Sir John Lubbock, who spoke after Lord Hartington, re- marked
that the Gladstonians certainly masqueraded as in favour of Union ; but if they were really favourable to it, he did not see why Mr. Gladstone so vehemently attacked the Act of Union. Their notion of Union reminded him of the definition of a hedge as 'something that joins two fields together. What did they mean by Union P Ireland was to contribute a fixed sum for military and naval expenses, and any extra expense was to fall on Great.Britain. Was that Union ? Irish Members were to sit at Westminster, but English and Scotch Members were to have no voice in Irish affairs. Was that Union? Irish Members were to vote for a war or a foreign policy for the expenses of which they would. contribute nothing. Was that Union ? The fact was, they were face to face with a movement for the disintegration of the Empire. Sir John's short speech was exceedingly pithy and effective. Lord Hartington, in replying to the toast of his health, remarked that he had been thinking of .gradually retiring from politics at the time when the thunderbolt against the Union compelled him to put his shoulder to the wheel again. "I do not know," he said, "that I have ever had any great or natural inclination in the direction of party politics." Probably not. Lord Hartington has often reminded us of the lines:—
"See in Kings' Courts loth Jeremiah plead, And slow-tongued Moses rule by eloquence of deed."
And yet he has compelled himself to become one of the best speakers of our time.
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