The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1898-05-26

| Of the government with seemingly unim.
| paired vigor. II was doubtless to his ex.
treme simplicity and purity Of life that he
| owed his phenomenal virilitv
| HIS time was usually about equally di
vided between London and Hawarden.
When he was prime minister his London
residence was Of course the famous house
In Downing street, that has for so long
been the official home Of the premier. AT
other times he has rented. Between 1880
| and 1899 he was the yearly tenant OF q
house in st. James square, Pail Mall,
where he had for neighbors the Dukes OF
| Cleveland and Norfolk, the Earl of Derby,
the Marquis of Bristol, Earl Cowper and
other great men. His rising hour when in
town was $780, He dressed for the day at
once, and II the weather was good, some
times when 1t was bad, took an airing be
| fore breakfast.
The morning meal was always plain
one, lasting half an hour, during which
time he usually absorbed all that was OF
| interest to him In three or four morning
newspapers. After breakfast he disposed
Of his correspondence in his library. When
he was in Office he always employed several
private secretaries. When "out" he had
but one assistant, usually his son. After
his letters were attended to IL was his Gus
tom to devote the remainder of the morn.
ing to reading. Luncheon was usually
taken alone and consisted of n small slice
Of beef or mutton and a glass Of claret.
The afternoon, and often the evening, was
devoted to political duties For many
years Mr.. Gladstone was accustomed when
In London and not busy with politics in the
evening to dine out. He rarely gave din.
ners Sometimes he visited the theater or
MtIninbt hiu fnt.h haI a,,I
he used to light himself to his room with
candle. He used to say that he always left
business outside his bedroom door, and
hence always slept well. He never used to-
bacco In any form. His drinking was con-
fined to claret, of which, however, he was
not professed connoisseur
He was always neat but never smart in
his attire, and he had a profound dislike for
old clothes. In town in winter he used to
wear tall black hat and black clothes,
which included a short overcoat with q
long, queer cape. In summer he wore
gray cashmere and tall white hat. To
Mrs. Gladstone was left the task of caring
for his wardrobe
Gladstone's Scholarship.
In 1885 Mr.. Gladstone visited Winchester
college, which had in his student days been
a sort Of rival to his own college at Oxford.
OF course the students gave him n royal
welcome, and their orator for the day ad-
dressed the premier in a somewhat lengthy
speech In Latin. Mr.. Gladstone listened
with the closest attention, as politicians
and statesmen always do on such occasions,
and the waggish ones probably thought his
attentive manner mere form and politeness.
To their surprise, however, he replied at
once with equally classic Latin and in such
detail as to show that not a statement in
the address had escaped him.
An average lifetime had passed since he
left college, and in that time he had been
one Of the busiest men in the world, yet his
knowledge of the classics had constantly
improved. The principal Latin authors
were still as familiar TO him as the English
authors Of the same rank, and Greek as his
second native tongue.
Every American college has its standard
Jokes about the various Englishmen who
have put forth so many varying views on
the 'Iliad" and Odyssey" the same man
sometimes changing his views completely
within a few years, but Mr.. Gladstone is al
ways honored as the consistent and almost
convincing advocate of the unity of Homer
1t Is very curious fact that down to the
middle Of this century American scholars
and colleges were practically unanimous In
maintaining the unity Of Homer; that a
change came SO rapidly that at one time the
great weight Of authority was the other
way, and that in many cases the same pas
sages were relied on to prove various au-
thors that had been to prove unity, while
many men who had when students thought
Gladstone's reasoning unanswerable lived
to wonder that it should ever have seemed
to them weighty.
In his Studies on Homer and the Ho-
meric Age" Cs5s) Mr.. Gladstone maintains
that one man wrote the entire poems, and
that they are historic-that Is, there was a
real Troy which was destroyed by the
Greeks. In his "Juventus Mundi" Qs69)
and his latest work on Homer (lS7D he goes
still further and attempts to fix the date Of
Troy's destruction. The argument is, If
anything, ADLER, yet the first convinced, and
the last did not The world is now in an
era of skepticsm as to all ancient stories.
The most ardent admirers Of Gladstone's
genius merely smile at his views on such
subjects and say that he Is by nature dew
otee, whether as to the literalness of the
Pentateuch, Of Homer or any other ancient
| work.
Gladstone never was favorite at the
palace. Indeed the queen is reported tr
have said more than once with emphasis
that she detested him, and said it in
way to imply that she also feared him.
| When Lord Salisbury resigned in 1892 to
be followed in Office by Gladstone, she Is
said to have accepted the resignation with
expressed ''regret," thereby breaking the
unwritten law that British royalty should
never express preference for either of the
great political parties. There are stories TO
the effect that more than one discussion be
! tween the sovereign and Gladstone ter
minated in angry words, but the premier
never finched from facing royalty
"You must take this action" he once
said to her.
| "Musti Did yon say musti" she angrily
retorted And do you know, sir, who
ami"
Madam answered Gladstone coolly,
''you are the queen of England. But do you
know who ] amf ! am the people of Eng
land, and In this emergency the people
say 'mustp"
1t is scarcely necessary to add that the
, people" prevailed.
Gladstone as a Speaker.
Notwithstanding his abilities in other di-
rections, 1t was as speaker that Mr.. Glad
stone possessed his strongest hold upon the
English people. His voice was clear, vi
brant, melodious and penetrating. 1t was
quite audible in the corners of the largest
hall, and 1t was rare that he was unable to
reach the outskirts of the most extended
outdoor audience. Even after he had
passed the limit Of fourscore years this
was largely true, though during tbs laas
years OF his life his magnificent vocal or
Rans were somewhat impaired.
Though contrary to the impressions pro
duced by the pictures Of Mr.. Gladstone, he
was not q large man. His graceful atti-