oiuostAPfi" 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 David Willi ams 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
 i 
 

 /^ 'y*.. 
 
 /i 
 
GLADSTONE: 
 
 THE MAN. 
 
 A NON-POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY 
 
 BY 
 
 DAVID WILLIAMSON. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED. 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 XonDon : 
 
 JAMES BOWDEN, 
 
 10, HENRIETTA STREET, W.C. 
 
 1898. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 I. FROM BOYHOOD TO MANHOOD 
 
 II. HIS MARRIAGE AND EARLY LIFE 
 
 III. HIS WORK AS AN AUTHOR 
 
 IV. HIS ORATORY 
 
 V. AN OMNIVOROUS READER 
 
 VI. A GUEST IN MANY HOMES 
 
 VII. LIFE AT HAWARDEN 
 
 VIII. MR. GLADSTONE AS A CHURCHMAN 
 
 IX. MR. GLADSTONE'S FRIENDS ... 
 
 X. HIS INTEREST IN PHILANTHROPY. 
 
 XI. EPISODES IN AN EVENTFUL LIFE , 
 
 XII. AN APPRECIATION 
 
 XIII. FROM WEARINESS TO REST 
 
 PAGE 
 
 5 
 17 
 29 
 
 43 
 56 
 66 
 
 79 
 
 91 
 
 97 
 
 108 
 
 113 
 121 
 128 
 
 ^rzm^M. pk >.! c^cTi 
 
LI HUNG CHAXG AND MU. Gl.ADSTOXE. 
 {From a Photograph by G. W. V/EliSTKR, Chester.) 
 
CHAPTER L 
 
 FROM BOYHOOD TO MANHOOD. 
 
 While other pens have been busy recording 
 and criticising the poHtical acts of Mr. 
 Gladstone, mine will be the more grateful task 
 of portraying him, not as the politician, not as 
 the statesman who guided the helm of the ship 
 of State during four eventful Premierships, 
 but as the man whose personal character is 
 esteemed by political friend and foe alike. 
 
 One of William Ewart Gladstone's friends 
 once described him as ^^ever from youth up, 
 the beloved and admired of many personal 
 intimates. Always the foremost man, warm- 
 hearted, earnest, hard-working, and religious, 
 he had a following even in his teens." Of 
 his earliest years, there is not much recorded 
 which cannot be summarised briefly. His 
 father was Mr. John Gladstone, a prosperous 
 merchant at Liverpool, who was created a 
 
° Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 baronet on the suggestion of Sir Robert Peel 
 in 1845. He had married, as his second wife, 
 Miss Robertson, daughter of a Provost of 
 Dingwall. Her portrait has been painted in 
 these words : " A lady of great accomplishments, 
 of fascinating manners, of commanding pre- 
 sence, and high intellect ; one to grace any 
 home, and endear any heart." There is an 
 interesting family tree in existence which bears 
 out Mr. Gladstone's proud boast that he had 
 not a drop of any but Scottish blood in his 
 veins, but Liverpool claims him gladly as one 
 of her citizens. He was born in Rodney-street, 
 on December 29, 1809. 
 
 He was a bright child, and was encouraged 
 to discuss freely all sorts of subjects, especially 
 political, with his father. His brother John 
 was likewise interested in politics, and both 
 were destined to sit in the House of Commons, 
 although not on the same sides of the House. 
 Among Mr. John Gladstone's friends was 
 George Canning, and it is not surprising that 
 such a personality made its impression on the 
 boy, whose bump of reverence was already 
 developing. 
 
From Boyhood to Manhood. 7 
 
 Mrs. Gladstone was very fond of visiting her 
 old home at Dingwall, where to the last she 
 was known by old inhabitants as " bonnie Miss 
 Robertson." She had been in advance of her 
 time in devoting herself to the needs of others, 
 and was a woman of decided breadth of 
 thought, an ardent Sunday-school teacher, 
 and a kindly visitor of the sick. Her little son 
 Willie, during these visits to his relative, Mrs. 
 Chisholm, was continually bent on learning 
 how things were done. There is a story of his 
 having determined to try a new system of 
 planting potatoes. He had noticed — observant 
 boy ! — that there seemed considerable waste of 
 space between the laying down of the seeds. 
 So, taking up one of the small bags containing 
 potatoes, he started placing them as closely 
 together in the drill as he could manage, to the 
 astonishment of an old woman, who rushed up 
 to him, crying, ** The laddie's demented ! " and 
 took away from him the potato-bag. Young 
 Gladstone was not satisfied until he received 
 from his grandfather the reasons for allowing 
 a certain space between the seeds. Then, with 
 that quickness to benefit by knowledge which 
 
8 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 always distinguished him, he returned to the 
 potato field, and planted his seeds in the 
 regulation fashion. 
 
 It is interesting, while alluding to Dingwall, 
 to mention that Mr. Gladstone received the 
 freedom of the burgh when he was only eleven 
 years old ; a fact which, though unprece- 
 dented, was confirmed recently. He was also 
 the unique recipient of the freedom twice, for 
 he received it again in 1853. The proof of 
 the first of these two interesting functions was 
 found in the following entry on the Dingwall 
 records : — " To Tavern Bill when given the 
 freedom of the burgh to Mr, Gladstone . . . 
 £1 9s." 
 
 When William Ewart Gladstone was nine 
 years old, his father removed to Seaforth 
 House ; and it is a strange coincidence that 
 the next tenant of the old home in Rodney- 
 street was Mr. John Card well, whose five-year- 
 old son Edward was destined to become a 
 Cabinet Minister, and a member of the British 
 Peerage, under the title of Viscount Cardwell. 
 
 William and his brothers attended a pre- 
 paratory school near their home, kept by a 
 
From Boyhood to Manhood. 9 
 
 clergyman, the Rev. John Jones, who after- 
 wards became the first incumbent of St. 
 Andrew's Church, Renshaw-street, and Arch- 
 deacon of Liverpool. Three months before 
 he attained his twelfth birthday, William was 
 sent to Eton — *' that Queen of visible homes 
 for the ideal schoolboy," as he described the 
 place in after years. During the six years 
 spent at Eton he found many friends who 
 afterwards became famous. Among these 
 were Francis Hastings Doyle, who was his 
 best man when he married ; George Augustus 
 Selwyn, who did such noble missionary work 
 in New Zealand, and was later the Bishop of 
 Lichfield ; and, chief above all, Arthur Henry 
 Hallam, with whom he had most intimate 
 sympathy. He used to scull Hallam up to the 
 Shallows, in order to enjoy his society, and, in 
 his boyish diary kept at this period, he would 
 record such statements as, "stiff arguments 
 with Hallam, as usual on Sundays, about 
 Articles, Creeds," &c. They were both mem- 
 bers of "The Society," which afforded a 
 common ground for debate, although the boys 
 were prohibited from discussing any event 
 
lo Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 which had occurred within the last half- 
 century. 
 
 In Gladstone's last year at Eton, he began 
 his long list of literary productions, with con- 
 tributions to The Eton Miscellany. Among his 
 subjects one notes that already the magnet of 
 Homer had begun to attract him. Another 
 theme was " Eloquence," concerning which he 
 wrote this striking forecast of his own career : 
 " A successful d^but, an offer from the 
 Minister, a Secretaryship of State, and even the 
 Premiership itself, are the objects which 
 form the vista along which a young visionary 
 loves to look." One is quite glad, from a 
 fellow feeling, to remember that Mr. Gladstone 
 was flogged at least once by the notorious Dr. 
 Keate. He had been involved in a schoolboy 
 scrape with another lad, whose name he 
 declined to divulge to the headmaster. Ac- 
 cordingly he suffered the customary fate, albeit 
 he had the satisfaction of being regarded as 
 a martyr suffering in a just cause I It will 
 interest schoolboys to know that " Mr. Tipple " 
 was Gladstone's nickname at Eton, though no 
 reason, as usual, for this sobriquet can be 
 
From Boyhood to Manhood. ii 
 
 given. It was certainly not from any habits of 
 intemperance, for the late Bishop Hamilton, of 
 Salisbury, said of his Eton days : " I was a 
 thoroughly idle boy, but I was saved from 
 worse things by getting to know Gladstone." 
 Men who followed him at Oxford ten years 
 afterwards said, " undergraduates drank less 
 in the forties, because Gladstone had been so 
 courageously abstemious in the thirties." 
 
 In 1827, "the prettiest little boy that ever 
 went to Eton," as Sir Roderick Murchison 
 called him, had developed into a sHm, scholarly 
 young man. Leaving the famous school, 
 where his name carved in the oak by himself 
 is an object of veneration, and where recently 
 a bust was placed to his honour, as the result 
 of subscriptions from M.P.'s of all shades of 
 politics, he continued his education under Dr. 
 Turner, who afterwards became Bishop of 
 Calcutta. He kept up correspondence with 
 such friends as Hallam and Doyle, and was 
 inspired with a desire to visit Italy by the 
 former's vivid description of its fascination 
 and beauty. 
 
 Then he entered Christ Church, Oxford, 
 
12 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 where he had the good fortune to come 
 under the influence of many notable men, 
 and to enlarge the friendships begun at 
 Eton. He formed most regular habits of 
 study, and not less regular habits of exercise. 
 He was a splendid walker, and did a little 
 rowing. He became an enthusiastic member 
 of the Union, delivering his first speech with 
 great ability when he was twenty years old. 
 Although, of course, his views were tinged by 
 the influence of the period and the environ- 
 ment of Oxford, he made this impression on 
 a contemporary who wrote of him : — " The 
 earnestness and intensity of his language 
 and bearing were sometimes painful, con- 
 viction being stamped on every word he 
 uttered." One thing is certain, and that is 
 that his contemporaries quite expected that, he 
 would come to fame. In 1831 he took a 
 ^* double first class," and thereafter held for a 
 short time a Fellowship at All Souls' College. 
 
 Oxford men, more than sixty years after- 
 wards, welcomed once more to that " home of 
 lost causes " the venerable scholar who came 
 again to the city to renew his acquaintance 
 
Photo hy] 
 
 [A. F. Mackenzie, Birnam. 
 
 MR. GLADSTONE IN 1 897. 
 A Portrait taken in the grounds of Butterstone House, near Duiikeld. 
 
From Boyhood to Manhood. 13 
 
 with its unique life of learning. Hardly a 
 more picturesque incident occurred in Mr. 
 Gladstone's career than when he spent a short 
 time, after passing his eightieth birthday, in 
 residing within college walls at Oxford. 
 During his 'varsity life the potent forces in the 
 religious world of Oxford were Dr. Pusey, Dr. 
 Whately (who subsequently became Arch- 
 bishop of Dublin), and Dr. Newman, whose 
 sermons in St. Mary's, with their indescribable 
 charm and force, were already ruffling the 
 waters of controversy. These men, un- 
 doubtedly, affected Gladstone's theological 
 standpoint, although he was too thoughtful to 
 be dominated by the most forceful intellect. 
 Already that love of mathematical debate, if 
 one may use the phrase, which became such a 
 characteristic of his later years, was being 
 developed, and he enjoyed argument for 
 argument's sake. When Garibaldi was said to 
 be contemplating marriage with a distinguished 
 lady of title (although his wife was still living), 
 it was wittily suggested that Mr. Gladstone 
 should " explain away " the lady in question ! 
 There is no doubt that his powers of con- 
 
14 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 vincing himself and others were remarkable, 
 even in his undergraduate days. This gift 
 was much in request at the Union, where he 
 crossed swords with several future opponents 
 who continued the duel of words in a more 
 august assembly. 
 
 Gladstone's political career (concerning 
 which, as stated in our first sentences, we shall 
 have practically nothing to say) began in 1832, 
 when, as a Tory, he entered the House of 
 Commons to represent the pocket borough of 
 Newark. Thereafter politics ran like a thread 
 throughout the chain of events in his life ; 
 although there is concurrently the interesting 
 life of Gladstone as the man, which we hope 
 to record. 
 
 In 1832, after leaving Oxford, he paid a 
 visit to Italy, and the next year was shocked 
 to receive the news of Arthur Hallam's death 
 at Vienna. " I felt, wrote Mr. Gladstone, 
 "not only that a dear friend had been lost, 
 but that a great light had been extinguished, 
 and one who was eminently required by the 
 coming necessities of the country and the age. 
 . . . Whether he possessed the greatest genius I 
 
From Boyhood to Manhood. 15 
 
 have ever known is a question which does not 
 lie upon my path and which I do not under- 
 take to determine. It is of the man that I 
 speak, and genius does not of itself make the 
 man. When we deal with men, genius and 
 character must be jointly taken into view ; 
 and the relation between the two, together 
 with the effect upon the aggregate, is infinitely 
 variable. The towering position of Shake- 
 speare among poets does not of itself afford a 
 certain indication that he holds a place equally 
 high among men." 
 
 On January 13, 1833, Mr. Gladstone was 
 admitted to the Society of Lincoln's Inn, and 
 kept eleven terms. He had obviously at this 
 time an intention of becoming a barrister and 
 worked industriously with this in view, but 
 after six years he found that his political work 
 was absorbing his time and interests, and 
 accordingly petitioned for the removal of his 
 name. The exact entry on the books of the 
 Inn is as follows : — " William Ewart Glad- 
 stone, of Christ Church, Oxford, B.A., age 23 
 years, fourth son of John Gladstone, Esq., of 
 Fasque, county Kincardineshire, is admitted 
 
i6 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 into the society of this Inn the 25th day of 
 January, 1833. — Admitted by the Right Hon. 
 Sir Lancelot Shad well, Treasurer." This was, 
 the observant will notice, just four days before 
 he signed the rolls of the House of Commons 
 for the first time. This further entry records 
 the conclusion of his career as a law student : 
 '*At a council held the 15th day of April, 
 1839. Upon ^he petition of William Ewart 
 Gladstone, Esq., a Fellow of this Society, 
 praying that his name may be taken off the 
 books, having given up his intention of being 
 called to the Bar. It is ordered accordingly." 
 One may complete this reference by men- 
 tioning that about sixty years afterwards Mr. 
 Gladstone was the guest of the Inn on Grand 
 Day. He was shown his autograph as a 
 student, which was very slightly different from 
 his later signature. The old man looked at 
 it with a curious interest, and remarked 
 pathetically, " I put more into it then." 
 

 1 
 
 
 L^'» . 
 
 [^ 
 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 HIS MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LIFE. 
 
 In any record of Mr. Gladstone's life, an im- 
 portant place must be allotted to his marriage, 
 for his long and happy union had much to do 
 with the peace of mind which enabled him to 
 accompHsh so much public work. '^ Marriage 
 is promotion/' says a distinguished writer, and 
 certainly Mr. Gladstone's was promotion in the 
 best sense. He had often met the young lady 
 of his choice. Miss Catherine Glynne, in 
 London society, where she and her sister had 
 shone as bright particular stars by reason of 
 their beauty and intellectual charm, and he 
 furthered their acquaintance when touring on 
 the Continent. 
 
 The future bride was the daughter of Sir 
 Stephen Glynne, who died when she was a 
 child, leaving an eight-year-old son, Stephen, to 
 
i8 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 succeed him. Lady Glynne, the widow, had 
 charge of the Hawarden estates during the 
 heir's minority, and her brother, the Hon. 
 George Neville, was rector. In those days, 
 the village, on which so much public atten- 
 tion has since been fixed, enjoyed a very 
 bad reputation for drunkenness and disorderly 
 behaviour. At last affairs reached a climax, 
 and the rector called a public meeting of 
 the Hawarden villagers, and said, " I cannot 
 change your hearts, that is something which 
 has to be done by yourselves, by the help of a 
 Higher than I, but I can banish the temptations 
 to this indecent conduct ; so I shall ask my 
 sister. Lady Glynne, to reduce the number of 
 public-houses, and to have those which remain 
 shut during those hours on Sunday when the 
 better disposed are worshipping in God's house, 
 of which time the worst among you take advan- 
 tage to behave in this most unseemly manner." 
 Following her brother's hint. Lady Glynne 
 forestalled the Welsh Sunday Closing Act, by 
 closing all public-houses during divine service, 
 and ending some altogether. This public- 
 spirited lady left a marked impression on her 
 
His Marriage and Family Life. 19 
 
 daughters, and much of Mrs. Gladstone's 
 philanthropic work was, doubtless, inspired by 
 the example of Lady Glynne. 
 
 On July 25, 1839, a double wedding made 
 the bells of Hawarden ring out with joy; Mr. 
 Gladstone became the husband of Catherine 
 Glynne, and his friend. Lord Lyttelton, a man 
 of remarkable ability, w^edded her sister, amid 
 great rejoicings. Sir Francis Doyle, Mr. 
 Gladstone's best man, indited a charming poem 
 to the bride of his friend, bidding her " soothe 
 in many a toil-worn hour, the noble heart 
 which thou hast won." Throughout the long 
 years, during which she has often had to play 
 a prominent part in social duties alien to her 
 nature, Mrs. Gladstone was a never-failing 
 comfort and support to her distinguished 
 husband. In Schiller's beautiful words, she 
 managed to " twine and weave heavenly roses 
 into earthly life." Quite apart from her rela- 
 tionship to the man who held the Premiership 
 of this country four times, Mrs. Gladstone 
 would have a proper claim to notice as one 
 of the most practical and benevolent philan- 
 thropists in the Queen's reign. Despite con- 
 
20 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 siderable family cares — she was the mother of 
 eight children — Mrs. Gladstone devoted much 
 time, thought, and energy to many schemes of 
 charity which benefited different classes of the 
 community. When she was constantly- in 
 London, while her husband was engaged in 
 Parliamentary duties, she was always engaged in 
 benevolent schemes. She was one of the pro- 
 moters of the Newport Market Refuge, which 
 gives shelter to wanderers out of work and in 
 misery, and aids them in gaining employment. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone used to spend their 
 vacations at Hawarden, where her brother. Sir 
 Stephen Glynne, was in residence. They had 
 more than one family sorrow, losing a little 
 daughter, and sustaining a severe bereavement 
 by the death of Lord Lyttelton, whose talented 
 widow, it is interesting to remember, became 
 one of the instructresses of the Queen. 
 
