Memoirs of Life and LiteratureMallock, W. H. (William Hurrell)
General
Memoirs of Life and Literature
Mallock, W. H. (William Hurrell)
Mallock, W. H. (William Hurrell), 1849-1923
When the time for the meeting came I found myself erect in a wagon, with
a world of apple trees in front of me and a thatched barn behind, and
heard myself discussing the program of "three acres and a cow," of which
my listeners understood nothing, and I not more than a little. Compared
with such an audience the Liberals of St. Andrews were sages. The most
intelligent of the Conservative audiences in the constituency were those
got together under the auspices of the Primrose League. But Conservatism
even with them was no more than a vague sentiment, healthy so far as it
went, but incapable of aiding them in controversy with any glib Radical
opponent. I tried again and again during the following few weeks to call
their attention to the sources from which our national wealth generally,
and most of their own food, was derived, and particularly to the
economic significance of a town such as Torquay, much of the wealth of
which had its origin in foreign countries. In dealing, however, with
these matters, I met with no response more encouraging than puzzled
smiles; but whenever, for want of something better to say, I alluded to
"this great Empire on which the sun never sets," I was greeted with
volume of cheers sufficient, one might almost have thought, to have
secured the election of a Conservative candidate on the spot. Besides
myself, two other workers were active, who began their political life as
Richard Mallock's supporters at Torquay, and who subsequently rose to
eminence of a wider kind--George Lane Fox, as Chancellor of the Primrose
League, and J. Sandars as secretary and adviser to Mr. Arthur Balfour.
But they, so it seemed to me, found it no easier than I did to vitalize
the non-Radical or temperamentally Conservative classes with any
definite knowledge of the main conditions and forces on which their own
livelihood depended, and which Radicals and revolutionaries would
destroy. Of this state of mind I remember an amusing illustration.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account