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etiquette, however slight — even if it be due solely to ignorance — meets with a stern re buke not only from the Speaker but from the House generally. Every sitting of the House of Commons opens with prayers which are recited by the chaplain. It is a curious circumstance that the two front benches are always deserted at these devotions. Now, it is on the treas ury bench and on the front opposition bench that the men who control the destinies of the Empire sit, and surely they stand more in need of divine light and guidance in the discharge of their duties than the unofficial members of the House. Nevertheless, a minister or an ex-minister is rarely, if ever, seen in the chamber at prayers. It must not be inferred, however, that the great, wise and eminent occupants of the front benches of the House of Commons, in thus absenting themselves from devotions, deem themselves so exalted above ordinary mortals that they stand not in need of prayers. Nor is it, even, that they think themselves past praying for. On the other hand, the regular attendants at devotions must not be regarded on that account as men of deep piety. Probably some members who may be seen every evening devoutly listening to the invocations of the chaplain never attend service elsewhere. What, then, is the explanation? Well, the House consists of six hundred and sev enty members, but only about half that num ber can be accommodated with seats in the chamber. Consequently, on important and interesting nights there is always a lively competition for places. The scramble for seats on such occasions is regulated by cer tain rules. A member present at prayers has a right to the place he then occupies until the rising of the House. Each evening stands absolutely independent and by itself, and therefore the title to a seat secured by attendance at prayers lapses at the termina tion of the sitting. On the table, in a little box, is a supply

of small white cards with the words " at prayers " in large old English letters. Ob taining one of these cards, and writing his name on it under the words " at prayers," the member slips it into a receptacle in the bench at the back of the seat, and thus se cures the place for the night against all comers. He may immediately leave the house, and remain away as long as he pleases. The place may be occupied by an other member in the mean time, but when ever the master of the seat — the gentleman whose autograph is written on the card in the little brass slit — returns to the chamber, the temporary occupant of the seat must give place to him. Thus does piety in the House of Com mons meet immediately with the substantial reward of a seat in which to listen in comfort to a long debate. The consequence is that at times of great excitement in the House there is a most edifying display of devotion on the part of members, but in the dull sea son the attendance at prayers is deplorably lax. And as the occupants of the front benches have their seats secured to them by custom — a custom which now possesses all the force of a law — they never lend the éclat of their superior presence to the daily devotions of the House. Old and respected unofficial members of the House, who are in the habit of using certain seats, are, by courtesy, also allowed to occupy these places without dispute or question. No unoccupied seat can after prayers be retained, as a matter of right, by a member absent from devotions placing a card or a hat or gloves thereon; but it may be so se cured as a matter of courtesy. But how is a member to retain a seat until he absolutely secures it for the evening by being present at prayers? Must he enter the chamber early and sit in the seat until the Speaker takes the chair? No, he may leave his hat on the seat, and then betake himself to the reading-room or the dining-room, or to any other part of the palace of Westminster he