The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-10 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EN EN ING, AUGUST 10, 1870.

wreck, some, it must be admitted without much regret
on the part of the spectators. And yet never
was there a session in which the working House
worked so hard. Never did session before witness
the passing of two measures of such magnitude as
the Irish Land Bill and the Education Bill. It
must be borne in mind that legislation is now no
longer destructive, but constructive. It was easy
enough to frame measures for the abolition of
this or that ecclesiastical or class privilege. It is
quite another thing to devise elaborate schemes such
as those contained in the principal acts of the present
year. It required a bill of only one clause to•abolish
church rates. The Merchant Shipping Act has more
than 800 clauses. Thus the 'work of
legislation has ever a tendency to become
More minute and more laborious, and Ministers
be they Liberal or be they Conservative must uo
longer be judged by the bare number of the measures
which they pass ; the nature of the measures must
Lbe taken into account. Tried by this test, 1870 is
a superlatively productive year. Even if there
had been no other result than those measures
of which Mr. CHICHESTER FORTESCITE and Mr.
FonsTEnhad charge, Parliamentwould have deserved
well of the country. Unfortunately these were not
the only first-class bills which had to be passed.
Early in the session the Government was compelled
by the continuance of sedition and agrarian outrages
in Iretand, to introduce a Peace Preservation
Bill. It was a measure of great severity, materi-
ally restricting the liberties of ;the individual
and of the press. But it was intended to be only
for the lawless and the disobedient ; it was meant
to be a terror only to evil doers. The fact that this
measure exists, that the executive possesses extra-
ordinary powers, has provedquite sufficient. There has
been no need to use those powers. The "Nationalist"
press has ceased to publish treason, agrarian
murders have stopped. The other special measure
to which we have referred is the Foreign Enlistment
Act. This measure need, indeed, excite no regret,
however much the circumstances which have given
rise to it may be lamented. It was always intended
to amend the laws which regulate our duties
as neutrals ; but it was thought that this might be
done in a less busy session. The Franco-Prussian
war has compelled the Government to introduce it at
the close of the session, and to hurry it through with
all possible haste.
The Irish Land Bill was introduced on February
15 by Mr. GLADSTONE, in a speech that must rank
among the very highest efforts of parliamentary
elcquence. Two days later Mr. FORSTER introduced
the Education Bill in a speech that without being
highly eloquent, was most interesting and lucid. It
induced a political opponent to declare that he had
never during the many years he had sat in the
House listened to a speech with greater satisfac-
tion. The expressed approval of Sir JOHN
PAKINGTON with regard to the latter measure,
and the intimated approval hinted by Mr
HARDY with respect to the former, seemed to promise
an easy passage for both. That promise was not
fulfilled. It cannot be said that the Conservative
party shewed any factious opposition to either. The
second they supported with all their strength. The
first contained provisions which were certainly contrary
to the general notions prevalent with regard to the
rights and privileges of landlords, and it was, there-
fore not surprising that the representatives of the
class affected felt bound to contest those provisions.
The Land Bill had the priority. A mea-
sure involving such a multiplicity of detail
necessarily offered scope to amendments from
all sloes, font au oii slum Luey were nearly
five hundred iu number. They were of two classes.
The Conservatives wished to expunge certain novel
