But the most remarkable passage of his speeds was that
in which, after remarking on his long.tried devotion to, the principle of securing the Irish peasants in the possession of their own farms,. and making them proprietors where it was possible, he diverged into an eloquent rebuke to the Conservative Obstructives of the hour :—" And, what is worse at this moment, as you see—you do not so much see it here as it is seen in the Housethey are found in alliance with an Irish rebel party (loud and lonk- continued cheers), the main portion of whose funds, for the purposes of agitation, come directly from the avowed enemies of England,. and whose oath of allegiance is broken by association with its. enemies. Now, these are the men of whom I spoke, who are disregarding the wishes of the majority of the constituencies,. and who, as far as possible, make it impossible to do any work for the country by debates and divisions in the House of Commons. I hope that the constituencies will mark some of the men of this party, and that they will not. permit Parliament to be dishonoured and Government en- feebled by Members who claim to be, but are not, Con- servative and constitutional. Our freedom is no longer- subverted or threatened by the Crown, or by a privileged aris- tocracy. Is the time come—I quote the words from history— is the time come to which the ancestor of Lord Salisbury re- ferred 300 years ago, when he said that England could only be- ruined by Parliament 'P The great constituencies must look to this. The ballot has given all electors freedom. On them the country must rely for the preservation of the honour and the- free working of the House of Commons. The reform must. come, and cannot long be delayed. It must wrest the power and close the era of the men who now afflict the House, who- from night to night insult the majesty of the British people." That is a passage which is likely, we hope, to find an echo in' every constituency in Great Britain.
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