New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-08-30
MR.. HENRY MATTHEW'S, @. G..
AS ORATOR. LAWYER AND NEW HOME
SECRETARY.

ne was known TO the profession as an apto oai-
rister, and wholly unknown to the general puohc'
The Dixie case gave him a national reputation
fortnight ago he was made Home Secretary, ana
bis reputation all at once became political les
terday he was reelected without contest Tor East
Birmingham after every preparation had been
made to oppose him. To-day the Liberal organ-oi
London, not Birmn CHAM" cordially recognizes
him as speaker Of brilliance. eloquence suu
humor.' should have called his speeches hveiy,
rather than brilliant or eloquent The Lloersl
organ. however, completes its account OF MI MAJ
thews as an orator who can finish sentence anu
make a joke. The standard of literary complete
ness in England is certainly rising once heard an
ornament Of English society say that she hao OUT
one complaint to make of our American Mr.. Henry
James; that he insisted OIL finishing his sentences
Mr. Matthew's jokes very good Jokes TOT
electioneering speeches. ana probably sounded
better than they read. The best of them was wnst
lawyers call an innuendo The statute requiring
members oil Parliament who have accepted ONCE
under the Crown to submit themselves for re-elec-
ton is statute of Queen Anne. Mr.. Matthews
said IL was statute no donbt very useful when
Queen Anne was alive. II he had been talking to
jury, he would have spoiled this by adding that
Queen Anne Is dead Then he admitted that
Mr. Cook I'D right to oppose him, bot thought ~
not very handsome of him to do so. The French
General said OF Balacava, 1t Ia magnificent but
it is not war; OF Mr.. Cooks opposition he would
say, 1t Is war. but 1t is not msgnifcenh" Mr..
Cook had undertaken to reconcile the Liberal
party in Blrmi1 CHAM. He was put through inc
mill. He was put in Gladstonian at one end ana
he came out Unionst at the other. He had SUD
denly found enlightenment and salvation. and
they were to speak OF him as the deformed who
had been transformed" Presently this nimble-
minded lawyer changed the metaphor 1t had been
said there was Joy over the sinner that repented
but he did not think anybody ever said you were
TO have confidence IN that sinner. 1t was posslole
the Ethiopian might change his skin, but none Oh
them would pick i'm out as good sample OF
white man. The Americans continued Mr. Mat
| thews. had phrase about sitting on the fence.
They meant that the man who adopted that at-
tltude was prepared to cone down on one side or
the other as his enlightened interests dictated
But Mr. Cook had beaten the Yankees hollow; he
was prepared to come down on both sides Of the
| fence.
Liberals insist that Mr. Matthews used to be a
| Home Ruler hut he is not very good Home Ruler
now. "A Dublin Parliament he observed.
would make about as short work of the Irish
| landlords as n butcher did of a lamb Their
throats would be cut am speaking metdphorcaly-
! before that Parliament had been 10 existence
three weeks" And again A Land Act had been
passed by which the feathers had been plucked out
of the Irish landlords wings as a fowl was plucked
by the cook" Laughter eusued but, pleaded Mr.
Matthews. did not say Alderman Cook"
need hardly say that these are but plums out OF
the pudding which Mr.. Matthews provided for last
| Birmng CHAM. 1t was as a whole, good solid honest
fare not sweetmeats he spoke with feeling, with
conviction, with the earnestness and sense or re-
sponsibilitv betting a Cabinet Minister. II be
| oil in Il
| he will be a figure at once But the standard in
| that difficult body is peculiar. and few men reacf
il without many efforts. He has o forensic style Of
great vigor a power Of invectye which Sir Charles
! Dixie found all but ntoerable. Few speeches tc
Jury have made deeper impression than dld Mt
| Matthew's address 20 the jury in the Divorce
! Court The fame Of 1t reached far outside the
| gray walls of the Royal Palace of Justice
| It was while he was engaged il that remarkable
trial that saw Mr.. Matthews for the first time.
| He wore his wig and gown, OF course Al
! English barrister would no more thinh
! Of appearing in court without wig and
gown than an American advocate would address
the S1preme Court Of the United States in his shirt
sleeves. As believe said at the time the wig
a disguise it sometimes alters completely the coun-
tenance of the man who wears it, have since met
Mr.. Matthews IN the ordinary dress OF the English
man of the day which suits him. as it does most
men, better than his leg accoutrements. Anybody
would recognize him in any dress by his eyes
which are singularly luminous and searching.
They restless at times but they are capaoie VI
fastening on you with a look that witness not
meaning to tell the whole truth and nothing ou1
the truth must find exceedingly uncomfortable
His bearing night be called almost defcrentlal =
rather more so than Is common with this nation OF
| simple mnded and supplemented Englshmen'
In talk-if / may venture so tar-he comes ON
well is clear, rapid. amusing. full OF poihe auu
quick apprehension, not without anecdote ana eve"
humor Plenty of character IN the face as whole
and power and that stubborn will without winch
no man gets on at the English bar. MI Matthews
has long been one of the leaders of the oxford
Circnit. where be mad Sir Henry James, late Attor
! uey-General. to try his mettle against In every
important cause IN that circuit for years past OF
| Henry James has been engaged on one slde M
Matthews on the other There is good portrait OF
him to-day In one of the illustrated papers.
AS a statesman. Mr.. Matthews has his spurs yet
10 VIM and as an administrator The Home Once
has been the grave OF more than promising
politician Mr. Spencer Walpole was washed out
Of IL bv the food Of tears which he shed during MS
interview with the famous. now forgotten
Nh Edmund Beales in the Reform riots OF $500
Mr.. Bruce came to grief with Licensing bill
| which lnfurlated the brewers anu Pu"'
gave TO the House of Lords another peer 10 tne
| always agreeable person of Lord Aberdeen oir
Richard Cross passed at one time for good depart
mental officer but his reputation faded, and as ht
was no longer good enough for home affairs IN Eng
land he is nut in charge of the two hundred aud
more millions of India the helpless millions as Mr
Hagorth calls them. Whether Sir William Har-
| court increased or diminished his reputation at Tue
| Home Office lie an unsettled question. tie hanuIeu
some matters very ably. and he had TO DO Will
very troubled times Nobody contributed more
| than he to the world wide fame of Mr.. ODonovar
| Rosa. Mr.. Childers gave the measure of his capa
city last February during the London riots o,
which Sir Edmund Henderson was the victim and
scapegoat.
The range of Home Otice business is a very VIDE