The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-08 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, AUGUR' 8, 1880.

There is some comfort in thinking that we are
fast approaching the end of this unfortunate
session of Parliament. Unable to get anything of
good from it—despairing (as we may well do now
at the close of the first week of August) of its ever
redeeming its character—we want at last simply
to be rid of it as a nuisance. Looking back
through the records of its existence during this
last half-year, we find nothing whatever, either in
Lords or Commons, capable of affording an adequate
compensation for so much waste of time and so
many truly lamentable disappointments.
The session of 1860 will be remembered as one'of
the longest within the memory of the present gene-
ration. It will also be borne in mind as one of the
most fruitless in the way of legislation. It com-
menced earlier than usual this year—namely, on
Tuesday the 24th of January. It will close later
than it has done for many years past—when, upon
what day of the week or upon what day of the
month, it would be hazardous to predict now with
any confidence. It will probably be nearer the
season of the shooting of partridges than the shoot-
ing of grouse—long enough after the 13th of
August to come within view of the Ist
of September. Be for the recent battue among
the Innocents, there would have been a reasonable
probability of its skipping coolly over the close of
the buck-hunting season, on the 14th proximo, and
of being protracted even beyond the commencement,
on the Ist of October, of the pheasant shooting—
even if it did not run on in that case to the com-
mencement of the fox-hunting (on the 16th of Oct.),
or of the hare-hunting (on the 26th), down to
the verge of Hallowe'en. Happily our sport-
ing 1\41.11.'s are not threatened with these reiterated
sacrifices upon the altar ,of patriotism—
the ground has been cleared, if not for the destruc-
tion of grouse, at any rate for that of partridge and
pheasant, of fox and hare, by the opportune slaughter
in the very nick—now by wholesale, now by retail
—of those big and little Innocents, No Reform
Bill passed, according to promise, through. Lords
and Commons into a more or less substantial enact-
ment ! No redistribution of electoral districts—
(one of the first reforms in the system of popular
representation required)—even attempted ! No
extension of the franchise, wide or narrow, in
borough or in county, anywhere accomplished !
The Government Reform Bill—not even defeated,
not even rejected, not even emasculated by a fac-
tious Opposition ! The Reform Bill voluntarily
withdrawn by its introducer, Lord JOHN
RUSSELL—or rather let us say his three Reform
Bills withdrawn in succession, one first and two
afterwards ! The Church-rates still untouched.
The Criminal Laws still vinrevised. The pet legal
reform of the first law officer of the Crown, the
comprehensive and profoundly deliberated re-ad-
justment of the laws relating to Bankruptcy and
Insolvency dropped as deplorably, withdrawn as
summarily by Sir RICHARD BETHELL as the Re-
form Bills for England, and Ireland, and Scotland
had been previously dropped or withdrawn by
Lord JOHN RUSSELL. And strange to re-
late in neither instance can the ori-
ginators of these two important and now
abandoned measures be held responsible for
their most tantalising withdrawal. The responsi-
bility devolves upon others than upon the noble
lord the member for the city. of London, or the
learned knight the member for the borough of
Wolverhampton. Upon whom if not upon their
right hon. colleague the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer and his ex-official henchmen across the Chan-
nel and below the Gangway—the silent member for.
Rochdale and the eloquent member for Birming-
ham ? It is idle to cast the blame of wasted sit-
tings upon the prolonged and reiterated criti-
cisms (upon Ministers and their supporters)
indulged in by the right hon. gentleman
the representative (?) of the Stroud constituency.
Who gave Mr. HORSMAN his frequent opportunities
—who but the small political clique, the members
of which, by driving a favourite crotchet of theirs
to death—bon gre mel gre, per fas et nefas—have
rendered futile all the conscientious efforts made
by other and larger minded statesmen, the strenu-
ous but ineffectual efforts of a BETHELL for Legal
Reform, and of a RUSSELL for the further reform
of the lower House of Parliament ? The firm that
have been all these five or six months last past
been driving such a roaring trade yonder, down
at Westminster, according to the elegant
phraseology of Mr. GEORGE WILSON ex-Chairman
of the old Anti-Corn Law League—the enterprising
commercial house of the Messrs. GLADSTONE,
BRIGHT, COBDEN and Company, have so carried on
their business during 1860, that they have
"swapped" everything—law reforms, ecclesiastical
reforms, sanitary reforms, Parliamentary reforms,
even the comparatively petty item of metropolitan
reforms—for what? For a Bubble Budget
—that was hardly " blown " before it burst.
Fora Commercial Treaty negotiated in the dark
and upon the sly by an unadorned diplo-
matist (save the mark !)—w ho has ever
since been patching and cobbling away at his
botched handicraft in a back office in a back street
in one of the back slums of Paris—never having
dared once all this session to show his face for a
single night in the L ouse of Commons ! For a re-
imposition of the abhorred Income-Tax in 1660
the very year in which its re-imposer, seven long
sessions ago, predicted its final abandonment—a re-
impositiontune of this most detested of all taxes by Mr.
GLADSTONE of all men; in this year of all others, to
the
of £10,000,000 sterling ! Here are our
!compensations. We have sat down as hungry

