New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-03-20
Mr.. GL4DSTONES MESSAGE.

Tho worlds First Citizen has spoken, ana the
whole world has heard Scarcely in our day has
there been an utterance more impressive, IN all
its circumstances, than that of Mr.. Gladstone on
the Eastern Question. The occasion IS most
august. All Europe is in arms and trembling
on the verge Of universal cataclysm over a
question In which not only the highest inerna-
tonal morality, but the supremest interests OF
humanity itself are involved Sefshness,
greed. cowardce and time deserving are the rul-
ing passions Of the hour. Among them all a
man Of wellnigh ninety years. who for more
than half a century has been the foremost man
in the foremost nation of Europe, steps forth
from the well-earned retirement Of his venera-
BILE age and sounds the one clear. convincing
note in the whole Babetumult of the Powers.
1t Is an incident without a parallel.
Nor will it be easy to find a parallel to the ut
terance itself apart from the unique circum-
stances of its making Perhaps the first i'm
preston received by the reader Of ii Is one of
surprising eloouence Such an impression has
not usually hitherto been received from a read
ing of Mr. Gladstone's utterances His elo-
ulence has been renowned, but il has consisted
more in the majesty of his face. figure and ac-
ton, in the sonorous music of his voice, and in
the intellectual and spiritual elevation of his
thoughts, than in his words and phrases. He
has not been a great master of English style, as
was Bright, Tor a brilliant artficer of phrases
and periods. as was Disracl His speeches have
not read well; they We're seldom to he quoted TO
advantage But in this latest utterance we
have model of tersc lucid, epigrammatic
speech, a masterpiece of controversial English.
to compare which with "Junius" at his best
u.ouId ha oil pra q Tho mpmorV n Sir PhiliU
Francis. There are paragraphs in it that will
serve as studies for rhetoricians, logicans and
orators. and phrases that will be Incorporated
into the intellectual equipment OF worldwide
scholarship.
Nor will the impression of temperatures and
sincerity lag behind There is little Of the fire,
and fury of the bulgarian atrocities crusade
and few of those perfervid epithets which only
q year ago were launched against the butchefies
of Armenia The whole message is so studi
ously calm and judicial in tone that it might
have been written upon events OF thousand
years ago. instead Of burning crisis Of the
present day; or it might have been uttered by
some one beyond the bor1cr-lne so close 10
" hich its actual author is standing: some one
forever removed from worldly motives and de-
void Of carnal passions. And this very calm
TeSS ana ulSpasSlOnalcI'SS. lllSlPiu OF clluSCU-
lating Abe message, give it It's most convincing
vigor. The sentences sound not like the voice
Of polite statesman seeking the advantage Of
his own country or striving 10 keep The peace
among the Powers. but rather like that Of seer
to whom all things vanity save Eternal
Truth. There Is no use in trying TO answer IL
with words and phrases. Ii Is addressed to the
conscience; ii must be answered by the soul.
And it is true: every recollection Of the past
and every Characterization Of the present. II
would be impossible TO describe the European
concert more accurately or more felictOusly
thnn as "a huge body animated or rather ten,
anted by a feeble heart" It's logic Is fawess
and unanswerablc. II demonstrates that 'the
little Of Turkey de jurc is in truth, given up
ION all hands" 1t draws a telling parallel be-
tween Bosnia and Herzegovina and Cyprus on
the one hand and what Crete might and should
be on the other. to the perfect satisfaction Of
both Crete and Greece. 1t sets forth clearly the