But Lord Randolph roused the Old
Lion within him, and with flashing eye, with a voice the resonance of
which echoed through the House as though he were twenty years
younger--with abundance of gesticulation, and sometimes with swinging
blows that were almost cruel--he slew the young intruder and wound up
the debate on the Church in a frenzy of excitement and delight among his
followers.
[Sidenote: Mr. Kenyon.]
There came, then, a series of incidents which threw the House into
convulsions of rancorous scorn and farcical laughter. Earlier in the
evening there had been a speech by Mr. Kenyon. Words fail to describe
the kind of speech Mr. Kenyon delivers. Sometimes one is doubtful as to
the sex of the speaker, for he moans out his lamentations over "the dear
old Church of England" exactly as one would imagine a sweet old lady
with a gingham umbrella and a widow's cap to intone it. Meantime, the
rest of the House is convulsed with laughter, so that there is the
curious contrast of one man--Punch-like in complexion and face--reciting
a dirge while the rest of the House are holding their universal sides
with laughter. The anger came when Sir Henry James and Mr.
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