The Sun.
London, England, 1868-06-29 00:00:00

SPIRLI: OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

The Timea observes that the House of Lords is doing its
little work neatly and cleanly. In the many trials which
await us all we could not wish for any task that could be
knocked off more pleasantly. The spirited competition
for the lead on this occasion reminds one of the crowd of
applicants for a place as light porter, or as supernumerary
in a household where there is nothing to do. The House
aims at nothing, as a late Primate said of a certain class
of preachers, and is likely to hit it. It is quite
possible, we fear more than possible, that the next
Parliament may attach more significance to it than is
intended ; but the intention is to seize a golden opportu-
nity to do nothing. The House generally concedes that
something ought to be done about the Church in Ireland,
and, indeed, deplores that something has not been done
long ago ; but it maintains that this particular proposition
is the worst of many actual or conceivable, that this is the
worst time for it, that these are the worst circmnstauces,
that the authors are the worst authors, and that, even
Enpposing all these conditions were never so unexception-
ale, there remains the fatal objection that the proposed
prsOliminary, the bill before the House, goes further than
the contemplated.measure, and is a suspension of vitality
without any pledge for its resumption. Mr. Gladstone
was not the man to do this, we are told ; Lord Russell
was not the man to do this work. The present is not the
time. It might have been done two years ago, or while
Lord Palmerston was Minister. It might have been
done before the Fenian business. It might have
been done when nobody was asking for anything,
and when the proposal would have been sponta-
neous and gracious. Never was there such a bad time as
Crow. If the choice, indeed, lay between this bill and this
time and none at all, we possess Lord Grey's assurance
that he would support Mr. Gladstone ; but, fortunately,
he has in sight a better measure, better days, and better
circumstances, and he can confidently ask us to wait for
them. Meanwhile, he advises us, in the kindest spirit
possible, to clear the ground by rejecting this particular
measure. The sum total of this line of argument, and the
utmost value of the decision made upon it, on the most
favourable estimate, is that there is a great deal to be said
against the manner, the time, the persons, and the circum-
stances, But it is easy to see how this argument works,
and what a pitfall it inevitably leads to. It leads to the
perilous conclusion that a multitude of particulars, quite
out of the essence of a measure, may be urged against it
from time to time with fatal efficacy, however necessary
the measure may be, and however certain to be carried
eventually.

The Hemld, noting that it is not always the winning side,
that has the best of the argument, declares that it is satis-
factory to know that in the division on the Suspensor)
Bill the majority, however large, will scarcely more that
balance the debating power and argumentative superiority
exhibited in its behalf. The Opposition and their bill
have been as thoroughly defeated in debate as they will be
in the division. Mr. Gladstone's allies in the Uppei
House were bound to establish at least three propositions
in favour of the measure—that it is both expedient and
lawful to disestablish the Irish Church, that it will accom-
plish the end for which it is proposed by conciliating the
disaffected, and that the bill is so framed as to give effect
to the resolutions upon which it is based without inflicting
any additional and needless injury upon a Church already
sufficiently wronged and humiliated. Neither of these
propositions have been grappled with, much less esta-
-I,li3lled.

Whatever, the Standard remarks, may be said or thought
respecting the discussion in the house of Commons, only
the most violent and blinded partisanship will venture tc
deny that—thus far at least —the advantage in the nous,
of Lords, whether in eloquence, in force of argument, or
in weight of knowledge, character, and experience, has
been altogether on the side of the defenders of the Irish
Church. Against the vigorous and cogent speech of
Lord Derby, dealing at every sentence blows that told
with crushing effect either upon the measure itself ox
the character and motives of its authors— against
the severe criticism and statesmanlike investigation of
their proposals by Lord Grey, whose known and fearlessly-
avowed opinions gave tenfold weight to his censures of a
echeme against which he certainly felt no party or personal
prejudice—against the demonstration supplied by the
practical knowledge of the bishops of the intolerable mis•
chiefs which the bill must work, and the utter impossibility
of carrying on the duties and maintaining the discipline
of the Church after it should have become law—againsl
the stinging sarcasm and the close reasoning of Lord
Salisbury's speech—one of the best and most forcible ever
delivered by one of the most formidable of living debaters
—what had the advocates of Mr. Gladstone's Su3pensory
Bill to oppose ? A few trite, threadbare, and trans-
parent sophisms, which have been repeated and refuted
usque ad nauseam ; a quantity of statistics which either prove
nothing, or prove that which not one of those who uttered
them would dream of admitting, and which, if admitted,
must reduce men like Lord Dufferin to ruin ; an assertion,
more courageous than correct, of au overwhelming public
opinion in their favour ; some stale taunts about the
Reform Act of last year, which can neither persuade nor
provoke anybody ; and a form of menace much more
likely to drive the peers into a vigorous assertion of their
own independence, and to rouse them to act upon their
own convictions, than to induce them to submit to
the dictation of a factious majority in a moribund
House of Commons.

The Post, commenting upon the regulations issued fox
the Army Reserve, declares that a step in the right direc-
tion has been taken in proposing to enrol in that forco
men of the regular army who have served but two-thirds
of their first term ; but the step is a very small one—so
small indeed as hardly to illustrate the principle of a short
term of regular service and a long term in the reserve, by
which recruiting would be rendered easy, the army effi-
cient, and the reserve be readily maintained at any
required strength. And yet our rulers, ignoring the prac-
tical evidences of failure, the teaching of recent events,
and the conclusions arrived at by the overwhelming
majority of all earnest thinkers and writers on these subjects,
cling to exploded theories, and leave us, as usual, last in
the great race.

