A hundred years ago From the 'Spectator, 6 lune 1868—Mr
Disraeli addressed on Monday an audience of agricul- turists gathered at Halton to hear him, and see an industrial exhibition fostered by the Rothschild family,'who possess very large estates in the neigh- bourhood. Nobody does this kind of thing so well as the Premier. He did not say a word on politics, but talked awa)T pleasantly about the productions of Buckinghamshire, believed outside its bounds to be only beef, barley, butter, and bumpkins; but known to Mr Disraeli to include lace that might vie with Mechlin, furniture, embroidery, and silk so good that it is exported to Paris and reimported as fine material. He concluded by pointing out the benefits of such social gatherings, so superior "to any briital pastime,"—baiting a Minister, for exathple?—and with a graceful compliment to the Lady of the Manor, Lady de Rothschild. In his way, Mr. Disraeli turns these speeches as well as ever Lord Palmerston did, and it is curious to mark the difference between his artificial yet play- ful speech, and the Irish noble's broader humour.
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