ebe Countrp.
While betrayed constituencies in various parts of the country are calling their Representatives to account for breach of pledges given or implied, it is gratifying to observe the expressions of satisfaction, and the renewed assurances of support, which a contrary line of conduct seldom fails to elicit and secure. We observe, for instance, that the electors of St. Alban's assembled last week and agreed upon the fol- lowing address to their Representative, Mr. Ward, who has taken so prominent a part in the discussion of the Irish Church question.
" SIR—We, the undersigned, your electors and supporters in the late struggle for this borough, beg leave most respectfully to present you with this expression of our thanks, fur the ability, zeal, and judgment displayed by you in the furtherance elan interests. in common with those of our fellow countrymen at large. " Wr congratulate you, more especially, upon the results of that memorable motion brought forward by you on the 27th of May 1834, for revising the state of the Protea tent Church Establishment in Ireland ; as well as upon your continued exertions in support of that motion, when relinquished by you (without the slightest compromise of principle) in favour of Lord Julio Russell; under whose auspices you had the satis- faction of seeing your original design crowned by so signal a success in the Brhish House of Commons,
"And furthermore, we beg to assure you that, should that change, for which there seems just ground of apprehension, take place on the stage of State affairs, we are ready and willing, by our personal and humble efforts, to uphold you in that highly honourable situation which you hold in the British Senate, and in which you have given the greatest satisfaction, as well to your constituents as to the country at large. "St. Alban's, 7th April 18:15." (Signed by 200 electors.)
Mr. Ward, in his reply to this address, acknowledges the support which the approbation of his constituents affords a Member of Par- liament in his efforts to promote the cause of justice, religion, and truth. He then goes on to say-
" It was with the conviction that I should advance this cause by the line which I was about to take, that I advocated last year those changes in the Church of Ireland, -is now established by law, which I held to be essential to the peace and wellbeing of the empire, and which a majority of the House of Commons has now pronounced to be tudispensable. It is with this same conviction that I shall hope to see those changes teUleerately, but firmly, worked out by the Government now about • to be constituted ; without any violent disruption of existing ties, without injustice towards existing Ineunthcuts, but veith that regard. in all fawn arrangements, to the just rights of the Irish Pcople, which can alone efface the memory of past oppression. and render the Cum° a union in real ty as well as in name. " Proud as I should [owe been to have had the honour of a more direct participation in the success of this measth-e than has &lien to my lot during the present sesaion, the electors of St. Alban's only do me justice in believing that no personal considerations Would have induced meg:4.'0sta natant to hazard its success, by depriving it of the add;. tional weight which its 'Wiliam by Lord John Russell was calculated to throw into the scale. By this it became identified with the existence of a Liberal Government in this country, and formed at the same time a bond of union between that Government and the great body of Reformers, without a hose support it could not have been or- ganized. Ity this it will become, before a twelvemonth has elapsed, the law of the land, and thus afford another proof of the facility with which the greatest changes esay be effectual in our institutions, by the gradual influence of public opinion, and the Con- stitution itself be brought into harmony with the new wauts of society it ntl of the age."
These are the principles which earn for such men as Mr. Ward the nickname of Destructive from the disappointed gluttons of Eccle- siastical abuses ; but the intelligent and independent portion of the community is becoming every day more sensible of the necessity of governing the country in accordance with them.
A public meeting was held in Liverpool on Wednesday, at which an address to Lord John Russell expressive of gratitude for his late Par- liamentary services was unanimously agreed to. The address will not be hawked about from door to door, after the Tory fashion, but will receive a vast number of signatures, and then be forwarded to his Lordship. In Manchester, the arrival of the news of the Tory surrender excited an extraordinary sensation. Parties were immediately called into acti- vity in anticipation of an election, if not for the whole country, at least for the borough of Manchester ; it being considered that Mr. Poulett Thomson must necessarily be included in the arrangements of any Liberal Administration, and so vacate his seat. Under this impres- sion, a meeting of his election committee and supporters was held on the evening of Thursday at the Thatched House Tavern ; Mr. J. C. Dyer, the gentleman who was mainly instrumental in procuring the return of Mr. Thomson for this commercial emporium in the first instance, in the chair. The meeting being hastily convened, and merely of a preliminary character, no set speeches were delivered ; but the following resolutions, which embody at once the feelings of the parties in regard to the political state of the country at large, and their opinion of Mr. Thomson individually, were passed nem. con. " That this meeting has heard. with uniningled satisfaction, the resignation of the Tory. Ministry ; and, assuming that a Liberal and unshackled Administration will be appointed, cordially approve of Mr.Thomson taking office, should he consider the same to be for the public interest.
