n replied to a taunt of Mr. Chamberlain at the silence of the Irish
members. Their silence, said Mr. Sexton, was due to their knowledge that
Mr. Chamberlain and his confederates had entered into a conspiracy to
destroy the power of the House of Commons, and to defeat the mandate of
the nation by obstructing a Bill they could not otherwise defeat. Spoken
with great fire--with splendid choice of language--with biting sarcasm,
of which he is a master--the speech was an event. Mr. Gladstone promptly
recognized its spirit; thanked the Irish members for their
consideration; and then declared, amid a great sniff from Joe's upturned
nose, that if the Irish members desired to express their opinions on any
amendment, he and his colleagues would wait before expressing their own
views. There seemed to be a slight hope among the Tories and the
ever-venomous Joe that this meant a rift in the lute between the Irish
members and the Government; but they were woefully
disappointed--especially when the amendment was indignantly rejected by
the House.

[Sidenote: The "Daily News."]

It is the outspoken, rather than the loudly uttered, that is often the
important thing in a House of Commons discussion. This was the case with
the curious little debate which Mr. Chamberlain initiated on June 6th.
The _Daily News_ had published a little article describing the manner
in which the Tories had shouted at--hooted--interrupted--Mr. Gladstone
on the Thursday night previous. It may at once be asked why Mr.
Chamberlain should have thought it necessary to notice the article. He
boasted that he was not in the habit of noticing what appeared against
him in the newspapers--which is not true to a certain extent, or at
least is not generally so thought, for it is understood that no man
reads more carefully the extracts sent to him by those press-cutting
agencies which have added either a new luxury or a new terror to public
life. But Mr. Chamberlain's action had many roots. First, like many
others, very free in their comments and attacks, he is almost childishly
sensitive. Watch him in the House of Commons when an attack is being
made upon him which he does not like, and the fierce and domineering
temper reveals itself in the fidgety movement, the darkened brow, the
deeper pallor on the white-complexioned face. When he was a Cabinet
Minister he could never, or rarely, be got to remain in the House of
Commons during the whole of the evening; and one of the c