The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-25 00:00:00

thereto, and also the memorial of the special jury who

tried the case.
Mr. BRUCE, in reply, stated that it was not usual
to present memorials of that sort, and lay them on the
table of the House. They had always been regarded as
privileged 'communications, affecting the exercise of the
prerogative of the Crown, and not as ordinary official
correspondence.
Mr. OSBORNE said he should take the first opportu-
nity of moving that they be laid upon the table of the
House.
Mr. LOWTHER asked the Secretary of State for the
Home Department why the affidavit of the Bridgwater
Commissioners has been omitted from the return ordered
by the House on the 10th of June, headed " Copy of all
Affidavits (not already laid upon the table) filed in the
Court of Queen's Bench in the matters of the Queen v.
Fenelly, and the Queen v. Hardiment."
Mr. BRUCE replied that he had nothing whatever to do
with the matter; it rested with the officer of the House
The motion for the papers was an order upon the officer
of the House, and he had no doubt they were forwarded
to the proper officers.

INDIAN CADETSHIPS.
Mr. SALT asked the Under Secretary of State for India
what number of cadetships would in future be allotted
annually to the sons of officers who had served in the
Indian army ; what was the number of applications for
cadetships at present outstanding and unsatisfied ; and,
whether a preference was given to the sons of officers who
had fallen in action.
Mr. GRANT-DUFF replied that eight commissions would
be allotted to the sons of Indian officers for the next two
or three years, until the reduction of the army was car-
ried. About 200 application's were now unsatisfied. A
preference was given to the sons of officers who had fallen
in action, but the merits of the father were only one ele-
ment in the consideration of the claims of the son.
IRISH MILITIA.
Colonel FRENCH asked the Secretary of State for War
if, after abolishing the quartermaster of the Irish militia
regiments, he was now about to reduce one-half the num-
ber of sergeants serving on their staff.
Mr. CARDWELL said that the quartermasters of the Irish
militia would be treated exactly as those in England and
Scotland, that was, that the privilege of a retiring allow-
ance had been acccrded to them; but in future years the
office of quartermaster would be abolished in the militia-
With regard to the sergeants on the permanent staff,
considering how long it was since the Irish militia has
been out, it had not been thought necessary to fill up the
vacancies, and it was proposed to let them remain un
filled

