text:  It was not without much flattery and coaxing that the adroit Premier of all men best formed for a general leader of the House of Commons could persuade the unfortunate members that an unfaltering attendance of some six hours a-day in a sweltering and ill-ventilated room where their ears were regaled with a constant repetition of the jargon connected with curves gradients and traffic-tables was their great and primary duty to the commonwealth