New-York tribune., 1877-05-28
ENGLAND AND TIE WAR.

! ENGLAND AND THE WAR.
Mr.. GLApsroSr,s RFsoLuuoNs-rHE GREAT SPEECH
or THE RX-PREMIER-sHA8P sALI1Es AT HIS
| OPPONENTS -PRO-TUEKIsH VAGARGES ANSWERED..
| [rRoM The REGULAR CORRESPONDENT or THE TRlBuNtl
! LONDON. May 15.-Whatever else may be sald
about the debate which was brought to a close i'S'
night this must be said. that it has added something
| even to Mr.. Gladstone's already uncquaed fame as
| debatcr. will not go back to the speech WIN
! which he opened it. | said hardly anything about
! il then because topics greater than any personal
topic pressing, and there Is no time ID te5o
hurrying days to deal with a speech week old. IL
is enough to refer TO that Of last night with which
/ the ex-Prme Minister wound mp the discussion
| which began on the previous Monday. As - mere
piece Of debating am inclined TO put it rs lIsh rs
any speech Mr. Gladstone has made for years. lh'Io
| is nothing else in the debate to compare WIN It,
There have been plenty of able speeches MI "iau-
! stone can only he compared with himself
| If this sounds like extrayagant euiory, can only
say my opiuIon Il not even formed under the spell OF
his oratory rs the Ilousc heard It. did not near H
II is the reading Of it which makes such an n
preston on one who is not an ndiscrminate admrcr
of his. | have written good deal ilrSt ana l''''
about Mr.. Gladstone. more often criticising than
praisng and sometimes. fear, using too lfcely INC
freedom which a foreign observer permits himSeh
with respect TO the people of the country among
whom he lives. | have said | think Mr. brght Il
greater orator than Nr. Gladstone and suil thihA
so. You Judge OF greatness III oratory by the great
est things man does. If yOu were to judge py INC
| greater number Of great things, Mr. Bight couiu
not hold the first place. As a debatcr, he never hciH
the first place. For twenty years there has peen
nobody to dispute Mr. Gadsoncs clam 10 the mgr
est rank as a Parliamentary speaher-Mf' DlHiaeH
alone excepted Sir Robert Peel, Mr. Disraell Mr'
D ltf.rr 4 10 -
memory of tins generation have shown such pre-
eminent abilities in the House Of Commons as no
fourth could pretend to possess Lord Palmerston5
control over the House during the last seven yfars
of his lite was more complete. Lord john RuSselis
leadership was al times more brilliant. MI DSiaeh
was always Mr. Giadstoncs superior III tactics ana
Sir Robert Pccs authority was at one time more IN
disputed. But Mr.. Gladstone as dehater' was ana
is head and shoulders above them all, aud his
speeches atc an inexhaustbc rcperory for the stu
dent of political life. lie will ind in tins last eAam-
pies Of almost every weapon which the legislative
gladiator ever has occasion to use. Ii Is 50 remark
able that no summary of it which you may nave
printed can have conveyed an idea Of its most char
actc.istic merits. And find myself praisin9 it 50
highly that have no choice bui TO Justify my praise
by proofs-albeit extracts from great speech are
hardly more TO the purpose than sample bricks ol
noble cdhcc.
Before do that must stop long enough To say
that Lord IIartinatons speech, which preceded Mr.
Gladstoucs, was of very unusual ability. By COM
mon consent il is the best he has made. Passages
IN II would have done discr,dit to far more
practIccd orator Orator, indeed. Lord harrington
j. not and probably never viii be. V hat lie gave
proo Of not for the first tic isthe capacity to make
a most effective speech at critical moment III a
great debate on a great question. His manncr-l
I | I.fa IN
mer occasions-s much against him. He Is
seIf-posses,cd but his self-posscsson amounts to
indifference He has 50 much the air OF being bored
that hc sometimes borcs his hearers. Ii is only of
late that ne has seemed able 10 convince himself
that ii was quite worth while to lead a great party
In the House of Commons; that it was not Slight
condcscclsion in The future Duke Of Deyonshirc 10
troublc hinscl: about the affairs Of the people Of
England HAT ha, Off He has seriously
bent 10 his work. Pride of birth has given way 10
pride in proving his fitness for place when ms title
to the place was challenged. lie has carried ms
point against powerful section Of his own parry,
and he found strength in his triumph to meet the
cri,icl,ms of his opponents with fine scorn. Lord
Sandon had complained that the Opposition had not
moved direct vote Of cenSure the Government.
"Wclln said Lord Harrington quietly, have hal
| an opportunity before now Of stating wha; is my
opinion of the right, and the duties Of the Opposi-
ton. Among the few and scanty rights Of the OPP
| position 10 that OF managing their own Affairs.
Referring af;erward to Mr.. Crosse statement that
! the policy OF the Government had two clear and
distinct landmarks, Lord Harrington raised laugh
| by observing that when Her Majesty Government
make very positive declaration, II usually consists
| of q negative:
one Of these laudmalys that they would not
ton Iorrtn army DID, liIht' ana ilf oin"r Was I,t %
/ Nf.tH q. u IIA F Tt