A NOBLE "DIE-HARD."

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 56, 13 April 1914, Page 10

A NOBLE "DIE-HARD."

LORD WILLOUGHBY DE BROKE.

Lord Willoughby de Broke' is ' the bright particular star of the gallant company of Die-hards, comments R. Laws Dixon in a London daily. Once, when an Ulster member was proclaiming to a thrilled Houge of Commons, in the immortal words of William of Orange, that he was ready to "die in the last ditch," a still, small voice on the Nationalist benches asked iu lisping accents, "And who's going to die in the first I "

Lord "Willoughby de Broke die.* so hard that one ditch is not enough. Ife has already fought in two or three, and somehow his armour is as bright and his spirit as high as ever. He Dies like the dolphin, whom each pang imbues with a new colour.

But for the sinister rise of Lloyd George, Lord Willoughby de Broke might have enjoyed a life of leisure, luxury and comfort of mind. A nobleman who is the nineteenth of his line and whose ancestors took a strong hand in establishing the Tudors, might reasonably expect to have a quiet life in the twentieth century. But fate decreed otherwise. "CELTIC FRINGE" PERIL.

This bright and buoyant peer heard his country's call, and responded to it. A goodly figure of a man, clean-shaven, well set-up, perfectly groomed, he rushed into the fray when the institutions of the land were threatened, and tried to rouse poor sluggish John Bull to a realisation of the fact that the "Celtic fringe" was strangling him. He has had his political reverses, but he lives to tell the tale. He also tells us how his family friends and patrons, the Tudors, would have dealt with the men who-have spread devastation from Downing Street. There are times when he has a pleasant vision—alas, only a vision—of Lloyd George being hung from the outor walls of Carnarvon Castle.

In a particularly imaginative mood he will recall the days of the pious daughter of the eight Harry, the saintly and sometime sanguinary Mary, who also had a way with her. Through the curling smoke of his cigar he sees a pleasant picture of a little procession of Welsh; Calvinists.making their way to the prepared stake at Smithfield. In their midst is the Chancellor of-the Exchequer, comforted (more or less) by Dr Clifford, who exhorts him to play the man." When this vision comes te him Lord Willoughby makes his cigar last as long as possible. A SUPREME REGRET.

It is related of the Emperor Charles the Fifth that in the closing days of his career, which he. spent ; in holy, seclusion, his supreme regret was;.that he had not burnt Luther when he hud the chance. : ,

It is believed that Lord Willoughby de Broke deplores having; allowed Lloyd George to , escape on an~'occri%6ii when he came round to the Gilded Chamber, and, standing amongst the Privy Councillors in front of the Throne, audaciously viewed the assembly peers. Lord Willoughby has had much to put up with since the Radicals came into power. He has seen new Peers manufactured by the dozen* and the score. How the dusty effigies of the barons of Runymede in their high niches have been able to stand it. he cannot make out. If they had toppled over on to the red benches he would have regarded it as nothing more than a reasonable commentary on the outrage that has been done to our Old Nobility.

He contemplates the brand new Radical lords and cries out for .eugenics. ] 11 Give me eugenics in the Peerage,' •' lie ] says, '' and perhaps the country is not | yet lost! " jj Lord Willoughby "wears snaalfler ij pockets than he used to. The <c4»3age ] was made to soothe has Ihe had a persistent sensation ikat :j Welsh fingers were "dkouanßg Ma®! out.' 7 If you told Mxa tfiaafc uraass U'ifcelivs to meet Lloyd Gedife i® would probably arm wriiJ.h a »ne~ |j volver, a bowie-kmtffe, sswß a psßsee | whistle. jj

A SURPRISE TO HIS FRIENDS. It is a rich diversion to set* Lord Willoughby making a d,ash., . into a House of Lords debate. He,is,the most gallant and picturesque of political plungers. There is no reserve or subtlety about, him. His phrases sometimes surprise his friends as much as his opponents. You never know what qiquant disclosure is coming. It may be a bit of self-revelation.or it may be a flash of revelation about somebody else. But he is always lively, always amusing, always an attractive man to look upon. And it does the heart, good to see the- proud paternal way in wßich that other Die-hard, the veteran Lord Halsbury, regards this Vital Spark of the Peerage. Providence was in a whimsical mood when it brought these two together as comrades-in-arms. Radical Peers who hold . portfolios feel at a disadvantage when they are encountering Lord Willoughby de Broke in debate. His contempt is so obvious; his disbelief in their words and pre- . tensions so entirely lacking in concealment. He calls upon them to come out from bad company or for ever hold their peace. It is useless to make speeches to him to prove that Lloyd George is a statesman who must not be judged by the abuse of Limehouse or the grotesque rhetoric .of the land campaign. He knows better. With a little shiver Lord Willoughby puts his hands in his pockets and keeps them there. WHEN OUT OF HARNESS. Yet has he his consolations. For one thing he is president of the "0.P." Club, which gives good dinners and edifies the British public with lectures on the drama. I am told that it is a pleasant sight to see him in the chair at an '' O.P.'' banquet, with the stars of the theatrical firmament around him. At the some time it suggests the theory of heredity, for I find it quaintly written of an ancestor of his that he was "happily qualified with the most ingenious inclination.'' We all hope that Lord Willoughby de Broke will go on dying hard, and take his time about it. We cherish him. He is necessary to the gaiety of the nation.