The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1895-10-05
GRHAI Mem
The Grand Old Man and the
rlan Of Blood and Iron Conn
pared With Each Other.
Gladstone Believes In the Good
ness of Human Nature.
Bismarck Distrusts 1t

Z
and the Latter an ADJ
mirer Of Goethe.
What. a pity we have not Macaulay
with us yet to draw for us, In the anti
thetical style of which he was so fond,
a finished contrast OF the two great
statesmen of Europe now retired from
active political strife! In the, absence
OF Macaulay, Maurice Todhunter, review
very enlightening description (Western
Review July,) of the two men, though
German reader may object that the de-
scription is hardly impartial as it might
be were other than ali Englishznan writ
ing it, Mr.. Todhunter says:
'It would indeed be hard to imagine
two personalities more utterly opposed
than Bismarck and Gladstone There is
hardly point ON which, hey could nleeI,
a taste which they might share in COM
mon, or an opinion in which they would
be likely to agree. Beyond, perhaps, an
occasional appeal to Providence, the
style and matter of their writings and
speeches are completely devoid Of re-
se1nblance. With men of first-rate gen.
ius the modes of expression is, part and
parcel of the character, and differences OF
style are key to differences Of thought
and temperament Bismarck's style is
marked by a directness and love Of lively
metaphor, while Gladstone's is labored
and consequently the difference is that
which subsists between the German and
the Latin, or original and the regular,
the speculative and the logical spirit.
In the realm of letters and thought the
Latin spirit is usually associated with
authority, and the germanic with free
dom. And, paradoxical as the remark
may see, Gladstone's temper in many re-
spects more essentially conservative
than Bismarck's, and far more prone to
fall back on historic precedent and pre-
scription." fla .,4a
Dilating somewhat upon the facts. that
religion dominates tGla0stone'ss conduct
and explains both his liberalism in af-
fairs of state and his conservatism In af-
fairs Of church, and upon the fact that
BisIna arck has pro bab bly, been Influenced
us little by modern humanitarian ideas
as by positive Christian tradition ap~
pearing to possess "the same sort of ma
tural religion as Goethe or Shakespeare,
his two fayorite writer's 4 Mr.. e odhunter
proceeds to say: 25:& as a!?..
"The first time ever saw Mr.. Clad
stone was in religious college chapel to
which William Wordsworth devoted two
immortal sonnets. Fiis eyes we're turn
ed toward heaven in the evening twi-
light, and teemed to suggest his own
beautiful words, Everything think, or
do, or say is Influenced by my belief in
the Divinity of Christ With the ex-
ception, perhaps, OF Josiah Mazini, it
would be hard to point to7a modern man
of action in whom sacred and secular
convictions were more completely inter-
woven than in Gladstone. Whatever
may have been the religious notions in
cubiculo of other European statesmen
(of DisraeH or of Louis Napoleon, for in
stance), their public actions were hardly
sWayed by them to the same extent as
his. Some would be inclined to think
that the intensity of his Christian faith
has sometimes been the cause Of too
much forebearance toward rival nations.
as the ideal set forth in the Sermon on
the Mount scarcely squares with the ap-
proved methods of European diplomacy
The German cynical outburst, There is
nothing on this earth but jugglery and
Hypocrisy proceeds from view OF life
very different from that which declares
the world to be good and full Of benevo-
lent design. Gladstone's belief in hui
man nature as the creation of an all
good and all-wise Being, and therefore
supremely capable of good, helped to
make a pioneer of liberty and progress
Bismarck's distrust of human nature not
only deepened his aversion to popular
principles. but made him skeptical as to
the, reality Of such thing as progress,
and turned him into stern upholdeF of
force
i Il Bismarck, we are told, sgrapp1ed with
questions as they arose, unfettered by
general smaxims and IDEAS He observ-
cd not long ago that a man dominated
by principles in politics is like a traveller
III mountainous country trying to walk
through forest path with a pole in his
mouth. CASTELAR,, we are told, s'admires
Bismarck enormously, but places Glad
stone above. him u The 1atter's chief
living opponent Lord Salisbury we sup
spose,) is said to have admitted that no
greater intellect was ever applied to poll
tics III England The cont trast between
Bismarck and Gladstoh ieont tinues:
iSss:sSome light is tlaro VII aon the ..charac-
ter OF men by fnquiring " from what
source they derive their spiritual susie
nance. Besides the Sacred Scriptures,
GIad stone, like His friend, Dr.. DOL llinger,
whom he specially admired, owes 'lucem
et poenla saeras the perpetual study
of Dante. TO- quote his own words:
Dante has beenstD me . solemn master;
he who lives for Dante slfves to serve
italy Christianity ahd the world Bis
marck, On the other hand, has declared
that eight volumes OF Goet ,yol.d make