The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-13 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONI ON, SATIIIIO.I.Y El ENING, APRIL 13, 1867

cal legislation usually serve very fairly the end for
which they are designed. One of the clever and
ingenious authors of the day has in a sug-
gestive little allegory shown us the necessity
of tolerating imperfection in human affairs.
An amateur musician, possessing a perfect ear and
considerable scientific knowledge, sets to work to
improve the old parish organ. lie brings every
note to perfect pitch, and anticipates most delight-
ful harmonies when the whole task is accomplished,
when lo ! the result is atrocious discord. The moral
he learns is that absolute perfection is not attain-
able in imperfect things ; and, we apprehend if the
theoretical Reform Bill, which is to admit just as
many as it ought and to exclude every one else—
to make every desirable concession— to yield
unwise favour, to be absolutely free from injustice,
inequality, or bias of any kind, were to pass through
its Parliamentary stages it would be found more fit
for practical service in Utopia than in the United
Kingdom !

The more straightforward an 1 simple manner of
dealing with the question is to adopt Mr. ROEBUCK'S
which
laying
aside all party considerations,
to inof the proposals before the House
method,exam and,e
best answers the desired end of effecting a liberal
enfranchisement without a wholesale admission of
men without character or standing—men whom
the intelligent labouring classes would be very un-
willing to see share their privileges. Mr. ROEBUCK
confessed that it was impossible to decide upon the
individuals who were competent to vote; but he said,
with truth, that as a general rule a man who has a
settled habitation for a certain time has given a
guarantee to the State. The clear and concise sen-
tences of the member for Sheffield answered very
briefly, but very tersely, the ornate arguments of Mr.
GLADSTONE, and it is no great wonder that the irri-
tation of the Opposition members could not be con-
trolled. Mr.ROEBUCK, in answer to their interruptions,
reminded them that he had no personal feeling, for,
as he had never known the sweets of office, so bad
he never felt the bitterness of its loss. "My inte-
rest," he said, "is for the people of England. I
want to give them a bill, and in the present session.
It cannot be said that those who oppose the present
bill mean that." It was very well for Mr. HORS-
MAN to talk about the Conservatives abandoning
principles without acquiriag popularity, and dis-
crediting a party without beguiling a nation ; but
if they have done this, we fear they must have
learnt the lesson from those loudly-professing
Liberals who, whenever the harangues of the hust-
ings are submitted to the crucible of Parliamentary
practice, show that their en!rgies as Reformers are
left at the door of St. Step Len's.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN COERESPONDENT.)

FALB, Friday Evening.
The difficulties which were several times inter-
posed to prevent the formation of the new Italian
Ministry teem to be now definitively overcome, ex-
cept as regards what is perhaps the most important
point, the appointment of the Minister of Foreign
Affairs. M. Pescetto, Minister of Justice, will
perform the duties of that office temporarily until
the appointment be regularly made. M. Rattazzi,
in making this communication to the Chamber of
Deputies, spoke of the necessity which existed that
both the Cabinet and the Parliament should irnme_
mediately occupy themselves with the financial
measures required for the necessities of the country
and the restoration of the public credit. The Mi-
nister added that Italy, relieved from anxiety in
regard dl
to be introducedta x
taxes
and
regard to foreign affairs, might now exclusively de-
vote herself to the ameliorations alluded to in the
fora projects
new
Speech from the Throne. He then announced that
of
law
arrangement
wouldwithout
in
duties, the organisation of the army, reductions in
the Budget, the liquidation of the property of the
clergy, and for the commencement of works of great
public utility.
The illoniteurmentions the receipt of a telegraphic
despatch announcing that the greater portion of the
Turkish garrison had evacuated the fortress of Bel-
grade. The Ottoman troops bad embarked, and
were descending the Danube.
The Prince of Servia was received with great en-
thusiasm by the Turkish authorities at Routchouk,
where his Royal highness stopped on the course of
his journey to Constantinople. The Governor-
General went out to meet the Prince, who arrived
on board an Austrian ship, the arrival of which was
acknowledged by a salute of 21 guns. The same
honours were paid to the Servian flag by the French
ship illagicienne at the mouth of the Danube.
Each day increases the excitement relative to
Luxemburg. Some of the papers have long articles
upon the subject. With few exceptions the Paris
journals view with pleasure, or at all events with-
out regret, the probable opportunity of checking
Prussia in her ambitious and ill-advised career.
Some of the journals, however, are of opinion that
Prussia will recoil from the idea of provoking
hostilities with France. A newspaper of some in-
fluence, the Opinion N
ationale, on the other hand,
says :—" It appears to us that the party of action
will prevail in the councils of the Government, and
that it will determine M. de Bismarck to act con-
trary to the declarations which he made before the
war and recently renewed in the Parliament, and
that King William, intoxicated with his recent vic-
tories, will see, without much annoyance, a move-
ment which will urge him towards a fresh war."
The King and Queen of the Belgians have ar-
rived in Paris, but their visit being a private one,
and chiefly for the purpose of visiting the Exhibi-
tion, the King did not go to the Grand Hotel, where
his late father was accustomed to stop. Ile is at a
retired hotel, the hotel Walewski, in the Avenue
Montaigne, Champs Elyseic.
The students of the Quartier Latin have taken a
very wholesome step to check the extortions of pro-
prietors of houses who, as well as restaurauteurs and
other persons, have exhibited strong symptoms of
attempted extortion upon visitors to Paris during
the Exhibition. They met, to the number of 4,000,
and passed resolutions to the effect that if any house
proprietor should demand an increase of rent they
would leave the house immediately. That a com-
mittee should be formed to make out a list distin-
guishing the hotels where increased rent was de-
manded from those where it was the same as before,
and that those lists should be published. The per-
sons who let rooms in the Faubourg St. Germain
are getting alarmed, particularly as the students
hold out the idea that if increased rent be established
the whole body of students will leave that side of
the river Seine.

The necessary works have been commenced at
that remarkable edifice, the Hotel Carnavalet in the
Rue Culture Sainte Catherine, for its conversion
into the municipal Museum of the City of Paris.
The ornamental portion of this edifice, due to the
celebrated Jean Goujon is very remarkable, but its
chief celebrity arose from its habitation by the
Marchioness de Sevigne. That celebrated lady, in
her well-known letters, says she had changed her
residence ten times before she could find any resi-
dence which pleased her. She took possession of
the hotel in October, 1667, and occupied it till her
death in 1696. At a later
period, by direction of
the First Napoleon, it was devoted to the School
of Bridges and Highways. In 1829 this school was
transferred to the Faubourg St. Germain, to make
room for one of the principal portions of the College
of Charlemagne. In Sauval's "History of the An-
tiquities of the City of Paris," he says that the
facade of this hotel is the most beautiful, the most
majestic, and yet the most simple in Paris.
The day before yesterday the Marquis de Mous-
tier, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, gave a long
audience to Count de Goltz, the Prussian Ambassa-
dor, who, at its termination, immediately sent de-
spatches to Berlin. Cowing events, it is said, cast
their shadows before.

There is another extraordinary change in the