10 FEBRUARY 1894, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

MR. GLADSTONE'S DILEMMA.

WE do not wonder that Mr. Gladstone hesitates between resignation and a fresh effort on behalf of his policy, his party, and his colleagues in the Cabinet. To a mind like his, which interprets the urgency of his own eager hopes as a "sign to the ages" of the divine will, it must be almost impossible not to interpret the revival of his own energies under the stimulus of that fresh Biscayan breeze as an indication that something is yet required of him before he bids adieu to public life. He bethinks himself, no doubt, of what he owes to the party which he has led into this difficult position ; of the embarrassment which will fall on his colleagues, none of whom (unless it be Mr. Morley, and even that is doubtful) are fired by his own enthusiasm for the policy which he alone could have persuaded them to accept; and most of all, of that fond dream of transforming an unhappy and dis- contented province into a loyal and willing ally whom his imagination has never ceased to present to him in the attitude of grateful and warm co-operation with the higher English aims. He thinks, too, of the plight in which he will necessarily leave his friends if he retires, with a heavy financial deficit, a party divided between the hope of raising the rate of wages and the margin of leisure by one and the same stroke, the hope of setting theology free from the shackles of an Erastian rule, and the hope of realising his own vision of a free, exultant, and pacified Ireland ; and bitterly needing his authority to unite them in choosing between the rival claims of these various com- petitors for popular favour. Naturally enough, therefore, his failing sight and imperfect hearing, shrink into com- parative insignificance beside the thought of the sentence passed on one who, having put his hand to the plough, yet looks back fondly to his home and. his rest. May not this be just the last trial of his faith ? May not one more blow for the cause for which he has now laboured during eight years of the last decade of his almost unparalleled official industry, fulfil all his hopes, and give the crowning touch to that enterprise which no one but himself could even have ever brought within the purview of practical btatesmanship ? We do not wonder, we say, that these dreams still haunt that sanguine and imperious imagination. But yet it is time that Mr. Gladstone gave some deliberate con- sideration to the other side of the question. Is it not about time to take stock of the strength of the genuine conviction which he has inspired in his own policy without the some- what artificial stimulus of his own great personal influence ? Has there not been enough of that tender and fostering guardianship of an infant cause to give it every chance, if it has really taken root, of growing to health and vigour without all this artificial aid ? Is it conceivable that, at his age, with every physical principle within him crying out for rest, he can do much more on behalf of his favourite policy unless, without his aid, it would be equally secure ? Can there be a better or sounder test of its solidity than this, that after a much longer campaign on its behalf than he could reasonably have hoped for at the time he first em- braced it, it can show itself able to dispense with his aid ? When, at the age of seventy-six, he first launched it on its Parliamentary career, did he so much as hope that he should have been able to champion it through seven long years of adversity, and finally to carry it triumphantly through the House of Commons after he had reached the age of eighty-three ? Having done as much as that, is it not full time to test its vitality by withdrawing the advantage of his own personal protection ? Can he pos- sibly think that if, with that shelter withdrawn, the newly planted tree withers away because it has made no real root, a few months of the ebbing strength of a man of fourscore and four years can save it from destruction ? Would it not now be the greater act of faith to trust this darling policy of his own hale old age to the tender care of those whom he has induced to adopt it, and not to persuade himself that he can still do much, which he has not already done, to promote and secure its ultimate triumph ? Besides, is he not aware that in his eagerness to win for his policy fresh adherents, he is toy- ing with other policies, with which, if he fairly interrogated his own mind, he would find that his own sympathy is extremely hesitating ? Can any one doubt, that when he received the great labour deputation and threw cold water on the hopes of those who were crying out for an Eight Hour Bill, he was really expressing his own deepest convic- tions on one of the most important economic questions of his life? Is it wise to go further in the same direction and commit himself to so great an innovation as a graduated. property-tax, in order to win the adhesion of the demo- cracy in this evil hour of financial depression,—and yet is it not come to this, that some such policy will be forced upon him, if he is to conciliate the English Radicals and the Labour party, as well as to make both ends meet, during the next three months? Would it not be much more an act of faithlessness than of faith, to win adherents to his Irish policy by a very half-hearted surrender to views whi;th he has often opposed, and sometimes even appeared to denounce ? To our minds, Mr. Gladstone would not, even from his own point of view, be showing the confidence which he no doubt really feels in his cause, if, conscious that his physical powers are failing him, as he himself has told us, he yet hesitates to com- mit the policy of his old age to the keeping of those advocates of it whom he has gained during the long uphill battle of these last eight years, and shows so little belief in the arbitrament of time that he cannot put off his armour even when he finds it almost too heavy to bear.

In the interests of his country, which, after all, has a stronger claim on him than either his colleagues or his party, it is nearly time that this long controversy should see an end, and it cannot see an end until it is possible to judge how far Mr. Gladstone's great personal ascendency has overridden the political instincts of the people of Great Britain. If, as he believes and hopes, he has only been the eloquent exponent of the convictions which have slowly grown in the best and soberest minds in the Kingdom, then he may feel the utmost confidence that these convictions will continue to grow and spread when his own persuasive voice is no longer heard. If it is otherwise, he must surely admit that he has failed, and that in spite of his great eloquence and his possibly too manifest willingness when urged to go a mile with any other dubious party,—the Labour party or the Dis- establishment party, or the party in favour of a relaxed Poor-law,—to go with them not only one mile, but twain, —he has not converted the people of this country to the exodus of Ireland from the present Union. Yet if that be so, it is nearly time that we should know it. Eight years is a long probation for the new policy. If in that period it has not outgrown the need of the gardener's fostering hand, then it is evident, unless he is count- ing on a lifetime even longer than that of Moses, that he cannot hope himself to conduct the new party into the promised land. And he confesses that he is already conscious that his career approaches its close. That confession marks a new stage in the controversy. It makes the Ministry of Mr. Gladstone avowedly a sus- pensive one, and a suspensive Prime Minister,—a Prime Minister who may ask at any moment to be relieved of his duties,--is not a healthy element in politics. Political time-bargains are dangerous things, and a great party with such a leader is sure to indulge in very speculative time-bargains indeed. We cannot help thinking, then, that Mr. Gladstone would show both more faith in his cause, and more consideration for his country, if he gave in to his evidently eager craving for rest, and did not yield to the pressure of colleagues who know so little what is to come that their only thought is, Every hour saved is an our gained,'—which is true ; though the hour gained is gained only for prolonged uncertainty, which is prolonged weakness, and has been prolonged already beyond all reason.