At eleven o'clock Mr.Chown fairly mounted a chair behind his counter, and delivered a formal harangue--thus, as he boasted, opening the political campaign.

He read aloud (for the seventh time) Lord Beaconsfield's public letter to the Duke of Marlborough, in which the country was warned, to begin with, against the perils of Home Rule.

"It is to be hoped that all men of light and leading will resist this destructive doctrine....

Rarely in this century has there been an occasion more critical.

The power of England and the peace of Europe will largely depend on the verdict of the country....