Sir William Harcourt's speech on the occasion of the open-
ing of the new buildings at Aberystwith University College, to which, when Chancellor of the Exchequer, he made a grant of £10,000, was in the main a review and a panegyric of inter- mediate education in Wales. Its chief interest, however, centred in his opening reference to the Fashoda question, and, above all, in the weighty declaration that " it has always been the great and patriotic tradition of this country for men of all parties, independent of political differences, in the presence of national difficulties and dangers, to give to the Government of the Queen their support in the maintenance of the rights of the Empire." Such a duty, he went on, at the present moment and in face of an unexampled difficulty, was more than ever urgent. The great issues were now in the hands of responsible and capable men ; their responsibility was heavy, and, in his opinion, " we should all abstain from language of vulgar swagger, or of provocation, or of menace, which might embarrass their conduct or precipitate their action." It is always pleasant to see Sir William sink the gladiator in the statesman.
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