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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (July 20, 1899)
a i * " * I 'i : : . . > . . , i -i - - Conservative * her , and to hold out to her his gallant , protecting hand. " Here is a graceful tribute he pays to Wendell Phillips : "I had often heard him deliver lec tures , but I had never heard him make a really great speech on one of his own especial subjects until I went to attend a meeting which was held to celebrate the passing of that amendment to the constitution which secured a man against being precluded from the right to vote because of the color of his skin. I was a little late in getting to the meeting , and the vast hall was al ready packed with listeners ; I could only get standing-room on a staircase , from which I could not see the platform or any of the speakers. Presently a powerful voice filled the hall , and I soon became carried away by a flood of noble eloquence , the like of which I had not heard since some of the most splendid efforts of Bright or Gladstone. I could not help whispering to my wife , who was with me , "Why , this man is a greater speaker than Wendell Phillips. " It was , in fact , Wendell Phillips him self , whom I had not before that time had a chance of hearing at his very best. I have always thought it selfishly thought it , perhaps a pity that fortune did not place Phillips in the house of commons. How he would have sus tained the cause of Gladstone , and ri valed the eloquence of Bright , and out- satirized the satire of Disraeli , and answered with pitiless sarcasm the sar casms of Robert Low ! " An interesting conversation with the distinguished play wright and actor , Dion Boucicault , as to the standards of stage propriety in different generations , is thus recorded : "I remember once talking to Bouci cault one day , when I had the pleasure of dining with him at his hotel in Bos ton , Mass. He was giving me some in teresting recollections of his early exper iences as an actor , and he raised a ques tion as to the different standards of theatrical propriety which different gen erations choose to set up. In his younger days , he said , no English comic actress , no English ballot girl , would consent to appear upon the stage for a in the semitransparent single moment scanty - parent drapery which , in later days , is seen every night in every pantomime and opera bouffe. Such an exhibition , be went on to say , with some emphasis , would have been considered absolutely indecent and intolerable in those days , while , at the time of our conversation , neither the performers nor the public felt in any degree shocked by it. So much for the superiority of the decent past over the indecent present. But , then , he had a good deal to say on the other side of the question ; in his early days an actress , even of the best class , would think nothing of speaking a pas- sage , or many passages , in some comedy containing words and phrases , jests and allusions , winch the lowest class of ac- Lross would not utter now in the low est order of theatre , and which the audience would not listen to if she were to attempt to utter them. Which time , then , has the advantage of decorum ? Is it better to stick to modest clothing and disregard modesty of language , or to bo reckless about drapery and careful about words ? " In his chapter on Henry Ward Beecher , he says : "I met Beecher during my first visit to America , and I heard him preach in the temple of his ministrations , the Ply mouth church in Brooklyn. Beecher's style as a preacher was more like that of the pulpit orators who flourished a century or two ago than like the style of our own more refined or more conven tional days. Ho never thought it be neath himself or his calling to say an amusing thing in one of his sermons if the thought came up appropriately in his mind. He had a way when he en tered his church on Sunday of taking up any letters which might be addressed to him there ; and he sometimes opened one of these and read it out to the congrega tion , and made it a text on which to hang a discourse. One day he opened such a letter and found that it contained the single word 'Fool. ' He mentioned the fact to his congregation , and then quietly added : 'Now I have known many an instance of a man writing a letter and forgetting to sign his name ; but this is the only instance I have ever known of a man signing his name and forgetting to write the letter. ' " Mr. McCarthy informs us that Bright and Disraeli , when they met in the house of commons , were on very friendly terms. Disraeli had as high an opinion of Bright's eloquence as any of Bright's companions could possibly have had : "Bright told me that he and Disraeli were sitting together one night I think in the smoking room of the house of commons talking , like the pair in Kirke White's poem , 'of various things of taxes , ministers and kings , ' and , among other subjects , of the amount of time that had to be given up to the work of parliament. Disraeli paused for a moment , and then said : 'You know , Bright , what you and I come here for we both come here for fame. ' Bright earnestly insisted that he came there for no purpose of the kind ; but he assured me that it was impossible to convince Disraeli that ho was serious in the disclaimer. Disraeli ceased to ar gue the point , and listened with a quiet half-sarcastic smile satisfied - , evidently quite isfied in his own mind that a man who could make great speeches must make them with the desire of obtaining fame. Bright's objection to Disraeli was founded mainly on the assumption that Disraeli was , and must bo , a radical re former at heart ; that a man of his intel lect could not be anything else ; and that , therefore , he had become a Tory with the object of making his way to a liigh position in parliament and in so ciety. This sort of assumption or con clusion belonged to Bright's whole habit of mind , and he could not free himself from it. He judged everybody by a rigid moral standard which he had set up in his own mind , and which as sumed that every honest man possessed of intelligence must really bo in favor of an extended electoral suffrage. In this way Cobden had a far more liberal mind , and was quite able to understand that a man might differ absolutely from him on the most essential principles of radicalism and yet be deserving of con fidence and admiration. " There is a grateful glimpse of Disraeli acting as guide to the sightless Fawcett : "On one of the first occasions when he was thus kindly conducted , his guide seemed especially careful and anxious about him , and took a great deal of trouble in conducting him safely on his way. There was something about the manner of the guide which seemed to Fawcett markedly kind and genial ; and when he had reached the place he wanted he said to his companion : 'I am afraid I do not know your name. ' 'Yet yon have heard it often , ' was the reply , delivered in a deep-toned voice ; 'my name is Disraeli. ' " How Disraeli received an inopportune and infelicitous compliment is thus de scribed : "An acquaintance of mine , formerly a member of the house of commons , stopped Disraeli in one of the lobbies during a critical division , and said to him ; 'Mr. Disraeli , my wife and my daughters are great admirers of your novels. ' Disraeli blandly replied : 'Sir , that is indeed fame. ' And the fun of it was that my poor old friend always told the story himself , with positive pride , as a proof of Disraeli's affability and thankfulness. " The late Sir John Mowbray comes infer for one of Mr. McCarthy's most pleasant anecdotes : ' 'As I was passing the group in the lobby , Sir John Mowbray's quick eye lighted on me. 'Mr. Justin McCarthy , ' he said , in a tone of amazing solemnity , 'I want my friends here to see how we conservative gentlemen treat Irish mem bers publicly accused of favoring con spiracies to murder. ' Then , in an in stant , the solemn manner was changed , and Sir John's eye beamed with its wonted animation and kindliness. ' Give me your hand , my dear McCarthy , ' he exclaimed , 'and let me present yon to my friends here , who will be all delighted to know you. ' No words of mine could tell how deeply I was touched by such a
