The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-08 00:00:00

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PRICE. . 4d.
STAMPED sd.

showed from the Government statistics how great
would be the total effect of reducing the qualifica-
tion from £5O to £l4, and the argument of Sir
George Grey proved that the effect would practi-
cally be found in the transfer of a large number of
county seats from the classes now commanding the
orefptrhee
isielntation. As a mere matter of prudence, it is
unwise to take such a step at once. The Chancellor
Exchequer
favour
of a i
attemptedratitnoiymgeneati
itfih
oeagt
iroena argu-
menttth
tait afforded a convenient resting-place, since it is at-
once the jury qualification and the limit of the house
tax,—but he failed to answer it. His chief point
was, that if the jury qualification were adopted in
counties, it must also be adopted in boroughs ; butt
this is to be led away by words. The house is abou
to reduce the occupation
franchise in counties.
the propriety of a reduction.
The £2O rating limit was
would at once enfranchise a suggested because baedcadiustioenaitl
is
number of voters, and it already fixed as the
qualification of jurors; and the Chancellor of the
Exchequer retorted that it would then become
necessary to adopt the jury qualification in Parlia-
mentary Boroughs having their own Quarter Ses-
sions. It is impossible not to connect the sum-
mary defeat of Mr. Walpole's Amendment with the
imprudent, if not impudent, attempt of the Opposi-
tion to catch a victory on an unexpected issue
earlier in the evening. The effect of it was directly
to discredit every one who opposed any part what-
every
of the Government scheme. No one will for
some time be free from suspicion of insiduous de-
signs who ventures to impugn a single provision
contained in the bill. If the Chancellor of the Ex-
'chequer had not at the outset declared the intention
of the Government to abandon the clause giving
borough leaseholders the privilege of voting in
county elections, he might possibly have carried it
also against all arguments or statistics to the con-
trary. As it is, the proposal to adopt a £2O rating
qualification has been summarily rejected, and the
House of Commons has distinctly committed itself
by a separate vote on that particular question iu
favour of a reduction the effect of which no one
pretends to be able to forecast. The punishment
has come swiftly, and we hope the offence will not
be repeated ; but we hope also that, now that punish-
ment has been inflicted, the House of Commons will
address itself to so many of the clauses of the Re-
form Bills as may yet be brought before its notice,
disembarrassed of the memory of futile intrigues.
It may seem a trite remark, but it is true that the
Reform of our Constitution is a task of delicacy and
and importance, and ought not to be performed
yweislltth a single
eErßdLyDm.oerlyn,hei
morning.
dp. isr
nTacimisanfiratitarnyogobppoes leirnteitgcoaarlreddopedHpooasnlses
Holstein
commencement of war between Austria and Prussia.
The declaration of war, the actual collision, will
probably still be postponed for a few days,
for
though it is:of course open to the Austrian Govern-
ment to resent this outrage at once as a manifest
casus belli, it is very much to its interest not to do
so until it has had time to withdraw the small Aus-
trian force which garrisons the Duchy. The Prus-
sian army has received orders to occupy the three
chief places in Holstein, Rendsborg, Kiel, and
Itzehoe. The Prussians in Schleswig are supposed
to number 20,000 to 25,000 men, the Austrian
troops in Holstein only 3,000 to 5,000. If we add
to this that the Prussian force can have no difficulty
in maintaining communications through Lauenburg
with the main body of the Prussian army, while the
Prussian fleet is at Kiel and in command of the
North Sea and the Baltic, it will be apparent that
the Austrians in Holstein should consider themselves
fortunate if they are able to escape in the presence
of such overwhelming odds. They are separated
from their friends by the whole breadth of Ger-
many ; they must fall into the hands of the enemy
if they do not get safely off before war is declared.
The loss or capture of this handful of troops would
make but a small difference numerically in the re-
sources of Austria ; but the Emperor Francis Joseph
could ill afford at this critical moment to dispense
with the services of Gen. Von Gablenz and the able
officers who.command under him in Holstein. The
Austrians are now at Itzehoe, at Rendsborg, and at
Kiel. At the two latter places there have been also
small Prussian garrisons, but the Prussians will now
take the whole duty upon themselves. The Aus-
trians, if they remain, will be virtually prisoners of
war. Resistance, of course, would be madness, and
the only course open to them is to retire as the Prue-
at futons, or
with the object of crossing into neutral territory,
either of the free city of Hamburgh or the kingdom
of Hanover. In a time of peace, war not being de-
clared, the Austrians will have a right to pass
through Hamburg and Hanover, through Ducal
Hesse and Saxony to their own country. if, before
