The Sun.
London, England, 1867-05-07 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY, MAY 7, 1867.

The much-talked of demonstration of the 6th of
May has happily passed over without s Tious dis-
turbance. The concourse of people in the Park
vas very great, but nothing like riot or tumult
occurred. Only five prisoners were apprehended,
and none of theta bore the smallest approach to
political martyrdom, three of them being arrested
for pocket picking and two for gambling. At ten
o'clock the police, who, during the evening had
patrolled the Park, and the military who had been
kept at hand,were withdrawn, and an hour later the
Park was empty. No accident of any note occurred
during the afternoon, and if no great political object
has been gained by it, its promoters can, at least,
boast that no serious consequences have ensued. No
doubt the Council of the Reform League are heartily
glad that the day is well over, and we hope it will

be some time before we are treated to another of
these monster meetings. We should imagine that
the most ardent of their supporters must by this
time be pretty well convinced that they are not of
the kind which influence legislation. Orderly as-
semblies at suitable places, where debate and dis-
cussion are matters of reality and not of form, and
at which the sentiments of the audience can be fairly
tested by the speakers, are the demonstrations which
carry weight. We must feel sure that an assembly
knows what is being talked about, that it has a
definite interest in the matter in hand, and that the
majority of its members, at least, accept the terms
of a resolution before we can suppose that the
Government or the Legislature will attach much
importance to such a declaration of its sentiments.
The platforms in Hyde-park might represent the
eloquence of Mr. BEALES, Mr. BAXTER LANGLEY,
and their associates, but a good deal of its sweet-
ness or acidity was wasted ou the air, for compara-
tively few of their immediate surroundings could
catch their words. The only resolution which was
proposed was carried with applause by the company
gathered round Platform No. 1 ; but we apprehend
that Mr. BEALES himself would be forced to admit
that the greater portion of the motley assemblage
were sublimely indifferent to the claims of the com-
pound householder, and altogether ignorant of the
advantages or disadvantages of a residential qualifi-
cation. It is almost amusing to compare the pro-
ceedings in the House of Commons last evening
with the programme of the League. If they had
waited in patience for a few hours more they would
have found that the lodger franchise was not re-
fused by the Government, and that the disputed
point regarding the term of residence was conceded.
They could hardly suppose that the House or the
Ministry would be prepared to surrender the very
foundation of the measure, the principle of rating,
and adopt an unconditional household suffrage
throughout the country, because such a measure
would be generally unwelcome, and would be very
unlikely to be carried.

So far, then, as the gathering together of large
numbers of persons in a given spot was concerned
the object of the League has been attained, and we
are heartily glad that the annals of the day are un-
marked by any noticeable event ; and we hope
that since they have succeeded in carrying out
their programme and holding their meeting, the
Reform League will now abandon these foolish
monster gatherings, which have no sort of political
influence in a rational sense, but only serve to con-
nect their cause with agitation, disorder, and defi-
ance of constituted authorities.

Yesterday was a busy day for the Government in
every respect, and they steered their way trium-
phantly through the various shoals and quicksands
that beset their progress, completing with the
almost assured success of the Reform Bill in its pas-
sage through the House of Commons. We are not
surprised at this, because we have all along declared
our conviction that it was capable of being moulded
into a useful measure, and expressed confidence in
the good faith of the House ; but it is most gratify-
ing, nevertheless, to consider it comparatively safe.
In many respects there is far more chance of a
Reform measure being carried by the Conservatives
than by their opponents, because they are more
united and compact as a party, and do not divide
into sections as the others do, too frequently illus-
trating the adage, " quot hontines tot sententix."
There seemed last night a sort of tacit agreement
between the House and Government to do their
best in the furtherance of the great work before
them, and the result was eminently satisfactory to
all sides. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in an-
nouncing the opinions of the Government upon
many points, declared that Mr. HIBBERT'S amend-
ment had been considered, as they had promised
it should be ; and the conclusion was that
they could not agree to it in its present form,
and to give the compound householder the " legis-
lative relief" in the manner which he suggests.
Some propositions will be made by the Government,
however, which will have the effect of improving
this part of the scheme ; and, as Mr. DISRAELI
showed last night, it is impossible to say that the
landlord pays the fine, and that neither he nor the
tenant will incur it, and thus the legislation
will be divisted of the invidious character
ascribed to it by Mr. GLADSTONE and agreed to by
others. "We propose," said the right hon. gentle-
man, " that the moment the compound householder
claims the right of exercising the franchised by pay-
ing the full amount of the rates and deducting it
from the rent, to exonerate the landlord from the
guarantee he has given." So again when the com-
pound householder has paid the full amount of rates
he can deduct from the rent the same amount that
he has gained. The new clause which Mr. DISRAELI
will place on the table of the house will contain the
facilities of the original proposition, together with
some new suggestions that have been made in re-
spect to the compound householder. We may fairly
conclude, then, that this obstacle of the compound
householder is in a sure way of being settled in a
satisfactory manner. Sir ROUNDELL PALMER'S
amendment did not meet the approval of his
friends, and he withdrew it, thereby getting rid of
some others which depended upon it. It is curious
to notice that the only Conservative member of
Lord PALMERSTON'S Cabinet has thus out-Heroded
HEROD, and gone far in advance of his friends
the " sincere Reformers." The lodger franchise
may be looked upon as settled now, and that
is an important point gained, as it was one of the
best parts in the bill of 1859, and its then opponents
have not only come round to it, but done so with the
zeal that generally distinguishes converts. The
Ministry can afford to overlook the abuse they
have met with, in consideration of the compli-
ment that was paid to their discernment, and there-
cognition of their prescience in putting the provi-
sion into their former scheme. Mr. DLBRAELL
said last night that he had no " prejudices whatever
on the subject of the lodger franchise," only he
wished to consider it in a different spirit
from that in which most others dwelt upon it.
Some had tried to persuade him that the result of
admitting lodgers to the franchise would be the
greater diffusion of Conservative principles ; but he
added, "I suppose this is a tradition of the old
Reform Bill of 1832, when everything was consi-
dered with reference to party, but I have a most
profound contempt for all these considerations. If

