Sir Charles also wrote suggesting that Mr. Chamberlain should, in his correspondence with Mr. Gladstone, go into the question of the Whig composition of Liberal Cabinets, and the latter promised 'to say just what you suggest.' Those who occupied the centre position in the Liberal party were bewildered by divided counsels. 'On September 28th I received from Chamberlain a letter enclosing one from Harcourt.... He (Harcourt) dwelt upon the delicacy of Mr. Gladstone's position. "He (Mr. Gladstone) says, if he is not wanted, he will 'cut out,' and he doubts, I think, if either you or Hartington want him. But I hope in this he is mistaken; for he is wanted, and neither section can do without him.... When I spoke at Plymouth I knew nothing of the contents of his address, nor indeed, that it was about to appear so soon, though, oddly enough, it came out the next day. I therefore spoke like a cat in walnut shells, and had, like a man who makes a miss at billiards, to 'play for safety.' I am quite with you on the subject of the acquisition of land by local authorities, and also on free education, which seem to be your two _sine qua nons_. As to what you say about remaining outside a new Liberal Government, forgive me for saying that is all nonsense. If a Liberal Government cannot be formed with you and Dilke, it certainly cannot be formed without you. You have acquired the right and the power to make your own conditions, and I am sure they will be reasonable ones."' Sir William Harcourt omitted to consider the possibility of a Government being formed--as actually happened--while the charges against Sir Charles were still untried. Politically, he made an omission which was less natural; once more there is no reference to the Irish problem and its effect. Yet in Mr. Gladstone's mind it was daily becoming more insistent. 'On September 28th Chamberlain wrote enclosing a letter from Mr. Gladstone, and his reply: '"My Dear Chamberlain, '"I felt well pleased and easy after receiving your note of the 21st, but there is a point I should like to put to you with reference to your self-denying ordinance making the three points conditions of office.