The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-06-29

The Marquis of Salisbury II very IN
teresting Parliamentary ngure, as mueh
from his weakness as from MS s,rens.h.
l have heard 1t said by elderly men In the
House OF Commons that AT one timo tne
present leader of tho Tory party In the
Peers was as slender aud fragile look
ing man as his nephew Mr.. BalIoui. put
IL is rather hard 20 roallze that Tact now;
dc Is extremely heavy. Approaching
should say. 80 pounds. and all his frame
is on a larze aud awkward scale The
head Is very large and tho brows equaiiy
SO; ne wears a full beard; the eyes are
rather small, though bright, ana upuer-
meath they have the baggy appearance
which used TO be SD remarkable feature
in the face OF the late Mr.. Blaine. When
he stands up To speak he has curious
far-off manner. lie never consults note,
he novor makes gesture, he never looks
at anybody either before him or behind
him or around hln, and his voice scarcely
ever has any modification OF tone In
short, he seems 20 bc delivering mono
logue, with entire unconsciousness or the
presence OF any of the brilliant audiences
which so often gather To hear him. The
voice Is strong and penetrating. ana yet
there is "A certain miDoingness about III,
as of an undergraduate that had not got
quito over tho aifectations OF his nrst
youth. And his speeches accordingly are
not very effective when delivered lhey
ural. in fact, To touch those chords OF
emotion 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 excepa
MIR. John Morlcy's. The truth Is THAI
Lord Salisbury Is literary man by in-
suinct, and To "a certain extent 10y training
and no mas all tho oxcellencies and all the
defects OF the literary man turned poll
tcian.
Marrying all against his fathers WILL
and younger son, he had but small
income in the early days vf his married
life. Tho late MIR. Beresford Hope fortu-
nately conceived at this critical period the
idcA of starting the once famous saturday
Review. Mr.. Beresford Hope was
brother. n-law of Lord Robert Cecil, as
the Marquis of Salisbury was then
called, and Lord Robert Cecil immedi-
ately became one OF the Tore
most contributors of the new
journal Ho wrote in very goodiy
company. IL is indeed, nard TO mention
any man of eminence of that period who
was starting life in London who aid not
contribute TO the Saturday. The late Lord
Justice Bowon one Of the greatest Of our
modern judges, Sir Fitzjames stephen,
Mr.. Leslie Stephen, Sir William Harcourt
MIR. John. Morley ares samoDg those who at
one time or another contributed 10 the
columns of the new journal In those
days 1t had an enormous reputation,
mainly because OF the cynical boldpess OF
its comments.
To a certain extent Lord Salisbury has
never altogether ceased to be the Satur
day Reviewer. His state representation
often In periods of great excitement and
OF great peril-have all the lucidity,
sharpness and sometimes the acrinony OF
the articles he used To contribute To the
great satirical journal in bis carly DAYS.
His wit continues to be somewhat sar-
donic. ana TO be literary rather than polit-
ical--that Is to say no thinks more OF the
turn of the phrase than OF the living flesh
and blood-the mighty network Of
emotions. passions, aud susceptlbilitles-
into which tho phrase may sometimes
drop like molten lead on living flesh. lie,
too has carried TO n certain extont into
public lifo the intellectual arrogance OF
the scholap and the writer. Since no left
the House Of Commons ho has siyed life
of almost entire seclusion, except for his
daily and brief appearances In the House
OF Lords during the Parliamentary Sos
zion, and for his occasional appearances
on the platform at great gatherings OF MS
party. tle lives In Hatfield House, which
IL not far from London. and one secs the
announcement, oven IN exciting times,
almost every dny, that he has left town for
Hatfield. One of the consequences Of this
isolation Is that he sometimes makes curl
Gus plumbers in fact, and still greater
blundersEin tactics. and often d speech Of
his creates dismay in his own party. But
he remains "a very picturesque and very
worthy figure in our political life. His
home Is model of affection and the best
traditions Of pioty and honor; he Is sin
cerely patriotic: and whatever DO the
limitations or narrow nosses Of his creed.
no Is essentially an intellectual and n ais
tinauished nature From Tho Gel
ebrities Of the House Of Commons by Il.
r. O'Connor, in Harper's Magazine for
July.