The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-15 00:00:00

THE SC OTTISH AUSTRALIAN able to himself and useful to his country ; and there
INVESTMENT COMPANY (Limited). are no old grievances to avenge in his defeat, but,
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that the HALF-
YEARLY GENERAL MEETING of the Proprietors of nevertheless, in spite of his candid profession of the
the Scottish Australian Investment Company (Limited), more advanced principles of his party, in spite of
will be held at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street,
London, on FRIDAY, the 28th day of July instant, at the friendly advocacy of Mr. BAINES, in spite of
Twelve o'Clock at noon precisely. the fact that he is nearly connected with one of the
Tho Transfer Books of the Company will be closed pre-
paratory to the Meeting and payment of the Dividend, acknowledged leaders of the Whigs, Lord AMBER-
from Thursday, the 20th, until Friday, the 28th instant, 0 ,
both days inclusive.
LEY s name was third on the list of candidates. All
By order of the Directors, that he was to accomplish in the new Parliament,
C. GRAINGER, Secretary.
l, King's Arms Yard, Ifoorgate Street, London, therefore, must be deferred to a more auspicious
July 12th, 1865. occasion ; and if he and his father have not profited
by the lesson taught them at Leeds, is is to be
hoped that the other members of the party
will take the hint. Lord AMBERLEY must
learn to rely on himself, and not' to boast
of the triumphs of the past triumphs
in which he had no share, and which the accident of
birth gives him no right to profit by. The mere
advocacy of extreme doctrines gives him no right to
demand the suffrages of au important con-
stituency, and a less arrogant and confident
tone would better become the new re-
cruit in his next campaign. The canvas of
Mr. GLADSTONE, junior, for Chester, has been more
successful, perhaps, beause the CHANCELLOR of th
EXCHEQUER is a more popular man than the
Fcreign Secretary—perhaps because the young
aspirant for admission to the Parliamentary arena
was less of a doctrinaire.
Turning from the unsuccessful candidate of
Leeds to the unopposed candidate for Droitwich,
we find Sir JOHN PAKINGTON addressing his old
constituents with his usual straightforwardness,
moderation, and good sense. With regard to the
great question of Reform, which, unlike some of his
friends and rivals, he did not shrink from discussing,
he frankly declined to pledge himself to any parti-
cular measure or to any particular course. It was,
he said, a very difficult and important question, andi
so far from its being a party measure the right hon. j
baronet observed that he should like to see it calmly
deliberated on by a committee of the piivy Council,
drawn from both sides. Lord GREY, in his recent
work, remarks that it would be difficult, if not
impossible, for either of the great parties to settle
the question, and the proposal which Sir JOHN
PAKINGTON supported was originated by the noble
lord. Sir JOHN calls him one of the most able as
well as one of the most honest statesmen of the day,
and certainly if any one possesses an hereditary
right to discuss the subject, it is the son of
the great Reformer who presided over the measure
of 1832. While the lapse of years has rendered
some changes and additions necessary since the
passing of the Reform Bill, experience has also
shown in what it was deficient. It would be of
course impossible to render any measure absolutely
perfect, and the test of practical working
must always be applied before it can create general
confidence. More especially is this the case when a
great change has to be carried out in the midst of a
great political tumult, when every step of the way
has to be fought inch by inch, and all the vehemence
of party feeling is carried into a matter requiring
grave and earnest deliberation. It is only wonder-
ful that the statesmen and reformers of 1832 ac-
complished so much as they did. If their bill did
not go far enough to need no additions, at least
they kept on the safe and prudent side, and
have had to take no retrogressive steps.
Sir JOHN PAKINGTON, whom we may, it
is to be hoped, look upon as the organ
of his party, confesses his conviction that the
time is not distant when the public voice will require
some revision of the Act of 1832 ; and he also
expresses his hope that, though no measure of the
sort can be absolutely final, the new Reform Bill
may be framed in so wise and enlightened a
manner that it shall place the representation of
England on a satisfactory footing for a long period
to come. In this hope all true Reformers mm
cordially join.

