The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-14 00:00:00

Prussia, and England are doing, the proposal of the
Congress itself, of course upon certain conditions,
with certain preliminary stipulations and modifi-
cations—it is hardly possible that they can hesi-
tate about the accptance also of the proffered place
of rendezvous.

The time has gone by for the present when
reform meetings were the order of the day. Mr.
BRIGHT'S magic eloquence that was to rouse the
land from one end to another has suddenly col-
lapsed, and we now hear nothing of the importance
of immediate measures being adopted. Still., from
time to time, some more earnest or energetic mem-
bar comes forward, and the old question is brought
up. At the meeting in Bristol nothing particularly
novel or striking was said, but the observations
are worthy of attention, and it is at all events
something gained that the subject should be mooted
at all. 'rue chairman gave the working classes
some very sensible advice as to tile advisability of
relying
on themselves, and showing forth the ad-
vantages that they have derived from working
men's institutes and such like undertakings by their
increased intelligence and self-control. This is
very salutary and sensible exhortation, and the
more it is attended to, the better for the improve-
ment of their social and political welfare. No
better arguments can be adduced as to the in-
creasing of the franchise being right and fitting
than to point to the well.ordered and intelligent
community of those whose predecessors a century
ago were lawless, and undisciplined, and totally
unfit to take any part in the management of affairs.
The resolution which was moved by Mr. WILLIAMS
was an excellent one, and properly expressed the
purpose of the meeting, while it did more than that,
for it explained the great drawback which exists
in the claims of the present Ministry to popularity.
"That this meeting, while generally approving the
foreign policy of her MAJESTY'S Government,
regrets that it has not more energetically promoted
those measures of political and ecclesiastical reform
which its supporters had a right to expect." This
is strong language, but not a bit too forcible, and
it would be well if more constituencies followed
the example of that of Bristol and made
a home-thrust at the policy of an administration
that has abjured its principles. It is now more
than four years since the Derby Reform measure
was rejected by the doggedness and pertinacity of
Earl RUS9ELL. No half measures for him, no
expediency, and no compromise, he could not be
content with trusting to the remedial agencies of
committees, he must have instant perfection, aut
Cesar aut nihtl was his motto, and though he has
since chosen the easiest part of his performance he
and his immediate supporters seem to expect the
same deference and to meet the same universal sup-
port as if he had vanquished the difficulty, and
restored the advantages that were promised to the
people. His conduct is almost unparalleled in the
annals of political duplicity and party manoeuvring,
rich as they arc in the details and double-dealing
and finessing. Notwithstanding some exaggera-
tion in idea, and extreme notions in the way of
proposals, there is much in the discourses that were
uttered at this meeting that may attract attention,
and win a favourable consideration. For instance,
Mr. COSSrIAM made some very decided stateme a is
as to the perilous position in which their party
were placed by the extraordinary vacillation of its
leaders, and their want of purity of purpose and
unity of action. He said that he believed that "as
a party they would be gone" if they had not better
and more marked principles for home reform, and
that the liberal Government would sink the party
if they went on like this in matters relative to
home affairs. This lugubrious prophecy will
more likely than not be realised, and it is
now an acknowledged fact that the once
famous Liberals have not a popular cry with
which to go to the hustings. I; is well, therefore'
that those leaders who have occasioned so much
mortification to the more advanced members of
the party should occasionally be told of their
defalcations, and reminded of their shortcomings,
even though the remembrance of the events re-
ferred to may have faded out of the immediate
recollection of the public. Mr. BERKELEY'S speech
was spirited and to the point ; the hon. member's
views, as he said, were too well known for him to
need to divulge them, but his remarks on many points
of interest and importance may, nevertheless, re-
fresh the memory of his auditors, and also the
general public, who will read his observations.
It is in every way satisfactory that the question of
Reform should have been brought foward at, this
time, because many other affairs of moment have
engaged the attention of hon. members at various
public meetings, and therefore it is necessary that
one of the chief home questions of the day should
be considered, since it is never useless to pay at
tention to these matters, even if they may no
be coming under notice at once. At all events

is a disgrace to the so-called Liberal Ministry
that, after years passed by them in the plenitude
of power, any assembly of their countrymen
should have occasion to make statements as were
uttered at the meeting at Bristol. The speakers
have all spoken out in a bold and manly fashion,
and with a spirit that does them honour, and,
doubtless, many will appreciate their straightfor-
ward declarations, and concur in the sharp but
salutary remarks that have been made by the
various speakers at this demonstration.

