Evening journal., 1898-06-08

be that the North warred with the
South in order to gain the balance of
power. Be all that ais it may, the dou-
bic fact remains that Mr.. Lincoln was
personally, individually and conscien-
tiously opposed to the principles and
practice of slavery, and that ne sue
ceeded in banfshing its blighting and
Blasting influence from this continer
That act a,one-no other is needed
makes the life-work Of Mr.. Gladstone
great as 1t undoubtedly was, to dwin-
die and shrivel in comparison, and it
stamps Abraham Lincoln as the one
superlative man OF this century. We
assert all THAT, remembering that Mr.
Gladstone's greatest work was accom-
plished when he practically gained
home rule for ireland, for there can
be little doubt but what the provisions
of Mr. Gladstone's Irish bill would
have been operative to-day had N not
been for the temporary insanity-we
believe that to be the most charitable
constT1iction-of the late brilllanr
Charles Stewart Parnell. During the
American Civil War the sympathies OF
Mr.. Gladstone went cut to the South
ern staItes. He knew full well that az
that time slavery, as we'll as cotton,
was the staple trade Of the South. And
yet, knowing all that Mr. Gladstone,
with AN the enlightenment born OF an
university curriculum, tacitly favored
the continuance of slavery as busi-
ness. II those ancient seats Of learn
ing, Oxfcu'd and Cambridge fail to in
oculate the mind with the virus of dis.
gust for The helTish principles of slay-
cry, then we would echo the sentiment
Of the late John Bright who thanked
God that he had not been spoi,t by
collegiate education. 1t is true that a
few years ago Mr.. Gladstone admitted
the error Of his attitude during the
Civil War and publicly apologized for
| the same. But the fact remains that
Mr.. Lincoln, during the whole of that
war, WAS without either the moral on
active support OF Mr. Gladstone. SO
much, then, for the ciyilizlng CD in
iluence Of scholarship. Now, II those
who differ from us cannot differentiate
between the greatness of Abraham Liz
coin and That of William Ewart Glad
stone, then the density OF their gray or
brain matter is Egyptlan-lilSe, dark ne
night. And il there be those who can
not adequately comprehend the Colos-
sus-like life-Work of Abraham Lincoln,
then they also are unable TO arrive at
q just approximation Of, and an inl~
partial discrimination between. that
which is great and that which is still.
greater.
1t is the custom of the worlds syc.-
plants, a custom more houored in the
observance THAN the breach, when a
great man dies, to indulge in rhap-
sodicai speech, to burn fulsome ant
adulatory incense, TO employ trlte say
ings anc well-worn platitudes amid to
endeavor to prove that the deceased
whomsoever HE may be, was "the very
paragon of animals all to the exclu.
sion of a just analysts OF either tht
man or his work Othello's injuncticn--
Speak Of me as l am; nothing ex
teunate,
Nor set down augbt in malice,
is no longer modish; it is, in fact, pain.
fully archaic and out-of-date. We ar,
extremely sensible Of the fact, perhap.
no one is more so, THAT when Wiliian
EwaEt Gladstone passed. on into tn,
dark and pitiless shadows OF the nigh
there passed from human ken and ch
servation a monumental specimens o
learning; an altogether unique menta
figure; a great statesman, one VIII,
served his sovereign and country 70
J sixty years with absolutely honest ont
altogether disinterestedness motives;
splendid and exalted type of mani,
manliness; a thoroughly ogthodO.
Christian man, and perhaps the great
est Englishmans-Ibu mot the creates
man--of The century. THAT is recor
hard indeed to beat But we chaFleng
any man, no matter whom, to furnis'
data sufficient to controvert the az
! curacy OF our assertion, namely-tha
! Abraham Dincolni-rail-splitter, at tina
: was, by reason OF his life-work, th
greatest man, bar none, OF this nine
tenth century.
NJ The American press, without amy OK
y coption, has stated that Mr.. Gladston
o was buried next to the grave OF hi