The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-27 00:00:00

before the Legislature with the eminently
sAtisfac tory consciousness of having com-

plicate(' a very simple question into one
of an absolutely bewildering entanglement—with
having, in short, brought on a general war by a
series of protracted and abortive negotiations.
Supposing, on the other hand, that the CZAR
were to yield under the pressure of the present
emergency (caused by the advance of the combined
fleets through the Bosphorus) it might then be
asked, how it has come to pass that measures,
proved to be effectual in the January of 1854,
were not tried in the June of 1853 (seven months
ago !), whereby all that dreadful bloodshed might
have been spared along the ensanguined banks of
the Danube, and especially in that most brutal
massacre of Sinope, which, if it do not attach a
portion of its infamy to the banners of the com-
bined fleets, then snugly at anchor near Beycos,
reflects a not•easily-removable disgrace upon the
French and British Governments. However,
indeed, matters may end, the Cabinet cannot
be without cause for serious compunction. Mean-
while, for the people at large, all that is now left
is to watch carefully and anxiously the intelli-
gence arriving by instalments from St. Peters-
burgh, and to await with all possible equanimity
the now fast approaching assemblage of Parlia-
ment.

Manchester has followed Sheffield in issuing its
instructions to Parliament for the approaching
Session. The two principal speakers at the former
town were also two chief speakers at the latter ;
a tolerable identity of views was therefore to be
presumed. The principal difference between the
two meetings was, that at Manchester the Eastern
Question was the main topic. To the arguments
made use of on that subject we shall probably re-
vert on another occasion ; just now wo wish to
express our hearty concurrence with what was
evidently the opinion of the entire meeting, that
war need not, nor could, be allowed to be any
hindrance to Reform. We hold, with the speakers
on that occasion, and with the most able portion
of the Press, that war should be rather an argu-
ment for pressing than for delaying Reform. We
might almost plead the theological doctrine, that
if war be a calamity, and we think it second to
none, yet our afflictions are intended to set us
not upon cherishing but on getting rid of our
faults. The great political truth, that in difficult
and trying circumstances a Government needs the
cordial good will, the " vote and interest," of the
great body of its subjects, we do plead unhesitat-
ingly. Just now we can conceive of nothing more
calculated to gain for a war Government the for-
bearance, the support, and the patient endurance
too, which may be needed, than a measure of fall
and popular reform.
Suppose our Cabinet to come forward with the
announcement, that its plan aimed to give a vote
to every decent man, and to protect him by the
ballot-box from the domination of his neighbour
in giving it, would not such a Government be
omnipotent with the country ? It would be
openly saying, we fear you not, because we are
conscious of devotion to national interests. Famine
prices we cannot avert, and you do not blame us
for the dispensations of PROVIDENCE. War we
could not avert, for the only accusation against
us is, that we endeavoured too long to prevent it,
and you would have had us begin much sooner ;
but there is one thing we can do for you : we are
the nation's servants in being her MAJESTY'S ser-
vants, and we can place in your hands the power
to call us to account by giving votes to all classes
of the community, and giving the vote to the
individual himself, not to the persons on whom
he is dependent. Now, though we certainly
shrink from the ill-omened position of
political prophets, we may safely predict
that the British Minister who would thus
boldly come forward as the complete and honest
enfranchiser of his country would find its political
energies as thoroughly aroused by political free-
dom as commerce has been by free trade. The
feudal system of voting, which has made county
electors the vassals of the landlord, and old free-
men in boroughs the vassals of the long-pockets,
has also extinguished all nationalism, all public
spirit in the hearts of such electors. They are re-
sponsible only to the landlord or the millionnaire,
and national objects are no concern of theirs.
A hearty Reform Bill, however, would change all
that, and a short time would see Englishmen
what Athenians became when their political liber-
ties were fully gained ; the result of which has
been so strikingly exhibited by the great historian
of Greece, of whom it is difficult to say whether
his country may not be as proud of his labours in
the cause of free voting at the present day as of
his researches into the civilisation of the past.
To rouse the patriotism of the country it is but
for Ministers to evince their own patriotism to
the country. If the country is not to grudge
taxes, let them not grudge liberties. The fran-
chises of England have, indeed, been mostly
purchased at this price. But, above all things,
English Governors must beware of German pro-
mises of liberties to be octroyed after the subject
has fought the battle. Give us a Reform Bill
worth having first, and, bad as times may be, we
will drive the " barbaric ALARIC of the North"
back to his frozen steppes and forests, with our
own money, and not with that of our children's.

