The Express.
London, England, 1868-07-04 00:00:00

THE WEEKLY PRESS.

It se'ms clear to the Saturday Review that the
Tote of the peers on the Suspensory Bill was perfectly jus-
tified, because they looked upon the bill as intended to
pronounce a decision against the Irish church before the
decision of the country has been formally expressed on the
subject, and, under these circumstances, their lordships
were free, according to every possible view of the consti-
tution, to declare that they would not abandon their sin-
cere opinion, which was strongly in favour of maintain-
ing the Irish church until the voice of the constituencies
"hall have made itself heard.

Reviewing the part taken by the bishops on tho Irish
church debate, the Spectator says that not one of them,
by speech or vote, showed himself desirous to sacrifice
something of outward wealth and power and dignity to
win the hearts of a moe more open to the impression of
generous sentiments and the genuine spirit of self-sacri-
fice, than Englishmen themselves. It was a great
spiritual opportunity ignobly wasted by all the spiritual
heads of a great church.

The London Bairn,' remarks that it would have been
strange had not the Peers rejected the bill. Their lord-
ships are committed, by a long course of precedents, to a
fruitless straggle with the progressive enlightenment and
liberality of the times. There is nothing we have gained
in the last half-century—eo fruitful in reforms—
that we have not had to wring from their un-
willing hands. On every occasion on which reason
has come in conflict with prejudice, justice with the
exclusive rights of a class, a large and liberal policy with
an effete and worn-out policy, they have chosen the worse
partand have enlisted themselves on the side of the failing
cause. It could hardly be expected that they would turn
over a new leaf in reference to the Irish church. The
writer attributes this perversity to the influence of the
bishops which weighs upon their lordships like an incubus,
and leavens, or rather deadens, the whole MAW. Although,
however, narrow and obsolete views have triumphed for a
time, they 1611 be endorsed by the country.

The Examixer does not believe that seditious dis-
content in Ireland would have been perceptibly dimi-
nished by the passing of the bill. Its opinion has
always been that until the liberal party in parlia-
ment are agreed about what is to be done with the
property of the church, the discontented bulk of the
community in Ireland will take comparatively little
interest in the settlement of the question. The advantage
of the suspensive veto, however, will be that it will give
practical opinion time to ripen.

- In an article anent the functions and constitution
of the House of Lords, the Saturday Review says it le
scarcely Feasible that, in the midst of the great changes
Which must result from thereform,or revolution,oflastyear,
the House of Lords should long retain its actual position.
The constitution of that body, first originating in the rela-
tions of society, has with the lapse of time become more
or less anomalous ; but, with all its defects, the House of
Lords is the best second chamber in existence. There is
no strong inherent necessity for reforming the Upper
House; but, in anticipation of the clamour which will
shoitly be raised, it is not altogether useless to prepare
the way for moderate concessions. With this view
our contemporary suggests that the project of life
peerages might be judiciously revived, and parliament,
which would be called upon to decide the question,
would have the opportunity of considering whether
life-peers should possess any definite qualification, and
whether the dignity might not be attached to the
place of some of the great officers of the law. It
would not be difficult to take precautions against any at-
tempt of a government to pack the house with life-peers ;
and, if judicious selections were made, they would
probably add to the weight and popularity of the peerage.
The Stertator thinks that the Liberals are not be-
having well in their opposition to Mr. Dieraeli's anti-
bribery bill. It is, our contemporary says, an open, and,
as far as any one can perceive, an honest attempt to put
a stop to an evil which threatens to hand the entire re-
presentation of the people over to the Plutocracy, and
which, if it spreads much further, will undo the effect of
any conceivable reform. A better measure might pos-
sibly be framed, and we should ourselves prefer a stronger
one ; but Mr. Dieraeli's secures the two main requisites,
an inquiry on the spot, and a tribunal independent of
party feeling.
The lizavnitter, considering the further decline in the
revenue, as shown by the last returns, contends that it
would be unmeaning as well as unjust to hold the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer accountable for the existing con-
dition of things. With such a parliament se the present
it would be impossible to keep down effectually the
habits of imperial extravagance which lie at the root of
the whole evil. The new parliament, however, will
have a moral right in finance to insist upon turn-
ing over a new leaf, and what we have to do
now is to use wisely the increased power conceded to the
nation in the choice of men for the new parliament, and
in making them understand unmistakably that they will
be expected to reduce taxation by cutting down expendi-
ture.

The Munich journals speak of the approaching
betrothal of the King of Bavaria with the Princess Maria
Alexandrowna, daughter of the Emperor of Russia, and
born on the 17th October, 1853.

The Pontifical military almanack has just boon
distributed to the diplomatic body at Rome. In the Papal
army there are 8 generals, 24 chaplains, and 704 officers,
thus divided as to nationalities-494 Italians. 129 French,
59 Swiss, 19 Gelman?, 20 Rclg...sus, 9 Dutchmen, and 4
English.