The Sun.
London, England, 1857-06-05 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 1857.

A little more than a Fortnight and the New
House of Commons will have been tested in re-
gard to the Ballot by Mr. TT,
KI.ENRY BERKELEY.
The Hon. Member for Bristol yesterday duly
redeemed his promise by indicatinf, the 23d
instant as the evening upon which. his Annual
Motion is, in 1857, to be introduced. Reformers,
consequently, have an immediate prospect of
knowing the best—and the worst—in regard to
tits Old Question of the B tllot and our newly
elected House of Representatives. Already we
have undertaken to be on the alert as to this
proximate Division. Let others be on the alert
iu like manner. We are solicitous that the
watchfulness of a few should not be rendered
nugatory of good by the indifference of the many.
The Liberal Con3tituencies far and wide ought at
this moment to be on the qui vice as to the voters
and non-voters upon this yearly motion of Mr.
BERKELEY'S. For ourselves we have undertaken
to be more than ever observant upon this division
list upon the Question of the Ballot. Might not
the Ballot Society co-operate more than ever effec-
tually at this juncture with the liberal journalists,

by multiplying the results of this all-important
Division, and distributing the record of those
results throughout the length and breadth of the
United Kingdom ? Now—if ever—is our oppor-
tunity. The 23d instant will be the long-expected

criterion-day as to the Ballot with reference to
the newly-elected Commons House of Parliament.

.Aud after what ordeal having been passed through
in regard to The Ballot by the vast majority of the

popular representatives ? After each one of that
vast majority having been scrupulously and
searchingly catechised as to the Ballot upon the
conspicuous platform of the Hustings, amidst the

breathless attention of the assembled constituents !

Questions and Answers still fresh in the
recollection of those constituents—HOW will
Hon. Members vote upon the 23d upon
the motion of Mr. Berkeley? Will they
have the hardihood to vote contrary to the
opinions they have themselves, each in turn so
recently and so publicly expressed ? Or, will
they have the hardly less glaring effrontery to ab-
sent themselves upon that unwelcome occasion ?
We shall see, after another interval of eighteen
days shall have elapsed. We shall see—and we
shall thereupon record legibly in black and white
the result of our observations. Let Hon. Mem-

hers therefore look well to it. A " ehiel" or two,
not less vigilantly watchful than Captain Gr.osE
himself will be among them on the 23d "taking
notes"—" and faith" as ROBIN BURNS said, in
the old song, with a sort of an Irish accent, and
with a noble defiance of all the laws of syntax—
" and faith" they'll " prent it "—meaning, of
course, the produce of those " notes." They'll
" prent it," so that " those who run may read "
—it—the Division List upon the Ballot Motion
of Mr. BERKELEY ! And that printed list—be it
not for an instant forgotten by Hon. Members--
will be read scrutinisingly by the light of their
own Hustings Revelations. It is because of
this that we consider this next division upon the
Ballot, in the House of Commons, to be of such
extraordinary importance. For the Ballot—
judging that House by the speeches delivered
from the hustings by so many of its members—
has gained very considerably by the late dissolu-
tion. Most of the old advocates of the Ballot
have been again returned to Parliament. Many
new advocates of the Ballot may be readily enu-
merated among the one hundred and seventy odd
representatives until now strangers to the interior
of the popular branch of the Legislature. And
beyond these two important categories, there is
still a third remaining to be particularised—the
number of those who have intimated (under the
wholesome pressure applied to their judgments at
the hustings during the agonies of the late Gene-
ral Election), who have intimated (directly or in-
directly, it matters nothing), who have distinctly
intimated their readiness to waive their objections
at last in favour of a project evidently considered
requisite by the great bulk of the electoral popu-
lation. Among these—we won't call them
Trimmers—among these sagacious Politicians who
have recently shown themselves to be open to
reason, there were, it cannot possibly have been
already forgotten, there were one or two very
conspicuous by reason of their position and their
reputation. There was—a single instance will
be sufficient for our purpc se, considering
the indubitable importance of the one we
are selecting—there was—Not, observe, Mr.
NOAKES, of Little Britain, or Mr. STYLES, of
Stoke Pogis There was—the once puissant, and
still to a, certai❑ extent influential leader of the
Great Whig Party, One of the chosen repre-
sentatives of our metropolitan constituency.
There was, in brief, Lord JOHN RUSSELL. Did
he, or did he not, declare a willingness to recon-
sider his objections to the Ballot ? We distinctly
and positively assert that he Did ! He did—
indirectly. These still sits (conspicuously placed)
in the House of Commons not merely the Wit-
ness of his so doing, but the actual Organ or
Mouthpiece of his so doing ! A personage dressed
with courtly precision in tights and silk stockings,
with buckles to his shoes, and a bag to his coat
collar, and a dapper little sword by his thigh—
the Sergeant-at-Arms, Lord CHARLES F. &e. &e.
RUSSELL. We resolutely maintain that the
brother of the noble ex-Premier declared as plainly
as words could possibly declare anything at all,
that Lord JoHN was prepared, upon certain con-
ditions, to waive his hitherto obdurate objections
to the Ballot. Lord CHARLES RUSSELL spoke this
voluntarily at a public meeting of the electors of
the City of London, at one of the old city
Taverns, at a time when the result of the
memorable contest fur the City appeared to
be particularly dubious, to say the very least of
it. We ourselves drew attention t) the circum
btince at the time. And we are very anxious
that that circumstance should not, at the preseLt
critical moment, be overlooked. Let us see now
how Lord JOHN will vote upon Mr. BERKELEY'S
motion—into which lobby he will we.lk in the
presence of that out-spoken Sergeant-at-Arms !
And Lord JOHN is but one of many And many
of those many, spoke a great deal more plainly, or
rather more directly than Lord JOHN did, whoa
he spoke thus through the lips of his brother.
Several of these sudden converts to the Belief iu
the Ballot made their Confessibn of Faith not by
proxy, but upon the Hastings —themselves !
Let us see now their sincerity. Let us not., on
their part, the glory, of their perseverance—or
brand the ignominy of their recantation

There is at last a reasonable' hope that Church
rates will be finally and completely got rid of,
even within the present session. Lord PALMER-
sToN last night, in answer to a question of Sir J.
TLLELAWNEY, declared that " the Government
have a measure in course of preparation which
they hoped to be able before long to submit to the
consideration of the House ;" and on a little
gentle pressure, added, that he of course meant
that " Government intend to introduce the bill
during the present session." This is as it should
be, and, coupled with this manly and straight-
forward conduct of the Noble Lord respecting
"Ministers' Money," will go far towards satisfy-
ing the people of his sincerity. It will, if fully
and fairly carried out, prove that he is not, as has
been asserted, "a wolf in cheeps clothing"--1
thorough-paced Tory disguised as a Liberal I But
there must be no underhand work—no half-and-
half legislation, that will keep up the irritation
and leave both parties dissatisfied. Nor will it
be satisfactory if the just and necessary measure
be deferred until there is no longer a reasonable
hope of its passing into a law before the proroga-
tion. The people want something more than a
mere glimpse at the promised land. They will not
be contented with the introduction of " an inno-
cent" to
participate in the annual massacre. They
gratefully
accept the Ministerial Bill in the hope
and belief that it will be faithfully met, and duly
honoured at maturity.
We cordially congratulate our fellow labourers
on the auspicious Prospect thus afforded of a
triumphant termination to our labours. We need
not say how long, and how earnestly, we have ad-
vocated the good cause—how we have insisted on
the complete abatement of the social nuisance.
The question was not one of money, but of prin-
ciple. It offended many moral and high-minded