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Evening Star, Issue 14532, 7 December 1910, Page 2

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V"Jf fife" Ward has defended himself. " v done it well, and I think he has fOOTO in the electorates. It ytae painful fohnn. It fo» painful to the hearer «ai the reader. Bat it lwd to be done. There is no «tisguising the fact that matters fourteen years old were being constantly garbled among all ranks whenever ,she Premier was discussed. A thunderStorm was needed to dear the air. Even a Premier ia first and foremost a man, ■with a man's feelings and a man's indignation. Sir Joseph forgot the Premier, the statesman, the fjguro in the counsels of the Empire; took off his coat and his gloves, and, 6tepped into the arena as a Jqwre man. I like him for it. Ho spoke with both force and frankness, and got into the region of human emotions, which he has rarely done before. He has damped the powder of his enemies and , given his friends some good dry amrauniitjon. If he made his speech on the spur [of the moment, I think he will never have Voccasion to regret it as hasty. The do not love their rulers for their greatness, ot their achievements, so much as for those trifles—lapses they may be—fa which the ruler shows himself to be a kan-of like passions with thenteeivcs.

Theories of the origin of tho infamous pamphlet are rife. Here is one that hae aot yet been mentioned : The pamphlet w» concocted by some wily Liberals, not necessarily in the Cabinet. They thought that the next election was not quite a ; foregone conclusion, and determined to •.make assurance doubly sure and take a bond of fate. "Ic mak siccar," I make xertain,' as somebody says in Scotch hislory. It is obvious that it would have *akl the Seddon party handsomely to get fcp the Voucher episode. Not that it was jwcessary, for there were plenty of foois to do it for them. Having scored once fjwm an attempt to blacken the name of ,4Jjeir Chief, what is more likely than that they should try to dish their op- ' ponenis again in a similar manner? The i thing has been an undoubted score. Why not give the winners all tho credit pos«ible? Theifi is a story told of Sheridan €hai iflnstrates my point. For some years he had been subjected to virulent attacks Jn the Press, and many things have been (aid to lik charge. "Ho had, however, been too indolent to reply to them. On ms occasion he was seized with a fit of ■vigor and wrote a letter in his own incisive style, reciting all tho charges that had ever been made against him, and putting them very much more forcibly than ■fiiey had ever been put before. He red with a riom de plume, over which had often been attacked, and then to the editor. " Publish this for )pfe," said he. "It will give mo a chance of writing a smashing answer to the Blanker of years all in one effort." There, yon see, is a good precedent for my theory of the Black pamphlet. Tho only difference is that Sir Joseph did not omit tho smashing answer, whilst Sheridan lapsed into indolence and neglected to reply. i ' Sir Joseph referred to another speech that he made when the wounds were raw. He is amazed at his forbearance and moderation on that painful occasion. Since Jhen he has chewed the cud of bitter rejections, and thought of lots of appropriate Temarka that did not occur to him It the time. If he could but have, that Innings again he would make both the ears of them that heard it tingle. How :we So grieve over lost opportunities!" 1 !am remrpded ,of Clive, who, after the battle of Pbssy, had the treasury of Ben-

, gal thrown open to him by the grateful j i Meer Jaffier. "He walked between heaps j of gold and silver, crowned with rubies und diamonds and was at liberty to help himself. He accepted between two and three hundred thousand pounds "—equal ta three or four times as much in our I came the subject of of Hine Committee 1 not without some se of eminent dissscribed in vivid lan- i n which his victory reat princes depenire; an cpulent city en up to plunder: dding against each ; vaults piled with rown open to him 3lr Chairman," he ; moment I stand asmoderation." e had that chance is, too, Sir Joseph, he things be might 1 at his moderation. Toseph's defence arc he, could bavo left ow stand on a less Tt is not worthy of i a register of theemies, and to was iKujwuo ».—» « —at gets into double Insure. There are devout peoplo who ; will be edified to learn that the Premier has acknowledged the Higher Power. If, ! however, they bring the occasion of the confession into contact with the principles of the Founder of Christi.-.nity, they will be shocked at the violent antithesis. Some years ago 'Punch' had a Scotch sexton, who, wishing" to toady to the minister, said: "Ye mind they five buddies that opposed ye a year sync?" "Yes, 'Well?' The man of the spado drew hiniiserf op- "with the air of a man about to . receive the, Victoria Cross. He half-closed .( one eye, looked encyclopedias of wisdom I and triumph with the other, and said : !" Weal, Pre happit (buried) three o' them." The-«fheT blemish in the great speech was the- cjjbm to know what everybody is saying aiaid thinking about. Has he a Fouche jo. hjjjifpay, and an army of spies watching Poneie and his spies ? Or is he dependent on a lost of volunteer lick-spittles? In either case it is not good Democracy. A jxeaßy great man should be above wishing i to-iaoW' such, people and the venom they *******

