New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-01-20
REopENING OF PARLIAMENT.

sARY BuRDRNs-EIs eGIF-ASsERTING LEADERs
sHIP-TEE GREAT STATESMAN ALSO A GREAT
SLEEPER 7' .-' w..
fyRon TIE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE rRrBUxE.l
LONDON, Jan. Establishment assemblies to-day
in few hoursw shall know the text of the royal
message. Of which the substance has been given
these two days past in the papers; and by to-mor-
morning the world will be In possession OF the
still fuller statements of Ministers touching the
called coercion of Ireland, the Irish Land BILL and
all the rest OF 1t. The politicians professional and
amateur will have their hands full for another six
months full Of Ireland, since everybody agrees
that this is to be Irish session. That means that
it Ia to b prominently Mr.. Gladstones session;
that heavier share of Parliamentary work is to fall
upon him than rrpon anybody else--one might al
most say than upon almost all the other ministers
put together. Dir. Forster, it is true, is to
bring In the Coercion bill, upon which
the first great struggle of the session will come.
But IL Is certain that Mr.. Gladstone will be heard,
and heard repeatedly upon that, upon every
other question relating to Ireland. The Land bill he
will himself introduce. and, however holly the meas
ures for keeping the peace in Ireland may be con-
tested the opposition to any possible Land bill will
be more strenuous, more diversified and moro pro-
longed If for no other reason than that the oppo-
nents nd critics Of it will come from both sides OF
the house and from oil sections of both factions 1t
is agreed that Mr.. Gladstone is the only man who
can carry Land bill, and that since 1t Is so largely
made up of detail and will be resisted in detail and
by every sort Of insidious amendment whoever has
charge Of it must have charge of it all the time.
Among the many factors therefore, which will
20 to the making or marring Of the coming session
not the least important is the state of Mr. Glad
stones health which, again, will depend not
little upon the Parliamentary habits he may resolve
H. 49, ;s,f;
and he has persevered in making drafts on 1t which
have somewhat reduced the reserve on which man
of seventy must rely 1t is secret that his recent
illness brought this home to him and has left such
, mark upon him as neither he nor his friends can
pretend not to see. His most conspicuous public
appearance since that date was at the Lord Mayors
dinner at the Guildhall last November. In voice,
in look in energy aud animation Of manner. ne was
then q much changed man. There was marked
diminution of vital force from that which jast .
year before had astOnished every spectator and
nearer during that amazing Midlothian campaign.
At the Guildhall he had but a single speech TO
make of no great duration though of great import
ance He had undergone no previous fatigue. He
had been exposed neither to inclemency Of weather
nor the wearying homage of great masses of fervid
admirers. Yet, Whereas in Midlothian he had
shown splendid indifference to exposure and toll
at the Guildhail he was manifestly saw
ing his strength. His manner was almost
languid The incompatible voice which. in
Edinburgh at the end of week of incessant speak
ing and exertiOn had made itself heard almost with
ont effort by twenty thousand people III Waverley
Market, was audible with difficulty in the outer
ranks of q company which numbered hardly thou
sand people. IL was Yelled softened and carefully
economical. He bent over the table as he
spoke do used few gestures. At times no
was almost dull At no time did he put forth to the
full the old strength. The face seemed thin, the
eyes sunken, the hair fell more Imply over the
grand arch of the forehead He was obviously an
older and weaker man, though still younger than
anybody else and still capable of thrice the work
which most men of his years pretend to attempt.
He himself says indeed, that he never could speak
at the Guildhal, that the audience is uncertain
and that all the circumstances are unlavorable 10
oratorioal effect Very likely the Jlngo temper Of
the City of London. aud the rattle of dishes. and
the murmur Of Inbred people who will not listen,
may have bad something to do with the moderate
success of Mr.. GadstOnes speech Oh that occasion.
But they could not have affected his DersOnal3p-
pearance and the signs Of weaker health were as
marked when he entered the library before dinner
as when he rose to speak at the table He was by
no means I'll then any more than now, but neither
was he then, il he now. in condition to go on
taking liberties With himself without limit as OF
old.
Remembering this, Mr.. Gladstone's friends are
most selections about the effect of such session as IS
now expected upon bis health and upon the for
tunes of his party and upon the immediate future
of the country which is 80 bound up with his life
and strength. They have made-it is well known
thew have inade-the most strenuous efforts to per-
suade Mr.. Gladstone to renquish some Of the more
arduous aud exhausting duties which 1t las been
his habit regard heretofore as devolvng upon him
individually Many of his predecessors have been
content to leave many Of these duties to their
subordinates. No one Of them ever took so wide
view of the obligations incumbent on Prime
Minister and Leader of the House as Mr. Gladstone
takes Add to this the third Office he holds-that of
Chancellor of the Exchequer-and it is easy to SEQ
that the burdens resting upon Mr. Gladstone's
shoulders are such IL needs the force Of an Atlas
to sustain Not less certain is it that Independently
of consideration for their chiefs health many OF his
colleagues woud be ready to accept with satisfaction
a moro unchecked control over the matters incident
to their own departments. There has been at times
what almost amounts to q complaint that Mr.
Gladstone exercises q too close, too minute,
too continual supervision over purely depart
mental work. and over purely administrative de-
tails A hundred times he has been known
to take upon himself the defence of q challenged
measure when the Minister who had charge Of it
was in his place and ready to do battle for his Off
spring Mr. Gladstone sees clearly the right thing
to be said at given moment and feels at the same
tmesuch an irresistible impulse to say it himself
that nobody else has chance. Whenever he has
been in Office, or whenever he has been leader OF
the Opposition he has made it rule to sit out all
debates. He has felt, and everybody else has felt,
that at critical moment-above ALL at tho close Of
long discussion, aud just before division is to be
taken--n0body eau intervene with anything like his
power or bis authority. II is idle to talk about a