The Sun.
London, England, 1867-11-01 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONPDON, FRIDAY EVENING, NOVEAIBER, 1, 1867.

moderate policy, and the address of the prin vial
speakers were fully in accordance with it. The
association was fortunate enough to SC care
the attendance of a Cabinet Minister, and
Sir Jo HN PAKINGT 0 N'S was, of course, the
speech of the evening. The right hon. barooftet
is always plain and straightforward in his languNge,
and his address, which was listened to through out
with the deepest attention and interest. AfterreCor-
ring to the great satisfaction with which he had
witnessed the strong manifestations of popular
favour shown towards the leading members of the
Government in Manchester and Edinburgh, t.iir
JOHN PAKINOTON said he would not enter upon. the
often-discus;:ed question of how far the Conse.ria-
tive party were justified in dealing with Ref,Jriu ;
but that, so far from that party being, as was

represented, divided and demoralised by it, ha be-
lieved the figure six would accurately represent
that section of the party who found them-
selves unable to support the measure just passed.
Parliamentary Reform, however, was not yet done
with, and a most important duty remained
before them—that of framing a measure which
should put an end to the degrading system
of corruption, which is rather increasing than
diminishing. Sir J. PAKINGTON reminded his
hearers that in the Reform Bill of 1867 they bad
resorted to the strong measure of disfranchising
four boroughs. He thought they had acted rightly
in so doing. The punishment inflicted was accord-
ing to precedent, and was certainly richly deserved ;
but for his own part he was not sanguine of the
result. " From the informatio❑ I have received,"
said the right hon. baronet, " I believe that if every
borough after the last general election had been
disfranchised which deserved it, there would have
been a larger distribution of scats than the greatest
Radical would ever have proposed." This is strong
language, coming from a Cabinet Minister, whose
knowledge of the way in which such affairs are
managed may be supposed to be something more

than superficial. But we have little hope that any
restrictive measure, however carefully framed, will
succeed in purifying our electoral system. The
great increase of the constituencies may do some-
thing, because the larger they are the more costly
and difficult it will be to gain an election
through bribery, while there will necessarily
be less opportunity for the exercise of undue in-
fluence and intimidation. The limits we
have hitherto observed include, it is evident,
those classes to whom money is the chief good and
public morality only a term. We have no right to
suppose that the ranks of the population we are
now going to enfranchise will be any less scrupulous
or more greedy for gain. The increase of the con-
stituencies will, it may be hoped, do something ;
and the ballot will do something more. It is not
very likely that the Conservatives will begin by
offering such a concession, but there is little doubt

that if the people showed a strong desire for it they
would not refuse the experiment. They have already
proposed the admission of voting papers, which
is the first step towards the great end,
but the opposition which they met with compelled
them to abandon it. If the present House of Coin-.

mons refuse to deal with this part of the question
in a bold and patriotic manner, it will be the first

task which the new constituents should set them

selves through their representatives to obtain.
Sir JouN PAKINGTON, in addressing a meeting
of working men, could hardly fail to touch upon the
great question of popular combinations. He referred
to it very appositely in commenting upon national
institutions. Every working man, he said, was
free, so far as the constitution of his country was
concerned, to rise to the highest honours of the
State. " Have we not all heard," he asked, "of
the barber's shop in the south of England which
has sent forth two Lord ChancJllors ? Do we not

know of the Generals who have risen in high corn

mand who have entered the army in the ranks ?"
He added the instance of an eminent and wealthy
member of the House of Commons, who boasted
that he had left home a friendless boy with 3s. 6d.
in his pocket. What, he asked, could they wish for
more than this ? But ho feared that the personal

'reedom, which was the basis of all these advan•

tapes, was imperilled by the mistaken legislation o:

the working men themselves. While fully admit-
ting the right of working men to combine for the
protection of their own interests, all bad a right to
demand that these combinations should not degene-
rate into crime.

The tidings which reach us from Italy are re-
assuring on the whole, and cAunot fail to prove
that things are mending considerably. King
VICTOR EMMANUEL has taken the wisest course he
can in giving the orders for the Italian troops to
cross the frontier of the Papal dominions. So soon
as it was ascertained that the French troops had
occupied Civita Vecchia, the necessary steps were
taken to secure success to their object without
causing the destruction of the alliance between
France and Italy, so much to be deplored in the
interests of both nations. No doubt there may be
found some persons who will object to this measure,
yet it cannot be shown that a more moderate way

lay before the authorities in this matter. This was
rendered partly obvious by the intimation which
the KING received from his new Ministry, who, it
was well known, informed him that they could not
undertake the task unless something definite was
done at once. We do not suppose that King
VICTOR EMMANUEL was slow to perceive the sig-
nificance of this for himself, and hence the order
was given, which is chronicled iu the last intelli-
gence we have received. Although we cannot dis-
guise from ourselves that the state of Italy at this
moment is one that her friends must deplore ; still,
on the other hand, there is the satisfactory reflec-
tion to dwell upon that the worst has not happened,
and probably may not new. There seems very
little chance now that the revolutionists will be
mad enough to try coming into contact with the
troops of two regular armies, and therefore it is
honest to state that the march of the royal troops
over the border is in some respects a peaceful
transaction, though at first sight it looks warlike.
Things have now got into such a state that some-
thing decisive must be done immediately, and
the sooner the affair is over the better. What with
the changes of the war, and one thing and another,
the new Ministers have taken most active steps to
show their disavowal of the whole policy of GA RI-
BALDI by signs and tokens that the most infa-
tuated cannot mistake. Of course it is still possible
that they may persist in mid endeavour; and
fight on desperately to the last, and, if so, they
must take the consequencJs upon themselves. At
any rate, as the position of affairs now stands, the
hopes of the Garibaldians are at a very low ebb, anti

