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- THE GENERAL ELECTION. -
THE GENERAL ELECTION. LORD DERBY AND THE GOVERNMENT. ADHESION TO THE LIBERAL PARTY. The following letter has been sent to the papers for publication:— TO THE EARL OF SEFTON. 23, St. James's-square, March 12, 1880. Dear Sefton,-You have told me, and others have said the same, that many of my friends in Lancashire expect from me a more explicit declaration of political opinion than I have hitherto made. Under present circumstances I cannot refuse to comply with their wish. r i I have been long unwilling to separate from the political connection in which I was brought up, and with which, notwithstanding occasional differences on non-political questions, I have in the main acted for many years. But the present situation of parties, and the avowed policy of the Conservative leader in reference to foreign relations, leave me ne choice. I cannot support the present Government, and as neutral- ity, however from personal feelings I might prefer it, is, J at a political crisis, an evasion of public duty, I might have no choice except to declare myself, however reluctantly, ranked among their opponents. You may make any use of this letter that you please.— Believe me, very tnuy yours, DERBY. THE MARQUIS OF HARTINGTON'S ADDRESS. The Marquis of Hartington has issued the following address to the electors of North-East Lancashire :— Devonshire House, March 10, 1880. Gentlemen,—Her Majesty's Ministers have at length decided to terminate the existence of this Parliament, and to give the constituencies ot the United Kingdom an epportunity of pronouncing their verdict upon the issues which have been 30 long and so fully discussed in Parlia- ment and throughout the country. I therefore hasten to redeem the pledge which I gave now nearly nine months ago, and ask the electors of North-East Lancashire, by returning me as one of their members, to renew the con- nection which many years since existed between this con- stituency and myself. I ask them thus to give a proof of the confidence which, as I believe, they feel in the prin- ciples of the party to which I belong, and their approval of the policy which, in the present Parliament, 1 have consistently but unsuccessfully advocated. The Prime Minister has stated, in his letter to the Lord- Lieutenant of Ireland, the issues which, in his opinion, the country will be called upon to decide. I seek to evade no issues which the Government can raise, but it is necessary that they should be plainly stated, and that others which he has avoided should be brought before you. I know of no party which "challenges the expediency of the Imperial character of this realm." I know of none who have at- tempted to enfeeble our Colonies by their policy of decom- position. If our Colonies are at this moment more loyal to the Throne, more attached to the connection of the mother county, more willing to undertake the common responsibility and burdens which must be borne by all the members of a great Empire than at any former time, it is due to the fact that under the guidance of Liberal states- men they have received institutions of complete self- government, and have learned to recognise the truth that entire dependence on Imperial assistance for their pro- tection and defence is not compatible with their dignity or freedom. No patriotic purpose is, in my opinion, gained by the use of the language of exaggeration in describing the Irish agitation for Home Rule. I believe the demand so described to be impracticable, and, considering that any concession or appearance of concession in this direction would be mischievous in its effects to the prosperity of Ireland, as well as that of England and Scotland, I have consistently opposed it in office and in Opposition, and I shall continue to oppose it. This agitation has existed during the whole of the continuance of this Parliament. It has been treated by the Government until now, if not with indulgence, wiui indifference, and the attempt to rouse national animosities by descriptions of dangers worse than pestilence and famine appears to me to be unnecessary and unwise. This agitation must be met, not by passionate exaggerations, but by firm and consistent resistance, combined with the proof that the Imperial Parliament was able and willing to grant every reasonable and just demand to the Irish people for equal laws and institutions. We have willingly, and without reference to party considerations, co-operated with the Government in the measures which they have proposed for extending to the Irish people, without distinction of religious creed, the advantages of intermediate and University education. The efforts of the late Government in this direction were defeated by a combination of which the party now in power formed the principal element. It would not have been difficult for us to have formed a similar combination for the purpose of embarrassing the Government; but we preferred to assist in the passing of measures which, though in our opinion inadequate in some respects, and not calculated to provide a final settlement of the question, at least gave a proof to the Irish people of the desire of all parties in Parliament to meet a reasonable Irish demand. Much, however, remains to be done in removing those inequalities of the law which still exist to the disadvantage ot Ireland before we can hope that the Irish people will be convinced of the just impartiality of the Parliament of the United King- dom. Lord Beaconsfield claims that her Majesty's Ministers have maintained the Peace of Europe, which he justly describes as "necessary to the welfare of the civilized world. But they did not prevent, even if their policy did not cause, a war in the East of Europe. The ascendancy of England has been claimed in circulars, but it has been surrendered in secret conventions. In the aggrandisement of Russia and the destruction of the integrity and independence of the Turkish Empire the declared objects of their policy have been frustrated. The settlement of the Eastern Question which the Govern- ment claimed to have effected, rested in a main degree on the Anglo-Turkish Convention which stipulated for the reform of Turkish rule in Asia Minor. In the time which has elapsed since that Convention was signed no progress whatever has been made towards giving effect to its provisions. Her Majesty's Ministers themselves will not deny that all the remonstrances they have ad- dressed to the Porte, and all the efforts they have made to reform its Government, have totally failed. And the Convention itself still remains a dead letter. We were told two years ago by the Government that Greece had obtained all that a reasonable Power could demand in the frontier defined by the protocol of Berlin. But Greece has obtained nothing; and that question, which still dis- turbs Eastern Europe, is as far irom a solution as ever. Thus the policy has failed, but the immense responsi- bilities incurred by this country remain responsibilities in return for which the acquisition of Cyprus-which adds nothing to the military strength of the nation-affords no adequate compensation. In Africa her Majesty's Ministers have drifted into a war which they did not sanction, and which they deplore -a war which has brought no honour and no advantage in return for the blood and treasure which have been spent. In Afghanistan they have created a war which has de- stroyed a nation, the strength and independence and friendship of which they declared in common with their predecessors to be important for the safety of the frontier of India. The flower of the Indian army and the resources of India are still employed in guarding the ruins which they have made and in repressing the anarchy they have let loose. The policy of the Government has involved India not only in great present expense, but in future permanent charges which are yet undefined, but which must be immense, and that at a time when it is only found possible to balance the finances of India by a reduction of those public works which are necessary for the well-being of the people and the development of the resources of the Empire. The just influence of England in the councils of Europe is an object which the Liberal party has pursued with at least as much sincerity, and certainly with more success than has attended the policy of the present Administra- tion. The creation of the independence of Belgium was the work of a Liberal Administration, and the successful measures taken by the Government of Mr. Gladstone to protect Belgium when menaced may be well contrasted with the result of the Turkish policy of Lord Beaconsfield. But the influence of England is not based on boasts of ascendency over Europe, irrespective of the objects for which that ascendency is to be employed. It rests on the firmness and moderation of our conduct based upon the material and moral strength of our position, exercised in concert with other nations on behalf of peace, justice, and freedom. I have shown that the Government, by claim- ing to have exerted a paramount influence, have failed to bring about a permanent settlement of aDy of the ques- tions in which they have interfered. And now, when they are asking the country to re-establish the influence of England which, as they have said, has been arrested, they fail to indicate in the slightest degree the objects to which in the future their influence is to be directed. The domes- tic consequence of a foreign policy at once restless and undecided has been, as might have been anticipated, stagnation in internal reforms and financial confusion. If our predecessors had thought only of displaying the power and influence of England abroad, and had neglected the foundations on which they rest at home, that power and influence would never have existed. They are the result of a gradual but constant progress in the moral and material resources of the country. Every advance in the direction of civil and religious liberties, of self-government, and of the freedom of trade, and of popular education, has been a step in the growth of the true power of the Em- pire. Are we now to be content with the display of the re- sults which have been accomplished in the eyes of the world, and to neglect the means