Mr. Courtney delivered an interesting address to his Cornish constituents
at Menheniot on Monday. The Gladstonians, he said, were pledged to do strong things with a very weak majority. The country had spoken, but in a very hesitating way. Moreover, the majority was very composite, and almost any one of its elements might at any time desert Mr. Gladstone. This would necessarily make his Government dubious as to what it could wisely undertake. But it made it all the more the duty of the Opposition not to finesse with any of the dis- contented factions to turn out Mr. Gladstone. As long as the Ministry were moderate, they should be encouraged in their moderation; and they had been very wise and moderate in relation to the Trafalgar Square meetings. It was only fair that they should have the opportunity of trying to fulfil their many great promises, and should not be turned out prematurely by a combination of heterogeneous parties. Perhaps Mr. Courtney went too far in asking that even Mr. Gladstone's Home-rule Bill should not be condemned unheard. In one sense, of course, it cannot be condemned till it has been produced. But if Mr. Courtney meant to suggest that even Unionists might indulge in a faint hope that Mr. Gladstone would produce a safe and satisfactory scheme, he was carrying complaisance to a point that suggests compromise of principle. We should not ask a man to withhold his judgment as to a kicking horse till he had driven it in his own trap, unless he wished to see the trap kicked to pieces.
