New-York tribune., 1880-02-08

time when his speeches were voted heavy; acu'ouS
"Reminiscences when you consider that ne Is no"
scornfuly rebuked by Tory critics Tor peihg 700
light. The House does not relish iDstructioh' anu
will not stand suspicion of patronage IN manner
have seen some scores Of men get up
and 20 out when Sir William Harcourt rose
II was n kind of fprotest-preconcerted evidently
against tho air of superiority which In those days
he was thought to assume. He was not above
proftina by the lesson and he now has the ear OF
the House. and not less the Of the public oeing
one Of the few speakers whose dlscourses during
the parliamentary vacation are reported IN iull !;
reported also in the first person ard not III me
third as is the soveny habit too commonly adopted
here as a convenient means of abbreviatIng pam
language and mystifying the hasty reader.
BRILLIANT AND POWERFUL SPEECH
Physical advantages 90 great way with an ai-
dience-eyen with an audience so intellectual ana
50 long trained I'm the art Of listening 20 good
speeches as a Birmingham audience. They are
plainly prepossessed in Sir William HarcOurts Ia
vor before he has uttered one word. His manner Is
composure itself. The applause which salutes nun
is not the rolling thunder which echoes around MI
Bright an hour later but il Is sincere ana pro
lopped II does not shake sin gle in his tall
frame. That is the keynote to his deficiencies
There is a want of senstveness in bis strong ma
ment whatever il may be. which is present
in any great orator have ever heard in any coun-
try Neither Mr. Bright nor Mr.. Gladstone wOuid
stand there with shat unshaken sedaeness Veterans
of the platform as they are. yOu will see IN eacn oil
them ~ he rises if yOu look closely, the signs OF
suppressed emotion. They are calm enough Dut
they are calm by an effort. Sir William, withouI
any effort at all, is cool, TO use Mr. Choate )
phrase, as a couple of Summer mornings. Inc
speech to which we listened breathlessiy was
purely intellectual performance. Ii was mastery
statement Every sentence was lucid-compact but
not 900 compact-anI carefully wrought
Everything was fresh and timely; the
latest topic of general interest made 70
sery the purpose of Illuminating this purely polit-
cal address Dealing with serious matters the
speech was anything but serious in tone IL
abounded in wit. and abounded in humor; two
things which seldom 20 together. From beginning
to end t was succession of sparkling epiGrams In
the hands of an unpractised performer. half these
would have missed fire. Sir William HarcOurt con-
triyed TO make every one tell, and this he did 6y
studlously modulating his delivery. Mr.. Bright Is
| a very slow speaker. but | don't think Mr.. Bright
| ever uttered so few words IN the same time as
| fell from Sir William HarcourPs lips
| during the fifty-fve minutes his speech
occupied Too many Jokes often prove as weaiisome
az too few but he kept the curiosity OF his hearers
alert TO the end. Mr. Bright was to follow him. but
| when say that there was not sign OF impatience
| have. perhaps exhausted every possible compl-
ment asked Harcourt after it was all over II his
| audiences were usually so keen as this. lie an
swered that the Birmingham people were entitled 10
half the credit if credit there were OF his success
| I once heard Artemus Ward say that i'll England
| it took him an hour and half To deliver
| 49, he nOt
hour in America. The extra time was spent IN wait
ing for his hearers TO take the joke. Whether Arte-
| inns ever lectured in Brmn CHAM don't know. IL
is an act Of extreme audacity to compare so great
| person as Sir William Harcourt with Artemus Ward
vet their methods have certainly something IN COM
mon There Is the same patient dryness OF manner
the same air of innocent unconsciousness the same
| slight movement of surprise when laugh breaks
| ont the same reversal of the classic maxim about
touching the feelings. They both understood that
| if YOU wish your hearers to laugh you must not
laugh with them.
A MAGNIFICENT DISPLAY. BUT NOT oRAToRY.
Powerful and brilliant the speech was it lacked,
az began to say above, one essential element oi
oratory. Ii was never persuasive. lt had not a
tonch Of p,ssion. Sir William Harcourt carried his
hearers with him throughout, but left them as cold
"a he found them. 1t Is very rare indeed that a
as th, was. But In almost every instance the APP
| plause was mingled with laughter 1t abounded IN
pyectiye in satire In humorous scorn. it contained
not a single appeal to the feelings, not one
4 outburst of Indignation, not a passage which
came from the heart. The lightning flashed
| ont of the serene heights of the upper air. The
| tbunderbolts shot from tho hand OF being who
smote his enemies as pastime; too superior to be
| kiudled by anger. They did not burn; they pierced
In the higher sense of the word this not oratory at
ell. 1t is consummately clever speaking and per-
hans the best proof OF its ceverness Is that not till
| IL ia all over aud you sit down to analyze your i'm
| pressions do you perceive that you have not been
| moved by II. You have boen amused. Instructed
| convinced, anything you like, but never once
| felt yourself thrilling with the electric cur
| rent which passes from the true orator TO his
| audience. and from the audience back to the ora
| tor Ii is magnificent display, but oratory it ID
not. Sir William Harcourt. consciously OF uncon-
sciously. has taken Lord Beaconsfeld or rather Mr.
Disraeh for his model-the Disraeli Of the House OF
| Commons ten wears ago, when his powers were in
| their full splendor. There is not only marked
likeness between them in intellectual qualities, but
In tome in gesture in the affected hesitation, the
drawl of the voice Just before delivering the point
sometimes the stiletto point-of the blow Ions
meditated, aimed with perfect precision. yet appar
emily reaching its victim by accident.
Moreover. the speech was written. 1t Is impos
sible to any man to deliver such speech of-hand
or with ordinary preparation. Tho sentences ar'
as polished as the sentences OF Junius. The STYLE
is essentially written style. The reporters ha'
printed Slips and inserted the laughter and cheer
as they went on. Yet the speech was neither re
peated from memory, read. The process wa
something between the two and the spoken sen
,iob fha r,pi,, tod
has not. The cadence was oratorical and no
literary. A phrase was added. o transitional claus
inserted; point brought out by slight yet subtl
changes adopted the spur Of the moment, an'
always with Improvement. This of itself is rar