The Sun.
London, England, 1868-04-21 00:00:00

. _
SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC 4OURNALs.

The Times asks where Mr. Gladstone was on the first
night after the holidays. Itanay not, continues the lead-
ing journal, be easy to answer, and, indeed, we are not
called upon to pursue an absent member into Wales, or
Scotland, or any other retreat where he may be enjoying
an extra holiday. It is sufficient to say where Mr. Glad-
stone was not. He was not in the House of Commons.
The consequences of his absence may be readily under-
stood. It was not merely the Opposition seeking their
leader and finding him not ; the whole House awaited his
presence to challenge the head of the Ministry to declare
his intentions as to the future course of public business.
The occasion had arisen when the leader of the Opposi-
tion was bound to remember that he was a servant of the
people, only next in importance to the First Minis-
ter of the Crown. If Mr. Disraeli had refused to
explain the course he intended to take, it became Mr.
Gladstone to point out what must be done, and to insist,
with the weight of a leader who has a majority of sixty to
support him, that there must be no miscarriage in the re-
mainder of the session. But Mr. Gladstone was absent,
and members, after privately discussing this new way how
not to get through the business of Parliament, left Mr.
Smollett to deliver himself of his broad criticisms on
Indian administration to a coterie of Indian members. It
cannot be denied that a great opportunity was lost. We
are at the parting of the ways. If anything is to be done
to insure the performance of the special work of the
session, it must be done at once. The only way to check
irrelevant discussions, to prevent the waste of time
over projects which cannot be brought to maturity,
and to keep Parliament to its proper business, is
to prescribe the course to be followed. This is
true of every man's private life, where he is himself the
master of his own actions, and can amend a blunder by his
single resolution. It is doubly and trebly true of a compo-
site body like the House of Commons, made up of mem-
bers with different aims and objects, who cannot he
brought back iwithin bounds when they have once out-
stripped them. We need not say a word of the urgency
of the present occasion. The ordinary business of the ses-
sion is in unparalleled confusion and arrear ; and the
Reform Bills are practically untouched, although
they are, by the nature of the case, as indis-
pensable parts of the year's work as the passing
of the Estimates and the voting of Ways and Means.
Under such circumstances it is deplorable that a night
should have passed without a distinct understanding that
the future labours of the session must be restricted to
those pressing and imperative duties. The error must be
corrected at once if either Ministry or Opposition is to be
credited with a sincere desire to perfect the work they
have begun. If Mr. Disraeli does not volunteer a state-
ment of the Ministerial intentions, he must be challenged
by Mr. Gladstone. If Mr. Gladstone fails, the duty must
be undertaken by some other member of the House of
Commons.

The Daily News expected that Mr. Disraeli would have
seized the first opportunity of informing the House of the
line of conduct which be intended to adopt. But he was as
still as a mouse. He was not challenged to make any
explanation, nor did he volunteer one. The divergence of
opinion which exists between Mr. Hardy am:4.°rd Stanley
was clearly disclosed in the'late debate. With a Hardy
And a Stanley in the Cabinet, there must of necessity be
a Hardy party and a Stanley party there, and Mr.
Disraeli's attempts to manipulate them may prove as
futile as Vivian Grey's endeavours to make the Marquis
of Carabas and Mr. Courtenay play his political game.
Mr. Frederick Stanley's letter and General Peel's speech
prove that the Conservative party is as little united
without as within the Cabinet. The union of the Liberal
party is as complete as the disunion of the Government
and its followers. The majority who voted for going into
committee on the Irish Church Establishment virtually
pledged themselves to action upon it; or why go into
committee at all ? They wilt certainly not be content
with'the barren victory of an abstract resolution. Mr.
Gladstone may be trusted to persevere to the end of the
course on which he has deliberately entered, and he will
be supported by the Liberal party out of doors, and by
everyone in Parliament who desires to count as one of
its representatives.

The Standard observes that only the Times and its
.clients will be surprised that the House of Commons
should have entered, as soon as the time came for the con-
sideration of public business, upon the orders standing
upon the paper. The thin attendance spewed that mem-
bers did not anticipate a statement, which was abso-
lutely unnecessary, and would have been, indeed, an
act of singular absurdity. The leader of the Opposition
was not in his place, knowing perfectly well that nothing
of the kind would be volunteered, and that he would
only make himself ridiculous by .asking for it. The
•Government has appealed to the country, and desires
no delay in the delivery of its verdict. But before that
verdict can be given, the jury must be formed, and that
is a work of some difficulty and of some time. But the
length of the time required depends upon the Opposition,
and not upon the Government. What the Government
-wants is the adoption, with all convenient speed, of the
scotch and Irish Reform Bills—the Boundary Bill, the
.Briber• and Corruption Bill, so that the new and enlarged
constite •ncies may at once say what is their will. The
Opposition may materially expedite the passage of these
measures. It can, if it pleases, materially delay or alto-
gether prevent their adoption. We hope it will take the
=ore how, arable course, and help, as the Times admits it
ought, the Government to advance the time for the general
election. Do, however, what it will, this much we can
say, with all confidence, that the Government and the
Conservative party will spare no exertion to complete the
Reform Act and hasten the day for the meeting of the Par-
liament which is to more faithfully represent the people of
the United Kingdom.

