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 that he did not care whether the Queen or the Devil was on the throne. Peel replied:

No such gem as this can be discovered in the Parliamentary diggings of the past quarter of a century, and I am driven to wonder whether the art has perished or whether we are merely degenerate men.

In Parliamentary memoirs frequent reference is made to the maiden speeches of orators who afterwards became famous, and the diarist is apt to read into his own recollection an anticipation of the fame that was to be. I have heard a great many maiden speeches, and I once made one. Nothing can exceed the generosity of the two Houses on such an occasion. Men hurry in to cheer the performance of the youthful novice, or even of the man who has entered the House in middle life. Any symptoms of promise are eagerly welcomed and generously exaggerated, and the speaker, if successful, finds a warm welcome on his next appearance. But the conditions under which the maiden speech is delivered are such as to deprive it of any real value as a test of ability or merit, and most of the stories, whether of success or failure (and this applies even to the famous case of Disraeli), should be subject to a very considerable discount. Occasionally, a maiden speech turns out to be an epitome of qualities or talents that designate the speaker to impending fame. In recent years, the most conspicuous case of this was the maiden speech of Mr. F. E. Smith, the prelude to many subsequent triumphs both in the House and on the platform.

In this long review of the Parliamentary achievements of the past, the question may be asked whether any speech or speeches appear to stand out as the best and most perfect examples of the art whose many phases I have examined. It is as impossible to say with confidence of any speech that it was the best ever made, or made in a particular period or country, as to