a member is entitled to get up, and
without a moment's notice, raise any question which may appear to him
desirable for discussion. As a rule, however, there is but one question
fought out, and when that is decided the Government of the day is
allowed to go on to the votes for money.

[Sidenote: Parliamentary Wednesdays.]

Wednesday is nearly always occupied with some Bill brought in by a
private member, in which a large number of other members are interested.
It used to be said that Wednesday was sacred to the churches and the
chapels, and that only a religious debate could take place. This is
still the case to a large extent; for instance, on Wednesday, February
22nd, they employed themselves at the House in discussing a Bill in
which Dissenters are very much interested. Then, a division has to be
taken at half-past five, and thus there is a good chance of a practical
discussion with a practical result. The consequence is that Wednesday
sittings are always looked forward to with a considerable interest, and
it is always with a pang that the House gives up the right of the
private member to them. A Wednesday sitting is rarely, if ever, counted
out, and, indeed, I believe there is a rule which prevents them from
being counted out before four o'clock, at which hour the late-comers
find it possible to turn up. Friday sittings also rarely, if ever, end
badly, for the Government is ever in want of money, and a Government has
always forty staunch supporters who are ready to stay in the House in
order to help it to get through its business. But Tuesday belongs to no
man in particular. The Government don't bother themselves about it,
because they don't have money to get at the end of it: instead of its
being occupied with one Bill, which can raise a definite discussion,
Tuesday has a number of motions on all sorts and kinds of subjects; and,
in short, what's everybody's business is nobody's; and Tuesday
constantly ends about eight or half-past eight o'clock in a count-out.
The Government delightedly look on; it is an additional argument in
favour of taking away the rights and privileges of private members and
turning them into the voracious maw of the Government.

[Sidenote: Wales in a rage.]

A curious difference presented itself between the interior and the
exterior of the House on the following day (February 23rd). Inside,
there was for the most part a desert, yawning wide and drear, except on
the benches which were occ