The Sun.
London, England, 1869-12-21 00:00:00

E SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 21, 1869.

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

MINISTi

The statement that the Irish Land Bill is settled
is rendered all the more probable by the fact that
Ministers are dispersing to their country seats for the
Christmas: holidays—to meet no more, unless especial
occasion arise, until the middle of January. Mr.
Gladstone goes off to his Welsh seat at Hawarden,
but requests, through the Telegraph, that letters be
not forwarded to him there, but sent to his official
residence in London. The Earl of Kimberley goes
into Norfolk ; Earl Granville to Walmer Castle ; Mr.
Lowe to Surrey; , the Marquis of Hartington to
Chatsworth; and Mr. Fortescuo to Dublin. When
next they come together again they will be looking
forward to the then very near meeting of Parlia-
ment. Mr. Gladstone, it should be added, is
recovering.

MR. RUSSELL GURNEY ON TEE LAND QUESTION.

Ono of the most advanced of Conservatives, who
as clearly as most others, gives reason for the
faith that is in him, is Mr. Russell Gurney, the
member for Southampton, and Recorder of the City
of London. He spoke last week at Southampton
upon the land question, and made a thoroughly good
speech. He insisted most firmly upon the necessity
for doing justice—pure simple justice. Admitting
that many things across the water wanted setting
right, that hardships ought to be lifted, and real
grievances redressed, he urged that what was done
should not be done as a sop to discontent. The
remedy for Irish ills ought not to be delayed one
hour; but it must be the adjustment of wrong that
must be accomplished, not a bowing down to treason.
All party feeling must on such a momentous matter
be entirely dismissed ; the nation must set itself to
" apply the remedy which necessity requires." For
his own party he could say that what the Govern-
ment proposed would 'be fairly and honestly con-
sidered.

_ • .
excites so much bliC—iiiterest as that of lifk. iia
man to Rugby. The use he has made (indiscreetly
but not dishonestly) of certain testimonials given him
for purposes quite other than to obtain the Head-
Mastership of the great public school, seems to re-
ceive universal condemnation ; though his friends urge
that what he had done is a " perfectly common and
recognised thing." One of the gentleman who has
been put down as a supporter of Mr. Hayman—
Mr. Bradley, of Marlborough College—writes to
the Times in a tone which spews plainly that he
does not acquiesce in what has been done. He says
that " immediately upon seeing for the first time the
collected body of testimonials sent in by that gentle-
man, he wrote to the trustees of Rugby School
through the proper channels their chairman. It would
obviously be inconsistent with the respect due to the
appointed guardian of the interests and honour
of a great school for one who has laid his case
before them to make a premature appeal to any other
quarter."

if Be did nor, the Government would not incline to a
Republic.

The position of affairs in Portugal is not very favour-
able. The King is ruled by the Ministry, who are most
unpopular. A paper, published at Lisbon and called La
Linterne, speaks in a most abusive manner of the King.
The other day the King was insulted by a man who sold
this paper and offered one to his Majesty as he was coming
out of the theatre. He said the King might have it for
nothing, and when an attendant snatched it away from
him, the man continued to insult the royal party
until the carriage drove off. The old Duke of
Saldanha, the Portuguese Ambassador to Paris,
is the leader of the party which desires the over-
throw of the Ministry, and has recently provoked much
disturbance in Lisbon. He has written a letter explanatory
of his conduct, in which he declares that he only seeks to
gain his end by constitutional means. The army, which
had shewn some signs of disaffection, appears to have
regained it confidence. A General who refused to obey
certain orders addressed to him has been imprisoned in
the fortress of St. Julian.