The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-14 00:00:00

through speeches in Parliament and the press. On
Saturday the 23d of February a Cabinet Council
came to conclusions in respect of the Reform Bill,
which the Government intended to propose to Parlia-
ment. Monday, the 25th, at 2 o'clock, Lord Derby,
as Prime Minister,was to address the whole Conser-
vative party in Downing-street, and at half-past 4
the Chancellor of the Exchequer was to explain the
Reform Bill to the House of Commons. As soon as
the Cabinet Council of Saturday (23d) had been
concluded, it was a notorious fact that Lord Derby
left London for Windsor, to communicate with her
Majesty on the subject that had been discussed that
day by the Cabinet. He (Sir John) heard nothing
until Monday morning, when he received an urgent
summons to Lord Derby's house at half-past 12.
When he got there he found three or four members
of the Cabinet assembled, but as they had antici-
pated no such summons tha messengers could not
find all the members of the Cabinet, and it was more
than half-past I—Lord Derby having to meet the
Conservative party at 2—before the Cabinet could
be brought together, and as each one dropped in
the first question was, " What is the matter?"
Then every one in succession was informed of the

fact that Lord Cranborne and Lord Carnarvon had
seceded from the adoption of the bill which the
Cabinet had adopted on the preceding Saturday. He
had the greatest respect and regard for his noble
friends, but he could not help thinking that in so
acting they were precipitate. They might imagine,
therefore, the extraordinary difficulty and embar-
rassment which must have attended a Minister of
the Crown placed in this position. Lord Derby had
to address the Conservative party at 2 o'clock. Ho
did not think they had more than 10 minutes in
which to make up their minds. They knew the
result. It was determined by a majority of the
Cabinet to propose—not the bill which had been
agreed to on the Saturday, but an alternative mea-
sure in place of the larger and bolder scheme. Now
there was no wisdom so easy, no wisdom so common,
as to be wise after the event. They were told by
their critics that their conduct was vacillating
and unworthy, that they ought not to
have made that hopeless attempt to keep
the Cabinet together, and so on. But, be that
as it might, that was done ; they were driven to a
decision which they really had hardly 10 minutes
to think of, and if they did make a mistake, and he
was not prepared to say that they did not—he
thought that those who criticised their actions, be-
fore they were so severe upon them, should consider
what they themselves would have done under cir-
cumstances of such difficulty and embarrassment.
They all knew what was the honourable and manly
course to take when one had made a mistake, viz.,
to retrieve your steps, and that was the course which
the Cabinet soon found that they must take. For
myself I deeply felt that the course taken had been
a mistake, and that was the unanimous feeling of
the Cabinet after they had met together. They felt
that however painful it might be, they must part
with those of their colleagues who had taken a less
liberal view than themselves of the matter, and that
they must bring in the measure which they had pre-
viously matured. (Hear, hear.) They knew what
change followed in the Cabinet. He had been called
upon to take the administration of the War Depart-
ment, and being so called upon he felt that he had no
alternative but to accept it. On Monday next it
would be the duty of the Government to submit to
Parliament their Reform Bill. He stood before them
as one of the members of that Government, and as
the measure had not yet been submitted, he should
be guilty of a breach of duty if he entered into de-
tails respecting it. Its general outlines they were
already acquainted with, but he was free to say that
the main principles of the bill would be a large and
bold concession of the franchise to the working
classes. (Applause.)
Mr. SMITH (a magistrate)—Don't clog it with
any impossible conditions, Sir John.
Sir JOHN PAKINGTON resumed—They would dis-
cuss the conditions at their next meeting—(a laugh)
—but those would be the main principles of the bill.
They had a most difficult task to perform, and they
were willing to take a lesson from the past. In the
great Act of 1832 a £lO rental was decided to be
the right test as to who should have a vote. That
served its purpose for a time, but, as they all knew,
the men who were living in houses below £lO rental
complained very much of their being shut out, and
asked what was the principle in £lO. Was there
any principle in £lO ? No, undoubtedly there was
not. There was no principle in any figure. Then
a few years ago a rental of £8 was proposed as the
right sum to fix for a qualification for the franchise,
and the late Government brought in a bill for a £7
franchise. The other day, in that short-lived bill
of theirs—(a laugh)—£6 was to be the mark, and
then somebody got up and said he would prefer £5.
(Renewed laughter.) He repeated, there
,was no
principle in any figure, and whatever figure they
might adopt they might be sure some persons would
be discontented with it. (Hear.) The Government,
therefore, had asked themselves whether it would
not be safer to rest on a principle instead of resting
on a figure ; whether it would not be a safe way,
as well as a test of respectability, if you did not give
the vote to a man merely as a householder of £6 or
£7 rental or rating, but because, whether an occu-
pier or ratopayer, he was in such a position as en-
abled him to pay the burdens that attached to pro-
perty. If that was the principle to be carried out
in a Reform Bill, there could be no doubt that it
would be in point of numbers an enormous conces-
sion to the -working classes. (A Voice—" It's more
Radical than Bright.") It could not be denied that
great difficulties attached to public men in endea-
vouring to arrange matters of this kind. He could
hardly imagine a deeper responsibility than attached
to any Government charged with the decision of
such a matter as this, and he would tell them that
the Ministry with whom he had the honour to act
felt that, whatever arrangements were to be made,
it must be for the general interest of England
that no one should exercise a predominant
power. (Hear, hear.) He cared not whether it
was the working class or the class above them ;
but all classes should have a fair share in the
representation. (Hear, hear.) His friend Mr.
Smith had said, " Don't clog the bill with con-
ditions." That might be a very plausible doctrine,
but in dealing with the question they must consider
whether this principle was not sound—that no one
class should predominate, whether high or low.
He did not believe that the working classes desired
to monupolise the electoral power of the country,
They had shown they were not indifferent to the
franchise, and he was glad of it, because he believed
that every elector who took an interest in the fran-
chise took a corresponding interest in the welfare of
his country. (Hear, hear.) But if they made great
concessions to numbers it would be desirable to con-
sider in what way they could avoid placing a dis-
proportionate power in the hands of a class. They
had heard of plurality of votes, of duality of
votes, and of -cumulative votes. The late Mr.
Cobden suggested a plan of dividing a town which
returned more than one member into wards, and
of giving one member to each ward. As he had
said, he could not enter further into details
with regard to the Government plan, but he
thought it probable that they would find that some
such plan as this would be proposed to a limited
extent by the exercise of a second vote. There must
be new franchises, the object being still to extend the
franchise, to increase the electoral body, but in such
a way as would give the right of voting to persons
who, though not householders, were by education
and position in life as well calculated as others to
take part in the election of representatives. The
Government felt that the matter now before the
country must be disposed of. It stood in the way.
It prevented the attainment of useful legislation, it
impeded measures which were intended for thenrgeoaodte
of the country, and it would be a bad thing to
a feeling of division among the people. They never
could at any time afford to divide the people against
each other, and least of all could they at this time,
when they saw rebellion in the sister country. The
desire of the Government in framing the bill to be
presented on Monday next was to see a loyal, a
united, and a contented people. (Cheers.) The
right hon. baronet again thanked the electors for
the honour done him, and proposed the usual vote
of thanks to the Mayor.
This brought the proceedings to a close.

