The Sun.
London, England, 1869-05-25 00:00:00

The Telegraph declares that the" levelling down" which

the Turf is now undergoing looks as if it would know
neither pause nor abatement, and in some respects it has
ITO hesitation in saying that the prospects of the Turf are
the reverse of hopeful. These and many other similar
reflections lead it to the conclusion that next Saturday's
meeting at the Jockey Club, coinciding as it will with the
feverish excitement of a Derby week, cannot but be
pregnant with momentous results to the future of the
Turf. It is difficult to persuade men who judge by
externals merely, and who will tell us that never was
there such a mighty concourse of humanity assembled
upon Epsom Downs as this Derby will exhibit, that a
worm is nevertheless at the root of, their favourite sport
—a worm which the Jockey Club alone is potent
enough to extirpate. To the great mass of • the
Derby Day's holiday-makers it cannot make any
difference whether Pretender and Belladrum are two of
the mightiest cracks that Epsom ever saw, or whether the
Derby is won by a "plater." But no one who "looks
before and after" can doubt that if the Derby ceases to be
contested by an average high class of three-year-olds,
there will soon cease to be any Derby at all. The ap-
proaching meeting of the Jockey Club will, perhaps, be
the last really important synod of that body at: which
Lord Derby, General Peel, Admiral Rous, Lord Zetland,
Lord Strafford, and one or two more of the club's eldest
members, will ever be present. Let them beware how
they allow what we fear we must call " the golden age of
the Turf " to pass away, without leaving on record their
protest against such barbarisms as the Brocklesby Stakes
at Lincoln and the Althorp Park Stakes at Northampton;
and without taking some notice of the Significant fact
that, out of 2,150 races run in Great Britain and Ireland
during 1868, no fewer than 1,213 were over distances
varying from three to six furlongs in length.
The Star observes that opinions are much divided as
to the course likely to be pursued by the Upper House on
the Irish Church Bill. A dissolution has been talked of
in case the bill is thrown out ; but no dissolution can alter
the composition of the House of Lords. The time for
dissolutions upon the Irish Church question has passed.
The country has called Mr. Gladstone to the head of
affairs to carry out a definite policy, not to submit it to
discussion afresh, and we have not the slightest doubt that
the courage, genius, and parliamentary tact of Mr. Glad-
stone are equal to the task. We have seen it also contended
in some quarters that the result of a defeat of the bill
in the House of Lords would necessarily lead to the resig-
nation of the Gladstone Ministry. But the people do not
give a Minister a majority of upwards of a hundred at his
back in order that he may throw up the cards, or, with a
false chivalry or strained constitutional etiquette, give
the honours of the situation to the enemies of free.
dom. In addition to the solemn compact Mr. Gladstone
ratified with the nation when he announced his policy
and won its confidence, be has taken upon his shoulders a
responsibility as regards Ireland which he, of all men, is
the least likely to disregard. For ourselves, we hope much
from tile practical wisdom which the Peers have of ten dis-
played at times when the people have clearly declared their
will. There must be some mode of finally sol ving questions of
policy in a land where for generations we have abandoned
the very thought of force as an element in the struggle.
No better mode has been devised than an appeal to the
country. The Peers may well listen to the reply, for it is
the mode by which the Sovereign herself learns the wishes
of her people, that she may make and unmake Ministries
in consonance therewith. On the great occasion now
drawing near, the Lords have to do, in a restricted and
humbler sense, that which a solemn constitutional duty
imposes on the Sovereign. We place our hope on the cul-
tivated political intelligence of that august assembly, but
if the hope should unfortunately prove (1 elusive, the policy
of the Premier cannot thereby be thwarted, as he Las with
him the people, who are the source kf all power, and th 3
Sovereign, who is the f.Juntain of all rapnour. .

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