not the House of Lords have time to discuss and
consider the measures sent IT by the Commons ?
Why should they be reduced to mere voting
machines ? They are " the Lords," and will assert
their position, even on financial questions, against
Mr. GLADSTONE, Mr. BRIGHT, and all the Radicals
in the Kingdom.
Now this may be all well enough, but the Lords
find that, unless their rule be made very elastic, it
will snap. They introduce therefore a bit of india-
rubber—if a bill be of " urgent" importance they
will attend to it, though it may not have passed
the Rubicon of a second reading on the right day.
Lord GRANVILLE told them he liked the rule,
s.nd wished to sustain it, but that if they
would do so, it must be, in plain English,
by not shirking work which wanted to be
clone. We have sometimes wondered, how ever, how
the constitutional Lords reconcile such a rule with
Vac Royal Prerogative. The QUEEN has undenia-
bly a right to keep Parliament sitting till Christ-
mas, if she wishes. What shall we say then to
" her Lords" declaring that they did not mean to
attend to any of the work for which she kept
them together, unless it came before them on
some early day. The QUEEN assembles them
for despatch of business ; they meet, and tell her
that they mean to be all of them among the
partridges at the proper season. Amusement, say
they, we must have, let what will become of busi-
ness ; we shall therefore pass a rule which will vir-
tually compel you to liberate us at the time we
wish. In fact, like the building trades, the Lords
strike for short time.
It was, indeed, but a sorry list of bills to which
Lord DERBY pointed as 'coming before his house
with the character of urgency—bills in which, for
the most part, the country takes but little interest.
There is among them only the European Forces
(India) Bill which can be said to be of imperial
importance; and that, though it involves almost
a second revolution in the government of India,
yet, being an Indian question, is one which the
public and the
Rouse of Commons, too, has left
to be fought out between the Government and
the old Indians—the Rouse on both sides leaving
the Indians and Mr. Ro-asmAN to talk, and steadily
supporting the Government.
Of thev Ecclesiastical
n
s surrendered
rre ded
er
Commission Bill the Government have
all that made it worth while to trouble the Lords
with it.
The Irish Poor-law Bill musta bepassebde
in some shape, but a Continuance Bill would
enough ; and the Bill for the Local Management of
the Metropolis affected many' interests, and ought
to be more fully discussed. To all which Lord
GRANVILLE'S reply seemed to 'be, these things must

c:_.,,....-----..................... ~
all be altended to, and my lords, who have.had play as SANCHO PANZA to our legislative banquet of
enough in all conscience, must work awhile like 1860. We are rising up from it in a plight con-
the toiling Commons. , siderably worse than that of a guest at the feast of
Barmecides. It has been to us rather like the fare-
What the country will feel is, that between the
party in the Commons which represents the vast Veil entertainment of TIMON of Athens, in the great
majority of the Lords, and the want of firmness on sa,kirie drama of SHAKSFERE. Mr. HORMAN has
part of the Government, the session, which opened articulated for us a grace like that of the cynical
W
with such splendid promises, has not produced a APEIVANTHUS.
e have found ourselves drenched
single bill of much importance. We have got the with hot water, and have had the empty golden dish
Treaty, to be sure—we have got rid of 400 articles flung ot our heads. hi
Ts is the result of the expir-
from the tariff with the revenue attached to ing session, so far as it affects ourselves. But how
them ; and we have got a second edition of will the niemory of this past half-y Will it ear affect us in
a tenpenny Income-tax, that those who like sour the
eyes of surrounding nations ?
French wines may get them cheaper. But even firm some at least among our Imperial
measurb neighe,oubers ina
the Reform Bill, so moderate that it was laughed the opinion that we must, in a great
at as only made to pass ; so difficult to vote against, nation of shopkeepers—sacrificing everything, as
that it passed a second reading without a division our chief financier has shown himself
the willi
glo-
ng
—even this had to quit the very threshold• to do, for the sitke of tacking
of committee, because its promoters could not rious
•skirts of Free Trade the wretched liattle
or would not stop a ceaseless flow of talk. peddling anti-climax of a Reciprocity
Then the Bankruptcy Bill, loudly called for by the treaty i effect absurdly so called, seeing tha
there is nin it nothing at all bearing even a shatcommercial world, passed by both sides of the
dow resemblance to reciprocity. - lAGO himself
House—even this must die in committee, because
might sum up the results of this lamentable session
generous Mr. HENLEY trembled for the class who
of 1860, as tersely as he did the whole duty of
spend more than the rent of their estates, or more
woman—" To suckle fools and chronicle smal
than their fixed incomes ; and again, last night, a
beer"—adding hereto, as truthfully as scornfully
really important set of bills on the criminal law,
" 0 most lame and impotent conclusion."
the result of the labours of a Lords' committee
and of the Statute Law Commissioners, had all to
be abandoned. It is not to be wondered at then
that both Lords and Commons feel that " the Busi-
ness" of Parliament question is becoming one of
the most serious of the day. If there be not some
improvement in the process of promising much and
doing little, the business of Parliament will at
'ength descend to—zero.

