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Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 2662, 2 June 1908, Page 7

i The House of Commons is the first j debating society in the world and Mr. I Balfour is the supreme debater. On j the platform ho is dull and uninspir- : ing, for he has no message for his i time ; but on the floor of the House jhe is the incomparable swordsman. i His spirits rise with the combat. iThe worse the case the more desperate the attack, the more formidable 'he becomes. The air of slack nerj velessness vanishes. Every faculty awakes to astonishing activity. He j twists and turns with diabolical ! elusiveness. A dozen swords are at I his throat and lo ! he is under the 'enemy's guard and through them, dealing venomous thrusts on every .vulnerable point. He clouds the issue with, the dust of his fialectics '. and with a sudden flank movement ! changes the whole face of the battle. His one weapon of defence is to ' attack. li he cannot meet the enemy on the ground they have chosen he wheels round to a new position and before they realise that he has escaped they are defending themselves in the rear. There was truth as well as vanity in his complaint that the House of Commons did not extend his mind." Parliament has never witnessed so accomplished an intellectual gymnast.—"Daily News."