Mr. Cowen, M.P. for Newcastle-on-Tyne, and one of the few
Radical Jingoes, though a very able and very honest
man, addressed his constituents this day week in a manly speech, in which we rejoice to observe that he strove to tone down his sympathy with the Government as much as possible, and spoke indeed apologetically of his differ- ences with the Liberal leaders on the politics of Eastern Europe. His audience, on their side, were quite right in ex- pressing their confidence in Mr. Cowen, and refusing to vote a ,censure on him for his independent course in relation to foreign affairs. The truth is, that Mr. Cowen is a distinct force in the House of Commons,—a' man of great honesty and not a little 'eloquence, and though his Jingoism does not do credit to his intellect, the mild and apologetic manner in which he defends himself, shows that he is really open to reason, while his defeat would be an impoverishment of the House. No journal in this country has ever had less sympathy with Mr. Cowen's views concerning Russia in the East than our own, but it would be a blow to the cause of independent parliamentary life, if such a man as Mr. Cowen were to be dismissed solely for forming an eccentric and erroneous opinion of his own on a single class of important subjects, while he contributes so much to the true representation of Liberal opinion throughout almost the whole field of political thought.
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