The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-09 00:00:00

THE- SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 9, 1866.

THE WELLING-TON, Sr. JAMES'S- sTREET
(Entrance 160,11ccadilly).
Set Dinners as usual. The og.rte varied, choice, and mode-
rate. Turtle, thick and clear, always ready.
The Billiard Rooms now conducted by J. Roberts, the
champion.
Suppers until One a.m.
Elegant Saloon Dining Rooms for Ladies.

T II E 0 X F 0 It D,
6, OXFORD-STREET, W.,
'MIL MUSICAL ESTABLISH lIENT OF LONDON.
Suce,ssful %viva' of Offenbach's "OR l'IlE E.; AUX
EN PERS." 'The Sisters DEL E.PIE agyd 9 and
years, the wonderful performers on the Violin and Xito-
; hone:
Comedy by Dutiah and Davies, Fred. Laroche, and Harry
Sydney (the political Momus).
Feats of Atlas by the Brothers Pentland, and Gymnastic
Performances by Les Freres Vlctorelli.
N ITICE.—Mr. DAVID FISLIER, of the Princes +'s.
krielphi, and I laymarket Theatres, will appear in his DRA-
MATIC SKETCHES THIS EVENING.
In preparation the Lyric Drama of the " RUINS OF
AT LIENS," by L. VAN TiEETTIOVEN, the arguments in which
will be read by a distinguished member of the theatric.,l
preft salon.
Musical Director and Conductor, Mr. F. Jonglimans.
Admission—Area, 6d.; stalls and balcony, Is. ; private
boxes, with separate entrance, 10s. 6d.
Open every evening at 8.

ARGYLL ROOMS. GRAND CASINO,
Windmill-street, Piccadilly.
These elegant and popular Rooms, having been entirely re-
decorated, are now OPEN EVEItY EVENING for Concert
and Dancing. •Conductor, Signor Lear CURTI. Manager,
M. GRENET.

Admission to Promenade, One Shilling.
Reserved Seats, Two Shillings.

31ADAME TUSSAUD'S EXHIBITION,
BAKER-STREET.

NEW EDI noNs. —A MA RRIAG f GROUP of their
Royal Highnesses the PRINCESS HELENA and PRINCE
CHRISTIAN; also a variety of COURT DRESSES of the
most magnificent and costly description. Several life-size
Portrait lilodels of the most distinguished Men of the Day
are likewise to be seen.

Admittance, ls. ; children, under ten, half-price ; extra
rooms, 6d.
Open from 11 a tn. till 10 p.m.

WESTON'S GRAND MUSIC HALL,
HOLBORN.
• '
Under New Management.
Proprietors—Messrs. Sweasey and Holland.

Grand Selections from TROVATORE and ROB ROY by
50 vocalists and a band of 30, conducted by P. Corri.
Enthusiastic reception 'of GEORGE LEYBOURNE, the
Lion Comic—GEORGINA SMITHSON, the Characteristic
Singer and Dancer—EMMA WEST, Burlesque Actress and
Serio-Comic—JAMES HICAI3IINGS in his Wonderful Globe
entertainment—Great Success of the Eighteen STAR MIN-
STR ELS—W. WEST (Stump Orator), Principal Comedian—
J. E. ALLI BONE, the celebrated Basso of the original
Christy's Minstrels, and S. REDDEN, Champion Tambour—
C. MADDEN, Prize Jig Dancer—Songs, Duets, Glees, and
Choruses by a company of first-class taientel artistes never
before heard in Negro Minatrel,,y.
Box-office open from 10 till 4.
Doors oven at Seven. Commence at Half-past.

CHOCOLATE.-MENIER'S FREgCI-1.

CHOCOLAT-MEATIER, for Breakfast.

CIIOCOLAT-MENIER is pure, wholesome, and
delicious.

VENTER'S FRENCH CHOCOLATE.
1 Warehouse, 23, Henrietta-street, Covent-garden.

Sold everywhere.

