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

THE SUN, LONLON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 27, 1867.

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, hii manifest dislike

to all Reform does not really leave him without

political influence or position.
Mr. GLADSTONF., we have said, recommended
moderation and conciliation. lie disputed Mr.
DtsizAET.l's figures, declared th 3 extension of the
franchise to be inadequate, and objected to some
points of the redistributio❑ scheme. He also indi-
cated his intention of moving an amendment on
Thursday evening vtith reFiret to the manler of
pro:edure; a motion which 17.13, of course, rmderzd
unnecessary by the Chancellor of the Exchequer's
speech.. Lord RUSSELL, who followed, supported
Mr. GLADSTONE'S views, and counselled united
action ou 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 410 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 settleinent has become
indispensable. We need not accept the wholesale
denunciations of Mr. POTTER and his associates,
who 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 meu. 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.