transcribed from the phillipson & golder edition by david price, ccx @pglaf.org the hawarden visitors' hand-book. _revised edition_. . chester: printed for the compiler by phillipson & golder, eastgate row. {w. gladstone. photographed by john moffat, edinburgh. : p .jpg} entered at stationers' hall. all rights reserved. note as to the illustrations. the views of the castle gate and of broughton lodge are taken from blocks kindly lent for the purpose of this publication by the proprietor of the _leisure hour_. and for the view of the house and flower-garden i am indebted to the courtesy of the proprietors of _harpers magazine_. w. h. g. regulations as to hawarden park and old castle. visitors are allowed to use the gravel drives through the park and wood between noon and sunset. persons exceeding this permission and not keeping to the carriage road will be deemed trespassers. the park is closed on good friday and whit-monday. dogs not admitted. _excursion parties can only be received by special permission_, _and not later in the year than the first monday in august_. _the house is in no case shown_. hawarden village and manor. hawarden, in flintshire, lies miles west of chester, at a height of feet, overlooking a large tract of cheshire and the estuary of the dee. it is now in direct communication with the railway world by the opening of the hawarden and wirral lines. it is also easily reached from sandycroft station, or from queen's ferry, ( . m.)--whence the church is plainly seen--or again from broughton hall station ( . m.). the glynne arms offers plain but comfortable accommodation. there are also some smaller hostelries, and a coffee house called "the welcome." the village consists of a single street, about half a mile in length. two crosses formerly stood in it; the upper and the lower, destroyed in . the site of the lower cross, at the eastern end, is marked by a lime tree planted in . here stood the parish stocks, long since perished. more durable, but grotesque in its affectation of grecian architecture, may be seen close by, the old house of correction. this spot is still called the cross tree. the fountain opposite the glynne arms is designed as a memorial of the golden wedding of the right hon. w. e. and mrs. gladstone. a little lower down is the new police office; and further on is the institute, containing mineralogical and other specimens, together with a good popular library. in doomsday book, hawarden appears as a lordship, with a church, two ploughlands--half of one belonging to the church--half an acre of meadow, a wood two leagues long and half a league broad. the whole was valued at shillings; yet on all this were but four villeyns, six boors, and four slaves: so low was the state of population. it was a chief manor, and the capital one of the hundred of atiscross, extending from the dee to the vale of clwyd, and forming part of cheshire. the name is variously spelt in the old records. in doomsday book it is haordine; elsewhere it is weorden or haweorden, harden, hawordin, hauwerthyn, hawardin and hawardine. it is pretty clearly derived from the welsh _din_ or _dinas_, castle on a hill (although some attribute to it a saxon derivation), and was no doubt, like the mound called truman's hill, west of the church, in the earliest times a british fortification. no welsh is spoken in hawarden. by the construction of offa's dyke about a.d. , stretching from the dee to the wye and passing westwards of hawarden, the place came into the kingdom of mercia, and at the time of the invasion from normandy is found in the possession of the gallant edwin. it would appear, however, from the following story, derived, according to willett's history of hawarden, from a saxon ms., that in the tenth century the welsh were in possession. "in the sixth year of the reign of conan, king of north wales, there was in the christian temple at a place called harden, in the kingdom of north wales, a roodloft, in which was placed an image of the virgin mary, with a very large cross, which was in the hands of the image, called holy rood. about this time there happened a very hot and dry summer; so dry that there was not grass for the cattle; upon which most of the inhabitants went and prayed to the image or holy rood, that it would cause it to rain, but to no purpose. among the rest, the lady trawst (whose husband's name was sytsylht, a nobleman and governor of harden castle) went to pray to the said holy rood, and she praying earnestly and long, the image or holy rood fell down upon her head and killed her; upon which a great uproar was raised, and it was concluded and resolved upon to try the said image for the murder of the said lady trawst, and a jury was summoned for this purpose, whose names were as follows:-- hincot of hancot, span of mancot, leech and leach, and cumberbeach. peet and pate, with corbin of the gate, milling and hughet, with gill and pughet." the jury--so continues the story--found the holy rood guilty of wilful murder, and the sentence was proposed that she should be hanged. this was opposed by span, who suggested that, as they wanted rain, it would be best to drown her. this, again, was objected to by corbin, who advised to lay her on the sands of the river and see what became of her. this was done, with the result that the image was carried by the tide to some low land near the wall of caerleon--(supposed to be chester)--where it was found by the cestrians drowned and dead, and by them buried at the gate where found, with this inscription:-- the jews their god did crucify, the hardeners theirs did drown, 'cos, with their wants she'd not comply, and lies under this cold stone. hence the said low land, or island, as it may have been, is supposed to have got the name of the rood-eye, or roodee as at present. after the conquest, hawarden was included in the vast grant made by william to his kinsman, hugh lupus, earl of chester, which included cheshire and all the seaboard as far as conway. the earl had his residence at chester, and there held his courts and parliament. his sword of dignity, referred to in the heading of common law indictments, is preserved in the british museum. among the earliest residents at hawarden occurs the name of roger fitzvalence, son of one of the conqueror's followers; subsequently it continued in the possession of the earls of chester till the death of ranulf de blundeville, the last earl, in , when, with castle rising and the 'earl's half' in coventry, it passed, through his sister mabel, to her descendants, the montalts. the barons de monte alto, sometimes styled de moaldis or mohaut (now mold, miles from hawarden, where the mound of the castle remains), were hereditary seneschals of chester and lords of mold. roger de montalt inherited hawarden, coventry, and castle rising, and married julian, daughter of roger de clifford, justiciary of chester and north wales, who was captured at the storming of the castle by llewelyn, in . robert de montalt the last lord, died childless { } in , when the barony became extinct. he it was who signed the celebrated letter to the pope in as dominus de hawardyn. robert de montalt bequeathed his estates to isabella, queen of edward ii., and hawarden afterwards passed by exchange, in , to sir william de montacute, earl of salisbury. from that family it reverted in , by attainder, to the crown, and in was granted by henry iv. to his second son, thomas, duke of clarence. clarence dying without issue in , it reverted once more to the crown, but finally, in , passed to sir thomas stanley, comptroller of the household and afterwards lord stanley, whose son became the first earl of derby. in , henry vii. honoured hawarden with a visit, and made some residence here for the amusement of stag-hunting, but his primary motive was to soothe the earl (husband to margaret, the king's mother) after the ungrateful execution of his brother, sir william stanley. { a} hawarden remained in the possession of the stanleys for nearly years. william, the sixth earl, when advanced in years, surrendered the property to his son james, reserving to himself pounds a year, and retiring to a convenient house { b} near the dee, spent there the remainder of his life, and died in . james, distinguished for his learning and gallantry, warmly espoused the cause first of charles i. and afterwards that of his son. under his roof charles, when a fugitive, halted on his way from chester to denbigh, on sept. , . after the battle of worcester, in , james was taken prisoner, tried by court martial, and executed at bolton in the same year. in , the lordship of hawarden was purchased from the agents of sequestration by serjeant (afterwards chief justice) glynne; and in the sale was confirmed by charles, earl of derby. the glynnes are first heard of at glyn llivon, in carnarvonshire, in . they trace their descent, however, much further back, to cilmin droed dhu (cilmin of the black foot), who came into wales from the north of britain with his uncle mervyn, king of the isle of man, who married esyllt, heiress of conan, king of north wales, about a.d. . the territory allotted to him extended from carnarvon to beyond clynnog. edward llwyd was the first to assume the name of glynne, which his descendants continued till the male succession ended in john glynne, whose daughter and heiress, frances, married thomas wynne of bodnau, created a baronet in . his son, sir john, is said to have pulled down the old strong mansion of cilmin, and erected the present one. his son again, sir thomas, was created a peer of ireland for his services in the american war, whose descendant is the present lord newborough. the father of the serjeant was sir william glynne, knight, st in descent from cilmin droed dhu. the serjeant early espoused the cause of the popular party, perhaps rather from ambition than from principle. his abilities were soon recognized, and while still young he became high steward of westminster and recorder of london. in he was elected member for westminster as a strong presbyterian. he was actively concerned in conducting the charge against lord strafford. in he opposed in parliament cromwell's self-denying ordinance, and was thrown into prison. he found means, however, to get reconciled to cromwell in , and became one of his council and serjeant-at-law. in he became chamberlain of chester, and in the following year succeeded rolle as lord chief justice--which office he discharged with credit. { } in he was returned for carnarvonshire, and in the rump parliament he sat again for westminster. meanwhile he contrived to ingratiate himself with the opposite side, and in we find him assisting on horseback at the coronation of charles ii. he now resigned the chief justiceship, made himself very useful in settling legal difficulties consequent upon the usurpation, and became as loyal as any cavalier: the king, as a mark of his favour, { a} bestowing a baronetcy upon his son in . he possessed henley park, { b} in surrey, and an estate at bicester, in oxfordshire, (of which church, as well as ambrosden, he was patron) where the family resided. he died at his house in westminster in , and was buried in a vault beneath the altar of s. margaret's church. his son, sir william glynne, the first baronet, sat in parliament for woodstock, and died in . it was not till that the glynnes moved to hawarden, from bicester. an old stone records the building of a house in broadlane in . in sir john glynne, nephew of sir william, married honora conway, co-heiress with her sister catherine of the ravenscrofts of bretton and broadlane, an old family connected with hawarden for many generations. { c} this lady was the great great grand- daughter of sir kenelm digby, and with her one-half of the ravenscroft lands came into possession of the glynnes; the other half in bretton passing eventually to the grosvenors. she died in . in sir john built a new house at broadlane, which has since been the residence of the family. though not the founder of the _family_, sir john glynne may fairly be considered the founder of the _place_, and of the estate in its modern sense. though he sat for five parliaments for the borough of flint, he devoted himself largely to domestic concerns and to the improvement of his property by inclosure, drainage, and otherwise. the present beauty of the park is in a great measure due to his energy and foresight. upon the acquisition of broadlane hall, he at once took in hand the re-planting of the demesne, { } first in broadlane and about the old castle, and in on the bilberry hill. he also turned his attention to the developement of the minerals on the estate, and attempted the carriage of coals to chester by water. he died in . his grandson, sir s. r. glynne, married in the hon. mary neville, daughter of lord braybrooke and of catherine, sister to george, marquess of buckingham, and by her had four children: stephen, eighth and last baronet, born september , ; henry, rector of hawarden born september th, ; catherine, now mrs. gladstone, born january , ; and mary, afterwards lady lyttelton, born july , . he died in at the age of years, and of his children mrs. gladstone alone survives. sir stephen, the last baronet, died unmarried in , surviving his brother the rector only two years; and the lordship of the manor, together, by a family arrangement, with the estates, then devolved upon the present owner. {catherine gladstone. photographed by g. watmough webster, chester: p .jpg} the old castle. the ruins of hawarden castle occupy a lofty eminence, guarded on the s. by a steep ravine, and on the other sides by artificial banks and ditches, partly favoured by the formation of the ground. the space so occupied measures about yards in diameter. upon the summit stands the keep, towering some feet above the main ward, and some feet above the bottom of the ravine. "the place presents," says mr. g. t. clark, "in a remarkable degree the features of a well-known class of earthworks found both in england and in normandy. this kind of fortification by mound, bank and ditch was in use in the ninth, tenth, and even in the eleventh centuries, before masonry was general. { } the mound was crowned with a strong circular house of timber, such as in the bayeaux tapestry the soldiers are attempting to set on fire. the court below and the banks beyond the ditches were fenced with palisades and defences of that character." it was usual after the conquest to replace these old fortifications with the thick and massive masonry characteristic of norman architecture. hawarden, however, bears no marks of the norman style though the keep is unusually substantial. it appears, according to the best authorities, { } to be the work of one period, and that, probably, the close of the reign of henry iii. or the early part of that of edward i. hence roger fitzvalence, the first possessor after the conquest, and the montalts, who held it by seneschalship to hugh lupus, must have been content to allow the old defences to remain, as any masonry constructed by them could scarcely have been so entirely removed as to show no trace of the style prevalent at the time. the keep is circular, feet in diameter, and originally about feet high. the wall is feet thick at the base, and feet at the level of the rampart walk--dimensions of unusual solidity even at the norman period, and rare indeed in england under henry iii. or the edwards. the battlements have been replaced by a modern wall, but the junction with the old work may be readily detected. in the keep were two floors--the lower, no doubt, a store room without fire-place or seat--the upper a state room lighted from three recesses and entered from the portcullis chamber. next to this last is the chapel, or rather _sacrarium_, with a cinquefoil- headed doorway, and a small recess for a piscina, with a projecting bracket and fluted foot. against the west wall is a stone bench, and above it a rude squint through which the elevation of the host could be seen from the adjoining window recess. of the two windows, one is square, the other lancet-headed. the altar is modern. there is a mural gallery in the thickness of the wall running round nearly the whole circle of the keep, and with remarkably strong vaulting. descending from the keep and inclosing the space below, were two walls or curtains, as they are technically called. that on the n. side, feet thick and feet high, is still tolerably perfect, and within it lay the way between the keep and the main ward. of the south curtain only a fragment remains attached to the keep. the entrance to the court-yard--now the so-called bowling-green--was on the n. side. on the south side, on the first floor (the basement being probably a cellar), was the hall, feet high from its timber floor to the wall plate. two lofty windows remain and traces of a third, and between them are the plain chamfered corbel whence sprung the open roof. below the hall is seen a small _ambry_ or cupboard in the wall. outside the curtain on the east side, where the visitor ascends to the courtyard, are remains of a kitchen and other offices with apartments over, resting upon the scarp of the ditch. from the n.e. angle of the curtain projects a spur work protected by two curtains, one of which, feet thick and feet high, only remains, with a shouldered postern door opening on the scarp of the ditch at its junction with the main curtain. this spur work was the entrance to the castle, and contains a deep pit, now called the dungeon, and a barbican or sally-port beyond. the pit is feet deep and measures feet x feet across. it may possibly have served the double purpose of defence and of water supply--there being no other apparent source. in the footbridge across the pit may have been a trap-door, or other means for suddenly breaking communication in case of need. overhead probably lay the roadway for horsemen with a proper drawbridge. the thickness of the walls indicates their having been built to a considerable height, sufficient probably to form parapets masking the passage of the bridge. in the mound beyond, or counterscarp, was the gate-house and barbican, containing a curious fan-shaped chamber up a flight of steps. while the earth-works surrounding the castle are the oldest part of the fortifications--possibly, thinks mr. clark, of the tenth century--the dressed masonry and the different material of the barbican and dungeon- pit, together with some of the exterior offices, show them to be of somewhat later date than the main building. they have, in fact, as mr. clark remarks, more of an unfinished than a partially destroyed appearance. the squared and jointed stones, so easily removable and ready to hand, { } proved no doubt a tempting quarry to subsequent owners of hawarden, who perhaps shared the faults of a period when neither the architectural nor historical value of ancient remains was generally appreciated. it now remains to trace the history of the castle, so far as it is known to us. in a memorable conference took place within its walls between simon de montfort, earl of leicester, and llewelyn, prince of north wales, at which each promised to aid the other in promoting the execution of their respective plans. the king, who, with the prince of wales, was the earl's prisoner, was compelled to renounce his rights, and the castle was given up to llewelyn. on the suppression of de montfort's rebellion the castle reverted to the crown, and llewelyn was called upon by the papal legate, ottoboni, to surrender it. this he at first declined, but being deserted by the earl, who at the same time, in order to put an end to the conflict, offered to him his daughter eleanor in marriage agreed afterwards to a treaty by which the castle was to be destroyed, and robert de montalt to be reinstated in the possession of his lands in hawarden, but to be restrained from restoring the fortification for thirty years. this stipulation appears to have been violated, for in the welsh rebelled, and under david and llewelyn (who then made up their quarrel), an attack was made by night upon the castle, then styled castrum regis, which was successful. roger de clifford, justiciary of chester, was taken prisoner, and the castle with much bloodshed and cruelty stormed and partly burnt on palm sunday. the outrage was repeated in the next year (nov. th, ), when the justice's elder son, also roger clifford, was slain. soon after this llewelyn died, wales was entirely subjugated, and david executed as a traitor. to this period may most probably be assigned the present structure. a keep, such as that now standing is not likely to have been successfully assaulted in two successive years; nor does internal evidence favour the idea that it was the actual work taken by the welsh. robert, the last of the montalts, was a wealthy man, and in all probability it was during his lordship, between and , that the castle, as we now see it, was built. though the unusual thickness of the walls of the keep might be thought more in keeping with the norman period, the general details, as already stated, the polygonal mural gallery and interior, and the entrance, evidently parts of the original work, are very decidedly edwardian. of the subsequent history of the castle, we have unfortunately nothing to record until we come to the civil war between charles the first and the parliament. on nov. th, , sir william brereton, who had declared for the parliament, appeared with his adherents at hawarden castle, where he was welcomed by robert ravenscroft and john aldersey, who had charge of it in the name of the king. sir william established himself in the castle, and harassed the garrison of chester, which was for the king, by cutting off the supplies of coals, corn and other provisions, which they had formerly drawn from the neighbourhood. meanwhile the archbishop of york, writing from conway to the duke of ormond announced the betrayal of the castle and appealed for assistance. in response to this a force from ireland was landed at mostyn in the same month, and employed to reduce the fortress, garrisoned by men of sir thomas middleton's regiment. the garrison received by a trumpet a verbal summons to surrender, which gave occasion to a correspondence, followed by a further and more peremptory summons from captain thomas sandford, which ran as follows:-- gentlemen: i presume you very well know or have heard of my condition and disposition; and that i neither give nor take quarter. i am now with my firelocks (who never yet neglected opportunity to correct rebels) ready to use you as i have done the irish; but loth i am to spill my countrymen's blood: wherefore by these i advise you to your fealty and obedience towards his majesty; and show yourselves faithful subjects, by delivering the castle into my hands for his majesty's use--otherwise if you put me to the least trouble or loss of blood to force you, expect no quarter for man woman or child. i hear you have some of our late irish army in your company: they very well know me and that my firelocks use not to parley. be not unadvised, but think of your liberty, for i vow all hopes of relief are taken from you; and our intents are not to starve you but to batter and storm you and then hang you all, and follow the rest of that rebellious crewe. i am no bread-and-cheese rogue, but as ever a loyalist, and will ever be while i can write or name thomas sandford, nov, , . captain of firelocks. i expect your speedy answer this tuesday night at broadlane hall, where i am now, your near neighbour. reinforcements having arrived from chester, this was followed by a brisk attack on the rd december, whereupon the garrison being short of provisions, a white flag was hung out from the walls, and the castle surrendered on the following day to sir michael emley. it was held by the royalists for two years, but after the surrender of chester, in feb. , sir william neal, the governor, capitulated (after receiving the king's sanction--then at oxford--) to major-general mytton after a month's siege. it was probably during these operations that the specimens of stone and iron cannon balls still remaining were used. an entry in the commons' journals refers to this last event, dated th march, . ordered: that mr. fogge the minister shall have the sum of pounds bestowed upon him for his pains in bringing the good news of the taking of the castle of hawarden; and that the committee of lords and commons for advance of moneys at haberdashers' hall do pay the same accordingly. the lords' concurrence to be desired herein. in the following year there is an order "that the castles of hawarden, flint, and ruthland be disgarrisoned and demolished, all but a tower in flint castle, to be reserved for a gaol for the county"; and a confirmation of it follows in the next year, dated th july, . these orders were no doubt forthwith executed, and of flint and rhuddlan little now remains. at hawarden gunpowder has been used to blow up portions of the keep. sir william glynne, son of the chief justice, twenty or thirty years later, carried further the work of destruction. sir john glynne, too, is said to have made free with the materials of the castle, and certain it is that a vast amount has been carted away and used up in walls and for other purposes. his successors, however, have done their utmost to make amends for these ravages, and to preserve the ruins from further injury. the entrance and the winding stair by which the visitor mounts to the top of the keep are a restoration skilfully effected not long ago under the direction of mr. shaw of saddleworth. the view embraces a wide range of country, north, east, and south, extending from liverpool to the wrekin: on the west it is bounded by moel fammau or queen mountain, on the summit of which is seen the remnant of the fallen obelisk raised to commemorate the th year of the reign of george iii. round about lie the woods and the park, presenting a happy mixture of wild and pastoral beauty; while close beneath the old stands the new castle, affecting in its turreted outline some degree of congruity with its prototype, but much more contrasting with it in its home-like air, and the luxury of its lawns and flower-beds. not less striking is the view of the ruins from below. here judgment and taste have combined with great natural advantages of position to produce an exceedingly picturesque effect. from the flower garden a wide sweep of lawn, flanked by majestic oaks and beeches, carries the eye up to the foot-bridge crossing the moat, thence to the ivy-mantled walls which overhang it, and upward again to the flag-topt tower that crowns the height. clusters of ivy, and foliage here and there intervening, serve to soften and beautify the mouldering remains. the scene brings to our minds the words of the poet-- "the old order changeth, yielding place to new"; and, conscious as we may be that society in our day has its dangers and disorders of a different and more insidious kind, we are thankful that our lot is not cast in the harsh and troublous times of our history. all around us the former scenes of rapine and violence are changed to fertility and peace. the old castle serves well to illustrate the contrast. its hugely solid walls, reared years ago with so much pains and skill to repel the invader and to overawe the lawless, have played their part, and are themselves abandoned to solitude and decay. within the arches which once echoed to the clang of arms the owls have their home; while the rooks from the tree-tops around seem to chant the _requiem_ of the past. {ruins of old castle: p .jpg} the church. {the church: p .jpg} hawarden church, with its large graveyard attached, finely situated overlooking the estuary of the dee, is supposed to have been built about a.d. , and has much solidity and dignity of structure. the patron saint is s. deiniol, founder of the collegiate monastery at bangor, and about a.d. made first bishop of that see. in the old records he is styled one of the three "gwynvebydd" or holy men of the isle of britain. he was buried in bardsey island. a place still called "daniel's ash"--perhaps a corruption of deiniol--may be the very spot where he gathered his disciples round him. two dedication festivals are observed, the one on s. deiniol's day, december th, the other on the sunday after holy cross day, september th. the church has a central tower containing six bells, { a} a chancel with a south aisle called the whitley chancel (after the whitleys of aston), and a nave with blind clerestory and two aisles. there is a division in the roof between the chancel and the nave which has the appearance of a transept, but not extended beyond the line of the aisles. the axis of the chancel deviates from that of the nave. in the nave and aisles were newly pewed in place of the old benches, and the floor flagged instead of being strewn with rushes. in a gallery was erected at the west end and an organ placed in it; the gallery was enlarged and a new organ purchased in . { b} great improvements were made about the year by the rev. henry glynne, rector: the organ and singers were removed from the west to the east end, the pews converted into open seats, and the cumbrous "three decker" pulpit and reading desk { a} exchanged for simpler furniture. unfortunately on the th october, , a disastrous fire occurred, almost entirely destroying the roof and fittings of the church. its restoration was at once placed in the hands of sir gilbert scott, architect, who improved the occasion by adding the small spire which now with excellent effect crowns the otherwise somewhat stunted tower. an organ chamber was now added on the n. side of the chancel, and on the th july, , with sermons from the late bishop wilberforce, dean hook and others, the church was re-opened. the whole expenditure was about pounds. the reredos is a representation of the last supper in alabaster, and was erected as a memorial to the rev. henry glynne, rector of the parish for years. in the side chancel { b} under the 'vine' window, is a recumbent figure of his brother, sir stephen glynne, who died two years later in --a beautiful work by noble. to his memory also were given by the parishioners the wrought-iron gates at the main entrance to the churchyard. upon the altar table stands a handsome brass cross mounted on _rosso antico_ the gift of the parishioners to the present rector. the old communion plate was twice stolen, viz., on april th, , when it was recovered, being found beaten flat and buried near the higher ferry; and finally in . the churchyard was enlarged in , by gift of the late rector. the old cross which stood in the churchyard in , has disappeared: possibly the sun-dial now occupies its place. the parish register dates from the year ; and the list of rectors goes back to . the living is what is termed 'a peculiar,' and was formerly exempt from episcopal jurisdiction. the rectors granted marriage licenses, proved wills, and had their own consistorial courts and proctors. the court was held in the eastern bay of the chancel aisle: the seal, still used, represents daniel in the lion's den, with the legend 'sigillum peculiaris et exemptae jurisdictionis de hawarden'. these privileges, originally granted by the pope, were continued at the reformation; but in the parish was definitely attached to the diocese of s. asaph, and the power of granting marriage licenses now alone remains. the tithes were in , granted by hugh lupus, earl of chester, to the monks of s. werburgh. in pope nicholas the rd, granted them to king edward the st, for six years. they were then valued at pounds s. d. at the reformation they were estimated at pounds s. . d. the rectory was greatly enlarged by the hon. george neville grenville, rector from to , and afterwards dean of windsor. the garden comprises nearly six acres and is charmingly laid out. a list of rectors of hawarden is appended. up to the middle of the th century exchanges were very frequent. . william de montalt . ralph de montalt . hugh william . roger richard de osgodly . william de melton . john walewayn . thomas de boynton . roger de gildesburgh . john de baddeley . james de audlegh . john bexsyn . robert de coningham . william pectoo . roger de davenport henry merston . marmaduke lumley . john millyngton . james stanley . matthew fowler . james stanley . randolph pool . arthur swift . thomas jackson . john phillips d.d. . thomas draycott . robert browne . christopher pasley d.d. . edward bold . lawrence fogge d.d. . orlando fogge . john price d.d. . beaumont percival d.d. . b. gardiner . francis glynne . john fletcher . richard williams . stephen glynne . randolph crewe . george neville-grenville . henry glynne . stephen e. gladstone {interior of church: p .jpg} the modern residence and park. the modern residence was built in upon the site of broadlane hall, the seat of the ravenscrofts, an old house of wood and plaster, which came into sir john glynne's possession by his marriage with honora conway, daughter of henry conway and honora ravenscroft. originally a square brick house, it was afterwards in extended by the addition of the library on the west side and of the kitchen and other offices on the east; the whole being cased in stone { } and castellated. the entrance was now turned from the s. to the n. front--the turnpike road, which passed in front of the house and along the moat to the village, having been diverted in --and the present flower-garden constructed with the old thorn-tree in the centre. quite recently has been added the block at the n.w. angle of the house, containing mr. gladstone's study, or, as he calls it, the 'temple of peace.' {house and flower garden: p .jpg} the most striking feature about this room is that (to use the phrase of a writer in harper's magazine) it is built about with bookcases. instead of being ranged along the wall in the usual way, they stand out into the room at right angles, each wide enough to hold a double row facing either way. intervals are left sufficient to give access to the books, and mr. gladstone prides himself upon the economy of space obtained by this arrangement. his library numbers near , volumes, many of which have overflowed into adjoining rooms, where they are similarly stored. of this number theology claims a large proportion; homer, dante, { a} and shakespeare also have their respective departments, and any resident visitor is at liberty, on entering his or her name in a book kept for the purpose, to borrow any volume at pleasure. three writing-tables are seen. at one mr. gladstone sits when busy in political work and correspondence; the second is reserved for literary and especially, homeric studies; the third is mrs. gladstone's. "it is," remarked mr. gladstone to the writer above mentioned, with a wistful glance at the table where 'vaticanism' and 'juventus mundi' were written, "a long time since i sat there." about the room are to be seen busts and photographs of old friends and colleagues--sidney herbert, the duke of newcastle, canning, tennyson, lord richard cavendish, and others, while in the corners lurk numerous walking sticks and axes. adjoining mr. gladstone's room is the library of the house--a well-proportioned and comfortable room, well stored with books, prominent among which topography and ecclesiology testify to the predelictions of the late owner, sir stephen glynne. { b} there are some good family portraits and other pictures, among which are specimens of sir peter lely, snyders, and a very fine likeness of sir kenelm digby by vandyke. there is a fine picture by millais of mr. gladstone and his grandson, { a} painted in , and another good portrait of him by the late f. holl; also a much-admired likeness of mrs. gladstone by herkomer. shading the windows of mr. gladstone's study is a singular circle of limes of some feet in diameter, which goes by the name of sir john glynne's dressing-room. mounting the slope towards the old castle is the broad walk, terminating in an artificial amphitheatre at the top, made by sir john glynne to give employment in a time of distress. the grounds abound in fine trees, { b} and in rhododendrons which in spring form masses of bloom. in , prince leopold, the late king of the belgians, visited the castle; and the small wooden door on the south side of the ruins is still called after him. the visitors' book at the lodge also records, in autograph, the names of her gracious majesty, as princess victoria, and her mother, the duchess of kent, in or about the year . in the palmy days of the royal british bowmen the castle was the frequent scene of bow-meetings; the peculiar green costumes and feathers worn by both the ladies and gentlemen competitors contributing to the picturesque effect of these gatherings. simultaneously with one of these archery meetings, in the year, we believe, , was held a fancy bazaar, commemorated in some admirable lines by mr. r. e. warburton of arley hall, which will be read with pleasure in connection with more recent bazaars held in the same place. while tents are pitched in hawarden's peaceful vale, and harmless shafts the platted targe assail; while now the bow (the archers more intent on making love than making war) is bent; beneath those towers, where erst their fathers drew in deadly conflict bows of tougher yew; lo! charity, a native of the skies, whose smile betrays her through a vain disguise, mounts the steep hill, and 'neath th' o'erhanging wall, the canvass stretch'd in triumph, plants her stall; in gay profusion o'er the counter pours her glittering wares and ranges all her stores. beneath the magic of her touch behold transformed at once the warlike aims of old! the mighty falchion to a penknife shrinks, the mailed meshes from the purse's links; the sturdy lance a bodkin now appears, a bunch of tooth-picks once a hundred spears; a painted toy behold the keen-edged axe! see men of iron turned to dolls of wax! the once broad shield contracted now in span raised as a screen or fluttered as a fan; the gleaming helm a hollow thimble proves, and weighty gauntlets dwindle into gloves. the plumes that winged the arrow through the sky, waft to and fro the shuttlecock on high; two trusty swords are into scissors cross'd, and dinted breastplates are in corsets lost; while dungeon chains to gentler use consigned, now silken laces, tighten stays behind. approach! nor weapons more destructive fear, where'er ye turn, than pins and needles here. while hobbling age along the pathway crawls, by aid of crutch to scale the castle's walls: with eager steps advance, ye generous youths, draw purses all, and strip the loaded booths. bear each away some trophy from the steep, take each a keepsake ere ye quit the keep! come, every stranger, every guest draw nigh! no peril waits you save from beauty's eye. hard by the castle and across the yard will be found mrs. gladstone's orphanage, containing from to boys. close by is a little home of rest established by mrs. gladstone, for old and infirm women. the house in which the orphans are lodged is called diglane, and was formerly the residence of the crachley family. it was sold to sir john glynne in . {gateway--castle, shewing orphanage: p .jpg} the park is about acres in extent, to which have to be added the bilberry wood and warren plantations. it is divided into two parts by a ravine passing immediately under the old castle and traversing its entire length. the further side is called the deer park, inclosed and stocked by sir john glynne in . its banks and glades, richly timbered, and overgrown with bracken, afford from various points beautiful views over the plain of chester, with the bold projections of the frodsham and peckforton hills. along the bottom of the hollow flows broughton brook. two waterfalls occur in its course through the park: the lower is called the ladies' fall: near the upper one stood a mill, now removed, the erection of which is commemorated by a large stone, bearing the following inscription: "trust in god for bread, and to the king for justice, protection and peace. this mill was built a.d. by sir john glynne, bart., lord of this manor: charles howard millwright. wheat was at this year s. and barley at s. d. a bushel. luxury was at a great height, and charity extensive, but the pool were starving, riotous, and hanged." between this spot and the "old lane," a sandy gully, lined with old beeches, and once the road to wrexham--now tenanted by rabbits--are two large oaks, and feet in circumference respectively. another tree, a beautiful specimen of the _fagus pendula_, or feathering beech, a great favourite with mr. gladstone, deserves attention. it stands a few yards from the iron railing near the moat of the old castle, and measures ft. in. round. the sycamores at hawarden are particularly fine. nor should the visitor omit seeing the noble grove of beeches at the ladies' fall. the road which descends the steep hill under the old castle and crosses the brook, leads up through the park to the bilberry wood. twenty minutes' walk through the wood brings one to the "top lodge" ( . miles from the castle). from this point either the walk may be continued through the further plantations to the pretty church of st. john's at penymynydd, { a} or, if necessary broughton hall station, . miles distant, may be gained direct. the inclosures and the plantations on this portion of the estate, called the warren, were made in , and command some very fine views. the high road through pentrobin and tinkersdale offers a pleasant return route to hawarden. everyone has heard of mr. gladstone's prowess as a woodcutter, and to some it may even have been matter of surprise to see no scantiness of trees in the park at hawarden. it is true that he attacks trees with the same vigour as he attacks abuses in the body politic, { b} but he attacks them on the same principle--they are blemishes and not ornaments. no one more scrupulously respects a sound and shapely tree than mr. gladstone; and if he is prone to condemn those that show signs of decay, he is always ready to listen to any plea that may be advanced on their behalf by other members of the family. in this, as in other matters, doubtful points will of course arise; but there can be no question that a policy of inert conservatism is an entire mistake. besides the natural growth and decay of trees, a hundred other causes are ever at work to affect their structure and appearance; and the facts of the landscape, thus continually altering, afford sufficient occupation for the eye and hand of the woodman. it was late in life that mr. gladstone took to woodcutting. tried first as an experiment, it answered so admirably the object of getting the most complete exercise in a short time that, though somewhat slackened of late, it has never been abandoned. his procedure is characteristic. no exercise is taken in the morning, save the daily walk to morning service but between and in the afternoon he sallies forth, axe on shoulder, accompanied by one or more of his sons. the scene of action reached, there is no pottering; the work begins at once, and is carried on with unflagging energy. blow follows blow, delivered with that skill which his favourite author { a} reminds us is of more value to the woodman than strength, together with a force and energy that soon tells its tale on the tree * * * * illa usque minatur et tremefacta comam concusso vertice nutat, vulneribus donec paulatim evicta supremum congemuit, traxitque jugis avulsa ruinam. _virgil oen ii._ "it still keeps nodding to its doom, still bows its head and shakes its plume, till, by degrees o'ercome, one groan it heaves, and on the hill lies prone." _conington's translation_. at the advanced age he has now attained, it can hardly be expected that mr. gladstone can very frequently indulge in what has been his favourite recreation for the past twenty-five years. the present winter { } however saw the fall of at least one large tree, in which he took a full share--a spanish chestnut, measuring ft. at the top of the face, and those who were present can testify to the undiminished vigour with which the axe was wielded on that occasion. parish and district of hawarden. the parish of hawarden is a very extensive one, containing upwards of , acres, with a population, according to the census of , of . sixteen townships are included in it; hawarden, broadlane, mancot aston, shotton, pentrobin, moor, rake, manor, bannel, bretton, broughton, ewloe wood, ewloe town, saltney and sealand. to provide for the spiritual wants of so large a district, four daughter churches have been built--viz.: s. matthew's, buckley, { a} in , s. mary's, broughton, { b} in , s. johns, penymynydd, { c} in , and s. bartholomew's, sealand, in . the work of the parish church is now further supplemented by three new school-chapels at shotton, sandycroft and ewloe. the chief portion of saltney, and the district of buckley, have been recently separated from hawarden for ecclesiastical purposes. {lodge gate--broughton approach: p .jpg} the rector of hawarden has also to provide for the management and support of eight national schools, involving an annual expenditure of pounds. the requirements of the education act of involved an outlay of pounds raised entirely from local sources. the patronage of the living is vested in the lord of the manor. { } the rev. s. e. gladstone, the present rector, was appointed by the late sir stephen glynne in . the grammar school is finely situated, near the church, and has accommodation for scholars, inclusive of boarders. the income from endowment is pounds. the temporary building adjoining contains a portion of the library of the right hon. w. e. gladstone. the land about hawarden varies much in quality. the best lies towards the river and on saltney, where are large and well cultivated farms. on the higher ground in pentrobin the soil is poorer; here however are found holdings that have remained in the same family for generations. the land is mainly arable; but little cheese being now made. about one mile and a half from hawarden on the road to northop, lie ensconced in a wood the scant remains of the old castle of ewloe--the scene of a battle between the english and welsh in , in which the former were defeated by david and conan, sons of owen gwynedd. the district is rich in beds of coal and clay. the former have been worked from an early period when the coal was mostly sent to chester; but the difficulties of carriage before the turnpike road was made, and especially of draining the mines, which before steam-engines came into use was attempted to be done by means of levels, { } were a serious impediment to that development which under more favourable conditions has since taken place. formerly the only means of getting the minerals of the district away, was a horse tramway from buckley to queensferry. in however was opened the wrexham and connah's quay railway,--mrs. gladstone cutting the first sod, and an address from the corporation of wrexham being at the same time presented to mr. gladstone, then chancellor of the exchequer. this line is now carried through hawarden, and, when connected with birkenhead and liverpool by the mersey tunnel, now happily completed, is destined in all probability to become one of importance beyond the limits of the immediate district. clay has been extensively worked in buckley, where the messrs. hancock's famous fire-brick is made. mention may also be made of the white bricks made by the aston hall coal and brick company, which are in great favour with builders on account of their powers of resisting the weather and of retaining their colour. a clay, resembling _terra cotta_ when burnt, has also been found on saltney. at sandycroft, on the river bank, are the ironworks belonging to messrs. taylor, where mining and other machinery is made. the present course of the river below chester, is called the new cut, and was completed under act of parliament, in , by the river dee company, who have lately handed over their interest in the river to a newly formed conservancy board. the river, which before wandered over a large tract, was thus confined to the present channel, and a large reclamation of land effected. in compensation for the loss of rights of pasturage, pounds is paid yearly by the company to trustees for the benefit of the freeholders of the manor of hawarden; pounds is also paid yearly for the repair of the south bank. this was followed by the inclosure of saltney marsh, in . possessing as it does a greater depth of water over the bar than the mersey, and provided with ample railway communication with the great industrial centres, it is probable that the dee may ere long become a far more important river as a vehicle of commerce than heretofore. of still more importance to hawarden is the establishment of direct communication with liverpool already referred to, in place of the present circuitous route by chester and runcorn. by the new swing railway bridge across the dee, direct access will be given to birkenhead and liverpool by the mersey tunnel across the wirral; such communication will not only stimulate and develop to the utmost the natural resources of the district, but will offer residential facilities, beneficial, as it may be hoped, alike to town and country. {map of hawarden: p .jpg} phillipson and golder, printers, chester. footnotes: { } he was buried at shuldham, in norfolk. { a} pennant. sir w. stanley had rendered the most valuable service to the king at the battle of bosworth; yet, upon suspicion of his favouring the cause of perkin warbeck, the king had him seized at his castle at holt and beheaded. { b} this may have been the house known as "the manor," now occupied by mr. bakewell bower of the manor farm. { } see campbell's lives of the chief justices. { a} the letters patent recite also the service rendered to the king by the furnishing a sum of money sufficient for the maintenance of thirty soldiers for three years in the plantation of ulster. { b} henley park was left to john glynne, (son of the chief justice by his second wife,) through whom it passed by marriage to francis tilney, esq. { c} we find hugh ravenscroft mentioned as steward of the lordships of hawarden and mold, about the year . thomas ravenscroft, father of honora, afterwards lady glynne, by his wife honora sneyd of keel hall, staffordshire, was a member of parliament, and died in , aged . there is a monument to him in hawarden church. { } pennant learnt that the timber had been valued in at pounds and subsequently sold. { } between and the norman archaeological society visited the sites of all the castles of the barons who had gone over to england with william the conqueror, and in none of them found any masonry older than the second half of the eleventh century. { } _e.g._ mr. g. t. clark and mr. j. h. parker, from whom this account is chiefly derived. { } the uncommon strength and tenacity of the ancient mortar used in the castle was especially conspicuous in the keep prior to the recent restorations. in one place an enormous mass of masonry remained suspended without other support than its own coherence and adhesion. for security this has now been underpinned. { a} in there were five bells. in they were sold and six new ones purchased from abel rudhall of gloucester, at a cost of pounds. they bear the following inscriptions, with the initials of the maker and the date in each case: no. . peace and good neighbourhood. ,, . prosperity to all our benefactors. ,, . prosperity to this parish. ,, . i to the church the living call, and to the grave do summon all. ,, . geo hope, churchwarden. thos fox, sidesman. ,, . abel rudhall of gloucester cast us all. { b} there is a curious carved oaken slab, ft high, surmounted by a cross, which forms part of the present reading desk. on the cross is an eagle, with a vine branch and grapes above, and with a scroll in his beak inscribed, in domino confido. the pillar was probably in commemoration of a maiden daughter of randolph pool, rector in . { a} its peculiarity consisted in its accommodating two officiating clergymen simultaneously. the clerk's desk was, as usual, below. { b} this chancel, called the whitley chancel, was restored and decorated in , by the munificence of h. hurlbutt, esq., of dee cottage, from the designs of mr. frampton, and under the superintendence of mr. douglas, architect, chester. the same gentleman erected the lych gate at the north entrance to the churchyard. { } from tinkersdale quarry. { a} dante is one of the four authors to whom mr. gladstone attributes the greatest _formative_ influence on his own mind; the other three being aristotle, bishop butler, and s. augustine. { b} sir s. glynne was one of the highest authorities on english ecclesiology. he visited and described in a series of note books, which are carefully preserved, nearly the whole of the old parish churches in the country. his notes of the churches of kent are published by murray. he died in , at the age of . there is a good portrait of him by roden. { a} eldest son of mr. and mrs. w. h. gladstone. { b} sir john glynne has recorded that only one tree was standing about the place in . this is supposed to be the large spreading oak adjoining the flower garden. { a} this church contains some noteworthy frescoes and other mural decorations, the work of the rev. john troughton, sometime curate in charge. { b} a wag is said to have scratched on the stump of a tree at hawarden the following couplet: "no matter whether oak or birch-- they all go like the irish church." { a} _homer_. _iliad_ xxili. "by skill far more than strength the woodman fells the sturdy oak." _ld. derby's translation_ { } - . { a} buckley church, towards which a grant of pounds was made by the commissioners for church building, was designed by mr. john gates of halifax, and holds persons. the first stone was laid by the youthful hands of sir s. r. glynne and his brother henry, afterwards rector, and the consecration was performed nine months afterwards, by the bishop of chester, dr. gardiner, prebendary of lichfield, preaching the sermon. the schools and parsonage had been previously erected by the exertions of the hon. and rev. george neville grenville (afterwards dean of windsor), at a cost of about pounds. { b} much improved by the recent addition of a chancel, the gift of w. johnson, esq., of broughton hall. { c} built by sir s. r. glynne: vicarage and schools by lady glynne. { } in the journals of the house of commons occurs the following entry, dated rd february, :--"an ordinance from the lords for mr. bold, a minister, to be instituted into the church of hawarden, in flintshire." { } on the st october, , assembled a grand procession, with coloured cockades, to start the opening of a level, designed to be driven one mile and three quarters in length and eighty yards deep "in order" (so the notice ran) "to lay dry a body of coal for future ages." the wages were to be, for boys and lads employed about the horses, and windlasses-- in number, d. a day, smiths, carpenters and labourers, above ground generally-- in number, / a day, underground laboures , cutters in number, / a day, underground stewards in number, / a day. at this date the price of coal at the pit's mouth was not less than /- a ton, or fully double what it is at present. the course of this notable work which effectually drained the hollin seam of coal may still be traced for a long distance by its succession of ventilating shafts, finally issuing in the ravine called kearsley, and discharging its waters into the brook. angels and ministers and other victorian plays by laurence housman _angels and ministers_ and _possession_ were first introduction the victorian era has ceased to be a thing of yesterday; it has become history; and the fixed look of age, no longer contemporary in character, which now grades the period, grades also the once living material which went to its making. with this period of history those who were once participants in its life can deal more intimately and with more verisimilitude than can those whose literary outlook comes later. we can write of it as no sequent generation will find possible; for we are bone of its bone and flesh of its flesh; and when we go, something goes with us which will require for its reconstruction, not the natural piety of a returned native, such as i claim to be, but the cold, calculating art of literary excursionists whose domicile is elsewhere. some while ago, before mr. strachey had made the name of victoria to resound as triumphantly as it does now, a friend asked why i should trouble to resuscitate these victorian remains. my answer is because i myself am victorian, and because the victorianism to which i belong is now passing so rapidly into history, henceforth to present to the world a colder aspect than that which endears it to my own mind. the bloom upon the grape only fully appears when it is ripe for death. then, at a touch, it passes, delicate and evanescent as the frailest blossoms of spring. just at this moment the victorian age has that bloom upon it--autumnal, not spring-like--which, in the nature of things, cannot last. that bloom i have tried to illumine before time wipes it away. under this rose-shaded lamp of history, domestically designed, i would have these old characters look young again, or not at least as though they belonged to another age. this wick which i have kindled is short, and will not last; but, so long as it does, it throws on them the commentary of a contemporary light. in another generation the bloom which it seeks to irradiate will be gone; nor will anyone then be able to present them to us as they really were. contents part one: angels and ministers i. the queen: god bless her! (a scene from home-life in the highlands) ii. his favourite flower (a political myth explained) iii. the comforter (a political finale) part two iv. possession (a peep-show in paradise) part three: dethronements v. the king-maker (brighton--october, ) vi. the man of business (highbury--august, ) vii. the instrument (washington--march, ) part one: angels and ministers the queen: god bless her! dramatis personae queen victoria lord beaconsfield mr. john brown a footman the queen: god bless her! a scene from home-life in the highlands _the august lady is sitting in a garden-tent on the lawn of balmoral castle. her parasol leans beside her. writing-materials are on the table before her, and a small fan, for it is hot weather; also a dish of peaches. sunlight suffuses the tent interior, softening the round contours of the face, and caressing pleasantly the small plump hand busy at letter-writing. the even flow of her penmanship is suddenly disturbed; picking up her parasol, she indulgently beats some unseen object, lying concealed against her skirts_. queen. no: don't scratch! naughty! naughty! (_she then picks up a hand-bell, rings it, and continues her writing. presently a fine figure of a man in highland costume appears in the tent-door. he waits awhile, then speaks in the strong doric of his native wilds_.) mr. j. brown. was your majesty wanting anything, or were you ringing only for the fun? (_to this brusque delivery her majesty responds with a cosy smile, for the special function of mr. john brown is not to be a courtier; and, knowing what is expected of him, he lives up to it_.) queen. bring another chair, brown. and take mop with you: he wants his walk. mr. j.b. what kind of a chair are you wanting, ma'am? is it to put your feet on? queen. no, no. it is to put a visitor on. choose a nice one with a lean-back. mr. j.b. with a lean back? ho! ye mean one that you can lean back in. what talk folk will bring with them from up south, to be sure! yes, i'll get it for ye, ma'am. come, mop, be a braw little wee mon, and tak' your walk! (_and while his royal mistress resumes her writing, taking mop by his "lead" he prepares for departure._) have ye seen the paper this morning yet? ma'am. (_the address of respect is thrown in by way of afterthought, or, as it were, reluctantly. having to be in character, his way is to tread heavily on the border-line which divides familiarity from respect._) queen. not yet. mr. j.b. (_departing_). i'll bring it for ye, now. queen. you had better send it. j.b. (_turning about_). what did ye say? ... ma'am. queen. "send it," brown, i said. mop mustn't be hurried. take him round by the stables. (_he goes: and the queen, with a soft, indulgent smile, that slowly flickers out as the labour of composition proceeds, resumes her writing_.) (_presently_ enters _a liveried footman, who stands at attention with the paper upon a salver. touching the table at her side as an indication, the queen continues to write. with gingerly reverence the man lays down the paper and goes. twice she looks at it before taking it up; then she unfolds it; then lays it down, and takes out her glasses; then begins reading. evidently she comes on something she does not like; she pats the table impatiently, then exclaims_:) most extraordinary! (_a wasp settles on the peaches._) and i wish one could kill all wicked pests as easily as you. (_she makes a dab with the paper-knife, the wasp escapes._) most extraordinary! (_relinquishing the pursuit of wasps, she resumes her reading_.) (_in a little while mr. john brown returns, both hands occupied. the chair he deposits by the tent door, and hitches mop's "lead" to the back of that on which the queen is sitting. with the small beginnings of a smile she lowers the paper, and looks at him and his accompaniments_.) queen. well, brown? oh, yes; that's quite a nice one.... i'm sure there's a wasps' nest somewhere; there are so many of them about. j.b. eh, don't fash yourself! wasps have a way of being aboot this time of year. it's the fruit they're after. queen. yes: like adam and eve. j.b. that's just it, ma'am. queen. you'd better take it away, brown, or cover it; it's too tempting. j.b. (_removing the fruit_). ah! now if god had only done that, maybe we'd still all be running aboot naked. queen. i'm glad he didn't, then. j.b. ye're right, ma'am. queen. the fall made the human race decent, even if it did no good otherwise. brown, i've dropped my glasses. (_he picks them up and returns them_.) queen. thank you, brown, j.b. so you're expecting a visitor, ye say? queen. yes. you haven't seen lord beaconsfield yet, i suppose? j.b. since he was to arrive off the train, you mean, ma'am? no: he came early. he's in his room. queen. i hope they have given him a comfortable one. j.b. it's the one i used to have. there's a good spring-bed in it, and a kettle-ring for the whisky. queen. oh, that's all right, then. j.b. will he be staying for long? ma'am. queen. only for a week, i'm afraid. why? j.b. it's about the shooting i was thinking: whether it was the deer or the grouse he'd want to be after. queen. i don't think lord beaconsfield is a sportsman. j.b. i know that, ma'am, well enough. but there's many who are not sportsmen that think they've got to do it--when they come north of the tweed. queen. lord beaconsfield will not shoot, i'm sure. you remember him, brown, being here before? j.b. eh! many years ago, that was; he was no but mr. disraeli then. but he was the real thing, ma'am: oh, a nice gentleman. queen. he is always very nice to me. j.b. i remember now, when he first came, he put a tip into me hand. and when i let him know the liberty he had taken, "well, mr. brown," he said, "i've made a mistake, but i don't take it back again!" queen. very nice and sensible. j.b. and indeed it was, ma'am. many a man would never have had the wit to leave well alone by just apologising for it. but there was an understandingness about him, that often you don't find. after that he always talked to me like an equal-just like yourself might do. but lord, ma'am, his ignorance, it was surprising! queen. most extraordinary you should think that, brown! j.b. ah! you haven't talked to him as i have, ma'am: only about politics, and poetry, and things like that, where, maybe, he knows a bit more than i do (though he didn't know his burns so well as a man ought that thinks to make laws for scotland!). but to hear him talking about natural facts, you'd think he was just inventing for to amuse himself! do you know, ma'am, he thought stags had white tails like rabbits, and that 'twas only when they wagged them so as to show, that you could shoot them. and he thought that you pulled a salmon out o' the water as soon as you'd hooked him. and he thought that a haggis was made of a sheep's head boiled in whisky. oh, he's very innocent, ma'am, if you get him where he's not expecting you. queen. well, brown, there are some things you can teach him, i don't doubt; and there are some things he can teach you. i'm sure he has taught me a great deal. j.b. ay? it's a credit to ye both, then. queen. he lets me think for myself, brown; and that's what so many of my ministers would rather i didn't. they want me to be merely the receptacle of their own opinions. no, brown, that's what we stewarts are never going to do! j.b. nor would i, ma'am, if i were in your shoes. but believe me, you can do more, being a mere woman, so to speak, than many a king can do. queen. yes; being a woman has its advantages, i know. j.b. for you can get round 'em, ma'am; and you can put 'em off; and you can make it very awkward for them--very awkward--to have a difference of opinion with you. queen (_good-humouredly_). you and i have had differences of opinion sometimes, brown. j.b. true, ma'am; that _has_ happened; i've known it happen. and i've never regretted it, never! but the difference there is, ma'am, that i'm not your prime minister. had i been--you'd 'a been more stiff about giving in--naturally! now there's mr. gladstone, ma'am; i'm not denying he's a great man; but he's got too many ideas for my liking, far too many! i'm not against temperance any more than he is--put in its right place. but he's got that crazy notion of "local option" in his mind; he's coming to it, gradually. and he doesn't think how giving "local option," to them that don't take the wide view of things, may do harm to a locality. you must be wide in your views, else you do somebody an injustice. queen. yes, brown; and that is why i like being up in the hills, where the views _are_ wide. j.b. i put it this way, ma'am. you come to a locality, and you find you can't get served as you are accustomed to be served. well! you don't go there again, and you tell others not to go; and so the place gets a bad name. i've a brother who keeps an inn down at aberlochy on the coach route, and he tells me that more than half his customers come from outside the locality. queen. of course; naturally! j.b. well now, ma'am, it'll be for the bad locality to have half the custom that comes to it turned away, because of local option! and believe me, ma'am, that's what it will come to. people living in it won't see till the shoe pinches them; and by that time my brother, and others like him, will have been ruined in their business. queen. local option is not going to come yet, brown. j.b. (_firmly_). no, ma'am, not while i vote conservative, it won't. but i was looking ahead; i was talking about mr. gladstone. queen. mr. gladstone has retired from politics. at least he is not going to take office again. j.b. don't you believe him, ma'am. mr. gladstone is not a retiring character. he's in to-day's paper again--columns of him; have ye seen? queen. yes; quite as much as i wish to see. j.b. and there's something in what he says, i don't deny. queen. there's a great deal in what he says, i don't understand, and that i don't wish to. j.b. now you never said a truer thing than that in your life, ma'am! that's just how i find him. oh, but he's a great man; and it's wonderful how he appreciates the scot, and looks up to his opinion. (_but this is a line of conversation in which his royal mistress declines to be interested. and she is helped, at that moment, by something which really does interest her_.) queen. brown, how did you come to scratch your leg? j.b. 'twas not me, ma'am; 'twas the stable cat did that--just now while mop was having his walk. queen. poor dear brown! did she fly at you? j.b. well, 'twas like this, ma'am; first mop went for her, then she went for him. and i tell ye she'd have scraped his eyes out if i'd left it to a finish. queen. ferocious creature! she must be mad. j.b. well, ma'am, i don't know whether a cat-and-dog fight is a case of what god hath joined together; but it's the hard thing for man to put asunder! and that's the scraping i got for it, when i tried. queen. you must have it cauterised, brown. i won't have you getting hydrophobia. j.b. you generally get that from dogs. queen. oh, from cats too; any cat that a mad dog has bitten. j.b. they do say, ma'am, that if a mad dog bites you--you have to die barking. so if it's a cat-bite i'm going to die of, you'll hear me mewing the day, maybe. queen. i don't like cats: i never did. treacherous, deceitful creatures! now a dog always looks up to you. j.b. yes, ma'am; they are tasteful, attractive animals; and that, maybe, is the reason. they give you a good conceit of yourself, dogs do. you never have to apologise to a dog. do him an injury--you've only to say you forgive him, and he's friends again. (_accepting his views with a nodding smile, she resumes her pen, and spreads paper_.) queen. now, brown, i must get to work again. i have writing to do. see that i'm not disturbed. j.b. then when were you wanting to see your visitor, ma'am? there's his chair waiting. queen. ah, yes, to be sure. but i didn't want to worry him too soon. what is the time? j.b. nearly twelve, ma'am. queen. oh! then i think i may. will you go and tell him: the queen's compliments, and she would like to see him, now? j.b. i will go and tell him, ma'am. queen. and then i shan't want you any more--till this afternoon. j.b. then i'll just go across and take lunch at home, ma'am. queen. yes, do! that will be nice for you. and brown, mind you have that leg seen to! (_mr. john brown has started to go, when his step is arrested_.) j.b. his lordship is there in the garden, ma'am, talking to the princess. queen. what, before he has seen _me_? go, and take him away from the princess, and tell him to come here! j.b. i will, ma'am. queen. and you had better take mop with you. now, dear brown, do have your poor leg seen to, at once! j.b. indeed, and i will, ma'am. come, mop, man! come and tell his lordship he's wanted. (exit _mr. john brown, nicely accompanied by mop_.) (_left to herself the queen administers a feminine touch or two to dress and cap and hair; then with dignified composure she resumes her writing, and continues to write even when the shadow of her favourite minister crosses the entrance, and he stands hat in hand before her, flawlessly arrayed in a gay frock suit suggestive of the period when male attire was still not only a fashion but an art. despite, however, the studied correctness of his costume, face and deportment give signs of haggard fatigue; and when he bows it is the droop of a weary man, slow in the recovery. just at the fitting moment for full acceptance of his silent salutation, the royal lady lays down her pen_.) queen. oh, how do you do, my dear lord beaconsfield! good morning; and welcome to, balmoral. lord b. (_as he kisses the hand extended to him_). that word from your majesty brings all its charms to life! what a prospect of beauty i see around me! queen. you arrived early? i hope you are sufficiently rested. lord b. refreshed, madam; rest will come later. queen. you have had a long, tiring journey, i fear. lord b. it was long, madam. queen. i hope that you slept upon the train? lord b. i lay upon it, ma'am. that is all i can say truly. queen. oh, i'm sorry! lord b. there were compensations, ma'am. in my vigil i was able to look forward--to that which is now before me. the morning is beautiful! may i be permitted to enquire if your majesty's health has benefited? queen. i'm feeling "bonnie," as we say in scotland. life out of doors suits me. lord b. ah! this tent light is charming! then my eyes had not deceived me; your majesty is already more than better. the tempered sunlight, so tender in its reflections, gives--an interior, one may say--of almost floral delicacy; making these canvas walls like the white petals of an enfolding flower. queen. are you writing another of your novels, lord beaconsfield? that sounds like composition. lord b. believe me, madam, only an impromptu. queen. now, my dear lord, pray sit down! i had that chair specially brought for you. generally i sit here quite alone. lord b. such kind forethought, madam, overwhelms me! words are inadequate. i accept, gratefully, the repose you offer me. (_he sinks into the chair, and sits motionless and mute, in a weariness that is not the less genuine because it provides an effect. but from one seated in the royal presence much is expected; and so it is in a tone of sprightly expectancy that his royal mistress now prompts him to his task of entertaining her_.) queen. well? and how is everything? lord b. (_rousing himself with an effort_). oh! pardon! your majesty would have me speak on politics, and affairs of state? i was rapt away for the moment. queen. do not be in any hurry, dear prime minister. lord b. ah! that word from an indulgent mistress spurs me freshly to my task. but, madam, there is almost nothing to tell: politics, like the rest of us, have been taking holiday. queen. i thought that mr. gladstone had been speaking. lord b. (_with an airy flourish of courtly disdain_). oh, yes! he has been--speaking. queen. in edinburgh, quite lately. lord b. and in more other places than i can count. speaking--speaking-- speaking. but i have to confess, madam, that i have not read his speeches. they are composed for brains which can find more leisure than yours, madam--or mine. queen. i have read some of them. lord b. your majesty does him great honour--and yourself some inconvenience, i fear. those speeches, so great a strain to understand, or even to listen to--my hard duty for now some forty years--are a far greater strain to read. queen. they annoy me intensely. i have no patience with him! lord b. pardon me, madam; if you have read _one_ of his speeches, your patience has been extraordinary. queen. can't you stop it? lord b. stop?--stop what, madam? niagara, the flood? that which has no beginning, no limit, has also no end: till, by the operation of nature, it runs dry. queen. but, surely, he should be stopped when he speaks on matters which may, any day, bring us into war! lord b. then he would be stopped. when the british nation goes to war, madam, it ceases to listen to reason. then it is only the beating of its own great heart that it hears: to that goes the marching of its armies, with victory as the one goal. then, madam, above reason rises instinct. against that he will be powerless. queen. you think so? lord b. i am sure, madam. if we are drawn into war, his opposition becomes futile. if we are not: well, if we are not, it will not be his doing that we escape that--dire necessity. queen, but you _do_ think it necessary, don't you? (_to the sovereign's impetuous eagerness, so creditable to her heart, he replies with the oracular solemnity by which caution can be sublimated_) lord b. i hope it may not be, madam. we must all say that--up till the last moment. it is the only thing we _can_ say, to testify the pacifity of our intention when challenged by other powers. queen (_touching the newspaper_). this morning's news isn't good, i'm afraid. the russians are getting nearer to constantinople. lord b. they will never enter it, madam. queen. no, they mustn't! we will not allow it. lord b. that, precisely, is the policy of your majesty's government. russia knows that we shall not allow it; she knows that it will never be. nevertheless, we may have to make a demonstration. queen. do you propose to summon parliament? lord b. not parliament; no, madam. your majesty's fleet will be sufficient. (_this lights a spark; and the royal mind darts into strategy_) queen. if i had my way, lord beaconsfield, my fleet would be in the baltic to-morrow; and before another week was over, petersburg would be under bombardment. lord b. (_considerately providing this castle in the air with its necessary foundations_). and cronstadt would have fallen. queen (_puzzled for a moment at this naming of a place which had not entered her calculations_). cronstadt? why cronstadt? lord b. merely preliminary, madam. when that fortified suburb has crumbled--the rest will be easy. queen. yes! and what a good lesson it will teach them! the crimea wasn't enough for them, i suppose. lord b. the crimea! ah, what memories-of heroism--that word evokes! "magnificent, but not war!" queen. oh! there is one thing, lord beaconsfield, on which i want your advice. lord b. always at your majesty's disposal. queen. i wish to confer upon the sultan of turkey my order of the garter. lord b. ah! how generous, how generous an instinct! how like you, madam, to wish it! queen. what i want to know is, whether, as prime minister, you have any objection? lord b. "as prime minister." how hard that makes it for me to answer! how willingly would i say "none"! how reluctantly, on the contrary, i have to say, "it had better wait." queen. wait? wait till when? i want to do it _now_. lord b. yes, so do i. but can you risk, madam, conferring that most illustrious symbol of honour, and chivalry, and power, on a defeated monarch? your royal prestige, ma'am, must be considered great and generous hearts need, more than most, to take prudence into their counsels. queen. but do you think, lord beaconsfield, that the turks are going to be beaten? lord b. the turks _are_ beaten, madam.... but england will never be beaten. we shall dictate terms--moderating the demands of russia; and under your majesty's protection the throne of the kaliphat will be safe-- once more. that, madam, is the key to our eastern policy: a grateful kaliphat, claiming allegiance from the whole mahometan world, bound to us by instincts of self-preservation--and we hold henceforth the gorgeous east in fee with redoubled security. his power may be a declining power; but ours remains. some day, who knows? egypt, possibly even syria, arabia, may be our destined reward. (_like a cat over a bowl of cream, england's majesty sits lapping all this up. but, when he has done, her commentary is shrewd and to the point_.) queen. the french won't like that! lord b. they won't, madam, they won't. but has it ever been england's policy, madam, to mind what the french don't like? queen (_with relish_). no, it never has been, has it? ah! you are the true statesman, lord beaconsfield. mr. gladstone never talked to me like that. lord b.(_courteously surprised at what does not at all surprise him_). no?... you must have had interesting conversations with him, madam, in the past. queen (_very emphatically_). i have never once had a conversation with mr. gladstone, in all my life, lord beaconsfield. he used to talk to me as if i were a public meeting--and one that agreed with him, too! lord b. was there, then, any applause, madam? queen. no, indeed! i was too shy to say what i thought. i used to cough sometimes. lord b. rather like coughing at a balloon, i fear. i have always admired his flights-regarded as a mere _tour de force_--so buoyant, so sustained, so incalculable! but, as they never touch earth to any serviceable end, that i could discover--of what use are they? yet if there is one man who has helped me in my career--to whom, therefore, i should owe gratitude--it is he. queen. indeed? now that does surprise me! tell me, lord beaconsfield, how has he ever helped you? lord b. in our party system, madam, we live by the mistakes of our opponents. the balance of the popular verdict swings ever this way and that, relegating us either to victory or defeat, to office or to opposition. many times have i trodden the road to power, or passed from it again, over ruins the origin of which i could recognise either as my own work or that of another; and most of all has it been over the disappointments, the disaffections, the disgusts, the disillusionments-- chiefly among his own party--which my great opponent has left me to profit by. i have gained experience from what he has been morally blind to; what he has lacked in understanding of human nature he has left for me to discover. only to-day i learn that he has been in the habit of addressing--as you, madam, so wittily phrased it--of addressing, "as though she were a public meeting," that royal mistress, whom it has ever been my most difficult task not to address sometimes as the most charming, the most accomplished, and the most fascinating woman of the epoch which bears her name. (_he pauses, then resumes_.) how strange a fatality directs the fate of each one of us! how fortunate is he who knows the limits that destiny assigns to him: limits beyond which no word must be uttered. (_his oratorical flight, so buoyant and sustained, having come to its calculated end, he drops deftly to earth, encountering directly for the first time the flattered smile with which the queen has listened to him_.) madam, your kind silence reminds me, in the gentlest, the most considerate way possible, that i am not here to relieve the tedium of a life made lonely by a bereavement equal to your own, in conversation however beguiling, or in quest of a sympathy of which, i dare to say, i feel assured. for, in a sense, it is as to a public assembly, or rather as to a great institution, immemorially venerable and august that i have to address myself when, obedient to your summons, i come to be consulted as your majesty's first minister of state. if, therefore, your royal mind have any inquiries, any further commands to lay upon me, i am here, madam, to give effect to them in so far as i can. (_this time he has really finished, but with so artful an abbreviation at the point where her interest has been most roused that the queen would fain have him go on. and so the conversation continues to flow along intimate channels_.) queen. no, dear lord beaconsfield, not to-day! those official matters can wait. after you have said so much, and said it so beautifully, i would rather still talk with you as a friend. of friends you and i have not many; those who make up our world, for the most part, we have to keep at a distance. but while i have many near relatives, children and descendants, i remember that you have none. so your case is the harder. lord b. ah, no, madam, indeed! i have my children--descendants who will live after me, i trust--in those policies which, for the welfare of my beloved country, i confide to the care of a sovereign whom i revere and love....i am not unhappy in my life, madam; far less in my fortune; only, as age creeps on, i find myself so lonely, so solitary, that sometimes i have doubt whether i am really alive, or whether the voice, with which now and then i seek to reassure myself, be not the voice of a dead man. queen (_almost tearfully_). no, no, my dear lord beaconsfield, you mustn't say that! lord b.(_gallantly_). i won't say anything, madam, that you forbid, or that you dislike. you invited me to speak to you as a friend; so i have done, so i do. i apologise that i have allowed sadness, even for a moment, to trouble the harmony-the sweetness--of our conversation. queen. pray, do not apologise! it has been a very great privilege; i beg that you will go on! tell me--you spoke of bereavement--i wish you would tell me more--about your wife. (_the sudden request touches some latent chord; and it is with genuine emotion that he answers_.) lord b. ah! my wife! to her i owed everything. queen. she was devoted to you, wasn't she? lord b. i never read the depth of her devotion-till after her death. then, madam--this i have told to nobody but yourself--then i found among her papers--addressed "to my dear husband"--a message, written only a few days before her death, with a hand shaken by that nerve-racking and fatal malady which she endured so patiently--begging me to marry again. (_the queen is now really crying, and finds speech difficult._) queen. and you, you--? dear lord beaconsfield; did you mean--had you ever meant----? lord b. i did not then, madam; nor have i ever done so since. it is enough if i allow myself--to love. queen. oh, yes, yes; i understand--better than others would. for that has always been my own feeling. lord b. in the history of my race, madam, there has been a great tradition of faithfulness between husbands and wives. for the hardness of our hearts, we are told, moses permitted us to give a writing of divorcement. but we have seldom acted on it. in my youth i became a christian; i married a christian. but that was no reason for me to desert the nobler traditions of my race--for they are in the blood and in the heart. when my wife died i had no thought to marry again; and when i came upon that tender wish, still i had no thought for it; my mind would not change. circumstances that have happened since have sealed irrevocably my resolution-never to marry again. queen. oh, i think that is so wise, so right, so noble of you! (_the old statesman rises, pauses, appears to hesitate, then in a voice charged with emotion says_) lord b. madam, will you permit me to kiss your hand? (_the hand graciously given, and the kiss fervently implanted, he falls back once more to a respectful distance. but the emotional excitement of the interview has told upon him, and it is in a wavering voice of weariness that he now speaks_.) lord b. you have been very forbearing with me, madam, not to indicate that i have outstayed either my welcome or your powers of endurance. yet so much conversation must necessarily have tired you. may i then crave permission, madam, to withdraw. for, to speak truly, i do need some rest. queen. yes, my dear friend, go and rest yourself! but before you go, will you not wait, and take a glass of wine with me? (_he bows, and she rings_.) and there is just one other thing i wish to say before we part. lord b. speak, madam, for thy servant heareth. (_the other servant is now also standing to attention, awaiting orders_.) queen. bring some wine. (_the attendant_ goes.) that order of the garter which i had intended to onfer upon the sultan-- have you, as prime minister, any objection if i bestow it nearer home, on one to whom personally--i cannot say more--on yourself, i mean. (_at that pronouncement of the royal favour, the minister stands, exhausted of energy, in an attitude of drooping humility. the eloquent silence is broken presently by the queen_.) queen. dear lord beaconsfield, i want your answer. lord b. oh, madam! what adequate answer can these poor lips make to so magnificent an offer? yet answer i must. we have spoken together briefly to-day of our policies in the near east. madam, let me come to you again when i have saved constantinople, and secured once more upon a firm basis the peace of europe. then ask me again whether i have any objection, and i will own--"i have none!" (re-enters _attendant. he deposits a tray with decanter and glasses, and retires again_.) queen. very well, lord beaconsfield. and if you do not remind me, i shall remind you. (_she points to the tray_.) pray, help yourself! (_he takes up the decanter_.) lord b. i serve you, madam? queen. thank you. (_he fills the two glasses; presents hers to the queen, and takes up his own_.) lord b. may i propose for myself--a toast, madam? (_the queen sees what is coming, and bows graciously_.) lord b. the queen! god bless her! (_he drains the glass, then breaks it against the pole of the tent, and throws away the stem_.) an old custom, madam, observed by loyal defenders of the house of stewart, so that no lesser health might ever be drunk from the same glass. to my old hand came a sudden access of youthful enthusiasm--an ardour which i could not restrain. your pardon, madam! queen (_very gently_). go and lie down, lord beaconsfield; you need rest. lord b. adieu, madam. queen. draw your curtains, and sleep well! (_for a moment he stands gazing at her with a look of deep emotion; he tries to speak. ordinary words seem to fail; he falters into poetry_.) "when pain and anguish wring the brow, a ministering angel, thou!" (_it has been beautifully said, they both feel. silent and slow, with head reverentially bowed, he backs from the presence_.) (_the queen sits and looks after the retreating figure, then at the broken fragments of glass. she takes up the hand-bell and rings. the attendant_ enters.) queen. pick up that broken glass. (_the attendant collects it on the hand-tray which he carries_) bring it to me! ... leave it! (_the attendant deposits the tray before her, and_ goes. _gently the queen handles the broken pieces. then in a voice of tearful emotion she speaks_.) such devotion! most extraordinary! oh! albert! albert! (_and in the sixteenth year of her widowhood and the fortieth of her reign the royal lady bends her head over the fragments of broken glass, and weeps happy tears_.) curtain his favourite flower dramatis personae the statesman the housekeeper the doctor the primroses his favourite flower a political myth explained _the eminent old statesman has not been at all well. he is sitting up in his room, and his doctor has come to see him for the third time in three days. this means that the malady is not yet seriously regarded: once a day is still sufficient. nevertheless, he is a woeful wreck to look at; and the doctor looks at him with the greatest respect, and listens to his querulous plaint patiently. for that great dome of silence, his brain, repository of so many state-secrets, is still a redoubtable instrument: its wit and its magician's cunning have not yet lapsed into the dull inane of senile decay. though fallen from power, after a bad beating at the polls, there is no knowing but that he may rise again, and hold once more in those tired old hands, shiny with rheumatic gout, and now twitching feebly under the discomfort of a superimposed malady, the reins of democratic and imperial power. the dark, cavernous eyes still wear their look of accumulated wisdom, a touch also of visionary fire. the sparse locks, dyed to a raven black, set off with their uncanny sheen the clay-like pallor of the face. he sits in a high-backed chair, wrapped in an oriental dressing-gown, his muffled feet resting on a large hot-water bottle; and the eminent physician, preparatory to taking a seat at his side, bends solicitously over him_. doctor. well, my dear lord, how are you to-day? better? you look better. statesman. yes, i suppose i am better. but my sleep isn't what it ought to be. i have had a dream, doctor; and it has upset me. doctor. a dream? statesman. you wonder that i should mention it? of course, i--i don't believe in dreams. yet they indicate, sometimes--do they not?-certain disorders of the mind. doctor. generally of the stomach. statesman. ah! the same thing, doctor. there's no getting away from that in one's old age; when one has lived as well as i have. doctor. that is why i dieted you. statesman. oh, i have nothing on my conscience as to that. my housekeeper is a dragon. her fidelity is of the kind that will even risk dismissal. doctor. an invaluable person, under the circumstances. statesman. yes; a nuisance, but indispensable. no, doctor. this dream didn't come from the stomach. it seemed rather to emanate from that outer darkness which surrounds man's destiny. so real, so horribly real! doctor. better, then, not to brood on it. statesman. ah! could i explain it, then i might get rid of it. in the ancient religion of my race dreams found their interpretation. but have they any? doctor. medical science is beginning to say "yes"; that in sleep the subconscious mind has its reactions. statesman. well, i wonder how my "subconscious mind" got hold of primroses. doctor. primroses? did they form a feature in your dream? statesman. a feature? no. the whole place was alive with them! as the victim of inebriety sees snakes, i saw primroses. they were everywhere: they fawned on me in wreaths and festoons; swarmed over me like parasites; flew at me like flies; till it seemed that the whole world had conspired to suffocate me under a sulphurous canopy of those detestable little atoms. can you imagine the horror of it, doctor, to a sane--a hitherto sane mind like mine? doctor. oh! in a dream any figment may excite aversion. statesman. this wasn't like a dream. it was rather the threat of some new disease, some brain malady about to descend on me: possibly delirium tremens. i have not been of abstemious habits, doctor. suppose--? doctor. impossible! dismiss altogether that supposition from your mind! statesman. well, doctor, i hope--i hope you may be right. for i assure you that the horror i then conceived for those pale botanical specimens in their pestiferous and increscent abundance, exceeded what words can describe. i have felt spiritually devastated ever since, as though some vast calamity were about to fall not only on my own intellect, but on that of my country. well, you shall hear. (_he draws his trembling bands wearily over his face, and sits thinking awhile_.) with all the harsh abruptness of a soul launched into eternity by the jerk of the hangman's rope, so i found myself precipitated into the midst of this dream. i was standing on a pillory, set up in parliament square, facing the abbey. i could see the hands of st. margaret's clock pointing to half-past eleven; and away to the left the roof of westminster hall undergoing restoration. details, doctor, which gave a curious reality to a scene otherwise fantastic, unbelievable. there i stood in a pillory, raised up from earth; and a great crowd had gathered to look at me. i can only describe it as a primrose crowd. the disease infected all, but not so badly as it did me. the yellow contagion spread everywhere; from all the streets around, the botanical deluge continued to flow in upon me. i felt a pressure at my back; a man had placed a ladder against it; he mounted and hung a large wreath of primroses about my neck. the sniggering crowd applauded the indignity. having placed a smaller wreath upon my head, he descended.... a mockery of a may queen, there i stood! doctor (_laying a soothing hand on him_). a dream, my dear lord, only a dream. statesman. doctor, imagine my feelings! my sense of ridicule was keen; but keener my sense of the injustice--not to be allowed to know _why_ the whole world was thus making mock of me. for this was in the nature of a public celebration, its malignity was organised and national; a new fifth of november had been sprung upon the calendar. around me i saw the emblematic watchwords of the great party i had once led to triumph: "imperium et libertas," "peace with honour," "england shall reign where'er the sun," and other mottoes of a like kind; and on them also the floral disease had spread itself. the air grew thick and heavy with its sick-room odour. doctor, i could have vomited. doctor. yes, yes; a touch of biliousness, i don't doubt. statesman. with a sudden flash of insight--"this," i said to myself, "is my day of judgment. here i stand, judged by my fellow-countrymen, for the failures and shortcomings of my political career. the good intentions with which my path was strewn are now turned to my reproach. but why do they take this particular form? why--why primroses?" doctor. "the primrose way" possibly? statesman. ah! that occurred to me. but has it, indeed, been a primrose way that i have trodden so long and so painfully? i think not. i cannot so accuse myself. but suppose the day of judgment which fate reserves for us were fundamentally this: the appraisement of one's life and character--not by the all-seeing eye of heaven (before which i would bow), but by the vindictively unjust verdict of the people one has tried to serve--the judgment not of god, but of public opinion. that is a judgment of which all who strive for power must admit the relevancy! doctor. you distress yourself unnecessarily, dear lord. your reputation is safe from detraction now. statesman. with urgency i set my mind to meet the charge. if i could understand the meaning of that yellow visitation, then i should no longer have to fear that i was going mad! (_at this point the door is discreetly opened, and the housekeeper, mild, benign, but inflexible,_ enters, _carrying a cup and toast-rack upon a tray_.) housekeeper. i beg pardon, my lord; but i think your lordship ought to have your beef-tea now. statesman. yes, yes, mrs. manson; come in. doctor. you are right, mrs. manson; he ought. housekeeper (_placing the tray on a small stand_). where will you have it, my lord? statesman. in my inside, mrs. manson--presently--he, he! doctor. now, let me take your pulse...yes, yes. pretty good, you know. (_mrs. manson stands respectfully at attention with interrogation in her eye_.) statesman. yes, you may bring me my cap now. (_then to the doctor_). i generally sleep after this. (_mrs. manson brings a large tasselled fez of brilliant colour, and adjusts it to his head while he drinks. she then, goes to the door, takes a hot-water bottle from the bands of an unseen servant and effects the necessary changes. all this is done so unobtrusively that the statesman resumes his theme without regarding her. when she has done she goes_.) ah! where was i? doctor. if you "could understand," you said. statesman. ah, yes; understand. again a strange faculty of divination came upon me. i stood upon the international plane, amid a congress of powers, and let my eye travel once more over the alliances of europe. i looked, doctor, and truly i saw, then, surprising shifts and changes in the political and diplomatic fabric which i had helped to frame. time, and kingdoms had passed. i saw, at home and abroad, the rise of new parties into power, strange coalitions, defections, alliances; old balances destroyed, new balances set up in their place. i saw frontiers annulled, treaties violated, world-problems tumbling like clowns, standing on their heads and crying, "here we are again!" power--after all, had solved nothing! my eye travelled over that problem of the near east, which, for some generations at least, we thought to have settled, to vienna, petersburg, constantinople--and away farther east to teheran and--that other place whose name i have forgotten. and, as i looked, a recording angel came, and cried to me in a voice strangely familiar, the voice of one of my most detested colleagues--trusted, i mean--"you have put your money on the wrong horse!" and i had, doctor; if what i saw then was true--i had! yes, if ever man blundered and fooled his countrymen into a false and fatal position--i was that man! it wasn't a question of right or wrong. in politics that doesn't really matter; you decide on a course, and you invent moral reasons for it afterwards. no, what i had done was much worse than any mere wrongdoing. all my political foresight and achievements were a gamble that had gone wrong; and for that my day of judgment had come, and i stood in the pillory, a peepshow for mockery. but why for their instrument of torture did they choose primroses? oh, i can invent a reason! it was moses primrose, cheated of his horse with a gross of green spectacles cased in shagreen. but that was not the reason. for then came new insight, and a fresh humiliation. as i looked more intently i saw that i was _not_ being mocked; i was being worshipped, adulated, flattered; i had become a god--for party purposes perhaps--and this was my day, given in my honour, for national celebration. and i saw, by the insight given me, that they were praising me _for having put their money on the wrong horse!_ year by year the celebration had gone on, until they had so got into the habit that they could not leave off! all my achievements, all my policies, all my statecraft were in the dust; but the worship of me had become a national habit--so foolish and meaningless, that nothing, nothing but some vast calamity--some great social upheaval, was ever going to stop it. doctor. my dear lord, it is i who must stop it now. you mustn't go on. statesman. i have done, doctor. there i have given you the essentials of my dream; material depressing enough for the mind of an old man, enfeebled by indisposition, at the end of a long day's work. but i tell you, doctor, that nothing therein which stands explainable fills me with such repulsion and aversion as that one thing which i cannot explain--why, why primroses? doctor. a remarkable dream, my lord; rendered more vivid--or, as you say, "real"--by your present disturbed state of health. as to that part of it which you find so inexplicable, i can at least point toward where the explanation lies. it reduces itself to this: primroses had become associated for you--in a way which you have forgotten--with something you wished to avoid. and so they became the image, or symbol, of your aversion; and as such found a place in your dream. (_so saying the doctor rises and moves toward the window, where his attention suddenly becomes riveted_.) statesman. perhaps, doctor, perhaps, as you say, there is some such explanation. but i don't feel like that. doctor. why, here are primroses! this may be the clue? where do they come from? statesman. ah, those! indeed, i had forgotten them. at least; no, i could not have done that. doctor. there is a written card with them, i see. statesman. her gracious majesty did me the great honour, hearing that i was ill, to send and inquire. of course, since my removal from office, the opportunity of presenting my personal homage has not been what it used to be. that, i suppose, is as well. doctor. and these are from her majesty? statesman. they came yesterday, brought by a special messenger, with a note written by her own hand, saying that she had picked them herself. to so great a condescension i made with all endeavour what return i could. i wrote--a difficult thing for me to do, doctor, just now--presented my humble duty, my thanks; and said they were my favourite flower. doctor. and were they? statesman. of course, doctor, under those circumstances any flower would have been. it just happened to be that. doctor. well, my lord, there, then, the matter is explained. you _had_ primroses upon your mind. the difficulty, the pain even, of writing with your crippled hand, became associated with them. you would have much rather not had to write; and the disinclination, in an exaggerated form, got into your dream. now that, i hope, mitigates for you the annoyance--the distress of mind. statesman. yes, yes. it does, as you say, make it more understandable. bring them to me, doctor; let me look my enemy in the face. (_the doctor carries the bowl across and sets it beside him. very feebly he reaches out a hand and takes some_.) my favourite flower. he--he! my favourite flower. (_lassitude overtakes him--his head nods and droops as he speaks_.) a primrose by the river's brim a yellow primrose was to him, and it was nothing more. who was it wrote that?--byron or dr. watts? my memory isn't what it used to be. no matter. it all goes into the account. my favourite flower! "for i'm to be queen of the may, mother, i'm to be queen of the may!" (_the doctor takes up his hat, and tiptoes to the door_.) tell me, where is fancy bred, or in the heart or in the head? how begot, how nourished? (_he breaks, and lets the petals fall one by one_.) (_the doctor goes out_.) let us all ring fancy's knell; i'll begin it--ding-dong bell, ding-dong, bell. (_he goes to sleep_.) curtain the comforter dramatis personae w.e. gladstone mrs. gladstone mr. armitstead mr. john morley a footman the comforter a political finale _the scene is a sitting-room in downing street. the date march, . the time . p.m._ _mrs. gladstone sits before the fire, on a sofa comfortable for two, finishing off a piece of knitting. apparently she has just rung the bell, on the arrival from the dining-room of her husband and his two guests, for presently the door opens and the footman presents himself for orders. mr. gladstone takes down from the bookshelf a backgammon board, which he opens upon a small table somewhat distant from the fireplace_. gladstone. well, armitstead, draughts, or backgammon? armitstead. it was backgammon you promised me. gladstone. a rubber? armitstead. i shall be delighted. (_they seat themselves, and begin to set the board. mr. morley stands detached looking on, grave, not quite at ease_.) mrs. g. (_to the footman_). james, bring up the wine and some biscuits. james. whisky, madam? mrs. g. no, no; biscuits. soft biscuits for the other gentlemen, and some hard ones for the master. james. yes, madam. (_he goes, and in a few minutes returns, sets wine and biscuits on the side-table, and retires_?) morley (_to_ gladstone). now? gladstone. if you will be so good, my dear morley, i shall be much obliged. (_slowly and thoughtfully mr. morley goes over to fireplace, where he stands looking at mrs. gladstone, who is now beginning to "cast-off" a completed piece of knitting. the rattle of the dice is heard_.) gladstone. you play. (_thereafter, as the game proceeds, the dice are heard constantly_.) morley. well, dear lady? mrs. g. well, mr. morley? so mr. gladstone is at his game, and has sent you to talk to me. morley. precisely. you have guessed right. mrs. g. he always thinks of me. morley. yes. mrs. g. won't you sit down, mr. morley? morley. by you? with pleasure. mrs. g. and how is the world using you? morley. like balaam's ass. the angel of the lord stands before me with a drawn sword, and my knees quail under me. mrs. g. i thought you didn't believe in angels, mr. morley. morley. in the scriptural sense, no. in the political, they are rare; but one meets them--sometimes. mrs. g. and then they frighten you? morley. they make a coward of me. i want to temporise--put off the inevitable. but it's no good. angels have to be faced. that's the demand they make on us. mrs. g. you have something on your mind. morley. yes. but we'll not talk about it--yet. mrs. g. i have something on mine. morley. anything serious? mrs. g. it concerns you, mr. morley. would you very much mind accepting a gift not originally intended for you? morley. i have accepted office on those terms before now. mrs. g. ah! mr. gladstone has always so trusted you. morley. yes. mrs. g. more than he has most people. morley. i have been finding that out. it has become a habit, i'm afraid. i can't cure him. mrs. g. what i had on my mind, mr. morley, was this: i have knitted this comforter for you; at least, it's for you if you would like it. morley. angel! mrs. g. does that mean that you don't want it? morley. oh, no! it will be very good discipline for me; made by you, i shall have to wear it. mrs. g. but you know, it's a very remarkable thing that i _can_ offer it you. ever since we married i have been knitting comforters for mr. gladstone, which he has always either been losing or giving away. this is the first time i have been able to get ahead of him. he still has two. isn't that a triumph? morley. it is, indeed. mrs. g. he's more careful now, and doesn't lose them. he begins to feel, i suppose, that he's getting old--and needs them. morley. you surprise me! why, he is not yet ninety! mrs. g. do you know, he still sleeps like a child! sometimes i lie awake to watch him. it's wonderful. morley. it's habit, madam; that, and force of will. mrs. g. and really it is only then i can feel that he quite belongs to me. all the rest of the time it's a struggle. morley. in which you have won. mrs. g. have i? morley. every time. mrs. g. (_wistfully_). do i, mr. morley? morley. it is you, more than anything, who have kept him young. mrs. g. oh, no! i'm the ageing influence. morley. i don't believe it. mrs. g. yes; i stand for caution, prudence. he's like a great boy.... you don't think so; you see the other side of his character. but here have i been, sixty years, trying to make him take advice! morley. and sometimes succeeding. gods, and their makers! what a strange world! mrs. g. spending one's life feeding a god on beef-tea, that's been my work. (_the dear lady sighs_.) morley. and making comforters for him. mrs. g. it's terrible when he won't take it! morley. the beef-tea? mrs. g. no, the advice. for i'm generally right, you know. morley. i can well believe it. strange to think how the welfare and destiny of the nation have sometimes lain here--in this gentle hand. mrs. g. we do jump in the dark so, don't we? who can say what is really best for anyone? morley. and prescribing for a god is more difficult. mrs. g. much more. morley. so when he comes to ask a mere mortal for advice--well, now you must judge how difficult it has been for _me._ mrs. g. have you been giving him advice? morley. in a way; yes. mrs. g. and has he taken it? morley. a few days ago he told me of a resolution he had come to. i could not disapprove. but now i wonder how it is going to strike _you_? mrs. g. has anything special happened? he has not told me. morley (_gravely_). to-morrow, or the day after, he will be going down to windsor. mrs. g. oh, i'm sorry! that always depresses him. he and the queen don't get on very well together. morley. they will get on well enough this time, i imagine. mrs. g. (_a little bit alarmect_). does that mean--any change of policy? morley. of policy--i hope not. of person--yes. mrs. g. is anyone leaving the cabinet? morley. we may all be leaving it, very soon. he asked me to tell you; he had promised armitstead a game. look how he is enjoying it! mrs. g. (_shrewdly_). ah! then i expect he is winning. morley. oh? i should not have called him a bad loser. mrs. g. no; but he likes winning better--the excitement of it. morley. that is only human. yes, he has been a great winner--sometimes. mrs. g. when has he ever lost--except just for the time? he always knows that. morley. ah, yes! to quote your own sprightly phrase, we--he and the party with him--are always "popping up again." mrs. g. when did i say that? morley. seven years ago, when we began to win bye-elections on the irish question. the bye-elections are not going so well for us just now. mrs. g. but the general election will. morley. perhaps one will--in another seven years or so. mrs. g. but isn't there to be one this year? morley (_gravely_). the cabinet has decided against it. mrs. g. but mr. morley! now the lords have thrown out the irish bill there must be an election. morley. that was mr. gladstone's view. mrs. g. wasn't it yours, too? morley. yes; but we couldn't--we couldn't carry the others. mrs. g. then you mean mr. gladstone is going to form a new cabinet? morley. no. a new cabinet is going to be formed, but he will not be in it. that is his resolution. i was to tell you. (_at this news of the downfall of her hopes the gentle face becomes piteously woeful; full of wonder also_.) mrs. g. he asked you--to tell me that! morley. yes. mrs. g. oh! then he really means it! had he been in any doubt he would have consulted me. (_tears have now come to sustain the dear lady in her sense of desolation. mr. morley, with quiet philosophy, does his best to give comfort_.) morley. it was the only thing to do. ireland kept him in politics; if that goes, he goes with it. mrs. g. but ireland--doesn't go. morley. as the cause for a general election it goes, i'm afraid. mrs. g. but that isn't honest, mr. morley! morley. i agree. mrs. g. and it won't do any good--not in the end. morley. to that also, i agree. ireland remains; and the problem will get worse. mrs. g. but, indeed, you are wrong, mr. morley! it was not ireland that kept my husband in politics; it was mr. chamberlain. morley. that is a view which, i confess, had not occurred to me. chamberlain? mrs. g. no one could have kept mr. chamberlain from leading the liberal party, except mr. gladstone. and now he never will! morley. that, certainly, is a triumph, of a kind. you think that influenced him? chamberlain was a friend of mine once--is still, in a way. (_he pauses, then adds ruefully_) politics are a cruel game! (_he sighs and sits depressed. but mention of her husband's great antagonist has made the old lady brisk again_.) mrs. g. do you know, mr. morley, that if mr. gladstone had not made me pray for that man every night of my life, i should positively have hated him. morley (_with a touch of mischief_). you do that?--still? tell me--(i am curious)--do you pray for him as plain "joe chamberlain," or do you put in the "mister"? mrs. g. i never mention his name at all; i leave that to providence--to be understood. morley. well, it _has_ been understood, and answered--abundantly; chamberlain's star is in the ascendant again. it's strange; he and mr. gladstone never really got on together. mrs. g. i don't think he ever really tried--much. morley. didn't he? oh, you don't mean mr. gladstone? mrs. g. and then, you see, the queen never liked him. that has counted for a good deal. morley. it has--curiously. mrs. g. now why should it, mr. morley? she ought not to have such power--any more than i. morley. how can it be kept from either of you? during the last decade this country has been living on two rival catchwords, which in the field of politics have meant much--the "widow at windsor," and the "grand old man." and these two makers of history are mentally and temperamentally incompatible. that has been the tragedy. this is _her_ day, dear lady; but it won't always be so. mrs. g. mr. morley, who is going to be--who will take mr. gladstone's place? morley. difficult to say: the queen may make her own choice. spencer, perhaps; though i rather doubt it; probably harcourt. mrs. g. shall you serve under him? morley. i haven't decided. mrs. g. you won't. morley. possibly not. we are at the end of a dispensation. whether i belong to the new one, i don't yet know. mrs. g. the queen will be pleased, at any rate. morley. delighted. mrs. g. will she offer him a peerage, do you think? morley. oh, of course. mrs. g. yes. and she knows he won't accept it. so that gives her the advantage of seeming--magnanimous! morley. dear lady, you say rather terrible things--sometimes! you pray for the queen, too, i suppose; or don't you? mrs. g. oh yes; but that's different. i don't feel with her that it's personal. she was always against him. it was her bringing up; she couldn't help being. morley. so was chamberlain; so was harcourt; so was everybody. he is the loneliest man, in a great position, that i have ever known. mrs. g. till he met you, mr. morley. morley. i was only speaking of politics. sixty years ago he met _you_. mrs. g. nearly sixty-three. morley. three to the good; all the better! mrs. g. (_having finished off the comforter_). there! that is finished now! morley. a thousand thanks; so it is to be mine, is it? mrs. g. i wanted to say, mr. morley, how good i think you have always been to me. morley. i, dear lady? i? mrs. g. i must so often have been in the way without knowing it. you see, you and i think differently. we belong to different schools. morley. if you go on, i shall have to say "angel," again. that is all i _can_ say. mrs. g. (_tremulously_). oh, mr. morley, you will tell me! is this the end? has he--has he, after all, been a failure? morley. my dear lady, he has been an epoch. mrs. g. aren't epochs failures, sometimes? morley. even so, they count; we have to reckon with them. no, he is no failure; though it may seem like it just now. don't pay too much attention to what the papers will say. he doesn't, though he reads them. look at him now!--does that look like failure? (_he points to the exuberantly energetic figure intensely absorbed in its game_.) mrs. g. he is putting it on to-night a little, for _me_, mr. morley. he knows i am watching him. tell me how he seemed when he first spoke to you. was he feeling it--much? morley. oh, deeply, of course! he believes that on a direct appeal we could win the election. mrs. g. and you? morley. i don't. but all the same i hold it the right thing to do. great causes must face and number their defeats. that is how they come to victory. mrs. g. and now that will be in other hands, not his. suppose he should not live to see it. oh, mr. morley, mr. morley, how am i going to bear it! morley. dear lady, i don't usually praise the great altitudes. may i speak in his praise, just for once, to-night? as a rather faithless man myself-- not believing or expecting too much of human nature--i see him now, looking back, more than anything else as a man of faith. mrs. g. ah, yes. to him religion has always meant everything. morley. faith in himself, i meant. mrs. g. of course; he had to have that, too. morley. and i believe in him still, more now than ever. they can remove him; they cannot remove ireland. he may have made mistakes and misjudged characters; he may not have solved the immediate problem either wisely or well. but this he has done, to our honour and to his own: he has given us the cause of liberty as a sacred trust. if we break faith with that, we ourselves shall be broken--and we shall deserve it. mrs. g. you think that--possible? morley. i would rather not think anything just now. the game is over; i must be going. good night, dear friend; and if you sleep only as well as you deserve, i could wish you no better repose. good-bye. (_he moves toward the table from which the players are now rising_.) gladstone. that is a game, my dear armitstead, which came to this country nearly eight hundred years ago from the crusades. previously it had been in vogue among the nomadic tribes of the arabian desert for more than a thousand years. its very name, "backgammon," so english in sound, is but a corruption from the two arabic words _bacca_, and _gamma_ (my pronunciation of which stands subject to correction), meaning--if i remember rightly--"the board game." there, away east, lies its origin; its first recorded appearance in europe was at the sicilian court of the emperor frederick ii; and when the excommunication of rome fell on him in the year , the game was placed under an interdict, which, during the next four hundred years, was secretly but sedulously disregarded within those impregnably fortified places of learning and piety, to which so much of our western civilisation is due, the abbeys and other scholastic foundations of the benedictine order. the book-form, in which the board still conceals itself, stands as a memorial of its secretive preservation upon the shelves of the monastic libraries. i keep my own, with a certain touch of ritualistic observance, between this seventeenth century edition of the works of roger bacon and this more modern one, in latin, of the writings of thomas aquinas; both of whom may not improbably have been practitioners of the game. armitstead. very interesting, very interesting. (_during this recitation mr. gladstone has neatly packed away the draughts and the dice, shutting them into their case finally and restoring it to its place upon the bookshelf_.) gladstone. my dear, i have won the rubber. mrs. g. have you, my dear? i'm very glad, if mr. armitstead does not mind. armitstead. to be beaten by mr. gladstone, ma'am, is a liberal education in itself. morley (_to his host_). i must say good-night, now, sir. gladstone. what, my dear morley, must you be going? morley. for one of my habits it is almost late--eleven. armitstead. in that case i must be going, too. can i drop you anywhere, morley? morley. any point, not out of your way, in the direction of my own door, i shall be obliged. armitstead. with pleasure. i will come at once. and so--good-night, mrs. gladstone. mr. prime minister, good-night. gladstone. good-night, armitstead. morley (_aside to mr. gladstone_). i have done what you asked of me, sir. gladstone. i thank you. good-night. (_the two guests have gone; and husband and wife are left alone. he approaches, and stands near_.) so morley has told you, my dear? mrs. g. that you are going down to windsor to-morrow? yes, william. you will want your best frock-suit, i suppose? gladstone. my best and my blackest would be seemly under the circumstances, my love. this treble-dated crow will keep the obsequies as strict as court etiquette requires, or as his wardrobe may allow. i have a best suit, i suppose? mrs. g. yes, william. i keep it put away for you. gladstone (_after a meditative pause begins to recite_). "come, thou who art the wine and wit of all i've writ: the grace, the glory, and the best piece of the rest, thou art, of what i did intend, the all and end; and what was made, was made to meet thee, thee, my sheet!" herrick, to his shroud, my dear! a poet who has the rare gift of being both light and spiritual in the same breath. read herrick at his gravest, when you need cheering; you will always find him helpful. mrs. g. then--will you read him to me to-night, william? gladstone. why, certainly, my love, if you wish. (_he stoops and kisses her_.) mrs. g. (_speaking very gently_). i was waiting for that. gladstone. and i was waiting--for what you have to say. mrs. g. i can say nothing. gladstone. why, nothing? mrs. g. because i can't be sure of you, my dear. you've done this before. gladstone. this time it has been done for me. my own say in the matter has been merely to acquiesce. mrs. g. ah! so you say! and others--others may say it for you; but-- gladstone. anno domini says it, my dear. mrs. g. anno domini has been saying it for the last twenty years. much heed you paid to anno domini. gladstone. you never lent it the weight of your counsels, my own love-- till now. mrs. g. i know, william, when talking is useless. gladstone. ah! i wonder--if i do. mrs. g. no; that's why i complain. twenty years ago you said you were going to retire from politics and take up theology again--that you were old, and had come to an end. why, you were only just beginning! and it will always be the same; any day something may happen--more bulgarian atrocities, or a proposal for welsh disestablishment. then you'll break out again! gladstone. but i am in favour of welsh disestablishment, my dear--when it comes. mrs. g. are you? oh, yes; i forgot. you are in favour of so many things you didn't used to be. well, then, it will be something else. you will always find an excuse; i shall never feel safe about you. gladstone (_in moved tone_). and if you could feel safe about me-- what then? mrs. g. oh, my dear, my dear, if i could! always i've seen you neglecting yourself--always putting aside your real interests--the things that you most inwardly cared about, the things which you always meant to do when you "had time." and here i have had to sit and wait for the time that never came. isn't that true? gladstone. there is an element of truth in it, my dear. mrs. g. well, twenty years have gone like that, and you've "had no time." oh, if you could only go back to the things you meant to do, twenty years ago--and take them up, just where you left off--why, i should see you looking--almost young again. for you've been looking tired lately, my dear. gladstone. tired? yes: i hoped not to have shown it. but three weeks ago i had to own to myself that i was beginning to feel tired. i went to crichton browne (i didn't tell you, my love); he said there was nothing the matter with me--except old age. mrs. g. you should have come to me, my dear; i could have told you the only thing to do. gladstone. is it too late to tell me now? mrs. g. yes; because now you've done it, without my advice, william. think of that! for the first time! gladstone (_gravely surprised_). so you have been wishing it, have you? (_and the devoted wife, setting her face, and steadying her voice, struggles on to give him what comfort she may, in the denial of her most cherished hopes_.) mrs. g. i've been waiting, waiting, waiting for it to come. but it was the one thing i couldn't say, till you--till you thought of it yourself! gladstone. did i do so? or did others think of it for me? i'm not sure; i'm not sure. my judgment of the situation differed from theirs. i couldn't carry them with me. in my own cabinet i was a defeated man. only morley stood by me then. (_deep in the contemplation of his last political defeat, he is not looking at her face; and that is as well. her voice summons him almost cheerfully from his reverie._) mrs. g. william dear, can you come shopping with me to-morrow? oh, no, to-morrow you are going to windsor. the day after, then. gladstone. what is that for, my dear? mrs. g. we have to get something for dorothy's birthday, before we go home. you mustn't forget things like that, you know. dorothy is important. gladstone. not merely important, my love; she is a portent--of much that we shall never know. dorothy will live to see the coming of the new age. mrs. g. the new age? well, so long as you let it alone, my dear, it may be as new as it likes; i shan't mind. gladstone. we will leave dorothy to manage it her own way. mrs. g. then you will shop with me--not to-morrow--thursday? gladstone. piccadilly, or oxford street? mrs. g. i thought gamage's. gladstone. holborn? that sounds adventurous. yes, my love, i will shop with you on thursday--if all goes well at windsor to-morrow--with all the contentment in the world. (_they kiss_.) now go to bed; and presently i will come and read herrick to you. (_she gets up and goes toward the door, when her attention is suddenly arrested by the carpet._) mrs. g. william! do you see how this carpet is wearing out? we shall have to get a new one. gladstone. it won't be necessary now. those at hawarden, if i remember rightly, are sufficiently new to last out our time. mrs. g. i wish i could think so, my dear. they would if you didn't give them such hard wear, walking about on them. the way you wear things out has been my domestic tragedy all along! gladstone (_standing with folded hands before her_). my love, i have just remembered; i have a confession to make. mrs. g. what, another? oh, william! gladstone. i cannot find either of my comforters. i'm afraid i have lost them. i had both this morning, and now both are gone. mrs. g. why, you are worse than ever, my dear! both in one day! you have not done that for twenty years. gladstone. i am sorry. i won't do it again. mrs. g. ah! so you say! poor mr. morley will have to wait now. i had promised him this. there! (_making him sit down, she puts the comforter round his neck, and gives him a parting kiss_.) and now i'm going. gladstone. go, my love! i will come presently. (_but he has not quite got rid of her. her hands are now reaching down to the back of the sofa behind him_.) what are you looking for? mrs. g. my knitting-needles. you are sitting on them. now mind, you are not to sit up! gladstone. i won't sit up long. (_quietly and serenely she goes to the door, looks back for a moment, then glides through it, leaving behind a much-deceived husband, who will not hear the sound of her solitary weeping, or see any signs of it on her face when presently he comes to read herrick at her bedside_.) (_for a while he sits silent, peacefully encompassed in the thoughts with which she has provided him; then very slowly he speaks.)_ gladstone. well, if it pleases her--i suppose it must be right! curtain possession dramatis personae julia robinson _sisters_ laura james _sisters_ martha robinson _sisters_ susan robinson _their mother_ thomas robinson _their father_ william james _husband to laura james_ hannah _the family servant_ part two the everlasting habitations "all hope abandon ye who enter here." "_make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye jail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations_" possession a peep-show in paradise scene.--_the everlasting habitations_ _it is evening (or so it seems), and to the comfortably furnished victorian drawing-room a middle-aged maid-servant in cap and apron brings a lamp, and proceeds to draw blinds and close curtains. to do this she passes the fire-place, where before a pleasantly bright hearth sits, comfortably sedate, an elderly lady whose countenance and attitude suggest the very acme of genteel repose. she is a handsome woman, very conscious of herself, but carrying the burden of her importance with an ease which, in her own mind, leaves nothing to be desired. the once-striking outline of her features has been rounded by good feeding to a softness which is merely physical; and her voice, when she speaks, has a calculated gentleness very caressing to her own ear, and a little irritating to others who are not of an inferior class. menials like it, however. the room, though over-upholstered, and not furnished with any more individual taste than that which gave its generic stamp to the great victorian period, is the happy possessor of some good things. upon the mantel-shelf, backed by a large mirror, stands old china in alternation with alabaster jars, under domed shades, and tall vases encompassed by pendant ringlets of glass-lustre. rose-wood, walnut, and mahogany make a well-wooded interior; and in the dates thus indicated there is a touch of georgian. but, over and above these mellowing features of a respectable ancestry, the annunciating angel of the great exhibition of_ _has spread a brooding wing. and while the older articles are treasured on account of family association, the younger and newer stand erected in places of honour by reason of an intrinsic beauty never previously attained to. through this chamber the dashing crinoline has wheeled the too vast orb of its fate, and left fifty years after (if we may measure the times of heaven by the ticks of an earthly chronometer) a mark which nothing is likely to erase. upon the small table, where hannah the servant deposits the lamp, lies a piece of crochet-work. the fair hands that have been employed on it are folded on a lap of corded silk representing the fashions of the nineties, and the grey-haired beauty (that once was) sits contemplative, wearing a cap of creamish lace, tastefully arranged, not unaware that in the entering lamp-light, and under the fire's soft glow of approval, she presents to her domestic's eye an improving picture of gentility. it is to miss julia robinson's credit--and she herself places it there emphatically--that she always treats servants humanly, though at a distance. and when she now speaks she confers her slight remark just a little as though it were a favour_. julia. how the days are drawing out, hannah. hannah. yes, ma'am; nicely, aren't they? (_for hannah, being old-established, may say a thing or two not in the strict order. in fact, it may be said that, up to a well-understood point, character is encouraged in her, and is allowed to peep through in her remarks_.) julia. what time is it? hannah (_looking with better eyes than her mistress at the large ormolu clock which records eternally the time of the great exhibition_). almost a quarter to six, ma'am. julia. so late? she ought to have been here long ago. hannah. who, ma'am, did you say, ma'am? julia. my sister, mrs. james. you remember? hannah. what, miss martha, ma'am? well! julia. no, it's miss laura this time: you didn't know she had married, i suppose? hannah (_with a world of meaning, well under control_). no, ma'am. (_a pause_.) i made up the bed in the red room; was that right, ma'am? julia (_archly surprised_). what? then you knew someone was coming? why did you pretend, hannah? hannah. well, ma'am, you see, you hadn't _told_ me before. julia. i couldn't. one cannot always be sure. (_this mysteriously_.) but something tells me now that she is to be with us. i have been expecting her over four days. hannah (_picking her phrases a little, as though on doubtful ground_). it must be a long way, ma'am. did she make a comfortable start, ma'am? julia. very quietly, i'm told. no pain. hannah. i wonder what she'll be able to eat now, ma'am. she was always very particular. tulia. i daresay you will be told soon enough. (_thus in veiled words she conveys that hannah knows something of mrs. james's character_.) hannah (_resignedly_). yes, m'm. julia. i don't think i'll wait any longer. if you'll bring in tea now. make enough for two, in case: pour it off into another pot, and have it under the tea-cosy. hannah. yes, ma'am. (_left alone, the dear lady enjoys the sense of herself and the small world of her own thoughts in solitude. then she sighs indulgently_.) julia. yes, i suppose i would rather it had been martha. poor laura! (_she puts out her hand for her crochet, when it is arrested by the sound of a knock, rather rapacious in character_.) ah, that's laura all over! (_seated quite composedly and fondling her well-kept hands, she awaits the moment of arrival. very soon the door opens, and the over-expected mrs. james--a luxuriant garden of widow's weeds, enters. she is a lady more strongly and sharply featured than her sister, but there is nothing thin-lipped about her; with resolute eye and mouth a little grim, yet pleased at so finding herself, she steps into this chamber of old memories and cherished possessions, which translation to another and a better world has made hers again. for a moment she sees the desire of her eyes and is satisfied; but for a moment only. the apparition of another already in possession takes her aback_.) julia (_with soft effusiveness_). well, laura! laura (_startled_). julia! julia. _here_ you are! laura. whoever thought of finding you? julia (_sweetly_). didn't you? (_they have managed to embrace: but laura continues to have her grievance_.) laura. no! not for a moment. i really think they might have told me. what brought you? julia. our old home, laura. it was a natural choice, i think: as one was allowed to choose. i suppose you were? laura (_her character showing_.) i didn't ask anyone's leave to come. julia. and how are you? laura. i don't know; i want my tea. julia. hannah is just bringing it. laura. who's hannah? julia. _our_ hannah: our old servant. didn't _she_ open the door to you? laura. what? come back, has she? julia. i found her here when i came, seven years ago. i didn't ask questions. here she is. (enter _hannah with the tea-tray_.) laura (_with a sort of grim jocosity_). how d'ye do, hannah? hannah. nicely, thank you, ma'am. how are you, ma'am? (_hannah, as she puts down the tray, is prepared to have her hand shaken: for it is a long time (thirty years or so in earthly measure) since they met. but mrs. james is not so cordial as all that_.) laura. i'm very tired. julia. you've come a long way. (_but laura's sharp attention has gone elsewhere_.) laura. hannah, what have you got my best tray for? you know that is not to be used every day. julia. it's all right, laura. you don't understand. laura. what don't i understand? julia. here one always uses the best. nothing wears out or gets broken. laura. then where's the pleasure of it? if one always uses them and they never break--'best' means nothing! julia. it is a little puzzling at first. you must be patient. laura. i'm not a child, julia. julia (_beautifully ignoring_). a little more coal, please, hannah. (_then to her sister as she pours out the tea_.) and how did you leave everybody? laura. oh, pretty much as usual. most of them having colds. that's how i got mine. mrs. hilliard came to call and left it behind her. i went out with it in an east wind and that finished me. julia. oh, but how provoking! (_she wishes to be sympathetic; but this is a line of conversation she instinctively avoids_!) laura. _no_, julia! ... (_this, delivered with force, arrests the criminal intention_.) _no_ sugar. to think of your forgetting that! julia (_most sweetly_). milk? laura. yes, you know i take milk. (_crossing over, but sitting away from the tea-table, she lets her sister wait on her_.) julia. did martha send me any message? laura. how could she? she didn't know i was coming. julia. was it so sudden? laura. i sent for her and she didn't come. think of that! julia. oh! she would be sorry. tea-cake? laura (_taking the tea-cake that is offered her_). i'm not so sure. she was nursing edwin's boy through the measles, so of course _i_ didn't count. (_nosing suspiciously_.) is this china tea? julia. if you like to think it. you have as you choose. how is our brother, edwin? laura. his wife's more trying than ever. julia, what a fool that woman is! julia. well, let's hope he doesn't know it. laura. he must know. i've told him. she sent a wreath to my funeral, 'with love and fond affection, from emily.' fond fiddlesticks! humbug! she knows i can't abide her. julia. i suppose she thought it was the correct thing. laura. and i doubt if it cost more than ten shillings. now mrs. dobson--you remember her: she lives in tudor street with a daughter one never sees--something wrong in her head, and has fits--she sent me a cross of lilies, white lilac, and stephanotis, as handsome as you could wish; and a card--i forget what was on the card.... julia, when you died-- julia. oh, don't laura! laura. well, you did die, didn't you? julia. here one doesn't talk of it. that's over. there are things you will have to learn. laura. what i was going to say was--when i died i found my sight was much better. i could read all the cards without my glasses. do _you_ use glasses? julia. sometimes, for association. i have these of our dear mother's in her tortoise-shell case. laura. that reminds me. where is our mother? julia. she comes--sometimes. laura. why isn't she here always? julia (_with pained sweetness_). i don't know, laura. i never ask questions. laura. really, julia, i shall be afraid to open my mouth presently! julia (_long-suffering still_). when you see her you will understand. i told her you were coming, so i daresay she will look in. laura. 'look in'! julia. perhaps. that is her chair, you remember. she always sits there, still. (enter _hannah with the coal_.) just a little on, please, hannah--only a little. laura. this isn't china tea: it's indian, three and sixpenny. julia. mine is ten shilling china. laura. lor', julia! how are you able to afford it? julia. a little imagination goes a long way here, you'll find. once i tasted it. so now i can always taste it. laura. well! i wish i'd known. julia. now you _do_. laura. but i never tasted tea at more than three-and-six. had i known, i could have got two ounces of the very best, and had it when---- julia. a lost opportunity. life is full of them. laura. then you mean to tell me that if i had indulged more then, i could indulge more now? julia. undoubtedly. as i never knew what it was to wear sables, i have to be content with ermine. laura. lor', julia, how paltry! (_while this conversation has been going on, a gentle old lady has appeared upon the scene, unnoticed and unannounced. one perceives, that is to say, that the high-backed arm-chair beside the fire, sheltered by a screen from all possibility of draughts, has an occupant. dress and appearance show a doubly septuagenarian character: at the age of seventy, which in this place she retains as the hall-mark of her earthly pilgrimage, she belongs also to the 'seventies' of the last century, wears watered silk, and retains under her cap a shortened and stiffer version of the side-curls with which she and all 'the sex' captivated the hearts of charles dickens and other novelists in their early youth. she has soft and indeterminate features, and when she speaks her voice, a little shaken by the quaver of age, is soft and indeterminate also. gentle and lovable, you will be surprised to discover that she, also, has a will of her own; but for the present this does not show. from the dimly illumined corner behind the lamp her voice comes soothingly to break the discussion_.) old lady. my dear, would you move the light a little nearer? i've dropped a stitch. laura (_starting up_). why, mother dear, when did you come in? julia (_interposing with arresting hand_). don't! you mustn't try to touch her, or she goes. laura. goes? julia. i can't explain. she is not quite herself. she doesn't always hear what one says. laura (_assertively_). she can hear me. (_to prove it, she raises her voice defiantly._) can't you, mother? mrs. r. (_the voice perhaps reminding her_). jane, dear, i wonder what's become of laura, little laura: she was always so naughty and difficult to manage, so different from martha--and the rest. laura. lor', julia! is it as bad as that? mother, 'little laura' is here, sitting in front of you. don't you know me? mrs. r. do you remember, jane, one day when we'd all started for a walk, laura had forgotten to bring her gloves, and i sent her back for them? and on the way she met little dorothy jones, and she took her gloves off her, and came back with them just as if they were her own. laura. what a good memory you have, mother! i remember it too. she was an odious little thing, that dorothy--always so whiney-piney. julia. more tea, laura? (_laura pushes her cup at her without remark, for she has been kept waiting; then, in loud tones, to suit the one whom she presumes to be rather deaf_:) laura. mother! where are you living now? mrs. r. i'm living, my dear. laura. i said 'where?' julia. we live where it suits us, laura. laura. julia, i wasn't addressing myself to you. mother, where _are_ you living?... why, _where_ has she gone to? (_for now we perceive that this gentle old lady so devious in her conversation has a power of self-possession, of which, very retiringly, she avails herself._) julia (_improving the occasion, as she hands back the cup, with that touch of superiority so exasperating to a near relative_). now you see! if you press her too much, she goes.... you'll have to accommodate yourself, laura. laura (_imposing her own explanation_). i think you gave me _green_ tea, julia ... or have had it yourself. julia (_knowing better_). the dear mother seldom stays long, except when she finds me alone. (_having insinuated this barb into the flesh of her 'dear sister,' she takes up her crochet with an air of great contentment. mrs. james, meanwhile, to make herself more at home, now that tea is finished, undoes her bonnet-strings with a tug, and lets them hang. she is not in the best of tempers.)