Catherine Gladstone

v7

CATHERINE GLADSTONE

From Messrs. Nisbet s List

SOME HAWARDEN
LETTERS

15/- net

Edited by LISLE MARCH
PHILLIPPS and
BERTRAM CHRISTIAN

A FORTY YEARS
FRIENDSHIP

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Letters from Canon H.
Scott Holland to Mrs.
Drew. Edited by Canon
OLLARD

W. G. C.

GLADSTONE : A Memoir

5/- net

By VISCOUNT GLADSTONE

M?? GLADSTONE

CATHERINE
GLADSTONE

BY HER DAUGHTER

MARY DREW

Xonfcon
NISBET gf CO. LTD.

22 BERNERS STREET, W. 1

First Published . . December
Reprinted .... December

,, .... January 1920

TO

THE DEAR AND HONOURED MEMORY

OF

MY MOTHER AND FATHER

AND TO

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS

IN LOVE AND GRATITUDE

Prevent us, O Lord, in all our doings,
with Thy most gracious favour ; that
in all our works begun, continued, and
ended in Thee, we may glorify Thy holy
Name ; through Jesus Christ our Lord

H

INTRODUCTION

AVING, a few years ago, written a
sketch of my Mother for private
circulation, by the wish of my
brothers and sisters it was printed in 1916
in the Corrihill Magazine. So deep and un
usual an interest was aroused in her life and
personality, that the desire for fuller treat
ment, for more light on the picture, was
expressed by those who have the best right
to ask it. But it remains a sketch, and I
have felt that in some cases a sketch really
reveals more than a finished picture. It
leaves more to the imagination.

It is a selection, made almost at random,
from some among the scenes and incidents,
the experiences and emotions, of her long life
as they have occurred to her daughter. The
book can hardly be called a monograph, for
it seemed necessary to recall the atmosphere,
the surroundings in which she lived and moved
and had her being. For this reason I have
touched on other lives than hers. It cannot
be necessary to apologise for the abiding sense

Vll

viii INTRODUCTION

of her husband s presence, ever permeating
her own being. It will be recognised that, if
these glimpses into her life and times are to
give a truthful portrait of her, it was neces
sary to study his personality as well as hers
-in fact they were inseparable. For this the
home daughter had, through life, exceptional
opportunities; for, owing to the marriage of
one sister in 1873 and the Cambridge career
(1878-96) of the other (though naturally they
were both much at home), she had the privilege
of living with her parents both before and
after her own marriage (1886), practically from
her birth to their deaths.

I should wish to thank Mr. A. T. Bassett and
Miss McCarthy for their excellent secretarial
help in dealing with the papers.

To Lord Morley I owe a debt of gratitude
that can never be paid for the inspiration of

his Biography.

M. D.

September 1919.

CONTENTS

PAGE

INTRODUCTION . . . . vii

CHAP.

I. CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH . 1

II. GIRLHOOD AND MARRIAGE . . 04

III. EARLY DIARIES AND MARRIED LIFE . , 40

IV. LETTERS FROM HER ... 75
V. LETTERS TO HER . . .

VI. CHARACTERISTICS . . .

VII. GOOD WORKS . .

VIII. REMINISCENCES . .

IX. "ViA CRUCIS VIA Lucis" . . 282

GENEALOGICAL TABLE , ,

INDEX . . ,295

IX

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

MRS. GLADSTONE , . . Frontispiece

FACING PAGE

VENETIA STANLEY (LADY DIGBY) . . .4

CATHERINE, MARY, STEPHEN, AND HENRY GLYNNE

AT AUDLEY END . . . .8

CATHERINE AND MARY GLYNNE . . .10

SIR STEPHEN GLYNNE . . . .17

HAWARDEN CASTLE . . . . .28

FASQUE . . . . . .35

MRS. GLADSTONE AND HER SISTER, LADY

TON, ON THE LAWN AT HAWARDEN . . 42

HAGLEY HALL . . . . .68

CATHERINE GLADSTONE . . . .87

MARY, LADY LYTTELTON . . . .89

MRS. GLADSTONE AND HERBERT . . , 102

LADY BRAYBROOKE AND LADY FORTESCUE . .128

THE R T . HON. W. E. GLADSTONE 148

xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING PAGE

A FAMILY GROUP AT HAWARDEN . . . 186

MRS. GLADSTONE, 1863 . . . . 204

MRS. GLADSTONE AT HAWARDEN . . . 228

BlLLINGBEAR ..... 244

MRS. GLADSTONE AT DOLLIS HILL, WITH HER GRAND
DAUGHTER, DOROTHY DREW . . . 260

MR. AND MRS. GLADSTONE AT CANNES . . 278

HAWARDEN CASTLE BY NIGHT 286

CATHERINE GLADSTONE

CHAPTER I
CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH

" ^ "IT THO is that lady, and what is she
Y \ doing ? " The lady in question
was Mrs. Gladstone ; she was carry
ing babies rolled up in blankets from the
London Hospital, at the time of the virulent
outbreak of cholera in 1866.

Catherine Glynne was born at Hawarden
Castle on January 6, 1812. Both her parents
were descended from Crusaders. Her father,
Sir Stephen Glynne, representative of the
Percy Barony, was twenty-fourth in descent
from William de Percy, a Norman chieftain who
came over to England in 1066 with William the
Conqueror. He accompanied Duke Robert to
the Holy Land in the First Crusade, and died
near Jerusalem in 1096.

Her mother, Mary Neville, daughter of
Lord Braybrooke and Catherine Grenville,
was eighteenth in descent from Richard de
Grenville and Lady Isabelle, daughter of

2 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

Lord Buckingham. Richard de Grenville, a
Crusader, died in the Holy Land in 1147.
Mary Neville was related to five Prime Minis
ters- -the two Grenvilles (one of whom was
her grandfather), Lord Chatham, Mr. Pitt, and
Mr. Gladstone, her son-in-law.

Mr. Gladstone compiled for the use of his
children the list of the statesmen related to
their grandmother, Lady Glynne :

Right Hon. George Grenville .
Sir William Wyndham .
Lord Chatham

Mr. Pitt ....
Lord Grenville

Grandfather.
Great -Grandfather.
Great-Uncle.
First Cousin.
Great-Uncle.

Lord Buckingham. . . . Great -Uncle.

Proud she might have been of the great
historic names among her ancestors. Mr.
Gladstone, if the idea had appealed to her,
would have liked the Percy title to have been
re-created on her behalf, she being one of the
representatives of the Percy Barony. But
she never would have borne to take a name
different from that of her husband. Through
Agnes de Percy and Jocelyn de Louvaine, she
was directly descended from Charlemagne.
Both her parents were on the Plantagenet
Roll. To select a few of the most famous
names in the history of England- -Egbert,
William the Conqueror, Harry Hotspur, and
Edward I. were among her ancestors. Sir
Richard Grenville of glorious memory, the

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 3

hero of Tennyson s " Revenge," was a member
of her family. 1

Sir John Glyn, Lord Chief Justice of Eng
land, second son of Sir William Glyn of Glyn-
lifon, Carnarvonshire, was the founder of the
Ha warden branch of the family. Being a
younger son, he could not inherit the beautiful
home of his Glyn ancestors. He went out
into the world to seek his fortunes. He was
twenty-first in descent from Cil Men Troed
Dhu, one of the seven Kings or Chieftains of
Wales who flourished in 843.

This brilliant young barrister won his spurs
during the indictment of Lord Strafford.
His speech on that occasion changed the
fortunes of the day, and resulted in the con
demnation and death of Strafford. Sir John
was buried beneath the Altar in St. Margaret s
Church, Westminster. There was a decided
fitness in the Glynnes following the Stanleys
as owners of Hawarden, 2 Sir Stephen Glynne,
father of Mrs. Gladstone, being fourth in de
scent from Venetia Stanley, 3 " the renowned
beauty, 1 granddaughter of Lord Derby; and

1 Many families, of course, could claim the same historic descent,
or others as notable. But there is a limit to those who, without
personal research, can find it notified in standard works of genealogy.

2 Glynlifon was acquired by the Wynns through marriage with the
Glyn heiress.

8 Venetia married Sir Kenelm Digby, whose fine portrait by Van-
dyck hangs over the chimney-piece in the Library at Hawarden
Castle.

4 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

the Stanleys had intermarried with Catherine
Glynne s ancestors.

Her father and mother were distinguished
by remarkable beauty of face and form
beauty inherited by both their daughters.
Their marriage was tragically cut short, after a
few happy years, by Sir Stephen s death at the
early age of thirty-three. They had posted to
the Riviera as a last hope of benefiting his
lungs. It is curious to read in Lady Glynne s
journal that, there being then no professional
nurses, any stray friend of hers staying at Nice
-Lady Bradford and others- -took it in turns
to look after the patient. They had taken
with them their carriages and riding horses,
a whole retinue of servants, and the little
eldest boy aged six.

Napoleon was then safe in captivity at
Elba. They bought, probably for the use of
the invalid, one of his famous white chargers, 1
the same horse which had carried him at the
terrible battle of Borodino and in the succeed
ing stages of his retreat from Russia.

It was in the year of the battle of Waterloo
that Sir Stephen s death took place. Lady
Glynne was caught in the great Hundred
Days. Napoleon had made his escape from
Elba and was at large. Lord Braybrooke set

1 This horse went with them to England, after the death of Sir
Stephen, and eventually died and was buried at Hawarden.

VENETIA STANLEY (LADY DIGBY)

GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMOTHER OF MRS. GLADSTONE
From Vandyck s portrait at Windsor

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 5

off from England to escort his daughter home,
but his coach was stepped and his horses com
mandeered.

Meanwhile Lady Glynne was advised not
to travel by sea for fear of the ship being
seized and interned. They contrived to reach
Genoa safely, and thence, with many com
plications, they posted across Lombardy,
Switzerland, and Flanders on their way to
England .

With her four children, all under six, this
beautiful young widow returned to the home
of her girlhood, and lived with her father in
London, at Audley End, and at Billingbear.
For three months of each year she resided at
Hawarden. There is a diary in existence
containing notes on her children between 1815
and 1822. Catherine, at the age of three, is
mentioned as a magnificent specimen with
curly golden hair, abounding in animal spirits,
a coaxing, passionate little Pussy. She some
times " pretends to be feminine Pussy so
tightened, she says, when having no notion

of fear." At four she savs, " Nothin s too

/

dood for Mammy." She had a passion for
her aunt, Lady Chatham: laid hold of her
and held her tight on her departure from
Audley End " Don t go, dear Chat "and
was unwilling to let her get into the carriage.

6 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

At five, she reads nicely and begins to write,
knows a little French and geography, showed
great pluck over the extraction of a double
tooth, minding far more when her brother
Henry s was drawn. " Blooming and healthy
as it is possible for a child to be, devoted
to her sister and brothers, much attracted
by dress and finery, a beautiful child, but
Mary may still grow up to be the prettiest. 5

January 1818.- -" Catherine, just six, reads
and writes nicely. Learns a page of Bible
History by heart. She has been in several
passions lately. The great punishment-
dining by herself on Christmas Day, when I
dined with the other children and George l and
Charlotte- -will, I trust, prevent their so fre
quent recurrence ; for she is really good and
docile in general, picks up quickly.

The accounts of her elder brother Stephen
are more detailed, so interesting and unique
was his character. The French governess
who arrived in April 1818 brings improve
ment to Catherine s manners. She has music
lessons at six and a half, and would sit for
hours listening to music " fewer passions, and
in general good and affectionate. A nice
little voice and a true ear. She is a very good
horsewoman. There are many health details

1 The Rev. and Hon. George Neville Grenville. Rector of
Hawarden, His wife was Lady Charlotte Legge.

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 7

and much about physic, emetics being the
order of the day. Mary at seven is described
as witty and extremely entertaining, rattles
away in French. Catherine loves reading,
and the list of histories they read in French
would frighten parents of the present day.
The diary ends abruptly, September 1822.

Their education was probably rather un
usual, but must have been wisely conducted.
A series of long-suffering governesses were
possibly not of much good, but Lady Glynne
was a remarkably clever, cultivated woman,
as is shown by her letters. Catherine spoke
Italian and French with ease and fluency,
and the former with a beautiful accent. She
had an extraordinary memory for poetry, and
could easily, even in much later years, beat
any of us in the game of " capping verses :
chiefly from the classics, Pope and Milton and
Shakespeare. She surprised us all one evening
late in life by repeating by heart Manzoni s
great ode to Napoleon, the " Cinque Maggio. :
She had some knowledge of Latin, and could
construe stray passages for us. Certainly
she read little in later life one was not
accustomed to seeing a book or even a news
paper in her hand- -but her books of extracts
testify to very serious reading in her youth ;
the mere fact of her reading Mr. Gladstone s
first book, The Church in its Relations with the

8 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

State, before he became her devout lover,
testifies to her resolution. There are long
extracts from Newman s Sermons, and later
on we read a passage from St. Augustine in
Mr. Gladstone s handwriting. She was in
the habit of reading aloud to her children
in later years : Scott s novels were read in
that way.

The following little note written in retro
spect by Catherine is interesting for its words
on Bishop Heber, a great friend of Lady
Glynne s :

" I could not have been more than eight
when Bishop Heber first visited Hawarden
Castle 1820, I believe but words spoken of
him by my mother have not faded. In 1815
she had become a widow. It was natural at
this time of trial that intercourse such as
was now offered should be of special value to
her. For I recall the Bishop s singular gifts,
his greatness, his charm, his persuasiveness.
So it was through her conversation after
wards that I can recall how comforting and
precious it was to her. Then I remember
the deep interest on hearing that he was
to be Bishop of Calcutta, and the awe and
sadness with which we received the tidings
of his death. 1

Long afterwards Mrs. Gladstone told her
daughter she remembered how much startled

CATHERINE, MARY, STEPHEN, AND HENRY GLYNNE

AT AUDLEY END

From a coloured drawing by Eden U. Eddis

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 9

and grieved her mother (Lady Glynne) had
been when she received an offer of marriage
from one of her friends after she became a
widow. In all her youth and beauty she had
a sense of absolute consecration after the
death of her husband. With so strong a
feeling on her own part, she fully expected
others to realise the same.

Catherine s aunt, Lady Wenlock, left it on
record " that as a child it was difficult
to teach her, and . that she was recalcitrant
in learning any kind of lessons [just what
one would have guessed in after life from
her impatience of routine]. " But nobody ever
thought this implied any lack of intelligence.
The fact was, she was immensely interested in
life at first hand, and she refused to take her
knowledge from other people s brains or books. 1

In 1828 when her daughters had reached the
ages of fifteen and sixteen, Lady Glynne took
them with their governess to Paris. This was
with the object of education, and among their
masters was the great Abbe Liszt, who taught
them the pianoforte. Though still in the
schoolroom, Lady Glynne was persuaded to
take them to two or three special festivities.
No sooner had they set foot in Paris than
Lord Douglas x (their brother Henry s greatest

1 Eldest son of the Duke of Hamilton ; one of the most romantic
and fascinating figures of that day.

10 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

friend) arrived at their hotel to plead with
Lady Glynne to bring them to his mother s
dance. On hearing that the entertainment
was partly for children, Lady Glynne, to the
intense delight of the Pussies, consented to
bring them. The hairdresser was sent for.
" Just as mine was begun," wrote the elder
Puss, " Stephen presented me with a bouquet
in jewelry, the precious stones forming little
flowers, the prettiest thing you ever saw ;
it is now fixed in my hair, and is facing Mama,
who cannot take her eyes off it. : All fright
on the part of the girls was dispelled by the
great kindness of the Duchess s welcome,
and Lord Douglas opened the ball with
Catherine.

But the Palais Royal was evidently con
sidered too grown up, and Catherine describes
in a letter to Henry how her mother, accom
panied by her eldest son, 1 attended the ball
given by the Due d Orleans. They were
dazzled by the grandeur of the rooms and the
brilliance of the company, though dismayed by
the throng. The prettiest sight of all, writes
Catherine, was when the door opened and
the Duchesse de Berri attended by a bevy of
damsels all came dancing into the room in fancy
dress, " like opera dancers, sixteen in num
ber, the prettiest thing Mama ever saw. They

1 Sir Stephen Glynne, then nineteen years of age.

> /?

CATHERINE AND MARY GLYNNE

AGED i; AND 1 8

Frotn a drawing by J. Slater at Haiuarden

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 11

formed into a quadrille. They had little black
shoes with gold bows, and fancy dresses ; the
music was beautiful with Tyrolean tunes, and
the Gunters 1 who handed the refreshments were
all in dress coats with swords. Mama and
Ste. were fortunate in escaping at twelve,
by a little back door, and were amused at
getting a peep of the cooks, who all appeared
dog tired.

They were also allowed to attend Lady
Stuart de Rothsav s ball at the British Em-

j

bassy, and one or two more special dances ;
Mary, to her great delight, being taken to
the Opera to hear Malibran, to make up for
not always accompanying her sister. Lady
Stuart s beautiful daughters, afterwards Lady
Canning and Lady Waterford, became great
friends with the Pussies. Stephen attended a
Court and was presented to the King. "His
coat was a pretty brown, with cut steel buttons
and lace ruffles and frills, black satin shorts
and white silk stockings. With Mama s sap
phire and diamond brooch fastened in the lace,
and his hair nicely dressed, he looked very
well, 5 writes Catherine to Henry. She men
tions one of her partners, Lord Aboyne--the
Lord Aboyne who had actually danced with
Marie Antoinette - - " he danced as if he
were twenty instead of seventy. Brides

1 The hired waiters.

12 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

dance as much as anyone, and age appears as
no reason for not dancing.

Though still in the schoolroom, they had
a gay time in Paris : they danced with the
young bloods, both English and foreign, of the
day, about whom they wrote, full of girlish
rapture, to their brother Henry, preparing for
Oxford at his tutor s house.

Lady Glynne, in her loneliness, leant much
upon her uncle, Mr. Thomas Grenville, and still
more upon her brother, George Neville Gren
ville, Hector of Hawarden. The latter came
to Hawarden in 1813, shortly before the death
of his brother-in-law, Sir Stephen Glynne.
He was ordained Deacon and Priest on two
succeeding days, and bad as was the old system
of pitchforking any son or near kinsman of
thehouse into the family living, irrespective
of fitness, it was a good day for the huge
parish of Hawarden when this very youthful
Rector took charge. The parish of Hawarden
was about the largest in the kingdom. It con
tained fifteen townships and now includes eight
or nine churches. It was a Peculiar, i.e. not
under the jurisdiction of a Bishop. If a Bishop s
presence was required, as for Confirmation, he
was invited as a guest, the Rector standing
at the church door and welcoming him. But
he was careful to define the business of the
Bishop as confined to the performance of the

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 13

one act the laying on of hands. In great
state, the Rector held a yearly Court in a
chapel divided from the church. Here he
proved wills, granted marriage licences, etc.,
and dealt with the conduct of his parishioners.
He awarded punishment for lapses from ortho
doxy and virtue also for minor offences, such
as sleeping or misbehaving in church or in
its precincts. Public confession was the usual
penalty. In 1850, sixteen years after Henry
Glynne became Rector, these privileged Courts
were abolished by Act of Parliament, but
certain special powers still remain. Up to
1813 Hawarden had chiefly been notorious
for its bad conduct. The first act of the
new young Rector was to call his parishioners
together : "I cannot change your hearts, he
said to them, " that has to be done by your
selves with the help of God, but I can lessen
your temptations. And accordingly he and
Lady Glynne started in good earnest and did
away with various public - houses on the
estate, and established a rule which went far
to anticipate the Sunday Closing Act. They
were autocrats in those days. Two new
churches were built in Hawarden parish
during his rectorship ; schools were estab
lished in Hawarden and its districts, which
flourished chiefly through the bounty and
energetic help and sympathy of Lady Glynne,

14 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

and later of her sons and daughters. Queen
Victoria, who with her mother, the Duchess of
Kent, visited Hawarden Castle so long ago as
1832, mentioned only a short time before she
died, to a member of the family, how well she
remembered the " beautiful Miss Glvnnes."

/

She first met them at Bishopthorpe. Many
were the young men that frequented the
parties at Hawarden, and on the Duke
of Cambridge the impression left by his
visit was more than ordinary ; his friendship
with Mrs. Gladstone only ended with his
death.

The sisters were brought up with infinite and
most loving care and discipline, duty being
always placed before pleasure. Reticence and
self-control, in those days, were considered in
dispensable to good manners and good breed-

*ng. Not so much the condescending life, as
the sense of brotherhood, the lifting up of
their friends, whether rich or poor, to their
own level ; thinking more of others than of
themselves this was the essence of the ladv,

v y

the significance of noblesse oblige. And in
their hearts was the love and fear of God
" the beginning of wisdom." In these days
of personal service, when inspiring examples
and writings have kindled the enthusiasm
and self-sacrifice of so many, the character
and aims of these sisters would not perhaps

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 15

be as uncommon as in the earlier years of the
nineteenth century.

Every year three or four families, specially
intimate with one another, were accustomed,
about Christmas time, to assemble by turns
at each other s country homes- -Ha warden
Castle, Vale Royal, Acton Park, and Norton
Priory. The lovely daughters of Sir Richard
Brooke, famous for their beauty, were ever
the dearest friends of the Glynnes. On these
occasions they met for the acting of plays :
their refreshments, on the evening of any
special performance, consisted of cold custard
and glasses of milk flavoured with nutmeg
rather a contrast to modern habits. In later
days, at Hawarden and Hagley, there were
yearly plays acted by the sons and daughters.

Both the sisters were excellent horsewomen
and greatly skilled with the bow and arrow.
Archery parties, or bow meetings, as they were
called in Wales, were the craze of that day-
a pretty and graceful pastime needing great
skill. Great was the competition between the
country houses in the neighbourhood of
Hawarden. They visited their relations and
friends, and many of the pleasantest country
houses of England were open to the family
through the ties of kinship Audley End,
Stowe, Vale Royal, Wynnstay, Powderham,
Dropmore, Boconoc, Escrich, Billingbear, etc.

16 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

But the first time the Pussies, as they were
called, were allowed to travel in the mail-
coach, chaperoned by their brother Henry
a great event was in September 1837, when
they started on a round of visits in Scotland
and first spent a week at Dalmeny.

Henry writes to his brother Stephen describ
ing the beauties of Dalmeny and the extra
ordinary kindness of Lord 1 and Lady Rosebery :

" We found here Mr. and Mrs. Heathcote,
good-natured people he seems very uncertain
in his politics, not caring to go all lengths
with Lord Melbourne, yet not consenting to
be a Tory. The Listers, clever and agreeable
and both of them novelists. They draw and
sing charmingly. Lord Bathurst on his way
to Scone and Dunrobin. Music instrumental
and vocal enlivens our evenings. Lady Rose
bery on the harp, her son, Bouverie, on the
cello, and the eldest daughter at the pianoforte.
Her sister, Louisa, comes out next year and is
unfortunately, at present, plain. The Scottish
Service very long and dreary, one sermon
following the other. The church a good
specimen of Norman architecture inside and
out, a rare thing in Scotland. A most lovely
view of Arthur s Seat and Edinburgh Castle
from the grounds ; the scenery is enchanting.
Mr. and Mrs. Lister draw most beautifully,

1 Grandfather of the present Earl,

SIR STEPHEN GLYNNE
STH BART.

From a portrait by Saunders at Haivarden Castle

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 17

and are so good-natured about giving away
their drawings. We are to join the Vernons
at Scone 1 on Friday. A loyal letter from
Angherad Lloyd, raving of our young Queen
[then just come to the throne], and hot with
Conservatism. The Pussies are to travel for
the first time by mail. It will be quite
proper as we have taken the whole inside of
the coach, and so very convenient and quick
through country not specially interesting.
Colonel Harcourt s marriage to Lady Catherine
Jenkinson is announced I do not envy him,
though of course they are sure to be called the
happiest of the happy. 2 The papers relate
an interview between Uncle Beilby 3 and Lord
Melbourne at Downing Street. Lord and Lady
Rosebery are perfectly charming it is the
most delightful country house I ever was in. :

When the sisters came out, they lived in
their grandfather s house in Berkeley Square.
Society was very exclusive in those days, and
the best of it was open to them. They used
to write long letters to an old Hawarden
curate descriptive of their London gaieties.
An account of Queen Victoria s Coronation,
which they attended- -with the dressing of
their hair in the early morning, for they had
to be in Westminster Abbey by eight ; and

1 The home of Lord Mansfield.

2 Colonel Harcourt had proposed to one of the Pussies.

3 Lord Wenlock.

18 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

again, a fancy ball at Devonshire House, to
which one went as Dawn and the other as
Night.

" Catherine and Mary Glynne," writes a
daughter of the latter, " were but one year and
a half apart in age and from their childhood,
till death parted them, shared every interest,
every sorrow or anxiety, and above all every
joy. Married on the same day, the loving
sisterly link was rather doubled than weakened,
their husbands being friends before they
became brothers-in-law, their children almost
interchangeably beloved. The sisters were
alike tall and beautiful, but in character
there were many differences. Both were
intense lovers of children, both had a charming
gift of humour and of intuition, practically
they had the same friends, men and women
alike. The nature of the younger sister was
more reserved, less demonstrative than
Catherine, who was ever the leader ; both
were equally cherished and beloved. To the
end they loved and influenced each other,
they were one in their outlook upon life, their
high moral standard, their religious principles
and their deep pride in their beloved Ha warden
home. Both were beautiful, noble-looking
women. Mary had the more regular features,
her sister more brilliant colouring. 1

Catherine had reigned in her beautiful home,

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 19

as Mr. Gladstone notes in his diary, a very
queen. Her mother s feeling for her was
little short of adoration, and with her radiant
beauty and impetuosity of will she carried
everything before her : her mother, her
brothers, her sister, all moved as planets round
the sun. It would not be easy to exchange
this position of freedom and power, for the
more subordinate role of a wife, for the duties
and responsibilities of marriage and mother
hood. But, as we are now to see, she fell in
love.

CHAPTER 1 I

GIRLHOOD AND MARRIAGE

IT was in November 1838 that William
Gladstone, then twenty - eight years
of age, met the Glynnes at Naples.
Being at Christ Church with the brothers
Stephen and Henry Glynne, he had already
visited Ha war den Castle. He was one of a
brilliant group of undergraduates Lord
Harris, the Duke of Hamilton, Canning, Lord
Lincoln, afterwards Duke of Newcastle, Robin
Curzon, afterwards Lord Zouche, Sir R.
Phillimore, Sir Francis Doyle who used to
meet at Tabley in Cheshire, the young owner,
Lord de Tabley, being also neighbour and an
intimate friend of the Glynnes.

Mr. Gladstone arrived at one of the prin
cipal hotels in Naples and found it in a great
commotion- -" Una gran famiglia Inglese e
arrivata questa sera " ; Lady Glynne and her
daughters and suite, as was the fashion in those
days, travelling in great state in their own
roomy coach, or berline as it was then called.
At Naples he dined frequently with the

90

GIRLHOOD AND MARRIAGE 21

Glynnes and accompanied them on their
numerous expeditions, going up Mount
Vesuvius with them. He left Naples (he
called it "this Circean City") for Rome
on December 3; the Glynnes had already
gone there. Here the intercourse was more
frequent, and his intimacy with the sisters
grew in depth and devotion. Nearly every
day they met, and he spent Christmas Day
with them. There is a conversation recorded
in his Diary that took place in the gorgeous
Church of Santa Maria Maggiore. They were
speaking of the immense and costly amount
of labour lavished on its embellishment.
This led Catherine to contrasting our own
parsimony in the service of God and the
extravagance of our secular luxuries.

Such speculations are now constantly in
the very air we breathe; but at that time,
now nearly eighty years ago, they seemed
little to trouble the richer classes.

" Do you think we can be justified in in
dulging ourselves in all these luxuries ? : she
said to him.

He was profoundly moved.
I loved her for this question, he wrote in
his Diary- -" how sweet a thing it is to reflect
that her heart and will are entirely in the hands
of God. May He, in this, as in all things, be
with her."

22 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

To her children, in after years, Mrs. Glad
stone used to speak of the tragedy of that
moonlight evening in Rome when, in spite
of the glory and the romance of the circum
stances and the surroundings, she failed, when
they were together in the Coliseum, to respond
to his first declaration of love. Yet to the
brother to whom she wrote after Mr. Glad
stone s return to England it must have been
tolerably apparent that this condition of things
could not last. Her interest in " Gia, as
they called him, was too deep- -her constant
references to him, her questions about him, her
absorption in his first book on Church and
State, of which she copied long extracts for
her private use.

Here are a few passages from letters to her
brother Henry, written in February 1839, he
and Mr. Gladstone having left Rome for
England together.

" We had so hoped to have heard from you
to-day at Marseilles; we must try and be
philosophic and wait patiently for another
post."

She chatters of their daily doings, their
gaieties, dinner parties, balls, studios- -they sat
to Macdonald for their busts the numerous
friends they meet, among others Lord Macaulay,
above all the intercourse with Manning, 1 to her

1 Afterwards Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster.

GIRLHOOD AND MARRIAGE 23

the most interesting and absorbing- -how
much, one asks, for his own sake, or how
much on account of his intimacy with
" Gia " ?

" Write us political news, every one is so
anxious here, and write soon. . . . What is
the great subject of discussion in London ?
Lord Glenelg s retirement from office, Gia s
book, or Canada ? . . . I appreciate very much
the generous feelings which are expressed in
his letter to me. ... I cannot take Michael
Angelo s beautiful sonnet to myself, but the
sentiments contained in it are so lofty, it was
impossible not to read it without the greatest
delight. Please read this yourself to Gia, as
I particularly want the message to be given
exactly. . . ." In a postscript she adds :

Tell me how you get through my message
to Gia and any rebound. 1 Nothing could
express more honourable feelings and taste
than the letter he wrote me. :

Mr. Gladstone himself hardly seemed to
realise any sense of assurance. He speaks
in his Diary of his precipitancy, of his
incorrigible stupidity and the worthless-
ness of his affections. In her Catherine

1 See the Glynnese Glossary a volume privately printed containing
a list of expressions in common use among members of the Glynne
family, and employed in a sense peculiar to them. Compiled by the
fourth Lord Lyttelton. Described by Mr. Gladstone as "a work of
very fine scholarship always favourable."

24 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

Glynne he saw what he most desired,
the admiration of sacrifices made for great
objects.

From the early days of April, when the
Glynnes returned to their London house, 37
Berkeley Square, the intercourse was renewed
he dined with them, rode with them, met
them at the breakfasts of Mr. Rogers, the
poet, and at many other houses. Yet, after
an hour spent with them on May 27, he wrote :
" But what I ask is next to an impossibility. 1
On June 6 he confides the state of his feelings
to his father : " Concealment became too heavy
for me."

All through these days his time is greatly
occupied with work, in the House and in his
Government Office. On June 8, at Lady
Shelley s garden party at Fulham, Catherine
Glynne told him that all doubts on his part
might end. " I went down with the Glynnes,
and here my Catherine gave me herself. 1
They walked apart in the garden by the river,
and he revealed to her his own story, and
what had been the passionate desire of his
heart. 1 He writes how all this produced a
revulsion in her pure and lofty spirit. " She
asked for the earliest Communion, that we
might go together to the Altar of Christ."
" May I have from my God a due sense of the

1 To take Holy Orders.

GIRLHOOD AND MARRIAGE 25

value and the sweetness of this gift. Led by
her questions, I have given her these passages
for canons of our living :

"Le fronde, onde s infronda tutto 1 orto
Dell Ortolano Eterno, am 3 io cotanto,
Quanto da Lui a lor di bene e porto." l

And Dante again :

" In la sua volontade & nostro pace." 2

Mr. Gladstone sprang from an old Scotch
family, originally a race of Borderers (there
is still an old Gledstanes Castle). One of
his ancestors, Herbert de Gledstanes, appears
in Sir Walter Scott as " gude at need." His
mother was descended from Robert Bruce.
It was surely a sad lack of imagination that
allowed his father and grandfather to anglicise
the fine name of de Gledstanes into Gladstone.
As a family, the brothers and sisters were
tall and of a distinguished aspect. He was
already a prominent member of the Conserva
tive party, " the hope of the unbending Tories. 1
He had been in Parliament since he was twenty-
two. At the age of twenty-four (December
26, 1834), he joined the Ministry of Sir Robert
Peel. It is easy to guess how the rare combina
tion of manliness and gentleness, loftiness of

1 "Love for each plant that in the garden grows

of the Eternal Gardener. I prove
Proportioned to the goodness He bestows."

" Paradise," xxvi. 64-66.

2 " In His Will is our peace."" Paradise," iii. 70.

26 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

aim and purity of mind, the powerful intellect
and the pitiful heart, appealed to a girl brought
up as she had been in the love and fear of
God. A passage in Mr. Gladstone s Diary
reads :

June 18. - - " At the end of a long and
chequered day- -chequered with joy, business,
and excitement- -I sit down to write and think
a little. First, how much have I thought of
God to-day while my hand was coursing over
the paper ? How little have I thought of Him
to thank Him ! My blessing is indeed great.
At two, she and I went to the Archbishop s *
by his desire, and he kissed Catherine. 5

The following day he tells of calling with her
on a tribe of her relations, including her uncle,
Thomas Grenville ; breakfasting with Rogers,
where he met Thirlwall and Lyttelton, " in
whose affairs I am deeply interested. 1 On
June 17, George Lord Lyttelton became en
gaged to Mary Glynne ; one month earlier she
had refused him. After his death a small
packet was found docketed "Story of a Month. 1
The first letter was from her brother, Sir
Stephen Glynne, declining on behalf of his
sister the honour of Lord Lyttelton s hand.
The last was Mary s first love letter to
him. So wrapped up in each other had these
sisters been, so entirely content, that suitor

1 Archbishop Harcourt.

GIRLHOOD AND MARRIAGE 27

after suitor appeared only to be rejected ; it
was possibly the coincidence of two of the
most brilliant men of their day, in character
the most lofty and pure, happening to fall in
love with them at the same time that brought
about the miracle.

Mrs. Gladstone told one of her nieces, in
later years, how George (Lord Lyttelton), in a
tempest of uncontrollable joy, rushed down
the stairs into the room below, where Mr.
Gladstone and Catherine were anxiously await
ing developments.

In Mr. Gladstone s Diary. " Mary was much
overcome, and hid her face in Catherine s
bosom ; then they fled away for a little. 1
Mr. Gladstone drew Lord Lyttelton on to his
knees. " For a while he could not control his
emotions, and yet he directed them towards
God. He is a very noble and powerful
creature. 5

; He was a man of rare attainments : a
beautiful scholar, his nature full of sharp
contrasts- -vigorous, tempestuous, devout,
tender. 3

They met daily, riding, walking, driving.
" Sent off a snowstorm of excuses for all
pending parties." Then came a flight to
Eton- -the two pairs of lovers for Sunday.

There is no end to our subjects or to our
interruptions, 5 he says. It is easy to imagine

28 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

what a bower of love and ecstasy the Berkeley
Square house must have become in those
summer months, with the two radiant pairs of
lovers.

" Time flies, and yet in retrospect we seem
to have lived through months. 1 " Nuptial
shopping. 5: " All joy broken into shivers by
constant interruption. I suppose the craving
for something like continuance of repose by
her side is the disease of self-love. We had
been very anxious to be married by banns, but
are reluctantly compelled to give it up- -it is
not a matter on which shocking people is
worth while. ... Routing out and struggling
to arrange papers for C. . . . Come semplice
di trovar solo un cotal diffetto."

One of Catherine s dearest friends, Lady
Brabazon, wrote to wish her joy of marrying
one who would now help her to write and
answer her letters !

And here, with his orderly habits, he must
have felt some dismay. She often, in after life,
used to tease him- - * What a bore you would
have been, if you had married somebody as
tidy as you. :

July 3. "Assisting in Catherine s and
Mary s arrangement of books, etc., they have
lived with community of goods beautiful
settling papers, letters, etc., most joyously
for departure. 51

u

GIRLHOOD AND MARRIAGE 29

Contrary to modern custom, three weeks
before the wedding, the bridegrooms seem
to have gone down to Hawarden, then in
perfection of summer beauty, with Lady
Glynne and her daughters, there to spend
what must have been a heavenly time.
Riding, driving, strolling, sitting out in the
evening, visiting their friends, the schools,
reading aloud.

When Mr. Gladstone and Lord Lyttelton
arrived at Hawarden, as they walked together
down the village street the one tall and up
right, pale, resolute, with eyes like an eagle ;
the other, spite of massive head and intel
lectual brow, somewhat rugged and uncouth in
manner and appearance he was only twenty-
one it was said by a passer-by, gazing with
admiration on Mr. Gladstone : " Isn t it easy
to see which is the lord ? ;

" Kenilworth aloud with dearest," "much
real intercourse. What am I, to charge myself
with the care of such a being, and to mingle
her destiny with mine ? Instruction and
profit on this earth do not usually come on
the wings of joy so unmixed. 1

July 21.- "Special Communion, George,
Mary, Catherine and I Henry much affected
many arrangements about rejoicings, fire
works, festivities for children and old people.
The Nevilles arrived. Jane Lawley and Helen

30 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

assisting Catherine and Mary in warmly
greeting the old people."

The eve of the wedding, settlements and
pecuniary matters occupied the time, but at
midnight the lovers walked in the garden
" a fine night we spoke together of our great
felicity."

On July 25, the wedding day, he speaks
of his " too sound slumbers having been
broken" "Rose in good time and read the
Psalms." Soon after ten, Sir Watkin Wynn
having arrived, they set off from the Castle
in twelve carriages, starting by the park,
over the grass below the old castle, along the
moat, into and through the village. " Oh,
what a scene such an outpouring of pure
human affection on these beloved girls, com
bined with so solemn a mystery ! : He des
cribes every house a bower, the road arched
and festooned with flowers, the deepest in
terest in every face bands, processions of
societies, the crowd thickening as they ap
proached the church, the road carpeted, the
churchyard path strewn with flowers by the
hands of children. He speaks of the music
breaking down what little self-control he
had left, as he walked up the crowded church
with Lord Lyttelton. At the altar he found
his beloved, and they were married first
the same opening and conclusion for both.

GIRLHOOD AND MARRIAGE 31

" Uncle George 1 performed the service with
dignity and great feeling, and entire [i.e. no
omissions]. My beloved bore up. Her soul is
as high and strong as it is tender." " Lord
Lyttelton broke down, and in all the rejoicing
there were many inevitable tears. 1

The sisters changed their bridal attire at the
Rectory, the Lytteltons honeymooning at
Hagley, the Gladstones at Norton Priory in
Cheshire, the home of their dearest friends the
Brookes.

At 5 p.m. of the same afternoon, he writes
his journal while " the beloved sleeps on the
sofa. We have read the lessons together.
She sleeps gently as a babe oh, may I never
disturb her precious peace !

On July 26 they read the Bible together :
" The daily practice will, I trust, last as long
as our joint lives. 1

On that day, looking back at the Ha warden
wedding :

How can I express, 1 he writes, " the sense
of the scene yesterday it may seem extra
vagant to dwell so much on the accompani
ments, but it is because they did ennoble
and sanctify the scene and did really, for the
time, raise the heart to a high level according
with the spirit of the great mystery of Christian
marriage. 5 Arid on a later day : " Not only

1 Dean of Windsor.

32 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

every day, but nearly every hour, convince
me of the brightness of my treasure, her pure
enduring brightness. 2

Subjects of conversation and discussion are
mentioned on amusements, on the fallacy
of private judgments, on the Lord s Day and
how it should be kept, on charity and ex
penditure, on the sanctity of time as a trust
committed to us, on the responsibilities of
money. There was much that she had to
learn from him, much that the engagement
had not shown her. She used to tell us, long
afterwards, that it was something of a shock
to both sisters when, after marriage, any little
waiting time, as at the railway station, which
during their engagement would have been
spent in love-making, was now spent in reading
both husbands carrying the inevitable little
classic in their pockets. Out it would come
and quickly engross the owner. Lord Lyttelton
was to be seen at cricket matches in the play
ing field at Eton, lying on his front, reading
between the overs, but never missing a ball.

It was a blissful honeymoon, though must
she not have felt that it bordered on austerity
his stern habits of self-control ?

They called on the clergyman to arrange
their gifts in charity.

The four met again at Ha warden in August :

" A beautiful meeting between the sisters

GIRLHOOD AND MARRIAGE 33

Lady Glynne still depending as much as ever
on Catherine. A servants ball that night. 51

Sir Francis Doyle, Professor of Poetry at
Oxford, was at Hawarden for the wedding,
evidently playing the part of best man to
one of the two bridegrooms. He was one of
the illustrious group of Mr. Gladstone s con
temporaries, most of whom played a dis
tinguished part in after life. He gave ex
pression to his thoughts in a poem dedicated
" To Two Sister Brides (now published in
his collected works). The following extracts
foreshadow something of the part played by the
elder sister in after life :

" High hopes are thine, O eldest flower,

Great duties to be greatly done,
To soothe in many a toil-worn hour
The noble heart that thou hast won.

Covet not then the rest of those

Who sleep through life unknown to fame ;

Fate grants not passionless repose
To her who weds a glorious name.

He presses on through calm and storm

Unshaken, let what will betide ;
Thou hast an office to perform,

To be his answering spirit bride.

The path appointed for his feet

Through desert wilds and rocks may go,

Where the eye looks in vain to greet
The gales that from the waters blow.

Be thou a balmy breeze to him,

A fountain singing at his side,
A star whose light is never dim,

A pillar to uphold and guide "

3

34 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

On August 13 the two bridal pairs set
forth, with their respective carriages, by sea
to Greenock, and from there they drove, day
by day, through glorious scenery Loch
Katrine and the Trossachs, Glencoe, Inveraray,
Dunkeld, Taymouth ("magnificent in natural
features, the house would be fine but for
the surpassing grandeur around "), Aberfeldy,
Blairgowrie to Fasque.

