A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Z

The Grand Old Man

R >> Richard B. Cook >> The Grand Old Man




The Ulster Unionists opposed the bill. The Scotch-Irish Protestants of
the north of Ireland declared that they preferred to stand where they
did in 1690, when they defeated James II and his Catholic followers, in
the battle of the Boyne, and fought for William of Orange for the
English throne and liberty and Protestantism. Their opposition to Home
Rule for Ireland grew out of their hostility to Roman Catholicism and
the fear of its supremacy.

After six months of earnest debate in the House of Commons, the Home
Rule Bill for Ireland was passed, with slight amendments, September 1,
1893, by a vote of 301 to 267, a majority of thirty-four, The struggle
was perhaps the most heated in the history of Parliament.

The bill was sent to the House of Lords, where it was defeated,
midnight, September 8, by the surprising majority of 419 to 41, after
only one week's discussion. Members that never attended were drummed up
to vote against the bill. The usual working force of the House of Lords
is from thirty to forty members. The vote was the largest ever taken in
the Lords.

At once the cry, "Down with, the House of Lords!" was heard. The
National Liberal Federation issued a circular, in which were the words:
"The question of mending or ending the House of Lords ... displaces for
awhile all other subjects of reform." Mr. Gladstone was probably aware
of the contents of this manifesto before it was issued, and the
sentiments were in accord with those uttered by him two years before at
New Castle.

September 27th, Mr. Gladstone addressed his constituents at Edinburgh.
He was received with an outburst of enthusiasm. He said that the
People's Chamber had passed the bill. If the nation was determined it
would not be baffled by the Peers. If the Commons should go before the
country, then the Lords should go too, and if defeated, should do what
the Commons would do--clear out.

The Queen wanted Mr. Gladstone to appeal to the country, and there was
an opinion among some that Mr. Gladstone would be defeated at the polls
upon the question; but the Premier intimated to the Queen his intention
not to appeal, and announced the readiness of the Cabinet to be
dismissed by the Queen. However, the Queen would hardly expose the
throne to the danger threatening the Peers.

December 29, 1893, Mr. Gladstone attained the eighty-fourth year of his
age. When he entered the House of Commons that day his political
associates of the Liberal party all rose anta greeted him with cheers.
When the applause had subsided, the Conservatives raised their hats and
their leader, Mr. Balfour, rose and tendered his congratulations. Mr.
Gladstone was much pleased with the demonstrations of his friends, as
well as with the graceful compliments of his political opponents.
Besides about two hundred congratulatory messages, letters and telegrams
were received, those from Queen Victoria, and the Prince and Princess of
Wales, being among the first.

July 6, 1893, Prince George of Wales, Duke of York, and Princess Mary of
Teck were married. The Prince was by inheritance heir, after the Prince
of Wales, to the throne of England. Mr. Gladstone attended the wedding,
arrayed in the blue and gold uniform of a brother of the Trinity House,
with naval epaulettes, and was conducted to the royal pew reserved
for him.

[Illustration:]

Among the great measures proposed at this time by Mr. Gladstone were the
Employers' Liability, and the Parish Councils Bills. The latter was as
evolutionary and as revolutionary as the Home Rule Bill. Its object was
to take the control of 10,000 rural English parishes out of the hands of
the squire and the parson and put it into the hands of the people. With
its amendments regarding woman suffrage, to which Mr. Gladstone was
opposed, it gave to every man and woman in England one vote--and only
one--in local affairs. February 21, 1894, when Mr. Gladstone had
returned from Biarritz, where he had gone for his health, there was
again a notable assemblage in the House of Commons to hear him speak. It
was expected that he would make a bitter attack upon the House of Lords,
which had attempted to defeat both these bills by amendments. But he
calmly spoke of the lamentable divergence between the two branches of
the legislature upon the Employers' Liability Bill, and asked that the
amendment be rejected, which was done by a majority of 225 to 6. The
bill was therefore withdrawn, and the responsibility of its defeat
thrown upon the Lords. The House also rejected all the important
amendments of the Parish Councils Bill, but concurred in the unimportant
changes made by the Lords. It was sent back then to the lords, and
finally passed by them. But Mr. Gladstone greatly disappointed many of
his political friends by his mild manner of dealing with the House of
Lords. The extreme Radicals were angered and condemned severely the
Premier for what they called his "backing down" and his "feeble speech."

