The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-13 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PRESS-THIS MORNING.

CHARLES DICKENS AND WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
Westminster Abbey, observes the Times, is the peculiar
resting-place of English literary genius ; and among those
Vhose sacred dust lies there, or whose names are
recorded on the walls, very few are more worthy
than Charles Dickens of such a home. Fewer still,
wo believe, will be regarded with more honour as
die
passes and his greatness grows upon us. He has
as much as Addison, Johnson, or Goldsmith
to " correct the vices," "ridicule the follies," and purify
the sympathy of his generation. The Abbey, as the
shrine of English genius, would be incomplete without
14111 We see, indeed, that, with the modesty which espe-
cially distinguished him, he has in his will expressed a wish
t° be buried with as much simplicity and privacy as possible.
If his relations shouid th!.nk it their duly to adhere to this
direction, we shall defer to their decision with profound
respect. But the Dean of Westminster, at all events, is
not precluded from preferring a request that Dickens may
be buried in the only tomb in England worthy of him.
dickens spoke from his own modest estimate of himself ;
i.
did not reflect how dear his memory would he to the
English nation ; and could he know the pleasure it would
give them to honour him and to have his tomb always
Ong them, he would have been the last to disappoint the
138°Ple whom he loved so well. .If his friends prefer it,
I
et them have as quiet a funeral as they please ; their
‘j.,_ishes will be religiously respected. But let him lie in
ue Abbey. Where Englishmen gather to review the
roelnorials of the great masters and teachers of their
nation, the ashes and the name of the greatest instructor
of the nineteenth century should not be absent.
CHARLES DICKENS.
The Standard says that the world will not soon cease
(o talk of the loss it has sustained in the death of Charles
1,-
-8--eris. The familiar friend of more than 30 years'
811 ding cannot be reft from us and leave only a momentary
°Old. His death has been painfully sudden, but our regrets
tlill be painfully permanent. We do not mean that the
r 8
(~, can never by any possibilty arrive when the novels of
arles Dickens will have but a small and curious circle
°f readers, for such is probably the ultimate fate of all
Prose
fiction, and more particularly of that sort of it
which is true to life at a particular time and under par-
geular conditions. But that time, we should imagine, is
good way off, and before it is reached the name of
harlesDickens will be an inherited fixture in men's minds.
It t is not too bold to say that he has achieved immortality.
t
will always occupy a foremost place in the literary
annals
of the Victorian age. He eschewed the feeble
honours which society is now so ready to thrust on suc-
mini authors, and which some successful authors,
lfortunately, are so ready to accept. He was a man of
letters, and nothing more ; but how much that may be
;.
seen by the national grief which laments his death.

THE QUEEN AND THE ARMY.
the new will soon tell us (says the Telegraph) how
new army arrangements will work ; but, as it seems
'4, there remains one addition which is wanted to crown
,tll. e edifice, and this, no doubt, is but a question of
Vne• If the General Commanding-in-Chief be simply
Aeacl of the staff, why should his appointment en-
'ire for any longer period than that of other
'"tall officers, even of the highest rank ? The
public service would have everything to gain by the
change from time to time of the chief officer. There
Would, be an end of military cliques, and of much that is
"Jectionable under the system of a permanent chief.
e
• 81`tes the Secretary of State, who is changed from
tine
under the political affairs, would find a much more
tilalageable subordinate i n an officer whose appointment
cobi
last only for five years. In the present
r!eition of the question, we simply offer this as a sugges-
en. to Mr. Cardwell, but it is a suggestion worthy of con
‘lideration. Before dismissing the subject from notice, we
are bound to say that here is another instance—if another
Were wanted—to prove how well Queen Victoria under-
stands her true position as a Constitutional Sovereign of
these realms, It could scarcely have been without a little
1418gi 'dug that our Queen could have brought herself to
perform this most wise and necessary act. It must, to a
t°Yal personage, have been a sharp breaking-off with the
latnrY of days gone by, to place the army definitively in
enrY, as it has long been in fact, under the authority of
D.. Parliament. This is not, however, the first instance, by a
eat many in which Queen Victoria has shown that she
e'nne her own private feelings as nothing when the
Welfare of the Empire and the happiness of her subjects
are at Stake.

THE EDUCATION QUESTION.
The -Daily News is told that the leading members of the
a ? Cabinet met on Saturday at Mr. Disraeli's house,
nds after protracted discussion, determined to support
the Ministerial scheme of education against the amend-
k2vellts of Mr. Vernon Harcourt and the League.
on tali auxilio. The Government will do well
f consider before it allies itself with its most
Zdable enemies against its staunchest friends.
a: Gladstone and Mr. Forster cannot but know
at to the secular system we must come at last.
he only questson is, how? Blindfold, and after storm
411:1 tumult, or with open eyes and clear intention ?
ceeolhr education leaves to the ministers of each Church
'oil freedom, and offers them every facility for giving
litriet denominational instruction to the children
°f their own communion. Educational secularists
are the true denominationalists, and intelligent de.
4°ltanationalists are bound to be the most ardent advo-
cates of secular education at the hands of the school-
kaster. The system may not admit of being lat once
introduced by an Act of the Legislature over the whole
England ; but it is not beyond the resources of states-
manship to provide an easy and tranquil transition, instead
°f one of anger and contention.