The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-18 00:00:00

The Herald predicts that Mr. Gladstone will get
difficulties if he departs from his original progratnnof 512,
appoints a royal commission to decide about the segue:: tration of the revenues of the Irish Church. To do the'
justice, the political Dissenters are not prompted by anY
mercenary motives in assuming their present attitude 6"
this question. They look upon the disendowment of the
Irish Church as a secondary consideration in comParisZ
with its disestablishment. Their object is
rending of the tie which unites the Church
the State, and the motion for the Ist of I‘l3rc
fully answers their wishes in that respect. It is
very different, however, with the Roman Catholics'
Very dear to them is the prospect of seeing the
Protestant Church degraded, but they cherish the h°l:
that a more solid gratification is in store for them. 0
1,2,,t
them the doctrine of " revendication "is a passion. .-11/
hold with inflexible pertinacity that all the proper*? ,
the Anglican Church acquired previous to the Reforult
tion, whether in England or Ireland, is the lawful property
of the Roman Catholic Church, and that sooner or later it
must revert to her as the sole rightful owner. Thep
tests to the contrary of Cardinal Cullen and his episel,
brethren are of no more worth than those of their Pree I,
cessors at the time of the Emancipation Act. They 117°,1
to hold once more in some form or other the revenues 0°
possessed by the Protestant Church in Ireland, and there
is little reason to conclude that they will be patient °I "
course of action which will indefinitely postpone the reall,
sation of their dreams.

The Daily News considers that one paragraph in the
Queen's Speech will have been read with satisfaction and
relief in nearly every borough in the kingdom. It is that
l
in which her Majesty recommends that an inquiry sll7,
be made " into the present mode of conducting Ffir-
mentary and municipal elections," with a view to ..„
-
vide "further guarantees for their tranquillity, purity'
and freedom." Such an inquiry will give universalsa""
faction ; but probably the most satisfactory part of it to
is c:
~,'
the inhabitants of municipal boroughs-is that the inquiry
to embrace municipal elections, and that an effort is '-
be made to apply to those elections some guarantee
of purity. The great defect of the present 13.:
is that by making municipal corruption practical-4
safe it enables timid hands to learn the trade. 'lt
is like an elaborate sham fight, in which, witll°Lif
much danger, they can learn all the manoeuvres
.°
real battle. No effort to check electoral corruption Wu!:
therefore, be of the least avail till municipal corruption.'
put on the same basis. The law as it now stands c 11110•
courages prosecutions for municipal bribery. ft offers. no
motive to prosecute. It inactd certain penalties age'll/s,
it, but makes no effectual provision for their enforceineu".
In all these matters any parliamentary inquiry must,
suit in assimilating the two modes of election, and in
making the guarantee against corruption one and t'iL".
same. The revelations of such an inquiry will, bowevet,
show all mere penalties to be insufficent. Mr. Mundell;
knew what he was speaking about when he anticipated
that the result of the inquiry would be the adoption of tll6
Ballot. It is only by rendering all external influence over
a man's vote utterly powerless to affect it that we shall
make either municipal or parliamentary elections Oa
or "provide any further guarantees fur their tranquillitif
purity, and freedom."

The Star in discussing the prospects of the Liberal
candidates for Bradford, expresses great anxiety for till!:
return of Mr. Miall. When a public man of Mr. Alia."
distinction appears as a candidate for a seat in Parliament ;
every genuine Liberal naturally feels the keenest interes.
in the result. Mr. Miall is the representative N°llc°ll
formist of our day and generation. He was the Pioneer,
the able and arduous advocate of a cause which now pron3l3',o
to b. in the ascendant. There can be no one who will delol
the advantage of Mr. Miall's presence in the nous°
Commons during the approaching, debates on the .1"91
Church. His exclusion from that assembly at so critiel'i
a time would be a public misfortune and almost a na,tionl
reproach. He does not in this instance appear in Perfie
as a candidate for the representation of Bradford.
stands simply and solely on the merits of his own relnits;
tion and services ; and in this connection the elect°l,,
body who have to choose between him and Mr. ThomPs-0
should remember that although he occupies a conspicuell4
position as a champion of religious freedom, there 113.
been no occasion on which he has
been wanting 0 fidelity to any of the great questions which for
years past the Liberal party have carried, or atte!npte.
tc) VArrYt tc#._ L oucceseful iesue.

