The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-11-02
GLADSTONE IND
HIS GREATNESS
No End 10 His Physical and
Moral Courage,
HIS RELIGIOUS SIDE
Could Have Been a Great
Historian Too

AT the recent unwilling in Glasgow Of
the statue erected TO the memory Of Nj.
Gladstone. Lord Rosebery thus summed
up the virtues OF the Premier:
I must, in what 1 have TO say. leave
out altogether the political aspect Of Mr.
Gladstone Ia some cases such a rule
would omit all that was interesting in .
man. There are characters from which
IL you subtracted politics there would be
nothing left Il was not 50 With AIr
Gladstone. To the great mass OF his
fellow countrymen he was. of course, =
Statesman. wildly worshipped by some.
wildly detes-ed by others. But 10 those
who were privileged TO know him, his
politics seemed but the least part Of
him. This predominant part to which
all else was subordInated was MS religion.
The life which seemed 20 attract hAzl
most was the life o the library; the sub
ject which engrossed him most vas the
subject the moment. whatever it might
be. and that when he was out OF o1ce
was very rarely politics. Indeed, 1 some
time s doubt whether his natural bent
was politics at aIlh Had his course
taken him that way. IS il very nearly did.
he would have been great shurcIman,
greater than perhaps any his island has
known. he would have been great
professor If he could have found q uni
versity big enough 10 hold him. He
would have been a great historian,
great bookman. He would have grappled
with whole Libraries and Wrestled with
academies had the fates placed him IN
a cloister. Indeed. it is difficult 10 con
ceiTe the career, except pedhaps the mill
tary. in which his energy and intellect
and application would not have placed
bin on a summit. Politics, however,
took him and claimed his life service;
but. jealous mistress as she is. could
never thoroughly absorb him. Such pow
ers as I have indicated seem 10 belong
to giant and a prodigy and I can under
stand many turning away nom the con-
temptation of such a character feeling
that il is too far removed from them
TO- interest them. and it Is too unap-
proachable to help them-like reading of
Hercules and Hector, mythical heroes,
whoshe achievements the actual living
snortal cannot hope 10 rival.
THE three signal qualities which made
hira what ne was We're courage. indus
try. unnagging industry, a faith which
was part Of mis- hbre-these were the
levers with which he moved the world.
/ do not speak of his religious faith.
That demands a worthier speaker and
another occasion. but no one who knew
Mr. Gladstone could fail to see that it
was the essence, the SAVIOUR, the motive
power Of his life. Strange as il may seem
/ cannot doubt that, while this attracted
many to him, it alienated others-others.
not themselves irrehgious. but who sus-
pected the sincerity of so manifest a de-
votion, and who, reared in the moderate
atmosphere of the time. disliked the in
trusion Of religious considerations into
politics These, however, though num-
erous enough. were the exceptions, and
it cannot, I think. be questioned that Mr.
Gladstone not merely raised the tone of
public discussion. but Quickened and re-
newed the religious feeling of the society
in which he moved.
But that is not the faith of which
] am thinking today. What is present
10 me IS the faith with which he es-
reused and pursued great causes. There, /
also. he had faith sufficient TO move
mountains anu AtA SAAAt~AAAAA- -AANfN
mountains. He did not lightly resolve. /
He came 90 no hasty conclusion but when
ne had convinced himself that cause
was right, il engrossed him. it inspired
Thin with a certainty as deepseated and
as imperious as ever moved mortal man.
To him, then, obstacles, objections. coun- 1
sells Of doubters and critics were as
naught He pressed on him with the
passion of whirlwind. but also with
tie steady persistence of some puissant
machine lie had of course, like every
statesman, often TO traffic with expedi-
ency. He had always. I suppose. TO &C
cept something less than his ideal. bet
his uaQuenchehle faith not in himself,
though that with experience must have I
waxed strong-not in himself. but in his I
cause. sustained him among the neces- !
sary shifts and transactions Of the mo- 1
lrent, and kept his head high in the 7.
heavens. Such faith. sucu moral con- /
Melton. IS not given TO all men. for /
all the treasures Of his nature were in /
ingots. and not in dust; but there is /
PERHAPS no man without some faith in I
some cause Of some person II 50. let !
him take heart. in however small a mi /
nority he may be. by remembering how
nightly strength was Gledstone's pow /
er of faith.
His next great force lay in his indus I
Try I do not know If the aspirations Of /
Ca canny' be founded but at any rate. /
there was nc ca canny about him. 4
From his erIiest school-days il tradition 1
be true 10 the bed Of death he gave his 4
full time and energy 10 work. No doubt /
his capacity for labor was unusual. He /
would SIT va at night writing a pam (
phlet and work next day rs usual. An /
day woulc have been holiday 4
70 him. for he preached and practised the !
gospel Of work 70 its fullest extent. He +
did not indeed dIs6sin pleasure. No one +
enjoyed more physical exercise. or a good /.
play. or q pleasant dinner more than
he. He drank in deep draughts of the
highest and best that l,fe had 70 offer. /
hut even f. pastime he was never Idle.
He did not know what & was to saua-
ter. He debited himself with every min
ute OF hss time FIe combined with the
highest Intellectual powers the faculty Of
utilizing them 10 the fullest extent by
Intense application. Moreover. his indus
cry was prodigious in result. for he was
an extraordinary rapid worker
.'Dumont says OF Aiirsbeau that tiil he
met that extraordinary man he had 70
idea OF how much could he compressed
into day. Had I not lived with him.
ne says. I should not know what can De :
accomplished n q day-al that csn be
compressed into an interval Of twelve
hours. 4 day was worth more To him
a 70 /