The Sun.
London, England, 1868-07-31 00:00:00

THE SUN LONDON, FRIDAY EVE.NINC;, JULY 31, 1868.

FABLE CLOTIIS, in every Width ant Length,
1 expressly for Licence,' Victuallers. Damask Napkins
for Tray Cloths, Drills for Bar Ap:ons and Towelßugs of
every description. Patterns gratis and post free.

VARDIGAN JACKETS made expressly for Bar
k..) use, Warm and Elastic, from ss. 6d. each, for
,adies' and Gentlemen's use. WILLIAII HOLDICH
and Co., LICENSED VICTUALLERS' DRAPERS, 105, Fleet-
street, City, and No. 5, The Pavement, Clapham-common.

WILNILAL?AI„ETs? ID.DI
ATE
Ras
Fa
_.nt s
boo. ILB
11.2 C East S1P0:
op
F1,,.t-street, City; Southern Branch—No. 5, The Pave-
l= CiApliam-courngu. Patteru; ,gratiA and post free,
with Price List.

TO LICENCED VICTUALLERS.
E.,TAISLISILED 1642.

WILLIA.3I lIOLDICII and. CO.,
LICENCED VICTUALLERS' DRIPERS, No.
105, Fleet-street, corner of Farringlon-streot ; and at No.
5, The Pavement. Clapham-common (Southern Branch).

LTE R MAJESTY'S OPERA.
(THE ATRE-RO YAL, D AURY-L AN E).
Last ~ight but One.
The Opera will positively close To-morrow (Saturday), Augnst 1.
B.t..ent and Last appearance of Mdlle. CHRISTINE NILSSON.
errand Combined Entertainment.
THIS EVENING (FRIDAY), July 31, the performances will
commence with the First Act of Verdi's Opera,
LA TRAVIATA.
Alfred,), Signor Mariano Neri (his first appearance); Un
M 31ico, Signor Foil; Il Barone Duphol, Signor Casaboni; Flora,
M ills Corsi; and Violetta, Mdlle. Christine Nilsson.
To be followed by the Second Act (Garden Scene) of
FAUST.

Faust, Signor Bulterini; Valentin, Mr. Santley ; Mephistopheles,
signor Gassier; Siebel, Zandrina (her first appearance) ;
Martha, Mille. Corsi; and Margherita,, 3ldlle. Christine Nilsson.
To which will be added the Principal Act of
I DUE FOSCARI.

Lucrezia, Mdlle. Rose iler:;63; II Doge, Mr. Santley (his first
appearance in that character).
To conclude with the Third Act of Donizetti's Opera,
LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR. .

E 14ardo, Signor Bulternal; Enr.co Aston, Signor Gassier;
R amonao, Signor Foli; and Lucia, Mdlle. Christina

Conduetor—Signor Arditi
Doors open at Eight o'clock. Com.nence at half-past Eight.
Stalls, One Glainea; imphitheatre Stalls, is, and 55.; Reserved
Brt Seats, ICs. 61; Gallefy, 2s. CI.
Boxes, stalls, and places may be obtained at the new Box-
oril..!e, Her Majesty's Theatre, under the Colonnade (second
doer front Pall-mall), open daily from 10 till 5, under the super-
intoulence of Mr Nu?ent; also at the Box-office, Theatre Royal,
Drury-lane (un .ler the portico in Brydges-street). Tickets also
at all Librarians' and Music-sellers'.

rHEATRE ROYAL, Ii .A. YMAR KE T.
Sole Mr. Buckstone.__

THIS EVENING, OTHELLO. Oth,Alo, Mr. Pennington:
la ro, Mr. Ryder; Desdein,)na, Miss Ada Cavendish ;
Mn.. 3 E. I'. Saville

1, 1 by PAY TO THE BEARER—A KISS. Mr. Frad.
BacAitone

Commence at Seven.

friIIEA'rRE ROYAL, ADELPIII.
1. Solo Proprietor and M tnager, Mr. B. WEBSTER.
Directress, Mrs. Alfred Mellon.
THIS EVENING, at 7, A ROUGH DIA OND. Messrs. G.
B3lmore, Ashley; Mrs. Bilington, and Miss Lennox Gray.
A a quarter to Eight, THE FLYING SCUD. M essrs. G.
Belmoro, Bi lington, A shley, J. G. Taylor, C. H. Stephenson,
C. J. Smith; \figs Charlotte Saunders, Miss Louisa Moore, Miss
Meria Harris, and Miss Lennox Grey.
To conclude with THE FAST COACH. Messrs. J. G. Taylor,
R. It nner, W. H. Eburne; 31iss Melly Harris, and Miss E. Pitt.