THE EDUCATION BILL.
The debate on the amendment to the Education Bil
proposed by Mr. Richard, was resumed by Mr. Mun
della, the member for Sheffield. The benches were
tolerably well filled, and the House seemed prepared to
debate the subject very warmly.
Mr. MUNDELLA was decidedly of opinion that the
Bill as it now stood was much more acceptable
than when introduced in its original form. He strongly
advocated the principle of compulsion in the matter of
education. He referred at some length to the state of
education abroad, and pointed out the frightful amount of
mental destitution in this country. He disapproved of
religious teaching being prohibited in the schools. It
was their object to infuse into the people a better
moral tone ; and this could only be done by religious
teaching. It was competent to have religious instruction
without sectarianism. He urged the House not to lose
for a trifling difference such an opportunity of inaugu-
rating a grand system of national education.
Mr. W. H. SMITH assured the House that, having
made inquiries among the working class portion of his
constituents, they were generally in favour of re-
ligious teaching, and entertained the belief that a system
of purely secular education would not be worthy the
name of education. He thought that the increased pay-
ment for results by the Privy Council was a great boon
both to the ratepayers and to those who wished to main-
tain voluntary schools. The hon. gentleman suggested an
extension of the area of the School Boards, and said that
hon. members on that side of the House were prepared to
make every concession which did not involve the sacrifice
of a vital principle.
An amusing incident occurred as the member for West-
minster resumed his seat. Mr. Horsman and Mr.
Walter rose together to address the, House, and
the Speaker selected the latter, who remained
standing. Mr. Horsman seemed undecided, and
reseated himself, but rose again immediately. There
were cries of " Horsman !" but the hon. gentleman
seemed confused, and turning to the Speaker left the
House, as was imagined, in high dudgeon. Mr. Walter
had just commenced to speak when the representative of
Liskeard re-entered, bearing a glass of water, which he
offered to Mr. Walter. The House indulged in con-
siderable laughter, and the hon. gentleman was greeted
with cheers.
Mr. WALTER supported the Government Bill, and ex-
pressed his belief that the religious difficulty was more
imaginary than real. The moderate Churchmen and the
moderate Nonconformists were quite prepared to act toge-
ther, and he believed that the great majority of the
House would adopt a middle course.
Mr. HoEsMAN analysed the speeches which hadbeen made
by several of the prominent speakers, and alluding to the atti-
tude of the Conservative party saidthey lamented the intro-
duction of the bill, yet they supported it. They were
wise in their day and generation, he remarked. He under
stood the denominational principle, which was advocated
on the other side, which meant the paying by the State of
all religions. He understood the unsectarian and national
principle advocated by his honourable friend the
member for Merthyr Tydvil, that the State
should pay no religion. But he did not under-
stand the combination of two opposite, irreconcilable,
and antagonistic principles which had been brought toge-
ther to construct a great, ingenious educational project,
indefinite nevertheless, and unworkable. The hon. gentle-
man asked what was the educational difficulty. It was,
he said, the rivalry of sects ; it was the contention of
creeds ; and, above all, it was a legacy of the old bitter war
of bad times between the proscribed dissenters and the State
church which had handed down feelings which impelled
their descendants and representatives to watch with
jealousy and to resist as unjust anything that ever had
the appearance of giving to that favoured Church that
which was at variance with the principlas of religious
equality. He characterised the conscience clause as a
delusion. It had been said that it was a monstrous
thing that the Bible should be excluded from schools,
but it was more monstrous that it should be the signal for
flight, that its earliest reading should be associated by
one half the scholars with long tasks and less play, and
by the other half that it should be regarded as a danger-
ous and forbidden book.
Mr. GLAD TONE, shortly after five o'clock, rose to ad-
dress the House, and ventured to say that he did not
misinterpret the opinion of the House when he said it was
desirable to close the debate. In the course of the dis-
cussion it had been said that the bill had ceased
to be regarded as a measure of national education.
He thought these critics gave by far too
limited an interpretation to that phrase, for they
were unwilling to admit that, any education could be
worthy of the name of national unless the whole
machinery by which it was carried on and administered
should be machinery created by the State, worked through
the medium of public or local taxes. The Government
were not able to admit that the significance of the
word national education should be to restrict it.
The object of the measure was to bring home if they could
the blessings of an elementary education to every child in
the country, and to do that with all the favour that could
properly be bestowed by the action of the State upon
religious training, and to do it at the same time in every
case to protect the rights of conscience. He contended
that if the measure could be passed through
Parliament they would attain their objects by
making use of the existing and voluntary machinery.
The right hon. gentleman then proceeded to notice the
remarks that had been addressed to the House by the
several speakers, and said that it appeared to him that
they all substantially agreed to the proposal that
had been adopted by the Government, and which excluded
formularies in the public-rated schools. He then expressed
a hope that the House would not adopt any narrow views
on the matter, but that they would arrive at an ar-
rangement compatible with the general equilibrium of
moral force and social instruction throughout the length
and breadth of the kingdom. He then proceeded to defend
the amendment that had been accepted by the government,
and said in his firm belief and opinion they had taken a
guarantee against any violation of conscience from narrow
or sectarian views.
The right hon. gentleman spoke for an hour and a
quarter. He was very eloquent, and was repeatedly
applauded. The House was filled in every part, and the
greatest possible interest was shewn in the Premier's

address. At twenty minutes to seven a division was
taken, and the amendment rejected by a majority of 421
to 60. The result was announced amid much cheering.
The. House went into committee, but immediately resumed,
and the sitting was suspended.
APPELLATE JURISDICTION.
The House reassembled at nine o'clock, at which hour
there were not more than a dozen members present. Mr.
George Gregory, who admitted the unattractivene3s of
his subject, proceeded as soon as the Speaker had taken
the chair to call attention to the appellate jurisdiction in
the Court of Chancery. Mr. Gregory was the only
Conservative in the House, and he seemed to under-
stand his peculiar situation. At eleven minutes past nine
the attention of the Speaker was directed to the state of
the House, and he proceeded to count. Mr. Candlish
was the only member who entered in the interval allowed
for hon. gentlemen to come from the lobby, and there not
being the requisite number (40) to constitute a House, an
adjournment took place.

