The Sun.
London, England, 1868-01-25 00:00:00

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though they had a good many years in which to '
make the experiment. A Reform Bill was brought
in under the auspices of Mr. GLADSTONE, whose
power, as Mr. ROEBUCK humorously put it, has
always been greater over his enemies than over his
friends. His friends turned him out, and with the
reappearance of Lord DERBY on the political stage
Mr. ROEBUCK believed he saw a chance of the
" real Reform Bill" he pined for. "If ever a
Reform Bill is carried," he said to himself,
" it will be by these men, and so sure as they bring
in a bill I will support them and their Government."
He was among the first to do so, and was received
" with a yell of disapprobation." He was told that
he did not know what he was doing, and this asser-

tion gave great offence to Mr. ROEBUCK'S politicaldig-
nity. "Having," he exclaimed indignantly, "passed
so long a life in public business, I did not know what
I was doing." Events have shown that he did
know very well what he was doing, and his consti-
tuents have no reason to be ashamed of their mem-
ber's conduct as a Reformer, nor to regret the
" contempt" with which he treated the people who
called upon him to resign his seat I With the bill
itself he is, on the whole, very well satisfied. It is,
he thinks, a liberal measure, so liberal that it
frightened its own originators. Mr. ROEBUCK,
however, says it has not frightened him, and he
very soon disposes of the bugbear of Democracy.
He has more faith, be declares, in the working
classes than in the small shopkeepers, whose in-
fluence is now predominant ; and there is no reason
why he should not have such confidence. They are
Englishmen, holding all kinds and shades of political
opinion like the ranks above them, and if some are
extreme in their theories, they would for the most
part be very slow and unwilling to put those theories
in practice. "I am quite sure," said Mr. ROEBUCK
last evening, " that no harm will come to England
while we have a free press and a free people, and
that free press and the constant intercommunication
of thought will render the past Reform Bill one of
the greatest boons ever conferred upon the people
of this country." Having expressed himself with
confidence respecting the achievements of the past,
Mr. ROEBUCK proceeded to look with equal
confidence to the future. Every one, he said,
was afraid of war ; but he believed there was
at present no cause for such apprehension.
France had immense influVnce in Europe, and in
France the commercial interest was beginning to
predominate over the military. With regard to
America the Irish element, he admitted, was produc-
tive of mischief, but still he attributed much of the
Americau support to Fenianism to the desire to
secure the Irish vote. His observations on Ireland
and the Irish were marked by good sense and real
patriotism, and were received with strong marks of
approval by his audience.

During the rise and progress of Fenianism we
have certainly met with some strange news, and the
last is that an accusation has been brought against
her MAJESTY'S Sheriff for the island of Alderney.

A privt)te investigation took place before the magis-
trates, the result of which has not as yet tran-
spired, but meanwhile Mr. SIMON has been suspended,
and bail is required for his appearance at the
proper time. This is serious so far as it goes ;
and, besides this, an accusation of a similar
nature has been brought against a police-
constable at Birmingham, and during the
inquiries that were instituted it was discovered
that others of the force, as well as the accuse 3, have
been in the habit of making use of seditious F lan-
guage. This is certainly very unsatisfactory, and
something decided should be done to check it, be-
cause an infusion of this evil spirit in ever so small
a degree in such a quarter may do far more harm
than a great deal in another direction. It is, in-
deed, quite surprising to notice how widespread is
this insidious conspiracy, and into what unexpected
neighbourhoods it finds its way. The only thing

that can be dune is to check it wherever and
whenever it appears, so that it may not gain ground;
but it is disappointing to find that those who ought
to know better than others the nature and wickedness
of Fenianism should lend themselves to its cause
and seek to spread its work. The man who posted
the Fenian placard at the Mansion-house has been
arrested, at least it is presumed that he is the same,
because he was found yesterday putting a placard
of a similar nature in the same place. He will be
brought before the Lord Mayor to-day. Some '
papers were found upon him which were of an in-
criminating character, especially an entry concern-
ing the execution of the three culprits at Manchester.
Yestvday the men who had been arrested at Dept-
ford were brought up at the Greenwich Police-court.
Here again suspicious documents were found in the
prisoners' lodgings; but the prisoners themselves
did not seem to think that they had done
anything very amiss. Under the circumstances
it is not to be wondered at that bail was refused for
all of them. The special constables are increasing
rapidly. At St. George the Martyr, Parliament-
street, an aggregate meeting took place, and Col.
EWART, the officer appointed by Government, ad-
dressed them in some very energetic terms. He
particularly advised them to get acquainted with
the proper common drill, so that, in case of emer-
gencies, they might all act together in the most

powerful and efficient manner. Arrangements were
made in order to carry out the most suitable

plans, and the affair passed off very satisfactorily.
It would b© agood thing if this example were fol-
lowed in other places, for too much care and cau-
tion cannot possibly be taken in order to attain
success in the requisite direction ; but at any rate
it is very satisfactory that so much zeal should have
been displayed in the cause, for a movement of this
spontaneous nature is more likely to be effective
than any thing which the authorities might do even
in the usual manner.

An important telegram has been received from
Vienna, bearing date the twenty-fourth of January.
In this it is stated that hitherto an office has been
in existence in Austria in which was centred the
complete control of th© army, called the Amude
abereanmende. This is now abolished, and the au-
thority previously vested in it has been given to the
responsible Minister of War. These measures will
be announced to-day, as it is expected that their
reception will cause general satisfaction, and be ac-
cepted as an " additional guarantee for the consti-
tutional system." This is very good news, and it
is to be hoped that it will realise all the expecta-
tions formed about it, and convince the people that
the EMPEROR'S Government are really deter-
mined to do their utmost in the work of
progress. So much has bees done, hitherto
that it is not going too far to look
forward to more yet being achieved. The
course pursued by the EMPEROR is worthy of
all commendation, and the more so because affairs
were in so unpromising a condition before the com-
mencement of these Constitutional Reforms. It
shows, at any rate, that it is never too late to begin
improvement, no matter how inauspicious may be
the aspect at the outset, and that appearances
are deceitful, for who could have believed
it possible after the battle of Sadowa that the
Austrians would have been able to retrieve their
position as they have done. The more that they effect
in the right direction, the more lope and confidence