One can hardly conceive a honeymoon
so delightfully and unusually spent, the
sisters meeting daily for meals and at night
for rest at the inns, comparing notes.
Sometimes walking, sometimes riding or
driving.

In a biography is written the following
description taken from the diary of Henry
Reeve l :

" Walking through the wild passes from Loch
Katrine to Inversnaid, two couples in the party
excited our attention. Both handsome, and
dressed alike in the Lennox plaid. The sister
brides were mounted on Highland ponies,
each one attended by her most faithful and
attentive squire, holding her bridle over the
gullies and burns. We guessed they were
brides, and at last Charles Hamilton made
a brilliant shot, and we recognised them as
the two sisters who were married the other

J Henry Reeve, once Editor of the Edinburgh Review,

t<

^

<J

PQ

o

H
c/5

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Cm

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GIRLHOOD AND MARRIAGE 35

day at Hawarden, on the same day, to
William Gladstone and Lord Lyttelton. A
prettier, happier party never crossed the
heather. 5

After a fortnight at Fasque, their brother
Stephen having joined them, they posted to
Ballater and Braemar, in ecstasy over the Dee-
side scenery, scaling Lochnagar, " and we fare
sumptuously every day. 51

Many reflections in his Diary and stern
resolutions scrupulously kept. The Glad
stones returned to Fasque in September, and
on the 23rd Catherine wrote to Mary, telling
her how she had revealed her secret to her
husband :

44 1 imagine you receiving this at Chats-
worth, dressed very smart and sitting in a fine
dressing-room, unless in one of the grand rooms
below. Poor little thing, you will feel shy, I
know. I shall long for your letter." Both
sisters had the happiest anticipations for the
summer of 1840, and the time had come when
their hopes might be shared. In a passage of
infinite tenderness and beauty, but too sacred
for quotation, Mrs. Gladstone describes to
this sister of her heart in what way he guessed
the happy secret the old, old secret, yet ever
new ; his whispered benediction, and then the
long silence, too deep for words, as he held
her close to his heart.

36 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

Lass der feuchten Perlen ungewohnte Zier
Freudig hell erzittern in dem Auge mir.
Wiisst ich nur mit Worten, wie ich s sagen soil ;
Komm und birg dem Antlitz hier an meiner Brust,
Will in s Ohr dir fliistern alle meine Lust.
Bleib an meinem Herzen, fiihle dessen Schlag.
Dass ich fest und fester nur dich driicken mag,
Fest und fester !

Hier, an meinem Bette hat die Wiege Raum,
Wo sie still verberge meinem holden Traum ;
Kommen wird der Morgen, wo der Traum erwacht,
Und daraus, dein Bildnis mir entgegen lacht-
Dein Bildnis. 1

And another day she says to her sister,
from Ha war den, in the following year : " My
dearest, I found your letter upon arriving
here very refreshing, for the getting home
renews our separation. It was blue to be
without you, specially here. How disturbed
we used to be when one of us was out of the
room for any little time even : it is not to be
wondered at now, when miles and miles have
parted us and you can no longer enter the
room. ;

The list of books mentioned as read dur
ing the honeymoon and its continuation at
Fasque :

Scott, Trench, Keble, Lyttelton s Dialogues,
Bishop of London on Education, Hope, Hallam,
Dickens (finished Nicholas Nickelby : " It s

1 Words immortalised by Schumann for all lovers: " She knows
not how to break to him her secret ? In her eyes the happy tears
glisten. If she can only find words heart close to heart, she will
whisper to him all her trembling rapture. ... A cradle will hold
her dream and the morning will come and the dream-child will
awaken, and reveal to her the image of her beloved,"

GIRLHOOD AND MARRIAGE 37

length will, I fear, sink it the tone very
human he is most happy in touches of natural
pathos the motives in the book are not those
of religion "). Rothe s Anfange der Christlichen
Kirche is one of the books studied, but surely
not by her ! Mr. Gladstone s copy, now at
St. Deiniol s Library at Ha warden, bears signs
of most serious reading, copiously marked,
during the honeymoon. The books strike one
as being rather severe. But there seems to
have been plenty of diversion ; the two de
lighted in billiards and chess. In the latter
Mrs. Gladstone must have shown no little skill.
The tradition survives that Mr. Gladstone
beat Mrs. Gladstone, that Mrs. Gladstone beat
Lord Lyttelton, and that Lord Lyttelton beat
Mr. Gladstone. In the autumn of his marriage
year he remarks : " C. and I in deadly con
flict- -too great an expenditure, perhaps, of
thought and interest -and this was chess !

They remained at Fasque for two months,
then posted through Scotland and England,
visiting various country houses, among them
Escrich, the home of her uncle and aunt,
where C. is loved as a child, reaching
Ha warden on Christmas Eve, where they find
the Lytteltons. The Brabazons were of the
party. In the Diary he descibes this greatest
friend of his wife 1 :

1 Lady Brabazon was daughter of Sir R. Brooke.

38 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

; A discussion with Lady Brabazon on
Ireland and the Irish Church the prettiest
sight possible she is so ingenuous, sincere,
acute, earnest, playful, and inconsistent, her
propositions being founded on single and
reciprocally contradictory instincts, never com
pared and reviewed by the understanding. In
short, most characteristically feminine. 51

Their first parting was January 12, 1840,
she going to Hagley.

" Left my own at Wolverhampton a week s
parting stings. 1

But he joined her at Hagley on January 22,
and together they went to London, living in
his father s house in Carlton Gardens until
the house Mr. Gladstone had bought was fur
nished and ready. The first starting of their
London home, 13 Carlton House Terrace,
was a great event ; it was undertaken by
both in a spirit of the utmost seriousness
and sense of responsibility : " Except the
Lord build the house : their labour is but lost
that build it."

The house was large and grand for a couple
unencumbered by children, but Lady Glynne
had her rooms there while in London, and
the Lytteltons always found a home and
a welcome. Much pains were taken in the
preparation of household rules and regulations.
Daily Family Prayers, and on Sundays he

GIRLHOOD AND MARRIAGE 30

wrote a short Address for Evening Prayers.
He taught in the Sunday School at Bedford-
bury, Chapel of Ease to St. Martin s in the
Fields, and so great was their sense of parochial
duty that there was a yearly school feast on
the terrace besides constant visiting in the
parish.

The Lytteltons first came to stay on March
26, 1840. Both the sisters had happy hopes
for the following summer. On April 28, the
first book-case was put up. In speaking
gravely of buying " material things, 51 Mr.
Gladstone notes that " Beauty is beauty even
in furniture." They arranged a servants
library with great thought and care, and in all
things their aims were for the good of others.

They entertained largely ., and very soon
started the Thursday ten o clock breakfasts
which were so interesting a feature in their
lives. They were greatly sought after, and
entered into the social entertainments Pof the

B

day, visiting (often accompanied by a baby
in arms) the stately homes of their friends.

CHAPTER III

EARLY DIARIES AND MARRIED LIFE

MRS. GLADSTONE was no expert in
diary jottings, and the few that
remain show signs of having been
undertaken from a sense of duty, certainly not
from a sense of pleasure- -unlike her letters, they
are not quite alive. To people like her the
stimulus, the inspiration of letter-writing lies
in the knowledge that they are written to and
for one particular person in a diary there is
no direct sense of intercourse, and the lack of
an audience becomes to some as deadening as
talking in an empty room. Here and there we
come across an interesting note, but on the
whole the diaries give little impression of the
brilliant social and political circle in which the
young husband and wife lived.

It was early in 1840 that the first entries were
made dinners with the Archbishop of York
(Harcourt) to meet Queen Adelaide, the Duke
and Duchess of Cambridge, etc. At Mr.
Hallam s she sits next to Guizot, who speaks
English to her, Mr. and Mrs. Grote, the Haw-

EARLY DIARIES AND MARRIED LIFE 41

treys. Quizzical remarks on the appearance of
Mrs. Grote and on the manner in which Marie,
Marchioness of Ailesbury, dresses her hair.

She never goes to a party at Buckingham
Palace without an expression of special ap
preciation of the girl Queen s grace and
dignity. Her Majesty was only twenty, and
some awkwardness and shyness would only
have been natural. Her marriage with the
Prince Consort took place a few months after
the double wedding at Hawarden, and this
fact made a special link between Her Majesty
and the sister brides. In the years that
followed there was constant comparing of
notes as to their respective children, as w r ill be
recorded later on. Her first meeting with the
Duke of Wellington was at the Duke of North
umberland s house : " He went out of his way
to speak to William- -very interesting to watch
the people s manners with him. :

In June of that year the first boy was born.
To the parents the ever new miracle of life
causes them to regard this event as quite out
of the common, and to consider that the baby
is as different as possible from all other babies.
His mother says of his christening at St.
Martin s, " He never cried through the whole
Morning Service, and the manner in which
he threw out his arms as Henry received him
was quite overpowering. Godfathers and god-

42 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

mother : Mr. Hope, Mr. Manning, and Mary "
(Lady Lyttelton). Meriel Lyttelton was born
a fortnight later.

The following year Mrs. Gladstone had the
delight of sitting next the Iron Duke at the
house of the Archbishop of York. " I was
pleased to think he had spoken to me before
either of us died- -I have long wished for this."
In April 1841 she mentions first meeting the
Prime Minister. This was at the house of
Lady Jersey, whose son. Lord Villiers, was
just engaged to the daughter of Sir Robert
Peel. Mrs. Gladstone was deeply flattered
to find that the great man had asked to be
introduced to her.

In September 1841, she was present at the
Consecration of Bishop Selwyn " That fine,
touching service, never to be heard without
emotion, but in the present instance how
peculiarly affecting! He was leaving his
native land and all that he held most dear. . . .
We visited the Bishop at his house at Eton
so as to be present at the dinner given by Mr.
Coleridge the day before the farewell sermon
at Windsor. There were forty present. I
sat between Judge Patterson and Dr. Hawtrey,
the Head Master. Mr. Coleridge proposed the
health of the Bishop in a touching speech, for
which the Bishop returned thanks. Devoted
to the service of God, he is able to feel the step

EARLY DIARIES AND MARRIED LIFE 43

he has taken not as a sacrifice but as a privi
lege : he unites unusual tenderness of feeling
to great manliness of character. The scene
was an extraordinary one. Casting the eye
down a long table, most of the guests were in
tears, men and women sobbing, and poor old
Dr. Keate 1 (to-day was my first introduction
to him), his head bowed down upon the table,
his face buried in his handkerchief. I never
witnessed such devotion. The farewell ser
mon at Windsor was striking and affecting :
c Thou hast set my feet in a large room.
A crowded congregation, not even standing
room."" Evidently he is not allowing himself
to think of returning to live in England.
Very touching was the way he spoke to me
of his wife : She feels just as I could wish
all the tenderness of a woman joined to the
greatest resolution.

London is evidently lonely to her with her
husband s long hours of official work (he was
then Vice-President of the Board of Trade
and Master of the Mint). " I am greatly
relieved to be with him, but he works hard
all the time he is at home and it is a little
dreary sometimes." No wonder, when one
remembers that in office it was habitual with
him to work fourteen hours a day. " I have
been reading Hook s Sermons, and Warren s

1 Late Head Master of Eton, 1809-34.

44 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

Ten Thousand a Year: the latter, although
vulgar, is clever and interesting. 1

January 6, 1842. "I am thirty to-day-
terrible thought ! We had a dinner party
for Uncle Tom. 1 He sat an hour with me in the
afternoon as he walked from Hamilton Place
and back, this was pretty well for eighty-seven. 1
She mentions a City dinner to meet the Prince
Consort : " Peel spoke well, and the Prince
was evidently affected by his allusion to the
dear ties which bound him (the Prince) to
England. Elizabeth Fry sat between the
Prince and the Prime Minister. 1

That month she mentions in her Diary how
at Hagley " Willy and Meriel, at a year and
a half, play very prettily together. Both
kneel down when told and put their hands
together and say, Papa, Mama, Amen.
Meriel the merriest. He obstreperous and a
complete boy I like to feel they have been
taught to kneel and put their hands together
before they could speak, and anticipate great
delight when their little minds go with their
outward actions. 1

" I am looking after Lady de Tabley the
more I see of her the more I like her no one
can properly appreciate her who does not
know her well such purity and goodness with

1 Right Hon. T. Grenville. He bequeathed his famous library
at Dropmore to the British Museum.

EARLY DIARIES AND MARRIED LIFE 45

great unselfishness of disposition and devoted
to her husband and children."

They spent a week at Magdalene College at
Cambridge, and she is struck by the great
honour paid to her husband, the intense in
terest taken in him.

January 20, 1842. " William met the King
of Prussia l at Bunsen s. H.M. was full of his
book [Church and State]. Lady Canning the
only lady except the hostess. A queer medley
-clergy, Quakers, scientists, and politicians.
I was dining with Mrs. Grenville, meeting
the Duchess of Sutherland, 2 Lord and Lady
Mahon, Mr. Harcourt, Mr. Samuel Rogers.
I was pleased with the Duke and Duchess
she spoke nicely and naturally about nursing
her babies. "

She attends parties at Stafford House and
Apsley House, given in honour of the King.
" The Duke of Wellington sat close to the
pianoforte listening to the music, apparently
lost to everything besides. 1 She sits next
Lord Stanley (afterwards Prime Minister) and
revels in his wit : " At all events, he can shake
off the cares of office. 1

The Prime Minister had made an offer to
Mr. Gladstone, February 1842, which had as
usual been confided to her.

1 Frederick William iv.

2 Afterwards tbeir dearest friend.

46 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

February 7." I in my turn had to tell
something to William to-day. He is in great
spirits, and what joy did it not give me when
he told me I had been of some use to him the
day before. In the midst of such toil as his
it is often a grief to me how little real assistance
I can be to him. :

February 13. " A note from Sir Robert
Peel desiring William to follow Lord John
Russell in the House on Monday, on the Corn
Laws. He made no preparation to-day. :

February 14. " This has been a happy
chance which fixed my night at the House of
Commons for his speech. I found myself
nearly upon Lady John Russell s lap, with
Lady Palmerston and other wives near.
Funny, we began talking, though before un
acquainted, and I told her my husband was
to answer hers, which news she received with
the greatest interest ; she said her heart was
beating, and she was all attention when Lord
John began. He spoke for an hour and a
half with eloquence and cleverness. It was
quite pain to me before William rose, but
before he had said many words there was
something at once so spirited and so collected
in his manner that all fright was lost in
intense interest and delight. Pride is perhaps
not the right feeling great thankfulness was
mixed up with it. We heard him very well

EARLY DIARIES AND MARRIED LIFE 47

he was rapid and without the smallest hesi
tation throvighout. Peel was evidently de
lighted, and from all I gather this speech has
made a great sensation. We had coffee in
our room afterwards how snug I need hardly
describe indeed I could not. !

This was Mr. Gladstone s first great speech
on the Corn Laws, a landmark in their lives,
as it was in history, signifying his first funda
mental divergence with protection.

The Bill he was defending, introduced by
the Prime Minister for lessening the duty on
corn, was really what Lord Morley calls " the
first invasion of the old Tory Corn Law of 1827."

The epoch was, in Mr. Gladstone s own words,
" an agitated and expectant age. : He had
inherited the system of protection almost
as he had inherited his religion, but as he
reached manhood it was qualified by his belief
in Mr. Huskisson. In 1833, a speech against
the Corn Laws had made him feel uncomfort
able. In 1841, his mind was " a sheet of white
paper. 5! But as Vice-President of the Board
of Trade he worked hard, and every day so
spent " beat like a battering-ram on the un
sure fabric of my official protectionism. By
the end of that year I was far gone in the
opposite sense. 1 He was wrestling with the
difficulties of two opposed systems. Into the
intricacies of the measures proposed by Sir

48 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

Robert Peel for the modification of the Corn
Laws there is no need to enter. As a sub
ordinate though always influential member of
the Government, Mr. Gladstone s mind worked
ahead of the plans of his chief. With further
authority, after his appointment in 1842 as
President of the Board of Trade, he passed
from a sliding scale and its " vicious operation "
on the corn trade to his great work of tariff
revision, the removal of hundreds of restric
tions, and the practical acceptance of the
principles of Mr. Cobden. In the course of
six years he freed three hundred and seventy-
one commodities from taxation ; thus he put
it into the power of the people to buy food
and many other necessities that, up till then,
had been practically out of their reach.

February 15. " Sir T. Fremantle and Mr.
G. Hope we met in our early walk. They
praised the speech and told me how every one
was talking of it. William s father nearly up
set me in his enthusiasm, his eyes filling with
tears. 1

February 16.- -" William is so modest about
his speech, and yet he literally cannot escape
the knowledge of his success. He turns the
subject by saying, It is better not to speak

of it.

" Many congratulations."

February 20.- -" I have had very little of

EARLY DIARIES AND MARRIED LIFE 49

William this week, and have felt unduly vexed.
I fear he must get ill from this excessive
labour. We went to church together on
Wednesday. I have great comfort in my
darling boy I cannot be too thankful."

Her life is very full of social engagements,
and she met and conversed with many in
teresting people- -Sidney Smith, Wordsworth,
Macaulay, Moore, etc. She occasionally dined
out alone "which I detest. 1 She records a
talk with Lord Mahon l regarding her husband,
" his manner is so straightforward and his
arguments convincing. 5: Among other things
Lord Ripon prophesied to her, " I see clearly
his destination, but the first step he will
be Chancellor of the Exchequer." She de
lighted in Lord Stanley, losing her awe of
him. They compared notes as to official life,
and Lord Stanley told her how, late at
night, with his feet in hot water, he partook
of the most gossamer meal; subsequently
reading a novel to compose himself to sleep.
When Chief Secretary for Ireland, he told
her, he worked eighteen hours a day he
maintained that with strenuous mental work
there is no need for bodily exercise. He prided
himself on twenty years experience. He took
off various tricks in speakers of note, specially
Peel, who, he declared, was often exceedingly

1 Afterwards Lord Stanhope.

50 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

nervous. He told anecdotes so well one of a
dinner at Peel s, when a boring man sitting next
the Duke of Wellington regaled him with long
trolls l on India. The Duke sat silent, his chin
on his chest, with an occasional grunt ; the
bore went on and on, till the Duke remarked
quietly in a pause, " I have been in India. 1

She describes a fancy dress ball at the
Palace, where " Mary went as Henrietta
Maria, and I as Claude, wife of Francis I. deep
crimson petticoat and cap, large flowing sleeves
of tissue. The sight very striking specially
the royal procession. 1

Putney was deep in the country at that time,
and they much enjoyed going out to Ripon
House for dinner. Lord and Lady Ripon
liked her to come, when tired or delicate, for
change of air.

In July 1842, she records how glad she was
to be handed in by the Prime Minister and
that she could tell him herself how deeply she
had been touched by the words he had written
about Mr. Gladstone.

" At no time, : he wrote in June 1842, " in
the annals of Parliament has there been
exhibited a more admirable combination of
ability, extensive knowledge, temper, and dis
cretion your feelings must be gratified in the
highest degree by the success which has

1 Meaning rigmarole ; see Glynnese Glossary.

EARLY DIARIES AND MARRIED LIFE 51

naturally and justly followed his intellectual
exertions ; and that the capacity to make such
exertions is combined, in his case, with such
purity of heart and integrity of spirit. 51

Sir Robert Peel told her he had read a letter
from the Duke of Wellington soon after he
entered the Army, in which he expresses an
earnest hope that he may be able to resign his
Commission " as there seemed no chance of any
promotion for him. : Had his prayer been
granted, the course of history might indeed
have been changed ! Peel had been shown a
most touching letter to the Queen, from the
King of France, 1 on the death of his son.

" Peel told me he required very little sleep,

and could get but little rest when his mind

was occupied. He regretted the amount of
political power which the Duke of Wellington
still had."

She describes the Princess Royal 2 as a very
interesting child, the image of the Queen. " I
played on the pianoforte, which delighted her.
She tried to dance, and when I stopped called
for ( more [she was then twenty months old].
The Prince of Wales a fine, fair, satisfactory
baby, upon whom William and I gazed with
deep interest. We kissed his little hand. Who
could look at him and think of his destiny

1 Louis Philippe.

2 Afterwards Crown Princess of Germany and Empress.

52 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

without emotion ! " This recalls the occasion,
fifty years later, when Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone
at St. James s Palace paid their respects to
the little Prince David (now Prince of Wales),
then one year old.

In September 1842, Mr. Gladstone, while out
shooting at Hawarden, had a narrow escape.
His gun went oft as he was muzzle-loading,
blowing away the first finger of the left hand.

" What a day I might have to record ! " she
writes in her Diary. " God has been merciful
to me ; may the memory of it sink into my
heart, and the rest of my days prove my
gratitude. I drove to meet the shooting
party in the Irish car. I met Henry. His
pale face aroused my fears. 4 What has
happened to William ? How can I express
what I felt before he could answer. Oh,
gracious God, was all earthly happiness to
be dashed away ? I found my precious one
at the Rectory, calm and cheerful, only think
ing of his escape and how to make the best of
it for me. It was then three, and the accident
had happened at two. The whole time before
the operation, and even while it was going
on, never did one word of complaint pass his
lips patient, brave, gentle, and even cheerful. 1
Two operations proved to be necessary, as the
surgeon first used the knife in the wrong place ;
and if the absence of all anaesthetics is remem-

EARLY DIARIES AND MARRIED LIFE 53

bered, the agony of pain which Mr. Gladstone
suffered with absolute serenity testified to
his self-control. " I sat in the next room
(she was not allowed to be with him, as her
confinement was to take place in October)
" till Mr. Phillimore came. He was overcome
by his emotion, and burst into tears ; the extra
ordinary courage shown by William would be
a lesson to him, he said, through life. He
had held the patient s hand throughout the
operations. Little time was lost in moving
him to the Castle, and he was given a com
posing draught for the night. How sweet
was the consciousness to me of his quiet
breathing as I watched him while he slept !

They were able to get to London on the
tenth day, and for another fortnight they led
as quiet a life as was possible under the cir
cumstances. " The poor hand goes on well,
there are no untoward symptoms, no fever or
swelling, and oh, the difference in the dressing
of the wound and the bandages ! Scott does
all he can to build up his strength. We play
at chess most nights, and are very snug and
quiet.

October 18. " Drove in the Park with
William. My little girl was born at 8 p.m.,
a fine healthy baby with pretty features."

The babies, from the scanty records in her
Diary, seemed to arrive very casually and

54 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

made little interruption in the social life.
But there is a separate record of the children,
in a book full of delicious notes and descrip
tions, hardly suitable for quotation, but re
vealing the beautiful mother-love and the
utmost watchfulness and devoted care. Noth
ing seemed to escape her vigilant eye in
their comings and their goings, in their
characteristics, all the little ailments and
their treatment, the little sayings and doings.
No tiniest seed of character passed unheeded.
During the first thirteen and a half years of
marriage eight children were born to Mr.
and Mrs. Gladstone, and ten during the same
period to Lord and Lady Lyttelton, so, as it
will readily be believed, there was frequent
comparing of notes between the sisters. When
apart, they wrote daily to one another ; to
gether, they still passed a great deal of their
time in the capacious London house in Carlton
House Terrace, with many weeks spent by
the Lytteltons at Hawarden or the Gladstones
at Hagley. There was still much community
of goods between the Pussies- -interchange of
servants, clothes, even furniture, etc. In 1847,
there were eleven children in the house under
seven six Lytteltons and five Gladstones.
One can scarcely imagine how anyone could
safely cross the room with such a crowd about
the floor.

EARLY DIARIES AND MARRIED LIFE 55

In the inimitable Glynnese Glossary Lord
Lyttelton wrote a few years later : " On
entering a room at Hagley or Hawarden
during one of those great confluences of
families which occur among the Glynnese,
and finding seventeen children upon the floor
under the age of twelve, and consequently
all inkstands, books, carpets, furniture, orna
ments, in intimate intermixture and in every
form of fraction and confusion, etc.

In these luxurious days of rapid motion, of
trains and motors instead of the stage coach,
the private travelling carriage, or the creeping
trains of those days, one reflects with astonish
ment, almost with incredulity, on these vast
pilgrimages, with their avalanches of mothers
and nurses and little ones, from Hawarden
to Hagley or London, or vice versa. In
June 1843 : " Left Hawarden, seventeen
of us without counting the children. 51
" Lytteltons went away, eighteen souls in
all." So we read in Mrs. Gladstone s letters
or Diary.

" Weighed the babies, Agnes and Charles ;
she is 14 lb., he is 14*7. Most people are
struck by her beauty- -the eyes peculiarly
fine and very expressive, dark blue in colour,
the sweetest thing that ever was. She takes
great notice [six weeks old], laughs at her
father s whistling most prettily. 1

56 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

January 6, 1843. " William to London
these partings do not get any easier. 1

To the Ladies Gallery she was already a
frequent visitor, and records the most notable
speeches. Lord Stanley s in the Irish debate.
One night she heard Sheil, the Irish orator :
" His style was fluent and his speech brilliant,
but ranting, and the voice peculiarly discord
ant and unpleasing. : Lord Ashley l on the
White Slave Trade in the factories. 2 She
mentions Cardwell and Buller as two of the
best speakers. She listened for the first time
to a speech of the Duke of Wellington in the
House of Lords (7th March 1843), and also
mentions hearing Lord Lyndhurst and Lord
Brougham.

But she keeps all her most enthusiastic
admiration for her husband s speeches.

Much later a note occurs in the Recollections
of an Irish Judge testifying to her constant
presence in the Ladies Gallery :

" In the House one day I noticed, looking
at the Ladies Gallery, that a small patch of
the dull brass grille shone like burnished gold.
I asked an attendant if he could explain it.
c That, said he, is the place where Mrs.
Gladstone sits to watch the Grand Old Man
whenever he speaks- -she rests one hand on
the grating, and the friction, as you see, has

1 Afterwards Lord Shaftesbury. 2 Factory Bill.

EARLY DIARIES AND MARRIED LIFE 57

worn it bright. Often afterwards I watched
the eager face close to the grille, with one hand
resting lightly on the grating. l

Their life, as judged from the diaries and
letters of the day, in spite of the immense
number of entertainments given or attended
by them, still strikes one as singularly serious
and strenuous- -they seemed to enter no part
of life light-heartedly.

It is impossible not to smile over the follow
ing quite serious entry : " Engaged a cook,
after a long conversation on religious matters,
chiefly between her and William.

Apparently he shared very much more in
those days in the domestic machinery than
has been commonly thought long grave talks
with any erring servant or any of the weaker
brethren. There are pages and pages of his
letters at this date concerning an ass travelling
with them as personal luggage, the doctors hav
ing ordered asses milk for the reigning baby.

A dinner at Mr. Samuel Rogers , more than
ordinarily clerical in character : the Arch
bishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London
and Mrs. Blomfield, Wordsworth and Tommv

/

Moore, etc. Mr. R. whispered to me that he
was much oppressed at having the heads of
the Church to dine with him. I never saw
him so little at ease."

1 Recollections of an Irish Judge, by M. McD. Bodkin.

58 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

March 17. " We dined at the Palace.
Clanwilliams, Lord Rosebery, Lord Palmer-
ston, Lord Sydney, who took me in. After
dinner the Queen asked me to tell her about
William s accident, and questioned me as to the
children and Mary. She has more expression
when speaking than I thought [she was twenty-
three at the time]. Really enjoyed my even
ing ; was surprised at its being so little formal.
Boy x is sitting to Mr. Richmond, who finds
him difficult."

There is great sorrow over the guilt of a
housemaid, taken up for stealing, and she
describes minutely what she went through,
for she had to give evidence at Bow Street
against the poor girl : " She pleaded guilty,
and William, in a short speech, recommended
her to mercy. He was affected, and so was I.
They visited her afterwards in prison and at
the penitentiary.

In May 1843, the Prime Minister offered her
husband a seat in the Cabinet as President
of the Board of Trade. The whole crux lay
in Church questions ; both Manning and Hope
were consulted :

" I walked with him in Kensington Gardens.
He was much oppressed- -the great anxiety
to act rightly. He asked me to pray for him.
How thankful I am to be joined to one whose

1 William Henry, born June 1840.

EARLY DIARIES AND MARRIED LIFE 59

mind is purity and integrity itself ! If I have
received joy and pride in Peel s letter to him,
how much more do I feel in seeing the way he
received the offer, in witnessing the tenderness
of conscience which shrinks from any idea of
worldly gain lest it should conflict with higher
duties ! "

May 15.--" Manning and Hope advised his
going direct to Peel to set forth clearly his
position. . . . He has accepted. God bless and
prosper him may the increase of responsi
bility not injure his precious health. How I
wish he could have a horse !

At the end of July 1843, she went to
Hawarden with her sister and their children,
for the consecration of the new church Sir
Stephen Glynne had built in the parish. Dr.
Hook was the preacher and deeply impressed
them all- -"such warmth and simplicity, his
heart overflowing with goodness. 1 There is
great joy over the engagement of Henry
Glynne, her brother, and Lavinia Lyttelton,
then staying at the Castle. This made a
double link with Hagley. "The two- -Henry
Glynne and Lavinia, Lyttelton walked to
gether in the garden. He gave her a rose.
There was no need for any words. She under
stood. She afterwards placed the rose within
the leaves of her Prayer Book. " Nearly a
century has passed away ; the rose, faintly

60 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

coloured, still lies in the book, treasured by
her surviving daughter. 1 " Oh, what joy
and thanksgiving throughout the house !
even little Willy and Meriel partaking of the
unmixed happiness, though unconscious of
its real meaning [they were only just three
years old], . . . c Aunt Lavinia is to marry
Uncle Henry, their dear voices announcing
the tidings to the wondering nurses. 1

In October, after seven weeks at Fasque,
they travelled outside the mail-coach in very
turbulent weather. Leaving Perth at mid
night, they crossed the water at Queens-
ferry about 4 a.m., and travelled the two
following days, reaching London in the
evening.

The wedding took place at St. George s,
October 1843. " Henry breakfasting with us,
much affected at first seeing me. Never did I see
her look so beautiful as she stood at the altar.
How blessed to feel such confidence in their
happiness, a happiness built on duty ! I imagine
their life hand in hand, spurring one another
to good and holy aets--a labour of love.
But their wedded life was to be brief and
clouded. Five children were born ; one of
them, the much- wished- for son and heir, died
while the joy-bells were ringing for his birth.
In 1850, the lovely mother passed away, one

1 Gertrude, Lady Penrhyn.

EARLY DIARIES AND MARRIED LIFE 61

fortnight after giving birth to her youngest
daughter. The Dowager Lady Lyttelton gave
up her Court appointment so as to have more
time to spend at Hawarden Rectory with the
motherless little ones.

November 3.- -"In London again. A most
interesting evening. Archdeacon Manning
slept here." They talked till midnight.
Dinners with the Duke of Wellington, with
the Cannings, with the Duke and Duchess
of Buccleuch. She comments on the deep
interest manifested by the Duke, when she
sat next him, in the great contrasts of life-
in the poverty and misery to be found in
London side by side with great affluence.

From one of the Ancient Concerts, she
mentions with pride her being handed out
by the Duke of Wellington. " He insisted
on escorting us down the long room to our
carriage. I was fearful lest he should catch
cold in the draught. He merely placed his
cocked hat upon his head. How character
istic, in all he says and does, is the honesty and
peculiar straightforwardness of his character !

Then come notes on the Due tod Duchesse
de Nemours, and on Nicholas, the Emperor of
Russia, whom they met at the Palace :

A noble-looking personage, the figure so
striking, tall, and commanding, his manners

62 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

civil and courteous, friendly without losing
his dignity. The form and manner struck me
more than the face itself, yet there is something
peculiarly awful in the eyes which seem to look
straight through one- -it was interesting to
watch him and the Duke of Wellington to
gether. The manner in which the Queen took
his arm, and his in giving it to her, was striking
and graceful- -the great inequality of their
heights would never have been suspected, such
was the grace and ease with which they walked
off together."

The Dowager Lady Lyttelton told her how
much impressed the Emperor was by the
footing between the Royal children and their
parents :

S. L. " How happy it is that the Queen
and Prince have succeeded in keeping their
domestic relations like those of a private
family, and can feel real family happiness
and comfort ! C est la, Sire, le vrai bonheur
de la vie."

Emperor. " Le vrai bonheur ? Le seul bon
heur pour nous autres. r

S. L. " Non, Sire, pas le seul."

Emperor. " Ah, Madame, nous n en avons
guere d autre. C est un dur metier que le
notre."

Sir Robert Peel spoke to her most feelingly

EARLY DIARIES AND MARRIED LIFE 63

of the beautiful happiness of the domestic
life of the Queen and the Prince Consort.
Brougham wa.s close by, and she delighted in
listening to the talk between him and Peel.

" At three and a half Willy is making some
little progress in reading and can manage a
sentence composed of words of two or three
letters. I only give him ten minutes a day.
He likes the Sunday lesson given him by his
father, and reflects as he lies in his little bed.
One night he told us he had been talking to
God. What did you say, Willy ? I said,
" Listen to me. After the joy of his birth
day party they found him crying when they
visited him in bed. * I feel ungoodly, he
said. :

In the following words Mrs. Gladstone
describes the emotion of his friends and col
leagues when her husband, early in 1845,
resigned on the Maynooth Grant. Only a few
years had elapsed since he had published his
treatise on The Church in its Relation to the
State. Though his mind, slowly but surely,
had reached a more comprehensive view of
what was sometimes called " the national
endowment of Romanism, ?: he felt bound to
place himself in a position of entire freedom.
" Disraeli, 5: writes Lord Morley, "was reported
as having said that with his resignation on
Maynooth Mr. Gladstone s career was over."

64 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

Many years later Mr. Gladstone described his
action as one that would be regarded " as
fastidious and fanciful, more fit for a dreamer
than for the practical purposes of public life. :
The majority judged it as a display of over
strained moral delicacy, " an act of political
prudery. To his adversaries the flavour of
the event was ruined by the absence of all
bitterness between him and his colleagues.

Characteristically, he would not actually
decide on the point at issue till he was de
tached from a position which might be sup
posed to bias his mind. When he found him
self free from office, he had no difficulty in
voting " with emphasis : in support of the
Bill. It would be rare nowadays to find a
tenderness of conscience so acute as to cause
a man to resign office on a measure with
which he was really in sympathy. Don
Quixote would hardly have been a comfortable
colleague in a Cabinet Council.

Macaulay s memorable words are worth
recalling at this moment :

" When I remember what was the faith of
Edward in. and of Henry vi. ? of Margaret
of Anjou and Margaret of Richmond, of
William of Wykeham and Cardinal Wolsey ;
when I remember what we have taken from the
Roman Catholics, King s College, Christ Church,
my own Trinity ; and when I look at the

EARLY DIARIES AND MARRIED LIFE 65

miserable Dotheboys Hall 1 we have given
them in exchange, I feel, I must own, less proud
than I could wish of being a Protestant and a
Cambridge man.

January 29, 1845.--" William has virtually
resigned his seat in the Cabinet on the burn
ing subject of Irish education (the Maynooth
Grant), and though he cannot be one of the
originators of the Government scheme, it
would not be true to say that under existing
circumstances he disapproves of their measure.
Midst the deep pain he feels it is a comfort
to him to reflect that the best understanding
exists between him and his friends, and, as
ever, he entertains the highest opinion of them ;
it has been most gratifying to see the warm
feelings expressed, and Peel in every way is
alive to William s considerate conduct through
out this painful business. He was quite open
and unconstrained. J. Shaw-Lefevre, A. Wood,
Kinnaird, w r ere here before eleven, and Uncle
Tom 2 has just written in greatest anxiety to
inquire. Canning has written a beautiful
letter, quite to give one a lump in one s throat,
indeed I have been living all day with glisten
ing eyes. That kind, hearty Mr. Lefevre he
was turned quite sick. Then William s good
little secretary, Mr. Northcote, 3 who could not

1 Maynooth College. Grenville.

3 Afterwards Sir Stafford, and Earl of Iddesleigh.

5

66 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

help breaking down. Lord Dalhousie also
much affected.

Mr. Gladstone s own words in a letter to
Manning testify to its having been no easy
task to part from his own colleagues : " Do
you know that daily intercourse and co-opera
tion with men, upon matters of great anxiety
and moment, interweaves much of one s being
with theirs, and parting with them, leaving
them under pressure of work and setting one
self free, feels, I think, much like dying. ?:

In January 1845, Mr. Gladstone went down
to Windsor to resign. He wrote to Mrs. Glad
stone, describing how the Queen had " brought
the little people to the corridor- -they behaved
very w T ell, shook hands with me by H.M. s
wish. The Prince of Wales has a very good
countenance. c After your own children,
the Queen said, ; you must think them
dwarfs. She expressed a wish to him that
Mrs. Gladstone should bring Willy and Agnes.
Accordingly :

" Lady Lyttelton received us, and we took off
the children s things before going in to H.M.
She shook hands very kindly, and desired
me to sit down by her. The three Royal
children were with her. Princess Alice a nice
fat baby, thoroughly good-humoured and
benevolent. Princess Royal about a head
shorter than Willy- -very engaging, not exactly

EARLY DIARIES AND MARRIED LIFE 67

pretty, but like the Queen and Prince Albert.
The Prince of Wales small and the head not
striking me as well-shaped, his long trousers,
tied below the ankles and very full, most un
becoming. His manners very dear and not
shy. They are evidently quite unspoilt, and I
observed the Queen made them obey her^
Princess Royal and Willy kissed each other,
and she patronised little Agnes, who stood
by her and the Prince, quite at home and
nearly as tall as the Prince, so much so as to
make the Queen observe, The Prince is the
tallest of the two [he was a year older].
I was much relieved at my children being so
good and doing no harm. The Queen ob
served, What care Willy takes of Agnes !
and admired his hair and his width. Agnes s
independence amused her, and she was occa
sionally in fits of laughter at them. Before
leaving, the Queen kissed both my children.

Hagley. " Agnes at four reads easy stories ;
both have a good ear for music. ... A month s
dissipation at Brighton made Willy too wild,
but he is sweet tempered and tractable, though
volatile, and has a struggle to fix his attention. 5:

At four Willy begins to ride on a real
saddle, and a little later, " sitting capitally, he
trotted only on a horse-cloth."

One more description, three years later, may
perhaps be quoted :

68 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

January 30, 1846.- -" Dined at the Palace.
The Queen unbecomingly dressed. Very kind
to us, talking much of Mary s children and my
own, and for some time to William. The Queen
ordered me to bring my children to her on
Saturday. I accordingly took the four- -Willy,
Agnes, Stephy, and Jessy. Her Majesty came
in with her four, and Was very nice and kind.
Princess Royal a nice quick thing ; not so much
difference in the heights as last time. Prince
of Wales has a striking countenance, Alfred
very pretty, all have such fat white necks.
Prince Alfred is a year and a half old. Stephy
head and shoulders taller at one year and ten
months. The Queen commented on Agnes s
looks, I had not heard about her being so
very pretty. Thought Willy pale and Stephen
gigantic, baby fat and like her father. She
took great notice of them all, kissed Agnes,
and gave them a huge white lamb between
them all, which the Royal children and ours
played with very happily during their visit.
The Queen spoke of their goodness, and asked
if they were always so good. ;

March 1847. " Agnes at four and a half
may be led by a silken thread, reads easy
lessons with little teaching, and is picking up
French quickly; no bump for figures."

In the autumn of 1847, Agnes, five years
old, was dangerously ill at Fasque, and when

o

H

X

Q3

^ >

> O

3 ^

o s

< o

a a

EARLY DIARIES AND MARRIED LIFE 69

prayed for at a service in the chapel there
came a change for the better. Willy, walking
with his father: "How lucky it was a
saint s day, for you see Agnes is not grand
enough to have a service for herself, and if she
had not been prayed for she might have

died."

1847. " Arrived at Belvoir Castle, met the
Sidney Herberts, Lord Clive, Bishops of Oxford
and Lincoln, Lord Forrester, the three sons
of the house, and many more of the family.
Greatly struck by the grandeur of the situa
tion dined from twenty to forty each day.
Nothing could exceed the Duke s kindness and
hospitality. Fascinated by Mrs. Herbert, 1 so
pretty and taking she seems most anxious
to do what is right, and was full of the new
church at Wilton, the one which is to be conse
crated to-morrow.

1848.- -" Dined at Sir R. Peel s an inter
esting occasion. Anxiety and sorrow sat upon
many of the countenances assembled. There
stood Guizot, with that piercing eye of fire,
his whole appearance eagle-like, his counten
ance beaming with sagacity and great intellect,
in earnest conversation with Peel, full of
gesture, and now and then his voice raised,
as if bursting with feeling which would out.
There were the poor Jarnacs, with full marks

1 Afterwards Lady Herbert of Lea.

70 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

of sorrow for their King and Queen. 1 The
Princess Lieven; the Austrian Ambassador,
harassed afresh with the increasing troubles
in Austria, which so afflicted his wife as to
make it impossible for her to be present.
The party was relieved by Lord and Lady
Aberdeen, Lord and Lady Mahon. I had some
talk with Madame Jarnac. Her account of
the poor Queen of France especially was touch
ing ; of the dangers and trials connected with
their flight, of the sad deprivations to which
they were subject, the terror of the poor Queen
about her husband 2 and then her children. . . .
Sir Robert Peel joined in our conversation.
He views the state of Europe with much alarm.
He had received private information respecting
the Prince of Prussia (now at Bunsen s) who
is said to have broken his sword and laid it,
with his spurs, at the feet of the King of
Prussia.

"Lady Peel looks wonderfully young and
pretty. !

