hat the session was rapidly drawing to
a close; and likewise that the committees guided by the Honourables Jacob
Butcher and Brush Bascom, composed of members carefully picked by that
judge of mankind, Mr. Doby, were wrestling day and night (behind closed
doors) with the intellectual problems presented by the bills of the
member from Leith. It is not to be supposed that a man of Mr. Crewe's
shrewdness would rest at the word of the chairmen. Other members were
catechized, and in justice to Messrs. Bascom and Botcher it must be
admitted that the assertions of these gentlemen were confirmed. It
appeared that the amount of thought which was being lavished upon these
measures was appalling.

By this time Mr. Crewe had made some new friends, as was inevitable when
such a man unbent. Three of these friends owned, by a singular chance,
weekly newspapers, and having conceived a liking as well as an admiration
for him, began to say pleasant things about him in their columns--which
Mr. Crewe (always thoughtful) sent to other friends of his. These new and
accidental newspaper friends declared weekly that measures of paramount
importance were slumbering in committees, and cited the measures. Other
friends of Mr. Crewe were so inspired by affection and awe that they
actually neglected their business and spent whole days in the rural
districts telling people what a fine man Mr. Crewe was and circulating
petitions for his bills; and incidentally the committees of Mr. Butcher
and Mr. Bascom were flooded with these petitions, representing the
spontaneous sentiment of an aggrieved populace.

"Just then a scout came flying,
All wild with haste and fear
To arms! to arms! Sir Consul
Lars Porsena is here.
On the low hills to westward
The Consul fixed his eye,
And saw the swarthy storm of dust
Rise fast along the sky."

It will not do to push a comparison too far, and Mr. Hamilton Tooting, of
course, ought not to be made to act the part of Tarquin the Proud. Like
Tarquin, however, he had been deposed--one of those fatuous acts which
the wisest will commit. No more could the Honourable Hilary well be
likened to Pandora, for he only opened the box wide enough to allow one
mischievous sprite to take wings--one mischievous sprite that was to
prove a host. Talented and invaluable lieutenant that he was, Mr. Tooting
had become an exile, to explain to any audience who should mak