Macao is-tl» Portuguese Hongkong, from which pfaee it is distant only forty mile.', ,ott ihe other side of the estuary of tho /Canton Eiver. The Portuguese have held lit wer since 1557. Hongkong killed its itrade, bat it still has a population of 140,000. Its chief claim to lame rest 6vi /the fact that there Camoeni?, the Portueueaopoet, in exile, composed his 'Lusiad.' "Che Other day a mere gunboat held tho plaea up. Tha revolution had not taken effect in this far-off fragment of empire. Tbe-ficflh/ Isles went on praying for Charles \IL for a dozen vears after he had been -executed. Macao, too, was dead to the •world, and was allowing the religious orders to flourish. But, alas for drowsy ruiejsJ these are the days of the electric sable. The fleet had changed things at Lisbon, and the fragment of the fleet knew St, aod sharply woke up th«| fragment cf ,-the nation and told it to keep step. By jthe way, the Portuguese seem likely to f discover t-hafc King Stork is no better than I long Log. Their new theories will do no Vmoro for them than their old facts. They iSack practical political instincts. In the floefa of victory they are all masters. No xma-noU obey and no one daree| to comtaaqcL They will soon prove the impossi/bffity of anarchy, and then the political Son will arrive and reign in luxury till %a is assassinated. A passage in Birrell's .'*EHsjijJ» , seems very apposite to the condiiaajt of things among the Latm nations: * Decomposition and transformation are Bcinir on all around us, but too slowly. Borne oprmons, bold and erect as they may .. fltill stand, are in reality but empty shells. One shore woukl be fatal."

Mr Lloyd George has appealed to the English people against the Lords on the] ground that they secured the estates of the \ religions ordefa). This seems to be a bad ' time to make that appeal. It does not appear that the nations who still possess lUtepfr orders, or rather who are possessed IwueDi show any reluctance to part with ipen. (Portugal has sent them packing. . yvm is in a death-grapple with them, and : &»jpblic&n America gave them short shrift \ ii vOjo Philippines. It is very doubtful ':, *TibpS*er these orders are any worse bow "/" f in England in the days of £' I and long before. Chancer j l,riwMrghairfy enough, in which

they were held in his day. It is true that Adam Smith considers the poor suffered by the suppression of the religious Houses, but they suffer temporarily by all improvements aajd great inventions. France at tho present moment is engaged! in selling up vast amounts of ecclesiastical property. One of the agents has been bowled out in feathering his nest out of the job. He has got away with a trifle of £400,000. He is the only one that has been caught so far, but no doubt the'agents of the sovereign people are of the same blood as the rascals who dealt with the property of the selfish aristocrats a bundled and twenty years ago. The incident shows how no system inventable by man can abolish greed. He will take who has the power; He will keep who can.

#***##* Poor old Jem Mace is dead. He livd to sei> i darkie champion of the world! It must 'nave embittered his end. In the tar-orf days, when the gigantic American blacksmith's striker. Jack Heenuii, came over to light Tom layers, the middleweight champion, Jem was cock of the walk. Rig Jack broke little Tom's arm with a blow like the kick of a horse, lint Tom was made of true British .stuff, and fought a dozen rounds with one. arm and beat tho giant. Later on Heenan tried cotr.-hiskms with Tom King, and was again In awn. That was the last mill in the old pugilism. Bill Jem was the undisputed champion in those Homeric days. His vocation was gone, however: so, bring a perfect piece of anatomv, he took lo posing as a livinc statue, and represented many of the masterpiece- ot art. In that capacity he vi-it«l the colonics. One. night, as'he illumed along a quiet street from i-.n exhibition to his lodgings, a pu6h of Sydney lairikins debouched from an alloy aiid set u)xm the innocent wayfarer. It was tin- biggest mi.-lake they ever made. A flashlight picture taken about ten seconds after the attack would have been worth keeping. Half a dozen Jems slouching a lout the infested neighborhoods at nudit world quickly have settled the push question. But Jem, invincible Jem, is deaddied of penile decay! Truly all flesh is grass. *******

When Bit I lead Baler's defence of the Christian religion, then'lirst published ; he laid the book down remarking: "Well, well, I never thought there were fo many objections to Christianity." When I read Miss Maclean's defence of theDunedinHospital <1 said ■. •' Well, well, I had no idea that- things were half as bad." Floors washed three times a day, and no Prussian drill-se:geant about '. Acres of dusting, scrubbing, burnishing, and blacUeading that ought to bo done by men, and Sunday a dav for extra toil, and yet no over-work! Half an hour to mako your bed and get breakfast. Half an hour, too, from bank to bank for dinner, and yet no hurry! No vegetables for the second sitting, or, if j-.ny, cold. Xo supper ready for the night shift. Patients' chickens invariably boiled —".but the bread and butter is excellent" ! No just complaint about holidays, but there ought to be three limes as many! Of all the inconsequent documents it has been mv fate to meet, this report takes the lain'. It is lavish in its encomiums on the matron. That lady either knew of the things revealed in the. report or she did not. If she did not know, she ought to have known. If she did know, and took no steps, why is she praised? Then we have fine sentences about loyalty. lx>yalty to whom and fo what? To I)r Valintine? To Mr Walker? To the eighteen doublebarrelled abuses? I/O.yalty, as understood bv John Hampden, was a loyalty to right - doing, to truth and justice. A* understood bv Charles l. and his .gang, loyalty meant tho support of those in power, whether thev did right or wrong. Is Dr Valintme aware that" John Hampden's view prevailed? If he is. why does he become the petty tyrant, of the only loval figure that has npi'icared in this drama?