The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-15 00:00:00

THE OPPOSITION.

That Mr. Gladstone's bill will pass the House oz
Commons no one doubts. Indeed, Lord Cairns is
said by the London correspondent of the Elgin
Courant to be preparing his speech to be made
on the motion, "That this bill be read a
second time this day six months." But there
are grounds for doubting whether the mea-
sure will pats in its entirety up to
the Upper Chamber. Although the bill is generally
approved of, and Mr. Disraeli is supposed to be
rather opposed to detail being gone into in the Com-
mons,it is stated by the same authority that " on the
Maynooth question a pitfall is already in course
of construction. I happen to know as a fact," he
writes, "that powerful opposition from a very strong
quarter is being organised against this part of the
bill. When it reaches the stage of committee, Mr.
Aytoun of Inchdairnie,M.P. for the Kirlicaldyßurghs,
is to make a motion to the effect that the committee
take powers to disestablish (or disincorporate rather)
as well as disendow, the College of Maynooth, and
to provide that the compensation payable under this
head be awarded only to the professors, students,
and others who can shew a personal loss incurred
by such disincorporation and disendowment." It is,
perhaps, rather early to inquire, " What will the
Lc rls do!'" but Mr. Gladstone has pretty plainly
hinted that if they are very troublesome. he will
have to c'rescte a maioritv.

I'o TIC LIT M .

The John Jizilh s y. t . , e been several
meetings of COESerViitiVU 111(211..:13 -St° the Endowed
Schools Bill, and it has been determined not to meet
it with a direct negative, but, if possible, to get it
referred to a select committee. The same journal
understands that Mr. Corry will, in committee on the
navy estimates. " expose the fallacy of many of the
economics introduced at the Admiralty, and the folly
of the costly erection of turret ships."

The serious illness of Lord Leconfield is aniy!ncel.
Lis lordship is nearly 82 years old. II is dohf h
cause a vlcancv in the representation '', est
Sussex, which constituency is now represented by his
eldest son, the Hon. Henry 'Wyndham. His second
son, Mr. Percy Wyndham, sits for West Cumberland.
There was no contest for West Sussex at either of
the two last elections, the constituency being
thoroughly Conservative.

The return of Mr. Miall by the large majority of
1,500 must be gratifying to the Liberal Government
in general, and to Mr. Forster in particular. Since
Mr. Ripley was unseated the contest has been looked
upon by the friends of Mr. Arian as a vote of confi-
dence or censure in the Vice-President of the Coun-
cil. This was in consequence of a statement, con-
tinually reiterated by both Mr. Thompson and Mr.
Ripley, that in the event of the former being
successful, both these gentlemen would stand
together at the next general election. On
the morning of the nomination the Bradford
Observer emphatically declared that should .Mr.
Thompson be returned, "it can hardly be imagined
that Mr. Forster would again appeal to a consti-
tuency that had made choice of an ingrate and an
enemy to him." Mr. Miall sat for Rochdale from
1852 to 1857, and first contested Bradford in October
1867, on the death of Mr. Wickham. Ile was then
opposed by his late antagonist, who, however, was
on the Continent. At the close of the poll Mr.
Thompson was declared to be the winner by 403
votes. By a curious coincidence, when Mr. Miall
fought the contest personally, and Mr. Thompson
was absent, the absentee won ; now that Mr. 'Thomp-
son has been in the thick of the fight, and Mr.
Miall stayed away, the absentee has again been the
victor. The editor of the _Nonconformist polled 367
votes more than he did at the general election,
whilst Mr. Thompson mustered 1,534 fewer than Mr.
Ripley. Several hundred voters who polled at the
last election did not come to the booths on Thurs-
day, but, as we have already shown, the discrepancy
lies wholly with the " Independent Liberals,"
probably owing to the severe stricture passed upon
Mr. Ripley by Baron Martin. Independently of
party politics, all friends of order and sobriety will
rejoice in the overthrow of a brewer by one whose
name has always been associated with the temper-
ance movement.

Mr. Samuel Pope, who has unsuccessfully con-
tested Stoke-upon-Trent and Bolton, has been
appointed Recorder of the latter place, and he is
thereby precluded from contesting the borough
again, at least during his tenure of office. Mr. Pope
condu,cted the recent election petition at Salford.
The Conservatives of Burnley are about to
present a testimonial to Sir James Yorke
Scarlett, as an acknowledgment of his kind-
ness in becoming their champion at the general
election. The petition against Mr. Lowther, M.P.
for York city, has been withdrawn.
The requisition to Mr. Edward Cecil Guinness,
requesting him to allow himself to be put in nomi-
nation as the Conservative candidate for the city,
has been presented and complied with. It is stated
that in three days it received the signatures of more
than 2,000 electors.