The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-06 00:00:00

CANTERBURY HALL CONCERTS.-
THIS EVENING,
LIJGREZIA BORGIA,
(Donizet ti).

Donna Lucretia Miss Russell.
Msffio Orsini Mrs. Anderson.
Gennaro Mr. Henry Herbert.
Don Alfonzo Signor Tivoli.
Conductor—Mr. Jonghmans.
Comic Vocalists —Messrs. George Hodson (the Irish Come-
dian and Mimic), W. T. Critehfieldrg, and E. W. Maclmey.
Several interesting Pictures are added to the Fine Arts
eallery. The suite of Halls have been re-decorated and
b
eane, and constitute one of the most unique and brilliant
Sights of the metropolis.
The gallery is open from 5 till 11 on Sunday Evening.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
Tins DLY.—Morning, lh. 50m.—Afternoon, 2h. 10m.
ir 0-x ca ut. ow . -31 ornin g, 2h. 32m.—Afternoon, I2h. 54m.

THE POST-OFFICE AND
NEWSPAPERS.

Scarcely a day elapses that we do not
receive complaints of newspapers missing,
being toe late, or arriving several posts be-
hind time. This is an intolerable nuisance
to our subscribers, and is, besides, highly
prejudicial to ourselves. Where rests the
evil ? It is idle to complain, for polite
answers and promises avail nothing.
Surely Sir Rowland Hill will have some
merciful consideration, and endeavour to
redress the grievance. It is a double griev-
ance, for we are made to pay for not send-
ing the paper, which is often kept back till
next morning, which loses a day to our
subscribers, who truly say that old news is
no news, causing anger rather than benefit.
If the General Post-eice be not large
enough, then extend it, or build another
capacious enough for every purpose, be the
cost what it may. It will serve for all
time. W e make this suggestion in a spirit
of good-will, and hope that good may come
of it. . _ _

Sun Office, April 4, 1860.

THE SUN.
LONDON, FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 1860.

No constituency has perhaps ever so egregiously
stultified itself as the constituency of Stroud. It
had the distinguished and (at this time) the some-
what exceptional honour of being represented in
the House of Commons by one of the most truly
consistent, thoroughly independent, and entirely
outspoken men within the walls of Parliament.
That honour, that credit, it has now taken—as the
French EMPEROR (let us say) has taken his famous
Milan Proclamation—and torn it into ribbons and
scattered it to the winds of heaven. The Stroud
electors, the so called " liberal" and " enlightened"
electors of Stroud, assembled as we know the other
day in solemn and most sapient conclave, in which
—without asking the right hon. gentleman for one
syllable of explanation, without for that matter
paying him the ordinary compliment, or offering
him the customary courtesy of an invitation
to attead—they deliberately passed a resolution
condemnatory of that very conduct on the
part of Mr. HORSMAN, during this present session
of Parliament, which, in point of fact, reflects upon
him peculiar honour ! And would, but for this
absurd and ridiculously ill-timed resolution, have
reflected peculiar honour also upon themselves as
his constituents ! We have here spoken of the
resolution, it will be remarked, as "ill-timed." And
we are bold enough to assert most absolutely that,
perhaps, never was any resolution so ludicrously
and preposterously ill-timed. The proposer and
seconder of it, the whole assembly, in fact, of
electors who voted for it almost by acclamation,
might have exclaimed then and there, in reference
to the absent Mr. HORSMAN, as DOGBERRY ex-
claimed, in reference to the absent Sexton—"
that he were here to write me down an Ass !
Adding, even as they might have done also quite
truthfully as DOGBERRY himself adds, at the end
of his ejaculated lamentations—" But though he be
not here, don't forget that I AM an Ass !" For
what was actually the literal fact in regard to Mr.
HORSMAN, the electors of Stroud, and that memor-
able resolution, in which the latter condemned the
former, upon the score, as the resolution intimated,
of his inconsistency ? Why actually the literal
fact was simply and absolutely this, that the noble
lord the Foreign Secretary was formally—upon the
evening of the very day upon which this ludicrous
resolution was passed at Stroud—Lord JOHN Rus-
SELL, we say,was then officially justify ing, amidst the
cheers of the House of Commons, every syllable ut-
tered during this session, upon foreign affairs, by
the right hon. gentleman the representative of the
Stroud constituency !!
It will be enough, however, upon this point, if
we refer directly to the irrefutable logic of Mr. HORS-
MAN'S own masterly self-vindication. Elsewhere
in our impression of this evening will be found
the whole of this admirable document. It is worth
perusing from the first word to the last. It is one of
the most delightfully lucid and unanswerable state-
ments ever put upon paper. And certainly if the
sexton never did as DOGBERRY wished him to do—
Mr.HonsmAN has carefully satisfied the kindred aspi-
rations of his constituency. He has written it down
quite plainly, so that those who run may read.
There is no mistaking the conclusion at which he
arrives, at which we must all arrive in regard to his
constituents ; and really the echo of DOGBEERY'S
last wish is also (in our own regard) perfectly satis-
fied—for we don't think we can by any chance very
easily contrive to " forget it !"

