inevitable or that its difficulties were unforeseen. In China a similar want of foresight and firmness had brought about more serious complications, and it seemed as if Great Britain, which throughout the century had been predominant in the Far East, was now to be contemptuously put aside by the other Powers as possessing no longer the means of maintaining her political influence and her commercial rights.

Outside Parliament and away from the seats of war in South Africa and China, there was little to note beyond the outbreak of anarchical mania which followed upon the acquittal of the youth Sipido for his attempt on the life of the Prince of Wales at the Brussels railway station. What actuated the Brussels jury in arriving at their verdict, beyond the would-be assassin's youth, must remain a mystery; but they shared probably to some extent the anti-British feeling which overspread Europe, and were not sorry to have the occasion of expressing it. The carelessness of the authorities was possibly due to similar causes; but the immunity from punishment thus proclaimed soon bore fruit-King Humbert of Italy, whose devotion to his people was universally recognised, was brutally assassinated by an Italian workman, for some years resident in the United States, who was proved to have been a member of an anarchist club, and was supposed to have been selected by lot to execute the sentence of the secret society. A few days later a senseless attack was made upon the Shah of Persia, who was visiting Paris, by a man of the artisan class, who jumped on the step of his carriage and pointed a revolver at the Shah's heart. He was disarmed before he could fire and secured by the police, and on his examination could give no reason for his senseless act, beyond a general wish to get rid of all rulers, Asiatic as well as European. Under such circumstances it was not surprising that foreign sovereigns held aloof from Paris, notwithstanding the marvels and attractions of the exhibition by which France was celebrating the close of the century.

The one meagre attempt which had been made by the Government to satisfy public opinion concerning War Office administration was the appointment of a committee to inquire into the allegations of fraud and irregularity in connection with War Office contracts. The Government assented most reluctantly to the appointment of the committee, and only with the proviso that its inquiry should not go back further than three months, and a request that counsel might be heard was negatived by the House of Commons. The proceedings of the committee were watched with considerable interest, and evidence was given of the way in which contracts were allotted and fulfilled, as well as of the amateur and incomplete manner in which some stores were passed and others rejected. The chief matter of interest was the allotment of cordite contracts to the firm of Kynoch & Co., of Birmingham, of which the chairman was brother to the Colonial Secretary, brother-in-law

to the Financial Secretary at the War Office and uncle to the Civil Lord of the Admiralty. Naturally Mr. Arthur Chamberlain warmly repudiated the idea that he possessed any power to influence Government contracts, but it was shown that Kynoch & Co. had been permitted to revise the terms of its tender, a privilege not extended to other firms. The ordering of cordite it was shown was the joint affair of the War Office and the Admiralty, but the matter was left in the hands of the Director of Army Contracts, who, on allocating the largest order, treated all the four tendering firms on a footing of approximate equality, notwithstanding the fact that Kynoch's price was far higher than that of the other firms. The committee, just before the close of the session, made an unsatisfactory and exculpatory report, stating that the charges of fraud and irregularity were not substantiated, but that in view of the general belief that favouritism did exist, they admitted that undetected corruption might exist amongst minor officials. They therefore recommended that too much trust should not be placed in subordinates; that the chief inspectors should be made more directly responsible; that contractors detected in irregularities should be made liable to prosecution; that the same privilege of revising a tender should be given to all contractors; and that the custom of giving undue preference to the recommendations of members of Parliament in placing Government contracts was most

undesirable.

The Army Hospitals Inquiry had been promptly taken in hand by the members of the commission, who before leaving for South Africa received certain professional and general evidence from those who had already returned from the seat of war, but until the investigation of Mr. Burdett-Coutts's charges was concluded, and witnesses examined on the spot, judgment was suspended by all except a few professional enthusiasts, military as well as medical, who refused to admit the possibility of any breakdown in the medical arrangements of the campaign.

Parliament separated with the full conviction that it would not again reassemble, but the date of the dissolution was apparently unknown even by ministers themselves. The general opinion pointed towards October, the objections to a stale register being overshadowed by the expected announcement of the close of the war in South Africa, and by the hope that no other issue but that of the war and its consequences would be placed before the electors.

CHAPTER V.

Relief of Pekin Legations-Difficulty of Chinese Problem-Discussion as to Date of Dissolution-Mr. Brodrick at Guildford-Publication of South African Letters-Effect on Public Opinion" Protestantism before Politics" Movement-Labour Difficulties on Railways-Trade Union Congress-Important Changes in Rules-Dissolution Announced-Opposition Complaints-Manifestoes by Party Leaders-The one Dominating Issue-Personal Attacks on Mr. Chamberlain-Domestic Questions-Church Discipline Bill-Imperial Liberal Council-Mr. Chamberlain's Heywood Telegram-Mr. Balfour's Explanation-The Polls-Great Ministerial Majorities in Urban Constituencies -County Returns less Conspicuous but Equally Decisive-Summaries of Results-Liberal Differences-Anglo-German Agreement-Guerilla War in South Africa-Lord Wolseley's Utterances-Ministerial ReconstructionMinisters at the Mansion House-Sir M. Hicks-Beach at Bristol-Liberal Speeches-The Winter Session-Debates on Unionist Electioneering, Military Measures and Ministerial Policy in South Africa, Business Relations of Ministers, and War Expenditure-Front Opposition Bench DifferencesClose of Century.

