Mr. Goschen remarked on the formation of Mr. Labouchere's party,
with whips of its own, and said that, considering the well-known views of its leader and the name of one of those whips, Mr. Jacoby (the other being Mr. Philip Stanhope), the party would certainly be known as the English Jacobins. These Jacobins count 70 Members, and as the Parnellites count 85 Members, there are between the two sections 155 Members, or more than half Mr. Gladstone's party of 290. Indeed, they had carried Mr. Gladstone and his followers into the lobby against the Naval Defence Bill, and in all proba- bility, too, against their own better judgment, to a disastrous defeat. Mr. Goschen expected important consequences from the great share which the English Jacobins are now taking in determining the action of the Opposition. Undoubtedly it will injure the Opposition with the country, but can we count on its not injuring the Ministerialists too ? As a rule, it is not easy for even opponents to escape the influence of such deterioration in the tone of their antagonists.
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