Excerpt from London Letters and Some Others, Vol. 2 of 2 What I have called the boycotting Of Mr. Gladstone is as remarkable as any single fact that can be selected. It is a loose use Of the word boycotting, but the word has some how got possession Of the public mind and is employed to denote every degree Of neglect as well as Of that hatred which, in its organised form, passes easily into conspiracy and intolerable persecution. You know, all America knows, what Mr. Gladstone is in public life. Perhaps it is less com monly known that he is, in private life, one Of the most ad mirable Of talkers; indeed, a man with much Of that charm and fascination for other men which the best women have. Yet, for purely political reasons, he is now avoided and de tested; the greatest bore in society could not be so hateful to his fellow-creatures as Mr. Gladstone is to the more ex treme section Of society. It is literally true that to arrange a dinner party Of desirable people to meet him is an effort which tasks the resources Of the most accomplished hostess in London. The list Of Gladstonian Liberals who are also persons Of great social position is not a long one, nor would anything be gained by advertising the fact that, in order to compose a suitable company, the same people had to be asked again and again. Nor, in the crowded life Of Lon don, are the same people always available. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.