ersonality all rules are waived, he very shortly indulged him
in an exceeding spread-eagle speech. But he had not spoken five minutes
before the members began to laugh. Catcalls, hisses and mad tumult
reigned. The young man in the flaming waistcoat let loose all his
oratorical artillery, and the result was bravos and left-handed applause
that smothered his batteries. Again and again he tried to proceed, but his
voice was lost in the Clover-Club fusillade. The Chair was powerless. At
last the speaker saw an opening and roared above the din, "I will now sit
down, but you shall yet listen to me!"

Opinions were divided as to whether the House had squelched the
Israelitish fop, or whether the fop had tantalized the House into
unseemliness. The young man needed snubbing, no doubt, but the lesson had
been given so brutally that sympathy was with the snubbed. The original
intent was to abash him, so he would break down; but this not succeeding,
he had simply been clubbed into silence.

Then when Disraeli refused to accept condolences--merely waiving the whole
affair--and a few days after arose to make some trivial motion, just as
though nothing had happened, he made friends.

Any man who shows himself to be strong has friends--people wish to attach
themselves to such a one. Disraeli showed himself strong in that he held
no resentment, and indulged in no recrimination on account of the
treatment he had received. A weak man would have done one of these things:
resigned his seat, demanded an apology from the House, or refused to let
his voice again be heard. Disraeli did neither--he continued to speak on
various occasions, and expressed himself so courteously, so modestly, so
becomingly, that the members listened in awe and curiosity. Then soon it
was discovered that beneath the mild and gentle ripple of his speech ran a
deep current of earnest truth, tinged with subtle wit. When he spoke, the
loungers came in from the cloakrooms, fearing to miss something that was
worth while.

The House of Commons experience taught Disraeli one great truth, and that
was this: the most effective oratory is not bombastic. Among educated
people (or illiterate) the quiet, deliberate and subdued manner is best.
Reserve is a very necessary element in effective speaking. It is
soul-weight that counts, not mere words, words, words. The extreme
deliberation and compelling quality of quiet self-possession in Disraeli's
style dated, according to Gladst