The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-01 00:00:00

METROPOLITAN GOSSlP—Saturday.

The announcement which was first made in your
columns with respect to the withdrawal of our troops from
the colonies is confirmed by to-day's army and navy papers.
The Conservative organs affected to disbelieve the
announcement. They hoped that economy would be con-
fined to such matters as quills and whitewash, so that they
might hereafter be able to laugh at Mr. Gladstone and
quote Horace about the mountain and the mouse. But
the recall of troops is quite another matter, especially
when taken in connection with the withdrawal
of our naval squadrons from the least important stations.
These changes involve far more than a diminished expendi-
ture on our army and navy. They imply an organic
change in our colonial and foreign policy. They mean
that henceforth our colonies must shift for themselves, and
that we shall no longer tax the pauper of Bethnal-green
in order to protect the rich squatter of New South Wales
or the still richer trader of Victoria. They mean, too,
that henceforth English statesmen will no longer feed the
national vanity at the expense of the national purse, by
scouring the waters with ships in order to maintain the
" supremacy of the seas." So far as regards the colonies,
it is only fair to point out that one of the earliest advo-
cates of the new policy was a Conservative member, Mr.
Arthur Mills, who then represented Taunton. After
many speeches on the subject, in which he was occasionally
counted out, a select committee was appointed to inquire
into the subject of colonial charges upon the imperial
exchequer. A very good report was drawn up, embodied
in a blue book, and shelved—for was not Lord Pal-
merston (Cicis Romanus) in office, and was not "a spirited

foreign policy" the cry of the time? To-day we are more
modest and more wise.

Among the other changes announced is the establishment
of a Central Council at the War Office. Its members are
said to be Lord Northbrook, who is now, as he was when,
Mr. Baring, Under Secretary for War ; Captain
' Vivian, the War Lord of the Treasury, who some
years ago, when member for Bodmin, gained great
reputation by a speech he made exposing the
circumlocution at the War Office ; and Sir Henry Storks,
who was recalled from Malta to reorganise the War
Department, but who finds himself left in the rear by
his new and energetic superiors. Colonel l,filward will
act as secretary. A minor change rumoured at Pall Mall
is the dismissal of a large number of clerks and the placing
of those who remain on an allowance out of which they
must provide themselves with stationery. The waste
which now goes on in that commodity is enough to make
Mr. Greg's hair stand on end.
I am told that Lord Malmesbury's retirement from the
leadership of the Conservative party in the House of
Lords was by no means spontaneous. Mr. Disraeli said at
the time the Cabinet was reconstructed, after Lord Derby's
retirement, that Lord Malmesbury would lead the House
of Lords, " if possible "—a joke whose point was not at all
blunted by the Liberal journals. The leadership has
proved to be impossible. The Tory peers refuse to be led
any longer by the ex-Privy Seal. They are, in fact, fol-
lowers who will not follow, with a leader who cannot lead.
So his lordship has been given to understand that
while the Conservative nobles will not interfere with
his intended triumph in the dining-room, they
must have another general in the House of
Peers—they will eat his dinner, but not do his bidding ;
they will acknowledge the chef, but not the chief. In all
probability the Duke of Richmond will succeed to the
leadership. He represents one of the great Tory houses,
is a very respectable politician, and will at least keep out
of scrapes. Lord Cairns is, of course, a far abler man, but
then he is a " new " man, and it would be a sad confession
of decay on the part of the old families if they were
obliged to put themselves under a nobody (genea-
logically considered) in the Lords as well as in the
Commons. Moreover, the office of leader is almost incom-
patible with that of Lord Chancellor; and so, if Lord Cairns
were put into the first, it would impy that his party had
very little hope of seeing him restored to the second.
Extreme pressure is being used to force the Govern-
ment to increase the capitation grant to Volunteers. Lord
Elcho hopes to get up, during the first week of the
session, a great meeting of members of both Houses
who belong to the Volunteer service. I doubt, however,
if Liberal M.P.'s will give him much assistance.
They remember the history of 1866: they distrust the
Adullamite member for Haddingtonshire, and they will
not embarrass the Government in its laudable attempts to
reduce the public expenditure. Colonel Acland,
for North Devon, has already protested against the present
demand for Government assistance. Meanwhile the Govern-
ment are receiving powerful help from a very distinguished
military authority, who, under the nom de plume of
" Hippophylax," is proving incontestably that the
Volunteers are all very well as play soldiers, but
would be almost useless in time of war; and are
may us to reduceticomnr regulare
caor
rmdyi
n. g Sttoi ll
presenton Volunteer
.
certainly not worth paying for at a time when necessity
commatters,pels
tions, the Review will not take place at Portsmouth
this year, as it did last year, but either at Dover or
Brighton.

