The Sun.
London, England, 1870-02-28 00:00:00

wearisome defence. But , there was a lower depth of
dulness still. Mr. Newdegate rose to speak, and
the reporters set themselves to sleep. The attendant
cruelly aroused those of them who had regularly laid
themselves out at full length. The Sergeant-at-Arms had
forbidden such irreverent behaviour. Gentleman of the
press who wished to snooze, must snooze sitting or at half-
length. They did their best to comply, and Mr. New-
degate did his best to soothe them with his drone-
-drone--drone, which, if it does not soothe,
maddens. What it was all about I don't know
except that the hon. and funereal gentleman seemed very
anxious to hang one of his constituents whom Mr. Bruce
had decided not to hang. It was over at last, and Mr.
Bruce made, for him, a very spirited reply, showing that
he had not cheated Calcraft without good reason. Then
the mace was taken down, and the House went into com-
mittee, and Mr. Hermon, who occupies the front Oppo-
sition bench as though he were an ex-Minister,
instead of in his second session, shewed himself very curious
about the newFinancialSecretary and Clerk of the Ordnance;
and Mr. Ward Hunt, mindful of the economy which he
did not practice in the Abyssinian expedition, endeavoured
to make up for past extravagance by keeping Mr. Card-
well without his colleague. But the bill went through
committee, and Mr. Lowe's Coinage Bill was read a
second time, and at last came the question which some of
us had been waiting five hours to hear, the removal of
clerical disabilities, proposed by Mr. Hibbert, who, being
a Dissenter, is certainly disinterested in the matter.

OLLIVIEIt ON OFFICIAL CANDIDATES.
The debates on the system 'of official candidatures in
-the French Corps Legislatif was full of interest on the
la it day. It was carried on by Emmanuel Arago, Gamier
Pages, Granier de Cassagnac, and M. 011ivier himself.
Bifore making his full speech M. 011ivier, after the
fashion cf the French Chamber, interposed with a few
sentences of considerable importance. M. Granier de
Cassagnac had been alluding to the speech
of the Minister of the Interior on the pre-
ceding day, which he believed expressed the sentiments
of the Government. M. 011ivier exclaimed that
there should be nothing equivocal in the matter, and
asked if M. de Cassagnac meant to separate the declara-
tions of policy made by the Minister of the Interior, M.
Daru, and by the Keeper of the Seals. M. de Cassagnac
replied that he did not separate those declarations if the
I.3eper of the Seals did not separate them himself. M.
011ivier replied, " I do not separate them, and to both of
them I attach the same meaning. The members of the
Government will remain faithful to the opinions
which they have always expressed on the electoral
question, and at I have already said, in the elections
which take place under their administration, they will not
put in practice the system of official candidatures, but will
maintain a complete neutrality." The applause which fol-
lowed this declaration from the Left benches and those of
the Left Centre, was loud and long. It called M. Granier
de Cassagnac to the tribune, to speak strongly
on behalf of the system attacked. It was, he said, the
right and the duty of a government to take a prominent
part in the elections. The turbulent and revolutionary
spirits were not always the wisest, and the peaceable part
of the population was not represented by them. Many
honest men shrank from the conflict and said to the
Government, "We pay taxes in order that you may
govern us ; govern us then. We have founded a govern-
mant and chosen a dynasty. We wish to maintain it.
Are the deputies we have sent to represent us
faithful or unfaithful ?" That is all they wish to
know. M. Thiers suggested that matters might
be further simplified by these electors adding " Represent
us, and you will govern us more easily still.' M. Granier
de
.Cassagnac retorted that M. Thiers was too much a
master of words not to know that argument which proved
too much proved too little, and concluded by recapitulating
the services which preceding Governments had rendered
to the country. The Minister for Foreign Affairs had said
that he had passed eighteen years in domestic retirement,
but those years M. Cassagnac and his colleagues had
passed at the side of the Emperor, assisting him
in giving France the security which she now enjoys,
the prosperty to which none can be indifferent.—
M. 011ivier, in reply, acknowledged the services rendered
to France by former Governments and answered in detail
the arguments brought against him. The example of
Casimir Perier had, he said, been held up to him, but the
situation was very different. When Casimir Perier came
into power the country was disturbed by the effervescences
of liberty, when the 011ivier Ministry were called to office
—and they were virtually called on the day when that
Chamber signed the interpellation of the 116—the
country was disturbed by the too great concentra-
tion of power. (Loud applause.) " The mission of Casimir
Perier was to satisfy the spirit of order ; ours," continued
M. 011ivier, "is to reassure the spirit of liberty. But
Casimir Feller, in giving the spirit of order the satisfac-
tion it demanded, would have been but a poor politician
if he had not respected the fundamental laws of liberty
and we should be contemptible as statesmen if, absorbed
in the thoughts of the liberty demanded from us, we did
not respect the fundamental laws of order. This is the
difference between the two situations, and the explanation
of the different lines of conduct." After declaring that
they had no wish to separate themselves from their
predecessors for the mere sake of separation, the Minister
continued, "If the Sovereign confides in us to-day, is it
not because we represent those principles which during
long years inside and outside the Chamber we have sup-
ported with the unchangeable obstinacy of conviction ?
M. de Cassagnac has told us that .we are mistaken that
our course is dangerous and uncertain. I am not sur-
prised that he should think so. But, gentlemen, I con-
jure you, understand our situation ; understand
that we should weaken the Government in
whose name we speak in an irreparable manner, if we
offered to the.country the afflicting spectacle of men who
arriving at power by means of certain principles, disavow,
efface, and renounce the principles which have supported
and advanced them. No, no. We shall not do this !" M.
011ivier sat down amidst enthusiastic applause from the
Left and the Left Centre.

