The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-19 00:00:00

SPIRIT Or TIM PUBLIC JOURNALS,

Another Ministerial crisis has come upon us, says the
Times, on the passing of an amendment proposed by Mr.
Bouverie, to the effect that the payment of rates be not
required for a voter in Scctt,land. The leading journal
finds it difficult to believe that the vote on Mr. Bouverie's
amendment can be at as final. If it were, the con-
sequences cannot be evaded ; but there are strong reasons
for holding th'at the decision was not perfectly deliberate.
The numbers on each side shew how thin the committee
wair, especially when it is remembered that nearly 420
members took part in the earlier division on Mr. Baxter's
instruction. The vote has every appearance of having
been hasty, and the speakers on the amendment were few
and brief. It seems also to have been not understood that
the question of rating as involved in the Scotch Bill is
totally different from the question raised last year in the
discussions on the English Act. The effect of the measure
of last summer was undoubtedly to produce a great
alteration in the system of local rating. It reversed, as
was said at the time, the policy of much recent legislation
by compelling the separate rating of householders in par-
liamentary boroughs. The proposal of the Scotch Bill
did not require any such violent change of an esta-
blished system. The enfranchising clause conferred
the franchise on every householder rated and paying
his rates, but, as there is no practice of compounding
in Scotland, the effect of the clause was to give the
franchise to every householder who paid his rates.
Those only would lose the privilege who were so poor as
to be excused the burden of rates, and the franchise would
be that pure ratepaying franchise, unencumbered by any
compounding enforced by Mr. Henley last year. It is
hard to believe the House of Commons thinks that
ratepaying, is an unnecessary condition for the admis-
sion of householders to the parliamentary register.
Little more than twelve months ago the proposal to
enfranchise every householder who satisfied this modest
qualification would have been looked upon as revolu-
tionary. The principle of requiring payment of
rates as a condition for the electoral franchise
was, indeed, no novelty invented by Mr. Disraeli.
It is contained in the great Act of 1.512,
and has always since been insisted upon, except so far as
it -.vas varied by the admission under the Compounding
cts of the landlord instead of the tenant as the person
snaking the actual payment. The members of the com-
mittee were, however, in an impatient mood, aryl ti..
aromments addressed to them fell on unwilling ears. To
I.llice hoped the knot of all difficulties would be me t, e
the acceptance of Mr. Bouverie's amendment, and -Nis
hope is not an unfair expression of the temper of those
who took part in the vote. They were weary of th- 7atai
phrase " poor rates ;" they thought in their despera.
Con that the admission or exclusion of a " residour.
of householders so poor as to be excused participailtor.
in local burdens was a trifle where so much had
been granted, and they clamoured for prompt execution,
satisfied that things were " going to the bad" and it was
best to have done with them as soon as possible. Impe-
tuosity is not an uncommon characteristic of the House of
Commons when re-assembling in the evening, but it is
sometimes followed by recantation in the morning. It is
certain that no one yesterday afternoon seriously consi-
dered the character of Mr. Bouverie's amendment, the
general impression being that it would come on too late for
discussion last night, and if any one had ventured to de-
clare that it would be accepted by the committee at an
early hour he would not have been believed.

The Post observes that the connection of
Payment of rates and exercise of the franchise may
be said to be the mast to which Mr. Disraeli has
nailed his colours, and when the Chairman announced
that the rating clause in the Scotch Bill had been re-
jected by 118 votes against 96, the Premier said that it
became necessary for her Majesty's Government to
reconsider their position, and moved to report progress.
Once more, therefore, we have a Ministerial crisis.
The event is certainly not unusual, and the public are
becoming accustomed to what is almost of weekly
occurrence. Hitherto Mr. Disraeli has been content to
carry on the Government at the dictates of Opposition.
It remains to be seen whether, in dealing with the Scotch
Reform Bill, lie will continue to do so. More than once
the hint was thrown out to him, in the short debate which
superiened on his motion of adjournment, that he could
not do better than bow to the wishes of the House, and
carry the bill in the form most pleasing to the majority.
Many will think it by no means improbable that he should
eagerly snatch at the suggestion.

