I
_GLADSTONE--AFTER TWENTY YEARS_
The 19th of May, 1898, was Ascension Day; and, just as the earliest
Eucharists were going up to God, William Ewart Gladstone passed out
of mortal suffering into the peace which passeth understanding. For
people who, like myself, were reared in the Gladstonian tradition,
it is a shock to be told by those who are in immediate contact with
young men that for the rising generation he is only, or scarcely,
a name. For my own part, I say advisedly that he was the finest
specimen of God's handiwork that I have ever seen; and by this
I mean that he combined strength of body, strength of intellect,
and spiritual attainments, in a harmony which I have never known
equalled. To him it was said when he lay dying, "You have so lived
and wrought that you have kept the soul alive in England." Of him
it was said a few weeks later, "On the day that Gladstone died
the world lost its greatest citizen." Mr. Balfour called him "the
greatest member of the greatest deliberative assembly that the
world has ever seen"; and Lord Salisbury said, "He will be long
remembered as a great example, to which history hardly furnishes
a parallel of a great Christian statesman."
I have written so often and so copiously of Mr. Gladstone, who was
both my religious and my political leader, that I might have found
it difficult to discover any fresh aspects of his character and work;
but the Editor[*] has kindly relieved me of that difficulty. He has
pointed out certain topics which strikingly connect Gladstone's
personality with the events and emotions of the present hour. I
will take them as indicated, point by point.
[Footnote *: Of the _Red Triangle_.]