The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-21 00:00:00

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LONDON, THURSDAY, MAY 21, 1868.

To-day will witness another crowded House, and
another Ministerial statement, as it is the fashion to
call them, will take place. Notwithstanding the
doubts and insinuations that have been so rife of
late, there can be little really to take exception to
in the explanation that will be tendered by the
Premier to-day. He will probably give the House
another opportunity of considering the clause in the
Scotch Reform Bill with respect to rating, and
should that prove similarly adverse, as its prede-
cessors to the Ministers, it will, of course, be neces-
sary to dissolve at once. This step, though unde-
sirable in some respects, most chiefly on
account of its deferring the assembling of
the New Parliament, is yet rendered perfectly
accountable under the existing circumstances of the
case. Mr. DISRAELI is not called upon to resign,
and those who discourse so fluently about honour
had better look at home, and think a little about
honesty. Why should the words of the Ministry
be weighed so scrupulously, and their every action
commented upon, while it is taken for granted that
nothing but the highest views and the most
pure intentions animate the Opposition ; that
they are, in fact, without fear and with-
out reproach ? The fact is, that the tactics
of Mr. GLADSTONE and his party baffle all con-
jecture, and every allowance must be made for
Ministers if they sometimes appear to be taken
unawares, and not exactly armed at all points to
meet the emergency ; then we have Mr. GLAD-
STONE calm and dignified, lending the weight of his
wisdom to assist the Ministerial Council, and ad-
vising some suitable changes in the Boundary Bill,
all the time premising that he did not wish to be
factious. A night or two passes, and then behold
the scene is changed, and by a sudden attack the
Government is unexpectedly defeated, and all is
confusion and noise. Independent lookers-on would
not have so much cause to blame Mr. GLADSTONE
for the course he is pursuing if he and his followers
were more consistent and touk their share of
the responsibility of the affair ; but what
we complain of, and with justice, is, that
ashamed of their conduct, they try to bewilder
people and throw the blame upon their opponents.
This is very unsuitable conduct, but so it is, and
we defy the warmest admirer of the right hon.
gentleman to show that his policy is a constitu-
tional one in forcing a comprehensive scheme of
Church disendowment upon the expiring Parlia-
ment, already overburdened with woik, or that his
action is just, far less generous, in seeking to make
the Premier respowdble for those complications
which arise from his own rapacious course, and his
own insatiable desire for office.

At any rate, the general feeling of the country is
with Mr. llfsn.tEr.f. It has been shown repeatedly
of late, and will be manifested in an unmistakable
manner when an appeal to the country is made. The
worst of giving way to a factious spirit is that
it leads ono to lengths at first never dreamt of ;
and accordingly we find Mr. GLADSTONE, who has
long sought to override the House of Commons by
his overbearing attitude, seeking to dictate terms
to the nation at large, and refused those entrusted
with the confidence of the Crown their legitimate