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have proved their sincerity by sending men to Parliament who shall oppose those Ministers who have insulted their Sovereign and outraged the feelings of the people of this Country." And has it not been even so? From a careful analysis, drawn up by an ultra Radical weekly paper, the Spectator, I find it thus stated, "The Liberal Majority elected to the Peel Parliament was 356 to 302, - the Majority elected to the Melbourne Parliament is 336 to 322, the balance against the latter, or the difference of the majority being 40 votes!" But I will not rest satisfied with this mere numerical difference in our favor. Look to the counties of England and Wales; in one only has a Liberal displaced a Conservative, East Cumberland. Whereas in the following Twenty-one counties, Conservatives have displaced Liberals: Carmarthenshire. East Cornwall, North Devonshire, North Durham, Flintshire, Glamorganshire, North Hampshire, Huntingdonshire, Isle of Wight, North Leicestershire, Middlesex, West Norfolk, South Nottinghamshire, West Somersetshire, North Staffordshire, East Surrey, West Suffolk, East Sussex, North Wiltshire, East Worcestershire, and East Yorkshire! In the large towns also, there has been no lack of Conservative feeling manifested; Liverpool, Hull, Bath, Brighton, Beverly, Greenwich, Hereford, Lancaster, Preston, and Wakefield, have all elected Conservatives in the place of Liberals, and the altered state of the polls for the City of London, and the great West Riding of Yorkshire, most forcibly demonstrate the change of opinion among those large constituencies. At the contest for the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1835, the numbers stood thus at the close of the Poll: - Lord Morpeth 9066; Mr. S. Wortley 6259, At the election just over, - Lord Morpeth 12576; Sir George Strickland 11892; Mr. S. Wordley 11489; giving to Sir George Strickland a majority of 403 over Mr. Wortley out of a Constituency of twenty-five thousand voters. At the close of the poll for the City of London in 1835, Mr. Grote, the lowest of the Liberal Candidates, had a majority of 1356, over Mr. Lyall, the highest of the Conservative candidates. - At the Election just over Mr. Grote obtained a bare majority of 6 votes over Mr. Horsley Palmer, and the Conservatives have presented a petition to the House of Commons with the veiw (sic) of substituting Mr. Horsley Palmer in the place of Mr. Grote, with every prospect of success. I repeat again, am I not therefore fully justified in expressing my unfeigned satisfaction at the result of the late appeal to the people. You cannot fail to observe, that I am altogether silent upon the subject of Ireland; but believe me, I am not so because I conceive the spirit of Conservatism has retrogaded (sic) in that country, but rather, as the mode in which the elections have been there conducted, has caused very numerous petitions to be presented, it would be premature to offer any opinion upon the returns made, until the decisions of the tribunals appointed to try their validity shall have been made. Upon those decisions will rest the question, whether the Government or the Opposition possess a majority in the House of Commons; but whether the Conservatives shall possess a majority or not, they are sufficiently powerful effectually to resist the carrying any measures which shall be subversive of the principles of the Constitution. The Ministers are well aware of this fact, and therefore availed themselves of the earliest opportunity to declare their adherence to the principles of the Reform Bill, "the Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill." But though they have mad this anti-Radical declaration on the first night of the Session, they have since displayed such a servile disposition to cringe to their former allies, the Ultra Liberals, and such gross and shameless apostacy from their former professions, that it will be imperatively necessary for the Concervatives (sic) as a body to watch their proceedings, and to view with a jealous and scrutinizing eye, every measure which shall be brought forward by them, or which shall receive their support. At the close of the "Address" which our Association adopted, and published, is the following passage, to which I now again particularly invite your attention. "We have in common with others formed ourselves into an Association for the purpose of upholding the Prerogatives of the Crown inviolate, and the preservation of the Protestant Established Church as an integral part of the State; for preserving the application of Church Property to none but Protestant Ecclesiastical purposes alone; for maintaining integrity and independence, and freedom and boldness of deliberation and decision, not only to the House of Commons, but equally to the House of Lords, as equally constituent parts of the Legislature, for securing still for every voter in the Kingdom, the free, bold, and manly declaration of his political sentiments, and the right of recording his vote at elections, as an Englishman - openly and in the face of day; - and lastly, for diffusing among the people at large, a healthy and honest regard for such healthy and honest principles as are best security of their prosperity and happiness, and firmest bulwark of their liberties." That we shall finally secure these great and glorious results, upon a foundation never to be again shaken, I confidently expect; and when that happy period shall arrive we will dissolve our Association upon the same principle on which we originally founded it, but until such time, I earnestly call upon you my friends, and brother members of our Loyal and Constitutional Association to continue to advance its success by every lawful means in your power, firmly convinced as I trust you all are, that by so doing, you are promoting the true happiness of your fellow countrymen throughout all classes of society, and strengthening to the utmost of your ability those Institutions of our Common Country to which we look up with respect and attachment. - I have the honour to remain, Gentlemen, In all sincerity, |Your most obedient Servant, ALEXANDER SUTHERLAND GRAEME. Cossington House, Bridgewater, Dec. 16, 1837."