At the commencement of the very second para-
graph of this admirable and delightful communica-
tion addressed by Mr. HoßsmN- Ato his
is ono manly
and sagacious vindicator upon the
occasion of the
Stroud meeting, the right lion, gentleman ob-
serves very forcibly and very sarcastically, " I can
_not but think it was a somewhat novel proceeding
for constituents to meet and pass judgment on a
representative without formally apprising him that
t he meeting was to take place and inviting him to
at, tend, and still more strange was it that the chair-
m& n of the meeting should not have the courtesy or
fair, !less to communicate to me the resolution

that had been come to, but should leave me
to get my information from the newspapers
or any other accidental source." But put-
ting aside as a matter of very secondary
consideration this little evidence of provincial
discourtesy, Mr. HoRSMAN hastens at once directly
to the point—he comes at once to the subject of
contention. " I am accused," he says, "of having
acted inconsistently with the principles on which
I was elected." He puts the charge quite di-
rectly, and he repels it with equal explicitness.
" No accusation," he writes, " can be more entirely
confounded." That—it may be objected—is mere
assertion. But it is an assertion that Mr. HORSMAN
at once proves beyond the possibility of contradic-
tion in the manner following. " The two questions,"
he remarks, "on which I had to express my-
self most frequently and publicly at the election
were Parliamentary reform and foreign policy."
He first of all takes the subject of Parlia-
mentary Reform into account, and he says—
" On Parliamentary Reform some of my consti-
tuents were dissatisfied with my recent vote on
Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S abstract resolution, and my
answer to them was this :—' Whether I have been
right or wrong must at present be a matter of
opinion. We must wait till this time next year.
If you have then the large and comprehensive mea-
sure that has been promised you I shall own I have
been wrong. But, as I predict, you are offered a
measure no better nor more satisfactory than the
one now rejected, you will own I have been right,
and that it would have been wiser to have settled

the question by amending Lord DERBY'S bill with-
out the turmoil of a dissolution and the loss of a
year." Mr. HORSMAN adds—" This issue [be-

