The Sun.
London, England, 1865-12-30 00:00:00

r SUN; LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 30, ISe.

been greatly affected by the disastrous cattle
plague, whose consequences are likely to be
more severely felt as time goes on, and the effect
of the fearful havoc among our herds and flocks
is more fully realised. Taken altogether, however,
the people of England have much to rejoice at, and
great cause to thank the Giver of all good gifts for
the benefits and blessings He has showered upon
them. Recent events in Europe and America only
afford us additional proof of the vast advantages
which accrue from the form of Government under
which we live, and we can aspire to no better issue
to our labours than to hand down to posterity the
Constitution of our forefathers.

The Liberal party at Tiverton have been making
an active demonstration on behalf of their late
member, the Hon. G. DENMAN, a gentleman who is
very likely to be again their representative when
the assembling of Parliament shall have rendered a
new election possible. The listener to the animated
discourses on Thursday evening might, if he were of
a moralising turn, have reflected on the transitory
nature of the most extended popularity, for even in
Tiverton itself, which half England only knows
through its long association with him, the name or
the memory of Lord PALMERSTON, found little place
among the eager anticipations of the future, and
the discussions of individual policy and party tactics.
The presentation of a handsome testimonial to Mr.
DENMAN occupied the earlier part of the day, but
in the evening a public dinner was given in the
Athenmum, which was largely attended, and at
which the great question of Reform was fully dis-
cussed. Mr. COLERIDGE and Mr. ACLAND were
the chief speakers, and their speeches were both
liberal and constitutional, neither defending the
anomalies of our present representative system, nor
seeking to throw away all the hard-won advantages
of former days for the abject copy of a mere theore-
tical constitution, which has been foundin practice to
secure less individualfreedom than our own. Radicals
and men of extreme opinions like Mr. BRIGHT are very
fond of talking about history. They refer con-
tinually to particular events or certain enactments,
and assume altogether the monopoly of our national
records. They appear loth to believe that any one
has read the history of England but themselves, but
the fact is that they have only read half of it, or at
least only choose to remember the half which suits
their theories. They fail to observe the great end
to which all our patriots and reformers directed their
attention—the balance of political power between
the different classes of the kingdom. To attain this
end, all ranks fought in their turn, conscious that
national liberty was never secure while its guardian-
ship was restricted to one class alone. For this the
Barons wrested the great Charter from the reluc-
tant KING, for this HAMPDEN organised the opposi-
tion to the ship money, for this men of the last
generation carried the Reform Bill. Party feeling
and personal advantage, mixed up of course largely
with purer motives, and the popular champions of
every age were probably as unwilling to surrender
their own power or influence as their opponents
were to abandon their vested interests. But at any
' rate they were determined that another class should
not have the preponderance. and by carrying out
this determination they did good service to the
country. The thoughtful men of every age, more
especially of the great struggle of the seventeenth
century, perceived the dangers of unlimited power
in the hands of any party, and to restrain its exer-
cise several enactments were provided which forbade
the prolonged prorogation of Parliaments, and
limited their existence. The great principle of
national representation lies at the root of all public
liberty, and it has always been assumed by our law-
makers that the Parliament represented the feel-
ings of the country, and even in its present imperfect
state it is undoubtedly the great security for public
justice and individual freedom.
Still there is a growing feeling in the community
that the people are not fairly represented, and such
a sentiment no Government can afford to dis-
regard. To provoke an opposition between
the Parliament and the people, to produce dis-
affection and want of confidence towards the great
connecting link between the people and their rulers,
would be a very serious and dangerous thing.
Even if such a state of mind led to no outward
acts of violence or rebellion, its effects would be
far more dangerous to the national welfare
than even a wholesale and ill - considered
change. But unless the great principles of
the Constitution are carefully borne in mind,
and are acted upon as far as possible, the
desired end will not be attained. It is not national
representation when any one class, be it high or
low, is suffered to override all others. It is no
security for good government that ignorance and
clamour should be able to silence experience
and intelligence. America may be represented by
a Radical assembly, but England in her present
state will certainly not be satisfied with such expo-
nents of her policy. The same principle, which is
the only security for trade, must be carried out in
politics, free competition. Monopoly is alike the
deadliest enemy of the merchant and of the nation.
We must have men of every opinion, of every party,
to represent the interests and views of the various
ranks, and we should gain nothing in the way of
representation if we substituted the Utopia
of the extreme Reformers for the present Par-
liament. Mr. BRIGHT, in his anathemas
against the Lords, is just as intolerant as any obsti-
nate Tory of the old school in his prejudices against
the working men. To have a genuine English
Parliament, we must have a political balance of
power, and suffer no one class or party to override
and silence all others, or there will be an end of
that progress which constitutes genuine Reform.
The two speakers at Tiverton apparently shared
these convictions, for they expressed themselves
warmly in favour of a Reform Bill which should be
so framed as to admit the intelligence and inde-
pendence now unrepresented in whatever class
it may be found. Mr. ACLAND confessed that he
held certain crotchets, among which he classed his
belief that those men who were intrusted by their
fellows with the management of unions or societies
should have a right to the franchise, and also that
those men who had shown their prudence and
self-denial by investing in assurance societies or
benefit clubs should be included. Mr. ACLAND
argued justly enough that a mere money limit to
the franchise was unjust and unsatisfactory, and
that better tests were applied by some of
w hasish e
s c
the so-called fancy franchiees. The lodger fran-
chiseto
yhe
a intelligentverful classes
msesoonf
tahneyooomne
who _

munity fairly represented ; but, strange to say, it
has met with little favour from reformers in general.
There is a great objection in some quarters to
these fancy franchises,: but unless we admit some
of them we shall never get our varied and com-
plex social life fairly represented. The great aim
of all Reform should be to bring the English
House of Commons nearer to that ideal described
by PITT, whose words Mr. ACLAND very appro-
priately quoted—" An assembly freely elected, be-
tween whom and the mass of the people there is the
closest union and the most perfect sympathy."
To attain this end party jealousies and personal
prejudices must be laid aside, and all must unite to
' frame a measure which shall reflect the wishes of no