'Disestablish, as the only means of reform!' And when it prevails as prevail it will-Churchmen will discover that the mere act of Disestablishment has destroyed many of the inveterate abuses which now defy all their efforts to extirpate them; while every other evil can be grappled with, in the interest of the Church and of religion, without any regard to the traditions of a State-institution or the exigencies of politicians. They will breathe the air of freedom, and that alone will invigorate them for the great but inspiriting task of winning for the Church of England, not only the deserved affection of its members, but the admiration and gratitude of the entire nation.

ART. VIII.-Political Survey of the Quarter.

THERE has seldom been so marked a change in political opinion during so short a period as that which has been quietly effected since the opening of the present Parliament. It was natural that there should be a flutter of anticipation and excitement in view of the assembling of a House of Commons which had been chosen by a constituency so inexperienced and under conditions so unusual. We have hardly yet realized the full meaning of the political events of last autumn. The fierceness with which the Tory party fought, as though they felt that their political existence depended on the issue, the recklessness with which they attacked their opponents, the discreditable alliance with the Irish Nationalists, which alone saved them from a disaster more complete than any which has overtaken either political party in our times, were themselves sufficiently disturbing factors. But when to these were added the hardly-concealed schism in the Liberal ranks, the want of a clear understanding between the leaders of the party in Lancashire and other homes of moderate Liberalism, and their allies in the counties, the excitement caused by the reiterated lies about the promise of 'three acres and a cow,' and the divisions fomented by the well-devised Tory cry of the Church in danger,' it seemed as though all possible elements of political strife and difficulty had been thrown into the witches' cauldron, and it was impossible to predict what would emerge.

The incidents of the conflict, also, were so dramatic as to intensify the prevailing excitement. On the second day of the elections the Tories had made up their minds to a victory

all along the line, and the impression was so strong, and was so sedulously encouraged by that curious evening paper which persists in calling itself Liberal while doing its possible worst against the Liberal cause, that we doubt whether it has been effaced even yet. At all events, even when the returns were complete, and it was manifest that the Liberal party all but equalled the Tories and the Parnellites combined, the late Government prepared for the retention of office. This is a fact to which too little significance has been attached. Liberals find it hard to be angry about it, since in taking this course Lord Salisbury and Lord Randolph Churchill were playing their game. Mr. Gladstone, however, was clearly right when, speaking on Mr. Holmes's motion, and vindicating the delay in the production of his Irish policy, he said that the blame rested rather upon Lord Salisbury for not following recent precedents and resigning office as soon as he found that the elections had left him in so decided a minority. Why was it he did not do so? His apologists would probably say that his opponents were so divided among themselves as to render it impossible for Mr. Gladstone to form a Government. But that was clearly a matter to be settled by Mr. Gladstone himself, and he did settle it as soon as the question was put to him. Then it has been urged (and this was really the strongest plea) that neither party had a majority of the entire House. The inference is not very obvious, that a small minority, numbering a little more than one-third of the House, should hold office in preference to a body which, if not in an absolute majority, barely failed to attain even that, and was in a very decided majority in Great Britain, but it was eminently satisfactory to the Primrose League, to the editor of The Times' newspaper, and to the dwellers in Clubland generally. It is only fair to the Tories to say that it was encouraged by the unwise talk of some Radicals, who ought to have known better, about the expediency of a Liberal majority governing through a Tory Ministry. The idea is one which will never be acceptable to straightforward English politicians. It savours too much of diplomacy and finesse, and these are qualities which never commend themselves to Englishmen, and least of all to English Liberals. It was advocated, however, with a show of plausible argument, to encourage the hopes of the Tories. But the true secret of the resolution of Lord Salisbury to meet Parliament as Premier was a vague hope that the Irish vote might be secured. The exact date at which that dream vanished-that is, the exact date at which it became clear that the idea of conciliation must give

place to that of coercion in Ireland-cannot be ascertained at present. But nothing can be more clear to unprejudiced minds than that this decision came too late to allow of any change in the position of the Government. In other words, the Ministry did not resign in December, because some of its leading members still indulged the hope that they might carry their party in favour of a policy which would satisfy Mr. Parnell. There can be no doubt that overtures, more or less direct, were made to Mr. Parnell. Whether they were rejected by him as insufficient, or whether it was found impossible to educate the Tory party into accepting them, is a point on which we cannot have any certainty. All that we know is the result.

