trictly to one. The subject selected
by the right honourable gentleman opposite on the present occasion
was not the question of Church Reform. The right honourable gentleman
had pledged himself with an almost sacred enthusiasm to ignore that
subject altogether. No doubt it was the question before the House,
and he, himself,--the present speaker,--must unfortunately discuss it
at some length. The right honourable gentleman opposite would not,
on this great occasion, trouble himself with anything of so little
moment. And it might be presumed that the political followers of the
right honourable gentleman would be equally reticent, as they were
understood to have accepted his tactics without a dissentient voice.
He, Mr. Daubeny, was the last man in England to deny the importance
of the question which the right honourable gentleman would select for
discussions in preference to that of the condition of the Church.
That question was a very simple one, and might be put to the House
in a very few words. Coming from the mouth of the right honourable
gentleman, the proposition would probably be made in this
form:--"That this House does think that I ought to be Prime Minister
now, and as long as I may possess a seat in this House." It was
impossible to deny the importance of that question; but perhaps he,
Mr. Daubeny, might be justified in demurring to the preference given
to it over every other matter, let that matter be of what importance
it might be to the material welfare of the country.

He made his point well; but he made it too often. And an attack of
that kind, personal and savage in its nature, loses its effect when
it is evident that the words have been prepared. A good deal may be
done in dispute by calling a man an ass or a knave,--but the resolve
to use the words should have been made only at the moment, and they
should come hot from the heart. There was much neatness and some
acuteness in Mr. Daubeny's satire, but there was no heat, and it was
prolix. It had, however, the effect of irritating Mr. Gresham,--as
was evident from the manner in which he moved his hat and shuffled
his feet.

A man destined to sit conspicuously on our Treasury Bench, or on the
seat opposite to it, should ask the gods for a thick skin as a first
gift. The need of this in our national assembly is greater than
elsewhere, because the differences between the men opposed to each
other are smaller. When two foes meet together in the same Chamber,