case, I have only to deal with the statement my noble friend made, to the effect that a resolution was come to in the Cabinet to take the island of Cyprus and a point on the coast of Syria, by a secret expedition, and that that was the ground on which he left the Cabinet, and to say that that is a statement which, as far as my memory goes, is not true." Of course here Lord Salisbury was called to order, whereupon Lord Salisbury remarked that the statement he made "did not necessarily impugn the veracity of the speaker," and he substituted for the words he had used, "not correct." Further he declared, on behalf of the Prime Minister and all his colleagues, that that statement was "not correct." But he added, by way of explanation, that "it is obvious that these revelations as to conversations that passed, and of which no record was made, must in the nature of things be exposed to error, and more especially as to an assembly that very seldom comes to a definite or clear decision until the time for action has arrived. All possible suggestions are made, all possible policies are examined, and it is possible that my noble friend may have mistaken some project put forward by this member of the Cabinet, or that. For my part, I am at a loss to know what my noble friend alludes to, but certain it is that no such resolution as that which he describes was, within our memory, taken by the Cabinet." Later in the debate, Lord Derby, who had spoken of no "resolution," said that Lord Salisbury, though disavowing any imputation of untruth, yet "appeared to carry the meaning considerably further," adding, "Everyone knows that the business which is discussed at Cabinet Councils is not put on paper, and therefore there may be considerable confusion and doubt in one's recollection of what has been said in a Cabinet Council. But I am still of opinion that what I stated an hour and a half ago represented truly what occurred. That I have made a statement according to the best of my recollection, I am sure your Lordships will not doubt. Foreseeing the possibility of having to give an explanation in connection with the subject, I made memorandum of what I understood to be the effect of what had been said with reference to it."

We hold it part of our duty, as we have said, to avoid much comment. But this incident of debate, at such a crisis, is one which ought to be recorded. The comparison of a former and an honourable colleague to "Titus Oates," is one which should be set down and remembered as a warning. In old days, such a forgetfulness of the simplest rules of taste and courtesy would have led to consequences of a gravely personal kind. With such an example set in the highest places, it is not strange if men grew violent everywhere. As a pendant to Mr. Hanbury's charge of "treason " against Mr. Gladstone, it may be noted that Mr. Cowen was called upon to present to the House a petition from a number of persons in London, Bolton, Macclesfield, and other towns, praying for the exhibition of articles of impeachment against Lord Beaconsfield, and his arrest for the commission of high crimes and misdemeanours.

[1878. Lord Hartington, however, the recognised Liberal leader, had no stronger motion to announce than an expression of "regret about Greece, about the new liabilities in Asia Minor, and the manner in which Parliament had been kept in the dark till the measures of the Cabinet were accomplished. That secrecy was their object and policy, Lord Beaconsfield frankly avowed. "I shall be able to show," he said, "not only by precedents, but I hope by very good reasons also, that secrecy was the object of the Government, and that the objects we had to attain could not have been realised, except by secrecy." To the Southwark Liberal Association, meanwhile, in the Drill Hall of Bermondsey, Mr. Gladstone spoke his mind. After speaking of the duty of organisation, and the emergency which should induce Liberals to sink their various differences as much as possible, he went on to remark on the difference between Tory Governments which lived "on Liberal charity doled out to them from day to day," and a Tory Government backed by "a perfectly inflexible and impenetrable majority," and opposed by a comparatively feeble and divided Liberal party. The Tories, thus backed and opposed, had calmly raised the question whether or not the English were to be governed, their future pledged and compromised, their engagements enormously extended, and the necessity for taxation vastly increased, "not only without their assent, but without their knowledge;" and not merely even without their knowledge, but with the utmost expenditure of pains to keep the truth from them, till all the arrangements had been completed for burdening them, without remedy, with the care of a new continent, in the utmost state of disorganisation, at the distance of two or three thousand miles. "I venture to say," declared Mr. Gladstone, "that there is not in Europe a Government-no, not even a despotic Government," that would have dared to do the like. The covenant to defend Asia Minor Mr. Gladstone pronounced deliberately an "insane covenant." Of all the statesmen he had known,-the Duke of Wellington, Sir R. Peel, Lord Aberdeen, Lord Russell, Lord Palmerston, Lord Lansdowne," not one would have been induced to put his name to such an arrangement." Mr. Gladstone also characterised the recent Anglo-Turkish arrangement, reserved from the Powers at the time when we were keeping all Europe in hot water on the ground that the whole of the new engagements between Russia and Turkey should be brought frankly before the Congress at Berlin, as an act of "duplicity," "not surpassed, and I believe rarely equalled, in the history of nations." At about the same time the annual meeting of the Cobden Club was held at the Ship Hotel at Greenwich, under the presidency of Mr. W. E. Forster, who delivered a weighty speech, chiefly concerned with the question of the day. When he observed that no opposition discouraged Cobden, no Parliamentary majority alarmed him, there were loud cheers; and he was cheered still more when he intimated that the Liberal front bench might have been thought too careless about

