ENGLAND AT WAR
minister whose especial care should be economic
questions. The Government's reply was that the
presence of Sir John Simon, the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, was enough. One might hardly have
imagined that this would have been an occasion for
amiable and amusing exchanges. But such was the
case. Herbert Morrison and Major Attlee, speaking
on behalf of the Opposition, were courteous and
gently ironical. Sir John Simon, who was defending
himself, thanked them for it. Their urbanity, he
said, brought to his mind a quotation from Isaac
Walton's Compleat Angler: 'Treat your worm as if
you loved it/
An Opposition member then rose to make an
amendment. 1 believe/ he said, 'that I know the
Compleat Angler by heart: the text does not say:
"Treat your worm as if you loved it" but "Treat
your fish as if you loved it"/
Sir John spoke again: 'The Hon. Member is
right/ he said, 'but I thought "your worm" might
be more amusing/
The House agreed with him. Whereupon he
added that it was very difficult for him to take part
in a debate of that nature. It reminded him of the
time when the Lord Chancellor was presiding over
the Privy Council and the order of the day was Is an
orthodox Englishman obliged to believe in eternal
punishment?' A celebrated theologian objected. It
is unfair/ he said, 'that the Lord Chancellor should
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