benches, which was repeated again and again when the numbers were read out as follows:

Majority against the Government

Mr. Gladstone had already declared that his Ministry would stand or fall by the result of this division, and, accordingly, he immediately placed his resignation in the hands of the Queen, to the bewilderment of the country, which had troubled itself very little indeed about the precise merits of the debate or the nature of the points at issue. This Ministerial crisis, however, proved to be a mere flash in the pan. The public suspense continued for a week, during which time various rumours were current. Among other things it was rumoured, perhaps on doubtful authority, that Mr. Gladstone wished to appeal to the constituencies; in that case, his colleagues were well advised in inducing him to reconsider his decision. There is no doubt that, having adopted the alternative plan of resigning, he was sincerely anxious to transfer the reins of Government to the Opposition. When Mr. Disraeli prudently and properly declined to take office with a minority, at a time when a dissolution must have been postponed for some months, Mr. Gladstone took the singular course of addressing to his rival, in the form of a letter to the Queen, an argument intended to prove that Mr. Disraeli was bound to form a Government. However, it was definitely announced, at length, that the Opposition declined to take the reins of Government; and, after a few days further adjournment, this chapter of political history was closed on the 20th March by the Ministers resuming their places on the Treasury Bench. In a crowded House, Mr. Gladstone rose and said he was now in a position to state that he and his colleagues had resumed their positions, and were prepared as a Government to carry on the affairs of the country as before. Referring to the curiosity expressed in many quarters to learn what had passed between Thursday evening, when Mr. Disraeli declined to form a Government, and Sunday night, when he himself found it necessary to place his services at her Majesty's disposal, Mr. Gladstone proceeded to give the House a chronological account of the transactions between those two dates. "On Friday morning (says the Premier) I received from her Majesty, in writing, the reply that had been submitted to her Majesty by the right hon. gentleman, and her Majesty was pleased to ask my advice thereupon. On my first examination of that reply, I doubted whether I could collect its effect with all the precision necessary before tendering advice, and therefore I answered her Majesty's reference to the fact that I did not feel quite certain as to the purport of that reply. On Friday evening I received a communication from her Majesty, which completely put an end to all doubt, and satisfied me that the reply was an unconditional refusal on the part of the right hon. gentleman to take office. I then felt it my duty to submit a statement, the

D

nature of which I shall presently refer to. That statement was submitted on Saturday morning, and was made known to the right hon. gentleman opposite. Her Majesty received the reply of the right hon. gentleman at Windsor on the evening of Sunday, and at ten o'clock on Sunday night her Majesty transmitted her reply to me, together with an inquiry as to whether I was prepared to resume my office in the Government. Having read that reply, I deemed its nature to be perfectly unequivocal, and it removed from my mind. the last vestige of expectation that a Government might be formed by the party opposite, and, therefore, without delay, on the same evening I returned an answer to her Majesty, to the effect that I should endeavour to arrange the reconstruction of the Government, and that task which I undertook on Monday last is now complete." (Loud cheers.) Mr. Gladstone next referred to a difference of opinion which had arisen between himself and Mr. Disraeli as to the duties of an Opposition when it had brought about the fall of a Government; and in explanation read an extract from the statement which he had submitted to her Majesty on Saturday last, the substantial effect of which was that the nation should be constantly kept aware of the Parliamentary action likely to take place on the overthrow of a Government. The consideration of such matters required the utmost care, counsel, and deliberation, and to the parties concerned were attended with serious responsibilities. "Mr. Gladstone (it ran on) does not and will not suppose that the efforts of the Opposition to defeat the Government on Wednesday morning were made with a previously-formed intention on their part to refuse any aid to your Majesty, if the need should come of providing for the government of the country, and the summary refusal, which is the only fact before you, he takes to be not in full correspondence either with the exigencies of the case or, as he has shown, with Parliamentary usage. In humbly submitting this representation to your Majesty, Mr. Gladstone wishes to point out the difficulty in which he would find himself placed were he to ask whether his colleagues were prepared to resume office if your Majesty should call on them to do so; for certainly he is persuaded they would call on him, out of consideration for their own honour and the usefulness of their future services, if he should be enabled to do so, to prove to them that, according to constitutional usage, every means had been exhausted on the part of the Opposition for providing for the government of the country, or, at least, that nothing more was to be expected from that quarter." Adverting then to the delay which had occurred, Mr. Gladstone said he was not conscious of its being due to any personal reluctance to resume office, although he did feel it, and thought he had earned a right to rest, so far as it could be earned by labour. But the experience of a Government's resuming office was not encouraging, and what had occurred, he feared, would modify the relations of the Opposition and the Government in a manner not likely to contribute to the satisfactory working of our Parliamentary system. "Such (said Mr. Gladstone, in conclusion) are my views, and in

