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Leader (1850-1860), 19th April 1851, Edition Town of 1, Page 359, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      Borne , but they did not hear of any Dissenters going that road . With regard to the position of ministers , whom he described as an aristocratic clique , they were all aware that Government , being in extremis , had announced their intention to bring forward a Reform Bill next session . This was a great step on the part of Lord John Russell , and he ( Mr . Bright ) hoped the country would come to the rescue , so as to secure a measure of real substantial reform . The proceedings closed with the passing of a resolution , all but unanimously , which , after thanking Mr . Gibson and Mr . Bright for their past services , pledged the Reformers of Manchester to use all legal and proper means to return them at the next election .

      The effects of the late spirited campaign in Bedfordshire by Mr . Houghton and Mr . How are beginning to be evident . About twelve months ago the Luton people established a Freehold Land Society . They have lately been initiating a similar movement for Reform Registration . A large company met on Wednesday week at Luton , getting through the business first , and dining afterwards . Mr . John Bright attended . Mr . Cobden , who was expected , was detained in town by the illness of Mrs . Cobden . Among the mottoes and sentiments inscribed on the walls were "Religious Freedom" and " Tenant-Right . " The assemblage was essentially agricultural . Mr . Bright made a telling speech . He told the electors that

      " The only way to accomplish the reforms which every true-Learted man desires to see , was by changing the men in our House of Commons that do not do their duty , and by keeping up the men who are inclined to flag in that House to their duty . ( Applause . ) A friend of his once gave utterance to this sentiment— ' A good member of Parliament is worth a whole boat-load of tracts . ' There was one lesson you learnt at the last election , and that was that an election can cost very little . ( Tremendous cheers . ) I do not know anything more pernicious than an election conducted as some not far from this neighbourhood have been conducted . ( Applause , and cry of Calvert and Bell . ' ) Twice have I been elected , without a farthing ' s expense to myself—for

      my legal expenses have been paid by my constituents . ( ' Hear , ' and cheers . ) This expensive system of electioneering only placed the representation in the hands of the rich ; for only rich men were able to offer themselves . But you , by your late contest , have shown that an election can be carried on without a ruinous expense . ( Loud cheers . ) At the last election for the West Riding of Yorkshire — the most influential county constituency in the kingdom—when Sir Culling Eardley Smith opposed Mr . Denison , the electors of each polling district managed to defray their own expenses , and thus a sharply contested election , with a constituency of some 36 , 000 electors , only cost between £ 4000 and £ 5000 . ( Cheers . ) South

      Nottinghamshire has recently set a noble example , when Mr . Barrow contested the election , the expenses of which were met by voluntary contributions throughout the county . ( Applause . ) Lord Newark adopted the old system , —and his election was carried on by the lawyers —( laughter )—while the other party managed without them . ( Laughter and cheers . ) Last night Mr . Cobden said if his going to Luton cost him being laid up for twelve months , he would not miss going . ( Greatcheering . ) He said it was the Manchester of Bedfordshire . ( Cheers ) The aristocracy knew very well that where trade flourished there the great principles of liberty would be disseminated . "

      Mr . Willis , in proposing the health of Mr . Houghton , took the late election for his text , and illustrated the proposition , that an election may cost very little by showing that at ' * The late election they had not one paid agent ; on the other side it was otherwise . ( Laughter and cheers . ) The money for the election was raised by the friends of the candidate in Bedford , Luton , and Dunstable for the most part ; and the men who drove their horses about the county , did it for nothing . ( Laughter and cheers . ) By that election they had learnt something about the register , and that was an important step—( cheers )—and nowa society was established to make that b <> ok its especial study . ( Laughter and cheers . ) Mr . Houghton had wherever he went the

      tested the labourers during contest in his progress through the county , and the universal testimony was the same as at Harrolil . There the farmers told the labourers that if they were to consent to a small bread tax—only o little one , it . would relieve the farmers immediately—but the cry from all the labourers was the same : ' Don ' t put a farthing on the bread . ' ( Hear . ) In other parts of the country it was the same . The other day lie went into a labourer ' s cottage , and observing the comfort and plenty of the inmates , observed— ' I atn glad to Bee that you have n good bacon pig in salt and a sack of flour in store . ' ' Yes , air , ' was the reply , ' wo were never bo well off before . ' In a part of 8 urrey he was told that there waa ' not a man out of work , and not one in the workhouse . Cheers . )"

