The Sun.
London, England, 1868-10-03 00:00:00

THE OPINIONS OF THE PRESS ON THE
PREMIER'S ADDRESS.

The acidresi of the First Lord of the Treasury, so long
and anxiously expected, has of course called forth nume-
rous and varied comments from the press. Those weekly
papers which are inimical to the policy of the Premier
contain no notice of it, but the Imperial Review and the John
Bull comment upon it. The former thinks that the Liberals
will find very little in the address to reassure them as a
party, and that as an appeal to the people it will carry the
weight that attaches to the words of one who
represents a successful policy and a popular cause.
Mr. Disraeli's comments on the inopportune period selected
by Mr. Gladstone for his attack on the Church, merely
give expression to views that are very generally held by
Mr. Gladstone's own followers. That in the last session
of an expiring Parliament a recommendation should have
been made to change the fundamental law of the realm,
and a dissolution should be proposed of the union between
Church and State, is manifestly a course that is not to be
defended on any grounds of lofty statesmanship or high
political principles.
The John Bull observes that Mr. Disra.eli's address does
not contain one single word which a High Churchman
cannot cordially endorse, his use of the word Protestant
being carefully confined to its political meaning, in which
sense, as we have always maintained, those who value
liberty and freedom from the usurpation of a foreign
Power should never shrink from its use. We observe
with intense gratification that Mr. Disraeli does not
refer to the report of the Irish Church Commissioners.
All the daily papers refer to the address except the
leading journal.

The Herald considers the address of Mr. Disraeli an
able and outspoken manifesto of Conservative policy. All
doubts and misgivings will now be dismissed. Mr.
Disraeli shews conclusively that Mr. Gladstone's scheme,
if triumphant, would utterly fail to add aught of
prosperity or happiness to the condition of the
Irish people, and that it would, on the contrary, be
most prejudicial ; that confiscation would be found to be
contagious, and the spoliation of the Church in Ireland
would only precede by a longer or a shorter period the
same process in England, and thus the security of property
would be permanently diminished. The Herald com-
mends this important State paper to the careful study of
its rea lers, and cannot doubt but that its influence on the
elections will be extensive and decisive.

The Post remarks that the grounds upon which the
Premier claims support for himself and party are included
in wide bounds. The Post alludes to those matters in the
address which do not refer to the leading question of the
day, and, granting to him the credit he claims in these
matters, he has still by far the larger part of his ground to
cover. The charge of unfairness against the Oppo-
sition will not stand, as, before Parliament met,
Lord Stanley had pronounced the Irish Church
the question of the hour; and immediately upon
the meeting of Parliament, Lord Mayo made a
solemn declaration of policy upon it. Mr. Disraeli con-
siders the severance of the tie between Church and State
would lower the character of a Government. The Post
wonders whether Mr. Disraeli remembers the existence of
such unimportant places as the United States, Canada,
Australia, and Jamaica, and whether the case of Spain sug-
gested itself to his mind as an illustration. Nothing could be
more unwarrantable or more disingenuous than an attempt
to inflame Protestant bigotry against the advocates of an act
of justice. It will, however, defeat itself by its own
absurdity and malevolence : the matter will be tried upon
the question whether it is right that the Irish Establish-
ment should be maintained, and unless better reasons
can be given for it than those Mr. Disraeli has advanced,
it will most certainly be abolished.

The Daily News thinks the address clear enough. The
party of Mr. Hardy in the Cabinet has triumphed over
that of Lord Stanley. Mr. Disraeli for a moment is a
Protestant of Protestants. The destruction of the privi-
leges of the throne, of the liberties of the people, and of the
rights of property, with the submission of England to the
Papal sway, are the consequences which Mr. Disraeli sees
flowing from that measure of simple justice to Ireland of
which his early writings and speeches contain not the
least able advocacy. Perfectly to appreciate Mr. Dis-
raeli's manifesto of 1868, it should be compared, however,
with his manifesto of 1865. Mr. Disraeli is now in office;
he was then in Opposition. Even now he speaks as if he
were Lord Derby's deputy, but it would be more becoming
to boast of the confidence of the House of Commons than
of any peer, however illustrious. Mr. Disraeli's shew of
resistance is only a shew. He cries "No surrender" most
loudly when he meditates unconditional capitulation.
The weightiest reason of all for the maintenance of the
union of Church and State, the Standard notes, is reserved
for the last, and its statement by the head of the Government
will be received with great satisfaction. Mr. Disraeli has
on several occasions referred to it, but now that it is clearly
and unequivocally put forward, not in the heat of debate
but in the solemn declaration of a policy, it appears to
have double weight. The religious liberty enjoyed by
all her Majesty's subjects is owing to the Christian
Church in this country having accepted the principles of
the Reformation. On that basis Mr. Disraeli places his
claims to govern the country, and appeals to the people of
England for their approval and support.
The address, the Star says, will disappoint those who
supposed Mr. Disraeli was about to turn statesman, and
will realise the contemptuous anticipations of those who
felt sure he would address his constituents in the tone of
a melodramatic ecclesiastical alarmist. Anything more
purely histrionic than his appeal to the electors of Bucking-
hamshire has never been known in the history of politics.
The Star thinks that the paragraph as to the Queen's
supremacy must have been written by the Dean of Ripon.
If the address be not despised and scouted throughout the
length and breadth of England as utterly beneath the
notice of intelligent men, we shall say that the Premier-
ship of Mr. Disraeli casts a gloomier imputation on the
good sense of the English people than we have ever
supposed could fall upon it under any circumstances
wnatever.