The Sun.
London, England, 1867-05-29 00:00:00

tljr e 17) 211.11,

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 1867.

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All seems to be progressing favourably in respect
to the Reform Bill in the House of Commons, and
yesterday's work was a worthy sequel to that of
Monday. In fact, the franchise part of the bill
seems to have been completed, with the changes
and alterations that were yesterday introduced into
it. Mr. POULETT-SCROPE'S amendment has been
a failure, which is as well under the circumstances,
for it did not seem to improve the state of things,
but rather to introduce fresh obstacles in the way.
Mr. BRIGHT distinguished himself by a speech,
which Mr. DISRAELI characterised as a piece of
" incoherent conciliation," in the course of which he
entered at some length into the question of Reform,
and took a retrospective glance at matters which
did not by right belong to the business before the
House. Perhaps some allowance must be made for
the hon. member on account of his previous disap-
pointments ; but he seems, on the whole, to be in
that state of mind in which regret and satisfaction
are contending for the mastery. He is pleased that
the vexed question of Reform should be settled in
so promising a manner, and yet vexed that
the affair should have been arranged by
those it has been his wont to designate
the sworn enemies of all reform. WiLh the excep-
tion of a few occasions, Mr. BRIGHT has not shown
himself adverse:to the bill of the Ministers, and then
he was evidently led astray or put into an awkward
position through the indi,cretion and intemperance
of those with whom he acted. At the meeting at
Mr. GLADSTONE'S, where the right hon. gentleman
was proposing to proceed to extremities rather than
let the bill go into committee, Mr. BRIGHT evi-
dently disapproved of the course proposed, awl inti-

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mated that he had thought they had turned the
corner in the awkward task of getting through
the introduction of a Reform Bill into the House
of Commons. We believe that of the two Mr.
GLADSTONE is MOM really averse to the measure of
Government than his vehement friend ; but last
night both the one and the other complimented the
Chancellor of the Exchequer upon the success of hid
scbeme. The right hon. gentleman may well
plume himself upon these acknowledgments, tardy
though they may be, and intermixed with sarc.am,
if not censure of some parts of the bill. After the
very unfitting manner in which Mr. BRIGHT has
often expressed himself, it is a welcome change to
find him giving utterance to expressions of a con-
trary nature. After giving some advice to those on
the Ministerial benches, which was received with
shouts of laughter, he concluded by addressing him-
self to Mr. DISRAELI in earnest and eloquent terms.

"I say thatlaccept, most heartily and cordially, the
propcsition for the borough franchise offered by the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, supported by lion.
gentlemen opposite. I believe it will be found
hereafter a. great and good thing for the
country, and I, who probably have given more
time and attention to the qu-stion than
any other man in the House, may at
least be allowed' to thank the right hon. gentleman
from my heart for the conclusion at which he has
been able to arrive." While we recognise the frank-
ness with which Mr. BRIGHT has admitted the libe-
rality of the Government scheme, we venture to
point out that his own language last night shows
the mistakes that all may fall into by taking too
extreme a view of any question.
Mr. GLADSTONE also accorded his tribute of

prase to the Government measure, declaring
that, looking at' it as a whole, he could not

for a moment hesitate to say "that it conferred
a large, liberal, and an equal enfranchisement
upon large masses of his fellow-countrymen who
were perfectly qualified, in his belief, for a wise
and honest exercise of the franchi.te." No doubt
►t was harder for Mr. GLADSTONE than for Mr.
BRIGHT to arrive at this conclusion, because he has

perpetually in his mind the irritation and annoy-
ance arising from the failings of last year; but we
arc glad to find the statesman triumphing over the
disappointed politician, and to see the tight hon.
gentleman leave, what he has himself styled,

