New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-11-24
ENGLISH TAKERS.
THE DUKE OF BEDFORD-LORD RoSEBERY
AND LORD RANDOLPH TOGETHER-SIR
ANDREW CLARK-SIR CHARLES
RCSSELL-MR IRVING.
vi.
RUSSELL--MR. IRVING.
London, November l2.

7, may we'll appear otherwise than incidentally
wherever GOOD talk is discussed. for the Duke has
other titles to distinction than that of being Mr..
George Russelrs first cousin. He has culture OF a
kind becoming every day more rare; of the kind
which was common in the last century among the
classes, frequent down TO the last generation,
now unhappily passing out of fashion. Mr. Glad
stone is almost the only man left who dare quote
VIRGIL in the House of Commons The Duke of
Bedford is one of the few TO whom Latin verse
seems an easy and appropriate ornament of con-
versation. The least sense of effort or display
is fatal; the Duke has neither. 1t comes trip
pincly off his tongue. Mr.. John Morley uses
phrase which shows into what disrepute this once
elegant practice has fallen. He speaks OF the
"trick7 Of Latin quotation, in which Sir hoDert
waInolo hod both reatncss and facility Mr.
Morley Is a scholar with little or nothing OF 'he
Phihstine about him. Radical as he is, ne mas
feeling for whatever was interesting III anoenO
times-everythng earlier than day before Vesuer-
dav is now ancient Yet even Mr.. Morley dis
parsges the gift with which he credits MS nero
Younger men than the Duke of Bedford may sun
he heard to use the classical tongues III private
talk Sir George Trevelyan is one. UNIVERSITY
nrofcssors need not be cited they quote Greek
as did George Eliot
But the Duke is not dependent on the wit OF
otbers or ON the resources of languages which the
world is agreed 10 call dead If he had been so
fortunate AS to have his own way to make IN the
world he would have been heard OF otherWise
than as the Lord of Woburn Abbey. The shy-
moss or whatever it is, which leads him 10 shun
society might have worn of. He might nave
shone in debate at the bar, or wherever
mind OF singular acuteness. slnguariy wen iur'
nisbed. should have chosen TO exercise l'seii. AS
il is, he is heard of and his talk is hearo ouO
,oo Seldom He is thought to care little Tor any
Kind of fame or any applause from his leiio"
men. He passes for cynical; his VII Is causuo
his wide learning has made him d1strustiuI VI
human nature: his kindness OF character ID hei"
in check: his Jest sparkles and scorcnes' Voo'
Withal the Dukes spoken discourse mas Tue nav,
# that Madeira of which some is still to be iouhu
N America and nowhere else; dry, delicate. with
an aroma hardly perceptible except 10 '"ineu
palate but penetrating and potent.
will add in parenthess one word 10 wnaV
said the other day about the talk OF Loru
Randolph Churchill and Lord Rosebery' 1heS
are in one sense, each the Conversations co'ii-
nlement of the other If you assume them TO
he equal, the two together are more IMAM '"ico
&c GOOD as each separately; perhaps neither Is
ever so delightful as when he meets the o''ieI
They are old friends, they talk with unrestricted
freedom each to the other, exchange repartees
chat are as courteous in delivery as they are
Lesn . each with evident delight in the brlIllancy
~ rho other while the company OF good takers
about them are not less delighted TO listen 10 tdic
pair. II is not easy to find better talKef 'h'ln
either singly; to find two who can go equally
well in double harness would be still less easy
II YOU look about among the doctors Tor
GOOD talker you will easily come upon SIT Andre"
Clark Whom the other doctors would seleCt
ss their representative know not. Perhaps the
best is he who talks best at the bedside and not
At the dinner table. But Sir Andrews name Is
closely connected with Mr. Gladstone's and he Is
I suppose. the only man living who couId say
that he had silenced Mr. Gladstone. lie kept
that irrepressble energy dumb for ten days, ana
Mr. Gladstone afterward described them as lhe
most intolerable ten days Of his life ii you
do not talk much yourself, it is something 20 be
the cause of silence in others. But Slr Andrew
can and does talk He has the hard head of
a Scot. capable of many things beside medicine
dwelling from choice on the more abstruse matters
that engage human interest and delighting In
the tougher problems, not of physic only, but OF
metaphysic To hold a company Of dlnerS-out
in smart house in London by discourse on such
subjects is no mean feat, but 1t IS not peyohu
Sir Andrew Clarll's power. lie has been known
TO enter in such circumstances upon an analysis
of the most difficult chapter in Professor Drum
monds rather difficult book on Natural Law
in the Spiritual World" and TO complete IL at
the end of ten minutes of unbroken EXPOSITION
which secured the unbrokcn attention OF his after
dinner audience And he can perform feats OF
talk which require dexterty rather than strength;
nav. if he were not Of Caledonian origin, 1t
might urobablv be said CT him that he had humor.
The LAWYERS? From time immemorial they have
been story-telers, and the baroness has a secular
renutation for boisterous anecdote and for banter
without gloves change has occurred
They were once a society by themselves in London
as well as a circuit: lived in Bloomsbury, ana
cave each Other legal dinners, and thought not OF
entering The general world, still less of mixing
with society that could be called smart. 1t was
hardly before the last generation that the revou-
ton WAS effected. The late Lord Chief Justice
Cockburn-certainly one of the best takers OF his
day-dwet in Mayfair, and entertained the angels
OF that earthly paradise The present Lord Chief
Justice is content with a mansion in 1ybuInla;
but that too, is far removed from Bedford
Square and there is nothing in the conversation
Of Lord COleridge to suggest that he was ever the
associate of Mr.. Sereant Ballantine. Sir Henry
Hawkins is man of the world if there be one on
the Bench, and he, too, is an inhabitant of May
fair, and may be heard announcing in his softly
authoritative way the state OF the Odds against
the faNo,ite IN the next great race. And there
are many others
But imagine Sir Charles Russell is better known
10 you fy reputation than any other great
lawyer of the day: better than tn, Attorney
General himself, of whom il is said that he opens
law books and none others-and that you would
fix upon Sir Charles a type of the legal taller
He is not however; he is too individual 10 be
type lie does not disdain all social intercourse
nor refuse 10 dine out nor is he above going to
races But il may be said, on the whole, that the
conversations he carries on with reluctant wit
nesses in court are his most brilliant perform
ances 1t is in these that his slight peremptoriness
Of manner serves him best and that his very re-