In his speech at Clitheroe, Mr. Cross's object was to
urge the claims of his friend Mr. Assheton to be again returned at the next election, and consequently he dwelt generally on the claims of the Conservative Administration to the confidence of the country. He founded these claims partly on their having ' handed over 22,000,000 of taxes to diminish the burden of the rates ; partly, on their refusal in bad times to meet deficiency by taxation, when they could cover it by temporary loans ; and partly, on the eminently pacific character of their adminis- tration. In fact, if you listened to Mr. Cross, you would think that the great Oriental Minister who made an Empress of India, redressed the balance of power in the West by using the resources of the East, and. conjured a great Mediterranean island out of Turkey, had established his claim to the gratitude of his countrymen chiefly by a policy of what a great writer once called "good, solid, sterling insigni- ficance." That will hardly go down in Lancashire, where, if you even seem to make a surprising statement, the incredulous native tells you superciliously, '
