The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-06 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS,

The Times finds grounds for satisfaction in the convey
sation in the Lords on Monday night respecting Chinese
missions, since it shews that a decided step has been takes
towards placing the British Government in a proper posi
tion both towards the Chinese Government and toward.
the missionaries. It is to be hoped the missionaries wil
pay due attention to the important advice Lord Clarendor
quoted on Monday from Sir Rutherford Alcock. The
result of his experience with respect to religious intolerance
in China corresponds exactly with i what has beer
observed in most other countries with a similax
reputation. The intolerance is not in, the people, bul
in the Government. Until very recently the excuse
always made by the leading men in Spain for their
suppression of religious liberty was that the bigotry of the
lower classes would render it in the highest degree dan-
gerous to allow a Protestant minister or a Protestant ser
vice to be publicly tolerated. The hands of authority are
soddenly weakened, and it proves that the people have
not the slightest animosity against the professors of an
alien creed. The ruling classes in such over-governed
countries object to the introduction of a freer form of
religion from a keen sense of their own interests. They
know that with the increase of intelligence among the
people their own authority will be undermined. Accord•
ingly, it is the literate class and thegentry of China who incite
the mobs of the cities to the outrages recently perpetrated.
Sir Rutherford's conclusion is, that if China is ever to be
Christianised, it must be through the ruling class, not in
spite of them ; and that the efforts of our missionaries
should therefore be directed to win over the representa-
tives of this class in the principal treaty ports. We must
own there would be something to be said for drawing a
different conclusion. Since it seems an almost impracti-
cable task to overcome the fears . and prejudices of the
governors, it might be thought wise to obtain a footing in
the country through the hearts of the governed. It is the
people who have taught tolerance to the Spanish Govern-
ment, and not the Spanish Government to the people.
But, on the other hand, it should be remembered that if
the governing class is won, all are won ; and it would
seem only natural to address ourselves to the only obstacle
which obstructs our progress.

The Standard refers to the criticism that has of late been
passed upon Lord Stanley, and declares that it has alway<
been the professed, if not the received, opinion of Liberal
journalists that no man, at once wise and conscientious,
honest and intelligent, can possibly be a Tory. Is not
Toryism the creed of "the stupid party ;" and bow, then,
is it possible that a clever man should honestly accept it?
Is it not at least as old as the British Constitution ; and
how, then, can it be other than antiquated and obsolete?
It would be labour lost to point out the inconsistency or
such a proposition with that " liberality" of opinion, that
" toleration" of conflicting views, that respect for liberty
of thought, which Liberals always profess in theory,
and zealously apply in practice to the opponents of any
views except their own. Lord Stanley is admitted on
all hands to be one of our most valuable public men, and
perhaps the best Foreign Secretary whom the existing
generation has known. How, then, can he be a Conserva-
tive? For this phenomenon the Liberal press has con-
sistently accounted by ascribing Lard Stanley's politics
entirely to his filial piety ; and declaring that he would be
a Liberal if his father were not so closely connected with
and so greatly revered by the Tories. They impute to
him that, out of deference to Lord Derby, he has
systematically supported measures which he believed
to be mischievous, and principles which he held
to be false ; and freely accuse him of belying
his convictions and deserting his country, by adhering
to a party whose opinions are not his, and whose
unpopularity excludes him from office. Referring to his
discourse at Glasgow on Saturday, it says that every word
of that speech conveys the strongest censure, though
couched in the most moderate words, upon the Liberal
Ministry ; almost every sentence reflects the convictions
which bind the Conservative party together, and separate
it from the heterogeneous assemblage at present collected
under the colours of Liberalism ; the whole is the utter-
ance of a man who sees, thinks, feels as a Conservative—
and of a man who is resolved to leave no doubt of his true
politcal position on the mind of any candid and intelligent
listener.

The Post hopes that the measure which is under the
consideration of the House of Commons for the amend-
ment of the bankruptcy laws will prove more successful
than its immediate predecessor. Bills of this nature have
of late degenerated into what are termed parliamentary
annuals—that is to say, they are regularly introduced, and
as constantly abandoned. There is, however, no adequate
reason why such should be the case. A proposed amend-
ment of the law of bankruptcy does not, like a bill to
legalise marriages with deceased wives' sisters, or a reso-
lution affirmative of the excellence of secret voting,
necessarily provoke the hostility of any particular class,
or provoke an opposition which it may be difficult to over-
come. Everyone is more or less interested in placing the
bankruptcy laws on such a footing as may secure for the
insolvent and for the creditors the greatest amount of
good. Debt has ceased to be regarded as a crime punish-
able at the will of the creditor with perpetnal imprison-
ment ; and we may here remark, that together with the
Bankruptcy Law Amendment Bill is a kind of sub-
sidiary measure for the abolition of imprisonment for
debt under any circumstances, or for any time,
however short. It is proposed to retain the
existing practice of committing to prison for contempt
of court contumacious judgment debtors in county courts ;
and it was argued with much plausibility that it was
unjust to retain the practice of imprisonment for debt
solely to be enforced against the working classes. The
Attorney-General, however, expressed his readiness to
adopt any practicable suggestions which might be made
with the view of depriving the county courts of this
exceptional power, and it is not improbable, when the
measure comes to be considered in committee, that this
most desirable end may be attained, and imprison-
ment for debt thus become entirely unknown in this
country.

