Tue Home papers to hand by the English mail show that the absorbing topic was the coming General Election, to which everything ele had to give way.. We know that Mr. Gladstone was oarly on the war path, but particulars of his principal electioneering speeches are only just to hand. His address at Chester seems: to have surpassed all previous efforts, as he did not hesitate to brand Lord Salisbury the first political firebrand in the world, and it la no wonder that one leading Lon: don paper says of this line of argument "No word less plain and direct: th lander would a his speech concerning the Pi and these deplorable calumnies are all the more unworthy because, as Mr. Gladstone well knows, the lips of Lord Salisbury, as a Peer, are now sealed, as far as the electoral contest is concerned. There was, therefore, something distinctly unfair and un-English: in: the unpardonable misreprejons with which Mr. Gladstone filled a considerable portion of his speech.
We know from Reuter's telegrams that the Liberals have a majority, though it is far from being," working one, and with dissontion alrendy appearing, there is little prospect that""Mr. Gladstone will be strong enough to retain the reins of govern-t, even if he succeeds: in ousting the from power.
The following extract, from the Spectator, written before the elec tions took plac interesting as bearing on the difficulties of the'situation which at present exist a prospect of some sort before us; hither party wine triumphantly, there i pose, what isnot outside' pos neither party does win in a large'way, wha will happen then? "A tie" would be a sort of joke, though a grim one, and with far-reaching' consequences, producing, as-we presume it would, a revision of the franchise 1 made with the consent of both Front Benches, and based upon some'as yet undiscussed oom-roe Bach a real is not likel anear lia, dificult ty thiok of aay other road out if it dic sR, "near! of the political deadlock... Neither party would Tike it, Mr. Gladstone in particular regretting the loss of time; but still, the Queens Government must' be carried on, and where is, coother road? The Unionists cannot compromise about Home'Rale and live, nor can the Gladstonians "'shed" the Irish und continue a party; and.a Coalition. Ministry of Affairs would mean Mr. Gladstone's retirement from political life. Things so dramatic as a. tie rarely happen, of course, but a majority of twenty on_one, side or the other is quite probable; and.how would the position then stand?" The Unionists probably could get on even with such & majority, because the one peremptory clause in their political programme is executive government, be-cotise the House would recoil' from another Dissolution, and because there is always in' every Opposition: a proportion: of members who. are at heart content to wait, and who would, therefore, find excuses for not vote Government with © small majority would. difficult but not actually impossible,. At-tendence would: be very oppressive, and. "thingies" "very. frequent; "tat og, the executive machine could be Kept working fora time. On the other hand, with a similar majority of twenty, Mr.'Gladstone would be Rrale Bille begot through: the Commons practically paralysed." No Bill like the Home with such 'a force, for there is: no group on the Unionist side which on that subject would listen to compromise, and the Lords.would throw out any Bill by such a majority with light hearts: \We.do not feel at all sure that the "Registration Question," as it, is called, would not, push itself in front; and that opens up an endless vista of delays, dissolutions, and possible changes of opinion. The Irish party would be frantic, and the mastery would be absolutely in their hands, for they would only have to retreat to Ireland for a. session to. leave. the Conservatives supreme. Nothing in politics goes quite as and will escape yet, from many an "insoluble"
expect ego a gland an difficulty; but with a minute majority for Mr, Gladstone, there should be much constitutional trouble ahead:: If Mr. Gladsto were younger, the difficulty would be but he very naturally wishes to see his in action at once, and neither can nor will at heart approve any device involving long tries too lightly, and without thought of conse-rope talk, we'think, of small majoriquences which; though not so grave as the concession of Home Rule, might yet be-very grave. After all the Duke of Wellington ex-preted the central thought of politics when said that the Queen's Government must be carried.on.
'The Russian and French' press are delighted at Mr: Gladstone's prospects of success at the polls," but the German, Austrian and Italian papers ate anxious and distrustful, though the Liberal leaders have as much as possible avoided expressing their opinions on England's foreign policy, leaving it to be inferred that, in case of a Liberal victory, the course pursued by Lord Salisbury would be continued.. Some Continental papers axprose their fears in. very unmistakeable manner, of which' the following extract from the Neue Frie Presse (Vienna) is an example One would think that.it would strike, not only Mr. Gladstone, but all the. members of the English Liberal Party, tat friendship with the Triple Alliance was based on donnd argument; quite independently of party feeling. Many utterances of the Liberal statesmen show that they, too, share in this opinion, However, Mr. Gladstone himself is not to be relied upon. With, his increasing age he inclines more and more to abstract principles, and though he possesses a richer store of knowledge, and' is infinitely more highly sifted than the Into Comte deChambord, yet regard to the craze he is pursuing we are inclined to call him a statesman who is ready, for the sake of theory, to destroy: the unity of his country by making a Federal experiment It may be suspected that he would be able to sacrifice, for the sake of a preconceived idea, the best historical traditions and the interests of Sngland: It cannot, therefore, too often repeated that Mr.' Gladstone's' victory in the coming Elections' would "be a great danger to the peace of Europe.
'Most of the Home papers, whethér'Tory or Liberal, join in cond "the assault made uy r. Gladstone at Chester. The Pall Mall gracefully acknowledges' the expressions of sympathy which' the outrage and the sincerity of the Tory ineluding- Mr. the insult to "the greatest ornament that ever graced the House of Commons." At the City 'Temple Dr. Parker referred to this assault in very strong language, characterising it 4s"an infamous act." "*Labby" did not let the occasion go by without scousing the Tories of being' responsible for the dastardly outrage but, though assaults of any kind are to be deprecated, it, must strike readers here that rather foo much fuss: has' been made. of the blow, which Mr. Gladstone received on the nose Trom—a. ginger-bread nut, thrown' by an. old woman, apnea 'The Pall' Malt contains a' more "than ordinarily good portrait, of the G. 0. M. cly J. Rackham onthe watch" on Hava den's battlements... This number, also contains some very good sketches. of "Mr.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.