The Sun.
London, England, 1869-06-07 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

The Times, in referring to the decision of the Conserva-
'dye Peers, says : We are on the eve of a crisis. Nothing since
the throes which preceded the passing of the Reform Bill can
be compared with the consequences which must attend the
threatened conduct of the Conservative Peers. Of the
-esult of the struggle there can be no doubt. The policy
Df the Irish Church Bill, approved by the three kingdoms,
jointly and Severally, after mature deliberation and a
3irect reference of the question to the nation cannot be
lefeatecl. But there ,are other results of their action
which touch us all. They put in jeopardy not only them-
selves and their privileges, but the peace of our great
towns, and the maintenance of law and order in the
country. Above all, they do their hest to provoke an
outburst of passionate violence in the unhappy country
the vast majority of whose inhabitants they propose to
autrage by a contemptuous disregard of their wishes.
The dissidents on Saturday were a very small fraction
Df tbe whole, and it must be observed that few of the
Cons,.s.rvatives who disapprove the policy of blind and
ungovernable resistance will feel compelled to mark their
disapprobation of it by voting for the bill. They will not
vote at all. Tbeir absence will diminish the ranks of the
Opposition, but will not add to the ranks of the Ministry.
We must be prepared, then, for the rejection of the bill.
It is wise to be ready to meet this issue. What must
follow ? Nothing more serious than an August in London.
The business of the session must be immediately wound
up, and Parliament prorogued, to meet again after
a short interval of rest. We shall see the bill introduced
in the new session without a tittle of change, and brought
up to the Lords precisely in the form it will be presented
next week for its second reading. It will depend upon
the Lords themselves what steps will by that time have
been taken to ensure its success. But that the bill must
pass then is certain. There is no other alternative. The
nation has pronounced upon the question. The House of
Commons reflects its opinions, and neither the nation nor
the House of Commons will recede from the policy they
have deliberately approved and supported. Next week
the Lords will be asked to allow that policy to prevail. If
they defer to the will of the people, it will be well. If
they stubbornly and successfully resist, the successful
majority will be overruled two months later.
The Standard declares that the peril of such a resolution
is too obvious to be ignored even by the least thoughtful
and conscientious of our hereditary legislators ; it must
have been constantly and urgently present to the minds of
the tried and experienced statesmen who lead the Con-
servative party. The kind of popular excitement likely
to be produced by a collision between the Peers and the
Commons was sufficiently impressed upon their recollec-
tion by the result of the rejection of the Paper Duty
Repeal Bill in 1861. The reasons which should
lead the Peers to think deeply and hesitate long
before, under any provocation or for any object, they
engage in such a contest as is now impending—
reasons familiar to our readers—were earnestly
urged by men like Lord Salisbury, whose attachment to
the Church is well known to he as fervent, whose

adherence to Conservative principles is at least as con-
sistent and unquestionable as that of any of the advocates
of a bolder policy. It must not be overlooked that a very
strong pressure, much underrated by the Lateral press,
has been put upon the House of Lords since it became
apparent that the majority in the Lower House would
listen to no argument and accept no compromise. Such
demonstrations as have been made on behalf of the Church
of Ireland are without parallel in recent history. The
Anti-Corn Law League, the Reform League, never called
forth a tithe of the enthusiasm displayed in this cause.
Nothing like it has been seen since 183?.
The Star thinks that in the event of the rejection of the
bill by the Peers the popular menace against the Irish
Church will include other institutions. It will be pro-
claimed on the housetops that the House of Lords is not
a more logical, desirable, or excusable institution than the
Irish Church ; and in the fever heat which will follow the
rejection of the bill—a fever heat such as has not been
seen since Birmingham threatened to march on London
in the name of Reform—cries will be heard for the down-
fall of an obsolete Chamber, which no longer disguises the
anachronism of its existence by that decent deference to
the popular will which the Duke of Wellington said ought
never again to be withheld. When the issue comes their
lordships will probably be wise in time. If not, they must
take the consequences, and those consequences cannot
possibly be pleasant or safe. Most probably the resolu-
tion of Saturday and the dubiety of to-day will teach
the English people a lesson they will never forget. It is
absurd enough that in these days there should be any
chamber of Legislature with a standing majority statedly
opposed to the general bent of the nation's will on the
most vital questions of government ; but that such a
majority should give the smallest anxiety for a single day
under a popular Government carries the absurdity to an
intolerable pitch.

