, had
brought out a vigorous expression of cordiality between England and France,
shown in an enthusiastic exchange of naval visits; and the danger, which
threatened in the early summer, of complications [v.03 p.0254] with France
and Germany over Morocco, was in a fair way of being dispelled by the
support given to France by Great Britain. The Liberal leaders had given
public pledges of their adhesion to Lord Lansdowne's foreign policy, and
the fear of their being unable to carry it on was no longer a factor in the
public mind. The end came in November 1905, precipitated by a speech made
by Mr Balfour at Newcastle on the 14th, appealing for unity in the party
and the sinking of differences, an appeal plainly addressed to Mr
Chamberlain, whose supporters--the vast majority of the Unionists--were
clamouring for a fighting policy. But Mr Chamberlain was no longer prepared
to wait. On the 21st of November at Bristol he insisted on his programme
being adopted, and Mr Balfour was compelled to abandon the position he had
held with so much tactical dexterity for two years past. Amid Liberal
protests in favour of immediate dissolution, he resigned on the 4th of
December; and Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, being entrusted by the king
with the formation of a government, filled his cabinet with a view to a
general election in January. The Unionists went to the polls with divided
counsels, and sustained a crushing defeat, remarkable nevertheless for the
comparative success of the tariff reformers. While Mr Chamberlain had a
signal personal triumph in all the divisions of Birmingham, Mr Balfour
himself was defeated by a large majority in Manchester.

Being in a miserable minority in parliament (157 Unionists against 379
Liberals, 51 Labour members, and 83 Nationalists), some form of
consolidation among the Unionists was immediately necessary, and
negotiations took place between Mr Balfour and Mr Chamberlain which
resulted in the patching up of an agreement (expressed in a correspondence
dated February 14th), and its confirmation at a meeting of the party at
Lansdowne House a few days later. The new compact was indicated in Mr
Balfour's letter, in which he declared that "fiscal reform is, and must
remain, the first constructive work of the Unionist party; its objects are
to secure more equal terms of competition for British trade and closer
commercial union with the colonies; and while it is at present unnecessary
to prescribe the exact