New-York tribune., 1901-11-10
MORLEY AND GLADSTONE,
SOME NOTES ON A NOTABLE EULOGY
AND THE MANNER IN WHICH
IT WAS DELIVERED.
Manchester, November 2,

IT WAS DELIVERED.
Manchester, November 9
The address CT Mr. John Morley at the un-
,.r,ne OF the Gladstone statue on October %
...s-ves moro deliberate and extended treat
e,. than the condensed energies Of cable
,-..ing allow. It was a revelation not only Of
A.. character CT the great Liberal orator and
.+s-esman, but also OF the intellectual equip
lent and habits OF his biographer and most
,sen. nero worshipper. Mr.. Morley's voice is
-. resonant, and 1t lacks carrying power
.o- onen air speaking He contented himself
18th q dozen sentences to the large assemblage
a, Albert Square, at the unveiling OF the noble
,-o,ze figure OF Mr. Gladstone In the act Of
,,oping his great speech In Introducing the Home
pr,s bilI; and reserved his address for the audi
.,oa in the Town Hail-a high vaulted. spacious
assembly room adorned with MADDOX Browns
.asoos Of scenes from the history of Man
chester. One fine sentence from the speech out
,5e the Town Hall I cannot refrain from quot
,,r. Nobody in our time has shown a more
,,,,dtne example OF the great thing which
-. man may make Of a life" That sentence
,s the signal for the unveiling Of the statue
,s for the mighty outburst OF cheering which
-ss heard by the expectant audience in the
r-sa. hall Not long afterward the Lord Mayor
=, ,,s robes ascended the platform with a spare
"a awkward figure behind him. It was Hon
=. 1obn Morley" the most sincere and con-
,c+ent Of English Radicals, and the most de-
,.e5 and fervid OF Gladstone worshippers.
Their. was a grim smile OF recognition from
..a valid intellectual face as he passed Mr.
c,ad<tone's son and daughter on the platform.
7, another minute he had been introduced by
-. lord Mayor with a single plain sentence
.,s veIcomed with prolonged applause.
m, Morley is a thinker rather than an orator,
80. urhen he is on his feet before audience
-. ser,ous preparation which he has made ham,
ne-s his delivery Reflection has been delio-
crate and laborous, but the forms of expression
end nhrasing have been left to the chances OF
,,,nrovisation He quoted Mr.. Gladstone as say
,ne respecting his own methods of preparation
.or speaking: "As for the words-well the words
.one" THAT does not happen TO all OF US,
added Mr. Morley: and the audience already had
found proof Of it. He had paused and hesitated
renv times in the course of the address. and
had constantly been changing the construction
q. his sentences midway and finishing them
rr,nnsry His speech was saturated with
though, and philosophy, but the delivery was
coered with difficulties Of expression. There
we're no eraces of oratory, but there was grim
esrnestness Of manner, and there was intelectu-
81 force as the driving power. even when he
wss catching his breath and cropping 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
forcible but angular and inaTtistic- There was
neither dignity Of pose nor distinction of man
ner When he was not bending forward over
his notes he was swaying uneasily from one
sde to the other, iinging out his arms to empha-
size his words. The voice was neither clear nor
nelodious but it vibrated with earnestness Of
$ea%
ures, the paIiid face without smitch of color.
and the high, delicately modelled forehead denot-
ed the scholarly mind. The audience might have
to wait for the search after the right word. or
FOR the remodelling Of the sentence: but 1t was
never for a moment in doubt that 1t was in
touch with a man Of force and nobility Of char
scter
Mr.. Morley's central thought that Mr..
Gladstone was a moral teacher who aimed at
creating and directing public opinion on national
and foreign affairs, and eventually received po-
litical support from It. In that sense he sacri-
feed himself for other people and sometimes for
foreign nations, for while he was for genera
ton or more unrivalled In popularity the flow
ing tide not always with him. and he was
struggling against It. For this reason his popu-
larity not limited to his own country, and
when his run and the closing days
to him as to Sir Walter Scott:
The might
OF the whole worlds good wishes with him goes:
Blessings and prayers in nobler retinue =
Than sceptred king or fs1relled conqueror
knows"
Italy did not forget the friend who had fought
for her as power In the days Of the Disunion
and her servftude. Greece knew her friend.
49, In,
the Balkan peninsula which had struggled for
ages till they came into some dawning light OF
freedom owed their debt 10 the most unselfish.
the most vigorous the noblest Of their defend
ders. In short" added Mr.. Morley, seeking to
round out the climax of his argument and un-
consciously quoting from The Tribune. i was
struck at the time with the phrase used by an
American writer who said on the day that Mr.
Gladstone died: The world has lost its greatest
citizen" Mr.. Morley gave a series Of illustra-
tons of Mr.. Gladstone's strenuous efforts to
form for great causes the public opinion upon
which he knew that he depended. and laid spe-
oal stress upon the Alabama arbitration as
noble act of reparation to America for mis-
reading the trend of the war against slavery:
and al the close of his address clnched the ar
Eument in the following notable passage:
The thought with which he rose in the morn
Ing and went 20 rest at night was or the uni
Verse as sublime moral theatre on when the
omnipctent Dramaturgist used Kingdoms ana
rulers. laws and policies, to exhibit sovereign
purpose for good, to light up What may can the
prose Of politics with the ray from the divine
mind and exalted his ephemeral discourses In a
sort Of visible relation to the counseis OF All
une l Gang letter the other day where
somebody wrote to him and safd-and the Woros
were true-"You have SO lived and wrought ina.
you you have kept the soul alive IN England.
"aen he died Lord Salisbury said OF him thet
ne was great Christian. Yes. and "ouid
eoo, mat he not a Christian for nothlng-