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the place in which they laboured. It is true that this was an extreme case, which did not often occur, but there were many parishes in which there was an approach to this state of things; and of course it was not only attended with serious hardship to the peasants who were obliged to undergo this great and needless fatigue, but was also shamefully unfair to the parishes which had not been benefited by their labour, but which were compelled to support them in illness and old age. The bill of Mr. Villiers applied a very simple remedy to this state of things. Instead of making each separate parish support its own paupers by rates that were equal throughout the parish, it required each separate union of parishes to support its own paupers by rates that were equal throughout the union; thus making the area of relief coincident with the area of management. The bill also put an end to a great deal of litigation between different parishes, which had arisen out of the state of the law that previously existed. It is true that the measure did not go far enough, and did not wholly arrest the evil with which it dealt. It still left untouched the difference of rates between contiguous unions; which might indeed be remedied to some extent by their enlargement, a change which for many other reasons was desirable. However, the measure passed its second reading by a majority of 203 against 131. An amendment brought forward by Mr. Bentinck to facilitate in certain cases the alteration of the limits of existing unions was opposed by Mr. Villiers on the part of the government, and rejected by the house. The bill eventually passed, and was the principal work accomplished during the session.

On the evening of Tuesday the 28th of March Mr. Dillwyn moved a resolution affirming that the state of the Irish church was unsatisfactory and called for the early attention of her majesty's government. The motion was opposed by Sir G. Grey, who stated that the government was not prepared to bring forward a measure calculated to produce the result that Mr. Dillwyn desired-the entire abolition of the Irish establishment. After Mr. Hardy had spoken at some length and with great animation against the motion, Mr. Gladstone rose and entered into a full examination of the question of the Irish church. He frankly admitted that its state was unsatisfactory, but he added

that having regard to the difficulties which stood in the way of the removal of the anomalies it presented, and which he could not help recognising, he was not prepared to give his assent to the proposition, that this question calls for the early attention of the government.' This declaration, to which subsequent events gave great significance, intimated that Mr. Gladstone, who had always been a firm and intelligent supporter of the Irish as well as the English church, believed that the days of the former of these institutions were numbered; that the government would at some future period be compelled to face the difficult question of its disestablishment; and that the introduction of a measure for that purpose was only a question of time. It caused those who held views similar to those he had enunciated to, regard him as the future leader of their party whenever the problem should be ripe for solution. It was generally felt on all sides that as soon as the retirement of Lord Palmerston from office occurred—and his great age showed that that day could not be very far distant-the consideration of this Irish grievance would occupy a foremost place in the attention of the country and of the legislature. For the present, however, the subject remained in abeyance.

The budget of this year presented features which were all the more gratifying because they were exhibited in the face of the distress which, though rapidly diminishing, still existed in the manufacturing districts. The national expenditure for the financial year was estimated at 66,139,000l.; while the revenue was expected to amount to 70,170,000l.; so that there would probably be a surplus of no less than 4,031,000l. Of course with so large a balance, there was room for a considerable remission of taxation. Passing by some minor changes which it was proposed to make, we come to those which were most important. The duty on tea was to be reduced to sixpence in the pound; the income-tax to be lowered from sixpence to fourpence in the pound; the insurance duty, in conformity with a resolution which the House of Commons had passed on the 21st of March, was to be laid on all insured property at a uniform rate of one-and-ninepence, besides which the shilling duty on all policies was to be replaced by a penny stamp, and a penny receipt stamp for the payment of the

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money. It was expected that these reductions would afford a relief of taxation amounting to 5,420,000l., of which 3,778,000l. would take effect during the present financial year; leaving a surplus of 253,000l.

