conflict was no easy one; but he never shrank from it. Not less
remarkable was his alertness in debate. His manner was indeed
somewhat ineffective, for it wanted both force and variety. Sentence
followed sentence in a smooth and easy stream, always clear, always
grammatically correct, but with a flow too equably unbroken. There
were few impressive phrases, few brilliant figures, few of those
appeals to passion with which it is necessary to warm and rouse a
large assembly. When the House grew excited at the close of a long
full-dress debate, and Sir Stafford rose in the small hours of the
morning to wind it up on behalf of his party, men felt that the
ripple of his sweet voice, the softness of his gentle manner, were not
what the occasion called for. But what he said was always to the
point and well worth hearing. No facts or arguments suddenly
thrown at him by opponents disconcerted him; for there was sure to
be an answer ready. However weak his own case might seem, his
ingenuity could be relied upon to strengthen it; however powerfully
the hostile case had been presented, he found weak places in it and
shook it down by a succession of well-planted criticisms, each
apparently small, but damaging when taken all together, because no
one of them could be dismissed as irrelevant.

It was interesting to watch him as he sat on the front bench, with his
hat set so low on his brow that it hid all the upper part of his face,
while the lower part was covered by a thick yellowish-brown beard,
perfectly motionless, rarely taking a note of what was said, and, to
all appearance, the most indifferent figure in the House. The only
sign of feeling which he gave was to be found in his habit of
thrusting each of his hands up the opposite sleeve of his coat when
Mr. Gladstone, the only assailant whom he needed to fear, burst upon
him in a hailstorm of declamation. But when he rose, one perceived
that nothing had escaped him. Every point which an antagonist had made
was taken up and dealt with; no point that could aid his own
contention was neglected; and the fluent grace with which his
discourse swept along, seldom aided by a reference to notes, was not
more surprising than the unfailing skill with which he shunned
dangerous ground, and put his propositions in a form which made it
difficult to contradict them. I remember to have heard a member of the
opposite party remark, that nothing was more difficult than to defend
your argument from