The times., 1899-02-26
GLADSTONE AND BLAINE.
4 Memorable Coaching Party From
London to Aberdeen.
Ctrom the Read.)

Some years ago, when Mr.. James G..
Blaine, of the State Of Maine. was at the
height of his political power in the United
States. he paid visit to England to en-
! joy the pleasures of a coaching tour from
| London to Aberdeen. Mr.. Andrew Carne-
gle. the famous ironmaster, of Pittsburg,
Penn, being the host. Every preparation
was made with scrupulous care. and Mr..
Gladstone accepted an invitation to be one
of the party, and expressed himself as es-
peciaIly pleased With the idea of meeting
Mr. Blaine. whom he had never seen. but
with whom he had had, in his official ca
pacity. frequent communications when Mr.
Blaine was a member of the Washington
Cabinet. He was Secretary of State under
two Administrations, and narrowly escaped
being nominated as President by the Re
publican party, which suddenly changed
its mind and selected General Harrison as
the candidate. who was elected by an over
wheiming majority.
Mr. Carnegie was delighted to bring the
| two statesmen together and, of course,
they were placed side by side. 4 careful
| route was mapped out by an expert, for
changes of horses, hotels TO be stopped at
supplies and. in short. no expense was
spared to make the trip agreeable to all
concerned. The party was not q large one
and as the weather was PLEASANT was
early in the month of June-everybody was
| in high spirits especially Mr.. Gladstone
who, despite his seyenty-two years, climb
ed up TO his 81 at with the happy audacity
of a mere lad. 1t was said at the time that
Mr.. Gladstone looked ten years younger
when he left the coach, and the deep lines
in his face, except those Indicative of ab-
solUte age, seemed to have disappeared.
Every now and then he would descend
from the coach and walk a mile or two
and occasionally, when the horses were
being refreshed, he would walk on in ad-
vance with Mr.. Blaine as he said that Sir
Andrew Clark, his physician, had ordered
him, when possible, TO walk five miles a
day. And both menAabout the same
height. by the way-were, considering their
respective ages (Mr. Gladstone was quite
ten years the older and the enormous
mental labor they had gone through, brisk,
vigorous pedestrians, and got over the
| ground with alacrity of much younger
men.
1t was a treat to hear Mr. Gladstone talk
/ on the coach, and / feel certain the Eng
| lish statesman found his American con
| frere a satisfactory conversationalist.
| Their talk took "A wide range, and, curl e
ously enough, they hardly touched current
! politics. As T said, they were holiday
making and shop" was left out Of the
running. ] verify believe, if / could have
heard all they said, they had turn at the
restoration of learning at Alexandria, the
! Eleusinian mysteries introduced into Ath
ems. the sumptuary laws of ancient Rome.
with possibly a few ieeting illusions to the
Saxon Heptachy and the conquest of Afri-
ca by Beiisarius. 1t is thus that great
/ scholars leaTnediy converse when they have
( the history of the world at the tips OF
! their fingers. II has been said of Mr..
| Gladstone that at a moments notice be
! could hold forth instructively on the erec-
| tion Of the Tower Of Babel, with illustra-
tions of the confusion of languages, and
20 through the chronological range of cen
turtles. with glances al Peloponnesus. La
! cedaemon, Corinth and Babylon. with OBJ
servatioDs offhand on the Pythian games
Of Delphi and the Scythian invasion OF
Asia Minor. b. c. 624-
e the wonder went, and still the wonder
grew
That small head could cary all he knew
The Grand Old Man at the dinners en-
! route maintained a vigorous appetite, and
! went steadily through the menu each day
! with as much relish as though the dain
tiest chef d'Oeuvres by Francatelli or Ben
DIST had been served. And what time
the old statesman spent over each help
| ingi He masticated slowly, and did not
| bold his food. We all read the published
statement which went the round of the
journals of how many wags OF the jaw are
necessary to convert a mouthful of food
into prepared paste ready for the stom-
ach to do itg share of assimilative work
| successfully, and / witnessed daily Illus
trations of the eX-Premier's conscientious
performance OF his wholesome theory. He
! was deliberate feeder. and ! do not be-
! lieye he ever had a twinge OF indigestion
in his life. He paraphrased the old saying
| Eat in haste and repent at leasure -
One day at dinner the conversation turned
on the digestibility of certain foods when
| Mr. Carnegie chanced TO remark what q
martyr TO dyspepsia Carlyle had been.
| Yes, said MIR. Gladstone 'he smoked
| too much. Quain tells me he ate guam
| titles of sOdden gingerbread. and he was
a rapid feeder. l lunched with him one
day, and he tnmbled his food into his
stomach. II was like posting letters. He
| didn't seem TO use his jaws except TO talk .
| Much TO the regret of the entire party Mr
| Gladstone was compelled TO leave the
| coach on its arrival at Aberdeen. He re-
ceiyed a telegram from a member of the
Cabinet urging his immediate presence in
Downing Street on "a matter of command
| ing importance"