The advance and extension of liberal views among
the agricultural classes was strongly marked by the
reception accorded to the address of Sir EDWARD
DERTNG, the recently elected Member for East Kent.
The hon. baronet remarked that the present
flourishing condition of British agriculture shows
that when the British farmer is put on his mettle
he is well able to overcome all difficulties and to
compete successfully with the foreigner. What our
farmers have a right to demand, placed as they are
13:71 competition with the world, is, as Sir EDWARD
ERrNcr Justly observes, the opportunity of carry-
ing on their operations unshackled by official re-
striction. The reduction or abolition of the malt
duty was, of coarse, the inference to which this
logic pointed, and, by
way of encouragement to the
Kentish farmers, interested more than any others in
the question, the new
Memberriege of molting expressedmeing theirhisboewlienf
that the time was a" achetantgtlew. when, they mi
ght
hope __
oprosperous
their or
viiwn i
tg
bhaolley
p.etot have
fatten pt e
state of the country, despite the disastrous effect of
n
the American war, was naturally a b
su ject of con-
gratulation, and truly it may be almost as much a
matter of surprise as thankfulness to many.
Foreigners will marvel more than ever At the
buoyancy of our commercial resources Nolen
they
see the shock that was expected to half Pauperise
England gallantly surmounted, and the lesson thus
taught will not, we may hope, be altogether profit-
less. Not many years since the Indian crisis
made a sudden and terriblo demand on the re-
sources of Great Britain—not so much of the
nation collectively, but on individual capacity
and character. Those who were on the spot had
to answer for the people, and nobly they
bore the test. Far from reversing the system
of Government, the mutiny has been the means of
confirming our authority and riveting our rule in
India. In the same manner has the American

' difficulty been bravely and stedfastly met, and the
sudden and almost total suspension of oue of the
chief branches of national trade and commerce has
failed to work the evil anticipated. This time we
had something to learn as to the mismanagement
that had brought the catastrophe upon us, but the
elasticity of our resources and the temper and spirit
of the people have received a most striking illustra-
tion. The American war and its apparently hope-
less progress filled the closing paragraphs of Sir
EDWARD DERING's speech. He professed himself a
firm supporter of the South—a sentiment which the
audience apparently shared, to judge from the loud
applause with which they greeted it. On the vexed
question of the rams, the speaker expressed his hope
that the Government would pursue a straightfor-
ward course, and that if the construction of the
rams be proved t.) be illegal the constructors should
suffer the penalties imposed by law ; but that if no
such law could be shown to, be in existence, we
might not be induced by threats to pass any Legis-
lative enactment to that effect. It is not at all im-
probable that the early days of next session may
witness a debate, or even a trial of strength, on this
very point; and it is therefore well for every mem-
ber fully and clearly to set the case before himself
and his constituents. Sir EDWARD DERING'S
statement is a just and temperate one, as it would
evidently be a most unfair proceeding to alter the
laws of the country to render that act culpable
which, when committed, was not intended to in-
fringe the laws of the country. Such meddlesome
legislation will not suit the temper of Englishmen,
and he will 1)9 an unwise and an impolitic Minister
who endangers his place and his reputation by
tampering with our sturdy old English laws at the
bidding of foreign agents.

The ceaseless activity of our commercial life un-
questionably gives great facilities to the crafty and
designing, as well as affording opportunities to
honest and honourable enterprise. It is a trite say-
ing, that if there were no fools there would be no
knaves ; but it is as hopeless to look for a commu-
nity wholly composed of wise and prudent men, as
for a city in which there should be no rogues. The
one is as likely as the other, and all that those who
are both wise and honest can do is to interfere as
far as is consistent with individual liberty of action
between the plotter and his dupe. Of the many
various kinds of fraudulent money-making now
commonly practised among us, there is none perhaps
more cruel and disastrous in its results than that
perpetrated under the guise of seeming kindness,
which takes advantage of a man's necessities and
difficulties to involve him in a network from which
he is never to escape, except at the price of all he
has. The system carried on by many money-lenders
is very similar to that pursued by the spider to the
unfortunate fly he can entice within his perilous
meshes, and the fate prepared for the victim is no
less merciless. They entrap the young and thought-
less beginner, who having outrun his quarter's in-
come, or wishing to enter upon some expense just
above his means, is delighted at the prospect so
plausibly held out to him, and walks into the snare
with little delay. Then comes the old story, inte-
rest at ruinous rates, simple and compound, time
granted on extravagant conditions, which the miser-
able debtor is forced to accede to, and as the chain
grows tighter and tighter round him, it is pressed
more earnestly, for the creditor knows that escape
is no longer possible. Many a young man in good
position, with fair means for a moderate ambition,
has had cause to deplore his first acquaintance with
the smooth-spoken gentleman, who so pleasantly
promised to help him out of his little temporary
embarrassments. A striking instance of the system
pursued has just been laid before the public by a
gentleman, who tells us that on Monday morning
he entered on his duties as clerk at Somerset-house,
and on Tuesday, the very day following, he received
a letter from one of these money-lenders, sssuring
him of the easy, convenient, and canfidential terms
on which he advanced money to gentlemen in his
position. How many would have fallen into the
trap, and how close must be the watch kept on all
civil appointments and other likely quarters for a
fresh supply of credulous dupes. It is a pity that
the law cannot be framed to catch some of these
harpies tripping, and to punish them as they
deserve when caught.

