Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1892-10-29
ODD ERRORS OF ELoQuENcE.
Some OF the Amusing Mistakes Which
Have Been Made In Parliament.

| citation hall, told his followers that il
measures injurious to Ireland were
brought into parliament he would GO
| over to England and Idle on the floor
| of the house of commons in opposition
| to them," and when he came back he
would say: care you for repeal now?"
| Sir Boyle Roche, too, whose bulls made
him famous, on one occasion assured
| wonderstricken body of voters that
If elected, he would put a stop to SNUG
| Cling practices in the Shannon by ''hav.
| ing two frigates stationed on the oppo-
| site points at the mouth of the river
and there they should remain fixed,
with strict orders not to stir, and SO, by
| cruising and cruising about, they would
be able to intercept everything that
should attempt to pass between them"
| Another time, when on the hustings,
he observed: England, it must be al
lowed, is the mother country, and
therefore would advise them England
| and 1reland) to live in flial affection
together like sisters, as they are and
| ought to be-" This was only equaled
by his-when opposing his antiminis-
terial motion the said motion
was at the bottom of the bottomless
pit"
It must have been rather disconcert-
ing to the declamatory speaker, who, de
spising all technicalities, tried to storm
his hearers by sheer force of eloquence,
but who, on uttering the words: I'm
the book of nature it is written" was
interrupted by a quiet-looking gentle
man, with mild request that he would
name the page" Sometimes, how
ever, the interrupter receives "retort
courteous" he hardly bargained for,
and a capital story, illustrative of this,
is told of Lord Pa1merston. His lord
ship, who was an inveterate joker, pos
sessed a readiness of repartee and a
quaint sense of humor that often stood
him in good stead. Once when cam
vassing Hampshire in conjunction with
Sir George Staunton, he held a meeting
at hotel which was dimly lighted at
each end by two small windows. Dur
ing the noble lords speech he was fire.
quently interrupted by cries of mo,
no." proceeding from little fat man in
one of the windows, who was butler
to an old admiral in the neighborhood
There were loud calls to bring him for.
ward; but Lord Palmerston promptly
said: "Pray don't interfere with tho
gentleman. Let him remain in the
"1AOOW. 1EONlucuCc mas Oen1cO MIN
any intellectual light-it would be
hard, indeed, to deprive him of the
light of Heaven!" Again while cleo.
pioneering at Taunton, he was greatly
troubled by butcher who wanted him
to support certain radical policy. AT
the end of one of his lordships speeches
the butcher called out: ''Lord Palmers-
ton, will you give me plain answer to
a plain question:" After slight pause
Lord Palmerston replied: ST will"
The butcher then asked: "Will you or
will you not support this measured" a
radical bill. Lord Pa1merston hesitated
and then, with twinkle in his eve, re.
piled: 'I will" Then he stopped
Immediately the radicals cheered
tremendously. ''Not-" continued his
lordship. Loud conservative cheers.
When this ceased Lord Palmerston fin.
ished his sentence-"te1 you" He
then Immediately retired.
A humorous incident occurred at
meeting whereat Sir Wilfrid Lawson
was speaking. One of the principal
planks in his programme was, of course,
his permissive bill, but all his attempts
to explain it were useless-they would
not hear him. At last he called some of
the disturbers up to the platform and
tried to pacify them. One of them came
up three parts drunk and stood close tc
him. He was asked what he had to
say, when, turning to the great brewer
of the place, who was sitting near, and
who was not making noise, the man,
in words which he thought could not be
disputed and must carry conviction
with them, exclaimed: eff your bill is
carried, sir, what is to become of this
gentleman?"
Some exceeding bitter, if witty
| things have been both said and written
about public men at election time, but
probably nothing more scathing can be
found than the following epigram on
Wilkes, which, after he became favor
| tie at court, in April, 1854, and entered
parliament for Middlesex, in conjunc-
| ton with the court candidate, Mr.. Main
| waring, appeared in a newspaper of the
| time:
What Liberty Wilkes, of oppression the hater
Call'd a turncoat, Judas, rogue and a trait
or;
What has made all our patriots so angry and
| soref
Has Wilkes done that now which he ne'er did
beforei
Consistent was John all the days of his life,
For he loved his best friends as he loved his
In his actions he always kept self in his view
Though false to the world to John Wilkes he
was true.
| Fox was seldom, if ever, at loss for
a retort, and a story is told how, when
canvassing Westminster, he applied to
q shopkeeper for his vote and interest.
The man produced halter with which,
he said, he was ready to oblige him.
"Thank you," replied Fox, ''for your
kind offer, but 1 should be sorry to
deprive you of 80 valuable family
piece" Humorous, If trifle unkind,
was the orator, who, when describing
the inordinate love of praise which
characterized an opponent, said: "He
is so fond of being praised that really
believe he would be content to give up
the ghost if it were but to look up and
read the stonecutter's puff on his tomb
stone" This is in striking contrast to
the graceful and witty compliment
paid to the beautiful duchess of Devon
shire and her sister, Lady DuncannoR,
| of whom, when thew canyassed the