The Irish standard., 1891-08-01
CLADSTONE'S CHARACTER.
How The Great English Statesman
Worked and Acted When
A Boy.
HE PREMIER'S SCHOOLDAYS.
His Summer Holidays Under the Head
Mastership Of the Terrific
Dr.. Keate,

The Pail Mall Gazette publishes the
following notice of Mr.. Russell's Mona
graph on Gladstone, just issued by
Messrs. Sampson, Low, Marsto1, and
Co.,
1t is said that there once lived man
who wrote out the whole OF
Homer's s'Iliad'' in such tiny charac
ters that his transcript could be carried
about in a nutshell. His task can
scarcely have been more difficult than
that which Mr.. George Russell had to
face when he undertook to tell the
story of Mr.. Gladstone's life and career
III less than three hundred octave pages.
The great statesman s active connection
with the politics and social life OF our
country extends over more than half
century, and he has touched and adorn-
ed the life Of our Victorian era at al
most every point. A small work de-
voted to 50 large a. subject must be-, to
be worth anything, a marvel of conden-
saticn. We find such marvel IN Mr..
Russell's contribution to the "Queen's
Prime Ministers" series. There are
none of the wea1y commonplaces OF
contemporary biography within it's GOV"
ers; it is at once wel,-informed, concise,
and Judicious. Tue author has had an
s'Iliad' to trauscrlbe and he has kept it
within the compass of q nutshell. 10
review the book at length would be to
re-write the history OF the last fifty
wears; we shall, therefore, best consult
the interest of our readers by dealing
with those chapters which contain new
and hitherto inaccessible iuformatlon'
MIR. Russell devotes good deal OF
his space to MI. Gladstone's youth. AS
he points out in the preface to the little
volume before us, he has ''toucbed
lightly on those later events OF MT.
Gladstone's career which are within
general recollectlon,' and FDestowed
more detailed attention on tha early
stages, which are now to most people
either unknown or forgotten Hence
the many pages devoted TO his lite at
Eton and Oxford.
He entered Eton after the summer
holidays Of 1921, under the head-mas-
tership Of the terrific DR.. Keate. TO
quote the emphatic testimony Of Sir
Roderick Murchison, he was then tho
s'prettiest little boy that ever went to
Eton.'' He boarded at Mrs, ShureY's,
a house at the south end OF che broad
walk IN front Of the schools and facing
the chapel, and rather nearer the fam
Gus "Christopher Inn" than would
nowadays be thought desirable. On
the wall opposite the house (which now
belongs to Mr.. Carter) the name of
"Gladstcne." carved, it is believed, by
the statesman's S own hand, may still be
traced.
Mr., Gladstone worked hard even dur
ing his school days. He was a "sap':--
In other words lsays MIR. Russell) he
was not ashamed to fulfill the purpose.
for which boys are, at any rate III the-s
ory, sent TO school. He worked hard at
his classical lessons, and supplemented
the ordinary business Of the school by
studying mathematics in the HOLIDAYS
His interest in work was first aroused
bv MIR. Hawtrey, afterwards head-mas-
ter, who commended a copy of his Lat
in verses, and ''sent him up for good.
This experience first led the Young stu
dent to associate intellectual work with
the ideas Of ambition and success. He
was not fine scholar, in that restricted
sense of the term which implies a spe-
cial aptitude for turning English into
Greek and Latin, or for original verslfi-
cation in the classical languages. SesHls
composition we read, was stiff" but
he was imbued with the substance OF
his authors.
The desire and ability to work hard
stuck to Mr.. Gladstone throughout the
whole of his wonderful career. So has
another early characteristic Of the great
man-his piety.
BY common consent, he was pre-em
lnenty God fearing, orderly, and con-
sclentious. A schoolfellow still living
remembers seeing William Gladstone
turn his glass upside down aud decline
to drink coarse toast proposed, ac
cording to annual custom, at an cleo
tion dinner at the Christopher. He
was not only pure minded and coura-
ooouo hut humane He stood forth Qs
the champion OF sone wretched pigs,
which it was the custom to torture at
EtOn Fair on Ash ednesdaY, and
when bantered by his school fellows for
his humanity, offered to write his reply
Gin good round hand upon their faces. !"