Unfortunately it appears to me that with the decline of classical education, this sort of grand, booming oratory style has totally perished. As Daniel said, Cicero, e. g., was a huge influence -- and what powerful people still read Latin? I can't exactly imagine Donald Trump perusing an Oxford classical text.
My dear Mr. Edison, The request which you have just made of me, to reveal the record of my voice, is one which I cheerfully comply with, so far as lies it in my power. So I lament to say that the voice which I transmit to you is only the relic of an organ, the employment of which has been over played.
Madison? I have no idea how to fathom the distance in time of that major world leader... Ah, Madison was born when Henry Pelham was PM. Now I get it, that’s a long time ago!
Chuck Ekweani I wouldn't be too hard on him, Lincoln was in a very poor state of health by his mid-50s, it is most unlikely that he would still be alive in 1888 had he not of been shot.
This is a contemporary recreation done because the original was hard to understand, if anything it represents a stereotypical late 19th century transatlantic upper class accent as that's what they were emulating. The original is also up on youtube and sounds more like super conservative RP with rhoticity. Dead interesting.
Back in the 1820s whilst he was a teenager he sounded like Oliver Twist crossed with the Artful Dodger and the Beatles. Untill that is he went to Eton. So by 1828 in his late teens he likely spoke more like an Etonian rather than a Liverpuddlian with Scottish parents.
If I'm not mistaken this isn't his voice. Edison sent his voice recording machine round the world for notables and this being a new technology, Gladstone was too far away from the mic to have been picked up very well so a re-recording was done with another person.
There were no recording mictrophones in the 1880's. Recording was purely mechanical. The mechanism was crude and the recording Gladstone made was weak and indistinct. Edison recreated the voice with an actor for release. Here is the genuine Gladstone ua-cam.com/video/0F957zdE3m8/v-deo.html
Bono of U2 does a very similar voice when he plays his Macphisto devilish alter ego. That said, I wouldn't put Gladstone as evil...one of the best pre-war British Prime Ministers, I think.
That was amazing...1888 for Gawd sake! Most homes didn't even have an electricity supply back then, cars were a rarity and the railways were in their infancy!
@Hissam Ullah Oh, hate is a strong word. Vigorous competition is a better one. They had diametrically opposing world views, so far as was possible back then. Between them they created the most stable climate for rational Enlightenment debate that ever existed, in stark contrast to France. The political order was so different it was hard to comprehend, but imagine, if you would, political freedom of ideas within a strong boundary of Christian-influenced laws and statutes.
@@DumDumHistory He was born and brought up in Liverpool, but his accent isn't really like anything at all today. Certainly not picking up anything Scottish sounding, although it's hard to tell with the quality of the recording
+Gary turner It was in fact, by my understand, an Australian innovation in Tasmania in 1856, and not introduced to Britain until 1872, in an Act, by a member of the Liberal Party when Gladstone was its leader and not Gladstone himself.
Well he left with Peel and became a Peelite first and the Conservatives tried to win him back, but he never would return because he hated Disraeli for the part he played in Peel's downfall
Victorians had such confidence and authority in their voices.
Tends to happen when you literally rule the world!
Ciceronian syntax and other things
Unfortunately it appears to me that with the decline of classical education, this sort of grand, booming oratory style has totally perished. As Daniel said, Cicero, e. g., was a huge influence -- and what powerful people still read Latin? I can't exactly imagine Donald Trump perusing an Oxford classical text.
Thanks. It means a lot to me.
@@williams.5952 Boris Johnson does.
My dear Mr. Edison,
The request which you have just made of me, to reveal the record of my voice, is one which I cheerfully comply with, so far as lies it in my power. So I lament to say that the voice which I transmit to you is only the relic of an organ, the employment of which has been over played.
The clarity of that 131 year old recording is beyond astounding. This is the voice of a man who was born during James Madison's presidency.
Madison? I have no idea how to fathom the distance in time of that major world leader... Ah, Madison was born when Henry Pelham was PM. Now I get it, that’s a long time ago!
That's like measuring distance in football pitches. Incomprehensible to most of us.
