The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-27 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY, APRIL 27, 1857,

Reform is the watchword ! It is the Key to
the whole Mystery of the Future in regard to this
Fifth Parliament of our Gracious SOVEREIGN.
The New House of Commons is essentially a
House of Reformers. The Prime Minister—as
we have insisted again and again—must, what-
ever else he may be, must necessarily, absolutely,
imperatively, be—A. Reformer ! That, as we ob-
served in so many words on Saturday, his come
at last to be a positive Necessity. There is no
blinking the matter. It glares upon the public
recognition. It is a truth obvious and unde-
niable. The fact that it is so, is blazoned in cha-
racters so clear and legible that whosoever "runs
may read "—it is blazoned, that is to say, in the
long catalogue of the 654 representatives of the
city, borough, county, cinque port, and university
constituencies. So clearly and so legibly that
everybody appreciates the fact already, the unde-
niable and incontestible truth, that the late Gene-
ral Election has given the cause of Reform not
simply an enormous majority, but an overwhelm-
ing preponderance.
Whoever, Runs, we say, can Read this wholly
indisputable truth, that the present Parliamenr,
more peculiarly than any other since the passing
of the Reform Bill, is essentially the Reform Par-
liament.

Does any one yet require some supplementary
and conclusive testimony that it is, literally, as
we are here insisting—as we have been insisting
we don't know how long so pertinaciously ? Any
one so insatiably thirsting for corroboration,
will find the last drop brimming over the Cup of
his Incredulity in--the Times of this morning !
The Times of this morning, Monday, the 27th of
distinctly declares for Reform.
April, 1857,
That, we take it, is conclusive testimony (suppos-
ing any to have been still wanting) that the time
for Reform has indeed at length arrived. For—
unlike any trivial Straw thrown up to show how
the bree7,e is blowing—the Times appears only
capable of being acted upon by a force equivalent
to that of a hurricane ! It is the charac-
teristic of our great contemporary. Insomuch
that, without wishing to be merely complimentary,
we may say of it with literal truth what Lord
BYRON said of the Banner of Freedom in his
Childe Harold (retaining Lord BYnoN's own italicfa
in our quotation), that actually the Standard of
its Opinion—

"Streams like a thunder-cloud against the wind !"
That is literally the " bearing" of the Times in
the average current of events—in fact, until the
force of that current, as we have intimated, be.

comes tantAmount, so to speak, to the force of a

hurricane !

Wherefore we hail to-day with peculiar and
unaffected satisfaction the declaration made in
favour of Reform by our distinguished contem-
porary. What we have so long demanded, the
Times now declares to be necessary—Reform bold,
instant, and comprehensive ! There can no longer,
therefore, be any mistake at all about it—even in
the minds of the least credulous, with these final
"Signs of the Times" before them challenging
observation—there can no longer be any mistake
at all about it, that the Pear is ripe at last ! Re-
form is virtually ours at this moment. Let us
be sure this time that it be adequate for the occa-
sion. We don't want any longer what even the
very leader of the Conservative Opposition desig-
nated, in his address to his constituents, a series
of bit-by-bit improvements. We don't want any
longer any mere nibblings at evils requiring entire
removal, root and branch. Whoever our Prime
Minister is to be—we cannot tire of saying this,
now that we are upon the eve of the new par-
liamentary session —he must be A Reformer.
And not simply A Reformer, but The
Reformer. The man who will bestow upon
his country the benefactions of the most
welt-considered, the most comprehensive, and
the most urgently-required improvements !

And those improvements ! What are they to
be We must have them enumerated explicitly
and categorically. The community is no longer
to have its hunger satisfied by mere vague gene-
ralities. It requires, and it will have, at the
hands of its statesmen—not the old illusory Pro-
mises of Reform, not merely the Fore-shadowings
of Prospective Improvement —but positive Mea-
sures, Practical, and Substantial.

