Did he expect, did he aspire to a place in Westminster Abbey? Was this a thought which was even cherished by him in heart? There has been some speculation on this point, in view of certain words in his will, making it essential that he should not be separated from his wife when his career and hers should come to an end in this world.
Let me give the answer of the interpretation of those who had known him best. He knew well that he had the devotion of ions of the people, and this he value! more than any outward semblance of honour. His funeral and his last resting-place were mere matters of feeling with him, wholly personal and domestic. He loved Hawarden, away from the immediate cares of the world, more absolutely—as a matter of inward feeling—than he loved Westminster. When he knew that his days were numbered his most ardent aspiration was to reach Hawarden and die there. There cannot be a doubt in the minds of those who enjoyed his private confidence that the thing which most harmonise ed with his thought was that he should and be buried in the home that he loved so dearly, and that his wife, when her time should come, should rest by his side, And we may venture to, conclude that if he did not insist upon a Hawarden tomb, it was because he would not leave a posthumous decree which should absolutel forbid the nation to take him at his death if it should be evident that the people set their hearts upon taking him into the nation's possession. But even for the nation and the people he would not forego the resolute ire that in death he and his beloved fe should not be parted. And the country has taken him at his word. The Government quickly and surely interpreted the feling of, the population, and to the nation will belong the tomb of its greatest Statesman and to the nation the prise of giving by-and-by a place by his side, in the Grand Old Abbey, for the partner of his life. He wasa Liberal and we have a Conservative Administration, but the Government has done well and in good spirit its part in this event. No token of judgment or good feeling has been lacking. Phere was no concession to the family or to the popular feeling which could be made that has been withheld. Parliaroent and Government, the nation and the Press, the pulpit and the platform have risen to the high demands of the occasion.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.