Mr. Chamberlain and
Mr. Lowther, and the rest of the obstructive gang, had to submit to have
the vote taken. In the meantime there stood the business of the country
to be done. All its needs, its pressing grievances, its vast chorus of
sighs and wails from wasted lives--rose up and called for justice; but
tricksters, and self-seekers, and horse-jockeys stopped the way.
[Sidenote: Carlton Club echoes.]
There were signs of the meeting at the Carlton when the House met on
Thursday evening, March 9th. The Tory benches were crowded; the young
bloods were fuller than ever of that self-consciousness to which I have
adverted, and there were signs of movement, excitement, and the spirit
of mischief and evil in all their faces and in their general demeanour.
There were nearly one hundred questions on the paper--and questions had
become a most effective weapon of Obstruction. But there was a certain
peculiarity about the questioning on this Thursday evening. A stranger
to the House would have remarked that all the questions addressed to Mr.
Gladstone were asked last. This was not an accidental arrangement. It
was done in the case of every leader of the House, so as to leave him
more time before coming down to the House of Commons.
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