The Queen ' s absence at Balmoral in the middle of a
session of critical conflict compelled the adjournment of the House till Mon- day, and even then Mr. Gladstone's promised explanation cannot be given, as the Queen does not hurry her departure from Balmoral, and is not expected to arrive at Windsor till Tuesday morning. It was impossible of course for men aged and out of health, like Lord Russell and Lord Derby, to flit forwards and backwards over 600 miles, with no further result perhaps than to despatch Lord Stanley or the Duke of Somerset on a similar errand. And as the whole brood of political possibilities cannot go to the Queen, she must necessarily come to the possibilities, and herself turn one or other of them into a reality. As it must be done, and in the meantime the country is in a state of suspended political animation, ,we wish it had been done quicker. There is an apparent ungraciousness in fixing a day for the Queen's return later than that to which Parliament had adjourned, in the full belief that it was an ample term for the purpose, which is =fortunate. The Queen will not, we trust, in future imitate the sun in selecting the longest day for her time of apogee.
