The Sun.
London, England, 1870-12-23 00:00:00

rim SUN, LONDON, FRIDAII 'DECEMBER 2'3, 1870.

METROPOLITAN GOSSIP.—TuvaSDAY.

eives is wretchedly poor. To give a better salary and
to demand a higher order of attainment is clearly the
proper course. The School Boards will not be able, im-
mediately, to control the qualifications of their servants ;
but if they increase the reward they will, surely improve
the attainments.

The excitement of having a fresh great problem to solve
every week is not yet lost to us. We have this time a domestic
nut to crack, and it is scarcely less difficult, certainly not
less important, than many of the foreign troubles that
have lately assailed us. Mr. Bright has left the Ministry
amid general regret, and the question comes, who shall
supply his place ? It is a • very . hard question
to answer. Never before have I known such
diversity of opinion. Almost every possible
candidate has been dragged forwards as the likely suc-
cessor of the great tribune. Lord -Dufferin (Chancellor
of the Duchy of Lancaster), Mr. Goschen (President of
the Poor Law Board), Mr. Stansfeld (Secretary to the
Treasury), Lord Northbrook (Under-Secretary for
War—(fancy this ' personage filling a vacancy left by
Mr. Bright !) and several others have been mentioned. It
I is, however, useless to speculate, for the only positive fact
I can obtain is that Mr. Gladstone does not yet know his.
' own mind. The embarrassment is far from unnatural. •It is
not a President of the Board of Trade that he has to find ;
it is easy enough to select a fairly good official hack who
could do the business of that department better than Mr.
Bright was likely to do it. The problem is to instal in
office such a repiesentative of the. Radicals proper as
will content that important section of the Liberals. The
happy days when, as Lord Salisbury phrased it, the
Radicals were satisfied with doing the voting, whilst the
Whigs did all the ruling, have vanished long ago. The
Radicals are stronger than they were, and
they are likely to gain fresh strength, for
if artisans do not choose men from their
own body they will, as a rule, go in favour of
advanced principles. Mr. Bright did effectually repre-
sent the extreme section, and it is no secret that he often
kept it quiet. Without him, or some similiar
champion, in the Cabinet it will unquestionably
rebel. We all saw what happened last session.
The Radicals went openly to war with the Government,
but as it happened that the Conservatives and the Mode.
rates of the opposite camp were at one' on the Education
Bill, no harm was done by the " Red " minority.
The Government, however, cannot always expect such for-
tune. No wonder, therefore, that the situation is regarded
as serious. The void is one that it will be hard indeed to
fill up.
The insinuation of the Standard that Mr. Bright
had resigned just at the expiration of the two years' ser-
vice necessary to entitle him to a pension, is simply
scandalous. Mr. Bright cannot legally claim a pension,
for four years is now the minimum period of
service, and six years' labour is required before
the President of the Board
.of Trade can claim. Arid
even if he was entitled, it would have been well not to
have charged him with seeking reward for a term of
service mostly spent in retirement until he had actually
done so. Party warfare often becomes acrimonious. It
should not, at least, on the side of the " educated party "
become low. •
Mr. Kirk, whose death leaves a vacancy for Newry,
was an old but little known Liberal member. He was
first returned for Newry in the Liberal interest in 1852,
and was defeated in 1859. At the last general election he
was re-elected by a narrow majority in opposition to
Viscount Newry. This nobleman will, it is expected,
come forward again, and may be opposed by Mr.
Jonathan Richardson, of Bessbrook. Mr. Kirk's victory
was a triumphant one for Newry is, perhaps, the most Con-
servative borough in Ireland—a terrible centre of Pro-
testant fervour. Mr. Kirk was very popular, and I am
told that the hope of his victory being repeated by another
Liberal is scant indeed.
Last week's "question," like the question of the
preceding week, and that of the week before, has lapsed
into obscurity. The Luxemburg business has strutted
and fretted its hour upon the political stage, and now is
heard no more. We may or may not have an interest in
these matters ; but at any rate the style in which we get
into a fever of excitement about them, followed by tea
immediate relapse into utter;indifference,is far from digni-
fied. It now seems generally taken for granted that
Prussia has no designs of annexation upon Luxemburg,
but simply resolves not to be bound by the Treaty of
London in respect of military operations. What autho-
rity there is for this conclusion, save the veracious
assurances of the Berlin semi-official papers, does
not appear ; but I can confidently state that the
impression is delusive. The facts are against
such a conclusion, which is, moreover, irrational on the
face of it. The German press (it is prudently quiet now)
has unanimously claimed Luxemburg ; Prussia wants the
little territory; all obligations to France are supposed to
be dissolved ; and there is no question of nationality, for
the Luxemburgers, too few to gain much attention, have
long been regarded as so much freehold property. The
liberty to pass troops through the State is so little worth
under present circumstances that Count Bismarck would
never trouble about it alone. It will not do, therefore,
to conclude that ' Count Bismarck entertains only the
lamb-like intentions expressed in his circular.
The matter has hardly been thought so serious as to
involve the danger of a war. But in diplomatic strife
over these questions, we invariably seem worsted. Why
is this? People say that a heavy drag hampers Minis.
terial action in all matters relating to Prussia. A great
influence, unseen but felt, looms in the distance. They
say that but for this cause more efficient interveution —I
do not, of course, mean war—would have been tried in
the interest of France.

