The Real Gladstone Part 14

'The day shall appear, When the might with the right And the Truth shall be: Come there what may to stand in the way, That day the world shall see.'

And that there is to be

'No surrender, no surrender In the cause of truth and right.'

But perhaps the climax of Gladstonolatry is reached in the following pa.s.sages:

'In Mr. Gladstone's work as legislator and administrator there is, from first to last, the same thoroughness and mastery. He never introduced a measure into the House in a crude and incomplete manner. He mastered every detail, and knew exactly the value and bearing of every suggestion and amendment offered, and whether he could admit it or not. He introduced no measures merely to curry favour, to strengthen his party, or catch the popular vote. He has always had regard to pressing needs, and has made it a matter of duty to press and pa.s.s the measures he introduced. And these measures have never been condemned except by "politicians in distress." In his work as administrator he has not left the work to be done by subordinates. He has attended to his own duties, and toiled to understand every particular, and, in consequence, he has never had to vacillate, taking a position to-day from which he has had to withdraw to-morrow; saying one thing to-day and contradicting it the next.'

Remarkable as is the polished literary style of this citation, it is surpa.s.sed in the following fantastic rhapsody:

'His beautiful residence at Hawarden Castle, in Cheshire, has much of the old baronial a.s.sociations connected with it. It is delightfully situated in a finely-wooded park, where Mr. Gladstone's well-known penchant for tree-felling, as a relaxation, finds ample scope. And where he also may gaze with joy on hill and dale, and

'"Watch the wild birds soar and sing, Or build their nest, or plume their wing."'

And where, perchance, he may now and again sing to the birds. Might not those birds, those beautiful birds, represent Freedom! Political Freedom, the Sovereignty of Ideas, the Monarchy of Mind, the Republic of Intellect, Free Thought, Free Speech, Free Pews, Free Churches in a Free State, until there shall be no Party but G.o.d, and no Politics but Religion-the mighty Christ all in all.'

In 1870 Mr. Grant Duff, in the course of one of his addresses to his const.i.tuents, said that some years ago, when Mr. Gladstone's Administration was in power, a clever Tory, who hated both Mr. Gladstone and his Administration, wrote the following acrostic:

'G was the great man, mountain of mind; L a logician, expert and refined; A was an adept in rhetoric's art, D was the dark spot he had in his heart; S was the sophistry led him astray; T was the truth that he bartered away; O was the cipher his conscience became; N the new light that enlightened the same; E was the evil one, shouting for joy, "At it, and down with it, Gladstone, my boy."

This acrostic was repeated in a drawing-room in the presence of a young lady of good Liberal principles, and the daughter of a well-known Member of Parliament, who, without leaving the room, went to a table and wrote this answer to it:

'G is the genius that governs the nation; L are the Lords, who require education; A is the animus raised by the great; D are the donkeys who fear for the State: S is the standard that Liberals raise; T are the Tories who howl in dispraise; O 's Opposition, wanting a head; N is the nation, not driven, but led; E is old England, shouting for joy, "Stick to the Government, Gladstone, my boy."'

The bitterness of some of the attacks on Mr. Gladstone were at any rate a great testimony to his surpa.s.sing power and popularity. In 1880 appeared a handbill under the t.i.tle of the 'Gladstonian Mess,' announcing: 'A grand banquet will be given at the Boar's Head Hotel immediately after the sale of the effects of Mr. John Bull, previously announced, carefully prepared by Mr. W. E. Gladstone, the auctioneer, and at the vendor's expense, to which all the company are invited.' The sale was announced-Mr. Gladstone the auctioneer: 'The whole of the vast landed estates, goods, chattels and effects of Mr. John Bull, who is retiring from business on account of advancing age and ill-health, induced by recent losses in the Transvaal venture, comprising three kingdoms (united or otherwise), one empire, one dominion, forty-eight colonies, and one Suzerainty, one large public-house, known as the Lords and Commons, also an extremely elegant, s.p.a.cious, and well-built family residence, known as the Buckingham Palace, with greenhouses, gardens, stables, and every necessary appointment. The residence contains ample accommodation for a family of position, is situate in its own grounds, and commands good views of the Nelson Monument, St. Paul's Cathedral, and Westminster Abbey, and is within easy distance of the thriving market towns of London and Westminster.' As an indication, on the other hand, of Mr.

Gladstone's popularity, let me refer to the Gladstone claret, which was supposed to be a peculiarly economical and refreshing beverage, and the Gladstone travelling-bag, which was described as a bag adapted for the requirements of all travellers, of all ages, of both s.e.xes and in all grades of life. Someone took the trouble to issue the prospectus of what was called the Gladstone Exploitation Company, a further unintentional tribute.

