"
"Dissolve if you please," said Mr. D'Israeli, "the Parliament you have
betrayed, and appeal to the people, who, I believe, mistrust you. For me
there remains this at least--the opportunity of expressing thus publicly
my belief, that a Conservative Government is an organised hypocrisy." It
was Sir Robert Peel who had set aside the word "Tory" for that of
"Conservative,"--hence the point. Sir Robert, who was neither quick nor
brilliant at repartee, rose and replied with dignity, yet with the style
and manner of one who felt keenly the arrows of his adversary, steeped,
as they were, in gall. His closing observations were telling:--"When I
proposed the Tariff of 1842, and when the charge which the honorable
member now repeats was made against me, I find the honorable gentleman
got up in his place, and stated, that 'that charge had been made without
due examination of the facts of the case, and that the conduct pursued
by the right honourable baronet was in exact, permanent, and perfect
consistency with the principles of free trade as laid down by Mr. Pitt.
His [Sir R. Peel's] reason for saying this much was to refute the
accusation brought against the Government, that they had put forward
their present views in order to get into power.
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