efore we knew where we were, Mr. Morley was standing at the table,
and moving that the third reading of the Bill should take place the
following Wednesday. Nearly every one of the most prominent debaters had
by this time cleared out. The Irish Benches, however, remained full, and
from them came a triumphant cheer as, at a quarter to twelve, the motion
was carried, and the second stage of the great measure of Irish
emancipation was completed.

CHAPTER XVIII.

IRELAND'S CHARTER THROUGH.

[Sidenote: A dull beginning.]

Insipidity, weariness, and dulness marked the commencement of the
concluding week of the Home Rule Bill in the House. There was no private
business on the Monday, and accordingly for nearly a quarter of an
hour--it seemed infinitely longer to the little group of members
present--the House sat in sedate and solemn silence. Then commenced
questions, and in a moment half-a-dozen members were buzzing with
gnat-like pertinacity about the impassive figure of the
Postmaster-General. Mr. Arnold Morley was continually on his legs. For
instance, Mr. Bousfield wanted to know what rule there was which forbade
Post Office employes to approach the House of Commons directly, or to
sign a petition to the House with reference to any grievance, after
having unsuccessfully petitioned the Postmaster-General. Mr. Morley
replied laconically, "There is no such rule." Then several of the Tory
members attempted to corner Sir U.K. Shuttleworth about the quantity of
coals consumed in the "Majestic" while going at full speed. Sir Edward
Harland was cautious, and Mr. Gibson Bowles, whose rising was the signal
for derisive cheers, was pertinacious. The Secretary to the Admiralty,
always dignified, was grave and serious. He was not to be tripped up,
and discreetly declined to be drawn.

[Sidenote: Our first line of defence.]

It is one of the well-known peculiarities of the House of Commons that
its attendance is usually in inverse line of proportion to the
importance of the subject which it is discussing. On August 28th the
House was engaged in debating the question which above all others ought
to interest the people of this country--the state, namely, of our Navy.
Yet the House was almost entirely empty throughout the whole evening,
and the speeches were generally confined to the somewhat inarticulate
representatives of the services, and to the dullest and smallest men in
the whole assembly. It is obviously inconvenient--