Mr. Lowe took leave on Wednesday of the University of
London, which he has represented in the House of Commons for twelve years, and expressed in very sincere and cordial lan- guage his gratitude for the confidence bestowed on him. There was a general feeling of disappointment, we believe, that he made no political speech, and no attempt at one. When a man of Mr. Lowe's eminence passes from the House of Commons to. the House of Lords in a very disturbed state of the political atmosphere, the public may fairly expect of him something of the nature of a statesmanlike and independent review of the political situation. And a graceful as well as a natural oppor- tunity would have been presented by his farewell to a University which has proved itself, liberal as it is, fully determined to respect to the utmost the perfect freedom of individual convic- tion. Mr. Lowe would have entered the House of Lords with), far more prestige, had he delivered himself on the recent and! present crisis with some freedom and force, instead of giving the impression that he was not only going to the Peers, but disposed to treat himself as if he were really an average Peer,— as if he were to be fitly classed amongst the Peers not only in rank, but in political inertia and inactivity. We had hoped for a last flash of energy from Mr. Lowe as a Commoner, if only as a sign that there would be plenty of energy in Mr. Lowe as a Lord.
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