marriage settlement, devise, or promotion to a benefice or
office. ... Persons seised of an estate for life or lives
or of any larger estate in lands or tenements of any tenure
whatever of the yearly value of £5 or upwards: This
qualification is not confined to the ownership of freehold
lands. Under the words 'of any tenure whatever' (30 & 31
Vict., c. 102, s. 5) copyholders have county votes if their
property is of the annual value of £5. ... The electoral
qualifications in Scotland are defined by the 2 & 3 Will.
IV., c. 65, the 31 & 32 Vict., c. 48, and the
Representation of the People Act, 1884 (48 Vict., c. 3).
The effect of the three Acts taken together is that the
County franchises are as follows:
1. Owners of Land, &c., of the annual value of £5, after
deducting feu duty, ground annual, or other considerations
which an owner may be bound to pay or to give an account
for as a condition of his right.
2. Leaseholders under a lease of not less than 57 years or
for the life of the tenant of the clear yearly value of
£10, or for a period of not less than 19 years when the
clear yearly value is not less than £50, or the tenant is
in actual personal occupancy of the land.
3. Occupiers of land, &c., of the clear yearly value of £10.
4. Householders.
5. Lodgers.
6. The service franchise.
Borough franchises.
1. Occupiers of land or tenements of the annual value of £10.
2. Householders.
3. Lodgers.
4. The service franchise.
{978}
The qualification for these franchises is in all material
respects the same as for the corresponding franchises in
the Scotch counties, and in the counties and boroughs of
England and Wales. ... The Acts relating to the franchise
in Ireland are 2 & 3 Will. IV., c. 88, 13 & 14 Vict., c.
69, the representation of the People (Ireland) Act, 1868,
and the Representation of the People Act, 1884. Read
together they give the following qualifications:
County franchises.
1. Owners of freeholds of inheritance or of freeholds for
lives renewable for ever rated to the poor at the annual
value of £5.
2. Freeholders and copyholders of a clear annual value of
£10.
3. Leaseholders of various terms and value.
4. Occupiers of land or a tenement of the clear annual
value of £10.
5. Householders.
6. The lodger franchise.
7. The service franchise.
Borough franchises.
1. Occupiers of lands and tenements of the annual value of
£10.
2. Householders. ...
3. Lodgers.
4. The service franchise.
5. Freemen in certain boroughs. ...
All the franchises we have described ... are subject to this
condition, that no one, however qualified, can be registered
or vote in respect of them if he is subjected to any legal
incapacity to become or act as elector. ... No alien unless
certificated or naturalised, no minor, no lunatic or idiot,
nor any person in such a state of drunkenness as to be
incapable--is entitled to vote. Police magistrates in London
and Dublin, and police officers throughout the country,
including the members of the Royal Irish Constabulary, are
disqualified from voting either generally or for
constituencies within which their duties lie. In the case of
the police the disqualification continues for six months after
an officer has left the force. ... Persons are disqualified
who are convicted of treason or treason-felony, for which the
sentence is death or penal servitude, or any term of
imprisonment with hard labour or exceeding twelve months,
until they have suffered their punishment (or such as may be
substituted by competent authority), or until they receive a
free pardon. Peers are disqualified from voting at the
election of any member to serve in Parliament. A returning
officer may not vote at any election for which he acts, unless
the numbers are equal, when he may give a casting vote. No
person is entitled to be registered in any year as a voter for
any county or borough who has within twelve calendar months
next previous to the last day of July in such year received
parochial relief or other alms which by the law of Parliament
disqualify from voting. Persons employed at an election for
reward or payment are disqualified from voting thereat
although they may be on the register. ... The Corrupt and
Illegal Practices Prevention Act, 1883 (46 & 47 Vict., c. 51),
disqualifies a variety of offenders [see above, A. D. 1883]
against its provisions from being registered or voting."
_W. A. Holdsworth,
The New Reform Act,
pages 20-36._
ENGLAND: A. D. 1881-1885.
Campaign in the Soudan for the relief of General Gordon.
See EGYPT: A. D. 1884-1885.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1885.
The fall of the Gladstone government.
The brief first Ministry of Lord Salisbury.
"Almost simultaneously with the assembling of Parliament
[February 19, 1885] had come the news of the fall of Khartoum
and the death of General Gordon [see EGYPT: A. D. 1884-1885].
