The Sun.
London, England, 1869-10-23 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF TILE PUBLIC JOURNALS,

The Saturday Review discusses the movement against the
Bishop designate of Exeter, and observes that in this
emergency Dr. Pusey is ready with a policy, and announce
it with formidable distinctness, He proposes nothing less
than Disestablishment. So great are the evils of bishops
forced on the Church by the State, that Dr. Pusey raises
the cry—almost in the form of a shriek—of a Free Church.
Why? Because he thinks—and we are not blaming hint
for thinking—that a Church which is not presided over by
bishops of his own ideal cannot rightly guard and main-
tain her own true faith. Dr. Pusey can see but one remedy
to prevent the recurrence of this scandal ; his only hope
for the future is in a Free Disestablished Church. What
then ? Dr. Pusey and the Archdeacon on the one hand
will secede, and the Low Churchmen, who are coalescing
with Dr. Pusey, cn the other, will secede, with such follow
ings as they can muster. Even if, at the moment of sepa
ration from an Established Church, the seceders present
a compact phalanx, ecclesiastical history teaches us that
secession means a perpetual recurrence of secessions.
The Scotch secessionists have split and split again
into a number of successive secessions which
puzzle an enumerator of denominations, such as Mr,
Horace Mann, even to reckon. The English Nonjurors soon
diverged into Usagers and Nonusagers. The Jansenists
have maintained neither unity nor perpetuity. Precedents
are not promising for even a. compact secession. But _is
the coalition between Lord Shaftesbury's party and Dr
Pusey's party to be only an alliance ad hoc? or is it to be
expected that as secessionists from the Era.stian Establish-
ment they can agree on any common ground or stable
platform, of a regenerated and purer Church Merely to
think of a Free Church as a parish in which the great.
Earl would represent the squire and the great Doctor the
parson is simply ludicrous. We do not apologise for this
grotesque presentment of the Church of the Future ; but
it is only by such a presentment that the folly of expect-
ing that two such parties as the Evangelicals and High
Churchmen can sacrifice under any contingency all that
they have hitherto held sacred can be adequately realised.
No ; we do not believe that Dr. Pusey ever can, whatever
he thinks he can do for the moment, act upon the sink-
•your-differences notion. And, failing this, there is nothing
left for it, in the event of secession and disestablishment,
-but this; not one secessionist Church, but two secessionist
Churches at least; and the Church of England will hav,,
been broken up, and all its usefulness and social advan-
tages lost—for what ? The edifying spectacle of Low
Churchmen and High Churchmen flying at each other's
throats, each hoisting the black flag, and neither of them
deterred by the safeguards, the policies, the duties and re-
sponsibilities of a national Church.

The Spectator declares that it is not very easy to
say why everybody seems to expect Mr. Gladstone to act
,weakly, and is surprised when he acts, as he always does,
with strength and pertinacity. Perhaps because everyone
knows him to be a conscientious Minister—and the world
,is apt to have a gentle contempt for conscience. And
doubtless a scrupulous conscience such as Mr. Gladstone's
,is apt to delay decisions—sometimes unduly. A man who
wants to feo his duty clearly is a long time weighing
the pros and cons of the case, while a man
whose conscience is chiefly in his under-jaw, like
Lord Palmerston, will rap out his decision, and very
'often the right decision, without any consideration at all.
But it is a vast mistake to suppose that because Mr. Glad-
stone ponders and hesitates with scrupulous anxiety over
questions of moment, he will either come to the wrong
conclusion, or be at all likely to change it when he has
come to it. We are quite clear indeed, we
were five weeks ago—that in this matter Mr.
Gladstone's • decision is the right one. If we
are to govern Ireland, as Ireland, if separate, would
govern itself, or as England now governs itself, we should
never for a moment entertain a question of releasing men
who not only do not regret the crime of which they were
guilty, but whose supporters speak of it as a merit, and
are ready to cry encore if their heroes should bo released
to-morrow. The "gentle and loving soul of Kickham," as
Hr. Henry Matthews, the Fenian representative for Dun-
garvan, was pleased, if we remember rightly, to describe the
spiritual principle of one of the conspirators, is still, no
doubt, as gentle and loving to Fenians, and as much the
reverse towards the Government, as when the body
belonging to it was first immured. The language used
towards the Fenian sufferers has been too often the lan-
guage of hearty sympathy. Even Members of Parliament
like Mr.G.H.Moore have all but defended and panegyrised
their action, have quite defended and panegyrised
their spirit. The Government have found that to liberate
prematurely the Fenian prisoners would be—not to dis-
tribute gunpowder through powdered glass, but to distribute
sparks through gunpowder, and their evidence for this fact
is the Amnesty agitation itself. The very speeches and
addresses made to obtain the liberation of the prisoners
were so many telling warnings to the Government not to
acquiesce. Like the words of a man in deliriumwho calls out
for his horse,the very sentences which urge pardon contain
the amplest evidence that to grant it would be insanity.
Mr. Gladstone's refusal does not come too soon; but it is
admirable in tone, and will strengthen immeasurably the
appreciation felt for any boon he may offer to Ireland.
Ireland itself would not value justice extorted from a
Minister so weak as to ignore his responsibility for Ire-
land's peace. From the man who has firmly refused to
release the Fenians, the land measure will come with a
double grace.

