Chapter XIX: The Conservative Reaction

Questions of the Recess--The Dissenters and the Education Act--Mr. Forster’s Compromise--The Nonconformist Revolt--Mr. Bright Essays Conciliation--Sudden Popularity of Mr. Lowe--His “Anti-puritanic Nature”--Mr. Chamberlain and the Dissidence of Dissent--Decline of the Liberal Party--Signs of Bye-elections--A Colonial Scandal--The Canadian Pacific Railway--Jobbing the Contract--Action of the Dominion Parliament--Expulsion of the Macdonald Ministry--The Ashanti War--How it Originated--A Short Campaign--The British in Coomassie--Treaty with King Koffee--The Opposition and the War--Skilful Tactics--Discontent among the Radical Ranks--Illness of Mr. Gladstone--A Sick-bed Resolution--Appeal to the Country--Mr. Gladstone’s Address--Mr. Disraeli’s Manifesto--Liberal Defeat--Incidents of the Election--“Villadom” to the Front--Mr. Gladstone’s Resignation--Mr. Disraeli’s Working Majority--The Conservative Cabinet--The Surplus of £6,000,000--What will Sir Stafford do with it?--Dissensions among the Liberal Chiefs--Mr. Gladstone and the Leadership--The Queen’s Speech--Mr. Disraeli and the Fallen Minister--The Dangers of Hustings Oratory--Mr. Ward Hunt’s “Paper Fleet”--The Last of the Historic Surpluses--How Sir S. Northcote Disposed of it--The Hour but not the Man--Mr. Cross’s Licensing Bill--The Public Worship Regulation Bill--A Curiously Composed Opposition--Mr. Disraeli on Lord Salisbury--The Scottish Patronage Bill--Academic Debates on Home Rule--The Endowed Schools Bill--Mr. Stansfeld’s Rating Bill--Bill for Consolidating the Factory Acts--End of the Session--The Successes and Failures of the Ministry--Prince Bismarck’s Contest with the Roman Catholic Church--Arrest of Count Harry Arnim--Mr. Disraeli’s Apology to Prince Bismarck--Mr. Gladstone’s Desultory Leadership--“Vaticanism”--Deterioration in Society--An Unopposed Royal Grant--Visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to Birmingham--Withdrawal of the Duchess of Edinburgh from Court--A Dispute over Precedence--Visit of the Czar to England--Review of the Ashanti War Soldiers and Sailors--The Queen on Cruelty to Animals--Sir Theodore Martin’s Biography of the Prince Consort--The Queen tells the Story of its Authorship 457