n
any other country far and away can possibly be; and that all is sound
to the core in that important branch of government. Parliament itself
could readily be constituted of a delegation of members from the town
councils without impairing its efficiency. Perhaps when the sufficient
payment of members is established, many of these will be found at
Westminster and that to the advantage of the Kingdom.

CHAPTER XXIV

GLADSTONE AND MORLEY

Mr. Gladstone paid my "American Four-in-Hand in Britain" quite a
compliment when Mrs. Carnegie and I were his guests at Hawarden in
April, 1892. He suggested one day that I should spend the morning with
him in his new library, while he arranged his books (which no one
except himself was ever allowed to touch), and we could converse. In
prowling about the shelves I found a unique volume and called out to
my host, then on top of a library ladder far from me handling heavy
volumes:

"Mr. Gladstone, I find here a book 'Dunfermline Worthies,' by a friend
of my father's. I knew some of the worthies when a child."

"Yes," he replied, "and if you will pass your hand three or four books
to the left I think you will find another book by a Dunfermline man."

I did so and saw my book "An American Four-in-Hand in Britain." Ere I
had done so, however, I heard that organ voice orating in full swing
from the top of the ladder:

"What Mecca is to the Mohammedan, Benares to the Hindoo, Jerusalem to
the Christian, all that Dunfermline is to me."

My ears heard the voice some moments before my brain realized that
these were my own words called forth by the first glimpse caught of
Dunfermline as we approached it from the south.[66]

[Footnote 66: The whole paragraph is as follows: "How beautiful is
Dunfermline seen from the Ferry Hills, its grand old Abbey towering
over all, seeming to hallow the city, and to lend a charm and dignity
to the lowliest tenement! Nor is there in all broad Scotland, nor in
many places elsewhere that I know of, a more varied and delightful
view than that obtained from the Park upon a fine day. What Benares is
to the Hindoo, Mecca to the Mohammedan, Jerusalem to the Christian,
all that Dunfermline is to me." (_An American Four-in-Hand in
Britain_, p. 282.)]

"How on earth did you come to get this book?" I asked. "I had not the
honor of knowing you when it was written and could not have sent you a
copy."

"No!" he replied, "I had not then the pleasure of your a