illustrating a prominent and very creditable feature of the debates
in the House. That time is of some value, and that no remarks can be
tolerated, unless they are intelligent and pertinent, are cardinal
doctrines of debate, and are quite rigidly enforced. At the same time
mere dulness is often overlooked, as soon as it appears that the speaker
has something to say which deserves to be heard. But there is one
species of oratory which is never tolerated for a moment, and that
is the sort of declamation which is designed merely or mainly for
home-consumption,--speaking for Buncombe, as we call it. The instant,
therefore, that it was evident that Mr. Coningham was addressing,
not the House of Commons, but his constituents at Brighton, he was
interrupted by derisive cheers and contemptuous groans. Again and again
did the indignant orator attempt to make his voice heard above the
confusion, but in vain; and when, losing all presence of mind, he made
the fatal admission,--"I can tell Honorable Gentlemen that I have just
returned from visiting my constituents, and I can assure the House that
more intelligent"--the tumult became so great, that the remainder of the
sentence was entirely lost. Seeing his mistake, Mr. Coningham changed
his ground. "I appeal to the courtesy of Honorable Members; I do not
often trespass upon the House; I implore them to give me a patient
and candid hearing." This appeal to the love of "fair play," so
characteristic of Englishmen, produced immediately the desired effect,
and the member concluded without further interruption.

Mr. Edwin James was the next prominent speaker. He has won a wide
reputation as a barrister, chiefly in the management of desperate
criminal cases, culminating in his defence of Dr. Barnard, charged with
being accessory to the attempted assassination of Louis Napoleon. The
idol of the populace, he was elected by a large majority in May, 1859,
as an extreme Liberal or Radical, to represent Marylebone in the present