"Probably no one, past or present," writes Justin McCarthy, "had in combination so many gifts of voice, manner, fluency and argument, reason and passion, as Gladstone." Beginning his career as an orator, Gladstone, the greatest of living statesmen, has achieved an unrivaled reputation as a parliamentary speaker, the intense gravity and earnestness or his utterances carrying conviction to the minds of his hearers. In over fifty years of public life he has either instigated or participated in a series of measures which have caused a most admirable change in the English laws and government, the most notable being the extention of the franchise to every man who has an established home.

The only predecessors in English statesmanship who can approach him, are Pitt and Peel. But the periods of their fame were but short-lived in comparison with the half-century of Gladstone's public life, whose triumphs have all been triumphs of peace.

He was born at Liverpool—an Englishman by birth, but of Scotch descent. His father was a wealthy merchant, who acquired a large fortune in the West India trade.

He was educated at Eton and the University of Oxford, and graduated before attaining the age of twenty-two years. He entered Parliament in 1832 as a member for Newark, Nottinghamshire, which borough he continued to represent until 1846. During these years honors fell profusely on the head of the youthful commoner, "Handsome Gladstone," as he was called. At this time he was a constant contributor to the "Quarterly Review," chiefly on literary and ecclesiastical subjects.

In 1834, he was made junior lord of the treasury; and three months later, under-secretary for colonial affairs. In 1841, Mr. Gladstone was made vice-president of the council and master of the mint. In 1843 he relinquished the first-named of these offices in order to assume that of president of the board of trade. In 1845 he entered the cabinet as secretary of the colonies, under the premiership of Sir Robert Peel; but soon resigned this office and also his seat in Parliament.

In 1851 Mr. Gladstone broke away from the conservative party. The following year he became chancellor of the Exchequer, a position for which he showed a marvelous aptitude, handling the national accounts with an easy mastery, and presenting them before the house of commons and the country with a degree of eloquence which perhaps had never before adorned so unattractive a matter as national finance. In 1858 Mr. Gladstone declined a position in the cabinet, but accepted a special mission to the Ionian Islands.

In June, 1859, he again became chancellor of the Exchequer, under Lord Palmerston, at whose death, in 1865, Mr. Gladstone became the leader of his party in the House of Commons.

In 1868 he became premier for the first time, which office he held until 1874, when the conservative reaction displaced him. While in power he disestablished the Irish church, passed the Irish land bill of 1870, and also an educational reform bill; he abolished the purchase of commissions in the army, and established the system of voting by ballot in elections. In 1860 the country welcomed the liberals back into power, and Mr. Gladstone again become premier, which office he held until 1886, with the exception of brief intervals. Under this great statesman's leadership, the permanent good that has been accomplished in English domestic reform is most remarkable.

Mr. Gladstone's Personal Life   MerchantCircle

In 1839 Mr. Gladstone was married to Miss Catherine Glynne. Two of his sons are members of parliament; a third son is clergyman of the church of England; and one of his daughters is married to a minister of that denomination.

Hawarden Castle, near Chester, in Flintshire, now the beautiful home of Mr. Gladstone, came into his possession through his wife. The ancestors of this lady have owned the property for more than a century; her family is a very ancient one, tracing its Welsh descent to about A.D. 830. Mr. Gladstone has constructed an addition to the castle, where he has his study, which he calls his "temple of peace." It contains fifteen thousand volumes, and of this storehouse of knowledge any resident visitor is allowed, on entering his or her name in a book kept for the purpose, to borrow at pleasure.

The apartment contains three tables, one of which Mr. Gladstone uses when busy with political work and correspondence; another is reserved for literary work; and the third is used by Mrs. Gladstone, who is her husband's constant helper. The grand old park of the castle, of two hundred and fifty acres in extent, abounds in fine trees and rhododendrons, which in spring form masses of bloom; its banks and glades, richly timbered, afford splendid views of the Plain of Chester and the glorious hills of Fordsham and Peckforton.

The villagers regard Mr. Gladstone almost in the light of a patron saint, and speak proudly of his prowess as a woodchopper, in which he equaled the late Horace Greeley. Like Mr. Greeley, he took this form of exercise late in life, but he has developed a skills which is astonishing. Mr. Gladstone is a devout man, and when at his country seat, reads a portion of the service of the morning prayer in the parish church of which his son is minister.

A Lasting Legacy

As a statesman, Mr. Gladstone is stronger now than ever before his efforts in the amelioration of the Irish being applauded on both sides of the Atlantic. His personal power and magnetism seem unlimited, so great is the confidence of the majority of the British people in his integrity, sagacity and capacity; and if a few more years are spared this energetic statesman, his supremacy and power will be still more manifested in the admirable reforms he is now engaged in.