7 DECEMBER 1878, Page 2

The meeting of Parliament somewhat supersedes Mr. Glad- stone's speech

of Saturday at Greenwich, which was, however, one of his greatest successes. He was extremely moderate, but re- peatedly roused his audience to enthusiasm ; and his peroration, in which be declared the war unjust—" he feared to find it grossly and totally unjust "—held the listeners breathless with excitement. It is absurd even to attempt to condense such a speech, but Mr. Gladstone's main points were that personal government was becoming a serious danger, though the Queen, as he knew from personal experience, had in his time never swerved " from her long-tried fidelity to the well-known, well- understood, and he trusted, immovable principles of the Con- stitution." He instanced the bringing of the Sepoys to Europe, and the constant transaction of great affairs, like the negotiations with Turkey and with the Ameer, without the knowledge of Parliament, as proofs that personal government was advancing. He showed that in Turkey the Tories had secured Russia great advantages which his own Government would have refused, and had now, in restoring half Bulgaria to the Sultan, given her splendid material for intrigue. He utterly repudiated the construction put by Lord Cranbrook upon the Liberal policy in Afghanistan, and expressed his fear that all our expenditure, which he should heartily defend if it were incurred to defend our honour, would be incurred only to secure dishonour by an unjust and, it might be, a long and serious war. The whole speech showed that Mr. Gladstone has lost none of his earlier force, and that his partial retirement from office, whatever the gain to him- self, is pure loss to the country.