The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-20 00:00:00

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 1866,

The announcement made last evening by Ear.
RUSSELL in one Rouse, and by Mr. GLADSTONE in
the other, can have taken no one by surprise. The
exact nature of the communication which the
Ministry have felt it necessary to make to her
Majesty cannot, indeed, be explained to the House
until Monday evening, owing to the Queen's ab-
sence from London, but there is little doubt as to
its nature and object. Mr. GLADSTONE observed
that they had taken into consideration not only the
vote of the previous night, but the character of the
whole debate and the former divisions on the bill.
The Government has, in fact, been living "from
hand to mouth" for some weeks. Every
night's debate has been tedious and difficult,
every step in the progress of the Reform Bill has
been taken almost under protest. Such a state of
things could not be otherwise than humiliating to
the Government, who had reason to doubt on every
important division whether they would find them-
selves in the majority or the minority. Their first
victory of five was so small that many doubted
whether they would continue in office or would go
on with the bill. Mr. GLADSTONE, however, has
more than once plainly intimated that the
two conditions are inseparable, and that he at least
teasot
thinks himself pledged to the country not
retain his position unless he can carry
the measure. So that there was, in fact, only One
course open, and by a retribution, which is cer-
tainly not undeserved, the Reform Bill of 1866
proves fatal to Earl RUSSELL'S own Cabinet, even
as the Reform Bill of 1859, thanks to Earl RUS-
SELL'S kindly intervention, proved fatal to Lord
DERBY'S Government. The head of the Cabinet,
if he passes into Opposition, will not carry many
regrets with him. On the very point of Reform
itself, which was once his stronghold on the respect
and affection of the people, Lord RUSSELL has
failed to satisfy or conciliate the public. His
rest-and-be-thankful" policy sufficed so long as
the personal popularity of Lord PAL3IERSTON sup-
ported the Administration, and the sagacity and
tact of the late Premier kept a tottering and
divided Cabinet together. But the country did not
fail to reckon the years of Liberal administration
agaith7t the actual results, and
-nen were notr
slow
to notice that, in spite of all professions, ou
Ad-
ere as costly and as unsatisfactory,
niftalty affitirs w
and that neither economy nor efficiency
ruling powers. Our Board
of to be the
of Trade might have done a good deal
more with respect to the condition of Our
harbours, and certainly neither the inhabitants of
Queenstown nor of Newhaven will have much cause
to regret the removal of Mr. MILNER GIBSON from
his post. Daunt's Rock may wreck many another
good ship before it moves our present Government
to action. Neither will Captain Cou:s be inclined
to waste much sorrow upon the abdication of the
Duke of SOMERSET and his subordinates, who may
have the satisfaction of seeing by the American

squadron that other people were working while
they were considering. Mr. EYRE will have no
reason to deplore a change in the Colonial-
office, though, in truth, the injustice with which he
has been treated was due rather to Mr. CARDWELL'S
chief than to the Colonial Secretary himself. India
has not much to thank the Whig Government for,
and had her affairs been in wiser hands during the
last six years she might have made much greater
progress on the road to civilisation and internal
prosperity. Nearer home we have little reason to
felicitate ourselves on the part we have played in
Europe, and the Panes will waste no lamentations
on the discomfiture of their quondam friends and
very timorous allies.
It is possible that the Ministry may seek to extri-
cate themselves from their dilemma by a dissolution
of Parliament, and this we shall learn in a few days.
The more probable conclusion is, however, that they
have placed their resignations unreservedly in the
hands of her MAJESTY. Whether she will accept
them is another matter for speculation. She will
probably be unwilling to have any change in her
Government during the present crisis in Continental
affairs, but at the same time she is too constitutional
a monarch to expect a Ministry to carry on the
public business in the face of an adverse House of
Commons. Reform, which has been the standing
difficulty with our statesmen of all parties during
the last ten years, has thus " upset the coach"
again, and it blocks the way to further progress.
It is a question which must be settled, and yet
which no one can settle ; which every one pro-
fesses to be extremely anxious about, yet, which
no one cares to touch ; which every one approves
in generalities and quarrels with in details.
So long as Reform is a vision, an idea,
it is very easy to applaud, but so soon
as it assumes a tangible shape it is just as easy to
criticise and to condemn. What is to be done
upon that point is uncertain. The Liberals, as we
have seen of old, are no more willing to help the
Conservatives to pass a moderate measure than the
Conservatives are to allow the Liberals to do so.
Every scheme of redistribution arrays the repre-
sentatives of the disfranchised or
proposal
dismembered
to
boroughs against the bill ; every
increase the number of voters brings into
active hostility those who anticipate increased
expenses or diminished influence at the next
election. There is more than indifference on the
subject in too many corners of the House of Com-
mons—there is absolute antagonism ; and Mr.
GLADSTONE may have the consolation of knowing
that a much better bill would probably have shared
the same fate, unless the Ministry had been per-
sonally strong enough to push it through the Com-
mons.