 The names of Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone's 
 children may be stated conveniently here. 
 The-llteldest son was William Henry, who 
 married a daughter of Lord Blantyre. He 
 was studious and musical, composing many 
 hymn tunes which have found a place in 
 

 
His Marriage and Family Life. 21 
 
 various collections. For some years he 
 was the unobtrusive representative of East 
 Worcestershire in the House of Commons. 
 To the great grief of his relatives Mr. Gladstone 
 died, after a comparatively short illness, in 
 1891. His widow and family reside at Hawar- 
 den, and the estates will ultimately devolve 
 upon his son William, whose only public 
 appearance so far was as train-bearer to the 
 Prince of Wales when he attended the opening 
 of the new University of Wales. Mr. W. H. 
 Gladstone had built Hawarden House near 
 to the Castle, and resided there, under an 
 arrangement that his father and mother should 
 retain the Castle during their life. He was 
 fifty-one years old at the time of his death. 
 Among the letters of sympathy received 
 concerning this event by Mr. Gladstone was 
 one penned by Mrs. Spurgeon on behalf of 
 her famous husband, the preacher, who was 
 then lying seriously ill. 
 
 The eldest daughter, Anne, is the wife of the 
 Rev. Dr. E. Wickham, who held the head- 
 mastership of Wellington College for some 
 years, and is now Dean of Lincoln, 
 
22 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 gjThe Rev. Stephen Edward Gladstone is the 
 second son ; he has been rector of Hawarden 
 for some years. 
 
 The third son is Mr. Henry Neville Glad- 
 stone, who was resident in India until lately, 
 being connected with an important mercantile 
 house. His wife was the Hon. Maud Ernes- 
 tine Rendel, daughter of Lord Rendel, who 
 was formerly chairman of the Welsh Party in 
 the House of Commons. 
 
 The youngest son is the Right Hon. 
 Herbert John Gladstone, aged forty-four, who 
 is unmarried. He was educated at Eton and 
 Oxford, taking a first class in modern history, 
 and was lecturer on modern history at Keble 
 College for some years. After sustaining 
 defeat in an attempt to win a Liberal seat in 
 Middlesex, he was chosen in 1880 to represent 
 Leeds, which had returned his father to 
 Parliament. Mr. Herbert Gladstone acted as 
 private secretary to the Prime Minister, and 
 was a Junior Lord of the Treasury. Since 
 then he has held the offices of Financial' 
 Secretary of War, Under-Secretary for Home 
 Affairs, and First Commissioner of Works. In 
 
His Marriage and Family Life. 23 
 
 the last eighteen years Leeds has been loyal 
 to him at various contested elections. He 
 inherits a beautiful voice from his father, and 
 is an expert platform orator. He has modestly 
 refrained from speaking much in the House 
 of Commons ; but he showed excellent ad- 
 ministrative ability when he held office. Very 
 fond of music, and a pleasant vocalist, he had 
 been a member of the Handel Society for 
 some years. " Mr. Herbert," as the villagers of 
 Hawarden call him, was a great athlete in his 
 younger days, and has shown his interest in 
 sport by supporting generously the National 
 Physical Recreation Society, of which he was 
 president. He gave ;£i,ooo to the Hawarden 
 Institute, which has been of incalculable 
 benefit in promoting athletics and culture 
 among the youths of the neighbourhood. 
 Once he was asked what recreations his father 
 took, and replied : " He used to be chiefly 
 fond of rowing, riding, and shooting ; but 
 during the last twenty or twenty-five years he 
 had to give up those forms of exercise, and to 
 confine himself mainly to cutting down trees, 
 which he did habitually. He always was a 
 
24 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 great walker, and lost no opportunity of 
 encouraging his sons in physical recreation ; 
 but it was only in manly sports and games, in 
 rational recreations that he stimulated and led 
 us." I came across the following apt pen-- 
 portrait of Mr. Herbert Gladstone, in these 
 lines by George Crabbe, in his poem entitled 
 "The Hall of Justice": 
 
 A sturdy youth he was and tall, 
 His looks would all his soul declare ; 
 His piercing eyes were deep and small, 
 And strongly curl'd his raven hair. 
 
 ***** 
 
 His father was our party's chief. 
 
 The third daughter in the Gladstone family 
 is Mary, better known to the public as Mrs. 
 Harry Drew. She was always an alert reader, 
 and was one of the first to recognise the 
 literary abilities of " Lanoe Falconer," whose 
 first book, it may be remembered, " Made- 
 moiselle Ixe," received enthusiastic commenda- 
 tion from Mr. Gladstone. Mrs. Drew possesses 
 considerable powers herself as a writer, and 
 after her marriage she spent much of her 
 time in lightening the literary labours of her 
 father. She and her husband live at Buckley, a 
 
His Marriage and Family Life. 25 
 
 parish which is not far from Hawarden ; Mr. 
 Drew is Warden of St. Deiniol's Hostel, of 
 which Mrs. Drew is treasurer and one of the 
 trustees. Their daughter Dorothy interested the 
 pubHc greatly by her youthful charm when she 
 accompanied her grandparents in their drives 
 about London. The little girl, with her golden 
 locks and blue eyes, made a charming note 
 of juvenility amid the official dinginess of 
 10, Downing-street. At least one Cabinet 
 Minister can remember the sudden and unex- 
 pected patter of little feet behind him on the 
 stairs, and the unceremonious greeting of 
 Dorothy, who had small respect for politicians, 
 but much for playmates. The little lady, who 
 has been in danger of being "spoilt" by so 
 much notice, was accorded the special honour 
 of a private introduction to the Queen. Some 
 of her remarks to Her Majesty, if wanting in 
 formality, were amusing in their originality. 
 The Queen was charmed with the child. 
 Another incident in Dorothy Drew's already 
 eventful career was when she acted as a brides- 
 maid to her kind friend, Miss Margot Tennant, 
 on her marriage to Mr. Asquith. Mr. Glad- 
 
26 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 stone's partiality for Dorothy was well known, 
 and her bright naivete helped to dispel many 
 of the anxious cares which weighed on him 
 in his last Premiership. I well remember the 
 scene of the final departure of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Gladstone from the official home in Downing- 
 street, which at intervals they had occupied 
 so long. It was a dull afternoon ; the news 
 as to the Premier's resignation was still await- 
 ing confirmation, so that few people had any 
 idea that a historic incident was taking place 
 in the quiet little street which branches off 
 Whitehall. A small group of reporters stood 
 opposite the house, with their note-books and 
 pencils ready to chronicle the details of the 
 right hon. gentleman's departure. Presently 
 the door opened, and Mr. Gladstone, wearing 
 a thick overcoat and Inverness cape, issued 
 forth, and began promenading the pavement 
 with rapid steps. His head was bent, and his 
 face seemed wrapt in thought. 
 
 Even the bravest heart must swell 
 At the moment of farewell. 
 
 Soon he turned to the door as it opened, 
 and with old-world gallantry he aided Mrs. 
 
His Marriage and Family Life. 27 
 
 Gladstone to enter the brougham. Then run- 
 ning down the steps and smihng with glee 
 came little Dorothy Drew, delighted with the 
 prospect of a drive with her grandparents, and 
 quite unaware that she was a participant in a 
 notable scene in the career of a Prime Minister. 
 She gaily waved her little hand while Mr. 
 Gladstone bowed gravely in acknowledgment 
 of the respectful salutations of the members of 
 the Press, who had seen him on so many public 
 occasions. In a minute the carriage bearing 
 the Prime Minister and his wife on their way 
 to Paddington had passed out of sight, and 
 Downing-street had bidden farewell to its most 
 famous resident. 
 
 That is a reminiscence which concerns one 
 of the grandchildren of Mr. Gladstone, but it 
 must not be forgotten that there are others — 
 Mr. W. H. Gladstone's children — who have 
 been a joy in the declining years of the Grand 
 Old Man. A photograph exists of Mr. 
 Gladstone with his grandson William on his 
 knee, a charming contrast between old age 
 and youth. 
 
 With a brief allusion to the little daughter. 
 
28 . Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 Catherine Jessy, who died in infancy, this record 
 of the family life of Mr. Gladstone may close. 
 Of his eight children, six survive, each 
 endowed with gifts which have been already, 
 and will continue to be, serviceable in perpe- 
 tuating with honour the name they bear 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 HIS WORK AS AN AUTHOR. 
 
 It is time that something should be said about 
 Mr. Gladstone's remarkable literary labours, 
 which may be said to have commenced with the 
 publication of " The State in its Relation to the 
 Church," published in the autumn of 1838. 
 The titlepage bore the inscription " By W. E. 
 Gladstone, Student of Christ Church, and M.P. 
 for Newark." The book was dedicated to the 
 author's alma matery the University of Oxford, 
 which he described as " The fountain of bless- 
 ings, spiritual, social, and intellectual." Mr. 
 Gladstone's power of argument and his love of 
 ecclesiastical history were shown forcibly in the 
 pages of this book. The volume attracted so 
 much attention that a second edition was 
 made necessary very speedily. With the 
 leisure which distinguished that period, in con- 
 
30 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 trast to the haste with which reviews appear on 
 the identical day of pubHcation, it was about 
 a year before either of the great reviews noticed 
 the book. But when The Quarterly Review did 
 take the subject in hand, it treated the book 
 with consummate power in a review of fifty- 
 five pages. In the course of this, the writer 
 paid the author several compliments, such as, 
 " He is evidently not an ordinary character, 
 though it is to be hoped that many others are 
 now forming themselves in the same school 
 with him, to act hereafter on the same 
 piinciple. And the highest compliment which 
 we can pay him is to show that we believe him 
 to be what a statesman or philosopher should 
 be — indifferent to his own reputation for 
 talents, and only anxious for truth and right." 
 
 More familiar than is the book itself to 
 modern readers is the brilliant review by 
 Macaulay which appeared in The Edinburgh 
 prior to The Quarterly's review. The two men 
 stood in very similar relationship to the world 
 in which they were destined to play so 
 prominent a part, for Macaulay had secured 
 the same extraordinary success at Cambridge 
 
His Work as an Author. 31 
 
 as Mr. Gladstone had attained at Oxford. 
 Both were attracted almost as equally to 
 literature as to politics, and both were con- 
 cerned seriously with the matters of life. Mr. 
 Gladstone could not help feeing very grateful 
 to the anonymous, but obvious reviewer in the 
 Edinburgh^ and put his feelings into a letter 
 written from 6, Carlton-gardens, where he 
 was then residing. This epistle was expressed 
 in humble phrases, which, undoubtedly, gave 
 pleasure to its recipient, who quite realised 
 his own importance with the world of litera- 
 ture. Thus was the foundation-stone laid of 
 that monument of literary activity to which Mr. 
 Gladstone was adding almost every year of 
 his life. 
 
 His next most forcible publication was the 
 famous " Letter to the Earl of Aberdeen," 
 which described most graphically and truthfully 
 the fearful atrocities perpetrated in the 
 dungeons of Naples. The details for this letter 
 were obtained by Mr. Gladstone when he was 
 visiting Italy in 1850, and he collected them 
 with painstaking energy. The letter, which 
 bore on its face the stamp of evident truth, 
 
32 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 caused quite a sensation in Europe, and the 
 author published a second, containing fuller 
 details. It was discussed in Parliament, and 
 drew from Lord Palmerston a forcible state- 
 ment on the subject. In the course of his 
 speech the Foreign Secretary said : — " Mr. 
 Gladstone has done himself, as I think, very 
 great honour by the course he pursued at 
 Naples, and by the course he has followed 
 since ; for I think that when you see an English 
 gentleman, who goes to pass a winter at Naples 
 — instead of confining himself to those amuse- 
 ments that abound in that city — instead of 
 diving into volcanoes and exploring excavated 
 cities— when we see him going to courts of 
 justice, visiting prisons, descending into 
 dungeons, and examining great numbers of 
 unfortunate victims of illegality and injustice, 
 with a view afterwards to enlist public opinion 
 in the endeavour to remedy those abuses — I 
 think that it is a course that does honour to the 
 person that pursues it ; and concurring in 
 opinion with him that the influence of public 
 opinion in Europe might have some useful 
 effect in setting such matters right, 1 thought it 
 
His Work as an Author. 33 
 
 my duty to send copies of his pamphlet to our 
 Ministers at the various Courts of Europe, 
 directing them to give to each Government 
 copies of the pamphlet, in the hope that, by 
 affording them an opportunity of reading it, 
 they might be led to use their influence for 
 promoting what is the object of my honourable 
 and gallant friend — a remedy for the evils to 
 which he has referred." 
 
 An undoubted stimulus was given to Mr. 
 Gladstone's interest in Greece, both ancient 
 and modern, by his acceptance of the office of 
 Lord High Commissioner Extraordinary to the 
 Ionian Isles. There had been considerable 
 trouble in these islands, which for forty-three 
 years had been under British Protectorate. 
 Sir John Young, who was Lord High Commis- 
 sioner of them, had lately recommended the 
 conclusion of this Protectorate, except as 
 regards Corfu, which he advised should remain 
 a military station. This despatch was published, 
 to the surprise of the Government of Lord 
 Palmerston, in The Daily News, towards the 
 end of 1858. As there was a good deal of 
 difference in opinion in the matter of retaining 
 
34 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 the Ionian Isles, whose inhabitants to some 
 extent were favouring the idea of union with 
 Greece, it was thought an excellent plan to 
 send Mr. Gladstone to report on the state of 
 affairs. According to his manner, he lost no 
 time in making himself fully acquainted with 
 the position, and, having conducted his mission, 
 returned to this country. The Greeks always 
 had a high respect for him from their first 
 acquaintance, and I can remember the late 
 Monsieur Tricoupis, Prime Minister of Greece, 
 telling me, as he paced up and down his 
 library at Athens, how enthusiastic a crowd of 
 Greeks would still become were the name of 
 Gladstone uttered. 
 
 Before Mr. Gladstone's visit to the Ionian 
 Islands, he had published a book entitled "The 
 Place of Homer in Classical Education and 
 Historical Inquiry," and this was followed by 
 "Studies of Homer in the Homeric Age," 
 which contains his views as to the Homeric 
 Theo-mythology. Another literary production 
 was a share in a volume of translations from 
 Homer, ^schylus, Horace, Catullus, Dante, 
 and other classics. His colleague in this 
 
His Work as an Author. - 35 
 
 book was Lord Lyttelton, his friend, who was 
 never happier than when perusing' his favourite 
 Greek and Latin authors. 
 
 In 1863 he collected his Budget speeches, 
 and the excellence of phrasing, as well as that 
 rare ability to " set figures to music " which 
 distinguished them, gained for the book high 
 admiration from critics. 
 
 The activities of politics kept Mr. Gladstone's 
 pen idle soon afterwards, although he found 
 time to write an admirable review of " Ecce 
 Homo," a book by Mr. Sidgwick, which was 
 then being much discussed. This review 
 appeared first in Good WordSy and was 
 reprinted. " A Chapter of Autobiography " 
 and " Juventus Mundi " were published in 
 1869. Then for some time he was so much 
 engaged in State affairs that literature had to 
 remain in the background, save as regards 
 the omnivorous reading of new books. The 
 growth of reviews was especially noticeable 
 about 1874, when to The Fortnightly Review 
 were added new rivals in the shape of The 
 Contemporary Review and The Nineteenth 
 Century, Mr. Gladstone contributed to both 
 
3() Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 new organs of public opinion, several articles 
 covering a wide field of subjects, ranging from 
 "Russian Policy" to "Ritualism." In 1874, 
 there appeared his noteworthy pamphlet on 
 the " Vatican Decrees," which excited much 
 public discussion. Later on, when the Bul- 
 garian atrocities were at their height, he roused 
 the world with his pamphlets on that sorrowful 
 subject, which possessed his soul quite as 
 intensely as the more recent occurrences in 
 Armenia. 
 
 After his retirement from a "laborious public 
 life," as he termed it in his letter to the Earl of 
 Granville in 1875, he was able to devote more 
 time to literary studies. One result of this 
 leisure was an interesting article in The British 
 Quarterly Review on the Evangelical Move- 
 ment, and a collection of articles under the 
 title of "Gleanings of Past Years." It 
 may be mentioned that the latter volume 
 was a favourite wedding present from Mr. 
 Gladstone, and not a few bridegrooms who 
 now stand high in the world of politics and 
 society possess a copy with the right honour- 
 able gentleman's -autograph inscription. It 
 
MR. GLADSTON'E IN 1 887. 
 
