MR. GLADSTONE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 745, 18 February 1910, Page 5

MR. GLADSTONE.

: ,A FRENCH .VIEWOF THE G.O.M. Writing in a London paper on the date of" the . Gladstone Centenary, M. Augustin Filon remarks:— - ■ Mr. Gladstone, born a. hundred years ago to-day,' onos estimated in vigorous phraso the value of foreign criticism of English politics. Foreign observers, he said, give .us,' when.they express an opiuion on our great men, a foretaste of what history will say;"they survey our."political struggles from a safo distance, as'war correspondents follow 'with', a field 'glass great battles in which their'own country is not concerned.-

.This' docs not. seem. to..apply to- Gladstone himself, since for more than, ten years'.ho has vanished from the, scene. J3ut .is,ha really- dead? -Has his; memory definitely entered the 1 peaceful precincts of history, where passions and interests lose; tueir sting, .'arid where great names enjoy' universal respect? Has Gladstone ceased to be a living influence, a fighting power in the field of. British. politics ? Ono.is.tempted.to.answer in the negative when one.sees how often his name recurs in the daily controversies of the: press. Arid.no wonder! If 'verir- few - venture nbw'.to emulate his magnificent' though somewhat hazy and overflowing—oratory, the'- political vocabulary heVhad'creafcsd for- himself is-still; in 'daily...use; The problems.-ho had. to. grapple with are still unsolved,"the..horizon',is,riot yet' clear from the.storms he had; to. encounter when.he.was at the. helm.- .People are. constantly. ; Svpridering what .Gladstone would do "or. say under this, or that cirr enmstance,, and,.. more than" ever,'. I. believe, in tho present crisis.:, Whenever I opened a' newspaper or/read-a-spsech I find.Gladstoue quoted, and invoked as an authority on both sides..- And,'-'not content with ..scrutinising his' past, utterances .at every juricture where;any■'sort of analogy with the present condition: of affairs can bsdiscovered, some'' inquirers, bolder-than ■ the rest, have not' scrupled to' disturb him ■iri-'tho .next, world and drag; him down -to the anxious .'cares and angry :polemics of. this.. sublunary .world, of. ours..'. He will play, a mo're'aotivopart in the next :general election thari. ;many livings politicians. %-': ',',■...-■.'> .-.'.;.,:;

. Mr. Balfour's Eulogy.. v Is it' ; so difficuit,«ven for an old adversary, to be.just.towards Gladstone and to see him; as he is and will'.reniain.wheii history has.. passed a final, judgment, on his genius and.his• work?. Only four :y«a.rs had; elapsed after his retirement from and_ party feelings : which ; : burnt'so fiercely in 189 i had; sufficiently, cooled down;when he died to enable Mr..Balfour to Salute the.de-: part%jd warrior in the name of the House, .just'as Gladstone,.some years before, had addressed an ever-memorable, farewell to Disraeli.; : In that funeral; oration, I will 'venture; to. say, Mr. Balfour ,\has ..characterised the great. Liberal ; statesman as generously- .as and, perhaps ' more.'. truly than, any.of Gladstone's'<politic'al : friends, .has-done- since! "Mr. Gladstone,"...; ho. said*•: "has: raised-'tlie moral tone of .the. British' Parliament." ..And how : did : ho. achieve; the 'noble ■ task. ."Because .-he always meant to. be, right, ;always.'....believed he .was right."". That'' is, I, think, the'greatest., praise -which', can', be ■ bastowed'on a statesman. .Nest, to God's government the best thing upon. earth is .the government of a man who, under any'.'circumstances,'. is :: resolved. to .;do what is right All useful and noble deeds should emanate.from, such a-source;.But it' implies dangerous possibilities. What if the great' man' is wrong? 'As h'e primarily believes'.in his ; own- personal .infallibility, . he; will-,'.not'-.^abandon. ~ any, purpose iof'ihis,' not.eyen .if..he ,be left; alone, .but will never desist,,till ha. has: brought'; round ;both opponents, and followers to his ,way of' thinking ■ and car-, ricd tha;. country., along .with•:him:• into dangerous, adventures.- ..;:.; v .. The Great Ministry. '■'•' ~'. ' t I am convinced ;that-future historians will agree in considering Gladstone's great Ministry which extended from 1863 to .1874 as the niost exclusively beneficial part of his career.'.' 'It'w'as during that' period that',l saw'and heard'him for tho 'fiist time'-1 was escorting.niy'pupil, the late Prince Imperial, to King's' College, where he ;was attending- a/ course of .lectures .'on

