tinguished ability, the most organized and | attempt during the reign of Liberalism for the disintegration of the empire? It had entirely failed. But how had it failed? Through the sympathy of the colonies with the mother country. They had decided and no minister in England would do his duty who neglected any opportunity of reconstructing as much as possible the colonial empire, and of responding to those distant sympathies which might become the source of incalculable strength and happiness to the hand. efficient means, have been employed in this endeavour. It has been proved to all of us that we have lost money by our colonies. It has been shown with precise, with mathematical demonstration, that there never that the empire should not be destroyed, was a jewel in the crown of England that was so truly costly as the possession of India. How often has it been suggested that we should at once emancipate ourselves from this incubus! Well, that result was nearly accomplished. When those subtle views were adopted by the country under the plausible plea of granting self-government to the colonies, I confess that I myself thought that the tie was broken. Not that I for one object to self-government. I cannot conceive how our distant colonies can have their affairs administered except by self-government. But self-government, in my opinion, when it was conceded, ought to have been conceded as part of a great policy of imperial consolidation. It ought to have been accompanied by an imperial tariff, by securities for the people of England for the enjoyment of the unappropriated lands which belonged to the sovereign as their trustee, and by a military code which should have precisely defined the means and the responsibilities by which the colonies should be defended, and by which, if necessary, this country should call for aid from the colonies themselves. It ought, further, to have been accompanied by the institution of some representative council in the metropolis, which would have brought the colonies into constant and continuous relations with the home government. All this, however, was omitted because those who advised that policy-and I believe their convictions were sincere-looked upon the colonies of England, looked even upon our connection with India, as a burden upon this country, viewing everything in a financial aspect, and totally passing by those moral and political considerations which make nations great, and by the influence of which alone men are distinguished from animals. "Gentlemen, another great object of the Tory party, and one not inferior to the maintenance of the empire, or the upholding of our institutions, is the elevation of the condition of the people. Let us see in this great struggle between Toryism and Liberalism that has prevailed in this country during the last forty years, what are the salient features. It must be obvious to all who consider the condition of the multitude with a desire to improve and elevate it, that no important step can be gained unless you can effect some reduction of their hours of labour and humanize their toil. The great problem is to be able to achieve such results without violating those principles of economic truth upon which the prosperity of all states depends. You recollect well that many years ago the Tory party believed that these two results might be obtained— that you might elevate the condition of the people by the reduction of their toil and the mitigation of their labour, and at the same time inflict no injury on the wealth of the nation. You know how that effort was encountered, how these views and principles were met. by the triumphant statesmen of Liberalism. They told you that the inevitable consequence of our policy was to diminish capital, that this, again, would lead to the lowering of wages, to a great diminution of the employment of the people, and ultimately to the impoverishment of the kingdom. "These were not merely the opinions "Yet what had been the result of that of ministers of state, but those of the most blatant and loud-mouthed leaders of the Liberal party. And what has been the result? Those measures were carried, but carried, as I can bear witness, with great difficulty and after much labour and a long struggle. Yet they were carried; and what do we now find? That capital was never accumulated so quickly, that wages were never higher, that the employment of the people was never greater, and the country never wealthier. I ventured to say a short time ago, speaking in one of the great cities of this country, that the health of the people was the most important question for a statesman. It is, gentlemen, a large subject. It has many branches. It involves the state of the dwellings of the people, the moral consequences of which are not less considerable than the physical. It involves their enjoyment of some of the chief elements of nature-air, light, and water. It involves the regulation of their industry, the inspection of their toil. It involves the purity of their provisions, and it touches upon all the means by which you may wean them from habits of excess and of brutality. Now, what is the feeling upon these subjects of the Liberal party-that Liberal party who opposed the Tory party when, even in their weakness, they advocated a diminution of the toil of the people, and introduced and supported those Factory laws, the principles of which they extended, in the brief period when they possessed