t into one or other scale, and this
emotional element made it difficult to forecast his course. Thus
his action in public life was the result of influences differing
widely in their origin, influences, moreover, which could be duly
appreciated only by those who knew him intimately.

Whoever has followed his political career has been struck by the sharp
divergence of the views entertained by his fellow-countrymen about one
who had been for so long a period under their observation. That he was
possessed of boundless energy and brilliant eloquence all agreed. But
agreement went no further. One section of the nation accused him of
sophistry, of unwisdom, of a want of patriotism, of a lust for power.
The other section not only repelled these charges, but admired in him
a conscientiousness and a moral enthusiasm such as no political leader
had shown for centuries. When the qualities of his mind and the
aptitudes for politics which he showed have been briefly examined, it
will be fitting to return to these divergent views of his character,
and endeavour to discover which of them contains the larger measure of
truth. Meantime let it suffice to say that among the reasons that led
men to misjudge him, this union in one person of opposite qualities
was the chief. He was rather two men than one. Passionate and
impulsive on the emotional side of his nature, he was cautious and
conservative on the intellectual. Few understood the conjunction;
still fewer saw how much of what was perplexing in his conduct it
explained.

Mr. Gladstone sat for sixty-three years (1833-1895) in Parliament, was
for twenty-eight years (1866-1894) the leader of his party, and was
four times Prime Minister. He began as a high Tory, remained about
fifteen years in that camp, was then led by the split between Peel and
the Protectionists to take up an intermediate position, and finally
was forced to cast in his lot with the Liberals, for in England, as in
America, third parties seldom endure. No parliamentary career in
English annals is comparable to his for its length and variety; and of
those who saw its close in the House of Commons, there was only one
man, Mr. Villiers (who died in January 1898), who could remember its
beginning. Mr. Gladstone had been opposed in 1833 to men who might
have been his grandfathers; he was opposed in 1894 to men who might
have been his grandchildren. It is no part of my design to describe or
comment on the events of such a lif