The Sun.
London, England, 1868-12-19 00:00:00

APIRIT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNALS,

-
°fele subject of the Irish Church the Saturday neview
ays : The difficulty of disendowment lies in the appro-
,riation of the funds that are to be taken from the Irish
hurch. Everything else is a matter of detail. The
resent holders of benefices, for example, are to have
'leir life interests secured. There are many
ways
f securing these life interests. Incumbents may
e retained in their benefices, or may
have an
nnuity from the State of equivalent value, or a sum
'own in cash equal to the value of the annuity. It
Fill be a matter for future discussion which plan will be
he best. In the same way the churches, schools, and
lebe-houses now held by the Irish Church are, it is sup-
osed, to continue to belong to it. It will be quite worth
iscussing in due time who is to be understood to own
hese pieces of property, and who, if any one, shall have
ower to sell, repair, enlarge, or do away with them, or
ny of them. It will be quite worth discussing what shall
,e done with private advowsons ; whether the system of
datronage shall continue, or whether the State shall buy
ip the rights of the owners at a fair valuation. The sub.
!ect of the proper application of the fund to be obtained
disendowment is treated at considerable length, the
•laims of educational commssioncrs and poor-law guar.
liana being glanced at, but the solution of the question is
eft over until Ministers have spoken on the subject.

In an article on Mr. Disraeli's posthumous appointments
the Spectator remarks that were the suggestion for Lord
Mayo's recall from India to be acted on it would amazingly
strengthen the position of the Government. It would
chew that the Cabinet felt its strength, that it relied on
the country, and that it waa prepared to prefer the welfare
of the State to any other consideration, however good it
might be in itself. Nobody doubts that with rumours of
Mohammedan troubles in India, with the Government
publicly acknowledging the existence of a conspiracy
greater than Fenianism, with the " Eastern question" once
more open—a question which, be it remembered, involves
alike Russia and the Caliphate—the Cabinet would greatly
prefer to see a man of proved first-class ability in the
Indian Viceroy's chair. Defending Mr. Gladstone
from the charge that he wants something good
to give his own friends, the Conservatives are told
they know perfectly well that Mr. Gladstone does not
want a great appointment for one of his friends, that Sir
John Lawrence in England will be no aid, that there is no
clan Lawrence to be conciliated, that the Premier will
have ventured to do a " strong thing " against his own
interests solely because the interests of the empire required
a strong thing to be done ; and the assurance that he will
not shrink from his duty, that he dare dismiss anybody
whose dismissal is expedient for the service of the country,
• and appoint anybody whom the country needs, will infuse
fresh vigour and elasticity into the whole tone of opinion.
The appointment of Colonel Wetherall to the Permanent
Under-Secretaryship for Ireland is strongly condemned on
the ground that Mr. Disraeli must have known that he
would be a serious hindrance to the new Government, and
it is remarked that anywhere else than in Britain the
appointment would be at once cancelled.

The rumour of Lord Mayo's intended recall is thus com-
mented on by the John Bull :—lt is really unfair in us to
have to undertake the task of defending her Majesty's
Government. With so many organs of their own, one
might have imagined that some ready scribe would have
repudiated with indignation the rumour that the Earl of
Mayo was to be recalled from the Governor-Generalship
of India. We do the Government the justice to believe
that they never contemplated so monstrous an iniquity,
but it does not speak well for the Liberal press or the
Liberal public that one should so eagerly have advanced,
and the other so eagerly have credited such a libel on Mr.
Gladstone. As for the party at Hatfield House, which
has given rise to. so much gossip, we know that it was
arranged weeks ago. The Marquis of Salisbury may have
given umbrage to his party ; but his lordship no more
deserves to be accused of deserting to the enemy because
Liberals are his guests, than does Mr. Gladstone to be
traduced on a mere wanton report, propagated by his own
organs, of exhibiting so petty a spirit as would have been
manifested had he recalled Lord Mayo.

