These portraits represent Mr. Gladstone at three important epochs in his
career. At twenty-eight he was the henchman of Sir Robert Peel, and it
was at this time that Macaulay described him as "the rising hope of the
stern, unbending Tories." He had just produced his work on "Church and
State," which attracted a great deal of attention. Our second portrait
shows what he was like at the time when, as Chancellor of the Exchequer,
he put forth the first of the long series of his famous Budgets. The
third picture is the one which is now so familiar, representing the
illustrious statesman as he is at the present time. It will be observed
that the high collars which are inseparable from every picture of Mr.
Gladstone, whether serious or comic, have been favourites with him all
his life. Like Peel, Palmerston, and Beaconsfield, he is a striking
instance of the fact that the toils and cares of responsible
statesmanship seem with some constitutions to tend to vigorous old age.
[Illustration: AGE 45.
_From Photo. by Cameron of a Painting by G. F. Watts, R.A._]
[Illustration: AGE 80. _From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry._]