they can do this, war shall be declared, their pro-
gress will be arrested as soon as they have crossed
the frontier into a neutral state. The troops will
then pile their aims and submit themselves to the
disposal of the neutral Government, which will
allow them to return in peaceful guise to their
homes. We may presume that the Austrian com-
mander has been forewarned of his danger, and has
already made his arrangements for the evacuation
of Holstein. One of the points of dispute which the
still-born Conference at Paris was to have taken
into its consideration may thus be considered to
have been already violently solved by the action of
Prussia. As soon as it was known that the Con-
ference was given up as impossible the Prussian
Government issued its orders for the occupation of
Holstein. This is, of course, a direct infraction of
the Treaty of Gastein, which provided for the rights
of the two Governments ft co-possessors of Schles-
wig-Holstein. Prussia was to be supreme in Schles-
wig, and Austria in Holstein, until the ultimate
disposition of the duchies had been determined
upon. In this disposition no arrangement was to be
made by either of the Powers without the consent
of the ether. On the Prussian side it is argued
that Austria was the first to infringe the spirit
if not the letter of the treaty. Despairing of a
settlement of the question by negotiation with
Prussia, Austria has ceded to the Confederation
her rights in Holstein. In the laudable hope of
ascertaining the feelings of the inhabitants, she
has convoked the Estates of Holstein to meet
at Itzehoe, on Monday next. Prussia considers
that the main object of the Treaty of Gastein was
to take the question altogether out of the hands of
the German Diet. She has no intention at present
of consulting the feeling of the population on the
question of annexation. She is notaltogetherwurs Austria
in regarding these movements on the part of A
as directed against herself and her ambitious pro-
jects. The question of the Duchies has for the mo-
ment received solution. It has been settled, if set-
tlement it can be called, by armed force, and in
defiance of rightful claims. It has probably been
The aim of Austria to precipitate this catastrophe,
as in the event which now seems more than ever
inevitable nothing can be more desirable than that
for the moment she should have Holstein off her
hands. During war with Prussia her position would
be untenable. Schleswig and Holstein once in the
hands of Prussia, it remains to be seen how soon or
how far the Government of Austria will resent the
insult which has been offered to it. She cannot sub-
mit to it tamely without such humiliation as will
amount to a retirement once for all from her posi-
tion in Germany, and reduce her to the rank of a
second-rate Power in Europe. Rather than be the
first to strike a blow on the Silesian frontier, she
may appeal to the Diet to mediate between her and
Prussia. Backed up by the Diet she may take the
lead in a " Federal execution." Deserted by the
Diet she may claim for herself compensation in
Silesia for the share in the Duchies of which she has
been forcibly deprived. Whichever way the war may
come about, the stepwhich has been taken by Prussia
has rendered the outbreak of that war only a question
of time. The event has justified the wisdom of. thea
part In iannd
Austrian Government in declining to take
Conference which the representatives
Italy were entering upon with the avoewfeFd
Three at least
of insisting on herdismemberment!
demand of her a
of the Powers were prepared to
conceded when it has
Prussia
sacrifice which can only be
obstinacy been rung from her by war.
under such
ren-
dered war inevitable, and
negotiations
waste of time. The
circumstances were onwly
hiach the French
almost
-
almost eagerness with. _his
be called
seoaollnedasuApuosntrtoia
she
work of her own mutilation, the
take a hand .12
mstiernjutldaetecdlartedhatththehtehinstoaut
should nneoutd
is
to the
eonatneinmduws
with
Francerow
l fuhus Austria anxiety of its organs troeatkhbreak-downpoofnAlistrlate
whole blame of the h
negotiations,
ly t e ear y events of 1859,
and *lf A
iltlofo Paor Austria sh owing
France as well as Prussia and Italy, it is needless
to say that the odds will be so tremendously ag • st
recabode
e butd
ae nd her ruler.in
her that whatever she may do she will be forced in
the end to yield everything. The least that we can
ask of France in the present crisis is that she will
remain neutral, and allow fair play between the
opposing armies. There is no quarrel at present
between the Emperor of the French and Austria,
and if any is made it must be of the Emperor's
seeking. Austria alone, even if the minor States of
(.ermany stand aloof, is by no means a bad match

r_

1'; IVEPA P
-E 11

(k.
r for Prussia and Italy together. While fro •
and Cracow she could sweep with two gre
the plains of Silesia, and if Benedek gained
could lay Berlin at her mercy, she has in the SoAth a quarter of a million of men, who, backed utTEy n S
the impregnable lines of Mantua and Peschiera,
will fall, when the first gun has been fired, like an
avalanche upon Italy.