It is strange that the clergy of the Irish Chardh have
so long Withstood the temptation to commute, i.e., to
conipound for the sums of money coming due to them
under the Church Act annually for a certain number of
years. There has been a regular shower of applications
for commutations sent in to the Commissioners in the
past few days, as all requests to retire from the
Establishment under t he commutation scheme must be made
before January Ist, one chief inducement to commutation
has been the opportunity afforded, or said to be afforded,
to beneficed clergy of purchasing their glebes at a mode-
rate rate out and out from the Church representative
body, for their own use and that of their families here-
after. By the bye, the Archdeaconry of Limerick, Dr.
Graves's diocese, will most probably not be 'filled up by
the Crown. .

Whilst the difficulties occasioned by the withdrawal of
the facilities for parcel postage are becoming More
manifest, the confusion attending the regulations re-
specting the book-post has increased, and nobody
seems to know what can or cannot be done.
The fact is that the Post-office proper has virtually
fallen into new hands, the experienced officers
having of late_ given their . attention chiefly to, the
telegraphic department. The result is that a number of
impracticable arrangements have been introduced.
Amongst these is that relating to the contents of parcels.
It is impossible for the officers of the department
to examine the contents of every missive that
passes through their hands, and therefore it .is
useless to make regulations as to the internal arrange-
ments of parcels. No conditions can be efficiently im-
posed except those whose infraction aglance at the outside
of a packet suffices to' detect. Anything which the
senders choose to forward open at the end
ought to be carried at book-post rates. Attempts
to regulate the inside of packages only result
in the greatest advantage to the boldest offender: None
of the Post Office Clerks seem able to give trustworthy
instructions. The other day, at a large provincial town,
inquiry was made ag to whether an open letter might be
sent by the book post, and the reply was " Certainly.
not." As the inquirer was leaving the office, he was
called back and informed that if he wrote a dozen copies
of-the letter, so as to make it a circular, then it could go
by book-post ! How the unfortunate investigator, who is
appointed to decide upon the eligibility of a parcel, can
determine when a letter becomes a circular or not,
besides many other questions of the kind, is beyond my
comprehension. It is to be hoped that the Post-office
authorities will speedily terminate this confusion, . and
adopt such clear and definite principles as will enable the
public to learn what rights really are conceded to them. '
Little notice has been taken by civilians of the
exceedingly handsome and tasty uniform which, within
the past few days, has been issued to the officers and men
of the new Army Service Corps. The dress is dark blue,
but the facings of white, and in the case of officers, of white
and gold, are laid on the coat and trousers, in a neat and
sparing manner. . The thick braiding, so con-
demned in the old costume of the Military
Train, is altogether abolished. The new tunic is a loose
fatigue jacket without a belt, and the undress cap, per-
haps shewing the most improvement of all, is a light
cavalry one, smart and small, but in nowise too small.
The privilege of gold is altogether a new one to the officers
of this branch of the service. The new helmet, full dress,
is also one that is sure to give satisfaction. Altogether
there is reason for believing that the corps when mounted
will present an appearance second only to that, of the ap-
pearance "oa parade" of the Royal Artillery or the
Carabineers.

