New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-11-20
WINTHROP'S LAST BOOK.
SKETCHES OF FAMOUS PEOPLE.
A PRIVATELY PRINTED COLLECTION OF REMrHls

his old friends fragment OF autobiography
which he called "Reminiscences Of Foreign
Travel" Some OF these recollectons were put
on paper long ago. some Of them We're written
within the year; and all arc set forth in the
pleasantly formal and old-fashioned style which
has ever characterized Mr.. Winthrop's literary
productlors People. rather than places. are
dealt with In this thin volume. most Of them being
personages Of eminence. Mr. Winthrop first
crossed the Atlantic in ls47. when he was thirty
eight years old. He was then member Of Con-
grcss had served on the Committee of Foreign
Affairs and knew many members of the diplO-
matte corps who gave him letters of Introduction
TO English celebrities Bancroft. who was then
Minister in England. was his friend. and anx-
ious TO be attentive to him. Accordingly, Win
throp was enabled to meet. and in the pleasant
est manner. the most distinguished men in the
mother country.
The Duke Of Wellington who almost the
first Of these. was heartily admired by the Ameri-
can. 10 whom lac particularly kind. Win
throp heard him make a memorable speech in
Parliament on permanent or limited enlistment
in the arlny-a subject which stirred the blood
in the veterans veins. when the Duke rose
from his seat the crOss-benches, says VIM
throp there a silence which no one else
had commanded In full suit of black. with
a shining silver clasp. made conspicuous by the
stoop of old age. and with hair as white as the
cravat and as shining as the silver clasp. with
out gesture without studied grace Of attitude
or Of elocuton. he made every word tell Ike a
shot from cannon" 1t was plea for the old
soldiers protest against any measure which
would DEPRIVE the service Of experienced men;
and in the course Of IL the speaker cited an adj
mirabe example the conduct of the Emperor
whom he had defeated at Waterloo. Winthrop
adds that II was common to hear the Duke
spoken of mere soldier. II remember how
emphatically Daniel Webster repealed this idea
at my fathers dinner-table more than sixty
years ago when the Duke had just been made
Prime Minister a mere soldier. said Web
a,er: there's 'abler diplomatist or statesman
living than Arthur, Duke Of Wellington. He
makes no pretensOns to being an orator. but
both his written dispatches and his reported
speeches prove him adequate to every emergency
OF peace as we'll as Of war" There is quaint
glimpse oe the great Duke in the talk Of Samuel
Rogers. as recorded by Winthrop. The poet re-
nembered the soldier as saying one day al din
ner. Il wonder why il Is that nobody ever invites
me to dine on Sundays get three or four in
vitations for every other day Of the week; but
on Sunday after going to church, have only
.n-" This picture Of dreariness moved Rogers
who when he had reached home. sat down and
wrote a number Of dinner invitations for success
sive Sunday evenings 10 the lonely warrior and
thus II was that the Duke became A regular
guest at the poets Sunday dinners.
OF Lord Brougham. Winthrop says that no one
who had ever seen or ever heard him would he in
any danger Of forgetting how he looked or how
ne spoke. That peculiar Paul Pry figure and
phys.ognOmy that upturned feature ever on the
scent of something. that quick nervous gait with
the glazing stripes his habitual trousers. could
never be mistaken or IA second visit to Eng
no American r''u., ti'~ Isn-iish
man the same restless. inquistive. loquacious
almost garrulous person. full Of experience.
fun Of information full Of ambition. eager
for applause. eager for controversy. never
weary OF work. never tired of talk. and
Of whom /; might be doubted whether
ne most anxious to shine in social Of pub
lie nfe-as a statesman or as a ladies' man"
heard him make a long and eloquent speech
the limitation by statute Of the hours Of
labor to ten hours. or IL may have been TO eight
hours. In the course Of Ii ne alluded 10 the con-
dtion and example Of the United States; and as
he pronounced the name Of our country. he
paused for an instant. and gathered himself up
for one Of those long and involved parentheses
In which he delighted to indulge. and which he
began somewhat follows: The United States.
respect and of which should be glad. II 1t WERE
in my power, to speak respectfully at this mo-
ment. but which has so outraged the sense OF
the civilized world BY forget by what, but
ii was undoubtedly by something connected with
the Mexican War which was then raging. or
with the annexation of Texas, or with the tolera-
ton OF slavery.
So violent was his tone toward this country
that one two peers present to whom | was
personally known. and by whom ] was recog-
nized-the late Lord Clarendon for One,-ex-
N me | should
been there 10 hear such an outbreak but then
added that there was meaning TO 1t which
ought to understand. He proceeded 10 tell me
that a beautiful american LADY, for whom
Brougham had a speca! admiration. had prom
ised to come DOWN to the House OF LORDS that
evening to hear him speak and that he had
waited n considerable time 20 conduct her TO the
ladies' gallery: but headache or other indisposi-
ton had prevented her from coming, and so
Brougham had vented his Impotence and dis
appointment In this parenthetical attack upon
her country. The lady. not having been there to
hear it.--ndeed, there would have been nothing
of the sort 10 hear had she been able to keep her
appointnent,-was probably never aware how Sc
we're an attack her beauty and her headache
conjoined had cost her country.
Palmerston's cordial jaunty air. was fun
OF fascination for the American who says Of
him that he had the commanding presence and
,,nfailing tact Of Henry Clay with. Of course.
something more OF the polish OF a trained court
fer or another English statesman he says. Il
doubt If any man have ever met has impressed
me more by the wealth OF his accomplishments,
by the charms OF his conversation, and by a GER
tain transparency Of character than Gladstone
And then Winthrop adds. with almost the only
trace of anything Ike humor perceptible In the
volume yet 1t Is often complained that no one
can quite see through him; and 1t must be con-
fesscd that the cearness Of his IDEAS Is some
times obscured by the eXuberance of his vocab-
ulary."
Winthrop was introduced In London TO most
OF the famous English writer's OF his day-some
OF them Thackeray and Dickens. for example.
ne had met In America. Thackeray was APP
proaching his end when Winthrop saw him at