It is said that in the same way his colleagues on the front Opposition
bench would prefer Jimmy's room to his company. In Parliamentary
politics, as in diplomacy, there is such a thing as having an agent whom
you can profit by, and at the same time disavow--just as it may suit
you. That is one of the many guileful methods of these crafty men who
sit on front benches on both sides of the House. Obstruction is a thing
too horrible to be practised by any man who has ever held responsible
position, and it is delightful to see how Mr. Balfour repudiates the
very idea of anything of the kind. It would, therefore, have suited Mr.
Balfour a good deal better if Jimmy could have obstructed from some
quarter of the House where his closeness of association would not so
largely commit his more responsible colleagues to participation in his
iniquities. However, it was not to be managed; and the leaders of the
Opposition are bound to put up with the closeness of Jimmy's
companionship.

[Sidenote: Mr. Lowther's intellect.]

Again I repeat, obstruction is a matter not of intellect, but
temperament. Intellectually, I should put Jimmy in a very low place,
even in the ranks of the stupid party. Temperamentally he stands very
high. A brief description of his methods of obstruction will bring this
home. First, it should be said that he is entirely inarticulate and,
beyond rough common sense, destitute of ideas. He has nothing to say,
and he cannot say it. There are men in the House of Commons who have
plenty of thoughts, and who have plenty of words besides, and could
branch out on any subject whatever into a dissertation which would
command the interest even of political foes. But Jimmy is not of this
class. He is capable, on the contrary, of bringing down the loftiest
subject that ever moved human breasts to something stumbling,