The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1898-04-04
TWO GREAT ENGLISH STATES
MEN.
The Leisure Work of Gladstone and
Salisbury.

Hidden away IN the corner or the
daily papers--some of them did not
publish the item at ALL noticed a few
days ago London dispatch of three
lines, which, in spite of it's brevity, was
full of pathos. 1t was to the effect
that Mr.. Gladstone had at length
stopped work." and that his time was
now spent in being read to, talked to,
sung and played to, and entertained in
every possible manner consistent with
his age and infirmities by the members
of his family, and by devoted friends,
such as Lord Rendel and Sir Algernon
West and others, who seem to give
their whole time to the comfort, solace
and welfare of the grand old man, es-
teeming it a privilege to be permitted
to do so. In order to realize what the
announcement means that Mr.. Glad
stone has at last stopped work." it
must be borne in mind that relaxation
and rest from his all-absorbing duties
as minister of the crown and as leader
of one of the two great political par
ties of Great Britain during a public
career of nearly three-score years and
ten have never in his case meant idle
ness and cessation of work, but merely
the turning of his attention to other
fields of intellectual and physical ac-
tivity.
When, four years ago, he was COM
PEELED by his difficulty of hearing and
by other troubles due to his advanced
age to resign the premiership to Lord
Rosebery, and to retire from lparlia-
mentary life, he Immediately set to
work upon a translation of the poems
nf i,,+o
commentary of certain books of the
Old Testament; alternating these to
him delightful diversions by the writ
ing of number of monographs, pam
phlets and review articles upon topics
of the most incredibly varied charac-
ter. This, after all, was quite in keep
ing with the nature of the man, who
found the chief intellectual recreation
of his long and extraordinarily busy
life in the study of Homer, and merely
the most important of whose essays
have been gathered and published in
seven fat volumes entitled 'Gleanings
of Past Years. The subjects dealt
with are as widely diverse as porcelain
and electricity, abstruse problems Of
theology and American politics, ques-
tons of finance, of astronomy of Chi
nese policy of ancient Greece and Ne
apolitan despotism. Indeed it is diff
ficult to find any important matter or
controversy that has cropped up dur
ing the entire reign of Queen Victoria
and of her predecessor, King William
~, on which Mr.. Gladstone has not
written and that too, with entire mas
terry of his subject, and in the most in
teresting, eloquent and instructive
manner.
But his magnum opus is undoubted-
1y his "Studies on Homer and the Ho-
meric Age" embodied in three large
volumes. One of the most eminent Of
literary critics described these tones
as "a very great work which would be
the worthy fruit of a life spent in
learned retirement, but which, coming
from the pen of one of our first orators
and statesmen, is altogether wonder
full The critic In question described
it as the work Of a lifetime, and SO it
would appear to most people.
Mr.. Gladstone is by no means the
only statesman of the old world who
has sought recreation from his politi-
cal and administrative duties, not in
cessation Of labor, but merely in some
other kind Of work; and, indeed, there
seems to be disposition on the part
of the various nations Of Europe to Sc
lect as their leaders statesmen who
have achieved distinction and fame in
walks of life other than those purely
political. Thus Lord Salisbury finds
relief from the labor involved by his
tenure Of the joint offices of the minis
ter of foreign affairs and prime minis
49, ,oI,,, .{s,+,, ia
leisure moment is devoted to the su-
perb laboratory fitted UP in his home
at Hatfield, and there is scarcely any
learned problem or scientific question
of the day that does not receive his at
tention-an attention characterized by
such breadth of view as to invite re-
gret that he cannot see his way to i'm
part at all times these most desirable
qualities to his political opinions.
Never did he appear to such advan-
tage as a scientist as on the memorable
occasion when, some years ago, he de-
livered the opening address at the
meeting of the British association at
Oxford. With modesty conspicuously
F.. absent from his political utterances,
and craving indulgence on the ground
of his being mere layman, he deliver
ed g. speech that was full of charm and
knowledge, at once learned and liter
airy, with fine touches of irony and ev-
cry suggestion Of clear, vigorous and
progressive mind. He chose for his
theme the depth OF human ignorance
rather than the extent of human
knowledge. The lesson which he sought
to enforce-partjcular opportune in
this present age, when so many third
rate devotees of science affect swag-
ger, as if the universe no longer pos
sessed any secrets for then-was that
''we live in a small, bright oasis of
knowledge, surrounded by a vast I'M
explored desert of impenetrab1e my
stery." While he admitted the full VAL
lie of the achievements of scientific re-
search, he pointed out that the vast
majority of riddles propounded by ma
ture have until now defied investiga-
ton and failed to receive solution And
the general drift of his address was to
the effect that most of the principal
problems would never be solved by
natural man. Science" he declared,
"may tell us much that is interesting
and useful but to the questions
whence we come, whittier we go, and
to the hundred thousand problems
bound up therein, science can give us
no answer" 1t may safely be stated
that there was hardly man among
that distinguished audience who had