There is, apparent to all, a necessity for change here;--but the change
proposed is simply a reduction of the qualification, so that the rural
labourer, whose class is probably the largest, as it is the poorest, in
the country,--is still disfranchised, and will remain so, unless it be
his chance to live within the arbitrary line of some so-called borough.
For these boroughs, you must know, are sometimes strictly confined to
the aggregations of houses which constitute the town, but sometimes
stretch out their arms so as to include rural districts. The divisions
I am assured were made to suit the aspirations of political magnates
when the first Reform Bill was passed! What is to be expected of a
country in which such absurdities are loved and sheltered?
I am still determined to express my views on these matters before I
leave England, and am with great labour preparing a lecture on the
subject. I am assured that I shall not be debarred from my
utterances because that which I say is unpopular. I am told that as
long as I do not touch Her Majesty or Her Majesty's family, or the
Christian religion,--which is only the second Holy of Holies,--I
may say anything. Good taste would save me from the former offence,
and my own convictions from the latter. But my friend who so
informs me doubts whether many will come to hear me.
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