administration and
the unsparing critic of the Conservative front bench. The "fourth
party," as it was nicknamed, was effective at first not so much in
damaging the government as in awakening the opposition from the apathy
which had fallen upon it after its defeat at the polls. Churchill roused
the Conservatives and gave them a fighting issue, by putting himself at
the head of the resistance to Mr Bradlaugh, the member for Northampton,
who, though an avowed atheist or agnostic, was prepared to take the
parliamentary oath. Sir Stafford Northcote, the Conservative leader in
the Lower House, was forced to take a strong line on this difficult
question by the energy of the fourth party, who in this case clearly
expressed the views of the bulk of the opposition. The long and
acrimonious controversy over Mr Bradlaugh's seat, if it added little to
the reputation of the English legislature, at least showed that Lord
Randolph Churchill was a parliamentary champion who added to his
audacity much tactical skill and shrewdness. He continued to play a
conspicuous part throughout the parliament of 1880-1885, dealing his
blows with almost equal vigour at Mr Gladstone and at the Conservative
front bench, some of whose members, and particularly Sir Richard Cross
and Mr W.H. Smith, he assailed with extreme virulence. From the
beginning of the Egyptian imbroglio Lord Randolph was emphatically
opposed to almost every step taken by the government. He declared that
the suppression of Arabi Pasha's rebellion was an error, and the
restoration of the khedive's authority a crime. He called Mr Gladstone
the "Moloch of Midlothian," for whom torrents of blood had been shed in
Africa. He was equally severe on the domestic policy of the
administration, and was particularly bitter in his criticism of the
Kilmainham treaty and the _rapprochement_ between the Gladstonians and
the Parnellites. It is true that for some time before the fall of the
Liberals in 1885 he had considerably modified his attitude towards the
Irish question, and was himself cultivating friendly relations with the
Home Rule members, and even obtained from them the assistance of the
Irish vote in the English constituencies in the general election. By
this time he had definitely formulated the policy of progressive
Conservatism which was known as "Tory democracy." He declared that the
Conservatives ought to adopt, rather than oppose, reforms of a popular
character, and to challenge the