These terrible events sent a thrill of horror and indignation
throughout the country, and the Government was severely
condemned in many quarters for its procrastination. Mr.
Gladstone, who was strongly moved by Gordon's death, rose to
the situation, and announced that it was necessary to
overthrow the Mahdi at Khartoum, to renew operations against
Osman Digma, and to construct a railway from Suakim to Berber
with a view to a campaign in the autumn. A royal proclamation
was issued calling out the reserves. Sir Stafford Northcote
initiated a debate on the Soudan question with a motion
affirming that the risks and sacrifices which the Government
appeared to be ready to encounter could only be justified by a
distinct recognition of our responsibility for Egypt, and
those portions of the Soudan which are necessary to its
security. Mr. John Morley introduced an amendment to the
motion, waiving any judgment on the policy of the Minister,
but expressing regret at its decision to continue the conflict
with the Mahdl. Mr. Gladstone skilfully dealt with both motion
and amendment. Observing that it was impossible to give rigid
pledges as to the future, he appealed to the Liberal party, if
they had not made up their minds to condemn and punish the
Government, to strengthen their hands by an unmistakable vote
of confidence. The Government obtained a majority of 14, the
votes being 302 in their favour with 288 against; but many of
those who supported the Government had also voted for the
amendment by Mr. Morley. ... Financial questions were
extremely embarrassing to the Government, and it was not until
the 30th of April that the Chancellor of the Exchequer was
ready with his financial statement. He was called upon to deal
with a deficit of upwards of a million, with a greatly
depressed revenue, and with an estimated expenditure for the
current year--including the vote of credit--of no less than
£100,000,000. Amongst Mr. Childers's proposals was one to levy
upon land an amount of taxation proportioned to that levied on
personal property. There was also an augmentation of the
spirit duties and of the beer duty. The country members were
dissatisfied and demanded that no new charges should be thrown
on the land till the promised relief of local taxation had
been carried out. The agricultural and the liquor interests
were discontented, as well as the Scotch and Irish members
with the whiskey duty. The Chancellor made some concessions,
but they were not regarded as sufficient, and on the Monday
after the Whitsun holidays, the Opposition joined battle on a
motion by Sir M. Hicks Beach. ... Mr. Gladstone stated at the
close of the debate that the Government would resign if
defeated. The amendment was carried against them by 264 to
252, and the Ministry went out. ... Lord Salisbury became
Premier. ... The general election ... [was] fixed for November
1885."
_G. B. Smith,
The Prime Ministers of Queen Victoria,
pages 373-377._
ENGLAND: A. D. 1885-1886.
The partition of East Africa with Germany.
See AFRICA: A. D. 1884-1889.
{979}
ENGLAND: A. D. 1885-1886.
Mr. Gladstone's return to power.
His Home Rule Bill for Ireland and his Irish Land Bill.
Their defeat.
Division of the Liberal Party.
Lord Salisbury's Ministry.
"The House of Commons which had been elected in November and
December, 1885, was the first House of Commons which
represented the whole body of the householders and lodgers of
the United Kingdom. The result of the appeal to new
constituencies and an enlarged electorate had taken all
parties by surprise. The Tories found themselves, by the help
of their Irish allies, successful in the towns beyond all
their hopes; the Liberals, disappointed in the boroughs, had
found compensation in unexpected successes in the counties;
and the Irish Nationalists had almost swept the board. ... The
English representation--exclusive of one Irish Nationalist for
Liverpool--gave a liberal majority of 28 in the English
constituencies; which Wales and Scotland swelled to 106. The
Irish representation had undergone a still more remarkable
change. Of 103 members for the sister island, 85 were Home
Rulers and only 18 were Tories. ... The new House of Commons
was exactly divided between the Liberals on one side and the
Tories with their Irish allies on the other. Of its 670
members just one-half, or 335, were Liberals, 249 were Tories,
and 86 were Irish Nationalists [or Home Rulers]. ... It was
soon clear enough that the alliance between the Tory Ministers
and the Irish Nationalists was at an end." On the 25th of
January 1886, the Government was defeated on an amendment to
the address, and on the 28th it resigned. Mr. Gladstone was
invited to form a Ministry and did so with Lord Herschell for
Lord Chancellor, Sir William Harcourt for Chancellor of the
Exchequer, Mr. Childers for Home Secretary, Lord Granville for
Secretary for the Colonies, Mr. John Morley for Chief
Secretary for Ireland, and Mr. Chamberlain for President of
the Local Government Board. On the 29th of March "Mr.
