The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-17 00:00:00

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LONDON, WEDNESDAY, FEB. 17, 1869

THE gentlemen who three months ago were
engaged in the fierce battle of the elections must
have felt at the opening of the session that they had
spent a good deal of energy and no small amount of
money to very little purpose. The absence of the
impressive pageantry which used to mark the begin-
ning of the parliamentary year deprived their
victory of all its outward éclat. To walk
through Westminster Hall, and to hear shabbily-
dressed Londoners asking " Who is he r of the
stalwart policeman, and to hear the policeman's con-
fession of ignorance as to the name or history of the
man who a few weeks ago was the hero of a hundred
committee-rooms and beershops, was a piece of irony
worthy of mention in King SOLOMON'S vanitas
vanitatunz. Was it for this—was it to slink in like a
dog, unrecognised, perhaps unnoticed, that honour-
able members went through the toil and cost
of an election ? Was it that, with no pomp to
greet them, with no blare of trumpets and
glitter of helmets, they—many of them for the first
time—should make their entrance into the first legis-
lative assembly in the world ? Nor were they even
consoled by the privilege of hearing a few minutes
earlier than the rest of the world the Ministerial
programme for the session. That (by way of reviv-
ing a custom for some years more honoured in the
breach than in the observance) had been communi-
cated to the Ministerial journals over-night; and the
cads in towns 200 miles away from Westminster
were made confidants of State secrets before they
were officially revealed to the elect of the nation,
the statesmen of the future.
And now that we have all read this Speech, what
do we think of it ? That it is very much like other
speeches. Why should it have been otherwise,
indeed ? True, we have a Householders' Parliament
newly installed at St. Stephen's ; true we have a
Ministry more Radical and popular than ever we
have had before; an Opposition more dispersed and
diminished than we have had for a generation.
But, after all, such circumstances cannot affect
the main features of the history which we are making.
We have our foreign relations ; and as we do not go
to war now, except with the Maori, they of course
are peaceful and satisfactory. We have our colonies;
and they, being left to govern themselves, are going
on very well, always excepting that troublesome
Maori-visited colony. There is the usual amount of
legislation to be effected ; re orms which have been
promised yearly for a decade, and reforms of last
year's reforms; legislation to be done, legislation to be
undone. Of course there is the usual reference to
economy, which is made no less when an extravagant
Tory Government is in office than when a " cheese-
paring " Liberal Administration holds the purse-
strings. We knew it all pretty much before, never-
theless it is our duty to enter into detail.
The announcement that the QUEEN is at peace
with all the world ought not to be less satisfactory
because it is wanting in originality. The ancient
Greeks used to declare peace, for war was their
normal state. With us that state is peace, and
although the modern Greeks have done their best, or
worst, they have not induced us to declare war. The
Paris Conference has poured some water down the
Eastern crater, and put out the fire for the present,
Lord CLARENDON has special reason to con-
gratulate himself on that benevolent achievement,
for it has been mainly his work. The American
negotiations still go on ; and though, in spite of- the
efforts of three Foreign Ministers, assisted by the
most garrulous of ambassadors who ever performed
the secret work of diplomacy in public, the United
States and the United Kingdom have not yet settled
their dtihffaetretnhy will
differences, there is not the smallest proba-
bilitylead to serious difficulties, and
there is every reason to hope that they will be
arranged. The " disturbances which have occurred
cinumNsetanw Zceeasloafndat,'r'
(teityn,d,, medasaythey have been with " cir-
well cause grief to the
Sovereign and to her Ministers. But this emotion
does not induce the Government to recommend a
renewal of Imperial help, which proved so ineffica-
cious before. It is the Colonial Government and
people upon whose energy the QUEEN relies for
repressing the outbreak. The reference to
the estimates of the year contains some-
thing more than true stereotyped promise of
"a due regard to economy," There is a diminished
charge upon the country, There is good news for
Ireland; she is no longer to bear the stigma of the
suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act. This, though
it is separated by maniParagraphs, is logically con-
nectedwith the important one in which the ecclesiasti-
cal arrangements of Ireland are referred to. The
improved condition of Ireland is due partly to the
vigour with which the Fenian conspiracy
was
repressed ; partly to the hopes which the promise of
just legislation has inspired. The ,outward evidence
of dissatisfaction has been stamped out. It is now
for Parliament to remove the sources of that long-
standing animosity which has so long been our
trouble and our shame.
The other matters brought before theHouseof Com-
mons are, if not numerous, of great importance. The
recommendation that an inquiry should be made into
the mode of conducting Parliamentary and municipal
elections, with a view to provide guarantees for their
tranquillity, purity, and freedom, signifies, no doubt,
the appointment of a Royal Commission to inquire
into the working of the Ballot. The next paragraph
speaks for itself. The last of Mr. DISRAELI'S ten
principles, the personal payment of rates, is to
go the way of the other nine, and justify the
Conservative Duke of BUCCLEUCII'S sarcasm
that of the original Conservative Reform Bill the only
part left is the word "whereas." With a BRUCE
and a FORSTER in the Ministry, education, of course,
comes in for its share of attention, and it would
seem as if the Government were prepared to deal
with the large question opened by the Royal Com-
mission on Endowed Schools. A very substantial
boon is offered to the county electors in the
shape of a measure for the establishment of
county financial boards ; successful traders may
rejoice in the prospect of another Bank-
ruptcy Bill, and unsuccessful traders in the
abolition of imprisonv,ent for debt. This last

