In the Lower House it was much the same, except
that the mover of the Address, Mr. E. Stanhope (M.P. for Mid- Lincolnshire), a barrister, thirty-five years of age, gained a considerable oratorical success by the beauty of his flowing periods, chiefly in relation to the wide colonial policy of the Government. The Marquis of Hartington followed very closely, as we have elsewhere remarked, the line of Lord Granville's criticisms, deviating only here and there to show a somewhat more decided Conservative bias ; while Mr. Disraeli, who replied to him with an air of humorous and serene conde- scension, repudiated altogether the Conservative bigotry of his own most enthusiastic supporters. Moreover, he declined abso- lutely to give any assurance that the measures referred to in the Queen's speech were really to be pressed through. "At present," he said, "it is our intention to bring forward the measures we have enumerated, but you may have revolutions, great cata- strophes, ecclesiastical misconceptions ; you may have the revival of those burning questions which were the pride of the Ministry of the noble lord and his colleagues. I cannot answer for con- sequences, if such circumstances occur,"—but Mr. Disraeli would not anticipate them. Indeed, with Mr. Gladstone's leadership, his opponent's thirst for ecclesiastical discussion seems to have dis- appeared. At present, the horoscope of the Government is fair. Lord Hartington and Mr. Disraeli are of one mind and heart. Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other.
