Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1915-02-03
ENGLISH STATESMAN
WAS FOND OF LOWELL
From London Tit-Bits.

800" - u cN@t'SA
IN the oratorical virtues of poetry than
MIR. Joseph Chamberlain, whose final re-
tirement from the political arena, on ac-
count of his prolonged i'll health. is re-
GREETED by men OF all shades of opinion.
AS a boy MIR. Chamberlain had a passion
for poetry, and it was his favorite study
even when, as a small boy. he attended
the little preparatory school in Gambler
we'll which was kept by the Misses Pace.
The famous statesman once confessed to
a friend that at the beginning OF his
political career he made a practice of iot-
Ting down in a memorandum book any
little verses he came across which he
thought might be useful to quote in his
speeches. Whether this little memoran-
DUN book is still in existence, it is diff
cult to say: but IL perusal of Mr.. Cham
berlain's speeches during his strenuous
career reveals many interesting facts con-
corning his favorite poets.
Not Frivolous.
Unlike the late Sir William Harcourt,
a postmaster in the art of classical quo
tation. and such men as Gladstone, Cam
ming, and Peel, who We're fond of airing
their knowledge of Homer. Virgil and
Horace in public. Mr.. Chamberlain found
inspiration in more popular verse, al
though he was never SO frivolous as Sir
Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett. who once re-
marked. THE complaint, Mr.. Speaker. OF
the opposition concerning this measure
may Ike expressed in the language OF thu
librettist-that although full expenditure
on necessities has been made,
Daddy wouldn't buy me a bow-wow."
At the same time. MIR. Chamberlain was
not averse to humorous quotations. AND
1.-The Biglow Papers furnished him with
many apt lines. One Of his favorite quo
tations in his early day. was the fol-
lowing:
The worlds a dreffle bad place for ou1
sins,
Where there allus is critters about with
long pins,
A-prickin' the globe we've bowed up with
An provin' there's nothin' inside but bad
air.
Another favorite, which was supposed
to be extracted from THE Biglow Pa.
pers," was:
There amt no label on a man
I'D read. An il there was
I'D stick to this unfailin' plan
A fellows what he does.
A perusal, however. OF that entertain
Ing work, fails to reveal these lines. and
OlG al WHY CpIIe W NIt CONCLUSION I0aJ
Mr.. Chamberlain occasionally supplied
himself with his own poetical quotations.
Stuck to His Favorites.
For 20 years James Russell Lowell. the
famous American poet and essayist. who
wrote The Biglow Papers," was Mr..
Chamberlain's favorite poet. but appar-
emily he did not make Very extensive in
cursions into Lowell's humorous master
piece. When he found "A quotation that
suited his purpose he stuck to it. judging
by the fact that the first lines quoted in
this article served him in six separate
speeches.
On one occasion Mr.. Chamberlain made
use of "Pinafore'' in the following stanza;
IT'S greatly to HIS credit.
Although he himself has said it.
He is al Englishman.
And in spite OF all temptations
To belong to other nations,
He remains an k.nglishnlan.
And in 1885 at Glasgow MIR.
lain, having jotted down these lines from
Burns. used them with effect in his speech
in that city:
'Tis, hardly in a body's power
To keep at times from being sour
to see how things are shared.
A favorite quotation. often employed in
Mr.. Chamberlain's Imperial addresses.
was:
Let Britain's myriad voices call:
Sons be welded each and all
Into one Imperial whole.
One with Britain heart and soul.
One life, one flag. one fleet. one throne.
Appearances Deceive.
From the Louisville Co~urier-Journal.
My barber has quit discussing the