The Sun.
London, England, 1867-07-24 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JULY 24 1867.

LONDON, "WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 1867.

Lord GREY'S amendment has met with the fate
that was anticipated, and was rejected, the second
reading having taken place without a division. This
intelligence will be hailed throughout the country
generally, and from this time no douLt need rest
on the minds of those who most ardently desire to
see Reform settled. In some respects this ill-ad-
vised attempt has not been without good conse-
quences, for a spirit and energy have been infused
into the debates that do not often appear in

the House of Lords. The speech of Lord DERBY
on Monday was admirable in every way, and
last night again the noble lord made some very
forcible remarks. Lord CAIRNS delivered a speech
that was in his best style, and called forth enthu-
siastic applause. It cannot be said that either
the Premier or his colleagues and friends have
shirked the matter at all, for they have come
forward in the most decided manner and in the
most determined manner have evinced their readi-
ness to carry their cause triumphantly through
the House, and so satisfy the just wishes of the
country. It cannot at all be said that the Opposi-
tion leaders share at all in the affair, or those mem-
bers of the Conservative party who deemed it ad-
visable to join them in denunciation of the measure.
The main thing, after all, to consider is that the
bill is now safe, and perhaps this is the most asto•
nishing thing we can say when we remember
that it has been introduced by a party that has
never of late years been treated with
political fairness, much less courtesy by its op-
ponents. The public will be well satisfied at the
result of this struggle, for such it has been most
decidedly to impede the progress of the Bill, and
when a little time has been given to the considera-
tion of the arguments of Lord GREY and his
friends it will be found that there was little in
them but the vain utterances of those who are
bitter against the meaning of the affair,
and therefore take refuge in scanning
its details in a cautious and complaining
style. Lord CAIRNS'S speech was a masterpiece in
its way, and with great perspicuity he addressed
himself to the bill, that being, in fact, the most im-
portant thing and the vital question at stake, and
mbre worthy of notice than the consistency of the
Conservative party, or the amendment itself even.
A better defence could not have been made of the
various points of the bill than that which Lord
rut before the House, and it will be of
great service in confuting the hasty and erroneous
assertions which some have been pleased to
make respecting it. The noble and learned lord
put the matter very forcibly before their lordships,
when he said that such was the strength of public
opinion that it was impossible for the country to
" be governed by any party otherwise than in ac-
cordance with the opinions of the great majority of
the householders in this country." As for the
eloquent passages in which some had referred to the
consequences of changes of this kind, namely,
that they had often led to revolution, Lord
CAIRNS remarked that he had not so read
history, and if such things had; produced such
effects it had been when they were not made wisely
or in good time. The chief danger that could be
incurred was well described by the noble and learned
lord as being " the risk that the only bill relative
to the question of Reform which has passed the
House of Commons since 1832 should meet with
anything like rejection at their lordships' hands."
Lord DERBY made an honourable reply, in the
course of which he paid a fitting tribute to
the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the
manner in which he had carried the bill through
the House of Commons. In alluding to the remarks
of Lord CA.RNAR YON as to the inconsistency of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord DERBY said that
they were indebted to his right hon. friend for the
success with which the measure had passed the
House of Commons, in a manner which conciliated
the esteem and support of opponents, without, at
the same time, alienating the confidence of friends.
With becoming spirit and perfect dignity the
noble earl stated that, in the position in which they
found the question of Reform, they deemed it ne-
cessary to bring forward a measure such as they
had reason to hope and believe would meet with
the approval of the House of Commons. " Under
these circumstances I am perfectly willing to risk
any taunt which, considering the altered position of
affairs, may be made against me or my colleagues."
Lord DERBY may do this very safely, for he
can well be indifferent to the taunts of disappointed
friends and the invectives of jealous foes. All has
had the unanimous assent of both Houses of Parlia-
ment to the bill introduced by his Cabinet, and he
may look beyond the Legislature to the people
affected by the measure, and find in their appearance
ample recognition of the exertions he has made and
the struggle he and his friends had to pass through.
Considerable amusement was created by Lord
GREY'S complaining allusion to Lord RUSSELL'S
change of opinion respecting the amendment.
Lord RUSSELL'S remarks were more to the point
than might have been expected, and he distinctly
said that it would not do to support the amend-
ment, but of course he indulged in a few sarcastic
comments upon the bill. On the whole a greater
failure could not have been met with than that
which has attended this much-vaunted amendment,
and the deprecating way in which it was spoken of
by all was far more mortifying than if a regular
fight had been made for it, and it had been defeated
by a large majority. From henceforth, however, it
belongs to the past ; and while it fades away into
the shadowy land where all things are forgotten,
the bill, which it sought to change, shines out
more clearly with the light of reality, and,
having passed through its numerous difficulties, is
now nearer than ever to a successful termination.
With the amendment that was negatived yesterday
passes away the last great obstacle to the course of
the measure, and the work may be virtually said to
be over, since the general feeling of the House was
most decidedly in favour of its being carried into
effect as soon as possible, and with as few drawbacks.
It would be unjust not to say that the House of
Lords deserves well of the country for the course
they pursued, and those who are ready to detract
from its merits should now acknowledge that it
has taken a particular line of action in this great
emergency, and not been backward in according
its testimony to the importance and interest of the
question at issue.

