and January 28, 1880, the Salisbury ministry retired.
Gladstone returned to power and Home Rule took its place in the formal
programme of the Liberal party. Then followed, April 8, 1886, the
introduction of the first of Gladstone's memorable Home Rule bills.
The measure accorded the Irish a separate parliament at Dublin, cut
them off from representation at Westminster, and required them to bear
a proportionate share of the expenses of the Imperial Government. It
was thrown out by the Commons on the second reading. The Conservatives
opposed it solidly, many of the Irish Nationalists were dissatisfied
with it, and upwards of a hundred Liberal members, led by Joseph
Chamberlain, flatly refused to follow the majority of their
fellow-partisans in voting for it. Under the name of Liberal Unionists
these dissenters eventually broke entirely from their earlier
affiliation; and, inclining more and more toward the position occupied
by the Conservatives, they ended by losing their identity in the ranks
of that party. Their accession, however, brought the Conservatives
new vigor, new issues, and even a new name, for in more recent (p. 152)
days the term Conservative has been supplanted very generally by that
of Unionist.

*160. Second Salisbury and Fourth Gladstone Ministries.*--The defeat of
Home Rule was followed by a national election, the result of which was
the return of 316 Conservatives, 78 Liberal Unionists, 191 Gladstonian
Liberals, and 85 Irish Nationalists. The combined unionists had a
majority of 118, and July 26, 1886, the short-lived third Gladstone
government was succeeded by a second ministry presided over by the
Marquis of Salisbury. Home Rule, however, was not dead. During the
years of the Salisbury ministry (1886-1892) the authorities were
obliged to devote much attention to Irish affairs, and in 1892 the
Liberals were returned to office on a platform which stipulated
expressly Home Rule for Ireland.[216] The Conservative appeal to the
country at this time was made on the ground, first, that Home Rule
should be resisted, and, second, that the Government's achievements in
reform and constructive legislation entitled the party to continuance
in power; but in the new parliament there was an adverse majority of
forty, and August 18 Gladstone, for the fourth time, was requested to
form a ministry.[217] The elections of 1892 are of interest by reason
of the fact that they marked the first appearance of independent