After this, there seemed no more to be
said; but the battle was not yet over. The Tories had been charged both
by the _Daily News_ and by a speech in the House with want of courtesy
to Mr. Gladstone. Nobody knew better than Mr. Balfour how much ground
there was for such a charge; for often in the course of the present
Session--with a dark frown on his face, with an almost violent
gesture--he has called on his unruly followers behind him to conduct
themselves. The effect of what had taken place was to extort from Mr.
Balfour a tribute to the universal respect in which the Prime Minister
was held--a tribute which the splendid Old Man acknowledged by a low
bow; and, in short, the Tories had to bind themselves over to keep the
peace by their professions of a chivalrous desire to respect the person
and the feelings of the great Prime Minister. And thus it was that it
ended for the moment in a drawn battle--Mr. Chamberlain having to
withdraw his motion, and I my amendment.
[Sidenote: Slow progress.]
But in the meantime the progress with the Bill was terribly slow. We
were now on the second week with the third clause. Amendments were
disposed of one night only to find that the next day the number of
amendments, instead of being diminished, had been increased.
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