by which the results have been obtained? It is acknowledged that the system of popular repre- sentation in Parliament is still incomplete, that the prin- ciples of local self-government have been as yet imper- fectly applied in our counties and rural districts, and that the artificial and obsolete restrictions of law still hinder the natural distribution of land in a manner which would be most advantageous to the State. The existence of these questions has been so far recognized by the Government as to preclude the possibility of argument upon the subject of their urgency. But nothing serious in relation to them has been attempted, nor is there any indication that any- thing serious is intended. The measure of the capacity of the Government for practical legislation has been recently illustrated by the fate of the measure introduced by the Home Secretary for the water supply of London. The very fact of the dissolution having been postponed to the middle of the session when it might with equal conveni- ence have taken place at the commencement of the year furnishes a proof that the legislative duties of Parliament are a matter of no concern in the view of the Government. The Chancellor of the Exchequer will have shortly to explain how he proposes to deal with the financial deficits which have accumulated during the last three years, not- withstanding the imposition of fresh taxes; but he will be placed in the alternative of acknowledging that the Ministry shrink from asking the people to defray the annual charge of their policy, or of calling for sacrifices from the taxpayers which cannot but grievously check the reviving trade and industry of the country. It will be re- membered that her Majesty's Ministers entered upon office at a moment when the financial condition of the country was eminently satisfactory, and that they under. took to afford relief to various interests which, as they alleged, had been neglected or had been injured. I ask the electors to consider whether any class or any interest has been benefited by the recent administration of affairs or whether the burdens upon all have not been increased without relief to any. The Liberal party can offer no special favour to any class or to any interest. They can only undertake that, while upholding the power of the Empire, securing the safety of our own country, and maintaining its possessions, they will engage in no policy of disturbance or of uncalled-for annexation. Such a policy, in our opinion, will best promote the true great- ness and the prosperity of the whole country, and thus secure the welfare of every section of the community.—I remain your obedient servant, HARTINGTQN. j MR GLADSTONE'S ADDRESS. The following is the Address of the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone to the electors of Midlothian :— Gentlemen,-I heartily rejoice that the time has at length arrived when you will be called upon to declare by yours votes whether you approve or whether you condemn the manner in which the Government of this great Empire has during these last years been carried oh. This, gentlemen, is well; although, by a striking depar- ture from established practice, which must cause great inconvenience, a Session opened by her Majesty, with the regular announcement of its annual work, is, without the occurrence of any Parliamantery difficulty, for the first time in our history to be interrupted, after a few weeks, by a dissolution. In the electioneering address which the Prime Minister has issued an attempt is made to work upon your fears by dark allusions to the repeal of the Union and the abandonment of the Colonies. Gentlemen, those who endangered the Union with Ireland were the party that maintained there an alien Church, an unjust land law, and franchises inferior to our own; and the true supporters of the Union are those who firmly uphold the supreme authority of Parliament, but exercise that authority to bind the three nations by the indissoluble tie of liberal and equal laws. As to the Colonies, a Liberal Adminis- tration set free their trade with all the world, gave them, popular and responsible government, undertook to defend Canada with the whole strength of the Empire, and organised the great scheme for uniting the several settle- ments of British North America into one dominion to which when we quitted office in 1866 it only remained for our successors to ask the ready assent of Parliament. It ij by these measures that the Colonies have been bound in affection to the Empire, and the authors of them can afford t8 smile at baseless insinuations. Gentlemen, the true purpose of these terrifying instruc- tions is to hide from view the acts of the Ministry and their effect upon the character and condition of the country. To these I will now begin to draw your atten- tion. With threescore years and ten upon my head, I feel the irksomeness of the task, but in such a crisis no man should shrink from calls which his duty may make and his strength allow. At home the Ministers have neglected legislation, aggravated the public distress by continued shocks to con- fidence, which is the life of enterprise; augmented the public expenditure and taxation for purposes not merely unnecessary, but mischievous and plunged the finances which were handed over to them in a state of singular prosperity into a series of deficits, unexampled in modern times. Of these deficits, it is proposed to meet only a portion, and to meet it partly by a new tax on personal property, and partly by the sacrifice of the whole of the Sinking Fund, to which five years ago we were taught to look for the systematic reduction, with increased energy and certainty, of the National Debt. Abroad they have strained, if they have not endangered, the prerogative by gross misuse, have weakened the Em- pire by needless wars, unprofitable extension, and unwise engagements, and have dishonoured it in the eyes of Europe by filching the Island of Cyprus from the Porte under a treaty clandestinely concluded in violation of the Treaty of Paris, which formed part of the international law of Christendom. If we turn from considerations of principle to material results, they have aggrandised Russia, lured Turkey on to her dismemberment, if not her ruin, replaced the Christian population of Macedonia under a debasing yoke, and leaded India with the cost and danger of a prolonged and unjustifiable war, while they have at the same time augmented her taxation and curtailed her liberties. At I this moment we are told of other secret negotiations with Russia, entailing further liabilities without further strength, and from day to day, under a Ministry called, as if in mockery, Conservative, the nation is perplexed with fear of change. As to the domestic legislation of the future, it is in the election address of the Prime Minister a perfect blank. No prospect is opened to us of effectual alteration in the land laws, of better securities for occupiers, of the reform and extension of local government throughout the three Kingdoms, of a more equal distribution of political franchises, or of progress in questions deeply affecting our social and moral condition. It seems, then, that, as in the past so in the future, you will look with more confidence to the Liberal party for the work of domestic improve- ment although the inheritance which the present Ad- ministration will leave to its successors threatens to be one of difficulty and embarrassment without parallel. It is true that you are promised the advantage of "presence, not to say ascendency, in the councils of Europe." The word." ascendency," gentlemen, is best known to us by its baneful connection with the history of Ireland. I must assert the co-equal rights of inde- pendent and allied Powers, but in the mouth of the present Ministry the claim is little less than ridiculous. You may judge of our present ascendency in Europe from our ascen- dency in the councils of Turkey, where we recently de- manded the dismissal of a Minister who has not only been retained in office, but selected for special honours. There is, indeed, an ascendency in European Councils to which Great Britain might reasonably aspire by-steadily sus- taining the character of a Power no less just than strong, attached to liberty and law, jealous of peace, and therefore opposed to intrigue and aggrandisement from whatever quarter they may come; jealous of honour, and therefore averse from the clandestine engagements which have marked our two latest years. To attain a moral and unenvied ascen- j dency such as this is indeed a noble object for any Minister or any Empire. You have then, gentlemen, great issues before you. The majority of the House of Commons, and all the members of the majority, have by their unqualified support of the Government fully taken over upon themselves the respon- sibility of its acts. If the constituencies are well pleased with the results which after six years have been attained, they have only to return again a similar majority, which will do its best to secure to them the like for six years more. But let no individual voter who supports at the election a member of that majority conceal from himself the fact that he is taking on himself both what has been done already and what may be done by the same agency hereafter. I have not a doubt that the county of Midlo- thian will nobly discharge its share of the general duty; and I have the honour to remain, gentlemen, your most obedient and faithful servant, London, March 11, 1880. W. E. GLADSTONB. MR. FORSTER'S ADDRESS. Mr. Forster, M.P., has issued the following address to the electors of the borough of Bradford :—"The Ministers having made the announcement so welcome to the country of an approaching dissolution of Parliament, I lose no time in asking you to continue your confidence in me, and to return me for the sixth time as your representative. You know so well my political opinions that I need not state them in an address, but I hope to have full opportunity of conferring with you upon the many and most important questions upon which it is now your duty to express your opinions and to make known your wishes. The Prime Minister, ia a letter to the Duke of Marl- borough, has appealed to the country, but in his address he says hardly