Rumors in reference to Mr. Gladstone's resignation, which had been
started by the _Pall Mall Gazette_, while he was yet at Biarritz, were
now renewed. February 28, 1894, Mr. Gladstone informed the Queen of his
contemplated retirement, giving as reasons his failing eyesight,
deafness and age. March 1st, he made an important speech in the House of
Commons. He displayed so much vigor and earnestness in his speech that
it was thought that he had given up the idea of retiring. But this was
his last speech as Premier. March 2d, Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone were
summoned to Windsor, where they dined with the Queen, and remained over
night. Saturday, March 3, 1894, Mr. Gladstone tendered his resignation
as Premier to the Queen, who accepted it with many expressions of favor
and regret, and offered him again a peerage, which was declined. On the
way to Windsor and return to London, Mr. Gladstone was greeted by a
large and enthusiastic crowd. Hundreds of letters and telegrams
expressing regret, because of his retirement, were received by the
ex-Premier, On Sunday he attended church as usual and was looking well,
Mr. Balfour in the Commons, and Lord Salisbury in the Lords, vied with
Mr. Gladstone's political friends in speaking his praise, and referring
in the highest terms to his character and labors. The press in all parts
of the world spoke in glowing terms of his natural endowments, great
attainments, invaluable services, pure character and wonderfully
vigorous old age. It was quite evident that Mr. Gladstone's retirement
was not enforced by mental or physical infirmities, or by his unfitness
for the leadership of the House and the Premiership, but that as a wise
precaution, and upon the solicitation of his family, he had laid down
his power while he was yet able to wield it with astonishing vigor. Thus
closed the fourth administration of this remarkable man, the greatest
English statesman of his time. In all history there is no parallel case,
and no official record such as his.

Lord Rosebery was appointed Premier in the place of Mr. Gladstone, and
Sir William V. Harcourt became the leader of the Liberal party in the
House of Commons. Mr. Gladstone wrote congratulating Lord Rosebery, and
promised to aid him whenever his assistance was required. In assuming
office Lord Rosebery eulogized Mr. Gladstone, and announced that there
would be no change in the policy of reform of the Liberal party under
the new administration, and declared for Home Rule for Ireland, the
disestablishment of the church in Wales and Scotland, and the reform of
the House of Lords.

[Illustration:]




CHAPTER XX


IN PRIVATE LIFE

Justin McCarthy, in the closing pages of his Story of Gladstone's Life,
says: "The long political struggle was over and done. The heat of the
opposition this way and that had gone out forever, and Mr. Gladstone had
none left but friends on both sides of the political field. Probably
that ceremonial, that installation of the Prince of Wales as Chancellor
of the Welsh University, was the last occasion on which Mr. Gladstone
would consent to make an appearance on a public platform. It was a
graceful close to such a great career."

The occasion referred to was the ceremonial at Aberystwith, Wales, June
26, 1896, when the Prince of Wales was installed as Chancellor of the
Welsh University, and when the Prince presented to the Princess of Wales
and to Mr. Gladstone honorary degrees conferred upon them by the
University. The appearance of Mr. Gladstone was the signal for great
applause. The Prince in his remarks was very complimentary to Mr.
Gladstone, and spoke of the honor paid the University by the presence of
the aged scholar and statesman, and also said it was truly one of the
proudest moments of his life, when he found himself in the flattering
position of being able to confer an academic honor upon one furnishing
the rare instance of occupying the highest position as a statesman and
who at the same time had attained such distinction in scholarship.

But Mr. McCarthy was mistaken about this being the closing public
service in the life of Mr. Gladstone. It was very far from his last
public appearance. After that event Mr. Gladstone appeared repeatedly.
Though his official life had closed, yet he was to emerge from
retirement many times, and especially when it became necessary for him
to raise his strong voice for humanity. His advocacy of the great causes
of Armenian rescue, of Grecian independence, of Arbitration instead of
War, and the unity and harmony of the two great English-speaking people,
was given with all the old time fire of youth. What Mr. Gladstone did
and said with pen and voice since the occasion mentioned, was enough not
only for another chapter, but a whole volume, and sufficient alone to
immortalize any man.

