. Life and public services of Hon. Wm. E. Gladstone . After such speechesas these, Mr. Gladstone arose, to clinch their denunciations withhis own. As at Blackheath, he was received with deafeningcheers. Repudiating the accusation that these meetings wereheld for the purpose of embarrassing the Government, hecharged Lord Beaconsfield with pursuing a policy which heknew was in direct antagonism to the sentiment of the country;it was not until the Aylesbury speech that Lord Beaconsfield hadgiven any evidence that he thought England had duties towardthe Christian population of Turkey. This acknowl
. Life and public services of Hon. Wm. E. Gladstone . After such speechesas these, Mr. Gladstone arose, to clinch their denunciations withhis own. As at Blackheath, he was received with deafeningcheers. Repudiating the accusation that these meetings wereheld for the purpose of embarrassing the Government, hecharged Lord Beaconsfield with pursuing a policy which heknew was in direct antagonism to the sentiment of the country;it was not until the Aylesbury speech that Lord Beaconsfield hadgiven any evidence that he thought England had duties towardthe Christian population of Turkey. This acknowledgment wasone which the Opposition had tried in vain to draw from theMinistry during the last session; the first declaration of thisknowledge was made by Sir Stafford Horthcote, who had re- In Opposition. 331 marked, during a speech somewhere in the North, Of coursewe are all aware of our duties to the Christian population ofTurkey. Mr. Gladstone said that he was glad they were awareof it, but the recognition of that obligation was not to be found. Lord Shaftesbury. in the proceedings of Parliament or the official correspondencefor the past year. Expressing a hope that Lord Salisburys instructions were notin accordance with Lord Beaconsfields recent speech at Guild-hall, which had so directly influenced the Czar, he trusted thatthe English representative would be permitted to give scope 332 In Opposition. to his own generous instincts, and that the Plenipotentiaries ingeneral would insist upon the future independence of the provin-ces, or at least upon such a form of government as would insurethem freedom from oppression. While the meetings at St. James Hall were not without theireffect, their influence would have been even deeper and wider ifit had not been for the fact that the Conference at Constan-tinople was sitting, and was expected to accomplish all thatcould be hoped. These hopes were, however, doomed to be dis-appointed ; for the Conference found its demands rejected
Size: 1415px × 1766px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectgladstonewewilliamew
