There is always something foredoomed about a night which ends in a count-out.  You can almost feel its untimely end in the air at the very beginning of the sitting.  There is always a great to-do about doing away with the privileges of the private member, but I have never really seen anything like a strong desire on the part of the House generally to keep the small quorum together which is necessary for giving the private member his opportunity.  To the uninitiated, it is perhaps necessary to say that the sittings of the House are divided into two classes—­what are called Government and what are called private members’ nights.  Government nights are Mondays and Thursdays.  On these days, the Government is entirely master of the time of the House.  They can bring on Government Bills and in whatever order they please.  On Tuesdays and on Wednesdays the private member is master of the situation—­that is to say, until the Government of the day get leave of the House to take all its time, and then the rights of private members disappear.  On Fridays also the private member is in possession of most of the time of the sitting.  That is the night on which the Government sets up Supply—­that is to say, puts down the votes for the money required for the public service.  It is a fundamental principle of the British Constitution that the demand for money involves the right to raise any grievance; and accordingly Supply on Friday night is always preceded by motions in reference to any subject which any member may desire to raise.  These motions are put on the paper, but so inherent is the right to raise any grievance before giving money, that 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