His Work as an Author. 37 
 
 would be impossible and unnecessary to sum- 
 marise fully all Mr. Gladstone's literary labours, 
 which continued down to the latest years of 
 his life ; but a series of articles under the title 
 of "The Impregnable Rock of Holy Scripture," 
 which appeared in Good Words in 1890, 
 demands attention for its singular nobility of 
 eloquence, and its wide range of inquiry into 
 the opinions and doubts of others. Mr. 
 Gladstone was greatly interested in the position 
 maintained by Professor Huxley on the subject 
 of the Gadarene swine and allied Scriptural 
 themes. To the last he was always prepared 
 for conversation on theological subjects, and 
 more than one story is told regarding his 
 enjoyment of such themes. When the Revised 
 Version of the New Testament was published, 
 a former private secretary said to Mr. Glad- 
 stone that it was distinctly inferior to the 
 Authorised Version. " Indeed," repHed Mr. 
 Gladstone, his eye glistening with the anticipa- 
 tion of a theological debate, " I am very much 
 interested to hear you say so. Pray give me 
 an instance." " Well," replied his friend, 
 "look at the first verse of the second chapter 
 
38 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 of St. Luke, which used to run : * There went 
 out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the 
 world should be taxed/ Now I always thought 
 that a splendid idea — a tax levied on the whole 
 world by a single act — a grand decree worthy 
 of a great empire and an Imperial Treasury ! 
 But in the Revised Version I find the words, 
 * There went out a decree that all the world 
 should be enrolled ' — a mere counting, a 
 census, the sort of thing the Local Government 
 Board might do ! Will anyone convince me 
 that the new version is as good as the old one 
 in this passage ? " 
 
 Mr. Gladstone used to revel in discussion 
 with learned scholars such as Dr. Dollinger, the 
 aged representative of the Old Catholic school, 
 Dr. Ginsburg, Lord Acton, and others, on 
 theology, which was also a favourite theme of 
 conversation with his physician, the late Sir 
 Andrew Clark. It was a singular proof of the 
 magnetic charm of Mr. Gladstone's conversation 
 that on whatever subject he chose to discourse 
 he could always be sure of listeners. And one 
 found oneself easily involved in eager attention 
 to a dialectical duel on the most abstruse topic. 
 
His Work as an Author. 39 
 
 It would be almost impossible to compile a 
 complete Gladstone bibliography, for the mere 
 enumeration of Mr. Gladstone's publications 
 fill a great space in the British Museum 
 catalogue. After he passed his eightieth 
 birthday, he continued with wonderful industry 
 his investigations into Homeric study. He 
 delivered the Romanes Lecture in 1892, and, 
 besides writing on special aspects of the Irish 
 question, he was deep in the study of Bishop 
 Butler's works, which he edited with scholarly 
 ability in 1896. Once again he showed his 
 interest in the defence of the Scriptures by 
 contributing a splendid essay on " The Value of 
 Scriptural Studies to the Laity " to the People's 
 Bible History, from which we extract this 
 exquisite concluding passage : — " ^ Heaven and 
 earth shall pass away, but My words shall not 
 pass away.' As they have lived and wrought, 
 so they will live and work. From the teacher's 
 chair and from the pastor's pulpit ; in the 
 humblest hymn that ever mounted to the ear 
 of God from beneath a cottage roof, and in the 
 rich, melodious choir of the noblest cathedral, 
 * their sound is gone out into all lands, and 
 
40 Gf.ADSTONE : The Man. 
 
 their words unto the ends of the world/ Nor 
 here alone, but in a thousand silent and 
 unsuspected forms will they unweariedly 
 prosecute their holy office. Who doubts that, 
 times without number, particular portions of 
 Scripture find their way to the human soul as if 
 embassies from on high, each with its own 
 commission of comfort, of guidance, or of 
 warning? What crisis, what trouble, what 
 perplexity of life has failed or can fail to draw 
 from this inexhaustible treasure-house its proper 
 supply ? What profession, what position 
 is not daily and hourly enriched by these 
 words which repetition never weakens, which 
 carry with them now^, as in the days of their 
 first utterance, the freshness of >outh and 
 immortality ? When the solitary student opens 
 all his heart to drink them in, they will reward 
 his toil. And in forms yet more hidden and 
 withdrawn, in the retirement of the chamber, 
 in the stillness of the night season, upon the 
 bed of sickness, and in the face of death, the 
 Bible will be there, its several words how often 
 winged with their several and special messages, 
 to heal and to soothe, to uplift and uphold, to 
 
His Wori^ as an Author, 41 
 
 invigorate and stir. Nay, more, perhaps, than 
 this ; amid the crowds of the court, or the 
 forum, or the street, or the market-place, when 
 every thought of every soul seems to be set 
 upon the excitements of ambition, or of 
 business, or of pleasure, there too, even there, 
 the still small voice of the Holy Bible will be 
 heard, and the soul, aided by some blessed 
 word, may find wings like a dove, may flee 
 away and be at rest." 
 
 He published a fervid letter to the Duke of 
 Westminster on the Armenian question in 
 March, 1897, ^^ which widespread circulation 
 was given by its being reprinted in The Daily 
 Chronicle* In connection with Mr. Gladstone's 
 revival of interest in Bishop Butler, it is 
 interesting to record that his old friend Lord 
 Northbourne signified his intention of placing 
 a tablet in Durham Cathedral to the memory 
 of the author of the famous Analogy, who was 
 bishop of the diocese for two years. For 
 this tablet Mr. Gladstone wrote the inscription. 
 Mention has already been made of the article, 
 "Personal Recollections of Arthur H. Hallam," 
 which Mr. Gladstone wrote for publication in 
 
%2 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 1898 in The Youth's Companion — an apprecia- 
 tion as fine as exists in the English language. 
 
 It is fitting that the last volumes which beai' 
 Mr. Gladstone's name should be those con- 
 nected with theology, just as his earliest 
 literary success was gained in the same field. 
 Amid all the examples of statesmen who have 
 also been authors, William Ewart Gladstone 
 stands out paramount for prolific labours of 
 authorship touching so many subjects of 
 human interest. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 His Oratory. 
 
 After discussing the more permanent pen 
 labours of Mr. Gladstone, we may touch on the 
 magnificent speeches which influenced public 
 opinion and impressed multitudes with the 
 strongest belief in the man who uttered them. 
 Probably no man in the century was seen and 
 heard by so many hundreds of thousands of his 
 countrymen. He was one of those orators 
 who possessed remarkable powers of adapta- 
 bility to any audience. No public function at 
 which he spoke — an o^en-air political gathering, 
 a learned lecture in ancient Oxford, a luncheon 
 party attended by Royalty on board the 
 Tantallon Castle, or a gathering of Free Church 
 ministers to listen to his views on preaching — 
 was disappointed with Mr. Gladstone's speech. 
 It was always eloquent, always rang with the 
 
44 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 note of sincerity, and was always suggestive. 
 No man probably ever started so much 
 discussion as he ; no speaker was such a boon 
 to leader-writers in initiating new topics. 
 
 Apart from his set orations, delivered on 
 political campaigns, with a fervour that set the 
 heather on fire, one has to note the admirable 
 series of speeches on all sorts of subjects, such 
 as pottery, fruit culture, and kindred themes. 
 The right hon. gentleman was always at his 
 best at the annual fete held in Hawarden Park, 
 and many have been the memorable and 
 delightful speeches which he has delivered to 
 his friends and neighbours. An address quite 
 by itself in impressiveness was that which he 
 gave to the boys at Mill Hill School several 
 years ago, certainly never to be forgotten by any 
 who heard it. 
 
 He was a marvellously copious orator, and 
 when once he became interested in his subject, 
 lost, as did also his hearers, all account of time. 
 On one occasion his physician had forbidden 
 him to exceed an hour, but that period had 
 long been passed ere he concluded his speech. 
 His voice gathered volume as it went along, 
 
lATioN<) OpoN Tne flpTlCTn ^MKlxJ^K.SA.rsy 
 M1LHOK3 Of oOjk fi]i,ovO-c:oOWTi\yAV^N m ^ij, 
 
 fOT\TlON»> of mi C'T^T1>M C^flt^ Wt t^^SfiKi) 
 OTHI*) e%^CNT ^S AN OCCfiSlon fOIV f OfjLlC AS 
 
 K^Sr^crrOu-y TO (^-iiocipxc oOrSclvcs -vn'ith you 
 ^nD i'ouiV fA/^ll^ I-K KCCoGN'I51tf6 tH? GOop- 
 MC5S <"f PKp\'lDcrfC€ IM THO5 SfARlMO yoO IN XH^ 
 
 f ojj, \)igoOr. of mind and bojV to cei,C!3R(VT$ 
 
 GoLPeH VcDDme 
 
 ^T 13 Nor RjcqUitxeP cf O5 HovO, iJpe/^KiH6 
 IN THC NA/A^ <T A'JCit (\ Bop^? A^ Tl-HC (^^£«DCK^ 
 
 Of xiie NatiomaL/ Iro^-RdJ^ Ci^)P) 
 
 to |\5sOivc: yoO of ov'R. -On^hak^.m' J'^VorioH' 
 
 REDUCED FACSIMILE OF THE " XATIOXAL LIBERAL " GOLDEN WEDDING 
 ADDRESS, iSSq. 
 
His Oratory. 45 
 
 and there was no need for even the deafest to 
 shout "Speak up!" His face while he was 
 speaking was particularly interesting, because 
 his features reflected so quickly the alternate 
 play of seriousness and humour. Of course, 
 Mr. Gladstone's humour was always of a 
 subtle character. Indeed, sometimes his mere 
 quotations from the classics, though their 
 meaning might be hidden to the majority of 
 his audience, would cause great laughter, 
 because their humorous or apt allusions would 
 be guessed by the dramatic force with which 
 they were delivered. He was undoubtedly a 
 consummate actor. His sentences were often 
 remarkably involved ; one, I remember, con- 
 tained 217 words, yet was perfectly clear if 
 read slowly. He often used " alliteration's 
 artful aid." I recollect finding in a speech 
 which he delivered in 1887 the following 
 examples of it : — " shielded and sheltered " ; 
 " persistent pursuit " ; " refractory and recal- 
 citrant" ; "reasonable and rational." His 
 rate of speed varied considerably, attaining 
 sometimes to 160 words a minute, but was 
 generally below that rate. Reporters found Mr, 
 
46 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 Gladstone comparatively easy to follow, as his 
 sentences, however lengthy, concluded properly 
 in the end. Mr. Gladstone was exceedingly 
 thoughtful in aiding the arduous labours of 
 the Press whenever he could ; and sometimes, 
 if a too enthusiastic audience drowned the 
 conclusion of a sentence with applause, he 
 would lean forward and repeat it for the 
 benefit of the reporters. Considering the 
 immense amount of space which his speeches 
 have occupied in the newspapers, the correct- 
 ness with which they have been reported is 
 remarkable. He had a high view of the 
 usefulness of shorthand, which he con- 
 sidered, if judiciously employed, was "a most 
 valuable auxiliary to self -education." On the 
 occasion of his Midlothian campaigns the 
 arrangements for telegraphing his speeches 
 were on the most elaborate scale, and, under- 
 standing their importance, all the members 
 of the Press were on their mettle. 
 
 Before making a great speech Mr. Gladstone 
 liked to be left alone in quietude. Mr. John 
 Morley once said to Matthew Arnold, " When- 
 ever I travel, I carry a volume of your writings 
 
His Oratory. 47 
 
 with me. Before making a speech, I read it 
 for inspiration, and afterwards, I read it again 
 for consolation." But Mr. Gladstone would 
 have read more probably Dante or Homer than 
 a modern poet. 
 
 As a rule, he used very few notes, and these 
 of the simplest character. I have had the 
 pleasure of examining the notes used by him 
 on the occasion of the introduction of his 
 Home Rule Bill. Considering the compli- 
 cations of that measure, the maze of details 
 through which he glided with the ease of 
 experience, these half-sheets of paper were a 
 remarkable tribute to Mr. Gladstone's posses- 
 sion of the whole case in his mind while 
 addressing the House of Commons. His 
 finest short speeches were undoubtedly those 
 which commemorated the deaths of his great 
 rival. Lord Beaconsfield, Lord Iddesleigh, 
 Lord F. Cavendish, John Bright, the Emperor 
 Frederick, and the Duke of Albany. After Mr. 
 Gladstone had voiced the House of Commons 
 on such occasions, no subsequent speaker 
 could possibly add anything without breaking 
 the spell. Take, for instance, the peroration of 
 
48 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 his speech on the tragic death of the Emperor 
 Frederick. " So far as human sorrow can be 
 alleviated, either by the expression of 
 sympathy or glorious recollections, or by yet 
 more glorious hopes, all that consolation will 
 be enjoyed by those who are now mourning 
 over the death of the German Emperor. But 
 one thing remains to those, and it is this — the 
 recollection of his great qualities, of his 
 singular union of wisdom with virtue and with 
 valour, his known attachment to the liberties 
 of his country, and his respect for its consti- 
 tution — all those winning qualities, and a 
 fortitude greater in degree than that of many a 
 soldier, and perhaps, of many a martyr — all 
 those things constitute a great and noble 
 inheritance for the German people : and we 
 trust that that great nation will treasure the 
 recollection of the Emperor whom they have 
 lost as amongst the most precious possessions 
 that can fall to the lot of any people upon 
 earth." 
 
 Everyone who has heard many of Mr. 
 Gladstone's speeches will have his or her 
 favourite. Not long ago Sir Arthur Arnold 
 
His Oratory. 49 
 
 quoted these words, which he considered the 
 noblest and most memorable in the copious 
 authorship of Mr. Gladstone : — " I care not to 
 ask if there be dregs or tatters of human life 
 such as can escape from the description and 
 boundary of morals. I submit that duty is a 
 power which rises with us in the morning, and 
 goes to rest with us at night. It is co-extensive 
 with the action of our intelligence. It is the 
 shadow which cleaves to us, go where we will, 
 and which only leaves us when we leave the 
 light of life." 
 
 There was particular pathos about the last 
 speech of Mr. Gladstone in London. It was at 
 a crowded meeting, held in Prince's Hall, 
 Piccadilly — since turned into a restaurant. The 
 occasion was a meeting to initiate a memorial 
 fund in connection with the late Sir Andrew 
 Clark, who had been Mr. Gladstone's physician 
 and friend for many years. When the veteran 
 orator arrived, he was very warmly greeted by 
 the great audience. The Duke of Cambridge (as 
 President of the London Hospital, where Sir 
 Andrew Clark had laboured so long) made a 
 brief speech in support of the memorial. Then 
 
 D 
 
50 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 followed Mr. Gladstone ; but for the first time 
 in his long career as a public speaker he was 
 compelled to remain seated during the delivery 
 of his finely phrased eulogy of him whom 
 George Eliot called "the beloved physician." 
 Mr. Gladstone paid a beautiful tribute to the 
 qualities of his late friend, and to the charac- 
 teristics of the medical profession, which he 
 always admired intensely. The scene was 
 touching in its unique character. There was 
 the aged statesman with his noble white head, 
 the centre of a group of distinguished men — 
 Cardinal Vaughan, Sir James Paget, Mr. 
 Jonathan Hutchinson, Canon Wilberforce, and 
 many another. From his lips came the stately 
 sentences in flowing rhythm, and in tones 
 which grew in strength as the speech pro- 
 gressed. The eyes of the venerable orator had 
 lost some of their lustre, the voice some of its 
 mellifluous tones ; but the art, the passion, the 
 sincerity, the nobility were untouched by time. 
 Carlyle called Mr. Gladstone "the man 
 with the unmeasurable power of vocables," 
 to which Tennyson retorted, " I love the man, 
 but no Prime Minister ought to be an orator." 
 
His Oratory. 51 
 
 Of course, his fluency laid him open to the 
 charge of delaying business in the House of 
 Commons. His power of persuading himself 
 and others of the propriety of a course of 
 action was satirised by Laurence Oliphant, in 
 his brilliant novel, " Piccadilly." He made 
 Lord Frank Vanecourt, who had become 
 involved both matrimonially and financially, 
 say of Gladstone, speaking in Parliament : — 
 "Ah," thought I, as I gazed on that brilliant 
 and ingenious orator, " he is the only man 
 in the House, who, if he was in such a mess as 
 I am, would find a way out of it." It was a 
 great temptation to Mr. Gladstone to interpose 
 in any debate which interested him, and Mr. 
 Justin McCarthy has told us how he could 
 fascinate the House of Commons with even a 
 dissertation on Spanish corks. Mr. Tim Healy 
 said not long ago, on this very subject of the I 
 provocation to which Mr. Gladstone fell an 
 easy victim, that Lord Randolph Churchill 
 could always manage to draw a speech from 
 Mr. Gladstone, who, continued Mr. Healy, 
 made Randolph. He saw that he had more 
 ability and courage than the whole crowd 
 
52 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 of front-bench men behind whom he sat, and 
 so never did Randolph rise to speak than up 
 jumped Gladstone to answer him. Gladstone 
 "glasshoused him." The aptness of the phrase 
 " glasshoused " will be apparent to all who 
 know the circumstances of the case. 
 
