The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-11-19
WILMINGTON N. C.
TUESDAY. NOVEMBER 10. 1901
MoRLEY,s SUPERB ADDRESS ON
GLADSTONE.

in the north 10 SpGdh OISPdA 49,
late william E. Gladstone, it is refresh
ing to read of the address made on the
23rd of last month at the unvelllns q
the statue erected in memory OF the
very iIIustrious statesman at Manches-
ter, England. The orator was the emil
nent statesman and essayist n blog-
rapher Mr.. John Morley. He has been
engaged for a year or two in preparing
a biography of the greatest LlperdI
who ever lived, and in the course OF
another year it will probably appear.
We have not seen the address itself.
The excellent English correspondent OF
the New York Tribune, VINO is OF rare
perception and ability, has written at
considerable length of the address. Mr..
Morley is confessedly a supreme admir-
er OF Gladstone. He was for vars as
ISOLATED with him in his Cabinet. No
living English author is better equip
ped for biography than he His dis
cussions of great men-Cromwell and
Gladstone-are always interesting, Wig
orous, very thoughtful and keen OF
perception. He is no mere empty eulo-
gist, but is a masterful man in his own
way. The Tribune's correspondent says
Of the address that it was "a revela-
ton not only of the character Of the
great Liberal orator and statesman.
but also of the intellectual equipment
and habits of his ~biographer and most
ardent hero worshipper."
A., T1r111 - n ro-ry r,,-1.inr wrifn
but not a superior orator. His voice
is defective and his name cOnstrain-
ed. He speaks extempore, and does
not easily command the fitting, exact
language he seeks. The correspondent
~reDrOduces a fine sentence from the
yerT brief remarks made outside when
the statue was unveiled. 1t is so virile
and superior we quote it here: NO
body in our time has shown q more
resOunding example of the great thing
which a great man may make of a life"
1t is a noble gift to have that power of
words in a right thought. Mr.. Morley
is described as with spare and awk-
ward figure" and with "a pallid, intel
lectual ace" He is known to be "a
thinker rather than an orator." 1t is
said of him: Reflection has been de-
liberate and %laborious. but the forms of
expression and phrasing have been left
to the chances of improvisation. He
quoted Mr.. Gladstone as saying respec-
ting his own methods of preparation
for speaking: AS for the ~words-well,
the words come That does not hap
pen to all of u.s. added Mr.. Morley;
and the audience already had found
proof of it,"
He has none of the real orators
graces. but there was grim earnestness
of manner. and there was intellectual
force as the driving power, ever when
he was catching his breath and CROP
ing about for the words. There were
no flashes of either wit or sarcasm. but
there were playful touches OF irony.
The gestures were downright and forci-
bic, but angular and inartistic. There
was neither dignity of pose nor distinc-
ton of The voice was not
clear or melodious but full of earnest
ness" He presenter the great Liberal,
of whom Lord Salisbury, his able Tory
antagonist, said after his death, that
he was the greatest English statesman
of the nineteenth century. That
meant that he was greater than Will
liam Pitt or Canning or n other lead
err. Come to think about it. We recall
that the British Premier went much
farther than that. He said that Glad
stone was the greatest English states
man since England had parliamentary
government, which takes us back some
two hundred years. and includes Burke.
Lord Chatham. n all their great COM
peers. and statesmen before their time.
Mr.. Morley studied Gladstone from the
recognized standing point OF a great,
imposirE moral teacher. The account
says:
"Mr. Morley's central thought was
that Mr.. Gladstone was a moral teach
er, who aimed at creating and directing
public opinion on national and foreign
affairs. and eventually received politi-
cal support from it. In that sense he
sacrificed himself for other people and
sometimes for foreign nations, for while
he was for a generation or more UNI
rivalled in popularity the flowing tide
struggling against it. For this reason
was not always with him. and the was
his popularity was not limited to his
own country, and when his course was
run and the closing days came. the
noble words of Wordsworth applied to
him as to Sir Walter Scott:
THE might
OF the whole worlds good wishes with
him goes;
Blessings and prayers in nobler re-
tinue
Than sceptred king OF laurelled con-
queror knows"
Mr.. Gladstone was not the foremost
Of all British orators of the century
named. He had the finest eye and the
commanding, enhancing voice of
them all. His command of language
wonderful, his speeches were often
full to overlooking. but were
thought sometimes to be prolix and OBJ
Ecure. For his great service to his