The Sun.
London, England, 1870-05-26 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PRESS.

Whatever the course of the Americon Government
with regard to the Fenian invasion of Canada, the Times
thinks the duty of the Canadian authorities is clear.
The marauders must be severely dealt with. This is not
the first offence of the kind. Four years ago O'Neill
crossed. the border ; but the loyalty of the Canadians was
aroused, and the American Government kept faith with
them, so that the invaders had to beat a speedy retreat.
If the Fenians, in spite of all warnings, persist
in carrying war into a peacable community, they
cannot expect to be treated as other than mere ruf-
fians and murderers. The only charge they can bring
against the Canadians is that they are under the British
Crown, and it is intolerable that in their hatred of Eng-
land they should persist in ravaging the territory of a
pacific and inoffensive people.
The Standard believes that it will be looked upon as a
profitable business in future to steal an Englishman, that
one country seems inclined to copy another, and thus
we find the example of Greece has been followed by
brigands from Gibraltar. It now remains to be seen
what steps Lord Clarendon will take for the protection
of British subjects, but unfortunately our experi-
ence in Greece does not hold out much hope for us
in this respect. 'The local banditti appear
.to be undis-
puted masters of the affair, and we must wait to see what
their purposes may be before we can form any just notion
of the state of the case or the chances of extrication.
The Telegraph considers there are several reasons why
the right of excluding strangers from Parliamentary
debates should not be hastily and incautiously surren-
dered. There is the danger of intimidation, and it may
be conducive to the public interest that some debates
should be secret. We cannot see why Parliament should
not have the privilege accorded to courts of justice ; but
the point on which reform is urgently demanded is that
one single member should be able to exert the right in
question. One crotchetty man can enforce the exclusion
which all the rest object to. The power of exclusion
should belong to the House as a body ; and then, while
Parliament retained all the privilege it can reasonably
want, the publicity so necessary for the general welfare
would be preserved.
The Post thinks the news from Canada is most unsatis-
factory, and no one can deny that the affair has become
serious. Allowing for the chance of some exaggeration
in reports, there still remains enough to call for the earnest
attention of the Covernment. In all probability the
Canadians will be able to deal with the matter themselves,
and they have the advantage of being prepared for the
attack. As for the American Government, they
must recognise the duty that lies before them, and
do all in their power to counteract the efforts of the
Fenians. So far as we can judge of their future course
by their present acts they will not fail to denounce the
Fenian offenders. President Grant has spoken out in a
forcible manner, and his language leaves us nothing to
demand or desire.

The Daily News says that the second reading of the
Clerical Disabilities Bill yesterday shows how much the
House of Commons has changed its opinions on such sub-
jects of late years. The principle of this bill need
not be descanted upon, for there is no reason why
clergymen should be fettered by restrictions when the
necessity for such restrictions no longer exists. The
law must prevent the infliction of hardships on the
members of the clerical profession, and the claims of
religious liberty exact that it should do so. As
for Mr. Walpole's argument it is a very exclu-
sive one, and his horror at the idea of changing
one's profession amounts to superstition. No doubt Mr.
Hibbert's bill is susceptible of improvement, but so long
as the clerical disabilitieii are removed people will not
trouble themselves about the manner in which the de-
sirable work is accomplished.