_ laura. i don't believe she recognised me. why did she keep on calling me 'jane'? julia. she took you for poor aunt jane, i fancy. laura (_infuriated at being taken for anyone 'poor'_). why should she do that, pray? julia. well, there always was a likeness, you know; and you are older than you were, laura. laura (_crushingly_). does 'poor aunt jane' wear widow's weeds? (_this reminds her not only of her own condition, but of other things as well. she sits up and takes a stiller bigger bite into her new world_.) julia!... where's william? julia. i haven't inquired. laura (_self-importance and a sense of duty consuming her_.) i wish to see him. julia. better not, as it didn't occur to you before. laura. am i not to see my own husband, pray? julia. he didn't ever live _here_, you know. laura. he can come, i suppose. he has got legs like the rest of us. julia. yes, but one can't force people: at least, not here. you should remember that--before he married you--he had other ties. (_mrs. james preserves her self-possession, but there is battle in her eye._) laura. he was married to me longer than he was to isabel. julia. they had children. laura. i could have had children if i chose. i didn't choose.... julia, how am i to see him? julia (_washing her hands of it_). you must manage for yourself, laura. laura. i'm puzzled! here are we in the next world just as we expected, and where are all the--? i mean, oughtn't we to be seeing a great many more things than we do? julia. what sort of things? laura. well,... have you seen moses and the prophets? julia. i haven't looked for them, laura. on sundays, i still go to hear mr. moore. laura. that's you all over! you never would go o the celebrated preachers. but i mean to. (_pious curiosity awakens._) what happens here, on sundays? julia (_smiling_). oh, just the same. laura. no _high_ church ways, i hope? if they go in for that here, i shall go out! julia (_patiently explanatory_). you will go out if you wish to go out. you can choose your church. as i tell you, i always go to hear mr. moore; you can go and hear canon farrar. laura. dean farrar, i _suppose_ you mean. julia. he was not dean in my day. laura. he ought to have been a bishop--_arch_bishop, _i_ think-- so learned, and such a magnificent preacher. but i still wonder why we don't see moses and the prophets. julia. well, laura, it's the world as we knew it-that for the present. no doubt other things will come in time, gradually. but i don't know: i don't ask questions. laura (_doubtfully_). i suppose it _is_ heaven, in a way, though? julia. dispensation has its own ways, laura; and we have ours. laura (_who is not going to be theologically dictated to by anyone lower than dean farrar_). julia, i shall start washing the old china again. julia. as you like; nothing ever gets soiled here. laura. it's all very puzzling. the world seems cut in half. things don't seem _real_. julia. _more_ real, i should say. we have them--as we wish them to be. laura. then why can't we have our mother, like other things? julia. ah, with persons it is different. we all belong to ourselves now. that one has to accept. laura (_stubbornly_). does william belong to _him_self? julia. i suppose. laura. it isn't scriptural! julia. it's better. laura. julia, don't be blasphemous! julia. to consult william's wishes, i meant. laura. but i want him. i've a right to him. if he didn't mean to belong to me, he ought not to have married me. julia. people make mistakes sometimes. laura. then they should stick to them. it's not honourable. julia, i mean to have william! julia (_resignedly_). you and he must arrange that between you. laura (_making a dash for it_). william! william, i say! william! julia. oh, laura, you'll wake the dead! (_she gasps, but it is too late: the hated word is out._) laura (_as one who will be obeyed_). william! (_the door does not open; but there appears through it the indistinct figure of an elderly gentleman with a weak chin and a shifting eye. he stands irresolute and apprehensive; clearly his presence there is perfunctory. wearing his hat and carrying a hand-bag, he seems merely to have looked in while passing._) julia. apparently you are to have your wish. (_she waves an introductory hand; mrs. james turns, and regards the unsatisfactory apparition with suspicion._) laura. william, is that you? william (_nervously_). yes, my dear; it's me. laura. can't you be more distinct than that? william. why do you want me? laura. have you forgotten i'm your wife? william. i thought you were my widow, my dear. laura. william, don't prevaricate. i am your wife, and you know it. william. does a wife wear widow's weeds? a widow is such a distant relation: no wonder i look indistinct. laura. how did i know whether i was going to find you here? william. where else? but you look very nice as you are, my dear. black suits you. (_but mrs. james is not to be turned off by compliments._) laura. william, who are you living with? william. with myself, my dear. laura. anyone else? william. off and on i have friends staying. laura. are you living with isabel? william. she comes in occasionally to see how i'm getting on. laura. and how are you 'getting on'--without me? william. oh, i manage--somehow. laura. are you living a proper life, william? william. well, i'm _here_, my dear; what more do you want to know? laura. there's a great deal i want to know. but i wish you'd come in and shut the door, instead of standing out there in the passage. julia. the door _is_ shut, laura. laura. then i don't call it a door. william (_trying to make things pleasant_). when is a door not a door? when it's a parent. laura. william, i want to talk seriously. do you know that when you died you left a lot of debts i didn't know about? william. i didn't know about them either, my dear. but if you had, it wouldn't have made any difference. laura. yes, it would! i gave you a very expensive funeral. william. that was to please yourself, my dear; it didn't concern me. laura. have you no self-respect? i've been at my own funeral to-day, let me tell you! william. have you, my dear? rather trying, wasn't that? laura. yes, it was. they've gone and put me beside you; and now i begin to wish they hadn't! william. go and haunt them for it! (_at this julia deigns a slight chuckle._) laura (_abruptly getting back to her own_). i had to go into a smaller house, william. and people knew it was because you'd left me badly off. william. that reflected on me, my dear, not on you. laura. it reflected on me for ever having married you. william. i've often heard you blame yourself. well, now you're free. laura. i'm _not_ free. william. you can be if you like. hadn't you better? laura (_sentimentally_). don't you see i'm still in mourning for you, william? william. i appreciate the compliment, my dear. don't spoil it, laura. don't be heartless! william. i'm not: far from it. (_he looks at his watch)_ i'm afraid i must go now. laura. why must you go? william. they are expecting me--to dinner. laura. who's 'they'? william. the children and their mother. they've invited me to stay the night. (_mrs. james does her best to conceal the shock this gives her. she delivers her ultimatum with judicial firmness_!) laura. william, i wish you to come and live here with me. (_william vanishes. mrs. james in a fervour of virtuous indignation hastens to the door, opens it, and calls 'william!' but there is no answer_!) (_julia, meanwhile, has rung the bell. mrs. james stills stands glowering in the doorway when she hears footsteps, and moves majestically aside for the returned penitent to enter; but alas! it is only hannah, obedient to the summons of the bell. mrs. james faces round and fires a shot at her_.) laura. hannah, you _are_ an ugly woman. julia (_faint with horror_). laura! hannah (_imperturbably)._ well, ma'am, i'm as god made me. julia. yes, please, take the tea-things. (_sotto voce, as hannah approaches_.) i'm sorry, hannah! hannah. it doesn't matter, ma'am. (_she picks up the tray expeditiously and carries it off_) (_mrs. james eyes the departing tray, and is again reminded of something_) laura. julia, where is the silver tea-pot? julia. which, laura? laura. why, that beautiful one of our mother's. julia. when we shared our dear mother's things between us, didn't martha have it? laura. yes, she did. but she tells me she doesn't know what's become of it. when i ask, what did she do with it in the first place? she loses her temper. but once she told me she left it here with _you_. (_the fierce eye and the accusing tone make no impression on that cushioned fortress of gentility. with suave dignity miss robinson makes chaste denial._) julia. no. laura (_insistent)._ yes; in a box. julia. in a box? oh, she may have left anything in a box. laura. it was that box she always travelled about with and never opened. well, i looked in it once (never mind how), and the tea-pot wasn't there. julia (_gently, making allowance_). well, i _didn't_ look in it, laura. (_like a water-lily folding its petals she adjusts a small shawl about her shoulders, and sinks composedly into her chair_.) laura. the more fool you!... but all the other things she had of our mother's _were_ there: a perfect magpie's nest! and she, living in her boxes, and never settling anywhere. what did she want with them? julia. i can't say, laura. laura. no--no more can i; no more can anyone! martha has got the miser spirit. she's as grasping as a caterpillar. _i_ ought to have had that tea-pot. julia. why? laura. because i had a house of my own, and people coming to tea. martha never had anyone to tea with her in her life--except in lodgings. julia. we all like to live in our own way. martha liked going about. laura. yes. she promised _me_, after william--i suppose i had better say 'evaporated' as you won't let me say 'died'--she promised always to stay with me for three months in the year. she never did. two, and some little bits, were the most. and i want to know where was that tea-pot all the time? julia (_a little jocosely_). not in the box, apparently. laura (_returning to her accusation_). i thought you had it. julia. you were mistaken. had i had it here, you would have found it. laura. did martha never tell _you_ what she did with it? julia. i never asked, laura. laura. julia, if you say that again i shall scream. julia. won't you take your things off? laura. presently. when i feel more at home. (_returning to the charge_) but most of our mother's things are here. julia. your share and mine. laura. how did you get mine here? julia. you brought them. at least, they _came_, a little before you did. then i knew you were on your way. laura (_impressed)._ lor'! so that's how things happen? (_she goes and begins to take a look round, and julia takes up her crochet again. as she does so her eye is arrested by a little old-fashioned hour-glass standing upon the table from which the tea-tray has been taken, the sands of which are still running_.) julia (_softly, almost to herself_). oh, but how strange! that was martha's. is martha coming too? (_she picks up the glass, looks at it, and sets it down again_) laura (_who is examining the china on a side-table)._ why, i declare, julia! here is your dresden that was broken--without a crack in it! julia. no, laura, it was yours that was broken. laura. it was _not_ mine; it was yours...don't you remember _i_ broke it? julia. when you broke it you said it was mine. until you broke it, you said it was yours. laura. very well, then: as you wish. it isn't broken now, and it's mine. julia. that's satisfactory. i get my own back again. it's the better one. (enter _hannah with a telegram on a salver._) hannah (_in a low voice of mystery_). a telegram, ma'am. (_julia opens it. the contents evidently startle her, but she retains her presence of mind_) julia. no answer. (exit _hannah_) julia. laura, martha is coming! laura. here? well, i wonder how she has managed that! (_her sister hands her the telegram, which she reads.)_ 'accident. quite safe. arriving by the . .' why, it's after that now! julia (_sentimentally)._ oh, laura, only think! so now we shall be all together again. laura. yes, i suppose we shall. julia. it will be quite like old days. laura (_warningly, as she sits down again and prepares for narrative_). not _quite_, julia. (_she leans forward, and speaks with measured emphasis_) martha's temper has got very queer! she never had a very good temper, as you know: and it's grown on her. (_a pause. julia remains silent_) i could tell you some things; but--(_seeing herself unencouraged)_ oh, you'll find out soon enough! (_then, to stand right with herself_) julia, _am_ i difficult to get on with? julia. oh well, we all have our little ways, laura. laura. but martha: she's so rude! i can't introduce her to people! if anyone comes, she just runs away. julia (_changing the subject_). d'you remember, laura, that charming young girl we met at mrs. somervale's, the summer uncle fletcher stayed with us? laura (_snubbingly_). i can't say i do. julia. i met her the other day: married, and with three children--and just as pretty and young-looking as ever. (_all this is said with the most ravishing air, but laura is not to be diverted_.) laura. ah! i daresay. when martha behaves like that, i hold my tongue and say nothing. but what people must think, i don't know. julia, when you first came here, did you find old friends and acquaintances? did anybody recognise you? julia. a few called on me: nobody i didn't wish to see. laura. is that odious man who used to be our next-door neighbour--the one who played on the 'cello--here still? julia. mr. harper? i see him occasionally. i don't find him odious. laura. _don't you_? julia. it was his wife who was the--she isn't here: and i don't think he wants her. laura. where is she? julia. i didn't ask, laura. (_mrs. james gives a jerk of exasperation, but at that moment the bell rings and a low knock is heard_.) julia (_ecstatically)._ here she is! laura. julia, i wonder how it is martha survived us. she's much the oldest. julia (_pleasantly palpitating_). does it matter? does it matter? (_the door opens and in comes martha. she has neither the distinction of look nor the force of character which belongs to her two sisters. age has given a depression to the plain kindliness of her face, and there is a harassed look about her eyes. she peeps into the room a little anxiously, then enters, carrying a large flat box covered in purple paper which, in her further progress across the room she lays upon the table. she talks in short jerks and has a quick, hurried way of doing things, as if she liked to get through and have done with them. it is the same when she submits herself to the embrace of her relations_) laura. oh, so you've come at last. quite time, too! martha. yes, here i am. julia. my dear martha, welcome to your old home! (_embracing her_) how are you? martha. i'm cold. well, laura. (_between these two the embrace is less cordial, but it takes place_) laura. how did you come? martha. i don't know. julia (_seeing harassment in her sister's eye_). arrived safely, at any rate. martha. i think i was in a railway accident, but i can't be sure. i only heard the crash and people shouting. i didn't wait to see. i just put my fingers in my ears, and ran away. laura. why do you think it was a railway accident? martha. because i was in a railway carriage. i was coming to your funeral. if you'd told me you were ill i'd have come before. i was bringing you a wreath. and then, as i tell you, there was a crash and a shout; and that's all i know about it. laura. lor', martha! i suppose they'll have an inquest on you. martha (_stung)._ i think they'd better mind their own business, and you mind yours! julia. laura! here we don't talk about such things. they don't concern us. would you like tea, martha, or will you wait for supper? martha (_who has shaken her head at the offer of tea, and nodded a preference for supper_). you know how i've always dreaded death. julia. oh, don't, my dear martha! it's past. martha. yes; but it's upset me. the relief, that's what i can't get over: the relief! julia. presently you will be more used to it. (_she helps her off with her cloak_.) martha. there were people sitting to right and to left of me and opposite; and suddenly a sort of crash of darkness seemed to come all over me, and i saw nothing more. i didn't feel anything: only a sort of a jar here. (_she indicates the back of her neck. julia finds these anatomical details painful, and holds her hands deprecatingly; but laura has no such qualms. she is now undoing the parcel which, she considers, is hers_.) laura. i daresay it was only somebody's box from the luggage-rack. i've known that happen. i don't suppose for a minute that it was a railway accident. (_she unfurls the tissue paper of the box and takes out the wreath_) julia. why talk about it? laura. anyway, nothing has happened to these. 'with fondest love from martha.' h'm. pretty! julia. martha, would you like to go upstairs with your things? and you, laura? martha. i will presently, when i've got warm. laura. not yet. martha, why was i put into that odious shaped coffin? more like a canoe than anything. i said it was to be straight, martha. i'd nothing to do with it, laura. i wasn't there. you know i wasn't. laura. if you'd come when i asked you, you could have seen to it. martha. you didn't tell me you were dying. laura. do people tell each other when they are dying? they don't _know_. i told you i wasn't well. martha. you always told me that, just when i'd settled down somewhere else.... of course i'd have come if i'd known! (_testily)._ julia. oh, surely we needn't go into these matters now! isn't it better to accept things? laura. i like to have my wishes attended to. what was going to be done about the furniture? (_this to martha_.) you know, i suppose, that i left it to the two of you--you and edwin? martha. we were going to give it to bella, to set up house with. laura. _that's_ not what i intended. i meant you to keep on the house and live there. why couldn't you? martha (_with growing annoyance_). well, _that's_ settled now! laura. it wasn't for arabella. arabella was never a favourite of mine. why should arabella have my furniture? martha. well, you'd better send word, and have it stored up for you till doomsday! edwin doesn't want it; he's got enough of his own. laura (_in a sleek, injured voice_). julia, i'm going upstairs to take my things off. julia. very well, laura. (_and laura makes her injured exit_.) so you've been with edwin, and his family? martha. yes. i'm never well there; but i wanted the change. julia. you mean, you had been staying with laura? martha. i always go and stay with her, as long as i can--three months, i'm supposed to. but this year--well, i couldn't manage with it. julia. is she so much more difficult than she used to be? martha. of course, i don't know what she's like here. julia. oh, she has been very much herself--_poor_ laura! martha. i know! julia, i know! and i try to make allowances. all her life she's had her own way with somebody. poor william! of course i know he had his faults. but he used to come and say to me: 'martha, i _can't_ please her.' well, poor man, he's at peace now, let's hope! oh, julia, i've just thought: whatever will poor william do? he's here, i suppose, somewhere? julia. oh yes, he's here, martha. martha. she'll rout him out, depend on it. julia. she has routed him out. martha (_awe-struck)._ has she? julia (_shaking her head wisely_). william won't live with her; he knows better. martha. who will live with her, then? she's bound to get hold of somebody. julia. apparently she means to live here. martha. then it's going to be me! i know it's going to be me! when we lived here before, it used to be poor mamma. julia. the dear mother is quite capable of looking after herself, you'll find. you needn't belong to laura if you don't like, martha. i never let her take possession of _me_. martha. she seems never to want to. i don't know how you manage it. julia. oh, we've had our little tussles. but here you will find it much easier. you can vanish. martha. what do you mean? julia. i mean--vanish. it takes the place of wings. one does it almost without knowing. martha. how do you do it? julia. you just wish yourself elsewhere; and you come back when you like. martha. have _you_ ever done it? julia (_with a world of meaning_). not yet. martha. she won't like it. one doesn't belong to one's self, when she's about--nor does anything. i've had to hide my own things from her sometimes. julia. i shouldn't wonder. martha. do you remember the silver tea-pot? julia. i've been reminded of it. martha. it was mine, wasn't it? julia. oh, of course. martha. laura never would admit it was mine. she wanted it; so i'd no right to it. julia. i had a little idea that was it. martha. for years she was determined to have it: and i was determined she shouldn't have it. and she didn't have it! julia. who did have it? martha. henrietta _was_ to. i sent it her as a wedding-present, and told her laura was never to know. and, as she was in australia, that seemed safe. well, the ship it went out in was wrecked--all because of that tea-pot, i believe! so now it's at the bottom of the sea! julia. destiny! martha. she searched my boxes to try and find it: stole my keys! i missed them, but i didn't dare say anything. i used to wrap it in my night-gown and hide it in the bed during the day, and sleep with it under my pillow at night. and i was so thankful when henrietta got married; so as to be rid of it! julia. hush! (re-enter _mrs. james, her bonnet still on, with the strings dangling, and her cloak on her arm_.) laura. julia i've been looking at your room in there. julia (_coldly)._ have you, laura? laura. it used to be our mother's room. julia. i don't need to be reminded of that: it is why i chose it. (_rising gracefully from her chair, she goes to attend to the fire_.) laura. don't you think it would be much better for you to give it up, and let our mother come back and live with us? julia. she has never expressed the wish. laura. of course not, with you in it. julia. she was not in it when i came. laura. how could you expect it, in a house all by herself? julia. i gave her the chance: i began by occupying my own room. laura (_self-caressingly). i_ wasn't here then. that didn't occur to you, i suppose? you seem to forget you weren't the only one. julia. kind of you to remind me. laura. saucy. julia. martha, will you excuse me? (_polite to the last, she vanishes gracefully away from the vicinity of the coal-box. the place where she has been stooping knows her no more_.) laura (_rushing round the intervening table to investigate_). julia! (_martha is quite as much surprised as mrs. james, but less indignant_.) martha. well! did you ever? laura (_facing about after vain search_). does she think that is the proper way to behave to _me?_ julia! martha. it's no good, laura. you know julia, as well as i do. if she makes up her mind to a thing-- laura. yes. she's been waiting here to exercise her patience on me, and now she's happy! well, she'll have to learn that this house doesn't belong to _her_ any longer. she has got to accommodate herself to living with others.... i wonder how she'd like me to go and sit in that pet chair of hers? julia (_softly reappearing in the chair which the 'dear mother' usually occupies_). you can go and sit in it if you wish, laura. laura (_ignoring her return_). martha, do you remember that odious man who used to live next door, who played the 'cello on sundays? martha. oh yes, i remember. they used to hang out washing in the garden, didn't they? laura (_very scandalously_). julia is friends with him! they call on each other. his wife doesn't live with him any longer. (_julia rises and goes slowly and majestically out of the room_.) laura (_after relishing what she conceives to be her rout of the enemy_). martha, what do you think of julia? martha. oh, she's--what do you want me to think? laura. high and mighty as ever, isn't she? she's been here by herself so long she thinks the whole place is hers. martha. i daresay we shall settle down well enough presently. which room are you sleeping in? laura. of course, i have my old one. where do you want to go? martha. the green room will suit me. laura. and julia means to keep our mother's room: i can see that. no wonder she won't come and stay, martha. have you seen her? laura. she just 'looked in,' as julia calls it. i could see she'd hoped to find me alone. julia always thought _she_ was the favourite. i knew better. martha. how was she? laura. just her old self; but as if she missed something. it wasn't a _happy_ face, until i spoke to her: then it all brightened up.... oh, thank you for the wreath, martha. where did you get it? martha. emily made it. laura. that fool! then she made her own too, i suppose? martha. yes. that went the day before, so you got it in time. laura. i thought it didn't look up to much. (_she is now contemplating emily's second effort with a critical eye_.) now a little maiden-hair fern would have made a world of difference. martha. i don't hold with flowers myself. i think it's wasteful. but, of course, one has to do it. laura (_with pained regret_). i'm sorry, martha; i return it--with many thanks. martha. what's the good of that? i can't give it back to emily, now! laura (_with quiet grief_). i don't wish to be a cause of waste. martha. well, take it to pieces, then; and put them in water--or wear it round your head! laura. ten beautiful wreaths my friends sent me. they are all lying on my grave now! a pity that love is so wasteful! well, i suppose i must go now and change into my cap. (_goes to the door, where she encounters julia_.) why, julia, you nearly knocked me down! julia (_ironically)._ i beg your pardon, laura; it comes of using the same door. hannah has lighted a fire in your room. laura. that's sensible at any rate. (exit _mrs. james_) julia. well? and how do you find laura? martha. julia, i don't know whether i can stand her. julia. she hasn't got quite--used to herself yet. martha (_explosively)._ put that away somewhere! (_she gives an angry shove to the wreath_) julia. put it away! why? martha (_furiously)._ emily made it: and it didn't cost anything; and it hasn't got any maiden-hair fern in it; and it's too big to wear with her cap. so it's good for nothing! put it on the fire! she doesn't want to see it again. julia (_comprehending the situation, restores the wreath to its box_). why did you bring it here, martha? martha (_miserably)._ i don't know. i just clung on to it. i suppose it was on my mind to look after it, and see it wasn't damaged. so i found i'd brought it with me.... i believe, now i think of it, i've brought some sandwiches, too. (_she routs in a small hand-bag.)_ yes, i have. well, i can have them for supper.... emily made those too. julia. then i think you'd better let hannah have them--for the sake of peace. martha (_woefully)._ i thought i _was_ going to have peace here. julia. it will be all right, martha--presently. martha. well, i don't want to be uncharitable; but i do wish--i must say it--i do wish laura had been cremated. (_this is the nearest she can do for wishing her sister in the place to which she thinks she belongs. but the uncremated mrs. james now re-enters in widow's cap_.) laura. julia, have you ever seen papa, since you came here? julia (_frigidly)._ no, i have not. laura. has our mother seen him? julia. i haven't--(_about to say the forbidden thing, she checks herself_.) mamma has _not_ seen him: nor does she know his whereabouts. laura. does nobody know? julia. nobody that i know of. laura. well, but he must be somewhere. is there no way of finding him? julia. perhaps you can devise one. i suppose, if we chose, we could go to him; but i'm not sure--as he doesn't come to us. laura. lor', julia! suppose he should be---- julia (_deprecatingly_). oh, laura! laura. but, julia, it's very awkward, not to know where one's own father is. don't people ever ask? julia. never, i'm thankful to say. laura. why not? julia. perhaps _they_ know better. laura (_after a pause_). i'm afraid he didn't lead a good life. martha. oh, why can't you let the thing be? if you don't remember him, i do. i was fond of him. he was always very kind to us as children; and if he did run away with the governess it was a good riddance--so far as she was concerned. we hated her. laura. i wonder whether they are together still. you haven't inquired after _her_, i suppose? julia (_luxuriating in her weariness_). i--have--_not_, laura! laura. don't you think it's our solemn duty to inquire? i shall ask our mother. julia. i hope you will do nothing of the sort. laura. but we ought to know: otherwise we don't know how to think of him, whether with mercy and pardon for his sins, or with reprobation. martha (_angrily_). why need you think? why can't you leave him alone? laura. an immortal soul, martha. it's no good leaving him alone: that won't alter facts. julia. i don't think this is quite a nice subject for discussion. laura. nice? was it ever intended to be nice? eternal punishment wasn't provided as a consolation prize for anybody, so far as i know. martha. i think it's very horrible--for us to be sitting here--by the fire, and--(_but theology is not martha's strong point_). oh! why can't you leave it? laura. because it's got to be faced; and i mean to face it. now, martha, don't try to get out of it. we have got to find our father. julia. i think, before doing anything, we ought to consult mamma. laura. very well; call her and consult her! you were against it just now. julia. i am against it still. it's all so unnecessary. martha. lor', there _is_ mamma! (_old mrs. robinson is once more in her place. martha makes a move toward her_.) julia. don't, martha. she doesn't like to be--- mrs. r. i've heard what you've been talking about. no, i haven't seen him. i've tried to get him to come to me, but he didn't seem to want. martha, my dear, how are you? martha. oh, i'm--much as usual. and you, mother? mrs. r. well, what about your father? who wants him? laura. i want him, mother. mrs. r. what for? laura. first we want to know what sort of a life he is leading. then we want to ask him about his will. julia. oh, laura! martha. _i_ don't. i don't care if he made a dozen. laura. so i thought if we all _called_ him. _you_ heard when i called, didn't you? oh no, that was william. mrs. r. who's william? laura. didn't you know i was married? mrs. r. no. did he die? laura. well, now, couldn't we call him? mrs. r. i daresay. he won't like it. laura. he must. he belongs to us. mrs. r. yes, i suppose--as i wouldn't divorce him, though he wanted me to. i said marriages were made in heaven. a voice. luckily, they don't last there. (_greatly startled, they look around, and perceive presently in the mirror over the mantelpiece the apparition of a figure which they seem dimly to recognise. a tall, florid gentleman of the dundreary type, with long side-whiskers, and dressed in the fashion of sixty years ago, has taken up his position to one side of the ormolu clock; standing, eye-glass in eye, with folded arms resting on the mantel-slab and a stylish hat in one hand, be gazes upon the assembled family with quizzical benevolence_.) mrs. r. (_placidly_). what, is that you, thomas? thomas (_with the fashionable lisp of the fifties, always substituting 'th' for 's'_). how do you do, susan? (_there follows a pause, broken courageously by mrs. james_.) laura. are _you_ my father? thomas. i don't know. who are _you_? who are all of you? laura. perhaps i had better explain. this is our dear mother: her you recognise. you are her husband; we are your daughters. this is martha, this is julia, and i'm laura. thomas. is this true, susan? are these our progeny? mrs. r. yes--that is--yes, thomas. thomas. i should not have known it. they all look so much older. laura. than when you left us? naturally! thomas. than _me_> i meant. but you all seem flourishing. laura. because we lived longer. papa, when did you die? julia. oh! laura! thomas. i don't know, child. laura. don't know? how don't you know? thomas. because in prisons, and other lunatic asylums, one isn't allowed to know anything. mrs. r. a lunatic asylum! oh, thomas, what brought you there? thomas. a damned life, susan--with you, and others. julia. oh, laura, why did you do this? martha. if this goes on, i shall leave the room. laura. where are those _others_ now? thomas. three of them i see before me. you, laura, used to scream horribly. when you were teething, i was sleepless. your mother insisted on having you in the room with us. no wonder i went elsewhere. martha. i'm going! thomas. don't, martha! you were the quietest of the lot. when you were two years old i even began to like you. you were the exception. laura. haven't you any affection for your old home? thomas. none. it was a prison. you were the gaolers and the turnkeys. to keep my feet in the domestic way you made me wool-work slippers, and i had to wear them. you gave me neckties, which i wouldn't wear. you gave me affection of a demanding kind, which i didn't want. you gave me a moral atmosphere which i detested. and at last i could bear it no more, and i escaped. laura (_deaf to instruction_). papa, we wish you and our dear mother to come back and live with us. thomas. live with my grandmother! how could i live with any of you? laura. where _are_ you living? thomas. ask no questions, and you will be told no lies. laura. where is _she_? thomas. which she? laura. the governess. thomas. which governess? laura. the one you went away with. thomas. d'you want her back again? you can have her. she'll teach you a thing or two. she did _me_. laura. then--you have repented, papa? thomas. god! why did i come here? mrs. r. yes; why did you come? it was weak of you. thomas. because i never could resist women. laura. were you really mad when you died, papa? thomas. yes, and am still: stark, staring, raving, mad, like all the rest of you. laura. i am not aware that _i_ am mad. thomas. then you are a bad case. not to know it, is the worst sign of all. it's in the family: you can't help being. everything you say and do proves it.... you were mad to come here. you are mad to remain here. you were mad to want to see me. i was mad to let you see me. i was mad at the mere sight of you; and i'm mad to be off again! goodbye, susan. if you send for me again, i shan't come! (_he puts on his hat with a flourish_!) laura. where are you going, father? thomas. to hell, child! your hell, my heaven! (_he spreads his arms and rises up through the looking-glass; you see his violet frock-coaty his check trousers, his white spats, and patent-leather boots ascending into and passing from view. he twiddles his feet at them and vanishes_.) julia. and now i hope you are satisfied, laura? martha. where's mamma gone? julia. so you've driven her away, too. well, that finishes it. (_apparently it does. robbed of her parental prey, mrs. james reverts to the next dearest possession she is concerned about_.) laura. martha, where is the silver tea-pot? martha. i don't know, laura. laura. you said julia had it. martha. i didn't say anything of the sort! you said--you supposed julia had it; and i said--suppose she had! and i left it at that. laura. julia says she hasn't got it, so you _must_ have it. martha. i haven't! laura. then where is it? martha. i don't know any more than julia knows. laura. then one of you is not telling the truth. ... (_very judicially she begins to examine the two culprits.)_ julia, when did you last see it? julia. on the day, laura, when we shared things between us. it became martha's: and i never saw it again. laura. martha, when did you last see it? martha. i have not seen it--for i don't know how long. laura. that is no answer to my question. martha (_vindictively)._ well, if you want to know, it's at the bottom of the sea. laura (_deliberately)._ don't talk--nonsense. martha. unless a shark has eaten it. laura. when i ask a reasonable question, martha, i expect a reasonable answer. martha. i've given you a reasonable answer! and i wish the judgment day would come, and the sea give up its dead, and then--(_at the end of her resources, the poor lady begins to gather herself up, so as once for all to have done with it_.) now, i am going downstairs to talk to hannah. laura. you will do nothing of the kind, martha. martha. i'm not going to be bullied--not by you or anyone. laura. i must request you to wait and hear what i've got to say. martha. i don't want to hear it. laura. julia, are we not to discuss this matter, pray? (_julia, who has her eye on martha, and is quite enjoying this tussle of the two, says nothing_) martha. you and julia can discuss it. i am going downstairs. (_mrs. james crosses the room, locks the door, and, standing mistress of all she surveys, inquires with grim humour_.) laura. and where are you going to be, julia? julia. i am where i am, laura. i'm not going out of the window, or up the chimney, if that's what you mean. (_she continues gracefully to do her crochet._) laura. now, martha, if you please. martha (_goaded into victory_). i'm sorry, julia. you'd better explain. i'm going downstairs. (_suiting the action to the word, she commits herself doggedly to the experiment, descending bluntly and without grace through the carpet into the room below. mrs. james stands stupent._) laura. martha!... am i to be defied in this way? julia. you brought it on yourself, laura. laura. you told her to do it! julia. she would have soon found out for herself. (_collectedly, she folds up her work and rises_.) and now, i think, i will go to my room and wash my hands for supper. (_as she makes her stately move, her ear is attracted by a curious metallic sound repeated at intervals. turning about, she perceives, indeed they both perceive, in the centre of the small table, a handsome silver tea-pot which opens and shuts its lid at them, as if trying to speak_.) julia. oh, look, laura! martha's tea-pot has arrived. laura. she told a lie, then. julia. no, it was the truth. she wished for it. the sea has given up its dead. laura. then now i _have_ got it at last! (_but, as she goes to seize the disputed possession, martha rises through the floor, grabs the tea-pot, and descends to the nether regions once more_.) laura (_glaring at her sister with haggard eye_). julia, where _are_ we? julia. i don't know what you mean, laura. (_she reaches out a polite hand_) the key? (_mrs. james delivers up the key as one glad to be rid of it_.) laura. what is this place we've come to? julia (_persuasively)._ our home. laura. i think we are in hell! julia (_going to the door, which she unlocks with soft triumph)._ we are all where we wish to be, laura. (_a gong sounds_.) that's supper. (_the gong continues its metallic bumbling_) (_julia departs, leaving mrs. james in undisputed possession of the situation she has made for herself_.) curtain part three dethronements imaginary portraits of political characters, done in dialogue preface the written dialogue, as interpretative of character, is but a form of portraiture, no more personally identified with its subject than drawing or painting; nor can it claim to have more verisimilitude until it finds embodiment on the stage. why then, in this country at any rate, is its application to living persons only considered legitimate when associated with caricature? so sponsored, in the pages of _punch_ and the composition of mr. max beerbohm, it has become an accepted convention too habitual for remark. yet caricature and verbal parody may be as critical both of personality and character as dialogue more seriously designed, and may have as important an influence not merely upon a public opinion, but upon its moral judgment as well. the defection of _punch_ was felt by gladstone to be a serious set-back to the fortunes of his home rule policy; and tenniel's cartoon of "the grand old janus," saying "quite right!" to the police who were bludgeoning an english mob, and "quite wrong!" to the police who were bludgeoning an irish one, was a personal jibe which hit him hard. the customary device, where contemporaries are concerned, of disembowelling the victim's name, and leaving it a skeleton of consonants, is a formal concession which in effect concedes nothing. nor is there any reason why it should; for the only valid objection to the medium of dialogue is in cases where its form might mislead the reader into mistaking fiction for fact, and the author's invention for the _ipsissima verba_ of the characters he portrays. i hope that this book will attract no readers so unintelligent. having chosen dialogue for these studies of historical events because i find in it a natural and direct means to the interpretation of character, my main scruple is satisfied when i have made it plain that they have no more authenticity because they happen to be written in dramatic form, than they would have were they written as political essays. these are imaginary conversations which never actually took place; and though i think they have a nearer relation to the minds of the supposed speakers than have king's speeches to the person who utters them, they must merely be taken as a personal reading of characters and events, tributes to men for all of whom i have, in one way or another, a very great respect and admiration; and not least for the one whom, with a reticence that is symbolical of the part he played in the downfall of "the man of business," i have here left nameless. the king-maker note readers of this dialogue may need to be reminded, for clearer understanding, of the following sequence of events. on november th, , a _decree nisi_ was pronounced in the undefended divorce suit o'shea _v_. o'shea and parnell. on november th, gladstone, in a letter to john morley, stated that parnell's retention of the irish leadership would be fatal to his own continued advocacy of the irish cause. in december, the majority of the irish party threw over parnell in order to placate the "nonconformist conscience," and retain the co-operation of the liberal party under gladstone's leadership. during the months following, parnell and his adherents suffered a series of defeats at by-elections in ireland. in june , immediately on the _decree nisi_ being made absolute, parnell married katharine o'shea. on october th he died. dramatis personae. charles stewart parnell (_dethroned "king" of ireland_) katharine parnell (_his wife: divorced wife of captain o'shea_) a man (_ex-valet to captain o'shea_) a servant the king-maker _brighton. october_ . _in a comfortably furnished sitting-room, with windows looking upon the sea-parade, a woman of distinguished beauty sits reading beside the fire, so intently occupied that she pays no heed to the entry of the servant, who unobtrusively lights the gas, draws down the blinds, and closes the curtains. then taking up a tea-tray, served for two, she retires, and the reader is left alone. but not for long. the slam of the street-door causes an attention which the coming and going of the servant has failed to arouse; and now, as the door opens, the brightened interest of her face tells that, without seeing, she knows who is there. quietly, almost furtively, she lets fall the paper she has been reading, and turns to her husband eyes of serene welcome, meeting confidently the sharp interrogation of his glance_. parnell. what are you doing? katharine. i was reading. parnell. yes? what? katharine. those papers you just brought in. parnell. and i told you not to. katharine (_smiling_). i was wilful and disobeyed. parnell (_picking up the paper, and looking at it with contemptuous disgust_). why did you? katharine. isn't "wilful" a sufficient answer, my dear? (_and with a covert look of amusement she watches him tear and throw the paper into the fire_.) why do you try to make me a coward? you aren't one yourself. parnell. that gutter-stuff! (_and the second paper joins its fellow in the flames_.) katharine. now wasn't that just a bit unnecessary? after all, they are helping to make history. that is public opinion--the voice of the people, you know. parnell. not _our_ people! katharine. oh? have you brought back any better news--from there? parnell. nothing special. the result of the election was out. katharine. you didn't wire it. how much were we to the bad? parnell. a few hundred. what does more or less matter? it's--it's the priests who are winning now. katharine. with divided congregations as the result. parnell. yes. but i'd rather they won than the politicians. they are honest, at any rate. poor fools! katharine. so it's the real country we are seeing now? parnell. yes. that's the material i've had to work with! katharine. wonderful--considering. parnell. and now--now one gets to the root! but i always knew it. katharine. so you are not disappointed? parnell. no; only defeated. yet i did think once that i was going to win. katharine. so you will. parnell. when i'm dead, no doubt ... some day. you can't fight for a winning cause, and not know that. katharine. but you are not going to die yet, dearest. parnell (_with a deep sigh of dejection_). oh! wifie, i'm so tired, so tired! katharine. well, who has a better right? be tired, my dear! give yourself up to it: let everything else go, and just rest! you _are_ tired out. that's what i've been telling you. parnell. too much to do yet. even dying would take more time than i can spare just now. katharine. but you must spare time to live, my dear--if you really wish to. parnell. wish? i never wished it more--for now i _am_ living. i'm awake. doubts are over. katharine. king ... look at me! don't take your eyes away, till i've done.... one of those papers said (what others have been saying) that it was i ... i ... need i go on? parnell (_with grim tenderness_). till you've done: you said ... katharine. i--that have ruined you. parnell. that's just what they would say, of course. it's so easy: and pleases--so many. katharine. all the same--by mere accident--mayn't it be true? it _has_ happened, you know, sometimes, that love and politics haven't quite gone together. parnell. love and politics never do. do you think i've loved any of my party-followers: that any of them have loved me? katharine. doesn't--o'kelly? parnell. he's gone now--with the rest. katharine. didn't mr. biggar? parnell. dead.... no. katharine. still, you love--ireland. parnell. not as she is to-day--so narrow and jealous, so stupid, so blind! has she anything alive in her now worth saving? that ireland has got to die; and, though it doesn't sound like it, this is the death-rattle beginning. ireland is going to fail, and deserves to fail. but another ireland won't fail. she's learning her lesson--or _will_ learn it, in the grave. something like this was bound to come; but if it were to come again twenty years on, it wouldn't count. she'd know better. katharine. twenty years! we shall be an old couple by then. parnell. in the life of a nation twenty years is nothing. no. ireland was shaped for failure: she has it in her. it had got to come out. subjection, oppression, starvation, haven't taught her enough: she must face betrayal too, of the most mischievous kind--the betrayal of well-meaning fools. after that, paralysis, loss of confidence, loss of will, loss of faith--in false leaders. then she'll begin to learn. katharine. do you mean that everything _has_ failed now? parnell. yes; if _i_ fail. i'm not thinking of myself as indispensable: it's the principle. that's what i've been trying to make them understand. but they won't, they won't! independence, defiance-they don't see it as a principle, only as an expedient. they may make it a cry, they may feel it as their right; but when to insist on it looks like losing a point in the game--then they give up the principle, to become parasites! that's what is happening now. it's the slave in the blood coming out--the crisis of the disease. that's why i'm fighting it: and will, to the death! and when--when we are dead--some day: she'll come to her senses again--and see! then--this will have helped. katharine. but will it? parnell. why? don't you believe that ireland will be free some day? katharine. i did when she chose you for her leader. parnell (_bitterly_). a dead leader, one whom she can't hurt, may do better for her. katharine. don't say "dead"! parnell. i shan't be alive in twenty years, my dear. and it may take all that. katharine. without you it will take more. parnell. it won't be "without me." that's what i mean. they may beat me to-day; but i shall still count. think of all ireland's failures! grattan's parliament counts; "ninety-eight" counts; fitzgerald counts; o'connell counts; her famines, her emigrations, her rebellions--all count. katharine. does butt count? parnell. he wasn't a failure: he didn't try to do anything. if ireland needs more failures, to make a case for her conviction, shall i grudge mine? yes, all her failures count: they get into the blood! why, even the silly statues in her streets mean more than statues can mean here. prosperity forgets; adversity remembers. even hatred has its use: it grips, and drives men on. katharine. did you need--hatred, to do that for you? parnell. yes: till i got love!... reason, conviction aren't enough. morley said a good thing the other day. the english, he said, meant well by ireland: but they didn't mean it much. katharine. i suppose that's true of some? parnell. quite true: and what is the most that it amounts to? compromise. morley's an authority on compromise. and yet i like him: i get on with him. but he's too thick with gladstone to be honest over this. curious _his_ having to back the conventions, eh? katharine. why does he? parnell. because the political salvation of his party and its leader comes before ireland. he means well by her: but he doesn't mean it so much as all that. still he's the only one of them who doesn't pretend to look on me as a black sheep. he too has to work with his material. that's politics. the nonconformist conscience means votes--so it decides him: just as the priests decide me.... they would decide him in any case, i mean. and so-so it goes on.... "look here upon this picture, and on this": ireland trying to please england; england trying, now and then, to please ireland! i don't know which is the more ludicrous; but i know that both equally must fail. and they've got to see it!--and some day they will. it won't be "home rule" then.... (_so for a while he sits and thinks, his hand in hers. then he resumes._) my ruin? what would my ruin matter anyway? put it, that the making public of our claim--our right to each other--is to be allowed by any possibility to affect the cause of a nation--the justice of that cause: doesn't that fact, if true, show that the whole basis of the political principles they have so boasted, and on which we have so blindly relied, was utterly and fantastically false and rotten? haven't we, providentially, given the world the proof that it needed of its own lie? katharine. we didn't give it, my dear. parnell. well, their proof has satisfied them, anyhow: as they are acting on it. oh! when i see what poor, weak things nations really are--so inadequately equipped for the shaping of their own destinies--i wonder whether in truth the history we read is not the wrong history--mere side history, to which a false significance has been given, because so much blood and treasure have been expended on it, which just a little expenditure of common sense might have spared.... think of all the silly accidents and blunders, in ireland's great chapter of accidents, which have counted for so much--even in these last few years!... the phoenix park business--an assassination, for which perhaps only a dozen men were responsible--and at once, for that one act, more suppression and hatred and coercion are directed against a whole nation: crimes acts, packed juries, judges without juries, arrests without charge, imprisonments without trial. so logical, isn't it? what a means for putting a foreign government right in the eyes of the people who deny its moral authority!... and then--pigott, that shallow fraud, driven to suicide by those who were at first so eager to believe him: and the exposure of his silly forgery turns elections, makes home rule popular! coming by such means, would it be worth it?... gladstone, honourably hoodwinking himself all those years, accepting you as our secret go-between--and you making no pretence, my dear! oh, i suppose it was the right and gentlemanly thing for him to pretend not to know. it was also, it seems, good politics. chamberlain knew too--must have known; for chamberlain's no fool; and yet to his friend, the deceived husband, said nothing! it wasn't politics; not then. now--now it's the great stroke, and home rule goes down under it.... is that history, or is it "alice in wonderland"?... if you are my ruin now, you were also my ruin then, when you were helping me to think that i could win justice for a nation from politicians like these: win it by any means except by beating them, bringing them to their knees, making them red with the blood of a people always in revolt, till their reputation stinks to the whole world! and when they do at last climb down and accept the inevitable, then their main thought will be only how to save their own face--and make it look a little less like the defeat they know it to be! katharine. my dear, you are so tired. do rest! parnell. i _am_ resting: for now--thanks to you--i have got at the truth! political history is a thing made up of accidents; but not so the fate of men or of nations whose will is set to be free. no accident there! that you were tied to a man you wouldn't live with, who wouldn't live with you--was an accident. but our love was no accident; it was waiting for us before we knew anything. you and i had each a star which shone at the other's birth. katharine. your star was mine, dearest. i hadn't one of my own. parnell. well, if nations wish to be fooled, let them go to the devil their own way, not laying the blame of their own folly on others! but having got _you_--would i ever have let you go for any power under heaven? why (as soon as you were free) did i marry you? i knew that, politically, it was a blunder: that over there it would go against us-- prove the case. half ireland cared nothing for the verdict of an english jury. but when we married, they had to believe it then.... well, i wanted them to believe it. i know my love would have waited, had i asked her. and it wasn't--it wasn't honour, my dear; it was much more pride: for i am a proud man, that i own: and not less since i have won you. katharine. if you hadn't been proud, dearest, you would never have got my love. parnell. oh, yes, i should. those who love, don't love for qualities good or bad. they love them in the person they love--that's all. you have qualities which i didn't care about till i found them in you. to love is to see life--new! katharine. and whole. some day--alone by ourselves--we will! parnell. don't we already? katharine. yes, if only--these other things didn't interfere. but i promised; so they must. parnell. my dear, when they have quite broken me--they will in time--then i'll come. katharine. you promise to go right away? parnell. i promise, sweetheart. (_moving toward each other they are about to embrace, when the door opens, and the servant enters carrying a card upon a tray_.) servant. if you please, sir. (_parnell takes the card; there is a pause while he looks at the name_) parnell. will you say i am engaged. (_the servant goes. parnell hands the card to his wife_.) i don't know the man. do you? katharine. no. and yet i seem to remember. yes; willie had a man-servant of that name. (_the servant returns, bearing a folded note upon her tray_) servant. if you please, sir, i was to give you this. parnell (_having read the note_). is the man still there? servant. yes, sir. (_there is a pause_.) parnell. show him in. (_as the servant goes he hands the note to katharine, and watches while she reads it_.) so--you remember him? katharine. only the name.... i may have seen him, now and then. (_and then enters a smooth-shaven man, sprucely dressed, with the irreproachable manners of a well-trained servant. first, with a murmured apology, he bows to the lady; then, having respectfully waited till the silence becomes marked, says_:) man. good evening, sir. parnell (_glancing again at the note_). you are a valet? man. yes, sir. parnell. are you wanting a place? man. no, sir. i have a place. parnell. well? man. that gentleman, sir--my last employer, dismissed me without a character. (_his reference is to the note which parnell still holds open in his hand_.) parnell. well? man. that's all, sir. parnell. then what have you come here for? man. to give you this, sir. (_he draws out and presents a letter, rather soiled by keeping, which has already been opened. there is a pause, while parnell looks first at the address, then runs his eye over the contents_) parnell. may i show it to--this lady? man. oh, yes, sir. parnell. whom, i take it, you recognise? man. yes, sir. (_and meeting her glance, he bows once more_) (_parnell hands over the letter, and while katharine reads there is a pause_.) parnell. did you bring me this expecting money for it? man. no, sir. parnell. i see it has a date. you could have let me have it before? man. yes, sir. parnell. more than--six months ago? man. more than a year ago, sir. parnell. quite so. and you did not? man (_eyeing him steadfastly_). no, sir. i was still comfortable in his service then, sir. parnell (_ironically, after a pause of scrutiny eye to eye_). i am singularly obliged to you.... how did you come by it, may i ask? man. well, sir, he'd been dining out, sir. left it in his pocket--hadn't posted it. parnell. i see.... had your dismissal anything to do with this? man. oh, no, sir. that only happened quite recently. parnell. and then--he dismissed you without a character, you say? do you think you deserved one? man. from him, sir?--yes, sir. parnell (_coldly amused_). that is a good answer. have you been put to any expense coming here? man. just my return fare, sir. parnell. and were you expecting me to--? man. no, sir; i could have sent it in the post, if i'd wished. parnell (_surprised_). do you mean, then, that i may keep this letter? man. yes, sir. parnell. i may do what i like with it? man. just what you like, sir. parnell. thank you. (_after a pause of meditation he very deliberately tears up the letter and puts it into the fire. then, with rather icy politeness:)_ i am much obliged to you; and i wish you a good evening. (_a little crestfallen, but with quiet self possession, the man accepts the termination of the interview_.) man. good evening, sir. (_he moves to the door_.) parnell. stop! (_the man turns as the other goes towards him, and they meet face to face_.) you haven't given yourself a very good character, coming here, my man; but you might have done worse. anyway, you've washed your hands of it now. don't do things like that again. man. no, sir. (_and as he stands hesitating, parnell opens the door_.) thank you, sir. (_the man goes. parnell closes the door after him, comes meditatively across, and sits down. there is a long pause_) katharine. what are you--thinking? parnell. a year ago! ... if he had come to me with that a year ago--what should i have done? katharine. you would have done just the same. parnell. torn it up? and put it in the fire?--i'm not so sure. katharine. but i am. hadn't he the same right as i had, to live his own life? parnell. my dear, i said "a year ago." that means before the case came on. that would have stopped it--for good.... if i had had it--i might have been tempted. (_watching him, she sees him smile_.) katharine (_rather tremulously_). are you glad--that you didn't have it? parnell. and use it? yes: i am--glad! katharine (_throwing herself into his arms_). oh, my dear! why, that means everything. you're glad! you're glad! parnell (_clasping her_). oh, my own love, my own dear sweet! katharine. you regret--nothing? parnell. nothing. haven't i made you sure of that--yet? katharine. oh, my king!--my king! (_and just then the paper in the grate kindling into flame, he points to it_.) parnell. look! there goes--our proof. katharine. it doesn't matter. parnell. it never did. katharine. that's what i mean. parnell. but, politically, it might have made a world of difference. katharine. yes--to the world; not to us. we wanted to be as we are, didn't we? parnell. as we are, and as we were--how long is it?--eleven years ago. there's been no change since. when i go back to my star, i shall have found what i came for. that's what matters most. souls either find or lose themselves--live or die. i lived: i shouldn't have done, on this earth, but for you--but for you. (_there is a pause. he sits meditating_.) katharine. and of what--now? parnell. the next generation--possibly the next but one: you and i gone, and ireland free. in this last year we may have done more for that--than we could ever have planned. we've given them a bone to bite on: and there's meat on it--real meat. and because of that, they call you my ruin, eh? i look rather like one, i suppose, just now. but as i came home to-night, all my mind was filled with you; and i knew that to me you were worth far more than all the rest. and then suddenly i thought--what am i worth to you? katharine. this--that if now you told me to go--because it was for your good--i'd go--glad--yes glad that you'd made me do for you, at last, something that was hard to do--for the first time, dearest, for the first time! parnell (_deeply moved_). that so? not an accident, then, eh? katharine (_embracing him_). oh, my dear, my dear, my dear! parnell. how true to life love makes everything!--so clear and straight-- looking back now. through you i've learned this truth at any rate--that there are two things about which a man must never compromise--first his own soul, the right to be himself--no matter what others may think or do. katharine. and the other? parnell. his instinct, of trust or distrust, in the character of others. i hadn't any real doubt, but i compromised with instinct to gain my end: did things i didn't believe were any good--accepted the word of men i didn't trust. home rule itself was a compromise that i made myself accept. but i never really believed in it. for you can't limit the liberty of a nation, if it's really alive. then came the smash--that woke me. and that i was awake at last our love came to be the proof...something different has got to be now. ireland will have to become more real--more herself, more of a rebel than ever she has been yet. if, thirty years hence, my failure shall have helped to bring that about--an ireland really free--then i've won.... (_the words come quietly, confidently; but it is the voice of an exhausted man, whose physical resources are nearly at an end. for a long time he sits quite still, holding his wife's hand, saying nothing, for he has nothing more to say. a high screen behind the couch on which they rest cuts off the gaslight; only the firelight plays fitfully upon the two faces. suddenly the brightness falls away, and over that foreshadowing of death, now only three days distant, the scene closes_.) the man of business dramatis personae joseph chamberlain (_ex-minister_) jesse collings (_his friend_) a distinguished visitor a nurse the man of business scene: _highbury. august_ . _between double-doors, opening from living-room to conservatory, sits the shadow of the once great and powerful minister, state secretary for the colonies. to the dark, sombre tones of the heavily furnished chamber the gorgeous colours of the orchids, hanging in trails and festoons under their luminous dome of glass, offer a vivid contrast. yet even greater is that which they present to the drawn and haggard features of the catastrophically aged man whose public career is now over. in wheeled chair, with lower limbs wrapped in a shawl and supported by a foot-rest, he sits bent and almost motionless; and when he moves head or hand, it is head or hand only, and the motion is slow, painful, and hesitating, as though mind functioned on body with difficulty, uncertain of its ground. nevertheless, when the door opens, and the small squat figure of a very old and dear friend advances towards him, his face lights instantly. with tender reverence and affection the newcomer takes hold of his hand, lifts, presses it, lays it back again. and when he has seated himself, the shadow speaks_. chamberlain. well, collings? well? jesse collings. well, my dear chamberlain, how are you? i'm a little late, i'm afraid. chamberlain. i hadn't noticed. time doesn't matter to me now. jesse collings. no; but i like to be punctual. it's my nature. chamberlain. habit...habit and nature are different things, collings. i've been finding that out. (_at this, for a diversion, collings, readjusting his pince-nez, tilts his head bird-like, and takes a genial look at his friend_) jesse collings. joe, you are looking better to-day. chamberlain. well, even looks are not to be despised, i suppose, when one has nothing else left. jesse collings. come, come! chamberlain. yes? jesse collings. nothing else left, indeed! don't--don't be so _down_, chamberlain. chamberlain. dear old friend!... just now you called me "joe." you don't often do that. why did you? jesse collings. a reversion to old habits, i suppose. one does as one gets older. chamberlain. yes. jesse collings (_genially making conversation, which he sees to be advisable_). i was reading only the other day that, as we get on in years and begin to forget other things, our childhood comes back to us. chamberlain. yes? jesse collings. now i wonder if that's true? chamberlain. i wonder. jesse collings. mine hasn't begun to come back to me. chamberlain. you aren't old yet. jesse collings. i'm over eighty. chamberlain. good for another twenty years. and once you were my senior. we weren't quite boys together, collings; but we've been good friends. jesse collings. thank god for that!--joe. chamberlain. yes, i do. more now than i used to. jesse collings. all the same, you haven't so much cause to thank him as we have. chamberlain. no? (_the listless monotone makes the little old man fear that he is not succeeding_.) jesse collings. is my talk tiring you? chamberlain. not at all.... please go on! jesse collings. i only want to say what i said just now: don't be down, dear friend. your record will stand the test better than that of others. your work is still going on; it hasn't finished just because you are--laid up. chamberlain. "laid up" is a kind way of putting it, collins. jesse collings. why, i needn't even have said that; when here--it's _sitting_ up i find you. chamberlain. sitting _out_. jesse collings. well, "sitting out," if you like, for the time being. but do you imagine that this phrase or that phrase (true for the moment) states the case, counts, is worth troubling about? chamberlain. do i imagine? no, i don't. i don't imagine anything. i was never a man of imagination. jesse collings. you are, when you say that! chamberlain. no, collings. when i've done anything, it has been because i've had it in my hands to do.... my hands are empty now. some men manage to think with their heads only; others do it--with their stomachs you might almost say. i've never been able to think properly unless i had hold of things--had them here in my hands.... look at them, now! (_with a slow, faint gesture he indicates their helplessness; then continues:_) i was the man of business,... and now, i'm out of business; so i can't think. jesse collings. but that business, as you call it, chamberlain, which you made so many of us understand for the first time--i was a "little englander" myself, once--that's still going on. chamberlain (_bitterly_). yes, it's a fine business! jesse collings (_startled)._ don't you still believe in it? chamberlain. as a business? yes. but it's going to fail all the same. there's nobody to run it now. jesse collings. we mean to run it, chamberlain! you'll see! chamberlain. i know you do, collings. you are loyalty itself. jesse collings. there are others too. i'm not the only one. chamberlain. you are the best of them. jesse collings. no, i won't admit that. chamberlain. name? jesse collings. the best? probably some one we don't yet even know. the best are still to come. time's with us. chamberlain. is it? jesse collings. don't you think so yourself? chamberlain. not now. i did once. jesse collings. you always said so. chamberlain. i said it as long as i believed it: till the stars in their courses turned against me. that broke me, collings. if i could have gone on having faith in myself, i shouldn't be--as i am now. jesse collings. but what--what made you lose it? chamberlain. can't you guess? (_collings shakes his head, remains valiantly incredulous; and there is a pause_.) i saw somebody else--whose cards weren't so good--playing with a better hand. it was the hand beat me. my head's all right still, though it sleeps. but i've lost my hand. look at it! (_again the gesture illustrative of defeat_.) threw it away. you know who i mean? jesse collings (_cautiously, _rather reluctantly_). i suppose i do. chamberlain (_watching to see the effect of his news_). he's coming to-day: to see me. collings (_surprised_). coming here? chamberlain. yes, it's all been nicely arranged--just a call in passing. to-morrow's papers will describe it as "a pathetic meeting." well, when a man has to meet his executioner on friendly terms, i suppose it is "pathetic" for one of them. (_all this is very disconcerting to poor collings. he helps himself to a half-sentence, and stops._) jesse collings. did he himself----? chamberlain. propose it? oh, yes--in the most charming way possible. isn't it amazing how a man with charm can do things that nobody else dare? i never managed to charm anybody. jesse collings. you made friends--and kept them. chamberlain. so does he. he has been successful all round: art, politics, letters, society--he has friends in all. i've only been successful in business. jesse collings. my dear friend, aren't you forgetting yourself? you came _out_ of business. chamberlain. no, i only changed to business on a larger scale--carried it on under a bigger name. that's how i found myself. i had to make things into a business in order to make a success of them. that was my method, collings: glorify it as much as you like. and up to a point it was good business, i don't deny. that's how we ran local politics, invented the caucus: corporation street is the result. that's how we managed to run unionism: made a hard and fast contract of it, and made them stick to it. that's how i ran the colonies--and the boer war. that's how i was going to run the empire on a preferential tariff. that came just too late. i'd made a mistake. jesse collings. what mistake? chamberlain. collings, the boer war wasn't good business. it might have been; but it lasted too long. any modern war that isn't over in six months now is a blunder, you'll find. they were able to hold out too long. that did for me. there have been bees in my bonnet ever since--all because of it. boers first; then bannerman; then--balfour. just once my business instinct betrayed me, and i was done! jesse collings. but--wasn't the war necessary? chamberlain. to put the "business" on a sound footing? yes, i thought so; it looked like it. no, it wasn't! but before i quite knew, there'd come a point where we couldn't go back; and so we just had to go on--and on. d'you know what was the cleverest thing said or done during that war?... you'd never guess ... but it's true. campbell-bannerman's "methods of barbarism" speech. we downed him for it at the time, but it caught on--it stuck. and it was on the strength of it (with c.-b. as their hope for the future) that the boers were persuaded to make peace: saved our face for us. they might have gone on, till we got sick of it, and the world too. jesse collings. i don't--i can't think you are right, chamberlain. you are forgetting things. chamberlain. no--i've had difficulty about thinking so myself; but, it has come to me. (_and so he sits and meditates over the point in his career where as a business man he first jailed. presently he resumes_:) when two men, whose qualifications i used rather to despise, beat me at business, collings--it was a facer! jesse collings. bannerman; and--the other? chamberlain. comes to see me to-day. but it won't be a business meeting. he'll not say anything about it--if he can help. jesse collings. and you? chamberlain. perhaps i shall succumb to his charm. i've done so before now. jesse collings. have you and he--had words ever? chamberlain. differences of opinion, of course. "words"? how should we? he was always so wonderfully accommodating, so polite, so apologetic even. nobody ever had a finer contempt for his party than he--not even old dizzy, or salisbury, or churchill. so he could always say the handsome thing to one--behind its back--even when he was making burnt-offerings to its prejudices. jesse collings. and when you left him? chamberlain. when i left him he did the thing beautifully. so genuinely sorry to lose me; so sure of having me with him again, before long. how could i have gone out and worked against him after that? but it's what--as a business politician--i ought to have done. jesse collings. if you had--should we have won, straight away? chamberlain. we should have won the party, and the party-machine too. for the rest it wouldn't have mattered waiting a year or two. yes, we should have won. but here's this, collings: we should have won then; we shan't win now. times are changing: the time for it is over. something else is coming along--what, i don't know. my old fox-scent has gone: wind's against me. the colonies are growing up too fast. they won't separate, but they mean to stand on their own feet all the same: in their own way--not mine. we ought to have got them when they were a bit younger: we could have done it then. once it flattered them to be called "dominions "; now they are going to be "sovereign states." and he--he doesn't mind. he is never for big constructive ideas--only for contrivances: takes things as they come, makes the best of them--philosophically--and gets round them; and sometimes does it brilliantly. jesse collings. what will he talk about? chamberlain. anything that comes into his head: the weather, the garden, the greenhouses, the theatres. he'll tell me, perhaps, of a book or two that i ought to read, that he hasn't had time for. he'll say, as you said, that i'm looking better than he expected. he'll say something handsome about austen--quite genuinely meaning it. then he'll say he's afraid of tiring me; then he'll go.... have you noticed how he shakes hands? he hasn't much of a hand--not a real hand--but he does it, like everything else, charmingly. jesse collings (_a little crestfallen_). i thought you really liked him. chamberlain. so i do. because he has beaten me, is that any reason for hating him? if it were--after a lifetime of polls and politics, one would have to be at hate with half the world. no, from his point of view he had to beat me, and he has done it. what i stick at is that he has proved the better business man! as i used head and hand--and heart (_and_ heart, collings!)-- jesse collings. yes, yes, i know you did. chamberlain. some people thought i hadn't a heart: "hard as nails" they called me.... well, as i used those, so he used his defeats, his doubts, his indecision, his charm--and left his heart out. that was the real business-stroke. that did for me.... i liked him: he knew it. whether he ever liked me, to this day, i don't know--for certain. if he did, it made no difference. that's what i call business. jesse collings (_warmly_). but you've always been honourable. chamberlain. so has he. don't be sentimental, collings! but some men manage in public life to give you a certain view of their character: so that you count on it. and then, on occasion, they play another--and get wonderful results. if i'd had that gift, i should have used it and done better. he has used it, and he has done better. i don't whine about it. but i'd rather, collings (i suppose i'm prejudiced), i'd rather he hadn't asked himself here--just now: not just now. (_there is a pause, and collings feels that he must say something; but finding nothing of any value to say, he merely commentates with a query_.) jesse collings. what has "just now" to do with it? chamberlain. "just now," dear collings, only means the next few months or so--possibly a year. that's all. i had rather he'd waited, and then just sent a wreath with the right sort of inscription on it. he could have done that charmingly too. and i haven't got wreaths here for _him_, for i don't think that even a posy of these would really interest him. (_and with a weary gesture he points to the orchids, as though they were things of which, not impossibly, "posies" might be made_.) jesse collings (_a little perplexed by this introduction of wreaths and flowers into political affairs_). what does really interest him? he's so interesting himself. chamberlain. you've hit it, collings. it's himself. not selfishly. he stands for so many things that he values--that he thinks good for the world--necessary for the stability of the social order. he is their embodiment: he is the most emblematic figure in the modern world that i know--in this country, at any rate--representing so much that is good in the great traditions which have got to go. and to stave off that day he will do almost anything. he would even--if he thought it would enable him the better to prick some of his bubbles--he would even take office under lloyd george. (_at this point, unobtrusively, a nurse enters and stands waiting_.) jesse collings. i don't think we shall live to see that! chamberlain. i shall not; you may. jesse collings (_impulsively_). chamberlain, i don't want to live after you! chamberlain (_cajolingly_). oh, yes, you do! anyway--i want you to. you will send me a wreath that will be worth having. (_whereat his quaint little companion leans forward, and, putting his two hands pleadingly on the swathed knees, wants to speak but cannot. slowly the sick man lets down his own and covers them. and so, hand resting on hand, he continues speaking:_) say what you like about the business man--the man who failed: he has known how to make friends--good ones. and you, jesse collings, have been one of the best: i couldn't have had a better. there's someone been waiting behind you to give you a hint that you are tiring me--staying too long. but you haven't: you never have. perhaps, in the future, i shan't see enough of you; perhaps, from now on, my doctor will have to measure even my friends for me: three a day before meals. but i shall get life in bits still--as long as you are allowed to come. yes, nurse, you make take him away now! (_jesse collings rises, and stands by his friend with moist eyes_.) jesse collings. good-bye, my dear joe, and--god bless you. chamberlain. yes ... good-bye! (_hands press and part, and jesse callings tip-toes meekly out, apologising for the length of his stay by the softness of his going. chamberlain's head drops, his face becomes more drawn, his hands more rigid and helpless. without a word, his nurse arranges his pillows, preparing him for the sleep to which his unresisting body gradually succumbs._) * * * * * (_two hours later he is awake again, and the nurse is removing a tray from which he has just taken some nourishment. he lifts his head and looks at her. at this sign that he is about to speak, she pauses. presently the words come._) chamberlain. is he in there, waiting to see me? nurse. yes, sir. chamberlain. ask him to come in. nurse. you want to see him alone, sir? (_there is a pause._) chamberlain. i think only one at a time is enough--better for me: don't you? nurse. it would be less tiring for you, sir. chamberlain. yes. ask him to come in. (_so that being settled, she goes, and he sits waiting. the afternoon sunlight is making the orchids look more resplendently themselves than ever. so still, so vivid, so alive, they hang their snake-like heads in long pendulous clusters; and among them all there is not a single one which shows the slightest sign of falling-off or decay. presently the door is softly opened, and the nurse, entering only to retire again, ushers in the distinguished visitor, whose brow, venerable with intellect, and grey with the approach of age, crowns a figure still almost youthful in its elasticity and grace, and perfect in the deliberate ease and deportment of its entry into a situation which many would find difficult. as he approaches the wheeled chair, the kindness, modesty, and distinction of his bearing prepare the way before him, and his silence has already said the nicest of nice things, in the nicest possible way, before he actually speaks. this he does not do till he has already taken and held the hand which the other has tried to offer_.) distinguished visitor. my dear chamberlain, how very good of you to let me come? chamberlain. not too much out of your way, i hope? dist. v. on the contrary, i could wish it were more, if that might help to express my pleasure in seeing you again. chamberlain. well, what there is of me, you see. you are looking well. dist. v. and you--much better than i expected. chamberlain. did you expect anything? dist. v. i was told that you had bad days occasionally, and were unable to see anybody. i hope i am fortunate, and that this is one of your good ones? chamberlain. well, as they've let you see me, i suppose so. i don't find much difference between my good and bad days. (won't you sit down?) i'm still in the possession of my faculties; i sleep well, and i don't have pain. dist. v. (_seating himself_). and my staying with you for a little is not going to tire you? chamberlain. it's far more likely to tire you, i'm afraid. dist. v. no, indeed not! apart from anything else it is a welcome respite on the journey. motoring bores me terribly. chamberlain. then you had really meant coming this way, in any case? dist. v. i had been long intending to; and when, last week, hewell proposed itself, all fitted together perfectly. chamberlain. are they having a house-party? dist. v. i think not: i trust not. no, i believe a hint was dropped to them that it wasn't to be--that i was feeling far too stale for any such mental relaxation. chamberlain. are you? you don't look like it. dist. v. in politics one tries not to look like anything; but how at the end of the session can one be otherwise? chamberlain. is all going on there--as usual? dist. v. yes...yes. i don't find being in opposition makes as much difference as i expected, as regards work. one misses the permanent official who always did it for one. wonderful creatures--who first invented them? pitt, or was it pepys? oh, no, he was one of them. a product, perhaps, of the seventeenth century. chamberlain. in tudor times prime ministers were permanent, weren't they? dist. v. their heads weren't. executions took the place of elections in those days. and there's something to be said for it. chamberlain. yes. there was more dignity about it; it gave a testimonial of character; the other doesn't. dist. v. still, electoral defeat is very refreshing. rejection by one's own constituents is sometimes a blessing in disguise: it saves one from undue familiarity.... that has never happened to you, has it? chamberlain. it depends what one means by--constituents. in the strict sense--no. (_and now there is a pause, for something has been said that is not merely conversation. very charmingly, and with a wonderful niceness of tone, the distinguished visitor accepts the opening that has been given him.)_ dist. v. chamberlain, i have been wanting to come and see you for a long time. chamberlain. thank you. so i--guessed. dist. v. i wrote to you--a letter which you did not answer. perhaps it did not seem to require an answer. but i hoped for one. so, after not hearing, i made up my mind to come and see you. chamberlain. that was very kind of you. dist. v. no, it wasn't; it was natural. we've worked together--so long. and i wanted to assure myself that there was, personally--that there is now--no cloud between us; no ill-feeling about anything. if i thought that remotely possible, i should regret it more than i can say. speaking for myself---- chamberlain. if you had not thought it possible--should you have come? dist. v. i cannot conceive how that would have made any difference. chamberlain. still, if you had not thought it possible, you would hardly have asked the question. dist. v. well, now i have asked it. speech is an overrated means of communication--especially between friends; but it has to serve sometimes. and you, at least, chamberlain, have never used it as--talleyrand, was it not?--recommended that it should be used--for concealment. chamberlain. so you think that--in words at any rate--i've been honest? dist. v. i should say pre-eminently. chamberlain. and--loyal? dist. v. i have never had differences--political divergences--with any man more loyal than you, chamberlain. chamberlain. thank you. i value that--from you. so the question's answered. on my side there is no cloud, as you tell me i have nothing with which to reproach myself. dist. v. thank you for the reassurance. in that case the heavens are clear. chamberlain. i hope they are properly grateful. such a testimonial--from two men looking in opposite directions--is an embracing one. dist. v. opposite? oh, i had hoped--though we may not see eye to eye in everything--that still, in the main, we were in general agreement. chamberlain. possibly. i daresay "a half-sheet of note-paper" might still cover our "general agreement," so long as we only talked about it. that served us for--two years, did it not? but i wasn't meaning--as to our political opinions. i meant that you are still looking to the future; i can only look back. dist. v. that, for you, must be a retrospect of deep satisfaction. it has made much history. chamberlain. catastrophes make history--sometimes. dist. v. you helped to avert them. chamberlain. yes, for a time. but another may be coming, and i shan't be here then. and if i were, i should be no use. dist. v. oh, don't say that! nor can i agree, either. no use? your good word is a power we still depend on. no, chamberlain, we cannot do without you. chamberlain. you did--when you accepted my resignation. dist. v. for a fixed and an agreed purpose. in a way that only bound us more closely. chamberlain. i thought so then. but it has turned out differently. dist. v. has it? i should not have said so. am i not to count on you still? chamberlain. as a diminishing force? yes; i shan't disappoint you. dist. v. oh! (_deprecatingly, as of something that need not have been said_.) but not that at all! chamberlain (_rubbing it in_). necessarily: one who, as i said, can only look backward. forward, i am nothing. believe me, i have measured myself at last. this is no miscalculation--like the other. dist. v. the other? chamberlain. my resignation. dist. v. was that one? chamberlain. it certainly had not the effect i intended. dist. v. surely you were not then intending to force me against my own judgment? chamberlain. no; but i thought you, and the rest, would follow. dist. v. i think we did: i think we still do. but sometimes, with followers, following takes time. chamberlain. it will take more than my time. that is where i miscalculated. dist. v. but, my dear chamberlain--if one may be personal--you are maintaining your strength, are you not? the doctors--are hopeful? chamberlain. the regulation paragraphs are supplied to the papers, if that's what you mean. dist. v. but i had this from members of your own family. chamberlain. quite so; it is they who supply them. dist. v. then, if the source is so authoritative, surely it must be true. chamberlain. are newspaper paragraphs in such cases--ever true? dist. v. perhaps i am no judge. as you know, i seldom read them. chamberlain. aren't the probabilities that they will always overstate the case--as far as possible? dist. v. that is a course which, as an old politician,--speaking generally--i must own has its advantages. so often, when things are uncertain, one has to act as if one were sure. chamberlain. yes, you've done that--sometimes. sometimes you haven't. i shouldn't call you an old politician, though. being old is the thing you've always managed to avoid. and yet, you've been in at a good many political deaths first and last. dist. v. that, in itself, is an ageing experience. chamberlain. yes? ... i wonder. dist. v. oh, but surely! chamberlain. _i_ wasn't sure; but i take your word for it. dist. v. in politics, somehow, the deaths seem always to exceed the births: those who go have become more intimate: one has got to know them. yes, the departures do certainly overshadow the arrivals. chamberlain. yet sometimes they must have come to you as a relief. dist. v. my dear chamberlain, don't say that! it isn't true. chamberlain. oh! i wasn't thinking of myself just then. dist. v. you were thinking, then, of somebody? chamberlain. yes, i was. i was thinking of george wyndham. what a beautiful fellow he was! so clever, so handsome, so charming: a man cut out for success, by the very look of him. and then, all at once, down and out: the old pack had got him! how they hunted him! "devolution!" wouldn't they be glad to get that now? dist. v. at the time it was impossible. chamberlain. yes, you accepted that, i know. ... it broke his heart. ... did you go and see him--when he was dying? dist. v. i used to go and see him when i could--yes, frequently; we had been great friends. not immediately--a month or two before, was the last time, i think. chamberlain. and so with him, too, you could say that you remained friends to the last! you have had a wonderful career: friends, enemies, they all loved you. gladstone (who hadn't as a rule much love for his political opponents) made an exception in your case. dist. v. yes, i owed a great deal to his generous friendship. it gave me confidence. chamberlain. harcourt, too, always spoke of you with affection. dist. v. oh, yes; we had a brotherly feeling about rosebery, you know. chamberlain (_ignoring his diversion_). randolph hadn't though. he was bitter. dist. v. randolph was a performer who just once exceeded his promise, and then could never get back to it. that was his tragedy. strange how, when he lost his following, his brilliancy all went with it. chamberlain. yes, it was strange, in one so independent of others. he had a great faculty, at one time, for not caring, for being (or seeming) ruthless. it's a gift that a politician must envy. it hasn't been my way to lose my heart in politics: it's not safe. but--you charmed me. (_there is an implication here that the quiet tone has not obscured. and so the direct question comes_:) dist. v. chamberlain, i must ask. what is there between us? chamberlain. nothing--nothing now at all--or very little. dist. v. no, no; you are too sincere to pretend to misunderstand me like that. chamberlain. in politics can one afford to be quite--sincere? openly, i mean? dist. v. you have been--far more than others i could name. chamberlain. that is a friendly judgment. others wouldn't say so. if a man stays in politics till he ceases to be important, while others remain important, there's bound to be a change of relations. dist. v. in our case i don't admit that it has happened. chamberlain. don't you? you were our partyleader. i broke away; so you had to break me. from your point of view you were right. i thought i knew the game better than you. i made a mistake. dist. v. do you mean, then, that you intended to break _me_? chamberlain. oh, no. but i meant to--persuade you. dist. v. my view is that you did--very thoroughly. surely i went a long way--conceded a great deal. chamberlain. "half a sheet of note-paper" was the measure of it. yes, that speech was a great success, and you remained our leader. but your halving of that sheet was the beginning of--my defeat, your victory. dist. v. i don't recognise either. at this moment we are both defeated, in a sense: out of office, that is to say. chamberlain. yes, but you will come back. i shan't. dist. v. but--in all its essentials--what you stand for will. chamberlain. as a hang-fire, perhaps, while parties temporise and readjust themselves to a new balance. but never the same thing again. the time for it has gone. i missed it. dist. v. you mustn't be depressed, chamberlain. great policies, new orientations, need careful nursing--testing too. conditions are changing very rapidly. chamberlain. mine are getting worse. i have two nurses now--night and day: and i obey orders. dist. v. you do well to remind me. you shouldn't have let me tire you. (_and so saying he rises_.) chamberlain. you don't. you used to, now and then, when we didn't agree. you had the deliberate mind, your own fixed rate of progression: one couldn't hurry you. and your semitones, and semicircles, and semi-quavers used sometimes to worry me, i own. they don't now: having become a monotone myself, i acquiesce. _i'm_ the slow one, now: you've set me my pace.... here i sit, stock still. dist. v. (_lightly diverting the conversation from its impending embarrassment_). with your old associates still round you, i see! (_and he touches a trail of blossom admiringly, as he continues_:) they, at least, in their reflected glory, look flourishing; for they, too, have had a share in your career, have they not? chamberlain. yes, they helped me to get into _punch_, i suppose, if not into parliament. yet, i never thought of it, till it happened--'twas a mere accident. would you like to take one with you? dist. v. i don't usually so efface myself, but i will with pleasure. this one is quite exquisite. may i? thanks (_and the glory of it goes to his buttonhole_). i notice, too, that it has a scent. chamberlain. yes, that is a new kind, hard to rear. there are very few of it in england yet, and nowhere growing so well as they do here. dist. v. that is so like you, chamberlain--you are the born expert; everything you touch--it's in your blood. whatever you have done, you have done successfully. chamberlain. so i have your word for it. i was saying to collins this morning that as a type of the really successful man you had beaten me. dist. v. i--a type of success? my dear chamberlain! in my wildest dreams, i aim only at safety; and if my hesitations have sometimes distressed you, they have been far more distressing to myself. you yourself, in a moment of friendly candour, once described me (so i was told) as the champion stick-in-the-mud. chamberlain. so i did, and it's true. but i said "champion." if you hadn't been such a champion at it, the mud would have swallowed you up alive. instead of that, you have made it a tower of defence against your enemies. that's why i regard you not only as so successful, but so british. dist. v. may i, at least, claim that even for self-defence i have not slung it at my opponents? chamberlain. no. why waste it? it's your use, not your misuse of it that i so admire. if you hadn't been such a wonderful politician, you might have been a great statesman. dist. v. doesn't that rather indicate failure? chamberlain. no. sometimes the political world has no use for statesmen-- except to down them. sometimes it prefers politicians, and perhaps rightly. every age makes its own peculiar requirements; and those who find out when the political line is the better one to follow, are the successful ones. you and i have been--politicians; let's be honest and own it. and now my particular politics are over. circumstances have emptied me out. that's different from mere failure. great statesmen have been failures; we've seen them go down, you and i--too big, too far-seeing for their day. but they went down _full_, with all the weight of their great convictions and principles still to their credit. i'm empty. time has played me out. that's the difference. dist. v. i am confident that history will give a different verdict. chamberlain. will it? when exactly does history begin to get written? is a man's reputation for statesmanship safe, even after a hundred years? what about pitt? can one be so sure of him now? his european policy may have been a blunder; his great work in ireland may yet have to be reversed. dist. v. in reversed circumstances, that may become logical. but what has held good for a hundred year, i should incline to regard as statesmanship. chamberlain. "held good"? fetters a man can't break "hold good "; but they make a prisoner of him all the same. policies have done that to nations before now. but would you, on that score, say of them that they have held good? dist. v. but let me understand, my dear chamberlain, what exactly in pitt's policy you now question? chamberlain. nothing: i can't see far enough ahead to question anything. i only say, when does history begin to get written? we don't know. dist. v. what more can one do than direct it for the generation in which one lives? that, it seems to me, is our main responsibility. chamberlain. well, that's what you and i have done. how? mainly by pulling down bigger men than ourselves. randolph, parnell, gladstone--we got the better of them, didn't we? have you never wondered why men of genius get sent into the world--only to be defeated? gladstone was a bigger man than the whole lot of us; but we pulled him down--and i enjoyed doing it. parnell, for all his limitations, was a great man. well, we got him down too. and i confess that gave me satisfaction. you helped to pull randolph down; but you didn't enjoy doing it. that's where you and i were different. dist. v. i helped? chamberlain. yes; it had to be done. and you were sorry for him while you did it--just as you were sorry for wyndham. dist. v. but i did nothing! chamberlain. quite so. he came down here to fight us in the central division, and the conservatives were keen for it. it was touch and go: unionists were not in such close alliance then; he might have succeeded. you did nothing; wouldn't back him. (quite right, from my point of view.) randolph went down: never the same man again. dist. v. but, my dear chamberlain, we had our agreed compact. chamberlain. an official understanding, certainly. but that didn't prevent me from going to the round-table conference. that also was touch and go; it might have succeeded. where would our compact have been, then? dist. v. the round-table was merely an interrogation covering a forlorn hope. it failed because you remained loyal to your convictions. chamberlain. it failed because one day two of us lost our tempers--one bragged, the other bullied. that was the real reason. if gladstone had given me a large enough hand over his first bill, d'you suppose i shouldn't have been a home ruler? i was to begin with, remember. dist. v. standing for a very different bill, i imagine. chamberlain. which you would still have opposed. but i should have won. dist. v. certainly, if we had lost you, it would have made a difference. chamberlain. i was younger then: i'd more push in me. but you would have let me go, all the same. yes, i've always admired your courage when the odds were against you...so, when the time for it came, you pulled me down too. it had to be done. ...and here i am. dist. v. my dear chamberlain, you distress me deeply! chamberlain. of course i do. d'you think i haven't distressed myself too? do i look like a man who hasn't been through anything? dist. v. then--there is a cloud between us, after all. chamberlain. no. i see you clearly; i see myself clearly. there's no cloud about it; it's all sharp, and clear, and hard--hard as nails. and i've been able to put it into words--that now you understand. poor randolph! do you remember how his tongue stumbled, and tripped him, the last time he spoke in the house? and i saw you looking on, pitying him. you'd got a kind side to you, for all your efficiency. men like you for that--that charm...it's been a great asset to you. parnell, how he tried all his life to make a speech and couldn't. but what he said didn't matter--there was the man! what a force he might have been--was! what a samson, when he pulled the whole irish party down--got them all on top of him to pull with him. what d'you think he was doing then? trying to give his irish nation a soul! it looked like pride, pique, mere wanton destruction; but it was a great idea. and if ever they rise to it--if ever the whole irish nation puts its back to the wall as parnell wanted it to do then--shakes off dependence, alliance, conciliation, compromise, it may beat us yet! they were afraid of defeat. that's why we won. a cause or a nation that fears no defeat--nor any number of them--that's what wins in the long run. but does any such nation--any such cause exist? i'm not sure...i'm not really sure of anything now, only this: that it's better not to live too long after one has failed. to go on living then--is the worst failure of all. (_as be thus talks himself out, his auditor's solicitous concern has continually increased; and now when, for the first time, the voice breaks with exhaustion and emotion, the other, half-rising from his seat, interposes with gentle but insistent urgency.)_ dist. v. my dear chamberlain, you are overtaxing your strength; you are doing yourself harm. you ought not to go on. stop, i do beg of you! chamberlain. stop? why stop? what does it matter now? (_but even as he speaks, mind and will cease to contest the point where physical energy fails. his manner changes, his voice becomes dull and listless of tone_) oh, yes...yes. you are quite right. it's time. i'm under orders now. would you mind--the bell? (_then, as the other is about to rise, he perceives that the nurse has already entered, and now stands, unobtrusive but firm, awaiting the moment to reassert her sway_.) oh, it's not necessary. there's the nurse come again, to remind me that i mustn't tire myself in tiring you. (_and so, under the presiding eye of professional attendance, the visitor rises and advances to take his leave._) thank you--for coming. thank you--for hearing me so patiently...you always did that, even though it made no difference...i wonder--shall i ever see you again? dist. v. you shall. i promise. chamberlain. i wonder. dist. v. i assure you, i shall make a point of it. believe me, i am very grateful for this opportunity you have given me; and even more am i grateful for all your long loyalty in the past. through all differences, through all difficulties, i have felt that you were indeed a friend. so, till we meet again, my dear chamberlain, good-bye! (_the two hands meet and part, while the nurse moves forward to resume her professional duties. the distinguished visitor begins to retire_.) chamberlain. good-bye...you can find your way? dist. v. (_turning gracefully as be goes_). perfectly! (_and treating the door with the same perfection of courtesy as be treats all with whom he comes in contact, be goes to take his leave of other members of the family. the door closes; the nurse is punching the pillows; chamberlain speaks_:) chamberlain. so that's the end, eh?... charming fellow! (_and so saying, be settles back to the inattention of life to which he has become accustomed_.) the instrument dramatis personae woodrow wilson (_ex-president of the united states of america_) mr. tumulty (_his secretary_) a gracious presence an attendant the instrument scene; _washington. march th,_ . _through, the large windows of this rather stiffly composed sitting-room washington conveys an ample and not unimpressive view of its official character. the distant architecture, rising out of trees, is almost beautiful, and would be quite, if only it could manage to look a little less self-satisfied and prosperous. outside is a jubilant spring day; inside something which much more resembles the wintering of autumn. for though this is an entry over which the door has just opened and closed, it is in fact an exit, final and complete, from the stage of world-politics, made by one who in his day occupied a commanding position of authority and power. that day is now over. in the distance an occasional blare of brass and the beat of drums tells that processions are still moving through the streets of the capital, celebrating the inauguration of the new president. it is the kind of noise which america knows how to make; a sound of triumph insistent and strained, having in it no beauty and no joy. the ex-president moves slowly across the room, bearing heavily to one side upon his stick, to the other upon the proudly protecting arm of his friend, mr. secretary tumulty. into the first comfortable chair that offers he lets himself down by slow and painful degrees, lay's his stick carefully aside, then begins very deliberately to pull off his gloves. when that is done, only then allowing himself complete relaxation, he sinks back in his chair, and in a voice of resigned weariness speaks_. ex-pres. so ... that's over! tumulty. it hasn't tired you too much, i hope? ex-pres. too much for what, my dear tumulty? i've time to be tired now. what else, except to be tired, is there left for me to do? tumulty. obey doctor's orders. ex-pres. he let me go. tumulty (_shrewdly_). you would have gone in any case. ex-pres. yes. (_tumulty adjusts the cushions at his back_.) thank you. tumulty (_seating himself_). well, governor, now you've seen him in place, what do you think of him? ex-pres. oh, i find him--quite--what i expected him to be. i think he means well. tumulty. a new president always does. ex-pres. (_slowly pondering his words_). yes ... that's true ... "means well." tumulty (_tactfully providing diversion_). the big crowd outside was very friendly, i thought. ex-pres. yes ... couldn't have been friendlier....it let me alone. tumulty. well, of course, they'd come mainly to see the new president. ex-pres. of course. so had i. yes, i believe harding's a good man. he was very kind, very considerate. i feel grateful. tumulty (_with rich emotion_). that's how a good many of us are feeling to you, governor: to-day very specially. it's what i've come back to say. ex-pres. that's very good of you. we've had--differences of opinion; but you've always been loyal. tumulty. i think, president--forgive me; the word slipped out. ex-pres. no matter. tumulty. i think there's been more loyalty--at heart--than you know. behind all our differences, in the party (as, with such big issues, couldn't be avoided)--well; they didn't cut so deep as they seemed to. they were all proud of you, even though we couldn't always agree. of course there've been exceptions. ex-pres. i don't want to judge the exceptions now (as perhaps i have done in the past) more hardly than i judge myself ... tumulty, i've failed. tumulty (_extenuatingly_.) in a way--yes: for a time, no doubt. ex-pres. absolutely. tumulty. i don't agree. ex-pres. because you don't know. tumulty. governor, i know a good deal. ex-pres. oh, yes; you've been a right hand to me--all through. others weren't. so i had to leave them alone, and--be alone. when i made that choice, it seemed not to matter: my case was so strong--and i had such faith in it! it was that did for me! tumulty. chief, i'm not out to argue with you--to make you more tired than you are already. but if i don't say anything, please don't think i'm agreeing with you. ex-pres. i'm accustomed to people not agreeing with me, tumulty.... yes: too much faith--not in what i stood for, but in myself: perhaps--though there i'm not so sure--perhaps too little in others. to some i gave too much: and the mischief was done before i knew. tumulty. you don't need to name him, president. ex-pres. i don't need to name anyone now. sometimes a man may know his own points of weakness too well--guard against them to excess, be overcautious because of them; and then, trying to correct himself, just for once he's not cautious enough. but where i failed was in getting the loyalty and cooperation of those who didn't agree with me so thoroughly as you did. and i ought to have done it; for that is a part of government. your good executive is the man who gets all fish into his net. i failed: i caught some good men, but i let others go. there was fine material to my hand which i didn't recognise, or didn't use so well as i should have done. i hadn't the faculty of letting others think for me: when i tried, it went badly; they didn't respond. so--i did all myself. tumulty (_airing himself a little_). you always listened to _me_, governor. ex-pres. yes, tumulty, yes. and you weren't offended when i--didn't pay any attention. tumulty. when you _had_ paid attention, you mean. ex-pres. perhaps i do. my way of paying attention has struck others differently. they think i'm one who doesn't listen--who doesn't want to listen. it's a terrible thing, tumulty, when one sees and knows the truth so absolutely, but cannot convince others. that's been my fate: to be so sure that i was right (i'm as sure of that now as ever) and yet to fail. here--there--it has been always the same. i went over to paris thinking to save the peace: there came a point when i thought it was saved; it would have been had the senate backed me--it could have been done then. but when i put the case to which already we stood pledged, i convinced nobody. they did not want justice to be done. tumulty. but you had a great following, governor. you had a wonderful reception when you got to paris. ex-pres. yes: in london too. it seemed then as if people were only waiting to be led. but i'm talking of the politicians now. there was no room for conviction there; each must stick to his brief. that's what wrecked us. not one--not one could i get to own that the right thing was the wise thing to do: that to be just and fear not was the real policy which would have saved europe--and the world.... look at it now! step by step, their failure is coming home to them; but still it is only as failure that they see it--mere human inability to surmount insuperable difficulties: the greed, the folly, the injustice, the blindness, the cruelty of it they don't see. and the people don't teach it them. they can't. no nation--no victorious nation--has gotten it at heart to say, "we, too, have sinned." lest such a thing should ever be said or thought, one of the terms of peace was to hand over all the blame; so, when the enemy signed the receipt of it, the rest were acquitted. and in that solemn farce the allies found satisfaction! what a picture for posterity! and when they point and laugh, i shall be there with the rest. it's our self-righteousness has undone us, tumulty; it's that which has made us blind and hard--and dishonest: for there has been dishonesty too. because we were exacting reparations for a great wrong, we didn't mind being unjust to the wrongdoer. and so, in paris, we spent months, arguing, prevaricating, manoeuvring, so as to pretend that none had had any share in bringing the evil about. when i spoke for considerate justice, there was no living force behind me in that council of the nations. they wanted their revenge, and now they've got it: and look what it is costing them! (_and then the door opens, and an attendant enters, carrying a, covered cup upon a tray. upon this intrusion the ex-president turns a little grimly; but before he can speak, tumulty interposes_.) tumulty. you'll forgive this little interruption, governor: i got domestic orders to see that you took it.... you will? (_the dictatorial expression softens: with a look of mild resignation the ex-president touches the table for the tray to be set down. and when the attendant has gone, he continues_:) ex-pres. no, they wouldn't believe me when i said that to be revengeful would cost more than to be forgiving. and still they won't believe that the trouble they are now in comes--not from the destructiveness of the war, but from their own destruction of the peace. i had the truth in me; but i failed. i was a voice crying into the void--a president without a people to back me: a dictator--of words! and they knew that my time was short, and that i had no power of appeal--because the heart of my people was not with me! if they had any doubt before, the vote of the senate told them. tumulty. you said "the people," governor? ex-pres. the people's choice, tumulty. the vote _for_ the senate, and the vote _of_ the senate: where's the difference? tumulty. still, i don't think you know how many were with you right through: and i'm not speaking only of our own people. over there it was your stand gave hope to the best of them, so long as hope was possible. but they were all so busy holding their breath, maybe they didn't make noise enough. anyway--seems you didn't hear 'em. ex-pres. you can't reproach me with it, tumulty---- tumulty (_expostulant_). i'm not doing that, governor! ex-pres. ----more than i reproach myself. if that were true, then it was my business to know it. but what i ought to have known i realised too late. when i heard those shouting crowds--yes, then, for a while, i thought it did mean--victory. but in the conference at versailles--paris-- i was in another world: the shouting died out, and i was alone.... i hadn't expected to be alone--in there, i mean. i had reckoned--was it wrong?--on honour counting among those in high places of authority for more than it did. we went in pledged up to the hilt: not in detail, not in legal terms, not as politicians, perhaps; but as men of honour--speaking each for the honour of our own nation. and that wasn't enough; for whom people stand pledged twice over--first in secret, then publicly--it's difficult to make them face where honour lies. tumulty. you mean the secret treaties, governor. that's been a puzzle to many of us: what you knew about them, i mean. ex-pres. tumulty, i willed not to know them. rumour of them reached me, of course. had i then given them a hearing, i might have been charged with complicity, the silence which gave consent. many were anxious that i should know of them--at a time when opposition would have been very difficult--premature, outside my province. and so--by not knowing--i was free: and when i stated the basis of the peace terms, i stated them (and i was secure then in my power to do so) in terms which should in honour have made those secret treaties no longer tenable. there was my first great error--i acknowledge it, tumulty: that i believed in honour. tumulty (_reluctantly)._ yes ... i see that. but it's the sort of thing one can only see after it has happened. you must have got a pretty deep-down insight into character, governor, when you came to the top of things over there, to the top people, i mean. ex pres. (_after a pause reflectively_). yes. it was very interesting, when one got accustomed to it: highly selected humanity, representative of things--it was afraid of. there daily sat four of us--if one counts heads only; but we were, in fact, six, or seven, or eight characters. and the characters sprang up and choked us. patriots, statesmen? oh yes! but also "careerists." men whose future depends on the popular vote can't always be themselves--at least, it seemed not; for we should then have ceased to be "representative," and it was as representatives that we had come. and so one would sit and listen, and watch--one person, and two characters. lloyd george, when his imagination was not swamped in self-satisfaction, was quite evangelical to listen to-- sometimes. but there he was representative--not of principles, nor of those visionary sparks which he struck so easily and threw off like matches, but of a successful election cry for "hanging the kaiser" and "making germany pay." and having got his majority, he and his majority had become one. but for that, he might--he just might ... yet who can tell? that tied him. i was alone. tumulty (_coming nobly to the rescue_). then take this from me, governor: for a man all alone you did wonders. ex-pres. i did my best; but i failed. my first mistake was when i believed in honour; my second, when i let them shut the doors. yes, to that he got me to agree. clever, clever; that was his first win. tumulty. who, governor? ex-pres. (_with a dry laugh_). the man who told me he was on my side. the reason?--a kindly means of saving faces for those whom he and i were going to "persuade"--of making the "climb-down" easier for them! that seemed a helpful, charitable sort of reason, didn't it? one it would have been hard to refuse. i didn't; so the doors were shut to cover defeat and disappointment over the secret treaties. then they had me: three against one! and their weight told--quite apart from mere argument; for each had behind him the popular voice (and when one lost it--you may remember-- another came, and took his place). but against me the popular voice had shut its mouth: i, too, was an electioneer--a defeated one. of my lease of power then, less than a year remained. after the senate elections i was nothing. in paris they knew it: and i could see in their eyes that they were glad. yes, _he_ was glad, too. (_as he speaks, his head sinks in depression. there is a pause._) tumulty (_in his best sick-bed manner_). governor, don't you think that you'd better rest now? ex-pres. (_ignoring the remark_). and so the old secret diplomacy, balancing for power, with war as the only sure end of it, came back to life; and i--pledged to its secrecies with the rest--i had to stay dumb. i was a drowning man, then, tumulty--clutching at straws, till i became an adept at it. there, perhaps, as you say, i did do "wonders"--of a kind: all i could, anyway. that was my plight, while there in paris we held high court, and banqueted, and drank healths from dead men's skulls. did nobody guess--outside--what was going on? i gave one signal that i thought was plain enough, when i sent for the _george washington_ to bring me home again. but, though i listened for it then, there seemed no response. people were so busy, you say, holding their breath; and _that_ i couldn't hear. tumulty (_zealous, in a pause, to show his interest_). well, governor, well? ex-pres. and then, rather than let me so go and spoil the general effect (the one power still left to me!), they began to make concessions-- concessions which, i see now, didn't amount to much; and so they persuaded me, and i stayed on, and signed my failure with the rest. tumulty (_for a diversion pointing to the covered cup_). pardon me, governor, you must obey orders, you know. they are not mine. ex-pres. (_taking up the cup with a dry smile_). executive authority has taught me that obeying orders is much simpler than giving them: you know when you've got them done. (_removing the cover, he drains the cup and sets it down again_.) there! now let your conscience be at rest. (_after a pause he resumes_:) tumulty, when i faced failure, when i knew that i had failed----yes; don't trouble to contradict me. i know, dear friend, i know that you don't agree; and, god bless you! i also know why.----when i knew _that_, after the whole thing was over, and i was out again and free, do you suppose i wasn't tempted to go out and cry the truth (as some were expecting and wishing for it to be cried) in the ears of the whole world?--let all know that i _had_ failed, and so--that way at least--separate myself from the evil thing which there sat smiling at itself in its hall of mirrors--seeing no frustrate ghosts, no death's heads at that feast, as i saw them?... i came out a haunted man--all the more because those i was amongst didn't believe in ghosts--not then. people who have been overwhelmingly victorious in a great war find that difficult. but they will--some day. tumulty. well, governor, and supposing you had yielded to this "temptation," as you call it, what's the proposition? ex-pres. this ... i had one power--one weapon, still left to me unimpaired: to speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me god! and the proposition is just this: whether to be stark honest, even against the apparent interests of the very cause you are out to plead, is not in the long run the surest way--if it be of god-- to help it make good: whether defeat, with the whole truth told, isn't better than defeat hidden away and disowned, in the hope that something may yet come of it. you may get a truer judgment that way in the end; though at the time it may seem otherwise. yes, i _was_ tempted to cry it aloud--to make a clean breast of it--to say, "we, the governments of the people, the democracies, the free nations of the world, have failed-- have lost the peace which we could have won, because we would not give up the things which we loved so much better--profit, revenge, our own too good opinion of ourselves, our own self-righteous judgment of others."... i was tempted to it; and yet it has been charged against me that i would not admit failure because i wanted to save my face. tumulty. you have never been much scared by what people _said_, governor. that didn't count, i reckon. ex-pres. no, tumulty; but this did--that where all seemed dark, i still saw light. down there, among the wreckage, something was left--an instrument of which i thought i saw the full future possibility more clearly than others. i believe i do still. and my main thought then was--how best to secure that one thing to which, half blindly, they had agreed. to win that, i was willing to give up my soul. tumulty. it's the covenant, you mean, governor? ex-pres. yes, the covenant! that at least was won--seemed won--whatever else was lost. some of them were willing to let me have it only because they themselves believed it would prove useless--just to save my face for all i had to give up in exchange. and so i--let them "save my face" for me; let them think that it was so--just to give this one thing its chance. and so, for that, and for that alone, i bound myself to the treaty--stood pledged to do my utmost to see it through: a different thing, that, from telling the truth. was i wrong, tumulty--was i wrong? tumulty. no, no, governor! you did everything a man could--under the circumstances. ex-pres. i have said that often to myself: and i hope, sometimes, that it may be true. but a man who gives up anything of the truth, as he sees it, for reasons however good--can he ever be sure of himself again?... it's a new thing for me to ask another man if i have done wrong. but that's the way i feel: i don't myself know. and once, once, i was so sure--that i was right, and that i should win! (_the situation has now become one which the friendly tumulty would like to control, but cannot. as a "soul-stirring revelation of character" he finds it, no doubt, immensely interesting; but to be thus made father confessor of the man whom he has followed with humble and dog-like devotion, knocks the bottom out of his world altogether. moreover, he has received "domestic orders," and is not properly obeying them; and so, dominated by the stronger will, he glances apprehensively, now and again, toward the door, hoping that it may open and bring relief, but himself sits and does nothing. meanwhile, insistent and remorseless at self-examination, the ex-president continues to wear himself out_.) when a man comes really to himself, tumulty--sees clearly within--does it help him toward seeing also what lies outside, beyond, and ahead--make him more sure that, as regards others, he has done right? i don't know--i would give my life to know--if what i did, when all else had failed, was best. the political forces, prejudices, antagonisms, the powers of evil around me, have been so dubiously deceiving and dark, that i do not know now whether to have been uncompromisingly true to principle would have done any good. perhaps after to-day i shall know better; perhaps only now have i become qualified to judge--a free man at last. only in the secrecy of my own heart--now finally removed from all the interests, ambitions, fears, which gather about a man's public career--i do most earnestly and humbly pray that in this one thing i did right--not to discredit myself too utterly in the world's eyes, so that _that_, at least, might live. tumulty (_doing his best_). it _will_ live, governor! ex-pres. it _may_. but in what hands have i had to leave it? to men who have no faith in it, to men who dislike it, to men who will try persistently, sedulously, day in, day out, to turn it back to their own selfish ends. there, in those hands, its fate will lie--perhaps for a generation to come. and it is only by faith in the common people, not in their politicians, that i dare look forward and hope that the instrument-- blunt and one-sided though it be now--may yet become mighty and two-edged and sharp, a sword in the hand of a giant--of one whose balances are those of justice, not of power. but _i_ shan't see it, tumulty; it won't be in my day. if america had come in, i should! that was the keystone of my policy: that gone, my policy has failed. that was my faith--is still; for faith can live on when policies lie dead. think what it might have been! america, with that weapon to her hand, could have shaped the world's future, made it a democracy of free nations--image and superscription no longer caesar's--but man's. that--that was what i saw! tumulty. perhaps they saw it too, governor. if they did, it might help to explain matters. ex-pres. the covenant was the instrument--and would have sufficed. so organised, america's voice in all future contentions would have been too strong, and just, and decisive to be gainsayed. then life would have been in it, then it would have prospered and become mighty. it would have meant--within a generation from now--world-peace. of that i had a sure sense: it would have come. to make that possible, what i had to yield to present jealousies, discords, blindness, was of no account--only look far enough! for there, in the future, was the instrument for correcting them-- the people's vote for the first time internationally applied. and i had in me such faith that america, secure of her place in the world's councils, would have wrought to make justice international, and peace no longer a dream! was i wrong, tumulty, was i wrong? tumulty (_expanding himself_). no man who believes in america as much as i do will ever say you were wrong, governor. ex-pres. but when america stood out--when the senate refused to ratify-- then i _was_ wrong. for then, what i had backed--all that remained then--was a thing of shreds and patches. nobody can think worse of the treaty than i do with america out of it, with the covenant left the one-sided and precarious thing it now is. had we only been in it--the rest wouldn't have mattered. call it a dung-heap, if you like; yet out of it would have sprung life. it may still; but _i_ shan't see it, tumulty; and that vision, which was then so clear, has become a doubt. was i wrong--was i wrong to pretend that i had won anything worth winning? would it not have been better to say "i have failed"? tumulty. forgive me, governor: you are looking at things from a tired-out mind. that's not fair, you know. ex-pres. but if you knew, oh, if you knew against what odds i fought even to get that! they knew that they had got me down; and the only card left me at last was their own reluctance to let a discredited president go back to his own people and show them his empty hands, and tell them that he had failed. so a bargain was struck, and this one thing was given me, that peradventure it might have life--if i, for my part, would come back here and plead the ratification of the treaty which they--and i--had made. could i have done that with any effect, had i said that in almost everything i had failed? tumulty. chief, i think you did right. but i still feel i'm up a back street. how could things have come to fail as much as they did? after all, it was a just war. ex-pres. tumulty, i have been asking myself whether there can be such a thing as a "just war." there can be--please god!--there must be sometimes a just _cause_ for war. when one sees great injustice done, sees it backed by the power of a blindly militarised nation, marching confidently to victory, then, if justice has any place in the affairs of men, there is sometimes just cause for war. but can there be--a just war? i mean--when the will to war takes hold of a people--does it remain the same people? does war in its hands remain an instrument that can be justly used? can it be waged justly? can it be won justly? can it, having been won, make to a just peace? no! something happens: there comes a change; war in a people's mind drives justice out.... can soldiers fight without "seeing red"--can a nation? not when nations have to fight on the tremendous scale of modern war. then they are like those monstrous mechanisms of long-range destructiveness, which we so falsely call "weapons of precision," but which are in fact so horribly unprecise that, once let loose, we cannot know what lives of harmlessness, of innocence, of virtue, they are going to destroy. you find your range, you fix your elevation, you touch a button: you hear your gun go off. and over there, among the unarmed--the weak, the defenceless, the infirm--it has done--what? singled out for destruction what life or lives; ten, twenty, a hundred?--you do not know. so with nations, when once they have gone to war; their imprecision becomes--horrible; though the cause of your war may be just. (_tumulty gives a profound nod, paying his chief the compliment of letting it be seen that he is causing him to think deeply_.) that's what happened here. do you remember, did you realise, tumulty, what a power my voice was in the world--till we went in?--that, because i had the power to keep them back from war (for there my constitutional prerogative was absolute), even my opponents had to give weight to my words. they were angry, impatient, but they had to obey. and, because they could not help themselves, they accepted point by point my building up of the justice of our cause. they didn't care for justice; but i spoke for the nation then; and, with justice as my one end, i drove home my point. and then--we went in. after that, justice became vengeance. when our men went over the trenches, fighting with short arms, "_lusitania!_" was their cry: and they took few prisoners--you know that, tumulty. (_over that point the ex-president pauses, though tumulty sees no special reason why he should pause._) the _lusitania_ had been sunk, and still we had not gone to war, and no crowds came to cry it madly outside the white house as they might have done--if that was how they felt then. the _lusitania_ lies at the bottom of the sea. there are proposals for salving her; but i think that there she will remain. the salving might tell too much. tumulty. you mean that talk about fuse caps being on board might have been true? would it matter now? ex-pres. yes. it was a horrible thing in any case--disproportionate, like most other acts of war--and it did immeasurable harm to those who thought to benefit. but this--i still only guess--might do too much good--bring things a little nearer to proportion again, which the treaty did not try to do.... what i've been realising these last two years is a terrible thing. you go to war, you get up to it from your knees--god driving you to it--unable, yes, unable to do else. your will is to do right, your cause is just, you are a united nation, a people convinced, glad, selfless, with hearts heroic and clean. and then war takes hold of it, and it all changes under your eyes; you see the heart of your people becoming fouled, getting hard, self-righteous, revengeful. your cause remains, in theory, what it was at the beginning; but it all goes to the devil. and the devil makes on it a pile that he can make no otherwise--because of the virtue that is in it, the love, the beauty, the heroism, the giving-up of so much that man's heart desires. that's where he scores! look at all that valiance, that beauty of life gone out to perish for a cause it knows to be right; think of the generosity of that giving by the young men; think of the faithful courage of the women who steel themselves to let them go; think of the increase of spirit and selflessness which everywhere rises to meet the claim. all over the land which goes to war that is happening (and in the enemy's land it is the same), making war a sacred and a holy thing. and having got it so sanctified, then the devil can do with it almost what he likes. that's what he has done, tumulty. if angels led horses by the bridle at the marne (as a pious legend tells), at versailles the devil had his muzzled oxen treading out the corn. and of those--i was one! yes; war muzzles you. you cannot tell the truth; if you did, it wouldn't be believed. and so, finally, comes peace; and over that, too, the devil runs up his flag--cross-bones and a skull. tumulty (_struggling in the narrow path between wrong and right_). but what else, governor, is your remedy? we had to go to war; we were left with no choice in the matter. ex-pres. no, we _had_ no choice. and what others had any choice?-- what people, i mean? but that is what everyone--once we were at war-- refused to remember. and so we cried "_lusitania!