The Sun.
London, England, 1854-07-12 00:00:00

of the British Administration. It is scarcely proba-
ble, even although the "dear" and "excellent" still
continues the farce of nominally holding the post
of First Lord of the Treasury, it is scarcely pro-
bable, even with Lord ABERDEEN still Prime
Minister of England, that a cordial reception will
be granted to any such proposition as the one above
explained—in the event of its being actually
brought hither by Col. MANTEUFFEL or any other
Plenipotentiary. Especially now that a powerful
military force is about to be supplied by France, to
be carried out to the Baltic in the war vessels of Eng-
land. Now, when the EMPEROR of the French is
about to review the troops destined for this expe-
dition, and when it is not altogether improbable
that the QUEEN of England may herself visit the
fleet by which they are to be conveyed to the Gulf
of Finland prior to its departure. The visit of
the Emperor NAPOLEON to Calais, St. Omer, and
Boulogne—constitutes in this respect a guarantee
that there is little chance of the CZAR succeed-
ing through Prussia in bringing about any fatal
renewal of these merely illusory negotiations.

Happily, moreover, at the very time when the
EMPEROR of France is about to review his army,
and when the QUEEN of England may be probably
about to review her fleet—immediately anterior to
their departure on their Baltic destination—the
principal organ of the policy of delay for the pur-
poses of diplomacy veers suddenly and entirely
round, openly avowing at last the same views
which, from the outset, we ourselves have per-
tinaciously, and, we venture to say, consistently
and unflinchingly advocated. Insomuch that the
opinions expressed today by the chief of our
morning contemporaries are in a great measure i den-
tical with those proclaimed by us in these columns
from day to day, from week to week, from month
to month, throughout. These things should not
be overlooked or forgotten by the community.
They should not be allowed to pass unnoticed by
ourselves through any feeling of mock modesty,
or affected reservation. They are facts, simple
facts, but facts not altogether, we conceive, with-
out peculiar significance.

Another " innocent" has been immolated.
Another effort has been made to bring the
session nearer to its termination, and to allow
the excellent ABERDEEN to negotiate with his
"friend of forty-years' standing," without the
interference of Parliament ! Yesterday had its
appropriate victim. The Divorce and Matri-
monial Causes Bill was surrendered without a
struggle. Surrendered after it had virtually
passed the Upper House, and been fully and ma-
turely considered by their lordships. Whether it
was that the influence of the select family party
at " Doctors' " Commons, so greatly predominated
in the " People's" Commons, that any inva-
sion of their snug monopolies could not be
carried, or that it was known that considerable
time must necessarily be occupied in the discus-
sion on its various provisions, every movement
of which would occasion terror and anxiety to the
Premier, it is unnecessary to say. It is sufficient
' that Doctors' Commons remains unscathed by auy of
the various shafts aimed at it since the meeting of
Parliament, and that the period of prorogation has
been pro tanto advanced by the postponement—
perhaps we should rather say the unconditional with-
drawal of the measure now under notice. Be it so !
We shall feel greatly surprised if the Ecclesiastical
prove any exception to the general rule ; and as
the preservation of the Franchise to East Retford
led to the disfranchisement of many other rotten
boroughs, it is by no means improbable that the
temporary impunity obtained by these obnoxious
tribunals during the present session may lead to
their total and unconditional abolition at no very
distant date.