Dining with the Prime Minister, the con
versation turned on " subjects which especially
brought out feeling- -his children and their
education. He enlarged on the satisfaction
of having no permanent governess, liked his
girls to travel with him, said it enlarged their
minds, and much more- -showing that amidst

1 Revolution of 1848. 2 Louis Philippe.

EARLY DIARIES AND MARRIED LIFE 71

his great cares the domestic element is deep
in his heart. 1

January 1849. " Stephy at five and a half
is a curious child. I feel there is much to come
out of him and he will not be commonplace.
Feelings warm, kindness and what he may
think unkindness sink very deep. There is
much in him for good or for evil. 1

Fasque, 1849. " Willy writes to Charles,
bursting with happiness- -tells how he has a
hundred amusements and occupations. . . .
He goes daily now to his father for his Latin
lesson. His father tells me his choice of
language is remarkable ; but he is not one
who makes the most of himself. I sometimes
fear he will do himself injustice. He reads
the Bible to blind Peter on Sunday evenings-
dear boy, he goes to school (9i) next month.
May God keep him safe. :

His parents were much pleased a few years
later when, at the age of seventeen, Willy was
chosen by the Queen to accompany the Prince
of Wales on his first tour abroad. The friend
ship was continued at Christ Church and after.

In the summer of 1849, Mr. Gladstone, at
the instigation of his wife, left England and
travelled across Europe in hopes of discovering
and saving a lady who had left her husband.
The husband was one of his most trusted
friends and colleagues, while the wife was very

72 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

dear to Mrs. Gladstone. This quixotic mission
was undertaken at the earnest wish of the
husband, and both Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone
would leave no stone unturned in bringing
about a reconciliation between the two. The
story is told by Lord Morley in vol. i. of his
biography of Mr. Gladstone. 1 It was part of
the work of rescue that ever lay so close to
their hearts : it was characteristic of both
that, rich or poor, humble or exalted, the
appeal was never made in vain.

Mrs. Gladstone s notes on their fourth child,
Jessy, show her, in her first two years, to have
been quicker and more eager and passionately
loving than the elder ones. But gradually
a cloud seemed to settle upon this interesting
child and she grew quiet and drowsy, her eyes
grave and wistful- - " Dormouse, : as some
one called her at that time. " At four
years old she is very picturesque, with her
curly hair and so pretty in her Rubens hat,
peculiarly loving, watching me like a cat and
taking tender care of me. Blessed child, I
can see her now, watching my every movement
for the chance of going with me. At Hagley,
when she was so unwell and it hurt her to walk,
she would follow me, sweet lamb, to my room
and sit happy in the arm-chair, living as it
were on a word or look of mine. I can hear

2 P. 364-

EARLY DIARIES AND MARRIED LIFE 73

her saying, Dear sweet Mammy, you look so
kind at me. She was a darling baby. With
what double pleasure, during her father s
absence, did I gaze at her, tracing his image
in her face often it came across me that there
would be a solidity of character about my
Jessv, there was such earnestness in the large,

serious eves. ;

For the first ten years all had gone radiantly
with both families, and nothing but ephemeral
anxieties came their way. It was early in
1850 that death first cast its shadow over
the Gladstone household and their beloved
child, Catherine Jessy, developed meningitis
at the age of four and a half years. It has
been related that for some hours after her
death (April 1850) her father was in a state
of such violent grief as almost to frighten
those around him.

But suddenly his sense of duty got the upper
hand. Thenceforward he was calm, and under
the stress of deep emotion he put on paper
a record of the little life ; it might rank
with the immortal .description written by De
Quincey when death first touched his house
hold.

But Mrs. Gladstone s own pathetic words
can be quoted here : "I dread lest the solemn
remembrance of her loved face after death
should in any way fade, so holy, so heavenly

74 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

it was. My loved child- -my own Jessy, to
think that the quiet countenance in such deep
repose is the same which a few hours ago was
racked with pain. The hair lay curling on the
marble forehead, the long dark lashes fringing
her cheek, the little hands folded across one
another, roses and lilies of the valley about
her. I could not describe the sublimity of
her expression. 1

And then she copies out the closing words
of her husband s little memoir :

" The countenance was holy, it was heavenly
-it blessed the eyes that saw it. It was a
voiceless yet speaking expression, and its
meaning was this- - I have seen the things
that ye know not of : I have tasted of the
Eternal Peace. I have seen my Lord and
my God, and I am with Him for ever.

" It bore witness to the promise, c He shall
gather the lambs within His arm. He shall
carry them in His bosom.

" It answered the prayer which during her
restlessness and pain so often rose instinctively
to our lips :

" c Jesu bone, bone Jesu, Pastor ovium,
Pastor agnorum, miserere.

1 Jesu holy, holy Jesu, Shepherd of the sheep, Shepherd of the
lambs, have mercy upon us.

CHAPTER IV

LETTERS FROM HER

MRS. GLADSTONE had a well-earned
reputation for making bricks without
straw. Certainly her letters, written
anywhere, any time, anyhow, with totally
inadequate materials, were miracles of ex
pression. She wrote with facility and felicity,
and was possessed of a rapid and expressive
pen. To each of her daughters she wrote
several thousand letters, her sons have as
great a number, and many of her nieces and
friends could say the same. In three words
she .gave a living picture not so much facts,
perhaps, as atmosphere. Nothing escaped her
quick eye. She touched off with a masterly
hand scenes, people, talks. To-day she would
be classed as a first-rate Impressionist. When
ever absent from her, so long as one had the
newspapers for facts and her letters for com
ments and atmosphere, one really seemed to
know more, to be more au fait, than even
when with her. And in spite of an elliptical
and allusive style, apart from the Glynnese

75

76 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

slang, her English and her grammar were
pure.

Of her own and her sister s children hers
all but in name- -one only inherits much of
Catherine Gladstone s nature, her largeness
of heart, her divine compassion, her san
guine temperament, her raciness of speech,
her impetuosity, her disregard of appear
ances and this is Lucy, Lady Frederick
Cavendish.

A year or two ago Mrs. Gladstone s daughter
made an attempt to go through her own letters
from her mother. In the midst of this task
she dashed off an account of it to Lady
Frederick, and it may throw some light on
the subject to give this letter in extenso :

" I am looking over her letters, a really
appalling job, as there are thousands, and
you, better than anyone, know the rags and
tatters they are written on, the atrocious pens,
the smudges and blots, no stops, the i s :
never dotted, the t s : never crossed : one
requires a daily journal of the House of Com
mons doings and another of families- -yours,
ours, Stepneys, Talbots, Gladstones, Dumar-
esques, Farquhars, Cavendishes, etc., all to
whom she was mother, friend, angel. And
yet another volume of benevolent doings.

" The frequent lack of nominative cases, the

LETTERS FROM HER 77

allusions, the hints, the flying remarks, and
sketches and pen-pictures, and comparisons
and suggestions and descriptions, enigmatic,
elliptic, elusive, her finger literally on the
pulse of the House of Commons far more
brilliant even than I had remembered, but
buried in yards and yards of plans, accounts,
domestic details, like brilliant fragments dug
up in ancient Greece or Rome. They literally
palpitate with life, they catch the very breath
of the moment, they are essentially written
for that moment only ; they require the
people, the tendencies, the thoughts, the
feelings, the enthusiasms, the emotions, the
thrills of that moment; the spiciness depends
on the homeliness or intimacy of the touch,
the humour of the happenings, the expressions
-Glynnese, Boffin, 1 or medical. The aroma
vanishes if brought into the public eye.

" One of the most amazing things is how he
bore it, the endless chars 2 and jobs she put
on him for charity or kindness, the manoeuvres
behind his back, the extraordinary dodges to
smooth his path or oil his wheels or cocker
up his health, the astonishing intricacy of
her arrangements, the dovetailing and never-
ceasing attempts to fit in things which couldn t
and wouldn t fit ! The never losing a chance or

1 See Our Mutual Friend : " In the presence of Mrs. Boffin we had
better drop the subject."

Odd jobs done for others but not for him." Glynnese Glossary.

78 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

an opportunity of helping somebody, however
remote or far-fetched ; the tucking in or tuck
ing up of incongruous people, so long as they
were troubled or in difficulties of sorts. . . .

" Could you order some tooth-brushes and
brushes cheap for the Orphanage ? she wrote
to him. Have you remembered to peep in
on the Miss D. s ? x Only open the boudoir
door and you will find them. c Did you
manage the flowers (or grapes) for Mrs.
Bagshawe ? She lives quite near Portland
Place. * If you have time, please bring
down a little present for my three-year-old
godchild [a curate s baby] ; there are beautiful
Bible prints at the Sanctuary, Westminster,
and also we want a common easel from the
same place, 5s. to 8/6, to hold the big maps for
the boys.

" Why didn t it drive him wild, with the
direct and c radiant simplicity of his char
acter ? No amount of experience made him
suspicious. Two things saved the situation
and rendered him impervious to her pranks
his sense of humour and his heart of gold.
Still it is bewildering- -she lived a hundred
lives at one go.

" But what strikes me afresh and anew is
how marvellously, miraculously you jumped

1 Two very poor Italian ladies secreted in Downing Street, osten
sibly as caretakers.

LETTERS FROM HER 79

with her, crept with her, flew with her. What
ever her pace, you kept up ; whatever she
needed, there you were, living, so to speak, in
her pocket, always ready to fall in with her
and dovetail, and swap butlers, and supply
meals, beds, cooks, or carriages at a moment s
notice. Was ever a miraculous aunt so
blessed with a miraculous niece ?- -and Freddy, 1
who might have been driven crazy, loved it,
revelled in it, enjoyed it to the hilt. Can t
you see his wink and hers ? Can t you hear
his laughter as he writhed with amusement
over her description of a scene at Falconhurst,
when she would call the tame little wood
the jungle ? Even this hurried little scrawl
(enclosed) bubbles over with characteristic
touches- -the sudden arrival at your house,
the scrambled hiding of the bulk of his letters,
the blank for the secretary s name, the little

V *

bleat after her absent lamb, the thrilling
scene at Euston (no one out of office nowa
days could arouse that frantic enthusiasm). 1

The following letter was written by one of
her sons, 2 who had attempted to tackle his own
1 library of letters : from her :

All so very personal, some so sacred,
and much only likely to interest nears and

1 Lord Frederick Cavendish. 2 Rev. Stephen Gladstone.

80 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

dears. The industry in writing is as extra
ordinary as the depth of love. It has truly
been a sacred privilege, not short of a revela
tion, to read this library of letters again,
throwing such intense light of truth and love
shed by this mother of mothers on my poor
life. Quite a new revelation in addition to
past influences. But the personal character,
the watchful care and deep devotion, as ex
pressed in words, are only meant for us.

"But many things astonish me little and
great. Endless instances of how thoughtful,
clear, and exact she was about making plans,
often under very intricate and varying circum
stances. So range in her thought fulness, so
business-like in her schemes, so penetrating
her sympathy and insight ; so keen for moral
growth in her love. . . . All silent now and far
removed. Yet that great heart beats more
than ever now. 5

But there is one short set of letters, written
to her husband on the proposed resignation
of the leadership, which strikes a more con
secutive note.

In January 1875, she was at Hawarden just
after her husband had told her that the time
of his formal resignation of the leadership
of the Liberal party was at hand. It was
nine months after the General Election of

LETTERS FROM HER 81

1874, when the trump card of his Address
was the offer, for the first time in its history,
to do away altogether with the Income Tax.
His Government had accomplished mighty
things. In Ireland the anomaly of a Pro
testant Church dominating an overwhelmingly
Roman Catholic country had been removed. 1
Free National Education had been given to
Great Britain. 2 Purchase in the Army had
been abolished (1873). Arbitration as a
governing principle in disputed international
questions had been established. 3 Independ
ence and secrecy in voting had been ensured. 4
Mr. Gladstone had paid twenty-six millions off
the National Debt. He left a surplus of five
millions to his successors. He looked for
ward, if returned to power, to abolishing the
Income Tax. Such performance and promise,
surely, as has been seldom marshalled before
a country. But the country was sick and
tired of economy and reform. The General
Election gave a majority of fifty to his op
ponents.

The deep desire of his heart for respite from
controversy, as a preparation for death, was,
without any doubt, the leading motive of his
resignation at the comparatively early age of
sixty-five.

1 Disestablishment and disendowment of the Irish Church.

2 Mr. Forster s Education Act, 1870.

3 Alabama Claims, 1873. 4 The Ballot Act.

82 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

Mrs. Gladstone had left London at the crisis
and had gone to Hagley to nurse a dearly
loved niece. The following letters, or portions
of letters, were written to him by her in
January 1875 :

ON MR. GLADSTONE S RESIGNATION OF

THE LEADERSHIP

" January 7.

" I know full well your whole soul is bent

upon doing right. You would go to the death

in a righteous cause. Who could hold you

when the battle-cry sounded ? I expressed

myself so badly in the hurry of parting alas,

it seemed to you I was going against you, and

that my judgment was formed ! Perhaps

from the very fact of my longing to see you

rest and to acquiesce in all your wishes, I felt

it the greater duty to look well on all sides ;

and remember, there are those who can speak

more frankly to me than to you, and who desire

your honourable course of action. Is there

not something to be said against your own

point, which strengthens their argument in

this shape ? Great Church questions may

arise when your power and influence would be

valuable. Would you have the same power by

a sudden rush to fight after putting the reins

upon others ? The party would naturally be

at sea. Is there no medium course ? What

LETTERS FROM HER 83

necessity would there be for constant attend
ance ? Who would expect it ? Could you
not take it quite easily ? Would not the
patience and calmness and modesty of your
attitude speak, not only to the House of
Commons, but to the whole country ? No
doubt there is a feeling that you only care
about fights now- -that would take away this
idea : to see you so patient, so good, sacri
ficing your own wishes and only helping others,
accepting the position and meeting it. May
it not be right ? Is not the position, so to
speak, forced upon you ? If you had any
organic illness which made it wrong for you
to expose your precious life, it would be
different. Dr. Clark 1 spoke to me last year
quite in an opposite sense. These little ail
ments are just safety valves. Some have
giddiness in the head, or palpitations of the
heart, and no warning but the danger ; in
your ailment, you have time to pull up and get
right. You say if you take the lead you are
there for ever. Why, who would say a word
against your giving up, if health really de
manded it ? I was saying to Edward Talbot
how you yearned for rest from strife, and I
suggested Hartington as leader. He said :
I, at all events, am a fair and impartial person
as to politics, and knowing how Mr. G. might

1 Sir Andrew Clark, M.D.

84 f CATHERINE GLADSTONE

have to do things for conciliation that I might
disapprove, I still feel his importance to the
country as leader so strongly that I hope
he will not shrink." He thought many
people would explain your resigning as a re
ligious mania, and that this would undermine
your influence, whilst by proving you can
calmly attend to political business in Opposi
tion you would double your influence when
needed.

" I hope I have not troubled you with my
twaddle. At all events you may feel that I
write with the one object that you may be
guided aright to the glory of God and the
good of your fellow creatures. That your
acquiescing would be unselfish to the highest
degree I know that well. At all events, you
will forgive me. Do not write about it till
you have seen Lord Granville again : it only
takes out of you, which is the last thing I
wish. :

" January 12, 1875.

" First, it is a great deal too much to say
that you and I take different views of this
important question of the leadership. It
could not be so, as I had by no means made
up my own mind. But I did consider it my
duty to lay before you the drawbacks ; and
that you should receive from me the un
biassed opinion of what might be thought,

LETTERS FROM HER 85

and so weigh the matter. Perhaps I am too
sensitive in the feeling of anything like running
away, when the road is dark and hopeless.
I believe (though perhaps I should fail) that
I have looked upon your career very much
as that of a general in a dangerous battle,
whether winning or losing. However, my poor
opinion is so little worth having, perhaps I
need not have said anything; but I like you
to know that we do not really differ, more
than from the great desire, the trembling
desire, you should do right ; and thus I wished
to act as a kind of drag on so important a
step. God will bless and help you as He has
done in mighty decisions, and be what it
may, I am content.

" In the meantime I delight in your report
of Clark s opinion. Killing, your saying he
does not take so rosy a view of the trouble
as I do. All I mean is that there could not be
a safer vent, and, as you seldom rest your dear
head, I am patient over this vent, and thank
God for Clark s word Excellent. Am I not
borne out that it would be a quiz l for you to
have pleaded health as a reason ? And the thing
I really desire everywhere is less high pressure,
more calmness in work, and more allowance
of relaxation. 1

1 Glynnese Glossary.

86 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

"January 16, 1875.

What a jolly letter ! Quite human. So dear
of you to give me such a treat ! Yesterday s
letter will show you I am perfectly content.
You did not see that it was rather as the
martyr I took up the argument. It was not, I
think, ambition, except in the best sense of the
word. . . . The Spencers want us to go to
Althorp on the 25th. That would be flesh 1 ; if
on our way to London it might be different. 5:

It was not the first time or the last that a
man, not yet old, who had been Prime Minister,
resigned the leadership for the shades of
Opposition, to return to it a few years later
at a great crisis. Mr. Gladstone resigned in
January 1875, and two years had barely
elapsed before the great crisis (Eastern
Question) called him back. In five years he
was again Prime Minister. Mr. Balfour re
signed in 1911, at the age of sixty-four, also
while in Opposition. A great crisis called
him back, and he took office under Mr. Asquith
in 1915.

Some specimens may be selected from her
more normal letters letters written under

1 " An exceedingly rare idiom, the use of which is perhaps confined
to Mrs. Gladstone. It refers to money payments and means actual
hard money out of pocket, and is said to be an allusion, more poetic
than precise, to the story of Shylock." Glynnese Glossary.

CATHERINE GLADSTONE
1856

From a portrait by Say at Haivarden

LETTERS FROM HER 87

more favourable circumstances, such as a
well-appointed writing-table, a good quill
she never used a steel pen some unwonted
leisure, and circumstances that appealed to her
heart. The Royal visits, of which there are
several accounts, fulfilled these conditions
perhaps best of all, and such letters are of
more public interest than some of those written
from other houses.

It has already been said that Mrs. Gladstone
and Lady Lyttelton when apart never allowed
one day to pass without writing to each other.
But these letters are specially unquotable, so
intimate, often so sacred, so ephemeral they
are.

Taken at random from a heap of old letters
at Hagley, one specimen may be quoted on
account of its historical value.

CATHERINE TO MARY

"March 1854.

" MY LOVE, ---Our anxiety is at an end for the
present, but oh, how it wears one out ! . . .
They say it is all her doing. Lord John is
firm one moment, then he goes home and she
sits upon him the whole thing being then
set to wrongs again. However, as you will
see, he did end by giving in, and the Reform
Bill is dropped. We were with Lady John
in the House. Poor Lord John did well, but

88 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

he broke down at last and wept so as not to
be able to rally. They cheered and cheered,
but still his voice was entrecoupe, and he never
recovered. Upstairs, in the Speaker s Gallery,
Lady John wept too, and I leave it to your
imagination to fancy the scene. Well, I
had to go alone l to the Queen, very
small and very pleasant, but I have no
time to write the account I should wish.
As there were no big-wigs I had nice con
versation with the Queen. 2 The points most
interesting for you are these : c How well
your sister looks; and Albert, he is quite
handsome. I had no idea he could turn out
anything like that. . . . Meriel is too like her
grandmama, 3 but Lucy is pretty (or very pretty
-I forget exactly). Where does Lord Lyttelton
get his peculiar manner from ? I answered,
; Oh, ma am, everything about him is good ;
it is delightful to see him with his children.
The Queen bowed her head in assent. I
cannot tell you how I admire her extreme
simplicity- -my great difficulty is to keep in re
membrance that she is Queen. In the middle
of talking, H.M. said, * Oh, I must just run and
have my gown fastened. Very nice, too, she

1 Mr. Gladstone was ill.

2 Among Queen Victoria s letters to Mrs. Gladstone there are
several that refer to their long friendship. In 1885, H.M. reminded
her that fifty years had elapsed since she first met " the beautiful
Miss Glynnes " at Bishopthorpe, in 1835.

* Dowager Lady Lytteltou.

MARY, LADY LYTTELTON

1857

From a portrait by Say at Hagley

LETTERS FROM HER 89

was about William; in short, I really enjoyed
it, in spite of having felt so depourvu.

" The Duchess of Sutherland x insisted on
returning home with me to see how William
was. Fancy me entering his room with her,
I fully expecting to find him in his old dressing-
gown, with one candle in short, unearthly ! 2
We seated her upon the stool of repentance, her
petticoats tipping over everything. William
and Willy 3 meanwhile devouring their mutton
chops.

Catherine and Mary had lived so much with
their mother at her beautiful home at Audley
End that the Neville sons were to them more
like brothers than cousins. The following
letter, written in 1855, from Catherine to Mary,
speaks of their acute anxiety about Grey and
Henry, two of the sons serving in the Crimean
War:

I have been dining with Mrs. Charles
Neville, in search of information how to send
Grey books and comforts. They won t believe
that Henry is not killed, and their agony of
suspense is awful. Poor Uncle Braybrooke
keeps on saying, If I could only know what

1 Duchess Harriet, Mistress of the Robes, the devoted friend of
Mr. Gladstone and of Garibaldi.

2 Glynnese Glossary.

8 William Henry, their eldest son, aged thirteen.

90 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

has happened, I feel I could bear it better.
And she has chlorosene, which only makes it
worse. We cannot hear more before Wednes
day, and if it is at all good news, we mean to
telegraph to Audley End. When Henry wrote
oh the fourth he was well, and most thankful
to have no more trench work, the Turks
having been put to that. He described it
as awful, waiting in cold blood to have your
head blown off, far worse than a field of battle
at times not daring to keep one s head up
lest a shell should blow it off. All this acts
on the nerves, as you may suppose. Grey is
so tall, so slim, his constitution may not stand
it. Henry much stronger. Grey 1 is twenty-
three, and Mirabel 2 always looks upon him
almost as a child. She is calm, but we see
how she suffers. I hope. I shall get leave for
this little parcel of books to go out to him,
besides the other parcel of a warm dressing-
gown, poor dear fellow. Again we have a
Cabinet to-day. Here is an interesting letter
from Miss Nightingale, dated Constantinople,
on board the Victory, which I send you as a
curiosity.

The following letter, written on August 6,
1861, from Hawarden, refers to the death, four

1 Grey and Henry were both killed.

2 Their sister, whose hair turned white from this agony. Both her
brothers were killed, at Inkermann and Balaclava.

LETTERS FROM HER 91

days earlier, of Sidney Herbert, companion and
colleague, the godfather of one of their sons,
their next-door neighbour in Carlton Gardens,
and perhaps their most intimate and best-
beloved friend :

" To-day brings me touching accounts
from Wilton- -so resembling Hagley, it is
moving to the last degree- -and the same
month too. 1 His begging their pardon for keep
ing them watching so long- - I am sorry it is
so protracted -and entreating them not to
tire themselves- - I never thought that dying
would be so difficult an operation, my poor
darlings it is so hard upon you all ; but I am
happy, quite happy. I keep the letters for
you. I much wish you could sleep at Wilton ;
you might be a help to her, and they would
never have asked you had they not wished it. :

Here are her comments on his visit to
Windsor, one year only after they were last
there together in the Prince Consort s life
time.

" October 1862.

"... I like to feel you can be a comfort
to that darling Queen, and I know you can.
You will take in that this is nearly the anni
versary of our visit, when all was still bright.
I was looking back to the little notes I made

1 Mary Lyttelton died in August 1857 ( see P a g e 2 79 Chap. VIII.).

92 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

the last time that we were to meet on earth.
The Prince Consort happened to be speaking
to me about fevers and Lord Aberdeen and
Peel, and I tried to remember his conversation
with you about the American War. You said
to me afterwards you liked to think of it as
one of his last. . . . Now, contrary to your
ways, do pet the Queen, and for once believe
you can, you dear old thing. 1

A month later she writes of the " little
boys," l nine and ten years old, first going to
school : " We have tried on the new jackets
and trousers, and a bathing feel 2 and a gulp
could not be helped ! Dear little fellows, God
bless and prosper them ! I did long for you
to see them. On Sunday they beg to go to
church in their school clothes, and I mean to
be very brave ; indeed, they will look very
touching, but it is trying the going away of
the youngest pair, and the first launching of
them into the world. You do understand,
and will not think me very weak if I own to
crying at the very thought- -that other boy,
too, just at the same moment hundreds of
miles off riding upon the waves a continual
storm in my ears. 1

There is a pathetic account of her first

1 Harry and Herbert. 2 See Glynnese Glossary.

LETTERS FROM HER 93

interview with Queen Victoria after the death
of the Prince Consort. She quotes her hus
band s words after seeing Her Majesty on
March 22, 1862 three months after she became
a widow.

66 1 was really bewildered," he wrote, " but
all that vanished when the Queen came in
and held my hand a moment. All was beauti
ful, simple, noble, and touching to the very
last degree. I need only repeat the first
and last words. The first (putting down her
head and struggling), The nation has been
very good to me in my sorrow ; the last, I
earnestly pray it may be long before you are
parted from one another.

After the interview this message reached
Mr. Gladstone : "Of all her Ministers, she
seemed to feel that you had entered most
into her sorrows : she dwelt especially on the
manner in which you had parted with her. :
He left her astonished at her humility. " It
was impossible not to be deeply stirred by her
noble sorrow. 1

The first sight of her was, so piteous, 1
wrote Mrs. Gladstone. " She saw I was
nervous, and when I kissed her hand drew me
to her and kissed me. c After all, I am but a

94 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

wretched woman, she said. c You who are
such a loving wife, I knew how you would feel
for me, and she gazed at me with tears in
her eyes ; there seemed so heavenly an ex
pression, a look beyond this world, and all
the time such gentle kindness and submission.
She spoke of the sympathy she had always felt
for widows. At the first moment of his peril
she had uttered, c You cannot tell me that
I am to lose him. Princess Alice was the
one to break the reality to her mother. She
told me that she could only bear it from
feeling it was but for a time. She dwelt
upon the awful loneliness, how that the daily
life together had grown into a very part of her
being- -now she had no one to tell things to.
Anything new, any change is a great trial,
she said. She spoke of the help it was to go
on with his wishes, to carry out and finish his
plans. Yes, this helps me on, and there is
another thing helps. It is extraordinary how
I cannot help constantly expecting to find
him whether it is out walking, near some
tree or some flower, or sitting in some par
ticular spot, or coming into the room and
hearing his footstep.

"As the Queen spoke she would grow quite
animated, with the idea almost as if she was
going to see him. Then the countenance
changed again to sadness. She asked me

LETTERS FROM HER 95

much about my sister, whether she had
suffered. I told her how once my darling
had said, * I had no idea there could be such
suffering. The Queen looked full of pity.
I often feel if the Prince had tried to live,
if he had had more nervous energy, he might
perhaps have recovered. She had already
spoken of his having had no fear of death, and
reasoned upon it as the more remarkable
that he was far from being one that had no
pleasure or interest in life.

Later, the Queen wrote Mr. Gladstone a
letter of " passionate desolation. 1 She ends :
" Mrs. Gladstone, who is a most tender wife,
may in a faint measure picture what the Queen
suffers. 1

In October 1861 the distress in Lancashire
reached a climax. The American Civil War
had arrested the supply of cotton, and pretty
nearly produced something like famine in
Lancashire. Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone set a
scheme on foot for the employment of Lan
cashire operatives, and they had enlisted the
co-operation of Lord Westminster, Sir John
Hamner, and others of their neighbours, and
collected a considerable sum of money. The
men were to be employed on the several
estates, and at Hawarden Mrs. Gladstone and

96 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

her brothers marked out new walks winding
through some of the most entrancing spots
in the park. Mrs. Gladstone went off to
investigate for herself the condition of the
cotton towns of Lancashire, and from her
letters her husband formed the highest opinion
of the " passive fortitude : of the sufferers
under conditions of acute distress. " Self-
command, respect for order, patience under
suffering, confidence in the law. : In the
middle of November she writes to him from
Blackburn, and mentions how she is keeping
the Queen informed of the condition of the
population. She speaks of the great joy and
comfort given by the Queen s sympathy and
her messages to the sufferers. She visited
the poor people in their homes, and describes
the wonderful way " the men plod to church
to listen to their rector s words of exhortation
and hope. It was very edifying to see their
attentiveness, but moving to the last degree to
notice the pale, emaciated faces and the look
of sadness yet a resigned look, too. Dr.
Robinson asked me to speak to them, and there
was nothing for it but to try simple and short ;
indeed, I felt ready to cry as I noticed one
man in tears. God will help them. 4 Yes,
these are times no one can ever forget; they
will do us good, said another man. One of
them spoke of the text, Strive ye to enter

LETTERS FROM HER 97

in. We must not think of the great
cost if it is to lead us to heaven. Oh,
one ought to be the better for all this ex
perience.

November 17.- -" A very overpowering day ;
in truth, I am tired and cannot do justice to
the scenes. I had to make another very little
speech to-day to the poor men. Their grateful
looks are so touching, but the extent of the
misery goes to one s very heart the sad
ness, the endurance. The Mayor came and
thanked them all for me. Three heartv cheers

/

and then one more for vou for sending me

> o

here."

From Blackburn she proceeded to Preston,
Darwin, and Ashton-under-Lyne. " A most
interesting day, seeing, investigating, ad
vising. 1 She gives touching instances of her
experiences :

" When I told her I would take the child, the
emotion was too much, she fell upon her knees
-and there are hundreds of such cases of
silent, uncomplaining misery. " During her
progress she caught a chill, completely losing
her voice, but still persevered.

" I just managed Staley Bridge on the 20th,
and realised Dr. Whittaker s noble doings.
I was actually sick between acts, managing
to hide in a quiet room and then to emerge
later and appear better, comme si rien rfetait !
7

98 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

When I reached Stockport I was, alas ! com
pelled to give in and make my excuses.
I should not presume to think my going
or not going could be of consequence, only
the kind feelings for my name, really for your
sa,ke, seem to have swelled into something

(for me) very big.

Mrs. Gladstone got up a concert at Ha warden
for the benefit of the Lancashire distress,
when she arranged that the poor factory girls
should go on to the platform in their working
clothes, their shawls over their heads. They
sang " Hard Times : with pathetic fervour,
and the whole audience was moved to tears.

In her frequent visits to Windsor and
Osborne she makes manv shrewd remarks

A/

about the Queen, always struck by her sim
plicity and sincerity, her common sense. " I
never hear her talk without feeling one ought
to be the better for it, she is so true. She
quotes a remark of Her Majesty s during the
American War, advising carefulness in judg
ment. " I am afraid, she said, " we are very
apt to have one law for ourselves and another
for other people. 1 " The way H.M. discusses
things always interests me, arguing her own
points and listening to the differences of others,
all the time with a certain decision of manner. 1
She comments on the charm and happiness

LETTERS FROM HER 99

of the Prince and Princess of Prussia. The
Princess took her to her own suite of rooms at
Windsor to see her works of art. " I have
never been able to afford to have the casts
made into marble, 9 she said. " We have so
many expenses- -children journeys, etc."

The winning simplicity of the family circle
strikes her. The Queen s relations with her
sons-in-law recalls the Duchess of Sutherland s
footing with the Duke of Argyll. The delight
of the advent of the Danish bride, her beauty,
her brightness, her fun. In 1871, when Mrs.
Gladstone was at Osborne, the Queen was most
anxious the public should realise how devotedly
the Princess of Wales nursed her husband the
same year in his dangerous illness, how she
never left him day or night. That apparently
people imagined it was his sister, Princess Alice
of Hesse, who nursed him. She begged Mrs.
Gladstone to take every opportunity of making
this known.

HAWARDEN, June 9, 1879.

" s letters [from Faringford] are capital

-the second surpassing the first. Tennyson
loves them both, and is more quaint than ever

examines s features, treats her as a child,

is amused at what he calls her petit nez re
trousse ; says its wickedness is counteracted
by her strong jawbone."

100 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

In 1883 she meets at Osborne the three
Princesses, daughters of Princess Alice of
Hesse, her husband sitting between them at
dinner, and describes specially the second-
" a very striking face, fine speaking eyes, a
dear manner, listens with that eager attention
that brings out the expression of her counten
ance. The third daughter quite as natural
and nice, good countenance, simple, and
forthcoming. : How little could then be
guessed the tragic fate that awaited them in
Russia !

To force the Sultan (specially in his promises
regarding Greece and Montenegro) to carry
out the provisions of the Treaty of Berlin 1
Mr. Gladstone s Government in October 1880,
more or less backed by the Concert of Europe,
threatened to blockade Smyrna. Each Power
had sent a man-of-war to the Albanian coast.
Turkey, thoroughly alarmed, to the boundless
satisfaction of the Prime Minister, gave way,
the Greek frontier was rectified, practically
realising Mr. Gladstone s dream of a Homeric
Greece, and Dulcigno was ceded to Montenegro.

"HAWARDEN, October n, 1880.

" After being in bed with this tiresome
throat, joy did come in the morning. Oh,

1 1879.

LETTERS FROM HER 101

your large sheet and its contents and Hymn
of Praise ! For His power has wrought
wonders.

We praise Thee and will praise Thee,
We bless Thee and will bless,
We give thanks to Thee and will give thanks/

" And you, dearest own, who have merci
fully been permitted to take part in such
mighty operations ! What shall I say ? It
is almost too much to think of this consum
mation. The ideal of your life in foreign
policy, God only grant it may be all right
and no more bolting. But if he 1 does bolt
on learning more as to the cowardly Powers,
my hope even then is that the Powers may
have had the warning from the Sultan s white
feather, and join issue at once. You see I am
arming myself for contingencies. We shall be
all ready for you to-morrow.

" The Flowers 2 came to hand yesterday in
time for a lovely glow of sunshine which lighted
up garden and Castle and all. They are very
light in hand and easily pleased, but disap
pointed that you are away. I have been
silent and dull until you open my lips as to
Smyrna and Ireland, for though the paper
has it, of course, that is different from my
confirmation ! Doubly careful with Lady
Herbert. . . . The Flowers are very large-

1 The Sultan. 2 Afterwards Lord and Lady Battersea.

102 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

hearted people, full of good deeds, coffee
houses, hospitals, etc."

To M. G.

" SANDRINGHAM, November 21, 1880.

" Here we are, somehow we hated the start,
early at station, cold east wind, so we got
chilled, travelled with the Granvilles- -I feel I
appreciate her much more. King s Lynn gave
us a reception nice to see the people hunting
for him patiently in the cold, in the way you
know so well. Ely Cathedral, though nearly
in the dark, stood grandly and looked majestic.
As we entered the hall (with my usual arriving
feelings) we were met by the darling hostess,
the Prince of Wales, Duke of Edinburgh, and
last, not least, dear little trio of Princesses, the
eldest twelve all so homey. Princess so dear,
and different to London, came to our rooms
upstairs and said to Stume, 1 who curtseyed in
the corner ; she hoped that ; all was comfy :
(fancy her delight). Lovely flowers in my
bedroom. I sat by Prince of Wales and Dr.
Acland at dinner afterwards we chatted
abundantly, Princess showing me her sitting-
room and her collections- -she is the most
dear homey thing, full of her sons, who have
left home for eighteen months. The eldest,

1 A faithful maid with her for twenty years.

MRS. GLADSTONE AND HER SON HERBERT

1861

LETTERS FROM HER 103

Prince Eddy, doats on his mother. He said
in his last letter : 6 Darling mother dear, I
smelt some scent which you always use, and
it made me so sad.

" Father is to read the Lessons by order of
Prince and Princess. A bright, glorious cold
day, and we are just going to church. . . .
We are back you will have the first lesson
fresh in your heart and mind In the sight
of the unwise. Stir up : Sunday. Think
of the words coming from father s lips, the
pathos and glorious emphasis. The Princess
chooses the hymns always, and to-day had
taken the greatest pains to select his (father s)
favourites - Rock of Ages and Lead,
Kindly Light. Wasn t it pretty? The
Memorial to her baby just behind the Princess,
Suffer Little Children and Our Lord re
ceiving the baby. Singing very pretty and
all reverently, nicely done the Altar with
Cross and flowers. Father very happy. They
made me play at bowls !

; Mind you arrange I should see you on my
way to Wellington and give you the birthday
kiss."

In November 1880 she mentions a dinner at
the Childers . 1 " Very interesting, I sitting
next to Sir F. Roberts. I liked him extremely,

1 Minister for War.

104 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

so modest, pacific seemingly as to Ireland,
which won my heart. Who should walk in
after dinner (only ladies present) but Sir
Bartle Frere 1 his daughter beamed, and I
had to say something nice to him, at the risk
of his not knowing me. Duke of Cambridge
whispering and touching one s face. Mrs.
Childers triumphant, Dufferins, Morleys. I
liked young Childers, the lad who was at
Eton with Harry and Herbert. He is just
back from India with Sir F. R. and evidently
a sort of right hand to him. . . . Father just
out of Cabinet, Ministers looking relieved. . . .
To-morrow we go to Convalescent Home to
see the new room."

To M. D.

" SANDRINGHAM, January 29, 1887.

" Here we are in spite of yesterday s
scrimmage, for upon waking father was not
well. I sent for Clark (perturbation), he
meanwhile hoping to get off coming here
all ended well, and our journey was easy and
luxurious grand saloon carriage and the
Prince in another. Good Bishop Claughton
with us- -he thrills over Lucy; give her his
best love. Great demonstrations at Cam-

1 Recalled from the Governorship of South Africa by Mr.
Gladstone s Government.

LETTERS FROM HER 105

bridge (where we shot out Helen into the arms
of admiring crowds), at Ely, and King s Lynn.
Eddie Hamilton tells me the Prince of Wales
was very good-natured as to the great crowds
and cheering for father, and was much in
terested to see it. It felt very queer with a
Prince of Wales in the offing. All kindness he
was; took me and Madame de Falbe in his
carriage from the station to the House; so
genial and kind. Fancy her turning out to
have been Mrs. Dudley Ward, who sang years
ago at our house. I sat at dinner between
Prince of Wales and Prince Eddy. I had
some interesting talk with the former about
Randolph; he seems to take his part. . . .
Just come from church in carriage with darling
Princess - - more dear than ever. She was

quite full of your illness. Old in white

damask last night, hair carefully arranged
and fuzzed, looking quite young behind.
We all sang. I pretending to, to please
Princess. Princess of Wales accompanying
three daughters, Falbe and I in a sort of
mad glee till the men came in. . . ."

SANDRINGHAM, January 30.

We have had a very nice visit here. There
is really nothing like this Royal home such
simplicity and reality and thought for others.

106 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

I am struck by their having people who fitted.
Eddie H. and dear Bishop Claughton. He is
all tenderness, and so interested in our going
back to Hawarden for the Mission. No trace
of ailment. Tell Lucv his luncheon before

/

starting was arrowroot and brandy ; he is to
have as little butter as possible, and less tea.
But I am more than thankful seeing how
entirely he was in his own force and form
in House of Commons- -voice excellent, some
thing peculiarly dignified in his speech. Fancy
Lady Pembroke and Adelaide l admiring,
though of course not agreeing. In the mean
time, Helen and I were trembling as to Cam
bridge. Dr. Clark rather shaken as to whether
he could do it all after Sandringham.

(Finished at Newnham College)

" I am to dine with the students, father
in Hall with Dr. Butler, then to come here
to tea and bed. So pretty to see the girls
playing in the garden. Father happy in his
pretty, tiny dressing-room. No one could
explain all this 2 one must see it to under
stand. Certainly Helen wins their hearts, and
they win hers. There is no doubt of this, and
there is such ease about it all, every one is
natural.

1 Lady Brownlow. 2 Women s Colleges.

LETTERS FROM HER 107

" NEWNHAM COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE,
"January 31, 1887.

" We are to meet some thrilling company
again at tea, father and all. Yesterday we
went to King s. Oh ! the Nunc dimittis, too
lovely. How glorious the organ and the whole
building, lifting one up ! It is extraordinary
the feeling for father. He is so well, and
enters, as you know, into everything. Kath
leen awfully kind, and you and Lucy will delight
in hearing how much struck we are with dear
Arthur s 1 whole bearing- -the right man in the
right place. Father says he fills it just as you
would most desire.

"What fine children the Lytteltons nice
and affectionate and unshy. :

In another letter from Sandringham she
describes a knock at the door just as she was
ready for bed. In walked the Princess, and
H.R.H. was not satisfied till she had tucked
her up in bed.

" HA WARDEN, 1887.

4 Oh, can you believe it ? We hear that the
Duke of Westminster has sold father s beauti
ful picture 2 to Agnew, and Agnew to Sir Charles
Tennant. I could not help writing to the Duke

1 Arthur Lyttelton, Master of Selwyn College.

2 Portrait of Mr. Gladstone by Millais.

108 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

thus in the first moment of my despair :
4 Have you sold that picture ? Oh, why
did you not tell us first ? I hope I have not
done wrong ; really, I felt it so much it came
like a shot.

The following letter describes a speech in
Downing Street to the members for Durham,
etc., on Lord Hartington s Irish record :

"JulyS, 1887.

Well, oh, dear dear, but it was grand a
quiet winding up and immense good expected
to come from the speech, given to 700 picked
delegates. Such enthusiasm, such attention,
the voice never flagging. John Morley de
lighted, and, as Herbert writes, M.P. s came
back over the moon to House of Commons.
Lord Granville was quite nervous, for the speech
did require a fine hand, as to Lord Hartington
especially. It was so Christian, allowing for
differences on honest ground, yet showing up
the dangers, viz. Hartington consenting to
vote Tory, however much he disagreed, to
keep the Liberals out. Never was there a
better audience, seizing every point and enter
ing so into the fun, vide Chamberlain s cushion
and the sowing and reaping. I never read
the Thanksgiving with more feeling. You will
observe the Times even had forgotten for a

LETTERS FROM HER 109

moment its deadly rancour in admiration of the
power and glorious ability. It was an evening
to thrill over, an evening that made the life-
blood tingle through one s veins. He is quite
well. We dine at Dollis Hill, calling like
Christians at Argyll Lodge on the way.

" Lady Acton seemed pleased at my going
to her on way from Burnett s and Langhorne s.
They have been very anxious about their
son with typhoid.

