Sir William Harcourt repeated his triumphant war-dance at Stockport on
Wednesday, when he read freely from the Times and other Unionist papers, and feasted himself and. his audience on their rueful comments in relation to the defeat at Ayr. But he was not very happy in his metaphor when he said,—" I confess, I like to see the Liberal Unionists picked off leaf by leaf, as you pull an artichoke to pieces.. We are quickly picking off the leaves, and shall soon come to the choke." Well, if they try to swallow the choke, as they are swallowing the leaves, they may have great reason to regret the experiment ; and to our minds, that is just what they will have to do, if they win the General Election, and find themselves face to face with the old difficulty,—the choke of the artichoke,—how to keep the Kingdom united, and yet let the Irish do as they please,—and further, how to keep the Irish in the Parliament in West- minster, and yet not quarrel with them as to what their colleagues are doing in the Parliament in Dublin. Sir William Harcourt seemed quite ready for the choke, but it will not slip easily down even his capacious gullet.
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