THE WEEK'S GREAT DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 307, 29 December 1930, Page 6

THE WEEK'S GREAT DAY.

DECEMBER 29.—BIRTH OF MR.

GLADSTONE,

(Copyrighted.)

One hundred and twenty-one years ago, on 1809, William Ewart Gladstone, who was destined.to become one of the most illustrious statesmen in the history of the Motherland, was born at Liverpool, in which seaport city Jiis father, Sir John Gladstone, had amassed a great fortune as a merchant.

He was educated at Eton College and at Oxford University, and at the conclusion of a brilliant scholastic career he was desirous of taking holy orders, but in deference to the wishes of his father he entered the political arena, and at the age of twenty-four he was elected to the House of Commons as the Tory member for Newark. His maiden speech in the Commons a few months later created a profound impression among his fellow members, and he speedily displayed tihe remarkable talents for debate and statesmanship, which raised him to such a lofty pinnacle of power and influence.

After filling a number of minor positions in the Government, he was appointed president of the Board of Trade and a member of the Cabinet at the age of thirty-three, and later, when he followed Sir Robert Peel in his break with the Tory party, he gradually developed into an advanced Liberal., In 1852 his unprepared speech in the House against Disraeli's Budget, which led to the downfall of the Tory Government, was the commencement of his lengthy duel with the great Jewish statesman, who was his only serious rival in the political world. Gladstone was rewarded with the important post of Chancellor of the Exchequer in the new Government, and his first Budget established his reputation as the paramount financier of his day. In 1860 he became leader of the House of Commons, and three years later, at the age of fifty-nine, he entered on Ills first term as Prime Minister. ,

At the commencement of 1875 he resigned from the leadership of the Liberal party, with the intention of withdrawing from public life, but before the end of the year he emerged from his semi-retirement to denounce the Turkish atrocities in Bulgaria. In 1880 he entered on his second period as Premier, remaining in power for five years, and then, after a brief period in Opposition, he became Prime Minister for the third time in February, 1886. In April of that year he introduced his first Home Rule for Ireland Bill, which caused the downfall of his Government and the disruption of the Liberal party.

In August, 1892, he was again placed in power, being the first British statesman to hold the premiership for a fourth term, and in the following year he introduced his second Home Rule Bill, which was passed by the House of Commons, but was thrown out by the Lords. On March 1, 1894, he delivered his last speech in the Commons, and two days' later he resigned from office, never again entering the Houses of Parliament, although he retained his seat for fifteen months longer. The remaining six years of hie life were passed in peaceful retirement and study, except for one brief period in 1895, when he addressed a series of mass meetings throughout the country in condemnation of the Turkish massacres in Armenia.

He died at his country home at Hawarden on May 19, 1898, at the age of eighty-nine, and hi! body, after lying in state in Westminster Hall, was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey. Mr .Gladstone, whose physical and mental vigour in old age earned for him the affectionate nickname of "The Grand Old Man," was a dominant factor in British political life for a longer period than any other statesman, having sat continuously in the Commons for a period of sixty-one years. His life was a singularly stainless and noble one, and he will ever rank among the greatest of British statesmen.