friends whom I knew most intimately in the House of Commons, passed
during the Parliament which sat from 1880 till 1885. But I should not
think of giving it to the public if I did not believe that what happened
to our minds happened to many others also, and that the record of our
own slow movement from the position of 1880 to that of 1886 is
substantially a record of the movement of the Liberal party at large. We
were fairly typical members of that party, loyal to our leaders, but
placing the principles for which the Liberal party exists above the
success of the party itself; with our share of prepossessions and
prejudices, yet with reasonably open minds, and (as we believed)
inferior to no other section of the House of Commons in patriotism and
in attachment to the Constitution. I admit frankly that when we entered
Parliament we knew less about the Irish question than we ought to have
known, and that even after knowledge had been forced upon us, we were
more deferential to our leaders than was good either for us or for them.
But these are faults always chargeable on the great majority of members.
It is because those of whom I speak were in these respects fairly
typical, that it seems worth while to trace the history of their
opinions. If any one should accuse me of attributing to an earlier year
sentiments which began to appear in a later one, I can only reply that I
am aware of this danger, as one which always besets those who recall
their past states of mind, and that I have done my utmost to avoid it.

The change I have to describe was slow and gradual. It was
reluctant--that is to say, it seemed rather forced upon us by the
teaching of events than the work of our own minds. Each session marked a
further stage in it; and I therefore propose to examine its progress
session by session.

Session of 1880.--The General Election of 1880 turned mainly on the