The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1884-02-22
THE GLADsTONEs.
Some Anecdotes or the English Pre-
mier's Family.

Some Anecdotes OF the English Pre-
mier's Family.
John Gladstone, says a writer in Tenn
pie Bar, liked that his children should
exercise their judgment by stating the
why and wherefore of every opinion
they offered, and a college friend of Will
liam's who went on a visit to Fasque, in
Kincardineshire, during the summer of
1929, furnishes amusing pictures of the
family customs in that house, where
the children and their parents argue
upon everything" They would debate
as 70 whether tue trout should be boiled,
broiled, whether a window should be
opened, and whether it was likely TO be
fine or wet next day. 1t was always
perfectly good humored, but curious to
q stranger, because of the evident care
which all the di~sputants took to advance
no proposition, wen to the prospect ofa
rain, rashly. One day Thomas Glad
stone knocked down q wasp with his
handkerchief aud was about to crush it
on the table, when the father started
the question az to whether he had the
right to kill the insect; and this point
was discussed with &c much seriousness
AS III u DVUlhH hlG u&u OCOA az CtaACs
When at last it was adjudged that death
was deserved because ii was a trespasser
In the drawing-room, a common enemy
and a danaer there, it was found that
the insect had crawled from under the
handkerchief, and was flying away with
a staggering sort of buzz, as If to mock
them all"
On another occasion William Glad
stone and his sister Mary disputed as to
where q certain picture ought to be
hung. An old Scotch servant came in
with a ladder and stood irresolute while
the argument progressed; but rs Miss
Mary would not yield William calamity
ceased from speech, though uncon-
vinced, of course. The servant then
hung up the picture where the young
lady ordered; bat when he had done
this he crossed the and hammered
a nail into the opposite wall. He was
asked why he did this: "Aweel, Miss,
that'll do to iang the picture on when
YOU have come round to Master Willie's
opinion"
The family generally did come round
TO Williams opinion, for the
of his tongue-fencing were wonderful,
and his father, who admired a clever
feiat as much as a straight thrust, never
iaised to him by saying:
Hear, hear; we'll said we'll put, Willie,
| If the Young debater bore himself we'll
in an encounter. Another thing which
John Gladstone taught his children was
to accomplish 20 the end whatever they
might he lin, no matter how insignificant
the undertaking might be. Assuming
that the enterprise had been
commenced with a deliberate,
thoughtful purpose it would
| obviously be weakness to abandon 1t,
whereas if it had been entered upon
! without thouuht it would be useful to
carry il through is lesson against acting
without reflection. The tenacity with
which William Gladstone adhered TO
| this principle exercised no doubt q ben
| e6cial moral discipline upon himself.
but was frequently very trying to his
already quoted. Eve often had archery
! practice, and the arrows that went
wide the targets would get lost in the
long grass. Most Of us would have liked
to collect only the arrows that we corSd
find without trouble, and then begin
shooting again; but this was not Will
liam's way. He would insist that all the
arrows should be found before we shot
our second volleys, and would marshal
us In Indian file and make us tramp
about ia the grass till every quiyer had
| been reffied. Once we were SO long In
hurting for a particular arrow that dusk
came on and we had TO relinQuish the
search. The next morning as | was
dressing / saw through my window Will
liam ranging the field and prodding into
| every tuft Of grass with q stick He had
! been busy in this way for two hours, and
| atIangth be found the arrow just before
breakfast. / remarked that he had waist
| ed a good deal Of time. Eyes and no."
lie said. 81 was certain the arrow could
be found if / looked for it in q certain
way, but it was the longest way, and /
failed several times from trying shorter
methods. When i set to work in the
proper fashion / succeeded Well
done. Williei' concurred his always
appreciative father.
It was the same at Oxford. Gladstone
ssould start for a walk to ONE place
eight miles distant, and made up his
mind to 20 lat least more than hassf the
way Rain might fall In torrents Ia
| serious mattsv in those days when no
undergraduate ever carried an umbrella
| but this would not shake him from his
purpose; 30 long as he had not passed
his fourth mile postnothing would make
him turn back. Directed towards high
er objects this stubbOrness could be dig
nifed with the name Of perseverance,
and il was q master quality that kept ali
Gladstone's friends in subsection to him
more or less. Those who would not
give in TO him from reason would do 80
70 avoid q contest-this being q world in
which there are more earthen pots than
iron ones, and the earthen pots try TO