Professor Dicey, in an admirable speech at Workington on Tuesday,
said some hard things. Mr. Gladstone, he said, was a man who always told truth, but was never understood, and always, therefore, deceived those who listened to him. That is surely going very far. Mr. Gladstone sees distinctions which no one else sees, and as a consequence of these distinc- tions sometimes conveys one thing to his hearers' mind and another thing to his own ; but surely he is not only often understood, but often very clearly understood ; and not only can he, but often is, the most lucid of orators. What could be more lucid than Mr. Gladstone's speeches on boycotting in 1882, or, indeed, for that matter, than his speeches on exclusive dealing " now P The two sets of speeches com- pletely destroy each other, no doubt, but even that they could not effect unless they were lucid and perfectly explicit. It is only when Mr. Gladstone hovers between two opinions that he conveys one opinion to his hearers and another to himself.
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