The Daily News observes that the ratepaying principle
appears to have some life in it ; for Jr.A Disraeli intimated
that though it had been his desire to meet the wishes of
the House, yet the results of the division were not what
he hcd anticipated, and, he left it to be inferred, might
be what the House did not anticipate. But what
result can a Minister in a minority anticipate ex-

t defeat ? If it is Mr. Disraeli's desire to
meet the wishes of the House, he must acquiesce
decisions. He will, doubtless, do so ulti-
mately ; and it is hard to see what is gained by delaying
the progress of the bill, and affecting to take time for
the consider: tion of the course which be will take under
a contingency for which he must have been prepared. A
defeat more or less, and the surrender of another vital
principle, can make very little difference to a Governwent
which lives by defeats and by the extinction of its vital
principles. Another long journey to take counsel with
his sovereign i 3 qif a. unnecessary ; and Mr. Disraeli will
do well to think twice before putting her Majesty and the
country to superfluous trouble.
The Herald declares that if there could be any further
reason for wishing for the dissolution of the present Par-
liament at the earliest possible opportunity it would be
afforded by the factions pertinacity with which the
majority which now blindly follows the lead of Mr. Glad-
stone persists in stultifying, one after another, the resolu-
tions voted, the principles solemnly affirmed, in the
same House and by similar majorities last year.
But there are grave practical objections to a
dissolution of Parliament which must be followed
after a few months by another general election.
A Parliament elected during the next fortnight would be a
makeshift assembly. at the best—one in which the country
would have no confidence, which could not be depended on
for the settlement of any quest ion of moment. Yet it is to such
a precipice of immediate dissolution that the Opposition
are apparently bent on driving the Government. Is this
Government placidly to accept the negation of all its
propositions• for the conduct of affairs? Is it to allow
the absolute reversal, in the Scotch Reform Bill and the
collateral issues which arise from it, of the principles
which were accepted last year as cardinal points in any
general scheme of Reform ? If it declines to accept these
votes of the Liberal majority it has but two courses open
to it. It must either resign or dissolve Parliament.
If it did not resign at the time when a majority of sixty
was against it on a most vital question—one which threatens
the very bases of the Constitution in Church and State—
at the time when its resignation was offered to the Queen,
it can hardly resign now when it is being harassed and
defeated on a succession of matters of detail, important
enough in themselves, but less momentous than that busi-
ness of the Irish Establishment. It cannot resign now for
the same reason that it did not resign then I because it
feels certain that the sense of the country is in its favour ;
because it believes that the enlarged constituencies of the
new Reform Bill will reverse, when appeal is made to them,
the- action of a House of Commons in its dotage; because it
knows that throughout the length and breadth of the
country a strong current of popular feeling is setting in,
and daily gathering strength in favour of the old laws and
institutions of the realm, and against the revolutionary
policy of Mr. Gladstone and his followers. Her Majesty s
present advisers, who safely and skilfully pioneered the
country last year through the most perilous political crisis
of modern times, are holding office much against their own
interest and wishes, pending the goodwill of the Queen and
the people, for the sake of the Queen, the people, and the
Constitution of the country.

in it,

The Standard attert pts to explain the real character of
the recent collision between the House and the Government.
Ministers, it says, have not changed : the House has. In
1866 there was a majority of 11 against Mr. Gladstone.
In 1867 there was a majority of 20 in favour of Mr. Dis-
raeli. Now, on the same ground, a majority of 21 pro-
nounces against the principles they had accepted last
year, and a majority ranging from sixty downwards sup-
ports Mr. Gladstone in various side attacks upon the Govern.
raent. Prom such a state of things it follows that
Ministers cannot be responsible for the legislation of a
House which pays no respect to them, or to the decisions
at which itself arrived last year under their guidance. If,
inaacai they could fairly be expected to resign, then they
might be held answerable for refusing to transfer their trust
to a Minister who could really lead the House. But
considering that it is not two years since this same House
defeated and ejected Mr. Gladstone, it can hardly claim a
right to restore him at its pleasure. 'lt supported Ministers
last year, and Ministers have certainly done nothinm
between that time and this to forfeit its support. On the
contrary, they have directed the affairs of the country
with confessed ability and judgment ; their foreign policy
has been universally admired ; they have almost crushed
the Fenian conspiracy ; and they have carried a most diffi-
cult and costly war to a conclusion unexpectedly complete
brilliant, and expeditious. Their Irish ecclesiastical
policy is what it was known last year to be ; their Scotch
Reform Bill is that which the House was last year ready
ti) accept; the principles noa_iri changeeje of conduct, then,cted are those which the
Tire House last year approved.
which has brought the House_ into antagonism with the
Ministry is one which is purely capricious, if it be not
purely factious; and to neither the caprice of Parra-
merit nor the manoeuvres of faction ought a Ministry to
VI CIL

