The Sun.
London, England, 1866-07-17 00:00:00

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

Ti' DAY.—Morning, sh. 30m.—Afternoon, sh. 50m.
To-Monnow.-Morning, 6h. 10m.—Afternoon, 6h. 30m,

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Sntt.

LONDON, TUESDAY, JULY 17, 1866.

The resumption of the sittings of the House of
Commons under its new leadership gave rise to
some active discussion. Nothing, indeed, was
actually accomplished, but it is evident, from the
list of notices, that in spite of the lateness of the
session, and the heat of the weather, the energies of
our politicians are not altogether exhausted. A
good many troublesome questions were brought up,
and the new Ministry had, as usual in such cases,
to answer as best they could a number of sugges-
tions and appeals, entreaties and warnings. The
inconveniences of place and power were, how-
ever, last night divided between the two parties,
since a great part of the evening was occupied in a
dispute between Sir ROBERT PEEL, Mr. LOWE, Sir
G. GREY, and Mr. GLADSTONE respecting the Char
ter of the Queen's University. A long and some-
what angry discussion took place on this head, the
independent members charging the ex-Government
with neglecting to fulfil their pledges, and Sir G.
GREY and Mr. GLADSTONE defending themselves
from the charge. Ireland, indeed, occupied a pro-
minent place in the consideration of the House last
evening, for Mr. BERNAL OSBORNE took occasion
to criticise the Irish legal appointments at some
length, and with great severity. He complained that
the new Lord Chancellor was 85 years of age, and that
the Lord Chief Justice of Appeals was as deaf as a
post. He declared that these appointments were highly
disadvantageous, and strongly advocated the claims
of Mr. BREWSTER, to whom it is understood there
were some party objections in Ireland. Mr. OSBORNE
further alluded to Mr. DISRAELI'S speech at Ayles-
bury and his remarks upon Irish emigration,
declaring that it was highly prejudicial for the Irish
to believe that some great public measures were
going to be brought forward for their special benefit.
He did not succeed in extracting from the
Chancellor of the Exchequer a full exposition
of the Irish policy of the new Administration,
though he admitted that they contemplated, under
the present circumstances of the sister country,
proposing a loan to assist her railways—a measure
which was designed by their predecessors, and of
which, therefore, they could not claim the whole
merit. In spite of Mr. OSBORNE'S alarming anti-
cipations this plan is a just and wise one, since
the condition of Ireland is exceptional, and requires
exceptional treatment. Employment is the grand
panacea for discontent, poverty, and crime. The
influence of railways, which traverse the wild and
lonely parts of the country, carrying business and
civilisation along with them, in breaking up coteries
and places of rendezvous, is another advantage to be
considered. Irishmen are well qualified by nature
to work, and in other countries they turn their
capacities to good account. Why, then, should not
our statesmen endeavour to devise some scheme
which shall give Ireland—and England through her
—the benefit of those strong arms and quick wits
which are continually recruiting the population o
other countries.

As for the Irish legal appointmen s Mr. DISRAELI,
with his usual readiness carried, the war into the
enemy's camp by fully admitting the merits of Mr.
BREWSTER, and innocently expressing his surprise
that a Liberal Government should so long have
overlooked his claims. He admitted the deafness
of Mr. NAPIER, but believed that it would not in-
capacitate him for the performance of his duties,
though we should imagine that it must prove a serious
drawback. As for the complaint about the age of the
Irish Lord Chancellor, Mr. DISRAELI remarked that
it was only three months since he had been appointed
Judge of Appeal, so that-if he were competent to
revise the decisions of the Lord Chancellor of Ire-
land, there was no apparent reason why he should
not be Lord Chancellor himself. Ireland and the
Irish are seemingly about to engage a good share of
public attention, to atone, we may hope, in some
degree for some long previous neglect and in-
difference.

The great interest now taken in the breech-load-
ing gun has already produced some animated dis-
cussion in the House. Captain VIVIAN brought
up the subject, and predicted that the introduction
of breech-loaders would lead to various alterations
in our military system. lle was followed by Mr.
J. B. SMITH, who gave the House a little inforMa-
tion as to the manner in which the efficiency of the
public service is maintained. In 1851 his attention
was drawn, while abraad, to the superiority of the
Prussian musket, and he learned from an English
engineer, who had settled in Prussia, that it car-
ried four times the distance of the common musket,
and was loaded much more quickly. lie subse-
quently received a letter from this gentleman giving
full details of the musket, which he handed to Mr.
Fox MAuLE, then Secretary-at-War, as he sat on
the Treasury Rench. Mr. Fox MAULS
a., but,re,adi from
it, and
it ll
handed it back, saying "We know ,
more the
needle day to this Mr. SMITH heard
n
needle guns. So that, fifteen years ago,e
our
Whig
Administrators had full information as to the i
g
supe-
riority of this gun, without making the slightest
effort to obtain the arm for our men. Mr • Fox
MAULE, who " knew all that" fifteen years ago,
now, with increased years and added dignity, has
gained a little additional knowledge. He knows
now that the Prussians have gained important ad-
vantages by the aid of the needle gun, and that
Englishmen are asking pretty loudly what the heads
of their Military and Naval Departments have been
about of late years, since the enormous expenditure
of our enormous estimates has left the Americans in
advance of us with ironclads, and the Prussians
with musketry.

The last accounts from the Continent seem to
consist of a series of contradictions. In the first
place, it is declared that the Emperor of the FRENCH
will not interfere in the war, as had been expected,
but will limit his efforts to the work of mediation.
iu Berlin we find the official Sta«ts Anzeiger assert-