LORD DUFFERIN'S LAST SPEECH.
WHAT is it in the climate of Ireland that affects the brains of her statesmen ? Man after man rises to notoriety, gets into some mad political scrape, is pronounced by the en- tire Empire a dangerous ranter with gas on the brain, goes away, and thenceforward makes his way in the world with the energy and the moderation commonly supposed to be a monopoly of Scotchmen. Either he makes a fortune, or he becomes Premier of a colony, or he leads a successful army, or he achieves in some way a recognition which makes the most prejudiced Englishman regret that he should ever have been forced to go. It is almost the same with Irishmen who have no gas on the brain, but are recognised from the first as capable men ; they all seem to expand the moment they are delivered from the pressure of their native atmosphere, and expand in such a way—for that is the first peculiarity of the change—that Englishmen and Scotchmen, as well as Irishmen, perceive at once what noteworthy people they are. Judging by our recent Colonial history, by the conduct not only of men like Sir Gavan Daffy or Mr. Pope Hennessy, but of men like Lord Dufferin, it would almost seem as if the first want of an Irishman was room—something big to do, big enough to overcome in him that temptation to the grandiose which is in most Irishmen the most visible intellectual defect. Perhaps, however, the want is not so much work as sunlight. We have often thought how much finer men Irishmen would seem if only their climate were Sicilian, and certainly a cer- tain amount of glare, of bright light on him, assists an Irish- man's intellectual development. He is most himself, most in possession of his powers, most moderate both in speech and action, when the eyes of the world, or at all events, of a world, and a toler- ably big one, are fairly on him. Look at Lord Dufferin, for in- stance, and remember how far he was recognised at home His friends knew that he was able, that he was diligent, and that his mind had most of those qualities which the Sheridan strain in his blood ought to have produced, and great politicians judged him to be fit for high command—even for the Indian Viceroyalty. But the public knew little about him ; he never made a definite mark in the Peers ; and he never rose in English politics beyond a post which, though in the Cabinet, still made him, as he said himself, "maid-of-all-work to the Ministry." People would have been surprised, though they would not have re- pined, to see him Secretary for the Home Department, or head of any one of the great offices of the State. He is sent to Canada as Governor-General, and almost instantly is recognised by the Colonists and the Empire, by some of the most en- venomed politicians in the world, and some of the most pre- judiced of races, as capable of approaching the ideal perform- ance of that most perplexing and embarrassing of all political reles,—that of a subordinate constitutional King, a man who has to lead, moderate, control, and yet efface himself, to accept advice from elected counsellors on the spot, yet obey orders received from an office three thousand miles away. He has to maintain, without personal traditions to help him, the dignity of a monarchy in a republic, to influence men who doubt if they can yield without abandoning their self-respect, to satisfy a Home Government which cannot always know his difficulties, and to conciliate a neighbour inherently suspicious and possessed of ten times his wealth and power. He does it all to everybody's content, and does it without self-effacement. No figure in the Dominion is more distinctive than the Governor-General. His judgment is in- voked by contending provinces, his despatches are read like Ministerial speeches, and whole communities crowd into any town where he may promise a speech. His behaviour is a marvel of tact and finesse, and yet he leaves the im- pression that he would have governed India as autocrat just as well as he governs the Dominion as Constitutional Vice- King.
To preside over a country placed as the Dominion is placed
for five years with complete success and universal approval is a great feat, but we have not yet noticed what seems to us most noteworthy in Lord Dufferin. He is the only man in the whole world who performs those functions without being solemn, who dare pose as king and make a public joke, who can convulse an audience and abate no atom of his dignity. Part of his charm no doubt arises, as we pointed out once be- fore, from his joyous optimism an optimism as marked in 1877 as in 1875. Englishmen and that matter, Irishmen, when they are at home, are so gloomy, so bothered with anxieties and tiresomenesses—for many of the greatest domestic subjects, like Education and Intemperance, are tiresome to fatuity- " become so content if only there is no misfortune, that a Vice- roy who tells them that his dominion is occupied by a people who are" one of the most intelligent and happiest of the offsets of the English race," a people rapidly developing "into a proud and great nation;" a people with a social "atmosphere which seems impregnated with the exhilarating spirit of enter- prise, contentment, and hope ; " a people which feels that its destinies are as great as its possessions, and that it is equal to deal with both, makes society raise its head with a glance of amused but half-incredulous surprise. Is there a politician left with spirits like that ?" Part, too may fairly be ascribed to a
certain quality of grace in Lord Dukerin's speeches, particularly the ceremonial part of them which, though it may not be
valuable, is extremely rare, and produces the intellectual im- pression which the ancients as well as ourselves described by "hippiness." Englishmen, however able, usually get through their ceremonial utterances so badly, say such banal things, and are so embarrassed by their own fear of being histrionic, that it is a positive pleasure to hear the ever-repeated mention of the Queen prefaced by words like these :— " I assure you, however bald and conventional may be the expressions I am forced to use, the feelings which inspire them well from my heart with ever-fresh intensity. Love and devotion to the Queen, as the type and living representative of constitutional freedom, of well-ordered government, of a renowned historical past and a hopeful future, is the ruling passion of Englishmen all over the world. But with this national, normal, and abiding principle, rooted as it is for all time in the hearts of our countrymen, there is undoubtedly intertwined a tenderer senti- ment, a sentiment of chivalrous personal devotion towards that Sovereign Lady, who, in her early girlhood, was called upon to preside over the destinies of so vast an Empire, whose chequered life, as maiden, wife, and widow, has been so intimately associated with every phase of the private as well as the public existence of each one of us, and whose un- ostentatious, patient career of faithfully-fulfilled duty, and never- failing well-doing, immeasurably enhances the splendour of the crown she wears, and has advanced to a degree it might be difficult to estimate the general welfare of her subjects.
