be inseparable from popular election, if it does not diminish, certainly arrests her influence, and is a main reason for not delaying an appeal to the national voice. Whatever may be its consequence to her Majesty's present advisers, may it return to Westminster a Parliament not unworthy of the power of England, and resolved to maintain it!"

The language as well as the substance and the circumstances of the letter were, as a matter of course, the subjects of much comment. Even the Standard admitted that "there was rather too much sonorousness for the fastidious ear in the manifesto of the Premier;" but, it added, "when criticism has done its worst with his letter to 'my Lord Duke,' there remains a substantial residuum of fact and sense." Verbal critics particularly busied themselves with the phrase "men of light and leading," which was declared to be ungrammatical; and demanded to know the meaning of the alleged "policy of decomposition." Political critics had graver fault to find with the attempt to fasten on the Liberal leaders complicity with the Home Rulers in the work of Parliamentary obstruction, and sympathy with their desire to "disintegrate the United Kingdom." Then it was asked, what were the grave dangers threatening the peace of Europe, from which no deliverance was possible without the continuance of Lord Beaconsfield in power? And what did he mean by the ascendency of England in the Councils of Europe? A debate was soon after raised in the House of Lords, on a motion by Lord Stratheden for the production of a letter from Shere Ali to the Sultan; and Lord Beaconsfield was invited to explain himself. He declined to be more specific about his foreign policy, or the circumstances of which he was in apprehension, but explained that ascendency was a word of various meanings; that he meant nothing more than moral ascendency, and that he did not mean supremacy.

Meantime, however, the manifestoes from party leaders came pouring forth to engage public attention. Lord Hartington's address to the electors of North-east Lancashire was published on Thursday, March 11. It replied with spirit to the Prime Minister's challenge. "I seek," Lord Hartington said, "to evade no issue which the Government can raise; but it is necessary that they should be plainly stated, and that others which he has avoided should be brought before you. I know of no party which 'challenges the expediency of the Imperial character of this realm.' I know of none who have attempted to enfeeble our colonies by their policy of decomposition.' If our colonies are at this moment more loyal to the Throne, more attached to the connexion with the mother country, more willing to undertake the common responsibility and burdens which must be borne by all the members of a great Empire than at any former time, it is due to the fact that, under the guidance of Liberal statesmen, they have received institutions of complete self-government, and learnt to recognise the truth that entire dependence on Imperial assistance for their freedom and defence is not compatible with their dignity or freedom.

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No patriotic purpose is, in my opinion, gained by the use of the language of exaggeration in describing the Irish agitation for Home Rule. I believe the demand so described to be impracticable; and considering that any concession, or appearance of concession, in this direction would be mischievous in its effects to the prosperity of Ireland as well as that of England and Scotland, I have consistently opposed it in office and in Opposition, and I shall continue to oppose it. This agitation has existed during the whole of the continuance of this Parliament. It has been treated by the Government until now, if not with indulgence, with indifference; and the attempt to arouse national jealousies, and reawaken national animosities by descriptions of dangers "worse than pestilence and famine,' appears to me to be unnecessary and unwise. This agitation must be met, not by passionate exaggerations, but by firm and consistent resistance, combined with the proof that the Imperial Parliament is able and willing to grant every reasonable and just demand of the Irish people for equal laws and institutions."

Touching the influence of England in the Councils of Europe, Lord Hartington said: "The just influence of England in the Councils of Europe is an object which the Liberal party has pursued with at least as much sincerity, and certainly with more success than has attended the policy of the present Administration. The creation of the independence of Belgium was the work of a Liberal Administration; and the successful measures taken by the Government of Mr. Gladstone to protect Belgium when menaced may be well contrasted with the result of the Turkish policy of Lord Beaconsfield. But the influence of England does not rest upon boasts of ascendency over Europe irrespective of the objects for which that ascendency is to be employed. It rests on the firmness and moderation of our conduct, based upon the material and moral strength of our position, and exercised in concert with other nations on behalf of peace, justice, and freedom."

