New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-08-06
London. July II.


-roducts in these British isles is the man
Of IDEAS. Rarer still is the man who,
having ideas. has also the gift of politi-
ca leadership. which includes political
courage. Mr.. Chamberlain is that man.
and that is why. Eve years after illness
psd driven him from public life, Eng
land celebrates his seventeenth birth
dav with as much heartiness as II he
were still where for thirty years he had
ever been. in the forefront Of battle
There he will never be again. His mind
RS still much of its old vigor, but
paralysis or something Ike il. berett
him OK his physical strength and left
him. though not speeches.. wholly in
earable OF addressing either the House
o. Coumons or a public meeting. he
writes now and then a letter 20 a
T-uionist candidate for Parliament or a
br,ef epistle on some pressing topic;
lyrid. effective. because they are his. but
never quite in the old tone. So far as
f~eyh effort is concerned, he is a spent
,orre but the influence Of his name and
~ his life work will never be spent.
Nspoleon was wont 10 call men who
mixed theory with practice ideologues'
lie hated them: and he also despised
them since. in his view. their habit OF
speculation impaired their power Of VIII
md Of work He might have hated Mt
Chamberlain He would never have de-
spised him. Seldom If ever has there
hon an Englishman whose power OF
viii and Of work was greater than MS
II YOU look at Laurence's portrait OF the
younger Pitt you will see the features
a. Mr.. Chamberlain. and YOU may Wen
srppose that this statesman Of the nine
+eenth century could have carried on
Pitts twenty years struggle with Ma
roleon and freed Europe. Pitt dled an
old man at forty-six. worn out MI
chamberlain lasted till seventy
Mr.. Gladstone excepted Lave know n
no Englishman who gave you such an
impression of concentrated energy as
Mr. chamberlain. Whether he talked to
Won. whether he talked 10 a crowded
House of Commons whether he talked 10
SIX thousand people in birmingham
Town Hall. whether lie sat silent, the
impression was the same. Into that
slender. sinewy frame Of no great heiSht
his Maker had packed the essential en-
ersics Of a great race. have met MN
In all sorts Of circumstances; never once
when his was not the dominant person
. aiifv Of the scene. I can think OF no.
body in recent times to compare him
with except the late Prime Minister OF
France. NJ. Clemenceau. They had THIS
in common. that each married an Amerl-
can wife. and among all the gifts the
Gods have bestowed on the Englishman
his American wife is among the most
rrec1ous. But the great Frenchman is
so little known to Americans that the
comparison would be futile. Nor is any
comparison Of much use. except as an
illustration of particular traits. Nor VIII
snv description of Mr.. Cham oerialn
avail unless you have seen and heard
the man himself; and then II is super
fJous.
But look at him on the platform at
Birmingham: among his own people III
me arena where some Of his most splen-
did triumphs have been won. AS ne
conoas forward a roar of welcome greets
him. You see that he and his feAo"
rownsrnen are on affectionate terms
They know what they owe him. IheE
rauernber that long before he ser'eN
7-raland he served Birmingham was
thrice Mayor Of that great city ana
,,,sda a. an example 70 every muiil0I-
rar,tv IN Great Britain. A business
MN first Of all; an administrator an
,,gsnize- He begins his speech IN
business tone. His attack IS lns'dh-
+.7aous. Almost with his first sentence
r., ,s in the heart Of his subject. no
,,,,ersIf-ies no rhetoric, not a Word OF
arnesl 70 his audience. no preface 10
avo~dium. AS If by instinct, ne goes
str.,rht IN the matter in hand. HIS
,.,,ca rings clear. and there is in II me
,,~,,,,,e+al,able accent Of sincerity. lie
knows Birmingham like an old glove
and the men Of Birmingham as oiU
friends. I'm the phrasing OF MS sen
+s,cee there IS touch Of intimacy al
-~,-+ conversational. Try 10 converse
v.,b six thousand people and zee i Eo"
find 10 easy. .,-
p, roir- NJ fact this air Of aruessnesS
&C. calculated. He knows all that can De
l,-o,yr about the art Of public speaking
-, t.,oo-s what sentences will carry 70
wee the at7re term. and what viii no'.
Profoundly fin earnest as he is. ne IS an
actor. and 81 most accomplished actor
w, cannot be q great actor unless YOU
have the dramatic gift. Mr. Gladstone
I'D 81 but IN him n was almost 700 VS.
ibie N~. Bright had II. but his arr was
reduced m us final expression OF com
r'ete simplicity. and no one who listened
IN him suspected the art He spoke as
the messenger Of the Almighty. To those
heights Mr. Chamberlain aid not often
reach nor did he make. as Mr.. Bright
did. a supremacy imaginative use oil MS
material. Mr.. Bright had tones in his
voice which were the tones OF an organ
Mr. Chamberlain had not He was far
too wise and far too individual 20 at
TEMPT 70 rival still less 20 initiate Mr..
Bright or ANYBODY else Mr.. Bright was
emotional. Mr.. Chamberlain never. one
thing they had in common: profound
sympathy with the people; as Lincoln
had. and q command of the words by
which sympathy Of that kind declared
itself: in each Of the three differently