The sun., 1918-12-29

dSSocldlttl Will JLdl OL hIduStOlle. IL
was at Hawardcn Castle that the Grand
Old Man was wont TO seek release from
the cares Of state and it was in the ad-
jacent ground that he felled some of the
mighty English oaks that in his judg-
ment had numbered the earth long enough.
When, therefore, we come upon a book
entitled Some Hdrdrde1 Letters we at
once infer that it must consist of epistles
written by or to some member of the
Gladstone family; and, as We read the
title in full, We learn that the volume is
mostly made up of missives 10 Mary Glad
stone, the great stateslnan's home loving
daughter, both before and after her mar
riage in 1886 to the Rev. Harry Drew,
the curate Of her brother Stephen in the
church at Hawarden.
\ young woman-or, for the matter of
that, woman of any age-to whom great
men like to write intimate personal let
tiers must herself be person of remark
able qualities. She must be Il woman of
sympathetic intelligence, who inspires con-
fidence and respect. Men Of ability us a rule
do not care TO express their most char
acteristic thoughts, through the medium
of private correspondence, to one who
Is incapable of approaching them or
NvInSa = 3,f
ference. 1t is high tribute therefore to
Mary Gladstone that such men as Ruskin
and Browning and Burne-JOnes and
Henry Sidgwick and other leaders of Eng
lish thought should have cared to write
TO her at all. Her portrait drawn in 1879
by Sir Edward Burne-Jones is reproduced
as Il frontispieee to the present volume.
1t indicates most attractive personality.
Gladstone and His Family.
The Gladstones at Hawarden lived in
relations of great intimacy with the fam
lily of Lord Lyttleton, whose wife was
sister of Mrs. Gladstone. On Sunday eGe-
nings the clans would gather in the library
at Hawarden, where Mr. Gladstone would
cndcavor to solve any question or difficulty
that bothered the young people. They
were brought up with simplicity that.
Is described as almost austere; very little
was spent on clothes; money being re-
garded chiefly us trust TO he devoted to
the benefit Of others. As the children
grew older, Mary Gladstone, Mr.. Glad
stones third daughter and fifth child, was
prominently the daughter who stayed
at home and always received the conf
dences Of the whole family. The famous
people who came TO see her father made
friends with her; and hence this collection
of letters The letters written to Mary
Gladstone by the late Lord Acton alone
have already been published in a sepa-
rate volume.
Some Rules for Youth.
As an illustration of Mr.. Gladstone's
benignity of character, the editors have
reproduced in the first chapter a letter
which he wrote in 1878 to a young man
who had sought from him some advice
or guidance in the conduct of life" Mr..
Gladstone responded as follows:
Sir: l have the honor to acknowledge
your letter, which it is very difficult for
me, even after this delay, to answer, but
which 1 am unwilling wholly to pass by.
On the other side are few notes from
Your sincere well wisher.
"W. f. GLADSTONE.
a. Rely on it that every pind has a
work and every life a purpose, which
earnest, humble pains will not fail to dis
cover;
"2. Prefer reality to show;
"3. The future to the present;
II. Manly assiduity and application to
supposed or even real brilliancy of natural
gifts;
"5. Concentrated to diffused attention;
rs. To know and to do q little well