The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-08 00:00:00

Tht

LONDON, TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 1854.

The work of NAPOLEON has been undone, bu_
the work of CASTLRREAGH and his Holy Alliance
is now to undo. We have no sympathy with the
babbling about prescribing prematurely the terms
of peace. We are, indeed, a nation of idiots, if
we commence a most costly, and, as hitherto
managed, it may be a most protracted war, with-
out knowing what we mean to have. The least
we ought to go for should first be settled in any
case, and in addition to that what we will get if
we can. Now, the very least, in the judgment
of every honest Jous Bum, who has only looked
at the maps in the print shop windows is—Russia
ousted from all that was ever, in any sense, Turk-
ish. Not only Wallachia and Moldavia cleared of
the Muscovites, but Bessarabia too, and the
Crimea in Europe, and the borders of the Black
Sea, and Georgia in Asia ; to which must be
added the stolen territories of Persia. A tho-
roughly free Euxine, and Danube, and Asia de-
livered from its worst oppressors are the minimum.
All this, at least, must be done, aow we are doing.
Less than this is to leave the germs of the identi-
cal quarrel in which we are engaged to a future
generation. Turkey can never be independent
while Russia is master of her outworks ; and if
our governors are content with anything short of
this they will most shamefully waste the national
funds, and trifle with the nation's wishes.
But much more than this must now be at-
tempted. Finland is universally demanded for
its ancient possessors. The Northern barrier
against Russian despotism would even then be too
weak ;at present it is preposterously so. Still a
valiant nation like the Swedes, united with the
courageous and free-minded Fins, would be no
inefficient obstacle to Muscovite ambition, and
would, no doubt, hold their own, if attacked, till
other independent nations came to their aid against
the common pest. Finland is a modern theft ;
one of ALEXANDER'S " material guarantees," never
returned, however, by the barbarous pawnbrokers,
who have not the honesty of tradesmen in their
own line in really civilised communities. Let
that pledge, then, be unconditionally restored
to those to whom it belongs. Then all
Russian Poland, indeed the whole of Poland,
should be restored to itself. England and France
—the one on the Baltic, and the other on the
Rhine---could easily compel the most cowardly
Monarch in Europe to give up his share. As to
Austria, it is by 110 means improbable that she
would in heart be glad to surrender her part ou
gentle compulsion ; she will have to provide a
sure barrier against a neighbour (in that case a
neighbour no longer) who, after the present war,
and the part Austria may be forced to take, will
become her implacable and dangerous enemy. A
kingdom of Poland would be a clear gain to
Airdtra. One thing is, indeed, against this ;
and that at is the STUART or BOURBON-like-incurable-
neu of the Hapsburgs. It seems as if dark,
faithless,blo: and dyclespoti:m were inherent in the
blood. lae
women, clever men and fools
of the dynasty, disclose the taint alike. Such a
race may well fear to be shut up with Hungary,
Lombardy, Venice, Croatia, and all its oppressed
nationalities, and left to feel how petty a business
is the hereditary Hapsburg
them semi
in the midst
of nobler, though some o
semi-barbarous,
races. Well, Austria muste_h
compelled to incur the wrath ofe CzSallite,wailsislbiee
has already incurred his contempt, and the wrath
of the
"icy monarch" will be as fatal to her
as
the righteous aspirations of her subjects. Nay,
it may show itself in giving them vent. Then.
Italy must be free—France and England can
wish nothing
else. Old-school Tories here,
wish to
ere, and
Bourbonis6 and Orleanists there, may
preserve the ascendancy of tyranny and priest-
craft, but not so the people of the two countries.
Throughout Europe the work of CASTLEREAGH
and the Holy Alliance must be undone.
There are sundry other peccadilloes of the
reaty of tyrants against
improved
has
been
decidedly Treaty of Vienna, that t
thßrolui gh the House of Lords. The
peoples, which need to be and must beofretch tioifiperde.;
in Bribery
and it would be a most worthy result
sent disturbance if a second Vienna
Congress insignificant modicum of reform, sanctioned by the
should assemble to restore the natural national popular branch of the Legislature, was disfigured
arrangements which that vile conspiracy dis- by one unsightly blot that would have rendered
turbid, or the past disturbances of them which it is other provisions worse than useless. By
sanctioned. The CZAR of that day was the cun- legalising the payment of travelling expenses for
Ling prime mover against the interests of England I voters it would have opened a door for corruption
and France, in these odious cuttings and carvings ,of the most extensive and objectionable charac-
of the passive people ;
the retribution if the and most righteous will be ; ter. It would, likewise, have rendered the costs
next of his race, by his per- of many elections so very extravagant as to pre-
fidy and ambition, bring
his ill-gotten gains. A
on himself the loss of all vent any but wealthy candidates from offering
ustria was equally impli- themselves for the suffrage of large constituencies.
cated. Let her share, as her paltry doings of late , When
well deserve, the well-merited once the evil practice had obtained the
canseq_uences. All sanction of law, it would become all but universal
that ha 3 since followed to Turkey has been but i n its application. Even conscientious voters

terra,n ean, including, among others, Spain,
Egypt, Greece, and Turkey. Immediately
_ .

on his second return to England, as we have
already observed, he was returned M.P. for Wey-
mouth—entering the House of Commons, conse-
quently, in his thirty-fourth year, and persevering
consistently during the _forty-three years which
have elapsed since then, the important period in-
tervening between 1811 and 1854, in his arduous
labours as a Radical Reformer and a practical eco-
nomist. So consistently, that, during those forty-
three years, he has, while battling frequently
with Ministry after Ministry, secured to himself
throughout the esteem and respect of all parties
without any distinction whatsoever.

