THE RIGHT HON. E. HORSMAN.
UR. DISRAELI once dubbed Mr. Horsman "a superior
LV person." The contemptuous phrase affords a fine example of its author's happily-ingenious talent for sarcasm. By one felicitous stroke it hits off with notable exactness the character of the man to whom it was applied ; in one com- pendious statement it gathers up and expresses, or at least suggests, a multitude of the diversified peculiarities by which he is distinguished. It would be impossible with more of nicety, neatness, and force to indicate the true status and bearing of the Member for Liskeard. He has a place in the front rank of second-rate politicians. He possesses the self- confidence of genius in a degree out of all proportion to the measure in which he has its strength. Too petulant for a partisan, he is also too impracticable for a leader. Endowed with the gift of a swinging and sonorous rhetoric, he is fatally lacking in the power of sustained action, and his wise speech finds an extraordinary contrast in his foolish conduct. Pene- trated by Liberal convictions which he cannot expel or let go, he seems never to have taken the pains to co-ordinate them in his own mind, where they are huddled together without aught of unity or system. Destitute of practical sagacity or fore- sight, he is constantly at fault regarding the suitable time "to take occasion by the hand," yet he is ever prone to criticise and object. Altogether he stands out as a clever, rash, froward, moody, and uncomfortable politician, whose whereabouts it is never safe to reckon upon till he declares himself, and whose great abilities have been so warped in their exercise that they have served merely for annoyance and mischief. His career from the outset has been a long series of mistakes. Forty years ago, when he entered upon public life, few men could boast more favourable prospects. By proved talents, by careful training, by aristocratic connection, he was entitled to aim high. In due time, at an age which in those days was counted young, as indeed it would be still, he achieved the Secretaryship for Ireland. Time out of mind this has been a post pre-eminently adapted to test the qualities:of an aspirant for the higher grades of statesmanlike distinction. Mr. Horsman, after a brief experience, threw it up in a huff, alleging that he found in it nothing to do. From that hour, his erratic course, which his promotion had failed to steady, has become more erratic than ever. Perpetually at odds with the chiefs of the party to whom he professed allegiance, indulging the most dismally lugubrious prophecies as to the inevitable con- sequences of their doings, confiding only in himself, and utterly hopeless, to all appearance, of his country, his attitude and actions have been untoward in the highest degree. Since 1869 he has been almost constantly in revolt. In the retro- spect, if he claims credit for purity of motive, he must be content to forego any reputation for clear discernment or sound sense. He was a bitter opponent of Mr. Cobden's Commercial Treaty with France. He passionately assailed the financial policy of Mr. Gladstone during his last tenure of the Exchequer. He denounced the moderate Reform Bill of 1866 as too demo- cratic, thus preparing the way for the more sweeping measure of 1867. And though he was cowed and abashed by the early successes of the present Administration—having, indeed, been for a while without a seat—he was one of the first to exalt his horn against them, as he has been one of the most persistent in endeavouring to thrust with it to their hurt.
For this behaviour Mr. Horsman urges an excuse which he is never tired of reiterating. Basing himself upon a right principle, he twists it round to a wrong use. He insists that the claims of the Liberal party are wider and higher than those of any Liberal Government, and that the maintenance of Liberal tenets is vastly more important than either. With this formula he dazzled and confounded the Cornish men, to whom he has been speaking upon things in general in four set dissertations. We cheerfully admit his averment. There can be no doubt that if a Government is all the better for a vigilant Opposition, asserting principles hostile to its own, and forcing it to justify every step it takes, much more is it indebted to those independent supporters who judge it by the standard of its professions, and strive to keep its action in harmony with them. But then these men must themselves be staunch, con- sistent, irreproachable, not given to blunders and defection. To be smitten by one who is a transgressor is anything but "a precious balm." Here it is that Mr. foreman's pretensions are faulty, and that his attempted apology breaks down. It would almost seem as if in small things as well as great he arrogates to himself a superiority to common rules. "Never have I known so garrulous a recess," he said, in beginning the series of speeches, each of them as long as an ordinary Review article, and vastly more discursive, which he has inflicted upon his amazed constituency. In so saying, he either reeked not of the contradiction which his purpose offered to his complaint, or he deemed himself (the surmise is unavoidable) absolved from any necessity for obeying the canon he would prescribe for others. In his speeches there was a great deal to admire. They were pitched in a higher key than is at all common, one that, though it was not adequately sustained all through, sufficed to give them character. They presented in the main just views of the large and magnanimous policy that befits the dignity of empire, therein affording a vivid and welcome contrast to the peddling disquisitions on parochial concerns which too many legislators pass off for a review of affairs and an account of their stewardship. They were interspersed with great lumps of solid and valuable sense, the pertinence of which is as undeniable as their worth. Yet, in the attempt to show how the maxims he announced might obtain practical effect, and his abstract recommendations be translated into concrete realities, Mr. Horsman fell into the most egregious inconsistencies. His conduct as compared with his theories received at his own hands an exposure of futility and in- aptitude such as might content the most exacting adversary. We have no desire to imitate his own captiousness, or to urge against him animadversions that would be unwarranted, though not devoid of specious pretext. We can quite understand his ridicule of the alleged Conservative reaction, and his gladness that the Conservative working-man has at last got a chance,— for if there exist such a phenomenon, it is well he should avow himself. Similarly, we can comprehend a profession of continued attachment to Liberal ideas, along with a proclama- tion of dislike to "blazing principles," for this mood of mind does, we believe, best harmonise with the opinion of the country, which is not always in the humour to welcome any proposal for organic change likely to induce controversy or struggle. But, descending to matters of detail, we are puzzled to know why Mr. Horsman should in one breath laud the Judicature Bill as enough by itself to redeem last session from the charge of barrenness, and in the end disparage it as having been passed by the aid of the Tories. It is still more perplex- ing why, when extending his retrospect from the history of the Session to that of the Ministry, he should have been so lavish of his censures and so niggard of his encomiums, denouncingflereely what he conceives to be their errors, while passing with slight mention the great works they have either successfully achieved, or honestly and strenuously attempted. One generous admis- sion he did vouchsafe,—that their Irish policy has been "a far greater success than he, or the most sanguine man who knew Ireland, had ever imagined it would be." This is much to say ; higher praise could scarcely be awarded, while it has the merit of being true. But the grace of the acknowledgment was marred by the fact that it formed the prelude to a bitter attack upon the Irish University Bill of last year. That, along with the English Education Act and the Licensing measure, Mr. Horsman brands with ruthless severity as enormous mistakes, which have borne their appropriate fruit in the prevalent mistrust and difficulty by which Ministers are now afflicted.