-441:.„-e-1)7,2,114 ItNiy UIT

LOXDOiV, FRIDAY, JULY .131, 18G8.

_ 45.

To-day will be memorable in the annals of
politics as witnessing the close of the last Parlia-
ment elected under the Reform Bill of 1832.
Thirty-six years have passed since that epoch, and
the usual chances and changes of this mortal
scene have removed many of the chief actors in
those stirring scenes. The work of that day was
then looked upon as a great achievement and a step
in advance, well suited to the requirements of the
times and the progressive spirit of the generation
which it affected. It may be truly said that it
was enough for the existing emergencies, but the
lapse of time has rendered it necessary that other
and more comprehensive changes should be made.
We all know the long story of the attempts to in-
troduce a Reform Bill, and the extraordinary de-
lays and disappointments that attended the struggle.
Fifteen years saw successive Cabinets make the
effort, and in repeated Speeches from the Throne I
promises were made which neither Ministers nor
Legislature could keep. At any rate, it seems to
have been a fitting sequel to the tale that
the task of getting a Reform Bill through
Parliament should at last have been ac-
complished by a Conservative Government.
The manner in which the Reform question
was dealt with by the Liberals deprived them of all
claim to consistency and sincerity on the subject.
When in opposition it was a convenient handle
against their opponents, and when in power it was
suffered to lie idle, and year after year the country
waited iu vain in anxious expectancy. More than
all, the treatment which the DERBY Reform Bill
of 1857 met with was most unworthy, and for that
alone the RUSSELL Administration deserved to for-
feit the privilege of passing a measure of their own.
Ministers have played a notable part in the settle-
merit of this great national question, and the disap-
pointment which overtook the ranks of the Liberals
and Radicals was well deserved. Due credit should be
given to the present Administration and to the noble
Earl who has since retired from the post of Premier
for the zeal and assiduity which they displayed ; and
the work before thAn was indeed arduous and
difficult ; in itself the task was rendered well nigh
impossible by the fierce and bitter hostility which
prevailed among the Opposition members ; that is
to say, among those who followed through good
and evil report in the work of their chieftain, for
the independent Liberals, as it is the practice to call
them, rendered the Government most able assist-
ance, an I are well entitled to a large share of the
glory of the eventual Session. Respecting the
character of the Reform Bill of the Con-
servatives, it may fairly be said that its merits
were their own, while its faults, in some degree,
belong to their opponents. had so much time not
been wasted in public discussion, and so much
angry feeling not engendered by the course pursued
in certain quarters, many hints might have been
attended to with advantage and the general features
of the bill rendered more satisfactory. Taking it
it as a whole, however, it may fairly challenge com-
petition with its numerous predecessors, and not
fear the comparison. It is by far the most liberal,
and certainly the most advanced in style and pro-
gress, while it puts faith in the good intentions and
right feeling of the people to a far greater degree
than any that has been put before Parliament.
The course of events this session has surprised
many, but the apparent mystery is easily accounted
for. Mr. GLADSTONE was jealous and mortified at
the brilliant success achieve.' by the Ministry, and
the II )use had no seoner assemble 1 to commence
the work of the year than it became apparent all
was not to go so s:noothly as might have been
expected. A trial of strength was not anticipated
in the few months that remained to a moribund
Parliament, but a surprise awaited the select few
initiated into the secrets of the Opposition. It soon
became apparent that the work of the session was to
turn out the Ministry, and install Mr. GLADSTONE in
office ready to meet the new Parliament. Nothing
could have been in worse taste than the fac-
tious attempt to regain power at this cri:ical junc-
ture of affairs, when the Reform question was
not settled. Religious questions should always
be introduced with care and circumspection, and it
was we!l known that Mr. GLADSTONE'S views re-
specting the Irish Church were not always what
they are now, so that his extreme eagerness
and excessive zeal on the subject were at
least premature. It was in vain, however,
to urge delays, and quite useless to affirm that
the new Parliament was the right place for the
question to be decided upon. Nothing would do
but an immediate appeal to the House, and the re-
sult, while it gave Mr. GLADSTONE a majority of
sixty, really advanced matters in no degree. The

confusion which ensued was not tD be wondered at

under the circumstances ; and, though it may suit
the views of some to magnify and extol the wisdom

of the Opposition leader, a calm review of affairs
will show that he has wasted the greater part of
the session to very little purpose, and raised up

party spirit without attaiuing any definite result.

