Mn. Ponsonby deserves credit for his public spirit in contest-
ing Cirencester on behalf of the Liberals,. for he must have been well aware that there was hut little chance of his success. -There was no contest in 1874, and. even in 1868 the Liberal candidate was defeated by Lord Bathurst,—whose influence in the borough is great,—by a. majority of 344. On Tuesday Mr. Ponsonby was defeated by the somewhat larger majority of 351—Mr. Thomas William 'Chester Master gaining 698 votes, against 347 given to the Hon. Ashley George John Ponsonby. In fact, it was a forlorn -hope: to fight at all ; but the men who head these forlorn hopes do at least keep alive the political spirit of the minority, which cannot 'but fail under the continued assumption, that a struggle is simply desperate and useless. At Hereford, on-Thursday, a much more even, battle was fought, but there again the Conservative came off -victorious, though by a less majority-in a much larger poll than :at the last election in 1874. This time the Conservative, Colonel Arbuthnot, obtained 1,110 votes, against 1,066 given for Mr. Talley, the Liberal.
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