Her Empire has been extended until in India,
South, Central and Western Africa, Australia, New Zealand and North
America, and including the British Isles, there were 360,000,000 people
who owned her sway. And to this greatness and glory Mr. Gladstone had
been one to contribute largely, while his influence has been felt more
still by far in promoting the moral greatness of the people. Throughout
all the Empire the event was celebrated, and the jubilee procession in
London was swollen by representatives of all parts of the Queen's domain
and all nations on earth which rendered it the greatest pageant ever
beheld. Even the Turk was there, but Mr. Gladstone was not there, nor
was his name even mentioned for a place in the march on jubilee day. Yet
the period of Victoria's reign will often be spoken of in history as the
Gladstonian Era.
"The public life of a leading statesman," says an eminent writer,
"offers the boldest and stateliest outline to the public view. It may be
that the most striking and memorable chapters in a future biography of
Mr. Gladstone will contain the story of his private affairs and domestic
life." His daily life at home was a model of simplicity and regularity,
and the great secret of the vast amount of work he accomplished was
owing to the fact that every odd five minutes were occupied.
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