SPIRIT OF THE PRESS.

THE GOVERNMENT EDUCATION BILL.
The Telegraph says that the House of Commons has de-
clared that it will not forcibly divorce the religious
element from the primary education of the people ; that
it will not demolish the existing educational machinery
of voluntaryism ; that it will not shut the Bible out of the
rate-aided schools by Act of Parliament ; that, in a word,
it holds the Government bill to be the only measure
of education within reach of the country. Although
much time has been wasted in making that affirmation, the
Telegraph does not regret the length of the debate.
The most difficult part of the work in committee has,
to a great extent, been already discounted. The House
will not endure renewals of the fight when it has to pass
under review the precise phrases of the bill. And it will
be the less inclined to sanction auy such waste of time
after hearing the emphatic declaration of the Prime
Minister yesterday evening that the Government is de-
termined to use-all its strength in order to push the bill
through both Houses this session.
The, Government, and the great bulk of the Liberal
party (says the Standard), seem 'to be quite of one mind
with the Conservative party in declining to regard the
mere reading of the Bible as in any way equivalent to
" religious teaching." Thus the largest measure of
grace which the League was willing to grant to the
Church schools has been rejected by the Government and
the Liberal party as insufficient in the case of the rate-
provided schools. It would be a mistake to assume that
the division was a complete triumph for the. Church and
the denominational cause. On the contrary, they have
both to look forward to some stubborn contests in com-
mittee ; but in the meantime they may derive comfort
and courage from the fact that the League has sustained
such a crushing reverse as can hardly fail to paralyse its
parliamentary action for some time to come.
The Daily News thinks the Government has every
reason to be satisfied with the vote. So far as the amend-
ment is concerned, it cannot now be maintained that they
have called in the enemy to defeat their friends. The
Opposition, of course, voted in the majority, and the
small minority contained some of the ohief Liberal repre-
sentatives of the great urban populatic ns ; but the
Opposition members merely swelled a vote which would
have shown the same result had been actually
confined to the Liberal side of the House.
The Daily News believes there is reason to hope that the
measure may emerge from committee in a form which
will satisfy the moderate expectations, if not the highest
hopes even of the GO members who, in the division
of yesterday, expressed their desire for a bill which should
in no way extend denominational influence in national
education.
The Morning Post says that never was a battle more
earnestly or more conscientiously fought than that in
which the representatives of the League have sustained a
conclusive but not an ignominious defeat. They main-
tained their ground manfully, and with a sincerity of
conviction which must have won for them the respect of
their opponents on both sides of the House. .But, even if
it had not been evident from the beginning that they
would be defeated, a shrewd suspicion to that effect must
have entered their own minds as, one after the other, they
disclosed in their speeches to the House the utter absence
of a common policy or coherent principles in the views
for which they contended. In this respect it must be
owned they have been most unfortunate, and the Post re-
gerds t'lre fact as an augury that their defeat is not one of
those reserves through which a truth must sometimes pass
before it can convert the world to believe in it.
The Yorkshire Post of this (Saturday) morning thinks
that, unless Mr. Gladstone and his colleagues are hope-
lessly and impenetrably obtuse, the important result of
the education debate, added to its previous course, must
have convinced them that they perpetrated a useless and
monstrous blunder in altering their original scheme.
Like the dog in the fable, Mr. Gladstone has dropped
the substance to grasp the shadow, and now finds
himself with a huge majority indeed, but without the
hearty support of all on either side of the House. The
bill, as originally framed, was not abad measure, and when
it reaches the peers their lordships' task of modification
need only take the form of restoration to convert it into
a useful bill. The responsibility of rejecting a measure
for the promotion of popular education will then rest with
Mr. Gladstone and his Liberal majority in the House of
Commons.

