Mr. Fawcett addressed his late constituents at Brighton on Monday
in a long and excellent speech, the most striking feature of which was an admission that Mr. Gladstone's retirement from the leadership would be a loss not only to the Liberal party, but to the whole country. He defended him strongly against the charges of desiring power, and resisting the Church Regulation Bill in the interests of Ritualism. This admission is the more im- portant because, as Mr. Fawcett gently puts it, "nobody can accuse him of unreasonable partiality for Mr. Gladstone." Mr. Faw- cett, we perceive, thinks with us that the conduct of the Government in dealing with the Endowed Schools will stimulate all Liberals to action, and that it has lost much by allowing its followers to make reckless promises which cannot be fulfilled. Indeed, Mr. Fawcett calculates that the Treasury will have to exercise the most frugal economy in order to avoid a deficit, Sir S. Northcote having discounted the natural increment of the revenue more completely than it was ever discounted before.
Previous page
