NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE Elections are over, and the result is practically a tie between the Liberals on the one hand, and the Tories, plus the Parnellites, on the other. As the Parnellites only enter Parliament to injure and weaken England, that is a singular situation which the leaders will have to think oat very carefully. We do not believe they have thought it out yet, and greatly distrust the rumours of " plans " which are flying about so thickly. One of them, that Lord Salisbury will not resign, is probably true; but the remainder must be, at all events, premature. Neither Lord Salisbury nor Mr. Glad- stone can have made their minds up yet, and then Mr. Parnell has to make up his mind. Moreover, there is a fourth person to be considered, and that is the Queen. If we understand our later Constitutional history, whenever no party can claim a clear majority, the Sovereign regains much of her arbitrating authority, if only because she can grant, withhold, or compel an early Dissolution. We sincerely trust that no leader on either side will act without ample time for consideration, and would deprecate even the early issue of manifestoes. Let us know a little better what the new 321 Members of Parliament are. Forty-seven of them are, it is true, only funnels for Mr. Parnell's thoughts, but 274 of them have minds.
