The Sun.
London, England, 1866-07-20 00:00:00

understood that they are to be employed for the
purpose of recreation solely. They were laid out
at great cost ; they occupy ground which, if other-
wise employed, would bring in a large amount of
rental, and they are preserved and kept in order
at a considerable annual outlay of the public
money. They are free for the use and enjoyment
of every class, and any summer evening we can see
to what an extent the working cla;eses profit by
them, as every one is anxious they should do, since
there is no fear that they will behave otherwise
than with perfect propriety. But it is a very diffe-
rent thing to summon a large open-air meeting,
because nobody can undertake to restrict the assem-
blage to working men and their friends. Every Lon-
doner knows that there are thousands of idle, worth-
less fellows, " roughs" and pickpockets, who like no-
thing better than a general riot and disturbance. Who
is to keep these worthies out of the Park ? We do
not certainly imagine that they will obey the direc-
tions of AIr.BEALES, or any other gentleman who may
rashly pledge himself for the good conduct of the
meeting. He may undertake for the members of
his own League, or for the general body of Reformers
if he will, but these are not the parties whom orderly
folks have to fear. It is all very well to talk
about the grandeur of their cause, but
sympathy with Italy was a noble cause,
too, and does any one wish to repeat the disgraceful
riots about GARIBALDI and the POPE ? It was those
very riots which decided the authorities never to
allow the parks to be used again for places of public
meeting, and in that determination they are sup-
ported by the opinion of every reflecting man.
Setting aside every other question, politicians and
agitators have no right to monopolise a place of
public resort, and to cheat quiet men and women
out of their walk. There is no desire to restrict the
freedom of public meeting, a fact proved by the
granting the use of the Guildhall for the purpose of
a reform meeting. We have no doubt that the Guild-
hall meeting will be conducted with perfect order
and propriety, but the respectable working men of
London should take care not to identify themselves
with the worthless and riotous class who usually
become very prominent in open-air meetings. They
have the opinions of both sides on this point, and
need not set down the prohibition to mere
Conservative hosility to Reform, since Sir GEORGE
GREY distinctly stated his concurrence in Mr.
WALPOLE'S order. The Guildhall meeting will give
full opportunity for discussing the question, and
there are plenty of other spots that can be chosen
without damaging the cause of the people by riotous
and disorderly conduce, or interfering in any degree
with the pleasures of those who are in the habit o
frequenting the parks for the simple purpose of re.
creation.

Great impatience will be felt to know the re-
sult of the battle which is to decide the fate
of Austria, and for the present at least to settle
the question of the supremacy of Germany.
It seems as if some forlorn hope still lingers in
the minds of the Austrians that they should
make a vigorous stand, and at the eleventh
hour, as it were, retrieve their position. This idea
is not so illusory as it may appear at first sight to
be, for there is a great incentive when all know
that they are engaged in a momentous decision,
and that upon the issue of their work hangs the
welfare of their country. The presence of Archduke
ALBERT will also afford considerable encouragement;
he returns victorious in many engagements, and his
name itself is an earnest of success, his father having
defeated NAPOLEON I. Taking all the circum-
stances of the case into consideration, we do not see
that affairs are altogether so hopeless against the
Austrians as some may consider, and perhaps the
very remembrance of former defeats may nerve them
with fresh zeal, and urge them on to a bold attempt
and determined resistance. From all that
we can hear of their conduct they are
resolute and firm, and the spirit which
the EMPEROR has manifested under the try-
ing circumstances in which he has been placed is
of itself enough to impart zeal and ardour to his
people, and courage and confidence to his troops.
Because success has hitherto crowned the Prussian
forces it does not follow, as a matter of course, that
it will go on like this to the end of the chapter; and
history has afforded ample instances of a desperate
resolve in adverse circumstances as being successful
in the most trying emergency.
Perhaps the Prussians may presume too much
upon their prestige, and not be so careful
as they were when the war commenced. The Aus -
trians, on the other hand, have had warnings
enough, and as we have good reason to suppose
that their previous defeats were occasioned nearly
as much by their own inadvertence as by the skill
of their adversaries, we may be justified in think-
ing that in some respects they have a better chance
than before. They know what they are fighting
for, and what they may expect from their com-
batants if victorious. It is strange, but no
less true, that Austria is struggling for
her European position, which is now in
jeopardy, after she has had so long a tenure of it
and enjoyed so much influence. It is very evi-
dent that both sides are aware of the importance
of the engagement now so imminent, and the
greatest exertions are being made on the part of
the Prussians to bring up all their forces ; while
the Austrians are displaying more savoir-faire than
they seem to have exhibited at an earlier period o

the war. Itis to be hoped that success will be on the
side of the Imperial forces, for much depends upon
Austria holding her place among nations; and
should Prussia gain the day it may be long before
another opportunity occurs for effectually checking
her pretensions, and putting a stop to her mis-
chievous machinations. There seems to be a per-
fect appreciation of the position in Vienna, and
therefore the forces of Austria will go to the field
forewarned of the result, which knowledge may
urge them on to success.

Mr. MILL, last night, put the questions of which
he previously gave notice respecting the proceed-
ings of certain officials during the late outbreak in
Jamaica, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer
wisely decided that the hon. member should ask
them in detail, in order that the Houe might under..
stand their purport. In replying to them the right
hon. gentleman showed that Mr. MILL had adopted
an unusual course, and that the form in which he
put his " ten questions" was somewhat past the
" boundaries of Parliamentary precedent." The
difficulty of raising a discussion on the subject
was great, because it would lead the public
to suppose that the Government agreed in
the assumed state of facts which formed the foun-
dation of the question. Nothing is more indicative
of the inconsistency. of Mr. MILL'S proceedings than
the fact that be assumed throughout the course of
the inquiries that the said acts in Jamaica were ille-
gal, while he at the same time admitted that very
likely the Law Officers of the Crown might not
consider them to be so.l P
T
Mr.ther. subjectpisß r 0
bahboll
is et y whocon s
ide i. thinkthat
AEU will in al
Was correct when he said that he was
t( hardly justified" in so doing. Another objec-
tion to his course vas that the questions
were not as guarded as they should have been
One circumstance 4001125 entire]y to have escaped ,