THE CULTIVATION of TEA in the East
Indies is an important feature, and the EAST INDIA
TEA. COMPANY have, on account of its great strength and
exquisite flavour, promoted its sale by every means. The
Company are now selling Assam, ()mint*, Darjeeling, &c., at
the reduced duty—viz., from 2s. Bd. to 3s. Bd. per lb and
China Teas as usual at ls. 4d. per lb. and upwards. Ware-
houses, No. 9, Great St. Helen's-churchyard, Bishopsgate.

DUNVILLE'S V.R. OLD IRISH WHISKY,
BELFAST,

Is regularly supplied to the House of Lords.

" V.R." IRISH WHISKY.

DUNVILLE and CO.'S " V.R." OLD IRISH
WHISKY, BELFAST.

London Offices and Stores,
4, BEAUFORT-BUILDINGS, STRAND, W.C.
Established 1808. Quotations on application.

lALKNER'S OLD IRISH WHISKY, " Real
Malt," 19s. per gallon, is sold in bottles and jars, bear-
ing his label and trade mark. Most liberal terms are offered
to the trade for the sale of this genufna old spirit, which is
coming into universal consumption through England.
For price lists apply at Offices, 14, Strand, London, W.C.
Established in Gratton-street, Dublin, A.D. 1760.

JAMES DALY and CO., Distillers, John-street,
Cork.—" The purest spirt urvi saes, drlnk In the
world."—Loudon Offices, 7, Printing-house-Square,
next the " Times."

TAMES DALY and CO., Distillers, John-street,
Cork, be to announce that they +.re able to supply the
trade with their celebrated Whiskies, in casks or cases, and
to take orders In bond and for exp irtation, at their offices, 7,
i'rinting-house-square, London, E C , the only house in the
square not occupied by the. "Times." J. D. and Co.'s whiskies
brim; the hiLaiest prices in the Australian and other Colonial
markets, as may be observed by re:erence to the "Journal of
Commerce of Victoria," by which it will be seen that their
whiskies fetch 6d. per gallon and ls. per case over the next
best, and is. Gd per gallon and ss. Gd. a case over the lowest
quotation. Always on hand a large supply of very old
mellow whisky in the finest condition, matured in sherry
casks, unsurpassable in quality and flavour, supplied on the
most reasonable terms.

STARCH MANUFACTURERS
TO H. R. H. THE PRINCESS OF WALES.
GLENFIELD PATENT STARCH,
Used in the Royal Laundry,

AND AWARDED THE PRIZE MEDAL. 1882.
Bold by all Grocers, Chandlers, &o. &e.

THE " SINGER," New Noiseless Lock-Stitch
FAMILY SEWING MACHINES.
These machines combine all the Latest Improvements, and
are now on Exhibitim for the first time. beaux an improve-
ment upon Singer's celebrated "Letter A" Family eewlnz
Machine, of which over One Hundred and Eighty Thousand
have been soli in all parts of the world. Inspection in-
vited.
Purchasers desirous of securing the best machines yet
brought out should not fail to see them. Cata'ogues post
free.
THE SINGER MANUFACTURING COMPANY,
Proprietors and Manufacturers cf the world-renowned
"Singer" Sewing Machines.
Chief Office in the United Kingdom, 147, Cheapside.
London.

XTOTFIENTG IMPOSSIBLE. --The greatest and
Li most useful invention of the day, AGUA AMA RBLL A,
Messrs. JOHN GOSNIfLL and CO., lied Bull Wharf, 93,
Upper Thames-street, Perfumers to her Majesty, respect-
fully offer to the public this truly marvellous ffuift, which
gradually restores the human hair to its pristine hue—no
matter at what age. The Ague Amarella has none of the
properties of dyes ; it, on the contrary, is beneficial to the
system, and when the hair is once restored one application
per month will keep it in perfect colour. Price one guinea per
bottle, or in half bottles, 10s. 83. Testimonials from artistes
of the highest order, and from individuals of undoubted re-
speotability, may be seen on application. Messrs. John
Gosnell and Co. have been appointed Perfumers to her Royal
Highness the Princess of Wales.

HOMELESS BOYS OF LONDON.-FUNDS
are earnestly solicited for fitting up the TRAINING
SHIP. £2,000 required.
WM. WILLIAMS, Secretary.
Boys' Ref age, 8, Great Queen-street, W.C.