we are to consider the interests of party, I am per-
fectly persuaded that, however wise we may think
ourselves in these conclusions, we shall find the
experience of a few years will baffle all the
conclusions we may make. I have always felt that
a lodger franchise, if established upon a sound
principle, would be a very good franchise, and that
it might be a very important addition to our con-
stitutional element." Mr. ToRRENS withdrew his
amendment, which was the wisest thing he could
do, and the rest of the matter will be settled by the
committee. Mr. BRIGHT'S remarks at an earlier
period of the evening seemed more favourable
towards the completion of the Ministerial scheme
than any he has made yet upon the subkct. He
said he did not despair at all of coming to
even an unanimous vote upon the chief points
yet remaining for discussion. It is a sign
of the times, we suppose, that the hon.

-~ . ;

member for Birmingham should be thus gra-
cious and condescending in his remarks. His com-
prehenson of the views taken by the Chancellor of
the Exchequer and his friends is most singular, and
almost approaches clairvoyance in its exactness and
mystery. It is quite clear that the Chancellor of
the Exchequer will take the House more into his
confidence than he did some weeks ago, and also
that his friends thinks they may as well swim over
the river as swim back again. This is encouraging,
because a little while ago there was no talk-
ing about swimming, but we were to sink,
according to the hon. member for Birmingham.
Mr. BRIGHT continued in a strain worthy of the
occasion in advising the supporters of the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer not to draw back, but to
make one more effort, for the right hon. gentle
man would be more pleased if they gave him power
to do what was right, viz., " making this Bill a
great Bill, memorable for this session and for all
time, and a great advantage to the country." We
hope and trust that this prediction will be realised,
and the attitude assumed by the House last
night
seems a sure indication of its being so.

S.

The hon. member for Sheffielzl, like most hon.
members who uphold a principle consistently and
straightforwardly, comes in occasionally for his
share of censure and abuse. Nothing is more annoy-
ing to loud professors than a resolute attempt to
reduce their professions to practice, and in the same
way nothing is more aggravating to some of our
political agitators than the prospect of obtaining
the thing they are agitating for. Reform has been
the bugbear of everybody during the last few
years, and both parties have been abused for
their indifference and delay, and the accusation has
not been altogether unjust. Now that the House
of Commons is really addressing itself to the con-
sideration of a comprehensive and liberal measure the
agitators are no better pleased. An awful prospect
presents itself to their view. What if a good Re-
form Bill be carried, and there is no excuse for
further speech-making, letter-writing, proclama-
tion-printing, and all the rest of it? OTHELLO'S oc-
cupation will be gone, and here are a whole host of
OTHELLOS who don't see their way clearly towards
getting before the public in any other capacity.
How can the various leaders of the Reform League
exist in obscurity ? They belong to those plants
that require a prominent position and constant
attention. To work unknown to fame is not their
idea of political heroism. They like the trumpets
before them and the crowd after, and would rather
harangue the roughs of St. Giles's on their exclusion
from the political rights of citizenship than sit down
contented at the prospect of a qualified household suf-
frage. To gentlemen who hold these views no offence,
of course, can be worse than that of Liberals who,
like Mr. ROEBUCK, boldly support every measure
of Reform which approves itself to their judgment,
without waiting to ask where it comes from. So
the Local Reform League of Sheffield has placed
Mr. ROEBUCK under the ban of its displeasure. It
has called a meeting, condemned his conduct, and
means (if it can) to dislodge him from his seat.
Happily Mr. ROEBUCK has survived more than one
of such attacks, and since he really represents
Sheffield, and not the Local Reform League, it is
possible that he may receive their anathemas with-
out political annihilation.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PAIRS, Monday Evening.

