MRS. ASQUITH’S DIARY.

Gisborne Times, Volume LVI, Issue 6321, 25 February 1922, Page 3

MRS. ASQUITH’S DIARY.

MR ASQUITH AND GLADSTONE. The following are extracts from articles by Mrs Asquith contributed to the Times, in which she gives an account of her experiences during and after the general election of ifc-,92. in the first extract Mrs Asquith, who was then Miss Margot Tennant, narrates incidents in the opening stages of the Liberal campaign in the Park division of Lanarkshire, now- part of Glasgow, on behalf of her brother, Mr Edward Tennant, afterwards the first Lord Glenconner, and describes the impression made ripen her by the first speech which she hoard Mr Asquith deliver. The date is. June, 1892

I was looking forward to receiving Mr Asquith in the evening, lie is a lawyer and a Liberal with reputation lor intellect and oratory, and as there is no occasion on which I do not prefer to look as nice as nature will allow

me, I vent upstairs to change my dress before tea. People tell me that .women dress for women more than rcr men, and this may be true, but l dress for' myself, and confess to a certain weakness in the matter. I am a believer in appearances and a lover of color. Mr Asquith arrived, and, after refusing tea, Tie sat down and we had a long, interesting and uninterrupted conversation in grandpapa’s deserted drawingroom, with its liver-colored wall paper, chilly curtains, quelling seats and depressing ornaments. I seem to disentangle the central current of my ideas when I am talk-

mg to Mr Asquith, and if you don’t think too much about yourself there is iio reason why you should not talk of it. He is different from any other friends in that liis genius is akin to sanity. He has the look of a Cromwell soldier, and knowledge of and interest in every subject under the sun. I had a longing to tell him How little I knew, bub somehow or other .felt he would not mind much, as if he knows anything about my sex, he must know that most of us are abominably ill-educated. I do not imagine that it would take him

long either, to find this out. j Hr Asquith was to speak for Eddy that night, and we dined early, None of our party wore evening clothes, } but halls are always hot, and I I dressed with extreme care for the meeting. Eddy was well received, making an easy speech about his opponent, which

"as perfectly free from malice, and ho answered the usual hatch of questions sent up to the platform from all parts of the hall. When Mr Asquith rose he was greeted with hot enthusiasm, most of the audience standing up and waving their handkerchiefs. I had never heard him speak before, and listened with the greatest curiosity. His head makes up for what Ins figure lacks in impressiveness, and he lias a fine voice. His vocabulary is uncommon and ! never strained, and there is a note of intellectual scorn in his speaking , j which I admire. He told me that he had spoken twenty-four times that week, and felt quite without ideas, but I should tlnuk his idea-less utterances would be better than the speeches of most men. He has all the qualities of a great orator, lucid- I ; ny, grip, and a short, forcible way j | of expressing himself. In spite of i being rather set in manner, there is a movement in his brain and none of j

the legal level which chills an audience.

G L ADSTOXE IN GLASGOW

Describing the scene when Mr Gladstone visited Glasgow on 2nd July, 1892, Mrs Asquith says :• —<

I have often driven in crowds—when the Queen opened the People’s Palace; at the, great volunteer review at Molyi'ood; in ISBO at Mr Gladstone’s Midlothian campaign., and on many other Royal and political occasions—but I have never seen more magic in the streets than I saw in Glasgow on that Saturday afternoon. The cheers —long, hoarse, het and thrilling—shook the air and beat against the houses; men and women seized the reins and the tails of the policemen’s horses, forcing a way through to my father’s carriage in the ‘nope of being able to see or touch Mr Gladstone. One man fell, and a dozen others stepped upon him; a boy was run over, but unhurt; and some of the women appeared as if they wanted to throw themselves under the horses’ hoofs. The roofs were black and red with men and flags, and the streets a swaying sea of hats. Driving close behind, we could see -Mr and Mrs Gladstone responding as well as they could to this intoxicating enthusiasm; he waved his hat and she her bouquet. Dear old couple! Thiswas the atmosphere they had breathed, lived in, and been kept young by ,for over half a century. Ho looked like an old untamed tiger, with his mouth curling up to His eyes in a defiant, nlmcst challenging, smile. The theatre was full to bursting; every doorway with scaffoldings of men wreathed above it, and the boxes blocked to the roof. My head throbs now at the mere recollection of the reception Mr Gladstone got as he walked on "to the platform and sat down. I had to hide my face, any nerves could not stand it, and I observed many people- who were in tears. When “Auld Lang Syne” was sung Eddy and I holding each other’s hands, broke down like children-—we seemed to he like Covenanters being led into, battle with a hymn. The concentration of the faces and the tli rill in the cheers after the singing was over moved me like ‘death. When Mr Gladstone rose it seemed an endless time before he was allowed to speak. He stood motionless and erect, gazing at his audience. The speech was an astonishing piece of fire and vigor, slightly spoilt for me by a long dull part about Maltese marriages, but it had the glory and glare of the general election, and was received with the wildest enthusiasm. We were given tea afterwards in the greenroom, hut few were allowed to come in for fear of tiring the speaker. Mr Gladstone invited me to sit down on the sofa beside him. The tirst thing he said to me was: “Wha 4 cio you think of Madame Calve’s singing?” It took me a little time to readjust my brain after the experience it had gone through, but I remembered tlfe last time I had seen him was in Lady Brassey’s box _at the opera when “Carmen” was being performed. This was a congenial topic, and I told him that I not only thotight her the best singer, but the best Carmen on the stage, and added that it was a part I would above all others like to have played. He said he thought I could have done it well, and reminded me of the evening when I danced to him with castanets. Mr Ma.joribanks interrupted us at this moment with the plans for- the following day, and I said good-bve.