bestowing benefits through legislation on the country to which we belong?"

Minority Representation. — Agamemnon's Tomb.-In a speech to the Nottingham Liberal Union, in September, 1877, Mr. Gladstone said: "There has been a great deal said in late years in Parliament by gentlemen who think it is very desirable that there should be a representation of minorities, and various methods have been proposed for securing that representation; but there is one method which appears to me by far the best, and that was the one adopted for the last election for Nottingham. You had got two places to fill, and you tried to put four men into them. I do not know if any of you will be surprised at my introducing the subject, but you will soon see the purpose of it: A friend of mine named Dr. Schliemann has been in Greece, and has dug up some extraordinary tombs, and has found skeletons and remains of human bodies in those tombs. He says the tombs are those of Agamemnon and his companions, and he found amongst others the bones of an extraordinarily tall man; but how long do you think the tomb is ?-five feet two. So Dr. Schliemann says it is a most extraordinary thing that, having this enormously tall man to bury, they should have put him in a tomb only five feet two inches in length. That conveys to my mind something like the proposition adopted at Nottingham. You have got five feet two inches of parliamentary space allotted to you, and you attempt to put in that which requires ten feet space. Well, gentlemen, when you have to deal with political affairs, recollect, I beseech you, Dr. Schliemann and his tombs, and do not endeavour to put into places made for two men the bodies of four men, for if you do, you will never get them into it, and while you are debating and bothering about how to do it, somebody else will come up with two men and put them in. . . I entreat you to think of these matters, and, if I may use the expression, to throw your opinions as Liberals into one common stock. Do not let us dwell exclusively or over much upon a particular thing that we ourselves may deem to be the most important. Remember the wise saying of Mr. Bright. Mr. Bright has said a great many wise things, and one of them was that the policy of Liberalism, as a whole, ought to have regard, and must have regard, to the average opinion of the party. If you think that the average opinion does not go far enough, why then it is your individual duty to poke it from behind and make it go forward. But do not meantime quarrel about it, for if you do, you will repeat what I call the story of Dr. Schliemann and the tomb of Agamemnon."

The House of Commons a School of Discipline.—At a dinner of the Institution of Civil Engineers, in 1878, Mr. Gladstone responded to the toast of the House of Commons, and in the course of his remarks said: "I may speak of the House as a school of discipline for those who enter it. In my opinion it is a school of extraordinary power and efficacy, and I am qualified to say so from having sat there, I believe, longer, as a man actively engaged in a political career and in official life, than any one who has ever sat within those walls, with the single exception of Lord Palmerston. It is a great and noble school for the creation of all the

qualities of force, suppleness, and versatility of intellect. And it is also, permit me to say, a great moral school. It is a school of temper; for if in Parliament any one unhappily goes astray in point of temper, rely upon it he will not be five minutes older before he has found out his mistake. (Laughter.) If any of you are so unfortunate as to know a member of the House of Commons who has taken a leading part in its business whose temper is not good, depend upon it if he had not been in the House of Commons it would have been a great deal worse. (Laughter.) It is also a school of patience. A man who is disposed to learn patience there will find plenty of opportunities when, having been smitten on one cheek, he may turn the other cheek to the smiter if he is so disposed. It is a school of honour; for it is a place in which many small, mean, shabby advantages may be taken from the circumstances of the moment, though, perhaps, to be afterwards regretted. And it is a school of justice; for no one can be engaged in the constant exercise of political controversy without being exposed to the constant temptation to abate somewhat of the sanctifying integrity and homage which is due from us all to truth, and, with more or less wilfulness, more or less unconsciousness, to deviate from justice in stating his own argument and in dealing with that of his opponent. The House of Commons has stood hitherto at a very high level, and I trust the level will be maintained. I speak not now of its power, which I look upon as placed beyond all question, dispute, or doubt. Its power never can be brought, except by its own fault, into a situation of peril or uncertainty."

An Agitator.-On the occasion of the formation of a Liberal Palmerston Club by some of the undergraduates at Oxford, in 1878, Mr. Gladstone declared that it was then Lord Beaconsfield's will that took effect in the policy of the Government, and from time to time succeeded in bringing the country into danger. He added that, "to his own great pain, and with infinite reluctance, but under the full and strong conviction, he might say, of political old age, for the past eighteen months he might be said to have played the part of an agitator. His purpose had been to the best of his power, day and night, week by week, month by month, to counter-work what he believed to be the purposes of Lord Beaconsfield."

