It can hardly be wondered that, considering these enigmatic sayings
and the significant absence of any denunciation of the scheme, the supporters of Mr. Chamberlain's proposals, and notably the Times and the Daily Mail, hailed Lord Rosebery as a convert to the doctrine of preferential duties. On Friday, however, a letter appeared from Lord Rosebery's private secretary to a Protectionist correspondent which declared that his chief "could not conceal his surprise at your interpretation" of his speech. But even this letter, though it implied Lord Rosebery's objections to Mr. Chamber- lain's scheme, did not express them very emphatically. The scheme must be treated respectfully, though Lord Rosebery had "already indicated the nature of the objections, which he himself believes to be insurmountable, to any plan of the kind." We confess that this letter reminds us irre- sistibly of the lines in the Rolliad which describe Lord Shel- burne,—lines which we must take leave to quote with an altera- tion of two or three words :—
"The Daily Mail affirms I like the plan.
I never did, my Lords, I never can.
Plain words, thank Heaven, are always understood,
'I could approve,' I said, but not I would.'
Anxious to make the public feel content, My view was just to seem to give consent, While all the world might see that nothing less was meant."
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