The essence of the charm, however, is that Lord Dufferin, for all the weight of his office and all the glare of eyes around him, dares to be himself, a nineteenth-century Sheridan who doesn't drink, dares say out the fun that is in him, even when it trenches on the verge of rollicking, as when he repudiates the notion of governing Bulgaria—his name was proposed because he settled the Lebanon by insisting, among other
things, on hanging the Shefket Pasha of his day So deeply attached am I to our Canada, that the Pashalik of Bulgaria shall not tempt me away, even though a full domestic establishment, such as is customary in that country, should be provided for me out of the taxes of the people, and Lady Dufferin gave her consent,—which is doubtful." Or when he drew a comical picture of his terror while crossing a corner of the United States, lest he should be seized by the American people and made President of the Union in spite of himself :— " Of one thing I am quite sure, that there is not an American politi- cian between the Atlantic and tbe Pacific who would not at the pre- sent moment be content to give half his fortune and perhaps a great deal more, to possess that most serviceable and useful thing, a Governor- General. Indeed, the acquisition by the United States of so valuable a personage has of late come te appear of such prime necessity—would prove Erlich an obvious mode of solving their personal difficulties, and of remedying tho defects of their Governmental machine—that I have been extremely nervous about passing so near the border as I had to do on my way hither. There is no knowing what might 'happen in the case of people under such a stress of temptation. Raids have been prompted sometimes by love as well as hate. In fact, the tame ceremonies of modern marriage are but the emasculated production of the far more spirited principle of capture by Which brides in less sophis- ticated ages were obtained. Who knows to what lengths Mr. Tilden and Mr. Hayes and the millions of their respective adherents now drawn up in hostile array against each -other might not be driven in the agony of their present suspense. A British Governor-General! What a catting of the Gordian knot And so near, too—just across the water. A gunboat and a serjeant's guard, and the thing is done. And then think what they get in him A person dissociated from all seotional interests, prejudices, and passions, who can never become stronger than the people's Parliament or divide the national vote. A representative of all that is august, stable, and sedate in the gov-
ernment, the history, and the traditions of the country ; incapable of partisanship, and lifted far above the atmosphere of faction; without adherents to reward, or opponents to oust from office ; docile to the suggestions of his Ministers, and yet securing to the people the cer- tainty of being able to get rid of an Administration or Parliament the moment either had forfeited their confidence. Really, gentlemen, I think I had better remove nearer to the North Pole."
One of our contemporaries, in the most solemnly proper manner—and the propriety of English politicians when there is a joke afoot is a thing to marvel at—hints that the Americans may take offence at that, but it may set its fears at rest. Our cousins are over-sensitive, and take fire at a good many things, but they see a joke when they hear one a good deal quicker that most of us, and have, like Englishmen of the last cen- tury, special appreciation for a jest which has for basis the absurdity of an impossible situation. They are not likely to be roused by Lord Dufferin's banter, more especially when that banter is prefaced by an eulogium like this :—
" If we look across the border, what do we see ? A nation placed in one of the most trying and difficult situations which can be imagined. Two hostile and thoroughly-organised camps arrayed against each other in the fiercest crisis of a political contest. Yet, in spite of the enormous personal and public interests at stake, in spite of the natural irritation such a struggle must engender, in spite of the thousand aggravations created by this unparalleled situation of suspense, there is exhibited by both sides a patriotic self-restraint, a moderation of language, and a dignified and wise attitude of reserve, which is worthy, not only of our admiration, but of the imitation of the civilised world."
That is the mind of Lord Dufferin, the fun is but the bubble which rises in it, and we do not know which is the pleasanter to read, the grave appreciation, or the frolicksome, bantering satire. That Lord Dufferin dare express both, that he dare laugh aloud on a throne, and can laugh with hearty glee without displacing his ermine, seems to us his special differentia among the men now presiding over the world. Is there another one, Emperor, King, Viceroy, or Colonial Governor, who has even a laugh in him
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