The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-29 00:00:00

Commence at Seven.

ROYAL LYCEUM T REATRE.-
Under the sole Management et Mr. Fechter.
THIS EVENING, at Seven o'clock, THE DAY AFTER
TIIE WEDDING. Mr. and Mrs. Horeman.
After which, at 8, a New Drama, entitled THE WATCH
CITY. 31r Fechter, supported by Yessrs. H. Widlicombe,
S. Emery, C. Horsman, Raymond, Fitzpatric Clifford, and
Miss Elsworthy.
To conclude with the Farce of NURSEY CII ICKWEED.
Messrs. H. Widdicomb, lt,+ymoad, Moreland; Mrs. Lee and
Lavenu.
Box Office open daily from Eleven till Five.
Actin4 Manager, 11. Barnett.

NEW THEATRE-ROYAL ADELPIII.
Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. B. Webster.
THIS EVENING, at 7, GOOD FOR NOTHING. Mrs
Allred Mellon and Mr. Felix Rogers.
After which, at 8, RIP VAN WINKLE. Rip (his 75th
appearance), Mr. Jefferson, supported by Messrs. ilillingtur,
P. Bedford, it Phillips, Felix llogt.rs, Ashley, Eburne, C. J.
Smith; Mrs. Billingtor, &c.
To c •nelude, at half -pag 10, with THE WIDOW'S
VICTIM. Messrs. Billington, Felix Rogers, Ashley; Miss
Godsell, Miss Seaman, and iliss Jenny Willmore.

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE.
Sole Lessee and 'Manager, Mr. Geo. Vining.
THIS EVENING, QUIET LODGINGS.
After which, at a quarter to Eight, IT IS NEVER TOO
LATE TO MEND. characters by Messrs. Vining, T. Mel-
ville, T. Mead, D. Murray, S. Caihaein, F. ViLiers, J. G.
Shore, G. Murray, B. Melton, C. Seyton, It. Cathcart; Miss
L. Moore and Miss Katherine Rodgers.

ROYAL Sri RAND THEATRE.
Sole Lessee and Manageress, Mrs t-wanborougii.
THIS EVENING, at Seven, NOTHING VENTURE
NoTHING WIN.
Aiter whiel wi►l be produced a new Opera Burlesque,
L'AFRICAINE; or, The Queen of the Cannibal Islan :
Messrs. Stoyle, James, Thorne; Mesdames Swanborougb,
Raynham, Johnstone, Arc.
T. corclude with MRS. GREEN,S SNUG BUSINESS

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t;r•
trt;) SUIT

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, NOV. 29, 1865.

At a time when the principles and practice of
Parliamentary Reform are being so much discussed
and dwelt upon by Liberals of all ranks and shades
of politics it is well to know what the prominent I
members of the opposite party think on so impor-
tant a subject. The days have long gone by when
it was possible for any considerable body of states-
men and politicians to set themselves resolutely
against all progress or improvement, and it is now
some years since the heads of the Conservative party
confessed their willingness to move in some measure
with the times by introducing a Reform Bill on
their own account. This movement has at least
enabled .them since then to join in the condemnation
of the delays and excuses of the Liberal chiefs, ex-
pressed by genuine reformers, and it has so far
strengthened their position by bringing them more
into harmony with the public mind in this respect.
We have had lately several addresses by prominent
Liberals on the question of Reform, and we have
now a Conservative speaker choosing the same text.
Last Friday a dinner took place at Eccleshall, all
political and other movements being necessarily
ushered in by a feast, material as well as reasonable
in this country. The dinnerwas given in connection
with the movement for improving the Conservative
registration in that county, and the guests consisted
of the supporters of the Conservative candidates at the
late election. It may, therefore, be regarded as a
purely party gathering, and not one of those mixed
meetings at which speakers endeavour to meet both
sides as much as possible. We are therefore glad to
find Mr. ADDERLEY declaring unhesitatingly his
conviction of the necesssity for a considerable exten-
sion of the franchise, and his desire for an indepen-
dent expression of the national mind on this
and kindred questions. " Whatwe have to seek for
in any reform," said Mr. ADDERLEY, "or any
Change in the institutions of the country, should
not be so much the advocacy of any special views or
interests, but that the nation should speak its own
mind independently." This independent opinion
he holds, not without reason, to be one of the chief
conditions of the franchise. Intelligence and inde-
pendence he regards as the two principal qualifica-
tions for the proper exercise of political power, and
we certainly ought to find few dissentients from this
theory. Every man in this country, be he peer or
be he labourer, says Mr. ADDERLEY, possesses some
degree of political power. " But taking that par-
ticular portion of political power which consists in

'or in,lTCotrg of Parliament, T am the last

wan to ay that there ire not man 7 of the
working classes in this country eminently
fitted to possess that franchise who are not at this
moment in possession of it." That class, like all
others, is marked by considerable distinctions ; and
Mr. ADDERLEY says justly that many members of
it are far above others of the same class, in regard
to his two favoUrite qualifications of intelligence
and Independence. His »:ords on this subject have

"--7
weight, because they are not the words of a mere
political theorist, acceptingthe results of other men's
experience or the statements of other men's views
as the basis of his own opinions, but they are the
expression of a lengthened personal experience and
an intimate acquaintance with the class of -which
he speaks in all parts of the country. Mr. AD-
DERLEY
declares that he has had much intercourse
with working men on political questions connected
with carrying through Parliament important mea-
sures in which they were interested, and the result
of his experience is, that many of them are fully
qualified for the intelligent and independent exer-
cise of the franchise. The more this view is accepted
among our politicians the more chance we shall
have of obtaining a sound and comprehensive mea-
sure of political reform, and the less scope will be
left for those mob orators and demagogues who
think the great duty of political teaching is to set
class against class and encourage intolerance and
discontent.

