The speaking has begun with a rush. Sir Henry James
has spoken at Dumfries, Mr. Courtney at Liskeard, and Mr. Stan- hope at Perth; Lord Richard Grosvenor and Mr. Osborne Morgan at Carnarvon ; Lord Salisbury twice at Reading ; Sir Charles Dilke four times in Scotland ; and Mr. Goschen once in Edinburgh. Of these speeches, most of them able, Lord Salisbury's rose to the highest blistering-point; while Mr. Goschen's was, on the whole, the most remarkable as a confession and defence of political creed. Sir Henry James's, besides much suave humour, contained a most lucid, effective, and, we believe, a most accurate exposition of the Tory distortions of the finance of the Government; while Mr. Courtney's was marked by that rather cut-and-dried official dogmatism in which, since his accession to office, he has taken' pains to excel. We cannot profess to give any estimate, how- ever short, of all these speeches,—indeed, many of them were intended rather for local than for general consumption ; but we note with the greatest pleasure that everywhere politicians on both sides are doing their utmost to give the constituencies some personal contact with those who represent their interests in Parliament. That is a kind of political education not only better than mere newspaper reading, but almost essential to the most profitable newspaper reading on political topics.
