Excerpt from William Ewart Gladstone In the preparation of this volume I have sought to gather material from many authentic sources, but I must gratefully acknowledge my special indebtedness to the Life of Gladstone by George Barnett Smith. Facts and language I have liberally borrowed, and without burdening my pages with frequent citations I prefer to refer to the book as the most complete and valuable account of the life of Mr. Gladstone, up to 1883, that has come to my knowledge. Mr. Gladstone's speeches and writings have been used freely as furnishing the most accurate data and the most trustworthy statement of his opinions, purposes, and motives. Instead of paraphrase or abridgement, it has seemed to me best to let him, very often, speak for himself. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from The Life of William Ewart Gladstone IN the following pages the aim of the writer has been to present a View at once summary and impar tial of the Parliamentary career, political opinions, and practical enactments of the subject of the bio graphy, from his first return to the Parliament created by the Reform Bill of 1832 down to the last day of the existence of the Whig Parliament of the middle class. The Author has not concealed his( admiration of Mr. Gladstone in the fields of fiscall and electoral reform. For obvious reasons he has1 apportioned a large portion of his canvas to the history of the great statesman's Opinions and utterr ances upon the Church Establishment in Ireland, ' and upon the general relations of the Church and the State. Some ancestral and personal details appear in this little work, in print for the first time. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from The Life of William Ewart Gladstone, Vol. 1 of 2: 1809 1872 Some may think in this connection that I have made the preponderance of politics excessive in the story of a genius of signal versatility, to whom politics were only one interest among many. 0no doubt speeches, debates, bills, divisions, motions, and manoeuvres of party, like the manna that fed the children of Israel in the wilderness, lose their savour and power of nutriment on the second gay.) Yet after all it was to his thoughts, his purposes, his i eals, his performances as states man, in all the widest significance of that lofty and honourable designation, that Mr. Gladstone owes the lasting substance of his fame. His life was ever 'greatly absorbed, ' he said, 'in working the institutions of his country.' Here we mark a signal trait. Not for two centuries, since the historic strife of anglican and puritan, had our island produced am in whom the religious motive was paramount in the like degree. He was not only a political force but a moral force. He strove to use all the powers of his own genius and the powers of the state for moral purposes and religious. Nevertheless his mission in all its forms was action. He had none of that detachment, often found among superior minds, which we honour for its dis interestedness, even while we lament its impotence in result. The track in which he moved, the instruments that he employed, were the track and the instruments, the sword and the trowel, of political action and what is called the Gladstonian era was distinctively a political era. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from The Life of William Ewart Gladstone, Vol. 1 of 3 I AM well aware that to try to write Mr. Gladstone's life at all - the life of a man who held an imposing place in many high national transactions, whose character and career may be regarded in such various lights, whose interests were so manifold, and whose years bridged so long a span of time. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This is a print on demand book and is therefore non- returnable. Perhaps the most eminent of eminent Victorians, a master alike of parliamentary debate and public oratory, and regarded as the greatest Christian statesman of his day, William Ewart Gladstone (1809- 1898) governed Britain at a time when the country stood at the apex of the world affairs. In this book historian David Bebbington presents a superb, balanced portrait of Gladstone -- his character, his convictions, his actions, his legacy.

Excerpt from William Ewart Gladstone: Life and Public Services Many writers have been at work of late compiling a "Life of Gladstone." Some who have never seen his face nor heard his voice, will seek to tell the story of his life and record the grand service he rendered his country and his age. Each author will address his readers from his own particular standpoint, and as "every eye sees its own rainbow," so every author will describe his own "Gladstone." It was my privilege to be actively engaged in that grand Campaign which ended in the Disestablishment and Disendowment of the Irish Church. In this happy service I was brought much in contact with Mr. Gladstone, and learned to regard him with enthusiastic homage for the thoroughness and dignity of his leadership. Many years have passed since that eventful period. I have been for ten years a citizen of the United States, and I have been stirred with the ambition to tell my adopted fellow-countrymen what I know of Gladstone and his brave high service to his country and the world. While I write, memory reverts to the days when the masses of England were moving swiftly in the direction of treason and anarchy. I remember unhappy, discontented men, standing at church doors on Sunday mornings, exhibiting loaves of bread dipped in blood, as a token of their feelings and a menace of their purposes. I saw, when a boy, the Bible torn leaf from leaf in the market place, and God denounced as having "lost his thunderbolts and forgotten to care for the poor." About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.