The Sun.
London, England, 1866-07-06 00:00:00

stands for the same evening as Captain VINTAN's
question ; and though, of course, at present, it is
nothing more than a mere verbal protest against
the corruptions of our electoral system, still
it is fitting that some member of Parliament
should be found of sufficient courage-and inde-
pendence to remind the House of Commons of
its duties. -The Ballot is the real key to Parlia-
mentary Reform, and however hopeless the struggle
may seem now, it will be won some day, as the
battle of Free trade and other long-contested fields
have been won, when public conviction grows too
strong for prejudice and interested opposition. The
Ballot has even greater difficulties to contend
against, because it has more to do than merely
to convince its adversaries. In too many cases it
is because they believe in its efficacy already that
men oppose it. They fear its giving protection
to the intimidated voter, and renlering bribes
of little service, and thus until we see a
considerable improvement in the political
morality of both electors and elected, we shall have
a strong party against the Ballot. Nevertheless,
let Mr. BERKELEY and his coadjutors persevere.
The forlorn hope will be carried some day, if they
only maintain the struggle.
It seemed as if the members were determined to
make up, in the variety of the topics upon which
they touched, for the brief time they passed in dis-
cussion. Mr. WATKIN endeavoured to elicit the
opinions of Mr. GLADSTONE in reference to the
Bank rate of discount. The right hon. gentleman,
while carefully abstaining from giving a direct
opinion, confessed that the present rate of discount
had been kept up longer than was anticipated. If
Mr. GLADSTONE will devote his newly-gained leisure
to the consideration of the fallacies of the Bank Act,
we feel confident that he will, before long, come
forward as an advocate of the extension of Free
Trade principles to our currency laws.
Mr. STANSFELD, who has been too brief a time
at the India Office to effect all that his undoubted
industry and ability would no doubt have achieved,
laid upon the table the expected statements relative
to the moral and material progress of India. This
was the first time which anything of the kind had
been attempted, and the summary will no doubt
realise the hon. gentleman's expectation, that "it
will tend to popularise Indian questions, and to
increase the knowledge of and the interest in them
nut only in the House, but throughout the country."
It is the increase of this interest that we want to
forward our Indian reform, and the veil of reserve
and mystery which has been generally thrown over
all matters connected with our Indian administra-
tion has tended not a little to perpetuate the indif-
ference which is only due to ignorance.
After several other questions had been asked and
answered, Mr. GLADSTONE rose to move the ad-
journment of the House, and in performing what
he termed " his last act in an official capacity," he
took a courteous leave of his supporters, thanking
those who had stood by him throughout this trying I
session. Mr. GLADSTONE owes little enough to the
Liberal ranks which broke:down in the hour of trial,
and so many of whose members preferred the pre-
servation of their seats and influence to the main-
tenance of their principles or the fulfilment of their
pledges. For himself he is probably not inclined
to regret the resignation of his troublesome digni-
ties. The general of a disaffected and disunited
army, exposed to an incessant guerilla warfare, he
could hardly have found the pleasure of leadership
sufficient consolation for the continual annoyances
and disappointments of the session. So the chief
work of the session of 1866 is done, and the parties
change sides once more, having both, let U 3 hope, '
learned something from their experienc2 of political
reverses.

There is certainly no doubt that this war on the

Continent is invested with the peculiarities of
novelty, and that most sudden and startling changes
occur. In a very brief space we appear to have read
of the beginning and the end of the war, and almost
before we could realise that it had fairly commenced
we find that the end is in view. The end, that. is
to say, of actual fighting ; but we now enter upon
another act of the drama, and a mighty actor will
shortly appear upon the stage. The French Em-
PEROR has bided his time, and as usual he has proved

himself a master politician. In all probability he
will be the deus ex machina wha will convert
war into peace, and create order out of chaos.
The Austrian EMPEROR, we must admit, has done
the wisest thing he could under the circumstances,
and has adopted the only means of retrieving his
position, which is one of great peril and uncertainty.
Of course it would have been much better if he had
made 'up his mind to this at an earlier period of the
affair, but " better late than never" is a time-
honoured adage, worthy of all acceptation. FRANCIS
JOSEPH gives up Venetia in a moment of great
anxiety and at a period of great misfortune, but he
will find himself better off without the possession
of a province which has always been a most
troublesome appanage. We have the satisfaction
besides of learning that an act of justice will be done;
because under no circumstances could it have been
right that a part of Italy should belong to Austria,
notwithstanding the power conferred by treaties.
It will be a source of great gratification to many in
this country that such should be the result of this
war, for the Austrian rule in Venetia has been one
of great oppression, and militated against the com-
fort and freedom of the people. •
Another advantage that will accrue from the
affair is that the Prussians will not be allowed to
take the game into their own hands so completely
as they expected to have done. It is one thing to
lord it over the prostrate Austrians, and another to
act contrary to the wishes of the magnate of Paris.
We do not put implicit faith in the good-will or
generosity of Louis NAPOLEON ; but we 'do know
that he will not be trifled with, and -that he is not
independent of the good opinion of Europe, which
King WILLIAM certainly is. Such acts of duplicity,
and such a course of treachery and falsehoods as
those which accompanied the whole of the proceed-
ings in the' Schleswig-Holstein affair, would never
have been tolerated by the French, whereas they
were appreciated and applauded by the Prussians.
Neither would the EMPEROR have thought of such
a thing. All that he has
_done has been
bold and decisive, and since his accession to
power he has not stooped to such contrivances
as those which find favour in Berlin. At any rate
we are glad that the EMPEROR has an opportunity
of coming forward, because we know that nothing
has been done by our Government to check the
cruel and mischievous course of the Prussians. It
will never do for the authorities of Berlin to be in
the ascendant in the councils of Europe, and we
think that LOUIS NAPOLEON is quite aware of this.
If the Prussian Monarch were to take.the Duchies
of Schleswig and Holstein, and to appropriate the
wholehe w o
would
lfdt the nortl a of Germany, in process of time
monopolise
power. It is in the intearaesetxotfraForradni
mistaken Count BISMARCK
France to Cdheegckretehios,f
and we shall be much
q
comes out of this affair
he had expected it to be.uite so rich in territory as

It would have been better for the Prussians to
have made some compromise with Austria, and to
have contented themselves with exercising. a sort of
supervision ia the DuchiesA ;ether thair to tare all,