The Liberals of Norwich, wiser than the Conservatives
of Plymouth, decline to accept as their candidate a gentle-
man who has been mixed up with questionable City
transactions, and Mr. Warner has therefore retreated to
the background. It is not improbable that Mr. Milner
Gibson will be selected as the Liberal candidate. Failing
him, there are plenty of good men unseated at the last
election, who are not directors of finance companies.
Nothing more is heard about the petition against Colonel
Wilmot, the new M.P. for South Derbyshire. County
election petitions are costly luxuries. Mr. Evans has
issued a circular to his friends, thanking them for their
support, but giving no intimation that he means to contest
the decision. Should Serjeant Cox be unseated at Taunton,
he Conservatives will probably bring forward Sir John
Karsiake, the late Attorney-General. The Liberals will
run Mr. James again. _

Lord Russell's letter has been severely handled on all
sides. Yet he has some distinguished apologists. At a
meeting of the London clergy, held at Sion College on
Thursday night, Dean Stanley delivered a lecture, 6-*
which he strongly advocated the co-existent endowment
of the three chief Churches in Ireland. He said that
if the "cry" that the State ought not in any way
to countenance the doctrines of the Roman Church had
any reality in it, half the Constitution ought to be
repealed. Already the Roman Catholic religion had
received a large amount of recognition and endowment.
He instanced Malta and Canada. He argued that unless
theßoman Church were c nnected with the State in Ireland
it would lose what liberality it possessed; and that if the
Protestant Episcopal Church were separated from the
State it would become an aggressive Episcopal body.
This expression reminds one of Mr. Disraeli's warning
against proselytism. The Liberal Dean and the
Tory Premier seem to be agreed in thinking that for a
Church to make converts is the worst of calamities. Dean
Stanley was supported by Sir Charles Trevelyan. He
declared with vehemence that to cast the Esta-
blished Church adrift would riot be just, would not be
common Christianity, would not be tolerated when the
matter was fairly laid before the country. Sir Charles did
not state how it could be more fairly laid before the coun-
try than it has been. He strongly deprecated the appli-
cation of ecclesiastical revenues to the aid of the poor
laws or to education, or to improvement of the land.
Such expedients would only relieve the taxpayer and lead to
jobbery and waste. Mr. Milman, son of the late Dean, I
believe, said that in principle he agreed with Dean Stanley,
but that practically his scheme of triple endowment could
not be carried out.
The fact that the blue ribbon of the schools at Cam-
bridge has been carried off in two successive years by a
gentleman who does not belong to the Church of England,
will greatly aid the Liberal party in their endeavour to
abolish religious tests at the universities. Last year the
senior wrangler was a Baptist. This year he is a Jew. It
is impossible to suppose that in the face of such triumphs
as these, the exclusive system will continue much longer.
Ten years hence we shall look back upon it with the same
amazed contempt wherewith we now regard the Test
and Corporation Acts.
The London papers of yesterday and to-day have con-
tained two horrible, heartrending accounts of death by
starvation at the East-end. In this the wealthiest city in
the world, where the streets are all but paved with gold
(the purchase money of land would nearly cover
it if paid in gold), women find it impossible
to get a mouthful of bread, and die from sheer famine, as
much as though they were in the most inaccessible parts
of India. And yet we are not cruel ; we are not miserly.
Prove to us Londoners that there is "a case of real distress,"
and we send our guineas in bagfuls. What we want is
some means of bringing us into communication with this
real distresss ; some means of knowing that it is real. What
opportunity has Paddington or Belgravia of hearing at
all of the wants of Bethnal-green and the Isle of Dogs,
except by chance some fearful tale like these of the last two
days gets into the papers ? Even then, what are we to do?
If the Poor-law Board, with its organisation, cannot pre-
vent persons from dying of famine, though that is its
especial duty, how are we isolated individuals to prevent
it? So we sit down helpless ; and there is despair at the
East-end for want of help, and despair at the West-end
for want of knowing the way to help. The Minister who
would bring East and West together would be the greatest
statesman of the age.
I have tidings this morning of the death of a veteran
littgrateur, :P.obert Eyres Landor. He was the brother of
Walter Savage 7',.andor, and a country clergyman, the rector
of Birlingliam, near Pershore, Worcestershire. He was
the author of "The rountain of Arethusa" and " The
Fawn of Sertorins," twos semi-classical works full of
original and striking- thou,:dits. He had the highest
admiration for the talents of Ws greater brother, and some
time ago I had a letter from him in which
that admiration and the humble opinion lie enter-
tainediof himself were touchingly manifested. His brother
admired him no less, though in a different way. Walter,
who had small regard for priests, Protestant or Roman,
wrote a charming poem in his " Last Fruit off an Old
Tree," describing his brother as a model country parson,
who gave away all the income of his benefice to the poor.
Robert Landor was 87 at his death, being about nine years
younger than Walter. By the way, I see it announced
to-day that Mr. Forster's Life of Landor is " nearly
ready." Those who know Mr. Forster will hope rather
than believe that this announcement is true.
There are sundry items of literary news to-day. Father
Bowden is writing a life of Father Faber. one of the most
illustrious of the " 'verts," and whose hymns are sung
everywherg, from the Oratory at Brompton to the Non-
conformist chapels in all paits of the kingdom. Alf. W.
M. Rosetti is engaged on anew edition of Shelley's poems,
and will preface it by another addition to the numerous
lives of the poet already extant. Mr. Robert Buchanan