Mr. Walpole has prohibited by proclamation the proposed meeting in
Hyde Park next Monday, on the ground that the use of the Park for the purpose of holding such meeting is not per- mitted, and " interferes with the object for which Her Majesty has been pleased to open the Park for [sic] the general enjoyment of her people." (Mr. Walpole's English is not classical.) Mr. Beales disputes the legality of this decision, but as he declines to enter into the only point really of moment, " the question of the Royal prerogative, or of the Crown's alleged power over the Parks," the weight of his opinion is not very great. Another person, Mr. De Grnyther, disputes the legality of Mr. Walpole's proclamation, on the ground that it is not issued in the name of the Commissioner of Works (Lord John Manners), but of the Home Secretary. The point appears to be worthless. Lord John Manners declines to allow the meeting, and Mr. Walpole notifies this refusal as the reason for interfering as the Home Secretary charged with the guardianship of the civil order of Eng- land, to forbid a meeting which would issue in a breach of the peace. The whole conduct of the Reform League in this matter seems to us, as we have elsewhere pointed out, in the highest degree childish and mischievous, and unworthy of men who are really devoted to the cause they profess to be so anxious to pro- mote.
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