This is Mr. Gladstone, Chancellor of the Exchequer, by right of eloquence, statesmanship, and scholarly attainments, the foremost man in England. I cannot hope to give a satisfactory description of his speech, nor of its effect upon the House. His eloquence is of that quality to which no sketch, however accurate, can do justice. Read any one of his speeches, as reported with astonishing correctness in the London "Times," and you will appreciate the clear, philosophical statement of political truth,--the dignified, elevated, statesmanlike tone,--the rare felicity of expression,--the rhetorical beauty of style, never usurping the place of argument, though often concealing the sharp angles of his relentless logic,--the marvellous ease with which he makes the dry details of finance not only instructive, but positively fascinating,--his adroitness in retrieving a mistake, or his sagacity in abandoning, in season, an indefensible position,--the lofty and indignant scorn with which he sometimes condescends to annihilate an insolent adversary, or the royal courtesy of his occasional compliments. But who shall be able to describe those attributes of his eloquence which address themselves only to the ear and eye: that clear, resonant voice, never sinking into an inaudible whisper, and never rising into an ear-piercing scream, its tones always exactly adapted to the spirit of the words,--that spare form, wasted by the severe study of many years, which but a moment before was stretched in languid ease on the Treasury benches, now dilated with emotion,--that careworn countenance inspired with great thoughts: what pen or pencil can do justice to these?