The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-29 00:00:00

served nothing but their thanks and admiration.

Among the many varied schemes by which our
politicians are endeavouring to meet the difficulties
of the Reform question, the careful and laborious
treatise of Sir JOIIN EARDLEY AVILmoT* deserves

especial notice. It has been before the public for

the last few months, but on the eve of-the Parlia-
mentary session it calls for something more than a
passing notice. Sir EARDLEYLmoT's views in-
cline strongly, as his title indicates, to the Conser-
vative side of the question, even while he frankly
admits that the rapid progress made during the last
thirty years, both in population and in the
mental and moral training of the people, imperatively
demands an enlargement and improvement of our
representative system. His suggestions command
attention and deserve respect, because they are not
merely the speculative theories of a ready writer,
who can easily dispose of the most difficult questions
by a few strokes of the pen, since he does not
trouble himself to recognise the practical obstacles
to be surmounted ; but they are the result of careful
and assiduous study, of a painstaking examination
into the actual state of things, and a comparison of
the numbers to be dealt with to-day with those for
whom the Reformers of 1832 legislated and
laboured. The array of figures which Sir J. E.WIL-
MOT marshals in his pages is somewhat alarming at
the first glance, but their object is so clear and
simple, and they are so readily summed up, that
even the mere dilettante politician need not be dis-
couraged from the perusal of these " Letters."
Sir J. E. WILmoT has on more than one occasion
brought forward a scheme of this kind, and his
familiarity with the working of the electoral
system, partly due to seven years' experience as a
revising barrister, renders him no mean authority on
the matter of Reform. He must certainly be in-
cluded in the ranks of the Reformers, though less
from a desire to redress the grievances of any par-
ticular class than from a conviction that our pre-
sent representative system ja by no means commen-
surate with the condition of our national popula-
tion, wealth, and intelligence. The two letters
treat of separate branches of the subject, the first
dealing exclusively with the extension of the fran-
chise ; the second, with the enlargement of the
Parliamentary representation. The former occu-
pies so conspicuous a place in every Reform Bill,
whether real or ideal, that when people talk of
Reform they often refer exclusively to it, and there
are even hints that the forthcoming measure willget
no further than the extension of the franchise,
leaving the distribution of seats, the duration of
Parliaments, and the manner of voting to be dis-
posed of at some future day.
Our author commences by taking a survey of the
rapid progress made in the wealth and prosperity of
the country since 1832, as shown by the immense
increase in the number of depositors in savings
banks, in the amount of deposits, in the number of
inhabited houses, in the population itself, in the
value of exports and imports, and in the amount of
the property and income tax. Under all these
heads, as might be expected, Sir J. E. WthmoT
finds a wonderful advance, and he draws from them
the conclusive inference that the Representative
system of the country cannot be expected to remain
as it did in 1832. The two bills of Lord
DERBY and Lord RUSSELL both, he considers,
failed to
satisfy the country, but it is not
objectionable part of Lord DwEhßant
a little singular that
Conservatism but its Liberalism, onsiontttihot its
which he complains being
the reduction of the
county franchise from £5O to £lO. He considers
tYh'sehßechililetefirsinv

* A Safe and Constitutional Plan of Parliamentary
Reform; in Two Letters to a Member of the Conservative
party. By John Eardley Wilmot, Bart., liecroder of
witxprick."

that £2O would be a safer limit, being the point at
which the house tax commences, and at which the
jurors are summoned. His objection to the £lO
county franchise is founded on a belief that it would
subvert its character as the representation of pro-
perty by giving it principally to the unrepresented
towns. But we cannot believe that so temporising
a movement would be acceptable either in town
or country. The CIIANDOS clause did not form
so popular a portion of the first Reform Bill
that it should be allowed to influence the new
measure. Lord RUSSELL'S £6 Borough Franchise
does not meet with any more favour from Sir
EARDLEY WILMOT, who would stop at £B. His
argument against the lower franchise is based on the
:Parliamentary returns giving the number of elec-
tors who would be added to the constituencies by
such a measure, and he is alarmed at their number.
"It appears," he says, " that taking the gross esti-
mated rental there would have been hdmissable to
the Register under a £6 franchise the immense
number of 288,889, of which the male occupiers at
the rent of £6 and under £8 amounted to 189,323.
The addition under an £8 franchise would have been
99,566, a very considerable accession of numbers,
but within a few thousand less than half of the ad-
dition under a franchise at £6." There is a point
which must at once strike the impartial observer,
and that is the immense number of householders
who are now excluded from the Electoral Register.
It is quite clear that some decided movement is
called for in the way of extension, and the public
feeling will not be satisfied with any such half-
hearted and temporising measures as a £2O and a
£lO franchise. Let the Government come forward ,
boldly and show that confidence in the people
which they well deserve, and they will have no cause