The following news is from the Moniteur :-
1 " The Minister of Finance of Italy has announced
to the Chamber of Deputies that on Thursday he
will enter into an explanation of the financial con-
dition of the kingdom."
" A private telegram from Lisbon announces the
departure of the Queen of Portugal from Madrid
on her way to Paris.
"In consequence of the explanations given by
the Portuguese Minister to the Chamber of Peers,
the Government obtained a vote of confidence from
that assembly by a majority of 42 against 7.
" A letter from Massonah, dated March 31,
states that a sanguinary conflict had just taken
place between the troops of the Emperor Theodoros
and the rebels of the interior, who advanced to
the centre of the Tigre. The principal chiefs of
the insurrection had been killed or taken pri-
soners by the Imperialists, who remained masters of
the field of battle."
The usual ceremony, commemorative of the death
of Napoleon 1., took place to-day in the church of
the Invalides. Yesterday, the sth, was the anni-
versary of the Emperor's death, but the ceremony
was postponed until to-day, as it is not the custom
for the Catholic Church to celebrate masses for the
dead on Sunday.
There are yet some sceptics as to the probability
of peace, and several papers entertain their readers
with alleged reports of extensive military prepara-
tions on the fart of Prussia, from which circum-
stance, or invention, they argue that the Luxemburg
question is by no means settled. On the other
hand, the Temps, a journal well acquainted with
the affairs of Germany, speaks of peace as a cer-
tainty.
tthie er,ctEh ae eienfreisrs rt
eoi nrngoFft
roFi
dtoahr
yee
Foreign
communicationtAheffairs Marquis
whichdoimo men-
tioned tioned in my letter of that day, the 'Temps says :
" The communication made by the Marquis
de Moustier, and the declaration made by Lard
Derby in the House of Lords, seem to leave little
room for doubt and contradiction. They almost
amountiythe concession
ctoontchees certaintysion
ofthe Prussians
o f the maintenance
aand
the
neutrali-
sation ofe
upteraace.
sation of the Grand Duchy we obtain all that it is
important to have, and we do not leave to Germany
even the shadow of a grievance. The menace of a
lamentable and absurd war is not neutralised in an
instant, but it is to be hoped that it is now sup-
pressed for ever. We cannot say that the incident
of Luxemburg was very skilfully introduced, but
we feel sincere congratulation that it was raised,
because, according to all appearance, it will lead to
a great result."
The Journal des Detats has almost the same con-
fidence in the maintenance of peace, but it says
there are many details to arrange, which it seems to
fear may create difficulties. It, however, has " a
firm hope that peace will be the result of the discus-
sions of the Conference."

Yesterday the brother of the Tycoon, Ambas-
sador for Japan, went to inspect the immense bal-
loon, the Geant, in preparation by M. Naidar, the
aeronaut, and also the balloon called the Cylinder.
One of the objects proposed is to make ascensions
with a view to meteorological observations, much
valuable information having been obtained in this
way by Mr. Glaisher, of the Greenwich Observa-
tory, since 1860, and the scientific men of France
being desirous to follow the example. Little ad-
vance has been made in France in the science of
agrostation since the days of Gay-Lupac, Barral,
and Bixio. The most important discoveries on the
subject are those of the Viscount d'Amecourt.

One of the most attractive objects in Paris at
the present time is the miguificent collection of
tulips in the garden of the Avenue d'Eylau, N 0.137.
There is not such a magnificent collection in the
world. The garden occupies more than four hec-
tares, and there are more than a million and a half
of tulips. This is certainly one of the most attrac-
tive curiosities in Paris, and there'is free admission.
Madame Persiani, a singer well known in London
at her Majesty's Theatre some years ago, was buried
on Saturday at Neuilly. She was born at Rome on
the 4th of October, 1818, and made her debut with
great success in Paris in 1838. Madame Persiani
had left the stage since 1850. Her funeral was at-
tended by many artistic celebrities. She died very
suddenly from apoplexy.

MQ;e
_Royal personages will shortly be in Paris