Dear Michael,
Thanks for the thought. In its context in the story, the phrase seems
to mean "throw it all away", or "fail to support the man out there in the
field", which I assume is a reference to the failure of the Portuguese
government to support Major Serpa Pinto, who had carried out an incursion in
to what is now Nyasaland a year earlier, provoking the British government
into a naval demonstration off the Tagus, which in turn resulted in a
climb-down by Portugal..
In the British context, I suppose it's meant to refer to the Gladstone
government's failure to support Gordon in the Sudan, until it was too late,
thus throwing away the years of work done to 'civilise' the Sudan, and
leaving it to the Mahdi and his followers until 1898.
But I've never actually read the phrase "Oh, the fool, he's gladstoned
it" - or something like that - in contemporary British literature, or even
in 'Punch' (which is probably the most likely place to find it! But RK
makes Judson admit to knowing the phrase, or at least recognising its
provenance.
Yours,
Alastair Wilson
----- Original Message -----
From: "m healy" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, June 23, 2002 1:29 PM
Subject: Gladstone
It must be a misguided reference to a Gladstone bag.
Michael Healy
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