The Sun.
London, England, 1867-07-04 00:00:00

711 E IIEAR7'S MISGIVINGS.

If there is one point upon which more than an-
other we have been thoroughly consistent, it is that
in Mr. Disraeli we have the very ideal of " a man
of parliamentary honour." We have always felt
s 3, and we have always said so. Hence it is that we
entertain the sincere conviction that the statesman
who has invariably defined the vital principle of
the Reform Bill as making the concession of the vote
dependent upon the personal payment of rates will
cancel his convictions, and accept Mr. Denman's pro-
position, by which non-payers will be equally en-
titled to the franchise with those who pay. Mr. G.
Hardy and the Attorney-General, with the rest of
the conscientious pedants who adhere to the original
principle of the bill, may justly be classed in the
• category of those to whom " parliamentary honour"
is a fiction, but in the Chancellor of the Exchequer
we descry the sort of politician, who, if he will only
unsay all that he has said, and turn his back upon
his moat emphatic pledges, will justly have earned
the meed of praise which we accord to him before-
hand. As a consistent statesman we abhor him,
but let him only retract the past, and give us house-
hold suffrage pure and simple, and he will have at-
tained that standard of loftyprinciple and good faith
which will entitle him to our testantur as "a man of
parliamentary honour." We perceive with regret that
several distinguished but faint-hearted Liberals be-
tray something like a dread of the results of household
suffrage. In an unhappy moment the People's Wil-
liam dwarfed his noble aspirations on behalf of the
political enfranchisement of the masses, and stopped
short at the hard and fast line of a seven-pound
limit, while even during the present session he
has shown a disposition to stop short at a five-pound
limit. It can scarcely be denied, however, that
since those well-meant efforts, animated by a dis-
tinct and well-understood purpose, have failed, the
trusted leader of the Liberal party has discarded
these comparatively narrow-minded tactics, and
has again reverted to his original and far more
colourable policy, the success of which wouldinvolve
the defeat of the bill. We are fighting now for a
household suffrage bill divested of the Government
condition of personal payment of rates, and we must
face the contingency involved by the success of the
attempt. It is a risky affair, but who is afraid.?
Mr. Bright seems to be nervous about the result,
and possibly it may be true that there is danger
ahead. But after all, he and those who are fighting
with him have principles, we suppose, and is it for us
to shrink from their application when enforced by
our own side ? Household suffrage may be a
Danaan gift, but we can hardly afford to look it in
the mouth. It is true that the £7 franchise of last
year would have reinforced the constituencies by an
influx of the smallest and most ignorant of the
small sbopkecping class, and that the larger mea-
sure of the Government will bring within the fran-
chise the shrewd artisans who see through Mr.
Bright and turn up their noses at the noble Beales.
The " lower orders" may be cajoled into voting for
Conservative candidates, the people may for a time
strengthen the hands of Lord Derby. But such
an unnatural alliance between the horny-handed
sons of toil and the promoters of the Factory Acts
cannot be long maintained. We look hopefully to
that "residuum" of which Mr. Bright-aid we
would say it with all respect--has spoken with
a scarcely accurate appreciation. It is useless to
mince matters at this time of day. We have either
gone too far or not far enough. The prime neces-
sity of compelling the Government to abandon their
bill, or accept a defeat and resign, has dragged the
ex-Ministerial party into a difficulty. One of two
courses was before us. To accept the bill as it
stands with its principle of payment of rates un-
touched, or to press for household suffrage pure and
simple, and accept the consequences, sweetened as
they may be by the return of the People's William
to Downing- street. We declare unhesitatingly
for the latter alternative, for at least it shows
the Treasury bench in the distant prospect. As for
the rest, our main and almost desperate hope lies in
the " residuum," of which our friends are too apt
to speak with levity. It is idle to prate about ig-
norance, vice, and poverty. They are objectionable,
no doubt, prom a philosophical point of view, but
they serve our turn for a while, recruit our ranks
with thoroughgoing men like Austen Henry Layard,
and improve our chances of office. Let the
future take care of itself. The great thing is
BO to shape the Reform Bill that the Conserva-
tives shall be compelled to abandon it, and thereby
place the prize of the Treasury Bench within
the reach of William Ewart Gladstone. Of course
it is difficult to see how that profound statesman
and skilful balancer of the requirements of political
honour can offer a less generous measure than that
which he would have extorted from the Tories, but
if any one can wriggle out of such predicament it is
ten to one on the People's William. If the worst
comes to the worst we must look trustingly to
the beneficent influence of the " residuutn," of whom,
we repeat, it is unwise, in our present circumstances,
to speak disrespectfully. Of course, with compul-
sory education, manhood suffrage, rights of woman,
and freedom of trade unions, the cause of Libe-
ralism will flourish like a green tree in the thirsty
Saharah. But these halcyon days are not yet, and
in the meantime we earnestly deprecate any display
of feeling, which, however justifiable, may tend to
weaken the sympathy which must naturally exist
between those whom we are privileged to represent
and the useful, if objectionable, residuum. We have
put Ourselves in a hole, and we must make the best
of it.—Gaily Bellowgraph.

