Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-01-10
Gladstone the Orator.
DESCRIPTION OF HIS PLATFORM CHARACrB sIsrIcS
AND his MANNER OF SPEAKING

AND his MANNER OF SPEAKING.
George NJ ToHle in Good Company.J
mcnt bench, drew himself up holding q small
slip Of paper In his hand, and quietly looked on
the multitude whose single gaze was upon him,
ne seemed younger and more Imposing than he
had dene when standing chatting In the lobby.
One recognized at once. by his mere expression
and motion, that he was already warm and
proud with the ardor of forensic conflict; TINT
he loved his arena on which he stood, and that
his whole soul was In the task before him. In
his first few simple sentences one already felt
the sweet and persuasive power of a voice
any assembly on earth. There was the soul and
life OF intense earneStness In its very finest tones
as the commonplace opening OF the speech was
burn out and glow with all the fire OF the mans
warm and intellectual nature. The next thing
observed was the contrast between this smooth.
guage, pouring out long and involved sentences
without pause, hitch, an instant's loss of
the right word, and the he5itating oratory
the stammertng OF Lord John Russell, the hum
ming and having Of the genial Palmerston, and
the studied abruptness OF Disraeli, this rapid,
steady, hmped quality of Mr. Gladstone'S elo-
quence was charming. To his wonderful fluency
the fieXibility and strength as well as sweetness
OF his voce added striking effects. for it has
depth, volume and wide range of tone.
quickly adaptS itself to the rhetorical needs of
the mon ent.
His style of speaking was easy and simple
AS He YTOCetutu he pldyeu WIN q piece OF paper
In his hand, which soon proved to contain the
few notes he had prepared; and every now aud
then he stroked the thin hair above his forehead
with his foref1nger or thumb, as II to encourage
the idea to come out into expression. The geS-
lures were at first few, the clinched hand Occa-
sloDally suddenly saving the air for moment
then falling as suddenly prone to his side. AS
ne advanced he often Strengthened himself UP
from a colloquial to declamatory posture.
with his head thrown back, his sunken, dark
eyes glfStening from beneath the heavy brow;
and the strong jaw seeming to set as for a Sc
riouS purpose; and then he would as he passed
TO another branch of the subject relapse into
the conversational attitude again, The move
ments, 1t would be easily seen, were quite I'M
studied, the impulse of the moment guided the
action OF head or hand, or the expression Of the
speaking features. AS he warmed to his subject
his action became more excited and his gesture
more frequent. Now, his head was almos5
every moment high in air, his hands would
be clasped as If In appeal, he turned OFTEN to the
front OF him. Every attitude was at once I'M
graceful and strong. The spontaneity, the
earncstness, made even the orators occasional
aWkWardneSS eloquent; while the continual I'M
hesitating, liquid flow Of the words and SEN
fences, and the solid chain of thought, most
often diverted the listeners mind from the ges-
lures altogether. You felt proudly that he was
lions; that the cause he advocated was buried
deep In his heart, and was the outcome alike of
conscience and Intellectual self persuasion. The
dominant idea with him was, not to make a
great display, not to produce refined and pol
tshed-on bit of eloquence, but TO persuade and to
convince. He produced that powerful effect
upon his nearer which is one of the highest tri-
unphs OF oratory, that made you feel ashamed
and perverse not to agree with him and be per-
suaded.