It would seem, from a letter in the Times of
last Saturday, that even in spite of the ballot, Shaftesbury is still a pocket borough, and that if to the present owner of Motcombe a Liberal were to succeed, no Conservative candidate would have even so good a chance-as Mr. Denby Seymour had at the last election. It is strange that this overpowering influence of property survives absolute secrecy ; and this is due, we suspect, to the incredulity as to absolute secrecy, which is very great. Poor. people think rich people can see in the dark. The sense of power attaching to riches is- so great among the poorer folks, that the mere expressed wish of the rich acts on them as the attraction of the moon acts on the earth,—like the pull of an invisible string which they cannot but obey. The Ballot may gradually form a different habit of mind ; but till it does and unless it does, it will only emancipate those who have been accustomed to struggle against the influence of superiors, and these have been the very few.
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