ENGLAND

New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, Volume 1, Issue 10, 1 July 1900, Page 83

ENGLAND

From England lately flashed the announcement of the death of Mrs. Gladstone. To singularly few of those who dwell in high places has been given the power or the facility to lead such a long life of usefulness as did this grand old lady. As the helpmate of one of England's greatest statesmen she was incomparable. As a hostess she showed a daring regard of the fetishes of birth, ■wealth, and social position araid her guests, and put in their place moral and intrinsic ■worth. As a Lady Bountiful she was untiring. It would be hard to find a better theory than the one she inculcated that the poorest could do something for her in return — and more than that, something for God also — by giving a kind word or a helping hand to another. Another of whose death we have lately read is Dr. Ryle, whose tracts reached a circulation of 12,000,000, and were translated into over a dozen languages. He started life expecting to inherit a large fortune from his father, a wealthy banker, but bankruptcy swallowed it instead. He then entered the Church, and died last month at a good old age as Bishop of Liverpool. The overflowing vitality and vigour which made him a great athlete as a young man permeated his tracts, and accounted for the popularity and power of what is generally a most unpopular and inefficacious class of literature.