Some of my readers may be interested in the fact that
Sir Arthur Guinness, Bart., is to be married in March.
The family of the great brewer, the late Sir Benjamin
Lee Guinness, are becoming gradually identified with the
Irish peerage. Miss Anna Lee Guiness was married in

1863 to Lord Plunket's eldest son, and now the daughter
of Lord Bandon is about to become Sir Arthur Guinness's
wife. I may state that the brewery in Dublin is yielding
an income to the two brothers Guinness of £lOO,OOO a
year.

After a comparatively long interval, during which no
new speculation of moment has affected the journalist
world, there is likely to be an important appearance in
the shape of a new London daily of the first class. Let
us hope that it will not share the fate of the Pall Mall
Gasette which, some people think, would have proved a
success by this time. The Week's News, a threepenny
paper, will appear at the end of the first week in January.
One gets a good deal of instruction now and then by peep-
ing into_ the journals of remote country districts. Thus,
in the Mayo Constitution of last Saturday I find an enor-
mous head, "Extraordinary News," followed by that tre-
mendous bulletin which scarcely found credit even in pro-
vincial France, describing that the siege of Paris was raised,
Bismarck blockaded in Versaillei, 50,000 prisoners taken,
250 guns captured or spiked, 'Trochu marching upon
Mantes with 100,000 men, and Vinoy in another direction
with six times as many. The fearful' tale winds up with
the statement that the Prussians are retreating
with great apparent anxiety, a condition of mind
amply justified by the facts, whilst the victorious
French were quietly walking off in the opposite direction.
One wonders who supplied the far west of Ireland paper
with a story which forms the most prominent fe'ature in
its issue of last Saturday, and who, having received the
news, thought it fit for publication.
The Christmas season in London, so far as Christmas
gifts are concerned, has been strangely influenced by the
war. The supply of Christmas cards from Germany has
been circumscribed, and from France altogether stopped.
It was from Paris itself that the tasteful and gem-like
articles de luxe came last year to fill the London stationers'
windows. This year a home supply has taken their
place, but the splendour of the offerings is, as a rule, far
less creditable than. that afforded by the Paris market.: An
Irish firm, Messrs. Ward and Co., have taken it
upon themselves to send in a store of Christmas
cards and carols to the chief stationers ; and they have
done their work well. So great has been the
rush for their articles that I am told
their branch premises in Covent Garden were
cleared out yesterday. Among the novelties intro-
duced this season are medieval and comic cards' whibh,
with trite quotations from the old poets, or with more
true than complimentary observations on Christmas wel-
comings, are sure to please and cause a laugh. On one of
these sent me I found these words: "Merry Christmas
brings together, birds of very different feather." And,
indeed, I believe it does.
A book which will be much looked for in January is
" Brougham's Life and Times," by himself. Mr. Bentley
publishes Life and Letters of the Author of Ingoldsby
Legends. The first volume of the revised edition of the
Statutes is ready. Cassell and Co., the well-known
popular publishers, are about to issue a history of the
war. A monthly series of stories for young people is to
be issued at a. very low,price by Messrs. Groombridge and
Sons, under the title of the "Rainbow Stories." The
cams firm will shortly commnnce a new shilling quarterly
---" The Landowner, and Farmer's Note-book." Mr.
John Morley has in preparation a new work, " The
Philosophy of History."
The weather here is detestable. There was a
tolerably complete eclipse of a general character
this morning, so that the eclipse of the
sun at noon was forestalled. Two days ago we had bril-
liant autumn weather, with a high temperature ; now the
cold is intense, falls of snow and sleet occur, the streets
are well-nigh impassable through frost, and special pre-
cautions must be taken by those who have important
parcels to send by railway. The lamentations of the large
foreign colony here are long and loud. 'The shifting weather
has caused an exceptional proportion of sickness amongst
the hordes of Frenchmen who exist rather than live in
this climate.

