Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-04-09
GLADSTONE.
HIS GREAT SPEECH ON THE IRISH
QUESTION YESTERDAY.
Ovation In the House Of Commons
Waiting Eleven Hours to be
Sure Of Seat.

LONDON, April S.-Mr. Gladstone
slept well last night. lie was IN ex-
celient health and fine spirits. lie
seemed fresh, strong, and evidently en-.
during. Immediately after his break
fast Mr. Gladstone repaired to his Of
fetal rooms. There he found prepared
for his perusal the morning papers,
scores Of kilograms bearing on the task
OF the day, and more than one sealed
letter from close personal friends and
admirers bearing cheer and oongratu-
lations.
Mr.. Gladstone was manfestly inter-
ested in everything which showed popu-
Jar concern in the work before him.
Before the nigh,-watchmen in the House
were relieved or the lights extinguished
annmber Of the members Of Parliament,
gentlemen who were possessed OF as
esuIed admittanco, began to arrive to
make themselves doubly certain Of their
privileges by getting to their seats eleven
hours before Mr.. Gladstone would reach
the House, and retaining them during
the long interval.
Mr.. Mcdonnell Sullivan, Nationalist
member from Southwest Meath, was
the first man to gain admission to the
House. lie got in as early as $50
O'Clock in the morning, and at once
proceeded 10 make sure of his place.
IL is alleged, however, thas Sullivan
secured his advantage by bribing a
friendly policeman to permit him to
have access by the way OF the back
stairs.
The rule regarding seats is practi-
cally " first come first served" Sulli-
van, therefore. bad his pick Of the
whole floor. lie chose the very best
the seat next to and Immediately below
the gaDgway OF aisle on the opposition
or left side Of the Speaker desk. AS the
ministerial bench is situated just OPP
posite on the right of the Speaker, and
the Prime Minister has usually occupied
the seat Just below the gangway on
that side, Sullivan seemed pis-d-riS to
the orator.
1t was not long before all the Par
nellites were in the House, and they pre-
empted the best places in the locality
invaded by Sullivan, and all got places
to front Gladstone during his speech.
In the rush Of the British members,
which followed close upon the advent
OF the Parnellites, it was yet early
in the morning when all the seats on
the floor was taken. The seat chosen,
in order to be retained, must be ticketed
with the hat Of the member who means
to occupy it, and the hat must be the
hat he is wearing that day and no sub
stitution is permitted. This rule re-
tains the members within the limit
agreeable to traverse with bare heads.
The present generation never witnessed
such hating" scene as occurred in
the House of Commons this morning
long before London was awake. A
number Of members were afraid to trust
TO the honor OF their colleagues for the
maintenance Of the rules on an occasion
like that OF to-day, and those retained
possession Of their chosen seats by re-
manning in them bodily all day.
The chamber is swept, cleaned, and
busted every morning during the ses-
sion. To-day it was thoroughly
scrubbed as well. Disagreeable as all
this was, it did not dismay the gentle
men who were sitting for security, and
they maintained their positions through
out the dust and through the damp.
When they got hungry or thirsty they
had food and drink brought in to them.
Some Of them had been up all night
struggling to get in, and these generally
fixed themselves as comfortably as posi-
bic and slept. Bolder pre-emptors, how
ever, retreated before the dust-brOoms
and wash-tubs. They strolled about the
lobbies and elsewhere through the great
building. The dining-room was the
chief place of attraction, however, to
all these, and it was generally pretty
well filed. When the sun rose and the
day became warmer the river terrace
was sought by a majority of the per-
ambulators, and here many expedients
were resorted to to while away the
time. The Parnellites were in a par
ticularly happy frame of mind, acting
as if, to use an expression OF
one Of them, "they had sure
thing on that day for Ireland" A
number Of them borrowed tricycle.
and had great sport racing up and
down the terrace with it until finally 1t
cspsized, throwing p. j. O'Brien, the
PaInellite member for Tipperary, who
was riding it at the time, upon his
head on the tagging. lie was picked |
up bleeding profusely and very badly |
stunned. His forehead was deeply |
cut over the eve, and his face and
hands were much torn and bruised.
lie was, in fact, so seriously injured
that he had TO be removed to a hos
pital, but he insisted on going bare
headed, and after his wounds were
dressed he returned to occupy his seat.
No less than $50 of the go members
had entered and secured their seats by
"hatting" or personal occupation be-
fore IL o'clock. Wives, daughters, and
female relations and friends of these
members thronged the waiting-rooms all
the morning provided with buns, cakes,
baskets, and novels, on which to subsist
and pass the time during which the men
were unentertaining. Soon after 3
O'Clock the Parnellite members began
to take possession Of their seats. They
arranged themselves in serried ranks on
the opposition benches in front of the
place where Mr.. Gladstone was to speak.
Thomas Power 0'Connor, the Ma
tionalist member for the Scotland divi-
sion of Liverpool, explained the haste
exhibited by his party TO secure seats
by saying that the Tories had organized
a plot TO take possession Of the seats in
such way as to make ii impossible for
the Parnellites to sit together, in order (
to rob Mr.. Gladstone of the chorus Of |
cheers which the full-throated Irish
members would be sure to give him if /
they were in body and the orator was ,
to their liking. Mr.. 0'Connor said that G
when his colleagues discovered this con- i
piracy they at once took steps to cir S
'umvent it by reaching the scene in I
line TO get the choice Of places. Mr.. 3
)Connor said that he was satisfied j
With the result, and added that the Irish f
horus would be not only full-throated 4