Lord Salisbury replied by a speech of which, in our
opinion, candour was not the prominent characteristic. He denied that the Conservatives had changed their principles at all since they became a Government. The abandonment of any renewal of the Crimes Act, was, said Lord Salisbury, a natural consequence of the extension of the suffrage in Ireland. How could you extend the suffrage with one hand, and apply special repressive powers with the other, especially without evidence of special crime? Lord Carnarvon, he said, must be judged by his actions, not merely by his words. And Lord Salisbury in- timated his belief that Lord Carnarvon's acts would show as much respect for the preservation of authority and order in Ireland, as they might have been expected to do without the words which have raised so many Parnellite hopes. Very well, suppose that to be granted ; then why did Lord Salisbury permit his colleagues in the House of Commons to excite so many Par- nellite hopes ? If Lord Carnarvon is going to blast them as soon as they are excited, he had better never have allowed them to be raised. And if he is not going to blast them, he will certainly be compelled to paralyse law and justice in Ire- land. The troth is that the Government are being judged by their deeds when they are judged by their verbal concessions to the Parnellites. Those verbal concessions are deeds, and deeds of great moment.
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