has been the central figure in an interesting little ceremony in the neighbourhood of his home this week. He has opened a new bridge over the river Dee—a bridge which takes the plice of the famous old ferry, and which opens one span when ships want to pass up and down the river. It enabled the veteran ex-Premier to indulge in some comparison between our system of communication to-day and that which existed at the time of the Queen's accession—a time when Mr. Gladstone was already an_ experienced parliamentarian and an ex-Minister. Many, even of his Radical friends, would he pleased if Me. Gladstone would confine his public utter ances to occasions of this kind and leave foreign politics alone.
4th June.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.