The hon. and learned Gentleman the Member for the City of Oxford said at an earlier period of the Session that "the trade of this country was the very breath of its nostrils," and the right hon. Gentleman opposite the Member for the City of London favoured us some little time ago with a most interesting and graphic description of the disastrous condition at the present moment of wellnigh every trade and well- 1116 nigh every industry in this country, and there can, indeed, be no doubt that we are passing through a most Grave and Serious Crisis, the effects of which will be felt by thousands for many long years to come.

We are in a very Grave and Serious Crisis.