Lord Sanden made an enthusiastic speech to ten thousand Orangemen,
whom he addressed at Ormskirk, on Tuesday, the general drift of which was that they should turn their organi- sation into one for the defence of "religion, law, and the purity of our homes," rather than into one for guarding against the insidious approaahes of the Roman Catholic Church. He dilated on the horrors of Nihilism in Russia, Communism in France, and Atheism in England, and hinted that the House of Commons had rarely achieved anything so good as the ex- clusion of Mr. Bradlaugh from its walls, in virtue of the right it had claimed of repelling any man who had publicly confessed to the House his disbelief in the sanctions of an oath. Lord Sanden then proceeded to inveigh against the Government for its administration of Ireland, and afterwards passed, oddly enough, to a vehement declamation not merely against the foreign bounties on sugar, and other interferences of trade which bear hardly upon England, but against our Government's suffering such interferences without taking action. As far as we understand, what Lord Sandon meant to press on the Orangemen was that England ought to abandon the principles of Free-trade, in order to punish those foreign coun- tries which have not applied it to us. If he does-mean that, be would have us hold our own breath till such time as other countries kindly consent to breathe freely, without considering whether we or they should the sooner commit suicide in the process. Lord Sandon is an enthusiastic man, but his know- ledge is hardly commensurate with his zeal.
Previous page
