The Sun.
London, England, 1868-10-21 00:00:00

CRITICISM.

Some of the Conservative * journals have lately
adopted a style of comment which they have hitherto
deprecated in their contemporaries. Mr. Gladstone
is the subject of it. The other day one of these news-
papers, holding that the Liberal leader had made a
disingenuous statement in one of his speeches, charac-
terised it as an " impudent falsehood," Another
journal now speaks of his "malice," his "vindictive
nature ;" he is again accused of " deliberate
misrepresentation," and he is said to hate his
opponents all the more froin the consciousness
that their cause is not only just, but that
which he would have' 'preferred to espouse.
He is found to be acting under the influence of the
stings of an uneasy conscience, and is pronounced
guilty of a "scurvy trick." " Hard words break no
bones," and the right honourable gentleman will take
no harm. The cause which he opposes is not likely
to derive any advantage from this sort of thing, but
the tone of political strife must certainly be dete-
riorated. What does the Lord Chancellor think of
such tactics ? He made a bold and manly challenge
on the floor of the House of Lords,and his peroration
was received with a tempest of applause. Is this the
way in which he would have the -battle fought F

neither as full nor as exact as they could desire them
to be." •

/IYII.INALS.
The opinion given as to the use of unauthorised
hymnbooks in churches appears to have been obtained
by Archdeacon Wordsworth, who wrote to the Bishop
of Oxford 'upon the matter. The Bishop replied:
" I did not feel able to answer so important a ques-
tion as youm without fortifyin4 my opinion by
.that
of my chancellor (Sir P. Phillimore). So fortified ,
I may say that he is of opinion (1) that a private,
,clergyman has no right to adcip;; at his own arbitrium
a new set of hymns for use in a -church ; and (.c?) that
it is within the power of the bishop to authorise the
use of a set of hymns, either in his diocese or in any
separate parish of it." A clergyman, as We all know,
may be told by a bishop that he has no right
to do i thing, and may yet persist in doinp;
it. At present the hymnbook is the prin-
cipal means of propagating extreme views. Should
Calvinistic clergyman find that the Prayer-book is
not sufficiently explicit upon " predestination " and
" election," he finds refuge in a hymn, and the con-
gregation hear a dreary musical sermon. The
Ritualist cannot discover anything in the Liturgy
which justifies Mariolatry, and so, taking
advantage of tho reformer's provision for
the recreation of the laity, he manageS to
to enforce all his extreme views by the introduction
of hymns in various parts of the service, and with
these knocks the Prayer-book into ship-shape.
" Hymns Ancient and Modern " have been more
generally used than any other, but even they have
failed to comprehend all the parties in the Church.

THE 44 TABLET."

Mr. Wallis, the editor of the Tablet, 11-as announced
with some satisfaction that in. 1-elinquithing the
management of that paper 11P places it in such good
hands as Dr. Vaughan'Ft. He says • "Itis a satisfac-
tion to me to kinw that I am handing the Tablet
over to one of the ' old English Catholics.' I
don't think I would have conveyed it to anybody
but an Englishman ; and, speaking generally, and
allowing for exceptions, I should not be well pleased
if I had parted with it to a convert." Had he for-
gotten that the Archbishop of Westminster is a
convert, and that converts who exhibit the necessary
subordination to ecclesiastical authority are received
with some faVom• at Rome ? It may be that the
editorship of the Tablet is with him a post requiring
higher qualifications than an archbishopric.

• THE BIBLE IN SPAIN.
The British and Foreign Bible Society evince
great anxiety to introduce Protestant;m into
Spain in the shape of the Bible. - 'Hardly has
religious freedom been declared when the society
issues its appeal for morays towards circu-
lating the Scriptures in +IC land. Not only so, but,
if we may believe tlle advertisement, the society has
been long-sigh ted as well as prompt. In view of the
time when freedom should be declared, they had
ready " large supplies near the frontier at several
points," and some of their books have already
been taken into Spain. The editor of the
Advertiser seems to have been in the confi-
dence of General Prim. Three months ago, he
says, he received repeated assurances of the most
emphatic kind, from General Prim's own lips, that in
the event of his attaining to a prominent place in the
Government of Spain every facility would be given
to the circulation of the Bible in that country, accom-
panied with the most perfect freedom of religious
faith and practice.