OCR Text |
Show GLADSTONE AT HOME. HIS PRIVATE LIFE-ITS REGULARITY SIMPLICITY AND PURITY. Ref-nlar In Alt Ills Doings, Until at Ha-warden Ha-warden and In London An Kager Xfevrspaper Header. 'William Ewart Qladstono will soon bo eighty -ono years old. A stranger observing observ-ing him striding along Pall Mall on his way to tho house of commons, head erect and chest expanded, on hearing him thundering forth denunciations of tory misgovcrnment from his seat In parliament parlia-ment would probably set htm down as a remarkably vigorous sexagenarian. Mr. Qladstono la In truth tho youngest old man In tho world. Ills eyes aro full and singularly bright, his faco clean shaven and wonderfully intellectual and his lips tendor and tremulous like those ot a high-spirited woman. Ho Is tall, 0 feet 10 inches, and lean. Ho has no balr on his face and little on bis head, but his baldness Is not very apparent when he wears a hat, bcrauso thero Is fair growth of silvery gray locks arouud the baso of tho skull. noN. vr. v iiladstosc. Mr. Gladstone owes his unique virility In great measure to tho legularity, simplicity sim-plicity and purity of his private life. Ills time Is about equally divided between be-tween London and Ilawardon. his beautiful beau-tiful estate iu Flintshire. Ho has no town mansion properly so called, but . hires n bouso each year for tho parliamentary parlia-mentary session ot from six to seven months. At present ho is the yearly tenant of a house In St. James' square. Pall Mall, where ho hag for neighbors I the dukes of Cleveland nnd Norfolk, the carl of Derby, tho marquis ot Btlstol, Earl Cowper and other great men. When in town ho usually rises at half-,past half-,past 0 o'clock. Detesting laziness and abhorring slovenliness, be eschews dressing dress-ing gowns or loungo coats, nnd always dresses for the day as soon as ho leaves bis bed. When his toilet is completed ho goes to church, or.if tho weather be bad, he takes a book and reads until breakfast break-fast time. The morning meal Is Invariably shared by Mrs. Gladstone and visitors, If thero bo auy, which Is rarely tho case In Loudon. Lou-don. It Is always of a plain character. usually consisting of fish, bread and butter and tea. Mr. Qladstono Is very fond of fish of all kinds, and drinks enough tea In the courso ot twenty-four hours to satisfy half a dozen old maids. A ridiculous story was circulated recently recent-ly to tho effect that Mr. Qladstono is not allowed to read tho Dowspapcrs, being supplied Instead with carefully selected and pleasine extracts compiled by bis son Herbert. As a matter of fact he is an eager newspaper reader, taking a j keon interest in tho world's doings, and ho frequently absorbs tho contents of threo or four journals iu tho course of MK8. OI.sDSTONE. the half hour customarily dovoted to breakfast. After breakfast Mr. Qladstono Invariably Invari-ably proceeds to the library, whoro he disposes of his Immense mass of correspondence, corres-pondence, which be once informed n friend, aggregates twentv thousand letters let-ters a year. Whon in ofllco ho had the assistance of several privato secretaries; now that he Is in opposition he does not employ a paid assistant but docs tho wholo ot tbo work with tho help of his son. No arrears nro permitted to accumulate, accu-mulate, each day's work being disposed of as it comes to hand. Having gone through this arduous daily routlno the Grand Old Man devotes tho remainder of tbo morning to tho ttudy of Dinte and Homer, or some others of his Latin or Qrcck authors, limiting maiginalunlcs as he proceeds. This Intellectual seclusion seclu-sion is reverently respected by the entire household from Mrs. Gladstone down ward, nud It is permitted to bo disturbed only upon occasions ot uravo political crises, or by business, public or privato, of t.'o most urgent importance. Mr. Gladstone takes luncheon almost luvurlably alo.-.c, eating onlv a small slice of beef or mutluu and drlukiugunu glass of light claret. Mr. Qladstono docs not smoko. and dislikes tobacco In every form. Ho has no need for stimulants and scarrcly ever drinks anything strougcr than light claret, ot which he docs not profess to "" 1 ' be a connoisseur. Ho has a profound contempt for smart attire and a profound pro-found dlsllko for now clothes. In town, In winter, he wears a tall black hat and black clothes, which lucludo a queer-looking queer-looking short ovcrcrat with a long cape fastened on. Mr. Gladstone is not n rich man. It has been estimated that his private income in-come docs not exceed 7,000 n vcar, nud GLADSTONE ADUnRSSIMI T1IK HOUSE. the demands msde upon tho purso of a man in his position are enormous. In the courso of every year ho receives many presents from humble admirers, oflon specimens from worklngmen of their handicrafts, and his roturn gift in almost every caso is hli photograph bearing his now familiar autograph. All tho world Is awaro of Mr. Gladstone's Glad-stone's prowess as a woodman. When residing at Ilawardon Castle a week never passes Iu which he docs not spend at least a few hours In the open nlr trying try-ing tho edgo ot his famous ax upon tho big trees. But the great solaco of his old age Is reading and tho hobby to which ho is most passionately dovoted ts tbo collection of old and raro books. Ho cau never pass a second-hand book shop without stopping to cxamlno tho stock. Thero is not one second-hand Bookseller of any note Iu London who docs not regularly send catalogues to Mr. Gladstone and ho receives early intimation of anything good in tho shapo of rare or curious editions to bo obtained at n modoralo price. |