Omaha daily bee., 1898-06-01

years Of greater strength. Many. even
among his own closest followers. were dis
posed to find fault with him for having, II
I may use such an expression, thrown up
the sponge so soon. But it has to be borne
in mind that for many years Mr.. Gladstone
had been sincerely anxious for a rest from
the exactions and the turmoil OF political
life. No one who knew him could doubt for
a moment that he was sincerely DESTROYS OF
a quiet life when he resigned the leader
ship of the liberal party in 1875, and that.
as I have said. he only came back to the
front, because the cry OF the suffering Bull
garians sounded in his ears like a trumpet
call to duty.
Tastes and I~nclinations.
We have all been so much in the habit OF
regarding Mr.. Gladstone as a great Parlia-
mentary orator and a statesman Of incessant
activity that we do not always remember
how his tastes and inclinations drew him in
different ways. He had, at one time. a
great desire OF entering the church and was
only prevented from taking such a step by
the positive authority OF his father, and 1t,
was but the other day that l read an article
by an able writer, who contended that the
elder Gladstone had made a mistake in this
exercise of his authority, and that his son
would have been greater as an ecclesiastic
than even as a statesman. Then, again, we
all know what a love, amounting almost to
a passion, for books was always burning In
Gladstone's mind, and how, when the re-
tirement from public life came at last, he
found his best enjoyment by stepping him
self in study. Therefore, we must make full
allowance. indeed, for the decision to with
draw from public life which came as a
disappointment to some Of Mr.. Gladstone's
followers. His country owed him this much
rest, and all who admired him must feel
comfort in the thought Of those days spent
in the reading Of books within sight OF the
Mediterranean and the blue hills and the
island of the Iron Mask. No retirement
could have converted him quite into a
philosopher, as the word philosopher is COM
monty understood now. He could not have
given himself up altogether to the study of
wisdom for wisdom's own sweet sake. Every
now and then, as we learned during his re-
tirement at Cannes, the news of some in
justice done in the far-away world would
reach his ears and he would put aside the
books Of philosophy or of literature or OF
art and manifest his convictions by a letter
addressed to the conscience of the world.
He was not, by any means, and he never
tried to be, a calm and perfected man, the
totus teres atque rotundus of the great
Latin poet. His was a nature of quick
emotion, of generous impulse, of convictions
which sometimes came gradually and slowly
as an autumnal dawn, and sometimes as a
sudden flash of unexpected light. 1t would
be too much to say that he has left no great
work undone which he ever attempted to ac-
complish. But it is not by any means toe
| p,,tnb. tn CIV that hp attnmntpl no grpat
work in the best days of his career which he
did not carry far enough to make its ac-
complishment by others merely a question OF
time. There will be no reaction in English
legislation against any of the great move
ments which Mr.. Gladstone inspired and
directed. He has set a grand example tc
all the coming statesmen of his country
the example of one who throughout all the
brightest part of his career believed thai
the very soul and spirit of craftsmanship IL
not to be found in expediency, but in justice
and who proclaimed that the highest dut.
of a state is to follow that guidance whittier
soever it may lead. His life must havt
been, on the whole, one of singular happi.
ness. He had a home of which he was TIT
light and the joy, a heart which neve'
could have harb9red an unworthy senti
ment and he accomplished many great pc
litical achievements, the least Of which
would secure fame enough to satisfy thu
most ambitious mind.