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

tion and assiduously cheered by Mr. Gladstone.
Indeed it may here be mentioned that one of his
traits of leadership is the marked encouragement
which he gives to all the younger and newer mem-
bers of his party in the house. To Captain
Grosvenor succeeded Mr. Butler-Johnstone, one of
the rising young tories. After him there was
evidence of the value of Mr. Darby Griffith's
suggestion that the arrangement of seats in
the house ought better to indicate the polities of
speakers than is now the case ; for The O'Dono-
ghue, who always sits below the gangway on the
opposition, rose exactly in front of Mr.
Butler-Johnstone to give utterance to one
of the most uncompromising speeches in
favour of the government which has been
delivered in the debate. Even on Irish questions

The O'Donoghue is an un-Irish speaker, emphatic
but calm, earnest but without a trace of passion ;
he pronounces well-rounded sentences argumenta-
tively constructed, and, truth to say, smacking
rather of preparation. On an imperial question,
therefore, he might well be supposed to be almost
cold ; but this time he was anything but that.
Some strong feeling of faith in Mr. Gladstone
evidently possessed him, and towards the close
of his speech he gave it vent, in terms
which were unmistakeable, and an em-

phasis which seemed to be eminently genuine ;
and it need hardly be said that the object
of his panegyric showed more and more symptoms
of grateful appreciation. The cheers from the mi-
nisterial aide were led with vigour by the minis-

terial leader.
The awkward period of the evening-7 o'clock—
had now arrived ; and, contrary to expecta-

tion, the house grew almost empty, and it was,
as on an ordinary night, left to the ruck of
memberdom to bridge over the critical chasm in
the debate. It was in the midst of a

parliamentary desert that Mr. Baines—who
had struggled often before for a hearing—gained
an opportunity of repeating in brief the statistical
arguments in favour of a reduction of the fran-
chise, which he had on former occasions so elabor-
ately and successfully developed. He did not seem
to be influenced by anything more than a
desire to avoid the appear►nce of indiffer-
ence, which he might have incurred had he
remained wholly silent, and he was very
brief. To the new members his statements
may have been new, but to the older ones they
were only a reminiscence. The condition of the de-

- - - -
bate was now much like that which is implied when
it is said that a discussion is as dull as if it was on
a turnpike bill. Both leaders were absent, and
so there was nothing to prevent Mr. Newdegate
having his say ; and Mr. P. A. Taylor met with
equal, that is no, favour, but only indifferent
sufferance. It was twenty minutes to 10, and Mr.
Gladstone reappeared in his place, followed im-
mediately by Mr. Disraeli, and they both so settled
themselves that suggestions of the immediate com-
mencement of the great parliamentary duel which
was impending, were rife. Still, possibly, because
the house was only slowly filling, the high opponent
parties seemed to daily with opportunity, and minor
members yet had precedence. It was quite an inci-

dent when Mr. Robert Harvey, the conservative
member for Thetford, rose, and in a simple, but
distinct way, announced that duty to his con-
atituents compelled him to vote with the
government. The miniaterialista overwhelmed
him with cheers ; and gentlemen around him
looked askance, or turned on him with
blank astonishment on their countenances. Yet
further, and Mr. W. E. Duncombe, a veritable
outsider, was suffered to utter his dis-
jointed criticisms on the measure until the
charmed hour of 10 was reached. Then
it was clear that the house desired that the reign
of dulness should cease, and though for a moment
they recognised Mr. Locke King's claim to say
something on the subject of the lowering
of the franchise, they did not bear
him long, and the unanimous cry of " Divide"
rang out generally till he gave way to
Mr. Disraeli, who obtained an ovation from his
friends, and was not able to speak for a
minute or two, standing the cynosure of every
eye. It was to be noticed that some of the
cheers came from a little nook, somewhere about
the third bench &shin(' the ministers, and near the
place where Lord Grosvenor sat. Suddenly Mr.
Gladstone bent his head down between his knees,
as if assuming a defensive position against
a pmximate, pitiless shower of sarcasm and attack ;
but a very few minutes served to assure him that
there was nothing in the shape of hard-hitting to
be anticipated ; for Mr. Disraeli went in
for one of those quasi politico-philosophic
harangues, in which he seems to delight,
and which delight no one else. He did
not speak in oratorical fashion ; he only con-
versed, and even when here and there he used the
argunieutum ad hominem. against Mr. Gladstone,
which he did parenthetically, and by fits
and starts, he scarcely rose above the level of
scolding. It soon became apparent that he was
physically out of order ; his voice was not at his
command, it grew husky, and, contrary to his cus-
tom, he consumed glass after glass of water. Once he
burst into something like spontaneity when he was
describing the sort of parliament which would control
the destinies of the country as a consequence of
the extension of the franchise, and whose character
he summed up when he designated it as an
assembly of mediocrities only capable of
mischief at the bidding of the ruling dema-
gogue of the hour. With effort, but successful effort,
he warmed up to the proper pitch when he was ex-
huming the under-graduate opinions of Mr. Glad-
stone, and when he was what he himself would call
" roasting " Mr. Mill ; and he rose to the veriest
height of insolent personality when he charged
down on Mr. Bright. Two hours and forty
minutes brought him to the close of what may im-
partially be stated as one of the most laboured,
and yet most ineffective speeches he has ever de-
livered.
It was 1 o'clock ; not a section of a corner
of the house was unoccupied, save the seat
on which the Prince of Wales had sat for a
great part of Mr. Disraeli's speech, but which
he had not long before vacated ; but not to
leave the house, as afterwards appeared. With
alacrity and a free air of confidence, Mr. Gladstone
stood by the table, while cheer upon cheer rang
out from behind him, echoed and re-echoed in a
hostile sense by the opposition. He looked as if
he felt that he was equal to the situation ; and
he began as he continued and ended—in
a tone of deep earnestness ; every word seemed
to issue from his heart ; and all the powers
of his mind seemed to be concentrated on
the enunciation of every sentence. Here and
there he descended to a playful and colloquial
manner ; now and again, when his most bril-
liant points were met by noisy and senseless
Indications of dissent by the opposition, he
assumed an attitude of proud rebuke. When, as
was his first task, he retorted with withering sar-
casm and bitterly deliberate utterance on Mr.
Disraeli, lie looked sternly straight into the eyes