New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-12-14


delightful.
| These points Of literature are, no doubt, more
interesting with reference to the author than to
the subject of this little book. Style, workman
ship, all kinds of literary felicities are subsidiary,
from one point of view, TO the main question
whether this is good account OF P1tt whether
! the reader will find in these 200 pages what he
has a right to expect. 1t is not much to say
that it is the best biography of the great Minister
TO be had within the same compass. Ihere is
| no good biography Of Pitt within this or any
other compass Tomline's is all but unrcadable
Macaulay's is,-well, Macaulay's; readable, no
doubt but the pampheteer visible in it.
Stanhope's Life is painstaking performance, and
one of the dullest books in the world. Style, or
the want of it. has much to say. after ALL 1t Is
because Stanhope cannot write that you cannot
read what he has written.
Lord Rosebery had clear field. He entered
upon it In a spirit of deep enthusiasm. fltt Is
to him hero, and his study of him, though the
effort to be historical to be critical to be judicial
is maintained throughout, is, on the whole,
panegyric The final chapter on the Character
| and Position of Pitt says. and says extremely
we'll nearly all that can be said for him. IL Is
| an estimate and eulogy. 1t is right that IL
should be both The world never makes too much
| of it's great men; Of its really great men. IL
cannot read or write too much about them.
what is the best lesson for youth ?' asks some
| one of an anonymous sage
"The life of good man, answered the anony-
| nous one
And what is the next best'
"The life of bad one
1t is Goldsmith who records the saying. AS Arte-
mus Wards stranger observed of the whiskey
| some biographies are better than others. but all
| bioeraubies are good Lord ROsebery has maze
Pitt - living figure: human being, not mere
| catalogue of qualities His enthusiasts and par
tialities have never led him into conscious IN
sincerity he has not wilfully suppressed shadow
or softened harsh feature. or passed an error IN
| silence. lie has painted him as Cromwell wished
| TO be painted with the warts and scars ana red
ness of face that belonged to the great Englshman
| of the Seventeenth Century.
It is I suppose, characteristic OF the period IN
| which we live, and of the party to winch Loro
Rosebery belongs that he should lay the founda-
lions of Pitts greatness in peace, not In war IL
he fails anywhere to do him justice it is as war
| Minister That Pitt shrank from war; that thlr-
teen years of war should have ended in Austerilz
and the collapse of both coalitions against Napoleon
! that he should have rolled up the Map OF Europe
| and lain down to die in despair, worn out with
task too gigantic even for him-all this does not
proye that he was not a capable or even great
ruler in stormy times. Against the volcanic forces
which the French Revolution called into pay
AGAINST the all but Incompatible genius OF Napoleon
De-. aid what Statesman could do But against
| stnn;ditv the Gods themselves fight in vain
Tho crowned allies Of England on the
| Continent and their Ministers and the gen
| erals of England were more thah nia.ch
for any craftsmanship or any constancy "hich I''
| could oppose to them. He had no generals Bays
| his bographer and he tells story which is among
| ,ha host Of its kind anywhere to be found
nI Snow not. said Lord North, when a list
Of officers was submitted to him for the commands
~ ,n,arico At know not what effect these names
nav have ON the enemy, but l know they make
me trembe." A..
Ga with Pitt. he adds. " He discovered the
| rori,s of Wellington. but did not live to proht
| nv it. He was obliged to employ the Duke oil
| Work. or. as Lord Granville said, some old woman
| in red riband.'"
| He had Nelson by sea, but whom else 7
| Pitt was not Chatham, says Lord Roseoery.
| IT. NAV be admitted he was not TWO Oha'nanl'
in the same century imply creative ehort WHICH
| Nature is not eager to make. But why compare
father and son? Why not take stock OIL I'VE
| Utilities and the achievements of each, and let
each stand BY himself? 1t Is posSioe
| to do Justice to each without eAal.ihe vi
| belittling the other. From the time Una. war
was declared" says Lord Rosebery. the guidance
| of Chatham would have been worth an army.
| Grant il. the same or q similar thing was said
| of Napoleon-that his appearance on the heid oil
| hattie was equal to a reinforcement of 4OoOo
mep Wbv then turn round on your army? Why
saw mo country could afford the costly ana
splendid luxury of many Chathams?" And why
| weigh Chatham and Pitt in different scales. ana
! DECLARE that mo country could have too many
1 Pitt: the more she has the greater Will she pe
| Peace hath her victories no less than war, says
| Milton In these days you may yet near some
| Manchester Milton screech out that the only VIC
| tories worth having are the victories OF peace
and that the real struggle between nations Is
| which can sell most goods to the other mat
WAS not the spirit of either Chatham or Pitt,
| and the Pitt TO whom England, the true England,
will ever be most grateful, is not the economist.
not the fnancier, nor the Orator-him least OF all
| LET us -hope-but the Pitt who organized Europe
| against the French Revolution, and against Bona
| parte and who, if he could not make Europe
| save herself did himself save England.
Lord Rosebery knows the history of the Pitt
| period, and he has written because he mas read
| not read in order to write. lie moves just as
easily amid the Ministerial intrgues and poltical
| complications of 1891 as of 1891. He is &C
Curacy In the HeSh: his JuuSucho may ~ "i'ii7
| mt bis facts are facts. He handles all the
details with certainty; his narrative flows
| smoothly: he knows the gossip Of the palace
| the inside history of the House of Commons, the
| chat of the lobby the chat OF the drawlng-rooms
rs well as the speeches and state-papers. II Is
never difficult to follow him in the most dificult
moments of his story. Each episode, each critical
| period is dealt with clearly. What is to some
extent lacking is the power Of grouping all
these details into whole. which again
is but another way of saying once more that this
is his first book The book wants atmosphere.
| wants perspective wants that power of projection