Gladstone described the general outlook in a letter to his son Henry
in India (May 16):--

The government declines, but no one can say at what rate.
Elections are tolerably satisfactory to us--not, I think, more. A
sure though evil instinct has guided them in choosing rather to
demoralise our finance, than to pay their way by imposing taxes,
but I do not see how they are long to escape this difficulty....
Our people look forward comfortably to the election. The
government people say they will not have it this year. But if we
come to the conclusion that we ought to have it, I am by no means
sure but that though a minority, we can force it by putting our
men into the field, and making it too uncomfortable for them to
continue twelve or fifteen months in hot water. I am safe in
Midlothian, unless they contrive a further and larger number of
faggot votes.

Adam looked forward with alarm to the mischief that might be done if the
general election were to be protracted beyond the autumn of 1880. "In
order to neutralise the present majority," he told Mr. Gladstone, "they
will have to create faggots to a _disgraceful_ extent, but they are not
troubled by scruples of conscience." The charity that thinketh no evil is
perhaps less liberally given to party whips than even to other
politicians.

Apart from Midlothian Mr. Adam, in January 1879, said to Mr. Gladstone
that the liberals were helpless even in the best agricultural counties of
England; that he saw no hope of improvement; they had neither candidates
nor organisation in most of them, and there was no means that he knew of
(and he had done all that he could) to wake them up. By November 1879, he
reported that he had been carefully over the list, taking a very moderate
calculation of the chances at the coming election; and he believed they
ought to have a majority of 20 to 30, independent of home rulers. Mr.
Gladstone wrote to Lord Granville:--

_Aug. 6, '79._--Salisbury's speech indicates, and for several
reasons I should believe, that they intend sailing on the quiet
tack. Having proved their spirit, they will now show their
moderation. In other words they want all the past proceedings to
be in the main "stale fish" at the elections. Except financial
shuffling they will very likely commit no new enormity before the
election. In my view that means they will not supply any new
matter