Mr. W. H. Gladstone, son of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, made a speech at Chester which promises well for his political thoughtfulness. The meeting was by no means disposed to be easily satisfied ; it interrupted Mr. Gladstone a good deal, but he clearly understands an English crowd, chaffed the chaffers, and gained a less interrupted hear* than his father. He criticized the Con- servative opponent's desire to attribute the prosperity of the country to everything but the financial measures of the Govern- ment, comparing him to Job Trotter in Pickwick, who, when he did not wish to see Mr. Weller, " looked up the lawn and down the lawn, and up to the sky and down to his boots, and every- where but straight before him,"--a quotation which finally won the crowd, who cried out, " Go on, my boy," and " Bravo," in ecstacies. But Mr. Gladstone showed much better qualities than readiness and pluck,—thoughtful and discriminating Liberalism. He rejected the ballot with energy on grounds very much like Mr. J. S. Mill's, and while heartily advocating the claim of the working class to representation, refused to approve of any scheme for ensuring class-ascendency. When the Chancellor of the Exchequer at length entered the room, and with true paternal cruelty spoke to his son's having always been a good boy, Mr. W. H. Gladstone was almost independent of the support even of his father.
