On Thursday the Tithe Bill was read a third time,
the Opposi- tion not proving half as relentless as was expected. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, who wound up the debate on the Home- rule side, very cleverly avoided many of the dialectical pit- falls into which his followers had been floundering during the evening, and wisely confined himself to generalities. The Bill was a piece of immoral class legislation. "A more disheartening endeavour—disheartening, I mean, to those who wish to see the tone of public life maintained in this country—to confine benefits, at other people's expense, to those who are the political supporters of the Government I have never seen." Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman ended his speech with the declaration: "We can but denounce the measure as one of gross injustice, injustice as between class and class in the community, injustice as between man and man among the clergy themselves, and I would add that I make bold to say that it will deal—nay, it has already dealt —a heavy blow to the dignity, the interests, and the spiritual influence of the great Church in whose name it has been promoted."
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