6 FEBRUARY 1886, Page 3

The National League certainly does not intend to relax its

hold on Ireland. At the meeting held in Dublin on Monday, Mr. Sexton declared that the whole legislative work of the Empire would continue to be challenged until the Irish Ques- tion was "finally settled." But does Mr. Sexton or any sane man hope that any final settlement is within "measurable distance,"—even if Home-rule is to be granted ? This will be, no doubt, a "new departure," but a new departure which unsettles everything and settles nothing, and which promises us even more than the grave troubles for which the Union was intended to be the remedy. Perhaps, indeed, the Parnellites intend that the legislative affairs of the Empire shall be challenged as long as their party holds its own.