We confess that we cannot very greatly regret
the postponement of the Divorce Bill ; for al-
though it was unquestionably a step in the right
direction, it by no means went far enough, and,
had it passed in the form in which it was intro-
duced, some time must have elapsed before a
further instalment of justice could reasonably have
been anticipated. Now we may look forward
with hope, if not with confidence, to a general
revision of the matrimonial code, in which some
of the chief anomalies now in operation may be
removed, and the " rights," or we should rather
say the "wrongs," of women dealt with in a fairer
and more equitable spirit, while all disputes be-
tween married persons may be cheaply, expedi-
tiously, and effectually adjudicated on.
With the abolition of the Ecclesiastical
Courts the fiction on which marriage with
a deceased wife's sister was prohibited
will be entirely disposed of. It is unnecessary
here to repeat the arguments by which we have
repeatedly proved that there was no Divine in-
junction against such contracts, and that the ob-
jection thereto, if any, rested solely on some
doubtful canons of the Church—canons, the in-
terpretation whereof was disputed by some of the
most distinguished and zealous bishop ministers
and lay members of the Establishment. Before
1835 these m Irriages were not void, but merely
voidable. Should any intrusive person institute
' a suit, the Ecclesiastical Court might dissolve
the marriage ! But on what ground? Pro salute
anima;, for the soul's health of the party whom it
thought proper to censure. From the very rea-
son assigned for the decree, and on which alone
it could rest, it must be obvious that none but
Churchmen could be affected thereby, and that
the judgment could not apply to those who de-
spised Ecclesiastical censures, and did not subscribe
to the canons to which undue force and meaning
was attributed. A straightforward and sturdy
Dissenter, who repudiated every species of Eccle-
siastical domination, would rest as easy under the
Church censure for a marriage which in his soul
and conscience he believed to be right and proper
as he would under a condemnation for the von-
payment of Church Rates, and we can scarcely
imagine that any attempt would be made against
such a person. And as from the avowed object
—" for the soul's health "—no proceedings could
be taken after the death of either party, there
could be no subsequent attempt at impeaching the
legitimacy, or interfering with the rights of the
issue.

Such was the state of affairs when the Bill of
1835 was introduced—a bill which was apparently
a remedial measure ; but which, by an artfully
contrived, but hastily and recklessly accepted,
" amendment " (amendment, forsooth !)—was
converted into one of persecution. A serious and
most unwarrantable invasion of civil and religious
liberty of the subject, an attack on the most
sacred privilege of those who conscientiously and
honestly dissented from the dogmas of the Church
by law established. The bill was, as vie have
said, introduced as a remedial measure. It was
for the benefit of the Noble Marquis, the heir to
a Dukedom, that the ancient titles and wide-
spread domains of the family might not be di-
verted from the direct line. A private Act could
not be obtained, and therefore for the sake of one
high
-born
11:e
distinguished and wealthy nobleman indulgence
given to the thousands,
in a similar aye, the my-
riads of less persons who were placed
position.
A general measure then
was introduced, the
render all such sole object of which was to
nuptials previously contracted, to
all intents and
A clause was prr"es valid and binding.
declaring that fc introduced at the last moment,
r the r
mar-
riages should, not as futureore these
theretof
voidable, but absolutely , be merely
v
This was carried in ab initio.
the Lords,b
re-
jected in the Commons. The but
popular branch of
the Legislature, however, subsequently
rather than prevent the yielded
passing of an enactment
that gave assurance and security to
so many and
we have seen the result of that well; 5
nes% Not
one in a thousand of such cases was previously in-
terfered with. Although the law was not in a
satisfactory condition, it was looked on more as
mere brutum fulmen than as a real evil. But it
speedily became a substantial grievance of the
most onerous and vexatious description, and one
that has hitherto been enforced with the most
perverse and desperate tenacity. Every attempt
to get rid of the obnoxious, and, so far as the
Dissenters are concerned, most unjustifiable and
vexatious enactment, has been foiled, and
it has still been maintained, a blot on the
national statute-book rendering the law of

England different from that of every Protes- •
taut country in Europe, aye in the world. The
abolition of the spiritual jurisdiction in mar-
riage cases, must lead to that of the objectionable
law that sprung directly therefrom, and hence
there is another cogent reason for the total de-
struction of the Ecclesiastical Courts, which we
earnestly hope and firmly believe will follow, from
the postponement of the Divorce and Matrimonial
Causes Bill, and of the Testamentary Jurisdiction
Bill.

