With the substance of Lord Rosebery's criticisms we find 'ourselves
in complete agreement. There is hardly a single subject touched upon in the speech on which his views do not coincide with those repeatedly expressed in these columns. We detest the attacks on property and on the family involved in the half-hearted Socialism of the Government, and we are as convinced as ever that the nation does not mean to sanction either Home.rule or Protection. Furthermore, Lord Rosebery does well to drive home the fact that "Centre" opinion is not adequately represented in the present Parlia- ment. Yet it is impossible to overlook the fact that the tone and temper of certain parts of the speech are sure considerably to impair its value. The strange, and to our mind most in- judicious, sentences in which he emphasised his detachment will inevitably distract attention from his sane and weighty warning to the nation. Again, by the indulgence of his literary gift he has gone out of his way to supply his opponents with ready-made phrases—" the croakings of a retired raven on a withered branch "—to be used to his own discredit. Yet we must take Lord Rosebery as we find him, —a luminous public: commentator handicapped by a hyper- sensitive artistic temperament.
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