The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1885-01-08
Mr.. cLADsToNE's oRAToRy.
4 Comparison with the Methods Of bright
and Disraeli.
ssf-s fFortuiahtly Reviewl rvs ~


and Disraeli.
ms .lFornight,y Review gs VI
Mr.. Gladstone's oratory Il, - for that
matter al oratory is, Il Q reflection Of
the Intellectual being OF the orator. IL
8 labored and lengthy, because the
mind and brain, whish furnish the
tongue With Language, ore 20 keenly ap-
prociatlyoof the difficulties which may
suggest themselves to hearers. II Mr..
Gladstone seldom touches = theme with
out adjoining it, he never touches a
theme which he docs not for the imme-
date purpose in hand exhaust. His
oratory is didactic, homiletic, beseech-
ing, eommentatorial, and microscopic
ally minute, because be does not forget
how tardy the process Of conviction is,
and how many obstacles must be dis
posed OF before the desired result Is OBJ
tanned.
1t is not long since one of his col
leagues gave an account of the differ
ence between his own oratorical method
and that Of the prime minister. When
he said, II speak I strike across from
headland to headland. But Mr.. Glad
stone coasts along. and whenever he
comes to a navigable river he cannot re-
sist the temptation to explore it to its
source" All the dissertations on rhet-
oric since the world began, from Aris-
totle to Cicero, Tacitus, and Quintilian,
down to Whately, Allison and Arnold,
may be searched before so happy and
terse an illustration is encountered.
For the reason embodied in this fgur-
alive definition of two oratorical schools,
some of Mr.. Bright's single speeches are
better than anything of Mr.. Gladstones
Net it may be doubted whether there is
anything finer in nineteenth century
oratOry than MIR. Gladstone's impromptu
speech on Mr.. Disraeli's budget of 1883,
Or than his peroration before the division
on the second reading Of Lord Russell's
reform bill was taken in 1866. In tho
same way this tribute to the memory of
Lord Beacons6eld in 1881 was not only
1 masterpiece of taste aud judgment,
but of that peculias class of oratorical
composition to which it belonged. 1t
also furnished q remarkable illustration
of Mr.. Gladstone's felicity in quota
tons, an ornament OF debate now prac-
tically obsolete.
On the whole, Mr.. Hayward's esti-
mate of Gladstone as a speaker leaves
nothing unsaid: 1T is eclipse first, and
all the rest nowhere. He may lack Mr..
Bright's impressive diction-impressive
BY its simplicity-or Mr.. Disraeli's
humor and sarcasm. But he has made
ten eminently successful speeches to
Mr.. Bright's or Nr. Disrael's one. His
foot Is ever in the stirrup; his lance is
ever in ~ rQk He throws down the
gauntlet to all;eomsra Right or wrong,
be is alwoUD rel natnnl earnest, m
affected, end unforced. He ia grsa'
debater, agreat parliamentary speaker. :
He Ia also an eminently persuasiy,
speaker, and that explains why 10 5 les:
condensed tlaA Mr., Bright. There i
no writer the tones Of whose voice it i,
easier to hear with the ear Of imagina
ton in the infections and convolution:
of his literary style than Mr.. Glad
stone. There arc few speakers who's,
speeches it b les satisfactory to read
Yet nothing is more certain than that il
Mr.. GladstOne's oratory were better lit
erature it would have been less fruitful
of results