The Sun.
London, England, 1861-03-27 00:00:00

of the immortal founder of the Imperial dynasty of
France, it was one among the most memorable of
his many remarkable sayings, that there, in the
East, he himself had missed his destiny ! He who,
after being repulsed from St. Jean d'Acre by the
British sailors under that gallant but crackbrained
hero, Sir SYDNEY SMITH—he who (after that
repulse from the walls of Acre, although leaving
behind him Egypt conquered to the arms of France,
Cairo and Alexandria and the valley of the Nile. in
the possession of his victorious soldiers)—returned
to Europe to found the most extraordinary Empire
in the history of the civilised globe ! Yet such,
from the first, was the drift (so to speak) Eastwards
of the Napoleonian policy, that even he, the origi-
nator of that policy, the creator of that empire, the
founder of that dynasty, lamented, in those famous
words of his, that there, in the East, by that baulk
before Acre, he had missed his destiny ! The
significance of that (as it may be termed) first and
foremost among the Napoleonian Ideas, we may
rest perfectly assured has not been the least
appreciated among them all by the man who
has reduced those Napoleonian ideas to a sort of po-
litical philosophy. Having begun the movement
of his troops Eastwards, he will not, if he can pos-
sibly help it, retrace their steps in a very great
hurry. Remember how numerically insignificant
and how purely temporary the French occupation
of Rome was pronounced to be when it was origi-
nally commenced. And then recollect how firmly
the foot of the Gaul has been planted there
ever since, and how imposing a force has been
long gathered together there upon the summit of
the Seven Hills under the shadow of the French
Tricolour. When Syria has been actually
evacuated by the troops of NAPOLEON, then but
not before we shall believe in the close there of
the French military occupation.

We should not be surprised if Lord JOHN RUS-
SELL obtains, at last, the "breeze he has Whistled
for." In England the working men are beginning
to move with energy and organisation. Leeds and
Norwich have recently held meetings and formed
associations for parliamentary reform, upon the
widest basis, while at the same time they have sup-
ported cordially all the instalments of reform
offered them by such bills as those of Mr. LOCKE
KING and Mr. BAINES. This is the true business-
like course ; and the men who can thus stand firmly
to their principles, and yet heartily support those
who only make an approach to them; are the men
who will most certainly succeed at last:
The meeting at the Standard Theatre, Bishops-
gate-street, at which four thousand persons, chiefly
of the unenfranchised classes, were reported to be
present, is probably but the beginning of a vigorous
movement in the metropolis, which will ultimately
combine the greater part, and the better part, of the
working classes. It will beseen that in the same re-
solutionthey condemn the contemptuous refusal of
Reform by Government—speak of the efforts of in-
dependent members, such as Mr. LOCKE KING and
Mr. BAINES, as worthy of approval and support, but
also " most cordially recommend the formation of
societies like the London Political Union, aiming
at nothing less than the complete enfranchise-
ment of the people, by means of universal regis-
tered suffrage, the ballot, short parliaments, and
equitable distribution of members, and the ex-
emption of candidates from personal expenses."
The speakers thought it unworthy of the Go-
vernment to require something almost border-
ing on revolution to force a Worm Bill through
Parliament. " What did Lord JoHN RUSSELL
want ? Did he wish to see the seditious, incen-
diary, and almost insurrectionary proceedings of
1831 revive again ? Was it the conduct of true
statesmen thus to appeal to -the passions of the
people ? Well, perhaps, the people had been slum-
bering too long. But when they awoke, would
they entrust the care and conduct of their interests
to such men as Lord PALMERSTON and Lord JoHN
RUSSELL ? He believed there was no greaterenemy
of parliamentary reform in the kingdom than Lord
PAL3fERSTON." In the last remark we need not say
we entirely concur; nor do we think it likely that we
ever shall have a Reform Act while Lord PALMER-
STON is at the head of affairs. Lord TEYNIIAII,
who was present and spoke, is evidently quite quali-
fied to let a little light into the minds of his fellow
Peers if they Were but capable of receiving it. In
his view "they were all equal, for they were all
taxed." Alluding to the old motto over the pic-
ture of a slave, he asked—" Were not the unen-
franchised of this cointry men and brothers ?
Were they to be kept in political bondage, and for
how long ? Let them not expect a Reform Bill
from the House of Lords or from the present House
of Commons. He believed the present Govern-
ment took the most dignified course they could—
and that was not saying much—in leaving
Reform alone. But let the people out of doors be
of one mind, and Reform could not be resisted."
He fully accepted the resolution, it " asserted the
right of the people to universal registered suffrage,
vote by ballot, and short Parliaments. The people
were entitled to that. He respected Mr. LOCKE
KING and Mr. BAINES for pursuing their own
ideas of reform, but whilst he would support their
bills he could not approve of them, for he never
could understand how the possession of a shilling
more or less could make a man worthy or unworthy
of the franchise !" This is, at any rate, as our
American friends say, "going the whole hog," and
that, too, for a peer of the realm—of course, he
could not forget the cause which he had advocated
in the House of Lords, and for which the Duke of
NEWCASTLE did him the honour of pouring on
him all the contempt of his order :—" With re-
gard to the Ballot," he said, "it was necessary tha

the voter should be protected from the intimidation
of the landlord or the customer. A man was not
the less brave because he used a shield. Their aim
must be manhood suffrage and vote by Ballot."

He strenuously recommended the formation of a
great National Reform Union, and the sending of
delegates to London while Parliament was sitting..
Our readers will also find a report of a meeting
at Huddersfield, at which Mr. LEATHAM, the
member, was the chief speaker, and made in his
speech many admirable hits. The resolutions there
was to the same purport, advocating complete re-
form, but cordially supporting the proposals of
the two members already mentioned. If Reformers

but act in this way, not concealing their views, but

cheerfully uniting' to carry something practicable
though much short of them, they can hardly fail
both to gain the respect due to their prudence,
and the irresistible power of combined action.
Mr. LEATHAM has no reform love for Lord

PALMERSTON. He avows that it would not spoil
his breakfast to find among the deaths in the morn-

ing papers, some day after Easter, that of the PAL-
MERSTON Ministry. He characterised justly their
disgraceful subserviency to Austria, and their sup-
port of that most worthless of Governments, in the
teeth of the universal feeling of England. It would
really seem as if the people intended to take up
what the Government and the House of Commons
have thrown overboard.

The 3 p.m. express train from the Waterloo
station, on Monday, was stopped at Wimbledon specially to
convey Mr. Turner, one of the gentlemen who was seriously
injured at the late frightful accident on the South-Western
line, to his home at Portsmouth. The unfortunate gentle-
man has been confined at the 'Wimbledon hotel ever since
the accident, where his family have been staying with him.
He was obliged to be carried from the station to the carriage, ,