And First of all these Reforms—leb us put
the matter distinctly—there is the BALLOT ! That,
we say at once, as plainly as words can at all ex-
press it, is the First Requisite ! Any further
Reform, without " The Ballot," will be nothing
less than "a mockery, a delusion, and a snare."
The Ballot, and The Ballot alone, can really
secure to the industrial voters, throughout the
country the power of independently exercising the
elective franchise entrusted to their hands by the
Constitution. Therefore, we repeat, THE BALLOT
among all Reforms, must necessarily be the First
and Foremost. Without " The Ballot," all the
hopes of Liberalism are the merest delusion.
With " The Ballot" the pathway is smooth
and level before the new Reforming Par-
liament. We believe that upon the re-
cognition, the candid and manly recognition
of this one essential Precursory Reform, the
Question of the Premiership may be at once de-
cided. Let Lord PALMERSTON declare for it—
let Lord JOHN RUSSELL declare for it—whichever
of the two might pronounce for The Ballot first
would instantly have all the Advanced Liberals of
the land at his back as his supporters. There
would follow in due sequence all the rest of the
great national requirements—an extension of the
suffrage— an approximate equalisation of the
electoral distric's— the disfranchisement of
sundry old, and the organisation of sundry
new constituencies. These and divers other
kindred innovations. But, first of all and as
an essential preliminary to them—The Ballot !
Reform, we have said, is the Watchword of the
New Parliament. " The Ballot " has hitherto
been the Shibboleth, let it now be the Rallying
Cry of our Reforming Statesmen.

It is always satisfactory to recognise the exist-
ence of a cordial and friendly understanding be-
tween a Member of Parliament and those by
whom he has been chosen for that high position.
It is even more gratifying to find, when that con-
nection has permanently terminated, the expres-
sions of mutual good will and affectionate regard
—to know that the parties have been pleased
with each other, and can refer with honest pride
to the manner in which they had discharged their
respective duties ! The grand banquet at the
Audit-hall, Southampton, given by the Chamber
of Commerce to their late representative, Sir
ALEXANDER COCKBURN, was alike honourable to
the distinguished guest and to .his hosts. It was
as SIT A.KSPERE said of " the quality of mercy,"
" twice blessed," reflecting almost equal credit on
all concerned. The learned Lord Chief Justice
had ample cause for remembering with gratitude
the manner in which he had been treated by
those who enabled him to achieve a brilliant Par-
liamentary reputation, and who, from first to
last, rendered a disinterested support. Even his
opponents merited the graceful allusions made
to their conduct, in his speech. There was never
any factious opposition got up for the mere sake
of annoyance. As he truly declared, when "offi-
cial advancement interrupted his tenure in Parlia-
ment, his political opponents"—he had no private
or personal enemies—" exercised a generous for-
bearance, and troubled him not with opposition."
When there were contests of principle, they
" fought manfully and fairly," while his friends
fully merited the name, too often abused, and by
their indefatigable exertions ensured the triumphs
he invariably achieved.

It was not merely as representative, that the
Right Honourable Chief Justice was connected
with Southhampton. It was there when a young
and comparatively unknown man, that he had
fulfilled his first judicial duties. Sixteen years
since he had bee❑ appointed Recorder of South-
ampton, and in that station bad displayed all the
high qualities required for the more exalted
position he now occupies. As the Chairman—
Mr. J. R. STEBBlNG—declared, his conduct as
Recorder was as free from taint as he believed
would be his career as one of the Chief Justices.
He had. fairly and honourably won the confidence
subsequently b:mtowed on him, and it must have
been " the hour of his life" one worth living
for, when he found all parties—those who were once
foes, as well as friends, but now all friends with-
out exception—vieing with each other to render
him the honour he had so eminently merited.
The banquet differed from many of those that
take place during the Parliamentary recess, or
immediately before the meeting of the Legislature.
Politics and party questions were expressly tabooed.
There is a salutary judicial etiquette that prohi-
bits the judges of the land from appearing at
public entertainments gave at the Mansion-house
of the city of London. But all will admit that in the
present instance the role was "more honoured in
the breach than in the observance." The questions
of the day, those that must inevitably be brought
under the notice of the Legislature were not di--
cussed ! There was nothing to show that the
honoured and impartial Judge had any bias as to
the creation of the laws that he might subac-
quently be required to interpret. Generally speak-
ing the birth of the Judge bet ikened the death
of the politician ! From that moment he ceased
to be a legislator. His no less arduous and im-
portant task was to interpret and decide on the
enactments which had obtained, or might yet re-
ceive the legislative sanction. The most enthu-
siastic legal reformer in such a position must en-
deavour to adinini:t..r "the laws as they are, not
as they ought to be," and from that duty we are
fully convinced that Sir ALEX.ANDER COCKBURN
will not swerve cr deviate in the tlighteat degree.