MR GLADSTONE'S BIRTHDAY.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume III, Issue 397, 31 December 1889, Page 2

MR GLADSTONE'S BIRTHDAY.

It is not often that a man who lives to be eighty years of age is found at the head of a political party; yet such a man is now before the world in the Right Hon. W, E- Gladstone, who on Sunday last attained his eightieth year. It is impossible that such a person could exist without having surrounded himself with enemies, and perhaps there is no individual who has received so much abuse and so much hostile criticism who yet retains the respect which his countrymen ever accorded to an intelligent Englishman. The name of Gladstone will be always associated with tha M fifty years of English history as a statesman of whom England herself can produce few equals and hardly any superiors. Gladstone was born on 29th. December, 1809. He was the son of a- Liverpool merchant who afterwards entered Parliament and was subsequently created a barpnet when he was over eighty years of age. Young Gladstone was a lad of great promise, and at school and college he earned among his schoolfellows a brilliant reputation for himself, both from a literary and a student point of view. From Eton College he went to the Oxford University. Here in 1831 he obtained the highest honors that the University could bestow. During his residence at Qsford he was the life end

I soul of the Oxford Union, of which he became President, and there are many traditions of his success as a debater, I in a place where eloquence was essentially at home. A two years’ tour on the Continent preceded the great event of his life—his entry into Parliament In 1832 he went forth, at the early age of twenty-two, to battle for the Conservatives for the Newark seat. In October, 1834, he was made a Junior Lord of the Treasury, and in the election, which of necessity followed, he won golden opinions among his constituents. The chances of party warfare, however, soon placed him in opposition, where he did excellent service for his party. The accession of Queen Victoria caused a genera! election. Though . only | twenty-nine, Gladstone was invited to contest Manchester seat, and in spite of his opposition, and point blank refusal to stand, he wasnominated, and polled 2,294 votes against 4,155 and 3,760 given for two other candidates, which was a remarkable tribute to his speedily rising fame. Gladstone in 1839 was married to Miss Catherine Glynn, and only the other day celebrated the golden anniversary of that event. The year 1841 saw Gladstone again in office, as Vice-President of the Board of Trade and Master of the Mint. He became President of the Board of Trade in 1843, an office which he resigned in 1845 to become Secretary of State for the Colonies. Being opposed in opinions to the Duke of Newcastle, who

had secured his election for Newark, Gladstone felt it incumbent upon himself to resign his seat, which he did, and remained out of Parliament until the general election next year. From 1852 down to 1865 he was for the most part Chancellor of the Exchequer. By the latter date he had drifted from the Tory ranks, and on Lord Palmerston’s death he became'leader of the House of Commons. His party were beaten on the Reform Bill of 1866, and from this until 1880 the leadership of the House was alternately in the hands of Disraeli and Gladstone. In 1880 he entered upon the remarkable Midlo-

thian compaign, one of the most fiercely fought political battles of the century, and out of which the Liberals came victorious. The events of the last five years are too fresh in the minds of our readers to need recapitulation. It is sufficient to state that Gladstone staked the existence of his Ministry on granting a measure of Home Rule to Ireland, and was defeated by dissensions in the Liberal ranks, but still the old man keeps fighting bn when others would have pleaded their years, and given up the battle in despair. In spite of his opponents’ attempt to detect microscopic signs of weakness in that

gigantic intellect, all their efforts have failed, and the venerable statesman still holds his own in the great fight. His performance at Birmingham was astonishing even to his friends. Once, when it seemed to him that his enemies counted upon his death as likely to put an end to that fight, he lifted up his voice and in heartstirring words warned his opponents that more than the death of one poor old man was required before the fight would cease. It is a remarkable circumstance about Gladstone that, as a statesman, his prophecies singularly fulfil themselves. His measures have as a rule become law, however strong the opposition that has delayed them for a time. The Home Rule measure will, we believe, form no exception from the ordinary course, founded as it is upon justice and right, and the time will come when people will wonder why it was opposed It is as the politician and financier that Gladstone commends himself to public attention, but in literature he also holds rank of the very first kind. Whatever path in life Gladstone hsd chosen for himself he must have succeeded. We tender our heartiest good wishes to this great man, and trust that, though he has already outspaced the allotted time of man, he may live for many years to come, or if that cannot be vouchsafed to him, that he will at least be permitted to see the successful ending of what may then be fittingly described as the crowning event of a great life.