ment be erected in the Collegiate Church of right honourable Gentleman has said, St. Peter's, Westminster, with an inscription expressive of the public admiration and attachment, and of the high sense entertained of his rare and splendid gifts, and his devoted labours in Parliament and in great offices of State, and to assure Her Majesty that this House will make good the expenses attending the same." Motion made, and Question proposed.

and has truly said, it is hardly for us to-day-certainly for no individual amongst us-to endeavour to measure the proportions of so great a character. It is appraised by the public opinion of Great Britain to-day; it will be adjudged in history, as Bacon left his reputation to foreign nations, and future times. *SIR W. HARCOURT (Monmouthshire, We have lately celebrated the sixtieth W.): Sir, I am sure the House of Com-year of the reign of the Queen—an epoch memorable for the growth of the proshas heard with emotion, with perity, the happiness, and greatness of

was

Gladstone no man ever doubted. What I which transfused into others the enthuhe believed he intensely believed, what siasm by which he was himself inhe wished he greatly wished, what he spired, which delighted the cultivated wrought he strenuously wrought. These by its unconscious art, and which carried are the constituents of a great character, away the people by the force of its stream! and these are the qualities which the As the right honourable Gentleman has judgment of history will crown with said, he was equally master of the lighter deserved fame, however people may differ mood. We can recollect how on fitting as to the objects to which they were occasions his humour played like the devoted. Mr. Gladstone came into public summer lightning around his theme, and life fresh from the honours of the Uni- how he exposed his opponents withversity, which, to the last days of his out a wound. And no man can say existence, he dearly loved; the Univer- that these divine gifts were ever emsity in which (to borrow the fine phrase ployed for mean or vulgar uses. They of Mr. Canning) he "slaked the first thirst were exercised on high matters and for of an early ambition"; he entered the noble ends. It gave him a power over House of Commons armed cap-â-pie with the hearts of the British people which, all the weapons fitted for the Parliamen- I believe, no other orator has ever tary lists-a Parliament which had only possessed. I concur in the appropriate just become truly representative of the and eloquent words in which the right people. He came into this famous honourable Gentleman has testified t Chamber with a mind stored with what the House of Commons owes to the various knowledge, ancient and modern, life of Mr. Gladstone. To the matchless sacred and profane, literary and politi- powers of his genius he added qualities cal; a finished intellect inspired by of great value. He greatly reverenced a native genius. Till the last he the House of Commons. He desired to ever looking for fresh materials maintain its reputation as the great to feed his inquiring mind in every organ of the will of a free people. department of human thought. He had No one who has seen it will ever forget never occasion to exclaim, "I would that the stately dignity, the old world courmy tongue could utter the thoughts that tesy, which he ever extended to foe arise in me!" His "thoughts that and to friend alike. His conduct breathed" were clothed at will in in the House of Commons, whether words that burned," and all who wit- in Government or in Opposition, bore nessed the displays of those rare and all the marks of a lofty spirit. splendid gifts of which the Resolution respected others as he respected himspeaks will remember how he was endowed self, and he controlled both by his with that natural eloquence which is the magnanimity. He was strong, but most potent instrument by which he was also gentle; he was to us not only in free countries the popular mind is a great Statesman, but a great Gentleman. stirred. Who that has ever listened to We felt, as the right honourable Gentle it can have forgotten the rich harmony man has said, that he exalted the spirit of that melodious voice, which had a of the Assembly in which he was the charm almost of physical persuasion; who undisputed chief; he raised it in its own will have forgotten the dignified presence, estimation, and in the estimation of the lucid statement, the resources of the world; and we recognised that reasoning, the high tone of passionate the House of Commons was greater by his conviction, the vehement appeals to con- presence, as it is greater by his science and to truth? The memories memory. What he did for this House to which the right honourable Gentle- he did for the Nation, too. I think it man has eloquently referred recall the is impossible to over-value the influfamous extempore translation by Pitt ence the purity purity and of the passage from Tacitus on oratory, piety of his public and private life "Eloquence is a flame which requires has had upon the national life of this fuel to feed it, material to excite country. It has exercised a lasting it, and which brightens as it burns." influence upon the moral sense of the Is that not an accurate description people at large. They have watched of the eloquence of Mr. Gladstone, him through all the trials of a long Sir W. Harcourt.

which

He

the

career passed under the fierce light of which I will ask leave to read, because political controversy, and they have there is not a line which is not as true found in it an example which has per- of Mr. Gladstone as it was of Pitt— manently raised the standard of public life in this nation. What many have preached he practised. His life has been a lesson which is not and will not be forgotten. There is not a hamlet in this land where his virtues are not known and felt. It is known that his heart was ever with the weak, the miserable, and the poor. They remember how much of his life was spent in labours to alleviate their lot. They know that to him they were always his "flesh and blood." His sympathies were not confined to narrow bounds. The ruling passions of his heart were freedom and peace freedom not only for his own, but for every race; peace with every people, good-will towards all men, glad tidings of great joy-the gospel of that religion to which he devoutly attached. His voice went forth to all who were desolate and oppressed, wherever they might dwell. What was said on the death of Grattan, of his services to the Irish nation, was true in the first degree of Mr. Gladstone "As it had been the object of his life, so was it his dying prayer, that all classes of men might be united in amity and peace." That was the spirit of Grattan, that was the spirit of Gladstone. In conclusion, may I say a few words of what he was to those who had the privilege of his intimacy in private friendship and in the life of official colleagues. I speak with experience, I think, longer than that of any man present, and in

was

an

the recollection of the constant and gracious kindness of 45 years. I have heard men who knew him not at all,

who have asserted that the supremacy of his genius and the weight of his authority oppressed and overbore those who lived and worked with him. Nothing could be more untrue. Of all chiefs he was the least exacting, the most kind, and the most tolerant. He was the most placable

of men. How seldom in this House was

the voice of personal anger heard from his lips! These are true marks of great ness. I read the other day a passage in the life of Pitt by a man who knew him from his youth upwards, and who was his most intimate friend through life,

