The Sun.
London, England, 1868-11-20 00:00:00

LONDON,

FRIDAY EVENING,

METROPOLITAN GOSSIP-2hursday.

The Conservatives kept their word in contesting every
metropolitan borough, but they had better have refrained
from the attempt ; it only shewed how hopelessly they
were in the minority in the majority of instances. In
Westminster, as I warned your readers many weeks ago
would be the case, Mr. Mill had a most formidable
opponent, and, as it turned out, a victorious one. In
the City also, as I predicted, the Conservatives won
the minority seat ; but at one period of the day they
had nearly won three seats,!and at five o'clock great was the
rejoicing in the Conservative committee-room at the
announcement that they had carried all their men. But
the danger had been foreseen, and during the last hour of
the polling the Liberals dropped Baron Rothschild, and
concentrated all their votes upon their three other candi-
dates. As it was they carried three of them by the
narrowest majority. The event shews that they ought to
have dropped the Baron before going to the poll. He
was their weakest candidate ; he was of no sort of use to
them in the City generally, or in the House ; he
did but represent a principle—the right of non-Christians
to sit in the House—and that is represented by half a
dozen other Jews. In the Tower Hamlets the contest was
close only because there were five contending Liberals,
but it was not until the official declaration of the poll that
it was known if the second seat belonged to Coope,
Samuda, or Beales. In all the other metropolitanboroughs,
even in newly-enfranchised Chelsea, the Liberals have been
returned by very large majorities, in spite of the great
exertions of the clergy. The result of the elections, so far
as London is concerned, is, that whereas it before
returned sixteen Liberals and no Conservatives, it now
returns nineteen Liberals and two Conservatives, two new
seats having been given to Chelsea, two to Hackney, and one
to London University. If Mr. Gladstone should secure his
re-election in South Lancashire, it is probable that Mr.
Mill will be asked to stand for Greenwich, or, failing him,
Mr. Austin Bruce, who has been most unfairly treated at
Merthyr.
The strong Conservative feeling in Lancashire, of which
I spoke some weeks ago, has been abundantly manifested
this week, In Bolton the Liberals lost a seat ;in Black-
burn, Preston, and Clitheroe the Conservatives retained
all six seats. They won the minority seat in Manchester,
and almost a second ; and they won the new borough of
Staleybridge. But the most extraordinary incidents are
the winning of both seats at Salford, the defeat of Mr.
Milner Gibson at Ashton, and the all but defeat of two
Liberals at Oldham. These are events whose significance
cannot be denied, nor explained away by a Liberal victory
in Wigan or Warrington. They augur ill for the success
of the Liberal candidates at the forthcoming county
elections. If you ask the reason of this unicoked-for
deposit of Conservatism in the lowest class, I answer that
it is due to more than one cause. First and foremost, I
ascribe it to the antipathy which exists between the
English and the Irish operatives. Hence the fact that the
principal measure now before the country is one for
pleasing the Irish would in itself be sufficient to induce
the English operatives to vote against it. This
animosity has been heightened of late by the
incendiary Murphy, who, while exciting race against
race and causing much bloodshed, has been a valuable
ally of the " Constitutional" party. In the next place,
the operatives have very little love for their employers,
and have not forgiven the opposition which was offered
by the latter to the Ten Hours' Factory Bill. Thirdly,
they still remember with gratitude the active part taken
by Lord Derby during the cotton famine, when men
like Mr. Bright held aloof from the Relief organisation.
These circumstances together have proved too much for
the Liberal party in Lancashire, and hence a serious loss
of seats amounting to a net loss of three, or to four, if we
include the loss at Stockport, which place, though actually
in Cheshire, is virtually a Lancashire borough.
The episcopal appointments have caused very great
dissatisfaction to the Conservative party, as was not
unnatural. Both the bishops who get promotion owed
their elevation to the bench, in the first place, to Liberal
Premiers—the Bishop of Lincoln to Lord Aberdeen, the
Bishop of London to Lord Palmerston. This fact alone
tells against them in the eyes of Tory Churchmen. But
what vexes these most is that the Bishop of Oxford
has not been promoted. They would have borne
the elevation of Dr. Tait to the Primacy with
equanimity, if Dr. Wilberforce had been translated
to London. But now there is immense disgust, such as
might have seriously influenced the Oxford election if Sir
R. Palmer had gone to the poll, and which did influence
many individual votes throughout the country. Another
cause of disgust is that Mr. Disraeli kept the appoint-
ments a profound secret even from his own colleagues. It
was known, indeed, on Sunday at Whitehall (where the
Bishop of Peterborough was consecrated) that the Bishop
of London had accepted the Primacy, but he
did not know who his successor would be, and
expressed the hope that it might be the Bishop of
Oxford. On Monday morning the Standard, which has of
late been exclusively favoured by the Government with
ecclesiastical news, announced the three appointments,
and this was the first information that even Mr. Hardy
had of them. No doubt he would have remonstrated in
behalf of his supporters at Oxford if he had been informed
of the Premier's intentions. It was probably for that very
reason that Mr. Disraeli kept them to himself. The truth
is that he has had a most difficult part to play. The
Queen was resolutely bent upon appointing Dean Stanley
to the see of Canterbury, per saltunz. The Premier felt
that this would be fatal to him, and that he must resist it
at all risks. He was prepared to assent to the promotion
of Bishop Tait, but beyond that he could not go. Then
came the question of Bishop Tait's successor. Here he
would gladly have fixed upon the Bishop of Oxford ; but
had he done so, the Queen would have been just as urgent
in her selection of Dean Stanley for that see as
she had been for Canterbury. The result was, that
Mr. Disraeli recommended a prelate who certainly
had no claim to advancement, and whose promotion
satisfies scarcely anybody. The Guardian, a conspicuously
moderate paper, is, on the whole, satisfied, but the Church
News says that the appointments will infallibly lead every
Conservative clergyman to stand aloof at the elections. The

