Mr. Whalley positively grows. Anything more comical than the precisian
gravity of his letter to Mr. Gladstone informing the Prime Minister that his (Mr. Whalley's) Peterborough constituents think the question whether Mr. Gladstone is, or is not, a member of the Church of Rome "one of great political importance in the present position of the Liberal party," and citing Lord Robert Montagu, a Member for the neighbouring county of Huntingdon, as a valuable precedent for the policy of candour in such little matters as these, it would not be easy to find out of Punch. Mr. Gladstone might, perhaps, have been a little less tender in his reply, for though, if he had trampled on Mr. Whalley, that gentle- man, like "the poor beetle that we tread upon, would in corporal anguish feel a pang as keen" as when a political vertebrate dies, yet the practice of catechizing gentlemen as to whether they are hypocrites or not, is so objectionable in itself, that it seems to de- mand the making of an example. Mr. Gladstone only replied that it was less a question whether he is a Roman Catholic than whether he is "one of the basest creatures in the kingdom which he has a share in ruling," certainly not quite a decent question ; but adds, like the Christian he is, that he is sure Mr. Whalley did not notice its true meaning, since "I have observed, during an experience of many years, that even when you undertake the most startling duties, you perform them in the gentlest and most considerate manner,"—a remark which Mr. Whalley justly recognizes as very soothing to hie feelings. It is no doubt true enough. The Member for Peterborough seems a very kindly sort of invertebrate politician, a genial kind of jelly-fish. Still if the electors of Peterborough happened to feel it a matter of the flat importance in the present state of political parties to know whether Mr. Goschen ever forged a cheque, or Mr. Lowe went bushraoging in Australia, they would probably not get a reply, and, except for the express purpose of encouraging our comic literature, there was no need of one from Mr. Gladstone.
Previous page
