New-York tribune., 1882-12-31

| has spent It's lOrce III TIE Iecou iIonl dSS"Soii"
| ton aud systematic lawlessness The Govern
} ,o"t has become steady and cUurag geous, con-
CO 3i)n5 are no longer want0nly misunderstood
..d Mr. Gladstone, after an agonHns
,...... WIN tnc malevOlent spirit Ot PARTISAN
! ship, the forces of agfarian disorder ana Tue
demonG of assassination, has the satisfaction oil
seeing the island gradually settling into state
of acquiescencc and tranquility.
prosperous, and in general sense, tranquil,
il has not been stagnant year. In history the
still waters are not only the deepest, but they
afford unerring indications of those tundamcn-
ta! forces by which the social and political order
Of the world is swayed. The greatest OF these
forces Is the will of modern democracies' Iu
Russia it is stifled and in Germany 1t Is counter
acted bY the personal ascendanCy OF statesman
whose crownng services to the Empire have
given him absolute sway in civil government;
but in the other great States OF the modern
world. the popular will is overmastering, albeit
often inscrutable and consequently mlslntcrpret-
ed. Rarely has that will been more powerfully
oxerted than during the closing year. In Italy
il has acquired force through the extension OF
the electorate, educational suffrage and form
of the Scrutin de Liste. In France it has given
indecent haste every scheme of colonial greed
and commercial aggrandizement. that the
peasantry and industrial classes would not tol-
crate foreign policy of chance and adventure
in Egypt which might lead to European wal
In England it has powerfully sustained
Premier WHO was battling almost single handed
against tremendous forces of lawlessness, class
prejudice and party hate. Ii he has emerged
triumphant from the catastrOphes and compil-
cations of the year. it has been because tue con
stituencies have made themselves felt, not IN
formal elections, but in ways which have not
failed TO IMPRESS timorons Wigs and patriotic
Peers The reform of the antlquated system OF
Parliamentary procedure could not nave peeh
ACCOMPLISHED nor the Arrears bill enacted, II the
country had not given unmistakable evidence
Of ac1diesccnce. In the United states also' the
psople have made known their Will IN no
uncertain way. President who sought to pro-
mote the interests of faction at the expense OF
a great progressive party, has been silenced by
a most emphatic popular rebuke; and party
managers who, because the people had been
silent and irreSolute 50 long, fancied that they
were alone interested in politics ana could 40
as they liked, have been warned that the
constituencies have a Will OF their own and that
there must bo higher levels of legislation and
administration, or else politicians and leaders
will be thrust aside Is there to-day single
Congressman or Senator who has not leaned
that the American people are vtally interested
in efficient government, and in clean, whole
some, self-regulateA and progressive politics
Material prosperity, pacific disposition
among nations, and intelligence and yigoI in
the expression of the popular will, are among
the substantial gains of the year. On the
other hand, the worlds stocl; of genius has
been heavily depleted. The neurology shows
what havoc has been made among the foremost
figures. Italy has lost the Garibaldi who helped
TO make her what she is f; England, the Pusey
who saved her Established Church from
stampede toward Rome by haltng where New
man had parted from him. and Archbishop TAFT,
who left the Anglican Communion lmmeasur-
ably stronger for his statcsmanlike policy;
Russia, her greatest soldiers, SkObelctf and
Kaufman the United States the leaders Of let
ters and science, LOngfellow, Emerson ard the
Drapers and the world its Darwin. the great
est and most original Of modern men Of science.