ith brevity. When they lashed themselves into rhetorical
fury, he smiled and "sat tight" till the storm was over. He was
not a good speaker, and he had no special skill in debate; but he
invariably mastered the facts of his case. He neither overstated
nor understated, and he was blessed with a shrewd and sarcastic
humour which befitted his comfortable aspect, and spoke in his
twinkling eyes even when he restrained his tongue.

The Liberal Government came to an end in June, 1885. The "Home
Rule split" was now nigh at hand, and not even Campbell-Bannerman's
closest friends could have predicted the side which he would take.
On the one hand, there was his congenital dislike of rant and gush,
of mock-heroics and mock-pathetics; there was his strong sense
for firm government, and there was his recent experience of Irish
disaffection. These things might have tended to make him a Unionist,
and he had none of those personal idolatries which carried men
over because Mr. Gladstone, or Lord Spencer, or Mr. Morley had
made the transition. On the other hand, there was his profound
conviction--which is indeed the very root of Whiggery--that each
nation has the right to choose its own rulers, and that no government
is legitimate unless it rests on the consent of the governed.

This conviction prevailed over all doubts and difficulties, and
before long it became known that Campbell-Bannerman had, in his own
phrase, "found salvation." There were those who were scandalized
when they heard the language of Revivalism thus applied, but it
exactly hit the truth as regards a great many of the converts to
Home Rule. In a very few cases--_e.g._, in Gladstone's own--there
had peen a gradual approximation to the idea of Irish autonomy,
and the crisis of December, 1885, gave the opportunity of avowing
convictions which had long been forming. But in the great majority
of cases the conversion was instantaneous. Men, perplexed by the
chronic darkness of the Irish situation, suddenly saw, or thought
they saw, a light from heaven, and were converted as suddenly as
St. Paul himself. I remember asking the late Lord Ripon the reason
which had governed his decision. He answered: "I always have been
for the most advanced thing in the Liberal programme, and Home Rule
is the most advanced thing just now, so I'm for it." I should not
wonder if a similar sentiment had some influence in the decision,
arrived at by Campbell-Bannerman, who, when Gladstone formed