The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1909-09-25

splendid service, by his genius as q
debater and as a politician, and he
took no trouble TO conceal his chagrir.
Then the Liberal party at the moment
was in the trough OF the sea. Glad
stone had expected a big majority
which would have enabled him to carry
home rule even against the hostility Of
the house Of lords, but he only got a
majority Of forty, and even some ele-
ments Of that majority were unstable.
Gladstone knew when he took office
that he was a beaten man, and it was
only his uncomfortable courage and
his intense devotion to the cause Of
home rule that induced him to go on
and make the attempt once more &c
carry that solution of the relations be-
tween England and Ireland. When
Rosebery came to the premiership he
found himself in an impossible position
Harcourt worked against him; now
and then people used to resort to such
an utterance Of Harcourt as "when
will this ID government be turned
out?" and the disaffection became uni
versa1.
And Rosebery was helpless, because
he sat in the house Of lords and could
only view the great battlefield on which
the fortunes Of his and Of every othev
ministry are fought out from afar
Now and then he came down to the
gallery of the house of commons where
peers are allowed to sit, but he might
as well have been in one of the farth-
est fixed stars, for he could not utter
word or even a gesture.
He added, however, to these diff
culties by imprudences Of his own. In
his first speech he estranged the Irish
Nationalists, for he laid down tie doc
trine that home rule was impossible
until the predominant partner
meaning England-was converted. The
doctrine, in a sense, is true, but at the
same time it was interpreted as mean
ing that he wanted to postpone the
attempt even to settle the Irish ques-
ton till the crack of doom.
Rosebery has since become more aid
more a spent force. He speaks now
and then and speaks with the Old elo-
.quence. But nobody has any confidence
in him. 1t is not that the people
doubt his ability, but that he is re-
garded as tickle, unstable of purpose,
and even cowardly. He makes a big
speech and then runs away.
What is the kink in the man? It is
partly physical, for he suffers from
sleeplessness in an aggravated form,
sometimes being months without good
nights rest. He seems often to lie pur-
sued by the demon of unrest and of
unhappiness, starts up in the middle
of conversation and sets out for a
long walk, and, indeed, it is said chat
sometimes he orders his carriage
around at 10 o'clock and takes long
and solitary drives in the dark hours
of the night, always alone.
The loneliness has become almost
chronic and unbroken. He is never
seen at a dinner party, never alt a re-
ception; often he comes up to London
from the country and spends all the
long hours of Sunday in his library
in Berkeley square, immersed in his
books and his retrospects or dreams.
And thus it is that even his access
to the forces against Lloyd George and
the. budget is calculated to bring some
confusion into the ranks of the Con-
servatives than any real terror into
those of Liberalism. Most earnest Lib
erals and all Irish nationalists breathe
a sigh of relief whenever there seems
a chance of his removing from the
ranks of Liberalism, on which he has a
disturbing, uncertain, and disloyal. in
fluence.