Lord John Manners, speaking at Syston yesterday week, made a
feeble attempt to treat the Government triumph on the Lord John Manners, speaking at Syston yesterday week, made a feeble attempt to treat the Government triumph on the
Redistribution Bill as a complete surrender to the conditions laid down by their opponents,—the fact being that Lord Hart- ington, Sir Charles Dilke, and Mr. Chamberlain had all declared that if the Tory leaders would but give a pledge to pass the Franchise Bill on condition that they should approve the general principles of the Redistribution Bill, the Government would be quite willing to meet any reasonable Conservative demands on the latter point; and that it was the Tory Party— and especially Lord John Manners—who treated this suggestion with scorn, and branded it as the spider's invitation to the fly to walk into its parlour. Lord John Manners also went on to reproach the Proportional Representation Party with being too late in the field, and in general to approve the results of the interview that had taken place between the spider and the fly.
