I Forbid the Banns! — page 381: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ON PARLIAMENT AND THE PADDED ROOM. 371 Sir Ecroyd strolled round to the Treasury bench while the hooting, and bellowing, and blustering went on. Such persons as are curious on the subject of the padded room and the cerebral phenomena that tend to that apartment should not go to Colney Hatch. The House of Commons ina “scene” will serve their purpose admirably. The McBratney stood disheveled, but defiant. He had been a pawnbroker’s assistant in a small town in the County Carlow previous to entering the House of Commons, and his professional duties had given him a certain mastery of language, but had not imparted to him any delicate sense of local color in phraseology. ‘The intoxicated laborer who had questioned his accuracy in calculating the utmost sum chargeable upon a corduroy waistcoat, he had pacified by calling hima liar. He had attempted, with indifferent suc- cess, the pacification of some of his opponents in the House of Commons by a free use of the same word; and now, owing to his deplorable deficiency of a sense of the local color attached to the word, he was about to be named by the Speaker. The chief of The McBratney’s party had just entered the House. He seated himself in front of The McBratney, who was becoming more disheveled and defiant every moment. “Did you call the man a liar, sir?” asked the chief in a low tone. “J did, yer honner,” replied the honorable member. “Then withdraw the word, sir,’ said the chief. ‘ But isn’t he afther sayin’ ‘i ‘Withdraw the word; keep your blackguardism for the other side of the Channel.” The McBratney got sulkily to his legs. _ «J withdhrah, Mr. Speaker,” he muttered. Then seating himself, while the cheers rang from all sides—for this was, CORNIELIOOKS (€(0)