(Cheers.) 'Oh,' he said, 'I have got the papers'-- (laughter)--and the party opposite cheered at the expected triumph.

(Laughter.)" When Mr.Gladstone came to the words.

"'Oh,' he said, 'I have got the papers,'" Mr.Gladstone began fumbling in his pockets, just as Mr.
Chamberlain had done--with that air of distraction and coming despair which appears on everybody's face when he is anxiously seeking for an important but mislaid paper; and the resemblance, heightened by just the least imitation of Mr.Chamberlain's voice, was so striking, so startling, so melodramatic, that the whole House, Tories and all, joined in the wild delight of laughter and cheers--laughter at the comic power, delight at the splendid courage and exuberant spirit of the prancing old war-horse, delighted, exhilarated, and fortified by the joy of battle and by the richness of his own powers and courage.

Even yet the comic vein was not exhausted.

Mr.Chamberlain--as I have said--had made copious quotations from past Irish speeches, and asked that they should be retracted.