GREVILLE ON MR. GLADSTONE.
r To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]
Sns,—As I was reading Greville's Memoirs the other day, I came upon the following extraordinary entry, which bears date September 30th, 1854, and was written seemingly at Worsley :—
" The Gladstones came here on Wednesday. No one can dis- pute his extraordinary capacity, but I think there may be much difference of opinion as to the charm of his society. He has a melodious voice in speaking, but I was not prepared to hear the Chancellor of the Exchequer warble a sentimental ballad accompanied by his wife."
The quaint severity of the criticism on Mr. Gladstone which is contained in the passage here italicised is a relic of bygone conventionality ; and also Greville may have been prejudiced by the suspicion with which he evidently regarded the non- descript Peelite. It was less than three years after the date of this entry that Mr. Gladstone did me the great honour of calling on me at Balliol. I well remember with what awe he then inspired me ; and it is refreshing to learn that he knew how to be seasonably frivolous (desipere in loco). From his manner in old age I should never have inferred this. He was, indeed, most kind in gratifying my taste for his entertaining political gossip; but he seemed to me to take life so seriously that he could not, like his friend Robert Lowe, be broadly witty, and even humour was not one of his strong points. In fact, my experience of him confirms the general impression left on me by one of his friends, who, as is mentioned else- where, said to me : "He will talk about a piece of old china as if he was standing before the judgment-seat of God."—I am,
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