Its first half had been singularly barren of liberal achievement. Ireland, Bradlaugh, and the perpetually festering split between Whigs and radicals had combined to put an almost complete stop to controversial domestic legislation. Had the Government resigned at the beginning of 1883 it would have been remembered for the occupation of Egypt and for little else—an ironic achievement for a Prime Minister who had swept to office on an anti-Beaconsfield platform. The prospect for the future was a little more encouraging. In the autumn of 1882 important amendments to the rules of the House of Commons had been made. After much controversy a procedure of closure by simple majority, strongly supported by Harcourt and Chamberlain within the Cabinet and by Dilke outside it, had been carried; and a system of delegating work at the committee stage of legislation to “Grand” or “Standing” committees of the House was instituted. At the beginning of 1883 there seemed a good chance that the work of Parliament would be less clogged by Irish disputes and Irish tactics than in the preceding years.
