The Sun.
London, England, 1867-12-03 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY, DEC. 3, 1867.

There was one noticeable feature in the House of
Lords last night, and that was the desertion of
Earl RUSSELL by his own party. They were quite
as much shocked, puzzled, and alarmed at the pros-
pect before them as any old Tory of the strictest
school could be. Progress, what and to when,
seemed to be their ejaculation to this string of
Resolutions of the most serious kind and comprehen-
sivecharacter. All is well that ends well, however,
and we must remember that nothing has come of this
great onslaught on Government. With one thing and
another Ministers have tided over this autumn ses-
sion in a satisfactory manner, and they have in
reality been the gainers by the ill-directed attempt
of Earl RUSSELL last night, since he cannot now
come forward with so much force and vigour
in the spring of the year as if he had
husbanded his resources, and taken time and thought
to make his attack. Oue thing must be borne in
mind, and that is, that the house of Lords has done
nothing iu the matter ; and, therefore, let it not be
supposed that the Government, the Opposition, or
the House collectively, are opposed to a reform in
education. An act of importance and interest must
be done at the proper time, or else it is better to let
it alone; but this truth, plain as it is, seems to have
escaped the observation and notice of Lord R USSELL,
and hence his failure.

Earl RUgSELL has not taken much by his motion,
and our anticipations have been realised with regard
to the feeling of the House of Lords on the subject.
By this time, in all probability, he and his friends
have regretted the course he persisted in taking,
contrary to all precedent, and quite in defiance of
what courtesy suggested. In one respect at least
the noble lord showed his sense of the error into
which he had fallen when he declined to press the
case to a division. He saw that the House had
determined not to be entrapped into a long debate
upon a question which, important in itself,
was then quite out of time and place ; besides, it
was difficult to speak without compromising one-
self, as it were, and nowadays, especially, no one of
any standing in politics would appear to slight this
important matter of education. To have risen
merely to denounce the:Resolutions of the noble lord
might have been misunderstood, or misconstrued
into a coldness or an indifference to the subjects re-
ferred to, and during the recess at Christmas
some busybodies might have been found very ready
to declare that the House of Lords really did not
care about education, and were glad to shirk
the matter. This is not true, because there
are many noble lords who take a deep interest in
the matter, but they would be the first to object to
the premature discussion of the question. Earl
RUSSELL'S position last night was so disastrous a
One that his very opponent must have been very
sorry for him ; but then to be sure there is this to
be said that it was entirely his own fault that he was
brought to such a pass ; he rushed to his fate with a
perversity that was most extraordinary, and wil-
fully shut his eyes to what the experience of years
must have taught him it was duty to do and
also not to do.
It must be in some sort a satisfaction to those of
more moderate pretensions to see how one of such
eminent standing as the noble lord could throw
away his chance of really influencing the decision
of the House when the proper time came to pass
judgment upon it. One reason for the strange
course pursued by the noble lord slipped out last
night in his discourse. He is jealous for the dignity
of the House of Lords, and feels indignant at all
the prestige of the work done being left to the
lower branch of the Legislature. Perhaps there
is some truth in these remarks, but then at
the same time it must be borne in mind
it is the peculiar province of the House of Com-
mons to take the chief share of the burden of the
direction of affairs, and it would be neither a popu-
lar nor a profitable arrangement to alter it. As the
question of education does not as yet belong to the
other House, Earl Itu.ssELL imagined that he might
take advantage of it, and allow the House of Lords
to take their turn in inaugurating important
changes and improvement-3.

The Duke of MAra.nonouGu contrived to give
a very good reply to the charge of the noble
earl, and it is impossible to deny that he
had right on his side, when he said that this
time was an ill chosen one for the propounding of a
series of resolutions indefinite in their form and
character ; and, besides, the House must bear in
mind that the Session which called them together
was an "exceptional" one, and held at a period of
the year when Ministers were generally engaged in
maturing their plans and schemes to submit to the
approval of the Houses of Parliament. There was
also great truth in the observation of the noble
duke that the subject of education was not one to