After the great struggle for Home Rule and during the sultry summer of
1893, Mr. Gladstone repaired to his favorite winter resort, Biarritz, in
the south of France, It was while he was there that rumors of his
resignation were heard, based on the ground of his failing health. Dr.
Granger, of Chester, who was also an oculist, was summoned to examine
Mr. Gladstone's eyes. He told Mr. Gladstone that a cataract had
obliterated the sight of one eye, and that another cataract had begun to
form on the other. In other words Mr. Gladstone was threatened with
total blindness. The Prime Minister reflected a moment, and then
requested--almost ordered--the physician to operate immediately upon his
eye. He said: "I wish you to remove the cataract at once." The physician
replied that it was not far enough advanced for an operation. "You do
not understand me," answered the patient, "it is the old cataract I wish
removed. If that is out of the way, I shall still have one good eye,
when the new cataract impairs the sight of the other." As the physician
still hesitated, Mr. Gladstone continued: "You still seem not to
understand me. I want you to perform the operation here and now while I
am sitting in this chair." "But it might not be successful," said Dr.
Granger. "That is a risk I accept," was the instant reply. However, the
physician dared not then undertake it, and afterwards said that Mr.
Gladstone's eyes were as good as they were a year before, and that his
general health was also good.

In May, 1894, Mr. Gladstone's eye was successfully operated upon for
cataract. He took no anaesthetic, and was conscious during the time.
Every precaution was taken to insure success, and the patient was put to
bed for rest and quiet and kept on low diet. Mr. Gladstone's eyes were
so improved by judicious treatment that before long he could read ten or
twelve hours a day. This could be regarded as complete restoration of
sight, and enabled him, upon his retirement from public life, to devote
himself to the work he so well loved when at home in his study
at Hawarden.

Mr. Gladstone's retirement from public life, from the Premiership, the
Cabinet, the leadership of the Liberal Party, and from Parliament did
not mean his entrance upon a period of inactivity. In the shades of
Hawarden and in the quiet of his study he kept up the industry that had
characterized his whole life heretofore.

It had been the custom for centuries for English statesmen, upon
retiring from official life, to devote themselves to the classics. Mr.
Gladstone, who was pre-eminently a statesman-scholar, found it very
congenial to his mind and habits to follow this old English custom. He
first translated and published "The Odes of Horace." Then he took
Butler's "Analogy" as a text book, and prepared and published "Studies
Subsidiary to the Works of Bishop Butler." The discussion necessarily
takes a wide range, treating, among other matters, of Butler's method,
its application to the Scriptures, the future life, miracles and the
mediation of Christ. Says W.T. Stead: "No one who reads the strenuous
arguments with which Mr. Gladstone summarizes the reasoning of Bishop
Butler on the future life is conscious of any weakening in the vigorous
dialectic which was so often employed with brilliant success in the
House of Commons."

One of Mr. Gladstone's latest productions was his "Personal
Recollections of Arthur H. Hallam," which was written for the "Youth's
Companion." It is a tribute to the memory and worth of one of his early
friends at Eton.

These and other literary works occupied most of his time. But Mr.
Gladstone would not content himself with quiet literary work. He had too
long and too intensely been active in the world's great movements and on
humanity's behalf to stand aloof. Hence it was not long before he was
again in the arena, doing valiant service for the Armenian and
against the Turk.

In 1892 the Sultan, in the execution of a plan devised in 1890, issued
an edict against religious freedom. In 1894, he threw off the mask and
began to execute his deliberate and preconcerted plan to force all
Christian Armenians to become Mohammedans or to die. Robbery, outrage
and murder were the means used by the hands of brutal soldiers.

In a letter to an indignation meeting held in London, December 17th,
1894, Mr. Gladstone wrote denouncing these outrages of the Turks. The
reading of the letter was greeted with prolonged applause.

A deputation of Armenian gentlemen, residing in London and in Paris,
took occasion on Mr. Gladstone's 85th birthday, December 29th, 1894, to
present a silver chalice to Hawarden Church as "a memorial of Mr.
Gladstone's sympathy with and assistance to the Armenian people." Mr.
Gladstone's address to the deputation was regarded as one of the most
peculiar and characteristic acts of his life. He gave himself wholly to
the cause of these oppressed people, and was stirred by the outrages and
murders perpetrated upon them as he was 18 years before. He said that
the Turks should go out as they did go out of Bulgaria "bag and
baggage," and he denounced the government of the Sultan as "a disgrace
to Mahomet, the prophet whom it professed to follow, a disgrace to
civilization at large, and a curse to mankind." He contended that every
nation had ever the right and the authority to act "on behalf of
humanity and of justice."

There were those who condemned Mr. Gladstone's speech, declaring that it
might disrupt the peace of Europe, but there were many others who
thought that the sooner peace secured at such a cost was disturbed the
better. It was but natural for those who wrongfully claimed the
sovereign right to oppress their own subjects, to denounce all
interference in the affairs of the Sultan.

