The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-18 00:00:00

SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY MORNING, J LINE 18, 1870.

measure, carefully fostered the suspicion thus ex-
cited in order to prevent further progress of the
bill. We cannot undertake to say to

which class of members Mr. DISRAELI be-
longs. So clever a man ought to compre-
hend the Ministerial programme, and certainly
the statesman who drew up in ten minutes a bill for
reforming the Constitution, ought not to have com-
plained that Government had hastily changed their
front with regard to the education question. Perhaps
it was because he saw no real objection to the pro-
posals, yet felt bound to reassert his position as
leader of the Opposition, that he rose directly
after Mr. GLADSTONE had sat down, and
delivered one of his amusing philippics, full
of wit and epigram. Certainly, as an effort
of elocution it was highly successful, for the
House, somewhat wearied by Mr. GLADSTONE'S
verbose periods, laughed again and again at the
•' points" of the Opposition chief. But after all the
matter is not one for joke. Conservative M.P.'s,
looking at the serried phalanx of Radicals
below the gangway, knowing well that if these
have their way there would be a speedy
end to religious education in this country,
felt that they must not sacrifice the future to the
present, nor obstruct the Ministerial measure which
does give them much that they ask, simply in order
to please Mr, DISRAELI. Thus it came to pass that

while the Conservatives cheered their chief and

laughed at his jokes, they one after another repudiated
the course which he had seemed to indicate. He
had asked for indefinite delay, and spoken in
severe terms of the new proposals. They, on the
contrary, asked only for a brief time to consider, and
intimated that they did not think there was much
reason to object to the amendments. Mr. HARDY
Lord,S4NDON, Mr. LIDDELL, and others all let it be
seen that they were willing to accept the principle
of these amendments, and Sir JOHN PAICINGTON,
whose opinion on the Education question carries
more weight than that of any other member
outside the Cabinet, only expressed his regret tWat
the Government should think it necessary to delay
proceeding with the Committee until Monday.
But while there is likely to be little opposition to

the Ministerial alterations on the part of the Opposi-
tion, the members below the gangway are anything
but satisfied. Mr. DIXON, speaking on behalf of the
League, was obliged to put constraint upon himself
in order that he might not seem to be openly rebel-
ling against his chief. As it was, he did go so far as

to say that it was necessary to adjourn the debate
lest members should give utterance to expressions
which they might afterwards regret. Mr. VERNON
HARCOURT was scarcely less outspoken in the
enunciation of his dissatisfaction. •He threa-
tened the House with all kinds of dire
consequences if denominational education were
not given up, and predicted that if un-
sectarian religious education were not given to-
day, to-morrow the country would insist upon secu-

lar education. He declared his conviction that it
was possible to give the first, but he himself shewed
how difficult it was, by asking, with reference to
Mr. COWPER-TEMPLE'S amendment that no
religious formula shall be taught, if the
New Testament was not a religious formula
so far as regards non-Christians ? The
truth is, Mr. HARCOURT and his friends, in
their earnestness for what they call unsectarian
religious education, forget that there are persons to
whom not only Christianity, but all religion, is secta-
rian. If Mr. HARCOURT and his party have the
right to object that any State funds shall be appro-
priated to the peculiar teaching of any religious sect
(and thus, by the way, forbidding out of deference to
Unitarians the teaching of our LORD'S divinity) the
Jew and the Mormon have the right to object to any,
teaching of Christianity, and the infidel to any reli-
gious teaching whatsoever. There is no evading this
difficulty, if you once impose fetters upon the State.
The only practical, the only statesmanlike way
is for the State to know nothing at
all about the religious teaching, but to allow
each school authority, whether a parochial board or
a voluntary committee, to decide the matter for
itself. If, out of deference to the clamour of zealots
too zealous for their religion to allow any religion to
be taught, Government has yielded so far as the
school boards are concerned, that is a concession
necessitated by circumstances, not justified by
logic. Having obtained it, the least the
Radicals can do is to allow the supporters
of voluntary schools to deal with the matter as they
please with the single proviso on the part of the
Government that there shall be an efficient con-
science clause. If the Radicals do not accept this
arrangement, their obstinacy will be another illustra-
tion of the very well known phenomenon, that the
greatest intolerance is often to be found among those
who talk most loudly in behalf of civil and religious
liberty.

