Sir William Harcourt, too, made a thoughtful speech, in which
he spoke of the quantity of blank-cartridge fired off by Conservative speakers, "from the heavy ordnance of Hatfield, down to the popguns and peashooters of Woodstock." Referring to the reform of procedure, Sir William Harcourt said that the present state of things was just as if the minority of a con- stituency were allowed, by persistent speaking, to delay for ever the declaration of the poll, in order that the will of the majority might not prevail. Commenting on Lord Grey's attack, Sir W. Harcourt said that it came to precisely the same thing as the attacks made on Lord Grey's father when he pledged himself to the Reform Bill. The timid Whigs then said of Earl Grey what was equivalent to "we fear reform and we hate reformers," and that is what Earl Grey's son now says in effect of Mr. Gladstone, when he invites Liberals to revolt against him. If that advice was taken, said Sir W. Har- court, the Liberals would probably find that they had loaded a blunderbuss, "of which the recoil was much more fatal than the aim." We fancy Lord Zetland, Admiral Chaloner, and their friends will not be very long in discovering that they have succeeded in firing off a blunderbuss of that kind.
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