Members who had a sense of beauty
made their speeches beautiful, and even those to whom it was denied
did their best. Grace of ample gesture was cultivated, and sonorous
elocution, and lucid ordering of ideas, and noble language. In fact,
there was a school of oratory. This is no mere superstition, bred of
man's innate tendency to exalt the past above the present. It is a
fact that can easily be verified through contemporary records. It is a
fact which I myself have verified in the House with my own eyes and
ears. More than once, I heard there--and it was a pleasure and
privilege to hear--a speech made by Sir William Harcourt. And from his
speeches I was able to deduce the manner of his coevals and his
forerunners. Long past his prime he was, and bearing up with very
visible effort against his years. An almost extinct volcano! But
sufficient to imagination these glimpses of the glow that had been,
and the sight of these last poor rivulets of the old lava. An almost
extinct volcano, but majestic among mole-hills! Assuredly, the old
school was a fine one. It had its faults, of course--floridness,
pomposity, too much histrionism. It was, indeed, very like the old
school of acting, in its defects as in its qualities. With all his
defects, what a relief it is to see one of the old actors among a cast
of new ones! How he takes the stage, making himself felt--and heard!
How surely he achieves his effects in the grand manner! Robustious?
Yes.
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