ent during 1895-1900. His championship of
the voluntary schools, his adroit parliamentary handling of the problems
opened up by the so-called "crisis in the Church" caused by the Protestant
movement against ritualistic practices, and his pronouncement in favour of
a Roman Catholic university for Ireland--for which he outlined a scheme
that met with much adverse criticism both from his colleagues and his
party,--were the most important aspects of Mr Balfour's activity during
these years. His speeches and work throughout this period took a wider
range than before his accession to the leadership of the Commons. During
the illness of Lord Salisbury in 1898, and again in Lord Salisbury's
absence abroad, he was in charge of the foreign office, and it fell to his
lot to conduct the very critical negotiations with Russia on the question
of railways in North China. To his firmness, and at the same time to the
conciliatory readiness with which he accepted and elaborated the principles
of a _modus vivendi_, the two powers owed the avoidance of what threatened
to be a dangerous quarrel. As a member of the cabinet responsible for the
Transvaal negotiations in 1899 he bore his full share of controversy, and
when the war opened so disastrously he was the first to realize the
necessity for putting the full military strength of the country into the
field. At the general election of 1900 he was returned for East Manchester
(which he had represented since 1885) by a majority of 2453, and continued
in office as first lord of the treasury. His leadership of the House of
Commons in the first session of the new parliament was marked by
considerable firmness in the suppression of obstruction, but there was a
slight revival of the criticisms which had been current in 1896. Mr
Balfour's inability to get the maximum amount of work out of the House was
largely due to the situation in South Africa, which absorbed the
intellectual energies of the House and of the country and impeded the
progress of legislation.

The principal achievements of the long session of 1902 (which extended to
the autumn) were the passing of the Education Act,--entirely reorganizing
the system of primary education, abolishing the school boards and making
the county councils the local authority; new rules of procedure; and the
creation [v.03 p.0252] of the Metropolitan Water Board; and on all these
questions, and particularly the two first, Mr Balfour's powers as a debater
wer