By a strange coincidence the eighteenth of June
was the day on which Prussia and Italy declared
war against Austria. Prussia is prosecuting the
war with vigour in all directions, so far as getting
possession of various places is concerned. No at-
tempt is being made of a hostile character against
the inhabitants of Saxony, and, indeed, it is said
by the aggressors that they are not to be regarded
as enemies. General MANTEUFFEL is commander
of the Prussian troops in Hanover, and has issued
a proclamation, in which he declares that the King
of HANOVEn will be considered " belligerent'
until she or the Hanoverian troops shall have been,
placed upon a peace-footing. Private property is
to be respected, which is a good thing at all events,
but how far can we trust these assurances, plau-
sible though they appear to be ? It will need very
little provocation on the part of Hanover or Saxony
to give the Prussians a handle against them, and
then they need expect no quarter, for the
Prussian soldiers are the most cruel in
Europe, and they have made little improve-
ment of late, as was unfortunately testified in the
Danish war two years ago. It is difficult to under-
stand the policy of Austria, and, judging from ap-
pearances, we naturally come to the conclusion
that she is most mistaken in her present course of
inaction. It is so strange that she should thus de-
sert her allies in the hour of need, and recklessly
cast away the advantages she might have gained
from their support and assistance. If the resources
of these States are monopolised, if their powers are
crippled, if their youths arc dragged off to serve
in the ranks of the Prussian army, what use will
their adhesion be to that of Austria ? No doubt she
has some grand scheme iu view, but how can its
success compensate for this immediate and apparent
loss in Saxony, Hanover, and elsewhere? The
Prussians hare effected the object of removing the
seat of war from their own soil, and will, doubtless,
plume themselves upon this achievement. Some
decided movement may be expected before Frank-
fort, as the Federal troops are assembled before the
city, from thirty to forty thousand strong.
The Austrians commenced hostilities on Monday
by crossing the Silesian frontier, and firing upon a
Prussian patrol. It seems from this that the object
of the Austrian Government is to get possession of
Silesia, and very likely they may do so eventually,
but still at the same time it would be far wiser on
their part to make sure of the present than to be
thus scheming for the future. Let them be certain
of the safety and security of their allies before
they attempt aggrandisement of territory. This
is the manner of all German statesmen at
present, and until it be put a stop to there is no
real chance or sure prospect of an amelioration in
their fortunes. It keeps the people under their
care in a perpetual state of distraction, it para-
lyses all plans at home and abroad, and in a hun-
dred ways it interferes with domestic prosperity
and foreign relations. All the loss and trouble
that will fall upon Germany might have been
prevented if the two great Powers had not
been so bent on gaining possession of Schleswig-
Holstsin. There was quite enough for them to
do at home in
all directions without their rushing
headlong into: new
difficulties. The more the
antecedents of this war are studied the
better in all respapta ; it may teach statesmen and
people to think more of public morality, and give
less heed to the passions of the moment.
Prussia can always see where others have violated
course
international law, and accordingly they have pro-
tested against the seizure of the Frankfort telegraph
office by the Bavarians. Count BIS3IARCK has for-
warded a despatch to the Prussian representatives
abroad, in which he states that European law will
be essentially altered. How absurd it is for one
Government thus to arrogate to itself the right of
dictation to the other members of a Confederation.
The German Diet has given Count BISMARCK such a
cause for provocation that he knows no bounds to
his indignation. At the same time the Prussian
Government despatched a protest to the several
German Courts, declaring that the proceedings they
might take in accordance with the orders of the so-
called Federal Diet were null and void. A mani-
festo of the KING to the Prussian people was issued,
which declares that those hopes have been disap-
pointed which looked for an alliance between Aus-
tria and Prussia of
a lasting and beneficial kind.
It concludes with the
extraordinary declaration
that they are obliged to
"We must go forth to battle fightf for
foruf
life
ei s
ox r tde
enactei
against those who wish to humiliate the Prussia
and the War of
of the great Elector, FREDERICK,