Mr. Baines again brought forward his measure for the reduction of the franchise, on Wednesday, 3rd of May, to some fourteen or fifteen members. The smallness of the attendance seemed to show a want of interest in the subject, which was in some degree accounted for by the general feeling that prevailed of the inutility of introducing such a measure in a parliament which, being near its end, was not likely to pass this fragment of reform. The debate was chiefly remarkable for a speech delivered by Mr. Lowe. Though he had been a member of this ministry, and though his views on most questions agreed with those of his late colleagues, yet he differed from them and the liberal party generally on this subject, and made a very able speech in opposition to the motion. It was applauded to the echo by the conservative party, as well as by some of those who, professing to desire and pledged to support parliamentary reform, really abhorred and dreaded it as much as its avowed opponents. When the subject again came before the house on the 8th of May, there was a large gathering of members, and everything betokened a close division. This was due not so much to any extraordinary interest taken in the question, as to the proximity of the general election, and the knowledge that this measure was the one which was likely to be the working question of the coming election. The debate on it was therefore of a very animated character. Sir G. Grey, speaking on behalf of the government, maintained that he and his colleagues had fully redeemed their reform pledges; but declined to give any promise as to the course which the government would take with regard to the measure in the next session. Mr. Gladstone sat by in silence. It was reported that his colleagues had extorted from him a promise not to speak on the question. But there was no truth in the statement. He had delivered his testimony on this subject during the preceding session in the most distinct manner, and it was not necessary that he should renew it now. On a division, the previous question, moved by Lord Elcho, was carried by 288 votes to 214. During the remainder of the session the members of the

VOL. III.

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and unbroken trust. But there is one difficulty which it is impossible to remove. This party of two reminds me of the Scotch terrier, which was so covered with hair that you could not tell which was the head and which was the tail of it.'

The party thus humorously depicted and named proved to be both more numerous and more formidable than Mr. Bright's description of it gave reason to expect. The Cave, as it was henceforth called, became the retreat of a considerable number of whigs, who, either from dislike to reform, or dread of a new election, were anxious to get rid of the bill. Foremost among these was the right honourable Robert Lowe, who, though he had recently been a member of a cabinet which had ridden into office on the ground of its supposed zeal for parliamentary reform, employed against the bill introduced by his former colleagues-with great ability and no little originality of illustration-the worn-out arguments which had been so repeatedly but vainly urged in 1831 and 1832 by Sir C. Wetherell, Mr. Croker, and those who joined them in withstanding the great reform bill. The existence of this party, and the nature of the speeches delivered against the bill by those who composed it, determined the conservative leaders to take a course on which they probably would not otherwise have ventured, and to endeavour to defeat the very moderate attempt made by the government to settle a question so often raised and so often deferred. They summoned a meeting of their supporters for the purpose of considering the manner in which the ministerial proposal should be dealt with. The Earl of Derby was prevented from attending by an attack of illness; but an address was delivered by Mr. Disraeli, which is said to have roused the enthusiasm of his followers; and it was resolved that the bill should be strenuously resisted. But as the conservative party though strong was numerically inferior to that which supported the government, it seemed likely that their opposition to the bill would have no other effect than that of delaying its progress through the House, and perhaps extorting some concessions from the government. It was, therefore, to them a matter of great satisfaction, and of no small dismay to the government, when Earl Grosvenor, eldest son of the Marquis of Westminster, and usually

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regarded as a steady supporter of ministers, gave notice that on the question of the second reading he would propose an amendment to the effect that it would be inexpedient to discuss any bill for the reduction of the franchise until the House should have before it the entire scheme contemplated by the government for the amendment of the representation of the people. This announcement showed that the Palmerstonian whigs were dissatisfied, and ready to combine with the conservatives to defer again the consideration of this often-introduced and long-delayed measure. And it soon became evident that the notice was instigated partly by a natural desire on the part of the representatives of small boroughs to know whether the towns by which they were sent were to be disfranchised or not, partly by a jealousy of the influence which the views of Mr. Bright and his party were supposed to have exercised over the decisions of the cabinet, and partly by the fear that the extension of the franchise, if granted, would be used as a means of obtaining a much larger measure of redistribution than the old whig party was willing to agree to. The combination thus formed could not easily be defeated without making concessions which in the opinion of the leader of the House were calculated to lower the character of the government; which Mr. Gladstone was the last man in the world to compromise, even for the sake of avoiding a defeat. At the same time it was his duty to escape that contingency if it could be done by means that he deemed consistent with the honour of the government. Therefore on the night before the commencement of the Easter recess, in moving that the House at its rising should adjourn to the 9th of April, he gave the following explanations:

I will now state the views of the government with regard to certain motions on the paper. With regard to the motion of the member for Bridgewater, that it is not expedient to go into the franchise bill until the House has before it the bill for the redistribution of seats, the government will announce to the House the nature of their proposal as to the redistribution of seats, that the question may be dealt with by parliament. After the second reading of the franchise bill, and before it is committed, they will be prepared to state their intentions with respect to the