Mr. Ducane, Civil Lord of the Admiralty, addressed the Hinckford
Agricultural Club, North Essex, on Tuesday. He had not much to say, though he said it in a sprightly manner. He affirmed, of course, that Reform had been carried on the old lines of the Constitution, declared that the Tories were no longer associated in the popular mind with restriction, but seemed a little nervous about the result of the reduction in counties. He would like very much to turn Stratford and East Ham out of South Essex, and so deprive the Liberals of their new chance. This nervousness is noteworthy, because Essex will for many reasons be a sort of crux of the new Bill. The 50/. occupiers are the most Tory in England, the county returning nine Tories to one Liberal; but the new franchise will bring in an extraordinary number of smaller voters, among whom there is a powerful Dissenting element. If the Liberals cannot carry five members at least in Essex at the new election, their prospects all over the country will not be cheerful.
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