Lord Rosebery's Tribute to Sweeden

Horowhenua Chronicle, 4 February 1916, Page 4

Lord Rosebery's Tribute to Sweeden

[ I ujAJ CONN iiUN. A party oi distinguished Swedish delegates, who are at present on ;in unofficial mission to this country, visited ivliuburgh and were entertained. Lord itosclbory, in proposing "Our Guests," said it. is extremely easy or us to welcome Swedes to Edinburgh. \Vo do not welcome them witll any idea of trying to induce tnern to enter the conflict in which our honour and ou • existence are involved. Ail that we ask ol them is to continue to maintain the strict neutrality winch tliey have maintained, and of which we have a satisUictory record in a teiegrm from the United States only yesterday to say that iu spite of some insinuations the British Empire was periectly satisled with the neutrality that Sweden had preserved. (Cheers.) But ler the moment we are removed from the atmosphere of war, and we are thinking rather, 1 hope, of the ancient connection which subsists between Sweden and Scotland. The Scots have always been, and I hope are still, a poor but pugnacious luce —(laughter and cheers' — which settled all over Europe wherever hard knocks were to Oe exchaug- I j.'d, and perhaps wherever a few plucks and bawbees were to collected—(laughter) —and in the course oi that transition period the Scots settled everywhere, and on no country have they left, I think, a more enduring impress of race than they have m Sweden. Douglases, I believe, swarm there; there are plenty oi liauiiltons; and even rn a learned work referring to this subject—to which, owing to the exigencies of war, 1 Jiave no longer access—i hud my own o<bscuro name reckoned among the settlers in Sweden. (Cheers). Bat the record of that connection is told by one who, I think, must still preserve a lingering immortality in Sweden—l mean Walter Scott, in "The Legend of Montrose''' —the ) iicst ot Scott's novels lie ever read— I tliey would liud a name dear to every Scottish heart, and which may possibly find a place in Swedish affections —Captain Lugald Dalgetty. tie was bied at the Marischal College ol Aberdeen, but tlio ciicunisiances connected with the improvidence oi his father diminished the small paternal estate of Drumthwacket, and he was compelled to seek for service abroad. He found service in several places und >r the Imperialists, under Wallehsteia, ii I remember aright, from whom lie dissociated himseli ou a difficulty re garduig pay and attendance at Mass. He also took service with the Nether lands, whose punctuality in payment he praised, in contrast to that of a. other services he had" been in, with an enthusiasm which almost approached poetry. But his one predominant hero was the , great Gustavus Adolphus, the Lion ol the Xorlh, the bulwark of Protestantism. to him he e fers with esctacy wherever he has tin opportunity. It runs through "The Legend of .Montrose" like a chorus, and we feel that in Captain Dugald Do) gotty we have a luiug personification of the soldiers ol fortune who I'oualit under the great Lien ot the' North. Augustus Adolphits. (Hear, hear, oivd cheers). That is not to say that we do not all feel, perhaps from our Scottish descent and our memories of the Swedish connection, a deep interest in tu.j history ol Sweden. There is hardly any history of so small a country so full o-t heroic monarchs and of exciting events. Charles the Twellth, Gustavus Odolphus, Gustavus Yasa, Guatavus the Third, and then the dynasty of Bernndotte, now occupying the throne always excite the warn- l est interest for those who eare lor history at all. (Hear, hear, and cheers.; I therefore do not need to appeal to you, gentlemen, to di ink with ail tile warm ill of which a Scottish audience is capaibie—and a Scottish audience can be uut'in —the toast ot our guests from Sweden, allied by hereditary* iuteie.t with the ancient kingdom of Scotland.

liar on Adelsvard, who wag received \u : tn coruiaiity, in responding, <,aut v ncy

Uuil been tiiiugs ol' tiie greuteat interest during tlie-ir jourucy iu Franco and this country, uiiiu-n was now soon cu uing to and end. liie uiowb wonderful tiling -they had seen was pa 11 of the -British Fleet, winch in its .mposing majesty was a symbol of tin: power oi Great, Britain. That would make their visit to this ceuntiy uniorgeUable tor thorn. . in Edinburgh they had been reminded of the great iiit*toi y, of the poetic and uagic tiiin-o »l Alary StuurL, of Jolm lvnox, ul Robert ■Burns, and Waiter Sooti. Lord itosebery had referred tu the close relationship between' their two nations, it was an undeniable historical tact that they were descendants ol Llie same ancestors, and that had left u»un> U • i.i language, in song, and in customs and characters. lie could not hel[> mentioning in this connection the personal fact that his wite was descended from one of the most historical Scottish families, which made nim feel moie thuui others the relationship he Had alluded to. (Cheers.)—Lennox Herald. j '