Lord Rosebery, who is a man of the world, and
not in the least addicted to screaming, on Saturday made an almost passionate appeal to the people of Scotland not to press forward questions outside the Liberal programme propounded by Mr. Gladstone. If they did, he said, they would not forward those questions, for opinion could not be forced like a plant, but would only weaken the Liberals, and thereby help to leave Mr. Parnell master of the situation. He expressed, in language of almost pathetic force, his horror of such a victory for the Irish Extremists, and implored his countrymen to let alt questions that could wait wait, and not send up advanced Liberals to fight moderate Liberals, as they were doing, and so to let Tories in. What was the use of discussing even such a ques- tion as Church and State, if the only result was " to let in a dictator who openly avows that he hates both ?" That is sound sense ; but the Churches in Scotland are evidently excited, and unless the national good-sense once more prevails, the Liberal representation of Scotland may not be unbroken. Scotchmen, however, more than any other section of the population, keep the secret of the ballot.
Previous page
