is Apollo's
lute." Thus the impression produced in the University by the amplitude
of Lord Acton's views, by the range of his learning, by the liberality
of his spirit and his unfailing devotion to truth and to truth alone,
was deep and fruitful.

When they wished that he had given to the world more of his wisdom,
his friends did not undervalue a life which was in itself a rare and
exquisite product of favouring nature and unwearied diligence. They
only regretted that the influence of his ideas, of his methods, and of
his spirit, had not been more widely diffused in an enduring form. It
was as when a plant unknown elsewhere grows on some remote isle where
ships seldom touch. Few see the beauty of the flower, and here death
came before the seed could be gathered to be scattered in receptive
soil.

To most men Lord Acton seemed reserved as well as remote, presenting a
smooth and shining surface beneath which it was hard to penetrate. He
avoided publicity and popularity with the tranquil dignity of one for
whom the world of knowledge and speculation was more than sufficient.
But he was a loyal friend, affectionate to his intimates, gracious in
his manners, blameless in all the relations of life. Comparatively few
of his countrymen knew his name, and those who did thought of him
chiefly as the confidant of Mr. Gladstone, and as the most remarkable
instance of a sincere and steadfast Roman Catholic who was a Liberal
alike in politics and in theology. But those who had been admitted to
his friendship recognised him as one of the finest intelligences of
his generation, an unsurpassed, and indeed a scarcely rivalled, master
of every subject which he touched.

-----

[60] This library, bought by Mr. Andrew Carnegie, was presented by him
to Mr. John Morley, and by the latter to the University of
Cambridge.

[61] The phrase is Professor Maitland's.

[62] I owe this quotation to a letter of Sir M. E. Grant Duff's
published soon after Lord Acton's death.

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE

Of no man who has lived in our times is it so hard to speak in a
concise and summary fashion as of Mr. Gladstone. For fifty years he
was so closely associated with the public affairs of his country that
the record of his parliamentary life is virtually an outline of
English political history during those years. His activity spread
itself out over many fields. He was the author of several learned and
thoughtful