DISRAELI may certainly complain with
justice of the manner in which he has
been treated, and of the miserable nature
of the tactics employed against him. Ile was

Mr.

scarcely settled in Ns new position when he was
subjected to continual attacks, and the forces of
his adversaries were all called into play in order to
circumvent his plans and put a period to his tenure
of office. It was only fair to expect that the Cabi-
net which passed the Reform Bill should appeal to
the country ; btat Mr. GLADSTONE and his friends
thought otherwise, and worked with might and
main to effect their purpose. Not satisfied with
attaining the expression of opinion on the part of
the House about the Irish Church, the Liberal
leaders proceeded to being in a bill on the subject,

which took up an immense deal of time, and gave

rise to great irritation of feeling and frequent dis-
plays of party spirit. As might have been antici-
pated the Suspensory Bill was rejected by the
House of Lords, so that its framers had not the
excuse of forwarding the completion of their
works.
The latter part of the session has been distin-
guished for the numerous disputes and fierce dis-
cussions that have arisen in consequence of the
untoward state of affairs induced by Mr. GI AD-
STONE'S policy. All possible efforts were made
to force the M;nistry to retire, and the hack-
neyed phrases of " honour " and " public
spirit" employed to con% Lice the House that
a change must take place. Mr. DISRAELI was too
wise, however, to fall into the scare so speciously
set for him, and kept Lis place in spite of all ob-
stacles. Then ensued an angry altercation upon
the subject of the dissolution, and night after night
was wasted in the attempts to prove that the work
of the Session could not be got through in order to
permit of the new Parliament assembling. When.
this was proved to be an erroneous statement
other devices were resorted to, and the temper and
patience of tai Ministry most sorely tried. M.
14-krZY on one occasion declared that he

longed for the appeal to the country to take place,
no doubt representing in this the desire of his col-
leagues. The Ministry had ono crowning triumph
in the success of the Abyssinian expedition, and
this, it must be remembered, was made the ground
of complaint at the earlier part of the session. It
objected that the money of the country was being
squandered upon a useless expedition, and that no
goal could result. The onus of the affair did not
rest with the Government who undertook its set-
tlement, for it was a legacy from their predecessors,
but all parties must unite in feelings of satisfaction
that the honour of the couniry has been so worthily
represented, and its majesty vindicated. The
House of Lords has sustained the loss of Lard
DERBY as a Parliamentary leader, though happily
the noble lord has been able to take part in the
debates and to lend the aid of his eloquence to some
important discussions. The Lord Chancellor has
been of great service to his party, and added to his
already distinguished reputation. The Oppo-
sition benches in the Upper House have
thought fit to infuse a great degree of
party rancour into the debates, and the character of
that august assembly has not been at all in accord-
ance with our recollections of the " benches
of the upper school." Same of Mr. DISRAELI'S
speeches have been seized upon as the groundwork
of commentaries, animated by a most bitter spirit,
and the consequence has been that Lord SALISBURY
has more than once justly complained of the " warm
latitudes" in which he found himself. Some attempts
have been made to improve the state of elections
by the introduction of the Corrupt Practices Bill,
and certainly a good deal has been accomplished
in that direction. Mr. DISRAELI said in one
of his novels that he who gains time
gains everything, and so it may turn out in his
present experience. The country has now an op-
portunity of deciding upon the merit of the rival
candidates, and the excitement and confusion of
this stormy session will have lapsed into the
indifference that follows upon such displays. There
seems no reason why the Ministry should not meet
with a favourable reply in this their appeal to the
constituencies, and the feeling of the country has
been more than once expressed in their favour. At
any rate they will have a fair trial, and the
chances are as much for as against them. We do
not think that the people of this country will be
unmindful of the claims they have on their grati-
tude for having persisted in passing a Reform Bill
of a comprehensive character and in a progressive
spirit, and notwithstanding the taunts of their op-
ponents it has been far better than any other
yet put before the public. The Session which closes
to-day has not been without its works, and it is to
be hoped that its successor will be yet more fruitful
in its efforts to represent the interests of the great
community, continually increasing in influence and
importance.

