The Sun.
London, England, 1853-05-19 00:00:00

INSIDE THE HaUSE,

• 4, - - -

ET AN EYE-WITNESS

THURSDAY NIGHT,

Gentle reader, what shall we tell you of Gavan Duffy,
who, the last few days, has filled so large a space in the
N7v7orid:s ,eye and .his own ? Shall we tell you how, ala
i.almerstoa, he found a mare's nest—how the house first
became vehemently indignant, and then went off into a
fit of laughter ?. The matter would have died away on
Friday, had not Mr. Ball unwisely resuscitated it with
funereal solemnity. - Mr. Ball, a fine, jolly-looking man,
is a ruined tenant-farmer, and an advocate of ruined
tenant-farmers, and always speaks -as if he was not only
"going, going," but actually "gone." However, he
does not speak worse than the Marquis of Granby, and
that is something. It is to be hoped that here the matter
has terminated, and that Gavan Duffy will, by his future
sensible conduct, remove the prejudice which his foolish
escapade has created against him. The lower you go in
society—the more vulgar and ignorant are the inn
with whom you - mix the more you will hear of
bribery and corruption. I take it there is not a pot-
house in Clerkenwell where you will not find-beery poli-
ticians who will tell you how Government buys up whole
hatches of M.P.s, and the exact amount of money paid
down for the -bargain. Men who are depraved, and
gross, and selfish themselves, will believp anything that
is charged against other men. After 'all, the House of
Commons is an assembly of gentleinen and men of
honour. Of course there are exceptions ; but I speak of
the mass. . _

;;;1111 now nay somethinc, of Duffy himself. He
sits below the gangway, on the Opposition side of the
house, with the rest of the Irish Brigade. He is
youngish looking, rather under the middle size, and, in
person and manner, very much like Disraeli ; but he
has not the grace and polish, the Bel,ravian finish, of
that distinguished advocate of the Sezintic element. He
is Disraeli, minus his gentlemanly appearance. Nor can
he have that. Doth not Disraeli dine with dukes? Has
he not a lord for a private secretary, in the same way
as Moses a poet ? While, on the contrary, poor Duffy
has languished in gaol, has been tried for high
treason, is the mouthpiece of priests, and the companion
of the people. Still, after all, Duffy is one of the most
noticeable of the Irish representatives. He is the editor
of the Nation. He helped to break down the power of
O'Connell. He is one of the leaders of the Young Ire-
land party, whose cause he pleads in glowing verse and
passionate prose. He is what few men are—a name
and a power. But he must remember that the House
of Commons is not a partisan mob—that it contains men
of the highest attainments, of the finest intellect, of un-
sullied honour ; that he speaks there to the nation's jury,
who require argument and fact alone—to men who, like
the gods in Olympus—

" Arove
The depth, but not the tumult of the soul."
Poets talk of " the merry month of May." Con-
sidering the snow, and rain, and bitter winds we have
endured, it is questionable whether it be that : that
may well be doubted. About the fact, however, that
May is the month of meetings there can be no doubt
whatever. That it is so is very clear from the aspect
of the Strangers' Gallery in the House of Commons.
All around you are provincials, with sun-burnt faces, and
their best clothes on. Many of them have white neck-
cloths, that badge of the waiter •r the divine—a very
unbecoming one, and, in London, where you don't =et
your linen washed gratis, a very expensive one. Most
have a strong Protestant bias, and, on Tuesday night,
felt very much inclined to sympathise with Mr. Cham-
bers in his Bill for the inspection of nunneries. Then
there are several farmers up, who can't get the barley in
this wet weather, and so have come to town—

" The dodges for to see:"

