Gladstone, but also, when in the following spring a general election took place, the triumphant return of the Liberal party to power. While the Conservatives had only 243 seats, the Liberals had 349, and the Home Rulers, 60 in number, were quite likely, in all general measures, to ally themselves with their old friends. As Mr. Gladstone had for some years not been at the nominal head of the Liberal party, it was not certain what policy would be pursued. The Marquis of Hartington was the leader in the Lower House, and Earl Granville in the Upper. Either of these might have been called to the head of the ministry by constitutional usage; but the natural primacy of Mr. Gladstone was so universally acknowledged that the Queen decided to hold a consultation with the chiefs of the party. The conference resulted in recommending the Queen to entrust the forming of a cabinet to Mr. Gladstone; and accordingly the great leader entered upon the work of Prime-Minister for a second time in April, 1880. It is a proof of his extraordinary vigor that at the age of seventy-one he should choose to superadd to the duties of First Lord of the Treasury, those of Chancellor of the Exchequer, a position which he continued to hold till, in 1883, the multiplicity of his duties led him to turn it over to Mr. Childers. His second administration will probably be remembered for the disturbances in Ireland, and the consequent Irish Land Act of 1881; the Municipal Corporation Act of 1882; the difficulties in Egypt in 1883 and 1884; and the Extension of Suffrage Act, introduced in the spring of 1884. His career as a whole may be considered as perhaps the most remarkable illustration of a system which, whatever its faults, brings the most eminent men into power, and gives them a wide field in which to exert their continuous influence and power. WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE. ON DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS; DELIVERED AT WEST CALDER, NOVEMBER 27, 1879. The following speech was the third of the series delivered by Mr. Gladstone in the course of his Mid-Lothian canvass, extending from November 24th to December 9th. These assaults on the policy of Lord Beaconsfield had not a little to do with the triumph of the Liberals and the return of Gladstone to power in the following spring. MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN: In addressing you to-day, as in addressing like audiences assembled for a like purpose in other places of the county, I am warmed by the enthusiastic welcome which you have been pleased in every quarter and in every form to accord to me. I am, on the other hand, daunted when I recollect, first of all, what large demands I have to make on your patience; and secondly, how inadequate are my powers, and how inadequate almost any amount of time you can grant me, to set forth worthily the whole of the case which ought to be laid before you in connection with the coming election.