tween himself and his constituents] was universally
accepted [namely by his constituents]. It was
raised in March, 1859, and the new bill has been
discussed in March, 1860. With what result ? The
dissatisfaction felt with the bill of Lord DERBY was
as nothing compared with the contempt and ridicule
that from every side are poured on the bill of Lord
Jomi RUSSELL; and while last year's measure had
at lease the merit of exhibiting much thought and
pains bestowed in its preparation, this new one is
universally condemned for its careless and slovenly
character, and no one suggests how, by any number
of amendments, it can be made as good a bill as
Lord DERBY'S, with very few and simple amend-
ments, might have become. Moreover," continues
the right hon. gentleman " the reluctance shown
by the Government to introduce their bill, and
the indifference with which they have postponed
its progress, discredit the whole proceeding as ema-
nating from the necessity to redeem a pledge
rather than a desire to reform Parliament." So
much for Mr. HORSMAN'S inconsistency in regard
to the question of Parliamentary Reform. Now,
in reference to his views in the matter of our
foreign policy. " On foreign policy," he writes,
"my views were as clearly expressed, and my course
hasbeen equally consistent." Assertion, again, it may
be said—mere assertion—yes, but assertion thus
supported by facts. " For years," says Mr. HORS-
MAN, "I have warned my friends at Stroud, at every
annual meeting, that the aggressive policy of France
was a storm a-head, and that increased armaments
and augmented income-tax would be forced upon
us ; and I concluded a speech two years ago with
the expressions I see you quoted at the meeting—
' Put not your faith in the Emperor of FRANCE,
but keep your powder dry." Speaking of things
more within their immediate recollection, Mr.
HORSMAN adds, for the refreshment of the memory
of his somewhat obtuse constituents—" Towards
the close of last session of Parliament (on the 9th
of August), I protested against the English Minis-
try becoming so much the French EMPEROR'S par-
tisans in Italy. I warned them that he had
ulterior designs of French aggrandisement,
and that they would find themselves deceived
and embarrassed by complicity in his acts." And
further, he writes : " In the first week
of the present session the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer, when announcing the treaty, asked the House
of Commons if under any conceivable circumstances
the alliance between France and England could be
too close ? I replied immediately, ' That our
alliance with France could be too close when it
separated us from the other Powers of Europe.'
This was on the 27th of January, and on the 14th of
March I again urged on the Government the neces-
sity and the duty of drawing closer to other conti-
nental Powers, and especially of combining with
Prussia against the common danger from France.
There seemed at that time ao hope of such a policy,
yet, within a fortnight from that day (on the
26th of March), Lord JOHN RUSSELL, in answer to
another appeal from me, announced, amid the cheers
of the house, that the eyes of the British Ministry
were opened at last to their grievous error, that
they were now freeing themselves from that special
alliance with France which the Chancellor of the
Exchequer had vaunted, and were seeking those
other European alliances that I had ventured to
recommend." Mr. HORSMAN'S remarks might very
well have ended here. No one, however, can wonder
at his adding immediately :—" Yet, while all Eng-
land is applauding this change of policy
which gladdens the heart of every Liberal in
Europe, there are speakers at the Stroud meet-
ing, differing, I venture to say, from the senti-
ments of electors of every party in every other
constituency, and censuring me for my distrust of
France." Than this nothing could be more ad-
mirably or more forcefully put. In disproof that
the course pursued by him was in any way calcu-
lated to excite war with our French neighbours,
Mr. HORSHAM quotes the remarks uttered by him
in the Rouse of Commons on the 13th ult., when
he spoke thus :—" The whole question is this, what
is the policy that leads to war ? Is it a policy of
firmness ? Because I cannot but recollect an
occasion, not very long ago, when divided counsels,
leading to compromise and tending to weak-
ness, did drift ns into a most disastrous
war ?" And he asks, " Was I singular in these
views ?" Answering his own query by saying,
very truthfully," There is now a very general
opinion in the
House of Commons that if Lord
JOAN RUSSELL had delivered a month ago the
speech that he delivered last week ; or if the
w' N°
all
Ministry at an earlier perihaddetcrlaearetyd,
Savoy for France, or no commercial
England; no Savoy for France, ornowsopuelcdial
halli-
ance'—the Savoy difficulty never
arisen. And I am informed that this is also
the language of the Emperor of FRANCE, who
complains that the English Cabinet have misled
him, as they misled the Emperor of Russia into the
Crimean war, and as they misled the French Em-
peror himself on the Conspiracy Bill." We cannot
possibly refrain from quoting the next two sen-
tences, where Mr. HORSMAN writes—" The resolu-
tion of the meeting condemned my votes and
speeches on the commercial treaty and the budget;
but, so far am I from regretting them, that I have
now the satisfaction of seeing opponents in all
directions coming round to my opinions. There
is scarcely an independent organ of the press
that has not modified its approval both of the treaty
and Budget." We at any rate have had nothing
wHhoaßtsemv eArwto modify. Our opinion has, like Mr.
througho s:
been entirely and absolutely consistent
ut
We can refer as confidently to the

ffies of our journal in proof of this—as confidently
as Mr. HORSMAN has done to his speeches both
in and out of Parliament. The whole position
assumed against the Government of late by an
independent member like Mr. HORSMAN, and by
an independent organ like The Sun, is expressed
epigramatically in that one alliterative sentence, in
which the right hon. member for Stroud, speak-
of Lord PALMERSTON, observed that he (the Pre-
mier) was "doubly disqualified" (from the conduct of
affairs)—" from having trifled with .Reform and
truckled to France !" Enough. The truth, the
whole truth, has been spoken, now, right out—and
Mr. HORSMAN stands forth perfectly vindicated—
even (we cannot but think by this time), upon
second thoughts, in the estimation of his own
constituency.

