The Sun.
London, England, 1866-07-14 00:00:00

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I{ILIP'" MI
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LONDON, SATURDAY, JULY 14, 1866.

The address of the new leader of the House of
Commons to his constituency will be read with in-
terest. The commanderlin-chief of the new Admi-
nistration had, indeed, distinctly laid down the
principles on which he hoped to regulate the policy
of his Government, but Mr. DISRAELI'S opinions
are always worth having, whatever be his position,
and just now when he is assuming such serious
responsibilities they are very important. His abi-
lities as a public speaker will always carry him suc-
cessfully through any occasion, but in this
instance he had much to say that was
of itself interesting. Leaving the struggle
of the Parliamentary session on one side,
he contented himself with remarking that he knew
by experience that nothing could be more painful
and more unsatisfactory than the attempt to govern
the country without the confidence of the Commons,
and therefore he considered the date Ministry fully
justified in resigning their offices if they felt such
to be their position. Coming to more general
topics, the first subject with which he dealt was our

foreign relations, and referring to the policy of non-
intervention in continental disputes, which is now
adopted by this country, he declared it was not in
consequence of- the decline but of the increase of
her power. " The truth is that England has
outgrown the European continent. The position
of England is no longer that of a merely European
Power. England is the metropolis of a great
maritime empire, extending to the boundaries of the
furthest ocean." She interferes in Asia because she
has such wide Asiatic interests ; she interferes in
Australia and Africa, and if she does not interfere
in Europe, it is because her honour and interest
are not affected by European changes. In those
changes she naturally takes a deep interest, but
she is not bound to take an active part. Our
foreign relations, says Mr. DISRAELI,' are moll
ga tisfaetory, and with no Power ar© they more so
than with the U
of America. He com-
plimented the efficiency and vigour of ,tue
rican Government as displayed in the repressive
measures adopted towards the Fenians. As for
those heroes themselves, he regretted that
they should have disturbed the peace of
Ireland, but thought, with reason, that the
excessive emigration of late years was the
more dangerous evil of the two.

Passing briefly over the financial crisis he next
touched upon the vexed question of Parliamentary
Reform, and created some amusement by declaring
that he did not consider it a difficulty in the way of
the Government. His general views on this point (for
he naturally avoided pledges) were similar to those
to which Lord DERBY gave utterance on Monday
evening. Mr. DISRAELI humorously referred to the
resuscitation of his bill of 1859 which had -been
going on this session in the House, and to the
numerous concessions to the ranks of its supporters
seven years after date.

In matters of domestic legislation he pledged
the Government to deal:without:any delay with the
questions of Poor Law and Bankruptcy Reform, pro-
mises which called forth the warm encomiums of
his hearers. The author of "Sybil" may fairly be
trusted to sympathise with the suffering poor, al-
though no revelations of the horrors of the mine
and'the workshop could equal the pictures of some
of our " infirm wards." Altogether Mr. DISnAELI'S
address was temperate, enlightened, and statesman-
like, and entirely avoiding the strifes of party or the
manoeuvres of political strategy, to addressed his
hearers in a straightforward and patriotic spirit,
which will gain the approval of a wider audience
than his local supporters and constituents.

There is still no particular news concerning the
progress of events in Germany, but all parties seem
uncertain how to act. The prospects of Austria are
indeed bad, but we do not yet despair of some check
being put upon the pretensions of Prussia. • Now
that Power has so speedily achieve 1 such great
victories some seem to suppose that she has a right
to monopolise an immense territory, and to appro-
priate to herself the rule in Germany, bud in reality
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