Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-04-26
rp,NscrSnyyrIL SOVEREIGNTY.
DR.. CURRY ON GLADSTONE.
observations Thereon OF n Well-Known
Man of Letters.
To the Ediior az Me Dispatch !:

To he Editor of The Dispatch:
DR.. Curry has laid us under lasting obi
cations by his mastery volume on William
Ewart Gladstone. Mr.. Gladstone is I'M
doubleday the greatest British statesman
of this century, and he has found an Anne
rican who not only is sympathetic but who
has the intellect fully to appreciate his
great subject and so TO present him as to
make him appreciated by even the ordinary
reader. II is wonderful to see man who
has passed eighty-one years of life still In
tine possession Of his faculties: but when
in addition we find that he is, as he has
been for the last forty years, the foremost
man in the British empire, our wonder IS
immeasureably increased.
DIR. Curry has epitomized the marvellous
work of Gladstone IN the following Ian
guage: In the last sixty years the sta
tute-books Of England are luminous with
laws which illustrate growth and liberty
and which, recited by their titles, make
monument moro lasting than brass. The
slave trade has been abolished and the
slaves have been peacefully emancipated
in the West Indies; corporation and test
acts have been repealed and the unlyersl-
ties liberalized: Roman Catholics and jews
have been relieved of civil disabilities;
the criminal code has been humaniZed,
death penalties have been restricted, and
the l0uL Oh Jay uh5 Dstu ltb III uPOh
prison5: three reform bills have been
passed extending the franchise and equal
izing representation: the monopoly OF the
East India Company has been oyerthrown
and municipal corporations reformed;
chapcery and common law courts have
been made accessible to suitors, poor laws
improved, game laws modified; the corn
laws have been repealed, removing the tax
fran the nations bread; liberal CONNER
taA N
post-office has made subservient to all who
can raise a penny for letter, or shilling
for the savings bank; a system OF public
education has been established, and the
administration of the Government IS being
gradually brought into more perfect har-
mony with popular representation. Events,
revolutions, epochs, great movements, IN
thought and action, are usually repre-
sented by individual men. For sixty years
Gladstone has been prominent actor IN
English politics. For near forty years MS
history has been the history of the House
of Commons, almost of the Government OF
Great Britain"
TO this summary Of the great work of
Gladstone in llberalizing the English Gov
eminent must be added the abolition Of
the established Church in Ireland and the
Irish land bill Of 1881, which have gone so
far towards settling the Irish question.
II.
political leader, his restless pen has con-
stantly treated OF subjects historical &c
clesiastical, religious, artistic, economic,
literary, and practical" Such versa
tility Of talent and wealth Of requirement
has probably never been equalled. And
when we add to all this deeply religious
character and an earnest, old-fashioned
Christianity, the figure stands out, as it is
recognized by the world, as "the Grand
Old Man."
DIR. Curry calls his book study rather
than biography. In it he has brought
under review under appropriate heads the
great life work of Gladstone, and one who
reads it will have most distinct idea of the
wonderful advance in the path of Liberalism
Great Britain has made during this century
and of the leading position Mr.. Gladstone
has occupied in that advance. When IL is
added that DIR. Curry has displayed more
than his usual ability no higher eneomium
could be passed upon his work. Ii should
be in the hands of every student of politi-
cal history, and while showing the deyel-
opment of the British Government in free
institutions along the lines marked out by
American statesmen 1t will enable the
American student more highly to appre-
ciste and value our own free institutions.
The volume has been admirably printed
by b. +. Johnston 4 Co., of this city, and
does great credit to this well-known pub
clearinghouse The engraving of Mr..
Gladstone which prefaces it is remsrka-
bly, fine and indicates the genius which in-
spires this great Englishman of Scottish
descent. w. w. III.