ded, though
this brevity will give the reader little idea of the pre-occupations
with which they beset a not inconsiderable proportion of Mr. Gladstone's
days. A few sentences in a biography many a time mean long chapters in a
life, and what looked like an incident turns out to be an epoch.

Sir Stephen Glynne possessed a small property in Staffordshire of
something less than a hundred acres of land, named the Oak Farm, near
Stourbridge, and under these acres were valuable seams of coal and
ironstone. For this he refused an offer of five-and-thirty thousand
pounds in 1835, and under the advice of an energetic and sanguine agent
proceeded to its rapid development. On the double marriage in 1839, Sir
Stephen associated his two brothers-in-law with himself to the modest
extent of one-tenth share each in an enterprise that seemed of high
prospective value. Their interests were acquired through their wives,
and it is to be presumed that they had no opportunity of making a
personal examination of the concern. The adventurous agent, now
manager-in-chief of the business, rapidly extended operations, setting
up furnaces, forges, rolling-mills, and all the machinery for producing
tools and hardware for which he foresaw a roaring foreign market. The
agent's confidence and enthusiasm mastered his principal, and large
capital was raised solely on the security of the Hawarden fortune and
credit. Whether Oak Farm was irrationally inflated or not, we cannot
say, though the impression is that it had the material of a sound
property if carefully worked; but it was evidently pushed in excess of
its realisable capital. The whole basis of its credit was the Hawarden
estate, and a forced stoppage of Oak Farm would be the death-blow to
Hawarden. As early as 1844 clouds rose on the horizon. The position of
Sir Stephen Glynne had become seriously compromised, while under the
system of unlimited partnership the liability of his two brothers-in-law
extended in proportion. In 1845 the three brothers-in-law by agreement
retired, each retaining an equitable mortgage on the concern. Two years
later, one of our historic panics shook the money-market, and in its
course brought down Oak Farm.[203] A great accountant reported, a
meeting was held at Freshfield's, the company was found hopelessly
insolvent, and it was determined to wind up. The court directed a sale.
In April 1849, at Birmingham, Mr. Gladstone purchased the concern on
behalf of himself and