nable
that I should have a word of congratulation for _you_. You will believe
how much more sincerely I rejoice on your account than on my own,
although most assuredly, if the existence of my government shall be
prolonged, it will be your work.' To Madame de Lieven Aberdeen said that
Gladstone had given a strength and lustre to the administration which it
could not have derived from anything else. No testimony was more
agreeable to Mr. Gladstone than a letter from Lady Peel. 'I know the
recollections,' he replied, 'with which you must have written, and
therefore I will not scruple to say that as I was inspired by the
thought of treading, however unequally, in the steps of my great teacher
and master in public affairs, so it was one of my keenest anxieties not
to do dishonour to his memory, or injustice to the patriotic policy with
which his name is forever associated.'[289]

POWER OF THE PERFORMANCE

Greville makes a true point when he says that the budget speech 'has
raised Gladstone to a great political elevation, and what is of far
greater consequence than the measure itself, has given the country
assurance of a _man_ equal to great political necessities and fit to
lead parties and direct governments.'[290] Mr. Gladstone had made many
speeches that were in a high degree interesting, ingenious, attractive,
forcible. He now showed that besides and apart from all this, he was the
possessor of qualities without which no amount of rhetorician's glitter
commands the House of Commons for a single hour after the fireworks have
ceased to blaze. He showed that he had precise perception, positive and
constructive purpose, and a powerful will. In 1851, he had on two
occasions exhibited the highest competency as a critic of the budget of
Sir Charles Wood. On the memorable night in the previous December, when
he had torn Mr. Disraeli's budget to pieces, he had proved how
terrifying he could be in exposure and assault. He now triumphantly met
the test that he had triumphantly applied to his predecessor, and
presented a command of even more imposing resources in the task of
responsible construction than he had displayed in irresponsible
criticism. The speech was saturated with fact; the horizons were large;
and the opening of each in the long series of topics, from Mr. Pitt and
the great war, down to the unsuspected connection between the repeal of
the soap-tax and the extinction of the slave trade in Africa, w