anything about the mea- sures which his Government has .passed in its six years of office, and nothing of any measure which, if he remains in office, he would hope te pass. Lord Beaconsfield has, however, thought fit to charge his poli- tical opponents with attempts to enfeeble our colonies' and to pursue a 'policy of disintegration of the United Kingdom.' A charge so absurdly unfounded can only have been made in the hope of thereby diverting the attention of the public from the mischievous foreign and Indian policy of himself and bifi colleagues, and from their proved incompetence to deal with domestic reform. I do not fear that you, the electors of Bradford, will be forget- ful either of what has, or what has not, been done by this Parliament, or what ought to be done in the next Parlia- ment. For my part I agree with Lord Beaconsfield that the strength of this nation depends on the unity of feeling which should pervade the United Kingdom and its wide-spread dependencies. But I believe that the power of England can only be upheld by a foreign and colonial policy wise and just, and by a home policy which will increase the welfare of the people; and, while I am determined to maintain the union with Ire- land, I am also determined to do what in me lies to make Irishmen as anxious as Englishmen and Scotchmen to pre- serve the union. I need not tell you that I shall continue to endeavour to advocate your local interests, but no local interests however important, can be compared with the national issue now before you. I cannot doubt that in the decision of this issue tti8 voice of Bradford will be heard with unmis- takeable clearness, and that by earnest and united action Bradford will again stand in the van of popular and or- derly progress at home, and of wise and just and peace- loving policy abroad." SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTE'S ADDRESS. The Chancellor of the Exchequer's address to the electors of North Devon was issued on Wednesday March 10. The right hon. gentleman states that the Parliament has, throughout a period of no common diffi- culty and anxiety, upheld the honour of the country, and has vindicated its claim to its proper rank and influence amongst the nations of the world; it has laboured to avert war, to limit its range, and to prevent menacing complications it has proclaimed the national determin- ation to maintain our colonial and Indian Empire; it has promoted measures for the advancement of the true in- terests of Ireland, while it has resisted proposals tending to weaken or dissolve the ties which bind together the great members of the United Kingdom in its domestic legislation it has aimed at the general good of the com- munity. The Chancellor of the Exchequer complains that the opponents of the Government have put forth in '3 extraordinary misrepresentations of financial facts and he states that the taxation of the country is lighter than in almost any year previous to the accession of the present Government to power, while the National Debt stands at £18,000,000 below the sum at which the Government found it. THE HOME SECRETARY'S ADDRESS. The Home Secretary, in his address to the electors of South-west Lancashire, refers to the difficulties which the Government have had to face as unexampled, expresses his belief that the line of action pursued has met with the general approval of the country, and reminds them that such difficulties could not be met without some considerable expenditure of money; but in his opinion this timely ex- penditure has gone far to prevent war in Europe and war expenditure. Mr. Cross also thinks that in times of extra- ordinary depression of trade and agriculture at home and abroad it would have been unwise to provide fully in each year for expenditure so exceptional, and so to have delayed by increased taxation that revival of trade which has happily begun. THE DOMESTIC LEGISLATION OF THE GOVERNMENT. The Spectator, writing on Mx. Cross's Water Bill, says "hundreds of families were ruined, and thousands lost wealth of which, on the faith of a Government Bill and Mr. Cross's reputation as a man of business, they had felt secure; and London abandoned the hope of a good and permanent supply of water." Our contemporary proceeds—"The electors in great towns should not forget this affair, for it is very character- istic, and it concerns them nearly. If they restore this Government to power, there will be many more such. Mr. Cross meant no harm. He was only, like the Cabinet he sits iv, very desirous to do something grandiose, very anxious not to "harass interests," and very careless of the interests of the multitude who pay for all. It was his bit of "Imperial" policy, a policy which looked grand, and was so described by the Times, in an article which dwelt with gloating triumph, not on the wisdom, but on the magnitude of the transaction, because it involved so many millions. It was his conquest, not of the gates of India, but ef the gates of the Reservoirs. That the work was not worth doing at that price, that poor and suffering people would pay far too much, that no permanent benefit would be secured, did not signify in his eyes, probably never struck him even for a moment. There was the splendid project, with the London Press to applaud and nobody to resist, — and such a speech to be made after it was all done And it was all so just, too, everybody getting exactly the income he had before, and on so much better security. It was quite beautiful. That is the kind of capacity by which we are governed, and shall, if the election goes for the Ministry, be governed for the next five years. We may not have Lord Beaconsfield for that time, but we shall have Mr. Cross. No harm has been done, except to people who bought water shares, because the Water Companies are not in Central Asia, or Asia Minor, or Persia, but in a place within the range of ratepayers' intelligence; but then, it is far away that this Government generally exerts itself, its intelligence can hardly increase in the ratio of the distance, and in five years and. far-away places, with Water-Bill management, a good many dozens of millions, not to mention more serious things, may easily be muddled away. It is clear, from the history of the Water Bill, that we can have no security they will not be, except in a change of the incompetent persons at the head of affairs, who have shown in that Bill, their inability even to count. THE FOREIGN" POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT. The Spectator says—" At last the country is to be asked if it approves of Tory Democracy, of a policy of adventure without preparation, of a Government which, fussing and fidgetting in every corner of the world, trembling at the thought of a big Bulgaria, panic-struck at the notion of an unfriendly Afghanistan, shrinking before the insults of a King of Burmah, has never added a regiment to the Army, and has rejected Lord Hartington's open and formal offer to increase the Navy. The country has never voted for this Government yet. It voted in 1874 against Mr. Glad- stone, and for a Conservative Administration which would do business and arrest the too rapid course of reform, and no more expected that a novel form of Tory Democracy would be in the ascendant than it expected to see Coesarism or oligarchy substituted for the veiled Republic' under which it has so magnificently prospered. It may be that the constituency loves this novel and to us monstrous birth of time, as a mother loves her cripple child; it may be that it prefers perpetual fidget with the diplomatists, with the Fleet and with the Army, perpetual petty expeditions, with their petty successes and perilous disasters, and puerile proclamations of British grandeur, to the solid, well-considered, persistent policy which British Govern- ments, full 'of that high calm to which all else is weak,' have hitherto pursued, and may replace the Beaconsfield Government in power. In that case true Liberals, while they mourn a decision which leaves the country liable to five years of sterile government at home and five years of disaster abroad, will be able at least to feel that the com- munity has decided for itself, that its consent has been asked as it has never been yet, and that amidst all her temporary delusions England has not ceased to be mistress of her own fate," THE SA TURDA Y REVIEW ON THE TWO MANIFESTOES. One of the most noteworthy pieces of criticism on Lord Beaconsfield's letter and Lord Hartington's address is to be found in a paper which of late years has been distin- tinguished by its ministerial tendencies-the Saturday Review. I he Saturday Review says :— "Nothing that Lord Beaconsfield can write or say can harm him at all or hurt -Conservatives very much. His language is his own, and it has long been recognized that he may speak either as a novelist or a politician as he pleases. His followers echo his sentiments with a convic- tion that they must somehow be audaciously clever, and will some day appear to be the exact sentiments which or- dinary Conservatives unconsciously held. If they do not understand his language, they can admire it; and they have a feeling of satisfaction in the thought, which is in- disputably just, that no one in the whole world could have written anything like this manifesto. If it is to be criti- cized as the mere address of a party leader, nothing could seem more pompous, inaccurate, pretentious, and mis- leading. It is so conceived by its author as to supply his opponents with an obvious and effective reply on each point that is touched upon, Regarded as a statement of the Conservative cause, it may be safely pronounced the woreVstatement that could have been made. It concen- trates the attention of the electors on Home Rule and foreign affairs, and it couples the real danger of the Irish movement with a purely imaginary design to alienate and break up the colonies while it makes the goal of English policy abroad to be the ascendency of England in Europe. Far from desiring to alienate and repel the colonies, the very basis of Home Rule is the desire that the experiment so happily tried in Canada should be repeated for the benefit of Ireland. If it is intended to suggest that Liberals are the secret friends of Home Rulers, no means of adding