The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-10-31

sit for his bust. The only difficulty was that there was no time for sittings, so the sculptor with his clay model was placed opposite Mfr. Gladstone as he worked. and they spent the mornings together, Mir Gladstone writing away and tneclay figure of himself. less than a yard of, gradually assuming shape and form Anything more distracting 1 cannot conceive. but it had no effect on the busy patient.
 And now let me make a short di- gression. I saw recently in the news- papers that there was some complaint of the manners of the rising generatio in Glasgow. If that be so, they are needless of MT. GIadstone'e example It might be thought that so impetuons a temper as his might be occasionally rough or abrupt That was not SO. His exquisite urbanity was one of his most conspicuous graces. I do not now only allude to that grave, old-world courtesy which gave so much distinc- | ton to his private life, for his sweet ness of manner went far beyond de- meanor. His spoken words, his letters, even when one differed from him most aCutely, were all marked by this spec ial note. He did not like people to disagree with him-few people debut so far as manner went, it was more pleasant to disagree with Mir. Glad
 stone than to be in agreement With
 some others.
 Lastly, come to his courage. That,
 perhaps. was his greatest quality, for
 when he gave his heart and reason to
 cause, he never counted the cost. Most
 men are physically brave, and this na-
 ton is reputed to be especially brave,
 tut Mir. Gladstone was brave among
 the brave He had to the end the vii
 tality of physical courage. When well on in his ninth decade, well on to nine
 ty, he was knocked over by cab and
 before the bystanders could rally to his
 assistance he had pursued the cab, with
 q view to taking it's number. He had,
 too, notoriously, political courage in
 not less degree than Sir Robert Wal
 role. We read that George H., who
 was little given to enthusiasms, woula
 often cry out with color flushing Into
 his cheeks. and tears sometimes in his
 eyes, and with vehement oath, He l- tWalpole) is a brave fellow; he had | more SO1rlt LDdH any iildAt wa @AAAN'''
 MT. Gladstone did not yield to Walpole
 in, political and parliamentary courage.
 It was quality which he closely oo-
 served in others. and on which he was
 fond of descanting, but he had the rar-
 est and choicest courage of all-I mean
 moral courage That was his supreme
 characteristic, and 1t was with him like
 the others from the first.
 "A contemporary of his at Eton once
 told me of scene at which my infor-
 mant was present when some loose or indelieate toast was proposed, and all present drank 1t but young Gladstone. In spite of the storm of objurgation and ridicule that ragged around him, he , damned his face, as 1t were, down in his hands on the table and would not budge Every schoolboy knows-for we may here accurately use Macaulay's
 weli-known expression-every school boy knows the courage that this im- plies, and even by the needless genera
 tion of boyhood it was appreciated, for we find an Etonian writing to his pa-
 rents to ask that he might go to Oxford
 rather than Cambridge, on the sole ground that at Oxford he would have
 the priceless advantage of Gladstone's s influence and example. Nor did his courage ever flag. He might be right,
 or he might be wrong-that is not the question here-but when he was con- vinced that he was right, not all the
 combined powers parliament or soci-
 ety or the multitude, could for an in-
 stant hinder his course, whether it end ed in success or in failure. Success left
 him calm: he had had so much of it.
 Nor did failure greatly depress him; the next morning found him once more , facing the world with serene and un- daunted brow. There was man. "The nation has lost him but preserves his character. his manhood, as a model on which she may form, If she be for tunate, coming generations of men. , With his politics. with his theology,
 with his manifold grace and gifts of in- lellect, we are not concerned to-day,
 not even with his warm and passionate
 human sympathies. They are not dead : with him, but let them rest with him,
 for we cannot In one discourse view him in all his parts. To-day 1t is
 enough to have dealt for a moment on three of his great moral characteris- ] tics, enough to have snatched from the
 fieeting hours g. few moments of com , munion with the mighty dead. History l has not yet allotted him his definite ! place, but no one would now deny that , he bequeathed a pure standard of life, , record of lofty ambition for the pub lie good as he understood it, monu- ment of lifelong labor. Such lives spoke for themselves. They need no statues. They face the future with l the confidence of high purpose and en- deavor. The statues are not for them, but for us-to bid us be conscious of ' our trust, mindful of our duty. scornful ) of opposition to principle and faith.
 They summon us to account for time
 and opportunity. They embody an in- spring tradition. They are milestones in the life of nation. The effigy of Pompey was bathed in the blood of his great rival; let this statue have the no- bier destiny of constantly calling to life worthy rivals of Gladstone's fame and character"