Gladstone. Thus when one
or two Liberals made somewhat foolish interruptions on July 27th he
turned upon them and exploited their interruption with an art that was
almost dazzling in its perfection. For instance, when he denounced the
Liberals for accepting some clause as the best that could be proposed by
man, some Liberals cried out, "Under the circumstances." "Under the
circumstances," said Mr. Chamberlain, with that strange, eloquent, deep
swell in his voice, which adds so much to its effectiveness, and then he
took the phrase, repeated it, and reiterated it, and turned it upside
down, until even his bitterest enemy could not help enjoying the
perfection of the skill with which he played upon it.
[Sidenote: Joe smiles.]
Finally he came to the passage in which he drew an elaborate comparison
between Mr. Gladstone and Herod. I had no doubt at the time, and my
impression has since been corroborated by words reported to have been
used by Mr. Chamberlain himself--that he used the word "Herod" in a
moment of happy and almost impish inspiration with a view to provoking
the retort which was so obvious. There was a self-conscious smile on his
face when he uttered the words, and he seemed to be quite prepared, and
almost delighted by the retort which followed so promptly.
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