The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-11 00:00:00

Westminster Abbey, by marking the day of his
funeral by the customary signs of a people's mourning
and a nation's Farewell.

THE decision of the judges in the Bristol election
case is eminently satisfactory. It was an unanimous
decision and it was in accordance with the dictates of
common sense. The weight of a judicial sentence is
always grievously impaired when it is the result of a
bare majority of votes. No one, for instance, can feel
that the law of marriage is in a desirable state
now that, by a majority of two judges out of three,
it has been determined that a husband cannot sue
for a divorce from a wife, however outrageously she
may have sinned when sane, provided that she be
insane at the time that the suit against her is insti-
tuted. Never did a more weighty decision rest upon
a narrower basis than that in the MORDAUNT trial.
But in the case against Mr. ROBINSON four judges
have given judgment, and they are all of one mind,
all of the opinion that bribery at the test
ballot is sufficient to invalidate the election,
and that for this bribery Mr. ROBINSON must lose
his seat. It would indeed have been lamentable if
the decision had been otherwise. The facts may be
briefly stated. On the death of Mr. BERKELEY
three Liberals started for the vacant seat, Mr. KIRK-
MAN HODGSON, of the Bank of England, who
was selected by the Liberal Committee ; Mr.
ELISHA ROBINSON, a local paper maker,
who had on a previous occasion nearly broken
up the Liberal party; and Mr. ODGER, who started as
a -working men's candidate. If they all went to the
poll, it was certain that the seat would be lost to the

party, and so they followed the precedent
set by Mr. ERNEST JONES and Mr. MILNER
GIBSON at Manchester. The result . sur-
prised the chiefs of the party, for Mr.
ROBINSON received more votes than his two compe-

titors put together. In the regular electoral contest
that followed, he was opposed by a Con-
servative, but beat him by a comparatively small
majority. Clearly Mr. ROBINSON would not have been
in a position to win if he had not been first on the
test ballot ; therefore if it could be shewn that he owed
to bribery the right to become a candidate he
had violated the Act which forbids bribery both
direct and indirect. The leaders of the Conservative
party had no wish to prove the offence. It was rather
their policy to keep the sore in the Liberal
party open, with the hope that on the next
election Mr. ROBINSON'S candidature would bring
about so • much disunion that a Conservative
might slip in between the nominee of the Liberal
committee and the nominee of the Independent
Liberals. But the Conservative working men, of whom
there are not a few in the " city of parsons and prize-
fighters," would not listen to the advice of their chiefs.
They presented a petition against Mr. ROBINSON, and
though they failed to prove bribery at the election
itself, they established their charge so far as regards

the procedure which was preparatory to the election.
The judge who tried the petition reserved the point
as to whether this was bribery in the technical
sense of the word, although we should have
thought that there was no possible room
for doubt. His reservation has, however,
had the satisfactory result of obtaining from four
judges, including the Lord Chief Justice, an unhesi-
tating opinion that bribery of the kind imputed i 3
bribery within the meaning of the Act, just asbribery
intended nominally to influence a municipal election,
but really a Parliamentary election, is bribery within
the meaning of the Act. Had the decision
been otherwise it would have been easy
to debauch any constituency with impunity,

and we therefore heartily rejoice that Mr. komx-
SON, who, it must be stated, does not appear to have
been cognizant of the illegal proceedings of his
agents, has been unseated. The local results of this
decision will probably be the healing of the schism
in the Liberal ranks. It is to be hoped that it will

also serve as a warning to the electors. Twice within
three years elections at Bristol have been declared
void by corrupt practices Surely the capital of the
West cannot desire to share the punishment which
has befallen its neighbour, Bridgwater.

IN some minds the idea of charitable donations is
nseparably associated with winter. Keen winds
and cold blasts serve as especial reminders to those
whose purses are long and whose garners are well
stored with all manner of treasure. Food, warmth,
and raiment must be liberrlly bestowed at Christmas,
in order that the hungry, the shivering, and the
scantily clad may in some measure have their share
of rejoicing, and find the world something else be-
sides a howling wilderness and a weary round.of toil.
It hnppens, however, that summer brings something
else in its train besides bright days and smiling skies,
and the ministering spirits of the earth may find
plenty to employ their zeal oa satisfy their ambition.
Amid the grand and important schemes set forth for
inquiry and observation in the columns of the various
journals, some simple notices may be seen, ever and
anon, here and there starting up like modest wild
flowers by the wayside, yet claiming sympathy by
their very humility and unpretentiousness. " Treats
for Poor Children " is the title of some appeals that
are made by persons well qualified to explain their
object, and though at first the unobservant and inex-
perienced may misunderstand their meaning, a little
consideration will enable them to appreciate their
importance. For instance, we find in one of
these letters a reminder that about GOO of the
city Arabs, connected with the Ragged School of
the Golden Lane Christian Mission were last
year taken out for a day's excursion at
the small sum of £2B 16s. 11d. These chiidren
of poverty "fondly anticipate" a day in the green
fields, and the recollective of the enjoyment thus
afforded will last them until another spring brings
round the time when retrospective can be exchanged
for prospective pleasure in their minds. Another
claimant declares that the little ones look forward
with "much delight to their annual treat, and it is
impossible to imagine the joy they manifest at the
sight of the green fields." It is to them the one bright
day of the year. In most matters a few
words are as good as a great many, and
in this instance brevity is desirable because
the question must be appreciated or not, according to
the disposition of the person who takes it up. Many
well-meaning but unsympathising individuals need
reminders, and here is one which tells them of a
duty in the form of a pleasure, of an opportunity for
rendering service to poor helpless outcasts passed by
amid a bustling throng, but who have feelings to
impress and tastes to please as well as the golden
boys and girls whose lives pass by amid 'brilliant
scenes like the painted figures on porcelain vases.
Surely it is a kind and Christian act to snatch
these little ones from scenes that make
one shudder and surroundings that are
enoug;i to crush out all hope or energy
from the most daring and reckless, and shew them,
if only for a day, how fair is the world which they
live in, and how bright the sun may shine when it
looks down on daisied fields and blossoming hedge-
rows, instead of cooped-up , courts and dingy alleys.
No one can measure the impression thus made on a