The sun., 1905-08-20

two antagonists was that Gladstone re-
garded the suffrage as a right to which
every taxpayer not disqualified by cir
cumstanoes was entitled, while Lowe con-
sidered it merely as an instrument for
obtaining the most efficient House Of Com
mons. SHOW me-" said Gladstone, why
the working classes should be excluded
from political power" -Show me-" said
Lowe. why the character Of this House
shenld be changed" Denounclng what
he regarded as a proposed subversion OF
the British Constitution, Lowe said that
surely the heroic work OF 80 many centuries,
the matchless achievements OF 30 many
wise heads and strong hands. deserves
nobler consummation than to be sacrificed
at the shrine Of revolutionary passion or
the maudlin enthusiasm Of humanity. I'm
coerced by any external force, nor borne
down by any internal calamity. but In tho
full plethora Of our wealth and the surfeit
Of our too exuberant prosperity, with our
own rash and inconsiderate hands we are
about to pluck down on our own heads
the venerable temple Of our liberty and
our glory. History may tell OF other acts
as signally disastrous, but OF none more
wanton, mono more disgraceful.' "Democ-
racy," Lowe told the House on another oc-
casion, you may have at any time. Night
and day the gate Is open that leads to that
bare and level plain where every ants'
nest is mountain and every thistle
forest tree" Mr.. Paul opines, nevertheless.
that Gladstone beat Lowe, even IN respect
of eloquence, by the peroration OF the
speech with which he closed the debate
on the second reading. Predicting that
those who fought against tho reform OF
the suffrage would be found to have
fought against the future, he declared;
Time is on our side. The great social
forces which move onward in their might
and majesty and which the tulmult OF
these debates does not for moment i'm
pede or disturb, those great social forces
are against you; they work with us; they
are marshaled in our support. And the
banner which we now carry In the fight,
though perhaps at some moment OF the
struggle it may droop over our sinking
heads, yet will float again in the eye OF
Heaven and will be borne by the Arm
hands OF the united people OF the three
kingdoms perhaps not to an easy. but to
a certain and to a not distant victory.
III.
On account OF the distinction OF the
participants we may be expected to refer
more at length to the bitter controversy
provoked in England by the determination
evinced in certain quarters to punish Gov
Eyre for the outrages perpetrated in
Jamaica and officially sanctioned by him.
When Mr.. Eyre arrived ct Southampton.
on August IL, 1885, he Immediately became
the object of fattering attentions from
enthusiastic admirers. He was enter
tanned at public dinner where the Rev.
Charles Kingsley. who by the caprice OF
Lord Palmerston had been made professor
of modern history at Cambridge. presided
in the strange company OF Lord Cardigan,
the libertine and duelist, and selected for
special praise the humanity displayed by
the guest Of the evening A more ill,s'riolls
parsonage came forward on the same side
The great hero worshiper Of the age found
in Mr.. Eyre congenial hero. Our author
recalls that all the light which had yet
reached Mr.. Thomas Carlyle on MIR. Eyre
and his doings in Office went steadily to
establish tho conclusion that he was just,
humane and valiant man. faithful to his
trusts everywhere, and with no ordinary
faculty for executing them; and that his
late services in Jamaica were OF great,
probably of incaloulable value, as GER
tainly they were Of ,perilous and appalling
difficulty" 'The English people, he
remarked. shave never loved anarchy
but, rejoins Mr.. Paul, neither have they
loved cruelty, and all the charges made
against Gov. Eyre related to things done
after anarchy had ceased to exist. For
the reasons which he had expressed, and
perhaps also from his dislike Of -Quashee.
az he called the negro. Carlyle became
chairman OF the Eyre defense fund, to
which Tennyson and Ruskin were among
the subscribers. The Government refused
to prosecute Mr.. Eyre for murder, regard
ing him as a strong man who had put down
a rebellion by his promptitude and pre-
vented its renewal by his severity. In
England, however, prosecutions may bo
set on foot by private individuals. and
Jamaica committee, with John Stuart
Mill az chairman was formed for the pGr-
pose OF bringing Eyre to Justice. Mill
was earnestly supported by Huxley, by
Thomas Hughes. by Herbert Spencer and
by Mr.. Goldwin Smith, who had lately
resigned the chair Of modern history a.
Oxford We are reminded in the book
before us that 1t was in furtherance OF the
committee and it's aims that Goldwin
Smith delivered his incomparably brilliant
lectures on the -Three English Statesmen y
Pym, Cromwell and Pitt A Government,
said Mr.. Smith, should uphold its rep
resentatives In difficulty always. in error
sometimes, in crime never. Nalots on
the same side cited the precedent Of Joseph
Wall. Governor OF Goree. who was hanged
in 1902 after twenty years, for murders
committed in his official capacity. Mr..
Paul opiues that, so far as Mill was con-
cerned, it certainly was not his desire that
Gov. Eyre should perish on the scaffold.
but he thought that the honor Of the country
should he vindicated by an authoritative
exposition OF the law.
Few subjects 20 little discussed in Parlia-
ment have 20 sharply divided public opinion
in England as the conduct OF Governor
Eyre. Political leaders took the line OF