The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-05-31
GLADSTONE AVID BISMARCK,

GLADSTCNE VI BISMARCK.
Prince Bismarck is the only man Iiv-
tng now who could in any proper sense
have been put forward as a rival of Mr..
Gladstone. They were utterly unlike
except in greatness. No two great
statesmen were ever more unlike DIN
their real character. Gladstone moved
on the high plane of justice, honor,
morality and right. His influence was
very great because of this combination
of principles coupled with his marvel
lous OratOry and his great debating
powers. He was not only a massive,
commanding, dominating, vastly i'm
pressive statesman, but he was indeed
by far the most accomplished of all
British statesmen, and much superior
20 Bismarck. AS the Washington Post
truly and happily said of him lately:
1.-THE fact remains, however, that for
more h half a century he has been
one of the nOblest and most impressive
figures on the worlds stage, a states
man, a litterateur, a student, a reform
er, a philanthrOpiSt, a man of SpOtleSS
life, a patriot of unwavering and I'M
selfish fervor. During his career he has
made hundreds of Peers, conferred
hundreds of titles of nobility, but for
himself he sought and would accept no
crest or blazon for the splendid es-
cutcheon he had created through his
own unaided efforts. He kept to the
last the name by which millions had
learned to know, to admire, and to
revere him-a name which means more
and will live longer and more honor
n GIxy -, = 1 nry than that nf INV pcirn
or DUKE or Baron who figures on Great
Britain's lone and brilliant roll"
He was truly Gladstone the great, by
great odds the very greatest English
man and greatest citizen Of the nine
,teenth century among the public men
of the world. He influenced all civiliz-
ed countries by his wisdom, his lofty
moral teachings, his noble conceptions
of duty and honor, his devotion to
Christianity and friendship for all hui
man sufferers, and left for the admira-
ton and emulation of men a great
rounded character. We hold now and
: have long held and said, that he was a
greater man than any English states
man save Burke, and was a far more
many-sided mar than that most illus
frious and splendid orator. Morality
that never finched under any pressure
or enticement marked Gladstone's
whole life. Well may the New York
Tribune in considering his death, ask:
"What statesman can hope to emu
lat that zeal for work or that inherent
love of progress which like a consum-
ing flame inspired his laboriOus career?
Who can rival him in powers of lucid
exposition, or in unfailing stores of as
simulated knowledge, or in practical
administrative talents? Who can
bring to the bar of public opinion,
whether in plea for what is equitable
or necessary, or in vehement
alton of what is wrong and demoraliz-
ing, Mr.. Gladstone's purity of motive,
integrity of character and enthusiasm
for humanity? Poor in spirit and
warped by prejudice must be the man
who does not feel that the world was
richer while this statesman lived. His
death is q loss to the noble idealism
that has inspired what Is best in the
civilization of the century,
, We have glanced over several edito-
riaIs in the more widely circulated
dailies on Gladstone. and but few
-SnOWCu d oSuuy
proper comprehension Of what he had
accomplished, a thorough understand
ing of his manifold and genuine gifts,
and the splendor and Importance OF his
unrivalled achievements. MI. Glad
stone has lone more than n other
Englishman for the benefit of his race
and his countrymen-for the ameliorat-
ing of the conditions of the great mid
Ole and lower classes. and for the up
lifting of the people of England at
large. The Tribune has a fine appre-
citation of Gladstone's superb qualities
of morals and mind. OF his oratory it
says:
..The closer his approach to the Eng
.9ish Mount Aventine, the more fervid
was his eloquence. . AS a debater
he was without q rival in two genera
lions of parliament. He combined the
admirable qualities Of the masters OF
debate in the last c~entury-the merry
invective of a Fox, the stately dictlon
and intellectual u of a Burke,
and the analytic power and lucid ex-