19 JANUARY 1884, Page 2

A large meeting, attended by many Scotch nobles, was held

in Edinburgh on Wednesday, to persuade Parliament to appoint a Cabinet Minister for Scotland. The argument was, of tourse, that Scotch business does not get on, which just now would be an argument for creating a Minister for England. We do not want more Ministers of State, or more territorial divisions within the Cabinet. Scotland suffers, as England suffers,. from the perversity of Ireland, which would be in no way diminished by seeing another approach to the principle- of federation. If the Scotch really wish for special attention, let them send up a few Members qualified to enter Cabinets, instead of the exceedingly sensible and trustworthy mediocrities to whom they confine their suffrages. With the exception of Mr. Gladstone, they have hardly sent us a first-rate man since the- first Reform Bill, and take, apparently, no pains to pick one. Their Members are an inestimable body, liberal, painstaking, and attentive to their duties, but they are all a little too safe. The Scotch Church has produced men twice as brilliant as the Scotch Representation,