With a fisheries dispute on hand with the United States,
there is at least some comfort in the prospect of having so reasonable a Foreign Secretary, and one so well acquainted with the policy and attitude of the American Republic, as Lord Iddesleigh. As Sir Stafford Northcote, he took part in one of the best acts of Mr. Gladstone's first Administration, the Alabama' Treaty,—a part for which be did not escape the censure of his own friends. With him at the head of our foreign affairs, we shall at least have no reason to apprehend either imprudence or boastfulness, and we may hope that he will show a wise firmness and tenacity.
He is above all things rational, and though rationality does not always carry its due weight with Powers like Russia, with such States as the American Union, already friendly in dispositior, and fall of practical common-sense, Lord Iddedeigh is just the man to negotiate successfully.
