| Show A TRULY GREAT MAN hon william ewart gladstone is in not only a grand old man but a great 0 oi e mire than this thin even he to is a won darful man he was an active worker in the political arena lor for many years prior to the birth of either our president or ex president yet with eighty four years of life furrowing his brow and stooping his figure the fire of earlier days burns as brightly as of yore the eloquence which for three score years and more has charmed all listeners has abated nothing of its power his bis voice is still firm and his memory altogether unimpaired eJ does not this among the creatures of the earth most moat subject to feebleness and decay with advanced years constitute all that may de define ne a wonderful man there are and will remain differences of opinion widely divergent as t tu the correctness of mr Glad Glade stones tones judgment on some of the greater questions of the day there be those in abundance woo who will say eay and try to demonstrate that he is not the equal of his bis great predecessor disraeli viewed from whatever stand point we may and many will claim that he is now but paving the way to end a life of tol tolerably embly brilliant mediocrity with a humiliating fiasco when his hie bill reaches the bouse of lords but we question if any of these will undertake to show even it if they should believe that the venerable statesman sia teeman is not the most gifted man of his years that ever rose or reigned or fell in the service ot the british crown his methods they may attack and be measurably successful but bat it would be greater folly than that committed by the serpent in the smiths smi thys ilys workshop that gnawed a file and lost his bis teeth for his pains for them to even attempt to besmirch his patriotism belittle his bis intellect impugn his 1118 motives or pluck one eoe leaf from the bright laurels which crown his bis brow through the work of a long and busy lifetime mr gladstone presented his bin long looked for bill for ts a local parliament for ireland to the house of commons yesterday afternoon a little before 4 the scene that occurred when he entered the chamber must have hone his big heart good the cheers cleere and applause lasting for several min utes which were repeated when he arose to introduce the bill the crowning work of his career he then proceeded without hesitation to speak la in behalf of the measure the old time flow of pure english which may be printed as aa it falls from his lips without an erasure or substitution being as lucid and unforced as it ever wap he was repeatedly interrupted with it would be invidious to select for fir special mention any portion of great britons briton Is effort from froin the tele graphed synopsis even with its meager noes ness something of the orators warmth and virility seem to speak through the lines end and chain the attention of the reader How however allusion may be made to that portion wherein the promise of great britain when the act of union was passed that irishmen should have seats seata in the cabinet had so shamefully been broken only one representative of erin he said had even been thus recognized before the not act was passed the duke of wellington if gladstone did not say that this was because of military services rendered which thrust english prejudice aside and made the question of honoring the man who afterwards received the credit for overthrowing napoleon a compulsory one he had bad reasons for doing so no doubt but to us it appears as an omis omission and the additional fact was referred to that but one other irishman since the act was passed Castle castlereagh reagh had been similarly honored this being equivalent to ViOl violat StiD of the spirit at least of the national obligation the report says after the speech the orator was overwhelmed with COL granulations that among the listeners was justice harlan of the united states supreme court who pronounced the speech matchless and the peroration the must most beautiful in pathos he had ever heard As the judge has heard a great many and is a man most thoroughly qualified for determining such a question we may accept his statement as a conclusion the effort occupied between two and liftee hours whatever may be the fate of the home rule bill of one thing we may bewell be well assured that the name and fame of the grand old man which even some of his friends feared were in peril through the hazardous undertaking in which he is engage J are more secure and if possible brighter than ever before it all goes to show that man may not at all times if even at a all 11 measure the depth of human greatness by me his own fallible judgment or determine to what length the space of life may extend ere yet the intellect falters and the structure gives way perhaps mr Glad stones and supporters are as gen genuinely disappointed as are his en enemies emler one agreeably the other disagreeably that thai the climax of a reputation already a living honor to its wearer is reached at the climax of his physical life |