HOMELESS BOYS OF LONDON.-CON-
TRIBUTIONSg-N- are earnestly solicited for establishing
the COUNTRY HOME. £l,OOO required.
WM. WILLI &MS, Secretary.
Boys' Refuge, 8, Great Queen-street. W.C.

HOMELESS BOYS OF LUND ON. —The
Committee are most anxious to provide for 400 boys.
One hundred and fifty are now in the Refuge. The annual
expenditure for supporting the 400 boys is estimated at
£6,000, being £l5 a year for each boy. Several kind friends
have promised to pay for one boy each year.
Subscriptions thankfully received by the London and West-
minster Bank, 41, Lothbury, and 211, High Holborn; Messrs.
Ransom and Cc., 1, Pall-Mall East ; and by
%VM. WILLIAMS, Secretary.
Refuge, 8, Great Queen-street, W.C.

PROVIDENCE ROW
R NIGHT REFUGE,
FO
HOMELESS WOMEN AND CHILDREN,
14A, Providence-row, Finsbury, E.C.
Sixty Thousand Nights' Lodgings, with Suppers and
Breakfasts, have been given in this Institution to the
destitute, who otherwise would have had to pass the
nights in the bleak streets or under railway arches.
At present nearly 500 Nights' Lodgings, with Suppers and
Breakfasts, are given gratuitously every week. The poor
from all parts are admitted, the only condition being that
they are homeless and starving. The Manager &c.,
receives no remuneration whatever. Notwithstand-
ing the provisicin made by the Poor Houses, each
night numbers of young women, children, and orphans
are, for want accommodation, refused admittance,'andhave
to spend night after night in the cold, wet, and sleet. To
meet this evil, and to provide more ample accommoda-
tion, £2,000 has been raised, but to accomplish the
work a sum of at least .El,OOO more will be required.
Besides providing shelter for the homeless, this year it
is proposed, as far as the donations obtained for the pur-
pose will allow, to give bread and coals to poor families
in want. Will you, in your charity, help to carry on and
accomplish what has been begun ? Will you help to give
shelter to the really homeless, and food to the really
starving ? Tho smallest donation will be most welcome,
and, night and" morning, the prayers of the destitute will
be offered in your behalf.
SUBSCRIPTIONS are earnestly requested, and will le
gratefully received by the Rev. D. a ELBERT, D.D.,1•T0l 22,
Finsbury-circus, 8.0.

\fICOLL'S GUINEA WATERPROOF
TWEED and their TWO GUINEA MELTON
CLOTH OVERCOATS are patronised by Travellers all over
the world. •

LADIES' WATERPROOF TWEE) CLOAKS, One
Guinea. _ _ _

U. J. and D. NICOLT,,
111 to 720, Rezent-a`reet, W.;
10, oslr stre, t, Manchester; and
5,, Bold-street, L vapool. 22, Cornhal. E.C. ;
M y•

To I-I N GO;-7.7 NE LI, and CO.'S CIIERTIX
CY TOO ra PA8T11: is greatly superior to miy tooth
powder; gives the teeth a pearl whiteness,_ protk•ets -the
enamel from demay, and imparts a plea.ant frntrrance to
the breath. Price Is. 6:i.—lted Bull Wharf, t 33, Upper
Thames street, London.

GOLD BATII.--The celebrated OLD ROMAN
BATII is Ras-OPESEu with gra.t iniTirovauents.
Strand-lane, near Somerset Iloase.—Admission. Is.

SAUCES,
ORIGINAL and superiOr ESSENCE of AN-
CHOVIES,as supplied by JOHN BURGESS and SON (for more than a
PICKLES, .6ze , pure and good,
hundred years), 107, Strand, corner of Savoy-steps, London.

MADAME RACHEL begs leave to CAUTION
Ladies against gross IMPOSTO RS who are advertis-
ing under the pretence of forwarding receipts for Female
Beauty, and who for a few stamps are vending dangerous,
spurious, and destructive compounds in imitation of the
beautiful art of which she stands the sole professor.-47A,
New Bon&street.