" We are each of us still separately engaged
in a death-grapple with Robert ElsmereJ
Mr. Gladstone wrote early in 1888 to his
daughter, and on April 2 : " By hard work I
have finished my article 1 rather stiff work.

At this time she wrote :

" We are deep in Robert Elsmere, one of
the most extraordinary books. I am inclined
(with Spencer) to think it may do good, but
I have not finished volume three. It is not
a book you can read fast oh no, but I have
a feeling father s review may be a corrective."

" 10 DOWNING STREET, April 1888.

" I have carefully digested the latter part
of Robert Elsmere, and I am bound to say
that I feel Catherine was wholly wrong in
continuing her attendance at Elm Chapel

1 Review in the Nineteenth Century.

110 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

so very wrong that one stood amazed that, with
the nobility of soul which she showed in the
beginning of her life, she should fall so low
in her mixing up of her religions. Yet I
believe her faith in the Divinity of Our Lord
was there ; then you will say it was the more
wrong she should go to the chapel as well as
the church.

" Poor thing, her love for him clouded her
understanding. The book, more than ever?
leaves a bad taste in one s mouth. I have
had quiet hours to digest the review [Nine
teenth Century]- -and to be very thankful
for it."

AFTER GOING OVER TO SAIGHTON

"April 1888.

" The visit to dear Lady Grosvenor a
success ; the new husband * made a pleasant
impression upon me- -the snug family group
quite like a novel, as after luncheon we went
into the conservatory for coffee ; picturesque,
cosy, homelike, pretty young Pamela " playing,
and singing to a guitar, roses hanging over
head and heliotrope. Enter two nurses, each
with her baby ; one from Eaton, the other Lady
Grosvenor s. Of course I nursed each one ;
the Wyndham baby such a beauty, four

1 George Wyndham.

2 Pamela Wyndham (Lady Glenconner).

3 Percy Wyndham, killed in action September 1914.

LETTERS FROM HER 111

months, sapphire eyes, hair dark brown ;
most beautiful the atmosphere, so unfine,
happy, welcoming.

Here is a note from the Durdans, February
1889 :

" At 6.30 we came to the Durdans, falling
in with Rosebery and E. Hamilton at the
station, and here we are, no one else, in deep
snow. Father delights in the house and the
books and the quiet; you could hear a pin
drop. Curious to relate, Dr. Duncan declares
Peggy s to be scarlet fever ! Going on well,
peeling all over, disinfecting cloths all hung
about. Strange she could be ill ten days,
supposed to be inflammation of the lungs,
no throat, and that neither of the doctors
should shoot l the complaint till the fever had
gone and the peeling was high gee. 2 ... It is
good to talk with you, dear, whether de
pressed or not. . . .

" Post just going- -your interesting letter I
have only squinted at. :

ON THE DEATH OF LADY ROSEBERY

" November 20, 1890.

" I have had the most touching letter from
Lady Leconfield- -the end was peace. 5

1 Glynnese Glossary : to discover.
3 Ibid.: in full fling.

112 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

Lady Rosebery s death took place on Nov
ember 19, 1890. This was a great loss and
sorrow to Mrs. Gladstone, for, quite apart
from her deep affection and regard for Lord
Rosebery, her friendship for his wife was of
long standing. They understood and loved
one another. In the following letter, very
typical of the conflicting events and emotions
of one short day, she tells her daughter of
these contrasts, life and death jostling each
other. In Berkeley Square the crowd outside
the house, the solemnity and silence within
" How different a scene to the late gay parties. 1
She dwells on the touching interview with
Lord Rosebery and his boys the masses of
flowers round the coffin, the placing there of
the white roses she carried in her hand. Mr.
Gladstone accompanied Lord Rosebery to the
funeral ; she mentions how much it touched
her that their father should ask her to stay
with his younger children. In their school
room above, she knelt and prayed with them.
From this house of mourning she went on to
yet another smitten home. She continues :

" CARLTON GARDENS, later.

" I was greatly surprised at reading the
Jewish Burial Service so very fine (as far
as it goes, I mean)- -the chosen texts it
was read in Hebrew. Father had, after Lord

LETTERS FROM HER 113

Rosebery, to throw earth upon the coffin.
He stood close to him and his boys, and was
greatly affected. Oh, Mary, when I think of
the two scenes of yesterday- -in poor Berkeley
Square and afterwards at the Speaker s, 1 the
sympathy that was wrung from my heart as
the poor Speaker poured out his griefs. 2 Then
the Ladies Gallery and the sickening appear
ance of Parnell 3 the astounding revelations
the mixture of ability and folly, the contradic
tions in that unfortunate man, the terrible
throwing away of extraordinary gifts. . . .
Professor Stuart has really been of great use
some call him fussy, and what does that mean
but that he does not let the grass grow that
he sees when prompt action is important ?
I was struck by Herbert Paul wise, judicious,
cool-headed. Then there is father calm,
dignified, resolute, feeling the battle is but
beginning, the Tories in the meanwhile
clapping their hands. 5

"CANNES, January 15, 1892.

; I need not tell you the pang last evening
brought in the tragic intelligence of Prince
Eddy s death, 4 though I had been scolded for
frightening myself. I was not really prepared ;
it seemed too dreadful to be true. Oh, darling

1 Rt. Hon. Arthur Peel. 2 Mrs. Peel s death-bed.

3 The divorce proceedings.

4 Eldest son of the Prince of Wales, died January 1892.
8

114 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

Princessy and the young wife to be. Galignani
speaks of complications. I fear he caught cold
at Count Gleichen s funeral. . . . The thought
of dinner made me feel sick after such tidings.
... Father wrote a very beautiful letter to the
Prince of Wales, which I have copied hurriedly
for you. I trust the reports of poor Princess
being ill are exaggerated. All this frightens one
as to Prince George. 1

After Mrs. Gladstone s return to England, she
heard from the Princess s own lips the story
of the illness and death of her beloved eldest
boy. Very near the end, as she sat near his
pillow, in his restlessness and delirium, he
suddenly turned his head and looked at her.
" Who is with me ? he said.

" Our Lord Jesus Christ," was her answer.
And from that moment quiet came to him,
and the look in his eyes was of one who saw
a vision.

"February 1892.

" I have finished Miss Benson s novel. 1
Helen and I rather agree as to its being very
unequal. It rather jars me sometimes, the
slang and then I am jealous of goodness being
made disagreeable ; and don t you think there
are exaggerations in Ruth s character ? The

1 At Sundry Times and in Divers Manners, by Mary Benson.

LETTERS FROM HER 115

husband is not well drawn. Still, I agree
with you- -there are very beautiful bits, and
much that shows great insight and great
talent."

To MB. GLADSTONE

" 1893-

"... Hawarden all in sunshine. Dossie
bewitching ; sprang into my arms and actually
kissed Master Pins," 1 irrespective of beard.

" We must be patient with the Queen. By
degrees she will gain courage to speak instead
of only writing. As to the Opposition I cannot
trust myself to speak, but Heaven will bless
you, God grant, more and more."

" HAWARDEN, undated.

" Miss Eleanor Bellairs 2 tells a funny story
of the Primrose League. One of their young
maids went to a party given by the Primrose
League, and in her own words :

" c Mrs. - stood up and made a beautiful
speech.

What did she say ?

Oh, she said as ow we were to follow
Gladstone. She said to us all : You know
the story of Mary and the little lamb ? Says

1 George Armitstead, M.P.

2 Her father was rector of Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire.

44 C
44 4

116 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

she, Gladstone s like Mary and we are like
the little lamb. He puts a string round them
and leads them wherever he likes ! It was all
so plain, it was- -we have nothing to do but
follow Gladstone.

"Miss Bellairs declares that the poor young
woman never discovered that the lady in
question was labouring to warn them against
Gladstone and the evil influence which made
people follow him as the little lamb followed
Mary."

There are countless letters dashed off in the
intervals of each progress- -for every journey,
every voyage, became a progress more than
royal, and each one seemed to beat the last in
spontaneity and enthusiasm, people assembling
even along the railway lines and in the stations
where the train never paused. They begin
with the historic visit to Newcastle in 1862-
the newspapers of the day relate how the bells
were rung, the guns thundered, the bands
played, as the procession steamed majestically
down the Tyne, ships flying their gayest flags,
the river-banks black with thousands of people.
Midlothian in 1879 and 1880 was possibly the
climax, but the South Wales tour in 1887 was
a marvellous experience, 60,000 working men
sacrificing their day s wages and paying their
own expenses to come to Swansea from all

LETTERS FROM HER 117

parts of Wales, for a touch of his hand or a
glimpse of his face. It need hardly be told
how she shared in these mighty demonstrations.
Often she managed to save her husband by
stretching out her own hand to be touched or

o

grasped by the multitude. The summer of
1895 saw his last voyage. He and Mrs. Glad
stone in the Tantallon Castle went as the guests
of Sir Donald Currie to the opening of Kiel
Harbour. No one ever foresaw more truly
than he did the overwhelming conflagration
that must, sooner or later, be the outcome of
that great assembly of rival battleships, and
of the piling up of armaments.

Here are two or three specimens of these
letters :

" Yesterday was a day which must hold a
place in the hearts and minds of thousands*
long after the first enthralment has died down.
I think the young will speak of it to their
children, as they bless God for raising up one
whose great gifts and energies could thus
spend themselves on his country s good, heart
and soul stirred by the one hope and desire
to raise his fellow- creatures for the honour
and glorv of God. Towards the end it seemed

*/

as if all the energies of the man rose to their
fullest strength- -the voice more melodious
and clear, and power seemed to be given him

118 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

as the occasion demanded ... it was the soul
in him that spoke."

At Torquay in 1889 she speaks of " a pro
cession three miles in length, we with our four
horses at walking pace, enormous masses of
people, imagine this place of places at its best,
white-crested waves, the wealth of blossom
and verdure, myriads of wild flowers. He
was not so tired as I was at the end of the
day, spite of his speeches and howling cheers
in his very ear. At Dartmouth we had good
sleep till four, when our yacht started for
Falmouth. Though we roll, and the drawers,
etc., fell about, no one was sick. I have just
peeped at him ; he is reading, and spoke to me
with his happy, wicked look, so surprised at
his own wellness.

"LANHYDROCK HousE, 1 BODMIN, 1889.

" Looking back upon the last days of our
progress, it is all a marvel to me, first of all
his strength, his vigour of mind- -the whole
management of each speech with almost
mathematical arrangement and yet such genius,
adapting each to the circumstances of the place
and people. The brain-power, the enthusiasm,
the force, the pathos, and as yet I see no harm.
Plymouth will be the most important day.

1 The home of Lord and Lady Robartes.

LETTERS FROM HER 119

To-morrow, after seeing something of this
beautiful place, we are going to drive twenty
miles to Lady Hayter s, 1 four horses to fly
with us, and I hope a quiet evening. The
Trelawneys are here, old good friends, and
Freddy Leveson ; such a house, great glorious
galleries, such ceilings, such a gateway, such
kindness. v

1 Tintagil.

CHAPTER V

LETTERS TO HER

SOMEONE has said that a man s char
acter may be guessed from his books,
and though there is truth in the idea,
it would have been more true if the word
correspondence had been substituted. Certain
it is that in the case of Catherine Gladstone,
the letters received by her bring to view
attributes not generally recognised. They are
lights that show up the different facets of a
jewel. The letters here selected speak for
themselves, but there is one aspect which,
reading them as a whole, shines out above all
others- -her character as mother, not alone
to her children, but to all sorts and conditions
of men.

The art of letter-writing is not easy to define,
but certainly one among its merits is the
power to make small things live. Whose
interest has not been more really quickened by
Mrs. Carlyle s accounts of her domestic worries
than by any of the letters written by her
husband ? To be really effective, letters must

120

LETTERS TO HER 121

be spontaneous, not laborious. Mrs. Glad
stone was alive to her finger -tips her own
letters were essentially human documents, and
a reflection of them is to be found in the letters
of her correspondents, only a very few of whom
it is possible to mention in these pages.

First among them must be given two of the
mass of letters written to her by her husband.

Absent from each other they never were, but
for the imperative call of duty- -any anxiety,
physical or mental, of any of the members
of their respective families. But both lived
to the age of eighty-eight, so that the number
of their letters to one another is considerable.
The two following letters are chosen the
first on account of its deep personal nature-
the other on account of its great historic
interest.

In the first letter we recognise that under
all the agitated surface of a life of turmoil and
contention, " there flowed a deep, composing
stream of faith that gave him, in face of a
thousand buffets, the free mastery of all his
resources of heart and brain. 1

It was written little more than four years
after their marriage, and she evidently had
failed to realise, in that short time, the im
perative calls of public duty on his days and
nights. She had evidently murmured at his
prolonged absence and absorption, and she*,

122 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

must have been pleading for some relaxation,
for more time to be spent with wife and chil
dren ; she must indeed have ventured to
point out to him that here surely lay the first
duty of a father and a husband.

13 C.H.T.,
"Sunday evening, January 21, 1844.

"... I am going to end this day of peace
by a few words to show that what you said
to me did not lightly pass away from my mind.
There is a beautiful little sentence in the
works of Charles Lamb concerning one who
had been afflicted : He gave his heart to the
purifier, and his will to the Sovereign Will of
the Universe.

"But there is a speech in the third Canto of
the Paradiso of Dante, spoken by Piccarda,
which is a rare gem : 4 In la sua voluntade e
nostra pace. The words are few and simple,
and yet they appear to me to have an inex
pressible majesty of truth about them, to be
almost as if they were spoken from the very
mouth of God. It so happened that I first
read that speech on a morning early in the
year 1836, which was one of trial. I was
profoundly impressed and profoundly sus
tained, almost absorbed, by these words.
They cannot be too deeply graven upon the
heart. In short, what we all want is that

LETTERS TO HER 123

they should not come to us as an admonition
from without, but as an instinct from within.
They should not be adopted by effort, but
they should be simply the habitual tone to
which all tempers, affections, emotions are
set. In the Christian mood which ought never
to be intermitted, the sense of this conviction
should recur spontaneously, it should be the
foundation of all mental thoughts and acts,
and the measure to which the whole experience
of life, inward and outward, is referred. The
final state which we are to contemplate with
hope, and to seek by discipline, is that in which
our will shall be one with the will of God ;
shall live and move with it, even as the pulse
of the blood in the extremities acts with the
central movement of the heart. And this
is to be obtained through a double process :
first that of repressing the inclination of the
will to act with reference to self as a centre;
the second to cherish, exercise, and expand
its new and heavenly power of acting accord
ing to the will of God, first perhaps by painful
effort in great feebleness, but with continually
augmenting regularity and force, until obedi
ence become a necessity of second nature. . . .
Resignation is too often conceived to be
merelv a submission. But it is less than the

tf

whole of the work of a Christian. Your full
triumph, as far as that particular occasion of

124 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

duty is concerned, will be to find that you not
merely repress inward tendencies to murmur
but that you would not, if you could, alter
what in any matter God has plainly willed,
. . . Here is the great work of religion ;
here is the path through which sanctity is
attained. And yet it is a path evidently to
be traced in the course of our daily duties.
Our duties can take care of themselves when
God calls us away from any of them. . . . To
be able to relinquish a duty on command
shows a higher grace than to be able to give
up a mere pleasure for a duty."

The other letter tells of the epoch-making
speech delivered by Mr. Gladstone in reply
to Mr. Disraeli s first Budget, December 1852.

" Like two of Sir Walter Scott s champions,
these redoubtable antagonists gathered up all
their force for the final struggle, and en
countered each other in mid career. How
rather equal than like, each side viewed the
struggle of their chosen athletes, the fortunes
of two parties marshalled in apparently equal

arrav."

" I have never gone through so exciting a
passage of Parliamentary life, : he wrote to
Mrs. Gladstone on December 18, 1852. " I
came home at seven, dined, read for a quarter

1 Times, December 18, 1852.

LETTERS TO HER 125

of an hour, and actually contrived to sleep
for another quarter of an hour. Disraeli
rose at 10.20, and from that moment I was
on tenter-hooks, except when his superlative
acting and brilliant oratory absorbed me and
made me quite forget that I had to follow him.
He spoke till 1 a.m. His speech, on the whole,
was grand, the most powerful I ever heard from
him. At the same time it was disgraced by
shameless personalities. When I heard his
personalities I felt there was no choice but to
go on. My great object was to show the Con
servative party how their leader was hood
winking them. The House has not, I think,
been so excited for years the power of his
speech, the importance of the issue, the lateness
of the hour were the causes. My brain was
strung high, and has not yet got back to calm,
but I slept well last night. Still the time is
an anxious one, and I am very well and not
unquiet. I am told Disraeli is much stung
by what I said. I am very sorry it fell to me to
say it. God knows I have no wish to give him
pain ; and really with my deep sense of his gifts,
I would only pray they might be well used. :

The Times writer contrasts the two speeches
in this Homeric battle : " Mr. Disraeli s
speech was in every respect worthy of his
oratorical reputation. The retorts were

126 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

pointed and bitter, the hits telling, the sarcasm
keen, the arguments in many respects cogent,
in all ingenious, in some convincing. The
merits were counterbalanced by no less glaring
defects of tone, temper, and feeling. In some
passages invective was pushed to the limit of
virulence, and in others, the coarser stimu
lants to laughter were very freely applied.
Occasionallv whole sentences were delivered

t*

with an artificial voice and a tone of studied
and sardonic bitterness, most painful to the
audience, and tending to diminish the effect
of this great intellectual and physical effort.
The speech of Mr. Gladstone was in marked
contrast pitched throughout in a high tone
of moral feeling- -the language was less studied,
less ambitious- -and though commencing in a
tone of stern rebuke, it ended in words of the
most pathetic expostulation. That power of
persuasion which seems denied to his anta
gonist, Mr. Gladstone possesses in great perfec
tion and when he concluded the House might
well feel proud of him, and of themselves."

The blow to protection and all its works
resulted in the defeat of the Conservative
Government, and Mr. Gladstone became Chan
cellor of the Exchequer for the first time.

This appears to have been the only occasion
that Mrs. Gladstone was absent from her

LETTERS TO HER 127

husband at a great crisis in the history of our
times. In a letter written to her a few days
later, Mr. Gladstone comments on the un
expected loss of temper shown by Lord Derby
on his resignation of the Premiership : he
contrasts it with what took place in the House
of Commons. " Nothing," he wrote, " could
be better in temper, feeling, and judgment
than Disraeli s farewell. And thus the curtain
fell after a victory which the Times described
as " not merely a battle, but a war not a

/

reverse- -but a conquest. 1

The earliest letter here printed, written by
her cousin, Lady Delamere, to Catherine s
mother, does not, strictly speaking, belong to
her personal correspondence; but, owing no
doubt to its historical interest, she carefully
preserved it amongst her papers, and the same
reason seems to justify its inclusion in the
present volume. Written in the year before
Waterloo, the letter gives a lively description
of Bliicher and Platof . The original is adorned
with clever pen-and-ink sketches of the two
generals.

FROM LADY DELAMERE l TO LADY GLYNNE

Sunday [1814].

" MY DEAREST MARY, I did not receive
the little books which you were kind enough

1 Mrs. Gladstone s cousin.

128 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

to send Hugh l three days ago, or I would
sooner have written to thank you for remem
bering the little fellow. I am most happy to
hear such good accounts of your Stephen,
and trust that he is now quite recovered. I
am so exceedingly hurried and bustled with
all that is going on that I really have not a
moment to spare, and what with going to see
Emperors, Illuminations, Jugglers, and such
like, and arranging dresses for the evening, I
have hardly time for my meals. The other
night I had a famous view of all these lions at
Carlton House, where they all came the even
ing after their arrival. It was very fine, but
rather alarming; however, perhaps you will
like particulars. We arrived at ten, and found
at the upper part of the first room a circle
made carelessly with arm-chairs, into which we
were in process of time ushered by the Lord
Chamberlain and his White Wand. In the
centre was the Queen, sitting on each side of
her the Prince 2 and the Emperor, 3 and behind,
the King of Prussia, his brothers, sons and
nephews, the background being filled up with
the Grand Duchess, Princesses, Duchess of
York, Princess Charlotte, and the Prince of
Orange. The coup d ceil was really very fine,
and they looked like a royal family on the

1 Lord Delamere, her first cousin.

2 The Prince Regent. * Alexander,, of Russia.

LADY BRAYBROOKE AND LADY FORTESCUE

GRANDMOTHER AND GREAT-AUNT OF MRS. GLADSTONE
From a portrait at Dropmore

LETTERS TO HER 129

stage, which I think has a much better effect
than when they walk about like us common
individuals. The Queen and Prince spoke to
every one, and some were introduced to the
Emperor, but we thought it a flurry for
nothing. When we got out of the circle we
walked about in search of Bliicher and Plat of,
who had each a little circle of their own, and the
first is, as you see from the drawing annexed, a
little square, stout old man with a very wild
head of hair and immense whiskers covering
his mouth entirely. He wore seven stars,
infinite crosses, and from his neck hung a
ribbon with the Prince s picture set in diamonds,
which he gave him as soon as he set his foot
in Carlton House. He is very old, but very
galant vis-d-vis des dames, whom he is par
ticularly fond of. As to Platof, he was in my
opinion much the best worth seeing of any,
as he looked like an inhabitant of the deserts,
and the simplicity of his dress formed a wonder
ful contrast with the gold and silver which
surrounded him. He wore a quite plain dark
greatcoat, with only a little silver work on the
collar and a silver sash, and black thick boots,
having positively refused to wear shoes, never
having had them on in his life. However, to
make amends, the feather in his cap, which as
you would see in my drawing is near half a
yard long, was composed entirely of diamonds
9

130 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

and emeralds most beautifully worked, which
I was able to contemplate at my ease, as he
gave me the cap in my own hand to look at.
We stayed till about two, walking about quite
at our ease, as there were only people enough
to fill one room. . . , ?:

In June 1839 Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone were
engaged to be married.

FROM THE RT. HON. THOMAS GRENVILLE

"CLEVELAND HOUSE, June 9, 1839.

" MY DEAREST CATHERINE, I will not let
one moment be lost in sincerely thanking you
for tidings so sincerely gratifying to me. I am
very fond of the great-nephew that you are
giving to me, and very happy in the excellent
husband that a bountiful Providence is giving
to you.

" I knew Mr. Gladstone by character, and
knew him to be one of the very few about whom
there is but one voice ; latterly I have had the
pleasure of making his acquaintance, and am
gratified beyond measure in thinking that your
future happiness is committed to one so highly
gifted in all that ensures it. Do not disre
gard these words as being mere congratulatory
phrases, for I can well assure you that they
are the honest expressions of the feelings of my
heart, warmly interested about you and exult-

LETTERS TO HER 131

ing in a marriage so promising of all that I
could wish for you. . . .

" Say all the kindest from me on this
happy occasion to your dear mother, and
believe me always, dearest Catherine, your
verv affectionate old uncle,

m

" THOMAS GRENVILLE. :

Charlotte Williams Wynn, Mrs. Gladstone s
cousin, was a diarist of some note in her day,
and had travelled extensively. She formed
" close and lasting friendships with Thomas
Carlyle, Bunsen, and F. D. Maurice.

FROM CHARLOTTE WILLIAMS WYNN

Monday [1847].

" MY DEAR CATHERINE, Most heartily do I
wish you joy upon the triumphant close to all
your anxiety. 1

" I must say that I never could be persuaded
to doubt the result of the contest. Looking
at the matter in its broadest view, it did not
seem to me possible that a University could
wilfully put away from her the man with
genius, and clutch the man without.

66 As others, however, had not as strong faith
as I had on the subject, it must have been a
very nervous time, and I long to hear that you

1 Mr. Gladstone was elected Member of Parliament for Oxford
University in August 1847.

132 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

are quite recovered. The last account of you
was from your servant in Carlton Terrace,
before I left town, upwards of a week ago.

" As far as Oxford, papa * and I travelled
together, and there we separated, after I had
passed two days more enjoy ably than any
two days I remember for years. Think of my
never having seen Oxford before ! You will
be glad to hear that papa was not a bit the
worse for the little exertion, and though at
first he rather dreaded it, I think he enjoyed
the whole thing, particularly his reception,
which was very flattering. He then went on
to Wales, and the election has passed off very
prosperously.

" Of course, since my arrival here the only
topic has been the unexpected putting forward
of Cobden 2 and the sudden withdrawal of the
Conservative Member. We were all at the
Nomination on Saturday expecting that a
Contest would ensue, and Lady Carlisle, who
was here with her son, was in a state of fidget
beyond anything I ever saw. However, after
a wordy, trashy speech from Lord Morpeth
(which had I been his mamma would have
made me somewhat ashamed for him) the

1 Charles Watkin Williams Wynn, M.P., in 1847, f r Montgomery
shire.

2 In the General Election of 1 847 Cobden was returned for Stock-
port and for the West Riding of Yorkshire, where Lord Morpeth
was the other member. Cobden decided to sit for the latter con
stituency, which he represented until 1857.

LETTERS TO HER 133

whole thing was quickly settled. Mr. B-
was, I fancy, literally frightened at the ghastly
show of white manufacturing hands held up
for Cobden, which looked like long lines of
breakers on a dark sea, so dense and unani
mous was the crowd. He retired and a.n
hour afterwards received an express from
Lord Fitzwilliam to say he would support
him with all the influence he had if he would
go to the Poll, but it was too late.

" I remain here another fortnight, and then
when Mary goes to the Lakes shall retrace my
steps, and pick up papa somewhere,

" He has just sent me Mr. Gladstone s
letter to him, which, though it answers in some
degree my question as to your health, will not
excuse you from writing when you are able
and inclined to do so.

; Adieu, give my love to your husband and
tell him how sincerely I congratulate him.-
Ever yours affy.,

" CHARLOTTE WILLIAMS WYNN."

FROM CAROLINE, LADY WENLOCK

"HAGLEY, Sunday, 1839.

" MY VERY DEAR Puss, Here I am in
dear Mary s l Palladian Palace ; for it is
scarcely less ! and more happy than I can
express, to see her so extremely comfortable.

1 Lady Lyttelton.

134 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

She does really look like a bright gem in its
proper casket, within these walls, and need not
even yield the palm to her celebrated prede
cessor, the lovely Lucy, so famed in her hus
band s lays. l The house has been already
described to you by Henry. I will only say
therefore that it is as complete and as fine
comparatively as either Stowe or Holkham,
having nothing wrong about any part, and
being exquisitely finished in the correct and
chastened taste of its peculiar day. There
is, too, such an atmosphere of high breeding
about it that one cannot wish for modern
furniture, or anything else, but to leave the
things as they are being the substantial re
sult of many thoroughbred generations. They
say the last Lord Lyttelton did wonders for
the place in many ways, and all in the best
taste. The modern plantations are beautifully
managed, and there are no rabbits ! I ought to
call them single trees, perhaps, rather than
anything else and they are done with the
most judicious eye. 2 We are going to town to
morrow, and then we return here to pass a few
more days before we consider our visit made
good. They have been so kind in forgiving its
being disjointed, and to be sure L homme

1 To the Memory of a Lady (Lucy Lyttelton) Lately Deceased : a
Monody, by George, first Baron Lyttelton. London, 1747.

2 The beauties of Hagley have been described in Thomson s
Seasons, 1744.

LETTERS TO HER 135

propose et Dieu dispose. I am just returned
from such a walk in the park, among (without
exception) the finest trees I have ever seen
more like those at Wentworth than anywhere
else, and with ten times more lovely grounds.
I have enjoyed it beyond measure. They
say there is every probability of the Queen s
marrying, and that the Prince is very hand
some. Miss Copley l told me the same thing
and a fresh report is current of Lady Cowper
marrying Lord Palmerston, 2 provided Lady
F. C. will accept Lord Emlyn ; also that both
the daughters much dislike the idea of Lady
C. s marriage. If you remain so late as the
middle of November I fear you will find too
many things to do before February, and we
shall be cut short of our visit. Of all sensa
tions here, I think the most lively for me is
the idea of your dear mother 3 and what would
have been her pride and delight in seeing this
place. It is ever before my eyes. May it do
me good, and remind me that every happiness
below is meant to have its alloy, and may that
alloy serve to wean us all from loving this
world with an exclusive and engrossing love.
Your loving aunt, CAROLINE."

1 Afterwards Countess Grey.

2 Lord Palmerston married (December 1839) Lord Melbourne s
sister, widow of Earl Cowper.

3 Lady Glynne had a stroke in 1834, from which she only partially
recovered.

::
*By frim, ud ttts\w sfcort."

r AMTWX- . - HJJE

i^ _^

MKS. GLADSTOXE, I can in BO

-:h I hard

_ at Ha warden.

hanflrtiuBk of anvtimg yet,
nercy that it vac Bat of a move
OBBM to ore God

i:

- - -

"

-

obliged to

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27,1*51.

:;

kart far

I may

rk i i kR> TO TTFTi

have elsewhere. There is a good iiiffl
us whose heart and hand are always
but she is now, alas ! at Vienna, and if she has
not already contributed, I wffl not fail to send
her an extract from your letter to m-

" Pray give my love to one and aD under your

roof, not forgetting Mr. (Tliiditnar and a little

lady I can never forget. Yoors

.-.-.-.I :;:

Acceptance of the ChanceDcxship of the
Exchequer in 1853 vacated the Qrfofd seat
and necessitated Mr. Gladstone s re-election to
Parliament. He was opposed by a son of
Mr. Perceval, son of the Prime
was ^&^MMJf^fcftqL and

were made to prevent his leixum CHI the ground
of his association with the newly
Liberal

FBOM SIR STATFOKT N ?KTHCOTE (LomD

IDDKSLCIG

af&* PwM at i c

-

.

-. ~ - :- _ ...

138 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

"January 1853.

" DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, I think we shall
win by about 100, as far as one can venture to
guess, but it is blind work. I do not, however,
apprehend that there is the least real danger
of actual defeat. We have several men who
will come up rather than see us defeated.

" Lord Ashburton voted for us to-day- -our
second peer (Lord Saye and Sele was the
other). MR. BENNETT x VOTED FOR PERCEVAL.
The force of imagination can go no further.-
Yours very faithfully and sincerely,

66 STAFFORD H. NORTHCOTE.

" The Dean of Llandaff came here on his
way to Madeira, for which he starts to-night,
to vote for us.

55

FROM LORD LINCOLN (afterwards DUKE OF

NEWCASTLE)

"WARREN S HOTEL, Saturday afternoon [1849].

" MY DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, I have not
the heart to call upon you to-day- -to-morrow I
hope to have slightly recovered from the sad
and bitter feelings which your good, kind
husband s letter has produced.

" None but those who after a long and pro-

1 A former strong supporter. The final election figures were :
Gladstone, 1022 ; Perceval, 898 ; majority, 124.

LETTERS TO HER 139

tracted mental suffering have allowed them
selves to be buoyed up for a time by some
new visionary hope can at all sympathise
with me in all the sadness and depression
which this renewed blow has occasioned. . . .
" If you will allow me I will call upon you
after morning church to-morrow.- -Believe me,
my dear Mrs. Gladstone, LINCOLN.

" I assure you my own grief does not make
me forget all the trouble and annoyance my
dear friend is undergoing for me.

55 1

FROM THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE

"CLUMBER, January 31, 1853.

" MY DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, Your kind
ness to me and my children is really very
great, and I cannot say how much I am obliged
to you for the way in which you are now
showing it.

" I really do not know what I could have
done if it had not been for the way in which
you have adopted them.- -Ever yours most
sincerely, NEWCASTLE .

Mrs. Gladstone mothered his children, both
in her house in London and at Hawarden
Castle, during a time of great trial.

Appointed Governor- General of India in 1856,
Lord Canning found his path beset with

1 See p. 71.

140 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

difficulties from the first. Not only did his
first year of office witness trouble with Persia
which resulted in war, but the intricate
question of the Oudh settlement had also
to be dealt with. His second year of office
was marked by the infinitely more serious
outbreak of the Indian Mutiny, which had been
in progress for six months when the following
letter was written.

FROM LADY CANNING

"CALCUTTA, August 7, 1857.

" I have not written to you for an age,
but I think I may as well prepare a short
note for this mail. Not that I shall tell
you news, but I think you will have thought
of us so much in the terrible events of the
last three months that you will like to hear
of us. I think this dreadful war is so purely
defensive that I may count upon having
Mr. Gladstone s sympathy with us, and his
hearty support in giving all help from England.
I am sure too he will see a mark of Providen
tial interposition in the fact that the China
Armament, of which he so much disapproved,
is turned aside to such great service, and that
Providence brings it within reach at the
time all other resources are exhausted. All
this is very striking. We have as yet only
two of the China ships, and three-quarters of

LETTERS TO HER 141

two admirable regiments turned back from
the Straits. Lord Elgin promised to send all,
but I fear his orders are not at Singapore
yet for the rest, but I suppose all will come.
We have to fight the Bengal army (all over
Upper India and Bengal), all but about a
third, which is either disarmed or quiet. Well
affected can be said but of very few regiments,
and we have but very few English regiments to
fight with. Between this and Delhi at the
outbreak there were but four, counting the
whole of Oudh and the whole valley of the
Ganges- -1000 miles. The exertions have
done a great deal, but it is as anxious work
as ever, and after the horrors of Cawnpore
we are in the greatest anxiety that Lucknow
may be saved, and we fervently hope that it is
not too late. It holds out, and the assailants
are short of ammunition. There are numbers
of women and children in it, and to think of
the long suspense of these poor things is really
terrible 1500 or 2000 men put to flight
and beat 13,000, taking 12 guns. As General
Havelock s fire has done this, we may trust it
will be safely taken on the remainder of the
march.

; Agra is believed to be safe and not as yet
besieged; it was attacked and left. They
have a very strong fort well supplied. Poor
Lady Outram, who is shut up in it, writes in

142 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

good heart to Sir James, and feels chiefly
anxious about her son, who is skirmishing about
in volunteer cavalry. Sir James has been in
the house with us for a few days since he
arrived from Bombay. He now goes on to
take the command of the Dinapore Division,
when he supersedes an old General Lloyd.
This poor man is in very bad odour with every
one for his sad mismanagement ; instead of
disarming three regiments he allowed them
to escape, and the disturbances have taken
fresh root, and now the flame rages in Bengal
itself. I could tell you heart-breaking stories
of sorrow and horrors to make your flesh creep,
but you will have enough of it all in news
papers. We have been so struck at the actual
happiness it has been to many people to find
that their relations names were in a lisfc
of deaths bv cholera and wounds found at

*/

Cawnpore, with the date showing they were
spared from the last horrible massacre.

" You can never imagine the surprise all
this horrid revolt has caused here. I think
perhaps all the more to those most used to
India. The trust and confidence reposed in
sepoys was so unbounded. They were so well
treated, so prosperous, and so well behaved,
and this time the murmurs arose on a question
which seemed so easily explained, and the only
grievance was one at once removed. Or

LETTERS TO HER 143

rather it was so simple to show it had never
existed, for no greased cartridges had ever
been served out (only used a very short time
in a. school of musketry), one could not believe
the delusion would be so industriously pro
pagated with all the foolish stories about Lord
Canning s pledge to the Queen and to Lord
Palmerston.

" Now the Hindoos are quite aware of the
tool the Mussulmans have made them, and I
believe they have no great fancy for their old
masters. The strange contrast of Lord John s
drinking the health of the Princes of Oudh
and Major Bird returning thanks when we
have shut up the King, is almost amusing.
The King, I believe, is quite a dupe of his
ministers, but the Oudh Court and the emis
saries of the King of Delhi are at the bottom
of the whole, and the plot is evidently of long
standing.

" If they could have been turned out of
Delhi at once, the disaffection would never
have spread as it did, but now it seems to have
reached its limits in Upper India, and if
Bombay and Madras keep quiet through the
Mohammedan feasts of this month, I hope
we may say we have seen the worst. Poor
General Anson s death was a very great
loss. I am sure he would quietly and firmly
have done the very best service.

144 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

; Sir H. Barnard we have heard little
about ; he had a brilliant victory and repelled
many attacks, and now the cholera has carried
him off. The death of Sir H. Lawrence was
most sad ; his was a noble character in every
possible way, and had done so well in those
last times of great difficulty. Some few
capital new men have come forth. Brigadier-
General Neill you are sure to see praised in
newspapers, and he deserves it; he is quite
new, and comes from Madras as Colonel of
an E.I.C. European regiment. We have often
the whole population of Calcutta in a state of
most abject panic, which must have the bad
effect of ruining the natives opinion of their
own power. At last the Volunteers were
allowed both horse and foot, and we have
enough English soldiers to guard against all
sudden alarms. In the last three nights C.
has allowed an English guard and now even
our bodyguard has quietly given up its arms :
we have really nobody to attack us. I cannot
touch upon these topics without telling of
all at too great length. Lord C. has kept well
(excepting a few days) through all his anxiety
and toil. I must say he looks upon it as
calmly and coolly as possible. 1 The country
must suffer greatly in every way ; civilisation

1 Lord Canning s calmness and clemency have been fully justified
by history.

LETTERS TO HER 145

goes back full fifty years, for it is clear that
the people had rather not have it and are not
ready for it, and the number of burnt factories
and sugar and indigo works and ruined mer
chants is very great. I believe the natives
have taken alarm at the increase of Education,
and whether secular or religious they do not
much remark, for either undermines their
superstitions and religion. Lord Ellenborough
had better not have made that cut at Lord
Canning ; giving his weight to the foolish
reports against him. I am sure Mr. Gladstone
would know how very little he of all people
would incline to interfere with liberty of con
science. We have not a notion to what
subscriptions Lord E. alludes, for it happens
that there are none to missions only several
school subscriptions to great and useful
schools. I have got credit, I find, for c doing a
great deal and visiting schools. The whole
amount of my visits was one to each girls
school in Calcutta, five in number, and five to
the school under Government for high caste
girls for secular instruction, and this was wholly
supported by Lord Dalhousie before I came.
This was in ten minutes, so I can take little
credit or blame to myself on this score ; and
this year I have done much less. We must
look forward to a long spell of Calcutta, and
it is a good thing that the climate does not

10

146 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

deserve its bad character in my opinion.
I have never had but one slight attack of fever,
and I do not think it disagrees with Lord C. on
the whole. The Talbots are the worst speci
mens, and he has gone on without moving to
the hills, and I think the excitement is rather
wholesome as far as health is concerned. I
hope you are well and strong. My love to
Mrs. Talbot when you meet. I shall leave a
page to fill in, if good news comes before
Saturday night. Remember me to Mr. Glad
stone. Yours very affectionately,

"C. CANNING.

The Shannon is coming up the river with
troops on board. A piece of most excellent
news whatever they may be. Lord Elgin
must have sent her. Madras sepoys are come
too, and believed to be trustworthy, but I am
afraid they are very small by the side of our
former magnificent Bengal regiments and may
be disinclined to face them.

1 August 8.- -Who do you think is about
to arrive and pay us a visit but Lord Elgin
himself in the Shannon, commanded by
William Peel.

" It will be very pleasant to see such well-
known faces, but better still the 1700 soldiers
they bring us, just when so much is wanted.
We shall get on well now.

LETTERS TO HER 147

" Remember me to Mr. Gladstone. I dare
say you will see Mrs. Herbert ; wish her joy
of her new babe for me, and tell her about us,
for I do not write to her to-day, and I know
she cares to hear. Mrs. Talbot and you are
sure to see and talk over our troubles. I feel
much happier again now ; we start afresh
with new force to save and relieve those in
jeopardy still. 1

On February 10, 1860, Mr. Gladstone intro
duced one of his greatest Budgets, 1 "the most
arduous operation I ever had in Parliament. 5
It upheld the French Treaty, reduced the taxa
tion on certain articles of food, and was
designed to repeal the Paper Duty, but the
last proposal was rejected by the House of
Lords, by whom, however, it had to be accepted
in the following year.

FROM SIR JAMES GRAHAM

"GROSVENOR PLACE,

"February n, 1860.

; I had intended to have called on you this
morning to inquire after my friend, and to
offer you my cordial congratulations. Applause
will follow in from every side ; you know that
none is more sincere than mine. I cannot
leave home this morning : yet I should have

1 In a five-hours speech.

148 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

liked to have shaken the hand of Gladstone.
He has saved his colleagues in spite of them
selves. He omitted nothing. He said nothing
which ought to have been omitted ; and all
in his own perfect manner. I remembered
Peel. He is, I hope, in a better and happier
world. Had he been alive how he would
have triumphed in the completion of his own
work by the ablest and most faithful of his
followers ! "

The Duke of Argyll s allusion in the letter
which follows is somewhat obscure, but, as
it was written on the day before the Budget
speech of 1861, it probably refers to the
measures taken by Mr. Gladstone to carry the
repeal of the Paper Duty through the House of
Lords. This he did by including all taxation
proposals in one Money Bill, which had to be
accepted or rejected in its entirety.

FROM THE DUKE OF ARGYLL

"CLIVEDEN,
"MAIDENHEAD, April 14, 1861.

DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE,- -I cannot
help writing you one line to congratulate you
on your husband s successful ingenuity on
Saturday, which made me as happy as when
I joined you at the Crystal Palace last year;

THE RT. HON. W. E. GLADSTONE
1858

From a portrait by Watts in the National Portrait Gallery

LETTERS TO HER 149

and at which I rejoiced all the more, that I
think the proposal as it now stands is not only
the best way out of a difficulty, but thoroughly
right and sound in itself.

" I could not help being reminded of a
saying of an old Scotch body to a friend of
mine when he proposed something which she
thought very ingenious : Eh ! Wullie, Wullie,
ye may dee for want o breath, but ye winna
dee for want o wiles.