And who, with becoming reverence, stare at Lord John,
admire the size of Sir J. . GrahAns, and are all struck with
the splendour of Dizzy's unrivalled vest. Outside the
house, too, there has been some curious scenes. On
Tuesday I 'saw a group that only Hogarth or Wilkie
could have done justice to. It consisted of some fine
Milesians come to give evidence relative to one or
other 'of the disputed Irish elections. The group was a
small one, but it was arrayed in every variety of costume,
and consisted of grown-up individuals of either sex, and
male and female were alike regaling themselves with the
darling weed. Their costume evidently was not made
for them, but it was their best, and they were proud of it
accordingly. • The house was meeting, and passed them
hurried peers. and M.P.'s, and high-bom dames—and
coroneted carriages dashed up—yet calmly they smoked
on with a coolness and self-possession perfectly delightful.
Charles Mathews, in Used Up, never exhibited greater
nonchalance. Nothing touched them—nothing excited
them. One might as well have shouted to the Sphynx or
sought a glance of its stony eye. It is said that it is
civilisation that produces the embarrassment so common
and so painful amongst us, that the savage is always dig-
nified and self-possessed. The wild Irish group that
excited my intense admiration certainly, to my mind,
gave some ;additional weight to the theory to which I
have just referred. "Go, get thee to a nunnery," says
Hamlet. That is the very thing Mr. T. Chambers, mem-
ber for Hertford, wanted to do, or did, on Tuesday night,
when he got leave to bring in a bill for the inspection of
nunneries. Though printed as it was in the notices as a
bill to facilitate the recovery of personal liberty in cer-
tain cases, it was not at once that the real object of his
measure was seen. The House was not very crowded,
and several efforts were made to close the debate, but it
was kept up with some spirit till about eleven, when the
most tremendous cheering that I have heard for some
time made it clear that Government had been beaten,
and that Mr. Chambers had got leave to bring in the
bill. Lord John, however, did not take it much to heart,
for he went through the lobby on his way to the Lords,
looking more lively and smiling than usual. All night
the Opposition side of the house was almost forsaken.
Disraeli occasionally looked in and then went out again.
On the second Opposition bench, which, as Disraeli told
Sir James Graham on Monday night, he had made
almost classical, sat old Spooner and his colleague,
Mr. Newdegate, who, if the Freehohl Land Societies
had clone their duty ill Warwickshire, would hayseceased
tormenting the house long before this ; but they were
almost alone. The Ministerial benches were much better
filled. Chambers made a maiden speech, and it was one
that told well—and so did his reply. But Chambers is no
younker. He is already nearly bald, and a barrister in
good practice. What a pity it is that we don't achieve
fame earlier ! Our young poets, our rising barristers,
are all middle-aged men. Alas ! for the mockery of life.
Just as we get great we get old. Whiteside, Sergeant
Murphy, Mr. Lucas, and Henry Drummond, all spoke,
and spoke well. Lord John's speech reminded us of the
wicked entry in the last volume of Moore's Diary.
" Lord John, mild and sensible." Ido not say this to
disparage Lord John, for I do think he is the model of a
Parliamentary orator : but one of the worst speeches—
if not the worst speech, was that of Newdegate.
There are some men that excite your antagonism
directly they rise. Newdegate is one of them.
Tall, very awkward, with a self-satisfied air, narrow-
bodied, narrow-headed, narrow-minded, looking as
if ho could only take in one idea at a time, and that
a very small one. I felt it a great relief when Mr. New-
degate sat down. Poor Berkeley looked very unhappy
all night. He went limping about the hodse disconso-
late. The Ballot debate was knocked on the head, and
when he can get another night for it neither he nor any
one else can tell. Fat bucolic Sir John Tyrell closed
the debate with a few leaden words, and the.house went
to a division, and left us thankfnlly,to go home.
On Thursday we had, as if that were needed, an ad-
ditional illustration of the way in which the time of the
house is wasted. When we went in we wondered why
the house was so unusually full. In the lobby every seat
was occupied, and up in the gallery were assembled hon-
ourable M.P.s. eager km a little fun. It soon Tame out
what it was that attracted such crowds at such an un-
usual hour. It was a notice of Mr. Magan's, member for
Westmeath, relative to the affair of Monday. He wished
to get up another Duffyad. His part was very easy.
The game once begun, it was the easiest thing in the
world to keep it up, and amidst " Oh, ohs," and " Hear,
hears," and "tremendous laughter." Maurice O'Con-
nell, Lucas, Mr. Hayter, Sir Charles Wood, and many
more spoke 'and respoke. That very useful man, Mr.
Hayter, accordir6s to one set of statements, had hum-
bugged the Irish members; according to another set,
and according to his own statements, he had done no-
thing of the kind. As for myself, I could not help think-
ing of the passage in "Sybil," in which the late Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer favours us, the uninitiated—many
thanks to him for charging only eighteen pence for
the favour—with his idea as to the use to which such
pleasant men as Mr. Hayter can be put. Speaking
to Taper, in the prospect of a change of Ministry,
Tadpole says, " At present go about and keep our
fellows in good humour. Whisper nothings, that sound
like something. But be discreet; do not let there be
more than half a hundred fellows who believe they are
going to be Under Secretaries of State. If they push
you, give a wink, and press a finger to your lip. I
must call here,' continued Mr. Tadpole, as lie stopped
before the house of the Duke of Fitzaquitaine. 'This
gentleman is my particular charge. I have been cook-
ing him these three years. I had two notes from him
yesterday, and can delay a visit no longer. The worst
of it is, that he expects that I shall bear him the non-
official announcement of his being sent to Ireland, of
which he has as much chance as I have of being
Governor-General of India. It must be confessed that
ours is critical work sometimes, friend Taper. But
never mind : what we have to do to individuals, Peel
has to do with a nation, and therefore we ought not to
complain.' "
A conference with the Lords was desired. That
always puts a stop to the business of the house till the
deputation sent by the Commons returns ; but that pause
did not interfere with the little row Mr. Megan had
s° ingeni9usly contrived. That lasted till half- six,
when it was put an end to by a few good, sensible
words from Sir Barrylnglis. Generally Lord John
o
Russell does that sortthing ; but he was absent all
night, and Sir Harry Inglis wisely saved the house from
an idle waste of Nvord4,
Alas?
it turned out that the
house had merely escaped Scylla
to get foul of Charybdis.
The Speaker left the chair, and Mr. Vansittart rose to
propose the exemption of certain classes of farmers from
the income tax. Mr. Vansittart may
-tbe—undoubtedlyY. he
is —a very nice young man fora small tea
certainly is not the man to teach or elegrif yhe
ritish
House of Commons. He might have made art
speech, but we certainly did not hear a word of3it.gouldt
was a relief when Mr. Gladstone rose after him and spoke
with that fluency and power which he has always at
command. He was followed by Sir Fitzroy Kelly,
who, since be has bought an estate in East Suffolk,
and represented the county, has bitterly repented the
vote he gave for free trade under Sir Robert Peel,
and is, .11017 that Protection is gone—now that it can

only be a cry with which to clog and embarrass Gover;
meats, and nothing more—a Protectionist to the back-
bone. Bright demolished the elegant lawyer with one
of his usual, murderous speeches, and then the debate
languished terribly, till about ten, when a division took