The Passing of Two Grand Old Men.
—William Ewart Gladstone, one of England’s greatest statesmen, familiarly called, “The Grand Old Man,” by his admirers, died May 18, 1898, at the ripe old age of eighty-eight years. He has been a remarkable figure in the political world for the last twoscore of years, especially in the British Empire. He was an indefatigable student, a man of strong convictions, true principle, unswerving fidelity, religious devotion, and temperate life. His life is a proof that hard work tends to longevity, not to early decay. His mind was clear and vigorous up to within a few weeks of his death. In a human way all acknowledge his greatness. What he has done for the world in a political way will be variously estimated by men, according to political views and affiliations. What real good he has exerted is written in the books on high. Two months since, another grand old man passed away in England in his ninety-third year. This was George Müller, the man of faith. In his youth he was drunken, dissolute, and seemingly a born thief. His father calculated him for holy orders, and so he studied with this in view, yet knowing naught of Christ. His conversion changed his life. A German by birth, he went to England in 1829, and there did his great work. In 1835 he began his work for orphans in Bristol. The five great buildings are now capable of accommodating 1,650 children, all built and supported by means obtained in answer to the prayers of Mr. Müller and his associates. By some he has been considered a great fanatic; by others, a great crank; but God will write him a man of great faith. The world—political and religious—knew “the grand old man” of politics, but few comparatively till his death, even in the churches, knew who George Müller was. In the books of God there may be an altogether different estimate. His life (he was sickly in his youth) shows that religion, faith, temperance, tend to longevity. Here are two great men, but they are not given us to copy; rather we are to imbibe from the great Fountain of Life the true principles manifest in their lives, and let those principles mold and shape us as God will.