The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-11-22

i "a ii
Edit, Wharton's Serial, is Now
Out in Book Form; "The Proud
Prince the Book From Which
sothern's New Play is Taken;
cred Head a New Book BY
John Uri-Lloyd--A Glance at
the December Magazines.
RIFE OF WILLIAM ElSART CLAP La,
STONE. BY John Morley. Three Vol
nrnes, Illustrations The Macmillan
Company. New York and LONDON 1915
Price 5000 net.
Editor Of The Times Dispatch:
sIr,-No more important book has APP
reared in the past ave years than Nor
Iey's Gladstone. And the Enslish-speaK-
Ing public has fully appreciated TINS TACT
for two editions Of the work have oeen
printed and well-nigh exhausted. only
one other book In the reviewers recollee,
ton has commanded SO ready. SO raplu
and so universal sale and tnat was .he
"Recollections Of Prince Bismarck. pup-
Iished In Germany soon after the iron
Chancellor's death And. again. few au-
thors have been so we'll paid for their
work as Mr.. Morley. who. we are IN
formed, received on the day his%book was
given To he public the handsome sum O!
10000 pounds sterling. Only the Lie OF
1;incoln and the Memoirs OF General Grant
have commanded larger honorars than
this
81 But John Morley is the man to command
large rewards for his efforts. NO living
man writes SO pure and 80 chaste. ana
at the same time so terse and expressive
English as he Whoever has read his
Life OF Voltaire or his Rousseau Will
bear witness to the correctness Of this
view.
The subject was. however, princely
3 O.. Only two other men Of the nine
tt-nth century. since Napoleon. have been
1nired. and these were Abraham Lincoln
and Otto Won Bismarck. OF the three
n Gladstone was unquestIonably the great
est man. for in both the other Instances
great wars and great events lent great
ness TO the men whom they elevated.
The Civil War. with It's fearful cost. Its
many crises changed Lincoln from raw,
skeptical politician to reverent and
ripened statesman. whom most men who
ever saw him Instlnctvely loved. and the
union Of poor long-suffering Germany
even by the ''blood and iron" method.
Transformed IlSIldICN llUll u iiuISd oHN
overbearing Junker to the benevolent ty-
rant, whose very tyranny brought happ-
ness and security to millions. Not SO with
+ Gladstone. Born In a country already at
Its zenith as an European power-a ,coun.
e try devoted to the making OF dollars ana
cents and to the silent arts Of peace-he
gradually climbed higher and higher the
ladder OF human fame until he stood vat
the very pinnacle.
Gladstone's nature was essentially a
pious one; It was with great difficulty
that be resisted the mighty claims Of the
ministry upon his life and he was from
his very youth an Intimate friend OF Eng
lands foremost churchmen. but more init
mate still with. Cardinals Newman and
Manning, whose strangely checkered lives
so acted and reacted upon HIS. But for
the infalliblity campaign Of the Roman
Catholics he would have como perilously
near the bosom Of the great Mother
Church. And when Gladstone was al
ready an acknowledged leader In the
House Of Commons and member OF the
Peel Cabinet. he came very near to CIV
ing up his position to become clergyman
Of the English State Church.
In the light of this We are not little
surprised when Mr.. Morley tells US thu
Gladstones father paid out 5000 pounds
or twenty. five thousand dollars. to secure
his son. "a gea! In the Commons. But The
elder Bladstane had spent $4,000 In tn:
year 1873 to secure his own election Il
Parliament and half as much at Other
times to keep other sons OF his In politics
The political Instinct Of the family mus
have been unusually strong. for there
was nearly always a member OF thu
family in the House OF Commons. and or
one occasion, as many US three OF then
had their names on the roll of that body
One is not surprised then that William
Ewart finally overcame all his predi
lections for the ministry as a calling. ant
after the early forties settled down t.
the life OF politician In the nobler sens
OF tho word.
In the two thousand pages OF Morley
book, only a few OF the more striking
parts can claim no attention here: Glad
stones attitude towards the Southern
Confederacy: his Views OF Bismarck an,
the .Prussian war; and his famuu
home rule policy.
ATTITUDE TOWARDS CONFEDERAC!
Before the abolition OF slavery in III
English colonies Gladstones family owna
1900 slaves on the sugar plantations o
the West Indies. he had himself defende
slavery In Parliament, and hence It Wn
not easy for him 10 join Wilbeforce an
the American abolitionists. When the CIV
war broke out ne was member OF III
English Cabinet. and politician who we
understood the meaning OF cotto
famine IN England. He watched closel
the great events of 1861 and In 1862, ar
towards the end OF the latter year h
like many another Thoughtful Engllshmo
OF the time. came TO the conclusion th9
the Confederacy would win her indie pei
dence. He said as much IN public sprec
at New Castle. His statement was "W
know quite well that the people Of II
Northern States have not yet drunk
the cup-they are still trying IN hold
far from their lips-which all the rest I
the world see they nevertheless mu
drink Of. We may have our own opini
about slavery: We may be for or agan
The South. but there Is no doubt TIN
Jefferson Davis and other leaders OF Il
South have made an army; they al