone's hands, The Irish Church, a great agency for moral, social, and civil order, has been swept away; two special confiscations of landed property were confidently re- commended to and accepted by Parliament as cer- tain to produce peace; six Coercive Acts of the most stringent character Mr. Gladstone has obtained, and all to no purpose. Confusion has become .j worse confounded; the fabric of Government in Ireland has been shattered; lawlessness and disorder have been triumphant and supreme. The present state of Ireland is one of "grave disease," say, Mr. John Morley; and the blame is cast by Mr. Gladstone on the system, on the Constitution, on the Union. It would be as reasonable to cast the blame upen the Equator. The blame for this disgrace cannot be cast upon the system, or upon the Constitution, or upon the Union. The blame must be borne by the man who has been Minister, and who is Minister now. Under the baneful insecurity which is inseparably connected with his name, your trade has gone from bad to worse, your Parliament has become demora- lised, your foreign credit shaken, your colonies alienated, your Indian Empire imperilled. Naturally enough Ireland has suffered iao5t of all, for Ireland, of all the Queen's dominions, was least able to stand a strain. What frighful and irreparable Imperial catastrophe is necessary to tear the British people from the in- fluence of this fetish, this idol, this superstition, which has brought upon them, and upon the Irish, unnumbered woes. The negotiator of the "Alabama" arbitration, the hero of the Transvaal surrender, the perpetrator of the bombardment of Alexandria, the declinator of the struggling Soudan tribes, the betrayer of Khartoum, the person guilty of the death of Gordon, the patentee of the Penjdeh shame, now stands before the country all alone, rejected by a Democratic House of Commons. No longer can he conceal his personality under the shelter of the Liberal party. One hundred members of that party in Parliament, representing thousands of electors, refused in spite of all manner of blandish- ments, deceit and menaces, to support his Irish measure. All his colleagues have abandoned him. From the Duke of Argyll to Mr. Bright, from Lord Hartington to Mr. Chamberlain, one by one he has shed them all; none is near him of his former colleagues save certain placemen unworthy of notice. Last, but not least, the leading lights of Noncon- formity, such as Mr. Dale and Mr. Spurgeon, hitherto the pillars of the Liberal party, stand aloof in utter dismay. Known to this country under various aliases, 'The People's William," "The Grand Old Man," The Old Parliamentry Hand," now in the part of The Electioneering Agent," ho demands a vote of confidence from the constituencies. Confidence in what ? In the Liberal party ? No; the Liberal party, as we knew it, exists no longer. In his Irish project ? No; it is dead, to be resusci- tated or not, either wholly or in part, just as may suit the personal convenience of the author. In his Government ? No they are a mere collec- tion of "items," whom he does not condescend to consult. In himself? Yes. This is the latest and most perilous innovation into our constitutional practices. A pure, unadulterated, personal "plebiscite"—that is the demand; a political expedient borrowed from the last and worst days of the Second Empire. Gentlemen; it is time that someone should speak out. I have written to you plainly—some may think strongly; but whatever the English vocabulary may contain of plainness and strength is inadequate to de- scribe truly and paint realistically the present political position. At this moment so critical we have not got to deal with a Government, or a party, or a policy. We have to deal with a man; with a man who makes the most unparalleled claim for dictatorial power which can be conceived by free men. It is for that reason that I have deliberately addressed myself to the personal aspects of the question, and that I have drawn the character of the claimant from recent history, from facts well within the recollection of all. Mr. Gladstone, in his speech in Edinburgh on Friday, recommended himself to the country in the name of Almighty God. Others cannot and would not emulate sich auda- cious profanity; but I do dare, in soliciting a renewal of your confidence to recommend to you the policy of the Unionist party, in the name of our common country, our great Empire, upon whose unity and effective maintenance so large depend the freedom, the happiness, and the progress of mankind. I am, Gentlemen, yours obediently, RANDOLPH S. CIIUBCIIILL. 2, Connaught-place, June 19, 1886. MR. BRIGHT AND THE ROCHDALE CONSERVATIVES. Mr. Bright recently received from the Wardle- worth (Rochdale) Conservative Club a copy of a re- solution passed by that body, thanking "all those members who voted against the Government of Ire- land Bill, and more especially their worthy towns- man, Mr. John Bright, for his letters, believing that they had great effect in defeating the Government." Mr. Bright has since replied as follows Rochdale, June 18, 1886. Dear Sir,—I thank you for your vote, and I desire to thank the members of your club for the resolution they have passed on the subject of the course I have taken in Parliament in connection with the Irish Bills brought in by the Government. I am sorry there should be any party in the country ready to accept those bills.Yours very truly, JOHN BEIGIIT. Mr. C. Ashworth, Wardleworth Conservative Club, Rochdale. THE DISSOLUTION. The dissolution of the present Parliament, which assembled on January 12th, takes place on Saturday, June 26th. The Queen was to hold a Privy Council on Friday to prorogue Parliament, and another one on the following day, at which the Royal Proclama- tion dissolving Parliament was to be signed. Upon the signature of these documents, which will be posted in conspicuous places the same evening, members of the House of Commons cease to be representatives of the people, and the 16 Scottish representative peers must be re-elected by their peers at Holvrood. The writs, it is understood, will be made returnable within a period of five weeks. In that case, Par- liament being dissolved on Saturday, could be assembled on August 2nd, or even a few days earlier. The following table indicates the earliest and latest days for nominations and polls ORDINARY BOROUGHS. June 28.-Receipt of writ and first possible day for notice. „ 29.—Last possible day for notice. July I.-First possible day for nomination. „ 2.— Last possible day for nomination, and first possible day for poll. „ 7. Last possible day for poll. COUNTIES AND DISTRICT BOROUGHS. June 28.-Receipt of writ and first possible day for notice. „ 30.—Last possible day for notice. July 2.—First possible day for nomination. „ 6.-First possible day for poll. S.-Last possible day for nomination. „ 16.—Last possible day for poll. Lord Hartington's attention having been called by a correspondent to a recent statement by Mr. Gladstone that the late Lord Frederick Cavendish would, had he lived, have supcorted the Irish Policy of the present Government, states his regret that the Prime Minister should have thought it necessary to express his absoluce conviction on a point which can only be one of conjecture. Mr. Bright has written a letter to Mr. Caine de- nouncing the action of Liberal Clubs and Associations in endeavouring to make delegates of their members; and he asks if it is wise for a Liberal constituency to prefer a member who in private has condemned and yet voted for the Irish Bill, and who is now abject at the feet of a Minister, to one who takes the course dictated by his conscience and his sense of honour. Sir Michael Hicks-Beach addressing a large meet- ing of his constituents in Bristol on Wednesday even- ing spoke of the various sudden changes of onir" shown by Mr. Gladstone, whose polic},- Lo said, had been one of change and failure, and it was clear that the last change had never occurred to aim until after the results of the election had been made known. Earl Spencer addressed a crowded m( eting of the supporters of the Government Home llule policy at Colston Hall, Bristol, on W^Tday night. HIs lordship said he believed the crimes in Ireland, and the sympathy which was, unfortunately, too often exhibited for the criminals, and not for the victims, were perpetrated, and existed because England had disregarded the aspirations of the Irish people, and neglected to consider the national claim for self- government.

COLONIAL AND INDIAN EXHIBITION.—The number of visitors to this Exhibition for the week ending June 19 was 252,633 total since the opening, 1,126,202.