principles; the Irish Liberals wished to extend them
further. The opponents of the Bill being thus
even more strongly opposed to each other, Mr. GLAD-
STONE was able to carry out his own scheme, and to
maintain in the division lobby the majorities which
he had reckoned on in the Irish Church Bill. There
was never any fear of the Bill being rejected : there
was at one time very considerable danger that it
would be talked out; and although morning sittings
began at the unprecedentedly early date of April
Ist, so little progress was made when the
House adjourned for the very late Easter
that the Liberal journals took fright, and told
LiberalM.P.'s that henceforth they must " keep silelice
in the ranks." If the fate of the Land Bill was
then dubious, that of the Education Bill seemed
something worse. But after a little while the
prospect cleared. Amendments were withdrawn,
or rapidly disposed of; and on the 30th of May, on
the eve of the Derby and of the Whitsun recess, the
Land Bill was read a third time in the House
of Commons amid much cheering, and without a
single dissentient voice ; even Mr. BRYAN, the bold
mover of its rejection on the second reading, with-
drawing his opposition to it. In the Upper House
the measure met with some rather severe treatment.
Lord SALISBURY insisted upon dividing against a
vital clause of the bill, and in spite of the
advice of their leader, the Duke of RICHMOND,
sufficient Conservative peers followed the Marquis
to reject the clause. When the Government made
it known that this rejection could not be allowed,
most of the Conservative Peers thought discretion
the better part of valour, and as the head of all the
Owns persisted in a second trial of strength, they
forsook him, and left him in a miserable minority.
The opposition to the Education Bill was a much
more serious matter for the Government. This
opposition came from their own side of the House.
They yielded to it so far as to recast their measure,
omitting some of the provisions which had displeased
the Radicals, such as the year of grace. But
Ministers insisted upon preserving the existing
right of the Privy Council to aid denominational
Schools, and this persistence was deemed a great
grievance by the Dissenters of Mr. MIALL's school, and
by the Secularists of Mr. VERNON HARCOURT'S.
They united to support an amendment forbidding
the voting of State money to the teaching of
religion, but were beaten by more than
seven to one. Their defeat was certain
under any circumstances, but it was rendered the
more signal by the division of opinion which took
place among the Dissenters, some of the most
eminent of whom, including Mr. MonLEY and Mr.
BAINES, refused to support Mr. RICHARD'S amend-
ment. The Conservatives gave a hearty and patriotic
support to the Government, and thereby increased the
wrath of the little band of Irroconcilables who sat below
the gangway. Their indignation found a spokesman
in Mr. MIALL, who made a solemn, and almost savage,
protest against the manner in which the Nonconform-
istshad been treated by the PREMIER. Mr. GLADSTONE
eplied in a speech full of fire, telling Mr. MIALL, in
Gon's name, to withdraw his support, and that as
for himself and his_colleagues, they had been bound
to set before themselves a higher task thail pleasing
a•• sect, that they, had been bound•' t 6 seek no
'meaner object than doihg justice to the nation
For twenty-one nights was - the religious question
discussed in the Lower House, the House exclusively
of laymen. In the Upper House, where there is still
a goodly phalanx of peers spiritual, the bill passed
almost sub silentio, and with a minimum of altera-.
tions. That it should satisfy the bishops is an addi-
tional aggravation to men of the disposition of Mr.
MIALL and Mr. DIXON, and the latter member has
already given notice that he will next session intro-
duce a bill to amend the Education Act of 1870.
It is to " be presumed that he will spend

