The Sun.
London, England, 1860-07-16 00:00:00

able, with the least conceivable discomfort to that
daily-increasing and most profitable of all cargoes
—passengers. She will, we yet believe, pro\ve also
the cheapest conveyance for goods worth a speedy
voyage. She has inaugurated a new era in navi-
gation. Great Easterna will assuredly be multi-
plied ; and, though it seems almost ludicrous now
to say so, we should not be surprised at
her being surpassed. She is a first attempt
in her way; and rarely is it the case that first at-
tempts, if successful, are not soon outdone by
imitators. Successors will be built, launched,
equipped, and sent on their first voyage at very
much less cost, and with a full complement of
passengers. The Great Eastern has shared
the fate of all pioneers, but most sin-
cerely do we hope that those who have
brought the undertaking to completion will reap
the reward deserved by themselves, and by the
original projectors and shareholders. May they
gain something more substantial than the honour
of showing us a new system of navigation—of en-
abling us to dispense with M. LESSEP'S Suez canal
—to convey armies backward and forward to India,
without asking the leave of any power on earth—
and, to regard Australia as no longer a distant
colony.

Elsewhere will be found a most graphic descrip-
tion of the late important debate in the House of
Commons upon the vital question of its privileges
listened to and described by—a Frenchman. It is
the London Correspondent of the Ami de la Reli-
gion who has penned this eloquent tribute to the
perfect freedom of speech secured to England
through her Parliamentary institutions. To our
neighbours across the Channel especially we would
earnestly commend the thrilling and impressive
apostrophe at its close. It is curious that almost
simultaneously with this generous recognition of
the pride and glory of our British Legislature, the
uncontrolled oratorical liberty vouchsafed to our
representatives in the legislature without any pos-
sible derogation thereby from, but, rather, it should
be said, the noblest enhancement of its dignity—
there should be audible from the French tribune,
even under the present despotic regime, one of those
fitful and momentary ebullitions of oratorical free-
dom and elocutionary daring which serve to
demonstrate all the more vividly by the force of
mere contrast the rigour of that iron rule which
has striven now for eight years past, and is still
striving, to screw down the safety-valve of repre-
sentation ! The recent speech of M. JULES RITRE
in the French Chamber, a bold and resolute
harangne, that M. DE MouNY in vain attempted
to abbreviate and weaken by constant interrup-
tions as President—comes as a fitting pendant
to this impassioned tribute to the living Parlia-
mentary orators of England transmitted to the
Ami de la Religion by its London Correspondent.
Look, if but for an instant, "on this picture—
and on this !" How wide the difference ! Yonder
in the French capital—it is a single representa-
tive who, upon one most exceptional occasion,
breaks through the monotonous dullness of the
routine of a sort of mock parliament—to revive,
painfully, by his seemingly audacious inde-
corum, the recollection of the past glories of the
French Legislature, the almost maddening remem-
brance of the days of constitutional Government,
when the Tribune would be occupied in succession
by orators like THIERS, like GUIZOT, like LAMAR-
TINE! Here it is but a more vivid reminder than
usual of the liberty of speech which is guaranteed
to Englishmen in perpetuity, by the fundamental
principle of their ancient and perennial Constitu-
tion. The contrast, we repeat, while it is one sug-
gestive to ourselves of blended emotions of grati-
tude and exultation, can, in truth, be hardly less
than maddening to every intelligent Frenchman.

There is now every prospect that the colony of
Victoria will advance rapidly in the development
of her vast resources. The Crown Lands Sales
Bill was read a third time in the Assembly on the
27th of last April, and the result of the division
for the third reading—viz., 55 to 11, there being
only twelve members absent—is a sure proof that
the new Parliament better represents the opinions
of the public than any of its predecessors have
hitherto done. In fact, until the recent election,
the majority of the so-called representatives were
nominees of the squatters. The tables are now,
however, turned, for although the Bill hes yet to
pass the Upper House, or Council, that body will
hardly have the temerity to throw it out after having
been carried almost unanimously by the Lower
House. We do nnt altogether approve of some e.f
its details, yet the passing of this Bill is a decided
victory for those of small capital and for the work-
ing classes. The public lands are to be thrown
open, with certain restrictions. The .Melbourne
Argus states that—" The pith of the Crown Lands
Sales Bill may be compressed into two short sen-
tences. Surveyed blocks shall be sold or leased by
lot to any applicants, at a fixed price. Crown
lands, until sold or leased, shall be converted into
commons at the pleasure of the Executive." Had
this measure been passed some years ago, Victoria
would now be in a different position, for, not-
withstanding the wealth of many of the inha-
bitants, the immense dividends of the various banks,
and the ease with which the colony, with a popula-
tion of little more than half a million, all told, raises a
revenue of upwards of £3,500,000; there is
throughout the length and breadth of the land
great distress. The Australian colonies could sup-
port with ease a hundredfold more than their pre-
sent population were the Executive to study more
than they do the interests of the people at large,
and by so doing they would in the end benefit each
and every individual interest. But it is only lately
that the people have awakened to a sense of their
wrongs, and now that there is something like unity
of purpose amongst them we have no fear for the
result. Universal suffrage is appreciated by the
miners and other residents, who, taken as a body,
are far more intelligent than a like number of
men taken at random from all classes in Eng-
land; the very feeling which prompted them to
forsake home, relations, and in many cases lucra-
tive employment, is a sure sign of minds and tem-
peraments which were not contented with the quiet'
and monotonous drudgery of a life without the pro-
spect of an early independence. Such men think,
and in most cases will not be led without being
convinced. Victoria in times past has suffered
greatly from the difficulty that fortunate diggers
and other speculators have experienced in procu-
ing land whereon to settle, and the greater part of
them have returned to their native countries.
Thus the wealth which would have otherwise been
devoted to develop the resources of the country has
been driven from it by the suicidal policy, that'
the influence of the squatocrasy forced
upon the executive. The following query was put
by ore of the Melbourne papers some time back :
" What is sludge ?" (the refuse from the puddling
machines after the gold is extracted is a great
nuisance flowing over the country,filling up streams
and smothering large tracts of land) ; " and then
replies, " The colony's share of the gold mines."
This, to a certain extent, has been but too true.
It is
.a
::alse idea to imagine thatthe artisans and
labout
are well off in Australia because they re-