Louisiana capitolian., 1880-01-31
GLADSTONE THE ORATOR,
4 DESCRIPTION or Hls srLA1foRx
CHARACTERISTICS AND Hle NAN
NER or SPEAKING.
(George NJ. Towle n Good Csspaay.j

(Gerge NJ. Towls N Good CsDpaay.j
When the orator rose iium the ltUnt
government bench, drew himself up,
holding q small slip Of paper In his
hand, and quietly looked On the mul-
titudc whose single gaze WAS upon
him, he seemed younger and moro
imposing than he had done when
standing chatting IN the lobby. One
recognized At once, by his mere ex-
preston and motion, that he Was A.
ready warm and proud with the arilor
offorensic conflict, that he loved his
arena on which he stood, and that his
whole soul was In the task bef6se him.
In his frst few simple sentences ono
already felt the sweet and persuasive
power ofa voice which, even IN his
age, has perhaps no equal In any ~
sembly on earth. There was tho soul
and life Of intense earnestness Ii its
very finest tones as the commend place
opening Of the speech wac uttered;
now subdued, to be sure, hut soon to
burn out and glow with all the 6re Of
the mars warm and Intellectual ma
ture. The next thing observed was
the contrast between this smooth,
steady flow Of words, this rising hu-
ency Of language, pouring out long
and involved sentences without 4
pause, q hitch, an instant's loss Of the
right word, and the hesit,ting oratory
Of most English public men. After
listening to the stammering of Lord
John Russell, the hnmming and haw-
ing Of the genial Palmcrston, and the
studied abrnptness Of Disrneli, this
lapid, stenly limped quality Of Mr..
Gladstone's cloquence was charming.
To his wonderful fluency the flexibil-
ity and strength as well as sweetness
Of his voice added striking effects, for
it has depth, volume and wide range
of tone, quickly adapts itself to the
rhetorical needs Of the moment.
His style Of speaking was easy
and simple. As he proceeded he
played with u piece Of paper in his
hand, which soon prOved to contain
the few notes which he had prepared;
and every now and then he stroketl
the thin hair above his forehead with
his forcfingcr or thumb, as il to en-
courage the idea to come out into ex-
preston. The gestures were Mt first
few, the clinchcd hand occasionally
suddenly saving the mir for q moment
and then falling as suddenly to hia
side. As he advanced he often
Strengthened himself up from 4 COL
loquial to a declamntory posture,
will, his head thrown back, his sunk
en-, dark eye glistcning from beneath
the heavy brow /; and the strong jaw
seeming to set, IA for II serious phr-
pose; and then he would, NJ he
passed to another brancl, of the sub
ject, relapse into tie conversational
attitude again. The movements, it
would be easily seen were quite un
studied, the impulse Of the moment
guided the action Of head and hand,
or the expression Of the speaking
features. Now, his head was almost
every moment high in the mir, his
hands would be clasped as if in ap-
peal, he turned often to the right and
to the left, or bent over the table in
front Of him. Every attitude WAS ut
once ungracefal and strong. The
spontaneity, the earnestncss, made
even the oratol''s occasional awkward
ness eloquent, while the continual,
unhesitating, liquid flow Of the words
and sentences, and the solid chain Of
thought most often diverted the lis
tener's mind from the gestures al.
together. You felt proudly that he
was speaking from the most firmly.
rooted convictions; that the cause
he advocated was buried deep IN his
heart, and was the outcome alike ol
conscience and intellectual self-per.
suasion. The dominant idea with
him was, not to make a great display,
not to produce a refined and polished.
off bit Of eloquence, but to persuade
and to convince. He produced that
powerful effect upon his hearer which
is one Of the highest triumphs Of ora.
tory, that made you feel ashamed
and perverse not to agree with him
and be persuaded.