The only absentee was little
Dorothy Drew, who tearfully complained that her grandfather did not know
her. Behind the family circle stood the physicians and the nurses, and
the old coachman, who had been unable to be present when the other
servants took their farewell, and who was now sent for to witness the
closing scene.
The end was most peaceful. There were no signs of bodily pain or of
mental distress. The Rev. Stephen Gladstone read prayers and repeated
hymns. The nurse continued to bathe with spirits the brow of the
patient, who showed gratitude by murmuring, "How nice!" While the son
was engaged in praying, came the gentle, almost perceptible cessation of
life, and the great man was no more. So quietly had he breathed his
last, that the family did not know it until it was announced by the
medical attendants. The weeping family then filed slowly from the room,
Mrs. Gladstone was led into another room and induced to lie down. The
only spoken evidence that Mr. Gladstone realized his surroundings in his
last moments was when his son recited the litany. Then the dying man
murmured, "Amen." This was the last word spoken by Mr. Gladstone and was
uttered just before he died.
The death of Mr.
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