 A very clever parody of Mr. Gladstone's 
 manner of speaking in the House of Commons 
 appeared in " Barney Geoghegan, M.P.," by 
 the versatile and brilliant writer, Mr. Edward 
 Jenkins, author of *^ Ginx's Baby " ; but, as it is 
 of little value apart from its context, I must 
 refer [my readers to the book itself, which is 
 most amusing to all those who are interested 
 in Parliamentary life. 
 
 Mr. Gladstone's oratory was sjii generis. It 
 was more ornate than the simple eloquence of 
 John Bright, and more involved in construc- 
 tion. He rarely troubled to condense, but 
 preferred to explain his ideas at length and 
 often with tautology. But his speeches read 
 almost equally well as they sounded, although 
 the charm of the orator is wanting. And 
 what a charm was his I The writer has read 
 every line of Mr. Gladstone's speeches during 
 
7 
 
 
 > ^- 
 
 THE MISSES GLYNNE (AKTERWAKDS LADY LYTTLETON 
 AND MUS. W. E. GLADSTONE). 
 (A Photo by G. WATMOUtiH Webster 0/ the original by Georgk RICHMOND.) 
 
His Oratory. 53 
 
 nearly twenty years, and was privileged to 
 listen to many of them both in the House of 
 Commons and at public gatherings. Of his 
 later Parliamentary efforts — quite distinct in 
 form and style from those delivered at his 
 zenith — he regards the speech introducing the 
 Religious Disabilities Bill as one of the most 
 successful. The House was crowded, and Mr. 
 Gladstone had a specially congenial audience 
 to address, for the subject was outside the 
 general arena of politics. How well he 
 used his opportunity will be seen on refer- 
 ence to the reports ; but they can only give a 
 faint idea of the delightful ease of gesture, 
 the amiable smiles which again and again 
 flitted across Mr. Gladstone's face, the solemn 
 earnestness and pathos with which he con- 
 cluded his peroration. " While he is speaking," 
 said an old member of the House, " we are all 
 under the spell of the magician ; it is only 
 when the thrilling tones of that marvellous 
 voice have ceased that we go into the division 
 lobbies and vote against Mr. Gladstone." 
 
 Few speeches in recent years may be said to 
 have altered the opinions of members. But 
 
54 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 among these few, three or four of Mr. Glad- 
 stone's have a place. It was certainly a 
 consummate success that he scored when he 
 asked and obtained, without a dissentient 
 voice, some millions of money, voted on 
 account of the Penjdeh incident. Many of 
 his speeches contained little pieces of autobio- 
 graphy, full of interest, and sometimes start- 
 ling, in their clear recollection of events long 
 past. To hear Mr. Gladstone remark, " I 
 remember Lord Melbourne saying," or " Mr. 
 Daniel O'Connell once said in my hearing," 
 sent the mind wandering back to old, for- 
 gotten, far-off days, when, instead of the 
 aged orator, there stood in the House a hand- 
 some man in the prime of life. 
 
 Short or long — and they were often very long 
 — Mr. Gladstone's speeches were always worth 
 hearing ; and in them were always some 
 " purple patches " of real eloquence. When 
 he spoke in the library of the National 
 Liberal Club and made an appeal for volumes 
 to fill its shelves, there was apparent the book- 
 man's zeal ; when he pleaded for the cause of 
 charity, sincere sympathy with suffering was 
 
His Oratory. 55 
 
 evident ; when he responded at the Mansion 
 House for Her Majesty's Ministers, there was 
 the strong sense of responsibility. Behind 
 all the speeches, whenever and wherever 
 delivered, there shone the bright light of a 
 great personality, and the radiance of this light 
 was never dimmed even in Mr. Gladstone's 
 last days. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 AN OMNIVOROUS READER. 
 
 It was natural that a man who wrote so much 
 himself should be also a great reader. Mr. 
 Gladstone wasted little time on newspapers, 
 although he provided them with so much 
 material. In this respect, he held the record, 
 for not a day passed without some use of his 
 name either in leading articles, in reports and 
 speeches, or in paragraphs. But for his 
 knowledge of newspaper matters he depended 
 much on other people's reading. He once 
 said to a friend that he scarcely read The Times, 
 except for the purpose of perusing the foreign 
 intelligence. He used to read The Daily News, 
 and The Pall Mall Gazelle, in its old days ; 
 latterly, he was a daily reader of The West- 
 minsler Gazelle. In this matter of eschewing 
 daily papers, he has had a follower in the 
 
An Omnivorous Reader. 57 
 
 person of Mr. A. J. Balfour, who has again and 
 again confessed his ignorance of what "the 
 papers " say. The time saved from ephemeral 
 publications, Mr. Gladstone devoted to books. 
 He liked to keep three volumes, each differing 
 entirely in subject from the other, before him 
 at the same time ; turning from one with 
 renewed interest in the other. It was stated 
 by Miss Hulda Friederichs that after Mr. 
 Gladstone had been reading strenuously 
 Bishop Butler's works, he would take up the 
 "Arabian Nights' Entertainments" or "Robin- 
 son Crusoe's Travels " as a change of literary 
 pasture. This was a similar idea to the plan of 
 farmers who do not expect two successive 
 harvests of wheat from the same ground ; and 
 there is little doubt that by interspersing his 
 more serious studies with light fiction he 
 managed to accomplish much more than the 
 man who confined himself solely to solid 
 volumes. 
 
 Mr. Gladstone was ever ready to read a new 
 book up to within a year or two of his death. 
 And when he derived pleasure from any 
 volume, he was just as ready to express his 
 
58 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 appreciation to the author. His " post-cards " 
 became quite a feature with publishers, who 
 were delighted to advertise Mr. Gladstone's 
 opinion on any book. It was partly from a 
 sense of courtesy, partly from his respect for 
 literature, that led Mr. Gladstone to thank even 
 the most obscure author. Many a writer has 
 found, with the joy of the unexpected, a 
 cordial sentence or two of thanks from " the 
 busiest man in Europe," written on a post- 
 card by " your faithful servant, W. E. 
 Gladstone." If there were any points of con- 
 troversy raised in a volume, Mr. Gladstone 
 would find time to discuss them at length, but 
 always in the most courteous and deferential 
 spirit. He must have reviewed, in this 
 manner, thousands of books, besides those on 
 which he wrote essays in The Nineteenth 
 Century t and other reviews. It was wonderful 
 how he managed to turn from the considera- 
 tion of a weighty and critical question of State 
 to the perusal of the last popular novel. 
 
 I remember seeing Robert Louis Stevenson's 
 " Treasure Island " in Mr. Gladstone's hand, 
 when he was on his way to Osborne to kiss 
 
An Omnivorous Reader. 59 
 
 hands as Prime Minister. This ability to 
 change the current of his thoughts was un- 
 doubtedly of the utmost value to the brain 
 of Mr. Gladstone. Sometimes he would 
 surprise a friend who had sat silent, expecting 
 to hear Mr. Gladstone express an opinion on 
 some important subject, with a remark on what 
 would be considered an insignificant matter. 
 Thus, for instance, the late Professor Henry 
 Drummond was his companion on one 
 occasion, driving from London to Dollis 
 Hill, where the Earl of Aberdeen was enter- 
 taining the Gladstones. Imagining that Mr. 
 Gladstone's silence during the drive was due 
 to his anxiety on public affairs, he remained 
 silent himself all the journey. The next day 
 Mr. Gladstone remarked casually that he had 
 been busy calculating the number of vehicles 
 of various sorts which passed the carriage, 
 and had formed a clear idea of the average 
 per mile. While mentioning their stay at 
 Dollis Hill, one may interpolate a little story 
 in connection with it. The late Archbishop 
 of Canterbury and Mrs. Benson received an 
 invitation to dine, dated from Dollis Hill, and 
 
6o Gladstone: The Man. 
 
 accepted it. When the evening arrived, 
 they drove out to Willesden, only to dis- 
 cover that in the meantime the Gladstones 
 had returned to town. They had forgotten to 
 state in the invitation that the dinner-party 
 would be held in London, and not at DoUis 
 Hill! 
 
 But, returning to the subject of new books, 
 there is no doubt that Mr. Gladstone's wel- 
 come to certain volumes had much to do with 
 their success. He was one of the first to praise 
 " John Inglesant," a book which was actually 
 read in MS. and declined by that experienced 
 "taster," the late Mr. James Payn. Stories 
 " with a purpose," even if the purpose was 
 hardly achieved, found favour with Mr. 
 Gladstone. Consequently, he esteemed highly 
 the novels of " Edna Lyall," especially that in 
 which the Irish Question played a prominent 
 part. "To Right the Wrong" was another 
 which he praised unstintingly. His love of 
 historical novels never left him, and the 
 " Wizard of the North " always charmed him. 
 He was less fond of Thackeray and Dickens 
 than Sir Walter Scott, whose best novels he 
 
PORTRAIT OF MR. GLADSTONE AS A YOUNG MAN, BY LAWRENCE. 
 A Picture in SIR ROBERT PEEL'S Collection, photo' d by Russell. 
 
An Omnivorous Reader. 6i 
 
 considered were "The Bride of Lamtner- 
 moor " and " Kenilworth." 
 
 So many opinions did he pass on books of 
 current interest that an enterprising newspaper 
 might have acquired an attractive column 
 weekly, composed simply of Mr. Gladstone's re- 
 views. Publishers, as well as authors, sent him 
 hundreds, nay, thousands of books, and when- 
 ever he was interested in any, there was sure 
 to be a post-card of thanks. Many of these 
 volumes he did not preserve in his own select 
 library after reading, for they would have soon 
 swamped even the capacious shelves arranged 
 on Mr. Gladstone's own adroit plan of accom- 
 modation. St. Deiniol's Library, which he 
 established near the old church at Hawarden, 
 possesses already 30,000 volumes, many of 
 them having been conveyed thither by Mr. 
 Gladstone himself. The trustees of this library 
 include the Rev. Stephen E. Gladstone, Mr. 
 Henry N. Gladstone, the Countess Grosvenor, 
 Sir Walter Phillimore (the judge), the Hon. 
 Mrs. W. H. Gladstone, and the Rev. Harry and 
 Mrs. Drew. 
 
 When I was last at Hawarden this charm- 
 
62 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 ing home of study was almost completed in its 
 arrangements. The shelves were crowded 
 with interesting books on theology, travel, 
 science, &c. In not a few of them one found 
 notes made by Mr. Gladstone, sometimes 
 queries, often additional remarks, which added 
 to their value. The choice of volumes was 
 made on no exclusive basis, and I noticed the 
 works of Churchmen, Catholics, and Noncon- 
 formists side by side. A certain proportion of 
 standard novels was also to be seen. Outside 
 ^he walls of the library there was provision 
 made for lawn-tennis, quoits, and croquet on 
 the spacious green sward, and these grounds, 
 I understood, were much appreciated by the 
 scholars of the intermediate school. 
 
 One of the last communications on a new 
 book from Mr. Gladstone, which was published 
 in the newspapers, was concerning a volume of 
 sermons by his old friend, the Rev. Dr. J. 
 Guinness Rogers. In the course of this letter, 
 he said, *' As the day of parting draws nearer, 
 I rejoice to think how small the differences 
 between us have already become as compared 
 with the agreements." In connection witli Mr. 
 
An Omnivorous Reader. 63 
 
 Gladstone's book-collecting, his letter, written 
 in September, 1896, to Mr. Bernard Quaritch 
 is worth recalling. In the course of this inter- 
 esting piece of autobiography, Mr. Gladstone 
 stated : " I have in my time been a purchaser 
 to the extent of about thirty-five thousand 
 volumes. A book-collector ought, as I con- 
 ceive, to possess the following qualifications : 
 — appetite, leisure, wealth, knowledge, discrimi- 
 nation, and perseverance. Of these I have 
 only had two, the first and the last, and these 
 are not the most important. Restricted visual 
 power now imposes upon me a serious amount 
 of disability ; and, speaking generally, I have 
 retired from the list of purchasers." Then, 
 after reference to his foundation of St. 
 Deiniol's Library, he continues : " The oldest 
 book I have, that is to say, the one longest in 
 my possession, was presented to me personally 
 by Mrs. Hannah More. It is a copy of her 
 ' Sacred Dramas,' printed and given lo me in 
 18 15. . . . My purchases commenced a few 
 years after that time, and I have a variety of 
 books acquired at Eton. Among them is a copy 
 of Mr. Hallam's ^ Constitutional History,' in 
 
64 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 quarto, presented to me^by his son Arthur, the 
 subject of Mn Memoriam,' and at that period 
 my dearest friend." 
 
 Mr. Gladstone concluded this statement as 
 to his work as a book -collector thus : — 
 " Though, as I have said, a beggarly collector, 
 I have had a few specialities. One I will 
 mention. I accumulated more than thirty 
 distinct rifacciamenti of the Book of Common 
 Prayer. Many of these had prefaces, which 
 commonly ran to this effect : ^ The prayer-book 
 is excellent ; but it has some blemishes. Let 
 them be removed, and it will find universal 
 acceptance. Accordingly, I have performed 
 this operation ; and I now give the reformed 
 prayer-book to the world.' But I have never 
 obtained, and have never seen, a second edition 
 of any one of these productions. I greatly 
 doubt whether they have usually paid their 
 printer's bills. Book-collecting may have its 
 quirks and eccentricities ; but on the whole, 
 it is a vitalising element in a society honey- 
 combed by several sources of corruption. My 
 apology for the poor part I have played in it is 
 that it could only have the odds and ends, the 
 
An Omnivorous Reader. 65 
 
 dregs and leavings of my time. And 
 accordingly, I am aware that the report which I 
 send you is a very meagre one. To mend it a 
 little, I give to this pursuit in all its walks, from 
 the highest (with which you are of all men the 
 most conversant) downwards, my heartiest 
 good wishes. And that I may not be ungrateful, 
 I will apprise you that I still preserve among 
 my most select possessions the beautiful copy 
 on vellum of the Lyttelton-Gladstone transla- 
 tions which you were so good as to present to 
 me." 
 
 Grand Old Bookman ! After such a delight- 
 ful account by himself of his own interest in 
 books, one regrets all the more that failing 
 sight caused Mr. Gladstone to discontinue the 
 autobiography which he had commenced. No 
 other pen will be able to delineate so vividly 
 and fully the acts and thoughts of one who 
 experienced so long " the joy of eventful 
 living." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 A GUEST IN MANY HOMES. 
 
 Mr. Gladstone was essentially *^ a citizen of 
 the world," enjoying social intercourse with 
 marvellous zest within a short time before he 
 passed away. His memory of faces and facts 
 aided him in conversation, and very rarely 
 indeed did he fail to broach some topic on 
 which those who met him in society were not 
 interested. 
 
 One of the few occasions on which he made 
 amusing mistakes in identity was at a dinner- 
 party where Professor Stokes, President of the 
 Royal Society, was a guest. Mr. Gladstone, 
 who sat next to him, supposed him to be the 
 Professor Stokes whose forte was Ecclesiastical 
 History. So he plied him with questions as to 
 various errors in the " History of the Irish 
 Church." He turned at length to his silent 
 companion, and inquired whether he did not 
 
A Guest in Many Homes. 67 
 
 agree with his views. " Well, sir, I really know 
 nothing whatever about the subject," was the 
 reply of Professor Stokes, of Cambridge. 
 "But," said Mr. Gladstone, "you wrote the 
 book." " No," said the Professor, " I certainly 
 did not." " But," insisted Mr. Gladstone, " you 
 are Professor Stokes." " Yes, that is true, but 
 I am Professor of Physics at Cambridge, and 
 therefore can hardly be regarded as an 
 authority on ecclesiastical history ! " 
 
 Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Bright were on 
 another occasion at a party, where the famous 
 French economist, M. Chevalier, was hoping 
 to catch some words of wisdom from the lips 
 of the two statesmen. But, by one of the 
 perversities of fate, Mr. Gladstone and Mr. 
 Bright did nothing but converse on corns and 
 chiropody. This was all the more mysterious 
 to the distinguished Frenchman, because he 
 was under the impression that the discussion 
 was on corn and the corn duties. 
 
 It reminds one of Tennyson's story of how, 
 at his first meeting with Frederick W. Robert- 
 son, the nervous poet could talk of nothing 
 but beer. 
 
68 Gladstone : The Max. 
 
 'Another story, which is at all events bien 
 fonduy is linked with a visit to Gorton, the seat 
 of Mr. J. ]. Golman, head of the well-known 
 mustard firm. It is said that Mr. Gladstone 
 arrived rather late in the drawing-room one 
 evening prior to dinner, and, advancing into 
 the room, he rubbed his hands and asked quite 
 innocently, " Well, are we all mustered f" It 
 was hardly possible for some of those present 
 to refrain from smiling at this involuntary pun. 
 To see Mr. Gladstone at a dinner-parly was 
 always delightful ; he seemed to enjoy so 
 much the interchange of thought. The weight 
 of the day's anxieties, the responsibilities of 
 leading his party, the prospect of returning 
 later in the evening to the House of Gommons 
 never affected his brilliant talk. When he was 
 busiest, it was said that Mrs. Gladstone used to 
 ask hostesses to place her by her husband's 
 side at dinner-parties, in order that she might 
 seize the rare opportunity of conversing with 
 her husband 1 Nothing certainly could exceed 
 the old-fashioned courtesy he always showed 
 to his wife; who accompanied him almost 
 everywhere. When he visited Plymouth, some 
 

 EXTRACT FROM AN AUTOGRAPH LETTER FROM MR. GLADSTONE, RELATING 
 TO THE ILLNESS OF A DISTINGUISHED AUTHORESS. 
 
