13 JANUARY 1883, Page 1

The world,—or at least all the world which is not

so insanely Tory as to exult in Mr. Gladstone's illness, and it is a mournful fact that this is not absolutely the whole world,—was alarmed on.Monday by hearing that Dr. Andrew Clark had been tele- graphed for to Hawarden, and had insisted that the Midlothian visit should be abandoned by Mr. Gladstone, whose sleep has not been good lately, and consequently his strength not up to the mark. And yesterday, again, we heard that Mr. Glad- stone's sleeplessness had not disappeared, and that he was keeping his room under the influence of a severe cold. Fortu- nately, Mr. Gladstone is a good patient, and when a physician in whom he has confidence gives him orders, he does not neglect those orders, but implicitly follows them. For this England is heartily grateful to him ; and even, we do not doubt, the Mid- lothian audiences themselves, who have lost so great a gratifi- cation. It is not a gratification, however, that any part of the political world would chose to purchase at the cost of a single day of Mr. Gladstone's Ministerial life.