The Sun.
London, England, 1868-09-08 00:00:00

since it is recognised by all parties that a public
servant must not accept gratuities of any kind.

We may guess the surprise and satisfaction felt at

Melbourne when this simple solution of the long
standing difficulty was made known. After so furious
a battle, after such tedious delays and such serious
interruption of public business, it was not a little

singular that the matter should have been settled
out of the colony. It was time, and more than
time, that the dispute should be ended, since its
next consequence would probably have been a dis-
turbance of public order, and the results to the
colony might have been serious. Up to the 6th of
July no sign of a solution was visible. The Sladen
Ministry was still fighting against hope, forced by
the overwhelming majority against then to con-

cede point after point to the relentless opposition,
until at length the treasurer found himself driven
to propose the redoubtable DARLING grant in the
manner his adversaries desired,confessing that he did
so with some humiliation, having always opposed
the vote. In this humiliation he is not alone, for
we may question whether any of the parties most
concerned have gained much in strength or dignity
by the struggle. However, when the vote was
carried, as of course it was carried by both sides of
the House, the next perplexity was in what form
it was to be presented to the Council. The Oppo-
sition were anxious to make the passing of the
special grant the conditio❑ of any general supplies
being granted. The excitement out of doors was on
the increase, and speculations of every kind were rife.
No one could foretel the action of the Council,
while it was only too plain that the assembly would
make no concession. People began to discuss the
possibility of another dissolution, and the general
agitation and excitement augmented day by day.
The prevailing feeling was in favour of the opposi-
tion, and what the Americans call " mass" meet-
ings were held in the suburbs of Melbourne to
support their policy. Altogether the political hori-
zon grew more and more cloudy and threatening,
while the confusion and distress occasioned in
commercial and social circles by the long-
standing dead-lock got worse every day.
As in the moat agitated sessions our
house of Commons never separates without
voting the supplies, it is difficult for us to imagine
the condition of a busy and populous city, the ca-
pital of a State, in which public affairs were at a
standstill for want of funds. Yet such has been
the condition of our good colonists of Melbourne
during many months past; and, but for the timely
news from home, such might be the condition of
the Victorian capital now. The arrival of the
steamer Bombay on July Gth brought astound-
ing news. Sir CHARLES DARLING had for himself
and Lady DARLING abandoned all claim to the
grant, and that he had been permitted to change
his determination to withdraw from the QUEEN'S
service, that withdrawal having been founded on a
misconception, and that her MAJESTY hal rein-
stated him in the public service. Here was an end
of the whole matter, and after the determination
and virulence of the encounter between the two
Houses, it was not a little remarkable that after all
it should be a drawn battle, in which neither party
could claim the victory, and neither need deplore
the defeat.

It is well for the interests of the colony that
was so, for to such a height had party feeling run
on the matter that neither side could have achieved
a decided victory without much mischief to the con-
stitutionalsystem of Victoria. If the Council had
succeeded in rejecting the grant it would have been
by an open disregard of the wishes of the electors.
If the Assembly had triumphed it would have been
by an arrogant and unconstitutional course of con-
duct, which was in itself directly opposed to the
principles on which representative government is
based. The attempt to force the unwelcome vote
upon the Upper louse by joining it to the Appro-
priation Bill could hardly be regarded as other
than a direct insult to the Council, especially when
we remember the history of Sir CHARLES DAR-
LI N G'S Governorship. For the Council to persist in
rejecting the supplies because of this obnoxious con-
dition was to save their pride at the expense of the
public interests, and the consequence of the affair
has been that the wealthy colony of Victoria has
been brought into a condition of serious pecuniary
embarassment by a question of £20,000 ! It is
affirmed, though not yet officially stated, that
there is a deficit in the income as com-
pared with the expenditure, which will require
additional taxation or retrenchment. Should this
prove to be the case, the Victorians may find that
their political melodrama has cost them dear, and
may probably interefere with the programme put
forward by Mr. M'CuLLooll.
We hope all parties will have learned from this
disagreeable affair the necessity of a little mutual
forbearance and concession in politics as in every
other relation of life. Experience must be bought,
not borrowed, and the lesson of the DARLING grant
will not, we hope, be lost upon Australian states-
men. Fortune has rescued them very opportunely
from the dilemma in which they had placed them-
selves, but supposing Sir, CHARLES DARLING had
not been reinstated, where would the matter have
ended? Public affairs are not like child's play, in
which each appointed party can consult bis own
irritated temper or affronted dignity. Men who
would have the pr ide and power of ruling their
fellows must learn to bear much as well as
to give orders an d sway Senates. Our English
Government would not go on a day if the same
spirit which has r ailed at Melbourne of late were
allowed to prevail at St. Stephen's. Australians
must learn this lesi ;on if they would copy our suc-
cess as well as our institutions.

The Fairy Palact Concerts at the Agricultural
Hall, commence on NV-idnesday, Sept. 16.—The hall has
been most superbly dec orated, and laid out in the form of
a beautiful garden, in w.hich every descripton of tropical
and exotic plants wifi found growing in the midst of
immense parterres and banks of the choicest English
flowers. Splendid fountains have been erected, and

illuminations will be of the most novel description, pre-
senting altogether the most chary dog and effective coup
d'ceil ever attnipted nx the Salle de Concert. The concerts
will be on a grand se.stle, inane .ing many entirely new
features. Mr. Goffrie, the lessee , has engaged Mr. Sims
Reeves, Madlle. Lietthart, and Si gnor Solt Scalchi; and
the orchestra will comprise members of the Royal Italian
Opera, her Majesty's Theatre, and the Philharmonic So-
cieties, including Messrs. Co.rrodus, Doyle, G. Collins, W.
F. Reed, J. Howell, Ratcliff, Ban set, Winterbottom, C.
Harper, J. riuglies Levy, and J. IV. Horton, in addition to
two military bands. The condu, :tot's will be Mr. Benedict
and Mr. Charles Goffrie.

NATURALISED ALIENS.—In; the 1t 14 years
nearly 4,000 aliens, an average of 233 a year, have ob-
tained certificates of naturalisat: son frt the Secretary of
State for the Home Department, under' the provisions of
the act of 1864.