The Sun.
London, England, 1868-12-04 00:00:00

31E7 ROPOLITAN GOSSIP--Thursday.

Mr. Disraeli has certainly shewn all his usual finesse in
retiring without waiting for a hostile vote. It is a great
thing to be relieved from the necessity of writing a Queen's
Speech and drawing up a programme of measures,
which would have been a most irksome task when
he knew that not one of those measures would
have an opportunity of passing. Moreover, it was
true wisdom to avoid as far as possible committing himself
and his party on the question of the Irish Church. If Mr.
Hardy chooses still to shout " No surrender," he will do so
as Mr. Hardy, not as the Home Secretary; if Lord
Stanley recommends the suppression of bishops, he will do so
in his private capacity, and not as a member of the Cabi-
net. Meanwhile, Mr. Disraeli may keep himself unpledged
against the time when, taking advantage of Liberal schisms,
which the Conservatives confidently predict, he may
return to office and educate his party to take another leap
in the dark, and destroy "an alien Church," as they had
previously " restored the franchise to those who had been
unjustly deprived of it by the Reform Bill of 1832." The
resignation before Parliament meets was also probably
decided upon under the supposition that sending for Mr.
Gladstone would not be so imperative as it would have been
if he had beaten the Ministry after a regular debate. At
the present moment Mr. Gladstone is technically no
more entitled to the Premiership than Lord Granville. It
remains to be seen if the nation does not declare him to
be morally entitled to it. This resignation, so premature—
so contrary to precedent that no one but the leader of the
" Constitutional " party would have ventured upon it,
although, no doubt, it was suggested by Lord Stanley—
is not without its disadvantages even from Mr. Disraeli's
point of view. The late Ministry will no longer have the
opportunity of reviewing their various achievements—
Parliament reformed, the Abyssinian prisoners set free,
Fenianism stamped out, Europe pacified, America recon-
ciled. All these subjects, together with the undeniable
administrative ability of several members of the Govern-
ment, are legitimate subjects of self-laudation, and might
have been made a legitimate ground of appeal to the nation
against the national verdict—as a plea, at all events, for a
lenient sentence.

Your readers are probably as thankful as your corre-
spondent is that the elections are over. Six hundred and
fifty-eight are too many for us thoroughly to enjoy them.
If we could but have 329 every other year there would he
much more zest and appetite for them. As it is we are
quite satiated, and the state of the poll ceases to interest
long before the last declaration has been made. Of course
one still hears various election stories more or less apocry-
phal. It is rumoured, for instance, that Lord Amberley
has spent very nearly £lO,OOO in South Devon though I
believe half of that sum would be nearer the amount.
There is a greater probability for the statement that he
owed his defeat to the unlucky articles in the Fortnightly
Beriem. I hear stories of enormous pressure put upon
county voters. This has not been entirely upon one side. I
am told, for instance, that both sides used their " influence"
to the utmost in North Devon. But of course the Conserva-
tives have necessarily resorted to this kind of "persuasion"
more largely than the Liberals, just because the Conserva-
tive landowners are more numerous than the Liberal.
Moreover, intimidation is the natural weapon of the one
party, just as bribery is of the other. In Mid-Surrey the
first-mentioned weapon was used unsparingly. The
polling-booths were filled with Tory roughs, who hustled
every Liberal voter, and who attempted to bully the more
ignorant and puzzle-headed electors voting for Brodrick
and Peek. The authorities were appealed to, but so little
did they understand their duty that they allowed these
ruffians to stand around the voting-places and shout the
names of the Tory candidates into the ears of the electors,
when called upon to declare the names of the men
for whom they wished to vote. It is said that
400 men in this division alone voted for the Tories
instead of the Liberals as they had intended to do. The
consequence is that the Ballot question has received such
an amount of impetus as it has never had before. All the
speeches in the world would not have produced such an
impression as the county elections have produced. It is
scarcely possible that Mr. Gladstone will be able to resist
the representations of the now strengthened and enthusi-
astic Ballot party. But the Conservatives will fight
against it to the uttermost. It would be a most serious
blow to them, since it would neutralise all but the just
influence of the landowners and clergy, who were
never more valuable allies than at the elections just
decided.

The utmost efforts have beon made at headquarters
during the past few weeks to economise the public expendi-
ture in the two military services. I hoar on all sides of
reductions ruthlessly made, and sometimes, perhaps, not
wisely. Our ironclads, for instance, are still sent to sea
without the new carriages for the heavy guns, although
the immediate cost of them would soon be recouped
by the number of men saved in working the
guns. I have reason to believe that the expense
of the Abyssinian war will be considerably beyond the
amount at first named, and that it will amount to between
I ,
six and seven millions sterling. During the short time
that we were in Abyssinia money flowed like water. It
required about 60,000 camp followers and 50,000 mules to
convey some 4,000 troops to Magdala. One great source
of expenditure was the obstinacy of the Abyssinians
with regard to coinage. The only currency which they
would accept was blocks of salt and Austrian dollars.
They were so particular with regard to the latter that the
smallest
defect or wear on the face of a coin made the
Abyssinians absolutely refuse it. It is somewhat annoying
to find that after all this expense the prisoners were
exceedingly well off, and when Mr. Rassam paid a visit to
our little army he was quite surprised to find that there
were no cigars nor grog, adding that if he had known this
he would have brought plenty from Magdala. Nor were
these the only good things that the prisoners had. They
were well supplied with Crosse and Blackwell's jams and
preserves. Perhaps if we could have known how com-
fortable the captives were in their captivity, the Con-
servative Government would not have had the opportunity
of earning the chief laurel in its crown, and
Lord Napier of Magdala would still be Sir
Robert Napier. Captain Speedy, too, would not
have made the lucky hit which he has accomplished.
Having visited Abyssinia before, he set out from Australia
immediately he heard of the expedition, and became inter-
preter, and rendered himself immensely useful. In this
way he became governor to the orphaned son of Theodore,
and now has charge of him in the Isle of Wight. The
eaptain is a remarkable-looking man. He is about six
feet five inches high, and wears an enormous turban on the
top of his head, so that he is really one of the sons of Anak.
Fortune has just favoured him again in the shape of a very
wealthy jianc(e.
The rumoured restoration of Gibraltar to the Spaniards,
which Lord Stanley is believed to have had in contempla-
tion, has given rise to much speculation. It is assumed
that the place will at least be dismantled. This will not
be difficult. The whole of Gibraltar is undermined, and
every mine is full of powder, so that in ten minutes this
famous stronghold could be annihilated. At present
it is wholly useless to us. The guns with
which it is 'mounted are of antiquated calibre
and range, and if the fortress is to be rendered available