a sting to the suggestion could have been less felici- tous than that of hinting that the enemies of the colonies are those who, by granting free institutions to the colonies and by inventing the system of federation, have bound the colonies by new ties to the mother-country. Ascendency in Europe is dangerous to any Power, and, fortunately, impossible for England. It was gained for a time by Louis Napoleon, and is now enjoyed by Prince Bismarck, but no manifesto will persuade Englishmen to wish to secure for themsesve3 what they deplore when possessed by others. All ascendency is invariably described by its possessors as exclusively held for pacific purposes. The Empire of Peace was the dictum of Louis Napoleon at the beginning of his reign, and Prince Bismarck is_ never tired of explaining to the German people that he thinks of nothing but self-defence. Acting as an equal, England may do much in the Councils of Europe to ensure peace, or to see that unavoidable wars do not hurt her. But the ascendency which would enable England to decree that no war, just or unjust, should be fought in Europe could only be obtained by a series of wars so successful that Eng- land would command peace through having no one left to fight with. If there could be an unkind and, as most people would think, an utterly unjust aspersion of ordi- nary Conservatives, it would be that their foreign policy was a policy of ascendency. But, however much he may soar into the regions of mystery and nonsense, Lord Beaconsfield may be safely assumed always to write with a purpose. He must have had some object in writing as he has done, and in order to appreciate the objects of his manifesto, it must be kept in mind that he was composing an electioneering address. To discredit the Liberals he may have thought it insufficient to denounce Home Rulers as traitors. But if there was a dark conspiracy to be sug- gested as going on in some unknown and remote part of the world, who could tell but that the confused minds of electors might believe that all the opponents of Lord Beaconsfield were engaged in it? The conspiracy was imaginary; but it is a sound electioneering maxim that, if enough dirt is thrown, some will stick. Then there are also some electors who, without troubling themselves to consider what the ascendency of England in Europe may mean, would think it something very fine and grand while Lord Beaconsfield could trust that any apprehen- sions which his language might excite would be calmed down by the tamer and more sensible addresses of his colleagues, and that few persons would seriously believe that Sir Stafford Northcote or Mr. Cross would engage in a dangerous and ruinous hunt after ascendency." Lord Hartington has succeeded so well in the discharge of his task his address is so broad in scope, and so well judged in details, that those who did not know have won- dered with unfounded suspicion whether he really wrote it himself. It seems contrary to the chances of life that the son of a Duke should have penned a manifesto so statesmanlike, so telling, and pervaded by the signs of so much discrimination and tact. Lord Hartington of course writes as a Whig. He cannot in an electioneering address be perfectly fair to his opponents. He has to lay down general Liberal principles, and this he does very explicitly, but with studied moderation. He has had the courage to say that he does not think that ranting at Home Rulers is the true way to govern Ireland. His Irish polics maY be right or wrong, but at any rate it is a policy to which the most moderate of his followers may conscientiously adhere. It is founded on three simple propositions—that all wild proposals for an independent Irish Parliament must be steadily resisted that measures for the extension of local self-government must be such as can be extended to all the three kingdoms; and that Irish- men must in all respects be treated by Englishmen as Englishmen treat themselves. The foreign policy of Lord Hartington is again the old Whig policy; the policy, more or less of Lord Palmerston and Lord Russell. Its car- dinal principles are that England should take an active part, (but only as an equal, in the councils of Europe that all aggression touching England should be firmly resisted; that wars should be avoided when possible but that, when perturbations arise, England should take, to the ut- most possible extent compatible with the preservation of her own interests, the side of the free or the oppressed. Excepting perhaps in the latter point, and there only to a small extent, we do not see that there is much difference between the foreign policy of Lord Hartington and that of moderate Conservatives. It is, of course, opposed alto- gether to the policy of hunting after ascendency, but that is rather a whim of Lord Beaconsfield's than a serious motive of party action. Finally, Lord Hartington has distinct measures to suggest which he wishes his party to try to carry. The list is not a very thrilling one, but at any rate it relieves its author from the imputation of having nothing to propoee."
ELECTION GLEANINGS.
ELECTION GLEANINGS. The Court Circular announces that Mr. C. Raikes, M.P., has been made a member of the Privy Council, and that a knighthood is to be conferred upon Mr. Wm. Thomas Charley, M.P. On the authority of the Central News, it is stated that there are 48 constituencies where no Liberal candidates are in the field, and 51 constituencies where there are no Con- servatives candidates. At a large Liberal meeting at Greenwich at Friday, March 12, a resolution was carried with enthusiasm re- cording a deep sense of regret at the approaching retire- ment of Mr. Gladstone from the representation of the borough, and expressing an earnest wish to see him re- turned triumphantly for Midlothian. Preaching on Friday evening, March 12, in the nave of Norwich Cathedral, the Dean of Norwich deprecated the action of the Government in selecting Passion Week and Easter Week for the elections. The dean also earnestly appealed to a large congregation not to regard the elections from a mere party standpoint, but to pray that they might promote the general welfare of the people. From the return obtained by Mr. Rylands, we find that in England and Wales the votes at the last election were for the Liberal candidates 1,096,597, and for the Tory candidates 932,207. In Scotland the votes were for the Liberal candidates 148,426, and for the Tory candidates 63,226; while in Ireland the Liberals polled 91,212, the Home Rulers 43,686, and the Tories 93,068. Altogether the Liberal vote in the United Kingdom was 1,336,235, and the Tory vote 1,088,501, the difference representing a total Liberal majority of 247,734. Inequalities in repre- sentation prevented the chosen of a majority of the people, aided by Liberal divisions in a number of constituencies, being the majority of the House. Mr. Gladstone addressed a crowded meeting of the electors of Marylebone last week in support of the can- didature of Sir Thomas Chambers and Mr. Daniel Grant, for the representation of the borough. The right hon. gentleman ascribed the cause of the sudden dissolution of Parliament to the difficulty experienced by the Government with the Water Bill, which he declared they had not the courage either to press through or to abandon. While re- joicing in the fact that a dissolution had taken place he condemned the means by which it had been brought about. He especially impressed upon the meeting the necessity of dropping sectional differences, and presenting a united front upon the main question. In the course of his speech Mr. Gladstone said—No one pretends to deny that the Government expect to lose at the coming dissolution. There is no doubt at all about it. The Government have good electioneerers, and the gentlemen who discharge that function for them are uncommonly well posted up in their duties. They know perfectly well that Scotland is against them. They know that the North of England is against them. They will become less strong in the North of Eng- land than they are now. They know that poor little Wales, which very seldom gets a word of comfort from any- body, but where the human heart beats as truly and warmly as in any land upon earth, they know that poor little Wales is against them. They know that Ireland is against them, and not merely the gentlemen who are called the Home Rulers, but the Protestants of the North. Well, if you are to cast up your accounts these are four ugly items to begin with.
FLINTSHIRE.
FLINTSHIRE. There have been rumours of opposition to Lord R. Grosvenor, by Mr, Humberston, Mr, Peel, or Mr, L, N, Mostyn, but it is now believed the old member will be returned unopposed. The county register contains 4,170 names, or 624 more than last year, and the Liberals claim 430 as their gain.
FLINT BOROUGHS.
FLINT BOROUGHS. The Liberals commenced their work with activity and zeal on Tuesday, March 9, when a meeting of the com- mittee was held at Mold. On the same day the Con- servatives met at the Lion, when it is believed the question both of a county and a borough contest was discussed, and that for the Boroughs Mr. Pennant pro- fessed himself ready to stand, on certain conditions. The Conservatives are said to rely somewhat on the fact that about fifty colliers who supported Mr. Roberts have left Mold, but the Liberals believe they will be found and brought back to vote if their votes are required. Mr. J. C. Muspratt, it is understood, will nominate Mr. John Roberts, the present Liberal member, and the unity of the party is said to ensure success. The register contains 3,804 names, a gain of 38 over last year, and the revision is reported to have been highly favourable to the Liberals. At Mold their published estimate is a majority of 500; and at Flint more than half the electors. Holywell, Bagillt, and Greenfield are* well organized, and a satisfactory canvass is reported from Caergwrle. A meeting of the leading members of the Conservative party was held at Flint on Saturday, March 13, when it was decided that Mr. P. P. Pennant would not contest the seat held by Mr. John Roberts. The latter gentleman, like Lord Richard Grosvenor, the county representative, will therefore have a "walk over" in the present election.
jDENBIGHSHIRE.
