Mr. Disraeli gets his own way with this Parliament in
all small matters. He has half beaten the Scotch Members even on the addition to their representation, and wholly beaten them on the question of payment of rates. In spite of Mr. Baxter's successful motion, which gave the Scotch Members ten new seats instead of seven, he has cut them down to seven again, though these are to be taken from small English boroughs, and not to be pure additions to the House. Then he has made the House fairly reverse its decision on Mr. Bouverie's amendment. And all this he has effected with no court-card in his band except the dissolution. His great expedient appears to be to indicate his own squeeza- bility up to a certain point, but not beyond ; then to bold out a highly uncomfortable prospect, if pressed beyond this point ; finally, to interpose a bong delay to allow of the uncomfortableness of the prospect being fully realized in solitary •and, perhaps, morbid momenta by the members, at times when all social excitements are far removed. As this regimen answers even with Scotch Members, Mr. Disraeli must be gaining confidence every day in his own happy knack of so administering alteratives and a lowering diet to Parliament as to reduce its nervous energy and tame its spirit.