consistency with them we have resumed office. We shall endeavour fully and honourably to discharge our duty; we have resumed our offices in the belief that there was nothing in the event which occurred last week to warrant our arriving at any special conclusion with regard to the duration of existence in the present Parliament, either as regards the course of public business or the duration of time. (Hear.) In that respect we stand as we stood before-prepared to abide the course of events, and to act as they may require. But I have felt it my duty to say thus much on the subject, because nothing can be more inconvenient and more injurious to the country than the prevalence of floating, unauthenticated opinions that there is an intention not avowed by the Government, but not distinctly disavowed, to bring the Parliament shortly to a conclusion. (Cheers.) Such an intention has been, I hope, disavowed now, while of course I need not say that we retain the liberty which is at all times essential to the discharge of our functions. We shall endeavour to proceed, both with respect to legislation and administration, in the same manner and upon the same principles as those which have heretofore governed our conduct, and shall address ourselves to our arduous public duties, relying steadfastly upon the continued confidence and support of the House of Commons." (Cheers.)

Mr. Disraeli, who was warmly cheered by his supporters, next gave his account of what had passed between himself and the Queen after receiving the letter which first summoned him to Buckingham Palace. In his audience, in reply to an inquiry from the Queen, he informed her Majesty that he should be ready to form a Government which would carry on the affairs of the country efficiently and in a manner entitled to her confidence, but that he would not undertake it with the present House of Commons. In giving his reasons for this decision, Mr. Disraeli said he had represented to the Queen that, though recent elections had been favourable to the Conservative party, Mr. Gladstone had still a majority of close upon ninety, and that the division which overthrew the Government offered no elements which could lead to an expectation that this numerical position would be modified. He pointed out, also, that the majority against the Government the other night was created by a considerable section of the Liberal party-the Irish Roman Catholic memberswith whom he had no bond of union. If he had appealed to them for support, they would have repeated their demands for a Roman Catholic University-a demand which he believed was decisively condemned at the last election, and by the subsequent disendowment of the Irish Church. Of office under such circumstances Mr. Disraeli said he had some personal experience-(at which there was a laugh)and it had convinced him that such an experiment weakened authority and destroyed public confidence. Consequently, he had prayed her Majesty to relieve him of the task. Replying to the question why he had not advised the Queen to dissolve, he remarked that there was much misconception about the act of dissolving. "It is supposed (said Mr. Disraeli) to be an act which can be performed

