Speaking in support of Mr. Chaplin's candidature on Monday at
the Sleaford Corn Exchange, Mr. Stanhope, the Secretary of State for War, made one of those common- sense, commonplace speeches which always delight the hearts of the serious-minded portions of a rural audience. The argu- ments in favour of the Government, which many politicians find a very great difficulty in stating, simply because they are so obvious as to sound like truisms, were boldly set forth by Mr. Stanhope, and, we expect, with no small benefit to the cause of the Union,—for what is wearisomely stale to the statesman is often a new ray of light to the voter. " If," he said, " a working man committed an offence against the law-, they ran him into prison at once ; and why should they exempt Members of Parliament ?" In the same style the speaker recapitulated the good deeds of the Government. They have provided for the defence of the country, they have reduced the interest on the National Debt, they have lowered the duties on tobacco and taken a penny off the Income-tax, and they have " given to agriculturists an enormous boon in the revision of local taxation." No doubt such a speech cannot be called very striking. While, however, the Gladstonians are talking about the guilt and incapacity of the Government, it is well worth making.
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