The Herald says that it is in a great measure their own
Foreign Cattle Market Bill that, under false pretences,
the Liberals are attempting to defeat. It was not origi-
nally a Government scheme ; its author is Mr.
Ayrton, a Eadiaal member, and its object is to secure
cheapness, not to diminish it. The existing Administra-
tion upon acceding to office found a calamitous epidemic
ravaging the herds, and by a decisive course of action
checked and even extirpated it. But then the question
arose, how far, although the cattle plague had died out
in England, it still prevailed on the Continent, and what
future precautions would be effectual for preventing the
permanent deterioration of our own stock. The highest
practical authorities were consulted, and their opinion,
almost unanimous, was that the home and foreign breeds
should be brought to different markets. The bill was,
therefore, brought in as guarantee against the recurrence
of the rinderpest which had been incurred through a con-
tagion confessedly imported from beyond the sea, which
so lately imposed a severe sacrifice upon the country.
In its weekly article on "Trade and Finance," the
Daily ,ens takes up the relations between the directors of
joint-stock companies and their shareholders. It recalls
the time when blind trustfulness reigned ou the one hand,
and extravagance on the other. Shareholders allowed the
directors to do as they liked. Directors abused the confi-
dence placed in them. Things now, however, are altered.
Latterly sh ireholders seem to have aroused from the
apathy which has allowed their property to be brought to
the brink of ruin. The art of browbeating a proprietary
by the " board," valuable in its day, has now become inef-
fective. In isolated instances it may yet be tried, but the
experiment commands such little chance of success that it
is not likely to prevail henceforward. On the other hand,
as one extreme begets another, there is a strong proba-
bility that shareholders will be inclined to push their
power too far. It is an old remark that no virtue is more
difficult to practise than moderation. The maxim that
moderation is strength unquestionably applies to the posi-
tion of the greater part of shareholders of the present
day.

'lie Te.ltvraph says it is impossible for any one who has,
caraolly studied the subject of our telegraphic com-
munications with India to be satisfied with it. Fur
the greater security of our Indian possessions, and for the
right development of our commercial intercourse with
them. ttvo things are essentially requisite : first, that we
should hare an unbroken line of telegraph from England
to Bombay ; secondly, that it should be as much as
possible within our own hands. The existing line does not
comply with the first of these conditions ; the proposed
route through Prussia and :Russia does not fulfil the
second. An independent communication by means
of a submarine cable in the Red Sea is a State
necessity. One company is alrealy in existence
to perfect the Mediterranean section of the tele-
graphic system, and another associated body of capi-
talists will probably come before the public, in a few days
or weeks at most, to invite co-operation in laying a cable
from Sup:: to Ku ren eanwhile Sir Stafferd Xorthcute
personally refuses t ai i a:,y such plan. I•h3 English pro-
mpters of a strictly :British lino of telegraph complain that,
what, neutral iii Prnfe;sion, he is one-sided in practice.
For at the very time that he throws a deluge of official
cold water on the Red Sea scheme, he helps the Russo-
Prussian company, by adding to the existing Indian lines
between Teheran and Kurrachee, thus in fact cmnpleting
the last link of the chain which commences in North
Germany. No doubt the Secretary of State may
reply that he is justified in utilising the means within
his power so far as he can, and that he is bound
to avail hithself of all the advantages proffered. If
by the help of the Siemens line India is brought
nearer to England, the whole empire is a gainer ; and a
Minister who should decline to accept the opportunity
would neglect leis duty. The fact, however, remains that
the successful completion of the telegraph through Russia
would still leave the necessity of a submarine wire as
urgent as before. The Red Sea undertaking will be
discouraged by the stimulus which the action of the Indian
authorities has giv,n to the operations of the Berlin con-
tractors. The Tel (graph hopes, therefore, that, while we
avail ourselves of the Russian line from self-interest,
Policy will even yet dictate the speedy accomplishment of
the alternative communication, under strictly British
control, by the Red :.-3ea.

THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION AT

NORWICH.

The arrangiments for the forthcoming meeting in August
of the British Association for the Advancement of Science
are rapidly advancing. The Drill Hall, where the opening
address and other lectures will be delivered, is veil re-
ported of as to acoustic properties, while the old St.
Andrew's Hall will in itself be an attraction for the
soirees. The reception rooms offer the unusual conve-
liences of separate rooms for business correspondence an&
for ladies. To geologists the crags of Norfolk and Suffolk
promise ample scope both for work in section-room and
for outdoor practice under good local guidance. Archmolo-
gists will find peculiar attractions, or distractions perhaps,
in the fact of the International Prehistoric Society
holding one of its meetings in this country at the same
time and place. The Economic Section is to be offered
papers on the state of agriculture by Mr. C. S.
Read, M.P., and on the condition of labourers by Mr.
Corrance, M.P., Canon Girdlestone, and others; while the
drainage of the fens and Norfolk rivers is to be treated
of by Sir Willoughby Jones and Mr. Harding, of Lynn.
The fisheries of the coast, and pheasant breeding or
over-feeding, will stir up questions of national im-
portance in other directions. The number of foreigners
already promises to be unusually large. Padre Secchi,
from Rome, and Baron Maedler, from Dorpath, will be
greeted by the English Adams, Challis, Glaisher, and
others. Physiologists will not be sorry to see their section
animated by Dr. Broca, from Paris, perhaps also by Dr.
Vogt, from Geneva ; and geographers will find old friends
in Valdemar Schmidt, from Denmark, and Vienbery, from
Pesth. Other Swiss, Dutch, French, and Gilman names
are being daily added to the claims on Norwich hos-
pitality.