This is a point which must be kept in mind and emphasized if we are to understand the subsequent movements of public opinion. The attitude of the late Ministry towards Mr. Parnell had prepared the way for the startling announcement made by a news agency in December, that Mr. Gladstone was not only prepared to deal with the subject, but had already drafted a measure of Home Rule for Ireland. Of course a wild outcry was at once raised against the ambitious statesman, who was prepared to sacrifice the Empire in order to secure for himself a fresh tenure of office; and there can be little doubt that the clamour was swelled, if not created, by those who were mortified because the very report had spoiled their game. The excitement which followed the announcement was indescribable. Every Liberal (?), moderate or otherwise, who had, or fancied he had, a grudge against his chief (and the number of those who have an eternal difference both with their chief and their party, as to their own merits and the way in which these ought to be rewarded, will always be considerable), made haste to feed it fat. Whig peers who had long been sittng on the fence suddenly resolved to leap on to the other side. Dukes and earls publicly proclaimed their secession from their old friends, and The Times' took care to herald every such withdrawal as a new misfortune for the Liberal party, boding disaster to it, but first of all insuring the ruin of Mr. Gladstone. For a time there was something approaching to panic. Wherever we went we were told that Mr. Gladstone had broken up the party, and that there was nothing in prospect but a period of confusion and probable reaction. Some even went so far as to prophesy that Lord Salisbury would dissolve again in the hope of securing a Parliament more favourable to his views. It was vain to argue that such a proceeding, which was barely within the limits of the constitution, was full of

risk for himself and his party, that he must certainly lose heavily in the boroughs, and that there was no reason to expect any gain in the counties. For the moment London journalism had the ground to itself, and The Times' was proclaiming day by day that the country was indignant with Mr. Gladstone, and that all party differences would be forgotten, and the nation rally as one man to the defence of the Union

When we look back to these wild predictions and then compare them with such evidences of public feeling as have since been given, we begin to understand how completely able editors, especially if they find their inspiration in London clubs, may be mistaken as to the opinion of the country. Parliament met, and the panic among the Liberals subsided as if by magic. The first night's experience showed that the fate of the Ministry was sealed, and a week had not elapsed when it was ignominiously driven from office. What was even more remarkable, Mr. Gladstone at once formed a Government, and, despite the difficulties which are gathering around him, even as we write this, the position to-day is what no one, looking at the state of affairs three months ago, would have ventured to predict.

Seldom, if ever, has the overpowering influence of a great personality been so conspicious. Three months ago there were not a few, even among those who had hitherto been Mr. Gladstone's ardent supporters, who were whispering that his day was over, and his work done. In the case of any other statesman this would not have been a very unreasonable or even uncomplimentary suggestion, seeing that he is seventysix years of age, that he has had more than half a century of parliamentary life, that it is more than forty years since he became a Cabinet Minister, that it is thirty years since he dazzled the country by his brilliant financial successes, and that it is nearly twenty years since he first became Prime Minister. But remembering the boundless energy of the great chief, and the unwillingness of his admirers to believe that there was, or was likely to be, any decay of his spirit and force, it was startling to find how fast the idea that his mission was accomplished was spreading even among staunch friends. It is not to be denied that the last Midlothian campaign was disappointing. Nonconformists were displeased, not so much because of the policy which Mr. Gladstone advocated as of the tone which he adopted. Numbers of advanced Liberals and Radicals, who were thoroughly loyal to a leader who on many points was not as

pronounced as themselves were mortified to find his influence thrown so decidedly into the scale of the moderate Liberals. We are not going too far when we say that the Midlothian speeches had deeply wounded some of the Prime Minister's most attached and trusty friends. The return of Mr. Goschen for Edinburgh, followed by that of Mr. Childers, certainly did nothing to improve the situation, and it seemed as though Mr. Gladstone had cooled the zeal of his own loyal followers without conciliating the support of the moderate Liberals. In a large number of cases it was said, with no little bitterness, that he had seriously damaged the Liberal chances of success, since candidates who felt themselves more or less bound by his utterances were hindered from kindling that Nonconformist enthusiasm which would have been the one efficient counteractive to the frenzied appeals and the unscrupulous efforts of the Church defenders.

We do not recall these incidents with any intention of reflecting upon Mr. Gladstone. His position was an extremely difficult one, much more so than can be fully understood by those who are ignorant of the varied influences which were doubtless brought to bear upon him. The boundless assumptions of the 'moderate Liberals' in the press may, however, give us some idea of the persistency with which their views would be pressed in private circles, where there was no one to challenge their fundamental maxim that Whig principles are the salt of political wisdom, and that it is only by them that the salvation of the State can be effected. It was a misfortune, too, that Mr. Gladstone had no opportunity of measuring the force of the extraordinary movement which was going on in so many of the agricultural counties, and which has given the Liberal party their present majority. We do not, therefore, refer to the circumstances which had unfairly depressed his influence for the time, with any idea of complaint about him, but rather in order to mark the extreme contrast between then and now. Parliament no sooner met than Mr. Gladstone's old ascendency became manifest. Every day has made it more clear that he not only enjoys the confidence of the Liberal party in the House, but that in the country at large he has secured that perfect trust which is given only to statesmen of high character and transcendent ability, whose patriotism has been proved by faithful service, and which was never given in such measure to any statesman before.

On the other hand, everything that passion could inspire and ingenuity could suggest has been done by the great oracle of English journalism in order to shake the faith of the people