whole of that period no single serious
administrative mistake, either at home or abroad, has embarrassed or
discredited the conduct of public affairs. Three Parliamentary
Sessions, fruitful beyond precedent in important legislation, have
been surmounted with dignity and dispatch. The authority and influence
of Great Britain among foreign Powers have been prudently guarded, and
are now appreciably augmented, and that authority and influence have
been consistently employed, and will be in the future employed, in
soothing international rivalries and suspicion, in asserting a proper
respect for public law, in preserving a just and harmonious balance
amongst great Powers, and in forwarding as opportunities have served,
whether in the Near East or in the Congo, causes of a generous and
disinterested humanitarianism.

The British Empire itself has enjoyed under Liberal rule a period of
prosperous tranquillity, favourable both to development and
consolidation; and it is no exaggeration to say that it was never more
strong or more peacefully united than at the present moment. The
confidence which the whole country, irrespective of party, feels in
Sir Edward Grey in the present European crisis, is the measure of our
success in foreign affairs. The gathering of the Convention of a
United South Africa is in itself a vindication of colonial policy.
Each year for which we have been responsible has been marked by some
great and beneficent event which has commanded the acquiescence--or at
least silenced the dissent--of many of our professed opponents. In
1906 the charter of trade unions; in 1907, the conciliation and
settlement of South Africa; in 1908, the establishment of old-age
pensions. These are large matters; they will take their place in the
history book; and on them alone, if necessary, I would confidently
base the claims of his Majesty's Government to respect, if not to
renown, in future times.

But although we do not meet to-night in any atmosphere of crisis, nor
in any expectation of a general election, nevertheless I feel, and I
dare say you feel too, that we have reached a climacteric in the life
of this Parliament. The next six months will probably determine the
whole remaining fortunes of the Government, and decide whether a
gradual but progressive decline will slowly carry the Administration
in the natural course to the grave where so many others are peacefully
slumbering, or whether, deriving fresh vigour from its