British rule, Lord Beaconsfield’s agents supplied Parliament with no information on the subject, save that which indicated that the Boers would welcome absorption in the British Empire as the surest means of deliverance from native difficulties. The Greek difficulty obviously was an evil inheritance from the Treaty of Berlin by which Lord Beaconsfield conferred on England “Peace with Honour.” But the domestic crisis in Ireland was far too serious to permit men to indulge in party recriminations, and Lord Beaconsfield showed his sense in urging his followers not to do anything to weaken the Government. Unfortunately, neither he nor Sir Stafford Northcote had much control over the aggressive Tories who were led by the Fourth Party, and the Fourth Party, when the Session opened, cemented more strongly than ever their alliance with the Parnellites for purposes of obstructive opposition. The Tory Party were ably led on two distinct lines of attack. One wing did what it could to goad the Ministry into scourging Ireland with coercive legislation. Another wing gave the Irish members all the help it dared give them publicly in obstructing the domestic legislation, and embarrassing the Foreign Policy of the Ministry. Coercion Bills were announced on the first day of the Session, and the consequence was that it was not till after eleven days’ wearisome wrangling that the debate on the Address ended on the 20th of January. On the 24th, Mr. Forster introduced his Protection of Persons and Property (Ireland) Bill, giving the Lord-Lieutenant power to arrest by warrant persons _suspected_ of treasonable intentions, intimidation, and incitement to violate the laws. If he had this power, said Mr. Forster, he could put under lock and key the “village ruffians” and outrage-mongers who attacked people that were obnoxious to the Land League, and then Ireland would be at peace.