THE deep shadow of apprehension with regard to events in Pekin which rested over England and Europe up to the prorogation of the British Parliament was happily dispelled in the course of a few days. Four days after its despatch a telegram arrived stating that on August 14 the Chinese capital had been reached and the legations relieved. The sentiment of this country in regard to the news of the safety of the British and other legations and the great majority of those connected with them, and also as to the admirable fortitude and gallantry displayed by persons of all classes and occupations engaged in the defence, was deep and universal. The Queen promptly expressed the relief and pride of her subjects in a telegram to the officer commanding the Royal Marine Guard at Pekin. "I thank God," said her Majesty, "that you and those under your command are rescued from your perilous situation. With my people I have waited with the deepest anxiety for the good news of your safety, and a happy termination to your heroic and prolonged defence. I grieve for the losses and sufferings experienced by the besieged." All the details which gradually arrived with respect to the manner in which the attacks on the legations had been pushed by the instigation of the Chinese authorities, and the atrocities perpetrated without any kind of restraint or rebuke, if not actually ordered, upon defenceless Europeans there and elsewhere, intensified the relief felt at the success of the allied forces at Pekin. At the same time the general satisfaction was considerably qualified by the escape of the Dowager-Empress and the high officials who had been her chief prompters or tools in the pursuit of her anti-foreign policy, while the withdrawal of the Emperor with her to the remote city of Si-ngan-fu appeared to preclude the possibility of the setting up of a reforming Government which could claim the allegiance of the Chinese people. Indeed it very soon came to be realised that the relief of the legations, though it had doubtless averted a catastrophe of almost unprecedented horror, was after all only the successful close of the first chapter in a series of transactions fraught with

almost infinite possibilities of local difficulty and of international complication. Meanwhile an agreement arrived at among the Powers upon the appointment of the German Field Marshal, Count von Waldersee, to act as generalissimo of the allied forces in the metropolitan province of China, although received with little enthusiasm in the press anywhere outside of Germany, appeared to indicate a general desire for loyal co-operation among the European Powers in regard to the early developments of the situation. In this connection Mr. Brodrick, speaking in a tone of authority as on behalf of the Government (Aug. 15), employed studiously friendly language. After paying a high tribute to the distinction of Count von Waldersee, Mr. Brodrick went on to say that this country had often found its interests running side by side with those of Germany, and that he hoped that "as good comrades they might advance together again, certainly to victory, and, let them all trust, also towards the strengthening of the ties between that great nation and ourselves."

Apart from the Chinese question the first weeks of the recess had for political enlivenment little beyond a somewhat futile discussion as to the probable and suitable date of the dissolution of Parliament. This discussion was at the outset almost entirely confined to the columns of the press. On the Opposition side it was assumed that Mr. Chamberlain was urging his more scrupulous colleagues to hurry on a "khaki" election, and this course was denounced as an unworthy exploitation of the sentiment aroused by national emergencies and successes for party purposes. Sometimes it was maintained that the statesman whom it had become the constant habit of a large part of his opponents to treat as the evil genius of the Cabinet and of the nation was on the way to a triumph over the wills of his weaker colleagues. At other times or by other writers at the same time-it was affirmed that political virtue was holding her own in the counsels of the Government, and that there would be no early dissolution. On the Ministerial side it was argued that a clear declaration of the national will in regard to the retention of the fruits of the war was required at an early date in the interest of the pacification of South Africa. There were, indeed, some supporters of the Government who entertained misgivings as to the propriety of an appeal to the country under circumstances which could lend any colour to the suggestion that a party gain was being sought by means of the freshness of the public exultation over British military successes in South Africa. Voice was given to this sentiment by the National Review, which in two or three numbers urged vigorously that a "khaki" election would not be in accord with the understood rules of the political game. This, however, appeared to be the opinion of only a small minority of Unionists. Very few politicians of any high position spoke in the country after the prorogation, so that speculation as to the earlier or later approach of a dissolution had a free field. The silence was at length broken (Aug. 29) by Mr.

Brodrick who, speaking at Guildford, referred to the subject of the general election in terms the general effect of which seemed unmistakable. Touching at the outset of his remarks on the affairs of China, the Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs said that the Government were prepared to do whatever was necessary or possible to preserve the trade with that country, which England of all nations had done most to build up; but that we could not undertake the responsibility of governing China. He then proceeded to enter upon an elaborate argument in favour of an early appeal to the constituencies. There were, Mr. Brodrick said, two or three questions which the war had brought up, and which pressed for settlement. The first regarded the administration of the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony. There was every reason to believe that when we had established equal laws in those countries, given them an efficient railway system, and abolished corrupt monopolies, they would enjoy a prosperity which had never been their lot before. But he could imagine nothing more fatal to the progress of this settlement than that it should be interrupted by a a general election, which must raise hopes in the disloyal that the purpose of the Imperial Government might be changed. The second great question was that of the reorganisation of the Army. The necessary changes could not be made in the middle of a war. The time for reform would come when the campaign was over and when the most prominent of the officers now conducting it were available for work at the War Office. It might then be necessary to give some Minister a free hand, but that could hardly be done by an expiring Parliament. The Government must have at its back a young, fresh and vigorous Parliament if it was to deal satisfactorily with this question.

This line of reasoning from a Minister who, as Lord Salisbury's departmental lieutenant, might be to some extent in his confidence, seemed to leave little room for doubt that the Prime Minister had made up his mind to consult the constituencies before again calling Parliament together; but whether before or after the municipal and school board elections in the month of November was still undecided.

Pending this decision an effect unquestionably favourable to the Government and unfavourable to at least an aggressive section of the Opposition was produced by the publication (Aug. 23) as a parliamentary paper of the letters discovered in the archives at Bloemfontein and Pretoria, to which reference had been made in Parliament before the close of the session. This correspondence was of two classes-from eminent Cape Afrikanders to leading Free Staters in the six months preceding the outbreak of the war, and from British members of Parliament, directly or indirectly, to Mr. Kruger during the same period, with, thrown in, a letter from an English M.P. to a lady in Cape Colony relating to the administration of martial law and cognate matters during the war. The most striking letters