The Sun.
London, England, 1868-11-21 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 21, 186 s,

tions. Whether Mr. GLADSTONE can count
upon having already at his back 310 followers, ac-
cording to the acknowledgment of the Standard's
tabulated figures, cr 314, according to the declara-
tion of the Times, or 316, according to the boast of
the Telegraph—whether Mr. DISRAELI can look
for support to no more than 168 Conservatives, if we
are to believe the 7inzes, or to 170, as is implied by
the Standard, and openly asserted by the Telegraph
—there can be no doubt as to the relative number of
the Old Seats actually gained or lost respec-
tively by the Government and by the Opposi-
tion. 'There, likewise, looking simply to the num-
bers, the advantage is chiefly with the Liberals
is unmistakeably and almost disastrously against the
Conservatives. Looking simply to the nutnbars, it is
so —but not otherwise. Looking to the importance
of the constituencies in which the Conservatives
have won, though in but comparatively few
instances in their struggle with their Liberal

antagonists, the result is certainly very remark-
able. While Ministers have gained in this way out
of the contests for the Old Seats 32, as contrasted
with 47 won from themselves in other contests
for the Old Seats by the Opposition—there are
several of those Ministerial gains so signal of their
kind that we cannot in the least wonder at their
being regarded by the organs of her MAJESTY'S Go-
vernment in the light of a positive consolation.
There is a seat won in the City of London itself,
hitherto returning four Liberals to Parliament. And
the Conservative candidate, there, comes in not as the
fourth on the list, but positively as the second—
leaving down at the bottom of the poll, no less
a personage than the Baron LIONEL DE Rams-
C lIILD. Then, among others, there is that wonderful
success achieved by the Conservative candi-
date in another great metropolitan constituency
—bringing him in at the head of the poll as M.P.
for the city of Westminster ! Placing second to the
name of Mr. SMITH, the name of Captain GROS-
VENOR, although the latter was sustained by all the
enormous influence attaching to him in his capacity
as the representative of the family of the Marquis of
WESTMINSTER ! The Conservative candidate not only
polling considerably more than the son of the Mar-
quis of WESTMINSTER, but throwing out there-
by the vaunted champion of an advanced,
and as it was thought, until the General
Election demonstrated quite clearly to the con-
trary, very formidable, and almost, in one sense, domi-
nant section of the Liberal Opposition ! That clearly
was a great triumph for the Conservatives —bringing
in Mr. W. li. S MTH, and turning out Mr. J. S.
MILL as member for the city of Westminster. At
Ashton-under-Lyne, again, the Ministerialists had the
signal advantage of ousting an ex-Cabinet Minister
of some importance in the person of the Right Hon.
T. MILNER GIBSON. In South Derbyshire they
gained two seats from the Opposition. In Penryn
two others. At Southampton, after one of the
sharpest contests on record in the history of that
borough, they have, in carrying both their can-
didates, gained one of the two seats allotted to that
important constituency. And now--to say nothing
of their other previous successes in the same county
palatine—North Lancashire has yielded them, per-
haps of all, their most memorable victory. There
the struggle was between the two great rival houses
Of STANLEY and CAVENDISH. A younger son of the
Earl of DERBY was pitted against the son and heir of
his Grace the Duke of DEVONSHIRE. Every con-
ceivable effort was*made upon both sides. The can-
vass of the opposing candidates was conducted with
the utmost possible energy and perseverance. The
Conservative candidate, besides being a younger son,
was one who had never held office in or under any
Government. The Liberal candidate, on the other
hand, besides being an eldest son, besides being
heir to a Dukedom, had the prestige of having
been himself a Cabinet Minister. Not satisfied with
these advantages, ho Never, conpled with the
fact of his being, in point of fact, a leading
member of what is called with no inconsilerable
show of reason, when we come to survey the
results of the General Election, as upon the
whole, the popular side, the Marquis of llArrriNGTos
had the enormous adventitious aid immediately be-
fore the polling day in North Lancashire, of appear-
ing, there, before a considerable portion of the consti-
tuency at Preston, side by side with the eminent man
who is his political chieftain, side by side with Mr.
GLADSTONE, as the Leader of her MAJESTY'S Opposi-
tion, as the Premier in posse, as the Head of the
Liberal majority in the new Parliament. There,
at Preston—it was but the other day—Mr.
GLADSTONE delivered, on behalf of his ex-col-
league as a Cabinet Minister, one of the most
stirring electioneering speeches to which even he
has given utterance during the course of the present
appeal to the country for its deliberate opinion as
to the great question now more immediately sub-
mitted to its consideration. And yet, now, as the
result of all this, North Lancashire has returned Cap-
STANLEY in preference to Mr. GLADSTONE'S candidate,
Mr. GLADSTONE'S colleague, the ex-Secretary of State
for War, the Marquis of HARTINGTON ! The result is
certainly startling. And we cannot wonder in the
least that, in announcing it, the organs of the Govern-
ment give unmistakeable evidence of their exultation.
Numbers are against them, it is true, and that very
formidably. But at least they have their consola-
tions, and consolations that the Liberals can afford
not to begrudge them—conspicuous among them
being three really redoubtable Conservative victories
—those won respectively in London, in Westmin-
ster, and in North Lancashire.

