The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1911-12-30

commons. But nevertheless the glory
Of the house has largely departed with
the disappearance of the greatest OF
living Cccils in the person Of Mr.. Bal
four. So long AS he remained at the
head of the tory party the Cecls
might still hope to continue in that
extraordinary position of dominance in
English politics which they have held
now unbroken through three centuries
Of English history. Balfour never
much cared for strange faces, and,
like his uncle, the late Marquis of Sal
isbury, perhaps stuffed every cabinet
either with personal friends or with
relatives of the great Cecil house. Now
that Bonar Law, a plain Glasgow bust
ness man. is at the head of affairs in
the tory party, the Cocils will have
little to say. Bonar Law rep
resents All entirely new clc-
ment in toryisn from that
which ruled the party FOR centuries
Outside protection this group is DEM
ocratic In its sympHthics; does not
care much for the established church;
has a lukewarm feeling for the large
landlords; would substitute an elective
, for a hereditary house of peers, nr>t
many of them are even weak in their
hostility to home rule. But one thing
above all that is that the future tory
ministries shall not. be overwhelmed
by the ancient nristocrats.
The Cecils besides arc probably des-
! tined to he excluded from office by
their attitude on protection. Lord
Hugh Cecil remains an obdurntc and
even extreme free trader. Lord Rob-
ert, who has just been returned for a
! Hcrtfordshirc constituency has made
but he still refuses to accept their
taxes on food, ana that after all, Is
the real test question with the "Wholc
hoggcrs," as the extreme tariff men
are called. And there Is no desire
whatever among the high and demo-
cratic protectioniSts to make things
easy for them. Tho Cccils are indeed
at opposite points to the rank and
file Of the present tories. They are
extreme high c)lurchmcn and the ma
jority OF the tories in the country hate
and distrust the high churchmcn as
| much as they do Catholics. The c.
ellis, besides, are irrcconcilnble advo-
Gates of rehctiOnary torysn,, of the
extreme rights OF property and of all
the privileges and nonopulies which
are represented by the great landed
classes.
CeciIs FraI in Figure.
Physically the two Cccils are rather
frail and even wcedy. Lord Hugh is
thin almost to transparency and has
a pallid face, indeed, he might pass
for a young curate of extremely as
clouucnce now and then, but there is
n slight touch OF the ncllrotic in bntl
his voice and his utteranccs. Tho
voice is high pitched. the language
is poetic and sometimes strained, ant
more suited to the pulpit than to tho
forum. His gestures are painful ir
i most feminine NERVOUSNESS. He twists
and lmtWists his long. thin fingers
and his frail thin body Wrigglcs as
he speaks. Lord Robert has the thir
sunken pallid checks of monk his
aquillne nose protrudcs from out his
hollow checked and paIlid face, ant
though he Is comparatively young
man. he has pronounced stoop
Whenever ! see him. 1 always thinl
. of Claude FroIlc, the sombrc priest
who was obscsscd and ruined by hi!
love for Esmcrnlda in Victor Hugo:
Notrc Dame.
But both these shadows OF mer
have powerful intcllccts, and are per.
haps the most cultured and able mel
OF their party. Lord Hugh is the bet
ter orator; Lord Robert the rcadic
and more effective dcbatcr. Lik,
: many men Of frai physique, they oc
l casOnaIly exhibit a startling violence
, OF temper and dcmcanor. Lord HugI
r was the leader OF the disgraccfu
scene when Asquith was prevented
from speaking at a critical momen
in the fight against the house of lord
l and Lord Roberts palld face Is oftel
: to be seen green with rage as h
c shouts out some fierce and disorderl
! interruption at Il liberal speaker. The
J, will both add a good deal to the bit
tcrness and obstilacy Of the comin
fight on home rule.
), They Miss Peace.
{ The men and women who forget Go
4 in their struggling, insane, careless