CHATHAM.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1031, 21 January 1911, Page 9

CHATHAM.

tORD ROSEBERY ON THE GREAT COMMONER. A NOTEWORTHY BOOK. Another of Lord Rosebery's historical monographs, '.'Chatham: His Early Life and,. Connections" has been published. Tho■ author';® knowledge of tho pliilosopb'y of politics, his practical expori- . en!*.;in ,the political, arena,- his. personal sympathy with a man . who, besides being-a, great statesman, .was an orator of .the first rank and a fervid Imperialist, "and his previous study-011 the life of tlib; younger Pitt, "published so long ago as • 1801, all unite to render hinr particularly qualified to bo Chatham's biographer. Add to this his excellence as a writer, and the obvious . appeal ■which a- strongly-marked and dramatic 1 character,. such as Chatham had,, must hayo mado to a nature like Lord Rosebery's: that, is insatiably curious of human. experiences, and it is not surprising that' the result should bo a noteworthy production. Aphorism Epigram. The volume is rich in luminous generalisations—faphorisms. 1 and epigrammatic sayings such as stud the author's • Many.of them are drijvn, from Lord. Rosebery's own experiences of the vicissitudes of a political cafoor. , ."Political, , friendships," ho. -writes, "wheri!;paths diverge'are* more difficult , to maintain .than men themselves realise fit tho moment of separation." ''Ministries formed by one man seldom, last- long" under, another. But : Ministries .which pass . between two declared enemies have not from tho beginning any. chanco of life." "An inevitable political catastrophe ; only becomes more overwhelming by de- ; lay ; each day that 'a Minister remains V in power against the will of the nation ' adas force to the.torrent against him." ''Tho.. state of: affairs as regards Office-; in .the. eighteenth century was very different from the present. Now, if a man bo.a bold and popular speaker, both in Parliament and on .the platform, but more especially 011 tho platform, lie leaps int-p the Cabinet at once; he disdains., anything else, a vice-treasurer-chip such as Pitt accepted he would regard .as an iusult." - .. .. , ."A peerage is now, as regards office, in 'the nature of an impediment, if riot a disqualification." statesman who has. been an active politician in his youth usually has to . utter " some: repentant note in his maturity. •. ,It is better for tho country and for themselves' that statesmen should -'thus do- penanco. Honourable ■consistency is- necessary -to retain tho '. confidence of tho country; but there is also a dishonourable consistency in concealing and suppressing conscientious , changes : of judgment." .''lt often happens that there, is a meihber of Government whose merits do - . not'appeal to the public, who .is.no orator, who passes no riieasures, and whoso ■ position; in an administration is a puzzle; to.-the outer world. - And yet, perhaps, .his colleagues regard him as invaluable. -He is 1 probably tho peaqc-maker.-the man.who -walks about dropping, oil into. th§ machinery, and .preventing-, injurious friction." An Orator, on His Art. , _ Lord Roseberylias,some pithy say- • ings on what lie describes with a touch of,.melancholy as'^'the''barren : gift .' of eloqueiico." ' ' : ; ' ..''S.o'moT ; bratorsp ffl he I 'says : , ! ' l; ,''impress' . their 'audience, some their readers," a veiy ■{$?■ po&tbrit j; as well. The orators' whoimpress tlieir..audience rarely im- •. prejsf-theiir-.-rcadersi' -'and ,'those who impress their readers'are usually less Successful with their audience. Few indeed are-those who reach posterity or indeed survive a-year.". No orator likes to be cross-examined-about - his, metaphors. • • '!No ■ orator is probably unconscious or. at most half-conscious of what seems dramatic, [in-his'delivery]; he is moved by an irresistible blast of passion, . which; carries him as well as his audience Way.-.The passion may have been stirred; beforehand, Jiut at the moment of, outpouring it "is genuine enough." ■ "We. 1 cannot doubt'that-it is better for Pitt'? fame'[as an orator] that he was. : unreported. . Sheridan. never did anything wiser than, when in his need he .refused the'most-splendid offers to ' revise.'his Begum speech for publication. / Pitt's speeches would have, lost • half' their force without tlio splendour His unreported eloquence h'as : become, matter of faith, and so it , is likely, to;remain." • Comments on Life. • Great as the book is from an historical; point of view, its chief cliarm throughout is as :a piece- of self-revela-tion; on Lord Rosebery's- part. Its attraction lies in the'fact that wo have here a-man who has seen much of life, occupied riiany positions, engaged in many activities, commenting on tho life of another who has followed a' similar, though a greater and'more resplendent jarcer. Hence the. number of his wise sayings scattered, throughout tho volume. .. "The life of a man is not his publiclife, which is always alloyed with some neccssai-y diplomacy, and which is sometimes only a mask; it is"mado up of a thousand touches, a multitude of ■ lights and shadows, most of which are invisible behind tho austro presentment of statecraft." "Youth is not tho season of'pathos. . .Pathos has something of humility in its'tenderness." "What is genius?"- None can tell; Jjut -may it not bo the result »in character ,of the ; conflict of violent strains, of heredity, which clash like flint and steel, and* produce the divino spark?" "We are apt to make idols, to ignore shadows, and to fancy that wo see stars.;.hot too apt, for it is an illuminating worship." -, Tho "following passage seems .to liavo a side reference to two personalities prominent in modern politics:— "Thero have. been inany swashbucklers 111 our political history, and there' will be many more. But it is rare that, as in Pitt's case, they develop into something supreme." And there is more than veiled cynicism in the concluding sentence of another paragraph• "Much in a man's , lifo obviously depends on life; much, too, depends on death. - Had Caesar or Marlborough died before middle age their military reputation would have been slender in- - deed. For how many men, 011 the other hand, has death como too late? What would , have been the place in history of Napoleon 111 had Orsini been a successful assassin? What'that of Tiberius had Jie died at sixty ? Tlio authors who have survived themselves are as tho sands of the sea; the politicians in the same case are less conspicuous, for they crumble" into the Housa of' Lords."-— "Weekly' Scotsman."