Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-08-12 00:00:00

credit he undoubtedly had with the town

are St

the town cannot fail to be grateful. No

doubt the town felt obliged already for such emi-

Lent and valuable services ; and

)W, that thoSe ser

ices have exposed one so dish

rtedly useful and

irited to so unfounded an accusation ds

Mr, JEFFREY'S is proved to have been, that feeling Of

obligation cannot but be enhanced .in no slight

-...-..--•-•••••••-•...-.

WE confess to a lingering affection for WILLIAM

EWART GLADSTON

The brilliant promise of his

youth;. the elevated tastes and accomplishments

which have continued io gild the stormiest portion

of his career ; the fond hopes which once hailed him,

in spite of all his eccentricities, as the proesicliunz et

dulce:decus of the Church of England; the keen
edge of his love for classic realms and themes,
undimmed by the rust of political life ; and, more
than all this, the lofty moral tone of his peisOnal

character—combined to form a very noble feature in

the, chequered aspect of public life,. Men might
have turned with loathing or weariness from much

saw in the great• world around them-from

many flaunting attractions, from many loud-mouthed

pretenders, from many, gay and cheating visions,
from many bedecked and flattered idols, from place-

hunters. and popularity-hunters, from . much sub-
servience of coteries, and much worship of the mob,

—to the =incipient virtues and ripening maturity of
the latest of Oxford's most favoured sons. To men
of that age he was one bright speck in the future ;
but the qualities which command so much admiration

now serve to point our regret at the existence of
that hidden defect, whatever it be, which spoils
the greatness of the character. We are bound to say

that there is scarcely a public interest, whether
religious or secular, ever committed to the special
guardianship of Mr. GLADSTONE, which either
he himself has not betrayed, or suffered to be
destroyed by those to whom he had allied him-

self, For the noble stand he made against the
DiNjoree and the Wife's Sister's Marriage Bills he

world deserve the thanks of Conservatives and
Chtirchmen, only that it is impossible to predict, even
in Such grave questions as these, how long his active

support can be relied upon. He is already in closeeL
alliimce with the perpetrators of the former iniqr:itz,
and is, therefore, involved in their recent meaFare for
making its "benefits" more widely felt, and more
likely to become a popular luxury for the English
nation. Nay, to his own Alma Mater, if ha did net
desert , her in her hour of need, he at least lent
but a cold and niggard assistance, and only did, not
hound on the spoiler to his prey. What principle,
dearest to him once, does he still maintain ? What
hope of his yOuth still lives ? What sympathy binds
him to old teachers; old friends, and old causes for
which they fought in common ? If the Church has
enemies wto seek to dostroy her,.or lukewarp.frieuils

AUGUST 12, 1859

who are retzdy to concede them the victory, they gig
-both classes of them—in the present 00'
vernment ; and he is their ally. If, among political

certainly--

Protestants, there are misbelievers in some of the

highest doctripes ef_our_faith,. who-seek toba,se legis•