In relation to the Irish policy of the Government, Lord
Harlington produced a great impression by asking whether, had it been proposed by Lord Salisbury instead of Mr. Glad- stone, England would not have resounded with Liberal denunciations of the Tory surrender to Mr. Parnell. How, he asked, could he, who warned them so seriously of the danger of such a Tory surrender, accept mutely the very same policy from Mr. Gladstone which he had denounced by anticipation on the supposition that it might proceed from the Tories P He expressed the utmost fear that Ulster would not be fairly protected against the Ultramontane policy of the majority of the Irish people under the Home-rule Bill ; he held that if that fear should be verified, the British people would feel bound to interfere on behalf of those whom they would regard as oppressed ; and that, in this way, the Home-rule policy, instead of bringing peace to Ireland, would involve us in far bitterer struggles than ever. Rather than be a party to the measures proposed,—though he held that if the Home-rule Bill passed, the Land-purchase Bill should certainly pass also,—he would resign the trust confided to him by the people of Lancashire. Nothing could be firmer than Lord Hartington's language throughout his speech.
