GLADSTONE'S CARE OF HIS BODY.
MR. GLADSTONE is perhaps the most distinguished person of this age, and well he may be. He has one of the most superb bodies ever given to man, and he takes the very best care of it. His chest and all the vital organs are large. His health is excellent. At the age of eighty-two he seems possessed of most of his physical powers to almost as high a degree as at fifty. If he feels overworked at all, which is seldom, he goes to bed and stays there till well. This is a great panacea with him. First among his mental qualities one may reckon power of going to sleep, for this is a mental power as much as that of memory. No matter what cares press upon him, he dismisses them all the moment he touches the bed. If this is not an element of greatness, it certainly contributes to it in a most marked manner. Many men who have only achieved mediocre greatness would have achieved it in a higher degree if they had cultivated this power of sleeping as Mr. Gladstone has. Next come his habits of exercise. His large lungs require a great deal of fresh air, and he takes vigorous exercise out-of-doors, but not to exhaustion, either with his ax or in other ways. A cold bath every morning seems to him a delight, as it is to so many Englishmen. He masticates his food thoroughly, and this is one secret of his splendid digestion. His stomach is never upset, which few can say. His mental work is done without much friction. His mind is orderly in its workings, and he knows how to get the best out of it as well as out of his subordinates, whether in a Liberal cabinet or in his office stenographers. Smoking he detests, and he has always abstained from very strong or fiery stimulants, using only very moderately light wines, more probably from habit than from any real good they do him. Finally comes his memory, which, according to Mr. Stead, is "almost terrible." It makes it very bad sometimes for those who attempt to dispute his recollection of a fact. This combination of memory with great reasoning power is very rare indeed. Here you have the analysis of the qualities which make Gladstone great and keep him young. They are, first, a splendid healthy physique; secondly, rational care of it, and especially his power of throwing off care and sleeping well after exacting work; and, third, system and order in his work. So far as others can possess themselves of the same bodily and mental conditions, they too may have equally good results in their lives.—Herald of Health.