" I expect him to have a great triumph both
as regards the Past and Present. 1

In 1861 the Prince of Wales met for the
first time, in Cologne Cathedral, Princess
Alexandra of Denmark. Needless to say,
he loved her at first sight. The announce
ment of the betrothal was received with no
ordinary interest by the public at large, and
the future Queen at once established that
position in the hearts of the people which
she has ever since maintained. Describing
the first meeting between Queen Victoria and
the bride, a lady-in-waiting wrote to Mrs.
Gladstone at the time, " No one can fail to
be struck with the ease, grace, dignity, and
absence of self-consciousness of her manner
and bearing, and sweet intelligent look. The
Queen seemed to take her to her heart at

once,

150 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

FROM THOMAS WOOLNER

" 29 WELBECK STREET,

September 14, 1863.

u

DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE,- -I sent a copy
of the photograph of Tennyson which I men
tioned to you, addressed to you at Penmaen-
mawr. If you agree with me that it is one of
the best likenesses ever done and as good as a
photograph can be, you will think it almost
worthy the honour of being presented to
Mr. Gladstone to adorn the Temple of Peace,
taking into consideration the great admira
tion which he feels towards the original of
the portrait.

" I am happy to tell you that the cast of
the bust came out very well indeed, and I am
now only waiting till it becomes dry before
beginning it in marble. But one person yet
has seen it who knows Mr. Gladstone s face,
and he said that he thought it by far the best
head that I had done. I find, on comparing
it with others in my studio, that it looks much
more powerful than any of the others, and I
think, all things being weighed, that it is the
most complete of them all.

" I cannot enough thank you for the thought
and troiible you took to aid me in carrying
out my work ; and it is one of the pleasantest
memories of my extremely pleasant visit to

LETTERS TO HER 151

Hawarden that I was so fortunate to please you
in the aspect of Mr. Gladstone s character which
I tried to represent."

FROM GENERAL GARIBALDI

"CLIVEDEN, 24 Avril 1864.

" MADAME GLADSTONE, Permettez qu en
partant je vous remercie de tout mon cceur
pour votre genereuse amabilite a mon egard.-
Votre devoue,

" G. GARIBALDI."

FROM SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTE (LORD

IDDESLEIGH)

" 1 8 DEVONSHIRE PLACE, W.
"April 28, 1865.

" DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, I am very glad
to find that there is a prospect of some definite
action with regard to the sick in workhouses.
The recent disclosures are a great reproach
to us, and I sincerely hope you may succeed
in getting the reforms you mention adopted.

1 1 will not fail to attend when the question
comes before Parliament, and I will speak to
some of my friends who are likely to take an
interest in it, and try to get a good attendance."

In 1868 Mr. Gladstone became Prime
Minister for the first time. The Queen had

152 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

written on December 1 asking him to under
take the formation of the new Government ; and
on December 4, the date of Lady Lyttelton s
letter, he had, in an audience at Windsor,
agreed to accept office. In his Diary he wrote :
" I feel like a man with a burden under which
he must fall and be crushed if he looks
to the right or left or fails from any cause
to concentrate mind and muscle upon his
progress."

FROM THE DOWAGER LADY LYTTELTON

"

December 4, 1868.

" DEAREST CATHERINE-PREMIERE, So the
crisis has arrived, and the plunge is taken.
Well, I suppose I must congratulate you and
your dear husband to you it will be an
anxiety the more on his account. May it be
blessed to you both. I can express my wishes
for him no better than by the first four verses
of the 20th Psalm, 1 which struck me as just
fit for my purpose this morning. Perhaps in
the railroad carriage you may have time to
read them. Don t think of answering only
forgive the trouble. I could not help it.
Yours affectionately,

" S. LYTTELTON."

1 The psalm beginning, * The Lord hear thee in the day of
trouble. . . ."

LETTERS TO HER 153

FROM LADY PALMERSTON

" PARK LANE, December 22, 1868.

" I am unfortunate in having called on you
twice without success to-day and last week
and I leave town to-morrow. I wished very
much to find you, and to have the opportunity
of congratulating yourself and Mr. Gladstone
on your brilliant prospects, and to express all
my good wishes on this occasion.

"Mr. Gladstone has had the good fortune
to be able to form a Government which gives a
hope of long continuance, and I am very sorry
that my son William Cowper was unable to
join it. I am going to Broadlands for a few
weeks, and I shall hope on my return to find you
and Mr. Gladstone in great health and spirits. 5:

FROM BISHOP SAMUEL WILBERFORCE

WINCHESTER HOUSE,

"ST. JAMES S SQUARE, S.W.,
"March 13, 1870.

" MY DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, I could not
help feeling to-day, when I saw him kneeling
in that rapt devoutness at the altar s rails,
that, if there are bad signs abroad, there are
to me hopeful ones. When could a powerful
Prime Minister of England have been so seen
since Burleigh s time in the reign of Elizabeth :
except perhaps Aberdeen and Peel ?

154 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

You will let me hear about Thursday.
The Lord Chancellor and the Clarendons dine,
and will all look in after ten. I am ever
affectionately yours,

" S. WlNTOK."

The "Mr. Reid " whom Bishop Wilber force
speaks so highly of in the letter which follows,
and who was at the time but twenty-four
years of age, is now known as Lord Loreburn,
and became Lord Chancellor thirty-six years
after the prophecy was made.

FROM BISHOP WILBERFORCE

"May 6, 1870.

" Will you invite a Mr. Reid, a young man,
son of a Sir J. Reid who was some functionary
in the Ionian Islands. The young man was a
very distinguished Balliol man : an Ireland
scholar. He held a school inspectorship- -is
now reading for the Bar ; and will be Lord
Chancellor. He writes for the Daily News,
and worships Gladstone. He is a friend of
Reginald. You met him at Winchester House.

" If you will send me c Yes or any better
invitation, I will act. 9

The Public Worship Regulation Bill was
strongly opposed by Mr. Gladstone at every
stage, and in his speech of July 9, to which Canon

cc

LETTERS TO HER 155

Liddon refers, he gave notice of six resolutions
which, in his opinion, furnished a more secure
basis for legislation ; but his party declined to
follow his lead, and eventually the Bill became
law. Although proceedings under it were
taken against several members of the Ritualist
party in the seventies, it gradually fell into
disuse and is to-day a dead letter.

FROM CANON LIDDON

"SLIGO, July 18, 1874.

I have just been reading a full report of
Mr. Gladstone s speech on the second reading
of the Public Worship Bill in the House of
Commons.

" And I cannot help writing to you to beg
you, when an opportunity naturally presents
itself, to express to him my most sincere and
heartfelt thanks for so noble and considerate
a plea for reasonable liberty in the Services of
the Church. I did not write to him before the
debate, partly on account of your recent
sorrow, 1 and because I felt sure that he would
have anticipated a great deal more than I
could possibly say. His speech will have won
the hearts of thousands of clergymen. The
other day I was at Derry, and spent an even
ing with the Bishop there Dr. Alexander.

1 Mrs. Gladstone s brother, Sir Stephen Glynne, died in June 1874.

156 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

Referring to the debate, which he had just
been reading, he said : I could not forgive
Mr. Gladstone for our Disestablishment ; but
I own this speech completely draws me again
to him. It entirely disposes of the charge
that he is influenced by political motives in
these matters, as such a speech must have
forfeited a great deal of influence with the
rank and file of the Liberal party. And if
an Irish Bishop can voluntarily say as much
as this, it is easy to imagine the feelings of
those who are nearer home and more imme
diately interested.

" Even if the Bill should become law, such
words will not be without effect in governing
its administration, and in checking the mere
unscrupulous exhibition of partisanship in
the highest places of the Church, as well as
in inducing some of our brethren to reconsider
exaggerations, whether of language or practice,
into which they may have been betrayed. In
any case, justice, and still more generosity,
are not to be met with every day in public
life, and I, at least, learn to prize conspicuous
examples of them more highly as I get
older. . . .

" Dear Mrs. Gladstone, if I have ventured
to say too much, and especially at a time of
such heavy sorrow, you will forgive me. But
I am not without hope that an assurance

LETTERS TO HER 157

of the profound and affectionate gratitude
which Mr. Gladstone has once more provoked
in, I feel sure, thousands of hearts, may be a

comfort to yourself."

FROM QUEEN VICTORIA

" OSBORNE, July 22, 18/5.

" DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, I received with
much pleasure your letter announcing to me
your eldest son s engagement to Lord Blan-
tyre s youngest daughter, and hasten to offer
my sincerest good wishes to yourself and Mr.
Gladstone. Pray also offer my congratula
tions to your son. I can easily understand how
much pleased you must be to feel that your
future daughter is the grandchild of the dear
Duchess of Sutherland, my dear and valued
friend, who was also grandmother to my son-
in-law. I do not know Miss Gertrude Stuart,
but have always heard her highly spoken of.

1 Before concluding, let me say how glad I
was that Mr. Gladstone appreciated Angele s
beautiful pictures. I wished he could see
those he has done for me of Louise, and some
which are specially successful as likenesses
and works of art. Repeating my good wishes,
believe me always, Yours affectionately,

" V.R.I.

You will, I trust, let me know when the
marriage is to take place."

158 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

FROM CARDINAL NEWMAN

"THE ORATORY,
" BIRMINGHAM, July 4, 1876.

"MY DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, I thank you
and Mr. Gladstone very sincerely for your
invitation to breakfast on the 6th.

" I shall rejoice to receive Mr. Gladstone s
articles on Homer s Apollo and Athene, 1 which
he is so good as to promise to send me, having
already read with much interest some portion
of his remarks on the Homeric mythology. 1

.

Tennyson and his son Hallam visited
Hawarden in 1876, but before accepting the
invitation the poet had made a bargain that
he might be allowed to indulge in his beloved
pipe in the security of his bedroom, smoking
not being then much in practice at the Castle.
With him, the poet brought his newly written
historical drama Harold, his "Tragedy of Doom "
as he called it. It seems to have impressed
Mr. Gladstone, and in an article in the Con
temporary Review (December 1876) on the
Eastern Question he quoted the lines :

" The voice of any people is the sword
That guards them; or the sword that beats them down."

1 " Homerology," Contemporary Review, March, April, and July
1876.

LETTERS TO HER 159

FROM LORD TENNYSON

" FARINGFORD,
"FRESHWATER, November 12, 1876.

" MY DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE,- -Here we are
returned to our winter quarters- -we retain
golden memories of our visit to Hawarden, and
your statesman, not like Diocletian among his
cabbages, but among his oaks, axe in hand.
Has he anything to say about my drama ? If
so, let him say it quickly before Harold passes
into stereotype, and then burn or return the
proofs.

" I am glad Hallam made a favourable
impression- -I do not think any man ever
had a better son than I have in him.- -Always

vours,

/

"A. TENNYSON."

The letter which follows is undated, but
probably refers to the personal attack made
by Mr. Chaplin upon Mr. Gladstone during a
debate on the Eastern Question in February
1877. Mr. Gladstone s reply, a mixture of
sarcasm and light-hearted banter, has been
described as one of the most effective and
brilliant ever spontaneously delivered in the
House of Commons.

160 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

FROM THE DUKE OF WESTMINSTER

" CLIVEDEN, MAIDENHEAD.

" DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, Here for the
day. I had to leave before I could write a
line on all the iniquities of last night. I never
remembered so grpss a personal attack, so
prepared and in such bad taste. It elicited
a wonderful instance in the crushing reply of
marvellous power and readiness. It did one
good to-day to hear the expressions of sym
pathy and of admiration,

" I hope Gladstone does not really mind
this sort of wretched attacks, and that he takes
them as a Newfoundland dog does the worrying
of a terrier.

" After C- - s language at Lincoln, of
which I made a note, I was not surprised at
the edifying performance that followed.

Yours sincerely,

" WESTMINSTER.

" P.S. Little Mollv 1 was looking at a marble

v O

profile of Dante yesterday and asked, Is that
Gladstone ? That was rather funny, wasn t
it?

" Did you hear Rosebery s child s delightful
remark that she couldn t make her mind sit
down ? "

1 Lady Mary Grosvenor, now Lady Mary Stanley.

LETTERS TO HER 161

When Sir Henrv Ac! and visited Ruskin in

\/

1878, he expressed the opinion that the attack
of brain fever from which he was suffering
could have only one of two possible results,
recovery being out of the question. Happily
these forebodings were not realised. Ruskin
had visited Hawarden before and after this
attack of brain fever with " his health better
and no diminution of charm," as his host noted
in his Diary.

FROM SIR HENRY ACLAND

"BLETCHLEY, March 10, 1878.

" MY DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, I am on my
way back from Ruskin, at Coniston, and
having to halt here for the first train (I came
by the night mail thus far) I must write to
you and Mr. Gladstone. I write to you, I own,
simply or in great part as a relief to pent-up
feelings which either did not exist or had no
expression while I was with him. For now
his mind is utterly gone. He cannot be rightly
said to know anyone. He raves, in the same
clear voice and exquisite inflection of tone,
the most unmeaning words- -modulating them
now with sweet tenderness, now with fierce
ness like a chained eagle short, disconnected
sentences, no one meaning anything, but
beautiful to listen to for the mere sound, like

the dashing of Niagara. It did not move me,
ii

162 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

though he would alternately strike at me and
tenderly clasp my hands- -once only giving
almost certain sign of knowledge. To my
question, Did you expect to see me by your
bed ? he answered in the most pathetic tone :
Yes, I expected you would come, and then
no more light any more.

" On the 12th of February he had sent the
copy of his description of the Turner drawings
to the press. The Preface ends with these
words (one of Turner s first pictures ; his first
picture with words of poetry attached one
of Coniston Fells) : 6 Morning breaks as I write,
along these Coniston Fells, and the level mists,
motionless and grey beneath the rose of the
moorlands, veil the lower woods and the sleep
ing village, and the long lawns by the lake-
shore. Oh ! that some had told me in my
youth, when all my heart seemed to be set on
these colours and clouds, that appear for a
little while, and then vanish away, how little
my love of them would serve me, when the
silence of lawn and wood in the dews of morn
ing should be completed, and all my thoughts
should be of those whom, by neither, I was to
meet more.

" A week after sending this to press, his mind
began to fail, and on the 24th he was down
with the violence of the brain fever.

" I have thus ended my sheet. As I look on

LETTERS TO HER 163

his intelligent life, I seem to see how physi-
ally he has been overwrought, and approach
ing slowly this grievous precipice. And, as I
reflect, I seem to have seen or known no similar
man. Nor now is he like any other ; nor would
any other be like him. The hours spent with
him seem to have added a new and solemn
act to the whole drama of life ; and though I
looked on almost stolidly at the time and quite
unmoved, I look back with a certain holy,
strange awe at the mystery of a human soul
displayed on earth ; the deep, pathetic
mystery of every human life.

; It was repeated to me what Mr. Gladstone
had said of Ruskin the other day at Grillon s.
You know how I lately wished and thought
about his going to you. I never saw him
again after he yielded to my earnest entreaty
to recall his refusal. And you have his last
letter to me. I shall be back presently, God
willing, at my daily work ; may it be better
done and more wisely and holily and if I
find I can yet help Ruskin, I shall go back
again. There is a good, kind, sensible doctor
near him, at Hawkshead. His old friend,
Mr. Severn, has been with him too for the last
ten days."

The General Election of 1880 resulted in Mr.
Gladstone s return to the Premiership for the

164 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

second time. The Midlothian Campaign had
been a triumphal procession, and at no time
has the country ever been raised to such a
pitch of enthusiasm as was then witnessed.
As a result, the Liberals swept the country.

FROM LORD BRYCE

" 7 NORFOLK SQUARE, W.,
" December 9, 1880.

" DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, Will you allow
me to congratulate you on this wonderful
campaign, and tell you, though you are sure

to know it from a thousand sources already,

/

what a feeling it has stirred in the breasts of
the working men and the hearts of the humbler
classes even here in London, where people
are supposed to be least sympathetic and
excitable ? I have been usually two or three
evenings every week in the Tower Hamlets
canvassing, and so have been able to judge of
the passionate interest with which these poor
people have been following Mr. Gladstone s
progress. One can t mention his name at a
meeting without everybody springing to their
feet and waving their hats. There is a warmer
enthusiasm for him now here in the East of
London than there ever was before, even in
the election of 1868, and whatever the West
End may say or think or write, I think the East
End would hardly yield to Scotland or Wales

LETTERS TO HER 165

in the depth and intensity of their attachment
to his name. It is not so much a reaction
towards Liberalism ; it is what strikes one as
better and finer even than political earnest
ness ; it is loyalty and gratitude to a character
and career which are their highest political
ideal. Pardon me for troubling you with these
lines. I trust that you and he are none the
worse for so much fatigue and exposure. :

FROM THE DUKE OF WESTMINSTER

EATON, Wednesday, 1880.

" MY DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, One line, for
you have no time for more, to add to the miles
of congratulations that are your due from
every * airt.

" How gloriously rewarded Gladstone must
feel himself to be in the triumph of all that is
right over all that has been so wrong.

" We shall win one seat here and very likely
both, and take this Tory stronghold.

"How right and graceful of Leeds if, as
they propose, they elect Herbert. Yours very
sincerely and triumphantly,

WESTMINSTER.

"You saw that Shaftesbury too had been
captured."

The tragedy of the Phoenix Park murders
roused a thrill of horror through all classes

166 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

of society. The Prince of Wales wrote to
Mr. Gladstone expressing his deep emotion,
and the Queen was no less moved. At Her
Majesty s request Mrs. Gladstone sent a por
trait of Lord Frederick Cavendish to Windsor.

FROM QUEEN VICTORIA

WINDSOR CASTLE, July 18, 1882.

"DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, I return with
many thanks the touching, sad, but most
peaceful and beautiful portrait you have kindly
allowed me to see. It must be very comfort
ing for poor Lucy * to have it to look at.
Was any cast taken to enable a bust to be
made ?

" I send you a photograph of myself taken
in the dress I wore at Leopold s wedding.
It is much liked. The veil and lace trimmings
are the same I wore at my own wedding forty-
two years ago.

Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, died in
March 1884. Mr. Gladstone was in bad health
at the time and confined to his room.

FROM ARCHBISHOP BENSON

"LAMBETH PALACE, April 4, 1884.

" MY DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, I have not
troubled you with letters while the papers

1 Lady Frederick Cavendish.

LETTERS TO HER 167

(happily accompanied almost daily with com
mentaries better than the text from those who
know) have kept us informed of the slow, quiet
repair which we hope is better and sounder
than a sudden reinstatement. But to-day,
when one s eyes almost ached not to see Mr.
Gladstone in his stall at St. George s, I cannot
help sending you one word, not meant to
draw a moment s additional trouble from
you, but to assure you how very beautiful
and touching was the service, in which I am
sure your hearts joined.

" The Queen was wonderfully composed
and strong, though she looked as if she had
wept sorely. No one can ever forget the in
tense look of the Prince of Wales, or the way
in which he was rapt in the service, and his
sudden kneeling down at the head of the grave
when the Kyrie eleison began. When he sent
for me afterwards he looked so pale, and as if
thoughts other than of earthly sorrow were
with him.

The young Duchess was at a private little
service yesterday in the memorial chapel, 1
the very image of strong resignation, as the
Dean told me. And a young officer said that
the little service before the body left the
vessel yesterday was even more impressive than

Twelve years later Archbishop Benson died in Hawarden church,
when visiting Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone. See p. 192.

168 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

the wonderful beauty and power of to-day.
Every one says the Foreign Ambassadors were
greatly impressed.

In London even poor cabmen had crape
on their whips in little bows. Surely England
has not done with loyal love yet. Mr. Glad
stone would have so entered into the piety
and strength and hope of the scene to-day.
Please no answer, I know how busy you are.

With sincere hopes that every day and
hour is strengthening Mr. Gladstone, and that
you are well.- -Sincerely yours ever,

" EDW. CANTUAR."

FROM KING EDWARD vn. WHEN PRINCE OF

WALES

"MARLBOROUGH HOUSE, April 7, 1884.

" MY DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, Your kind
letter which reached me to-day has deeply
touched me, and I beg you and Mr. Gladstone
to accept my sincerest thanks for your sym
pathy in the blow we have sustained. You
have known us all since our childhood, and I
felt sure would feel for and with us at the
sudden death of our poor brother.

" If his life had been spared, he had a
brilliant career before him ... it is not for
us to murmur.

" The Queen and my sister-in-law are bear
ing up as well as can be expected in their grief.

LETTERS TO HER 169

" With kind regards to Mr. Gladstone, who
I trust is now quite himself. 5

FROM THE DUKE OF WESTMINSTER

" CLIVEDEN, May 8, 1884.

" I wonder whether we might ask Gladstone
to confer a distinguished honour on our
youngest son by consenting to become his
godfather ? We have the less hesitation in
making this proposal, as we do not think it
will give him much additional work, his
coadjutors being Mary Cobham and Alfred
Lyttelton, 1 ready to take all the work on to
themselves. . . . :

This was Hugh Grosvenor, who lost his
life in the Great War.

Holman Hunt spent practically ten years
working on " The Triumph of the Innocents,
of which there are two pictures, at Liverpool
and Birmingham.

FROM HOLMAN HUNT

" DRAYCOTT LODGE,

" FULHAM, AugUSt 1884.

" DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, I trust that you
will not allow the request that I venture to
make in this note, to hamper you in your many
serious duties in the slightest degree, unless,

1 Died July 1913.

170 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

with the wonderful power Mr. Gladstone has
of relieving his mind from his heavy responsi
bilities, you think that the honour of a visit
from him to my studio would be a wholesome
and practicable relaxation.

" The picture, which it would be a great
gratification to me to show both to you and to
him, is one that I painted in Jerusalem some
seven years since, but owing to the canvas
being bad I was unable to bring the work to
a conclusion without repeating it on another
canvas, which has been a very trying task.
It is now so nearly finished that it would be
a disappointment to me to put off till your
return to town this application, which I will
confess I have kept in reserve as one of the
pleasures to be earned by bringing my task
to an end. The picture is an imaginary
incident of the flight into Egypt, and it
will be entitled The Triumph of the Holy
Innocents.

" I will gladly be at my studio any time
on Saturday that you might be able to
appoint."

The- news of General Gordon s death was
received in England on February 5, 1885, and
on February 23, Sir Stafford Northcote moved
a vote of censure on the Government. The
final debate took place on February 27, and

LETTERS TO HER 171

the division was taken at four o clock on the
morning of the 28th. The result was a narrow
majority of fourteen for the Government.

FROM G. W. E. RUSSELL

"HOUSE OF COMMONS, February 27 , 1885.

"MY DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE,- -I fear you
must be feeling sad and anxious about to
night. And, though I can do no good, I feel
impelled to write you one line of true and
loyal sympathy.

" Even if the worst happens, it will only
be because Mr. Gladstone preferred duty to
inclination, and stayed on when he might
have gone out in a blaze of triumph. His
fame is assured for all time, and no passing
reverses can affect it.

" Never, I think, were you so encompassed
with the love and trust of his real followers :
and I personally should be the basest of the
base if I did not, at this dispiriting moment,
make a special acknowledgment of my grati
tude and veneration. 51

The Afghan boundary dispute in the early
part of 1885 occasioned grave fears of a war
with Russia, but in May Mr. Gladstone was
able to announce that a settlement had been
arrived at.

172 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

FROM SIR ARTHUR GORDON (LORD STANMORE)

"QUEEN S COTTAGE,
" ONWARA ELIYA, i8/3/ 85-

" MY DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, I began our
Pembroke Castle cruise positively by actually
disliking Miss Tennant. 1 I ended it, liking
her very much and thinking highly of her.
I am really growing old now, and am in feel
ings much older than my fifty-five years would
warrant, for I have from my youth lived
entirely with people older than myself, and
made most of my more intimate friends among
them. I have consequently a liking for les
manieres d autrefois, which is not too often
gratified nowadays. I must say I think well-
bred women thirty or forty years ago had
quieter, more refined and really polished ways
than the young women of the present day
can boast of, and were in consequence all the
more agreeable to live with.

" I heard with much regret of Sir Robert
Phillimore s death. He had not of late been
so much or so closely associated with you as

1 Miss Laura Tennant, afterwards Mrs. Alfred Lyttelton. The
Pembroke Castle trip was taken by Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone in 1883 ;
Sir Donald Currie was host, and Tennyson was one of the guests.
In Copenhagen harbour Mrs. Gladstone was hostess to the Emperor
and Empress of Russia, the King and Queen of Greece, the King
and Queen of Denmark, the Princess of Wales, and many others.
See Some Hawarden Letters.

LETTERS TO HER 173

was the case some years ago, but he was still
one of the most true and faithful personal
friends of Mr. Gladstone. I see an early
dissolution spoken of. Aberdeen is to have
two members. I wonder if they would take
me as one ?

"What crowds of events in the political
world and what important and exciting ones !
I shall lose something of my faith if it be
possible that a war should result from the
discussions with Russia discussions which
appear to me to be eminently of a nature for
settlement by amicable negotiation. But on
the whole, such a result seems to me to be
impossible, for there is not sufficient reason
for it. I do not forget, however, that the
Crimean War seemed equally impossible, and
that Mr. Gladstone cannot be more averse
to war than my father l was. But there is this
enormous difference in the situation that
Mr. Gladstone has no party intriguings against
him in his own Cabinet, and that the negotia
tions are directly carried on between two
Powers only, instead of indirectly and with
half a dozen, as in 1854. This is all in favour
of a peaceful issue.

Though we are in the tropics, it is quite
cold up here frost at nights fires in all our
rooms and a garden before the house with

1 Lord Aberdeen, Prime Minister in 1854,

174 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

none but English flowers in it. I remain,
yours very affectionately,

" A. GORDON."

On her daughter s dangerous illness.
FROM G. W. E. RUSSELL

*

" WOBURN, November 4, 1886.

" MY DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, Lady
Stepney s letter just received has caused us
such joy that my father desires me to write
at once, on his behalf as well as my own, to
say how very thankful and happy we are,
for your daughter s sake and for yours.

" There is no happiness on earth like the
escape from fear, and God s mercy seems to
shine more brightly when one has just emerged
from a cloud.

" That you have been allowed so to emerge,
and again to feel and see the light, is indeed an
unspeakable mercy. :

The split which occurred in the Liberal
Party over Home Rule is a matter of history.
Some of Mr. Gladstone s followers, like the
Duke of Argyll and the Duke of Westminster,
expressed their dissent from the new policy in
various ways, but through all their attachment
to Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone was maintained and
their admiration undiminished.

LETTERS TO HER 175

FROM JOHN BRIGHT

"EusxoN HOTEL, June i, 86.

u DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, Your invita
tion is very kind, and I wish I could freely
accept it; but at this moment, when I am
driven into serious, but I hope only temporary,
opposition to Mr. Gladstone in connection with
his unfortunate Irish policy, I feel as though
my company at your table could not be as
pleasant to you or as satisfactory to myself
as heretofore. You will see that I write
frankly, explaining precisely why I will ask
you to excuse and forgive me if I do not join
you at dinner this evening.

" I cannot tell you how grieved I am at the
crisis at which we have arrived, but judgment
and conscience must rule rather than personal
preferences. As for myself, if you cannot
approve, I may hope that you will be able to
forgive. Believe me, very sincerely yours,

"JOHN BRIGHT."

The following letter refers to the tragic
death of the Duchess of Argyll ten years
earlier. She was taken suddenly ill at Lord
Frederick Cavendish s house in Carlton Ter
race, as Mr. Gladstone was handing her in to
dinner. He carried her into the study, her
sons and daughters were summoned, and she

176 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

died the same evening in the arms of Mrs.
Gladstone (May 25, 1878).

FROM THE DUKE or ARGYLL

"July 29, 1888,
"ARGYLL LODGE, KENSINGTON.

" MY DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, I received
your kind letter on Friday just as I was start
ing for Tennyson, and I could not write whilst
there.

" Pray be sure that I can never dislike any
thing that you can ever say to me. The last
sight I had of my dear one was in your arms,
and I think of you, as of Her, as " very woman
of very woman, 1 as the great poet wrote of
Her to me.

" But there is one thing I am not sure that
you quite see or at least fully estimate.

" c The Doctrine of the Two Spheres : is
generally easy. But it becomes more difficult
in practice when differences become funda
mental with one who is not only a leader, but
the only leader whose teaching is of any power.

" He can fire at us as a nameless group. We
can t do this. His words and arguments are
the only ones worth considering. We can
argue with him alone.

" The alternative is to speak at him : or to
speak of him.

I hate the first the second is always the

tc

LETTERS TO HER 177

most respectful, but it sounds more personal.
This really can t be helped.

" Pray also recollect how deeply this differ
ence cuts into life. Poor Leinster died of
nothing else. He died of a broken heart
on the Irish question. He was a devoted
Gladstonian up to the Home Rule move, was
quite angry with me on the Land Question.
But the last move killed him. He saw the
break up of all he had loved and lived for
he and his, for many generations.

" Such things can t be helped in great
revolutions. But if the Revolution be not
certainly for the better, they are sacrifices
which embitter and are uncompensated to
those who stand in former convictions.

" How very sad Evey Ailsa s l death ! She
was a very angel of goodness therefore we
need not grieve.

" I found Tennyson weak physically, but
writing new poems as full of force and of
pathos and beauty as ever. - -Yours affection
ately, ARGYLL."

FROM THE DUKE OF WESTMINSTER

EATON, June 27, 1892.

44 MY DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, I have only
just heard of this disgraceful act 2 by a dis-

1 Lady Ailsa, his niece, sister of the Hon. Mrs. W. H. Gladstone.
1 A woman in the crowd had thrown a missile which hit Mr. Glad
stone in the eye.

12

178 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

graceful Chester woman, and I lament it
greatly, and only hope that the annoyance
may not have been felt much by Gladstone
and yourself.

It will have excited the disgust and in
dignation of all parties. Yours under all
circumstances, always affectionately,

" WESTMINSTER.

" No answer ! "

Probably the most notable of Mr. Glad
stone s speeches delivered outside the House
of Commons was that made at Bingley Hall,
Birmingham, in 1888, before an audience of
some 18,000 people. Public excitement was
at fever heat, and probably the only person
in Birmingham who remained calm was Mr.
Gladstone himself, then seventy - eight years
of age. Indeed, it is remembered that on the
day of the meeting, when the whole household
with whom Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone were
staying was filled with apprehension and ex
citement at the magnitude of the task before
him, the chief actor was so deep in a Homeric
discussion, that it was with difficulty he was
induced to take his seat in the carriage which
was waiting to convey him to Bingley Hall.
Lord Morley has written a vivid description of
the meeting and of the scene at the close

LETTERS TO HER 179

absolutely indescribable and incomparable,
overwhelming like the sea."

FROM ONE or HIS COLLEAGUES

"November n, 88.

"Mv DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE,- -I had to
leave Bingley Hall as soon as Mr. Gladstone
sat down, for I was pressed to catch a train.
Since then I have hardly put pen to paper,
and have scarcely thought of anything else.

" He has beaten his record : his own record !
There has been nothing like it. I am con
vinced from my own observations, and from
casual words with odds and ends of people I
met on railway platforms, that his noble
speech was heard all through by 18,000
people. He shames the young, and is the
despair of the old.

; I envy you more than him. Our eyes
sympathised though we could not speak. I
feel privileged to take something of the same
sort of pride that his family takes in these
performances. I could indeed have waited
as far as my train was concerned, but I wished
the evening to close for me with that splendid
recollection.

" I am grateful to him personally for the
stimulating idea of that august scene, which
must have been a high incentive to every
person present, however humble, who was

180 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

interested in politics ; and on behalf of the
party, for an episode which places it in a
new light of enthusiasm. God bless you
and him."

FROM J. T. DELANE, EDITOR OF THE TIMES

" 10 SERJEANT S INN, June 8.

" DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, When the Prime
Minister on Wednesday last was good enough
to ask me to dine with you on Thursday next
I listened in, I hope, becoming wonder, that
one, who knew so much, should not know that
Thursday next is Cup Day at Ascot.

" He promised me a card, and when none
came I hoped it was I and not he who had
mistaken the day.

" Your note c to remind ; has dispelled the
fond illusion, and I feel as Dr. Manning might
feel if he had accepted an invitation to a Ball
on Good Friday.

46 Pray then intercede for me. I have a
large party in my house at Ascot for the Races.
I expect at least a hundred people, and most
of your colleagues, to lunch there on Thursday.
I had some hope that you yourself and Miss
Gladstone might possibly honour me with
your presence, and now I find myself partly
engaged to dine with you in London.

Pray allow me to defer the honour to

tc

LETTERS TO HER 181

some other occasion, and forgive the rash
assent of, yours very faithfully,

" JNO. T. DELANE."

The laconic answer of Tennyson to an in
vitation to breakfast.

FROM LORD TENNYSON

(Undated. }

" MY DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, I am sorry
that we cannot come to-morrow, so is she.-
Ever yours, A. TENNYSON."

What would the writer of the following
letter have had to say about present-day
fashions ?

FROM DR. PUSEY

" CHALE, I. OF WIGHT,

"Easter Tuesday, 1870.

" MY DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, My dear
friend, your husband, tells me that he has
shown you the part of my letter which relates
to the dress of the upper class of society,
and that if I had anything to suggest you
would be glad to speak with me, whenever I
should be in town.

As I hear, there are two classes of evil :
l l. The extravagance of dress.
6 2. Its character.
The first has its special evil both in pre-

182 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

venting marriage (as so many young men
cannot afford to marry such wives) and its
horrible evils in consequence of young wives
not daring to bring their bills to their hus
bands. This I have been told by married
women, not by those who were guilty.

"2. The indecency. And this, as far as I
hear, is more inexcusable in the young or
middle-aged married women, because in them
it can hardly be to please their husbands,
except so far as a vain or foolish husband from
time to time likes his wife to be an object of
admiration even at the cost of propriety of
dress. I have heard of such a case, when
the wife was evil spoken of because the vain
husband liked her to appear in this undress
and surrounded her with the society of men,
probably like himself.

" The second will be more easily withstood
than the first. For a modest dress is really
more becoming and more attractive than the
immodest I mean as far as attractiveness
is a lawful object with mothers for their
daughters. What any men who are worth
having for husbands are really attracted by is
simplicity and reality. I have known cases
when persons without any beauty or much
sense have been attractive, simply by their
freshness and simplicity.

" The difficulty seems to be to persuade the

LETTERS TO HER 183

young women themselves before they have
unlearnt the simplicity which, if unlearnt, can
only be recovered by the grace of God.

" Yet I cannot but think that something
might be done to check beginnings. Why
should fashion be all in the wrong direction ?
Why should dressmakers have this autocracy ?
Or if they have it, why should their influence
be on the wrong side ? God has made His own
work more beautiful than we can unmake it,
and it is best set off by that which is becom
ing, i.e. suited to it.

" People have learned the power of union
and adopt it as far as they can. Why should
not something of this sort be done for God ?
We have plenty of associations for the poor.
Why should not the good rich associate them
selves for the protection of our young women,
the mothers of the future aristocracy of
England, that our young English girls might
become again what they were in the days of
your youth ? Thus if a certain number of
ladies, into whose houses mothers would wish
to introduce their daughters, were, in issuing
their cards for an evening party, to put (in
French for the servants sakes) something to
the effect, It is required that ladies should
not come in very low dress, or the like, I should
think a counter-tide of fashion might set in.
" However, you, who live in society, can

184 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

understand how everything is to be done for
it, better than I who live out of it. But I
feel sure that something could be done if those
who can influence it do not look upon it as
a hopeless evil, and so let the flood sweep
on which is, one fears, sweeping so many to
perdition.

" I wish also something could be done as
to not inviting those persons whom people
court also for their rank, but of whom charity
itself can think no present good, but can only
hope that they may be converted.

" Of course there will be obloquy and ridi
cule ; nothing good is ever done which is not
spoken against. But you will have people s
consciences, their better feelings, their better
selves, and God on your side, in setting yourself
against this tide of evils ; and you will find,
I doubt not, as we ( did, when we began the
Tracts for the Times, that many will range
themselves on the right side as soon as a
decided stand is made, who before stood
loitering about, choosing neither. God prosper
you. Yours very faithfully,

" E. B. PUSEY."

The visit to Italy foreshadowed in the next
letter duly took place, Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone
staying with Lord Rendel at Naples, and there
Lord Dufferin visited them. " I went, he

LETTERS TO HER 185

afterwards told their daughter, "thinking I
could give Mr. Gladstone valuable information
concerning Egypt and India, but I discovered
he knew much more about them than I did."

FROM LORD DUFFERIN

" VICEROY S CAMP, LAHORE,
" November 16, 88.

" MY DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, I had such a
nice letter from Mr. Gladstone, and now you
have been good enough also to write to me,
which is very like old times.

" And now about Rome. I cannot con
ceive any circumstances in which you and
Mr. Gladstone w r ould not be welcome at the
Embassy, or in which I could not contrive
somehow to make you comfortable ; but I
must admit that next January would be a
less propitious date than I could desire, for
the simple reason that we do not ourselves
get to Rome until the third or fourth of that
month, and that the house is described as
being so dilapidated and destitute of furniture
that my wife and children, after staying for a
few days, as at present arranged, in a hotel,
go straight on to England, leaving me as a
bachelor to do the best I can for myself until
the workmen, painters and upholsterers have
put the place in order. But, in spite of this
unpromising state of things, it would be such a

186 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

pleasure to me to have you and Mr. Gladstone
as my guests, if you would accept my bachelor
hospitality, that I would ransack all the
palaces of the Roman Princes to make you
comfortable ; but common honesty has driven
me to tell you the exact truth, so that I may
not lure you into uncomfortable lodgings under
false pretences.

I send you a very modest retrospect of my
four years work in India, which perhaps Mr.
Gladstone might like to glance over. I think
he will find that my Government has done
more than is generally known or supposed.
Nobody but the few experts who have been
behind the scenes understand what a difficult
time I have had in India, and how many
dangerous problems I have had to deal with.
The fall in silver alone was enough to have
upset the coach, and scarcely six months
passed without some new trouble developing
itself, but for all that I shall hand over India
to Lord Lansdowne without a cloud on the
horizon, and what is still more satisfactory, if
only silver does not take another bad turn, in
a state of financial equilibrium, and that in
spite of Burmah, Afghanistan, Thibet, and the
Black Mountain.

" With my wife s kindest regards, believe
me, dear Mrs. Gladstone, yours sincerely,

" DUFFERIN AND AVA."

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LETTERS TO HER 187

Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone celebrated the
fiftieth anniversary of their wedding in 1889.

FROM CARDINAL MANNING

" ARCHBISHOP S HOUSE,
" WESTMINSTER, S.W., July 23, 89.

" MY DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, The last
time we met you said, * I do not forget old
days, and truly I can say so too.

" Therefore in the midst of all who will be
congratulating you on the fiftieth anniversary
of your home life I cannot be silent.

" I have watched you both out on the sea of
public tumults from my quiet shore. You
know how nearly I have agreed in William s
political career : especially in his Irish policy
of the last twenty years. And I have seen
also your works of charity for the people, in
which, as you know, I heartily share with you.

" There are few who keep such a Jubilee as
yours : and how few of our old friends and
companions now survive.

We have had a long climb up these eighty
steps, for even you are not far behind : and I
hope we shall not break the pitcher at the
fountain. I wonder at your activity and
endurance of weather.

; May every blessing be with you both to the
end. Believe me, always yours affectionately,

" HENRY E. CARD. MANNING."

188 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

FROM THE EMPRESS FREDERICK

"VILLA ZIRIO,

"February 8, 1888.

" DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, Pray accept my
best thanks for your kind letter expressing so
many wishes for the Crown Prince s recovery
from this trying and protracted illness. We
trust and hope they may all be fulfilled. The
outlook is no longer as gloomy for us as it was
in November, and this is a great comfort for
which we are truly thankful.

" The kind sympathy of all friends in Eng
land is very gratifying to me. Ever yours,

" VICTORIA,

66 Crown Princess of Germany
and Prussia and Princess Royal. ;

In 1890 the Parnell Divorce Case shattered
for the time all hopes of an Irish settlement.
Ever ready to take as its motto the dictum of
Flaubert that " Nothing succeeds like excess,"
the Irish party was rent in twain and the
air was filled with recriminations between
Parnellites and anti - Parnellites. On the
ground that he had helped to depose their
leader, some of the former were not slow to
vilify Mr. Gladstone.

LETTERS TO HER 189

FROM PIERCE MAHONY l (who supported

Parnell)

"House OF COMMONS LIBRARY,
"December 8, 90.

" DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, I take the liberty
of expressing to you the great sorrow it gives
me to appear even for a time to be acting in
opposition to Mr. Gladstone. In the course
of the last ten days expressions have been used,
in moments of great excitement and passion,
regarding Mr. Gladstone, which have given
me great pain. Whatever may occur in the
future, I think that no expression will ever
fall from my lips in any way inconsistent with
the deepest respect for and gratitude to Mr.
Gladstone. The kindness you have shown to
me makes me hope that you will excuse me for
troubling you with this letter. Believe me,
dear Mrs. Gladstone, yours sincerely,

" PIERCE MAHONY."

FROM QUEEN VICTORIA

"WINDSOR CASTLE, May 7, 1893.

DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE,- -Accept my best
thanks for your very kind letter and con
gratulations on the betrothal of my dear
grandson, George, with Princess Victoria Mary

1 Now The O Mahony.

190 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

of Teck, which gives me great pleasure, and
which I trust will be the beginning of a
long life of happiness to themselves, and be a
blessing to their family and to the country at
large.

" It is indeed a very long time that I have
known you. At York in 35 I saw the two
very beautiful Miss Glynnes and have not
forgotten it. How much of weal and woe has
happened since that time.

FROM G. F. WATTS

LITTLE HOLLAND HOUSE,
"KENSINGTON, W.,

"August 4, 1893.

" DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, My wife very
earnestly desires to have the honour, and she
is worthy of it, of shaking hands once in her
life with Mr. Gladstone. Could this be
managed without intrusion upon time and
attention so valuable ? I also should like to
have the same honour once more. Very
sincerely yours, G. F. WATTS. :

The horror of a tragedy still fresh in the
minds of every one becomes still more poignant
when one glances back to the time when all
was bright and the future seemed filled with
every augury of happiness. Writing to Mrs.

