Is this to be the last day of Gladstone’s life in the House of Commons?  It is very pathetic to think of the aged man making his last great display almost in opposition to the convictions of his whole life.  I hope that he will acquit himself well and nobly, and then it does not much matter whether or no he dies like Lord Chatham a few days afterwards.  It seems to me that his Ministry have not done badly during the last fortnight.  They have, to a great extent, removed the impression they had created in England that they were the friends of disorder.  Do you know, I cannot help feeling I have more of the Liberal element in me than of the Conservative?  This rivalry between the parties, each surprising the other by their liberality, has done a great deal of good to the people of England.

Headington hill, near Oxford, July 30th, 1893.

My dear Margaret, Did you ever read these lines?—­

    ’Tis said that marriages are made above—­
    It may be so, some few, perhaps, for love. 
    But from the smell of sulphur I should say
    They must be making matches here all day.

(Orpheus returning from the lower world in a farce called “The
Olympic Devils,” which used to be played when I was young.)

Miss Nightingale talks to me of “the feelings usually called love,” but then she is a heroine, perhaps a goddess.

This love-making is a very serious business, though society makes fun of it, perhaps to test the truth and earnestness of the lovers.

Dear, I am an old man, what the poet calls “on the threshold of old age” (Homer), and I am not very romantic or sentimental about such things, but I would do anything I could to save any one who cares for me from making a mistake.

I think that you are quite right in not running the risk without a modest abode in the country.

The real doubt about the affair is the family; will you consider this and talk it over with your mother?  The other day you were at a masqued ball, as you told me—­a few months hence you will have, or rather may be having, the care of five children, with all the ailments and miseries and disagreeables of children (unlike the children of some of your friends) and not your own, although you will have to be a mother to them, and this state of things will last during the greatest part of your life.  Is not the contrast more than human nature can endure?  I know that it is, as you said, a nobler manner of living, but are you equal to such a struggle.  If you are, I can only say, “God bless you, you are a brave girl.”  But I would not have you disguise from yourself the nature of the trial.  It is not possible to be a leader of fashion and to do your duty to the five children.

On the other hand, you have at your feet a man of outstanding ability and high character, and who has attained an extraordinary position—­far better than any aristocratic lath or hop-pole; and you can render him the most material help by your abilities and knowledge of the world.  Society will be gracious to you because you are a grata persona, and everybody will wish you well because you have made the sacrifice.  You may lead a much higher life if you are yourself equal to it.