The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-13 00:00:00

AUSTRALIA.

LIVERPOOL, APRIL 13.
• The Royal Charter has arrived with upwards of
200 passengers, and brings 128,000 oz. of gold and
13,000 sovereigns, besides a large quantity in the
hands of passengers.
One gentleman, Mr. G. Sparrow, brings a splen-
did nugget weighing 328 oz. pure gold. -
The Royal Charter had.nothing but light winds
from Cape Horn to the Western Islands, and strong
north-east winds from that until she made the land.
The passengers are well pleased with the ship's per-
formance.

LIVERPOOL, SUNDAY.
This morning the Sir W. J. Williams, Captain
Rees, belonging to the Black Ball line, arrived in
the Mersey from Hobart Town. She has made the
voyage in 69 days, having left that port on the 2d
February. Her news has been anticipated.

REFORM OF PARLIAMENT-LORD JOHN
RUSSELL'S "FINALITY."

(From the Press.)
Ths Edinburgh Review once said, that "the spirit
of self-assertion was the predominant characteriitic
of English statesmen ;" and a more self-asserting
politician than Lord John Russell does not exist.
If GoVernment bring in a Reform Bill, we cannot
suppose that Lord J. Russell will allow a measure
of importanceto be easilypa'ssed without his opinion
having been consulied on such a scheme ; if, on the
other hand, the Ministry postpones its reform mea-
sures, then Lord J. Russell, true to his antecedents,
will endeavour agaiu to attract towards himself the
gale ofpopular. favour. The oldfirm of " Russell and
Co." will again issue their circulars, requesting
the support of their friends. "Our Sir James
Graham" will, possibly, be introduced as a part-
ner, and the credit of the " Tiverton Company "
wfll be adroitly disparaged.
But if the Premier will have his difficulties in
avoiding a Reform Bill, it cannot he denied that Lord
J. Russell will also have some obstacles tsi encoun-
ter. Foremost amongst these is the memory of the
vacillation that he has shown upon the whole ques
tion. He was for-a long time called " Fieality
Jack," and the manner in which the noble lOrd
earned that appellation contrasts with his anxiety
during the " Coalition" to pass a Reform scheme,
at the withdrawal of which he wept in the
House of Commons. The changes of, tone of Lord
John Russell with respect to "finality" cannot be
overlooked. We have been at some trouble in find-
ing outs when Lord John Russell first made use
of the phrase. . We believe that it was so fir back
as the time of the passing of the Reform Bill. On
the sth of June, 1832, Lord John Russell moved
that the house should agree to certain amendments
.of the Lords, when, as the report states, " a
long and animated debate ensued, in which
the politicalunionswere strongly deprecated byboth
sides of the " house." Amongst other speakers, the
late Mr. Hume (then M.P. tor Middlesex, at the
height of his vogue) " declared that he would not
give a pin for the bill if it stopped at its present
point, without paving the way for further changes,
whereupon (continues the Report) Lord John Rus-
sell rose, and said " that he trusted that the Bill
would be received by the country as a final mea-
sure ; he could consent to nothing which went be-
' yond it. If it were received the public would soon
cease to waste their time on political unions."
These are strong and significant words. In 1839,
the "Letter to the Electors of Stroud." uttered the
same tone. On the 21st of June,lB49, the noble lord
(then Prime Minister) defended the Reform Act
against the onslaught of the Radical Reformers,'
led by Mr. Hume ; and on the 4th June, 1849,
the noble lord made so moderate and Con-
servative a speech, that the present Secretary
to the Admiralty called it " a melancholy exhibi-
tion." In justice, however, to the noble member
for London, we must admit that on one of those last
occasions he said that "he had always been of
opinion that the Reform Bill would admit of im-
provement from time to time"—a phrase which may
mean anything or nothing, as "improvement" and
" time" are equally vague ; and in politics, as in
other things, " words are but wind"—actions
"speak the mind."
Between " the bill, the whole bill, and nothing.
but the bill," "a final measure," "progressive re-
form," and "improvement from time to time," it
would be difficult to ascertain the permanent con-
victions of the noble member for London. But his
inconsistencies are as nothing, when compared with
those of the present Prime Minister; and in the
coming session both those noble lords will.be com-
pelled to speak out.

ELECTION INTELLIGENCE.

SCOTLAND.
WICK BURGHS.

At the close of thepO1111;;; burghs of Tain, Cro-
marty, Dingwall, Dornoch, and Wink the numbers
were—

Lord John Hay ... ... ... 272
Mr. Shaw 162
At Kirkwall, at 2 o'clock, there was a majority of 21
and only 12 electors to poll.