NOTE.
The main authority for the history of events which have taken place in Parliament must be the record of the proceedings in the Houses themselves. Such a record, continuous for the whole period dealt with in this book, is formed by The Parliamentary History and Hansard's Debates. That work is divided into various series, an arrangement which interferes with the titles and the consecutive numbering of the volumes, but the chronological order is unbroken throughout. In all cases, therefore, of speeches, debates, and divisions referred to, the dates have been given in text or note, and it is thought that this will afford a sufficient and convenient means of verification, without adding the more cumbrous method of giving in each instance the name of the series and the number of the volume and the page.