Mr. MILNER GIBSON bore his most decided tes-
timony to the necessity of the Ballot, as the only
possible preventive of intimidation ; he had been
on a committee where the charge against the sit-
ting member was not for bribery, but intimida-
tion, and " from the evidence he had heard, he
defied any one to bring any statute before the
Legislature that would touch the question of in-
timidation of voters." He asked for " an equal
distribution of political power, and extension of
the Suffrage, and vote by Ballot ; but extend the
Suffrage as they might, redistribute political
power as they would, we could not have a satis-
factory representation of the people without adopt-
ing the vote by Ballot.
Mr. COBDEN on this occasion laid great stress on
a better re-distribution of political power. He
wanted that votes should follow persons and pro-
perty. In England and Scotleard he maintained
that wealth and property always increase together.
This is quite true, no doubt, if income and per-
sonal property be included. The Income Tax re-
turns Mr. COBDEN would probably take as his
guide. As regards real and rateable property, the
reverse is the case ; the rated annual value of
Herefordshire being, in regard to the population,
more than double that of Lancashire ; while the
former county contains about 5i acres per head to
each individual of the population, the latter not
more than half an acre ! In the West Riding of
Yorkshire the disproportion is greater still ! We
have no kind of objection, however, to take, with
Mr. COBDEN, the compound measure of property
and
Population. At Sheffield, the Honourable
Member expressed his wish, but for his years, to
commence an organised Ballot agitation. At
Manchester, he gave the Secretary of,-,,the
Ballot Society a lecture on the tactics to be'
pursued, and if Mr. WHITEHOUSE does not
learn his lesson well it is superfluous to say
that it is not from want of a most able and
experienced teacher. He gave him the system
of borough bookkeeping pursued by the Anti-Corn-
Law League : first to tick off the boroughs like
Manchester, &-c., 91 whose representatives they
were sure ; then to mark those boroughs most
easy to be acted on, to visit and organise them so
as to insure, without regard to any political
party, or to any set of Ministers, the return of
i the man or men who would vote for the Ballot ;
I to watch the hustings, and to flinch from no place
whatever. There is truth in his observation, that
one difficulty of working this question is, that it
Is a " pure and simple" one, admitting, as the
Spaniards say, of " no transaction." Any man
who is willing to disfranchise Arundel, or admit

twenty more voters to the franchise, can talk of
" suffrage extension," and " equal distribution,"
but there can be no shuffling with the Ballot. It
must be yea or nay. In a word, as we have
always maintained, it is the clear and definite
test between the thorough-going and the sham or
timid Reformer.

The Doctor of the Stepney Union has come
forward for the purpose of vindicating, or, if that
be not possible, of extenuating his conduct with
respect to poor Mrs. ELLis, whose unfortunate case
was last week referred to in The Sun. We re-
joice to find one of the " Parochal" officials so
sensitive with regard to a character for "huma-
nity," as to deem it worth his while to put forward
any defence whatsoever on such a point. From
recent cases that have been brought to light in
Marylebone and elsewhere, it would almost seem
as if the imputation of possessing compassionate
feelings would have been strenuously repudiated
as disqualifying the possessors from taking any
part in tie administration of the so-called " re-
lief" to the obstinate paupers. It augurs well,
however, to find " the Doctor" thinking differ-
ently, and striving to explain away matters which
he candidly acknowledges make " his conduct ap-
pear in an unfavourable light." But still, we can-
not perceive that his communication in any de-
gree alters the nature of the case, nor can it
induce us to withdraw, or even to qualify a single
observation which we have already published in
reference thereto.

