to extraordinary agitation.
Perceiving this, the right hon. gentleman expressed sympathy with the
sufferings through which Ireland had passed, and drew from the fact of
these sufferings the inference that while imposing new taxes upon other
portions of the community in that country, the landed interest ought
to be exempt. He would also increase the house-tax, in order that the
inhabitants of the metropolis might bear a proportion of the burden from
which land would be relieved, and would extend the tax to all houses
rated at L10. The right hon. gentleman intimated that his financial
scheme should be considered as a first step in a new direction.

The financial statement of the chancellor excited an intense ferment
through the country. The landed, the West Indian, and the shipping
interests, which were all supposed to derive advantage from protection,
supported him, all the rest of the community exhibited an angry
opposition. The monied and commercial classes in Ireland, the English
manufacturers, and the London householders, were Mr. Disraeli's fiercest
opponents. Besides the popular hostility, Mr. Disraeli had to encounter
that of the political economists, and all the leading financiers in
the country. The monied interest ridiculed the estimates, and it became
evident in a few days after the announcement of his plan to the house,
that it had seriously impaired the reputation of its propounder. His
unfitness for the post of chancellor of the exchequer was proclaimed
everywhere, and every where accepted as true.

On the 6th of December, on the report of the Committee of Supply being
brought up, the House of Commons, led on by Mr. Gladstone, showed an
uncompromising opposition to the whole scheme of Mr. Disraeli.

After a series of adjournments, Mr. Disraeli replied to the criticism
of his opponents in language personally offensive, and full of party
violence. This led to a scene of singular excitement: Mr. Gladstone
retorted in the most eloquent speech he ever delivered in parliament.
Attempts were made by the government party to stifle his voice in
uproar, but the house sustained him by repeated and long-continued
rounds of applause. Mr. Gladstone's denunciation of the budget as a
delusive and dishonest scheme was followed by a vote which rejected
it. The protectionist members voted to a man with the government, but a
majority was against them, and the government resigned.

FORMATION OF A NEW MINISTRY.

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