The Forrest City times., 1896-04-10
Mr.. GLADSTONE AT WORK
"A Busy Man with n Passion for savins
the Minutes.

'J %'s" "sth - N~-tob LOT Savl04
the Minutes.
Three writing tables stand in the
Hawarden castle library, and not one Of
them is for show. At one table Mrs.
Gladstone writes many of her letters;
the second, standing between two win
dows, is Mr.. Gladstone's political desk.
III looks now too neat, too tidy. by far,
Tor the taste of any Gladstonian politi-
cian the blotting pad has an unused
air about it; the pen-wipers, racks,
knives and other appurtenances stand
about with a mathematical precision
which means want of use. and there is
neither note nor leaflet TO be seen. The
political desk, at all events for the pres
ent, must be numbered among the.un-
employed. But turn to the third. the
literary writing table in the niche by
the window, which is the most peaceful
corner in that place of peace. You may
there at any time during the day see
sight that will make your heart rejoice,
and that will linger in your mind while
pictures linger there at all.
The whole desk is covered with refer
ence books of all shapes and sizes. They
form wall around three sides, and
there is only an opening in the front of
the desk just wide enough to allow Mr..
Gladstone to place the sheets of fools
cap on which he writes. There at this
desk the G.. o. NJ. sat lately all day long,
with very short intervals, absorbed in
Bishop Butler" the man whom ne
gives place among the best of men
who have ever lived. The number of
volumes required by Mr.. Gladstone for
reference is almost endless; he has often
to search through one bulky tome after
the other for some chance paragraph
that may help him to elucidate dark
place in the Analogy" There he sits,
absorbed in his work; now writing
rapidly and eagerly for some minutes;
now throwing down his pen and Dip
ping into one of the books with which
he has surrounded himself Some
times a specially favored artist has been
admitted to take Mr.. Gladstone's por-
trait, but it is on express condition that
the sitter" shall not in any way be dis
tracted from his work. Not once does
Mr.. Gladstone's attention flag, though
you may perchance be sanntering about
the room in company with a member
of his family, or be privileged to have
chat with Mrs. Gladstone as, in loving
pride in all her husbands doings, she
points out to you this, that or the other
of the objects in the library to which at
taches a special interest for him. Not
that Mr.. Gladstone is altogether indif-
ferent to violent Interruptions. In
fact, he objects to them strongly, and
he does not hesitate to say so. But
when it happens that he himself has in
vited you to ''come into my room," he
forgive you if you appear while he is
at work, and works on, undisturbed by
your presence or your voice, with an
absorption in his occupation which is
nothing short of marvellous. WhSteyer
the work may be which he has in hand,
it takes hold of him so entirely that he
has to be aroused from it as most people
are reused from sleep. Mr.. Gladstone
does not, as rule. care to talk of his
idiosyncrasies, since he holds the sin
cere opinion that he is very much like
the rest of the world. But he acxnowl-
edges that his faculty of concentration
is his special gift, the one by which he
is distinguished from other people.
Another reason why Mr.. Gladstone
gets through so astounding an amount
of work is his extraordinary habit of
using up odds and ends of time. One
day, not long ago, he was going out for
drive into Chester after luncheon.
His pudding was very hot, so he went
away from the table, changed his
clothes, got ready for the drive and
came back and finished his pudding,
thus saving the ten minutes during
which his pudding cooled.
From ten a. m. to luncheon time Mr..
Gladstone spends regularly in the IL
brary, hard at work But when the
gong sounds he puts down his pen, for
promptness in everything has become
second nature to him, and he is proba-
bly, in the dining-room before anyone
else arrives. Petz alone, if that little
creature can arrange il So is as prompt
as his master, for his two ruling pas
sions-love for his master and love for
his dinner-come into play at the sound
of the luncheon gong. Westminster
Gazette.