Gladstone announced in the House of Commons that on the 8th of
April he would ask for leave to bring in a bill 'to amend the
provision for the future government of Ireland'; and that on
the 15th he would ask leave to bring in a measure 'to make
amended provision for the sale and purchase of land in
Ireland.'" The same day Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. Trevelyan
(Secretary for Ireland) resigned their seats in the Cabinet,
and it was generally understood that differences of opinion on
the Irish bills had arisen. On the 8th of April the House of
Commons was densely crowded when Mr. Gladstone introduced his
measure for giving Home Rule to Ireland. In a speech which
lasted three hours and a half he set forth the details of his
plan and the reasons on which they were based. The essential
conditions observed in the framing of the measure, as he
defined them, were these: "The unity of the Empire must not be
placed in jeopardy; the minority must be protected; the
political equality of the three countries must be maintained,
and there must be an equitable distribution of Imperial
burdens. He then discussed some proposals which had been made
for the special treatment of Ulster--its exclusion from the
bill, its separate autonomy or the reservation of certain
matters, such as education, for Provincial Councils; all of
which he rejected. The establishment of an Irish legislature
involved the removal of Irish peers from the House of Lords
and the Irish representatives from the House of Commons. But
if Ireland was not represented at Westminster, how was it to
be taxed? The English people would never force on Ireland
taxation without representation. The taxing power would be in
the hands of the Irish legislature, but Customs and Excise
duties connected with Customs would be solely in the control
of the Imperial Parliament, Ireland's share in these being
reserved for Ireland's use. Ireland must have security against
her Magna Charta being tampered with; the provision of the Act
would therefore only be capable of modification with the
concurrence of the Irish legislature, or after the recall of
the Irish members to the two Houses of Parliament. The Irish
legislature would have all the powers which were not specially
reserved from it in the Act. It was to consist of two orders,
though not two Houses. It would be subject to all the
prerogatives of the Crown; it would have nothing to do with
Army or Navy, or with Foreign or Colonial relations; nor could
it modify the Act on which its own authority was based.
Contracts, charters, questions of education, religious
endowments and establishments, would be beyond its authority.
Trade and navigation, coinage, currency, weights and measures,
copyright, census, quarantine laws, and some other matters,
were not to be within the powers of the Irish Parliament. The
composition of the legislature was to be first, the 103
members now representing Ireland with 101, elected by the same
constituencies, with the exception of the University, with
power to the Irish legislature to give two members to the
Royal University if it chose; then the present Irish members
of the House of Lords, with 75 elected by the Irish people
under a property qualification. The Viceroyalty was to be
left, but the Viceroy was not to quit office with an outgoing
government, and no religious disability was to affect his
appointment. He would have a Privy Council, and the executive
would remain as at present, but might be changed by the action
of the legislative body. The present judges would preserve their
lien on the Consolidated Fund of Great Britain, and the Queen
would be empowered to antedate their pensions if it was seen
to be desirable. Future judges, with the exception of two in
the Court of Exchequer, would be appointed by the Irish
government, and, like English judges, would hold their office
during good behaviour. The Constabulary would remain under its
present administration, Great Britain paying all charges over
a million. Eventually, however, the whole police of Ireland
would be under the Irish government. The civil servants would
have two years' grace, with a choice of retirement on pension
before passing under the Irish executive. Of the financial
arrangements Mr. Gladstone spoke in careful and minute detail.
He fixed the proportion of Imperial charges Ireland should pay at
one-fifteenth, or in other words she would pay one part and
Great Britain fourteen parts. More than a million of duty is
paid on spirits in Ireland which come to Great Britain, and
this would be practically a contribution towards the Irish
revenue. So with Irish porter and with the tobacco
manufactured in Ireland and sold here. Altogether the British
taxpayers would contribute in this way £1,400,000 a year to
the Irish Exchequer; reducing the actual payment of Ireland
itself for Imperial affairs to one-twenty-sixth." On the 16th
of April Mr. Gladstone introduced his Irish Land Bill,
connecting it with the Home Rule Bill as forming part of one
great measure for the pacification of Ireland. In the meantime
the opposition to his policy within the ranks of the Liberal
party had been rapidly taking form. It Mr. Trevelyan, Sir
Henry James, Sir John Lubbock, Mr. Goschen, and Mr. Courtney.
