Page:The house of Cecil.djvu/329

 THIRD MARQUESS OF SALISBURY 287

and became First Lord of the Treasury and leader of the House of Commons.

Apart from the actual Irish legislation of these years, the Crimes Act and the Land Act of 1887, and the Land Purchase Act of 1891, Irish affairs played a very large part in Lord Salisbury's second administration. The articles in the Times on " Parnellism and Crime," the Pigott forgeries, the Parnell Commission, the revelations in the divorce court and the consequent Parnellite split all these events were crowded into the six years from 1886 1892. Yet, in spite of the Irish incubus, the Government was able to pass such important measures as the Local Govern- ment Acts (1888 and 1889), the Imperial Defence Act (1889), the Free Education Act (1891), the Factory Act (1891), and the Small Holdings Act (1892).

Lord Salisbury's interests and labours lay, of course, mainly in the sphere of foreign affairs. The early part of his administration was a period full of danger, which needed a strong man at the helm. It saw the formation of the Triple Alliance unreservedly welcomed by Lord Salisbury the Boulanger movement in France, and the death of the Emperor William and of the Emperor Frederick in Germany. But the most important and critical work of the Foreign Secretary was contained in the negotiations with Germany, Portugal and France, which led to the delimitation of the respective spheres of influence of these powers in Africa.

�� �