o shy to place themselves immediately
opposite. Seats beneath the gangway were, of course, open to such of
them as were members of the Lower House, and those seats had to be
used; but they were not accustomed to sit beneath the gangway. These
gentlemen had expected that the seeds of weakness, of which they had
perceived the scattering, would grow at once into an enormous crop of
blunders, difficulties, and complications; but, for a while, the
Ministry were saved from these dangers either by the energy of the
Prime Minister, or the popularity of his wife, or perhaps by the
sagacity of the elder Duke;--so that there grew up an idea that the
Coalition was really the proper thing. In one respect it certainly
was successful. The Home Rulers, or Irish party generally, were left
without an inch of standing ground. Their support was not needed, and
therefore they were not courted. For the moment there was not even
a necessity to pretend that Home Rule was anything but an absurdity
from beginning to end;--so much so that one or two leading Home
Rulers, men who had taken up the cause not only that they might
become Members of Parliament, but with some further ideas of
speech-making and popularity, declared that the Coalition had been
formed merely with a view of putting down Ireland. This capability of
dispensing with a generally untractable element of support was felt
to be a great comfort. Then, too, there was a set in the House,--at
the moment not a very numerous set,--who had been troublesome friends
to the old Liberal party, and which the Coalition was able, if not to
ignore, at any rate to disregard. These were the staunch economists,
and argumentative philosophical Radicals,--men of standing and
repute, who are always in doubtful times individually flattered by
Ministers, who have great privileges accorded to them of speaking and
dividing, and who are not unfrequently even thanked for their rods by
the very owners of the backs which bear the scourges. These men could
not be quite set aside by the Coalition as were the Home Rulers. It
was not even yet, perhaps, wise to count them out, or to leave them
to talk to benches absolutely empty;--but the tone of flattery with
which they had been addressed became gradually less warm; and when
the scourges were wielded, ministerial backs took themselves out of
the way. There grew up unconsciously a feeling of security against
attack which was distasteful to these gentlemen, and was in