The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1886-04-14

His Wonderful and Exhaustive Grasp or
FoHRigAiy Rerisw.
Mr.. Gladstone's oratory is, as for that
matter all Oratory is, the reflection Of the
intellectual being Of the orator. 1t is Ia.
bored and lengthy, because the mind and
brain, which furnish the tongue with lam
guage, are so kesnly appreCiativs Of the
difficulties which may suggest themselves
to hearers. II Mr.. Gladstone seldom
touches q theme without adjoining il, he
never touches 9 theme which he does not
for the immediate purpose In hand ex-
hRuat, Bis oratory is didactiC, homiletiC,
beseeching, commentatorial, and miCros-
copically minute, because he does not for
get how tardy tho process Of conviction Is,
and how many obstacles must be disposed
Of before the desired result is obtained.
II is not long since one oil his colleagues
gave an account OF the difference between
mis- own oTstoriGal method and that OF the
Prime Minister. when" he said, ~
speak strike across from headland to
headlald, But Mr., Gladstone coasts along,
and whenever he comes to a nayigable
river lie cannot resist the temptation to
explore it to it's source" All the disser-
tatiols on rhetoric since the world began,
from Aristotle to Cicero, Tacitus, and
Quintllian, down to WhREely, Allison, and
Arnold, may be searched before so happy
and terse an illustration is encountered.
For the reason embodied in this igurative
definition Of two oratoriCal schools, some
Of Mr., Bright's single speeches are better
than anything OF Mr.. Gladstone. Yet 1t
may be doubted whether there Is any
thing finer in nineteenth century oratory
than Mr.. Gladstone's impromptu speech
on Mr.. Disraeli's budget Of 1858, or than
his peroratiOn before tho division ON the
second reading OF Lord Russell's Re.
form bill was taken in 1866. In the same
way this tribute To the memory OF Lord
Beaconsfeld IN 1881 was not only mas.
terpiecs OF taste and Judgement, but Of
that peculiar class Of oratoriCal compost
ton to which it belonged. 1t also fur
nished q remarkable illustration of Mr..
Gladatone's felicity In quotations, an or
nament Of debate now practically obsolete.
On the whole, Mr.. HaywRrd's estimate Of
Mr., Gladstone as speaker leaves nothing
unRaid; at Is eclipse first, and all the
reat nowhere. He may lack Mr.. Bright's
impressive diCtion-impressIve by its sim
plicity-or MIR. Dlsraeli's humor and sar-
Casm. But he has made ten eminently
successful speeches to Mr., Brighta or
Mr.. Disraeli's one. His foot is ever in
the stirrup; his lance Is ever in
the rest. He throws down the gauntlet to
all corners, Right or wrong, he is always
real, natural, earnest, unaffected, and un-
forced. He is q great debater, great
Parliamentary speaker" He Is also an
eminently persuasive speaker, and that
explains why he Is less condensed than
Mr.. Bright. There is no writer the tones
OF whose voice 1t Is easier 10 hear with the
ear Of Imagination in the infections and
convolutions Of his literary style than Mr..
Gladstone. There are few speakers whose
speeches 1t Is less satisfactory to read. Yet
nothing Is more certain than that II Mr..
Gladstone's oratory were better literature
1t would have been legs fruitful Of results.
The style ia the man.