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Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

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7 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

BRECONSHIRE ELECTION".

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BRECONSHIRE ELECTION". The election of a member of parliament for th" county of Brecon, in room "ftl:e lite Sir Joseph Bailey, Bart., of Glanusk Park, took place in pursuance of proclamation, on Tuesday last, at the county hail, in the town oi Brecon. The only candidate '.v!, come forward on the occasion was Godfrey Charles .Morgan, Esq., of Ruperra Castle, eldest surviving son of Sir Charles Morgan, of Tredegar Park, and the knowledge of the fact that no opposition was offered from any quarter deprived the event of its usual excitement and bustle, and as it was also known that the member elect was prevented from attending by an attack of illness of a very serious character, the anticipated proceedings were still further divested of interest. The attendance was, therefore, very limited, and with the exception of a few of the neigh- bouring gentry, was principally composed of inhabitants of the town. The proceedings were commenced by tbe u^ual forms, such as reading the writ by the Under Sheriff, Henry Maybery, E.-q., and the administration of the bribery oath to the High Sheriff, Major-'Jencrai Wood, who pre- sided as returning officer on the occasion. The High Sheriff then informed the electors present that in obedience to her Majesty's writ, he had assembled them for the purpose of electing a representative, in the room of the late lamented Sir Joseph Bailey, He re- marked that their late ropres:nla'ive had raised himself from what might be considered a very humble situation in life to a position of very great distinction. This fact was as much to his honour as it was to the commendation of our free institutions. lie had raised himself hy aiding to develope that industry which was as much the off- spring, as the defence of the national wealth. As the representative of his native county, he had filled the proudest situation that an Englishman could aspire to- and which any man might be ambitious of not for his own pers nal aggrandisement, but for the power which it conferred of achieving for his fellow countrymen the greatest amount of good. Their other late representative had served them Very faithfully f)r the very long period of 40 years, (ioud and continued applause), and though now worn out with age and suffering, of which they would be sorry to hear, still, thank God, he yet lived. (Renewed cheers.) lie was certain that the electors he was addressing needed no words of his to stimu- late them to the free and enlightened exercise of a duty n which the interests of their county were so deeply concerned. It was not for him, holding the situation he now tillel, to enter i ;to political controversy, bat he would say that the present movement was pregnant with^ events for good or for evii, It"hidl would go far to deter- mine the fute of this great country. The result very much depended on the manner in which various parties in the legislate e would act with regard to the great questions of the day. (ilear, hear.) He would say no more, but state the course of proceedings, first caling upon any electors who nrght have candidates to propose, and if, as he expected, there would be an unopposed I return, it would still bo competent for any elector to put return, it would still be competent for any elector to put any questi n or make any explanation he might think necessary. (Applause.) John Parry de Winton, E'q., of Maesder.ven, then came forward and said that he rose with some pain on account of the cause of the absence of the gentleman whom he was about to praise, but with much pleasure on account of this gentlema 's claims to their favourable consideration. He had recency known from the best authority that he was a dutiful and affectionate son, and they all knew that lie had been a gallant soldier. The man who had exposed I;is life t<> imminent danger in the most daring charge ever performed by the cavalry of England, was not likely to neglect the honour or interests of England on the fl.,or of the Ilonse of commons. He should have said more had Mr. Morgan been present, with regard to some points in what lie would e dl his manly, eloquent, and liberal address, which contained everything that he could wish to see carried out. He could say that he was happy to propose a scion of the ancient house of Tredegar, after so long an adsence from the representation of this county. He had known the county for full 60 ye irs, and knew who had served them best. The family of Tredegar had made them a present of the town hall, they had built a very handsome ball- room at the Castle Hotel, for the benefit of the ladies, and had given a commodions race-course for the amusement of the gentlemen. (App!un?e and laughter.) They had given a site for the county gaol, and only a few days ago Sir Charles Morgan had offered a site on is ground for the handsome building intended for the school of Christ's College, for the education of the rising generation, but he (Mr. De Winton) was unfort':na'c!y one in a minority of governors opro.ed to its being built in what he considered the worst site in the neighbourhood. Whenever