, 1872-10-22
The Tal1eyrand Of American
His Skill in Diplomacy.
Froude las a Lecturer. English Speakers
GeDerally..:A Peorian Alarmed at
Zerlina'S 1ndecorum.


On the whole, the latter deserves the DISTINCTION
HORACE GREELEY AND THE TRIBUNE.
One of the latest and absurdest stories, is
that the stockholders OF the Tribune here have
held meeting and determined to throw Hor-
ace Greeley overheard to save their drowning
ship. This tale comes, OF course, from an Ad-
ministration organ, which takes Tor granted
Greeley's defeat, and informs its readers into
what financial panic the members Of the 1Fsb-
une Association have been thrown BY the Penn
eylvania and Ohio elections.
There is something very dro1l in the idea OF
the Tribune stockholders expelling the man who
made the Tribune, and has been the Tribune
for more than thirty years. It is as as if the
Harlem & Hudson River Railway officials should
talk of ousting Cornelius Vanderbilt, who owns
both them and the roads. Horace Greeley was
never more firmly fixed in the good graces Of his
fellow stockholders than he is at this moment.
Il he is beaten in November, he will, doubtless,
resume his temporarily-vacated editorial chair,
and continue the hard and honest work he has
been engaged in since early boyhood. Judging
from what have heard, he will have no regrets
if be shall be defeated, and he will be especially
glad that the paper he controls has thrown OF
forever all party tramnels.
It is odd, by the by, how much more the
general public knows Of the mind and mood Of
the Tribune stockholders than they know OF
tA6m6elFeE. E0r Tue 1bHE LQIee u1Vutub, 1afo
been hearing. from gogsips quidnuncs, and IS,
noramuses, what the Tribune Association had
determined to do; and Jet these fellows have
been unkind enough to arrange matters for the
members without consulting them, or even hay
ing the satisfaction Of their acquaintance.
The death Of
WILLIAM Il. SEWARD
brought up, the other day, numerous reminis-
ences Of the distinguished statesman
fro from ,n5oG ssge5 Gs9men ea n6 ee o % Wso h
known him intimately, and who happened to be
in the city of Mexico when the e1-Secretary Of
State was sojourning there, told this story to
illustrate h1r. Stewards adroit diplomacy:
dine at the house Of q prominent Mexican, and,
as large company was present, he was called
upon, after the removal Of the cloth, to make q
speech. Abiding to the undsveloped condition
Of the country, be ascribed it to the ignorance
Of the lower orders, largely caused by the unfor-
tunate influence Of the Roman Catholic Church,
which, he said, had ever been opposed to the
diffusion of education among the mssees.
He supposed that he VAS addressing. Catholics
very liberal in their views and that his host was
one OF the most liberal OF them all. It hap
pened, however, that the host was ardent
tltramontanist. who, though he understood
English impe1fectly, understood enough to get
at the drift OF the remarks. He turned crimson
with suppressed indignation; and just then a
friend Of h1r. Seward, seated at his right, sug-
2ested soto uoce, that the speech WAS, under the
circumstances, somewhat inappropriate. Mr.
Seward seemed not to take the hint; but, after
q few moments, he came to full pause. Then he
continued: "These are the comments which
bigots and the bitter enemies Of the Catholic
Church make upon it but liberal minds as ours
arc, gentlemen, am happy to believe, hold = no
great and good work the Church has performed,
and OF the excellent Influences it exercises upon
the uneducated masses, who, but fer it, would
be without guidance and entirely beyond moral
control"
The face Of the host resumed its natural color,
and relaxed into q broad smile, as Er. Seward
sat down amid earnest applause.
Probably no man Of his time VAS more thor
pugh1y diplomat, politically as well as socially,
than the ex-sec1atary, who deserves to be called,
In that relation. the Talleyrand Of America.
THE BROKEN TRIuMy1RATE.
Now that Mr. Seward has gone, before long
Thurlow Weed must go too. The old political
Warwick continues in feeble health, though his
He is seen occasionally in the vicinity OF Print
ing House Square, and, once in . while, he drops
into the Office Of the Times or the Commercial
Aduertiser, to talk over the questions and issues
day, and, as his constitution and native vigor
have been so much impaired, it is not in the
nature Of things that he should long survive.
Whatever the wiu-power Of Thurlow Weed,
chronology is against him.
Horace Greeley, the last Of this once potent
triurnvirate albeit in his 62d year, is as fresh
and gtroug as q lusty mountaineef. He has re-
spected the intimation Of Nature, given some
time ago, that he had abused her, and he has
been more respectful Of her since. Many men
who are less than 20 have not half Of his vlgor
and endurance. hare little doubt he will be at
30 still laundering on the Tribune.
The system OF
POPULAR LEcruR1No ..-.
go much in vogue necessarily causes disappoint-
ment to audiences which naturally lmag-
inc that 81 lecturer has some art OF public
speaking. In many instances, this is great
mistake; for men Who think profoundly and
write eloquently are often very bad speakers.
To lecture ia nowadays merely mode Of exhibit
ing oneself and yet it is pleasant, even after
you have seen a3person of distinction, to be able
to hear what he says and to have him ssy it
agreeably.
JAMES ANTHONY FRoUDE
is al, example of gifted author without capac-
ity to lecture, or even talk. Those who listen to
his very clever discourses, as written, cannot
but regret his unfortunate manner Of delivery.
He speaks in very low tone, mrmbles his words,
articulates wretchedly, and has nervous, IN
coherent, half f-dstrought way, that is the op-
poaite Of interesting.
THE WORST OF sPEAKERs.
OF how many other lecturers may not this, or
something like this, be said /? As q rule, the
English are unquestionably the worst speakers
on the planet. It should be asserted to their
to their discredit that very. few of them would
speak any better If they could. They are not
only without the slightest oratorical ability them
selves, but they have an ardent prejudice
against men possessed Of the ability,-eyen re-
garding them, to certain extent, as charlatans
and mountebanks. They despise the graces
and huency which constitute oral elo~
quence; and any public man who, in
the beginning of his career, could
and would talk in England to his conBtit-
uents as julius Cesar or Marc Antony talked to
the Romans, would doubtless be summarily ex-
tinguiehed; pronounceeda rhetorical quack and
verbal trickster.
remember, not long ago, that Bulwer Lyt-
ton, at dinner in London, told an American,
sitting next him, while the toasts were reading,
that the British had less understanding or ap-
preciation of oratory than any people under the
sun. This was true enough; but the noted
novelist forgot to add that Of al the bad speak
ers in Great Britain, he himself has been, ie.
and will be to his dying day, superemlnently
the worst.
REJECTED HISTORIAN.
Speaking Of Froude, it is said that he called,
the other day, on gentleman in Lexington ave
nue,-the family was extremely fashionable -
and impressed the servant who answered the
y NJ r. .In.t L.