the handsome balance which the League
has in hand in stimulating the listless
attention of a country that is just now
occupied by far other matters. To follow the
example of PENELOPE, to undo at night the web that
has been woven by day, is not the custom of the
English Legislature nor of the English people.
The financial policy of the Government would
have had a better chance of fair appreciation a
month ago than it has now. The hos-
tile critics who are reproaching the Go-
vernment for the retrenchments which were
made in the spring, and tauntingly exult over what
they consider confession of error, forget that
Europe in the first week of August was in a very
different state from that which it occupied in the
first week of March. When Mr. CHILDERS shewed
a reduetiOn of three-quarters of a million., and Mr.
CARDWELL one of nearly a million and a quarter, not
only was the world supposed to be at peace, but war
seemed to be especially and peduliarly -,improbable.
Military estimates in time of hostilities must necessarily
be higher than in time of peace, and it would bo as
absurd to blame the first DERBY - DISRAELI
Administration for not having provided in 1852
estimates on the scale required in 1855, as to blame
the present Government for having proposed in
March to save the very amount which
they find themselves obliged. to spend in
August. It is possible that all the details
of the reductions have not been wisely arranged;
this, in fact, is only probable when we remember the
opposition which the chiefs of the spending depart-
ments have had to encounter in their warfare with
reckless extravagance and criminal jobbery. It is
too soon yet to say if the supplementary estimate of
two millions voted last week will suffice for the present
emergency. Should it do so, Ministers will have a
most effectual reply to all accusations; they will be
able to say that they have put the defences of the
country in a position capable of sustaining the attack
of an enemy for considerably less than tile
sum that was spent upon them by their
predecessors in time of profound peace. More-
over, the additional expenditure just incurred
has not involved an immediate addition to the taxa-
tion of the country. The four millions taken off by Mr.
LowE have not been reimposed, and unless we should
be involved in actual hostilities there is no reason to
suppose that he will have to increase the national
burdens next year. The worst that can happen will be
that he will find himself unable to give fresh relief.
In close connection with these changes are the mea-
sures, especially the Army Enlistment Bill, for in-
creasing the effectiveness of our military resources,
for giving us the reserve force which is so great an
element of national safety.
The ecclesiastical legislation of the year has been
scanty. It has, in fact, been overshadowed
by the religious controversy attendant on the Educa-
tion Bill. The Burials Bill—a measure intended to
give Nonconformists access to churchyards, after
having had its principle affirmed by a large majority
in the House of Commons, has, if we mistake not,
failed to pass the ordeal of the Lords. Mr. WATKIN
WILLIAMS'S motion for disestablishing the Church in
Wales was rejected by 209 votes to 45, Mr. GLADSTONE
taking the opportunity of resolutely setting his face
against all motions of the kind. The University
Tests Bill was made a Government measure, and
passed the Commons with such large majorities that
it was thought the Lords would not venture to reject
it again. They have not ventured, but they have
disposed of it for the year by referring the whole
question to a Committee. The Marriage with a
lhoo.nood Wife's 3iztor Bill passeci the coninious iu
spite of the opposition of the SOLICITOR-GENERAL;
in the Lords it was lost by only four votes.
Among private measures there is none that
has made so much progress as Sir Wu-
FRM LAWSON'S Permissive Bill. In 1864
there were only 40 votes and pairs for the Bill, and
there were 257 against it. In 1870 the adverse
majority was only 31. This fact cannot but have a
powerful influence upon Mr. BRUCE, when he
introduces his promised Licensing Bill. The
Married Women's Property Bill, introduced by Mr.
RUSSELL GURNEY, was rejected by a large
majority; a less satisfactory measure, giving
married women protection over their earnings,
has been passed under Ministerial auspices. Mr. SA con
BRIGHT actually succeeded in obtaining a majority of
126 for his bill to admit women to the franchise,
but his triumph was short-lived, and the bill was
ultimately rejected. Another measure, about which
the female portion of the community have been
greatly exercised is a bill to repeal the Con-
tagious Diseases Acts. The two debates which
took place upon that topic were signalised
by the absence of any proper report owing
to the exclusion of strangers and reporters.
This right of exclusion has hitherto been in the
power of any individual member, but it has been
very rarely used, and Mr. HENLEY being deter-
mined to take it away rendered it ridiculous by ex-
cluding strangers and reporters on going into an
Education debate. Next session the privilege
will doubtless be transferred to the whole House
Other matters which have been discussed—Colonial
Policy, Emigration, Life Insurance Offices, Monastic
Institutions, Ecclesiastical Titles, we can merely
mention. ----