The House Last Night.

Any one who may have supposed that the ob-
viously large gathering of the Conservative party
at the time of public business in the House of Com-
mons originated in a desire to pay a compliment to
the Princess Mary of Cambridge on the occasion
when a further provision for her Royal Highness
upon her marriage was to be asked was wonder-
fully mistaken, as subsequent events proved. That
ceremonial—for it was no more—was, it seemed,
rather prolonged by Mr. Gladstone, and it ap-
peared as if he pleaded hard for so modest a
proposition as that which he made, namely, to
raise the Princess's income to £5,000 a year.
But there were probably other reasons why the
illustrious leader should not be too brief, while rea-
sons in a contrary sense existed why the leader of
the Opposition should not be so particularly short
in seconding the motion. Perhaps there was a mo-
tive for Sir Wm. Hutt's occupying a little time in
giving a character to Prince Teck. At any rate, by
the time that the Representation of the People Bill
came on the disproportion of numbers between the
Opposition-and the Liberals, the former being con-
siderably in excess, began to decrease, members
coming in behind the Treasury bench and filling
seats which before were unoccupied, though they were
not many, and beginning to crowd the bar. As soon
as the title of the " Franchise Bill" had slided gently
into that of " Representation of the People Bill,"
thus giving one general title to the amalgamated
measure, and the next two formal clauses had been
baedagosapnt deebdayltwiwthitohu t comment, Mr. Gladstone rose to
deliver a disquisition on the county franchise, which
w
stating b
that
clausea t
he
e s
should
dNhoatvw: snt atnhdi
s t agi nsghe
e
of committee, as many
as he chose, it was opportunitiesobsered
any arguments he might have used
that
he ofa anticipated
in o
Mr. Walpole's proposition to adopt a
£2aOnsinwsetreatd
of a £l4 county franchise, and elaborated his rea-
sons for its non-adoption with more than usual
minuteness. The less obtuse observers not in the
secret began to see symptoms of talking against
time, while the initiated no doubt were convinced
of something of the kind. Any way, the house
had filled to its utmost capacity by the time that the
Chancellor of the Exchequer sat down ; and lo
instead of Mr. Walpole with his amendment, up rose
Lord Stanley, and proceeded to develope the cause of
the party gathering which was now so distinctly
apparent. He, with what his friends seemed to
think remarkable astuteness, suggested—to use his
own mild phrase—that the Government should post-
pone the franchise clauses, and take the redistribu-
tion part of the bill first. A derisive smile came over
the face of Mr. Gladstone as he stated his proposi-
tion, which implied a feeling best expressed by a
familiar slang phrase. It seemed as if through the
closed ranks of the Ministerialists there ran a
murmur of disgust at such an attempt on their
credulity. The protestatious of Mr. Egerton,
who seconded the amendment in favour of
Reform in the abstract, while he was ostentatiously
lending himself to the now palpable device for ob-
struction and delay, were received with the usual
ironical cheers from the wakeful Liberals and coun-
ter-demonstrations from the Opposition, who per-
ceived that their antagonists were aware of the
tactics which were in operation. Mr. Gladstone
and Mr. Bright rose together, but the former gave
way and permitted the latter to utter a very spirited
and telling exposure of the object and intention of
the motion. Probably—and there were symptoms
of such a thing apparent—the brief interposition of
Mr. Newdegate enabled Mr. Gladstone to ascertain
that his supporters were marshalled in such
force as to render the division safe, and
so he was free to give way to a burst
of indignant denunciation of the " mastery
of the arts of ambush" displayed by the
Opposition. Every word, however, was at first
usual IMMODIie titlitoWle anu WILII ills USUAL Luipan-
sive countenance. Mr. Disraeli did not wince even
when Mr. Gladstone spoke of the amendment as a
delicate plant, which had been carefully secluded in
some artificial atmosphere, being, as it was, unequal
to withstand the rough climate of Great Britain,
having been generated in some other (Asiatic being
palpably understood) country. Then, with a rapid
change to calm irony, Mr. Gladstone scathed Mr.
Egerton ; and, once more altering his views, he
emphatically exposed the object of the move,
and in terms of high defiance accepted on
the part of the Government what he said was
the first definite issue on this question which had
come from the Opposition. Everything being
ready the division was called, and the struggles of
some 550 members to arrange themselves into
two sdctions in the narrow space which the
house affords went on until such time as the
tellers for the " Noes," who bore the numbers
for the Government, came in, while yet those for
the " Ayes" were not to be seen. Gentlemen
opposite seemed to take this as an indication of
victory, and appeared to be about to exhibit
triumph in their usual fashion. They were, how-
ever, checked by observing the other tellers pick-
ing their way out of the crowd at the bar, and
the division paper being instantly put into the
hand of Mr. Brand, the Ministerialists broke out
into such tremendous and prolonged cries that they
proved that after all they could, on sufficient
provocation, cheer as well as the Conservatives.
When, too, the number of 287 for the Government,
and 260 against them, were declared, the joyous
noises were repeated over and over again, still
renewed when the Chairman also formally stated
the numbers and the rejection of the amendment.
When all this was over, most of those present
departed, and left Mr. Walpole with a few enthu-
siastic friends to cheer him when he moved his
amendment by which a £2O county franchise was
sought to be introduced into the bill ; and
though the Government paid him the compliment
of putting up a Cabinet Minister, in the person of
Mr. Villiers, to reply to him, quietude prevailed
in the nearly empty chamber ; which, as may be
supposed, was not much disturbed ernEldywatrdhe
efforts of Mr. Beresford-Hope
Hunt and Sir F. Crossley.
Buller to be facetious, or by thean sdoliSdiirodityc Mr.ys
the debate. Sir George
Stanhope did
not tend to put
life
Into
unusually combative, did
of Mr. Adderley.
Grey, however, who w_asnoir.
concerto
of
cheers,
and Mr.
contrive to get up elf too! And then, with
and to get uP BanekssParan
Disra
ifr Gladstone comprehensively
bate It was odd to find Mr.
up the
.de . •
summed always the signal for atten-
tion rising is
Henley, w
while, refused a hearing, and some
if possible, than that of the
tion for a brief
d.
unabated
nt seemed to come from his
of the sounds of dissent
sideof the House. The excitement on the
own
299 to to 283, the cheers of the Liberals were
greater,
vigour,,
previous one; and, though the second majority was
more uproarious and longer maintained than before.
By the interposition of Mr. Disraeli between the
Government and his rampant followers,
the debate
sdimvaisllieron,
will go on to-day.—Daily Telegraph.

