He has little foreign or eastern knowledge, and little craft; he is rough of tongue in public debate, but a great gentleman in private society; he is very remarkably clever, of unsure judgment, but is above anything mean; has no Disraelite prejudices; keeps a conscience, and has plenty of manhood and character.
John Morley: “He has little foreign or eastern knowledge, and little craft; he is rough of tongue in public debate, but a great…”
Editor's note · Context
Morley provides a detailed assessment of Lord Salisbury's qualities and shortcomings as a public figure.
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There lay Ireland,—squalid, dismal, sullen, dull, expectant, sunk deep in hostile intent.
But Turgot was one of those severe and scrupulous souls, to whom a wicked promise does not cease to be degrading by becoming hypocritical.
To stint Ireland in power which might be necessary or desirable for the management of matters purely Irish, would be a great error; and if she was so stinted, the end that any such measure might contemplate could not be attained.
What I wish to insist upon is, not that that system was good, but that the statesman who undertook to overthrow it, should have had something to put in its place.





