The Sun.
London, England, 1868-12-18 00:00:00

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of a Ministry of Justice. At present an irresponsible
solicitor, Mr. Thring, has the drawing up of bills presented
to the House by Government. But his assistance, valuable
as it is, is very far short of what is required. Some par-
liamentary official is needed who should constantly be in
the House of Commons, and have the oversight of bills
introduced by private members, who frequently propose
measures that are either superfluous or absurd,
and he should state the effect of amendments upon the
original bill. It often happens now that a bill is not only
materially altered in committee, but that one part of the
measure contradicts another. Even the Reform .Act of
1867 contained some awkward blunders. A Minister of
Justice would prevent these. He would, further, have to
superintend the much-talked-of, long-postponed, codifica-
tion of the law. This is no new suggestion. It was urged
repeatedly by the present Attorney-General during the
earlier portion of his parliamentary career. It is to be
hoped that lie will renew his attempt, and with greater
success.
The electors of Westminster have deprived the ladies
of their chief champion in the House of Commons. Mr.
Darby Griffith, too, has suffered the same fate as Mr.
Mill. There is thus small prospect of any improvement in
the accommodation for ladies in the House of Commons,
unless indeed there should arise from the at present
und;stinguished army of new members some gallant
knight prepared to do tattle for the weaker
sex. At present the " cage," gilded though it be, is so
miserably inadequate that even an influential member of
the present Government was unable to find a place for
his wife at the opening day of the session. A book is
kept by Lord Charles Russell in which to enter the names
of the ladies entitled to admission. The list, which is not
large enough to contain a fourth of the ladies who seek
admission, is always full for a week in advance, and members
have to ballot for the right to put down names. Thus the
chances of admission are very small.
The Prince of Wales has never given any public indica-
tion of his political preferences. It is generally supposed,
however, that he sympathises with Conservatism. Never-
theless, I am told that, as. Duke of Rothesay, he always
votes for ljberal representative peers in Scotland, and
gives his proxy to his friend the Duke of Sutherland.
The sale of the Duke of Norfolk's Church livings, on
Tuesday, was the most extraordinary anction held for many
a day. The Duke, who is, like all his recent ancestors save
one, a Roman Catholic, naturally desired to get rid of his
Church patronage, but, greatly to the astoniahment.a
the auctioneers, they could get no* bids wo4y ---
of the name, except in one instance. A lively
discussion took place in the auction - room as
to the fate of the English Church, the bidders
contending that in consequence of Mr. Gladstone's policy
Church property was almost worthless. The auctioneers,
not being well up in politics, omitted to point out that even
if the English Church should be disestablished and disen-
dowed private property would not be touched.
I suppose that the preposterous bids made for the
Duke's livings were the result of a combination in
order to beat down the price. Another sale of a less
questionable character is going on as I write—that of the
library of the late Archbishop Longley. In his fourfold
capacity of Bishop of Ripon, Bishop of Durham, Arch-
bishop of York, and Archbishop of Canterbury, he
collected some very valuable works. The number of books
is so large that the sale will last three days.
The frequenters of Messrs. Parker's shop, at Oxford,
will miss the face of a gentleman well known to them.
Mr. John Godwin, who has for many years been a valuable
aide to Messrs. Parker, has been appointed librarian by
the Marquis of Bute. Mr. Godwin is the son of a book-
seller at Bath, long since retired from business, and he was
brought up as a Dissenter. But the dissensions which
arose among the community to which he belonged, arising
out of the shabby treatment offered to the late Mr. Alfred
Vaughan (the accomplished author of " Hours with the
Mystics ") induced Mr. John Godwin to separate from
the Independents, and lie has for a long time past been
with the High Church Oxford firm above mentioned. He
now enters upon a post where he will be able to give free
scope to his antiquarian tastes. He will have no light
labour in bringing into order the large and chaotic library
of which he has been appointed custodian.
