3-086-320 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Death of Mr. Gladstone: in the Temple of Peace, Hawarden - villagers paying a last visit to their distinguished neighbour, 1898. 'Sketch by our Special Artist, Mr. Melton Prior. It was felt that the neighbours, and no doubt many from a distance, who could not take their farewell in Westminster Hall, would desire to look for the last time upon Mr. Gladstone's face, so the family, with characteristic thoughtfulness, arranged that the honoured remains should lie in state in the "Temple of Peace," as the dead statesman affectionately called his Hawarden study. Accordingly, on Tuesday, May 24, Mr. Gladstone's body was removed to the library, and laid on a couch draped in white satin. The body was in evening dress, over which fell the crimson robes of an Oxford Doctor of Civil Law. By the side lay his College cap. Above the head, on an embroidered drapery, appeared the words, "Requiescat in pace." The face, though slightly diminished, wore an expression of beauty and power. The features were profoundly peaceful'. British prime minister William Ewart Gladstone's 'country seat' was Hawarden Castle, near the village of Hawarden in Flintshire, Wales. From "Illustrated London News", 1898.