INTELLIGENCE.—This Day.

Lospos, July 4.—Wind this day at noon—South-
Westerly; light breeze and sultry weather, and a little
cloudyPo .
nTsmovnr, July3.—ti~'~ml N.W.—Arrived—irer
Majesty's ship Terrible, from the Westward; her Majesty's
ship Duncan, from Sheerness; her Majesty's ship Revenge,
from the Eastwar.
SwsszA, July 2. —Wind N.W.—Sailed—Emilia Lane,
for St. Thomas ; Astricas, for Barcelona; Georgina, fur

St. Thomas.
July 3.—Wind W.—Sailed—John Temper-
loyOFF TilE FASTNETT, July 2.- Arrivod—City of Ant-
werp, screw steauvr, from New York; left on tho 22d
I,l;:rg° StryTclun'ey.
of June.

(By Telegraph.)
GRAVESEND, Thursday Morning.

Arrived. July 3.—Dawn, from Riga; Rosa Alb;', from
Guernsey ; John Bull, from Montreal ; Lady Mansell, from
Guernsey; Ocean Queen, from Bahia ; Valdarno, from St.
Paulo de Loanda ; Triumph, from Guernsey; Ocean Dart,
from Marsala ; Alarm, from Caen ; Mellona, from Guern-
sey.
Arrived, July 4.—Mermaid, Cheval dpiTroy, and Zuma,
from Guernsey ; Baron Osy, steamer, from Antwerp ;
Seine, steamer, from Boulogne; Troubadour, stetlr, from
Rotterdam. irr.
Sailed, July 3.—Bilbao, stoamer, for 13ilhapf
Sailed, July 4.—Victor, steamer, for Brussels i Salaman-
der, steamer, for Port Phillip; Busy Bee, steamer, for
Trieste; Rhine, steamer, for Boulogne.
DEAL, Thursday Morning.

Passed, July 3.—Her Majesty's ship Nymph, from Wool -
wich, for Portsmouth ; Busy Bee, screw steamer, from
London, fur Cardiff.
Passed, July 4.—Renown, from Boston, for London ;
Porn, from Nassau; for London ; Ellen Browse, from Lon-
don, for Mangalore, ' .

5....,

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE—This Day.

NEWMARKET RACES—Tins DAY.
(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.)
lIANDICAP SWEEPSTAKES.
Maid Marian
Lady Sophie
Volunteer

Padua
Princess Thera

'I

Nino ran.
MATC I I.

CHESTERFIELD.—Grimsto2 scratched.

1

TEE HAVELOCK Turf Agency's Representative can Fe
soon daily in Talbot-court, Gracechurch-street, from
Eleven till Throe. N.ll.—lf you want a good foreign
cigar call at the Havelock '3 igar Stores, 10, Walwortll-
road, three doors from the Elephant and Castle.

MR. GEO. Winn executes commissions, by lettor only,
at his residence, 125, Queetes-crescent, Havjrstock-hill,
and has lists posted daily at the City Arches; also through
his Agent, Mr. P. Bahr, near 31...ux's Brewery. No
connexion with any other person using the same name.

NOTES

FltOM

TRAINING QUARTEE;S.