ernment had come into power on the cry of a reduction
of taxation, and now they were going to shirk the responsibility
of their own measures. They were going to shirk the responsibility
of their own election cry, although it was known that their own
Chancellor of the Exchequer was prepared to carry it out to the full.
He was willing to carry it out to the full were he not restrained by
the timidity, falsehood, and treachery of his colleagues, of whom,
of course, the most timid, the most false, and the most treacherous
was--the great god Jove, who sat blandly smiling on the other side.

No one should ever go near the House of Commons who wishes to enjoy
all this. It was so manifestly evident that neither Jove nor any
of his satellites cared twopence for what the irate gentleman was
saying; nay, it became so evident that, in spite of his assumed fury,
the gentleman was not irate. He intended to communicate his look
of anger to the newspaper reports of his speech; and he knew from
experience that he could succeed in that. And men walked about the
House in the most telling moments,--enemies shaking hands with
enemies,--in a way that showed an entire absence of all good, honest
hatred among them. But the gentleman went on and finished his speech,
demanding at last, in direct terms, that the Treasury Jove should
state plainly to the House who was to be, and who was not to be, the
bearer of the purse among the gods.

Then Treasury Jove got up smiling, and thanked his enemy for the
cordiality of his support. "He had always," he said, "done the
gentleman's party justice for their clemency, and had feared no
opposition from them; and he was glad to find that he was correct in
his anticipations as to the course they would pursue on the present
occasion." He went on saying a good deal about home matters, and
foreign matters, proving that everything was right, just as easily as
his enemy had proved that everything was wrong. On all these points
he was very full, and very courteous; but when he came to the subject
of taxation, he simply repeated the passage from the Queen's Speech,
expressing a hope that his right honourable friend, the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, would be able to satisfy the judgement of the House,
and the wishes of the people. That specially personal question which
had been asked he did not answer at all.

But the House was still all agog, as was the crowded gallery. The
energetic and still existing Chancellor