power, to every other trade in the country? What is the opinion of the great Liberal party-the party that seeks to substitute cosmopolitan for national principles in the government of this country-on this subject? Why, the views which I expressed in the great capital of the county of Lancaster have been held up to derision by the Liberal press. A leading member a very rising member, at least, among the new Liberal membersdenounced them the other day as the 'policy of sewage.' "Well, it may be the 'policy of sewage' to a Liberal member of parliament. But to one of the labouring multitude of England, who has found fever always to be one of the inmates of his household-who has, year after year, seen stricken down the children of his loins, on whose sympathy and material support he has looked with hope and confidence, it is not a 'policy of sewage,' but a question of life and death. And I can tell you this, gentlemen, from personal conversation with some of the most intelligent of the labouring class (and I think there are many of them in this room who can bear witness to what I say), that the policy of the Tory party-the hereditary, the traditionary policy of the Tory party, that would improve the condition of the people-is more appreciated by the people than the ineffable mysteries and all the pains and penalties of the ballot bill. Gentlemen, is that wonderful? Consider the condition of the great body of the working classes of this country. They are in possession of personal privileges of personal rights and liberties-which are not enjoyed by the aristocracies of other countries. Recently they have obtained-and wisely obtaineda great extension of political rights; and when the people of England see that under the constitution of this country, by means of the constitutional cause which my right honourable friend the lord mayor has proposed, they possess every personal right of freedom, and according to the conviction of the whole country, also an adequate concession of political rights, is it at all wonderful that they should wish to elevate and improve their condition? and is it unreasonable that they should ask the legislature to assist them in that behest as far as it is consistent with the general welfare of the realm ? "Why, the people of England would be greater idiots than the Jacobinical leaders. of London even suppose, if, with their experience and acuteness, they should not long have seen that the time had arrived when social, and not political improvement, is the object which they ought to pursue. I have touched, gentlemen, on the three great objects of the Tory party. I told you I would try to ascertain what was the position of the Tory party with reference to the country now. I have told you also with frankness what I believe the position of the Liberal party to be. Notwithstanding their position, I believe they are viewed by the country with mistrust and repugnance. But on all the three great objects which are sought by Toryism the maintenance of our institutions, the preservation of our empire, and the improvement of the condition of the people -I find a rising opinion in the country sympathizing with our tenets, and prepared, I believe, if the opportunity offers, to uphold them until they prevail." Mr. Disraeli then made special reference to the representatives of the Conservative associations before him. "Before sitting down," he said, "I would make one remark particularly applicable to those whom I am now addressing. This is a numerous assembly; this is an assembly individually influential; but it is not on account of its numbers, it is not on account of its individual influence, that I find it to me deeply interesting. It is because I know that I am addressing a representative assembly. It is because I know that there are men here who come from all districts and all quarters of England, who represent classes and powerful societies, and who meet here not merely for the pleasure of a festival, but because they believe that our assembling together may lead to national advantage. Yes, I tell all who are here present that there is a responsibility which you have incurred to-day, and which you must meet like men. When you return to return to your homes, when you return to your counties and to your cities, you must tell to all those whom you can influence that the time is at hand, that at least it cannot be far distant, when England will have to decide between national and cosmopolitan principles. The issue is not a mean one. It is whether you will be content to be a comfortable England, modelled and moulded upon continental principles and meeting in due course an inevitable fate, or whether you will be a great country-an imperial country-a country where your sons, when they rise, rise to paramount positions, and obtain not merely the esteem of their countrymen, but command the respect of the world. "Upon you depends the issue. Whatever may be the general feeling, you must remember that in fighting against Liberalism or the continental system you are fighting against those who have the advantage of power—against those who have been in high places for nearly half a century. You have nothing to trust to but your own energy and the sublime instinct of an ancient people. You must act as if everything depended on your individual efforts. The secret of success is constancy of purpose. Go to your homes, and teach there these truths, which will soon be imprinted