New-York tribune., 1907-06-16

pleasant habit OF making himself seem worss
than he really was. and he did this so success
fully that his friends regretted IL This habi,
he affected naturally. for he constitutionaIIv
incapable OF kindly deceit about himself IN snit.
of his being master of artihce ParadoxicaI
as il may seem. Chesterfield. the great diploma,
was really all that popular tradition suppOses A
great Diplomat cannot be. Even thar arch
enemy the King OF Spain. said of the man thai
he. alone of all the ambassadors with whom the
King had dealings. could be trusted aIways a
tell the truth. And yet this is the same ma,
whose reputation to-day hangs upon the slender
and unciean thread of a questionable code OF
manners! This is he who preached apparently
the gospel of doing those things which are pleas
ing to the persons one wishes to influence, A
dozen times Chesterfield's frankness led him =,
antagonize the English court by opposing with
his COnsummate but somewhat too charm,
ing oratery parliamentary measures dear To
George III. Historians have called him a blum
derer for this reason and there may be soms
truth in the charge; but there good grounds
for believing that. when matters came to a
crisis. Chesterfield unable to act against the
dictates Of his best judgment His policy
which matter of fact is not accurately set
forth in his Letters" seems to have been 10
keep in the good graces of everybody on general
principles. but. when necessary. to dare saw
ones mind. That of his intelligence
should have been unable to see that the pursuit
of such policy would certainly bring material
disaster is Incredible 1t is equally impossible 10
suppose that his tongue outran his will OF the
many important occasions when he ruined his
career by misplaced and unexpected hostility.
The most natural assumption. therefore is that
he valued justice and truth above power
Mr. Craig has not tried To ''whitewash" Ches-
ter;ields character. II the man is measured by
modern standards he displays flaws enough u
satisfy the most carping critic. Cursed with a
bad inheritance and u careless mother thrown
in with corrupt aristocraCy from his boyh,ad
and early schOoled in the ways Of European
diplomacy. he would have deserved praise had
he turned out to be anything better than a re-
fined sCoundreI. Shall We not grant high dis
tinction to him when learn that "the-e was
no more prominent figure in Great Britain and
certainly none prominent in the House Of
Lords. as the great orator and statesman aad
coutroversaIst whose reputation now chiefly
rests upon bundle of letters. His name is al
ways coupled. a speaker. with that of Pitt:
and SO far as his fellow peers are concerned not
to the advantage Of the latter" one cannot
read AIr Crs,ig's sketch Of the middle aged man.
broken by disease and with failing vision and
hearing. abruptly retiring from that wJrIi ot
action which he loved much fOr its Strenurs-
ity. forgiving all his enemies and acting as the
private adviser OF the rulers of the land. while
seemingly frittering away his hours over an
tiques and the raising of piueappleS. without
doubling the old view OF his character. II Ches-
terield was neither a saint nor 4 reformer he
was one who did his utmost TO serve his country
and his Conscience after the manner Of his day
The bosrapher has done his work with more
skill than have many others who have lately at
tempted to make the great dead live again Mr.
Craig knows how to order his facts 70
make them vivid and convincing He writes "A
a charming style. relieved by numerous Light
touches and excellent appreCiatOnS- Even
though his readers may be lOath TO surrender
their inherited opinion about the Prince of Man
ners they will nevertheless be charmed by NJ.
Craig's powerful character sketch. Coming into
a field Ions, since thought 10 have been troddeu
fiat and barren. he has succeeded in writing 4
book that IS worth while