_" against thousands of men who had no choice in the matter at all. remedy? there's only one. somehow we must get men to believe that christ wasn't a mad idealist when he preached his sermon on the mount; that what he showed for the world's salvation then was not a sign only, but the very instrument itself. we've got to make men see that there's something in human nature waiting to respond to a new law. there are two things breeding in the world--love and hatred; breeding the one against the other. and there's fear making hatred breed fast, and there's fear making love breed slow. even as things now are, it has managed--it has just managed to keep pace; but only just. if men were not afraid--love would win. that, i've come to see, is the simple remedy; but it's going to be the hardest thing to teach--because all the world is so much afraid. (_and then, the worn, haggard man, having thus talked himself out, there enters by the benign intervention of providence a gracious presence, more confident than he in her own ruling power. she moves quietly toward them, and her voice, when she speaks, is corrective of a situation she does not approve_!) the presence. mr. tumulty ... my dear. (_resting her hands on the back of the ex-president's chair, she surveys them benevolently but critically. then her attention is directed to the covered cup standing on its tray_!) have you taken your---- ex-pres. my medicine? yes. your orders came through, and have been obeyed. the presence. it wasn't medicine. i made it myself. ex-pres. then i beg its pardon--and yours. the presence. will you please to remember that your holiday began at twelve o'clock to-day? i'm not going to allow any overtime now. ex-pres. that settles it, then, tumulty. and that means you are to go. i had just been saying, my dear, how much simpler it was to obey orders than to give and to get them obeyed. the presence. getting them obeyed is quite simple. it is merely a matter of how you give them. ex-pres. you see, tumulty--it's all a matter of "how." the presence. there's someone waiting to speak to you on the 'phone: wants to know how you are. i thought i would come and see first. ex-pres. who is it? the presence (_indicating the receiver_). he's there. (_the ex-president reaches out his hand, and tumulty from an adjoining table gives him the instrument. as he listens, they stand watching him._) ex-pres. oh, yes.... that's very kind of him.... please will you tell the president, with my best thanks, that i am greatly enjoying my holiday.... thank you.... good-bye. (_he gives the instrument back to the waiting tumulty._) tumulty (_with swelling-bosom_). governor, that was a great answer! ex-pres. easily said, tumulty. but is it true? (_but tumulty's breast is such a platform for the generous emotions that he does not really care whether it is true or not. and therein, between himself and his hero, lies the difference. grasping his fallen leader forcefully by the hand and murmuring his adieux in a voice of nobly controlled emotion, he obeys the waiting eye of the gracious presence, and goes. and as she sees him serenely to the door, the ex-president looks ruefully at his painfully oversqueezed hand, and begins rubbing it softly. even the touch of a friend sometimes hurts._) (_the door closes: the two are alone. she who-must-be-obeyed stands looking at him with a benevolent eye_.) the grand old man or the life and public services of the right honorable william ewart gladstone four times prime minister of england by richard b. cook, d.d. preface william e. gladstone was cosmopolitan. the premier of the british empire is ever a prominent personage, but he has stood above them all. for more than half a century he has been the active advocate of liberty, morality and religion, and of movements that had for their object the prosperity, advancement and happiness of men. in all this he has been upright, disinterested and conscientious in word and deed. he has proved himself to be the world's champion of human rights. for these reasons he has endeared himself to all men wherever civilization has advanced to enlighten and to elevate in this wide world. with the closing of the th century the world is approaching a crisis in which every nation is involved. for a time the map of the world might as well be rolled up. great questions that have agitated one or more nations have convulsed the whole earth because steam and electricity have annihilated time and space. questions that have sprung up between england and africa, france and prussia, china and japan, russia and china, turkey and armenia, greece and turkey, spain and america have proved international and have moved all nations. the daily proceedings of congress at washington are discussed in japan. in these times of turning and overturning, of discontent and unrest, of greed and war, when the needs of the nations most demand men of world-wide renown, of great experience in government and diplomacy, and of firm hold upon the confidence of the people; such men as, for example, gladstone, salisbury, bismark, crispi and li hung chang, who have led the mighty advance of civilization, are passing away. upon younger men falls the heavy burden of the world, and the solution of the mighty problems of this climax of the most momentous of all centuries. however, the record of these illustrious lives remains to us for guidance and inspiration. history is the biography of great men. the lamp of history is the beacon light of many lives. the biography of william e. gladstone is the history, not only of the english parliament, but of the progress of civilization in the earth for the whole period of his public life. with the life of mr. gladstone in his hand, the student of history or the young statesman has a light to guide him and to help him solve those intricate problems now perplexing the nations, and upon the right solution of which depends christian civilization--the liberties, progress, prosperity and happiness of the human race. hence, the life and public services of the grand old man cannot fail to be of intense interest to all, particularly to the english, because he has repeatedly occupied the highest position under the sovereign of england, to the irish whether protestant or catholic, north or south, because of his advocacy of (reforms) for ireland; to the scotch because of his scottish descent; to the german because he reminds them of their own great chancellor, the unifier of germany, prince bismarck; and to the american because he was ever the champion of freedom; and as there has been erected in westminster abbey a tablet to the memory of lord howe, so will the american people enshrine in their hearts, among the greatest of the great, the memory of william ewart gladstone. "in youth a student and in eld a sage; lover of freedom; of mankind the friend; noble in aim from childhood to the end; great is thy mark upon historic page." contents. chapter i ancestry and birth chapter ii at eton and oxford chapter iii early parliamentary experiences chapter iv book on church and state chapter v travels and marriage chapter vi enters the cabinet chapter vii member for oxford chapter viii the neapolitan prisons chapter ix the first budget chapter x the crimean war chapter xi in opposition to the government chapter xii homeric studies chapter xiii great budgets chapter xiv liberal reformer and prime minister chapter xv the golden age of liberalism chapter xvi the eastern question chapter xvii midlothian and the second premiership chapter xviii third administration and home rule chapter xix prime minister the fourth time chapter xx in private life chapter xxi closing scenes [illustration: gladstone entering palace yard, westminster.] "in thought, word and deed, how throughout all thy warfare thou wast pure, i find it easy to believe." --robert browning list of illustrations. william e. gladstone (_frontispiece_) gladstone entering palace yard, westminster gladstone and sister interior of the old house of commons birthplace of gladstone glimpses of gladstone's earlier years houses of parliament gladstone's london residence lobby of the house of commons grattan kilmainham jail gladstone's marriage at hawarden no. downing street, london the park gate, hawarden old hawarden castle hawarden castle, from the park waterfall in hawarden park court yard, hawarden gladstone reading the lessons at hawarden church the rev. h. drew dorothy's dovecote dining-room in the orphanage staircase in the orphanage hawarden church hawarden castle loyal ulster gladstone's early english contemporaries gladstone's later english contemporaries gladstone in wales city and county volunteers of dublin condition of ireland, gladstone visiting neapolitan prisons gladstone introducing his first budget the sunderland shipowner surprised family group at hawarden house of commons william the conqueror gladstone and granddaughter gladstone's axe gladstone family group salisbury ministry defeated the old lion gladstone's reception in the house of commons gladstone's mail release of parnell, dillon and o'kelly gladstone on his way home the midlothian campaign queen victoria gladstone and his son, herbert gallery of the house of commons irish leaders irish constabulary evicting tenants gladstone's study at hawarden fourth administration cabinet gladstone on the queen's yacht st. james palace queen and premier gladstone in his study, reading mr. and mrs. gladstone, introductory. there are few, even among those who differed from him, who would deny to mr. gladstone the title of a great statesman: and in order to appreciate his wonderful career, it is necessary to realize the condition of the world of thought, manners and works at the time when he entered public life. in medicine there was no chloroform; in art the sun had not been enlisted in portraiture; railways were just struggling into existence; the electric telegraph was unknown; gas was an unfashionable light; postage was dear, and newspapers were taxed. in literature, scott had just died; carlyle was awaiting the publication of his first characteristic book; tennyson was regarded as worthy of hope because of his juvenile poems; macaulay was simply a brilliant young man who had written some stirring verse and splendid prose; the brontës were schoolgirls; thackeray was dreaming of becoming an artist; dickens had not written a line of fiction; browning and george eliot were yet to come. in theology, newman was just emerging from evangelicalism; pusey was an oxford tutor; samuel wilberforce a village curate; henry manning a young graduate; and darwin was commencing that series of investigations which revolutionized the popular conception of created things. princess, afterwards queen victoria, was a girl of thirteen; cobden a young calico printer; bright a younger cotton spinner; palmerston was regarded as a man-about-town, and disraeli as a brilliant and eccentric novelist with parliamentary ambition. the future marquis of salisbury and prime minister of great britain was an infant scarcely out of arms; lord rosebery, (mr. gladstone's successor in the liberal premiership), lord spencer, lord herschell, mr. john morley, mr. campbell-bannerman, mr. asquith, mr. brice, mr. acland and mr. arnold morley, or more than half the members of his latest cabinet remained to be born; as did also the duke of devonshire, mr. balfour and mr. chamberlain, among those who were his keenest opponents toward the end of his public career. at last the end of mr. gladstone's public life arrived, but it had been extended to an age greater than that at which any english statesman had ever conducted the government of his country. of the significance of the life of this great man, it would be superfluous to speak. the story will signally fail of its purpose if it does not carry its own moral with it. we can best conclude these introductory remarks by applying to the subject of the following pages, some words which he applied a generation ago to others: in the sphere of common experience we see some human beings live and die, and furnish by their life no special lessons visible to man, but only that general teaching in elementary and simple forms which is derivable from every particle of human histories. others there have been, who, from the times when their young lives first, as it were, peeped over the horizon, seemed at once to-- "'flame in the forehead of the evening sky,'" --whose lengthening years have been but one growing splendor, and who at last-- "------leave a lofty name, a light, a landmark on the cliffs of fame." chapter i ancestry and birth all history, says emerson, "resolves itself into the biographies of a few stout and earnest persons." these remarks find exemplification in the life of william ewart gladstone, of whom they are pre-eminently true. his recorded life, from the early period of his graduation to his fourth premiership, would embrace in every important respect not only the history of the british empire, but very largely the international events of every nation of the world for more than half a century. william ewart gladstone, m.p., d.c.l., statesman, orator and scholar, was born december , , in liverpool, england. the house in which he was born, number rodney street, a commodious and imposing "double-fronted" dwelling of red brick, is still standing. in the neighborhood of the rodney street house, and a few years before or after the birth of william e. gladstone, a number of distinguished persons were born, among them william roscoe, the writer and philanthropist, john gibson, the sculptor, doctor bickersteth, the late bishop of ripon, mrs. hemans, the poetess, and doctor james martineau, professor of mental and moral philosophy in manchester new college, and the brother of harriet martineau, the authoress. the gladstone family, or gledstanes, which was the original family name, was of scottish origin. the derivation of the name is obvious enough to any one familiar with the ancestral home. a _gled_ is a hawk, and that fierce and beautiful bird would have found its natural refuge among the _stanes_, or rocks, of the craggy moorlands which surround the "fortalice of gledstanes." as far back as herbert de gledstane figures in the ragman roll as one of the lairds who swore fealty to edward i. his descendants for generations held knightly rank, and bore their part in the adventurous life of the border. the chief stock was settled at liberton, in the upper part of clydesdale. it was a family of scottish lairds, holding large estates in the sixteenth century. the estate dwindled, and in the beginning of the seventeenth century passed out of their hands, except the adjacent property of authurshiel, which remained in their possession for a hundred years longer. a younger branch of the family--the son of the last of the gledstanes of arthurshiel--after many generations, came to dwell at biggar, in lanarkshire, where he conducted the business of a "maltster," or grain merchant. here, and at about this time, the name was changed to gladstones, and a grandson of the maltster of biggar, thomas gladstones, settled in leith and there became a "corn-merchant." he was born at mid toftcombs, in , and married helen neilson, of springfield. his aptitude for business was so great that he was enabled to make ample provision for a large family of sixteen children. his son, john gladstone, was the father of william e. gladstone, the subject of our sketch. some have ascribed to mr. gladstone an illustrious, even a royal ancestry, through his father's marriage. he met and married a lovely, cultured and pious woman of dingwall, in orkney, the daughter of andrew robertson, provost of dingwall, named ann robertson, whom the unimpeachable sir bernard burke supplied with a pedigree from henry iii, king of england, and robert bruce, of bannockburn, king of scotland, so that it is royal english and scottish blood that runs in the veins of mr. gladstone. "this alleged illustrious pedigree," says e.b. smith, in his elaborate work on william e. gladstone, "is thus traced: lady jane beaufort, who was a descendant of henry iii, married james i, of scotland, who was a descendant of bruce. from this alliance it is said that the steps can be followed clearly down to the father of miss robertson. a scottish writer upon genealogy, also referring to this matter, states that mr. gladstone is descended on the mother's side from the ancient mackenzie of kintail, through whom is introduced the blood of the bruce, of the ancient kings of man, and of the lords of the isles and earls of ross; also from the munros of fowlis, and the robertsons of strowan and athole. what was of more consequence to the gladstones of recent generations, however, than royal blood, was the fact that by their energy and honorable enterprise they carved their own fortunes, and rose to positions of public esteem and eminence." it has been their pride that they sprang from the ranks of the middle classes, from which have come so many of the great men of england eminent in political and military life. in an address delivered at the liverpool collegiate institute, december , , sir john gladstone said; "i know not why the commerce of england should not have its old families rejoicing to be connected with commerce from generation to generation. it has been so in other countries; i trust it may be so in this country. i think it is a subject of sorrow, and almost of scandal, when those families who have either acquired or recovered wealth and station through commerce, turn their backs upon it and seem to be ashamed of it. it certainly is not so with my brother or with me. his sons are treading in his steps, and one of my sons, i rejoice to say, is treading in the steps of my father and my brother." george w.e. russell, in his admirable biography of mr. william e. gladstone, says, "sir john gladstone was a pure scotchman, a lowlander by birth and descent. provost robertson belonged to the clan donachie, and by this marriage the robust and business-like qualities of the lowlander were blended with the poetic imagination, the sensibility and fire of the gael." an interesting story is told, showing how sir john gladstone, the father of william e. gladstone, came to live in liverpool, and enter upon his great business career, and where he became a merchant prince. born at leith in , he in due time entered his father's business, where he served until he was twenty-one years old. at that time his father sent him to liverpool to dispose of a cargo of grain, belonging to him, which had arrived at that port. his demeanor and business qualities so impressed mr. corrie, a grain merchant of that place, that he urged his father to let him settle there. consent was obtained and young gladstone entered the house of corrie & company as a clerk. his tact and shrewdness were soon manifest, and he was eventually taken into the firm as a partner, and the name of the house became corrie, gladstone & bradshaw. john gladstone on one occasion proved the temporary preserver of the firm of which he had become a member. he was sent to america to buy grain for the firm, in a time of great scarcity in europe, owing to the failure of the crops, but he found the condition of things the same in america. there was no grain to be had. while in great perplexity as to what to do he received advices from liverpool that twenty-four vessels had been dispatched for the grain he was expected to purchase, to bring it to europe. the prospect was that these vessels would have to return to europe empty as they had come, and the house of corrie & company be involved thereby in ruin. it was then that john gladstone rose to the emergency of the occasion, and by his enterprise and energy saved himself and partners from financial failure, to the great surprise and admiration of the merchants of liverpool. it was in this way: he made a thorough examination of the american markets for articles of commerce that could be sold in europe to advantage, and filling his vessels with them sent them home. this sagacious movement not only saved his house, but gave him a name and place among the foremost merchants of his day. his name was also a synonym for push and integrity, not only on the liverpool exchange, but in london and throughout all england. the business of the firm became very great and the wealth of its members very large. during the war with napoleon, on the continent, and the war of with the united states, the commerce of england, as mistress of the seas, was injured, and the gladstone firm suffered greatly and was among the first to seek peace, for its own sake and in the interests of trade. in one year the commerce of liverpool declined to the amount of , tons, which was about one-fourth of the entire trade, and there was a decrease of more than $ , in the dock-dues of that port. john gladstone was among those who successfully petitioned the british government for a change of its suicidal policy towards the american states. after sixteen years of successful operations, during a part of which time it had been government agent, the firm was dissolved and its business was continued by john gladstone. his six brothers having followed him from leith to liverpool, he took into partnership with him his brother robert. their business became very extensive, having a large trade with russia, and as sugar importers and west india merchants. john gladstone was the chairman of the west india association and took an active part in the improvement and enlargement of the docks of liverpool. in , when the monopoly of the east india company was broken and the trade of india and china thrown open to competition, the firm of john gladstone & company was the first to send a private vessel to calcutta. john gladstone was a public-spirited man and took great interest in the welfare of his adopted city. he was ever ready to labor for its prosperity, and consequently endeared himself to the people of all classes and conditions, and of every shade of political opinion. the high estimation in which he was held by the citizens of liverpool was especially manifest october , , when they presented him with a testimonial, consisting of a magnificent service of plate, of twenty-eight pieces, and bearing the following inscription: "_to john gladstone, esq., m.p., this service of plate was presented mdcccxxiv, by his fellow townsmen and friends, to mark their high sense of his successful exertions for the promotion of trade and commerce, and in acknowledgment of his most important services rendered to the town of liverpool_." john gladstone, though devoted to commerce, had time for literary pursuits. he wrote a pamphlet, "on the present state of slavery in the british west indies and in the united states of america; and on the importation of sugar from british settlements in india." he also published, in , another pamphlet, containing a statement of facts connected with the same general subject, "in a letter addressed to sir robert peel." in he published a pamphlet, entitled "plain facts intimately connected with the intended repeal of the corn laws; or probable effects on the public revenue and the prosperity of the country." from the subject discussed it can be readily and truly imagined that john gladstone had given thought to political subjects. he was in favor of a qualified reform which, while affording a greater enfranchisement of the people, looked also to the interests of all. having an opinion, and not being afraid to express it, he was frequently called upon to address public meetings. the matters discussed by him were, however, rather national than municipal, rather humane than partisan. he was a strong advocate for certain reforms at home in , and in on the seas, and for greek independence in . "on the th of february, , a public meeting was held in liverpool town hall, 'for the purpose of considering the best means of assisting the greeks in their present important struggle for independence.' mr. gladstone spoke impressively in favor of the cause which had already evoked great enthusiasm amongst the people, and enlisted the sympathies and support of lord byron and other distinguished friends of freedom." it was in that he addressed a meeting called "to consider the propriety of petitioning parliament to take into consideration the progressive and alarming increase in the crimes of forging and uttering forged bank of england notes." the penalties for these crimes were already heavy, but their infliction did not deter men from committing them, and these crimes increased at an enormous rate. resolutions were passed at the liverpool meeting, recommending the revision and amendment of existing laws. then again, so late as the year , the navigation between liverpool and dublin was in a lamentable condition, and human life was recklessly imperiled, and no one seemed willing to interfere and to interest himself in the interests of humanity. it was then that he again came to the front to advocate a just cause. to illustrate the dangers to vessels and passengers, the case of the sloop _alert_ may be cited. it was wrecked off the welsh coast, with between and persons on board, of whom only seventeen were saved. for the safety and rescue of all those souls on board this packet-boat there was only one small shallop, twelve feet long. mr. gladstone was impressed with the terrible nature of the existing evil, and obtained an amendment to the steamboat act, requiring imperatively that every passenger vessel should be provided with boats sufficient for every passenger it was licensed to carry. by this wise and humane provision thousands of lives were doubtless saved that would otherwise have been lost--the victims of reckless seamanship and commercial greed. john gladstone, either through the influence of mr. canning, or from having imbibed some political taste, sat in the house of commons nine years, representing lancaster in , woodstock from to , and berwick in ; but he never would consent to sit in parliament for the city of liverpool, for he thought that so large and important a constituency required peculiar representation such as he was unqualified to give. he was the warm supporter and intimate friend of the celebrated canning. at first he was a whig, but finally came to support mr. canning, and became a liberal conservative. in he presided over a meeting at liverpool, which was called to invite mr. canning to represent the borough in parliament. after the election the successful candidates were claimed and carried in procession through the streets. the procession finally halted at mr. gladstone's house, in rodney street, from the balcony of which mr. canning addressed the populace. his election laid the foundation of a deep and lasting friendship between mr. canning and mr. gladstone. "at this time the son of the latter was but three years of age. shortly afterwards--that is, as soon as he was able to understand anything of public men, and public movements and events"--says g.b. smith, "the name of canning began to exercise that strange fascination over the mind of william ewart gladstone which has never wholly passed away," and mr. gladstone himself acknowledged that he was brought up "under the shadow of the great name of canning." john gladstone presided at a farewell dinner given by the liverpool canning club, in august, , in honor of mr. canning, who had been governor-general of india. but mr. canning, instead of going to india, entered the british cabinet, and in became prime minister, and john gladstone moved a congratulatory address to the king upon the formation of the canning ministry. in john gladstone was created a baronet by sir robert peel, but he lived to enjoy his deserved honors but a short time, for he died in , at the advanced age of eighty-eight. his motto had ever been, "diligent in business." his enormous wealth enabled him to provide handsomely for his family, not only after death, but during his lifetime. at the time of his father's death, william e. gladstone was still an adherent of the tory party, yet his steps indicated that he was advancing towards liberalism; and he had already reached distinction as a statesman, both in parliament and in the cabinet, while as yet he was but years old, which was about half of his age when called for the fourth time to be prime minister of england. sir john gladstone and his wife had six children--four sons, thomas gladstone, afterwards baronet; john gladstone, who became a captain, and died in ; robert gladstone, brought up a merchant, who died in , and two daughters, annie mckenzie gladstone, who died years ago, and helen jane gladstone. william e. gladstone was the fourth son. the following is from the pen of the son, who says of his aged father, sir john gladstone: "his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated; he was full of bodily and mental vigor; whatsoever his hand found to do he did it with his might; he could not understand or tolerate those who, perceiving an object to be good, did not at once and actively pursue it; and with all this energy he gained a corresponding warmth, and, so to speak, eagerness of affection, a keen appreciation of humor, in which he found a rest, and an indescribable frankness and simplicity of character, which, crowning his other qualities, made him, i think, and i strive to think impartially, nearly or quite the most interesting old man i ever knew." personally, sir john gladstone was a man of much intelligence and of sterling principle, of high moral and religious character, and his house consequently was a model home. "his house was by all accounts a home pre-eminently calculated to mould the thoughts and direct the course of an intelligent and receptive nature. there was a father's masterful will and keen perception, the sweetness and piety of the mother, wealth with all its substantial advantages and few of its mischiefs, a strong sense of the value of money, a rigid avoidance of extravagance and excesses; everywhere a strenuous purpose in life, constant employment, and concentrated ambition." mrs. john gladstone, the wife and mother, is described by one who knew her intimately as "a lady of very great accomplishments; of fascinating manners, of commanding presence and high intellect; one to grace any home and endear any heart." the following picture of the everyday life of the family is interesting and instructive, on account of sir john gladstone, as well as on that of his more distinguished son, and is from the pen of an eye-witness: "nothing was ever taken for granted between him and his sons. a succession of arguments on great topics and small topics alike--arguments conducted with perfect good humor, but also with the most implicable logic--formed the staple of the family conversation. the children and their parents argued upon everything. they would debate as to whether a window should be opened, and whether it was likely to be fair or wet the next day. it was all perfectly good-humored, but curious to a stranger, because of the evident care which all the disputants took to advance no proposition, even as to the prospect of rain, rashly." in such a home as this was william e. gladstone in training as the great parliamentary debater and leader, and for the highest office under the british crown. this reminds us of a story of burke. the king one day, unexpectedly entering the office of his minister, found the elder burke sitting at his desk, with his eyes fixed upon his young son, who was standing on his father's desk in the attitude of speaking. "what are you doing?" asked the astonished king. "i am making the greatest minister england ever saw," was the reply. and so in fact, and yet all unconsciously, was sir john doing for his son, william. william e. gladstone "was born," says his biographer, g.w.e. russell, "at a critical moment in the fortunes of england and of europe. abroad the greatest genius that the world has ever seen was wading through slaughter to a universal throne, and no effectual resistance had as yet been offered to a progress which menaced the liberty of europe and the existence of its states. at home, a crazy king and a profligate heir-apparent presided over a social system in which all civil evils were harmoniously combined. a despotic administration was supported by a parliamentary representation as corrupt as illusory; a church, in which spiritual religion was all but extinct, had sold herself as a bondslave to the governing classes. rank and wealth and territorial ascendency were divorced from public duty, and even learning had become the handmaid of tyranny. the sacred name of justice was prostituted to sanction a system of legal murder. commercial enterprise was paralyzed by prohibitive legislation; public credit was shaken to its base; the prime necessaries of life were ruinously dear. the pangs of poverty were aggravated by the concurrent evils of war and famine, and the common people, fast bound in misery and iron, were powerless to make their sufferings known or to seek redress, except by the desperate methods of conspiracy and insurrection. none of the elements of revolution were wanting, and the fates seemed to be hurrying england to the brink of a civil catastrophe. "the general sense of insecurity and apprehension, inseparable from such a condition of affairs, produced its effect upon even the robust minds. sir john gladstone was not a likely victim of panic, but he was a man with a large stake in the country, the more precious because acquired by his own exertion; he believed that the safeguards of property and order were imperilled by foreign arms and domestic sedition; and he had seen with indignation and disgust the excesses of a factious whiggery, which was not ashamed to exult in the triumph of the french over the english government. under the pressure of these influences sir john gladstone gradually separated himself from the whigs, with whom in earlier life he had acted, and became the close ally of canning, whose return for liverpool he actually promoted." with such surroundings it is not to be wondered at that william e. gladstone entered political life a tory, contending against the principles he afterwards espoused. his original bent, however, was not towards politics, but the church; and it was only at the earnest desire of his father that he ultimately decided to enter parliament, and serve his country in the legislature. his subsequent life proved the wisdom of the choice. in the legislature of his country was begun, carried on and consummated grandly, one of the most remarkable careers in the annals of history for versatility, brilliancy, solidity and long continuance. rarely has there been exhibited so complete a combination of qualities in statesmanship. his intellectual endowments were almost without a parallel, and his achievements without a precedent. in him seemed to be centered a rich collection of the highest gifts of genius, great learning and readiness in debate and discourse in the house of commons, and extraordinary wisdom in the administration of the affairs of the nation. his financial talent, his business aptitude, his classical attainments, and above all his moral fervor, and religious spirit were conspicuous. some men would have been contented with political power, or classical learning, or literary distinction, but he excelled in all these--not only as a statesman, but as a man of letters and a classical scholar. neither has held him exclusively as its own--he belongs to all, or rather they belong to him--for he explored and conquered them. his literary productions equal in merit his papers of state, while his knowledge of the classics would do credit to any scholar. he possessed the unusual quality of throwing the light of his own mind on the greatest questions of national and international importance, of bringing them down to the understanding and appreciation of the masses of the people, of infusing, by his earnestness, the fire of his own soul in the people, and of arousing in them the greatest enthusiasm. in the biography of this wonderful person we propose to set before the reader the man himself--his words and his deeds. this method enables him to speak for himself, and thus the reader may study him and know him, and because thereof be lifted into a higher plane of nobler and better being. the acts and utterances of such a character are his best biography, and especially for one differing so largely from all other men as to have none to be compared with him. in this record we simply spread before the reader his private life and public services, connected together through many startling changes, from home to school, from university to parliament, from tory follower to liberal leader, from the early start in his political course to the grand consummation of the statesman's success in his attainment to the fourth premiership of this grand old man, and the glorious end of an eventful life. we could not do better, in closing this chapter, than to reproduce a part of the character sketch of william e. gladstone, from the pen of william t. stead, and published in the "review of reviews:" "so much has been written about mr. gladstone that it was with some sinking of heart i ventured to select him as a subject for my next character sketch. but i took heart of grace when i remembered that the object of these sketches is to describe their subject as he appears to himself at his best, and his countrymen. there are plenty of other people ready to fill in the shadows. this paper claims in no way to be a critical estimate or a judicial summing up of the merits and demerits of the most remarkable of all living englishmen. it is merely an attempt to catch, as it were, the outline of the heroic figure which has dominated english politics for the lifetime of this generation, and thereby to explain something of the fascination which his personality has exercised and still exercises over the men and women of his time. if his enemies, and they are many, say that i have idealized a wily old opportunist out of all recognition, i answer that to the majority of his fellow-subjects my portrait is not overdrawn. the real gladstone may be other than this, but this is probably more like the gladstone for whom the electors believe they are voting, than a picture of gladstone, 'warts and all,' would be. and when i am abused, as i know i shall be, for printing such a sketch, i shall reply that there is at least one thing to be said in its favor. to those who know him best, in his own household, and to those who only know him as a great name in history, my sketch will only appear faulty because it does not do full justice to the character and genius of this extraordinary man." mr. gladstone appeals to the men of to-day from the vantage point of extreme old age. age is so frequently dotage, that when a veteran appears who preserves the heart of a boy and the happy audacity of youth, under the 'lyart haffets wearing thin and bare' of aged manhood, it seems as if there is something supernatural about it, and all men feel the fascination and the charm. mr. gladstone, as he gleefully remarked the other day, has broken the record. he has outlived lord palmerston, who died when eighty-one, and thiers, who only lived to be eighty. the blind old dandolo in byron's familiar verse-- the octogenarian chief, byzantium's conquering foe, had not more energy than the liberal leader, who, now in his eighty-third year, has more nerve and spring and go than any of his lieutenants, not excluding the youngest recruit. there is something imposing and even sublime in the long procession of years which bridge as with eighty-two arches the abyss of past time, and carry us back to the days of canning, and of castlereagh, of napoleon, and of wellington. his parliamentary career extends over sixty years--the lifetime of two generations. he is the custodian of all the traditions, the hero of the experience of successive administrations, from a time dating back longer than most of his colleagues can remember. for nearly forty years he has had a leading part in making or unmaking of cabinets; he has served his queen and his country in almost every capacity in office and in opposition, and yet to-day, despite his prolonged sojourn in the malaria of political wire-pulling, his heart seems to be as the heart of a little child. if some who remember 'the old parliamentary hand' should whisper that innocence of the dove is sometimes compatible with the wisdom of the serpent, i make no dissent. it is easy to be a dove, and to be as silly as a dove. it is easy to be as wise as a serpent, and as wicked, let us say, as mr. governor hill or lord beaconsfield. but it is the combination that is difficult, and in mr. gladstone the combination is almost ideally complete. "mr. gladstone is old enough to be the grandfather of the younger race of politicians, but still his courage, his faith, his versatility, put the youngest of them to shame. it is this ebullience of youthful energy, this inexhaustible vitality, which is the admiration and despair of his contemporaries. surely when a schoolboy at eton he must somewhere have discovered the elixir of life, or have been bathed by some beneficent fairy in the well of perpetual youth. gladly would many a man of fifty exchange physique with this hale and hearty octogenarian. only in one respect does he show any trace of advancing years. his hearing is not quite so good as it was, but still it is far better than that of cardinal manning, who became very deaf in his closing years. otherwise mr. gladstone is hale and hearty. his eye is not dim, neither is his natural force abated. a splendid physical frame, carefully preserved, gives every promise of a continuance of his green old age. "his political opponents, who began this parliament by confidently calculating upon his death before the dissolution, are now beginning to admit that it is by no means improbable that mr. gladstone may survive the century. nor was it quite so fantastic as it appears at first sight, when an ingenious disciple told him the other day that by the fitness of things he ought to live for twenty years yet. 'for,' said this political arithmetician, 'you have been twenty-six years a tory, twenty-six years a whig liberal, and you have been only six years a radical home ruler. to make the balance even you have twenty years still to serve.' "sir provo wallis, the admiral of the fleet, who died the other day at the age of one hundred, had not a better constitution than mr. gladstone, nor had it been more carefully preserved in the rough and tumble of our naval war. if the man who smelt powder in the famous fight between the chesapeake and the shannon lived to read the reports of the preparations for the exhibition at chicago, it is not so incredible that mr. gladstone may at least be in the foretop of the state at the dawn of the twentieth century. "the thought is enough to turn the tories green with sickening despair, that the chances of his life, from a life insurance office point of view, are probably much better than lord salisbury's. but that is one of the attributes of mr. gladstone which endear him so much to his party. he is always making his enemies sick with despairing jealousy. he is the great political evergreen, who seems, even in his political life, to have borrowed something of immortality from the fame which he has won. he has long been the grand old man. if he lives much longer he bids fair to be known as the immortal old man in more senses than one." [illustration: gladstone's birthplace, rodney street, liverpool.] chapter ii at eton and oxford there is very little recorded of the boyhood of some great men, and this is true of the childhood of william e. gladstone, until he leaves the parental home for school, which he does in , at the early age of eleven. he was fortunate in his parentage, but no less so in his early associations, both in and out of school. we refer particularly to his private preceptors, two of whom, the venerable archdeacon jones and the rev. william rawson, first vicar of seaforth, a watering-place near liverpool, were both men of high character and great ability. mr. gladstone always highly esteemed mr. rawson, his earliest preceptor, and visited him on his death-bed. dr. turner, afterwards bishop of calcutta, was for two years young gladstone's private tutor, beginning his instruction when his pupil left eton in . besides these associations of his early life there were canning, a frequent visitor, as has been mentioned, at his father's house, and hannah more--"holy hannah," as horace walpole called her. she singled out "billy" gladstone for her especial pet out of the group of eleven children in whom her warm heart delighted, and it has been asked wonderingly if miss more could preternaturally have lengthened her days until william e. gladstone's present glory, whether she would have gone on dubbing him "billy" in undignified brevity until the end. william e. gladstone, when very young, gave such evidence of uncommon intellectual ability and promise of future greatness that his father resolved upon educating him in the best schools of england. there are four or five great schools in england in which the english youth are prepared in four or five years for cambridge or oxford. "eton, the largest and the most celebrated of the public schools of england, ranks as the second in point of antiquity, winchester alone being older." after the preparation at home, under private teachers, to which we have referred, william e. gladstone was sent to eton, in september, . his biographer, george w.e. russell, writes, "from a provincial town, from mercantile surroundings, from an atmosphere of money-making, from a strictly regulated life, the impressible boy was transplanted, at the age of eleven, to the shadow of windsor and the banks of the thames, to an institution which belongs to history, to scenes haunted by the memory of the most illustrious englishmen, to a free and independent existence among companions who were the very flower of english boyhood. a transition so violent and yet so delightful was bound to produce an impression which lapse of time was powerless to efface, and no one who knows the man and the school can wonder that for seventy years mr. gladstone has been the most enthusiastic of etonians." eton of to-day is not in all respects the eton of three-quarters of a century ago, and yet in some particulars it is as it was when young "billy" gladstone studied within its walls. the system of education and discipline pursued has undergone some modifications in recent years--notably during the provostship of the rev. francis hodgson; but radical defects are still alleged against it. it is not remarkable, however, that every eton boy becomes deeply attached to the school, notwithstanding the apprenticeship to hardships he may have been compelled to undergo. the "hardships" there must have been particularly great when young gladstone entered eton, at the close of the summer holidays of . the school was under the head-mastership of "the terrific dr. keate." he was not the man to spare even the scholar who, upon the emphatic testimony of sir roderick murchison, was "the prettiest boy that ever went to eton," and who was as studious and well-behaved as he was good-looking. the town of eton, in which the school is located, about miles from london, in berkshire, is beautifully situated on the banks of the river thames, opposite windsor castle, the residence of the queen of england. eton college is one of the most famous and best endowed educational institutions of learning in england. it was founded in by henry vi. the king was very solicitous that the work should be of a durable kind, and he provided for free scholarships. eton of mr. gladstone's day, according to a critic, was divided into two schools--the upper and the lower. it also had two kinds of scholars, namely, seventy called king's scholars or "collegers," who are maintained gratuitously, sleep in the college, and wear a peculiar dress; and another class--the majority--called "oppidans," who live in the town. between these two classes of students there prevails perpetual hostility. at cambridge, there was founded, in connection with eton, what is called king's college, to receive as fellows students from eton, and to give them gratuitously an education. the ground on which students of eton were promoted to king's college and these fellowships was, strangely to say, upon that of seniority, or long residence, and not of merit. because there was no competition, scholars who were deficient in education at eton were promoted to cambridge, where they had no incentive to work, being exempt from the ordinary university examination. at eton "no instruction was given in any branch of mathematical, physical, metaphysical or moral science, nor in the evidences of christianity. the only subjects which it professed to impart a knowledge of were the greek and latin languages; as much divinity as can be gained from construing the greek testament, and reading a portion of tomline on the thirty-nine articles, and a little ancient and modern geography." so much for the instruction imparted. as regards the hours of tuition, there seems to have been fault there, in that they were too few and insufficient, there being in all only eleven hours a week study. then as to the manner of study, no time was given the scholar to study the style of an author; he was "hurried from herodotus to thucydides, from thucydides to xenophon, from xenophon to lucian, without being habituated to the style of any one author--without gaining an interest in the history, or even catching the thread of the narrative; and when the whole book is finished he has probably collected only a few vague ideas about darius crying over a great army, abydos and nicias and demosthenes being routed with a great army near syracuse, mixed up with a recollection of the death of cyrus and socrates, some moral precept from socrates, and some jokes against false philosophers and heathen gods." hence the eton student who goes to cambridge finds he has done but a little desultory reading, and that he must begin again. it was charged that the system of education at eton failed in every point. the moral discipline of the school was also called in question. the number of scholars was so great that the proper control of them seemed impossible under the management. great laxity prevailed among the larger boys, while the younger and weaker students were exposed to the tyranny of the older and stronger ones without hope of redress. the result was that the system of "fagging," or the acting of some boys as drudges for the others, flourished. "the right" of fagging depended upon the place in the school; all boys in the sixth and fifth forms had the power of ordering--all below the latter form being bound to obey. this system of fagging has a very injurious effect upon most of the boys; "it finds them slaves and leaves them despots. a boy who has suffered himself, insensibly learns to see no harm in making others suffer in turn. the whole thing is wrong in principle, and engenders passions which should be stifled and not encouraged." why free and enlightened england should tolerate, even then, such barbarous slavery cannot be understood and yet there are outrageous customs prevailing among college students of our day in every civilized land that should be suppressed. flogging was in vogue, too, at eton, with all its degrading and demoralizing effects, and was performed by the head-master himself. in , the year before mr. gladstone entered eton, there were upper students and lower, a total of , and none were exempt. some curious stories are told of flogging, which has ever existed at eton, and from which even the largest boys were not exempt. mr. lewis relates how a young man of twenty, just upon the point of leaving school, and engaged to be married to a lady at windsor, was well and soundly whipped by dr. goodford, for arriving one evening at his tutor's house after the specified time. and it is related that arthur wellesley, afterwards the iron duke of wellington, was flogged at eton for having been "barred out." at the same time there were eighty boys who were whipped. and the eton of twenty years later was very little improved over its condition in mr. gladstone's time there, or in . john d. lewis, speaking of this period, says that after the boys reached the fifth form, then began "some of the greatest anomalies and absurdities of the then etonian system." the student was now safe from the ordeal of examinations, and that the higher classes, including ten senior collegers and ten senior oppidans, contained some of the very worst scholars. "a boy's place on the general roll was no more a criterion of his acquirements and his industry than would be the 'year' of a young man at oxford or cambridge." the collegers, however, were required to pass some kind of examination, in accordance with which their place on the list for the king's college was fixed. but the evils regarding the hours of study and the nature of the studies were as bad. "the regular holidays and saints' days, two whole holidays in a week, and two half-holidays, were a matter of common occurrence." lord morley, in his examination before the commission on public schools, was asked whether a boy would be looked down upon at eton for being industrious in his studies, replied, "not if he could do something else well." and this seems to be the spirit of the eton boy with whom a lack of scholarship is more than made up by skill in river or field sports. this is true to-day; for a recent writer in the _forum_, upon "the training of boys at eton," says: "athletic prominence is in english public schools almost synonymous with social prominence; many a boy whose capacity and character commanded both respect and liking at the universities and in after life, is almost a nobody at a public school, because he has no special athletic gifts.... great athletic capacity may co-exist with low moral and intellectual character." there were few inducements to study and to excel in scholarship, and plenty to idleness and neglect, hence he who did so must study in hours and out of hours, in season and out of season. the curriculum is still strictly classical, but french, german and mathematics are taught. the collegers of recent years have done very fair work and carried off many distinctions at cambridge. with all these odds against them, and these difficulties to surmount, yet there were eton boys whose attainments were deep and solid, and who became famous men, and one of these was william e. gladstone. when young gladstone entered eton his brothers, thomas and robertson gladstone, were already there, and the three boys boarded at mrs. shurey's, whose house "at the south end of the broad walk in front of the schools and facing the chapel," was rather nearer the famous "christopher inn" than would be thought desirable nowadays. on the wall opposite the house the name of "gladstone" is carved. thomas gladstone was in the fifth form, and william was placed in the middle remove of the fourth form, and became his eldest brother's "fag." this doubtlessly saved him much annoyance and suffering, and allowed him better to pursue the studious bent of his indications. william e. gladstone was what etonians called a "sap"--in other words, a student faithful in the discharge of every duty devolving upon him at school--one who studied his lessons and was prepared for his recitations in the classroom. this agreeable fact has been immortalized in a famous line in lord lytton's "new timon." he worked hard at his classical studies, as required by the rules of the school, and applied himself diligently to the study of mathematics during the holidays. it is said that his interest in the work of the school was first aroused by mr. hawtrey, who afterwards became head-master, who commended some of his latin verses, and "sent him up for good." this led the young man to associate intellectual work with the ideas of ambition and success. while he did not seem to be especially an apt scholar in the restricted sense for original versification in the classical languages, or for turning english into greek or latin, yet he seemed to seize the precise meaning of the authors and to give the sense. "his composition was stiff," but yet, says a classmate, "when there were thrilling passages of virgil or homer, or difficult passages in 'scriptores graeci' to translate, he or lord arthur hervey was generally called up to edify the class with quotations or translations." he had no prizes at eton except what is called being sent up for good, on account of verses, and he was honored on several occasions. besides he took deep interest in starting a college periodical, and with some of the most intellectual of the students sustained it with his pen. the more studious of eton boys have on several occasions in the present century been in the habit of establishing periodicals for the purpose of ventilating their opinions. in mr. canning and mr. hookham frere established the _microcosm_, whose essays and _jeux d'esprit_, while having reference primarily to eton, demonstrated that the writers were not insensible to what was going on in the great world without. it was for this college paper that canning wrote his "essay on the epic of the queen of hearts," which, as a burlesque criticism, has been awarded a high place in english literature. lord henry spencer, hookham frere, capel lofft, and mr. millish, were also contributors to the columns of the _microcosm_. in the year w. mackworth praed set on foot a manuscript journal, entitled _apis matina_. this was in turn succeeded by the _etonian_, to which praed contributed some of his most brilliant productions. john moultrie, henry nelson coleridge, walter blunt, and chauncy hare townshend were also among the writers for its papers, who helped to make it of exceptional excellence. its articles are of no ordinary interest even now. in the last year of william e. gladstone's stay at eton, in , and seven years after praed's venture, he was largely instrumental in launching the _eton miscellany_, professedly edited by bartholomew bouverie, and mr. gladstone became a most frequent, voluminous and valuable contributor to its pages. he wrote articles of every kind--prologues, epilogues, leaders, historical essays, satirical sketches, classical translations, humorous productions, poetry and prose. and among the principal contributors with him were sir francis doyle, george selwyn, james colville, arthur hallam, john haumer and james milnes-gaskell. the introduction, written by and signed "william ewart gladstone" for this magazine, contained the following interesting and singular passage, which probably fairly sets forth the hopes and fears that beset statesmen in maturer years, as well as eton boys of only seventeen years of age: "in my present undertaking there is one gulf in which i fear to sink, and that gulf is lethe. there is one stream which i dread my inability to stem--it is the tide of popular opinion. i have ventured, and no doubt rashly ventured-- like little wanton boys that swim on bladders, to try my fortune in a sea of glory, but far beyond my depth." at present it is hope alone that buoys me up; for more substantial support i must be indebted to my own exertions, well knowing that in this land of literature merit never wants its reward. that such merit is mine i dare not presume to think; but still there is something within me that bids me hope that i may be able to glide prosperously down the stream of public estimation; or, in the words of virgil, '--celerare viam rumore secundo.' "i was surprised even to see some works with the names of shakespeare and milton on them sharing the common destiny, but on examination i found that those of the latter were some political rhapsodies, which richly deserved their fate; and that the former consisted of some editions of his works which had been burdened with notes and mangled with emendations by his merciless commentators. in other places i perceived authors worked up into frenzy by seeing their own compositions descending like the rest. often did the infuriated scribes extend their hands, and make a plunge to endeavor to save their beloved offspring, but in vain; i pitied the anguish of their disappointment, but with feelings of the same commiseration as that which one feels for a malefactor on beholding his death, being at the same time fully conscious how well he has deserved it." little did this diffident and youthful editor imagine that he was forecasting the future for himself by the aid of youth's most ardent desires, and that he would live to become the primate of all england and the foremost statesman of his day. there were two volumes of the _miscellany_, dated june-july and october-november, respectively, and mr. gladstone contributed thirteen articles to the first volume. among the contributions were an "ode to the shade of watt tyler," a vigorous rendering of a chorus from the hucuba of euripides, and a letter under the name of "philophantasm," detailing an encounter he had with the poet virgil, in which the great poet appeared muttering something which did not sound like latin to an eton boy, and complaining that he knew he was hated by the eton boys because he was difficult to learn, and pleading to be as well received henceforth as horace. we give a quotation from a poem, consisting of some two hundred and fifty lines, from his pen, which, appeared also in the _miscellany_: "who foremost now the deadly spear to dart, and strike the javelin to the moslem's heart? who foremost now to climb the leaguered wall, the first to triumph, or the first to fall? lo, where the moslems rushing to the fight, back bear their squadrons in inglorious flight. with plumed helmet, and with glittering lance, 'tis richard bids his steel-clad bands advance; 'tis richard stalks along the blood-dyed plain, and views unmoved the slaying and the slain; 'tis richard bathes his hands in moslem blood, and tinges jordan with the purple flood. yet where the timbrels ring, the trumpets sound, and tramp of horsemen shakes the solid ground, though 'mid the deadly charge and rush of fight, no thought be theirs of terror or of flight,-- ofttimes a sigh will rise, a tear will flow, and youthful bosoms melt in silent woe; for who of iron frame and harder heart can bid the mem'ry of his home depart? tread the dark desert and the thirsty sand, nor give one thought to england's smiling land? to scenes of bliss, and days of other years-- the vale of gladness and the vale of tears; that, passed and vanish'd from their loving sight, this 'neath their view, and wrapt in shades of night?" among other writers who contributed to the first volume of the _miscellany_ were arthur henry hallam and doyle, also g.a. selwyn, afterwards bishop selwyn, the friend of mr. gladstone, and to whom he recently paid the following tribute: "connected as tutor with families of rank and influence, universally popular from his frank, manly, and engaging character--and scarcely less so from his extraordinary rigor as an athlete--he was attached to eton, where he resided, with a love surpassing the love of etonians. in himself he formed a large part of the life of eton, and eton formed a large part of his life. to him is due no small share of the beneficial movement in the direction of religious earnestness which marked the eton of forty years back, and which was not, in my opinion, sensibly affected by any influence extraneous to the place itself. at a moment's notice, upon the call of duty, he tore up the singularly deep roots which his life had struck deep into the soil of england." both mr. gladstone and the future bishop of selwyn contributed humorous letters to "the postman," the correspondence department of the _eton miscellany_. in the second volume of the _eton miscellany_ are articles of equal interest to those that appeared in the first. doyle, jelf, selwyn, shadwell and arthur henry hallam were contributors, the latter having written "the battle of the boyne," a parody upon campbell's "hohenlinden." but here again mr. gladstone was the principal contributor, having contributed to this even more largely than to the first, having written seventeen articles, besides the introductions to the various numbers of the volume. indeed one would think from his devotion to these literary pursuits during his last year at eton, that he had very little leisure for those ordinary sports so necessary to eton boys. he seems to have begun his great literary activity. among them may be mentioned an "ode to the shade of watt tyler," mentioned before, which is an example of his humorous style: "shade of him whose valiant tongue on high the song of freedom sung; shade of him, whose mighty soul would pay no taxes on his poll; though, swift as lightning, civic sword descended on thy fated head, the blood of england's boldest poured, and numbered tyler with the dead! "still may thy spirit flap its wings at midnight o'er the couch of kings; and peer and prelate tremble, too, in dread of mighty interview! with patriot gesture of command, with eyes that like thy forges gleam, lest tyler's voice and tyler's hand be heard and seen in nightly dream. "i hymn the gallant and the good from tyler down to thistlewood, my muse the trophies grateful sings, the deeds of miller and of ings; she sings of all who, soon or late, have burst subjection's iron chain, have seal'd the bloody despot's fate, or cleft a peer or priest in twain. "shades, that soft sedition woo, around the haunts of peterloo! that hover o'er the meeting-halls, where many a voice stentorian bawls! still flit the sacred choir around, with 'freedom' let the garrets ring, and vengeance soon in thunder sound on church, and constable, and king." in a paper on "eloquence," in the same volume, he shows that even then his young mind was impressed by the fame attached to successful oratory in parliament. visions of glory and honor open before the enraptured sight of those devoted to oratorical pursuits, and whose ardent and aspiring minds are directed to the house of commons. evidently the young writer himself "had visions of parliamentary oratory, and of a successful _debut_ in the house of commons, with perhaps an offer from the minister, a secretaryship of state, and even the premiership itself in the distance." but then there are barriers to pass and ordeals to undergo. "there are roars of coughing, as well as roars of cheering" from the members of the house, "and maiden speeches sometimes act more forcibly on the lungs of hearers than the most violent or most cutting of all the breezes which aeolus can boast." but the writer draws comfort from the fact that lord morfeth, edward geoffrey, stanley and lord castlereagh who were all members of the eton college debating society were then among the most successful young speakers in parliament. this sounds more like prophecy than dreams, for within a very few years after writing this article the writer himself had passed the dreaded barrier and endured the ordeal, and had not only made his appearance in the house of commons, but had been invited to fill an honorable place in the cabinet of the ministry then in power. another contribution of mr. gladstone's to the _miscellany_, and perhaps the most meritorious of the youthful writer's productions, was entitled, "ancient and modern genius compared," in which the young etonian editor ardently and affectionately apostrophized the memory of canning, his father's great friend and his own ideal man and statesman, who had just then perished untimely and amid universal regret. in this article he first takes the part of the moderns as against the ancients, though he by no means deprecates the genius of the latter, and then eloquently apostrophizes the object of his youthful hero-worship, the immortal canning, whose death he compares to that of the lamented pitt. the following are extracts from this production: "it is for those who revered him in the plenitude of his meridian glory to mourn over him in the darkness of his premature extinction: to mourn over the hopes that are buried in his grave, and the evils that arise from his withdrawing from the scene of life. surely if eloquence never excelled and seldom equalled--if an expanded mind and judgment whose vigor was paralleled only by its soundness--if brilliant wit--if a glowing imagination--if a warm heart, and an unbending firmness--could have strengthened the frail tenure, and prolonged the momentary duration of human existence, that man had been immortal! but nature could endure no longer. thus has providence ordained that inasmuch as the intellect is more brilliant, it shall be more short-lived; as its sphere is more expanded, more swiftly is it summoned away. lest we should give to man the honor due to god--lest we should exalt the object of our admiration into a divinity for our worship--he who calls the weary and the mourner to eternal rest hath been pleased to remove him from our eyes. "the degrees of inscrutable wisdom are unknown to us; but if ever there was a man for whose sake it was meet to indulge the kindly though frail feelings of our nature--for whom the tear of sorrow was to us both prompted by affection and dictated by duty--that man was george canning." after hallam, selwyn and other contributors to the _miscellany_ left eton, at midsummer, , mr. gladstone still remained and became the mainstay of the magazine. "mr. gladstone and i remained behind as its main supporters," writes sir francis doyle, "or rather it would be more like the truth if i said that mr. gladstone supported the whole burden upon his own shoulders. i was unpunctual and unmethodical, so were his other vassals; and the '_miscellany_' would have fallen to the ground but for mr. gladstone's untiring energy, pertinacity and tact." although mr. gladstone labored in editorial work upon the _miscellany_, yet he took time to bestow attention upon his duties in the eton society of the college, learnedly called "the literati," and vulgarly called "pop," and took a leading part in the debates and in the private business of the society. the eton society of gladstone's day was a brilliant group of boys. he introduced desirable new members, moved for more readable and instructive newspapers, proposing new rules for better order and more decorous conduct, moving fines on those guilty of disorder or breaches of the rules, and paying a fine imposed upon himself for putting down an illegal question. "in debate he champions the claims of metaphysics against those of mathematics, and defends aristocracy against democracy;" confesses innate feelings of dislike to the french; protests against disarmament of the highlanders as inexpedient and unjust; deplores the fate of strafford and the action of the house of commons, which he claimed they should be able to "revere as our glory and confide in as our protection." the meetings of the eton society were held over miss hatton's "sock-shop." in politics its members were tory--intensely so, and although current politics were forbidden subjects, yet, political opinions were disclosed in discussions of historical or academical questions. "the execution of strafford and charles i, the characters of oliver cromwell and milton, the 'central social' of rousseau, and the events of the french revolution, laid bare the speakers' political tendencies as effectually as if the conduct of queen caroline, the foreign policy of lord castlereagh, or the repeal of the test and corporation act had been the subject of debate." it was october , , when gladstone was elected a member of the eton society, and on the th of the same month made his maiden speech on the question "is the education of the poor on the whole beneficial?" it is recorded in the minutes of the meeting that "mr. gladstone rose and eloquently addressed the house." he spoke in favor of education; and one who heard him says that his opening words were, "sir, in this age of increased and increasing civilization." says an eminent writer, by way of comment upon these words, "it almost oppresses the imagination to picture the shoreless sea of eloquence which rolls between that exordium and the oratory to which we still are listening and hope to listen for years to come." "the peroration of his speech on the question whether queen anne's ministers, in the last four years of her reign, deserved well of their country, is so characteristic, both in substance and in form," that we reproduce it here from dr, russell's work on gladstone: "thus much, sir, i have said, as conceiving myself bound in fairness not to regard the names under which men have hidden their designs so much as the designs themselves. i am well aware that my prejudices and my predilections have long been enlisted on the side of toryism (cheers) and that in a cause like this i am not likely to be influenced unfairly against men bearing that name and professing to act on the principles which i have always been accustomed to revere. but the good of my country must stand on a higher ground than distinctions like these. in common fairness and in common candor, i feel myself compelled to give my decisive verdict against the conduct of men whose measures i firmly believe to have been hostile to british interests, destructive of british glory, and subversive of the splendid and, i trust, lasting fabric of the british constitution." the following extracts from the diary of william cowper, afterwards lord mount-temple, we also reproduce from the same author: "on saturday, october , , the subject for debate was: "'whether the deposition of richard ii was justifiable or not.' jelf opened; not a good speech. doyle spoke _extempore_, made several mistakes, which were corrected by jelf. gladstone spoke well. the whigs were regularly floored; only four whigs to eleven tories, but they very nearly kept up with them in coughing and 'hear, hears,' adjourned to monday after . "monday, .--gladstone finished his speech, and ended with a great deal of flattery of doyle, saying that he was sure he would have courage enough to own that he was wrong. it succeeded. doyle rose amidst reiterated cheers to own that he was convinced by the arguments of the other side. he had determined before to answer them and cut up gladstone! "december .--debate, 'whether the peerage bill of was calculated to be beneficial or not.' thanks voted to doyle and gladstone; the latter spoke well; will be a great loss to the society." there were many boys at eton--schoolfellows of mr. gladstone--who became men of note in after days. among them the hallams, charles canning, afterwards lord canning and governor-general of india; walter hamilton, bishop of salisbury; edward hamilton, his brother, of charters; james hope, afterwards hope-scott; james bruce, afterwards lord elgin; james milnes-gaskell, m.p. for wenlock; henry denison; sir francis doyle; alexander kinglake; george selwyn, bishop of new zealand and of litchfield; lord arthur hervey, bishop of bath and wells; william cavendish, duke of devonshire; george cornwallis lewis; frederic tennyson; gerald wellesley, dean of windsor; spencer walpole, home secretary; frederic rogers, lord blachford; james colvile, chief justice at calcutta, and others. by universal acknowledgment the most remarkable youth at eton in that day was arthur hallam, "in mind and character not unworthy of the magnificent eulogy of 'in memoriam.'" he was the most intimate friend of young gladstone. they always took breakfast together, although they boarded apart in different houses, and during the separation of vacations they were diligent correspondents. the father of william e. gladstone, as we have seen, discovered premonitions of future greatness in his son, and we may well ask the question what impression was made by him upon his fellow school-mates at eton. arthur hallam wrote: "whatever may be our lot, i am confident that _he_ is a bud that will bloom with a richer fragrance than almost any whose early promise i have witnessed." james milnes-gaskell says: "gladstone is no ordinary individual; and perhaps if i were called on to select the individual i am intimate with to whom i should first turn in an emergency, and whom i thought in every way pre-eminently distinguished for high excellence, i think i should turn to gladstone. if you finally decide in favor of cambridge, my separation from gladstone will be a source of great sorrow to me." and the explanation of this latter remark is that the writer's mother wanted him to go to cambridge, while he wished to go to oxford, because gladstone was going there. sir francis doyle writes: "i may as well remark that my father, a man of great ability, as well as of great experience of life, predicted gladstone's future eminence from the manner in which he handled this somewhat tiresome business. [the editorial work and management of the _eton miscellany._] 'it is not' he remarked, 'that i think his papers better than yours or hallam's--that is not my meaning at all; but the force of character he has shown in managing his subordinates, and the combination of ability and power that he has made evident, convince me that such a young man cannot fail to distinguish himself hereafter.'" the recreations of young gladstone were not in all respects like his school-mates. he took no part in games, for he had no taste in that direction, and while his companions were at play he was studiously employed in his room. one of the boys afterwards declared, "without challenge or contradiction, that he was never seen to run." yet he had his diversions and was fond of sculling, and kept a "lock-up," or private boat, for his own use. he liked walking for exercise, and walked fast and far. his chief amusement when not writing, reading or debating, was to ramble among the delights of windsor with a few intimate friends; and he had only a few whom he admitted to his inner circle. to others beyond he was not known and was not generally popular. gladstone, charles canning, handley, bruce, hodgson, lord bruce and milnes-gaskell set up a salt hill club. they met every whole holiday or half-holiday, as was convenient, after twelve, "and went up to salt hill to bully the fat waiter, eat toasted cheese, and drink egg-wine." it is startling to hear from such an authority as james milnes-gaskell that "in all our meetings, as well as at almost every time, gladstone went by the name of mr. tipple." [illustration: houses of parliament.] the strongest testimony is borne to the moral character of young gladstone while at eton. by common consent he was pre-eminently god-fearing, orderly and conscientious. bishop hamilton, of salisbury, writes: "at eton i was a thoroughly idle boy; but i was saved from some worse things by getting to know gladstone." this is the strong testimony of one school-boy after he has reached maturity and distinction for another. "to have exercised, while still a school-boy, an influence for good upon one of the greatest of contemporary saints, is surely such a distinction as few prime ministers ever attain." two stories are told of him while at eton that go to show the moral determination of the boy to do right. on one occasion he turned his glass upside down and refused to drink a coarse toast proposed, according to annual custom, at an election dinner at the "christopher inn." this shows the purity of his mind, but there is another illustrating the humane feeling in his heart. he came forth as the champion of some miserable pigs which it was the inhumane custom to torture at eton fair on ash wednesday, and when he was bantered by his school-fellows for his humanity, he offered to write his reply "in good round hand upon their faces." at christmas, , gladstone left eton, and after that studied six months under private tutors, dr. turner, afterwards bishop of calcutta, being one. of this mr. gladstone writes: "i resided with dr. turner at wilmslow (in cheshire) from january till a few months later. my residence with him was cut off by his appointment to the bishopric of calcutta.... my companions were the present ( ) bishop of sodor and man, and sir c.a. wood, deputy-chairman of the g.w. railway. we employed our spare time in gymnastics, in turning, and in rambles. i remember paying a visit to macclesfield. in a silk factory the owner showed us his silk handkerchiefs, and complained much of mr. huskisson for having removed the prohibition of the foreign article. the thought passed through my mind at the time: why make laws to enable people to produce articles of such hideous pattern and indifferent quality as this? alderly edge was a favorite place of resort. we dined with sir john stanley (at alderly) on the day when the king's speech was received; and i recollect that he ridiculed (i think very justly) the epithet _untoward_, which was applied in it to the battle of navarino." in , and after two years as a private pupil of dr. turner, mr. gladstone entered christ church college, oxford and in the following year was nominated to a studentship on the foundation. although he had no prizes at oxford of the highest class, unless honors in the schools be so called--and in this respect he achieved a success which falls to the lot of but few students. in the year , when he went up for his final examination, he completed his academical education by attaining the highest honors in the university--graduating double-first-class. of the city of oxford, where oxford university is situated, matthew arnold writes: "beautiful city! so venerable, so lovely, so unravaged by the fierce intellectual life of our century, so serene! and yet, steeped in sentiment as she lies, spreading her gardens to the moonlight, or whispering from her towers the last enchantments of the middle age, who will deny that oxford, by her ineffable charm, keeps ever calling us near to the true goal of all of us, to the ideal, to perfection--to beauty, in a word, which is only truth seen from another side." describing christ church college, a writer has said that there is no other college where a man has so great a choice of society, or a man entire freedom in choosing it. as to the studies required, a greater stress was laid upon a knowledge of the bible and of the evidences of christianity than upon classical literature; some proficiency was required also, either in mathematics or the science of reasoning. the system of education accommodated itself to the capacity and wants of the students, but the man of talent was at no loss as to a field for his exertions, or a reward for his industry. the honors of the ministry were all within his reach. in the cultivation of taste and general information oxford afforded every opportunity, but the modern languages were not taught. an interesting fact is related of young gladstone when he entered oxford, as to his studies at the university. he wrote his father that he disliked mathematics, and that he intended to concentrate his time and attention upon the classics. this was a great blow to his father, who replied that he did not think a man was a man unless he knew mathematics. the dutiful son yielded to his father's wishes, abandoned his own plan, and applied himself with energy and success to the study of mathematics. but for this change of study he might not have become the greatest of chancellors of the exchequer. gladstone's instructors at oxford were men of reputation. rev. robert biscoe, whose lectures on aristotle attracted some of the best men to the university, was his tutor; he attended the lectures of dr. burton on divinity, and of dr. pusey on hebrew, and read classics privately with bishop wordsworth. he read steadily but not laboriously. nothing was ever allowed to interfere with his morning's work. he read for four hours, and then took a walk. though not averse to company and suppers, yet he always read for two or three hours before bedtime. among the undergraduates at oxford then, who became conspicuous, were henry edward manning, afterwards cardinal archbishop; archibald campbell tait, archbishop of canterbury; sidney herbert, robert lowe, lord sherbrooke, and lord selborne. "the man who _took_ me most," says a visitor to oxford in , "was the youngest gladstone of liverpool--i am sure a very superior person." gladstone's chosen friends were all steady and industrious men, and many of them were more distinctively religious than is generally found in the life of undergraduates. and his choice of associates in this respect was the subject of criticism on the part of a more secularly minded student who wrote, "gladstone has mixed himself up with the st. mary hall and oriel set, who are really, for the most part, only fit to live with maiden aunts and keep tame rabbits." and the question, which was right--gladstone or the student? may be answered by another, which one became prime minister of england? "gladstone's first rooms were in the 'old library,' near the hall; but for the greater part of his time he occupied the right-hand rooms on the first floor of the first staircase, on the right as the visitor enters canterbury gate. he was, alike in study and in conduct, a model undergraduate, and the great influence of his character and talents was used with manly resolution against the riotous conduct of the 'tufts,' whose brutality caused the death of one of their number in . we read this note in the correspondence of a friend: 'i heard from gladstone yesterday; he says that the number of gentlemen commoners has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished.' every one who has experienced the hubristic qualities of the tufted race, and its satellites, will cordially sympathize with this sentiment of an orderly and industrious undergraduate. he was conspicuously moderate in the use of wine. his good example in this respect affected not only his contemporaries but also his successors at the university; men who followed him to oxford ten years later found it still operative, and declare that undergraduates drank less in the forties, because gladstone had been courageously abstemious in the thirties." but there were those who better estimated gladstone's worth and looked approvingly upon his course, as "the blameless schoolboy became the blameless undergraduate; diligent, sober, regular alike in study and devotion, giving his whole energies to the duties of the place, and quietly abiding in the religious faith in which he had been trained. bishop charles wordsworth said that no man of his standing in the university habitually read his bible more or knew it better. cardinal manning described him walking in the university with his 'bible and prayer-book tucked under his arm.' ... he quitted oxford with a religious belief still untinctured by catholic theology. but the great change was not far distant, and he had already formed some of the friendships which, in their development were destined to effect so profoundly the course of his religious thought." in reference to the religious and political opinions and influences prevailing at oxford, it may be remarked that the atmosphere of oxford was calculated to strengthen mr. gladstone's conservative views, and did have this effect, and as english statesmen had not then learned to put their trust in the people, the cause of reform found few or no friends at the university, and he was among those hostile to it, and was known for his pronounced tory and high church opinions. he belonged to the famous debating society known as the oxford union, was a brilliant debater, and in was its secretary, and later its president. on various occasions he carried, by a majority of one only, a motion that the wellington administration was undeserving of the confidence of the country; he defended the results of the catholic emancipation; he opposed a motion for the removal of jewish disabilities, and he persuaded students out of to condemn earl grey's reform bill as a measure "which threatened not only to change the form of government, but ultimately to break up the very foundation of social order." his last speech at oxford was in support of his own amendment to a motion for the immediate emancipation of the slaves in the west indies. on a certain occasion he entertained a party of students from cambridge, consisting of sir francis doyle, monckton milnes, sunderland, and arthur h. hallam, who discussed among them the superiority of shelley over byron as a poet. the motion was opposed by one oxonion, the late cardinal manning, but shelley received votes to for byron. one who heard the debate on the reform bill says that "it converted alston, the son of the member in parliament for hertford, who immediately on the conclusion of gladstone's speech walked across from the whig to the tory side of the house, amidst loud acclamations." another who was present writes, "most of the speakers rose, more or less, above their usual level, but when mr. gladstone sat down we all of us felt that an epoch in our lives had occurred. it certainly was the finest speech of his that i ever heard." and bishop charles wordsworth writes his experience of mr. gladstone at this time, "made me feel no less sure than of my own existence that gladstone, our then christ-church undergraduate, would one day rise to be prime minister of england." in the spring of mr. gladstone quitted oxford. in summing up results it may be said, in the language of mr. russell: "among the purely intellectual effects produced on mr. gladstone by the discipline of oxford, it is obvious to reckon an almost excessive exactness in the statement of propositions, a habit of rigorous definition, a microscopic care in the choice of words, and a tendency to analyze every sentiment and every phrase, and to distinguish with intense precaution between statements almost exactly similar. from aristotle and bishop butler and edmund burke he learned the value of authority, the sacredness of law, the danger of laying rash and inconsiderate hands upon the ark of state. in the political atmosphere of oxford he was taught to apply these principles to the civil events of his time, to dread innovation, to respect existing institutions, and to regard the church and the throne as inseparably associated by divine ordinance." [illustration: gladstone's london home] chapter iii early parliamentary experiences it is customary for the sons of gentlemen who graduate at cambridge and oxford to spend some time in travel on the continent upon the completion of their university studies. the custom was observed in mr. gladstone's early days even more than at the present. in accordance then with the prevailing usage he went abroad after graduating at oxford. in the spring of he started on his travels and spent nearly the whole of the next six months in italy, "learning the language, studying the art, and revelling in the natural beauties of that glorious land." in the following september, however, he was suddenly recalled to england to enter upon his first parliamentary campaign. at oxford toryism prevailed, and was of the old-fashioned type, far removed from the utilitarian conservatism of the present day. charles i was a saint and a martyr, the claims of rank and birth were admitted with a childlike simplicity, the high functions of government were the birthright of the few, and the people had nothing to do with the laws, except to obey them. mr. gladstone was a tory. the political views he held upon leaving oxford had much to do with his recall from abroad and his running for a seat in the house of commons. of these opinions held by him then, and afterwards repudiated, he, in a speech delivered at the opening of the palmerston club, oxford, in december, , says: "i trace in the education of oxford of my own time one great defect. perhaps it was my own fault; but i must admit that i did not learn, when at oxford, that which i have learned since, viz., to set a due value on the imperishable and inestimable principles of human liberty. the temper which, i think, too much prevailed in academic circles, was that liberty was regarded with jealousy and fear, which could not be wholly dispensed with, but which was continually to be watched for fear of excess.... i think that the principle of the conservative party is jealousy of liberty and of the people, only qualified by fear; but i think the policy of the liberal party is trust in the people, only qualified by prudence. i can only assure you, gentlemen, that now i am in front of extended popular privileges. i have no fear of those enlargements of the constitution that seem to be approaching. on the contrary, i hail them with desire. i am not in the least degree conscious that i have less reverence for antiquity, for the beautiful, and good, and glorious charges that our ancestors have handed down to us as a patrimony to our race, than i had in other days when i held other political opinions. i have learnt to set the true value upon human liberty, and in whatever i have changed, there, and there only, has been the explanation of the change." it was mr. gladstone's tory principles that led to an invitation from the duke of newcastle, whose son, the earl of lincoln, afterwards a member of lord aberdeen's cabinet during the crimean war, had been his schoolmate at eton and oxford, and his intimate friend; to return to england and to contest the representation of newark in parliament. in accordance with this summons he hurried home. let us review the national situation. it was a time of general alarm and uncertainty, from political unrest, commercial stagnation, and devastating pestilence. "the terrors of the time begat a hundred forms of strange fanaticism; and among men who were not fanatics there was a deep and wide conviction that national judgments were overtaking national sins, and that the only hope of safety for england lay in a return to that practical recognition of religion in the political sphere at the proudest moments of english history. 'the beginning and the end of what is the matter with us in these days,' wrote carlyle, 'is that we have forgotten god.'" england was in a condition of great political excitement and expectancy. one of the greatest battles in parliamentary history had just been fought and won by the people. the reform bill, which admitted large classes, hitherto unrepresented, to the right of citizenship, had passed, after a long struggle, during which law and order were defied and riots prevailed in various parts of the kingdom. the king clearly perceiving that the wish of the people could no longer be disregarded with safety, and heedless of the advice of the aristocracy, gave his assent to the measure. this bill, which became a law june , , "transformed the whole of the electoral arrangements of the united kingdom." it was demanded that the king be present in the house of lords to witness the ceremony of the subjugation of his crown and peers, as it was deemed, but the king, feeling he had yielded enough to the popular will, refused. walpole, in his history, writes: "king and queen sat sullenly apart in their palace. peer and country gentleman moodily awaited the ruin of their country and the destruction of their property. fanaticism still raved at the wickedness of a people; the people, clamoring for work, still succumbed before the mysterious disease which was continually claiming more and more victims. but the nation cared not for the sullenness of the court, the forebodings of the landed classes, the ravings of the pulpit, or even the mysterious operations of a new plague. the deep gloom that had overshadowed the land had been relieved by one single ray. the victory had been won. the bill had become law." the first reformed house of commons, after the passage of the terrible reform bill, met and was looked upon by some of the friends of reform with fond hopes and expectations, and by others, the tories, with fear and apprehension. the poor looked upon the reform bill as a measure for their redemption, and the landed proprietors regarded it as the first sign of departed national greatness. both classes were disappointed. it neither revived business nor despoiled owners. the result was a surprise to politicians of both parties. the reformers did not, as was anticipated, carry their extreme measures, and the tories did not realize the great losses they expected. while the ministry preserved its power and even obtained some victories in england and scotland, it sustained serious defeats in ireland. in england many earnest and popular friends of reform were defeated in the election, and some counties, among them bristol, stamford, hertford, norwich and newark, were pronounced against the ministry. the duke of newcastle, who was one of the chief potentates of the high tory party, and had lost his control of newark in , by the election of a radical, was determined to regain it. he regarded it as his right to be represented in the house of commons, or that newark should elect whom he nominated. and he had propounded the memorable political maxim, "have i not a right to do what i like with my own?" the duke wanted a capable candidate to help him regain his ascendency. his son, lord lincoln, here came to his aid. he had heard the remarkable speech of his friend, mr. gladstone, in the oxford union, against the reform bill, and had written home regarding him, that "a man had uprisen in israel." at his suggestion the duke invited the young graduate of oxford to run as the tory candidate for a seat in parliament from newark. the wisdom of this selection for the accomplishment of the purpose in view, was fully demonstrated. [illustration: the lobby of the house of commons] his personal appearance at this time may be thus described: he was somewhat robust. his youthful face bore none of those deep furrows which have rendered his countenance so remarkable in maturer years. but there was the same broad intellectual forehead, the massive nose, the same anxious eyes and the earnest enthusiasm of later years. his look was bright and thoughtful and his bearing attractive. he was handsome and possessed a most intelligent and expressive countenance. says his biographer, mr. russell: "william ewart gladstone was now twenty-two years old, with a physical constitution of unequalled vigor, the prospect of ample fortune, great and varied knowledge, and a natural tendency to political theorization, and an inexhaustible copiousness and readiness of speech. in person he was striking and attractive, with strongly marked features, a pale complexion, abundance of dark hair and eyes of piercing lustre. people who judged only by his external aspect considered that he was delicate." young gladstone found two opponents contesting with him to represent newark in parliament, w.f. handley and sergeant wilde, afterwards lord chancellor truro. the latter was an advanced liberal and had unsuccessfully contested the borough in and , and had in consideration of his defeat received from his sympathetic friends a piece of plate inscribed: "by his ardent friends, the blue electors of the borough, who by their exertions and sufferings in the cause of independence, largely conduced to awaken the attention of the nation to the necessity of reform in parliament. upon this humble token of respect (contributed in the hour of defeat) the blue electors of newark inscribe their sense of the splendid ability, unwearied perseverance, and disinterested public spirit displayed by sergeant wilde in maintaining the two contests of and , in order to emancipate the borough from political thraldoms, and restore to its inhabitants the free exercise of their long-lost rights." but sergeant wilde was more successful the following year, , when the "reform fever" was at its height, and defeated the duke of newcastle's nominee and became member of the house of commons for the borough. these facts made the coming election, which followed the passage of the reform bill, of unusual interest, to those concerned, and the struggle would be of a close and determined character. mr. gladstone entered upon the contest with his experienced, able and popular antagonist, with much against him, for he was young, unknown and untried; but his youth and personal appearance and manly bearing were in his favor, and these, with his eloquence and ready wit, gained for him many friends. his speeches demonstrated that he lacked neither arguments, nor words wherewith to clothe them. he needed, however, to call into requisition all his abilities, for sergeant wilde was a powerful antagonist, and had no thought of being displaced by his youthful opponent, "a political stripling," as he called him, without a desperate struggle. but mr. gladstone had behind him the ducal influence and the support of the red club, so he entered upon the contest with energy and enthusiasm. the young tory's first election address was delivered upon this occasion. it was dated october th, , was all such an address should be, and was addressed, "to the worthy and independent electors of the borough of newark." it began by saying that he was bound in his opinions by no man and no party, but that he deprecated the growing unreasonable and indiscriminating desire for change then so common, but confessed that labor has a right to "receive adequate remuneration." on the question of human slavery, then greatly agitated, he remarked, "we are agreed that both the physical and the moral bondage of the slave are to be abolished. the question is as to the _order_, and the order only; now scripture attacks the moral evil _before_ the corporal one, the corporal one _through_ the moral one, and i am content with the order which scripture has established." he saw insurmountable obstacles against immediate emancipation, one of which was that the negro would exchange the evil now affecting him for greater ones--for a relapse into deeper debasement, if not for bloodshed and internal war. he therefore advocated a system of christian education, to make the negro slaves fit for emancipation and to prepare them for freedom, then, he argued, without bloodshed and the violation of property rights, and with unimpaired benefit to the negro, the desirable end might be reached in the utter extinction of slavery. of this appropriate address, so important in the light of coming events, we quote two paragraphs in full. in speaking of existing evils and the remedies for them, he observed: "for the mitigation of these evils, we must, i think, look not only to particular measures, but to the restoration of sounder general principles. i mean especially that principle on which alone the incorporation of religion with the state in our constitution can be defended; that the duties of governors are strictly and peculiarly religious; and that legislatures, like individuals, are bound to carry throughout their acts the spirit of the high truths they have acknowledged. principles are now arrayed against our institutions; and not by truckling nor by temporizing--not by oppression nor corruption--but by principles they must be met. "and now, gentlemen, as regards the enthusiasm with which you have rallied round your ancient flag, and welcomed the humble representative of those principles whose emblem it is, i trust that neither the lapse of time nor the seductions of prosperity can ever efface it from my memory. to my opponents, my acknowledgments are due for the good humor and kindness with which they have received me; and while i would thank my friends for their jealous and unwearied exertions in my favor, i briefly but emphatically assure them, that if promises be an adequate foundation of confidence, or experience a reasonable ground of calculation, our victory _is sure_" the new candidate for parliamentary honors was "heckled," as it is called, at the hustings, or was interrupted continually while speaking, and questioned by his opponents as to the circumstances of his candidature, his father's connection with slavery, and his own views of capital punishment. from his first appearance in newark, mr. gladstone had been subjected to these examinations and he stood the ordeal well and answered prudently. an instance of this is given. a radical elector, mr. gillson, asked the young tory candidate if he was the duke of newcastle's nominee, and was met by mr. gladstone demanding the questioner's definition of the term "nominee." mr. gillson replied that he meant a person sent by the duke of newcastle to be pushed down the throats of the voters whether they would or not. but mr. gladstone was equal to the occasion, and said according to that definition he was not the nominee of the duke, but came to newark by the invitation of the red club, than whom none were more respectable and intelligent. this same red club was conservative, and promised to mr. gladstone, the thorough conservative candidate, votes, the whole number within its ranks. he also received the promise of votes of other electors. this was known before the election, so that the result was confidently predicted. on the th of december, , the "nomination" was held and the polling or election was held on the two following days, and mr. gladstone was chosen by a considerable majority, the votes being, gladstone, ; handley, ; wilde, . sergeant wilde was defeated. during the public discussions before the election mr. gladstone was placed at a great disadvantage. there were three candidates to be heard from and his speech was to be the last in order. sergeant wilde made a very lengthy speech, which exhausted the patience of his hearers, who had already stood for nearly seven hours, and showed disinclination to listen to another three hours' address, which, from mr. gladstone's talents, they were far from thinking impossible. the sergeant was condemned for occupying the attention of the electors for such an inordinate length of time, but this did not prevent a scene of outrageous noise and uproar when the tory candidate rose to speak. the important topic was slavery, but mr. gladstone had not proceeded far when the hooting and hissing drowned his voice so that he found it impossible to proceed. when a show of hands was demanded it was declared in favor of mr. handley and sergeant wilde, but when the election came, it was mr. gladstone who triumphed, as has been seen, and who was sent to parliament as the member from newark. in speaking of the manner in which the parliamentary elections are conducted, an english writer says: "since , few of those scenes of violence, and even of bloodshed, which formerly distinguished parliamentary elections in many english boroughs, have been witnessed. some of these lawless outbreaks were doubtless due to the unpopularity of the candidates forced upon the electors; but even in the largest towns--where territorial influence had little sway--riots occurred upon which we look back with doubtful amazement. men holding strong political views have ceased to enforce those views by the aid of brickbats and other dangerous missiles. yet at the beginning of the present century such arguments were very popular. and to the violence which prevailed was added the most unblushing bribery. several boroughs, long notorious for extensive bribery, have since been disfranchised. the practice, however, extended to most towns in the kingdom, though it was not always carried on in the same open manner. by a long established custom, a voter at hull received a donation of two guineas, or four for a plumper. in liverpool men were openly paid for their votes; and lord cochrane stated in the house of commons that, after his return for honiton, he sent the town-crier round the borough to tell the voters to go to the chief banker for £ s. each. the great enlargement of the constituencies, secured by the reform bill of , did much to put an end to this disgraceful condition of things; but to a wider political enlightenment also, some portion of the credit for such a result must be attributed." what the friends and foes of the new tory member for newark thought of his successful canvass and election, it is interesting to learn. when mr. gladstone entered upon the contest the question was frequently put, "who is mr. gladstone?" and it was answered, "he is the son of the friend of mr. canning, the great liverpool merchant. he is, we understand, not more than four or five and twenty, but he has won golden opinions from all sorts of people, and promises to be an ornament to the house of commons." and a few days after his election he addressed a meeting of the constitutional club, at nottingham, when a conservative journal made the first prophecy as to his future great political fame, saying: "he will one day be classed amongst the most able statesmen in the british senate." the impression his successful contest made upon the late friends of his school-days may be learned from the following: a short time before the election arthur hallam, writing of his friend, "the old _w.e.g._," says: "i shall be very glad if he gets in.... we want such a man as that. in some things he is likely to be obstinate and prejudiced; but he has a fine fund of high, chivalrous tory sentiment, and a tongue, moreover, to let it loose with." and after the election he exclaims: "and gladstone has turned out the sergeant!... what a triumph for him. he has made his reputation by it; all that remains is to keep up to it." that one of mr. gladstone's liberal opponents was impressed by his talent and character is shown by the following lines of "descriptive prophecy, perhaps more remarkable for good feeling than for good poetry:" "yet on one form, whose ear can ne'er refuse the muses' tribute, for he lov'd the muse, (and when the soul the gen'rous virtues raise, a friendly whig may chant a tory's praise,) full many a fond expectant eye is bent where newark's towers are mirror'd in the trent. perchance ere long to shine in senates first, if manhood echo what his youth rehears'd, soon gladstone's brows will bloom with greener bays than twine the chaplet of the minstrel's lays; nor heed, while poring o'er each graver line, the far, faint music of a flute like mine. his was no head contentedly which press'd the downy pillow in obedient rest, where lazy pilots, with their canvas furl'd, let up the gades of their mental world; his was no tongue which meanly stoop'd to wear the guise of virtue, while his heart was bare; but all he thought through ev'ry action ran; god's noblest work--i've known one honest man." mr. gladstone spoke at newark in company with his friend, the earl of lincoln, shortly after his election, when another favorable testimony was given, and his address spoken of as "a manly, eloquent speech, replete with sound constitutional sentiments, high moral feeling, and ability of the most distinguished order." in commenting upon the result of the election a representative of the press of newark wrote: "we have been told there was no reaction against the ministry, no reaction in favor of conservative principles. the delusion has now vanished, and made room for sober reason and reflection. the shadow satisfies no longer, and the return of mr. gladstone, to the discomfiture of the learned sergeant and his friends, has restored the town of newark to the high rank which it formerly held in the estimation of the friends of order and good government. we venture to predict that the losing candidate in this contest has suffered so severely that he will never show his face in newark on a similar occasion." but mr. gladstone had made bitter political enemies already, who were not at all reconciled to his election, nor pleased with him. that they were not at all slow to express unbecomingly their bitterness against him, because of their unexpected defeat, the following shows from the _reflector_: "mr. gladstone is the son of gladstone of liverpool, a person who (we are speaking of the father) had amassed a large fortune by west india dealings. in other words, a great part of his gold has sprung from the blood of black slaves. respecting the youth himself--a person fresh from college, and whose mind is as much like a sheet of white foolscap as possible--he was utterly unknown. he came recommended by no claim in the world _except the will of the duke_. the duke nodded unto newark, and newark sent back the man, or rather the boy of his choice. what! is this to be, now that the reform bill has done its work? are sixteen hundred men still to bow down to a wooden-headed lord, as the people of egypt used to do to their beasts, to their reptiles, and their ropes of onions? there must be something wrong--something imperfect. what is it? what is wanting? why, the ballot! if there be a doubt of this (and we believe there is a doubt even amongst intelligent men) the tale of newark must set the question at rest. sergeant wilde was met on his entry into the town by almost the whole population. he was greeted everywhere, cheered everywhere. he was received with delight by his friends and with good and earnest wishes for his success by his nominal foes. the voters for gladstone went up to that candidate's booth (the slave-driver, as they called him) with wilde's colors. people who had before voted for wilde, on being asked to give their suffrage said, 'we cannot, we dare not. we have lost half our business, and shall lose the rest if we go against the duke. we would do anything in our power for sergeant wilde and for the cause, but we cannot starve!' now what say ye, our merry men, touching the ballot?" however mr. gladstone had won as we have seen the golden opinions of many, and the dreams of his more youthful days were realized when he was sent to represent the people in the house of commons. on the th of january, , the first reformed parliament met, and william e. gladstone, as the member from newark, took his seat for the first time in "an assembly which he was destined to adorn, delight and astonish for more than half a century, and over which for a great portion of that period, he was to wield an unequalled and a paramount authority." there were more than three hundred new members in the house of commons. lord althorp led the whigs, who were largely in the majority and the tories constituted a compact minority under the skillful leadership of sir robert peel, while the irish members who were hostile to the ministry followed o'connell. on the th of february the king attended and delivered the speech from the throne in person. this parliamentary session was destined to become one of the most memorable in history for the importance of the subjects discussed and disposed of, among them the social condition of ireland, the position of the irish church, the discontent and misery of the poor in england, and slavery in the british colonies; and for the fact that it was the first parliament in which william e. gladstone sat and took part. there was no reference made to the subject of slavery in the speech from the throne, but the ministry resolved to consider it. mr. stanley, the colonial secretary, afterwards fourteenth earl of derby and prime minister, brought forth, may th, , a series of resolutions in favor of the extinction of slavery in the british colonies. "all children of slaves, born after the passage of the act, and all children of six years old and under, were declared free. but the rest of the slaves were to serve a sort of apprenticeship--three-fourths of their time was for a certain number of years to remain at the disposal of the masters; the other fourth was their own, to be paid for at a fixed rate of wages." the planters were to be duly compensated out of the national treasury. it was during the discussion of these resolutions that mr. gladstone made his maiden speech in parliament. it was made in answer to what seemed a personal challenge by lord howick, ex-under secretary for the colonies, who, opposing gradual emancipation, referred to an estate in demerara, owned by mr. gladstone's father, for the purpose of showing that great destruction of life had taken place in the west indies owing to the manner in which the slaves were worked. in reply to this mr. gladstone said that he would meet some of lord howick's statements with denials and others with explanations. he admitted that he had a pecuniary interest in it as a question of justice, of humanity, and of religion. the real cause of the decrease, he said, was owing, not to the increased cultivation of sugar, but to the very large proportion of africans upon the estate. when it came into his father's possession it was so weak, owing to the large number of negroes upon it, that he was obliged to add two hundred more people to the gang. it was well known that negroes were imported into demarara and trinidad up to a later period than into any of the colonies; and he should at a proper time, be able to prove that the decrease on his father's plantation, vreeden hoop, was among the old africans, and that there was an increase going on in the creole population, which would be a sufficient answer to the charges preferred. the quantity of sugar produced was small compared to that produced on other estates. the cultivation of cotton in demarara had been abandoned, and that of coffee much diminished, and the people engaged in these sources of production had been employed in the cultivation of sugar. besides in demarara the labor of the same number of negroes, distributed over the year, would produce in that colony a certain quantity of sugar with less injury to the people, than negroes could produce in other colonies, working only at the stated periods of crops. he was ready to concede that the cultivation was of a more injurious character than others; and he would ask, were there not certain employments in other countries more destructive of life than others? he would only instance those of painting and working in lead mines, both of which were well known to have that tendency. the noble lord attempted to impugn the character of the gentleman acting as manager of his father's estates; and in making the selection he had surely been most unfortunate; for there was not a person in the colony more remarkable for humanity and the kind treatment of his slaves than mr. maclean. mr. gladstone, in concluding this able defense of his father, said, that he held in his hand two letters from mr. maclean, in which he spoke in the kindest terms of the negroes under his charge; described their state of happiness, content and healthiness--their good conduct and the infrequency of severe punishment--and recommended certain additional comforts, which he said the slaves well deserved. on the d of june, on the resumption of the debate on the abolition of slavery, mr. gladstone again addressed the house. he now entered more fully into the charges which lord howick had brought against the management of his father's estates in demarara, and showed their groundlessness. when he had discussed the existing aspect of slavery in trinidad, jamaica and other places, he proceeded to deal with the general question. he confessed with shame and pain that cases of wanton cruelty had occurred in the colonies, but added that they would always exist, particularly under the system of slavery; and this was unquestionably a substantial reason why the british legislature and public should set themselves in good earnest to provide for its extinction; but he maintained that these instances of cruelty could easily be explained by the west indians, who represented them as rare and isolated cases, and who maintained that the ordinary relation of master and slave was one of kindliness and not of hostility. he deprecated cruelty, and he deprecated slavery, both of which were abhorrent to the nature of englishmen; but, conceding these things, he asked, "were not englishmen to retain a right to their own honestly and legally-acquired property?" but the cruelty did not exist, and he saw no reason for the attack which had recently been made upon the west india interest. he hoped the house would make a point to adopt the principle of compensation, and to stimulate the slave to genuine and spontaneous industry. if this were not done, and moral instruction were not imparted to the slaves, liberty would prove a curse instead of a blessing to them. touching upon the property question, and the proposed plans for emancipation, mr. gladstone said that the house might consume its time and exert its wisdom in devising these plans, but without the concurrence of the colonial legislatures success would be hopeless. he thought there was excessive wickedness in any violent interference under the present circumstances. they were still in the midst of unconcluded inquiries, and to pursue the measure then under discussion, at that moment, was to commit an act of great and unnecessary hostility toward the island of jamaica. "it was the duty of the house to place as broad a distinction as possible between the idle and the industrious slaves, and nothing could be too strong to secure the freedom of the latter; but, with respect to the idle slaves, no period of emancipation could hasten their improvement. if the labors of the house should be conducted to a satisfactory issue, it would redound to the honor of the nation, and to the reputation of his majesty's ministers, whilst it would be delightful to the west india planters themselves--for they must feel that to hold in bondage their fellow-men must always involve the greatest responsibility. but let not any man think of carrying this measure by force. england rested her power not upon physical force, but upon her principles, her intellect and virtue; and if this great measure were not placed on a fair basis, or were conducted by violence, he should lament it, as a signal for the ruin of the colonies and the downfall of the empire." the attitude of mr. gladstone, as borne out by the tenor of his speech, was not one of hostility to emancipation, though he was undoubtedly unfavorable to an immediate and indiscriminate enfranchisement. he demanded, moreover, that the interests of the planters should be duly regarded. the result of the consideration of these resolutions in the house of commons was that human slavery in the british colonies was abolished, and the sum of twenty million pounds, or one hundred million dollars was voted to compensate the slave-owners for their losses. thus was the work begun by wilberforce finally crowned with success. it is an interesting question how mr. gladstone's first efforts in parliament were received. among his friends his speech was anticipated with lively interest. that morning he was riding in hyde park, on his gray arabian mare, "his hat, narrow-brimmed, high up on the centre of his head, sustained by a crop of thick curly hair." he was pointed out to lord charles russell by a passer-by who said, "that is gladstone. he is to make his maiden speech to-night. it will be worth hearing." from the first he appears to have favorably impressed the members of the house. modest in demeanor, earnest in manner, and fluent in speech, he at once commanded the respect and attention of his fellow-members. and here is a later testimony as to the early impression made upon his colleagues and contemporaries, when he was twenty-nine years of age, erroneously stated as thirty-five: "mr. gladstone, the member for newark, is one of the most rising young men on the tory side of the house. his party expect great things from him; and certainly, when it is remembered that his age is only thirty-five, the success of the parliamentary efforts he has already made justifies their expectations. he is well informed on most of the subjects which usually occupy the attention of the legislature; and he is happy in turning his information to good account. he is ready on all occasions, which he deems fitting ones, with a speech in favor of the policy advocated by the party with whom he acts. his extempore resources are ample. few men in the house can improvise better. it does not appear to cost him an effort to speak.... he is a man of very considerable talent, but has nothing approaching to genius. his abilities are much more the result of an excellent education and of mature study than of any prodigality of nature in the distribution of her mental gifts. _i have no idea that he will ever acquire the reputation of a great statesman. his views are not sufficiently profound or enlarged for that; his celebrity in the house of commons will chiefly depend on his readiness and dexterity as a debater, in conjunction with the excellence of his elocution, and the gracefulness of his manner when speaking_.... his style is polished, but has no appearance of the effect of previous preparation. he displays considerable acuteness in replying to an opponent; he is quick in his perception of anything vulnerable in the speech to which he replies, and happy in laying the weak point bare to the gaze of the house. he now and then indulges in sarcasm, which is, in most cases, very felicitous. he is plausible even when most in error. when it suits himself or his party he can apply himself with the strictest closeness to the real point at issue; when to evade the point is deemed most politic, no man can wander from it more widely." how far these estimates were true we leave to the reader to determine, after the perusal of his life, and in the light of subsequent events. mr. gladstone, after his maiden speech, took an active part in the business of the house during the remainder of the session of . he spoke upon the question of bribery and corruption at liverpool, and july th made an elaborate speech on the irish church temporalities bill. the condition of ireland was then, as now, one of the most urgent questions confronting the ministry. macaulay "solemnly declared that he would rather live in the midst of many civil wars that he had read of than in some parts of ireland at this moment." sydney smith humorously described "those irish protestants whose shutters are bullet-proof; whose dinner-table is regularly spread out with knife, fork, and cocked pistol; salt-cellar and powder-flask; who sleep in sheet-iron nightcaps; who have fought so often and so nobly before their scullery-door, and defended the parlor passage as bravely as leonidas defended the pass of thermopylae." crime was rife and to remedy the serious state of affairs a stringent coercion bill was introduced by the government. mr. gladstone voted silently for the bill which became a law. the other bill introduced was that upon the irish church, and proposed the reduction of the number of protestant episcopal bishops in ireland and the curtailment of the income of the church. this bill mr. gladstone opposed in a speech, and he voted against it, but it was passed. it was in the following session that mr. hume introduced his "'universities admission bill,' designed to enable nonconformists of all kinds to enter the universities, by removing the necessity of subscribing to the thirty-nine articles at matriculation." in the debate that followed mr. gladstone soon gave evidence that he knew more about the subject than did the author of the bill. in speaking against the bill, he said in part, "the whole system of the university and of its colleges, both in study and in discipline, aimed at the formation of a moral character, and that aim could not be attained if every student were at liberty to exclude himself from the religious training of the place." and in reply to a remark made by lord palmerston in reference to the students going "from wine to prayers, and from prayers to wine," mr. gladstone replied, he did not believe that in their most convivial moments they were unfit to enter the house of prayer. this bill was also passed. it might have been expected that mr. gladstone's active participation in the debates in the house of commons, and the practical ability and debating power he manifested would not escape the attention of the leaders of his party. but the recognition of his merit came sooner than could have been expected. it became evident, towards the close of that the downfall of the liberal ministry was near at hand. lord althorp, who had kept the liberals together, was transferred to the house of lords, and the growing unpopularity of the whigs did the rest. the ministry under lord melbourne was dismissed by the king, and a new cabinet formed by sir robert peel. the new premier offered mr. gladstone the office of junior lord of the treasury, which was accepted. truly has an eminent writer said: "when a prime minister in difficulties, looking about for men to fill the minor offices of his administration, sees among his supporters a clever and comely young man, eloquent in speech, ready in debate, with a safe seat, an ample fortune, a high reputation at the university, and a father who wields political influence in an important constituency, he sees a junior lord of the treasury made ready to his hand." appealing to his constituents at newark, who, two years before, had sent him to parliament, he was re-elected. mr. handley having retired, sergeant wilde was elected with mr. gladstone without opposition. mr. gladstone was "chaired," or drawn by horses through the town, seated on a chair, after the election, and then addressed the assembled people to the number of , , his speech being received with "deafening cheers." shortly after parliament assembled, mr. gladstone was promoted to the office of under-secretary for the colonies. his official chief was lord aberdeen, afterwards prime minister; and thus began a relation which was destined to greatly affect the destinies of both statesmen. mr. gladstone gave ample proof in his new office of his great abilities and untiring energies. in march he presented to the house his first bill, which was for the better regulation of the transportation of passengers in merchant vessels to the continent and to the islands of north america. this bill, which contained many humane provisions, was very favorably received. the new parliament, which met february , , contained a considerable liberal majority. the old house of commons had been destroyed by fire during the recess, and the new commons reassembled in the chamber which had been the house of lords, and for the first time there was a gallery for reporters in the house. "a standing order still existed, which forbade the publication of the debates, but the reporters' gallery was a formal and visible recognition of the people's right to know what their representatives were doing in their name." however, the new ministry was but short-lived, for sir robert peel resigned april th, and mr. gladstone retired with his chief. mr. gladstone spent the days of his retirement from ministerial office partly in study, and partly in recreation. being free to follow the bent of his own inclinations, he ordered his life according to his own ideals. he lived in chambers at the albany, pursued the same steady course of work, proper recreation and systematic devotion, which he had marked out at oxford. he freely went into society, dined out frequently, and took part in musical parties, much to the edification of his friends who were charmed with the beauty and cultivation of his rich baritone. his friend monckton milnes had established himself in london and collected around him a society of young men, interested in politics and religion, and whom he entertained sunday evenings. but this arrangement "unfortunately," as mr. milnes said, excluded from these gatherings the more serious members, such as acland and gladstone. mr. milnes expressed his opinion of such self-exclusion in these words: "i really think when people keep friday as a fast, they might make a feast of sunday." but mr. gladstone evidently was not of this opinion, and remained away from these lord's day parties. however at other times he met his friends, and received them at his own rooms in the albany, and on one memorable occasion entertained wordsworth at breakfast and a few admirers of this distinguished guest. mr. gladstone's relaxations were occasional, and the most of his time was devoted to his parliamentary duties and study. his constant companions were homer and dante, and he at this time, it is recorded, read the whole of st. augustine, in twenty-two octavo volumes. he was a constant attendant upon public worship at st. james', piccadilly, and margaret chapel, and a careful critic of sermons. at the same time he diligently applied himself to the work of a private member of the house of commons, working on committees and taking constant part in debate. in the question of slavery again came up before parliament. this time the question was as to the working of the system of negro apprenticeship, which had taken the place of slavery. it was asserted that the system was only slavery under another name. he warmly and ably defended again the west indian planters. he pleaded that many of the planters were humane men, and defended also the honor of his relatives connected with the traffic so much denounced, when it was assailed. he contended that while the evils of the system had been exaggerated, all mention of its advantages had been carefully withheld. the condition of the negroes was improving. he deprecated the attempt made to renew and perpetuate the system of agitation at the expense of candor and truth. he also at this time spoke on support of authority and order in the government of canada, and on church rates, dwelling upon the necessity of national religion to the security of a state. mr. gladstone was not only a tory but a high churchman. king william iv died june , , and was succeeded by queen victoria. a general election ensued. the parliament, which had been prorogued by the young queen in person, was dissolved on the th of july. mr. gladstone, without his consent, was nominated to represent manchester in the house, but was re-elected for newark without opposition. he then turned his steps towards scotland, "to see what grouse he could persuade into his bag." the new parliament met october th, but no business of importance came before it until after the christmas holidays. in a bill was presented in both houses of parliament for the immediate abolition of negro apprenticeship. many harrowing details of the cruelties practiced were cited. mr. gladstone returned to the championship of the planters with increased power and success. his long, eloquent and powerful speech of march th, although on the unpopular side of the question, is regarded as having so greatly enhanced his reputation as to bring him to the front rank among parliamentary debaters. having impassionately defended the planters from the exaggerated charges made against them, he further said: "you consumed forty-five millions of pounds of cotton in which proceeded from free labor; and, proceeding from slave labor, three hundred and eighteen millions of pounds! and this, while the vast regions of india afford the means of obtaining at a cheaper rate, and by a slight original outlay, to facilitate transport, all that you can require. if, sir, the complaints against the general body of the west indians had been substantiated, i should have deemed it an unworthy artifice to attempt diverting the attention of the house from the question immediately at issue, by merely proving that delinquencies existed in other quarters; but feeling as i do that those charges have been overthrown in debate, i think myself entitled and bound to show how capricious are the honorable gentlemen in the distribution of their sympathies among those different objects which call for their application." mr. gladstone, "having turned the tables upon his opponents," concluded by demanding justice, and the motion before the house was rejected. about one month later rev. samuel wilberforce, afterwards bishop of oxford, and of winchester, wrote to mr. gladstone: "it would be an affectation in you, which you are above, not to know that few young men have the weight you have in the house of commons, and are gaining rapidly throughout the country. now i do not wish to urge you to consider this as a talent for the use of which you must render an account, for so i know you do esteem it, but what i want to urge upon you is that you should calmly look far before you; see the degree of weight and influence to which you may fairly, if god spares your life and powers, look forward in future years, and thus act _now_ with a view to _then_. there is no height to which you may not fairly rise in this country. if it pleases god to spare us violent convulsions and the loss of our liberties, you may at a future day wield the whole government of this land; and if this should be so, of what extreme moment will your _past steps_ then be to the real usefulness of your high station.... almost all our public men act from the merest expediency.... i would have you view yourself as one who may become the head of all the better feelings of this country, the maintainer of its church and of its liberties, and who must now be fitting himself for this high vocation.... i think my father's life so beautifully shows that a deep and increasing personal religion must be the root of that firm and unwearied consistency in right, which i have ventured thus to press upon you." mr. gladstone began his parliamentary life as a tory. later he developed into a liberal, a radical, and yet there is not one who conscientiously doubts his utter honesty. his life has been that of his century--progressive, liberal, humanitarian in its trend. [illustration: grattan] chapter iv book on church and state we have now followed mr. gladstone in his course until well on the way in his political career, and yet he is but twenty-eight years of age. his personal appearance in the house of commons at this early stage of his parliamentary life is thus described: "mr. gladstone's appearance and manners are much in his favor. he is a fine looking man. he is about the usual height and of good figure. his countenance is mild and pleasant, and has a highly intellectual expression. his eyes are clear and quick. his eyebrows are dark and rather prominent. there is not a dandy in the house but envies what truefit would call his 'fine head of jet-black hair.' it is always carefully parted from the crown downwards to his brow, where it is tastefully shaded. his features are small and regular, and his complexion must be a very unworthy witness if he does not possess an abundant stock of health. "mr. gladstone's gesture is varied, but not violent. when he rises he generally puts both his hands behind his back, and having there suffered them to embrace each other for a short time, he unclasps them and allows them to drop on either side. they are not permitted to remain long in that locality before you see them, again closed together and hanging down before him. their reunion is not suffered to last for any length of time, again a separation takes place, and now the right hand is seen moving up and down before him. having thus exercised it a little, he thrusts it into the pocket of his coat, and then orders the left hand to follow its example. having granted them a momentary repose there, they are again put into gentle motion, and in a few seconds they are seen reposing _vis-a-vis_ on his breast. he moves his face and body from one direction to another, not forgetting to bestow a liberal share of his attention on his own party. he is always listened to with much attention by the house, and appears to be highly respected by men of all parties. he is a man of good business habits; of this he furnished abundant proof when under-secretary for the colonies, during the short-lived administration of robert peel." from this pen picture and other like notices of mr. gladstone he must, at that time, have attained great distinction and attracted a good deal of attention for one so young, and from that day to this he has commanded the attention not only of the british senate and people, but of the world at large. and why? may we ask, unless because of his modest manner and distinguished services, his exalted ability and moral worth. "the house of commons was his ground," writes justin mccarthy. "there he was always seen to the best advantage." nevertheless, mr. gladstone wrote with the same earnestness and ability with which he spoke. it was early in life that he distinguished himself as an author, as well as an orator and debater in the house of commons. and it was most natural for him to write upon the subject of the church, for not only his education led him to the consideration of such themes, but it was within his sphere as an english statesman, for the law of the land provided for the union of the church and state. it was in , when he was not thirty years of age, that he wrote his first book and stepped at once to the front rank as an author. he had ever been a staunch defender of the established church and his first appearance in literature was by a remarkable work in defense of the state church entitled, "the state in its relations with the church." the treatise is thus dedicated: "inscribed to the university of oxford, tried and not found wanting through the vicissitudes of a thousand years; in the belief that she is providentially designed to be a fountain of blessings, spiritual, social and intellectual, to this and other countries, to present and future times; and in the hope that the temper of these pages may be found not alien from her own." this first published book of mr. gladstone's was due to the perception that the _status_ of the church, in its connection with the secular power, was about to undergo the severe assaults of the opponents of the union. there was growing opposition to the recognition of the episcopal church as the church of the state and to taxation of people of other religious beliefs for its support; and this objection was to the recognition and support of any church by the state. what is called the "american idea"--the entire separation of the church and state--or as enunciated first by roger williams in , in rhode island, that the magistrate should have authority in civil affairs only, was becoming more and more the doctrine of dissenters. preparations were already being made for attacking the national establishment of religion, and with all the fervor springing from conviction and a deep-seated enthusiasm, he came forward to take part in the controversy on church and state, and as a defender of the established or episcopal church of england. some of the positions assumed in this work have since been renounced as untenable, but its ability as a whole, its breadth and its learning could not be denied. it then created a great sensation, and has since been widely discussed. after an examination and a defense of the theory of the connection between church and state, mr. gladstone thus summarizes his principal reasons for the maintenance of the church establishment: "because the government stands with us in a paternal relation to the people, and is bound in all things not merely to consider their existing tastes, but the capabilities and ways of their improvement; because it has both an intrinsic competency and external means to amend and assist their choice; because to be in accordance with god's mind and will, it must have a religion, and because to be in accordance with its conscience, that religion must be the truth, as held by it under the most solemn and accumulated responsibilities; because this is the only sanctifying and preserving principle of society, as well as to the individual, that particular benefit, without which all others are worse than valueless; we must, therefore, disregard the din of political contention and the pressure of novelty and momentary motives, and in behalf of our regard to man, as well as of our allegiance to god, maintain among ourselves, where happily it still exists, the union between the church and the state." dr. russell in the following quotation not only accounts for this production from the pen, of mr. gladstone, but gives also an outline of the argument: "naturally and profoundly religious ... mr. gladstone conceived that those who professed the warmest regard for the church of england and posed as her most strenuous defenders, were inclined to base their championship on mistaken grounds and to direct their efforts towards even mischievous ends. to supply a more reasonable basis for action and to lead this energy into more profitable channels were the objects which he proposed to himself in his treatise of . the distinctive principle of the book was that the state had a conscience. this being admitted, the issue was this: whether the state in its best condition, has such a conscience as can take cognizance of religious truth and error, and in particular whether the state of the united kingdom at that time was, or was not, so far in that condition as to be under an obligation to give an active and an exclusive support to the established religion of the country. "the work attempted to survey the actual state of the relations between the state and the church; to show from history the ground which had been defined for the national church at the reformation; and to inquire and determine whether the existing state of things was worth preserving and defending against encroachment from whatever quarter. this question it decided emphatically in the affirmative. faithful to logic and to its theory, the book did not shrink from applying them to the external case of the irish church. it did not disguise the difficulties of the case, for the author was alive to the paradox which it involved. but the one master idea of the system, that the state as it then stood was capable in this age, as it had been in ages long gone by, of assuming beneficially a responsibility for the inculcation of a particular religion, carried him through all. his doctrine was that the church, as established by law, was to be maintained for its truth; that this was the only principle in which it could be properly and permanently upheld; that this principle, if good in england, was good also for ireland; that truth is of all possessions the most precious to the soul of man; and that to remove this priceless treasure from the view and the reach of the irish people would be meanly to purchase their momentary favor at the expense of their permanent interests, and would be a high offense against our own sacred obligations." we quote also from the opening chapter of the second volume of this work, which treats of the connection subsisting between the state of the united kingdom and the church of england and ireland, and shows mr. gladstone's views at that period of his life upon the relations of the church as affecting ireland in particular. the passage also indicates the changes that have taken place in his mind since the time when he defended these principles. it also shows the style in which this remarkable book was written and enables us to compare, not only his opinions now and then, but his style in writing then with his style now. "the protestant legislature of the british empire maintains in the possession of the church property of ireland the ministers of a creed professed, according to the parliamentary enumeration, of , by one-ninth of its population, regarded with partial favor by scarcely another ninth, and disowned by the remaining seven. and not only does this anomaly meet us full in view, but we have also to consider and digest the fact, that the maintenance of this church for near three centuries in ireland has been contemporaneous with a system of partial and abusive government, varying in degree of culpability, but rarely, until of later years, when we have been forced to look at the subject and to feel it, to be exempted in common fairness from the reproach of gross inattention (to say the very least) to the interests of a noble but neglected people. "but, however formidable at first sight the admissions, which i have no desire to narrow or to qualify, may appear, they in no way shake the foregoing arguments. they do not change the nature of truth and her capability and destiny to benefit mankind. they do not relieve government of its responsibility, if they show that that responsibility was once unfelt and unsatisfied. they place the legislature of the country in the condition, as it were, of one called to do penance for past offences; but duty remains unaltered and imperative, and abates nothing of her demand on our services. it is undoubtedly competent, in a constitutional view, to the government of this country to continue the present disposition of church property in ireland. it appears not too much to assume that our imperial legislature has been qualified to take, and has taken in point of fact, a sounder view of religious truth than the majority of the people of ireland in their destitute and uninstructed state. we believe, accordingly, that that which we place before them is, whether they know it or not, calculated to be beneficial to them; and that if they know it not now, they will know it when it is presented to them fairly. shall we, then, purchase their applause at the expense of their substantial, nay, their spiritual interests? "it does, indeed, so happen that there are powerful motives on the other side concurring with that which has here been represented as paramount. in the first instance we are not called upon to establish a creed, but only to maintain an existing legal settlement, when our constitutional right is undoubted. in the second, political considerations tend strongly to recommend that maintenance. a common form of faith binds the irish protestants to ourselves, while they, upon the other hand, are fast linked to ireland; and thus they supply the most natural bond of connection between the countries. but if england, by overthrowing their church, should weaken their moral position, they would be no longer able, perhaps no longer willing, to counteract the desires of the majority tending, under the direction of their leaders (however, by a wise policy, revocable from that fatal course) to what is termed national independence. pride and fear, on the one hand, are therefore bearing up against more immediate apprehension and difficulty on the other. and with some men these may be the fundamental considerations; but it may be doubted whether such men will not flinch in some stage of the contest, should its aspect at any moment become unfavorable." of course the opponents of mr. gladstone's views, as set forth in his book, strongly combated his theories. they replied that "the taxation of the state is equal upon all persons, and has for its object their individual, social and political welfare and safety; but that the taxation of one man for the support of his neighbor's religion does not come within the limits of such taxation, and is, in fact, unjust and inequitable." it was no easy task for mr. gladstone, with all his parliamentary duties, to aspire to authorship, and carry his book through the press. in preparing for publication he passed through all the agonies of the author, but was nobly helped by his friend, james r. hope, who afterwards became mr. hope-scott, q.c., who read and criticised his manuscript and saw the sheets through the press. some of the letters from the young defender of the faith to his friend contain much that is worth preserving. we give some extracts. he writes: "if you let them lie just as they are, turning the leaves one by one, i think you will not find the manuscript very hard to make out, though it is strangely cut in pieces and patched. "i hope its general tendency will meet with your approval; but a point about which i am in doubt, and to which i request your particular attention, is, whether the work or some of the chapters are not so deficient in clearness and arrangement as to require being absolutely rewritten before they can with propriety be published.... between my eyes and my business i fear it would be hard for me to re-write, but if i could put it into the hands of any other person who could, and who would extract from my papers anything worth having, that might do. "as regards myself, if i go on and publish, i shall be quite prepared to find some persons surprised, but this, if it should prove so, cannot be helped. i shall not knowingly exaggerate anything; and when a man expects to be washed overboard he must tie himself with a rope to the mast. "i shall trust to your friendship for frankness in the discharge of your irksome task. pray make verbal corrections without scruple where they are needed." again: "i thank you most cordially for your remarks, and i rejoice to find you act so entirely in the spirit i had anticipated. i trust you will continue to speak with freedom, which is the best compliment as well as the best service you can render me. "i think it very probable that you may find that v and vi require quite as rigorous treatment as ii, and i am very desirous to set both my mind and eyes at liberty before i go to the continent, which i can now hardly expect to do before the first week in september. this interval i trust would suffice unless you find that the other chapters stand in equal need. "i entirely concur with your view regarding the necessity of care and of not grudging labor in a matter so important and so responsible as an endeavor to raise one of the most momentous controversies which has ever agitated human opinion," again: "thanks for your letter. i have been pretty hard at work, and have done a good deal, especially on v. something yet remains. i must make inquiry about the law of excommunication.... i have made a very stupid classification, and have now amended it; instead of faith, discipline and practice, what i meant was the rule of faith, discipline, and the bearing of particular doctrines upon practice. "i send back also i and ii that you may see what i have done." the work was successfully issued in the autumn of , and passed rapidly through three editions. how it was received it would be interesting to inquire. while his friends applauded, even his opponents testified to the ability it displayed. on the authority of lord houghton, it is said that sir robert peel, the young author's political leader, on receiving a copy as a gift from his follower, read it with scornful curiosity, and, throwing it on the floor, exclaimed with truly official horror: "with such a career before him, why should he write books? that young man will ruin his fine political career if he persists in writing trash like this." however, others gave the book a heartier reception. crabb robinson writes in his diary: "i went to wordsworth this forenoon. he was ill in bed. i read gladstone's book to him." december , , baron bunsen wrote: "last night at eleven, when i came from the duke, gladstone's book was lying on my table, having come out at seven o'clock. it is a book of the time, a great event--the first book since burke that goes to the bottom of the vital question; far above his party and his time. i sat up till after midnight, and this morning i continued until i had read the whole. gladstone is the first man in england as to intellectual power, and he has heard higher tones than any one else in the land." and again to dr. arnold he writes in high praise of the book, but lamenting its author's entanglement in tractarian traditions, adds: "his genius will soon free itself entirely and fly towards heaven with its own wings." sir henry taylor wrote to the poet southey: "i am reading gladstone's book, which i shall send you if he has not.... his party begin to think of him as the man who will one day be at their head and at the head of the government, and certainly no man of his standing has yet appeared who seems likely to stand in his way. two wants, however, may lie across his political career--want of robust health and want of flexibility." cardinal newman wrote: "gladstone's book, as you see, is making a sensation." and again: "the _times_ is again at poor gladstone. really i feel as if i could do anything for him. i have not read his book, but its consequences speak for it. poor fellow! it is so noble a thing." lord macaulay, in the _edinburgh review_, april, , in his well-known searching criticism, while paying high tribute to the author's talents and character, said: "we believe that we do him no more than justice when we say that his abilities and demeanor have obtained for him the respect and good will of all parties.... that a young politician should, in the intervals afforded by his parliamentary avocations, have constructed and propounded, with much study and mental toil, an original theory, on a great problem in politics, is a circumstance which, abstracted from all considerations of the soundness or unsoundness of his opinions, must be considered as highly creditable to him. we certainly cannot wish that mr. gladstone's doctrine may become fashionable among public men. but we heartily wish that his laudable desire to penetrate beneath the surface of questions, and to arrive, by long and intent meditation, at the knowledge of great general laws, were much more fashionable than we at all expect it to become." it was in this article, by lord macaulay, that the mow famous words occurred which former conservative friends of mr. gladstone delight to recall in view of his change of political opinions: "the writer of this volume is a young man of unblemished character and of distinguished parliamentary talents; the rising hope of those stern and unbending tories who follow, reluctantly and cautiously, a leader whose experience and eloquence are indispensable to them, but whose cautious temper and moderate opinions they abhor. it would not be strange if mr. gladstone were one of the most unpopular men in england." higginson writes: "the hope of the stern and unbending tories has for years been the unquestioned leader of english liberals, and though he may have been at times as unpopular as macaulay could have predicted, the hostility has come mainly from the ranks of those who were thus early named as his friends. but whatever may have been mr. gladstone's opinions or affiliations, whoever may have been his friends or foes, the credit of surpassing ability has always been his." it was remarked by lord macaulay that the entire theory of mr. gladstone's book rested upon one great fundamental proposition, namely, that the propagation of religious truth is one of the chief ends of government _as_ government; and