Mr. DISRAELI'S speech on Thursday, in the Ayles-
bury Court-house, was certainly one of the most re-
markable he has ever delivered. Spoken though
it was in the midst of the gigantic struggle be-
tween the two great political parties which are
still contending for supremecy throughout the
whole of the United Kingdom, it was not the
speech merely of a Party Leader—it was more
than that—it was the speech of a Statesman and
of an Administrator. There was no passion in it.
There was no evidence of virulence in regard to his
antagonists. Throughout the whole of it, the Prime
Minister spoke with the most perfect good temper.
The declaration of his views he gave utterance to
with the utmost clearness and precision ; but from
first to la;t he did so in the spirit and in the lan-
guage of moderation. And, what is more, the

arrangement of the whole speech was at once
comprehensive and symmetrical. lie left nothing
of importance untouched. Diplomacy, Finance,
Law Reform, Naval and Military Organisation,
Feniauistm, and last not least of all under existing
circumstances, the great question of the Irish
Church, a question which he naturally reserved
for the close of his speech, bringing it in as a
climax immediately before the peroration not
one of those tilemes which his hearers were
naturally solicitous that he should however cursorily
comment upon:during the course of his address, was
either overlookel altogether or touched upon,
when he did touch upon it, superficially.
Even his baltering acceptance of an interruption
almost immediately upon the ;commencement of his
address, was indicative of the good humour with
which he was beat upon laying bare his views, first of
all before his own individual constituents, and then,
through them or rather through the medium of the
newspaper reporters, before the whole population of

