In the discussion on the Hares Preservation Bill, which took
place on Wednesday in the House of Commons, Sir William Harcourt posed as the representative of the small occupier against a Bill which would, he said, practically repeal the Ground Game Bill of 1880; but he was so much astray in his facts, and was contradicted from so many quarters as to the wishes of the small occupiers, that for once even his self- confidence was hardly equal to the occasion. Sir H. Selwin- Ibbetson, Mr. Gurdon, and Sir J. Kennaway, all asked for a close-time for hares on behalf of the small occupiers whom Sir W. Harcourt professed to represent, and the Closure was ulti- mately carried against him by a majority of 130 (231 to 101), and the amendment for which Sir W. Harcourt argued defeated by a majority of 109 (239 to 130). Sir W. Harcourt's bumptious- ness on subjects with which he has no familiarity is greater than is becoming even to an almost professional debater.
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