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

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
more 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
CAIRNS put 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 CARNAR7ON 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.qucstion 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 aro 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
gues
skies
than left our shores, happily under moregenial
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 London
for Dover, and, after partaking of lunch at the Lord
Warden Hotel, took leave of hie illustrious escort and
embarked with all due State and 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
officials of the trains which had conveyed him to
and from London, so that he has fully realised the
traditional splendour and munificence cl an Easterh

p oten:tate. On taking leave of the Prince of

WrALzs 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
somewl at curtailed in consequence of the
lamente 3 death of Madame Musunus, but
it has been long enough to enable him to
appreciate in a great degree the character of our
count ry and of our population. His time has not
been exclusively devoted to mere pleasure seeking,
for he has taken the opportunity of examining
many ilistitutions 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
porta 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 Aziz 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.