It soon received the support of Mr. John Bright. The debate in
the House, which lasted until the 3rd of June, was passionate
and bitter.
{980}
It ended in the defeat of the Government by a majority of 30
against the bill. The division was the largest which had ever
been taken in the House of Commons, 657 members being present.
The majority was made up of 249 Conservatives and 94 Liberals.
The minority consisted of 228 Liberals and 85 Nationalists.
Mr. Gladstone appealed to the country by a dissolution of
Parliament. The elections were adverse to him, resulting in
the return to Parliament of members representing the several
parties and sections of parties as follows:
Home Rule Liberals, or Gladstonians, 194,
Irish Nationalists 85
total 279;
seceding Liberals 75,
Conservatives 316
total 391.
Mr. Gladstone and his colleagues resigned and a new Ministry
was formed under Lord Salisbury. The Liberals, in alliance
with the Conservatives and giving their support to Lord
Salisbury's Government, became organized as a distinct party
under the leadership of Lord Hartington, and took the name of
Liberal Unionists.
_P. W. Clayden,
England under the Coalition,
chapters 1-6._
ALSO IN:
_H. D. Traill,
The Marquis of Salisbury,
chapter 12._
Annual Register, 1885, 1886.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1885-1888.
Termination of the Fishery Articles of the Treaty of
Washington.
Renewed controversies with the United States.
The rejected Treaty.
See FISHERIES, NORTH AMERICAN: A. D. 1877-1888.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1886.
Defeat of Mr. Parnell's Tenants' Relief Bill.
The plan of campaign in Ireland.
See IRELAND: A. D. 1886.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1886-1893.
The Bering Sea Controversy and Arbitration.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1886-1893.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1890.
Settlement of African questions with Germany.
Cession of Heligoland.
See AFRICA: A. D. 1884-1889.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1891.
The Free Education Bill.
See EDUCATION, MODERN: EUROPEAN COUNTRIES.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1891.
ENGLAND: A. D. 1892-1893.
The fourth Gladstone Ministry.
Passage of the Irish Home Rule Bill by the House of Commons.
Its defeat by the Lords.
On the 28th of June, 1892, Parliament was dissolved, having
been in existence since 1886, and a new Parliament was
summoned to meet on the 4th of August. Great excitement
prevailed in the ensuing elections, which turned almost
entirely on the question of Home Rule for Ireland. The Liberal
or Gladstonian party, favoring Home Rule, won a majority of 42
in the House of Commons; but in the representation of England
alone there was a majority of 70 returned against it. In
Ireland, the representation returned was 103 for Home Rule,
and 23 against; in Scotland, 51 for and 21 against; in Wales,
28 for and 2 against. Conservatives and Liberal Unionists
(opposing Home Rule) lost little ground in the boroughs, as
compared with the previous Parliament, but largely in the
counties. As the result of the election, Lord Salisbury and
his Ministry resigned August 12, and Mr. Gladstone was
summoned to form a Government. In the new Cabinet, which was
announced four days later, Earl Rosebery became Foreign
Secretary; Baron Herschell, Lord Chancellor; Sir William
Vernon Harcourt, Chancellor of the Exchequer; Mr. Herbert H.
Asquith, Home Secretary; and Mr. John Morley, Chief Secretary
for Ireland. Although the new Parliament assembled in August,
1892, it was not until the 13th of February following that Mr.
Gladstone introduced his bill to establish Home Rule in
Ireland. The bill was under debate in the House of Commons
until the night of September 1, 1893, when it passed that body
by a vote of 301 to 267. "The bill provides for a Legislature
for Ireland, consisting of the Queen and of two Houses--the
Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly. This
Legislature, with certain restrictions, is authorized to make
laws for the peace, order, and good government of Ireland in
respect of matters exclusively relating to Ireland or some
part thereof. The bill says that the powers of the Irish
Legislature shall not extend to the making of any law
respecting the establishment or endowment of religion or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or imposing any
disability or conferring any privilege on account of religious
belief, or whereby any person may be deprived of life,
liberty, or property without due process of law, or whereby
private property may be taken without just compensation.