Gan Mr. Disraeli, the Star
asks, remain in office after
pul:cy has been so completely reversed ? Wt know the
long-suffering tenacity of office for which the right honour-
able gentleman is remarkable. We know also the, game
lie desires to play with the bigots on the Irish Church
question The Prime Minister holds office that he may be
serviceable to Mr. Benjamin Disraeli—an object he
eSteenl3 ranch more worthy of devotion than either Church
or State. Iris celleagues, with perhaps one exception, are
so completely political nobodies that they can safely cal-
ciliate on escaping any lasting odium from their insignifi-
cance. - The one colleague whose political character
was formerly respected has apparently given up to
Disraeli what was meant for mankind. He probably
imagines that by attending somewhat ostentatiously to
the business of his department he can escape much of the
responsibility attaching to a Minority Ministry. In this
he will find himself n6-itaken, just as Mr. Disraeli will dis-
cover that it is vain to attempt to cover up ignominious
defeatskn by speeches half accepting the result which he r
iws to be inevitable. It is a matter of little consequence
whether the policy of the Government is surrendered like
the Abyssinian captives after a preliminary contest. in
the lobbies, or their defeat takes place after the stormin
of the citadel. In either case they are politically discre-
g dited, and by all the laws of constitutional warfare they
ought to surrender at discrttlon.

THE' ATTEMPTED ASSASSIN'ATfON OF

THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH.

The Australian papers received supply interesting details
relative to the atrocious attempt on the life of the Duke
of Edinburgh. The Sydney Morning Herald, after de-
scribing the attack on the Prince, says :
The scene which followed almost defies description.
No sooner had Mr. Vial grasped the man who
had fired the shots than several other gentlemen
also seized him ; and, had it not been for the
closing in around them of the police and other
persons, they would speedily have placed him beyond the
reach of the law courts. The people shouted, " Lynch
him," " Hang him," " String him up," and so on, and
there was a general rush to get at him. Unfor-
tunately for Mr. Vial, some of the people mis-
took him for the Prince's dastardly assailant, and
for a few seconds he was treated unmercifully. He
was pulled backwards by the hair of his head—he was
kicked and beaten, and his hair and whiskers torn out by
the handful—and it was not until some gentlemen who
knew Mr. Vial came to his assistance that he was released.
In the meantime the police, headed by Superintendent
Orridge, got hold of the assassin, and they had the
greatest difficulty in preventing the infuriated people from
tearing him limb from limb. The task of putting the
prisoner on board the ship was not an easy one, and it was
fully ten minutes before ',they got him on to the wharf.
By that time all the clothing from the upper part of his
body was torn off, his eyes, face, and body were
much bruised, and blood was flowing from various
wounds ; and when he was dragged on to the deck
of the Paterson, which was lying at the wharf, he
appeared to be utterly unconscious. No sooner was he on
board than a number of sailors had a rope ready to string
him up, and it was only by the interference of Lord Newry
that his life was spared. Some of the police were very
roughly used, Detective Powell getting about the worst of
it. In the scuffle he fell over some stones, and had a
chance of being trampled to death.

