Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1895-10-01
TUESDAY EVENING, OCT. i, 10 8.

it was O bold step f0r tne nDerais 10 pro-
pose the abolition Of the Lords veto
power upon legislation adopted by the
Commons. Ofall the lords, Duke or an
Earl receives the profoundest homage,
next to Royalty. And young Duke
gathers around him more tender in
terest-something akin to the feeling
that not very long ago made the proud
and naughty Briton literally bend his
knees to those from whom he desired
favors. So it was not strange that
D'Israeli, who knew at least the secrets
of the British heart, and their general
tendency to tult hunting and worship OF
titles, should have selected as special
subject for novel the character of The
Young Duke. We.think he repeated
this substantially in another story
Lotbario; for Marquis is about as
good as Duke or the next thing to it.
But, however big man Duke may
be in England, the recipient of any
amount of fawning and cringing, let
him come to New York and he finds
his stature greatly exalted by the voy-
age. He is not merely an exalted per-
sonage, the object of elusive attach
ments and eager competition of the
p'utocracy, but the newspapers will
undertake to prove him Chesterfield in
manners and such very giant in intel
lect that it takes two continents to hold
his great mind. Sometimes this is
done very plausibly and cunningly, as
in the case of the Duke of Marlborough,
whose speech in the Lords, August 18th,
is parad ed in full in New York paper,
with the added Information that "he
had been selected by the party leaders
for the purpose, that he was the master
of Blenheim, scion of one of the oldest
-(?) and proudest houses in England,
and whose godfather was the Prince OF
Wales" The speech is very clever
on, and if the young Duke fixed it up
himself, with or without the aid of a
lamp, we should infer that some rising
Pitt, ready armed like Minerva, and
fully as mature of thought as that
wisest of women, had sprung to the sur
face to gladden. the British heart with
hopes of new strain of statesmen full
" equal to the best in the golden age
of the last century. But we must dis
miss this pleasing illusion. The speech
has a gravity and twang to it born
lot of youthful fire and enthusiasm, but
Of one or more older and experienced
heads, who seem to have had hand in
this political broth. The fact is that
the American people, with their active
minds and numerous inventions, have
taken up general dea that they have
originated nearly every thing, and that
the machine" busiress, or what we
used to call in OLE Virginia "cut and
dryn resolutions and addresses, have
originated in the United States-our ir-
formation-at least our suspicious, are
widely different. We apprehend that
the machine method with all it's varied
ramiications must have started very
coon after our innocent first parents
left the garden of Eden and were Or
ganized in civil society. Doubtless it
infested Greece, Rome and Carthage,
and brought to the front many an en-
terprising gentleman who otherwise
would have had to be content with q
back seat and twirl his hat or the head
gear of those days, whatever it was.
The preparation of a reply, and that the
first reply in the House of Lords, to an
address is too serious and important
matter to be entrusted to boyish en-
thusiasm. 1t was natural to select for
this function young nobleman, heir to
a title which, if not SO old as many
Others, yet was the reward of some OF
the most wonderful military achieve
ments with which all students of his
tory are familiar. The function is
formal, and with little pre-arrauge
ment everything is easy. Lord Sails
bury was there in the Lords-the great
leader of his party, brilliant man and
grand debater, once fiery, but now
sobered by experience. That the
speech was carefully considered by
the Tory leaders, pruned and corrected,
every sentence weighed, is almost a
certainty. The gun was carefully load
ed, sighted, primed, and the young man
was told to shoot. And shoot he did,
probably without winking his eyes.
l. was we'll received, not only because
erybody knew where it came from,
but also from the very proper kindly
feeling for debutant. All this in
wolves no reflection whatever upon the
young Duke. He would have been a
great goose if he had insisted on saving
what came uppermost; instead of adopt
lug the wise sayings of older heads. It
is one of the commonest things in life
for men to speak speeches prepared by
othars and this has been done by men