MUDIE'S SELECT LIBRARY.
131. THE NEW SEASON.—NOTICE.
ALL the BEST BOOKS of the NEW SEASON and
of the past twenty years are in circulation at
MUDIE'S SELECT LIBRARY.
And may be obtained with tho least possible delay by
- ali'Snscribors of
ONE GUINEA PER ANNUM.
Book Societies supplied on liberal terms.
Prospectuses on application.
MUDIE'S SELECT LIBRARY, Limited,
NEW OXFORD-STREET.
City Office, 4, King-street, Cheapside.

EVERYBODY asks for the HELENA.—See
Scarborough Gazette, Oct. 4.—Order of all Music-
sellers.
Mr. WRIGHTON'S NEW BALLADS.—" Mr. W. T.
Wrighton, who will ever be remembered and thanked for
his charming ballad, ' Her bright smile haunts me still,'
has just issued a sweet little song, commencing ' Grieve
not for me love.' It is in the key of D, in six-quaver time,
and ranges from Dto F sharp—or within the compass of
a tenth. The air is very pretty and tender, is easy, and
sings smoothly and pleasantly. Another of Mr. Wrighton's
latest compositions is his ballad, 'The-y tell me lam quite
forgot.' This is in B flat, common time. It is a very ex-
pressive song, and would well suit a good tenor voice,
capable of delivering it with some degree of impassioned
feeling. The accompaniment is simple, yet very appro-
priate."—Vide Scarborough Gazette, Out. 4.
Each ballad 35., free by post for 19 stamps each.—Lon-
don : Robert Cocks and Co., New Burlington-street, Pub-
lishers of the " Helena Waltz," &c.

WHAT IS YOUR CREST AND WHAT IS
- , YOUR MOTTO ?
Send 3; 6d. to CULLETON'S Heraldic Office for a
Plain Sketch, or 6s. for a Coloured one. The Arms of
man and wife blended together in proper heraldic form.
The proper heraldic Colours for servants' liveries, what
buttons to be used, and how the carriage should be painted,
fee 10s. Just complete, a very valuable book, with 3,500
Engraving; arms, crests, and mottoes of nearly every
family in the kingdom, the result of thirty years labour,
price £lO 10s., printed in several colours. Family Pedi-
grees traced from authentic records, information as to the
obtaining of a new grant of arms, how to change one's
name, by T. Culleton, Engraver to her Majesty and Royal
family ; also Diesinker to the Board of Trade, 25, Gran-
bourn-street (corner of St. Martin's-lane), W.C.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