DENBIGHSHIRE. Mr. Osborne Morgan and Sir Watkin have issued their addresses. Both addresses are short, and there is no like- lihood of a contest. Mr. Morgan, we understand, has re- ceived numerous assurances of support from various parts of the county, and if his seat should be attacked, it may be taken for granted that he will remain the representative of constituents whose interests he has served with un- usual ability and fidelity. We believe the hon. and learned gentleman has been busily engaged upon a state- ment of the way in which Government have dealt with the Burials question, and the revelation, we expect, will stimu- late to a still higher point the enthusiasm which has already been displayed by the Liberals of the Principality. At an influential meeting of the Liberal party in Den- bighshire, at Wrexham, on Saturday, it was unanimously resolved that Mr. Osborne Morgan, the sitting member, be adopted as the Liberal candidate and that, under ex- isting circumstances, Sir Watkin Wynn being the only candidate brought out by the Conservatives, no second Liberal candidate be brought forward. The meeting en- thusiastically and unanimously pledged itself to support the candidature of Mr. Osborne Morgan in the event of a contest, and passed a cordial vote of thanks to him for his past services.
DENBIGH BOROUGHS.
DENBIGH BOROUGHS. Both parties have been actively at work since thefeceipt of the telegram on Monday night, March 8, announcing the dissolution. The Hon. G. T. Kenyon, the Conserva- tive candidate, commenced his canvass on Tuesday, at Holt and Wrexham, and the same even- ing the Liberal candidate, Sir Robert Cunliffe, arrived at Wrexham from London, and was received with much enthusiasm by a number of electors at the railway station, and accompanied by an increasing crowd to the room of the Liberal Association, where he delivered a short address. Mr. Kenyon and some of his supporters also addressed a meeting at the Wynnstay Arms, and the hon. gentleman was much cheered when he appeared out- side in answer to loud calls. On Wednesday both sides were busily engaged in arranging and commencing the campaign, and canvassing has been going on since in the various boroughs—Wrexham, Denbigh, Ruthin, and Holt. The Liberal party is thoroughly united. A large and enthusiastic Welsh meeting was held on Friday, March 12, in the Public Hall, Wrexham. in sup- port of the candidature of Sir Robert Cunliffe. The chair was taken by Mr. Enoch Moss, and the meeting was ad- dressed by nearly all the Welsh Nonconformist ministers in the town. The speakers were the Revs. Roger Edwards, D. Roberts, Barrow Williams, E. Jermson, D. Rhys Jenkins, William Ffoulkes, and Rhis; and Messrs. E. Davies, Jolo, and W. Jones, Grosvenor-road. MR. KENYON'S MEETING. On Thursday, night, March 11, the first meeting of Mr. Kenyon's supporters was held in thePublic Hall, Wrexham. The hall was completely filled, a large number of persons being unable to obtain admission. A portion of the balcony was devoted to ladies. The chair was taken by Dr. E. Williams. The appearance of Mr. and Mrs. Kenyon was the signal for a most enthusiastic reception, the meeting rising and cheering most heartily. The CHAIRMAN having opened the proceedings, The Hon. GEORGE KENYON rose to address the meeting, and this was a signal for a most deafening and enthusiastic burst of long-continued applause. On the audience re- suming their seats, Mr. Kenyon, after expressing his re- gret that Sir Robert Cunliffe was untrue to the principles of his grandfather, who was his (Mr. Kenyon's) father's right hand man when he contested Denbighshire, pro- ceeded to say—Since the year 1874, this country has been in the possession of the blessing of a Conservative Govern- ment, for the first time for many years-in the possession of a Conservative Government that has been in the enjoy- ment of real power to sway the destinies of this great empire. (Cheers.) Now, it is a fair demand to ask what they have to show for this real exercise of power they have enjoyed. I trust that I shall be able to prove that this exercise of power on the part of a Conservative Govern- ment for the last six years has been productive of real and genuine benefit to this great country. (Loud cheers.) I will put it in a few words. I believe the Conservative Government has been pure, I believe it has been pains- taking, and I believe it has been successful (Cheers.) I say that the Government has been pure, and this can hardly be said of the Government which preceded it. (Hear, hear.) Now, I do not mean to make any personal imputations, but to say that there were gross scandals affecting the character of that Government as a body, and which left a doubt as to the Ministers being sufficiently careful in their selection of persons for official appoint- ments. There were two or three matters which certainly can be called scandals—matters which reflected, not upon the personal character of the members of the late Govern- ment, but upon their character for judgment. I refer to the Collier job, and the Ewholme scandal. They are out of date perhaps, now, but I call your attention to them in order that you may fairly compare the present Government with its predecessor. You will then see that no such things as these have occurred during the time this Government has been in office. (Cheers.) Mr. Gladstone thought fit to talk in Midlothian "of a political job which had been perpetrated in the person of Lord Hampton"-that he had beea elected an ecclesiastical Commissioner, with nothing to do—(laughter)—but, within a few months, Mr. Glad- stone had to write a post-card—(a laugh)—to the Times to say that he thought he had been mistaken, and shortlv after he had to forward another post-card explaining what he intended to convey by the word "job." (Hear, hear, and laughter.) I think the meaning of the word is pretty well understood. (Renewed laughter.) So you see, ladies and gentlemen, that the only case that could affect the purity of the Government proved to be entirely a myth. (Cheers.) Well, I said I believed the Government to be pure, and said also I believed it was painstaking. I meant that it had brought forth measures which the Ministers really believed would be for the benefit of the social condi- tion of the people of this country. (Cheers.) I meant that they did not bring forth these measures from any desire to catch popular applause, but that they had brought forth measures which in their heart of hearts they believed were likely to be genuinely useful to the prosperity and general well being of the people of this country. (Cheers.) I will give you a. few instances. There have been two very important measures on the subject of education. The first affected intermediate education in Ireland, and it was a measure which had been called for for a long time. Now, in matters like this, it is very easy for a Government to pander to the desires of one portion of the people, but you do not find anything of the kind in this instance. The Government pandered to no party, but tried to be just and tolerant to all— (cheers)—and there has been no measure passed during the present administration which commends itself more entirely to the judgment of the country than this. Then there was the other useful measure which supplemented it-I refer to the one dealing with University Education. (Cheers.) This has been the character of the legislation of the Government on domestic questions throughout their term of office. I mentioned, in my speech at Denbigh the other day, a list of the measures which I think the Government can fairly take credit for, and I will mention them to you. I cited the Artisans' Dwellings Act, the Merchant Shipping Act, the Act dealing with the Regu- lation of Mines, the Act dealing with Friendly Societies the Act taking over the Prisons, and the Employers and Workmen Act. (Cheers.) Referring to a speech of Sir Robert Cunliffe's, in which he said it was in contem- plation by the Liberal Government some time ago to legislate on some of these subjects, Mr. Kenyon said— For the Liberals to take credit to themselves for their good intentions, when they have been in office for a long period of years during which they did not carry out their intentions, certainly seems to me a very extraordinary piece of boasting. (Cheers, and a cry of Kenyon for ever.") For a number of years during which a Liberal Government was in power, they often said they were going to bring in measures of reform. Between 1840 and 1867, when Lord Beaconsfield's Reform Bill was passed, the Liberal^ Governments many times told the country of their good intentions and desire to give the working classes a full exercise of that power, but no- thing 6ver came of it. It was reserved for Lord Beacons- field, then Mr. Disraeli-the name by which he will ever be remembered in English history—(loud cheers)—it was reserved to him to give to you, gentlemen, who occupy small houses in this borough, that vote which you are now so worthy to exercise. (Much cheering.) I think, ladies and gentlemen, I have proved my point-that this Government, which now appeals for your suffrages, has passed measures of domestic value which have tended to benefit the people, especially the members of the labour- ing classes, by promoting their health and social welfare, aad for which they will long have just cause to be grateful to the Government of Lord Beaconsfield. (Cheers.) I might be asked this question—What are the measures which this Government are prepared to bring out, sup- posing we extend to them a renewal of their lease of power. Well, gentlemen, I am not in the secrets of the Ministry, and if