Year: 1874


appears to be for the remainder of the session pre-
ponderance of those peculiar subjects in which Mr.
Gladstone is so remarkably interested, he
trusted his present appearance might not
be solitary one The oflenSe was
more in the tone and manner in which
the sentence was uttered than III anything else
No doubt it is embarrassing for leader of the Gov
ernment when there is no leader of the Opposition
nobody responsible for what is said and done; no
body on whom blame can be thrown, or with whose
faults the party can be charged as a party. So
plainly has this been that the Opposition, at
first in much concern about their leadership. now
think they get on well without any. am not sure
Mr.. Gladstone may not make a serious mistake IN


letting his party discover that he is not indspensa-
bic. There are mutterings in the ranks No matter
how well satisfied Liberals may be for the moment
with their headless state, the day will come when
they must elect or accept commander. 1t VIII be
Mr.. Gladstone as long he lives or as long as he
chooses to lead. ALI the menaces of revolt which
you hear in certain quarters empty. There will
never be q revolt against Mr. Gladstone while par
ties remain what they are If there is to be reor-
Canization, that is another matter. But there has
been good deal of speculative talk on this matter,
and it still goes on and in default of any exciting
subject in politics. breaks out afresh every now and
then. have written about it once or twice-not
that attribute great immediate significance to IT,
When Mr. Carlwell grew tired Of political life, and
sought the soft repOse of the House of Lords, Mr..
Forster would have succeeded him as heir presump-
tive to the Liberal leadership had it not been for
the Education difficulty which made him, at least
temporarily an object of dislike to the Radicals, and
hence ineligible. The attempt to put up Lord
Harrington failed for obvious reasons The
man to whom good many Liberals now
look is Sir William HarcOurt. Certainly he has
risen faster than any one else lately. lie has tr'i-
liant and solid abilities and has learned to suppress
hls principal disqualification, contempt Ior tue
ability of those about him. don't mean that the
contempt is absolutely extnguished, but that the
demonstrations of it. which used to be somewhat
frequcnt. are kept under He has studied the Honse
and his party, and the country, and great many
other subjects. Perhaps the House is the most diff
cult of them all, but Sir William has succeeded IN
making it like his speeches. from which he has ban
ished the ponderous quality they once were apt TO
have. He is not Radical but some OF the hadicais
are precisely the men who talk of making nm leader
and that politically speaking, Is pretty good PROOF
Of his fitness for the place. Aud he is of good family
which goes great way.


Meantime. with what topics of all Others do you
suppose Mr.. Gladstone has been occupying his mind
in the sOliudes of Hawarden, or wherever be has
beenf Not with Homer, but with the nature OF
everlasting punishment It's meaning intent, ana
scope; and this cheerful subject has been address


ing letters of inquiry to some of his friends eminent
in politics and otherwisefather hard-headed men,
some of them and quite unable to why the chief
of great party should be splitting theological hairs
in the country instead of attending to the business
of the nation in general and of his constituents III
particular in the House of Commons. They are as
unjust and as unreasonably exacting as men usually
are in the case of benefactor from whom they have
got in the habit of expecting great deal Scholars
find. do not speak of Mr.. Gladstones current pa
pers on Homer in The Contemporary Rerieo as very
valuable or likely to add to his fame. They are
reckoned ingenious, but fancful and parts OF them
are not merely opposed to the view held by the lat
est and best scholars of Germany and England but
seem to have been written in ignorance of IT,


Mr.. Disrae seems IN rather better health than for
some weeks past but still subject to sort of lass-
tude most unusual with him. There are whispers
that he is less despotic, and even less influential
with his Cabinet than a leader who has majority
Of fifty behind him may expect to be. He certainly
did have gout but nobody suppOses he is likely to


LET the rens slip out of his hands from the twinges
Of pan he has to endure. Nor do | see any signs of
fresh strength accrung to the cabal which Lord
Salisbury and Lord Derby were supposed to have
organized. Lord Derby himself is reported In un-
certain health. The story of characterization
among the Peers generally is all nonsense great
deal has been made OF the meeting to which Mr.
DieraeE summoned them. 1t was vaTiously said
that they were sent for TO be educated up to some
rovy measure to be entrcated to attend better TO
their political duties and to be apologized to by the
Prime Minister for his failure TO treat them with due
respect about something or other. | may state on
the authority Of one who was present that the only


-ff,frA Aatf 4
incredible, it is not my fault.


Circulating slowly last night through a rather
crowded drawing room. encountered what at first
took to be singular illusion, or perhaps an appa-
rition very solid one, certainly, turned six feet
/ liol, stalWart with q strong bTonZcd, handsome
face ceaT-eved and large brOwed Ii bore strange
resemblance to an individual whom l fully be-
lcved TO be at that moment in Cincinnati, and 1t
was in fact Mr.. Murat Halstead. He told me, as he
looked at his watch, that it wanted six hours of
beng a fortnight since he had left home. He had
landed that morning at southampton, seen Netley
Abbey before coming To London, and found his way
out to Mr. CODway's house IN season to be brought
back TO the party where / met him. And
there are people who doubt whether the energy of
this generation is as great the last. Mr..
| Halstead is going to Iceland, but before
he starts will cross the channel and see
| Paris ] can Just guess he may also Mr..
! Nashbume Among other recent arrivals are DR..
Fordyce Barker and Mr. Clarence Seward of New
York Nir Writ Dexter, the eminent lawyer of Chi
capo has been here for some days Judge HOadley
of Cincinnati came by the same steamer as Mr.. Hal
stead, and is expected in London Saturday. The
season for Americans has fairly set in, unhappily


lust as the London is going out, so that Amer
lcans miss a great deal they ought to see, and a
great many persons who would like to see them; or


some of them. The hot weather has come, and that