New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-05-19
A GREAT MN KISSED.

Emerson once said "The English-thcir
god is Precedent" There was precedent for
the insults hcapcd upon Mr.. Gladstone at the
ROYAL reception in the Imperial Institute.
street mob not many years ago Kissed and boot
ed at the Liberal leader because his voice had
rung out, as solemn as a prophets, in denuncia-
ton of diplomacy of dishonest intrigue, vul-
car show and inordnatc greed. MIR. Gladstone
had emerged from political retirement TO brand
the Bulgarian outrageS as crimes against civil
izaton, and to condemn Lord Bcaconsiiclds
Government for condoning the barbarity of the
Turk. Ills warnings brought obloquy upon
him. lie was not only coarsely lampOoned by
the Prime Minister and snubbcd by rank and
fashion, but was also pursued by angry crowds
singing lingo songs and heaping insults upon
him. The classes have borrowed the manners
of the Whtcchapel mob. They have made use
of a royal function for displaying their dislike
of Mr.. Gladstone in the cOarscst way. His APP
pcarancc at the Imperial Institute was the sig
nal for Kisses, hooting and uproar from one of
the largest and most brilliant throngS ever
sembled in social London.
While extremes have me. in d>honoring at
different periods the veteran tribune OF the
English democracy, there is the same element
of unreason in both exhibitions of partisan spite
and malcvolence. The street mobS which
howlcd at Mr.. Gladstone as British traitor
and flung stones and mud at the windows of
his residence did not pause 10 reflect that i'll
insulting him they were d,scrcditng the ntcli
gcnce and mpeaching the patriotism Of the
great popular audiences which had been APP
pIaudng his denunciationS Of Turkish inhuman-
ity and un-English diplomacy. They enjoyed
the tawdry tinsc and excitement of lingo poll
tics, and instinctivcly Kissed the man who was
spelling the fun. Rank and fashion assem-
bled at tho Imperial Institute were equally
irrational in displaying their hostility Ia the
man whose politics they loahed. They did not
wait to consider that Mr. Gladstone was the
guest Of the Prince Of Wales and that their
Kisses were insults 10 royalty; or that a week
before they had been dcnouncng the Prime
Minister for staying away from IN Imperial
function and were now on the point OF abusing
him for coming or that officially he was the
Quecns Prime Minister and the chosen repre-
sentative of the people of the United Kingdom.
Before them was the man whom they united in
hating on account of his championship OF pop
uar causes. They, too, like the mob in the
streets fifteen years before, rccolcd from him
with groanS and Kisses.
"Thc Spectator" recently referred to Esquire
Abingdon as the representative Of patr-
clan class a. old as the Roman Empire,
under which young men of vast fortune were
the companions Of gladiators and racing
characters, just as he associated with prize
fighters eXuted in his stud and rode in matches
as jockey. Although he was born to fort
unc and was surrounded by the refining nfu-
cnces Of education and the enlightened opinion
of an age of progress, the blood Of the old
time dog-lighting. pony racing Scotch squres
was in him. lie could not enjoy life without
the excitement which came from iierc appeals
to the lower passions, and SO he passed his time
III violent dcyiltry of every kind. Ii is possible
that an analogy can be drawn between the in
grained brutality of the millionaire ruflan and
the passionate resentment and coarse manners
Of the fashionable throng in the Imperial IN
stitute. With all the polish and social train
ing and gentle refinement Of the world of Lon
don fashion, there is a survival Of some Of the
fierce instincts and intocrant judgments of old
time patrcians Hatred Of the aged statesman.
who has turned tho United Kingdom upside
down and stands for Robert Burnss gospel that
"a mans man for a that" found vent in
Kisses, groans Of derision and an uproar of
angry voices.
AS Mr.. Gladstone survived the insolcnt at
tack Of the mob in the streets of London, so
he will not be harmed by the bad manners of
the ruflans in velvet who have insultcd him at
the royal reception. History is not made by
people of high low degree kissing at states
man whose politics they dislike. The furry of
excitement passes, and they are CONSCIOUS of
having been brutal or hammered. The states
man swayod by moral convictions aud humane
purposes persovcrcs in his work as though moth
ing had happened