MR. SHAW-LEFEVRE'S DEFEAT.
l're THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR." j SIR,—Permit me to say that Mr. Shaw-Lefevre's failure at Reading is not to be set down to Liberal disapproval of con- cessions to Ireland. The causes which placed so honoured a name second to that of a local nobody deserve a moment's con- sideration, and are briefly these,—Mr. Chamberlain's supposed designs on Church property, and the foreign policy of the late Government.
There were minor causes, such as over-confidence, the apathy of the well-fed, and the defection of seventy Irish, which affected the issue; bat Mr. Shaw-Lefevre went down before the feverish exertions of clerical and lady canvassers, who stuck at nothing, speaking and acting as if Disendowment had passed its second reading. Our Liberal Churchmen abstained or ratted, and we found ourselves in a minority. Our majority was buried at Kharteum.—I am, Sir, &c.,
Previous page