The John Bull satirises the habit of trying to fit impos-
sible trifles ono into the other. The man with this
tendency, in preference to going to York or Canterbury
by a plain and straightforward route, will spell over, brood
over, and wrangle over Bradshaw for any number of days
and hours to hit on a tortuous plan through outlandish
places by which he can—as he persuades himself—save five
seconds on the whole day's journey, or who calculates that
he will save qd. on the day's expenses—for this penny

wise and pound foolish disposition is generally to be found
thriving in the same soil as the other. To make the job a
good one, and the tailing sufficiently exciting, servants and
luggage must start from one station, the Dove and his
family from another, both at different hours. The puzzle
is then to commence at some station an hour or so distant
from the place of embarkation: here Dovetailer and
family, servants and luggage, are to nick and go on together
for a short distance—the chances are either one train or
the other is late, therefore the anticipated "nick " does not
take place, and screw number one having given way
in the altogether rickety construction, Dovetailer and
family proceed on their travels, not at all
rejoicing, but in an aggravated frame of mind.
It is all of no use. As they near the desired goal their
train moves off, and the dovetailer is left to spend
four or five hours at a roadside station, ejaculating plain-
tively to his tired wife, " It's too bad, too bad ! all those

rascally companies ; no one can be prepared for such a
thing as this : you can see, my dear, if we had been able
to dovetail it, as I intended, how nice it would have been !'I
Then this same system is carried into everything, a drive in
the carriage must be nicked or dovetailed with something,
ditto every note or parcel ; life must be made so completely
a Chinese puzzle, that if a shaving goes astray, the whole
fabric for the day goes asunder. 11l or well, hot or cold,
wet or dry, the bits must be made to fit, or the result will
be that eight or ten contingencies, all hooked on to the
certainty of a five minutes, the fact of opening or shutting
a door, speaking or keeping silent, must all fall to the
ground, and, like a rope of sand, dismember again, each
into its own minute particle; but woo to the luckless
right whose maladroit movement in this shaky combina-
tion caused the collapse, the Dove will owe him or her one
for a long time to come!

The Economist thinks that Vice-Chancellor James's
decision on the European Assurance case settles some
. important points. It suggests, however, the desirability of
a system of Government inspection. Even if a winding up
- had been legal, it would have manifestly been better for all
concerned to have got an inquiry such as the Vice-Chan-
cellor suggested to the directors, and not the rough remedy
of winding up, which with the conflicting affidavits before
them, and the want of real knowledge of the facts, no one
•could be sure was expedient. This inquiry a law permit-
ting a Government department to order an inspetion and
issue a certificate, on the application of certain of their
• • number, would have rendered possible. The protection of
,course would not be so complete as Government supervision
• would profess to be ; much mischief might be done before
a Government inspector could be set in motion ; but so far
,as it went, the use of such an inspection would be real. A
very considerable degree of precautionary security might
also be obtained by the growth of a practice for good com-
' panics to invite the Government inspection, so as to obtain
a certificate of soundness. In the absence of any amended
law, there is one thing which might be done under
the rule of individual freedcm, and which might
be tried •if only as an experiment. Instead cf
a policy of insurance being a mere contract to pay a debt
• on a contingency, might not the plan be tried of inserting a
clause in addi Hen, bin c con cting compary to certain
steps for purpose of fulfilling its contract? The method
of an insurance company might in short be set forth by a
clause in a policy, and the Courts could then take notice of
- it and enforce specific performance on the contracting com-
pany. In such a case they might also perhaps fairly con-
sider, in an application for winding up, whether some de-
parture from the stipulated method (lid not not make it
" just' and equitable" to wind up a company, having regard
to the contingent liabilities ;whether the breach of contract
did not make an actual liability out of them ; but probably
with the power of enforcing specific performance, if the
stipulatel method were sound, policy-holders Would not
require to apply for a winding-up. We only throw out the
hint, however, and net with any great faith of its being
acted upon. To stipulate for certain stops to secure their
contract may seem to insurers doubtful—on the whole, not
so good as the absolute undertakns by a trusted company
to pay the debt when it becomes due. But the more doubt-
ful it is whether anything is possible under the present
law, the more necessary it will be for the Legislature to
provide that remedy of Government inspection which would
cztainly cure a groat many of the present evils:.