became the cause of the present state of Ireland. If the connection with England prevented a revolution, and a revolution was the only remedy, England logically was in the odious position of being the cause of all the misery in Ireland. What, then, was the duty of an English Minister? To effect by his policy all those changes which a revolution would do by force. That was the Irish question in its integrity.... If the noble lord (Lord John Russell) or any other honourable member came forward with a comprehensive plan, which would certainly settle the question of Ireland, no matter what the sacrifice might be, he would support it, though he might afterwards feel it necessary to retire from Parliament or to place his seat at the disposal of his constituency ('Life of Lord Beaconsfield,' T. P. O'Connor, 6th edition p. 255, &c.). Truer words had not been spoken in Parliament on the subject of Ireland for half a century, nor words more fatal to the immediate ambition of the speaker, if ambition he then entertained beyond a patriotic one; and many a session, and many a century perhaps, would have to pass before a party could be formed in England strong enough to carry on the government on unadulterated principles of patriotism. CHAPTER VIII Young England and the Oxford Tractarians--Disraeli a Hebrew at heart--'Coningsby'--Sidonia--'Sybil; or, the Two Nations'--The great towns under the new creed--Lords of the soil as they were and as they are--Disraeli an aristocratic Socialist--Practical working of Parliamentary institutions--Special importance of 'Sybil.' [Sidenote: YOUNG ENGLAND]