Mr. Bradlaugh, however, furnished the House of Commons once more with a personal diversion. Lord Hartington’s pledge that the Attorney-General would bring in an Affirmation Bill was followed by an undertaking from Mr. Bradlaugh, that he would not press his claim to be sworn till the fate of this measure had been determined. Though the arguments for and against such a project had already been thrashed out, it was debated for a fortnight, the Tories straining every effort to waste time over its discussion. Finally it was defeated by a vote of 292 to 289; and when Mr. Bradlaugh wrote to the Speaker claiming his right to take the oath, Sir Stafford Northcote carried a resolution prohibiting him from doing so. On the 9th of July, in reply to Mr. Bradlaugh’s threat to treat this decision as invalid, Sir Stafford revived the resolution excluding him from the precincts of the House. Mr. Bradlaugh then brought an action against the Serjeant-at-Arms for enforcing this order, which the Attorney-General was instructed to defend. The only real progress made by the Government with business before Easter was with the Bankruptcy Bill, the main object of which was to provide for an independent examination into all circumstances of insolvency, to be conducted by officials of the Board of Trade. It was read a second time and referred to the Grand Committee on Trade, who sent it back to the House of Commons on the 25th of June. The House of Lords passed it without cavil, and Mr. Chamberlain, who had charge of the measure, was congratulated on the ability and tact which he had displayed in conducting it. The Patents Bill, which reduced inventors’ fees, had the same happy history as the Bankruptcy Bill, in whose wake it followed. The Law Bills of the Ministry were less fortunate. The Bill establishing a Court of Appeal in criminal cases was fiercely opposed by the Tories, under the leadership of Sir Richard Cross, Sir Hardinge Giffard, and Mr. Gibson. It was before the Grand Committee on Law from the 2nd of April till the 26th of June, when it was reported to the House and dropped by the Government. The Criminal Code Bill was read a second time on the 12th of April, in spite of the hostility of the Irish Party, who resisted one of the provisions enabling magistrates to examine suspected persons. In the Standing Committee, however, the Bill was so pertinaciously obstructed by Lord Randolph Churchill, Mr. Gorst, and Sir H. D. Wolff, that Sir Henry James abandoned it in despair. When Sir Henry James mentioned this fact in the House of Commons on the 21st of June, Sir H. D. Wolff asked Mr. Gladstone derisively “whether, having regard to the signal success of the principle of delegation and devolution,” he intended to refer any other Bills to Grand Committees. This question was accentuated by loud outbursts of mocking laughter from Lord Randolph Churchill, which, Mr. Gladstone declared, rendered it impossible for him even to hear the terms of the interpellation.