Lord Rosebery also spoke at a breakfast given to him
on Saturday in the Town Hall at Cardiff, by the Liberal Whip, Mr. Thomas Ellis, M.P., in which, while he declined to indulge in prophecy, he ventured to say, "If I am to attempt the task, I should say that I see no immediate probability of a General Election," and gave reasons why none of the composite groups which support the Government would find it to its interest to desert it only for the advantage of the Opposition. He con- cluded by the remark :—" If it (the Government) receives the support of its friends in the country, and of its friends in the House of Commons, I believe it has a long spell of good work before it." That, we suppose, is a safe kind of predic- tion ; but if its friends in the country dwindle in numbers as they have done in Forfarshire, Brigg, and Evesham, it will have only a short spell of work before it, good or bad. Sir William Harcourt on Wednesday professed himself for per- sonal reasons ardently desirous of being turned out of office; but the more the sense of the country seems inclined to. indulge their wish the more their ardour seems to cool for the opportunity of obtaining their dismissal. No doubt it is. a pure sense of duty, and that alone, which makes them cling to their places.
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