on the conscience of the land. Make each man feel how much rests on his own exertions. The highest, like my noble friend the chairman, may lend us his great aid. But rest assured that the assistance of the humblest is not less efficient. Act in this spirit, and you will succeed. You will maintain your country in its present position. But you will do more than that you will deliver to your posterity a land of liberty, of prosperity, of power, and of glory." The uneventful session came to an end, August 10, 1872. There had been very little to record, and still less for history to remember with any pride or satisfaction. With the exception of the Ballot Act, no measure of any note had become law. The arbitrators were busy at Geneva deciding the Alabama claims, and the result of their ruling was that with regard to the two privateers, the Alabama and the Florida, Great Britain had been guilty of not carrying out the provisions of the treaty; but with regard to the conduct of the other privateers she was not to blame. To settle all claims the arbitrators mulcted England of some three millions-a settlement of the dispute to which Sir Alexander Cockburn, who was the arbitrator for England, strongly objected. Another dispute was also decided against us. The right to the possession of the island of San Juan had been referred to the arbitration of the Emperor of Germany, and the result of the investigation had been that the island was awarded to the United States. The government were so enamoured with the system of arbitration—and when it is known that a nation will not engage in hostilities under any provocation, it is a VOL. II. curious coincidence that arbitration always decides against her-that it was fortunate that Germany then preferred no claim to Heligoland, or Spain to Gibraltar, or Italy to Malta, or Russia to India, or the United States to the West Indies, or any power, in fact, to our wealth or possessions, else the desires of such amongst us who wish our country to be a mere group of islands in a northern sea, and not an empire, might perhaps have been fully gratified. 31 CHAPTER IX. A СНЕСК. MR. GLADSTONE had been so encouraged by the success which had attended upon the carrying out of his "Irish ideas" that he resolved once more to court the favours of fortune. He had interfered with the ecclesiastical system of Ireland, he had interfered with its land system, he was now to interfere with its educational system. A humorous cartoon represented the political situation. Over a wild course Mr. Gladstone, dressed as a jockey, was seen sending a powerful steeple-chaser, ticketed "Liberal Majority," at a stiff stone wall, on which was written" Irish University Bill;" in the background were two big jumps, labelled "Irish Land Bill” and “Irish Church Bill," which had just been successfully taken. The question asked by the caricature was, "Would he clear it?" The history of the session of 1873 is chiefly occupied with the answer to this query. The Houses re-assembled the first week in February, and among the most important paragraphs in the speech from the throne was the following:-"A measure will be submitted to you on an early day for settling the question of university education in Ireland. It will have for its object the advancement of learning in that portion of my dominions, and will be framed with a careful regard to the rights of conscience." The condition of university education in Ireland was somewhat curious. There were the University of Dublin, represented by Trinity College, which was the alma mater of the Protestant party, and the Queen's University (consisting of the colleges at Belfast, Cork, and Galway), which was established on a strictly secular basis. Thus to the Irish Papist the advantages of a university education in his own land were practically denied. As a Roman Catholic he was refused permission to enter himself on the books of Trinity College, Dublin, and as a conscientious Roman Catholic he could not take part in a system of education, as at the Queen's University, which was wholly and purely secular. What the Irish Papist wanted, and what the Irish hierarchy and clergy had frequently agitated for, was a chartered university especially devoted to the instruction of Roman Catholics; but this request successive governments had refused, on the grounds that such an institution would tend to lower the national standard of education, and that it was unadvisable to endow a sectarian establishment out of the public funds. To meet the difficulty and settle, as he called it, the "last social and religious grievance" of Ireland, Mr. Gladstone brought forward a scheme of university education which he hoped would satisfy both the prejudices of the Protestant and the exclusiveness of the Papist. Stated briefly it was as follows. The University of Dublin was to be the one central university of the country, to which were to be affiliated Trinity College, the colleges of Cork and Belfast, and the unchartered Roman Catholic University. The Queen's College at Galway, since it had failed to attract an adequate number of students, was to be abolished. The University of Dublin, unlike that of London, was not to be a mere examining board, but a real university, with professorships, fellowships, and the due appliances of lecture-rooms. In order, however, to avoid disputed topics, no chairs for theology, moral philosophy, or modern history were to be founded. The theo |