curtl9ert-
;Of Vsst
-
- eirtiglat

HER MAJESTY, &o.

WINDSOR CASTLE, March 13.

The Queen, accompanied by her Royal Highness
Princess Christian, drove in the grounds this

morning.
Their Royal Highnesses Princess Beatrice, Prince
Leopold, and Prince Henry of Prussia also went out
driving.
The Countess of Caledon has succeeded the
Duchess of Roxburghe as Lady in Waiting.
Lord Crofton and Lieutenant-Colonel W. il. F.
Cavendish have succeeded Lord Bagot and Colonel
the Hon. C. Lindsay as Lord and Groom in

Waiting.
The Duchess of Roxburghe remains at the Castle
on a visit to her Majesty.

We have authority to state that the QUeell'6
Court, which was postponed on account of the death of her
Serene Highness the Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein
Augustenburg, will take place on Tuesday next, the 19th
inst. The Court will go into mourning for her serene
highness on Wednesday, the 20th inst.

LITERATURE.

Off the Line.

By Lady Charles Thynne. TWO

vols. Hurst and Blackett.

This is a very charming story, very interesting
throughout, and very original both in its purpose
and its treatment. Sybil Morley, the heroine, is a
beautiful, impetuous, wilful girl, unaccustomed, from
early childhood, to any restraint or discipline.
" Petted and contradicted by her brothers, idolised
by her father, scolded by her nurse, and spoiled by
her mother, it was not wonderful that at eight years
old Sybil Morley was a most unmanageable
young lady, and that she contrived to make all
around her more or less slaves of her childish
caprice." At eight years old such a state of
affairs might appear immaterial, and even amusing,
but at eighteen the results of such training, or want
of training, became very sadly manifest. Death
having deprived her of her father, and ill health and
an ardent temperament rendering her mother
quite
unequal to the task of guiding her, Sybil
is left to her own desires, the somewhat arbi
trary interference of her elder brother only
arousing her proud and undisciplined nature
to rebellion. We do not propose to betray the
secrets of the story, which, as we have already
said, is very interesting, and some of the incidents
of which will very probably take the reader by
surprise. We must confess that we had expected
a different result to the unfortunate expedition to
Richmond. The fair heroine is to be congratulated
upon her, assuredly unmerited, escape, and the fair
authoress upon her skill in baffling the expectations
of the reader. It is very seldom that we (back'
neyed novel-readers as we are) can experience
the pleasure of being surprised at any story, and
when such rare occasions do occur, we are glad to
acknowledge the fact in token of our appreciation
of the writer's skill. The character of
Hervey
Feltham, the fisherman, is very carefully described.
His ultimate disappearance is almost too sudden
and too submissive, though it is true that the
object of his introduction had been effected.
Again, the last appearance of Mrs. Felthao
is somewhat too " sensational," and not quite
in keeping with the general style of the work,
which is eminently simple and natural. GeGeoffreyMorley, Sybil's soldier brother, is very haPPill
sketched, and contrasts effectively with the scholarly
but somewhat austere Eustace. The moralof the storY,
which is very happily worked out, is expressed ia
the concluding sentence. A mother is reproved by
a friend for keeping her children in too strict dig"
cipline. "Nothing," says the captious friend, "
id
so tiresome as children that are kept in one groove.
" Surely that is not the worst thing that can befall
a child," rejoins the more prudent mother. "
of my early life, and if I have not come to dread
everything that tramples on conventionalism, at
breaks down the barriers that should exist in a
girl's mind. I am not afraid of their keeping je the
same groove; but very much of everything that
may tend to make them run off the lino ,"
yet it is discipline and not austerity that the autho-e
ress wisely recommends to the guardians oft
young. " Over indulgence to. a child is usually
very much deprecated," she remarks, " but want °f
sympathy and a congenial atmosphere has effeet:
that are much more lastingly injurious." It t
boffer
hapless fortune of poor Sybil Morley to
from both these evils, an absence of all control in
n
early childhood and unsympathising austerity
her imprudent girlhood. The mothers and da9de-
ters who may happen to read her history inaY her
rive profit as well as pleasure from the results of
chequered experience.