BELAU OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

The Times remarks that the question of the TO,
Church is very considerably complicated with that °'
national education. The Irish Catholics have a1°5.9
demanded a denominational system of education, 0° tbe
[round that the English have it. The other alternative
is that the national education of this country, too, 811,
be deprived of its present denominational character.
educational question, which the Conservatives Pt°fe:
themselves so anxious to see cropping out in the present
war of political and controversial elements, would ce',
'
tainly bring up with itself the question of the religious
character to be imparted to the English village school., °
allowed to remain in it. It is hardly to be imagined
that half a million more will be granted to nu r
schools for the poor, whether out of the °leo
or out of the rates, without our own Dissenters'
Roman Catholics, and others having a good deal to 113,
to the theological uses that may be made of it.
ought to see our way to the principles on which the que';
tion of the Church and the school is to be decided, lief°rd
we plunge hastily into the creation of several thous°
new schools, and the reconstruction of still more upoil
new system. For the present, at least, we should thil
it would answer the purpose of the Conservatives, an
all good English Churchmen, to regard the English part
of the question as still awaiting a final settlesot.
If it is distinctly and decidedly recognised that the
English national system is denominational, and that
every respectable denomination in this country P'.l
demand its full measure of State aid for a school in vvile,
its tenets are taught as it pleases, and none other allowed'
then it follows that the Irish Catholics, in this their WI
of triumph and virtual establishment, will be deemed °n
an equality in this as in other respects. We conceive;
however, that the true spirit of the Government ille3t,,r
before the nation is IRA in this direction, and that we
not going to strengthen and extend our religious establish
ments, whether they be called churches or schools. Sub.
cient for the day is the evil—And the work, too—thire°;
and we cannot embarrass ourselves with the atteraP
to perform simultaneously various tasks, just possible
when taken in due sequence, impossible when accumlaw-

The Post thinks that the session will be a very bus 9 °ll.l
and that plenty of work will be done. The 31inistellt;
notices, as distinguished from those made by PriVily-
members, were to some extent fulfilments of the pieug-
ag
given in the Speech from the Throne. The Attorney'
General will on Friday week bring in a bill for the anle°.d,
ment of the law of bankruptcy. These measures have, '-
Lord Cairns pithily observed in the House of Lords, b.e;
come "annuals ;" and we can only reciprocate his wilt
that in the present session some bill will receive the 3es_jeng
of the Legislature which will remedy the glaring °Pi
existing under the present system. Mr. Forster intimated
his intention (though without naming the day) of bringl
in the promised measure for the better regulation. °
endowed schools ; and Mr. Ayrton, in his official caPaat:'
will on the Ist of March ask the House to consider '-
committee the Acts which at present enable her Algiel:
to recompense the services of persons holding high ci
office. The question of official salaries is one of Perilg ,ber
the most important that can be submitted to "
House of Commons, and opens a field of discusel°:
which is absolutely limitless. Lord Robert Montagu 11-,
already introduced the bill for the amendment of the eVs;;
ing Acts for the prevention of infectious diseases in C 3 t,;-
of which he gave notice ; and the Solicitor-General 0"
notwithstanding his accession to office, brit, in the
the Abolition of University Tests, which in his caP3°l7l',i
of an independent member he introduced in the °'
Parliament.

The Telegraph remarks that Lord Cairns, as the C°lieet;
vative leader in the House of Lords, furnishes arl'the%,
remarkable evidence of the readiness with which the 3131.
tocracy of England welcome the foreign aid of MO) iiite
lect in their political work. To those who represent ",-.t
England is ruled by titles and influenced by rank, it 111.°%
be some answer to point out that, of the four leatn,
men in Parliament, three Lord Cairns, Mr. Glad
stone, and Mr. Disraeli are sprung from ,0
middle classes, and owe no public advantage to their
birth. The political career of any of the three is possible
to the son of any member of the middle classes.
Gladstone's elevation to the Premiership over the heads
many Whig Peers is in one sense remarkable, sill3P-
because the Liberal party, as a rule, have generally
ample supply of ambitious noblemen who are able an
ready to take the first place. The Tories have been led b 3;
Canning, Peel, Disraeli ; while their Liberal opponents
have been ruled by Lords Grey, Melbourne, Busse;
Palmerston. Why is this? Why does the I
popular side adopt the less popular plan ? Why 119ges
party usually opposed to excessively aristocratic privileg
selected, as a rule, aristocratic leaders ? It may be througi
personal accidents, or because Liberalism has ill k
• hell '
some charm that stimulates to activity men who ul-T
high rank. Conservative nobles submit to the lea dm
%
ship of a parvenu with a consent which springs fro
the essence of their creed ;, they seem to say, " W;;!
'natters it who saves us, so that we are effectually savPu. g
But when a peer becomes a Liberal he so far surrender"
any exceptional claim arising from his birth. The too
actual. leaders of the new Toryism—Mr. Disraeli and Ler-A
. .
Cairns—are notable for nothing but mental power ;5e
It be curious to trace the effect pruducA bytheft
unon on the tactics of the party.