laints,
Acland says: "On the other hand I know you are held by some of the best
men (that dear, noble George Grey I am thinking of) to have the great
quality of leadership: such clear apprehension of the points in council,
and such faithful exactness in conveying the result agreed on, truly a
great power for one who has such a _copia verborum_, with its
temptations." He still insists that a leader should drop into the tea-room
and have afternoon chats with his adherents; and earnestly wishes him to
belong to the Athenaeum club, "a great centre of intellect and criticism,"
where he would be sure to meet colleagues and the principal men in the
public service.

(M50) All this was good advice enough, and most loyally intended. But it
was work of supererogation. The House of Commons, like all assemblies, is
even less affected by immediate displays than by the standing impression
of power. Mr. Gladstone might be playful, courteous, reserved, gracious,
silent, but the House always knew that he had a sledge-hammer behind his
back, ready for work on every anvil in that resounding forge. His sheer
intellectual strength, his experience and power in affairs, the tremendous
hold that he had now gained upon the general public out of doors, made the
artful genialities of the tea-room pure superfluity. Of the secret of the
rapidity with which his star was rising, and of the popular expectations
thereby signified, an admirable contemporary account was traced by an
excellent observer,(126) and it would be idle to transcribe the pith of it
in words other than his own:--

Mr. Gladstone's policy is coming to be used as the concrete
expression of a whole system of thought, to mean something for
itself, and something widely different from either the policy
pursued by whigs, or the policy attributed to Lord Palmerston.
This is the more remarkable because Mr. Gladstone has done less to
lay down any systematised course of action than almost any man of
his political standing, has a cautiousness of speech which
frequently puzzles his audience even while they are cheering his
oratory, and perceives alternatives with a clearness which often
leaves on his own advice an impression of indecision.... Those who
are applauding the chancellor of the exchequer, in season and out
of season, seem, however they may put their aspirations, to
expect, should he lead the House of Commons, two very important