Mr. Ayrton, Secretary to the Treasury, had to represent the
Government in the House of Commons on Tuesday, which he did, according to all accounts, with a good deal of tact and dignity. There was a debate whether or not Mr. Goschen's seat for the City was " claimed " by the petition against the Liberal mem- bers, in which case a new writ could probably not have been moved for. But Mr. Arton was well up in his facts. He had an "office copy" of the petition in his hand to prove his case ; lie "ventured to deprecate a continuance of the discussion ;" "in making the motion he had acted under a full sense of responsi- bility ;" in short, he played leader of the House of Commons for once with all the tact and dignity of a real leader. Some morning paper, we forget which, fell into genuine raptures over his "statesmanship." That is a big word for a small part, but he really did it very well.
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