The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-22 00:00:00

SPIRIT OP THE PUBLIOSJOURNALEL

The Times, in speaking of the explanation made by'Mr.
Disraeli concerning the Scotch Reform Bill, remarks that
the difficulty which appeared so alarming at the beginning
of the week is thus narrowed to the solution of a single
issue—how shall the household franchise in Scotch
boroughs be qualified ? Any insuperable difficulty' is
hardly anticipated in the settlement of this point.
Nothing is wanted, as Mr. Hibbert said, except a
little practical common sense. It is well under-
stood within the House of Commons that the hoinse•
hold franchise must be qualified in some way or
other. There is really no division upon this. Mr. Bright
has frankly expressed his sense of the inconvenience of
admitting the " residuum " of social life to electoral pri-
vileges. Mr. Baxter would disfranchise the class of house.
holders who are so poor as to be excused the payment of
parochial burdens. On the other hand, there is nointen-
tion on the part of the Government to introduce any inno-
vations in Scotch economy. With common objects and
common principles there can be no impossibility in devising
a machinery satisfactory to all. And there is this-great
and conclusive argument in favour of coming 'to an
agreement, that it offers the best mode of effecting an
escape from the pre;ent unsatisfactory condition of politi-
cal life. Government by a minority, although tolerated
under the peculiar circumstances of the time, is bad in
its nature, and continually provokes fresh disorders.
It deserves all the hard things said of it yesterday
by Mr. Percy Wyndham, Sir Rainald Knight-
ley, and Sir Harry Verney. But, as Sir Rainald
Knightley pointed out, the Scotch and Irish Re-
form Bills are the obstacles in the way of putting an
end to the unconstitutional maintenance of a Government
in a minority. It is allowed that these bills can be best
despatched while the present Ministry is in office, and that
it is politic to retain them in power for the purpose. Let
the bills be passed, then, as speedily as is consistent with
good legislation, and then let the House of Commons
accept Sir Rainald Knightley's ivitation and turn out the
Government the day after.

One more startling innovation, says the Post, is to be
introduced into our system of parliamentary government.
A vote in the House of Commons is not to be con-
sidered decisive as regards the fate of a Ministry
unless at least six hundred members are present.
Tho decision expunging the rating clause in the Scotch
,Reform Bill, Mr. Disraeli solemnly assured the House,
was obtained by a surprise. The vote on Mr.
Baxter's instruction for the disfranchisement of the
English boroughs, striking as it did at one of the
" principles " of the Ministerial scheme of Parlia-
mentary Reform was, as Mr. Disraeli has reason
to believe, considered by many of his political
supporters of so fatal a character that many of them be-
lieved that the Government would have at once moved
0` to report progress," and, under that impression, they
t.nft the House, believing that their chiefs would have no
fu-rther need of their services during the remainder of the
evoning, Hence, says Mr. Disraeli, the unexpected defeat
whi took place a couple of hours later. Assuming, how-
ever, that such was the case, we fail to see the justifica-
tion i'or introducing a practice which, if it becomes esta-
blished, will render no vote of the House of Commons
binding until it has been confirmed ; whilst, looking at the
numbers of those who voted and of those who paired, we
certainly LIE to detect any evidence of a hasty or ill-con-
sidered vote.

The herald' declares that the Government are justified
in demanding- .a reconsideration of the point. This is
almost beyond dispute. Mr. Bright did, indeed, attempt
to dispute it, and Alr. Bouverie followed suit; but they
grounded their argument upon a doctrine the most uncon-
stitutional perhaps that has yet been laid down, even by
the hon. member for Birmingham. They reminded the
House that an actual majority-35 out of 53—of the Scotch
members had voted for the motion of Mr. Bouverie, and
insisted that the House ought contentedly to abide by
the judgment of the representatives of the country
immediately affected. This doctrine threatens the
very existence of the Union. Why should we have
an Imperial Parliament if Scotchmen are to
legislate for Scotland, and, of course, Irishmen for
Ireland—not on mere matters of local detail, but
on the very first principles of the Constitution ? England
would fare badly in that case ; for Scotch and Irish mem.
bers never hesitate to vote on matters purely English.
Scotch votes have taken ten seats from English towns—is
England to have no voice in their distribution ? Setting
aside this one argument against recorsideration, there is no
difficulty in spewing reasons in its favour. Not only was
the amendment a reversal by a small minority of the
House of a principle accepted last year by a large
majority, but it would have introduced a principle which
has never yet been debated and scarcely even advocated in
the House—unlimited household suffrage. Not only would
it be a monstrous thing that a question so vast and so new
should be decided by so small a vote, but it would be
scarcely less than an insult to Scotland if she should be
endowed, after a few minutes' discussion and by the votes
of less than a fifth of the House, with a constitution
which a session of controversy would not induce England
to accept. No:; only was the division a small one—it was
also a snatched one.