HUNTING ACCIDENT. —Lord Middleton nearly

lost his' first whip" on Monday night. The meet
was at Sledmere, and some of the hounds were scattered,
and the first whip remained to get them together. The
night was very dark, and being a stranger, this being his
first season—he took the country by Wharram home.
Behind Wharram Church there are some spring heads, and

into one of these horse and rider fell, the horse being
uppermost. Both lay in the cold spring water unable to
extricate themselves, but, curiously enough, both with
heads above water, The hounds in the dark were heard
down the valley as far as Wharram station, and by the
passengers in the last train on the Drifffeld Rail-
way. As the hounds continued to cry for so long a time,
some labourers set off in the direction of the cries to see
what was the matter. Hero the man who found the pitiable
position of the " whip" was prevented rendering him any
help by the dogs, which for some time would not permit
man or horse to be touched, and would clearly have worried
any one attempting a rescue single-handed. Both man and
horse, however, were eventually got out, after two hours'
immersion. The " whip" was taken to the nearest house,
and was soon able to movo about again. The hunter, how-
ever, a valuable mare, took a great deal of getting round,
and seemed by far the worse of the two. Had not assistance
arrived man and horse must inevitable have been starved
to death.

THE COMPLETE LIST OF THE NATIONAL COM-
MITTEE for the Shakespeare Celebration has been
issued, and a public meeting is shortly to be convened for
) the purpose of deciding upon the precise course to be fol_
lowed, and the form which the Commemoration is to take.
At present nothing seems to have been definitely fixed, be-
yond the affirmation of the general principle that the Com-
memoration should be effected "in a manner which shall
be in some degree worthy of Shakspeare and of the
cenntry." One thing only seems certain, that on the anni-
versary•day shall be laid " the first stone of a monument in
a conspicuous part of London." The list of the committee
now put forward contains the names of 276 gentlemen
whose names are, for the most part, connected with British
literature and art. Among the few foreign names, we
notice those of M. Gallait, the great Belgian historical
painter, M. Louis Blanc, and M. Fechter, who has done
such noble work for Shakespeare. The president and
patron are not yet named; but it is not impossible that the
name of the Prince of Wales may soon appear in connection
with the former office, and that his gracious mother will
consent to allow herself to be nominated to the latter post.
The vice-presidents are the Archbishop of York, the Duke
of Manchester, the Earl of Carlisle, the Earl Stanhope,
Charles Dickens, Esq., W. C. Macready, E.q., and Alfred
Tennyson, Esq. With reference to the idea of a menu-
ment, certain writers are adopting the tone of opposing the
monument on the ground that Shakespeare's greatness is
so unquestioned that he has no need of any monument.
This seems to us to be tantamount to declaring that monu-
ments should only be erected to the 'memory of insignificant
men, a theory which only insignificant men can be in-
terested in supporting.—The Queen.
MEDICINES : THEIR IMPURITIES AND ADUL-
TERATIONS.—The Lancet has just commenced the
publication of a new series of investigations, relative to the
impurities and adulterations of medicines, giving, as it did
innioterhkeeeiczsatseoennsio,v,fesliwytseeitnquiries respecting the adulteratiln of
food, the names of the vendors of whom the analysed
samples were obtained. The report in the _Lancet of this
employedwespiri
than
a i
anytr nitre"--a
other,— remedy,
It
eh perhaps,wsfirst
that this article when not adulterated, is usually in a very
adulterated.
to
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eye farseovme
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ewr
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a er, which firmed some cases a fourth, in eiher..l a
‘E‘sivimathimrpitituple:leceastnhawhdt?rtrsiee; contrary to the wishes awn
idt
hi nstrzti ns of the
jetstigations
parepdlace ofu
College of Physicians, Were pre
yiatec spirit,
siArits of wine
acosting about utg
gallon.
. perrrh
eg.sael Gallon,
Promise to be
second only in importance to those which. 'Appeared in the
Lancet for so many years relating to foe appeared
drink,