coexist with both. The two most conspicuous illustrations of this gift, which is sometimes otherwise expressed as the being a great House of Commons man, appear to have been Walpole in the eighteenth century and Sir Robert Peel in the nineteenth century. Disraeli said at different times of Peel that he was "the greatest member of Parliament that ever lived," and that he "played on the House like an old fiddle." Someone else said of him that he was " the greatest member of Parliament since Walpole." Mr. Gladstone seems to have meant much the same thing when he declared that "Peel was the best man of business who was ever Prime Minister." The compliment clearly cannot relate to charm of manner any more than to gift of speech, because Peel was notoriously stiff, cold, and even repellent in manner. Both men were accomplished and versatile speakers, but neither was an orator. It can only relate, as it seems, to a power of managing the House of Commons, correctly understanding its temper, humouring its idiosyncrasies and piloting its wayward inclinations. In other words it is a form of tact, which in the case of a leader is perhaps the first condition of successful leadership. It is the particular tact that enables a man to make the House feel that he is of like temper with itself, playing the same game and observing its rules; not trying selfishly to coruscate or excel, but putting his own contribution of talent or eloquence into 'the common stock. Disraeli may have had this in mind when he wrote that "to make others feel we must feel ourselves, and to feel ourselves we must be natural."We may recall that Mr. Gladstone, who was a good judge, said that in the present generation Sir Edward Grey, who is a most impressive speaker, was the man with the real Parliamentary manner.
Manners of leaders.It is a remarkable thing, possessing no necessary connection, either with the Parliamentary manner or with efficiency as a speaker, that so few of the great Parliamentary leaders would appear to have been popular with their followers at the time. In reading the memoirs or diaries of the past we