A Guest in Many Homes. 69 
 
 years ago, the aged attached couple were much 
 amused to hear vendors of their portraits 
 shouting, ^' The Grand Old Man and his wife 
 — one penny ! " Mrs. Gladstone shared the 
 interest felt in her husband ; and to sit next to 
 her was a delightful experience, for she was 
 ever ready to eulogise him. 
 
 I remember meeting Mrs. Gladstone once on 
 an afternoon when the result of a by-election 
 had just been announced. Immediately she 
 was informed of the Liberal victory which had 
 been won unexpectedly, she exclaimed, " Oh, 
 I must drive home immediately and tell 
 William ! " She took the profoundest interest 
 in politics, though not a deep student of them, 
 just because of her husband's immersion in 
 them. She was always his companion on the 
 Midlothian campaigns and on the other 
 political tours which he took ; she it was who 
 prepared his refreshing cup of tea, infused for 
 just three minutes according to Sir Andrew 
 Clark's instructions ; and the famous egg-fillip 
 which sustained his voice through great 
 speeches was manufactured by her alone. 
 
 When the veteran couple were at a party in 
 
 m 
 
70 Gladstone : The Max. 
 
 recent years, it was quite pathetic to see how 
 Mrs. Gladstone hovered around her dis- 
 tinguished husband. When he had been 
 standing a long while, chatting to one and 
 another, his hostess once begged him, in my 
 hearing, to sit down and rest. " Oh, no, thank 
 you," said Mr. Gladstone. "Ah," said the 
 kindly lady, " you know Mrs. Gladstone would 
 insist on it, if she were here." Immediately, 
 with a smile, Mr. Gladstone sat down. 
 
 This was the picture drawn by a friendly 
 hand of the way in which Mr. Gladstone 
 spent his day, usually, when staying at a 
 country house. "He was punctual at break- 
 fast, and immediately after that meal retired 
 to his own room, and was busily occupied 
 with reading or writing till luncheon time. 
 After luncheon he was ready for a walk 
 or drive, a visit to any interesting object, or 
 a friendly call. After a cup of tea at five 
 o'clock he again retired to his room, and 
 reappeared at dinner-time the gayest of the gay, 
 full of fun and conversation, and prepared to 
 bear his full share in the amusements of the 
 evening, whether they took tlie form of 
 
A Guest in Many Homes. 71 
 
 'Shakespeare and the musical glasses/ or a 
 round game. At bedtime he disappeared, book 
 in hand, and put in another hour or so of 
 systematic reading before he lay down to 
 sleep. He shone as a guest, being delight- 
 fully unspoilt, full of zest for common amuse- 
 ments, eager to please and be pleased, and 
 curiously grateful for the least civility or 
 attention." 
 
 Tennyson wrote in his diary in 1865 : "The 
 great man, Gladstone, is coming to dine with 
 us here [London] on Friday ; a compliment ; 
 but how he can find time from the mighty 
 press of business amazes me." When the 
 Gladstones visited the Poet Laureate at 
 Aldworth, the Haslemere home designed by 
 their mutual friend, Mr. James Knowles, editor 
 of The Nineteenth Century, this was one of the 
 entries made by the Poet : " A very noble 
 fellow, and perfectly unaffected. . . . Mr. and 
 Mrs. Gladstone frisked about like boy and girl 
 in the heather." 
 
 Mr. Gladstone was specially fond of spending 
 a Sunday at the seat of his friends, the 
 Leveson-Gowers, at Holmbury St. Mary, in 
 
72 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 Surrey. James Russell Lowell was a fellow 
 guest during the visit paid after the defeat of 
 the Home Rule Bill, and thus wrote : " From 
 Osterley I went to Holmbury (Leveson- 
 Gower's), where I spent a couple of days very 
 pleasantly with Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone and 
 other guests. Mr. Gladstone was in boyish 
 spirits. He told me among other things that 
 ' in the whole course of his political experience 
 he had never seen anything like the general 
 enthusiasm of the country for Home Rule in 
 Ireland.' I asked slyly * if it was not possible 
 that a part at least of this enthusiasm might be 
 for the Prime Minister ? ' * Oh, no, not a bit 
 of it ! ' he answered with eager emphasis. And 
 I am inclined to think he believed it for a 
 moment." What a light this sheds on the 
 source of what was alike the strength and the 
 weakness of the veteran statesman. As we 
 read it now we are fain to adopt the saying of 
 his successor over some other event, " we smile 
 and pass on." 
 
 Another seat where Mr. Gladstone would 
 frequently spend a week-end was Hatchlands, 
 near Guildford, the home of Mr, Stuart (now 
 
A Guest in Many Homes. 73 
 
 Lord) Rendel. Though situated at a convenient 
 distance from London in case of emergency, it 
 was yet sufficiently in the country to soothe and 
 rest the wearied statesman. State affairs during 
 Mr. Gladstone's Premierships were usually 
 kept in abeyance during these little visits, 
 though the writer can remember Mr. Arnold 
 Morley once hurrying down from London and 
 meeting Mr. Gladstone on his way home from 
 church with a despatch-box containing an 
 important paper for the right honourable gentle- 
 man's consideration. But this was quite the 
 exception, for any intrusion upon Mr. Glad- 
 stone's Sabbatic rest was rare. He liked to 
 walk in silence to the parish church, and in 
 silence home again. In the church no 
 worshipper was more attentive, no listener 
 more eager to catch every word of the most 
 commonplace discourse. On three or four 
 occasions a foolish clergyman seized the oppor- 
 tunity of uttering a diatribe, in veiled language, 
 against the policy of the statesman who was in 
 his congregation. Such an incident only 
 grieved Mr. Gladstone, who harboured no 
 resentment against such an indiscreet preacher. 
 
74 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 Wherever the Gladstones went as guests they 
 left pleasant memories. As Tennyson wrote 
 concerning their visit in 1871 : " One could 
 not but feel humbled in the presence of those 
 whose life was evidently one long self-sacrifice, 
 and, one would hope, quickened to more of it 
 in one's own life. Mrs. Gladstone wears 
 herself out by all her hospital work in 
 addition to the work of a Prime Minister's wife. 
 Her daughter helps her, and helps her brother 
 also in his bad Lambeth parish." 
 
 Mr. Gladstone was interested in all manner 
 of pursuits and recreations, although he had 
 strong views as to the evils of horse-racing, 
 which holds so prominent a place in the minds 
 of not a few politicians. Once upon a time, 
 he referred to the Derby Day as that 
 " mysterious Wednesday." With the thorough- 
 ness which has marked his every action through 
 life, the great statesman upon the occasion 
 of his visit to Epsom entered into the spirit of 
 the scene with terrible earnestness. His white 
 face was " the cynosure of every eye " as the 
 horses stood at the post on that eventful 
 afternoon that saw the downfall of the once 
 
A Guest in Many Homes. 75 
 
 mighty Macgregor and the ridiculous antics of 
 the absurd Cockney Boy. 
 
 He enjoyed especially his visit to the 
 beautiful seat in Wales of the late Sir Hussey 
 Vivian, who was raised to the peerage as Lord 
 Swansea. On that occasion he was serenaded 
 in the evening by a choir who sang delightfully 
 some favourite airs and hymns. 
 
 It has been almost forgotten that Mr. 
 Gladstone was once a guest of his great 
 opponent, the Marquis of Salisbury, at 
 Hatfield. *^ I can never think unkindly of 
 Lord Salisbury," he used to remark, ''since 
 the day when I saw him as a little child in a 
 red frock." When he went to Hatfield, Dr. 
 Samuel Wilberforce was a fellow guest, and 
 has left on record a pleasant account of 
 the occasion. He describes Lord Salisbury 
 and Mr. Gladstone walking about the 
 park, and examining with interest the many 
 fine trees, which must have offered a temp- 
 tation to such a wielder of the axe as Mr. 
 Gladstone used to be. Those who have 
 been inside the stately home of Lord Salis- 
 bury may remember that on a table stands 
 
76 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 a carved model of the Grand Old Man with 
 an axe. 
 
 In later years Mr. Gladstone was taken under 
 the kindly wing of Mr. Armitstead, a former 
 member for Dundee. In a happy pen portrait 
 of this gentleman, whose figure became very 
 familiar to the public in connection with the 
 Gladstones, we read : " This tall stately 
 Commoner even now is just the man to play 
 the part of travelling host to such an illustrious 
 pair. He might be some Viking who had 
 escaped the ravages of time, and had been 
 moulded and attired in the civilisation of our 
 own age. His great height, long and flowing 
 beard, passing from blonde to white, his keen 
 fearless eyes, over-firm lips and curling mous- 
 tache, constitute a tout cnsenible which makes 
 the wealthy Scotsman the * Milor ' of every 
 Continental gargon and cocher and boulevard 
 merchant. Mr. Armitstead speaks in strong yet 
 kindly accents which acquit him the genial 
 colossus that he is. If you ask of this interest 
 in his famous guest, he will describe it as the 
 proudest pleasure of his life, and say that he 
 feels how deep is the compliment in Mr. 
 
MRS. GLADSTONE AND MASTER WILLIAM GLADSTONE, THE HEIR. 
 ^ From a Photograph by G. W. Webster, Chester.) 
 
A Guest in Many Homes. 77 
 
 Gladstone in accepting from him the attentions 
 which scores of people are always ready to 
 give. , . . '^ I am an old man compared with 
 Mr. Gladstone/' he has sometimes said, ^' and 
 he'll see all us weak old fellows into our graves." 
 Nothing certainly could have exceeded the 
 kindly provision made for his guests' comfort 
 by Mr. Armitstead when they stayed at Blair- 
 gowrie, in Perthshire, and, in the autumn of 
 1897, at Butterstone House. When the 
 weather was fine, the whole party would picnic 
 out of doors, and these unconventional incidents 
 were very agreeable to all. At such times Mr. 
 Gladstone's spirits would be as high as those 
 of the youngest member of the group, and few 
 who saw him sitting on the heather bare- 
 lieaded and in summer attire would have 
 imagined that he had long passed his eightieth 
 birthday. This visit to Dunkeld was destined 
 to be the last of such experiences. 
 
 While writing of Mr. Gladstone as a guest 
 in other homes, one must not omit to refer to 
 his frequent visits to Dalmeny Park, the 
 Edinburgh seat of the Earl of Rosebery, which 
 was his headquarters during the memorable 
 
78 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 Midlothian campaigns. In fulfilment of an old 
 promise he stayed, a few years ago, at Malwood, 
 the home of Sir William and Lady Vernon 
 Harcourt in the New Forest. In many other 
 houses he was a welcome guest, such as at 
 Aston Clinton, where he was in sight of the 
 Chiltern Hundreds, with which, in its technical 
 sense, he was acquainted specially as a Parlia- 
 mentarian. At Bowood, in the old days, and 
 at Chatsworth, Mr. Gladstone was entertained 
 on more than one occasion. He sought 
 refreshment and change of air at Penmaenmawr, 
 where his son Stephen gained better health 
 after illness. When the Grand Old Man was at 
 this little Welsh seaside resort, he used to fetch 
 each morning the bread required for the house- 
 hold. It was the custom for visitors to call at 
 the baker's for their loaves, as there was no cart 
 to deliver them from door to door. Mr. 
 Gladstone, not to be outdone, used to be seen 
 walking hurriedly home with a large loaf under 
 each arm. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 LIFE AT HA WARDEN. 
 
 After the consideration of Mr. Gladstone as 
 a guest in other people's homes, one turns to 
 his life in his own home. The Flintshire 
 village of Hawarden had in the earlier part of 
 the century, as we have mentioned, a some- 
 what ill repute. But in the last fifty years it 
 has acquired a new fame as the residence of 
 Mr. Gladstone. 
 
 In no way remarkable for picturesqueness, 
 Hawarden would not attract the tourist, who 
 visits the ancient city of Chester and Eaton 
 Hall, the fine seat of the Duke of Westminster, 
 were it not for its link with the life of the 
 Gladstones. You may get to it from Chester 
 easily by driving, or you may go by rail to 
 either of two stations, whence Hawarden is 
 not a longj'walk. There is the church of St. 
 
8o Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 Deiniol to be visited, the scene of so many 
 occasions of interest to the pilgrim who is 
 enthusiastic over Mr. Gladstone. The edifice 
 stands in an ample churchyard, and its interior 
 is kept with pious care. You cannot help 
 turning your eyes to the reading-desk at which 
 Mr. Gladstone stood so many times and read 
 the lessons in that marvellous voice and style 
 of his. Then you note the memorial to the 
 late Mr. W. H. Gladstone, and another to a 
 former matron of Mrs. Gladstone's Home. The 
 rector has obviously High Church views, as 
 you gather from more than one notice. There 
 is evidently a reverent regard for the church 
 and the solemnity of its services, judging by 
 the requests as to the conduct of those who 
 enter its sacred precincts. The assembling of 
 crowds of non-worshippers, merely bent on 
 seeing Mr. Gladstone, led to a strongly worded 
 protest against the churchyard being thronged 
 at the conclusion of the morning service on 
 Sundays. Mr. Gladstone was inconvenienced 
 often by the too pressing attentions of his 
 admirers, and he used latterly to seek refuge 
 in the Rectory after service. The richness of 
 
LlP^E AT Hawarden. 8i 
 
 the Hawarden living lias been largely exag- 
 gerated, for it is forgotten that four district 
 churches, vicarages, and schools are connected 
 with the parish church. 
 
 The Hawarden estate covers about four 
 square miles. There are nearly 500 tenants. 
 The castle was erected when the late Sir 
 Stephen Glynne was a minor. The picturesque 
 ivy-covered ruins of the old castle stand in the 
 grounds. If you approach the castle from the 
 road, the first noticeable part which will attract 
 attention is the Golden Wedding porch. 
 Entering it, you are soon in the old hall, and 
 at the door of the dining-room. In this apart- 
 ment, which looks out on the terraces, hang 
 some fine family portraits. The library, or 
 " Temple of Peace " as it is called, is full of 
 mementoes of the career of Mr. Gladstone. 
 Most people know the systematic arrangement 
 of the room, with its well-filled shelves and its 
 tables, devoted either to correspondence, to 
 politics, or to literature. Outside this room, 
 when I .was at the castle, there were many 
 walking-sticks, and quite a collection of axes, 
 presented by various friends. 
 
82 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 On the first floor upstairs one saw the organ 
 at which the late Mr. W. H. Gladstone used to 
 play. The simple appointments of Mr. Glad- 
 stone's bedroom were a reflection of the man's 
 life. A few portraits of members of his family, 
 and of one or two political friends — I fancy I 
 saw a photo of Sir George Trevelyan among 
 them — were hanging on the walls. The eye 
 lighted on this illuminated text, "Thou wilt 
 keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed 
 on Thee," the keynote, surely, of that serene 
 calm which characterised the greater portion 
 of Mr. Gladstone's life. 
 
 In another room of Ha warden Castle I 
 noticed an autographed portrait of Mr. A. J. 
 Balfour, who has been on more than one occa- 
 sion a guest of the family, and has the sincerest 
 reverence for Mr. Gladstone. 
 
 What a succession of notable men and 
 women have crossed the threshold of Hawarden 
 Castle during the last half-century ! One thinks 
 of the almost surreptitious visit of the late 
 Charles Stewart Parnell ; of the constant visits of 
 politicians of all shades of opinion ; of distin- 
 guished strangers like Li Hung Chang ; of the 
 
Life at Hawarden. 83 
 
 Colonial Premiers who spent so memorable a 
 time with Mr. Gladstone, the oldest living ex- 
 Premier, last year ; the Armenian deputation 
 and many others. 
 
 It was in May, 1897, that the Prince and 
 Princess of Wales and Princess Victoria came 
 to pay honour to Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone at 
 Hawarden. They were staying at Eaton Hall, 
 and the following account of their visit is inter- 
 esting : — ^^ Starting at half -past 11, after being 
 photographed in front of the Hall, the Eaton 
 house-party rode on the light railway running 
 through the park to the Belgrave Lodge, where 
 the Prince and Princess and suite and the Duke 
 and Duchess alighted. Carriages were in 
 attendance, and, preceded by outriders, the Duke 
 drove the Princess of Wales, while the Prince 
 and Princess Victoria, with the Duchess, the 
 Duchess of Abercorn, and Capt. Holford 
 and Miss Knollys followed in a wagonette. 
 Hawarden Park was entered through what is 
 known as the Bilberry Wood, and the Castle 
 was reached shortly before one o'clock. The 
 children and old women pensioners were 
 drawn up in front of Mrs. Gladstone's 
 
34 Gladstone: The Man. 
 
 Home, and ranged in front of the Castle 
 entrance was a guard of honour of the 2nd 
 V.B.R.W.F., consisting of members of the 
 Hawarden, Flint, Caergwrle, Mold, and Holy- 
 well companies, under the command of 
 Colonel Davies Cooke, Major and Adjutant 
 Gough, Captains Hurlbutt and Keene, and 
 Lieutenant Leask. With this exception no 
 formality was observed, the visit being en- 
 tirely of a private character. On the arrival 
 of the distinguished visitors the Volunteers 
 presented arms and the band struck up the 
 National Anthem. 
 
 " Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone and the members 
 of their family received their Royal High- 
 nesses in the Golden Wedding porch, and 
 the meeting was of an extremely cordial 
 character, the Princess affectionately kissing 
 Mrs. Gladstone. There were also present the 
 Rev. Stephen and Mrs. Gladstone and children, 
 the Hon. Mrs. W. H. Gladstone and children, 
 Mr. and Mrs. Henry Gladstone, Mr. Her- 
 bert Gladstone, M.P., the Rev. Harry and 
 Mrs. Drew, Miss Helen Gladstone, and Miss 
 Wickham. After a few minutes had elapsed 
 
MRS. GLADSTOXE. 
 {From a Photo by Vai.en'tixe, Dundee.) 
 
Life at Hawarden. 85 
 
 the party came out of the Hbrary and pro- 
 ceeded to inspect the ruins of the Old Castle. 
 Mr. Gladstone gave his arm to the Princess of 
 Wales, and the Duke of Westminster followed 
 with Mrs. Gladstone, while the Prince walked 
 with Mr. Herbert Gladstone. The veteran 
 statesman briskly descended the steps from the 
 library, and he tackled the steep hill leading 
 to the interesting ruins in a manner delightful 
 to see, though, as he told the members of 
 the British Association in 1896, he seldom 
 essays the stiff climb now. Princess Victoria 
 was the only one of the visitors to enter the 
 Old Castle, the others being content with 
 viewing it from the exterior. On returning, 
 the Princess of Wales inspected with evident 
 interest four pretty black Pomeranian puppies 
 and their mother, the progeny of Mr. Glad- 
 stone's favourite dog. Two of the puppies, 
 named Gyp and Jummy, are very young, 
 and were in a small basket, and it is 
 probable the Princess will accept one of them. 
 During lunch the Buckley band discoursed a 
 selection of music on the Castle terrace, and 
 subsequently Mr. G. Watmough Webster, of 
 
86 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 Chester, had the honour of photographing the 
 Prince and Princess and Mr. and Mrs. Glad- 
 stone in the Golden Wedding porch. Mrs. 
 Gladstone and the Prince were seated, and re- 
 spectively behind them stood Mr. Gladstone 
 and the Princess. The group, as may be 
 readily imagined, was a striking one, and it will 
 linger long in the recollection of those who 
 were privileged to witness it. 
 
 " At 2.30 the distinguished party, amid the 
 ringing cheers of the assembled villagers and 
 others, and the playing by the Volunteer band 
 of 'God save the Queen,' departed for Sandy- 
 croft Station, where their Royal Highnesses 
 caught a special train for Euston. At the 
 Castle the leave-taking was of a touching de- 
 scription. The Princess said, * Good-bye, 
 mother,' to Mrs. Gladstone, and the venerable 
 lady stooping kissed Her Royal Highness on 
 the cheek. Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone accom- 
 panied them to the station. Moor Lane, leading 
 to the station, was lined with spectators, who 
 demonstrated their loyalty by repeatedly and 
 heartily cheering. At the station a guard of 
 honour was formed by the Sandycroft Fire 
 
Life at Hawarden. 87 
 
 Brigade. The train moved off at 2.45 amid the 
 loud cheering of the crowd assembled outside 
 the station gates. The Duke and Duchess 
 returned to Eaton Hall, and Mr. and Mrs. 
 Gladstone drove back to the Castle." 
 
 A special importance attaches to the Muni- 
 ment Room at Hawarden Castle. It is four 
 or five years, said The Outlook, since Mr. 
 Gladstone built this adjunct to his Cheshire 
 home, and in it is stored every single docu- 
 ment of public and private interest which has 
 passed through the veteran statesman's hands 
 during his long and crowded career. Every 
 single letter he has received from the Queen, 
 for instance, is there, and probably the whole 
 of the papers affecting the Newcastle estates, of 
 which he was the guardian. The happy his- 
 torian who is allowed to graze in these rich 
 pastures will find everything in perfect order ; 
 for what English statesman has ever been 
 more scrupulous, even punctilious, than is Mr. 
 Gladstone in all his public and private rela- 
 tions, and what public man has carried method 
 more rigorously into all his doings ? 
 
 Tennyson, after his visit to Hawarden in 
 
88 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 October, 1876, wrote : — " My dear Mrs. Glad- 
 stone, here we are returned to our winter 
 quarters, which, however, we find at present 
 colder than Aldworth. We retain golden 
 memories of our visit to Hawarden, and your 
 statesman, not like Diocletian among his cab- 
 bages, but among his oaks, axe in hand." 
 
 Nearly ten years ago there appeared an 
 absolutely untruthful account of evictions on 
 the Hawarden estate, a canard which had one 
 good result in drawing forth a clear and 
 valuable statement as to the matter. One 
 tenant went so far as to characterise the reports 
 as "thundering lies." Yet again and again 
 was this account reprinted in newspapers 
 opposed to the policy of Mr. Gladstone, despite 
 the forcible and categorical contradictions 
 given to it. When I visited Hawarden last, I 
 found that the villagers held the family in the 
 highest esteem. One saw portraits of the 
 Grand Old Man and his wife in most cottages, 
 and heard many touching stories of acts of 
 kindness shown by every member of the family 
 to tenants on the estate. 
 
 Sometimes Mr. Gladstone was present at the 
 
Life at Ha warden. 89 
 
 audit dinner, given in the *^ Glynne Arms " 
 Hotel, and he was always received by the com- 
 pany with the highest enthusiasm. His re- 
 miniscences and his thoughtful advice were 
 greatly appreciated by the assembled farmers, 
 and were of interest beyond the immediate 
 circle to which the speech was addressed. 
 
 In the village the Hawarden Institute was a 
 standing evidence of the family's solicitude for 
 the welfare of the villagers, who, on their part, 
 erected a fountain in memory of the Gladstone 
 golden wedding, near the park gates. Many of 
 the books in the library at the Institute have 
 inscriptions from the pen of Mr. Gladstone. I 
 noticed that the authorised Life by Mr. G. 
 Barnett Smith, bore a characteristic, modest 
 note in Mr. Gladstone's handwriting. 
 
 In one of his later speeches, the right hon. 
 gentleman mentioned that one of the few 
 public offices devolving upon him, which had 
 not received his labours, was that of a county 
 magistrate. His eldest son was elected unop- 
 posed to a seat on the County Council, and 
 was a county magistrate. In not a fe\v county 
 enterprises, too, the Gladstones took their part. 
 
90 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 Members of the family were interested in the 
 Mere Hey Colliery, and other commercial 
 ventures. And no good cause of philanthropy 
 initiated in the neighbourhood of Hawarden 
 has failed to receive generous assistance from 
 the inhabitants of the Castle.'* 
 \ 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 MR. GLADSTONE AS A CHURCHMAN. 
 
 Allusion has been already made to the 
 decided attraction which theology always 
 possessed for the subject of this biography. It 
 was sometimes said that if Mr. Gladstone had 
 not been Prime Minister he would have been 
 Archbishop of Canterbury. But one could 
 have prophesied quite as probably that he 
 would have been Lord Chancellor or editor of 
 The TimeSy for in whatsoever sphere he had 
 chosen he would have become pre-eminent. 
 
 But he was undoubtedly a strong Church- 
 man from his earliest days to the last year of 
 his life, and was concerned deeply for the 
 well-being of the Church of England. Only 
 seven years ago he acquired the advowson and 
 right of next presentation to the Rectory of 
 Liverpool at a price which must have exceeded 
 ;^io,ooo. The rector of Liverpool enjoys the 
 
92 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 patronage of three other churches in the city 
 of Mr. Gladstone's birth : St. Matthias, Great 
 Howard-street ; St. Matthew's, Scotland-road, 
 and St. Stephen's, Byrom-street. The rector, 
 too, is joint patron of three other livings, so 
 his importance and influence is considerable. 
 It was imagined that the Rev. Harry Drew 
 would receive the presentation, but so far he 
 remains at Buckley Vicarage. 
 
 Besides possessing the advowson of the 
 rectory of Liverpool, Mr. Gladstone was patron 
 of the incumbency of Seaforth Church and St. 
 Thomas's, Toxteth. One of his early recol- 
 lections was of visiting Cambridge with his 
 father and mother, with the idea of his father 
 obtaining from the venerable Mr. Simeon, 
 leader of the Evangelical party, a nominee for 
 the vicarage of Seaforth. Mr. Gladstone was a 
 generous donor to Church funds, and gave quite 
 recently ;^'i,ooo to the fund raised for relief 
 of the poorer clergy. Together with the late 
 Mr. Hope Scott ("the only man who could 
 alone turn me round his little linger"), Mr. 
 Gladstone founded Trinity College, Glenal- 
 mond, for training the Scotch Episcopal clergy. 
 
s o 
 
 i % 
 
 o 
 
 11 
 
 . .''•.ifiyA ^, . 
 
 
 % "'-'i 
 
 1^ • ^(^ 
 
 
 
 > 
 
 
As A Churchman. 93 
 
 When the jubilee of the college came round, 
 he gave most interesting reminiscences of its 
 early days. 
 
 Many years ago he was a prominent figure at 
 various Church gatherings. He took part in 
 the farewell to the noble Bishop Selwyn. In 
 the St. Asaph diocesan assemblies he was an 
 occasional visitor, and once read a paper. In 
 all the ecclesiastical struggles — the Gorham 
 question, the censure of Professor Maurice, the 
 prosecution of Archdeacon Denison, &c. — he 
 was an interested participant. Nearly forty 
 years ago he spoke at a meeting in aid of the 
 Central African Mission, attended by Dr. 
 Livingstone. In 1855 Bishop Wilberforce 
 recorded in his diary : " Easter Day. To 
 Chapel Royal. I preached with interest. Glad- 
 stone amongst others, to whom went afterwards 
 and had a talk. Noble as ever. His sympathies 
 with Conservatives, his opinions with Liberals. 
 No good to the Church to come from Parlia- 
 ment. It must be developed from within. He 
 would not go on in politics to the end on any 
 consideration." The last sentence has a pecu- 
 liar importance. 
 
94 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 His regular church-going was noted from an 
 
 early period in his career as a public man. 
 
 One Maundy Thursday evening, coming out 
 
 of All Saints', Margaret-street, Mr. Tom Collins 
 
 remarked to Sir Stafford Northcote, " One 
 
 would think no politician ever said his prayers 
 
 but W. E. G., so absurd is the publicity which 
 
 attends his devotions." When in London he 
 
 often went to the services at the Chapel Royal, 
 
 and just before his resignation he might have 
 
 been seen listening to the Bishop of Ripon in 
 
 that attitude so familiar to members of the 
 
 House of Commons — his hand curved to make 
 
 an ear-trumpet, his head well forward, and 
 
 every feature of the noble face alert. When 
 
 the congregation sang as a parting hymn — 
 
 O Paradise, O Paradise ! 
 Who does not long for rest? 
 
 one could hardly resist the application of the 
 words to the venerable statesman, who was 
 joining heartily in the singing. 
 
 One must mention especially in this chapter 
 the admirable exercise of Church patronage 
 which distinguished Mr. Gladstone's years of 
 office. The majority of his appointments to 
 
As A Churchman. 95 
 
 bishoprics have now lapsed by death and 
 resignation. Most of the men he chose were 
 High Churchmen, but nearly all of them were 
 of high ability, and obtained conspicuous 
 success. His letters offering, on behalf of 
 the Crown, the various Sees were gems of 
 epistolary discretion. He was less concerned 
 with the politics of the recipients than with 
 their qualifications, and his choice was again 
 and again verified by the result. 
 
 While writing of Mr. Gladstone as a Church- 
 man, one must not forget to complete the 
 record by saying that he had a broad and 
 tolerant sympathy with all, whether in the 
 Church of England or in other communions, 
 who were serving their Master. And this was 
 evidenced on several occasions when he wrote 
 or spoke kind words to various leaders in the 
 Free Churches. He was the guest of Dr. 
 Guinness Rogers and of Dr. Joseph Parker, to 
 name only two of these leaders, and had a wide 
 knowledge of most of the distinguished Non- 
 conformist preachers and writers of the day. 
 With Mr. Spurgeon he corresponded on more 
 than one occasion, and he attended the Metro- 
 
96 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 politan Tabernacle at least once when that 
 eminent man preached. 
 
 The secret of this broad sympathy was re- 
 vealed in Mr. Gladstone's love of earnestness. 
 Canon Knox-Little said, not long ago, in Man- 
 chester Cathedral, that it was a diabolical lie 
 to say that religion was outside common life, 
 and illustrated his remark by Mr. Gladstone's 
 career, adding : " A religious man ought first 
 of all to be in earnest. He remembered that 
 dear and good man, over whose sorrows and 
 weakness and suffering the whole country, 
 without distinction of party, was watching and 
 thinking at Hawarden Castle, saying to him, 
 * You may make mistakes, but whether you do, 
 do it as if it were the one thing to be done.' 
 In other words, that was ^Be in earnest.'" 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 MR. GLADSTONE'S FRIENDS. 
 
 Sidelights of a valuable kind are thrown on 
 every man's character by his choice of friends. 
 Mr. Gladstone was no exception to this rule. 
 
 Though a politician, it may be admitted at 
 once that he did not select his friends because 
 of their political opinions ; and, unless a 
 colleague had more than mere political 
 sympathies to recommend him, he was not 
 admitted to Mr. Gladstone's circle of friends. 
 Yet, as he was thrown into close contact with 
 members of his own party, it was natural that 
 many of them became his intimates. 
 
 His early friends — Doyle, Hope Scott, 
 Lyttelton, and others — have been already 
 mentioned in these pages. It remains to allude 
 to the men who in later years were the friends 
 of Mr. Gladstone. The names of several occur 
 
 G 
 
98 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 to the mind at once. There was Lord Acton, 
 one of the wisest men in Europe, whose 
 erudite knowledge of history, ecclesiastical and 
 political, was a continual delight to Mr. 
 Gladstone. He once persuaded this Catholic 
 peer to accept a Court appointment, although 
 Lord Acton was much more at home in a 
 library than at a Levee. On the visits to the 
 Continent which Mr. Gladstone paid so fre- 
 quently, Lord Acton was a welcome companion, 
 for he had as great an interest in the anti- 
 quarian treasures stored in famous museums as 
 his aged friend. There were few subjects on 
 which the two men could not discourse with 
 interest, and none on which they could not 
 utter words well worth remembering. 
 
 Another friend was Mr. John Morley, whose 
 position as a critic and historian was less 
 assailable than his reputation as a statesman. 
 Mr. Morley's convictions on the Irish Question 
 were, undoubtedly, a great support to Mr. 
 Gladstone, and his intellectual ability, added to 
 the regard and veneration which he felt for 
 his leader, made him specially welcome at 
 Hawarden, and in any house where the 
 
His Friends. 99 
 
 Gladstones were residing. Perhaps some day 
 it will be shown that in Mr. Morley's religious 
 attitude there was much more sympathy with 
 that of Mr. Gladstone than was imagined. 
 They were similar, at all events, in sincere pity 
 for misfortune and misery, and the pitiable 
 condition of the Irish peasant had a good deal 
 to do with their firm belief in Home Rule as a 
 panacea for certain ills. Mr. Morley's sup- 
 posed coldness vanished immediately in the 
 cordial atmosphere of the Gladstone family, 
 and no member of the party enjoyed more 
 keenly the pleasures of a walk and a talk with 
 Mr. Gladstone. 
 
 The kindly care exercised by Lord Rendel 
 and Mr. Armitstead over the veteran statesman 
 has been described. No two friends of Mr. 
 Gladstone were quite so dissimilar in tempera- 
 ment as the English peer and the stalwart Scot. 
 Lord Rendel's charming chateau, the Villa 
 Thorenc, at Cannes, came to be regarded as the 
 South of France home of Mr. Gladstone. 
 There he guarded the Grand Old Man from the 
 inquisitiveness of hero-worshippers ; there he 
 arranged all sorts of pleasant excursions for his 
 
100 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 distinguished guests. Not a Welshman by 
 birth, Lord Rendel won Montgomeryshire in 
 1880 from the Conservatives, who had regarded 
 it as one of the safest seats in the Principality. 
 From that period may be said to date his close 
 friendship with Mr. Gladstone, who was ever 
 mindful of such services to the cause. The 
 intimate relations between the two families was 
 further cemented by the marriage of Miss 
 Maud Rendel to Mr. H. N. Gladstone. Lord 
 Rendel once said, ** A day with Mr. Gladstone 
 is a liberal education," and certainly he was an 
 authority on the subject. When Mr. Glad- 
 stone formed his last Cabinet it was in his 
 friend's town house that the historic pourparlers 
 took place. Lord Rendel always took Mr. 
 Gladstone's age seriously, and no one could 
 liave cared more assiduously for him than the 
 trim, grey-haired peer, who, for his many 
 services to the Grand Old Man, won the thanks 
 of all the latter's friends. 
 
