The movement for " further Reform " begins to acquire
im- portance, from the concurrence of various parties ; though it has scarcely assumed its final shape. The leading agitators at Man- chester have organized an extensive correspondence, intended to invite suggestions and ascertain the strength that can be brought to bear upon the movement. But details are not yet determined. At a meeting in Birmingham, " household suffrage " received a new definition, which would extend it to all rent-paying occu- pants, including lodgers. Such incidents as the frank and ra- tional share which several Chartists took in the deliberation at Birmingham, form a reason for anticipating a wider coiiperation than the country has witnessed for some time. The ultimate issue of this movement is of course obscure; but one immediate consequence is clear—it tends to embroil the Mi- nistry. The organization of more than a hundred Liberal Mem- bers—for to that number, it appears, the Fifty-one have swelled— for purposes independent of official interests, subtracts largely from the resources on which Ministers must rely ; so much, in- deed, that if there were any efficient antagonist seeking place, the Ministers would go out. At present, it only seems to add one more to the number of sections into which the house of Commons is split up—weakening the official party, but not help- ing to establish any other in its room.
