One hundred years ago
THE influenza, which has killed an Archbishop and a Member of Parlia- ment, has at last attacked Mr. Glad- stone and the Prince of Wales. Mr. Gladstone has had fever on him all the week, but the temperature was sinking on Thursday and yesterday, and though confined to his bed, he is doing well. The attack on the Prince of Wales is said to be very slight. Lord George Hamilton, who was recovering, has had a relapse, and Mr. W. H. Smith said on Wednesday that ten of his colleagues were in bed, that they had only one clerk at the table, and that the messen- gers were nearly all laid up, while there were "serious gaps" on the front bench opposite. Certainly no epidemic that we can remember has ever disabled the public service so thoroughly. But if the Irish Land Bill shall have passed through Committee this week, there will be compensations even for this epidemic. It would not have passed through Committee without the help of the influenza.
The Spectator, 16 May 1891
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