he proceeded to combat this doctrine. he granted that government was designed to protect our persons and our property, but declined to receive the doctrine of paternal government, until a government be shown that loved its subjects, as a father loves his child, and was as superior in intelligence to its subjects as a father was to his children. lord macaulay then demonstrated, by appropriate illustrations, the fallacy of the theory that every society of individuals with any power whatever, is under obligation as such society to profess a religion; and that there could be unity of action in large bodies without unity of religious views. persecutions would naturally follow, or be justifiable in an association where mr. gladstone's views were paramount. it would be impossible to conceive of the circumstances in which it would be right to establish by law, as the one exclusive religion of the state, the religion of the minority. the religious teaching which the sovereign ought officially to countenance and maintain is that from which he, in his conscience, believes that the people will receive the most benefit with the smallest mixture of evil. it is not necessarily his own religious belief that he will select. he may prefer the doctrines of the church of england to those of the church of scotland, but he would not force the former upon the inhabitants of scotland. the critic raised no objections, though he goes on to state the conditions under which an established church might be retained with advantage. there are many institutions which, being set up, ought not to be rudely pulled down. on the th of june, , the question of national education was introduced in the house of commons by the ministry of the day. lord stanley opposed the proposal of the government in a powerful speech, and offered an amendment to this effect: "that an address be presented to her majesty to rescind the order in council for constituting the proposed board of privy council." the position of the government was defended by lord morpeth, who, while he held his own views respecting the doctrines of the roman catholics and also respecting unitarian tenets, he maintained that as long as the state thought it proper to employ roman catholic sinews, and to finger unitarian gold, it could not refuse to extend to those by whom it so profited the blessings of education. speeches were also made by lord ashley, mr. buller, mr. o'connell and others, and in the course of debate reference was freely made to mr. gladstone's book on church and state. finally mr. gladstone rose and remarked, that he would not flinch from a word he had uttered or written upon religious subjects, and claimed the right to contrast his principles, and to try results, in comparison with those professed by lord john russell, and to ascertain the effects of both upon the institutions of the country, so far as they operated upon the established church in england, in scotland and in ireland. it was at this time that a very remarkable scene was witnessed in the house. turning upon mr. o'connell, who had expressed his great fondness for statistics, mr. gladstone said the use he had made of them reminded him of an observation of mr. canning's, "he had a great aversion to hear of a fact in debate, but what he most distrusted was a figure." he then proceeded to show the inadequacy of the figures presented by mr. o'connell. in reply to lord morpeth's declaration concerning the duty of the state to provide education for dissenters so long as it fingered their gold, mr. gladstone said that if the state was to be regarded as having no other functions than that of representing the mere will of the people as to religious tenets, he admitted the truth of his principle, but not that the state could have a conscience. it was not his habit to revile religion in any form, but he asked what ground there was for restricting his lordship's reasoning to christianity. he referred to the position held by the jews upon this educational question, and read to the house an extract from a recent petition as follows: "your petitioners feel the deepest gratitude for the expression of her majesty's most gracious wish that the youth of the country should be religiously brought up, and the rights of conscience respected, while they earnestly hope that the education of the people, jewish and christian, will be sedulously connected with a due regard to the holy scriptures." mr. gladstone very pertinently asked how the education of the jewish people, who considered the new testament an imposture, was "to be sedulously connected with a due regard to the holy scriptures," which consisted of the old and new testaments? to oblige the jewish children to read the latter would be directly contrary to the views of the gentlemen on the other side of the house. he would have no child forced to do so, but he protested against paying money from the treasury of the state to men whose business it was to inculcate erroneous doctrines. the debate was concluded, and the government carried its motion by a very small majority. two years later, when the jews' civil disabilities bill was before parliament, mr. gladstone again took the unpopular side in the debate and opposed the bill, which was carried in the house of commons but defeated in the house of lords. mr. gladstone published, in , another work, entitled "church principles considered in their results." it was supplementary to his former book in defense of church and state, and was written "beneath the shades of hagley," the house of lord and lady lyttelton, and dedicated "in token of sincere affection" to the author's life-long friend and relative, lord lyttelton. he dwelt upon the leading moral characteristics of the english episcopal church, their intrinsic value and their adaptation to the circumstances of the times, and defined these characteristics to be the doctrine of the visibility of the church, the apostolic succession in the ministry, the authority of the church in matters of faith and the truths symbolized in the sacraments. in one chapter he strongly attacks rationalism as a reference of the gospel to the depraved standard of the actual human natures and by no means to its understanding properly so called, as its measure and criterion. he says: "that therefore to rely upon the understanding, misinformed as it is by depraved affections, as our adequate instructor in matters of religion, is most highly irrational." nevertheless, "the understanding has a great function in religion and is a medium to the affections, and may even correct their particular impulses." in reference to the question of the reconversion of england to catholicism, earnestly desired by some, mr. gladstone forcibly remarked: "england, which with ill grace and ceaseless efforts at remonstrance, endured the yoke when rome was in her zenith, and when her powers were but here and there evoked; will the same england, afraid of the truth which she has vindicated, or even with the license which has mingled like a weed with its growth, recur to that system in its decrepitude which she repudiated in its vigor?" if the church of england ever lost her power, it would never be by submission to rome, "but by that principle of religions insubordination and self-dependence which, if it refuse her tempered rule and succeed in its overthrow, will much more surely refuse and much more easily succeed in resisting the unequivocally arbitrary impositions of the roman scheme." here is the key-note of many of mr. gladstone's utterances in after years against the pretentious and aspirations of rome. the defense of the english church and its principles and opposition to the church of rome have been unchanging features in mr. gladstone's religious course. but, in the light of these early utterances, some have criticised severely that legislative act, carried through by him in later years, by which the disestablishment of the irish church was effected. how could the author of "the state in its relations with the church" become the destroyer of the fabric of the irish church? to meet these charges of inconsistency mr. gladstone issued, in , "a chapter of autobiography." the author's motives in putting forth this chapter of autobiography were two--first, there was "the great and glaring change" in his course of action with respect to the established church of ireland, which was not due to the eccentricity or perversion of an individual mind, but to the silent changes going on at the very basis of modern society. secondly, there was danger that a great cause then in progress might suffer in point of credit, if not of energy and rapidity, from the real or supposed delinquencies of the author. he stated that "the author had upheld the doctrine that the church was to be maintained for its truth, and that if the principle was good for england it was good for ireland too. but he denied that he had ever propounded the maxim _simpliciter_ that we were to maintain the establishment. he admitted that his opinion of the church of ireland was the exact opposite of what it had been; but if the propositions of his work were in conflict with an assault upon the existence of the irish establishment, they were even more hostile to the grounds upon which it was now sought to maintain it. he did not wish to maintain the church upon the basis usually advanced, but for the benefit of the whole people of ireland, and if it could not be maintained as the truth it could not be maintained at all." mr. gladstone contended that the irish episcopal church had fallen out of harmony with the spirit and use of the time, and must be judged by a practical rather than a theoretic test. in concluding the author puts antithetically the case for and against the maintenance of the church of ireland: "an establishment that does its work in much and has the hope and likelihood of doing it in more; that has a broad and living way open to it into the hearts of the people; that can command the services of the present by the recollections and traditions of the past; able to appeal to the active zeal of the greater portion of the people, and to the respect or scruples of living work and service, and whose adversaries, if she has them, are in the main content to believe that there will be a future for them and their opinions; such an establishment should surely be maintained. "but an establishment that neither does nor has her hope of doing work, except for a few, and those few the portion of the community whose claims to public aid is the smallest of all; an establishment severed from the mass of the people by an impassable gulf and a wall of brass; an establishment whose good offices, could she offer them, would be intercepted by a long, unbroken chain of painful and shameful recollections; an establishment leaning for support upon the extraneous aid of a state, which becomes discredited with the people by the very act of leading it; such an establishment will do well for its own sake, and for the sake of its creed, to divest itself, as soon as may be, of gauds and trappings, and to commence a new career, in which renouncing at once the credit and the discredit of the civil sanction, and shall seek its strength from within and put a fearless trust in the message that it bears." such, then, were the reasons that led the defender of the irish church to become its assailant, "that a man should change his opinions is no reproach to him; it is only inferior minds that are never open to conviction." mr. gladstone is a firm anglican, as we have seen, but the following extract from his address made at the liverpool college, in december, , gives a fine insight as to the breadth of his christian sentiments: "not less forcibly than justly, you hear much to the effect that the divisions among christians render it impossible to say what christianity is, and so destroy all certainty as to the true religion. but if the divisions among christians are remarkable, not less so is their unity in the greatest doctrines that they hold. well-nigh fifteen hundred years have passed away since the great controversies concerning the deity and the person of the redeemer were, after a long agony, determined. as before that time, in a manner less defined but adequate for their day, so, even since that time, amid all chance and change, more--aye, many more--than ninety-nine in every hundred christians have, with one voice, confessed the deity and incarnation of our lord as the cardinal and central truth of our religion. surely there is some comfort here, some sense of brotherhood; some glory due to the past, some hope for the times that are to come." mr. gladstone as prime minister of england, during his several administrations, has had a large church patronage to dispense, in other words, has been called upon, by virtue of his office, to till many vacancies in the established church, but it has been truly testified that there has probably never been so laboriously conscientious a distributor of ecclesiastical crown patronage as mr. gladstone. in his ecclesiastical appointments he never took politics into consideration. a conspicuous instance of this may be mentioned. when it was rumored that he intended to recommend dr. benson, the present archbishop, for the vacant see of canterbury, a political supporter called to remonstrate with him. mr. gladstone begged to know the ground of his objection. "the bishop of truro is a strong tory," was the answer; "but that is not all. he has joined mr. raikes's election committee at cambridge; and it was only last week that raikes made a violent personal attack upon yourself." "do you know," replied mr. gladstone, "that you have just supplied me with a strong argument in dr. benson's favor? for, if he had been a worldly man or self-seeker he would not have done anything so imprudent." mr. gladstone sympathized more or less with the nonconformists struggling against the application of university tests and other disabilities from which the dissenters suffered, but it was not until that he really discovered the true religions work of the english nonconformists. the manner in which the congregationalists, baptists, quakers and others rallied to the standard raised in the cause of bulgarian nationality effected a great change in his attitude towards his dissenting fellow countrymen. he entertained many of the representative nonconformist ministers at breakfast, and the fidelity and devotion of nonconformists generally to the bulgarian cause left on his mind an impression which has only deepened with the lapse of time. the extent to which this influences him may be gathered from the reply which he made to dr. döllinger whilst that learned divine was discussing with him the question of church and state. dr. döllinger was expressing his surprise that mr. gladstone could possibly coquette in any way with the party that demanded the severance of church and state in either wales or scotland. it was to him quite incomprehensible that a statesman who held so profoundly the idea of the importance of religion could make his own a cause whose avowed object was to cut asunder the church from the state. mr. gladstone listened attentively to dr. döllinger's remarks, and then, in an absent kind of way, said, "but you forget how nobly the nonconformists supported me at the time of the eastern question." the blank look of amazement on dr. döllinger's face showed the wide difference between the standpoint of the politician and the ecclesiastic. but mr. gladstone knew upon whom to rely in the hour of need, when great moral issues were at stake. the bishops of the house of lords had not always done their duty. lord shaftesbury, himself a very ardent churchman, wrote, june , , in reference to the religious worship bill: "the bishops have exhibited great ignorance, bigotry and opposition to evangelical life and action, and have seriously injured their character, influence and position." mr. gladstone never displayed more marked respect for the "nonconformist conscience" than when, in deference to their earnest appeal, he risked the great split in the home rule ranks that followed his repudiation of mr. parnell. mr. gladstone never hesitated or made the slightest pretense about the matter. if the nonconformists had been as indifferent as the churchmen, his famous letter about the irish leadership would not have been written. "he merely acted, as he himself stated, as the registrar of the moral temperature which made mr. parnell impossible. he knew the men who are the ironsides of his party too well not to understand that if he had remained silent the english home rulers would have practically ceased to exist. he saw the need, rose to the occasion and cleared the obstacle which would otherwise have been a fatal impediment to the success of his course. mr. gladstone is a practical statesman, and with some instinct divined the inevitable." mr. gladstone's religious belief, as well as his opinion of the bible and the plan of salvation revealed in the gospel, are manifest as expressed in the following words from his pen: "if asked what is the remedy for the deeper sorrows of the human heart--what a man should chiefly look to in his progress through life as the power that is to sustain him under trials and enable him manfully to confront his afflictions--i must point him to something which, in a well-known hymn is called 'the old, old story,' told of in an old, old book, and taught with an old, old teaching, which is the greatest and best gift ever given to mankind." another may read the lessons on the lord's day in hawarden church and write and speak in defense of the established church of england, but mr. gladstone did more--he put his trust in his lord and saviour, and believed in his word. mr. gladstone was denominationally a member of the episcopal church, but religiously he held to views commonly held by all evangelical christians, from which the temptations of wealth at home, of college and of politics never turned him. [illustration: kilmainham jail, where the irish m.p.'s were confined in ] chapter v travels and marriage mr. gladstone spent the winter of - in rome. the physicians had recommended travel in the south of europe for his health and particularly for his eyes, the sight of which had become impaired by hard reading in the preparation of his book. he had given up lamps and read entirely by candle-light with injurious results. he was joined at rome by his friend, henry manning, afterwards cardinal, and in company they visited monsignor, afterwards cardinal, wiseman, at the english college, on the feast of st. thomas of canterbury. they attended solemn mass in honor of that saint, and the places in the missal were found for them by a young student of the college, named grant, who afterwards became bishop of southwark. besides visiting italy he explored sicily, and kept a journal of his tour. sicily is a beautiful and fertile island in the mediterranean sea, and is the granary of rome. his recorded observations show the keenness of his perceptions and the intensity with which he enjoyed the beautiful and wonderful in nature. mount etna, the greatest volcano of europe, and which rises , feet above the sea, stirred his soul greatly, and he made an ascent of the mountain at the beginning of the great eruption of . etna has many points of interest for all classes of scientific men, and not least for the student of arboriculture. it bears at the height of feet above the level of the sea a wonderful growth--a very large tree--which is claimed by some to be the oldest tree in the world. it is a venerable chestnut, and known as "the father of the forest." it is certainly one of the most remarkable as well as celebrated of trees. it consists not of one vast trunk, but of a cluster of smaller decayed trees or portions of trees growing in a circle, each with a hollow trunk of great antiquity, covered with ferns or ivy, and stretching out a few gnarled branches with scanty foliage. that it is one tree seems to be evident from the growth of the bark only on the outside. it is said that excavations about the roots of the tree showed these various stems to be united at a very small depth below the surface of the ground. it still bears rich foliage and much small fruit, though the heart of the trunk is decayed, and a public road leads through it wide enough for two coaches to drive abreast. travelers have differed in their measurements of this stupendous growth. admiral smyth, who takes the lowest estimate, giving feet, and brydone giving, as the highest, feet. in the middle of the cavity a hut is built, for the accommodation of those who collect and preserve the chestnuts. one of the queens of arragon is reported to have taken shelter in this tree, with her mounted suite of one hundred persons; but, "we may, perhaps, gather from this that mythology is not confined to the lower latitudes." further up the mountain is another venerable chestnut, which, with more reason, probably, may be described without fear of contradiction as the largest chestnut tree in the world. it rises from one solid stem to a remarkable height before it branches. at an elevation of two feet from the earth its circumference was found by brydone to be seventy-six feet. these trees are reputed to have flourished for much more than a thousand years. their luxuriant growth is attributed in part to the humid atmosphere of the bosco, elevated above the scorching, arid region of the coast, and in part to the great richness of the soil. the luxuriance of the vegetation on the slopes of etna attracts the attention of every traveler; and mr. gladstone remarked upon this point: "it seems as though the finest of all soils were produced from the most agonizing throes of nature, as the hardiest characters are often reared amidst the severest circumstances. the aspect of this side of sicily is infinitely more active and the country is cultivated as well as most parts of italy." he and his party started on the th of october, and found the path nearly uniform from catania, but the country bore a volcanic aspect at every step. at nicolosi their rest was disturbed by the distant booming of the mountain. from this point to the bosco the scenery is described as a dreary region, but the tract of the wood showed some beautiful places resembling an english park, with old oaks and abundant fern. "here we found flocks browsing; they are much exposed to sheep-stealers, who do not touch travelers, calculating with justice that men do not carry much money to the summit of etna." the party passed the casa degli inglesi, which registered a temperature of °, and then continued the ascent on foot for the crater. a magnificent view of sunrise was here obtained. "just before we reached the lip of the crater the guide exultingly pointed out what he declared to be ordinarily the greatest sight of the mountain, namely, the shadow of the cone of etna, drawn with the utmost delicacy by the newly-risen sun, but of gigantic extent; its point at this moment rested on the mountains of palermo, probably one hundred miles off, and the entire figure was visible, the atmosphere over the mountains having become and continuing perfectly and beautifully transparent, although in the hundreds of valleys which were beneath us, from the east to the west of sicily, and from the mountains of messina down to cape passaro, there were still abundant vapors waiting for a higher sun to disperse them; but we enjoyed in its perfection this view of the earliest and finest work of the greater light of heaven, in the passage of his beams over this portion of the earth's surface. during the hour we spent on the summit, the vision of the shadow was speedily contracting, and taught us how rapid is the real rise of the sun in the heavens, although its effect is diminished to the eye by a kind of foreshortening." the writer next describes in vivid and powerful language the scene presented to the view at the very mouth of the crater. a large space, one mile in circumference, which a few days before had been one fathomless pit, from which issued masses of smoke, was now absolutely filled up to within a few feet of the brim all round. a great mass of lava, a portion of the contents of this immense pit, was seen to detach itself by degrees from one behind. "it opened like an orange, and we saw the red-hot fibres stretch in a broader and still broader vein, until the mass had found a support on the new ground it occupied in front; as we came back on our way down this had grown black." a stick put to it took fire immediately. within a few yards of this lava bed were found pieces of ice, formed on the outside of the stones by frost, "which here disputes every inch of ground with his fierce rival fire." mr. gladstone and his fellow-travelers were the first spectators of the great volcanic action of this year. from the highest peak attainable the company gazed upon the splendid prospect to the east spread out before them, embracing the messina mountains and the fine kindred outline of the calabrian coast, described by virgil in the third book of the aeneid. mr. gladstone graphically describes the eruption which took place and of which he was the enraptured witness. lava masses of to pounds weight were thrown to a distance of probably a mile and a half; smaller ones to a distance even more remote. the showers were abundant and continuous, and the writer was impressed by the closeness of the descriptions in virgil with the actual reality of the eruption witnessed by himself. on this point he observes: "now how faithfully has virgil (ae. iii, , et seq.) comprised these particulars, doubtless without exaggeration, in his fine description! first, the thunder-clap, or crack-- 'horrificis juxta tonat aetna ruinis.' secondly, the vibration of the ground to the report-- 'et, fessum quoties mutet latus, intremere omnem murmure trinacriam.' thirdly, the sheet of flame-- 'attolitque globos flarmmarum, et sidera lambit.' fourthly, the smoke-- 'et coelum subtexere fumo.' fifthly, the fire shower-- 'scopulos avulsaque viscera montis erigit erucatans, liquefactaque saxa sub auras cum gemitu glomerat, fundoque exae tuat imo.' sixthly the column of ash-- 'atram prorumpit ad aethera nubem turbine fumantem piceo et candente favilla.' and this is within the limits of twelve lines. modern poetry has its own merits, but the conveyance of information is not, generally speaking, one of them. what would virgil have thought of authors publishing poems with explanatory notes (to illustrate is a different matter), as if they were so many books of conundrums? indeed this vice is of very late years." the entire description, of which this is but an extract, is very effective and animated, and gives with great vividness the first impressions of a mind susceptible to the grand and imposing aspects of nature. "after etna," says mr. gladstone in his diary, "the temples are certainly the great charm and attraction of sicily. i do not know whether there is any one among them which, taken alone, exceeds in beauty that of neptune, at paestum; but they have the advantage of number and variety, as well as of highly interesting positions. at segesta the temple is enthroned in a perfect mountain solitude, and it is like a beautiful tomb of its religion, so stately, so entire; while around, but for one solitary house of the keeper, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, to disturb the apparent reign of silence and of death.... the temples enshrine a most pure and salutary principle of art, that which connects grandeur of effect with simplicity of detail; and, retaining their beauty and their dignity in their decay, they represent the great man when fallen, as types of that almost highest of human qualities--silent yet not sullen, endurance." while sojourning at rome mr. gladstone met lord macaulay. writing home from rome in the same year, lord macaulay says: "on christmas eve i found gladstone in the throng, and i accosted him, as we had met, though we had never been introduced to each other. he received my advances with very great _empressement_ indeed, and we had a good deal of pleasant talk." and again he writes: "i enjoyed italy immensely; far more than i had expected. by-the-by, i met gladstone at rome. we talked and walked together in st. peter's during the best part of an afternoon. he is both a clever and an amiable man." among the visitors at rome the winter that mr. gladstone spent in the eternal city were the widow and daughters of sir stephen richard glynne, of hawarden castle, flintshire, wales. he had already made the acquaintance of these ladies, having been a friend of lady glynne's eldest son at oxford, and having visited him at hawarden in . he was thrown much into their society while at rome, and became engaged to the elder of lady glynne's daughters, catharine glynne. it is strange to relate that some time before this when miss glynne met her future husband at a dinner-party, an english minister sitting next to her had thus drawn her attention to mr. gladstone: "mark that young man; he will yet be prime minister of england." miss glynne and her sister were known as "the handsome miss glynnes." william e. gladstone and catharine glynne were married july , , at hawarden castle. at the same time and place miss mary glynne was married to george william, fourth lord lyttleton, with whom mr. gladstone was on the most intimate terms of friendship until his lordship's untoward and lamented death. the brother of these ladies was sir stephen glynne, the then owner of hawarden. mrs. gladstone was "in her issue heir" of sir stephen glynne, who was ninth and last baronet of that name. the marriage ceremony has been thus described by an eye-witness: "for some time past the little town of hawarden has been in a state of excitement in consequence of the anticipated nuptials of the two sisters of sir stephen glynne, bart., m.p., who have been engaged for some time past to lord lyttelton and to mr. w. ewart gladstone. thursday last (july th) was fixed upon for the ceremony to take place; but in consequence of the chartists having attacked lord lyttelton's mansion in worcestershire, it was feared that the marriage would be delayed. all anxieties on this subject were put an end to by orders being issued to make ready for the ceremony, and the hawarden folks lost no time in making due preparations accordingly. the church was elegantly and profusely decorated with laurels, while extremely handsome garlands, composed of the finest flowers, were suspended from the venerable roof. about half-past ten a simultaneous rising of the assembled multitude and the burst of melody from the organ announced that the fair brides had arrived, and all eyes were turned towards the door to witness the bridal _cortege_. in a few minutes more the party arrived at the communion table and the imposing ceremony commenced. at this period the _coup d'oeil_ was extremely interesting. the bridal party exhibited every elegance of costume; while the dresses of the multitude, lit up by the rays of a brilliant sunlight, filled up the picture. the rev. the hon. g. neville performed the ceremony. at its conclusion the brides visited the rectory, whence they soon afterwards set out--lord and lady lyttelton to their seat in worcestershire, and mr. and mrs. gladstone on a visit to sir richard brooke, norton priory mansion, in cheshire. the bridal party having returned to the castle, the good folks of hawarden filled up the day with rambling over sir stephen glynne's delightful park, to which free access was given to all comers; and towards evening a dance on the green was got up." it is to be remarked that by his marriage mr. gladstone became allied with the house of grenville, a family of statesmen, which, directly or in its ramifications, had already supplied england with four prime ministers. baron bunsen, who made his acquaintance that year, writes that he "was delighted with the man who is some day to govern england if his book is not in the way." mrs. gladstone is widely and deservedly known for her many philanthropic enterprises, but even better, perhaps, has proved herself to be a noble and devoted wife and mother. she has cheered by her sympathy her illustrious husband in his defeats as well as in his triumphs, in the many great undertakings of his political career, and been to him all the late viscountess beaconsfield was to mr. gladstone's parliamentary rival. as a mother, she nursed and reared all her children, and ever kept them in the maternal eye, carefully watching over and tending them. one of the most interesting buildings at hawarden is mrs. gladstone's orphanage, which stands close to the castle. here desolate orphans are well cared for, and find, until they are prepared to enter on the conflict and to encounter the cares of life, a happy home. mrs. gladstone, although in many respects an ideal wife, was never able to approach her husband in the methodical and business-like arrangement of her affairs. shortly after their wedding, the story runs, mr. gladstone seriously took in hand the tuition of his handsome young wife in book-keeping, and mrs. gladstone applied herself with diligence to the unwelcome task. some time after she came down in triumph to her husband to display her domestic accounts and her correspondence, all docketed in a fashion which she supposed would excite the admiration of her husband. mr. gladstone cast his eye over the results of his wife's labor and exclaimed in despair: "you have done them all wrong, from beginning to end!" his wife, however, has been so invaluable a helpmeet in other ways that it seems somewhat invidious to recall that little incident. she had other work to do, and she wisely left the accounts to her husband and his private secretaries. the union of mr. and mrs. gladstone has been blessed by eight children, all of whom save two still survive. there were four sons, the eldest, william henry, was a member of the legislature, and the second, the rev. stephen edward gladstone, is rector of hawarden. the third son is named henry neville and the fourth herbert john gladstone. the former is engaged in commerce and the latter is the popular member for leeds. the eldest daughter, anne, is married to rev. e.c. wickham, a.m., headmaster of wellington college; and the second, catharine jessy gladstone, died in ; the third daughter, mary, is married to rev. w. drew, and the fourth, helen gladstone, is principal of newnham college. as sir john gladstone had the pleasure of seeing his son william ewart become a distinguished member of parliament, so mr. gladstone in his turn was able to witness his eldest son take his seat in the british senate. it was a sad bereavement when the gladstones were called upon to part with their little daughter, catharine jessy, april , , between four and five years old. her illness was long and painful, and mr. gladstone bore his part in the nursing and watching. he was tenderly fond of his little children and the sorrow had therefore a peculiar bitterness. but mr. gladstone has since had another sad experience of death entering the family circle. july , , the eldest son, william henry gladstone, died. the effect upon the aged father was greatly feared, and the world sympathized with the great statesman and father in his sad trial, and with the afflicted family. in a letter dated july , the day after the interment, mr. gladstone wrote: "we, in our affliction are deeply sensible of the mercies of god. he gave us for fifty years a most precious son. he has now only hidden him for a very brief space from the sight of our eyes. it seems a violent transition from such thoughts to the arena of political contention, but the transition may be softened by the conviction we profoundly hold that we, in the first and greatest of our present controversies, work for the honor, well-being and future peace of our opponents not less than for our own." when away from the trammels of office, mr. gladstone taught his elder children italian. all the sons went to eton and oxford, and the daughters were educated at home by english, french and german governesses. a close union of affection and sentiment has always been a marked characteristic of this model english family. marriage and domestic cares, however, made little difference in mr. gladstone's mode of life. he was still the diligent student, the constant debater and the copious writer that he had been at eton, at oxford and in the albany. [illustration: the official residence of the british premier, no. downing street, london.] in the early days of their married life, mr. and mrs. gladstone lived in london with lady glynne, at carlton house terrace. later they lived at carlton gardens, which was made over to them by sir john gladstone; then again at carlton house terrace; and when mr. gladstone was in office, at the official residence of the prime minister, downing street. in mr. gladstone succeeded to his patrimony, and in he bought carlton house terrace, which was his london house for twenty years; and he subsequently lived for four years at harley street. during the parliamentary recess mr. and mrs. gladstone divided their time between fasque, sir john gladstone's seat in kincardineshire, and hawarden castle, which they shared with mrs. gladstone's brother, sir stephen glynne, till in his death in , when it passed into their sole possession. in mrs. gladstone's brother added to the castle a new wing, which he especially dedicated to his illustrious brother-in-law, and which is fondly known as "the gladstone wing." and mr. gladstone, having only one country house, probably spent as much time at hawarden as any other minister finds it possible to devote to residence out of london. hawarden, usually pronounced harden, is the name of a large market-town, far removed from the centre and seat of trade and empire, in flintshire, north wales, six miles southwest from the singular and ancient city of chester, of which it may be called a suburb. it is not pretty, but a clean and tolerably well-built place, with some good houses and the usual characteristics of a welsh village. the public road from chester to hawarden, which passes by the magnificent seat of the duke of westminster, is not, except for this, interesting to the stranger. there is a pedestrian route along the banks of the river dee, over the lower ferry and across the meadows. but for the most part the way lies along dreary wastes, unadorned by any of the beautiful landscape scenery so common in wales. broughton hall, its pleasant church and quiet churchyard, belonging to the hawarden estate, are passed on the way. the village lies at the foot of the castle, and outside of the gates of hawarden park. the parish contains , acres, and of these the estate of mr. gladstone consists of nearly . the road from the village for the most part is dreary, but within the gates the park is as beautiful as it is extensive. richly wooded, on both sides of its fine drive are charming vistas opening amongst the oaks, limes and elms. on the height to the left of the drive is the ancient hawarden castle, for there are two--the old and the new--the latter being the more modern home of the proprietor. [illustration: the park gate, hawarden.] the ancient castle of hawarden, situated on an eminence commanding an extensive prospect, is now in ruins. what, however, was left of the old castle at the beginning of the century stands to-day a monument of the massive work of the early masons. the remnant, which ages of time and the parliamentary wars and the strange zeal of its first owner under cromwell for its destruction, allowed to remain, is in a marvelous state of preservation, and the masonry in some places fifteen feet thick. there is a grandeur in the ruin to be enjoyed, as well as a scene of beauty from its towers. the old castle, like the park itself, is open to the public without restriction. only two requests are made in the interests of good order. one is that visitors entering the park kindly keep to the gravel walks, while the other is that they do not inscribe their names on the stone-work of the ancient ruin, which request has been unheeded. this ancient castle was doubtless a stronghold of the saxons in very early times, for it was found in the possession of edwin of mercia at the norman conquest, and was granted by william the conqueror to his nephew, hugh lupus. in later times prince llewelyn was lord of hawarden, of which he was dispossessed by his brother, david. it was only after wales was conquered that hawarden became an english stronghold, held against the welsh. [illustration: old hawarden castle.] the castle had its vicissitudes, both as to its condition and proprietorship, for many years, even generations. somewhere between and the castle had been destroyed and rebuilt. it was rebuilt in the time of edward i or edward ii, and formed one link in the chain by which the edwards held the welsh to their loyalty. its name appears in the doomsday-book, where it is spelled haordine. it was presented by king edward to the house of salisbury. then the earls of derby came into possession, and they entertained within its walls henry vii in the latter part of the fifteenth century. during the parliamentary wars it was held at first for the parliament, and was taken by siege in . the royalists were in possession two years later, and at christmas time, in , parliament ordered that the castle be dismantled, which was effectively done. the latest proprietor of those times was james, earl of derby. he was executed and the estates were sold. they were purchased by sergeant glynne, lord chief justice of england under cromwell, from whom in a long line of descent they were inherited, upon the death of the last baronet, sir stephen glynne, in , by the wife of william e. gladstone. sergeant glynne's son, sir william, the first baronet, when he came into possession, was seized with the unaccountable notion of further destroying the old castle, and by the end of the seventeenth century very little remained beyond what stands to-day. [illustration: a glimpse of the castle from the park.] hawarden is supposed to be synonymous with the word burg-ardden, ardin, a fortified mound or hill. it is usually supposed to be an english word, but of welsh derivation, and is no doubt related to dinas, in welsh the exact equivalent to the saxon _burg_. the welsh still call it penarlas, a word the etymology of which points to a period when the lowlands of saltney were under water, and the castle looked over a lake. the earlier history of the castle goes back to the time when it was held by the ancient britons, and stood firm against saxon, dane, or whatever invading foe sought to deprive the people of their heritage in the soil. on the invasion of william, as we have seen, it was in the possession of edwin, sovereign of deira. "we find it afterwards," says another account, "in the possession of roger fitzvalarine, a son of one of the adventurers who came over with the conqueror. then it was held, subordinately, by the monthault, or montalt, family, the stewards of the palatinate of chester. it is remarkable, as we noticed in our story of hughenden manor, that as the traditions of that ancient place touched the memory of simon de montfort, the great earl of leicester, so do they also in the story of the old castle of hawarden. here llewelyn, the last native prince of wales, held a memorable conference with the earl. with in the walls of hawarden was signed the treaty of peace between wales and cheshire, not long to last; here llewelyn saw the beautiful daughter of de montfort, whose memory haunted him so tenderly and so long. again we find the castle in the possession of the montalt family, from whom it descended to the stanleys, the earl of derby.... here the last native princes of wales, llewelyn and david, attempted to grasp their crumbling sceptre, here no doubt halted edward i, 'girt with many a baron bold;' here the tudor prince, henry vii, of welsh birth, visited in the later years of the fifteenth century; and this was the occasion upon which it passed into the family whose representatives had proclaimed him monarch on bosworth field. but when james, earl of derby, was beheaded, after the battle of worcester, in , the estate was purchased under the sequestration act by sergeant glynne, whose portrait hangs over the mantleshelf of the drawing-room; 'but,' says mrs. gladstone, in calling our attention to it, 'he is an ancestor of whom we have no occasion to be and are not proud.'" this remark of mrs. gladstone's may be explained by the following from the pen of a reputable author: "sergeant glynne, who flourished (literally flourished) during the seventeenth century, was a most unscrupulous man in those troubled times. he was at first a supporter of charles i, then got office and preferment under cromwell, and yet again, like a veritable vicar of bray, became a royalist on the return of charles ii. the earl of derby, who was taken prisoner at the battle of worcester, in , was executed, and his estates forfeited. of these estates sergeant glynne managed to get possession of hawarden; and though on the restoration all royalists' forfeited estates were ordered to be restored, glynne managed somehow to remain in possession of the property." [illustration: waterfall in hawarden park.] it is very probable that hawarden castle was no exception to those cruel haunts of feudal tyranny and oppression belonging to the days of its power. many years ago, when the rubbish was cleared away beneath the castle ruin, a flight of steps was found, at the foot of which was a door, and a draw-bridge, which crossed a long, deep chasm, neatly faced with freestone; then another door leading to several small rooms, all, probably, places of confinement; and those hollows, now fringed with timber trees, in those days constituted a broad, deep fosse. the old hawarden castle, a curious ruin covered with moss and ivy, like many other ancient piles of stone in historic england, is a reminder of a past and warlike age, when an englishman's home had to be a castle to protect him and his family from his enemies. but times have changed for the better, and long immunity from internal foes and invading armies has had its peaceful effects upon the lands and the homes of men. as the grounds of hawarden show the remarkable cultivation produced by long periods of peaceful toil, so the ancient castle has given way for the modern dwelling, a peaceful abode whose only protecting wall is that with which the law surrounds it. modern hawarden castle is a castle only in name. the new "castle" has been the home of the glynns' for generations, and ever since the marriage of mr. gladstone and miss glynn has been the dwelling of the gladstones. mr. gladstone has greatly improved the hawarden estate and the castle has not been overlooked. among the improvements to the castle may be named the additions to the library and the golden wedding porch. the new castle was begun in , by sir john glynne, who "created a stout, honest, square, red-brick mansion;" which was added to and altered in the gothic style in . the glynnes lived in oxfordshire till early in the eighteenth century, when they built themselves a small house, which was on the site of the present castle. the new hawarden castle stands in front of the massive ruin of the old castle, which has looked down on the surrounding country for six centuries. a recent writer speaking of the new structure as a sham castle, with its plaster and stucco, and imitation turrets, says: "it would not have been surprising if the old castle had, after the manner of jewish chivalry, torn its hair of thickly entwined ivy, rent its garments of moss and lichen, and fallen down prostrate, determined forever to shut out the sight of the modern monstrosity." however, the author somewhat relents and thus describes the modern edifice: "the aspect of the house is very impressive and imposing, as it first suddenly seems to start upon the view after a long carriage-drive through the noble trees, if not immediately near, but breaking and brightening the view on either hand; yet, within and without, the house seems like its mighty master--not pensive but rural; it does not even breathe the spirit of quiet. its rooms look active and power-compelling, and we could not but feel that they were not indebted to any of the aesthetic inventions and elegancies of furniture for their charm. thus we have heard of one visitor pathetically exclaiming, 'not one _dado_ adorns the walls!' hawarden is called a castle, but it has not, either in its exterior or interior, the aspect of a castle. it is a home; it has a noble appearance as it rises on the elevated ground, near the old feudal ruin which it has superseded, and looks over the grand and forest-like park, the grand pieces of broken ground, dells and hollows, and charming woodlands." [illustration: court yard, hawarden castle.] the traditional history of hawarden church, as well as that of the castle, travels back to a very remote antiquity, and is the central point of interest to many a tragedy, and some of a very grotesque character. for instance, for many ages the inhabitants of hawarden were called "harden jews," and for this designation we have the following legendary account. in the year , during the reign of cynan ap elisap anarawd, king of gwynedd north, there was a christian temple at harden, and a rood-loft, in which was placed an image of the virgin mary, with a very large cross in her hands, which was called "holy rood." during a very hot and dry summer the inhabitants prayed much and ardently for rain, but without any effect. among the rest, lady trowst, wife of sytsyllt, governor of harden castle, went also to pray, when, during this exercise, the holy rood fell upon her head and killed her. such behavior upon the part of this wooden virgin could be tolerated no longer. a great tumult ensued in consequence, and it was concluded to try the said virgin for murder, and the jury not only found her guilty of wilful murder, but of inattention in not answering the prayers of innumerable petitioners. the sentence was hanging, but span, of mancot, who was one of the jury, opposed this act saying it was best to drown, since it was rain they prayed for. this was fiercely opposed by corbin, of the gate, who advised that she should be laid on the sands by the river. so, this being done, the tide carried the lady, floating gently, like another lady, elaine, upon its soft bosom, and placed her near the walls of caerleon (now chester), where she was found next day, says the legend, drowned and dead. here the inhabitants of caerleon buried her. upon this occasion, it is said, the river, which had until then been called the usk, was changed to rood die, or rood dee. we need not stay here to analyze some things belonging to locality and etymology, which appear to us somewhat anachronistic and contradictory in this ancient and queer legend. hawarden church is a fairly large structure, externally a plain old brick building with a low tower and a dwarf spire, standing in the midst of a large population of graves. there is preserved in the annals of the church a list of the rectors of hawarden as far back as . about forty years ago a fire broke out in the church, and when all was over, very little was left of the original structure except the walls. it was restored with great expedition, and was re-opened within the same year. the present building is a restoration to the memory of the immediate ancestor, from whom the estate is derived by the present family. it is the centre of hard, earnest work, done for an exceptionally large parish. but the church population is occasionally recruited from all the ends of the earth. it is here that the gladstone family worship on the plain, uncushioned pew, near the lectern and opposite the pulpit. when the estates came into the hands of the glynnes the living was bestowed upon a member of the family. the rector is rev. stephen gladstone, second son of the premier. he is not a great preacher, but he is quietly earnest and instructive. mr. gladstone was up early on sunday mornings and seldom failed to be in his pew at church. crowds filled the church sunday, morning and evening, week after week, many of them strangers, to see the prime minister of england, and behold him leave his pew and, standing at the reading-desk, go through his part of the service--that of reading the lessons for the day, in this obscure village church. after church mr. gladstone went to the rectory with his family, with his cloak only over his shoulders, when the weather required, and as he walked along the path through the churchyard would bow to the crowds that stood on either side uncovered to greet him as he passed by. the two brothers, until recently, lived at the rectory, and the whole family seemed to live in the most beautiful harmony together. both mr. and mrs. gladstone attribute much of his health to the fact that he will have his sabbath to himself and his family, undisturbed by any of the agitations of business, the cares of state, or even the recreations of literature and scholastic study. this profound public regard for the day of rest, whether in london or at hawarden, awakens a feeling of admiration and puts us in mind of his great predecessor in statesmanship, cecil, lord burleigh, who, when he arrived at theobalds on a saturday evening would throw off his cloak or chain of office and exclaim, "lie there and rest, my good lord treasurer." [illustration: the rev. h. drew, warden of st. deniol's.] one of the main points of interest at the home of mr. gladstone is the library. there is not a room in hawarden castle in which there is not an abundance of books, which are not all collected in the library, but distributed all over the house. where other people have cabinets for curiosities, china, etc., there are here shelves and cases full of books. in ante-room and bed-room dressing-room and nursery they are found, not by single volumes, but in serried ranks; well-known and useful books. but it is in the library where mr. gladstone has collected by years of careful selection, a most valuable and large array of books, from all parts of the world, upon every subject. these books are classified and so arranged as to be of immediate use. all those on one particular subject are grouped together. [illustration: dorothy's dovecote] mr. gladstone was a familiar figure in the book stores, and especially where rare, old books were to be found, and he seldom failed to return home with some book in his pocket. mrs. gladstone is said to have gone through his pockets often upon his return home, and sent back many a volume to the book-seller, that had found its way to the pocket of her husband, after a hasty glance at its title. he kept himself informed of all that was going on in the literary, scientific and artistic worlds, receiving each week a parcel of the newest books for his private readings. every day he looked over several book-sellers's catalogues, and certain subjects were sure of getting an order. hawarden library gave every evidence of being for use, and not show. mr. gladstone knew what books he had and was familiar with their contents. some books were in frequent use, but others were not forgotten. he could put his hand on any one he wanted to refer to. at the end of a volume read he would construct an index of his own by which he could find passages to which he wished to refer. there are few stories that mr. gladstone told with greater relish than one concerning sir antonio panizzi, who many years ago visited the library at hawarden. looking round the room and at its closely packed shelves, he observed in a patronizing tone, "i see you have got some books here." nettled at this seemingly slighting allusion to the paucity of his library, mr. gladstone asked panizzi how many volumes he thought were on the shelves. panizzi replied: "from five to six thousand." then a loud and exulting laugh rang round the room as mr. gladstone answered: "you are wrong by at least two thousand, as there are eight thousand volumes and more before you now." since then the library has grown rapidly. [illustration: dining room in the orphanage, hawarden.] the fate of this large library was naturally a matter of much consideration to mr. gladstone. it was particularly rich in classical and theological works, so it occured to its owner to form a public library under a trusteeship, for the benefit of students, under the care of the rector of hawarden, or some other clergyman. so he caused to be erected at a cost to him of about $ , , a corrugated iron building on a knoll just outside hawarden church. the name of this parish library is "the st. deiniol's theological and general library of hawarden." in , mr. gladstone had deposited about , volumes upon the shelves in this new building, with his own hands, which books were carried in hand-carts from the castle. since that time thousands have been added to this valuable collection. [illustration: staircase in the orphanage, hawarden.] it was a happy thought of mr. gladstone to found a theological library in the immediate vicinity of hawarden; also to have connected with it a hostel where students could be boarded and lodged for six dollars a week and thus be enabled to use the library in the pursuit of their studies. mr. gladstone has endowed the institution with $ , . rev. h. drew, the son-in-law of mr. gladstone, is warden and librarian. [illustration: hawarden church.] chapter vi enters the cabinet we come now to another memorable period in the life of william e. gladstone. this period, beginning with , has been styled "a memorable decade" in the history of parliament. his marriage and the publication of his first book were great events in his eventful life, but the young and brilliant statesman was soon to enter the british cabinet. he was before long to demonstrate that he not only possessed the arts of the fluent and vigorous parliamentary debater, but the more solid qualities pertaining to the practical statesman and financier. in following his course we will be led to observe the early stages of his changing opinions on great questions of state, and to trace the causes which led to his present advanced views as well as to his exalted position. the estimation in which he was then held may be indicated by the following, from one of his contemporaries, sir stafford northcote, afterwards lord iddesleigh, and who subsequently succeeded him as leader of the house of commons: "there is but one statesman of the present day in whom i feel entire confidence, and with whom i cordially agree, and that statesman is mr. gladstone. i look upon him as the representative of the party, scarcely developed as yet, though secretly forming and strengthening, which will stand by all that is dear and sacred in my estimation, in the struggle which i believe will come ere _very_ long between good and evil, order and disorder, the church and the world, and i see a very small band collecting round him, and ready to fight manfully under his leading." in mr. gladstone crossed swords with the distinguished historian and parliamentary debater, lord macaulay, in debate in the house of commons on the relations of england with china. the speech of mr. gladstone was remarkable for its eloquent expression of anxiety that the arms of england should never be employed in unrighteous enterprises. sir james graham moved a vote of censure of the ministry for "want of foresight and precaution," and "especially their neglect to furnish the superintendent at canton with powers and instructions calculated to provide against the growing evils connected with the contraband traffic in opium, and adapted to the novel and difficult situation in which the superintendent was placed." mr. gladstone, on the th of april, spoke strongly in favor of the motion, and said if it failed to involve the ministry in condemnation they would still be called upon to show cause for their intention of making war upon china. answering the speech of lord macaulay of the previous evening, mr. gladstone said: "the right honorable gentleman opposite spoke last night in eloquent terms of the british flag waving in glory at canton, and of the animating effects produced on the minds of our sailors by the knowledge that in no country under heaven was it permitted to be insulted. but how comes it to pass that the sight of that flag always raises the spirit of englishmen? it is because it has always been associated with the cause of justice, with opposition to oppression, with respect to national rights, with honorable commercial enterprises; but now, under the auspices of the noble lord, that flag is hoisted to protect an infamous contraband traffic, and if it were never to be hoisted except as it is now hoisted on the coast of china, we should recoil from its sight with horror, and should never again feel our hearts thrill, as they now thrill with emotion, when it floats proudly and magnificently on the breeze." the ministry escaped censure when the vote was taken by a bare majority. in the summer of mr. gladstone, accompanied by lord lyttleton, went to eton to examine candidates of the newcastle scholarship, founded by his political friend, the duke of newcastle. mr. gladstone had the pleasure in this examination of awarding the newcastle medal to henry fitzmaurice hallam, the youngest brother of his own beloved friend and son of the historian hallam. one of the scholars he examined writes: "i have a vivid and delightful impression of mr. gladstone sitting in what was then called the library, on an _estrade_ on which the head master habitually sate, above which was placed, about , the bust of the duke of newcastle and the names of the newcastle scholars.... when he gave me a virgil and asked me to translate georg. ii, , _seq_., i was pleasantly surprised by the beautiful eye turning on me with the question, 'what is the meaning of _sacra fero_?' and his look of approval when i said, 'carry the sacred vessels in the procession.'" "i wish you to understand that mr. gladstone appeared not to me only, but to others, as a gentleman wholly unlike other examiners or school people. it was not as _a politician_ that we admired him, but as a refined churchman, deep also in political philosophy (so we conjectured from his quoting burke on the continual state retaining its identity though made up of passing individuals), deep also in lofty poetry, as we guessed from his giving us, as a theme for original latin verse, 'the poet's eye in a fine frenzy,' etc. when he spoke to us in 'pop' as an honorary member, we were charmed and affected emotionally: his voice was low and sweet, his manner was that of an elder cousin: he seemed to treat us with unaffected respect; and to be treated with respect by a man is the greatest delight for a boy. it was the golden time of 'retrograding transcendentalism,' as the hard-heads called the anglo-catholic symphony. he seemed to me then an apostle of unworldly ardor, bridling his life." the whig administration, which for some time had been growing very unpopular, was defeated and went out of power in . from the very beginning of the session their overthrow was imminent. among the causes which rendered the ministry obnoxious to the country, and led to their downfall, may be named the disappointment of both their dissenting english supporters and irish allies; their financial policy had proved a complete failure and dissatisfied the nation; and the deficit in the revenue this year amounted to no less a sum than two millions and a half pounds. every effort to remedy the financial difficulties offered by the ministry to the house was rejected, hence it was felt on all sides that the government of the country must be committed to stronger hands. accordingly, in may, sir robert peel proposed a resolution in the house of commons to the effect that the ministry did not possess sufficiently the confidence of the house to carry through measures deemed essential for the public welfare; and that their continuance in office was, under the circumstances, at variance with the constitution, for five days this resolution was discussed, but mr. gladstone took no part in the debate. the motion of sir robert peel passed by a majority vote of one, and on the th of june lord john russell announced that the ministry would at once dissolve parliament and appeal to the country. parliament was prorogued by the queen in person june d, and the country was soon in the turmoil of a general election. by the end of july it was found that the ministry had been defeated and with greater loss than the tories even had expected. the tories had a great majority of the new members returned. the liberal seats gained by the tories were seventy-eight, while the tory seats gained by liberals were only thirty-eight, thus making a tory majority of eighty. mr. gladstone was again elected at newark, and was at the head of the poll; with lord john manners, afterwards duke of rutland, as his colleague. the new parliament met in august, and the ministers were defeated, in both houses, on the address and resigned. sir robert peel was called upon by the queen to form a new ministry, and mr. gladstone was included by his leader in the administration. in appearing on the hustings at newark mr. gladstone said that there were two points upon which the british farmer might rely--the first being that adequate protection would be given him, and, second, that protection would be given him through the means of the sliding scale. the duties were to be reduced and the system improved, but the principle was to be maintained. "there was no english statesman who could foresee at this period the results of that extraordinary agitation which, in the course of the next five years, was destined to secure the abrogation of the corn laws." there is a tradition that, having already conceived a lively interest in the ecclesiastical and agrarian problems of ireland, mr. gladstone had set his affections on the chief secretaryship. but sir robert peel, a consummate judge of administrative capacity, had discerned his young friend's financial aptitude, and the member for newark became vice-president of the board of trade and master of the mint. although in the midst of engrossing cares of office as vice-president of the board of trade, yet mr. gladstone found time to renew his old interest in ecclesiastical concerns. in the fall of an english episcopal bishopric was established at jerusalem, mr. gladstone dined with baron bunsen on the birthday of the king of prussia, when, as reported by lord shaftesbury, he "stripped himself of a part of his puseyite garments, spoke like a pious man, rejoiced in the bishopric of jerusalem, and proposed the health of alexander, the new bishop of that see. this is delightful, for he is a good man, a clever man and an industrious man." and baron bunsen, speaking of the same occasion, said, "never was heard a more exquisite speech, it flowed like a gentle, translucent stream. we drove back to town in the clearest starlight; gladstone continuing with unabated animation to pour forth his harmonious thoughts in melodious tone." and mr. gladstone himself writes later; "amidst public business, quite sufficient for a man of my compass, i have, during the whole of the week, perforce, been carrying on with the bishop of london and with bunsen a correspondence on, and inquisition into, the jerusalem design, until i almost reel and stagger under it." and still later he writes: "i am ready individually to brave misconstruction for the sake of union with any christian men, provided the terms of the union be not contrary to sound principle; and perhaps in this respect might go further, at least in one of the possible directions, than you. but to declare the living constitution of a christian church to be of secondary moment is of course in my view equivalent to a denial of a portion of the faith--and i think you will say it is a construction which can not fairly be put upon the design, as far as it exists in fixed rules and articles. it is one thing to attribute this in the way of unfavorable surmise, or as an apprehension of ultimate developments--it is another to publish it to the world as a character ostentatiously assumed." we have evidence also that at this time he was not permitted to forget that he was an author, for he thus writes, april , , to his publisher: "amidst the pressure of more urgent affairs, i have held no consultation with you regarding my books and the sale or no sale of them. as to the third edition of the 'state in its relations,' i should think that the remaining copies had better be got rid of in whatever summary or ignominious mode you may deem best. they must be dead beyond recall. as to the others, i do not know whether the season of the year has at all revived the demand; and would suggest to you whether it would be well to advertise them a little. i do not think they find their way much into the second-hand shops. with regard to the fourth edition, i do not know whether it would be well to procure any review or notice of it, and i am not a fair judge of its merits, even in comparison with the original form of the work; but my idea is that it is less defective, both in the theoretical and in the historical development, and ought to be worth the notice of those who deemed the earlier editions worth their notice and purchase; that it would really put a reader in possession of the view it was intended to convey, which i fear is more than can with any truth be said of its predecessors. i am not, however, in any state of anxiety or impatience; and i am chiefly moved to refer these suggestions to your judgment from perceiving that the fourth edition is as yet far from having cleared itself." it was from this time that a marked change was observable in the subjects of mr. gladstone's parliamentary addresses. "instead of speaking on the corporate conscience of the state and the endowments of the church, the importance of christian education and the theological unfitness of the jews to sit in parliament, he was solving business-like problems about foreign tariffs and the exportation of machinery; waxing eloquent over the regulation of railways and a graduated tax on corn; subtle on the momentary merits of half-farthings and great in the mysterious lore of quassia and cocculus indicus." in the short session of parliament, in , that which followed the accession of sir robert peel to the office of prime minister, he was questioned by his opponents as to his future policy. the premier declined to state the nature of the measures he intended to present, or which he contemplated making, in the intervening months of the recess of parliament so near at hand. he wanted time for the arrangement of his plans and the construction of his political programme. an effort was made to embarrass the administration by refusing to vote the necessary supplies, until inquiry should be made into the existing distress, but it was defeated. three weeks later parliament was dissolved by royal commission. in the following sitting of parliament several measures of high practical character were presented. sir robert peel acceded to office in very critical times. the condition of the country was truly lamentable. distress and discontent were widespread and the difficulties of the government were greatly enhanced by popular tumults. the free trade agitation was already making great headway in the land, and when the premier brought forward his new sliding scale of duties in the house of commons it was denounced by mr. cobden as an insult to a suffering people. the premier said that he considered the present not an unfavorable time for discussing the corn laws; that there was no great stock on hand of foreign growth to alarm the farmers; that the recess had been marked by universal calm; that there was no popular violence to interrupt legislation; and that there was a disposition to view any proposal for the adjustment of the question with calmness and moderation. the premier's view of the situation did not seem to be wholly in accord with the well-known facts, for the queen even, on her appearance at the london theatres, had been hooted, and the prime minister himself was burnt in effigy during a riot at northampton; great excitement prevailed throughout the country, and lord john russell moved as an amendment "that this house, considering the evils which have been caused by the present corn laws and especially by the fluctuation of the graduated or sliding scale, is not prepared to adopt the measure of her majesty's government, which is founded on the same principles and is likely to be attended by similar results." it was incumbent upon mr. gladstone to lead the opposition to this motion. he showed that the proposed plan was not founded on the same principle of the existing one, except that both involved a sliding scale; that the present distress was caused by fluctuation of the seasons and not by the laws; that high prices of food were chargeable to successive failures of the crops; that these unavoidable fluctuations were not aggravated by the corn laws; that sir robert peel's plan of working was far superior to that of lord john russell; that the drains upon the currency, caused by bad harvests, were not to be prevented by a fixed duty; that a uniform protection could not be given to corn, as to other articles, because at high prices of corn no duty could be maintained, and that, therefore, at low prices, it was but just to give a duty which would be an effectual protection. the debate which followed was characterized by vigorous speeches from mr. roebuck and lord palmerston. lord john russell's amendment was lost by a large majority. a motion presented by mr. villiers, the free trade advocate, for the immediate repeal of the corn laws was also lost by a majority of over three hundred. on the th of march sir robert peel introduced his budget. the budget for was produced under depressing circumstances. there was a deficit of £ , , , or about $ , , , and taxation upon articles of consumption had been pushed to its utmost limit. peel was a great financier, but the fiscal difficulties by which he was now surrounded were enough to appall the most ingenious of financial ministers. mr. gladstone rendered the premier invaluable service in the preparation both of his budget and of his tariff scheme. the merit of the budget was its taxation of wealth and the relief of the manufacturing industry. the second branch of the financial plan, the revised tariff--a customs duties scheme--was very important, and it was understood to be mainly the work of mr. gladstone. out of nearly duty-paying articles, a total abolition, or a considerable reduction, was made in no fewer than . this was certainly a great step towards the freedom of manufacturers, sir robert peel's boast that he had endeavored to relieve manufacturing industries was more than justified by this great and comprehensive measure. the very best means for relieving the manufacturing industries had been devised. but while this great relief to industry was welcomed the opposition did not relax their efforts for the abolition of the corn laws, which were continued into the session of . sir robert peel acknowledged, amidst loud cheers from the opposition, that all were agreed in the general rule that we should purchase in the cheapest market and sell in the dearest; but he added, "if i propose a greater change in the corn laws than that which i submit to the consideration of the house i should only aggravate the distress of the country, and only increase the alarm which prevails among important interests." mr. hume hailed with joy the appearance of the premier and his colleagues as converts to the principles of free trade; mr. gladstone replied, that, whoever were the authors of the principles on which the government measures rested, he must protest against the statement that the ministry came forward as converts to principles which they had formerly opposed. during the progress of the debate of , on the revised tariff bill, mr. gladstone's labors were very great. he was called upon to explain or defend the details of the scheme, and had something to say about every article of consumption included in, or excluded from, the list. he spoke one hundred and twenty-nine times, chiefly on themes connected with the new fiscal legislature. he demonstrated his capacity for grasping all the most complicated details of finance, and also the power of comprehending the scope and necessities of the commercial interests of the country. no measure with which his name has since been connected has done him more credit. he spoke incessantly, and amazed the house by his mastery of details, his intimate acquaintance with the commercial needs of the country, and his inexhaustible power of exposition. on march th greville wrote, "gladstone has already displayed a capacity which makes his admission into the cabinet indispensable." a commercial minister had appeared on the scene, and the shade of hoskisson had revived. though engrossed in schemes of practical legislation, and in all the excitements and interests of office, he could, as he has ever done during his long career, turn aside for the discourse on social and educational questions with much earnestness and eloquence, as if they, and only they, possessed his mind. in january, , he spoke at the opening of the collegiate institute of liverpool, and delivered a powerful plea for the better education of the middle classes, which was one of the most forcible speeches he ever delivered. he said: "we believe that if you could erect a system which should present to mankind all branches of knowledge save the one that is essential, you would only be building up a tower of babel, which, when you had completed it, would be the more signal in its fall, and which would bury those who had raised it in its ruins. we believe that if you can take a human being in his youth, and if you can make him an accomplished man in natural philosophy, in mathematics, or in the knowledge necessary for the profession of a merchant, a lawyer, or a physician; that if in any or all of these endowments you could form his mind--yes, if you could endow him with the science and power of a newton, and so send him forth--and if you had concealed from him, or, rather, had not given him a knowledge and love of the christian faith--he would go forth into the world, able indeed with reference to those purposes of science, successful with the accumulation of wealth for the multiplication of more, but 'poor, and miserable, and blind, and naked' with reference to everything that constitutes the true and sovereign purposes of our existence--nay, worse, worse--with respect to the sovereign purpose-- than if he had still remained in the ignorance which we all commiserate, and which it is the object of this institution to assist in removing." it was admitted on all hands that great fiscal reforms had been conceived and executed; and speaking of the session of , a writer, not favorable to the tories, wrote: "the nation saw and felt that its business was understood and accomplished, and the house of commons was no longer like a sleeper under a nightmare. the long session was a busy one. the queen wore a cheerful air when she thanked parliament for their effectual labors. the opposition was such as could no longer impede the operations of the next session. the condition of the country was fearful enough, but something was done for its future improvement, and the way was now shown to be open for further beneficent legislation." the corn law reformers renewed their efforts, led by lord howick, as soon as the parliamentary session of opened. an inquiry by the whole house was demanded into the causes of the long continued manufacturing depression referred to in the queen's speech. mr. gladstone replied that while the opposition proposed to repeal the corn laws, they offered no measure of relief in their place. the corn laws were at the root of the distress in the country, but the difficulty was to unite the ranks of the opposition in opinion as to what ought to follow the repeal of the corn laws. the question between the government and the opposition was not really so great as the latter wished to make out. it was simply as to the amount of relaxation the country could bear in the duties. it was the intention of the first lord of the treasury to attain his object "by increasing the employment of the people, by cheapening the prices of the articles of consumption, as also the articles of industry, by encouraging the means of exchange with foreign nations, and thereby encouraging in return an extension of the export trade; but besides all this, if he understood the measure of the government last year, it was proposed that the relaxation should be practically so limited as to cause no violent shock to existing interests, such as would have the tendency of displacing that labor which should be employed, and which, if displaced, would be unable to find another field." the measure of the previous year had nothing but a beneficial effect, but the repeal of the corn laws would displace a vast mass of labor. lord howick's motion was defeated and so were others offered by mr. villiers and lord john russell, by diminishing majorities, and mr. gladstone protested against the constant renewal of uneasiness in the country by successive motions of this kind in parliament. the year was one destined to witness a great advance in mr. gladstone's progress towards the front rank among statesmen. june th, lord ripon, who was president of the board of trade, left this place for the board of control, and mr. gladstone was appointed to the position, and thus became a member of the cabinet at the age of thirty-three mr. gladstone now became in name what he had been already in fact--the president of the board of trade. he states that "the very first opinion which he was ever called upon to give in cabinet" was an opinion in favor of withdrawing the bill providing education for children in factories; to which vehement opposition was offered by the dissenters, on the ground that it was too favorable to the established church. it seemed that his position was assured and yet in october he wrote to a friend: "uneasy, in my opinion, must be the position of every member of parliament who thinks independently in these times, or in any that are likely to succeed them; and in proportion as a man's course of thought deviates from the ordinary lines his seat must less and less resemble a bed of roses." mr. gladstone possibly felt when he penned these lines that the time was at hand when his convictions would force him to take a position that would array against him some of his most ardent friends. during the session of mr. gladstone addressed the house on a variety of subjects, including rail ways, the law of partnership, the agricultural interest, the abolition of the corn laws, the dissenters' chapel bill and the sugar duties. one very valuable bill he had carried was a measure for the abolition of restrictions on the exportation of machinery. another was the railway bill, to improve the railway system, by which the board of trade had conditional power to purchase railways which had not adopted a revised scale of tolls. the bill also compulsorily provided for at least one third-class train per week-day upon every line of railway, to charge but one penny a mile, regulated the speed of traveling, compelled such trains to stop at every station, and arranged for the carrying of children under three years of age for nothing and those under twelve at reduced fares. this measure, conceived so distinctly in the interests of the poorer classes, met with considerable opposition at first from the various railway companies, but it was ultimately passed into law. these were measures passed in the spirit of reform, though by a conservative government. there was another matter legislated upon which shows how mr. gladstone's mind was undergoing changes in the direction of religious toleration. lady hewley had originally founded and given to calvinistic independents certain charities which had gradually passed to unitarians, who were ousted from their benefits. a bill was proposed to vest property left to dissenting bodies in the hands of that religions body with whom it had remained for the preceding twenty years. the measure was passed, but when it was discussed in the house of commons mr. gladstone said that it was a bill which it was incumbent upon the house to endorse; that there was no contrariety between his principles of religious belief and those on which legislation in this case ought to proceed; that there was a great question of justice, viz., whether those who were called presbyterian dissenters, and who were a century and a half ago of trinitarian opinions, ought not to be protected at the present moment in possession of the chapels which they held, with the appurtenances of those chapels? on the question of substantial justice he pronounced the strongest affirmative opinion. "after this speech there were those who thought, and expressed their hope and belief in words, that the 'champion of free trade' would ere long become the advocate of the most unrestricted liberty in matters of religion. their hope, if sanguine as to its immediate fulfillment, was far from groundless." however, in december of the same year mr. gladstone wrote to his friend archdeacon, afterwards bishop wilberforce, about the prospects of the church of england: "i rejoice to see that your views on the whole are hopeful. for my part i heartily go along with you. the fabric consolidates itself more and more, even while the earthquake rocks it; for, with a thousand drawbacks and deductions, love grows larger, zeal warmer, truth firmer among us. it makes the mind sad to speculate upon the question how much better all might have been; but our mourning should be turned into joy and thankfulness when we think also how much worse it _was_." the next event in the life of mr. gladstone is marked by a momentous change in his political position. scarcely had parliament met in january, , when it was announced to the astonishment of everyone that mr. gladstone had resigned his place as president of the board of trade in the cabinet. he set a good deal of speculation at rest by the announcement made in his speech on the address of the queen, that his resignation was due solely to the government intentions with regard to maynooth college. before, however, he had resigned, mr. gladstone had completed a second and revised tariff, carrying further the principles of the revision of . in the session of sir robert peel, in response to the requests of irish members, had promised that the government would take up the question of academical education in ireland, with the view of bringing it more nearly to the standard of england and scotland, increasing its amount and improving its quality. in fulfillment of this pledge the government, at the beginning of the session of , proposed to establish non-sectarian colleges in ireland, and to increase the appropriation to maynooth. the college of maynooth, which was established for the education of roman catholic priests and laymen, had fallen into poverty and decay. in order to gratify the irish, the government offered to increase the grant already made from $ , to $ , a year. this appropriation was not to be subject to any annual vote, and the affairs of the college were to be executed by the board of works. these proposals placed mr. gladstone in a position of great difficulty. he must either support sir robert peel's measure, or retire from the cabinet into isolation, if not subject to the imputation of eccentricity. he took council with his friends, archdeacon manning and mr. hope, who advised him to remain, and with lord stanley who warned him that his resignation must be followed by resistance of the proposals of the government, which would involve him in a storm of religious agitation. but mr. gladstone persisted in his intention, in what seemed like giving up his brilliant prospects, but said it would not necessarily be followed by resistance to the proposal about maynooth. mr. gladstone said that the proposed increase in the maynooth endowment and the establishment of non-sectarian colleges were at variance with views he had written and uttered upon the relations of the church and state. "i am sensible how fallible my judgment is," said mr. gladstone, "and how easily i might have erred; but still it has been my conviction that although i was not to fetter my judgment as a member of parliament by a reference to abstract theories, yet, on the other hand, it was absolutely due to the public and due to myself that i should, so far as in me lay, place myself in a position to form an opinion upon a matter of so great importance, that should not only be actually free from all bias or leaning with respect to any consideration whatsoever, but an opinion that should be unsuspected. on that account i have taken a course most painful to myself in respect to personal feelings, and have separated myself from men with whom and under whom i have long acted in public life, and of whom i am bound to say, although i have now no longer the honor of serving my most gracious sovereign, that i continue to regard them with unaltered sentiments both of public regard and private attachment." then again he said: "my whole purpose was to place myself in a position in which i should be free to consider any course without being liable to any just suspicion on the ground of personal interest. it is not profane if i now say, '_with a great price obtained i this freedom_.' the political association in which i stood was to me at the time the _alpha_ and _omega_ of public life. the government of sir robert peel was believed to be of immovable strength. my place, as president of the board of trade, was at the very kernel of its most interesting operations; for it was in progress from year to year, with continually waxing courage, towards the emancipation of industry, and therein towards the accomplishment of another great and blessed work of public justice. giving up what i highly prized, aware that male sarta gratia nequicquam coit, et rescinditur. i felt myself open to the charge of being opinionated and wanting in deference to really great authorities, and i could not but know that i should inevitably be regarded as fastidious and fanciful, fitter for a dreamer, or possibly a schoolman, than for the active purposes of public life in a busy and moving age." there were some of his party angry and others who thought that there was something almost quixotic in mr. gladstone's honorable resignation, because so soon as he felt himself free he gave his support to the maynooth bill and also to the scheme for the extension of academical education in ireland, which latter was described by sir r. inglis as a "gigantic scheme of godless education." in greville's "memoirs" we find: "gladstone's explanation is ludicrous. everybody said that he had only succeeded in showing that his resignation was unnecessary. he was criticised as the possessor of a kind of supernatural virtue that could scarcely be popular with the slaves of party, and he was considered whimsical, fantastic, impracticable, a man whose 'conscience was so tender that he could not go straight,' a visionary not to be relied on--in fact, a character and intellect useless to the political manager." "i am greatly alarmed at gladstone's resignation. i fear it foretells measures opposed to the church truth," wrote wilberforce; and peel told gladstone beforehand that his reasons for his resignation would be considered insufficient. but mr. gladstone's resignation, when understood, elicited the liveliest expressions of regret from friend and foe, as well as the most flattering testimonies as to his ability and character. his chief, sir robert peel, and lord john russell, the leader of the opposition, were alike complimentary in their remarks. dr. russell, the biographer of mr. gladstone, says: "mr. gladstone's retirement, by impairing his reputation for common sense, threatened serious and lasting injury to his political career, but the whirligig of time brought its revenges even more swiftly than usual. a conjunction of events arose in which he was destined to repair the mischief which the speculative side had wrought; but for the moment the speculative side was uppermost." mr. gladstone was fast leaving his toryism behind. to show how far his views had changed in the course of seven years, it may be said that in his speech on these measures he observed how that exclusive support to the established church was a doctrine that was being more and more abandoned. mr. burke considered it contrary to wise policy to give exclusive privileges to a negative creed like that of protestantism. they could not prove their religious scruples for denying this grant to roman catholics, because they gave their votes of money to almost every dissenting seat. he hoped the concession now made--which was a great and liberal gift, because unrestricted and given in a spirit of confidence--would not lead to the renewal of agitation in ireland by mr. o'connell. it might be well for him to reflect that agitation was a two-edged sword. being conformable to justice and not contrary to principle, he hoped the measure proposed would pass into a law. w.t. stead, in a recent article, said, in relation to mr. gladstone's retirement from the cabinet, that "it is ridiculous to pretend, with mr. gladstone's career before us, that his course has been swayed by calculating self-interest. he has been the very madman of politics from the point of view of mr. worldly wiseman. 'no man,' said he, the other day, 'has ever committed suicide so often as i,' and that witness is true. the first and perhaps the most typical of all his many suicides was his resignation of his seat in sir robert peel's cabinet, not because he disapproved of the maynooth grant, but because, as he had at one time written against it, he was determined that his advocacy of it should be purged of the last taint of self-interest. as mr. george russell rightly remarks, 'this was an act of parliamentary quixotism too eccentric to be intelligible. it argued a fastidious sensitiveness of conscience, and a nice sense of political propriety so opposed to the sordid selfishness and unblushing tergiversation of the ordinary place-hunter as to be almost offensive.' but as mr. gladstone was then, so he has been all his life--the very quixote of conscience. judged by every standard of human probability, he has ruined himself over and over and over again. he is always ruining himself, and always rising, like the phoenix, in renewed youth from the ashes of his funeral pyre. as was said in homely phrase some years ago, he 'always keeps bobbing up again.' what is the secret of this wonderful capacity of revival? how is it that mr. gladstone seems to find even his blunders help him, and the affirmation of principles that seem to be destructive to all chance of the success of his policy absolutely helps him to its realization?" from a merely human standpoint it is inexplicable. but 'if right or wrong in this god's world of ours be leagued with higher powers,' then the mystery is not so insolvable. he believed in the higher powers. he never shrank from putting his faith to the test; and on the whole, who can deny that for his country and for himself he has reason to rejoice in the verification of his working hypothesis? 'we walk by faith and not by sight,' he said once; 'and by no one so much as by those who are in politics is this necessary.' it is the evidence of things not seen, the eternal principles, the great invisible moral sanctions that men are wont to call the laws of god, which alone supply a safe guide through this mortal wilderness. 'men of a thousand shifts and wiles, look here! see one straightforward conscience put in pawn to win a world; see the obedient sphere by bravery's simple gravitation drawn! shall we not heed the lesson taught of old, and by the present's lips repeated still? in our own single manhood to be bold, fortressed in conscience and impregnable.' "mr. gladstone has never hesitated to counter at sharp right angles the passion and the fury of the day. those who represent him as ever strong upon the strong side, wilfully shut their eyes to half his history. he challenged lord palmerston over the don pacifico question, and was believed to have wrecked himself almost as completely as when in he countered even more resolutely the fantastic jingoism of lord beaconsfield. it is easy for those who come after and enter into the spoils gained by sacrifices of which they themselves were incapable to describe the bulgarian agitation as an astute party move. the party did not think so. its leaders did not think so. some of those who now halloo loud enough behind mr. gladstone were then bitter enough in their complaint that he had wrecked his party. one at least, who was constrained to say the other thing in public, made up for it by bitter and contemptuous cavilings in private. now it is easy to see that lord beaconsfield was mistaken and that mr. gladstone held the winning card all along. but no one knew it at the time when the card had to be played, certainly not mr. gladstone himself. he simply saw his duty a dead sure thing, and, like jim bludsoe on the burning boat, 'he went for it there and then.' it turned up trumps, but no one knew how heavy were the odds against it save those who went through the stress and the strain of that testing and trying time by his side." in the summer of mr. gladstone proposed to his intimate friend, mr. j.r. hope, that they should spend the month of september in a working tour in ireland, giving evidence of his characteristic desire always to come in personal contact with any question that he had to discuss. he suggests "their eschewing all grandeur, and taking little account even of scenery, compared with the purpose of looking, from close quarters, at the institutions for religion and education of the country, and at the character of the people. it seems ridiculous to talk of supplying the defects of second-hand information by so short a trip; but although a longer time would be much better, yet even a very contracted one does much when it is added to an habitual, though indirect, knowledge." the projected trip, however, had to be abandoned. towards the close of the year mr. gladstone issued a pamphlet entitled "remarks upon recent commercial legislation," in which he not only discussed the salutary effects of the late commercial policy, but used arguments clearly showing that he was advancing to the position of a free-trader. his general conclusion was that english statesmen should use every effort to disburden of all charges, so far as the law was concerned, the materials of industry, and thus enable the workman to approach his work at home on better terms, as the terms in which he entered foreign markets were altered for the worse against him. while mr. gladstone was so willing to deal generously more than ever before with the irish roman catholics, his confidence in the established episcopal church of ireland was growing less. "i am sorry," he wrote to bishop wilberforce, "to express my apprehension that the irish church is not in a large sense efficient; the working results of the last ten years have disappointed me. i may be answered, have faith in the ordinance of god; but then i must see the seal and signature, and these, how can i separate from ecclesiastical descent? the title, in short, is questioned, and vehemently, not only by the radicalism of the day, but by the roman bishops, who claim to hold succession of st. patrick, and this claim has been alive all along from the reformation, so that lapse of years does nothing against it." the name of dr. döllinger, the distinguished reformed roman catholic, has been mentioned already in connection with that of mr. gladstone. in the fall of mr. gladstone went to munich and paid his first visit to dr. döllinger. for a week he remained in daily intercourse with this eminent divine, and the foundation was laid of a friendship which was sustained by repeated visits and correspondence, and which lasted until the doctor's death in . in the winter of mr. gladstone met with a painful accident that resulted in a permanent injury to his hand. he was by no means what is termed a sportsman, yet he was somewhat fond of shooting. his gun was prematurely discharged while he was loading it, and shattered the first finger of his left hand, so that amputation was necessary. [illustration: loyal ulster] chapter vii member for oxford "mr. gladstone's career," says his biographer, g.w.e. russell, "naturally divides itself into three parts. the first of them ends with his retirement from the representation of newark. the central part ranges from to . happily the third is still incomplete." the first division, according to dr. russell, of this remarkable life, we have considered, and we now pass on to the development of the second period. the causes which led up to mr. gladstone's retirement from the representation for newark to that of oxford we will now proceed to trace. the agitation by the ablest orators against the corn laws had been going on for ten years, when an announcement was made in the "times" of december , , that parliament would be convened the first week in january, and that the queen's address would recommend the immediate consideration of the corn laws, preparatory to their total abolition. this startling news took the other daily papers by surprise, for there had been recently a lull in the agitation, and several of them contradicted it positively. yet the newspapers had noticed the unusual occurrence of four cabinet meetings in one week. the original statement was confirmed. the ministry was pledged to support the measure. the hour had come, the doom of the corn laws was sealed. mr. gladstone's thoughts and labors for some years past had been leading him away from protection, in which he had been brought up, in the direction of free trade; and although he was unable to participate in the last part of the struggle in parliament, because he was not a member of the house, he was yet in harmony with sir robert peel, and indeed is said to have converted the premier to free trade views. such a change of views was not the sudden impulse of an hour. the next step was to announce his changed convictions. and so upon other occasions in his life, his attitude on the question of the corn laws led to his separation from some old and greatly cherished political and personal friends, and among the first to disapprove of his new departure must have been his own father, who would think his son was going to ruin the country. the duke of buccleuch and lord stanley informed sir robert peel that they could not support a measure for the repeal of the corn laws, and sir robert peel, being doubtful whether he could carry through the proposed measure in the face of such opposition, tendered his resignation as premier to the queen. lord john russell was called upon to form a new ministry, but, having failed in this, the queen desired sir robert peel to withdraw his resignation, and resume the head of the government again. it was found when the list of the new peel cabinet was published, that mr. gladstone was a member of it; having accepted the office of colonial secretary, in the place of lord stanley, who had resigned because not in sympathy with the proposed movement and of repeal. accepting office in a ministry pledged to repeal the corn laws led to the retirement of mr. gladstone from the house of commons as the representative for newark. the duke of new castle, the patron and friend of mr. gladstone, was an ardent protectionist, and could not sanction the candidature of a supporter of free trade principles. his patronage was therefore necessarily withdrawn from mr. gladstone. indeed, the duke had turned his own son, lord lincoln, out of the representation of nottinghamshire for accepting office under sir robert peel, and he naturally showed no mercy to the brilliant but wayward politician, whom his favor had made member for newark. besides, mr. gladstone felt he held opposite principles from those he held when elected, and that unless the constituency had changed with him, he could no longer honorably continue to represent them, even if the influence and friendship of the duke permitted it. accordingly he did not offer himself for re-election, but retired and issued an address to the electors of newark, dated january , , of which the following is an extract: "by accepting the office of secretary of state for the colonies, i have ceased to be your representative in parliament. on several accounts i should have been peculiarly desirous at the present time of giving you an opportunity to pronounce your constitutional judgment on my public conduct, by soliciting at your hands a renewal of the trust which i have already received from you on five successive occasions, and held during a period of thirteen years. but as i have good reason to believe that a candidate recommended to your favor through local connections may ask your suffrages, it becomes my very painful duty to announce to you on that ground alone my retirement from a position which has afforded me so much of honor and of satisfaction." mr. gladstone further goes on to explain that he accepted office because he held that "it was for those who believed the government was acting according to the demands of public duty to testify that belief, however limited their sphere might be, by their co-operation." he had acted "in obedience to the clear and imperious call of public obligation." it was in this way that mr. gladstone became a voluntary exile from the house of commons during this important season, and took no part in the debates, his personal powerful advocacy being lost in the consideration of the great measure before the house. he was a member of the cabinet, but not of the house of commons. it was no secret, however, that he was the most advanced free trader in the peel cabinet, and that the policy of the government in regard to this great measure of was to a large extent moulded by him. it is also known that his representations of the effects of free trade on the industry of the country and the general well-being of the people strengthened the premier in his resolve to sweep away the obnoxious corn laws. his pamphlet on recent commercial legislation had prepared the way for the later momentous changes; and to mr. gladstone is due much of the credit for the speedy consummation of the free trade policy of the peel ministry. mr. gladstone may be regarded as the pioneer of the movement. just at this time a calamity occurred in ireland which furnished sir robert peel an additional argument for the prompt repeal of the corn laws; namely, a prospective famine, owing to the failure of the potato crop. with threatened famine in ireland, such as had never been experienced, the prime minister saw clearly that corn must be admitted into the country free of duty. the anti-corn law league was growing powerful and even irresistible, while both in england and ireland many landlords of influence, who did not belong to the league, were in sympathy with the movement started by the premier and ready to extend to him a hearty support. but the friends of protection did not leave the premier without opposition. knowing that sir robert peel's personal influence was greater than that of any minister who had "virtually governed the empire," they used every means at their command, fair and unfair, to defeat the bill. however, their efforts were destined to failure. some contended that the presentation and passage of the corn law repeal bill ought to be left to the liberals. but free trade had not received the support of every member of the liberal party, and sir robert peel was in a position to carry out the measure, and it was not in accordance with the wisdom of practical politics to halt. indeed, at this very juncture, mr. cobden wrote to the premier that he had the power, and that it would be disastrous to the country for him to hesitate. writing from edinburgh, lord john russell announced his conversion to total and immediate repeal of the corn laws. sir robert peel hesitated no longer, but, feeling that the crisis had arrived, determined to grapple with it. it was duty to country before and above fancied loyalty to party to be considered. it is strange what remedies some men deem sensible, suggested to prevent famine in ireland. "obviously the government was in difficulties. what those difficulties were it was not hard to guess. in the previous autumn it had become known that, after a long season of sunless wet, the potatoes had everywhere been attacked by an obscure disease. the failure of this crop meant an irish famine. the steps suggested to meet this impending calamity were strange enough. the head of the english peerage recommended the poor to rely on curry-powder as a nutritious and satisfying food. another duke thought that the government could show no favor to a population almost in a state of rebellion, but that individuals might get up a subscription. a noble lord, harmonizing materialism and faith, urged the government to encourage the provision of salt fish, and at the same time to appoint a day of public acknowledgment of our dependence on divine goodness. the council of the royal agricultural society, numbering some of the wealthiest noblemen and squires in england, were not ashamed to lecture the laborers on the sustaining properties of thrice-boiled bones." when parliament assembled the premier entered into an explanation of the late ministerial crisis, and unfolded his projected plans. he said that the failure of the potato crop had led to the dissolution of the late government, that matters now could brook no further delay; that prompt action must now be taken on the corn laws; that the progress of reason and truth demanded it; that his opinions on the subject of protection had undergone a great change; that the experience of the past three years confirmed him in his new views; that he could not conceal the knowledge of his convictions, however much it might lay him open to the charge of inconsistency; that, though accused of apathy and neglect, he and his colleagues were even then engaged in the most extensive and arduous inquiries into the true state of ireland; and that, as these inquiries progressed, he has been forced to the conclusion that the protection policy was unsound and consequently untenable. it is worthy of note that mr. disraeli, the future parliamentary rival of mr. gladstone, took part, as a member of the house of commons, in the discussion of the question under consideration. the following words show his attitude: "to the opinions which i have expressed in this house in favor of protection i adhere. they sent to this house, and if i had relinquished them i should have relinquished my seat also." "it would be an unprofitable talk," writes barnett smith, "to unravel the many inconsistencies of lord beaconsfield's career; but with regard to this deliverance upon protection, the curious in such matters may turn back to the records of , when they will discover that at that time he was quite prepared to advocate measures of a free trade character. but we must pass on from this important question of the corn laws, with the angry controversy to which it gave rise. sir robert peel brought forward his measure, and after lengthened debate in both houses, it became law, and grain was admitted into english ports under the new tariff." after all their success in carrying through the important corn law repeal scheme, the ministry of sir robert peel was doomed to fall upon an irish question. the very day that brought their victory in the passage of the corn law repeal act in the house of lords saw the defeat of the ministry in the house of commons on their bill for the suppression of outrage in ireland. sir robert peel found himself in a minority of and therefore tendered his resignation. it was accepted and sir robert peel went out of office forever. lord john russell was sent for by the queen, and he succeeded in forming a whig ministry. mr. gladstone's return to the cabinet of sir robert peel, as we have seen, cost him his seat in the house of commons. it was not until the brief session of , that he appeared again in parliament. the queen dissolved parliament in person, july, d. the election succeeding turned in many instances upon ecclesiastical questions, and especially upon the maynooth grant. it was announced early in that one of the two members of the house of commons for the university of oxford intended to retire at the next general election. mr. canning had pronounced the representation of the university as the most coveted prize of public life, and mr. gladstone himself confessed that he "desired it with an almost passionate fondness." mr. gladstone, as a graduate of oxford, was looked upon not only by his contemporaries, but by his seniors and those who came after him, with feelings of enthusiastic admiration. the feeling then was reciprocal, and he was proposed for the vacant seat. sir r.n. inglis was secure in his seat, and so the contest lay between mr. gladstone and mr. round, who was of the ultra-protestant and tory school. the contest excited the keenest interest and was expected on all hands to be very close. mr. gladstone in his address to the electors of his _alma mater_ confessed that in the earlier part of his public life he had been an advocate for the exclusive support of the national religion of the state, but it had been in vain; the time was against him. he said: "i found that scarcely a year passed without the adoption of some fresh measure involving the national recognition and the national support of various forms of religion, and, in particular, that a recent and fresh provision had been made for the propagation from a public chair of arian or socinian doctrines. the question remaining for me was whether, aware of the opposition of the english people, i should set down as equal to nothing, in a matter primarily connected not with our own but with their priesthood, the wishes of the people of ireland; and whether i should avail myself of the popular feeling in regard to the roman catholics for the purpose of enforcing against them a system which we had ceased by common consent to enforce against arians--a system, above all, of which i must say that it never can be conformable to policy, to justice or even to decency, when it has become avowedly partial and one-sided in its application." this address intensified the determination of those opposed to mr. gladstone to defeat him. a great portion of the press was, however, in his favor. some of the journals that were enthusiastic for mr. gladstone were very bitter against mr. round. mr. gladstone's distinguished talent and industry were lauded, as well as his earnest attachment to the church of england. he had, however, renounced the exclusiveness of his politico-ecclesiastical principles, and no longer importuned parliament to ignore all forms of religion but those established by law, or which were exactly coincident with his own belief. "his election," declared one journal, "unlike that of mr. round, while it sends an important member to the house of commons, will certainly be creditable, and may be valuable to the university; and we heartily hope that no negligence or hesitation among his supporters may impede his success." even outside of church circles the election was regarded with great interest. the nomination took place july th. after the usual ceremony, the voting commenced in convocation-house, which was densely crowded. so great was the pressure of the throng that men fainted and had to be carried out. mr. coleridge, afterward lord coleridge, was the secretary of mr. gladstone's committee. distinguished men, among them sir robert peel, his colleague in the cabinet, came from a great distance to "plump" for mr. gladstone. the venerable dr. routh, then nearly ninety-two years old, came forth from his retirement at magdalen college to vote for him. mrs. gladstone, according to mr. hope-scott, was an indefatigable canvasser for her husband. at the close of the poll the vote stood: inglis, ; gladstone, ; round, . of course sir robert inglis, with his "prehistoric toryism," stood at the head. to the supporters of mr. gladstone and mr. round must be added who were paired. mr. gladstone received a majority of over his ultra-protestant opponent. the total number of those polled exceeded that registered at any previous election, showing the intense and general interest in the result. this period of mr. gladstone's life has been very properly styled by one of his biographers, as the transition period. "on one side the conservative free-trader clings fondly and tenaciously to the toryism of his youth, on another, he is reaching out toward new realms of liberal thought and action. he opposes marriage with a deceased wife's sister on theological and social grounds, asserting roundly that such marriage is 'contrary to the law of god, declared for three thousand years and upwards.' he deprecates the appointment of a commission to enquire into the universities, because it will deter intending benefactors from effecting their munificent intentions. he argues for a second chamber in australian legislatures, citing, perhaps a little unfortunately, the constitutional example of contemporary france. in all these utterances it is not hard to read the influence of the traditions in which he was reared, or of the ecclesiastical community which he represents in parliament. "yet even in the theological domain a tendency towards liberalism shows itself. his hatred of erastianism is evinced by his gallant but unsuccessful attempt to secure for the clergy and laity of each colonial diocese the power of self-government. amid the indignant protests of his tory allies, and in opposition to his own previous speech and vote, he vindicates the policy of admitting the jews to parliament. he defends the establishment of diplomatic relations with the court of rome; he supports the alteration of the parliamentary oath; and, though he will not abet an abstract attack on church rates, he contends that their maintainance involves a corresponding duty to provide accommodation in the church for the very poorest of the congregation. "on the commercial side his liberalism is rampant. with even fanatical faith he clings to free trade as the best guarantee for our national stability amid the crash of the dynasties and constitutions which went down in ' . he thunders against the insidious dangers of reciprocity. he desires, by reforming the laws which govern navigation, to make the ocean, 'that great highway of nations, as free to the ships that traverse its bosom as to the winds that sweep it.' "and so the three years-- , , --rolled by, full of stirring events in europe and in england, in church and in state, but marked by no special incidents in the life of mr. gladstone. for him these years were a period of mental growth, of transition, of development. a change was silently proceeding, which was not completed for twenty years, if, indeed, it has been completed yet. 'there have been,' he wrote in later days to bishop wilberforce, 'two great deaths, or transmigrations of spirit, in my political existence--one, very slow, the breaking of ties with my original party.' this was now in progress. the other will be narrated in due course." one of the features of the general election of that excited the wildest popular comment was the election of baron rothschild for the city of london. there was nothing illegal in the election of a jew, but he was virtually precluded from taking his seat in the house of commons, because the law required every member to subscribe not only to the christian religion, but to the protestant episcopal faith. to obviate this difficulty, lord john russell, soon after parliament assembled, offered a resolution affirming the eligibility of jews to all functions and offices to which roman catholics were admissible by law. sir r.h. inglis opposed the resolution and mr. gladstone, his colleague, supported it. mr. gladstone inquired whether there were any grounds for the disqualification of the jews which distinguished them from any other classes in the community. they contended for a "christian parliament, but the present measure did not make severance between politics and religion, it only amounted to a declaration that there was no necessity for excluding a jew, as such, from an assembly in which every man felt sure that a vast and overwhelming majority of its members would always be christian. it was said that by admitting a few jews they would un-christianize parliament; that was true in word, but not in substance." he had no doubt that the majority of the members who composed it would always perform their obligations on the true faith of a christian. it was too late to say that the measure was un-christian, and that it would call down the vengeance of heaven. when he opposed the last law of the removal of jewish disabilities, he foresaw that if he gave the jew municipal, magisterial and executive functions, we could not refuse him legislative functions any longer. "the jew was refused entrance into the house because he would then be a maker of the law; but who made the maker of the law? the constituencies; and into these constituencies had been admitted the jews. now were the constituencies christian constituencies? if they were, was it probable that the parliament would cease to be a christian parliament?" mr. gladstone admitted the force of the prayer in bishop wilberforce's petition, that in view of this concession measures should be taken to give greater vigor to the church, and thus operate to the prevention of an organic change in the relations between church and state. in concluding his defence of lord john russell's resolution mr. gladstone expressed the opinion that if they admitted jews into parliament, prejudice might be awakened for awhile, but the good sense of the people would soon allay it, and members would have the consolation of knowing that in case of difficulty they had yielded to a sense of justice, and by so doing had not disparaged religion or lowered christianity, but rather had elevated both in all reflecting and well-regulated minds. the logic of this speech could not be controverted, though mr. newdegate declared that mr. gladstone would never have gained his election for the university of oxford had his sentiments on the jewish question been then known. the resolution of lord john russell was carried by a large majority, whereupon he announced first a resolution, and then a bill, in accordance with its terms. the year was a year of excitement and revolution. all europe was in a state of agitation, and france by a new revolution presented another one of her national surprises. the news of a revolution in france caused the greatest perturbation throughout england, and disturbances in the capital of the country. great demonstrations were made at trafalgar square and charing cross, march th, but the meetings assumed more of a burlesque than of a serious character. in glasgow and other parts of the country there were serious riots. shops were sacked, and the military was called out to quell the disturbance, which was not effected until the soldiers fired with fatal results upon the rioters. there were uprisings and mob violence also at manchester, edinburgh, newcastle, but they were of a less formidable character. a chartist meeting was held on kennington common, march th, but, though the meeting had been looked forward to with great apprehensions by all lovers of law and order, yet it passed off without the serious results anticipated. though great preparations were made in view of the demonstration, yet, fortunately it passed off without loss of life. the meeting however had furnished a pretext for the gathering of a lawless mob, although but few were politically concerned in it. it was deemed necessary, to provide against every emergency, so special constables in great numbers were sworn in previous to the meetings, and it is interesting to observe that amongst the citizens who came forward in london to enroll themselves as preservers of the peace of society were william ewart gladstone, the duke of norfolk, the earl of derby, and prince louis napoleon, afterwards emperor of france. the people were becoming dissatisfied with the government of the country, particularly with its financial measures. a deficiency of two million pounds appeared, and additional taxation would be necessary owing to the caffre war. it was therefore proposed to continue the income tax for five years and increase it slightly. owing to the distress in ireland it was not proposed to extend the operation of this measure to that country. the property tax was defended on the same principles laid down by mr. pitt, and in , by sir robert peel. but this scheme was bitterly opposed and many attributed the depressed condition of the finances to free trade. sir robert peel decided to support the proposed tax for three years. mr. disraeli desired the success of sir robert peel's policy, and described himself as a "free-trader, but not a free-booter of the manchester school;" and he dubbed the blue-book of the import duties committee "the greatest work of imagination that the nineteenth century has produced." he said that the government, by acting upon it, and taking it for a guide, resembled a man smoking a cigar on a barrel of gunpowder. this epigrammatic speech of mr. disraeli brought mr. gladstone to his feet. he said, by way of introduction, that he could not hope to sustain the lively interest created by the remarkable speech of his predecessor--a display to which he felt himself unequal--he would pass over the matters of a personal description touched upon by the honorable gentleman, and confine himself to defending the policy which had been assailed. mr. gladstone then demonstrated, by a series of elaborate statistics, the complete success of sir robert peel's policy. he also said, that the confidence of the public would be greatly shaken by an adverse vote, and he alluded to the unsettled condition of affairs in the cabinet. "i am sure," said mr. gladstone, "that this house of commons will prove itself to be worthy of the parliaments which preceded it, worthy of the sovereign which it has been called to advise, and worthy of the people which it has been chosen to represent, by sustaining this nation, and enabling it to stand firm in the midst of the convulsions that shake european society; by doing all that pertains to us for the purpose of maintaining social order, the stability of trade, and the means of public employment; and by discharging our consciences, on our own part, under the difficult circumstances of the crisis, in the perfect trust that if we set a good example to the nations--for whose interests we are appointed to consult--they, too, will stand firm as they have in other times of almost desperate emergency; and that through their good sense, their moderation, and their attachment to the institutions of the country, we shall see these institutions still exist, a blessing and a benefit to prosperity, whatever alarms and whatever misfortunes may unfortunately befall other portions of civilized europe." "it was fortunate for the future interests of the country," says dr. smith, his biographer, "that the proposals of the government were at this juncture supported by a great majority of the house of commons. in a moment of unreasoning panic there was some danger of the adoption of a reactionary policy--a step that would have lost to the country those blessings which it subsequently enjoyed as the outcome of free trade." may , mr. labouchere, president of the board of trade, proposed a plan for the modification of the navigation laws. reserving the coasting trade and fisheries of great britain and the colonies, it was proposed "to throw open the whole navigation of the country, of every sort and description." but the queen claimed the right of putting such restrictions as she saw fit upon the navigation of foreign countries, if those countries did not meet england on equal terms; and that each colony should be allowed to throw open its coasting trade to foreign countries. mr. gladstone made a lengthy speech, examining closely the operation of existing laws, and showing the necessity for their repeal. with regard to the power claimed by the queen in council, with a view to enforcing reciprocity, mr. gladstone said, "i confess it appears to me there is a great objection to conferring such a power as that which is proposed to be given to the queen in council." he contended also for a gradual change in the laws. the policy of excluding the coasting trade from the measure he also condemned. "it would have been much more frank to have offered to admit the americans to our coasting trade if they would admit us to theirs." if england and america concurred in setting an example to the world, he hoped we should "live to see the ocean, that great highway of nations, as free to the ships that traverse its bosom as the winds that sweep it. england would then have achieved another triumph, and have made another powerful contribution to the prosperity of mankind." the bill was postponed until the following year. during the session of mr. gladstone spoke upon the proposed grant of vancouver's island to the hudson's bay company; and upon the sugar duties bill; but the most important speech delivered by him at that time was upon a measure to legalize diplomatic relations with the court of rome. it was objected that thus recognizing the spiritual governor of rome and of all the roman catholic population of the world, would neither conciliate the affections of the protestants, nor satisfy the wishes of the roman catholics, who had denounced it strongly to the pope. mr. gladstone took broad and comprehensive views of the question. to some features of the bill he was opposed, but was in favor of its principle. it was unfortunate as to time, owing to the condition of affairs in italy. england must take one of two positions. if she declined political communication with the see of rome, she had no right to complain of any steps which the pope might take with respect to the administration of his own ecclesiastical affairs; but an act so directly in contravention of the laws of the land as the partitioning of the country into archbishoprics and bishoprics was a most unfortunate proceeding; wrong because it was generally and justly offensive to the feelings of the people of england, and totally unnecessary, as he believed, for roman catholic purposes, but also because it ill assorted with the grounds on which the parliament was invited by the present bill to establish definite relations with the see of rome. for one hundred years after the reformation the pope was actually in arms for the purpose of recovering by force his lost dominions in this country. it was only natural, therefore, that we should have prohibited relations with the see of rome when it attacked the title of the sovereign of these realms, but there was no such reason for continuing the prohibition at the present moment. those who have studied mr. gladstone's career carefully attest that this speech would have been impossible from his lips ten years before the time it was delivered; and early in the next session of parliament he delivered another speech which furnishes us an example of the growth of his liberal views in matters of conscience. lord john russell proposes further relief upon the matter of oaths to be taken by members of parliament. mr. gladstone said that the civil political claims of the jew should not be barred, and he deprecated the tendency to degenerate formalism in oaths, but he was glad that the words, "on the true faith of a christian" in respect to all christian members of the house of commons had been retained. he also, later in the session, favored correcting the enormous evils growing out of the church rate system, with taxation of all the further support of the state church. he did not believe in imposing an uncompensated burden upon any man. every man contributing his quota was entitled to demand a free place in the house of his maker. "but the centre and best parts of the church were occupied by pews exclusively for the middle classes, while the laboring classes were jealously excluded from almost every part of light and hearing in the churches, and were treated in a manner most painful to reflect upon." when mr. labouchere re-introduced the ministerial bill for the repeal of the navigation laws, in the session of , mr. gladstone supported generally the measure in a full and exhaustive speech. he favored the bill with certain modifications. the marquis of granby expressed fears at the consequences of the change proposed, and mr. gladstone answered him: "the noble marquis," he observed, "desired to expel the vapours and exhalations that had been raised with regard to the principle of political economy, and which vapours and exhalations i find for the most part in the fears with which those changes are regarded. the noble marquis consequently hoped that the trojan horse would not be allowed to come within the walls of parliament. but however applicable the figures may be to other plans, it does not, i submit, apply to the mode of proceeding i venture to recommend to the house, because we follow the precedent of what mr. huskisson did before us. therefore more than one moiety of the trojan horse has already got within the citadel--it has been there for twenty-five years, and yet what has proceeded from its bowels has only tended to augment the rate of increase in the progress of your shipping. therefore, let us not be alarmed by vague and dreamy ratiocinations of evil, which had never been wanting on any occasion, and which never will be wanting so long as this is a free state, wherein every man can find full vent and scope for the expression, not only of his principles, but of his prejudices and his fears. let us not be deterred by those apprehensions from giving a calm and serious examination to this question, connected as it is with the welfare of our country. let us follow steadily the light of experience, and be convinced that he who preserved us during the past will also be sufficient to sustain us during all the dangers of the future." mr. disraeli seized the opportunity to make a caustic speech, in which he fiercely attacked both mr. labouchere and mr. gladstone, and alluded sarcastically to their "great sacrifices," and said that the latter was about to give up that good development of the principle of reciprocity which the house had waited for with so much suspense. mr. gladstone replied, "i am perfectly satisfied to bear his sarcasm, good humoured and brilliant as it is, while i can appeal to his judgment as to whether the step i have taken was unbecoming in one who conscientiously differs with him on the freedom of trade, and has endeavoured to realize it; because, so far from its being the cause of the distress of the country, it has been, under the mercy of god, the most signal and effectual means of mitigating this distress, and accelerating the dawn of the day of returning prosperity." mr. gladstone spoke also during the session upon the subject of colonial reform which came before the house on several occasions, and especially in connection with riots in canada; and on a bill for the removal of legal restrictions against marriage with a deceased wife's sister. he opposed the latter measure upon theological, social, and moral grounds, and begged the house to repeat the almost entire sentiment of the country respecting the bill. to do otherwise would be to inflict upon the church the misfortune of having anarchy introduced among its ministers. he hoped they would do all that in them lay to maintain the strictness of the obligations of marriage, and the purity of the hallowed sphere of domestic life. the bill was rejected. in the parliamentary session of one of the chief topics of discussion was the great depression of the agricultural interests of the country. the country was at peace, the revenues were in a good condition, foreign trade had increased, but the farmers still made loud complaints of the disastrous condition, which they attributed to free-trade measures, which they contended had affected the whole of the agricultural interests. consequently, february th, mr. disraeli moved for a committee of the whole house to consider such a revision of the poor laws of the united kingdom as might mitigate the distress of the agricultural classes. some thought that this was a movement against free-trade, but mr. gladstone courted the fullest investigation, and seeing no danger in the motion, voted for it. however, the motion of mr. disraeli was lost. mr. gladstone likewise favored the extension of the benefits of constitutional government to certain of the colonies,--for example as set forth in the australian colonies government bill; and twice during the session he addressed the house on questions connected with slavery, and upon motion of mr. haywood for an inquiry into the state of the english and irish universities, and the government unexpectedly gave their consent to the issuing of a royal commission for the purpose. mr. gladstone said that any person who might be deliberating with himself whether he would devote a portion of his substance for prosecuting the objects of learning, civilization and religion, would be checked by the prospect that at any given time, and under any given circumstances, a minister, who was the creature of a political majority, might institute a state inquiry into the mode in which the funds he might devise were administered. it was not wise to discourage eleemosynary establishments. it would be better for the crown to see what could be done to improve the colleges by administering existing laws. in reviewing the past ten years we exclaim, truly has the period from to , in the political life of mr. gladstone, been called a memorable decade. it was in the year , as we have seen, that the gladstones were plunged into domestic sorrow by the death of their little daughter, catharine jessy; and it was this same year that brought to mr. gladstone another grief from a very different source. this second bereavement was caused by the withdrawal of two of his oldest and most intimate friends, the archdeacon of chichester and mr. j.r. hope, from the protestant episcopal church of england and their union with the roman catholic church. mr. hope, who became hope-scott on succeeding to the estate of abbotsford, was the gentleman who helped mr. gladstone in getting through the press his book on church and state, revising, correcting and reading proof. the archdeacon, afterwards cardinal manning, had, from his undergraduate days, exercised a powerful influence over his contemporaries. he was gifted with maturity of intellect and character, had great shrewdness, much tenacity of will, a cogent, attractive style, combined with an impressive air of authority, to which the natural advantages of person and bearing added force. besides having these qualifications for leadership, he had fervid devotion, enlarged acquaintance with life and men, and an "unequalled gift of administration;" though a priest, he was essentially a statesman, and had at one time contemplated a political career. he was mr. gladstone's most trusted counsellor and most intimate friend. the cause, or rather occasion for these secessions from the church of england to the church of rome, is thus related: "an evangelical clergyman, the rev. g.c. gorham, had been presented to a living in the diocese of exeter; and that truly formidable prelate, bishop phillpotts, refused to institute him, alleging that he held heterodox views on the subject of holy baptism. after complicated litigation, the judicial committee of the privy council decided, on march , , that the doctrine held by the incriminated clergyman was not such as to bar him from preferment in the church of england. this decision naturally created great commotion in the church. men's minds were rudely shaken. the orthodoxy of the church of england seemed to be jeopardized, and the supremacy of the privy council was in a matter touching religious doctrine felt to be an intolerable burden." mr. gladstone, as well as others, was profoundly agitated by these events, and june th he expressed his views in a letter to dr. blomfield, bishop of london. the theme of his letter was, "the royal supremacy, viewed in the light of reason, history and the constitution." he contended that the royal supremacy, as settled at the reformation, was not inconsistent with the spiritual life and inherent jurisdiction of the church, but the recent establishment of the privy council as the ultimate court of appeal in religious causes was "an injurious and even dangerous departure from the reformation settlement." in this letter mr. gladstone said, in summing up: "i find it no part of my duty, my lord, to idolize the bishops of england and wales, or to place my conscience in their keeping. i do not presume or dare to speculate upon their particular decisions; but i say that, acting jointly, publicly, solemnly, responsibly, they are the best and most natural organs of the judicial office of the church in matters of heresy, and, according to reason, history and the constitution, in that subject-matter the fittest and safest counsellors of the crown." but this view regarding the church of england did not suit some minds, and among them the two friends with whom mr. gladstone had, up to this time, acted in religious matters. these troubles in the church so powerfully affected them that they withdrew. the following quotation shows mr. gladstone's firmness in regard to his own choice of the protestant christianity over and above catholicism, in a letter, written in , to mrs. maxwell-scott, of abbotsford, the daughter of his friend hope, he thus writes of an interview had with her father: "it must have been about this time that i had another conversation with him about religion, of which, again, i exactly recollect the spot. regarding (forgive me) the adoption of the roman religion by members of the church of england as nearly the greatest calamity that could befall christian faith in this country, i rapidly became alarmed when these changes began; and very long before the great luminary, dr. newman, drew after him, it may well be said, 'the third part of the stars of heaven.' this alarm i naturally and freely expressed to the man upon whom i most relied, your father." [illustration: gladstone in wales; addressing a meeting at the foot of snowden] chapter viii the neapolitan prisons in considering mr. gladstone's exposure of the cruelties practiced in the prisons of naples, we are confronted with his attitude in the house of commons just before, in a case where the same principles seemed to be involved, and in which mr. gladstone took the directly opposite course. we refer to the don pacifico case. both were at first merely personal questions, but finally became international. mr. gladstone to many appeared to take an inconsistent course in these seemingly similar cases, in that while opposing national intervention in the affairs of don pacifico, he tried to stir up all europe for the relief of the sufferers in the neapolitan prisons. "it is not a little remarkable that the statesman who had so lately and so vigorously denounced the 'vain conception that we, forsooth, have a mission to be the censors of vice and folly, of abuse and imperfection, among the other countries of the world,' should now have found himself irresistibly impelled by conscience and humanity to undertake a signal and effective crusade against the domestic administration of a friendly power." the most memorable debate in the new chamber of the house of commons, which was first occupied in , was that associated with the name of don pacifico. it is however conceded that the circumstances from which it all proceeded were comparatively trivial in the extreme. don pacifico was a maltese jew and a british subject, dwelling at athens. he had made himself distasteful to the people of athens, and consequently his house was destroyed and robbed by a mob, april , . he appealed to the government at athens for redress, demanding over $ , indemnity for the loss of his property, among which "a peculiarly sumptuous bedstead figured largely." don pacifico's claim was unheeded, probably because it was exorbitant and the greek government was poor. lord palmerston was then the foreign secretary of the english government. he was rash and independent in his foreign policy, and often acted, as the queen complained, without consultation and without the authority of the sovereign. the foreign secretary had had other quarrels with the government at athens. land belonging to an english resident in athens had been seized without sufficient compensation; ionian subjects of the english crown had suffered hardships at the hands of the greek authorities, and an english midshipman had been arrested by mistake. lord palmerston looked upon these incidents, slight as they were in themselves, as indicative of a plot on the part of the french minister against the english, and especially as the greek government was so dilatory in satisfying the english claims. "this was enough. the outrage on don pacifico's bedstead remained the head and front of greek offending, but lord palmerston included all the other slight blunders and delays of justice in one sweeping indictment; made the private claims into a national demand, and peremptorily informed the greek government that they must pay what was demanded of them within a given time. the government hesitated, and the british fleet was ordered to the piraeus, and seized all the greek vessels which were found in the waters. russia and france took umbrage at this high-handed proceeding and championed greece. lord palmerston informed them it was none of their business and stood firm. the french ambassador was withdrawn from london, and for awhile the peace of europe was menaced." the execution of the orders of lord palmerston was left with admiral sir william parker, who was first to proceed to athens with the english fleet, and failing to obtain satisfaction was to blockade the piraeus, which instructions he faithfully obeyed. the debate began in parliament june , . the stability of the whig administration, then in power, depended upon the results. in the house of lords, lord stanley moved a resolution, which was carried, expressing regret that "various claims against the greek government, doubtful in point of justice and exaggerated in amount, have been enforced by coercive measures, directed against the commerce and people of greece, and calculated to endanger the continuance of our friendly relations with foreign powers." a counter-resolution was necessary in the house of commons to offset the action of the lords, so a radical, mr. roebuck, much to the surprise of many, came to the defense of the government and offered the following motion, which was carried: "that the principles which have hitherto regulated the foreign policy of her majesty's government are such as were required to preserve untarnished the honor and dignity of this country, and, in times of unexampled difficulty, the best calculated to maintain peace between england and the various nations of the world." the debate which followed, and which was prolonged over four nights, was marked on both sides by speeches of unusual oratorical power and brilliancy. the speeches of lord palmerston, sir robert peel, mr. cockburn, mr. cobden, mr. disraeli and mr. gladstone were pronounced as remarkable orations. sir robert peel made a powerful speech against the ministers, which was made memorable not only for its eloquence, but because it was his last. lord palmerston defended himself vigorously in a speech of five hours' duration. "he spoke," said mr. gladstone, "from the dusk of one day to the dawn of the next." he defended his policy at every point. in every step taken he had been influenced by the sole desire that the meanest, the poorest, even the most disreputable subject of the english crown should be defended by the whole might of england against foreign oppression. he reminded them of all that was implied in the roman boast, _civis romanus sum_, and urged the house to make it clear that a british subject, in whatever land he might be, should feel confident that the watchful eye and the strong arm of england could protect him. this could not be resisted. _civis romanus sum_ settled the question. mr. gladstone's reply was a masterpiece. it was exhaustive and trenchant, and produced a great effect. he first spoke upon the position of the government and the constitutional doctrines which they had laid down in regard to it, and then severely condemned the conduct of the premier for being so heedless of the censure of the house of lords and in trying to shield himself behind the precedents which are in reality no precedents at all. with reference to the greek question, he repudiated precedents which involved the conduct of strong countries against weak ones. the greek government had put no impediment in the way of arbitration. instead of trusting and trying the tribunals of the country and employing diplomatic agency simply as a supplemental resource, lord palmerston had interspersed authority of foreign power, in contravention both of the particular stipulations of the treaty in force between greece and england and of the general principles of the law of nations. he had thus set the mischievous example of abandoning the methods of law and order, and resorted to those of force. non-interference had been laid down as the basis of our conduct towards other nations, but the policy of lord palmerston had been characterized by a spirit of active interference. mr. gladstone's words were in part as follows: "does he [lord palmerston] make the claim for us [the english] that we are to be lifted upon a platform high above the standing-ground of all other nations?... it is indeed too clear ... that he adopts, in part, the vain conception that we, forsooth, have a mission to be the censors of vice and folly, of abuse and imperfection among the other countries of the world; that we are to be the universal schoolmasters, and that all those who hesitate to recognize our office can be governed only by prejudice or personal animosity, and shall have the blind war of diplomacy forthwith declared against them." again: "let us recognize, and recognize with frankness, the equality of the weak with the strong; the principles of brotherhood among nations, and of their sacred independence. when we are asking for the maintenance of the rights which belong to our fellow-subjects, resident in greece, let us do as we would be done by, and let us pay all respect to a feeble state and to the infancy of free institutions.... let us refrain from all gratuitous and arbitrary meddling in the internal concerns of other states, even as we should resent the same interference if it were attempted to be practiced toward ourselves." in this address mr. gladstone evinces his inclination to appeal to the higher and nobler nature of man, to the principles of brotherhood among nations, to the law of god and nature, and to ask as a test of the foreign policy of the government, not whether it is striking, or brilliant, or successful, but whether it is right. this speech of mr. gladstone's was recognized as the finest he had delivered in parliament, and its power was acknowledged by both sides of the house, by political opponent and friend. lord chief justice cockburn, then a member of the house, referring in a speech the following evening to mr. gladstone and his remarkable speech, uttered these words: "i suppose we are now to consider him as the representative of lord stanley in the house--gladstone _vice_ disraeli, am i to say, resigned or superseded?" the government was sustained. we have already stated that it was during this memorable debate that sir robert peel made his last speech.