Yesterday morning another important step was
made towards the completion of one of the greatest
of our metropolitan improvements. The footway
of the Thames Embankment was thrown open to
the public from Westminster to Essex-street. This
is, at all events, au instalment of the long-
looked-for advantages to be conferrel on the
hurrying population of London by the addition of
this fine new highway between East and West, and
so great are its conveniences that the managers of
the undertaking will assuredly not be allowed to
delay the completion of the full work
longer than what is absolutely necessary. From
Westminster to Temple Bar the tide of London
ebbs and flows rapidly and unceasingly, and it is
something to have gained so mach, but from West-
minster to the City a still larger number of pedes-
trians are constantly hurrying to and fro, and these
not unnaturally ask why the footway should not
have been ~-,pened as f_►r as Temple Gardens, along
which the Embankment is (pito finished. The
ans ver, we believe, must came from the benchers,
who have, no doubt, only to understand that the
public are anxious for the privilege of tempo-
rarily using one of their avenues to grant it
immediately. The portion of the embankment yes-
terday thrown open gives a very favourable im-
pression of what will be the effect of the whole
work when completed. The pavement of the path-
way is 20 feet wide, one side of it abutting on the
Embankment, the other on the roadway, which is to
be 100 feet wide, exceptieg just under Waterloo-
bridge. This roadway will not, however, be paved
until after the Underground Railway shall have
been completed. This part of the business will
unfortunately necessitate undoing some of the work
already done, which appears to the uninitiated a
matter of regret. The aggregate length of the
whole Northern portion of the Embankment, from
Westminster-bridge to Blackfriars-b.i.lge is 6,610
feet, and is let in three contracts, whose sum total
is £375,000. The Southern Embankment, from
Wesseninste-b'i !ge to Vauxhall, is less extensive
a' 1 less costly. Tae total cast of the contract is
£309,000, and the length of the roadway 5,000
feet, its width being GO feet. On the southern side
part of the works has consisted of wi lening or nar-
rowing the river as might be requisite. Part of the
pathway on the southern side was opened last
March, and has been a good deal used since then.
No doubt the northern side will soon show as many
promenaders along the instalment granted to the
public. The approaches are to 'Villiers-street,
Wellington-street, and Essex-street, and at a later
date not yet fixel the road is to be continued from
the embankment along the new street to the Man-
s:on-houss, so that a direct highway from the great
centres of public business, east and west, will be
provided. Altogether about 37 acres of mud end
lime have been reclaimed, and are to be converted
into ornamental grounds and gardens, as well as
providing the necessary approaches.

When the whole work is completed, embank-
ment, roadway, footway, railway, new street and
all, there is no question that it will be an
undertaking of which Londoners may be justly
proud, and the cost of which will be as nothing in
comparison with the ornament and advantage. It
has been an undertaking of no slight difficulty even
in this age of engineering skill and science. A
river wall of granite eight feet thick has been built
to dam out nearly 30 acres of the river, the wall
being on an average 40 feet high, and nearly 7,000
feet long, while its foundations go to a great depth
below the bed of the river. In the various works
nearly 700,000 cubic feet of granite, 30,000,000
bricks, and over 300,000 bushels of cement have
been used ; 125,000 cubic yard 3 of earth have been
dug out, and 1,200,000 cubic yards of earth
filled in. Some of this latter part of the
work will have, as we have said, to be
done over again, owing to the construction of the
Underground R tilway yet to comp. The vastness
of the undertaking, and the exquisite finish with
which such stupendous granite works have been
completed, have excite I the admiration of all
engineers, both English and foreign, and afforded
yesterday the subject of much comment.
After the brief and simple ceremonial of inaugu'
ration, Sir JOHN THWAITES, accompanied by Lord
JOHN INIANNERS and other gentlemen, went down
to Abbey Mills to inspect the sewage works, which
gave great satisfaction. The engineer, with justi-
fiable pride, reminds us that, notwithstanding the

almost unprecedented heat and drought of the pre-
sent summer, the waters of the Thames have been
entirely free from smell, instead of being, as for-
merly, the source of sickness and mortality. We
have reason now-a-days to be proud of the
achievements of modern science in connection with
our venerable old river.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

BAVARIA.

MuNicli, July 31.

The King of Bavaria has bestowed the Grand
Cross of the Order of St. Michael upon Baron von
Wagner, the Wurtemburg Minister of War, and
the Cross of Commander of the same order upon
Colonel Suckow, Chief of the General Staff of
Wurtemburg.

COREESIONDENCE FROM PAM'

