The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-11 00:00:00

POPULATION RETURNS.

Among tne parliamentary papers just issued is one
which is very brief but very suggestive. It gives the
estimated population of England, Scotland, and Ireland
at the middle of the year 1868, with the total amount of
revenue derived from taxation for the two years ending 31st
Dec. ,1867, shewing, too, the number of representati yes which
each of these divisions of the United Kingdom would have
if the 658 members of the House of Commons were allotted
proportionally to the population and the revenue. The
result of these calculations is that England, which
has now 500 members, should, according to her
population, have 469 ; Scotland, which has 53, is
entitled to 69, and Ireland, which has now 105,
is entitled to 120. Divided according to revenue, the
results are somewhat different. England should have 496
members, Scotland 93, and Ireland 69. It will thus be
seen that there is a difference of 51 between the two esti-
mates as regards Ireland, while Scotland, in either case,
gains on her present number.

THE COMIC PAPERS.

(Prom Punch.)
" SOLAR PROMINENCES."—Sun blinds.
A BRIEF EXISTENCE.- A Barrister's.
MOTTO FOR IGNATIL'S.—'Tis Parson strange.
ROUGH'S GUIDE TO THE TURF.—The Police.
THE WAY OF THE WHIRLED.—The
HOTEL FOR BEE-FANCIERS.—The Hum-mums.

Two HEADS ABE NOT BETTER THAN ONE.—The duel
system in the army has been abolished with advantage.
The dual system might follow with equally satisfactory
results.

IN WORK.—The public will learn with satisfaction
that a use has been found for ex•colonial bishops.
Several of them are now industriously employed as curates
to those prelates at homewho are unable to attend to their
official duties.

BETTER DAYs.—We are told that "the agricultural
statistics of Ireland shew an increase of meadow and
clover." This improvement and her brighter Church pro-
spects lead us to hope that Ireland is at last in clover.
We trust that the seeds of discontent will now cease to be
sown.

(From Fun.)

A Pon LOOll.-OUT.---IA Workhouse window.
A TOUCH OF IRONY.—The skates in the ironmongers'
windows of late.

THE WORST LIMBO TO WHICH A MAN CAN BE CONSIGNED.
—The limb o' the law.
MILDNESS OF THE SEAson—Vegetation is "very for-
ward"—the same may be said of the rising generation.
LITERARY NOTE.--We see that Messrs. Macmillan an-
nounce, among other new works, "Bacon's Advancement
of Learning." Does Bacon owe this advancement to
" Hogg's Instructor ?"
ALL AMONG TIIE BARLEY.—We have it on the authority
of the poet that the gay and bearded barley smiles. We
have applied to an eminent agriculturist for an explana-
tion of the phenomenon, and he says it smiles from ear to
ear.

THE RIGHT MAN FOB THE rLACE.—The Era of 21st
February contains the following advertisement:—
" Wanted, immediately, a gentleman to sustain the
heavy business." 'Was not this the very situation for Mr.
Edward Watkin Edwards? The trifling duties con-
nected with his position as official assignee must have
left many spare hours on that accomplished gentleman's
hands. _ _ _

A r BETTY FIGURE.-Mr. Vernon Harcourt—" His-
..oricus" of the Times—has made his maiden speech in
Parliament, and in it he spoke of an old sword that we
must keep bright and burnished as we have received it
from our ancestors. He added :" If the present be not an
age in which it is required, we should preserve it for future
use, when political storms may arise, when it may prove a
security for the throne and a safeguard for the people."
We really don't see what use a sword would be in a storm,
or how it could protect anything. Did not Mr. Harcourt
mean an umbrella ?

(From Judy.)

A " BOTTLE "Jack—Falstaff.
IN THE PRESS.—" The Mysteries of the 'lobes," by the
Lord Chamberlain.

WHAT THE GOVERNMENT REDUCTIONS MUST COME TO.
—The reductib ad absurdu
imagination
A sanguine and poetic is Jones's great
,
stronghold ; that is to say, castle-building" is his forte.
RETRENCHMENT.—The President of the Board of Trade
has made a considerable reduction in the brim of his hat
since he has been in office.

CREDITABLE.—Smit • "Oh, getting on first-rate ; and
all owing to my own exertions, too. A year ago I wasn't
worth a penny, and now I'm a thousand pounds in debt."
WE WON'T REPEAT THE DOSE.—What is the difference
IDreytlveenaw;_ll•kne is own opera and the railings surrounding
de Park On the "
Rose of Castile," the other the
Rows of Cast Iron. .
AT IT AGAlN.—Baron Bramwell, speaking of the
members whose elections have recently been declared void
by his three learned brothers, remarked, " It's very clear
they were not long Parliament men."
WHAT DO THEY MEAN ?—The Daily Telegraph, in a
leader, on the Ist inst., said : " Mr. Gladstone's mind has
in it more of the poetic cast—of the female element."
Female element? Do they mean of the old woman?
SO SAY ALL OF us,---Mr. Gladstone is anxious to alter
the rating clause in Mr. Disraeli's Reform Bill, and
generally to reduce the rates payable throughout the
country. Surely no proposition could be more appropriate
from one who is the most over-rated mall in her Majesty's
dominions.

The Church News, in an article on Mr.
Gladstone's Irish Church Bill, says :—" We do not deny that
the mongrel crew at Mr. Gladstone's back possesses a consi-
derable amount of brute force, and that brute force may very
probably triumph. But there can -be no doubt that Mr.
Gladstone's bill is more truly revolutionary than anything
which has been done since the so-called Reformation—if we
except the Great Rebellion and the hateful incursion of
Dutch William."

Mr. Daniel, Q.c.,
on Tuesday gave judgement in a
case, which will decide several others, arising out of the re-
cent election inquiry at Bradford. A witness who had been
subpoenaed cu behalf of the petitioners against Mr. Forster,
sought to recover expensas for four days' atte n dance. The de-
fence, however, was that on one day ho attended, not on behalf
of the petitioners but to support the caso of the respondents,
and that on another day he was in court to gratify his desire
to hear Mr. Baron Martin's judgment. The defendants,
Messrs. Storry and Garnett, had paid 15s. into court, which
they held was sufficient, and in this view the Judge con-
curred, and gave a verdict for the defendants.
THE PROSECUTION OF MR. BENNETT.
The present Bishop of London is, like his prede-
cessor, unwilling to assist in any way the suit against
Mr. Bennett. He must do, of course, what it
is his legal duty to do, but he declines, if wo
rightly understand what has passed, to go a step further,
and has not hesitated, by thus acting, to draw on
himself the acrimonious attacks of the partisans
who wish to force forward these ill-advised pro-
ceedings. The Bishop's sympathies are certainly
not with Mr. Bennett ; but he doubtless sees, as
others see, that this prosecution, founded on some
incautious expressions, is really levelled against a body of
religious opinion which has always existed within the
English Church, and is intended to narrow her pale and
expel from her communion pious men who have been and
are perfectly loyal to her.—Guardian.

A melancholy accident occurred yesterday at a
chemical works near Birmingham. A retort, which was
being 1,801 in an extracting process, exploded, and set fire
to barrels ..f napttla and other com' ustibles on the premises.
The fire could not be extinguished, and two men working
were literally burnt to a cinder. your others, including the
foreman, were fearfully injured.