The Responsibilities of British Rule.-In his first address to the electors of Midlothian, at Edinburgh in November, 1879, Mr. Gladstone thus spoke of the responsibilities resting upon the Government and the people of Great Britain: "This empire is an empire the daily calls of whose immense responsibilities task and overtask the energies of the ablest of her statesmen. There is not a country in the history of the world that has undertaken what we have undertaken; and when I say what we have undertaken, I do not mean what the present Government have undertaken-that I will come to by-and-by-but what England in its traditional established policy and position has undertaken. There is no precedent in human history for a formation like the British Government. A small island at one extremity of the globe peoples the whole earth with its colonies; but it is not satisfied with that. It goes among the ancient

races of Asia, and it subjects 240,000,000 to its rule there. Along with all this it disseminates over the world a commerce such as no imagination ever conceived in former times, and such as no poet ever painted. And all this it has to do with a strength that lies within the narrow limits of these shores; not a strength that I disparage; on the contrary, I wish to dissipate if I can the idle dreams of those who are always telling you that the strength of England depends-sometimes they say, upon its prestige; sometimes they say, upon its extending its empire and upon what it possesses beyond these shores. Rely upon it, the strength of Great Britain and Ireland is within the United Kingdom. Whatever is to be done in defending and governing those vast colonies with their teeming millions, in protecting that unmeasured commerce, in relation to the enormous responsibilities of India-whatever is to be done must be done by the force derived from you and from your children; derived from you and your fellow-electors in the land; from you and the citizens and people of this country. And what are they? They are some three-and-thirty millions of persons; they are a population less than the population of France, less than the population of Austria, less than the population of Germany, less than the population of Russia. But the populations of France, Austria, Germany, and Russia find it quite hard enough to settle their own matters within their own limits. We have undertaken to settle the affairs of a fourth, or nearly a fourth, of the entire human race scattered over the world. Why does this not satisfy the ambition of the members of the present Government? I affirm, strive and labour as you will-I speak after the experience of a lifetime, of which a fair portion has been spent in office-strive and labour as you will, in Parliament and in office, human strength and human thought are not equal to the discharge of the duties appertaining to Government in this great, wonderful, and world-wide empire."

“Resignation."-Mr. Gladstone's Midlothian "campaign," as he himself termed it, and his subsequent recall to power as Premier in 1880, lent additional interest to the terms in which, some years before, he expressed his own inclination for retirement. In March, 1874, after the election of a new Parliament and the unexpected return of a Conservative majority, entailing the resignation of Mr. Gladstone's Government, Mr. Gladstone thus wrote to Earl Granville, who had filled the office of Foreign Secretary in his Administration: "For a variety of reasons personal to myself, I could not contemplate any unlimited extension of active political service; and I am anxious that it should be clearly understood by those friends with whom I have acted in the direction of affairs, that at my age I must reserve my entire freedom to divest myself of all the responsibilities of leadership at no distant time. The need of rest will prevent me from giving more than occasional attendance in the House of Commons during the present session. I should be desirous, shortly before the commencement of the session of 1875, to consider whether there would be advantage in my placing my services for a time at the disposal of the Liberal party, or whether I should then claim exemption from the duties I have hitherto discharged. If, however, there should be

reasonable grounds for believing that, instead of the course which I have sketched, it would be preferable, in the view of the party generally, for me to assume at once the place of an independent member, I should willingly adopt the latter alternative." Again in January, 1875, he wrote (also to Earl Granville): "I see no public advantage in my continuing to act as the leader of the Liberal party; and at the age of sixty-five, and after forty-two years of a laborious public life, I think myself entitled to retire on the present opportunity. This retirement is dictated to me by my personal views as to the best method of spending the closing years of my life. I need hardly say that my conduct in Parliament will continue to be governed by the principles on which I have heretofore acted, and, whatever arrangements may be made for the treatment of general business, and for the advantage or convenience of the Liberal party, they will have my cordial support." In consequence of Mr. Gladstone's wish, thus strongly expressed, the members of the Liberal party, after several conferences, determined to invite the Marquis of Hartington to assume the leadership of the Opposition in the House of Commons.