The last-mentioned measure had passel

through both Houses, yet has been withdrawn
because certain peers chose to leave London before
the end of the session.

Until the month of June foreign affairs were
scarcely noticed. The massacre of British sub-
jects in Greece first made them prominent.
It was while endeavouring to enforce justice
upon the murderers that Lord CLARENDON died
almost suddenly; and Europe lost one of its mast
accomplished diplomatists on the very eve of a great
Continental crisis. Lord CLARENDON'S death

occurred ou June 27. Just eight days afterwards

Mr. HAMMOND. informed Lord CLARENDON'S
successor, Lord GRANVILLE, that he had

never known so great a lull in foreign

politics. That same afternoon, as the new
FOREIGN SECRETARY was sitting in the House of

Lords, he received a telegram announcing the aelec•

Lion of Prince LEOPOLD of HOHENZOLLERN as a
candidate for the Spanish Crown, and ten days later
_ _

war was declared, in the French Chambers, against
Prussia. The conduct of the negotiations which pre-
ceded the war have added greatly to the high reputa-
tion which Lord GRANVILLE had previously enjoyed,
and on Monday night Mr. DIsnARLI, no less warmly
than generously, congratulated the Government

upon their "wise and spirited policy." Mr. GLAD-

STONE has also, by his moderation and tact, recovered
somewhat, in the opinion of his political opponents,

though ho has alienated some of his more extreme
upporters. Mr. FORSTER has she wn himself a

statesman of the bighestiorder, and has won his en-
trance -into the privileged circle of the Cabinet. Mr,
LQWE has improved his position as a financier,

by malting large reductions of taxation without any

of those ingeniously tormenting expedients which
- - -

spoilt last year's budget. Mr. CARDWELL and Mr.

CHILDERS have shewii what they can do in the way
of economy. • They have now to prove if their

The Irish Land Bill, nevertheless, was in part his
handiwork. There is no reason to suppose that he
would not have supported his friend, Mr. FonsTER,
with regard to the Education Bill. It is not easy to
surmise the course" he would have taken with regard
to the supplementary estimate.

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

IGNORANCE WHICH IS NOT BLISS.

The painfulvosition in which the French people
find themselves at the present moment is materially
aggravated by the uncertainty which they feel. They
have no, confidence that they have been told the
whole truth, and the suspicion that
-they have not
been fairly dealt with increases their mortification
and distress. French authorities, Eke most other
despotic agents, are never very willing to communicate
unpopular news to the people. During the first
Empire some of the most notable successes of the
English fleet and arms were kept concealed until
long after they occurred, and though we may
exonerate the Government and the Empress Regent
from any share in the false news of victory, which
produced so deep a disappointment on Saturday,
the Parisians are still doubtful whether they may
rest assured that all will be told them. On Sunday
the perplexity and distress in Paris were very
great, as the usual sources of information
—the English papers—were not forthcoming, owing
to the day, and the wildest speculations were afloat.
The worst news would have scarcely produced so bad
an effect as the ominous silence of Government.
According to the Gaulois, the Minister of the Inte-
rior at least was not to blame, for he was so indig-
nant at the reserve maintained towards him by the
military authorities, that he has given in his resig-
nation. So great and so general is the popular
indignation at the uncertainty and hesitation with
which the news is communicated to them, that
even the Imperialist sympathies of the Telegraph
have failed, and Paris correspondent declares
there is danger of a riot in the streets, not because
the French army is defeated, nor because the Prus-
sians may be marching on the capital, but because the
people will not believe that communications have
been broken, and they, suspect that worse news is
Withheld.

THE WAR SONGS OF FRANCE.

It is an admitted fact that the French possess the
finest war-song in the world. " The Marseillaise" is
the most inspiriting of tunes, and although attempts
have been repeatedly made to vaunt the music to
the derogation of the words, the latter possess con-
siderable merit. "Scots wha hae," and "The Men
of Harlech," are compositions of a very high order,
but they are infinitely inferior to Rouget de L'lsle's
famous verses. In his "History of the French Re-
volution," Carlyle calls it the "luckiest musical com-
position ever promulgated : the sound of which will
make the blood tingle in men's veins, and whole
armies and assemblages will sing it, with eyes
weeping and burning, with hearts defiant of Death,
Despot, and Devil." One might almost venture to
assert that the "Marseillaise" has been the upholder
of revolution in France the Watchword of
Republicanism. The contest between Prussia and its
brother country, has once more brought it from the
hiding-place to which it had been consigned by
Imperialism and be would be a bold prophet to
predict that the immortal song will ever be suppressed
again. But beyond the Marseillaise, there is "Le
Rhin Allemand" of the late Alfred de Musset,
which is peculiarly appropriate in French mouths
at the present moment. Its history has been
told within the past fc,rtnight, hat it will
bear repetition. A French translation of the Ger-
man "Lied" of Becker was once the subject of dis-
cussion in the salon of Madame Emile de Girardin,
and that lady expressed a wish that it should be
answered by a true poet. M. de Musset, who was
one of the party, asked for a cigar and ten minutes'
leave of absence, and his request being granted he
descended into the garden. When he returned the
cigar was not finished, but the song was.