Mr. Sclater-B ooth addressed a Conservative meeting near Brent- wood
on Saturday, and made in his address some odd remarks. One consisted in a comparison between Lord Beaconsfield's Government, which lasted six years, while " every one was sur- prised and many were sorry when it came to an end," and this Government, which had not been in existence much over four years, though " dissolution is in the air and is expected and desired by the constituencies throughout the country." That is only one way of saying that Mr. Sclater-Booth was surprised and sorry when Lord Beaconsfield's Government came to an end, and that Mr. Sclater-Booth desires to see this Government come to an end. We do not doubt it at all. Another odd remark was that nobody wanted equal electoral districts, except perhaps Mr. Chamberlain. If Mr. Sclater-Booth will read Lord Randolph Churchill's article in the Fortnightly, he will find in his Conservative colleague a formidable rival to Mr. Chamberlain on that head ; and if he will read Lord Salis- bury's speech at Manchester, he will see how powerfully that formidable rival was backed np by the official head of his own party in the House of Lords.
Previous page
