Hugh Chisholm

“ I neither affirm nor deny the immortality of man. I see no reason for believing it, but, on the other hand, I have no means of disproving it. I have no a priori objections to the doctrine. No man who has to deal daily and hourly with nature can trouble himself about a priori difficulties. Give me such evidence as would justify me in believing in anything else, and I will believe that. Why should I not? It is not half so wonderful as the conservation of force or the indestructibility of matter. ”

“ It was on this occasion that Parnell, on Forster’s charging him, not with directly planning or perpetrating outrages or murder, but with conniving at them, ejaculated “It’s a lie”; and, replying on the next day, the Irish leader, instead of disproving Forster’s charges, bitterly denounced his methods of administration. Though, during the few remaining years of his life, Forster’s political record covered various interesting subjects, his connexion with these stormy times in Ireland throws them all into shadow. ”

“ The revival in trade, and the production of new statistics which appeared to stultify Mr Chamberlain’s prophecies of progressive decline, enabled the free-trade champions to reassure their audiences as to the very foundation of his case, and to represent the whole tariff reform movement as no less unnecessary than risky. ”

“ It is a common error to regard the House of Commons as having a national authority higher than that of the House of Lords merely on the ground that it is composed of elected members, and to stigmatize the House of Lords as “unrepresentative” because it is not elected. But in strictness the question of election, as such, has nothing to do with the matter. ”

“ But the Ordeal of Richard Feverel, which followed in 1859, transferred Meredith at once to a new sphere and to the altitude of his accomplishment. With this novel Meredith deserted the realm of fancy for that of the philosophical and psychological study of human nature, and Richard Feverel was the first, as it is perhaps the favourite, of those wonderful studies of motive and action which placed him among the demigods of English literature. The essential theme of this fine criticism of life is the question of a boy’s education. ”

“ Whilst all who approached the queen bore witness to her candour and reasonableness in relation to her ministers, all likewise proclaimed how anxiously she considered advice that was submitted to her before letting herself be persuaded that she must accept it for the good of her people.
Though richly endowed with saving common sense, the queen was not specially remarkable for high development of any specialized intellectual force. Her whole life, public and private, was an abiding lesson in the paramount importance of character. ”

“ When the Redistribution Act divided Bradford into three constituencies, Forster was returned for the central division, but he never took his seat in the new parliament.
Forster, like John Bright, was an excellent representative of the English middle-class in public life. Patriotic, energetic, independent, incorruptible, shrewd, fair-minded, he was endowed not only with great sympathy with progress, but also with a full faculty for resistance to mere democraticism. ”

“ Under this system, if no candidate receives an absolute majority of all the votes, a second election is held, at which, as a rule, only the two candidates compete who received most; or in cases where more than one seat is to be filled, twice as many candidates compete as there are seats. In principle the second ballot has much in its favour, though it does not necessarily reflect the real opinion of the electorate, but only what is practicable; and while leading to political bargaining it does nothing for minority representation. ”

“ From the end of Mr Chamberlain’s series of expository speeches on his scheme of tariff reform, onwards during the various fiscal debates and discussions of 1904, it is unnecessary to follow events in detail. The scheme was now before the country, and Mr Chamberlain was anxious to take its verdict. Time was not on his side at his age, and if he had to be beaten at one election he was anxious to get rid of the other issues which would encumber the popular vote, and to press on to a second when he would be on the attacking side. ”

“ The literary public in the proper sense of the word is inevitably a small one, and the greater part of the Press deals with literature on lines more suited to a larger and less refined clientèle. It may be claimed, no doubt, that the best sort of journalism shows a high, and sometimes the highest, literary standard, but the fact remains that for the bulk of modern journalism its conductors realize only too well that their business is to appeal to the masses, and to a standard of education and taste which falls far short of anything that can be called intellectual. ”

“ The sons of famous political commoners, a Gladstone, a Harcourt, a Churchill, a Primrose, a Chamberlain, have by consent a superior claim, even within the radical or popular party, by no means resting originally or primarily on known personal merit or proved experience, for selection as candidates and then for preferment to office; and it is a very common occurrence for younger sons of peers to be selected as candidates (liberal as much as conservative) for parliament, even though from general intellectual considerations they may appear in no way the equals of other men. ”

“ Mr Chamberlain had a very difficult part to play, in a situation dominated by suspicion on both sides, and while he firmly insisted on the rights of Great Britain and of British subjects in the Transvaal, he was the continual object of Radical criticism at home. Never has a statesman’s personality been more bitterly associated by his political opponents with the developments they deplored. ”

“ Most people probably read more papers than is compatible with a healthy mental digestion, but the Press, as such, has to-day an enormous—and none the less real because subtle—influence; and this is largely due to the reputation maintained by its higher representatives. While, individually, the great papers wield considerable influence, due partly to real sagacity and authority, partly to the psychological effect produced by mere print or by reiterated statement, collectively the Press now represents the Public, and expresses popular opinion more directly than any representative assembly. ”

“ The establishment of mere party majority rule, which is characteristic of a representative system, is a necessity, no doubt, in popular government; but the way in which a substantial minority of voters may only obtain a contemptible minority of members, and may in practice be tyrannized over in consequence, somewhat detracts from its blessings, and leads to extreme party measures. ”

“ The power of the newspaper in France differs from that of the English newspaper, in that it seems to act more on the government and the parliament than on public opinion. The French newspapers have taken upon themselves, in many cases, functions which belong more properly to the legislative or to the judicial power than to the press, and the result has not always been successful. The cause of this is that too many men of talent with political ambition look upon journalism as “leading to everything, provided one gets out of it.” ”

“ The popular journal of the present day does not, however, owe its existence and success merely to questions of diminished cost and improved methods of production. A change has come over the public mind. The modern reader likes his news in a brief, handy form, so that he can see at a glance the main facts without the task of reading through wordy articles. This is especially the case with the man of business, who desires to master the news of the past twenty-four hours as he travels to his office in the morning. ”

“ I cannot see one shadow or tittle of evidence that the great unknown underlying the phenomenon of the universe stands to us in the relation of a Father—loves us and cares for us as Christianity asserts. So with regard to the other great Christian dogmas, immortality of soul and future state of rewards and punishments, what possible objection can I—who am compelled perforce to believe in the immortality of what we call Matter and Force, and in a very unmistakable present state of rewards and punishments for our deeds—have to these doctrines? ”

“ Le Monde had the curious fate, at one time, of being conducted jointly by the first editor of L’Avenir, Lamennais, and by George Sand, who had previously figured in the newspaper annals of France as co-foundress of L’Éclaireur de l’Indre, a journal published at Orleans. The account given by that brilliant writer of her adventures in what was then to her a new department of activity is an instructive one. With that breadth of sympathy which was so characteristic of her, she strove to interest all her friends (however varied in character, as in rank) in the enterprise. ”

“ The publicist proper is he who delivers his views on public affairs in the Press; but the excellence of his articles may nevertheless, be consistent with the journal being a disastrous failure, and his reputation as a journalist is then but poor. The great journalist is he who makes the paper with which he is connected a success ”

“ The estates of the duchy of Cornwall, the hereditary appanage of the prince of Wales, were so greatly improved under his father’s management that the rent-roll rose from £11,000 to £50,000 a year. Prince Albert, indeed, had a peculiar talent for the management of landed estates. His model farm at Windsor was in every way worthy of the name; and the grounds at Balmoral and Osborne were laid out entirely in conformity with his designs.
A character so pure, and a life so useful and well-directed in all its aims, could scarcely fail to win respect among those who were acquainted with the facts. ”