m behind the massive form of the
Member for Rochdale. It looked as if the unhappy Member for West
Birmingham had undergone a sort of transformation, and had, like Mr.
Anstey's hero in "Vice Versa," gone back to the tiny form and slight
face of his boyhood. Mr. Potter, however, is merciful, and having
asserted his rights, he surrendered them again gracefully to Mr.
Chamberlain; and the perky countenance of the gentleman from Birmingham
once more looked down from the heights of the third bench. It would take
Mr. Chamberlain a long time to do so graceful an act to anybody else.

[Sidenote: "Ugander."]

But on the Monday night nobody need have been very particular as to what
seat he occupied; for nothing could have been much more dull than the
whole proceedings. I make only one or two observations upon Uganda. And
first, why is it that so few members of the House of Commons can
pronounce that word correctly? Mr. Chamberlain,--if there be anything
illiterate to be done, he is always prominent in doing it--Mr.
Chamberlain never mentions the word without pronouncing it "Ugand_er_."
Mr. Courtney for a long while did not venture on the word; and therein
he acted with prudence. It is a curious fact with regard to Mr. Courtney
that when he first came into the House he had a terrible difficulty with
his "h's." In his case it was not want of culture, for he was a
University man, and one of the most accomplished and widely-read men in
the House of Commons. But still there it was; he was weak on his "h's."
He has, however, by this time overcome the defect. Mr. Labouchere talks
classic English; was at a German university; has been in every part of
the world; has written miles of French memorandums; has sung serenades
in Italian; and, if he were not so confoundedly lazy, would probably
speak more languages than any man in Parliament. But yet he cannot
pronounce either a final "g" or allow a word to end in a vowel without
adding the ignoble, superfluous, and utterly brutal "er." When he wishes
to confound Mr. Gladstone, he assaults about "Ugand_er_"; when the
concerns of our great Eastern dependency move him to interest, he asks
about "Indi_er_"; and he speaks of the primordial accomplishments of man
as "readin'" and "writin'."

[Sidenote: Sir Edward Grey.]

Ugand_er_ gave Sir Edward Grey his first opportunity of speaking in his
new capacity of Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs. There are some men
in the House of Commons whose prof