Was it Benjamin Disraeli?

No, sorry Roger

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Roger, you and Laurie are very close.

Disraeli made a comment about this person ... but that doesnt help much because Dizzy made comments about many people.

One of this person's favorite pastimes involved doing what George Washington is, anecdotally, supposed to have done once.

If it's not Disraeli, it's Gladstone.

... your deduction is spot on, Steve! Congratulations!!

Gladstone had a weird (to me ) passion for chopping down trees on his estate.

He was considered to have been very astute in resolving the dispute over the compensation paid to the US for the Civil War involvement of the ship Alabama.
(Its been said that the result of this very expensive payment was that Britain and the USA became friends and allies for the next 100 years)

The Gladstone bag was named after him. I was going to bring in the quotes about him ...
Disraeli was asked "What is the difference between a misfortune and a calamity?"
He replied "If Gladstone fell into the Thames, that would be a misfortune; and if anybody pulled him out, that, I suppose, would be a calamity."

Queen Victoria said that "He speaks to Me as if I was a public meeting"

Now, what is a Gladstone bag??? (No guesses, please, as I don't know the answer...)

wikipedia : "A Gladstone bag is a small portmanteau suitcase built over a rigid frame which could separate into two equal sections. Unlike a suitcase, a Gladstone bag is "deeper in proportion to its length."[1] Gladstones are typically made of stiff leather and often belted with lanyards. The bags are named after William Ewart Gladstone (1809–1898), the four-time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom"

I think of it as a very very large strong briefcase. The various images on the internet all differ somewhat    

Well, we just call this style a doctor's bag...

Who said the following, and what was the occasion he was discussing:

"Never did nobler seed fall upon more fruitful soil than his argument and exhortation upon the minds and hearts of his enthusiastic listeners."

Best
Rob

It was Lincoln's former secretary, John Nicolay, recalling Lincoln's speech during the founding of the Illinois Republican party in 1856. Nicolay had been a delegate to that convention.

Ok, but what was Nicolay wearing?

I got this from Nicolay's papers in the Library of Congress. I should have known it would be printed and available on the web.

Best
Rob

(10-24-2019 11:40 AM)Rob Wick Wrote:  Ok, but what was Nicolay wearing?

I got this from Nicolay's papers in the Library of Congress. I should have known it would be printed and available on the web.

Best
Rob

For those of you who are interested, here's a link to the full text of Nicolay's 1900 paper:

https://books.google.com/books?id=WeBSAA...se&f=false

Who claimed that Abraham Lincoln made money from poisoned milk?

No idea. Most books say that Nancy Hanks Lincoln died of milk sickness, but I do not see a connection to your question. Offhand, I cannot think of any other time poisoned milk enters the overall Lincoln saga.

Its a far-reaching saga though Roger. The assertion was made in quite recent times.
Nancy Hanks Lincoln is not involved.

Homer Simpson? He told school kids Lincoln sold poison milk to children? I saw the original episode a long while ago and can't remember the particulars.