Mr. Gladstone, who was invited to the ceremonial, was unable
to attend ; but on the following day he received an address from the Corporation of Romsey, and made a speech, in which he eulogized Lord Palmerston's preference of public duty to private inclination, but speedily passed on to the policy of conciliating Ireland. His newest point was the injury Ireland suffered from St. George's Channel, " for if we went backwards and forwards from England to Ireland, from among Englishmen to be among Irishmen, as we pass from Hampshire to Wilts, we should long ago have acquired a higher idea of the great duties still incumbent on us in reference to Ireland." That is true, and it is most strange to observe how small a strip of sea suffices to divide men whom no land journey would keep apart ; but what is the remedy ? We can neither bridge nor tunnel the Irish Channel, and no multipli- cation of steamers could help us much. People would not cross the Channel, except on business, if there was a steamer every hour.
