The Sun.
London, England, 1867-05-02 00:00:00

all directions. As the worst part of this business
is over as regards the Ministers, it is now of more
consequence to consider the future than the past
of their measure. What reason, we may well ask,
exists to prevent the speedy passing of the bill
through committee ? and why should not
all minor considerations give way to the
real object being accomplished? 'We have
seen that neutral ground can exist, upc,n which
both the Conservatives and the real Liberals can
meet to further a common object, and hence we
feel no doubt as to the final accomplishment of
the end in view. On the part of the Ministers it
is certain that there will be no hindrances in the
way. Mr. DISRAELI has declared over and over
again that the Government would meet the mem-
bers of the house half way, and more than half
way, in any proposition to improve the Bill that
they might deem it advisable to bring forward,
and he has given sufficient proof of the sincerity
of this avowal. Mr. GLADSTONE showed his malignant
hostility to the Government, and his indifference to
Reform itself in the cunning manner in which he
framed all his schemes ; whether they take the form
of amendments, and instructions, or resolutions, it
was all the same in the end ; be framed them so as
to force the Government to a refusal of the pro-
position in question. Fortunately for the interests
of Reform and the country the house saw through
the device and refused to question the right hon.
gentleman at the expense of right and reason.
It will not do at the present stage of affairs
to renew the unworthy tactics of the earlier
part of the session, and it will be necessary for
hon. members to watch eagerly lest the friends of
Reform be outwitted by its crafty opponents.
Rather a suspicious course is being pursued by the
right hon. gentleman the member for South Lanca-
shire, as he must now be styled, and his immediate
friends, the former keeping iu retreat and writing
letters to various places, and the latter waxing very
indignant on his behalf, and asserting over and
over again, with unnecessary vehemence,
that he must be reinstated as the Leader of the
Opposition. Nobody displaced him but himself,
and we suppose nobody would prevent him going
back again, but that is not the thing. He must be
begged and prayed, and terms must be had, good,
bad, or indifferent, as the case may be, in order that
he may be propitiated. As so little notice has
been taken of these devices hitherto, an attempt
has been made to force on a denouement by call-
ing a meeting of the right hon. gentleman's con-
stituents. Mr. GLADSTONE declined to appear,
however, but had recourse to his old expedient
of writing letters. Very little, however, is to be
gained by the perusal of his epistles ; he does
not say whether he is going to do anything or
nothing, and if he is going back to the House
as leader of the Opposition or not. This is trifling
with the public and insulting the party he presumes
to represent so faithfully. What we have to do
with, however, is the bearing all this has on the
Bill in committee, and which will again to-night
engage the attention of the House.

Are we to understand that under some new
form Mr. GLADSTONE is to reappear as the
determined enemy of the Government measure,
and is he employing his provincial leisure not wisely
but too well in framing deep-laid plans an l schemee,
of vengeance? If so, it will be necessary for those
independent Liberals who have before this come so
faithfully to the rescue to show that they are still
determined to hold fast and not to be bamboozled.
He may well say in respect to this measure that
" hills peer o'er hills, and Alps on Alps arise"
in the way of difficulties. The one next in
the list in point of magnitude is the
question of residence, and this we consider
the noble Premier very satisfactorily disposed of
on Tuesday when he said that it was a " matter for
discussion" what the " certain period should be."
Sad tidings to the llawarden philosopher, and a
dreadful disappointment to those zealous patriots
who were ready to compass heaven and earth to
force the Ministry to resign or to dissolve upon the
question. The " lodger franchise" will then, we
suppose, be promoted to the foremost rank in the
list of bugbears; but this, it will be remembered,
Mr. DISRAELI has engaged on behalf of
the Government to give a fair consideration to.
Really when we come to take things one by one
the difficulties seem to vanish, and the good may
be said to be visible dimly in the extreme distance,
but still apparent. The Government will assuredly
return to their work like giants refreshed, and will
see in temporary disappointments and minor ob-
structions but new incentives for exertion and addi-
tional reasons for care and judgment. The
Conservative ratty is certain to rally round
their chief, who has led them in safety
through the perils of the wilderness, and
passed the fiery serpents that abounded in it to the
verge of the promised land. The Liberal party is
the chief reliance of those who desire to see a Re-
form Bill passed, but those who gave the Govern-
ment a majority will not, we are convinced, now
fail through inadvertence and inattention. Let
them be wary and cautious, and all will go well,
bat let them not slumber at their posts, or they may
be suddenly surprised and routed. It is with hope
and confidence that this era of the session
dawns upon us—hope that will not be disappointed
if all do their duty, and confidence in those who
have shown themselves worthy of trust. It must
not be supposed that the work is done, but these
changes and alterations deemed requisite in the
Government measure are not the real sources of
difficulty and danger; these spring from a totally
different point—the spirit of faction which rides
rampant in the minds of those who should know
better than to give way to the unworthy feeling.

We are sorry to find that the heads of the Reform
League are so ill-advised and foolish as to persist
in their intention to hold a grand demonstration in
Hyde Park next Monday. By such a course they
are only disgusting the great body of the public,
whatever their political sentiments; and it is to
them, in spite of all loud denunciations and eloquent
anathemas, that Reformers of any kind must look
for the practical furtherance of their principles.
The conduct adopted by Mr. BEALES, Mr. BRAD-
LAUGH, and others, is, however, beginning to
wear the appearance of being animated by a
wish for notoriety, a desire to attract atten-
tion, and become the heroes or martyrs of
the day as the case may be. If we come to examine
the foundation of their proceedings we shall be
rather puzzled. They want to meet for the purpose
of protesting against the Government Reform Bill.
Why ? Because it does not include manhood suffrage
and the ballot? But neither did Mr. GLADSTONE'S
Bill of last year, which Mr. BEALES was prepared
to do battle for. But surely a bill which admits
every ratepaying householder to a vote must include
more voters than a bill which stops at £7.
Yet the agitation of last autumn was chiefly directed
against those who had thrown out the £7 Bill, and
thus disappointed the working man. In fact the
vials of the wrath of the Leaguers were alternately
poured out on the Liberals who had refused to
accept Mr. GLADSTONE'S Bill, and the Tories, the
"enemies of Reform," who had dared to come into
office. The whole tone and ten our of last year's
acts and speeches eye, the public rason to suppose ,