A meeting of the Liberal party, attended by 278 members,
was held at Mr. Gladstone's house on Thursday at two o'clock. Mr. Gladstone, as leader of the party and representative of the late Ministry, stated that in his judgment it would be wise to resist the second reading of the Reform Bill, but that as many of those who belonged to his side of the House objected, he was ready to permit the second reading. If on Monday Mr. Disraeli would consent to modify "the worst Reform Bill ever laid before the House of Commons" by surrendering the dual franchise and voting-papers, reducing the county qualification, and expressing & readiness to discuss the borough franchise in the sense of confining it to ratepayers, and forbidding composition for rates to all per- sons in houses rated at more than so much, then the Bill might pass into committee. If not, he thought the party should resist on the motion, "That the Speaker do leave the chair." Mr. Bright assented to this view with a cordiality which, considering his long support of household suffrage, was a little curious, and it was accepted almost unanimously. Everything, therefore, depends once more upon Mr. Disraeli's speech of Monday, and the best founded rumour as to his intentions seems to be this. He will surrender the dual scheme and reduce the fancy franchises to one —the payment of income-tax, pass over voting-papers as a detail, but take his stand obstinately upon the optional right of every householder to come upon the Register if he pleases, hoping thereby to paralyze the Radicals in the North.
