Excerpt from The Pageant of Parliament, Vol. 2<br><br>The hon. Gentleman on his legs has long ago said all he really had to say. Why the blank does he not sit down? The others ask themselves, and they look at him ferociously. He is in that curious predicament of the unpractised and self-conscious speaker that he does not know how to stop. So he continues his harangue, not that he has anything more to say, but that it seems easier to go on talking to Mr. Speaker than to finish and sit down. Mr. Speaker, certainly, is listening amiably, politely, but scarcely sympathetically. The arguments seem to bring no conviction to Mr. Speaker. Across the face of Mr. Speaker no smile flickers at the jokes. Mr. Speaker follows the remarks of the hon. Member solely to see that he does not Offend against the rules. It must be a trying ordeal addressing the House of Commons, that most fastidious or inattentive of audiences, and not the least of its terrors are the sleepless eyes and the vigilant ears Of the ever watchful Mr. Speaker. Still, the fate of those to whom was given the chance of taking part in the debate might have been worse. At any rate, they have had the relief and the satisfaction of self-expression. The debate might have closed, and left them, like the unsuccessful competitors for the Speaker's eye, With carefully prepared unspoken speeches lying oppressively on their minds.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.