The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-26

He looked down on us because We wcre
poor and not greatly allied, for. whilo
In words no was a severe Democrat,
in fact and In conduct. he bowed down to wealth !
and position. To the young men of wealth and !
position who came to see him he was gracious :
and instructive. while to us he was rude and !
curt. gave us no advice. but seemed pleased to
hurt and offend us. This led TO rcmonstrance
and complaint on the part of John Mill, but tho
result was that We soon ceased to see him at his
home. Our chief point OF reunion was tho house
OF George Groto. Mrs. Grote being the means
OF bringing us together"
a..
The Reform bill became law in 1882, nnd Roe.
buck, now a man Of 80. having been very active
in the extra.parliamentary proceedings which
had attended tho passing OF that measure.
became known to many public men, and. among
others, to Joseph Hume, who, at that time, was
a man Of great mark and power. Many Of tho
new constituencies created by the Reform bill
had great confidence In him; the City OF Bath
showed its confidence by asking him to select
for them a man whom they might send as their
representative to Parliament. lie sent them
down three names, of which Roebuck's was one.
and tho choice Of the Liberal majority fell
upon him. As 1t turned out, Mr.. Roebuck was
to find at Bath not only q seat In Parlia-
mont, but also q wife, Miss Falconer, a sis.
ter Of ono Of his principal supporters. The
seat was not won without great e%xertion, for all
tho influences OF purse and position wcrc
against him. Indeed, tho contest In which he
was successful is still remembered in Bath.
His chief power lay In the enthusiasm VIII CHI his
candidacy evoked among the poor. 1t Is neces-
sary to recall the bitter hatred against Wing
and Tory government which then ranked among
the working classes in order to understand the
euthuRiaam with which thpy receiyed rho man
Of the people, or the furious violence of aristo-
Gratis and capitalists at his Intrusion. In his
various addresses and speeches he declared him
self a Radical of the Radicals, q convinced
and Jealous upholder OF tho most ad-
vanced creeds. Among the innovations pro-
posed by him were not only some which have
since passed into law. but many the acceptance
Of which seems still far distant. He advocated,
for example, tho abolition of slavery, the re.
movsl of all civil and religious disabilities. FREQ
trade. the repeal OF the tax on knowledge. an
equitable adjustment of taxation, u national
system Of secular education. and vote by ballot.
He was equally in favor of triennial Parlia-
ments, OF corporation reform. Of an elective
magistracy. Of tho abolition Of the legal mo-
nopoly enjoyed by the Inns of Court, and of the
disestablishment Of tho Anglican Church and
the devotion Of It's property to secular uses.
Roebuck was short, slight, lame and feeble,
- 49, oooSDoS ~ pthSNs ohtsA AZ ho otg
first canvass at Bath, no had one of the many
physical encounters which marked his public
career. One Mr.. Foster, who had offered him
self as a Conservative candidate. meeting Roe
buck & in the coffee room of a hotel. was offensive
and insulting. Roebuck demanded his card.
and. upon Fosters demurring. threatened, II it
were not produced. to knock him down. Roe.
buck rendered his own card. and when Foster
oontemptuously tore 1t up. the little man struck
| htp, IN thn fnnn Thara yvoo pa-J,nl thta t,-o
however. but in subsequent years tho conflicts
in which Roebuck's directness of attack and
pungency of speech involved him were not
by any means confined to words. At the
beginning Of his career. duelllng, though
dying out, was not yet dead. and Roebuck DOS.
sessed. in a large measure, the readiness to
appeal to muscular force which is not infre-
quently characteristic Of mon physically weak.
A chapter Of this book Is devoted to his duelling
experiences. and. to glance at them. We depart
from the chronological order. Mr.. John Temple
Leader recalls that, one evening In his house at
Putney Hill, some one mentioned n scene in
which the colossal Daniel O'Connell had used
very strong language to a Tory NJ. p. in tho
lobby Of the House Of Common Turning to
Roebuok the narrator asked: what would
you have done In such a case :" II would have
knocked him down. answered Roebuck. fierce
ly. and clenching his fist. This made everybody
| lauBn, conSlucrlHR inc great pnyslcal ulHerence
between Roebuck. who. as we have said. was a
small, spare man. and O'Conmell. who was a
stalwart Irish giant. In 1885 Roebuck became
involved In n quarrel with one John Black. then
editor of the Morning Chronicle. Having
declined to retract certain offensive epithets
employed by him, he utoebuck) received a chal-
lenge. which he accepted. On the field Roebuck
received Blacks fire. but fired himself in tho
air. After the first fire Roebuck persisted in re-
fusing to withdraw the terms base and dis
graceful" which he had applied to Blacks con-
duct. The affair accordingly went on, and shots
were again exchanged without effect. An apology
was again demanded and again refused, RoebucS
declaring that he was not to be driven from tho
right Of stigmatiZing the conduct OF n %conspic-
uous man, as it deserved. by threats Of assassin.
alton. Ultimately the seconds deemed it I'M
necessary to carry the matter further. Roo.
bucks second duel was fought four years later.
His antagonist was Lord Powerscourt, who
thought himself aRgricved by expressions used
by Roebuck respecting his conduct at the cleo
ton Of 1887. Tho meeting took place at Coombe
were renewed TO avert the necessity Of proceed.
inR, to e%xtremities. Lord Powerscourt's friend
apologize for the words complained OF in the
correspondence and. upon the latter's declin;
and the principals' placed at twelve
PAGES, On .Rosbuck's receiving his ad;
into tis air. nFs AM. Re adv alsehnFs to Lo his popM tstoi
court. said: Now. my lord. I am ready to
make any apology your lordship may suggest,
for certainly in my speech ut BathI did not
mean to imply, anything personally offensive
We are told that Lord powerscOurt regretted
the part that he had taken in this affair. and
that years afterward. on his deathhed he sent
Lord Jocelyn to ask for Mr.. Roebuck's pardon
and forgiveness. We may here add that It was
Roebuck, whose courage had been tried and was
unquestioned, who put a stop to the i~nterfer.
ence with tho freedom Of speech In Parlia.
ment BY means OF the absurd custom OF re-
curing a man to stand up outside of tho
Parliament House and be shot at for what he
had said in debate. In 1887 Mr.. Roebuck lost
his seat for Bath. but regained II In lS4l. He
WAS finally rejected by that constituency in
ward Lord shaftesbury. who. years aftcrward.
expressed at sheffield profound regret that be
%latter's friends marked their appreciation Of his
services by presenting, TO him a testimonial con
sisting OF 25OO. placed in an oak cabinet. GOV,
cred with carved emblems and figures. each one
Of which was. executed by a separate workman
Mr.. Roebuck was not long exclud' d from Par
Lament. having been clio, ted for Sheffield In
ls49 and reelected by that constituency in 1852
12ST 1880 and 12cE nafaatnd in I StiR ha yvn,