The Merry Past \ 



of public men arouse but very languid interest ; so ' 



much, indeed, is this the case that they are seldom i 



reported at any length. A conspicuous exception, ; 



however, is the case of Lord Rosebery, whose brilliant I 



and interesting utterances are ever welcomed by I 



all who possess the slightest claim to culture and ; 



common sense. i 



Elections are now far more decorous than in old | 



days, when candidates did not fawn upon the electors 

 in any great degree — bluffness was their prevailing ; 



characteristic. 



A gallant general, being elected a representative 

 for one of the eastern counties, gave a public enter- 

 tainment to the electors after the fatigue of the 

 contest, and, on his health being drunk, addressed 

 his constituents in the following laconic speech : — 

 " Gentlemen, I am no orator, and therefore you 

 must not expect from me a fine speech. That I can 

 fight, I believe none of you can doubt ; that I can 

 drink, you shall all be assured of before we part. So \ 



God bless you all, and leave me to defend your 

 rights." 



Another gentleman, proposing a candidate for a ! 



southern borough, terminated his harangue with the 

 following words ; " Gentlemen, it is of the utmost 

 importance that we select men of tried and approved 

 political abilities ; that so, whilst the other nations 

 of the earth are writhing beneath the lash of an 

 unfeeling tyrant, we and our posteriors may haply 

 escape the strokes of his afflicting rod." 



At the present day, the speeches of public men are | 



22 i 



