But I cannot give the effect of what was heard by a densely crowded House in absolute silence.

It was not an argument; it was an appeal.

There was not a cheer, not a murmur of agreement.

They were not needed, they would have been felt an impertinence, so great was the respect and the sympathy.

As the speaker stood there in war-stained khaki, his hair showed grey, his face was seamed with lines, but there was in every word the freshness and simplicity of a nature that age had not touched.