Mr. Osborne made a clever barrister's speech on Schleswig- Holstein
on Tuesday, garnished with a few witticisms in the style which Lord Palmerston has accustomed the House of Commons to enjoy. He called the Treaty of 1852 Lord Palmerston's "youngest child, the fruit of his diplomatic dalliance with Russia," and defended the rights of the German inhabitants of Schleswig with a rather long array of veryquestionable historical recitals. His speech, —the only clever one of the evening, —was followed by a very faint- hearted and perplexed discussion, in which everybody seemed afraid to say what they thought,—Mr. Disraeli moving the previous ques- tion, and Lord Palmerston gratefully giving his support to the leader of the Opposition. Of a group of singularly bad speeches Mr. Layard's was the worst,—his " bold " rebuke to Mr. Osborne con- trasting rather awkwardly with the extraordinary faintness of his answers. " Roaring like a sucking dove" was probably never better exemplified.
