Page:The Siege of London - Posteritas - 1885.djvu/20

 and at one time he preached a crusade against them, but with no other result than that of bringing himself into the contempt of moderate men, and of the production of riots, during which several unfortunate people lost their lives. The plums of office, however, were too strong a temptation to be resisted, and his ambition to become a Cabinet Minister was so powerful that he gradually merged the Republican stumper into the Radical statesman. Mr. Chamberlain was a man of the day, and could boast of no aristocratic ancestry, as could his colleague. His family had been engaged in trade, and he had distinguished himself in his native town of Birmingham as a shrewd business man whose creed was "Small interests must give way to capital." He loudly deprecated "unearned increments" (a doubtful term), but he himself acquired great wealth by speculative investments. John Bright had always been violent and abusive, therefore it was no new feature with him. A large proportion of the smaller fry who followed the lead of these men, caught up the spirit they displayed, and, improving on it, indulged in a style of rhetoric that had up to then seemed to have been the peculiar property of French orators. Seldom before had the tone of English politics been so lowered, or the amenities of respectable society so outraged. Enormous meetings were held by both parties all over the country, and Radicals took as their battle-cry—"The Reform of the House of Lords." The House of Lords, however, stood firm and dignified, and came out of the ordeal rather benefited than otherwise. The Government subsequently were compelled to make concessions to the Conservatives, and they succeeded thereby in passing their Reform Bill, though it was clearly seen that the Redistribution gave to Ireland a dangerous preponderating influence that was calculated to cause much trouble in the future.

Elated and jubilant with their victory, the Government was less inclined than ever to adopt anything like a vigorous policy in relation to foreign affairs, which were certainly going from bad to worse. The Egyptian question was still uppermost in men's minds, and the problems presented by it became more and more difficult to solve. France, irritated by the breaking of the Dual Control, and exas-