At the Colston anniversary at Bristol last Saturday, Sir Michael
Hicks-Beach, the Irish Secretary, was the chief speaker at the Conservative, or " Dolphin " dinner ; while Lord Herschell was the chief speaker at the " Anchor," or Liberal dinner. Sir Michael Hicks-Beach reiterated what was said at the Guildhall as to the condition of Ireland, confessing, however, candidly that the Government had brought a certain amount of moral pressure to bear,—of course, without in any way strain- ing the law,—on those landlords who were not disposed to share with their tenants the losses caused by the hard times. The
exaggerative habits of scores of Irishmen, heightened by what is called " Press-enterprise," had done much to mislead the public as to the facts ; but, on the whole, it could not be doubted that the condition of Ireland is much improved. During the last six weeks, outrages had diminished by one-half
compared with what they were in the previous six weeks, and a
more friendly feeling had arisen between landlords and tenants than had prevailed for some time. If the National League should be successful in rousing a new conspiracy against the law, the Government must appeal to Parliament to enforce the law ; but he should make this appeal with a heavy heart. He hoped the investigations of the Land Commission would enable him to propose to Parliament a really remedial measure, and he trusted that the other Commission of Inquiry, into the beat mode of stimulating Irish industries, would also result in some useful measure. We regret to say that on the subject of the closure of debate, Sir Michael intimated that the Government would take great pains to secure what he called the liberty of minorities,— which really means that they would not give Parliament full power to control its own business.