I were, perhaps I should not tell you all they were prepared to do; but I will tell you what 1 think would be some of the measures. Of course these will be but a small portion of the measures that will be brought forth, and that will receive my support, should you please to elect me your representative. (Voices Which we shall do). One measure, and one urgently needed, would be, I think, directed to the simplification of regulations relating to land tenure and the transfer of lands. It is certainly a great abuse that you owners of land should have to go through so many troublesome pro- cesses before you can pass land from one to another. (Hear, hear.) I have nothing to say against a very excel- lent profession, of which I myself am a member—(cheers and laughter)—but I do think we take rather too much out of your long-suffering pockets. (Renewed laughter.) It is my belief that by a very simple process matters like this may be rendered much easier and cheaper. Speaking of myself as a member of the noble profession I just al- luded to, I think I should be prepared to make the sacri- fice required to effect this change. (Cheers.) There is another subject I think would be dealt with—the subject of bankruptcy. There is another measure upon which I shall speak plainly-the Sunday Closing Bill. I know that the people who advocate this Bill are animated with the best of all motives, and I entirely agree with them that the curse of drunkenness is sapping the foundations of the material and moral position of this country—(hear, hear, and cheers)—but, gentlemen, when I am asked to assent to measures which interfere with the freedom of the people, and asked to assent to a measure which, treats a respon- sible man as it would a child, I am obliged to pause and consider whether the remedy is not worse than the disease. (Hear, hear.) Now, gentlemen, I am open to correction of course, but I have made up my mind as to how I should be prepared to deal with the important question of Sunday Closing. I would assent to a greater restriction of hours. I think the hours of sale might be very materially curtailed, and that it is possible there should be inducements held out to sell liquor more off than on the premises. (Cheers.) But there, I must stop. I could not agree to interfere with the rights and pleasures of those people who are in a worse position than myself. (Cheers.) It is very easy for people to come to me and say-You shall have no beer on Sunday. I can get beer at home easily enough, and I have got some there. (Hear, hear, and laughter.) But I think it would be very hard on some of the labouring classes that if they want something to eat and drink on Sunday they cannot get it. (Cheers.) I believe that by such a compromise as I have indicated we should W able to diminish the vice of drunkenness, and still preserve the freedom which is consistent with the intelligence of our countrymen. (Hear, hear.) This great vice is to be cured, and it will be cured by assisting in the enlighten- ment of the people-by teaching moral precepts in our schools, yes, and by example, showing that there are greater pleasures in life than getting drunk. (Cheers.) I am happy to say I have just received a telegram announ- cing the Budget for this year. (Cheers.) It will be satis- factory to you to know, only two hours after the Chan- cellor of the Exchequer had made his statement, that the estimated expenditure for next year is nearly three millions less than the expenditure of the present year. (Loud and continued cheering.) A small surplus is also anticipated. No additional taxation will be enforced. (Renewed cheer- ing.) Eight hundred thousand pounds additional sinking fund is established to pay off present liabilities incurred by the recent wars. (Cheers.) That is a very satisfactory Budget. After all that has been said in Midlothian and elsewhere about the state of the finances, we may feel satisfied to know that up to the present time, at any rate, the country is not yet quite bankrupt. (Cheers.) You will see in the morning, when you come to read my ad- dress, I lay the greatest amount of stress on that part which states that I firmly believe in the foreign policy of the Govern- ment. (Great cheering.) This is the key-note of the manifesto which Lord Beaconsfield has recently addressed, and I believe that when the Government which has been in office comes to be judged by posterity, it will be by the success shown by their foreign policy that they will be judged. (Hear, hear.) I do not know whether it will meet what you think, but I think it a fair mode of criticism. The Government in the main has preserved peace and firmly maintained the interests of the country. (Cheers.) When I say peace, somebody mav get up and say Why, you have had two wars;" but I allude to the fact that the Government has steered the country clear of the terrible complications of a European war—(cheers)—and I am prepared to face the necessity of the two little wars in Afghanistan and South Africa. First, with regard to the Zulu War. It is acknowledged by all parties that the Government did all it possibly could to prevent that war breaking out. The war was caused by the action of the Governor (Sir Bartle Frere), a man whom we all respect—(A Voice: Appointed by the Liberals and a Liberal)—yes, a Liberal, but still a man whom everyone must regard with respect, because he has done so much to do away with the slave trade on the Coast of Africa—that alone ought to entitle him to respect. In my view, he led us into that war mistakenly. However, I feel bound to confess that I do not feel at all confident that a war would not have been forced upon us in the future. (Hear, hear.) The Zulus were a people, not bound together by a traditional history, they had no religion, and were regulated by no morality, and I think they must have ultimately come into conflict with a Power which derived its strength and position from maxims of liberty and religion. (Cheers.) But, as it was, Sir Bartle Frere hastened the war, and now South Africa is likely to go on better than ever, and the inhabitants enjoy a greater measure of peace and security than they ever did within the recollec- tion of the present generation. (Hear, hear.) The Afghan war, in my view, stands upon a different footing. It was advisable, necessary, and inevitable. The origin of it was, that the Ameer put himself practically under the protection of despotic Russia. He said to Russia, "We will be your friends, and not the friends of Eng- land we will receive your ambassadors, and not the am- bassadors of England." (A Voice Although we had been paying him £ 10,000 a year for the privilege.) And what did England do ? Well, we sent our ambassador into the country to try to arrange matters, but he refused the embassy with scorn and contumely. It was impossible for the Indian Government to submit to such a slight as that. You must remember that our ascendency in India is kept up by the Oriental feeling of respect for power, and if our Indian subjects believed for a moment that England was becoming enfeebled, the sun of England's greatness would set upon the country. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) That is a consummation which I believe no man in this room would desire. Now, I think that the Afghan war has done more to perpetuate and consolidate the dominion of our Queen and Empress than any other act that has taken place in India during the present generation. (Loud cheers.) We are now in pos- session of a frontier which has been pronounced by the best military authorities to be practically unassailable, and on that account are in a position to reduce the military expenditure by dispensing with the services of a large number of troops. The money we shall thus save we can apply to the amelioration of the social condition of the people in that country who are committed to our charge. (Cheers.) I do not think that the Afghan war needs any further defence. It was justified by the cir- cumstances that originated it, and it is justified by its success, and in time to come it will redound to the credit of the Government that inaugurated it and carried it out. (Cheers.) Ladies and gentlemen, I stated that the Govern- ment had steered clear of war, and so it has in the main, as I have already said by averting from us the fearful cala- mity of aEuropean war. (Cheers.) There are many present who will remember the Crimean war (under the Liberal Government) on which the country spent 200 millions of treasure to assist the aggression of Russia. Many can also remember the mournful feelings experi- enced when the news of victories made you think of the number of lives sacrificed in defence of Turkey. Do you not think, now, that to have averted a European war is alone a feather in a statesman's cap that he might justly be proud of ? (Cheers.) Some captious critics might say —The Government spent six millions of money in arma- ments. (Voice: But we've got the value of our money.) As a matter of fact, we spent only three millions but if we had spent twenty in this way to show our firmness, would it not have bee* better than to have spent 200 millions in a war? (Cheers, and a Voice "And lost 70,000 lives, too.") It was the firm attitude of Lord Beacons- field, and the policy which the Foreign Secretary took up in a memorable despatch, that averted war. (Hear, hear.) If it was not for that we should have been engaged in the most fearful calamity of a European war. (CheersJ Well, then, I am sure I was justified in saying that the Government had maintained peace and that they had maintained the position of the country in Europe. (Cheers, and a Voice: And