Mr. Auberon Herbert met his constituents at Nottingham on Wednesday
week, to explain his vote for the dowry of Princess Louise. He defended it on the ground of the bargain with the Queen on her accession, but held the nation justified in making a new arrangement with the next Sovereign, the Crown lands being national property. He held it, however, to be a misfortune that the nation had no voice in the election of its head, no guarantee against the possibility of an extravagant and corrupt Court. A change was desirable, and if it took the form of a Commonwealth we should have more energy to contend with the evils among us, and should look up to a standard of a more really simple and in- dustrial life. He thought, as he read the long descriptions of ceremonials, that we had a fountain of folly playing among us, making us sillier than we need be. He, however, deprecated all violence, believing that no victory won by violence could last. A resolution condemning Mr. Herbert for his vote was lost by a narrow majority.
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