THE KELLEY
rrESTIMONIAL.—The testimonial
given to Harry
y
Belle the Champion of the Thames, by
his friends and admirers
Wednesday last,
byat the j
.o
Huntley, No. was
13,Can-
terbury.
gnPuedollit W
anden manufactured Mr.ey-street, Soho-square. It
is a massivesile Great
d
rvess.si e shaped cup, 34 inches in height,
standing Oil a plateau representing water and swans
floating. The handles are formed of figures of Father
Thames, and it is surmounted by the figure of Britannia
presenting a laurel wreath. This elaborate piece of work-
manship will be on view at the Canterbury Hall during
the next week.
[ADVERTISEMENT.]—Holloway's Ointment and
Physical Strength.—For the proper development and
nourishment of the human body it is essential that the
functions of the stomach, liver, icidneys, and bowels be
performed with order and regularity. Holloway's remedies
readily insure both. The powers of the stomach are
greatly augmented and good gastric juice secreted in
abundance when this ointment is diligently rubbed twice
a day over the pit of the stomach. The pills and ointment
enable it to extract all the food's nutritive matter, and to
thoroughly digest most articles of diet. Holloway's pre-
parations not only preserve the frame from wear and tear,
but stimulate it to store up nervous energy, nsaary
tCP yitAlity 84 the mainspring to a Witta.