New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-11-04
NOTES FROM LONDON.
Mr.. BRIGHT, MR. BALFoUR DANloN' AMI
MR. IIOWELLS

chat T an oualified 10 teach even whau haNo
nractised with some show Of success" lie tels
his correspondent however, what his own pr'o'0'
has been: ,. A..
when / intend to speak on any'nihs 'n"o
seems to me Important consider wha' ~ - "''o
I wish 10 impress upon my audience uo noo
write my facts or my arguments ouo ii"N' no''S
ON two or three or four slips OF no'e p"peA e'i"e
the line of argument and the facts as 'ney ocouI
TO my mind, and l leave the woros " ooii'' ~
cali while am speaking ~, NJ.
This last is in substance the advice whlch ME
Pitt cave Lord Mornington, who consulted nm
ahout sneahine It is misleading and has misled
more students of oratory than one Mr.. Pitt hao
a commons vocabulary and was never at loss for a
word Few men at the start are thus endowed
Mr. Bright cautions his correspondent against re-
living too much on his advice, and the caution IS
sound. though not for the reason which Mr. Brlght
modestly suggests to him. What is good for the
practised orator is not always good for the novice
Mr. Bright by practice and also by study OF
which he saws nothing has acquired not merely
what is called command of language but one ol
the most perfect styles known in the history oi
oratory Neither practice nor study, nor po'h'
would have awaited to attain to this per1ec'lou
without that natural genius which IS dorm WI"
some men and not with others. But even WI.
Bright does not trust to the words coming al cal
in critical passages There are he says oc
casionally short passages which, for accuracy,
NAV write down, sometimes also-ainosV III
variaby-the concluding words or sentences may
he written The very passages, that is, on
which his fame as an orator rests, nave peen
written. That is very different thng from
writing ont and committing to memory whole
sneech. a double slavery which could not bear
it,, Mr. Everett bore it, and other orators nave
horne it. They knew, / suppose, what pest
suited them; how they could best produce the
effect they wanted to produce. / have heard Nlr
Bright discuss this subject and hope some day
IN return TO it, To suppose that, because ne IS
against writing except in passages, hc is against
careful preparation would be an entire MISTAKE
ITO speak" he says, without PREPARATION es-
pecally on great and solemn topics is rashness ana
cannot be recommended do not imagine that
he ever thought the general preparation OF nfe-
time of public speaking on great and solemn
topics sufficient Each great speech has had
special preparation of its own
Mr. Balfour in his capacity Of Irish Secretary
Is not, suppose, person 10 your taste But Mr,
Balfour in his capacity of orator has one good
Quality among others, which some of those VINO
Ike him least whether in England or Ireland,
might initiate. He keeps his temper His neigh
bors in Haddingtonshirc gave him dinner this
week or course, he made a speech, and, of course,
in such circumstances, he had to say something
about himself, and about his opponents in pub1c
life. Nothing could be more good natured MT.
Godlxin would condemn the speech, for 1t eXhlblts
none of that ferocity which he requires OF those
who deal with Irish questions, or other questions
But think everybody else would see that 1t Is
the speech of a who has much kindness OF
nature, which politics have not yet emoittered
lie speaks of himself the best abused man within
the four seas, even not counting Irish abuse This
last he regards as a matter of course. 1t mas
been blessing vouchsafed in equal measure t.
my predecessors as 10 myself 1t is mere de
scripton of the Office which we hold, and Just
In England we put M- p or F. r. s. after any
body's name as an indication Of his position, 81
do our Irish friends put before peoples name
such epithets as base, bloody, and brutal Ihe1
be compliments his Irish friends on their coplous
ness Of diction, adding, however, that their knowl
edge of history is less extensive than their lnvec
tive: "There is a certain commonpaceness il
the parallel they have been good enough to draw
between nv political career and such benefactor
of the human race Nero and Caligula. Blu
Mr. Gladstone has recently come to their assistanc
and he has added to these three alliteratlve epl
thcts Of which have just reminded You, q fourt
in the shape of Bomba." Then he goes on to eS
plain that his wiclSedness has appeared to some @
his adversaries so appalling that they were unaol
TO believe him entirely responsible for 1T, an
sought an origin for his iniqutics in the iniquit
of his ancestors, notably the wicked Duke {
Lauderdale Well says Mr.. Balfour, the Duk
of Lauderdale was no doubt very wicked mai
and no doubt if he could he would have added {
his many other political crimes the political Grim
Of bringing me into the world But as it happen
he had no children"
Our friend,-or ex-friend-" The Daily News,
always difficult TO please. does not like Mr.. Ba
tours easy indifference to attack. and thinks
vain of him TO describe himself as the best abuse
man within the four seas TO that, as to a
other pre-eminences, Mr.. Gladstone is entitled b
sides, says this virtuous organ, who has eve
abused Mr.. Balfour personally? Not We Not,
suppose, the particular WEI who penned tn
outburst. But the other we" has in times M
very remote written of Mr. Balfour in terms whlc
his Irish friends themselves might accept as su
fciently descriptive OF an Irish Secretary and
which Mr.. GodlIin would not deny the merit {
ferocity. I wish Mr.. GodlIin would write anoth'
essay on this subject The first is not perhal
so fresh in the public mind as it should be, an
his own columns during the past few month
would dare say. furnish him with many illustri
tons This is but conjecture on my part fo
do not often see his paper, but l cannot suppos
so good a man would omit to practise what
breaches.
In default, for the moment only, hope, @
Mr.. Godlxin. Mr.. T. Z. O'Connor offers himself a
a substitute: and this is what lie says in " Th
STAR which may perhaps be called the evenin
organ Of Parnelsm in London:
We describe Mr. Balfour as giddy, gigglir
girl, or a hysteric woman OF the material thi
supplies the petroleuses of the French Revolutio
NOTWITHSTANDING, girlish, cmpty-headed, lack
daisacal vanity-is his chief characteristic, vii
the dash of violence and brutality which alwa
runs in hysteric natures"
This is pretty well and the little slip about u