" There it stands; these are
the very words he used. Incredible, everybody would say who didn't know
Mr. Chamberlain, and wasn't told by the evidence of eyes and ears that
the words had actually been uttered. The Irish members were not slow to
seize the point, and to shout aloud at this revelation of Mr.
Chamberlain's nature; and even his Tory friends shuddered at such a
manifestation of the real kind of man that lies hidden under Mr.
Chamberlain's oily and smooth exterior. At first, he seemed surprised at
the visible shock and tremor and involuntary sense of repulsion which
this odious suggestion awakened on all sides--then he slowly realized
that he had made a mistake; and, for once, this readiest of debaters was
nonplussed, and even a little abashed.
[Sidenote: The Irish Members and the Bill.]
Mr. MacCarthy followed Mr. Chamberlain; he spoke just from ten to
fifteen minutes--plainly, simply, to the point, and what he had to say
was that he and his friends did look on this Bill as a final settlement,
which Ireland would be honourably pledged to carry out. Unselfish,
straightforward, unpretentious, kindly, Mr. MacCarthy brought into more
vivid contrast the personal venom--the ruthless hunger for vengeance and
the humiliation of his enemies--which came out with almost painful
vividness from the speech to which we had just ceased to listen.
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