The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-02 00:00:00

GLOBE THEATRE-ROYAL.

THIS Evnzimo, at 7. A HAPPY FAMILY. 7.15,
or, Leonard's Love. And BROWN AND THE BRAHMINS:
Messrs. Marshall, David Fisher, Andrews, Hurlstone, J. Clarke;
Mesdames Lydia Foote, Brennen, Berend, Hughes, Fountain,
and Stephens.

ROYALTY THEATRE.
Tinder the Management of Miss IL Oliver.
THIS EYENING, at 7.30, A LOVINII CUP. Mr. Dewar, Miss
M. Oliver. To be followed by CLAUDE DUVAL; Mr. Dewar,
&c. To conclude with THE BOARDING SCHOOL.

PRINCE OF WALES'S ROYAL THEATRE.
Under the Management of NI iSR Marie Wilton

TIM EVENING, SCHOOL: Messrs. Hare, H. J. Montague,
Addison, Glover, and Baneroft: Mrs. Buckingham White, Miss
C. Addison, and Miss Marie Wilton. After which, A WINNING
HAZARD. And INTRIGUE.

ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE AND CIRCUS, HOLBORN.
THIS EVENING, the Great Carre Troupe and magnificent Stud
of 50 Horses; also Onra, Alfred Bradbury, A. Carre,

ST. GEORGE'S THEATRE, REGENT STREET.

Tina EVENING, at 8, THE ROYAL ORIGINAL CHRISTY'S
MINSTRELS' Ethiopian Entertainment: and the Burlesque
Extra,vaglnza, THE VERY GRAND DUTCH—S

CHRISTY MINSTRELS. St. James's Hall, Every Night, at 3
Wednesdays and Saturdays, at 3 and S all the year round.

ROYAL AL TT AMB RA PALACE. THREE BALLETS
Promenade Concert. Band of GO. Begin at 8. 13. Box-offic(
open from 11 to 4.

ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS, Regent's-pack, OPEN daily (ex-
cept Sundays). Admission, ls.; on Mondays, 6d. Children
under twelve, 6d.

J ea
't-"t
-*'l7

.THE SUN,_

circumstances, but in the tone and manner of it firm,
yet impartial, at the same time that it v, as thoroughly
manly and energetic. Mr. W. H. SMITH, as now one
of the most conspicuously placed of all the metropo-
litan members, deprecated the notion of the House
being understood in any way to pledge itself to the
acceptance of the details of the measure by assenting
to the second reading of the bill without a division. If
by passing thebill through thatadditional stage it was
clearly recognised that members were simply accepting
the principle of a commonbasis of rating, he considered,
he said, that there would be no objection on the
part of the Rouse to postpone the consideration of the
details until they should come to be examined and
discussed minutely in committee. The suggestion
thus opportunely thrown out by the lion. member
was readily, and even, it might be said, eagerly
caught up by the Right Hon. Gentleman the President
of the Poor-law Board, who intimated at once, in the
clearest way possible, his recognition of the fact that,
by assenting to the second reading of the measure,
the House was in no particular whatever committing
itself to any single one of the Bill's provisions. It
would merely, he said, be understood that what the
House bad agreed to was the general principle
that equalization of assessment was most desirable in
the metropolis. Of course he added, there would be
considerable difference as to the best mode of arriving
at the result which all desired. Mr. GOSCHEN ex-
rressed his belief, however, that there was a general
feeling that it was most important to bring the
question to a satisfactory settlement, and that
whatever might be the difficulties in the way of
a perfect measure, at all events the present
state of things was so unsatisfactory that it was the
duty of Parliament to put an end to it. About this,
there can hardly in point of fact two opinions. The
anomaly of the present system, or rather no-system,
is a thing flagrant and notorious. Something like
an approximation at least to an equitable assessment
in the metropolis is what every one is naturally
aiming at. How it is to be secured, is a matter
simply for discussion, and for very s'irious
consideration. The taxation in the metropolis is at
one and the same time so enormous in its aggregate
amount, and so monstrously unequal, and therefore
unfair, in the manner of its distribution, that one and
all must be only desirous to aid the Government, as far as
possible, in dealing with the question practically this
year, and in passing the bill in some shape before the
present session has been brought to a close. What
shape it will have to assume is obviously for con-
sideration in the Committee. Meanwhile the Govern-
ment, according to Mr. GOSCHEN'S very distinct and
most satisfactory assurance yesterday, will cheerfully
entertain all suggestions for amending the bill as long •
the general principle was maintained—namely, that
, there shall be uniformity of assessment.

