Public speaking has gone on at the usual rate, but
little that is noticeable has been said. Lord Enfield has defended the House of Commons from the charge of too much talking and too little work, and at the same time blamed the press for reporting speeches, and prided himself upon being a silent working Mem- ber. Lord Robert Montagu, and Mr. Paget have also felt it necessary to apologize for the shortcomings of the House to which they belong. It is curious that no Member has yet appeared who has not, on one ground or another, adopted the apologetic or the vindicatory style. What a theme Mr. Disraeli missed when he neglected this topic at Salthill and Aylesbury. How brilliant he could have been in defence of his order, if he had been so minded. How artfully he could have turned all the blame upon Ministers But he had set apart the recess for the elaboration of the part of the country gentleman who lives at home at ease, un- troubled except by the weeds in the wheat, and the shortcomings of short horns.
Mr. Adderley, Mr. Hardy, M. Gamier Pages, and M. Des- merest, have been promoting education in Staffordshire and the diocese of Canterbury ; Mr. Hardy, of course, taking an Ultra- Church-of-England position, and opposing the recent proceedings of the Committee of Council with as much gusto as if he were speaking in 1839.