Most unexpectedly the Lords have proved more
Ministerial than the Commons, and quite as
liberal. They not only agreed without a division
to the abolition of the Matriculation Oath, which
excluded Dissenters—not only sustained by a large
majority the clause permitting them to take the
Bachelor's degree without signing the Thirty-nine
Articles, but they even restored to its integrity the
Ministerial clause for the election of the Weekly
Council (our readers will forgive our dropping
the uncouth word Hebdomadal), which is pretty
fairly compared to the second house in po-
litical legislation. Ministers originally proposed
that this important body should be elected in
certain proportions from the several Academic
officials by " Congregation," a body to con-
sist, as of old, of the effective force, or work-
ing staff, of the University. The Commons carried
au alteration that the different classes should each
elect their own members of council. The heads
of Houses, who are the parallel of Old Toryism in
politics, were to elect six heads of Houses, the Pro-
fessors as many professors, and so forth ; a plan
which seemed likely not only to insure an eternal
war of classes, but, as matters stand at Oxford,
to insure also an overwhelmingly predominant
clerical influence in the management of the Uni-
versity. It is this clause, on which Ministers
laid much stress, and the defeat on which Mr.
GLADSTONE appeared to feel keenly, that the
Lords have restored to its primary form. Indeed,
they have passed all the meritorious parts
of the bill, either by large majorities or without
dividing.
Thus far Ministers have triumphed ; but we
hope they will not forget the severe rebuke prac-
tically administered by the Lords in not even
dividing on the admission of Dissenters. It fully
sustains our repeated observation' on the manner
in which the Coalition has courted defeat. Lord
JonN RUSSELL will, just for the nonce, give a less
liberal vote on a question of religious liberty than
the Earl of DERBY, or the Bishop of Oxford !
He sells a national demand to fear of the Lords
and the Bishops, and the House of Commons re-
fuses to betray the nation, and the Lords coolly
declare, that they too will not be dragged
through the dirt of bigotry. We only
hope the warning will be taken, and that mea-
sures worth offering to the nation will hence-
forth be the rule and not the exception.
A very foolish and maudlin tenderness was
affected towards the Established Church by many
of the noble speakers. Their fear seemed very
great of doing anything to touch the close and
holy alliance between the University and the
Church of England. As Church of England
men, we cannot thank them for what, to us,
savours too much of cant. We have always
argued honestly. and openly for the free ad-
mission of all classes to the National Universities,
and we scorn on every ground to accompany the
concession of a right with puling speeches for the
National Church. We do not wish Dissenters
to come to Oxford and be told, as it were, that
they must not breathe freely, that they must
speak with bated breath; and perhaps, even
put their shoes from off their feet, for the place
on which they stand is holy to the Church ; but
still more do we object to such a tone of speaking
for the credit of the Church itself. The Church
of England is no baby now. It does not want a
nursery where it can be kept out of harm's way.
It has come of age centuries ago, and has cer-
tainly not yet reverted to second childhood.
Why, then, all this silly twaddle about hoping
to do her no injury by a possible Dissenting
Private Hall or two among her numerous rich
and wealthy colleges t Really if we shared the
fears of some Noble Lords, we should be ashamed
to give utterance to them. If the Church were
actually in danger from the admission of Dissent-
ers even on the most equal terms, we should think
that, as an ecclesiastical system, she deserved to
fall.

Dissenters of every class will, we hope, avail
themselves of the opening now afforded them.
After the decisive votes of both Houses of Parlia-
ment, Oxford, reforming itself in detail under the
guidance of the Commissioners appointed for that
purpose, can hardly venture on obstruct-
ing the obvious will of the nation. If it
does, the Legislature will certainly not be ap-
pealed to in vain. We wish Dissenters to
do their part not only for their own sakes, but
because on no point do we feel more strongly than
on the value of honourable and friendly associa-
tion in early years as the means of abating secta-

rian bigotry and rancour ; and of generating also
mutual understanding and respect, where separa-
tion now originates mutual ignorance and antipathy.
In the Commons some remarks were made about
the impossibility of separating Catholics and other
Dissenters, and Mr. LUCAS thought Catholics
would not come to Oxford. What harm in the
world could they do them? . They could never
surpass Puseyism as a maker of proselytes for
Rome ; and probably Mr. SPOONER and Dr. MAC-
HALE would both have been better men had a
common education taught them to appreciate each
other better. At all events it is now settled that
our Universities must more and more every year
deserve the character of National Institutions.