THE long period of drought has been interrupted in
many parts of the country by a rainfall of some
magnitude and better promise. The shower seems
nowhere to have been of sufficient duration to effect
great good by itself, but a few more favours of the
kind would prove of the utmost benefit. The long-
continued brilliant weather has beyond doubt
been productive of some injury, but it has at
least ripened and brought to maturity the usual crop
of energetic complaints. Here the hay crop is " not
worth gathering.;" there "nothing can now save the
Corn crops on the light soils." As to roots the
withering away has been serious and general. In
the wheat market a gradual rise has taken place,
reason or none, the total increase since the middle of
May being about six shillings. In this, as in all
similar cases, the intensity of the panic is not at all
warranted by the extent of the evil; but it may be
conceded that the drought has been severe and pecu-

liar. It is not often that we are in want of
rain in the early months of the year. A
dry season has occurred several times lately,
but the period of its duration has always
been the summer months. This year everything is
parched up in the land before the summer proper
begins. So early is the affliction that there is even
yet time for 1870 to distinguish itself as an excep-
tionally wet year. 1864 was a terrible year, but
in the first five months seven and a

half inches of rain fell, whereas this year the fall has
not quite reached five. The average fall in February
is 1.0 inch; this year it was not a third of that
quantity. In April the rain amounted to less than
one-fifth of the average; in May to less than one-
fourth.

This is a serious state of things; yet it will be well
not to exaggerate the prospect of evil. The probable
effects of a dry season almost always are over-esti-
mated. The adage " drought never bred dearth
in England " differs from most proverbial
expressions by being true in practice ; and yet
whenever there is a scarcity of rain people
never fail to imagine vain things, regardless of the
lessons of experience. As a matter of fact, drought
never does bring about the effects that are attributed
to it. It produces a sad appearance in the crops, and
farmers are apt to judge by appearances. Lack of
moisture causes the stalk of corn to be stunted
and ill-looking; but the ear does not suffer. Whilst
the straw is burnt up, the ear only ripens the faster.
On the other hand, in a wet season the straw
developes prodigiously, and the cultiva-
tor's heart is gladdened by the spectacle
of exuberant green. The ear, however, in no way

benefits by this excess of moisture. Of course drought
is injurious, and there is a limit at which it might prove
extremely so; but no extent of dry weather to which we
are subjected ever has the disastrous effect which is
commonly feared In other countries the case is
different. In India a drought famine is a very com-
mon occurrence; but in England the average of
moisture is so high that a very great falling off
may be borne without serious consequences. Even
in the case of grass the loss is not so heavy
as is commonly supposed, Indeed it is certain that
cattle thrive best when, according to the popular
view, their food is all dried up. A supply of rain
now would be most beneficial, but should it not come
it will be wise not to underrate the blessings which
still remain to us.

In the House of Lords last evening the adjourned
debate on the second reading of the Irish Land Bill
was resumed by Lord Lnrgan. Although the dis-
cussion was carried on until a late hour no serious
opposition was offered to the progress of the mea-
sure at this stage, and it was ultimately read a
second time. The Lower House met at one o'clock,
and the Civil Service estimates engaged attention
until nearly seven o'clock. Several votes created
considerable but uninteresting discussion. When
the Honse reassembled at nine o'clock, Mr. William
Torrens moved a resolution in reference to the dis-
ttess which existed among the labouring classes in
many large towns, and calling upon the Government
to devise some means for alleviating their condition.
Mr. Goschen, the President of the Poor Law
Board, in a very lengthy speech, attempted to
show that there had been a great revival
of trade, and argued that it would be
impolitic for Parliament to apply the national purse
for the benefit of a particular class. The debate on
this subject lasted upwards of three hours, and was
adjourned. On the motion for going into committee
on the Clerical Disabilities Bill a series of proposi-
tions, alternately for the adjournment of the debate
and for the adjournment of the House, were made by
Conservative members, and this useless proceeding
was kept up until half-past three o'clock.
A motion by Mr. Beresford Hope, that the
Bill be referred to a Select Committee was, on a
division, lost. The House then went into Com-
mittee on the Bill, but almost immediately resumed.
The House adjourned at twenty-one minutes to
four o'clock.

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

if he is unable to pay. The legality of arrest-
ing Mr. Edmunds is, as has been already stated,
about to be tried in the courts ; meanwhile, how-
ever, everyone must grant that Mr. Edmunds has
been peculiarly unlucky in his mode of existence if
he has not been cruelly illtreated. He is described
rightly by a contemporary as a trebly ruined man.
He has lost his employment as Clerk of the Patents;
he has been deprived of his pension ; and all
his fortune has been spent in the law
courts. He is now confined in a prison
where, it is believed, thorough criminals, rather
than men who have been brought there for mere
non-payment of money, will be his companions.
Finally, one must remember that Mr. Edmunds has
been exonerated from the blame imputed to him by
one tribunal, and also that he has been in the service
of the Crown, who now detain him in prison, for
nearly a generation.