TILE JULLIEN FESTIVAL.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SIR,—We have received the enclosed letter from
Madame Jullien's agent, perhaps you will kindly
grant space for it in your next impression. The
gross amount realised at the doors, balconies, &c.,
was upwards of .Cl,OOO.—Yours obediently,
CALDWELL & BISHOP.
Surrey Gardens, Aug. 8,1860.

MESSRS. CALDWELL AND BISHOP.
Gentlemen,Madame Jullien has requested me to tender
you her most sincere thanks for your kindness and liberality
in placing the Royal Surrey Gardens and the whole of your
company at her disposal on the occasion of her benefit on
Tuesday, the 31st July last. As you are well aware it was
a great success, and I am sure you will be gratified to learn
that, together with the artistes who gave their services,
and the newspapers who inserted the advertisements free of
charge, you have been the means of enabling Madame
Jullien to add a very considerable sum to the " Jullien
Fund."—l am, Gentlemen SyS.
very truly,
. ARTHUR CHAPPELL,
50, New Bond-street.

Aug. 6, 1860.

LATESI

Their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Cam
bridge and the Princess Mary and the Hereditary Grand
Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz close their visit to Lady
Marian Alford, at Ashridge Castle, Herts, to-day, and pro-
ceed to Becket House, Berks, to honour Viscount and Vis-
countess Barrington by a visit of several days.
The Earl and Countess of Craven have left
Charles street for Ashdowne Park, Berks.
The Earl and Countess Delawarr entertained a
select circle at dinner last evening at their residence in
Upper Grosvenor-street.
The Earl and Countess of Cork have left town
for their seat, Marston House, Somersetshire.
The Earl and Countess of Durham have left town
to pass a few weeks at Weymouth.
The Countess Cowper and Ladies Cowper have
left their mansion in St. James's -square for Panshanger,
Herts.
The Countess Alphonse de la Marmora and the
Misses Bertie Mathews have left Farrance's Hotel for War-
wick,
Viscountess Jocelyn arrived in town a few days
since from St. Leonard's-on-Sea, and will shortly leave
town for Ireland.
Viscount and Viscountess Sydney have returned
to Cleveland-square from visiting the Earl of Sandwich at
Hinchingbrook.
Lord and Lady Worsley have left Portman-
square for the Continent.
Lord Ravensworth and family have left Fulham
for Ravensworth Castle, Durham.
Lord Brougham has left Grafton-street for
Brougham Hall, his seat in Westmoreland. Lady
Brougham leaves on Saturday to join the noble and
learned lord in the north.
The marriage of Captain the Hon. William Ed-
ward Sackville West, Grenadier Guards, youngest son of
the Earl and Corntess Delawarr, with Miss Georgiana
Dodwell, youngest daughter of the late Mr. George Dod-
well, of Kevinsfort, county of Sligo, Ireland, was cele-
bated yesterday at the church of St. George, Hanover-
square.
OXFORD, August s.—Mr. Ralph T. H. Griffith,
formerly of Queen's College, Boden Sanscrit scholar, and
now Anglo-Sanscrit professor at Benares and inspector of
schools in the Benares circle, has announced himself as a
candidate for the vacant professorship of Sanscrit.
The directors of the Theatre Francais are abou,
to revive the comedy in five acts and in verse, by Voltaire
entitled " The Indiscreet," which was acted six times in
August, 1725, and has lain by ever since.
It is stated that the Emperor' Napoleon proposes
to organise a fourth regiment of Zouates, to reduce the
number of battalions of Chasseurs de Vincennes to ten, to
convert the four regiments of Marines into seven regiments
of the Line, and to increase the number of regiments from
102 to 110.
Colonel Turr, who, during his stay in Paris, is
said to have had several interviews with Kossuth and
Klapka, left on Friday afternoon. The story goes that, on
quitting some friends who accompanied him to the railway
terminus, he told them if they had occasion to write to him
they might address their letters " Post-office, Naples,"
where he expected to arrive on the 17th inst.
The Moniteur de la Flotte states its follows the
numbers of ships of war of various nations now at Naples :
—Five English and five French ships of the line, Admiral
Mundy and Tinan ; one Russian ship of the line, an Ame-
rican corvette, an Austrian frigate and aviso, and a Spanish
corvette and aviso ; at Messina the frigates Scylla (Eng
lish), Descartes (French), Dondolo (Austrian), and a Sar-
dinian steam despatch boat ; at Palermo as English steam