Powell and his Library - Peace Celebrations

I will now dilate on other than political matters, but which, perhaps, will be of more general interests. I have already alluded to the death of the founder of St. Leonards and that of his wife. I have also presented a brief obituary of some other persons, including that of Mr. Edward Bland, the great friend of the St. Leonards poor, especially in the matter of education. He was one of the first members of the Literary and Scientific Institution. It speaks much for the enterprise of Mr. Powell, himself, who for many years conducted the fashionable lounge separated from the Marine parade by West street that at a time when there were no railways and only one daily post, newspapers were laid in his reading-room twice a day. The morning papers were those which were printed the day before, and arrived by the 5 o'clock morning mail; and the evening papers were those which were published in the morning, and brought down by one of the stage coaches. Mr. Powell was succeeded by Mr. Allwork, then by Mr. G. Curling Hope, and lastly by Mr. Cooper. About the year 1847 Mr. Cooper sold the greater portion of his library to Mr. Brett, at Norman ​road​, St. Leonards, whose successor has several hundred volumes still on his shelves; and I have been told by old novel-readers that in pureness of diction and naturalness of incidents, these works of fiction are far superior to many of the slip-shod, slangy publications of the present day. Mr. Powell was the publisher of a local Guide, which in his time went through seven editions, and was succeeded by an 8th edition (a smaller and inferior book) published under his name, after he had left Hastings. It has been shewn (sic) that the Corporation granted to P. M. Powell, in 1812, a fourteen years' lease of land near the Battery for a semicircular front to his library at a rent of 1s per year. This library had a pleasant look-out over the new parade and the sea towards Beachy Head, and soon became a fashionable lounge. Here it was, as well as at Barry's Library, that on the 14th of September, the subscribers were accommodated with seats at the windows and on the balconies to witness a grand feu de joie and display of fireworks, under the direction of chief-gunner Ross, in commemoration of the Duke of Wellington's victories. There were also lighted tar-barrels rolled along the beach, and an ascent of four balloons, together with illuminations and transparencies, some of which last-named had done duty at the Jubilee celebration in 1809. Repetitions of this display were made on the 11th and 22nd of November of the same year on receipt of the news of other decisive victories of the British in the Peninsula and elsewhere.

In Eighteen-thirteen's one October day,
Two mighty hosts, in battle's fierce array,
At Leipsic met, and there renewed the strife
Which, two days previously, was madly rife.
The Russians, Prussians, English, all allied,
Arrayed themselves against the other side.
That other side a well-appointed host,
Which was, at once, Napoleon's pride and boast.
The French were beaten; losing, there and then
In killed and wounded,
eighty thousand men.

Another joyful demonstration throughout the town was made on the 3rd of January, 1814, in commemoration of Wellington's victory near Bayonne, and a more extensive display took place in April of the same year, when in addition to the fireworks in front of Powell's and Barry's libraries, twenty blazing tar-barrels were rolled along the beach. More victories had been achieved, and a man had arrived at Hastings after 11 years' incarceration in a French prison.

And then it was that Marshal Soult withdrew
From Wellington's victorious fighting crew;
For, he, the Marshal, vainly strove to gain
The latest battle of a long campaign: -