So many Unionist Peers desired to take part in the
debate that it has been adjourned till Monday. There is no doubt, however, that the second reading will now be passed, and that the amendments made by the Opposition will be in no sense wrecking amendments, but devoted to the sole object of pre- venting civil war, and preventing it by the minimum and not the maximum of concession to Unionist demands. That is a most difficult and self-sacrificing task for the Unionist leaders to have undei taken, and the oountrs will, we trust, repay them with its confidence and support. The situation is, indeed, most curious one. The muddle into which the country has been brought by the Cabinet is so full of deadly peril that everyone must now lend a hand to help them out of it, no matter how they may dislike the only way out which the Government will permit—namely, the passage of a bad Bill followed by its immediate amendment. The Government are taking advantage of their own malfeasance and making it a ground for turning their political opponents into slaves, who must at their bidding toil at the work of setting right unnecessary evils. The Government are like a man who has made a wide breach in the embankment of a river, knowing that the moment he calls his neighbours they must toil day and night to fill it up lest they should all be drowned together in the flood.
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