The Sun.
London, England, 1866-04-02 00:00:00

The Reform Bill.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SIR,--It is now just nineteen years, a lunar
cycle, since I was requested to come forward as a
candidate for one of the metropolitan boroughs,
and, when acting upon the advice of an experienced
political friend I declined the proposed honour. It
now appears unlikely that I shall again have a
similar chance of serving my country, as circum-
stances occurred shortly after the making of the
above mentioned proposition, which gave a par-
tisular turn, rather scientific than political, to my
future career in this transitory world, as your
journal testifies.
As an outsider, however, I regard with sincere
interest in the appearance of the new Reform
Bill, and now that Earl Russell has taken his bat in
hand fob a second innings, after nearly 50 years'
labour in the useful cause—as the Annual Register
testifies—l hope he may not leave the ground with-
out carrying out his long-cherished wishes upon this
subject. Mr. Thomas Moore, the poet, although
one of the people, was a croaker respecting the old
Reform Bill, which he feared would produce revo-
lution ! But 35 years' experience has shown that
his editor, Earl Russell, was correct when he made
the following sensible remarks respecting his friend's
unfounded panic about Reform. Earl Ru ssell said
" A reformed Parliament is a far stronger barrier
against wild innovation than the Parliaments
chosen on the old models could have been. Lord
Melbourne, in his speech in the House of Lords, truly
said, " that the consent of the people formed the
strength of the Parliament, and that wheff"
that consent was wanting, it was time to change the
form of the governing body. On such principles
those of Lord Grey's Cabinet who had been against
Reform acted in unison with those who had been
long its advocates, Lord Grey and his colleagues,
in thus combining to bring in the Reform Bill,
acted with true patriotism and foresight. They
knew the institutions which they amended, the
people with whom and for whom they acted, the
principles of sound policy and the course required
by honesty and wisdom."

Moore feared the temporary satisfaction of the
measure was " the torrent's smoothness ere it dash
below :" but his noble editor pointed " to the ad-
vantages of real representation, the abolition of
slavery, the commutation of tithes, the reduction of
prohibitory duties, the repeal of the corn laws, the
equalisation of the sugar duties, the repeal of the
navigation laws, the promotion of education, and
other measures, which during twenty years had
been enacted by the Reformed Parliament." To
which list may now be added, the repeal of the
taxes on knowledge ; the famous French treaty,
abolition of window-tax, the partial diminution in
the Fire Insur ante Duties, with other minor legal
improvements prior to the dissolution of the recent
Parliament. At the present time these remarks are
worthy of notice.—l am, Sir, yours obediently,
CHARLES COOKE.

London, March 31, 1866.

[Certainly there is no earthly reason, to our mind,
against Reform—only let it be Reform ! Unlike
its great predecessor, the present Reform Bill is
really and truly no Reform Bill at all—it is only a
bit of a one ! [ED. SUN.]

The three great agitators against the Reform Bill,
Mr. Lowe, Lord Elcho, and Mr. Horsman, are defined by a
Radical as the dgrees of comparison—Lowe, Lower,Lowest.
Spectator.

THE COSMOPOLITAN was six months old on Sa-
turday, and, in reply to many kind inquiries, says
itself, we are happy to state that its success is far beyond
our calculation at starting. Relying solely upon a purely
cosmopolitan support—that is, upon subscribers who seek.
something better than mere partisan or sectarian views of
political and social questions—the Cosmopolitan is finding
readers and friends in all parts of the world.
A GEOGRAPHIC PUZZLE.—In Victor Hugo's new
work, " Les Travailleurs de is Mar," ho translates the
Firth of Forth am "La Premi4o de la Saatriemc"