The people out of whose hands the prisoner had been
rescued immediately gave vent to their disappointment,
and at an indignation meeting, summarily convened, deter-
mined to bring hith back from the steamer, and despatch
him at the scene of the crime. A rush was then made for
the steamer, which had just hauled off a few feet from the
wharf, and they shouted to the captain to haul in. For
a moment this officer appeared to waver, but the Hon.
John Hay, who was on the bridge, doubtless divining the
intentions of the crowd, peremptorily ordered the captain
to haul off. This he did, and the vessel accordingly pro-
ceeded on her way to Sydney.
Upon the arrival of the Paterson at Sydney the prisoner
was landed and conveyed in charge of Mr. Orridge to the
gaol. He made no secret of his intention to have assasi-
nated the Prince. While in charge of the police he said
to one member of the force, " I have made a mess of it,
and all for no good." To another, " I don't care for death;
lam sorry I missed my aim. I made a mess of it ;" and
to another, " I am a Fenian. God save Ireland." He
also said, " I have done my duty, and can die for my
country." He then added, "It can't be helped now ; I
I-ave made a mess of it."

The Colonial Secretary, Mr. Parkes, soon afterwards
proceeded to the gaol, saw the prisoner, and asked him how
he came to commit such an outrage, to which he replied,
"Come, come, it is not fair to ask me such a question as
that ; the Prince is all right.; the Prince will live ; you need
sot fear about him ; it's only a side wound. I shall be
hanged ; but the Prince will live." The Colonial Secre-
tary, taking with him two police-constables, went to the
Clarendon Hotel, where the prisoner had slept. The
people there knew nothing about the affair beyond hear-
ing, a rumour that the Prince bad been shut. They ad-
mitted that such a man as the prisoner was described
to be had lived there, and the room in which he had
slept was at once searched. Some articles of wearing
apparel were found in a broken box and in a table drawer.
In various places (in the drawer and in the pockets of his
clothes) were found percussion caps, detonating cartridges,
wadding for revolvers, a Douay Bible, a Roman Catholic
Prayer-book, and a number of other religious books, in
which his name was inscribed ; also a crucifix. Having
secured these things, the Colonial Secretary ascertained
that O'Farrell had been in Sydney from about Christmas
last, and that whilst the Prince has been here, whenever
the other lodgers in the house spoke of him this man
got out of temper and denounced him. He went out on
Tuesday evening to go to the fancy dress ball at the Prince
of Wales Theatre, but for some reason did not get in, and
came back. The Colonial Secretary also ascertained
that he had lived at Tierney's, Currency Lass Hotel,
corner of Fitt and Hunter streets, and to that house they
proceeded. Here, in a box said to belong to O'Farrell
they found a number of articles of clothing and some
written papers, from which it was shewn that he had
resided in Melbourne.

A letter from Melbourne, dated March 31, says : " The
family of the O'Farrells came hither from Dublin 25 years
ago or more. The old man, who was a butcher in Eliza-
betkstreet, had two sons and two daughters. From the
nature of the youngest son's late performance, you will
imagine that he must have followed his father's business.
Very different, however, his profession was intended to
be. He was to be a priest of the Roman Catholic
Church, and at 20 was sent to Europe to qualify for it.
He had been so apt a scholar that at sixteen he made a
speech at a meeting tf the St. Patrick's Society here, in
March 184 G, that called forth praise from our oldest
colonist, Mr. J. P. Fawkner. The speech was 'On Edu-
cation.' However, the education and the priestly studies
led to nothing, for O'Farrell came back here as he went,
and, for the Church, took to store-keeping at Ballarat
with one Kennedy. Hay, corn, and straw were their
specialities. They prospered, and a liking for the
bottle seized Kennedy, and he drank and died.
O'Farrell was left alone in every sense, for it was one
of his peculiarities that he talked of his vows of
celibacy, taken on his going in for the priesthood, having
been always kept. In one of the mining manias at Bal-
larat he lost all his property and took to the bottle. He
often talked of suicide, and on his two sisters, who arc
well married here, going up to Ballarat to aid him, he
attempted the life of one of them with a sword-stick. His
relatives kept him at St. Kilda, near Melbourne, for some
time, and then let him go for a change to Sydney, sending
him remittances. What he did there the world will
know."