Page:Australian views of England.djvu/97

   the most compact of any in Parliament by their political sympathies and social intercourse. 'The rope of opposition is a strong one, but it is badly twisted, and the weakness of the third strand is notoriously the personal dislike of the men for their chief. Stilt less is Mr. Disraeli in favour with the other malcontents, and it is the difficulty of reconciling with conscience any step that would accelerate his accession to power which often constrains their unwilling votes for the Government But a change is coming, and Benjamin Disraeli, in spite of personal dislikes, will again be the acknowledged leader of the men of great families in the House of Commons.

The opponents of Church-rates have lost their cause for the session in the House of Commons by one vote. The Morning Star argues that the defeat is to be ascribed to the citizens of London, who elected Mr. Western Wood, an avowed supporter of church-rates, in the place of Lord John Russell, a convert to their abolition. But the truth is rather to be found in the low ebb of the political life-current when public men live in daily distrust of their own' opinions and are facile in finding excuses for neglect of duty.