Ministers were in an unenviable position. The increasing bitterness of parties had brought about a disregard of those unwritten laws which had contributed so much in the past to the amenity of public life and to earning for the House of Commons the character of being "the best club in London." There were bitter dissensions among Ministers themselves, of which Lord Ripon and Mr. Childers gave evidence by leaving the Cabinet. In four years the Conservatives had gained fifteen seats in by-elections, against which Ministerialists could only set two captured from the enemy. Still, the Government could reckon on a majority of ninety in the House of Commons, and no one dreamt of their appealing to the country while all the omens remained adverse. Nevertheless, Mr. Gladstone startled everybody by issuing a manifesto, in January 1874, announcing the dissolution of Parliament. Never did a politician play more completely into his opponent's hands, though the Conservatives went to the polls full of misgiving about the effect of the new-fangled Ballot. The result proved that their fears were unfounded. The followers of Mr. Disraeli in the new Parliament outnumbered those of Mr. Gladstone by half a hundred. [Illustration: _N. Chevalier._} {_From the Royal Collection._ THE PROCESSION ON THE OCCASION OF THE THANKSGIVING SERVICE AT ST. PAUL'S FOR THE RECOVERY OF H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES PASSING LUDGATE CIRCUS, February 1872. His Royal Highness had been seized with typhoid fever in November 1871, and for several days in the early part of December his life was despaired of. Her Majesty and the other members of the Royal Family were twice summoned to Sandringham, where he was being nursed by the Princess of Wales and Princess Alice of Hesse.] [Sidenote: The Ashanti War.]