It was reported, March 19, 1895, that Francis Seymour Stevenson, M.P.,
Chairman of the Anglo-Armenian Association, on behalf of the Tiflis
Armenians, would present to Mr. Gladstone, on his return to London, the
ancient copy of the Armenian Gospels, inscribed upon vellum, which was
to accompany the address to the ex-Premier, then being signed by the
Armenians there. In a letter Mr. Gladstone had but recently declared
that he had abandoned all hope that the condition of affairs in Armenia
would change for the better. The Sultan, he declared, was no longer
worthy of the courtesies of diplomatic usage, or of Christian tolerance.
Mr. Gladstone promised that when these Gospels were formally presented
to him he would deliver a "rattling" address on behalf of the Armenians.
When a delegation waited on him, he said, after assuring them of his
sympathy, that the danger in the Armenian situation now was that useful
action might be abandoned, in view of the promises of the Turkish
Government to institute reforms.

In June 1895, Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone attended the opening of the Kaiser
Wilhelm Canal as guests of Sir Donald Currie, on his steamship
Tantallon Castle, returning home on the twenty-fifth. During this trip
an effort was made to arrange for an interview between the Ex-Premier
and the Prince Bismarck, but the Prince seemed disinclined and the
project failed.

It was while Mr. Gladstone was at Kiel, that the Rosebery Ministry fell
by an accidental defeat of the Liberal Party in Parliament, and which
again brought Mr. Gladstone to the front in the public mind. Lord
Rosebery telegraphed Mr. Gladstone full particulars of the situation,
and Mr. Gladstone strongly advised against the resignation of the
Government and urged that a vote of confidence be taken. Mr. Gladstone
wrote that the Liberal Party could well afford to stand on its record.
The Ministry with but two exceptions, was the same, as that formed by
Mr. Gladstone in August 1892, and had his confidence.

Nevertheless, the cabinet of Lord Rosebery resigned, and the Marquis of
Salisbury again became Prime Minister,--on the very day of Mr.
Gladstone's arrival home. However Lord Rosebery retained the leadership
of the Liberal Party.

There is no doubt that if the wishes of the Liberal Party had been
gratified, Mr. Gladstone would have taken the leadership and again
become Prime Minister. Subsequent events proved that he would have been
equal, at least for a while, to the task of succeeding Lord Rosebery.
But Mr. Gladstone was not willing. He refused to re-enter Parliament,
and wrote a letter to his old constituents at Midlothian, declining
their kind offer to send him to the House and bade them a kind farewell.
In his letter he said that the Liberal Party is a party of progress and
reform, and urged his constituents to stand by it. He regarded the
changes of the century exceedingly beneficial.

August 6, 1895, Mr. Gladstone made a great speech at Chester. A meeting
was held in the Town Hall to arouse public sentiment against the
slaughter of Armenian Christians within the Empire of the Sultan by
Turkish soldiers, and to devise some means of putting an end to such
crimes, and of punishing the oppressor. The audience was very large,
including many Armenians resident in England, and rose with vociferous
cheering when Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone, the Duke of Westminster, the
Bishop of Chester, and the Mayor of Chester entered the hall. The Bishop
of Ripon was already there. The Duke of Westminster presided, and read a
letter from the Marquis of Salisbury, the Premier.

Mr. Gladstone arose amid an outburst of enthusiastic applause, and
addressing the vast audience said:

That the massacres in Armenia resulted from intolerable
government--perhaps the worst in the world. He offered a resolution
pledging the support of the entire nation to the British Government in
its efforts to secure for the Armenians such reforms as would guarantee
the safety of life, honor, religion and property. Mr. Gladstone said
that language failed to describe the horrors of the massacre of Sussoun,
which made the blood run cold. The Sultan was responsible, for these
barbarities were not the act of the criminal class, such as afflicts
every country, the malefactors who usually perpetrate horrible crime,
but were perpetrated by the agents of the Sultan--the soldiers and the
Kurds, tax-gatherers and police of the Turkish Government. And what had
been done, and was daily being done, could be summed up in four awful
words--plunder, murder, rape and torture. Plunder and murder were bad
enough, but these were almost venial by the side of the work of the
ravisher and the torturer. And the victims were defenceless men, women
and children--Armenians, one of the oldest Christian civilized races,
and one of the most pacific, industrious and intelligent races of
the world.

There was no exaggeration in the language used to describe the horrible
outrages visited upon whole communities of innocent and helpless people.
The truth of these terrible charges in their most hideous form, was
established by unbiased American testimony, by Dr, Dillon, an eye
witness, and by the representatives of England, France and Russia.

