Many a man possesses an undiscovered knack of extempore rhyming, a gift which has seldom or never been exercised in the House of Commons. That will be a bright day for legislators when a Member rises in his place and begins something like this: "Sir, if the House will bear with me one moment, I should like to say that I, for one, cannot agree that we have found the perfect way of dealing with a gross neglect to which all honest men object." Any Member who could keep up that sort of thing for half-an-hour (and some, no doubt, could, if they would only practise) would achieve lasting fame, not only for his originality, but because of the remarkable scenes amid which his concluding lines would almost certainly be uttered.
"The Germans planned to expel the British from South Africa, aided by disinfected Boers."
Englishman (Calcutta),
But, in the end, it was General Botha who cleared out the Germs.
Mabel (after Sunday tea, on departure of officers quartered in the neighbourhood). "I'm glad Captain Devereux didn't come, as I'm not looking my oldest to-day."