Sir Stafford Northcote himself descanted on the independence' of the
Scotch character, and the peculiar suitability of the Con- servative cause to engage on its side that independence of charac- ter, since nothing is more alien to men of independent mind than the meek acceptance of factitious grievances, manufactured for a purely political purpose. Sir. Stafford Northcote thought the great political industry of the Liberal party in Scotland re- sembled a good deal the manufacture of flies for salmon-fishing. Flies for salmon-fishing need not be at all like real flies,. but they must be bright enough in colour and big enough in size, and then the salmon are sure to snap at them. Just so with Liberal grievances. They need not at all resemble real grievances, but they must be big and showy, and then they are considered effective bait. Yet such baits ought not to be effective with Scotchmen. That made a very good opening, but the deficiency was in the applica- tion. The first showy artificial fly referred to was the grievance of the religious Establishment, but so soon as Sir Stafford approached the point of its artificiality and showiness, he be- came rather timidaand this part of his speech faded away. The next was the showy grievance of feudal land-laws, and here, again, Sir Stafford became rather incoherent, and did not venture to defend the land-laws as they are. Then he diverged into a demonstration that the Irish land policy of the Government is based on the principle that property is theft, and that therefore theft ought to involve property. And so he passed on to a general denunciation of the Government for making war against their own peace principles, comparing them to Sir Wilfrid Lawson, if by chance he should take to drinking a bottle of port in the presence of the assembled Licensed Victuallers. Sir- Stafford excused the intemperance of the Liberals in their• military self-congratulation, by saying that it reminded him of a man who, having gran' rich very late in life, took to heavy potations of champagne, and whom his friends excused by saying,—" Well ; you see, he took to it late in life ; and therefore, of course,—of course—" Finally, Sir Stafford insisted that the Liberals were spending much more than the Conservatives, but forgot to remark that the Conservatives left it to the Liberals to pay their debts, as well as to redeem their obligations.
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