The Sun.
London, England, 1866-07-19 00:00:00

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

This DAY.—Morning, Gh. 50'n.—Afternoon, 7h. 15m
To-Monnow.-Morning, 7h. 34m.—Afternoon, Bh. Om

A.
Zjilt

LONDON, THURSDAY, JULY 19, 1866.

Mr. CLAY'S Educational Franchise Bill has dis-
appeared from the Parliamentary notices for this
session ; but it has not, we hope, been consigned
altogether to oblivion or neglect. It has not, in-
deed, excited the same attention as more extrava-
gant proposals, but it has commended itself to the
good sense of the country, and can number among
its supporters many intelligent and moderate men.
Its advantages are, in fact, so very great and ob-
vious that they are at once apparent to the unpre-
judiced observer ; and the objections which were
raised against it were for the most part of a
very superficial character, seeming to be urged
rather because the objectors wanted to find some-
thing to say against the bill than from any force
of argument. Mr. CLAY, last evening, in with-
drawing his measure, went over them patiently
and temperately, answering each of the points in
turn. Mr. GLADSTONE, as the most conspicuous,
though by no means the most determined, opponent
of the measure, came first in order ; but we are
glad to find that, after Mr. CLAY'S speech, the
right hon. gentleman briefly addressed the house,
explaining that his opposition did not arise from
any dislike to tho principle of the bill itself, but
from the apprehension that it would interfere with
the progress of the Government measure.
Now that that unlucky Bill is finally disposed
of we hope the right hon. gentleman will for the
future give his support to a measure whose object
is so consistent with his principles, and so well cal-
culated to secure what men of every party pro-
fess to be anxious to secure, the extension of the
franchise to those who are qualified to exercise
it. Education is the great leveller ; two well edu-
cated men, whatever the differences of their rank,
wealth, or social position, can meet on common
ground. The educated and the illiterate may, on
the other hand, be in exactly parallel circumstances,
but there is a great gulf between them which it is
impossible to bridge over. The man who can read
fluently in these days has the history of the world
at his fingers' ends. He can see every day, as in a
panorama, the events that are passing over the
surface of the earth ; he can learn more of
men's habits, efforts, and ways of thinking than
could formerly have been acquired by a lifetime
of close application. Such knowledge tends inevit-
ably to enlarge a man's mind, to widen his sym-
pathies, to remove his prejudices, to take away that
narrow intolerance which is invariably associated
with ignorance. He will not be easily persuaded
by a confident talker, because he has already
read what can be said on the other side of the ques-
tion. He will not be convinced by flaming perora-
tions that liberty and patriotism can only exist
under a Republican form of Government, because
he will have learned not only from the history of
the past, but of the present, that self-interest,
party intrigues, and political discontent will exist
under any form of government. He will not
clamour for Chartism and Communism, because he
will easily perceive the advantages they would confer
on the idle and dissolute in preference to the
honest and laborious. He will not be liable to
be misled by the pretentious sophistry of infi-
delity and atheism, because he will find it has failed
to influence the general intellect of humanity. He
may indeed turn all these advantages the wrong
way, and become the worse instead of the better
for his knowledge ; but the presumption, based on
reason and experience is that, in dealing with a man
who possesses the rudiments of education, you can
appeal to his sense by argument and illustration,
while you can only get at a totally illiterate man
through his imagination or his passions—a fact
which our agitators in former days have turned to
dangerous account.

Mr. CLAY, in referring to the objections brought
against his Bill, said that, as for the difficulty at-
tending the proposed examinations, it was less
severe than that passed by the lowest grade
of the Civil Service, and by the officers of Cus-
toms. Let it be remembered, too, that Mr. CLAY'S
proposal is only intended as a supplementary
franchise. It is not designed to supersede the
property qualification now existing, or to exist,
under any other bill. If any one who fails to
obtain a vote through his rental or rating quali-
fication objects to the very slight trouble entailed
upon him by such an examination as this, we
can only say he must be very indifferent
to the possession of electoral privileges
at all, and can therefore easily dispense
with them. The expense of half-a-crown for re-
gistration is not serious, though any of these minor
points might, if necessary, be altered. As for the
objection that the man who passed his examination
at 25 would have forgotten his learning at 50 that
is altogether futile. in the first place, a man who
can read well at 25 is very unlike ever to lose that
knowledge.
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safely and creditably during aci
he may very well be trustedua for
his life, whether he could pass an examination
or no. The supposed jealousy of fathers, whose
sons gain the franchise while they are excluded
from it, is another groundless objection. It might
as well apply, if it applied at all, to the £lO fran-
chise ; the State has nothing to do with matters
of private feeling, it has only to see that it con-
fers its privileges on fitting recipients. But
the fact is, that parents in the working classes are
always anxious to push their children up higher than
themselves ; and, as Mr. CLAY observed, nothing
is more common than to hear a man say that he is no
scholar, but that he has taken care his son should
have a good education. Mr. CLAY added very
truly that one great argument in favour of this
plan was that it gave proof of earnestness. Those
who were really interested in politic; and anxious
for 04 franchise could easily quali y themselves,