"Don't talk to me of Mr.
Gladstone's mind," said a contemporary; "it is his body which astonishes
me." He never had any serious illness in his life, and up to quite
recent years were vigorous exercise, sometimes walking when in Scotland
20 miles at a stretch over rough and mountainous country. The physical
effort of speaking to twenty thousand people, and being heard in every
part of the vast building by the audience, as was the case at
Birmingham, in 1889, was remarkable. His power of endurance was
wonderful. In 1882, he once sat up through an all-night sitting of the
House of Commons, and going back to 10 Downing Street, at 8 o'clock in
the morning, for half an hour's rest, again returned to the House and
remained until the conclusion of the setting. Tree-cutting, which was
with him a frequent recreation until he became a very old man, was
chosen "as giving him the maximum of healthy exercise in the minimum of
time." This favorite pastime of the great statesman was so closely
associated with him that it was deemed the proper thing to do to place
on exhibition in the Great Columbian Exposition at Chicago one of the
axes of Mr. Gladstone.
The Psalmist says, "A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes
upon the thick trees.
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