So it was that night. The answering
"Noes" reached the proportions of a cyclone; you could see men shrieking
out the word again and again, almost beside themselves with rage, and
with faces positively distorted by the intensity of their feelings. And
the tempest did not end in a moment; again and again the Tories shouted
their hoarse and tempestuous, and angry "No, no!"--the word sometimes
repeated like a volley: "No, no-o-o, no-o-o-o-o!"--this was the noise
that rose on the Parliamentary air, and that gave vent to all the
passion which had been excited. And then came the division and a
restoration of calm.
[Sidenote: Charwomen and ratcatchers.]
The Whip is a cunning dog, especially if he be the Whip of the party in
power; and you have to be a long time in Parliament before you know all
his wiles, and fully appreciate their meaning. For instance, few
innocent outsiders would understand why it is that the Whip always puts
down Estimates for a day immediately after the end of a vacation. The
reasons are two. First, because Estimates give more time and opportunity
for the mere bore and obstructive than any other part of Parliamentary
business.
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