The Express.
London, England, 1866-04-26 00:00:00

THE REFORM BILL DIVIAIoN.

The Times expects a division at about 3 o'clock on Satur-
day morning, when about two or three votes this way or
that will decide the fate of the measure. Since the
last news from the Parliamentary Tattersall's, Cam-
bridge has sent a vote to the side of the amend-
ment, two votes have been lost to government at Lancas-
ter, two more at Windsor, and it must look to the re-
sult of other election committees with a certain misgiving.
If the small majority expected is on the side of govern-
ment, it will not secure the passing of the bill, or even
make that at all probable ; and if against government,
it will not, it is hoped, deprive the country of their ser-
vices. That a small majority in their favour will not give
the bill headway enough to carry it unscathed through
committee, and compel the submission of the Lords, is too
self-evident to require further remark. As to the contin-
gency of a small majority against them, they will, no doubt,
if it should arise, do the right thing according to the laws
an 1 customs of this country. They will place their resig-
nation in her Majesty's hands, and give their opponents an
oppartunity of forming a government if they can. No
government, however, can be formed with any prospect of
success except upon a liberal basis and including a good
many members of the present government, and, in the
event of this being found impossible, our present rulers
will, it is thought, have nothing to do but accept a defeat,
weed out a few of those most irretrievably committed,
and, for this session at least, direct their attention to
business of more prees,ng urgency. The hundred repre-
sentatives of the condemned cities and boroughs are not
I going to vote for the measure because they think they are
performing a grand sacrifice, but because they do not
believe in the efficacy of the vote.
The 7Wegissph en'arges on the feeling of indignation
which would be excited in the country by suddenly finding
that next week they were to have the last of Mr. Glad-
stone's budgets, and that Sir Stafford Northeote was to
manage the nation's purse. It will be en evil hour for a
sophistical cynic like Mr. Lowe, and a wooden cipherer
I like Sir Stafford, when they shall interpose between the
people of England and the only statesman in the present
century that has ever touched that people's heart of
hearts ; and it would be well beforehand to try the abso-
lute necessity of the renunciation by one clear and practi-
cal test with which we are not unacquainted. It might
be worth while to ask the English people what they think
about the meatier.

According to the Seem the traditional three courses are
now b :fore the ministry. There may be an ample majority
on the expected division, or there may be an insufficient
majority, or there may be (although this is barely a pos-
sible contingency) no majority at all. In the first case the
coarse of the government is free from difficulty ; the mea-
sure will be proseeded with and the Redistribution of
Beats Bill introduced at the proper time. In the
ease of a defeat, or a majority so small aa to amount
to a substantial defeat, the ministry will have to deter-
mine between resignation and dissolution, and in this they
will be determined solely by considerations affecting the