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William Gladstone: Difference between revisions
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William Ewart Gladstone was a British Liberal Party statesman and four times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1868–74, 1880–85, 1886 and 1892-94). He was known as G.O.M. which to most people used to stand for Grand Old Man but his long term [[Arch Enemy|rival]] [[Benjamin Disraeli]] always said stood for God's Only Mistake. He was a champion of Home Rule for Ireland. When Disraeli died Gladstone proposed a state funeral (to make political capital on his rival's death) but Disraeli's will stipulated other arrangements. To this Gladstone replied, ''"As Disraeli lived, so he died -- all display, without reality or genuineness."''
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And finally, aside from his considerable oratorical talents the other thing Gladstone was known for was his Christianity; he was, to put it mildly, at little evangelical, which translated to inviting the poor off the streets into Downing Street for a free dinner meal...''after'' they had listen to him preach the Word and rattle on about sin and poverty and try and convince them to convert and/ or be better Christians. He would also sometimes hire prostitutes to tempt him to prove his self-control to himself, and would send them away if his discipline began to falter. It was another bone of contention with the rather more ''laissez-faire'' Disraeli.
* Appears in the backstory of ''The Bartimaeus Trilogy'', where he was a both Prime Minister of the UK and the most powerful wizard in the world. He was able to create a magical staff—which later turns into a major [[McGuffin]]—that allowed him to conquer all of western Europe from Calais to Prague. The main story is set 100 years later, when the British Empire is going into terminal decline, and Gladstone is considered to be a national hero shrouded in myth. The novel also alludes to his rivalry to Disraeli (which in this case ended in a city-block-destroying magical duel)
* Appears in the [[Charlton Heston]] / [[Laurence Olivier]] film ''Khartoum,'' based on the real-life adventures of General Charles "Chinese" Gordon in Sudan.
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