The announcement that Mr. Lecky has consented to stand for
the University of Dublin if formally asked, will, we pre- sume, be followed by his election. The result is one for general congratulation. Mr. Lecky is an ideal University Member,—the sort of Member who justifies the University franchise, but who, unhappily, is seldom chosen by the learned Corporations. We do not, of course, suppose that Mr. Lecky will achieve any large measure of Parliamentary success or make a political career. Though a good speaker, he is not likely to have political ambitions of the ordinary kind. It is, however, a distinct advantage for the House of Commons to contain at least one great man of letters. Without him it can hardly be a true microcosm of the nation.
he Irishmen on both sides, who have been accustomed to give such very highly-coloured versions of Irish history unchecked, will have to be careful in future. Mr. Lecky's knowledge and admitted impartiality should have a whole- some effect in restraining these flights of imagination and rhetoric.
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