During this session the Conservative party met at the residence of the
Marquis of Salisbury, and decided upon strongly opposing the measure
proposed by the Liberal government. Mr. Bright characterized it as "a
dirty conspiracy." On the other hand, the country supported the bill,
and great meetings were held in its interest. Mr. Gladstone spoke at a
great meeting at Liverpool. He said: "Having produced this measure,
founded in a spirit of moderation, we hope to support it with
decision.... We have passed the Rubicon, we have broken the bridge and
burned the boats behind us. We have advisedly cut off the means of
retreat, and having done this, we hope that, as far as time is yet
permitted, we have done our duty to the Crown and to the nation." This
was regarded as the bugle-call to the Liberal party for the
coming battle.

The debate began April 12th, and continued for eight nights. "On no
occasion since, and seldom before, has such a flow of eloquence been
heard within the walls of the House of Commons." Mr. Disraeli spoke for
three hours against the bill, and in his speech accused Mr. Gladstone of
introducing American ideas of Government, and of having once assailed
the very principles he now advocated, when in the Oxford Union he spoke
against the Reform Bill of 1832. Mr. Gladstone's reply was one of the
most noteworthy parts of this famous debate. He rose at one o'clock in
the morning to conclude a legislative battle which had begun two weeks
before. "At last," Mr. Gladstone said, "we have obtained a declaration
from an authoritative source that a bill which, in a country with five
millions of adult males, proposes to add to a limited constituency
200,000 of the middle class and 200,000 of the working class, is, in the
judgment of the leader of the Tory party, a bill to reconstruct the
constitution upon American principles.