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS.
The notice papers for the week promise us a dull par-
liamentary time. The Irish Land Bill does not come on
for second reading until next Monday; the Education
Bill is fixed for this day fortnight ; and
the other subjects set down for discussion
are so very far from being exciting that they
are for the most part rather uninteresting to the general
public. For this evening however an important measure,
the Coinage Bill, is down for committee— the House of
Commons will discuss the " making " of our money ; and
the clauses of the Attorneys and Solicitors Remuneration
Bill will be gone through—the House thus turning to the
means of spendinc, money. The questions are more
numerous than important.
The first question to be put to Mr. Chichester Fertescue
to-morrow evening has been described (we fancy by the
Premier) as " the longest question that ever one person
put to any other person." The qUestioner is Sir Thomas
Bateson. He calls attention to Mr. Madden's case, and
asks, in effect, whether, while that gentleman (a Conserva-
tive) has been dismissed from the magistracy by a Liberal
Government for " language of studied insult to the
Queen," Mr. Butt, Mr. Heron, and the Earl of Granard
(Liberals) have not used equally insulting language, and
yet have been retained in their respective offices.—Captain
Dawson-Damer desires, apparently, that the Divorce
Court should not be a public one. He asks whether
it would not be possible and expedient to impose
some check on the publication of the reports.
—Lord Claud Hamilton follows Sir Thomas
and moves for copies of correspondence on the same sub-
ject. We may anticipate a spiriting debate upon the
question.—Mr. Dodds comes forward with a bill for
reforming the registration of votes ; and Mr. Rylands
brings in his bill to extend to the whole of Sunday the
present restrictions on the sale of beer ' ' and other fermented
or distilled liquor."
On Wednesday the Scotch Game Laws are to be dis-
cussed. On Thursday the Metropolitan Relief Bill is to
be brought on for second reading. Committee on the Life
Assurance Bill is fixed for the first named day. The
Army Estimates are to be moved by Mr. Cardwell on the
latter.

On Friday Mr. Secretary Bruce will introduce a very im-
portant measure indeed—a bill to amend the law for licen-
sing the sale of spirituous liquors. Going on in the same
line, Mr. Donald Dalrymple will move a resolution that it
is desirable to legislate for the proper reception, deten-
tion and management of habitual drunkards.
Tie Irish Land Bill (as we have said) comes on next
Monday, March tha 7th and the Education Bill on the
following Monday, Mardi 14.

THE PRINCE OF WALES AND THE PUBLIC.--
Twice during the present week the Prince of Wales has
received (for the first time in his life) tokens of public
disapprobation. On Monday night he was hissed at
the Globe Theatre. The Princess was cheered enthu-
siastically by the uprising audience when she appeared
in front of the box. 'the cheers were changed to
hisses when the Prince appeared. His Royal Highness
coolly surveyed the scene through his opera glass. 40n
Thursday night, at a volunteer supper in the City, the
toast of the Prince's health was received with a few cries
of "No no." The chairman recommended those who
objected to retire. The health was then drunk without
opposition.—Manchester Examiner.

BUTTER FROM MUD.—A fortnight ago we drew
attention to the fact that the butter of South London was
adulterated with tallow, starch, manganese, salt and
water. We thought then that we had reached the Ultima
Thule of adulteration, but an ingenious individual has
since added another sophisticating agent. A friend has in
his possession a specimen of pure white fat, taste-
less, and perfectly inodorous, which has been ob-
tained by a clever analytical chemist from—what
do our readers suppose ? Simply from a portion
of Thames mud, taken from the river at Batter-
sea ! And we are afraid that this new discovery of
science is no longer a secret, for the owner of a small
wharf on the bank of the Thames had an offer this week
from a person desirous of becoming the tenant, and on
asking the purpose for which the wharf was required ho
was told it was to be used for manufacturing butter, to be
sold to the poor at a shilling per pound ! No doubt it was
the intention of this philanthropic individual to have sup-
plied the public with dairy butter fresh from the bosom of
old Father Thames.—South London Press.

THE POLICE AND THE CABBIES. —Mr. Knox, the magis-
trate at the Marlborough-street Police-court, oymbies
about the action of the police towards cabmen. He says
that about 200 summonses are taken out against cabmen
every week. Making reasonable abatement for dismissals,
it might be taken that about £4,000 annually is taken out
of the pockets of the cabmen, who are, after all, only
trying to earn a living. There is no part of his duty
which gives him more pain than being compelled to deal
in this wholesale way with this class of cases.

THE PRICE OF A BROKEN HEART.—A breach of promise
case, of a painful nature, has been brought to a close at
the War-wick Court. A respectable mechanic at Coventry
sued Mr. Dickson,
a traveller for £6B 6s. 6d., for having
failed to perform a promise of marrying his daughter. The
girl had left her situation at Perrott's restaurantin London
to be educated, with a view of being married to defendant
in six months. She died of a broken heart, and this
action was brought to enforce her father's claim. An
agreement was made, and a verdict entered for £35.