The Sun.
London, England, 1870-05-24 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF TFTE PRESS.

THE GREEK GOVERNMENT AND THE MASSACRE.
The Times remarks that the general case presented
Lord Carnarvon against the Greek Government "beeir
i
tremely strong. The one thing that is certain n t
conduct is that, in practice, it was not definitely directed
to the simple purpose of saving the lives of the prison e.;
In the first place they refused to grant the amnesty his
minded. Lord Clarendon emphatically adheres to
rejection of the excuses alleged for their refusal. l'itr'd
years ago the Greek Government opened the gaols a'
set the brigands loose, in order to provoke revoliltr,
in a province of Turkey, but they refuse a alt91:8,
act of grace when it would deliver English
The. troops, again, would only be wanted in order to
against the brigands ; they could be of no possible ipede'a
the captives. If the Government had been single-In° go
in their desire to save life, they could have done one of Om
things—either they could have granted a prompt annle;s.
or they could have given time for unmolested neaotuttio. _
They did neither, and they owe us ample jcpioabooli
of their perversity. Lord Carnarvon, again' Is-
equally generous and wise in refusing to dwell on the ite
';inction between members of an Embassy and Pri,.`,
captivic.
persons. " They all," he said, "Englishmen and Itch
fell together, united in death, and I see no occasion
separating them in argument." He has rested his case.oo
the broad ground of the right of travellers to proteettlio
in a European country, and he appealed t°
sympathy of Englishmen for murdered fell countrytae
ow- .dete
There is no occasion to introduce any technical COns' 4be
tions into the matter. All Europe but particillarlYiwo
Powers whioh protect Greece, have 'a
right to deraaii,nthe
explanation of a crime which concerns them all; 06-
Protecting Powers, in addition, have a clear right' ,T„-ty.
cessary, to interfere. It is more than a right, it is a7O
Practically, we maintain Greece in existence, an". $
ought not to maintain her in a condition
scandal to civilisation. It may be a long time before t•
Greeks learn all the responsibilities of self-goverargenrid
but we can at least maintain order in the country', ace
render life and property secure. We recognise tliVi°lrvie
of Lord Clarendon's argument that we should wait 'l'o
have all the information the Greek Government c ,andethst
which it
she
for us, but, with Lord Salisbury, we must au_
_tow
the duty which will then be incumbent on us is
clear.

THE UNIVERSITY TESTS BILL. bal
The Standard declares that if Sir J. 'Coleridge 3
were what it pretends to be, a University Tests
fr noil' la
• ,
would follow that the bill ought to pass. But, at e.
man who admitted all the assumptions in its faveurecer
cording to this interpretation, would be as far 83
from accepting or approving the bill. For the bill 18. of
a College Tests Bill, and to the colleges not c'11" eo
these, arguments applies. The colleges are rd 9,0
sense national institutions. Mr. Gladstone bcasr
the especial merit of the bill—that hereafter Dissent ded
ing and Roman Catholic colleges may. be f°ll,'tbe
within the University. If so, by what right are to
colleges already founded by the Church to be taken l'l
her? Nor are we reassured by Mr. Gladstone's disavc'o
of any intention to apply the policy of disestablishna,e to
to England; while he uses the fact of establishinennes
rob the Church, one by one, of rights and properts,
which, if she were simply on a level with other se be
even he dare not propose to touch; so that she BlaYbo
plundered yet more effectually than her Irish sister,
of
been. The temper and spirit of the Government an n,
the Liberal party towards the Church of England is Pi-o,
fully obvious in the present bill. Their policy is to (legato
plunder, and enfeeble her, so as to reduce her to isa•
level of those sects above which her character, evg2••1101
tion, and stronghold over the public mind and the l'ittab-
affections would naturally raise her, and not to dlses
lish her until this object has been accomplished by all ,-/it
scrupulous use of the power which the State at Prtes•
enjoys, but which it must resign the moment that Q. a
tablishment takes place. How far this is a lawful,sun,
honourable policy, how far it is consistent with the cl,lltea
of a Minister, above all, who wields the authority ve'ymi
in the Crown, under an oath which pledges the Soverese;
to protect the Church, we need not consider ; that itl
policy which all Conservatives and Churc%
must resist to the uttermost is beyond all clues,:s
And, therefore, we ragret that the Church and ~
vative feeling of the House was not more effectl4l
manifested in the division. Although the InaP" to
absolutely at the command of Ministers is such s
t
render a contest hopeless, it is still worth while on r•
question to support by an emphatic protest the Coable
vatism of the country, and the subsequent action of the
House of Lords • and it would have been well hakvor
Conservative paity, brought its full strength to.on of
against Sir John Coleridge's bill for the confiscate
Church endowments within the national -Universities.
Let us see, says the Telegraph, in referring to the
versity Tests Bill, what is meant by impairing the 'der.
gious character of the Colleges. At present all 11„nt be
graduates must go to chapel ; in future they cant
compelled to do so; but few men who know wt.,iine
meant by going to chapel, or what effect the • cllecirob
produces on the undergraduate mind, will attach va cs.
importance to the abolition of compulsory attends;llo
Again, Paley's "Evidences of Christianity," W
must at present be studied, is no longer
form a compulsory part of the undergrado7;
course ; but, as Lord Edmund Fitzmaurice said 111
•
much force and epigram, there is no book which Chrstie°io.
men value less, or would see banished from college Carti
rooms with less regret, than the legal pleading of the
archdeacon. The religious constitution of the eollo,,lcii
will underdergo no other change. But what Mr. 131100
and Mr. Walpole chiefly dread is the influx of Fe
who will have no distinct religious creed, or who
1%11
boldly avow that they believe in none—and who ~nie
therefore sow the seeds of infidelity through a W:10,30
college. Such a result is certainly conceivable ; but
oot
Mr. Hardy imagine that it can be prevented by the 111
rigid system of religious tests ? Look at the Ox at
and Cambridge -which we see flourishing under tit
system, and ask what shade of infidelity iBthe
represented, and notoriously represented, 3-n• than
College common rooms. No delusion is more gross
co,.
the idea that the talk of college Fellows is strictly ,the
fined within the corners of the Thirty-Nne Articles. 0-`lO
idea is ludicrously absurd. The fact is, tests have code
to be regarded by many men as mere forms ; they Poe
out none but the rigidly scrupulous - and hence thgouse
the most treacherous of safeguards'. When the ;,bt,
decreed the second reading of the bill, on Monday TV
by a majority of 125 votes, it virtually proclaimed t ea
the National Church must rely for its security, _ll2 bat
the stability of such quicksands as University rCesl its
on the strength which it draws from the Purityc?ergh
creed, its long possession of the field, the zeal of its Igjos
and the priceless services which it has done to then it
in whose name it speaks, and to whose spiritual )if
ministers.

QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY. tir
The Daily NewsMB
says that Royalty even in Cons r tit
tional and Parliamentary countries holds in soine°°s, in
parental relation towards the national family ; and birth"
established monarchies, "the King never dies," the Wing
day salutations of an affectionate people to the
,i
re;:gitl
Sovereign take no note of time, and are as fresh fte'
pleasant to give and to receive after the fiftieth u'ar-0119
the twentieth year. At any rate, the English IVI,, firot
is the most domestic of monarchies, and the u"J-130
birthday of Queen Victoria, if not celebrated ab'
the flte of St. Napoleon in France, with,i be
lic games, and a popular holiday, 111
quietly, but cordially and affectionately record'
thousands of homes as a family fête day. By her both
people, and At the whole English-speaking race koti'
shores of the lantic, it is not only the faithful 'OO6
tutional Sovereign, but the wife and mother, who? 0 VII
is beloved, and whose example is revered. It I°t 04"
ninny years since her Majesty withdrew into thaoifi4
seclusion from which it becomes a more and more Prectel
effort to emerge. A certain impatience at the PF°' so'
absence of the lady who gives the tone to socieTs rr
whose presence no minor luminary can replace, 4.1.'001
peatedly found expression among those who 00'000;
ascribe the badness of trade, the slackness of the...sewn
and the languor of the cash circulation, to the retu tbov
of the court, On the other hand, it is no secret 1,00
for some time past the Queen's health b° while
scarcely equal to the fatigues of a Drawing-roou% in a
the serious and incessant public affairs which e",ioo o'
Parliamentary country demand the care and atter' lore
the Sovereign, have never been more sedulously
vigilantly fulfilled. The Queen's constant, motherly her
ticipation in the joys and sorrows of her subjectl' the
vivid and anxious sympathy with all that concer:ijoV
honour, the happiness, and the morality of the r_'" 051,1
these truly royal but rare qualities of active guT otet:
and, if we may be pardoned the phrase, her 1211 oths
virtues of omission—virtues which, rememberltie
reigns, we can hardly prize enough—deserve 3001
serious and sincere acknowledgment on each re age
anniversary of the 24th of May than that trivisa fore
which burns oil for half a night every year
images of the best and the worst of monarchs

THE IRISH LAND RILL. ..00011$
The Post observes that little more than three —.athe
have elapsed since the Prime Minister introduce
Irish Land Bill, and though there have been se,l33g:
the
contests over the principles he laid down as fore 00;
Ibasis
iocnh
itwhichnowthsteanGdosv,ernaftmerenhtavhiandg fpraasmseedd
purgation of the committee, is essentially the se•illeh rvithi
Mr. Gladstone sketched out in the famous bree""„ssilt'
tto
he which
ceonmdhiriet teither introduced
iethwerersepneioet
et.
ieA After ttoehrre
divisions,
humourvs ilengthenedons,
o n mao
net disc 0115
and the, c 00'
sion of its labours was greeted with cue, sift°
in which both sides of the House joined with WI,
cere cordiality. No one who listened .Yeoel,t
Prime Minister's speech in introducing the 1:11,,•cli hill
help being struck with the thoroughness with Nvehe
sketch of its provisions met this requirement. -`,,,rinel
was passed through committee, and not one a th?,';i3
ples Mr. Gladstone then enunciated has been
}lest, .cve,,te,
But that is saying little. The very provisions w
most likely to occasion alarm have been so efeetv DP'
plained, and their necessity so successfully urged, to they
Chichester Fortescue that any serious opposition. 1' hi
is tiq
has disappeared. From Ireland, on the othF,s
evidences are daily forthcoming that the bill ortert
upon with less disfavour than, in some qt. ol
it was when it was first introduced. Irish tenaniecetie
see that it is not like other Land Bills that have liogelP
it—a piece of patchwork, but that it deals
_co.
liberally, and conclusively with their worst grieve:'
sr„t
bits or
THE STAFF 0 L LEGE . —The Times ,e acco
pleasure in announcing that Colonel Hatalg, the been
plished author of " The Operations of Nvar,
appointed to the command of the Staff College. of
The Duke of Richmond has accepted the (4e:,.0
President of the Carlton Club. nolofo
ANNEXATION. "With regard to the
~ate thof
Treaty, Washington advices of the 7th instant
its friends assert that the requisite vote of two„
the Senate can now be obtained in its favour. top 10'h
subject was first introduced," it is added, Serl3 gue„,
been seeking information from all available soureeLe itow
of the opposition to annexation is alleged to co'
foreign quarters,7

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