party-divisions during the last few months, and too reluctant to seem to hamper the Government. Perhaps, he said, if he had foreseen what was to happen, he might have thought so too; but now, at any rate, peace having been coucluded, and any danger of Russian misinterpretation being out of the question, there was no longer any reason for reticence, and a strong protest against "the most unwise and most reckless act which any Government has ever committed" had become essential. Mr. Forster insisted powerfully on the madness of turning England into a great Continental Power,-Continental, as regards the real effect of what had been done, not merely in relation to Asia, but to Europe; of giving England a long land frontier, conterminous with Russia, across which Russia could move troops at any time, and compel us to go to war; of obliging us to choose between a guarantee of its possessions to the worst Government of the world, or annexation on a vast scale; and last, not least, of the complete contempt evinced by Government for Parliamentary privilege. He believed that if we did our duty under the Protectorate, we must come to an army of conscripts, and he would even prefer that, to relying on Asiatic armies of other and dependent races. Mr. Fawcett, who was present as a guest, took the opportunity of congratulating Mr. Forster with great emphasis on his remarks concerning the duty of boldly facing Parliamentary majorities, and hoped that the Liberal leaders would stand by that policy much more in the future than in the past. He also described Lord Beaconsfield's language concerning Greece, in the House of Lords, which we have quoted, as language of "contemptuous insolence," and declared that the Greeks, "relying on the promises of a great and magnanimous people, had been grossly and basely deceived."

Thus broadly did opinions differ on the policy of the day. The Houses were glad to unite in granting the usual provision on the announced marriage of the Duke of Connaught with the Princess Louise of Prussia; and the appointment of the Queen's son-in-law, the Marquis of Lorne, to succeed Lord Dufferin in the Viceroyalty of Canada, was received with some pleasure. The presence of a Princess of the blood-royal in the great colony promised to knit yet closer the bonds between her and the mother-country, which the ablest and most popular of Canadian viceroys had welded so well.

CHAPTER IV.

Banquet at Knightsbridge-Lord Beaconsfield and Mr. Gladstone--Lord Rosebery-Lord Hartington's Motion-Debate upon the Motion-Mr. Gladstone's Speech---Great Majority for the Government-Freedom of the City of London presented to Lords Beaconsfield and Salisbury-Ceremony at the GuildhallConservative Deputation-Supplementary Estimates-Education Estimates -Russian Mission to Cabul-Close of the Session-The Queen's Speech--Domestic Legislation of the Session-The Indian Budget-Mr. Fawcett's Amendment The Spectator on the Session-The Bradford Liberal Association -Rule 15—Mr. Forster and Mr. Illingworth.

