The Sun.
London, England, 1869-07-03 00:00:00

.MEIROPOLITAN GOSSIP-Fri 44.

There is the greatest possible confusion among political
pdrties with respect to the Duke of Cleveland's proposal.
On the one hand, it is said that not more than twenty-five
of the non-official Liberal peers will support the Govern-
ment in resisting concurrent endowment ; on the
other hand, Lord Cairns, representing the strong
Protestant feeling of Ulster, has determined to
vote against that scheme. The Bishop of Oxford
is a warm supporter of it, and has endeavoured to
win over the Opposition leader through the Bishop of
Derry, but hitherto in vain, and it is now said that Lord
Cairns win take with him twenty of the Conservative peers
into the Ministerial lobby, among them the Earl of Bandon
and his brother the Bishop of Tuam. The High Church
peers are very angry at the Duke of Argyll's announcement,
that the Government will not accept any proposal for re-
endowment. They declare that, come what may, they
will insist upon the acceptance of their amendments, even
though the Commons should, rather than adopt that
course, throw out the bill. They declare that they are
prepared for the contingency of an autumn session, and
will, then reject the bill altogether, rather than assent to
the "secularisation" of the Church revenues. Altogether
they are very angry, very vehement, very threatening.
The reason why the Government did not divide the
House against Lord Clancarty's amendment for
enabling the present Bishops to continue to sit in
the Upper House is that, according to parlia-
liamentary etiquette, this matter ought not to have
originated in the Lower House, because it affects the
privileges of the Upper. If there had been a division, a
large number of Liberal peers would have voted against
the Government on the ground of privilege. In all proba-
bility Ministers will introduce a bill in the House of Lords
next session to deal with the matter.

The appointment of Dr. Vaughan to the Mastership of
the Temple is considered generally a very good one,
though it is not approved by extreme High Churchmen.
Dr. Vaughan has once, if not twice, refused a bishopric
for family reasons. His present preferment will bring
him to London and give the metropolis another good
preacher. At present there is a lamentable dearth of
such.

There were very large attendances last night at the cower-
sarionl of the Society of Arts, South Kensington, and the
Royal Institute of British Architects, Conduit-street.
Neither gathering, however, was favoured by the presence
of royalty. The Pasha left England in the morning, and
the Prince of Wales left London for Aldershot imme-
diately afterwards.

The weather is again eery cold, with overcast sky an d
north-east wind.

FOREIGN NOTES.
THE UNITED STATES DEBT.

The large reduction of the American debt we announce
by cable—sixteen millions during the month of June—is
satisfactory in every respect. It is a pacific symptom, for
reduction of debt and a war policy are wholly incom-
patible ; and, moreover, it is a sign of national progress.
As we have before announced the increase in the revenue
has been exceptionally large. Nor is there any just reason
why this policy should not be continued, for the accounts
represent the crops as good on the whcle, though cotton
has suffered somewhat.

THE DOCTRINE OF 1NT..:,-.XTIONAL SYMPATHY.

It is noteworthy that, whilst. the English Press is at one
in resisting the claim for damages on account of our
"sympathy" with the South, the American journals are
by no means equally unanimous in supporting the demand.
The New York Times persistently writes against the
inconsistency of such a theory. The reason why the
American nation cannot demand damages for sympathy
with the South is, it argues, simply because the Ameri-
cans themselves have always claimed the right of expres-
sing in3ividual opinion respecting all sorts of wars and
rebellions. If America had to pay for sympathy with
insurrections in Crete, Poland, Hungary, Cuba, and
Ireland, the nation would have to go through the bankruptcy
court. "We certainly have never scrupled to 'encourage'
by our sympathy whichever of too contending parties we
happened to fancy, and have never thought of having our
sympathy reckoned up against us at the market price by
the other party. In the case of England, especially, it is
doubtful whether she has been engaged in any war for
nigh upon a hundred years in which we have not publicly
expressed our hopes that she would get soundly whipped."
Too high praise cannot be given to a journal for a policy
ti.nugh just, is by no means without danger.