Although some years Mr. HuME's junior in age,
Lord PALMERSTON is five years his senior as a
Member of the House of Commons, the latter
hA'ing first occupied a seat within its walls as far
back as 1806 [beingthen in his twenty-second year]
as one of the Representatives of the University of
Cambridge. Yet, having this undoubted pri-
ority, and in many respects, moreover, an un-
rivalled reputation among the representatives,
the Noble Lord the Member for Tiverton may be
said, with his ineffable air of unfading adoles-
cence, virtually to have yielded up to Mr. HUME
the prestige customarily appertaining to the Father
of the House of Commons.

In the seventy-seventh year of his age—born
in 1777— JOSEPH HUME, in 1854, has received
the spontaneous tribute already specified as hav-
ing been offered to the wife of the Hon. Member
for Montrose, in the name of the subscribers to
a very graceful and appropriate testimonial. The
portrait of the veteran reformer, it will have been
remarked, was generously transferred by him and
his lady to the safe keeping, henceforth, of the
authorities of the London University.
As Lord JOHN RUSSELL remarked, in the
course of the eloquent address read by
him on Saturday, to the recipient of the
testimonial, "Mr. Huaus has laboured long, with
perseverance, with courage, with energy, to change
the state of our laws and of our Legislature"—
adding—" More especially in the cause of eco-
nomy and retrenchment his untiring efforts have
been conspicuous and successful." The address
remarking immediately afterwards—" The voice
of the people has encouraged his efforts, and a
spotless reputation is a part of his reward." After
forty-three years of arduous Parliamentary labour,
it must be pleasant fur Mr. HUME to hear an
avowal such as that made in his regard—
" A spotless reputation is a part of his re ward "
an avowal made in his regard in the name both
of political friends and political opponents. The
secret of all which is simply discoverable in the
circumstance of the beneficent aim of the ambition
sat before himself on his entrance into public
life by this aged and honourable Momber of the
British Legislature. HumE's ambition was based

upon BENTHAZS philosophy. It was' founded
upon the beautiful and noble principle inculcated
by that eminent sage—the principle of securing
for the greatest possible number the greatest pos-
sible advantages obtainable from good govern-
ment. It has bean in accordance with this
generous principle that Mr. HUME has acted
throughout the forty-three years of his
energetic and laborious career in Parliament.
He has grown grey in toiling for the good of his
fellow-countrymen. As be himself says—He is
now an old man. As his compatriots say of
Mtn, through the address read on Saturday in
their name by Lord JOHN. RUSSELL—." The con-
sciousness that he has served his country as an
honest and disinterested patriot will, we all trust,
of
brighten
the clay give calmness and serenity to the
evening of his honourable life." So may it be—
until the career be closed until the work be ended
---tache sans tache !

or those who fancied themselves entitled to the
designation, would have no oljectiou to a pleasant
trip at the expene of their favourite candidate.
Excursions would be organised, in which the depar-
ture would be attended with every facility, while
the return, (to be paid for by the candidate) would
be charged the full price, and encompassed with
every difficulty.
"Sed revocare gradum, superasque ewadere ad auras
Hoc opus, hic labor est."
Free and independent electors would select the
advent of a sharp contest as the period for arrang-
ing their business transactions, and as the re-
cognised allowance would be far more than need
be expended the voter might not only transact
his affairs, but realise a very handsome surplus
into the bargain. As Lord CLANRICARDE justly
remarked, first-class fares and post carriages
would be charged, and paid in every instance,
although the recipient travelled by the 3d class
or Parliamentary train. He certainly would not
inconvenience himself to save the pocket of the
aspirant for Parliamentary honours, and few elec-
tions would take place in which " travelling
expenses" would not constitute a very formidable
item.

It is to be regretted that the proposition of
Lord OLANRICARDE was not adopted, and the pay-
ment of travelling expenses of any kind or to any
amount rendered absolutely illegal, and even the
conveyance of voters to the po]l prohibited under
any pretence. If the franchise is worth possess-
ing--if the elector desires honestly and conscien-
tiously to exercise the sacred and inestimable pri-
vilege of a free man—he should not object to, or
cavil at, any trifling inconvenience incidental
thereto ; nor should he demand a conveyance to
the polling booth, or refreshment at the spot, of
a different character from what he would require
if engaged in his ordinary business.

There are few members of the House of Com-
mons who cannot speak feelingly of the heavy de-
, mands which they have been compelled to submit
to under the existing system. The securing the
" Cab" or " Fly" interest was invariably a stroke
of policy second only to the opening of the public-
houses. The worthy Jehus had a peculiar spe-
cies of eloquence, which they did not hesitate to
exercise freely on the supporters of the shabby
scrub who could allow bis friends to trudge to the
poll. We believe the hackney carmen once turned
an election for the metropolis of the sister king-
dom ; and certainly it would appear as if they
could do the same at almost any election in this
country, if we were to form a judgment from the
zeal and anxiety displayed, and the amount of
money squandered in obtaining the services of the
rather noisy and uproarious class.

This nuisance will not, however, be abated
under the present bill. The Lord; in deference
to the other branch of the Legislature, have been
contented to strike out the enabling clause, and
to allow matters to remain in statu quo. From
the spirit displayed, we cannot doubt that, when
the proper time arrives, their Lordships will be
prepared to deal with the grievance, and to pass
a stringent enactment for its total and uncondi-
tional abolition. The numbers on the division
list (30 to 4) afford a cheering augury as to the
mode in which this question will be dealt with,
when a permanent measure for insuring the purity
of elections shall be brought under their considera-
tion.

CRONST_4DT AND THE GALVANIC

BATTERY.