The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-12 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE irOiiLIO JOURNALS.

the country ; and the country lias returned au answer
as clear. To give effect to that answer, Mr. Glad-

stone and his colleagues have been carried into power.
Mr. Gladstone, as his speech last night showed, feels

keerly and solemnly the oblization w hich rests upon him.
He does not disguise the arduous nature of • the task he

has undertaken. He and his colleagues have put their
hands to the plough, and will not look back. Without

hesitation or delay, but with prudence and consideration,
they will apply themselves to the work which the nation

has committed to them. If there are many obstacles to
be overcome, there are great helps and encouragements.
The Telegraph declares that the Prime Minister
could not have been expected to describe his policy with
anything like minuteness of detail. A disquisition on
the difficulties of disestablishing the Irish Church, and
the precise means by which the obstacles must be overcome,
would have been completely out of place. What provision
should be made for the government of the Church, what
amount of property should be left in its hands, and
to what use the balance should be put—these are questions
which must be discussed in the House of Commons. But
though Mr. Gladstone kept away from the technical

points of the subject, be indicated in general terms how

he and his colleagues meant to act. The difficulty, he
said, could not be overcome in a day, or by a single bill.
Not one, but many measures, lie added, might bo
requisite to carry out that policy which was shadowed

forth in the three Resolutions. Tbis is a most signi-
ficant announcement. For the first time Mr.
Gladstone has formally declared that the process

of disestablislunent and disendownient cannot be
achieved at one stroke, but must result from a series of
efforts. When the question was first mooted the more
ardent Reformers fondly fancied that the Irish Church, as

a State institution, might be brushed away at ono sweep

of the legislative broom. A deeper study of the question

has shewn that the task bristles with difficulties which

must be conquered one by one, and which it may take
more even than a single session thoroughly to overcome.

THE SOLIVAY JUNCTION .RAILTV AY.

hope to see the completion
of lonnea lof'etrY few weekshegreat we may
achievements of modern engineering
pgreat viaduct across the Solway, which
iesn
tt
oe enterprise. The
rilsn adirect line of railway between the south of Scot-
' land and the west coast of Cumberland,is progressing rapidly,
though the difficulties in the way of construction have
been great. There is an unreclaimed moss on the Cumber-
land side, over a mile and three-quarters of which the line
has to pass, and the task of draining this moss and laying
the way over it has been a formidable one. The scheme
originated in a desire to revive the diminished trade of
Annan, and Mr. Brunlees, of London, is the engineer-
in-chief. This gentleman was consulted respecting
a smaller plan, but at once saw the importance of carrying
a line across the Solway to accommodate the mineral
district of West Cumberland, by opening up a more direct
and cheaper route to Scotland. The scheme was taken up
and a company formed, but so sceptical were the
people of the neighbourhood, that it was not
until they saw the viaduct fairly complete that
they would believe so gigantic an undertaking could
be carried out. The journey is not a very long one, as the
total length of the new way laid down is not more than
eighteen miles. Starting from the Kirtlebridge Station,
the line takes a southerly direction, and reaches its
summit 230 feet above the level of the Solway, near
Lockerbie. Directly after this it descends to the
Solway, at a gradient of lin 90. Here begin the
difficulties and the cuttings, and embankments continue at
intervals to Seafield, where the viaduct begins. At the
point where the railway crosses the Firth the distance
from shore to shore is 2,544 yards, of which nearly 600
yards are composed of sea embankment, and the remaining
1,950 consist of the iron viaduct. The banks have occa-
sioned great anxiety, as the spring tide rises 21 or 22 feet,
The north bank has been completed for some time, and the
south bank is now nearly finished. The construction of
the viaduct is very simple. It is built of wrought
and cast-iron. The levels of the foundation piles vary
with the bed of the Solway, the lowest being in the
English Channel, where the top of the foundation piles is
within 18 inches of low water at spring tides. It was
originally intended to use screw piles for the foundation,
but after six months' fruitless trials it was decided to adopt
driving. The bed of the Solway is composed of stony, coarse
gravel, covered with constantly-shifting- sand, so that screw
piles were got down more than 12 feet. The driving,
although more successful, was a work of great difficulty,
and had to be carried on night and day, as the tide allowed,
in specially-constructed barges. On one occasion two of
these barges were lost in a storm. The total weight of
cast-iron in the viaduct is 2,892 tons, and of wrought-
iron 1,807 tons. The whole of the superstruc-
ture was erected without scaffolding. It is
thought that the total cost of spanning the
Solway and forming the sea banks will not exceed
£lOO,OOO. That the -work has been well done is shewn by
the viaduct having borne unshaken the passage of the
heavy waggons carrying over the material for the southern
bank. There have been, too, some heavy gales and some
very high tides since it was first undertaken. Conslilering
the importance of the work in a commercial point of
view, and the difficulties with which the engineers have
had to contend, its successful completion is a matter of
public congratulation.

