The Sun.
London, England, 1869-07-05 00:00:00

SPAT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

The Times remarks that the House of Lords, without
knowing it, has.been passing a great competitive exami-
nation. The debate on the Irish Church Bill has been
worthy of a great question and of a great assembly. The
topics suggested by the discussion were so various, and the
possible political combinations in a struggle involving con-
struction as well as destruction were so manifold, that the
result has been to sift and probe every corner of the
political capacity of the House of Lords. The debate,
besides testing the political capacity of many leadingpeers,
has shed a flood of light on two constitutional questions. The
country is indebted to the Bishop of St. David's for a
masterly exposition of the true doctrine on State " sacri-
lege ;" and on the second question—the relation of the two
branches of the Legislature—a substantially unanimous
conclusion has been arrived at, thanks mainly to Lord
Salisbury. It is hardly likely to be disputed henceforth
that the House of Lords, though of co-ordinate authority
with the House of Commons, must bow to the national
will, and that a bill on any particular question sent up by
a House of Commons elected with reference to that ques-
tion must be received by the House of Lords as an ex-
pression of the national will, and be affirmed accordingly.
It is for the majority to decide bow far it is reasonable to
take credit to itself for deferring to this interpretation of
the national will by the Lower House to the extent of
reading a bill a second time, while threatening to make
amendments which will transform its principle.

The Standqrd says there is much reason, from all points
of view but one, to regret the defeat of the motion of the
Duke of Cleveland. It may be that the so-called " endow-
runt of Popery," would have been obnoxious to the sen-
sitive and jealous Protestant feeling of the nation. It
would certainly have given offence to the Orange party in
Ireland. But as certainly it was approved by the general con-
sent of impartial and independent thinkers throughoutthe
country. Men of all parties and all habits of thought,
except the fanatics of Liberationism, on the one side, and
of Protestantism on the other—all the men who look at
politics with the eye of statesmen, and regard practical
consequences rather than abstract theories—all to
whom the cool judgment of the nation lcoka up for
guidance—all whose opinion carries with it the weight
of authority, experience, and knowledge, with the
exception of a few whose peculiar position prevents their
expressing, or perhaps entertaining, a calm and unbiassed
judgment on such a question—approved the Duke's pro-
position. The only point of view from which we can
discern any advantage in the defeat of the amendment is
this : The Government must have refused to accept it, a
collision between the two Houses must have ensued, and
that on a point which the public understood and cared
about, and on which they might possibly have sided
with the Government. On no other amendment would it
be possible to get up a show of popular excitement to
support the coercion of the House of Lords ; it might be
possible—we cannot say—to get up a cry against the
"Endowment of Popery."

The Telegraph remarks that in the midst of the political
and religious storm which rages round his name, and at a
time when the weight of an unparalleled power might
well be expected almost to overwhelm the present First
Minister of England, he calmly comes forward, among
the scholars, with another volume of learned expositions
upon the Homeric writings. Does any Orange gentleman
wish to know what " that roLLer Gladstone " was doing
with his epare hours last autumn, before he under-
took the Premiership of England? Has any such
vigorous master of invective the idea that the
great disestablisher and disendower was at that
time gloomily occupied apart in meditating assaults
upon religion, and undermining with sinister conspiracies
;he interests of morality and Christianity ? In that case

let him send to Messrs. Macmillan and Co. fur Mr.
'CTladstone's new book, the " Juventus Mundi," and if he
can but understand it he will there find upon every page
evidences of a nature utterly different from the fancy
portraits drawn by Tory orators and Irish clergymen. It
is thus that the serious spirit of the Prime Minister con-

