New-York tribune., 1899-02-16
GLADSTONE.
Mr.. LECKY's INTERESTING EsTIMATE'of
THE STATESMAN.

Gladstone The enthusiastic admirers OF 'ha'
statesman will scan these pages with no sfnaI'
Indignation but they will be forced 10 acNn""F
edge that they are interesting.
He describes with telling force the extraoiu'-
nary rhetorical powers which in Gladstone were
reinforced by unusual physical gfts IhoSe
rhetorical powers. he declares coulo not o0
fully appreciated by those who judged ohi! from
the mans published speeches. He holds tha'
Gladstone was incomparahy superior TO Burke
in the power Of moving great masses or men,
dominating in parliamentary debate ca'chins
the tone and feeling OF every audience ne "u-
dressed and carrying an immediate issue Oh
the other hand" MIR Lecky adds. the texture
OF his intellect was commonplace. The SUD
tleties and ingenuities Of distinction In wnich ne
was inexhaustihly fertile were nearly always
the mere subtletes of debate His long anu III
volved sentences and the extreme reduhoahcY
NJ his language scarcely impaired the effect OF
his speeches when they were set OF ny MS
clear powerfu and musical voice. and by his
admirable skill in enunciation and emphasis nut
70 the reader they will often appear intolerably
verbose He seemed sometimes 10 be lahorlns
10 show with how many words a simple thought
could be expressed or obscured, and with le"
exceptions-those being chiefly on fnance-even
10 carry with them any great instruction
have never known any who by look.
gesture emphasis and manner could make
senterce which was commonplace in Thought
knowlodse. and even in language. appear for
moment SO impressive" If may believe Mr.
Ieckv there are few kinds Of eloquence when
Gladstone did not possess
He excencd in noble dgnfed defamation ap-
pea.ing 20 the loftie-t motives No English pom
tic.n. indeed so frequently introduced mo VIZ
perorations of his political ana even paIC
Speeches Cod. duty. honor. justice. moral oo-
lire lion. Divine guidance and no one VINO knows
the English people ill wonder that TINS klhd OF
spe knG stirred fore Of enthusiasm uaa' 'uliS II
yer. eeply through the English nature. 1s
wa also eiprenelv rreat in what may be called
orn, mental or decorative speaking In inc
lan~uoc" of compliment. IN tributes - depar'1o
sta -smen IN IN" occasion Of some groa' pupn'
function mis- spoocNee were almost always per
fec- re scarcely ever failod TO strike the true
not and h never dcviated into bad taste re
wa -on'i~ontiT e. -ntleMan. ana a'housH
IN r,''i life ne could he i'm a high degree i'm
perioue and into,elunt Of opposition. ne never
dee -dCd IN scuTlity and very seldom to per
sonal invcctive. and in his Language and his
rnarncr ho alwafe upheld the dignity Of the
House ~ Commons In sfter-dirner speeches
an ~ 'hc kindred forms If oratorY he was less
succc. sful VIZ. humor The hEht touch. the
tonc of ccod- -naiured. weu-hrcd barter in which
pis~aei exceUed were rot among his many
gifte II is rat i1.podi~acn' 10 public bust
j. sTat1 once Sall. lfltl M Rld'iH'''i'
cannot ha made 10 understand n joRe. some
times however. in his nChtel spec hes and o'ten
IN his conva' sation h. would relate remln.S
cences cf his carly vtars and hc would do TINS
with an inimitabe charm. and without the
slightest tinge of eGots''.
esp ciolly i'm his financial statements. he had no
cor,er,,norarv rival The only real Criti
csrl that could he made on these speeches is
tha; tfoy were ant To he Unfortunately long on
one or two occacione ,-tordinc ID five hours
II cannot he doubted that a great part Of his
financial reputation was due not TO the accu-
racy Of his forecasts. which often proved re
rnarkably erroneous. nor to the wisdom or his
financial measures. which were sometimes very
disrutahle hut 20 the almost unsurpassed rhetor-
ica skin with which he introduced them.
He was deba,er Mr. Lecky tells us. Of the
very highest order-traned to this Of course. by
his oxford experiences and by his early ahsorp
tion in subtle theological speculation. He was
unrivaned our author adds IN complete com
mard NJ sponta ncous and well-chOsen language,
IN the power Of following long speech hut just
delivered point by point and argument by
argument. in quickness Of argument, in subtlety
OF distinction. in abundance and readiness Of
knowledge His knowledge though not always
accurate. was very great hut what struck men
most was that it seemed always available at the
moment" What Dean Mman said 10
Lecky Of Macaulay true also of Gladstone:
"Other men might have a larger balance AZ their
nkers-Macaulay always seemed TO have his
whole fortune in his breeches pocket" Drawing
a comparison between Newman and Gladstone.
as by nature extraordinary masters Of the art
OF casuistry. Mr.. Lecky points out that both had
the characteristic temp tations of that class OF
mind
There is such a thing as an honest man With
q dishonest mind. There are men who are
wholly incapable Of wilfu and deliberate un-
truth fr,1n u-ho hay fha hol NJ Ui1i h.
bling with their convictions. and by skllful
casuistry persuadng themselves that what they
wish is right Newman al a comparativcly early
age passed into the Church 10 which his char
acter and intellect naturally belonged and this
temptation In a great degree ceased. Gladstone
was reserved for other destnic3. In his
political reasoning il is curious to notice how
often the methods OF the theological contro-
versialist seemed TO prevail. BY constant
practice the power of ingenious. subtle. refined
controversy attained I'm Gladstone an almost
preternatural perfection. No one could compare
with him in dexterity of rd-fencing and hair
splitting. and in the evasive subteties Of de-
bate Hc gave the impression that there was
10 question or side Of q question that he could
not argue. no contradiction that he could not ex-
plain no conclusion, however obvious that he
could not evade or refine away. Nothing was
more curious than to hear him make speech
on a subject on which he did not wish TO give
an opinion. The long roll of sonorous and misty
sentences each statement so ingeniOusly quail
fed. each approach to precision skilfuy
shaded by some calCua ted ambiguity of phrase
speedily baifed the most attentive listener. lie
had rhetorical dcvices-not. think, Of the kind
that inspire confdence-which became familiar
20 careful students Of his methods There was
the sentence thrown out in the midst OF an
argument or statement Of policy Of the nature
of back door enabling the speaker 10 retire
hereafter from his position. If II was not con
venicnt adhere TO it, There the obscure
and apparently insignificant phrase. wrapped uT
In redundant Verbiage, attracting no attention
and committing the speaker to nothing. but yet
family adumbrating possible change Of policy
and destined 10 be referred TO hereafter tc
Justify his consistency in taking some steI
which had never been suspected or anticipated
There was the contradiction or the statement
apparently so positive, so eloquent. so indignant
that IL carried away his audience. hut wher
carefully examined II was found that the sen
tences were so ingeniously constructed that they
did not quite cover all the assertions they ap.
naared n contradict quite bind the sneaker