the " warm and sharp contests" in the
bill to discuss the general principles and
of the measure." As for the fuss which was made
about consistency it is a very idle argment to resort
to, and in truth the inconsistency is more in vision
than in reality. It is not surprising that those who
have been dilatory for years upon the stubbornness '
of the Conservatives and their unwillingness to do
anything for the good of the people should feel
suspicious at their prophecies turning out false,
but if they had not exaggerattcl so much
there would have been no such discrepancy to
notice. There was much in the Bill of 1858,
too, that might have been made satisfactory
and profitable to the community, but no doubt the
measure of 1867 is better, but the thanks of the
community are not due to those who persistently
opposed the former scheme, for they run the risk of
preventing Reform being settled for this generation,
or at any rate settled in a satisfactory manner.
Mr. DISRAELI was very successful in showing
that his party had not been opposed to Reform in
itself, but they had disapproved of the imperfect,
crude, and uncertain plan of last year. Mr.
BRIGHT, as he said, had claimed the right of
elianf,Ting his own opinions in the space of

three months, while he denied them the
privilege of altering a few particulars during the 1,
lapse of ten years. It is perfectly true, as the right
hon. gentleman declared, that neither he nor his
colleagues ever said there was no necessity for
the introduction of a rumure of Parliamentary
Reform ; but the hon. member for Birmingham
seeks to arrogate to himself the privilege of origin-
ality upon all questions of political power, and is
therefore necessarily captious and critical when
others presume to interfere in the matter. On Thurs-
day the Committee will have-hard work enough
upon their hands, for they must then address them-
selves to the second part of the bill, and that relates
to the redistribution clauses. The disfranchising
propositions will, it is needless to say, give rise to
much opposition, good, bad, and indifferent, as the
case may be. Through all the difficulties that lie
before it, however, the committee may steer with
safety unto success if they only persevere in the
spirit with which they have begun. The Govern-
ment, we are convinced, will m'ke no fruitless ob-
jection to any reasonable proposition, and the
sense of the House has already plainly decided that
they mnst be supported iu their endeavour to bring
this question to a settlement. We have sympa-
thised with the position of the Ministry, while they
were apparently far from realising their expecta-.
tions, and hence we may well rejoice now that they
seem to have got through the worst of the toils of
the wilderness, and to behold the land bf promise if
still from afar at least with distinctness.

' There seems to be little doubt, according to the
intelligence brought by the Atlantic Telegraph, that
the unfortunate Emperor of MEXICO has actually
fallen into the hands of his enemies. A telegram,
dated New York, May 27, evening, affirms that
his capture was positively announced in that city,
and the information was so precise as to give the
very date on which the capture was effected—the
15th of May. MAXIMILIAN himself, MEnt, and
MIRAMON were said to be prisoners, and a telegram
of still later date—yesterday evening at six--affirms
that JUAREZ has ordered the EMPEROR to be shot.
%Ye may hope that this intelligence is not altogether
reliable. Rumours and reports of all kinds are cer-
tain to be flying about under such exciting circum-
stances, and the statement does not bear an official
character, being merely published in one of the
journals. The news which we receive from America
by the mail states that JUAREZ assured the mes-
senger sent by Mr. SEWARD that MAximiLrAN's
lite should be spared if ho were captured, and un-
less the EMPEROR were killed in the struggle, it
seems unlikely that JAUREZ would be rash enough
to risk offending the Americans for the sake of
,de-
stroying an antagonist who is no longer formidable.
The Americans have stood staunchly to the side of
JUAREz, and have been powerful agents in his
temporary triumph. They have refused to recog-
nise any other ruler in Mexico, and have brought
the whole weight of their influence and authority
to bear in his favour. Whether they will exert
themselves still further in his behalf is at present
uncertain, and the condition of Mexico does not
afford much ground for the belief or expectation
that the Liberal leader will be able to
restore order and tranquility alone and unaided.
As soon as MAXI3IILIAN is disposed of a
dozen other claimants to the thorny dignity of
Mexican sovereignty will be certain to spring up,
and ORTEGA is already a formidable rival. Much
depends on the attitude assumed by the United
States, and JUAREZ can hardly afford to slight a
special request on the part of their Government.
The capture of the unfortunate PRINCE is greatly
to be regretted, though it could scarcely have been
averted. From a mistaken idea of ! onour, he de-
, termiaed to remain and fight to the very lad for