secrates the studies of his leisure hours, and even, in the I
laborious recreation of his rich mind, strives to make the
past illuminate the present, and both further the " one
increasing purpose" of humanity. But the major part
of such a volume can, of course, interest only
scholars and philosophic minds. The " Juventue
Mundi" must have its popular side chiefly because
it presents an example of great faculties for the course of
human progress exercised with unwearied power. The
people will see with admiration the spectacle of a First
Minister, as true to the weighty ree•pousibr!ities of his life
with the pen as with the tongue, finding his repose in
studies which others call toil ; asking only that, day by
dxr, in public and in private, he shall advance knowledge
and elevate human ex istence —a statesman, in effect,
whose immense experience and lofty thoughts give
solemnity to scholaiship—a scholar whose opulence of
learning and endless resources e: mind render his states
manship classical and stately. Meantime, Mr. Glad-
stone shews those who grumble about " hard work " that
men do not die of use, but of rust rather and stagnation.
The Slur thinks the question raised by the Duke of
Somerest, in the House of Lords on Thursday night, as to
the eligibility of the clergy of the cosestablished Church
of Ireland to sit in the House of Commons, is one of very
great interest and importance. The only " priest or
deacon" of whom the Act of 1801 takes notice as
such is a peest or deacon duly ordained by
the proper atThorities, according to the ecclesias-
tical law of the realm. From this, then, it appears that
the existing clergy of the Irish Church will, even
when that Church is disestablished, retain their incapacity.
AS the question will be clot whether they continue to hold
any particular status as priest; or deacons, but whether
they have been duly and legally ordained as such, they
will clearly fall under the provisions of the Act, With
respect, however, to the persons who, after the passing
of the Irish Church Bill, may be ordained by
the authorities of the disestablished Church, the
case is very different. It follows, then, that
in Ireland, after that date, no person can
in point of law "be ordained to the office of
priest or deacon," and as the persons of whose
we are speaking will not fall under any other legal in-
capacity, they will be eligible. No special hardship can
then be said to be imposed upon the Irish clergy, either
present or future. The former made themselves
eligible to receive State pay by assuming an office
which imposed an incapacity ; they will continue
both to receive the pay and to be subject to the incapacity.
The clergy of the future will be under no disability
whatever. But, although the latter persons will, in
point of law, be simply laymen, they will obviously, in a
spiritual sense and in the eyes of Churchmen, be as uch
priests and deacons as the clergymen of the Church of
England. It does not appear at all likely that the Legis-
lature will take measures to inflict a disability on them ;
on the contrary, it seems to us very probable that the fact
of their being eligible to sit in the House of Commons will
be deemed an additional argument for the removal of the
disability from their spiritual brethren of England.
The Daily News refers to Dr. Davidson's letter on the
Voysey prosecution, and believes that those who, like
him, imagine it impossible to effect any important
change in the creeds or articles of the Church of England,
and at the same time to preserve it as an establishment,
are under an entire delusion. Such a work would be
equivalent to re-establishment ; and these are not the
days for establishing State Churches. The Church of
England has incalculable advantages in its splendid
history, nevertheless it will prove most difficult for her
to maintain her position as an Established Church. The
very serious opposition which manifests itself in the doc-
trines taught in her pulpits and at her altars has already
made her Establishment the equivalent of concurrent
endowment. The position of the Church as it regards the
nation is weakened, because its character every year
becomes more vague and uncertain. Whether a change
in the direction indicated by Dr. Davidson would be
justifiable on theological grounds is a question we leave
to others ; but we take it to be morally certain that
such a change would precipitate that disestablish-
ment of the Church which its most discerning
children already see to lie inevitable. It would lead
to an enormous secession from the Church, convert
ths whole body of orthodox Dissenters and Wesleyans into
her active enemies, and greatly strengthen the Church of
Rome. But it will not happen. Difficulties there are
doubtless in the position of the Church of England, but if
that Church cannot stand as an institution of positive
faith, it cannot stand as a mere organ of critical inquiry,
for which, besides, it is not wanted. The free critical
activity of an educated people is sure always to be exer-
cised on the greatest of all subjects. On the other band,
the cause of religion in England is, under God, in
the hands of the religious people of England, and we
venture to think is infinitely safer there than it would
be in the keeping of any Sovereign, Parliament,or Council.
The Post observes that there could not be a stronger
proof than is afforded by the case of the Humber Iron-
works Company that something ought to be done to
utilise the highest judicial power of the country in a way
more in accordance than at present with the interests of
suitors, and less irksome to the judges themselves. It is
one of a class of cases, invorving intricate questions of
accounts, unfitted for investigation by a jury, and on which
the learning and acumen of a judge are entirely thrown
away. At an early part of the hearing the Lord Chief
Justice pointed this out. He spoke of the difficult nature
of the case, and suggested that it wouldi be far better to
refer it. The jury. too, almost prayed teat they might be
relieved of a task which was too much for them. No one
can blame Sir E. Watkin for desiring to vindicate his
character as publicly as it has been impugned. liiifor-
tunately, it must be added that no one will blame either
:
of the parties for wishing to avoid a reference. Ihe
custom is to refer such a case to a barrister, who, apart
from the consideration that lie may not possess the
special aptitude for its investigation which might,
perhaps, easily be found in a layman, cannot devote
his time to it continuously. To the suitor, thee remedy
in this case is worse than the disease; and it is a question,
under the existing, system, whether we shall throw
upon him the delay and expense arising from
the long intervals between the referee's appointments, or
saddle judges and juries with trialson which their most valu-
able qualities are wasted. The extent to which the adoption
of the latter alternative operates to the delay of justice
partly accounts for the long interval that elapses between
the bringing and the hearing of an action. This very case,
though commenced so far back as the end of 1867, is not
tried till July 1869. And who can wonder that the courts
are occasionally overwhelmed with arrears, when their
time is occupied by protracted investigations which
could be far better conducted by an accountant.