Lord Salisbury was received on Tuesday in Exeter by an
immense concourse, representing the whole West Country, and spoke in the evening in a hall erected for the occasion, which held 10,000 persons. His speech, which we have discussed else- where, was a review of the situation, which he found hopeful, even as regarded the General Election. Should the Government be beaten, however, the House of Lords would do its duty, which was to act as trustee for the nation. The clamour of its adversaries could not alter that, even if it were true, as he himself quite admitted that it was, that the House required reform. He declared himself in favour of old-age pensions, if only they could be secured without too much burden on the community ; and of small holdings, as a measure for the production of Conservatives, provided that it was possible to create them. He pointed out strongly, that while English Radicals believed that Irishmen would accept a moderate Bill of Home-rule, the Irish parties themselves united in demanding an extreme one ; and in a fine peroration showed how fatal the measure must be to Ulster, which the Irish Parliament, after adopting Protection, must tax for the furtherance of its schemes, and how completely the prestige of Great Britain would be lost within the Empire. It would be held to be governed by a people so given up to faction that they were willing to surrender provinces in order to secure votes. If we allow ourselves to be carried away by sentimental follies " which are but excuses for weakness and want of courage, the day of our power will be set, and slowly we shall recede from the great position" it has taken centuries to win. Our only criticism on that prophecy is, that the word "slowly" is out of place.
