Balfour and the dismissal of the whole
subject.
[Sidenote: Another scene.]
And now we were once more in the thick of a fierce and passionate
encounter. Mr. Arnold Forster had an amendment, the effect of which was
to remove the exercise of the prerogative of mercy from the hands of the
Irish members to those of the English Secretary of State. Into this
innocent amendment he sought to drag discussion of the doings of the
Land League twelve years ago, and concentrated on Mr. Sexton a violent
attack. He was not allowed to proceed to the end of his chapter. The
charge was heinous, vile, and such as has rarely been introduced in the
House in such a fashion, and soon the temper rose to a fever heat. Mr.
Sexton is a dangerous man to tackle in this guise.
In justifiable rage, quivering with wrath, he yet managed to preserve
that cold and even tenour of language so perfect to his heart and his
words. Again and again the Tory and Unionist party cheer for Mr.
Balfour, Mr. Courtney, and Mr. Chamberlain, but Mr. Sexton is not a man
to suffer such a statement to go unchallenged, and he succeeded in
grasping the whole thing and stamped the charge with the terms, base
and infamous.
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