any imp ovement. in roads was proposed, in the times of the old turnpike trust the late Sir Charles Morgan never asked a question, but granted whatever was required without hesitation. :\11. Morgan, in his address, expressed an opinion that his politics were those of the county of Brecon, nnd he (Mr. De Winton) thought so too. He believed that they were not extreme in any opinion. They wanted neither a Tory nor a R tdi- cal, but wished to steer between extremes. Whenever the question of Reform was brought forward, he hop-'tl Mr, Morgan would vote for a bill that would be berr ficial to the country. Reform had often been brought forward previous to 1831, when William the Foutth put his name to a document by wliieh they had g t rid of rotten bo- roughs, and had divided the seats among populous consti- tuencies. This was a great boon, but what they wanted in the way of reform now he did not very well under- stand. They must k ep p.c? with the progress of ,0' ciety and with the increase of intelligence, but he be- lieved that universal suffrage meant universal destruc- tion. Wherever it had been adopt"d it had been followed by anarchy and ruin. The cruelty f the French Revo- lution was due to this, and it required the strong arm of the first Bonaparte to keep the nation from destruction. They remembered that when more recently a member of the House of Bourbon had been diiven from the throne, they were obliged in 1852 to place themselves under a Dictatorship to keep the country from sedition and ruin. Happily, we did not require such extreme measures, as we enjoyed the best constitution in the world, c existing of Queen, Lords, and Commons, which he hope: would be transmitted to latest posterity. He concluded 'y pro- posing Mr. Godfrey Charles Morgan. Juhn Lloyd, Esq., of Dinas, rose to second t' omi- nation. He said it was a truism that every L iiter ■who lived many years in the world naturally became more Conservative in character, and still more so iu pro- portion to the amount of success that he had been able to secure but it did not follow that he became one item less a Liberal in spirit. Hes,;okehisown feelings, and never would utter a sentiment which did not come from the bottom of his heart. If he had the same course to run over again, with similar objects to attain, he would show the same zeal and fervour in endeavouring to attain those objects as he had shown in an earlier period of his life. He had made those remarks in justice to himself and in justice to the situation he had then the honour to occupy. He now wished to explain the reasons which induced him to come to the conclusion that Mr. Morgan was the most eligible person to repre- sent this county. In the first place, he considered that Mr. Godfrey Morgan possessed a liberal spirit with refe- rence to public measures. Secondly, he believed that he possessed considerab!e ability-sufficient to create hopes that he would become a useful member of the most dis- tinguished body in the world in the third, and most important of all, he felt convinced that he was actuated by personal principles of integrity and honour that would induce him to carry out any professims or promises he made with the most scrupulous good faith. He had stated that Mr. Morgan was actu .ted by liberal senti- lnects with regard to public measures; he would admit that those terms were rather vague, and wou'd proceed to a more close definition of what he meant. He believed that if anv abuses were proved to exist to bis satisfac- tion, he would not only feel it his duty but a positive pleasure to remedy them. If it was soown that any extension of any privilege could safely be concedeu, l. woulJ be his pleasure to support it. There were some Liberals in the world who were n t Conservatives., and some Conservatives who were not Liberals. As an illustration of the first class, he, perhaps, could not do better than cite that member of Parliament now on a tour of agitation iu Scotland —Mr. Bright al. must admire his talents, which had rendered him about tue best speaker of the ape but he spoke sincerely when he gaid that in his opinion nature had given him every qualification, but had forgotten the organ of conservatism. In his impracticable search for perfection, he was willing to throw the whole of our pditical institutions into chaos, and to peril the very existence of that constitu- tion which was the envy and admiration of the world. In the spirit of perfect fair play he would give a speci- men of the Conservative who was not liberal—he would cane those members of parliament who, having opposed Cc'rolic fmancipation to the last, now continued to bring fCTlVdrd the question of the Maynooth grant. He was happy and proud to say-and here he spoke from positive knowledge-that v bile Mr. Morgan would not join Mr. Bright in Americanising our institutions, he would not j dn Mr. Spoon-:r in rescinding the Maynooth grant. (Applause.) The High Sheriff had alluded to the approaching measure of Reform he shou e < ecemng approaching measure of Reform he should be decking them if he did not express the opinion he ent .itained, tLa, let them establish whatRef.rm they pleased, ttey never eou'.d have a better House of Commons than t..e During the past session it had removed the usabilities of members of the Jewish persuasion, and had removed the property