NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE appointment is not yet formally made, but it is evident from Sir Michael Hicks-Beach's renunciation, from the chivalric reference made by Mr. Goschen to his rival in his speech at Cambridge, and from the statements in the papers, that Mr. Balfour is to be First Lord of the -Treasury and Leader of the House of Commons. We still regret the selection, believing that continuous government by the same mind is the first want of Ireland, and that it is ex- pedient before the dissolution to emphasise the influence exercised by the Liberal Unionists over the Old Tories. As, however, Lord Salisbury has decided, and Lord Hartington must have agreed, we can only assure Mr. Balfour of the loyal and cordial support of all true Unionists. He has done splendid work in Ireland, and if he will only restrain a little his disposition to intellectual scorn, and remember that if the House of Commons did not contain a few fools and a great many average men it would not represent the people, he may make a nearly perfect Leader. It is supposed that he will be succeeded in Ireland by Mr. Jackson, the able Secretary to the Treasury, but will retain in his own hands the Bill for establishing County Councils, and, we trust, some general supervision. Ireland will be full of faction for the next twelve months, and her people, who never look beyond her borders, will feel as if a strong restraining influence had been withdrawn. It is not withdrawn ; but Irishmen usually embody a policy in a person.
