New-York tribune., 1900-01-28

plush trousers. with gold band down the OUT
side seam: a scarlet waistcCat Io1a lace rufss
falling down - the tips Of his fingers white
gloves with brilliant rings outside them aEi
long black rinsIets ripping down over his shoul-
ders: and when he rose in the House he wore
bottle green frOck coat, with a white waistco2t
cOllarless. and a needless display Of god
chains" While alIUdins To the subject Of clothes
We may cite the story Of Alfred Montgomery.
himself a great friend of Dandies- and, IN mat
ters of dress. something of a pr=cisan. He was
u member of the Board of Inland Revenue AMI
at one OF the sessions of this body held on a
baking hot day. he was shocked 10 Sc the
chairmans private secretary come into the
BOardrOOm with his coat of As the secretary
was leaving the room Montgomery called hin
back and said: Mr.. -, If You should find il
convenient in this hot weather 10 take on your
trousers. pray do not let any feeling Of respect
for the Board stand in your way \ curious fac-
is told in relation to Montgomery. He remarked
To Sir AIgernOn that. though ne had been il
the Queens household ever since Her Majestys
accession, she had never once spoken TO him
He it was who complained Of having been bitten
at a country house, 10 a certain Lord who vas
not remarkable for his personal cleanliness. I
never have been bitten there said the noble
man. No. SAID montgomery even JUGS ---1-
draw the line somewhere
There is. naturally a great deal in this vol-
ume about Mr.. Gladstone for whom the auth7;
preserves a profound enthusiasm He tells
many characteristic anecdotes Of his ehit
Gladstone hated tobacco. and only twice IS BE-
Heved to have touched it. once when, out Of
poIiteness to the Prince OF Wales who was
dining viii him and wished to smoke. he al
tempted a cigarette. He accused Sir Alsernan
of smelling strongly Of tobacco. Il don't Won
der" replied his private secretary, for I have
been sitting for half an hour in Sir William
HarcOurt'S ROOM Does HarCOurt smoker he
asked, in 4 voice of horror. If so. he must De
very careful always 70 change his clothes before
he comes to me" There are some amusing
anecdotes here about the attitude OF some Of
the governing families toward GladstOn@
when the latter was making his reputation
One member OF such q family remarked; 'Hs
is a wonderful man, no doubt; but so IS
japanese conjurer." Sir AIgernOn is strons
on the subject Of Gladstone's intuition in select,
ing promising men for high Offices He points
out that he chose Sir Stafford NOrrhcote for rs
secretary when NorthcOte was unknown; thai
he was the first to appreciate the qualities Of
Lord Randolph Churchill. and that Lord Rose
berry Mr. Asqufth. Sir Edward Grey. Nj
Chamberlain and Mr.. John Morley were al
picked out for honor by his famous friend he
speaks of Mr.. Gladstone's curious limitations
where humor was concerned. When Mr.. Co
schea. as First Lord OF the Admiralty tried 70
explain away an accident to a ship of the Brit
ish fleet. by emphasizing the fact that the leak
which had caused her TO be beached was very
small one. Lord Young observed. 1t is lucky y
is a little one. because he viii have 70 swallow
it" When Gladstone heard this he did not even
smile. Yet that he had humor would seem %
be suggested by the following little episode;
To his colleagues on the bench he once said;
Look at those two men: which is the usIier?
They gave their opinion NO said he You
do not put the question from the proper point
II you were to magnify your man, he would on
a colossal scale, become dignifed and even in
posing: but my man, the more you magnihed
him the rneaner he would become" His fOndness
for going to church is well known He always
went twice on Sundays and used to hold Sir
AIgernon in small repute because he was. as d
termed it. a "Once-er" But we must repeat no
more Of Sir AIgernou Vests anecdotes. II We
have borrowed a generous number. the reade'
may still feel sure Of enjoying the book lIsel+
for our selections are but as drop out OF ths
bucket There are more than four hundred
pages in the 'RecOIlecti0nS" and it IS no eA-
aggeration to say that on each enc there IS Al
anecdote; on some there are three or four Ths
very fact lessons the value OF the ~Iiecoiec-
tions" as a contribution TO the serious politics.
literature Of the authors time. There is scare
Iy any narrative. We get simply jottugs. sde-
dam "a,