with a warmth and an earnestness which some of you might think unnecessary. (No.) I believe it is not possible to condemn too strongly the policy by which the hard-earned treasure of your people is wasted, and by which the blood of your brethren, and those whom you are told to call your foes, is spilt. To-day is the anniversary of what they call the battle or the massacre of Isandlana, when I know not how many, but I suppose at least 1,500 men-officers, Englishmen, native troops, and I know not how many of the Zulus-were slaughtered. This is the anniversary of that sad day. Can any man show a justification for that transaction, or the compensation that we have received for the enormous and incalculable loss of that one day's war? (Hear, hear.) At this moment, in the Afghan country-in a country, I am told, as large as France and as mountainous as Switzerland-you hear of the hanging of scores of men, you hear of villages burnt, of women and children turned out into the snow and the cold of this inclement season, and all done at the command of a Government and a people professing to be wiser, more intelligent, more humane, and more Christian than those upon whom these attacks are made. I say, let us abandon our pretensions; let us no longer claim to be Christian; let us go back to the heathen times, whilst we adhere to the heathen practices (hear, hear); let us no longer as I see some of the leading men of this country have been doing within the past few weeks, at the opening of churches and at the laying of the foundation-stones of churches-join in all the apparent regard for the Christian religion. Take down, at any rate, your Ten Commandments from inside your churches, and say no longer that you read, or believe in, or regard the Sermon on the Mount. Abandon your Christian pretensions, or else abandon your savage and heathen practices.' (Loud applause.)

Mr. Bright concluded by urging his hearers to join with others in the country in the endeavour to establish on firm foundations a Liberal, a wise, an intelligent, and a Christian Government.

On the 30th of January, Lord Derby and Mr. Bright were present at a dinner given by the Mayor of Manchester to the judges of the assize-the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Coleridge, and Lord Justice Brett. Responding to the toast of the House of Commons, Mr. Bright said that in 1832 and 1867 the House

underwent with advantage severe treatment, and he was not sure that the patient just now was not subject to a recurrence of its malady. The House was now partly paralyzed. Whatever was done to change its politics was done by the borough representatives; and the time was coming when people would get tired of the paralysis, and would want to give to both portions of it, county and borough, united action.

The announcement of the dissolution of Parliament was made in both Houses on the 8th of March. On the following day, the newspapers contained a manifesto by the Prime Minister, in the shape of a letter addressed to the Duke of Marlborough, the LordLieutenant of Ireland. Touching first upon the measures taken for the relief of the impending distress in Ireland, Lord Beaconsfield went on to observe that a portion of its population was attempting to sever the constitutional tie which united it to Great Britain. 'It is to be hoped,' he said, 'that all men of light and leading will resist this destructive doctrine.' But there were some who challenged the expediency of the Imperial character of this realm. 'Having attempted, and failed, to enfeeble our colonies by their policy of decomposition, they may perhaps now recognize in the disintegration of the United Kingdom a mode which will not only accomplish but precipitate their purpose.' The manifesto went on to say that the occasion was very critical; that the power of England and the peace of Europe would largely depend upon the verdict of the country; that

Her Majesty's present Ministers had hitherto been able to secure peace, but that this blessing could not be obtained by the principle of non-interference ;peace rested on the presence, not to say the ascendency, of England in the councils of Europe. Questioned in the House of Lords as to the meaning of this ascendency, the Premier said he meant nothing more than moral ascendency; he did not mean supremacy.

The Liberal leaders at once issued their countermanifestoes. Lord Hartington replied with force and dignity to the Premier's letter. The influence of Europe,' he remarked in his address to the electors of North-East Lancashire, '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, in his address to the electors of Midlothian, also replied to the Prime Minister's 'dark allusions,' pointing out that the true purpose of these terrifying insinuations was to hide from view the acts of the Ministry, and their effect upon the character and condition of the country.

The people were now speedily thrown into the excitement and turmoil of a general election. The energy and activity of the leaders on both sides was very noteworthy; for during the elections Mr.

Gladstone made no fewer than fifteen speeches, Lord Hartington twenty-four, Mr. Bright, Sir Stafford Northcote, and Sir W. Harcourt six each, and Col. Stanley nine. The three members for Birmingham issued a brief joint address, and Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. Muntz were early in the field, addressing meetings of the electors. The old representatives were opposed in the Conservative interest by the Hon. A. C. G. Calthorpe and Major Burnaby. The last-named did the speaking, which was frequently of a very injudicious, and occasionally of a very vulgar kind.

Mr. Bright arrived in Birmingham on the 19th, and the scene at New Street, where a large crowd awaited the arrival of the right hon. gentleman, was very animated when the train steamed into the station, and Mr. Bright was perceived. In Stephenson Place also, and in New Street, large crowds had assembled, who cheered lustily as Mr. Bright drove off with Mr. Chamberlain. In the evening there was a great Liberal meeting in the Town Hall, which in a few minutes from the time of opening was crowded from floor to ceiling. Mr. Jaffray took the chair. When Mr. Bright rose to speak he was received (said the Birmingham Daily Post) with one of those outbursts of enthusiasm which are never witnessed in Birmingham except at meetings where Mr. Bright is present. Every person in the hall seemed to cheer lustily, and the gratifying demonstration continued for several minutes. Alluding first to the dissolution, 35

VOL. II.

Mr. Bright said he was prepared to admit that it was not unacceptable to him, and he felt quite sure that it had brought an extraordinary sense of relief to the whole country. We were now witnessing the dying hours of the worst of modern Parliaments, and beholding the spectacle of the worst of Administrations being brought up for judgment. Addressing himself mainly to the working classes, he drew a vivid picture of how, during the past fifty years, they had grown to be a great power in the State, and were now able to regard themselves as free men, in the enjoyment of full political power. He pointed out that they owed the inestimable blessings which they were now privileged to enjoy to the foresight, judgment, and indefatigable labours of the Liberal party; and he referred to several measures-notably those which secured the advantages of a free press and compulsory education-as an example of the great work in which Mr. Gladstone and his followers had successfully engaged. The Conservatives, he showed, had systematically opposed all efforts at reform, and had obstructed instead of advancing the attainment of results at which good legislation had aimed during the past half-century. This being the case, he asked whether the electors were prepared to give the Conservative party a new lease of life? This question elicited a storm of opposition cries.

Mr. Bright next dealt with the policy of the existing Administration, which he denounced as one of restriction, monopoly, selfishness and injustice. Since