The Sun.
London, England, 1867-06-28 00:00:00

which generally finds him in the ranks of the'
minority. He very kindly told Mr. DISRAELI the
other night that the Bill was not his, but that of the
House of Commons. Whoever it may belong to,
one thing is certain, that it does not belong to the
leader of the Opposition, for he has been directly
against most of its leading propositions, and advo-
cated the adoption of most of the discarded amend-
ments and defeated clauses. While no possible ad-
vantage could have accrued from the carrying out
of Mr. FAWCETT'S proposal, while it would have
been injurious in many ways, and, in point of fact,
would have paved the way for the payment of mem-
bers, which of all changes is the one most to be de-
precate., for we have sufficient proof of its mischief
across the Atlantic.

Mr. MILL used the most extraordinary argu-
ments in support of this amendment, declaring that
the committee should remember that the expenses
incurred at elections were part of the expenses for
governing the country, and hence it was as incon-
sistent to make candidates bear them all, as if it was
required that judges should have taxes imposed upon
them for administering justice. The hon. mem-
ber's general views on public questions were that
much learning may be as dangerous a thing as a
little philosophy may sound very well, but it works
very badly if carried too far. Mr. MILL says that
" if members were not to be paid for undertaking
the business of legislation they certainly ought
not :to be made to pay for leave to govern
the country." But this would not do, and
the worst of it would be that it would be impossible
to draw back after haviaig sanctioned the adoption
of the principle. Mr. LAING'S speech on the sub-
ject was very much to the purpose, and he showed
the fallacies of the arguments in favour of the
scheme of the honourable member for Brighton
in a very forcible manner. He denied that
the House of Commons was so full of rich
men, and declared that, on the contrary,

" it contained in it many gentlemen who have
honourably made their way in the world, and could
it be fairly represented to be thronged with men
who had no title whatever to sit there except their
money-bags, and no desire except to attain a social
standing." We entirely agree with the hon. mem-
ber for Wick, that the House of Commons, as at
present constituted, contrasts very favourably with

the assemblies of other countries, where the members
are paid for their services.
Mr. DISRAELI concluded the rather wearisome
debate on the matter in a few exceptional sentences.
He said that if the principle on which this amend-
ment rested was a sound one, it should go much
further. Who can decide, for instance, as to what
are or are not legitimate expenses, and so on in:the
arrangements of elections? The ratepayers, added
the right hon. gentleman, would soon object to
this charge made upon them, and say that a
national duty should be a national charge,
and " make a claim that could not long
be resisted upon the Consolidated Fund."
On the whole, we consider that the committee have
acted wisely and well in rejecting this amendment,
by a majority sufficiently large to prove unmistake-
ably the sense of the house on the subject. Four
new clauses were subsequently proposed by the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, and agreed to by the
committee, relating to the hire of rooms for polling
places, the disfranchisement of persons in receipt
of parochial relief, and the amendment of the oath
to be taken by the poll clerk. To this Mr. GURNEY
proposed to add an amendment that the oath should
be converted into a declaration, but this was de-
feated, and it is well that it was, because it is always
undesirable to remove such restrictions. The pro-
gress made by the committee during the last few
days encourages one to hope that in a short time
they will come to the end of their laborious under-
taking, and the bill be sent up to the House of
Lords, a consummation which is very desirable,
considering the period of the session.

No more fitting speaker could have been chosen
to deliver the memorial address on the unveiling of
the Salford statue of Mr. COBDEN than Mr. CHAS.
VILLIERS. Mr. BRIGHT, indeed, might have been
selected as a more eloquent speaker, and as the con-
stant associate of Mr. COBDEN in his political life,
but to Mr. VILLIERS belongs the distinction of
having been one of the earliest and most assiduous
combatants.in the field where Mr. COBDEN gained
his brightest laurels. Thirty years ago Mr. VIL-
LIERS told his hearers at Salford he had visited
Lancashire for the express purpose of making Mr.
COBDEN'S acquaintance, having been prompted to
do so by reading some of his early works at that time.
Mr. VILLIERS was himself in Parliament, and was
already pledged to use every effort to secure the
repeal of the Corn Laws. He had begun the
struggle,which he carried on with so much persever-
ance and rcsclution, in spite of contempt of ridicule
and of strenuous opposition. It may easily be
imagined with what satisfaction Mr. VILLIERS
found so able an auxiliary as Mr. COBDEN, prepared
to come forward with even greater boldness and
determination. The impression left by their early
interview.; had never, said Mr. VILLIERS, been
effaced from his mind, for Mr. COBDEN'S mind was
already completely made up on the important ques-
tion of the Corn Laws. "He saw and asserted
with boldness and confidence that those laws not
only marred the material prosperity of the country,
but also that they precluded everything like moral
and social improvement among the people. From
that time he determined to devote all his energy
and powers to procure the repeal of those laws."
At first, said Mr. VILLIERS, Mr. COBDEN found it
difficult to believe that the Reformed Parliament, as
it was then called, woulcrnot take action in the matter.
Mr. VILLIERS, a member of the House of Commons,
knew better, and Mr. COBDEN himself changed his
mind after listening to a debate on the Corn Laws.
" COBDEN left the House suddenly that night, re-
turned to Lancashire, and determined that he would
never cease to work or act until the public should
be duly apprised of the character of those laws and
the difficulty of repealing them." We all know how
faithfully he kept that resolution, and with what
undaunted energy he threw himself into the work
which he lived to see crowned with such abundant
success. His objects, however, were always sought
and attained by moral means, and Mr. VILLIERS
declared that he did not think during the whole

seven years' war there had been a single act of vio-
lence or illegality perpetrated by the League. Mr.
COBDEN, added his memorialist, never took to him-
self the whole credit of its ultimate triumph, and was
always eager to court the assistance of men of talent
and education. Mr. VILLIERS was with him in
Manchester when Mr. BRIGHT made his first speech,
and he remembered Mr. COBDEN'S predictions of his
future eminence as a speaker, and also his satisfac-
tion in finding so valuable a colleague. Mr.
VILLIERS, however, does not rank Mr. COB-
DEN'S services in the cause of Free Trade as
the greatest of his claims on public gratitude.
He believes that when posterity comes to judge
him it will attach most value to his labours in the
cause of peace. His writings and his exertions on
this subject did, no doubt, good service, although
he carried his theories to a somewhat Utopian ex-
treme. He endeavoured to convince the public not
only of the evils of war, but of the great advan-
t tag% to be derived by a cordial underataudinr, be