Mr. Gladstone has bidden a final farewell to public life
and to his present constituency in Midlothian, in a letter to Sir John Cowan, dated last Monday, in which he congratulates the country, and especially the Scotch portion of it, on the unexampled progress made in improving the condition of the people as a consequence of the passing of Liberal measures, which Scotland has steadily supported, and encourages Mid- lothian to continue in the same wise course which she has pursued, that is, to elect as his successor Sir Thomas Gibson Carmichael, to whose selection he gave his hearty endorsement a year ago, when his own retirement was determined on. Mr. Gladstone's farewell to Parliamentary life ends a great and chequered career, and one which no fair- minded man can look back upon without both wonder and admiration, however much he may wish that he had never thrown himself into the arms of the Irish Home-rulers.
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