MR. ASQUITH ON MR. RHODES'S GIFT. [TO THE EDITOR or
THE "SPECTATOR."]
Sre,—It is impossible to read Mr. Asquith's speech without feeling that we have indeed lost something in our publio life. Mr. Asquith sees nothing at all in the incident which you were fortunate enough to bring to light, nothing more than a mare's nest, nothing beyond an incident more or lei's
common in party strife, least of all anything demoralising or corrupt. That I think will scarcely be the opinion of a good many of his fellow-countrymen whose feelings respecting it I can at all pretend to represent. Amazement, alarm, incre- dulity, and indignation are those I have most commonly found tourist. Questions such as these suggest themselves :—Do our institutions expose us to this? Are our public men of this sort? Is the party system worked thus ? and then: Does the audacity of such men extend to acts of this sort ? Are the plutocrats a real danger to the commonwealth ? Is it thus that this South African War was got up ? Is Kruger right? Mr. Asquith consorts with men of leading and light —has he heard nothing of this sort? That indeed would
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