--- --4-

TIMES. there any sin in deed, word, or thought, I
that is deemed too heinous to be laid to the charge
of " Per.fide Albion?" Not if we listen to the talk or
look over the writings of some continental people.
We do not know how far we may hold ourselves
guiltless of rainfalls or droughts, of flood and fire, or
of any other natural scourge with which our neigh-
bours happen to be afflicted. But, as political mis-
chief, nothing, it is quite sure, ever goes wrong
without our being at the bottom of it all. Does the
Pope meditate an escape from Rome? Who should
put the thought into his mind but Mr. Odo Russell,
himself, a Protestant, and the representative of a
Protestant State, anxious to withdraw the Holy
Father from the protection of his eldest daughter ?
Are the Cretans in arms against the Sultan? Who
stirred them up but " 'olland. Palmerston, and Sir
Edouard Gladstone," those pretended rnuneuenes,
dead or living, who threw out the lonian Islands as
a bait to bring back the Morea, Athens, and the
whole of the Greek world iu their train ? Finally—
and this is the offence which has raised the last hue
and cry against us—who but ourselves hired the
monks and brigands of Palermo to proclaim the
Sicilian Republic ; and what else was our object but
to wrest from King Victor Emmanuel that fairest
and richest Wand in the Mediterranean, on the pos-
seksion of which our hearts have been set ever since
the days of Lord Nelson ? Little would it avail us
to plead " Not Guilty" to the impeachment, to en-
deavour to redeem our character for fair-dealing and
unselfish motives by pointing to the facts—that the
news of the rise in Sicily took us as much by surprise
as it did all the rest of the world, not excluding Baron
Ricasoli, the Prime Minister of Italy, and M. Torelli,
the Prefect of Palermo ; that our anxiety to refrain
from interference went the whole length of leaving
her Majesty's subjects in the island unprotected
by a single boat from our Malta squadron, compel-
ling them to seek shelter on board a man-of-war of
a friendly Power; finally, that the English residents
found themselves exposed no less to the bullets
of the insurgents than to the shells of the Royal
troops. All this would be to little purpose ; the
proofs of our complicity are supplied by the heaps
of English sovereigns with which the rioters' pockets
were flush, by their cry for the Constitution of 1812,
and the mention of the " Partito Inglese" among
them. We• shall certainly take no trouble to un-
deceive the politicians of Milan and Florence as to
the absurdity of the imputation, We shall not at-
tempt to convince anybody who m
i may yet require
conviction on that score that there s not really one
inch of territory belonging to any
of the European
States which we do in the least feel inclined to
covet, and that, as to Sicily, not only would we
never take that island as a gift, but no bribe would
induce us to saddle ourselves with it. John Bull is,
on the whole, a thriving man, and is aware of the
feeling that is said to be the shadow of prosperity.
Few people in Europe care to understand him ;
most nations take their opinions of him at second-
hand, from the estimate he puts on himself. The
English painted by themselves make. but a sorry pic-
ture. In our worst fits of grumbling we are taken
at our own words. Anything more selfish, more
fickle, more unprincipled than our foreign policy,
past and present, as blazoned forth by certain ac-
complished English essayists on England and
Europb, can hardly be read in the Memoirs, if they
ever appear, of the Marquis de Boissy. That for
five-and-twenty years, at the close of the last and
the beginning of the present century, we should
have struggled for existence, and in our great straits
acted sometimes on the maxim that all is fair in war,
seems to those benign gentlemen an indelible stain
on our national shield. The recklessness with which
we went to work during those continental wars, the
worse than Macchiavellian arts by which we pro-
moted our selfish aims, regardless of other people's
rights and interests, no less than of our most sacred
engagements—all our misdeeds are arrayed against
us, not only with a view to overwhelm us with
shame and remorse, but to bend our hearts to
amends and reparation ; to point .out a just and
generous policy, which should begin by a general
restitution of stolen goods—a surrender of Gibral-
tar to the Spaniards, of Malta to the Italians, and
to every man his own—and should end in a cham-
pionship of the weak and the oppressed, a chival-
rous mission in quest of wrongs to be redressed.
We have no great apprehension of the sound mass
of our countrymen ever being led away by specious
theories of the nature alluded to. Without claiming
exemption from that liability to error which is the
common lot of mortals, we believe that our states-
menlmpressed with a strong sense
for the last seventy years have pursued that
course which the exigencies of extremely hard times
imposed upon them.
however,of t he i their dutyalthey were not,
country,.iTat is called " la
altogether
politique du sentiment," nor, above all, sympathy
for any cause that might seem noble and deserving.
r theirde
ad to
In the negotiations of 1815, whatever may be said
to the contrary, England put forth the most mode-
rate claims in her own behalf, and thought most of
the interests of European peace, and of what was
then looked upon as the rights and liberties of na-
tions. Since that year it must also be allowed that,
bound as she deemed herself by the faith of treaties,
she too often strained a point for the relief of the
.
oppressed, and lent a hand some transactions
the strict justice and expediency of which have since
been questioned ; for there are not many at the
present day who would contend that the Greeks
were worthy of the independence that Navarino
gave them, or that the rule of Don Carlos in Spain
could have been more bigoted, more despotic, or
sanguinary than that of Queen Isabel has been. • It
is, be it understood, ..far less from sluggishness in
taking an active part in European conflicts, less from
a sordid anxiety for her trade and industry, that
England has gradually withdrawnwithin herself and

