Sir George Trevelyan spoke at Perth yesterday week, ex- pressing
in very extravagant terms his political detestation of the University franchise, and apparently his political detesta- tion of Mr. Goschen ; for he declared that his reason for detesting the University franchise more than any other privileged franchise, was that Mr. Goschen held it in great favour. But on that part of his speech we have said enough elsewhere. If the report in the Scotsman may be trusted, Sir G. Trevelyan's English is not improving as his political hatred of University privileges increases. In his attack on the House of Lords, he is represented to have said that the im- pression produced on Liberal Members of the House of Commons when they go to the Bar of the House of Lords to listen to its debates, is " that in the Upper Chamber, real Liberal opinions, and real Liberal men, are looked upon with feelings very little short of artificial contempt, and nothing at all short of intense dislike." What is the precise meaning of "feelings little short of artificial contempt" ? We conjecture that he means feelings in strong contrast to " natural con- tempt" (less genuine and more ostentatious), but the expres- sion is by no means an effective one. It is itself "little short of " artificiality. Sir George Trevelyan is losing the homeliness of his literary style in his straining after democratic moods of sentiment. Be is getting a rococo style.
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