The Sun.
London, England, 1870-02-24 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PRESS.

THE PRINCE OF WALES.
The Times, in referring to the Mordaunt case, observes :
The case of his Royal Highness stands by itself. It is
evident that the Prince's error is simply this—that he
had been too careless of his reputation. He had
acted as a young man who did not understand the
passion too many have for scandal, and had given
occasion to misconstruction through simple heedlessness.
It is, indeed, not easy for the young, even though
they may be next the Crown, to remember and guard
against "the fierce light that beats upon the Throne. The
Prince of Wales has learnt by a painful experience how
watchfully he must walk whose life is the property
and the study of the world. If Royalty has many
privileges, it must suffer not a few privations, and
the charm of personal intimacy is one that must be
almost denied to the inheritors of Crowns. Thu
Prince has had, indeed, before him the pattern of
a life, not surely devoid of innocent pleasures,
yet so carefully regulated that it was in the
es-es of all men, dedicated to domestic purity. The
life of the Prince Consort was marked by the nicest regard
to the conditions under which it was passed. Every one
will remember the rules of social conduct the Prince pre-
scribed for himseif, and how faithfully they were observed.
We do not doubt that the future years of the Heir Appa-
rcnt will shew, by their fidelity to this example' the
i.:fluence of the lesson he has had to learn, and that Eng-
lishmen will see exemplified in their King that is to be a
life purified from the semblance even of levity.
ME HOME SECRETARY AND THE LICENSING LEAGUE.
The Standard says that the Home Secretary has declared
to a deputation, that his Licensing Bill will be of a nature
to call upon the courage and determination of Parliament.
Certainly, if he meets the views of the Amendment League
—which is little more than the Compulsory Association in
another form—it would test the spirit of the Legis-
lature in a very different sense from .that which
he intends 2 • but we have his assurance that he does not
purpose to advance the whole way with them.
The League pretends to speak in the name of the chief
towns throughout the country. We by no means deny
that it embodies a considerable amount of influential
opinion ; but there was much force in the Home Secre-
tary's remark, that resolutions voted at public meetings
are not to be taken as illustrating the general feeling.
And upon one point it is time to speak very
plainly. These Leaguers, whose philanthropy
is not to be denied, though it takes somewhat of a
despotic and castigatory shape, boast that they have the
whole country with them—the chief cities and towns,
the educated classes, the poor, and even the publicans,
whose fortunes they want to ruin. Emphatically, it is
not the truth. They have a numerous and respectable
following, but the country is against them decidedly, and
while anxious to cure the mischief of drunkenness, denies
that it is a characteristic vice of England, and revolts
from the very thought of the restrictions they would
impose.
The Telegraph says that the Licence Amendment
League has deputed certain members of its body to hold a
conference with the Home Secretary. These gentlemen
are most earnest in pursuit of their object ; and their ob-
ject is very good. Drunkenness in this country is a gross
and palpable fact—not to be explained away, not to be
denied. They told the Home Secretary on Tues-
day the conclusion at which they had arrived,
and their conclusion is our own, with a single
important difference. "It was proposed, said Mr. Pease,
" that Town Councils' Boards of Health, and similar
public bodies;', should have a general veto, and that a
majority of the earners and occupiers of property in the
neighbourhood should have a local veto upon any appli-
cation for a new license." If that be the fact,
how much remains for the " local magistrate "
to do? We should presume the meaning of the
deputation to be, that, if none of the bodies
above named interposed their veto, the " local
magistrate " would grant the licence to A, B, or C, accor-
ding to the justice of the case. Upon a simple and ordi-
dary construction of language we presume Mr. Pease to
mean that the " local magistrate " is some person different
from the Boards enumerated by him, and that he is not
using this word in a generic sense' as intending that those
Boards collectively, assisted by the ratepayers, are the
" local magistrate." Everything, of course, turns upon
the definition, and we must await further explanation.
THE SUNDAY TRADING BILL.
The Pall Mall Gazette thinks it is difficult to say
whether any practicable legislation with regard to Sunday
trading is likely to be efficient. We are told to hold up
our hands in horror at every sort of Sunday amusement,
and to insist in theory that nobody shall indulge
in any pleasure except that of walking abroad or sitting
at home. So long as this is our avowed system, it
may be feared that Sunday legislation will be generally
futile. The real safeguard for the observance of a day
of rest is-to teach the population at large to value it as
not merely a useful but a delightful time of repose from
their ordinary labours. So long as they have not other
and superior motives, it is not wonderful that gradual en-
croachments are made upon the day of rest by the cupidity
of a minority of small tradesmen and the carelessness
of many labouring men. All legislation intended to
keep up the existing regulations is weakened by the sense
that it only offers the dreary alternative of simple nega-
tion of work with no positive enjoyment to make the rest
valuable. Although we do not doubt that a moderate law
may do something to arrest a conspicuous evil, we feel
that any permanent improvement must rest upon a dis-
tinct elevation of the national idea of Sunday,
THE BISHOP OF EXETER.
The Daily News remarks that when the Bleb-p of
Exeter had justified in the Upper House of Convocation
his own limited part in the publication of " Essays and
Reviews," only one Bishop rose to reply to him, and he
1
was instantly persuaded to hold his peace and sit down.
The Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol in a letter to the Dean
of Gloucester describes this avoidance of discussion as " re-
blAeful silence." The Bishops opposed to Dr. Temple's
appointment were in great force in the Bounty Chamber,
and no eircctual opposition could have been made to their
criticism had they been disposed to offer it. To keep
silence under such circumstances, and afterwards to pub-
lish letters describing the speechwhich theydid not answer
as" melancholy and disastrous," "distressing and shockiug
beyond words," is a proceeding which we do not think
will raise its authors in public esteem. But however that
may be, we should like to know when warfare so inimical
to the best interests of the Church of England is to
end ? If the controversy is to be prolonged until all
the parties are agreed in opinion on the theological,
social, and literary points which have been raised in
the course of this controversy, we can only mourn over
the waste of power and personal influence which will
attend it. Peace is only possible on the basis of a mutual
acknowledgment of the rights of those concerned.