--on the following day, th of june, , sir robert called at buckingham palace for the purpose of leaving his card. on proceeding up constitution hill on horse back he met one of lady dover's daughters, and exchanged salutations. immediately afterwards his horse became restive and shying towards the rails of the green park, threw sir robert sideways on his left shoulder. medical aid was at hand and was at once administered. sir robert groaned when lifted and when asked whether he was much hurt replied, "yes, very much." he was conveyed home where the meeting with his family was very affecting, and he swooned in the arms of his physician. he was placed upon a sofa in the dining-room from which he never moved. his sufferings were so acute that a minute examination of his injuries could not be made. for two or three days he lingered and then died, july d. an examination made after death revealed the fact that the fifth rib on the left side was fractured, the broken rib pressing on the lung, producing effusion and pulmonary engorgement. this was probably the seat of the mortal injury, and was where sir robert complained of the greatest pain. the news of sir robert's death produced a profound sensation throughout the land. great and universal were the tokens of respect and grief. there was but one feeling,--that england had lost one of her most illustrious statesmen. even those who had been in opposition to his views, alluded to the great loss the nation had sustained and paid a fitting tribute to his memory. the house of commons, on motion of mr. hume july d, at once adjourned. in the house of lords the duke of wellington and lord brougham spoke in appreciative words of the departed statesman. "such was the leader whom mr. gladstone had faithfully followed for many years." supporting mr. hume's motion, mr. gladstone said: "i am quite sure that every heart is much too full to allow us, at a period so early, to enter upon a consideration of the amount of that calamity with which the country has been visited in his, i must even now say, premature death; for though he has died full of years and full of honors, yet it is a death which our human eyes will regard as premature; because we had fondly hoped that, in whatever position he was placed, by the weight of his character, by the splendor of his talents, by the purity of his virtues, he would still have been spared to render to his countrymen the most essential services. i will only, sir, quote those most touching and feeling lines which were applied by one of the greatest poets of this country to the memory of a man great indeed, but yet not greater than sir robert peel:" 'now is the stately column broke, the beacon light is quenched in smoke; the trumpet's silver voice is still; the warder silent on the hill.' "sir, i will add no more--in saying this i have, perhaps, said too much. it might have been better had i confined myself to seconding the motion. i am sure the tribute of respect which we now offer will be all the more valuable from the silence with which the motion is received, and which i well know has not arisen from the want, but from the excess of feeling on the part of members of this house." upon the death of sir robert peel began the disintegration of the party distinguished by his name--peelites. some of its members united with the conservatives, and others, such as sir james graham, sidney herbert, and mr. gladstone held themselves aloof from both whigs and tories. conservative traditions still exercised considerable influence over them, but they could not join them, because they were already surrendering to strong liberal tendencies. it is said that mr. gladstone at this time, and for a decade thereafter, until the death of sir james graham, was greatly indebted to this statesman, not only for the growth of his liberal principles, but for his development as a practical statesman. sir james wielded great influence over his contemporaries generally, because of his great knowledge of parliamentary tactics, and the fact that he was the best educated and most thoroughly accomplished statesman of his age. "if he could be prevailed upon to speak in the course of a great debate, his speech was worth fifty votes," so great was his influence and power. "however great may have been the indebtedness of mr. gladstone to sir james graham, if the former had not been possessed of far wider sympathies--to say nothing of superior special intellectual qualities--than his political mentor, he never could have conceived and executed those important legislative acts for which his name will now chiefly be remembered." the other case occupying the attention of parliament, to which we have alluded, we must now consider--mr. gladstone and the prisons of naples. owing to the illness of one of his children, for whom a southern climate was recommended, mr. gladstone spent several months of the winter of - in naples. his brief visit to this city on a purely domestic mission was destined to assume an international importance. it came to his knowledge that a large number of the citizens of naples, who had been members of the chamber of deputies, an actual majority of the representatives of the people, had been exiled or imprisoned by king ferdinand, because they formed the opposition party to the government, and that between twenty and thirty thousand of that monarch's subjects had been cast into prison on the charge of political disaffection. the sympathies of mr. gladstone were at once enlisted in behalf of the oppressed neapolitans. at first mr. gladstone looked at the matter only from a humanitarian and not from a political aspect, and it was only upon the former ground that he felt called and impelled to attempt the redress of the wrongs which were a scandal to the name of civilisation in europe. and it was not long before england and the continent were aroused by his denunciations of the neapolitan system of government. mr. gladstone first carefully ascertained the truth of the statements made to him in order to attest their accuracy, and then published two letters on the subject addressed to the earl of aberdeen. these letters were soon followed by a third. in the first of these letters, dated april , , he brings an elaborate, detailed and horrible indictment against the rulers of naples, especially as regards their prisons and the treatment of persons confined in them for political offenses. he disclaimed any thought of having gone to naples for the purpose of political criticism or censorship, to look for defects in the administration of the government, or to hear the grievances of the people, or to propagate ideas belonging to another country. but after a residence of three or four months in their city he had returned home with a deep feeling of the duty upon him to make some endeavor to mitigate the horrors in the midst of which the government of naples was carried on. there were chiefly three reasons that led him to adopt the present course: "first, that the present practices of the government of naples, in reference to real or supposed political offenders, are an outrage upon religion, upon civilization, upon humanity and upon decency. secondly, that these practices are certainly, and even rapidly, doing the work of republicanism in that country--a political creed which has little natural or habitual root in the character of the people. thirdly, that as a member of the conservative party in one of the great family of european nations, i am compelled to remember that party stands in virtual and real, though perhaps unconscious alliance with all the established governments of europe as such; and that, according to the measure of its influence, they suffer more or less of moral detriment from its reverses, and derive strength and encouragement from its successes." he passed over the consideration of the all important question whether the actual government of the two sicilies was one with or without a title, one of law or one of force, and came to the real question at issue. his charge against the neapolitan government was not one of mere imperfection, not corruption in low quarters, not occasional severity, but that of incessant, systematic, deliberate violation of the law by the power appointed to watch over and maintain it. mr. gladstone, with impassionate language, thus formulates his fearful indictment: "it is such violation of human and written law as this, carried on for the purpose of violating every other law, unwritten and eternal, human and divine; it is the wholesale persecution of virtue, when united with intelligence, operating upon such a scale that entire classes may with truth be said to be its object, so that the government is in bitter and cruel, as well as utterly illegal hostility to whatever in the nation really lives and moves, and forms the mainspring of practical progress and improvement; it is the awful profanation of public religion, by its notorious alliance in the governing powers with the violation of every moral rule under the stimulants of fear and vengeance; it is the perfect prostitution of the judicial office which has made it, under veils only too threadbare and transparent, the degraded recipient of the vilest and clumsiest forgeries, got up wilfully and deliberately, by the immediate advisers of the crown, for the purpose of destroying the peace, the freedom, aye, and even, if not by capital sentences, the life of men among the most virtuous, upright, intelligent, distinguished and refined of the whole community; it is the savage and cowardly system of moral as well as in a lower degree of physical torture, through which the sentences obtained from the debased courts of justice are carried into effect. "the effect of all this is a total inversion of all the moral and social ideas. law, instead of being respected, is odious. force and not affection is the foundation of government. there is no association, but a violent antagonism between the idea of freedom and that of order. the governing power, which teaches of itself that it is the image of god upon earth, is clothed in the view of the overwhelming majority of the thinking public with all the vices for its attributes. i have seen and heard the strong expression used, 'this is the negation of god erected into a system of government.'" it was not merely the large numbers imprisoned unjustly, to which public attention was directed, that called for righteous indignation and made mr. gladstone's words create such a sensation in europe, but the mode of procedure was arbitrary in the extreme. the law of naples required that personal liberty should be inviolable, except under warrant from a court of justice. yet in utter disregard of this law the authorities watched the people, paid domiciliary visits, ransacked houses, seized papers and effects, and tore up floors at pleasure under pretense of searching for arms, imprisoned men by the score, by the hundred, by the thousand without any warrant whatever, sometimes without even any written authority whatever, or anything beyond the word of a policeman, constantly without any statement whatever of the nature of the offense. charges were fabricated to get rid of inconvenient persons. perjury and forgery were resorted to in order to establish charges, and the whole mode of conducting trials was a burlesque of justice. he thus describes the dungeons of naples, in which some of the prisoners were confined for their political opinions: "the prisons of naples, as is well known, are another name for the extreme of filth and horror. i have really seen something of them, but not the worst. this i have seen, my lord: the official doctors not going to the sick prisoners, but the sick prisoners, men almost with death on their faces, toiling up stairs to them at that charnel-house of the vicaria, because the lower regions of such a palace of darkness are too foul and loathsome to allow it to be expected that professional men should consent to earn bread by entering them." of some of those sufferers mr. gladstone speaks particularly. he names pironte, formerly a judge, baron porcari, and carlo poerio, a distinguished patriot. the latter he specially speaks of as a refined and accomplished gentleman, a copious and elegant speaker, a respected and blameless character, yet he had been arrested and condemned for treason. mr. gladstone says: "the condemnation of such a man for treason is a proceeding just as conformable to the laws of truth, justice, decency, and fair play, and to the common sense of the community--in fact, just as great and gross an outrage on them all--as would be a like condemnation in this country of any of our best known public men--lord john russell, or lord lansdowne, or sir james graham, or yourself." there was no name dearer to englishmen than that of poerio to his neapolitan fellow-countrymen. poerio was tried and condemned on the sole accusation of a worthless character named jerrolino. he would have been acquitted nevertheless, by a division of four to five of his judges, had not navarro (who sat as a judge while directly concerned in the charge against the prisoner), by the distinct use of intimidation, procured the number necessary for a sentence. a statement is furnished on the authority of an eye-witness, as to the inhumanity with which invalid prisoners were treated by the grand criminal court of naples; and mr. gladstone minutely describes the manner of the imprisonment of poerio and six of his incarcerated associates. each prisoner bore a weight of chain amounting to thirty-two pounds and for no purpose whatever were these chains undone. all the prisoners were confined, night and day, in a small room, which may be described as amongst the closest of dungeons; but poerio was after this condemned to a still lower depth of calamity and suffering. "never before have i conversed," says mr. gladstone, speaking of poerio, "and never probably shall i converse again, with a cultivated and accomplished gentleman, of whose innocence, obedience to law, and love of his country, i was as firmly and as rationally assured as your lordship's or that of any other man of the very highest character, whilst he stood before me, amidst surrounding felons, and clad in the vile uniform of guilt and shame." but he is now gone where he will scarcely have the opportunity even of such conversation. i cannot honestly suppress my conviction that the object in the case of poerio, as a man of mental power sufficient to be feared, is to obtain the scaffold's aim by means more cruel than the scaffold, and without the outcry which the scaffold would create. mr. gladstone said that it was time for the veil to be lifted from scenes more fit for hell than earth, or that some considerable mitigation should be voluntarily adopted. this letter was published in --the year of the great exposition in london--and a copy was sent to the representative of the queen in every court of europe. its publication caused a wide-spread indignation in england, a great sensation abroad, and profoundly agitated the court of naples. in the english parliament sir de lacy evans put the following question to the foreign secretary: "if the british minister at the court of naples had been instructed to employ his good offices in the cause of humanity, for the diminution of these lamentable severities, and with what result?" in reply to this question lord palmerston accepted and adopted mr. gladstone's statement, which had been confirmed from other quarters, expressing keen sympathy and humanitarian feeling with the cause which he had espoused, but lord palmerston pointed out that it was impossible to do anything in a matter which related entirely to the domestic affairs of the government at naples. he said: "instead of confining himself to those amusements that abound in naples, instead of diving into volcanoes, and exploring excavated cities, we see him going into courts of justice, visiting prisons, descending into dungeons, and examining great numbers of the cases of unfortunate victims of illegality and injustice, with the view afterwards to enlist public opinion in the endeavor to remedy those abuses." this announcement by the foreign secretary was warmly applauded by the house. "a few days afterwards lord palmerston was requested by prince castelcicala to forward the reply of the neapolitan government to the different european courts to which mr. gladstone's pamphlet had been sent. his lordship, with his wonted courage and independent spirit, replied that he 'must decline being accessory to the circulation of a pamphlet which, in my opinion, does no credit to its writer, or the government which he defends, or to the political party of which he professes to be the champion.' he also informed the prince that information received from other sources led him to the conclusion that mr. gladstone had by no means overstated the various evils which he had described; and he [lord palmerston] regretted that the neapolitan government had not set to work earnestly and effectually to correct the manifold and grave abuses which clearly existed." the second paper of mr. gladstone upon the same subject was a sequel to the first. his wish was that everything possible should be done first in the way of private representation and remonstrance, and he did not regret the course he had taken, though it entailed devious delays. in answer to the natural inquiry why he should simply appear in his personal capacity through the press, instead of inviting to the grave and painful question the attention of the house of commons, of which he was a member, he said, that he had advisedly abstained from mixing up his statements with any british agency or influences which were official, diplomatic, or political. the claims and interests which he had in view were either wholly null and valueless, or they were broad as the extension of the human race and long-lived as its duration. as to his general charges he had nothing to retract. his representations had not been too strongly stated, for the most disgraceful circumstances were those which rested upon public notoriety, or upon his own personal knowledge. it had been stated that he had overestimated the number of prisoners, and he would give the neapolitan government the full benefit of any correction. but the number of political prisoners _in itself_, was a secondary feature of the case, for "if they were fairly and legally arrested, fairly and legally treated before trial--fairly and legally tried, that was the main matter. for the honor of human nature men would at first receive some statements with incredulity. men ought to be slow to believe that such things could happen, and happen in a christian country, the seat of almost the oldest european civilization." but those thus disposed in the beginning he hoped would not close their minds to the reception of the truth, however painful to believe. the general probability of his statements could not, unfortunately be gainsaid. many replies were made to mr. gladstone's pamphlet that were violent and abusive. they appeared not only in naples, turin, and paris, but even in london. all these answers, were in truth no replies at all, for they did not disprove the facts. these professed corrections of mr. gladstone's statements did not touch the real basis of the question. it was necessary to say something if possible by way of defense, or justice, which had as yet not been done. there was one reply that was put forth that mr. gladstone felt demanded some attention, namely, the official answer of the neapolitan government to his charges. to this he replied in a letter, in . in his reply he placed, point by point, the answers in the scales along with his own accusations. there was in the neapolitan answers to the letters really a tacit admission of the accuracy of nine-tenths of mr. gladstone's statements, mr. gladstone enumerated the few retractions which he had to make, which were five in number. that the prisoner, settembrine, had not been tortured and confined to double chains for life, as was currently reported and believed; that six judges had been dismissed at reggio upon presuming to acquit a batch of political prisoners, required modifying to three; that seventeen invalids had not been massacred in the prison of procida during a revolt, as stated; and that certain prisoners alleged to have been still incarcerated after acquittal had been released after the lapse of two days. these were all the modifications he had to make in his previous statements. and as to the long list of his grave accusations, not one of them rested upon hearsay. he pointed out how small and insignificant a fraction of error had found its way into his papers. he fearlessly reasserted that agonizing corporal punishment was inflicted by the officials in neapolitan prisons, and that without judicial authority. as to settembrine, the political prisoner named, he was incarcerated in a small room with eight other prisoners, one of whom boasted that he had murdered, at various times, thirty-five persons. several of his victims had been his prison companions, and "the murders of this ergastolo" had exceeded fifty in a single year. it was true that at the massacre at procida the sick had not been slain in the prisons, yet prisoners who hid under beds were dragged forth and shot in cold blood by the soldiery after order had been restored. the work of slaughter had been twice renewed, and two officers received promotion or honors for that abominable enormity. mr. gladstone found in the reply of the government of naples no reason to retract his damaging statements in reference to neapolitan inhumanity, on the other hand he discovered grounds for emphasizing his accusations. and as to his statement regarding the number of the sufferers from neapolitan injustice and cruelty, he defended at length his statement as to the enormous number of the prisoners. it was clear to all candid minds that all the replies had failed to prove him wrong in any of his substantial changes, which retained their full force. "the arrow has shot deep into the mark," observed mr. gladstone, "and cannot be dislodged. but i have sought, in once more entering the field, not only to sum up the state of the facts in the manner nearest to exactitude, but likewise to close the case as i began it, presenting it from first to last in the light of a matter which is not primarily or mainly political, which is better kept apart from parliamentary discussion, which has no connection whatever with any peculiar idea or separate object or interest of england, but which appertains to the sphere of humanity at large, and well deserves the consideration of every man who feels a concern for the well-being of his race, in its bearings on that well-being; on the elementary demands of individual domestic happiness; on the permanent maintenance of public order; on the stability of thrones; on the solution of that great problem, which, day and night, in its innumerable forms must haunt the reflections of every statesman, both here and elsewhere, how to harmonize the old with the new conditions of society, and to mitigate the increasing stress of time and change upon what remains of this ancient and venerable fabric of the traditional civilization of europe." mr. gladstone also said, that the question had been asked, whether a government "could be induced to change its policy, because some individual or other had by lying accusations held it up to the hatred of mankind," yet he had the satisfaction of knowing that upon the challenge of a mere individual, the government of naples had been compelled to plead before the tribunal of general opinion, and to admit the jurisdiction of that tribunal. it was to public sentiment that the neapolitan government was paying deference when it resolved on the manly course of a judicial reply; and he hoped that further deference would be paid to that public sentiment in the complete reform of its departments and the whole future management of its affairs. after a consideration of the political position of the throne of the two sicilies, in connection with its dominions on the mainland, mr. gladstone thus concluded his examination of the official reply of the neapolitan government: "these pages have been written in the hope that, by thus making, through the press, rather than in another mode, that rejoinder to the neapolitan reply which was doubtless due from me, i might still, as far as depended on me, keep the question on its true ground, as one not of politics but of morality, and not of england but of christendom and of mankind. again i express the hope that this may be my closing word. i express the hope that it may not become a hard necessity to keep this controversy alive until it reaches its one only possible issue, which no power of man can permanently intercept. i express the hope that while there is time, while there is quiet, while dignity may yet be saved in showing mercy, and in the blessed work of restoring justice to her seat, the government of naples may set its hand in earnest to the work of real and searching, however quiet and unostentatious, reform; that it may not become unavoidable to reiterate these appeals from the hand of power to the one common heart of mankind; to produce these painful documents, those harrowing descriptions, which might be supplied in rank abundance, of which i have scarcely given the faintest idea or sketch, and which, if laid from time to time before the world, would bear down like a deluge every effort at apology or palliation, and would cause all that has recently been made known to be forgotten and eclipsed in deeper horrors yet; lest the strength of offended and indignant humanity should rise up as a giant refreshed with wine, and, while sweeping away these abominations from the eye of heaven, should sweep away along with them things pure and honest, ancient, venerable, salutary to mankind, crowned with the glories of the past and still capable of bearing future fruit." the original purpose of these letters, though at first not gained, was unmistakable in the subsequent revolution which created a regenerated, free and united italy. the moral influence of such an exposure was incalculable and eventually irresistible. the great italian patriot and liberator of italy, general garibaldi, was known to say that mr. gladstone's protest "sounded the first trumpet call of italian liberty." if france and england had unitedly protested against the neapolitan abuse of power and violation of law, such a protest would have been heard and redress granted, but such joint action was not taken. the letters reached the fourteenth edition and in this edition mr. gladstone said that by a royal decree, issued december , , ninety-one political prisoners had their punishment commuted into perpetual exile from the kingdom of the two sicilies, but that a ministerial order of january , , directed that they should be conveyed to america; that of these ninety-one persons no less than fourteen had died long before in dungeons, and that only sixty-six of them embarked january , , and were taken to cadiz, where they were shipped on board an american sailing vessel, which was to have carried them to new york, but eventually landed them at cork. "eleven men were kept behind, either because it was afterwards thought advisable not to release them, as in the case of longo and delli franci, two artillery officers, who were still in the dungeons of gaeta. whenever the prisoners were too sick to be moved, as was the case with pironti, who was paralytic; or because they were in some provincial dungeons too remote from naples." such was the fate of some of the patriots officially liberated by ferdinand's successor, francis ii. the charges of mr. gladstone against the neapolitan government met with confirmation from another source nearer home. in mr. gladstone translated and published farini's important and bulky work, entitled, "the roman state, from to ." the author, farini, addressed a note to his translator, in which he said that he had dedicated the concluding volume of his work to mr. gladstone, who, by his love of italian letters, and by his deeds of italian charity, had established a relationship with italy in the spirit of those great italian writers who had been their masters in eloquence, in civil philosophy and in national virtue, from dante and macchivelli down to alfieri and gioberti. signor farini endorsed the charges made by mr. gladstone against the neapolitan government. he wrote: "the scandalous trials for high treason still continue at naples; accusers, examiners, judges, false witnesses, all are bought; the prisons, those tombs of the living, are full; two thousand citizens of all ranks and conditions are already condemned to the dungeons, as many to confinement, double that number to exile; the majority guilty of no crime but that of having believed in the oaths made by ferdinand ii. but, in truth, nothing more was needed to press home the indictment." at the period of mr. gladstone's visit to naples there was a growing sentiment throughout italy for italian independence and union. the infamous measures adopted by the king of naples to repress in his own dominions every aspiration after freedom, only succeeded in making the people more determined and the liberty for which they sighed surer in the end. his system of misgovernment went on for a few years longer and was the promoting cause of the revolutionary movements which continually disturbed the whole italian peninsula. a conference was held in paris upon the italian question, which failed to accomplish anything, against which failure count cavour addressed a protest to the french and british governments in april, . afterwards the king of naples and his ministers were remonstrated with, but this was of no avail, only drawing forth an assertion that the sovereign had the right to deal with his own subjects as he pleased. france and england finally withdrew their representatives from naples, and the storm soon afterwards broke. the brilliant success of garibaldi in filled francis ii with terror. he was now, like all evil men, ready to make the most lavish promises of liberal reform to escape the consequences of his misdeeds. however, his repentance came too late. the victorious garibaldi issued a decree ultimately, stating that the two sicilies, which had been redeemed by italian blood, and which had freely elected him their dictator, formed an integral part of one and indivisable italy, under the constitutional king victor emmanuel and his descendants. francis ii was dethroned and expelled from his kingdom by the legitimate fruits of his own hateful policy and that of his predecessor. "count cavour was the brain as garibaldi was the hand of that mighty movement which resulted in the unity of italy," says an english writer, "but as englishmen we may take pride in the fact that not the least among the precipitating causes of this movement was the fearless exposure by mr. gladstone of the cruelties and tyrannies of the neapolitan government." [illustration: gladstone visiting neapolitan prisons.] chapter ix the first budget the precise date at which mr. gladstone became a liberal cannot be determined, but during the parliamentary sessions of and he became finally alienated from the conservative party, although he did not enter the ranks of the liberals for some years afterward. he himself stated that so late as he had not formally left the tory party, nevertheless his advance towards liberalism is very pronounced at this period. it is well for us to trace the important events of these two sessions, for they also lead up to the brilliant financial measures of , which caused mr. gladstone's name to be classed with those of pitt and peel. mr. gladstone's trusted leader was dead, and he was gradually coming forward to take the place in debate of the fallen statesman. when mr. gladstone returned home from italy he found england convulsed over renewed papal aggressions. the pope had, in the preceding september, issued letters apostolic, establishing a roman catholic hierarchy in england, and in which he had mapped out the whole country into papal dioceses. this act of aggression produced a storm of public indignation. it was regarded by the people generally as an attempt to wrest from them their liberties and enslave them. it was looked upon by the protestants indignantly as an attack upon the reformed faith. anglicans resented it as an act which practically denied the jurisdiction and authority of the church of england, established already by law. englishmen, faithfully devoted to the british constitution, which guaranteed the protestant religion, were incensed by this interference with the prerogative of the crown; while all ardent patriots were influenced by the unwarranted and unsolicited interference of a foreign potentate. every element of combustion being present, meetings were held everywhere, inflammatory speeches were made on every public occasion, and patriotic resolutions were passed. pulpit and platform rang with repeated cries of "no popery," and echoed at the lord mayor's banquet, at the guildhall, and even at covent garden theatre in shakesperian strains. the prime minister, lord john russell, published his famous durham letter, addressed to the bishop of durham, rebuking and defying the pope, and charging the whole high church party of the church of england with being the secret allies and fellow-workers of rome. in the beginning of the parliamentary session of lord john russell moved for permission to bring in a bill to counteract the aggressive policy of the church of rome, on account of which aggression of the pope the whole country was well-nigh in a condition of panic. the measure was debated for four days, and was entitled the ecclesiastical faiths bill. it was designed to prevent the assumption by roman catholic prelates of titles taken from any territory or place in england. severe penalties were attached to the use of such titles, and all acts done by, and requests made to, persons under them were to be void. the bill was not well received by some, being thought, on one side too mild and on the other as too stringent. mr. disraeli and mr. gladstone both opposed it; the latter because the change was wanted by english catholics rather than by the vatican. he condemned the vanity and boastful spirit of the papal documents, but contended that his fellow catholic countrymen should not suffer for that. the difficulty of applying it to ireland, where the system objected to already existed, was pointed out. however the preliminary motion was passed by votes against , "this enormous majority," says an english author, "attesting the wide-spread fear of romish machinations." the measure became a law, but it was a dead letter, and was quietly repealed twenty years afterwards at mr. gladstone's request. before, however, the bill was passed a ministerial crisis had intervened. during this session other difficulties were encountered by the ministry. the financial as well as this ecclesiastical question was a problem. the conservatives were strong and compact, and enjoyed the adhesion of the peelites, while the ministerial party was to a great extent demoralized. mr. disraeli, owing to the deep distress that prevailed in the agricultural districts, renewed his motion upon the burdens on land and the inequalities of taxation, and consequently he presented a resolution that it was the duty of the government to introduce measures for the alleviation of the distress without delay. the government admitted the distress, but denied that it was increasing. they attempted to prove that pauperism had decreased in all parts of the kingdom--england, ireland and scotland. commerce was in a most prosperous condition, while the revenues had reached the unexampled amount of $ , , . "sir james graham stigmatized the motion as an attempt to turn out the administration, to dissolve parliament, and to return to protection." the ministry was sustained by a small majority, and was successful in some measures, but soon suffered several minor defeats and finally was forced to retire. one of the successful measures was that introduced by mr. loche king, and opposed by lord john russell, for assimilating the country franchise to that of the boroughs. the budget of the government introduced january th was unpopular. it demanded a renewed lease for three years of the obnoxious income-tax, but promised a partial remission of the window duties, which was a tax upon every window in a house, together with some relief to the agriculturists. the first budget having been rejected a second financial statement was offered later in the session. it imposed a house-tax, withdrew the bonus to agriculturists, repealed the window-tax, but re-demanded the income-tax for three years. the main features of the budget were acceptable to the house, but the government suffered defeat on minor financial questions, which tendered still further to diminish the popularity of the ministry. upon the resignation of lord john russell and his cabinet, in february, , lord stanley was called upon to form a new administration, and mr. gladstone was invited to become a member of the cabinet. lord stanley having failed, lord aberdeen was invited to form a new cabinet, by the queen, with like results. both these gentlemen having declined the task of forming a new administration, lord john russell and his colleagues resumed office, but the reconstructed ministry was soon to receive a fatal blow through lord palmerston, the foreign secretary. on the d of december, , louis napoleon, prince president of the french republic, by a single act of lawless violence, abolished the constitution, and made himself dictator. the details of this monstrous deed, and of the bloodshed that accompanied it, created a profound sensation in england. the queen was very anxious that no step should be taken and no word said by her ministry which could be construed into an approval by the english government of what had been done. indeed the queen who knew the failing of her foreign secretary to act hastily in important matters of state without the consent or advice of queen or cabinet, questioned the premier and was assured that nothing had been done in recognition of the new government in paris. indeed the cabinet had passed a resolution to abstain from the expression of opinions in approval or disapproval of the recent _coup d'état_ in france. but it soon leaked out that lord palmerston who thought he understood full well the foreign relations of england, and what her policy should be, had both in public dispatches and private conversation spoken favorably of the policy adopted by louis napoleon. he had even expressed to count walewski, the french ambassador in london, his entire approval of the prince president's act. this was too much for the queen, who had as early as the august before, in a memorandum sent to the premier, imperatively protested against the crown's being ignored by the foreign secretary, so lord palmerston was dismissed from office by lord john russell, christmas eve, . he bore his discharge with meekness, and even omitted in parliament to defend himself in points where he was wronged. but justin mccarthy says: "lord palmerston was in the wrong in many if not most of the controversies which had preceded it; that is to say, he was wrong in committing england as he so often did to measures which had not the approval of the sovereign or his colleagues." in february following, , lord palmerston enjoyed, as he expressed it, his "tit-for-tat with johnny russell" and helped the tories to defeat his late chief in a measure for reorganizing the militia as a precaution against possible aggression from france. the ministry had not saved itself by the overthrow of lord palmerston. upon the retirement of lord john russell from office, in , the earl of derby, formerly lord stanley, succeeded him as prime minister. mr. gladstone was invited to become a member of the new tory cabinet, but declined, whereupon lord malmesbury dubiously remarked, november th: "i cannot make out gladstone, who seems to me a dark horse." mr. disraeli was chosen chancellor of the exchequer, and became leader in the house of commons, entering the cabinet for the first time. "there was a scarcely disguised intention to revive protection." it was free trade or protection, and the peelites defended their fallen leader, peel. "a makeshift budget" was introduced by mr. disraeli and passed. it was destined, it seems, that the derby administration was not to be supported, but to be driven out of power by mr. gladstone, who was to cross swords before the nation with his future parliamentary rival, disraeli. mr. disraeli seemed now bent upon declaring the free trade policy of sir robert peel a failure. mr. disraeli's power of forgetfulness of the past is one of the most fortunate ever conferred upon a statesman. during the debate he declared that the main reason why his party had opposed free trade was not that it would injure the landlord, nor the farmer, but that "it would prove injurious to the cause of labor." "he also said, though interrupted by cries of astonishment and of 'oh, oh!' that not a single attempt had been made in the house of commons to abrogate the measure of ." mr. sidney herbert, who was wounded to the quick by the assaults on sir robert peel, rose to defend the great conservative statesman. his speech contained one passage of scathing invective addressed to mr. disraeli. mr. herbert said: "the memory of sir robert peel requires no vindication--his memory is embalmed in the grateful recollection of the people of this country; and i say, if ever retribution is wanted--for it is not words that humiliate, but deeds--if a man wants to see humiliation, which god knows is always a painful sight, he need but look there!"--and upon this mr. herbert pointed with his finger to mr. disraeli sitting on the treasury bench. the sting of invective is truth, and mr. herbert certainly spoke daggers if he used none; yet the chancellor of the exchequer sat impassive as a sphinx. parliament was dissolved soon after the formation of the new government, july , , and during the recess, september , , the duke of wellington passed away and a public funeral was given the victor of waterloo. on the assembling of parliament mr. gladstone delivered a eulogy on the duke, drawing special lessons from his illustrious career, which had been prolonged to a green old age. mr. gladstone said: "while many of the actions of his life, while many of the qualities he possessed, are unattainable by others, there are lessons which we may all derive from the life and actions of that illustrious man. it may never be given to another subject of the british crown to perform services so brilliant as he performed; it may never be given to another man to hold the sword which was to gain the independence of europe, to rally the nations around it, and while england saved herself by her constancy, to save europe by her example; it may never be given to another man, after having attained such eminence, after such an unexampled series of victories, to show equal moderation in peace as he has shown greatness in war, and to devote the remainder of his life to the cause of internal and external peace for that country which he has so well served; it may never be given to another man to have equal authority, both with the sovereign he served and with the senate of which he was to the end a venerated member; it may never be given to another man after such a career to preserve, even to the last, the full possession of those great faculties with which he was endowed, and to carry on the services of one of the most important departments of the state with unexampled regularity and success, even to the latest day of his life. these are circumstances, these are qualities, which may never occur again in the history of this country. but these are qualities which the duke of wellington displayed, of which we may all act in humble imitation: that sincere and unceasing devotion to our country; that honest and upright determination to act for the benefit of the country on every occasion; that devoted loyalty, which, while it made him ever anxious to serve the crown, never induced him to conceal from the sovereign that which he believed to be the truth; that devotedness in the constant performance of duty; that temperance of his life, which enabled him at all times to give his mind and his faculties to the services which he was called on to perform; that regular, consistent, and unceasing piety by which he was distinguished at all times of his life; these are qualities that are attainable by others, and these are qualities which should not be lost as an example." at this session of parliament mr. disraeli brought forward his second budget in a five hour speech. the new chancellor of the exchequer proposed to remit a portion of the taxes upon malt, tea, and sugar, but to counterbalance these losses he also proposed to extend the income-tax and house-tax. the debate, which was very personal, was prolonged several days, and mr. disraeli, towards its close, bitterly attacked several members, among them sir james graham, whom mr. gladstone not only defended, but in so doing administered a scathing rebuke to the chancellor for his bitter invective and personal abuse. mr. gladstone's speech at the close of mr. disraeli's presentation was crushing, and was generally regarded as giving the death-blow to this financial scheme. mr. gladstone told mr. disraeli that he was not entitled to charge with insolence men of as high position and of as high character in the house as himself, and when the cheers which had interrupted him had subsided, concluded: "i must tell the right honorable gentleman that he is not entitled to say to my right honorable friend, the member for carlisle, that he regards but does not respect him. and i must tell him that whatever else he has learnt--and he has learnt much--he has not learnt to keep within those limits of discretion, of moderation, and of forbearance that ought to restrain the conduct and language of every member in this house, the disregard of which, while it is an offence in the meanest amongst us, is an offence of tenfold weight when committed by the leader of the house of commons." the thrilling scene enacted in the house of commons on that memorable night is thus described: "in the following month the chancellor of the exchequer produced his second budget. it was an ambitious and a skillful attempt to reconcile conflicting interests, and to please all while offending none. the government had come into office pledged to do something for the relief of the agricultural interests. they redeemed their pledge by reducing the duty on malt. this reduction created a deficit; and they repaired the deficit by doubling the duty on inhabited houses. unluckily, the agricultural interests proved, as usual, ungrateful to its benefactors, and made light of the reduction on malt; while those who were to pay for it in double taxation were naturally indignant. the voices of criticism, 'angry, loud, discordant voices,' were heard simultaneously on every side. the debate waxed fast and furious. in defending his hopeless proposals, mr. disraeli gave full scope to his most characteristic gift; he pelted his opponents right and left with sarcasms, taunts, and epigrams, and went as near personal insult as the forms of parliament permit. he sat down late at night, and mr. gladstone rose in a crowded and excited house to deliver an unpremeditated reply which has ever since been celebrated. even the cold and colorless pages of 'hansard' show signs of the excitement under which he labored, and of the tumultuous applause and dissent by which his opening sentences were interrupted. 'the speech of the chancellor of the exchequer,' he said, 'must be answered on the moment. it must be tried by the laws of decency and propriety.'" he indignantly rebuked his rival's language and demeanor. he reminded him of the discretion and decorum due from every member, but pre-eminently due from the leader of the house. he tore his financial scheme to ribbons. it was the beginning of a duel which lasted till death removed one of the combatants from the political arena. 'those who had thought it impossible that any impression could be made upon the house after the speech of mr. disraeli had to acknowledge that a yet greater impression was produced by the unprepared reply of mr. gladstone.' the house divided and the government were left in a minority of nineteen. this happened in the early morning of december , . within an hour of the division lord derby wrote to the queen a letter announcing his defeat and the consequences which it must entail, and that evening at osborne he placed his formal resignation in her majesty's hands. it is related as an evidence of the intense excitement, if not frenzy, that prevailed at the time, that mr. gladstone met with indignity at his club. greville, in his "memoirs," says that, "twenty ruffians of the carleton club" had given a dinner to major beresford, who had been charged with bribery at the derby election and had escaped with only a censure, and that "after dinner, when they were drunk, they went up stairs and finding mr. gladstone alone in the drawing-room, some of them proposed to throw him out of the window. this they did not quite dare to do, but contented themselves with giving some insulting message or order to the waiter and then went away." mr. gladstone, however, remained a member of the club until he joined the whig administration in . mr. gladstone's crushing _exposé_ of the blunders of mr. disraeli's budget was almost ludicrous in its completeness, and it was universally felt that the scheme could not survive his brilliant attack. the effect that the merciless criticism of disraeli's budget was not only the discomfiture of mr. disraeli and the overthrow of the russell administration, but the elevation of mr. gladstone to the place vacated by chancellor disraeli. the earl of aberdeen became prime minister. the new government was a coalition of whigs and peelites, with a representative of the radicals in the person of sir william molesworth. mr. gladstone, the duke of newcastle, sir james graham and mr. sidney herbert were the peelites in the cabinet. mr. gladstone was chosen chancellor of the exchequer. we may refer here to a letter of mr. gladstone, written christmas, , in order to show his growing liberalism. the letter was to dr. skinner, bishop of aberdeen and primus, on the positions and functions of the laity in the church. this letter is remarkable, because, as dr. charles wordsworth, bishop of st. andrew's, said at the time, "it contained the germ of liberation and the political equality of all religions." the bishop published a controversial rejoinder, which drew from dr. gaisford, dean of christ church, these emphatic words: "you have proved to my satisfaction that this gentleman is unfit to represent the university," meaning the representation for oxford in parliament. this feeling was growing, for when the russell ministry fell and it became necessary for mr. gladstone, because he accepted a place in the cabinet, to appeal for re-election to his constituents at oxford, he met with much opposition, because of his liberalism. appealing to his university to return him, and endorse his acceptance of office in the new ministry of the earl of aberdeen, mr. gladstone soon discovered that he had made many enemies by his manifest tendencies toward liberal-conservatism. he had given unmistakable evidence that he held less firmly the old traditions of that unbending toryism of which he was once the most promising representative. lord derby, whom he had deposed, had been elected chancellor of the university to succeed the duke of wellington, deceased. consequently his return to the house was ardently contested. his opponents looked around for a candidate of strong conservative principles. the marquis of chandos, who was first elected, declined to run in opposition to mr. gladstone; but at length a suitable opponent was found in mr. dudley perceval, of christ church, son of the right hon. spencer perceval, who was nominated january th. dr. hawkins, provost of oriel, one of the twenty colleges of oxford, proposed mr. gladstone, and archdeacon denison, leader of the high church party, proposed mr. dudley perceval. according to the custom at university elections, neither candidate was present. it was objected to mr. gladstone that he had voted improperly on ecclesiastical questions, and had accepted office in "a hybrid ministry." the "times" described mr. perceval as "a very near relative of our old friend mrs. harris. to remove any doubt on this point, let him be exhibited at exeter hall with the documentary evidence of his name, existence and history; his first-class, his defeat at finsbury, his talents, his principles. if we must go to oxford to record our votes it would at least be something to know that we were voting against a real man and not a mere name." the "morning chronicle," on the other hand, affirmed that a section of the carleton club were "making a tool of the oxford convocation for the purpose of the meanest and smallest political rancor against mr. gladstone." mr. gladstone, who fought the battle on ecclesiastical lines, wrote, after the nomination, to the chairman of his election committee, as follows: "unless i had a full and clear conviction that the interests of the church, whether as relates to the legislative functions of parliament, or the impartial and wise recommendation of fit persons to her majesty for high ecclesiastical offices, were at least as safe in the hands of lord aberdeen as in those of lord derby (though i would on no account disparage lord derby's personal sentiments towards the church), i should not have accepted office under lord aberdeen. as regards the second, if it be thought that during twenty years of public life, or that during the latter part of them, i have failed to give guarantees of attachment to the interests of the church--to such as so think i can offer neither apology nor pledge. to those who think otherwise, i tender the assurance that i have not by my recent assumption of office made any change whatever in that particular, or in any principles relating to it." mr. gladstone was again elected by a fair majority and returned to parliament. seventy-four of the professors voted for mr. gladstone and fifteen for mr. perceval. when parliament assembled the earl of aberdeen announced in the house of lords that the measures of the government would be both conservative and liberal,--at home to maintain free trade principles and to pursue the commercial and financial system of the late sir robert peel, and abroad to secure the general peace of europe without relaxing defensive measures. mr. gladstone had already proved himself to have a wonderful mastery of figures, and the confused technicalities of finance. he did not disappoint the hopes of his friends in regard to his fiscal abilities. on the contrary, he speedily inaugurated a new and brilliant era in finance. previous to presenting his first budget, in , mr. gladstone brought forward a scheme for the reduction of the national debt, which was approved by radicals as well as conservatives, and adopted by the house. the scheme worked most successfully until the breaking out of the crimean war. during this very short period of two years the public debt was reduced by more than $ , , . in consequence of his general reputation and also of this brilliant financial scheme, the first budget of mr. gladstone was waited for with intense interest. his first budget was introduced april , . it was one of his greatest budgets, and for statesmanlike breadth of conception it has never been surpassed. in bringing it forward mr. gladstone spoke five hours, and during that length of time held the house spellbound. the speech was delivered with the greatest ease, and was perspicuity itself throughout. even when dealing with the most abstruse financial detail his language flowed on without interruption, and he never paused for a word. "here was an orator who could apply all the resources of a burnished rhetoric to the elucidation of figures; who could make pippins and cheese interesting and tea serious; who could sweep the widest horizon of the financial future and yet stoop to bestow the minutest attention on the microcosm of penny stamps and post-horses. the members on the floor and ladies in the gallery of the house listened attentively and showed no signs of weariness throughout." a contemporary awarded to him the palm for unsurpassed fluency and choice of diction, and says: "the impression produced upon the minds of the crowded and brilliant assembly by mr. gladstone's evident mastery and grasp of the subject, was, that england had at length found a skillful financier, upon whom the mantle of peel had descended. the cheering when the right honorable gentleman sat down was of the most enthusiastic and prolonged character, and his friends and colleagues hastened to tender him their warm congratulations upon the distinguished success he had achieved in his first budget." the budget provided for the gradual reduction of the income tax to expire in ; for an increase in the duty on spirits; for the abolition of the soap duties; the reduction of the tax on cabs and hackney coaches; the introduction of the penny receipt stamp and the equalization of the assessed taxes on property. by these provisions it was proposed to make life easier and cheaper for large and numerous classes. the duty on articles was abolished and the duty on others reduced, the total relief amounting to $ , , . mr. gladstone gave a clear exposition of the income tax, which he declared was never intended to be permanent. it had been the last resort in times of national danger, and he could not consent to retain it as a part of the permanent and ordinary finances of the country. it was objectionable on account of its unequal incidence, of the harassing investigation into private affairs which it entailed and of the frauds to which it inevitably led. the value of the reduction in the necessities of life proposed by mr. gladstone is seen from the following from a contemporary writer: "the present budget, more than any other budget within our recollection, is a cupboard budget; otherwise, a poor man's budget. with certain very ugly features, the thing has altogether a good, hopeful aspect, together with very fair proportions. it is not given to any chancellor of the exchequer to make a budget fascinating as a fairy tale. nevertheless, there are visions of wealth and comfort in the present budget that mightily recommend it to us. it seems to add color and fatness to the poor man's beef; to give flavor and richness to the poor man's plum-pudding. the budget is essentially a cupboard budget; and let the name of gladstone be, for the time at least, musical at the poor man's fireside." it unquestionably established gladstone as the foremost financier of his day. greville, in his "memoirs," says of him: "he spoke for five hours; and by universal consent it was one of the grandest displays and most able financial statements that ever was heard in the house of commons; a great scheme, boldly and skillfully and honestly devised, disdaining popular clamor and pressure from without, and the execution of its absolute perfection." we reproduce some extracts from this important speech: "depend upon it, when you come to close quarters with this subject, when you come to measure and test the respective relations of intelligence and labor and property in all their myriad and complex forms, and when you come to represent those relations in arithmetical results, you are undertaking an operation of which i should say it was beyond the power of man to conduct it with satisfaction, but which, at any rate, is an operation to which you ought not constantly to recur; for if, as my noble friend once said with universal applause, this country could not bear a revolution once a year, i will venture to say that it cannot bear a reconstruction of the income tax once a year. "whatever you do in regard to the income tax, you must be bold, you must be intelligible, you must be decisive. you must not palter with it. if you do, i have striven at least to point out as well as my feeble powers will permit, the almost desecration i would say, certainly the gross breach of duty to your country, of which you will be found guilty, in thus putting to hazard one of the most potent and effective among all its material resources. i believe it to be of vital importance, whether you keep this tax or whether you part with it, that you should either keep it or should leave it in a state in which it will be fit for service on an emergency, and that it will be impossible to do if you break up the basis of your income tax. "if the committee have followed me, they will understand that we found ourselves on the principle that the income-tax ought to be marked as a temporary measure; that the public feeling that relief should be given to intelligence and skill as compared with property ought to be met, and may be met with justice and with safety, in the manner we have pointed out; that the income tax in its operation ought to be mitigated by every rational means, compatible with its integrity; and, above all, that it should be associated in the last term of its existence, as it was in the first, with those remissions of indirect taxation which have so greatly redoubled to the profit of this country and have set so admirable an example--an example that has already in some quarters proved contagious to the other nations of the earth, these are the principles on which we stand, and these the figures. i have shown you that if you grant us the taxes which we ask, to the moderate amount of £ , , in the whole, much less than that sum for the present year, you, or the parliament which may be in existence in , will be in the condition, if it shall so think fit, to part with the income tax." sir, i scarcely dare to look at the clock, shamefully reminding me, as it must, how long, how shamelessly, i have trespassed on the time of the committee. all i can say in apology is that i have endeavored to keep closely to the topics which i had before me-- --immensum spatiis confecimus aequor, et jam tempus equum fumantia solvere colla. "these are the proposals of the government. they may be approved or they may be condemned, but i have at least this full and undoubting confidence, that it will on all hands be admitted that we have not sought to evade the difficulties of our position; that we have not concealed those difficulties, either from ourselves or from others; that we have not attempted to counteract them by narrow or flimsy expedients; that we have prepared plans which, if you will adopt them, will go some way to close up many vexed financial questions--questions such as, if not now settled, may be attended with public inconvenience, and even with public danger, in future years and under less favorable circumstances; that we have endeavored, in the plans we have now submitted to you, to make the path of our successors in future years not more arduous but more easy; and i may be permitted to add that, while we have sought to do justice, by the changes we propose in taxation, to intelligence and skill as compared with property--while we have sought to do justice to the great laboring community of england by furthering their relief from indirect taxation, we have not been guided by any desire to put one class against another. we have felt we should best maintain our own honor, that we should best meet the views of parliament, and best promote the interests of the country, by declining to draw any invidious distinctions between class and class, by adapting it to ourselves as a sacred aim to differ and distribute--burden if we must, benefit if we may--with equal and impartial hand; and we have the consolation of believing that by proposals such as these we contribute, as far as in us lies, not only to develop the material resources of the country, but to knit the hearts of the various classes of this great nation yet more closely than heretofore to that throne and to those institutions under which it is their happiness to live." it is seldom that a venture of such magnitude as mr. gladstone's first budget meets with universal success. but from the outset the plan was received with universal favor. besides the plaudits with which the orator was greeted at the conclusion of his speech, his proposals were received favorably by the whole nation. being constructed upon free trade principles, it was welcomed by the press and the country. it added greatly, not only to the growing reputation of the new chancellor of the exchequer as a financier, but also to his popularity. the following anecdote of mr. gladstone is told by walter jerrold and is appropriate as well as timely here: "during mr. gladstone's first tenure of office as chancellor of the exchequer, a curious adventure occurred to him in the london offices of the late mr. w. lindsay, merchant, shipowner and m.p. there one day entered a brusque and wealthy shipowner of sunderland, inquiring for mr. lindsay. as mr. lindsay was out, the visitor was requested to wait in an adjacent room, where he found a person busily engaged in copying some figures. the sunderland shipowner paced the room several times and took careful note of the writer's doings, and at length said to him, 'thou writes a bonny hand, thou dost.' "'i am glad you think so,' was the reply. "'ah, thou dost. thou makes thy figures weel. thou'rt just the chap i want.' "'indeed!' said the londoner. "'yes, indeed,' said the sunderland man. 'i'm a man of few words. noo, if thou'lt come over to canny ould sunderland thou seest i'll give thee a hundred and twenty pounds a year, and that's a plum thou dost not meet with every day in thy life, i reckon. noo then.' "the londoner replied that he was much obliged for the offer, and would wait till mr. lindsay returned, whom he would consult upon the subject. accordingly, on the return of the latter, he was informed of the shipowner's tempting offer. "'very well,' said mr. lindsay, 'i should be sorry to stand in your way. one hundred and twenty pounds is more than i can afford to pay you in the department in which you are at present placed. you will find my friend a good and kind master, and, under the circumstances, the sooner you know each other the better. allow me, therefore, mr.----, to introduce you to the right hon. w. e. gladstone, chancellor of the exchequer.' the sunderland shipowner was a little taken aback at first, but he soon recovered his self-possession, and enjoyed the joke quite as much as mr. gladstone did." chapter x the crimean war the crimean war, the great event with which the aberdeen cabinet was associated, was a contest between russia and turkey, england and france. a dispute which arose between russia and turkey as to the possession of the holy places of jerusalem was the precipitating cause. for a long time the greek and the latin churches had contended for the possession of the holy land. russia supported the claim of the greek church, and france that of the papal church. the czar claimed a protectorate over all the greek subjects of the porte. russia sought to extend her conquests south and to seize upon turkey. france and england sustained turkey. sardinia afterwards joined the anglo-french alliance. the people of england generally favored the war, and evinced much enthusiasm at the prospect of it. lord aberdeen and mr. gladstone wished england to stand aloof. the peelite members of the cabinet were generally less inclined to war than the whigs. lord palmerston and lord john russell favored england's support of turkey. some thought that england could have averted the war by pursuing persistently either of two courses: to inform turkey that england would give her no aid; or to warn russia that if she went to war, england would fight for turkey. but with a ministry halting between two opinions, and the people demanding it, england "drifted into war" with russia. july , , the russian troops crossed the pruth and occupied the danubian principalities which had been by treaty, in , evacuated by turkey and russia, and declared by both powers neutral territory between them. london was startled, october , , by a telegram announcing that the sultan had declared war against russia. england and france jointly sent an _ultimatum_ to the czar, to which no answer was returned. march , , england declared war. on the th of march, while great excitement prevailed and public meetings were held throughout england, declaring for and against war, mr. gladstone made an address on the occasion of the inauguration of the statue of sir robert peel, at manchester. he spoke of the designs of russia, and described her as a power which threatened to override all other powers, and as a source of danger to the peace of the world. against such designs, seen in russia's attempt to overthrow the ottoman empire, england had determined to set herself at whatever cost. war was a calamity that the government did not desire to bring upon the country, "a calamity which stained the face of nature with human gore, gave loose rein to crime, and took bread from the people. no doubt negotiation is repugnant to the national impatience at the sight of injustice and oppression; it is beset with delay, intrigue, and chicane; but these are not so horrible as war, if negotiation can be made to result in saving this country from a calamity which deprives the nation of subsistence and arrests the operations of industry. to attain that result ... her majesty's ministers have persevered in exercising that self-command and that self-restraint which impatience may mistake for indifference, feebleness or cowardice, but which are truly the crowning greatness of a great people, and which do not evince the want of readiness to vindicate, when the time comes, the honor of this country." in november a conference of some of the european powers was held at vienna to avert the war by mediating between russia and turkey, but was unsuccessful. mr. gladstone said: "austria urged the two leading states, england and france, to send in their _ultimatum_ to russia, and promised it her decided support.... prussia at the critical moment, to speak in homely language, bolted.... in fact, she broke up the european concert, by which france and england had hoped to pull down the stubbornness of the czar." mr. gladstone had opposed the war, not only on humanitarian and christian grounds, but also because the preparation of a war budget overthrew all his financial schemes and hopes; a new budget was necessary, and he as chancellor of the exchequer must prepare it. knowing that the struggle was inevitable, he therefore bent his energies to the task and conceived a scheme for discharging the expenses of the war out of the current revenue, provided it required no more than ten million pounds extra, so that the country should not be permanently burdened. it would require to do this the imposition of fresh taxes. "it thus fell to the lot of the most pacific of ministers, the devotee of retrenchment, and the anxious cultivator of all industrial arts, to prepare a war budget, and to meet as well as he might the exigencies of a conflict which had so cruelly dislocated all the ingenious devices of financial optimism." mr. gladstone afterwards moved for over six and a half millions of pounds more than already granted, and proposed a further increase in the taxes. mr. disraeli opposed mr. gladstone's budget. he devised a scheme to borrow and thus increase the debt. he opposed the imposition of new taxes. mr. gladstone said: "every good motive and every bad motive, combated only by the desire of the approval of honorable men and by conscientious rectitude--every motive of ease, comfort, and of certainty spring forward to induce a chancellor of the exchequer to become the first man to recommend a loan." mr. gladstone was sustained. the war had begun in earnest. the duke of newcastle received a telegram on the st of september announcing that , english troops, , french and turks had landed safely at eupatoria "without meeting with any resistance, and had already begun to march upon sebastopol." the war was popular with the english people, but the ministry of lord aberdeen, which inaugurated it, was becoming unpopular. this became apparent in the autumn of . there were not actual dissensions in the cabinet, but there was great want of harmony as to the conduct of the war. the queen knew with what reluctance lord aberdeen had entered upon the war, but she had the utmost confidence in him as a man and a statesman. she was most desirous that the war be prosecuted with vigor, and trusted the premier for the realization of her hopes and those of the nation, but unity in the cabinet was necessary for the successful prosecution of the war. parliament assembled december , , "under circumstances more stirring and momentous than any which had occurred since the year of waterloo." the management of the war was the main subject under discussion. the english troops had covered themselves with glory in the battles of alma, balaclava and inkermann. but the sacrifice was great. thousands were slain and homes made desolate, while the british army was suffering greatly, and the sick and wounded were needing attention. half a million pounds were subscribed in three months, and miss florence nightingale with thirty-seven lady nurses, soon to be reinforced by fifty more, set out at once for the seat of war to nurse the sick and wounded soldiers. it is recorded that "they reached scutari on the th of november, in time to receive the soldiers who had been wounded at the battle of balaclava. on the arrival of miss nightingale the great hospital at scutari, in which up to this time all had been chaos and discomfort, was reduced to order, and those tender lenitives which only woman's thought and woman's sympathy can bring to the sick man's couch, were applied to solace and alleviate the agonies of pain or the torture of fever and prostration." it was natural to attribute the want of proper management to the ministry, and hence the government found itself under fire. in the house of lords the earl of derby condemned the inefficient manner in which the war had been carried on, the whole conduct of the ministry in the war, and the insufficiency of the number of troops sent out to check the power of russia. the duke of newcastle replied, and while not defending all the actions of the ministry during the war, yet contended that the government were prepared to prosecute it with resolve and unflinching firmness. while not standing ready to reject overtures of peace, they would not accept any but an honorable termination of the war. the ministry relied upon the army, the people, and upon their allies with the full confidence of ultimate success. mr. disraeli, in the house of commons, attacked the policy of the ministry from beginning to end. everything was a blunder or a mishap of some description or other; the government had invaded russia with , troops without providing any provision for their support. when the house of commons assembled, in january, , it became apparent that there was a determination to sift to the bottom the charges that had been made against the ministry regarding their manner of carrying on the war. the queen expressed her sympathy for lord aberdeen, who was in a most unenviable position. motions hostile to the government were introduced in the house of lords, while in the house of commons mr. roebuck moved for a select committee "to inquire into the condition of the army before sebastopol, and into the conduct of those departments of the government whose duty it has been to minister to the wants of the army." lord john russell resigned his office and left his colleagues to face the vote. he could not see how mr. roebuck's motion could be resisted. this seemed to portend the downfall of the ministry. the duke of newcastle, secretary of war, offered to retire to save the government. lord palmerston believed that the breaking up of the ministry would be a calamity to the country, but he doubted the expediency of the retirement of the duke of newcastle, and his own fitness for the place of minister of war, if vacated. finally the cabinet resolved to hold together, except lord john russell. in the debate it was declared that the condition of things at the seat of war was exaggerated; but the speech of mr. stafford caused a great sensation. he described the sufferings which he declared he had himself witnessed. he summed up by quoting the language of a french officer, who said: "you seem, sir, to carry on war according to the system of the middle ages." the situation of the ministry was critical before, but this speech seemed to make sure the passage of the resolutions. it was under all these depressing circumstances that mr. gladstone rose to defend himself and his colleagues. in a fine passage he thus described what the position of the cabinet would have been if they had shrunk from their duty: "what sort of epitaph would have been written over their remains? he himself would have written it thus: here lie the dishonored ashes of a ministry which found england at peace and left it in war, which was content to enjoy the emoluments of office and to wield the sceptre of power so long as no man had the courage to question their existence. they saw the storm gathering over the country; they heard the agonizing accounts which were almost daily received of the state of the sick and wounded in the east. these things did not move them. but as soon as the honorable member for sheffield raised his hand to point the thunderbolt, they became conscience-stricken with a sense of guilt, and, hoping to escape punishment, they ran away from duty." this eloquent passage was received with tumultuous cheers. mr. gladstone claimed that there had been many exaggerations as to the state of the army and there were then more than , british troops under arms before sebastopol. the administration of the war department at home was no doubt defective, but he declined to admit that it had not improved, or that it was as bad as to deserve formal censure, and the duke of newcastle did not merit the condemnation sought to be cast on him as the head of the war department. mr. disraeli was eagerly heard when he rose to speak. he said that the government admitted that they needed reconstruction, and that now the house was called upon to vote confidence in the administration. it was not the duke of newcastle nor the military system, but the policy of the whole cabinet which he characterized as a "deplorable administration." the result of the vote was a strange surprise to all parties, and one of the greatest ever experienced in parliamentary history. the vote for mr. roebuck's committee was ; and against it, ; a majority against the ministry of . "the scene was a peculiar and probably an unparalleled one. the cheers which are usually heard from one side or the other of the house on the numbers of a division being announced, were not forthcoming. the members were for a moment spellbound with astonishment, then there came a murmur of amazement and finally a burst of general laughter." the resignation of the aberdeen ministry was announced february st, the duke of newcastle stating that it had been his intention to give up the office of secretary of war whether mr. roebuck's resolution had passed or not. thus was overthrown the famous coalition cabinet of lord aberdeen--one of the most brilliant ever seen--a cabinet distinguished for its oratorical strength, and for the conspicuous abilities of its chief members. mr. gladstone, who was the most distinguished peelite in the cabinet, certainly could not, up to this period, be suspected of lukewarmness in the prosecution of the war. lord palmerston formed a reconstructed rather than a new cabinet. mr. gladstone and his friends at first declined to serve in the new cabinet, out of regard for the duke of newcastle and lord aberdeen, the real victims of the adverse vote. but these noblemen besought mr. gladstone not to let his personal feelings stand in the way of his own interests, and not to deprive the country of his great services, so he resumed office as chancellor of the exchequer. lord palmerston had been regarded as the coming man, and his name carried weight upon the continent and at home. but the new ministry was surrounded by serious difficulties, and did not pull together very long. the war minister, lord panmure, entered upon his duties with energy, and proposed, february th, his remedy for existing evils; but on the th of february mr. layard in the house of commons said, "the country stood on the brink of ruin--it had fallen into the abyss of disgrace and become the laughing-stock of europe." he declared that the new ministry differed little from the last. lord palmerston, in answer to inquiries, lamented the sufferings of the army and confessed that mishaps had been made, but the present ministry had come forward in an emergency and from a sense of public duty, and he believed would obtain the confidence of the country. but another strange turn in events was at hand. mr. roebuck gave notice of the appointment of his committee. hostility to the ministry was disclaimed, but mr. gladstone, sir james graham and mr. sidney herbert took the same view of the question they had previously taken. they were opposed to the investigation as a dangerous breach of a great constitutional principle, and if the committee was granted, it would be a precedent from whose repetition the executive could never again escape, however unreasonable might be the nature of the demand. they therefore retired from office. the report of the committee, when presented, practically advised a vote of censure upon the aberdeen cabinet for the sufferings of the british army, hence the house declined to entertain it by a large majority of . as the appointment of the committee, however, was the only way to allay the popular excitement, there were many who thought that the peelites would have done well to recognize the urgency of the crisis and not to have abandoned the government. the resignation of mr. gladstone made him very unpopular. however, "the wave of unpopularity lasted perhaps for a couple of years, and was afterwards replaced by a long-sustained popularity, which has not been exceeded by any statesman of the country. greville referred to gladstone about this time as 'the most unpopular man in the country.'" march d the emperor nicholas died suddenly, and there were momentary hopes of peace; but his successor, alexander, resolved to prosecute the struggle rather than yield the positions taken by the late czar. he issued a warlike proclamation, and though he agreed to take part in the vienna conference of european powers, to be held march th, there were no signs that he intended to recede from the russian claims. lord john russell was sent to vienna as english plenipotentiary. the english aimed to secure the limitation of the preponderance of russia in the black sea, and the acknowledgment of turkey as one of the great european powers. to gain these points would, it was thought, end the war. russia "would not consent to limit the number of her ships--if she did so she forfeited her honor, she would be no longer russia. they did not want turkey, they would be glad to maintain the sultan, but they knew it was impossible; he must perish; they were resolved not to let any other power have constantinople--they must not have that door to their dominions in the black sea shut against them." the conference failed, and lord john russell was held responsible for its failure, and was eventually forced out of the cabinet on that account. the failure of the vienna negotiations produced great excitement, and the ministry were attacked and defeated in both houses of parliament. mr. disraeli offered a resolution of dissatisfaction in the house of commons. mr. gladstone spoke during the debate on the failure of the vienna conference, and defended the war of the crimea. he did not consider it a failure, for russia now agreed to most of the points raised by the allies, and the only matter to be adjusted, was the proposition to limit the power of russia in the black sea. personally, he had formerly favored the curtailment of russia's power there, but he now thought that such a proposal implied a great indignity to russia. he believed that the proposal of russia to give to turkey the power of opening and shutting the straits was one calculated to bring about a peaceful settlement. the time was favorable to make peace. lord john russell replied vigorously to mr. gladstone. the house decided by a majority of to support the ministry in the further prosecution of the war until a safe and honorable peace could be secured. but on the th of july sir e. bulwer lytton offered the following resolution: "that the conduct of our ministry, in the recent negotiations at vienna, has, in the opinion of this house, shaken the confidence of this country in those to whom its affairs are entrusted." lord john russell again declined to face discussion and resigned. during the debate on the motion mr. disraeli bitterly attacked lord john russell and the premier, lord palmerston. but mr. gladstone said that so far from blaming the ministry for hesitating about the offers of peace at vienna, he blamed them for not giving the propositions that consideration which their gravity demanded, and for abruptly terminating the conference and closing the hope of an honorable peace. mr. gladstone, on the d of august, made another powerful appeal for the cessation of the war. he held that there was now no definite object for continuing the struggle; defended the austrian proposals; defied the western powers to control the future destinies of russia, save for a moment; and he placed "the individual responsibility of the continuance of the war on the head of the ministry." but while sebastopol held out there was no prospect of peace with russia. finally, in september, that fortress was taken and destroyed, and the peace of paris was concluded, march, . [illustration: house of commons.] chapter xi in opposition to the government it was in february, , that mr. gladstone resigned his seat in the cabinet. after the treaty of paris, march, , which put an end to the crimean war, mr. gladstone found himself in opposition to the ministry of lord palmerston. he had assumed a position of independence, associating politically with neither party. the political parties dreaded criticism and attack from him, for he was not properly constructed for the defense of either. he had himself declared his "sympathies" were "with the conservatives, and his opinions with the liberals," and that he and his peelite colleagues, during this period of political isolation, were like roving icebergs on which men could not land with safety, but with which ships might come into perilous collision. their weight was too great not to count, but it counted first this way and then that. mr. gladstone was conscientious in his opposition. he said: "i greatly felt being turned out of office. i saw great things to do. i longed to do them. i am losing the best years of my life out of my natural service. yet i have never ceased to rejoice that i am not in office with palmerston, when i have seen the tricks, the shufflings, the frauds he daily has recourse to as to his business. i rejoice not to sit on the treasury bench with him." in august, , lord aberdeen said; "gladstone intends to be prime minister. he has great qualifications, but some serious defects. he is supreme in the house of commons. he is too obstinate; if a man can be too honest, he is too honest. i have told gladstone that when he is prime minister, i will have a seat in his cabinet, if he desires it, without an office." during , several measures came before parliament which mr. gladstone opposed. he vindicated the freedom of the belgian press, whose liberty some of the powers would curtail, and opposed resolutions to consider the state of education in england and wales, as tending to create a central controlling power, involving secular instruction and endless religious quarrels. he also opposed the budget of sir g.c. lewis, which imposed more duties upon the tea and sugar of the working-man, and was said to be generally at variance with the policy pursued by every enlightened minister of finance. besides, he condemned the continuance of the war duties in times of peace. "he was a particularly acute thorn in the side of the chancellor of the exchequer, and criticised the budget with unsparing vigor. 'gladstone seems bent on leading sir george lewis a weary life,' wrote mr. greville. but finance was by no means the only subject of this terrible free-lance." a resolution was offered in the house of commons expressing disapprobation with the english cabinet for sanctioning, in and ' , the violation of international law, by secretly enlisting the subjects of the united states as recruits for the british army, by the intervention of the english ambassador. mr. gladstone said: "it appears to me that the two cardinal aims that we ought to keep in view in the discussion of this question are peace and a thoroughly cordial understanding with america for one, the honor and fame of england for the other. i am bound to say that in regard to neither of these points am i satisfied with the existing state of things, or with the conduct of her majesty's government. a cordial understanding with america has not been preserved, and the honor of this country has been compromised." lord palmerston, though very popular with the people, had greatly offended a large portion of the house of commons by his interference in china. a lorcha, called the _arrow_, flying the british flag, had been seized by the chinese, and the question arose as to the right of the vessel to the protection of england. the opponents of the government contended that the vessel was built in china, was captured by pirates, and recaptured by the chinese, and hence had no claim to british protection. to bring the matter to an issue mr. cobden introduced a resolution of inquiry and censure. for five nights the debate was protracted, and many able speeches were made on both sides, but mr. gladstone made one of the most effective speeches, against the ministry. he said: "every man, i trust, will give his vote with the consciousness that it may depend upon his single vote whether the miseries, the crimes, the atrocities that i fear are now proceeding in china are to be discountenanced or not. we have now come to the crisis of the case. england is not yet committed. with you, then, with us, with every one of us, it rests to show that this house, which is the first, the most ancient, and the noblest temple of freedom in the world, is also the temple of that everlasting justice without which freedom itself would only be a name or only a curse to mankind." the premier ably defended himself, but the resolution of mr. cobden was passed. parliament was dissolved march , , and lord palmerston appealed to the country. he was victorious at the polls. among the prominent liberals who lost their seats were cobden, bright, and milner gibson. the peelites suffered loss too, but mr. gladstone was again elected for oxford university. however, mr. greville writes, under date of june d: "gladstone hardly ever goes near the house of commons, and never opens his lips." but his indifference and silence were not to last long. when the divorce bill, which originated in the lords, came up in the commons, mr. gladstone made an impassioned speech against the measure, contending for the equality of woman with man in all the rights pertaining to marriage. he dealt with the question on theological, legal and social grounds. he contended that marriage was not only or chiefly a civil contract, but a "mystery" of the christian religion. by the law of god it could not be so annulled as to permit of the re-marriage of the parties. "our lord," he says, "has emphatically told us that, at and from the beginning, marriage was perpetual, and was on both sides single." he dwelt with pathetic force on the injustice between man and woman of the proposed legislation, which would entitle the husband to divorce from an unfaithful wife, but would give no corresponding protection to the woman; and predicted the gloomiest consequences to the conjugal morality of the country from the erection of this new and odious tribunal. nevertheless the bill became a law. in a bill was introduced in the house of commons by lord palmerston, to make conspiracy to murder a felony. it grew out of the attempt of orsini upon the life of napoleon iii. the bill at first was carried by an immense majority, but the conviction spread that the measure was introduced solely at the dictation of the french emperor, and hence the proposal was strongly opposed. mr. gladstone said: "these times are grave for liberty. we live in the nineteenth century; we talk of progress; we believe we are advancing, but can any man of observation who has watched the events of the last few years in europe have failed to perceive that there is a movement indeed, but a downward and backward movement? there are few spots in which institutions that claim our sympathy still exist and flourish.... but in these times more than ever does responsibility centre upon the institutions of england, and if it does centre upon england, upon her principles, upon her laws and upon her governors, then i say that a measure passed by this house of commons--the chief hope of freedom--which attempts to establish a moral complicity between us and those who seek safety in repressive measures, will be a blow and a discouragement to that sacred cause in every country in the world." the bill was defeated by a majority of nineteen, and lord palmerston again resigned. he was succeeded by lord derby, who once more came into power. mr. disraeli again became chancellor of the exchequer, and leader of the house of commons. the new ministry, which existed largely on sufferance, passed some good measures. the one hundredth anniversary of the battle of plassey was celebrated in england june , , to obtain funds for a monument to lord clive, who secured india to england. the english then felt secure in the government of that land, yet at that very time one of the most wide-spread, destructive and cruel rebellions was raging, and shaking to its very foundations the english rule in hindostan. suddenly the news came of the terrible indian mutiny and of the indiscriminate slaughter of men, women and children, filling all hearts with horror, and then of the crushing out of the rebellion. lord canning, governor-general, issued a proclamation to the chiefs of oudh, looking to the confiscation of the possessions of mutineers who failed to return to the allegiance of england. it was meant as clemency. but lord ellenborough, the officer in charge of affairs in india, dispatched "a rattling condemnation of the whole proceeding." says justin mccarthy: "it was absurd language for a man like lord ellenborough to address to a statesman like lord canning, who had just succeeded in keeping the fabric of english government in india together during the most terrible trial ever imposed on it by fate." the matter was taken up by parliament. lord shaftesbury moved that the lords disprove the sending of the dispatch. in the commons the ministry were arraigned. but lord ellenborough took upon himself the sole responsibility of the dispatch, and resigned. mr. gladstone was invited to the vacant place, but declined. the most important among the bills passed by parliament was the india bill, by which the government of india was transferred from the east india company to the crown and the home government. mr. gladstone, who opposed the bill, proposed a clause providing that the indian troops should not be employed in military operations beyond the frontiers of india. in november, , mr. gladstone accepted from the premier the post of lord high commissioner extraordinary to the ionian islands. the people of the ionian islands, which in was formed into the republic of the seven islands, and was under the protection of great britain from , were desirous of adding themselves to greece. but the british government objected to the separation and their union with greece. mr. gladstone was to repair to corfu for the purpose of reconciling the people to the british protectorate. the ionians regarded his appointment as a virtual abandonment of the protectorate of great britain. mr. gladstone, december d, addressed the senate at corfu in italian. he had the reputation of being a greek student, and the inhabitants of the islands persisted in regarding him not as a commissioner of a conservative english government, but as "gladstone the phil-hellene!" he made a tour of the islands, holding levees, receiving deputations and delivering harangues, and was received wherever he went with the honors due to a liberator. his path everywhere was made to seem like a triumphal progress. it was in vain he repeated his assurance that he came to reconcile them to the protectorate and not to deliver them from it. but the popular instinct insisted upon regarding him as at least the precursor of their union with the kingdom of greece. the legislative assembly met january , , and proposed annexation to greece. finding that this was their firm wish and determination, mr. gladstone despatched to the queen a copy of the vote, in which the representatives declared that "the single and unanimous will of the ionian people has been and is for their union with the kingdom of greece." mr. gladstone returned home in february, . the ionians continued their agitation, and in were formally given over to the government of greece. parliament was opened february , , by the queen, who in her speech from the throne said that the attention of parliament would be called to the state of the law regulating the representation of the people. the plan of the government was presented by mr. disraeli. "it was a fanciful performance," says an english writer. the ministry proposed not to alter the limits of the franchise, but to introduce into boroughs a new kind of franchise founded on personal property. mr. disraeli characterized the government measure as "wise, prudent, adequate, conservative, and framed by men who reverence the past, are proud of the present, and confident of the future." two members of the cabinet promptly resigned rather than be parties to these proposals. mr. bright objected because the working classes were excluded. an amendment was moved by lord john russell condemning interference with the franchise which enabled freeholders in boroughs to vote in counties, and demanding a wider extension of the suffrage in boroughs. mr. gladstone, though agreeing with these views, declined to support the amendment, because, if carried, it would upset the government and bring in a weaker administration. he did not propose to support the government, but he desired to see a settlement of the question of reform, and he thought the present opportunity advantageous for such settlement. he pleaded eloquently for the retention of the small boroughs. the bill was lost by a majority of thirty-nine. lord derby having advised the queen to dissolve parliament, this was done april d. the general elections which resulted from the defeat of the conservatives in the house of commons on the reform bill, resulted in returning the liberals with a considerable majority. mr. gladstone was again returned unopposed for the university of oxford. the queen opened the new parliament june th. in reply to the speech from the throne an amendment to the address was moved by lord hartington, proposing a vote of want of confidence in the ministers. after three nights debate it was carried on june th, by a majority of thirteen, mr. gladstone voting with the government. lord derby and his colleagues immediately resigned. the queen being averse to choosing between lord john russell and lord palmerston, turned to lord granville, leader of the liberal party in the house of lords. he failed to form a cabinet, and lord palmerston again became prime minister. the revolution of the political wheel once more brought mr. gladstone into office as chancellor of the exchequer. it became necessary in accepting a cabinet position to again appeal to his constituents at oxford for re-election. he voted as he did to sustain lord derby's administration and to settle the reform question, yet he was misunderstood and some of his constituents alienated. he was strongly opposed by the conservative marquis of chandos. the conservatives claimed that he should not be returned, because, as professor mansel said, by his "acceptance of office he must now be considered as giving his definite adhesion to the liberal party, as at present reconstructed, and as approving of the policy of those who overthrew lord derby's government." it was found on the conclusion of the poll, which continued for five days, that mr. gladstone was returned with a majority of nearly two hundred over his opponent. it is worthy of note that this same year cambridge conferred upon mr. gladstone the honorary degree of d.c.l. [illustration] chapter xii homeric studies "the plenitude and variety of mr. gladstone's intellectual powers," says g. barnett smith, "have been the subject of such frequent comment that it would be superfluous to insist upon them here. on the political side of his career his life has been as unresting and active as that of any other great party leader, and if we regard him in the literary aspect we are equally astonished at his energy and versatility. putting out of view his various works upon homer, his miscellaneous writings of themselves, with the reading they involve, would entitle their author to take high rank on the score of industry.... we stand amazed at the infinity of topics which have received mr. gladstone's attention." to solve the problems associated with homer has been the chief intellectual recreation, the close and earnest study of mr. gladstone's literary life. "the blind old man of scio's rocky isle" possessed for him an irresistible and a perennial charm. nor can this occasion surprise, for all who have given themselves up to the consideration and attempted solution of the homeric poems have found the fascination of the occupation gather in intensity. it is not alone from the poetic point of view that the first great epic of the world attracts students of all ages and of all countries. homer presents, in addition, and beyond every other writer, a vast field for ethnological, geographical, and historical speculation and research. the ancient world stands revealed in the homeric poems. besides, almost numberless volumes have been written based upon the equally debatable questions of the homeric text and the homeric unity. some literary works of mr. gladstone have been already noticed. "studies on homer and homeric age" shows mr. gladstone's classic tastes and knowledge as well as his great industry and ability. this work was published in three volumes, in . it is his _magnum opus_ in literature, and exhibits wide and laborious research. "it discusses the homeric controversy in its broad aspects, the relation of homer to the sacred writings, his place in education, his historic aims, the probable period of the poet's life, the homeric text, the ethnology of the greek races, and the politics and poetry of homer. among subsequent greek studies by mr. gladstone were his 'juventus mundi' and the 'homeric synchronism.' there is probably no greater living authority on the text of homer than mr. gladstone, and the ancient greek race and literature have exercised over him a perennial fascination." mr. gladstone dwells much on the relation of homer to christianity. "the standard of humanity of the greek poet is different, yet many of his ideas almost carry us back to the early morning of our race; the hours of its greater simplicity and purity, and more free intercourse with god.... how is it possible to overvalue this primitive representation of the human race in a form complete, distinct and separate, with its own religion, stories, policy, history, arts, manners, fresh and true to the standard of its nature, like the form of an infant from the hand of the creator, yet mature, full, and finished, in its own sense, after its own laws, like some masterpiece of the sculptor's art?" the homeric scene of action is not paradise, but it is just as far removed from the vices of a later heathenism. mr. gladstone compares the "iliad" and the "odyssey," which he believed to be the poems of one poet, homer, with the old testament writings, and observes that "homer can never be put into competition with the scriptures as touching the great fundamental, invaluable code of truth and hope;" but he shows how one may in a sense be supplementary to the other. as regards the history of the greek race, it is homer that furnishes "the point of origin from which all distances are to be measured." he says: "the mosaic books, and the other historical books of the old testament, are not intended to present, and do not present, a picture of human society or of our nature drawn at large. the poems of homer may be viewed as the complement of the earliest portion of the sacred records." again: "the holy scriptures are like a thin stream, beginning from the very fountain-head of our race, and gradually, but continuously, finding their way through an extended solitude into times otherwise known, and into the general current of the fortunes of mankind. the homeric poems are like a broad lake, outstretched in the distance, which provides us with a mirror of one particular age and people, alike full and marvelous, but which is entirely disassociated by a period of many generations from any other records, except such as are of the most partial and fragmentary kind. in respect of the influence which they have respectively exercised upon mankind, it might appear almost profane to compare them. in this point of view the scriptures stand so far apart from every other production, on account of their great offices in relation to the coming of the redeemer and to the spiritual training of mankind, that there can be nothing either like or second to them." mr. gladstone thinks that "the poems of homer possess extrinsic worth as a faithful and vivid picture of early grecian life and measures; they have also an intrinsic value which has given their author the first place in that marvelous trinity of genius--homer, dante, and shakespeare." as to the historic aims of homer, mr. gladstone says: "where other poets sketch, homer draws; and where they draw he carves. he alone of all the now famous epic writers, moves (in the 'iliad' especially) subject to the stricter laws of time and place; he alone, while producing an unsurpassed work of the imagination, is also the greatest chronicler that ever lived, and presents to us, from his own single hand, a representation of life, manners, history, of morals, theology, and politics, so vivid and comprehensive, that it may be hard to say whether any of the more refined ages of greece or rome, with their clouds of authors and their multiplied forms of historical record, are either more faithfully or more completely conveyed to us." mr. gladstone fixes the probable date of homer within a generation or two of the trojan war, assigning as his principal reason for so doing the poet's visible identity with the age, the altering but not yet vanishing age of which he sings, and the broad interval in tone and feeling between himself and the very nearest of all that follow him. he presents several arguments to prove the trustworthiness of the text of homer. in , mr. gladstone wrote an article on the "dominions of the odysseus," and also wrote a preface to dr. henry schliemann's "mycenae." one of his most remarkable productions bore the title of, "the vatican decrees in their bearing on civil allegiance; a political expostulation." this book was an amplification of an article from his own pen, which appeared october, , in the _contemporary review_. it created great public excitement and many replies. one hundred and twenty thousand copies were sold. mr. higginson says: "the vigor of the style, the learning exhibited, and the source whence it came, all contributed to give it an extraordinary influence.... it was boldly proclaimed in this pamphlet that, since , rome has substituted for the proud boast of _semper eadem_, a policy of violence and change of faith;... 'that she had equally repudiated modern thought and ancient history;' ... 'that she has reburnished and paraded anew every rusty tool she was thought to have disused,' and 'that rome requires a convert who now joins her to forfeit his moral and mental freedom, and to place his loyalty and civil duty at the mercy of another.'" mr. gladstone issued another pamphlet, entitled "vaticanism; and answers to reproofs and replies," he reiterated his original charges, saying: "the vatican decrees do, in the strictest sense, establish for the pope a supreme command over loyalty and civil duty.... even in those parts of christendom where the decrees and the present attitude of the papal see do not produce or aggravate open broils with the civil power, by undermining moral liberty, they impair moral responsibility, and silently, in the succession of generations, if not in the lifetime of individuals, tend to emasculate the vigor of the mind." mr. gladstone published in seven volumes, in , "gleanings of past years." the essay entitled "kin beyond the sea" at first created much excitement. "the kin beyond the sea" was america, of which he says: "she will probably become what we are now, the head servant in the great household of the world, the employer of all employed; because her services will be the most and ablest." again: "the england and the america of the present are probably the two strongest nations in the world. but there can hardly be a doubt, as between the america and the england of the future, that the daughter, at some no very distant time, will, whether fairer or less fair, be unquestionably yet stronger than the mother." mr. gladstone argues in support of this position from the concentrated continuous empire which america possesses, and the enormous progress she has made within a century. in an address at the opening of the art loan exhibition of chester, august , , mr. gladstone said: "with the english those two things are quite distinct; but in the oldest times of human industry--that is to say amongst the greeks--there was no separation whatever, no gap at all, between the idea of beauty and the idea of utility. whatever the ancient greek produced he made as useful as he could; and at the same time, reward for work with him was to make it as beautiful as he could. in the industrial productions of america there is very little idea of beauty; for example, an american's axe is not intended to cut away a tree neatly, but quickly. we want a workman to understand that if he can learn to appreciate beauty in industrial productions, he is thereby doing good to himself, first of all in the improvement of his mind, and in the pleasure he derives from his work, and likewise that literally he is increasing his own capital, which is his labor." in his articles on "ecce homo" he expresses the hope "that the present tendency to treat the old belief of man with a precipitate, shallow, and unexamining disparagement, is simply a distemper, that inflicts for a time the moral atmosphere, that is due, like plagues and fevers, to our own previous folly and neglect; and that when it has served its work of admonition and reform, will be allowed to pass away." the "impregnable rock of holy scripture" is the title of a book by mr. gladstone, the articles of which were originally published in _the sunday school times_, philadelphia. [illustration: mr. gladstone's axe] chapter xiii great budgets the year marked the beginning of the second half of mr. gladstone's life as a statesman, in which he stood prominently forward as a reformer. july , , as chancellor in the liberal government of lord palmerston, he brought forward his budget. the budget of was the greatest of all his financial measures, for a new departure was taken in british commerce and manufactures. mr. cobden, in behalf of the english government, had negotiated with france a treaty based on free trade principles--"a treaty which gave an impetus to the trade of this country, whose far-reaching effects are felt even to our day." the chancellor explained the various propositions of his financial statements. speaking of discontent with the income tax he observed: "i speak on general terms. indeed, i now remember that i myself had, about a fortnight ago, a letter addressed to me complaining of the monstrous injustice and iniquity of the income tax, and proposing that, in consideration thereof, the chancellor of the exchequer should be publicly hanged." mr. gladstone said that the total reduction of duties would be over £ , , , requiring a slight extension of taxation; that by this means nearly £ , , would be returned to the general revenue; that the loss to the revenue by the french treaty, which was based upon free trade principles, and the reduction of duties, would be half made up by the imposts specified; that the abolition of the paper duty would produce the happiest results from the spread of cheap literature. the reductions proposed would give a total relief to the consumer of nearly £ , , , and cause a net loss of the revenue of over £ , , , a sum about equivalent to the amount coming in from the cessation of government annuities that year. the total revenue was £ , , , and as the total expenses of government was £ , , , there remained an estimated surplus of £ , . mr. gladstone concluded; "there were times, now long by, when sovereigns made progress through the land, and when at the proclamation of their heralds, they caused to be scattered whole showers of coin among the people who thronged upon their steps.... our sovereign is enabled, through the wisdom of her great council, assembled in parliament around her, again to scatter blessings among her subjects by means of wise and prudent laws; of laws which do not sap in any respect the foundations of duty or of manhood, but which strike away the shackles from the arm of industry." "it was one of the peculiarities of mr. gladstone's budget addresses that they roused curiosity in the outset, and, being delivered in a musical, sonorous, and perfectly modulated voice, kept the listeners interested to the very close. this financial statement of was admirably arranged for the purpose of awakening and keeping attention, piquing and teasing curiosity, and sustaining desire to hear from the first sentence to the last. it was not a speech, it was an oration, in the form of a great state paper, made eloquent, in which there was a proper restraint over the crowding ideas, the most exact accuracy in the sentences, and even in the very words chosen; the most perfect balancing of parts, and, more than all, there were no errors or omissions; nothing was put wrongly and nothing was overlooked. with a house crowded in every corner, with the strain upon his own mental faculties, and the great physical tax implied in the management of his voice, and the necessity for remaining upon his feet during this long period, 'the observed of all observers,' mr. gladstone took all as quietly, we are told, as if he had just risen to address a few observations to mr. speaker. indeed, it was laughingly said that he could address a house for a whole week, and on the friday evening have taken a new departure, beginning with the observation, 'after these preliminary remarks, i will now proceed to deal with the subject matter of my financial plan.'" the ministry was supported by large majorities, and carried their measures, but when the bill for the repeal of the duty on paper at home, as well as coming into the country, came before the house of lords, it was rejected. mr. gladstone appeared to be confronted by the greatest constitutional crisis of his life. he gave vent to his indignation, and declared that the action of the lords was a gigantic innovation, and that the house of commons had the undoubted right of selecting the manner in which the people should be taxed. this speech was pronounced by lord john russell "magnificently mad," and lord granville said that "it was a toss-up whether gladstone resigned or not, and that if he did it would break up the liberal party." quiet was finally restored, and the following year mr. gladstone adroitly brought the same feature before the lords in a way that compelled acceptance. the budget of showed a surplus of £ , , over the estimated surplus, and proposed to remit the penny on the income tax, and to repeal the paper duty. instead of being divided into several bills as in the previous year, the budget was presented as a whole--all included in one. by this device the lords were forced to acquiesce in the repeal of the paper duty, or take the responsibility of rejecting the whole bill. the peers grumbled, and some of them were enraged. lord robert cecil, now marquis of salisbury, rudely declared that mr. gladstone's conduct was only worthy of an attorney. he begged to apologize to the attorneys. they were honorable men and would have scorned the course pursued by the ministers. another member of the house of lords protested that the budget gave a mortal stab to the constitution. mr. gladstone retorted: "i want to know, to what constitution does it give a mortal stab? in my opinion it gives no mortal stab, and no stab at all, to any constitution that we are bound to care for. but, on the contrary, so far as it alters anything in the most recent course of practice, it alters in the direction of restoring that good old constitution which took its root in saxon times, which grew from the plantagenets, which endured the iron repression of the tudors, which resisted the aggressions of the stuarts, and which has come to its full maturity under the house of brunswick. i think that is the constitution, if i may presume to say so, which it is our duty to guard, and which--if, indeed, the proceedings of this year can be said to affect it at all--will be all the better for the operation. but the constitution which my right honorable friend worships is a very different affair." in , mr. gladstone was elected lord rector of edinburgh university, and the degree of ll.d. was conferred upon him. mr. gladstone, in , introduced one of his most beneficial measures--a bill creating the post office savings bank. the success of the scheme has gone beyond all expectation. at the close of , the amount deposited was £ , , , and growing at the average rate of over £ , , annually. mr. gladstone's financial measures for , while not involving such momentous issues as those of the preceding year, nevertheless encountered considerable opposition. the budget was a stationary one, with no surplus, no new taxes, no remission of taxes, no heavier burdens. in october, , mr. and mrs. gladstone made a journey down the tyne, which is thus described: "it was not possible to show to royal visitors more demonstrations of honor than were showered on the illustrious commoner and his wife.... at every point, at every bank and hill and factory, in every opening where people could stand or climb, expectant crowds awaited mr. gladstone's arrival. women and children, in all costumes and of all conditions, lined the shores ... as mr. and mrs. gladstone passed. cannon boomed from every point;... such a succession of cannonading never before greeted a triumphant conqueror on the march." it was during this journey that mr. gladstone made the memorable speech, at new castle, upon the american civil war, which had broken out the same year. there had been much speculation as to whether the english government would recognize the confederacy as a separate and independent power, and the utterance of a member of the cabinet under the circumstances was regarded as entirely unwarranted. mr. gladstone himself frankly acknowledged his error in : "i must confess that i was wrong; that i took too much upon myself in expressing such an opinion. yet the motive was not bad. my sympathies were then--where they had long before been, where they are now--with the whole american people." the session of was barren of important subjects of debate, and hence unusual interest was centered in the chancellor's statement, which was another masterly financial presentation, and its leading propositions were cordially received. the whole reduction of taxation for the year was £ , , , or counting the total reductions, present and prospective, of £ , , . this still left a surplus of £ , . in four years £ , , had been paid for war with china out of the ordinary revenues. a proposition to subject charities to the income tax, although endorsed by the whole cabinet, led to such powerful opposition throughout the country that it was finally withdrawn. the arguments of the chancellor were endorsed by many who were opposed to the indiscriminate and mistaken beneficence which was so prevalent on death-beds. a bill was introduced at this session by sir morton peto, entitled the "dissenters' burial bill," the object of which was to enable nonconformists to have their own religious rites and services, and by their own ministers, in the graveyards of the established church. the bill was strongly opposed by lord robert cecil and mr. disraeli. mr. gladstone favored the measure. the bill was rejected, and mr. gladstone at a later period discovered that his progress in ecclesiastical and political opinions was creating a breach between himself and his constituents at oxford. mr. gladstone's financial scheme for was received with undiminished interest. it was characterized as "a policy of which peace, progress and retrenchment were the watchwords." an available surplus of £ , , enabled him to propose reductions. the subject of reform, which had been coming up in the house of commons in one way or another and agitating the house and the country since , when the conservative party was beaten on the question, reappeared in . the question of lowering the borough franchise came up, and mr. gladstone startled the house and the country by his declaration upon the subject of reform, which showed the rapid development of his views upon the subject. the conservative party was filled with alarm, and the hopes of the reform party correspondingly elated. "the eyes of all radical reformers turned to mr. gladstone as the future minister of reform in church and state. he became from the same moment an object of distrust, and something approaching to detestation in the eyes of all steady-going conservatives." mr. gladstone said: "i say that every man who is not presentably incapacitated by some consideration of personal unfitness or political danger, is morally entitled to come within the pale of the constitution." this declaration was the first note sounded in a conflict which, twelve months later, was to cost mr. gladstone his seat for oxford university, and finally to culminate in the disruption of the liberal government. the general feeling in regard to this speech was that if the liberal party had failed in its duty on the subject of reform in the existing parliament after mr. gladstone's utterances, that the condition of things must undergo a change, so great was the effect of his speech in the country. the bill, which was presented by a private member and lost, was made memorable by the speech of the chancellor. the eyes of careful political leaders were again turned towards mr. gladstone, and strong predictions made of his coming exaltation to the premiership. mr. speaker denison said, in october, : "i now anticipate that mr. gladstone will be premier. neither party has any leader. i hope mr. gladstone may get support from the conservatives who now support palmerston." and these expectations were known to mr. gladstone himself, for bishop wilberforce had a conversation with him and writes: "long talk with gladstone as to premiership: he is for acting under john russell." again to mr. gladstone: "anything which breaks up, or tends to break up, palmerston's supremacy, must bring you nearer to the post in which i long to see you, and, if i live, shall see you." lord palmerston himself said: "gladstone will soon have it all his own way; and whenever he gets my place we shall have strange things." the hostile feeling towards the palmerston government, which had been growing in intensity, chiefly on the ground of its foreign policy, reached its full height in a fierce battle between the ministry and the opposition. july , , mr. disraeli brought forward his motion of "no confidence." mr. gladstone replied for the government, and sought to rebut the accusations made by the leader of the opposition. he said that it was the very first time in which the house of commons had been called upon to record the degradation of the country, simply for the sake of displacing a ministry. an amusing episode which occurred during this debate is worthy of record here; mr. bernard osborne "grew amusingly sarcastic at the expense of the government, though he paid at the same time a great compliment to mr. gladstone. he likened the cabinet to a museum of curiosities, in which there were some birds of rare and noble plumage, both alive and stuffed. there had been a difficulty, unfortunately, in keeping up the breed, and it was found necessary to cross it with the famous peelites. 