The extraordinary political demonstrations which have distinguished the
Parliamentary recess are being fast brought to a close. They will end with
the early days of the in-coming week. The great strife will then be contained
to a limited area; although the nation will view the proceedings in Parliament
with as much interest as it has shown in listening to the long series of
outside harangues.
Last Saturday was a terrible day for talk. The talk has never ceased since.
It will be continued to-day at sundry unfortunate places, including
Newtown, in Montgomery, upon which town, and upon Denbigh on Monday, Mr. Joseph
CHAMBERLAIN, one of the most inveterate talkers of them all, will turn the
tap of his inexhaustible rhetoric.
The flow of words has been as abundant as it is at the time of a general
election. Never, perhaps, since the Corn Law agitation has so strong an
effort been made to arouse public feeling on a political question; and the effort
has not been without results, as was manifested at Carlisle last week and,
more emphatically, at Birmingham on Monday night
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The Whitehaven demonstration, on Saturday, not being a county affair, was
consequently not so large as either the Carlisle or the Lowther gatherings.
It fell on a wintry day, too, in weather so bitterly cold as to render the
fireside the most desirable locality in which to demonstrate. Only the more
fervid supporters of the Reform movement, with hearts aglow with radical feeling,
would care to encounter the inclement atmosphere.
The procession, moreover, was shorn of a considerable part of its expected
proportions by the failure of the Cleator contingent to arrive in time to
take up a position on the line of march; but, take it for all in all, we
have rarely had an opportunity of looking upon its like in Whitehaven.
A very significant feature of the procession was the presence of some
hundreds of the Whitehaven colliers, who boldly marched behind the banner,
by the way, and unfurled, I believe, for the first time on Saturday. Hitherto the
Whitehaven miners have been regarded as the peculiar possession of Mr.
BANTINCK; and any attempt to interfere with the hon. Member’s political party has
always been effectual to arouse the warm indignation of Mr. BENTINCK and
his more immediate supporters. It is therefore probable that the action of the not
inconsiderable section of the miners who took part in Saturday’s
demonstration will cause the right hon. Gentleman considerable disquietude.
People were not slow to assert that the Lonsdale miners would not dare to
take part in the demonstration; but by joining, in their hundreds, the
ranks of the Reformers they have emphatically given the lie to these assertions,
and shown the world that they have the courage to proclaim their opinions
openly, in the face of day.
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That nature’s nobleman, Mr. Thomas BURT, the Parliamentary representative of
the borough of Morpeth, delivered a speech that would have been highly
interesting had the subject not already been torn to tatters. A wonderful command
of language has Mr. BURT; and if he would only rid himself of his harsh
Northumbrian accent, with the hideous Danish gutturals and the horrible
mispronunciations, he might become one of the most effective speakers in the House of
Commons.
Why has he not cultivated his voice with the same care that his mind is
cultivated? It is many years since he emerged from the pit; and he has had
abundant opportunities, in the House and out of it, observing the important effect
of a correctly trained voice in giving a charm to oratory. He was kept at
work in the pit from the age of ten to twenty-eight; but he had heard many good
models since then, and I am sure that he is not too proud to imitate that
which is good, although he may be too honest to have recourse to the
adventitious alds and superficial artifices to which many orators are prone.
I know that it is extremely difficult to properly spokeshave the thick
Northumbrian tongue; and to do the thing imperfectly is worse then leaving it
undone. It can be done, however, even by men as mature as Mr. BURT; and as he
now belongs to Parliament and the nation he ought to employ the national speech,
and not be distorted, discordant language which he habitually uses in his
own county and among his own people.
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RUMOUR.
"Rumour is a lying Jade," wrote a far greater man than I, and so she is,
isn't she. Everybody who has been the subject of a rumour knows it; and who
hasn't at some time or other?
Some wicked person once said that a Pressman's job is divided between
inventing rumours and contradicting them. The first part of this assertion is,
of course, utterly false, but you may believe the second part. It is because
it is true that I am penning this note.
I don't know what Cockermouth Councillors got to talking about on
Sunday, but it had been rumoured since that because they receive so many
invitations to attend Church on Sate occasions - local occasions of state, of course -
they are considering a question of a uniform attire in which to present
themselves at these functions - in other words, a Uniform (with a capital "U"
this time). The regulation silk hat and frock coat not being considered a
Uniform, a civic outfit of cocked hat and gown is said to be the idea.
Lest they should be considered unduly vain, however, I am asked to say
that no thought of such sartorial magnificence has entered their heads. All
the same, i don't see why it shouldn't, for, as one lady admirer remarked on
hearing about it, "Wouldn't they look simply gorgeous." There now!
John PEEL.
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