The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1884-12-04
AN ENGLISH WEBSTER.
The Marquis of Salisbury I'm tho House OF
Lords.


Lords.
A very big English gun is my lord
the Marquis of Salisbury. He is to-
day Daniel Webster in English poll
tics. Opponents style him political
wrecker, and characterize him as
naughty, bitter, and aristocratic; yet
all concede his surprising abilities, es-
pecially as parliamentary debater.
When Salisbury is pitted against Glad
stone-and when are they not pitted
against each other ?-we have a contest
worth looking at.
1 saw Salisbury in the House OF
Lords; and, in wandering through the
magnificent rooms of his grand old ba-
ronial hall, Hatfield House, his face,
with the faces of a long line of his
famous ancestors, looked down upon
me from their walls. This man is idol
ized-almost deiied-by wide circle
of English Conservatives; and his re-
captions at the great Conservative raj
lies in Parliament out of session are
grand affairs. Stately committees
meet him, made up of the most power
full lords of the district; and horses are
dragged from his carriage by men who
consider it an honor to take their
places. His speeches are strong, elo-
quent, full of will, life, and living inter-
est. Not long ago he held forth to a
rally of many thousands at Plymouth.
In front of the balcony from which he
harangued, Shakespeare spoke thus In
letters of blue upon gold ground:
Lift up thy noble brow renowned Salisbury.
And with great heart heave away this storm
For honorable rescue, and defense
Cries out upon the name Of Salisbury.
1t was from this bal cony that Sails
bury uttered peroration in defense of
his course on the Egyptian question
which possesses a burning eloquence
hard to match anywhere:
Il stand in town which has wit
messed and been partner in the glorious
deeds of England for centuries back
You have seen the greatness of England
built up as it were brick by brick. 1t
has cost many sacrifices, the pouring
out of much precious blood, the squan-
dering of abundance of treasure, and
the supreme efforts of many noble
minds. Do you imagine that this is a
mere chimera we have followed all
these centuries, as we are sometimes
told? Do you imagine that we should
be the England that we are if our fore
fathers had not done the deeds which
we admire, and which L am now ex-
horting you to initiate? Do you think
that if you had never conquered India,
or if you had never resisted Napoleon,
you would be q happier, more peace
full, more prosperous, a more content
ed nation? MOI MOI and cheers. 1t
is no mere chimera that you follow. No
doubt the impulse which leads men to
heroic deeds, and which leads people to
great exertions and great sacrifices, is
not founded on calculation; it is the
peculiarly of heroic sentiments and
noble characters. But it is false phi
losophy to say that it is thin and
shadowy sentiment. Sentiment is q
noble thing in itself. Sentiment in it
self makes men better citizens-the be-
lief that they belong to great empire,
with great traditions, with great hopes,
ornamented by distinguished names and
splendid exertions; that belief, think,
makes every citizen himself work bet
ter in his own sphere, and impresses
and purifies the national character, by
which we all exist But it does more
than this. Undoubtedly we should
avoid anything like an unnecessary,
intermeddling, adventurous policy. But
your empire, if we mean it to live, must
grow, must steadily grow. If it ceases
to grow it will begin to decay. Loud
cheers. That empire rests not merely
on the vainglorious spirit of a hollow
imagination, but it rests upon the
sound basis of the extension of inter.
course between the civilized and the
uncivilized portions of the world, and il
is the foundation and the necessary
condition of that commercial prosper
ity and of that industrial activity which
are the bread of life to millions Of oul
people. - Cor. Boston Commercial
Bulletin.