His action is like that of a distracted wind-mill. He beats the
air with his whirling arms; he stands several feet from the table, and
moves backwards and forwards in this space in a positively distracting
manner. And yet he is a great debater.
[Sidenote: In Opposition.]
But Mr. Goschen, like every other orator of the Opposition, has fallen
on somewhat evil days, and is not at his very best now. "The world,"
said Thackeray long ago, "is a wretched snob, and is especially cold to
the unsuccessful." This applies to that portion of the world which
changes sides in the House of Commons according to the resolves of the
popular verdict. Mr. Goschen, then, is not seen at his best in these
days when all his arguments can receive the triumphant and unanswerable
retort of a majority in the division lobbies. But still, the speech of
Mr. Goschen on April 17th was an excellent one; it was really the first,
since the beginning of this debate, which struck me as giving something
to answer. Acute, subtle, a dialectician to his finger-tips, Mr. Goschen
is best as a critic, and as a bit of criticism, his attack on the Bill
was excellent. Mr. Morley found himself compelled for the first time for
days to take serious notes; here at last were points which it was
necessary to confront.
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