ittle _contretemps_ were apt to occur at
the beginning of every new Parliament; and he was not going to lay
down a hard-and-fast rule on the subject before it was necessary.

Old Parliamentarians will remember the long-continued struggle between
Mr. GIBSON BOWLES and a colleague who was always endeavouring to
insert "the thick end of the GEDGE" into "Tommy's" favourite seat.
Mr. HOPKINS is the Member who has jumped Mr. BOTTOMLEY'S claim on the
present occasion--a fact which will recall THEODORE HOOK'S remark that
the game of leap-frog always reminded him of those famous psalmodists,
STERNHOLD and HOPKINS.

_Wednesday, February 19th_.--According to Lord STRATHSPEY there are
thousands of men in the Army longing to take Orders in the Church
Militant, but there are no funds available for training them, and no
prospect of a living wage for them if ordained. The LORD CHANCELLOR'S
sympathetic references to the painful plight of men whose duty it was
to preach content here and hereafter will no doubt be reflected in the
administration of his not inconsiderable patronage. Fortunately or
unfortunately the clergy cannot or will not "down surplices" to
improve their condition.

The unrest in other sections of the working-classes was further
examined from various angles. Lord RIBBLESDALE would like them to
take a greater share in the profits, and also in the "responsibilities
and vicissitudes" of industry. But this suggestion will hardly appeal
to them if, as Lord LEVERHULME declared, Labour would have made a
poor bargain if it had swapped its increased wages for all the excess
profits made during the War. Lord HALDANE'S view, as perhaps you would
expect, was that neither Capital nor Labour, but the "organised mind,"
was the principal agent in producing wealth. Altogether it was an
informing debate, which the Government might do worse than reproduce
in pamphlet form for the instruction of the public.

On the news of the attack on M. CLEMENCEAU reaching the Commons there
was a general desire that the House should pass a resolution of
sympathy. But Mr. BONAR LAW deprecated the proposal as being, in his
opinion, "against all precedent"--not a little to the surprise of some
of the new Members, who thought that in a case like this the _conseil
du precedent_ might bow to the _President du Conseil_.

In the procedure debate a strong demand was made that a full official
report of the speeches delivered in the six Grand Committees shoul