My Life

My Life - Oswald Mosleynew generation. In particular, he would try out his speeches on me, apparently a lifelonghabit of his, with many different auditors. In his Minister's room at the House ofCommons he would walk up and down slowly collecting his thoughts and evolvingthem into speech, occasionally turning to his audience to see how it Was going. Atthat time he was certainly not a ready speaker, it was all a considerable labour. Iremember Mr. Asquith telling me that in his early days as a Minister Mr. Churchillhad some difficulty in winding up a debate and had nothing like the natural gifts ofimpromptu speech possessed by his father, Lord Randolph. Nevertheless, as timewent on he developed a remarkable aptitude for extempore repartee in the House ofCommons, though sometimes an elaborate trap would be laid in advance for theintended victims into which they almost always fell. The really brilliant impromptuwould seem to emerge from the depths of his being with the force of an explosionbursting through all the hesitations of his speech in seeking the mot juste; in fact, theimpediment of his speech was finally developed with rare artifice into one of its chiefattractions. He became a supreme parliamentary speaker, though he was always lesspre-eminent in addressing mass audiences on the platform; but everywhere he waseffective, both by reason of gift and personality.I do not remember his speech at the Criterion, though it had almost certainly beentried out on me in advance. This was the first occasion of our Centre Party dealings; arecurring theme, reasonable and desirable but always frustrated. Mr. Churchillundoubtedly maintained a proper ministerial discretion, though it was not difficult tosee what he was after. The drama that night was produced not so much by him as byhis great friend, F. E. Smith. Whether or not this effect had been rehearsed betweenthem I shall never know. They had long maintained a friendship which cut rightacross party alignments and was given practical expression in the institution of theOther Club. Churchill on the right of Liberalism and Smith on the left ofConservatism must have entertained from time to time some Centre Party thoughts, ofwhich the older generation would be more aware. It had not occurred to the young andthe innocent of the New Members' Group to invite them to our dinner together; orperhaps we felt it would look too much like a conspiracy.We had no idea that F. E. Smith was in the same building, but a message was broughtto Mr. Churchill directly after his speech. With gratified surprise he turned to me andsaid that his old friend was in the restaurant below and it would be a pleasure if hecould be invited to our table. This was indeed a coup for the new members, and Ihastened to execute my mission. I found the Lord Chancellor seated in a prominentposition with the sole company of Lady Birkenhead. He appeared to be in anadvanced condition of postprandial content as he surveyed me indolently through thehaze of his cigar smoke, countenance suffused but genial. I indicated that Mr.Churchill would be pleased if he would join our company upstairs, and lookedenquiringly at his experienced partner. She said something to the effect that he wasquite all right and I should take him along.He rose with dignity to his feet and, leaning rather heavily on his guide, advanced instately style to the door, with few words spoken. We proceeded, as the police say indifficult circumstances, to the field of action, where he sat heavily on a chair whichwas happily near the door. The symptoms were ominous, and I glanced enquiringly atMr. Churchill, as previously at Lady Birkenhead, but his experienced eye immediatelyreflected an affirmative and he called at once on his old friend to speak, amid our87 of 424