It is impossible, says the Standard, to doubt but that
every British jury before which the case is fairly brought
will agree with the Jamaica people, that whatever severe
measures were taken by Governor Eyre during the re-
bellion were taken because, in his honest judgment, they
were necessary to the peace and the safety of the island
of Jamaica. No reasonable man, not being of this
venomous clique of philanthropists, can expect or desire
to see this cold-blooded and iniquitous persecution succeed.
As for " the abstruse point of law," let it remain buried
in the depths of Chief Justice Cockburn's luminous judg-
ment. It is a fit casket for such a jewel. There let every
one seek it who is really desirous of knowing
whether or not there is such a thing as " martial law."
What we protest against, in the name of common decency,
if not of justice, is, that Mr. Eyre should be subjected to
this monstrous persecution because of a certain point of
our British law which Mr. Mill finds it hard to under-
stand. Whether or not there is such a thing as martial
law—if really there is a human being, or at least an
Englishman, sound of brain and of the ordinary instincts
of his race, desirous of making the discovery—is a thing
which may be discussed and settled at leisure in many
ways. But it is a cruel piece of hypocrisy to punish an
English gentleman with two years of public calumny—to
revile him as a murderer, a tyrant, and a coward— to hold
him up as a monster incarnate, to general detestation,
merely because it is necessary that we should settle an
abstruse point of law—a point abstruse, we venture to
say, to none who seek for light in any honest or manly
way.

The Star complains that no American public man ever
was assailed with more virulent and vulgar abuse than
Mr. Mill has lately received from some of our Conserva-
tive journals ; and we don't suppose Mr. Mill has the
slightest notion of seeking any shelter even from such
reckless ribaldry. The attacks on Mr. Mill are disgrace•
ful to the journalism of our time. It would be impossible
for any Englishman, whose mind is not wholly darkened
by prejudice, to deny that some of the questions raised by
this trial are of the gravest constitutional importance ;
and it is simply a matter of fact that there has not yet
been even a chance of obtaining a formal and final deci-
sion on them. The men who, prompted by a sense of
public duty, have patiently determined to evoke that
decision, are entitled, even were they quite unknown
and obscure, to the respect of all their countrymen.

-A bill to reduce the salary of the Governor-
General of Canada from 50,000 dollars to 32,000 dollars
per annum has passed its second reading in the Canadian
House of Commons.

CONFERENCE or BISHOPS.—On Ascension Day
the bishops assembled according to annual custom at
Lambeth Palace. After Divine service and the celebra-
tion of the Holy Communion in the chapel, a conference
was held on Church affairs, with a view to facilitate the
arrangements for the next session of Convocation. His
Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury entertained their
lordships at dinner in the evening.

THE CONVICT 'NIieHAEL BARRETT. Another
meeting, somewhat thinly attended, was held on Wednes-
,/,,y night, in the City Hall, Glasgow, to "devise means
to obtain a reprieve for the convict Michael Barrett." If
(says the North British Daily Mail) we may judge from
the resolutions, so unique in style and decisive in tone, the
innocence of the convict, about which some hesitating per•
sons have still some doubt, has been fully established—to
the satisfaction of Mr. M'Corry and his friends. Of course
the resolutions, one of which seems to have run some risk
of failure from want of a proposer and seconder, all de-
clared the convict's innocence of the crime imputed to him,
and demanded his instant pardon and " unconditional re-
lease from prison."

FATAL CA RR IA 0 E CCIDENT IN LEEDS. —Mr.
Joieph Clarke, oil merchant, of 11Jeston-hill, Leeds, with
his wife and sister, who was about 27 years of age, was
driving a phaeton down the hill, near Holbeck Cemetery,
when the vehicle, which was drawn by a high-spirited
1i0r.7,e, came in contact with a coal-cart. Mr. Clarke's
horse at once took fright and galloped off, but it had not
gone many yards before it ran against a wall, and the
occupants of the chaise were all thrown out. Mr. Clarke
sustained a severe fracture of the right ankle, and Mrs.
Clarke was also seriously injured. Miss Clarke, who
occupied the back seat, either in jumping or being thrown
out, came with her head against the wall, and fractured
Lor dkull. She diediu
a few moments after t _curs en ce,