The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1869-08-28
william Eware Gladstone

A London weekly paper sketches the
Man of the Hour in these words:
There is a portrait which from the
shop windows stares you in the face in
the midst Of very ordinary-looking royal
highnesses, serene dukes, ard eminent
preachers, and elicits from the town
man to his country cousin the words,
There's Gladstone"
It is heavy, gloomy face,-rocky,
massive, and scanned with age, feeling
and WEAKNESS. The faults Of photogra-
ply are just those which exaggerate the
prominent characteristics of this dark
face; but at its worst aspect these cartes
de vasates, as such portraits are fooishly
called,-no zane man, no gentleman,
ever having used one for a visiting card,
will reproduce its leading features at
its most unfavorable aspect. AS you
look into it you say: "Ah, and so that
man has achieved his highest ambition !;
he is de .facto a constitutional king,
much more powerful than President
Grant of America, over sixth part of
the globe, eight millions six hundred
thousand square miles of territory; and
what he does, thinks, Or says, can ma
terially affect the well-being of nearly
two hundred and fifty millions of people,
actually one fifth part o! the human race :?
He is the chief Minister of the Crown of
the most ancient monarchy in Europe,
the leader of the most brilliant and elo-
quent public assembly of the Mother of
Parliaments, and of the freest people in
the world! He started in life as Liv-
erpool lad, the son of merchant of that
town. He was schoolfellow to Charles
Kean, the actor, who fretted his little
lite away amid paint and spangles, and
now lies dead. aged sixty; while Glad
stone, with his Eton education, his deu-
bls first a: Oxford, his luck, his pluck,
his undoubted hard work, is at about
the same age the most popular minister
that we have known for years. mos,
powerful, too-hardly excepting Count
Bismark-who will pull down the Irish
Church, and in contest with the House
of Lords, will beat that historic and
august assembly. And yet he does not
look very happy. Is it worth while
being Prime Minister, after all?
Some such reflections the face must
call up. Scored and scared as it is, we
can see in it extinct passions-yet not
so extinct but that the underlying fires
may burst forth. The head is large,
and very fine; the ear low, but too large;
the brain power, from back to front,
enormous; the hair, thin iron gray, is
worn from the forehead, which justifcs
the noveiist's adjective of "massive;"
the eyes are deep, and g|eam from IN
der strong, thick eyebrows, so deep
that some one said-but he must have
been "fpoony that "looking into
them was like looking into universe"
The nose cogitative; the mouth stern.
cruel and vindictive; the chin square
the jaw shuts with vulpine expression,
and exhibits immense power. The face
is remarkable face; its posscssor was
once called handsome Gladstone" 1t
is, perhaps, as handsome now as ever;
but it was never attractive. Two bistor.
ical faces are somehow recalled by it
when you look at 1.-TWO faces set a.
gainst each other in their day-the one
is Stafford, who lost bis head through
Laua and Charles l.; the other is Oliver
Cromwell, who was at the back Of that
power which took all the heads away.
But Gladstone has not the singular,
handsome charm of Stafford; nor. al
though more than the age, has he the
warm tenderness and sweet affection
which shines out of the best portraits of
rugged, war-worn Oliver Cromwell; but
dress up Gladstone in buff suit, lace
collar, and the singularly handsome but
richly plain dress Of a Puritan leader,
and you would be carried back to the
seventeenth century.-such is the type
of face.
-~~~~-~-~~~~@@0-A~-~~~-~~~