adopted her policy of non-intervention, than from
the immense difficulty in many questions of know-,
ing what side it is really wise and equitable to take
or what positive good may be expected even of the
most justifiable interference. For our own part we
believe no Englishman has any reason, looking to
the results, to be proud or glad of the part he took
in Spanish broils, and no Englishman, were he even
a Lord Dudley Stuart, would advise war with Rus-
sia, even for the sake of Polish independexe. As
to restitution of British possessions in obedience to
the claims of nationality, we have shown our good
will in the case of the lonian Islands, an act of self-
denial to which more impulsive and magnanimous na-
tions offer no parallel ; and although we shall never
have reason to repent a sacrifice which was only a •
good riddance for what concerns ourselves, we are
far from sure as yet that either the Greeks or the
lonians themselves may count that change as a real
gain ; but as to Gibraltar, Malta, and other mere
dots on the map of the world, even if we were con-
fiding enough to surrender fangs and claws in our
trust in the brotherhood of nations, we should only
show our improvidence in giving up to the weak .
what sooner or later must again fall into the hands
of the strong. But, although we have established
among us the political principle that charity begins
at home—and we have, in our opinion, no reason to
be ashamed of it--we do not think that our neigh-
bours ought to be too positive as to our absolute
neutrality in all their concerns, or as to our adherence
to the doctrine of non-intervention in any events.
England is not ancient Venice, nor were the wars of
the Napoleonic era to us what those of the League
Of Cambray were to the Republic of St. Mark. It
is possible, we believe, to presume too far on the
" passivity and supineness" of England. That every
Government should settle its own affairs with its
people without let or hindrance on our part, were it
even as utter a libel on Providence as 4that of the
Bourbon of Naples, is with us a fixed principle ;
nor do' we think right and wrong are always so
nicely divided in international questions as to war-
rant rash partisanship ; but there may, nevertheless,
be cases of outrages so glaring, and perpetrated to
the injury of such near and dear neighbours, as
would compel us, in spite of all our inertness, to
take up another people's cause as if it were our
own. We certainly deem it idle to take heed of
all the rumours lately current with respect to the
designs of some great Powers against some of the
minor States on their frontier. It would be even
more unprofitable to discuss how we should meet
contingencies as yet so remote, but there is cer-
tainly no harm in borrowing the favourite
phrase of the Emperor Napoleon, and asserting
that in such contingencies we should " reserve
our freedom of action." As to the Eastern
question, none of those who hold- us so cheap
would dream of its coming to a settlement with-
out us. We certainly do not greatly care what be-
comes of Crete or of any other Greek province,
whether insular or continental. The expulsion of
the Turk from Europe, the partition of his spoils
between Russia, France, Austria, and Prussia would
little affect our equanimity. Our former cure of
the " Sick Man" was not successful, and was never
meant to be radical or permanent. He had too
many doctors. Only we must not have Egypt
meddled with. For the independence of the
Isthmus Europe may be sure that we would fight
tooth and nail. Men may count their big batta-
lions, they may put their faith in needle-guns, they
may forget all we ever did by land or sea ; but the
real nerve of war is with us nevertheless, the gold
in our banks, the thews and sinews in our manly
race. Nor need too great a stress be laid on our
Anglo-Saxon horror of great standing armies; for
the Americans are also Anglo-Saxons, and they
bowed to that suprema lex which in their hour of
trial became their only sales populi.
POST.—The distinguished members of the late
Government who have determined to pass the
critical period of an exceptionally embarrassing
recess in the Eternal City may be congratulated on
the exercise of their excellent discretion. It should
not, however, be hastily supposed that an excursion
which is obviously convenient involves any de-
parture from the way of duty. Mr. Gladstone
may have recollected, and Earl Russell cannot
have forgotten, that at no remote period a great
English statesman was recalled from Rome to ad-
vise her Majesty and to lead the House of Com:
mons; out that they have not been forgetful of the
interests of the Liberal party is sufficiently proved
by the letter which Mr. Brand has written to the
executive committee of the National Reform Union.
Sill it would sewn that the R'trlical Reformers fail
to perceive the expediency of this movement, and
that, so far from moderating their suppressed