      Mr . Houghton declared that , protection being gone for ever , fanners must seek relief in tenant-right , reduced tuxution , and tho removal of the obnoxious cluusos in leuaes . In . the evening the Liberals held a spirited public meeting , which completed thin lieidday in Budforduhirc . The Bromley meeting of the National Public School Association wua notable for the presence of three clergymen , who came at leant to hear and weigh what avuh suid , one of them , the incumbent , presiding . Mr . W . lleutou thought thut if education HooietieH ¦ were to be regarded «» s " godless" because they did not upooiully rooogiiizo religion , every UHaociution lor

      a purely secular or phijanthropic object must be Tegarded as " godless" too—even Mechanics' Institutions , and T adesmen ' s Benevolent Societies , and charitable institutions of every kind . Dr . Smiles thought that religious men ought not to allow their conscientious differences of opinion on doctrinal topics to interpose obstacles to the secular instruction of the nation . As to the recent Manchester plan , known as Mr . Richson's , from the first it had been clear that that plan would not work—it

      was a mere extension of sectarianism in schools , calculated to train up the rising generation in batches of sectaries—here a batch of church children , there a batch of Methodist children , there a batch of Catholic children , and so on , —teaching them to grow up more strongly than ever imbued with sectarian feelings towards each other . He disposed of voluntaryism as inefficient ; pointing out that education , paid for by a rate , was not like charity-school education paid for by anxiously solicited subscriptions , liable to the objection of being a derogatory system .

      " Another objection was—that national education would interfere with private efforts , and restrict competition , which was so ' wholesome : ' so did the postoffice , so would the law now being passed to prohibit the sale of poisons , so did the law regulating the hours of labour , so did the police regulations , so did the health of towns' bill , and the bill to prohibit women and children labouring in the coal-pits , unless under proper regulations . ( Hear . ) We wanted a law of national education as a grand supplement to these admirable measures . ( Cheers . )"

      The Reverend Mr . Dixon , the chairman , concurred in the principle of the proposed measure . He thought the schoolmaster was best in the school , as the clergyman was best in the pulpit . He saw no other way of obtaining the requisite means for upholding an efficient system of public instruction than by a public rate levied by localities in proportion to their several wants . A strong resolution was carried , approving of the objects and principle of the association .

      The Fraternal Democrats have signified their sympathy with the foreign refugees now in London , apropos of Lord Lyndhurst ' s proposed Alien Act ; and passed a resolution at a meeting at the Johnstreet Institution , condemning the statements in Parliament , and the reports of the press , respecting their revolutionary projects as calumnies concocted for the purpose of evoking the spirit of persecution .

      Untitled Article

      THE KAFIR WAR . The Propontis brings news from Fort William , Sir Harry Smith ' s head quarters , up to the 23 rd of February . On the 3 rd of January Sir Harry issued a proclamation to the burghers , who have been too apathetic . He tells them the war cannot be ended without their assistance , and expresses deep regret that scarcely " one burgher in a month " has joined his array . Colonel Maokinnon succeeded in throwing six week ? ' provisions into Forts Cox and White on the 30 ih and 31 st of January . The same officer , with 3000 men , made a kind of military promenade from the 13 th to the 19 th of February , fighting his way through the country to Fort Hare , thence about the valley of Chumie and back to Fort William . The

      Kafirs engaged were chiefly those of Ivona , Stock , Auta , Botnian , Soubo , Sandilli , and Seyolo . They gave the levies a severe check on one occasion , arid were only driven back by repeated charges of the Seventy-third . Colonel Mackianon " had tho satisfaction of destroying the huts and laying waste the fields of the ruthless savages" in the valley of Chumie who were guilty of the massacres of Woburn and Auckland . On the 22 nd of February , General Somerset moved upon and recaptured Fort Armstrong by storm , and a lo-s of four men wounded and four horses killed . The Kafirs fought very desperately after the fort was stormed . General Somerset destroyed tho fort and all its contents . He has upwards of 100 prisoners , seventy to eighty stand of arum , and 400 women and children . The chief Pato , has remained faithful . The main body of the army , 4000 strong , under Sir Harry t ^ m ith , was concentrated on Fort William on the 23 rd < a'February .

      Untitled Article

      REVOLT IN PORTUGAL . Duke Saldanha has prevailed on several regiments to join him in open opposition to the Count do Thoinar , renowned as Costa Cabral . The Duke left Lisbon for Cintra on the 8 th of April , whence he marched on Suntarem , where a concentration of the insurgent troops will bo effected . The King and Terceiru started directly after up the Tug us with 1600 men , destined for the same fortress . Jlow the race him terminated in not at present known .