The Telegraph ren ark upon the great business before
the House this session. First, the English Reform Bills
have to be concluded. The boundaries of the boroughs
have to be defined. A bill for promoting purity of elec-
tions must be passed. Then wehave a formidable list of
questions opened up by the proposed Scotch and Irish
Reform measures. As the a lendments already placed on
the notice-book indicate, the whole system of our small
borough representation will be debated, through the issue
raised by the proposal to give addititional members to
Scotland. Nor is there any reason to suppose that the
Irish Bill will fare much better. It has been so framed as
to irritate important interests and to conciliate no in-
fluential or hearty support. Yet, in one mode or other,
both measures must be passed into law before we can ad-
vance to the much wider and more trying issues which an
early future has in store for us. All this work—a labour
vast enough to employ a long session—lies before the
Government.

While not over-rating the Royal visit to Ireland, the
Ilerald remarks that its undoubted success cannot but be
regarded as throwing great light on the condition of Irish
affairs. In the first place, Ireland is not slipping away
from us so fast as we expected. Its people have not by
'any means become that indeterminate quantity in our
political system which some alarmists represented. The
People are not yet all Yankees, nor vile Fenians or Ribbon-
men. They are changing for the better in material circum-
stances, but the old ideas still influence the nation, and it is
through them we must learn to govern the people for their
good. Fenianism may not be quite gone, but it is going.
The one sad event of last week—the Ribbon murder in
Westmeath—is an evidence of this of some value. As
long as Fenianism was, flourishing all the 4awlessness of
the country was absorbed in the movement. Now that
the movement is dying Ribbonism attempts a resurrec-
tion. But revived Ribbonism will yield to the improving
circumstances of the country more readily than Fenianism
has done. The last great lesson which these events teach
us is that the Irish people set such store by the presence of
the Royal Family as few on this side of the Channel can
altogether appreciate. In the encouragement of this feel-
ing and in the beneficial consequences which will flow
from the example thus set by royalty, there is much more
reliable prospect of serving Ireland than in any specula-
tive legislation.

The Post answers its " own correspondent" in the matter
of the " dashing" policy pursued by Sir Robert Napier in
Abyssinia. As Sir Robert Napier has a more mature
judgment, a greater experience, and much better informa-
tion than his critics, and as, moreover, he proved himself
right on the former occasion, the Post rests satisfied with
the course which he has deemed it beat to pursue. Al-
though the latest telegrams and the most recent informa-
tion from the prisoners had seemed to establish that
Theodore was absolutely inside Ma„ Bala, it is now to be
inferred from the letters brought by this' mail that
although he had crossed the litAshilo he had not entered
the fortress, and hence, no doubt, the anxiety of the
Commander-in-Chief to push on to intercept the
king, if possible, before he could get his guns over
the remaining ten miles between the river and the cap-
tives. The cvident advantages of being able to effect this
would probably be cons:dered ty the Commander-in-Chief
to justify the risk of pushing on without his
guns, and v.-ail but a fraction of the attacking force, trust-
ing to being reinforced from the rear in sufficient time for.
the engagement which in all probability could not be
brought on before he chose. The uneasiness and uncer-
tainty said to be exhibited by Theodore seems to indicate
that, like other politieal adventurers, he has no fixed
policy, and that he intended to be guided entirely by
circumstances. The more rapid advance, therefore, of the
British troops must have occurred very opportunely, at a
time when such an exhibition of force and energy
would probably have had great effect in swaying his
a4rtinintv.

BO gr,..at

LAW AND POLICE.

THE ACTION YOB A WEDDING BRLU:111A/3T.—In the cue
of Rayner v. Koehler, after a most protracted trial, the
jury found for the plaintiff for the full amount claimed.

STABBING A WITNESS.—At the Middlesex Sessions
Joseph Simmonds, a youth, 18 years of age, was charged
with cutting and wounding Thomas Welch. It seemed
that at the previous sessions a companion of the prisoner's,
named " Fatty," was sentenced to seven-years' penal ser.
vitude, and the prosecutor in the present instance was one
of the principal witnesses. On Good Friday Welch was in
Berwick-street, Soho, where he saw the prisoner scraping
a piece of wood with a knife, and, as the prosecutor was
passing, the accused struck him in the abdomen, though
fortunately without occasioning much harm. Having been
convicted, the prisoner was sent to prison for twelve
months.