And first, as to "the Doctor" personally. We
are willing to make every just and fair allowance
for the excessive labour—we might even use a
stronger expression—imposed on the medical
officers of the different Poor-Law Unions, not
only in the metropolis, but throughout the entire
country, and that, too, for very scanty and inade-
quate remuneration. They are compelled to be
up at all hours, night and day, to take their
meals at irregular times, and to submit to be dis-
turbed just when, worn out with fatigue, they
have sunk into refreshing sleep, or when, ex-
hausted with hunger, they have the smoking
joints before them. Not a single hour of the
twenty-four can be called their own for purposes
either of rest or recreation. For this excessive
toil, far more onerous than that which falls to the
lot of the handicraftsman, or even the modern
Helots, the bricklayers' labourer, they receive
very small salaries—" an extensive practice," as
808 SAWYER. styles it, but little more. Besides
these public duties, so onerous and vexatious in
their nature, " the Doctor," if he chooses to
maintain the rank and position of a gentleman,
must strive to obtain " private practice." It is
to that he must chiefly look for his own "comfort,"
if it be not a positive prostitution of the term to use
it in reference to one so fearfully overworked—and
for the maintenance of his family in a respectable
position, and the education and advancement in
life of his children. Can we, then, feel surprised
if they pass hastily the different patients who
claim their gratuitous advice, or say that they
can be fairly censured if guilty of any trivial
degree of negligence—for anything, in short, less
than direct and positive cruelty of conduct. We
are willing then to give " the Doctor of Stepney
Union" credit for all these extenuating circum-
stances, to allow that, having once recommended
what he conceived to be the best mode of relief,
he did not trouble his head about the compliance
of the sufferers, supposing that starvation would
speedily do its work, and drive the miserable suf-
ferers into the house, for admission to which he
had given an order.
We have thus, we conceive, fully and fairly
stated the alleviating circumstances that may be
relied on by the Learned Gentleman, and though
they unquestionably mitigate the reproaches that
should otherwise be heaped upon him, they do
not justify his conduct. Why, we ask,
when he found the parties so firmly de-
termined not to go into the workhouse did
he refuse to give any other species of assist-
ance or relief ? That reluctance to go within the
walls—to consent to the total separation, enforced
by man's ordinances, between those " whom GOD
had joined together," is by no means discreditable.
It is a feeling that ought to be cultivated rather
than discountenanced. Many would perish rather
than take that last step, or enter the abode where
" even hope is left behind." The majority would
infinitely prefer the shelter and the comforts of
the establishment ; but, as we have already stated,
" the great principle of out-door relief is to give
the paupers exactly what they don't want." Poor
WALSH, in the season when he could not work,
desired admittance to Marylebone workhouse. He
was refused, and obtained the scanty out-door
relief that would have gladdened the heart of
JOHN ELLIS ; for, be it remembered that Emas
was no regular pauper. He was known to be
" civil, industrious, and well-conducted," quali-
ties that ought to have insured something better
than workhouse fare. With a very trifling as-
sistance he could have earned his own livelihood
and that of the unfortunate companion of his cares,
and he would not become a permanent burden on the
poor-rates, or give up the hope of resuming his
independence. He must have expressed that feel-
ing to " the Doctor," for that gentleman speaks
of his " cluel obstinacy." Does he not think that
the phrase might be more suitably applied in
another quarter, or that it would also fit the man
who, knowing that the party would not enter the
workhouse, abstained from any inquiry for three
consecutive weeks, and that although he witnessed
the utter and desperate destitution of the miser-
able pair. Surely he might have ordered some-
thing better than " a loaf and a little oatmeal,"
which was all that they received during the 21
days. " The Doctor," who declares that "he is
always foremost in mitigating, as far as lies in his
power, human distress, wherever lie finds it," kept
aloof from them, and made no inquiry as to their
fate, which he must have seen to be impending,
if they remained firm in refusing to go into the
house. Were there no medical comforts which
he might have ordered ? Nothing which ho could
have done to alleviate their fearful distress ?
And yet, disregarding the beam in his own
eye, he speaks of " the cruel obstinacy" of the
husband in refusing to go into the house,
while he cannot perceive that he has become
liable to blame of auy kind in refusing to give re-
lief in any form in which it would be accepted.

We do not, however, despair of " the Doctor."
He has not deliberately hardened his heart, and
therefore we have still hope that he may profit
by the painful lesson he has received, and see
that there may "be much obstinacy" on his own
part as well as that of persons for whom he may
be required to prescribe. Above all, that he may
consider the circumstances of each case, and apply
suitable relief ; not giving to each " exactly what
he did not want 1" Thus he will deservedly ob-
tain a character for humanity, and find other
persons besides himself to declare that " the
Doctor is always foremost in mitigating, so far as
lies in his power, human distress, wherever he
finds it 1"

CABINET COUNCIL.—A Cabinet Council was held
yesterday afternoon at the Foreign Office, Downing-
street. The Ministers present were the Earl of
Aberdeen, Lord John Russell, the Marquis of Lans-
downe, the Lord Chancellor, Earl Granville, the Duke
of Argyll, Viscount Palmerston, the Earl of Clarendon,
the Duke of Newcastle, the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, Sir James Graham, Sir Charles Wood, the
Right Hon. Sidney Herbert, and Sir William Moles-
worth. The Council sat two hours and a half.
The address in the House of Commons will be moved
by Viscount Castlerosse, and seconded by Mr. Thomson
Hankey, jun.
F. J. Shirley, Esq., Mrs. Shirley, and suite left
Loughfea Castle, their magnificent seat, near,arrick-
macross, on Wednesday, for Eatington Park, in War-
wickshire, after diffusing food, raiment, and fuel to the
poor with the most liberal hand during the last six
months.

MIDDLE TEMPLE, Jan. 26.—BABRISTERS-AT-LAW.--
The undermentioned gentlemen were this day called to
the degree of the Utter Bar, by the Honourable Society
of the Middle Temple :—William Lowndes Yates, Esq.,
8.A., Trinity College, Cambridge ; John Bower Brown,
Esq., of Woodthorpe Hall, near Sheffield ; Joseph
Kaye, Esq., 8.A., Merton College, Oxford; Thomas
Pacey Keene, Esq., Christ's College, Cambridge; Joseph
Wigg, Esq. ; and William Frederick Laxton, Esq.
GRAY'S-INN, Jan. 26.—At a pension of the Hon.
Society of Gray's-inn, holden this day, William Lang.
ford, Esq., L.L.S. (honours first class from council of
Legal Eucation), James Wynne, Esq., M.A., and
Jonas Levy, Esq., were called to the degree of barrister-
at-law.