The family and others near the grave kneeled
during the concluding ceremonies, and then Mrs. Gladstone was helped
from her knees to her unoccupied chair at the head of the grave.
After the benediction came one of the saddest moments of the day. Mrs.
Gladstone stood, with great courage and composure, throughout the
service, supported on the arms of her two sons, Herbert and Stephen, and
with other members of her family near the grave. Her face was lifted
upward, and her lips were moving as though repeating the lines of the
service. She also kept standing during the one official feature of the
service; "The Proclamation by Garter, by Norroy, King of Arms, of the
Style of the Deceased," as the official programme had it, and in which
the various offices which Mr. Gladstone had held in his lifetime, were
enumerated. Then, when the final word was spoken, the widow, still
supported by her sons, approached the edge of the grave and there took a
last, long look and was conducted away. Other relatives followed, and
then most of the members of Parliament. Finally the Prince of Wales, the
Duke of York and other pall-bearers defiled past the grave, took a last
view of the coffin in the deep grave, and when they had been escorted
down the nave to entrance, the people slowly departed.
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