• ;,"
FROM OWN COItItESPOI DENT.)
. PARIS, THURSDAY, July SO,
Prince INTap6leon arrived at Paris on Tuesday, but did
tot, as was expected, go to Plombires. He immediatelj
tarted for Meudon, where his wife and children reside.
: am told that his journey has had no political result
vhatever. Whether he went to seek alliances or not, I
ball not attempt to determine ; but it is tolerably certain
;bat he has found non's. His personal convictions, as far as
they can be ascertained, remain unaltered. He is
tatisfled that the unity of Germany must be
tccomplished with Berlin as the centre. Austria
le has found so much disorganised and shattered that it
will require several years of rest to enable her to take an
effective part in European politics. The Ottoman Empire,
he thinks, is condemned. He does not admire the method
of government adopted in Roumania, and it is his belief
that the policy of Prince Charles and his counsellors will
speedily endanger the position of that State. Hungary,
on the other hand, commands the warmest sympathies of
the Prince. He is of opinion that the efforts made for the
regeneration of the country in which be met such a splendid
reception will not fail.
The Constitutionnel is very angry with the reception
accorded in England to the project of a military union
between France and the Netherland. The question on the
subject, of which Mr. Otway gave notice in the House of
Commons, excites a special outburst of indignation. The.
official paper charges England with bringing about, by her
neutrality and irresolution, the partial transformation of
Europe. Treaties which have the signature of English
representatives are considered as nothing. The economical
consideration is the only one entertained across the
Channel. The Constitutionrel thinks that England, by her
acquiscence, is partly answerable for the events of 1866. Of
course the official paper says nothing of the attitude of
France in that year. If France did not desire the unity
of Germany, she had but to declare for Austria, and
Bismarck would, for the time at least, have been frus-
trated. The French army would have done more than
turn the scale. It was by the supine inaction of France
that the unity of Germany was accomplished. It was too
late to interfere when Austria was utterly defeated and
incapable of rendering further assistance.
Prince Metternich has gone to Johannisberg for a week.
The statement that he recently wrote a letter from that
place, expressing his conviction that a war between France
and Prussia was inevitable, must be untrue. He has not
visited Johannisberg fora considerable time.
The Emperor, I hear, is about to establish an Academy
of Agriculture, similar in number and constitution to the
French Academy. Of course, whilst the latter is Con-
servative, the forme: will be Radical. The chief duty of
the French Academy is to preserve the purity of the
French language ; the Academy of Agriculture will
consider all improvements bearing upon the culture of
the soil.

Pubiic executions are so rare in France that one which has
just taken place at Vannes is regarded quite as an event.
To their credit, be it said, their appetite for the extraordi-
nary and the romantic notwitl sanding, the French do not
now•a-days greatly appreciate the guillotine. Rarely is it
used without a general raid upon capital punishment, and
the present instance has not proved an exception to the
rule. The convict, it appears, was no extraordinary
personage. His nature was simply of that lirntal
insensible type which gcnera'ly appears in the
character of murderers. He heard mass with great tran-
quillity on the morning of the execution, drank his coffee,
and ate his bread, and then marched off to the scaffold
smoking his pipe. The sight of a cabaret inspired him
with a desire for brandy, which was given him. He then
suffered the penalty of his crime. " What sort of an
example is this ?" ask the French papers. " What lesson
can the multitude derive from the sanguinary spectacle,
when the man who suffers is impressed at the
last moment with sensual ideas, and does not
testify the smallest consciousness of his crime ?" The
scaffold is decidedly in bad odour here, and the travaux
forces are the favourite remedy.
It is with great satisfaction that the Paris journals turn
from the discussion of barren budgets to such an enter-
prise as the new Atlantic cable. An undertaking of the
kind is so rare, and affords such a favourable contrast to the
ordinary course of events under the Empire, that the
extravagancies which are indulged in here may readily be
condoned. The French line will begin-from the western
extremity of Brittany and will reach to the little island of
Saint-Pierre, near to Newfoundland. This portion of the
line will exceed the length of the English cable by some
three or four hundred miles. From this point the cable
will be again submerged direct to New York. It is ex-
pected that the laying of the new cable will enable
the French scientific men who accompany the ex-
pedition to make further observations as to the nature
of the bottom of the Atlantic. This been already
ascertained, at least with an efficient accuracy to
determine the position where the cable should be
laid. The bed of the Atlantic which lies between
New York and the Gulf of Mexico on one side and the
coast of France en the other forms a very deep valley.
To the north and south the sides of this valley rise and
form two large plateaux, on which the cable must be laid.
It is impossible to lay down a submarine cable
in the valley ; the line must pass over the mountain table-
lands. Several difficulties which were experienced in
laying down the English cables will be avoided in this
instance. But there is still abundance of scope for the
acquisition of more knowledge.

THE WEATHER TABLE,-THIS DAY.

EXPLANATION,

Itarometer corrected and reduced to :2 drg. a eca level. Theletter

r., rising; f., falling ; 5., steady—indicate direction of motion of the
mercury within last 14 hours. Thermometer exposed in shade
Extreme Force with its Direction during last 24 hours. Z.—calm
Weather : sky ; c.—cicuds, detached ; f.—fog ;
I.—lightning ; m,—misty, hazy ; o.—orercast, dull ; r.—rain; 5. snow
I.—thunder. snow or bail (melted) during last 24 hours.
Sea disturbance.