The Sun.
London, England, 1867-10-30 00:00:00

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, OCT. 30, 1867

Mr. DISRAELI has appeared on a new stage and
won fresh laurels for himself. Last night he was
entertained by the Conservatives of Scotland at the
Corn Exchange, Edinburgh, and we are happy to
say that the affair was a great success in every
sense of the word. The right hon. gentleman deli-
vered one of those brilliant and comprehensive
speeches, which are far more effective than those
elaborate discourses on which some orators are wont
to rest their fame. Sir W. STIRLING MAXWELL
occupied the chair, and on proposing the toast
of the evening, he said that the last and
greatest of the services which Mr. DISRAELI had
rendered to the country was the passing of the
recent Reform Bill—a work the successful ac-
complishment of which was duo to the energy,
patience, and genius of the right hon. gentleman
himself. The question of Reform was treated as a
joke, he sail, until the Conservatives took it up,
and certainly he had some excuse for saying so
after the events which have occurred of late years.
Mr. DISRAELI, who met with the most flattering
reception, commenced by declaring that there was
nothing more gratifying to a public man than
to meet thus with the expression o
sympathy from his fellow-e.mint.T.vm.n

Qll, h

a sentiment is enhanced when that ex -
pression comes from those with whom he is
not immediately connected by any local association;
and we have no doubt that the Chancellor of the
Exchequer seldom if ever experienced more gratifi-
cation during his arduous career than he did last
night, when, as he impressively said, he was cor-
dially greeted by so great an assemblage, and that,
too, " in the fair capital of a famous nation, united
to England, but on equal terms, and by whose
blended influence we have, since that union, con-
summated some of the greatest feats of British
valour, and achieved some of the most brilliant re-
sults of British genius." The speech of last night being
eminently a political one, Mr. DIsnAELI was able
to give free scope to that inimitable power he pos-
sesses of turning the shafts his adversaries direct
upon him against themselves. Thus, he said, that
he was the more rejoiced to find that the Reform
Bill of Lord DERBY'S Government had met with
approval in the city of Edinburgh, because he
might have been deceived on that point by some
expressions which had reached him prior to his
visiting Scotland. A person of considerable position
had said that the measure just carried was not en-
titled to such distinction as that for which the
Whig party had toiled, since Lord GREY had
defeated by the machinations of Mr PITT. As the
right hon. gentleman truly said, this is important,
because it is, in another form, " a revival of the
old political dogma that, upon the most important
of political subjects—namely, the question how
power should be distributed in the State—one of
the great historical parties is to be forbidden from
ever touching it." This is indeed a most mistaken
and mischievous notion, and it is on this account
also that one may well be glad that Reform has
been settled by the Conservatives, because it
has been a comparative deathblow to the monopoly
for which the Liberals were struggling, and which
militated against the best and truest interests of the
country.

The Tory party can never find a better champion
than Mr. DISRAELI, for he is armed at all points,
and accordingly he showed how the country would
have been all the better if the ideas of Mr. Prrr had
been carried out. There was indeed no earthly
reason why the Tory party should have been pre-
vented from dealing with the question of reform
any more than any other question of interest and
importance that engaged the attention of the
community, but the notion has been so industri-
ously circulated that it is quite as well to show
its emptiness as Mr. DISRAELI did last night. Those
who have watched events will have noticed how
tenaciously some persons cling to the Conservative
Government keeping this year to the propositions
which in 1853 they had brow ht forward, but not
then approved of. Thus, as the Chancellor of the
Exchequer said last night—" The lodger franchise
was one ; it was treated, of course, with contempt;
but I understand now that it is the palladium
of our liberties." . Another point worthy of notice
in the complicated history of Reform is this,
that many of those who were among its most vigo-
rous opponents at the time of the measure were
transformed by some process into its protectors
afterwards, and a stranger might well believe to
hear them that the Government only took advan-

tape of their ideas when they introduced the bill,

and passed them all for their own, No wonder

Mr, DisRAELI's satire is aroused at this) and he

takes one of many instances to tell his hearers.
" I can only say this that if you had seen the
countenance of the gentleman who recently
made a speech in this city when I did
carry that bill, you would not have read in those
lineaments the triumph of the Liberal party after
their toils of seventy years. I must say I never saw
such a command over the exultation which is
natural and peculiar to man when he succeeds in
an object dear to his heart and to his country."
The right hon. gentleman made some observations
on the borough franchise, and stated that there as
no other solution of that difficulty than the one
they had arrived at this year. It had
long been a stumbling-block to statesmen,
and five Prime Ministers successively failed
to deal with the 'question. Mr. DISRAELI is
always very happy in his delineation of political
questions, and he says that there are two merits
which the statesman should not forget when he
attempts to settle any great question of this sort.
First, let the settlement be formed upon some prin-
ciple, but that is not enough ; " let it also be a
change that is in harmony with the manners and
the character of the people that you are dealing
with."