We invite the attention of the Admiralty to a
letter on " Gun-boats," in The Sam of this day,
signed R. B. Feather. The subject has been fre-
quently canvassed by ourselves; and we cannot
help wondering that no prompt step has yet been
taken to remedy the grievance, so naval and so
national. What has been done goes for nothing
for all practical purposes.

KING OF PORTUGAL.—At Brussels on the Bth—A.
grand review was held here in honour of the King of Por-
tugal. 8,000 men of the garrison of Brussels and the
neighbouring towns were assembled. At noon, King
Leopold, with the King of Portugal on his left hand,
and accompanied by the Princes his sons, and the Duke
of Oporto, passed the troops in review.
The King, Don Pedro, and the Duke of Oporto will
be present at the annual fete of Malines, and will con-
tinue their tour through the principal towns of Bel-
gium. •
DEATH OF LADY MARIANNE STURT.—We have to
record the demise of Lady Marianne Sturt, at the ad-
vanced age of 88. Her ladyship was daughter of the
fourth Earl of Shaftesbury, the grandmother of Mr.
Gerard Sturt, M.P., and was therefore connected with
the noble houses of Cardigan, Lucan, and Shaftesbury.
CRYSTAL PALACE. —TUESDAY (SHILLING DAY).—
Number of season tickets sold to this date, 20,370. Ad-
mission at the doors, 13,699 ; admission by season
tickets, 1,058-14,757.

ROYAL SURREY ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS.—Yesterday,
the first of a series of grand galas, under the patronage
of Count Walewski, the French Ambassador, in cele-
bration of the union between France and England, was
given at these gardens. In addition to the many cus-
tomary attractions of the Surrey Zoological Gardens,
the visitors on this occasion was treated to the rather
unusual display here of a balloon ascent, which was very
cleverly and prettily effected under the able mronautship
of Lieutenant Chambers, in his elegant new balloon.
There was also a double band, consisting of the band of
the 2d Life Guards, under Mr. Grattan Cooke, and that
of the Coldstreams, under Mr. Godfrey. The pyrotech-
nic display was on an extraordinary magnificent scale,
comprising a huge bouquet of five hundred rockets.
The gardens were tastefully decorated with emblematic
devices in coloured lamps, and the attendance of visitors
was numerous and fashionable.
PRICE OF GoLD.—The quotation of gold at'Paris is
about 4 mille discount (according to the last tariff),
which, at the English Mint price of 3/. 17s. 100. per
oz. for standard gold, gives an exchange of 25.07 ; and,
the exchange at Paris on London at short being 25.00,
it follows that gold .; about 0.28 per cent dearer in
Paris than in London. By advices; from Hamburg the
that Hamburg on London n
per
rn c
en at t s
price of gold is 424 per mark, which at the English
Mint price of 31. 17s. 101 d. per oz. for standard gold,
givesgold
d s
0.06 an exchange of 13 3i ; and, the exchange at
being 3btro
,i t
thanfollows
in
e of
London. The course or short bre in H
exchange at New York on
a
London for bills at 680da 6 109/ per cent., and,
ys' sight is 4
the par of exchange betty
109 23.40 per cent , een England and America being
follows that the exchange is no-
minally 0.17 per ce* • nt. in favour of England ; and, after
making allowance for charges of transport and difference
rate leaves of interest, the present r
es a small profit on the
importation of gold from the United States.