"Hands Off."-In April, 1880, the special correspondent of a German newspaper gave an account of an interview with Mr. Gladstone during that gentleman's contest in Midlothian, and represented him as having made the following, among other remarks: "I detest everything that reminds us of interference with nationalities that have to be freed from thraldom. The liberated Slavic races should have the opportunity to build up a future for themselves, and their territory must not be annexed by others. Whosoever understands the meaning of the English phrase 'Hands off' will be able to understand my line of policy. What I stated in respect to the Eastern Question, and the policy followed by Austria [alluding to a speech strongly condemning that policy], I was in duty bound to state. I am the watchful dog that barks. A good watchdog is bound to do his duty.* I do not permit dust to be thrown upmatters may take another turn, that is possible-but I repeat, I am the watchful dog that barks! I greatly admire the patriotism of the Austrian people, and esteem the progress-loving Government of Austria; but, I say again, hands off from other people's territory."

Mr. Gladstone as a Chancellor of the Exchequer.-The following was Mr. Cobden's criticism, delivered in the last speech he made, at Rochdale in 1864: "Mr. Gladstone is the best Chancellor of the Exchequer England ever had—and I say that, knowing that he has had among his predecessors William Pitt. But I am going to say that Mr. Gladstone has been the most extravagant Chancellor of the Exchequer we have ever had. He has been a master in the adjustment of the burdens of the country; that is, he found the weight placed upon the animal in such a way as rendered it the most difficult to carry his burden. It was tied round his knees, it was fastened to his tail, it was hung over his eyes, it blinded him, and impeded him, and lamed him at every step. Now, Mr. Gladstone took the burdens off these limbs, and he placed them most

Compare "Tear-'em," p. 350.

ingeniously over the softest possible pad upon the animal's shoulders. But the beast is carrying the burden still, and carrying a great deal more than it did before all this beautiful process was commenced."

RICHARD COBDEN.

(1804-1865.)

"Unadorned Eloquence."-The compliment which was paid to Mr. Cobden by Sir Robert Peel, on the passing of the bills repealing the Corn Laws, is thus recorded by "Hansard :"-" The name which ought to be, and will be, associated with the success of those measures, is the name of one who, acting, I believe, from pure and disinterested motives, has, with untiring energy, made appeals to our reason, and has enforced those appeals with an eloquence the more to be admired because it was unaffected and unadorned: the name which ought to be chiefly associated with the success of those measures is the name of Richard Cobden."

own measure.

The Minister's Responsibility.-During a discussion on the Corn Laws in 1843, Mr. Cobden, after having urged that the agricultural population suffered as much from these laws as the manufacturing classes, and that the new law (maintaining but regulating the duties on corn by a "sliding scale ") was as baneful as the old one, thus directly addressed Sir Robert Peel: "What is the remedy you propose? What are the proceedings by which you propose to give relief to the country? You have acted on your own judgment, and you are responsible for the consequences of your act. You passed your law; you refused to listen to the manufacturers, and I throw upon you all the responsibility of your The right honourable baronet says it is his duty to judge independently, and act without reference to any pressure; and I must tell the right honourable baronet that it is the duty of every honest and independent member to hold him individually responsible for the present position of the country. I tell him that the whole responsibility of the lamentable and dangerous state of the country rests with him."M. Guizot writes in his "Memoirs of Peel" that on hearing this charge of responsibility, and personal responsibility, so often and so vehemently repeated, Sir Robert rose with visible emotion. "The honourable gentleman," he said, "has stated here, very emphatically, what he has more than once stated at the conferences of the Anti-Corn-Law League, that he holds me individually-individually-responsible for the distress and suffering of the country; that he holds me personally responsible. But, be the consequences of these insinuations what they may, never will I be influenced by menaces, either in this House or out of this House, to adopt a course which I consider- -" He was unable to complete his sentence. Whether friends or opponents, many members asked themselves what he meant, and why he was so much affected. It was perceived that the shade of Mr. Drummond [Sir Robert's secretary, who was assassinated January 21st, 1843] haunted his mind, and that the responsibility for the public distress, charged upon him with so much vehemence, struck him as a provocation to assassination. Mr. Cobden at once explained, protesting