Mr. Newdegate and Mr. Davenport Bromley, the Members for North
Warwickshire, made political speeches in the market at Coventry on Tuesday,—Mr. Newdegate coining out exceedingly strong in his favourite character of the plain, ostentatiously plain, old English squire. " What am I, if I am not Member for North Warwickshire ? I am Charles Newdegate, who would be very proud to write ' farmer' on his taxed cart, and have some reason to do so, and I should have satisfaction in putting the words coal-higgler,' indeed, in the same conspicuous position." He was also willing to boast of being Chairman of the Governors of the Royal Veterinary College. He was great, too, on faith- ful shepherds and faithful herdsmen ; was proud to stand in so appropriate a place as the market, and got his feet firmly planted on the local soil before he touched politics. Then he gave a gird at Mr. Gladstone, a propos of the bad ventilation of the House of Commons, — an atmosphere in which were discussed questions " I cannot say redolent of the odour of sanctity, though there was a strong flavour of incense ;" and finally touched, with his own peculiar warning solemnity of manner, on the Irish land question. In England he thought the farmers might fairly ask for some improvements in the law of tenure, but he warned them, he warned them solemnly, against borrowing anything from the claims put forward by Irish farmers. " In Ireland you will have opinions expressed and objects explained which are inconsistent with the rights and the safety of property ; and I warn you, farmers and tradesmen alike, that if you endanger property you will shake credit, and if you shake credit you will injure your own business interests." Excellent warning, but a little vague. It is the only defect of ostentatiously plain squires, squires who, like plain Charles Newdegate, would half like to write " farmer" and " coal-higgler" on their taxed carts to show how very little they pretend to, that their advice, though very plain and very explicit too, wants point. Plain Charles Newdegate avoided an exposition of what he meant by " inconsistent with the rights and the safety of property." Where the question began, he stopped.
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