its deepening
glows and manifest passion, he repudiated the charge of unfairness; he
vehemently struck his hand on the order paper which he held, and as he
neared to the end of his little speech there was a ring in his voice
dangerously near a sob or a tear. It is on such occasions that Mr.
Gladstone's sonorous and splendid diction and delivery come most to the
front; beginning a little awkwardly, hesitatingly, he warmed as he went
along, and there came to him the strange power of collecting his
thoughts and measuring his language which long years of Parliamentary
training has made a second nature. The House listened--rapt, hushed,
spellbound. And then there was no more to be said beyond a few
perfunctory observations from Mr. Balfour and the dismissal of the whole
subject.

[Sidenote: Another scene.]

And now we were once more in the thick of a fierce and passionate
encounter. Mr. Arnold Forster had an amendment, the effect of which was
to remove the exercise of the prerogative of mercy from the hands of the
Irish members to those of the English Secretary of State. Into this
innocent amendment he sought to drag discussion of the doings of the
Land League twelve years ago, and concentrated on Mr. Sexton a violent
attack. He was not allowed to proceed to the end of his chapter. The
charge was heinous, vile, and such as has rarely been introduced in the
House in such a fashion, and soon the temper rose to a fever heat. Mr.
Sexton is a dangerous man to tackle in this guise.

In justifiable rage, quivering with wrath, he yet managed to preserve
that cold and even tenour of language so perfect to his heart and his
words. Again and again the Tory and Unionist party cheer for Mr.
Balfour, Mr. Courtney, and Mr. Chamberlain, but Mr. Sexton is not a man
to suffer such a statement to go unchallenged, and he succeeded in
grasping the whole thing and stamped the charge with the terms, base
and infamous. This led to other scenes, men rising and talking together.

Mr. Chamberlain turned fierce in fore front. Again and again Mr.
Gladstone arose to try and end the scene, and again and again he was
prevented by Mr. T.W. Russell at one point, Mr. Chamberlain at another,
and Mr. Balfour at a third, to seek to bring the struggle back to the
fierce temper it was about to leave. But the Old Man at last got up, and
in measured language and tones which betrayed profound emotion, he
scathingly denounced the attack of Mr. Forster as wanton a