Ireland seems discontented at the exclusion of Irishmen from the
Cabinet, which contains only Lord Cairns, who is no longer in any sense a resident in Ireland, nor, indeed, deeply interested in the Irish side of political life. It is true that Mr. Bourke is Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Lord George Hamilton for India, but these are not offices in which the Irish policy of the Government is liable to be canvassed. Again, no place has been given to Mr. Plunket,—it is said that he was offered the Solicitor-Generalship, which he wisely declined, on the ground that he was not a practising barrister,—while th e Irish Secretary, and his master the Home Secretary, are both typical Englishmen, with, if anything, a slight anti-Catholic bias.. Nevertheless, we do not see-why-the Irish are dissatisfied. It was- they -who broke up Mr. Gladstone's Government, and the Tories of course came in on a policy not of concession, but of firmness, to Ireland. Where is the advantage of having Irishmen in office to break to Ireland that it has nothing to expect from their- masters ?
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