The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-01 00:00:00

THE PRIME MINISTER AND THE WAR.

According to the Standard, the fault of Mr. Gladstone's
speech at the Mansion House is that, while professing to
declare the sense of the Government upon the European
situation, it ignores the main point upon which the
public opinion of the country expects a firm, dis-
tinct, and emphatic deliverance. We have long
since passed that stage in the discussion when it is
necessary to dilate, as Mr. Gladstone does, upon the
horrors of war. The die is cast. England has done her
utmost for peace, and has done it unavailingly. Hence
forth we have to look to ourselves and to the interests
which may be imperilled by the course of the war. On
the one hand, we cannot ignore the possibility that we
may be forced into the conflict should Belgium
be invaded by either of the belligerents. On
the other hand, the angry complaints of Prussia
because we refuse to strain our neutrality laws in
her favour and against France, warn us that the very
strictness of our good faith towards both parties may
bring us into collision with one of them. Thus neutrality
itself is surrounded with perils, and the first thought of
Englishmen at such a time as this is, that, having de-
cided upon the course which we believe to be the right one
and fair to both parties, the national forces shall be strong
enough to vindicate it against any who may challenge it.
Mr. Gladstone must know perfectly well that the mind of
the country is made up on both these points, and it would
have been well if he had seized an occasion such as that of
Saturday to chew that he clearly comprehends it and is
fully prepared to express and maintain it in the policy of
his Government.

The Telegraph thinks nothing could have been more
appropriate or in better taste than Mr. Gladstone's speech
on
.Saturday at the Mansion House. Mr. Gladstone
thinks, in common with nine out of every ten un-
biassed men in the kingdom, that, if no other
nations save France and Prussia take part in this
war, a few desperate battles may
‘,4lispose both
Powers to peace ; but that expressions of sympathy on
one side or the other may have the same results as mate-
rial support, and may tend to prolong the struggle. This
feeling is totally different from the selfish pleasure which
would rejoice in the spectacle of two warlike nations
tearing each other to pieces in order that weaker
countries may breathe in safety when the pro-
cess of exhaustion has set in. The present
war is a duel between two gladiators to settle
the question of supremacy in alms. If left to them-
selves, some mode of settlement may be reached; if other
nations "take sides, the original question will be so so
obscured by superadded elements that, when the duel is
over, the original problem will remain unsolved. Painful
as the reflection is, the difficulty must be fairly recog-
nised ; there will be no enduring peace until each com-
batant has so tested the military qualities of the
other as to desire nothing so much as the speedy and
honourable termination of the ordeal of blood. When that
day comes, mediation will be all the easier in proportion
to the number and weight of the mediators. England,
need not throw her sword into either scale ; she has only,
in concert with neutral Europe, to declare that the moral
weight of her opinion will he against that Power which,
beaten or victorious, may desire to plot a sanguinary re-
venge or to abuse a dearly-earned triumph.

England, said the Lord Chancellor on Saturday, is a
high-spirited nation, and, he added, we do not need the
trumpet's strain to stir us up to warfare. The Times be-
lieves this to be profoundlytrue, but the anxiety which the
Lord Chancellor confessed in consequence of the reflection.
may be dismissed. Englishmen do not desire to engage
in any way in this war ; they simply wish for an assur-
ance that those who guide the destinies of the kingdom
will be ready, if the melancholy necessity be forced upon
them, to meet their duties. The words of Mr.
Gladstone shew that lie does not shrink from
contemplating the worst possible event, and the Lord
Chancellor himself confirmed the impression Mr.
Gladstone created. " Having regard," he said, "to the
principles that ought to guide nations as well as individuals
neutrality. may become impossible ; but I believe that
period will not arrive." The Times also believes as much,
but must be prepared for the alternative, and as the
Ministry declare they are ready to meet it, England will
be satisfied, and the feeling that disquieted the Lord
Chancellor will cease to be dangerous.
The Daily News avers that the light-heartedness with
which the ostensible Prime Minister of France enters
on the war is not shared by the English Pre-
mier, who merely contemplates it. Mr. Gladstone,
though, of course it is not for him to say so in plain
words, evidently stands aghast, as all thoughtful and
Christian men do, at the appalling display of human
wickedness and folly which this gratuitous war reveals.
Europe is to be turned to a vast slaughter house on pre-
texts more frivolous than were ever avowed before. Two
great nations which, so far as the Continent is concerned,
are the chief factors of European civilisation, instead of
co-operating in the arts of peace and the benefit of man-
kind, are rushing madly, as if under some de-
moniac influence, to rend and destroy each other.
The doom which await those whose feet arc swift to shed
blood will one day or other work itself out. It is matter
of satisfaction that at a time like this England
has at the head of affairs one who is not
only well qualified to direct the action of the
nation, but also to inform its judgment, and to
give the true colour to its sentiment. Mr. Gladstone
spoke within a limit of time which lie might have widely
extended, and will* indeed, lie himself subsequently en-
larged, when he declared that we now find ourselves con-
fronting the saddest and most melancholy event that this
century has presented.

VISCOUNT AIIDLEToN.—The many friends of this
highly respected nobleman will regret to hear that he is
dangerously ill at his residence at Peperharrow. The
members of the noble and rev. viscount's family are in
daily attendance on him, his position being one that
causes much anxiety.