Mr. Gladstone's address to the electors of Midlothian appeared next day after Lord Hartington's. It had none of the diffuseness with which his oratory has often been charged; there was no surplus verbiage: viewed merely as a composition, it was a masterpiece of terseness and condensation. We quote the passages in which he replied to the "dark allusions" in "the electioneering address which the Prime Minister had issued."

"Gentlemen, those who endangered the Union with Ireland were the party that maintained there an alien Church, an unjust Land Law, and franchises inferior to our own; and the true supporters of the Union are those who firmly uphold the supreme authority of Parliament, but exercise that authority to bind the three nations by the indissoluble tie of liberal and equal laws.

"As to the Colonies, Liberal Administrations set free their trade with all the world, gave them popular and responsible Government, undertook to defend Canada with the whole strength of the Empire, and organised the great scheme for uniting the several

settlements of British North America into one Dominion; to which, when we quitted office in 1866, it only remained for our successors to ask the ready assent of Parliament. It is by these measures that the Colonies have been bound in affection to the Empire; and the authors of them can afford to smile at baseless insinuations.

"Gentlemen, the true purpose of these terrifying insinuations is to hide from view the acts of the Ministry, and their effect upon the character and condition of the country. To these I will now begin to draw your attention. With threescore years and ten upon my head, I feel the irksomeness of the task; but in such a crisis no man should shrink from calls which his duty may make and his strength allow.

"At home the Ministers have neglected legislation; aggravated the public distress by continual shocks to confidence, which is the life of enterprise; augmented the public expenditure and taxation for purposes not merely unnecessary, but mischievous; and plunged the finances, which were handed over to them in a state of singular prosperity, into a series of deficits unexampled in modern times. Of these deficits it is now proposed to meet only a portion, and to meet it partly by a new tax on personal property, partly by the sacrifice of the whole Sinking Fund to which five years ago we were taught to look for the systematic reduction, with increased energy and certainty, of the National Debt.

"Abroad they have strained, if they have not endangered, the prerogative by gross misuse; have weakened the Empire by needless wars, unprofitable extensions, and unwise engagements; and have dishonoured it in the eyes of Europe by filching the island of Cyprus from the Porte, under a treaty clandestinely concluded in violation of the Treaty of Paris, which formed part of the international law of Christendom.

"If we turn from considerations of principle to material results, they have aggrandised Russia; lured Turkey on to her dismemberment, if not her ruin; replaced the Christian population of Macedonia under a debasing yoke; and loaded India with the costs and dangers of a prolonged and unjustifiable war, while they have at the same time augmented her taxation and curtailed her liberties. At this moment we are told of other secret negotiations with Persia, entailing further liabilities without further strength; and from day to day, under a Ministry called, as if in mockery, Conservative, the nation is perplexed with fear of change."

The addresses of the secondary members of the Cabinet were a remarkable contrast, in point of expression, to the Premier's letter, but they reiterated substantially the same reasons for receiving the confidence of the electors. "One, and not the least important, of the issues submitted to the constituencies," Mr. W. H. Smith said, in an address to the electors of Westminster, issued on March 12, "is whether that policy which has averted war in Europe is to be reversed, and England is to retire to a position of abstention and indifference as to European politics and affairs.

"I believe such a course would be an abnegation of duty, and disastrous to the political and commercial interests of the country.” . Mr. Smith also hinted that the blame of the meagre legislation achieved by the Administration rested on the Opposition. "It will be the duty," he said, "of the new Parliament to give serious attention to those questions of domestic legislation which require to be dealt with, but which, during the present Parliament, have been postponed by persistent discussions on the policy of the Government and by obstruction. I trust that the steps which have been taken to secure decorum and order in the conduct of the business of the House of Commons will facilitate the progress of measures which have been unduly delayed."

