Whatever the reason, it is perfectly
certain, if you want to put Mr. Chamberlain into a rage, and what
sailors call a funk, allude to the period of Parnell's imprisonment in
Kilmainham, and Mr. Duignan's letter on the Irish question. The
transformation from the exalted look a few moments before to the pale,
cowed aspect which Mr. Chamberlain wore was one of the most sudden
transformations I have ever seen in the House of Commons. He could
scarcely sit in his seat while Mr. Harrington was speaking; again and
again he rose to interrupt him altogether, and gave signs of unusual
excitement and disturbance. But Mr. Harrington is a deft and tenacious
combatant. In spite of all attempts to stop him, in spite of the
tremendous uproar raised by the Unionists and Tories, he managed to get
out what he had to say. He brought Mr. Chamberlain face to face with
this spectre of his dead past.
[Sidenote: Mr. Balfour does not score.]
Meantime, Mr. Balfour made a great mistake. He had listened to the
speech of Mr. Chamberlain, and had been one of those who had joined in
the cheers at the exposure of Mr. Dillon's accidental mistake. There he
should have left it, but, carried away by the hope of driving the point
home against a political enemy, he needs must add something to what Mr.
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