The appointment of Lord Hartington as Secretary for Ireland promises
to be a godsend to the agitators for Home Rule. His debut surpasses the wildest exploits of Sir Robert Peel. We are curious to see whether one Irish member not in office will venture to vote for the Secret Committee of Inquiry into the agrarian disorder of Westmeath and its neighbouring districts, which Lord Hartington is to demand on Monday. We do not remember that such a committee has been asked for in Irish affairs since 1798, when Lord Castlereagh obtained one from the Irish Parliament to examine the leaders of the United Irishmen. The return to such a precedent at such a time would offend all Liberals, even were the demand not a confession that the permanent Secret Committee of both Houses—the Cabinet—felt unequal to its responsibilities. If it is to examine witnesses, their names and their tendencies will be telegraphed every day to Dublin ; and if not, what is it to be, except a buffer, like M. Thiers' Commission of Fifteen, between the Executive and its duties ? There may be' explanations possible
but at present it looks as if the Irish Secretary had a sudden access of the disorder known in Ireland as Terry-Alt on the brain.
