"_These, then, are the arguments_;" _i.e._, "They're all yawning--must
end somehow."
"_A crushing reply_;" _i.e._, a retort discourteous, in which all the
points of the attack are adroitly evaded.
"_After the magnificent oration to which we have just listened with so
much delight, I feel that anything that I can say must be in the nature
of an anti-climax_;" _i.e._, "Confound him! Why will he take all the
'fat' to himself, and cut the ground from under a fellow's feet?"
"_I have the greatest possible pleasure in presiding over this
magnificent assembly on this memorable occasion_;" _i.e._, "Place is
like a malodorous oven, and I wish to goodness it were all over."