qualification, which prevented many from coming forward as candidates for the representation of the people; and he must say that the present House of Commons deserved well of the country. Mr. Lloyd then proceeded to explain what he considered would be a safe and moderate measure of ref>rm. The great "Re- form Dill of 1831 was formed on two principles, the dis- franchisement of small boroughs, and the extension of the franchise. He hoped that the next measure would be counted to the same principles. With regard to dis- franchisement, he referred to 32 boroughs with a popula- tion of less than 8,000 persons, each returning two nombera. The three of those nearest to this county were Leominster, Ludlow, and Evesham, and they, with a population of IJSS than 16,000 persons, returned as many members as the City of London and the great town of Liverpool. If those boroughs were allowed to retain one member each, they would still have 32 scats to confer on new constituencies. He found by the same returns that there were 19 counties ur portions of coun- 'e ties that possessed more than 220,000 inhabitants, and by giving 19 members to those districts, they would enlist a much greater number of persons in defence of our institutions. They might create a new metropolitan borough in Chelsea, and give additional members to such cities and towns Leeds, Manchester, Bristol, and Shef- field, or create new boroughs, such as Birkenhead, Lea- mington, and Clifton. Those 32 seats wonld probabiy be found sufficient to meet the wants of the present ge- neration, and as they had two Reform Bills in 40 years, they could leave other small boroughs as reserves for fu ure contingencies and the growth of future consti- tuencies. He now came to tile more important part- the extension of the franchise. He agreed with the proposal of Mr. Locke King, which appeared to him to be founded on a basis of equity, for he could not under- stand why a tnan living in the streets of this town should enjoy a privilege denied to a man occupying a similar position in point of oecupation at a distance of two or three miles in the country. On the same ground he would give votes for boroughs to forty shilling free- holders within towns, and make the franchise strictly equal in boroughs and counties. lie had thus bumblv expressed his own opinions, considering meetings of this kind fit and proper places for the discussion of such questions. Some Reformers thought the Ballot essential, but he must confess that for several reasons he should be sorry to see it adopted in this country. He thought it would tend to promote corruption it would proclaim to the wcrld that there were a great many Eng- lishmen tyrants, and a great many who were slaves for, without mincing the matter, he was a tyrant who would seek to compel a man to vote against his will, and he was a slave who would be intimidated to vote against his con- | science. Mr. L. referred to France as a proof that the ballot was not a preventive to despotism, and to the re- cent message of the American Preeident to show that it was proclaimed by the highest authority of the United States that it might co-exist with a degree of corruption that threatened the safety of the State. In this country he was himself a proof that every individual possessed not merely freedom of thought and speech, but of action aLa; let them therefore show by their conduct that th"y did not require the shelter of the ballot. Let the land- lord and tenant, employer and tradesmen, determine that they would neither intimidate, nor be intimidated. He had already stated the grounds which had induced him to give Mr. Morgan his earnest support. He did so because he represented his own sentiments. Himself the son of a sailor, he also felt a great interest in Mr. Morgan as the lineal descendant of a naval hero, almost equal to Nelson —the great Lord Rodney. Ho would not allow such a consideration to balance againsta political principle, but when they were agreed on other points, lie thought they should show respect foj the descendants of great men, who had distinguished themselves by services ren- dered to their county, either in the senate or the field. He assured the electors that lie was performing an honest I duty while gratifying his feelings in cordially seconding the nomination of Mr. Godfrey Charles Morgan. (Much applause.) Xo other candidate being proposeJ, the High Sheriff declared Mr. Godfrey Charles Morgan to be duly elected. Sir C. Morgan thanked the electors for the high honour they had conferred upon his son, who was unable to attend, as ho was sufferilJg from severe iilness, and his physician had certified that lie could not cornu to Brecon at present without endangering his life. At school, in his regiment, and at home, his son had been beloved and respected, and ha had given promise that he would per- form his legislative duties in a way that would be satis- factory to his constituents and honourable to himself. (Cheers.) As fir as he (Sir Charles) understood his son's politics, they agreed with the principles which had been so ably enullciated by his friend, Mr. Lloyd. I' A vote of thanks to the High Sheriff terminated the proceedings.

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TIlE SEC:Œ L' SOCtKTIliS IX…

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AGENTS FOR THE "MERLIN' IX…