the three kingdoms. Referring to the patriotic.
manner in which the suffrage is being exercised now
throughout the enormously enlarged constitu-
encies, Mr. DISRAELI remarked that it was being
so exercised, purely and simply for this rea-
son, that the people of England are proud
of the country to which they belong. " They are
proud," he exclaimed, " of their monarchy, which,
although limited, is a real monarchy ; they are proud
of their Parliament ; they are proud of their laws ;
they are proud of the administration of the law, which
they know is singularly and perfectly pure ; and they
are proud, above all things, of the personal liberty
which every Englishman enjoys, and which we know
the inhabitants of no other country in the world
enjoy in the same degree. They are proud of the
deeds of their ancestors, of the heroic exploits of
those who preceded them ; they are proud of be-
longing to an ancient and a famous land ; and it
is with the responsibility of all these feelings that
they have exercised, and that they will exercise, the
suffrage which the great act of last year has accorded to
them." Indirectly, but very obviously, this was an
appeal, and a perfectly justifiable appeal, made by
the Author of the last Great Reform Act, the RJorm
Act which has placed the borough franchise for t ver
upon the broad and solid basis of household Buff rage—
an eloquent and spirit-stirring and, as we have said,
a perfectly justifiable appeal by him to the
Conservative element underlying even the most
Radical constituency throughout the country. COM-
menting upon the criticisms of late indulged in very
freely by the assailants of his Government in refer-
ence to what they have asserted has been its excessive
expenditure, the Premier observed very justly :
" There is no man whatever who would wish that
the soldiers of England should be armed with an
inferior weapon. No person can desire any-
thing of the kind. No person can desire
that the British soldier should be proportionately
worse paid than any labouring man in this country.
There is no person who must not desire that, if we
are to have artillery, our artillery should be of the
newest invention and of the most powerful calibre.
If we are to have ships they ought to be the best
ships. All these are things on which Englishmen
of all parties are agreed, and if they are agreed
on them they must make up their minds to
an increased expenditure in consequence." Re-
minding his hearers, and through them the whole
country, that the people have always this guarantee
against excessive expenditure by any Government,
that no body of men can by possibility be so in-
terested in economy as the existing Ministry, the
Ministry of the time, no matter from what party that
Ministry may have been formed, because, upon their
releasing the country from the pressure of taxation
mainly depends their own popularity as a
party or as a Government—the First Lori of
the Treasury drew a very wise distinction when
he s tid, addressing himself not to Aylesbury,
not to Buckinghamshire, but to England—" You
cannot have a cheap government; but what you have
a right to look for, and what I trust you really do
possess, whoever may be the Ministers of the coun-
try, is an economical Government. Bat between an
economical Government and a cheap Government
there is a vary great difference. What you ought
to insist upon is economy, and not thoughtless
cheapness, which may deprive you of many re-
sources which are necessary to the elevation, the
comfort, and the convenience of the great body of
the people." Adding—further on in his remarks
upon this subject—that "A cheap Government can
only be secured by endangering the country—by de-
priving the great body of the people of an expendi-
ture which is really incurred to elevate them and to
improve their condition." Meaning,thereby the main-
tenance of the national defences, in the sustaining of
the credit of the country by paying the interest upon
the national debt, in the furtherance of the cause of
education, and of the beneficial influence of reforma-
tories, and so forth, objects all of them necessitating
a large and some of them involving an increasing ex-
penditure.
In reviewing the whole range of the Foroilzn Policy
of the existing Government, the Prime Minister
tri m phan fly refuted the absurd misstatement that
that Foreign Policy was merely a continuation of the
Foreign Policy of the late Administration. Its re-
cllle.l to mind the fact—the undeniable and in Vs-
putable fact —that under Lord RUSSELL'S evil influ-
ence the prestige of this country among surrounding
nations had been very considerably deteriorated. By
an inezenious system, already descrFoxl by Laid
DERBY as one of meddling and muddling, England
when the Whigs last went out of office, was regarded
by three, at least, of the Great Powers—by France,
by Germany, and by Russia—if not with suspicion, at
any rate, and, most certainly, not with confidence !
Lord STANLEY'S tenure of power at the Foreign Office
years has, on the duringcon-
tra
ry theseoved lo last threeee,
,
rem and that very efiectually, all
ng 8
i n
cause for anxiety, or even for dissatisfaction. Oar
influence is absolutely restored. Our relations with
France, with Germany, with Russia, with the United
States, are of the most intimate and of the most cor-
dial character.

With those portions of the Premier's speech relat-
ing more particularly to Ireland there can be
little doubt that the generality will be less
3atistiod than with anything to which he gave
utterance on Thursday. With the closing sen-
tences of that speech, however, few, if any, will
b 3 disposed to quarrel. His words, dignified
and affecting even in their solemnity, befitted a
great Minister of the Crown at a juncture
of such supreme importance. "No one knows
better," said Mr. DISRAELI' " than myself that in
the course of an agitated, and now, I am sorry to
say, long political career, I have done many things
which I regret, and said some things which I de-
plore ; but a man's career must be judged by its
whole tenor and character. I can say this of myself,
with the utmost sincerity, that I have always
sought to maintain the greatness of my country ;
I have never had any thought of a base or sinister
character, of self-interest ; and there is no reward
which I more desire and more prize than the good
opinion of my countrymen, in whatever political
party they may be ranged." With words thus wort by
of himself and of the occasion, the Prime Minister
closed on Thursday his able and statesmanlike address
to his constituents.

RAILWAI IN7 ELLIGENCE.

GRAND TRUNK OF CANADA.

The total traffic receipts on this company's lines
for the 123 days ending the 31st of October last
amounted to £515,158, and for 125 days ending the
2d of November, 1867, to £405,032, showing an in-
crease of £20,126.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS,

(mom OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, FRIDAY, November 20.

