OUR LONDON LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 1936, 2 April 1891, Page 13

OUR LONDON LETTER.

(Feom Oub Own Cohbespondbnt.) London, February 6. A CRITICISM OF SIB HENRY PABKES.

The National Observer follows up its article on Sir George Grey by one on Sir Henry Farkes. "It is true," says the writer, " that the base that can be said of him is that he has a genius for party politics. But he hag' a poet's soul, and the political teaching of Lord Tennyson has found its best exponent in Sir Henry Farkes. One sentence of the Laureate's: ' New majesties of mighty states, the warders of the growing hoar,' has made the ex -Chartist an Imperial statesman. . . . He was cured of his veneration for Cobden's party by the single phrase, ' though niggard throats of Manchester may bawl.' " As a Minister " Sir Harry is impatient of control, indiscreet of speech, and difficult to work withal. . . . Like most strong characters he is a bundle of contradictions ; but the struggle which goes on between his statesmanlike principles and the petty jealousy overriding them at times is confusing. . . . He is proud of his verses. But they do his reputation little harm, for nobody reads them. He dedicated his last volume to Lord Tennyson. The poet wrote him in return a Macchiavellian letter, thanking him for his courtesy, and advising him to become — the first Premier of a United Australia. On the whole, there is much to be said of him. With all his faults he is a man, and a man of character in every sense of the word. Also, he is another proof of our national capacity for making statesmen out of unpromising materials."