26 SEPTEMBER 1874, Page 1

We regret to hear that Mr. Disraeli's visit to Ireland

has been postponed, and we still more regret the cause,—a sharp attack of bronchitis, caught during his visit to Scotland, which has led his physician to forbid his making any long journey or speaking in public for some time. It is a great loss. Mr. Disraeli has had Ireland on his mind for a long time,—any time for the last forty years ; and even lately, in " Lothair," he candidly acknowledged that Irish questions take a great deal of considering. But after forty years of considering, it is quite certain that speaking in Ireland, on Ireland, and to Ireland, he would find something very original, certainly suggestive, and perhaps even sublime, to say. It is especially to be regretted that he cannot go now, because there seems to have been a general understanding, extending even to the Fenian and philo-Fenian parties, that he was to be respectfully. and even kindly received; and these truces of good- humour, in which sweetness and light prevail, are latterly as rare in Ireland as a whole month of sunny weather. However, it remains to be hoped that the attention Mr. Disraeli may have been giving to Ireland in view of his visit may yet affect in some degree the policy of his Government. Though the Church has been disestablished, Ireland, suffers from a " weak Executive" and an "absentee aristocracy." These ancient grievances hang

heavy on Mr. Disraeli's "historical conscience." Now is his time to redress them.