PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2308, 26 May 1898, Page 52

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

tVilllam Swart Gladstone.

Xtae of Britain's greatest statesmen has tfijp'qnwßecl the bar," For oyat 60 years fra* been a prominent figure in British §wl«bs. What a magnificent life bjs has leflHj&nd how startling tbe changes during . M lifetime lie was five years old when ■ ifaterloo was fought> and remembered the ; jJQfiare in the streets of Liverpool* ltd loitered Parliament wlien tbe great Inform W^l was passed. Wheji he wag a lad what *|tre Britain's colonies 1 daaada had an unkjiCNfn interior, ahd b\\\> a limited population on her eastern seaboard. South Africa liadn't as many Britishers as Danedin. India wm only a fraction of its present size. Australia was fringed with a few Earopsaue, rnoatly convicts ; and New Zealand was fre-

quanted by an occasional whaler. But what dre Britaia'sf colonies now 2 He has seen the birth and deoay of nations, and for good Or ill has .often influenced the destinies of Great Britain. He witnessed the birth of - steamships and railway*, of the printing ; press as we B9 W know it — compare the printing of our Witness with it* web oi timberpulp paper, printiog both sides, cutting, folaicg, and counting, and printed without type, a page being" cas6 letter by" letter as set— l say, "compare the press now and when the London Times announced the result of Waterloo. Then telegraphy, photography, our modern postal system, cheap literature, have all come into existence during the lifetime of this remarkable man. Will ever a statesman again witness such empire espan- . won, and Such advance in the arts and sciences and in politics 1

It is an impossibility for us to form a conception of tbe marvellous changes Britain's CJrand Old Man marched along with. I did ihink I would sketch his life for you, but it jfr ill be done better by other hands. Besides, I wrote a couple of Chats on him some years ago. Instead I'll give you a line or two upon that other magnificent statesman, so totally unlike yet equally majestic : I mean Cord Salisbury,