Madison 1751 to 1836. Gladstone 1809 to 1898.
@@faithlesshound5621Madison was president from 1809-1817.
Who's James Madison when he's at home?
So booming and prominent.
+Chris Johnson That's the kind of voice you needed to be a politician before the invention of the microphone.
I love how archaic his accent is
it's north-welsh
'The People's William' was known as one of the definitive orators of the 19th Century
This man was born in 1809 the same year as Abe Lincoln. Could you imagine hearing Lincoln's voice. DAMN YOU BOOTH!!!
Chuck Ekweani I wouldn't be too hard on him, Lincoln was in a very poor state of health by his mid-50s, it is most unlikely that he would still be alive in 1888 had he not of been shot.
Matthew Laurence Very interesting.
Wasn't Charles Dawin born in that same year? I'd love hear is voice.
Darwin and Lincoln were born on the same... DAY
February 12, 1809.
Chuck Ekweani 1809 Rodney Road Liverpool prime minister 4 times he's my great great great great great great great great grandfather
This is how people spoke to crowds in the days before microphones.
Excellent point, I didnt think of that. It makes complete sense
Bertrand Russell’s impression was PERFRCT
I'm here because of Russel too. I was very impressed by Russel's impression of Gladstone.
... Except his is not Gladstones voice. The real recording is here (at 1:03): ua-cam.com/video/0F957zdE3m8/v-deo.html
J. Gladstone here, in Southern California. Distantly related:)
My childhood home in Bargoed, Wales was named after him, " Gladstone Villa"
This is a contemporary recreation done because the original was hard to understand, if anything it represents a stereotypical late 19th century transatlantic upper class accent as that's what they were emulating. The original is also up on youtube and sounds more like super conservative RP with rhoticity. Dead interesting.
Aolian
Most Victorian accents I’ve heard pronounce the letter R. I wonder when that declined.
‘Only a relic’?
What must he have sounded like in his prime!
Back in the 1820s whilst he was a teenager he sounded like Oliver Twist crossed with the Artful Dodger and the Beatles. Untill that is he went to Eton. So by 1828 in his late teens he likely spoke more like an Etonian rather than a Liverpuddlian with Scottish parents.
He means when people hear it in future when he is gone it will be termed a relic.
This is not Gladstones voice. The real recording is here (at 1:03): ua-cam.com/video/0F957zdE3m8/v-deo.html
Amazing that this is still around
If I'm not mistaken this isn't his voice. Edison sent his voice recording machine round the world for notables and this being a new technology, Gladstone was too far away from the mic to have been picked up very well so a re-recording was done with another person.
I think you will find it's the voice of the Scottish actor FINLAY CURRIE...check out many films...Quo Basis etc...
@@seanpendulum5121 that would mean he was 10
There were no recording mictrophones in the 1880's. Recording was purely mechanical. The mechanism was crude and the recording Gladstone made was weak and indistinct. Edison recreated the voice with an actor for release. Here is the genuine Gladstone ua-cam.com/video/0F957zdE3m8/v-deo.html
A Great Voice from A Great Man! :)
Will probably take too long here unfortunately... :/
Hear, hear!
fucking Gladstonian weebs and their home rule bills
U are thinking is very good
I thought he was the god's only mistake.
you can hear a touch of scottish in his diction amazing
Sounds like he's condemning someone to death
l am listening now to voice of william Gladstone..good
Those eyes pierce your very soul.
Can you only imagine the presence he would have had in the House of Commons
he's my great great great great great great great grandfather
oXG Dynamo I don't think we are related
That means we’re related!
Lmao good joke. And my nan is the queen of England
@@CoolDude-jp1kj OXG Dynamo could be right
Jesus, I'm shaking
I would think that with to days technically a clear no static sound in possible. It would be interesting to here one after the original.
I recently found out that he is my cousin 8 times removed and a decedent of my x6 great grandfather, so this is pretty surreal.
Bono of U2 does a very similar voice when he plays his Macphisto devilish alter ego.
That said, I wouldn't put Gladstone as evil...one of the best pre-war British Prime Ministers, I think.