to repent :t.
There seems to be a vague impression in the
minds of many politicians that there aie great divi-
sions in opinion measured by classes, and that when
we get below a certain rank we shall find totally
distinct politics. The fact really is that in all
classes of intelligent English life there are many
conflicting views, and Quot honzines tot sententix may
be as readily accepted as indicative of the £6 or £8
householders, or indeed of the non-householders, as
of the highest ranks among us. If there were really,
as some would seem to believe, a strong and united
phalanx of small householders whose politics were
totally opposed to those above them, our social life
would be something very different from what
Setting aside those Chartists and de-
magogues, and their immediate followers, who
form at any time a very inconsiderable
section of our population, the instincts, as well as the
convictions, of the English working men are all on
the side of loyalty and order. Even the strikes
and combinations, which are often cited in disparage-
ment of the artisan and mechanic class, are carried
on with some show of order and regularity. The
days of violence and forcible destruction of what
displeased them have gone past, even among the
most uneducated ; and it is among the higher mem-
bers of the class, not the lower and least trained,
that it is proposed to admit. Sir EARDLEY
WiLmoT's views are sensible and plausible enough,
but he puts the test a little too exclu-
sively upon property. He objects to a lodger
franchise because lodgers are migratory, and some-
times uncertain in their payments, forgetting that
there must be a test of continued residence, and
that the limit of a lodger's rental might be fixed
much higher than that of a householder's. The
wages franchise he does not approve of on account
of the fluctuating nature of the payment. The
Savings Bank test he thinks also unsatisfactory,
because it may depend on the number of a man's
family, while the nature of it is inquisitorial. The
educational franchise would, he considers,be trouble-
some in application, and the principle it contains
would be best amplified by giving additional repre-
sentatives to the seats of learning. Ile prefers the
qualification proposed by Lord J. RUSSELL in 1854,
the payment of Government and parochial taxes to
the amount of 405., to which he would add the
payment of income tax to any amount. " Such a
qualification," he says, " is in unity and consistent
with constitutional rights, which presume that
every person paying taxes ought to have a
voice in their administration." In addition to
these classes, the £8 occupiers in boroughs
and the £2O in counties, he would admit in the
counties freeholders as at present, copyholders of
the annual value of 405., and £lO leaseholders for
terms of seven years.

it is.

As we have said, he accompanies all his argu-
ments with carefully prepared statistics, so that his
suggestions cannot be set aside as hastily and ill-
considered schemes, but deserve deliberate atten-
tion. They are a little too much inclined to the
exclusion of those very classes who are beginning to
complain of being kept out of their rights. In
speaking of swamping existing voters by the whole-
sale admission of a fresh class, critics often forget
that if the franchise were properly extended, so
many new voters would be admitted from the pro-
fessional and trading ranks that they would of
themselves furnish a counterpoise if one were

needed.

In his second letter Sir E. WILMOT deals with
the redistribution of seats, and he makes
an ingenious proposal for getting over the
difficulty attending the disfranchisement of boroughs.
He suggests that our House of Commons, instead of
being restricted to 658 members, should consist of
700. There is certainly no reason why the number
of members should remain stationary when the
number of constituents has so greatly increased,
even under the existing regulations, and when any
comprehensive measure of reform must so largely
add to it. But on this ground there is no reason
for stopping at 700. We may as well have 715 or
725, which would still further assist the Minister.
But the Government will do wisely to let this awk-
ward and invidious part of the business alone at
present. If they attempt to redistribute the
seats they are certain to provoke the opposition
of every member who thinks his own seat in
jeopardy, and of every town or borough whose
interests might be affected by the loss of the elec-
toral privilege. No doubt there are great anoma-
lies at present, but they can afford to wait until
the more important and pressing question of the I
franchise is settled. It is better that a few boroughs I
should return two members when they would be
fairly represented by one, and that some should be
represented who have no real claim to such im-
portance, than that a number of intelligent men,
who are reckoned by hundreds of thousands, should-
be totally excluded from the old constitutional
right. If Lord RUSSELL will frankly and honestly
deal with the question of the suffrage he will do
quite enough for 1866 ; and when we have got our
new constituencies in good working order it will
be time enough to consider the redistribution of
seats.

