There was a Conservative demonstration in Essex on the 27th
ult., the annual dinner of the Maldon Conservative Club furnish- ing the occasion. One or two of the speeches were remarkable, Mr. Ducane's because, speaking of the party, he said "there was life in the old dog yet," which, as all dogs must die, and old dogs soon, was not a sanguine remark. Mr. Sandford intimated that a Conservative Government was a compensation for a bad harvest, not because Mr. Disraeli is good to eat, but because he may repeal the malt tax. He wanted a Reform Bill with varied suffrages, and would increase nasty little boroughs like Maldon by including them in a county district. He threatened Lord Derby with opposition if he gave way to America too much, and spoke all through like a Tory by no means satisfied that he had the govern- ment he wanted. Mr. Earle, on the other hand, made a very able. speech, saying that constitutional governments had stability, but democratic governments had energy ; and he thought that some of the schemes of Reform "would add to the total sum of political power in the country," would "give us a stronger instru- ment "—a remarkable utterance, considering that the speaker is by party a Tory. He and Mr. Sandford exactly illustrate the distance between Mr. Disraeli and Lord Cranborne, on whom Mr. Sand- ford, by the way, openly pinned his faith. Is the House of Cecil to enter the Tory Cave of Adullam ?