with very great promptitude, and that it is a resource to which any Minister may recur with the utmost facility. That is a grave mistake. Dissolution of Parliament is a different instrument in different hands. It is an instrument of which a Minister who is in office, with his Government established, can avail himself with a facility which a Minister who is only going to accede to office is deprived of. (Hear, hear.) There may be circumstances which may render it imperative on a Minister in office to advise the Sovereign to exercise the prerogative of dissolving Parliament, but he always has the opportunity of disposing of the public business before that dissolution takes place. The position of the Minister who is about to accede to office is very different. In the first place he has to form his Administration. This is a work of great time and of heavy responsibility. It is not confined merely to the construction of a Cabinet. Before a Ministry can be formed, whoever undertakes the task of its construction must see some fifty individuals, whom he has to appoint to offices of trust and consideration. It is a duty which he can delegate to no one. He must see each of those individuals personally, and must communicate with them by himself. And this is a matter which-irrespective of the knowledge of human nature, which whoever undertakes to form a Cabinet ought to possess― requires time, and materially affects the business of the country. In the present case it would not have been possible to form a Government before Easter. Then the holidays would have intervened. After the holidays we might-by having recourse to measures of which I greatly disapprove, namely, provisional finance, the taking votes on credit and votes on account, and by accepting the estimates of my predecessors have been able to dissolve Parliament in the early part of May. But when the month of May arrived, this question would have occurred-What are you going to dissolve Parliament about? (Hear, hear, and laughter.) There was no issue before the country. At least, it cannot be pretended for a moment that there was one of those issues before the country which would justify an extraordinary dissolution of Parliament; that is, some question upon which the country would passionately wish to decide. I ask the House to consider impartially what was the real condition of affairs. Her Majesty's Ministers had resigned; the Queen had called upon a member of this House to form a Ministry in a House in which he had nearly ninety majority arrayed against him. Suppose it was in his opinion necessary to appeal to the country by which the majority might be returned-probably of ninety-in his favour. (Laughter.) Well, the Irish University Bill was not a Bill on which any Ministry could resign. But we could not carry on affairs without appealing to the country; and is it not clear that we could not appeal to the country without having a policy? (Laughter.) Hon. gentlemen may laugh at the word policy, but I maintain that it is totally impossible for gentlemen sitting on the Opposition bench suddenly to have a matured policy to present to the people of this country, in case Parliament dissolves. The position of any party in opposition

is essentially a critical position. On all great questions of the day gentlemen on this side of the House have certain principles which guide them on the subjects before Parliament; but on these questions we cannot rival in the possession of information those who hold the seals of Government." This point Mr. Disraeli elaborated at some length, mentioning Central Asia, the Three New Rules, and the French Treaty of Commerce, as matters on which no body of men suddenly created a Government could have any policy until they had studied the official information. Local taxation, too, was a question which they must have fully considered before going to the country; but the strongest obstacle to an immediate dissolution would have been the necessity of carefully scrutinizing the estimates, which he maintained were just as large as his own, which were so vehemently denounced in 1868. The upshot was, that the session would have been one of ordinary length, and he knew, from experience, the consequences to a party and to the public interests of endeavouring to carry on the Government in the face of a hostile majority. "I know well (added Mr. Disraeli), and those around me know well, what will occur when a Ministry takes office and attempts to carry on Government with a minority during the session, with the view of ultimately appealing to the people. A right hon. gentleman will come down here, he will arrange his thumb-screws and other instruments of torture (laughter), and we shall never ask for a vote without a lecture; we shall never perform the most ordinary routine office of Government without there being annexed to it some pedantic and ignominious condition. (No, no, and cheers.) I wish to express nothing but what I know from painful personal experience. (Laughter.) No observation of the kind I have encountered could divest me of the painful memory; I wish it could. I wish it was not my duty to take this view of the case. For a certain time we should enter into the paradise of abstract motions. One day hon. gentlemen cannot withstand the golden opportunity of asking the House to assert that the Income-tax should no longer form one of the features of Ways and Means. Of course, a proposition of that kind would be scouted by the right hon. gentleman and all his colleagues; but they might dine out on that day (laughter), and the resolution might be carried, as resolutions of that kind have been. Perhaps another gentleman, distinguished for his knowledge of men and things' (Mr. Rylands), moves that the Diplomatic Service should be abolished. While hon. gentlemen opposite may laugh in their sleeves at the mover, they vote for the motion in order to put the Government into a minority. (Renewed laughter). So it would go very hard with us if on some sultry afternoon some member should rush in where angels fear to tread' (Mr. Trevelyan), and successfully assimilate the borough and the county franchise. (Loud cheers.) And so things would go on until the bitter enduntil at last even the Appropriation Bill has passed, Parliament is dissolved, and we appeal to those millions who perhaps six months before might have looked upon us as the vindicators of their intoler