Mr. Baillie Cochrane seems to have lashed himself rather into
a fever last week, in the Isle of Wight, about the disposition of the people to put a severe construction on the acts of persons in authority. He was quite excited about the disposition to judge the officers of the 'Alberta' severely for the collision with the Mistletoe,' and still more about the public disposition to judge the Admiralty harshly for its instructions as to fugitive slaves- Well, we are quite with Mr. Baillie Cochrane as to the propriety, and even duty, of putting the best construction on ambiguous acts. Only, let the rule be the same all round, and then perhaps it may become a little insipid. We are afraid that Mr. Baillie Cochrane means us to judge leniently of the great people and the Tories, but to judge as harshly as the circumstances warrant the small people and the Liberals. If we remember rightly, Mr. &riffle Cochrane was not so anxious to excuse the late Foreign Office-a&- he appears to be to excuse this. Perhaps after all, the true rule would be,—" Construe big people's actions; strictly, and little
people's liberally; construe your own and your friends' actions strictly, and-your foes' liberally ;" but as far as we can see, it is not a rule on which either Mr. Baillie Cochrane or his allies are at present disposed to act.
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