The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-06 00:00:00

TO THE ELECTORS OF MIDDLESEX.

GENTLE MEN,—
rrHE death of Mr. Haribury has deprived you of
the services of a highly-esteemed Representative in
the house of Commons.

For the vacancy thus sadly and unexpectedly occasioned
I venture to offer myself as a Candidate.
There are many among you, I flatter myself, to who.n
my name is not unknown as a zealous supporter of the
Liberal cause, and at this important crisis I hold it essen-
tial that any candidate presuming to ask for the suffrages
of such an important and thoroughly Liberal constituency
as that of Middlesex should be able to give trustworthy
assurances of his devotion to the principles which they
have at heart.
Should you do me the honour to return me to Parlia-
ment it would be my first duty to co-operate with those
who desire to effect the passage of an honest and straight-
forward measure of Reform—such a measure as would
prove to the large body of artisans and working men, whom
I hold to be entitled to the franchise, that the House of
Commons is not afraid of the people, nor averse to the free
extension of political privileges, nor disposed to deny to
the intelligent operatives a share in the government of the
country, to whose burdens they are called upon to contri-
bute. If the Reform Bill proposed by the Tory Ministry
be not capable of adaptation to such an end, I should not
hesitate to give my adherence to any course which may
seem the most calculated to attain the desired object.
Respect to the memory of your late Representative will
not allow me for the next few days to take any further
steps to bring myself before the Electors, but 1 shall take
the earliest possible opportunity of meeting you in public
and giving you a detailed, and 1 trust satisfactory, account
of my views upon all the important political topics of the
day.
I have the honour to be, Gentlemen,
Your very obedient servant,
HENRY D. LABOUCHERE.
23, James-street, Buckingham-gate, S.W.,
March 29, 1867.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
THIS DAY.—Morning, 2h. 50m.—Afternoon, 3h. 10m,
rd-Moßnow.-Morning, 3h. 30m.—Afternoon, 3h. 47m,

gyrr /kb:,
4° I.lAlinitar"?..AlMll!

LONDON, SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 1867.

Mr. GLADSTONE has come out in his true colours
at last, and shown himself to be the uncompromis-
ing enemy of all Reform, and the inveterate oppo-
nent of those who are in power instead of himself.
This is the sum and substance of his opposition
to the Ministerial measure, and he has now realised
the worst fears of those who have watched his
course since the beginning of the session, 1
with suspicion as to the honesty of his objec-
tions and the validity of his professions of
impartiality. At the meeting which took
place yesterday, at Carlton-terrace, the right
honourable gentleman spoke at great length, and
exhibited extraordinary eagerness in the matter.
Of course he went about his work in the most
roundabout manner possible, and explained the
why and the wherefore of his proceedings from the
commencement of the Session. It was stated at
former meetings that he was to do three things, and
in point of fact each was to counteract the other ;
so that, whatever apparent concession was made to
Ministers, the Opposition were to reserve

full power to themselves to " reconsider their

position and duty." No doubt this is very
ingeniously done, and reflects great credit on the
skill and savoir faire of those who plan and those
who carry out such doings, but we are firmly con-
vinced that the public will not admire such quib-
bling, but, on the contrary, consider it to be con-
duct most unworthy of leading politicians at such an
important crisis in affairs. Perhaps never more
than during the present session have we had cause
to wish that Mr. GLADSTONE would be definite and
keep to his meaning. Whatever is the use
of his saying that they desire a Reform Bill to be
passed during this present session when he and
those assisting him are doing everything they can
to prevent the passing of the measure now before
the House. We pity the discernment of any one
who still thinks that the right hon. gentleman is

trying to get the Bill passed. He is hindering i

with all his might, instead of helping it, as he at
first promised to do, and the sooner this is univer-
sally recognised the better. It is quite out of
character for Mr. GLADSTONE to pretend he is
merely acting for the best, and it requires a great
deal of patience to peruse his remarks. He actually
goes so far as to say that he is influenced in his
present course by the reading he gave to the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer's speech ; he thinks that
" pressure from the Liberal party" is all that is re-
quired to ensure the passing of a good measure.
We do not call this a manly or straightforward
course to adopt, and it would have been much more

consistent 'for the Leader of the Opposition to

have said that he did not think the

present Government were fitted to carry a
Reform Bill through Parliament, and he should
move a resolution to that effect. How can we give
credit to a man who keeps on contradicting himself ?
Was it not only the other day that he announced
his intention of dividing the House with respect to
dual-voting, and now that that feature of the bill
has been abandoned, lo and behold ! up he starts
with another objection. His own followers might
well exclaim, " Will these scruples and exceptions
to the Government measure never end, but last
till the " crack of doom." So long as Lord DERBY
has a Reform Bill before the House, so long will Mr.
GLADSTONE pick holes in it, and continue to raise

objections to its passing.
So far as we can make out the meaning of the

instruction which has been drawn up, it intends to
proceed in a retrograde fashion, and, if
carried, we shall really be in a worse con-
dition than we were before. Mr. CLAY was
the most sensible man present yesterday, and
gave excellent advice when he suggested that only
the first line of the instruction should have been
acted on. As he stated very truly, the Chancellor
of the Exchequer had promised to make conces-
sions in committee, but not before ; and, added he,
" I give my opinion with the deepest sincerity that
the instruction is fatal to the bill, whereas we might
make a good bill if we contented ourselves with the
first line only." Of course Mr. GLADSTONE was
very indignant at this suggestion, and declared
that it was' totally impossible" for him, under any
circumstances and conditions whatever, to agree to
what Mr. CLAY proposed. We eannot think that
Mr. BRIGHT really approves of this proposition of
Mr. GLADSTONE'S, for his speech was very tame
throughout, and he let out some home truths,
whether accidentally or not, to the effect that having
turned the corner of the second reading, some of
them were sanguine enough to think that they saw
" daylight,",and might out of a bad bill make such a
one as would satisfy the House and country. We
confess that we have shared Mr. BRIGHT'S opinion
in so far that we thought the corner had been
turned, and though we certainly did not
think that the Bill was a bad one, we thought
that it might be greatly improved in Committee.
It is all very fine for Mr. GLADSTONE to talk of
putting a " gentle pressure" upon the Government,
but we suspect the " gentleness" will be the same
which actuates the executioner when he shakes hands
with his victim, or desires to appear better than he
is. At any rate the tug of war has now begun in
earnest., and on Monday it must be decided whether
the House will give the Ministers fair play or
not. A. great responsibility will rest upon hon.
Members, and they must not acc.lt Zlr, GLAD.,