His judgment is so shallow--his temper so rash and violent--that some people think he actually counted that the Government would never have dared to interfere with his obstructive plan of campaign, and that he would have been permitted to bury the Bill under the vast hedge of amendments.

To him, then, the strong and drastic action of the preceding week had come as a painful and most exasperating surprise.
[Sidenote: Joe's weakness.] It is one of the many bad turns that Joe's temper does him to always lead him into overdoing his part.

The wild outbursts of his venom--the ferocity which he puts into his personal attacks--these things have the effect of producing a certain amount of reaction; and thus his blows often suffer from the very violence with which they are dealt.

A real master of Parliamentary craft, like Mr.Gladstone or Mr.Sexton, has learned the lesson--the lesson which all orators of all ages have learned--that there is nothing so deadly as moderation; that he destroys the effectiveness of a passion by tearing it to pieces, and that you are really effective when you have complete control of your temper, your voice and your language.
[Sidenote: Mitchelstown.] Mr.Dillon, rising--pale, high-strung, and nervous--was a sympathetic sight, and the House was ready to listen to him with the greatest attention.

The Old Man was specially interested.