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Page 31
Let them be served on gold--
The wealthy and the great;
Two lovers only want
A single glass and plate!
Ring ding, ring ding,
Ring ding ding--
Old wine, young lassie,
Sing, boys, sing!
XI
DIAGNOSIS OF THE BACILLUS LIBRORUM
For a good many years I was deeply interested in British
politics. I was converted to Liberalism, so-called, by an
incident which I deem well worth relating. One afternoon I
entered a book-shop in High Holborn, and found that the Hon.
William E. Gladstone had preceded me thither. I had never seen
Mr. Gladstone before. I recognized him now by his resemblance to
the caricatures, and by his unlikeness to the portraits which the
newspapers had printed.
As I entered the shop I heard the bookseller ask: ``What books
shall I send?''
To this, with a very magnificent sweep of his arms indicating
every point of the compass, Gladstone made answer: ``Send me
THOSE!''
With these words he left the place, and I stepped forward to
claim a volume which had attracted my favorable attention several
days previous.
``I beg your pardon, sir,'' said the bookseller, politely, ``but
that book is sold.''
``Sold?'' I cried.
``Yes, sir,'' replied the bookseller, smiling with evident pride;
``Mr. Gladstone just bought it; I haven't a book for sale--Mr.
Gladstone just bought them ALL!''
The bookseller then proceeded to tell me that whenever Gladstone
entered a bookshop he made a practice of buying everything in
sight. That magnificent, sweeping gesture of his comprehended
everything--theology, history, social science, folk-lore,
medicine, travel, biography--everything that came to his net was
fish!
``This is the third time Mr. Gladstone has visited me,'' said the
bookseller, ``and this is the third time he has cleaned me out.''
``This man is a good man,'' says I to myself. ``So notable a
lover of books surely cannot err. The cause of home rule must be
a just one after all.''
From others intimately acquainted with him I learned that
Gladstone was an omnivorous reader; that he ordered his books by
the cart-load, and that his home in Hawarden literally overflowed
with books. He made a practice, I was told, of overhauling his
library once in so often and of weeding out such volumes as he
did not care to keep. These discarded books were sent to the
second-hand dealers, and it is said that the dealers not
unfrequently took advantage of Gladstone by reselling him over
and over again (and at advanced prices, too) the very lots of
books he had culled out and rejected.
Every book-lover has his own way of buying; so there are as many
ways of buying as there are purchasers. However, Judge Methuen
and I have agreed that all buyers may be classed in these
following specified grand divisions:
The reckless buyer.
The shrewd buyer.
The timid buyer.
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