The last and most illustrious of our guests
left our shores, happily genial skies
under more g
than had shone upon him during his brief but
brilliant visit. On Monday the Belgian Volunteers
steamed down the Thames amid flying streamers
and cheering crews, all eager to take a last glimpse
of the kind and friendly faces, and to give them a
last British cheer to speed them on their way. Yes-
terday the SULTAN, accompanied by the Prince of
WALES and the Duke of CAMBRIDGE, left Loudon
for Dover, and, after partaking of lunch at the Lord
Warden Ilotel, took leave of his illustrious escort and
embarked with all due Statemand ceremony on board
the Royal yacht Osborne, and, escorted by a power-
ful squadron, took his way across the Channel. The
SULTAN has taken care that the memories of his
visit shall be something more substantial than eva-
nescent visions of banquets and festivals. With true
princely liberality he has transmitted to the Lord
Mayor the sum of £2,500 for distribution among
the poor of the City of London. The donation was
forwarded by FUAD PASHA, the Minister for Fo-
reign Affairs, who courteously expressed
his Imperial master's sense of the cordiality
of his reception in the venerable City. His
MAJESTY also gave £5OO for distribution among the
o fficials of the trains which had conveyed him to
and from London, so that he has fully reali3ed the
traditional splendour and munificence f au Fostern

potentate. On taking leave of the Prince of
WALES the SULTAN expressed the great gratifica-
tion which he had derived from his visit, and his
sense of the greatness and power of the country.
It is understood that his MAJESTY'S visit was
somewhat curtailed in consequence of the
lamented death of Madame MusURUs, but
it has been long enough to enable him to
appreciate in a great degree the character of our
country and of our population. His time has not
been exclusively devoted to mere pleasure seeking,
for he has taken the opportunity of examining
many institutions whose existence could previously
have been scarcely known to him, and he devoted
special attention to a scientific engineer who exhi-
bited some designs for improving steep gradients,
which the SULTAN at once admitted would be desir-
able on the Ottoman railways. To hear a Grand Turk
discoursing about gradients is certainly convincing
proof of the march of mind ! Very probably the
advocates of improvement and of progress will now-
a-days find less obstinate opposition in the Ottoman
Empire than they would have met with a generation
or two back among ourselves. But theories and
principles in themselves sound, if they are once
adopted in a great country, make their way slowly
but surely ; and England has possessed pre-
eminent facilities for the dispersion of prejudice,
and the diffusion of intelligence and of knowledge
in her vast commercial dealings with the rest of the
habitable globe. Every fresh country that is
brought into the circle that is induced to open its
ports to our merchants, and to send its wares or its
products to our shores, is so much gained to the
cause of general civilisation. The great and able
explorer, whose uncertain fate we all so deeply
deplore, was fully sensible what great ends could be
achieved by the aid of commercial enterprise. Un-
happily the pioneers of civilisation are often the very
last men who are likely to turn their opportunities
to any good except a selfish one. Where larger in-
terests are brought into play, and the commercial in-
tercourse of the nations is put on a recognised basis,
it is inevitable that by degrees the softening in-
fluences of civilisation will make themselves felt,
and the wisdom of Europe will insensibly temper
the rugged ignorance and narrow prejudice, of less