The following appeared in a Turkish newspaper at the time of the Bulgarian atrocities: 'Mr. Gladstone is of Bulgarian descent. His father was a pig-dealer in the villayet of Kusteridje. Young Gladstone ran away at the age of sixteen to Servia, and was then with another pig-dealer sent to London to sell pigs. He stole the proceeds, changed his name from Troradin to Gladstone, and became a British subject. Fortune favoured him till he became Prime Minister. Gladstone has no virtues.

Gold is his G.o.d. The Ottoman Government offered him five thousand pounds to put their finances in order, but subsequently withdrew the offer, and his vexation at this, combined with his bad Bulgarian nature, caused his opposition to the Turks. The surname "Gladstone" means l.u.s.t for gold, and was given to him on account of his failings in that respect.'

In the 'Life of Lord Houghton' we find another ill.u.s.trative anecdote.

The writer says: 'One day, a few years before his death, when he was dining at the house of Mr. James Knowles, the conversation turned upon the relative characteristics of Mr. Gladstone and Lord Beaconsfield, and it was remarked by someone that if Lord Beaconsfield was a good judge of men, Mr. Gladstone was a still better judge of mankind. Houghton was asked to turn the epigram into verse, and he did it as follows:

'We spake of two high names of speech and pen, How each was seeing, and how each was blind; Knew not mankind, but keenly knew all men; Knew naught of men, but knew and loved mankind.'

In connection with these great men it is interesting to note that in 1867, when Parliament met, Mrs. Disraeli was lying seriously ill. Mr.

Gladstone, in the opening sentence of his speech on the Address, gave public expression to the sympathy of all parties. Lord Houghton, in referring to the fact, adds: 'The scene in the House of Commons was very striking; Dizzy quite unable to restrain his tears.' When Lord Beaconsfield died, however, many were found to censure Mr. Gladstone for not having been present at the funeral of his distinguished rival.

Lord Blachford's letters contain many short notices of Mr. Gladstone. In 1858 he gives a sketch of him in a conference with Sir Edward Bulwer: 'It was very absurd to see them talking it over; Gladstone's clear, dark eye and serious face, and ponderous forehead and calm manner, was such a contrast with Sir E.'s lean and narrow face and humid, theatrical, conscious kind of ways.' In 1868 he writes to Newman: 'I have not yet got through Gladstone's autobiography. . . . Of course, as you say, some of his friends think it injudicious, and I am not sure that it is not injudicious on that very account. One great weight which Gladstone has to carry in the political race is a character for want of judgment, and every addition to that is an impediment.' In 1874, in July, when Mr.

Gladstone appeared in Parliament after four months' absence to oppose the Bill for the Abolition of Church Patronage in Scotland, Lord Blachford writes: 'Gladstone's opposition is curious. I am sorry to say I cannot go with him on either of his points-indeed, I may almost say on any. I see no reason why the Scotch Church should not have their way about patronage. I think the cry against the Public Worship Bill a scare, and I particularly object to the principle and working of the Endowed Schools Act. However, everybody seems to agree that he made a great speech on the Public Worship Bill as a matter of oratory. He does not seem to care much about what was his party, who, I suppose, are dead against him on two out of three of these points.'

Of Mr. Gladstone, John Arthur Roebuck, a bellicose Radical-very noisy in his time-says: 'He may be a very good chopper, but, depend upon it, he is not an English statesman.' Of Tennyson, it is said that he loved Mr.

Gladstone, but detested his policy.

The late Sir James Stansfeld is reported as saying to an interviewer: 'Mr. Gladstone's conduct in the Cabinet was very curious. When I first joined in 1871, I naturally expected that his position was so commanding that he would be able to say, "This is my policy; accept it or not, as you like." When Sir James Graham was examined before a committee on Admiralty administration, he was asked: "What would happen if a member of your Board did not agree with your policy?" He answered: "He would cease to be a member of my board." I thought Mr. Gladstone would have taken the same line, but he did not. He was always profuse in his expressions of respect for his Cabinet. There is a wonderful combination in Mr.

Gladstone of imperiousness and deference; in the Cabinet he would a.s.sume that he was nothing.'

