The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-10 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF TUB PUBLIC jOILBITA: LS.

The Times, in alluding to the trial now going Mn at the
t
Queen's Bench and its amazing disclosures, has to wish to
prejudge the cause either way, but thinks t hat quite
sufficient has been elicited to sbew the character c f...convent
life. The lessen should not be lost on those yelling ladies
who, at seventeen or twenty, see in a convent tile only
means of a sublime life. :It is well that they shout d know
henceforward what they choose. The oiltivaa d and
elementary idea of a convent is most charming. With
its " Superioress," its degrees of offices and ,i•ariks, its
sisters and lay sisters ; its guardian bishop, chtiptain, and
confessor ; its " discretes," and other persona; esanore or
less behind the scenes ; its habit, its hourly" services,
its rules and " distributions ;" its angelic chants ;
its fasts and penances ; its intimate communion
with the Pope, and its guavded intercourse with
us poor " externs" of the outer world, it must be a
heaven upon earth, and a Para(lise that even. the. Evil One
may not disturb. We worldlino-s have to cos Tess with
pain and shame that this secular sphere,tloen.not provide
suilicient positions and opportunities anlfields of uscfnl-
nes, to the ever-increasing number of young-women brought
up with the habits and tastes of ladies. If they fail of
what seems their. natural destination, 4.ir early reenil from
it for one reason or another, what are4they to do ; what
aro they to be ; where are they to go:; how are they to I
live? The constitution of Enulish, and as it,seems also of I
Irish society, is hard upon them. Men sin;le out the
best, call themselves lucky or discerning, and leave
the rest to their fate. But all this is the spontaneous
result of causes beyond any man's control. If we
try to get to the bottom of them, we may possibly
find ourselves at the gate of a Providence wiser
than ourselves. What we have now before us is a great
man-made scheme for meeting the difficulty—nay, more
than meeting it, and for converting all this female waste
into a glorious fabric meet for the heavenly Jerusalem.
As it is one of the ways of meeting a difficulty which all
sides confess, it should at least be thoroughly known and
well considered. The trial which has occupied the Lord
Chief Justice and a Middlesex jury for a whole week
throws much light upon it, and will enable young ladies to
compare convents with such other alternatives as accept-
ing reasonable " offers," schooling and governess-ship,
boarding-houses, watering-places, accompanying emigrant
friends, small literature, and ordinary old maidhood, with
its dullness, its weakness, its vicissitudes, and its want of
just estimation in this vulgar world. They are all bad
enough ; perhaps a convent may be as bad, or even worse.
The difference is, they all come by divine ordinance ; this
by human institution.

The Standard thinks if we are to have a genuine reform
of the army we must have a little more military know-
ledge in its chiefs. If the affairs of the army are to be
conducted well, and with a view to the real interests of the
nation, they should be arranged by men who know what
are the wants of the army, what it must have, and what
it can do without ; not by mere clerks and accountants.
It is perhaps Utopian to hope for the day when the
Secretary of State for War will always be a soldier.
Debaters and keen party politicians are nut often
found in the ranks of the army ; but if we must
have a civilian who knows nothing on earth about
war at the head of the War Office, let us at least have
soldiers to do the practical work under his control. The
absurdity of an army governed by civilians is too great.
Sir Francis Head draws a humorous comparison between
our War Department and that of our neighbours over the
Channel, in his latest work, which we commend to the
party in favour of civil government of the army ; and we
wonder it has never struck those who complain so bitterly
„of our small army in comparison to our large expenditure
that it may possibly be the result of civilian control, and
that it might be well to try agitation for a strong military
ruler at the head of the whole establishment.

The Daily News, after weighing the relative advantages
of the two rival sites proposed for the new law courts,
decides in favour of Carey-street. It is large enough for
the concentration of all the courts and offices in one area,
and is capable of unlimited expansion should the growth
of business require it. It is, of course, a serious question
whether the wsthetic advantages of the Embankment site
do not counterbalance some disadvantages, but those who
pay the cost of the building have a right that their con-
venience should be consulted before the taste of a public
which does not bear the burden. Those aesthetic advan-
tages are unquestionably great, but great incon-
veniences would attend them. From Essex-street to
Waterloo Bridge every avenue from the Strand to the river
would be closed, except a tunnel under the building.
It would stand on ground with a rise of between thirty
and forty feet from front to back, with the noisy Strand in
rear and the bustling Embankment in front. Nor would
there be any fear of not worthily filling up the Embank-
ment space if the building were erected on the present
site. There is ample opportunity for the erection of noble
buildings along the river front of the metropolis, and a
site so noble need never long stand waiting to be nobly
filled. The law courts themselves erected on the higher
ground, with a fine opening before them down to the
Embankment, would form one of the grandest views the
Embankment offered. Stand;ng thus far back, and viewed
as filling the end of a wide street, they would add to the
splendour of the river front the suggestion of still greater
splendour behind. Either way, therefore, the building
will be one of the noblest ornaments of the metropolis, and
the plea of the lawyers against further change and further
expense and further delay is, to say the least, one well
worthy of all the weight their knowledge and authority
can give it.