'i will do them the justice to say that they have a very great and noble minister among them in the chancellor of the exchequer, and it is to his measures alone that they owe the little popularity and the little support they get from this liberal party.' describing mr. milner gibson, the honorable gentleman said he was like some 'fly in amber,' and the wonder was 'how the devil he got there.' mr. cobden and mr. bright must have been disappointed in this 'young man from the country.' he had become insolent and almost quarrelsome under the guidance of the noble lord. should that parliament decide on terminating its own and their existence, they would find consolation that the funeral oration would be pronounced by mr. newdegate, and that some friendly hand would inscribe on their mausoleum, 'rest and be thankful.'" mr. disraeli's motion was lost, and the ministry was sustained. the budget of represented the country as in a prosperous financial condition. the total reduction was over £ , , . such a financial showing gained the warm approval of the people, and excited but little opposition in the house. it was evident that a master-hand was guiding the national finances, and fortunately the chancellor's calculations were verified by the continued prosperity of the country. at a later period, in commenting upon the policy of the two parties--conservative and liberal--mr. gladstone said: "from thence it follows that the policy of the liberal party has been to reduce the public charges and to keep the expenditure within the estimates, and, as a result, to diminish the taxation of the country and the national debt; that the policy of the tory government, since they took office in , has been to increase the public charges, and to allow the departments to spend more than their estimates, and, as a result, to create deficits and to render the reduction of taxation impossible. which policy will the country prefer?" chapter xiv liberal reformer and prime minister july, , parliament having run its allotted course, according to the constitution, was dissolved, and a general election took place, which resulted in the liberal party being returned again with a majority. mr. gladstone's relations with many of his constituents were not harmonious, owing to his pronounced liberal views, and his seat for oxford was seriously imperilled. mr. gathorne hardy was nominated to run against him. the high tory party resolved to defeat him, and he was defeated by a majority of . "the electors preferred the uncompromising defender of the church and toryism to the brilliant statesman and financier." almost all of the distinguished residents of oxford and three-fourths of the tutors and lecturers of the university voted for mr. gladstone, and his rejection was entirely owing to the opposing vote of non-residents and the bigotry of the hostile country clergymen of the church of england. from the bishop of oxford mr. gladstone received the following indignant protest: "i cannot forbear expressing to you my grief and indignation at the result. it is needless for me to say that everything i could with propriety do i did heartily to save our university this great loss and dishonor, as well from a loving honor of you. you were too great for them." "the enemies of the university," observed the _times_, "will make the most of her disgrace. it has hitherto been supposed that a learned constituency was to some extent exempt from the vulgar motives of party spirit, and capable of forming a higher estimate of statesmanship than common tradesmen or tenant-farmers." his valedictory address to his former constituents was short: "after an arduous connection of eighteen years, i bid you, respectfully, farewell.... it is one imperative duty, and one alone, which induces me to trouble you with these few parting words, the duty of expressing my profound and lasting gratitude for indulgence as generous, and for support as warm and enthusiastic in itself, and as honorable from the character and distinctions of those who have given it, as has, in my belief, ever been accorded by any constituency to any representative." one event in parliament, in , contributed much to mr. gladstone's defeat: in march, , mr. dillwyn, the radical member for swansea, moved "that the present position of the irish church establishment is unsatisfactory, and calls for the early attention of her majesty's government." sir stafford northcote wrote: "gladstone made a terribly long stride in his downward progress last night, and denounced the irish church in a way which shows how, by and by, he will deal not only with it, but with the church of england too.... he laid down the doctrines that the tithe was national property, and ought to be dealt with by the state in a manner most advantageous to the people; and that the church of england was only national because the majority of the people still belong to her." "it was now felt that henceforth mr. gladstone must belong to the country, and not to the university." he realized this himself, for driven from oxford, he went down to south lancashire, seeking to be returned from there to parliament, and in the free trade hall, manchester, said: "at last, my friends, i am come among you, and i am come among you unmuzzled." these words were greeted with loud and prolonged applause. the advanced liberals seemed to take the same view, and regarded mr. gladstone's defeat at oxford by the conservatives as his political enfranchisement. his defeat was not wholly unexpected to himself. in he said: "without having to complain, i am entirely sick and weary of the terms upon which i hold the seat." mr. gladstone felt keenly the separation, for he wrote to the bishop of oxford: "there have been two great deaths, or transmigrations of spirit, in my political existence--one, very slow, the breaking of ties with my original party, the other, very short and sharp, the breaking of the tie with oxford. there will probably be a third, and no more." and in a speech at liverpool, there was something of pathos in his reference to oxford, when he said that if he had clung to the representation of the university with desperate fondness, it was because he would not desert a post to which he seemed to have been called. but he had now been dismissed from it, not by academical, but by political agencies. mr. gladstone was elected to represent his native district in parliament, and he was at the head of the poll in manchester, liverpool, and all the large towns. the result of the general elections was a considerable gain to the liberal party, but that party sustained a severe loss by the death of lord palmerston, october , . a new cabinet was constructed, with earl russell as premier, and mr. gladstone as the chancellor of the exchequer. mr. gladstone became for the first time the recognized leader in the house of commons, which then meant virtually prime minister, for with the aged premier in the house of lords, and the youthful chancellor in the commons, it meant nothing else. but earl russell and his younger colleague were calculated to work in harmonious action, for they were both reformers. the ardent temperament and the severe conscientiousness of the leader was the cause of much speculation and anxiety as to his management. his first appearance as leader of the house was therefore waited for with much curiosity. the new parliament was opened february , , by the queen in person, for the first time since the death of prince albert. in the speech from the throne it was announced that parliament would be directed to consider such improvements in the laws which regulate the right of voting in the election of the members of the house of commons as may tend to strengthen our free institutions, and conduce to the public welfare. bishop wilberforce wrote: "gladstone has risen entirely to his position, and done all his most sanguine friends hoped for as leader.... there is a general feeling of insecurity of the ministry, and the reform bill to be launched to-night is thought a bad rock." may , , mr. gladstone brought forward what was destined to be his last budget for some years. there was a surplus of over a million and a quarter of pounds, which allowed a further and considerable reduction of taxation. the condition of ireland was very grave at this time, and as apprehensions were felt in regard to the fenians, a bill suspending the habeas corpus act in ireland was passed. mr. gladstone, in explaining the necessity for the measure, said that the government were ready at any time to consider any measure for the benefit of ireland, but it was the single duty of the house at the moment to strengthen the hands of the executive in the preservation of law and order. the bill was renewed by the derby government, and passed as before, as the result of an anticipated great fenian uprising under "head-centre" stephens. during a debate on the bill for the abolition of church rates, mr. gladstone said that the law requiring church rates was _prima facie_ open to great objection, but he could not vote for total abolition. he offered a compromise and proposed that dissenters be exempted from paying church rates, and at the same time be disqualified from interfering with funds to which they had not contributed. the compromise was accepted, but failed to become a law. on the subject of reform, mentioned in the address, there were great debates, during the session of . the new cabinet, known as the russell-gladstone ministry, set themselves to work in earnest upon a question that had baffled all the skill of various administrations. as a part of the reform scheme, mr. gladstone brought forward a franchise bill in the house of commons, march th. the bill satisfied most of the liberal party. mr. robert lowe, a liberal, became one of its most powerful assailants. his enmity to the working classes made him extremely unpopular. mr. horseman also joined the conservatives in opposing the bill. mr. bright, in a crushing retort, fastened upon the small party of liberals, led by these two members in opposition to the bill, the epithet of "adullamites." mr. horseman, mr. bright said, had "retired into what may be called his political cave of adullam, to which he invited every one who was in distress, and every one who was discontented. he had long been anxious to found a party in this house, and there is scarcely a member at this end of the house who is able to address us with effect or to take much part, whom he has not tried to bring over to his party and his cabal. at last he has succeeded in hooking ... mr. lowe. i know it was the opinion many years ago of a member of the cabinet that two men could make a party. when a party is formed of two men so amiable and so disinterested as the two gentlemen, we may hope to see for the first time in parliament a party perfectly harmonious and distinguished by mutual and unbroken trust. but there is one difficulty which it is impossible to remove. this party of two is like the scotch terrier that is so covered with hair that you could not tell which was the head and which was the tail." this sally, which excited immoderate laughter, remains one of the happiest examples of parliamentary retort and badinage. during this session the conservative party met at the residence of the marquis of salisbury, and decided upon strongly opposing the measure proposed by the liberal government. mr. bright characterized it as "a dirty conspiracy." on the other hand, the country supported the bill, and great meetings were held in its interest. mr. gladstone spoke at a great meeting at liverpool. he said: "having produced this measure, founded in a spirit of moderation, we hope to support it with decision.... we have passed the rubicon, we have broken the bridge and burned the boats behind us. we have advisedly cut off the means of retreat, and having done this, we hope that, as far as time is yet permitted, we have done our duty to the crown and to the nation." this was regarded as the bugle-call to the liberal party for the coming battle. the debate began april th, and continued for eight nights. "on no occasion since, and seldom before, has such a flow of eloquence been heard within the walls of the house of commons." mr. disraeli spoke for three hours against the bill, and in his speech accused mr. gladstone of introducing american ideas of government, and of having once assailed the very principles he now advocated, when in the oxford union he spoke against the reform bill of . mr. gladstone's reply was one of the most noteworthy parts of this famous debate. he rose at one o'clock in the morning to conclude a legislative battle which had begun two weeks before. "at last," mr. gladstone said, "we have obtained a declaration from an authoritative source that a bill which, in a country with five millions of adult males, proposes to add to a limited constituency , of the middle class and , of the working class, is, in the judgment of the leader of the tory party, a bill to reconstruct the constitution upon american principles. "the right honorable gentleman, secure in the recollection of his own consistency, has taunted me with the errors of my boyhood. when he addressed the honorable member of westminster, he showed his magnanimity by declaring that he would not take the philosopher to task for what he wrote twenty-five years ago; but when he caught one who, thirty-six years ago, just emerged from boyhood, and still an undergraduate at oxford, had expressed an opinion adverse to the reform bill of , of which he had so long and bitterly repented, then the right honorable gentleman could not resist the temptation." the bill was put upon its passage. the greatest excitement prevailed. "the house seemed charged with electricity, like a vast thunder-cloud; and now a spark was about to be applied. strangers rose in their seats, the crowd at the bar pushed half-way up the house, the royal princes leaned forward in their standing places, and all was confusion." presently order was restored, and breathless excitement prevailed while the tellers announced that the bill had been carried by a majority of only five. "hardly had the words left the teller's lips than there arose a wild, raging, mad-brained shout from floor and gallery, such as has never been heard in the present house of commons. dozens of half-frantic tories stood up in their seats, madly waved their hats and hurrahed at the top of their voices. strangers in both galleries clapped their hands. the adullamites on the ministerial benches, carried away by the delirium of the moment, waved their hats in sympathy with the opposition, and cheered as loudly as any. mr. lowe, the leader, instigator, and prime mover of the conspiracy, stood up in the excitement of the moment--flushed, triumphant, and avenged.... he took off his hat, waved it in wide and triumphant circles over the heads of the very men who had just gone into the lobby against him.... but see, the chancellor of the exchequer lifts up his hand to bespeak silence, as if he had something to say in regard to the result of the division. but the more the great orator lifts his hand beseechingly, the more the cheers are renewed and the hats waved. at length the noise comes to an end by the process of exhaustion, and the chancellor of the exchequer rises. then there is a universal hush, and you might hear a pin drop." "few, if any, could anticipate at this time, that in the course of one short year a conservative government would find itself compelled to take up that very question of reform, whose virtual defeat its opponents now hailed with such intoxicating expressions of delight." however, the bill was unexpectedly wrecked june th, by an amendment substituting a ratal instead of a rental basis for the borough franchise. the ministry regarding this as a vital point, could not agree to it, and consequently threw up their measure and resigned office. the queen was unwilling to accept their resignation. but the ministry felt that they had lost the confidence of the house, so their resignation was announced june th. the apathy of the people about reform that earl russell thought he perceived, as far as london was concerned, at once disappeared. a great demonstration was made at trafalgar square, where some ten thousand people assembled and passed resolutions in favor of reform. a serious riot occurred at hyde park in consequence of the prohibition by the government of the meeting of the reform league. the reformers then marched to carleton house terrace, the residence of mr. gladstone, singing songs in his honor. he was away from home, but mrs. gladstone and her family came out on the balcony to acknowledge the tribute paid by the people. it is said that mr. gladstone, now for the first time, became a popular hero. great meetings were held in the interest of reform in the large towns of the north and the midlands, where his name was received with tumultuous applause. mr. gladstone was hailed everywhere as the leader of the liberal party. reform demonstrations continued during the whole of the recess. a meeting was held at brookfields, near birmingham, which was attended by nearly , people. the language of some of the ardent friends of reform was not always discreet, but mr. gladstone appears to have preserved a calm and dignified attitude. in the summer of , lord derby had announced his acceptance of office as premier, and the formation of a conservative cabinet. the demonstrations of the people compelled the conservatives to introduce measures in liberal reform. accordingly, in , mr. disraeli and his colleagues passed a reform bill, which, after various modifications, was far more extreme than that presented by the liberals and defeated. owing to a division in the ranks of the liberal members on the pending bill, mr. gladstone withdrew from the active leadership of the house, but soon resumed it. mr. bright said, at birmingham, that since , there had been no man of mr. gladstone's rank as a statesman who had imported into the reform question so much of conviction, of earnestness, and of zeal. not long after this deputations from various parts of the country, accompanied by their representatives in parliament, called on mr. gladstone to present addresses expressive of confidence in him as liberal leader. lord cranborne expressed his astonishment at hearing the bill described as a conservative triumph. it was right that its real parentage should be established. the bill had been modified by mr. gladstone. all his points were conceded. if the adoption on the principles of mr. bright could be described as a triumph, then indeed the conservative party, in the whole history of its previous annals, had won no triumphs so simple as this. in the house of lords the duke of buccleuch declared that the only word in the bill that remained unaltered was the first word, "whereas." "the work of reform was completed in the session of , by the passing of the scotch and irish reform bills, a boundary bill for england and wales, an election petitions and corrupt practices prevention bill, and the registration of voters bill. the object of the last-named measure was to accelerate the elections, and to enable parliament to meet before the end of ." in the autumn of , mr. gladstone and his family again visited italy, and at rome had an audience with pope pio nono. it became necessary two years later, owing to this interview, for mr. gladstone formally to explain his visit. in february, , lord derby, owing to failing health, resigned. the derby ministry retired from office, and mr. disraeli became prime minister. an english author writes: "there was, of course, but one possible conservative premier--mr. disraeli--he who had served the conservative party for more than thirty years, who had led it to victory, and who had long been the ruling spirit of the cabinet." the elevation of mr. disraeli to the premiership before mr. gladstone, produced, in some quarters, profound regret and even indignation. but mr. disraeli, though in office, was not in power. he was nominally the leader of a house that contained a large majority of his political opponents, now united among themselves. the schism in the liberal party had been healed by the question of reform, and they could now defeat the government whenever they chose to do so; consequently mr. gladstone took the initiative. his compulsory church rates abolition bill was introduced and accepted. by this measure all legal proceedings for the recovery of church rates were abolished. the question that overshadowed all others, however, was that of the irish church. on the th of march mr. gladstone struck the first blow in the struggle that was to end in the disestablishment of the irish church. mr. maguire moved that the house consider the condition of ireland. mr. gladstone said that ireland had a controversy with england and a long account against england. it was a debt of justice, and he enumerated six particulars, one of which was the established episcopal church. religious equality, he contended, must be conceded. he said, in referring to his speech made on the motion of mr. dillwyn in : "the opinion i held then and hold now--namely, that in order to the settlement of this question of the irish church, that church, as a state church must cease to exist." this speech excited feelings of consternation amongst the ministerialists. mr. disraeli bewailed his own unhappy fate at the commencement of his career as prime minister, at finding himself face to face with the necessity of settling an account of seven centuries old. he complained that all the elements of the irish crisis had existed while mr. gladstone was in office, but no attempt had been made to deal with them. march d mr. gladstone proposed resolutions affirming that the irish episcopal church should cease to exist as an establishment, and asking the queen to place at the disposal of parliament her interest in the temporalities of the irish church. mr. gladstone's resolution was carried by a majority of , and the queen replied that she would not suffer her interests to stand in the way of any measures contemplated by parliament. consequently mr. gladstone brought in his irish church suspensory bill, which was adopted by the commons, but rejected by the lords. during the discussion, ministerial explanations followed; mr. disraeli described, in his most pompous vein, his audiences with the queen. his statement amounted to this--that, in spite of adverse votes, the ministers intended to hold on till the autumn, and then to appeal to the new electorate created by the reform act. lord houghton wrote: "gladstone is the great triumph, but as he owns that he has to drive a four-in-hand, consisting of english liberals, english dissenters, scotch presbyterians, and irish catholics, he requires all his courage to look the difficulties in the face and trust to surmount them." an appeal was now made to the country. the general election that followed, in november, was fought out mainly upon this question. a great liberal majority was returned to parliament, which was placed at . but there were several individual defeats, among them mr. gladstone himself, who was rejected by south lancaster. this was in part owing to the readjustment of seats according to the reform bill. but mr. gladstone received an invitation from greenwich, in the southwestern division, where he was warmly received by the electors. "he spoke everywhere, with all his fiery eloquence, on the monstrous foolishness of a religious establishment which ministered only to a handful of the people." is the irish church to be or not to be? was the question. he was returned for that borough by a large majority over his conservative opponents. archbishop wilberforce wrote in november: "the returns to the house of commons leave no doubt of the answer of the country to gladstone's appeal. in a few weeks he will be in office at the head of a majority of something like a hundred, elected on the distinct issue of gladstone and the irish church." the feeling was so enormously great in its preponderance for mr. gladstone's policy of liberal reform, especially for the disestablishment of the irish church, that mr. disraeli did not adopt the usual course of waiting for the endorsement of the new parliament, which he felt sure would be given to mr. gladstone, but resigned, and the first disraeli cabinet went out of office, december d. december , , the queen summoned mr. gladstone to windsor to form a cabinet. he had now attained the summit of political ambition. he was the first commoner in the land--the uncrowned king of the british empire --for such is the english premier. "all the industry and self-denial of a laborious life, all the anxieties and burdens and battles of five and thirty years of parliamentary struggle were crowned by this supreme and adequate reward. he was prime minister of england--had attained to that goal of the eton boy's ambition; and, what perhaps was to him of greater consideration, he was looked up to by vast numbers of the people as their great leader." december th the new government was completed and the ministers received their seals from the queen. mr. bright, contrary to all expectation, became president of the board of trade. in offering themselves for re-election, the members of the new cabinet found no trouble--all were returned. mr. gladstone was returned by greenwich. with the year mr. gladstone entered upon a great period of reform. the new parliament was opened december th. on the th mr. and mrs. gladstone paid a visit to lord and lady salisbury, at hatfield. bishop wilberforce was there and had opportunity to observe his old and honored friend in the first flush of his new dignity. here are his comments: "gladstone, as ever, great, earnest, and honest; as unlike the tricky disraeli as possible." to dr. trench the bishop wrote: "the nation has decided against our establishment, and we bow to its decision, and on what tenure and conditions it is to be held, remains confessedly open." "but his sagacious and statesmanlike counsel was disregarded. the irish bishops ranged themselves in bitter but futile hostility to the change. a frantic outbreak of protestant violence began in ireland and spread to england." bishop wilberforce notes this conversation at windsor castle: "the queen very affable. 'so sorry mr. gladstone started this about the irish church, and he is a great friend of yours.'" on the th of february parliament assembled. march st mr. gladstone introduced his momentous bill in a speech of three hours, his first speech as prime minister, which was characterized as "calm, moderate and kindly." it was proposed that on january , , the irish church should cease to exist as an establishment and should become a free church. mr. disraeli, in the commons, moved the rejection of the bill. in opposing the measure he objected to disestablishment, because he was in favor of the union of church and state. mr. gladstone eloquently concluded as follows: "as the clock points rapidly towards the dawn, so as rapidly flow out the years, the months, the days, that remain to the existence of the irish established church.... not now are we opening this great question. opened, perhaps, it was when the parliament which expired last year pronounced upon it that emphatic judgment which can never be recalled. opened it was, further, when in the months of autumn the discussions were held in every quarter of the irish church. prosecuted another stage it was, when the completed elections discovered to us a manifestation of the national verdict more emphatic than, with the rarest exceptions, has been witnessed during the whole of our parliamentary history. the good cause was further advanced towards its triumphant issue when the silent acknowledgment of the late government, that they declined to contest the question, was given by their retirement from office, and their choosing a less responsible position from which to carry on a more desultory warfare against the policy which they had in the previous session unsuccessfully attempted to resist. another blow will soon be struck in the same good cause, and i will not intercept it one single moment more." the bill passed by an overwhelming vote-- against --and went up to the lords, where stirring debates occurred. but there, as well as in the house, the irish establishment was doomed. the bill, substantially unaltered, received the royal assent july , . the annual register for declared that the bill "was carried through in the face of a united and powerful opposition, mainly by the resolute will and unflinching energy of the prime minister.... upon the whole, whatever may be thought of its merits or demerits, it can hardly be disputed that the act of the disestablishment of the irish church, introduced and carried into a law within somewhat less than five months, was the most remarkable legislative achievement of modern times." the parliamentary session of was rendered memorable by the passing of a scarcely less popular and important measure--the irish land bill. mr. gladstone, in speaking of ireland, had referred to three branches of an upas tree, to the growth of which her present sad condition was largely owing--the irish church, the irish land laws, and the irish universities. the first branch had fallen with the disestablishment of the irish church, and mr. gladstone, pressing on in his reform, now proposed to lop off the second branch by his irish land bill, which was in itself a revolution. it was claimed for mr. gladstone's new bill, or land scheme, that while it insured for the tenant security of holding, it did not confiscate a single valuable right of the irish land-owner. mr. gladstone remarked that he believed there was a great fund of national wealth in the soil of ireland as yet undeveloped, and said he trusted that both tenant and landlord would accept the bill because it was just. the bill passed, and received the approval of the queen, august , . [illustration: the old lion] chapter xv the golden age of liberalism in what has been denominated the "golden age of liberalism" the liberal party was united, enthusiastic, victorious, full of energy, confidence and hope. "i have not any misgivings about gladstone personally," says an english writer, "but as leader of the party to which the folly of the conservatives and the selfish treachery of disraeli, bit by bit, allied him, he cannot do what he would, and, with all his vast powers, there is a want of sharp-sighted clearness as to others. but god rules. i do not see how we are, after disraeli's reform bill, long to avoid fundamental changes, both in church and state." justin mccarthy has well summed up the aims of mr. gladstone and his party on their accession to power: "nothing in modern english history is like the rush of the extraordinary years of reforming energy on which the new administration had now entered. mr. gladstone's government had to grapple with five or six great questions, any one of which might have seemed enough to engage the whole attention of an ordinary administration. the new prime minister had pledged himself to abolish the state church in ireland, and to reform the irish land tenure system. he had made up his mind to put an end to the purchase of commissions in the army. recent events and experiences had convinced him that it was necessary to introduce the system of voting by ballot. he accepted for his government the responsibility of originating a complete system of national education." the first great measure of the new administration had been successfully pushed through, and, flushed with triumph, the liberal leaders were now ready to introduce other important legislation. in , the elementary education act, providing for the establishment of school boards, and securing the benefits of education for the poor in england and wales was introduced. by it a national and compulsory system of education was established for the first time. "it is important to note that the concessions made during its course to the convictions of tories and churchmen, in the matter of religious education, stirred the bitter and abiding wrath of the political dissenters." the measure was passed, while the half-penny postage for newspapers, and the half-penny post cards were among the benefits secured. in april, , a party of english travelers in greece were seized by brigands. the ladies were released and also lord muncaster, who was sent to athens to arrange for ransom and a free pardon. but the greek government sending soldiers to release the captives and capture the captors, the english were murdered. the english minister at athens was in treaty for the release of his countrymen, but the great difficulty was to procure pardon from the greek government. this terrible affair created a profound sensation in england, and it was brought before parliament. mr. gladstone pleaded for further information before taking decided steps. but for the arrest and execution of most of the brigands, and the extirpation of the band, the diabolical deed went unavenged. in july, war broke out suddenly between france and germany, which resulted in the dethronement of napoleon iii. england preserved neutrality. however, mr. gladstone had his opinion regarding the war and thus represented it: "it is not for me to distribute praise and blame; but i think the war as a whole, and the state of things out of which it has grown, deserve a severer condemnation than any which the nineteenth century has exhibited since the peace of ." and later, in an anonymous article, the only one he ever wrote, and which contained the famous phrase, "the streak of silver sea," he "distributed blame with great impartiality between both belligerent powers." among the business transacted in the session of was the following: all appointments to situations in all civil departments of the state, except the foreign office and posts requiring professional knowledge, should be filled by open competition; and the royal prerogative that claimed the general commanding-in-chief as the agent of the crown be abolished, and that distinguished personage was formally declared to be subordinate to the minister of war. mr. gladstone announced the intention of the government to release the fenian prisoners then undergoing sentences for treason or treason-felony, on condition of their not remaining in or returning to the united kingdom. the premier, alluding to the enormity of their offenses, said that the same principles of justice which dictated their sentences would amply sanction the prolongation of their imprisonment if the public security demanded it. the press and country generally approved this decision of the premier, but some condemned him for the condition he imposed in the amnesty. the religious test imposed upon all students entering at the universities was abolished, and all students of all creeds could now enter the universities on an equal footing. heretofore special privileges were accorded to members of the established episcopal church, and all others were cut off from the full enjoyment of the universities. a bill to establish secret voting was rejected by the lords, but was passed the next session. the house of lords, emboldened by their success in throwing out the voting bill, defeated a bill to abolish the purchase of commissions in the army, but mr. gladstone was not to be turned from his purpose, and startled the peers by a new departure--he dispensed with their consent, and accomplished his purpose without the decision of parliament. finding that purchase in the army existed only by royal sanction, he, with prompt decision, advised the queen to issue a royal warrant declaring that on and after november , , all regulations attending the purchase of commissions should be cancelled. the purchase of official positions in the army was thus abolished. it was regarded as a high-handed act on the part of the prime minister, and a stretch of executive authority, and was denounced by lords and commons, friends and foes. tories and peers especially were enraged, and regarded themselves as baffled. the condition of affairs in ireland was alarming. the spread of an agrarian conspiracy at westmeath compelled the government to move for a committee to inquire into the unlawful combination and confederacy existing. "mr. disraeli was severely sarcastic at the expense of the government." the grant proposed by the government to the princess louise on her marriage aroused the opposition of some members of the house, who claimed to represent the sentiments of a considerable number of people. it was proposed to grant £ , and an annuity of £ , . the premier stated that the queen in marrying her daughter to one of her own subjects, had followed her womanly and motherly instincts. he dwelt upon the political importance of supporting the dignity of the crown in a suitable manner; upon the value of a stable dynasty; and the unwisdom of making minute pecuniary calculations upon such occasions. it was carried by a remarkable majority of votes against . in the treaty of washington was concluded. but the geneva awards for the damage done to american shipping by the "alabama," did much to undermine mr. gladstone's popularity with the warlike portion of the british public and there were various indications that the ministry were becoming unpopular. there were other causes tributary to this effect. his plans of retrenchment had deprived greenwich of much of its trade, hence his seat was threatened. mr. gladstone resolved to face the difficulty boldly, and to meet the murmurers on their own ground, october , , he addressed his greenwich constituents. the air was heavy with murmurs and threats. twenty thousand people were gathered at blackheath. it was a cold afternoon when he appeared bare-headed, and defended the whole policy of the administration. "his speech was as long, as methodical, as argumentative, and in parts as eloquent, as if he had been speaking at his ease under the friendly and commodious shelter of the house of commons." the growing unpopularity of the government was evidenced in the first reception given to the premier by his constituents. groans and cheers were mingled, and his voice at first was drowned by the din. finally he was heard, and won the day, the people enthusiastically applauding and waving a forest of hats. one cause of unpopularity was what is called "the ewelme scandal," and another the elevation of sir robert collin to the judicial committee of the privy council. mr. gladstone said: "i have a shrewd suspicion in my mind that a very large proportion of the people of england have a sneaking kindness for the hereditary principle. my observation has not been of a very brief period, and what i have observed is this, that wherever there is anything to be, done, or to be given, and there are two candidates for it who are exactly alike--alike in opinions, alike in character, alike in possessions, the one being a commoner and the other a lord--the englishman is very apt indeed to prefer the lord." he detailed the great advantage which had accrued from the legislation of the past generation, including free-trade, the removal of twenty millions of taxation, a cheap press, and an education bill, mr. gladstone thus restored himself to the confidence of his constituents, but the ministry did not wholly regain the popularity they once enjoyed. the gladstone period had passed its zenith and its decadence had already begun. during the autumn mr. gladstone received the freedom of the city of aberdeen, and made a speech, in which occurred a remarkable reference to "the newly-invented cry of home rule." he spoke of the political illusions to which ireland was periodically subject, the extremes to which england had gone in satisfying her demands, and the removal of all her grievances, except that which related to higher education. he said that any inequalities resting between england and ireland were in favor of ireland, and as to home rule, if ireland was entitled to it, scotland was better entitled, and even more so wales. ireland had proved the glory of mr. gladstone's administration. its name had been associated with the most brilliant legislative triumphs of government. but ireland was also destined to be the government's most serious stumbling-block, and fated to be the immediate measure of its overthrow. in the session of mr. gladstone endeavored to further his plans for reform, and consequently vigorously attacked the third branch of the "upas tree," to which he had referred. he labored to put the universities on a proper basis, that they might be truly educational centres for the whole of ireland, and not for a small section of its inhabitants alone. this step followed legitimately after the disestablishment of the irish church. he introduced to this end a large and comprehensive measure, but although it was favorably received at the outset, a hostile feeling soon began and manifested itself. mr. gladstone pleaded powerfully for the measure, and said: "to mete out justice to ireland, according to the best view that with human infirmity we could form, has been the work--i will almost say the sacred work--of this parliament. having put our hands to the plough, let us not turn back. let not what we think the fault or perverseness of those whom we are attempting to assist have the slightest effect in turning us, even by a hair's-breadth, from the path on which we have entered. as we begun so let us persevere, even to the end, and with firm and resolute hand let us efface from the law and practice of the country the last--for i believe it is the last--of the religious and social grievances of ireland." mr. disraeli made fun of the bill, stalwart liberals condemned it, and the irish members voted against it, hence the bill was defeated by a small majority of three votes. mr. gladstone consequently resigned, but mr. disraeli positively declined to take office with a majority of the house of commons against him, and refused to appeal to the country. mr. gladstone read an extract from a letter he had addressed to the queen, in which he contended that mr. disraeli's refusal to accept office was contrary to all precedent. but under the extraordinary circumstances he and his colleagues consented to resume office, and they would endeavor to proceed, both with regard to legislation and administration upon the same principle as those which had heretofore regulated their conduct. mr. lowe, the chancellor of the exchequer, having resigned, mr. gladstone assumed the duties of the office himself, thus serving in the double offices of premier and chancellor. during the recess various speeches were made in defence of the ministerial policy, but the government failed to recover its once overwhelming popularity. on the th of july, , mr. gladstone lost by sudden death one of his oldest and most highly esteemed friends--samuel wilberforce, bishop of winchester. he was riding to holmbury with earl granville, when he was thrown from his horse and killed instantly. the end of mr. gladstone's first ministry was now drawing near. the people no longer desired to keep up with the reforming zeal of the administration. mr. disraeli's strongly exaggerated description of the premier's policy had the effect of forming the popular discontent; liberal members were deserting him. the bible was in danger of being left out of the schools, and beer was threatened with taxation. the flag of "beer and the bible"--strange combination--having been hoisted by clergy and publicans, the cry against the ministry became irresistible. deserted by the people and by many of his own party, what was to be done unless to appeal to the country and decide by a general election what was wanted and who would be sustained. january, , mr. gladstone issued a manifesto dissolving parliament. in this document, entitled to be called a state paper for its political and historical importance, mr. gladstone stated his reasons for what was regarded by many as a _coup d' tat_. it is impossible to describe the public excitement and confusion which attended the general election thus unexpectedly decreed. mr. gladstone, recovering from a cold, appealed with great energy to greenwich for re-election. the general election resulted in the defeat of the liberals, and gave to the conservatives a majority of forty-six in the house. mr. gladstone was elected, but greenwich which returned two members, placed the premier second on the poll--below a local distiller. following the example of his predecessor, in , mr. gladstone resigned. "thus was overthrown one of the greatest administrations of the century; indeed, it may be doubted whether any other english ministry was ever able to show such a splendid record of great legislative acts within so short a period. there was not one measure, but a dozen, which would have shed lustre upon any government; and the six years of mr. gladstone's first premiership are well entitled to the epithet which has been accorded to them of 'the golden age of liberalism.'" before the next parliament met mr. gladstone was to give the country another surprise. he was now sixty-four years old, had been forty years in active parliamentary labors, and thought himself justified in seeking rest from the arduous duties of public life, at least the pressing cares as leader of one of the great political parties. when his contemplated retirement had before become known to his friends, they induced him for a while longer to act as leader, but in february, , he finally retired from the leadership and indeed appeared but rarely in the house of commons during that session. "the retirement of mr. gladstone from active leadership naturally filled his party with dismay. according to the general law of human life, they only realized their blessings when they had lost them. they had grumbled at their chief and mutinied against him and helped to depose him. but, now that this commanding genius was suddenly withdrawn from their councils they found that they had nothing to put in its place. their indignation waxed fast and furious, and was not the less keen because they had to some extent, brought their trouble on themselves. they complained with almost a ludicrous pathos that mr. gladstone had led them into a wilderness of opposition and left them there to perish. they were as sheep without a shepherd and the ravening wolves of toryism seemed to have it all their own way." between the time of mr. gladstone's retirement from the premiership and his resignation of leadership in the house, he had quickly reappeared in the house of commons and vigorously opposed the public worship regulation bill. mr. gladstone attacked the bill with a power and vehemence which astonished the house. the great objection to it was its interference with liberty, and with the variety of customs which had grown up in different parts of the country. to enforce strict uniformity would be oppressive and inconvenient. the bill became law, however, though it has largely proved inoperative, mr. gladstone also opposed the endowed schools act amendment bill, which practically gave to the church of england the control of schools that were thrown open to the whole nation by the policy of the last parliament. so great a storm was raised over this reactionary bill that mr. disraeli was obliged to modify its provisions considerably before it could become a law. mr. gladstone was also active at this time in delivering addresses at liverpool college, the buckley institute and the well-known nonconformist college at mill hill. [illustration: mr. gladstone's mail] chapter xvi the eastern question during his retirement from the leadership of the liberal party, mr. gladstone employed his great abilities in theological controversy and literary productions. it was during this period that he collected his miscellaneous writings, entitled "gleanings from past years." a little more than a year had elapsed when he again entered the political arena. "he threw aside polemics and criticisms, he forgot for awhile homer and the pope," and "rushed from his library at hawarden, forgetting alike ancient greece and modern rome," as he flung himself with impassioned energy and youthful vigor into a new crusade against turkey. a quarter of a century before he had aroused all europe with the story of the neapolitan barbarities, and now again his keen sense of justice and strong, humanitarian sympathies impel him with righteous indignation to the eloquent defence of another oppressed people, and the denunciation of their wrongs. it was the eastern question that at once brought back the liberal leader into the domain of politics. "the spirit of the war-horse could not be quenched, and the country thrilled with his fiery condemnation of the bulgarian massacres." his activity was phenomenal. "he made the most impassioned speeches, often in the open air; he published pamphlets which rushed into incredible circulations; he poured letter after letter into the newspapers; he darkened the sky with controversial postcards, and, as soon as parliament met in february, , he was ready with all his unequalled resources of eloquence, argumentation and inconvenient enquiry, to drive home his great indictment against the turkish government and its champion, mr. disraeli, who had now become lord beaconsfield." "the reason of all this passion is not difficult to discover. mr. gladstone is a christian; and in the turk he saw the great anti-christian power where it ought not, in the fairest provinces of christendom, and stained with the record of odious cruelty practised through long centuries on its defenceless subjects who were worshippers of jesus christ." turkish oppression, which had for a long time existed in its worst forms, resulted in an insurrection against turkey and herzegovina, july , . this, however, was only the beginning, for others suffering under ottoman oppression rebelled, and all europe was involved. in january, , the herzegovinians gained a victory over the turkish troops. the european powers then suggested a settlement favorable to the insurgents, which was accepted by the sultan. but early in may another insurrection broke out in several bulgarian villages, which was quickly followed by the most horrible atrocities. a conference on the eastern question was held at berlin in may, and soon afterward the english ministers announced in parliament that they were unable to assent to the terms agreed upon at the berlin conference. this announcement caused much surprise and comment in england. public feeling already aroused, was not allayed when it became known that the british fleet in the mediterranean had been ordered to besiki bay, seemingly for the protection of the turkish empire. june th the bulgarian insurrection was suppressed. on the th of july the sultan, abdul aziz, was deposed and was succeeded by murad v, who declared that he desired to guarantee liberty to all. mr. disraeli stated, in the house of commons, that the steps taken by the ministry would lead to permanent peace. but within two weeks the _daily news_ published a letter from constantinople detailing the massacre in bulgaria by the turks, which moved all england with indignation. innocent men, women and children had been slaughtered by the thousands; at least sixty villages had been utterly destroyed; the most revolting scenes of violence had been enacted; and a district once the most fertile in the empire had been laid waste and completely ruined. forty girls were shut up in a straw loft and burnt, and outrages of the most fearful description were committed upon hundreds of defenceless captives. mr. disraeli, in the house of commons, grew "jocular upon the cruelties and sufferings almost unparalleled in the world's history," and expressed his belief that the outrages committed by the turkish troops had been exaggerated, and sneered at the rumor as "coffee-house babble;" while as to the torture of the impalement, which had caused universal anger and disgust, that an oriental people have their way of executing malefactors, and generally terminated their connection with culprits in an expeditious manner. in the official report presented to parliament by mr. w. baring, the reported outrages in bulgaria were corroborated. no fewer than , persons had perished in the sandjak of philippopolis! the most fearful tragedy, however, was at batak, where over people took refuge in the church and churchyard. the bashi-bazouks fired through the windows, and, getting upon the roof, tore off the tiles and threw burning pieces of wood and rags dipped in petroleum among the mass of unhappy human beings inside. at last the door was forced in and the massacre was completed. the inside of the church was then burnt, and hardly one escaped. "the massacre at batak was the most heinous crime which stained the history of the present century;" and for this exploit the turkish commander, achmet agha, had bestowed on him the order of the medjidie. sir henry elliot, the english ambassador at constantinople, was directed to lay these facts before the sultan and to demand the punishment of the offenders. the demand, however, was never enforced. prince milan issued a proclamation to his people, declaring that, while professing neutrality, the sultan had continued to send military forces of savage hordes to the servian frontier. in june, prince milan left belgrade and joined his army on the frontier. the montenegrins declared war on turkey and joined forces with servia. july th the servians were defeated. thus was turkey plunged into war with her christian provinces, and all through her own misrule in peace and her barbarities in war. mr. disraeli in a speech made in the house of commons, august th, explained that he had not denied the existence of the "bulgarian. atrocities," but he had no official knowledge of them. he affirmed that great britain was not responsible for what occurred in turkey, nor were the turks the special _protégés_ of england. he announced that the special duty of the government at that moment was to preserve the british empire, and that they would never consent to any step that would hazard the existence of that empire, this speech, which was distinguished by much of his old brilliancy and power, was his last speech in the house. on the morning after this speech it was publicly announced that mr. disraeli would immediately be elevated to the peerage under the title of the earl of beaconsfield. in september, , deeming it high time that the indignant voice of england should be heard in demonstration of the infamous deeds practiced by the turk, mr. gladstone issued his pamphlet, entitled "bulgarian horrors and the question of the east." it had an enormous circulation. he called for a stop to be put to the anarchy, the misrule and the bloodshed in bulgaria, and demanded that the ottoman rule should be excluded, not only from bosnia and herzegovina, but also from bulgaria. the turks must clear out, "bag and baggage," from the provinces they have desolated and profaned. the pamphlet, and the latter expression especially, produced a great sensation. the pamphlet "brought home to the english people the idea that for these horrors which were going on, they too, as non-interfering allies of turkey, were in part responsible." soon after this mr. gladstone addressed a large concourse of his constituents at blackheath, in which he severely arraigned the government. this address was one of the most impassioned and eloquent of mr. gladstone's political orations, and at some points the people were literally carried away with their feelings. november st, turkey was forced by russia to agree to an armistice of eight weeks. on the d the russian emperor pledged his word to the english ambassador that he had no intention of acquiring constantinople; that if compelled to occupy bulgaria, it would be only until the safety of the christian inhabitants be secured; and urged the ambassador to remove the distrust of russia prevailing in england. yet, in the face of all these assurances, lord beaconsfield delivered a war-like speech, at the banquet at guildhall, november th. informed of this speech the czar declared that if the porte did not accede to his demands, russia would then act independently. on the th of december there was a great conference at st. james' hall, london, to discuss the eastern question. the duke of westminster presided at the afternoon meeting. at the evening gathering lord shaftesbury occupied the chair. mr. e. freeman said: "perish the interests of england, perish our dominion in india, sooner than we should strike one blow or speak one word on behalf of the wrong against the right." the chief interest of the occasion centered in the speech of mr. gladstone who was received with unbounded applause. he declared that there had been no change in public sentiment in england on the question; that the promoters of that meeting had no desire to embarrass the government; that the power and influence of england had been employed to effect results at variance with the convictions of the country; that lord beaconsfield had only recently appeared anxious; and that england had duties towards the christian subjects of turkey. mr. gladstone continued that he hoped that the instructions given to lord salisbury, who had been sent for conference to constantinople, were not in accordance with the speech at guildhall, but that he would be left to his own clear insight and generous impulses; that the conference would insist upon the independence of the provinces, or at least would insure them against arbitrary injustice and oppression, and that the work indicated was not merely a worthy deed but an absolute duty. mr. gladstone, during the recess of parliament, delivered speeches upon the burning question of the day all over england. at hawarden he pleaded that it was the wretched turkish system that was at fault, and not the turks themselves, and hoped for a remedy. to the electors of frome he spoke of the tremendous responsibility of the ministers. in a speech at the taunton railway station, he said, in reference to the injunction for himself and friends to mind their own business, that the eastern question was their own business. and when the constantinople conference failed he spoke of this "great transaction and woeful failure," and laid all the blame of failure on the ministry. as to the treaties of being in force, his opinion was, that turkey had entirely broken those treaties and trampled them under foot. january , , the conference closed. parliament met february , , and the conflict was transferred from the country to that narrower arena. in the house of lords the duke of argyle delivered a powerful speech, to which the premier, disraeli, replied, that he believed that any interference directed to the alleviation of the sufferings of the turkish christians would only make their sufferings worse. he asked for calm, sagacious and statesmanlike consideration of the whole subject, never forgetting the great interests of england, if it was to have any solution at all. mr. gladstone, upon his appearance in the house, was greeted as a daniel come to judgment. he was taken to task by mr. chaplin, who complained that mr. gladstone and others of the liberal party "had endeavored to regulate the foreign policy of the country by pamphlets, by speeches at public meetings, and by a so-called national conference, instead of leaving it in the hands of the executive government," and intimated that mr. gladstone was afraid to meet the house in debate upon the question. mr. gladstone, rebuking mr. chaplain, said that it was the first time in a public career extending over nearly half a century, he had been accused of a disinclination to meet his opponents in a fair fight, and promised him that neither he nor his friends would have reason to complain of his reticence. tories and liberals knew he had not shrunk from meeting the public on this question. he was glad that there was a tremendous feeling abroad upon this eastern question. he had been told that by the pamphlet he wrote and the speech he delivered, he had done all this mischief, and agitated europe and the world; but if that were the case why did not the honorable gentleman, by writing another pamphlet, and delivering another speech, put the whole thing right? if he (the speaker) had done anything, it was only in the same way that a man applies a match to an enormous mass of fuel already prepared. mr. gladstone closed with the following words: "we have, i think, the most solemn and the greatest question to determine that has come before parliament in my time.... in the original entrance of the turks into europe, it may be said to have been a turning point in human history. to a great extent it continues to be the cardinal question, the question which casts into the shade every other question." april , , war was declared by russia against turkey. the czar issued a manifesto, assigning as reasons for this war the refusal of guarantee by the porte for the proposed reforms, the failure of the conference and the rejection of the proteol signed on the previous st of march. england, france and italy proclaimed their neutrality. mr. gladstone initiated a great debate in the house of commons, may th, which lasted five days. he presented a series of resolutions expressing grave dissatisfaction with the policy of turkey, and declared that she had forfeited all claim to support, moral and material. mr. gladstone asked whether, with regard to the great battle of freedom against oppression then going on, "we in england could lay our hands upon our hearts, and in the face of god and man, say, 'we have well and sufficiently performed our part?'" these resolutions were of course hostile to the government, and many liberals refused to vote for them, because they pledged england to a policy of force in connection with russia. besides the government gave assurances to avail themselves of any opportunity of interposing their good offices. the resolutions consequently were lost. mr. gladstone was not quite the leader of his party again. shortly after this debate, and before the close of the session, mr. gladstone addressed a large meeting at birmingham on the eastern question and the present condition of the liberal party. later on he visited ireland. on his return he addressed, by their request, the people gathered to receive him. he expressed his belief that turkey would have yielded to the concerted action of europe; noticed the change in the tone of the ministry from the omission in the premier's speech of the phrase, "the independence of turkey;" protested strongly against england being dragged into war, and warmly eulogized the non-conformists for the consistency and unanimity with which they had insisted on justice to the eastern christians. political feeling entered into everything at this time, but as an evidence of the hold mr. gladstone retained in the scottish heart, he was in november elected lord rector of glasgow university by a large majority. lord beaconsfield was the retiring lord rector, and the conservatives nominated sir s. northcote, the chancellor of the exchequer, as mr. gladstone's opponent. the war in the east went disastrously for the ottoman arms. january , , the porte agreed to accept the terms of peace submitted by the grand duke nicholas. mr. gladstone was invited january , , to attend a meeting of undergraduates at oxford, held to celebrate the formation of a liberal palmerston club. he strongly condemned the sending of the british fleet into the dardanelles as a breach of european law; and confessed that he had been an agitator for the past eighteen months, day and night, to counteract what he believed to be the evil purposes of lord beaconsfield. in february the house of commons passed a vote of credit, but on the d of march a treaty of peace was signed between turkey and russia, at sanstefano, the terms of which in part were: turkey to pay a large war indemnity; servia and montenegro to be independent and to receive accessions of territory; bulgaria to be formed into a principality with greatly extended boundaries, and to be governed by a prince elected by the inhabitants; the navigation of the straits was declared free for merchant vessels, both in times of peace and war; russian troops to occupy bulgaria for two years; batoum, ardahan, kars and bayazid, with their territories, to be ceded to russia, and turkey to pay an indemnity to roumania. the terms of the treaty were regarded oppressive to turkey by the beaconsfield ministry, who proposed that the whole treaty be submitted to a congress at berlin, to meet in june, . the treaty was approved after some modifications. the english plenipotentiaries were the earl of beaconsfield and marquis of salisbury, who, for their share in the treaty, received a popular ovation and rewards from the queen. thus was turkey humiliated and russia benefited, having obtained her demands. to the people assembled lord beaconsfield said from the window of the foreign office: "lord salisbury and myself have brought you back peace, but a peace, i hope with honor, which may satisfy our sovereign and tend to the welfare of the country." but at this very time the envoy of russia, whom the ministry thought to be circumvented, was entering the afghan capital; so that, although there was peace on the bosphorus, as a direct result of the eastern policy, there was war in afghanistan. the conservatives were very ready for awhile to use as a watchword the phrase, "peace and honor," but before long it became the occasion of ridicule. parliament was called upon to appropriate £ , , to defray the cost of the afghan and zulu wars. when mr. gladstone's government retired from office, there was a surplus of over £ , , , but the budgets of and both showed large deficits. the people had applauded the "imperial policy," "the jingoism" of lord beaconsfield's administration during the past two or three years, but they were not so appreciative when they found it so costly a policy to themselves. the depression in business also had its effect upon the country. the unpopularity of the liberal government, which culminated in its defeat in , was now, in , being shifted to their conservative opponents, whose term of office was fast drawing to a close. "mr. gladstone's resolute and splendid hostility to lord beaconsfield's whole system of foreign policy restored him to his paramount place among english politicians. for four years--from to --he sustained the high and holy strife with an enthusiasm, a versatility, a courage and a resourcefulness which raised the enthusiasm of his followers to the highest pitch, and filled his guilty and baffled antagonists with a rage which went near to frenzy. by frustrating lord beaconsfield's design of going to war on behalf of turkey, he saved england from the indelible disgrace of a second and more gratuitous crimea. but it was not only in eastern europe that his saving influence was felt. in africa and india, and wherever british honor was involved, he was the resolute and unsparing enemy of that odious system of bluster and swagger and might against right, on which lord beaconsfield and his colleagues bestowed the tawdry nickname of imperialism." [illustration: mr. gladstone on his way home] chapter xvii midlothian and the second premiership the leadership of the liberal party had, upon the retirement of mr. gladstone, been turned over to lord hartington. his sympathies were upon the right side on the eastern question, but he was a calm, slow-moving man. at the proper time he would have taken the right measures in parliament, but the temper of the liberal party and of the people demanded present action and emphatic speech, then mr. gladstone came to the rescue, and lord hartington found himself pushed aside. mr. gladstone was again in fact the leader of the liberal party, whose standard he had carried aloft during those stirring times when the eastern question was the all-absorbing topic of debate in parliament and among the people of the land. the foreign policy of lord beaconsfield in and found a sleepless critic in mr. gladstone. the day after the parliament of had adjourned for the easter recess, it was announced that the ministry had ordered the indian government to dispatch native troops to the island of malta. the order occasioned much discussion--political, legal, and constitutional. it was warmly debated. it was thought that lord beaconsfield had transcended his powers and done what could be done only by a vote of parliament. in the house of commons mr. gladstone condemned the proceedings as unconstitutional, and pointed out the dangers of the ministerial policy. lord beaconsfield received what he calculated upon--the support of the house. for a member to differ from his policy was almost to incur the imputation of disloyalty to crown and country. indeed, mr. gladstone was seriously accused of treason by a member of the house for an article in the _nineteenth century_. mr. gladstone undauntedly continued the contest. he addressed a meeting of liberals in the drill hall, bermondsey, july th, in which he said that the dissolution of parliament could not long be postponed, and urged the union and organization of all liberals, and prompt measures to secure such representation as the liberals deserved in the coming parliament. speaking of the anglo-turkish treaty, he pointed out the serious obligations which devolved upon england under it. he added, regarding the turkish convention, that, possibly it was necessary to sustain the credit of the country, but whether that credit should be sustained at such a price remained for the people to determine at the polls. he rejoiced that these most unwise, extravagant, unwarrantable, unconstitutional and dangerous proceedings had not been the work of the liberal party, but he was grieved to think that any party should be found in england to perform such transactions. a great debate arose in the house of commons, extending over the whole range of the eastern question: the treaty of berlin, the anglo-turkish convention, the acquisition of cyprus, the claims of greece, etc. it was begun by the marquis of hartington, who offered a resolution regretting the grave responsibilities the ministry had assumed for england with no means of securing their fulfillment, and without the previous knowledge of parliament. mr. gladstone's speech during this debate is described as "a long and eloquent address, unsurpassable for its comprehensive grasp of the subject, its lucidity, point, and the high tone which animated it throughout." mr. gladstone denied that his strictures upon the government in a speech made out of parliament could be construed as lord beaconsfield had taken them as a personal attack and provocation. if criticism of this kind is prohibited the doors of the house might as well be shut. he observed that, "liberty of speech is the liberty which secures all other liberties, and the abridgment of which would render all other liberties vain and useless possessions." in discussing the congress at berlin, mr. gladstone said, that he could not shut his eyes to the fact that the sclavs, looking to russia had been freed, while the greeks, looking to england, remained with all their aspirations unsatisfied; that russia had secured much territory and large indemnity, with the sanction of europe; that the english plenipotentiaries at the congress, lord salisbury and lord beaconsfield, as a general rule, took the side of servitude, and that opposed to freedom. with regard to the english responsibilities in asiatic turkey put upon england at the convention, he called them an "unheard of," and "mad-undertaking," accomplished "in the dark," by the present ministry. dealing with the treaty-making power of the country, he claimed that it rested with parliament in conjunction with the executive. the strength and the eloquence were on the side of the opposition, but the votes were for the government. the resolutions of lord hartington were defeated, and the "imperial policy" of the ministry was sustained. the _spectator_ said, that, "reason, prudence, and patriotism have hardly ever in our times been voted down with so little show of argument, and even of plausible suggestion." the next step taken by the ministry was to undertake war with afghanistan, in hopes of checking the advances of russia in that direction and of redressing grievances. england accomplished her purpose in part, but greatly suffered for her exploit. mr. gladstone could not remain quiet under the "adventurous policy" of the premier. he condemned the ministerial policy which had made the queen an empress, then manipulated the prerogative in a manner wholly unexampled in this age, and employed it in inaugurating policies about which neither the nation nor the parliament had ever been consulted. but arguments were of no avail. the conservative majority in parliament had imbibed the idea that the honor of england had to be protected. some thought it had never been assailed, but lord beaconsfield declared it was in peril, and men and money were voted to defend it. "so the order was given for distant peoples to be attacked, english blood to be spilled, the burdens of the people, already too heavy, to be swollen, and the future liabilities of this country to be enormously increased." in november, at the lord mayor's banquet, lord beaconsfield, speaking of eastern affairs, said that the government was not afraid of any invasion of india by its northwestern frontier; but the frontier was "haphazard and not a scientific one," and the government wanted a satisfactory frontier. mr. gladstone, in a letter to the bedford liberal association, asked: "what right have we to annex by war, or to menace the territory of our neighbors, in order to make 'scientific' a frontier which is already safe?" in the autumn of mr. gladstone, having resolved to retire from the representation of greenwich at the next election, paid a farewell visit to his constituents. at a luncheon given by the liberal association he dwelt upon the necessity of a liberal union. the liberals had, owing to their dissensions, given twenty-six votes to their opponents in , while the government had been carried on for years by a conservative majority of less than twenty-six, showing the importance of organization. at night mr. gladstone attended a great public meeting in the plumstead skating rink. on his entrance the whole audience rose and cheered for several minutes. an address was presented, expressing regret at his retirement, and the pride they would ever feel at having been associated with his name and fame. mr. gladstone alluded to lord beaconsfield's phrase respecting "harassed interests," and said he knew of only one harassed interest, and that was the british nation. he protested against the words "personal government" being taken to imply that the sovereign desired to depart from the traditions of the constitution, yet he charged the advisers of the crown with having invidiously begun a system intended to narrow the liberties of the people of england and to reduce parliament to the condition of the french parliaments before the great revolution. mr. gladstone threw the whole responsibility of the afghan war on the ministry, and maintaining that england had departed from the customs of the forefathers, concluded as follows: "it is written in the eternal laws of the universe of god that sin shall be followed by suffering. an unjust war is a tremendous sin. the question which you have to consider is whether this war is just or unjust. so far as i am able to collect the evidence, it is unjust." in december, , the following resolution was offered in the house of commons: "that this house disapproves the conduct of her majesty's government, which has resulted in the war with afghanistan." mr. gladstone strongly condemned the war with afghanistan and the irritating policy towards the ameer, and concluded his address with the following eloquent responses to the historical and moral aspects of the afghan difficulty: "you have made this war in concealment from parliament, in reversal of the policy of every indian and home government that has existed for the last twenty-five years, in contempt of the supplication of the ameer and in defiance of the advice of your own agent, and all for the sake of obtaining a scientific frontier." this powerful speech greatly impressed, for the moment, both parties in the house, but the vote of censure was defeated, and the policy of the administration was endorsed. during the debate mr. latham made a witty comparison. he said that the cabinet reminded him of the gentleman, who seeing his horses run away, and being assured by the coachman that they must drive into something, replied, "then smash into something cheap!" the ministry presented a motion that the revenues of india should be applied for the purposes of the war. mr. gladstone observed that it was the people of england who had had all the glory and all the advantage which resulted from the destruction of the late administration, and the accession of the present cabinet; and hence it was the people who must measure the _pros_ and the _cons_, and who must be content, after having reaped such innumerable benefits, to encounter the disadvantage of meeting charges which undoubtedly the existing government would leave behind it as a legacy to posterity. england gained her end in the humiliation of russia, but there were those who felt that the result of the english policy would further the advance of russia in europe, and that force would never make friends of the afghans. in the sessions of the greek question came up in the house of commons on a motion, "that, in the opinion of this house, tranquillity in the east demands that satisfaction be given to the just claims of greece, and no satisfaction can be considered adequate that does not ensure execution of the recommendations embodied in protocol of the berlin congress." mr. gladstone hoped that even in the present house there would be found those who would encourage the first legitimate aspirations of the hellenic races after freedom. the government had given pledges to advance the claims of greece that had not been redeemed at berlin. not one of the european powers was now averse to the claims of the greek kingdom, whose successful pleadings depended wholly upon england for favorable answer. but the government objected, and the motion was rejected. in july, sir charles dilke called the attention of the house to the obligations of turkey under the treaty of berlin, when mr. gladstone again earnestly enforced the claims of "greece, weak as she may be, is yet strong in the principles in which she rests." december , , mr. gladstone attained the seventieth year of his age. his friends in liverpool, and the greenwich liberal association presented him with congratulatory addresses. the journals paid him warm tributes for his long and eminent public services. but few thought that the veteran that had so successfully gone through one electoral campaign was destined in a few months to pass through another, still more remarkable, and yet be fresh for new triumphs. in the autumn of mr. gladstone resolved upon a very important, and as his enemies thought, a hopeless step. he had retired from the representation of greenwich, and he now boldly decided to contest the election for midlothian, the county of edinburgh. he consequently proceeded to scotland, in november, where such an ovation was given him as has never been accorded to any man in modern times. during the period of three weeks he addressed meetings numbering seventy-five thousand people, while a quarter of a million of people, with every exhibition of good-will and admiration, took part in some way in the demonstration in his honor. in this canvass of delivering political speeches he performed an oratorical and intellectual feat unparalleled in the history of any statesman who had attained his seventieth year. mr. gladstone addressed large concourses of people. when he reached edinburgh, "his progress was as the progress of a nation's guest, or a king returning to his own again." midlothian, the scene of mr. gladstone's astonishing exertions, was one of the conservative strongholds, under the dominent influence of the duke of buccleuch, whose son, lord dalkeith, mr. gladstone opposed in contesting for the representation in parliament. mr. gladstone said: "being a man of scotch blood, i am very much attached to scotland, and like even the scottish accent," and he afterwards said, "and scotland showed herself equally proud of her son." he spoke at edinburgh, november th, and on the following day at dalkeith, in the very heart of the duke of buccleuch's own property to an audience of three thousand people, mostly agriculturists. at edinburgh he met nearly five thousand persons at the corn exchange, representing more than one hundred scottish liberal associations. in the waverley market mr. gladstone addressed more than twenty thousand people, one of the largest congregations ever assembled in-doors in scotland, and met with a reception which for enthusiasm was in keeping with the vastness of the audience. december th, at glasgow, he delivered his address as lord rector to the students of the university, and in the evening addressed an immense audience of nearly six thousand in st. andrew's hall. he was most enthusiastically received, and he dwelt chiefly on cyprus, the suez canal, india, and afghanistan. "we had afghanistan ruined," he urged, "india not advanced, but thrown back in government, subjected to heavy and unjust charges, subjected to what might well be termed, in comparison with the mild government of former years, a system of oppression; and with all this we had at home the law broken and the rights of parliament invaded." on the th of march, , the immediate dissolution of parliament was announced in both houses of parliament, and the news created intense political excitement and activity throughout the land. in his manifesto, in the shape of a letter to the duke of marlborough, the prime minister referred to the attempt made to sever the constitutional tie between great britain and ireland, and said: "it is to be hoped that all men of light and leading will resist this destructive doctrine. there are some who challenge the expediency of the imperial character of this realm. having attempted and failed to enfeeble our colonies by their policy of decomposition, they may now perhaps recognize in the disintegration of the united kingdom a mode which will not only accomplish, but precipitate, that purpose. peace rests on the presence, not to say the ascendency, of england in the councils of europe." mr. gladstone and lord hartington issued their counter-manifestoes. mr. gladstone repudiated lord beaconsfield's dark allusion to the repeal of the union and the abandonment of the colonies, characterizing them as base insinuations, the real purpose of which was to hide from view the policy pursued by the ministry, and its effect upon the condition of the country; and said that public distress had been aggravated by continual shocks from neglected legislation at home, "while abroad they had strained the prerogative by gross misuse, had weakened the empire by needless wars, and dishonored it in the eyes of europe by their clandestine acquisition of the island of cyprus." mr. gladstone began the electoral campaign with a speech at marylebone on the th of march, in which he announced lord derby's secession from the conservative to the liberal party; and then he left london to enter upon his second midlothian campaign. at various points on the journey mr. gladstone stopped and addressed the people from the cars, and it is a remarkable fact that wherever he delivered an address the liberals gained a seat. the first address made by mr. gladstone on his own account, was delivered on the th of march, in the music hall, edinburgh. after dwelling at great length upon various questions of foreign policy, he concluded with the following references personal to his opponents and himself: "i give them credit for patriotic motives; i give them credit for those patriotic motives which are incessantly and gratuitously denied to us. i believe that we are all united, gentlemen--indeed it would be most unnatural if we were not--in a fond attachment, perhaps in something of a proud attachment, to the great country to which we belong." in his final speech at west calder mr. gladstone drew a powerful indictment against the administration, and placed the issue before the country in a strong light. throughout all the campaign, as the time for the general election was approaching, only one question was submitted to the electors, "do you approve or condemn lord beaconsfield's system of foreign policy?" and the answer was given at easter, , when the prime minister and his colleagues received the most empathic condemnation which had ever been bestowed upon an english government, and the liberals were returned in an overwhelming majority of fifty over tories and home rulers combined. mr. gladstone succeeded in ousting lord dalkeith from the representation of midlothian by a respectable majority. he was also elected at leeds, but this seat was afterwards given to his son, herbert gladstone. at the conclusion of the election all the journals joined in admiring the indomitable energy and vigor of the orator, who could carry out this great enterprise when he had already passed the age of three-score years and ten. edinburgh was illuminated in the evening, and everywhere were to be witnessed signs of rejoicing at mr. gladstone's victory. the result of the elections throughout the country exceeded the most sanguine expectations of the liberals. so large a proportion of liberal members had not been returned to the house of commons since the days of the first reform bill. lord beaconsfield, as soon as the result of the election was known, and without waiting for the meeting of parliament, resigned. the queen, in conformity with the constitutional custom, summoned lord hartington, the titular leader of the liberal party in the house of commons, to form a cabinet. but he could do nothing. then the queen sent for lord granville, who with lord hartington, went to windsor april d. they both assured the queen that the victory was mr. gladstone's; that the people had designated him for office, and that the liberal party would be satisfied with no other, and that he was the inevitable prime minister. they returned to london in the afternoon, sought mr. gladstone at harley street, where he was awaiting the message they brought from the queen--to repair to windsor. that evening, without an hour's delay, he went to windsor, kissed hands, and returned to london prime minister for the second time. mr. gladstone again filled the double office of premier and chancellor of the exchequer in the new cabinet, which for general ability and debating power was one of the strongest of the century. while some of the cabinet officers were like mr. gladstone himself, without title, others were representatives of the oldest nobility of the land. at the very beginning the new administration were confronted by perplexing questions. the eastern question, chiefly by mr. gladstone's influence, had been settled in accordance with the dictates of humanity and religion. but there were other difficulties to be overcome. "at home, his administration did good and useful work, including the extension of the suffrage to the agricultural laborers; but it was seriously, and at length fatally, embarrassed by two controversies which sprang up with little warning, and found the liberal party and its leaders totally unprepared to deal with them." the first embarrassing question which arose when the new parliament met was the great deficit of nine million pounds instead of an expected surplus in the indian budget, owing to the afghan war. foremost among the difficulties encountered was the case of mr. charles bradlaugh, elected a member of parliament for northampton. he demanded to be permitted to make a solemn affirmation or declaration of allegiance, instead of taking the usual oath. the question created much discussion and great feeling, and mr. bradlaugh's persistence was met by violence. mr. bright contended for liberty of conscience. mr. gladstone favored permitting mr. bradlaugh to affirm on his own responsibility which was finally done, but mr. bradlaugh was prosecuted in the courts. the great difficulty arose from mr. bradlaugh's atheism. a considerable share of the session of was occupied in the consideration of the irish compensation for disturbance bill and other irish measures. in consequence of the rapid increase of evictions by landlords, this protective measure had become absolutely necessary in the interests of the irish tenants. after prolonged debate--very prolonged for so short a bill--thirty-five lines only--the bill was passed by the commons, but defeated by the lords. the result was "seen in a ghastly record of outrage and murder which stained the following winter." home rule for ireland, which movement was started in the "seventies," was gaining ground, and every election returned to the house more members pledged to its support. those who were bent upon obtaining home rule at any cost used obstructive means against other legislation to gain their object, but as yet the movement was confined to the members who had been elected by irish constituents. about the close of the session of the heavy burdens and responsibilities of public service borne by mr. gladstone began to tell upon him. at the end of july, while returning from home for the house of commons, mr. gladstone was taken ill. he was prostrated by fever and great fears for his recovery were entertained by his family, his party and a host of admirers throughout the country. a great outburst of popular sympathy was manifested and frequent messages were received from the queen and many foreign potentates and celebrities. distinguished callers and telegrams continued to arrive at downing street for ten days while the patient was confined to his bed at home. the president of the united states and the king and queen of the belgians were among those who sent messages of sympathy. "rarely indeed, if ever, has there been witnessed such a general and spontaneous expression of the national sympathy towards a distinguished statesman whose life had been imperilled by illness." mr. gladstone's large store of vital energy brought him safely through his dangerous illness and on approaching convalescence he took a sea voyage round the entire coast of england in sir donald currie's steamer, "grantully castle." three years after this voyage around england the premier visited the orkneys on a similar trip, in the "pembroke castle," the poet laureate being of the party on this occasion. from the orkneys he sailed across to denmark and suddenly appeared at copenhagen, where mr. gladstone entertained the czar and czarina, the king of greece, and the king and queen of denmark, and many others of their relatives who happened to be visiting them at that time. a great meeting was held june , , in her majesty's opera house, for the purpose of presenting an address from the liberals of middlesex to mr. herbert gladstone, who had made a gallant contest in that country at the general election. the entrance of the premier some time after the meeting began was the signal for an outburst of enthusiasm. before mr. gladstone appeared, the chairman, mr. foster, had paid a high tribute to the premier for his great abilities and his self-denial in the public service. after his son had received the address, the premier arose to speak, when the whole audience arose to their feet and welcomed him with immense cheering. mr. gladstone referred at length to the midlothian campaign, and paid a tribute to the spirit and energy of the liberals of the whole country. the sound which went forth from midlothian reverberated through the land and was felt to be among the powerful operative causes which led to the great triumph of the liberal party. at the lord mayor's banquet, november , , mr. gladstone's speech was looked forward to with much anxiety, owing to the singularly disturbed condition of ireland. referring to the "party of disorder" in ireland, he said that as anxious as the government was to pass laws for the improvement of the land laws, their prior duty was to so enforce the laws as to secure order. if an increase of power was needed to secure this, they would not fail to ask it. in , at the lord mayor's banquet, mr. gladstone said that he was glad to discern signs of improvement in ireland during the last twelve months; but the struggle between the representatives of law and the representatives of lawlessness had rendered necessary an augmentation of the executive power. in august, , at greenwich, the liberals of the borough presented mr. gladstone with an illustrated address and a carved oak chair as a token of their esteem and a souvenir of his former representation of their borough. on the cushion back of the chair were embossed in gold the arms of mr. and mrs. gladstone, with a motto "fide et virtute," and above, in the midst of some wood-carving representing the rose, the thistle, the shamrock, and the leek, was a silver plate, bearing a suitable inscription. the parliamentary session of was almost exclusively devoted to irish affairs. instead of the contemplated land act, the ministry were compelled, on account of the disturbed condition of ireland, to bring in first a coercion act, although the measure was naturally distasteful to such friends of ireland in the cabinet as mr. gladstone and mr. bright. property and life had become very insecure, and there was a startling increase of agrarian crime that such a measure was deemed necessary. but while passing the coercion act, mr. gladstone accompanied it by a great and beneficial measure--a second irish land bill, which instituted a court for the purpose of dealing with the differences between landlord and tenant. this bill--one of mr. gladstone's greatest measures--became a law august , . mr. gladstone in his speech remarked that the complaint was made that the bill was an infringement of liberty in ireland and was aimed at the land league, but no person or body could be touched by the bill unless they violated the law, and then could only be arrested upon reasonable suspicion of crime committed or of inciting to crime or of interfering with law or order. there would be the fullest freedom of discussion allowed. dealing with the land league he said it had been attempted to compare it with the corn laws, but mr. bright had completely demolished that miserable argument. it was compared also to the trade unions, but they made an onward step in the intelligence and in the love of law and order among the working classes. they had never tainted themselves by word or deed which would bring them into suspicion in connection with the maintenance of law. the leaders of the land league were now put forward as martyrs on the same platform as o'connell; but on every occasion of his life-long agitation o'connell set himself to avoid whatever might tend to a breach of law and order. then mr. gladstone showed the necessity of the coercion act from the condition of ireland, where during the past year there had been a great increase of crime, and the outrages were agrarian, and not connected with the distress. it was a significant fact that the agrarian outrages had risen and fallen with the meetings of the land league. nothing could be more idle than to confound the agrarian crime of ireland with the ordinary crime of england, or even of ireland. in regard to general crime, ireland held a high and honorable place, but how different was the case with agrarian crime! he referred to the miscarriage of justice in ireland, and said that the bill, if passed, would restore to ireland the first conditions of christian and civilized existence. but it "only irritated while it failed to terrify." mr. gladstone's was a great speech and showed his mastery of details, and his power of expounding and illustrating broad and general principles. he began his exposition by confessing that it was the most difficult question with which he had ever been called upon to deal. he concluded with an eloquent invocation to justice. on the th of april, , lord beaconsfield died. for many years he and mr. gladstone had been at the head of their respective parties. "their opposition, as one critic has well and tersely put it, like that of pitt and fox, was one of temperament and character as well as of genius, position and political opinions." the premier paid an eloquent tribute to him and proposed a public funeral, which was declined. mr. gladstone then moved for a monument in westminster abbey to the memory of the deceased earl. in october, , mr. gladstone made a visit to leeds, for which borough he was returned in , but for which his son herbert sat. he delivered several important addresses on subjects which then absorbed the public attention, especially dealing with the land question local government, and free trade _versus_ fair trade. mr. gladstone said: "my boyhood was spent at the mouth of the mersey, and in those days i used to see those beautiful american liners, the packets between new york and liverpool, which then conducted the bulk and the pick of the trade between the two countries. the americans were then deemed to be so entirely superior to us in shipbuilding and navigation that they had four-fifths of the whole trade between the two countries in their hands, and that four-fifths was the best of the trade. what is the case now, when free trade has operated and has applied its stimulus to the intelligence of england, and when, on the other hand, the action of the americans has been restrained by the enactment, the enhancement and the tightening of the protective system? the scales are exactly reversed, and instead of america doing four-fifths and that the best, we do four-fifths of the business, and the americans pick up the leavings of the british and transact the residue of the trade. not because they are inferior to us in anything; it would be a fatal error to suppose it; not because they have less intelligence or less perseverance. they are your descendants; they are your kinsmen; and they are fully equal to you in all that goes to make human energy and power; but they are laboring under the delusion from which you yourselves have but recently escaped, and in which some misguided fellow-citizens seek again to entangle you. "i am reminded that i was guilty on a certain occasion of stating in an article--not a political article--that, in my opinion, it was far from improbable that as the volume of the future was unrolled, america, with its vast population and its wonderful resources, and not less with that severe education which, from the high price of labor, america is receiving in the strong necessity of resorting to every description of labor-saving contrivances, and consequent development, not only on a large scale, but down to the smallest scale of mechanical genius of the country--on that account the day may come when that country may claim to possess the commercial primacy of the world, i gave sad offence to many. i at present will say this, that as long as america adheres to the protective system your commercial primacy is secure. nothing in the world can wrest it from you while america continues to fetter her own strong hands and arms, and with these fettered arms is content to compete with you, who are free, in neutral markets. and as long as america follows the doctrine of protection, or the doctrines now known as those of 'fair trade,' you are perfectly safe, and you need not allow, any of you, even your slightest slumbers to be disturbed by the fear that america will take from you your commercial primacy." after his return to london mr. gladstone received an address from the corporation, setting forth the long services he had rendered to the country. mr. gladstone, in his reply, touched upon irish obstruction, and announced, incidentally, the arrest of mr. parnell. mr. parnell, the leader of the irish party, having openly defied the law, had been arrested and imprisoned without trial, under the coercion act, passed at the last session. on the opening night of the parliament, of , mr. gladstone laid before the house the proposed new rules of parliamentary procedure. the _clôture_, by a bare majority, was to be established, in order to secure the power of closing debate by a vote of the house. the house of lords decided upon the appointment of a select committee to inquire into the working of the land act, including the alleged total collapse of the clauses relating to purchase, emigration, and arrears. the prime minister in the house of commons introduced a resolution condemning the proposed inquiry as tending to defeat the operation of the land act and as injurious to the good government of ireland. early in may, , the whole country was startled and terrified by the news of the assassination of lord frederick cavendish, the new chief secretary for ireland, and mr. burke under-secretary, in the phoenix park, dublin. a social revolution was raging in ireland. outrages and murders had been fearfully frequent, and such brutal murders as those of mrs. smythe and mr. herbert had filled england with terror. in the first week of may announcement was made that earl cowper had resigned the viceroyalty. rather than share the responsibility of releasing mr. parnell, mr. dillon and mr. o'kelly, mr. forster left the cabinet. lord spencer was appointed to the viceroyalty, and lord frederick cavendish succeeded mr. forster, and two days thereafter all england was thrilled with sorrow and indignation by the terrible news of the assassination in phoenix park. the news shattered the hopes of many concerning ireland, and fell with special severity upon mr. gladstone, because he and lord cavendish enjoyed the closest friendship. the government presented a prevention of crimes bill of a very stringent character. in the course of debate warm discussions arose over an "understanding" called, "the kilmainham compact," but mr. gladstone successfully defended the government in regard to its supposed negotiations with mr. parnell. this bill was directed against secret societies and illegal combinations, and it was hoped that as the land league party had expressed its horror at the phoenix park crime, and charged that it was the work of american conspirators, they would allow the measure speedily to become law. mr. bright declared that the bill would harm no innocent person, and explained his own doctrine, that "force is no remedy," was intended to apply not to outrages, but to grievances. for three weeks mr. parnell and his followers obstructed legislation in every conceivable way, and were finally suspended for systematic obstruction. the obstructionists removed, the bill was then passed, after a sitting of twenty-eight hours. the measure was passed by the lords july th, and the queen signed the bill july th. a crisis nearly arose between the lords and the commons over the irish arrears bill, but the lords finally yielded. [illustration: gallery of the house of commons.] chapter xviii third administration and home rule it is our purpose next to trace the events that led to the overthrow of the second administration of mr. gladstone, and to the formation of his third cabinet. the question that seemed to begin the work of weakening the foundations of his existing government was their policy in regard to egypt, which began with the occupation of egypt in . the budget of the session of was presented by mr. gladstone april th. it was not expected that anything novel in the way of legislation would be attempted in it. but its main interest was in this, that it proposed a vote of credit for the egyptian expedition, which was to be provided for by addition to the income-tax, making it sixpence half-penny in the pound for the year. the financial proposals were agreed to. in the course of the session mr. bright resigned his place in the cabinet on the ground that the intervention in egypt was a manifest violation of the moral law, that the government had interfered by force of arms in egypt, and directed the bombardment of alexandria. mr. gladstone denied that the ministry were at war with egypt, and stated that the measures taken at alexandria were strictly measures of self-defence. in justifying his resignation mr. bright said there had been a manifest violation of the moral law; but the premier, while agreeing with his late colleague generally on the question of the moral law differed from him as to this particular application of it. the prime minister attended the lord mayor's banquet at the mansion house, august , . in replying to the toast to her majesty's ministers, after some preliminary remarks, mr. gladstone alluded to the campaign in egypt, which had been so much discussed, and said: "let it be well understood for what we go and for what we do not go to egypt. we do not go to make war on its people, but to rescue them from the oppression of a military tyranny which at present extinguishes every free voice and chains every man of the people of that country. we do not go to make war on the mohammedan religion, for it is amongst the proudest distinctions of christianity to establish tolerance, and we know that wherever the british rule exists, the same respect which we claim for the exercise of our own conscientious convictions is yielded to the professors of every other faith on the surface of the globe. we do not, my lord mayor, go to repress the growth of egyptian liberties. we wish them well; for we have no other interest in egypt, which cannot in any other way so well and so effectually attain her own prosperity as by the enjoyment of a well regulated, and an expanding freedom." mr. gladstone's confidence respecting the early termination of the war in egypt was somewhat justified by sir garnet wolseley's victory at tel-el-kebir, but the future relations of england with egypt were still left an open subject of discussion and speculation. again, november th, at the banquet at the guildhall, to the cabinet ministers, mr. gladstone spoke. he called attention to the settlement of the troubles in the east of europe, congratulating his hearers on the removal by the naval and military forces of the egyptian difficulty, and calling attention to ireland, compared its condition with that of the previous march and october, , showing a diminution of agrarian crime to the extent of four-fifths. this happy result had been brought about, not by coercive means alone, but by the exercise of remedial measures. "if the people of ireland were willing to walk in the ways of legality, england was strong, and generous, and free enough to entertain in a friendly and kindly spirit any demand which they might make." on the th of december, , mr. gladstone's political jubilee was celebrated. fifty years before, on that day, he had been returned to parliament as member for newark. a large number of congratulatory addresses, letters, and telegrams complimenting him on the completion of his fifty years of parliamentary service were received by him. he had entered the first reformed parliament as a conservative, had gone ever forward in the path of reform, and was yet to lead in greater measures of reform. the excellent prospects regarding domestic measures with which the session of was opened were dispelled by prolonged and fruitless debates on measures proposed and on the address from the queen. but mr. gladstone was absent, the state of his health requiring him to pass several weeks at cannes. he returned home in march greatly invigorated, and at once threw himself with wonted ardour into the parliamentary conflict. mr. parnell offered a bill to amend the irish land act of , which was opposed by the premier and lost. an affirmation bill was introduced at this session by the government, which provided that members who objected to taking the oath might have the privilege of affirming. the opposition spoke of the measure as a "bradlaugh relief bill." its rejection was moved, and in its defense mr. gladstone made one of his best speeches, which was warmly applauded. he said: "i must painfully record my opinion, that grave injury has been done to religion in many minds--not in instructed minds, but in those which are ill-instructed or partially instructed--in consequence of things which ought never to have occurred. great mischief has been done in many minds by a resistance offered to the man elected by the constituency of northampton, which a portion of the people believe to be unjust. when they see the profession of religion and the interests of religion, ostensibly associated with what they are deeply convinced is injustice, it leads to questions about religion itself, which commonly end in impairing those convictions, and that belief, the loss of which i believe to be the most inexpressible calamity which can fall either upon a man or upon a nation." but the measure was lost. during the session of the bankruptcy bill and the patents bill were both passed, and effected reforms which had long been felt to be necessary. the corrupt practices act was designed to remove from british parliamentary and borough elections the stigma which attached to them in so many parts of the country. the government was checked, however, in its policy in the transvaal, and mr. childers' action in regard to the suez canal. mr. gladstone attended, in march, the celebration of the inauguration of the national liberal party, predicting for it a useful and brilliant future, if it remained faithful to its time-honored principles and traditions. sir stafford northcote, in the session of , moved a vote of censure, and vigorously attacked the egyptian policy of the administration. mr. gladstone defended the ministerial action with spirit and effect. he declared that the government had found, and not made, the situation in egypt and the soudan. the prime minister "traced all the mischief to lord salisbury's dual control. though the motive and object had been to secure a better government for egypt, a great error had been committed. the british government had fulfilled all the obligations imposed upon them, and they were acting for the benefit of the civilized world. reforms had been effected in the judicature, legislature, police, and military organizations of egypt; and they were resolved to see all the vital points recommended carried out by the khedive's government. as to the war in the soudan, it was hateful to the people of egypt; and england declined to have anything to do with the reconquest of the soudan.... general gordon, whom mr. gladstone characterized as a hero and a genius, had been despatched to khartoum for the purpose of withdrawing, if possible, in safety the , soldiers of the khedive scattered over the soudan. the general's mission was not the reconquest of the soudan, but its peaceful evacuation, and the reconstruction of the country, by giving back to the sultan the ancestral power which had been suspended during the egyptian occupation. the government had to consider in any steps which they took the danger of thwarting gordon's peaceful mission and endangering his life." mr. gladstone said that the policy of the government was to "rescue and retire." sir s. northcote's resolution was rejected by to votes, showing the growing strength of the opposition. the pacific mission of general gordon to khartoum having failed, there was great solicitude felt for that gallant soldier's welfare and safety. sir m. hicks-beach offered another vote of censure, complaining of the dilatory conduct of the government for not taking steps to secure the safety of general gordon. mr. gladstone, in reply, admitted the obligations of the government to general gordon, and stated that on reasonable proof of danger he would be assisted. "the nation would never grudge adequate efforts for the protection of its agents, but it was the duty of the government to consider the treasure, the blood, and the honor of the country, together with the circumstances of the time, the season, the climate, and the military difficulties. conscious of what their obligations were, they would continue to use their best endeavours to fulfil them, unmoved by the threats and the captious criticisms of the opposition." the proposed censure was defeated. a conference of european powers was held on egyptian affairs, but was abortive; and mr. gladstone while announcing that he wished to get out of egypt as soon as circumstances would allow, admitted that institutions, however good, were not likely to survive the withdrawal of our troops. lord northbrook was next despatched by the government on a mission to egypt, with the object of rescuing her from her financial embarrassments, and averting the impending dangers of a national bankruptcy. in february, , mr. gladstone introduced the government franchise bill in the house of commons. it was a great measure and proposed to complete the work of parliamentary reform by conferring the suffrage upon every person in the united kingdom who was the head of a household. mr. gladstone said that the results of the bill would be to add to the english constituency upwards of , , voters; to the scotch constituency over , voters; and to the irish constituency over , voters; which would add to the aggregate constituency of the united kingdom, which was then , , voters, , , more, or nearly twice as many as were added in . the premier appealed for union on this great reform, and observed: "let us hold firmly together, and success will crown our efforts. you will, as much as any former parliament that has conferred great legislative benefits on the nation, have your reward, and read your history in a nation's eyes; for you will have deserved all the benefits you will have conferred. you will have made a strong nation stronger still--stronger in union without, and stronger against its foes (if and when it has any foes) within; stronger in union between class and class, and in rallying all classes and portions of the community in one solid compact mass round the ancient throne which it has loved so well, and round the constitution, now to be more than ever free and more than ever powerful." the measure was warmly debated. besides this opposition there were, outside of the house, ominous utterances threatening the rejection of the scheme. mr. gladstone, referring to these hostile murmurings, said that hitherto the attitude of the government had been, in shakespeare's words, "beware of entrance to a quarrel; but, being in, bear it, that the opposer may beware of thee." he deprecated a quarrel and declared that the government had done everything to prevent a collision between the two houses of parliament on this question, which would open up a prospect more serious than any he remembered since the first reform bill. the house of lords passed a resolution to the effect that the lords would not concur in any measure of reform without having the complete bill before them, including the redistribution and registration, as well as an extension of the suffrage. the premier promised to introduce a redistribution bill in the following session, but lord salisbury, since the death of lord beaconsfield, the leader of the conservative party, declined to discuss the redistribution bill, "with a rope around his neck," by which he meant a franchise act under which his party must appeal to the country. negotiations followed between the liberal and conservative leaders with fruitless results, and the house of lords finally passed a resolution that it would be desirable for parliament to have an autumn session, to consider the representation of the people bill, in connection with the redistribution bill, which the government had brought before parliament. public meetings were held at various places throughout the country, and the question of the enlargement of the franchise discussed. the policy of the tories was strongly condemned at many large and influential public gatherings. in august mr. gladstone visited midlothian and delivered a powerful address in the edinburgh corn exchange. he explained that the special purpose for which he appeared before his constituents was to promote, by every legitimate means in his power, the speedy passage of the franchise bill. "the unfortunate rejection of the measure," he observed, "had already drawn in its train other questions of the gravest kind, and the vast proportion of the people would soon be asking whether an organic change was not required in the house of lords. he, however, did not believe that the house of lords had as yet placed itself in a position of irretrievable error. he believed that it was possible for it to go back, and to go back with dignity and honor." with regard to the foreign policy of the government, which had been attacked and compared unfavorably with the midlothian programme of , mr. gladstone defended it with spirit. he expressed his satisfaction with the expansion of germany abroad, and reviewed the policy of the government in eastern europe, afghanistan, india and south africa. as to the transvaal, he contended that "they were strong and could afford to be merciful," and that it was not possible without the grossest and most shameful breach of faith to persist in holding the boers to annexation, "when we had pledged ourselves beforehand that they should not be annexed except with their own good will." in reply to the oft-repeated question, "what took you to egypt?" the premier said: "honor and plighted faith." the covenants they were keeping were those entered into by their tory predecessors, and most unfortunate and most unwise he considered them to be. the government had respected the sovereignty of the porte and the title of the european powers to be concerned in all matters territorially affecting the turkish empire; they had discouraged the spirit of aggression as well as they could, and had contracted no embarrassing engagements. great improvements had been introduced in the administration of egypt, but he regretted the total failure of the late conference of the powers to solve the problem of egyptian finance. with regard to general gordon the government were considering the best means to be adopted for fulfilling their obligations. parliament met in october, . the franchise bill was introduced and sent to the house of lords, and the redistribution bill, upon which a compromise with the conservatives had been reached, was presented in the house of commons. the measure, as altered, proposed to disfranchise all boroughs with a population under , , to give only one member to towns with a population between , and , , and to take one member each from the counties of rutland and hereford. by this arrangement one hundred and sixty seats would be "extinguished," which, with the six seats extinguished before, would be revived and distributed as follows: "eight new boroughs would be created, the representation of london, liverpool, and other large cities and towns would be greatly increased, while in dealing with the remainder of the seats unappropriated, the government would apply equal electoral areas throughout the country." the franchise bill--a truly democratic bill---was carried through both houses, and became a law. the redistribution bill was carried, january, , after animated debate. registration measures were also passed for england, scotland and ireland, which received the royal assent may st. january, , mr. gladstone wrote a kindly, serious, yet courtly letter of congratulation to prince albert victor, eldest son of the prince of wales and heir presumptive to the crown, on the attainment of his majority. in the hour of triumph the government was doomed to receive a stunning blow. the news of the fall of khartoum and the untimely death of general gordon sent a thrill of horror and indignation throughout england. the government was seriously condemned for its procrastination in not sending timely relief, for the rescue of the imperiled english. but when the facts became fully known it was found that no blame could be attached to mr. gladstone, who was himself strongly moved by the death of general gordon, whose work and character he highly esteemed. the prime minister was, however, equal to the emergency, and announced that it was necessary to overthrow the mahdi at khartoum, to renew operations against osman digna, and to construct a railway from suakin to berber with a view to a campaign in the fall. the reserves were called out by royal proclamation. however, these measures met with opposition. sir stafford northcote brought forward a motion affirming that the risks and sacrifices which the government appeared to be ready to encounter could only be justified by a distinct recognition of england's responsibility for egypt, and those portions of the soudan which were necessary to its security. an amendment was proposed by mr. john morley, but regretting its decision to continue the conflict with the mahdi. mr. gladstone replied forcibly to both motion and amendment, and appealed to the liberal party to sustain the administration and its policy by an unmistakable vote of confidence. the government was sustained. the great powers of europe, in convention for the settlement of the finances of egypt, had concluded that it would require a loan of £ , , to save egypt from bankruptcy. this loan was to be issued on an international guarantee, with an international inquiry at the end of two years into the success of the scheme. this plan of adjustment was agreed to by the house. a short time after this settlement mr. gladstone announced a vote of credit to provide against any danger from russian action, stated that no farther operations would be undertaken either on the nile or near suakin, and that general graham's campaign would be abandoned, as well as the construction of the new railway. great excitement was created in england by the announcement of the advance of the russians on the indian frontier. march th mr. gladstone stated in the house that as the protests formerly made against the advance of russia had been allowed to lapse, it had been agreed that pending the delineation of the frontier there should be no further advance on either side. in april, however, a conflict occurred between the russians and the afghans, which seemed to indicate that general komaroff had committed an act of unprovoked aggression on the ameer. mr. gladstone moved a vote of credit on the th in a speech, whose eloquence and energy greatly stirred both sides of the house. happily, the difficulty with russia was adjusted by conceding pendjeh to russia in consideration of the surrender of zulfiker to the ameer. the administration of mr. gladstone, which had weathered through many storms, was destined to fall in a wholly unexpected way. when the budget for was produced there was a deficit of upwards of a million pounds, besides the depressed revenue and an estimated expenditure for the current year of not less than £ , , . mr. childers, the chancellor of the exchequer, proposed to make the taxation upon land proportionate to that on personal property, and to augment the duties on spirits and beer. but various interests were antagonized, and opposition was aroused. the country members demanded that no new taxes be put on the land until the promised relief of local taxation had been granted. the agricultural and liquor interests were discontented, as well as the scotch and irish members, with the whisky duty. concessions were made, but they failed to reconcile the opposition. a hostile motion was offered by sir m. hicks-beach, and mr. gladstone declared that the cabinet would resign if defeated. many liberals were absent when the vote was taken, regarding a majority for the ministry as certain, but the amendment was carried june th by a vote of to , and the premier and his colleagues resigned. the liberals were desirous of passing a vote of confidence in the administration, but mr. gladstone deprecated this, as he felt the situation to be intolerable, and was desirous of being relieved from the responsibility of office. misfortunes, both in reference to affairs at home and abroad, had fallen heavily upon the government, for many of which they were not responsible, and the cabinet had been held together chiefly by the masterly personality of the premier. hence it was not without a feeling of personal satisfaction that mr. gladstone transferred the seats of office to his successor, lord salisbury. on his retirement from office the queen offered an earldom to mr. gladstone, which he declined. its acceptance would have meant burial in the house of lords, and an end to his progressive action. the events that led to the third administration of mr. gladstone will next engage our attention. the first general election under the new reform act was held in november, . mr. gladstone again appealed to his constituents, and, although nearly seventy-six years of age, spoke with an energy and force far beyond all his contemporaries. his attitude on the question of dis-establishment drew back many wavering scotch votes. he discussed the scotch question at edinburgh, and said there was no fear of change so long as england dealt liberally, equitably, and prudently with ireland, but demands must be subject to the condition that the unity of the empire, and all the powers of the imperial parliament for maintaining that authority, must be preserved. in another address he stated his conviction, that the day had not come when the dis-establishment of the church in scotland should be made a test question. the question pressing for settlement by the next parliament was land reform, local government, parliamentary procedure, and the imperial relations between ireland and england; and every sensible man would admit that it was right to direct attention to them rather than to a matter impossible of immediate solution. at west calder mr. gladstone made an address, in which he "approved lord salisbury's action with regard to servia, complained of the ministerial condemnation of lord ripon's indian administration, ridiculed the idea of benefit resulting from a royal commission on trade depression, warned the electors against remedies which were really worse than the disease, and defended free-trade principles. he furthur advocated comprehensive land reforms, including free transfer, facility of registration, and the uprooting of mortmain." [illustration: gladstone's study at edwarden.] mr. gladstone was returned again for midlothian by an overwhelming majority. the elections resulted in the return of liberals, conservatives, parnellites, and independents. the liberals thus secured a substantial triumph. the agricultural districts were faithful to the liberals, but they lost in the boroughs. the clergy and the publicans, and the parnellites were found "arrayed" in "scandalous alliance" against the liberal cause. the liberal party was just short of the numbers required to defeat the combined forces of tories and parnellites. lord salisbury was retained in office, but the conservatives were disunited, and the life of his administration hung by a thread. the liberals were strong, hopeful, and united. in mr. chamberlain they had a popular champion of great ability and industry. december , england was astonished by the appearance of an anonymous paragraph in the _times_, affirming that, if mr. gladstone returned to power, he would deal with a liberal hand with the demands of home rule. the author of the paragraph has never been clearly ascertained, but the atmosphere of mystery with which it was surrounded was not regarded as becoming, either to such an important policy or to the personal dignity of the illustrious statesman. a storm of questions, contradictions, explanations, enthusiasms, and jeremiads followed its appearance. mr. gladstone would neither affirm nor deny, but held his peace. the question, he said, was one for a responsible ministry alone to handle. there was great uncertainty. it was, however, plain that if mr. gladstone should favor home rule, the parnellites would support him, and the tories must leave office. but only twelve months before lord shaftesbury wrote: "in a year or so we shall have home rule disposed of (at all hazards), to save us from daily and hourly bores." the parliament of had scarcely opened before the salisbury government was defeated upon an amendment to the queen's address, affirming the necessity for affording facilities to agricultural laborers to obtain allotments and small holdings. some of the leading liberals opposed the amendment, but mr. gladstone earnestly favored it, as a recognition of the evils arising from the divorce of so large a proportion of the population from the land. the irish and the liberals coalesced, and the government was placed in a minority of seventy-nine, and lord salisbury immediately resigned. late at night, january , , sir henry ponsonby arrived at mr. gladstone's residence with a summons from the queen for him to repair to her at osborne. on the st of february mr. gladstone "kissed hands," and became for the third time prime minister of england. the new premier was forced to face unusual difficulties, but he finally came to the conclusion that it was impossible to deal with the irish question upon the old stereotyped lines. he was resolved to treat this subject upon large and generous principles. accordingly, on the th of april, mr. gladstone, in the presence of a crowded house, brought forward his home rule bill--his bill for the government of ireland. with certain imperial reservations and safeguards the bill gave to ireland what she had long demanded--the right to make her own laws. the interest in the expected legislation was so great that members began to arrive at half-past five in the morning, while sixty of them were so eager to secure seats that they breakfasted at westminster. mr. gladstone's new measure was not only opposed by the conservatives, but it alienated from the premier some of the most influential of the liberal party. among the liberals who opposed the measure were those who had been the colleagues of mr. gladstone only the june before in the cabinet--lord hartington, lord shilborne, lord northbrook, lord derby and lord carlingford. mr. gladstone's forces, however, were reinforced by mr. morley, lord herschell and others. may th, mr. gladstone denied that he had ever declared home rule for ireland incompatible with imperial unity. it was a remedy for social disorder. the policy of the opposition was coercion, while that of the government was autonomy. on the th of april the premier presented the irish land purchase bill, for the buying out of the irish landlords, which was intended to come into operation on the same day as the home rule bill. the object of this measure was to give to all irish landowners the option of being bought out on the terms of the act, and opening towards the exercise of that option where their rent was from agricultural land. the state authority was to be the purchaser, and the occupier was to be the proprietor. the nominal purchase price was fixed at twenty years' purchase of the net rental, ascertained by deducting law charges, bad debts, and cost of management from judicial rent. where there was no judicial rental the land court could, if it chose, make use of griffiths' valuation for coming to a fair decision. to meet the demand for the means of purchase thus established, mr. gladstone proposed to create £ , , three per cents. the repayment of advances would be secured by a receiver general, appointed by and acting upon british authority. the land purchase bill was also opposed. it was the final cause which led to the retirement from the government of mr. chamberlain, "the able and enterprising exponent of the new radicalism." he was soon followed by sir george trevelyan, "who combined the most dignified traditions, social and literary, of the whig party with a fervent and stable liberalism which the vicissitudes of twenty years had constantly tried and never found wanting." mr. bright also arrayed himself in opposition to the government, and accused mr. gladstone of successfully concealing his thoughts upon the irish question in november. mr. gladstone replied that the position of ireland had changed since . the debate extended over many nights, and the opposition to the irish bills of so many liberal leaders in every constituency, soon led to disaffection among the people. what was lost in some districts, however, was to some extent made up, says an english writer, by "the support of that very broken reed, the irish vote, which was destined to pierce the hand of so many a confiding candidate who leaned upon it." while this debate was in progress a bill directed against the carrying of arms in ireland was introduced and pushed forward rapidly through both houses, and became a law. mr. gladstone explained the position of the cabinet on the home rule and land bills at a meeting of liberals held at the foreign office, may th. he stated that the government at present only asked for an endorsement of the leading principles of the two measures; and in closing the debate afterwards on the second reading of the home rule bill, in the house of commons, he made an eloquent appeal for ireland. but all parties were preparing for the conflict, and members of opposite parties were consolidating themselves for opposition. "the whigs, under lord hartington, coalesced with the radicals, under mr. chamberlain, and both together made a working alliance with the tories. this alliance was admirably organized in london and in the constituencies." it seems that the premier was deceived by his official counsellors of the liberal party as to the real condition of affairs respecting home rule and the prospects for the passage of his bills. he did not dream of defeat, but if by some mischance they would suffer defeat, then he could appeal to the country with the certainty of being sustained by the popular vote. this was what mr. gladstone hoped, and what he thought he had the assurance of. but hopes of success began to give way to fears of defeat as the time drew near to take the vote. however, some still hopeful prophesied a small majority against the bill--only ten votes at the most. the cabinet desperately resolved not to resign if beaten by so small a majority, but would have some adherent move a vote of confidence. this they argued would be favored by some opposed to home rule, and the question be deferred to another session, leaving the liberals still in office. but these hopes were doomed to be blasted. early in the morning of june th the momentous division took place, and it was found that the government, instead of getting a majority, was defeated by thirty votes. it was found that ninety-three liberals had voted with the majority. the premier at once advised the queen to dissolve parliament, and though her majesty at first demurred at the trouble of another election within seven months of the last, and begged mr. gladstone to reconsider his counsel, yet he argued that a general election would cause less trouble than a year of embittered and fanatical agitation against home rule. besides, as he said to a colleague, "if we did not dissolve we would be showing the white feather." mr. gladstone finally had his way, the queen yielded and parliament was dissolved june , . june th mr. gladstone issued an address to the electors of midlothian, and later paid a visit to edinburgh and glasgow, where he made powerful addresses. he then spoke at manchester, and, passing on to liverpool, he advocated the cause of ireland, calling upon the people to "ring out the old, ring in the new," and to make ireland not an enemy but a friend. the result of this appeal to the country was the return of a decided majority of over a hundred against home rule, and thus, after a short term of five months in office, the third administration of mr. gladstone was brought to a close, and he became again the leader of the opposition. the dissolution and appeal to the country was a practical blunder, but mr. gladstone's address to the people was skilfully worded. he freely admitted that the irish bills were dead, and asked the constituencies simply to sanction a principle, and that, too, a very plain and reasonable one in itself. he invited the people to vote aye or no to this question: "whether you will or will not have regard to the prayer of ireland for the management by herself of the affairs specifically and exclusively her own?" the separation of the bare principle of self-government from the practical difficulties presented by the bills enabled many liberals who were opposed to the measures to support mr. gladstone, but the majority of voters failed to make this distinction, and hence came defeat. the decision of the people was not regarded as final. in the jubilee of the queen was celebrated. fifty years before queen victoria had ascended the throne of england. mr. and mrs. gladstone celebrated the queen's jubilee by giving a treat to all the inhabitants of the estates of hawarden, who were of the queen's age, which was sixty-eight and upwards. the treat took the shape of a dinner and tea, served in a large tent erected in front of the castle, and the guests numbered upwards of two hundred and fifty. the principal toast, proposed by mr. gladstone, was the queen. he contrasted the jubilee then being celebrated all over the english-speaking world, with that of george the third, which was "a jubilee of the great folks, a jubilee of corporations and of authorities, a jubilee of the upper classes." on the other hand, he continued, the victorian jubilee was one when "the population are better fed, better clothed, and better housed--and by a great deal--than they were fifty years ago, and the great mass of these happy and blessed changes is associated with the name and action of the queen." in the year of the queen's jubilee, , mr. gladstone addressed many gatherings, and at swansea, where he was the guest of sir hussey vivian, he spoke to a vast concourse of people, estimated at one hundred thousand. chapter xix prime minister the fourth time when parliament met in mr. gladstone entered upon "a course of extraordinary physical and intellectual efforts, with voice and pen, in parliament and on the platform, on behalf of the cause, defeated but not abandoned, of self-government for ireland." the tory administration passed a crimes prevention bill for ireland of great severity. irish members of parliament were thrown into prison, but the act failed of its object--the suppression of the land league. in december, , mr. gladstone visited italy and made naples his headquarters. he was received with joy for the service he had rendered to the italian people. the university of bologna, in celebrating the eighth century of its existence, conferred upon him the degree of doctor of arts. in the house of commons appointed a commission to try the "times" charges against mr. parnell. the charges were found to be false. mr. gladstone visited birmingham in november, . after paying a glowing tribute to john bright, and expressing an earnest desire for his recovery to health, he condemned the coercion act. mr. gladstone received many handsome presents from the workingmen, and mrs. gladstone received from the ladies a medallion cameo portrait of her husband. a great demonstration was made at bingley hall, in which were gathered over , persons. a number of liberals, who had deserted mr. gladstone, returned upon the promise of certain imperial guarantees which were granted, among them sir george trevelyan. mr. chamberlain, who had asked for these safeguards, did not accept them. july , , mr. and mrs. gladstone celebrated their "golden wedding." among the many to offer congratulations were the queen by telegram, and the prince of wales by letter. a pleasant surprise met them at home. a portrait of mr. gladstone, by sir john millais, was found hanging in the breakfast-room, "a gift from english, scottish, welsh and irish women." in trouble came to the liberal party through the scandal connecting the names of mr. parnell and mrs. o'shea. mr. gladstone announced that the irish party must choose between himself and mr. parnell. in november, , mr. parnell was deposed from the chairmanship of the united irish national party. this led to a division. mr. justin mccarthy was elected leader by the anti-parnellites, and the parnellites selected mr. john redmond. parliament would soon terminate by limitation, so mr. gladstone devoted himself to preparing the people for the coming general election. besides, in february, , he made an address, at the opening of st. martin's free public library, and in march to the boys at eton college on homeric studies. june , , parliament came to an end. mr. gladstone's journey to edinburgh, in july, was all along the route "a triumphal progress." he was re-elected. the question of the day was home rule, and wherever the people had the opportunity of declaring themselves, they pronounced condemnation upon the policy of lord salisbury's administration, and in favor of home rule for ireland. the new parliament met, and, august , , a motion was made of "no confidence" in the salisbury government. the division was the largest ever taken in the house of commons, the vote being for the motion and against it--a majority of for mr. gladstone. the scene in the house which attended the overthrow of the salisbury government was less dramatic than that which accompanied the defeat of the gladstone ministry in , but it was full of exciting episodes. the house was packed to the doors. the excitement was intense, and the confusion great. when the figures were announced, another wild scene of disorder prevailed and there was prolonged cheering. "ten minutes later the great forum was empty and the excited assembly had found its way to the quiet outside under the stars." monday, august , , mr. gladstone repaired to osborne on the royal yacht, and became for the fourth time prime minister. since he had been the undisputed leader of his party. his main supporters in all his reform measures were the nonconformists, whose claim for "the absolute religious equality of all denominations before the law of the land," must, in time, it was thought, bring about the disestablishment of the episcopal church. in september, , mr. gladstone went to sir e. watkin's _chalet_ on mount snowdon, wales, where he made his boulder stone speech. to commemorate his visit a slab of gray aberdeen granite was "let into the actual brown rock," on which is the following inscription in welsh and in english: "september , . upon this rock the right honorable w.e. gladstone, m.p., when prime minister for the fourth time, and eighty-three years old, addressed the people of eryi upon justice to wales. the multitude sang cymric hymns and 'the land of my fathers.'" december , , mr. gladstone celebrated his eighty-third birthday. mr. and mrs. gladstone were at biarritz. congratulatory telegrams and messages were received in great numbers, besides many handsome presents. the event was celebrated all over england. the midlothian liberals sent congratulations upon the return of the liberal party to power under his leadership, and the completion of his sixty years' service in the house. resolutions were passed deploring the wickedness of the dynamite outrage at dublin, december , and yet avowing the justice of granting to ireland the right to manage her own affairs. january , , parliament was opened. in the house of commons there was a brilliant gathering, and nearly all the members were present, many of them standing. just before noon the hon. arthur wellesley peel, speaker, took his seat, and archdeacon farrar, chaplain, offered prayer. when mr. gladstone entered from behind the speaker's chair, every liberal and irish nationalist stood up and greeted him with prolonged and enthusiastic cheers; and when he took the oath as prime minister, he received another ovation. the members were then summoned to the house of lords to hear the queen's speech, which was read by the lord high chancellor, baron herschall. the prince of wales and his son, the duke of york, occupied seats on the "cross bench." february , the excitement in and about the parliament houses was as great as that which prevailed two weeks before. enthusiastic crowds greeted mr. and mrs. gladstone. when the doors of the house of commons were opened, there was a "disorderly rush" of the members into the house to obtain seats, "the members shouting and struggling, several being thrown to the floor in the excitement." peers, commons, and visitors filled the floor and galleries. the prince of wales and other members of the royal family were present. when mr. gladstone arose he was greeted with applause. he reminded the house that for seven years the voices which used to plead the cause of irish government in irish affairs had been mute within the walls of the house. he then asked permission to introduce a "bill to amend the provision for the government of ireland," which was the title of the home rule bill. mr. balfour led the opposition to the bill. mr. chamberlain declared that the bill would not accomplish its purpose, whereupon mr. justin mccarthy, for the anti-parnellities, replied that the irish would accept it as a message of everlasting peace, and mr. john redmond, for the parnellites, answered that if disturbances followed in ireland it would be due to the conservatives. the ulster unionists opposed the bill. the scotch-irish protestants of the north of ireland declared that they preferred to stand where they did in , when they defeated james ii and his catholic followers, in the battle of the boyne, and fought for william of orange for the english throne and liberty and protestantism. their opposition to home rule for ireland grew out of their hostility to roman catholicism and the fear of its supremacy. after six months of earnest debate in the house of commons, the home rule bill for ireland was passed, with slight amendments, september , , by a vote of to , a majority of thirty-four, the struggle was perhaps the most heated in the history of parliament. the bill was sent to the house of lords, where it was defeated, midnight, september , by the surprising majority of to , after only one week's discussion. members that never attended were drummed up to vote against the bill. the usual working force of the house of lords is from thirty to forty members. the vote was the largest ever taken in the lords. at once the cry, "down with, the house of lords!" was heard. the national liberal federation issued a circular, in which were the words: "the question of mending or ending the house of lords ... displaces for awhile all other subjects of reform." mr. gladstone was probably aware of the contents of this manifesto before it was issued, and the sentiments were in accord with those uttered by him two years before at new castle. september th, mr. gladstone addressed his constituents at edinburgh. he was received with an outburst of enthusiasm. he said that the people's chamber had passed the bill. if the nation was determined it would not be baffled by the peers. if the commons should go before the country, then the lords should go too, and if defeated, should do what the commons would do--clear out. the queen wanted mr. gladstone to appeal to the country, and there was an opinion among some that mr. gladstone would be defeated at the polls upon the question; but the premier intimated to the queen his intention not to appeal, and announced the readiness of the cabinet to be dismissed by the queen. however, the queen would hardly expose the throne to the danger threatening the peers. december , , mr. gladstone attained the eighty-fourth year of his age. when he entered the house of commons that day his political associates of the liberal party all rose anta greeted him with cheers. when the applause had subsided, the conservatives raised their hats and their leader, mr. balfour, rose and tendered his congratulations. mr. gladstone was much pleased with the demonstrations of his friends, as well as with the graceful compliments of his political opponents. besides about two hundred congratulatory messages, letters and telegrams were received, those from queen victoria, and the prince and princess of wales, being among the first. july , , prince george of wales, duke of york, and princess mary of teck were married. the prince was by inheritance heir, after the prince of wales, to the throne of england. mr. gladstone attended the wedding, arrayed in the blue and gold uniform of a brother of the trinity house, with naval epaulettes, and was conducted to the royal pew reserved for him. [illustration:] among the great measures proposed at this time by mr. gladstone were the employers' liability, and the parish councils bills. the latter was as evolutionary and as revolutionary as the home rule bill. its object was to take the control of , rural english parishes out of the hands of the squire and the parson and put it into the hands of the people. with its amendments regarding woman suffrage, to which mr. gladstone was opposed, it gave to every man and woman in england one vote--and only one--in local affairs. february , , when mr. gladstone had returned from biarritz, where he had gone for his health, there was again a notable assemblage in the house of commons to hear him speak. it was expected that he would make a bitter attack upon the house of lords, which had attempted to defeat both these bills by amendments. but he calmly spoke of the lamentable divergence between the two branches of the legislature upon the employers' liability bill, and asked that the amendment be rejected, which was done by a majority of to . the bill was therefore withdrawn, and the responsibility of its defeat thrown upon the lords. the house also rejected all the important amendments of the parish councils bill, but concurred in the unimportant changes made by the lords. it was sent back then to the lords, and finally passed by them. but mr. gladstone greatly disappointed many of his political friends by his mild manner of dealing with the house of lords. the extreme radicals were angered and condemned severely the premier for what they called his "backing down" and his "feeble speech." rumors in reference to mr. gladstone's resignation, which had been started by the _pall mall gazette_, while he was yet at biarritz, were now renewed. february , , mr. gladstone informed the queen of his contemplated retirement, giving as reasons his failing eyesight, deafness and age. march st, he made an important speech in the house of commons. he displayed so much vigor and earnestness in his speech that it was thought that he had given up the idea of retiring. but this was his last speech as premier. march d, mr. and mrs. gladstone were summoned to windsor, where they dined with the queen, and remained over night. saturday, march , , mr. gladstone tendered his resignation as premier to the queen, who accepted it with many expressions of favor and regret, and offered him again a peerage, which was declined. on the way to windsor and return to london, mr. gladstone was greeted by a large and enthusiastic crowd. hundreds of letters and telegrams expressing regret, because of his retirement, were received by the ex-premier, on sunday he attended church as usual and was looking well, mr. balfour in the commons, and lord salisbury in the lords, vied with mr. gladstone's political friends in speaking his praise, and referring in the highest terms to his character and labors. the press in all parts of the world spoke in glowing terms of his natural endowments, great attainments, invaluable services, pure character and wonderfully vigorous old age. it was quite evident that mr. gladstone's retirement was not enforced by mental or physical infirmities, or by his unfitness for the leadership of the house and the premiership, but that as a wise precaution, and upon the solicitation of his family, he had laid down his power while he was yet able to wield it with astonishing vigor. thus closed the fourth administration of this remarkable man, the greatest english statesman of his time. in all history there is no parallel case, and no official record such as his. lord rosebery was appointed premier in the place of mr. gladstone, and sir william v. harcourt became the leader of the liberal party in the house of commons. mr. gladstone wrote congratulating lord rosebery, and promised to aid him whenever his assistance was required. in assuming office lord rosebery eulogized mr. gladstone, and announced that there would be no change in the policy of reform of the liberal party under the new administration, and declared for home rule for ireland, the disestablishment of the church in wales and scotland, and the reform of the house of lords. [illustration:] chapter xx in private life justin mccarthy, in the closing pages of his story of gladstone's life, says: "the long political struggle was over and done. the heat of the opposition this way and that had gone out forever, and mr. gladstone had none left but friends on both sides of the political field. probably that ceremonial, that installation of the prince of wales as chancellor of the welsh university, was the last occasion on which mr. gladstone would consent to make an appearance on a public platform. it was a graceful close to such a great career." the occasion referred to was the ceremonial at aberystwith, wales, june , , when the prince of wales was installed as chancellor of the welsh university, and when the prince presented to the princess of wales and to mr. gladstone honorary degrees conferred upon them by the university. the appearance of mr. gladstone was the signal for great applause. the prince in his remarks was very complimentary to mr. gladstone, and spoke of the honor paid the university by the presence of the aged scholar and statesman, and also said it was truly one of the proudest moments of his life, when he found himself in the flattering position of being able to confer an academic honor upon one furnishing the rare instance of occupying the highest position as a statesman and who at the same time had attained such distinction in scholarship. but mr. mccarthy was mistaken about this being the closing public service in the life of mr. gladstone. it was very far from his last public appearance. after that event mr. gladstone appeared repeatedly. though his official life had closed, yet he was to emerge from retirement many times, and especially when it became necessary for him to raise his strong voice for humanity. his advocacy of the great causes of armenian rescue, of grecian independence, of arbitration instead of war, and the unity and harmony of the two great english-speaking people, was given with all the old time fire of youth. what mr. gladstone did and said with pen and voice since the occasion mentioned, was enough not only for another chapter, but a whole volume, and sufficient alone to immortalize any man. after the great struggle for