"No class is at war with society or the
government: there is no disaffection anywhere, the Treasury is fairly
full, the accumulations of capital are vast"; and then the writer goes
on to compare Great Britain with Ireland, at that time under the iron
heel of coercion, with Parnell and hundreds of his followers in jail,
whilst outrages and murders, like those of Maamtrasma, were almost
everyday occurrences.
Some of the problems of the early eighties are with us yet. Ireland is
still a bone of contention between political parties: the Channel tunnel
is no nearer completion: and then as now, when other topics are
exhausted, the "Spectator" can fill up its columns with Thought
Transference and Psychical Research.
But other problems which then were vital, are now almost forgotten.
Electric lighting was a doubtful novelty: Mr. Bradlaugh's refusal to
take the oath excited a controversy which now seems incredible. Robert
Louis Stevenson can no longer be adequately described as an
"accomplished writer," and the introduction of female clerks into the
postal service by Mr. Fawcett has ceased to raise alarm lest the
courteous practice of always allowing ladies to be victors in an
argument should perforce be abandoned.
But in September of the same year we find a cloud on the horizon, the
prelude of a coming storm. The Trade Union Congress had just been held
and the leaders of the working classes, with apparently but little
discussion, had passed a resolution asking the Government to institute
an enquiry with a view to relaxing the stringency of Poor Law
administration.
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