Speaking of Oxford, I may mention that Oxonians are
greatly exercised just now by the proposition which has
been made to add a School in Divinity to the other
schools, through which undergraduates have to pass
before taking their degree. There are already the
Schools of Classics, Mathematics, Law and History,
and Natural Science ; but in this university, so large a
number of whose members go into orders, there is
no divinity school, and the omission has always been
urged as a reproach to Oxford. The attempt to remedy
it has provoked great opposition from the Liberal party,
using that term in its Oxonian sense. They urge
that the examinations will be very difficult to carry
out ; they ask what is to be the test—accuracy
of information or orthodoxy, and if the latter, how will
the candidates be able to get over the difficulty that what
may be considered " orthodoxy " by a High Church
examiner may be thought heresy by an examiner who is
" Low." The truth is, this difficulty already exists
theoretically in the examination for Logic, and it
seems scarcely " Liberal " to prevent men from being
examined in a subject so important as theology, if they
wish to do so. The matter has been already brought
before the University Convocation, and passed that body,
but, owing to some technical informality, it had to be
brought forward again, when, greatly to the surprise, and
not a little to the suspicion of the promoters, the persons
who so violently opposed the measure at first offered no
further opposition. It is expected that the " Liberals "
are only lying in ambush. Still speaking of Oxford, I
may add that the new buildings ate Balliol are finished,
and that Keble College is being roofed in, but is not likely
to be ready before 1870.
I have this week heard a curious piece of official
obstructiveness, which takes one back to the dark ages of
trade and commerce. For some two or three years
extensive new docks have been constructing on
the Essex bank of the Thames, far lower down
the river than any existing docks. These new
works, known as the Dagenham Docks, were some months
ago so far advanced that the directors made the usual
application for the license of the Board of Trade to allow
ships to discharge there. As it was not proposed to
take in exciseable goods, it might have been expected
that the application was a mere formality. It turned
out to be a far more serious matter. The Board of Trade
absolutely refused to grant the license, on the ground
that there are already sufficient docks. Fancy a
Government undertaking to decide if commerce
is sufficiently provided for ! Yet this is what
the Board of Trade did. In vain did the
directors offer to pay the cost of a customs officer
if his presence was considered necessary. The Board
was inexorable ; but within the last few days, owing, I
presume, to the change of Government, symptoms of
relaxation have been shewn, and after a large amount of
capital has been kept unproductive for several months, it
is likely that the license will be granted.
A person with a speculative turn of mind might make
a good thing at purchasing estates within an easy distance
from London. An estate in Surrey, bought for
£lO,OOO some years ago by an eminent engineer, now
deceased, was sold recently after his death for £20,000 ;
the same morning it was sold by the pur-
chaser for £30,000, and it was subsequently sold
and resold until the last purchaser gave six figures for it.
In these sales nothing more was required than that the
speculator should put down a few hundred pounds as
deposit. Probably he was not worth a tenth part
of the sum which be offered, but he ran the risk of losing
his deposit in the hope of finding a purchaser who would
not object to put £lO,OOO in the vendor's pocket. So long
as the price was not excessive, the vendor would run no
serious risk, since the competition for a nice estate in the
neighbourhood of London is enormous.
One magazine goeth and another cometh, The Eccle-
stotogist, wiikh wag egtablished in 1841 by the Cambridge
Camden Society, has been discontinues, Lhough, as its
conductors say, their defeat is full of honour, for
have they not seen acknowledged on all bands
the principles which they were the first to lay
down twenty-seven years ago? The Christian Bemem-
brancer has likewise been discontinued. It was at
one time edited by a young curate, afterwards known as
Bishop Hampden—but latterly it has been the quarterly
organ of the moderate High Church party, many of whose •
most distinguished members wrote in it. It was, however,
a dear six shillings' worth for these days of cheap litera-
ture. Literature is, indeed, cheaper than it was, but is it
so good ? For the Ecclesiologist we have a new penny
weekly organ of Conservatism, styled the Blue Budget,
and for the Christian Remembrancer we have a new comic
paper called the Blister. For the sober and sedate works
of twenty-five years ago we have Tales of Life and
Death, by Mr. Grantley Berkeley. Two other new
magazines are announced—Under the Cr 02171, and the
Britannia. The first is to be written entirely by members
of the Civil Service.
I have left myself only a line to speak of the Winter
Exhibition of the Institute of Water Colours. It is the
best exhibition for many a year ; decidedly superior
to the Society's. Among the noticeable features of
the first are the coast scenes of an artist
hitherto known by his architectural sketches
Skinner Prout ; these scenes are most admirable.
Mr. Jopling has one very fine and large drawing, different
from his usual style. Mr. Corbould I have never seen to
less advantage, however. Warren has one of the most
charming woodland scenes that even be has ever painted.
Guido Bach has some noble figures. Altogether your
readers will find that they have a good morning's work in
Pall Mall if they come to town this season.