The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-16 00:00:00

LONDON, SATURDAY, MAY 16, 1868.

It seems that we are not to have any peace this
Session, for as fast as one difficulty is surmounted
another starts up. The chief regret that this Oc-
casions is the great loss of time it causes, and, of
course, each day makes the chance of passing the
necessary measures more and more remote. Ser-
geant ARMSTRONG last night gave notice that on
Monday week he should move " that the position
of her MAJESTY'S Government is opposed to the
principles of representative government, subver-
sive of constitutional administration, and incom-
patible with the character and dignity of Parlia-
ment." When critically examined these grand-
soundiniphrases resolve themselves into nothing,
or at best must be regarded in the light of one of
those acrimonious attacks which of late have been
so unhappily frequent. What possible object but
that of faction can such a scheme be meant to attain.
Every one who is qualified to judge must see that in
reality there is nothing at all unsuitable in
the position of the Government, and the unusual
part of the affair rests with Mr. GLADSTONE, who
has thought fit to act in defiance of all established
forms and usages, and to do his best to delay the
meeting of the Reformed Parliament beyond the
time fixed for it, and looked forward to by the
country. It remains to be seen whether Mr. GLAD-
STONE will support this motion of the 25th instant,
or if he will act the more spirited course of letting
it alone. If he throw in his aid and induce his im-
mediate followers to lend their assistance, all we
can say is that he will damage himself irreparably
in the opinion of the country, and show that he is
guided by factious motives, and not inspired, as his
more ardent admirers would have us believe, by the
desire to effect the change in the Irish Church
Establishment. Let us hope until the event proves
the contrary that the right hon. gentleman
will have more sense than to act such a part, and
that this motion will meet with as little support and
encouragement as it deserves. It is idle to suppose
tnat Mr. DISRAELI will change his mind in conse-
quence of it, and that the policy he has indicated to
the House will be departed from. If not altogether
blinded by faction, we should think that hon. mem-
bers must perceive the fallacy of the course they
indicated, and comprehend that, by supporting the
proposition thus put forth, they will be exhibiting a
spectacle of factious opposition such as the House
of Commons has rarely witnessed.
Mr. BOUVERIE was kind enough to tell Mr.
DISRAELI that he need not have taken the trouble
to go down to Osborne to consult the QUEEN, in
order to procure a more early dissolution, because,
under any circumstances, the new Parliament can-
not meet until December. The Solicitor-General
very truly said that Mr, BOOVERIE had been most
ingenious in discovering obstacles in the way of the
early dissolution, and he seemed anxious to procure
time for the delays he threatened in respect to the
process of legislation, but he showed that these were
not impossible to surmount. The electoral list can
be fully made up by the 10th of October if the staff
of revising barristers be increased, and ten days'
publication of the list instead of twenty-five were
sufficient he declared. No doubt the most is made
of all this by those anxious to show that an autum-
nal session is out of the question ; but, when care-
fully examined,the objections do not prove valid,
nor are the obstacles seen to be insuperable. Sir
C. O'LOGIJLEN called the attention of the House to
the want of a permanent Royal residence in Ireland,
and went into long details to carry outhisobject. Mr.
IhsRA.ELI agreed that the influence of the Sovereign
was most beneficial, but the Lord-Lieutenant was
more than was made out by the hon. baronet. Mr.
GLADSTONE concurred with Mr. DISRAELI in order-
ing the notice to be withdrawn, while he sympa-
thised with its meaning. It will be evident at a
glance that the present time is not a suitable one