The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-08-25
THE MAIDEN SPEECH
EARLY IMPORTS OF SOME FAM
 oUs ENaLIsHMEN.
Gladstone's First Appearance Was Disappointing-Disrnell's Was
 Failure-Parnsll Was Pain |
 fully Nervous

one night early Tn lSoo tune year after he had failed in hls contest as a Radical for the borough of High Wycombe) ,Benjami. aDlsraeli, sitting in the strangers gallery of the House nt Commons, listened to the debate on the address in whicA Lord John Rus sell, Macaulay, Stanley, Bulwer and other leading members of the house took part. Next day Ee wrote to his sister: Was at the house of commons yesterday during the whole of the de- hate-one of the, finest we have had for years. Macaulay was admirable. but, between ourselves, l could floor them all. This eltre nous. was never more confident of anything than that I could carry everything before me in that house. The time will come '' s, .r
 The time did come four years later, when on December '. 1887, Disraeli, having been returned as Tory stood up in the House of Commons to make his maiden speech. The story of that historic fasco has never been fully told What is generally known is that D.sraeli was interrupted. by bursts of ironical laughter almost from the be. ginning of his spech, and that at length, utterly unable to catch the ear of the house, he concluded by shouting at the utmost pitch of his voice the famous phrase: Though I sit down now the time vii come when you will hear me-" But the whole episode, what led up to 1t, and what followed is most interesting.
 The subject of the debate was a mo- tion by MT. smith O'Brien for Q select committee to inquire into the alleged practice of veXatiou5 petitionlng against Irish m s:nbers O'Connell sup ported the motion, and it had been ar | ranged that Sir Robert Peel should reply. hut the strongly expressed wish of Disraeli that the duty might be given to him backed az 1t was by many members of his party. induced the Tory leader to give way to hiS arden t young recruit.
 Exchange of Compliments.
 The:e had been an absurd. though very bitter quarrel between O%conna.l and Disrael. O'ConaelI was one of Disraeli's sponsors when he carried tho Radical flag on the hustlnrs at High Wycombe in 1892. Three years later Disraeli. having turned Tory. attacked the Melbourne administration which was retained in power by the Irish party, for having cle.ped, as he put it. the bloody hand of OConnell |" O'Connell retorted in a speech of savage vituperation h which he declared that Disraeli's life was living life." and that he was q descendant of the inn penitent thief on the cross." D.sraeli challenged O'Connell, but the Irlshman after killing D'Esterre in 1915, had made VOW against duelng, and always wore a black kid glove on his right hand as q token of his lifelong repentance for having shed another mans blood. Then" wrote Disraeli in a scathng letter to OC2nneil. i've shall meet at Phlippi." Now the two an- tagonists were face to face at Philippi in the House of Commons, with, hap oily. the floor between them.
 Disrael's failure on this occasion was not due to nervous timidity, but to the less amiable fault of ovnrcondfent | fiuency. to he young members irri- tating self-assurance of manner, ln- spired. obviously. by the conviction that he was about to leap into par iiamentary fame at a single bound. This. with his foppish attire. his af- fected gestures and the knowledge of his rapid change of political opinions, caused the British Radicals and the Irish Repeaters. both led by the lusty lungs of O'Connell. to indulge in roars of ironical laughter and other discon- certing cries.
 Macaulay, writing to friend in Paris few days later. said: Speak ing of the house, DisYaeli nearly killed 1t On Thursday night. You have of course seen his speech in 'Galignani' Can you conceive the impudence of the attorney general not knowing him personally and going up to him in the lobby and saying: "A very pleasant speech of yours, Mir. Disraeli. Will you be kind enough to tell me what Lord John held beside the keys of St Peter?' 'TEe red cap of liberty, sir. . During the performance Peel quite screamed with laughter"
 MT. Gladstone's Debut.
 h5ladstone's first appearance ds a speaker In the arena in which he was for so long a period the most eloquent and predominant personality, was ob- scure and disappointing. He took his seat as a member for Newark on January 29, 1883, the opening day of the first sesion of the first parliament elected under the reform act-be'ng then 23 years old.
 Three weeks later. on February 2l, he made his maiden speech. A petition signed by 5000 Wings of iLverpo was presented alleging bribery an! corrup- tions against the Tory representatives of the town, and in the discussion which followed Gladstone interpoSed on behalf of tkr electoral honor of his native place.
 Every great orator from Demosthe- nes to Burke" Gladstone once said. has suffered from nervousness on the eve of an important speech. and although l cannot claim to share their gifts of golden speech. l can claim more than a fair share of their defect of nerves" Certainly he was extreme ly nervous on this occasion. as his in- distinctness of utetrance and hesitancy of manner only too obviously showed. That voice which subsequently held so many thousands spellbound by its music was inaudible from the gallery in which the reporters were taking notes. So little notice did this debut attract that speech delivered in the house a few mosths later by his brother Thomas, in defense of their father, who was an owner of slaves on his estates at Demerara, has often been described in biographical sketches as Gldastone's maiden effort.
 Lord Salisbury was 24 when, as Lord Robert Cecil, he took his seat in the House oS Commons as a member for Stamford. in February, 1854. Two months later, on April :, he delivered his first speech on Lord John Russelrs university bill. "Hansard" gives it only eighteen lines of its narrow columns. and the members who !mme- diately followed In the debate made no reference to it; but Gladstone