The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-02-12
WHO IS GREATEST2
"Who Are Our Favorites'
is a Fascinating Ques-
ton.
The Most Dazzling Officer Next to the
President, is Speaker Of the
House Of Representa-:
tives.
BY CICERO W. HARRIS.
(Snecial to News ard Observer

(Srecial to News ard Observer.)
Washington, d. c., Jan. TO-
Who are our favcrites? That Is
fascinating question to answer. wl,eth-
er it apply to statesmen. orators poets.
| historians. or what not.
| Let US take favorites In public life
in history, especially in America and
! England. My prime favorite in Eng
! lish craftsmanship as we'll as oratory.
| Is the first William Pitt the great Lord
Chatham. Grant that he was soinc-
| times grandiOse. that nc was fire.
auently spectacular and that he was
| never so famous for his control OF
| domestic as he was of diplomatic mat
| terS and foreign wars, nevertheless.
| when all Is said the Earl Of Chatham
was the ~reatest Englishman ever con-
| Yitcted with affairs of state. saving
only Oliver Cromwell. To mo the
| fragmentary orations he left evince
the claims of his admirers to be just
that he was the grandcst public speak
er who ever addressed an audience i'll
the English tongue. To my mind the
only exceptions possible or the only
comparisons that can be fifty made are
to Patrick Henry and the Rev. George
Whitefield. The great preacher in
the fields and lanes did frequently hold
by his eloquence on the damp grass
for hours at time the dainty DANES
of the London aristocracy. whose
carriages waited nearby. Lord Chat
hams chief claim to glorv Is the ag-
grandizement of his country in India
and America at the expense of France.
With the Seven Years War England
stepped to the front as the leading
power of the world. supplantinE
France. which nation had attail II
that commanding position un. err
yi1h oil fovn nt-i,. nr,6 r Ntytc
Americans have a very soft side faE
the heroic Earl becaTse he pEotes sea
SO vigorously against tho oppreS
measures of the North administraties
and the barbarous nolicy Of Inolan
warfare against the colonies. But nc
did not desire the Independence of the
United States and made his last
speech. swathed in flannels. and barely
able TO sit in the Parliament, in oppo-
sitiOn to the measure. Burke had no
such fiery eloquence and rcSoundiilg
gh-keyed passion. Only one modern
rolitical orator, IL we except Henry.
is comparable with the elder Pitt--the
Count Of Mirabeau. Bad, immortal,
ruined. this nobleman had such a tre-
mcndous gift of capturing and load
ing away mems im1ginatiOnS II VIII
always be a matter of doubt whether
the Revolution would have continued
and ended as it did, IL he had lived
IDulu Cftli IHlS UlGlllC pIdtOI IdNE
controlled 1t?
My favorite modern British states
man is Mr.. Gladstone. With much OF
Fox's power Of debate and more than
Tox's ability perhaps in set speeches
on great occasions. he is to be regard
ed as the most eminent of recent Eng
lish orators. And abroad there were
no parallels unless there was one. =
Spain in Castelar,. Their styles We
different The Castilian fioridity "a
the Southern orator is more proper
to be likened to the manner OF a fe
OF those old-time magnetic speake
i'm the Southern United States.
OF my United States favorites
would take n whole newspaper a
large as The News and Observer to-
give cvcAl a brief expression worthy
Of the. subject Hence I shall not at
tempt an adequate treatment here.
Throwing myself on the readers in
dulgence. / will only say that / hope
to recur to the topic and supplement
the deficiencies of the present article.
Greatness is comparative. The COM
parson is first made with men Of the
other countries and times. Bearing
this in mind some Of our American
statesmen and orators seem smaller.
Again, greatness Is absolute. a states
man is accepted as a great man by his
compcerS and colleagues. II his work
is not on a conspicuous arena or
identified with related events conspicu-
ously, no matter how majestic 1t is IN
trinsically, the reputation Of the
statesman Is gauged by these circum-
stances. The Judgment of men Is
limited by this age. II the age is
broad minded. liberal and progressive.
30 is the critical Judgment of those
who estimate the men OF talent aud
genius Occasionally a great states
mans work remains 10 be appreciated
altogether by his successors in time.
Thus, in the United states we had
Daniel Webster bounded almost to his
death in the North after 1850 until
the period OF the civil war--then his
fame became as much too great as
for ten years or more 1t had been too
small. The judgment IN both IN
stances was matter OF prejudice en-
This is not saying that Mr.. Webster
was not a grand orator. a great law
yer, u commanding figure III the pub
lie life of the country.
Now let us take the comparison be-
tween two or three fayoriteS. Amcr-
cans and two or three fayorite Euro
peans Of modern date. Perhaps we
might Institute q parallel between
Turgot. the Frenchmau. aud Franklin.
the American. But iiasmuch as the
Frcnchman was more of PHILOSOPHER
and doctrinaire than q man of affairs.
and Franklin equal in both capaci-
ties. q fairer parallel could be drawn
between Jefferson the American. and
Gladstone the Englishman Jefferson
was not precisely so much of u mere
scientist as Franklin. but In tho realm
of political philosophy and the phil
osophy of history and literature nc
may suggest the latterl, the Nir.
ginian was the superior mind. Hence
I take Jefferson In preference to
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