Etiquette Minutiae of Gladstone’s Life

“His dinners are selected to his taste. He takes soup, fish (if it is to his fancy), but usually dines off one dish, which he selects and does not depart from. He is very fond of rice pudding and prunes and rice, and upon either of these, but more especially the former, he would, if the etiquette of the dinner table permitted it, make an entire meal.”– Public domain image of William Ewart Gladstone

Gladstone’s Life: The Great Statesman's Simple Habits. Plain Food, Plenty of Sleep

Mr. Gladstone is in the best of health, sleeps remarkably well, and, so far from having shown signs of decreasing vitality through an inability to maintain an appetite for food, the right honorable gentleman en joys his meals with the zest of a young man. When he rises he invariably takes a tepid bath, and every morning before breakfast while at Biarritz he attended church, and since his return to London has frequently taken a little walk in the grounds of Downing street. His first meal usually consists of a hard-boiled egg, a slice of tongue, with tea and toast. After breakfast he devotes him self to his correspondence, and for several hours is busy with his private secretary and receiving such political callers as may arrive. 

For luncheon Mr. Gladstone takes cold meat, milk pudding and cheese. He drinks a couple of glasses of light wine, and some times finishes with a glass of port. At 5 o'clock, if disengaged, he has afternoon tea. His dinners are selected to his taste. He takes soup, fish (if it is to his fancy), but usually dines off one dish, which he selects and does not depart from. He is very fond of rice pudding and prunes and rice, and upon either of these, but more especially the former, he would, if the etiquette of the dinner table permitted it, make an entire meal. 

He drinks claret, and to his cheese has a liberal glass of port wine. Half of this he takes with his cheese, and sips the remainder in conversation over dessert. When dining out Mr. Gladstone takes two or three glasses of champagne, concluding, as usual, with port. He does not drink coffee because it is seldom made to his liking, and being astringent keeps him awake. 

While at Biarritz a rule was made that Mr. Gladstone should be left alone at 10 o'clock every night. This rule is likely to be adhered to still, and the other evening, while the guest of a friend, he left at a quarter past ten and was in bed fifteen minutes later. Mr. Gladstone has, with very rare exceptions, always slept well and for some time was in the habit of remaining in bed until noon. This was when he felt fatigued or desired to think out some matter which specially engaged him. But at Biarritz he never lay in bed but once and that was two days before the time fixed for his departure, when he was attacked by a cold in the head and reverted to his old rule, kept his bed for twenty-four hours and thus regained his usual health. 

Since the right honorable gentleman returned to London he has risen early, and is as vigorous and hearty as his friends could wish. Mr. Gladstone lives very plainly, his regimen being guided by authority. but his appetite in London is good. On one occasion at Biarritz he was asked how he slept, to which he replied gayly, “Well, I have done my nine hours.”

His memory is as keen as ever, and at the Biarritz dinner-table, as when he dines at home or with friends in London, he was the life of the party. On one occasion when Mr. Tollemache was present there was a discussion about classics, and Mr. Gladstone quoted not single lines of Greek, but whole passages. On the voyage from Calais, the channel was very stormy, and Mr. Gladstone lay down, but did not suffer from seasickness. The reports of his ill health and lessened vitality have caused the Downing-street postbag to be unusually heavy, and a great deal of ill-afforded time has consequently been expended in refuting these idle inventions.– St. Jame's Gazette, 1893

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