THE CIVIL SERVICE.--Mr. Arthur Brookland
Mason has been appointed a Ceylon writer, on the result
of a competition of 11 candidates for six situations. Mr.
John Cowie has been appointed an assistant of excise.

MUNIFICENT DONATION.—At the ordinary meet-
ing of the weekly board of the Royal Free Hospital, Dr.
Marsden handed in a check for 100 guineas from Mr. Wm.
Crawshay, Caversham-park. Mr. Crawshay has already
contributed two similar donations, besides being a liberal
animal contributor to the institution.

(FRO3I OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, Sunday Evening.
The insurrection in Spain is dismissed from the
I consideration of the Paris papers for the present.
A Madrid paper, the Epoca, however, gives some
interesting details respecting the progress of Gen.
Prim to Badonal on the 20th inst. He was received
in the public square with cries of " Long live Gen.
Prim. Long live Liberty. Down with the Excise."
Prim made a speech to the inhabitants, in the course
of which he said, " You receive me with acclama-
tions, but you don't come to me with arms in your
hands to defend the cause of liberty." As the
General proceeded on his way, a man who was dig-
ging in a field came up to him, spade in hand, and
asked the General what he wanted. " Liberty, the
happiness of the people, the reduction of taxes, the
suppression of the Excise duties," replied the
General.
M. Gisquet, who obtained some celebrity in
' former days as Prefect of Police, has just died in
his 74th year. He was Prefect of Police from 1831
to 1836, and in that capacity originated and carried
into effect many regulations subversive of individual
and general liberty. Under his authority domiciliary
visits and seizures of private papers were by no
means rare. M. Gisquet saw danger sometimes in
very harmless verses, or dialogues at the theatre.
He was shocked in 1832 at a couplet sung at the
Varieties by the actor Lherie, and the manager, M.
Dartois, was directed to pay a visit to the Minister
of the Interior, M. D'Argout, who intimated to him
that he should order the theatre to be closed unless
the verses were omitted. Of course the order was
obeyed. The Government was, indeed, arbitrary
and despotic at that time. Let the small remnant
of persons disposed sometimes to cavil at the policy
of Napoleon the Third contrast it with the despotic
and unconstitutional measures adopted in M. Gis-
quet's time, and they must be convinced that much
more real liberty of the subject exists at present
than at the former period.
Already preparations are being made for the pro-
cession of the bccufs Bras on Shrove Tuesday. The
prizes were awarded on Friday, at the market of
Poissy, to the breeders of the animals. The prizes
were for five of them, viz., the first and second
prizes to Messrs. Dejardins and Bardot, of Trem-
blay (Nievre) ; the third to M. Mesnaze, of Appe-
ville (Manche); the fourth and fifth to M. Adeline.
The oxen, for which the first and second prizes were
awarded; weighed, the first, 1,360 kilogrammes
(a kilogramme is about 21bs.) ; the second, 1,330
kilogrammes ; the third oxen weighed 1,310 kilo-
grammes ; the fourth and fifth weighed, the former
1,350 kilogrammes the latter, 1,210 kilogrammes.
The prize animals exhibit an enormous cubic extent
of solid flesh or fat.
It is stated that the Emperor will not only inau-
gurate the Great Exhibition in person, but he will
also be an exhibitor. The article to be sent by his
Majesty will appear in class 93 (10th group.) It
will consist of a model of residences for the work-
ing classes, combining economy, comfort, and the
best regulations for health. Some houses combin-
ing these features will be erected in the park of the
Exhibition.
It would be a mistake to suppose that the blue-
book presented to the Chambers forms only a dry
record of diplomacy and politics. On the contrary
it gives much curious and interesting information
in regard to the march of literature, art, and
science in the past year. It appears that during
that period many valuable pictures were purchased
by the Government. Many purchases of sculpture
were also made. A gallery of paintings, by
living artists, was formed in the Palace of
the Senate, similar to that of the Legislative Body.
A great many churches were repaired and orna-
mented. Great improvements were made in the
galleries of the Louvre ; many works of sculpture
were added, and changes effected in order to place
the pictures in a better light. The new Opera
House is nearly ready to receive the roof, and the
construction of the stage is about to be commenced.
As to Literature, the blue book tells us that there
will be many volumes of the correspondence of
Napoleon the First. The publication would have
proceeded more rapidly had it not been necessary
to make researches in the official archives of Eng-
land, Germany, Spain, and Italy. Great improve-
ments are in progress at the Imperial printing office
in regard to French and foreign type.
Under the head of Sciences various names are
mentioned of learned men who have proceeded
to distant countries in search of scientific disco

