Balfour some of the insults he had poured on them so freely during his
six years of power. Meantime, the Liberal temper had been roused to
still more feverish heat by the splendid news from Halifax, followed by
the even more unexpectedly good tidings from Walsall; and there was a
determination to stand no nonsense. But Obstruction was determined to go
on, and when it was two o'clock in the morning Sir William Harcourt
declared that he would not persevere further. There arose a fierce shout
of disappointment from his supporters and from the Irishry; but Sir
William beamed pleasantly, and the majority submitted to the tyranny of
the minority. And thus debating impracticable proposals, barely
listening to long speeches, doing absolutely nothing, the days
succeeded each other; and legislators who wanted work, longed for the
steady and mechanical regularity of their well-ordered offices, their
vast factories, their sanely-conducted communications with all parts of
the world, to which English genius, sense, and industry have brought the
goods of England. The contrast between the Englishman at business and at
politics is exasperating, woeful, tragic.
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