New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-04-12

uux TIE ENGLIsH LIKED HIM AND WHAT

will besides those which appear r
newspapcrs Nor is the exprcosi" ~
good will new thing In discu''"s
address on Democracy last year. ~ -, NJ
observed that Enelishmen. whe'hoi VIZ en;o,5
yoveu or not. looked Oh him as peis"n'' - 80:
M. ,.rits,rs his speeches and his pnbiic serV'ce'
- ,on,,t him 40 close to all Engllsh-speahhs
a tbat their feeling toward him was one OF
aaset,on. in short there were ninety mihonS VIM
,you,d rejoice in any good fortune that peiel hi''
and svmpathize with him in trouble Inc sollci'uuc
90 know whether he to remain Minister ms
beeu GENERAL "Wil President Cleyoand keep MT.
lowell in London I" is the question which every
American in London has been asked over ana over
AGAIN since last November; perhaps twice day on
am average And when the inquirng Britoh was
told that Mr.. Lowell would have to 60. the next
question generally was. "What, thcn, did inc
president mean by Civil Service reform y
Tho causes of Mr.. Lowelrs popularity in England
are manifold. may as well repeat. however, what
have said before that it would be an entire mistake
IN suppose that conformity to English opinion or
feeling is or ever was one of them. Never has an
American Minister in London been moro American
than Mr.. Lowell. 1t would be thought ridiculous,
here TO accuse him of Anglomania, and not less
ridiculous to defend him against such a charge.
But there is nothing to be gained by blinking the
fact that the accusation has been made in America
II will presume, die away Of itself now that no
political end Is to be gained by reiteratng it. BE
that as it may it would provoke nothing but
smile from any Englishman who heard It, Mr..
Lowell like one of his predecessors. has always
nassed here for being not only intensely American,
but even aggressivey American. The same sort OF
thing is said about hm--though in less degree
that used to be said of Mr.. Motley. He tolerated
no criticism Of his own country; not even the
most harmless In the slang of the period. you
eould ALWAYS get n rise out of Lowell by touching
on anv American trait. Haw thorne insulted MS
ALL, observed an English lady, = by saying all
English women we're lat. but dare not say III Mr.
IowelPs presence that American woman is
thn.u That is but one of many similar anecdotes
that might be told.
Well, this very energy of Mr. LowelPs Ameri-
canisn was one of the secrets of the attachment
English men and English women had for him. No
doubt they thought 1t sometimes inoprortune. bnt
they would have liked him less, and respected him
very much less. without it, The American who
believes he can win English esteem by sinking his
Americanism knows little of the English. If they
then selves conform to nobody, they expect nobody
70 conform to them. Aping English manners. or
paving court to English prcudices, is the last way
in which foreigner may expect to conclliate
English good WILL They like above all things,
though they don't always know it, an exotic flavor.
They respect above all things genuiheness of
character. They expect man to be himelf. and
not somebody else; American If he is lucky
enough to be born under the Stars and Stripes;
or Turk if no owns allegiance to the Crescent.
The American accent, as they call it. is heard
with pleasure in England. The most frivolous
society is of one mind this point with
the most serious What society wants above all
things is to be interested and the surest way to in
terest is to he novel. What has made American
women who have married English husbands such
fayortes in Londonf Many of them are pretty, or
clever or both, but they have position apart
because they are pretty. or clever. or both. in
different way from English women who happen to
be pretty and clever. They have naturalized in
Engand q whole host of American phrases and
American ways, and the English arc quite aware
that they tho gamers by all they have borrowed
from their pretty American cousins.
One of the many services Mr.. Lowell has done is
the enabling Englishnen to understand America
better than ever before Here was man who had
everything the best Engshmcn had in culture. and
something beside which they had not. and that
something was d;stinctvelv American 1t was not
humor alone. nor wit alone, nor quckness of mind
1t might be called capacity for taking new views,
but that would not explain it completely. Perhaps
fexibility is the word which comes nearest to ex-
pressing the quality which Englshmen for the most
part lack and Americans for the most part posses S.
will not try to define or describe; l wish only to
indicate difercntiating trait and pass on lest
fad myself discussing personal matters too freely.
But / shall be safe in saying that Mr.. Lowell has
made for himself q reputation talker quite
unlike any English talker. and certainly not in
ferior to any. In that form OF conversation
addressed to larger number of persons than usual,
and called an after-dinner speech. he has con
fes,elly no rival in England. All the of
friendly talk, all the finish of oratory. all the brill
fancy of genius all the kindly wisdom of the man
of the world, are to be found in these unique per-
formances. and they alone would have been enough
to give him foremost place in public life Then.
by way of showing that he could be serious and
sparkling at the same time, Mr.. Lowell delivered
tn Birmingham to tho most critical audience IN
England that memorable address on Democracy, in
which the American Idea was put before the
Eneshman with such force of statement and such
enchanting persuasivencss to make him. perhaps
for the first time, admire theory of political
organization which he had always been taught to
dread
OF Mr.. Lowell's purely diplomatic work. the time
has not come to speak, is the history of it fully
known outside the state Department in Washing
ton. But every thing have said above is tribute
to his fitness for the post he held, and proof that
he did his duty as Minister well. An Enjoys
position is no longer what it The cases
now few in which he is anything more than the
agent of policy settled for him ut home. His
Usefulness depends on his dextcrity in presenting
an argument, ON his intimacy with the Ministers
of the country to which he is accredited, on his
bearing on his power of seeing and Selling the
points of a situation. and-to sum it all UPON his
gift of doing what must often be "a dsagreable act
In an agreeable way. Minister who is on good
terms with Lord Granville will get his business
transacted quickly; the matter will often be dis
cussed in confidence; the kernel of wheat siftcd
out from all the diplomatic chaif; and they will
Know IN Washington what can be done here and
what cannot