I understand he will not offer himself. The name of Mr. Charles Dickens was mentioned at a meeting of the electors—I suppose by some admirer of Pickwick—but he writes to say that he would not consent to stand for "that place or any other under the sun." The latest rumour is that a requisition is in course of signature to Mr. Lusk, the Scotch provision dealer, and late Sheriff of London—a gentleman about as opposite in character to the late Thomas Slingsby Duncombe as could be well imagined. Mr. Potter, at Carlisle, has the weight of Mr. Cobden's name in his favour, but the English people all over the world fret at the interference of prominent men in elections as a species of incipient dictation, and Mr. Cobden's advocacy will not be regarded in an exceptional light, though he undoubtedly brings with him a greater weight of leadership than any other independent Liberal in Parliament. On the whole, I think the Government will be slight losers by the changes during the recess.
A question of vast moment, but of no distinctive shape, must often intrude from the mists of the future upon the minds of political thinkers—Who is to govern England half-a-dozen years hence?
