Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-05-31
Gladstone de RhretorIcIan and an Ora
tor-Oid EbonJ's Portrait Of the Distln-
RuIehed m. p.f ." rH

Gladstone ds RhretorIcIan and an Ora
tor-Old EbORy's Portrait Of the Distin-
EuIThcd M. p flsa
Alr. Gladstone is, beyond all doubt, a very
accomplished rhetorician and orator. Not
Belial himself bad a tongue more cunning
to win over and persuade; there is no trick
Of the trade which he does not know, no ar.
tifioe which be does not habituslly practice.
He would absolutely be perfect could he but
60 one step further, and, by conceGling arti.
hees achieve the erowning triumph of maxi
ing his audience thoroughly believe his sim
cerity. That however, he cannot do. 1t is
impossible to listen 10 one of his wonderful
speeches without feeling your admiration Of
hls eloquence somewhat impaired by sus-
picion that vein Of sophistry runs through
the whole Of his argument. You may be
for the moment too dszzled and bewldered
to be able to point It out Just as you cen not
dmme ediately explain the manipulations of a
very clever conjurer; but you are satisfied
of this mueh--that somewhere or other there
has been deception. Therefore, even in ora
tory there is a point Of excellence beyond
the reach of Mr.. Gladstone, and one which
he never can attain. t.tj'
That he has most highly cultivated mind,
every one must allow. He has cultivated it
to the fullest extent that the soil win bear
but, apart ftom the golden pippins Of oratory,
the trees Of his orchard are not remarkable
for the richness or flavor Of their fruit. He
, is, we must needs say it, an Indifferent artist
% with tbepen. cPutthat little implement into
his hand, and the animation which is so con-
spicuous In his speeches instantly disap-
peaIs-he becomes vague, dreamy, and mo-
notoDous-crotchets turn up and explode,
not fiery and sparkling like crackers, but
cfzgling like squibs that have been kept since
the lost Queens birthday in a damp cellar
and you, the reader, become wearied and
mystified, as though you had been perusing
the tomb of an antquated scholiast, and lay
aside the book, With half the pages still un-
cut marveling exceedingly that man, able
to shake the Senate, should prove himself to
be, in another mental department, as helpless
"a visionary as Swedenborg.
There is sense in the vulgar old adage,
stbat 'fnei words butter no parsnips" New
ertheless, We have handed over, or have had
handed over for u.s. the care of our purses, if
not our parsnips to Mr.. Gladstone, in respect
iof bis fine words alone; and we have clear
right to scrutiniZe, with extreme minuteness,
the arrangements of our financial manager.
That his antecedeuts were such as to qualify
OF rather to recommend him for such post,
we broadly and distinctly deny. Genius
msy, as we are well aware, be found in com
bination with practical business talent, but
the union is not common one, and the
great majority of mankind instinctively
prefer, for the transaction Of ordinary affairs,
men of staid habits and plodding thought, to
visonaries and electrical declaimers.
Nor are they to be blamed as narrow
minded and illiberal exceptionists for this.
Perhaps the cleyerest inancier the world
ever saw was John Law, of Lsuriston, the
protector of the Mississippi scheme, who
neafly ruined France; and he, according to
popular tradition, was man of much the
same caliber as Mr.. Gladstone, having an
appetite for china monstrosities, indulging
in visionary talk, and able, by the magic OF
his tongue, to vile bird from off tree, as
the adder is said TO do when it desires to
baton upon the brooding sparrow and her
ca1iou vnunu nnaa in the mast