Lord Rosebery made another admirable speech on Wedne. day, in
which he insisted on the great place which London had formerly taken in English history, a place which it has recently lost, chiefly on account of its unmanageable size and of its very imperfect municipal organisation. Lord Rosebery said :— "Up to the year 1832, you may say that the history of English liberty is the history of London. You have had your Walworths, your Beekfords, and your Shaftesbnrys ; you have had your train-bands, your resolutions and your addresses embodied; put into an audible form, as the voice of liberty in this country. You have always.led. No wise man will ever wish to forget how largely the City of London has led in. past times, and.I for one do not on this occasion. I believe this Bill gives you the opportunity of renewing your youth and of renewing that lead, and returning to those days when you led London, when you were London, andwhen, leading London and being London, you led Great Britain." Again :—"If London had been listened to one hundred yearaago, we should have saved the United States. Let London save London now." Nothing could.be better said ; and if Lord Rosebery is not returned merely because in the political world he is a Liberal, we shall almost despair of London government. He is a first-rate candidate. All his views concerning London are wise views. To let his politics prevent any man from voting for him, is to act as insanely as to choose the captain of your ship by his politics instead of by his knowledge of 'navigation. So, too, in West Surrey we heartily hope that Lord Thring,—Home-rnler though he be,—may be elected as representing the parish in which Magna Charta was gained. He has too much belief in Local Government. That is no reason why he should not be supported when Local Government is what we want.
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