LETTERS TO HER 191

Gladstone in May 1894, Queen Alexandra said :
" Thank you a thousand times for your very
kind letter of congratulation on the engage
ment of my charming nephew, the Cesarevitch,
to Alix of Hesse, dear Alice s youngest
daughter. They both seem very happy, and I
do hope that this union will be for their mutual
blessing and for the welfare of our country, as
we consider her half English, as well as for
Russia, the land of her adoption. 1

FROM MARGOT TENNANT

"COLD OVERTON, OAKHAM,
"March 1894.

" DEAREST AUNTY PUSSY, I was much
touched by your message to Mr. Asquith. 1

" I dare say I was a little out of spirits that
night at the Campbell-Bannermans , and I
thought you were lecturing me too severely,
but I am sure you know I value all you say.
I feel so deeply your present sorrow of retiring
from so long and beautiful a public life ; it
will be a lasting example to me in my humbler
future to remember your courage and devo
tion. God bless you and your dear husband.
I am, with all my faults, yours lovingly,

" MARGOT TENNANT."

The Rt. Hon. H. H. Asquith married Miss Margot Tennant in
May 1894.

192 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

FROM SIR WILLIAM RICHMOND

"HAMMERSMITH, April 29, 1896.

" MY DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, I thank
you for your kind and affectionate letter.
We all, one and all of us, are delighted
that my father s drawing has given you
pleasure.

" Alas, youth only comes once in a life
time, and whatever in after life recalls it
by memories is very sweet and full of con
solation.

" I have lately been reading and sorting
out old letters of thirty years ago, with a
mixture of pleasure and pain, but the pleasure
on the whole predominates, by the memory of
affection and love which are not dead but
only sleep.

" If souls are permitted to meet in another
world, how precious will be the intercourse
sweetened and purified by separation !- -Yours,
dear Mrs. Gladstone, affectionately,

" W. B. RICHMOND."

When on a visit to Ha warden in 1896 Arch
bishop Benson died suddenly whilst attending
service in the church.

LETTERS TO HER 193

FROM THE DUKE OF ARGYLL

" INVERARAY, ARGYLLSHIRE,
"October 12, 1896.

" MY DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE,- -One line only
to say how much we are all shocked and grieved
for you all in this sad tragedy at Ha warden.
It recalls only too vividly another link 1 in
which you were a ministering angel indeed.
Yours affectionately, ARGYLL.

; Archbishop Benson was so kind to my
son Walter when at Wellington College.

The following letter was written by Li Hung
Chang after visiting Hawarden in August
1896 :

PEKING, November 2, 1896. .

" DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, Your valuable
autograph letter of the 3rd September gives
me great pleasure.

" I arrived in Peking on the 20th ult., and
had, on the following day, a long audience with
the Emperor and his mother, the Empress
Dowager, who took great interest in hearing
the accounts of my tour round the world,

1 His own wife s sudden death (see p. 175).
13

194 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

the lives and habits of the European
Sovereigns, and especially of the Queen-
Empress Victoria.

; It is always gratifying to remember the
kind reception afforded to me by your husband
and your good self in Hawarden Castle, where
we spent together the pleasant afternoons.

" May I pray for tlie longevity of the most
distinguished living scholar and statesman
your husband and your good self to enjoy
the surroundings of your children and grand
children.- -I remain, yours very sincerely,

" Li HUNG CHANG."

FROM FREDERIC HARRISON

* 38 WESTBOURNE TERRACE,
January 6, 1897.

" DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, May I be suffered
to join with all your many friends and millions
and millions of Englishmen in wishing you
and your husband all blessings in the year that
we are entering ?

" It will always be one of the great memories
of my life that I have known and conversed
with one who will live so long in the history
of our country.

" I rejoice to hear from Mr. J. Morley and
Lord Rendel the best news of the health of
you both.

LETTERS TO HER 195

On May 19, 1898, Mr. Gladstone s illness
came to a peaceful end. At 5 a.m. on Ascen
sion Day he passed away.

FROM QUEEN ALEXANDRA

" SANDRINGHAM, NORFOLK,,

" Whitsunday, May 29, 1898.

" DEAREST MRS. GLADSTONE, I waited
until now, when your beloved husband has been
laid in his last resting-place, before daring to
intrude on the sacredness of your sorrow, which
I fear surpasses all that words can express.
My telegram will, however, have told you how
my thoughts and prayers have been con
stantly with and for you ever since the terrible
news of his fatal illness first reached me.
We are thankful to think that, after all his
sufferings, his last few days were peaceful and
painless, and that his longing and wish to go
to his heavenly home were granted him on
the very day of Our Saviour s Ascension. It
must be of some consolation to you also to
feel how the whole nation mourns with you and
yours the loss of that great and good man,
whose name will go down in letters of gold to
posterity as one of the most beautiful, up
right, and disinterested characters that has
ever adorned the pages of history. We all
individually grieve the loss of a great personal

196 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

friend from whom we have received innumer
able kindnesses which we shall never forget.
How my whole heart went out to you during
Saturday s terrible ordeal, when I saw you
kneeling by the side of the dear remains of
him whom you loved best on earth- - the
People s William, and your all.

"I do hope your health has not suffered,
and that the cross our dear Lord has laid
upon you is not more than you can bear, and
that for your dear children s sake you will take
the greatest care of yourself. I was so deeply
touched by your kind lines when you thought
there was a ray of hope left, and you may be
sure our visit to you and your beloved husband
only one little year ago, in your own beautiful
home at Hawarden, will ever remain as one of
our most precious and valued memories.

" With deepest sympathy with you and your
children. Yours very affectionately,

" ALEXANDRA."

FROM SIR WILLIAM RICHMOND

BEAVOR LODGE, HAMMERSMITH,
October 29, 1898.

JDJtiAV

"Mv DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE,--! return
you my most affectionate thanks for the most
precious and valuable memento which you
have been so gracious as to give me.

" I assure you that I regard your kindness

LETTERS TO HER 197

with gratitude. It happens that the Poems
of Michael Angelo have been for many years
the object of my constant study ; most of them
I have translated, and I remember talking
over their many beauties with Mr. Glad
stone upon the occasion of my last walk with
him a very few years ago. Now, you have
given me his copy of those immortal works.
Dear Mrs. Gladstone, please permit me to sub
scribe myself, your grateful and affectionate
old friend, W. B. RICHMOND.

I am most keen about the National
Memorial, and desirous that the form it takes
from an artistic point shall be worthy, beauti
ful, and dignified."

FROM SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT

"MALWOOD, LYNDHURST,

"November 25, 98.

" MY DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, I have re
ceived through your Harry a most precious
gift of a book which belonged to Mr. Glad
stone, as a memorial of one whom I do greatly
love and honour, not more in his public great
ness than in that singular personal kindness
which he has ever bestowed on me and mine.

" The Herodotus is full of the marks of his
reading, so varied and yet so exact, and brings

198 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

back to me at every page his likeness as I knew
him,

I watch daily in my garden the growth of
the walnut he planted here ten years ago,
and the young ash tree, which will be historical
monuments.

" The book will be a precious heirloom which
will be treasured by my children s children,
who will be proud to know that I served under
such a commander. 51

Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone had spent the
winter of 1866-67 in Rome, and Sir William
Richmond, then a young and rising artist,
was one of the party.

FROM SIR WILLIAM RICHMOND

" January i, 1899.

" MY DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, You shall
have the picture 1 very soon.

" I grieve for you, dear lady. This time of
year brings back very sweet memories to me of
Rome in 67. How land you all were to me,
and what a thing it was for a young fellow
to be allowed to be the companion of your
great and noble husband. My love to all of
you. Yours affectionately,

" W. B. RICHMOND."

1 The drawing taken the day after his death by Sir William
Richmond of Mr. Gladstone.

LETTERS TO HER 199

FROM MRS. BENSON

" 5 BARTON STREET, WESTMINSTER,
"Ascension Day, 1899.

44 DEAREST MRS. GLADSTONE, I could not
tell you how often and how deeply you have
been in my heart all these months, and so
specially on Ascension Day, and now.

44 The power of anniversaries comes to some
people much more fully than to others, and I
can t help feeling that with you (as with me)
it is scarcely possible for an anniversary to be
fuller of the one thought and the one love,
than all the other days. Oh, it must be so.
What have anniversaries to do with it when
it is the life of one s life ? Perhaps the feeling
in the air and the look of everything in the
trees and the flowers have a certain keenness,
and perhaps they may help in this way in
bringing back the fulness of the glory of
his departure and of the first days. For how
my heart has ached for you during these
months ! I have trodden the same weary road,
and know to the full what one could scarcely
realise beforehand, the awful emptiness the
stagnation, as it seems, of everything ; and for
a time one s life has the old impetus in it, and
then it ceases, and still the days and hours have
to be lived through.

4 And, dear friend, how I think of you to-

200 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

day ! For to-day you look off from the present
to the glorious past, and to the wonderful
future and the reality lies there for I suppose
it is in a way one s own impatience which
makes any empty present seem intolerable ; it is
really one with the fullest of one s life, and with
the eternal crown of it all. Oh, forgive me for
such weak words. My whole heart goes out
to you, for I seem to know so well what there
is to bear ; but there are given such wonderful
glimpses into the strength and consolations
of God even when times are driest that I hope
in my soul you all live in these and to-day
all the perfect part must be yours so specially.
I often wonder so what c a year ! means in the
eternal expression glory and joy and growth-
anyhow we shall know, and that soon. May
I send my deepest and most reverent love to
you, and much too to Mary, and to Lady
Frederick, and remain, your loving and
grateful MARY BENSON."

FROM LORD MORLEY

57 ELM PARK GARDENS,
"SOUTH KENSINGTON, May 18, 1899.

" MY DEAR MRS. GLADSTONE, When you
receive this, we shall all be thinking of the same
mournful thing. The year has gone quickly
enough, but hardly a day has passed without
that great loss being borne into my mind and

LETTERS TO HER 201

heart. We all knew that it would leave our
lives emptier ; but how terrible the emptiness
would often be we could not know. I do
not want to write you a letter ; but only to
assure you of my sincere affection, and of my
unalterable attachment to his memory.
Always yours, JOHN MORLEY."

CHAPTER VI

CHARACTERISTICS

WILLIAM and Catherine Gladstone were
indeed a striking pair. She carried
herself regally, though her move
ments were swift and light. Her eyes were of
a deep sapphire blue, set well apart, long in
shape, and with a world of meaning eyes
that danced with mischief or melted with
tenderness caressing eyes, capable of infinite
love, infinite merriment. There is but one
picture that has her eyes. It is one of
Romney s most beautiful portraits of Lady
Hamilton. So strong is the resemblance-
the long laughing eyes, the dark curling hair
that at Tabley, in the famous picture gallery
where it hangs, it used always to be called
"Mrs. Gladstone."

She had an abundance of thick brown hair
that waved softly upon her forehead. In figure
she was tall and slender, and her movements
were full of dignity and charm. Her husband
used to say that, as he stood near the dais at
a Drawing-room or Court, no one approached

202

CHARACTERISTICS 203

the Queen with so fine a carriage, or curtseyed
with so much grace. And this was in spite
of great rapidity, and even carelessness and
indifference as to personal attire or adorn
ment. She was clothed as by magic. She
never shopped unless it was to buy for others.
All she wore was made at home. 1 She spared
but the merest fragment of her time to matters
of dress or ornament. But she responded in a
marked degree to any beauty of material, or
form or colour ; to a rare piece of old lace,
to a jewel or a flower. On some women real
jewels look sham, on others sham jewels look
real. Jewels looked their best and most
brilliant on her ; so did flowers. She always
wore a flower a rose for choice. The first
time she ever wore the blue velvet, afterwards
an almost historic gown, she happened in the
House of Commons to meet Lord Hartington :
" The first bit of blue sky I have seen to-day."
This anecdote she related with much relish to
Lady Edward Cavendish, his sister-in-law,
Lord Hartington being uncommonly chary
with his compliments.

She had a rare sympathy and understanding.
As an illustration of the tact that comes from
them: Soon after the Phoenix Park murders,
a certain lady was continually alluding to
Lord Frederick s wife as "Lady Cavendish."

1 In her day, ladies maids were skilled dressmakers-

204 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

; She likes to be called Lady Frederick Caven
dish, 5: said Mrs. Gladstone, " because, you
see, she does so love his name." Indeed, she
had a unique capacity for putting herself
into other people s places, seeing with their
eyes, feeling with their emotions, suffering or
rejoicing with them. At evening parties and
balls all her pity would go out to the tired
attendants in the cloak-room, the footmen
and link-boys outside, the poor little patient
crowd on the pavement, waiting for a chance
glimpse of jewels or fine clothes, a gleam of
light, or a strain of far-off music content with
the fragments of a feast they would never
share.

She was a great person for sharing. Mr.
Gladstone used to smile as he declared that she
was born without the sense of property. It
amused him to call her a pickpocket. " You
forgot to tell me," he once wrote, " for what
cause you picked so-and-so s pocket ? : He
used to chaff her mercilessly on her mistakes ;
occasionally some unlucky mishap as to inviting
the wrong person, or failing to send a carriage
to meet a guest. Ha warden had the misfortune
to possess half a dozen stations, which contri
buted not a little to these disasters. But once
at Penmaenmawr, when a missing purse was
actually found in her own pocket, after she had
indignantly denied it, it is easy to imagine her

MRS. GLADSTONE
1863

A photograph taken for the Prince of Wales Wedding Album

CHARACTERISTICS 205

utter discomfiture, and the delight of the on
lookers. She had entered a post office to buy
stamps ; a labouring man made way for her,
leaving his purse on the counter. Her business
accomplished, she mechanically swept his
purse into her own pocket. Her onslaughts
on the purses and possessions of her relations
and friends in the cause of charity were a
constant amusement and alarm to them
all. She was really a Communist at heart ;
she could never enjoy anything by herself ;
it must be shared by the few or the many-
the whole world if possible. She never had so
many claims that she would not undertake a
fresh one; she never had so many Homes de
pending on her that she was not ready for a
new venture. She spent almost nothing on
herself ; she was generally overdrawn. She
would give, if need be, anything off her own
person. Nobody was so ragged, so friend
less, so wretched, that she would not succour
or save.

Apropos of her way of putting herself
into the circumstances of other people, Lord
Ribblesdale gives me an amusing instance.
It was at Windsor, somewhere between 1880
and 1885.

44 We were at luncheon," he writes " that
is, the background of the clatter and play

206 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

of knife and fork, was daylight. . . . Some
notable burglar, after a long series of in
glorious, daring, and successful robberies (per
haps Peace ?), had been bagged. And the
papers were full of the actual and psychological
eccentricities of his character and career. Mr.
Gladstone had something to say on both, and
it was then that your mother, dismissing
summarily the metaphysical aspect of the
affair, broke in. She said she always sym
pathised with those who, like Peace, after a
full and exciting life, find themselves con
demned to the tedium and dullness of prison
( c dull and dullness - were her defining words).
Mrs. G. said this quite naturally and in much
the same way as if she was commenting on a
picnic being spoilt by rain.

" Mr. G., who was still in the full swing
of his metaphysical investigations, at first
looked at her with something like indigna
tion- -the expression of his eyes darkened
and concentrated on, as it were, a new
foeman.

" He then was amused- -and his eyes, too
nor do I ever recollect having seen him laugh
so unrestrainedly and playfully the heart s
laugh, as it were. The Queen was there and
laughed too.

" Actual words I can t give only the general
setting and its impression on me."

CHARACTERISTICS 207

How vivid is this picture ! the triumph in
the capture of so redoubtable a miscreant,
the discussion on his unique personality.
" But oh how dull he will be conceive the
utter dullness of a prison ! " One can hear
her very words Mr. Gladstone s gravity broken
down as he realised her attitude his laughter
and the amusement of the Queen !

One day, going to her Convalescent Home
at Woodford, she was quickly so absorbed
in the pitiful tale of a fellow-traveller, quite
unknown to her, that she forgot to alight
at her own station, and had to borrow from
the poor lady to enable her to get back to her
destination. That night at a dinner-party
she collected sixty or seventy pounds, and
having asked the lady to visit her next day,
was able to get her passage to Australia, so
saving her a separation from her husband.
(The said husband was highly sceptical of his
wife s story. " Well, you have been taken in.
The idea of Mrs. Gladstone travelling third
class, and without any money ! I shall come
with you and wait outside the house.")

Many and many instances crowd in upon
the memory, but this anecdote will suffice
to show her abounding sympathy, and the
consummate ease with which she leapt over
difficulties that would have checkmated any
one else. " For I was an hungered, and ye

208 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

gave Me meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave
Me drink ; I was a stranger, and ye took Me in ;
I was sick and ye visited Me ; I was in prison,
and ye came unto Me." Could any words more
fitly describe her ?

She would get more into one crowded hour
than most people would into a day. She would
be in the East End of London at one moment
and at the House of Commons the next- -no
motor bus, or car, or taxi in those days. On
foot, by underground, cab, or carriage, she
performed these weary journeys. Often dead
tired, and with a final climb of eighty-six steps
to the Ladies Gallery (no lift in those days),
yet somehow or other, alive or dead, she
usually contrived to be in her corner when
her husband was going to speak.

Unpunctual by nature, she never kept him
waiting, realising the value of the few moments
more or less. Ever at his side on all important
or anxious occasions, she contrived to keep
the manifold activities and businesses of her
own life subordinate to his. A carriage at a
moment s notice, her own or anybody else s,
always available for his needs ; meals ready
at any and every minute that he might escape
from the House (it made heavier demands on
its Members in those days). Astute at ward
ing off bores or toadies, or tiresome or tiring
people, she saw through them quickly ; she

CHARACTERISTICS 209

would put in her word or sign of warning long
before his guileless nature had detected any
thing below the surface. He could always be
deceived, for, like Lord Melbourne, " he had
a habit of believing people," and not only
believing people but believing in people. He
judged others by his own standards, and, as
was once said of him by a famous contemporary
historian, " he did not always make bull s-
eyes. ; She was far more acute in her judg
ment of character. She would have made a
good general. She husbanded her resources,
she never wasted powder, and she knew how
to dispose of her materials to the best advan
tage. She was a strategist of the first order,
and was a woman of infinite courage and
resource. She was impatient of routine,
of control ; she loved adventure ; she rose to
the call, whatever it might be ; she lived in
every fibre of her being. She drank eagerly
of all that life had to offer. " Nothing venture,
nothing have. 1 She might have been the
author of that proverb.

You felt her splendid intuition, her swift
motions, the magic of her elusive phrases, her
rapid courage, her never-failing fund of sym
pathy, her radiance, her gaiety of heart, her
tenderness of response. l

No matter where she was or where she went,

1 Rev. H. S. Holland.
14

210 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

nothing could remain dull or stupid. " Her
presence brought an atmosphere, said Mr.
George Russell, " a climate with it, all bright
ness, freshness, like sunshine and sea air. :

She somehow always seemed to raise the
temperature of a room, morally and physically,
whether full of bored, stodgy grown-ups or
shy, self-conscious boys and girls, or sick people
in a hospital ward. By the magic touch of
her personality she woke them up, made
them laugh or sing or dance. She set things
going ; she made things happen ; she got
things done. While her love and pity were
all-enfolding, her gaiety, the airy grace of her
movements were all infectious. Katharine
Lyttelton remembers, in her young days, the
sense of comfort and capacity she gave :

" Children felt, especially in times of anxiety
or distress, that somebody had arrived who was
going to help, to solve difficulties, to light up
the road, and, incidentally, to make fun for
all concerned. She radiated tenderness. 1

Katharine s sister, Lady Lovelace, con
tinues :

" At such dark times, dear Aunty Pussy
would come as a fresh breeze in summer,
bringing life and courage to old and young. I
can hear now the gay voice at the door, before
she had turned the handle, * Well, darlings !
and I see her come in with arms outstretched,

CHARACTERISTICS 211

into which we all tumbled. And she would sit
among us and laugh and joke and tell us
stories, all in her queer, humorous, family
slang, which has been immortalised by her
brother-in-law. 1 And all the time we could see
the tears in her beautiful eyes, and, young as
we were, we knew that it was because she felt
to her heart s core that she was making us
merry.

" Many years ago, in our childhood, one of
her daughters and two Lyttelton boys were
shut up in a St. Leonards lodging-house
on the Marine Parade. She used to come each
morning and, regardless of onlookers, dance
in front of our windows. I can see her now
as we watched, fascinated, every movement full
of gaiety and grace. 51

As to her genius in the sick-room one of her
nieces 2 writes :

" Few people have possessed a finer instinct
in illness than Aunty Pussy, added to a quite
heroic unselfishness in devoting herself in a
sick-room where she knew she was really
wanted, or where her deep mother s love for
one of her belongings brought her to the
bedside.

So it was in May s long, pathetic illness in

1 Lord Lyttelton s Glynnese Glossary.

2 Lavinia Lyttelton (Mrs. E. S. Talbot).

212 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

January 1875. Directly she realised the nature
of the illness, she pushed aside family, social,
political engagements, and what was the
greatest sacrifice of all leaving her husband
at one of the most anxious moments of his
political life.

" I shall never forget what she was to us
at Hagley during the nine weeks of May s 1
almost hopeless illness. The mere fact of her
presence in the room meant so much, with her
inspiring ways and tone of voice. She had,
moreover, an unusual instinct, quick and un
erring in detecting symptoms and changes,
whether bad or good, and we relied on her
judgment and accurate recognition of the
true state of things. She was full of resource
fulness in little things, often going beyond
the doctors, and her tender, patient watchful
ness never failed.

" She encouraged and inspired the nurses,
fascinated and impressed the doctors- -she
supplemented them all. I remember seeing
her on the bed for hours, in a tiring, strained
attitude, helping to keep an ice-bag exactly
in the right position on the head of the patient.
And she was, what is perhaps rarer, wise and
careful in garnering up her own strength as
well as that of those sharing the watching, and
no one knew better how to have a real rest.

1 Mary Lyttelton, third daughter of Lord Lyttelton.

CHARACTERISTICS 213

" Then her fun never very far off seeing
the humorous side of things even in deepest
anxiety, giving such racy accounts of her
experiences, and such true ones, too, both in
talk and in writing.

" And when the end drew near, and we knew
our darling May was not to stay with us, there
shone out from her what was indeed present
all through her beautiful submission and
strong faith and certainty that we were in the
hands of a loving Father ; while sharing it so
deeply, she helped us to face the overwhelming
grief of that young death by her tender love
and brave, Christian bearing. v

One of her grandsons, 1 as he looks back upon
his childhood, makes special mention of Mrs.
Gladstone s fertility of ideas in dealing with
children how she ministered to his self-
respect, his belief in his own capacities.
At the age of three and a half he was im
prisoned at the Castle by scarlet fever, and
when sent to convalesce at Rhyl, instead of
equipping him with the indispensable bucket
and spade, she engaged him to sweep up the
leaves in the Castle garden at sixpence a day.
Bursting with pride " I bought my own
appliances for castle-building out of my own
money which I had earned." Again, ten

1 W. G. Wickham.

214 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

years later, once more she played fairy god
mother.

Instead of getting tickets for the play in the
normal manner, she gave the boy a guinea,
telling him he was to treat his mother to the
play. Oh, the honour and glory of that
guinea !

" As I had only been about three times before
to a theatre, and had never previously been
in a position to treat anyone to anything,
my pride in that brief moment in the booking
office was unforgettable.

" I give these two episodes because they have
always seemed to me so typical of her. It
was not merely that she seemed to live in one
continuous round of thinking of small or large
kindnesses to all about her, but that she
appeared to be endowed with such a peculiar
gift, amounting to genius, for devising un
common ways of conferring these, as to im
press them on grateful memories in a way that
no one else could have done.

A characteristic anecdote will not come
amiss illustrative of her resourcefulness, her
husband s unsuspiciousness. It was one
winter in the eighties, at a time when Irish
troubles and threatening letters obliged the
Home Office to appoint detectives to shadow
Mr. Gladstone even at Hawarden. He and Mrs.

CHARACTERISTICS 215

Gladstone and their daughter Helen were to
dine and sleep at Soughton Hall, 1 a neighbouring
country house. An hour or so before the hour
fixed for starting, word came from the stables
that the coachman had injured his hand too
badly for him to drive. No one else could be
trusted to drive the rather fresh pair of horses.
The only fly in the village had been requisitioned
by the detectives. What was to be done ?
Mr. Gladstone was the last person to be told.
Lord and Lady Aberdeen were staying at the
Castle, and quickly Mrs. Gladstone and Lord
Aberdeen cut the Gordian knot. The latter
would drive. It was dark, so Mr. W. H.
Gladstone would play the part of footman,
sit on the box, show him the way, and return
with him to Ha war den. Mr. Gladstone, in the
innocence of his heart, hunted for his guest to
bid him good-bye. Lady Aberdeen played the
game, joined in the hunt, and finally made his
excuses, and took the farewell message. They
drove off, and the following day the favourite
little foreign maid, who was inside the
carriage with Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone and their
daughter, wrote the following account of it to
Lady Aberdeen :

" Not many yards beyond the Castle gate,
somehow the question arose about carriage

1 The home of Rt. Hon. Lord Justice Sir J. Eldon Bankes,

216 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

coming back. But the carriage puts up at
Soughton ? c No, dear, I thought it best for
you to return to-morrow in the Victoria.
6 How is that ? a strange thing to change
plans. Oh, mama, you d better tell father
the truth. c Very well, now we re safe on
the way- -we have had the most bothering
affair. [Mrs. Gladstone then explains to him
the whole contretemps, as interpreted by the
maid in the most racy language.] * But where
is Zadock ? 4 Oh, don t bother yourself,
father; it will be all right. Mr. Gladstone
having gradually looked at the thing with
merry eyes, burst out laughing, and a most
joyous glee took place. The carriage was
jugging along slow but sure, lodge past, a
stray gate arrived, and suddenly a figure flew
past carriage window, and Mr. Gladstone called
out, c Why, there is Zadock opening the gate
[Mr. Gladstone s valet], Most extraordinary
proceedings ; we must be in fairyland. Another
glee took place, the door of House was reached,
Mr. W. H. Gladstone, footmanlike, jumped down
from box and put the luggage inside front
door. Alas, the delightful Wonderland came
to an end. Had I known I was to write this
I would have had pencil and paper in carriage.
-Your Ladyship s humble,

" AUGUSTE SCHLUTER."

CHARACTERISTICS 217

The letter in full, cleverly gives the charac
teristics of the three speakers in the carriage,
so that each is unmistakable, though the
writer gives no names.

Early in their married life her husband
gave Mrs. Gladstone the choice between
knowing all or nothing. It will easily
be guessed that she made the choice which
gave her most share in his life. He told her
everything. Lord Harcourt, the Lou-lou of
those days, who knew her very intimately,
makes the following comment in a letter :
" Her discretion as to public secrets, of which
she knew all, was really extraordinary ; she was
willing, if necessary, to allow herself in con
versation to appear almost a fool, in order to
conceal the fact of her knowledge. r A good
judge remarked that there was an unmistak
able element of greatness in her character,
which justified the name by which she was
known in intimate circles - the " grande
dame"

Her energy, her spirit were almost super
human, but she was capable of absolute repose.
She would lie down quietly upon the sofa,
as if she had not a duty or a care in the world,
and fall into profound sleep for a few minutes.
There was a singular beauty and charm in
her look and pose as she lay sleeping- -the
wavy hair, the slightly parted lips, the look of

218 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

utter peace- -and she would wake up as a
new being, absolutely rested and refreshed.

If within the bounds of possibility, she
never deviated from this rule of lying down
to rest before dinner. In the multifarious
energies of her life she found this habit a really
marvellous pick-me-up. Sometimes for an
hour s sleep, often for ten or five minutes only.
How she could endure the torture of the sudden
enforced awakening sometimes at the last
gasp of fatigue- -is only to be explained by the
self-control she had acquired in all matters
that touched her husband, by the rigidity
of her rule never to keep him waiting even for
a moment. From the deepest, dreamless sleep
up she would leap, and in an incredibly short
time she would appear, like Cinderella at the
touch of the fairy wand, in her evening attire
wreathed, shod, gloved, jewelled, to delight the
eyes of the long-suffering foreign maid l and
of any who chanced to see her.

She had no mind or patience for intricate
questions,^ or the details of history, or science
or theology. These she disposed of as " red
tape. :

" She contrived, writes Lady Lovelace,
" to combine the keenest interest and quick
apprehension of all that concerned her hus-

1 "We had no time," she said. "Mrs. Gladstone just yumpgd
into her clothes,"

CHARACTERISTICS 219

band s career, with the most unashamed bore
dom with politics in general. If her respect
for his opinions bordered on veneration, she
could not always restrain an impish desire
to interrupt the expression of them. At the
dinner-table there was sure to be some one
who would do his best to draw out the greatest
statesman of the day upon some serious sub
ject, and when we were all rather drooping
under the consideration of how to compensate
the Irish Clergy, or how to deal electorally with
the Compound Householder, it was to her
that we looked for relief. And sure enough
sooner or later, with a rapid wink at the
youngest of us, she would dart into some in
terstice of the conversation with a comic
remark, or bit of refreshing gossip, which
brought an instant change of atmosphere. 5

There were some who were impatient of
these interruptions, however comic and clever,
but her husband was always understanding
and sympathetic, looking at her with a
whimsical look in his eyes what she called
in one of her letters " that happy, wicked
look." And if it really mattered, she had an
instinct, an intuition amounting to genius a
mind that leaped over every complication and
somehow or other, by hook or by crook, landed
on the right spot, and said and did and looked
the right thing.

220 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

In A Visit to Hawarden^ Lady Ribblesdale
aptly hits her off.

" Mrs. Gladstone was sitting with us round
the tea-table, enjoying, not adding to, the
talk. She listened in her own fugitive, happy
way ; whatever the topic, she seemed to
master all she needed with three seconds
airy inattention. Her quick sympathy
enabled her to pick up anything she fancied,
and if her understanding was instinctive
rather than intellectual, it was seldom at
fault."

And Laura Lyttelton, at Ha warden in 1885,
writes to her sister-in-law :

... and my chiefest among ten thousand
was Auntie Pussy. I did love her so. : (Draw
ing of a puss.)

" People say there is nothing so warm as a
bed in the snow. If that s true, then Auntie
Pussy is the snow bed. She is quite as white
in that blessed old soul young soul, I mean
of hers, quite as sparkling as snow in the sun,
quite as deep and soft and quite as warm-
and warmer. . . . :

She had the unusual gift of acting on the
spur of the minute. With accurate judgment
she saw by intuition the psychological moment ;

1 Nineteenth Century Review.

CHARACTERISTICS 221

she would leap into the arena while others
were hesitating on the brink, waiting for a
sign, asking themselves what could be done,
like Browning s pair in " Dis aliter visum.
Everybody s business is nobody s business.
Sir Charles Ryan told me of his lifelong
gratitude to her for coming to the rescue at
the most embarrassing moment of his life.
He was being married to Miss Shaw Lefevre
in July 1862, at St. Martin s-in-the-Fields, in
the presence of the usual London crowd. When
the time came for him to place the ring on
the finger of the bride, it refused to go on-
the ring was too small. An awkward pause
ensued paralysis on the part of the guests
when Mrs. Gladstone was seen rapidly making
her way through the crowd, and as she reached
the neighbourhood of the bridal pair, drawing
her own wedding-ring off her own finger, she
put it in the hand of Sir Charles. He slipped
it on, it fitted, and the situation was retrieved.
Yet she was always almost superstitious about
her wedding-ring and could never bear to be
without it.

Lord Rosebery reminds me of another
incident during the first Midlothian Campaign,
which greatly amused and delighted him.
One afternoon we drove from Dalmeny to a
neighbouring town for an election meeting, and
called on the chief magnate of the place. The

222 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

meeting was timed for three o clock ; we had
just had luncheon, and were somewhat dis
mayed at finding five o clock tea ready for
us at half -past two. It was suggested we
should return after the meeting and partake
of this hospitality. What was Mrs. Glad
stone s horror, after the meeting was over
and we went back to the house, to find that
the tea had been stewing on the hob during
the intervening hours the very same tea
that was offered at two-thirty ! The first
cup was almost like treacle when it was handed
to her husband. But even then her resource
did not fail her. No conjurer could have
been more nimble. She sauntered towards
her husband, deftly took the cup and, con
cealing it beneath her mantle, she suddenly
betrayed a longing to behold the view.
Quietly and swiftly she moved towards the
window, and, unseen by the company, she
contrived to pour the offending liquid into
the garden below.

Here is one more instance : Mr. and Mrs.
Gladstone had flitted up to London during
the Recess, and were staying in Harley Street
for a day or two- -there was practically no
household, and they had arranged to go to
luncheon with their next-door neighbour.
They were on the point of starting when the
bell rang and Lord Granville was shown in.

CHARACTERISTICS 223

" Can you giye me some luncheon ? he said.
Mr. Gladstone was just about to explain that
unfortunately there was no luncheon, and that
they were going out for luncheon. What
was his surprise when Mrs. Gladstone broke
in before he could answer " Oh yes, dear
Lord Granville, too delighted to have you."
Such was her husband s confidence in her
powers of resource, that he veiled his astonish
ment and drew Lord Granville into the empty
dining-room for his talk.

Like a scene in a play, presently the door
opened ; footmen entered with trays ; the
cloth was laid, the table dressed, the butler
brought in wine, etc. Mrs. Gladstone had
quietly slipped out of the house and brought
back with her the whole contingent hostess,
servants, and food from next door. Chuckling
with delight, Mr. Gladstone seated himself
at the head of the table, and turning to his
hostess, now by a miracle changed into his
guest : " May I have the pleasure of giving
you some of this excellent pie ? I have special
reason for highly commending it, :i etc. etc.

The spontaneity and impulsiveness of her
nature, of her movements, her actions, her
words, while distinctly adding to the charm,
sometimes resulted in laughable situations.
Rash and impetuous as she was, it will easily
be believed that occasionally she made a

224 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

faux pas ; but if by chance she did come to
grief, no one was ever so quick at recovery,
so alert at finding an escape, so nimble at
turning the tables on her adversary.

A friend who met her at dinner in the
nineties relates the following incident. It
aptly illustrates her knack of carelessly appro
priating to herself the vantage-ground, when
quite unmistakably belonging to her adversary.
She was seated next to Mr. Jacob Bright,
and looked frankly bored. Present!} 7 she broke
the silence in a desperate sort of way :

" And how is your brother ?

" My brother, John Bright, is no more.

Mrs. Gladstone.- -" Oh, I know that- -of
course I did not mean him. I meant your
other brother."

Jacob Bright.- -" But I never had any
other brother, Mrs. Gladstone.

Mrs. Gladstone. " Yes, yes, I knew him
quite well ; fatter than you- -he sat for Stoke
and resigned his seat on account of ill-health.

Jacob Bright (cheering up and pleased at
being mistaken for his brother s son). " Oh,
that is not my brother--! only wish I was
not too old to claim a brother so young. The
one you mean is my nephew, William Leatham
Bright, my brother John s son.

Mrs. Gladstone (smiling complacently and
compassionately).--" Ah ! I see you make the

CHARACTERISTICS 225

i

same mistake I sometimes do and confuse
the generations. 1

(Total discomfiture of Jacob Bright, who saw
that, somehow or other, the victory did not lie
with him. She was over eighty at the time
but had not lost the elasticity of her mind.)

Explanations, wordiness, " trolls," 1 bored
and bothered her. She wanted to get without
delay to the point ; if possible to sum up in
one pregnant word or phrase, something like a
flash of lightning. Always she preferred short
cuts, leaving things to the imagination. The
keynote of the Glynnese Glossary (for many
of whose expressions she surely must have been
responsible) is ellipsis, short-cuts--" Than
which -see Lord Lyttelton s admirable ex
ample and explanation. " I have been half
an hour teaching Albert to write- -than which.

" It is evident, says Lord Lyttelton, " that
to assimilate this sentence to any recognised
form of expression, nothing less than some
enormous ellipse is required- - than which
nothing more bothering or tedious can possibly
be imagined. It is spoken in a tone of-
despairing good-humour, and with a sort of
combined smile, sigh, and shake of the head.

This characteristic often led her to join up
or " telescope : proverbs or phrases : " The
will has been declared vull, she said. " Do

1 Glynnese for prosiness.

226 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

you mean null and void ? asked her matter-
of-fact interlocutor. " No, dear, I always say
vull. r He " put up his nose : (turned up his
nose and put up his back), " riding a vi cycle
(bicycle and vehicle). " The cat will be in
the fire (letting the cat out of the bag does
put the fat in the fire). These were not the
ordinary Malapropisms of Sheridan. They
were her very own Bonapropisms, significant
of ideas, impressions she wished rapidly and
acutely to convey. With her amazing handi-
ness at making good shots, at " twigging ; on
only fragmentary data (which she called
" seeing with an eye : ), it is not odd that she
was often apt to credit others with her own
quick intuitions, greatly to their discomfiture
and to her own amazement, should they not
rise to the occasion.

" Thus she would severely complain if
certain plans or directions were not carried
out, for the simple reason that she had omitted
to supply the necessary details. On such
occasions an aggrieved niece l would dub her
Nebuchadnezzar, because he expected his
magicians, on pain of death, not only to inter
pret his dream but to tell him the dream he had
dreamed. 1

But it is very hard, no doubt, to give a true
picture of her humour, so curious a blending

1 Lady F. Cavendish,

CHARACTERISTICS 227

was she of the casual and the concentrated.
She had a heavenly sense of fun, but its manner
of expression was all her own. There was
nothing on earth to compare to the twinkle
in her eye. And she was really witty in her
own way, though only half-consciously so ;
" hers was the incarnation of mother- wit, not
only in conversation but in the conduct of
life generally- -wit in the widest sense, in
cluding gravity and wisdom. She was ever
a source of affectionate amusement to those
who knew her well. One of those blessed
beings you laughed with, at and for, and which
ever it was she and you enjoyed it.

Coming out from family prayers one
morning, " Mumble major, 51 so she summed
up the reading of our host. Of a good-
hearted, bustling lady she would say, " In
she walked with her here I am hat. 5 Asked
to describe a lady s dress (of rather question
able reputation), after picturing the general
effect, she paused : " As to the body well
I can only describe it as a look at me body.
On another occasion she was speaking about
the unloverlike relations of a newly engaged
couple : " To be sure, : she said, " they did sit
side by side upon the couch ; but they looked
just like a coachman and footman on the box,
so stiff and upright, you could always see the
light between?

228 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

Daily she would be off on some errand of
personal service, some act of love or sym
pathy ; a smile, a sigh, a tear. Never did
she seem to lose sight of the needs of others.
She would scarcely enjoy a mouthful of food
without remembering some one- -perhaps in
the village, or Home of Rest, or Orphanage-
less well supplied with worldly goods. " Cut
off a wing," she would say to the long-suffering
butler, " and let it go hot to Miss R. at once*
On the mantelpiece in the hall was usually
to be seen some tit-bit she had purloined from
the luncheon-table on the chance of somebody
going up to the village. Never go to bed
at night, 1 she said to her children, " without
the feeling you have done some little act of
kindness or selflessness. 3:

Nowadays she might have belonged to the
P.B.S., 1 so few words did she waste. Her time
also she never wasted. Up to her eighty-fifth
year, she did not walk upstairs, she ran.

But she could hardly be called an ideal Prime
Minister s wife, any more than he could be
chosen as the type of an ideal Prime Minister.
His conscientiousness was often tiresome to
and misunderstood by his colleagues ; both of
them were too much absorbed in their several
" works to fulfil small social duties with much
success ; they were neither of them gifted with

1 Preservation of Breath Society.

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CHARACTERISTICS 229

the royal eye, and fatal fault frequently mis
took one person for another. She was careless
and neglectful as to returning calls. Lord
Acton always regretted that there was so little
system as to small civilities in society, or
as he called it, " greasing the wheels -i.e.
dropping hundreds of cards, keeping immacu
late lists of callers, of politicians carefully
differentiated into groups, to be coaxed,
flattered, noticed, looked after ; wandering
sheep to be led back to the Liberal fold. There
w r as, indeed, but little of this necessary work.
He was up to his eyes in graver issues of State,
and she was absorbed in schemes chiefly
humanitarian.

As we look back upon the fruitful years
of this long and crowded life, we seem to re
cognise how the chief characteristics of the
child, as seen in Chapter I., determination
of purpose and " enthusiasm of humanity, 5!
have been throughout its mainspring. The
dauntless will enabled her to surmount all
difficulties, the loving heart to guide the will
in the paths of righteousness.

Infallible she was not ; she had her naughti
nesses ; she was wayward ; she was wilful ; she
made her mistakes ; they were les defauts de
ses qualites. But she had a heart of gold ; the
eternal child was in her, and of such is the
Kingdom of Heaven.

230 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

It would be vain to attempt anything really
approaching to a Life of Mrs. Gladstone under
several volumes. Any reader who possibly
may be kindled into a longing to know more
of her fourscore years and eight must have
recourse to the Biography 1 of her husband.
There can be in existence few books more
elevating to the mind, more kindling to the
spirit, more profoundly interesting both his
torically and personally. In these volumes
only can be found the full record of her outer
life of the mighty triumphs, of the over
whelming anxieties, the hours of suspense,
the trials and disappointments that she shared
with him. But whether in defeat or whether
in victory, in sorrow or in joy, they were one
in mind and soul.

" If any two creatures grew into one,
They would do more than the world has done.
Though each apart, were never so weak,
Ye vainly through the world should seek
For the knowledge and the might
Which in such union grew their right." 2

The duration of their married life was
nearly threescore years and ten, throughout
which time their lives were closely interwoven ;
everything that concerned him touched the
very roots of her being. They acted and re
acted on one another, and without the thrill

1 Life of W. E. Gladstone, by Lord Morley.

2 The Flight of the Duchess, by Browning.

CHARACTERISTICS 231

and profound interest of his life, hers would
have been an absolutely different matter.

