Lord Randolph Churchill has quitted England for a stay of
some weeks in Southern Europe. The step was unexpected, and all kinds of explanations are offered ; but we are inclined to believe his own is nearly true. He is ill, and he feels Parliamentary worry as even Lord Iddesleigh did not. The latter only felt treachery. Rather to the surprise of poli- ticians, Lord Randolph on Monday delivered, under cover of a speech on the Address, a second explanation of his resignation. His objects were apparently three,—to punish Unionists for replacing him, to stab Lord Salisbury, and to advertise his own devotion to economic finance. He effected the first by calling the Unionist alliance a precarious one, and hinting that the " cratch " might be thrown aside; the second, by describing Lord Salisbury as "a master of tactics" who had contrived to make him appear to resign on the defence of the coaling-stations; and the third, by repeating the ultra-Radical doctrine that the best way for a nation to be strong was to keep its money in its pocket. That is nonsense. A man is usually the stronger for a note in his puree, but not when a thief is watching him. Then he may wisely break his note to purchase a stout stick.