      Accounts diner as to tho part Das Antas , ltandeira , and I ) e Mello , of Oporto notoriety , will play in the event , of the military insurrection being insufficient to oust the Count de Thoinux . It is believed that injunctions to arm have heen already forwarded to the partizans of the popular chi < fn , and that the popular forcoH , proper , will array themselves under ft : » ldanha . Thin would give a liberal complexion to the movement ; mid though tho Titntts says foreign interference is on thia occasion out of tho question , we know thut

      Palmerston , who can tolerate a respectable revolution , is ever ready to quash a popular revolt . The recent changes in Spanish affairs are deemed to have contributed to the sudden explosion of the Portuguese Opposition . The British fleet in theTaguswas on the point of setting sail , but delayed at the request of the Queen ' s Government . The reasons which have led Saldanha to take this step are not very obvious . He is a Cartista , it is true , but not an extreme partizan . of the Charter . The Count de Thomar has quarrelled with the Bank , which aggravates his position . At present this movement is decidedly nothing more than a Parliamentary opposition suddenly converted into a military pronunciamento .

      Untitled Article

      THE NEW FRENCH MINISTRY . France has again a Parliamentary Ministry . Le " on Faucher , ormerly Minister of the Interior , the hotheaded partizan of order , who was censured by the Assembly for undue interference in the elections , has succeeded in constructing a Cabinet , and in assuming the much-coveted post which he filled before so little to his honour . The Ministry was definitely formed on the 10 th of April , immediately after the London papers had announced the failure of the negotiations carried on for that purpose . Indeed , it appears to have been a task of great difficulty—only accomplished by adroit management , much coquetry , and adjustment of rival pretensions .

      Baroche struggled hard to get possession of the Interior ; but , M . de Persigny , it is sai \ found means to induce him to think the Ministry of Foreign Affairs a post of sufficient power , and not unworthy of his magnificent estimate of himself . M . Fould returns again to the department of Finance , and M . Rouher slides quietly into the Ministry of Justice . The Legitimists have two seats in the Cabinet : M . Chasseloup Laubat has the Marine ; and M . de Crouseilhes , who will follow in the pious footsteps of M . de Falloux , Public Instruction . The remaining Ministers are M . Buffet ( a name which signifies nothing ) , Commerce and Agriculture : General Randon , War ; and M . Magne , Public Works .

      It will be seen at once that this Cabinet is virtually that which the majority destroyed so effectually on the 18 th of January , apropos of the dismissal of Changarnier ; and it was received as such by the main body of the great coalition majority of that day . The scene in the Chamber on Friday must have shown the new Ministers that they will have a tempestuous career . No sooner did Leon Faucher , in his dry imperious manner , present himself at the Tribune and speak of the Cabinet as one which presented itself " for the first time , " than loud murmers of denial arose , and M . de Sainte Beuve demanded permission to speak . Leon Faucher , every now and then interrupted from the Right and Left , proceeded to read what he called the programme of the new

      Ministry : it consisted of pompous and emphatic commonplaces about the great majority , the recstablishment of order , the reimimation ot labour , and the restoration of prosperity , —all which miracles he and his colleagues , with the cordial assistance of the Executive , were about to perform . Mow his magniloquent address was received at its conclusion , whether in " profound silence , " according to one report , or with " agitation , " according to another , it ia hard to say . After consulting with Changarnier , M . de Sainte Beuve made a fierce attack upon the new Ministry , denying that it was new ; he declared that the reinstallation of the Ministry expelled on the 18 th of January was an audacious challenge flung in the face of a great Assembly . He said he had heard " out of doors" that the doom of deliberating

      Assemblies was sealed , and that a new 18 th Brumaire was at hand ; and he called upon the Assembly to meet this challenge and bravado by an energetic resolution thus worded : —¦ " The National Assembly persists in its resolution of the 18 th of January , 18 / H . It declares that it . has no confidence in the Ministry , and passes to the order of the day . " Leon Faucher thought it unfair to condemn the new Ministry without a trial . An 18 th Hrumaire was an absurd idea . On a division the Assembly decided that it would pass to the order of the day " pure and simple , " — without . De Sainte Heuvo's declaration —by 327 to 276 , leaving a majority of 62 for Ministers . This number , a good working minority at

      Westminster , is not considered of much account in Paris . The majority was composed of the 2 H (> who follow Leon Faucher , about thirty Legitimi ts , and a goodly number who , except under cireuinstanoes of great provocation , vote for Ministries of" Order . " Ahout sixty abstained from voting , among whom were many leading men . Altogether , the reception they have met . with cannot be entirely satisfactory to the new Ministers . Kmile de , ( Jinudin , who hiin his smart saying for every crisis , writes in the I ' russe : — " Kvery supreme Ministry has its fund man . The MiniHt . ry of the 1 Ith of August had M . Pcyroimet ; the Minintryof the UiJih of October had M . Ilehert , ; tlie-Ministry of the 10 th of April will have M . Leon "aucher . The new Ministry has been christened variously by the'f ' orlile bruin of Pariniim journalism , us a " Ministry of Provocation , " a Miuintry of Defiance-. " u " Mi-

      Untitled Article

      April 19 , 1851 . ] © D * it ^ a Her . 359 s

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), April 19, 1851, page 359, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1879/page/3/