MR. GLADSTONE IN IRELAND.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume V, Issue 245, 11 January 1878, Page 13

MR. GLADSTONE IN IRELAND.

(From tfw Pilot.} At eleven o clock on the morning of- October 17th, accompanied by Mrs. and Miss Gladstone and Mr. Spencer Littleton, Ms nephew, Mr Gladstone left Hawarden Castle on his Irish trip. Quietly as he had stolen away he had not reached Holyhead when his departure was the talk of the London clubs. The news did not travel so fast to Dublin. I believe," says the Duulin Freeman correspondent, "I was the only person who left the metropolis last evening with the expectation of seeing the great statesman or the knowledge that he was coming Kingstown was altogether without warning of its visitor. At half-past five o'clock, when the mail-boat was beginning to be looked for through a haze, a policeman, a few porters, and a dozen chance loungers, composed the entire assembly in waiting on the Carlisle Pier. Not a.single Irish Liberal politician, not one of Mr. Gladstones conspicuous political friends, was in sight The secret had plainly been well kept. It was -just deepening into twilight when the mail-boat ncared shore. Mr. Gladstone's first glimpse of Ireland, as he stood on the bridge with his characteristic contempt of the cold evening air, must have been of a glowing suuset, crowning the Wicklow peaks with gold Ine sun had not gone down, when a brilliant moon, high in the clear frosty sky, showered down its rays over the bay bright as daylightso that his first experience of an Irish landscape, despite the nipping air, cannot have been any shock to prepossessions sure to be kindly The whole party travelled by the magnificent paddle-stramer Connaught, Captain Kendal. The run across was propitious ; the weakest sea-legs on board did not totter. At twenty minutes i o six the Connaught s head-hght glistened through the haze that was upon the water. In two minutes more she was alongside the pier. To clamber on board was short work ; to ascertain that Mr. Gladstone had come was easy ; to pick him out of a miscellaneous bevy of cloaked and muffled strangers, even in the dusk, and though I had never laid eyes upon him, I found to be equally easy. Even if a respectful buzz had not followed him wherever he went or whatever he did, there could have been no mistaking his bright grey eyes, Koman nose, deeplyiurrowed cheeks, firm chm, and scanty steel-grey hair— the wondrous combination of benignity and earnestness, or mildness and force of thought and action, of fire and gravity— which are figured in every print-shop m Christendom. A gentleman with those unmistakeable marks, warmly buttoned up in grey frieze, with his hat well down over his eyes, was quietly shouldering his way to the gangway pioneering a lady, and it needed but one glance under thl gaVlamp to assure me I was face to face with one of the three foremost men in luirope. " You are welcome to Ireland, Mr. Gladstone ! " murmured voice after voice with an Irish brogue in it, as he stepped ashore. No v shout w ? s raised ; the tUn S said quietly -and heartily 'Thank you, my friends, you are very, very kind 1" he said, smilingly Ihere : was no touch of weariness in his gait ; he stepped along, fufiof cheerfulness and vigour, with Mrs. Gladstone on his arm, towards the spot over a hundred yards away, near the George Monument, where the fcarl of Meath s carnage was waiting to convey him to Kilruddery Lever s ragged Ireland no longer capered around him, whining for coin, and carrying on a civil war for his baggage. His manifest wish to shun public parade was scrupulously respected. A pardonable interest tempted a few score idlers to follow at a respectful distance and greet him with occasional assurances of welcome ; but there was no rudeness, no crushing, no ill-breeding. Mr. Gladstone seemed to appreciate cordially the people's demeanour, and over and over said they were all very kind. Whatever might have been my own qualms of conscience abont troubling with business those few moments of repose 10lftt£hed from a life of almost superhuman activity, they were dispelled upon the instant as soon as I had stated who I was, and presented my letter of introduction. Mr. Gladstone received me with exceeding cordiality, and as he strolled down the pier chatted frankly " This is the first time I have set foot in Ireland," he said " I have made a good beginning— we have had a beautiful passage " I intimated to him that rumour attributed something more than a personal interest to his visit. " Humour is very attentive to me sometimes, he said laughingly. « I have written a letter to the Eight Hon. Mr. Law, the member for Londonderry, who is the only Irish member of my Government now in Parliament, stating what was in my mmdm coming to Ireland. Mr. Law wanted me to go lothe North, where there was a desire that I should make some public appearance, and I wrote to him yesterday to Donegal, indicating my reasons for declining the kindness. No doubt he will publish my letter— in fact, I think I intimated a wish that it should be made generally known, m order that there may be no mistake about my intentions. In the meantime I suggested there would be an eagerness to learn, and, I was sure, to consult, his wishes. "The Irish people are very kind," he said cordially. "Well the gist of the matter is this— my visit to Ireland is a matter of pleasure, to see good friends here, and see as xauclj of the Irish people

as I can for myself. I will not say that there is not a great deal in the public life of Ireland in which I have always felt a deep interest. Indeed I have. But before coming over here I have canvassed the question carefully, and I have arrived at the determination that in the present state of public feeling in Ireland it would not he desirable that I should break my rule to go around quietly and see as much as I can." " Then, it is not impertinent, I hope, to presume, sir, that you do not like the present turn of Irish politics ?" "It ia not for me to come over here to instruct the Irish people, you know," was his reply. " I respect their wishes,. A large portion of the Irish people has returned a numerous body of representatives to Parliament upon a principle which I — as a private individual only — look upon as a mistake. I cannot forget that. It is not my place to pretend to instruct them. But, situated as things stand just now, with the divisions that exist, I have made up my mind that, if I were to intervene in any way, it would not have the effect of doing any service to Ireland ' and lam determined, if I cannot do any good, not to do any mischief. I think that ought to he known." " The English papers, you are no doubt aware, sir, have got a feeling abroad that there may be question of a new rapprochement between the Irish arid English Liberals." Mr. Gladstone smiled in a way that' was as good as a flat contradiction. " I don't know whether I can presume to ask whether you yourself perceive any basis for such an agreement?', " That is not for me to suggest," was "the reply. "I could not suggest ; I could only help, and I would be very happy ; but, 'as I explained in my letter to Mr. Law, my present determination — I say my present determination— is that I should decline any invitation of a public character during my stay in Ireland. Tbat will not, of course, prevent me from being happy to meet members of Parliament, or other gentlemen who may be good enough to call upon me privately, but it must be in privacy." I inquired whether he had mapped out any programme for his stay. He frankly answered — " Only roughly ; I have many kind friends in Ireland whom I should wish to see, and I will try to divide my time among them. I think of spending three weeks in looking around me." I asked would he be able to extend his visit to Killarney. ♦' I will go everywhere that I can," he replied, "if I may go quietly ;" and he added, "What I want to see is the Irish people. I have long 'desired to do so."