Bill, the Government threw overboard every section of it except the purchase clauses. The Lords, desiring to defeat what was left of the original Bill, declared they would not accept the purchase clauses until the whole scheme of army reform was before them. A sigh of relief escaped from military men; the system endeared to them by custom and association had been saved by the action of the Upper House. But they had to learn how resolute and adroit was he with whom they had to reckon. Mr. Gladstone had a theatrical surprise in store for everyone. He gave the go-by to Parliament by announcing that, whereas army purchase had been created by Royal warrant, it could be rendered illegal by the same means; and, therefore, he had advised the Queen to cancel the old warrant and issue a new one. It was a complete victory over the House of Lords; they were forced to pass the Bill so obnoxious to them, otherwise the officers of the army would have been deprived of the compensation provided for the sums they had paid for their commissions. But the victory was very damaging to Mr. Gladstone's Government. [Illustration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Thiele, Chancery Lane._ CRICKET IN THE LATER YEARS OF THE REIGN. England _v._ Australia at Lords, June 22, 23, 24, 1896. Dr. Grace is at the further wicket.] [Illustration: _G. Du Maurier._} {_From "Punch."_ FASHIONS IN 1870. He: "Shall we--a--sit down?" She: "I should like to, but my dressmaker says I mustn't."] [Sidenote: The Ballot Bill.] Most educated people were tired, and perhaps ashamed, of the uproar and scandal inseparable from the old system of elections, and the Government brought in a Bill to abolish the hustings and make the proceedings more orderly, against which few voices would have been raised, had it not contained provisions for voting by Ballot. The idea of secret voting was repugnant to the national sense of what is fair and above-board; but the Bill eventually got through the House of Commons, though shorn, at the instance of Mr. Vernon Harcourt and Mr. James (now Lord James of Hereford), of the provisions for throwing the expenses of elections on the rates. The measure was rejected by the House of Lords, but the Government succeeded in passing it during the session of 1872. The result upon the balance of parties in the House of Commons has been singularly small, and certainly the Conservatives, who had most reason to dread the effect of secret voting on the fortunes of their party, have had no reason to complain of the result. [Illustration: _Sydney P. Hall._} {_From the Royal Collection._ MARRIAGE OF HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCESS LOUISE TO THE MARQUIS OF LORNE, K.T., AT ST. GEORGE'S CHAPEL, WINDSOR, March 21, 1871.