veries. M. de Sauley and Viscount de Rou,gey ex-
plored Egypt and Palestine, and have published
some curious and interesting details respecting the
Holy Land. Manuscripts have been discovered,

valuable for bringing to light new facts, and the
rectification of errors to be found in ancient mytho-
logical history. A Roman camp was discovered in
Moldo-Wallachia. Other explorations have been

made by experienced travellers in portions of the
East, iu Eastern Persia (heretofore almost unex-

plored), in Herat, and Affghanistan, and these dis-
coveries will no doubt prove advantageous for
archaeology and history. The disruption of
Mount Etna has been carefully studied by
an eminent chemist, M. Fousque, whose account
discloses some highly interesting phenomena
connected with volcanic eruptions. Interesting
geological discoveries have been made in Denmark,
Sweden, a part of Germany, and Great Britain.
Works are being written which will throw fresh
light upon various disputed points of science. Do-
cuments have also been found of great interest
connected with the literary history of France in the
middle age, and with the diplomacy of the 16th
and 17th centuries. Errors have been corrected
which have been made by eminent historians of
ancient times.

Among various statistics I find some respecting
she Post-office. Great improvements were made

Last year ; 113 new offices for the distribution

of letters were opened, and 167 additional

letter-carriers engaged ; 250,000 f. were devoted

to the increase of their salaries. In 1865
the number of postage stamps consumed was 397

millions, whilst in 1864 the number used was only
382 millions. The general receipts exceeded those
of the preceding year by more than three millions.
The weather is again beautiful. There has been
uo lack of sunshine, and the temperature partakes
of the " ethereal mildness" of spring.

CRYSTAL PALACE.—After an interval of several
weeks devoted to the pastimes of the holiday season
—during which all London was attracted to Sydenham to
witness the wonderful performance of that prince of
gymnasts, Signor Ethardo, the "spiral ascensionist," as he
is fancifully denominated, and who made a brilliant ascent
and descent by gaslight on Saturday afternoon—the %inter
concerts wore resumed, when the twelfth of the current
series was given. The pantomime and Signor Ethardo's
performance will be continued from this day until Friday
in the present week.
MISS HARDINGE'S ORATIONS ON AMERICA.—The
third and concluding series of orations on America
took place on Saturday afternoon in St. James's-hall, which
was again crowded to listen to this gifted lady. The sub-
ject was "Reconstruction." In treating the question she
averred that her sentiments were not dictated by any poli-
tical or partisan feeling ; and contended, in eloquent terms,
which frequently elicited hearty applause, that the war
was as much created by the restless ambition of the manu-
facturing interests of the North as by the imperious bear-
ing of the landed aristocracy of the South. At the close
of the lecture, Mr. Dove, who presided throughout the
series, intimated that Miss Hardinge would deliver other
orations in the metropolis on future occasions.

We understand that Grisi and Mario are engaged
for the approaching season at Her Majesty's Theatre.
Some nineteeen years ago this distinguished couple were
at the head of the body who deserted that theatre for
the newly-established Royal Italian Opera, and now they
return to the old house. Before the opening of Her
Majesty's Theatre, a vocal and instrumental party, con-
sisting of Grisi, Mario, Madame de Merle Lablache, Signor
Foli, and Mdlle. Emilia Arditi (the violinist), with Signor
Arditi as conductor, are about to make a tour in the
provinces ; and at the same time there will be another
provincial tour, including Mdlle. Tietjens, Mdlle. Sinieo,
Mdlle. Zandrina, Signor Stagno, and Signor Bossi. This
party will have the further attraction of the great violon-
cellist, Signor Piatti. The provincial public have never
before had such a profusion of the highest musical talent
brought before them in any one season.—lllustrated News.
It is understood that the Rey. C. Pritchard will
succeed Mr. De La Rue as President of the Astronomical
Society.

PRUSSIA.
THE PROSECUTION OF DR. MAY.
BERLIN, JAN. 29.

The Superior Criminal Court, on the appeal of the
public prosecutor against the decision of the Lower
Court acquitting Dr. May on the charge of
having published articles in the Schleswig-
Holstein Gazette of Altona insulting to the King'of
Prussia has resolved that General Gablenz, Austrian
Governor of Holstein, be requested to order the
arrest of Dr. May, and have him transported to
Berlin.

THE WEST INDIA AND PACIFIC MAILS
, SOUTHAMPTON, JAN. 29.

The Royal Mail Company's steamer Shannon,
with the above mails, passed the Needles at 12.50

p.m. today.