In the _Nineteenth Century_ appeared a curious estimate of Mr. Gladstone by an Indian gentleman. 'He has,' he writes, 'a natural prejudice, almost antipathy, to the name of Turk. His mind, in some respects, resembles that of some pious, learned, but narrow-minded priest of the middle ages; and his unreasoning prejudice against the Turk is indeed mediaeval, and worthy of those dark ages of blood, belief and Quixotic chivalry. A person of such character, however graphic and sublime he may be, should not have such a great political influence on the minds of millions of his fellow-beings; he should not be at the head of a vast empire such as that of England of to-day if he cannot constrain his emotions and his ecclesiastical prejudices. He is a sublime moral leader of men; but a statesman of Mr. Gladstone's position should be more calm, more deliberate, and should weigh his words carefully before he speaks.

He should take care that his writings and speeches do not wound the feelings of millions of his fellow-subjects.'

On the defeat of the Liberal party in 1895, the _National Review_ wrote: 'One can now appreciate the previously provoking description of Mr.

Gladstone as a great Conservative force. His Irish escapade has shattered the Liberal party, made the House of Lords invulnerable, and the Church una.s.sailable.' Dr. Guinness Rogers wrote that Mr. Gladstone's retirement was one of the causes of the defeat of the Liberal party. 'It is to a large extent a measure of the enormous influence of that commanding personality. Not until the secret history of that period can be studied will it be known how tremendous was the loss which the Liberal party sustained by the withdrawal from the strife of a leader who towered head and shoulders over all his a.s.sociates.'

Mr. Gladstone seems seldom to have made a speech but his friends favoured him with their criticisms. Thus, when in 1871 he visited Yorkshire and made speeches at Wakefield and Whitby, Lord Houghton wrote, after praising one of his speeches: 'I cannot say as much for your Whitby speech, for it confirmed my feelings that on the high mountain where you stand there is a demon, not of demagogism, but of demophilism, that is tempting you sorely. I am no alarmist, but it is undeniable that a new and thoroughly false conception of the relations of work and wealth is invading society, and of which the Paris Commune is the last expression.

Therefore one word from such a man as you, implying that you look on individual wealth as anything else than a reserve of public wealth, and that there can be any antagonism between them, seems to me infinitely dangerous.' Mr. Gladstone replied, writes Lord Houghton's biographer, with his usual frankness and friendliness to the remonstrances of his old friend, 'whose criticisms are marked by the kindly tone which is habitual with you, though I do not agree with everything you say about property.'

Sir Francis Doyle will have it that to Mr. Disraeli is due the fact that Mr. Gladstone left the Conservatives. 'We may all of us recollect,' he writes, 'the Irish soldiers who marched up to and then pa.s.sed a standard erected by William III. Some regiments moved to the right and others to the left, the right-hand division taking service under Louis XIV., the other division submitting to the English Government. On their first separation they were but an inch or two apart, but the distance gradually widened between them till they or their representatives met face to face at Fontenoy. So, after Sir Robert Peel's death, Lord Beaconsfield's presence established like that standard a line of demarcation between the two portions of the Tory party. Had it not been for the line fixed across their path, I think Mr. Gladstone, Herbert, and the other Peelites would have joined Lord Derby instead of the Whigs. Nor would Mr.

Gladstone's logic have been in fault (when is it?), or failed to justify abundantly the course he had taken.'

CHAPTER XVII.

AT HOME.

Hawarden Park, in the centre of which stands Hawarden Castle, is one of the finest country seats in the three kingdoms. Visitors who arrive at Hawarden for the first time are surprised at the extent of the grounds and the beauty of the park. Hawarden Park, with Hawarden Castle, came to Mr. Gladstone with his wife. When Mr. Gladstone married he had no intention of making his seat in Wales, but finding that Sir Stephen Glynne was in circ.u.mstances which rendered it disadvantageous to the family for him to live in the Castle, Mr. Gladstone bought some of the land, and took up his quarters with his father-in-law in the Castle, which had been temporarily closed. This arrangement lasted for many years, and was attended with none of the disagreeable consequences which so often happen when two generations live under one roof. The two families lived side by side, and nothing could exceed the harmony of the united households. Sir Stephen Glynne always sat at the head of the table, while Mrs. Gladstone sat at the other end; Mr. Gladstone sat between. This arrangement continued down to the death of Sir Stephen Glynne, and it was rather curious to see a statesman whose name and whose fame were familiar throughout the world always taking the second place in his own house. But for the somewhat embarra.s.sed circ.u.mstances of Sir Stephen Glynne, which led Mr. Gladstone to buy some of the Glynne estate, it was his intention to have bought a seat in Scotland, to which, as his native country, Mr. Gladstone was always strongly attached. The accident, therefore, of a temporary financial embarra.s.sment on the part of his father-in-law made Hawarden famous throughout the world, and supplied Mr. Gladstone with a very much more convenient country seat than any which he could have procured north of the Tweed.

