Sir. David Wedderburn, Bart., M.P. Compiled from his Journals and
Writings, by his Sister, Mrs. E. H. Percival. (Kegan Paul, Trench, and Co.)—Sir David Wedderburn was an accomplished man, of much general culture. A very great part of his life was spent in travel. Each continent was visited ; some countries several times. South America seems to have been the only one of the large divisions of the world on which he never set foot. His travels were not mere aim. lass wanderings, undertaken for distraction or pleasure. He was an acute and painstaking observer, and recorded his impressions and experienees in a clear and lively way. The result is a very readable book, consisting largely, indeed, of journals of travel, but never wearying. Sir David Wedderburn was a Liberal. in politics, and sat for several years in Parliament,—for South Ayrshire from 1868 to 1873 (when he declined to face a contest which seemed hopeless, and was evidently right, as even in 1880 the division returned a Conservative), and again for the Haddington Burghs, in 1879. This seat he retained till shortly before his death, when failing health compelled him to resign. He noticed, we find him saying, a great change in the House daring his six years of absence (1873-1879), and the change induced him to believe that he should serve his country by steady voting more than by speaking. Later on, there are some instructive remarks upon the leadership of Mr. Gladstone, in au unfinished article—the last thing that he wrote—which was found among his papers :—" At the present moment, the ruling political sentiment in society is a bitter personal hatred of Mr. Gladstone. The masses hear their chosen leader denounced in malignant language by members of the privileged classes, and they naturally think : These men denounce Gladstone because he is on our side, because his sympathies are with the people, and against privilege.' The result is that the Prime Minister can now do no wrong in the eyes of the multitude, and that the conduct
of his enemies has made him dictator It is possible, however, for a great man to have many attached personal friends, and to be the idol of the multitude, and yet to fail in securing anything like personal devotion among his immediate subordinates and supporters. To be in continual proximity to the chief without receiving the faintest indication that one is kdown to him by name, or even. by sight, must chill the ardour even of the most zealous follower There is a mortification for the follower in the discovery that he has no personal identity in the memory of his great leader, a memory which is almost preternatural in its retentiveness and grasp." The italics are ours. •
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