New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-04-23

do not bel,eve that the highest kind of oratory is
nossihle IN anv man deficient in this feeling. No
Indy wonld undervalue the oratorlcal endowments
Lord Rosebery possesses voice. presence, power OF
CLEAR thinking and the rest. But orator who IS
In move the people must be man OF the people as
hotton,-not democrat in the poticalsenSe, not by
onv means necessarily radical, but one who holds
with jefferson that men born equal, OF. at any
rat. are born men. This conviction will in the
long RIM make him irresistible Already speaker
of remarkable powers he destined to rank, if he
cares To- at no distant date orator in the high
and rare sense Of the word.
Lord Rosebery surprised his audience by speak
ing without notes. No scrap of paper was visible
from beginning to end of the fifty minutes during
which in the not too elegant House OF Commons
nhrase he was on his legs. 1t turned out after
ward that lie had left his notes in London. nclud-
ING those from which he meant to complete the
preparation of his speech an accident which adds
TO the interest of the effort There are few more
awkward situations than that OF man who relies
on little manuscript help and finds himself
Obliged to speak without it. The rule here is
notes. Mr Bright always uses them, almost
always Mr. Gladstone has, if nothing more, mcm-
oranda of the leading figures and perhaps facts he
is going to use. Mr.. Chamberlain spoke last night
with the and of four or five sheets of paper. No
doubt Lord Roseberys address lost something III
finish and smoothness by his mishap But 1t was
worth all it cost as practice
Mr.. Chamberlain followed Lord Rosebery. 1t
happens that have not heard Mr.. Chamberlain on
a platform for some three years say on plat
form because the oratory which moves IL popular
audience is thing extremely different from that
debating dexterty which is more in demand IN the
Uouse of Commons than anything else. In the IN
terval Mr. Chamberlain whom had KNOWN as d
clever speaker. has become an orator; IN avery
true if not in the very widest signihcatlon. lhe
mower and breadth of his address last night cannot
be expressed by any word of narrower meaning
than that. The point OF view has changed. Inc
measure and proportion of speech arc no longer the
same The intellectual poiss Is more sure the
range greater aud the knowledge of his audience
more intimate. Probably in Birmingham Mr.
Chamberlain is to he at his best. but the es-
sential oualities of his oratory they we're dis
closed on Friday cannot greatly vary. lie has
stnded Mr. Bright not in VAN, yet between Mt.
Chamberain's methods and Mr.. b rights the diver
cepces are more remarkable than the points OF
identify. That which gives MIR. Bright bis neon
testable superiority to all other English orators OF
tins time is not 10 be copied by any body Nhat
b;s voung.r colleague has derived from him is an
acquaintance with thUse processes of public speak
ing which are in fact imitable OF communicable
the echnical secrets Que to practice to SnoWiecee
of effect not by any means the pathetic ana SYM
pathetic power of Mr.. Bright, his sounding CT the
deoths of the human heart. or bis elevation OF
thought Mr. Chamberain's manner Is now one Of
complete self possession "a man, you would say at
once sure of himself and of his audience. lie has
shaken Oft the primuess OF his earlier DAYS There
used TO be q certain schoolmaster air about him.
and pedantry of diction, which have given place
TO greater freedom Of bearing and freedom OF
speech The phrases are still carefully picked but
they are fluent, and the mar OF the world has got
the better Of the student. The smell OF the lamp
has vanished. If ever there was parochial tone
OF thought in the ex-Mayor of Birmingham. ina
too has vanished. The tone may now fairy De
called statesmanlike. Familiarity Win large
affairs has been an education, as lt alwaysis 70 the
man who proves equal to them and Mr.. Chaihoer-
Iains survey of Imperial topics Is now such as
might be expected from Cabinet Minister.
Save for two passages. this speech OF the Presi-
dent of the Board OF Trade WAS as convincing ana
i,nprernable in substance as it was admirable In
form The personal attack on Lord Salisbury as an
arisocrat and owner OF landed property ls indeleh-
sinIe the more so because Lord ROSeOery was
sitting by. and some of Mr. Chamberlain nvective
,s.s inst as applicable to one Peer as TO the other
INT the attack had II grayer fault than want OF
taste; it was all but comnunistio in tone. Mr..
Chamberlain assaulted LOrd SaIlspufy as INC
spokesman Of a class, q" OF the CLASS to which he
himself belongs who toll not neither DO they spin
whose fortunes as in his case, have originated in
grants made in times long ago for the services which
courtiers rendered kings and have since grown and
increased while they have slept. by levying an
nnearned share OH all that other men have done by
toll and labor to ado to the general wealth and pros
merit, of the country of which they form part"
That "a said with eoqunce and energy, and IS Ter
fectly misleading and mischievous statement.
The other point is of course an Irish point Mr
Chamberlain renewed more his already too
oft repeated in vitaton TO Irish agtators to perse-
we're in evil doing Again he denounced force as no
remeav for discontent-as If anybody ever SAID 1t
was. Again he referred TO crime and outrage rs
only the expression of the causes of dscontent-the
extreme and unjustfablc EXPRESSION he called them;
hut what is the use Of saying that the operation OF
social law is I'm ustiablc You might as well COM
nla,n of the crimlnaltv of earthquakes while in
sist,p that they caused by Irish landlords But
MIR Chamberlains line IL Irish matters IS known,
and right or wrong docs not diminish tue rhetorical
merits of a speech which was impressive through
ont ful of telling hits at foes and saunch defence
with abundant capacity OF advocating them be-
fore the public. O. VS.
HOW STEWARD CRUMP DISOBEYED THE