The times., 1897-06-27
SALISBURY AS A. POLITICIAN.

SALISBURY AS A. POLITICIAN.
The Marquis OF Salisbury is a very in
teresting Parliamentary figure, as much
from his weakness as from his strength.
/ have heard it said by elderly men in the
House Of Commons that at one time the
present leader Of the Tory party in the
Peers was as slender and fragile q looking
man as his nephew Mr.. Balfour, but IL is
rather hard TO realize that fact now. BE
is extremely heavy, approaching, l should
say, 200 pounds, and all his frame is On
large and awkward scale. The head is
very large, and the brows equally so; he
wears full beard, the eyesarerather small,
though bright, and underneath they have
the baggy appearance which used to be so
remarkable a feature in the face OF the
late Mr.. Blaine When he stands up to
speak he has curious, far-om manner.
he never consults note, he never makes
gesture. he never looks at anybody either
before him or behind him or around him,
and his veice scarcely ever has any modifi-
cation in tone.
In short, he seems to be delivering o
monologue, with entire unconscionsness of
the presence of any of the brilliant tu-
dience which so often gathers to hear him.
The voice is strong and penetrating, and
yet there is a certain mincingness about
it, as of an undergraduate that Tad not
got quite over the affectations Of his inst
youth, and his speeches accordingly are
not very effective when delivered. They
are too monotonous, too lifeless, too spec
tral, in fact, to touch those chords of emo
ton which are reached by the real orator.
On the other hand, the speeches of Lord
Salisbury read better than those OF any
other politician of his time except Mr..
John MorIey's. The truth is that Lord
Salisbury. is literary man by instinct.
and 10 a certain extent by training, and
he has all the excellencies and all the
defects OF the literary man turned
politician.
Marrying sill against his father will,
and younger son, he had but a small IN
come in the early days of his married life.
The late Mr.. Beresford Hope fortunately
conceived at this critical period the idea
of starting the once famous Saturday
Review. Mr. Beresford Hope was a brother
in-law or Lord Robert Cecil, as the Mar
quis OF Salisbury then was called, and
one OF the foremost contributors OF the
new journal. He wrote in very goodly
company. 1t Is, indeed hard to mention
any man of eminence OF that period who
was starting life in London who did not
contribute to the Saturday. The late
Lord Justice Bowen, one of the greatest
or our modern Judges; Sir FitZjames
stephen, Mr. Leslie Stephen, Sir william
ry-arr rrr
those who at one time or another CON
tnbuted 10 the columns OF the new jour
mel. In those days it had an enormous
reputation, mainly because OF, the cynical
boldness of its comments.
To certain extent Lord Salisbury has
never altogether ceased to be the Satnr-
day Reviewer. His state papers-yritten
often in periods of great excitement and
OF great peril-bave all the lucidity,
sharpness, and sometimes the acrimony
of the articles he used to contribute to
the great satincal journal in his early
days. His wit continues to be somewhat
sardOnic, and to be literary rather than
pohtical-that is to say, he thinks more
OF the turn OF the phrase than of the
living flesh and blood-the mighty net
work of emotions, passions and suScepti-
biliues-into which the phrase may some
times drop like molten lead on living
flesh He, too, has carried to a certain
extent into public life the intellectual ar
rogance of the scholar and the writer
Since he left the House OF Commons he
has lived life of almost entire secIusion,
except for his daily and brief appearances
in the House of Lords during the Parlia-
Inentary session, and for his occasional
appearances on the platform at great gath
erings of his party.
He lives in Hatfield House, which is not
far from London, and one sees the an
nouncement, even In exciting times, al
most every day, that he has left town for
Hatfield. One OF the consequences Of this
isolatipn is that he sometimes makes
curious blunders III tact, and still greater
biunders in tactics, and often a speech
Of bis creates dsmay in his own party
But he remains very picturesque AMI
very worthy figure in our political life
His home is m odel Of affection and the
best traditions of piety and honor; he is
sincerely patriotic: and whatever be the
limitations or narrowness of his creed, his
is essentially an intellectual and a dis
tiuguished nature. -Harpcr's Magazine for
July