The oddity of the scene was, however, its ending. The
hurri- cane of the afternoon fell as suddenly as it rose. Lord Ran- dolph Churchill apologised to Mr. Gladstone with effusion "for having given the Prime Minister occasion to impute to him the use of foul language." Mr. Sclater-Booth—one of the moderate Conservative officials,—expressed regret that the proposal of the Government had not been accepted. Mr. Whitbread insisted on the importance of keeping the proposal still open, which Mr. Gladstone declared that he was quite willing to do, and Lord Randolph Churchill,—whose prospects at Birmingham depend wholly on the settlement of the franchise question,—pressed eagerly on his own leaders the desirability of accepting the terms offered. Thus the debate, which came in like a lion, went out like a lamb.