A VIOLENT PRISONER.—At the Mansion House, Henry
Thompson, a tailor, employed in the Poultry, was sent to
prison for seven days for an indecent assault. He declared
he was innocent, and, on leaving the dock, threw his hat
at Alderman Wilson, and declared he would murder him.
He was thereupon sentenced to fourteen days' hard
labour. It took five of the officers of the court to get him
into a cell, and he so violently assaulted Sergeant Shaw,
the keeper of the lock-up, that that officer preferred a
charge against him, and he was brought out of the cell to
be searched. He then again assaulted Shaw and Partridge,
the gaoler, and his hands were obliged to be handcuffed
behind him, and his shoes pulled off, before he could be
taken before the court. He was then a little calmer, and
expressed himself sorry for what he had done. Mr.
Alderman Wilson then ordered him to find two sureties in
£2O each, and to enter into his own recognisances in £2O to
keep the peace to all her Majesty's subjects for twelve
months when he came out of Holloway Gaol. The alder-
man and Mr. Oke, the chief clerk, both instructed the
gaoler to inform the governor of the prison of his conduct
at this court. The prisoner, on leaving the dock, told
Alderman Wilson he should hear of him again.
ROBBERY FROM A RAILWAY COMPANY.—At Marylebone
Police-court, James Wilkes, a railway porter in the employ
of the London and North-Western Railway, and William
Brown and his wife, Mary Ann Brown, were charged, the
former with stealing a bale of cloth, value £3O, and the
other prisoners with receiving the same well knowing it
to have been stolen. On the 9th January last Messrs.
Arthur, wholesale cloth and tweed merchants, Edin-
burgh, transmitted a bale of tweed to Messrs.
Branck and Sons, Brussels. Its transit was
regularly traced from Glasgow to London, where, the
route not being specified, it was detained and placed in
what is known as "the pound." The bale did not arrive
at its destination, and inquiries were set on foot which
resulted in the prisoners' house being searched, and there
a quantity of cloth very much like that stolen was found.
The prisoners were committed for trial, but remanded in
in order that a charge of stealing a hamper of boots
during its transit from Northampton might be preferred
against them.
WOUNDING WITH RED-HOT IRON. —At the Wor-
ship-street Police-court, Thomas Mills, a joiner, was
charged with maliciously wounding Henry Walker
with a piece of red-hot iron. It seemed that the
prisoner occupied a tenement in the same house as
the prosecutor, and on Saturday made a great
noise and threatened he would murder the whole
household. The complainant asked him to desist,
when the prisoner desired him to come into his
room. Walker, not apprehending any violence, complied
with the request; but on his entering the apartment the
accused struck him a violent blow on the head with a piece
of iron that was red hot at the end. The prisoner stated
that the prosecutor commenced the affray, and what he
did was simply in self-defence. The magistrate, after com-
menting on the serious nature of the charge,committed the
accused for trial.

THE CASE AGAINST HOME, THE SPIRITUALIST.—
Before Vice-Chancellor Giffard, the case of Lyons v.
Home again came on for hearing. It was alleged
that the defendant, by misrepresentation and fraud,
had obtained complete mastership over the mind
of Mrs. Lyons ; in fact, so great was his in-
fluence, that he obtained from her at different times
£24,000. The circumstances were briefly these. Mrs.
Lyon, having been introduced to Mr. Home by a friend
of hers in October 1866, was persuaded by him that
through his means she was on several occasions placed in
communication with her deceased husband, with which
she was so much pleased that she first gave Mr. Home
£3O as a subscription to his " Athenaeum, " in
Sloane•street, and afterwards £5O more. On the 10th
October, seven days only after the first interview, Home
obtained from her £24,000 sterling. Shortly after-
wards she was told it was her husband's wish that
she should destroy her will, and make the defendant
her universal legatee. In December Mr. Home assumed
the name of Lyon in addition to that of Home ; and in
the same month Mrs. Lyon was induced to sell out £6,000
odd Consols, and give the proceeds of this sum also to the
defendant ; and, finally, in January, she made over a sum
of £30,030 to the defendant, reserving to herself only a
life interest. In March 1867 Mr. Home invested £20,00
in a mortgage, and shortly after the plaintiff, finding, as
she said, that she had been deluded, filed this bill. Ane
exeat regno was obtained against Mr. Home, under which
he was arrested, but the matter was arranged, and the de-
fendant had submitted to the jurisdiction by paying and
transferring the sums he had obtained from Mrs. Lyon
into court. After Mrs. Lyon's affidavit had been read,
the court adjourned.