. Life and public services of Hon. Wm. E. Gladstone . tax ought to be abolished, the members of the Houseof Commons were protesting indignantly against this usurpationof their privileges. Like our own House of Eepresentatives, theCommons alone can originate bills relating to revenue ; and thiseffort of the Lords to prevent the abolition of a tax againstwhich the Commons had decided, was looked upon as equivalentto imposing a new tax. Perhaps the Lords would not have ven-tured uponthis course, had the majoritiesintheHouseof Commonsbeen greater; certainly they only hold what power they have onco
. Life and public services of Hon. Wm. E. Gladstone . tax ought to be abolished, the members of the Houseof Commons were protesting indignantly against this usurpationof their privileges. Like our own House of Eepresentatives, theCommons alone can originate bills relating to revenue ; and thiseffort of the Lords to prevent the abolition of a tax againstwhich the Commons had decided, was looked upon as equivalentto imposing a new tax. Perhaps the Lords would not have ven-tured uponthis course, had the majoritiesintheHouseof Commonsbeen greater; certainly they only hold what power they have oncondition of never using it, and their attitude of independence The Palmerston Ministry. 201 upon this occasion was looked upon as subversive of all repres-entative government. Public meetings were held, to protestagainst their usurpation of power, which Mr. Gladstone de-nounced as a gigantic innovation. At these meetings, JohnBright and his immediate adherents were of course the leadingspirits, but there were others who did not always act with them,. Lord Lyndhurst. who were now only too willing to be at their side. It was saidat the time that the Chancellor of the Exchequer showed himselfthe worst Radical of them all; quite out-Heroded Herod inhis assertions of the rights of the people. The Lords kept on in the course which they had marked outfor themseves, quite regardless of the popular agitation. Thedebate finally ended; not without some strange and apparently 202 The Palmerston Ministry. irreconcilable assertions from Lord Derby, the acknowledgedhead of the Conservative party; he would support the abolitionof the tax, if he thought that the revenue could stand it, he saidagain; forgetting that the recognized authority, the Chancellorof the Exchequer, who was in possession of data which otherscould not readily obtain, and who was besides his official advan-tages gifted as few financiers have been, had announced it as hisdeliberate opinion that the revenue could stand it; he
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