Without her, it is likely that he would still
have made an indelible mark on history, but
much of the lighter side, the charm, the fun,
would have been lost. Without him, her life
would have lacked public importance and
interest, but in whatever circumstances or
conditions she had been born, she would have
stirred the waters ; she would have made things
hum ; nothing approaching dullness or stagna
tion could have existed in her presence.

No one knew him better in later life than
Lord Morley, no one can have studied more
deeply every phase of his career and char
acter. Mrs. Gladstone, in a conversation with
him in 1891, spoke of her husband s two
opposing sides- -the one impetuous, impatient,
irrestrainable ; the other all self-control, able
to dismiss everything but the great central
aim, to put aside all that was weakening
or disturbing that he had achieved this com
plete mastery of self, and had succeeded in
the dire struggle ever since he was three- or
four-and-twenty. This conquest he had won
first by the natural grit of his character;
second by ceaseless wrestling in prayer-
prayer that had been abundantly answered.

If he sometimes recalls a fiery hero of
the Iliad, 5 " says Lord Morley, " at other

232 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

times he is the grave and studious Bene
dictine, but whether in quietude or move
ment, always a man inspired with a pur
pose. He was an idealist, yet ever applying
ideals to their purposes in act.

Mrs. Gladstone, perhaps not unnaturally,
regarded her husband s speaking as abso
lutely unequalled, above that of every orator
living or dead. How far did she exaggerate
this pre-eminence ? Mr. Balfour paid it a
notable tribute in the House of Commons,
May 19, 1898 ; Lord Morley s more analytic
description is a masterpiece, but Lord Acton
surely sums it up best of all :

" He alone possessed all the qualities of
the orator. Whether he prepared an oration
or hurled a reply, whether he addressed a
British mob or the cream of Italian politicians,
and would be still the same if he spoke in
Latin to Convocation.

" Shall I be short and precise ? " Mr. Glad
stone asked his chief before rising to reply in
debate. "No," said Sir Robert Peel, "be
long and diffuse. It is all-important in the
House of Commons to state your case in many
different ways.

Yet no one sympathised more truly with
those who listened to him : "I had to make
an oration to which they listened with admir
able patience.

CHARACTERISTICS 233

The first time, as a child, he ever had to
listen to a sermon (at St. George s, Liverpool),
he remembered turning quickly to his mother :
" Will he soon have done ?

It was seen, quite in early days, that he
was a man of lion heart. Three men he used
to recognise as possessing in a supreme degree
the virtue of Parliamentary courage Sir
Robert Peel, Lord John Russell, and Mr.
Disraeli.

" Toil was his natural element." He
worked hard every day of the year, every
hour of the day. Whatever he did, he did
with all his might. Yet he often felt the
longing for repose.

" The tumult of business, 9 he wrote,
" follows and whirls me day and night.
And again, " A day restless as the sea. :

And the following letter to Lord Lyttelton
reveals the modesty and even self-distrust of
his nature :

"It is my nature to lean riot so much on
the applause as upon the assent of others to
a degree which .perhaps I do not show, from
that sense of weakness and utter inadequacy
to my work which never ceases to attend me
while I am engaged upon these subjects. . . .
I wish you knew the state of total impotence
to which I should be reduced if there were

234 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

no echo to the accents of my own voice. I
go through my labour, such as it is, not by a
genuine elasticity of spirit, but by a plodding
movement only just able to contend with
inert force, and in the midst of a life which
indeed has little claim to be called active,
yet is broken this way and that into a thousand
small details certainly unfavourable to calm
and continuity of thought. 51

And to his wife in December 1841 he wrote
of his craving for tranquillity- -of his need
of quiescence at home during the Parlia
mentary Session. He speaks of her presence
and that of her sister Mary as alone never
jarring or disturbing his " mental rest. : But
he adds, " There is no man, however near
to me, with whom I am fit to live when hard
worked.

With all his gravity of temperament, those
who knew him best would never deny the
gaiety of his heart. Sincerity and simplicity
were the dominant notes of his character-
both quite compatible with subtlety of in
tellect- -and kindness was the habit of his
mind. No loving enterprise of hers ever came
amiss to him. He trusted to her intuition,
and was ever ready to co-operate with her
financially or otherwise. Were we all of us
moved by the loving-kindness that character-

CHARACTERISTICS 235

ised these two, there would be little more
misery in the world.

There is no doubt he was formidable at
times, especially when carried away by
righteous indignation, but not one of his
children or grandchildren was ever in awe
of him, or indeed failed to treat him more or
less as an equal. Stern in self -judgment, he
was infinitely gentle to the weak, the erring,
and the fallen.

It is by no means easy to place his
sense of humour. It is denied to him by
those who only experienced the intensity of
his earnestness. Sir Charles Dilke says :
" Mr. Gladstone was always of a playful mind,
and whatever his absorption in the subject,
would break off to discuss some amusing
triviality. 9:

This would hardly be a usual view of him.
Mrs. Asquith was surprised to discover his
great appreciation of Heine, having resolved
that his sense of humour would not be suffi
ciently subtle. Of playfulness his speeches
give a thousand proofs, and no one would
deny his alacrity of mind. But there is
no doubt Lord Morley is right when he
says : It was not always easy to be sure
beforehand what sort of jest would hit or

miss. !

There can be no doubt that Mrs. Gladstone

236 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

stimulated his sense of humour, and that very
often it saved the situation. He was quick
in seeing the humour of a situation if not too
deeply absorbed in its other aspects. Many
an amusing poem or satire he dashed off on
the spur of the moment, and one of his chiefest
delights was to discover words for which it
was difficult to find -rhymes e.g. his poem to
Margot and his address to Parkins and Gotto.
These would be found among his papers at
St. Beimel s. 1

One anecdote may be recorded as illustrating
the way Mrs. Gladstone had schooled her
husband to jump with her :

" Oh, William, only think, so exciting.
The Cook and the Captain are going to be
married ! (This was her morning s news from
her Convalescent Home.) Apparently he took
no notice ; seemingly absorbed in his own
thoughts, he absently stretched out his hand
for a sheet of notepaper and began to write.
" Oh, of course, you are too full of Homer
and your old gods and goddesses to care
stupid of me ! :

For a few minutes he went on writing, then
handing her the paper - -" There ! that s all
I can do, your information was so very
scanty. 1 And there was a poetic skit in three
stanzas entitled :

1 St. Deiniol s Library at Ha warden.

CHARACTERISTICS 237

THE COOK AND THE CAPTAIN

" The Cook and the Captain determined one day,
When worthy Miss Simmons was out of the way,
On splicing together a life and a life,
The one as a husband the other as wife
Fol de rol, tol de rol, fol de rol la.

The Captain a subaltern officer made,
But the Cook ! she was monarch of all she surveyed
So how could they hit it the marrying day,
If she was to order and he to obey ?
Fol de rol, tol de rol, fol de rol la.

Miss Simmons came home and she shouted, Oh dear !

What riot is this ? What the d 1 is here ?

If the Cook and the Captain will not be quiescent,
How can I expect it from each Convalescent ?
Fol de rol, tol de rol, fol de rol la."

Mr. G. W. E. Russell, who visited Hawarden
more than once, notices the genial, lighter
side of their life as inexpressibly attractive.
One of the unexpected incidents which most
surprised and pleased him was their custom,
in special moments qf exhilaration, of stand
ing with arms round each other on the hearth
rug, swaying as they sang :

" A ragamuffin husband and a rantipoling wife,

We ll fiddle it and scrape it through the ups and downs of life."

She hardly ever had occasion to complain
of his restlessness during sleepless nights.
His iron self-control allowed him to keep
rigidly quiet- -he remembered the words of
his " beloved physician." l " If you make up
your mind, when you cannot sleep, to lie still,

1 Sir Andrew Clark.

238 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

little will be lost of your rest. 1 There are
but three known occasions that he departed
from this rule. In 1844, the two pairs of
honeymooners were again at Fasque. Ellen
Middleton* was just published. Mr. Gladstone
was so engrossed by its absorbing interest that
he read it all the night through ; while the
emotion broke his brother-in-law 2 into tears.
In 1868, the question of Mr. Bright s inclusion
in the Cabinet cost him his night s rest.

But on the night of May 6, 1882, the day
that Lord Frederick Cavendish was murdered,
he was unable to lie still. He and Mrs.
Gladstone had been with their niece in Carlton
House Terrace until the small hours of the
morning of May 7. This tragedy touched
them both to the quick ; they loved their
niece s husband with a parental love. No
young man, with the possible exception of Mr.
Balfour, was ever more dear to them. That
night restlessness overmastered him. Finally
he left his bed and composed the poem in twenty
verses, which ends with these words :

" And thou, O Mourner, lift thine head,

And see this jewel of thy love
With earthly soil no more bestead,
And safe for ever stored above.

He suffereth no more, nor dieth,

Nor wandereth now in twilights dim.

In light and rest and peace he lieth,
The prayers of millions follow him."

1 By Lady Georgiana Fullerton. 2 Lord Lyttelton.

CHARACTERISTICS 239

Diverse as they were in character and tem
perament, what was the secret of their abiding
love for one another, their joy through a
span of life nearly twenty years longer than
that usually allotted to man ?

They were moved by the same ardour to
gather the very best, the richest out of life.
To them life was not a thing to be idled and
pleasured away; it was a sacred trust that
implied true and laudable service to God and
man. They lifted it to a new level. To them
every additional child added a glory to their
home. She revelled in the priceless blessing
of his perfect trust, even while he might occa
sionally be bewildered by her daring exploits.
With them to pity was to act. " I don t
think much of their pity, when it does not
touch their pockets," so said an old woman
as she left a parish meeting. But their emo
tions were never stirred in vain. One might
reasonably think that the unavoidable daily
grind of life is ample discipline in moulding
and chastening the human character. But the
highest development of self-restraint is seen
at its best in those who gladly and voluntarily
offer service, grappling perhaps daily with the
first temptation that awaits them the tempta
tion to lie in bed. Mr. Gladstone once owned
that the struggle never grew less, that custom
did not ease the battle, that it was as hard to

240 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

get daily out of bed for the uphill trudge to
morning service after he was eighty as when
he was half that age. The habit of self-
mastery at normal times gives the victory at
a crisis. And the crown of the conflict was
witnessed by her courage and self-command
during the winter and spring of 1898, and in
him during his final illness, when the spirit rose
triumphant over the flesh and in the greatest
anguish of body enabled him to give thanks. 1

To both of them religion was the master-key
of life. Mr. Gladstone never thought of the
Church but as the soul of the State. In every
act the religious motive was predominant. In
everything he thought, said, and did, he took
for granted that right and wrong depended
on the same principles in public as in private
life. It has been truly said, " He lived and
wrought in the sunlight. 1

While he laboured inside and outside the
walls of Parliament to lighten the burdens of
those least fitted to bear them, she used her
gifts and graces in strengthening and sweeten
ing and purifying the sad, the lonely, the sin
ful, the suffering, whether poor or rich, weak or
powerful ; with both hands she gave her love,
her strength, her pity, her succour, to those
who needed them.

1 Oftenest in the words of Newman s hymn, " Praise to the
Holiest."

CHARACTERISTICS 241

It has been said of him, " He so lived and
wrought that he kept the soul alive in Eng
land. " And if he kept the soul, she kept
the heart alive. In truth, the secret lay in
their devotion to Him, " Whose service is
perfect freedom. 51

1 For he divined " that laws should be adapted to those who have
the heaviest stake in the country, those to whom misgovernment
means, not mortified pride, or stinted luxury, but want and pain and
degradation, and risk to their own lives and to their children s
souls." Lord Acton s Letters.

CHAPTER VII

GOOD WORKS

" She stretched out her hands to the poor, in her tongue was
the law of kindness."

1

chapter on Mrs. Gladstone s c good
works is mostly taken from an
In Memoriam, written by one of
whom it may be said, that though not of
Catherine Gladstone s own flesh and blood,
she loved and served her, perhaps more than
any other, " to the uttermost and to the
end." *

Mrs. Gladstone had the genius of Charity.
She could, much more than was often known,
elaborate a plan and set a work going on large,
wise foundations.

With a houseful of children and grand
children, of nephews and nieces, and a husband
to whom she was utterly devoted, she might
easily have produced the favourite plea of
" no time, and it would have appeared a
satisfactory one. But Mrs. Gladstone had a
larger conception of duty and of love ; with her

1 Lucy, daughter of Sir Robert Philliinore.

242

GOOD WORKS 243

it was not " What must I do ? " but " What
can I do ? "

And to a nature like hers, an intuition as
swift as it was unexplainable, time is a very
elastic thing. Many a scheme which is either
still in activity for good, or has completed
its work, had at its source Mrs. Gladstone
as its inspiration. She saw the need, invented
the plan, found the workers, set the machinery
going, and turned to something fresh.

Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone together were
amongst the first and most steadfast friends
of the House of Charity, still a living home of
mercy and pity, in Greek Street, Soho. The
Newport Market Refuge and its offspring, the
Boys Industrial School, in the Great War,
as in the past, have given the army many a
dauntless soldier. Mr. Gladstone, on hearing
her plan, offered one hundred pounds, if
she could raise nine other hundreds from her
friends ; this she accomplished, and the sum
of a thousand pounds started the Refuge in
Newport Market, close to Seven Dials. It is
now in Westminster.

Her own home at Hawarden, all through her
life nearest to her heart, with its many de
pendent districts, found her alway, not a
patroness, but a true and understanding
friend, who was a wise and constant visitor,
a nurse herself in many a case of illness, and

244 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

ahead of her time in many of the arts of nurs
ing. When nursing grew into a profession she
did not rest till she had established a good nurse
for the district, saw to her provision and her
comfort, and cheered her by her sympathy.

The Lancashire Cotton Famine in 1861 gave
her another opportunity for help, and in old
magazines there are many reports of how she
would come, discuss the questions, give a
practical and practicable scheme for help,
and set each place going on lines neither
pauperising nor hard.

One of her tender charities was the old
ladies Home close to the Castle, where people
who had- -pathetic phrase- -"seen better
days : were tended, comforted, amused, and
constantly visited. And visitors to the Castle
were sent with instructions to " make breaks
for them."

Here we may give one day of her life at
Hawarden, after she was eighty. She had
been to early church, nearly a mile uphill,
walking both ways ; she had read family
prayers at home ; she was at her breakfast
when word came that a nurse looking after
typhoid patients, in a distant part of the
estate, had sickened with the fever. Not a
moment did she lose, and in her pony carriage
she hurried off to Queen s Ferry, where the
nurse was lodging. Having made full arrange-

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GOOD WORKS 245

ments, she came back to the Castle to explain
to her family ; then returned to the station
at Queen s Ferry (two and a half miles off),
and whipped the nurse off by train to Chester.
Arrived there, she supported the patient up
and down the long stairs at the railway station,
carrying her bag and parcels in a fly with her
all round Chester, in vain seeking admittance.
At length, partly cajoling, partly scolding,
she persuaded the Infirmary authorities to
take her in ; and, having seen her comfortably
tucked up, she returned to the station, with a
sandwich from the matron, and reached home
about four o clock. The grandchildren were
coming to tea. First she prepared a stage-
she had promised them charades arranging
screens, furniture, lights ; then collected and
arranged the rows of seats. Flew across to
the Orphanage and Home of Rest to charter
an audience from the inmates, among whom
she placed the Prime Minister, wheedled out
of his Temple of Peace ; gathered the children
round her in the green-room, and, after a rapid
coaching and coaxing, put them through their
paces taking a prominent part herself and
somehow or other contrived to get them
through fairly creditably (none of them having
any turn for acting). Afterwards she pre
sided at their tea-party, finishing up by play
ing spirited dances for them till it was time

246 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

for them to leave. Still there remained dress
ing and dinner and the normal evening, till
bed welcomed her to well-earned rest.

Just about the same period, after a mission
held in the parish of Hawarden, she went up
to sleep at the Rectory, so as to be close to the
church for the final service. She had worked
hard throughout the mission, which had
lasted a week. It was in January, and bitterly
cold. The Holy Communion was to be cele
brated at 4 a.m., so that all or any might come
to church before their work.

At 3.30 a.m. her son, the Rector, went
to her room with a can of hot w r ater. He
knocked at the door. She opened it fully
dressed for going out of doors. She had
already had her cold bath.

She worked for the Institution for the
Blind, for St. Mary Magdalen s in Paddington,
for a preventive Home in Notting Hill; she
established soup kitchens in St. George s in
the East during hard winters of exceptional
distress. Her doings would fill volumes, and
surely do fill one volume that of " The
Lord s Book of Remembrance. 1

Of all her works, the Home that bears her
name might be reckoned as the nearest to her
heart the one known as the Catherine Glad
stone Home. It was the only free institution
for convalescents in the kingdom. Begun in

GOOD WORKS 247

1866 at Woodford, Essex, many thousands have
been its guests, nursed back to health of body,
and with bruised and sore spirits soothed and
consoled. It is easy to go to the East End
and beyond it now ; it was toilsome then.
But she constantly went to Woodford (the
Home is now established at Mitcham), till
she finally left London in 1894. She took
people with her whom she could interest,
sat and talked with the inmates, and with
her marvellous intuition would select those
whom prompt help could start afresh. Then
she would set herself to enliven them, and, with
a singularly brilliant touch, would play them
dance music to cheer their spirits and set them
singing or dancing.

Once a week Mrs. Gladstone, with Lady
Frederick Cavendish, went to the London
Hospital, herself saw and selected the patients,
and sent them down to Woodford with words
of cheer. No one who went to the Home
could ever say, " No man careth for my
soul. 3

In 1866 London was swept by a plague of
cholera. Mrs. Gladstone, regardless of in
fection, threw herself into the work in home
and hospital. In the latter, so great was the
pressure that the sick had often to be laid
on the floor till death vacated a bed. Mrs.
Gladstone encouraged and inspirited doctors

248 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

and nurses, comforted the dying with words
of faith, and promises of care for the orphans
left desolate. These promises took much time
and contrivance to fulfil, but they were ful
filled. It was then she carried off the babies
rolled up in blankets. One outcome was an
orphanage at Hawarden for the boys, Mrs.
Tait taking the girls in whom to her life s
end she took the warmest personal interest,
starting them in life, writing to them, and
understanding their characters.

The Convalescent Home was really founded
as a result of the cholera outbreak.

It was her constant habit to ask the matron
of the Convalescent Home, " Is there any
good case we can set on its feet ? No sooner
was one found than she set every resource to
work, till the man or woman was well started
and had a full and fair opportunity; Mr.
Gladstone being always ready to say, " Re
member, if it s wanted, I m good for help. :

At the Home the inmates were, and are still,
guests, expected to behave as such, and re
sponding to the invitation.

One day, while busy selecting convalescents
for her Home, she asked Mrs. Lyttelton 1
who had accompanied her to the London
Hospital to visit meanwhile in the wards.
Finding herself in the men s ward, something

1 Constance, wife of Rev. Hon. W. H. Lyttelton.

55

55

GOOD WORKS 249

made her approach a man of singularly un
inviting aspect, so gloomy and sinister was his
expression. The Tale of Two Cities was in his
hand. " And that s what we want here,
he growled. " A Revolution." " But surely,
said Constance, " the cruelties and injustices
of those days are past ; think of all the loving-
kindness there is in the world look at Mrs.
Gladstone she brought me here." His whole
face changed and softened. " Ah ! Mrs. Glad
stone, she is different." And as he spoke,
the door opened, and she came in and looked
round with her radiant, tender smile. If
only there were more like her . . .

Into one pitiful field of work, the work
of tenderness and compassion for the fallen,
rescue and prevention work among women,
Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone had thrown the full
fervour of their hearts. In 1852 they met
Mrs. Monsell at Naples, and planned and
shared with her in the establishment of the
famous and beautiful group of buildings at
Clewer.

Fifty years ago they had a meeting at their
house in Carlton Terrace to start the Mary
Magdalen Rescue Home, later on moved to
Paddington. The chief object of this Home
was to shelter the babies as well as the girl
mothers. This was at that time quite a new

250 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

departure. They held strongly the opinion
that it was the most natural as well as the
most wholesome course, and often a means of
regeneration to the mother.

In the streets of London they worked with
tireless energy; she shrank from nothing.
This is not the place to enlarge on this subject.
But when walking home one night with a friend,
Mr. Gladstone turned back to rescue a poor,
lost creature. " But what will Mrs. Gladstone
say if you take this woman home ? ! Mr.
Gladstone turned round in surprise. " Why,
it is to Mrs. Gladstone I am taking her. :

Truly it could be said throughout her life,
" The heart of her husband doth safely trust
in her. ;

Helpfulness- -that was the note of her char
acter. In any difficulty, in the most impossible
case, she would plan, contrive, arrange, enlist
others, and never rest until the difficulty was
solved and the persons put in the way of
helping themselves ; nay, more- -supported,
befriended, encouraged, till they could stand
alone. Perhaps few persons were so often
consulted and appealed to. It might be young
girls entering on life, in the first joy of a
marriage engagement ; or young beauties to
whom she would suggest thoughts that were
unworldly. Often it would be some hard-

GOOD WORKS 251

worked London priest, toiling single-handed
among his thousands and thinking, " No one
cares, 91 who found in her not only a listener
but a sympathising friend ; one who did not
forget, but would forward his; plans, and
had the rare gift of setting other people to
work.

During the Cattle Plague she established a
whole family at the Castle, a mother and five
or six children, to relieve the hard-hit gentle
man farmer of interruptions and financial
anxieties.

In 1893 the head mistress of a school near
Tavistock, in despair how to dispose of one of
her teachers ill, poor, and friendless as a
forlorn hope wrote to Mrs. Gladstone, because
she had heard of her as kind, and then to the
Duchess of Bedford as wife of the landowner.
From the Duchess she received a ten-pound
cheque ; from Mrs. Gladstone a letter : " Send
her off to Ha warden to-morrow. . . . :

From the House of Charity in Soho she
carried off a poor parson sick with scarlet
fever, and established him in her own house in
Carlton Terrace.

A Sister of Mercy s life ? Yes, and besides
this-

Great duties to be greatly done "

there was the life of a great lady, moving in

252 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

a world of parties and social claims, with a
husband the foremost figure in politics, whose
every interest she shared, whose health and
strength she garnered.

It is hardly right to open the door of home
life, yet could one know her without doing so ?
Hawarden Castle ! How the name suggests
all the charm and serenity of home ! It was
well said in the diary of one who came there
for the first time, " Thou hast set my feet
in a large room so fresh and sweet and
spacious was the atmosphere. Her own chil
dren, her children s children, the host of
nephews and nieces to whom she was a mother
and gathered into the warm circle of her love,
the children of old friends and any lonely soul
of any class whom she could cherish these,
as well as all that was brilliant, zealous, and
inspiring in the life of that day : good, or to
be helped to be good, that was the essence of it
all. Religion, not forced, not obtruded, but
as natural and vital as fresh air was, not an
adjunct of life, but life itself.

In her own devotions, in the daily Services
of the Church, in many a Eucharist, did
Catherine Gladstone renew her soul s life and
increase the charity and the delightful gaiety
of her temperament, and from the Spirit of
Wisdom learn those intuitions which so rarely
failed her. It seemed but natural that her

GOOD WORKS 253

last spoken words were, " I must not be late

for church."

There was a something vital, tender, and
wise in her spirit which lives on-

. . . the actions of the just

Smell sweet and blossom in the dust. 1

CHAPTER VIII

REMINISCENCES

"Perfect wife and tender mother,
Scarcely shall we find another

Equal to her.

To the Almighty reverence due
She lowly tendered, friendship true

To all who knew her."

MANY thrilling experiences crowd in
upon the mind as we look back
across the years. Moments of in
tense emotion in the early hours of the morning,
when a few of us would find ourselves gathered
together in the Carlton Terrace house, after
some kindling debate, or some crucial division.
A stray Whip or so on his way back from the
House, possibly Mr. George Glyn ; a Secretary
or an enthusiastic M.P.- -Freddy and Lucy
Cavendish oftenest of all, as their house was
opposite ours- -dropping in to rejoice or con
dole, to share in victory or defeat, in exhilara
tion or depression ; some great cause lost (for
the time) or won. The view across the Park
from the windows of our house, in the early
morning, dwells in the memory as one of

254

REMINISCENCES 255

singular beauty- -the mass of foliage in the
foreground, the towers of the Houses of
Parliament and the Abbey rising above the
trees, the mysterious light, the whisper of the
leaves, the magic of the dawn. . . .

" And all that mighty heart is lying still."

Again there is the crowd of passionate
Reformers in June 1866. Mrs. Gladstone was
alone in the house, with three or four members
of the family. The cheers and shouts for
Mr. Gladstone grew in enthusiastic insistence.
His Reform Bill, ten days earlier, had been
beaten in the House of Commons, by the
defection of some members of his own party.
The working classes had awoken to the fact
that here was a man, the first official states
man, who was ready to live or die for them.
He was beaten. The Government had resigned.
But in perhaps the most inspired speech ever
delivered in the House of Commons : " You
cannot fight against the future, 1 he said, with
a splendid sweep of his arm. " Time is on our
side. The great social forces that move onward
in their might and majesty, and which the
tumult of our debates cannot impede or disturb
-they are marshalled on our side ; the banner
which we now carry in this fight, though at
some moment it may droop over our sinking
heads, will soon again float in the eye of

256 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

Heaven, and will be borne in the hands of the
united people, perhaps not to an easy, but to a
certain and to a not far-distant victory. 51

Words worthy to rank with Lincoln s im
mortal speech at Gettysburg, and kindling
the same torch of freedom. 1

" Here, says Lord Morley, " the forecast
was not a phrase, but a battle-cry- -it revealed
a cause and a man. : The Government resigned
office, but Mr. Gladstone s prophetic vision was
realised, and the banner uplifted even sooner
than he knew. The Reform Bill that became
law in the following year was the fulfilment of
his prophecy.

Meanwhile, on the night of June 28, the road
in front of their house was blocked by an
excited crowd, persistently calling on him to
appear. He was absent from home. Finally
the police officers sent word to Mrs. Gladstone,
that if only she would show herself upon the
balcony, the crowd would quietly go home.
This she did, inadvertently drawing upon
herself, as his representative, the passionate
enthusiasm of the people.

A characteristic incident took place in
Downing Street, about the year 1881, which,
though trivial in itself, is worth recording for
its hint of prophecy. A big official banquet

1 "This nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom ;
that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall
not perish from the earth."

REMINISCENCES 257

was taking place in the large dining-room,
then only used on formal occasions, this
being the preface to an evening party. Mr.
Balfour s sisters, Eleanor and Alice, were dining
quietly at No. 10 with Mrs. Gladstone and
her daughters. There was a snug little room
downstairs, next door to the Cabinet room,
where we dined. In the evening we were
sitting cosily talking round the drawing-room
fire, with little consciousness of the coming
party, Mrs. Gladstone, in a tea-gown, reposing
on the sofa, her daughter-in-law fast asleep
on another sofa. Suddenly the door opened-
" Sir Joseph and Lady Hooker, 1 announced
the butler in loud tones. The evening party
had begun. The time had flown quickly. We
were not even dressed. Mrs. Gladstone, awoken
out of sound slumber, noiselessly melted, by
another door, out of the room. Her daughters,
whispering to the Balfours, " You must be
hostesses," did likewise. Little did we then
foresee the time, about fifteen years ahead,
when Mr. Balfour, as First Lord of the
Treasury, would be residing in 10 Downing
Street, and would, with his sister, be receiving
at an evening party- -possibly the famous
botanist himself- -but anyway their own
guests.

And the final farewell in Downing Street,

1 Head of Kew Gardens.

258 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

That is a haunting memory, but not without
its gleam of joy. It was the 12th of March.
Mr. Gladstone had paid his last official visit to
the Queen, and was no longer Prime Minister.
He had resigned, and the last day had come.
The carriage was at the door ; disconsolate
figures were wandering restlessly about the
familiar rooms secretaries, servants, officials ;
Mr. Gladstone always occupied to the very
last moment ; his wife bidding good-bye to
faithful friends, her face sad and wistful, and,
as some one remarked at the time, looking as if
her mainspring was broken. As an accompani
ment, a child s clear voice rang out from the
staircase. This was the little granddaughter
whose home was theirs so long as they lived.
She had struck four the previous day, and
had been decorated with a birthday wreath
of flowers. Unconscious of the historic scene
vibrating with emotion, in which she was
sharing, she sat patiently on the stairs waiting
for the start, and occupying the time in singing
the Easter hymn. The Hallelujahs formed a
kind of Greek chorus to the farewells. . . .

Only once again did they visit Downing
Street. On June 22, 1895, news reached the
Tantallon Castle, 1 as she drew near to England,
of the defeat of the Liberal Government. A

1 The ship in which we were the guests of Sir Donald Currie.

REMINISCENCES 259

telegram from Lord Rosebery was handed to
Mrs. Gladstone before we disembarked, con
taining an invitation to dine with him that
night. It was interesting once more to see them
there in the well-known rooms. Illuminated by
Lord Rosebery s irresistible charm, we had a
most delightful evening, the late and the
present Prime Ministers being merry as boys
out of school. We dined in the beautiful
room, used latterly by Mr. Gladstone for
Cabinet Councils (our own sitting-room now
becoming as in Lord Beaconsfield s day l
the Prime Minister s bedroom). And so
ended, quietly and undramatically, Mr. and
Mrs. Gladstone s connection with the historic
building.

X

The spring and summer spent at Dollis Hill,

after Mr. Gladstone s resignation in 1894, was
a wonderfully happy and interesting time.
The most fervent words of gratitude to Lord
and Lady Aberdeen could never adequately
express the blessing and refreshment of that
perfect haven. For nearly fifteen years, it
was ready on any day, at any moment, to
receive them, whether their hosts were there
or not. In countless letters Mrs. Gladstone
relates the joy of escaping out of the turmoil ;

1 We used to invite visitors to salute the mark on the floor made
by his bed.

260 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

so near to London, yet so far, peaceful as in the
depths of the country. You drove from the
Marble Arch three or four miles along the
Edgeware Road ; presently green fields and
hedges took the place of shops and houses.
A deep country lane on the left brought you
quickly to its gates. Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone
both revelled in its restfulness, in its welcoming
aspect. And in 1894 it broke the sudden
departure from the absorbing interest of their
public life ; it floated him through the trying
weeks before the operation for cataract. It
enabled them to entertain relations and friends,
and almost literally to live out of doors.
She had a way of suddenly getting whole
stacks of furniture into the garden sofas,
screens, chairs, and tables. She would have
been a capital foreman to the scene-shifters
at a theatre. Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlain were
coming one day, and, in a twinkling, the
dining-room table was out under the trees,
and luncheon was laid. Lady Sarah Spencer,
with her specially clear voice and enunciation,
often came to read aloud, while the eyes were
hors de combat, and many and various were
the delightful and interesting people that
came down to visit them.

On June 24, the day the French President,
Monsieur Carnot, was assassinated, a friend
came down to luncheon. All the morning their

MRS. GLADSTONE AT DOLLIS HILL, WITH HER
GRAND-DAUGHTER, DOROTHY DREW

1894

REMINISCENCES 261

little granddaughter had been busy with the
funeral of a dead thrush ; a cross of flowers
was laid on its grave. Mr. Gladstone was ask
ing of his guest earnest questions about the
character and beliefs of the dead President :
" I am so glad, 1 he said meditatively, : that
he died a Christian. 1

" Does he mean the thrush ? : whispered the
child.

About a month after the operation on Mr.
Gladstone s eyes, the doctors came down to
examine the sight the spectacles were tried
on, the book was opened. Mrs. Gladstone stood
close to him. All were full of hope. But he
could not see; he could not read the print.
There was a tragic pause, broken by his voice :

" This is a blow for the oculists. 1

No word of murmur passed his lips. Time
proved to be the healer, and when Mr. Nettle-
ship came later on to Hawarden, the eye
from which the cataract had been removed
worked perfectly for reading and writing,
and the eye that had not been touched served
him for all other purposes.

And now, perhaps, for a moment, I may
indulge in a reminiscence of my own ; for it
throws some light on the way in which Mr.
and Mrs. Gladstone brought up their children.
He was in the Government years before any

262 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

of us were born ; while children, we were
never conscious of him as anything out of the
common ; as a rising man, step by step attain
ing pre-eminence among his fellows. Not
many years ago I was staying in a house in
Westminster on the opening night of the
Session. The master of the house had become
a Member of Parliament. The children were
in bed. Their mother woke them out of their
sleep, and led them to the window and showed
them the light burning in the Clock Tower.
" Do you know what that light means ? :
she said. " It means that father is there
helping to make laws for England. 1

It struck me at the time as a loss that our
mother had not stimulated our imagination in
this way. With us it was a case of a prophet
not without honour save in his own country.
His sun had already risen and we knew it not.
The fact of his being a Cabinet Minister, fore
most among his colleagues, never impressed
itself upon us as any special honour or glory.
It never crossed my mind that other people s
fathers were not just the same. All my friends,
I thought, had the same sort of father. It
was a cause of wonder to me when those who
came to the house, especially our cousins,
treated him with awe and reverence, listening
to every word that fell from his lips. Indeed,
we treated him with scant respect ; argued

REMINISCENCES 263

across him while he was talking ; even contra
dicted him. Both our parents were extraordin
arily simple, and never seemed conscious of
occupying an exceptional plane. Whatever we
learnt on this score came to us from outward
sources, e.g. the brothers at school. In one of
Lord Acton s letters he speaks of his influence
as greatest on multitudes, less in society least
at home. He contrasts it with the Tennyson
home : "I could not stay with the lofty
entities that surround Tennyson, even when
he butters toast.

It is true that, in later years, some of the
Hawarden guests were half startled and
shocked by the freedom of criticism that
reigned in the family circle. The balance was
redressed when outside the home to the
world we have always shown a united and
impregnable front ! But at home we dis
cussed things almost on terms of equality.

It bored him to hear people apologetically
differ : " My dearest love, I really think you
are wrong. 1 Partly in fun, he thought it more
to the point to be short and sharp : " A lie !
It is impossible to forget Lord Moiiey s face
when he first heard one of us say to Mr.
Gladstone : " A lie ! : And it always suc
ceeded. It was an unfailing amusement and
put every one in good humour.

I recall the very spot on the steps of the

264 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

porch by which the house is entered, where it
was suddenly borne in upon me how my
eyes were holden. I had been out walking
with a girl friend, Margaret Leicester Warren l
a hereditary friendship, her parents being
great friends of Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone. She
paused. " You know," she said, " I think
Mr. Gladstone much the greatest man in the
world, and I am not sure that he is not the
greatest man who ever lived. 1

It was an intense moment of revelation to
a daughter, and not very long after the
impression received its seal in a memorable
conversation with Lord Acton.

Yet though love, on the part of their children,
cast out fear, the attitude of their minds towards
their parents was of a very different nature from
that of the present generation.

The relations between one generation and
another had not become nearly so strained
as in these present days. There was more
identity in the point of view ; the spirit of
investigation was more generally dormant ;
things were more taken for granted ; traditions
accepted ; other people s homes were not
necessarily superior to our own. " Honour
your father and your mother, was accepted in
the spirit and the letter. School and University
experiences did not necessarily bring sever -

1 Daughter of Lord de Tabley.

REMINISCENCES 265

ance, or even estrangement, between mothers
and sons. The deeply interesting study of the
relations between one generation and another,
in the present day so much discussed in novels
of note, would scarcely have fitted in those
days. There was too much esprit de corps.
The tone, the standard, set by the parents
was followed almost unquestioningly by their
children. Their aims were the same, they
saw the same vision.

How much more there is to be thought and
said on this interesting subject, but it would
be out of place here.

There is no doubt that Mrs. Gladstone s
supreme devotion to her husband, and her
profound belief in the principles that guided
him, made her very impatient with those who
differed from him on fundamental questions of
policy.

Therefore it was but natural that, when a
nephew, specially dear to her as youngest
son of her cherished sister, came to Hawarderi
for Christmas (1894-95) and, with his irresist
ible smile, light-heartedly announced to the
family that he had joined the Unionist ranks,
she was at first greatly shocked and pained.
She and her sons and daughters, in fact, felt
it far more acutely than did Mr. Gladstone.
One of them in particular, to whom through
life he had confided his inner history, personal

266 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

and political, was as utterly in the dark as the
rest, though the frequency and intimacy of
their intercourse had not been relaxed through
out the preceding summer. And indeed he
had been the first of the clan who in 1885
bravely cast in his lot for a Parliament on
College Green, and had approved of the Home
Rule Bills of 1886 and 1893. This is not the
time to examine his reasons, but it was more
a drift than a, principle though the growing
power of the proletariat made him increasingly
uneasy more personal than political. But
after Mr. Gladstone s resignation, the Liberal
party was at its lowest ebb ; it was in dire
need of the loyal service of every one of its
members.

And as he came nearer to his ninetieth
year, and the sands of life seemed to glide
through the hour-glass with ever greater
rapidity, in Mr. Gladstone s own estimation
every moment of his time seemed to intensify in
value. When he only discovered, at the end
of a lengthy discussion in the Temple of
Peace, that the matter was already settled,
the die was cast, it was not to be wondered at
that he was nettled, that he resented the waste
of his precious time.

It is quite true that Mr. Gladstone fre
quently took agreement for granted, that he
mistook silence for consent, and swept his

REMINISCENCES 267

interlocutor into his own net. In matters of
principle and with him every question was
brought to the touchstone of conscience he
was wont to assume that others were moved
by the principles he regarded as fundamental.
After his death a sheet of paper was dis
covered among his letters, containing a list
of names. It was headed, " Those who have
disagreed with me, : and at its foot were
words to this effect, " Good for me to re
member what notable people have differed
from me. : And accordingly, to those who,
in all honesty, had reached conclusions con
trary to his own no one could have been
more trustful, more generous. On one occa
sion when a friend confessed to him that
had he been in Parliament he could not have
seen his way to support the Home Rule Bill,
the quietness and gentleness with which
Mr. Gladstone received the news greatly
astonished his friend. When his niece, 1 re
ferring to some backing he was according to
Mr. Chamberlain " Oh, Uncle William, you
really are the most magnanimous person in
the world ! " " What do you mean ? " he
said. l Chamberlain has always been very
kind to me; he has behaved ill to Ireland,
but never to me." Yet Chamberlain, in 1874,
had described his Election address as " the

1 Lady F. Cavendish.

268 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

meanest document that ever proceeded from
the pen of a statesman." l Abuse of this kind
went in at one ear and, as has been well said,
came out at the same.

Lord Morley has placed it on record that
Mrs. Gladstone once came to his room " and
said how glad she was I had not scrupled to
put unpleasant points before her husband;
that Mr. Gladstone must not be shielded and
sheltered as some great people are, who hear
all the pleasant things and none of the un
pleasant. That the perturbation is but short
lived. She added, He is never made angry
by what you say.

It was the belief of many people that Mrs.
Gladstone was ever on the watch to soothe
and quiet her husband, to persuade him to
give up, to retire into private life that he
was always keen for action, for power, eager
for the fight. There was an impression
abroad that her one aim and idea was to
induce people never to disagree with him.
" We never contradict Mr. Gladstone? she is
supposed to have said at a dinner-party.
Nothing can be further from the truth. She
knew better than anyone how carefully he
refrained from reading books and papers
eulogistic of himself, e.g. he never read Lord
Acton s letters to his daughter or, in the

1 Fortnightly Review, Oct. 1874.

REMINISCENCES 269

Prime Minister Series, his own Life, by
G. W. E. Russell. But he always selected and
studied inimical criticism, disagreement with
his own views, as wholesome and humbling,
and still more as revealing ideas that had
possibly not occurred to him. It was he who
ached for retirement, she who encouraged him
to remain. To her his longing for resignation
was frankly a great trial. She made no
secret of it. She loved the atmosphere, the
stimulus of battle; she was ever eager for
the fray, and, from her own point of view,
she would have longed for him to die in
harness.

In July 1894 they were in Scotland, Mr.
Armitstead piloting them to Pitlochry, in
company with Lord Acton.

August found them once more at Hawarden,
the home that had been theirs all along,
where they were peacefully to end their lives.
The beloved home that had been hers from her
cradle to the end. Few there can be who
throughout life could have been surrounded
and cherished by so many members of her
family, four generations of whom lived
by turns at Hawarden, near her or with
her.

After 1839, when not at Hagley or London
or Fasque, she and Mr. Gladstone lived at

270 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

the Castle, with her unmarried brother, while
Henry Glynne was at the Rectory. In spite of
the great financial crisis that overwhelmed the
Glynnes about the year 1847, they continued
to reside there, and indeed, if it had not been
for Mr. Gladstone, it would probably have been
necessary for Sir Stephen to sell the Castle and
the whole, instead of only part of, the estate.
In 1872 died her favourite brother, Henry

*>

Glynne ; in 1874 came the further blow of
Sir Stephen s death. Her eldest son on his
uncle s death became owner of Hawarden. Mr.
and Mrs. Gladstone, having a life interest in the
Castle, remained in possession for the remainder
of their lives- -about a quarter of a century.
Their son thus later on wrote of his uncle :
" Hawarden can never be the same to those
who remember and cherish the calm sunshine
of his presence in their midst. The loss of
one endowed with such rare gifts of mind,
such innocence of heart and gentleness of
disposition, creates a void that time can
scarcely fill. Such is the feeling of his suc
cessor, after the lapse of one year from his
uncle s death. 1 The near neighbourhood of
their two elder sons and their families, the
holiday visits of the Wickham children and
their parents, added not a little to the happi
ness, the pleasure, and interest of all concerned.
Their eldest daughter married in 1873 E. C.

