Bryce figured, and
which once more brought out the marvellous grasp, the tenacious and
inevitable memory of the splendid Old Man. The amendment of Lord Wolmer
was, declared Mr. Gladstone, against "the law of Parliament," and, by
way of emphasizing this point, he wanted to have a quotation made from
Sir Erskine May's Book on Parliament. But the eyesight of age is weak,
and there is in the House of Commons, until the gas is lit, something of
the dim, religious light of a cathedral, and, accordingly, Mr. Gladstone
had to rely on the younger eyes of Mr. Bryce. The scene which followed
might be described as out of order, for there were two members standing
at the same time. But the vast ascendancy of Mr. Gladstone over the
assembly--the profound reverence in which all, save the meanest, bow
before his genius, character, and age--enable him to do things not
permitted to common men. In the rapt and serious face, in the attentive
look, in the fingers beating the table as word followed word in
confirmation of this view--in the curious, almost weird and unusual
sight of two men standing side by side, Mr. Gladstone silent, Mr. Bryce
speaking--there was a scene, the impressiveness, poetry, and pathos of
which will never pass from the memory of those who saw it. And the
House--so quick, with all its passion, and fractiousness, and
meannesses, at grasping the significance of a great and solemn
moment--marked its sense of the scene by a stillness that was almost
audible--a hush that spoke aloud.

[Sidenote: And yet another.]

There was just one other incident in this marvellous little speech which
must be noted. I have remarked the ofttimes the voice of Mr. Gladstone
was so low, that it was with difficulty one could hear him. The reason
is curious, and is revealed in a little gesture that has only come in
recent years, and that has a melancholy interest. Often now, when he is
speaking, Mr. Gladstone puts his hand to his right ear, as men do who
are making a laborious effort to catch and concentrate sound. The cause
of this is that Mr. Gladstone's hearing has become defective, and he has
to adopt this little stratagem to make his own voice audible to himself.
You should see the Old Man with his hand to his ear, with the look of
gentle anxiety on his face, to understand all this little gesture
conveys; and how it exalts your sense of the mighty courage of this
great Old Man, who is able to rise thus superior to all obstacles, to
all f