I do not remember mention being made of parliament till the
twelfth century. It was first applied to general assemblies in France
during the reign of Louis the Seventh; and the earliest mention of it in
England is in the preamble to the statute of Westminster in 1272. It is
derived from the French word _parler_, to speak.'

'Then,' said Miss Gwynne, 'there must be some truth in what I have
heard, that the first parliament was composed of women.'

'Good, good, 'pon my soul!' roared Sir Hugh.

'But Sir William Jones says of chess,' continued Mr Jonathan, in the
same unchanged tone and manner, 'that the Hindus--'

'Oh, my dear, pray do not let us hear anything of Sir William Jones; I
am sick to death of all the Jones',' interrupted Mrs Prothero, causing a
diversion, and a suppressed laugh at her expense, instead of at young
Rice Rice's, who had made the last sally upon Mr Jonathan, and a
somewhat mortifying retreat.

It was remarkable, that whoever made a sly attack upon that worthy, with
a view to a joke, was sure to have the tables turned upon him, by the
matter-of-fact way in which his joke was received, refuted, and cut to
pieces.

'I assure you, my dear, there have been many very celebrated Jones', Sir
William at the head of them. He was a great Oriental scholar. Then there
was Inigo Jones, the architect; and John Paul Jones, the admiral; and Dr
John Jones, the grammarian, born in this very county; and--and--'

'That celebrated Mr David Jones, Mr Prothero, whose locker was so deep
that I am sure he must have been a relation of the admiral,' suggested
Miss Gwynne.

'Truly so, my dear--but I have read--'

'I am afraid I must trouble you to order my carriage, Mr Gwynne,' said
Lady Mary, looking impatiently, first at the chess-table, secondly at
her daughter, who was engaged in animated nonsense with Mr Rice Rice,
junior; and thirdly at Sir Hugh, still occupied in making Netta blush.

'I beg your pardon; one moment, Lady Mary; I must just castle my king.'

'Perhaps you had better put an end to the game, papa,' said Miss Gwynne.

'Not for the world, my dear. What do you say, Mr Rowland?'

'I should certainly like to finish it, but perhaps we are
inconveniencing others.'

'Ah, yes, to be sure. Then will you come and dine with me to-morrow, and
we will finish it?'

'Thank you, I shall be very happy,'

Mr Rice Rice, junior, and Sir Hugh wished that they were good chess
players. It was quite an honour to be