Gladstone began fumbling in his pockets, just as Mr.
Chamberlain had done--with that air of distraction and coming despair
which appears on everybody's face when he is anxiously seeking for an
important but mislaid paper; and the resemblance, heightened by just the
least imitation of Mr. Chamberlain's voice, was so striking, so
startling, so melodramatic, that the whole House, Tories and all, joined
in the wild delight of laughter and cheers--laughter at the comic power,
delight at the splendid courage and exuberant spirit of the prancing old
war-horse, delighted, exhilarated, and fortified by the joy of battle
and by the richness of his own powers and courage. Even yet the comic
vein was not exhausted. Mr. Chamberlain--as I have said--had made
copious quotations from past Irish speeches, and asked that they should
be retracted. "If the work of retraction were to begin, is my right hon.
friend," asked Mr. Gladstone, with scorn in every tone, "willing to
submit himself to the same process of examination? If the work of
retraction were to begin he would have a lot to do." And then came the
passage which has already passed into Parliamentary history.
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