their revival seems next to impossible. It would be a
great relief to all parties to hear that some settlement
had been come to, for so confused is the state of
Italy just now, with all these various influences at
work, that an unforeseen occurrence of an untoward
nature may again convulse everything, and plunge
the whole nation into the worst horrors of foreign
invasion and civil war combined.

The official papers of Florence and Paris seem
very unwilling to express a definite opinion on the
state of the case, and content themselves with
giving summaries of the chief news of

the hour. Their reticence is significant, how-
ever, for it shows that there is more in the
background than they care to divulge. The Official
Gazette of Florence states that the French Moniteur
having announced that the French flag waves upon
the walls of CivitaVecchia, the KING s Government
has given the order for the Royal troops to cross
the frontier, and to occupy some parts of the Pon-
tifical territory, in conformity with the declaration
it had previously made. The Moniteur has cer-
tainly some reason for its hesitation, because of the
interruption that has taken place in the communica-
tions, owing to the telegraph being interfered with,
but it seems the persistent spirit that animates
GARIBALDI, he Laving threatened Rome, and hence
the Papal garrisons of Viterbo and other towns
were concentrating to aid in its defence against his
encroachments. The Moniteur seems to contradict
the report that prevails in some quarters as to the
Roman question being settled by France and
Italy. On the contrary, it affirms that the
French circular leaves no doubt as to the inten-
tion of the Government "to submit to the
examination of all the great Powers a question
which interests Catholic Europe." This version
of the story is, no doubt, very likely to be the
correct one, and perhaps, after all, it may be the
best thing in the end, for the other nations of
Europe would approach the subject with a more
important and unbiassed view than those imme•
diately interested could possibly do, even if they
endeavoured to put aside prejudice and look things
fairly in the face.

It is perhaps no matter of surprise to find that
the Berlin Government are resolved to give their
opinion of the case, although they are not called upon
to do so, and had far better let things alone. Be
this as it may, however, we find that the semi-official
Provincial Correspondence of last night declares
that Prussia has not as yet been compelled to take
" decisive action " in the Italian question,
" but that she will certainly not fail to
use her legitimate influence with the view
of preventing a more serious breach of the
peace of Europe." How this great desideratum
is to be effected by Prussian agency might well
puzzle any one to explain, but it may very safely
be affirmed that the best service which the presum-
ing Cabinet of Berlin can render will be to let things
alone. We should, besides, be very doubtful as to
the sincerity of Count BISMARCK'S intervention,
for in all probability he would not in
reality object to see a general bouleversement
of affairs between France on one side, and
the various Italian parties on the other. It is diffi-
cult to find words to express the disappointment
which GAR/BALDI has caused to his best friends and
well-wishers by the determinate manner in which
he has rushed upon his fate as it were. If he paused
to consider the effect of his ways, he must feel that
ho is not acting in accordance with the true interests
of the country he is so earnestly attached to, and it is
no excuse to say that he has not had time to reflect,
because it is the bounden duty of all who put them-
selves in responsible positions to do so. We must
content ourselves with hoping for the best, and
trusting that the bold attitude of the Italian Go-
vernment may turn out to have been a successful
policy, and that so far as possible Italy may be
speedily relieved from some of the worst of her pre-
sent evils.

to deliberate upon the numerous applications having
for object the continuation of the Exhibition during
the three fete days of the Ist, 2d, and 3d of
November. The Commissioners considered these ap-
plications under the double condition that the receipts
should be devoted to the offices of benevolence
of the city of Paris, and. that the extension of time
should be approved by the Foreign Commissioners.
The Foreign Commissioners graciously acceded to
this benevolent idea. The Imperial Commission
thanks them, and has issued a notice to the effect
that it is expedient to prolong the continuance of
the Exhibition until the 3rd of November inclusive,
with the present price of admission. The Imperial
Commission hopes that the exhibitors will assist in
the good work proposed, and that they will not
avail themselves of their right to take away their
articles during the additional three days.
All Paris seems to have been at the Exhibition
to-day. At all events there never since the open-
ing has been such difficulty in passing along the
galleries or even the Park. Of course, the mass
were not aware that the Commission had given
three days' grace, and took advantage of what was
generally supposed to be the last day. Besides,
the weather was so lovely, so warm, so bright, so
summer-like, that no one who could possibly go
out would have been at home. The Exhibition
comes to a becoming end. It was established to
promote friendly emulation in industry, art, and
mental progress, and it finishes with the endeavour
to promote the cause of " melting charity." Lord
Granville might have gone further in his eulogy of
Le Play and the Imperial Commission. They have
" done the State some service," like Othello. They
have done more. In the annals of time there will
be no record of such assistance to international
goodwill, and the march of mind in all the nations
of the earth, as has been given by the Imperial
Commission of the great International Exhibition
of 1867.