The Telegraph refers to the meeting which took place
at Lambeth Palace when the Irish bishops appeared
before the Archbishop of Canterbury to consult as to the
most advisable measures for securing the future interests
of the Church in Ireland. In alluding to the opinion of
the Archbishop on the subject, it remarks that it is very
generally believed that since he has assumed the primacy
his Grace is still more gravely impressed with the neces-
sity for reconsidering the whole subject of the status of
the Irish Church. The admirable speech made after his
enthronement at Canterbury the other day was the lan-
guage, not of an impractical ecclesiastic, but of a thoughtful
Christian statesman, and the very fact that the Irish
prelates in their hour of need take counsel with such a
man justifies a hope that the pending political
question will be discussed with a view to a satis-
factory settlement. In view of the contemplated action
of Parliament, it has been thought desirable that a
more particular consideration should be given to Irish
affairs; and for the first time, as we are informed, the
Metropolitans and all the suffragans of the provinces of
Armagh and Dublin have resorted to London that they
may consult the English Primate. On all sides, if we
may believe the indications, even the most steadfast and
earnest supporters of the Establishment are beginning to
think that possibly after all Mr. Gladstone is not so far
wrong ; that perchance a free Church, acting in her own
strength and relying on her divine mission, may do more
for the cause of Christianity in Ireland than can be done
by a department of the State teaching religion according
to Act of Parliament.

The Morning Herald refers to the Conservative losses in
the recent inquiries that have taken place before the
judges, and says that although it is most unfortunate that,
so far as the election petitions have as yet been tried, the
majority of the decisions should be against the Constitu-
tional candidates, it cannot but be matter for congratula-
tion that in no single instance has the unseated
member been condemned for complicity in the prac-
tices which led to his defeat. And we can only
hope that experience, bought at so high a Price as
the Conservatives have already paid for it, will induce the
subordinate agents of the party to conduct all future con-
tests in such a manner as will not render the candidates
by whom they are employed, or volunteer to serve, the
victims of their indiscretion. Meantime there can be no
use in regretting past mishaps or indulging in recrimina-
tions. The Conservates of Dublin must prepare for the
coming contest, and endeavour to regain the position they
have lost through the imprudence of some friends and
the treachery cf others professing their political prin-
ciples.

The Star says that Mr. Cyrus Field predicted some
months ago that a time would come when all the depen-
dencies of Great Britain would be brought into telegraphic
communication with this country, and that there is no
reason to fear that this dream will not be realised. In
reference to India it declares that the line which will
shortly be laid betwen Suez and Bombay—which will cross
the muddy bottom of the Arabian Sea in the track
of H.M.S. Hydra—meets, so far as they can
be met, all the requirements of an Anglo-Indian
telegraph, and promises to ensure that despatch
sod certainty of communication without which the
electric wire may fail us at the verymoment of our greatest
need. Competent authorities are of opinion that the
objection suggested by the comparative high temperature
of the water is just as absurd as the chimeras which were
constantly started in the early days of the Atlantic
Telegraph Company. In laying the cable the two
seas which separate Suez from Bombay have an
immense advantage in their singular freedom from
storms at certain seasons of the year—an advantage
which the proverbially tempestuous Atlantic never will
possess. There are, therefore, good grounds for the public
confidence in the result of the proposed direct submarine
telegraph line—whatever antics Stock Exchange bears
may play; and if at some future time the cable knits
detirtelecmt
reenitast,ioJnavwai,thanldnAdivastarnadliaE,uarnopde,alcloamre:
together, as it may do, the principal ports of China, Siam,
the
rouSgthrta
Straits
into
merce and civilisation will benefit by the telegraph to an
extent of which tho h2ooL gilt at e thug
.'"."7l' • ki Dom