The Sun.
London, England, 1867-07-30 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY, JULY 30, 1867.

We should imagine that few would sympathise
with Lord HALIFAX in the disappointment he met
with last night, while the news of his defeat will
occasion the greatest satisfaction far and wide. We
are glad that at this special juncture the House of
Lords should have risen to the occasion before it,
and shown by their determination not to support
any factious manoeuvres. The noble lord had not

the sense and discretion to withdraw his resolution
and thus spare himself a very trifling defeat ; bu
perhaps it was as well as it was on the whole, and it
may turn out to the advantage of the bill in the
long run that so decided a defeat should have been
sustained by those who persisted in their mischievous
course. Lord RoMNEY very properly looked upon
the resolution as a vote of want of confidence, and
such it virtually was. It would have been an insult
alike to the House of Commons and the Govern-
ment had the Lords agreed to its terms, and the
proposal had not even the merit of originality, for
its meaning was very much the same as the resolu-
tion of Lord GRET. We may hope, then, that
great progress has been made since two factious
efforts have been defeated, and it is always a great
point gained to get in committee. Lord RUSSELL
certainly made a retrograde movement yesterday,
for it will be remembered that he was against the
proposition of Lord GREY, while he supported that
of Lord HALIFAX, on the plea that the present
measure should be a settlement of the Reform ques-
tion, and the redistribution scheme was so imperfect
that it could not possibly be considered lasting.
This is all very fine, but we all know that nothing
is easier than to find an excuse when one has made
up one's mind to effect a certain object. Lord
MALMESBURY had a most difficult task to perform,
in consequence of the unavoidable absence of the
noble Premier, but he acquitted himself well of his
arduous undertaking. In the first place, he made
some remarks upon the subject of Reform gene-
rally, and showed the inconsistencies of the speeches
of the Duke of ARGYLL and Lord CARNARITON,
when they attempted to fasten the charge of incon-
sistency and tergiversation on the Government.
We think the noble lord very earnestly described
the state of things when he said that the House of
Commons " did what was for the best" in the settle-
ment of the Reform question, and that a compro-
mise had taken place. As he said a very strong
argument against the proposition of the noble vis-
count was that the bill passed the House of Com-
mons without a division on the third reading. Mr.
GLADSTONE, who bad opposed the bill from
the first, did not attempt at that point to ad-
vise the House to reverse its decision. This
showed that as a statesman he felt such a thing
impracticable and inexpedient. Very effective was
the last appeal made by Lord MALMESBURY to the
House, when he said that if the bill were sent
down to the House of Commons altered, as the
noble viscount desired, it would not be favourably
entertained. " For we believe that such a course
would not assist in giving in the present session to
the people of this country the Reform in Par-
liament for which they are desirous ? For we
think it impossible that her MAJESTY'S Go-
vernment, after having incurred all the
pains, anxiety, and trouble of passing this bill
through the House of Commons, can consent to
this invidious process to have it overturnel and
lost at the very last mom3nt." These emphatic
words evid..ntly weighed with his hearers, and the
majority of forty-one against Lord lIALIFAx amply
testified to the feeling of the House. Lord CAIRNS
succeeded in his endeavour to alter the Lodger
Franchise, and make its limit fifteen instead of ten
pounds. The majority in favour was thirty-
two. It is doubtful if this change win
be acceptable to the Commons, but there
was no need for the excitement displayed by
some noble lords upon the subject; and as for the
remarks that the Government had departed from
the text of their bill, this franchise was not origi-
nally put into it, hut afterwards ado_ ted ill corn-