Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1909-11-12
THE TIME THAT Mr..
GLADSTONE WAS LOST
az &. j.


Joseph Chamberlain is one of the best
known Englishmen in this country. Our
more or less intimate knowledge of him
dates back to 1883, when he came to this
country for the British government and
settled the Canadian fisheries dispute, and
incidentally found for himself his third
bride in the charming Miss Endicott, of
Washington.
While he was in this country Mr.. Cham
berlain, Of course, was extensively enter
tanned, and, among other places where he
was the guest, was one Of Americas most
famous clubs. While there Mr.. Chamber
lain fell TO talking about Gladstone, with
whom he had been closely associated in
the British cabinet. He told numerous
good stories about the Grand Old Man,
some old, some new. But, so far as l have
been able to learn, the one / am now to
relate has hitherto escaped being put in.
print, and Mr.. Chamberlain, / believe, had
never told the story previous to that night
in the club. D.
you may remember" he said, that
from 1880 to 1886, as president of the board
of trade, / had membership in the cabinet
over which Gladstone presided as prime
minister. 1t was a ministry of trying sit
uations, among them being the Phoenix
bank murders, the defeat at Majuba hill,
the failure to relieve Khartum, the de-.
plorable death of Gordon, and we OF the
cabin got rather accustomed to being
summoned to conferences at most unex-
pected moments.
''Well, one day, there arose most unex-,
pectedly an emergency of most vital i'm
p~ortance. 1t was highly necessary to sum-
mon the cabinet TO all immediate session.
/ undertook to get it together, and In a
brief period of time we were brought al
fnrafhnr I'm % hinaf nn11nail-fhnf 10 oil nv-
cept the man we most wanted to be pres
ent-the prime minister himself. The mes
senger l had dispatched to Mr.. Gladstone
had returned with the information that he
was not to be found,
"Other messengers were hurriedly sent
here, there, everywhere to all those places
which Gladstone frequented, and each and
all came back reporting that he was not
there-had not been seen there all day. At
a most inopportune-in fact, a vital mo-
ment, he had become lost to the govern
ment-had disappeared as completely as
though the earth had opened up and swal-
lowed him.
There we sat in the cabinet, cudgeling
our brains over the situation, and sick at
the thought hat M one knew what dire
thing might result from the ~ineXplicablej
physical effacement of Mr.. Gladstone.
Finally, with a sort Of forlorn hope air,
someone suggested that perhaps Mr.. Glad
stone might be found at a certain old book
store which he was known sometimes to
visit. Hastily a messenger was despatched
there, and he returned, breathless, with
the information that Mr.. Gladstone had
been at the shop, had purchased a book
and had gone away. But, the messenger
auued, as we were all but ready to groan
audibly, as we were grooming inwardly,
tina the book store keeper said that per-
haps Mr.. Gladstone might be found at a
house where certain Italian scholars were
in the habit of meeting. He seemed to
recall that Mr.. Gladstone had remarked,
when purchasing the book, hat he in
tended going there. s..
Instantly the messenger was hurried
to the address given, and there, in the
center of a group of Italian s%avants, and
with an open book before him, was the
missing prime minister OF Great Britain,
engaged in animated discussion with the
foreigners about him.
with visible annoyance, Mr.. Gladstone
heard the messengers declaration that a
vital matter of state required his imme-
date presence at a cabinet council. With
visible reluctance he followed the messen-
ger thither. and when he appeared before
us he voiced his displeasure at the inter-
~ruption in the declaration that he had
been engaged In a very important discus
sion with certain Italian scholars as to
the best manner or translatlng the hymns
of Isaac Watts into the Italian vernacu-
lar, so that they might be largely circu-
lated in Italy. And as we sat there, all
but open mouthed in our establishment,
he actually requested US to hurry the cab
met business so that he could renew as
soon as possible his conference with the
Italians.
'It was a copy OF Watts hymns that
Mr.. Gladstone had bought of the book
man who furnished the clew to his dis
tinguished customers whereabouts. And
I nave no doubt that, as soon as the cab
met session was over, Mr.. Gladstone hur-
ried back to the old house where his
italian friends awaited him. / know thai
ell through the cabinet meeting his mind
seemed to us distraught, as though it
were even then occupied with the problem
of the best manner of translating Watts
hymns into Italian"