The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-05 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 5, 1869.

METROPOLITAN GOSSlP—Thursday.

If any progress has been made in matters political
during the last few days, the world outside the Ministry
knows nothing of it. The personal difficulties of the
Ministry may now be considered at an end. It appears
that there never was the smallest ground for contesting
the validity of Mr. Forster's return at Bradford. The
Marquis of Hartington is considered safe at Radnor, and
when he is elected every member of the Government
requiring a seat in Parliament will be provided with one.
The political difficulties of the Ministry are what they
were—great, as has always been admitted: as :the Liberal
papers are carefully telling us ; that they are insuperable,
as the Conservative papers tell us, remains to be proved.
The idea has gained ground during the last few days that
a section of the Cabinet is in favour of co-existent endow-
ments, as the easiest way of solving a troublesome
problem. It is likely enough that the proposal has been
discussed, and that arguments in support of it have been
passed in review by the Cabinet. But that this course will
not be adopted is certain. It would split up the Liberal
party hopelessly; it would, in fact, be the very levelling-
up policy which Mr. Gladstone denounced in his reply to
Lord Mayo last March. The Liberal journals this morn-
ing re-affirm Mr. Gladstone's old assertion, that no part of
the Irish Church endowments shall go towards the Roman
Catholic Church. As for the leading members of the Irish
Church themselves, they are believed to be for compro-
mise; and the rumour thereof has caused no little disgust
among English Conservative journalists. It must
Ibe admitted that their case is rather hard. Having
fought and sacrificed themselves for the Irish
Church at the elections, having suffered utter
rout because the nation determined that the
Irish Church should be disestablished, they feel very sore
that they should be left in the lurch by those in whose be-
half they have done and borne so much. Yet, no doubt
Irish Churchmen have taken the most prudent course.
Better make terms than fight another such losing battle
as that of last November and December, especially with
allies who are rather given to unconditional surrender when
hard pushed.
A letter, just received from an influential friend in India
tells me of the alarm which prevailed in that country at
the thought of having Mr. Bright as Secretary of State
for India. My correspondent assumes that the right
hon. member for Birmingham would have looked upon
India 'solely as a cotton-field, and, knowing nothing about
!I the country, would have governed it after evolving it, in
German fashion, out of his moral consciousness. All this
is very amusing. Clearly it was not generally known in
India that there is scarcely any Englishman living who
is so well acquainted with that country as Mr. Bright is.
He has studied it until he knows every road and river in
it. After all, India might be turned to worse purposes
than that of a cotton-field. To make it that would require
irrigation works, new roads, new railways—in fact, just the
very undertakings that India most wants, and which it is
necessary that she should have, in order to prevent a
repetition of the terrible famine of two years ago.
Conservative journalism in London has been woefully
unsuccessful. The Imperial Review "went out" with its
patrons. The only journals of the party which have any life
in them are the Standard as their daily, and the John Bull
as their weekly organ. The latter paper especially has
shewn itself well informed, and has frequently beaten all
its contemporaries in the earliness of its religious and
political news. Its conductors are now about to start
a penny Conservative weekly paper, the Britannia,
intended especially for the working classes. So far as the
name goes this journal will be a revival. Many years
ago there existed a Britannia which passed into the hands
of the proprietors of the John Bull, who have since then
published once a year a small sheet in order to retain the
copyright of the first paper, just as the proprietors of the
Daily Telegraph still publish the. Morning Chronicle. In
its new form the Britannia will be so arranged that it may
be converted into a local organ of Conservatism in any
town, one or more pages being left unprinted in London
for that purpose.
There seems to be only too much reason to fear that the
present Government will shortly have to make its first
bishop. The Bishop of Salisbury is in a most perilous and
distressing condition. There is little chance that the southern
diocese will be presided over by another prelate of the
school to which Dr. Hamilton belongs. The dislike of the
Queen towards the High Church party has become so strong
that High Churchmen have very little prospect of pro-
motion. I mentioned in a former letter that Dean
Goodwin is tabooed. The Bishop of Oxford is also
in the black list. He was recommended by Lord Palmer-
ston for York when that see last became vacant, but the
Queen selected the then Bishop of Gloucester, who had
written a pathetic and highly judicious sermon on the
death of the Prince Consort. Recently, Bishop Wilberforce
was strongly recommended for the see of London by Mr.