This man could definitely reach the back row! No amplification needed!
i cycle passing his status at West End Edinburgh every day..i will take another long look at him tomorrow!
This bloody voice.
There's a video on YT of James Joyce reading Ulysses, and to me it always sounded very Irish. But it sounds very similar to this.
That was amazing...1888 for Gawd sake! Most homes didn't even have an electricity supply back then, cars were a rarity and the railways were in their infancy!
Railways were NOT in their infancy!
Its like a time machine in a way. Truly powerful to reach out to the past
Christmas Tree lights were invented in 1882. In 1881 the Savoy Theater in the UK was the world's first building to be entirely lit by electric lights.
William Ewart Gladstone is my great great grandfather or uncle I can't remember and I'm the latest in the Gladstone family
Is this true? If so, my country owes your family so fucking much. One of the greatest politicians ever.
this is wild.... eye
So it sounds like Churchill was part of a tradition
It's a shame there are no surviving recordings of the PMs between Gladstone and Asquith.
Stu Pidity what I’d pay to hear a Gladstone vs Disraeli debate!!!
@Hissam Ullah Oh, hate is a strong word. Vigorous competition is a better one. They had diametrically opposing world views, so far as was possible back then. Between them they created the most stable climate for rational Enlightenment debate that ever existed, in stark contrast to France.
The political order was so different it was hard to comprehend, but imagine, if you would, political freedom of ideas within a strong boundary of Christian-influenced laws and statutes.
I can hear echoing
What kind of accent would British people say he had? And does his type of accent still exist in Britain today?
It's an educated Scottish accent, I believe. Both his parents were Scots.
@@DumDumHistory He was born and brought up in Liverpool, but his accent isn't really like anything at all today. Certainly not picking up anything Scottish sounding, although it's hard to tell with the quality of the recording
He was born and brought up in Liverpool, but his accent is nothing like anything you'd hear today.
I'd agree with his first comment that it's a very upper class, refined, olden Scottish accent, the kind which hasn't existed for a century now.
It's a public speaking voice, not unlike what a preacher would put on.
Seems like Bertrand Russell’s impression was pretty good
Interessante.
Sounds like he is singing
Born the same year as Abraham Lincoln.
I don't understand anything about he said.
What Year Is This
1888
This guy sounds like he could have been the wizard of Oz.
This is not Gladstones voice. The real recording is here ua-cam.com/video/sd_w0yf0rWc/v-deo.htmlsi=HQpFubslbIc0d-96
Unfortunately, it has been marked private and is unavailable.
Edited to add a new link
does that not sound scottish?
Liam- Gladstone was born in Liverpool, of Scots descent.
It sounds as close to Cilia Black as it does to Scottish, Chuck!
Philip Ians
He was Scottish but he often referred to himself as an Englishman.
one of my favourite liberal politicians but I wish he had not left the tory for the liberal party
He established the secret ballet system that we use today for all elections.
+Gary turner It was in fact, by my understand, an Australian innovation in Tasmania in 1856, and not introduced to Britain until 1872, in an Act, by a member of the Liberal Party when Gladstone was its leader and not Gladstone himself.
+Matthew Laurence (Matternick-europhile) You're spot on.
Baji Scipio Dārayav Aurelius Julian Venizelos Nalwa
Well he left with Peel and became a Peelite first and the Conservatives tried to win him back, but he never would return because he hated Disraeli for the part he played in Peel's downfall
And to think that my local council were going to change the name of one our parks, which is named after him. Useless people.
He really was a funny guy----------mocking his own pompous delivery in flowery 'parliamentary' language of the day.
Yet Disraeli disagreed to this voice!
The GOM!
Strikingly Germanic
Here is the genuine Gladstone ua-cam.com/video/0F957zdE3m8/v-deo.html
Only a relic, eh? - Pity...
From the GOM to Liz Truss.... :(
He sounds a bit Irish.
A great historical recording; but the video could have done without that awful reverb effect.
that's probably a side-effect of the recording mechanics.
I'm related to this guy he's my grandpas great uncle
Now I see why Queen Victoria thought he was pompous
scouser through and through
Can’t say much agin him
Deepfake 😂