The Press: Sag in the Art

"You will come to your end either upon the gallows or of a venereal disease," William Gladstone was said to have cried to his great political rival. Retorted Britain's Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli: "I should say, Mr. Gladstone, that depends on whether I embrace your principles or your mistress."

That the once-proud art of political invective in Britain has sadly sagged was demonstrated last week. Taking dinner with the New York Herald Tribune's European Columnist Art Buchwald, Labor Party Leader Hugh Gaitskell relieved himself of a few mild pokes at Prime Minister Harold Macmillan: "I personally don't trust Mr. Macmillan. My...

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