It is satisfactory to learn that these homes are
eagerly sought after, and that the applications to the
directors far exceed the number of vacant tenements.
This fact should give a fresh stimulus to all who are
taking part in this good work, while it removes all
apprehension of the possible failure or collapse of the
scheme. Sir SYDNEY WATERLOW, M.P., who haB
been the prime mover of the affair, spoke at some
length on the general position and prospects of the
company, which he considered to be most encourag-
ing. The only difficulty which they have recently
encountered has arisen from tho working of the Re-
form Act, and the change in the mode of assessing
the rates. This threatened to be disastrous to the
tenants, so that the directors decided on continuing
to make the payment themselves, believing with
reason that such inequalities will soon be adjusted
by the action of Parliament.

THE INNER TEMPLE.—In the autumn of 1867 Mr.
Gill, a barrister of the Inner Temple, was called upon by
the Benchers of bis Inn to answer a:charge which had
been brought against him to the effect that, while
acting as counsel for a lady in a Chancery suit, he
bad used his influence unprofessionally, and induced
her to give him control over a sum of money which
was involved in the suit. Mr. Gill denied the charge,
characterising it as a malicious calumny, but the benchers
of the Inner Temple, after an inquiry lasting over 11 days,
considered it proved, and made an order debarring Mr.
Gill. Against this deCision Mr. Gill appealed to the Judges
of the superior courts of common law, before whom the
whole of the evidence taken before the Benchers has been
carefully reviewed and counsel heard on both sides. A pro-
longed trial has recently terminated in the complete exone •
ration of Mr. Gill. The judges have unanimously deter-
mined that the order of the Benchers of the Inner Temple
disbarring Mr. Gill must be set aside, and they acquit him
of any conduct unbefitting a counsel or inconsistent with
the character of a man of honour and a gentleman. The
counsel for the appellant were Sir Roundell Palmer,
Q.C., M.P., and Mr. George Brown. Mr. Cole, Q.C., and
Mr. Price, Q.C., appeared in• support of the order of the
Benchers.

WORK FOR THE POLICE.—An unusual number
of attempts at burglary have been made the past few
nights in St. John's-wood. The money boxes of the
Greville-place Church School-room wera broken open
and robbed; the residence of Mr. Howard Paul, Carlton-
hill, was burglariously entered on Wednesday evening;
and two houses in Cavendish-road were broken into on
Friday and Saturday nights. There is evidently work
for the police in that district.