The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1886-12-02


of the Speakers chair, was man with
pale olive complexion, jet black eyes
and hair. At that time he did not
strike me particularly, but he was SO
faultlessly dressed as to invite COM
parison with those in his Immediate
neighborhood. 1t was BENJAMIN
Disraeli. Set in frame of iron gray
hair and whiskers, and beaming as
benevolently as Mr.. Pickwick, recog-
nlzed, from its likeness to the pictures
had seen, the open, handsome counte-
nance of John Bright. Not far from
him was man who matched the great
Liberalist in genius and devotion to the
cause of reform, the sturdy and indefa-
tigable Golden, and few seats below,
rlvaling in plac:dity the expression of
the philosophers of the Birmingham
school, his arms folded. his feet crossed
and his eyes partially closed, as if in
reyery. half reclined the peoples s
William. He had no occasion to speak
that evening, and, unlike many Of the
members of our own House of Commons,
signalized this absence of any reason
to open his mouth by keeping pro-
foundly silent.
Two nights afterward / beheld him
under very different circumstances.
An animated debate had brought him
to his feet. To hear and see Gladstone
had been one of the dreams of my boy
hood. one of those dreams that never
expected to realize. Macaulay had
lashed him into my affections. His
criticisms inclined me to think that the
same prejudice and Imagination which
make the History of England from the
Accession of James L." a warning to
students who prefer accuracy of state
ment to rhetorical finish and splendor
of diction, might have distorted the
views of the essavist on ''Church and
State. Macaulay was his enemy and
l loved him '.for the enemies he had
rnade." Uuder the influence of this
sentiment [ first listened to the prince
OF English debaters and my opinion
was then, and is still, that the man who
forms any conception of Mr.. Glad
stones power as an orator, either from
reading the reports of his speeches or
from descriptions of the effect which
his spoken words have upon those who
hear them, forms conception which
the test of experience will prove to be
wholly superficial and inadequate.
Upon the occasion to which refer he
held the attention of his auditors with
out break in a speech lasting over an
hour. Three things fix themselves
ineffaceably upon the memory-his
noble presence, his wonderful voice
and the astonishing range of his vocab-
ulary. I had heard Webster, Clay,
Everett, Winthrop, Phillips, Douglass,
Cass, Sumner, Chase and nearly all the
prominent members of the succeeding
school of American orators. but never
heard voice the tones of which so
affected me as Mr.. Gladstone's did.
1t is as impossible to describe them as
it is to analvze the spell they throw
over you. You are conscious of the
fascination, you listen entranced, you
feel that the orators power spans the
whole gamut of human emotions, but
when the voice ceases, when the lights
OF the great hall are out and you have
turned away again to dull earth and
commonplace, the mystery of the con-
quest battles your every effort to ex-
plain oraccount for it. IfIwere asked
for possible key to the charm should
say it would be found in that element
of his oratory which comes nearest to
what we call persuasiveness. There
are various kinds of persuasiveness,
and that which is Gladstone's kind
differs from every other kind with
which you are familiar. He would not
be Gladstone if it didn't. His manner
in the House is almost always that of
man who is conversing with you. He
never declaims. His gestures are easy
and natural. Often with his foot raised
upon the round OF a chair, his left ell
bow resting on his knee. and his body
inclined slightly forward, he delivers
those speeches which seem to the
reader the utterances of one whose ac-
tion at times must have been vigorous,
if not dramatic But Mr.. Gladstone is
above the need of dramatic auxiliaries.
They would interfere with the effect he
produces and mar the harmony which
exists between his manner and his
thoughts. After hearing him in debate
on perhaps thirty or forty occasions,
there was nothing to alter the impress
sion derived on the first occasion. His
high standard of excellence is never
lowered The evenness of his style is
faithfully maintained. Under pressure
of great excitement his large, luminous
eyes glow in their cavernous sockets
like embers in a coal pit. His mobile
face reflects his emotions as the screen
reflects the figures of magic lantern.
He emphasizes his oratory with his
looks rather than with any artifices of
speech. Hence it is that no report can
do him justice, that no reading can
arouse the feelings which hearing him
excites
My attention was called during dis
cussion of the budget to fact which
the admirers of the late Lord Beacons-
field will not b6 disposed to admit, and
vet of the truth of which had occular
proof. refer to Mr. Disraeli's habit
when financial questions were under
discussion of postponing his remarks
until after Mr. Gladstone had sat down.
Whether he dreaded to expose himself
to the risk of criticism from the man
who is conceded to be, upon these sub
jects, the best equipped debater since
the days of Peel. or whether he pre-
ferred to recruit his own information
from the conious kn0Wledpe which