The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1893-03-04
LORD ROsEBERY.
He Has Risen to Eminence as a
Statesman by Sheer Ability
and Industry.
A FUTURE PRIME MINISTER,
Though Born to the Purple and Of
Noble Ancestry He is Emil
nently Democratic.

nently Democratic.
The effective manner in which the
young kbedive has been disciplined and
sent back in disgrace to the poll ical
nursery, which England keeps for his
especial benefit in Cairo, for his attempt
TO defy British rule, has served to br ng
prominently before the world one of the
most remarkable men in English pub
lie life with the exception Of William
F.. Gladstone himself.
After John Morley, Rosebery stands
! the best chance of becoming the next
Liberal prime minister. Morley is Glad
stones right hand man, to him has been
intrusted the most responsible position
IN carrying on the Home Rule policy,
and should Gladstone live four or five
years longer Morley is most likely to sue
eeed him in the premiership. Morley,
however, has not had the parliamentary
training required for the position, and
this, in spite of his recognized capacity,
would stand in his way if,for any reason,
the Liberals were called upon in the near
future to select new leader. Rosebery,
on the other hand, has just what Morley
lacks, he has had much experience in
political Ii e.
Lord Roeebery's action in this case il
illustrates two prominent traits of his
character. He is the actual incumbent
OF every Office to which be holds the title,
AID he may be said to be enamored of
work. In his desire for knowledge of
public affairs he is so greedy that no
amount of drudging appalls him. He
masters every detail, Like young man
who expected t., inherit great factory
and wished to bec me acquainted with
every department, he worked like COM
mon clerk or artisan for years in inferior
positions and refused to go on dress par
ade.
Lord Rosebery's inaccessibility is due
to the demands of self imposed labor and
not to haughtiness. So impressed are
the people with the fact of his devotion
to duty that should light be- seen burn
ing in any of the government offices in
Downing street at night it would be be-
leved that the minister of foreign af-
fairs was still at work.
Moreover, though born to the purple, he
is eminently democratic. He is as much
in touch with the people as is Gladstone,
and his radicalism frequently galvanizes
that body of anstocratic fossils, the
House of Lords. It is we'll known that
he is in favor of reform in the upper
house, aud in 1894 he actually moved for
q committee to inquire into a means
whereby the house of lords might prove
its efficieuoy. For young peer to rise
and insist that the nobility has duties At
we'll as privileges ie very dangerous ra-
dicalism indeed, and might we'll give
cause to the orders that "toil not, neither
do they spin," as Mr.. Chamberlain said
before he was captured by the dukes.
Mr.. Onamberlain's 8 perversion makes that
gentleman q special victim for Lord
Rosebery q rapier-like thrusts Of wit and
sarcasm. The Lord of Dalmeny be-
]ieves in liberalism that s'keeps it's
head straight" as he 80 graphically puts
it.
His lordship has an ancestry that ex-
tends back to the time of Mary Queen Of
Scots and is himself the fifth earl of
Rosebery; but he would be the first to
repudiate the idea that this gives him
any claim to q great position. The day
is coming when every :Englishman must
stand on his merits. Lord Rosebery is
content to do 80 now. He has risen to
his present eminence as a statesman Of
first rank by sheer ability and industry.
He is proudest Of the acts that iden-
tify him with the people-the equip
ment of the Peoples Palace,the improve
ment for the Importation Of farm horses
and the removal OF religious disabilities
from university tests that barred to high
honors all but Church Of England stu
dents. He advocated the abolition Of
the catechism from Scotch and Irish
schools, but the spiritual peers were too
much for him there. He pulled down
squalid huts and tenements and put
comfortable homes in their places by the
artisans dwellings act; and while thou
sands Of her majesty's subjects were on
! the verge of starvation he protested
Sagainst Lord Bsaconsfeld bill for con-s
ferring the title Of empress of India On
I tho queen as being repugnant to popular
feeling at that time BY heaping up hons
I On a royalty ggainst the Slheaped up