Mr. Balfour was entertained by the Manchester Conservative Club at
luncheon on Monday, and spoke at length, and very wisely, on the rights and duties of the House of Lords in regard to legislation. In the evening he was presented with a complimentary address at a great meeting of his former con- stituents in Belle Vue Gardens, and delivered an important speech. In particular, he dealt with the case of those Liberals who, bating Home-rule hardly less than professed Unionists, consoled themselves with the reflection that if a measure of Devolution was indeed to be brought forward by Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman and his friends, the late Unionist Government were, after all, prepared to do the same them- selves. Mr. Balfour warned such Liberals not to lay that flattering unction to their souls. " Never has there been a more preposterous legend throughout the length and breadth of the land than that either I or my colleagues of the late Government ever tolerated for one instant the idea. We never did. You might as well accuse us of horse-stealing."
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