6

towards the relief of local ratepayers in respect of the administration of justice, police, and lunatics, the expenditure for which was almost entirely independent of local control.' This resolution very naturally obtained the united support of the Conservative party. More than twenty years before, Mr. Disraeli himself had brought forward, in the interest of the agricultural class, a somewhat similar proposal, in favour of which there was so much 'reason and justice' that it obtained the support of Mr. Gladstone, at that time an independent member. The Government, however, having decided to give its opposition to Sir Massey Lopes' resolution, found itself deserted by a large section of its supporters both from urban and from rural districts, and was placed in a minority of one hundred. The feeling clearly exhibited by this crushing defeat continued to increase, until at the beginning of last year the paramount importance of attempting 'relief coupled with reform' of local taxation was tardily recognised by Mr. Gladstone in his famous manifesto. Upon the failure of this coup d'état, it became the duty of the Conservative party to endeavour to give effect to the policy which they had so long supported. Within a few months of coming into office Mr. Disraeli's Government dealt with two of the items contained in the resolution of 1872 (which contemplated assistance from the Imperial Exchequer to the extent of two millions) by contributing a subvention of 1,154,000l., and by pledging itself to give some further assistance on the earliest possible opportunity in respect of the administration of justice. We hope that it may be found feasible to carry out also the old scheme of the Prime Minister, and to make a contribution in aid of the establishment charges of our workhouses and of the cost of indoor relief. No grant from Imperial sources could rest on sounder principles, for it must inevitably act as a direct discouragement to outdoor relief, and tend not only to economy, but also to the greater independence of the labouring class.

6

Having thus given some relief to the over-burdened ratepayer by contributions from Imperial sources and by the rating of woods and game, the next step, in the opinion of the Government, is to place the relations between Imperial and local finance upon a proper footing' before altering and amending local finance within itself, on the ground that all questions of local taxation more or less involve Imperial considerations. Nor can the justice of this view of the case be disputed. Every one agrees upon the importance of the sanitary improvements now being achieved throughout the country. We are as yet only upon the threshold of the work and of the necessary expenditure. Il n'y a rien de fait tant qu'il reste à faire.' It may, perhaps, be thought by

some that great and comprehensive works are too much the fashion of the day, and that our engineers are almost too enamoured of a system which concentrates a number of insignificant smells into one enormous and unmanageable nuisance. But the fact is that vast works of sewerage and drainage are before us, involving an outlay which is positively alarming. And the time may come- -who can say that it is not already reached? -when the burden of the ratepayer becomes intolerable, and the whole progress of our work is hindered just at the point when its incomplete state renders it more than ever essential to the preservation of the national health. Is it not for Imperial as well as local purposes that we are throwing upon the already overburdened ratepayer the task of remedying the apathy and neglect of past generations? Or take Education or Highways. Are not these questions so intimately connected with the consideration of the extent to which Imperial control should be exercised and assistance afforded, as to render their final settlement impossible without full investigation of the more comprehensive subject of the relations between Imperial and local finance?

Steps have also been taken this year to ascertain, consolidate, and give additional security to the loans of local authorities, to simplify the mode in which they are contracted and audited, and to call the attention of Parliament and the country by means of an annual budget to these rapidly increasing liabilities. After this will come the consolidation of our local rates, the adoption of some uniform principle of valuation, the simplification of areas and local authorities, and the reform of local government, not by 'a great and showy measure,' but by steps calculated to enlist the co-operation of the many wise and diligent men now devoting themselves in various localities to the service of their country.

'It would certainly be possible,' said Sir S. Northcote, 'to bring forward some ingenious plan for reconstituting the local authorities of the whole country which might make a great sensation, and afford opportunity for declamation and display, but I doubt whether any great good would be effected in that way. Far better will it be to throw as much light as possible on the subject, and to facilitate the improvement of the existing machinery. By this means. I believe it will be found that an improvement can be effected without any violent organic change.'

With some part of this extensive programme Parliament will, no doubt, be called upon to deal in the coming session. The arrears of pressing legislation, the legacy of the last Parliament, are still numerous. But a Government which acts in accordance with the public sentiment of the country, and in harmony with both branches of the Legislature, approaches them with excellent prospects of success. Lord Granville indeed referred with a

sneer

sneer to the speedy and satisfactory manner in which the House of Lords now disposed of the Bills submitted to it as compared with its reception of the proposals of the Government of which he was a member. As for years past the preponderating party in the Lower House has professed principles not acceptable to the majority of the Peers, it was natural that their measures should be regarded with suspicion, and submitted to a careful scrutiny. Now all is changed. The majorities in both Houses of the Legislature are in cordial agreement, and the Conservative peers accept with readiness and satisfaction the work of their political allies.

In spite of this change the difficulty of passing measures through Parliament has increased, and a feeling has found expression that much time has been unnecessarily wasted. part, at any rate, this has arisen from the abuse of privilege. A morbid desire for sensation, stimulated and sustained by the exciting character of Mr. Gladstone's legislation, seems to permeate certain classes of the community. The Member for Orton' and his scandalous misrepresentations for some time supplied a want which has since found a worthier satisfaction in the proceedings of the seamen's friend. This desire for excitement seems even to have infected the House of Commons. Scenesone at least painful, several ridiculous, but all dangerous to the character and reputation of Parliament-have been of frequent Occurrence. Great as the strain has been, it has been borne. No eye-witness of these occurrences will deny that some at any rate have served only to bring into greater prominence the practical good sense of the House of Commons. Nothing could have been more creditable than the manner in which it heard and extinguished the Tichborne scandal; nothing more dignified and generous than its conduct during the Plimsoll episode.