I Disraeli, but, though the recommendation was backed by
the present Archbishop of Canterbury, it was unavailing. It
was only after urgent representations that the Royal
i sanction was given to the appointment of Mr. Gregory to
a canonry. Even when it was given St. Paul's was sub-
stituted for Westminster, since the Broad Church dean of
the Abbey was not likely to pull well with the High
Church vicar of St. Mary's, Lambeth. Since the present
Government have been in office the same disfavour has
been felt by another member of the High Church
party. Mr. Gladstone has had no warmer sup-
porter at Oxford than Dr. Irons, the vicar of
Brompton, and on the death of Canon Fortescue
Dr. Irons was named for the vacant preferment. But the
nomination was not ratified, and Mr. Mozley was substi-
tuted. It is scarcely too much to say that Dean Law, the
" Nestor " of the Record, has as much influence in the
appointment of Church dignitaries as the Prime Minister. I
It was Dr. Law, then rector of Weston-super-Mare, who
was consulted by Lord Shaftesbury during the time that
this nobleman kept the conscience of Lord Palmerston.
Curiously enough, it was to Dr. Law, now Dean of
Gloucester, that the present Bishop of Gloucester owes his
appointment. The selection of one Low Church bishop
after another had at last caused such bitter complaints,
even among persons by no means given to religious
partisanship, that Lord Shaftesbury wrote to Dr. Law
that Lord Palmerston would stand no more of these
bishops, and that one of another school must be
selected. Dr. Law named Dr. Ellicott, then Dean of
Exeter, whose works he considered a guarantee against
going far wrong. Dr. Ellicott, on receiving the appoint.
ment, avowed himself a strong Conservative to Lord
Palmerston, and asked him to withdraw his offer if he
wished to do so. But the Premier refused to do so. It
is to Dean Law that the present Bishop of Peterborough
also owes his appointment, for Dr. Magee was known to
Dr. Law only as the one-while Low Church preacher
of a Bath proprietary chapel. As for the next
new bishop, two names are mentioned— Canon
Miller and the Hon. W. H. Lyttelton. Both are
able men. Every one knows the first, and the part he
has taken in regard to the Irish Church and the Ritual
question. Mr. Lyttelton is known as a frequent writer
on " broad " views in the Spectator and the Guardian. Dr.
Miller, of course, is one of Mr. Gladstone's most influential
constituents, as well as one of his warmest supporters at
Oxford ; between Mr. Lyttelton and Mr. Gladstone there
is a sort of family connection, the trother of the first having
married the sister-in-law of the second. Still writing on
these topics, I may add that the Queen takes as deep an
interest in the Scotch Church as in the English. As a
rule, English statesmen care little for the first ; they have
not to reward supporters to the same extent north of the
Tweed that they have in the south. Thus the Presbyterian
appointments are even more strongly impressed with the
Royal will than the Episcopalian.

The number of Ritualist clergy likely to suffer martyrdom
in behalf of altar-lights is not likely to be large. Mr.
Bennett, of Frome, is, I believe, prepared for deprivation,
or even imprisonment. Mr. Nugee, of Wymering, being
a man of wealth, is prepared for endless litiga-
tion. Mr. Le Geyt, of Stoke Newington, will
probably obey the judgment, for even his own
churchwarden, the well-known Mr. Brett, urges upon
him to do so. The others are for the most part
waiting for the new Bishop of London to take action in
the matter; that is, they throw upon him the disagreeable
burden of enforcing an unpopular judgment—a course
which seems to me neither just nor generous.
I am told by Conservative friends that the petition against
the members for North Norfolk is nearly certain to be
sustained. There is no doubt that extensive treating did
prevail, the county gentry insisting that there could be no
harm in shewing hospitality to political supporters. The
Hon. F. Walpole and Sir E. Lacon should pray to be tried
by Justice Willes, who seems to be by far the most lenient
of the three judges.
As you are aware, the trial of the Gurneys will not take
place until after term ; that is, not till June. Dr. Thom,
I am told, was offered £2OO by the Government towards
the expenses of the prosecution ; but he refused to take so
pitiful an amount, which must be a mere fraction of what
the trial will coat him from first to last. It will be a far
more costly affair than the trial of Paul, S trahan, and Bates,
and that cost the prosecutor, Dr. Griffiths, £1,200. It is
really too bad that prosecutions like these, undertaken
solely on the ground of public morality and involving the
greatest anxiety, should devolve upon private persons. We
have been talking about a public prosecutor for years ;
but then in England it requires a generation for the most
necessary changes to be made.

The Manchester Chamber of Commerce have been
discussing, among other matters, our consular representa-
tives. At present the inhabitants of Cottonopolis complain
that men are chosen without any reference to their commer-
cial experience. This is absolutely true. The posts are-
conferred as rewards for political service. Au instance
that occurred a few months ago was a very