The Royal Commissioners on Ritual hold a
sitting on Thursday, at the Jerusalem. Chamber, West-

minster.

A memorial is about to be presented to the Com-
mander-in-Chief from the Woolwich Local Board of
Health, requesting him to prolong the stay of Major-
General E. C. Warde, C. 8., ILA., whose period of office
of commander of the garrison will expire in June next.
The major-general commanding is highly valued by the
inhabitants for his kindness to them, and they have
expressed a hope that amid nil the painful changes which
are so suddenly occuring among the Government officials,
he, the commandant, at least may be permitted to remain
at his post, as one who knows so mucheaibi outthetowonn
may help to mitigate the fearful distress which at present
ra
exists, owing to the immense number of discharged
teductim fro; the Viovernracut Works. -

The Tinos observes that the Fishmongers are the chief
of Liberal companies, afid if proof were wanted it may be
found in the fact that they have forestalled all the world
in entertaining the Ministry as a Ministry. It might be
supposed to follow naturally that they who had been most
prompt in hospitality would be the first to receive the con-
fidence of the Ministry. Mr. Gladstone recognised the
anticipation, but it seems probable that many Fishmongers
left their hall yesternight with a feeling that, after all,
they had not learnt much of the intentions of the Cabinet.
The Premier pledged himself that not a moment should be
lost in maturing measures which, when produced and
explained, would gratify to the full the sentiment of
public curiosity, and with this he begged to be excused from
any further immediate reveation. There are many excel-
lent reasons for this reticence. It might be plausibly
urged that the first statement of their policy must
be rendered by the Ministers of the Crown to
Parliament. Another reason may be discovered in
the promise that the necessary measures of the future
shall be matured as quickly as possible, since it follows
that they are not matured at present, and it would be
plainly premature to discuss a scheme of legislation, the
details of which are not yet completed. As it was, Mr.
Gladstone reaffirmed the principles of national action upon
which the Government entered office, and promised that
they should be prosecuted to success. The policy approved
by repeated majorities in the House of Commons, approved
still more decisively by the tribunal recognised by all parties ,
asthe tribunal of last appeal, remains the paramount object
of the Ministry. Religious equality in Ireland, and a union
not merely of law, but of sentiment and affection, between
the two countries are the objects to be attained. Mr.
Gladstone, however, did not conceal the difficulty of the
task to which the Government has devoted itself ; and it
may even be that he somewhat depressed his hearers
by the careful way in which he spoke of the future.
But the difficulties attendant on the Ministerial policy,
undeniable as they are, ought not to hamper the progress
of a Government commanding the majority Mr. Gladstone
has at his command. Let the Ministerial plans be clear
and unwavering and in faithful correspondence with the
resolutions of last session, and the rest is simple. A.
Ministry carried into office by the acclamation, as we may
almost affirm, of the nation, and supported above all,
as Mr. Gladstone rightly claimed for them last
night, by their own conviction that the cause to
which they are devoted is the cause of justice and
public weal, could not fail to overcome obstacles infinitely
more serious than any besetting the path of the present
Government, and to carry their counsels to perfection.
The Daily News, in commenting upon the same subject,
says that the most sanguine Fishmonger could scarcely
have expected that the Prime Minister would last night anti-
cipate the Queen's message and the usual announcements
to Parliament, and inform the brilliant company which
welcomed him of the measures which her Majesty's
Government has in preparation. But Mr. Gladstone's
speech last evening was not confined to eloquent gene-
ralities or festive compliments. It was a manifesto,
and a very timely one. It was well suited to
combat the misgivings and scepticism which have been
sedulously fostered as to the intentions and conduct of
Ministers. Mr. Gladstone reminded his audience of that
of which he himself, we doubt not, never loses recollection
—the circumstances in which he and his colleagues
have acceded to office. An issue bad been dis-
tinctly raised and met ; it was clearly submitted to