turned Austria and Germany against Russia"). Prince Bismarck is said to have once observed that England counted for nothing, she was but a cypher in the councils of Europe. But, then, you must remember Mr. Gladstone's Government was in office, and not Lord Beaconsfield. (Loud cheers.) I be- lieve that the present Government has restored England to the position she used to occupy in the councils of Europe before itbe Liberal Administration had degraded her to something almost below comparison with what she is like now. It was during the regime of Lord Russell and Mr. Gladstone that a most contemptible thing was permitted to take place on the Continent. The shameful and sorry part they played when the spoliation of Denmark took place is a matter of history. They were pledged by treaty to support Denmark, and at the beginning of Prussia's interference, Lord Russell wrote a blustering des- patch, but when the matter came to a crisis, the Liberal Government did not interfere—they did nothing at all. Is that a course you like to see this great country taking ? What happened, you know Denmark was rob- bed of some of her best territory, and to her spoliator that Nemesis of wrong-doing followed —continual war. (Cheers.) I said the Government had restored England to her rightful position in the European councils. I will ask you to compare her position in regard to the Berlin Treaty with the position she would have occupied if the Treaty of San Stefano had been maintained. The army of Russia burst through the Turkish lines and arrived within a stone's throw of the gates of Constantinople. Russia then dictated a treaty to humiliate Turkey, a treaty which gave her the protectorate of more than three parts of the subjects of Turkey, that would shut England out of all influence in the country, and that practically rendered Russia mistress of Turkey. You will remember how the news was received in Parliament—how the Liberals skedaddled out of the House rather than give a vote on the subject. (Cheers and laughter). Now, by the Berlin Treaty, Russia is shutlout for ever from the possession of Constanti- nople. Under that treaty, the Government has caused to be created not only subject States which would effectually bar the progress of Russia to the Turkish Capital, but the keys of the position to be put into the hands of our old and valued ally, Austria. Before Russia can take Constantinople she will have to deal with a power, which, I am glad to say, is taking up a Constitutional policy and showing it- self the friend of liberty- I mean the great kingdom of Aastro-Hungary. (Cheers.) I was very anxious to see whether Lord Hartington, in his manifesto on behalf of the Liberals, would accept the inevitable and adhere to what had been done by the present Government, or would undo what had been done, and put the shadow on the dial back and let Russia once more have the chance to make an attempt on Turkey. But I find that on these matters, it is but a puny and negative address. (Cheers.) There is no intimation as to what course of policy Lord Harting- ton is prepared to recommend if the Liberal party came into office. The address is valueless for all practical pur- poses, and the effect of returning the party who issued such an address as that would be to degrade this country in the councils of Europe. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) I assure you, gentlemen, we cannot put the clock back. I will as soon believe that the Liberal party can make Lord Beaconsfield six years younger as that they would dare to undo the work which the:present;Governmen thasdone so well. (Cheers.) After referring to Mr. Osborne Morgan's remark that he would like to bring Mr. Gladstone back to power, and suggesting a sketch of Mr. Morgan and Sir Robert Cun- liffe attempting to bring back the modern Cincinnatus in a wheelbarrow, Mr. Kenyon criticized Mr. Gladstone's alleged proposals with regard to the European concert and placing a cordon of ships round Constantinople, both of which he believed impracticable. The hon. gentleman then continued-The; greatest proof of the inab lity of the Opposition is that they have been totally unable to devise any scheme that would compete with that acted upon by the Government. (Cheers.) Gentlemen, I asK you to iook at the state 01 Russia. now. mis is tne nation to which Mr. Gladstone and Sir Robert Cunliffe would have confided the destiny of poor impotent Tur- key. At the present {moment the life of the Czar is not safe in his own country. The Czar is perhaps one of the noblest and most tolerant men living in Russia, and although he has abolished serfdom and slavery, his life is not safe with his own people. Within six months no less than three attacks have been made to endeavour to u. put an end to his life. Is Russia the country into whose hands you would confide the destiny of Turkey? (Cheers and "No, no.") The fact of the matter is that Russia is rotten to the core. She has a large extent of territory, which she has been gaining by war, but she does nothing to weld her subject races together, and to grant them liberty and religious freedom. (Hear, hear.) I willl never believe that the people of England would be willing to consign to the tender mercies of a Power so despotic and declining, the races which they are bound by treaty to take under their own protection. (Cheers.) If the scheme of Lord Beaconsfield had failed it would have been a great misfortune to the human race. Ladies and gentlemen,—Under the old mythologies, there were two gods—one was supposed to represent evil and the other good-it was sometimes thought that the ultimate triumph would be with evil. But in these days when education and enlightenment have reached so high a pitch, I do not believe there is a man present who believes this, and so I have a firm faith and belief that ultimately freedom and religious truth will triumph on this earth. (Cheers.) I believe, too, that this # great Anglo-Saxon race, the race which already dominates in three continents, where it is spreading civili- zation-I believe that this Anglo-Saxon race is the great- est engine the world has for the promulgation of this great object. (Cheers.) Shall we pause in this work, shall we be tempted to bolster up a despotic and decaying Power like Russia ? shall we try to turn the tide which is carrying civilization, justice, and freedom to our fellow beings? (Loud cheers.) I do not believe, gentlemen, you could so endeavour to put back the shadow on the dial. I do not believe that as Englishmen you will ever move one finger to effect so baneful a result. (Cheers.) The progress of this Empire may be fraught with danger and increased responsibilities, but is it not so with all great works ? Was not the abolition of slavery attended with great dan- ger to the peace of this country, and to the peace of Europe ? But slavery is abolished. (Cheers.) We must bear calumny tand opposition in our work. I rejoice that there are men to be found who refuse to sanction the miserable policy of isolation, which would confine all the privileges we enjoy to our own islands. You, gentlemen, have the satisfaction of knowing that you are supporting those men who are seeking to communicate to other na- tions the blessings which this people enjoy. I firmly believe that posterity will thank the Government, of which I am an unworthy supporter—("no, no")—I believe they will say that the Government of Lord Beaconsfield sought to be guided by the spirit of the Gospel precept- Do unto others as you would they should do unto you." Mr. Kenyon resumed his seat amidst great cheering. Dr. EYTOX-JONES moved the first resolution: "That this meeting, having heard the views of Air. Kenyon, who fought such a noble battle in 1874, pledges itself to use every effort and exertion to secure his return to Parlia- ment as the member for these boroughs in the ensuing contest." He (the speaker) saw nothing, either in the conduct of Mr. Kenyon, or the Ministry he went in to support, to alter the opinions he held in 1874. England had too long occupied the position of simply taking care of herself, by her insular policy, and not helping other countries oppressed by the great Powers., All this, how- ever, had been altered, and never had England stood so surely as the greatest power on earth as under the Govern- ment of Lord Beaconsfield. (Applause.) Referring to the Premier's Jewish origin, Lord Beaconsfield had often been taunted with being a Jew, but they should remember that the Jews were the noblest race on earth, and were selected by God for the instrumentality of giving us a Saviour (Hear, hear.) If it had been the policy in the past to condemn a Jew because his forefathers crucified our Saviour, let them now rejoice in the fact that the one at the head of affairs in this country was a good Christian —(cheers)—he was a good Prostestant, and one who bai laboured hard, not only for the benefit of the State, but for the establishment of the rights of the Church—(ren- newed applause)—one who had endeavoured, not only to give increased suffrage to the working classes, but who had striven to raise the Government of the Queen of Eng- land high amongst the nations of the earth, to give them peace and contentment, and to hand down to their children that consolidation of the British Empire which now stood the highest in the world. (Cheers.) Mr. OVERTON seconded the resolution, which Mr. JOHN LEWIS had much pleasure in supporting, and in the course of his remarks he said he must take the opportunity of paying off an old score he owed Sir Robert Cunliffe. (Hear, hear, and hit him hard !") Sir Robert upon one occasion in the Old Town Hall