The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-12-17

shoulders OF MS conquered country, VIC
shall see but small cause for assigning to
Mr.. GLADSTONE place among those men OF
genius whose skill in finance has rescued
nations from impending ruin.
As q debater, Mr.. GLADSTONE has never
met his match during the last thirty years
on the floor Of the House Of Commons, and
perhaps that assembly never saw equallcd
his matured and disciplined power Of exten-
pore retort and exposition. That this, how
ever, although useful, IL not q very high
form OF intellectual achievement, Is plain
enough from the fact that stenographic re-
port OF an exciting, givo-and-take discussion
is but tame reading at the best Excep-
tion Of like kind may be taken to the pro-
longed deliberate, and elaborate exhibitions
Of MI. GLADsToNE's oratorica talent. Unques-
tionably he is great orator, ono Of tho
greatest that England ever heard, perhaps
one OF .the most potent speakers the world
has known, II the test OF might in this
direction is its grasp upon the passions of
the immediate audience and its ability to
shake rival from his seat. II Mr.
GLADSTONE has become well nigh in
vincible in q political canvass, 1t is
because he Is unrivalled among liv-
ing Englishmen In the charm of personal
magnetism, in the unerring divination OF
popular aversions and desires, in tho intui-
tive adjustment Of his own point of view to
the average intellect, In the capacity of
moulding thoughts in q congenial form, and
OF pitching his sentiments in seductive
key. In mastery of the spoken word, and in
the wonders achieved by it over the
spell-bound ear, he undoubtedly deserves
place in tho small and splendid
group to which CHATHAM and Fox belong,
but into which the awkward, cold, and to-
dious delivery of BURKE would not suffer
him to enter. On the other hand, it must be
said that the speeches of GLADSTONE,
like the speeches OF Fox and CHAT
HAM, when subjected to the ruthless
criterion of type, altogether fail to
account for the strange fascination
which is known to have informed their ut
terance. They possess little or no value
for the student OF politics; they will
never command place beside the works of
BURKE in the library OF the philosopher
As we read Mr.. GLADsToNE's speeches In
print, we are reminded Of the late Lord
LYTroN 8 comment on another British orator:
Words that were fire seem ashes on the
page"
II, finally, we inquire on what creden-
tials Mr.. GLADsToNE's claim to enlightened
and far-reaching craftsmanship will rest, we
cannot but recognize an absence OF the in
fallible foresight and the bold in
itiative which are observed to distin-
guish the highest form Of statecraft. Up to
the spring Of 1882, when Mr.. GLADSTONE
rejected the FORSTER policy Of coercion. and
assumed temporarily an attitude toward Ire
land with which the majority of his followers
were not in sympathy, Mr.. GLADSTONE has
never been in advance OF his party. He has
patiently watched the fuctuation and evolu-
ton Of its opinions; he has hearkened in
tently for an indication OF its will; and he
has REFLECTED its convictions and echoed
its hopes with thespeed and fidelity Of a we'll
conducted newspaper. II we could regard
his political career as now ended. we might
be sure that posterity would never rate him
with those statesmen who have been the
prophets and pioneers Of great movements
with the men who were not afraid to startle
coerce, and educate their party. 1t will
never set him, for example, beside the
younger PITT, who, In the teeth of bank
ruptcy and the risk OF civil war, held
England in the wise Of his mistaken
purpose; beside CANNING. who compelled
English Tories to feign sympathy they did
not feel with European and South American
revolutlonists; beside Sir ROBERT PEEL, who
chose to shatter his party sooner than dis
own a truth which he had at last come to rec
ognize and who may almost be said to have
repealed the Corn laws by his individual fiat.
1t looked, indeed, not long ago rs If Mr.. GLAD
STONE meant to challenge by his Irish policy
a niche among the few political leaders who
have created parties aud signally prccipi-
tated the march OF enlightenment and re-
form. But the prospect has faded, and with
it Mr.. GLADsToNE's claim to rank above the
second, or even the third, grade Of statesmen.