Of course Mr. Chamberlain's letter was at once seized on
by Sir William Harcourt, who writes to a correspondent suggest. ing that Mr. Chamberlain may perhaps be assumed to have obtained the Duke of Devonshire's support to Disestablish- ment in Wales, and that, at all events, the Welsh supporters of Disestablishment have a right to know whether this is to be the new Liberal Unionist programme or not. He asks whether Welsh Disestablishment is to be a new plank in the Unionist candidate's creed in Rossendale, and whether a Welsh advocate for Disestablishment would be safe in offering his support to the Unionists. There, of course, Sir William Harcourt justly hesitates ; nor do we think that any Welsh advocate for Disestablishment is at all likely to give his vote for a Unionist, unless he cares a great deal more for the Union than he does for Disestablishment,—a somewhat rare state of mind, we fear, among Welsh Dissenters. But the true inference from the present attitude of all parties is, that the outlook for the Welsh enthusiasts for Disestablishment is exceedingly gloomy, whether Mr. Gladstone wins, or Lord Salisbury.
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