frigate, a small French steamer, and the Sardinian steam
frigate Carlo Alberto, bearing the flag of Admiral Persano.
The same authority states the Neapolitan navy, divided
between Naples, Messina, and the Straits, at 16 steam
frigates and corvettes and 18 steam avisos, besides 16
salting vessels and 50 gunboats.
Nothing has arrived as yet to Confirm the tele-
graphic despatch announcing the landing of 1,500 Gari-
baldians in Calabria. The Opinions Nationale, however,
declares that the intelligence is true, that the body in ques •
tion is under the command of Stocco, one of Garibaldi's
lieutenants, and that it has reason to believe that the place
of landing for the Dictator himself will be Caserta, not far
from Naples. It adds that two of the King's rements—
the Ist and 13th—had revolted at Naples to the cry of
" Viva Garibaldi I"
WESTMINSTER PALACE HOTEL.—A case has just
been decided which perhaps affords the only instance of a
suit in Chancery having gone through all the courts and
received a judgment of the House of Lords within three
months. It is that of the Westminster Palace Hotel Com-
pany. In the year 1857 this company was formed for the
purpose, as stated in its memorandum of association, "of
establishing an hotel, carrying on tbs usual business of an
hotel and tavern, and doing all such things as were inci-
dental or otherwise conducive to the attainment of the
above objects." Having almost completed their building,
and having spent nearly all their capital, they thought it
prudent to let a portion, consisting of nearly half oft the
premises, to the India Board for three years, with opion
to make it five, at a rent of £6,000 per annum, about 12
per cent. on the money expended, retaining, for the pur-
pose of casual custom, the remainder of the building,
such remainder being larger than the Great Westein
Hotel. A shareholder, however, objected, and filed
a bill in the Court of Chancery to restrain the com-
pany from carrying out the agreement. This was
on the 17th of May last. The suit was heard on the 31st
of May by Vice-Chancellor Wood, who decided that the
agreement was within the powers of the company, and was
binding. The plaintiff appealed to the Lords Justices, who
on the 11th of June heard the appeal, and, Lord Justice
Knight Bruce agreeing with Vice-Chancellor Wood, the
judgment was confirmed. The plaintiff then appealed to
the House of Lords, and the appeal was heard by their
lordships yesterday, when the former judgments were una-
nimously confirmed. The question involved in the suit
was whether a company formed for establishing an hotel
on a scale of unusual magnitude might not let part of it
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HARVEST. The
weather has been very unsettled since our last. In addi-
tion to the continued absence of sunshine, which, with the
exception of an occasional few hours' outbreak, hes so sin-
gularly marked the present year, some heavy rains have
fallen. Still on the whole the weather has been moderately
fine, and, so far as the grain crops are concerned, an un-
questionable improventent has taken place. Indeed, it
has been a matter of common remark, and scarcely less of
surprise, that despite the absence of sun and of tempera-
ture appropriate to the present period, the grain crops
have made considerable and marked progress of late. From
personal observation and inquiry over a pretty wide stretch
of country during the past fortnight, embracing not only
this district, but portions of the counties of Hertfordshire,
Bedfordshire, Leicestershire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge-
shire, and Essex, we are enabled to give a very favourable
report of the general promise of the graineros notw it Sun is
of course greatly desired to ripen the grai but h-
standing its absence, or rather its only partial presence,
the crops are unmistakably changing colour and assuming
a golden hue. We are sorry t 3 add that a considerable
quantity of grass still remains on the ground, and a good
deal has suffered from standing too long as well as from the
wetness of the season. During the last forty-eight hours
the weather has become more unfavourable than in the
early part of last week, and heavy rains fell on Sunday
night and Monday morning, accompanied with boisterous
winds. Warm, dry weather, is now looked for with no
little anxiety. Should that ensue shortly, we trust we may
yet calculate upon a favourable harvest, both as to quality
and quantity.—Suseex Advertiser.