The new Italian Parliament appears to be even more fall
of faction than the last. The ultra-Conservatives have allied themselves with the ultra-Liberals to attack Signor Crispi,
and on June 19th, when he rose to reply, he was met by volleys of insult. As he remained calm, feeling grew hotter and hotter, until at last sixty of the Deputies used their fists, and the Chamber became a kind of Donnybrook Fair. The President, after enduring the scene for many minutes, adjourned the sitting ; but there were no expulsions, and apparently no punishments. The Times' correspondent in Rome attributes the tumult to the weakness of the President of the Chamber, the Duke of Sermoneta ; but it would seem that the fury of the parties is too hot for the organisation of the Chamber. The usual rules are not strong enough to cope with passions heated up to the point which precedes civil war, and the President ought to be invested with the powers of a Judge. It is worthy of note that the practice of the duel does not even tend to pre- vent a recourse to physical violence, the men who are ready to challenge each other being just as ready to strike blows.
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