REMINISCENCES 271

Wickham, 1 Headmaster of Wellington College.
The coming of the very first grandchildren,
specially that of William and Katie, was no
doubt an epoch-making event. Helen entered
Newnham College as a student in 1878, and
left it as Vice-Principal in December 1896,
giving up the work she loved to devote herself
to her parents.

Herbert, the only one born to the roll of the
drum in Downing Street, spent every spare
moment of his time at Hawarden; he was
indeed through life the light of her eyes, as is
often the case with the youngest child.

It would not be possible for the daughter
who with her husband 2 resided at the Castle,
to describe their relations with her parents
they were too near, too sacred. She also
enjoyed the inestimable privilege of never
leaving her home, before or after marriage,
as long as her father and mother lived, and
the child who came in 1890 was the darling
of the home the sunshine of their old age-
not because they loved her more than the
other grandchildren, but from the mere fact of
her living with them.

It was the habit of their lives to go every
day to church before breakfast. They enjoyed
the walk, nearly a mile uphill, in the early

1 Afterwards Dean of Lincoln.

- Rev. Harry Drew, married Mary, February ?, 1886.

272 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

freshness of the morning, and winter or
summer, storm or sunshine, saw them going to
worship in Hawarden Church, Mrs. Gladstone
scattering the path with the letters which she
read on the way. Not even the early cup of
tea, indispensable to most people, broke their
fast.

I remember the very first sign of some
diminution of strength when one day, at the
age of eighty-three or eighty-four, he said :

" I am afraid I must ask you to keep Petz
from coming to church with me. v Petz was
the favourite Pomeranian dog, immortalised
by a poem in Punch, who lay every morning
on the mat at his dressing-room door waiting
for him to start. " You see, I have to throw
sticks for him to pick up, and stooping every
other minute to get one and then throw it is
too hard work on the hill.

And so, by doctor s orders, they changed
their lifelong habit and substituted Evensong
for the morning service.

Well on in their eighties they breakfasted in
bed, not rising till ten o clock.

They did enjoy it !

From 1894 onwards a period of great tran
quillity set in, but at no time could it be said
that it was ever dull or uninteresting, or that it
was without its dramatic moments.

About a year and a half before Mr. Glad-

REMINISCENCES 273

stone s death, Mr. Balfour came once more.
The first of his visits to Ha warden was in 1870,
when he stayed for a fortnight. " He relapsed
quickly into the old cosy footing- -no sense
of restraint or stiffness. It might have been
1870 again, as regards the old friendliness.
In those days he was unknown ; to-day he is
the Leader of the House of Commons. The talk
at dinner was lively, the late and the future
Prime Ministers discussing the nightly letter
to the Queen. : In the seventies Mr. Balfour
used to write to Mrs. Gladstone pretty fre
quently. It is a real misfortune that these
letters have been lost.

In the summer of 1875, when he started on
his round-the-world tour, she gave him a little
gold cross for his watch-chain it still hangs
there. He was always specially drawn to her
by her great qualities of heart and her raciness
of speech and sense of fun.

Then there was the unexpected arrival of Li
Hung Chang an interesting and picturesque
scene. But the wheels drave heavily; the
afternoon was hot and drowsy; there were
long pauses while he struggled to think of the
right thing to say; the slowness of the
interpreter and the clear voice of Gilbert
Talbot^-then five years old ringing through

1 Killed in action, July 1916.
18

274 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

the room, " How long is this going to
last ? "

Li refused the honour of being carried to the
dining-room, unless his host was likewise carried.

And the great shock of the sudden death
in Hawarden Church of the Archbishop of
Canterbury.

In October 1896 he and Mrs. Benson had
crossed the Irish Channel, reaching Hawarden
Castle one Saturday evening. On the Tuesday
following he was borne from the church in
which he had died to the station where he
had arrived three days earlier, on the way to
Canterbury for his burial. . . .

On Sunday morning he had been to the
service at 8 a.m. At 11, we walked up to
church. He passed to his rest as he knelt for
the Confession ; Mrs. Gladstone was next to
him. Both she and Mr. Gladstone joined the
funeral procession from Hawarden to Sandy-
croft. It was a brilliant autumn morning with
snow on the ground a solemn and a moving
scene.

In 1897 the Colonial Prime Ministers, in
cluding Mr. Seddon and Sir Wilfrid Laurier,
arrived at Hawarden from the four quarters
of the earth. They were photographed in the
garden with their host and hostess, the Old
Castle forming a picturesque background.

REMINISCENCES 275

In the year of Queen Victoria s Jubilee,
the Prince and Princess of Wales came to
luncheon, a visit which gave exquisite pleasure
to their hosts.

In the afternoon, Mr. Gladstone started up
the hill to the Old Castle with the Princess,
the Prince walking with Mrs. Gladstone. On
reaching the bridge over the moat, Mr. Glad
stone, fresh as a three-year-old, said, Shall
we go up to the top, ma am ? Eager for the
fray, she sprang forward, but first she glanced
at Mrs. Gladstone for approval. An almost
imperceptible and knowing little wink was
telegraphed back to her- -" Too much for
him," it signified. Quick as lightning and with
charming tact, H.R.H. replied, " Oh, Mr. Glad
stone, you quite forget my poor lame leg.

The quartette were photographed, and the
following day came a letter from the Princess
of Wales containing these words :

6 1 must write one line and thank both you
and Mr. Gladstone (dear William) for the kind
reception you gave us in your delightful
home.

We shall always look back with the greatest
pleasure to the charming day spent with you,
surrounded by your children and grand
children, which to me was a most touching
sight," etc. etc.

276 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

Many were the friends that dropped in-
Lord Rosebery with his boys. Sir Arthur
Godley and George Russell, H. S. Holland.

Among the signatures in the Hawarden
Visitors Book, several of which occur more
than once, for the years 1894-1900, are the
following :

Edward and Georgina Burne Jones, John
Morley, Margaret Stepney, Algernon West,
Arthur Godley, Sybil and Margaret Primrose,
Ronald Leveson-Gower, Welby, L. Duchesne,
Arthur C. Headlam, William Booth, 1 Aberdeen
and Isabel Aberdeen, Acton, E. W. Hamilton,
Evelyn de Vesci, Tweedmouth, Hugh Currie,
G. Armitstead, Sarah Spencer, Randall Winton,
Arthur, Hugh, and E. F. Benson, Arnold
Morley, Laurence Currie, A. G. Asaph, Harry
and Neil Primrose, Arthur Blomfield, E. T.
Cook, Breadalbane and Alma Breadalbane,
George H. Murray, Northbourne, A. J. Balfour,
H. J. Tennant, Ripon and H. Ripon, Walter
Phillimore, Crewe, Halifax, Wenlock, George
Wyndham, John Sinclair, J. M. Carmichael,
Spencer and Charlotte Spencer, J. M. C. Crum,
Mary Crum, Lucy Graham Smith, etc.- -with
a full accompaniment of Lyttelton and Glad
stone and Miss Phillimore, who devoted herself
absolutely to ministering to Mrs. Gladstone,
specially the last two years.

1 The General of the Salvation Army.

REMINISCENCES 277

And near by, at Saighton and Eaton, were the
delightful George Wyndham, Lady Grosvenor,
the Westminsters.

In 1895, the last voyage in the Tantallon
Castle-, in 1896, the last speech at Liverpool,
pleading with all the passion of his most
vigorous days for Armenia ; in 1897, the final
visit to London for the marriage of Princess
Maud, when Lord Rosebery remarked on the
intense, almost dramatic interest attached
to the three historic figures- -Queen Victoria,
Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone all three having lived
almost throughout the nineteenth century. In
September 1897, their last visit to Scotland,
and in November was their last journey to the
Riviera the Aberdeens, the Actons, Mr. Armit-
stead, Lord and Lady Rendel, who shall say
which of these was the chiefest friend and bene
factor ? But it was the last among these that
received them, welcomed them so lovingly in
the sad winter months of 1897-98, when the
pain and distress of his final illness was gradu
ally undermining his health and strength. It
was in the beautiful chateau at Cannes that
Lord and Lady Rendel sheltered them. In 1890
their son Harry had married Maud, the daughter
of Lord Rendel, and no words could fitly de
scribe the devoted love they lavished both upon
Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone. From Cannes they
went to Bournemouth in February 1898.

278 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

On March 18, while at Bournemouth, Mr.
Gladstone learnt that his life was likely to end
in a few weeks. The verdict he received with
serenity and a deep sense of thankfulness.
On leaving Bournemouth for Hawarden, just
as he entered the train, he paused and, turning
to those who were seeing him off, with quiet
gravity he said, " God bless you, and this place,
and the land you love.

Of Mrs. Gladstone s inner life, this book tries
to give a few glimpses. Of the sorrows and
losses inevitable in so long a period of time,
there were three that cut her to the very quick

-the death of the child already inentioned-
the death of her sister in August 1857- -the
death of her eldest son in 1891. Other sorrows
there were, the loss of brothers, parents,
relations, friends. But these three were
different not only in degree but in kind. One
of the Lyttelton twelve, 1 then a boy of thirteen,
to this hour remembers the strange, wistful,
almost hungry look in her eyes as she gazed and
gazed in his face, striving to recognise in him
some image of his mother- -a look that im
pressed, haunted, yet baffled him, significant
of an emotion too deep and too poignant for
him to fathom.

It was no ordinary link that bound these

1 Albert Victor.

[Nutria Blanc Fils

MR. AND MRS. GLADSTONE AT CANNES

1898

REMINISCENCES 279

two sisters. Of Mary it was once said that
always " she made a sunshine in a shady
place." 1 On entering a room it was impossible
not to be aware of her presence, such light
and sweetness did it bring to the atmosphere.
Possibly something of the beauty of her
disposition, the high sense of honour and of
duty, the capacity for love and sacrifice, may
be guessed from the lives and characters of
her children, reflected indeed in the Lyttelton
twelve.

As we have already seen, these two sisters
were one in thought and mind, and the
rending asunder of the one from the other
signified a wound that no time would heal.
" Oh, if I were to see you in this state,
said the dying sister, as she gazed at
Catherine with infinite love and longing, " /
think it would break my heart* And again,
" I cannot possibly imagine you on earth
without me. :

It was soon after the birth of Alfred, the
youngest of the twelve, that Mary s health began
to fail, and for many weeks Catherine was at
Hagley, taking a large share in the nursing-
there were no professional nurses in those
days. In her own words, written at the time :
; After receiving the Holy Communion her
calmness was extraordinary, and she even

1 Spenser s Faerie Quesr/e.

280 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

said to me she would not wish to come back
again.

O Lord, my God, do Thou Thy Holy Will.
I will lie still.

All discomposure and anxiety had left her.
The Blessed Sacrament was life and sus
tenance, carrying her through the dark Valley
of the Shadow of Death. She had left all her
cares to Him who careth for her."

The peace and beauty of the last days, the
little traits of fun that carried her through the
suffering, the gratitude, and almost enjoyment
of any little alleviation, the look of fulfilment
on her face after death, lifted the infinite
sense of love and loss, on the part of those
that watched and mourned, to the highest
spiritual level. And the maiming and crush
ing of her heart brought out special sweetness
and endurance in the sister who was left. But
there is no doubt it was one of those heart-
searching sorrows from which there is, in this
world, no real recovery. Pain lives with us
and becomes part and parcel of our being ; we
grow accustomed to its burden and its sting.
But this in no way signifies the healing of the
wound, and with Mrs. Gladstone it was life
long. Many, many years later she wrote to
her daughter, describing the pain she had to
endure while a friend, sitting by her side at
a dinner-party, persisted in speaking of Lady

REMINISCENCES 281

Lyttelton, questioning her of her sister and
how she could not bear it.

It is sometimes thought that old age brings
gradual immunity from suffering, that its
edge is blunted, that the feeling of loss is
blurred. This may be so, but it was by no
means the case with Mrs. Gladstone in 1891.
From the moment her son became ill in 1890,
" she went heavily as one that mourneth. :
Anyone would feel she was changed, that she
carried a heart sorely wounded ; the buoyancy
was gone, brave though she might be in trying
to hide her sorrow.

Some time after his death, her daughter one
day discovered some photographs of him in.
a drawer in her mother s room. She asked
leave to take them away and get them framed
and placed on her writing-table. " You will
think me such a coward, she said, with an
inexpressible look of pain, " but I keep them
hidden on purpose, because I have not the
courage to look at them. :

The death of her husband was so different ;
it did not seem to part them she felt him so
near to her.

CHAPTER IX
VIA CRVC1SV1A LUC IS

IT is hardly possible to convey any
accurate idea of the great ocean of
sympathy and loving - kindness that
flowed in from every part of the world during
those last weeks thousands, even millions,
seemed to watch round his death-bed.

From every rank in social life came
outpourings in every key of reverence and
admiration. People seemed as is the way
when death comes to see his life and
character as a whole, and to gather up in
his personality, thus transfigured ... all the
best hopes and aspirations of their own
highest moments. 511 *

It was a time of great suffering, but it was a
time of great glory. It was a way of sorrows,
but it was a way of victory. And all through
those weeks she was near him, cheering, fortify
ing, sweetening the atmosphere* She herself
was not well, but all through his illness her
spirit rose to a high plane of self -forget fulness,

1 Lord Morley.

282

VIA CRUCISVIA LUCIS 283

V

and she devoted herself absolutely to soothe and
minimise his pain.

Among the many scenes of pathetic interest,
the farewell visits of those dear to him, there
is one that none could ever forget who wit
nessed it. The cherished boy who bore his
name, and who seventeen years later was,
on the field of battle, to consecrate it anew,
came down to the Castle to receive the farewell
blessing.

Will was then an Eton boy of thirteen.
By his father s death seven years earlier he had
become heir to Ha warden. Mrs. Gladstone
was seated close to her husband. With a
gesture of infinite tenderness she drew him into
her arms, and holding him close she gathered
up all her strength, physical and mental ; she
spoke to him in the most wonderful way of
his father and his mother, and the love he bore
them ; she spoke of the past and of all that had
been suffered and sacrificed for Ha warden by
his grandfather ; she spoke of the future
and of his own great duties as owner of the
estate, of his responsibilities, of the great
example he was to follow. With her dying
husband hardly conscious by her side, she
poured out to the boy, who listened so intently,
her love for him, her hope for him, her belief
in him. . . .

In May came some of his nearest friends and

284 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

relations. Lord Rosebery came ; Mr. Morley
came ; Lady Stepney and her daughter ;
George Russell and H. S. Holland ; Bishop
Wilkinson to administer the Holy Communion.
Mrs. Benson came ; her words written to one
of her sons gives her own vivid impression.

HA^-ARDEN CASTLE, May i, iJ

" We have had a wonderful time. Mrs.
Gladstone, though older, more worn, has just
begun to realise that he cannot recover. She
wept when she told me this, but she was full
of other people as usual very full of us, and
of the last time she had seen me here.

" It is most pitiful, but also magnificent. . . .
He is cast down and depressed, and suffers
sadly at times. . . . His faith has never failed,
and it is his uselessness which seems to weigh
on his mind. . . . They hope he sleeps a good
deal. Mrs. Wickham said he seems com
muning with God and from time to time he
breaks out into his favourite hymn, Praise
to the holiest in the height (on]y he likes
best to say 6 highest ). He blesses everyone
who comes near him.

" The evening drew on and I had not seen
him, when suddenly Mary Drew came to me
and said, c Come quickly. I have told him
you were here, and he says he will see you at
once but, he said, I can t talk. We ran to

VIA CRll CISVIA LUCIS 285

his room. It was very dark- -he always will
have it so and in the middle with his back
to the light he lay in a long chair; the dim
light fell on his splendid head.

" I knelt by him and took his hand. M. D.
said, Here is Mrs. Benson. He took my hand
and kissed it, and said, God bless you. Will
you give me your prayers ? : I said how he
always had them how I prayed continuously
for him. Nobody, he said, needs your
prayers more than the poor sinner who lies
here before you. This rang out in his magni
ficent voice no alteration in that ; then he
went on, I often think of your husband ;
perhaps he pities me now. I said, He loves
you now as he did always, and I kissed
his hand which was still holding mine. He
blessed me again and I came away. You
will know all it was sight and sound and
words. . . .

Their kindness and thought and tender
ness are indescribable. I saw her again
yesterday, and thanked her as well as I could.
They tell me that what helps him most is
anything that is said of his in any way helping
the world. I am sure if the world saw what
I did they could be helped indeed. . . .
God give him his release soon. :

There is no need to describe here the very last

286 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

sacred days and hours. They are written
large on the hearts of men.

With his wife and children all around, in

the early morning of Ascension Day, without a

pang, he ceased to breathe. " Nature outside

-wood and wide lawn, and cloudless, far-off

sky- -shone at her fairest. 1

Mrs. Gladstone, exhausted with the long
watching, half an hour later, quiet and beauti
ful as of old, fell into dreamless sleep. I still
see her in the last historic scenes of her life
on every great occasion, with undiminished
spirit, she rose to the call. Two scenes in
particular abide in the memory.

On May 22, a fatal accident occurred in
one of the Estate Collieries. Mrs. Gladstone,
herself widowed only two days earlier, at once
went to the cottage, and after speaking to the
dead collier s wife in words of tenderest under
standing and sympathy, she knelt down on the
floor beside her, and prayed aloud a spontaneous,
extempore prayer, a humble intercession ex
pressed in the simplest words.

A few days later, early in the morning, Mrs.
Gladstone received the Holy Communion in
Hawarden Church, as the coffin, under its white
pall, lay before the Altar. After the service
we drove in an open carriage in the funeral
procession, through the Park, with its glory
of spring blossoms, and its black masses of

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people, thousands and thousands, from Man
chester and Liverpool and other manufacturing
towns. Like another great lady l twelve years
later, she forgot everything but the thought of
giving pleasure to the people, as she bowed
from side to side all the way to the station.

As she entered the great west door of the
Abbey, the vast concourse of people, seated
tier above tier on each side of the nave, spon
taneously rose as she walked slowly up the
centre. " She went in like a widow, she came
out like a bride " so did the whole ceremony
uplift and inspire her. The scene at the grave
was indeed memorable. As the last solemn
strains of the Dead March were dying away-
Mrs. Gladstone, a noble and pathetic figure,
by the open grave, gazing down upon the coffin
of her husband- -the Prince of Wales, afterwards
King Edward vn., was seen to approach.
Bending down, he reverently kissed her hand ;
his example was followed by the other pall
bearers Prince George (now King), Lord
Salisbury, Lord Rosebery, Mr. Balfour, the
Duke of Rutland, Lord Spencer, Lord Kimber-
ley, Sir William Harcourt, Lord Rendel, Mr.
Armitstead, and Lord Pembroke (who repre
sented Queen Victoria). To each one of them,
as they bent down, she spoke some appropriate

1 Queen Alexandra.

288 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

word, showing far more self-control than any of
these deeply moved friends.

" The congregation that filled the Abbey, the
simplicity of dress, the unostentation of the
ceremonial, resembled the funeral of a village
hero, in his own parish church. Only the
parish was the Empire,, and the mourners were
the representatives and rulers of the world.
The most beautiful sight was the loving wife,
who for sixty years had ministered to the dead
man. Her sweet, patient, hopeful face was a
homily and a solace to all who saw it. :

And another wrote : "It was all so beautiful
and moving- -your darling mother thanking
the pall-bearershow wonderful she was.
The most touching thing of all was when she
walked down the nave, leaning on the arms
of her two sons, and as she passed she smiled
at the faces she knew everybody cried at this

-her being able so to forget herself, and re
member others in the most crushing moment
of her life." 1

Then there is Lord Morley s unforgettable
description of the mourning nations- -France,
America, Russia, Italy, Greece, Norway,
Denmark, the Balkan Provinces nations
that had struggled or were struggling to be
free: "It was not at Westminster only that his

1 Charlotte Ribblesdale.

VIA CRUCISVIA LUCIS 289

praise went forth famous men have the world
for their tomb in foreign lands a memorial
of them is graven on the hearts of men. No
other statesman on our famous roll has touched
the imagination of so wide a world. . . . :

Before she returned to Hawarden, Lord Rose-
bery came to her, bringing his two boys to be
blessed by her. Only two years of loneliness
were to pass. She left London the same day
it was typical of her unself-consciousness
that she never looked at a paper, never once
asked that the account of the historic scenes
should be read to her. She lived her quiet life,
physically and mentally, very gradually failing.
Only once did she leave Hawarden again, tak
ing a house at Penmaenmawr in the autumn
of 1898, and paying a farewell visit to Penrhyn
Castle. On October 5, 1899, the Duke of
Westminster, in her presence, laid the first stone
of St. DeinioPs Library it was part of the
Nation s memorial to Mr. Gladstone. Mrs.
Gladstone, the previous day, had cut the first
sod. Thus were these two lifelong friends
together in their last public act. Their inter
course had at one time been shadowed by
political differences. But in the end they
were associated in a ceremony, the object of
which was homage to Mr. Gladstone. The
Duke only lived a few more weeks. She
19

290 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

survived him by six months. She was chiefly
in the company those last two years of her
daughters and daughters-in-law, her nieces,
and most intimate friends ; and the frequent
presence of her sons and grandchildren threw
light and joy on the path she now trod alone.
She much preferred men to women, and would
often have felt a sense of boredom had not
others made special journeys to see her
Lord Rosebery, H. S. Holland, Sir Arthur
Godley, George Russell. This tenderness of
thought for her on the part of the younger
generation greatly cheered and pleased her.
Hardly a day passed, after May 1898, without
bringing her a word from George Russell. He
loved her as a son, and never lost a chance of
cheering or amusing her with some little word
he had heard or read, or something he had
seen, concerning her husband. As has been
already said she appeared to have a sense of
his nearness, almost a sense of his presence
seemed to be granted to her, and there was
little feeling of severance during the two
years that separated them. The books she
loved best were the Biographies written by
Mr. Justin M Carthy and Sir T. Wemyss
Reid. These were read to her over and over
again, and the sermons on Mr. Gladstone by
her two sons-in-law, the Dean of Lincoln
and Harry Drew ; Edward Talbot and Arthur

VIA CRUCISVIA LUCIS 291

Lyttelton, her nephews, and H. S. Holland,
were rivers of refreshment to her.

The ministrations of the Rector, her eldest
surviving son, the presence of the wife and
children of her loved eldest son, who after the
death of Mr. Gladstone took up their residence
at the Castle, all this tended to vary and
brighten the days of waiting. Many charming
" Sayings of the Children " * might enliven these
pages. But the shadows are now lengthening,
and her life draws near to its close. With her
unconquerable will and her vitality of spirit, it
was hard through increasing weakness to drop,
one by one, her activities, her responsibilities,
her businesses. There comes a time in most
lives, where the father and mother live long,
when the relation between parents and children
becomes, in some measure, reversed. With
him it had been not only an easy task, but
one that had called forth his deepest gratitude,
to hand over his possessions, to leave his affairs
and even his indomitable will in the hands of his
children, and especially in those of Harry, his
most trusted son. But to her it was difficult
to give in, to give up. She still struggled to
fulfil her accustomed duties, the little minis
trations that she loved to bestow on all that
needed them. It was the habit of her life.
To the end she strove to write letters.

1 By Pamela Glenconner.

292 CATHERINE GLADSTONE

We will not dwell on the last of her days
on earth. It is life, not death, that matters.
Gradually she became less and less conscious
of the world there was little or no suffering,
and on the afternoon of June 14, the eager
spirit passed, without struggle, to its rest. . . .

"I desire to be buried" Mr. Gladstone had
written "where my wife may also lie.

And so it came to pass that burial in the
great Abbey, by the side of her husband, was
granted to her. No one who was present on
the early morning of June 19 will forget the
Service at St. Faith s. The coffin had been
brought from Hawarden to Westminster Abbey
on the preceding day. It had rested in the
Chapel of St. Faith s during the night, with its
white pall and burning tapers and the flowers
that she loved ; the Cross at its head, the
kneeling Sisters, who had watched all night,
the solemn Requiem. . . .

A few hours later, with the same solemn
service, the same glorious music, the same
mourners- -family , children and grandchildren,
friends, statesmen, and many others, high and
low, rich and poor we stood once more around
that same open grave, and to many the thought
must have occurred that this was more a
wedding than a funeral.

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death they were not divided."

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INDEX

Aberdeen, Lord and Lady, 215, 259,

277.

Aboyne, Lord, n.
Acland, Sir Henry, letter from, 161.
Acton, Lady, 109, 277.
Acton, Lord, 229, 264, 268, 269,

277 ; his estimate of Gladstone s

oratory, 232 ; quoted, 263 ; Letters

quoted, 241 n.

Afghan Boundary dispute, 171.
Ailsa, Lady, 177 and n. I.
Alexander, Bp. , quoted, 155-6.
Alfred, Prince, 68.
Alice, Princess, 66, 94.
Alix of Hesse (Empress of Russia),

100, 191.

Anson, Gen., 143.
Argyll, Duchess of, death of, 175-6.
Argyll, Duke of, letters from, 148,

176, 193.
Armitstead, Mr., 115 and n. I, 269,

277.
Asquith, Mrs. (Margot Tennant),

letter from, 191.
A t Sundry Times , 114-15.
Audley End, 5, 15.

Balfour, A. J., 86, 257 ; Gladstone s
affection for, 238 ; at Hawarden,

273-
Barnard, Sir H., 144.

Bathurst, Lord, 16.

Battersea, Lord and Lady, 101.

Bellairs, Miss Eleanor, 115.

Belvoir Castle, 69.

Benson, Abp., letter from, 166 ;

death of, 167 ., 192-3, 274.
Benson, Mrs., 199 ; letter on Mrs.

Gladstone s last illness, 284-5.
Blucher, 129.
Books read, 36-7, 43-4.
Brabazon, Lady, 28, 38.
Braybrooke, Lord, 89.
Bright, Jacob, 224-5.
Bright, John, letter from, 175.

Brooke family, 15, 31.
Brownlow, Lady, 106.
Bryce, Lord, letter from, 164.

Cambridge, Duke of, 104 ; friend
ship with Mrs. Gladstone, 14.

Canning, Lady, letter from, 140.

Canning, Lord, 20, 65, 139, 144-6.

Carlisle, Lady, 132.

Carlton House Terrace, 38, 254-5.

Carnot, President, 260-1.

Catherine Gladstone Home, The,

^ 246-7.

Cattle plague anecdote, 251.

Cavendish, Lady (Lady Frederick),
204, 226 and n. , 247, 254, 267 ;
letter to, 76.

Cavendish, Lord Frederick, 79,
254 ; murder of, 165-6, 238.

Chamberlain, Joseph, 260, 267 ;
cited, 63.

Chaplin, H., 159-60.

Charitable undertakings, 243-4,
246, 248.

Chatham, Lady, 5.

Chess, 37.

Childers, H., 104.

Cholera epidemic, I, 247.

Church in its relation to the State,
The, 7, 22, 45, 63.

Churchill, Lord Randolph, 105.

Clark, Sir Andrew, 83, 237 and n.

Claughton, Bp., 104, 106.

Cobden, R., 132-3.

Cobham, Mary, Viscountess, 169.

Coleridge, J. T., 42.

Colonial Prime Ministers at Haw
arden, 274.

Cook and the Captain, The, 237.

Coutts, Angela Burdett, 137 and .

Cowper, Lady. See Palmerston.

Cowper, William, 153.

Currie, Sir Donald, 172^.

Dalhousie, Lord, 66.

295

296

INDEX

Dalmeny, 16-17.

de Falbe, Mme, 105.

de Rothesay, Lady Stuart, 1 1.

de Tabley, Lady, 44.

de Tabley, Lord, 20.

Delamere, Lady, letter of, 127-30.

Delane, J. T., letter from, 180.

Denison, Archdeacon, 137.

Derby, Lord, 127.

Disraeli, B., 125, 127.

Dollis Hill, 259-60.

d Orleans, Due, 10.

Douglas, Lord, 9-10 and n. I.

Downing Street party anecdote,

256-7.

Doyle, Sir Francis, 20, 33.
Dress fashions, 181-4.
Drew, Dorothy Mary Catherine,

115, 258, 261, 271 and n. 3.
Drew, Rev. Harry, 271 and n. 2.
Drew, Mary, letter of, to Lady F.

Cavendish, 76.

Dufferin, Lord, letter from, 185.
Durdans, The, in.

Edward, Prince (Eddy), 103; death

of, 113-14.

Ellen Mtddleton, 238.
Ellenborough, Lord, 145.
Escrich, 37.

Fasque, 34.

Frederick William iv., King of

Prussia, 45.
Frere, Sir Bartle, 104 and n.

Garibaldi, Gen., letter from, 151.

George, Prince, 189, 287.

Gladstone, Agnes, 66-9.

Gladstone, Catherine, ancestry of,
1-4 ; childhood and education,
5-9 ; in Paris, 9-12 ; home life,
13-15 ; in Scotland, 16-17 >
London gaieties, 17-18 ; in
Naples and Rome, 20-1 ; Mr.
Gladstone s first proposal, 22 ;
return to London, 24 ; engaged,
24-9 ; married, 30 ff. ; birth of
her eldest son, 41 ; death of her
child Catherine Jessy, 73-4, 278 ;
rescue work, 249-50 ; death of
her sister, 278-80 ; Lanes, cotton
famine, 95 ff. , 244 ; cholera epi
demic, I, 247 ; Pembroke Castle
trip (1883), 172 and n. ; visit to
Italy, 184 ; golden wedding, 187 ;

death of her eldest son, 278, 281 ;
specimen day of her old age, 244-
6 ; in her husband s last illness,
282-6; his funeral, 286-8; failing
health, 289 ff. ; death and funeral,
292 ; her affection for her sister, 18,
26, 36, 54 ; position in her home,
19 ; relations with her husband,
28, 68, 219, 230, 235-6, 265,. 268,
281 ; watchful care of him, 208,
221-2 ; book of extracts, 7-8 ;
record work of her children, 53-4 ;
appearance of, 18-19, 2O2 -

Gladstone, Harry, 92 and ., 277.

Gladstone, Helen, 29-30, 105, 271.

Gladstone, Herbert, 92 and n., 165,
271.

Gladstone, Jessy, 68, 72-4, 278.

Gladstone, Rev. Stephen, 68, 71 ;
letter from, quoted, 79.

Gladstone, W. E. meets the
Glynnes in Naples and Rome,
20-1 ; first proposal, 22 ; ac
cepted, 24 ; speech on the Corn
Laws, 46-7 ; as President of Board
of Trade, 48 ; shooting accident,
52, 136 ; enters the Cabinet, 58-9 ;
resigns on Maynooth grant, 62-6 ;
M.P. for Oxford (1847), 131 n. ;
European journey for a friend
(1849), 71-2 ; death of his child
(1850), 73; Chancellor of the
Exchequer (1853), 126, 137 ;
re-election, 137-8 ; the Budget
(1860), 147 ; political campaigns
Newcastle, Midlothian, etc.,
Ii6ff. ; Reform Bill (1866),
255-6; Prime Minister (1868),
151 ; political achievement, 81 ;
resignation (1875), 82 ff. ; second
time Premier (1880), 163 ; popular
sentiments towards, 164-5 ;
Bingley Hall speech (1888),
178-80 ; cataract, 261 ; old age,
272 ; at Cannes, 277 ; at Bourne
mouth, 277-8 ; fatal illness, 277,
278, 282 ff. ; death of, 195 ff.,
286 ; funeral, 286-9 > h* 8 orderly
habits, 28 ; domestic interests,
58 ; trustfulness, 209 ; estimate
of, 231 ff. ; his oratory, 232 ;
Millais portrait, 107 ; Biogra
phies, 230, 290 ; letter to Lord
Lyttelton quoted, 233-4 ; The
Cook and the Captain, 237 ; three
sleepness nights, 238.

INDEX

297

Gladstone, W. G. C., 283,
Gladstone, W. H., 41, 44, 5^, 63,

89 ; estimate of, as a boy, 71 ;

engagement of, 157 J death of,

278, 281.
Gladstone family, the, 25 ; home

life of, 263-5.
Glenconner, Lady, no and nn.,

291 n.

Glyn, George, 254.
Glyn, Sir John, 3.
Glynne, Lady (Mary Neville), 1-2,

4-5, 8-9> 33, 1 35 and n. 3.
Glynne, Henry (brother), 6, 12, 16,

29 ; marriage of, 59-60 ; death

of, 270.

Glynne, Mary. See Lyttelton, Lady.
Glynne, Sir Stephen (father), 1-3,

4, 26.
Glynne, Sir Stephen (brother), 6,

10 and n. 2, n, 35 ; death of,

155 n. t 270.
Glynnese Glossary, 23 n. I, 55> 2I1

and . I, 225.

Godley, Sir Arthur, 276, 290.
Gordon, Gen., 170.
Graham, Sir James, letter from, 147.
Granville, Lord, 102, 108 ; lunch-

cheon party to, 222-3.
Grenville, the Rev. and Hon. G. N.,
^6., 12, 31.
Grenville, Thomas, 12, 26, 44 and

n., 65 ; letter from, 130.
Grosvenor, Lady, no.
Grosvenor, Hugh, 169.
Guizotj 69.

Hagley, 15, 31, 59, 134.
Hamilton, Duchess of, 10.
Hamilton, Duke of, 20.
Harcourt, Abp., 26.
Harcourt, Col., 17 and n. 2.
Harcourt, Lord, quoted, 217.
Harcourt, Sir Wm., 197.
Harris, Lord, 20.
Harrison, Frederic, letter from,

194.

Harrington, Lord, 108, 203.
Hawarden Visitors Book, 276 ;

St. Deiniol s Library, 289.
Hawarden Estate, 3 ; colliery

accident, 286.
Hawarden parish, 12-13 > New

Church, 59.

Heathcote, Mr. and Mrs., 16.
Heber, Bishop, 8.

Herbert, Mrs., 147.

Herbert, Sidney, 91.

Hesse, Princesses of, 100, 191.

Holland, Rev. H. Scott, 276, 284,

290 ; quoted, 209 and n. I.
Home Rule split, 174 ff.
Hook, Dr., 59.
Hooker, Sir Joseph and Lady,

257.
Hope, A. J. B., 58-9.

Hunt, Holman, letter from, 169.
Indian Mutiny, the, 140 ff.
Jarnac, Mme, 69-70.

Keate, Dr., 43.

Kiel Harbour opening, 117.

Lancashire cotton famine, 95 ff.,

244.

Lawley, Jane, 29.
Lawrence, Sir H., 144.
Lefevre, J. Shaw-, 65.
Leinster, Lord, 177.
Leopold, Prince (Duke of Albany),

death of, 166.
Li Hung Chang, 273-4 ; letter from,

.193-
Liddon, Canon, letter from, 155.

Lincoln, Abraham, quoted, 256

and n.

Lister, Mr. and Mrs., 16.
Liszt, Abbe, 9.
Lloyd, Gen., 142.
Lovelace, Lady, quoted, 210-11.
Lyttelton, Dowager Lady, 61, 62,

88 and n. 3 ; letter from, 152.
Lyttelton, Lady, 6, 7, n, 14, 19,

42 ; engagement, 26 ; marriage,

30 ; children of, 54 ; at Hagley,

134; characteristics of, 18 ; death

of, 278-280.

Lyttelton (George), Lord, 26-7, 30.
Lyttelton, Albert Victor, 278 and n.
Lyttelton, Alfred, 169 and n. I, 279.
Lyttelton, Mrs. Alfred (Laura Ten-

nant), 172 and n. ; quoted, 220.
Lyttelton, Arthur, 107.
Lyttelton, Constance, 248-9.
Lyttelton, Katharine, quoted, 210.
Lyttelton, Lavinia (Lavinia Glynne),

59-60.

Lyttelton, Lucy, 88.
Lyttelton, Mary (niece), 212 and n.
Lyttelton, Meriel, 42, 44, 88.

298

INDEX

Macaulay, Lord, 2.2.

Mahony, Pierce. See O Mahony.

Manning, Cardinal, 22, 42, 58-9,
6 1 ; letters from, 136, 187.

Marie Antoinette, 70.

Maynooth, 63-6.

Melbourne, Lord, 209.

Midlothian campaign, 164, 221-2.

Monsell, Mr., 249.

Morley, Lord, 263, 284, quoted, 63,
178-9, 231-2, 256, 268, 282,
288-9 ; letter from, 200 ; estimate
of his Life of W. E. Gladstone,
230 and n. I.

Morpeth, Lord, 132.

Napoleon s charger, 4.
Nebuchadnezzar, 226.
Neill, Brig.-Gen., 144.
Neville, Mrs. Chas., 89.
Neville, Grey, 89-90.
Neville, Henry, 89-90.
Neville, Mary. See Glynne.
Neville, Mirabel, 90 and n. 2.
Newcastle, Duke of, 20 ; letters

from, 138, 139.

Newman, Cardinal, letter from, 158.
Newnham College, 107.
Nicholas, Emperor of Russia, 61-2,

191.
Northcote, Sir Stafford, 65 and n. 3,

170; letters from, 137, 151.

O Mahony, The, letter from, 189.
Outram, Lady, 141-2.

Palmerston, Lady (Lady Cowper),

135 and n. 2 ; letter from, 153.
Parnell, C. S., 113 ; the divorce

case, 1 88.

Paul, Herbert, 113.
Peel, Arthur, 113.
Peel, Sir Robert, 42, 44, 51, 62-3,

69-70 ; the Corn Laws, 46-8 ;

his estimate of Gladstone, 50-1.
Pembroke, Lady, 106.
Pembroke Castle trip, 172.
Penrhyn, Gertrude, Lady, 60.
Perceval, Mr., 137-8.
Petz, 272.
Phillimore, Mr. 52.
Phillimore, Lucy, In Memoriam by,

cited, 242.

Phillimore, Sir R., 20, 172.
Phoenix Park murders, 165.
Platof, 129.

Primrose, Lady Peggy, in.
Primrose League anecdote, 115.
Prince Consort, 44, 92-3.
Princess Royal, 51, 99 ; letter from,

1 88.

Prison dullness anecdote, 205-7.
Public Worship Regulation Act,

154-6.
Pusey, Dr., letter from, 181.

Recollections of an Irish Judge, 56-7.

Reeve, Henry, quoted, 34.

Reid, Sir R. (Lord Loreburn), 154.

Rendel, Lord and Lady, 184, 277.

Rescue work, 249-50.

Ribblesdale, Lady, 220.

Ribblesdale, Lord, 205.

Richmond, Sir Wm., letters from,
192, 196, 198.

Ripon, Lord, 49, 50.

Robert Elsmere, 109.

Roberts, Sir F. (Earl Roberts), 103-
104.

Rogers, Samuel, 24, 26 ; enter
taining the Church, 57 ; letter
froin, 136.

Rosebery, Lord and Lady, 16, 17.

Rosebery, Lady, death of, 111-12.

Rosebery, Lord, 259, 276, 284,
289, 290; cited, 221, 277.

Ruskin, John, 161-3.

Russell, George W. E., 276, 284,
290 ; letters from, 171, 174 ; cited,

237. .
Russell, Lord and Lady John, 46,

87-8.
Ryan, Sir Charles, 221.

Saighton, no.

St. Leonards dancing incident, 211.

Sandringham, 102 ff.

Schluter, Auguste, letter from, 216.

Selwyn, Bishop, 42-3.

Sheil, Irish orator, 56.

Spencer, Lady Sarah, 260.

Stanley, Lord, 45, 49, 56.

Stanley, Lady Mary (Lady Mary

Grosvenor), 160 and n.
Stanmore, Lord (Sir Arthur Gordon),

letter from, 172.
Stepney, Lady, 284.
Stuart, Prof., 113.
Stuart, Gertrude, 157.
Sutherland, Duchess of, 45, 89 n. I,

99-
Swansea, 1 1 6.

INDEX

299

Talbot, Gilbert, 273 and n.
Talbot, Mrs. E. S. (Lavinia

Lyttelton), 211-13.
Tantallon Castle, 258, 277.
Tennant, Laura. See Lyttelton,

Mrs. Alfred.

Tennant, Margot. See Asquith, Mrs.
Tennyson, Lord, 99, 150, 177;

letters from, 159, 181 ; home life

of, 263.

Tennyson, Hallam, 159-60.
Thirlwall, Bishop, 26.
Times, The, 108-9.
To Two Sister Brides, quoted, 33.

Victoria, Queen, visits Hawarden,
14; coronation of, 17; friendli
ness with Mrs. Gladstone, 41, 58,
66, 68, 88 ; sentiments towards
Mr. Gladstone, 93 ; family life,
62 ; death of the Prince Consort,
93-5 ; interest in Lancashire
cotton famine, 96 ; letters from,
157, 7.66, 189.

Wales, Prince of (Edward vn.), 51,
66-8, 71, 105 ; illness (i 871), 99;
at Duke of Albany s funeral, 167 ;
letter from, 168 ; at Hawarden,

275 ; at Mr. Gladstone s funeral,
287.

Wales, Prince of (present), 52.

Wales, Princess of (Queen Alex
andra), 99 ; entertains the Glad
stones at Sandringham, 102, 107 ;
visits Hawarden, 275 ; letters
from, 191, 195, 275.

Warren, Margaret Leicester, 264.

Watts, G. F. , letter from, 190.

Wedding-ring incident, 221.

Wellington, Duke of, 41, 42, 45, 50,
6 1 ; desire to resign his com
mission, 51.

Wenlock, Lady, 9.

Wenlock, Lord, 17.

Westminster, Duke of, 289 ; letters
from, 160, 165, 169, 177.

W T ickham, Rev. E. C., 270-1.

Wickham, W. C., 213-14.

Wilberforce, Bishop Samuel, letters
from, 153-4.

Wilkinson, Bishop, 284.

Woodford journey anecdote, 207.

Woolner, Thos., letter from, 150.

Wyndham, George, noandw. 1,277.

Wyndham, Percy, lioandw. 3.

Wynn, Sir Watkin, 30.

Zouche, Lord, 20.

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