The Sun.
London, England, 1859-02-10 00:00:00

BAROMETER.-29.53.

WIND, South-Westerly ; light, with dull weather, and
partial rain. It rained yesterday all day and night, with
heavy squalls.
Two o' Clock—Fine sunshiny weather.

A timely letter from Mr. COBDEN will be
found in another part of our impression of this
evening. A communication apropos of the Ballot--
of Mr. BERKELEY'S next motion in its regard—of
Mr. BRIGHT'S energetic agitation for the Reform
of Parliament. Our only regret in respqt of this
letter ii its brevity. Every syllable of it, however,
is full of encouragement. Its whole . purport is
propitious. Coming from Mr, COBDEN'S hand
previous to his departure for the United States, and at
the close of hisprolonged silence and retirement, it
• is peculiarly acceptable. It is a letter, as will be
observed, to the vice-chairman of the Ballot
Society—a letter deprecating the notion that the
comprehensive movement set on foot by the Mem-
ber for Birmingham in anyway whatever implies
the advisability of the Ballot Society abandoning
their own distinct organisation. "Don't for a
moment suppose this"—says Mr. COBDEN, in his
homely, forceful way, adding "I'll venture to
say, *when Mr. BERKELEY brings forward his
motion, he will have no better advocate at his back
than Mr. BRIGHT!,
Seconded by Mr. BRlGHT—
supported by some 230 believers - in the efficacy of
the Ballot already in the House of Commons—aided
by the knowledge that there is that inevitable
" appeal to the country" coming fast towards us
in the later part of this very session—
the pear ripe—the breezes of the reform
agitation rising audibly, now in one direction, now
in another—the Hon. Member for Bristol is at this
moment rapidly approaching that very period
which he has so long aspired to witness, the period
foretold years back by the Hon. and Learned ex-
Member for the City of London, GEORGE GROTE,
banker and scholar—historian of the Greeks, and
champion of the Ballot ! Mr. BERKELEY
succeeded Mr. GAoTE with the annual motion
for the Ballot—now very speedily, we doubt not, to
be transformed from a motion into a Bill, and from
a Bill into an enactment. The Ballot at this hour
has become the touchstone of the true Reformer.
It will be the watchword in the midst of the
struggle of the next general election. Whichever
of the great parties contending for power first
declares for it—as one of them inevitably will
shortly—will receive in recompense from the
country a prolonged tenure of office. The Whigs,
in order to do this, would have to pass, first of all,
through the painful ordeal of a flagrant and delibe-
rate recantation. As yet, they are distinctly pledged
against it. Not so the strong party now holding
the reins of Government. In regard to the Ballot,
they, as a party, have not yet, in either way, dis-
thictly committed themselves. Their fate, at this
moment, is in their own hands. Let them re-
cognise frankly the
necessity of the hour,
and give the
Ballot, and they may appeal to
the country with a Perfect confidence in the result
of that appeal—and they may carry their own Re-
form Bill almost intact through both Houses in the
new Parliament—and they will secure themselves
firmly in office as a popular Government. Let them,
on the contrary, miss this golden opportunity_pre,
cisely, at the wrong moment, declare against --the
Ballot—and then—" Farewell, a long farewell to
all their greatness !" They will forthwith be succeeded
by men wiser in their generation. Their now con.
siderable minority will rapidly collapse.to one much

smaller. They will have committed political
suicide. It would be idle, however, to look for
anything so inconceivable in the way of fatuity as
this from men who have upon all other questions,
as yet, since the date of their acceptance of office,
shown such remarkable sagacity amidst the mani-
fold toils and responsibilities of government. What-
ever course Lord DERBY and his colleagues may
pursue in regard to the question of the Ballot, we
are at any rate sanguine of this—that Mr.
COBDEN will return from his " very short visit
to the United States," but just in time to wit-
ness the triumph of that Great Question, and,
in all probability, himself to participate in the first
advantages derived from it, by entering once more
the scene of his own former triumphs, as a member
of the new re-reformed Parliament.

There has been a supplement to the Imperial
speech. Count de MoRNY has, in his capacity as
President of the Corps Legislatif, spoken out
plainly and intelligibly in favour of peace—or at
least he puts that interpretation on the speech of
the EMPEROR. He wishes that there should be an
expression of " unlimited confidence, which ten
years of wisdom, of moderation, of devotion to
the interests of France, and religious care of
her honour, must have inspired the people
with !" There is, however, one sentence at the
conclusion of the address which will de-
prive the remainder of its efficacy. Count de
MORNY says—" Our resolute co-operation will
give the EMPEROR greater authority to negotiate,
as it will give him, if need be, greater force to
conquer." This was an unfortunate phrase—it
showed even at the eleventh hour the ruling
passion. There is manifestly a notion of conquest
still prevailing. The Empire may be peace, but
still that peace may ~,be disturbed on the most
trivial causes, and conquests are to follow.

What, then, is to be the field on which these
conquests are to be gained ? At whose expense are
the anticipated triumphs to be obtained? Italy, at
present, seems the destined spot, and Austria the
intended victim. She has, however, a powerful
and well-disciplined army, occupying posts of great
strength ; and should she be disposed to conciliate
the Lombardo-Venetians, by conceding much-re-
quired reforms, France would have no easy task to
accomplish in driving her troops out of Northern
Italy, after trampling under_ foot all existing
treaties. The Austrian loan has failed. English
capitalists have refused to hand out the six
millions of pounds sterling with that cheerful alac-
rity so pleasing to Royal borrowers. But although
the sinews of war have not been supplied, Austria
is by no means helpless ; and if she only conciliates
her Italian subjects, and obtains their good will
and cordial co-operation, she may effeetually resist
the most strenuous onslaughts on the part of
France and Piedmont.

Sardinia, too, is looking for a loan, but she
modestly demands only 50,000,000 lire, or two
millions of pounds sterling. We shall be greatly
surprised if this transaction finds greater favour
in the money market than that lately proposed on
behalf of its rival. It must now be perfectly appa•
rent that the effect of what may justly be termed
a " war loan" must be to greatly depreciate all
public securities—to lower the quotations of the
stocks and funds of every European nation. Al-
though no patriotic considerations may influence
the parties, they may yet appreciate the extent
of the losses they would themselves sustain from a
general reduction in the value of all public secu-
rities—so much so that the prospect of or :aths
premium could not influence them. We have al-
ready lent two millions sterling to Piedmont, and
in doing so have gone to the utmost length of our
tether. We have not the slightest desire to double
the extent of the obligation. If she really wants
the money for any unobjectionable purpose she can
procure it from her new ally, with whom she
maintains such friendly relations.
England sympathises deeply with Italy, but
LOITIS NAPOLEON is not the champion who could
be expected to break her bonds and confer freedom

on the anxious patriots. When he has given liberty
to France, when he has done all that is prac-

ticable for the mighty nation that has entrusted its
destinies to his charge, then we may place
confidence in his. professions, and believe
that he really desires to bestow freedom
on others. But we doubt his plausible pro-
fessions. We dread the alleged boons coming
from such a quarter ; we should greatly prefer a
spontaneous movement on the part of Austria—

something that would tranquillise public feeling in
Lombardy and Venice, and alleviate the excitement
now prevailing. The POPE, too, must make con-
cessions, or be prepared to endure the consequences
of his perversity, when the foreign occupation
ceases, and the French troops have beenwithdrawn
from Rome and the Austrian bayonets from the

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THE SUN.
THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 10, 1859.