In the debate which followed, Sir Charles Forster made a
good speech for the Closure; Mr. Marriott a very clap-trap one•
against it, in which he spoke of the reluctance one would feel to present a housebreaker with " a jemmy," though it would be- an innocent weapon in the hands of a woman, and suggested that Mr. Chamberlain was the housebreaker whom he objected to trust with the jemmy in question. Mr. Goschen, in a terse speech of great vigour, rebuked Mr. Marriott, and advocated the Closure, on the ground that this, and this alone, would re- store the business-like character of the House of Commons;. while Mr. Stanhope declared that the Closure would make the Opposition less disposed than ever to offer support to the- Government,—which does, indeed, require a stretch of imagina- tion, if we are to understand that the present Opposition could possibly be less disposed than it now is to support the existing Government. Mr. Rathbone closed the debate with a striking- appeal for the granting of this weapon, under circumstances: which will ensure its being used sparingly and moderately, that• is, so as to educate the democracy of the future in habits of respect for the minority and for its freedom of speech.
Previous page
