among you [No, no!]. There were to be 500 members, and there were to be 43,000 to each member, and as Hastings had 22,000 or 23,000, he was right in saying Hastings would have only half a member. [That’s a lie! and confusion]. Then there were the friends of human rights, who said “We want a just and comprehensive measure, including the female element of adult population, the equalization of constituencies, annual parliaments, and payment of members”. In all these there are five reform bills, and I think Lord Derby’s was the best. He need not tell them how important it was to have a strong Government at the present crisis, and he hoped the good people of Hastings and St.Leonards would show it in the present election.
F. North, Esq. said they were all employed in the House very actively and usefully, as he thought in furthering the legislation of the country when they were sent back to their constituents, and at a time when they ought to have been left undisturbed. He could not express the horror with which he looked on that coup d’état of a wicked ministry, and he trusted they would confirm the verdict that would be passed on that ministry by the country. Hitherto, he frankly confessed he had been a very moderate politician. He had thought that temperate measures were the wisest, but he owned that when he saw a step of such wickedness [oh, oh!] as was shown in the present dissolution, he was disposed to take a more violent course. His conviction was that the people would refuse to endorse the opinion which Lord Derby had asked at their hands. He (Mr. N.) had had nothing to do in introducing Lord Vane, but he should be happy to co-operate with him as a colleague. He advised them to give their votes honestly, and to refrain from bribery or intimidation. If he were rejected because he would not use such means, he would go back into private life with the conviction that he retained an unsullied reputation. But howsoever much interest they might feel in in local or general politics, deeper were there feelings in foreign affairs, in which struggle they might possibly be forced to take part. At all events, their services must be kept ready for action, and that would require greater taxation. He desired to see Lord Palmerston at the head of the Foreign Office, and he also thought it desirable to have a Liberal Government to assist in the settlement of the Italian question.
Lord Harry Vane said he only arrived yesterday at Battle, where he usually spent a good portion of the year, when, quite unexpectedly, a deputation waited on him and invited him to become a candidate. He acceded to the request because he thought a free expression should be given to the electors of Hastings and St. Leonards. He was -
