The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-14 00:00:00

-wishes of the great body of Englishmen than to
effect any considerable change in the working of
-their constitution. They have learned to value it

by reading and observation, by comparison with the
systems of other countries, and the dangers of social
freedom and individual liberty which are possible
under other forms of government. Independently
of all this, they have been brought up under it,
and cherish towards it those strong feelings of
attachment which Englishmen feel towards their
own home, their own country, and their own insti-
-1 tutions. The modern inventions of democracy have
no charm for the sober, loyal English mind, accus-
tomed to deliberate carefully and to keep to its con-
victions. The popular enthusiasm for sweeping
changes, the wild belief in sudden political regene-
ration which we sometimes see exercising so powerful
an influence over Continental States have little effect
on Englishmen. They adopt no new method which
they do not mean to adhere to, and therefore they
are naturally cautious about hasty movements. But
while any violent or revolutionary measure which
would completely disorganise our existing arrrange-
ments is little likely to find favour with the body of the
people, the desire for Reform, which is in fact Con-
servative, is very general. The thoughtful and en-
lightened see the necessity of adapting our political
system to the growth of the nation, and by ad-
mitting to the franchise those classes which have
grown up since the passing of the Reform
Bill of 1832, they are really acting in the spirit of
the Constitution, which designed that ever class of
intelligent and responsible subjects should be repre-
sented. No one pretends to say that the Bill of '32
affected the working of the Constitution. The
Reformed Parliament was in fact much nearer the
beau ideal of an English constitutional assembly
than the corrupt House of Sir ROBERT WALPOLE'S
time, or a good many other Parliaments which fill a
somewhat undignified page of our English History.
Strange to say, it is this very conviction of the
necessity for a careful and enlightened measure of
reform that militates against the success of the
Whigs in the present contest. With the recollec-
tion of 1859 fresh in their memories, constituencies
find it impossible to believe their professions or put
faith in their pledges. They have, as a party, trifled so
long with the popular wishes that they have lost that
prestige which their supposed advocacy of popular
principles had secured for them. The old distich
which tells us that—
" An open foe may prove a curse,
But a pretended friend is worse,"
_ _

makes us look with some suspicion on the pretended
" friends "of reform. The Conservatives promise
little, but that little they are likely to fulfil. There
is no limit to the pledges of the Whigs, for the very
simple reason that they never mean to fulfil them,
so their " brave words" may as well be sufficiently
emphatic ! Allowing the Government of the country
to remain in the same hands—a contingency which
no one contemplates--till 1871, should we have a
Reform Bill from these ardent Liberals? The
electors have very good reason to doubt it.
Among the more striking incidents of the cam-
paign now in progress is the substitution of a Libe-
ral-Conservative for a Liberal in Lord PALMER-
STON'S own borough of Tiverton. The contest
between Mr. WALROND and Mr. DENMAN was a
very close one, and the majority by which the
former gentleman secured his seat was narrow, but
the fact of his return by so small a borough, and one
too where the Government might naturally be sup-
posed to be predeminAnt, is not without significance.
The Whigs are likely to learn that their trimming
policy which has secured the undisturbed posses-
sion of their seats.during the last six years, has dis-
gusted both sides, and we hope that this experience
may not be without its profit both to the old mem-
bers who retain their seats in the new house,
and in the yet untried aspirants to porno mentary
fame.