aturally
deliberate, it played an appreciable part in the prolongation of
successive Sessions.

[Illustration: "EYE-GLASS PLAY."]

What has become of Frank Hugh now, I wonder? Vanishing from the House of
Commons, he reappeared for a while on the scene, characteristically
acting the part of the petrel that heralded the storm Mr. Pigott
ineffectively tried to ride. It must be a consolation to Mr. O'Donnell,
in his retirement, wherever it is passed, to reflect on the fact that it
was he who directly brought about the appointment of the Parnell
Commission, with all it effected. His action for libel brought against
the _Times_ preluded and inevitably led up to the formal investigation
of the famous Charges and Allegations.

The member for Dungarvan was, in his day, the most thoroughly disliked
man in the House of Commons, distaste for Mr. Parnell and for Mr. Biggar
in his early prime being softened by contrast with his subtler
provocation. An exceedingly clever debater, he was a phrase maker, some
of whose epigrams Mr. Disraeli would not have disowned. He was a
parliamentary type of ancient standing, and apparently ineradicable
growth. In the present House of Commons fresh developments are presented
by Mr. Seymour Keay and Mr. Morton. These are distinct varieties, but
from the unmistakable root. Both are gifted with boundless volubility,
unhampered by ordinary considerations of coherency and cogency. Neither
is influenced by that sense of the dread majesty of the House of Commons
which keeps some members dumb all through their parliamentary life, and
to the last, as in the case of Mr. Bright, weighs upon even great
orators. The difference between the older and the new development is
that whilst over Mr. O'Donnell's intentional and deliberate vacuity of
speech there gleamed frequent flashes of wit, Mr. Morton and Mr. Keay
are only occasionally funny, and then the effect was undesigned.

[Illustration: O'DONNELL'S LAST APPEARANCE.]

[Illustration: MR. SEYMOUR KEAY.]

Since we have these two gentlemen still with us, it would be rash to say
that if Mr. O'Donnell could revisit the glimpses of Big Ben he would
find his occupation gone. He would certainly discover that his
opportunities had been limited, and would have to recommence practice
under greatly altered conditions. One of the former member for
Dungarvan's famous achievements took place in the infancy of the
Parliament of 1880-5, and, apart from its dramatic interes