When the Liberals were in Opposition, there was a general desire among the Irish members to take possession of the third seat above the Gangway; and the first seat has enormous advantages--tactically--for anyone anxious to catch the Speaker's eye.

But whenever the sturdy form of the member for Rochdale appeared, the fiercest of the Irishry were ready to give way; and from his coign of vantage, he beamed blissfully down on the House of Commons.
[Sidenote: Strong, but Merciful.] Mr.Chamberlain had the boldness to challenge what hitherto had remained unchallenged; and Mr.Potter's wrath was aroused.

He is not one of those people who require the spiritual sustenance of the Chaplain's daily prayers; and, accordingly, it was an effort to get down at three o'clock, when that ceremony begins; but his wrath upheld him; and thus it was that on a certain night, the thin form and sharp nose of Mr.
Chamberlain peered out on the House from behind the massive form of the Member for Rochdale.

It looked as if the unhappy Member for West Birmingham had undergone a sort of transformation, and had, like Mr.
Anstey's hero in "Vice Versa," gone back to the tiny form and slight face of his boyhood.

Mr.Potter, however, is merciful, and having asserted his rights, he surrendered them again gracefully to Mr.
Chamberlain; and the perky countenance of the gentleman from Birmingham once more looked down from the heights of the third bench.