In the course of the discussion, Mr. Fawcett protested against
the desertion of the Opposition by its leaders, after some of them had made the strongest possible speeches against the vote ; to which Mr. Forster replied by saying that he had withdrawn his motion, and should on that evening again leave the House rather than vote against the Government, because he and his colleagues held that the continued opposition to the vote inflamed the war feeling in the country, and therefore indirectly played into the hands of the War party. Eventually Lord Hartiugton, Mr. Forster, and most of the Liberal leaders walked out of the House, amidst the loud derisive cheers of the Opposition, who did not at all understand this desertion, and the vote was carried by 328 votes against 124, a majority of 204. Of the former Liberal Cabinet only Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Bright, and Mr. Stana- feld voted against the Government. But there were other members of the Liberal Administration who voted against it,— namely, Mr. Shaw-Lefevre, Mr. G. 0. Trevclyan, Mr. Baxter, Mr. Dodson, Mr. Hibbert, Mr. W. H. Gladstone, and Mr. Camp- bell-Bannerman. Six Liberals voted with the Government, of whom the most Radical by far was Mr. Joseph Cowen.
