Part 23 (1/2)
About 4 o'clock in the morning Mr. Gladstone seemed to be sinking. The scene in the sick-room was painful. The Rev. Stephen Gladstone read prayers and hymns, including Mr. Gladstone's favorite, ”Rock of Ages.”
When this was concluded, Mr. Gladstone murmured, ”Our Father.” As Mrs.
Gladstone leaned over her husband, he turned his head and his lips moved slightly. Though extremely distressed, Mrs. Gladstone bore up with remarkable fort.i.tude. But Mr. Gladstone rallied again, and Wednesday morning he was still living. By his almost superhuman vitality he had fought death away.
The morning was beautiful and clear and the suns.h.i.+ne came in at the open window of Mr. Gladstone's room. The aged sufferer was hovering between life and death, and only by the feeble beating of his pulse could it be told he was alive. He was sleeping himself away into eternal day. Mrs.
Gladstone sat by the side of his bed, holding his hand, and never leaving except for needed rest. At times he seemed to recognize for a moment some of those with him. He surely knew his wife as she tenderly kissed his hand.
It soon became known abroad that Mr. Gladstone was dying. In the House of Commons it caused profound sorrow. Everything else was stopped while members discussed how best to honor him, even by taking steps without, precedent as that of adjourning, because the circ.u.mstances were unprecedented. His former colleagues silently watched his last struggle with the relentless foe, to whom, true to himself, he was yielding slowly, inch by inch.
Telegrams of inquiry and sympathy came from all parts of the world to the Castle. The Queen wrote making inquiries and tendering a.s.surances of profound sympathy. A long telegram from the Princess of Wales concluded: ”I am praying for you.” The Prince of Wales wrote: ”My thoughts are with you at this trying time., G.o.d grant that your father does not suffer.”
The Duke of Devons.h.i.+re before the British Empire League referred touchingly to the mournful scenes at Hawarden, when ”the greatest of Englishmen was slowly pa.s.sing away.” And all over the land people of all conditions and at all kinds of gatherings, politicians, divines, reformers, and women joined in expressions of grief and sympathy. Many were the messages of regard and condolence that came from other lands.
Dr. Dobie furnishes the following picture of the dying man. ”His grand face bears a most peaceful and beautiful look. A few days ago the deeply bitten wrinkles that so long marked it were almost gone; but now, strangely enough, they seem strong and deep as ever. He looks too in wonderfully good color.”
At 2 o'clock in the morning, it was evident that the time had come, and the family gathered about the bed of the aged man, from that time none of them left the room until all was over. The only absentee was little Dorothy Drew, who tearfully complained that her grandfather did not know her. Behind the family circle stood the physicians and the nurses, and the old coachman, who had been unable to be present when the other servants took their farewell, and who was now sent for to witness the closing scene.
The end was most peaceful. There were no signs of bodily pain or of mental distress. The Rev. Stephen Gladstone read prayers and repeated hymns. The nurse continued to bathe with spirits the brow of the patient, who showed grat.i.tude by murmuring, ”How nice!” While the son was engaged in praying, came the gentle, almost perceptible cessation of life, and the great man was no more. So quietly had he breathed his last, that the family did not know it until it was announced by the medical attendants. The weeping family then filed slowly from the room, Mrs. Gladstone was led into another room and induced to lie down. The only spoken evidence that Mr. Gladstone realized his surroundings in his last moments was when his son recited the litany. Then the dying man murmured, ”Amen.” This was the last word spoken by Mr. Gladstone and was uttered just before he died.
The death of Mr. Gladstone was announced to the people of Hawarden by the tolling of the church bell. The following bulletin was posted at 6 a.m.: ”In the natural course of things the funeral will be at Hawarden.
Mr. Gladstone expressed a strong wish to have no flowers at his funeral; and the family will be grateful if this desire is strictly respected.”
There was something indescribably pathetic in the daily bulletins about Mr. Gladstone. All the world knew that he was afflicted with a fatal but slow disease, and all the world was struck with wondering admiration at his sustained fort.i.tude, patience, and resignation. The tragedy of a life, devoted simply and purely to the public service, drawing to an end in so long an agony, was a spectacle that struck home to the heart of the most callous. These bulletins were posted on the front door of the Jubilee Porch, at Hawarden Castle, at 9 a.m., 5 p.m. and 10 o'clock at night daily, and published throughout the world.
When the sad event was announced that Mr. Gladstone had pa.s.sed away, the action of the House of Commons was prompt, decided and sympathetic. The House was crowded Thursday, May 19, when Speaker Gully called upon the government leader, Mr. A. J. Balfour, the First Lord of the Treasury, and all the members uncovering their heads, Mr. Balfour said:
”I think it will be felt in all parts of the House that we should do fitting honor to the great man whose long and splendid career closed to-day, by adjourning.
