As he spoke so would be decided one
of the most momentous and indeed tragical of human issues. He spoke, I
say, slowly--but at the same time it was evident that he had his mind
well fixed on the end which he wished to reach. Nothing adds so much to
the effectiveness of oratory as the sense that the man who is addressing
you, is thinking at the very moment he is speaking. You have the sense
of watching the visible working of his inner mind; and you are far more
deeply impressed than by the glib facility which does not pause, does
not stumble, does not hesitate, because he does not stop to think. Many
people, reading so much about Mr. Sexton's oratory, will be under the
impression that he is a very rapid and fluent speaker. He is nothing of
the kind. He speaks with a great slowness, grave deliberation, and there
are often long and sometimes even trying pauses between his sentences.
He could not conceal on this great occasion the anxiety and the
seriousness of the situation; but the mind was splendidly clear, the
language as well chosen as though he were sitting in a room and holding
discourse to a few admiring friends; and what Mr. Sexton had to say was,
that he would not go into the same lobby with Chamberlain and Balfour in
order to defeat the Government; in short, that he was going to vote with
Mr.
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