These considerations cannot, however, have weighed very greatly with the constituency. There is no question that the election, was fought on the new duty on imported coma. It isa very small duty, no doubt, and the Government are emphatic and no doubt sincere in their declarations that it is not intended to carry its principles any further; but Sir Michael cannot seriously deny that it contains an cle-/ ment of Protection, in that it is on imted and not on English corn, and that is a tax on the food of the poor. Of course it may be a perfectly justifiable tax nevertheless, but it has certainly given 'a wespon to the Liberals which has enabled them fo win Bury and will probably. gain them other victories. However, Sir Michael has stood to his guns, and in spite of some tests and a few revolts on the Government side, the Government bad a majority 101, of over a hundred in the final dis ion on the tax.
Lord Rosebery at Colchester.
Yesterday the Earl of Rosebery visited Coichester to open a very fine new Town Hall and to receive the freedom of the; Borougit. Of course it was not the occasion for a political spe: ch, but the ex-Premier managed to get in some remarks ea the sulyject of the Education Bill which made it clear that he is not opposed in principle to the abolition of the School Boards and the handing over of their daties to ce 1nty and Borough Councils. I believe, however, that he intends to throw himself vigorously into the fight against those provisions of the measure which are so agitating The non-Conformists Bug the most interesting part of the noble Earl's speech had no reference to politics. He was not afraid to indulge in a little chaff at the expense of the people of Colchester on the subject of their legendary hero King Cole' the reputed grandfather of the Emperor Constantine. Among the decorations of the new Town H'll is a statue intended to represent Constantine's mother, St. Helena; but Lord Rosebery reminded his fellow burgesses that according to G: bbou, Helena was the daughter not of a Ki ig but of an inn-xeeper. lie suggested, however, that the Emperor's maternal grandfather might have been both. From what we know of King Cole in the genial ballad familiar toall of us, he remarked, he wasa monarch of jovial tastes, and it may not be wholly impossible that he combined the trade of a somewhat limited monarch with callings not wholly alien to the licensed yiciaaller." For the purpose of his joke, however, Lord Rosebery had to ignore the fact that Helena was certainly not of English blood at all.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.