The Sun.
London, England, 1866-04-27 00:00:00

the magnificent majority of seventy-eight with
which they met Parliament, has, under that blun-
dering of theirs, dwindled and dwindled down until
the prospect for them of any majority at all has
almost come to be problematical. The prevailing
expectation is, in fact, that the opposing parties will
be so very nearly balanced that the preponderance
of numbers on one side or the other must be small
indeed, must be all but infinitesimal. Ministers, if
they win at all, it is thought, can only win by a ma-
jority so small as to be almost nominal. Even in
that case, their existence must be seriously
jeopardised. A Cabinet only able to clear itself
from the risk of being put in a minority by some
half-a.-dozen votes out of a House of over six
hundred members, could not, with any sense
of self-respect, carry on—precisely as they are
—the QUEEN'S Government. Defeating the Amend-
ment thus by merely half-a-dozen votes or there-
abouts in so large a House, they must (more than
ever in spite of themselves) follow up, in a different
sense from what was intended, the recent proposal
in regard to the Franchise by—A Redistribution of
Seats—among themselves !

To put the matter very simply in reference to this
now fast-approaching division—the division must,
it is expected, show a result, in the shape of a clear
majority, very small, indeed—so small that some go
so far as to think that the total of the clear majo-
rity thus arrived at, may almost be numbered up
on the fingers of one hand! Supposing, for the sake
of argument, and as the upshot will very probably
show, that this small majority is against the Amend-
ment and for the Bill—even, then, Ministers could
not possibly stand as they are. Earl RUSSELL and
some few others would be compelled in that
case, if only out of self-respect, to tender their
resignation. The present Cabinet would have
to be remodelled—if its remodelling, that is to say,
proved, in that event, to be in any way
practicable. Supposing that the small majority
now looked for to, should however, turn out to
have gone the other way, the Government would,
in that case, of course, go out bodily—the QUEEN,
according to constitutional usage, sending, in that
event, for the Leader of the Opposition. That
the Bill itself, under any circumstances, can
ever pass into a law, nobody believes. Its in-
evitable fate, as a measure, is to die out. And
equally it has become a matter of conviction that
the Government, as at present constituted, cannot
hold together. It must—either, if unsuccessful on
this now fast-approaching division, be successful by
so small a majority that it must be modified or
rather thoroughly rearranged—or, if unsuccessful,
itmust go out entirely, and give way to the Chiefs of
the Opposition. Our impression is that the former of
then two contingencies may be pretty confidently
anticipated. But, even supposing such to
prove the upshot of this evening's debate,
we very much question whether under those
circumstances the realisation of the compromise
hinted at—in other words, the construction of a
patchwork or Coalition Cabinet—would be in any
way practicable, even for the time being. It would in
very truth be like the visible stroke of a tardy
Nemesis if, upon the question of Reform, Earl
RUSSELL were, now, to be driven from office to
make way for the return to power—upon
the express stipulation that, in returning
thus to power that very question of Reform
should be dealt with boldly, resolutely, promptly,
and comprehensively—the return to power again
(upon that distinct proviso) of the very Statesmen
of the very party who were prevented seven years
ago from dealing with Reform, precisely in that
very way, by Lord RUSSELL'S dog-in-the-manger
" dodge" of the Abstract Resolutions !

After Mr. LowE's magnificent Speech of last
evening—a speech, the delivery of which occupied
exactly two hours and twenty minutes, being
listened to with unflagging, and even at moments
enthralled, attention, throughout--as it eminently
well deserved to be listened to by reason of its logical
force, its radiant wit, and its sustained eloquence--
the remainder of last night's debate might have
been summed up, according to a famous phrase in
" Coningsby," by saying of it, that Wishy was up
and Washy followed.

As to this evening's—the eighth, and as it isunder-
stood to be the last night of this great historical
discussion=one cannot but remember that among
the men of mark in the House who have not as yet
spoken, are such men as Mr. ROEBUCK and Mr.
HENLEY. They, at any rate let us hope, are
not going to content themselves and to disappoint
every one else by giving a silent vote, as though
they were mere nobodies whose opinions were not
worth listening to.

Before the Leader of the House rises to reply more-
over—prior to the division being taken—the Right
Hon. Gentleman, the Leader of HerM.AJESTY'S Oppo-
sition,will have expressed his opinions ! That, we take
it, so far as the speaking to-night is concerned, is:the
great sensational event now looked forward to. And
certainly Mr. DISRAELI throughout the whole of his
parliamentary career has never had a more superb
opportunity for the display of his rare and almost
matchless powers of irony and sarcasm than the
one now presented to him by the insensate course
pursued very recently by the foremost among his
confronting antagonists'!

According to the last accounts there is a decided
chance of peace between the two great German
Powers. Austria has replied to the last. Prussian
Note, and expressed satisfaction at the pacificatory
tendency of its contents. Of course the occasion is
taken to state that Austria did not arm, but only
effected certain movements of troops. It seems
' pretty certain, however, that these movements
amounted to something very like arming, and had
the effect of convulsing the other States of the
Empire. A proof is furnished of the good in-
tentions of the Vienna Government, inas-
much as already they have made arrange_
ments for the retrograde movement of the
forces that were concentrated in Bohemia, and
the Prussian Government has been duly informed
of this charge. We were all along convinced that
if any pacific measures take place Austria would
have to take the initiative, and there seems fair
reason to suppose that now she has done so a happy
result may ensue. Another peaceful augury is seen
th erin the fact that thee 'WesternltalianG Powers
hasovernmenttha
offi-
cially declared to the
was no foundation
fortheeen
c ornuemoturrastin 0 f
ofo ‘ ‘i mI
Italian
levies" in Italy, and in the
Ita,
the i t
rem
troops upon the frontier
is said, wit soon jOf remonstrate against
ly,
Austrian armaments. The news from Berlin does
in some respects. It
seem altogether satisfactory
seems
the Landwehr,drill of
autho-
rities not to relinquish their intention of the i
bad management on the part of the
It appears that some while ago, and before
or at all events to put it off for some
`time.any rumour of military preparations got about, that
preparations were made for this ceremony, and,
accordingly, about forty thousand of the Landwehr
will be assembled for military service in a brief
Iperiod. Such an affair will certainly five rise to com-
ments of an unfavourable character on the Berlin
Government, and be certain to cause exaggerated
remarks to be made.
pace ye;z-terday 1
A most arbitrary proceeding took