The Sun.
London, England, 1845-02-10 00:00:00

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS

FROM THE DAILY PAPERS OF SATURDAY.
GLOBE.—Her Majesty's Ministers are evidently de•
sirous of being considered unusually liberal and resolute
on the subject of Irish education. They have chosen the
medium of the Royal Speech to recommend to the " fa-
vourable consideration" of Parliament " the policy of
improving and extending the opportunities for academi-
cal education in Ireland." It has not escaped the attention
of the public that this is the only measure so distin-
guished. Mr. Gladstone, if we may venture to guess at
the meaning of his very elaborate circumlocution of the
other evening, has been scared from his seat in the
Cabinet only by what is here foreshadowed. He, we may
suppose, has looked upon the reality, in all its grim di-
mensions ; and is perhaps the only man, not in the Mi-
nistry, who knows what is coming. We do not forget
his modest averment as to the very limited ex-
tent of his knowledge ; but he " protesteth overmuch."
It is already rumoured, with an air of some proba-
bility, that the " improving" means the complete throw-
ing open of Trinity College to Catholics OR the same
footing as Protestants, and an increase of the grant to
the College of Nlaynooth. The " extending," it is said,
is to be effected by the establishment of two more col-
leges, unfettered by any anti-Catholic restrictions ' • one
in the north and the other in the south of the island.
But whatever may be the form of the scheme, it is as-
sumed on all hands that its effect will be the extension
of some real educational advantages to the Catholic po-
pulation of Ireland—some further advance towards the
obliteration of the religious distinctions which have
hitherto been the bane of Irish prosperity. And, in this
point of view, we have no doubt that a large majority
in this country will be prepared to concur in the measure.
There is, however, one portion of the scheme, be it
what it may, concerning which we must confess the in-
dulgence of some slight curiosity. That the present
Ministry should adopt any principles, however incon-
sistent with their past professions, or push them to any
extent that may be deemed expedient for the service of
present purposes, can surprise no one. But there are
difficulties not to be evaded by the most consummate
pliancy of principle—obstacles which mere moral lubricity
cannot wriggle through. How does Sir Robert Peel
intend to provide for the expense of the contemplated
improvement and extension ? Has he, at length, mace
up Isis mind to the necessity of appropriating to
secular purposes a portion of the sinecure revenues of
the Irish Church Establishment ?—or are the people of
Great Britain to be asked to pay the expense out of the
income-tax ? It is possible that Sir Robert Peel may
have discovered some third source more eligible for his
purpose than either of those we have mentioned. Un-
objectionable as is the end he seeks, he may so exert his
financial ability as to make the means equally so. It is
possible—and he will have our best is ishes in making
the attempt ; but we strongly doubt his success.
STANDARD.—It has been represented to us by a
friend—one of those whose corrections are so kindly
intended, that they are always receives! by us with gra-
titude, even were it not an honour to be noticed by them
—that we have been guilty of an injustice to the
Lord Chief Justice of England, in saying that
he ought not to have lost a day in rectifying, in his
place in Parliiment, the mistake made by him as
to the number of the names omitted in the spe.
cial jury book, upon occasion of the trial of Mr.
O'Connell and his fellow-convicts. " I am sure," says
our kind monitor, " that though Lord Denman made
this mistake in the courac of his speech in the House of
Lords—he made it with an expression of doubt ; and
when set right by the Attorney-G. neral for Ireland,
corrected it, hut in oceeded to argue that number did not
affect the principle, in which his Lord•hip was wrong."
Now, the spirit in which we have always spoken of
Lord Denman int:st have greatly belie:l our feeling
t 'wards his Lordship, if it does not acq-iit us of any
hostile feeling towards a judge, whom we believe
to be as this and as upright a magistrate as
ever occupied the scat that he fills ; and it will
be remembered that in the particular case we
were careful to suggest what was and is our sincere
belief, that he erred only through haste and care-
lessness. It was therefore with an anxious wish
to find our monitor right and ourselves wrong„ that
we resorted to the only means of ascertaining
tiapsotr, ths
s Lordship
truth upon the point. Our own recollection of Lord
i certainly
Denman's ape; eh, confirmed as it was by all the news-
paper reports
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sixty