High Church clergy have had no consideration paid to
them, and no one can be surprised if they return Mr.
Disraeli's compliment.
The Hon. Colin Lindsay has denied that he has yet
been received into the Church of Rome. I suspect that
the denial is technical rather than real. It has long been
known to members of the English Church Union that their.
late president had serious thoughts of taking that steP, in
which he had been preceded by his wife. The greatest
pressure has been exerted by the leading members of the
Union to prevent an act which would be a most serious
blow to their society.
Dr. Lee, of " Directorium Anglicanum " notoriety, and
the editor of the Church News, has sent in his resignation
as a member of the English Church Union. He declares
that the Union " has created and brought into activity
that most mischievous school of ecclesiastical politicians,
the High Church Radicals," and that Radicalism, what-
ever its allies, will only swell the rank of Anglo-Romans
on the one hand, and of unbelievers on the other. The
same forcible writer calls Dean Stanley " the Broad
Church Father Claret ;' " and yet the writer, who by
insinuation compares Queen Victoria with Queen Isabella,
is of such profound loyalty that he cannot associate with
a Radical even on common ground.
A large party of Africans are now staying at th
Laugh= Hotel, who have come to England on a
political mission from the Sultan of Zanzibar. When
Seyed Said the late Sultan of Zanzibar and Muscat,
died, he divided the provinces between his two sons,
on the understanding that Zanzibar was to pay
to Muscat such a sum as the Governor-General of India
might award. This sum was fixed at 40,000 dollars
annually, and it has hitherto been paid. Some time since
the Sultan of Muscat was murdered by his own son, who
now reigns in his stead, and the Sultan of Zanzibar has a con-
scientious objections to paying the subsidy to his paricidal
nephew. With the view of obtaining relief he has sent a
mission to England, in the expectation that Sir Stafford
Northcote will relieve him of the payment. Whether Sir
Stafford has the power or the inclination to interfere in
the matter remains to be seen. So far the elections have
prevented any progress in the business of the embassy.
Although the elections must have cost the spending
class little less than two millions sterling, I suppose that
there is still some money going in London. The chief
Regent-street fruiterer evidently believes that there is.
His shop window is full of wonderful fruit—apples of
splendid hue, pears of gigantic size. For the latter
he asks the modest sum of 24 guineas a dozen. Two
guineas for a single pear might make even the Marquis
of Westminster or Lord 0 verstone hesitate before he took
a bite.
The Echo has not yet made its voice heard, although
one would have thought that the projectors of a new
journal would have launched their venture, especially an
evening journal, in time for the elections. Machinery is
being erected capable of turning out 80,000 copies in an
hour. Mr. Arthur Arnold, who was one of the Govern-
ment Commissioners in Lancashire during the cotton
famine, is to he the editor. The Censor, one of the
humorous comic journals, has ceased to exist. Judy is
more vigorous than ever, and has this week one of the
cleverest cartoons ever drawn, and which quite bears out
what I have already said as to Mr. Disraeli's supposed
official longevity. Charles Dickens fits succeeds his father
as editor of All the Year Round. Messrs. Bradbury and
Evans have paid Victor Hugo £l,OOO for the right of trans-
lating his new novel, "By the King's Order ;" and they
will publish it in Once a Week The article in the Edinburgh
Review on the Papacy and the French Revolution is by
Mr. William Stigand. The elections seem to interfere
with literature, Very few new Woks are announced,

Is;OVEM'f3ER 20, 1868.

though we e close upon the great publishing season.
Mess Blr .ckwood are publishing Lord Lytton's
trans] ations from Horace. Messrs. Tinsley have ready
Essa) in Defence of Women." Messrs. Low and Marston
will shortly Du Chaillu's new book of travels.
Messrs. R ivingtons will publish " immediately" the post-
humous c barge of the late Archbishop of Canterbury.
The annu. als will be numerous this year, though Mr.
Dickens has decided to publish none. While the pro-
prietor of the Athenceum, Sir Wentworth Dike, has been
defeate d at Wallingford, his son, the author of " Greater
England," has defeated Dr. Russell, of the Times, at
Chelsea ; and Mr. Eastwick, a contributor to the Athenceum,
has won at Falmouth. Finally, the library of the late
Lord C hancellor Cranworth is being sold to-day by
Puttick %rid Simpson.

i.FOREIGN NOTES.