There was really considerable ground to jus-
tify Mr. DISRAELI'S assertion that the
common sense of the House of Com-
mons indicated their original course, and
though they did not theoretically pass the Reform
Bill by Resolutions, yet practically they did. Great
laughter was caused by the right hon. gentleman
asking leave to speak of an "animal not known in
Scotland, and, thank GOD, no longer known in
England—the compound householder. It was no
easy matter to do away with his existence,
however, for if they had tried to do so at
the commencement of the sesiion, all the vestries
in London would have agitated, and, as it was,
Mr. GLADSTONE himself, quietly contemplating
our difficulties, had announced that the laws under
which the compound householder existed were the
result of the civilisation of the age." "Time works
wonders" was fully illustrated in this case as in
others, for some months afterwards the Liberals

themselves proposed to do away with the " com-

pound householder." In commenting upon the
gloomy view taken by some parties of the change of
affairs, Mr. DISRAELI declared that he looked
upon their writings much as he did upon the
first-class, first-rate posting houses which half
a century ago carried on a roaring trade. In the
name of the Government the Chancellor of the
Exchequer promised that they would bring forward
a Scotch Reform Bill in February, and in pursuing
this theme we are glad to find the right hon. gen-
tleman say there is no " cabalistic charm in the
number of 658, and that the good sense of the
House of Commons will rejoice that when it comes
to the question whether their ancient nation, which
joined us on equal terms, should receive increased
representation from its altered circumstances." It
was scarcely necessary for Mr. DISRAELI to re.
mind his hearers that he had always been the friend
of education at every opportunity that presented

itself, but it was interesting to his audience to hear
him say that if he ever wanted an instance of the
advantages of national education he would find it
in the country of which he was then the guest. "It
has been my lot," said he, "to visit many distant
lands, but I have never been in one without finding
a Scotchman, and I never found a Scotchman
who was not at the head of the poll. He was
prosperous, he was thriving, but I am bound to say
I never met one yet, even if he were the confi-
dential adviser of a Pasha, who did not tell me
he owed his rise to his pariah school." ➢lr. Dm-

RAELI concluded his admirable address by an
eloquent description of the influences that encourage
and support the statesmen of their country. "
rejoice that in this country, whatever may have
been the tumult and the turmoil of our now
almost countless generations, there have been
those master influences that have at all times
controlled and commanded our passions and powers,

and they are industry, liberty, religion. So long
as this sacred combination influences the destinies of

this country it will not die. History will recognise its
life, not record its decline and fall. It will say this
is a great and understanding people, and it is from such
materials we make the magnificence of the nation,
and establish the splendour of the universal globe."

The Speech of the Chancellor of the Exchequer was
in every way worthy of the occasion, and redounded
to the honour of those he addressed, and of the po-

sition which he held in the Councils of tho State

and we feel convinced that it will be long before
the visit of the Leader of the House of Commons,

who carried the Reform Bill, to Edinburgh will be
forgotten by those who heard it.