Sir Stafford Northcote's address to the electors of North Devon contained a more elaborate vindication of the Ministry, conceived on the same grounds. "The duration of the Parliament now about to be dissolved," he said, "has been long; but its age is not to be measured by the number of years for which it has sat, so much as by the importance of the events which have occurred during the term of its existence, and the magnitude of the issues which it has been called on to decide. Throughout a period of no common difficulty and anxiety it has upheld the honour of the country, and has vindicated its claim to its proper rank and influence among the nations of the world. Though it has not escaped the captious criticisms of a certain number of politicians within and without its walls, it has received at the hands of the nation a generous recognition of its patriotic aims and its courageous firmness in support of those great interests which a British Parliament has it in charge to maintain. Its foreign, its colonial, and its domestic policy have all been animated by the same spirit, and the same determination to uphold at once the greatness, the integrity, and the constitution of the Empire, and to knit together the various races who own the sovereignty of the Queen, and the various classes of society which constitute the strength of her people. It has laboured to avert war; and where that has not been possible it has successfully striven to limit its range, and to prevent complications which would have been alike menacing to the particular interests of this country and to the general peace of Europe. It has emphatically proclaimed the national determination to maintain, strengthen, and defend our great colonial and Indian Empire. It has earnestly promoted measures for the advancement of the true interests of Ireland; while it has steadily resisted proposals, however plausible, tending to weaken, or even to dissolve, the ties which bind together the great members of the United Kingdom. In its domestic legislation it has kept in view the importance of aiming at the general good of the community, and of doing strict justice between apparently conflicting interests without sacrificing the welfare of one class to the claims or the prejudices of others. At the same time, it has been on its guard against the danger of attempting to remodel our ancient institutions in accordance with theoretical ideas unsuited to the national character."

The following was Sir Stafford Northcote's defence of his financial policy. "After a period of almost unexampled commercial depression and of grave agricultural losses, during which we have had to incur the expense of defending our interests in three different quarters of the globe, the taxation of the country is lighter than in almost any year previous to the accession of the present Government to power, while the real amount of the National Debt stands now at 18,000,000l. below the sum at which we found it. The Crimean war added upwards of 40,000,000l. to the debt, and left the taxpayer subject to an income tax of 18. 4d. in the pound, besides heavy imposts on the necessaries of life. The war into which, but for a decided policy, we should probably have been drawn, would have been even more burdensome both to the taxpayer of the day and to our posterity."

Amidst the excitement of electioneering, the Budget, which was introduced on March 12, attracted only a subordinate interest. It was evident from the Revenue Returns that there would be a deficit of nearly 2,000,000l. upon the Estimates, and it was pretty well understood beforehand how Sir Stafford Northcote would meet his difficulties. No additional taxation was anticipated, and the anticipation was justified. The Chancellor proposed making a change in the Probate and Administration Duties, which would, he calculated, bring an addition to the income of 700,000l., but he did not propose to add to the burdens of the taxpayer. Altogether he had 8,000,000l. of outstanding bonds and bills to provide for. The plan by which he proposed to meet them was to renew bills for 2,000,000l., and to create terminable annuities, to be paid off by the end of 1885, covering the remaining 6,000,000l.

The following is an outline of Sir Stafford Northcote's account of his stewardship, which, it was remarked, was delivered with unusual hesitation. Apologising at the outset for the errors inseparable from the inconvenient moment at which circumstances had compelled him to introduce the Budget, he reminded the House that the estimated revenue for the present year was 83,055,000l., against an expenditure of 81,155,000l., showing a surplus of 1,900,000l.; which, however, was turned into a deficit of 1,161,000l. by a vote of credit of 3,000,000l., taken on account of the South African war. But the yield of revenue, he regretted to say, had fallen short of the Estimates by about 2,195,000l., so that the total deficit for the present year had risen to 3,355,000l. With regard to the Supplementary Estimates, he pointed out that those taken for the Civil Service had already been covered by savings; and the cost of the Zulu war, he said, was now pretty definitely ascertained to be 5,138,000l., of which 4,396,000l. was in the Army Services, 690,000l. in the Navy, and 50,000l. in civil contingencies. But so far from any new charge being necessary, the whole amount had already been voted in votes of credit and in the ordinary Army and Navy Services, and 177,000l. to spare. The total amount of the Supplementary Estimates was 1,783,000l., but the savings were