The Sun.
London, England, 1869-08-11 00:00:00

r, 011' D 0 4V, 'VEDA' E.SDAY, A UG US? 11, 1869.

The close of the Session is marked not very sur-
prisingly by the withdrawal from town for a while
to the seclusion of Walmer Castle of the Prime
Alinister, utterly j 'del by his enormous labours and
v'sibly invalidei. Upon Mr. GLADSTONE, indivi-
dually has fallen th brunt of th:3 Parliamentary
work of her AI G )vecti:n mt. Aim )st un-
aided by his c)lleagn,r, I.e has carrie I to a sace ssful
issle the ta.k of legislating for the disestablishment
and diseudowm mt of the Irish Church. In t'ie Ilya S 3
of Comm ins, certainly, he may be sail to hwe stood
forth alone against all corners. In the louse
of Lords, no doubt, he was greatly beholden to three
of his colleagues in the Cabinet, for the resolute, and
better than merely resolute, for the judicious stand
there taken against the Conservative or Constitutional
Opposition. Lord GRANVILLE'S tact during the later
half of the session has been, in its way, something
really incomparable. The Duke of ARGYLL'S
" pluck" an I "go," from first to last have been
entitled, as we conceive,to the admiration
even of his political antagonists. While, the
noble and learned lord, the occupant of the
Woolsack, has more than justified his selection by Mr
GLAns•roNE for the supreme patrician dignity of the
Chancellorship. Lord ITATHERLEY'S powers as a de-
bater cannot but have surpassed whatever expecta-
tionsmaylhave been cherished aatotheir manifestation
by his discerning chief, the Leader of her MAJESTY'S
Government. Among all Mr. GLADSTONE'S colleagues
in the Cabinet, there were two especially from whose
undoubted gifts much assistance to him was antici-
pated, in the carrying out of the duties devolving
upon the more responsible Ministers of the CROWN,
in the way, at once,
of legislation and of administra-
tion. From those two—after Mr. GLADSTONE—most
conspicuous among all the members of the Cabinet,
so far from the Premier deriving any noticeable aid,
he has, on the contrary, by them, throughout the
whole of this session been verygrievously embarrassed.
As to the accuracy of this statement, there cannot be
an instant's doubt. The most enigmatical of all the
Ministerial performances of the present year has
unquestionably been the fantastic and paradoxi-
cal budget contrived by the right hon. gentleman the
Chancellor of the Exchequer. It is still a subject of
bewilderment. It was introduced and manipulated,
so to speak, by its inventor and introducer,
with the dexterity of a conjuring trick. Mr. LOWE
was there, on the Budget night, less as a Financier
than as a Prestidigitateur. The bag, or bougette, or, as
it has come to be called, in Parliamentary slang, the
Budget, was empty, was shown to be empty by the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, was turned upside down,
was turned inside out, was, so to speak, crumpled up
by him, in proof of its being empty, as Mr. COBDEN
once upon a time talked of trumping up Russia—
when, hocus-pocus, high-cockolorum, presto ! the
vacuous Budget was seen to be plumped out suddenly,
like the juggler's bag in the familiar doll;trick— and be-
hold ! asolid, substantial surplus was found tobe, after
all, forthcoming ! Everybody- said, How clever ! Peo-
ple rubbed their eyes and wondered. The result seemed
inexplicable. But then, immediately afterwards, upon
a moment's reflection —we began to recognise, al of u-,
that if it was, in truth, so very clever, that (well, we
will admit it !) as it was, in truth, so very clever, it
was, after all, perhaps just almosttoo clever by half !
It was, in point of fact, simply nothing more nor less
than discounting the future. It was anticipating the
payments into the Exchequer. It was putting the screw
on, in a novel way never before dreamt of. by that
übiquitous national grinder, the tax collector.. Once
done, it was a thing that could never be repeated.
It was a flashy surprise—that was all. Besides
the exceedingly questionable advantage of having
devised this little less than tricky Budget, we
should very much like to know what benefit has