Mr. Trevelyan on Friday week brought up the subject of
County Franchise, in a long and striking speech on the condition of the agricultural labourers, which he maintained would be ame- liorated by a share of political power. He was followed by Mr. Fawcett, who made the very noteworthy and original point that it would be most unfair to disestablish the Church without the con- currence of the rural population, which is so deeply interested in it, and observed that resident voters might even now be almost swamped by manufactured 40s. freeholds. He defended the capa- city of the rural labourer, who, even when engaged in strik- ing, was far more moderate and reasonable than many men of the towns. The speech of the evening was, however, made by Mr. Gladstone, who admitted that the distinction be- tween town and country could not long be maintained, and inclined to equal electoral districts, though he deprecated any attempt to bring the question forward at present. A Reform Bill was not necessarily a revolution, but it was a proposal which, while it was being discussed, pushed all other legislation out of the way. The debate was remarkable for the want of party feeling, both sides treating the change as one absolutely inevitable ; for the absence of any attempt to defend the little country towns, whose influence would be destroyed by the division of England into blocks inhabited by 40,000 souls each ; and for the repetition of the idea that the country labourers would be the bulwarks of the Church. Would they ? Mr. Walter says so, but did Mr. Walter ever in his life hear a labourer's real opinion of his vicar ?
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