or the
beneficent action of the New Rules a long-suffering Parliament was
finally induced to adopt. On the threshold of a new Parliament it is
useful to recall the scene as an assistance in calculating what may be
accomplished by the Parliament elected in 1892, as compared with that
which began its history in 1880. On the face of it, Parliament to-day
has much less time at its disposal for the accomplishment of work than
it had a dozen years ago. Then, the duration of a sitting was
indefinite. The House might, as it did in February, 1881, meet at four
o'clock on a Monday afternoon and sit continuously till Wednesday
morning. Now, the Speaker takes the Chair at three o'clock; public
business commences at half-past three; and at midnight, save in cases
where the Standing Order has been formally suspended, the Speaker leaves
the Chair, and the House adjourns, whoever may be on his feet.

[Illustration: "DISGUST."]

The influence of this automatic procedure is beneficially felt
throughout the whole of debate. One wholesome influence works in the
direction of using up the early hours of the sitting, an arrangement
which carries comfort to countless printing offices and editorial
sanctums. Some time before the New Rules came into operation, Mr.
Gladstone discovered for himself the convenience and desirability of
taking part in debate at the earliest possible hour of a sitting. His
earlier associations drifted round a directly opposite course. In the
good old days the champions of debate did not interpose till close upon
midnight, when they had the advantage of audiences sustained and
exhilarated by dinner. That was before the era of special wires to the
provincial papers, early morning trams, and vastly increased circulation
for the London journals. Mr. Gladstone discovered that he was more
carefully reported and his observations more deliberately discussed if
he spoke between five and seven o'clock in the evening than if,
following his earlier habit, he addressed the House between eleven and
one in the morning. He has, accordingly, for some years been accustomed,
when he has an important speech to deliver, to interpose in debate
immediately after questions.

This habit has become general, even compulsory, with members who may,
within certain limits, choose their own time for speaking. All the cream
of debate is now skimmed before the dinner-hour. At the close of a
pitched battle, the two Leaders of Party, as heretofore, w