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

Chaos is come again. There never was such an im-
broglio of parties as there was last night. 213
voted against Government, in order to restore the
Irish clergy their houses and glebes, 113 voted against
them on the proposition to give houses and glebes
to Roman Catholics and Presbyterians. Consequently
there was an overwhelming Ministerial defeat in the
first instance, and a decisive Ministerial victory in the
second; with this further result, that the bill is rendered
utterly inconsistent and absurd. In truth it had been
rendered pretty much so before. The Peers having passed
the second reading of the bill in order to save their order,
are now emasculating the bill in order to save the Church.
But even from their point of view they have
bungled lamentably. The Duke of Cleveland's

proposal was at least intelligible and consis-
tent. A large number of Liberal peers supported
it, Lord Houghton whipped for it, Lord Russell and Lord
Halifax spoke for it. But, fortunately for Ministers,
there was a split among their opponents. The Wh;ga and
the High Churchmen were prepared to endow all ; the
Tories and the Low Churchmen were prepared to endow
only one. Consequently the most serious danger which
the Government had to encounter, that which the Times
has been plotting day after day, was escaped. The old
motto, Divide et impera, will once more prevail. True
the Earl of Malmesbury has threatened to raise the
question again on the 67th clause, which disposes of the
surplus. On the other hand, the Duke of Cleveland voted

for the restoration of the glebes-to the Protestant clergy

~..
only on the condition that they were granted all round ;
so that what is lost to the Government in one direction is
gained in another.
Very funny was the scene at the second division this
morning. Lord Hatherley and Lord Cairns—the Chan-
cellor and the ex-Chancellor--went into the same lobby,
walking shoulder to shoulder, laughing heartily at this

"concurrent" vote. On the first division so large was the
number of peers voting with the " Not Contents" that
the door had to be reopened and the first of the "Not
Contents" readmitted to the House before the last had
passed out of the House by the Bar.
It is generally considered that Lord Cairns's career as

leader of the Opposition will not be of long duration.
His influence is daily decreasing ; that of Lord
Salisbury is daily increasing. The last-named peer
has, however, his foes among his own party. Never over-
burdened with modesty, he has, in consequence of the
leader in yesterday's Times hailing him as dictator of the
situation, become intolerably overbearing. Thus both the
leading Conservative peers contrast very strongly with the
leader of the Liberals. Lord C ranville's praises are in the
mouth of everyone, and his splendid temper under the
combined adverse influences of the gout and repeated
defeats is the theme of universal admiration.
But far more important than these personal questions is
the great national one, What will the Ministers do with the
bill? Will they accept all the Lords' amendments, or
will they reject them at the risk of throwing out the bill
and losing the whole work of the session, and exciting
a popular clamour against the Upper House?
I have good reason for believing that Ministers
will shew themselves generous on all that
concerns vested interests, and will be ready to stretch
a point in order to give the largest interpretation of that
word; but they will not admit the principle of concurrent
endowment in any form, despite the articles in the Times.
It is impossible to say more than this ; it is impossible,

for instance, to tell if this or that amendment will be
rejected ; for so great is the diversity of opinion among
the Liberal members of the Lower House that the una-
nimity which sufficed to pass the bill might not suffice to
reject the Lords' amendments. Even now it is by no
means certain that the bill will pass at present. Indeed
a very distinguished member of the Ministry who was
standing on the steps of the Throne last night was hea rd
to remark, after the Chancellor bad announced the
figures upon the first division, that he feared there wa s
no chance of the bill becoming law this session. Ido pot
attach verymuch importance to this expression of a momen-
tary vexation, which must have been greatly healed by the
subsequent Ministerial victory. For the present, every-
thing tends towards a conference between the two
Houses, and Ministers and journalists are just now
engaged in hunting up precedents. It may perhaps help
the Lords to a friendly result to know that Clerkenwell
has 5,000 handbills " Down with the Lords !" ready
printed and to be posted on the walls, if occasion
demands.

The new control scheme did not come into operation on
Thursday after all. The War Office has done its duty.
But Mr. Lowe is not satisfied, and has suggested some
grave objection to Sir Henry Storks's scheme. So there
is likely to be a good deal more committee sitting before the
matter is settled.

FOREIGN NOTES.

THE FRENCH ATLANTIC CABLE.

The opinion of the United States Attorney-General
respecting the landing of the French Atlantic Cable—
tha first announcement of which appeared in our
American telegrams—has given rise to much discussion on
the other side of the " pond." It will be remembered that
the law officer denied the right of any individual State to
allow the cable to be landed ; such power belonged to
Congress only. It is generally thought, however, that,
until Congress legislates on the subject, the Massachusetts
grant will hold good, and the cable will shortly be
landed in the State if all goes right with the Great
Eastern. Nor is it at all likely that the telegraph
company will experience much trouble when the matter
does come before Congress, for the second cable is a mani-
fest political advantage to the United States. In case of
war with England, the Americans will still have the
wire to France ; in case of a war with France there will
be the cable to England.

THE MOSEY LOST THROUGH MR. SUMNER'S SPEECII.
Heavy losses on all sides were the effect of Mr. Sumner's
speech on the Alabama Claims Treaty. Nobody attempts
to disguise this fact. The Anglo-American Times com-
plains that Mr. Sumner has been abused in England, but
is, nevertheless, constrained to admit that the effect of his
famous exordium was most disastrous in checking the upward
tendency of the United States Bonds. " They were
arrested at the very moment when, in response to Secre-
tary Boutwell's policy, the accumulations in the Treasury.
consequent on the buoyancy of the revenue returns and
the retrenchments of the A dministration, they would have
had a rapid and continued rise. Supposing that they would
(as they ought) have gone over 90, and that the European
holding represents nearly £'200,000,000, the gain which
would have accrued but for the political attitude assumed
equals a score of millions of sovereigns." Numerous
English capitalists, too, were deterred by Mr. Sumner's
effusion ; and as American securities pay a very high rate
of interest at a time when people cannot find a safe
market for their money, the loss on this side of the Atlantic
must be enormous. This, on the admission of a journal
which complains of the abuse heaped on Mr. Sumner, U.
the net result of his speech. Is the treatment ac-
corded to a man who has worked such mischief too hard?

MUTINY OF THE VOLUNTEERS IN CUBA.

The Spaniards in Cuba are doing their best to deprive
their country of its great possession. The American
Government has broken up the insurgent establishment
at New York, and it seems likely that the despatch of aid
to Cuba will be attended with great difficulties in
future. But, instead of improving this opportunity.
the volunteers are playing the insurgents' game by
rebelling against their officers. The news we have pub-
lished by special telegram is very serious. The accounts
of the first mutiny, which led to the resignation of General
Dulce, represented the incapacity of that officer as the
sole cause of the discontent ; but this last outbreak has
taken place after the arrival of the able Caballero do
Rode& If he cannot suppress the insurrection, to what
officer can the Spaniards hopefully entrust their cause?