Nothing but a sense of duty, said Mr. Gladstone, had brought him at his
age to resign the repose, which was the last of many great earthly
blessings remaining to him, to address them.

If the Powers of Europe were to recede before the irrational resistance
of the Sultan, they would be disgraced in the eyes of the world, and the
Christian population of the Turkish Empire would be doomed to
extermination, according to the plan of the Porte. Terrible word, but
true in its application.

As to the remedy the cleanest was to make the Turk march out of Armenia,
as he did out of Bulgaria, "bag and baggage." He cautioned against
trusting the promises of the government at Constantinople, which he knew
from long experience, were worthless; and declared that the Sultan was
bound by no treaty obligation. The word "ought" was not heeded at
Constantinople, but the word "must" was understood fully there. Coercion
was a word perfectly comprehended there--a drastic dose which never
failed. If we have the smallest regard for humanity, he concluded, we
shall, with the help of God, demand that which is just and necessary.
Mr. Gladstone was frequently and loudly applauded during his speech, at
the conclusion of which the resolution was adopted.

The most powerful voice in all Britain had been raised with stirring
and thrilling power for justice and humanity. The testimony of an eye
witness is to the effect, that never did the grand old man seem in finer
form. His undimmed eye flashed as he spoke with withering scorn against
hypocrisy and with hottest hate against wrong. His natural force was not
abated, his health robust, and his conviction unsubdued. His deeply
lined and pale face was transfigured with the glow of righteous
indignation. The aged statesman was in his old House of Commons vigor.
"There was the same facile movement of his body, and the same
penetrating look as though he would pierce the very soul of his
auditors; the same triumphant march of sentence after sentence to their
chosen goal, and yet the same subtle method of introducing qualifying
clauses all along the march without loosing the grip of his theme; the
same ascent to lofty principles and commanding generalizations, blended
with the complete mastery of details; and, above all, the same sublimity
of outlook and ringing emphasis of sincerity in every tone." It was an
occasion never to be forgotten. A distinguished hearer said: "To read
his speech, as thousands will, is much; but to have heard it, to have
felt it-oh! that is simply indescribable, and will mark for many, one of
the most memorable days of this last decade of this closing century.
The sweet cadence of his voice, the fascination of his personality, and,
above all, the consecration of his splendid gifts to the cause of
plundered men and ravished women, raise the occasion into prominence in
the annals of a great people. Chiefly, I feel the triumphs of soul. His
utterance of the words 'wives,' 'women,' lifted them into an atmosphere
of awe and solemnity, and his tone in speaking of 'rape' and 'torture'
gave them an ineffable loathsomeness. It seemed as if so much soul had
never been put into a Saxon speech. Keen satire, rasping rebuke, an
avalanche of indignation, rapier-like thrusts to the vital fibre of the
situation, and withal the invincible cogency of argument against the
Turkish Government, gave the oration a primary place amongst the
master-pieces of human eloquence."

In the course of this famous speech Mr. Gladstone referred to America;
once when welcoming the sympathy of the American people with the
suffering Armenians, and again as he described the testimony of the
United States as a witness that gained enormously in value because it
was entirely free from suspicion.

A large meeting was held in St. James Hall, London, October 19, 1896, in
memory of Christian Martyrs in Turkey. The Bishop of Rochester presided.
The hall was packed with an audience of 2,600, while nearly 7,000
applied for admission. Many prominent persons were present. The large
audience was in sombre funeral attire. About thirty front seats were
occupied by Armenians. It was stated that 60,000 Armenians so far had
been murdered with tortures and indignities indescribable. To this
meeting Mr. Gladstone addressed a letter which was greeted with the
wildest enthusiasm. He said that he hoped the meeting would worthily
crown the Armenian meetings of the past two months, which were without a
parallel during his political life. The great object, he said, was to
strengthen Lord Salisbury's hands and to stop the series of massacres,
which were probably still unfinished, and to provide against their
renewal. As he believed that Lord Salisbury would use his powerful
position for the best, personally he objected in the strongest manner to
abridging Lord Salisbury's discretion by laying down this or that as
things which he ought not to do. It was a wild paradox, without the
support of reason or history, to say that the enforcement of treaty
rights to stop systematic massacre, together with effective security
against Great Britain's abusing them for selfish ends, would provoke the
hostilities of one or more of the powers.

Copyright (c) 2007. famouswriterz.com. All rights reserved.