Showers of questions have been hurled on the Ministry all
the week, but the most important discussions occurred ou Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday, Sir Wilfrid Lawson poured out a fierce, though facetious, harangue, in which lie characterised the bombardment as "a national crime," asserted that we were at war without a declaration of war, and described the fervid indignation with which, if Lord Beacons- field had been in power, Mr. Gladstone would have stumped
England to denounce such conduct. We had no right whatever to prevent the Egyptians from setting up a military despotism, if they liked it. Mr. Gladstone's reply was temperate, but very firm. He utterly denied the charge of " drifting " into war, declaring that everything had been done after the fullest discussion. The original intervention in Egypt he should not defend, just then, but, intervention granted, he could defend every link in the chain of action. After quoting the Navarino case, in which we destroyed the Turkish Fleet without war with Turkey, he asserted that we were fighting for the security of her Majesty's Fleet, and reminded the House of the massacre of July 11th, and the prevalence in Egypt of a Government of military violence, which it would be wrong to style even a mili- tary despotism. We had no hostility to the people of Egypt, whom we were befriending. The discussion which followed showed that the extreme Radicals are very discontented with the course of events.
