It is a relief to turn from Mr.Jenkins's constitutional criticism
ship which seemed to us irrational or morbid, and with some of Mr. Gladstone's Dissolution policy—we have had so much of his social views we are never likely to agree ; but he is, of all of all that lately—to his estimate of the Tory party and the the Radical Members left out in the cold, the one who Tory Government. Here we are not perplexed by ambiguities ; ought to be put back first, as one who distinctly raised the Member for Dundee uses, and the electors of Dundee the intellectual character of Parliament. He played applaud, a fine, plain-spoken, strong-flavoured piece of abuse, there the part of a House-of-Commons conscience, over- on which the former has certainly bestowed some ill-rewarded sensitive perhaps, slightly raspy, and given to auspicious. pains. To call a spade a spade is a rhetorical exercise much ness over-much, but devoted both to political and economic needed in these days of excessive refinements in speech, but principle, and ready at all times to recall both parties to a unfortunately the usages of society do not at present allow recollection of the higher laws which they were forgetting for public men—at all events, south of the Tweed—to label mere expediencies. A skilled debater, a strong hater, and a one another "rogues" or "fools " without sharply zondemning determined lover of justice, with a habit of accuracy about the practice. Mr. Jenkins will find when he enters the House facts natural to an economist, and none of that pulpy senti- of Commons, that if he wishes to be listened to at all, he will mentality which revolts the House, he was more dreaded by have to modify his style of descriptive criticism. To charac- officials than any man in it ; and with a Tory Government tense the Conservative party which supports the present absolute in both Houses, and pledged to waste—though it may Government as " a hungry following of long-disappointed break the pledge—a Conscience or even Chorus sitting on claimants, landowners, publicans, and parsons," may not in observant there, and able to make his pricking felt or even substance be so very far wrong ; but its form is, to say the his choral " aside " well heard, will be absolutely invaluable. least, a little obsolete, and smacks of the time when a great Of his Parliamentary capacity, the fact that he, a blind journal used to think it witty to write of " Babble-tongue man, not by any means popular with either his chiefs or his Macaulay's cast-iron impudence." In the same spirit, Mr. followers, had worked himself up to a sort of leadership Jenkins passes in review the leading members of the Cabinet. among the most jealous, exigeant, and self-opinionated section The Premier, " the author of that silly, bombastic, of the Liberals, is quite sufficient proof ; while of his indi- hysterical Bath letter," has fairly earned, by his " malicious vidual capacity, every citizen of Hackney who hears him will ingenuity " in raising the question of the Straits of very soon become convinced. The borough is quite certain Malacca, the title of a " Penang lawyer," an allusion to be well represented by Mr. Fawcett ; to be conspicuous the pertinence of which we have in vain attempted to among boroughs not only in London, but in England ; and to explore, since all we know about " Penang lawyers " is that be represented by a man who knows and sympathises with they are hard little canes, commonly used for walking-sticks. many of its local grievances, a man who has battled hard for Lord Derby is " the Martin Tupper of politics, who goes about Epping Forest, who has expressed opinions upon pauperism the country making prophecies, proverbial and philosophical," which certainly show him no friend to lavish rates, and a man —a description which sounds telling, till we stop to consider who does not fear, but rather courts, hard, unseen, but most what may be a "proverbial prophecy," and are reminded that useful Parliamentary work. This is, we may say, his special so far as the public are aware, neither Lord Derby nor Mr. unknown qualification, and it is for this, and not out of any Tupper—certainly not the former—is in the habit of making special favour for him, except as an addition to the intellec- prophecies at all. For Sir Stafford Northcote, Mr. Jenkins tual force of Parliament, that we trust Hackney is about to finds no nickname, but he will be "neither ingenious nor do a great service to the Empire. The man, wherever great" at the Exchequer. Lastly, we have "a screaming he sits, is Member for India as well as his own seat. Marquis, who, after long wandering among the demons of He has toiled so diligently at this work, has read so zealously, ancient prejudices and obsolete opinions, was now found has cross-examined so acutely, that the strongest of Indian clothed, and in his right mind sitting at the feet of such officials goes before him with a sense that he had better for- a saviour of humanity as the author of Vivian Grey' get nothing ; that Mr. Grant Duff tried, when delivering his and Lothair.' " We certainly have never concealed our dislike Budget last Session, to anger him into silence before he had for the type of Toryism that Lord Salisbury represents, but spoken ; and that the native community have addressed him as Mr. Jenkins's tone is quite inapplicable to a statesman whose their Member. It is not our lot always or often to agree with energy and clearness of view are fully trusted by all parties in his conclusions, but he is the only man in the House of Com- the country, to direct by far the most serious administrative mons competent to argue the terrible question now pending from business with which the Cabinet has to deal. Nor has Lord the English point of view, to bring humanity, hard judgment, Salisbury's past career been such as to justify the taunt that and thorough belief in economic laws to bear on a discussion 'he has given himself up an intellectual victim to Mr. Disraeli's which may easily degenerate into a sentimental rhapsody, or as nothing but local official blundering of a very stupid and very excusable character to reprimand. The Tories do not expect HACKNEY AND MR. FAWCETT. to win two seats, and have no conceivable reason for subjecting be anxious for Mr. Fawcett's exclusion is to us incom- prehensible. They do not want a tedious House, any more than their rivals. Mr. Fawcett is no friend of the peace- at-any-price policy, any more than themselves, but fights as stoutly for the Empire and its right to remain great as they profess to do ; while on their one heart-felt subject, the defence of property, he is as an economist, an outwork of their own party, and entirely objects to theft as a means of regeneration. His unopposed return would be the most creditable incident of the Election, but if that is not to be had, let the contest be an open hand-to-hand battle, with no wretched side-issues to raise smoke, and every vote a plumper.
We see that one one or two workmen, representing, by their own account, a certain amount of Socialist opinion existing in the borough, are entirely against Mr. Fawcett's nomination. They are perfectly right. Mr. Fawcett, to judge by his speeches, is a relentless advocate for free land, free labour, and the free right of combination ; but for Socialism, so far as we under- stand him, he has an equally relentless contempt, as a poor device for obtaining an impossible end. He wants to see everybody rich, not everybody poor, and is just as incapable of stealing land to make peasants, as of giving up his hope that labourers may make peasants of themselves. It is not, however, about 'isms' that Parliament is concerned just now, but about Imperial questions, foreign policy, India, the aban- donment of colonies, and the like ; and on every one of these large subjects Mr. Fawcett is either sound, or able to con- tribute a full quota to the discussion amid which the sound principle is discerned.
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