New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-07-06

mo wildly one OF the most interesting
A.rrs I ever spent anywhere with any
ssay II was in Cannes, during the
,-,.r Of 1898, after Mr.. Gladstone's
'.a,n in May Of that year at Hawar-
The two had long been friends
~ gladstone had no friend more de
Ia than the Stuart Rendel who was
sortner in the great engineering firm
cir w. Armstrong & Co, and NJ. p.
Nontgomeryshlre from 1890 to
10 ,Sqi when Mr.. Gladstone made him a
- Lord Rendel owned, among
-.s,, places. the famous Chateau de
SsorAnc. in Cannes. formerly belonging
,he Duke of Montrose. He had Mr..
"a Mrs Gladstone there as guests
snr,,g that winter Of 1897 when Mr.
c,odstone's illness had become acute.
The three had gone abroad together,
os often before, and people who did not
ave Mr. Gladstone used to insist that
: ord Rendel paid his travelling eX-
penses ~,
.1f ever YOU have a chance" said
lord Rendel to me, Il wish YOU would
denv that story on all such matters
Mr. Gladstone was most strict. He ex-
acted from me a statement of the
amounts | had paid, and he repaid to
the uttermost farthing everything that
had been spent for him on every jour
ney we took together"
He asked me to lunch with him one
dsv at the Chateau de Thorenc. say
ing. Il think you might'like to see the
roons the Gladstones occupied that
winter" He showed me first of all the
Grounds. seventeen acres of them,
which for Cannes is a great deal;
,srcer. I believe, than any other of the
cannes villas; and a fine example Of
landscape gardening. The beauty of it
depends on a system Of irrigation; with
forget how many miles Of canals;
and with walks and points of view
upon the Mediterranean and the
stretches of that lovely long shore line
Of Cannes; flowers and trees and
shrubbery and terraces,-all were mar
yellous. On the terrace in front Of the
house
This" said Lord Rendel, is where
Nj Gladstone used to walk. His
rooms were Just above. This is the
finest view of all, the view he loved
best; the widest of them all. He
thought II finer from the terrace itself
than from the windows above, and he
was always happier when he could
walk. These stone flags were laid
down for him. He was so shaken by
his illness that the gravel walk hurt his
feet Not many years before he had
walked from oxford to London, as he
had many times when younger; and in
the same time"
Their rooms were on the first floor;
which in America we call the second.
they were spacious enough, pleasantly
furnished, three rooms or four alto
tether. I asked Lord Rendel if he had
kept any memorial or souvenir of their
stay. He said:
THE rooms themselves are the
memorial. They have never been occu-
pied since. The furniture is the same,
the arrangement the same"
Then, with a pause:
THAT is the sofa on which latterly
he lay; and where we hoped he would
die"
II was a startling sentence enough,
but Lord Rendel went on:
You must know that during all the
last months the pain was intolerable
and incessant There was no relief.
He had little or no sleep except from
drugs. He bore it with courage, but
after time it shook even his nerve
His last words on his deathbed at
Hawarden were true all through the
winter: only waiting He looked to
death as his last friend"
Mr.. Gladstone had many enemies. TO
the last and to this day multitudes
thought him an enemy Of England.
But even to his enemies there must be
something pathetic in the thought or
the lonely old man on the Mediter-
ranean shore, always in torment, ana
the next world his only hope of relief.
Lord Rendel was one Of a group OF
men whose devotion to Mr.. Gladstone
differed not much from idolatry. Mr..
George Glyn. afterward Lord Wolver-
ton; Sir Algernon West. who has re-
corded in print his conviction, if 1t can
be called a conviction, that Mr.. Glad
stone was the greatest man who ever
lived, may serve as samples. l men
toned Mr. Bright the other day, but his
friendship was Of another sort; and no
body would use the word idolatry in
connection with Mr.. Bright. Perhaps
ought not to use it in connection with
Lord Rendel, for he also was a man OF
real force and independence of char
acter. 1t is enough to say that his re-
gard for Mr. Gladstone was an affec-
Tomato regard.
Mr.. Gladstone repaid these devotions
with q measured sincerity, but with a
Willingness to accept what was offered
him; which perhaps wa3 all that his
friends expected. At the same time 1t
requires a little effort TO recognize in
'his self-surrendering friend the very
able, cool-headed man Of business, who
was, believe, the chief financial part
her In Armstrong & Co.; and leading
FACTOR in the prosperity of the Elswick
WORKS Won mint % eilw rniefa ke hia