The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-03-26
THE BLAST FROM GIADSTONE'S
.BUGLE

We do not know now III happened,
but we failed somehow to see the es-
say Of Mr.. Gladstone upon the Greek
question. 1t is attracting very much
attention and is regarded as one OF
the very best productions Of his very
long and distinguished life. 1t has had
a great effect upon public sentiment in
England. He is in his SSth year, and
such a production at such an advanced
age Is regarded as a marvel of intel
1cctual power as well as of influence.
He is In retirement from politics, a
been so for some three years, and yet
his voice from ~seclusion is as the voice
of prophet and seer, of leader and in
spirer. 1t is as the blast of the bugle
summoning the Liberal clans to their
tents and then to battle. 1t is wonder
full in this aspect of the case. Out of
politics and still the great leader of
a great party at his will. Marvellous
indeed! The New York Tribune Is in
clined to regard this latest effort of
the great statesman, orator and lead
ar as perhaps the most splendid es-
say of his life" One northern writer is
SO electrified and c~aptivated by the
%eloquence and power n sympathetic
interest of the Grand Old Man that he
drops into something like herOics in
the Brooklyn Eagle, and in a fine
strain of eloquence thus begins an ed
itorial upon the worlds great leader
in ''the parliament of man." if we may
quote from the great poet Tennyson:
He who stands on the eternal right
stands not alone, though alone he
stands, for with him is the unseen and
under him are the everlasting arms.
There stands William E. Gladstone to-
day, with his hands Outstretched to-
ward Crete and with his face upturned
toward God. AS thus he stands, the
prophet, the psalmist, the evangel, the
philosopher, the statesman, the re-
former, the liberatOr and the phIlan-
thropist. which he is. all STIR IN MN
and find voice in him and theme in hls
cause. Today it is the cause of Crete
and Of Armenia and of Greece. Only
yesterday it was the cause or GettyS-
burg and of ~Appomattox. Earlier 1t
was the cause of the pilgrims of the
Holland lOwlands, of the field or Nase-
by and of Runnmede. Earlier still II
was the cause Of ~Thermopylae and of
Salamis."
InlS Is HHely TIClOI lSol, IA
one very important. and, to the south.
interesting particular it is something
unhistorical and untrue. If he means to
identify the greatest .Englishman
among the living with the northern
cause he is clean out Of 1T. Gladstone
was too great and just and Informed to
be on the side of the wreng doors and
the oppressors-the men who waseo
q war of infamy upon the smaller and
weaker south seeking liberty and in
, dependence and to withdraw in peace
from the broken compact. Mr.. Clad
stone was in all the sympathies OF his
great and noble nature with the men
Of the south doing battle for the right
to live and to will and to do of their
own good pleasure, uncoerced and un-
awed The bold, wise, just course or the
alIustrious English statesman gave
vast offence to the oppressors n IN
-vaders from the north. They still re-
membe h chivalric, noble stand OF
the colossal man Of English blood and
nave not forgiven him. The New York
Mail and express noticing the historic
slip of The Eagle. says: Hredl d. 10
the admiration of all Americans Tor
the marvellous old man of
there is one period in his long and
~ayentful life over which they would
Pain draw the veil, and walk back
ward, with averted face.
Often as Mr.. Gladstone has cham
pioned the cause of the weak there is
-z--o Memorabilia moro TrqlCp-
worthy, more CHARACTERISTIC, more just
in his career Of unexampled s%plendor
and usefulness in craftsmanship, than
his abiding sympathy with the south
In its four years of deadly strife with
a gigantic power backed by Europe
As q recruiting ground. Mr.. Gladstone