Gladstone, William Ewart

Gladstone, William Ewart
(1809-1898)
   Statesman, scholar, and man of letters, fourth s. of Sir John G., a merchant in Liverpool, was of Scottish ancestry. He was ed. at Eton and Christ Church, Oxf. From his youth he was deeply interested in religious and ecclesiastical questions, and at one time thought of entering the Church. In 1832 he entered Parliament as a Tory, and from the first gave evidence of the splendid talents for debate and statesmanship, especially in the department of finance, which raised him to the position of power and influence which he afterwards attained. After holding the offices of Pres. of the Board of Trade, Colonial Sec., and Chancellor of the Exchequer, he attained the position of Prime Minister, which he held four times 1868-74, 1880-85, 1885-86, and 1892-93. His political career was one of intense energy and activity in every department of government, especially after he became Prime Minister, and while it gained him the enthusiastic applause and devotion of a large portion of the nation, it exposed him to a correspondingly intense opposition on the part of another. The questions which involved him in the greatest conflicts of his life and evoked his chief efforts of intellect were the disestablishment of the Irish Church, the foreign policy of his great rival Disraeli, and Home Rule for Ireland, on the last of which the old Liberal party was finally broken up. In the midst of political labours which might have been sufficient to absorb even his tireless energy, he found time to follow out and write upon various subjects which possessed a life-long interest for him. His first book was The State in its Relations with the Church (1839), which formed the subject of one of Macaulay's essays. Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age (1858), Juventus Mundi (1869), and Homeric Synchronism (1876), The Impregnable Rock of Holy Scripture (1890), The Vatican Decrees and Vaticanism (1874-75), and Gleanings of Past Years (1897), 8 vols., were his other principal contributions to literature. G.'s scholarship, though sound and even brilliant, was of an old-fashioned kind, and his conclusions on Homeric questions have not received much support from contemporary scholars. In his controversies with Huxley and others his want of scientific knowledge and of sympathy with modern scientific tendencies placed him at a disadvantage. His character was a singularly complex one, and his intellect possessed a plasticity which made it possible to say of him that he never was anything, but was always becoming something. His life was a singularly noble and stainless one, and he must probably ever remain one of the great figures in the history of his country.
   Life by J. Morley (3 vols.), others by J. M'Carthy, Sir Wemyss Reid, and many others.

Short biographical dictionary of English literature . . 2011.

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  • Gladstone,William Ewart — Gladstone, William Ewart. 1809 1898. British political leader who served as Liberal prime minister four times (1868 1874, 1880 1885, 1886, and 1892 1894). He enacted educational and parliamentary reforms and supported Irish home rule. * * * …   Universalium

  • Gladstone, William Ewart — (1809–1898)    William Gladstone was four times British prime minister, and leader of the Liberal Party at the height of its power in the late nineteenth century. Gladstone’s name became synonymous with a central kind of Victorian liberalism,… …   Encyclopedia of the Age of Imperialism, 1800–1914

  • Gladstone, William Ewart — ▪ prime minister of United Kingdom Introduction born December 29, 1809, Liverpool, England died May 19, 1898, Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales  statesman and four time prime minister of Great Britain (1868–74, 1880–85, 1886, 1892–94). Early life… …   Universalium

  • Gladstone, William Ewart — (1809 1898)    British statesman.    Index: Sy Elected to Parliament for Newark, 22; defeated at Manchester, 48. E His opinion of Lord Elgin, 7, 78; sympathy for Confederate States, 202. B Defends free trade policy, 31; not in favour of… …   The makers of Canada

  • GLADSTONE, WILLIAM EWART —    statesman, orator, and scholar, born at Liverpool, son of a Liverpool merchant, sometime of Leith, and of Ann, daughter of Andrew Robertson, Stornoway; educated at Eton and Oxford; entered Parliament in 1832 as member for Newark in the Tory… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • GLADSTONE, William Ewart — (1809 1898)    British LIBERAL leader and statesman whose policies were based on his attempt to apply CHRISTIAN principles to politics …   Concise dictionary of Religion

  • William Ewart Gladstone — (* 29. Dezember 1809 in Liverpool; † 19. Mai 1898 in Hawarden/Wales, seinem Landsitz) war ein viermaliger britischer Premierminister und einer der bedeutendsten britischen Politiker in der zweiten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts. Gladstone begründete …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • William Ewart Gladstone — The Right Honourable William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS Prime Minister of the United Kingdom …   Wikipedia

  • William Ewart Gladstone — Mandats 41e, 43e, 45e et 47e Premier ministre du Royaume Uni …   Wikipédia en Français

  • William Ewart Gladstone — noun liberal British statesman who served as prime minister four times (1809 1898) • Syn: ↑Gladstone, ↑William Gladstone • Instance Hypernyms: ↑statesman, ↑solon, ↑national leader …   Useful english dictionary

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