GLADSTONIANA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2308, 26 May 1898, Page 23

GLA DSTONIANA.

ADDRESSING THE HOXTSB OF COJIMONS.

Until the correspondence of Mr Gladstone with hia parent* and closest friends is given to the world, it will rot be known (said a writer in the " Gentleman's Magazine " for July last) j whether, like Paltnerston, he " did not feel so j much alarmed an he expected to, be" wheu first he harangued the Commons. Those, however, ■ who have been t&ught by credulous or careless I biographers of the ex-Prime Minister that hi* | maiden speech was a sensational event, heralded i by portents' and accompanied by aignf and wonI dera betofcenmg grentuew to cuine, will be i aston'shed fco l«arn that it was rosily delivered I in drfence of certain citizens of hi" native j Liverpool from charges of bribery. AH the | notice the n*>xt day'st'Times foolc of the speech was to say that "Mr W G'adstone was under- j j stood to protect agaiunt fcht* si.aternents made ' j by the petitioners, and to state that he believed • ibviv. had been no uo.due practices at the late ' eJeepion for .Liverpool." Another leading .London paper di«naifl»ed- J the effort with i the sentence, "Mr Gladstone made a few j reiaiiirkß, "which , r^er* -not audible in the • gallery"' 1 ; while * third -was so' liberal &s to. giVe , j it five iin?s, c-imm-cciug, " Mr Gladstone, who j ! epoke under the gallery, aui 7/ho was almost ' , inaudible." And it is the very irony ot fato thai; a dvliverauce upnn the' qu nation of coJouiitt slavery, Qpon whirh bi<-grapher after biographer has dilated as Mr Gladstone's taaiden speech, was not his utterance at all, but that of his elder brother, his own firstprepared effort having wftifced over 60 years to be exhumed from the dusty records of the parliamentary debates. < SABBATH HBST. j In an- account ot the illustrious stfttflsman's home life at Hawnrdw), wbich wag contained some time ago in "The Young Man," the English publication, the fact was noied that Mr Gladstone v»as often heard to remark that hod it not been for his Sunday reat he would not have been the man he was.' Physically, ; | intellectually, and spiritually, his Sunday was : jto him a priceless b'.eswng. Anyone who ■ eni.«v.sd hit' room in Downing otreet ju r Sonday during the height of tha s«s*ion could not fail to b* struck by the atmosphere of repose, the signs and symbols of the day, the books lying open near the ■ armchair, the deserted writing table, the absence of papers and newspapers. From Saturday to Monday morning Mr Gladston put away all business of s secular nature, kept to bis special Sunday J books and occupations, »nd nevfr'Viofri oui. j tbab day unless, to cheer a sick or st-nowlt'! friend. He never travelled on Sunday, aud 'ir~ 'is well kuown ' that "when her "Majssty invfoert him f to Windnor' Castle on Sunday for one' night he,made"" arrangements to stay-in Wind--sor the Saturday night" to' avoid Sunday travel(- ( ling. - Two services at least saw him at worship j on Snnday in Hiwarden Church. ' He had a, ; poor -opinion of fho--e whom he hntsoroutiy I terms "once-ers." Id his dressing room oouid j be seen the large open' Bible in which he daily ■ I read.

HIS METHOD OF BEADING.

According to the same authority Mr Gladstone* method of reading was more that of the tortoise than the hare. He could not re»d r;ipirlly, r nor did he i?ver scquire the fina ji.rfc of skippiug • he could not bo<tafc, like Carlyle, of reading * page of Gibbon " with one flssh of his eye." But ha was not slow to discover whether the book was worth reading, and if not, after a few pages 'it was cast aside, chough a* * general rule his judgment -wan lenient. Scott was to him king ot -oovsliffcs ; and among the modern novels that struck htm, he placed ' Btritig Gould's " Mehalah " very high for force and originality, and Bonrge.t's " Le Disciple" as. a psychological atudj. His system of marking a book was rather elaborate. The upright cross, tha line down the side, the V were all different degrees of N.B. ; and when he -wished to qualify the texb, the I*alian word " ma " (but) was written ia the margin. A St. Andrew's cross or a wavering line disapproval or disagreement ; at the cud of the book a list of pages was always to be found with headings of what had most struck "him in the volume. Ha was also particular in the order and variation off his reading. Last summer, for insfcapoe, the three books he had on hand at one 'time were Dr Laugen's " Roman History " (in German) for moruing reading, Virgil afternoon, and in the evening a novel.

GIFT OF SLEEP.

Mr' Gladstone, on principle, never allowed .himself Jbo be cheated of sleep. All his life Llong until his fath.lv illness be, was a sound | sleeper. It used -to be said that he had a faculty, which- ,was. possessed by Napoleon ' 'Bou&psrte, of commandiug sleep at will, and, | whfttj ia still' rarer, of waking up instantly i o fnll possession- of every faculty. Some people ei'h go to sleep soon, but they take some time to x wake. Mr, Gladstone, ib uaed to bs said, .was' capable of 'sitting 'down in a chair, covering his-faee with a handkerchief , and going tosleep in 30 seconds, and after sleeping for 30 minutes or an hour, as the case might be, waking up as bright an ever, all drowsiness disappearing | the moment he opened his eyes. During all |Mr Gladstone's career he never loat his i sleep, excepting once, and that was during the troubles that arose about Egypt and General Gordon. Then he slept badly, and for the . first time it was feared that he would not be able to maintain the burden of office. "In the most exciting political crisis*" he once told a visitor, ( " I dismiss current matters entirely I from my mind, when I go- 60 bed, and will not think of them till I get up in the morning. I told Bright this, and he said, ' That's all very well for you, but my way is exactly the reverse. I think over all my speeches in bed. 1 " Seven hours' sleep was Mr Gladstone's fixed allowance, " and," he sdcu'd with a smile, " I should like to have eight. I hate getting up in the morning, and hate it ihe same every morning. But one can do everything by hnbit, and when I have had my seven hour&' sleep my habit is to get up."

SIMPLE TASTES.

.Mr Gladstone wag extremely simple in his tastes, and cheerfully allowed the daintiest of , good things to pass him. He usually drank bitter besr with his luncheon. A glass or two of claret at 'dinner, 01 a few glasses of champagne, atid sctaotimes a glass of port, satisfied his very 'moderate require Keats fov stimulant. Bufc although abstemious in all things gastronomic Mr Gladstone w*s not in any lenso ascotio, but a believer in good cheer, and plenty of it, for those who might partake of it without regret. He did not smoke, belonging to the older i chool which acquired its habita at -a time when tobacco-smoking was regarded as somewhat vulgar, and hence neither pipe, cigar, nor cigarette was ever seen between ' his lies, ■ .