Him VISIT TO OXFORD. 611

Forth, asking me what I thought ought to be done in the new 1853.
Reform BiiL. 1 have replied thai the Ballot must be had, but Zr. 49.
that he cannot carry it in the Cabinet at present ; that the
“UPbression of the little boroughs is a sine qud non of any
“PProximation to any fair system of representation; but
hat whatever Lord John may consent to do, I trust he will
“8ver agree to the principle of finality on the Franchise
{uestion, by which more than five millions of adult males are
bo be stigmatized as unworthy of any share in the govern-Seng
 of the country. Is this a time for such a retrograde
Policy, when America and the Colonies are beckoning away
ur population to a higher economical and political fate ?
bt is true the masses in this country are badly led and
Poorly informed, and I fear possess less power to influence
the Legislature than at any previous time; and probably
they have not even the same interest as of old in the theory
fa Tepregentative system. But if this all be true, so much
the worge for us all, for the lot of the millions will be the
Rte of the country. Without the cordial sympathy and co-°Peration
 of the masses, our electoral system will become as
*Oulless a thing as that which lately existed in France.”
“ London, Dec. 14, 1853. (To F. W. Cobden.)—I got
“ack here yesterday from Oxford, where I spent a most
*8reeabls time. Instead of a monastery, the University is
“ther 5 great nest of clubs, where everybody knows everybody,
 and all are anxious to have a stranger of any note to
brea the monotony of their lives. I might have lived at
freq Quarters for weeks amongst them. The best of fare,
Plenty of old port and sherry, and huge fires, seem the
Chief characteristics of all the colleges. No bad recom-“endation
 you will say in December. As for the education,
, according to Doctor Heldenmaier, ¢ the largest invest-“ent
 for the smallest return of all the academies of the
¥orid!’ But after seeing some of the examinations I sm