The Castle is situated on the summit of a range of hills overlooking Chester and the river Dee. The village contains the remains of a castle which dates back almost to the Conqueror, and the ancient mound fortification, the ditch and drawbridge, and the keep, are proof to-day of its power in the past. The old Castle standing in the grounds is scarce more than a relic now. The modern Castle in which the Gladstone family resides was built over a hundred years ago, and has been considerably added to from time to time, so that it is a comparatively new seat. It has a splendid appearance; the stone battlements and walls, which are well grown with ivy, look especially striking. The grounds contain several points of interest, and are exceedingly well wooded, _even now_, much to the surprise of many visitors, who have heard no little of Mr. Gladstone's powers with his axe.

The new buildings of the Library, which stand not far from the church, have a neat entrance-gate leading to them, with a well-kept lawn on each side. It is in no sense a public inst.i.tution, but is intended to afford to clergymen and others an opportunity of quiet study. Here are gathered thousands of volumes, carefully selected, representing an eclectic field of thought, including the whole area of human interest. By the side of an erudite Churchman like Pusey you will discover a book by a Nonconformist like Dale. The volumes were in many cases brought to the library by Mr. Gladstone's own hands, and on many an afternoon he was to be seen walking through the park with a bundle of books, to be arranged on the shelves by his own hands or under his superintendence. Not far off in the village street stands the substantial building called the Hawarden Inst.i.tute. Upstairs in the library are to be seen volumes with characteristic inscriptions by Mr. Gladstone. On the flyleaf of one of the Waverley Novels is written, for instance: 'No library should be complete without a set of Sir Walter Scott's novels in full.

Accordingly, I present this set to the Hawarden Inst.i.tute.' Attached to the inst.i.tute is a capital billiard-room, a bath-room, and a reading-room. The gymnasium, which was given by Mr. Herbert Gladstone, is not patronized quite so much as that gentleman, it is understood, desires.

The library at Hawarden is one of the finest private libraries in the country. It consists of more than twenty thousand volumes, and considerable curiosity existed as to what Mr. Gladstone intended to do with this collection of books after his death. Contrary to the usual practice obtaining in magnificent private libraries, Mr. Gladstone allowed his books to be lent out to almost anyone in the neighbourhood who wished to read them. At one time this liberty was unlimited; anyone could take a book out and keep it an indefinite period, provided that he simply left an acknowledgment of having borrowed the book. This privilege, however, was so much abused by some persons that a few years ago a rule was laid down limiting the time for which a book might be kept to one month. With that exception, however, the Hawarden Library is still the free loan library of the countryside.

'Within, Hawarden Castle,' says a writer in the _World_, 'though not ambitiously large, contains more than one roomy cell for its scholar-recluse. At every corner the signs of taste and culture abound.

The pictures have been only slightly thinned by the handsome contribution to the Wrexham Exhibition, and curious china is not entirely absent.

Oriental jars and costly cabinets of j.a.panese lacquer are scattered about the handsome rooms with tasteful carelessness, and here and there are specimens of art needlework, in the revival of which Mrs. Gladstone is known to take great interest. But the peculiarity of the house is the vast flood of books, which no one apartment can contain. Out of one library into another, and into drawing-room and dining-room, books have flowed in a resistless stream, pushing other things aside, and establishing themselves in their place. There are books new and old, rare and common, choice editions and ordinary manuals of reference, ponderous tomes of controversial theology and snappish little pamphlets on the currency, with other equally light and pleasant subjects. Over all reigns that air of easy and natural luxury which forms the princ.i.p.al charm of the English country-house proper, as distinguished from the comfortless vastness of foreign _chateaux_ and the pretentious splendour of the suburban villa of the _nouveau riche_. The castellan, however, is no admirer of nooks and snuggeries, loving most to get through his morning reading in an especially large apartment, garnished with movable bookshelves-a transparent hive for a working bee-amid abundant air and floods of sunshine. "Air and light," and plenty of them, are among his prime conditions of existence.'

'Mr. Gladstone's study,' says another visitor, 'is rather curiously arranged. The walls are covered with books, and volumes are also ma.s.sed on large shelves jutting out from the walls into the room. Between each part.i.tion of books there is room to walk; thus the saving of s.p.a.ce in arranging the library in this manner is enormous. The stock of books perhaps exceeds fifteen thousand volumes, and notwithstanding this large number, Mr. Gladstone has little difficulty in placing his hand upon any volume that he may require. There are three writing-desks in the room; one is chiefly reserved for correspondence of a political nature and another is used by Mrs. Gladstone. Looking out of the study window, the flower-beds facing the Castle present a picturesque appearance, while the heavy-wooded grounds beyond stand out in bold relief.'