"With the most playful vivacity he assumed no superiority in conversation, nor ever oppressed any man with the strength of his talents or the brilliancy of his wit. It was a matter of surprise how so much fire could be mitigated, and yet not enfeebled, by so much gentleness, and how so much power could be so delightful. Modesty was the striking feature of his character. He was attentive to the humblest, and kindly patient to the weakest opinion. No man was more beloved by his friends, or inspired those who had the happiness to live in his society with a more sincere and affectionate attachment." Such, Mr. Lowther, was the great man whom we shall attend to the grave amidst the mourning of a grateful people at the noble close of a long and honourable life spent in the service of his Queen and his country. He has deserved well of us and of our race, he has left us an undying memory and the precious inheritance of an enduring example. *MR. DILLON: Sir, as an IrishI feel that I have a special right to join in paying a tribute to the great Englishman who died yesterday, because the last and, as all men will agree, the most glorious years of his strenuous and splendid life were dominated by the love which he bore to our nation, and by the eager and even passionate desire to serve Ireland and give her liberty and peace. By virtue of the splendid quality of his nature, which seemed to give him perpetual youth, Mr. Gladstone's faith in a cause to which he had once devoted himself never wavered, nor did his enthusiasm cold. Difficulties and the grow

man

weight of advancing years were alike
ineffectual to blunt the edge of his pur-
pose, or to daunt his splendid courage,
and even when racked with pain, and
when the shadow of death was darken-
ing over him, his heart still yearned
last public utterance was a message of
towards the people of Ireland, and his
sympathy for Ireland, and of hope
and deep nature. He loved the people
His was a great
with a wise and persevering love.
love of the people and his abiding faith
in the efficacy of liberty and of govern-
ment
based on the consent of the

for her future.

His

people, as an instrument of human pro- | God on whom in his last supreme hour of trial Mr. Gladstone humbly placed his firm reliance, begging that He will remember to His great servant how ardently he loved his fellow-men, without distinction of race, while he lived amongst them, and how mightily he laboured for their good.

gress, was not the outcome of youthful enthusiasm, but the deep-rooted growth of long years, and drew its vigour from an almost unparalleled experience of men and of affairs. Above all men I have ever known or read of, in his case the lapse of years seemed to have no influence to narrow his sympathies or to contract his heart. Young men felt old beside him. And to the last no generous cause, no suffering people, appealed to him in vain, and that glorious voice which had so often inspirited the friends of freedom and guided them to victory was to the last at the service of the weak and the oppressed of whatever race or nation. Mr. Gladstone was the greatest Englishman of his time. He loved his own people as much as any Englishman that ever lived. But through communion with the hearts of his own people he acquired that wider and greater gift, the power of understanding and sympathising with other peoples. He entered into their sorrows and felt for their oppressions. And with splendid courage he did not hesitate, even in the case of his much-loved England, to condemn her when he thought she was wronging others, and in so doing he fearlessly faced odium and unpopularity amongst his own people, which it must have been bitter for him to bear; and so he became something far greater than a British statesman, and took a place amidst the greatest leaders of the human race. Amidst the obstructions and the cynicism of a materialistic he never lost his hold on the "ideal" And so it came to pass that wherever throughout the civilised world a race or nation of men were suffering from oppression, their thoughts turned towards Gladstone, and when that mighty voice was raised in their behalf, Europe and the civilised world listened, and the breathing of new hopes entered into the hearts of men made desperate by long despair. In the years that have gone by England has lost many men who served their country splendidly, and round whose graves the British people deeply mourned; but round the deathbed of Gladstone the people of this island are joined in their sorrow by many peoples, and to-day throughout the Christian world-in many lands and in many tongues-prayers will be offered to that Mr. Dillon.

age

*MR. ALFRED THOMAS (Glamorgan, E.): On behalf of the Members representing Welsh constituencies with whom I am associated I desire to add our tribute to those so feelingly expressed by the gentlemen who have preceded me. For upwards of half a century Mr. Glad stone was connected, both by marriage and residence, with the Principality. Indeed, he spoke of Wales with pride as his adopted country, and henceforth it will be among her proudest traditions that the home of the most illustrious states man of the century was in the Princi pality. He won the loyalty and confidence of the people, which remained and strengthened up to the end of his days. And, undoubtedly, he was factor in bringing about that marvellous the great change for the better in the social posi tion of the Welsh people, and in giving the impetus to the educational move ment that will soon place the Principality on an equality with the most favoured country. No other resident of that country ever wielded so powerful an influence upon its people-an influence manifested by the sacrifices they made to support him in his life's mission. But what impressed them most of all was his deep religious convictions, which called forth a universal feeling of venera tion and affection for this friend of humanity and champion of oppressed peoples. We heartily concur in the Motion moved by the First Lord of the Treasury, and we trust that a Memorial will be erected worthy of the nation and of its greatest citizen.

Motion for Address put, and agreed to. Ordered that it be reported to the House.

House resumed.

Report stage fixed for Monday next at

3.30.

or one half of such net charge, whichever THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREA- is most," instead of one half of such SURY: I beg to movenet charge, or four shillings a week, whichever is least."