in a cluster below the gangway in defiant
proximity to the Sergeant-at-Arms. They are rather noisy at times, and
whenever Chiltern comes in late to dinner, or after going back stays
till all hours in the morning, it is sure to be "those Irish fellows."
But I think the House of Commons ought to be much obliged to Ireland for
its contribution of members, and to resist to the last the principle of
Home Rule. For it is not, as at present constituted, an assembly that
can afford to lose any element that has about it a tinge of originality,
a flash of humour, or an echo of eloquence.

That, of course, is Chiltern's remark. I only know, for my part, that
the Ladies' Gallery is a murky den, in which you can hear very little,
not see much, and are yourself not seen at all.

CHAPTER XVI.

SOME PREACHERS I HAVE KNOWN.

MR. MOODY.

I heard Mr. Moody preach twice when he paid his first visit to this
country. Borrowing an idea from another profession, he had a series of
rehearsals before he came to London. It was in the Free Trade Hall,
Manchester, and service opened at eight o'clock on a frosty morning in
December. I had to stand during the whole of the service, one of a crowd
wedged in the passages between the closely-packed benches. Every
available seat had been occupied shortly after seven, when the doors
were thrown open. The galleries were thronged, and even the balconies at
the rear of the hall were full to overflowing. The audience were, I
should say, pretty equally divided in the matter of sex, and were
apparently of the class of small tradesmen, clerks, and well-to do
mechanics; that was the general class of the morning congregation. But
it must not therefore be understood that the upper class in Manchester
stood aloof from the special services of the American gentlemen. At the
afternoon meeting, elegantly attired ladies and gentlemen, wearing
spotless kid gloves and coats of irreproachable cut, struggled for a
place in the mighty throng that streamed into the hall.

Punctually at eight o'clock the meeting was opened by one of the local
clergymen, who prayed for a blessing on the day and the work, declaring,
amid subdued but triumphant cries from portions of the congregation,
that "the Lord has risen indeed! Now is the stone rolled away from the
sepulchre, and the Kingdom of God is at hand." Mr. Moody, who sat at a
small desk in front of the platform, advanced and gave out the hymn,
"Guide us, O Thou Great Jehova