A dinner given him by the Constitutional Club on Wednes-
day, enabled Mr. Balfour to make the speech with which, but for the snap division, he would have concluded the debate on Monday. It was a fighting speech of some bitterness and extraordinary cogency, the subject being the attitude of the Gladstonian Party towards Home-rule. Mr. Balfour showed clearly, by quotations from the speeches made at Rossendale, especially Mr. Fowler's, that the English Gladstonians intend to concede only the right of legislation on purely "local" affairs, affairs such as a Municipality may deal with ; and then showed, by quotations from Mr. Redmond, Mr. Dillon, and Mr. O'Brien, that the Irish Gladstonians expect a Parlia- ment as independent as that of Canada or Victoria. If, therefore, the Gladstonians acquired power, they would have to cheat the electors of one side or the other, and he wanted to know on which side the fraud would be. The dilemma was insuperable, for if the English version was accepted, the Irish Home-rulers would kick out the Government ; and if the Irish, the English Gladstonians would abandon their leader. He believed, therefore, that the Opposition had no policy, and would have none till the Elections were over. He animadverted on the plan of allowing Irish Members to intervene in English and Scotch affairs, while Englishmen and Scotchmen could not intervene in Irish affairs ; and made the new point that the Irish Members, whatever their number, would not be responsible to their constituencies for their action at Westminster, and would therefore give their vote solid, with the single object of supporting the Government which would most extend the powers of the Irish Parliament. The hopeless conflict of pledges by which a Gladstone Government would find itself hampered, could not have been more effectively described.
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