The Sun.
London, England, 1867-02-27 00:00:00

more ready to denounce the main features of the
scheme than to particularise the Reforms which
they wish to see carried. Mr. LOWE did not conde-
scend to appear, and we should recommend the
right hon. gentleman, who finds it amusing to call
himself a political outcast, to take care lest, in
spite of his undoubted abilities, his manifest dislike
to all Reform does not really leave him without
political influence or position.
Mr. GLADSTONE, we have said, recommended
moderation and conciliation. He disputed Mr.
DISRAELI'S figures, declared the extension of the
franchise to be inadequate, and objected to some
points of the redistribution scheme. He also indi-
cated his intention of moving an amendment on
Thursday evening with respect to the manner of
procedure; a motion which was, of course, rendered
unnecessary by the Chancellor of the Exchequer's
speech. Lord RUSSELL, who followed, supported
Mr. GLADSTONE'S views, and counselled united
action on the part of the Liberals. After some dis-
paraging remarks from Earl GROSVENOR and Mr.
BRIGHT, Mr. CLAY followed, and very sensibly
urged that the Liberals should unite in pressing
upon the Government the adoption of a £5 fran-
chise in the boroughs and a £lO franchise in the
counties. This course will, we hope, be adopted;
and we have no doubt whatever that the Govern-
ment would be induced to assent to such a reduc-
tion. If the Liberals will take up two or three
salient points—such as a £5 and £lO franchise, a
lodger franchise, and similar conditions—and con-
centrate their forces upon them, there is little fear
but that they will be ultimately successful. The
Reform Bill must be carried by the union of both
parties in the State, not in a spirit of angry anta-
gonism and mutual suspicion. It was such
influences that produced the defects since re-
gretted in the Bill of '32, and we have
advanced too far in political toleration and
enlightenment to render such mistakes again
inevitable. The Ministerial scheme, so far as we
at present know, is certainly not all that it should
be ; but there is nothing in it as yet which is neces-
sarily fatal to its improvement. In committee, as
Mr. GLADSTONE observed last night, many changes
can be made so long as the Liberal party are
really united and earnest. The question has ar-
rived at a point at which a settlement has become
indispensable. We need not accept the wholesale
denunciations of Mr. POTTER and his associates,
wlio will be satisfied with nothing less than man-
hood suffrage and an American form of Govern-
ment, as indicative of the wishes of the majority of
working men. On the contrary, the intolerance and
violence of their agitation does great injury to the
cause of practical Reform, inasmuch as it disgusts
and alarms the moderate thinkers of all ranks.
Neither must we measure the strength of the pub-
lic feeling by the amount of numerous and noisy
demonstrations. The loudest talkers naturally
make the most sound, but they are not the most
influential. But there is without doubt a growing
conviction among people that they have been trifled
with, that the prejudices of parties and cliques have
hindered the interests of the public service, and that
among the many eager professors of Reform prin-
ciples there are few genuine Reformers. This will
not do. Let the Adullamites, and those who act
with them, remember the old legend of the Sibyl
and her books. Every time she returned her de-
mand increased, though seemingly with less reason.
Such may be, the state of the Reform question if
left to be settled in turmoil and agitation, to the loss
and disappointment of people and Parliament.

CORRESPONDENCE FROU PARIS.

Paris, Tuesday Evening.
The sagacity of the writers in the Paris papers
is again in fall swing in inventing supposed facts
relative to the proposed new law upon the press.
The statements given one day are contradicted on
the day succeeding, and thus there is ample scope
for alarming reports upon the alleged despotism of
the new law. The France takes the lead in these
fanciful anticipations. After mentioning various
sums as the amount of the security money which
would be required on starting a newspaper, it now
says the law will not make any change in this
respect. The stamp duty, too, it adds, will remain
the same, but literary journals will be exempt from
it. The Council of State will decide upon the pro-
visions of the law in the course of the week.
The printers of Paris and the departments have
drawn up a memorial to the Council of State re-
specting the proposed law, which will, no doubt,
receive every attention.
Yesterday M. Delyanni had the honour of being
received by the Emperor at the Tuileries in public
audience, to present to his Majesty the letters which
accredit him in the quality of Envoy Extraordinary
and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of France
DfEbryoune imapy artmenhs
sna
se Kthemairnd.gotifl)ioef
hy honour Greece.
etyh
eed receivedintroducer
rtoh deubc ey r Palacethe
o f
t
ambassadors, in a Court carriage with the accus-
tomed ceremonial.
The official book explaining the condition of the
Empire gives an account of the French navy. Dur-
ing the year 1866 the construction was continued
ee na i
was
ceremonies,o f Afterconbeing the audience M.
conveyed
tohf e the
ds
ihtaiPswoerfe tvhoet
ende wf wr
tahr e flpeuertpions e p. r
'1 ho re t i
no nu
ma s.
ber of vessels of this war fleet, which was 129 on the
December,
of
December, ,
isthluBs6cso,mapnodsedl3:-0
sohnipsthe n
and
Ist a or
-f
clad frigates, 13 ; ironclad corvette, 1 ; coastguard
ironclad vessel armed with ram ; vessels not iron-
clad of various kinds, 35 ; frigates not ironclad, of
various descriptions, 24 ; corvettes, 12 ; screw avisos,
44. Fast sailing ships, 101; vessels of different
kinds, 29 ; total, 130. The complete list of steam
vessels, the building of which is finished, gives an
amount on the 31st December, 1866, of 340 ships,
with 92,106 horse-power. The fleet under con-
struction in the docks and building yards includes
28 ships, with a total of 12,670 horse-pcwer. The
appropriation of the ports for the reception of the
new fleet is continued with as much activity as pos
Bible, according.to the amount of funds voted for'
the purpose; and important works have been finished
at Cherbourg, Brest, Lorient, Rochefort, and
Toulon. Besides this modifications have been made
both in the cannon and the projectiles. New mor-
tars and shells have been manufactured, and the
foundries for casting cannon have undergone im-
provements. To this official account I may add
that almost every day experiments are made with
new guns and arms at Mendon, near Paris, and the
firing is kept up for some time.
An accident which created great alarm took place
after the races at La Marche on Sunday. A pos-
tillion, who had been too copiously furnished with
libations by some of the winners, drove back a light
carriage in which were three young ladies. He
said he would make a triumphal entry into Bou-
logne and pushed ou his horses with fury, the result
being that he was thrown from his saddle. He
seized the mane of one of his horses, and in this
position was dragged for some distance to the terror
of the spectators. A sergeant de ville, assisted by
a courageous bystander, stopped the horses, but the
unfortunate postillion had been thrown under the
wheels, and he was taken up bleeding and in a
dangerous state, as it was first supposed. After
being taken into a doctor's shop and attended to,
the postillion was again seen in the Bois de Bou-
logne with his vehicle, quite as drunk, but more
enraged than before.
As the Imperial Commission decline to be re-
sponsible for any damage that may be done by fire
to articles sent to the Exhibition an international
insurance company has been organised.
Among a great abundance of new books is a
marvel of cheap literature, " Shakspeare Complet,"
by M. Emile Montegut. It is illustrated and pub-
lished in penny numbers, Shakspeare has been