The Sun.
London, England, 1869-06-26 00:00:00

LEVELLING rp.

The Times maintains a remarkable silence witl
regard to the proposed scheme of levelling up. The
Daily Telegraph repeats its condemnation of that
scheme, declaring that it is too late, and wit
assuredly prove a failure. Both silence and out-
spokenness are extremely significant. The Times is
credited with being inspired by Lord Granville
the Telegraph with being inspired by Mr
Gladstone. It is not the policy of the
Government at the present moment to express
any decided opinion in. the Upper -House upor
Lord Russell's plan, but rather to ascertain what the
popular feeling is upon the matter. In that respect
the Telegraph is a true spokesman, and there is nc
doubt that before many hours are passed we shall
have a declaration from the leading journal against
the principle which so many of the Lords favour.
In its article the _Telegraph says that three courses
are open. First, the Peers may, by adopting Lord
Russell's amendments, so alter the bill as to make it
a new measure. In that case the bill would be

" peremptorily rejected" by the Commons and the
nation, the session would be wound up, there would
be an autumn session, and the bill would be reintro-
duced in the Lower House, carried rapidly through
all its stages, and sent back to the Lords backed by
overwhelming majorities and a nation impatient of
further delay. Amendments in committee by the
Lords would then be impossible. The second
possibility is, that there will be such a variety and
conflict of amendments that the opponents of the
hill will be split up, and the measure will be carried
triumphantly through all its stages, and receive the
Royal assent " all of a sudden." The third course is
for the Lords to make only such amendments as the
Commons can reasonably be expected to accept.
In that case there might be weeks of delay, and the
session will be longer than in either of the two other
contingencies. But, in the end, it would be the
shortest way of completing the task.
The Morning Post strangely overlooks the amend-
ments, which have been published in its own columns,
and says that Lord Russell's proposal consists
only of granting parsonage houses and glebe lands
to the Roman Catholic and Presbyterian clergy,
whereas he expressly mentions the building of Roman
Catholic churches and Presbyterian chapels. But
even of the minor proposal the Post thinks unfavour-
ably, believing that the nation will be opposed to it,
and that Mr. Gladstone, knowing this, did not ven-
ture to propose it. The Morning Advertiser has no
fear but that the nation will resist the attempt to
"cram Popery down its throat." The Star and the
Daily News are strangely silent on the matter. The
Standard and the Herald are equally mute—all four
journals apparently waiting to follow, instead of
seeking to guide, public opinion. The Pall Mall
Gazette has no doubt that the experiment will fail,
because, though the Lords and the philosophers
favour it, there is ranged against it whatever is
zealous and determined on every side ; Irish Orange-
men, English Low Churchmen and Dissenters, and
even Roman Catholics themselves. The Roman
Catholic Tablet declares that the only practical level-
ling up would be that, supposing the Protestants to
retain their glebes, glebes and houses should be pro-
vided for the Roman Catholics ; that the Roman
Catholics be allowed their titles and placed on an
equality as to precedence, and that some at least of
the ancient churches should be handed over to their
original owners.