had taken excep- tion to his (the speaker's) reading of English History, and had promised to send him a History of England for his own use, and for the use of the Constitutional Associa- tion of Wrexham (Laughter.) He had been expecting to receive this history for a long time, but had not yet done so if, however, he had received it, he should have returned it to Sir Robert, with another little present, viz., a pair of very clear and pellucid eye-glasses—(laughter)— by which he might read English history without its being distorted by Radical spectacles (Renewed laughter and applause.) Both the candidates now before the electors were gentlemen of high lineage connected with the neighbourhood. He had a great respect for both personally. He was sorry Sir Robert had departed from the ancient policy of his family, although he honoured the man who had the courage to honestly acknowledge a con- scientious change in his opinions. (Hear, hear.) He had a very different opinion, however, of the man who chopped and changed and played the weather-cock upon great public questions, as Mr. Gladstone had done over and over again and he sometimes suspected the motives of those individuals, without attributing any motive to Sir Robert Cunliffe than that of being actuated by a desire to serve his country. He could only say, that personally, he had the highest esteem for Sir Robert, and much regretted that he had deserted the old colour. (Applause.) Mr. Kenyon, however, came amongst them without having changed his colours—(hear, hear)—and he believed they should return him by a large majority. (Cheers.) Mr. S. YORKE, tErddig, who was received with tre- mendous applause, and" three cheers for the squire," warmly supported the resolution, observing that he had followed the example of his forefathers in being a Con- servative. (Hear, hear.) Their present candidate was a great grandson of the Lord Chief Justice of England- (hear, hear, "and no half blood !")-and if a horse per- formed well, when they knew that his sires had been winners of the Derby and so forth, they were not surprised at it! (Applause and laughter.) He wished his friend Mr. Kenyon every possible success, and hoped he would be returned as the Member for the Denbigh Boroughs. (Cheers.) Mr. TREVOR PARKINS also supported the motion, which, on being put to the meeting, the CHAIRMAN declared to be carried unanimously. The proceedings then concluded with a second edition of "Rule Britannia," followed by the singing of the National Anthem. SIR ROBERT CUNLIFFE'S MEETING. A public meeting in support of Sir Robert Cunliffe's candidature was held in the Public Hall, Wrexham, on Monday evening, March 15. It was certainly one of the largest and most en tliusiastic political meetings ever held in Wrexham. The spacious hall was well filled some time before the hour fixed for the meeting-eight o'clock, and it became crowded in every part. A very large num- ber of ladies occupied seats reserved for them in the balcony. There were also a good many ladies on the plat- form. The tedium of waiting was relieved by the singing of a spirited composition called The Wrexham Liberal Branch," to the air of "March the Men of Harlech." This was sung three times with great vigour and in very good time and tun e. At the suggestion of Mr. Bott, three cheers were given for Lord Derby, in recognition of his occession to the Liberal ranks. Loud cheers were also given for Mr. Gladstone. The entrance of Sir Robert and Lady Cunliffe, the Chairman (Mr. Charles Hughes), and other supporters of the Liberal can- didate was the signal forennthusiastic cheering, which lasted some time. Amongst those present on the platform were Mr. and Mrs. Darby, Miss Littleboy, Mr. and Mrs. Sturge, Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Griffith, Mr. and Mrs. Chilton, Mrs. Russell (Grove Park), Mrs. Shone, Miss Pierce, Mr. T. C. Jones, Mr. Walter Jones, Mr. Isaac Shone (ex-mayor), the Revs. J. Bentley D. Rhys Jenkins, J. Tiller, H. Barrow-Williams, E. Jerman. Dr. Davies, Messsrs. C. E. Darby, J. M. Jones, A. T. Jones, T. Goodier, W. Low, Owen Jones (solicitor) Frank Jones, J. H. Rawlins, John Jones (solicitor), W. Lester, G. Bradley, &c., &c. The CHAIRMAN, who was received with cheers, said they had met there that evening in the discharge of a very important.duty. It was nothing less than to consider who was the most suitable person to return as their member to the next Parliament. (Hear, hear.) There could be no doubt that these meetings held all over the country were a great means of political education, and he thought it was not without significance that while the other night the Vice-chairman of the School Board occupied the chair, they had now the Chairman of their School Board in that position. (Cheevs.) He con- sidered it was a laudable enterprise for those engaged in education to explain fully and clearly their confession of faith in relation to the political principles upon which they believed this great country should be governed. (Cheers.) Sir ROBERT CUNLIFFE, who was received with enthusiastic cheering (the whole audience rising), said he need not tell them how great was the gratification afforded him by the cordiality of their welcome. He knew that he should find many warm friends in Wrexham; but he must own that the expression of their kindness exceeded what he thought he had any reason to expect. Before he entered upon political questions he wished to make one or two preliminary remarks. At a large Con- servative meeting held there a few days ago, his friend and honourable opponent, Mr. George Kenyon, said a few words in regard to himself, which he (Sir Robert) begged leave most cordially to reciprocate. (Cheerr.) He thought they would do him the justice of admitting that in any references he had made to Mr. George Kenyon sinee he had been the Liberal candidate for the boroughs, he had always expressed the personal regard he felt for him, and had always shown that the quarrel between them, of such it must be called, was simply an honour- able quarrel of principles and not of men. (Loud cheers.) He trusted that during the course of the election no word would fall from his lips which would give either to Mr. or Mrs. Kenyon the slightest feeling of pain or annoyance. (Hear, hear.) Having said thus much he must be per- mitted to allude to one remark made by Mr. Kenyon and another speaker the other night. They regretted that he was untrue to the political prin* ciples of his family. Well, that was a side issue which was hardly at the present moment before them. (Hear, hear.) He (Sir Robert) was, however, pleased to think that he was not the first member of his family who had upheld Liberal principles. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Kenyon had referred to his grand- father, a man who of all others he (Sir Robert) had reason to respect, and whose name he knew was still re- spected there as a Conservative, but Mr. Kenyon seemed not to have known that his (Sir Robert's) grandfather's eldest brother, who, if he had lived, would have been the representative of his family, died as Liberal member for Chester. (Cheers.) He did not think that the present was an occasion upon which they need enter into the question °J the opinions of their grandfathers — (cheers and laughter) but without the slightest impute* tion upon Mr. George Kenyon it was open to to point out that the second Lord Kenyon, whom, be thought he was right in stating, was the grandfather of his honourable opponent, took a very remarkable and de- cided course in respect to the passing of the first Reform Bill. As they knew, the Sovereign had given permissi00 to Earl Grey—a name that would always be illustrio°? in English history — (cheers) — to him and to L° Brougham to create a certain number of peers in order to pass that Bill through the House of Lords. In one of b: debates upon the Bill, with reference to the enfranchise^ ment of Oldham, the Lord Kenyon of that day said This measure will be the destruction of the monarchy* By forcing this measure on a reluctant Sovereign the n? earl has placed the King in a situation in which he make no choice of a minister, and his advice to eyelf ise his prerogative in so unconstitutional a manner as to o stroy the independence of this House, is abandoned atrocious." At this point Earl Grey interpose » and a very painful scene took place in the House. ■ (Sir Robert) did not refer to that scene in ordar to the slightest imputation on his honourable opponeiir,, ifjthey were to think as their grandfathers thought » land would not be what England now was. (Loud chee-^ There was hardly any Tory at the present day, and he sure he might safely include his honourable opponent,* would accept the sentiment then uttered by Lord who he had no doubt was a most honourable and P* English gentleman according to his lights; but he grievously in error, and it was a good thing for Bngi that the majority of the House of Peers were not o opinion. But there was a much more important t0 involved, and it was this, that a m.m should be the convictions he had honestly formed for (Cheers.) He might, however, refer to the fact1jy » had to welcome as an accession to the Liberal P^ jeagfc nobleman bearing a name which for four centuries a had been illustrious in English history, andwhic11 ^an tured to say had never risen to greater lustre -n!Zy—■ present. Lord Derby—(loud and prolonged cbe no doubt at a sacrifice of keen personal ieel~*fec upon grounds of public duty, come forward an<7oenevved himself as a member of the Liberal party. I aboat cheers.) The present Parliament, which Yas fLifi Jjoli A to expire, was one which he did not think