THE LIBERAL LEADERS AND THE WAR.
(To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.")
Stn,—At the opening of Parliament, two announcements were made on behalf of the Liberal party,—first, that they would not oppose the granting of Supplies, for, as Lord Hartington said, as the war had been begun, it must be carried on vigorously ; secondly, that they would move a Vote of Censure on the Government, because, in effect, the latter had begun an unjust war.
The position, then, as it seems to me, which the Liberal leaders have taken up is this :—They willingly—I might almost say, ostentatiously—offer the means of carrying on a war which they declare to be unjust, and then, because the war is unjust, they do their best to turn out the Government for beginning it, they themselves being pledged, if successful, to carry on with effect what they propose to turn out their opponents for beginning.
It is as if one of the same household, say, as myself, without excuse and against my will, broke into a neighbour's house, where I find him maiming and killing the inmates and destroying their goods. 1 profess indignation proportioned to so great a crime, but the first thing I do is to provide the necessary means for carrying on his work ; next, I turn him out of the house ; and what do I then do P Succour the wounded, and make what reparation I can to the injured ? No! knock them on the head as the truest mercy. For it must be remembered that unless a sufficient number of them are so treated, they, not being perfect Christians, might some day retaliate ; while it would clearly be dangerous to the household I belong to, if the neighbouring house- holders should hold as low an opinion of our power as, under the circumstances, they fairly might of our justice.
The heaviest charge, I think, which lies against Lord Beacons- field is that he, more than any one, has confused and bewildered the moral sense of his party, but it seems now that this moral bewilderment is no longer confined to one party only.—I am, Sir,
Previous page