home rule and during the sultry summer of , mr. gladstone repaired to his favorite winter resort, biarritz, in the south of france, it was while he was there that rumors of his resignation were heard, based on the ground of his failing health. dr. granger, of chester, who was also an oculist, was summoned to examine mr. gladstone's eyes. he told mr. gladstone that a cataract had obliterated the sight of one eye, and that another cataract had begun to form on the other. in other words mr. gladstone was threatened with total blindness. the prime minister reflected a moment, and then requested--almost ordered--the physician to operate immediately upon his eye. he said: "i wish you to remove the cataract at once." the physician replied that it was not far enough advanced for an operation. "you do not understand me," answered the patient, "it is the old cataract i wish removed. if that is out of the way, i shall still have one good eye, when the new cataract impairs the sight of the other." as the physician still hesitated, mr. gladstone continued: "you still seem not to understand me. i want you to perform the operation here and now while i am sitting in this chair." "but it might not be successful," said dr. granger. "that is a risk i accept," was the instant reply. however, the physician dared not then undertake it, and afterwards said that mr. gladstone's eyes were as good as they were a year before, and that his general health was also good. in may, , mr. gladstone's eye was successfully operated upon for cataract. he took no anaesthetic, and was conscious during the time. every precaution was taken to insure success, and the patient was put to bed for rest and quiet and kept on low diet. mr. gladstone's eyes were so improved by judicious treatment that before long he could read ten or twelve hours a day. this could be regarded as complete restoration of sight, and enabled him, upon his retirement from public life, to devote himself to the work he so well loved when at home in his study at hawarden. mr. gladstone's retirement from public life, from the premiership, the cabinet, the leadership of the liberal party, and from parliament did not mean his entrance upon a period of inactivity. in the shades of hawarden and in the quiet of his study he kept up the industry that had characterized his whole life heretofore. it had been the custom for centuries for english statesmen, upon retiring from official life, to devote themselves to the classics. mr. gladstone, who was pre-eminently a statesman-scholar, found it very congenial to his mind and habits to follow this old english custom. he first translated and published "the odes of horace." then he took butler's "analogy" as a text book, and prepared and published "studies subsidiary to the works of bishop butler." the discussion necessarily takes a wide range, treating, among other matters, of butler's method, its application to the scriptures, the future life, miracles and the mediation of christ. says w.t. stead: "no one who reads the strenuous arguments with which mr. gladstone summarizes the reasoning of bishop butler on the future life is conscious of any weakening in the vigorous dialectic which was so often employed with brilliant success in the house of commons." one of mr. gladstone's latest productions was his "personal recollections of arthur h. hallam," which was written for the "youth's companion." it is a tribute to the memory and worth of one of his early friends at eton. these and other literary works occupied most of his time. but mr. gladstone would not content himself with quiet literary work. he had too long and too intensely been active in the world's great movements and on humanity's behalf to stand aloof. hence it was not long before he was again in the arena, doing valiant service for the armenian and against the turk. in the sultan, in the execution of a plan devised in , issued an edict against religious freedom. in , he threw off the mask and began to execute his deliberate and preconcerted plan to force all christian armenians to become mohammedans or to die. robbery, outrage and murder were the means used by the hands of brutal soldiers. in a letter to an indignation meeting held in london, december th, , mr. gladstone wrote denouncing these outrages of the turks. the reading of the letter was greeted with prolonged applause. a deputation of armenian gentlemen, residing in london and in paris, took occasion on mr. gladstone's th birthday, december th, , to present a silver chalice to hawarden church as "a memorial of mr. gladstone's sympathy with and assistance to the armenian people." mr. gladstone's address to the deputation was regarded as one of the most peculiar and characteristic acts of his life. he gave himself wholly to the cause of these oppressed people, and was stirred by the outrages and murders perpetrated upon them as he was years before. he said that the turks should go out as they did go out of bulgaria "bag and baggage," and he denounced the government of the sultan as "a disgrace to mahomet, the prophet whom it professed to follow, a disgrace to civilization at large, and a curse to mankind." he contended that every nation had ever the right and the authority to act "on behalf of humanity and of justice." there were those who condemned mr. gladstone's speech, declaring that it might disrupt the peace of europe, but there were many others who thought that the sooner peace secured at such a cost was disturbed the better. it was but natural for those who wrongfully claimed the sovereign right to oppress their own subjects, to denounce all interference in the affairs of the sultan. it was reported, march , , that francis seymour stevenson, m.p., chairman of the anglo-armenian association, on behalf of the tiflis armenians, would present to mr. gladstone, on his return to london, the ancient copy of the armenian gospels, inscribed upon vellum, which was to accompany the address to the ex-premier, then being signed by the armenians there. in a letter mr. gladstone had but recently declared that he had abandoned all hope that the condition of affairs in armenia would change for the better. the sultan, he declared, was no longer worthy of the courtesies of diplomatic usage, or of christian tolerance. mr. gladstone promised that when these gospels were formally presented to him he would deliver a "rattling" address on behalf of the armenians. when a delegation waited on him, he said, after assuring them of his sympathy, that the danger in the armenian situation now was that useful action might be abandoned, in view of the promises of the turkish government to institute reforms. in june , mr. and mrs. gladstone attended the opening of the kaiser wilhelm canal as guests of sir donald currie, on his steamship tantallon castle, returning home on the twenty-fifth. during this trip an effort was made to arrange for an interview between the ex-premier and the prince bismarck, but the prince seemed disinclined and the project failed. it was while mr. gladstone was at kiel, that the rosebery ministry fell by an accidental defeat of the liberal party in parliament, and which again brought mr. gladstone to the front in the public mind. lord rosebery telegraphed mr. gladstone full particulars of the situation, and mr. gladstone strongly advised against the resignation of the government and urged that a vote of confidence be taken. mr. gladstone wrote that the liberal party could well afford to stand on its record. the ministry with but two exceptions, was the same, as that formed by mr. gladstone in august , and had his confidence. nevertheless, the cabinet of lord rosebery resigned, and the marquis of salisbury again became prime minister,--on the very day of mr. gladstone's arrival home. however lord rosebery retained the leadership of the liberal party. there is no doubt that if the wishes of the liberal party had been gratified, mr. gladstone would have taken the leadership and again become prime minister. subsequent events proved that he would have been equal, at least for a while, to the task of succeeding lord rosebery. but mr. gladstone was not willing. he refused to re-enter parliament, and wrote a letter to his old constituents at midlothian, declining their kind offer to send him to the house and bade them a kind farewell. in his letter he said that the liberal party is a party of progress and reform, and urged his constituents to stand by it. he regarded the changes of the century exceedingly beneficial. august , , mr. gladstone made a great speech at chester. a meeting was held in the town hall to arouse public sentiment against the slaughter of armenian christians within the empire of the sultan by turkish soldiers, and to devise some means of putting an end to such crimes, and of punishing the oppressor. the audience was very large, including many armenians resident in england, and rose with vociferous cheering when mr. and mrs. gladstone, the duke of westminster, the bishop of chester, and the mayor of chester entered the hall. the bishop of ripon was already there. the duke of westminster presided, and read a letter from the marquis of salisbury, the premier. mr. gladstone arose amid an outburst of enthusiastic applause, and addressing the vast audience said: that the massacres in armenia resulted from intolerable government--perhaps the worst in the world. he offered a resolution pledging the support of the entire nation to the british government in its efforts to secure for the armenians such reforms as would guarantee the safety of life, honor, religion and property. mr. gladstone said that language failed to describe the horrors of the massacre of sussoun, which made the blood run cold. the sultan was responsible, for these barbarities were not the act of the criminal class, such as afflicts every country, the malefactors who usually perpetrate horrible crime, but were perpetrated by the agents of the sultan--the soldiers and the kurds, tax-gatherers and police of the turkish government. and what had been done, and was daily being done, could be summed up in four awful words--plunder, murder, rape and torture. plunder and murder were bad enough, but these were almost venial by the side of the work of the ravisher and the torturer. and the victims were defenceless men, women and children--armenians, one of the oldest christian civilized races, and one of the most pacific, industrious and intelligent races of the world. there was no exaggeration in the language used to describe the horrible outrages visited upon whole communities of innocent and helpless people. the truth of these terrible charges in their most hideous form, was established by unbiased american testimony, by dr, dillon, an eye witness, and by the representatives of england, france and russia. nothing but a sense of duty, said mr. gladstone, had brought him at his age to resign the repose, which was the last of many great earthly blessings remaining to him, to address them. if the powers of europe were to recede before the irrational resistance of the sultan, they would be disgraced in the eyes of the world, and the christian population of the turkish empire would be doomed to extermination, according to the plan of the porte. terrible word, but true in its application. as to the remedy the cleanest was to make the turk march out of armenia, as he did out of bulgaria, "bag and baggage." he cautioned against trusting the promises of the government at constantinople, which he knew from long experience, were worthless; and declared that the sultan was bound by no treaty obligation. the word "ought" was not heeded at constantinople, but the word "must" was understood fully there. coercion was a word perfectly comprehended there--a drastic dose which never failed. if we have the smallest regard for humanity, he concluded, we shall, with the help of god, demand that which is just and necessary. mr. gladstone was frequently and loudly applauded during his speech, at the conclusion of which the resolution was adopted. the most powerful voice in all britain had been raised with stirring and thrilling power for justice and humanity. the testimony of an eye witness is to the effect, that never did the grand old man seem in finer form. his undimmed eye flashed as he spoke with withering scorn against hypocrisy and with hottest hate against wrong. his natural force was not abated, his health robust, and his conviction unsubdued. his deeply lined and pale face was transfigured with the glow of righteous indignation. the aged statesman was in his old house of commons vigor. "there was the same facile movement of his body, and the same penetrating look as though he would pierce the very soul of his auditors; the same triumphant march of sentence after sentence to their chosen goal, and yet the same subtle method of introducing qualifying clauses all along the march without loosing the grip of his theme; the same ascent to lofty principles and commanding generalizations, blended with the complete mastery of details; and, above all, the same sublimity of outlook and ringing emphasis of sincerity in every tone." it was an occasion never to be forgotten. a distinguished hearer said: "to read his speech, as thousands will, is much; but to have heard it, to have felt it-oh! that is simply indescribable, and will mark for many, one of the most memorable days of this last decade of this closing century. the sweet cadence of his voice, the fascination of his personality, and, above all, the consecration of his splendid gifts to the cause of plundered men and ravished women, raise the occasion into prominence in the annals of a great people. chiefly, i feel the triumphs of soul. his utterance of the words 'wives,' 'women,' lifted them into an atmosphere of awe and solemnity, and his tone in speaking of 'rape' and 'torture' gave them an ineffable loathsomeness. it seemed as if so much soul had never been put into a saxon speech. keen satire, rasping rebuke, an avalanche of indignation, rapier-like thrusts to the vital fibre of the situation, and withal the invincible cogency of argument against the turkish government, gave the oration a primary place amongst the master-pieces of human eloquence." in the course of this famous speech mr. gladstone referred to america; once when welcoming the sympathy of the american people with the suffering armenians, and again as he described the testimony of the united states as a witness that gained enormously in value because it was entirely free from suspicion. a large meeting was held in st. james hall, london, october , , in memory of christian martyrs in turkey. the bishop of rochester presided. the hall was packed with an audience of , , while nearly , applied for admission. many prominent persons were present. the large audience was in sombre funeral attire. about thirty front seats were occupied by armenians. it was stated that , armenians so far had been murdered with tortures and indignities indescribable. to this meeting mr. gladstone addressed a letter which was greeted with the wildest enthusiasm. he said that he hoped the meeting would worthily crown the armenian meetings of the past two months, which were without a parallel during his political life. the great object, he said, was to strengthen lord salisbury's hands and to stop the series of massacres, which were probably still unfinished, and to provide against their renewal. as he believed that lord salisbury would use his powerful position for the best, personally he objected in the strongest manner to abridging lord salisbury's discretion by laying down this or that as things which he ought not to do. it was a wild paradox, without the support of reason or history, to say that the enforcement of treaty rights to stop systematic massacre, together with effective security against great britain's abusing them for selfish ends, would provoke the hostilities of one or more of the powers. to advertise beforehand in the ears of the great assassin that great britain's action would cut down--what the most backward of the six powers think to be sufficient--would be the; abandonment of duty and prudence and would be to doom the national movement to disappointment. the concert of europe was valuable and important, but such an announcement would be certain to be followed by its failure. one of the immediate effects of mr. gladstone's denunciation of the sultan for the armenian massacres was the resignation by lord rosebery of the leadership of the liberal party. mr. gladstone's return to politics, the agitation of the turkish question and the differences between these two leaders of the liberal movement as to the best way of dealing with the sultan, were assigned as reasons by lord rosebery for his resignation. it was then again suggested that mr. gladstone assume the leadership of the liberal party and accept a peerage and a seat in the house of lords, so often tendered him by the queen. then sir william vernon-harcourt could lead in the house of commons and bear the burden, while mr. gladstone could be at the head of affairs without the worry of the house of commons. besides, mr. morgan offered to resign his seat in the house of commons in his favor. but mr. gladstone would not agree to any of these plans as far as they pertained to himself. july , , mr. and mrs. gladstone returned to london to attend a great social function, the marriage of one of the daughters of the prince and princess of wales to prince charles of denmark. mr. gladstone evinced much interest in everything connected with the important event, and was himself the object of much attention. september , , mr. gladstone wrote a long letter to the paris figaro in response to an appeal from its editor, m. leudet, to mr. gladstone to arouse the french press in behalf of the armenians. after expressing his diffidence in complying with the request, mr. gladstone declared his belief that the population of great britain were more united in sentiment and more thoroughly aroused by the present outrages in turkey than they were by the atrocities in bulgaria in . he said: "the question whether effect can be given to the national indignation is now in the balance, and will probably soon be decided. i have read in some austrian newspapers an affected scruple against sole action by any one state in a european crisis, but there are two first-class powers who will not make that scruple their own. one of these is russia, who in , earned lasting honors by liberating bulgaria and, helping onward the freedom and security of other balkan states. the other power is france, who, in , took up the cause of egypt and pushed it single handed to the verge of a european war. she wisely forbore to bring about that horrible, transcendent calamity, but i gravely doubt whether she was not right and the combined powers wrong in their policy of that period." mr. gladstone denounced the sultan as the "great assassin," and continued: "for more than a year he has triumphed over the diplomacy of the six powers, they have been laid prostrate at his feet. there is no parallel in history to the humiliation they have patiently borne. he has therefore had every encouragement to continue a course that has been crowned with such success. the impending question seems to be, not whether, but when and where he will proceed to his next murderous exploits. the question for europe and each power is whether he shall be permitted to swell by more myriads the tremendous total of his victims. "in other years when i possessed power i did my best to promote the concert of europe, but i sorrowfully admit that all the good done in turkey during the last twenty years was done, not by it, but more nearly despite it." the letter concludes by expressing the hope that the french people would pursue a policy worthy of their greatness, their fame and the high place they have held in european christian history. september , , a meeting was called by the reform club, of liverpool, to protest against the recent massacres of armenians at constantinople at the affair of the ottoman bank, and many more throughout the turkish empire. mr. gladstone was asked to address the meeting. when requested by the agent of the associated press for an advanced proof of his speech he declined, but wrote that he would "recommend giving the warmest support to the queen's government, and would contend that england should act alone if necessary for the fulfillment of the covenants which have been so disgracefully broken." mr. and mrs. gladstone, with their son herbert, arrived at noon at liverpool, and were met at the railroad station by , enthusiastic people. the meeting was held in the vast auditorium of the circus building, which was filled. thousands failed to obtain entrance. before the arrival of mr. gladstone there was a spontaneous outburst of applause, everybody present standing and singing "god save the queen." when mr. gladstone entered, the prolonged roar of applause could be heard for miles, arising from thousands inside and outside the hall. the earl of derby, conservative, presided. he was accompanied by the countess of derby, who with many distinguished persons occupied the platform. mr. gladstone stepped briskly to the front of the platform at . p.m. bowing repeatedly in response to the applause. he looked strong and well for a man of his age and labors, and was easily heard. after a few preliminary remarks, he moved the following resolution: "that this meeting trusts that her majesty's ministers, realizing to the fullest extent the terrible condition in which their fellow christians are placed, will do everything possible to obtain for them full security and protection; and this meeting assures her majesty's ministers that they may rely upon the cordial support of the citizens of liverpool in whatever steps they may feel it necessary to take for that purpose." the resolution was received with great cheering. mr. gladstone resumed: "we have a just title to threaten turkey with coercion, but that does not in itself mean war; and i think that the first step should be the recall of our ambassador, and it should be followed by the dismissal of the turkish ambassador from london. such a course is frequent and would not give the right of complaint to anybody. when diplomatic relations are suspended, england should inform the sultan that she should consider the means of enforcing her just and humane demands. i do not believe that europe will make war to insure the continuance of massacres more terrible than ever recorded in the dismal, deplorable history of crime. "now, as in , to the guilt of massacre is added the impudence of denial, which will continue just as long as europe is content to listen. i doubt if it is an exaggeration to say that it was in the sultan's palace, and there only, that the inspiration has been supplied, and the policy devised of the whole series of massacres. when the sultan carries massacre into his own capital under the eyes of the ambassadors, he appears to have gained the very acme of what it is possible for him to do. but the weakness of diplomacy, i trust, is about to be strengthened by the echo of this nation's voice." mr. gladstone then referred to the supineness of the ambassadors of the powers at constantinople, and continued: "the concert of europe is an august and useful instrument, but it has not usually succeeded in dealing with the eastern question, which has arrived at a period when it is necessary to strengthen the hands of the government by an expression of national opinion. i believe that the continued presence of the ambassadors at constantinople has operated as a distinct countenance to the sultan, who is thus their recognized ally. "but, while urging the government to act, it does not follow that, even for the sake of the great object in view, great britain should transplant europe into a state of war. on the other hand, however, i deny that england must abandon her own right to independent judgment and allow herself to be domineered over by the other powers." mr. gladstone expressed the opinion that the purpose of the meeting was defensive and prospective, saying that no one can hold out the hope that the massacres are ended, although he ventured to anticipate that the words spoken at the meeting would find their way to the palace at constantinople. "the present movement," he said, "is based on broad grounds of humanity, and is not directed against the mohammedans, but against the turkish officials, evidence of whose barbarities rests in credible official reports." mr. gladstone declared his adhesion to the principles contained in the resolution, and said he came to the meeting not claiming any authority for sentiments expressed except that of a citizen of liverpool. "but," he remarked, "the national platform upon which the meeting is based gives greater authority for sentiments universally entertained throughout the length and breadth of the land, and i urge that in this matter party sympathy be renounced. i entertain the lively hope and strong belief that the present deplorable situation is not due to the act or default of the government of this great country." mr. gladstone spoke about twenty minutes and was repeatedly interrupted by applause. he was in good voice, and did not seem fatigued when he had finished. the next day the turkish embassy at london telegraphed mr. gladstone's speech at liverpool verbatim to the sultan. the london times in an editorial said: "the spectacle of the veteran statesman quitting his retirement to plead the cause of the oppressed is well calculated to move the sympathy and admiration of the nation. the ardor of mr. gladstone's feelings on this subject is notorious. all the more striking and significant is the comparative restraint and moderation of the speech." other questions besides those mentioned were claiming the attention of english statesmen. in the spring, prior to the great liverpool meeting, the venezuela boundary question was agitating the two great english speaking nations to the very verge of war. a large peace meeting was held in london, march , , to favor arbitration. mr. gladstone wrote: "i am glad that the discussion of arbitration is to be separated from the venezuela question, upon which i do not feel myself in final and full possession of the facts that i should wish. my views on arbitration in place of war were gathered from the part i took in the matter of the alabama claims. i will only add that my conviction and sentiment on the subject grow in strength from year to year in proportion to the growth of that monstrous and barbarous militarism, in regard to which i consider england has to bear no small responsibility." the meeting favored permanent international arbitration, and an anglo-american treaty was finally signed by the representatives of the two nations, providing for the settlement of all questions between the two nations by arbitration instead of by war, but the senate of the united states refused to ratify the treaty. mr. gladstone deplored intensely the extraordinary misunderstanding which had prevailed on the subject of the venezuela frontier. he seemed to think that nothing but a little common sense was needed to secure the pacific settlement of the question at any moment. a hundred square miles more or less on either side of the boundary of british guiana was to him a matter of supreme indifference. he was extremely anxious to see justice done, and one of his last speeches in the house of commons was in favor of permanent arbitration between england and the united states. another one of the absorbing questions that came before the civilized world for consideration, and almost to the exclusion of the armenian question, was the cretan question. greece heroically sustained the insurrection of the cretans against the turkish rule. the scene of turkish cruelty was now transferred to the isle of crete. for the time the armenian massacres were forgotten. the greeks rushed to the rescue, while all europe held aloof. mr. gladstone sent the following dispatch to the chronicle: "i do not dare to stimulate greece when i cannot help her, but i shall profoundly rejoice at her success. i hope the powers will recollect that they have their own character to redeem." this was in february, , later he wrote that to expel the greek troops from crete and keep as police the butchers of armenia, would further deepen the disgrace of the powers of europe. in march, , mr. gladstone addressed a letter, now justly celebrated, on the same subject to the duke of westminster in which he expressed his opinion more fully, and which was evidently the sentiment of the english speaking people of the world. the letter was in the form of a pamphlet of pages, published, and entitled the eastern crisis. in less than a week after this eloquent manifesto in behalf of the cretans and of greece was put forth, it was currently reported that the precise solution of the problem recommended by mr. gladstone was likely to be adopted. the sultan himself, fearful of the effect of the appeal on public opinion in europe, sought the settlement of the question in the manner suggested. the greeks still clamored for war. in the war that followed between greece and turkey, greece was defeated and crushed by the turk. only by the intervention of the powers was greece saved from becoming a part of the sultan's empire. after peace had been concluded between turkey and greece, mr. gladstone undertook to arouse public opinion by a trenchant review of the situation. looking back over the past two years of england's eastern policy, he inquires as to what have been the results, and then answers his own question. he thus enumerates: . the slaughter of , armenian christians, men, women and children, with no guarantee against a repetition of the crime. . the turkish umpire stronger than at any time since the crimean war. . christian greece weaker than at any time since she became a kingdom. these are facts, mr. gladstone claimed, for which the leading christian nations and statesmen of europe are responsible. while mr. gladstone thus expresses himself, yet his vigorous protests had not been without effect. his voice penetrated into the very palace of the sultan, and into every cabinet of europe, and was heard by every statesman and ruler throughout the world, and aroused the people everywhere. it was a mighty voice lifted for right and against oppression. the sultan was afraid and was compelled to desist; not that he feared the protests and the warnings of the christian nations of europe, but because that one voice was the expression of the popular feeling of all christians throughout the world, and to defy such sentiment would be to court the overthrow of his throne, if not of the dominion of the turk in europe. in june, , an invitation was extended to mr. gladstone to visit the united states, signed by many representative men in public life. but mr. gladstone, while acknowledging the compliment, declined because of his age. it would, he thought, be a tremendous undertaking for him. the fatigue of the voyage and the strain of the receptions while in america, would prove greater than his physical condition could bear. later mr. gladstone was waited on at hawarden by one hundred members of the philadelphia manufacturer's club. he personally escorted them over the castle grounds and narrated the history of the castle to them. greatly pleased with the warmth of their reception, they thanked mr. gladstone for his courtesy. they then gave him three cheers. this token of appreciation was very gratifying to mr. gladstone, who said that it was the first time he had ever heard american cheers. saturday afternoon, august , , li hung chang, the great chinese statesman and embassador, visited mr. gladstone at hawarden. probably the three greatest living statesmen of the time were gladstone, bismarck and li hung chang. the embassador and his suite went to chester in a special train, and were driven in three open carriages to hawarden. along the route as, well as at the station, the party was cheered by a large crowd. the viceroy was sleeping when the train reached chester and he was allowed to sleep until he awoke. yet the party was ahead of time in reaching the castle, but mr. gladstone hastened to receive them. the chinese visitors were received at the door by mr. henry gladstone. li hung chang was escorted into the library where he was introduced to mr. and mrs. gladstone. the intention of mr. gladstone was to have as escort a guard of honor to the viceroy, the hawarden corps of the welsh fusiliers, which reached the castle, owing to the visitors being ahead of time, ten minutes after the arrival of the party. the two aged statesmen sat near the window overlooking the terrace, and at once, with the aid of lo feug luh, engaged in conversation, li asked various questions concerning mr. gladstone's career, and was informed by mr. gladstone that he had been prime minister nearly thirteen years, and in the cabinet nearly twenty-four years. when complimented upon the service he had rendered to his country, mr. gladstone replied that he had done what he could, but he should have done a great deal more. li observed that british interests and british trade in china were greater than those of all other countries put together. the viceroy also talked with mr. gladstone of free trade, of restrictions upon commerce, of the power of the british navy, of the greatness of the british revenues, of the vastness of the colonial empire, of the necessity of a railway system to commerce and upon a number of similar subjects. refreshments were served which li enjoyed, and then by request he wrote his autograph in three books, using dorothy drew's colors for the purpose. mr. gladstone and li were photographed together sitting on chairs outside the porch. mr. gladstone presented li with three books from his library, and then the chinese visitors departed. on saturday evening october , , the right hon. and most rev. edward white benson, d.d., archbishop of canterbury and primate of all england, arrived at hawarden with mrs. benson on a visit to his old friend mr. gladstone. sunday morning dr. benson went with the gladstone family to hawarden church and occupied the gladstone pew. after the service had commenced a commotion was observed. it was caused by the fall of dr. benson in the pew while kneeling in prayer. attendants removed dr. benson to the rectory, and medical aid was summoned, but death came soon after from apoplexy. the rev. stephen gladstone, rector, proceeded with the service until notified of the death of the archbishop, when he dismissed the congregation. mr. gladstone, who had not attended church from indisposition, was deeply affected by the death of his guest and friend. the morning papers of london, june , , printed a long letter from mr. gladstone to cardinal rampolla for submission to the pope leo xiii, in favor of the unity of christendom by means of a papal declaration in favor of the validity of anglican orders. it created a great sensation. shortly after this the pope issued an encyclical letter addressed to "all bishops in communion with the holy see." the theme was the same as that of mr. gladstone's letter, to which it was regarded as an answer. the pope invited all the english people "to return to the religion of the roman catholic church." "this," remarks mr. justin mccarthy, "was exactly what any thoughtful person might have expected." while this letter and its answer did not satisfy the clergy of the established church of england, who were favorably disposed towards rome, on the other hand it aroused the dissenting christians of england to reply that they were opposed to all state or established churches, whether roman catholic or english episcopal. on december , , the eighty-seventh anniversary of mr. gladstone's birth was celebrated at hawarden, surrounded by his family and friends. there were the usual demonstrations by the villagers, consisting in the ringing of bells and the appointments of deputations to wait upon the aged statesman at the castle with congratulations. an enormous flow of telegrams and messages continued throughout the day from all parts of the kingdom, the united states and the continent. among those sending congratulations were the prince and princess of wales, and baroness de rothschild. mr. gladstone was in good health, and in the afternoon went out for a walk. may , , the prince and princess of wales, accompanied by the princess victoria, visited mr. and mrs. gladstone at hawarden. they were received by mr. and mrs. gladstone in the porch erected in to commemorate their golden wedding. the mutual greetings were of the heartiest nature. the royal party inspected the ruins of the old castle, mr. gladstone acting as escort to the princess of wales. an interesting incident occurred on the lawn. the princess took great interest in inspecting the favorite dogs of the gladstone family. these were the black pomeranians. two puppies were carried in a basket, one of which the princess accepted as a gift. june , , was celebrated with great pomp and rejoicing the diamond jubilee of victoria, the queen of england and empress of india, when the queen reached the th anniversary of her reign, which is the longest in english history. victoria became queen at the age of years, in , and then the british isles possessed a population of , , and they had became , , . her empire has been extended until in india, south, central and western africa, australia, new zealand and north america, and including the british isles, there were , , people who owned her sway. and to this greatness and glory mr. gladstone had been one to contribute largely, while his influence has been felt more still by far in promoting the moral greatness of the people. throughout all the empire the event was celebrated, and the jubilee procession in london was swollen by representatives of all parts of the queen's domain and all nations on earth which rendered it the greatest pageant ever beheld. even the turk was there, but mr. gladstone was not there, nor was his name even mentioned for a place in the march on jubilee day. yet the period of victoria's reign will often be spoken of in history as the gladstonian era. "the public life of a leading statesman," says an eminent writer, "offers the boldest and stateliest outline to the public view. it may be that the most striking and memorable chapters in a future biography of mr. gladstone will contain the story of his private affairs and domestic life." his daily life at home was a model of simplicity and regularity, and the great secret of the vast amount of work he accomplished was owing to the fact that every odd five minutes were occupied. he had a deep sense of the preciousness of time and the responsibility which everyone incurs who uses or misuses it. "to such a length did he carry this that at a picnic to a favorite welsh mountain he has been seen to fling himself on the heather and bury himself in some pamphlet upon a question of the day, until called to lighter things by those who were responsible for the provision basket." mr. gladstone was ever a most severe economist of time, a habit acquired as long ago as , when he awed his young wife by filling up all odd bits and scraps of time with study or work. out of his pocket would come the little classic at every chance opportunity of leisure. this accounts for his ability to get through in one day more than most people do in a week. then besides, he had the faculty of concentrating the whole power of his mind upon the one thing before him, whether small or great. he was unable to divide the machinery of his mind. interruption was almost fatal to his train of thought, but he was generally oblivious to conversation buzzing around him. hence it was some time before a questioner could get an answer--he did not seem to hear, but patience finally secured attention, after the train of absorbing thought was finished. it was this power of concentrating all his faculties upon what he was doing, whether it was work or play, that made mr. gladstone one of the ablest as well as happiest of the century. he took the keenest delight in the scholarly and beautiful, and this accounts for his disregard of minor ills and evils. he was too absorbed to be fretful or impatient. but to be absorbed in great things did not mean, in his case, to be neglectful of little things. at one time his mind and time were so completely taken up with the eastern question, that he could not be induced to spare a thought for ireland, and afterward it was quite as difficult to get him to think of any political question except that of ireland. in the daily routine of private life none in the household were more punctual and regular than mr. gladstone. at o'clock he was up and in his study. from he always found time, with all his manifold duties, to go to church regularly, rain or shine, every morning except when ill, at half-past o'clock, he walked along the public road from the castle to hawarden church. writes an observer: "the old statesman, with his fine, hale, gentle face, is an interesting figure as he walks lightly and briskly along the country road, silently acknowledging the fervent salutations of his friends--the hawarden villagers. he wears a long coat, well buttoned up, a long shawl wrapped closely around his neck, and a soft felt hat--a very different figure from that of the prime minister as he is known in london." at the castle prayers were read to the family and household soon after o'clock daily. his customary breakfast was comprised of a hard-boiled egg, a slice of tongue, dry toast and tea. the whole morning whether at home or on a visit was devoted to business. luncheon at hawarden was without formality. "lunch was on the hob," for several hours, to be partaken of when it suited the convenience of the various members of the family. tea, of which mr. gladstone was particularly fond, and of which he could partake at any hour of the day, or night, was served in the afternoon at o'clock,--after which he finished his correspondence. in the afternoon, mr. gladstone was accustomed to a walk in the grounds, accompanied by his faithful little black pomeranian dog, petz, who was obtained on a trip abroad, and became and remained for many years, an important member of the household, and one of mr. gladstone's most devoted followers. increasing years of over fourscore, prevented finally walks of fifty miles a day once indulged in, and the axes stood unused in their stands in the vestibule and library, but still mr. gladstone kept up his walks with his silent companion petz. after walking for half an hour longer in his library after his return to the castle, mr. gladstone would dress for dinner, which operation usually took him from three to five minutes. at o'clock he joined the family, at dinner, which was a cheerful meal. like goethe he ate heartily and enjoyed his meals, but his diet was extremely simple, mr. gladstone eating only what was prescribed by his physician. at dinner he talked freely and brilliantly even when none but his family were present. when visitors were present he would enter upon whatever was the subject of conversation, taking his share with others, and pouring a flood of light upon any theme suggested, giving all the benefit of the fund of wisdom and anecdote collected through two generations of unparalleled political and social activity. after dinner, when there were no visitors at hawarden, mr. gladstone would quietly sit reading in his library, or conversing with his family. he never used tobacco. shortly after o'clock he retired to bed and to sleep. he never allowed himself to think and be sleepless. mr. bright had a habit of making his speeches after he had retired to bed, which mr. gladstone thought was detrimental to his health. bight hours was the time mr. gladstone permitted himself to sleep. his bed-room was on the second floor and reached by a fine staircase. everything in the room was plain and homely. on the walls of his bed-room and over the mantlepiece was a text emblazoned, on which at evening and morning he could look, which read: "thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee." this not only expresses mr. gladstone's trust in god, but doubtless accounts in a large degree for that tranquility of mind so notably his, even in those trying times that prostrated many and carried many more away from their bearings. from the worry or weariness of business, mr. gladstone was ever ready to turn for rest to reading, which has thus proved of inestimable value to him. "his family cannot speak without emotion of that look of perfect happiness and peace that beamed from his eye on such occasions." when during the general elections of , this was denied him, he turned with equal readiness to writing and thinking on other subjects. during the midlothian campaign and general election, and through the cabinet making that followed, he relieved the pressure on his over-burdened brain by writing an article on home rule, "written with all the force and freshness of a first shock of discovery;" he was also writing daily on the psalms; he was preparing a paper for the oriental congress which was to startle the educated world by "its originality and ingenuity;" and he was composing with great and careful investigation his oxford lecture on "the rise and progress of learning in the university of oxford." all during the morning hours he would sit in the silence of that corner-room on the ground floor reading. there were three writing-desks in the library, and one was chiefly reserved for correspondence of a political nature, and another for his literary work, while the third was used by mrs. gladstone. he spent his evenings when at hawarden in a cosy corner of the library reading. he had a wonderfully constructed lamp so arranged for him for night reading, as to throw the utmost possible light on the pages of the book. it was generally a novel that employed his mind at night. occasionally he gives mrs. drew about two hundred novels to divide the sheep from the goats among them. she divides them into three classes--novels worth keeping, novels to be given away, and novels to be destroyed. mr. gladstone generally had three books in course of reading at the same time, changing from one to the other. these books were carefully selected with reference to their character and contents, and he was particular as to their order and variation. for instance at one time he was reading dr. laugen's roman history, in german, in the morning, virgil in the afternoon, and a novel at night. scott was his preference among novelists. he read with pencil in hand, and he had an elaborate system of marking a book. aristotle, st. augustine, dante and bishop butler were the authors who had the deepest influence upon him, so he himself said. his copy of the odyssey of homer he had rebound several times, as he preferred always to use the same copy. mrs. drew says of her father: "there could not be a better illustration of his mind than his temple of peace--his study, with its extraordinarily methodical arrangement. away from home he will write an exact description of the key or paper he requires, as: 'open the left hand drawer of the writing table nearest the fireplace, and at the back of the drawer, in the right hand corner, you will find some keys. you will see three on one string; send me the one with such and such teeth.' his mind is arranged in the same way; he has only to open a particular compartment, labelled so and so, to find the information he requires. his memory in consequence is almost unfailing. it is commonly found that in old age the memory may be perfect as regards times long gone by, but inaccurate and defective as to more recent events. but with mr. gladstone the things of the present are as deeply stamped on his brain as the things of the past." some one has said of mr. gladstone that his memory was "terrible." it is evident that he always kept abreast of the times--informing himself of everything new in literature, science and art, and when over eighty years of age was as ready to imbibe fresh ideas as when he was only eighteen, and far more discriminating. those who entered mr. gladstone's official room on a sunday, during the busiest parliamentary session, could not fail to be struck by the atmosphere of repose, the signs and symbols of the day, the books lying open near the armchair, the deserted writing-table, the absence of papers and newspapers. on sunday mr. gladstone put away all business of a secular nature, occupied his time in reading special books, suitable to the day, and generally attended church twice, never dined out, except he went on a mission of mercy, or to cheer some sorrowful friend. when the queen invited him to windsor castle on sunday for one night, as she did sometimes, he always arranged to stay in windsor saturday. in his dressing room he kept a large open bible in which he daily read. physically, intellectually and spiritually mr. gladstone's sundays were regarded by his family as a priceless blessing to him, and to have made him the man he was. mr. gladstone had strict notions of his duty to his church. whenever he established himself in london, he always attended the nearest church, and became regular in his attendance, not only on the sabbath, but daily. with an empire on his shoulders he found time for daily public devotion, and in church-going he was no "gadabout." when he resided at carlton house terrace he attended the church of st. martin-in-the-fields. mr. gladstone's daily correspondence, when prime minister, was simply enormous. at first he felt it to be a conscientious duty to deal with the most of it himself, but finally came to trust the bulk of it to secretaries as other ministers did. some letters came to him daily that he had to answer with his own hand; for example, from ministers or on confidental business, from the court, at the end of every cabinet council the premier has to write a letter with his own hand to his sovereign, giving full information of the business transacted. the same kind of report is required daily from parliament. of course mr. gladstone, whenever he was prime minister, faithfully attended to this duty and dispatched the required letters written with his own hand to the queen. mr. gladstone was remarkable for the strength and endurance of his body as well as for the vigor of his intellect. "don't talk to me of mr. gladstone's mind," said a contemporary; "it is his body which astonishes me." he never had any serious illness in his life, and up to quite recent years were vigorous exercise, sometimes walking when in scotland miles at a stretch over rough and mountainous country. the physical effort of speaking to twenty thousand people, and being heard in every part of the vast building by the audience, as was the case at birmingham, in , was remarkable. his power of endurance was wonderful. in , he once sat up through an all-night sitting of the house of commons, and going back to downing street, at o'clock in the morning, for half an hour's rest, again returned to the house and remained until the conclusion of the setting. tree-cutting, which was with him a frequent recreation until he became a very old man, was chosen "as giving him the maximum of healthy exercise in the minimum of time." this favorite pastime of the great statesman was so closely associated with him that it was deemed the proper thing to do to place on exhibition in the great columbian exposition at chicago one of the axes of mr. gladstone. the psalmist says, "a man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees." these singular words were written long before mr. gladstone's day, but famous as he was for felling the great trees of the forest, the words have a deeper meaning and in more than one sense met their fulfilment in him. his swift and keen axe of reform brought down many hoary headed evils. mr. gladstone himself explained why he cultivated this habit of cutting down trees. he said: "i chop wood because i find that it is the only occupation in the world that drives all thought from my mind. when i walk or ride or play cricket, i am still debating important business problems, but when i chop wood i can think of nothing but making the chips fly." the following story illustrates mr. gladstone's remarkable powers and the surprise he would spring upon those who met him. two gentlemen who were invited guests at a table where mr. gladstone was expected, made a wager that they would start a conversation on a subject about which even mr. gladstone would know nothing. to accomplish this end they "read up" an "ancient" magazine article on some unfamiliar subject connected with chinese manufactures. when the favorable opportunity came the topic was started, and the two conspirators watched with amusement the growing interest in the subject which mr. gladstone's face betrayed. finally he joined in the conversation, and their amusement was turned into confusion, when mr. gladstone said, "ah, gentlemen, i perceive you have been reading an article i wrote in the ---- magazine some thirty or forty years ago." chapter xxi closing scenes of a long and eventful life mr. gladstone died at hawarden castle, at o'clock, thursday morning, may , . the first intimation of the rapidly approaching end of mr. gladstone was conveyed in a bulletin issued at o'clock tuesday morning, may . it read "mr. gladstone had a poor and broken sleep last night; he is somewhat exhausted, but suffers no discomfort." the report of the evening before was assuring as to any sudden change, so that the anxiety was increased. for hours no additional information was given, but there were indications outside the castle of a crisis. throughout the day could be heard expressions of deep regret among the working people, asking, "how is the old gentleman?" despite the heavy rain the people collected in groups, and the hush and quiet that prevailed indicated the presence of death. a bulletin at p.m. said: "mr. gladstone has taken a serious turn for the worse. his death may be expected in twenty-four hours." all day the condition of the patient had been critical. the doctor doubted that his patient was fully conscious at any time, he answered, "yes," and "no." he refused all medicine, exclaiming no! no! it was remarked that when addressed in english, mr. gladstone would answer in french, and sometimes was praying in french. later in the evening the servants of the household were admitted to the sick room for a final farewell. they found mr. gladstone lying in a deep sleep; each in turn knelt down, kissed his hand and tearfully withdrew. about o'clock the patient rallied a little and fell into a peaceful sleep, which was thought to be his last. the rain had continued to fall during the night, but the villagers had been coming singly and in groups to glance silently at the rain-beaten scrap of paper which was the latest bulletin, and then silently returning to the gate, and disappearing in the darkness only to return later. about o'clock in the morning mr. gladstone seemed to be sinking. the scene in the sick-room was painful. the rev. stephen gladstone read prayers and hymns, including mr. gladstone's favorite, "rock of ages." when this was concluded, mr. gladstone murmured, "our father." as mrs. gladstone leaned over her husband, he turned his head and his lips moved slightly. though extremely distressed, mrs. gladstone bore up with remarkable fortitude. but mr. gladstone rallied again, and wednesday morning he was still living. by his almost superhuman vitality he had fought death away. the morning was beautiful and clear and the sunshine came in at the open window of mr. gladstone's room. the aged sufferer was hovering between life and death, and only by the feeble beating of his pulse could it be told he was alive. he was sleeping himself away into eternal day. mrs. gladstone sat by the side of his bed, holding his hand, and never leaving except for needed rest. at times he seemed to recognize for a moment some of those with him. he surely knew his wife as she tenderly kissed his hand. it soon became known abroad that mr. gladstone was dying. in the house of commons it caused profound sorrow. everything else was stopped while members discussed how best to honor him, even by taking steps without, precedent as that of adjourning, because the circumstances were unprecedented. his former colleagues silently watched his last struggle with the relentless foe, to whom, true to himself, he was yielding slowly, inch by inch. telegrams of inquiry and sympathy came from all parts of the world to the castle. the queen wrote making inquiries and tendering assurances of profound sympathy. a long telegram from the princess of wales concluded: "i am praying for you." the prince of wales wrote: "my thoughts are with you at this trying time., god grant that your father does not suffer." the duke of devonshire before the british empire league referred touchingly to the mournful scenes at hawarden, when "the greatest of englishmen was slowly passing away." and all over the land people of all conditions and at all kinds of gatherings, politicians, divines, reformers, and women joined in expressions of grief and sympathy. many were the messages of regard and condolence that came from other lands. dr. dobie furnishes the following picture of the dying man. "his grand face bears a most peaceful and beautiful look. a few days ago the deeply bitten wrinkles that so long marked it were almost gone; but now, strangely enough, they seem strong and deep as ever. he looks too in wonderfully good color." at o'clock in the morning, it was evident that the time had come, and the family gathered about the bed of the aged man, from that time none of them left the room until all was over. the only absentee was little dorothy drew, who tearfully complained that her grandfather did not know her. behind the family circle stood the physicians and the nurses, and the old coachman, who had been unable to be present when the other servants took their farewell, and who was now sent for to witness the closing scene. the end was most peaceful. there were no signs of bodily pain or of mental distress. the rev. stephen gladstone read prayers and repeated hymns. the nurse continued to bathe with spirits the brow of the patient, who showed gratitude by murmuring, "how nice!" while the son was engaged in praying, came the gentle, almost perceptible cessation of life, and the great man was no more. so quietly had he breathed his last, that the family did not know it until it was announced by the medical attendants. the weeping family then filed slowly from the room, mrs. gladstone was led into another room and induced to lie down. the only spoken evidence that mr. gladstone realized his surroundings in his last moments was when his son recited the litany. then the dying man murmured, "amen." this was the last word spoken by mr. gladstone and was uttered just before he died. the death of mr. gladstone was announced to the people of hawarden by the tolling of the church bell. the following bulletin was posted at a.m.: "in the natural course of things the funeral will be at hawarden. mr. gladstone expressed a strong wish to have no flowers at his funeral; and the family will be grateful if this desire is strictly respected." there was something indescribably pathetic in the daily bulletins about mr. gladstone. all the world knew that he was afflicted with a fatal but slow disease, and all the world was struck with wondering admiration at his sustained fortitude, patience, and resignation. the tragedy of a life, devoted simply and purely to the public service, drawing to an end in so long an agony, was a spectacle that struck home to the heart of the most callous. these bulletins were posted on the front door of the jubilee porch, at hawarden castle, at a.m., p.m. and o'clock at night daily, and published throughout the world. when the sad event was announced that mr. gladstone had passed away, the action of the house of commons was prompt, decided and sympathetic. the house was crowded thursday, may , when speaker gully called upon the government leader, mr. a. j. balfour, the first lord of the treasury, and all the members uncovering their heads, mr. balfour said: "i think it will be felt in all parts of the house that we should do fitting honor to the great man whose long and splendid career closed to-day, by adjourning. "this is not the occasion for uttering the thoughts which naturally suggest themselves. that occasion will present itself to-morrow, when it will be my duty to submit to the house an address to the queen, praying her to grant the honor of a public funeral, if such honor is not inconsistent with the expressed wishes of himself or of those who have the right to speak in his behalf, and also praying the queen to direct that a public monument be erected at westminster with an inscription expressive of the public admiration, attachment and high estimate entertained by the house of mr. gladstone's rare and splendid gifts and devoted labors in parliament and in high offices of state. "before actually moving the adjournment, i have to propose a formal resolution that the house to-morrow resolve itself into committee to draw up an address, the contents of which i have just indicated." after a word of assent from sir william vernon-harcourt, the liberal leader, the resolution was adopted and the house adjourned. the house of commons was crowded again on friday, and went into committee of the whole to consider the address to the queen in regard to the interment of the remains of mr. gladstone in westminster abbey. not since the introduction of the home rule bill by mr. gladstone had there been such an assemblage in the house, members filled every seat, clustered on the steps of the speaker's dais, and occupied every space. the galleries were all filled. in the peer's gallery were the foremost members of the house of lords. united states ambassador hay and all his staff were present with other ambassadors. the members of the house were in deep mourning, and all removed their hats, as if in the presence of the dead. an unusual hush overspread all. after the prayer by the chaplain, there was an impressive silence for a quarter of an hour, before mr. balfour rose to speak. the whole scene was profoundly affecting. the eulogies of mr. gladstone formed an historic episode. all, without respect to party, united in honoring their late illustrious countryman. mr. balfour delivered a brilliant panegyric of the dead statesman, and his speech was eloquent and displayed great taste. he was so ill, however, from weakness of heart that he was barely able to totter to his place and to ask the indulgence of the speaker while he rested, before offering his oration. he was too sick for the sad duty imposed upon him, but he preferred to pay this last tribute to his friend. the circumstances were painful, but added a dramatic touch to the scene. his oration was lengthy and his eulogy spoken with evident emotion. he concluded by formally moving the presentation of the address to the queen. the liberal leader, sir william vernon-harcourt, the political as well as the personal friend of mr. gladstone, seconded the motion. he paid a heartfelt tribute to the memory of his eminent colleague, and spoke in a vein of lofty and glowing eloquence until overcome with emotion, so that he had to stop thrice to wipe his eyes; finally he completely broke down and was unable to proceed. mr. dillon, the irish leader, in a speech of five minutes duration, and in his most oratorical style, dwelt on mr. gladstone's fervid sympathy for the oppressed people of all races, and touched a chord which stirred the house. as mr. dillon had spoken for ireland, so mr. abel thomas followed as the representative of wales. the address to the queen was unanimously adopted. in the house of lords there was also a full attendance of members. the marquis of salisbury, prime minister, spoke feelingly of mr. gladstone, who, he said, "was ever guided in all his efforts by a lofty moral idea". the deceased will be remembered, not so much for his political work as for the great example, hardly paralleled in history, of the great christian statesman. the earl of kimberly, the liberal leader in the house of lords, followed in a touching tribute, and the duke of devonshire expressed generous appreciation of mr. gladstone's services in behalf of the liberal unionists, saying their severance from mr. gladstone was a most painful incident. but, he added, he could "recall no word from mr. gladstone which added unnecessarily to the bitterness of the situation." the earl of rosebery delivered an eloquent panegyric. the honors of the occasion were unanimously accorded to him, whose eulogy of his predecessor in the leadership of the liberal party was a masterpiece of its kind. he spoke of the triumphs of life rather than the sorrows of death. death was not all sadness. his life was full---his memory remains. to all time he is an example for our race and mankind. he instanced as an illustration of the fine courtesy always observed by mr. gladstone towards his political opponents, that the last letter he had written with his own hand was a private note to lady salisbury, several weeks since, congratulating her and her husband on their providential escape from a carriage accident at hatfield. lord salisbury was visibly touched by lord rosebery's reference to this circumstance. the house of lords then adopted the resolution to the queen. the body of mr. gladstone, un-coffined, was laid on a couch in the library of the castle--the room called the temple of peace. he was dressed in a suit of black cloth, over which were the scarlet robes of the university, and by his side the cap was placed. his hands were folded on his breast. he rested on a most beautiful white satin cloth, with a rich border in eastern embroidery. above his head in letters of gold were the words sewn into the satin: "requiescat in pace." there was the beauty of death--the terror was all gone. during tuesday the body was viewed by the tenants on the estate, the neighbors and friends. on wednesday morning, may th, at o'clock, the remains, having been enclosed in a plain panelled elm coffin, were removed to the village church, where they were lying in state during the day. the body was carried by half-a-dozen old retainers of the family to a bier on wheels, on which it was taken to the church, over the lawn, following the private path mr. gladstone used to tread on his way to church, and past the favorite nooks of the deceased in the park. the family--excepting mrs. gladstone, who came later, tenants, servants, friends, local officials and neighbors followed in procession, thousands of people were arriving by public and private conveyances at hawarden. at eleven o'clock the doors of the church were opened, when men, women and children, from all the surrounding country, and even tourists from abroad, entered to view the remains. all day long a constant stream of people poured into the church, while the streets were filled with people unable to gain admittance. several ladies fainted from excess of emotion when passing the bier, and many men and women dropped on their knees and silently prayed. at o'clock in the evening the body was removed from hawarden church and carried to the station for the journey to london. the procession to bear the remains was composed of the family, representatives of organizations, friends and neighbors. vast crowds lined the route, afoot and in every kind of vehicle. the cortege stopped at the entrance to the park--hawarden lodge, and sang one of mr. gladstone's favorite hymns. again, when the procession reached the castle, it paused at the entrance and sang another hymn loved by the late resident of the house, and went on its way to broughton hall station. every step of the way, after leaving the park, was again lined with sympathetic spectators. while at the station the spectacle was remarkable for the surrounding crush of human beings. a special train was provided for the body and the family. as the body of mr. gladstone was placed upon the funeral car the sorrow of the people was manifest. the representatives of the earl marshall, of england, took possession of the funeral at this point. henry and herbert gladstone accompanied the body to london and mrs. gladstone and family returned to the castle to follow later. all along the route to london grief-stricken people were standing to view the funeral train as it passed at chester, crewe, rugby, stafford and farnworth until the darkness and lateness of the night shut out the scene. when the train reached london and passed to westminster, it was early in the morning. a group of some thirty gentlemen, connected with the ceremonies, was at the station; among them the duke of norfolk, about two hundred people looked silently on while the body was removed from the train to the hearse, and the funeral cortege moved on to westminster hall at once and entered the palace yard just as "big ben" tolled the hour of one like a funeral knell. the coffin was placed in position for lying in state in westminster hall, and at about o'clock canon wilberforce conducted a special service in the presence of henry and herbert gladstone and several members of the house of commons. the scenes that followed were remarkably impressive and unparalleled. the people began to arrive at westminster at o'clock in the morning. the line formed was continually augmented by all classes of people,--peers, peeresses, cabinet members, members of the house of commons, military and naval officers, clergymen, costermongers, old and young, until o'clock, when the doors were opened and the procession commenced to stream into the hall, and passed the catafalque. this long procession of mourners continued all day thursday and friday. two hundred thousand people, at least, paid homage to the dead statesman. on friday evening, after the crowd had departed, large delegations, representing liberal organizations from all parts of the kingdom, visited the hall, by special arrangement, and fifteen hundred of them paid respect to the memory of their late leader. saturday morning, may , thousands of people assembled in the square outside to witness the passage of the funeral cortege from westminster hall, where it was formed, to the abbey, to find sepulchre in the tomb of kings. the procession passed through two lines of policemen. it was not a military parade, with all its pomp, but a ceremony made glorious by the homage of the people, among them the greatest of the nation. the funeral was in every respect impressive, dignified and lofty, in every way worthy the great civilian, and the nation that accorded him a public burial with its greatest dead. and the people were there. every spot on which the eye rested swarmed with human beings. they looked from the windows of the hospital, and from the roofs of houses. everybody was dressed in black. the principal officials had assembled in westminster hall at o'clock. the bishop of london, the right rev. mandell creighton, d.d., read a brief prayer and at . o'clock the procession had formed and slowly passed through the crowds who with uncovered heads stood on either side of short pathway, a distance yards, to the western entrance of the abbey, between two ranks of the eton volunteers, the boys of the school where mr. gladstone received his early education, in their buff uniforms. the pall-bearers who walked on each side of the coffin were perhaps the personages who attracted the most attention during the day. they were the prince of wales, the duke of york, the marquis of salisbury, the earl of kimberly, a. j. balfour, sir william vernon-harcourt, the duke of rutland, lord rosebery, baron rendel and george armitstead, the two latter being life-long friends of the deceased statesman. when mrs. gladstone entered the abbey the whole assembly rose and remained standing until she was seated. this honor was accorded only once beside--when the princess of wales, the princess mary and the duchess of york appeared. the abbey was filled with people. every gallery, balcony and niche high up among the rafters held a cluster of deeply interested spectators. temporary galleries had been erected in long tiers around the open grave, which was in the floor of the abbey. there were , persons assembled in the abbey, all--both men and women--clothed in black, except a few officials whose regalia relieved this sombre background by its brilliancy. the two houses of parliament sat facing each other, seated on temporary seats on opposite sides of the grave. about them were the mayors of the principal cities, delegates from liberal organizations, representatives of other civic and political societies, representatives of the non-conformists, while the long nave was crowded with thousands of men and women, among them being most of the celebrities in all branches of english life. in each gallery was a presiding officer with his official mace beside him, whose place was in the centre, and who was its most prominent figure. it was a distinguished assembly in a famous place. beneath were the illustrious dead; around were the illustrious living. the members of the bereaved family sat in the stall nearest the bier--mrs. gladstone, her sons henry, herbert and stephen; with other members of the family, children and grand-children, including little dorothy drew, mr. gladstone's favorite grand-child, in her new mourning. the princess of wales and the duchess of york occupied the dean's pew opposite. other royalties were present in person or by their representatives. within the chancel stood the dean of westminster, and behind him were gathered the cathedral clergy, the archbishop of canterbury, and the scarlet and white surpliced choir, filling the chapel. it was the wish of the deceased for simplicity, but he was buried with a nation's homage in the tomb of kings. in the northern transept, known as the "statesmen's corner", of westminster abbey, where england's greatest dead rests, the body of mr. gladstone was entombed. his grave is near the graves of pitt, palmerston, canning and peel, beside that of his life-long political adversary, lord beaconsfield (benjamin disraeli), whose marble effigy looks down upon it, decked with the regalia mr. gladstone had so often refused. two possible future kings of great britain walked besides the great commoner's coffin and stood beside his grave, and all the nobility and learning of the nation surrounded his bier. this state funeral, the first since that of lord palmerston, was rendered more imposing by the magnificence of the edifice in which it was solemnized. the coffin rested on an elevated bier before the altar, its plainness hidden beneath a pall of white-and gold embroidered cloth. a choir of one hundred male singers, which had awaited the coffin at the entrance to the abbey, preceded it along the nave, chanting, "i am the resurrection and the life." when the coffin was laid on the bier, purcell's funeral chant, "lord, thou hast been our refuge," was sung, and dean bradley and the whole assemblage sang, "rock of ages," and then while the coffin was being borne along the aisle to the grave, sang mr. gladstone's favorite hymn, "praise to the holiest in the height." the choir of westminster abbey is said to be fine at any time, but for this great occasion special arrangements had been made, and there was a recruiting of the best voices from several of the choirs of london, and many musical instruments beside. the result was to win general praise for the beauty, harmony and perfection of the music. the weird, dismal strains of a quartette of trombones, in a recess far above the heads of the congregation, playing the three splendid "equali," beethoven's funeral hymn, swept through the vaulted roof of the abbey, in pure tones never to be forgotten. when these ceased and finally died away, the great organ and a band of brass instruments took up schubert's funeral march, booming sonorously; and changed to beethoven's funeral march with a clash of cymbals in the orchestral accompaniment. a third march being required, owing to the time needed by the procession to reach the abbey, "marche solennelle" was played. the choir, and a large number of bishops and other clergy, joined the procession at the west door and together they all proceeded to the grave. there was no sermon. the service was simple and solemn. the final paean of victory over death and the grave from paul's great epistle was read, and the last hymn sung was, "oh god! our help in ages past." the dean read the appointed appropriate service, committing the body to the earth, and then the archbishop of canterbury, in a loud voice, pronounced the benediction. the family and others near the grave kneeled during the concluding ceremonies, and then mrs. gladstone was helped from her knees to her unoccupied chair at the head of the grave. after the benediction came one of the saddest moments of the day. mrs. gladstone stood, with great courage and composure, throughout the service, supported on the arms of her two sons, herbert and stephen, and with other members of her family near the grave. her face was lifted upward, and her lips were moving as though repeating the lines of the service. she also kept standing during the one official feature of the service; "the proclamation by garter, by norroy, king of arms, of the style of the deceased," as the official programme had it, and in which the various offices which mr. gladstone had held in his lifetime, were enumerated. then, when the final word was spoken, the widow, still supported by her sons, approached the edge of the grave and there took a last, long look and was conducted away. other relatives followed, and then most of the members of parliament. finally the prince of wales, the duke of york and other pall-bearers defiled past the grave, took a last view of the coffin in the deep grave, and when they had been escorted down the nave to entrance, the people slowly departed. the "dead march" from "saul" and the "marche solennelle" of schubert was played as the congregation slowly wended its way out of the sacred edifice. perhaps the most solemn function of all, witnessed by none but the gladstone family and the officials, was when the casket was opened shortly after midnight on thursday to allow the earl marshal to verify with his own eyes that it really contained the remains of the dead statesman. it was said that the old man's face, seen for the last time by the duke of norfolk, who is responsible to england for his sacred charge, was more peaceful and younger looking than it had seemed for years. at the very last moment a small gold armenian cross, a memento of that nation for which the great statesman worked so zealously, was placed by his side. then all was sealed. as the deceased statesman was undoubtedly the greatest parliamentarian of our time, the following concise expressions with regard to his character and influence have been collected from a number of representative members of different political parties in both houses of parliament: the marquis of londonderry said: "what impressed me about mr. gladstone was his extraordinary moral influence." lord george hamilton: "i doubt whether we ever had a parliamentarian who equalled mr. gladstone." the marquis of lorne: "i share the universal regret at mr. gladstone's death as a personal loss." sir john gorst: "one feature, which greatly distinguished mr. gladstone, was his remarkable candour in debate. he never affected to misunderstand his opponents' arguments, and spared no pains in trying to make his own meaning understood." sir charles dilke: "i think mr. gladstone's leading personal characteristic was his old-fashioned courtesy. whilst a statesman, his absolute mastery of finance, both in its principles and details, was incomparably superior to that of any of his contemporaries." mr. thomas ellis, the chief liberal whip, confessed that the greatest interest of his life in parliament was to watch mr. gladstone's face. "it was like the sea in the fascination of its infinite variety, and of its incalculable reserve and strength. every motion in his great soul was reflected in his face and form. to have had opportunities of watching that face, and of witnessing one triumph after another, is a precious privilege, for some of the charms of his face, as of his oratory and character, were incommunicable. he more than any man helped to build up and shape the present commercial and political fabric of britain, but to struggling nations his words and deeds were as the breath of life." sir joseph pease: "his memory will be kept green by a grateful country. death soon buries the battle-axe of party, and he who devoted a long life and immense intellectual power, coupled with strong convictions on moral and christian ethics, to the well being of his country and the world, will never be forgotten by the english people." mr. james bryce, author of "the american commonwealth": "this sad event is the most noble and pathetic closing of a great life which we have seen in england in historical memory. i cannot recall any other case in which the whole nation has followed the setting of the sun of life with such sympathy, such regret, and such admiration." lord kinnaird: "few men in public life have been able to draw out such personal love and devotion from his followers and friends. in the midst of an ever-busy life he was always ready to take his part in the conflict of right against wrong, of truth against error, and he earned the gratitude of all patriots, for he was never ashamed of contending that no true progress could be made which left out of sight the moral well-being of the people." mr. labouchere: "what impressed me most in mr. gladstone was his power of concentrated effort. once he had decided on a course, action at once followed. every thought was bent to attain the end, no labour was deemed to arduous. he alone knew how to deal with supporters and opponents. the former he inspired with his own fierce energy." mr. john redmond, leader of the parnellite group of the irish nationalists: "the loss to england is absolutely incalculable. i regard mr. gladstone as having been the greatest parliamentarian of the age, and the greatest parliamentary orator. englishmen of all parties ought to be grateful to him for his services in promoting the greatness and prosperity of their empire." john dillon: "the greatest and most patriotic of englishmen. if i were asked to say what i think most characteristic of gladstone, i should say his abiding love for the common people and his faith in the government founded upon them, so that, while he remained the most patriotic of englishmen, he is to-day mourned with equal intensity throughout the civilized world." justin mccarthy, m. p.: "the death of mr. gladstone closes a career which may be described as absolutely unique in english political history. it was the career of a great statesman, whose statesmanship was first and last inspired, informed and guided by conscience, by principle, and by love of justice. there were great english statesmen before mr. gladstone's time and during mr. gladstone's time, but we shall look in vain for an example of any statesman in office, who made genius and eloquence, as mr. gladstone did, the mere servants of righteousness and conscientious purpose. into the mind of gladstone no thought of personal ambition or personal advancement ever entered. he was as conscientious as burke. in the brilliancy of his gifts he was at least the equal of bolingbroke. he was as great an orator as either pitt, and he has left the imprint of his intellect on beneficent political and social legislation. in eloquence he far surpassed cobden and was the peer of bright, while his position as parliamentary leader enabled him to initiate and carry out measures of reform which bright and cobden could only support. he was, in short, the greatest and the best prime minister known to english history." michael davitt: "one can only join with the whole world in admiration of the almost boundless talents of mr. gladstone, which were devoted with unparalleled power of charm to the service of his fellow-men. he was probably the greatest british statesman and leaves behind a record of a career unequalled in the annals of english politics. for the magnitude of his national labors and integrity of his personal character, irishmen will remember him gratefully." the _daily chronicle_ heads its editorial with a quotation from wordsworth: "this is the happy warrior: this is he: that every man in arms should wish to be." the editorial says: "a glorious light has been extinguished in the land; all his life lies in the past, a memory to us and our children; an inspiration and possession forever. the end has come as to a soldier at his post. it found him calm, expectant, faithful, unshaken. death has come robed in the terrors of mortal pain; but what better can be said than that as he taught his fellows how to live, so he has taught them how to die? "it is impossible at this hour to survey the mighty range of this splendid life. we would assign to him the title. 'the great nationalist of the nineteenth century;' the greatest of the master-builders of modern england. timidity had no place in mr. gladstone's soul. ho was a lion among men, endowed with a granite strength of will and purpose, rare indeed in our age of feeble convictions." the _daily news_ says: "one of his most characteristics qualities was his personal humility. this cannot be explained without the key, for mr. gladstone did not in the ordinary meaning of the word, underrate himself. he was not easy to persuade. he paid little attention to other people's opinions when his mind was made up. he was quite aware of his own ascendency in counsel and his supremacy in debate. the secret of his humility was an abiding sense that these things were of no importance compared with the relations between god's creatures and their creator, mr. gladstone once said with characteristic candour that he had a vulnerable temper. he was quickly moved to indignation by whatever he thought injurious either to himself or to others, and was incapable of concealing his emotions, for, if he said nothing, his countenance showed what he felt. more expressive features were never given to man. "mr. gladstone's exquisite courtesy, which in and out of parliament was the model for all, proceeded from the same source. it was essentially christian. moreover, nobody laughed more heartily over an anecdote that was really good. he was many men in one; but he impressed all alike with the essential greatness of his character. "he was built mentally and morally on a large scale. of course it cannot be denied that such a face, such a voice, such natural dignity, and such perfect gesture produced in themselves an immense effect. there was nothing common-place about him. mr. gladstone was absolutely simple; and his simplicity was not the least attractive element of his fascinating personality. "his life presented aspects of charm to all minds. his learning captivated the scholar, his eloquence and statesmanship the politician, his financial genius the business man; while his domestic relations and simple human graciousness appealed to all hearts. "'there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in israel.'" _public ledger_, philadelphia: "to write gladstone's career is to write the history of the victorian era and that of the closing years of the reign of william iv, for gladstone took his seat in parliament for the first time in , two years after he was out of college, and victoria's accession took place in . since that remote day gladstone has been four times premier; has delivered numberless speeches of the highest order of excellence; has published a multitude of pamphlets and volumes which attest consummate intellectual gifts, and has been a great force in english statesmanship and scholarship through an exceptionally long life and almost to the very close of it. it has been given to exceedingly few men to play so great, so transcendent a role in any country or at any time." [illustration: walker and cockrell photo sir john gladstone _from a painting by william bradley_] the life of william ewart gladstone by john morley _in three volumes--vol. i_ (_ - _) toronto george n. morang & company, limited copyright, , by the macmillan company. set up, electrotyped, and published october, . reprinted october, november, . norwood press j. s. cushing & co.--berwick & smith co. norwood, mass., u.s.a. to the electors of the montrose burghs i beg leave to inscribe this book in grateful recognition of the confidence and friendship with which they have honoured me note the material on which this biography is founded consists mainly, of course, of the papers collected at hawarden. besides that vast accumulation, i have been favoured with several thousands of other pieces from the legion of mr. gladstone's correspondents. between two and three hundred thousand written papers of one sort or another must have passed under my view. to some important journals and papers from other sources i have enjoyed free access, and my warm thanks are due to those who have generously lent me this valuable aid. i am especially indebted to the king for the liberality with which his majesty has been graciously pleased to sanction the use of certain documents, in cases where the permission of the sovereign was required. when i submitted an application for the same purpose to queen victoria, in readily promising her favourable consideration, the queen added a message strongly impressing on me that the work i was about to undertake should not be handled in the narrow way of party. this injunction represents my own clear view of the spirit in which the history of a career so memorable as mr. gladstone's should be composed. that, to be sure, is not at all inconsistent with our regarding party feeling in its honourable sense, as entirely the reverse of an infirmity. the diaries from which i have often quoted consist of forty little books in double columns, intended to do little more than record persons seen, or books read, or letters written as the days passed by. from these diaries come several of the mottoes prefixed to our chapters; such mottoes are marked by an asterisk. the trustees and other members of mr. gladstone's family have extended to me a uniform kindness and consideration and an absolutely unstinted confidence, for which i can never cease to owe them my heartiest acknowledgment. they left with the writer an unqualified and undivided responsibility for these pages, and for the use of the material that they entrusted to him. whatever may prove to be amiss, whether in leaving out or putting in or putting wrong, the blame is wholly mine. j. m. . contents _book i_ (_ - _) chapter page introductory i. childhood ii. eton iii. oxford _book ii_ (_ - _) i. enters parliament. ii. the new conservatism and office iii. progress in public life. iv. the church v. his first book vi. characteristics vii. close of apprenticeship viii. peel's government ix. maynooth x. triumph of policy and fall of the minister xi. the tractarian catastrophe _book iii_ (_ - _) chapter page i. member for oxford ii. the hawarden estate iii. party evolution--new colonial policy iv. death of sir robert peel v. gorham case--secession of friends vi. naples vii. religious tornado--peelite difficulties viii. end of protection _book iv_ (_ - _) i. the coalition ii. the triumph of iii. the crimean war iv. oxford reform--open civil service v. war finance--tax or loan vi. crisis of and break-up of the peelites vii. political isolation viii. general election--new marriage law ix. the second derby government x. the ionian islands xi. junction with the liberals appendix chronology list of illustrations sir john gladstone _frontispiece._ _from a painting by william bradley._ william ewart gladstone _to face page_ _from a painting by william bradley._ catherine gladstone " _from a painting._ hawarden castle " book i _ - _ introductory i am well aware that to try to write mr. gladstone's life at all--the life of a man who held an imposing place in many high national transactions, whose character and career may be regarded in such various lights, whose interests were so manifold, and whose years bridged so long a span of time--is a stroke of temerity. to try to write his life to-day, is to push temerity still further. the ashes of controversy, in which he was much concerned, are still hot; perspective, scale, relation, must all while we stand so near be difficult to adjust. not all particulars, more especially of the latest marches in his wide campaign, can be disclosed without risk of unjust pain to persons now alive. yet to defer the task for thirty or forty years has plain drawbacks too. interest grows less vivid; truth becomes harder to find out; memories pale and colour fades. and if in one sense a statesman's contemporaries, even after death has abated the storm and temper of faction, can scarcely judge him, yet in another sense they who breathe the same air as he breathed, who know at close quarters the problems that faced him, the materials with which he had to work, the limitations of his time--such must be the best, if not the only true memorialists and recorders. every reader will perceive that perhaps the sharpest of all the many difficulties of my task has been to draw the line between history and biography--between the fortunes of the community and the exploits, thoughts, and purposes of the individual who had so marked a share in them. in the case of men of letters, in whose lives our literature is admirably rich, this difficulty happily for their authors and for our delight does not arise. but where the subject is a man who was four times at the head of the government--no phantom, but dictator--and who held this office of first minister for a longer time than any other statesman in the reign of the queen, how can we tell the story of his works and days without reference, and ample reference, to the course of events over whose unrolling he presided, and out of which he made history? it is true that what interests the world in mr. gladstone is even more what he was, than what he did; his brilliancy, charm, and power; the endless surprises; his dualism or more than dualism; his vicissitudes of opinion; his subtleties of mental progress; his strange union of qualities never elsewhere found together; his striking unlikeness to other men in whom great and free nations have for long periods placed their trust. i am not sure that the incessant search for clues through this labyrinth would not end in analysis and disquisition, that might be no great improvement even upon political history. mr. gladstone said of reconstruction of the income-tax that he only did not call the task herculean, because hercules could not have done it. assuredly, i am not presumptuous enough to suppose that this difficulty of fixing the precise scale between history and biography has been successfully overcome by me. it may be that hercules himself would have succeeded little better. some may think in this connection that i have made the preponderance of politics excessive in the story of a genius of signal versatility, to whom politics were only one interest among many. no doubt speeches, debates, bills, divisions, motions, and manoeuvres of party, like the manna that fed the children of israel in the wilderness, lose their savour and power of nutriment on the second day. yet after all it was to his thoughts, his purposes, his ideals, his performances as statesman, in all the widest significance of that lofty and honourable designation, that mr. gladstone owes the lasting substance of his fame. his life was ever '_greatly absorbed_,' he said, '_in working the institutions of his country_.' here we mark a signal trait. not for two centuries, since the historic strife of anglican and puritan, had our island produced a ruler in whom the religious motive was paramount in the like degree. he was not only a political force but a moral force. he strove to use all the powers of his own genius and the powers of the state for moral purposes and religious. nevertheless his mission in all its forms was action. he had none of that detachment, often found among superior minds, which we honour for its disinterestedness, even while we lament its impotence in result. the track in which he moved, the instruments that he employed, were the track and the instruments, the sword and the trowel, of political action; and what is called the gladstonian era was distinctively a political era. on this i will permit myself a few words more. the detailed history of mr. gladstone as theologian and churchman will not be found in these pages, and nobody is more sensible than their writer of the gap. mr. gladstone cared as much for the church as he cared for the state; he thought of the church as the soul of the state; he believed the attainment by the magistrate of the ends of government to depend upon religion; and he was sure that the strength of a state corresponds to the religious strength and soundness of the community of which the state is the civil organ. i should have been wholly wanting in biographical fidelity, not to make this clear and superabundantly clear. still a writer inside mr. gladstone's church and in full and active sympathy with him on this side of mundane and supramundane things, would undoubtedly have treated the subject differently from any writer outside. no amount of candour or good faith--and in these essentials i believe that i have not fallen short--can be a substitute for the confidence and ardour of an adherent, in the heart of those to whom the church stands first. here is one of the difficulties of this complex case. yet here, too, there may be some trace of compensation. if the reader has been drawn into the whirlpools of the political charybdis, he might not even in far worthier hands than mine have escaped the rocky headlands of the ecclesiastic scylla. for churches also have their parties. lord salisbury, the distinguished man who followed mr. gladstone in a longer tenure of power than his, called him 'a great christian'; and nothing could be more true or better worth saying. he not only accepted the doctrines of that faith as he believed them to be held by his own communion; he sedulously strove to apply the noblest moralities of it to the affairs both of his own nation and of the commonwealth of nations. it was a supreme experiment. people will perhaps some day wonder that many of those who derided the experiment and reproached its author, failed to see that they were making manifest in this a wholesale scepticism as to truths that they professed to prize, far deeper and more destructive than the doubts and disbeliefs of the gentiles in the outer courts. the epoch, as the reader knows, was what mr. gladstone called 'an agitated and expectant age.' some stages of his career mark stages of the first importance in the history of english party, on which so much in the working of our constitution hangs. his name is associated with a record of arduous and fruitful legislative work and administrative improvement, equalled by none of the great men who have grasped the helm of the british state. the intensity of his mind, and the length of years through which he held presiding office, enabled him to impress for good in all the departments of government his own severe standard of public duty and personal exactitude. he was the chief force, propelling, restraining, guiding his country at many decisive moments. then how many surprises and what seeming paradox. devotedly attached to the church, he was the agent in the overthrow of establishment in one of the three kingdoms, and in an attempt to overthrow it in the principality. entering public life with vehement aversion to the recent dislodgment of the landed aristocracy as the mainspring of parliamentary power, he lent himself to two further enormously extensive changes in the constitutional centre of gravity. with a lifelong belief in parliamentary deliberation as the grand security for judicious laws and national control over executive act, he yet at a certain stage betook himself with magical result to direct and individual appeal to the great masses of his countrymen, and the world beheld the astonishing spectacle of a politician with the microscopic subtlety of a thirteenth century schoolman wielding at will the new democracy in what has been called 'the country of plain men.' a firm and trained economist, and no friend to socialism, yet by his legislation upon land in and he wrote the opening chapter in a volume on which many an unexpected page in the history of property is destined to be inscribed. statesmen do far less than they suppose, far less than is implied in their resounding fame, to augment the material prosperity of nations, but in this province mr. gladstone's name stands at the topmost height. yet no ruler that ever lived felt more deeply the truth--for which i know no better words than channing's--that to improve man's outward condition is not to improve man himself; this must come from each man's endeavour within his own breast; without that there can be little ground for social hope. well was it said to him, 'you have so lived and wrought that you have kept the soul alive in england.' not in england only was this felt. he was sometimes charged with lowering the sentiment, the lofty and fortifying sentiment, of national pride. at least it is a ground for national pride that he, the son of english training, practised through long years in the habit and tradition of english public life, standing for long years foremost in accepted authority and renown before the eye of england, so conquered imagination and attachment in other lands, that when the end came it was thought no extravagance for one not an englishman to say, 'on the day that mr. gladstone died, the world has lost its greatest citizen.' the reader who revolves all this will know why i began by speaking of temerity. that my book should be a biography without trace of bias, no reader will expect. there is at least no bias against the truth; but indifferent neutrality in a work produced, as this is, in the spirit of loyal and affectionate remembrance, would be distasteful, discordant, and impossible. i should be heartily sorry if there were no signs of partiality and no evidence of prepossession. on the other hand there is, i trust, no importunate advocacy or tedious assentation. he was great man enough to stand in need of neither. still less has it been needed, in order to exalt him, to disparage others with whom he came into strong collision. his own funeral orations from time to time on some who were in one degree or another his antagonists, prove that this petty and ungenerous method would have been to him of all men most repugnant. then to pretend that for sixty years, with all 'the varying weather of the mind,' he traversed in every zone the restless ocean of a great nation's shifting and complex politics, without many a faulty tack and many a wrong reckoning, would indeed be idle. no such claim is set up by rational men for pym, cromwell, walpole, washington, or either pitt. it is not set up for any of the three contemporaries of mr. gladstone whose names live with the three most momentous transactions of his age--cavour, lincoln, bismarck. to suppose, again, that in every one of the many subjects touched by him, besides exhibiting the range of his powers and the diversity of his interests, he made abiding contributions to thought and knowledge, is to ignore the jealous conditions under which such contributions come. to say so much as this is to make but a small deduction from the total of a grand account. i have not reproduced the full text of letters in the proportion customary in english biography. the existing mass of his letters is enormous. but then an enormous proportion of them touch on affairs of public business, on which they shed little new light. even when he writes in his kindest and most cordial vein to friends to whom he is most warmly attached, it is usually a letter of business. he deals freely and genially with the points in hand, and then without play of gossip, salutation, or compliment, he passes on his way. he has in his letters little of that spirit in which his talk often abounded, of disengagement, pleasant colloquy, happy raillery, and all the other undefined things that make the correspondence of so many men whose business was literature, such delightful reading for the idler hour of an industrious day. it is perhaps worth adding that the asterisks denoting an omitted passage hide no piquant hit, no personality, no indiscretion; the omission is in every case due to consideration of space. without these asterisks and, other omissions, nothing would have been easier than to expand these three volumes into a hundred. i think nothing relevant is lost. nobody ever had fewer secrets, nobody ever lived and wrought in fuller sunlight. chapter i childhood (_ - _) i know not why commerce in england should not have its old families, rejoicing to be connected with commerce from generation to generation. it has been so in other countries; i trust it will be so in this country.--gladstone. the dawn of the life of the great and famous man who is our subject in these memoirs has been depicted with homely simplicity by his own hand. with this fragment of a record it is perhaps best for me to begin our journey. 'i was born,' he says, 'on december , ,' at rodney street, liverpool. 'i was baptized, i believe, in the parish church of st. peter. my godmother was my elder sister anne, then just seven years old, who died a perfect saint in the beginning of the year . in her later years she lived in close relations with me, and i must have been much worse but for her. of my godfathers, one was a scotch episcopalian, mr. fraser of ----, whom i hardly ever saw or heard of; the other a presbyterian, mr. g. grant, a junior partner of my father's.' the child was named william ewart, after his father's friend, an immigrant scot and a merchant like himself, and father of a younger william ewart, who became member for liverpool, and did good public service in parliament. before proceeding to the period of my childhood, properly so-called, i will here insert a few words about my family. my maternal grandfather was known as provost robertson of dingwall, a man held, i believe, in the highest respect. his wife was a mackenzie of [coul]. his circumstances must have been good. of his three sons, one went into the army, and i recollect him as captain robertson (i have a seal which he gave me, a three-sided cairngorm. cost him ½ guineas). the other two took mercantile positions. when my parents made a scotch tour in - with, i think, their four sons, the freedom of dingwall was presented to us all,[ ] with my father; and there was large visiting at the houses of the ross-shire gentry. i think the line of my grandmother was stoutly episcopalian and jacobite; but, coming outside the western highlands, the first at least was soon rubbed down. the provost, i think, came from a younger branch of the robertsons of struan. on my father's side the matter is more complex. the history of the family has been traced at the desire of my eldest brother and my own, by sir william fraser, the highest living authority.[ ] he has carried us up to a rather remote period, i think before elizabeth, but has not yet been able to connect us with the earliest known holders of the name, which with the aid of charter-chests he hopes to do. some things are plain and not without interest. they were a race of borderers. there is still an old gledstanes or gladstone castle. they formed a family in sweden in the seventeenth century. the explanation of this may have been that, when the union of the crowns led to the extinction of border fighting they took service like sir dugald dalgetty under gustavus adolphus, and in this case passed from service to settlement. i have never heard of them in scotland until after the restoration, otherwise than as persons of family. at that period there are traces of their having been fined by public authority, but not for any ordinary criminal offence. from this time forward i find no trace of their gentility. during the eighteenth century they are, i think, principally traced by a line of maltsters (no doubt a small business then) in lanarkshire. their names are recorded on tombstones in the churchyard of biggar. i remember going as a child or boy to see the representative of that branch, either in or some years earlier, who was a small watchmaker in that town. he was of the same generation as my father, but came, i understood, from a senior brother of the family. i do not know whether his line is extinct. there also seem to be some stray gladstones who are found at yarmouth and in yorkshire.[ ] ancestry my father's father seems from his letters to have been an excellent man and a wise parent: his wife a woman of energy. there are pictures of them at fasque, by raeburn. he was a merchant, in scotch phrase; that is to say, a shopkeeper dealing in corn and stores, and my father as a lad served in his shop. but he also sent a ship or ships to the baltic; and i believe that my father, whose energy soon began to outtop that of all the very large family, went in one of these ships at a very early age as a supercargo, an appointment then, i think, common. but he soon quitted a nest too small to hold him. he was born in december : and i have (at hawarden) a reprint of the _liverpool directory_ for -, in which his name appears as a partner in the firm of messrs. corrie, corn merchants. here his force soon began to be felt as a prominent and then a foremost member of the community. a liberal in the early period of the century, he drew to mr. canning, and brought that statesman as candidate to liverpool in , by personally offering to guarantee his expenses at a time when, though prosperous, he could hardly have been a rich man. his services to the town were testified by gifts of plate, now in the possession of the elder lines of his descendants, and by a remarkable subscription of six thousand pounds raised to enable him to contest the borough of lancaster, for which he sat in the parliament of . at his demise, in december , the value of his estate was, i think, near £ , . my father was a successful merchant, but considering his long life and means of accumulation, the result represents a success secondary in comparison with that of others whom in native talent and energy he much surpassed. it was a large and strong nature, simple though hasty, profoundly affectionate and capable of the highest devotion in the lines of duty and of love. i think that his intellect was a little intemperate, though not his character. in his old age, spent mainly in retirement, he was our constant [centre of] social and domestic life. my mother, a beautiful and admirable woman, failed in health and left him a widower in , when she was . he then turns to the records of his own childhood, a period that he regarded as closing in september , when he was sent to eton. he begins with one or two juvenile performances, in no way differing from those of any other infant,--_navita projectus humi_, the mariner flung by force of the waves naked and helpless ashore. he believes that he was strong and healthy, and came well through his childish ailments. my next recollection belongs to the period of mr. canning's first election for liverpool, in the month of october of the year . much entertaining went on in my father's house, where mr. canning himself was a guest; and on a day of a great dinner i was taken down to the dining room. i was set upon one of the chairs, standing, and directed to say to the company 'ladies and gentlemen.' i have, thirdly, a group of recollections which refer to scotland. thither my father and mother took me on a journey which they made, i think, in a post-chaise to edinburgh and glasgow as its principal points. at edinburgh our sojourn was in the royal hotel, princes street. i well remember the rattling of the windows when the castle guns were fired on some great occasion, probably the abdication of napoleon, for the date of the journey was, i think, the spring of . early recollections in this journey the situation of sanquhar, in a close dumfriesshire valley, impressed itself on my recollection. i never saw sanquhar again until in the autumn of (as i believe). as i was whirled along the glasgow and south-western railway i witnessed just beneath me lines of building in just such a valley, and said that must be sanquhar, which it was. my local memory has always been good and very impressible by scenery. i seem to myself never to have forgotten a scene. i have one other early recollection to record. it must, i think, have been in the year that my father and mother took me with them on either one or two more journeys. the objective points were cambridge and london respectively. my father had built, under the very niggard and discouraging laws which repressed rather than encouraged the erection of new churches at that period, the church of st. thomas at seaforth, and he wanted a clergyman for it.[ ] guided in these matters very much by the deeply religious temper of my mother, he went with her to cambridge to obtain a recommendation of a suitable person from mr. simeon, whom i saw at the time.[ ] i remember his appearance distinctly. he was a venerable man, and although only a fellow of a college, was more ecclesiastically got up than many a dean, or even here and there, perhaps, a bishop of the present less costumed if more ritualistic period. mr. simeon, i believe, recommended mr. jones, an excellent specimen of the excellent evangelical school of those days. we went to leicester to hear him preach in a large church, and his text was '_grow in grace_.' he became eventually archdeacon of liverpool, and died in great honour a few years ago at much past . on the strength of this visit to cambridge i lately boasted there, even during the lifetime of the aged provost okes, that i had been in the university before any one of them. i think it was at this time that in london we were domiciled in russell square, in the house of a brother of my mother, mr. colin robertson; and i was vexed and put about by being forbidden to run freely at my own will into and about the streets, as i had done in liverpool. but the main event was this: we went to a great service of public thanksgiving at saint paul's, and sat in a small gallery annexed to the choir, just over the place where was the regent, and looking down upon him from behind. i recollect nothing more of the service, nor was i ever present at any public thanksgiving after this in saint paul's, until the service held in that cathedral, under my advice as the prime minister, after the highly dangerous illness of the prince of wales. before quitting the subject of early recollections i must name one which involves another person of some note. my mother took me in --to barley wood cottage, near bristol. here lived miss hannah more, with some of her coeval sisters. i am sure they loved my mother, who was love-worthy indeed. and i cannot help here deviating for a moment into the later portion of the story to record that in i had the honour of breakfasting with mr. wilberforce a few days before his death,[ ] and when i entered the house, immediately after the salutation, he said to me in his silvery tones, 'how is your sweet mother?' he had been a guest in my father's house some twelve years before. during the afternoon visit at barley wood, miss hannah more took me aside and presented to me a little book. it was a copy of her _sacred dramas_, and it now remains in my possession, with my name written in it by her. she very graciously accompanied it with a little speech, of which i cannot recollect the conclusion (or apodosis), but it began, 'as you have just come into the world, and i am just going out of it, i therefore,' etc. i wish that in reviewing my childhood i could regard it as presenting those features of innocence and beauty which i have often seen elsewhere, and indeed, thanks be to god, within the limits of my own home. the best i can say for it is that i do not think it was a vicious childhood. i do not think, trying to look at the past impartially, that i had a strong natural propensity then developed to what are termed the mortal sins. but truth obliges me to record this against myself. i have no recollection of being a loving or a winning child; or an earnest or diligent or knowledge-loving child. god forgive me. and what pains and shames me most of all is to remember that at most and at best i was, like the sailor in juvenal, digitis a morte remotus, quatuor aut septem;[ ] the plank between me and all the sins was so very thin. i do not indeed intend in these notes to give a history of the inner life, which i think has been with me extraordinarily dubious, vacillating, and above all complex. i reserve them, perhaps, for a more private and personal document; and i may in this way relieve myself from some at least of the risks of falling into an odious pharisaism. i cannot in truth have been an interesting child, and the only presumption the other way which i can gather from my review is that there was probably something in me worth the seeing, or my father and mother would not so much have singled me out to be taken with them on their journeys. i was not a devotional child. i have no recollection of early love for the house of god and for divine service: though after my father built the church at seaforth in , i remember cherishing a hope that he would bequeath it to me, and that i might live in it. i have a very early recollection of hearing preaching in st. george's, liverpool, but it is this: that i turned quickly to my mother and said, 'when will he have done?' the _pilgrim's progress_ undoubtedly took a great and fascinating hold upon me, so that anything which i wrote was insensibly moulded in its style; but it was by the force of the allegory addressing itself to the fancy, and was very like a strong impression received from the _arabian nights_, and from another work called _tales of the genii_. i think it was about the same time that miss porter's _scottish chiefs_, and especially the life and death of wallace, used to make me weep profusely. this would be when i was about ten years old. at a much earlier period, say six or seven, i remember praying earnestly, but it was for no higher object than to be spared from the loss of a tooth. here, however, it may be mentioned in mitigation that the local dentist of those days, in our case a certain dr. p. of ---- street, liverpool, was a kind of savage at his work (possibly a very good-natured man too), with no ideas except to smash and crash. my religious recollections, then, are a sad blank. neither was i a popular boy, though not egregiously otherwise. if i was not a bad boy, i think that i was a boy with a great absence of goodness. i was a child of slow, in some points i think of singularly slow, development. there was more in me perhaps than in the average boy, but it required greatly more time to set itself in order: and just so in adult, and in middle and later life, i acquired very tardily any knowledge of the world, and that simultaneous conspectus of the relations of persons and things which is necessary for the proper performance of duties in the world. i may mention another matter in extenuation. i received, unless my memory deceives me, very little benefit from teaching. my father was too much occupied, my mother's health was broken. we, the four brothers, had no quarrelling among ourselves: but neither can i recollect any influence flowing down at this time upon me, the junior. one odd incident seems to show that i was meek, which i should not have supposed, not less than thrifty and penurious, a leaning which lay deep, i think, in my nature, and which has required effort and battle to control it. it was this. by some process not easy to explain i had, when i was _probably_ seven or eight, and my elder brothers from ten or eleven to fourteen or thereabouts, accumulated no less than twenty shillings in silver. my brothers judged it right to appropriate this fund, and i do not recollect either annoyance or resistance or complaint. but i recollect that they employed the principal part of it in the purchase of four knives, and that they broke the points from the tops of the blades of my knife, lest i should cut my fingers. where was the official or appointed teacher all this time? he was the rev. mr. rawson of cambridge, who had, i suppose, been passed by mr. simeon and become private tutor in my father's house. but as he was to be incumbent of the church, the bishop required a parsonage and that he should live in it. out of this grew a very small school of about twelve boys, to which i went, with some senior brother or brothers remaining for a while. mr. rawson was a good man, of high no-popery opinions. his school afterwards rose into considerable repute, and it had dean stanley and the sons of one or more other cheshire families for pupils. but i think this was not so much due to its intellectual stamina as to the extreme salubrity of the situation on the pure dry sands of the mersey's mouth, with all the advantages of the strong tidal action and the fresh and frequent north-west winds. at five miles from liverpool exchange, the sands, delicious for riding, were one absolute solitude, and only one house looked down on them between us and the town. to return to mr. rawson. everything was unobjectionable. i suppose i learnt something there. but i have no recollection of being under any moral or personal influence whatever, and i doubt whether the preaching had any adaptation whatever to children. as to intellectual training, i believe that, like the other boys, i shirked my work as much as i could. i went to eton in after a pretty long spell, in a very middling state of preparation, and wholly without any knowledge or other enthusiasm, unless it were a priggish love of argument which i had begun to develop. i had lived upon a rabbit warren: and what a rabbit warren of a life it is that i have been surveying. my brother john, three years older than myself, and of a moral character more manly and on a higher level, had chosen the navy, and went off to the preparatory college at portsmouth. but he evidently underwent persecution for righteousness' sake at the college, which was then (say about ) in a bad condition. of this, though he was never querulous, his letters bore the traces, and i cannot but think they must have exercised upon me some kind of influence for good. as to miscellaneous notices, i had a great affinity with the trades of joiners and of bricklayers. physically i must have been rather tough, for my brother john took me down at about ten years old to wrestle in the stables with an older lad of that region, whom i threw. among our greatest enjoyments were undoubtedly the annual guy fawkes bonfires, for which we had always liberal allowances of wreck timber and a tar-barrel. i remember seeing, when about eight or nine, my first case of a dead body. it was the child of the head gardener derbyshire, and was laid in the cottage bed by tender hands, with nice and clean accompaniments. it seemed to me pleasing, and in no way repelled me; but it made no deep impression. and now i remember that i used to teach pretty regularly on sundays in the sunday-school built by my father near the primrose bridge. it was, i think, a duty done not under constraint, but i can recollect nothing which associates it with a seriously religious life in myself.[ ] ii genealogy to these fragments no long supplement is needed. little of interest can be certainly established about his far-off ancestral origins, and the ordinary twilight of genealogy overhangs the case of the glaidstanes, gledstanes, gladstanes, gladstones, whose name is to be found on tombstones and parish rolls, in charter-chests and royal certificates, on the southern border of scotland. the explorations of the genealogist tell of recognitions of their nobility by scottish kings in dim ages, but the links are sometimes broken, title-deeds are lost, the same name is attached to estates in different counties, roxburgh, peebles, lanark, and in short until the close of the seventeenth century we linger, in the old poet's phrase, among dreams of shadows. as we have just been told, during the eighteenth century no traces of their gentility survives, and apparently they glided down from moderate lairds to small maltsters. thomas gladstones, grandfather of him with whom we are concerned, made his way from biggar to leith, and there set up in a modest way as corndealer, wholesale and retail. his wife was a neilson of springfield. to them sixteen children were born, and john gladstones (b. dec. , ) was their eldest son. having established himself in liverpool, he married in jane hall, a lady of that city, who died without children six years later. in he took for his second wife anne robertson of dingwall. her father was of the clan donnachaidh, and her mother was of kin with mackenzies, munros, and other highland stocks.[ ] their son, therefore, was of unmixed scottish origins, half highland, half lowland borderer.[ ] with the possible exception of lord mansfield--the rival of chatham in parliament, one of the loftiest names among great judges, and chief builder of the commercial law of the english world, a man who might have been prime minister if he had chosen.--mr. gladstone stands out as far the most conspicuous and powerful of all the public leaders in our history, who have sprung from the northern half of our island. when he had grown to be the most famous man in the realm of the queen, he said, 'i am not slow to claim the name of scotsman, and even if i were, there is the fact staring me in the face that not a drop of blood runs in my veins except what is derived from a scottish ancestry.'[ ] an illustrious opponent once described him, by way of hitting his singular duality of disposition, as an ardent italian in the custody of a scotsman. it is easy to make too much of race, but when we are puzzled by mr. gladstone's seeming contrarieties of temperament, his union of impulse with caution, of passion with circumspection, of pride and fire with self-control, of ossianic flight with a steady foothold on the solid earth, we may perhaps find a sort of explanation in thinking of him as a highlander in the custody of a lowlander. of john gladstone something more remains to be said. about he was made a partner by his father in the business at leith, and here he saved five hundred pounds. four years later, probably after a short period of service, he was admitted to a partnership with two corn-merchants at liverpool, his contribution to the total capital of four thousand pounds being fifteen hundred, of which his father lent him five hundred, and a friend another five at five per cent. in he thought the plural ending of his name sounded awkwardly in the style of the firm, corrie, gladstones, and bradshaw, so he dropped the _s_.[ ] he visited london to enlarge his knowledge of the corn trade in mark lane, and here became acquainted with sir claude scott, the banker (not yet, however, a baronet). scott was so impressed by his extraordinary vigour and shrewdness as to talk of a partnership, but gladstone's existing arrangement in liverpool was settled for fourteen years. sometime in the nineties he was sent to america to purchase corn, with unlimited confidence from sir claude scott. on his arrival, he found a severe scarcity and enormous prices. a large number of vessels had been chartered for the enterprise, and were on their way to him for cargoes. to send them back in ballast would be a disaster. thrown entirely on his own resources, he travelled south from new york, making the best purchases of all sorts that he could; then loaded his ships with timber and other commodities, one only of them with flour; and the loss on the venture, which might have meant ruin, did not exceed a few hundred pounds. energy and resource of this kind made fortune secure, and when the fourteen years of partnership expired, gladstone continued business on his own account, with a prosperity that was never broken. he brought his brothers to liverpool, but it was to provide for them, not to assist himself, says mr. gladstone; 'and he provided for many young men in the same way. i never knew him reject any kind of work in aid of others that offered itself to him.' john gladstone it was john gladstone's habit, we are told, to discuss all sorts of questions with his children, and nothing was ever taken for granted between him and his sons. 'he could not understand,' says the illustrious one among them, 'nor tolerate those who, perceiving an object to be good, did not at once and actively pursue it; and with all this energy he joined a corresponding warmth and, so to speak, eagerness of affection, a keen appreciation of humour, in which he found a rest, and an indescribable frankness and simplicity of character, which, crowning his other qualities, made him, i think (and i strive to think impartially), the most interesting old man i have ever known.'[ ] to his father's person and memory, mr. gladstone's fervid and affectionate devotion remained unbroken. 'one morning,' writes a female relative of his, 'when i was breakfasting alone with mr. gladstone at carlton house terrace something led to his speaking of his father. i seem to see him now, rising from his chair, standing in front of the chimneypiece, and in strains of fervid eloquence dwelling on the grandeur, the breadth and depth of his character, his generosity, his nobleness, last and greatest of all--his loving nature. his eyes filled with tears as he exclaimed: "none but his children can know what torrents of tenderness flowed from his heart."' the successful merchant was also the active-minded citizen. 'his force,' says his son, 'soon began to be felt as a prominent and then a foremost member of the community.' he had something of his descendant's inextinguishable passion for pamphleteering, and the copious effusion of public letters and articles. as was inevitable in a scotsman of his social position at that day, when tory rule of a more tyrannic stamp than was ever known in england since the revolution of , had reduced constitutional liberty in scotland to a shadow, john gladstone came to liverpool a whig, and a whig he remained until canning raised the flag of a new party inside the entrenchments of eldonian toryism. in canning, who had just refused lord liverpool's proffer of the foreign office because he would not serve under castlereagh as leader in the house of commons, was invited by john gladstone to stand for liverpool. he was elected in triumph over brougham, and held the seat through four elections, down to , when he was succeeded by huskisson, whom he described to the constituency as the best man of business in england, and one of the ablest practical statesmen that could engage in the concerns of a commercial country. the speeches made to his constituents during the ten years for which he served them are excellent specimens of canning's rich, gay, aspiring eloquence. in substance they abound in much pure toryism, and his speech after the peterloo massacre, and upon the topics relating to public meetings, sedition, and parliamentary reform, though by sonorous splendour and a superb plausibility fascinating to the political neophyte, is by no means free from froth, without much relation either to social facts or to popular principles. on catholic emancipation he followed pitt, as he did in an enlarged view of commercial policy. at liverpool he made his famous declaration that his political allegiance was buried in pitt's grave. at one at least of these performances the youthful william gladstone was present, but it was at home that he learned canningite doctrine. at seaforth house canning spent the days between the death of castlereagh and his own recall to power, while he was waiting for the date fixed for his voyage to take up the viceroyalty of india. canning as from whig john gladstone turned canningite, so from presbyterian also he turned churchman. he paid the penalty of men who change their party, and was watched with a critical eye by old friends; but he was a liberal giver for beneficent public purposes, and in he was honoured by the freedom of liverpool. his ambition naturally pointed to parliament, and he was elected first for lancaster in , and next for woodstock in , two boroughs of extremely easy political virtue. lancaster cost him twelve thousand pounds, towards which his friends in liverpool contributed one-half. in he was chosen at berwick, but was unseated the year after. his few performances in the house were not remarkable. he voted with ministers, and on the open question of catholic emancipation he went with canning and plunket. he was one of the majority who by six carried plunket's catholic motion in , and the matter figures in the earliest of the hundreds of surviving letters from his youngest son, then over eleven, and on the eve of his departure for eton:-- _seaforth, mar._ , . i address these few lines to you to know how my dear mother is, to thank you for your kind letter, and to know whether edward may get two padlocks for the wicket and large shore gate. they are now open, and the people make a thoroughfare of the green walk and the carriage road. i read mr. plunket's speech, and i admire it exceedingly. i enclose a letter from mr. rawson to you. he told me to-day that mrs. r. was a great deal better. write to me again as soon as you can.--ever your most affectionate and dutiful son, w. e. gladstone. in after years he was fond of recalling how the liverpool with which he had been most familiar ( - ), though the second commercial town in the kingdom, did not exceed , of population, and how the silver cloud of smoke that floated above her resembled that which might now appear over any secondary borough or village of the country. 'i have seen wild roses growing upon the very ground that is now the centre of the borough of bootle. all that land is now partly covered with residences and partly with places of business and industry; but in my time but one single house stood upon the space between primrose brook and the town of liverpool.' among his early recollections was 'the extraordinarily beautiful spectacle of a dock delivery on the mersey after a long prevalence of westerly winds followed by a change. liverpool cannot imitate that now [ ], at least not for the eye.' iii john gladstone as slaveholder the gladstone firm was mainly an east india house, but in the last ten years of his mercantile course john gladstone became the owner of extensive plantations of sugar and coffee in the west indies, some in jamaica, others in british guiana or demerara. the infamy of the slave-trade had been abolished in , but slave labour remained, and the liverpool merchant, like a host of other men of equal respectability and higher dignity, including many peers and even some bishops, was a slaveholder. everybody who has ever read one of the most honourable and glorious chapters in our english history knows the case of the missionary john smith.[ ] in an outbreak of the slaves occurred in demerara, and one of john gladstone's plantations happened to be its centre. the rising was stamped out with great cruelty in three days. martial law, the savage instrument of race passion, was kept in force for over five months. fifty negroes were hanged, many were shot down in the thickets, others were torn in pieces by the lash of the cart-whip. smith was arrested, although he had in fact done his best to stop the rising. tried before a court in which every rule of evidence was tyrannically set aside, he was convicted on hearsay and condemned to death. before the atrocious sentence could be commuted by the home authorities, the fiery heat and noisome vapours of his prison killed him. the death of the demerara missionary, it has been truly said, was an event as fatal to slavery in the west indies, as the execution of john brown was its deathblow in the united states.[ ] brougham in brought the case before the house of commons, and in the various discussions upon it the gladstone estates made rather a prominent figure. john gladstone became involved in a heated and prolonged controversy as to the management of his plantations; as we shall see, it did not finally die down till . he was an indomitable man. in a newspaper discussion through a long series of letters, he did not defend slavery in the abstract, but protested against the abuse levelled at the planters by all 'the intemperate, credulous, designing, or interested individuals who followed the lead of that well-meaning but mistaken man, mr. wilberforce.' he denounced the missionaries as hired emissaries, whose object seemed to be rather to revolutionise the colonies than to diffuse religion among the people. in he published a pamphlet, in the form of a letter to sir robert peel,[ ] to explain that negroes were happier when forced to work; that, as their labour was essential to the welfare of the colonies, he considered the difficulties in the way of emancipation insurmountable; that it was not for him to seek to destroy a system that an over-ruling providence had seen fit to permit in certain climates since the very formation of society; and finally with a parthian bolt, he hinted that the public would do better to look to the condition of the lower classes at home than to the negroes in the colonies. the pamphlet made its mark, and was admitted by the abolitionists to be an attempt of unusual ingenuity to varnish the most heinous of national crimes. three years later, when emancipation came, and the twenty million pounds of compensation were distributed, john gladstone appears to have received, individually and apart from his partnerships, a little over seventy-five thousand pounds for slaves.[ ] it is as well, though in anticipation of the order of time, to complete our sketch. in view of the approach of full abolition, john gladstone induced lord glenelg, the whig secretary of state, to issue an order in council ( ) permitting the west indian planters to ship coolies from india on terms drawn up by the planters themselves. objections were made with no effect by the governor at demerara, a humane and vigorous man, who had done much work as military engineer under wellington, and who, after abolishing the flogging of female slaves in the bahamas, now set such an iron yoke upon the planters and their agents in demerara, that he said 'he could sleep satisfied that no person in the colony could be punished without his knowledge and sanction.'[ ] the importation of coolies raised old questions in new forms. the voyage from india was declared to reproduce the horrors of the middle passage of the vanished guinea slavers; the condition of the coolie on the sugar plantations was drawn in a light only less lurid than the case of the african negro; and john gladstone was again in hot water. thomas gladstone, his eldest son, defended him in parliament (aug. , ), and commissioners sent to inquire into the condition of the various gladstone plantations reported that the coolies on vreedestein appeared contented and happy on the whole; no one had ever maltreated or beaten them except in one case; and those on vreedenhoop appeared perfectly contented. the interpreter, who had abused them, had been fined, punished, and dismissed. upon the motion of w. e. gladstone, these reports were laid upon the table of the house in .[ ] we shall have not unimportant glimpses, as our story unfolds itself, of all these transactions. meanwhile, it is interesting to note that the statesman whose great ensign was to be human freedom, was thus born in a family where the palliation of slavery must have made a daily topic. the union, moreover, of fervid evangelical religion with antagonism to abolition must in those days have been rare, and in spite of his devoted faith in his father the youthful gladstone may well have had uneasy moments. if so, he perhaps consoled himself with the authority of canning. canning, in , had formally laid down the neutral principles common to the statesmen of the day: that amelioration of the lot of the negro slave was the utmost limit of action, and that his freedom as a result of amelioration was the object of a pious hope, and no more. canning described the negro as a being with the form of a man and the intellect of a child. 'to turn him loose in the manhood of his physical strength, in the maturity of his physical passions, but in the infancy of his uninstructed reason, would be to raise up a creature resembling the splendid fiction of a recent romance,[ ] the hero of which constructs a human form with all the corporal capabilities of a man, but being unable to impart to the work of his hands a perception of right and wrong, he finds too late that he has only created a more than mortal power of doing mischief.' 'i was bred,' said mr. gladstone when risen to meridian splendour, 'under the shadow of the great name of canning; every influence connected with that name governed the politics of my childhood and of my youth; with canning, i rejoiced in the removal of religious disabilities, and in the character which he gave to our policy abroad; with canning, i rejoiced in the opening he made towards the establishment of free commercial interchanges between nations; with canning, and under the shadow of the yet more venerable name of burke, my youthful mind and imagination were impressed.'[ ] on slavery and even the slave trade, burke too had argued against total abolition. 'i confess,' he said, 'i trust infinitely more (according to the sound principles of those who ever have at any time meliorated the state of mankind) to the effect and influence of religion than to all the rest of the regulations put together.'