What was his own part in relation to these measures, and how does it correspond with his present view of them ? As regards the Licensing Bill, we do not find that he moved hand or tongue either to obstruct or improve. The position he now boasts of occupying is one the description of which reads as a satire upon his high-flown pretensions. So enamoured of him, he would have us believe, are the electors of Liskeard, that the opposing parties on this subject have agreed to proclaim a truce for his convenience. The Publicans and the Permissivists are alike content that he should observe a strict neutrality, and he has consented. In these circumstances his strictures are rather gratuitous, as well as ungracious. It may be quite true that the looker-on sees most of the game, but it is a shabby proceeding for a man in that advantageous position to condemn and embarrass his friend. Moreover, it
is of importance to remember that, amid all the outcry which has been raised over this business, no one has been found to aver that the subject could have been postponed, that it could have been dealt with in any way strikingly different from the plan pursued by Lord Aberdare, or that any alteration to speak of can be made upon his scheme. As regards the Education Act, Mr. Horsman propounds opinions so varied and conflicting that to reconcile them is an impossibility, and it becomes a problem whether he has any clear or fixed con- victions as to what is preferable or permissible. He denounces mere secular teaching as a method for bringing up a set of heathens ; he thinks the Nonconformi4s have a grievance to which it would be wrong in them to submit; he is convinced they have committed an error in the style of their efforts for getting rid of it ; he himself will vote for the repeal of the 25th Clause, but he would deprecate making that willingness a test for Liberal candidates generally. All this surely seems but an alternate blowing hot and cold, and a roundabout way of confessing that he is at a loss which side he ought to espouse. Worst of all were his complaints respecting the Irish University Bill. Here, where. shame should have kept him silent, considering the letter he sent to Mr. Lowe immediately after its introduction, he talked his loudest and wildest. It was, he said, a measure contrived with the view of handing over University education in Ireland to the priests of Rome. It was prepared and brought forward in virtue of a compact with Cardinal Cullen. Its rejection was a thing to be rejoiced over, even "if it had turned out a dozen Ministries." Random and inflated declarations of this sort are scarcely worthy of serious exposure and denial at this time of day. They can only destroy all trust in the sobriety of the man who advances them. That the University Bill was a scheme with some blots is undoubtedly true. Chief among them was its over- elaboration ; it carried too many marks of its author's fond- ness for detail ; like Achilles' shield, it bore,— "Upon its surface many a rare design
Of curious art."
But to say that it was a surrender to the Romish hierarchy, a subtle contrivance for working out their designs apart from or in preference to their legitimate claims and the national necessities, is palpably false. If proposed at the instigation of Cardinal Cullen, how came he to spurn it ? If adapted to the wishes of Rome, why did the Roman Catholics on the Liberal Bide combine with the Tories in order to throw it out, crossing the House in a body for that purpose There can be no answer to these inquiries. The facts to which they point show Mr. Horsman's recollection to be inaccurate, his under- standing of the circumstances to be fallacious, and his recital of them a piece of fantasy. It is much to be regretted that a person of his capabilities should have permitted himself to be seduced or impelled into a false position, and still more that he should stick to it, using such arguments in its defence. The blunder becomes as extraordinary as it is deplorable when his retrospect is contrasted with his anticipations. All that he has to say regarding the future is rational and fair, marked by calmness and good-sense, and well deserving of attentive study. On the specific questions of enfranchising the peasantry, liberat- ing the land from the fetters of entail, and readjusting the incidence of taxation, he speaks with a courage and thorough- ness that would not disgrace the most ardent reformer whose zeal is mated with knowledge. It is the barest justice to say that in his final address, wherein he dealt with the questions that lie ahead, there are few traces of querulous fidgettiness or selfish timidity, and none of a desire to acquiesce in a policy of indolence or torpor. In this he shows to advantage by comparison with his colleague in disappointment and discontent, Mr. Bouverie, whose reforming energies seem to have suffered exhilustion. Mr. Horsman has a clear dis- cernment of what is right and politic. If his foibles have not hardened into inveteracy ; could he learn to become somewhat more tractable and pliant, without sacrificing his independence in any true sense ; could he forego the luxury of asserting his "superiority" by putting down other people, and were he to try the plan of co-operating with them, he might even yet yield good service in helping the realisation of good measures. It is not in his stars, but in himself, that he has never been more than an underling, and now stands outside all real influence and authority.
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