The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-15 00:00:00

RELIGIOUS SELFISHNESS.

Some of the Low Church party in London are
very angry because grants are made from the Bishop
of London's Fund to all parties. The Low Church-
men think that they alone ought to receive the
money. They forget that it is contributed to by
High Churchmen as well, and that if these got
nothing, they would give nothing. The loss of their
gifts would be all but fatal to the existence of the
fund, if we are to judge from the disgracefully small
collection made in behalf of the fund last Sunday at
a very well-known fashionable West-end church,
whereof one of the most popullr preachers of the
Low Church party is incumbent.

ARCHBISHOP MANNING AND THE FF.NIAN PRISONERS.

On Tuesday a deputation from the English
Amnesty Committee waited on Archbishop Manning
to as him to reconsider his decision not to allow
petitions on behalf of the Fenian prisoners to lie
for signAure at the doors of the Catholic churches
and chapels throughout London. The Archbishop,
after hearing their arguments, said that his feelings
and sympathies were strongly in their favour. Ile
distinguished political offences from all other forms
of offence, and on the ground of profound sympathy
with Ireland no one would be ready to go farther on
behalf of those poor men than himself. He was only
limited in that by his duty and his conscience. Ile
promised to reconsider his decision, and to communi-
cate it to them in writing. If his reply should prove
adverse to their wishes, he begged they would under-
stand that it was not in the end to be gained
that they differed, but in the means which
ought to be used. In the course of his address
Dr. Manning said that when two years ago
he had been asked to permit the same thing on
behalf of two condemned prisoners he had told the
applicants that they would do more wisely to dis-
engage themselves from the Catholic Church, and
place themselves upon a much wider, because
national, sympathy. In the present case he had
expressed his sentiments in his letter to Lord Grey
on the subject, and he had spoken in the same
manner to the leading statesmen of the day.
LAW REFORM.

The Owl makes the important announcement that
the first report of the Judicature Commission will very
shortly be published. Among its recommendations
will be found a proposal for the consolidation of all
the courts, both of law and equity, into one supreme
court, which will be divided, after the Scotch plan,
into chambers or divisions. It will also propose that
pleadings be simplified, and official referees attached
to the various courts as scientific assessors, following
the recommendations of the Patent Law ommission
of 1864. The Home Circuit is condemned, and
the remodelling of other circuits is proposed.
A new Court of Appeal is to be constituted
to take the place of the Exchequer Chamber, Privy
Council, and Chancery Appeal Courts. Lastly, all
the recommendations of the House of Commons'
Committee of last year on Common and Special
Juries are adopted. We believe that the most
important features of this scheme are due to Lord
Cairns.

An attempt is to be made to obtain for the whole
of the legal profession a share in the funds of the
Inns. of Court, which are now appropriated entirely
by the barristers. To this end an inquiry will be
urged into the nature of the grants under which the
legal universities hold their property.