The Liberal Unionists entertained Lord Hartington at the Crystal Palace
on Tuesday, Mr. Chamberlain taking the chair. More than eleven hundred guests were present, and Mr. Chamberlain delivered a succession of brilliant short speeches; Lord Hartington, a very powerful review of the situation ; while Lord Derby, Mr. Goschen, and Sir Henry James all managed to mark their speeches with a certain distinction and dis- tinctiveness. Mr. Chamberlain's tribute to the man "whose resolution and sterling honesty was the rallying point for all the defenders of the Union when they were thrown into con- fusion by the conversion of their old leader," was as cordial and eloquent as it was possible to be. He quoted Dr. Johnson's saying concerning the third Duke of Devonshire, that "he was distinguished before all men for a dogged veracity," and said that his descendant assuredly possesses this striking characteristic of his race. Mr. Gladstone's attitude on the subject of the concessions he had made as to the retention of the Irish Members at Westminster, Land-Purchase, and the separate treatment of Ulster, was altogether obscure; and his followers, though unable to extract from him any elucida- tions,—
" Determined to be pleased, a servile band Grow more convinced, the less they understand."
At such a time, we greatly need statesmen who "care not to be great, but as they save and serve the State," and such exactly was Lord Hartington.