But this love of the sensational has led to another result also -the decline of parliamentary reporting. A report of the proceedings in the House of Commons is not so remunerative as a minute account of some remarkable murder, or a description of the personal appearance of some person of momentary notoriety, and the editors of several of our leading daily newspapers now place before their readers only a most indifferent summary of our parliamentary proceedings. Some of the best speeches in the House of Lords are not reported at all. In consequence of this the political education of the people (so much promoted by a cheap press so long as it remained free from the infection of the worst type of Yankee journalism), and the opportunities of estimating the merits and comparing the performances of our rising statesmen, are in danger of being seriously interfered with. Nevertheless, we do not believe that the private interests of particular newspapers afford any indication that the people at

Note to the Article on Church Law and Church Prospects.' 577

large really take less interest in the proceedings of Parliament. The increased attention which has been paid to social questions has afforded to the people special opportunities, in matters with which they are intimately acquainted, of observing the conduct of their representatives; and any member of Parliament would bear witness to the largely swollen correspondence which the spread of education and political knowledge amongst the working classes has entailed upon him. Something, indeed, may be done to render our parliamentary machinery more adequate to cope with the enormous mass of business annually submitted to it, but the machine itself-imperfect as it is, and sometimes wholly out of proportion to the work it has to do-is still recognised and honoured as the best and purest specimen of a national parliament. Its proceedings are scanned with interested appreciation by English-speaking people scattered over the whole world; its work, which for good or evil exercises an undiminished influence over all representative institutions, is criticised with increasing intelligence in our own country. Guided by the trained hand of one whose own talents and exertions have raised him to the foremost place in that assembly, its dignity is in no peril. And if anything can tend to exalt its high reputation and extend its influence, it is the knowledge that it is now applying itself with patriotic zeal to measures which have for their end and aim the promotion of the comfort and well-being of the whole community.

NOTE TO THE ARTICLE ON CHURCH LAW AND CHURCH PROSPECTS,' in No. 277.

MR. MACCOLL has protested, in the 'Guardian' and 'Spectator' newspapers, against the exposure of his book in the last number of this Review.' 6 We should be sorry to do him any injustice. Having examined, in the Article referred to, only a hundred pages of his work, we will now give a few examples of his method, drawn from a wider surface. Mr. MacColl regards us as having defended the Purchas judgment and other decisions. We have felt no call to do anything of the sort. We have only set right his mistakes; and, so far as they affected the judgments of the Privy Council, we could not help supporting them to that extent. Beyond this we have not gone; we shall not go. Judgments of courts of law should be respected if they are binding, and should be held to be binding until they are reviewed and modified in other judgments.

1. Mr. MacColl admits ('Guardian,' July 28, 1875) that he knew

1

knew those extracts from the Zurich Letters,' by which this 'Review' endeavoured to show that the vestments about which men's minds were excited were not the special eucharistic vestments, but the surplice and the outdoor garments of the clergy. But he did not quote them, because they were of various dates, and he had no particular wish to make a fool of himself' by quoting what was irrelevant. If we examine just one of the things which he knew and suppressed, we shall have to ask whether he was equally scrupulous about 'making a fool' of his reader. Wiburn went to Zurich, in the summer of 1566, and left some tract there giving an account of the English Church under Elizabeth. (Zurich Letters,' 1st series, pp. 187188; 2nd series, p. 128.) A book of that sort from Wiburn still exists at Zurich; few will doubt that this is the very tract which he left. In it he says, In every church throughout England, during prayers, the minister must wear a linen garinent, which we call a surplice. And in the larger churches, at the administration of the Lord's Supper, the chief minister must wear a silk garment, which they call a cope.' This visit and this book brought Wiburn into trouble. He complains that the Zurich people had exaggerated what he said, and had set afloat false notions of the state of the English Church. ('Zurich Letters,' 1st series, pp. 187 foll.) A pretty strong caution against relying on Zurich witnesses when English testimony is at hand. Beza writes from Zurich to Bullinger, in September, 1566, saying that clergymen were cast into prison unless they will resemble also the priests of Baal in their square copes, bands, surplices, hoods (casulis), and other things of the like kind." 'Here then,' says Mr. MacColl, we have indisputable evidence that chasubles were in use,' &c. (p. 69). Let us observe what he lets in and what he suppresses. He suppresses half of Beza's sentence, which proves too much, that clergymen were sent to prison for not wearing chasubles, whilst the Advertisements forbade them being worn. He suppresses Wiburn's plain declaration that surplice and cope were alone in use; he suppresses Wiburn's complaint against the Zurich people. He gives his reader half a sentence of Beza's; he will not trust him with more; and so gets in the word casulis, which, after all, does not decide anything. Is this to inform or to mislead a reader? A transaction which, read in full, contains the 'indisputable evidence' of Wiburn that surplices and copes alone were worn, comes before the reader as 'indisputable evidence' for chasubles, and nothing else. Mr. MacColl quotes

2. The next is perhaps a stronger case. from Lever as follows:-The same order of public prayer and of other ceremonies in the Church which existed under Edward VI. is now restored among us by the authority of the Queen and Par

liament.'