The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-03 00:00:00

cation. It is further said that he buried the MS. In his wife's
coffin. For some years the poems have lain underground.
They are now exhumed, published, and are being read by
everyone. This is, I should think, the first instance of a
"posthumous " work being published during the lifetime
of its author.

There was a large literary dinner a few evenings ago in
the City. The guests were distinguished, the fare more than
good. The occasion was the launching of Mr. Sala's new
magazine, " England in the Nineteenth Century." It is
intended that this periodical shall deal with the social life
of this country in all its phases, and a large number of
well-known writers have joined the staff. The
proprietor of the magazine is Mr. Willing,
the advertising agent. Another advertising agent,
Mr. Maddick, has started a halfpenny morning
paper. This is not his first venture. About two years
ago Mr. Maddick brought out the Morning Summary at a
penny. It lasted only a fortnight, however. Another
item of Journalistic news is that Mr. Edward Dicey, late
editor a the Daily Hews, has become the editor of the
Observer.

Another capital number of the Photographic Art
Journal reaches me as I write. The first illustration is a
photograph, by the Woodbury process, of a painting
by a rising Spanish painter, Zanaivis. It is intended
to enlarge and improve the magazine, and the July
number will appear in a new form and under the title
of " Art—Fine and Industrial," and will contain six
full-page illustrations. A new edition of Bishop Berkeley's
works, in four volumes, with a Life by Professor Camp-
bell Fraser, is announced as nearly ready. So, too, are
Professor Ruskin's Lectures on Art and Professor
Hullah's book on the cultivation of the speaking voice.

The latest novelty is a bicycle which rises and falls in
imitation of the movements of a rider on a horse. The
effect is irresistibly ludicrous.

SPIRIT OF THE PRESS.
THE MORDAUNT CASE.

Marriage, observe the Times, is a contract in the per-
paaxience of which society is so deeply interested that it
may not be dissolved, except upon certain conditions ;
but when these conditions are satisfied its dissolution is
granted ex debito justitice. Can the existen'.:e of these
conditions be ascertained when one of the parties to a
marriage sought to be dissolved is insane ? Natural rea-
son says they may. The practice both under the old and
the new law of Divorce proves that they can. The Act
of Parliament gives no warrant for the suggestion that
the task is insuperable. The lucid and consistent judg-
ment of the Lord Chief Baron Kelly appears conclusive.
liow, then, has it happened that Lord Penzance and Mr.
Justice Keating have arrived at an opposite 'Opinion ? If
we may say it with respect, we should answer, because
they have yielded to a feeling which appears to be a con-
stant snare to many of our Judges, especially
those trained to the Common Law. They have
an almost invincible repugnance to work out ques-
tions involving conflicting principles or conflict-
£i statements. Just as Lord Kenyon said, "If
wo take to considering equities, we are lost "—just as
other Judges have protested against being called on to
consider conflicting probabilities which they affirm to be
the special function of juries, so the Judge-Ordinary and
Mr. Justice Keating shrink from the difficult issues of a
divorce suit where any party to is incapable of reason.
But, meanwhile, the unfortunate husband or wife is shut
out from the remedy for the ills he or she suffers because
of the unwillingness of judgers to undertake a duty of
singular responsibility. The hardship inflicted by a
refusal to entertain a suit is not, indeed, an argument that
can be heard against clear reasons on ther other side, but
where the balance of judgment is doubtful it may
properly turn the scale, and where all the reasons
are in favour of entertaining a complaint it may
oonfarm our conviction of the soundness of this con-
clusion.

The Daily News says that Lord Penzance having decided
that Lady Mordaunt, being insane, cannot be put on her
trial for adultery, Sir Charles Mordaunt appealed against
the decision. The full Court before which the points at
issue were argued at length consisted of the Lord Chief
Baron, Mr. Justice Keating, and Lord Penzance.
After taking some timeto consider the arguments, the full
Court has confirmed Lord Penzance's decision. But, as
the Lord Chief Baron dissented, the value of this ex-
pression of judicial opinion is much less than it would
have been had the court been unanimous. As the point
raised is a novel one, a precedent must in any event
be created. As it is, however, nothing has been proved
on the one part or disproved on the other. All that has
/I?een presented to the public is a ghastly story, which it
is difficult to forget, and which, whether it be true or
faiso cannot be regarded without repulsion. Sir Charles
Ittorkla.nut can, indeed still appeal to the House of
Lords on the legal points raised, or he may endeavour to
obtoin legislative sancti,u to his divorce. While desiring'
that ho should suffer no wrong owing either to the law's
delay or any accidental cause, it is nevertheless a subject
of thankfulness that the complete public exposure of the
facts connected with the case, in which his wife plays so
Orange a part, is indefinitely postponed.

THE IRISH LAND BILL.

The Standard thinks that the House of Lords should
ccercise its discretion on the question of the Irish Land
Bill, wad it is important that it should do so, as the House
cif Oviaamons has no will of its own ; it votes precisely
Whatever Mr. Gladstone may command, and its
ills,
therefore, represent nothing more than the
individual will of a single man. If there is to
be any check on his caprices, any power of
appeal against his arbitrary pleasure, it must be supplied
by the House of Lords. In the present case the bill em-
bodies a partisan view—the tenant's view of the questions
with which it deals. It is a great misfortune that all
debates should take the form of controversies between the
two assemblies, rather than within each assembly ; but it
is the consequence of the skilfully-devised manoeuvres
of 1831 which secured to the Radical and urban
element a preponderance in the House of Com-
mons disproportionate alike to its numbers it wealth,
and its real social and political importance. Till that in-
justice be redressed the only agency through which the
rural agricultural Conservative majority can assert itself
fs through the House of Lords, and the independence of
that House alone can secure that both elements of na-
tional opinion shall have a share in shaping the national
policy.