ABSTRACT
On the occasion of Mr. Balfour's impending resignation of the leadership of his party, Birmingham very naturally came forward, in the person of Mr. Austen Chamberlain, to claim the reversion for itself. This episode set in motion, as was perhaps only natural, a certain reaction against Mr. Austen Chamberlain, and compromised the prospect of his election. Owing to the feeling thus set up, his well-constructed hope of leadership was consumed, having caught fire from the dying embers of Conservatism. But, if this may be cited as the immediate cause of the election of Mr. Bonar Law, he was also amply qualified by being highly orthodox in Protectionist economics, and by being a Tariff Reformer indeed. The construction of his mind in this respect had no shadows, or ingle-nooks, or cosy corners, like that of Mr. Balfour. There was another characteristic of the new leader which did not fail to recommend him to many minds.