The Council of Ministers yesterday was highly important.
The question of the Baudin affair was discussed, and it has
been determined, it isusaid, to abstain from all provoca-
tion towards the Opposition, but at the sametime to tolerate
none. There is every indication that the Government
intends to stretch to the utmost the severity of the existing
laws, M. Desarnaut has been nominated Procureur Im-
perial at Paris, instead of M. Moignon. This is a grave
symptom, for the former magistrate, who comes frau the
provinces,is well known for his rigid interpreta.tion of the law.
The present Baudin prosecution has, however, resulted in
such a damaging triumph for the Government that there
is every reason to believe it will be quietly dropped. The
subscription has already ceased, in fact, and the Govern-
ment can have no object in permitting the Opposition
counsel to deliver their incisive harangues against this new
application of the law.

As I anticipated a day or two ago, the Gaulois will not
be prosecuted. The formal announcement has been made;
but it appearg that the Government have committed
another judicial escapade in giving their reasons for this
determination. The Minister of the Interior has expressed
his opinion that the journal in question was actuated by
perfect good faith, and on this conviction the legal pro-
ceedings have been abandoned. The Minister of the
Interior, unfortunately, has forgotten that the good faith of
the journalists who spread false news is not admitted by
the law as an extenuating circumstance.

The Opposition papers take the most lively interest in
the English elections, and are jubilant at the triumph of
the Liberals. The official papers give the struggle little
notice. The 11Ioniteur complacently gives as its bulletin
the fact that " the City of London has returned two Con-
servatives," evidently under the impression that nobody
else has been elected for any part of the metropolis.
It is estimated that the fortune of Baron Rothschild
amounts to some eighty millions sterling. The increase
to the revenue by the legacy duty will be something sub-
stantial. And yet all this arose from the comparatively
moderate capital of £40,000.

The news from Brussels is still more reassuring. The
state of the Prince Royal is yet far from safe, but it is
decidedly less alarming. But if the physicians succeed in
effecting a cure, the period of convalescence will be long.
The Prince will require the most assiduous care for one—
perhaps several—years.
M. Berryer has set his house in order, and is preparing
for the worst. lie has announced to his family and his friends
that he does not expect to survive the present attack. He
then sent for his solicitor and added a codicil to his will,
received some of his friends, and bade them' farewell,
then arranged all his papers, classing those which
he wished to be destroyed, and those which he would have
preserved. Finally, he left Paris for his country residence
to die. There is something sublime in this spectacle of an
eminent man thus setting an example of preparation for
the inevitable.

The Etenclitrd announces that Mazzini has grown worse,
and that his condition is all but hopeless.
A trial for a remarkable robbery of plate, cash, and
securities, to the value of no less than £32,000, has just been
finished in the Assize Court of Toir-et-Chere. Five persons,
three men and the wives of two of them, were
implicated in this extensive "haul." The property was
contained in an iron safe weighing over three hundred
weight, and was carried off from the prosecutor's
house on the night of the 2Gth March, during his tempo.
rary absence. The premises had been left in charge of
two female servants, who, however, heard no noise
during the night in question, although the safe
had been carried away from a room on the first
floor. Two days after, a bundle of the securities stolen
was found in a street of the town, and about the same
time the iron chest was discovered, empty, in the River
Sauldre, about a mile off. Suspicion fell on Adolphe
Thizeau, a carpenter, who had on the previous day
questioned one of the servants as to where her
master kept his money, and he ultimately confessed his cul-
pability. The robbery had been effected by throwing the
safe out of a window ; it was then removed on ,a barrow,
and concealed under a heap until the thieves had an
opportunity of breaking it up. Two months elapsed before
the guilt of Thizeau was finally ascertained. Three
of the accused were sentenced to long periods of imprison-
ment.

The velocipede race between four athletes 01 the
gentler sex was a sensation episode of this variety of the
" turf." Three of the four appeared dressed as pages ;
the other was habited much like an opera dancer, though
in more substantial material. The pace was terrific,
she of the skirts coming in first. The first prize was a gold
watch. A gold medal was won by a very good second ;
third prize, a silver medal.
The dress of woman in no respect diminishes in point
of extravagance. A lady was married here the other day
the veil of whose wedding dress alone cost £2,000. There
is much talk in Le raid circles of a revival of crinoline.

THE IVE-ITHER TABLE.-THIS DAY.