The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-06-22
THE DEATH OF A DISTINGUISHED
AND NOBLE WOMAN.

Mrs. Gladstone, the widow of the
greatest English statesman of this
century. is no more. she passed away
l~castle. The funeral will be held in
Westminster Abbey. She was a very
noble woman, of marked intelligence,
force and character, and was we'll
worthy TO have been the welded wife
of h illustrious man who preceded
her but a few years to the tomb. She
was devoted to him, and he TO her. In
history there is no account of a more
devoted man and wife among the dis
tinguished. She had superior accom-
lplishments, was noted for her person
al beauty, and had much distinction
lof n She married in 1889. An
account says that from that hour to
of wifely devotion, the constant COM
~panion, guardian, assistant, and ally
of the great leader, who owed no little
lof the health and vigor of his later
years to her incessant watchfulness
and care. She zealosly shielded him
from the petty frets and annoyances of
everyday life, relieved him largely
from domestic and social responsible
tiles, and was ever present to insist
upon observance of those healthful
precautions which left to himself, he
surely would have neglected. Her Wig
lilance was not relaxed even when she
herself was stricken heavily with the
Of unarS ISha Cnnnthad his
pathway in life, tended him upon his
|~deathbed, and followed him to the
side of his grave in Westminster Abb
hey" She lived as much as posi-
BILE in privacy, enjoyed her home and
the domestic felicities and knew nearly
every eminent Englishman of her long
life. She was benevolent, sympathetic,
pure, sweet, gracious. Only the other.
day We read of her, that "she is over
eighty, but her mind is as clear as
ever. The other day a friend saw a
letter from her written in the ~clearest
hand and beautifully phrased. She
has forgotten none of her friends
among the peasantry at Hawarden,
and has lost none of her sweet woman
lly DSu6NOlSuCS vi SOuISc Liz DIll-
|ish newspapers will W much to tell
of her, for she was most notable. What
interests us next to her having been
for nearly sixty years h wife of the
|purest and greatest statesman of u
time, is her own distinguished in
~Idividuality, her intellectual %superiorI-
|ty, her womanly, wifely purity and
goodness. We believe she was a wo-
man worthy to be held in everlasting
remembrance. Hon. 7. P. OConnor,
the gifted member of Parliament,
from Ireland, recently published some
"reminiscences of Mrs. Gladstone. The
following connot fail to interest:
Just after their marriage" says
Mr.. OConnor, Mr.. Gladstone, who
had already been minister, asked her,
shall I tell you nothing and you can
say anything, or shall 1 tell you every
thing and you say nothing? She
chose the latter, and he told her every
thing and she never told anything.
On the fiftieth anniversary of their
wedding Mr.. and Mrs. Gladstone went
to a reception at a friends house.
.O'Connor, Mr.. Gladstone went over
to his wife and, with an expression OF
and tenderness, took her
by the hand, as though she We're a lit
tie child that had to he reminded that
it "a time to go to bed, and led her
out of the room. 1t was a sight that
might we'll have brought tears"
'"These and other bear
fully the previous ccoun OF the
intense affection existing between the
great Liberal leader and his wife, and
also point to the fact that Mrs. Glad
stone exercised a more powerful pol1t-
ical influence over her husband tnan
generally credited"