According to the bill the executive power in Ireland shall
continue vested in her Majesty the Queen, and the Lord
Lieutenant, on behalf of her Majesty, shall exercise any
prerogatives or other executive power of the Queen the
exercise of which may be delegated to him by her Majesty, and
shall in the Queen's name summon, prorogue, and dissolve the
Legislature. An Executive Committee of the Privy Council of
Ireland is provided for, which 'shall aid and advise in the
government of Ireland.' The Lord Lieutenant, with the advice
and consent of the Executive Council, is authorized to give or
withhold the assent of her Majesty to bills passed by the houses
of the Legislature. The Legislative Council by the terms of
the bill shall consist of forty-eight Councilors. Every man
shall be entitled to vote for a Councilor who owns or occupies
any land or tenement of a ratable value of £20. The term of
office of the Councilors is to be for eight years, which is
not to be affected by dissolution, but one-half of the
Councilors shall retire in every fourth year and their seats
be filled by a new election. The Legislative Assembly is to
consist of 103 members returned by the Parliamentary
constituencies existing at present in Ireland. This Assembly,
unless sooner dissolved, may exist for five years. The bill
also provides for 80 Irish members in the House of Commons. In
regard to finance, the bill provides that for the purposes of
this act the public revenue shall be divided into general
revenue and special revenue, and general revenue shall consist
of the gross revenue collected in Ireland from taxes; the portion
due to Ireland of the hereditary revenues of the crown which
are managed by the Commissioners of Woods, an annual sum for
the customs and excise duties collected in Great Britain on
articles consumed in Ireland, provided that an annual sum of
the customs and excise duties collected in Ireland on articles
consumed in Great Britain shall be deducted from the revenue
collected in Ireland and treated as revenue collected in Great
Britain; these annual sums to be determined by a committee
appointed jointly by the Irish Government and the Imperial
Treasury. It is also provided that one-third of the general
revenue of Ireland and also that portion of any imperial
miscellaneous revenue to which Ireland may claim to be
entitled shall be paid into the Treasury of the United Kingdom
as the contribution of Ireland to imperial liabilities and
expenditures; this plan to continue for a term of six years,
at the end of which time a new scheme of tax division shall be
devised.
{981}
The Legislature, in order to meet expenses of the public
service, is authorized to impose taxes other than those now
existing in Ireland. Ireland should also have charged up
against her and be compelled to pay out of her own Treasury
all salaries and pensions of Judges and liabilities of all
kinds which Great Britain has assumed for her benefit. The
bill further provides that appeal from courts in Ireland to
the House of Lords shall cease and that all persons having the
right of appeal shall have a like right to appeal to the Queen in
council. The term of office of the Lord Lieutenant is fixed at
six years. Ultimately the Royal Irish Constabulary shall cease
to exist and no force other than the ordinary civil police
shall be permitted to be formed. The Irish Legislature shall
be summoned to meet on the first Tuesday in September, 1894,
and the first election for members shall be held at such time
before that day as may be fixed by her Majesty in council." In
the House of Lords, the bill was defeated on the 8th of
September--the second reading postponed to a day six months
from that date--by the overwhelming vote of 419 to 41.
----------ENGLAND: End----------
ENGLE.--ENGLISH.
See ANGLES AND JUTES;
also, ENGLAND: A. D. 547-633.
ENGLISH PALE, The.
See PALE, THE ENGLISH.
ENGLISH SWEAT, The.
See SWEATING SICKNESS.
ENGLISHRY.
To check the assassination of his tyrannical Norman followers
by the exasperated English, William the Conqueror ordained
that the whole Hundred within which one was slain should pay a
heavy penalty. "In connexion with this enactment there grew up
the famous law of 'Englishry,' by which every murdered man was
presumed to be a Norman, unless proofs of 'Englishry' were
made by the four nearest relatives of the deceased.
'Presentments of Englishry,' as they were technically termed,
are recorded in the reign of Richard I., but not later."
_T. P. Taswell-Langmead,
English Constitutional History.
page 68._
ENNISKILLEN, The defence of.
See IRELAND: A. D. 1688-1689.
ENÔMOTY, The.
In the Spartan military organization the enômoty "was a small
company of men, the number of whom was variable, being given
differently at 25, 32, or 36 men,--drilled and practised
together in military evolutions, and bound to each other by a
common oath. Each Enômoty had a separate captain or
enomotarch, the strongest and ablest soldier of the company."
_G. Grote,
History of Greece,
part 2, chapter 8._
ENRIQUE.
See HENRY.
ENSISHEIM, Battle of (1674).
See NETHERLANDS (HOLLAND): A. D. 1674-1678.
EORL AND CEORL.