Sir William Harcourt was the chief speaker at the annual
dinner of the London Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, when the president of the Chamber, Sir Albert Rollit, M.P. for South Islington, proposed the toast of her Majesty's Ministers in a speech which was in tone perhaps a shade more than impartial, inclining, if either way, more to the side of the Government than to the side of the Opposition, though Sir Albert counts for a sturdy Conservative. He is clearly one of a very Liberal shade, especially in relation to the finance of the Government. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in returniw; thanks, made an interesting speech on the prospects of trace, deprecating pessimistic views, and praising optimism, or at least the reluctance to discount evils which may never occur.. It is a great question, however, as the Times remarked on Thursday, whether a pessimist does not enjoy gloatint; over the gloomy prospects he forecasts, at least as much as the optimist delights in anticipating fair weather. The true course, however, is to eliminate mere temperament as far as possible from our expectations, or rather to allow for its known prepossessions, as neither a fool's paradise nor a fool's purgatory is the residence a reasonable man would choose. Nor have we much fault to find on that head with the Chancellor of the Exchequer's optimism in relation to trade prospects, which, as we have indicated in anot'aer column, is not sanguine in excess, and does appear to be founded on sound data.
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