New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-08-16
MIR. LOWELL IN ENGLAND.
TRIBUTES OF HIGH ESTEEM FROM MANY
SOURCES.
HIS CAREER ABROAD AS MINISTER MAN OF
LETTERS AND MAN OF THE WORLD,
10 AND HIS SERVICES TO HIS MA.
TIVE ooUNTB
IBx CABLE TO rHE TRIBUNE
Copyright; 1871; BY TAs Tribune Association

IBY CABLE TO rWE TRIBUNE.
Copyright; 1871: By TAs Tribune Association
London, Aug. l5.-what has been said of Mr..
Lowell In England since his death has been well
said. The press is friendly In spirit. and appre-
ciative If not always quite accurate in facts; but
always sympathetic. The grief of his friends is
not expressed nor TO be expressed in print IL
must suffice TO say that this American beloved
IN England more widely than any other American
Of his time. loved truly and tenderly by many
persons of many stations in English life
message from the Queen is a 8ibute seldom
Maid 70 q private citizen of another country. The
oueen never made any secret of her liking Tor
Mr.. Lowell. He was her guest at Windsor more
often than most Of his colleagues. When nc leu
che Queen said that no Ambassador had ever eX-
cited more interest or won more general reeaiu
IN England. She knew very well that ne w"e
not an Ambassador, but in speaking OF nm 10 d
,hird person after he had taken leave OF her sue
gave him the distinction which Congress wi'h-
held from him, and from HE eminent successor
and still withhoids. The message from boru Ion-
nvson is the crowning proof of many that III tiaV
World of letters where Lord Tennyson reigns MI
Iowell's place is recognized just as tuiiS pei' 90
at home. ,.;o,s IVA
4 very different writer whose creoehViais "i'
not Quite the same as Lord Tennyson's' uoc' nun
are 10 him in the name OF that Enshsh oe"io0'"uS
which looked TO Mr.. Lowell as its champion, 1e
,r,s friend and best poet. 1t was known mere
-, aeon werc his sympathies with the masses
rs.v have no authorized Interpreter Of their teei
80 I'M, there is no doubt what they Thought ana
~ chant him who is gone. Never thlnK, De-
a.. ~. time had departing Minister been non
"a nv addresses and meetings and RESOLUTIONS oi
yrcat bodies of English workingmen' Oer'alnV
,hsre had never been one in whose poetry 'ne
,.hor,ng classes had discovered new gospel Oh
.,ocress and the dawn of a new hope 1or oreaIS
lives. ,,,;o,o
In ,r,,b Mr.. Lowen's position here was unique.
NJ American had ever held-and in saying tnao L
do not forget Motley-quite the same reia,ion0 "
~. rnalisb n.onle. None ever did quite the same
1910 10 his own country. That, THINK, Is Uhe
-, xvbich Mr. Lowell himself would have hKeu
h.s, nc all The fire of his patriotism burned ever
brighter and brighter the longer ne nVeo Spro"u
The one thought uppermOst In his mlno was LIS
country l say that one who knew MIN Ions
and well one to whom he talked 1reeIy on UnaV
and many other subjects. HIS AmerlcaniSNi "
the dominant passion Of his LIE; tnae anu LIZ
noetrv. nor letters nor even those 1rehushipo O.
Affections which were to hun as the All nc %
Thera is no need of any private testimony 70
=. - =, onotber's. 1t is writ large through
~. ,hs r.cord Of the years he spent IN Engianu'
w -....raa On every act he did as Mlnls'er'
- ,h. warn on which was woven inc We"
N h,s ENGLISH associations and sylnpa'nl1o'
~. al lnoVv how often while he was MiiiiS'' e
-, ,-as said II was said someltmee Aen'
I'll, often dishonesty, always either "iUn So
,,orsonal ilwill OF with some pohucal Gnu ~
compassed by the sayer IL reiei oX.
esiop.+ic criticisms, il is mainly In oroer ~
~ ~ a. hora that now, when they can no lons'i
- s.lfsb purpese, they may be forgoo'eh' %
&C. 90 60 forget them! Undoubtedly they gave
L.. nair Go far the object Of those VINO u''eie1
-, u,,s ACCOMPLISHED. But none OIL Vnem' nOi
III - chem ever caused him to swerve rem Cue
Nth he had traced for himself, the pa'n %
dutv, which, while he was hl9ls'el' Ae 1'--
patiently and loyalty to the end nat
The service he did his own country was nv
merely DOR mainly diplomatic he was ~,
.-oinaa dinloma,ist. The trained dlpionSois'
in the European sense does not exlSv II ..1 ~ =.
VII. automatic work Mr.. Lowell had to 90 ne
". Iii like every other American envoy
=. soon became aware that IN these
49,. .bo decision of great international questions
~,rst he taken and is taken at home, mol aoroau'
- bv Cabinets and Governments, not oy onen
,orresentatives in foreign capitals. "lthih .'io
na-roved sphere there is still scope Ior NiS"
hai ,'''' II s+ill more for tact and quick per
aoAiUe' "a personal influence All those Mr.
Iau,eIl had. and il tact ever failed him IN MS
80 ;ntarcourse with an English foreign MIN
-. .. ,,os whom not tact but the blunt assertion
Of a firm purpose was wanted.
rh.ra is of course something far beyond that
r. has become a commonplace TO say that good
American Minister must be something more thaH
AS;nistar something more than the accredited
at
,,hen did il become a commonplace? Can you
go a. much further hack than the beginning of
A. oxveIps diplomatic life in England? 1t was
la hsfora hut not SO commonly as to be trulsm.
7, ,vas heard in Motley's time. and before him, in
wosbinpton Irving's, and after him, In bayaru
ravlor,s hut by the time Mr.. Lowell had oeen
American Minister in England for year OF TWO,
.La saving Of the few had become the general
sneech Of the many. The exception hau p"sSeu
;nto nrecedent and Mr. LoweDs was the name on
mems Inns when an illustration was wanted Ior
the maxim.
uis renown in literature was not the oniy'
,honob IL was the first, cause. The Selectlon OF
a great man of letters TO represent America was
accepted in England as a compliment. IL "ioeneu
Mr.. Lowelrs fame, perhaps and with IL lncreaseu
the reputation of America. His BOOKS were n"ie
read American literature became better known,
and therefore more valued Then MI. Lo"eii
himself became better known, ana nlS perS0n'i
Qualities were found 70 be not less fasciila'ips
than h,s intellectual gifts. He became known as a
,alker. as wit as an afterdinner speaker, ana
as an orator on occasions more serious ehah uih-
ners IL was seen that mere was an American
the equal Of the best of the English In scholar
ship, in knowledge Of the world, In charm Oh
manner and of conversation, and In most oil 'hose
qualities or gifts which confer DISTINCTION IN
this crowded and difficult society.
Presently they found that this delightful Amer,-
can. whom they heartily recognized as an equal
regarded his own country as something more tiah
the equal Of England. Their respect for II grew
with this surprising discovery. The Americans.