LIFEBOAT SERVICES.---Daring the stones
of the past year 1804 the boats of the National Lifeb,at
Institution have saved 432 persons from titlerent wrecks on
our coasts. The institution also expended X 119;531 14a sd.
in the same perivd on lifeboat el ablishments, in addition to
granting .C 1,5459 as rewards for s.iv ng 693 shipwrecked er-
sma by its hieboats, ant other means.
The Committee of the Institution e,rnestly A i'PEAL to
the 1 üblic for ASSISTANCE to enable them to me -t the
continued heavy demands on the Institution's 119 ,ifebutt
establishments.
Co.itributions are received by Messrs Will's and Co..
Retries and Co., Coutts and Co., and by all the L,ndon and
country bankers ; and by the Secretary, Richard Lewis, tag.,
at the Institution, 14, John-street, Adelphl.

PROGRAMMES of the THOUSAND and
ONIC entertainments, the varied amusements, the
nsmes of the ladies holdinw stalls, tc., ato., may be had at
No. !, ixeter Hall, THIS EVENINQ,

THE EXETER HALL and CRYSTAL
PALACE offices wi:l remain open until Eigh. o'clock
THIS EVEN 1:1(3, for the issue of lIALP-CROW N admis-
ci 'n Tickets for the Dramatic Col ego Great Fete TO-
MORROW.

THEATR E-R OYA L, HAYMARKET.
Lessee. Mr. Buckstone.

THIS EVENING, THE WOLF AND THE LAMB.
Messrs. Chippendale, Gordon, and larren ; Mesdames Hill,
L ,vell, and t

Alter which, BROTHER SAIL Messrs, Sothern, Buck-
stone, Compton, &e. ; Mesdames Snowdon, Moore, &c.
To conclude with NO SONG NO SUPPER. Compton,
Chippendale, Farren, &c. ; Mesdames Moore, Wright, Keeley,

General PEEL'S speech at Huntingdon is well
worthy of attention. It was the twelfth time that
he had had to return thanks to the electors for re-
turning him as their representative in the House df
Commons. The gallant General remarked that
there was something unusual in the present dissolu-
tion, for, on ordinary occasions, such an event
followed upon an adverse vote to the Ministerial
policy, or in consequence of some great question of
the day being unsettled. This Parliament has nearly
reached its legitimate end, and the chief plea on
which many rest their appeals to the constituencies
is the plea that they are supporters of Lord PAL-
MERSTON. Upon this notion General- PEEL very
wisely determined to inquire into the merits of the
Government. In fulfilling this rather invidious task
he promised to guard against personalities, and he
kept his pledge. There was great truth in his
primary assertion that if ever a Government were
pledged to anything, the present Government was
pledged to bring in a more extensive measure of
Reform than their predecessors. Yet they showed
great distaste and indifference in performing the task,
"and the very men who turned out their predeces-
sorsbecausethey would not go far enough were them-
selves content to go no further than the Treasury
bench,, and there to " rest and be thankful." When
the episode of Reform was over this acute Govern-
ment discovered a new claim that they had on the
gratitude of the country, and began to extol their
foreign . policy. General PEEL took a very good
illustration of the merits of this part of the official
programme by referring to the debate which took
place on thesubject last year. Every member who
took part in the discussion condemned the foreign
policy which the Government had deemed it right
to pursue. There is a sad truth in this opinion of
the General's regarding that epoch—" The time
would come, however we might now attempt to
forget it, when the events of 1863-4 would be
written in the pages of history, and those pages
would bring a blush to the cheek of every English-
man who should read the record." The naval and
military establishments of the country do not re-
dound much more to the credit of Ministers than
other matters, for during the six years that the pre-
sent Government have been in office more has been
spent on these two services than in any period o

peace in our history. Such is not a very creditable
exposition of facts, and the members of the Govern-

ment have not much to plume themselves upon in
regard to it. General PEEL was able to refer to
some valuable services that the late Administration
rendered the country in introducing improvements
that the necessities of the time required, and that
the rapid development of the resources of other
nations rendered it necessary for us 'to inaugurate.
Conspicuous among these were the building of
armonr-plated ships, the introduction of rifled
guns, and the acceptance of the services of Volun-
teers. These are indeed lasting and important
works, and reflect great credit on the skill and dis-
cernment of those who approved of them. Now

that these are recognised things, it is very inge_
nious for all present Ministers to appropriate to

themselves the merit of them, but people who take

the trouble to look into the records of the past in-

stead, of taking everything on trust from the powers
that be, will find that much praise is claimed for
what is not really their doings, or at all events that
they did not originate but follow the tract
indicated by their predecessors.
As regards lie demi-god of the Administration,