The London Review, in remarking on the subject of
"Livings for Sale," has the following : This week a firm
of auctioneers put up several lots of plump, parishes
belonging to the Duke of Norfolk. The papers tell us that
the room was filled with " clergymen, speculators, and
others." The salesman did his busine s as well as possible,
although not as successfully ha he might had the previous
course of political events been different. He called atten-
tion to the various points of the articles under his hammer
with as much outspoken eloquence as if he had been
appraising cattle. He even hinted that on one glebe
there was probably a coal deposit, so that the fortunate
clergyman entrusted with the cure of souls for the district
might develope the mineral resources of his domain with
advantage. Other parsonages were of the picturesque
order, and handy to railway stations. Facility of railway
intercourse indeed appears to be a most desirable attraction
to property of this kind. Your piggery is also requisite.
There is a perfect one at the rectory of Handsworth,
although the place is not yet vacant. The auctioneer
cheerfully remarked that this advowson was subject "to
the life of the incumbent, who was baptised on the
25th December, 1801." From this expression we may
gather that the speaker had in his pocket or his portfolio
a registered copy of the certificate of the baptism of the
venerable incumbent, so as to satisfy any of the " clergy-
men, speculators, and others" who were inclined to lay
out their money upon the exact value of the goods. It is
further remarked on the subject of this disposal of advow-
sons : Another aspect of this matter is the real panic
generated amongst the purchasers of advowsons by the
extinction of the Establishment in Ireland. We should
be sorry indeed to recognise in their feeling an instino
similar to that which causes certain fowl to anticipate bad
-weather. The fact is, that the generality of clergymen
are ignorant of politics, and have been scared to a great
extent by the bogus articles in their peculiar newspapers.
The notion of disestablishing the English Church has been
promoted in a measure by the unmanly nervousness of its
own ministers, and by their illogical persistence in
endeavouring to attach its fortunes to the condemned and
sinking ship.
On the subject of Greece and Turkey the Imperial
Review remarks : The quarrel between these two coup•
tries has made some progress during the past week, and
on the whole, all things considered, we think we ma)
congratulate ourselves on its aspect as it stands. Greece
has refused the ultimatum from Constantinople, and
Turkey is to withdraw her Ambassador from Athens.
We scarcely see how things could have turned out other-
wise. We have never concealed the very moderate esti-
mate we have formed of Greek statesmanship ; the aver-
sion we feel from Greek policy—if you can dignify the
acts of such a country by such a name—or our ideas as to
the purity of Greek patriotism. Still, to do them justice,
Bulgaria and his Cabinet could scarcely have acted diffe-
rently. The steps taken by the Turkish Government are
commended on the ground that Turkey's action has forced
the hand of Greece, when she held cards that would have
enabled her to protract the game indefinitely, and, pos-
sibly, to .win or draw it, had she only been suffered to
play them her own way. No doubt cunning is the wisdom
of the weak, and the anomalous state of things, when
international laws were systematically shelved in favour
of Greece, was all in favour of the little kingdom. Had
she been wise, she would have conceded nominally every-
thing that Turkey chose to ask ; reserving it, of course, to
herself to break her pledges as she has often clone before.
As regards the prospects of Greece, it is remarked that
Greece has always one card in reserve. Do what she will,
she is persuaded the Great Powers will step in to prevent
her annihilation, and to preserve the work of their own
hands ; and there she is doubtless right, and that is the
weak point in dealing with her. Public opinion in Europe
would never consent to have this troublesome firebrand
quenched by replacing Greece in the position of a Turkish
province, and if it did, to do them justice, the Greeks
would enter ceaseless protests in the shape of chronic
insurrections. These considerations have induced the
nation to sacrifice its interest to its vanity, and exchange
its shuffling game for a decided language. In playing into
Turkey's hands, the quarrel comes up for adjustment at a
time when there is hope of its being settled amicably.
The Great Powers are, to all appearance, unusually
harmonious on it; they have just acted in unison and
successfully in Roumania, and Russia, as we should have
expected, finds it premature to act in her selfish interests.
So far as we can yet see, no country wishes to avail itself
of what would make an excellent opening for a general
war, and therefore the Great Powers can scarcely help
coming to some sort of equitable decision on the nature of
the imbroglio. We think Turkey has had go eat wrong
done her, but all we ask for her is a fair hearing and fair
play, and these she seems more likely to get now than at
any other time. Turkey, we are told, has made a formal
complaint, which we cannot refuse to listen to. Fortu-
nately, she seems to have made it at a time when we can
all give our attention to the squabble, and keep any mis-
chief within moderate bounds. So, on the whole, we feel
relieved that we are likely to have it settled at onco,
instead of feeling that it is only postponed to au inevitable
future.

Missr.v. Mr. Richard Cope, grocer and
chandler, of Uttoxeter, dizappeared about the time of the
Abergele railway accident. He left home a few days
before that occurrence on a journey in connection with
his business of a chandler, proceeding first to Cheadle.
He did not take his watch with him, and all his cash,
amounting to about £4O, was found in his cash-box. His
friends have made every search for him possible, but have
not succeeded in obtaining any tidings of him, except at
one place in Cheadle, where he received money, awl they
ektertaiiipo d9ubta. bia havipipitthaft zatai end. •