 Sir Donald Currie must not be forgotten, for 
 his delightful sea-voyages did much to restore 
 Mr. Gladstone's health after severe strains 
 upon it. In June, 1895, Mr. and Mrs. Glad- 
 
His Friends. ioi 
 
 stone were the guests of Sir Donald Currie on 
 board the Tantallon Castle^ and had an oppor- 
 tunity of witnessing the opening of the Baltic 
 Canal. On June 13, the steamer arrived in the 
 Elbe, and the visitors went to Hamburg. At 
 a dinner on board the Tantallon Castle, the 
 burgomaster proposed the health of the ex- 
 Premier, alluding to him as " The Right 
 Reverend " ! Some of Sir Donald's guests took 
 the opportunity of visiting Friedrichsruhe, the 
 seat of Prince Bismarck. If Mr. Gladstone 
 had met the ex-Chancellor, the occasion would 
 have been particularly interesting. When the 
 vessel was at Copenhagen, the King and Queen 
 of Denmark, with other members of the Royal 
 family, came on board to luncheon. The King 
 proposed the health of Mr. Gladstone, who, in 
 reply, proposed the Queen's health, alluding in 
 flattering terms to the Princess of Wales. 
 Afterwards the Royal party were photographed 
 on board. 
 
 On a previous voyage under Sir Donald 
 Currie's auspices, the Gladstones were fellow- 
 guests with Tennyson, who was sounded as to 
 whether he would accept a peerage. During 
 
102 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 this sea trip the late Tsar of Russia came on 
 board with other exalted personages, and the 
 Poet Laureate was persuaded to read some of 
 his poems aloud. Of course, " Maud " was 
 one of the selected pieces, and a humorous 
 story was circulated that Tennyson, quite 
 abstractedly held an exalted Royal lady's hand 
 during the reading, and gave it gentle pressure 
 at certain sentimental passages 1 
 
 Mr. Gladstone and the Poet Laureate were 
 old friends, as has been made evident in the 
 charming " Life of Tennyson " issued recently 
 by his son. The biographer gives more than 
 one valuable and new dictum of Mr. Glad- 
 stone ; for instance, concerning politics, the 
 present Lord Tennyson writes : " At one time 
 he consulted Mr. Gladstone as to my taking up 
 a political life. Mr. Gladstone wrote in answer 
 that my father must recollect that a political 
 life was * surrounded by an adamantine wall,' 
 that a man in politics was apt to ' lose the finer 
 moral sense,' and that the political outlook 
 ahead was * full of storms.' " 
 
 It is time some allusion were made to Lady 
 Frederick Cavendish, who is fully entitled to 
 
His Friends. 103 
 
 be considered one of Mr. Gladstone's friends. 
 As his niece she was always a favourite visitor, 
 and after her marriage to the brother of the 
 present Duke of Devonshire she was doubly 
 allied with one who was her husband's political 
 leader. When Lord Frederick Cavendish 
 was assassinated under such tragic circum- 
 stances in Phoenix Park, at the opening of 
 his career as Irish Secretary, the bereaved 
 widow turned to Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone for 
 consolation. Lady Frederick, though she felt 
 her terrible loss acutely, was able to say to 
 Mr. Gladstone through her tears, ^' Uncle 
 William, you did right to send him." She 
 gave herself to philanthropic work with 
 renewed ardour, and found her solace in 
 alleviating the sorrows of others. Of Lady 
 Frederick Mr. Gladstone once said, "She is 
 one of the holiest women I ever knew." 
 
 Mr. Gladstone kept his friendships in good 
 repair by adding to the inner circle of his 
 intimates young recruits. Among these must 
 be named Mr. George W. E. Russell, who was 
 enabled by his thorough acquaintance with Mr. 
 Gladstone to write the best biography of him 
 
104 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 which has yet appeared. Mr. Russell was 
 quite aufait in all matters Gladstonian, and to 
 his pen we owe many interesting pictures of 
 the Grand Old Man. He was a frequent 
 visitor to Hawarden, and was often invited to 
 the same house-parties as those attended by 
 Mr. Gladstone. 
 
 One must certainly include Mr. Gladstone's 
 private secretaries in this account of his friends, 
 for they stood in a specially familiar and 
 pleasant relationship to their chief. In 1894 
 Mr. Gladstone dined with various gentlemen 
 who acted in close official connection with 
 him during his four Premierships. In the 
 company which assembled at Brooks's Club 
 were Sir Reginald E. Welby, Sir Arthur 
 Godley, Sir Algernon West, Sir R. H. Meade, 
 Sir James Carmichael, M.P., Mr. E. W. 
 Hamilton, Mr. H. W. Primrose, Mr. Leveson- 
 Gower, M.P., Mr. Horace Seymour, Mr. 
 Spencer Lyttelton, Mr. G. H. Murray, and 
 Mr. Shand. When he left office, Mr. Gladstone 
 recommended the bestowal of a peerage on Sir 
 Reginald Welby, Sir Algernon West became a 
 Privy Councillor, and Commanderships of the 
 
His Friends. 105 
 
 Bath were conferred on Mr. Spencer Lyttelton 
 and Mr. G. H. Murray. Other honours had 
 been already given to former secretaries, so 
 that it will be seen that Mr. Gladstone was not 
 unmindful of those who served him so faith- 
 fully. In the days of his Premierships it was 
 said that 30,000 letters used to be received by 
 Mr. Gladstone every year, of which, of course, 
 the greater number by far were answered by 
 his secretaries. They knew to a nicety which 
 portion of this huge correspondence must be 
 undertaken by the Prime Minister himself, and 
 which should be spared from his already over- 
 busy pen. In his last administration Sir 
 Algernon West was of immense value to Mr. 
 Gladstone, who was delighted to avail himself 
 of his skilful and discreet aid. 
 
 The late Sir Andrew Clark stood in the 
 relation of friend to his renowned patient quite 
 as much as of physician. From the day when 
 the young doctor first attracted Mrs. Gladstone's 
 attention at the London Hospital, Andrew 
 Clark was a valued and esteemed acquaintance 
 of all the Gladstone family. It was a strange 
 commentary on the uncertainty of life that it 
 
io6 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 fell to the sad lot of Mr. Gladstone to act as 
 pall-bearer at his physician's funeral, although 
 Sir Andrew was seventeen years younger. It 
 was in order to speak at the meeting called 
 to commemorate Sir Andrew Clark that Mr. 
 Gladstone braved a slight attack of illness, and 
 his fine eulogy of his late physician was 
 actually the last speech delivered by him in 
 London. In this connection it is worth while 
 recalling some of the words used by Sir 
 Andrew about his celebrated patient. "Mr. 
 Gladstone," said the physician, " is a man of 
 marvellous physical as well as mental endow- 
 ments, and, notwithstanding his advanced 
 years, he has in many respects still all the 
 freshness, elasticity, and vigour of youth. His 
 muscular and arterial systems are both extra- 
 ordinarily well preserved, and the force, energy, 
 and versatility of his nervous powers are far 
 beyond those of an ordinary man in the prime 
 of life. . . . Even after the rejection of the 
 Home Rule Bill, and the great crisis which 
 followed, Mr. Gladstone's sleep was unim- 
 paired, and his physical condition uninjured. 
 To Mr. Gladstone work is not exhausting, but 
 
His Friends. 107 
 
 is restorative." It was mentioned in the life of 
 Bishop Harold Browne that when Sir Andrew 
 Clark examined him in the summer of 1884 he 
 declared that he knew but one other man of 
 his years with so sound a constitution. That 
 other man was Mr. Gladstone, and Sir Andrew 
 added, " I cannot see the chink through which 
 his soul will escape." 
 
 Another life-long friend of Mr. Gladstone 
 was Sir Henry Acland, whose profound know- 
 ledge and charming character were always his 
 admiration. Dr. Ginsburg may be termed also 
 a friend ; his scholarly labours found in Mr. 
 Gladstone a constant appreciator. Many other 
 names will occur of those who were closely 
 connected with the right honourable gentle- 
 man during his long career, and they would all 
 testify to the uniform courtesy and generosity 
 which distinguished the friendship of Mr. 
 Gladstone. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 HIS INTEREST IN PHILANTHROPY. 
 
 From his earliest days Mr. Gladstone took a 
 deep interest in various charitable societies, to 
 which, indeed, he was a far more generous 
 donor than the general public was aware. He 
 was very careful, as was also Mrs. Gladstone, 
 in the bestowal of influence and money. But 
 when once he felt assured of the excellence of 
 any work, he never relinquished his support 
 of it. 
 
 For his knowledge of philanthropic societies 
 he depended mostly on his wife. In the East- 
 end to this day, though it is a generation ago, 
 the whole-hearted labours of Mrs. Gladstone 
 during the cholera epidemic are remembered 
 gratefully by the poor. She had, previous to 
 this, been a regular visitor at the London 
 Hospital, whose wards were filled in iS66 with 
 
His Interest in Philanthropy. 109 
 
 the sick and the dying, on account of this 
 epidemic. Many of the parents left orphans ; 
 these Mrs. Gladstone would often convey to 
 her own house, or to a house at Clapton 
 which she had taken for the purpose. She 
 roused the interest of her friends, and obtained 
 clothes for those who had lost their all. Then, 
 needing more money than she could provide 
 herself, Mrs. Gladstone wrote a touching letter 
 to The Times, with the result that ,-^5,000 was 
 subscribed quickly in aid of the orphans. 
 
 Having seen the constant deaths which 
 ensued from want of c^u^e during con- 
 valescence, Mrs. Gladstone established the 
 convalescent home at Woodford which bears 
 her name. She has never ceased to take a 
 strong personal interest in the conduct of the 
 home ; many of those who benefited by it 
 were selected by her from the patients whom 
 she visited every Monday morning at the 
 London Hospital. 
 
 Close to Hawarden Castle stands an 
 Orphanage for Boys, whose origin dates back 
 to the cotton famine in Lancashire which 
 followed the American War in 1862. A large 
 
no Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 number of men who were out of work in 
 Lancashire were brought to Hawarden, and 
 employed in making footpaths in the park. 
 Some of the men's daughters came at the same 
 time, and were housed in a convenient 
 mansion which had been the dower-house of 
 the former occupants of Hawarden. It may 
 be mentioned, in passing, that then the Castle 
 was called Broad Lane Hall. Mrs. Gladstone 
 organised a regular training-home for these 
 girls, and afterwards found places for them as 
 domestic servants, although the majority of 
 them had been previously mill-hands. At the 
 present time this house, which has had such 
 curious changes during its history, is used as 
 an orphanage for working lads. 
 
 Not long ago, I had the pleasure of visiting 
 the Home, and saw a number of healthy boys 
 at dinner. The matron gave me some inter- 
 esting particulars of the success which had 
 attended this Home. The careers of its 
 inmates are carefully recorded, and it was 
 pleasant to hear that at least one lad, after 
 leaving the orphanage, had sent a good con- 
 tribution to its funds. The boys go out 
 
His Interest in Philanthropy, hi 
 
 during the day to work in gardens, and on 
 farms, returning to the Home at night. Near 
 to the Castle, also, stands a dwelling-place for 
 a few old ladies who, having come to poverty, 
 are here cared for to the end of their days. 
 So youth and old age are together the objects 
 of generous thought by the Gladstones. 
 
 Mrs. Gladstone was one of the first to aid 
 the penitentiary work carried on at Clewer. 
 An incident in connection with this led to one 
 of the very few occasions when Mr. Gladstone 
 appeared in a law court. He prosecuted a 
 man who attempted to blackmail him early in 
 his Parliamentary life. 
 
 Another philanthropy in which the Glad- 
 stones were interested was the House of 
 Charity, in Soho. The Salvation Army had 
 warm supporters in various members of the 
 family, and General Booth's interview with Mr. 
 Gladstone at Hawarden will be remembered. 
 Allusion was made on another page to the 
 sympathy shown to the Newport Market Refuge 
 by Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone. 
 
 An example of the personal philanthropy 
 of Mr. Gladstone was recorded some years ago. 
 
1 12 Gladstone: The Man. 
 
 when a clergyman, who had often noticed a 
 crossing-sweeper near Har ley-street, missing 
 him from his accustomed place, visited the 
 man in his wretched home. He found him ill 
 and unable to leave his bed, and, having asked 
 him if any of the clergy had visited him, the 
 the crossing-sweeper replied, " Well, no, sir ; no 
 one has come except Mr. Gladstone ; he comes 
 and reads and prays with me." 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 EPISODES IN AN EVENTFUL LIFE. 
 
 During the last thirty years especially there 
 were many momentous incidents in Mr. 
 Gladstone's career. There was, for instance, 
 the great meeting held on Blackheath Common 
 in 1 87 1. He had been taunted with inattention 
 to his Greenwich constituents, many of whom 
 had suffered by the reduction of Dockyard 
 establishments. Conservatives dared him to 
 show his face in the neighbourhood ; Liberals 
 declared it would be unwise, impolitic, and 
 dangerous to risk a visit, considering the excited 
 and hostile state of public opinion. Mr. Glad- 
 stone, entirely unmoved by either reasons, 
 announced that he would be glad to meet his 
 constituents (literally, in the open) on a Satur- 
 day afternoon, so that the working classes 
 
 H 
 
114 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 might attend. The vast area of Blackheath 
 Common was selected for this demonstration 
 of Mr. Gladstone's courage. 
 
 Accompanied by his wife, he drove up in an 
 open carriage punctually to the time, and saw 
 a marvellous sight. Between fifteen and twenty 
 thousand people stood in serried ranks, ready 
 to howl at, and even injure, their member. 
 Mr. Gladstone rose and, bare-headed, faced the 
 great throng. For several minutes angry 
 shouts from thousands made his voice in- 
 audible. At length the patient determination 
 and quiet dignity of the man caused silence. 
 Then, as by the wand of a magician, one 
 of the most extraordinary victories was won 
 by straightforwardness and eloquence. The 
 silence, as the speaker proceeded, became 
 breathless, despite the discomfort of the huge 
 crowd which swayed in front of the platform, 
 and stretched far into the distance. In the 
 waning light of the October afternoon, Mr. 
 Gladstone consummated his personal triumph 
 by a grand peroration. Then those who had 
 come to insult and assault him rushed for- 
 ward with a common impulse, and surrounded 
 
Episodes in an Eventful Life. 115 
 
 the orator with hands eager to clasp his. 
 The air rang with cheers for Mr. and Mrs. 
 Gladstone, and what had been prophesied would 
 be a fiasco proved a magnificent success. 
 
 The seven Midlothian campaigns, each so 
 different in its results, but each so similar in 
 its enthusiasm, cannot be omitted from this 
 chapter. The extraordinary physique of Mr. 
 Gladstone was proved during the first of these 
 campaigns, when he addressed 75,000 people 
 within a fortnight. Who that was present can 
 ever forget the great gatherings, some pre- 
 sided over by the veteran Sir John Cowan, 
 of Beeslack, some by the Earl of Rosebery, 
 then beginning his political career ? Who 
 could forget the torchlight processions which 
 escorted Mr. Gladstone home after his great 
 efforts? How the worjd watched his brilliant 
 personality during those historic scenes, and 
 marvelled at his- versatility, adroit appeals to 
 popular sentiment, solemn denunciations of his 
 opponents' policy, and humorous sallies at 
 their expense ! 
 
 These were the occasions when he popu-^ 
 larised those " railway-station speeches," which 
 
ii6 Gladstone: The Man. 
 
 were the occasion of so much enthusiasm and 
 also criticism. In most cases, it seemed that at 
 whatsoever place Mr. Gladstone halted his 
 party gained victories. In the midst of his first 
 Midlothian campaign he interpolated a very 
 fine address as Lord Rector of Glasgow 
 University. He concluded with these words 
 to the students : — " Be thorough in all you do, 
 and remember that though ignorance often 
 may be innocent, pretension is always despic- 
 able. Be you, like men, strong, and the 
 exercise of your strength to-day will give you 
 more strength to-morrow. Work onwards and 
 work upwards, and may the blessing of the 
 Most High soothe your cares, clear your vision, 
 and crown your labours with reward." 
 
 The fine series of speeches which Mr. Glad- 
 stone delivered in connection with the Brad- 
 laugh controversy deserve mention. I shall 
 not forget the dignified speech in which he 
 supported the motion for expunging the resolu- 
 tions of expulsion of Mr. Bradlaugh when the 
 latter lay dying in 1891. The speech in which 
 he introduced his last Reform Bill, in 1884, 
 must also be noted. Following this, in order 
 
UK. GLADSTONE IX HIS LAST PREMIEKSHIP 
 {From a Photo by Barrauds.) 
 
Episodes in an Eventful Life. 117 
 
 of date, was his brilliant oration in 1886, when 
 he placed before the House of Commons his 
 Home Rule Bill. No one, however much they 
 differed from the opinions of Mr. Gladstone 
 could withhold admiration from the lucid and 
 eloquent manner in which the veteran Premier 
 strove to persuade Parliament to meet the 
 Irish demands. 
 
 The celebration of Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone's 
 golden wedding in July, 1889, was very interest- 
 ing, as it enabled Mr. Gladstone's opponents, as 
 well as his friends, to unite in tributes. A great 
 reception was given to the venerable couple at 
 the National Liberal Club, at which thousands 
 were present. In the village of Hawarden a 
 drinking fountain was erected, and the family 
 built a handsome porch to the Castle in 
 honour of this happy jubilee of married life. 
 
