s
it, he had cocked his hat over his eyes, shoved his hands into his
trousers pockets, and was lolling back eying the veterans of the House
with critical disapproval.

His maiden speech was delivered in May, 1901, in reply to David Lloyd
George, who had attacked the conduct of British soldiers in South
Africa. Churchill defended them, and in a manner that from all sides
gained him honest admiration. In the course of the debate he produced
and read a strangely apropos letter which, fifteen years before, had
been written by his father to Lord Salisbury. His adroit use of
this filled H. W. Massingham, the editor of the _Daily News_, with
enthusiasm. Nothing in parliamentary tactics, he declared, since Mr.
Gladstone died, had been so clever. He proclaimed that Churchill would
be Premier. John Dillon, the Nationalist leader, said he never before
had seen a young man, by means of his maiden effort, spring into the
front rank of parliamentary speakers. He promised that the Irish members
would ungrudgingly testify to his ability and honesty of purpose. Among
others to at once recognize the rising star was T. P. O'Connor, himself
for many years of the parliamentary firmament one of the brightest
stars. In _M. A. P._ he wrote: "I am inclined to think that the dash of
American blood which he has from his mother has been an improvement on
the original stock, and that Mr. Winston Churchill may turn out to be a
stronger and abler politician than his father."

It was all a part of Churchill's "luck" that when he entered Parliament
the subject in debate was the conduct of the war.

Even in those first days of his career in the House, in debates where
angels feared to tread, he did not hesitate to rush in, but this subject
was one on which he spoke with knowledge. Over the older men who were
forced to quote from hearsay or from what they had read, Churchill had
the tremendous advantage of being able to protest: "You only read of
that. I was there. I saw it."

In the House he became at once one of the conspicuous and picturesque
figures, one dear to the heart of the caricaturist, and one from the
strangers' gallery most frequently pointed out. He was called "the
spoiled child of the House," and there were several distinguished
gentlemen who regretted they were forced to spare the rod. Broderick,
the Secretary for War, was one of these. Of him and of his recruits in
South Africa, Churchill spoke with the awful frankness of the _enfant