natural .philosophy by Professor Art am si and we were waiting for the London train at Ghislohurst Station, when ..Mr.. Gladstone, accompanied, by Lord Frederick Cavendish, appeared on the platform. He was returning from his first .-visit to our exiled Emp-iror, a'visit'which he had retarded to the extreme'limits., of possible delay, for this was in the autumn of 1871. As. soon as Gladstone was {made -aware of the presence, of the Prince, he-came up to him and entered into conversation. He asked questions about his; studies and about King's .College, which-,hei warmly eulogised. Ho seemed worried at first; his manner Vas cold and.stiff.•• But gradually his. face:relaxcd and softened,-and op' .'parting- ho looked,down;on the imperial-lad with a. sort' of fatherly interest .mingled with .pity. I.never, forgot that look,, and, I was sadly surprised, a few years later,' when Gladstone : denied a,place.in the' Abbey to the memorial of the, unfortunate Prince who'died a soldier.of England. .1 .. However, I was. at that.-time an'ordent admirer of Gladstone. I heard ihim"'several' times in the House of Commons, and-1 followed him, stop by stop.-irom'-platform to. platfprin during, the olecti ons : of 1874. And, though I knew well on.what grounds the country had withdrawn her. confidence from the Liberal Government,'l could not help wondering at the sudden fall-of-.the man .who had done' such service -to "his country.- When I recapitulated all the great measures' passed during ..his five years', tenuro .of- office—the disestablish.ment'of the Trish Church, the' Education Act;,the-'Ballot-Bill, the.Abolition of Purchase in the. Army, besides the carefully elaborated, and • harmoniously' ' balanced Budgets which had done so much to rt duce the cost of'.' living-to the poorer classes—r though-that-such an administra-tion-amounted' to a''complete revolution, but to a, revolution without bloodshed; without violence to person or to property. Before- Gladstone, democracy in.England was.only a name and a dream: he had shaped it into existence; ho>had made it a living force and a: reality.--A.Personal Authority. . 'Now, looking atihis whole, career after a long lapse of years, it appears, to. me that under his guidance a'great, transformation . took place in.public'life. He found his party, when he .entered it a Liberal party,•• and'left, itv-'.wheh' he- retired, in the hands of the. Kadicals.; "Was the'ehange. a''profitable''one? '. -"■■' I , It is not -.for 'me'. to 'decide. ■ Was v - he - responsible' 'for -it?' 'W'as/'he: perfectlyconscious of the'ultimate result?; I think that,.like many other" great' men; he wasunder the curious delusion "that'-'.,the' .political : and social, evolution: would: stop' .where .'ho;' had stopped-; himself. . At all 'events, ho was fitted- to lead his party, through successive stages,, from Liberal-, ism, to Radicalism; because' he was himself a Liberal'by, principle; but a, Radi-. cal-by instinct.and temperament. - His authority was "decidedly apersonal authority. He dominated .this, country by.virtue i6i his prestige,'' which was. growing '.'with the"progress of, 'years 'and' made; a sacred halo around the. imposing arid. Venerable , figure;, till 'at -last tho great "political"' magician-' ;was; very near' hypnotising England, into'.accepting' the disruption, of the 'Union, solely to plea'so "The Grand Old' Man.".' -Such' is the' temper of democracies,' old and-' hew. They are, not .stirred, by'formulas* and arguments; "they are led bymeri.'and by men only.: Gladstone was-one of those':her6es of modern democracy',-- arid;' making allowance -for -human errors, ■'■ friends of England must join in the .wish that every, future hero .of. British democracy may bo as pure, as sincere,".'and' as right-minded, as was Gladstone. :. , ''~-',:>.