The morning call., 1893-05-21
PLAIN BRUTALITY.
Characteristic Treatment
of Gladstone.
HIS YEARS WON NO RESPECT
Bitter Partisan Strife Animating the
English of All Classes-What 1t
May Lead To.
Special to THE MORNING CALL.

New YORK. May 2o.-Harold Frederick
ca bes the Times from London as follows;
1t is highly typical of the existing state
Of affairs in Great Britain that we should
see the foremost liberal paper in London
devoting a long leader to PIerce's life of
Char es Sumner and picking out the Bully
Brooks incident as one fit to serve pecu-
liar and opportune warning on English
men of to-day.
There can be no doubt that this tragic
episode Of our abolition history, which the
Daily News recountS as a moral for poll
ticlans against the use of hard words, de-
serves to be studied seriously here.
IL would be difficult to exaggerate the
virulence and bitterness of partisan hatred
in to which the chief uniOnist orators during
the past six months have succeeded in
lashng their followers. These in turn
react upon leaders and force them into
still further excesses.
This passionate rhetoric is producing a
situation full of menacng possibilities.
We have already one weak-brained homic-
dal ass awaiting his trial for trying to shoot
Gladstone and the papers to-day are full
Uf accounts of the missile thrown with VIC
lence at the train on which Gladstone was
returning from Hawarden on Thursday,
the missile failing to hit his compartment,
but crashing through an adjoining one,
and just grazing the sacerdotal visage of
the Dean of Chester.
This affair may easily belong to the cat
egory OF vicious boy play, which of late
has been pestering all suburban railway
lines, but it hts in ominously with what
the public mind has Deen nervousy appre-
hending as an outcome of all this savage
and stupid excitement to political madness.
When you find crowd of clergymen and
professional religionists, convened in Exc
ter Hall by the Protestan. Alliance, wildly
cheering the declaration of their speakers
that Glads tone is guilty of treason far
worse than that which has brought many
a minister to the block, it is small wonder
that hysterical groundlingS should 90 off
their balance.
But if there be anxiety as to what some
of these unidentified hangers-on may 90.
there is still deeper disgust at what these,
who call themselves the ntlemanly party,
are doing.
Even Tory friends of mine who attended
the vast crush at the Imperial Institute
Wednesday night came away furious at
the abomnabe kissing and hooting of
Gladstone by whole long lines of men and
women in evening dress.
The venerable Premier's absence from
the pageant at the Queens opening of the
institute during the previous week was
gleefully construed by the Tory papers ut
the time, it will be remembered, as evi-
den that he was afraid to meet the in
telligence and culture Of the West Esd Of
London. but upon the Prince OF Wales
personal invitation, he attended the recep-
ton this week. and after dinner walked in
the procession. which the Prince headed,
through the thrOnged galleries and corri-
dors of the building, separated by only a
few yards from the royal party. This
proximity did not save him from almost
continuous insult at the hands of the
snob classes. jeweled and titled women
pushing forward and craning their necks
out to hiss, and some of their attendant
cavaliers. according 10 the report in the
Tory Globe, adding catcalls of an offensive
nature.
1t was, in short, the most disgraceful
exhibition of brutality and foul manners
that any English speaking people has
made in our time.
The depressing rumor that Lewis Nor
ris IS going to DE made the poet laureate is
again on its rounds, and this time the peo-
ple who have the means of knowing say
they really think it likely that this clearly
is the case. However, incredulity is en-
titlsd to hold out to the very last pitch