hat he had
been most unfairly and factiously treated (as Mr. G. still thinks, always
saving Peel) by the Duke and his friends, the Duke made an expedition to
the north of England, and had an overwhelming reception. Of course, he was
then only twelve years from Waterloo, and yet only four or five years
later he had to put up his iron shutters.

Approved a remark that a friend of ours was not simple enough, not ready
enough to take things as they come.

_Mr. G._--Unless a man has a considerable gift for taking things as they
come, he may make up his mind that political life will be sheer torment to
him. He must meet fortune in all its moods.

_Tuesday, Jan. 5._--After dinner to-day, Mr. G. extraordinarily gay. He had
bought a present of silver for his wife. She tried to guess the price, and
after the manner of wives in such a case, put the figure provokingly low.
Mr. G. then put on the deprecating air of the tradesman with wounded
feelings--and it was as capital fun as we could desire. That over, he fell
to his backgammon with our host.

_Wednesday, Jan. 6._--Mrs. Gladstone eighty to-day! What a marvel....

Leon Say called to see Mr. G. Long and most interesting conversation about
all sorts of aspects of French politics, the concordat, the schools, and
all the rest of it.

He illustrated the ignorance of French peasantry as to current affairs.
Thiers, long after he had become famous, went on a visit to his native
region; and there met a friend of his youth. "Eh bien," said his friend,
"tu as fait ton chemin." "Mais oui, j'ai fait un peu mon chemin. J'ai ete
ministre meme." "Ah, tiens! je ne savais pas que tu etais protestant."

I am constantly struck by his solicitude for the well-being and right
doing of Oxford and Cambridge--"the two eyes of the country." This
connection between the higher education and the general movement of the
national mind engages his profound attention, and no doubt deserves such
attention (M174) in any statesman who looks beyond the mere surface
problems of the day. To perceive the bearings of such matters as these,
makes Mr. G. a statesman of the highest class, as distinguished from men
of clever expedients.

Mr. G. had been reading the Greek epigrams on religion in Mackail; quoted
the last of them as illustrating the description of the dead as the
inhabitants of the more populous world:--

{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER