THE HOME RULE DEBATE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1275, 6 August 1886, Page 3

THE HOME RULE DEBATE.

ME GLADSTONE’S LAST WORDS,

THE DIVISION ; JIJNPRECBDENTED ; SCENES, (“ Evening Star’s ” London Correspondent.) _ ■ - ; London - , June 19th. The scenes which marked the conclusion Olltiie great■ debate on Mr Gladstone's Govhrnment of Ireland Bill were unprecedented in the history' of the House of Commons, and can never be forgotten by those who were privileged or lucky enough to witness them. When I squeezed into a comer of the Strangers’ Gallery at halfpast 11 on that fateful Monday evening, the Prime Minister, had just commenced “ a few last words ” in iustification of his policy. 1 don’t think [. ever heard Mr Gladstone in better voice. To quote that “ old Parliamentary hand,” Mr Lucy: “ Many as have been the Prime Min eter’s recent exhibitions pi brilliant energy, they MJr 0 *-11 eclipsed by bis speech in this dlPate. His voice rang through the Chamber ; the box in front of him resounded With the energetic blows with which he emphasised upon its lid the convictions be announced, The faces in the gallery beamed delight at bis knock down. blows to oppo nents; ripples of laughter came in as a chorus to the keen irony of his.references to Mr Chambeilain j and the brush of breathless admiration testified to tho exquisite beauty 61 the touching peroration. All tho arts of Mr Gladstone’s oratory, all his energy put forth with all his apparent e nsn~ths ease which in oratory, as in writing, comes By art, not chance—were brought into play, and under their spoil oven the mocking, irritating laugh which certain Conservatives have inherited from Mr_Wa?ton, and which is sometimes proof against any rebuke,was eventually silenced. The brilliant effort of. 1, b r o orator- was acknowledged by s tremendous cheer from his Eupporters cn both sides of the Hous as he resumed hia ■ seat, leaving the final issue to the vote, To print the whole of this wonderful speech would be manifestly impossible ; but 1 should like just to give you THE PERORATION. What is the case of Ireland at this moment ? Have hon. gentlemen considered that they are coming into contact with a nation? Can anything stop a nation’s demands except it being proved to be immoderate and unsafe ? But here are multitudes cf us, and millions and millions out of doors, who believe this demand to be neither immoderate cor unsafe. In our opinion there is but one question before ue about this demand, It is as to the time end eirrmmstanres of granting it. There is no question in car minds that it will be granted,—(Loud cheers) - We wish it to bo granted in the mode [prescribed by Mr Burhe. Mr Burke said, in his first speech at Biistcl ; “ I was true to my eld standing, invariable principle, that oU things which come from Great Britain should isaae as a gift of lier bounty and beneficence rather than as claims recovered against a struggling litigant ; or, at least, °if your : beneficence obtained no credit in your con* cessions, jot that should appear the aalu- i tary provisions of your wisdom and fora- : sight, not as thinga wrung from you with • your blood, but by the cruel right of a i rigid necessity.’’ The difference between 1 giving with freedom and dignity on the i one side, with acknowledgment and gratited® an the other; and giving under com* - pnikion, giving with disgrace, giving with l resentment, dogging you at every step of - your path: this difference la in onr eyes 1 fundamental, and this is the main reason, not only why we have acted, but why we have acted now. This, if I understand it, j is cno cf the golden moments of onr his- i tcry—one of those opportunities which may ' come and may go, but which rarely return, I or, if they return, return at long intervals, and under circumstances which no men i cau forecast. There hare been such golden moments even in the tragic history of Iren land, as her poet says : ] _Ons time tbs harp of Innisfail Was turned to notes of gladness. 1 And then ha goes cn tc say— 1 Bat yet did oftener toll a tale, ' Of more prevailing sadness. , Eat there was such a golden moment—it 1 was in 1705 —it was on the mission of Lord Pita-william. At that moment it ii: : historically clear that the Parliament cf ' Grattan was on the point cf solving the Irish problem. The two great knots of ; that problem wore—in the first place, i Roman Catholic emancipation’’; and, in the i second place, the reform of Parliament. 1 The cup was at her lips, and she was ready i to drink it when ifco hand of England rudely and ruthlessly dashed it to the ground, in obedience to the wild and dangerous intimations of an Irish faction,— (Cheers).

Ex illo fi.uere ao retro sublapsa referrl fipcs Danauci. Thera has been no great day of Lope for Ireland, r.o day when you might hope em« pletely and definitely to end the controversy till now—more than ninety years, Tha long periodic time has at last runout and tho star has again mounted into the heavens. What Ireland was doing for herself in 1V95 wa at leng hj have done. The Roman Catholics hive emancipatedemancipated after a woful disregard cf solemn promises through twenty nine years ; emancipated slowly, sullenly, cot from good will, but from abject terror, with ail the fruits and consequences which will always follow that node of legislation.— (Cheers). Tha second problem has also been solved, and the representation of Ireland has been thoroughly reformed, and X am thaukiu! to say that the franchise was given to Ireland on the readjustment of last year with a free heart—(cheers) - with an open hand ; and the gift of that franchise was the last act required to make tha success of Ireland in her final effort absolutely onro.—(Load cheers). We have given Ireland a voice : we must all listen for a moment to what she says. We maot all listen -both aides, both partiec, X mean es they are, divided on the questiondivided, I am afraid, by an almost immeacurable gap. WE THINK WE HAVE IKE PEOPLE'S H3AHT. Wo do net undo value or despise tho forces opposed to us, X have described them, as the forces of class and its dependants, and that as a general description—as a slight and rude outline of a description is, 1 believe, perfectly true. I do not deny that some' whom ue see against us have caused _ us by their conccieatious cption the bitterest disappointment. Eat sß>u have power, you have wealth, you have rank, you have station, yon have organisation, you have tha place of power. What have wo? We think wo have the people’s heart—(cheers) —we believe and we know we have the promise of the harvest of the future,—.(Load cheers). As to the people’s heart, you may dispute it and dispute it with perfect sincerity. Lot that matter make its own proof.—(Cheers). THE rLOW >.G VIDE 13 WITH U3. As to the harvest of tho future, I doubt if you have so much confidence, and I believe that there is in tho breast of many a man who means to vote against us to-night ft profound misgiving, approaching even to a

deep conviction (cheers, and cries of “No ”) that the end will be as we foresee

and not as you—that the ebbing tide is with you and the flowing tide is with us.— (Cheers). Ireland stands at yohr bar expectant, hopeful, almost suppliant. Her words are the words of truth and soberness sition Benches), She. asks a blessed oblivion of the past, and in that oblivion our interest is deeper than even hers. My right hon friend the member for East Edinburgh asks us to-night to abi ie by the traditions of which we are the heirs. What traditions? -(Hear, hear.) By the Irish tradition T Go into the length and breadth of the world, ransack the literature of Ml countries, find if yon can a single voice, a single book—find, 1 would almost say, as much as a single newspaper article, unless the product of the day, in which the conduct of England towards Ireland is anywhere treated except with profound and bitter condemnation.—(Loud cheers.) Are these the traditions by which we are exhorted to stand t No, they'are a sad exception to the glory of our country. They are ablack and broad blot upon the pages of its history, and what we want tc do is to stand by the traditions in which we are the heirs in al matters except our relations to Ireland, and to mako our relations to Ireland to conform to the other traditions of our country. So I have deemed the demand of Ireland for what I call blessed oblivion of the past. She asks also a boon for the future; and that boon for tho future, tin* less we are much mistaken, will be a boon tons in respect of-honor nc less than a boon to her in respect of happiness, prosperity, and peace. Such, Sir, is her prayer. Think, I beseech you, think well, think wisely, think not for a moment bat for the years that are to come, before you reject our plan.—(Loud and prolonged cheers.) THE DIVISION - . - “In reply to all this eloquence,” continues Mr Luoy in his description of the scene, “ came with thrilling effect wheu those supporters heard the Speaker’s question put. The ‘ Aye’ was rolled out with a volume of sound, with sn emphasis, and with a pi elongation of the stirring note that gave occasion and time for successive emotions of startled surprise, cariosity, and dolight. The ‘ Noes’ answered in the strictest imitation, aad the ear was entertained with a repetition of the swing unison, and was puzzled to distinguish any difference in the volume of the clcsely-matched monysylh ables. The Speaker, as usage demands, declared for the Government, * The Ayes have it,’ he said. The ‘Ness’ stoutly, sharply, and almost angrily maintained that they had it. The.bells were rung, the question was put again with the same results, and the combatants were directed to divide themselves—‘Ayes to the right: Noes to the left.’

. “ As tho tellers were named the Pamellites uttered eomo reproachful and some angry exclamations at tho association of Mr Brand and M r Caino in the business of tell* ing for the ‘ Noes.’—two Liberals to tell the votes that were mainly Conservative. Menacing glances were cast in Mr Chamberlain’s direction as the opposing forces poured into opposite lobbies. The old and many of the more calculating or impatient ox the young were already in the lobbies securing places that would enable them to make aa early exit, and the division was hastened by this not unnatural anxiety to get home. Only a quarter cf an hour elapsed before the members were all told—a quarter cf an hour cf suppressed excitement. Mr Gladstone, pale "as the camellia in his coat, was solaced with a ohesr on his return from the lobby. Tho time was otherwise spent m watching tbs arrivals of secede™ from recording their vote a->aiuct tl-e Bill,

" At length, at the return of Mr Mar j joribanks and Mr Brand, there was a hush j in the monner of excited conversation. This was an ominous sign. Had they had the fewer numbers to tell ? Yes, their figure, Sli, was circulated from mouth to mouth, and was recognised as sealing the fate of the Bill. The face of Mr Marjoribanks told the same tale, and his lips repeated it to the Prime Minister and several of his colleagues. These gentlemen, however, behaved as men not unprepared for the worst, and Air Glad- j otono got his papers ready and nursed his despatch box on his knee. The otter tellers came in from behind the chair. The clerk wrote down tha majority figure—-341— 0n the official paper. The Government whips fell back into' the secondary, and the document was banded to tha victorious whin. ■Mr Brand. Then the Tories lifted up theVr voices in triumph, and, when the Speaker re-read the numbers, waved their bate, and, standing up in their places, cheered in mad excitement. And here events took a singularly dramatic turn. The Parnellites, who in the first impulse of disappointment and rage had directed their attention mainly to ♦he benches on which Liberal secedersKst, with a view of overwhelming these gentlemen wiih reproach, now turned and confronted tha Tories, rising as one man and cheering against them m defiance. They too, waved their hats, and some of them so near the opponents rf the Bill that to timid spectators a oollirion did not appear at all improbable Tire angry comoetition of voices between Air O'Brien and viator Saunderson, whose hat was flying and hio voice sounding in close proximity to the member for South Tyrone, was especially aiarmiag. But at this moment, in the quick euccesion of events, Mr T, P. O’Connor, mounted his seat, startle 1 the House by calling for ‘ Three cheers for the Grand Old Man.’ ” AN ASTOUNDING CLIMAX. Another writer, recouping the details of this exciting scene, says i—“ In the great division of yesterday morning the ‘ Cheers for the Grand Old Alan’ constituted tha electrifying climax of a memorable scene. For Frantic excitement and utter abandonment to the passion of the moment the scene did not approach that of tho early morning of the 9th of .lunc last year. No hats were thrown up to the ceiling ; no Lord Randolph Churchill in mad self-forgetfulness danced oa the benches and shouted himself into apopletio hue ; no Irish members in alliance with the noble lord mounted the scats and delivered, during a sort of war dance, their galling cheers and exclamations at the head of the Prime Minister as ho, unmoved, proceeded with the writing of his letter to tho Queen ; and but little time in comparison with that taken up on the 9th of June, 1355, was devoted to hilarions and uncontrollable rejoicing over the Government defeat. The demonstration of yesterday morning was, in these respects and by comparison, short, sharp, and relatively decorous. But to that thrilling moment of generous and enthusiastic rallying round the beaten Minister the event of June last presents no parallel, nor could tho annals of Parliament bo consulted with sucoe a for its precedent. The strangers in tho gallery shared tha impulse of excitement, and watched cn tip-toe and with eager faces the extraordinary scene. The Conservatives, utterly taken aback, stood stock stii), leaving the camp, as it wore, in the hands of the enemy. They had begun the cheering, but now were beaten out of the field,”

OUT,-"IDE THE ITOUftr. Whilo tho division was taking placo a perfect Babel of tongues in high argument reigned in tho Central Hall, crow ’el with strangers, hushed for a moment tk doors of the lobby opened, fa an inst- nt .f time the result was known aud roc. iv id with

f | deafening cheers,’ mingled with a percen- ) j tage of groans and hjss'-s. Then decorum i was thrown aside. Men danced about • wildly, shook hands, ami cheered again an I • again, while the majority of the partisans ■ of the defeated party looked silently on. I “ Rule Britannia,” followed by “ God Save - the Queen,” was sung, and members passing I through the telegraph office were cheered ■ or hooted, the greatest ovation being given i the Marquis of Harrington, who passed out by the entrance in Old Palace Yard, i Outside the building and surrounding New , Palace Yaid a crowd of some hundreds had i assembled, and here, when the figures bo. . came known, there was more groaning than cheers, the Irish element appearing’to preponderate. Most of tho members passed oub_ unrecognised, either on foot for in vehicles; but a few that were identified were both. cordially cheered andyhissed. ■ Mr Gladstone, with Mrs Gladstone, entered an open carriage at the corner of Now Palace Yard at ten minutes to two and drove rapidly to Downing ctreet, followed by a large crowd, which the police tried ineffectually to check, la Downing street there wao| also al large assemblage; but a strong force of police drawn up across the roadway, with soma mounted men, prevented any of them reaching the doors of Mr Gladstone’s residence. There was great cheering, which the Premier, who looked very pale and careworn, repeatedly acknowledged; but with the cheers) there were ,also many dissonsntjeries. Mr Gladstone’s voice. . A write in the • Pall Mall Gazette ’ thus describes the) wonderful charm of the Premier's voice and manner on thisjoooasion; —"The Prime Minister was very pale—almost as white cs thejflower in hia buttonhole—and there was an added solemnity in hia manner befitting the occasion. Beat of all, however, he was in splendid voice. It rang as clear as ia years gone by, and what a voice it is 1 To begin with, it is of extraordinary compaso, from the light high bantering note in which he twitted the Tories ‘with endeavoring to adorn the laugh—to decorato it—with an idea, down to the deep, resonant, intentionally hoarse bass to which it sank as he spoke of the profound and bitter condemnation ’ with which English action towards Ire'and was universally received. Then the flexibility of it, too 1 From top note to bottom Mr Gladstone passed as lightly and smoothly and easily as a bird’s carol. Bub the quality of it—how can one describe that ? it is impossible to do so without seeming to fall into absurd hyperbole. There ia some* thing so winning, so ‘ magnetic,’ in Mr Gladstone’s voice, as it was once more, as we can hardly venture to hope tha, it will be again, that it ia necessary to seek far for a simile. A cathedral bell sounding far away over a river, a waterfall heard a long way off in the stillness of the ni.ht, the sea rolling slowly in over a pebbly beach, a summer wind blowing over a hilltop of pines —in each of these there is a strange indescribable quality' whtohjj sometimes makes one’s, eyes fill and throat contract for mere physical sympathy; and in Mr Gladstone’s voice, when he will, there is the same note. The admirable construction of his speech, how it began by a few personalities and reierences to his immediate predecessors in debate, how it passed gradually to elaborate historical argument how it turned to denunciation of the rival policy, how there came into it the touch of national poetry, and the picture of Erin with the cup at her lips—picture finished with a touch of Virgil—how it. concluded with a solemn appeal for a ‘ blessed oblivion of the past,’ - and ‘ happiness, prosperity, and peace,’for the years that are to come—theao, and the utter absence of any personal taint, any complaint, any reference tc the speakers own position, all can sea who will rea l it. But that voice -it is only aa inalienable memory.’,