The Express.
London, England, 1866-04-28 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, SATURDAY EVENING, APRIL 28, 1866.

of that gentleman, who, however, did not wince.
Nothing could have been more tender than his
manner when he was dealing with Mr. Lowe,
whom he treated more as an erring brother
than a genuine opponent ; and probably never
was pathos at once more manly and more
touching than when he described himself
as having no original title to the leadership of the
liberal party, and thanked that party for receiving
him as an " outcast" into their sympathies and
their confidence. The physical sustentation which
he displayed was almost as striking as the in-
tellectual development. His voice did not fail
him a jot ; and as from time to time he ran up
and down the whole oratorical scale, every tone
was fitting and every emphasis appropriate. The
comprehensiveness of the speech was mar-
vellous ; no topic was left untouched, no argument
unanswered ; illustration came in with wonderful
appositeness ; and, above all, a new quality was
evoked which alone has hitherto been wanting to
the completeness of Mr. Gladstone as a parliamen-
tary orator. He was eminently tactical. If he
was about to use a phrase which might have been
irritating—he stopped and substituted another ;
he spoke to the opposition with a deference
to their acknowledged position as a great pai
even when he was severely rebuking, or solemnly
warning them. Nothing can be conceived
more impressive than the deliberate enunciation
of the peroration with which he brought to a close
that which the undisguised and involuntary
applause of his opponents, which rang out from
time to time, no less than the prolonged
and enthusiastic cheers of his supporters, and
the murmured opinion of every spectator of the
scene--proclaimed to be the very greatest speech he
has ever delivered.
It was long, counting by minutes, ere the
formal division could be called. At that
moment the house seemed thin ; many seats
were vacant, and the bar was not abso-
lutely thronged so that there began to be pre-
valent a notion that many members had gone away.
In the result it appeared that they must have gone
in some numbers, by anticipation, into the different
lobbies before the question was put. Hours seemed
compressed into minutes as the process of sepa-
rating the ayes from the noes went on, with appa-
rently unusual slowness. Ever and anon some
enthusiastic member of the opposition would run
in and whisper how their side was going, and
before the tellers for the noes appeared there
went a suppressed cry though the house that the
opposition had got 313 votes. But though this
seemed to be welcomed with delight, there were
exclamations which indicated that there were still
fears that Ministers would poll more than their
antagonists hoped and expected. At this time it
may be noted that the Prince of Wales, the Duke
of Cambridge, and Prince Teck had in a main . r
evaded the order for the withdrawal of strangers,
which is especially applicable to the parrs of
Vie house they occupied, and enaconc
themselves in a group at the door of the Speaker's
gallery, which, now-a-days, is technically out of
the house. At length, and when the tension of
the moment was at its highest strain, the tellers
for the Ayes, that is of those who were in favour of
the government, with difficulty forced themselves
through the throng at the bar. The lapse of time
between their appearance and the entry of the tellers
for the Noes was so comparatively great, that
speculation arose as to whether, as the process
of counting on the government side had been
so prolonged, the majority might not be larger
than even the most sanguine had anticipated. When
the paper containing the numbers was hand.Al
to Mr. Brand, the ministerialista vociferated in a
way that seemed to treble their numbers in idea,
and the opposition broke out with rebutting cheers,
which sounded very much like yells. Ri-iht gal-
lantly, and in a voice as sonorous and distinct as
if he were pronouncing the most unmis-
takeable triumph, Mr. Brand delivered
the verdict which gave to Ministers a
majority of five. No words can give a notion of
the tumult that ensued. Each aide seemed
resolved to claim the victory, and were deter-
mined not to be outdone in clamorous assertion
of it. It was in vain that anyone endeavoured to
discriminate between the noises, or to decide which
aide was the most vigorous. It was during a
short pause in the clamour that Mr. Gladstone, in
a low voice and a hurried manner, announced
that ho would fix the committee for Monday, and
then state the " course of business." The
opposition caught up this phrase and laughed and
derided in that manner of which they are perhaps
the better professors in the house. It was
verging upon 4 o'clock, and though it seemed
as if members were reluctant to quit the scene of
so much excitement, and though they lingered for
a brief while, it was not long ere every vestige of
the great Reform debate of 1866 had disappeared
from the house.

ITALY AND VENETIA.

(REUTER'S REMISS.)
MILAN, APRIL 24.

Advices received here from Mantua to the 20th
inst. announce that the warlike preparations ini
that city had assumed a more decided character.
In addition to several general measures for the
collection of military stores and munitions, orders
had been given to increase the effective of the
army. The artillery were first called out and a
large number of men of this corps had arrived at
Mantua in order to fill up the companies in the
field batteries. On the night of the 18th inst. the
police, assisted by a military detachment, went
round to the houses not only of the conscripts but
of the soldiers on furlough and brought
them away to the barracks. This mode of
making the levy was adopted in the
neighbouring communes, as well as in Mantua
itself, and was regarded as an evidence of the dis-
trust in which the Austrian authorities hold the
men recruited in her Italian dominions. Work-
men were busy in the forts and the greatest
activity was displayed in all the military esta-
blishments.

FLORENCE, APRIL 25.

The Italia Militare estimates that the calling in
of the reserves and of the men on furlough, has
augmented the Austrian army in Venetia by one
third. It confirms the intelligence received from
various quarters respecting the activity recently
displayed in arming and provisioning the fortresses
and the constant movement of troops. Verona
and Venice are the two great centres from which
war material and provisions are continually being
despatched, particularly by night.
The Naples Italia publishes a despatch from
Florence dated 22nd instant announcing that the
Minister of Marine has forwarded a circular to the
heads of the maritime departments ordering them
to suspend all works of secondary importance and
only to proceed with those that will render the
royal war vessels ready for service in the shortest
possible time.
The same paper states that the Italian govern-
ment has despatched an order to England for Arm-
I strong guns.