3. Christian Greece weaker than at any time since she became a kingdom.
These are facts, Mr. Gladstone claimed, for which the leading Christian
nations and statesmen of Europe are responsible.
While Mr. Gladstone thus expresses himself, yet his vigorous protests
had not been without effect. His voice penetrated into the very palace
of the Sultan, and into every Cabinet of Europe, and was heard by every
statesman and ruler throughout the world, and aroused the people
everywhere. It was a mighty voice lifted for right and against
oppression. The Sultan was afraid and was compelled to desist; not that
he feared the protests and the warnings of the Christian Nations of
Europe, but because that one voice was the expression of the popular
feeling of all Christians throughout the world, and to defy such
sentiment would be to court the overthrow of his throne, if not of the
dominion of the Turk in Europe.
In June, 1894, an invitation was extended to Mr. Gladstone to visit the
United States, signed by many representative men in public life. But Mr.
Gladstone, while acknowledging the compliment, declined because of his
age. It would, he thought, be a tremendous undertaking for him. The
fatigue of the voyage and the strain of the receptions while in America,
would prove greater than his physical condition could bear.
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