Page:Australian views of England.djvu/14

 American troubles, and he indulged in some sharp ridicule of universal suffrage, which was received with loud cheers and merriment. The same indifference to what would have elicited a tempest of cheering from any meeting a few years ago was manifested a night or two back at a great meeting assembled in the Birmingham Town Hall to hear an address from one of your Colonial Commissioners, Mr. Parkes. I suppose Mr. Parkes considered it part of his duty to describe the political institutions of the colony, and, though his address was well received, and frequently applauded, when he explained that the Legislative Assembly was elected by manhood suffrage and the ballot, not a single cheer was heard. Mr. Parkes was addressing at least 5000 people, chiefly Birmingham artisans, who, twenty-two years ago, waged civil war for the five points of the People's Charter. These are incidents that have latterly come within my own knowledge, and, just as feathers indicate the direction of the wind, they will serve to shew the current of public feeling. I do not, however, think that the people at large have grown enamoured of the Conservatives as a party, though very probably, if any concurrence