270 LIFE AND EXPERIENCES CHAP. 



has taught us, is the safety-valve of passion. That 

 noise when the steam escapes alarms the timid ; 

 but it is the sign that we are safe." And again : 

 " I have lived now for many years in the midst of 

 the hottest and noisiest of the workshops of consti- 

 tutional freedom, and have seen that amidst the 

 clatter and the din a ceaseless labour is going on ; 

 stubborn noise is reduced to obedience, and the 

 brute powers of society, like the fire, air, water, and 

 minerals of Nature, are, with a clamour indeed, but 

 also with might, educated and shaped in to the most 

 refined and regular forms of usefulness for man." 



On August 1 5th I opened the Rusholme Liberal 

 Club, in honour of which a garden-party was 

 given at " The Firs," in Fallowfield, by my friend 

 Mr. C. P. Scott, the editor of The Manchester 

 Guardian, and for many years Liberal Member for 

 the Leigh division of Lancashire. And here let me 

 bear my meed of praise for the work done during many 

 years under the aegis of the late Mr. John Edward 

 Taylor and Mr. C. P. Scott. Faithful to Liberal 

 principles, this great newspaper has upheld the torch 

 of freedom often with, but also sometimes against, the 

 dominant opinion of the moment, but always with high- 

 minded intent. The debt which the Liberal party 

 owe to The Manchester Guardian is a heavy one. 



Whilst in the House of Commons I had frequent 

 occasion to bring forward various scientific questions 

 of general interest. One of these arose in 1888 on 

 the discussion of the Customs and Inland Revenue 

 Bill. Clause 5 gave power to the Treasury to pro- 

 hibit the use of a substance know as saccharine in 

 the manufacture of beer, which acted in restraint of 

 revenue. The late Lord Playfair and myself were 

 much interested in this matter. I had paid particular 



