this gracious robe of silk took on a new dignity. A new gown costs £150, and as it may not be worn out of office it is customary for the incoming Chancellor to purchase his predecessor's robe at a suitable reduction. In recent times there have been two notable exceptions to the rule. When, in February 1868, Mr. Gladstone succeeded Mr. Disraeli at the Treasury the outgoing Chancellor declined to sell his raiment to his successor. There was a very good reason, which precludes the necessity of searching for personal animus to account for the departure from The robe had originally belonged to Mr. Pitt, and Disraeli preferred possession of the historic relic to a cheque for £100.

custom.

The other case was that of Lord Randolph Churchill, who possessed himself of Mr. Gladstone's Chancellor's gown. Mr. Goschen would have taken the Chancellor of the

Exchequer's gown with his office. Lord Randolph would hold no truck with his successor.

With the courage and originality that distinguish new members, Mr. Horner this Session brought forward the The Ladies' question of removing the grille from the Ladies'

Gallery. Gallery in the House of Commons. It is curious what fascination this topic has for new members, and how genuine is their belief that in broaching it they are making fresh discovery of debatable land. Since another member of the family, Little Jack Horner, sat in a corner, his research and his self-appreciation crowned by the unexpected discovery of a plum in a Christmas pie, nothing has exceeded the complacency of the member for North Lambeth in fathering this fad.

The rights of women at Westminster is a cause far older than members of the reformed House of Commons can recall. Seventy years ago West Gloucestershire was represented by Mr. Grantley Berkeley. The Commons at that time sat in the old House, which provided no special accommodation for ladies attending the debate. Mr. Grantley Berkeley, pained at the inconvenience to which

ladies were put, moved a resolution authorising their admission to the gallery reserved for strangers of the other sex. This he made an annual, after the later fashion of Mr. Cobden with his motion for the abolition of the Corn Laws. Every Session the member for West Gloucestershire moved that ladies be admitted to the gallery, and every Session an ungentle majority voted him down.

The effects of his advocacy were seen when the new Houses of Parliament included a gallery for the occupation of ladies. That it should be shut off from the rest of the House by a lattice-work, a device common enough in Mohammedan lands, testifies to the timidity with which the innovation was authorised. For many years new members have in succession brought the subject up and, proposed to remove the grille. Mr. Herbert Gladstone being First Commissioner of Works (and not yet married) was the first and last Minister who showed disposition to yield to the appeal avowedly put forward on behalf of ladies frequenting the House. He speedily discovered he had made a mistake and the subject dropped.

Personal information gleaned over a pretty wide field of acquaintance with habituées of the Ladies' Galleries-for there are two, one pertaining to the dominion of the Speaker's wife-leads me to the conviction that by a considerable and important majority the privacy bestowed by the grille more than compensates for any inconvenience inseparable from the arrangement.

Coronation

CHAPTER XLVI

OCTOBER

ON the publication of the list of Coronation honours the House of Commons was much piqued at the choice of Liberals apparently made by Lord Salisbury Honours. and Mr. Balfour. I am assured on high personal authority that His Majesty's Ministers had nothing to do with the selection made in the Liberal camp. His Majesty conveyed to the Prime Minister intimation of desire that in the special circumstances the bestowal of honours should, as far as possible, be free from trace of political partisanship. The only way to meet this command was to divide the honours allotted to political personages. This was fairly,

706

even liberally, done. But the procedure took the form of placing at the disposal of the Leaders of the Opposition in the House of Lords and in the House of Commons a certain number of honours, leaving allotment to them.

This done, the ordinary course was followed, formal communication

of the bestowal of the honour being, save in respect of the

The new peers

peerages, conveyed by the Ministers. received holograph letters from the King. The one written to Sir William Harcourt was a charming example of the graceful manner and kind heart of His Majesty. It will be an heirloom as precious as a patent of the peerage. On Sir William Harcourt begging to be excused leaving an assembly in which he had lived and worked for thirty-four years, His Majesty wrote a second long letter marked by even increased warmth of friendship and appreciation for the

veteran statesman.

Threatened

The distinction of Privy Councillor is, after all, the highest a Sovereign can bestow. It was borne by Disraeli in his prime. It sufficed Peel and Gladstone to the last. Mr. Arthur Balfour, with choice of Revolt of the Judges. stars and ribbons galore, not to mention a peerage at his command, is proudly content with its simplicity.

It is true that of late years some alloy has been introduced into the aggregate of purest metal. When the earliest arrangements for the Coronation were settled it was discovered that the judges were divided into two classes, those who were Privy Councillors and those who were not. The former had allotted to them especially good points of view in the Abbey, the other judges—and judges, when divested of wig and gown, are, after all, almost human -murmured at what they regarded as an invidious distinction. A meeting was held at which there was talk of resenting the slight by abstaining from attendance. Good temper and contentment were restored by the wise words of the youngest judge present.

"When we remember," he said, "that X. and Y. are members of the Privy Council, don't you think the distinction really rests with us who are not?"

The fact that their learned brother had sat for ten years in the House of Commons in the same political camp as the right hon. gentlemen of whom he spoke sharpened the point of the observation. The judges resolved to take no notice of the arbitrary division of the Bench, ignoring the pretension it conveyed of the superiority of Privy Councillors.

Remembering the success of his prognostication, it is interesting to know what Mr. Chamberlain thinks of the prospect of the next General Election. He Next Time. does not, at present, think about it at all, being convinced that, bar unparalleled accident, the present Parliament will run its full appointed course. It will be time enough somewhere about autumn 1905 to begin to form opinion on the issue of a General Election. But the Colonial Secretary has a well-defined and fearless opinion about the result of a General Election should it be forced at the present time. He believes that if it were to take place next week the Government would be reinstated in power with at least the numerical majority that placed them there in October 1900.

"A Tender

hearted Fanatic."

There was something tragic about the death of Johnston
of Ballykilbeg. He was in the House
on a Thursday night, when
he heard Mr. Wyndham, with
that pedantry that pertains
to officials, upset a cherished project.
Rostrevor is, it appears, a stronghold of
Roman Catholicism in the North of
Ireland. Argal, it was the very place
upon which, on the 12th of July, anni-
versary of a blessed memory, Orangemen
should march with sashes flaunting and
drums beating. Rostrevor, to do it
justice, did not shirk the ordeal. On
the contrary, its inhabitants joyously
prepared to welcome the coming guests.
Then the Chief Secretary to the Lord
Lieutenant steps on the scene and, with
deplorable lack of human sympathy,
prohibits the excursion on the prosaic
ground that if it were permitted there
would be a battle-royal, a field strewn

with dead and wounded.

With the best intentions he added