ys wears on great occasions, and in his buttonhole there was a
beautiful little boutonniere of white roses and lilies of the valley.
The waxen pallor was still relieved by the glow caused by his
enthusiastic reception from the people, as, with his son Herbert on the
one side and Mr. Marjoribanks, the chief Liberal whip, on the other, he
walked up the floor of the House.

[Sidenote: The new Ministry.]

One after another, the new Ministers followed--their receptions varying
with their popularity--and at last they were all seated on the Treasury
Bench. In their looks there was ample indication of the intellectual
supremacy which had raised them to that exalted position. Mr. Gladstone
had Sir William Harcourt--his Chancellor of the Exchequer--on his right,
and on his left sat Mr. John Morley, with his thin face and smile, half
ascetic, half kindly. Then came the newest man of the Government, that
fortunate youth to whom power and recognition have come, not in withered
or soured old age, but in the full prime of his manhood. Mr. Asquith
takes his seat next Mr. Morley; and it is, perhaps, the close proximity
which suggests the strong physical likeness between the two. Both are
clean shaven; both have the long narrow profile that is called
hatchet-faced; in both there is the compression of lips that reveals
depths of strength and tenacity; both have the slightly ascetic air of
the philosopher turned politician; both look singularly young, not only
for their years, but for the dazzling eminence of their positions.

[Sidenote: Other groups.]

Meantime, there are other groups in the House that are gradually
forming, and that have since played a momentous part in this great
Session. Mr. Labouchere sits in his old place below the gangway--a seat
which has become his almost by right of usage, but which he has to
secure still every day, by that regular attendance at prayers which is
so sweet to a devout soul. Next him sits Mr. Philipps--one of the
younger generation of Radicals; and then comes Sir Charles Dilke--very
carefully dressed, looking wonderfully well--rosy-cheeked, and
altogether a younger-looking and gayer-spirited man than the haggard and
pale figure which used to sit on the Treasury Bench in the days of his
glory. John Burns is up among the Irish and the Tories, in visible
opposition to all Governments. There is something breezy about John
Burns that does one good to look at. He wears a short coat--generally of
a thi