The Daily Nova says that the Lords who met at the
Duke of Marlborough's are supposed to have expressed a
unanimous desire that within the course of the next few
clays the real sentiment of the whole nation should be
ascertained. This language looks like an appeal from
household to universal suffrage. Is there to be another
leap in the dark ? Is Mr. Murphy to perambulate the
country, with a warrant from Lord Cairns to
raise a No Popery riot in every town of the
kingdom ? The doctrine that the sentiment of the
nation is not represented by the decision of the constituen-
cies in a general election, and by the votes of an over-
whelming majority in a House of Commons upon a ques-
tion on which each member had, practically, a special
mandate from his constituents, is more than revolutionary
—it is anarchic. The fact that a number of noblemen
representing the strictest Conservatism of an institution
usually thought to embody the Conservative element of
the Constitution should throw out ideas of this sort ought
to shew them how false and untenable the position is
which they have taken up. There is yet time for an
honourable retreat from it, but the time is short.
The Peers have consented, says the Herald, at the in.
_lance of the Protestant party in the country, to take the
lead in a perilous and determined conflict. It behoves
those who have urged them to this venture to support
them with all their energies against the storm which their
resolve is certain to raise. Nor is this less the duty of
every Conservative, of every Constitutionalist, in the
realm. It matters not whether the decisions of the
Lords be prudent or politic. We may regret or
we may approve it ; but thus much is certain, that
having been taken, it is of paramount importance that it
should be upheld by a force of public opinion sufficient to
prevent the Lords from being crushed in the struggle. If
they are overpowered by the reckless and headstrong
violence of the Prime Minister, their power is gone for
ever, and the balance of the Constitution is overthrown ;
and even those who regret that so much has been staked
upon so doubtful an issue must feel that, now the stake
has been laid down, all that can be done is to secure that
it shall not be lost.

The Post thinks that the proceedings at the meeting of
Peers held on Saturday render it certain that the House of
Lords is, after all, to be made the scene of an attempt to
reject the Irish Church Bill; but they by no means make
it necessary to believe that the attempt will succeed. It
trusts that the Lords will consult their own honour and
dignity by passing the bill, which has been distinctly
affirmed in principle and undeniably accepted in detail
by the country at large. No resolution was come to
at the meeting on Saturday, and the circumstance
that the Peers who attended reserved their liberty of
action world seem to indicate some proper apprehension
of the itupolicy of the course they were advised to take.
IYe may feel assured that the Ministry, strong in their
Purpose and their support, will certainly carry their
measure. It may be left to their wisdom to decide on the
course, to be chosen in the event of the Lords rejecting the
bill. If that untoward accident should occur, it may
ilelay,•hut cannot prevent, the final triumph of the decision
arrived 'at last November.

• Ever -since the steadfast action of Mr. Gladstone's
majc.rity transferred all incertitude 'about the Irish Church
73111 to the Lipper Chamber, we have believed, says the
relegraPh, and. have persistently maintained, that the
Peers would pass the second reading. Our opinion was
not affected' .by the rumours with which the air was
filled during the pa.st.Weck ;
.and.it is not shaken now
. by the . proceedings of the. meeting at the Duke
of Marlborough's house on Saturday. It is still
ohr firin belief that the HoUse of Lords as a
I.;dy--:Whatever may be done . for . the sake of
party, of pledges, or of bigotry by individual politicians—
will suffer the measure to go into committee. That we
hold firmly to this view will explain why we have never
joined in the excited clamour raised by certain of our con.
temporaries about the intentions of their lordships. Mr.
Gladstone is to.daT 4o strong as to be simply irresistible.
By.next.week he tiers parti arcancl Lord Stanhope, Lord
Carnarvon, "and Lord Salisbury will have grown to a
number I;uffieient, we may trust, fo rescue the Tory
.
forlorn long from its own rasllness. .

Canada, has doubled her population once every
eighteen 'Sears since 1800.

A HORSEY CHURCHWARDEN. —The county of
Kent has'its pecullaritiei clihracter, ; Lut we do
not know whether ecclesiastical discipline is stricter
or more lax there. There is one stray sheep of the
Diocese of Rochester whjett` sadly wants looking after.
, !the churchwarden of ,/gAI parish in Kent was not at
nhurch on Sunday. It was known to the initiated—
that is to say,.to.all who had bought a particular. penny
„sporting newspaper—that he was at Paris, where he rode
the horse that ran third for the Grand Prix, This would
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