The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1896-10-10
MfUGGLB6 ) ! |i| VI I. a i TAI. n.
He He Tells in q. Raeyi Way 81 the
M rlen and Women lie Has
(. .:5:';. Met in His Career. 4.
First Impressions Of Mr. Gladstone
as He Was: Seen in
. the House.

T.. as lie Was Seem in
I'D. the House.
Friendliness of the Grand Oid
Man for the Irish People and
Their Struggles.
7 saw Mr.. Gladstone for the first time in
| 1870-the year in which came to London.
| In those days every member Of the house
of commons had the right to give one adj
| mission daily to strangers gallery. 1 re-
cognized in the lobby the figure Of DR..
Ball, afterwards Lord Chancellor of Ire
land, and at that time well known and
able member Of the house. 4 remember
| we'll that he took out a slip Of paper from
| small note book and scribbled on this the
order for admission. In those days access
to all parts OF the house was much easier
than now. A stranger could pass into
Palace yard, which is now rigialy closed
to everybody except members Of parlia-
| msnt, representatives of the press and Of
hcials often used to stray down there
during those weary and terrible weeks in
1870, after my arrival in London, in which
was vainly seeking for employment. Let
me pause for a moment here to say that
had in those days two favorsta places of
refuge. There has always been to mel
dare say there is always to a provincial
something very fascinating about a rail
way station. In small country town in
Ireland the railway station IS one Of the
chief centers Of interest. The arrival and
departure Of trains, in their sluggish life,
is an event of interest which always attracts
those who are curious and in want OF a SEN
isation. In Galway, to- which SO much of
my boyhood belongs, the railway station
had the additional attraction of being spa
c.ots, resonant, and it looked out to the
Atlantic, with all it's possibilities and sug-
gestions of the infinite and eternal The
reader may remember that a few weeks
ago. I described the exciting scene that
took place in that same railway station
at one Of the turning points in the career
Of Parnell. It was. not of realistic and
grim political struggles, in which ferocious
passion would be let. loose, that was think
ing when I used to walk up and down that
railway station. The recollection of those
walks remained with me when, l came to
London; and I constantly haunted the
great railway stations. My other resorts
were the churche hes-espec.ally small aud
silent oAas: I remember stin the delight
full afternoon I spent ofs.quiet reflection
and. enjoyment in st. Margaret 's--being
one of congregation of perhaps score Of
people. r.
A visit to the house of commons naturally
suggested itself to one who was then with
out occupation, with plenty. of time on
hand, and with abundant curiosity. I re-
member still that first night when en-
tered the sacred building. Mr. Gladstone,
as will be known, was the prime minister,
and at the head of the great majority
which had been returned in 1868. Natur-
ally his was the very first face for which I
looked. There had always been feeling
among Irishmen, in spite of many things
with which his name was associated, that
Mr.. Gladstone had. a tender feeling for Ire
land and that # he did not do more for the
country it was because his circumstances
did not permit him. At that time Mr.
Gladstone had not yet reached the position
Of universal respect, almost worship, which
he reached n a later period, and in our own
day.. But he was always the foremost fig
ure in the house.of commons, and his name
occurred more frequently than any other in
the newspapers. AT that time he was
nearer to what I may call the ecclesiastical
period Of his life than he was afterwards,
when SO many people forgot that the stern
and incessant politician had been at one
time more of a. theologian almost than the
statesman. The image I had formed of Mr.
Gladstone in my mind was considerably
different from the reality. had expected
IN m Wi III u fa1a with