The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-19 00:00:00

THE SUN.

SATURDAY. MARCH 19, 1859.

The effect of Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S amendment,
if carried, must be to inevitably postpone any
Measureof Reform whatever until a future session.
This Mr. ROEBUCK has clearly and distinctly ex-
plained, and the matter is well worthy the con•
sidektion of every consistent Liberal. To either
of the ex• Premiers, or their immediate followers, it
may be the chief recommendation of the proceeding.
They have already exhibited an extraordinary
-love of procrastination, of postponing any matter
that could be adjourned; or, if the public mind
was too much excited to admit of direct neglect, of
consigning it to the "limbo" of a Select Committee,
by which it would be effectually shelved until the
agitation had terminated, and the question could
be disregarded with impunity. Lords JOHN
RUSSELL and PALMERSTON have never of late
years' exhibited any extraordinary zeal in the
cause of Parliamentary Reform, and if they now
display any:anxiety it is rather that they may be
enabled, in pursuance of the recent compact, to
occupy the Treasury Benches, and to place the
present Ministry in the cold shade of Opposition.
Will the independent Liberals join them in this
course, and render the session of 1859 almost a
blank ? We, believe not. The views put forward
last night by Mr. ROEBUCK and Mr. Cox show
that the party which can really decide between the
Government and the Opposition are by no means
-disposed to lend themselves to any paltry, petti-
fogging trick, and that before they make them-
selves auxiliaries to displacing the existing Govern-
ment, they will clearly ascertain the intentions of
their probable successors. Mr. BRIGHT was by no
means anxious to bring back Lord PALMERSTON to
power, then why should he lend himself to a
course, the, inevitable result whereof must be to
cause a change of occupants in the official man-
=sions of Downing-street, and postpone the question
of Parliamentary Reform for an indefinite period ?
It is not only Mr. ROEBUCK and Mr. Cox, who
are dissatisfied ! We have already commented
on the letter of Earl GREY, which, although in
some degree " out of order," yet went straightly
and directly to the point at issue. Although not
placed, in what would unquestionably be a more
congenial atmosphere for his temperament, we
readily recognise the claim which the Noble Lord
possesses either to speak or write on the subject of
Parliamentary Reform. He was educated in the
faith, under a distinguished father. Earl GREY
might truly have been designated as " the Apostle"
of Reform, and although his son is now a member of
the hereditary branch of the Legislature—he was,
even while a mere boy, instructed in the true prin-
ciples by which a nation should be governed.
With all respect for Mr. ROEBUCK, and giving
him perfect credit for the candour, which no one
who knows the Honourable and Learned Gentle-
man can . doubt, we think, that the time has
passed for proceeding by resolutions. The Govern-
ment has brought, in a measure which, although
very short of the requirements of the peo-
ple, may yet be easily' moulded into proper
.shape in committee. It is admitted on every
side save that of 'the. ultra-Tories —that
it contains many good points. It practically

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