Evening star., 1898-05-20
BRITISH PRESS ON GLADSTONE.


| All the Papers Print Extras With
/ Mourning Borders.
A London dispatch of yesterday says:
| All the papers are out with special edi-
| tions, in black borders, announcing the
death of Mr. Gladstone. The Daily Chron-
| icle heads it's editorial with a quotation
| from Wordsworth:
This is the happy warrior; this is he
That every man in arms should wish to b..
| The editorial says:
| A glorious light has been extinguished in
| the land. Mr.. Gladstone is dead. and all
his life lies in the past, memory to us
| and our children, an inspiration and pos
session forever. The end has come to a
soldier at his post. 1t found him calm, ex-
| pectant, faithful, mistaken. Death has
| come robed in the terrors of mortal pain;
but what better can be said than that as
| he taught mis- fellows how to live, he
| has taught them how to die.
1t is impossible at this hour to survey
the mighty range of this splendid life. We
| would assign to him the title, The Great
Nationalist of the Nineteenth Century
TO Italy, Greece. Bulgaria, Montenegro and
Belgium his name is hallowed; but, beyond
all, We claim him the patriot, the great
est of the master builders of modern Eng
land. Timidity had no place in Mr. Glad
stones soul. He was lion among men,
endowed with granite strength of Will
and purpose. rare. indeed, in our age of
feeble convictions.
His life presented aspects of charm to all
minds. His learning captivated the scholar.
his eloquence and StateSmanShip the poll
tician his financial genius the business
ma n, while his domestic relations and sim
pie human graciousness appealed to all
hearts.
Beneath the editorial is the following
quotation in loaded type: There is a prince
and a great man fallen this day in Israel
The Standard says:
Whether men agreed with him or differed
from him in matters of party politics, they
could not come within the range of his in
fluence an administrator without being
profoundly impressed alike with his extra
ordinary powers of dispa tching public busi-
ness most efficiently and his absolute de-
votion to what he believed to be the high
est interests of his country.
The Daily News says
We cannot help dwelling upon the opin-
ions which Mr.. Gladstone held most strong
ly and the sentiments which he felt most
deeply, because they are the only key
which unlocks his character and his life.
One of his most characteristic qualities was
his personal humility. This cannot be ex-
planned without the key, for Mr.. Gladstone
did not. in the ordinary meaning of the
word, underrate himself He was not easy
to persuade He paid little attention to
other peoples opinions when his mind was
made up. He was quite aware of his own
ascendancy in counsel and his supremacy
in debate
On other questions he did, indeed dis
trust his own judgment. On politics he did
not; but the secret of his humility was an
abiding sense that those things were of no
Importance compared with the relations
between Gods creatures and their Creator.
MIR. Gladstone once said, with Characters
tic candOr, that he had a vulnerable tenn
per. He was quickly moved to Indignation
by whatever he thought injustice, either to
himself or to Others and was incapable of
concealing his emotions, for, if he said
nothing his countenance showed what he
felt. More expressive features were never
given to man.
Mr.. Gladstone's exquisite courtesy, which
in and out of parliament was model for
all, proceeded from the same source. 1t
was essentially Christian. To consider him
apart from religion would be like consider
ing Tennyson apart from poetry or Darwin
apart from science. His religion, though It
did not make him gloomy, made him hab-
itually serious. Hence arose the fiction
that he had no humor. This curious de-
fusion seems to have arisen from the un-
doubted fact that he could never be in
duced to laugh at anything profane. but
he Was master of irony, and could be eX-
tremely and even bitterly sarcastic. More
over, nobody laughed more heartily over
an anecdote that was really good. Differ
ent people, unless they saw him often, got
very different ideas of him. He was many
men in one, but he impressed all alike with
the essential greatness of his character.
i He was built mentally and morally on n
large scale. OF course, it cannot be denied
that such a face, such a voice, such nat
uial dignity and such perfect gesture pro
duced in themselves immense effect.
Mr.. Gladstone's genius glowed through him
and inspired all he said. There was moth
ing commonplace about him. Even if he
said ordinary things he could not say them
in ordinary way. In this respect he
sembled Lord Chatham; but Chatham-a
great man if ever there was one-acted his
part Mr. Gladstone was absolutely sim
pie, and his simplicity was not the least at
tractive element of his fascinating person.
ality.
All the continental papers publish trib-
utes to the late Mr. Gladstone. The French
papers are especially sympathetic, and the
Greek newspapers are deeply grateful for
what Mr.. Gladstone has done for Greece