Coming to the more general consideration of the
question, Mr. ADDERLEY commented on the pre-

vailing uncertainty. The extension of the suffrage,

he said, was generally spoken of as if it of itself
constituted Parliamentary reform, and nothing else
was needed. This is probably the case, because
notwithstanding its difficulties it is in some respects
the easiest branch of the subject. The re-distribu-
tion of seats is a somewhat invidious office, the
duration of Parliaments is a topic naturally un-
welcome to M.Ps. of all parties, while the ballot is
the most dangerous of all. The purity of election
is an indispensable condition of a really reformed
Parliament, but it is a characteristic of that poli-
tical Utopia which is seldom much dwelt upon. No
doubt one secret reason for the dislike which exists
in many quarters to the proposed extension of the
franchise is the conviction that it would corre-
spondingly extend the expenses of an election. It
is no secret that all our legislation hitherto, our
Corrupt Practices Bills, with their ingenious loop-
holes and ready evasions, have totally failed to
eliminate bribery, corruption, and intimidation from
the constituents of an English House of Com-
mons. -,This matter presents some curious aspects,
since it is one on whose broad features
all parties are forced to agree, and 'Whigs, Tories,
Liberals, Radicals, and Conservatives are found
declaiming the same principles, expressing the same
virtuous horror, advocating the same immaculate
electioneering, and doing the same thing. The
opportunities are so great, the temptation so irresist-
ible, and the agents so ready and so numerous,
that it requires no small amount of resolution and
moral courage to refuse to do what everybody else
is doing. It is not every one who has the boldness
to declare as a gentleman did some time since that
the exercise of political influence over his tenants
is one of a landlord's legal and natural rights, but
a good many members of both Houses might easily
be found who act on the same principle. Yet very
few of our Reformers accept the Ballot as their
watchword, and its advocacy is left chiefly to those
extreme Radicals who uphold it in conjunction
with manhood suffrage, with which it has no
connection whatever. The general feeling of the
English public is, and always has been, opposed to
universal suffrage, but there is a growing conviction
among intelligent and disinterested observers that
we shall never get purity of election without some
considerable and decided change in the manner of
voting. But there will be considerable difficulty
and delay in obtaining so unwelcome a reform
which will no longer enable a man to practise in
secret what he denounces in public, to represent in
the National Assembly just those classes who have
no political convictions at all, and whose votes are
at the price of the highest bidder, or obedient to
the dictum of an unscrupulous landlord or employer.
This is the real difficulty of securing a genuine

and practical reform, for of what account
is it to bring in a large number of the uneuf rauchised
classes if it is only to demoralise them by bringing
them under these evil influences ? What use is it to
transfer members from rural and thinly populated
districts to our great unrepresented towns, if in
doing so we are only changing the agency from in-
fluence to bribery? Why should we shorten the life
of Parliaments to repeat more frequently the dis-
graceful scenes which characterise every general
election ? Let our Reformers ask themselves these
questions and answer them if they can.

All that has occurred during the recent outbreak
in Jamaica, and all that we have subsequently heard
of the conduct of affairs there confirms the favour-
able impression which many previously entertained of
the merits of Governor EYRE. He has shown that
he possesses skill and promptitude, and, no doubt,
when the fullest particulars have been received,
those who are now doubtful as to the wisdom of his
management will change their minds. The mail
which has just arrived furnishes satisfactory intelli-
gence of the state of affairs, so far as it goes, and
there appears every reason for us to congratulate
ourselves upon the suppression of the rebellion.
That this should have been done so speedily proves
that a timely check was interposed, for at one period
it was most alarming, and threatened serious conse-
quences to all on the island as well as heavy losses
to many at home. Most of the ringleaders have
been seized and hung, and it is stated that as many
as 2,000 of the rebels have been either shot or hung
since the troops arrived. The Houses of Legislature
were opened by the Governor, who delivered an ex-
cellent speech on the occasion. He said that the late
sad events imparted an unusual degree of interest to
their proceedings just then, and that the " present
was a most critical period in the history of Jamaica,
and the session now being inaugurated would, in
all probability, be one of the most important and
momentous ever held in the colony." All who
have fairly and impartially studied the details of
thelate outbreak will concur in the description here
given of it as a most " savage and cruel butchery,
only to be paralleled by the atrocities of the Indian
mutiny." It is at any rate some source of
satisfaction to us to find that at such a critical
period in the fortunes of the colony the Governor
should be able to accord a tribute of praise to all
the civil, military, and naval authorities. Had they
not co-operated in the readiest and heartiest
manner, it would have been quite impossible for the
sombre aspect of affairs to have assumed a
brighter hue at such an early period of the matter.
All the authorities, indeed, appeared to have vied
with each other in exhibiting zeal and decision in
the difficult work before them, and it is only fair
that they should receive the acknowledgments
which are their due. " The fidelity and
loyalty of the Maroons" were made the
subject of encomium by the Governor, and he
truly declared that it was owing to their devotion
that the rebellion was not more protracted and of
grPa t.‘,l- proportions. The colony is alge greatly
indebted, as his Excellency observed, to those
members of the Legislature who accompanied him
at great inconvenience, and performed their best
services in the cause of order and the maintenance
of justice. Without any exaggeration it may be
said that it is I great achievement to refer to now,
and in after times, that in the colony of Jamaica
the full tide of the rebellion was so soon stemmed.
As the Governor emphatically dee% red, " within