vivacious debate of all. Was the bill to be withdrawn, or was it to be
postponed? If it was to be withdrawn, then, argued the tory leader (Sir
M.H. Beach) in angry tones, the vote on the second reading would be a
farce. If it was to be postponed, what was that but to paralyse the forces
of law and order in Ireland in the meantime? Such things were trifling
with parliament, trifling with a vital constitutional question, and
trifling with the social order which the government professed to be so
anxious to restore. A bill read a second time on such terms as these would
be neither more nor less than a Continuance-in-Office bill.

This biting sally raised the temper of the House on both sides, and Mr.
Gladstone met it with that dignity which did not often fail to quell even
the harshest of his adversaries. "You pronounce that obviously the motive
of the government is to ensure their own continuance in office. They
prefer that to all the considerations connected with the great issue
before them, and their minds in fact are of such a mean and degraded
order, that they can only be acted upon, not by motives of honour and
duty, but simply by those of selfishness and personal interest. Sir, I do
not condescend to discuss that imputation. The dart aimed at our shield,
being such a dart as that, is _telum imbelle sine ictu_."(211)

The speaker then got on to the more hazardous part of the ground. He
proceeded to criticise the observation of the leader of the opposition
that ministers had undertaken to remodel the bill. "That happy word," he
said, "as applied to the structure of the bill, is a pure invention." Lord
Randolph interjected that the word used was not "remodelled," but
"reconstructed." "Does the noble lord dare to say," asked the minister,
"that it was used in respect of the bill?" "Yes," said the noble lord.
"Never, never," cried the minister, with a vehemence that shook the hearts
of doubting followers; "it was used with respect to one particular clause,
and one particular point of the bill, namely so much of it as touches the
future relation of the representatives of Ireland to the imperial
parliament." Before the exciting episode was over, it was stated
definitely that if the bill were read a second time, ministers would
advise a prorogation and re-introduce the bill with amendments. The effect
of this couple of hours was to convince the House that the government had
made up their minds that it was easier and safer t