 In December, 1892, Mr. Gladstone was the 
 recipient of the freedom of the city of Liver- 
 pool, and delivered a charming speech in St. 
 George's Hall. 
 
 When Mr. Gladstone introduced his second 
 Home Rule Bill in 1893, he attained another 
 oratorical success. For two hours and a quarter 
 
ii8 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 he unfolded to a brilliant assembly the prin- 
 ciples of his measure. The Prince of Wales, 
 the Duke of York, many Ambassadors, Peers, 
 peeresses, and distinguished men of all parties 
 sat entranced while the Old Man Eloquent pro- 
 ceeded step by step through the complexities 
 of the Bill. These were the impressive words 
 with which he concluded : " It would be a 
 misery to me if I had omitted, in these closing 
 years, any measure possible for me to make 
 towards upholding and promoting the cause 
 which I believe to be the cause not of one 
 party or another, one nation or another, but of 
 all parties and all nations inhabiting these 
 islands. To those nations, viewing them as I 
 do, with all their vast opportunities, under a 
 living union for power and for happiness ; to 
 those nations I say, let me entreat you, and if 
 it were my latest breath, I would entreat you 
 to let the dead bury its dead, to cast behind 
 you every recollection of bygone evils, and to 
 cherish, to love, to sustain one another through 
 all the vicissitudes of human affairs in the times 
 that are to come." 
 
 No wonder, after such a feat of ability and 
 
Episodes in an Eventful Life. 119 
 
 endurance, Oliver Wendell Holmes should 
 
 have written : — 
 Think not the date a worn-out king assigned 
 As Life's full measure holds for all mankind ; 
 Shall Gladstone, crowned with eighty years, withdraw ? 
 
 Yet the sands of his political career were 
 
 running out swiftly, and early in 1894 it was 
 
 rumoured that Mr. Gladstone intended to resign 
 
 the Premiership and retire from Parliament. 
 
 Though guarded contradictions were published, 
 
 the report was justified when Mr. Gladstone 
 
 went to Windsor, accompanied by his wife, on 
 
 Friday, March 2, on a visit to the Queen. On 
 
 Saturday the Queen held a Council, attended 
 
 by Mr. Gladstone, the Earl of Kimberley, Earl 
 
 Spencer, the Marquis of Ripon, and Sir William 
 
 Harcourt, after which Mr. Gladstone resigned 
 
 office. It was all so sudden that people realised 
 
 with difficulty that his speech accepting the 
 
 Lords' amendments to the Local Government 
 
 Bill was actually the last he would ever deliver in 
 
 the Senate of which he was the chief ornament. 
 
 Thus he realised at last the hope he had 
 
 expressed five years before, when in writing to 
 
 Lord Tennyson he had said : — " Wish for me, 
 
 I pray you, a speedy deliverance, if God's will 
 
120 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 may so be, from the life of turmoil and conten- 
 tion which I have pursued for fifty-seven years 
 and part of a fifty-eighth." 
 
 A touching incident occurred on the day when 
 Lord Rosebery kissed hands on his appoint- 
 ment as Prime Minister. The new Premier had 
 scarcely left the gates of Buckingham Palace 
 when Mr. Gladstone was seen driving past with 
 his daughter, Mrs. Drew, and his granddaughter 
 Dorothy. The crowd hailed the old warrior put- 
 ting off his armour with even greater enthusiasm 
 than it had just accorded his successor. 
 
 Mr. Gladstone's two speeches on the Armenian 
 atrocities, at Chester and Liverpool respec- 
 tively, claim notice. They were full of that holy 
 passion for righteousness which transforms the 
 most ordinary sentences into rhetoric. These 
 two proved his last public utterances, and they 
 are a fine conclusion to the thousands of 
 speeches delivered by him. 
 
 The bows of eloquence are buried with the 
 archers, but let us hope that many a successor 
 to William Ewart Gladstone, with soul as 
 sincere and voice as thrilling, will arise in the 
 days that are to come. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 an; APPRECIATION. 
 
 It were easier, and perhaps wiser, to use the 
 words of others in a final tribute to Mr. 
 Gladstone's complex and interesting person- 
 ality. One cannot hope to paint a more 
 delightful portrait of the orator, for instance, 
 than is revealed in Tennyson's lines : — 
 
 Great ! for he spoke and the people heard, 
 And his eloquence caught like a flame 
 
 From year to year of the world, till his word 
 Had won him a noble name. 
 
 The Poet Laureate also put on record this 
 opinion of his friend, from the politician's 
 standpoint. In a letter to Mr. Gladstone he 
 said, " Care not, you have done great work, and, 
 if even now [1874] you rested, your name 
 would be read in one of the fairest pages of 
 English history. I say this, however much on 
 some points of policy we may have differed." 
 
122 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 Another discriminating critique was written 
 by the late Lord Selborne, who in later years 
 opposed Mr. Gladstone's policy. He said in a 
 letter to a leading politician : " Gladstone, with 
 all these qualities which make one admire and 
 love him, baffles all calculation by the great 
 individuality of his mind ; at once conscien- 
 tious and ambitious, subtle and vehement, 
 impulsive and discriminating. He is a comet, 
 the elements of whose orbit are as yet but 
 imperfectly known." 
 
 The Marquis of Salisbury spoke of his great 
 rival as " one of the most brilliant figures who 
 had served the State since Parliamentary 
 Government in this country began," and 
 alluded to Mr. Gladstone's "resolution, and 
 the courage and the self-discipline which he 
 had exhibited down to the latest period of the 
 longest life ever granted to any English public 
 statesman." To these judgments on Mr. 
 Gladstone as a politician one needs to add no 
 words. It only remains for the writer to strive 
 to summarise the qualities which distinguished 
 the man, as apart from the statesman. 
 
 First and foremost, one must take into 
 
An Appreciation. 123 
 
 account the deep religiousness of Mr. Glad- 
 stone. It was this which sustained him in the 
 most anxious times ; it was this which soothed 
 and calmed his latest days. In the speech 
 which he delivered in memory of his physician, 
 he sketched involuntarily one of his own 
 leading characteristics. It was the sentence in 
 which he spoke of the ^'profound sense of 
 religion which attended him through his whole 
 life, which supplied him with its guiding 
 principle, and which produced in him this 
 singular result, that when his mind had been 
 occupied and absorbed in the arduous ques- 
 tions continually brought before him, it was 
 his delight— and all those who knew him will, 
 I am quite sure, sustain me in what I say — 
 it was his delight and practice to find recrea- 
 tion not in frivolities, but in betaking him- 
 self naturally to the consideration of divine 
 things." 
 
 Other qualities which distinguished him 
 were fearlessness and pertinacity. Once 
 convinced of the righteousness of a cause, 
 he strove with indomitable courage to 
 promote its success. The Duke of Devonshire 
 
124 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 described him as "throwing himself into 
 political conflict with double the ardour of 
 men of not half his years, and performing 
 feats not only of mental, but of physical vigour, 
 which might put younger men to the blush." 
 The same earnestness he displayed in literary 
 labours. Lord Rosebery — to call another 
 witness — spoke of him *' as a learner and as a 
 reader, ever with his books, ever among his 
 books ; ever trying to learn something, as if 
 he had half a century before him in which 
 to work — nay, but truly as if he had eternity 
 before him in which to work." 
 
 Then, one must not forget his courtesy, so 
 particularly charming and so freely accorded 
 to all who met him. Search through all the 
 volumes of biography published during the 
 last half-century, and one is bold enough to 
 claim that you will not find an instance of 
 Mr. Gladstone's discourtesy, even in the face 
 of virulent denunciation and unmanly rudeness 
 on the part of others. He had a soul too 
 great for such ignoble slights, and throughout 
 his long public life there is hardly a case of an 
 unkind phrase in his reported utterances. 
 
"APE'S" FIRST cartoon: OF MR. GLADSTONE, IN 1869. 
 (Reproduced by kind fer mission from " Vajiiiy Fair.') 
 
An Appreciation. 12 
 
 " Great empires and little minds go ill together," 
 
 and assuredly Mr. Gladstone was not one of 
 
 those 
 
 Who for the poor renown of being smart, 
 Would leave a sting within a brother's breast. 
 
 His vital interest in everybody and everything 
 must be mentioned. It was this which 
 elevated him into an importance and fame 
 far exceeding that of a statesmen. Of course, 
 his volume of ideas was occasonally discon- 
 certing. A Cabinet colleague pictured him, 
 more than thirty years ago, coming to the 
 Cabinet charged to the muzzle with all sorts of 
 schemes and all sorts of reforms which were 
 absolutely necessary in his opinion to be 
 undertaken immediately. Lord Palmerston 
 used to look fixedly at the paper before him, 
 saying nothing until there was a lull in Mr. 
 Gladstone's outpouring. He then tapped the 
 table, and said cheerfully, " Now, my lords 
 and gentlemen, let us go to business !" 
 
 The ease with which he dismissed subjects 
 from his mind, and turned for recreation to other 
 themes, was marvellous. Not less extraordinary 
 was his ability to rest. Hardly ever in his 
 
126 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 exciting career did he lose his sleep. All this 
 pointed to immense will power, which sus- 
 tained him in most difficult crises. He willed 
 to live, and this eagerness for life was a 
 valuable aid to his health. Mrs. Gladstone 
 told the writer that her husband was once 
 standing near an open window, through which 
 came the shrill tones of a passing newsboy, 
 shouting, " Death of Mr. Gladstone ! Speshul ! " 
 The right honourable gentleman turned quietly 
 to one of the company who had heard it, and 
 remarked, '^ Not just yet." 
 
 He was very patient, though many might 
 doubt it. Those who saw Mr. Gladstone 
 waiting hour after hour on the Treasury bench, 
 listening to the dullest and dreariest speakers 
 with interest, will, however, acknowledge his 
 possession of this rare quality ; and he had 
 humility, a sister virtue. Davenant said — 
 
 Your politicians 
 Have evermore a taint of vanity ; 
 
 and one would not deny that Mr. Gladstone 
 
 appreciated thoroughly the popularity which 
 
 came to him in later years. He enjoyed, as who 
 
 would not ? the enthusiasm which greeted his 
 
An Appreciation. 127 
 
 appearances in public, and the love and honour 
 rendered to him in private life. But from 
 vanity he was free. The interest which 
 crowds took in him was always something of a 
 mystery to him, although it was pleasant to be 
 regarded in so kindly a fashion. 
 
 And lastly, in this brief review of Mr. 
 Gladstone's character, one may place one of 
 his finest qualities — his faith. For him, though 
 acute suffering came to bear him company as 
 " a final lesson — a final trial," there was ever 
 present a radiant hope. No clouds of pain 
 were allowed to obscure the sun of his enduring 
 faith. It was not only faith in a future life, it 
 was faith in the certainty of victory for true 
 righteousness and real progress. He believed 
 in " the pure might of good," and in that faith 
 his whole career was lived. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 FROM WEARINESS TO REST. 
 
 It was in the early dawn of Ascension Day, 
 1898, that Mr. Gladstone laid down the burden 
 of his long life. No other day in the whole 
 year was more appropriate for the death of one 
 who was the greatest son of the Church whom 
 this century has seen ; no other day was more 
 fitting for the final flight of the weary soul 
 which was longing for release. 
 
 I have never seen Hawarden looking fairer 
 than on the last day of Mr. Gladstone's life. 
 Passing through the single street of the village, 
 I entered the park, and was soon gazing at the 
 windows of the room in which the sufferer was 
 taking his leave of the world. After the night's 
 rain, all the vari-coloured foliage around the 
 castle was glistening in warm sunshine. The 
 giant elms and cedars, the chestnut trees and 
 
From Weariness to Rest. 129 
 
 oaks, seemed to guard as sentinels the historic 
 home of the Gladstones. Rooks flew in cease- 
 less activity from tree to tree, and their caws 
 filled the morning air. On the terrace, 
 where so often Mr. Gladstone had welcomed 
 crowds of visitors from far and wide, I 
 saw proud peacocks strutting, the sunshine 
 falling upon their gay plumage and giving it a 
 dazzling radiance. Away in the distance the 
 hills were covered with a slight mist, which 
 revealed more glories of landscape as the day 
 wore on. 
 
 The room in which the warrior was fighting 
 with that last conqueror of all was a different 
 one from the chamber which he usually 
 occupied. It had a southern aspect, and was 
 on the first floor upstairs. Before the patient 
 had been removed to it a partition in it had 
 been taken down, so that there was plenty of 
 space for the members of the family, as well as 
 the doctors and nurses in attendance. A couch 
 was also placed in the room, so that Mrs. 
 Gladstone was able occasionally to rest from 
 her sad vigil. 
 
130 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 I learned from one of the physicians that be- 
 yond a Japanese screen and a few chairs there 
 was Httle furniture in the apartment. On its 
 walls were some portraits of Mr. Gladstone's 
 loved ones and friends. He lay on a low bed- 
 stead, his back to the light which streamed from 
 the window and told of the lovely weather out- 
 side. Beneath his windows the gardeners were 
 mowing the lawns, and one could not help 
 thinking of that " Reaper whose name is 
 Death," whose scythe was soon to remove the 
 most illustrious Englishman of the day. 
 
 On the previous night — May 17 — it had been 
 thought improbable that Mr. Gladstone would 
 survive. Mr. Henry Gladstone, the eldest son, 
 had hurried by special train from London, and 
 the Rev. Stephen Gladstone had returned from 
 Colwyn Bay; while Dr. Habershon had hastened 
 through the night to his famous patient's 
 bedside. In a room in the Boys' Orphanage, 
 near to the castle, the anxious representatives of 
 the press had waited through the leaden hours, 
 and the village post-ofifice had remained open to 
 transmit the bulletins which were posted every 
 
From Weariness to Rest. 131 
 
 few hours in the porch. It was pathetic to 
 think of the aged partner of Mr. Gladstone's 
 Hfe and her sons and daughters in that upper 
 room, watching the laboured breathing and 
 signs of the coming change in the dying man. 
 At four o'clock it was seemingly impossible 
 for Mr. Gladstone to have rallied, but his 
 wonderful vitality again enabled him to wrestle 
 and conquer. Then at last some of the family 
 retired to rest, and the news that the sufferer 
 was in a gentle slumber brought relief to the 
 watchers. 
 
 All the next day — May 18 — there was 
 alternate rally and relapse, but the end came 
 nearer and nearer. Mr. Gladstone muttered a 
 word or two during the reading of hymns and 
 prayers, as if he recognised the old familiar 
 words, and once he said " Amen " in quite 
 strong tones. To the hymn of his life — so 
 musical, so fraught with blessing to many — was 
 fast approaching its Amen, and one hardly 
 dared to hope for a delay. Scores of kindly 
 messages came from all parts of the world, and 
 the telegraph messengers made a continual pro- 
 
132 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 cession to and from the castle. The Queen and 
 the Prince of Wales sent affectionate inquiries, 
 and hosts of former colleagues and opponents 
 showed that there was unity of feeling in the 
 presence of coming death. To the family 
 assembled in the castle were added the grand- 
 children, and little Dorothy Drew was seen 
 reading with grave interest one of the bulletins 
 about her dying grandfather. 
 
 Thus went the bright though sad hours of 
 Wednesday. *'Then came still evening on," 
 and still the sufferer lingered. One of the 
 servants who had been absent when the others 
 paid a last farewell to the master of the house, 
 was accorded the privilege of entering the 
 sick-room early on Thursday morning, and 
 his visit almost synchronised with the depar- 
 ture of Mr. Gladstone. It was just five o'clock 
 on Ascension morning that ** the weary wheels 
 of life stood still," William Ewart Gladstone 
 was " out of the body with God," after eighty- 
 eight years of strenuous life. 
 
 For some minutes there was silence in the 
 death chamber, save for the sobs which came 
 
From Weariness to Rest. 133 
 
 unbidden. Then some brief prayers brought 
 solace to the bereaved family as they gazed at 
 him who had been their most precious 
 possession, their hero as well as the world's, 
 their leader and teacher and loved one. In the 
 porch, full of happy memories of the Gladstone 
 Golden Wedding, was posted at last the news 
 for which the world waited. The bulletin, 
 signed by Dr. Habershon, Dr. Dobie, and Dr. 
 Biss, stated : " Mr. Gladstone passed peacefully 
 away at five o'clock this morning." 
 
 Instantly there was a rush to the post-office, 
 which had a special staff of telegraphists to 
 meet the emergency of the case. Within a 
 few minutes all parts of the world knew that 
 William Ewart Gladstone had passed from life, 
 amid the love, veneration, and respect of count- 
 less millions. Most of the daily newspapers 
 came out promptly with special editions, and 
 portraits and biographies of the deceased states- 
 man commanded a ready sale. In the House 
 of Commons Mr. Balfour moved briefly that 
 the House should adjourn for the day, and that 
 it should consider on the following day the 
 
134 Gladstone : The Man. 
 
 question of a public funeral and the erection 
 of a monument to him who had been the chief 
 ornament of Parliament for more than half a 
 century. Sir William Harcourt seconded the 
 formal motion, and the House dispersed. 
 Next afternoon there were fine tributes paid to 
 Mr. Gladstone's memory by representatives of 
 different sections of each House. 
 
UNWIN BROTHERS, 
 
 PRINTERS. 
 
 LONDON AND WOKING. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 BERKELEY 
 
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