Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1880-05-13


great liberal leader speaks again
his harangue is utterly disgusting. He
adopts the chronic Southern idea of
the Divine nature of negro slavery,
and regards it as a sort of treason
against Heaven to attempt to free
the negro by bloodshed and war.
Abraham Lincoln had issued his
Proclamation of Emancipation, Glad
stone treated 1t with contempt. He
might on this occasion have uttered
a word which would have entwined
his name with that of the immortal
emancipation, word which like
trumpet note would have inspired
with new energy the dropping hopes
of the friends of freedom in this its
last and death-like struggle with hu.
man slavery; but he did not. His
words were those of perverted and
debased nature. Gladstone, the
Wanted liberal leader, not the arts.
tocracy and the tories, is responsible
for the pusillanimous course of the
the British Government toward the
North in the war of the Rebellion.
The tories wished the dissolution of
the Union, bat theS saw the mighty
effort made to save it,they hoped but
doubted. Gladstone always plays
the prophet. He was confident of
the final separation. After the Eman-
cipation Proclamation he was more
bitter than ever against the friends
of the Union. With the adroitness
OF a pettitogger he endeavored to
show the leading purpose of the war
was to emancipate the negro by
Coercion and bloodshed :" he con-
cealed from his hearers that one of
the purposes of that act was to save
the Union but he adds, 81 do not
think there is any real serious ground
to doubt as to the issue of the con.
test" John Bright, then an old man,
was the only champion OF the North
at this trying period in the British
Parliament, and our procurateurs
before the Tribunal of Arbitration
do him full honor in quoting from his
speeches. Had Gladstone, in whose
keeping at that time more than in
any other hands, was the honor and
reputation of the British Government
stood shoulder to shoulder with old
John Bright,no Alabama would have
been fitted out, no millions of Brit
ish sovereigus would have been lent
to the pseudo confederacy, and the
great fountain of trans Atlantic sym.
patty whence the Confederates drew
so much substantial aid and comfort
would have been dried up. Glad
stone did US more harm than thou
sand Simms's and Alabamas could
have done. Shall we not extol him
as he once extolled jeff Davis ? But
there is something lacking in Glad.
stones character. The unfortunate
surrender of Lee at Appomattox has
ruined his reputation as prophet
a statesman, student of history, an
observer of Divine hand in human
affairs as he pretends to be, he might
have guessed that the historical and
Divine purpose of the great war was
the abolition of human slavery, what
eyer Mr.. Lincoln's purpose was.
But were not every thing in our
age Immediately consigned to obliv-
ion n the mouldy files Of the daily
newspaper, we could refresh our
readers with some other events of
Mr.. G.'s career. When Victor Eman-
uel marched into Rome, whence he
had been excluded fer years by the
bayonets Of Louis Napoleon and |
snatched the temporal sceptre from
the ghostly hand of his Holi.
ess,the Catholic world was incensed |
to white heat f; mass meetings con.
gregatcd in the large cities and were
harangued by Archbishop Manning;
intervention, force was demanded to
restore Plus TX to the throne. And
Mr.. Gladstone, then Premier if we
remember right, covered before the
storm, and instead of speaking
glowing, soul-stirring, living watch
word in behalf of human liberty as
exampliied in italian Unity, he ad-
dressed the excited fanatics in the
gentle terms that Horatio Seymour
once issued towards "his friends"
He has since atoned for his pol.
troonry on this occasion by writing
a book against the phau tom of papal
infallibilIty before which he himself
had bowed. We have read his book.
but we do not think it in tone, argu.
ment or spirit, equal to those theo.
logical tournaments that sometimes
euliven the pages of the HERALD.
And, had we not forgotten it, we
might refer to Mr.. Gladstone's course
when an annual provision had to be
made for the manageable members
of the royal family; each of them re.
quires an annual pensioning, such as
would run our State government for
a year. Mr.. G.. was Premier then
only Charles Dixie and six or seven
others dared vote against the ex-
penditure.
Mr.. Gladstone failed to satisfy
the Liberals before. We think he
will fail again. He is too bigotted
believer IN the English Episeopa.
~, avar - rp;ta With Tnh. R-,.t.