The
Old Man--suave, calm, unutterably courteous--hears him politely; and
then puts the whole case of the Government in a few, dignified, and
tranquil words.
[Sidenote: In the depths.]
But the House, exalted to a higher plane of feeling by this great little
speech, was soon dragged down again to the arena of chaos let loose;
and, of course, Mr. Chamberlain was the person to lead the way to the
dusty pit. Mr. Mellor had very properly attempted to stop the disorderly
discussion of the closure; but Mr. Chamberlain was not in the mood to
respect the authority of the chair or the traditions of the House of
Commons, and audaciously, shamelessly--with a perky self-satisfaction
painful to witness--he proceeded to violate the ruling of the chair--to
trample on the order of Parliament, and to flout the Chairman. And then
the waters of the great deep were loosed. A hurricane of shouts, yells,
protests arose. Member got up after member--here, there,
everywhere--always excepting the sternly silent Irish Bench, where sate
the Irish leaders. A half-dozen men were on their feet--all shouting,
gesticulating, speaking at the same time. In short, it was utterly
unlike anything ever seen before in the House of Commons; it brought
vividly back to the mind the tumultuous French Convention in the days of
the French Revolution.
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