Among the most charming and, at the same time,
among the most benign of the many charitable insti-
tutions adorning the metropolis, are those which have
the most recently sprung into existence. There
is that tenderly - thou gh t- o f Creche introduce]
among us within these last few months
by a noble Catholic lady, who finds her benevolent
suggestion caught up in no way as that of an alien,
by her large-hearted Protestant fellow-country-
men and fellow-countrywomen. Then, too, there is
that Hospital for Sick Children, the mere thought of
which, the mere name of which, goes straight to
the hearts of us all. CHARLES DICKENS brought it
home to us very exquisitely in the last of his great
serial fictions, " Our Mutual Friend," where, under
the shadow of the toys, ranged along the shelves over
the tiny beds in the sleeping-room—looking for all the
world, as he said, " like the dreams of the children"—

little JOHNNY dies in the dead of the night, sending
a kiss to the Boofer lady. Yet more recently, in one
of his Uncommercial Papers in All the Year
Round, the same great writer took U 3 with
him in imagination into a kindred scene,
into a humbler place of shelter fur little ones,
somewhere down at the East End of the metropo-
lis. And now another distinguished and generous-
hearted writer, worthy son of a worthy sire, not less
in tender spmpathies than in humorous conceits
—Tom lloon—has taken us back again to
the Elder Institution in Great Ormond-street,
Bloomsbury, has induced us to observe with
him, or to put it in other words, has enabled us to
see through his eyes and hear through his ears, the
sights and sounds, greeting any one who, any day, may
visit the Hospital for Sick Children, and there examine
for himself what Tom Hoop prettily calls " Lilliput
Lodgers." IVhoever,lby happy accident, may light
upon the eight pages of the tiny brochure or lirraison,
daintily embellished with woodcuts, in which the
author last named recounts his experiences as an eye-
witness in regard to "Life in Lodgings," will surely
have his heart turned towards that tender Charity, his
feet incited to a pilgrimage thither, his hand con-
strained to extend itself with some kindly offering
of benevolence.

THE elections which took place on Tuesday sug.
gest a few remarks. In two instances the unseated
members have been succeeded by men of the
the same political views. The inference which we
draw from this fact is different from that drawn by
the Times. Our contemporary infers that a con-
stituency does not like to have its members peti-
tioned against, and marks its resentment by return-
ing men as nearly as possible of the same opinions as
the victims'. This is a by no means necessary
inference. It is but natural that the circumstances
which led to the election of two Liberals or two
Tories in November should lead to the election of
two Liberals or two Tories in March. No new poli-
tical question has arisen in the interval. The Irish
Church was the prominent topic in the autumn ; it
is the prominent topic in the spring. Coercion and
intimidation may perhaps be less open at Blackburn
now than it was then, but there is little doubt that it
has been equally oppressive. It is by no means
creditable to the borough that one of the
gentlemen who signed the famous circular
to the masters of cotton mills at the general
election should now be chosen as the representative
of that borough. At Hereford the case was widely
different. In that city the two sitting members
were unseated because an over-eager supporter had
given a dinner to certain electors long before the
election, and, as he declares, without the smallest
intention of influencing the election. There has been
no other instance of members unseated for so small
a cause as this ; and remembering that Messrs.
CAWLEY and CHARLEY still retain their seats for
Salford, although cabs ad libitum were employed for
the conveyance of voters, we can only wonder
at the glorious uncertainty of the law, even when
that law is newly-framed and is administered and
interpreted by some of the acutest lawyers in the
kingdom. But the net result is that in Blackburn
two young Conservative gentlemen have been chosen
instead of their Conservative fathers ; and that in

Hereford a junior CLIFF has taken the place of a

. -
senior CLIVE, and that Mr. CRANDOS WREN HOS-
KYNS, a very able agriculturist, has succeeded Mr

. _
WYLLIE, .a
very able Anglo-Indian. The politica:
balance, if such a term can be applied to the present
inequality of parties, is undisturbed by these elec.
tions.

It is otherwise when we come to Dumfriesshire.
There the Conservatives have gained a very material
triumph, which must be to them a source of immense
gratification. There was scarcely any defeat which
caused them more mortification at the general elec-
tion than this of the great Duke of BUCCLEUCH by
a London tradesman. Political and social prejudices
were alike wounded to the quick, and keen was the
satisfaction when a technical error was discovered at