The village itself is only one street, and a small one; but no village has become more famous and has been more visited by savants, politicians, famous individuals, foreign or English, and deputations consisting of working men, either to watch the great statesman felling trees or to hear him talk.

In a magazine known as the _Young Man_ appeared a few years since an interesting account of Mr. Gladstone's home life, which may claim to be quoted here. The writer, who was one of Mr. Gladstone's nearest neighbours and most intimate friends, said that there was no home in the United Kingdom where there was more freedom of opinion or more frankness in expressing disagreement than in the home of Mr. Gladstone.

'His daily life at home is a model of simplicity and regularity, and the great secret of the vast amount of work he accomplishes lies in the fact that every odd five minutes is occupied. No man ever had a deeper sense of the preciousness of time and the responsibility which everyone incurs by the use or misuse he makes of it. To such a length does he carry this that at a picnic to a favourite Welsh mountain he has been seen to fling himself on the heather, and bury himself in some pamphlet upon a question of the day, until called to lighter things by those who were responsible for the provision basket. His grand maxim is _never to be doing nothing_.

'Although Mr. Gladstone's daily routine is familiar to some, yet many inaccurate accounts have been circulated from time to time. In bed about twelve, he sleeps like a child until called in the morning. Not a moment's hesitation does he allow himself, although, as we have heard him say, no schoolboy could long more desperately for an extra five minutes.

He is down by eight o'clock, and at church (three-quarters of a mile off) every morning for the 8.30 service. No snow or rain, no tempest, however severe, has ever been known to stop him. Directly after breakfast a selection of his letters is brought to him.

'Excepting before breakfast, Mr. Gladstone does not go out in the morning. At 2 p.m.,' continues the _Young Man_, 'he comes to luncheon, and at the present time he usually spends the afternoon arranging the books at his new library. To this spot he has already transported nearly twenty thousand books, and every volume he puts into its place with his own hand. To him books are almost as sacred as human beings, and the increase of their numbers is perhaps as interesting a problem as the increase of population. It is real pain to him to see a book badly treated-dropped on the floor, unduly squeezed into the bookcase, dog's-eared, or, worst crime of all, laid open upon its face.

'A short drive or walk before the social cup of tea enables him to devote the remaining hour or so before post-time to completing his correspondence. After dinner he returns to his sanctum-a very temple of peace in the evening, with its bright fire, armchair, warm curtains, and shaded reflecting candle. Here, with an occasional doze, he reads until bedtime, and thus ends a busy, fruitful day. Mr. Gladstone has often been heard to remark that had it not been for his Sunday rest, he would not now be the man he is. Physically, intellectually, and spiritually, his Sunday has been to him a priceless blessing. From Sat.u.r.day night to Monday morning Mr. Gladstone puts away all business of a secular nature, keeps to his special Sunday books and occupations, and never dines out that day unless to cheer a sick or sorrowful friend.'

Hawarden Castle was much improved after pa.s.sing into Mr. Gladstone's hands. In commemoration of the golden wedding the porch in front of the Castle was erected, a building that adds much to its appearance. A writer in _Harper's Magazine_ says: 'A glance over the tables in the drawing-room at Hawarden Castle leads one to the conviction that Mr.

Gladstone is the most photographed man in the world. The tables are literally covered with photographs presenting the well-known face and figure in all habitual circ.u.mstances and att.i.tudes. Mr. Gladstone submits to the photographer much upon the same principle that he endures many other of the experiences that sadden life. He recognises a certain amount of possession that the public have in him, and if they insist upon taking it out in photography, that is their affair. He is not only photographed often, but happily, having, indeed, by this time acquired so much skill that he always comes out well. But,' continues the writer, 'no photograph, or the fine oil painting of Millais, comes up to the interest possessed by a little ivory painting which lies in the drawing-room at Hawarden. It represents a little boy some two years of age sitting on the knee of a little girl in nymph-like costume, and fondly supposed to be learning his letters. He has, in truth, one chubby little finger pointed towards the book which rests on his sister's knees, but his face is raised, and two great brown eyes look inquiringly into those of the beholder. This is the child-the father of the man who sits in the other room, though beyond the measurement of the floor there stretches between them the long span of seventy years. The little girl is Mr. Gladstone's sister, who died. The portrait was taken in Liverpool, while Mr. John Gladstone lived in Rodney Street.

'Mr. Gladstone has recently disposed of the question of his hobbies. He has none. Before the day of his retirement into private life, however, the public took a partially proprietary interest in what they were pleased to consider his hobby of cutting down trees.