favoured quarters. The Viceroy of EGYPT has long
been known as a man of superior intelligence
and enlightened mind, and it is fortunate indeed
when the rulers of despotic nations are thus in
advance of their people. There is good reason to
hope that they will induce their subjects to enter
upon the way of progress, and when the first few
steps are taken there is little reason to fear that
they will be retraced. The visit of the VICEROY
was not so remarkable an incident as the visit of
the SULTAN, inasmuch as we had welcomed his pre-
decessors in this country, while ABDUL Aza is the
first of his rank who ever condescended to
penetrate so far West. But in both in-
stances we may hope the same results have
been attained. The impressions made by
the extent, the wealth, the population of this
city upon a total stranger is difficult for us who
have been familiar with it all our lives to realise.
Everything must have been a marvel to our Eastern
guests, from the steam-hammer which attracted the
SULTAN'S attention at Woolwich to the thunders of
the ironclads which deafened him at Spithead. He
could see, too, the daily life of a free people satisfied
with themselves and their government, notwith-
standing the national habit of grumbling ; and he
could see, too, in their loyalty to their Prince, their
cordial hospitality to their guests, and their self-
governing order traces of those qualities which,
after all the achievements of science and the outlay
of wealth, form the real bulwark of English liberties.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
Pan's, Tuesday Evening.

The Emperor yesterday received at the Tuileries
his Majesty Louis the Second King of Bavaria,
who, as already Stated, comes here incognito under
the name of Count Berg.
The King of Portugal, accompanied by General
Count Reille, aide-de-camp of the Emperor, and
Count de Paiva visited the Louvre yesterday.
The bulletin of the Moniteur says :—" King
Charles of Wurtemberg on his return from Paris
passed through Stuttgart). on Thursday last to join
the Queen at the chateau of Fredrichstafen. His
Majesty was kind enough to say to the persona
whom he received on his return to his State that he
was very sensible of the cordial reception which
had been given to her while he was in France. On
Friday last there was a funeral service for the re-
pose of the soul of the Emperor Maximilian in the
Catholic Church of Stuttgard. The diplomatic
body and the high functionaries of Wurtemberg
were present at the ceremony. Yesterday the
Chamber of Deputies of Italy was occupied in dis-
cussing the Budget of 18G7 presented by the Min-
ister of Finance, in which he acknowledged a deficit
of 217 millions, including arrears. M. Nervo pro-
posed on the other hand, by way of amendment, an
economy in the expenses for the year 1868 to the
extent of 30 millions. The Chamber approved of
the accounts and proposals of the Minister by a vote
of 193 against 27."

The papers to-day give reports of the proceedings
in the Chambers to a voluminous extent very un-
usual, to the exclusion of miscellaneous matter. I
see nothing, however, in these reports which would
sptaitrutiiicounlnaerily,
iinntietrseesfft
othrtesEnto gslisathisfp;otphlee.
apTpehte n
iteCo for-
Parliamentary reading, presents an appearance
which reminds one very much of the state of the
Paris papers during the censorship previous to the
revolution of 1830. This journal ordinarily con-
sists of four pages, but to-day, by some gigantic
effort, it gives its readers ten pages. One of these
pages is, however, blank ! In the time of Charles
X., when his active censors used to erase the most
innocent articles, blank columns and pages were not
unusual, but a whole page of a newspaper in virgin
white and innocent of print upon subjects either
grave or gay is certainly a novelty even in these
strange times. There are papers here which give
such rubbishing articles that a blank page in them
must be a solace and consolation to their readers,
but in July one is not accustomed to offerings, as
at Christmas, which come under the head of "Bene-
volence of the season." The Cologne Gazette con-
tains an interesting petition addressed to the King
of Prussia by the members of the Permanent Com-
mittee of the ancient Diet of Electoral Hesse. Ac-
cording to the statements of these petitioners the
most enlightened men of the country were favour-
able to the annexation of Hesse to Prussia, in the
confidence that the country would continue to enjoy
provincial independence and a certain degree of in-
dividuality. The petitioners, however, evidently
disappointed of the possession of those happy rights,
now express a hope that the Government will think
of granting them. One poiut they especially claim
is the establishment of provincial councils. They
are equally anxious in regard to financial mat-
ters, and th,;y modestly claim that they
should not be subjected to heavier taxes
and duties than the Prussians. " But," they
add, " after authentic calculations, Electoral
Hesse will have to
.pay, in direct taxes, under
the blessing of Prussian rule, 90,000 dollars
more than they had to pay before they had the
advantage of Prussian domination." The petitioners
conclude with the expression of a hope that the
State Treasury is not to be, purely and simply, an
annexation to the State Treasury. Upon these
simple facts the Journal des Debats remarks :