displeasure, Mr. Brand has heaped coals upon the
fire. They describe him as the " ex-whipper-in
eoavkesp iswiwe ietnhionugt r
eaaudt
ihnoersist y
of the Liberals," and affect to think that he
sinneetrhe alitkehliis.
.to believerrhey
hood of a Tory Reform Bill," and are surprised
that he should conceive it possible for Parliament
to amend and pass any measure dealing with the
representation which Lord Derby's Government
might introduce. Of course there are suspicious
people who regard such an outburst of indignation
as they would a flash of stage lightning; but be that
as it may, Mr. Brand's manifesto claims considera-
tion, on the fair assumption that it is an authentic
and accredited political communication. Substanti-
ally, the letter which has caused so much real or
simulated consternation in the Radical camp is little
more than a recapitulation, in a condensed and pre-
cise form, of the opinions expressed by Mr. Glad-
stone at Salisbury. It draws a line of demarcation
between the action of the Liberal party and the agi-
tion of the reform leagues and unions, and explains
clearly enough on what conditions and to what end
the former is to be directed. Mr. Brand presumes
that Lord Derby's Government must do one of three
things ; they may decline to deal with Reform ; or
they may propose an illusory measure ; or they may
bring forward a Reform Bill which, if not good, is
susceptible of improvement. If the last course is
taken, Mr. Brand thinks their bill ought to be car-
ried into committee in order to amend it ; and, on
the other hand, " if the Government take either the
first or the second course, it will be for Parliament
to pass judgment upon them." The only point on
which this proposition appears to admit of a factious
interpretation is not perhaps of much consequence,
for no one doubts that the Conservatives would be
glad to settle this question, and it may be assumed
that the House of Commons will not be unreason-
ably impatient. But the ground on which it is ob-
jected to by the Radicals is, or rather may be, of
the utmost importance. If Mr. Gladstone's word is a
bond it will be tenable ; but that is not nearly all,
for on the understanding now announced, the op-
portunity which was missed in 1859 may be secured,
and a revision of the representation so arrived at
would, it cannot be doubted, commend itself to the
great body of the community. The terms suggested
by Mr. Brand were offered to the late Government
by Lord Stanley, and it would be trifling with
Parliament and the country to pretend that any
liberal and comprehensive measure of Reform was
illusory. If, then, there is some chance of getting
rid of this stumbling-block in the way of progress,
the " demonstrations" which Mr. Bright is promot-
ing may be contemplated with comparative com-
posure. They are organised to overawe and in-
timidate the Legislature, and therefore illegal and
mischievous. But it is evident that there can be no
permanent agreement between the statesmen who
are meeting at Rome and the demagogues who de-
claim on the platforms of the Reform League, and
if Mr. Bright casts in his lot with the one he must
break with the other. Thus the nation may became
reconciled to an abuse of its liberties. It has nothing
to fear, and anger may be subdued by contempt.
There are certain limits which must be observed
and certain rights which must be vindicated, but
they cannot be passed over or compromised by mere
" wind and tongue," and it may be wise to tolerate
agitation which clearsp the political atmosphere. Mr.
Bright's followers seem to have calculated errone-
ously on the effect which their provocation would
produce. If they were to carry out their threats
the country would hold them responsible for the con-
sequences ; but it is exceedingly difficult to realise
the idea which is indicated in rhetorical vehemence
and uninstructed clamour. The intention is in-
telligible, and at the present time, and in the urst
place, it is to overthrow the Government of Lord
Derby. That, however, could only be accomplishedl‘lr.
by the co-operation of Mr. Gladstone, and
Gladstone has never been able to enter practically
into the argument which the•ltadical Reformers
advanced in llyde-park. Marching inultitudcs arc
all very well to round the periods of
aPeroration,
but when they come " in their thousands,"ra descends
as they
do at these " demonstrations,': theeao
from his rostrum, and retires
"ttPce with himself.
tor
To say that the question of
is
Reform is the sole
really equivalent to
property of " Liberals „
saying that it is a party q
uestion, and the worth
of Mr. Brand's letter consists in its repudiation
If there be any question
a this pernicious theory.
at all on the subject, it concerns the community
as whole. The representation of the people is not
the a
representation of one party or of another party ;
and if it is to be reframed, the exigencies and the
passions of political strife should not be suffered to