this up, and Mr. Curzon addressed the House in his superior style.  Mr. Bryce was able to blow to pieces the fabric of attack which had been so laboriously erected against him by stating a few facts, of which these may be given as a fair specimen.  When Mr. Bryce came into office, of the borough magistrates in Lancashire 507 were Unionists and only 159 were Liberals.  On the county bench there were 522 Unionists and 142 Liberals.  This was a crushing reply, and an even more satisfactory retort came in the shape of the division, when 260 voted for the Government, and only 186 against.

[Sidenote:  Tommy “Burt.”]

Nearly three hours of precious public time had been wasted over this wretched business, and at last, for the third or fourth time, the debate was resumed on the second reading of the Employers’ Liability Bill.  An amendment of Mr. Chamberlain’s had been the obstacle which stood in the way of the Bill all this time.  After the debate had gone on for hours, Mr. Chamberlain got up and declared that his amendment had served its purpose—­an awkward way of putting it, which the Liberals were not slow to take up.  The debate was made remarkable by the first speech of any importance made by Mr. Burt since he became a member of the Ministry.  Mr. Burt is the most popular of members, and there was a ring of genuine delight in the welcome given to the honest, modest, genuine working man standing at the Treasury Bench, and symbolising the revolution of the times.  Mr. Burt spoke ably and well, but it was in a foreign tongue—­which it takes a little time for even a quick linguist to understand.  This Northumbrian burr is the strongest accent in the House; even the broadest Scotch is less difficult to catch.  It is curious how the different parts of the country betray themselves by their speech.  There are Scotchmen whom it is not easy to follow, and there are very few of them who speak with anything like an English accent.  Even the most fluent of the Welshmen speak with a certain hesitation, betraying their bilingual infancy and youth.  The Irish have as many accents nearly as there are members.  The Northumbrian burr, however, is a tongue apart.  It has the pleasantness of every foreign tongue, and since Mr. Joseph Cowen left Parliamentary life, Mr. Burt is the only member who speaks it in its pristine purity.  The Tories were closured finally, though they had their revenge by preventing the Bill from going to the Grand Committee, and the work of justice is a little longer postponed.

[Sidenote:  Mr. Goschen playful.]

On Thursday, April 27th, the debate began on Sir William Harcourt’s Budget; and it found Mr. Goschen in an unusually playful mood.  He had a task for which his talents eminently fitted him.  Irresolute, timid, changeable, he is the very worst man in the world for constructive legislation; but give him the opportunity of criticising what somebody else has proposed, and he is in his real element, and is, perhaps,