At a time when our system of Parliamentary
representation is under discussion and dissection it
may not be without advantage to ascertain how
similar matters are arranged elsewhere. They
certainly manage these things differently—if not
better—in France, though we should hardly advise
our Reformers to take a lesson from that school.
The vast advantages which some claim for universal
suffrage, even when the voter is unprotected, receive
some curious illustrations, and we may obtain addi-
tional evidence, if we choose to go so far for it, of
the utter futility of giving votes to men who are
bound by their circumstances to vote only one way.
In the current number of the Revue Independante'
a serial of much ability, to which we have before
had occasion to refer, we find an article headed
" Un Election de Depute au Corps Legislaqf en
France;" and although we must bear in mind that
the journal in question is emphatically and decidedly
opposed to the Emperor of the French, and the
pamphlet of which it treats is from the pen of a
defeated candidate, still there is little doubt that a
good deal of truth may be found in its strictures.
The information which it gives us is derived from
a curious brochure recently issued in France, con-
cerning the elections of Fougeres and Vitre, in the
department of Tle et Vilaine, which embodies the
protest of M. LEBESCHU against the election of his
rival. M. LEBESCHU, it appears, is a justice of
the Imperial Court at Rennes, and has filled
the honorable office of magistrate during a
period of thirty-five years ; consequently we
can hardly suppose that he would lightly
put forward a statement he could not substantiate,
or stoop to a tissue of deliberate falsehoods in order
to depreciate his rival. In his pamphlet he offers
proofs of the assertions he has made, and from the
fact that none have been demanded we may infer
that they are only too credible to make further in-
quiry desirable on the part of the authorities.
According to M. LEBESCHU, the election for a
Deputy was to take place in the united districts of
Vitre and Fougeres on the 18th and 19th of De-
cember last. On the 22d of November, nearly a
month previously, the Prefect of the Department
issued a circular, in the name of the EMPEROR him-
self, recommending to all the mayors the election
of M. DE DALMAS, the second clerk of the EMPE-
ROR'S Cabinet. They were ordered to support his
election, and were further called upon to forward to
the Prefect a detailed account of the electoral posi-
tion of their communes. By way of encouraging
their efforts, they were reminded that the election
of a candidate who had such opportunities of access
to the EMPEROR could not but be most advanta-
geous. A few days later another circular is
addressed to these unfortunate mayors, calling
upon them to forward to every elector a voting
paper with the name of M. DE DALMAS, at the same
time as the official ticket giving them the right to
vote. A public proclamation, inviting the electors
to espouse the cause of the Imperial candidate, fol-
lows, while confidential circulars again appeal to the
mayors, desiring them to take note of those perverse
voters who support his rivals. At the bureau
only voting papers in the name of DALMAS are to
be had, and in the immediate neighbourhood intel-
ligent persons are charged with the distribution of
similar papers. The virtues of M. DE DALMAS are
painted in rosy hues, while his opponents are, of
course, described as proportionately evil, abettors of
anarchy and factious democrats. This, we should
think, about enough of Government interference on

this side of the Channel ; but it seems it does not ye.

infringe the liberty of the subject according to the
Imperial code. M. LEBESCHU, a magistrate, and
therefore an authority, divides the doings of which
he complains into different chapters ; and the acts
hitherto referred to do not come under the head of
his second chapter, " Acts exceeding the limits per-
mitted by the electoral law." Among these latter
offences he ranks the personal presentation of the
Imperial candidate to the authorities by the Pre-
fect, and the liberal promises made by that gentleman
according to the wishes of each locality he visits.
Thus one commune has its commissary of police
withdrawn, that it may be relieved from paying
that functionary. Also the votes of the worthy
class,whom we should style licensed victuallers, are
secured by permission to keep their houses open an
hour later. After this tour, which occupies ten
days, the Prefect and his protege continue their
efforts, ably seconded by the Sous-Prefet. The
postmen, the gendarmes, the sellers of tobacco, all
whose employments bring them in any way within
reach of Government influence or authority are
pressed into the service. On the day of election a
body of agents is specially sent from Rennes
by the indefatigable Prefect, to direct affairs.

One of these heroes, not being sufficiently active,
is dismissed on the spot, as the national proverb
has it, "pour encourager les autres." Those who
distribute other bulletins than those of M. de
DALMAS are arrested. The withdrawal of licensee

is freely threatened if their holders vote the wrong
way. Gendarmes enter the voting room and insist
upon seeing the bulletins used. They impose upon
timid electors those with the name of M. de
DALMAS. In one of the communes 780 votes were
mysteriously found in the ballot-box, when there
are only 771 electors. In one case a mayor slipped

in votes for absent parties, asserting that he knew

they would vote for M. de DALMAS. In such a
good cause we cannot suppose that the clergy
would remain idle, and, consequently, some of the
curs did not scruple to recommend to their
parishioners from the pulpit the election of the
Imperial . candidate. The complaint of M. LE-
BESCHU is summed up in two points :-Ist, That
violence and intimidation were employed against
the electors who supported him ; 2d, that gifts,
promises, pressure, and fraudulent maneauvres were
used in order to procure suffrages for the Imperial
candidate. In conclusion, he appeals to the
Corps .Legisktqf to annul an
as election so
may be
unfairly brought about ; but,
imagined, the Corps Legislatif has turned
a deaf ear to this request. It is also not astonish-
ing to find that the activity of the Parisian police
has done its best to exterminate the dangerous
pamphlet in the capital. Universal Suffrage con-
ducted on this fashion must certainly be
be dam
moresaptiesd-
factory to the Government than to the voters, and
ebvye ns
such
. revelations.Coß pE N' s
T he
enthusiasmiraigb
maintenance of an irre-
sponsible dictatorship is assuredly an arduous task,
since it involves the exertion of the Government
influence, and the setting in motion of all the

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