" That in the event of Mr. Thomson vacating his seat in Parliament by the accept. mice of office, this meeting pledges itself to use every exertion to promote his re- election for the borough of Manchester. " That the gentlemen present do form themselves into a committee for the purpose of taking such measures as they may deem necessary to carry into effect the foregoing resolutions."
It will thus be seen that Mr. Thomson is not likely to decline in the estimation of his friends by uniting with a Whig Cabinet. Of his reelection, in case he should accept office, there can be little doubt. The Tories, however, have resolved that he shall not walk over the course ; and have prevailed upon Mr. Braidly, the gentleman who stood and was defeated at the late election, again to come forward in opposition to Mr. Thomson. In Bradford, as elsewhere, the Tories got up a hole-and-corner ad- dress to Sir Robert Peel, whether with or without a meeting is not known, entreating that gentleman to keep office, and calling the majos rity of the Commons "an unprincipled faction." When the secret' got wind, the Reformers determined to give the whole town an op- portunity of speaking their mind on the important question which has led to the resignation of Ministers ; and a requisition signed by eighty-one gentlemen, was presented to the constables, requesting them to call a public meeting, "for the purpose of addressing his Majesty, beseeching him to carry into full effect the resolution which has been passed by a majority of the House of Commons, respecting the appropriation of the surplus funds of the Irish Church ; likewise for expressing in an address to Lord John Russell, their perfect concurrence with the terms of his motion respecting the Irish Church, and their satisfaction at the conduct pursued by that noble lord, and the majority of the House of Commons, since the commencement of the present session of Perlis- ment."—Leeds Mercury.
On Saturday, a meeting was numerously attended of the late Com- mittee of Lord J. Russell at the Mechanics Institute in Plymouth. This step was taken in consequence of Edmund Montagu Newcombe Parker, nephew of the Earl of Morley, offering himself as a candidate for the Southern Division of Devon. Appropriate resolutions were unanimously adopted, and the several sub-committees commenced their duties with vigour, and prosecuted the canvass until a late hour that night, which was resumed on Monday, and has continued with the full enjoyment of their anticipated success. The high opinion entertained of Lord John Russell does not appear in the least abated. By accounts which we have received from different parts of the county, we learn that the most active exertions are pursued by the partisans of the can- didates for the Southern Division. In no one instance do we hear of a falling off of the friends of Lord John Russell ; in fact they have in- creased to a great extent. The Tory candidate will have hard work indeed to make any thing like a show, if he shows at all.—Plymoarth Journal.
The Court Circular announced a few days ago that a " Loyal and dutiful address" bad been presented to the King, from the Borough of Warrington (Lancashire) in support of the Peel-Wellington Admi- nistration. A correspondent of the Morning Chronicle states, that this address was concocted at a select meeting of Tories, and was privately hawked about the town for several days by the amnia couriers of certain influential parties, lay and clerical, whose wishes were tantamount to commands. Notwithstanding all the arts to which embittered faction could resort, the address obtained only from three to four hundred sig.. natures, in a town consisting of upwards of twenty thousand inha- bitants. and which has the honour of being represented by a Tory landowner. The true state of public opinion in the Borough was de- monstrated by the Reformers in the getting up of an address to the King, condemnatory of the Tory Ministry, and a memorial to Lord John Russell warmly eulogizing the skill with which he led the Oppos sition. These documents received upwards of two thousand signa- tures in the course of a few hours. The memorial has been presented to the noble lord by Mr. Charles Hindley, M. P. for Ashton-undees Lyne. The Tories of Ashton tried a similar manceuvre, and procured about 800 signatures to an address to the King ; whereupon the Re- formers held a public meeting, and agreed to an Anti-Tory address,
which in the course of a few hours received four thousand signatures.
The resignation of the Tory Ministry was received with unbounded joy at Swansea by the inhabitants, who bad assembled about the Post. office on the arrival of the mail, anticipating the welcome event. — Cambrian.
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