The Sun.
London, England, 1870-02-08 00:00:00

TUE.SD a Y, FEB. 8. 1870.

THE success with which the Ministry have con-
cealed their legislative " hand" renders the impor-
tant event of to-day of more than ordinary interest ;
and yet it is not in the least likely that the
QUEEN'S Speech will give the country any
idea, more precise than it possesses already,
of the sessional programme. Queen's speeches
are always looked for in the hope that some half-
disclosures may be put forward as a feeler, or that
some unlucky line may betray an important decision;
but it is seldom that this expectation is realised.
The discourse of to-day will furnish a list of topics
to be dealt with during the year; but such a pro-
gramme has long ago been drawn up with tolerable
exactitude. Thera will be a paragraph con-
gratulating the nation on remaining at peace
with all the world. It is probable that our
last specimen of Eastern muddling—the exertions of
the indefatigable Mr. ELLIOT on behalf of the
SULTAN against the VicEnoY—will be quoted as an
instance of the still powerful diplomatic supremacy
of Britain. Ireland will, of course, claim a large
share of attention. Beyond this, however, we
can fairly expect to be told very litee. Indeed it is
scarcely to be hoped that the bad grammar of the
speech will afford much room for comment, for the
last effusion was so unmercifully dealt with that
greater care and better English may be counted
upon this year. So far as the two great ques-
tions of the day are concerned, the public already
know more than the Speech from the Throne
will tell, and all that remains is simply to wait until
the work of the session fairly begins. From hints
and broader declarations made by Ministers at
different times, it is quite certain that the Land Bill
will fall far short of Irish demands, as formu-
lated in the resolutions of the Dublin Conference. On
the other hand, public opinion is quite prepared to
protect the tenant against arbitrary eviction. The
scheme to carry out this design may without danger
be thorough. The still more interesting subject of
education has been brought within a narrower com-
pass. The general principles upon which action can be
taken have been pretty clearly enunciated, and it is
probable that the declaration in the Times of yesterday
accurately represents ministerial intentions. "The
vague term unsectarian has already been construed
in different senses by different supporters of the
League, and while the Ministry will undoubtedly
insist that the primary education of the State shall
be unsectarian, they will discriminate between
this and a secular system." There can be but one
interpretation of this oracular statement—religious
teaching will be given, though no dogmatic preference
can be allowed. It is clear, also, that the present
session will see nothing done in the way of free
education--that is, wholly free. As the Times points
out, gratuitous education, independently of other
objections, would destroy existing schools by the
simple method of underselling them.
There is another important question in connection
with to-day's proceedings. Will the Government
ask for increased powers to deal with disaffec-
tion and agrarian crime in Ireland? It is gene-
rally hoped not. Military law, it is urged, is
but a poor prelude to measures of concession; and the
objection is a powerful one. Yet it is palpable that
the existing arrangements for the preservation of
peace are inadequate. Making all due allowance for
exaggeration, the record of positive crime is suffi-
ciently dismal to prove that law and order are vir-
tually in abeyance in the province. The two
most melancholy features of the present state of
things are the constant tendency of the people to
make fresh demands with every fresh concession, and
the disposition of certain of the well-to-do classes
to abet them. It is quite recently that noblemen,
gentry, and the higher grades of the Catholic
priesthood, have taken to endorsing the claims
which were first preferred by farm labourers
and tenants. The cry of fixity of tenure which was
at first but a cloud no bigger than a man's hand, has
spread throughout all grades of the Catholic popula-
tion. The release of the Fenian prisoners is now ad-
vocated in every election address. The de-
mand for an Irish Parliament is becoming
stronger. Lastly, the Dublin Land Conference—an
assembly which included men of every grade of social
position, except the lowest, has pronounced for the
wildest demands of those Irish gatherings which for
a long time attracted only the tenant, the labourer,
and the popular agitator. The M.P.'s, clergy-
men, and lawyers, who Pronounce for a i