”This is not the occasion for uttering the thoughts which naturally suggest themselves. That occasion will present itself to-morrow, when it will be my duty to submit to the House an address to the Queen, praying her to grant the honor of a public funeral, if such honor is not inconsistent with the expressed wishes of himself or of those who have the right to speak in his behalf, and also praying the Queen to direct that a public monument be erected at Westminster with an inscription expressive of the public admiration, attachment and high estimate entertained by the House of Mr. Gladstone's rare and splendid gifts and devoted labors in Parliament and in high offices of State.
”Before actually moving the adjournment, I have to propose a formal resolution that the House to-morrow resolve itself into committee to draw up an address, the contents of which I have just indicated.”
After a word of a.s.sent from Sir William Vernon-Harcourt, the Liberal leader, the resolution was adopted and the House adjourned.
The House of Commons was crowded again on Friday, and went into committee of the whole to consider the address to the Queen in regard to the interment of the remains of Mr. Gladstone in Westminster Abbey.
Not since the introduction of the Home Rule Bill by Mr. Gladstone had there been such an a.s.semblage in the House, members filled every seat, cl.u.s.tered on the steps of the speaker's dais, and occupied every s.p.a.ce.
The galleries were all filled. In the Peer's gallery were the foremost members of the House of Lords. United States Amba.s.sador Hay and all his staff were present with other Amba.s.sadors. The members of the House were in deep mourning, and all removed their hats, as if in the presence of the dead. An unusual hush overspread all. After the prayer by the chaplain, there was an impressive silence for a quarter of an hour, before Mr. Balfour rose to speak. The whole scene was profoundly affecting. The eulogies of Mr. Gladstone formed an historic episode.
All, without respect to party, united in honoring their late ill.u.s.trious countryman.
Mr. Balfour delivered a brilliant panegyric of the dead statesman, and his speech was eloquent and displayed great taste. He was so ill, however, from weakness of heart that he was barely able to totter to his place and to ask the indulgence of the speaker while he rested, before offering his oration. He was too sick for the sad duty imposed upon him, but he preferred to pay this last tribute to his friend. The circ.u.mstances were painful, but added a dramatic touch to the scene.
His oration was lengthy and his eulogy spoken with evident emotion. He concluded by formally moving the presentation of the address to the Queen. The Liberal Leader, Sir William Vernon-Harcourt, the political as well as the personal friend of Mr. Gladstone, seconded the motion. He paid a heartfelt tribute to the memory of his eminent colleague, and spoke in a vein of lofty and glowing eloquence until overcome with emotion, so that he had to stop thrice to wipe his eyes; finally he completely broke down and was unable to proceed.
Mr. Dillon, the Irish leader, in a speech of five minutes duration, and in his most oratorical style, dwelt on Mr. Gladstone's fervid sympathy for the oppressed people of all races, and touched a chord which stirred the House. As Mr. Dillon had spoken for Ireland, so Mr. Abel Thomas followed as the representative of Wales.
The address to the Queen was unanimously adopted.
In the House of Lords there was also a full attendance of members. The Marquis of Salisbury, Prime Minister, spoke feelingly of Mr. Gladstone, who, he said, ”was ever guided in all his efforts by a lofty moral idea”. The deceased will be remembered, not so much for his political work as for the great example, hardly paralleled in history, of the great Christian Statesman.
The Earl of Kimberly, the liberal leader in the House of Lords, followed in a touching tribute, and the Duke of Devons.h.i.+re expressed generous appreciation of Mr. Gladstone's services in behalf of the Liberal Unionists, saying their severance from Mr. Gladstone was a most painful incident. But, he added, he could ”recall no word from Mr. Gladstone which added unnecessarily to the bitterness of the situation.” The Earl of Rosebery delivered an eloquent panegyric. The honors of the occasion were unanimously accorded to him, whose eulogy of his predecessor in the leaders.h.i.+p of the liberal party was a masterpiece of its kind. He spoke of the triumphs of life rather than the sorrows of death. Death was not all sadness. His life was full---his memory remains. To all time he is an example for our race and mankind. He instanced as an ill.u.s.tration of the fine courtesy always observed by Mr. Gladstone towards his political opponents, that the last letter he had written with his own hand was a private note to Lady Salisbury, several weeks since, congratulating her and her husband on their providential escape from a carriage accident at Hatfield. Lord Salisbury was visibly touched by Lord Rosebery's reference to this circ.u.mstance.
The House of Lords then adopted the Resolution to the Queen.