The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-01-12
BOSTON MINISTER DESCRIBES GREAT
 ENGLISH LEADER
Gives Instances of Lloyd Georges Flashing Wit
 and Satire.

deOrge E ldSulIlg WlI
 and Satire.
 REV. c. F. AKED, ID. D.
 This is, frankly, a friends account of friend. It is not a sober esti- mate of a statesman. It is not a criticism of a ruler of empire. stand ing in the forefront Of world policies. 1t is just table-talk apou, the man as I knew him.
 And it is all in the past tense. 1t is all about Lloyd George as he was. not as he is. I do not recognize the British statesman of the shining armor' and the mailed fist" any more than'I recognize the photo graphs of the, man which have re- gently. found their way. to New York. It may be that the demons of the camera responsible for them have al- ready been clubbed to death by in- dignant Welshmen, but if not. if they are witnesses of truth, they show 2 man grown old and stout, bent, pie turesque only in al third-rate actor style, indisputably robbing the barber of the. nimble, sixpence. the London fee for a crop
 
 memory plays us strange tricks at Christmas time. We remember the friend of other years as he was in other years, before the world fhard- ened or embittered him.. I see a young, handsome man, Irresistibly att tractive, delightfully."- frank, the soul of good comradeship, a man for all men to admire, for all women to love. T am back among his enthusiastic fol- lowers. am one with them.
 The last time saw him he was at his greatest. Of the 5000 per- sons present that night it is difficult to believe that any one still living has forgotten single incident, 8 single moment, The censor Is these ' days does not wholly forbid gossip between England and America. Nu- merous letters brought by the last i two mails from friends in Liverpool begin: DO you remember that night in Sun Hall when you prophesied--?! Yes, remember. I remember few things so well. And this is the story: = It was bin 1905 or 1906. I had { just returned to; Liverpool from my mountain prison in Switzerland. found Lloyd George with other Welsh members of Parliament ad- vertised to speak at a Liberal demon stration in Sun, Hall. I telephoned the Liberal headquarters and asked if | was too late to secure seat. The official courteously invited me to the platform and asked me to come to the anteroom before the hour to meet Lloyd George,
 .s s Seen at His Best
 He was suffering from a bad at tack of stage fright-or thought he was. He professed the utmost misery waiting for the meeting to begin. He asked if ! ever suffered the same un- utterable wretchedness before facing an audience, and went on, 1T feel as if T were in the condemned cell wait ing ito be led out to be hanged There (pointing to the chairman) is the governor of the jail, and (to ne) there is the chaplain. And don't know whether I would not sooner be led out to the gallows."
 But we had caught him in his most glorious hour. I really think his of his amazing career. He was not eloquent but eloquence. not pas sionate but pure and living passion. When he reaches the grand style, g as he so often does-or did in those grand years-there is something weirdIy. coerciye in the physical I qualities of his voice, something un- ,canny, defying analysis, indescrib- able.
 The Welsh have a word for it. l am not sure that I. can spell it. Know cannot pronounce it. But it Twas there that nights I have lis tened to speeches all my life. l must have been born in a public meeting! I have heard Gladstone and Bright and all the! host of lesser men. There is not great English man of the last 30 years whom ] !, have not heard. There is nothing in my memory to ,compare-not Bright in the Free Trade Hall nor Gladstone in Bingley Hall-with Lloyd Georges triumph. that night
 It seemed to us as we came away that nothing finer could ever have fallen from human lips than his iperoration about the. streams gather ing among his own Welsh mountains z until a torrent swept. through the valleys. and, of course, the gathering ] floods of righteous sentiment which were to sweep privilege and obstruc- tion and all the rest of it into ob- livion. Common-place? Familiar stun for perorations Quite so; but the thrill and the leap and the glad ness and the glory in 1t were-super- human
 The speaker who followed George had. to be sure. an impossible task The audience grew restive and shouted. my name. The chairman called on me, and, having no moment for preparation, have no doubt ] spoke even more foolishIy than usual But the thrill of Lloyd Georges pre-. oration was still in the air and sol fell on prophecy.
 It must be remembered that he was not then a. member of the gov. ernment. He had not been a mem. Der of any government. The Libera party, his party was still in opposi. ton. And George was. only one o1 the rank and file. But the spirit came upon me, and as I spoke put my hand on his shoulder and de clared that many of us in Sun Hall ir that hour would live to see Lloy6 George prime minister of, Great Bri- tain. It is this dramatic moment o1 10 years ago that, English correspon- dents keep on asking me if I Ire. member"
 And at His Worst.
 If I have heard Lloyd George al his best am quite sure that I have heard him at his worst
 It was in my own church at Liver.