THE IRISH LAND BILL.
The Times says the conduct of the committee is disap-
pointing. The debate on the second reading raised the
hope, perhaps too sanguinely entertained, that the Peers
who are legislators also had emancipated themselves
from the prejudices of mere landowners, but this belief
has been almost entirely dispelled in the two nights that
have passed. The Times finds the Opposition impressed one
and all with the profound conviction that the proprietary
rights they exercise under a system So complicated and
technical as the real property law of England correspond
in the minutest particulars with the deducations of inde-
pendent moralty. The simple faith thus indicated
is naturally most startling when held by men of
the greatest ability. Lord Salisbury seems to be
persuaded of the absolute perfection of our law
of property. An argument used by Lord Halifax that it
was better to pay compensation than to be shot —in other
words, that it is better to be compelled by legal process
to do justice than to suffer by illegal process vengeance
for doing injustice—excited him yesterday in the
highest degree. He protested that such reasoning had
never before been used in a free Legislature, and he leaves
upon us the impression not only that he believes in the
perfection of our own law, but that he is ignorant that
such a modificalion as is now proposed to be introduced
in Ireland has long prezailed in principle throughout a
wide breadth of Europe.
The Glasgow Daily Mail says the Lords have addressed
themselves to consideration of the Land Bill in a business-
like way. Some utterly foolish propositions encumber
the notice paper, but much may be said for those which
stand in the names of leading men. The bill is likely to
pass weakened, but not essentially changed.

THE ORLEINIST PRINCES.
The Standard considers the letter which the Princes
of the House of Orleans have addressed to the French
Legislative Body must satisfy the Emperor, if he had en-
tertained any. doubt upon the point, as to the safety and
expediency of repealing the law of the Republic which
pecreed the perpetual banishment of Louis Philippe and
his family. The Count de Paris, his brother, and their
uncles claim the common rights of Frenchmen subjects
of the empire, and, in claiming these rights, accept
the corresponding obligations. If they return to
France in virtue of a law repealing that which
decreed. their banishment, they will return pledged to
recognise and support the Empire and the dynasty.
Napoleon the Third could ask nothing more of them, and
.he must congratulate himself that they come forward to
offer so much. The removal of this sentence of exile, de-
termined, as it now will be, at the instance of those whom
it affected, is the best testimony he could desire to the
success of his government, and the most splendid promise
for the permanence of his dynasty.

GARDEN PARTY AT WIND SO It 'CASTLE.
Her Majesty the Queen gave a garden party yesterday
afternoon, which began at' half-past four o'clock, and
lasted until seven o'clock, in the grounds of Windsor
Castle. Tents had been erected in the Home Park under
the East Terrace, and on the grounds extending towards
Frogmore. The State Apartments of the Castle
were also prepared for the reception of her Majesty's
guests. The Buffet was arranged in St. George's Hall,
and refreshments were also served in the tents.
Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of
Wales, Prince and Princess Christian of Schleswig-Hol-
stein and his Serene Highness Prince Woldemar of
Schleswig-Holstein, the Duke of Cambridge, the Grand
Duke and Grand Duchess of Mecklenburgh-Strelitz, and
the Prince and the Princess of Teck were present.
The Queen, accompanied by their Royal Highnesses the
Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince and Princess Chris-
tian, Princess Louise, Princess Beatrice, and the other
members of the royal family, conducted by Viscount
Sydney (the Lord Chamberlain), and attended
an byd he
the
Duchess of Sutherland (Mistress of the Robes), t
Marchioness of Ely (Lady in Waiting), entered the
grounds soon after five o'clock, and proceeded to her
Majesty's tent, which was situated upon the lawn near
the East Terrace wall.
The party was numerously attended.