I have reason for thinking that a danger of even greater
imminence than a Bonapartist restoration threatens the
French Republican Government. A short time ago
a plot formed by several ex-deputies of the Legislative
Body, having for its object the convocation of a
National Assembly, and the making of peace,
was nipped in the bud by Gambetta. The conspirators,
however, are far from crushed. They are in. great
force at Bordeaux, where they have been rein-
forced by a detachment including, amongst others,
that man unstable as water—Emile de Girardin. Their
schemes for effecting a counter revolution are still pro-
gressing. Nor does the project offer insuperable diffi-
culties, for Gambetta is entirely dependent upon the
army, and if a knot of ex-Deputies called
themselves the Government, and offered France
the blessing of peace, it is by no means certain that the
resolute dictator would find sufficient support. What the
deputies would do with supreme power, if they obtained
it, I cannot say, for the simple reason that the deputies
do not seem clear on that point themselves.

Few subjects have been more talked of lately at the
clubs, and in circles where politics find a place, than the
project for fortifying London. There can scarcely be a
doubt that " something is to be done " in this way, and
many are the positive assurances I have
,received re•
specting the precise plan. Unfortunately all these positive
assurances differ. Four sets of schemes have their advo-
cates. There is the design of making LoOon as strong
as Paris ; there is the design of surrounding the British
capital with detached forts, complete and well armed ;
there is that of building two or three very
strong places on the most commanding points and
then filling up the gaps by improvised works, if the neces-
sity should ever arise; and lastly there is the project of
merely mapping out the fortifications, and erecting them
if a pleasing occasion should ever require it. The art of
fortification is now much better understood ; the material
and the labour are always abundant in London; and thus
it would be easy to do all that might be required at very
short notice. I can confidently affirm that this latter is
the plan which finds favour. Making London a regular
fortress would be enormously expensive, and beyond what
the necessities of the case require. The splendid resistance
of Paris sets the question of a fortified capital beyond a
doubt ; but London and Paris are very differently
situated. If the Government can come to a clear under-
standing as to what ought to be done in case of a most
improbable contingency, that will be sufficient, without
laying out a sum of money large enough to build a whole
fleet.

I was rightly informed with regard to the chairmanship
of the London School Board. Lord Lawrence will make
a good leader, no one can doubt; and though he voted
for a salary being paid to the chairman, he will work not
less energetically withouL any inducement of that kind.

There is a strong feeling, I am told, amongst the members
of the Board generally, that the responsibility of guiding
the education of the metropolis must not be allowed to
fall into the hands of a permanent official, such as the
paid secretary. Great care will be taken to prevent this
personage from becoming a virtual autocrat,uncontrollable,
and almost immovable, as is often the case in similar
situations. Indeed to make him "keep his place "
all the more strictly he will not be a secretary at all,
but " clerk." One of the points of Lord Lawrence's
policy, I believe, will be the improvement of the position
of teachers. There is much room for this. The educa-
tion of an elementary school teacher is considerably
below the standard necessary to fit him for the effectual
discharge of his duties.;] whilst the average pay he re-

HOSPITAL SUNDAY.—We are informed that the
amount collected at the various churches and chapels in
Manchester, Salford, and the district, on Sunday last, in
behalf of the medical charities of Manchester and Salford,
reached £1,745, •

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