30 JANUARY 1897, Page 13

A Diary of the Home - rule Parliament, 1892 - 1895. By Henry W.

Lucy. (Cassell and Co )—This is a very lively and graphic account of the three Sessions of the Parliament which restored Mr. Gladstone to power in 1892, and sent him, or rather his successors, into Opposition, by the famous majority of seven, on June 28th, 1896. Mr. Lucy rightly calls his work a "diary." He transfers to his pages the emotions, beliefs, and hopes of the hour. The last paragraph runs thus :—" As through their troubled existence the foes of the Liberal Ministry have been those of their own household, so in the hour of death their best friend has been the enemy." Possibly ; but an enemy that defeated them, and changed their numbers from a majority of 28 to a minority of 152, did not do them much service after all.