The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-04-18
NEW BOOKS.
british Public Men.


Abook that supplements the authors His
.,rv of Our Own Times 10 the volume en-
,,,lsd British Political Portraits by Justin
Mccarthy Che Outlook Company There
:. M doubt that Mr.. Mccarthy is the most
.ood.natured Of historians. We have never
fnown him to say an ill-tempered things.
:, cannot be said. however. that he al
,oeether lacks discrimination, for while,
on the one hand, he In quick TO appreciate
. virtue, he seldom overlooks blemish
completely, though he 10 apt to extenuats
1, considerably. As a rule, the utmost
he will consent to do In the way OF deprecia-
Am IL 10 hint a fault and hesitate dislike.
n Tor instance, there Is any man In Parlia-
mspt whom Mr.. Mccarthy, as q sincere
pome Ruler. has reason TO deteet. 1t 10
VI Joseph Chamberlain, but for whose
..cession in 1885. the first Gladstone bill
tor the self-government Of Ireland would
almost certainly have been carried In the
House OF Commons. Nevertheless, the
hsrshest thing that he is willing to say
sho,It the member from West Birmingha
+ that a suppositidous 'unfriendly critic
has described Mr.. Chamberlain as the
Rabagas Of English political life. Speak
ing In his own person. Mr.. Mccarthy con-
anes himself to admitting that 1t 10 hard TO
understand the meaning Of the sudden
change In Mr.. Chamberlain's party position
Al that time. The fact lie recalled that,
At the opening OF 1885, Mr.. Chamberlain
vas, what he had been during all his pre-
Uous political life. flaming Democrat and
Radical. In June. 1885, on the contrary.
he was a flaming Tory and anti-Radical.
IL EnUliah
Radical and Democrat Of extreme views
needs become an advocate Of Toryism al
along the limo simply because he has ceased
70 be In favor Of Home Rule for lrelandf
II Is characteristic OF Mr.. McCarthy's eau
tious and tolerant attitude that he puts
this question. but adds that he cannot
pretend 10 answer H. There are, indeed.
some historical examples OF conversions
o. sudden and a. complete, the absolute
sincerity OF which has been undisputsd.
There vas the conversion Of 81. Augustine
and the sudden change brought about in
the feelings and In the life Of Ignstius
Loyola. Somehow oays our author, Mr..
Chamberlain does not seam 10 have Inn
pressed on his contemporaries, either before
or after his great change. the Idea that he
was a man cast exactly in the mould OF
IN Ignattus.' II 10 admitted that only
Of late year, has he bean dubbed 'Pushful
Joe,' but he was always set down - man
OF personal ambition, determined To make
his way we'll on In the world. Mr.. Mccarthy
and his Irtah and Liberal friepds, however
had all made up their minds, he tells US
that Mr.. Chamberlain would be content
10 push his fortunes On that side Of the
political Geld to which. up to June. 1855
he had proclaimed himself to belong. and
II never occurred TO them to think OF him
as the associate Of Tory Dukes, as q leading
member Of q Tory Government. and a
the champion Of Tory principles. In the
concluding sentence OF the paper on the
present. Secretary for the Colonies. oul
author gets a. near to irony a. he evel
allows himself to 60, opining that 'hir
Chamberlain may well feel proud In the
consciousness that the close attention o.
the political world win follow with eagel
curiosity his further career
Next to Mr. Chamberlain. the advocates
Of self-government for Ireland have mos
reason 10 dislike Lord Rosebery. who
after holding the post OF Prime Minister
through their sufferanos-he could not have
held II an hour without their support
has done his best to postpone the fruitior
Of their hopes to the Greek kalends, BY
declaring that Home Rule for Ireland viii
never become q practical question until !
shall be demanded BY . majority Of thu
voters In England proper. - distinguished
from Wales, Scotland and Ireland. It 4
obvious that this attitude on Lord Rose
berys part 10 not calculated to haster
such q demand. Mr.. Mccarthy gravel!
understates the truth when he says tina
son the one great question which con
cerned me most as q member OF the Hous
OF Commons, that OF Irish Homo Rule
Lord Rosebery 10 not quite 30 1mphati
As wish him to be- Our autht> foreseei
that his Irish and Irish American reader
will find II hard to comprehend how b
can pen a panegyTio Of the last Liberia
J Premier, and he tries to forestall criticism
! on that score by SAYING Il am writini
the eulogy, not Of Lord Rosebery the poll
tician but Of Lord Rosebery the orator
the scholar, the man OF letters and art
and varied culture, the man who has don
90 much for public life In 30 many ways
the helpful, kindly. generous friend
Touching Mr.. John Morley. It is pointe'
out that his success In public life has beef
surprising and psradoxical. not becaus
he was born In humble station and had u
struggle against early poverty-such wa
not the fact-but for two quite dideren
reasons Before he obtained q seat In tn
House Of Commons he had made a name 70
himself as q writer Of books and as con
tributor to reviews and newspapers. an
be had also come 10 be known. not merel
a. an avowed, but a. somewhat aggres
sive agnostic II Ii unquestionably true
a. Mr.. Mccarthy reminds VI, that there IL
or used to be. In the British public mint
q axed belief that literary man II not, 4
the nature Of things. qualified for success
In Parliamentary work. Scarcely had tn
hea been shaken by the Parliamentar,
distinction Of Macaulay. Of Disraeh and Q
Bulwer Lytton. II was an even NOR
serious impeachment In Morley's path tina
be was a proclaimed soepic In question
OF religious faith The author OF this boo
speaks by the card when he says that al
though the average Englishman can hardl
be described as one imbued with profun
and exalted religious convictions. 1t ma
be taken for granted that he thinks ever
respectable person who II At to be memoe
Of Parliament ought TO conform to som
recognized creed. and to attend som
authorized place Of worship For thes
reasons IL was generally expected tha