The Times, in referring to the probable substitution of
Mr. Lothrop Motley for Mr. Reverdy Johnson, observes
that there is no type of Minister whom we would receive
more gladly than the historian and the scholar. Mr.
Motley, however, would be the first to admit that in him
we must recognise one who has decided opinions on the
matters in dispute between us and the Americans. What-
ever may be his social or his historical prepossessions, .he
is, as far as actual politics are concerned, a thorough re-.
presentative of the Northern Republicans. As the inten-
tions of President Grant's Government are as yet a
secret, even if any have been formed, it is useless to
speculate upon the turn of affairs. The Convention
which has been concluded between the two countries
awaits the decision of the new President and of the Senate,
which have not yet formally decided on it. Supposing it
to be set aside, and negotiations to be renewed at some
future time, we may expect to find in Mr. Motley an
earnest and uncompromising supporter of the opinion[
which are said to be dominant among his countrymen. In
the matter of the Alabama claims his principles and con-'
duct are not likely to be alloyed by any weakness for us.
It is a great thing, however, to feel ourselves demonstrably
in the right. This country has gone to the extreme of con-
cession in the matter of the Alabama claims. It has agreed
to refer everything, except its own honour, to arbitration,
and to the judgment of a mixed commission. It has
agreed to give Americans who profess to have been
wronged every opportunity to assert their claims by pro.
viding that the commission shall hold its sittings a$
Washington. Except absolute submission to every
demand the Americans may choose to make, there is
nothing further that could have been conceded. The
Times thinks it most likely that if the present convention
should be set aside, Mr. Motley will be instructed to open
fresh negotiations embodying similar principles. In any
case we shall welcome Mr. Motley, not only as an old
friend, but as one who has the confidence of a really
powerful Executive and of the most powerful political
party in the United States.
The Telegraph declares in favour of those who
would have the Sunday a day of rest for the toil-
ing millions of the United Kingdom, but at the
same time advocates very strongly the opening
of museums and galleries of art to the people on that
day. We should be sorry, indeed, to see the London
shops open on a Sunday, because there would
then no longer be rest for anybody —no longer
time for attendance at public worship in the morn-
ing, nor for harmless recreation in the afternoon.
To open the theatres on a Sunday would mean that for
the theatrical profession, and its numerous hangers on,
there would be no day of Sabbath rest. But, what is
more, the character of the amusement, with many of the
associations necessarily involved in it, would jar with the
genuine religious feeling of English society. We dare,
however, boldly affirm that the feeling of the vast
majority of Londoners is in favour of opening merely the
galleries and museums of art on a Sunday afternoon,
We open Greenwich, Hampton Court, Kew Gardens, and
e
other such places, and then we shut the doors of the
Museum and National Gallery in the faces of the people
And while the doors of these places are shut in th
i into the
faces
of the people, the Upper Ten Thousand
dee the lions this
and Gardens, tease the bears,
al tecgliiselda
legislation
rih te?njoy themselves on the Sundaaynaftsernoon. Is this
dreary and unprosperous
The Star observes thaitiißtthoorsye
ber how pathetically, and at
oNfvbilzomllicrativpetcwy
are always ready to retnem
time trovision for appointing a chief
the same time how bitterly:, Lord Vestbury lamented the
tis
exclusion of
ill in 1859 as fatal to its
judge from
The I
I resent is a very different bill,
and,
gexc-el exceedingly commercial in its •1"
very
bo • spiri
not scent to require ie same e a ration of legal
iustrumentality ; but it is very doubtful whether creditors
would without assistance establish a very consistent or
comprehensible system of practice. A chief judge, if
wisely chosen, will do for the new bankruptcy jurisdiction
what Mr. .Tustice Cresswell did for the jurisdiction of the
Court of Divorce and Probate. Moreover, the appointment
is to be made on an elastic principle. The new bankruptcy
judge will be one of the present judges, and no addition
will be made to the bench, unless it be found that the
increase of business renders such an addition absolutely
necessary. Let us, in conclusion, urge upon the House
the necessity of passing the bill out of hand. When the
committee stage has arrived, let the clauses be carried
swiftly through with whatever alterations are essential.
It is of all things desirable that, even with a little rough-
/ tress of execution, a bankruptcy bill of a clear and decisive
character should paSs this session.

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