The New York herald., 1871-10-31

From . special cable despatch which We
| print this morning We learn that the English
| Cabinet during the last week have been in ses-
sion not fewer than i've times, that the foreign
policy of the government has been the main
topic Of discussion, that nothing is TO be left
undone which is likely to give force and en-
cheney to the army, that war material is being
accumulated and that for the purpose of giving
the present government 6rmer hold upon the
country extensive ministerial changes are con-
templated.
We are not disposed to attach too much i'm
portance to this piece Of news. Cabinet coun-
ellis in London are not uncommon at this sea-
son of the year. Grouse and deer shooting
is about ended for the season. Noble lords
and gentlemen, having had their trips to the
north and having enjoyed their shooting quar-
ters, are now either in London or gradually
gravitating thither. The London season is
close at hand again. The theatres, ball
rooms and private parties begin to claim and
to receive attention. The gossips, male and
female, are busy; and amid the buzz and hum
Of conversation at the clubs and elsewhere
regarding this and the other coming family
alliance and that and the other grand social
scandal, the ''Flaaseur" overhears interest
ing talk about politics, about the situation in
England, about the state of affairs in Europe,
about Russia's resolve and Blsmarck's next
move, and about the figure which Great Britain
is now cutting in the general affairs of the
world. Mr. Gladstone, we know, is now ma
turing his plans for his next campaign all
are anxious to know whether another session
Of Parliament is to be devoted to the court
ship and conciliation of Ireland, and whether
England, once so proud, so strong and so
respected, is to be further humiliated by the
wretched and niggardly economy OF wings and
radicals; and so, things being as they are, five
Cabinet councils in one week are not 80 much
| of a wonder, after all.
At the same time it is not to be denied that
when cabinet Councils are being held almost
every night in the week, and that, too, when Par
Lament is not in session, the gossips and idlers
| are not without excuse when they come to the
conclusion that something is in the wind. For
arriving at such conclusion they are the more
excusable that questions for Cabinet con-
sideration, both in regard to home and foreign
affairs, are more than plentiful. Ireland
demands the restoration OF her native Parlia-
ment and refuses to be satisfied until she sees
revived those proud days when Burke and
Grattan and Flood thundered in the legislative |
halls Of Dublin. Scotland demands that her |!
Education bill be no longer trifed with, and |
prominent Scotsmen in the great centres begin
to growl because of the neglect the nation is
experiencing in the Parliament of the empire. |
Mr.. Bradlaugh ana his fellow agitators talk |
loudly Of the certain and early fall Of the
monarchy, G the establishment Of republic !
and Of The not distant day when the President |
OF the British republic shall hold his recep- |
tions in the stately halls Of Buckingham
Palace Mr.. Gladstone, feeling the force of
the popular sentiment-liking and yet not lik-
ing it. yielding to it and resisting ii at one and
the same moment-fnds himself in q dilemma
from which all his eloquence and intellectual
subtlety cannot extricate him. At Aberdeen
and at Greenwich his language was equally
strong in his denuncistion Of the home rule
movement in Ireland, in his threats against
the obstructive House of Lords and in his de- |
termination to carry the Ballot BILL Then |
again, Mr.. Disraeli and his tory followers, i'm |
patient Of the continued popularity of the wings
and jealous Of their great and growing power,
are zealously courting an alliance with the
workingmen. 1t will not surprise us to
learn that this flank movement of the
author Of ''Coningsby" and the ''Sybil, sup
ported, as it is, by many noble lords and not
few rich country squires, has quite as much
to do with these frequent Cabinet meetings as
any or all of the other causes to which we
have referred.
Cause, however, for Cabinet anxiety is not
limited to home affairs alone. Since the death
of Lord Palmerston the foreign affairs of the
British empire have been left very much to
themselves. What Palmerston was fifteen,
twenty and even thirty years ago, Bismarck is
to-day. The glory Of the Foreign Office has
departed. Downing street is no longer a
terror to the nations. WHAT Mr.. Disraei said |
some few years ago, very much to the disgust |
of proud and self-confdent Englishmen, has
become a literal truth. England has ceased |
to be European and has become an Asiatic
Power. Mr. Gladstone has not by any means
been an unsuccessful Minister. No Prime
Minister of equal ability ever gave himself 50
heartily to the work of domestic reform.
Ireland will long remember him as one of her
greatest benefactors. If it is no longer her
privilege to curse an alien Church, and if her
land tenure system is no longer intoerable, to
Mr.. Gladstone must be given all the praise
and all the glory. If Scotland and England
have not the same cause for grati-
tude, it has 10 be said in Mr.. Gladstone's
favor that he has never been unwilling