The Circular Note issued by the French Govern-
ment to its diplomatic agents is calculated to
reassure the public mind with regard to the Italian
question. It is true that the terms and phases of
diplomatic etiquette are not always reliable indica-
tions of the policy of a Government ; but there is
reason to believe that, in this case, the French Go-
vernment will find it alike their interest and their
inclination to follow that firm yet moderate course
which has already produced such good results. M.
DE MOUSTIER begins by observing that he will not
enumerate the successive incidents which have
pushed to extreme consequences " a crisis as
threatening to the security of the Holy See as it is
dangerous to the true interests of Italy." He then
goes on to say that the September Convention
was induced and freely signed by the Italian Go-
vernment, and that the terms of the treaty obliged
that Government to protect efficaciously the fron-
tier of the Pontifical States against all aggression
from without. No one can pretend that this obli-
gation has been fulfilled, and France has a right to
replace matters in the position they formerly occu-
pied. M. DE MOUSTIER hastens, however, to
disclaim, on the part of his Government, any wish
or intention " to renew, in the old form, an occu-
pation of whose gravity no one is better
aware than we are." He declares that France
is faithful in cherishing the ties which unite
her to Italy, and that as soon as the Pon-
tifical territory is liberated, and security re-
established, her task will be accomplished, and
she will retire. A hint is moreover thrown out to
the effect that France is no longer desirous of re-
maining sole adjudicator of a difficult and compli-
cated question. Henceforth, says M. DE MOUSTIER,
she must call the attention of Powers as much in,
terested as herself in preserving the peace of Europe,
to the situation. Whether this indicates a Con-
gress, or any other attempt to bring new actors
upon the scene, and settle by the agency of fresh
corners a question on which the Italians aro already
jealous of intervention, must for the present re-
main matter of speculation. At any rate, there is
no doubt that it is the intention of the French Go-
vernment to make therecent disturbances a plea for the
renewal of an occupation unpalatable alike to the
people of both nations. The Liberte of last evening
says that the French Government had repelled the
attempt of Italy to obtain permission for her troops
to co-operate with the French army in driving the
Garibaldians from Papal territory. The reply of
the French Government implied a hope that the
limit 01 the expedition would be a disembarcation at

Civita Vecchia. This hope is likely, under the pre-
sent aspect of affairs to be realised, and all well-
wishers of Italy must unite in it. Considerable
agitation and disturbance prevails in several quarters,
as might be naturally anticipated, but in some cases
the reports appear to have been great exaggerated.
There is no confirmation of the rerortthat thousands
of deserters from the Italian army bad joined
GARIBALDI ; and we may therefore hope that the
threatened insurrection will likewise prove an illu-
sion. The situation is without doubt a serious and
a complicated one, and demands from all parties
temperance, firmness, and moderation. The cir-
cular of M. DE I\IOUSTIER, like the proclamation of
the King of ITALY, gives reason to hope that his
Government will not fail in the manifestation of
these qualities ; and it remains for the Italian people
themselves throughout the whole peninsula to act
in that " spirit of order and legality" which, as
M. DE MOUSTIER appropriately reminds them, is the
only possible basis for their country's prosperity and
greatness.

The intelligence which reaches us from New
York on the 19th confirms the impression that the
Democratic party are rapidly gaining ground. Two
items of the news brought by the City of Balti-
more bear this significance :—Secretary SEWARD,
we are told, has expressed his conviction
that the Democrats will carry the New York
elections next month, and declares that in
that case he will not resign. The postpone-
ment of his often-threatened resignation, which he
is too old a statesman to be really solicitous about,
is of less moment than his public declaration of the
probable triumph of Democratic policy. The
Radicals have been losing ground at almost
all the elections this year, and it often happens
with politicians as with gamesters that there is a
" run of luck" for them or against them. The
Radicals have had it all their own way for some
years past, and it is probable that had they made a
wiser and more patriotic use of their power symp-
toms of reaction might now be setting in. They
have, however so greatly abused their opportunity,
that no sooner is the spell broken and the scale
turned against them than their downfall is rapid,
and they can neither point to principles nor per-
formances in their vindication. The other piece of
intelligence to which we referred is the confessed
belief of the Western Republican party that the
threatened impeachment of the PRESIDENT
would prove fatal to the Radical party in
the 'Western States. The Western States have
never been a Radical stronghold, but, as we have
recently seen, Pennsylvania has turned against
them. The shrewd and far-sighted New Englanders
are beginning to perceive that however loudly their
favourite principles may be proclaimed in Congress
by the Radical leaders, the interests of their trade
and commerce are certainly not benefited by either
Radical eloquence or Radical legislation. It is
this growing conviction throughout the coun-
try which has had something to do with the
altered figures at the elections, where, not-
withstanding all extraneous influences, the feeling
of the more moderate and practical of the people
is beginning to make itself felt. It is apprehended
that the Fenians will make another attack on
Canada during the New York elections, but there is
no authority given for the apprehension.

The Secretary of the Treasury has very justly
announced his intention of making a demand upon
the persons from whom the recent 7-30 United
States Bonds were received. It is quite time this
systematic dishonesty in State matters were put a
stop to. Persons appear to think that to defraud
the State coffers is not the same offence as to rob a
priVate individual. American taxpayers have to
pay pretty heavily for this belief. A better system
of public morality is greatly to be desired ; and,
however difficult it may be to obtain it, the first
step to that end will undoubtedly he the discovery
and the chastisement of wholesale and deliberate
offentlPrx_