great leaders of public opinion without exciting either
indignation or surprise, it may be worth the while of Englishmen to
spend a few hours in making themselves acquainted with the volumes which
we have cited at the head of this article. Most men are so absorbed in
what is going on immediately under their eyes, that they seldom bestow a
thought upon the remoter portions of the vast territory which
acknowledge allegiance to the Queen. They have but the most vague ideas,
or none at all, concerning the thoughts, wishes, and purposes, of the
large and growing communities which sprung from these islands, and which
have hitherto been proud of their English origin. It is true that this
pride has not been increasing of late years. The neglect or contempt
with which the Colonies have been treated by successive Liberal
Administrations did much to estrange the people, especially of Canada
and Australasia, and the whole foreign policy of England under Mr.
Gladstone's rule served to strengthen the general impression that our
decadence had not only set in, but was advancing with a rapidity which
was palpable to all the world except to those who were chiefly concerned
in arresting it. Mr. Froude tells us that one of the shrewdest and most
eminent of all the colonists whom he met expressed his amazement at the
popularity in this country of Mr. Gladstone,--an amazement which, Mr.
Froude adds, is felt 'wherever the English language is spoken' outside
England itself. We can fully confirm this statement. The hold which Mr.
Gladstone retains upon the country, after the long series of
unparallelled mistakes which a faithful view of his career must forever
associate with his name--the mistakes abroad, the mistakes at home, the
crowning and almost incredible mistakes in Ireland; that he should still
keep his hold of power and popularity after all this, absolutely passes
the understanding of our fellow-subjects abroad, no matter what politics
they profess. To them, we appear to be a people controlled by some
Circean spell, having cast common-sense and prudence to the winds, and
decided to be ruled henceforth by the man who can tickle our ears with
the longest speeches and the smoothest words. Byron was accustomed to
say that he looked upon the opinion of America as the verdict of
posterity. It is certain that our own kinsfolk beyond the seas are
sometimes in a far better position to realize the consequences of what
we are doing here than those