Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-06-30
ENGLISH STATESMEN.
How Some of the Great Parliament
tary Leaders Look and Act.
CHAMBERLAIN AND HIS ORCHID.
Gladstone Drinking Egg-NOg While Speak
ing in the House.
OTRER GIANTS OF BRITISH POLITICS
tcoHRrsroSprxcr OF THE p1srArcH.I

iarities of English statesmen are often
amusing.
OF late years Mr.. Gladstone has developed
an astonishing way of emphasizing his re-
marks by assaulting an unofending brass
bound box on the table of the house. To
reach it requires no little effort, but for all
that the "Grand Old Man" is not to be de-
MED the pleasure OF hammering that box.
Trembling in every nerve with intensity of
conviction, and entirely regardless of the
pain that must follow, he stretches across
the sea of blue books and brings down his
clenched fist on the lid with all his force
when he wishes to emphasize the climax of his
speech. When he is excited he stands a
pace back from the table with feet spread
out fanwise, and beats one hand upon the
other for several moments, turning round
every now and then to address his own fol-
lowers. OF course his voice is not what it
was, but by reserving it, and by discreet
habit Of never sitting out debate, he has
husbanded a strength that puts many of
his younger colleagues to shame. On great
occasions he invariably arms himself with a
phial of eggnog, which he drinks at con-
Venient intervals, to the infinite diversion
of an astounded gallery. Unlike Lord
Beacons6eld, who was always noted for his
dandifed getup, Mr.. Gladstone is rather
careless about his attire, but he seldom ap-
pears without pink rose in his buttonhole.
THE GOVERNMENT LEADER.
Mr.. Smith. the Government leader, sits
on the very edge of the treasury bench as
though he were not quite certain whether
he had right to be there or not. He ap-
proaches the table timidly and deferentiallv,
nervously clutching hold of it with both
hands, and never once releasing his grip
until he resumes his seat. He is not a
genius, and will never dim by comparison
the fame of Pitt nor overshadow the great
ness of Fox. He is simply an honest, plod-
ding, good-natured old soul with no nom
sense about him. He is essentially British.
His oratory is of the plain, dry, commercial
order, and he has q dreary, mechanical
smile which he can conjure up under the
Soost trying circumstances. He is alto
gethsr as eminently respectable as they
make them, and he has never once been
known to lose his temper or the respect of
his opponents. Even the more rabid Par
nellites are credited with sneaking kind
ness for "Old Morality"
Mr.. Balfour has tendency to sprawl all
over the place. During those II long years
that he occupied seat below the gangway
his elongated frame, stretched half way
across the house, was one of the most
familiar figures in debate. When he first
became Irish secretary he had a weakness
for putting his feet on the table, but the
Parnellites have since worked together to
assist him in overcoming this undignifed
tendency. He has no time to lounge now,
for if after each question he were to resume
his seat in this elaborately languid attitude,
he would in all probability have to be car
ried out on shutter before question time
was halfover. As q speaker Mr.. Balfour
affects that air of supercilious indifference
Lord Melbourne used once to make
fashionable, and his most scathing retorts
are delivered with an air of frivolous
half-amused cyniclsm which makes them all
the more cruel. Half leaning on the table
and speaking in subdued drawl, as though
his victims were not ofsuficient Importance
to inspire either defamation or gesticula-
tion, he lets fall CLEAN of irony that is not
always charged with facts. On the other
hand, in private life he is one of the
cheeriest and most charming of men; highly |
intellectual, cultivated and amiable 1t is
the old story OF DR.. Jekyll and Mr.. Hyde |
over again. He does not take life too
seriously, yet he has views of his own on
the doctrine of csusality and the music of
the future. He has also a pretty turn for
art, and is an expert at the noble game of
golf, but he has hitherto successfully eluded |
the matchmaking schemes of the primrose
danes.
CHAMBERLAIN AND HARRINGTON.
Joe" Chamberlain affects the lower end
of the front opposition bench, and is usually
to be seen with his head thrown slightly |
back, one leg curved over the other, and his
arms folded, gazing steadily at the gallery
opposite through the traditional eye-glass
There he sits, smart and shrewd. biding his |
time, q man to be reckoned with, among
the most unpopular in the house. He |
rarely speaks, but when he does, he usually |
knows exactly what he wants to saw His |
speeches are polished and clean cut, and he |
is on the whole finished debater, but the |
impression that he lacks sincerity kills it |
all. He is singularly youthful in appear
ance, and his wiry figure is shown off to |
good advantage by the best fitting frock |
coat in the House of Commons. The only |
occasion on record of his having deviated |
from his favorite orchid was on the day of |
his marriage to Miss Endicott when he |
Bported boutoniere of white violets.
On "Joes" left sits the MARQUIS of Hart
ington his hands sunk deep in his trousers
pockets; his chin resting on his chest and |
his hat gracefully balanced on the edge Of |
his nose. This is his attitude. He occas- |
jonally lounges into debate, and anything |
he has to say is usually worth listening to. |
His is mind not given to speculation. 1t |
is mind of the good old-fashioned "look |
before you leap" order. He makes no pre-
tense to soar to those supreme intellectual |
heights where so many lose themselves HIS |
manner of speaking is heavy and he is apt |
to fall into that sing-sing intonation which |
is so conducive to sleep, the tail-end OF his |
sentences being hopelessly lost somewhere |
in the vicinity of the middle button of his |
waistcoat.
LORD RANDOLPH CHURCHILL.
Lord Randolph Churchill looks quiet |
and harmless enough as be sits in his corner
seat placidly twirling his mustache, but
when he poses as the candid friend of the |
Government, he comes out SO strong that
Ministers instinctively prepare for the
worst From the very first Lord Randolph
Churchill framed himself upon the model |
of Disraei and as leader of the House fre-
quentlv recalled in a comic way the famil-
lar figure of Vivian Grey in his favorite
attitude, the dropping head, the folded arms,
the half closed eyes and the coat tail
brought carefully forward and covering the
knees. Lord Randolph did it all religiously.
even to the orderly arrangement of the coat
tails, struggling with himself, often inetfect-
ually, to prevent his hands going up to curl
his mustache. His peculiar style of oratory
too is strongly suggestive of "Dizzy" in his
younger DAYS, although lacking the polish
of the astute gentleman. When Lord
Beaconsfeld spoke his audience was per-
petualiy on the qui vive for some some
smart personal thrust at some mutual
friend, and they were not often disap-
pointed. This is why the House of Com