" We wish the petitioners a good chance for the
realisation of their claims. But the Bohemian cam-
paigu was very expensive, and it is not easy to
persuade Prussia that she is rich enough to pay for
her glory."

.i-cgrnd dinner is to be given to the King of For •

tugal at the Rotel de Ville on Thursday evening,
on the part of the municipality of Paris, his Ma-
jesty having accepted the invitation given with the
view to do honour to him by Baron Haussmann,
the Prefect of the Seine. His Majesty has been to
the Exhibition, and has expressed his admiration of
it in enthusiastic terms.

One of the most terrific and violent storms of
thunder and lightning experienced in Paris for years
occurred at an early hour this morning. The first
thunder-clap was not like the general run of
thunder, rumbling and threatening, but it was a
single burst of elementary violence, and sounded
like the report from a heavy cannon. Last evening
was very tranquil, but all were prostrate with the
heat. About 11 o'clock the wind began to blow
again, and the storm commenced soon after mid-
night. To-day the atmosphere is dull and heavy,
and there has been some violent rain.
For two or three days the immense forests ex-
tending from the Maures mountains and the Prejus,
to the south of Draguiguan, have been on fire. The
fire commenced in the commune of Draguignan, and
impelled by the wind the conflagration spread to
such an extent that the local papers say, " time
country is literally in flames." The flames could be
seen from the island of Hyeres, in the Mediterra-
nean. The commander of the squadron, seeing
them, sent his crews to give assistance. The popu-
lation were active in rendering assistance. When
the last accounts reached Paris the fire continued
to progress. The disaster is attributed to the im-
prudence of some of the inhabitants of the district,
who set fire to rubbish without considering the con-
sequences of what they had done. The damage will
be of serious character, as the wood is very valuable.
The Moniteur of this evening has the following
announcement, but not in its official part :
" The Empress arrived on Monday afternoon at
Osborne House, Isle of Wight, after a favourable
passage."
At the Vesinet Steeplechases, on Sunday, Brada-
mante won the Prix de Croissy. For the Hacks
Sweepstakes there was a dead heat, and the prize
was shared between Katinka and Loup de bier.
In the handicap Caprice won the Prix des Pavilions.
The Prix a Reclamer was won easily by Nemesis.

LATEST INTELLIGENCF.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

THE SULTAN.

LIEGE, July 24.

The Sultan arrived here at 1 p.m. to-day, and
was received by the King and the Count of Flan-
ders. The reception was of a very cordial cha-

racier.
After taking supper the Sultan left again at half-
past 2 a.m.

THE CRETAN INSURRECTION.
COYSTANTINOPLE, JULY 23.

The Ottoman Legation at Athens telegraphs yes-
terday to tile Porte, announcing the evacuation of
the Spakia district by thy; insurgents and its com-
plete occupation by the Imperial troops. The whole
island is declared to have submitted.

A solemn funeral mass was performed here this
morning, accompanied by the firing of minute guns,
for the repose of the soul of the Emperor Maxi-
milian.

RUSSIA.
ST. PETERSBURG, July 24.
An Imperial ukase has been issued, raising the
duty on certain excisable articles.