Mr.Sexton had now to fight, not Mr.
Brodrick, not even Mr.Balfour--but the chair; and to fight the chair is to enter into a contest with the Grand Llama of the House of Commons.
Meantime the House had filled; and every nook and cranny was occupied; a large number of members were standing up; and there was that intense thrill of excitement which always forecasts a great outburst, and the outburst came when Mr.Sexton--resolute and composed--gave it plainly to be understood that he would not obey the ruling of the chair; and that he must first get an apology from Mr.Brodrick, as the original offender, before Mr.Brodrick got any apology from him.

Then was the cyclone let loose; and there began a series of the wildest, most violent, most angry, and disorderly scenes I have ever witnessed.

Scores of members were on their legs at the same time; men hitherto quiet, composed, and good-natured, began to raise cries hoarse with rage, and finally four or five hundred voices were united in producing the deafening and discordant din of angry and contradictory voices.

Nor was this all.

In some parts of the House men began directly to assail each other--to exchange language of taunt, and insult, and defiance; and, in more than one corner, there were the signs of impending physical conflict.