We wish we could think that the Liberal newspapers whose
names we have mentioned would have the good feeling to apologize to their readers for action so unworthy. We fear, however, that it is much more likely that what they will do— indeed, there seem to be signs of this already—is to persist in their suspicions and to pretend that Mr. Asquith, out of an undue sense of loyalty, was sacrificing himself in order to protect the King. The papers in question were, of course, acting on the kind of fifth-hand backstairs gossip that Mr. Ward acted upon when he tried to make our blood creep by stories of captivating Court ladies corrupting the simple military virtue of officers at the Curragh. "When in doubt or difficulty abuse the King, and say it was his fault," seems to be rapidly becoming the rule of the advanced Radical Press.
Previous page