On July 27, pending the debate on Lord Hartington's resolution, a congratulatory banquet was given to the two British Plenipotentiaries, in the Duke of Wellington's riding-school at Knightsbridge, by the Conservative members of both Houses of Parliament, "long to be remembered," said the Standard, "as one of the most interesting incidents in our recent party history." The guests numbered five hundred, as many as the hall would hold. The Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry presided, and in proposing the health of the Premier spoke of him as a 66 conqueror who had conquered war and brought back peace." In returning thanks for the Duke's speech, Lord Beaconsfield said that his colleague had pulled the labouring oar, and to him chiefly was the English share in the result of the Congress due. He described Lord Hartington's resolution as "a string of congratulatory regrets." Of the Government policy towards Greece at the Congress he said, "it is charged against them that they have particularly deceived and deserted Greece. Now, this is a subject which is, I think, capable of simpler treatment than hitherto it has encountered in public discussion. We have given at all times, in public and in private, to the Government of Greece and to all who might influence its decisions but one advice-that on no account should they be induced to interfere in those coming disturbances which two years ago threatened Europe, and which concluded in a devastating war; and we gave that advice on these grounds, which appear to me incontestable. If, as Greece supposed, and as we thought erroneously supposed, the partition of the Ottoman Empire was at hand, Greece-morally, geographically, ethnographically-was sure of receiving a considerable allotment of that partition when it took place. It would be impossible to make a resettlement of the East of Europe without largely satisfying the claims of Greece; and great as those claims might be, if that were the case, it was surely unwise in Greece to waste its treasure and its blood. If, on the other hand, as her Majesty's Government believed, the end of this struggle would not be a partition of the Ottoman Empire, but that the wisdom and experience of all the Powers and Governments would come to the conclusion that the

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existence and strengthening of the Ottoman Government were necessary to the peace of Europe, and without it long and sanguinary and intermitting struggles must inevitably take place, it was equally clear to us that when the settlement occurred all those rebellious tributary principalities that have lavished their best blood and embarrassed their finances for generations would necessarily be but scurvily treated, and that Greece, even under this alternative, would find that she was wise in following the advice of England and not mixing in a fray so fatal. Well, has not the event proved the justice and accuracy of that view? At this moment, though Greece has not interfered, fortunately for herself -though she has not lavished the blood of her citizens and wasted her treasure, under the Treaty of Berlin she has the opportunity of obtaining a greater increase of territory than will be attained by any of the rebellious principalities that have lavished their blood and wasted their resources in this fierce contest. should like to see that view answered by those who accuse us of misleading Greece. We gave to her the best advice; fortunately for Greece she followed it, and I will hope that, following it with discretion and moderation, she will not lose the opportunity we have secured for her in the advantages she may yet reap. It has been said we have misled and deserted her, because we were the Power which took steps that Greece should be heard before the Congress. Why did we do that? Because we have ever expressed our opinion that in the elevation of the Greek race-not merely the subjects of the King of Greece-one of the best chances of the improvement of society under the Ottoman rule would be found, and that it was expedient that the rights of the Greek race should be advocated by that portion of it which enjoyed an independent political existence. All this time, too, let it be recollected that my noble friend was unceasing in his efforts to obtain such a settlement of the claims, or rather, I should say, the desires, of Greece with the Porte as would conduce greatly to the advantage of that kingdom. And not without success. The proposition of Lord Salisbury for the rectification of the frontiers of Greece really includes all that moderate and sensible men could desire; and that was the plan that ultimately was adopted by the Congress, and which Greece may avail herself of if there be prudence and moderation in her councils."

With respect to the convention with Turkey, Lord Beaconsfield denied that the responsibility of England was increased by it. On the contrary, he maintained that the convention diminished our responsibility, because whatever Ministry might be in power it would eventually see the necessity of preventing the conquest of Asia Minor by Russia; but there might have been hesitation for some time, and want of firmness and decision. Now there could be no doubt as to the policy of England. He had ascertained at Berlin as an absolute fact what he had always suspected, that neither the Crimean war nor the war which had just terminated

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