[ ] footnotes: [ ] the freedom was formally bestowed on him in . [ ] sir william fraser died in . [ ] researches into the ancestry of the gladstone family have been made by sir william fraser, professor john veitch, and mrs. oliver of thornwood. besides his special investigation of the genealogy of the family, sir w. fraser devoted some pages in the _douglas book_ to the gledstanes of gledstanes. the surname of gledstanes occurs at a very early period in the records of scotland. families of that name acquired considerable landed estates in the counties of lanark, peebles, roxburgh, and dumfries. the old castle of gledstanes, now in ruins, was the principal mansion of the family. the first of the name who has been found on record is herbert de gledstanes, who swore fealty to edward i. in for lands in the county of lanark. the gledstanes long held the office of bailie under the earls of douglas, and the connection between the two families seems to have lasted until the fall of the douglas family. the gledstanes still continued to figure for many generations on the border. about the middle of the eighteenth century two branches of the family--the gledstanes of cocklaw and of craigs--failed in the direct male line. mr. gladstone was descended from a third branch, the gledstanes of arthurshiel in lanarkshire. the first of this line who has been traced is william gledstanes, who in the year was laird of arthurshiel. his lineal descendants continued as owners of that property till william gledstanes disposed of it and went to live in the town of biggar about the year . this william gledstanes was mr. gladstone's great-great-grandfather. the connection between these three branches and herbert de gledstanes of has not been ascertained, but he was probably the common ancestor of them all. [ ] john gladstone built st. thomas's church, seaforth, - ; st. andrew's, liverpool, about ; the church at leith; the episcopal chapel at fasque built and endowed about . [ ] charles simeon ( - ), who played as conspicuous a part in low church thought as newman afterwards in high. [ ] see below, pp. - . [ ] xii --'removed from death by four or maybe seven fingers' breadth.' [ ] the fragment is undated. [ ] one or two further genealogical _nugæ_ are among the papers. a correspondent wrote to mr. gladstone in : among the donors to the craftsman's hospital, aberdeen, established in , occurs the name of 'georg gladstaines, pewterer, merks' (£ , s. d. sterling), . george joined the hammerman craft in , when he would have been about years of age. his signature is still in existence appended to the burgess oath. very few craftsmen could sign their names at that period--not one in twenty--so that george must have been fairly well educated. mr. gladstone replied that it was the first time that he had heard of the name so far north, and that the pewterer was probably one planted out. at dundee ( ) he mentioned that others of his name and blood appeared on the burgess-roll as early as the fifteenth century. as for his maternal grandfather, the _inverness courier_ (march , year not given) has the following:--'provost robertson of dingwall was a descendant of the ancient family of the robertsons of inshes, of whose early settlement in the north the following particulars are known: the first was a member of the family of struan, perthshire, and was a merchant in inverness in . in the battle of _blair-na-leine_, fought at the west end of loch-lochy in , john robertson, a descendant of the above, acted as standard-bearer to lord lovat. this battle was fought between the frasers and macdonalds of clanranald, and derived its appellation from the circumstance of the combatants fighting only in their shirts. the contest was carried on with such bloody determination, foot to foot and claymore to claymore, that only _four_ of the frasers and _ten_ of the macdonalds returned to tell the tale. the former family was well nigh extirpated; tradition, however, states that sixteen widows of the frasers who had been slain, shortly afterwards, as a providential succour, gave birth to sixteen sons! from the bloody onslaught at loch-lochy young robertson returned home scaithless, and his brave and gallant conduct was the theme of praise with all. some time thereafter he married the second daughter of paterson of wester and easter inshes, the eldest being married to cuthbert of macbeth's castlehill, now known as the crown lands, possessed by mr. fraser of abertarff. on the death of paterson, his father-in-law, wester inshes became the property of young robertson, and easter inshes that of the cuthberts, who, for the sake of distinction, changed the name to castlehill. the robertsons, in regular succession until the present time, possess the fine estate of inshes; while that of castlehill, which belonged to the powerful cuthberts for so many generations, knows them no more. the family of inshes, in all ages, stood high in respect throughout the highlands, and many of them had signalised themselves in upholding the rights of their country; and the worthy provost robertson of dingwall had no less distinguished himself, who, with other important reforms, had cleared away the last burdensome relic of feudal times in that ancient burgh.' [ ] the other sons and daughters of this marriage were thomas, _d._ ; robertson, _d._ ; john neilson, _d._ ; anne, _d._ ; helen jane, _d._ . [ ] at dundee, oct. , . [ ] in formal difficulties arose in connection with the purchase of a government annuity, and then he seems to have taken out letters patent authorising the change in the name. [ ] _memoirs of j. r. hope-scott_, ii. p. . [ ] the story of john smith is excellently told in walpole (iii. p. ), and in miss martineau's _hist. of the peace_ (bk. ii. ch. iv.). but mr. robbins has worked it out with diligence and precision in special reference to john gladstone: _early life_, pp. - . [ ] trevelyan's _macaulay_, i. p. , where the reader will also find a fine passage from macaulay's speech before the anti-slavery society upon the matter--the first speech he ever made. [ ] 'a statement of facts connected with the present state of slavery in the british sugar and coffee colonies, and in the united states of america, together with a view of the present situation of the lower classes in the united kingdom.' [ ] in demerara the average price of slaves from to had been £ , s. ¼d. the rate of compensation per slave averaged £ , s. ½d., but it is of interest to note that the slaves on the vreedenhoop estate were valued at £ , s. d. [ ] _dict. nat. biog._, sir james carmichael smyth. [ ] he took follett's opinion (aug. , ) on the question of applying for a criminal information against the publisher of an article stating how many slaves had been worked to death on his father's plantations. the great advocate wisely recommended him to leave it alone. [ ] _frankenstein_ was published in . [ ] house of commons, april , . [ ] _letter to dundas, with a sketch of a negro code_, . but see _life of w. wilberforce_, v. p. . chapter ii eton (_ - _) it is in her public schools and universities that the youth of england are, by a discipline which shallow judgments have sometimes attempted to undervalue, prepared for the duties of public life. there are rare and splendid exceptions, to be sure, but in my conscience i believe, that england would not be what she is without her system of public education, and that no other country can become what england is, without the advantages of such a system.--canning. it is difficult to discern the true dimensions of objects in that mirage which covers the studies of one's youth.--gladstone. in september , the young gladstone was sent to eton. life at eton lasted over six years, until the christmas of . it impressed images that never faded, and left traces in heart and mind that the waves of time never effaced,--so profound is the early writing on our opening page. canning's words at the head of our present chapter set forth a superstition that had a powerful hold on the english governing class of that day, and the new etonian never shook it off. his attachment to eton grew with the lapse of years; to him it was ever 'the queen of all schools.' 'i went,' he says, 'under the wing of my eldest brother, then in the upper division, and this helped my start and much mitigated the sense of isolation that attends the first launch at a public school.' the door of his dame's house looked down the long walk, while the windows looked into the very crowded churchyard: from this he never received the smallest inconvenience, though it was his custom (when master of the room) to sleep with his window open both summer and winter. the school, said the new scholar, has only about four hundred and ninety fellows in it, which was considered uncommonly small. he likes his tutor so much that he would not exchange him for any ten. he has various rows with mrs. shurey, his dame, and it is really a great shame the way they are fed. he and his brother have far the best room in the dame's house. his captain is very good-natured. fighting is a favourite diversion, hardly a day passing without one, two, three, or even four more or less mortal combats. manners at eton you will be glad to hear, he writes to his highland aunt johanna (november , ), of an instance of the highest and most honourable spirit in a highlander labouring under great disadvantages. his name is macdonald (he once had a brother here remarkably clever, and a capital fighter). he is tough as iron, and about the strongest fellow in the school of his size. being pushed out of his seat in school by a fellow of the name of arthur, he airily asked him to give it him again, which being refused, with the additional insult that he might try what he could do to take it from him, macdonald very properly took him at his word, and began to push him out of his seat. arthur struck at him with all his might, and gave him so violent a blow that macdonald was almost knocked backwards, but disdaining to take a blow from even a fellow much bigger than himself, he returned arthur's blow with interest; they began to fight; after macdonald had made him bleed at both his nose and his mouth, he finished the affair very triumphantly by knocking the arrogant arthur backwards over the form without receiving a single blow of any consequence. he also labours under the additional disadvantage of being a new fellow, and of not knowing any one here. arthur in a former battle put his finger out of joint, and as soon as it is recovered they are to have a regular battle in the playing fields. other encounters are described with equal zest, especially one where 'the honour of liverpool was bravely sustained,' superior weight and size having such an advantage over toughness and strength, that the foe of liverpool was too badly bruised and knocked about to appear in school. on another occasion, 'to the great joy' of the narrator, an oppidan vanquished a colleger, though the colleger fought so furiously that he put his fingers out of joint, and went back to the classic studies that soften manners, with a face broken and quite black. the windsor and slough coaches used to stop under the wall of the playing fields to watch these desperate affrays, and once at least in these times a boy was killed. with plenty of fighting went on plenty of flogging; for the headmaster was the redoubtable dr. keate, with whom the appointed instrument of moral regeneration in the childish soul was the birch rod; who on heroic occasions was known to have flogged over eighty boys on a single summer day; and whose one mellow regret in the evening of his life was that he had not flogged far more. religious instruction, as we may suppose, was under these circumstances reduced to zero; there was no trace of the influence of the evangelical party, at that moment the most active of all the religious sections; and the ancient and pious munificence of henry vi. now inspired a scene that was essentially little better than pagan, modified by an official church of england varnish. at eton, mr. gladstone wrote of this period forty years after, 'the actual teaching of christianity was all but dead, though happily none of its forms had been surrendered.'[ ] science even in its rudiments fared as ill as its eternal rival, theology. there was a mathematical master, but nobody learned anything from him, or took any notice of him. in his anxiety for position the unfortunate man asked keate if he might wear a cap and gown. 'that's as you please,' said keate. 'must the boys touch their hats to me?' 'that's as they please,' replied the genial doctor.[ ] gladstone first picked up a little mathematics, not at eton, but during the holidays, going to liverpool for the purpose, first in and more seriously in . he seems to have paid much attention to french, and even then to have attained considerable proficiency. 'when i was at eton,' mr. gladstone said, 'we knew very little indeed, but we knew it accurately.' 'there were many shades of distinction,' he observed, 'among the fellows who received what was supposed to be, and was in many respects, their education. some of those shades of distinction were extremely questionable, and the comparative measures of honour allotted to talent, industry, and idleness were undoubtedly such as philosophy would not justify. but no boy was ever estimated either more or less because he had much money to spend. it added nothing to him if he had much, it took nothing from him if he had little.' a sharp fellow who worked, and a stupid fellow who was idle, were both of them in good odour enough, but a stupid boy who presumed to work was held to be an insufferable solecism.[ ] knowledge at eton my tutor was the rev. h. h. knapp (practically all tutors were clergymen in those days). he was a reputed whig, an easy and kind-tempered man with a sense of scholarship, but no power of discipline, and no energy of desire to impress himself upon his pupils. i recollect but one piece of advice received later from him. it was that i should form my poetical taste upon darwin, whose poems (the 'botanic garden' and 'loves of the plants') i obediently read through in consequence. i was placed in the middle remove fourth form, a place slightly better than the common run, but inferior to what a boy of good preparation or real excellence would have taken. my nearest friend of the first period was w. w. parr, a boy of intelligence, something over my age, next above me in the school. at this time there was not in me any desire to know or to excel. my first pursuits were football and then cricket; the first i did not long pursue, and in the second i never managed to rise above mediocrity and what was termed 'the twenty-two.' there was a barrister named henry hall joy, a connection of my father through his first wife, and a man who had taken a first-class at oxford. he was very kind to me, and had made some efforts to inspire me with a love of books, if not of knowledge. indeed i had read froissart, and hume with smollett, but only for the battles, and always skipping when i came to the sections headed 'a parliament.' joy had a taste for classics, and made visions for me of honours at oxford. but the subject only danced before my eyes as a will-of-the-wisp, and without attracting me. i remained stagnant without heart or hope. a change however arrived about easter . my 'remove' was then under hawtrey (afterwards head-master and provost), who was always on the lookout for any bud which he could warm with a little sunshine. he always described hawtrey as the life of the school, the man to whom eton owed more than to any of her sons during the century. though not his pupil, it was from him that gladstone, when in the fourth form, received for the first time incentives to exertion. 'it was entirely due to hawtrey,' he records in a fragment, 'that i first owed the reception of a spark, the _divinae particulam aurae_, and conceived a dim idea, that in some time, manner, and degree, i might come to know. even then, as i had really no instructor, my efforts at eton, down to , were perhaps of the purest plodding ever known.' evidently he was not a boy of special mark during the first three years at eaton. in the evening he played chess and cards, and usually lost. he claimed in after life that he had once taken a drive in a hired tandem, but etonians who knew him as a schoolboy decided that an aspiring memory here made him boast of crimes that were not his. he was assiduous in the eton practice of working a small boat, whether skiff, funny, or wherry, single-handed. in the masquerade of montem he figured complacently in all the glories of the costume of a greek patriot, for he was a faithful canningite; the heroic struggle against the turk was at its fiercest, and it was the year when byron died at missolonghi. of montem as an institution he thought extremely ill, 'the whole thing a wretched waste of time and money, a most ingenious contrivance to exhibit us as baboons, a bore in the full sense of the word.' he did not stand aside from the harmless gaieties of boyish life, but he rigidly refused any part in boyish indecorums. he was, in short, just the diligent, cheerful, healthy-minded schoolboy that any good father would have his son to be. he enjoys himself with his brother at the christopher, and is glad to record that 'keate did not make any jaw about being so late.' half a dozen of them met every whole holiday or half, and went up salt hill to bully the fat waiter, eat toasted cheese, and drink egg-wine. school days he started, as we have already seen, in middle fourth form. in the spring of hawtrey said to him: 'continue to do as well as this, and i will send you up for good again before the fourth of june.' before the end of june, he tells his sailor brother of his success: 'it far exceeds the most sanguine expectations i ever entertained. i have got into the remove between the fourth and fifth forms. i have been sent up for good a second time, and have taken seven places.' in the summer of he announces that he has got into the fifth form after taking sixteen places, and here instead of fagging he acquires the blessed power himself to fag. in passing he launches, for the first recorded time, against the master of the remove from which he has just been promoted, an invective that in volume and intensity anticipates the wrath of later attacks on neapolitan kings and turkish sultans. his letters written from eton breathe in every line the warm breath of family affection, and of all those natural pieties that had so firm a root in him from the beginning to the end. of the later store of genius and force that the touch of time was so soon to kindle into full glow, they gave but little indication. we smile at the precocious _copia fandi_ that at thirteen describes the language of an admonishing acquaintance as 'so friendly, manly, sound, and disinterested that notwithstanding his faults i must always think well of him.' he sends contributions to his brother's scrap-book, and one of the first of them, oddly enough, in view of one of the great preoccupations of his later life, is a copy of lord edward fitzgerald's stanzas on the night of his arrest:-- 'o ireland, my country, the hour of thy pride and thy splendour has passed. and the chain which was spurned in thy moment of power, hangs heavy around thee at last.' the temper and dialect of evangelical religion are always there. a friend of the family dies, and the boy pours out his regret, but after all what is the merely natural death of dr. n. compared with the awful state of a certain clergyman, also an intimate friend, who has not only been guilty of attending a fancy ball, but has followed that vicious prelude by even worse enormities, unnamed, that surely cannot escape the vigilance and the reproof of his bishop? his father is the steady centre of his life. 'my father,' he writes to his brother, 'is as active in mind and projects as ever; he has two principal plans now in embryo. one of these is a railroad between liverpool and manchester for the conveyance of goods by locomotive-steam-engine. the other is for building a bridge over the mersey at runcorn.' in may , the gloucester and berkeley canal is opened: 'a great and enterprising undertaking, but still there is no fear of it beating liverpool.' meanwhile, 'what prodigiously quick travelling to leave eton at twelve on monday, and reach home at eight on tuesday!' 'i have,' he says in , 'lately been writing several letters in the _liverpool courier_.' his father had been attacked in the local prints for sundry economic inconsistencies, and the controversial pen that was to know no rest for more than seventy years to come, was now first employed, like the pious �neas bearing off anchises, in the filial duty of repelling his sire's assailants. ignorant of his nameless champion, john gladstone was much amused and interested by the anonymous 'friend to fair dealing,' while the son was equally diverted by the criticisms and conjectures of the parent. youthful reading with the formidable keate the boy seems to have fared remarkably well, and there are stories that he was even one of the tyrant's favourites.[ ] his school work was diligently supplemented. his daily reading in covers a good deal of miscellaneous ground, including molière and racine, blair's _sermons_ ('not very substantial'), _tom jones_, tomline's _life of pitt_, waterland's _commentaries_, leslie _on deism_, locke's _defence of the reasonableness of christianity_, which he finds excellent; _paradise lost_, milton's _latin poems_ and _epitaphium damonis_ ('exquisite'), massinger's _fatal dowry_ ('most excellent'), ben jonson's _alchemist_; scott, including the _bride of lammermoor_ ('a beautiful tale, indeed,' and in after life his favourite of them all), burke, clarendon, and others of the shining host whose very names are music to a scholar's ear. in the same year he reads 'a most violent article on milton by macaulay, fair and unfair, clever and silly, allegorical and bombastic, republican and anti-episcopal--a strange composition, indeed.' in he went steadily through the second half of gibbon, whom he pronounces, 'elegant and acute as he is, not so clear, so able, so attractive as hume; does not impress my mind so much.' in the same year he reads coxe's _walpole_, _don quixote_, hallam's _constitutional history_, _measure for measure_ and _much ado_, massinger's _grand duke of florence_, ford's _love's melancholy_ ('much of it good, the end remarkably beautiful') and _broken heart_ (which he liked better than either the other or _'tis pity_), locke _on toleration_ ('much repetition'). there is, of course, a steady refrain of greek iambics, greek anapæsts, 'an easy and nice metre,' 'a hodge-podge lot of hendecasyllables,' and thirty alcaic stanzas for a holiday task. mention is made of many sermons on 'redeeming the time,' 'weighed in the balance and found wanting,' 'cease to do evil, learn to do well,' and the other ever unexhausted texts. one constant entry, we may be sure, is 'read bible,' with mant's notes. in a mood of deep piety he is prepared for confirmation. his appearance at this time was recalled by one who had been his fag, 'as a good-looking, rather delicate youth, with a pale face and brown curling hair, always tidy and well dressed.'[ ] he became captain of the fifth at the end of october , and on february , , keate put him into the sixth. 'was very civil, indeed; told me to take pains, etc.: to be careful in using my authority, etc.' he finds the sixth very preferable to all other parts of the school, both as regards pleasure and opportunity for improvement. they are more directly under the eye of keate; he treats them with more civility and speaks to them differently. so the days follow one another very much alike--studious, cheerful, sociable, sedulous. the debates in parliament take up a good deal of his time, and he is overwhelmed by the horrible news of the defeat of the catholics in the house of commons (march , ). on a summer's day in , 'mr. canning here; inquired after me and missed me.' he was not at eton but at home when he heard of mr. canning's death. 'personally i must remember his kindness and condescension, especially when he spoke to me of some verses which h. joy had injudiciously mentioned to him.' ii debating society youthful intellect is imitative, and in a great school so impregnated as eton with the spirit of public life and political association, the few boys with active minds mimicked the strife of parliament in their debating society, and copied the arts of journalism in the _eton miscellany_. in both fields the young gladstone took a leading part. the debating society was afflicted with 'the premonitory lethargy of death,' but the assiduous energy of gaskell, seconded by the gifts of gladstone, hallam, and doyle, soon sent a new pulse beating through it. the politics of the hour, that is to say everything not fifty years off, were forbidden ground; but the execution of strafford or of his royal master, the deposition of richard ii., the last four years of the reign of queen anne, the peerage bill of , the characters of harley and bolingbroke, were themes that could be made by ingenious youth to admit a hundred cunning sidelights upon the catholic question, the struggle of the greeks for independence, the hard case of queen caroline, and the unlawfulness of swamping the tories in the house of lords. on duller afternoons they argued on the relative claims of mathematics and metaphysics to be the better discipline of the human mind; whether duelling is or is not inconsistent with the character that we ought to seek; or whether the education of the poor is on the whole beneficial. it was on this last question (october , ) that the orator who made his last speech seventy years later, now made his first. 'made my first or maiden speech at the society,' he enters in his diary, 'on education of the poor; funked less than i thought i should, by much.' it is a curious but a characteristic circumstance not that so many of his eton speeches were written out, but that the manuscript should have been thriftily preserved by him all through the long space of intervening years. 'mr. president,' it begins, 'in this land of liberty, in this age of increased and gradually increasing civilization, we shall hope to find few, if indeed any, among the higher classes who are eager or willing to obstruct the moral instruction and mental improvement of their fellow creatures in the humbler walks of life. if such there are, let them at length remember that the poor are endowed with the same reason, though not blessed with the same temporal advantages. let them but admit, what i think no one can deny, that they are placed in an elevated situation principally for the purpose of doing good to their fellow creatures. then by what argument can they repel, by what pretence can they evade the duty?' and so forth and so forth. already we seem to hear the born speaker in the amplitude of rhetorical form in which, juvenile though it may be, a commonplace is cast. 'is human grandeur so stable that they may deny to others that which they would in an humble situation desire themselves? or has human pride reached such a pitch of arrogance that they have learned to defy both right and reason, to reject the laws of natural kindness that ought to reign in the breast of all, and to look on their fellow countrymen as the refuse of mankind?... is it morally just or politically expedient to keep down the industry and genius of the artisan, to blast his rising hopes, to quell his spirit? a thirst for knowledge has arisen in the minds of the poor; let them satisfy it with wholesome nutriment and beware lest driven to despair,' et cetera. crude enough, if we please; but the year was , and we may feel that the boyish speaker is already on the generous side and has the gift of fruitful sympathies. in the spacious tournaments of old history, we may smile to hear debating forms and ceremony applied to everlasting controversies. 'sir,' he opens on one occasion, 'i declare that as far as regards myself, i shall have very little difficulty in stating my grounds on which i give my vote for james graham [the marquis of montrose]. it is because i look upon him as a hero, not merely endowed with that animal ferocity which has often been the sole qualification which has obtained men that appellation from the multitude--i should be sorry indeed if he had no testimonials of his merits, save such as arise from the mad and thoughtless exclamations of popular applause.' in the same gallant style (jan. , ) he votes for marcus aurelius, in answer to the question whether trajan has any equal among the roman emperors from augustus onwards. another time the question was between john hampden and clarendon. 'sir, i look back with pleasure to the time when we unanimously declared our disapprobation of the impeachment of the earl of strafford. i wish i could hope for the same unanimity now, but i will endeavour to regulate myself by the same principles as directed me then.... now, sir, with regard to the impeachment of the five members, it is really a little extraordinary to hear the honourable opener talking of the violence offered by the king, and the terror of the parliament. sir, do we not all know that the king at that time had neither friends nor wealth?... did the return of these members with a triumphant mob accompanying them indicate terror? did the demands of the parliament or the insolence of their language show it?' so he proceeds through all the well-worn arguments; and 'therefore it is,' he concludes, 'that i give my vote to the earl of clarendon, because he gave his support to the falling cause of monarchy; because he stood by his church and his king; because he adopted the part which loyalty, reason, and moderation combined to dictate.... poverty, banishment, and disgrace he endured without a murmur; he still adhered to the cause of justice, he still denounced the advocates of rebellion, and if he failed in his reward in life, oh, sir, let us not deny it to him after death. in him, sir, i admire the sound philosopher, the rigid moralist, the upright statesman, the candid historian.... in hampden i see the splendour of patriotic bravery obscured by the darkness of rebellion, and the faculties by which he might have been a real hero and real martyr, prostituted in the cause,' and so on, with all the promise of the _os magna soniturum_, of which time was to prove the resources so inexhaustible. on one great man he passed a final judgment that years did not change:--'debate on sir r. walpole: hallam, gaskell, pickering, and doyle spoke. voted for him. last time, when i was almost entirely ignorant of the subject, against him. there were sundry considerable blots, but nothing to overbalance or to spoil the great merit of being the bulwark of the protestant succession, his commercial measures, and in general his pacific policy.'[ ] eton miscellany as for the _eton miscellany_, which was meant to follow earlier attempts in the same line, the best-natured critic cannot honestly count it dazzling. such things rarely are; for youth, though the most adorable of our human stages, cannot yet have knowledge or practice enough, whether in life or books, to make either good prose or stirring verse, unless by a miracle of genius, and even that inspiration is but occasional. the _microcosm_ ( - ) and the _etonian_ ( ), with such hands as canning and frere, moultrie and praed, were well enough. the newcomer was a long way behind these in the freshness, brilliance, daring, by which only such juvenile performances can either please or interest. george selwyn and gladstone were joint editors, and each provided pretty copious effusions. 'i cannot keep my temper,' he wrote afterwards in his diary in , on turning over the _miscellany_, 'in perusing my own (with few exceptions) execrable productions.' certainly his contributions have no particular promise or savour, no hint of the strong pinions into which the half-fledged wings were in time to expand. their motion, such as it is, must be pronounced mechanical; their phrase and cadence conventional. even when sincere feelings were deeply stirred, the flight cannot be called high. the most moving public event in his schooldays was undoubtedly the death of canning, and to gladstone the stroke was almost personal. in september he tells his mother that he has for the first time visited westminster abbey,--his object, an eager pilgrimage to the newly tenanted grave of his hero, and in the _miscellany_ he pays a double tribute. in the prose we hear sonorous things about meridian splendour, premature extinction, and inscrutable wisdom; about falling, like his great master pitt, a victim to his proud and exalted station; about being firm in principle and conciliatory in action, the friend of improvement and the enemy of innovation. nor are the versified reflections in westminster abbey much more striking:-- oft in the sculptured aisle and swelling dome, the yawning grave hath given the proud a home; yet never welcomed from his bright career a mightier victim than it welcomed here: again the tomb may yawn--again may death claim the last forfeit of departing breath; yet ne'er enshrine in slumber dark and deep a nobler, loftier prey than where thine ashes sleep. excellent in feeling, to be sure; but as a trial of poetic delicacy or power, wanting the true note, and only worth recalling for an instant as we go. iii friends as nearly always happens, it was less by school work or spoken addresses in juvenile debate, or early attempts in the great and difficult art of written composition, than by blithe and congenial comradeship that the mind of the young gladstone was stimulated, opened, strengthened. in after days he commemorated among his friends george selwyn, afterwards bishop of new zealand and of lichfield, 'a man whose character is summed up, from alpha to omega, in the single word, noble, and whose high office, in a large measure, it was to reintroduce among the anglican clergy the pure heroic type.' another was francis doyle, 'whose genial character supplied a most pleasant introduction for his unquestionable poetic genius.' a third was james milnes gaskell, a youth endowed with precocious ripeness of political faculty, an enthusiast, and with a vivacious humour that enthusiasts often miss. doyle said of him that his nurse must have lulled him to sleep by parliamentary reports, and his first cries on awaking in his cradle must have been 'hear, hear'! proximity of rooms 'gave occasion or aid to the formation of another very valuable friendship, that with gerald wellesley, afterwards dean of windsor, which lasted, to my great profit, for some sixty years, until that light was put out.' in gaskell's room four or five of them would meet, and discuss without restraint the questions of politics that were too modern to be tolerated in public debate. most of them were friendly to catholic emancipation, and to the steps by which huskisson, supported by canning, was cautiously treading in the path towards free trade. the brightest star in this cheerful constellation was the rare youth who, though his shining course was run in two-and-twenty years, yet in that scanty span was able to impress with his vigorous understanding and graceful imagination more than one of the loftiest minds of his time.[ ] arthur hallam was a couple of years younger than gladstone, no narrow gulf at that age; but such was the sympathy of genius, such the affinities of intellectual interest and aspiration spoken and unspoken, such the charm and the power of the younger with the elder, that rapid instinct made them close comrades. they clubbed together their rolls and butter, and breakfasted in one another's rooms. hallam was not strong enough for boating, so the more sinewy gladstone used to scull him up to the shallows, and he regarded this toilsome carrying of an idle passenger up stream as proof positive of no common value set upon his passenger's company. they took walks together, often to the monument of gray, close by the churchyard of the elegy; arguing about the articles and the creeds; about wordsworth, byron, shelley; about free will, for hallam was precociously full of jonathan edwards; about politics, old and new, living and dead; about pitt and fox, and canning and peel, for gladstone was a tory and hallam pure whig. hallam was described by mr. gladstone in his old age as one who 'enjoyed work, enjoyed society; and games which he did not enjoy he left contentedly aside. his temper was as sweet as his manners were winning. his conduct was without a spot or even a speck. he was that rare and blessed creature, _anima naturaliter christiana_. he read largely, and though not superficial, yet with an extraordinary speed. he had no high or exclusive ways.' thus, as so many have known in that happy dawn of life, before any of the imps of disorder and confusion have found their way into the garden, it was the most careless hours,--careless of all save truth and beauty,--that were the hours best filled. arthur hallam youth will commonly do anything rather than write letters, but the friendship of this pair stood even that test. the pages are redolent of a living taste for good books and serious thoughts, and amply redeemed from strain or affectation by touches of gay irony and the collegian's banter. hallam applies to gladstone diomede's lines about odysseus, of eager heart and spirit so manful in all manner of toils, as the only comrade whom a man would choose.[ ] but the greek hero was no doubt a complex character, and the parallel is taken by gladstone as an equivocal compliment. so hallam begs him at any rate to accept the other description, how when he uttered his mighty voice from his chest, and words fell like flakes of snow in winter, then could no mortal man contend with odysseus.[ ] as happy a forecast for the great orator of their generation, as when in he told gladstone that tennyson promised fair to be its greatest poet. hallam's share in the correspondence reminds us of the friendship of two other etonians ninety years before, of the letters and verses that gray wrote to richard west; there is the same literary sensibility, the same kindness, but there is what gray and west felt not, the breath of a busy and changing age. each of these two had the advantage of coming from a home where politics were not mere gossip about persons and paragraphs, but were matters of trained and continued interest. the son of one of the most eminent of the brilliant band of the whig writers of that day, hallam passes glowing eulogies on the patriotism and wisdom of the whigs in coalescing with canning against the bigotry of the king and the blunders of wellington and peel; he contrasts this famous crisis with a similar crisis in the early part of the reign of george iii.; and observes how much higher all parties stood in the balance of disinterestedness and public virtue. he goes to the opera and finds zucchelli admirable, coradori divine. he wonders ( ) about sir walter's forthcoming life of napoleon, how with his ultra principles scott will manage to make a hero of the corsican. he asks if gladstone has read 'the new _vivian grey_' ( )--the second part of that amazing fiction into which an author, not much older than themselves and destined to strange historic relations with one of them, had the year before burst upon the world. hallam is not without the graceful melancholy of youth, so different from that other melancholy of ripe years and the deepening twilight. under all is the recurrent note of a grave refrain that fatal issues made pathetic. 'never since the time when i first knew you,' hallam wrote to gladstone (june , ), 'have i ceased to love and respect your character ... it will be my proudest thought that i may henceforth act worthily of their affection who, like yourself, have influenced my mind for good in the earliest season of its development. circumstance, my dear gladstone, has indeed separated our paths, but it can never do away with what has been. the stamp of each of our minds is on the other. many a habit of thought in each is modified, many a feeling is associated, which never would have existed in that combination, had it not been for the old familiar days when we lived together.' in the summer of hallam quitted eton for the journey to italy that set so important a mark on his literary growth, and he bade his friend farewell in words of characteristic affection. 'perhaps you will pardon my doing by writing what i hardly dare trust myself to do by words. i received your superb burke yesterday; and hope to find it a memorial of past and a pledge for future friendship through both our lives. it is perhaps rather bold in me to ask a favour immediately on acknowledging so great a one; but you would please me, and oblige me greatly, if you will accept this copy of my father's book. it may serve when i am separated from you, to remind you of one, whose warmest pleasure it will always be to subscribe himself, your most faithful friend, a. h. h.' a few entries from the schoolboy's diary may serve to bring the daily scene before us, and show what his life was like:-- _october , ._--holiday. walk with hallam. wrote over theme. read clarendon. wrote speech for saturday week. poor enough. did punishment set by keate to all the fifth form for being late in church. _october ._--fin. second olympiad of pindar.... clarendon. did an abstract of about pages. wrote speech for to-morrow in favour of cæsar. _november ._--play. breakfast with hallam. read a little clarendon. read over tenth satire of juvenal and read the fifth, making quotations to it and some other places. did a few verses. _november ._--holiday. wrote over theme. did verses. walked with hallam and doyle. read papers and debates.... read lines of _trachiniae_. a little _gil blas_ in french, and a little clarendon. _november ._--play. read papers, etc. finished blair's _dissertation on ossian_. finished _trachiniae_. did props. of euclid. question: was deposition of richard ii. justifiable? voted no. good debate. finished the delightful oration _pro milone_. _november ._--holiday.... part of article in _edinburgh review_ on _icon basilike_. read herodotus, clarendon. did props. scrambling and leaping expedition with hallam, doyle, and gaskell. _november ._--holiday. read herodotus. breakfasted with gaskell. he and hallam drank wine with me after . walked with hallam. did verses. finished first book of euclid. read a little _charles xii_. _february _, .--holiday. dressed (knee-breeches, etc.) and went into school with selwyn. found myself not at all in a funk, and went through my performance with tolerable comfort. durnford followed me, then selwyn, who spoke well. horrors of speaking chiefly in the name. _march ._--my father has lost his seat, and berwick a representative ten times too good for it. wrote to my father, no longer m.p.; when we have forgotten the manner, the matter is not so bad. _march ._--half-holiday. play and learning it. walked with hallam, read papers. hallam drank wine with me after dinner. finished th vol. of gibbon; read account of palmyra in second volume; did more verses on it. much jaw about nothing at society, and absurd violence. _may ._--finished iambics. wrote over for tutor. played cricket in the upper club, and had tea in poet's walk [an entry repeated this summer]. _june ._--wrote over theme. read _iphigenie_. called up in homer. sculled hallam to surly after . went to see a cricket match after . farewell to eton gladstone's farewell to eton came with christmas ( ). he writes to his sister his last etonian letter (december ) before departure, and 'melancholy that departure is.' on the day before, he had made his valedictory speech to the society, and the empty shelves and dismantled walls, the table strewn with papers, the books packed away in their boxes, have the effect of 'mingling in one lengthened mass all the boyish hopes and solicitudes and pleasures' of his eton life. 'i have long ago made up my mind that i have of late been enjoying what will in all probability be, as far as my own individual case is concerned, the happiest years of my life. and they have fled! from these few facts do we not draw a train of reflections awfully important in their nature and extremely powerful in their impression on the mind?' dr. keate two reminiscences of eton always gave him, and those who listened to him, much diversion whenever chance brought them to his mind, and he has set them down in an autobiographic fragment, for which this is the place:-- to dr. keate nature had accorded a stature of only about five feet, or say five feet one; but by costume, voice, manner (including a little swagger), and character he made himself in every way the capital figure on the eton stage, and his departure marked, i imagine, the departure of the old race of english public school masters, as the name of dr. busby seems to mark its introduction. in connection with his name i shall give two anecdotes separated by a considerable interval of years. about the year , the eloquence of dr. edward irving drew crowds to his church in london, which was presbyterian. it required careful previous arrangements to secure comfortable accommodation. the preacher was solemn, majestic (notwithstanding the squint), and impressive; carrying all the appearance of devoted earnestness. my father had on a certain occasion, when i was still a small eton boy, taken time by the forelock, and secured the use of a convenient pew in the first rank of the gallery. from this elevated situation we surveyed at ease and leisure the struggling crowds below. the crush was everywhere great, but greatest of all in the centre aisle. here the mass of human beings, mercilessly compressed, swayed continually backwards and forwards. there was i, looking down with infinite complacency and satisfaction from this honourable vantage ground upon the floor of the church, filled and packed as one of our public meetings is, with people standing and pushing. what was my emotion, my joy, my exultation, when i espied among this humiliated mass, struggling and buffeted--whom but keate! keate the master of our existence, the tyrant of our days! pure, unalloyed, unadulterated rapture! such a [greek: peripeteia], such a reversal of human conditions of being, as that now exhibited between the eton lower boy uplifted to the luxurious gallery pew, and the head-master of eton, whom i was accustomed to see in the roomy deck of the upper school with vacant space and terror all around him, it must be hard for any one to conceive, except the two who were the subjects of it. never, never, have i forgotten that moment.[ ] i will now, after the manner of novelists, ask my reader to effect along with me, a transition of some eighteen years, and to witness another, and if not a more complete yet a worthier, turning of the tables. in the year there was a very special eton dinner held in willis's rooms to commemorate the fourth centenary of the ancient school. lord morpeth, afterwards lord carlisle, was in the chair. on his right, not far off him, was dr. keate, to whom i chanced to have a seat almost immediately opposite. in those days, at public dinners, cheering was marked by gradations. as the queen was suspected of sympathy with the liberal government of lord melbourne which advised her, the toast of the sovereign was naturally received with a moderate amount of acclamation, decently and thriftily doled out. on the other hand the queen dowager either was, or was believed to be, conservative; and her health consequently figured as the toast of the evening, and drew forth, as a matter of course, by far its loudest acclamation. so much was routine; and we went through it as usual. but the real toast of the evening was yet to come. i suppose it to be beyond doubt that of the assembled company the vastly preponderating majority had been under his sway at eton; and if, when in that condition, any one of them had been asked how he liked dr. keate, he would beyond question have answered, 'keate? oh, i hate him.' it is equally beyond doubt that to the persons of the whole of them, with the rarest exceptions, it had been the ease of dr. keate to administer the salutary correction of the birch. but upon this occasion, when his name had been announced the scene was indescribable. queen and queen dowager alike vanished into insignificance. the roar of cheering had a beginning, but never knew satiety or end. like the huge waves at biarritz, the floods of cheering continually recommenced; the whole process was such that we seemed all to have lost our self-possession and to be hardly able to keep our seats. when at length it became possible keate rose: that is to say, his head was projected slightly over the heads of his two neighbours. he struggled to speak; i will not say i heard every syllable, for there were no syllables; speak he could not. he tried in vain to mumble a word or two, but wholly failed, recommenced the vain struggle and sat down. it was certainly one of the most moving spectacles that in my whole life i have witnessed. iv at wilmslow some months passed between leaving eton and going to oxford. in january , gladstone went to reside with dr. turner at wilmslow in cheshire, and remained there until turner was made bishop of calcutta. the bishop's pupil afterwards testified to his amiability, refinement, and devoutness; but the days of his energy were past, and 'the religious condition of the parish was depressing.' among the neighbouring families, with whom he made acquaintance while at wilmslow, were the gregs of quarry bank, a refined and philanthropic household, including among the sons william r. greg (born in the same year as mr. gladstone), that ingenious, urbane, interesting, and independent mind, whose speculations, dissolvent and other, were afterwards to take an effective place in the writings of the time. 'i fear he is a unitarian,' the young churchman mentions to his father, and gives sundry reasons for that sombre apprehension; it was, indeed, only too well founded. while at wilmslow (feb. , ) gladstone was taken to dine with the rector of alderley--'an extremely gentlemanly and said to be a very clever man,'--afterwards to be known as the liberal and enlightened edward stanley, bishop of norwich, and father of arthur stanley, the famous dean. him, on this occasion, the young gladstone seems to have seen for the first time. arthur stanley was six years his junior, and there was then some idea of sending him to eton. as it happened, he too was a pupil at rawson's at seaforth, and in the summer after the meeting at alderley the two lads met again. the younger of them has described how he was invited to breakfast with william gladstone at seaforth house; in what grand style they breakfasted, how he devoured strawberries, swam the newfoundland dog in the pond, looked at books and pictures, and talked to w. gladstone 'almost all the time about all sorts of things. he is so very good-natured, and i like him very much. he talked a great deal about eton, and said that it was a very good place for those who liked boating and latin verses. he was very good-natured to us all the time, and lent me books to read when we went away.'[ ] a few months later, as all the world knows, stanley, happily for himself and for all of us, went not to eton but to rugby, where arnold had just entered on his bold and noble task of changing the face of education in england. footnotes: [ ] _gleanings_, vii. p. . [ ] a story sometimes told of provost goodall. [ ] at marlborough, feb. , ; at mill hill school, june , . [ ] doyle tells a story of the boy being flogged for bringing wine into his study. when questioned on this, mr. gladstone said, 'i _was_ flogged, but not for anything connected in any way with wine, of which, by the by, my father supplied me with a small amount, and insisted upon my drinking it, or some of it, all the time that i was at eton. the reason why i was flogged was this. i was præpostor of the remove on a certain day, and from kindness or good nature was induced to omit from the list of boys against whom h. [the master] had complained, and who ought to have been flogged next day, the names of three offenders. the three boys in question got round me with a story that their friends were coming down from london to see them, and that if they were put down on the flogging list they could not meet their friends. next day when i went into school h. roared out in a voice of thunder, "gladstone, put down your own name on the list of boys to be flogged."' mr. gladstone on this occasion told another tale of this worthy's 'humour.' 'one day h. called out to the præpostor, "write down hamilton's name to be flogged for breaking my window." "i never broke your window, sir," exclaimed hamilton. "præpostor," retorted h., "write down hamilton's name for breaking my window and lying." "upon my soul, sir, i did not do it," ejaculated the boy, with increased emphasis. "præpostor, write down hamilton's name for breaking my window, lying, and swearing." against this final sentence there was no appeal, and, accordingly, hamilton was flogged (i believe unjustly) next day.'--f. lawley in _daily telegraph_, may , . [ ] _temple bar_, feb. . [ ] feb. , . [ ] mr. gladstone fixed on two of the elegies of _in memoriam_ as most directly conveying the image of arthur hallam, cviii. and cxxviii. [ ] _iliad_, iii. . [ ] _ibid._ x. . [ ] i have heard him tell this story, and garrick himself could not have reproduced a schoolboy's glee with more admirable accent and gesture. [ ] prothero's _life of dean stanley_, . p. . chapter iii oxford (_october -december _) steeped in sentiment as she lies, spreading her gardens to the moonlight, and whispering from her towers the last enchantments of the middle age, who will deny that oxford, by her ineffable charm, keeps ever calling us nearer to the true goal of all of us, to the ideal, to perfection--to beauty, in a word, which is only truth seen from another side?--m. arnold. glorious to most are the days of life in a great school, but it is at college that aspiring talent first enters on its inheritance. oxford was slowly awakening from a long age of lethargy. toryism of a stolid clownish type still held the thrones of collegiate power. yet the eye of an imaginative scholar as he gazed upon the grey walls, reared by piety, munificence, and love of learning in a far-off time, might well discern behind an unattractive screen of academic sloth, the venerable past, not dim and cold, but in its traditions rich, nourishing, and alive. such an one could see before him present days of honourable emulation and stirring acquisition--fit prelude of a man's part to play in a strenuous future. it is from gladstone's introduction into this enchanted and inspiring world, that we recognise the beginning of the wonderful course that was to show how great a thing the life of a man may be made. christ church the eton boy became the christ church man, and there began residence, october , . mr. gladstone's rooms, during most of his undergraduate life, were on the right hand, and on the first floor of the staircase on the right, as one enters by the canterbury gate. he tells his mother that they are in a very fashionable part of the college, and mentions as a delightful fact, that gaskell and seymer have rooms on the same floor. samuel smith was head until , when he was succeeded by the more celebrated dr. gaisford, always described by mr. gladstone as a splendid scholar, but a bad dean. gaisford's excellent services to the greek learning of his day are unquestioned, and he had the signal merit of speech, spartan brevity. for a short time in he had been tutor to peel. when lord liverpool offered him the greek professorship, with profuse compliments on his erudition, the learned man replied, 'my lord, i have received your letter, and accede to the contents.--yours, t. g.' and to the complaining parent of an undergraduate he wrote, 'dear sir,--such letters as yours are a great annoyance to your obedient servant t. gaisford.'[ ] this laconic gift the dean evidently had not time to transmit to all of his flock. christ church in those days was infested with some rowdyism, and in one bear-fight an undergraduate was actually killed. in the chapel the new undergraduate found little satisfaction, for the service was scarcely performed with common decency. there seems, however, to have been no irreconcilable prejudice against reading, and in the schools the college was at the top of its academic fame. the influence of cyril jackson, the dean in peel's time, whose advice to peel and, other pupils to work like a tiger, and not to be afraid of killing one's self by work, was still operative.[ ] at the summer examination of , christ church won five first classes out of ten. most commoners, according to a letter of gaskell's, had from three hundred and fifty to five hundred pounds a year; but gentlemen commoners like acland and gaskell had from five to six hundred. at the end of , mr. gladstone received a studentship _honoris causa_, by nomination of the dean--a system that would not be approved in our epoch of competitive examination, but still an advance upon the time-honoured practice of deans and canons disposing of studentships on grounds of private partiality without reference to desert. we may assume that the dean was not indifferent to academic promise when he told gladstone, very good-naturedly and civilly, that he had determined to offer him his nomination. the student designate wrote a theme, read it out before the chapter, passed a nominal, or even farcical, examination in homer and virgil, was elected as matter of course by the chapter, and after chapel on the morning of christmas eve, having taken several oaths, was formally admitted in the name of the holy trinity. mr. biscoe, his classical tutor, was a successful lecturer on aristotle, especially on the rhetoric. with charles wordsworth, son of the master of trinity at cambridge, and afterwards bishop of saint andrews, he read for scholarship, apparently not wholly to his own satisfaction. while still an undergraduate, he writes to his father (nov. , ), 'i am wretchedly deficient in the knowledge of modern languages, literature, and history; and the classical knowledge acquired here, though sound, accurate, and useful, yet is not such as to _complete_ an education.' it looked, in truth, as if the caustic saying of a brilliant colleague of his in later years were not at the time unjust, as now it would happily be, that it was a battle between eton and education, and eton had won. mr. gladstone never to the end of his days ceased to be grateful that oxford was chosen for his university. at cambridge, as he said in discussing hallam's choice, the pure refinements of scholarship were more in fashion than the study of the great masterpieces of antiquity in their substance and spirit. the classical examination at oxford, on the other hand, was divided into the three elastic departments of scholarship and poetry, history, and philosophy. in this list, history somewhat outweighed the scholarship, and philosophy was somewhat more regarded than history. in each case the examination turned more on contents than on form, and the influence of butler was at its climax. character of oxford teaching if mr. gladstone had gone to oxford ten years earlier, he would have found the ethics and the rhetoric treated, only much less effectively, in the cambridge method, like dramatists and orators, as pieces of literature. as it was, whately's common sense had set a new fashion, and aristotle was studied as the master of those who know how to teach us the right way about the real world.[ ] aristotle, butler, and logic were the new acquisitions, but in none of the three as yet did the teaching go deep compared with modern standards. oxford scholars of our own day question whether there was even one single tutor in , with the possible exception of hampden, who could expound aristotle as a whole--so utterly had the oxford tradition perished.[ ] the time was in truth the eve of an epoch of illumination, and in these epochs it is not old academic systems that the new light is wont to strike with its first rays. the summer of is the date of sir william hamilton's memorable exposure,[ ] in his most trenchant and terrifying style and with a learning all his own, of the corruption and 'vampire oppression of oxford'; its sacrifice of the public interests to private advantage; its unhallowed disregard of every moral and religious bond; the systematic perjury so naturalised in a great seminary of religious education; the apathy with which the injustice was tolerated by the state and the impiety tolerated by the church. copleston made a wretched reply, but more than twenty years passed before the spirit of reform overthrew the entrenchments of academic abuse. in that overthrow, when the time came, mr. gladstone was called to play a part, though hardly at first a very zealous one. this was not for a quarter of a century; for, as we shall soon see, both the revival of learning and the reform of institutions at oxford were sharply turned aside from their expected course by the startling theological movement that now proceeded from her venerable walls. what interests us here is not the system but the man; and never was vital temperament more admirably fitted by its vigour, sincerity, conscience, compass, for whatever good seed from the hand of any sower might be cast upon it. in an entry in his diary in the usual strain of evangelical devotion (april , ) is a sentence that reveals what was in mr. gladstone the nourishing principle of growth: 'in practice the great end is that the love of god may become the _habit_ of my soul, and particularly these things are to be sought;-- . the spirit of love. . of self-sacrifice. . of purity. . of energy.' just as truly as if we were recalling some hero of the seventeenth or any earlier century, is this the biographic clue. gladstone constantly reproaches himself for natural indolence, and for a year and a half he took his college course pretty easily. then he changed. 'the time for half-measures and trifling and pottering, in which i have so long indulged myself, is now gone by, and i must do or die.' his really hard work did not begin until the summer of , when he returned to cuddesdon to read mathematics with saunders, a man who had the reputation of being singularly able and stimulating to his pupils, and with whom he had done some rudiments before going into residence at christ church. in his description of this gentleman to his father, we may hear for the first time the redundant roll that was for many long years to be so familiar and so famous. saunders' disposition, it appears, 'is one certainly of extreme benevolence, and of a benevolence which is by no means less strong and full when purely gratuitous and spontaneous, than when he seems to be under the tie of some definite and positive obligation.' dr. gaisford would perhaps have put it that the tutor was no kinder where his kindness was paid for, than where it was not. catholic emancipation the catholic question, that was helping many another and older thing to divide england from ireland, after having for a whole generation played havoc with the fortunes of party and the careers of statesmen, was now drawing swiftly to its close. the christ church student had a glimpse of one of the opening scenes of the last act. he writes to his brother (feb. th, ):-- i saw yesterday a most interesting scene in the convocation house. the occasion was the debate on the anti-catholic petition, which it has long been the practice of the university to send up year by year. this time it was worded in the most gentle and moderate terms possible. all the ordinary business there, is transacted in latin; i mean such things as putting the question, speaking, etc., and this rule, i assure you, stops many a mouth, and i dare say saves the roman catholics many a hard word. there were rather above two hundred doctors and masters of arts present. three speeches were made, two against and one in favour of sending up the petition. instead of aye and no they had _placet_ and _non-placet_, and in place of a member dividing the house, the question was, "_petitne aliquis scrutinium?_" which was answered by "_peto!_" "_peto!_" from many quarters. however, when the scrutiny took place, it was found that the petition was carried by to .... after the division, however, came the most interesting part of the whole. a letter from peel, resigning the seat for the university, was read before the assembly. it was addressed to the vice-chancellor and had arrived just before, it was understood; and i suppose brought hither the first positive and indubitable announcement of the government's intention to emancipate the catholics. a few days later, peel accepted the chiltern hundreds, and after some deliberation allowed himself to be again brought forward for re-election. he was beaten by votes to . the relics of the contest, the figures and the inscriptions on the walls, soon disappeared, but panic did not abate. on gladstone's way to oxford (april , ), a farmer's wife got into the coach, and in communicative vein informed him how frightened they had all been about catholic emancipation, but she did not see that so much had come of it as yet. the college scout declared himself much troubled for the king's conscience, observing that if we make an oath at baptism, we ought to hold by it. 'the bed-makers,' gladstone writes home, 'seem to continue in a great fright, and mine was asking me this morning whether it would not be a very good thing if we were to give them [the irish] a king and a parliament of their own, and so to have no more to do with them. the old egg-woman is no whit easier, and wonders how mr. peel, who was always such a well-behaved man here, can be so foolish as to think of letting in the roman catholics.' the unthinking and the ignorant of all classes were much alike. arthur hallam went to see _king john_ in , and he tells his friend how the lines about the italian priest (act iii. sc. ) provoked rounds of clapping, while a gentleman in the next box cried out at the top of his voice, 'bravo! bravo! no pope!' the same correspondent told gladstone of the father of a common eton friend, who had challenged him with the overwhelming question, 'could i say that any papist had ever at any time done any good to the world?' a still stormier conflict than even the emancipation of the catholics was now to shake oxford and the country to the depths, before mr. gladstone took his degree. ii oxford friendships his friendships at oxford mr. gladstone did not consider to have been as a rule very intimate. principal among them were frederick rogers, long afterwards lord blachford; doyle; gaskell; bruce, afterwards lord elgin; charles canning, afterwards lord canning; the two denisons; lord lincoln. these had all been his friends at eton. among new acquisitions to the circle of his intimates at one time or another of his oxford life, were the two aclands, thomas and arthur; hamilton, afterwards bishop of salisbury; phillimore, destined to close and life-long friendship; f. d. maurice, then of exeter college, a name destined to stir so many minds in the coming generation. of maurice, arthur hallam had written to gladstone (june ) exhorting him to cultivate his acquaintance. 'i know many,' says hallam, 'whom maurice has moulded like a second nature, and these too, men eminent for intellectual power, to whom the presence of a commanding spirit would in all other cases be a signal rather for rivalry than reverential acknowledgment.' 'i knew maurice well,' says mr. gladstone in one of his notes of reminiscence, 'had heard superlative accounts of him from cambridge, and really strove hard to make them all realities to myself. one sunday morning we walked to marsh baldon to hear mr. porter, the incumbent, a calvinist independent of the _clique_, and a man of remarkable power as we both thought. i think he and other friends did me good, but i got little solid meat from him, as i found him difficult to catch and still more difficult to hold.' sidney herbert, afterwards so dear to him, now at oriel, here first became an acquaintance. manning, though they both read with the same tutor, and one succeeded the other as president of the union, he did not at this time know well. the lists of his guests at wines and breakfasts do not even contain the name of james hope; indeed, mr. gladstone tells us that he certainly was not more than an acquaintance. in the account of intimates is the unexpected name of tupper, who, in days to come, acquired for a time a grander reputation than he deserved by his _proverbial philosophy_, and on whom the public by and by avenged its own foolishness by severer doses of mockery than he had earned.[ ] the friend who seems most to have affected him in the deepest things was anstice, whom he describes to his father (june , ) as 'a very clever man, and more than a clever man, a man of excellent principle and of perfect self-command, and of great industry. if any circumstances could confer upon me the inestimable blessing of fixed habits and unremitting industry, these [the example of such a man] will be they.' the diary tells how, in august ( ), mr. gladstone conversed with anstice in a walk from oxford to cuddesdon on subjects of the highest importance. 'thoughts then first sprang up in my soul (obvious as they may appear to many) which may powerfully influence my destiny. o for a light from on high! i have no power, none, to discern the right path for myself.' they afterwards had long talks together, 'about that awful subject which has lately almost engrossed my mind.' another day--'conversation of an hour and a half with anstice on practical religion, particularly as regards our own situation. i bless and praise god for his presence here.' 'long talk with anstice; would i were more worthy to be his companion.' 'conversation with anstice; he talked much with saunders on the motive of actions, contending for the love of god, _not_ selfishness even in its most refined form.'[ ] evangelical in religion in the matter of his own school of religion, mr. gladstone was always certain that oxford in his undergraduate days had no part in turning him from an evangelical into a high churchman. the tone and dialect of his diary and letters at the time show how just this impression was. we find him in expressing his satisfaction that a number of hannah more's tracts have been put on the list of the christian knowledge society. in he bitterly deplores such ecclesiastical appointments as those of sydney smith and dr. maltby, 'both of them, i believe, regular latitudinarians.' he remembered his shock at butler's laudation of nature. he was scandalised by a sermon in which calvin was placed upon the same level among heresiarchs as socinus and other like aliens from gospel truth. he was delighted (march ) with a university sermon against milman's _history of the jews_, and hopes it may be useful as an antidote, 'for milman, though i do think without intentions directly evil, does go far enough to be justly called a bane. for instance, he says that had moses never existed, the hebrew nation would have remained a degraded pariah tribe or been lost in the mass of the egyptian population--and this notwithstanding the promise.' in all his letters in the period from eton to the end of oxford and later, a language noble and exalted even in these youthful days is not seldom copiously streaked with a vein that, to eyes not trained to evangelical light and to minds not tolerant of the expansion that comes to religious natures in the days of adolescence, may seem unpleasantly strained and excessive. the fashion of such words undergoes transfiguration as the epochs pass. yet in all their fashions, even the crudest, they deserve much tenderness. he consults a clergyman ( ) on the practice of prayer meetings in his rooms. his correspondent answers, that as the wicked have their orgies and meet to gamble and to drink, so they that fear the lord should speak often to one another concerning him; that prayer meetings are not for the cultivation or exhibition of gifts, nor to enable noisy and forward young men to pose as leaders of a school of prophets; but if a few young men of like tastes feel the withering influence of mere scholastic learning, and the necessity of mutual stimulation and refreshment, then such prayer meetings would be a safe and natural remedy. the student's attention to all religious observances was close and unbroken, the most living part of his existence. the movement that was to convulse the church had not yet begun. 'you may smile,' mr. gladstone said long after, 'when told that when i was at oxford, dr. hampden was regarded as a model of orthodoxy; that dr. newman was eyed with suspicion as a low churchman, and dr. pusey as leaning to rationalism.' what mr. gladstone afterwards described as a steady, clear, but dry anglican orthodoxy bore sway, 'and frowned this way or that, on the first indication of any tendency to diverge from the beaten path.'[ ] he hears whately preach a controversial sermon ( ) just after he had been made archbishop of dublin. 'doubtless he is a man of much power and many excellences, but his anti-sabbatical doctrine is, i fear, as mischievous as it is unsound.' a sermon of keble's at st. mary's prompts the uneasy question, 'are all mr. keble's opinions those of scripture and the church? of his life and heart and practice, none could doubt, all would admire.' a good sermon is mentioned from blanco white, that strange and forlorn figure of whom in later life mr. gladstone wrote an interesting account, not conclusive in argument, but assuredly not wanting in either delicacy or generosity.[ ] 'dr. pusey was very kind to me when i was an undergraduate at oxford,' he says, but what their relations were i know not. 'i knew and respected both bishop lloyd and dr. pusey,' he says, 'but neither of them attempted to exercise the smallest influence over my religious opinions.' with newman he seems to have been brought into contact hardly at all.[ ] newman and one of the wilberforces came to dine at cuddesdon one day, and, on a later occasion, he and another fellow of oriel were at a dinner with mr. gladstone at the table of his friend philip pusey. two or three of his sermons are mentioned. one of them (march , ) contained 'much singular, not to say objectionable matter, if one may so speak of so good a man.' of another,--'heard newman preach a good sermon on those who made excuse' (sept. , ). of the generality of university sermons, he accepted the observation of his friend anstice,--'depend upon it, such sermons as those can never convert a single person.' on some sundays he hears two of these discourses in the morning and afternoon, and a third sermon in the evening, for though he became the most copious of all speakers, mr. gladstone was ever the most generous of listeners. it was at st. ebb's that he found really congenial ministrations--an ecclesiastical centre described by him fifty years later--under mr. bulteel, a man of some note in his day; here the flame was at white heat, and a score or two of young men felt its attractions.[ ] he always remembered among the wonderful sights of his life, st. mary's 'crammed in all parts by all orders, when mr. bulteel, an outlying calvinist, preached his accusatory sermon (some of it too true) against the university.' in the summer of , mr. gladstone notes, 'poor bulteel has lost his church for preaching in the open air. pity that he should have acted so, and pity that it should be found necessary to make such an example of a man of god.' the preacher was impenitent, for from a window mr. gladstone again heard him conduct a service for a large congregation who listened attentively to a sermon that was interesting, but evinced some soreness of spirit. a 'most painful' discourse from a mr. crowther so moves mr. gladstone that he sits down to write to the preacher, 'earnestly expostulating with him on the character and the doctrines of the sermon,' and after re-writing his letter, he delivers it with his own hand at the door of the displeasing divine. the effect was not other than salutary, for a little later he was 'happy to hear two sermons of good principles from mr. crowther.' to his father, october , :--'dr. chalmers has been passing through oxford, and i went to hear him preach on sunday evening, though it was at the baptist chapel.... i need hardly say that his sermon was admirable, and quite as remarkable for the judicious and sober manner in which he enforced his views, as for their lofty principles and piety. he preached, i think, for an hour and forty minutes.' the admiration thus first aroused only grew with fuller knowledge in the coming years. essay club an essay club, called from its founder's initials the weg, was formed at a meeting in gaskell's rooms in october, . only two members out of the first twelve did not belong to christ church, rogers of oriel and moncreiff of new.[ ] the essay club's transactions, though not very serious, deserve a glance. mr. gladstone reads an essay (feb. , ) on the comparative rank of poetry and philosophy, concluding with a motion that the rank of philosophy is higher than that of poetry: it was beaten by seven to five. without a division, they determined that english poetry is of a higher order than greek. the truth of the principles of phrenology was affirmed with the tremendous emphasis of eleven to one. though trifling in degree, the influence of the modern drama was pronounced in quality pernicious. gladstone gave his casting vote against the capacious proposition, of which philosophers had made so much in france, switzerland, and other places on the eve of the french revolution, that education and other outward circumstances have more than nature to do with man's disposition. by four to three, mr. tennyson's poems were affirmed to show considerable genius, gladstone happily in the too slender majority. the motion that 'political liberty is not to be considered as the end of government' was a great affair. maurice, who had been admitted to the club on coming to oxford from cambridge, moved an amendment 'that every man has a right to perform certain personal duties with which no system of government has a right to interfere.' gladstone 'objected to an observation that had fallen from the mover, "a man finds himself in the world," as if he did not come into the world under a debt to his parents, under obligations to society.' the tame motion of lord abercorn, that elizabeth's conduct to mary queen of scots was unjustifiable and impolitic, was stiffened into 'not only unjustifiable and impolitic, but a base and treacherous murder,' and in that severe form was carried without a division. plenty of nonsense was talked we may be sure, and so there was, no doubt, in the olive grove of academe or amid those surnamed peripatetics and the sect epicurean. yet nonsense notwithstanding, the essay club had members who proved in time to have superior minds if ever men had, and their disputations in one another's rooms helped to sharpen their mental apparatus, to start trains of ideas however immature, and to shake the cherished dogmatisms brought from beloved homes, even if dogmatism as stringent took their place. this is how the world moves, and oxford was just beginning to rub its eyes, awaking to the speculations of a new time. when he looked back in after times, mr. gladstone traced one great defect in the education of oxford. 'perhaps it was my own fault, but i must admit that i did not learn when i was at oxford that which i have learned since--namely, to set a due value on the imperishable and inestimable principle of british liberty. the temper which too much prevailed in academical circles was that liberty was regarded with jealousy and fear, something which could not wholly be dispensed with, but which was to be continually watched for fear of excesses.'[ ] iii tries for the ireland scholarship in march gladstone made the first of two attempts to win the scholarship newly founded by dean ireland, and from the beginning one of the most coveted of university prizes. in (march ) he wrote:--'there is it appears smaller chance than ever of its falling out of the hands of the shrewsbury people. there is a very formidable one indeed, by name scott, come up from christ church. if it is to go among them i hope he may get it.' this was robert scott, afterwards master of balliol, and then dean of rochester, and the coadjutor with dean liddell in the famous greek lexicon brought out in . a year later he tried again, but little better success came either to himself or to scott. he tells his father the story (march th, ) and collegians who have fought such battles may care to hear it:-- i must first tell you that i am _not_ the successful candidate, and after this i shall have nothing to communicate but what will, i think, give you pleasure. the scholarship has been won by (i believe) a native of liverpool.[ ] his name is brancker, and he is now actually at shrewsbury, but had matriculated here though he had not come up to reside. this result has excited immense surprise. for my own part, i went into the examination _solely_ depending for any hope of pre-eminence above the shrewsbury men on three points, greek history, one particular kind of greek verses, and greek philosophy.... it so fell out, however, that not one of these three points was brought to bear on the examination, though, indeed, it is but a lame one without them. accordingly from the turn it seemed to take as it proceeded, my own expectations regularly declined, and i thought i might consider myself very well off if i came in pretty high. as it is, i am even with the great competitor, scott, whom everybody almost thought the favourite candidate, and above the others. allies, an eton man, scott and i are placed together; and short, one of the examiners, told us this morning that it was an extremely near thing, and he had great difficulty in making up his mind, which he never had felt in any former examination in which he had been engaged; and indeed he laid the preference given to brancker chiefly on his having written short and concise answers, while ours were longwinded. and in consideration of its having been so closely contested, the vice-chancellor is to present each of us with a set of books.... something however may fairly enough be attributed to the fact that at eton we were not educated for such objects as these.... the result will affect the scholarship itself more than any individual character; for previous events have created, and this has contributed amazingly to strengthen, a prevalent impression that the shrewsbury system is radically a false one, and that its object is not to educate the mind but merely to cram and stuff it for these purposes. however, we who are beaten are not fair judges.... i only trust that you will not be more annoyed than i am by this event. brancker was said to have won because he answered all the questions not only shortly, but most of them right, and mr. gladstone's essay was marked 'desultory beyond belief.' below allies came sidney herbert, then at oriel, and grove, afterwards a judge and an important name in the history of scientific speculation. he was equally unsuccessful in another field of competition. he sent in a poem on richard coeur de lion for the newdigate prize in . in somebody asked his leave to reprint it, and at mr. gladstone's request sent him a copy:-- on perusing it i was very much struck by the contrast it exhibited between the faculty of versification which (i thought) was good, and the faculty of poetry, which was very defective. this faculty of verse had been trained i suppose by verse-making at eton, and was based upon the possession of a good or tolerable ear with which nature had endowed me. i think that a poetical faculty did develop itself in me a little later, that is to say between twenty and thirty, due perhaps to having read dante with a real devotion and absorption. it was, however, in my view, true but weak, and has never got beyond that stage. it was evidently absent from the verses, i will not say the poem, on coeur de lion; and without hesitation i declined to allow any reprint.[ ] debates at the union he was active in the debates at the union, where he made his first start in the speaking line (feb. ) in a strong oration much admired by his friends, in favour,--of all the questionable things in the world,--of the treason and sedition acts of . he writes home that he did not find the ordeal so formidable as it used to be before the smaller audiences at eton, for at oxford they sometimes mustered as many as a hundred or a hundred and fifty. he spoke for a strongly-worded motion on a happier theme, in favour of the policy and memory of canning. in the summer of , he mentions a debate in which a motion was proposed in favour of speedy emancipation of the west indian slaves. 'i moved an amendment that education of a religious kind was the fit object of legislation, which was carried by thirty-three to twelve.' of the most notable of all his successes at the union we shall soon hear. daily life his little diary, written for no eye but his own, and in the use of which i must beware of the sin of violating the sanctuary, contains in the most concise of daily records all his various activities, and, at least after the summer at cuddesdon, it presents an attractive picture of duty, industry, and attention, 'constant as the motion of the day.' the entries are much alike, and a few of them will suffice to bring his life and him before us. the days for may almost be taken at random. _may , ._--prospectively, i have the following work to do in the course of this term. (i mention it now, that this may at least make me blush if i fail.) butler's _analogy_, analysis and synopsis. herodotus, questions. st. matthew and st. john. mathematical lecture. _aeneid._ juvenal and persius. _ethics_, five books. prideaux (a part of, for herodotus). themistocles greciae valedicturus [i suppose a verse composition]. something in divinity. mathematical lecture. breakfast with gaskell, who had the merton men. papers. _edinburgh review_ on southey's _colloquies_ [macaulay's]. _ethics._ a wretched day. god forgive idleness. note to bible. _may ._--wrote to my mother. at debate (union). elected secretary. papers. _british critic_ on _history of the jews_ [by newman on milman]. herodotus, _ethics_. butler and analysis. papers, virgil, herodotus. juvenal. mathematics and lecture. walk with anstice. ethics, finished book . _may ._--finished porteus's _evidences_. got up a few hard passages. analysis of porteus. sundry matters in divinity. themistocles. sat with biscoe talking. walk with canning and gaskell. wine and tea. wrote to mr. g. [his father]. papers. _june . sunday._--chapel morning and evening. thomas à kempis. erskine's _evidence_. tea with mayow and cole. walked with maurice to hear mr. porter, a wild but splendid preacher. _june ._--gave a large wine party. divinity lecture. mathematics. wrote three long letters. herodotus, began book . prideaux. newspapers, etc. thomas à kempis. _june ._--another wine party. _ethics_, herodotus. a little juvenal. papers. hallam's poetry. lecture on herodotus. phillimore got the verse prize. _june ._--divinity lecture. herodotus. papers. out at wine. a little plato. _june ._--_ethics_ and lecture. herodotus. t. à kempis. wine with gaskell. _june ._--breakfast with gaskell. t. à kempis. divinity lecture. herodotus. wrote on philosophy _versus_ poetry. a little persius. wine with buller and tupper. _june ._--_ethics_. collections - . among other things wrote a long paper on religions of egypt, persia, babylon; and on the satirists. finished packing books and clothes. left oxford between - , and walked fifteen miles towards leamington. then obliged to put in, being caught by a thunderstorm. comfortably off in a country inn at steeple aston. read and spouted some _prometheus vinctus_ there. _june ._--started before . walked eight miles to banbury. breakfast there, and walked on twenty-two to leamington. arrived at three and changed. gaskell came in the evening. _life of massinger_. _july ._ _cuddesdon_.--up soon after . began my harmony of greek testament. differential calculus, etc. mathematics good while, but in a rambling way. began _odyssey_. papers. walk with anstice and hamilton. turned a little bit of livy into greek. conversation on ethics and metaphysics at night. _july ._--greek testament. bible with anstice. mathematics, long but did little. translated some _phædo_. butler. construed some thucydides at night. making hay, etc., with s., h., and a. great fun. shelley. _july ._--greek testament. lightfoot. butler, and writing a marginal analysis. old testament with anstice and a discussion on early history. mathematics. cricket with h. and a. a conversation of two hours at night with a. on religion till past . thucydides, etc. i cannot get anything done, though i seem to be employed a good while. short's sermon. _july ._--church and sunday-school teaching, morning and evening. the children miserably deluded. barrow. short. walked with s. _september ._--same as yesterday. _paradise lost._ dined with the bishop. cards at night. i like them not, for they excite and keep me awake. construing sophocles. _september ._--went down early to wheatley for letters. it is indeed true [the death of huskisson], and he, poor man, was in his last agonies when i was playing cards on wednesday night. when shall we learn wisdom? not that i see folly in the fact of playing cards, but it is too often accompanied by a dissipated spirit. he did not escape the usual sensations of the desultory when fate forces them to wear the collar. 'in fact, at times i find it very irksome, and my having the inclination to view it in that light is to me the surest demonstration that my mind was in great want of some discipline, and some regular exertion, for hitherto i have read by fits and starts and just as it pleased me. i hope that this vacation [summer of ] will confer on me one benefit more important than any having reference merely to my class--i mean the habit of steady application and strict economy of time.' correspondence with hallam among the recorded fragmentary items of , by the way, he read mill's celebrated essay on coleridge, which, when it was republished a generation later along with the companion essay on bentham, made so strong an impression on the oxford of my day. he kept up a correspondence with hallam, now at cambridge, and an extract from one of hallam's letters may show something of the writer, as of the friend for whose sympathising mind it was intended:-- academical honours would be less than nothing to me were it not for my father's wishes, and even these are moderate on the subject. if it please god that i make the name i bear honoured in a second generation, it will be by inward power which is its own reward; if it please him not, i hope to go down to the grave unrepining, for i have lived and loved and been loved; and what will be the momentary pangs of an atomic existence when the scheme of that providential love which pervades, sustains, quickens this boundless universe shall at the last day be unfolded and adored? the great truth which, when we are rightly impressed with it, will liberate mankind is that no man has a right to isolate himself, because every man is a particle of a marvellous whole; that when he suffers, since it is for the good of that whole, he, the particle, has no right to complain; and in the long run, that which is the good of all will abundantly manifest itself to be the good of each. other belief consists not with theism. this is its centre. let me quote to their purpose the words of my favourite poet; it will do us good to hear his voice, though but for a moment:-- 'one adequate support for the calamities of mortal life exists--one only: an assured belief that the procession of our fate, howe'er sad or disturbed, is ordered by a being of infinite benevolence and power, whose everlasting purposes embrace all accidents, converting them to good.'[ ] hallam's father, in that memoir so just and tender which, he prefixes to his son's literary remains, remarks that all his son's talk about this old desperate riddle of the origin and significance of evil, like the talk of leibnitz about it, resolved itself into an unproved assumption of the necessity of evil. in truth there is little sign that either arthur hallam or gladstone had in him the making of the patient and methodical thinker in the high abstract sphere. they were both of them cast in another mould. but the efficacy of human relationships springs from a thousand subtler and more mysterious sources than either patience or method in our thinking. such marked efficacy was there in the friendship of these two, both of them living under pure skies, but one of the pair endowed besides with 'the thews that throw the world.' whether in gladstone's diary or in his letters, in the midst of herodotus and butler and aristotle and the rest of the time-worn sages, we are curiously conscious of the presence of a spirit of action, affairs, excitement. it is not the born scholar eager in search of knowledge for its own sake; there is little of milton's 'quiet air of delightful studies;' and none of pascal's 'labouring for truth with many a heavy sigh.' the end of it all is, as aristotle said it should be, not knowing but doing:--honourable desire of success, satisfaction of the hopes of friends, a general literary appetite, conscious preparation for private and public duty in the world, a steady progression out of the shallows into the depths, a gaze beyond garden and cloister, _in agmen, in pulverem, in clamorem_, to the dust and burning sun and shouting of the days of conflict. iv in september , as we have seen, huskisson had disappeared. thomas gladstone was in the train drawn by the _dart_ that ran over the statesman and killed him. poor huskisson, he writes to william gladstone, the great promoter of the railroad, has fallen a victim to its opening!... as soon as i heard that huskisson had been run over, i ran and found him on the ground close to the duke's [wellington] car, his legs apparently both broken (though only one was), the ground covered with blood, his eyes open, but death written in his face. when they raised him a little he said, 'leave me, let me die.' 'god forgive me, i am a dead man.' 'i can never stand this.'... on tuesday he made a speech in the exchange reading room, when he said he hoped long to represent them. he said, too, that day, that we were sure of a fine day, for the duke would have his old luck. talked jokingly, too, of insuring his life for the ride. and he notes, as others did, the extraordinary circumstance that of half a million of people on the line of road the victim should be the duke's great opponent, thus carried off suddenly before his eyes. there was some question of mr. john gladstone taking huskisson's place as one of the members for liverpool, but he did not covet it. he foresaw too many local jealousies, his deafness would be sadly against him, he was nearly sixty-five, and he felt himself too old to face the turmoil. he looked upon the wellington government as the only government possible, though as a friend of canning he freely recognised its defects, the self-will of the duke, and the parcel of mediocrities and drones with whom, excepting peel, he had filled his cabinet. his view of the state of parties in the autumn of is clear and succinct enough to deserve reproduction. 'huskisson's death,' he writes to his son at christ church (october , ), 'was a great gain to the duke, for he was the most formidable thorn to prick him in the parliament. of those who acted with huskisson, none have knowledge or experience sufficient to enable them to do so. as for the whigs, they can all talk and make speeches, but they are not men of business. the ultra-tories are too contemptible and wanting in talent to be thought of. the radicals cannot be trusted, for they would soon pull down the venerable fabric of our constitution. the liberals or independents must at least generally side with the duke; they are likely to meet each other half way.' the reform bill in less than a week after this acute survey the duke made his stalwart declaration in the house of lords against all parliamentary reform. 'i have not said too much, have i?' he asked of lord aberdeen on sitting down. 'you'll hear of it,' was aberdeen's reply. 'you've announced the fall of your government, that's all,' said another. in a fortnight (november ) the duke was out, lord grey was in, and the country was gradually plunged into a determined struggle for the amendment of its constitution. mr. gladstone, as a resolute canningite, was as fiercely hostile to the second and mightier innovation as he had been eager for the relief of the catholics, and it was in connection with the reform bill that he first made a public mark. the reader will recall the stages of that event; how the bill was read a second time in the commons by a majority of one on march nd, ; how, after a defeat by a majority of eight on a motion of going into committee, lord grey dissolved; how the country, shaken to its depths, gave the reformers such undreamed of strength, that on july th the second reading of the bill was carried by a hundred and thirty-six; how on october th the lords rejected it by forty-one, and what violent commotions that deed provoked; how a third bill was brought in (december th, ) and passed through the commons (march rd, ); how the lords were still refractory; what a lacerating ministerial crisis ensued; and how at last, in june, the bill, which was to work the miracle of a millennium, actually became the law of the land. not even the pressure of preparation for the coming ordeal of the examination schools could restrain the activity and zeal of our oxonian. canning had denounced parliamentary reform at liverpool in ; and afterwards had declared in the house of commons that if anybody asked him what he meant to do on the subject, he would oppose reform to the end of his life, under whatever shape it might appear. canning's disciple at christ church was as vehement as the master.[ ] to a friend he wrote in :-- i think that oxford teaching had in our day an anti-popular tendency. i must add that it was not owing to the books, but rather to the way in which they were handled: and further, that it tended still more strongly in my opinion to make the love of truth paramount over all other motives in the mind, and thus that it supplied an antidote for whatever it had of bane. the reform bill frightened me in , and drove me off my natural and previous bias. burke and canning misled many on that subject, and they misled me. while staying at leamington, whither his family constantly went in order to be under the medical care of the famous jephson, mr. gladstone went to a reform meeting at warwick, of which he wrote a contemptuous account in a letter to the _standard_ (april ). the gentry present were few, the nobility none, the clergy one only, while 'the mob beneath the grand stand was athenian in its levity, in its recklessness, in its gaping expectancy, in its self-love and self-conceit--in everything but its acuteness.' 'if, sir, the nobility, the gentry, the clergy are to be alarmed, overawed, or smothered by the expression of popular opinion such as this, and if no great statesman be raised up in our hour of need to undeceive this unhappy multitude, now eagerly rushing or heedlessly sauntering along the pathway of revolution, as an ox goeth to the slaughter or a fool to the correction of the stocks, what is it but a symptom as infallible as it is appalling, that the day of our greatness and stability is no more, and that the chill and damp of death are already creeping over england's glory.' these dolorous spectres haunted him incessantly, as they haunted so many who had not the sovereign excuse of youth, and his rhetoric was perfectly sincere. he felt bound to say that, as far as he could form an opinion, the ministry most richly deserved impeachment. its great innovations and its small alike moved his indignation. when brougham committed the enormity of hearing causes on good friday, gladstone repeats with deep complacency a saying of wetherell, that brougham was the first judge who had done such a thing since pontius pilate. oxford electioneering the undergraduates took their part in the humours of the great election, and oxford turned out her chivalry gallantly to bring in the anti-reform candidate for the county to the nomination. 'i mounted the mare to join the anti-reform procession,' writes the impassioned student to his father, 'and we looked as well as we could do, considering that we were all covered with mud from head to foot. there was mob enough on both sides, but i must do them justice to say they were for the most part exceedingly good-humoured, and after we had dismounted, we went among them and elbowed one another and bawled and bellowed with the most perfect good temper. at the nomination in the town hall there was so much row raised that not one of the candidates could be heard.' the effect of these exercitations was a hoarseness and cold, which did not, however, prevent the sufferer from taking his part in a mighty bonfire in peckwater. on another day:-- i went with denison and another man named jeffreys between eleven and twelve. we began to talk to some men among weyland's friends; they crowded round, and began to holloa at us, and were making a sort of ring round us preparatory to a desperate hustle, when lo! up rushed a body of norreys' men from st. thomas's, broke their ranks, raised a shout, and rescued us in great style. i shall ever be grateful to the men of st. thomas's. when we were talking, jeffreys said something which made one man holloa, 'oh, his father's a parson.' this happened to be true, and flabbergasted me, but he happily turned it by reminding them, that they were going to vote for mr. harcourt, son of the greatest parson in england but one (archbishop of york). afterwards they left me, and i pursued my work alone, conversed with a great number, shook hands with a fair proportion, made some laugh, and once very nearly got hustled when alone, but happily escaped. you would be beyond measure astonished how unanimous and how _strong_ is the feeling among the freeholders (who may be taken as a fair specimen of the generality of all counties) _against_ the catholic question. reformers and anti-reformers were alike sensitive on that point and perfectly agreed. one man said to me, 'what, vote for lord norreys? why, he voted against the country _both_ times, _for_ the catholic bill and then against the reform.' what would this atrocious ministry have said had the appeal to the voice of the people, which they now quote as their authority, been made in ? i held forth to a working man, possibly a forty-shilling freeholder, [he adds in a fragment of later years,] on the established text, reform was revolution. to corroborate my doctrine i said, 'why, look at the revolutions in foreign countries,' meaning of course france and belgium. the man looked hard at me and said these very words, 'damn all foreign countries, what has old england to do with foreign countries?' this is not the only time that i have received an important lesson from a humble source. speech at the union a more important scene which his own future eminence made in a sense historic, was a debate at the union upon reform in the same month, where his contribution (may th) struck all his hearers with amazement, so brilliant, so powerful, so incomparably splendid did it seem to their young eyes. his description of it to his brother (may th, ) is modest enough:-- i should really have been glad if your health had been such as to have permitted your visiting oxford last week, so that you might have heard our debate, for certainly there had never been anything like it known here before and will scarcely be again. the discussion on the question that the ministers were incompetent to carry on the government of the country was of a miscellaneous character, and i moved what they called a 'rider' to the effect that the reform bill threatened to change the form of the british government, and ultimately to break up the whole frame of society. the debate altogether lasted three nights, and it closed then, partly because the _votes_ had got tired of dancing attendance, partly because the speakers of the revolutionary side were exhausted. there were eight or nine more on ours ready, and indeed anxious. as it was, there were i think fifteen speeches on our side and thirteen on theirs, or something of that kind. every man spoke above his average, and many very far beyond it. they were generally short enough. moncreiff, a long-winded scotsman, spouted nearly an hour, and i was guilty of three-quarters. i remember at eton (where we used, when i first went into the society, to speak from three to ten minutes) i thought it must be one of the finest things in the world to speak for three-quarters of an hour, and there was a legend circulated about an old member of the society's having done so, which used to make us all gape and stare. however, i fear it does not necessarily imply much more than length. doyle spoke remarkably well, and made a violent attack on mr. canning's friends, which gaskell did his best to answer, but very ineffectually from the nature of the case. we got a conversion speech from a christ church gentleman-commoner, named alston, which produced an excellent effect, and the division was favourable beyond anything we had hoped--ninety-four to thirty-eight. we should have had larger numbers still had we divided on the first night. great diligence was used by both parties in bringing men down, but the tactics on the whole were better on our side, and we had fewer truants in proportion to our numbers. england expects every man to do his duty; and ours, humble as it is, has been done in reference to this question. on friday i wrote a letter to the _standard_ giving an account of the division, which you will see in saturday's paper, if you think it worth while to refer to it. the way in which the present generation of undergraduates is divided on the question is quite remarkable. the occasion was to prove a memorable one in his career, and a few more lines about it from his diary will not be considered superfluous:-- _may th._--sleepy. mathematics, few and shuffling, and lecture. read canning's reform speeches at liverpool and made extracts. rode out. debate, which was adjourned. i am to try my hand to-morrow. my thoughts were but ill-arranged, but i fear they will be no better then. wine with anstice. singing. tea with lincoln. _may th._--ethics. little mathematics. a good deal exhausted in forenoon from heat last night. dined with white and had wine with him, also with young acland. cogitations on reform, etc. difficult to _select_ matter for a speech, not to gather it. _spoke at the adjourned debate for three-quarters of an hour_; immediately after gaskell, who was preceded by lincoln. row afterwards and adjournment. tea with wordsworth. when gladstone sat down, one of his contemporaries has written, 'we all of us felt that an epoch in our lives had occurred. his father was so well pleased with the glories of the speech and with its effect, that he wished to have it published. besides his speech, besides the composition of sturdy placards against the monstrous bill, and besides the preparation of an elaborate petition[ ] and the gathering of signatures to it, the ardent anti-reformer, though the distance from the days of doom in the examination schools was rapidly shrinking, actually sat down to write a long pamphlet (july ) and sent it to hatchard, the publisher. hatchard doubted the success of an anonymous pamphlet, and replied in the too familiar formula that has frozen so many thousand glowing hearts, that he would publish it if the author would take the money risk. the most interesting thing about it is the criticism of the writer's shrewd and wise father upon his son's performance (too long for reproduction here). he went with his son in the main, he says, 'but i cannot go all your lengths,' and the language of his judgment sheds a curious light upon the vehement temperament of mr. gladstone at this time as it struck an affectionate yet firm and sober monitor. * * * * * hears his first debate in the autumn of mr. gladstone took some trouble to be present on one of the cardinal occasions in this fluctuating history:-- _october rd to th._--journey to london. from henley in blackstone's chaise. present at five nights' debate of infinite interest in the house of lords. the first, i went forwards and underwent a somewhat high pressure. at the four others sat on a round transverse rail, very fortunate in being so well placed. had a full view of the peeresses. there nine or ten hours every evening. read peel's speech and sundry papers relating to king's college, which i went to see; also london bridge. read introduction to butler. wrote to saunders. much occupied in order-hunting during the morning. lord brougham's as a speech most wonderful, delivered with a power and effect which cannot be appreciated by any hearsay mode of information, and with fertile exuberance in sarcasm. in point of argument it had, i think, little that was new. lord grey's most beautiful, lord goderich's and lord lansdowne's extremely good, and in these was comprehended nearly all the oratorical merit of the debate. the reasoning or the attempt to reason, independently of the success in such attempt, certainly seemed to me to be with the opposition. their best speeches, i thought, were those of lords harrowby, carnarvon, mansfield, wynford; next lords lyndhurst, wharncliffe, and the duke of wellington. lord grey's reply i did not hear, having been compelled by exhaustion to leave the house. remained with ryder and pickering in the coffee-room or walking about until the division, and joined wellesley and [illegible] as we walked home. went to bed for an hour, breakfasted, and came off by the alert. arrived safely, thank god, in oxford. wrote to my brother and to gaskell. tea with phillimore and spent the remainder of the evening with canning. the consequences of the vote may be awful. god avert this. but it was an honourable and manly decision, and so may god avert them. this was the memorable occasion when the lords threw out the reform bill by to , the division not taking place until six o'clock in the morning. the consequences, as the country instantly made manifest, were 'awful' enough to secure the reversal of the decision. it seems, so far as i can make out, to have been the first debate that one of the most consummate debaters that ever lived had the fortune of listening to. v reading for the schools meanwhile intense interest in parliament and the newspapers had not impaired his studies. disgusted as he was at the political outlook, in the beginning of july he had fallen fairly to work more or less close for ten or twelve hours a day. it 'proved as of old a cure for ill-humour, though in itself not of the most delectable kind. it is odd enough, though true, that reading hard close-grained stuff produces a much more decided and better effect in this way, than books written professedly for the purpose of entertainment.' then his eyes became painful, affected the head, and in august almost brought him to a full stop. after absolute remission of work for a few days, he slowly spread full sail again, and took good care no more to stint either exercise or sleep, thinking himself, strange as it now sounds, rather below than above par for such exertions. he declared that the bodily fatigue, the mental fatigue, and the anxiety as to the result, made reading for a class a thing not to be undergone more than once in a lifetime. time had mightier fatigues in store for him than even this. the heavy work among the ideas of men of bygone days did not deaden intellectual projects of his own. a few days before he went to see the lords throw out the reform bill, he made a curious entry:-- _october rd, ._--yesterday an idea, a chimera, entered my head, of gathering during the progress of my life, notes and materials for a work embracing three divisions, morals, politics, education, and i commit this notice to paper now, that many years hence, if it please god, i may find it either a pleasant or at least an instructive reminiscence, a pleasant and instructing one, i trust, if i may ever be permitted to execute this design; instructive if it shall point while in embryo, and serve to teach me the folly of presumptuous schemes conceived during the buoyancy of youth, and only relinquished on a discovery of incompetency in later years. meanwhile i am only contemplating the gradual accumulation of materials. the reading went on at a steady pace, not without social intermissions:-- _oct. th and th._--rode. papers. virgil. thucydides, both days. also some optics. wrote a long letter home. read a chapter of butler each day. hume. breakfasted also with canning to meet lady c[anning]. she received us, i thought, with great kindness, and spoke a great deal about lord grey's conduct with reference to her husband's memory, with great animation and excitement; her hand in a strong tremor. it was impossible not to enter into her feelings. then comes the struggle for the palm:-- _monday, november th to saturday th._--in the schools or preparing. read most of niebuhr. finished going over the _agamemnon_. got up aristophanic and other hard words. went over my books of extracts, etc. read some of whately's rhetoric. got up a little polybius, and the history out of livy, decade one. in the schools wednesday, thursday, and friday; each day about six and a half hours at work or under. first stratford's speech into latin with logical and rhetorical questions--the latter somewhat abstract. dined at gaskell's and met pearson, a clever and agreeable man. on thursday a piece of johnson's preface in morning, in evening critical questions which i did very badly, but i afterwards heard, better than _the rest_, which i could not and cannot understand. on friday we had in the morning historical questions. wrote a vast quantity of matter, ill enough digested. in the evening, greek to translate and illustrate. heard cheering accounts indirectly of myself, for which i ought to be very thankful.... dined with pearson at the mitre. very kind in him to ask me. made saturday in great measure an idle day. had a good ride with gaskell. spent part of the evening with him. read about six hours. _sunday, november th._--chapel thrice. breakfast and much conversation with cameron. read bible. some divinity of a character approaching to cram. looked over my shorter abstract of butler. tea with harrison. walk with gaskell. wine with hamilton, more of a party than i quite liked or expected. altogether my mind was in an unsatisfactory state, though i heard a most admirable sermon from tyler on bethesda, which could not have been more opportune if written on purpose for those who are going into the schools. but i am cold, timid, and worldly, and not in a healthy state of mind for the great trial of to-morrow, to which i know i am utterly and miserably unequal, but which i also know will be sealed for good.... here is his picture of his _viva voce_ examination:-- _november th._--spent the morning chiefly in looking over my polybius; short abstract of ethics, and definitions. also some hard words. went into the schools at ten, and from this time was little troubled with fear. examined by stocker in divinity. i did not answer as i could have wished. hampden [the famous heresiarch] in science, a beautiful examination, and with every circumstance in my favour. he said to me, 'thank you, you have construed extremely well, and appear to be thoroughly acquainted with your books,' or something to that effect. then followed a very clever examination in history from garbett, and an agreeable and short one in my poets from cremer, who spoke very kindly to me at the close. i was only put on in eight books besides the testament, namely rhetoric, ethics, _phædo_, herodotus, thucydides, _odyssey_, aristophanes (_vespae_), and persius. everything was in my favour; the examiners kind beyond everything; a good many persons there, and all friendly. at the end of the science, of course, my spirits were much raised, and i could not help at that moment [giving thanks] to him without whom not even such moderate performances would have been in my power. afterwards rode to cuddesdon with the denisons, and wrote home with exquisite pleasure. his double first class i have read a story by some contemporary how all attempts to puzzle him by questions on the minutest details of herodotus only brought out his knowledge more fully; how the excitement reached its climax when the examiner, after testing his mastery of some point of theology, said: 'we will now leave that part of the subject,' and the candidate, carried away by his interest in the subject, answered: 'no, sir; if you please, we will not leave it yet,' and began to pour forth a fresh stream. ten days later, after a morning much disturbed and excited he rode in the afternoon, and by half-past four the list was out, with gladstone and denison both of them in the first class; phillimore and maurice in the second; herbert in the fourth. then mathematics were to come. the interval between the two schools he passed at cuddesdon, working some ten hours a day at his hardest, riding every day with denison, and all of them in high spirits. but optics, algebra, geometry, calculus, trigonometry, and the rest, filled him with misgivings for the future. 'every day i read, i am more and more thoroughly convinced of my incapacity for the subject.' 'my work continued and my reluctance to exertion increased with it.' for the sunday before the examination, this is the entry, and a characteristic and remarkable one it is:--'teaching in the school morning and evening. saunders preached well on "ye cannot serve god and mammon." read bible and four of horsley's sermons. paid visits to old people.' on december th the mathematical ordeal began, and lasted four days. the doctor gave him draughts to quiet his excitement. better than draughts, he read wordsworth every day. on sunday (december th) he went, as usual, twice to chapel, and heard newman preach 'a most able discourse of a very philosophical character, more apt for reading than for hearing--at least i, in the jaded state of my mind, was unable to do it any justice.' on december th, the list was out, and his name was again in the first class, again along with denison. as everybody knows, peel had won a double-first twenty-three years before, and in mathematics peel had the first class to himself. mr. gladstone in each of the two schools was one of five. anstice, whose counsels and example he counted for so much at one epoch in his collegiate life, in carried off the same double crown, and was, like peel, alone in the mathematical first class. it was an hour of thrilling happiness, between the past and the future, for the future was, i hope, not excluded; and feeling was well kept in check by the bustle of preparation for speedy departure. saw the dean, biscoe, saunders (whom i thanked for his extreme kindness), and such of my friends as were in oxford; all most warm. the mutual hand-shaking between denison, jeffreys, and myself, was very hearty. wine with bruce.... packed up my things.... wrote at more or less length to mrs. g. [his mother], gaskell, phillimore, mr. denison, my old tutor knapp.... left oxford on the champion. _december th._--after finding the first practicable coach to cambridge was just able to manage breakfast in bedford square. left holborn at ten, in cambridge before five. here he was received by wordsworth, the master of trinity, and father of his oxford tutor. he had a visit full of the peculiar excitement and felicity that those who are capable of it know nowhere else than at oxford and cambridge. he heard hallam recite his declamation; was introduced to the mighty whewell, to spedding, the great baconian, to smyth, the professor of history, to blakesley; renewed his acquaintance with the elder hallam; listened to glorious anthems at trinity and king's; tried to hear a sermon from simeon, the head of the english evangelicals; met stanhope, an old eton man, and the two sons of lord grey; and 'copied a letter of mr. pitt's.' from cambridge he made his way home, having thus triumphantly achieved the first stage of his long life journey. amid the manifold mutations of his career, to oxford his affection was passionate as it was constant. 'there is not a man that has passed through that great and famous university that can say with more truth than i can say, i love her from the bottom of my heart.'[ ] vi thoughts on future profession another episode must have a place before i close this chapter. at the end of , the youthful gladstone had composed a long letter, of which the manuscript survives, to a liverpool newspaper, earnestly contesting its appalling proposition that 'man has no more control over his belief, than he has over his stature or his colour,' and beseeching the editor to try leslie's _short method with the deists_, if he be unfortunate enough to doubt the authority of the bible. at oxford his fervour carried him beyond the fluent tract to a personal decision. on august th, , the entry is this:--'began thucydides. also working up herodotus. [greek: exêrtumenos]. construing thucydides at night. uncomfortable again and much distracted with doubts as to my future line of conduct. god direct me. i am utterly blind. wrote a very long letter to my dear father on the subject of my future profession, wishing if possible to bring the question to an immediate and final settlement.' the letter is exorbitant in length, it is vague, it is obscure; but the appeal contained in it is as earnest as any appeal from son to parent on such a subject ever was, and it is of special interest as the first definite indication alike of the extraordinary intensity of his religious disposition, and of that double-mindedness, that division of sensibility between the demands of spiritual and of secular life, which remained throughout one of the marking traits of his career. he declares his conviction that his duty, alike to man as a social being, and as a rational and reasonable being to god, summons him with a voice too imperative to be resisted, to forsake the ordinary callings of the world and to take upon himself the clerical office. the special need of devotion to that office, he argues, must be plain to any one who 'casts his eye over the moral wilderness of the world, who contemplates the pursuits, desires, designs, and principles of the beings that move so busily in it to and fro, without an object beyond the finding food for it, mental or bodily, for the present moment.' this letter the reader will find in full elsewhere.[ ] the missionary impulse, the yearning for some apostolic destination, the glow of self-devotion to a supreme external will, is a well-known element in the youth of ardent natures of either sex. in a thousand forms, sometimes for good, sometimes for evil, such a mood has played its part in history. in this case, as in many another, the impulse in its first shape did not endure, but in essence it never faded. his father replied as a wise man was sure to do, almost with sympathy, with entire patience, and with thorough common sense. the son dutifully accepts the admonition that it is too early to decide so grave an issue, and that the immediate matter is the approaching performance in the examination schools. 'i highly approve,' his father had written (nov. th, ), 'your proposal to leave undetermined the profession you are to follow, until you return from the continent and complete your education in all respects. you will then have seen more of the world and have greater confidence in the choice you may make; for it will then rest wholly with yourself, having our advice whenever you may wish for it.' the critical issue was now finally settled. at almost equal length, and in parts of this second letter no less vague and obscure than the first, but with more concentrated power, mr. gladstone tells his father (jan. th, ) how the excitement has subsided, but still he sees at hand a great crisis in the history of mankind. new principles, he says, prevail in morals, politics, education. enlightened self-interest is made the substitute for the old bonds of unreasoned attachment, and under the plausible maxim that knowledge is power, one kind of ignorance is made to take the place of another kind. christianity teaches that the head is to be exalted through the heart, but benthamism maintains that the heart is to be amended through the head. the conflict proceeding in parliament foreshadows a contest for the existence of the church establishment, to be assailed through its property. the whole foundation of society may go. under circumstances so formidable, he dares not look for the comparative calm and ease of a professional life. he must hold himself free of attachment to any single post and function of a technical nature. and so--to make the long story short--'my own desires for future life are exactly coincident with yours, in so far as i am acquainted with them; believing them to be a _profession_ of the law, with a view substantially to studying the constitutional branch of it, and a subsequent experiment, as time and circumstances might offer, on what is termed public life.' 'it tortures me,' he had written to his brother john (august th, ), 'to think of an inclination opposed to that of my beloved father,' and this was evidently one of the preponderant motives in his final decision. in the same letter, while the fire of apostolic devotion was still fervid within him, he had penned a couple of sentences that contain words of deeper meaning than he could surely know:--'i am willing to persuade myself that in spite of other longings which i often feel, my heart is prepared to yield other hopes and other desires for this--of being permitted to be the humblest of those who may be commissioned to set before the eyes of man, still great even, in his ruins, the magnificence and the glory of christian truth. especially as i feel that my temperament is so excitable, that i should fear giving up my mind to other subjects which have ever proved sufficiently alluring to me, and which i fear would make my life a fever of unsatisfied longings and expectations.' so men unconsciously often hint an oracle of their lives. perhaps these forebodings of a high-wrought hour may in other hues have at many moments come back to mr. gladstone's mind, even in the full sunshine of a triumphant career of duty, virtue, power, and renown. meditations the entry in his diary, suggested by the return of his birthday (dec. , ), closes with the words, 'this has been my debating society year, now, i fancy, done with. politics are fascinating to me; perhaps too fascinating.' higher thoughts than this press in upon him:-- industry of a kind and for a time there has been, but the industry of necessity, not of principle. i would fain believe that my sentiments in religion have been somewhat enlarged and untrammelled, but if this be true, my responsibility is indeed augmented, but wherein have my deeds of duty been proportionally modified?... one conclusion theoretically has been much on my mind--it is the increased importance and necessity and benefit of prayer--of the life of obedience and self-sacrifice. may god use me as a vessel for his own purposes, of whatever character and results in relation to myself.... may the god who loves us all, still vouchsafe me a testimony of his abiding presence in the protracted, though well nigh dormant life of a desire which at times has risen high in my soul, a fervent and a buoyant hope that i might work an energetic work in this world, and by that work (whereof the worker is only god) i might grow into the image of the redeemer.... it matters not whether the sphere of duty be large or small, but may it be duly filled. may those faint and languishing embers be kindled by the truth of the everlasting spirit into a living and a life-giving flame. every reader will remember how, just two hundred years before, the sublimest of english poets had on his twenty-third birthday closed the same self-reproach for sluggishness of inward life, with the same aspiration:-- yet be it less or more, or soon or slow, it shall be still in strictest measure even to that same lot however mean or high, towards which time leads me and the will of heaven. all is, if i have grace to use it so, as ever in my great taskmaster's eye. two generations after he had quitted the university, mr. gladstone summed up her influence upon him:-- oxford had rather tended to hide from me the great fact that liberty is a great and precious gift of god, and that human excellence cannot grow up in a nation without it. and yet i do not hesitate to say that oxford had even at this time laid the foundations of my liberalism. school pursuits had revealed little; but in the region of philosophy she had initiated if not inured me to the pursuit of truth as an end of study. the splendid integrity of aristotle, and still more of butler, conferred upon me an inestimable service. elsewhere i have not scrupled to speak with severity of myself, but i declare that while in the arms of oxford, i was possessed through and through with a single-minded and passionate love of truth, with a virgin love of truth, so that, although i might be swathed in clouds of prejudice there was something of an eye within, that might gradually pierce them. footnotes: [ ] charles wordsworth's _annals_. [ ] after peel had begun his career, jackson gave him a piece of advice that would have pleased mr. gladstone:--'let no day pass without your having homer in your hand. elevate your own mind by continual meditation on the vastness of his comprehension and the unerring accuracy of all his conceptions. if you will but read him four or five times over every year, in a half a dozen years you will know him by heart, and he well deserves it.'--parker's _life of sir r. peel_, i. p. . [ ] on the four periods of aristotelian study at oxford in the first half of the century see pattison's essays, i. p. . [ ] _ibid_, i. p. . [ ] reprinted from the _edingburgh review_ in _discussions on philosophy and literature_, pp. - . ( .) [ ] tupper (_my life_, etc., p. , ) mentions that he beat mr. gladstone for the burton theological essay, 'the reconciliation of matthew and john'; but gladstone was so good a second that dr. burton begged that one-fifth of the prize money, might be given to him as solatium. [ ] anstice was afterwards professor of classics at king's college, and was cut off prematurely at the age of thirty. see below, p. . [ ] _gleanings_, vii. p. . [ ] _ibid._ ii, p. . [ ] purcell (_manning_, i. p. ) makes mr. gladstone say, 'i was intimate with newman, but then we had many friends in common.' this must be erroneously reported. [ ] _gleanings_, vii. p. . [ ] sir thomas acland gives the names of the first twelve members as follows: gladstone, gaskell, doyle, moncreiff, seymer, rogers, two aclands, leader, anstice, harrison, cole. mr. gladstone in a letter to acland ( ) mentions these twelve names, and adds 'from the old book of record,' bruce, j., bruce, f., egerton, liddell, lincoln, lushington, maurice, oxenham, vaughan, thornton, c. marriott. [ ] at palmerston club, oxford, jan. , . [ ] his father was a liverpool merchant, and had been mayor. [ ] by the kindness of the present dean of christ church i am able to give the reader a couple of specimens of mr. gladstone's latin verse. the two pieces were written for 'lent verses':-- ( ) gladstone. _an aliquid sit immutabile? affirmatur._ vivimus incertum? fortunæ lusus habemur? singula præteriens det rapiatve dies? en nemus exaninum, qua se modo germina, verno tempore, purpureis explicuere comis. respice pacatum neptuni numine pontum: territa mox tumido verberat astra salo. sed brevior brevibus, quas unda supervenit, undis sed gelidâ, quam mox dissipat aura, nive: sed foliis sylvarum, et amici veris odore, quisquis honos placeat, quisquis alatur amor. jamne joci lususque sonant? viget alma juventus? funereæ forsan eras cecinere tubæ. nec pietas, nec casta fides, nec libera virtus, nigrantes vetuit mortis inire domos. certa tamen lex ipsa manet, labentibus annis, quæ jubet assiduas quæque subire vices. ( ) gladstone. _an malum a seipso possit sanari? affirmatur._ cernis ut argutas effuderit anna querelas? lumen ut insolitâ triste tumescat aquâ? quicquid in ardenti flammarum corde rotatur, et fronte et rubris pingitur omne genis. dum ruit hùc illùc, speculum simulacra ruentis, ora mimalloneo plena furore, refert. pectora vesano cùm turgida conspicit æstu, quæ fuit (haud qualis debeat esse) videt. ac veluti ventis intra sua claustra coactis, quum piget �olium fræna dedisse ducem; concita non aliter subsidit pectoris unda, et propriâ rursum sede potitur amor, jurâsses torvam perculso astare medusam jurares paphiæ lumen adesse deæ. [ ] _excursion_, book iv. p. . [ ] it is curious, we may note in passing, that thomas gladstone, his eldest brother, was then member for queenborough, and he, after voting in the majority of one, a few weeks later changed his mind and supported the amendment that destroyed the first bill. at the election he lost his seat. [ ] it is given in robbins, _early life_, pp. - . [ ] oxford, feb. , . [ ] see appendix. book ii _ - _ chapter i enters parliament (_ - _) i may speak of the house of commons as a school of discipline for those who enter it. in my opinion it is a school of extraordinary power and efficacy. it is a great and noble school for the creation of all the qualities of force, suppleness, and versatility of intellect. and it is also a great moral school. it is a school of temper. it is also a school of patience. it is a school of honour, and it is a school of justice.--gladstone ( ). foreign travel leaving home in the latter part of january ( ), with a wordsworth for a pocket companion, mr. gladstone made his way to oxford, where he laboured through his packing, settled accounts, 'heard a very able sermon indeed from newman at st. mary's,' took his bachelor's degree (jan. ), and after a day or two with relatives and friends in london, left england along with his brother john at the beginning of february. he did not return until the end of july. he visited brussels, paris, florence, naples, rome, venice, and milan. of this long journey he kept a full record, and it contains one entry of no small moment in his mental history. a conception now began to possess him, that according to one religious school kindled a saving illumination, and according to another threw something of a shade upon his future path. in either view it marked a change of spiritual course, a transformation not of religion as the centre of his being, for that it always was, but of the frame and mould within which religion was to expand. in entering st. peter's at rome (march , ) he experienced his 'first conception of unity in the church,' and first longed for its visible attainment. here he felt 'the pain and shame of the schism which separates us from rome--whose guilt surely rests not upon the venerable fathers of the english reformed church but upon rome itself, yet whose melancholy effects the mind is doomed to feel when you enter this magnificent temple and behold in its walls the images of christian saints and the words of everlasting truth; yet such is the mass of intervening encumbrances that you scarcely own, and can yet more scantily realise, any bond of sympathy or union.' this was no fleeting impression of a traveller. it had been preceded by a disenchantment, for he had made his way from turin to pinerol, and seen one of the vaudois valleys. he had framed a lofty conception of the people as ideal christians, and he underwent a chill of disappointment on finding them apparently much like other men. even the pastor, though a quiet, inoffensive man, gave no sign of energy or of what would have been called in england vital religion. with this chill at his heart he came upon the atmosphere of gorgeous rome. it was, however, in the words of clough's fine line from _easter day_, 'through the great sinful streets of naples as he passed,' that a great mutation overtook him. one sunday (may ) something, i know not what, set me on examining the occasional offices of the church in the prayer book. they made a strong impression upon me on that very day, and the impression has never been effaced. i had previously taken a great deal of teaching direct from the bible, as best i could, but now the figure of the church arose before me as a teacher too, and i gradually found in how incomplete and fragmentary a manner i had drawn divine truth from the sacred volume, as indeed i had also missed in the thirty-nine articles some things which ought to have taught me better. such, for i believe that i have given the fact as it occurred, in its silence and its solitude, was my first introduction to the august conception of the church of christ. it presented to me christianity under an aspect in which i had not yet known it: its ministry of symbols, its channels of grace, its unending line of teachers joining from the head: a sublime construction, based throughout upon historic fact, uplifting the idea of the community in which we live, and of the access which it enjoys through the new and living way to the presence of the most high. from this time i began to feel my way by decrees into or towards a true notion of the church. it became a definite and organised idea when, at the suggestion of james hope, i read the just published and remarkable work of palmer. but the charm of freshness lay upon that first disclosure of . this mighty question:--what is the nature of a church and what the duties, titles, and symbols of faithful membership, which in divers forms had shaken the world for so many ages and now first dawned upon his ardent mind, was the germ of a deep and lasting pre-occupation of which we shall speedily and without cessation find abundant traces. ii offer of a seat a few weeks later, the great rival interest in mr. gladstone's life, if rival we may call it, was forced into startling prominence before him. at milan he received a letter from lord lincoln, saying that he was commissioned by his father, the duke of newcastle, to inform him that his influence in the borough of newark was at mr. gladstone's disposal if he should be ready to enter parliamentary life. this was the fruit of his famous anti-reform speech at the oxford union. no wonder that such an offer made him giddy. 'this stunning and overpowering proposal,' he says to his father (july ), 'naturally left me the whole of the evening on which i received it, in a flutter of confusion. since that evening there has been time to reflect, and to see that it is not of so intoxicating a character as it seemed at first. first, because the duke of newcastle's offer must have been made at the instance of a single person (lincoln), that person young and sanguine, and i may say in such a matter partial.... this much at least became clear to me by the time i had recovered my breath: that decidedly more than mere permission from my dear father would be necessary to authorise my entering on the consideration of particulars at all.' and then he falls into a vein of devout reflection, almost as if this sudden destination of his life were some irrevocable priesthood or vow of monastic profession, and not the mere stringent secularity of labour in a parliament. it would be thin and narrow to count all this an overstrain. to a nature like his, of such eager strength of equipment; conscious of life as a battle and not a parade; apt for all external action yet with a burning glow of light and fire in the internal spirit; resolute from the first in small things and in great against aimless drift and eddy,--to such an one the moment of fixing alike the goal and the track may well have been grave. then points of doubt arose. 'it is, i daresay, in your recollection,'--this to his father,--'that at the time when mr. canning came to power, the duke of newcastle, in the house of lords, declared him the most profligate minister the country had ever had. now it struck me to inquire of myself, does the duke know the feelings i happen to entertain towards mr. canning? does he know, or can he have had in his mind, my father's connection with mr. canning?' the duke had in fact been one of the busiest and bitterest of canning's enemies, and had afterwards in the same spirit striven with might and main to keep huskisson out of the wellington cabinet. another awkwardness appeared. the duke had offered a handsome contribution towards expenses. would not this tend to abridge the member's independence? what was the footing on which patron and member were to stand? mr. gladstone was informed by his brother that the duke had neither heretofore asked for pledges, nor now demanded them. after a very brief correspondence with his shrewd and generous father, the plunge was taken, and on his return to england, after a fortnight spent 'in an amphibious state between that of a candidate and [greek: idiôtês] or private person,' he issued his address to the electors of newark (august , ). he did not go actually on to the ground until the end of september. the intervening weeks he spent with his family at torquay, where he varied electioneering correspondence and yachting with plenty of sufficiently serious reading from blackstone and plato and the _excursion_ down to _corinne_. one sunday morning (september ), his father burst into his bedroom, with the news that his presence was urgently needed at newark. 'i rose, dressed, and breakfasted speedily, with infinite disgust. i left torquay at ¾ and devoted my sunday to the journey. was i right?... my father drove me to newton; chaise to exeter. there near an hour; went to the cathedral and heard a part of the prayers. mail to london. conversation with a tory countryman who got in for a few miles, on sunday travelling, which we agreed in disapproving. gave him some tracts. excellent mail. dined at yeovil; read a little of the _christian year_ [published ]. at ½ a.m. arrived at piccadilly, ½ hours from exeter. went to fetter lane, washed and breakfasted, and came off at o'clock by a high flyer for newark. the sun hovered red and cold through the heavy fog of london sky, but in the country the day was fine. tea at stamford; arrived at newark at midnight.' such in forty hours was the first of mr. gladstone's countless political pilgrimages. his two election addresses are a curious starting-point for so memorable a journey. thrown into the form of a modern programme, the points are these:--union of church and state, the defence in particular of our irish establishments; correction of the poor laws; allotment of cottage grounds; adequate remuneration of labour; a system of christian instruction for the west indian slaves, but no emancipation until that instruction had fitted them for it; a dignified and impartial foreign policy. the duke was much startled by the passage about labour receiving adequate remuneration, 'which unhappily among several classes of our fellow countrymen is not now the case.' he did not, however, interfere. the whig newspaper said roundly of the first of mr. gladstone's two addresses, that a more jumbled collection of words had seldom been sent from the press. the tory paper, on the contrary, congratulated the constituency on a candidate of considerable commercial experience and talent. the anti-slavery men fought him stoutly. they put his name into their black schedule with nine-and-twenty other candidates, they harried him with posers from a pamphlet of his father's, and they met his doctrine that if slavery were sinful the bible would not have commended the regulation of it, by bluntly asking him on the hustings whether he knew a text in exodus declaring that 'he that stealeth a man and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.' his father's pamphlets undoubtedly exposed a good deal of surface. we cannot be surprised that any adherent of these standard sophistries should be placed on the black list of the zealous soldiers of humanity. the candidate held to the ground he had taken at oxford and in his election address, and apparently made converts. he had an interview with forty voters of abolitionist complexion at his hotel, and according to the friendly narrative of his brother, who was present, 'he shone not only in his powers of conversation, but by the tact, quickness, and talent with which he made his replies, to the thorough and complete satisfaction of baptists, wesleyan methodists, and i may say even, of almost every religious sect! not one refused their vote: they came forward, and enrolled their names, though before, i believe, they never supported any one on the duke's interest!' issues address at newark the humours of an election of the ancient sort are a very old story, and newark had its full share of them. the register contained rather under sixteen hundred voters on a scot and lot qualification, to elect a couple of members. the principal influence over about one quarter of them was exercised by the duke of newcastle, who three years before had punished the whigs of the borough for the outrage of voting against his nominee, by serving, in concert with another proprietor, forty of them with notice to quit. then the trodden worm turned. the notices were framed, affixed to poles, and carried with bands of music through the streets. even the audacity of a petition to parliament was projected. the duke, whose chief fault was not to know that time had brought him into a novel age, defended himself with the haughty truism, then just ceasing to be true, that he had a right to do as he liked with his own. this clear-cut enunciation of a vanishing principle became a sort of landmark, and gave to his name an unpleasing immortality in our political history. in the high tide of agitation for reform the whigs gave the duke a beating, and brought their man to the top of the poll, a tory being his colleague. handley, the tory, on our present occasion seemed safe, and the fight lay between mr. gladstone and sergeant wilde, the sitting whig, a lawyer of merit and eminence, who eighteen years later went to the woolsack as lord truro. reform at newark was already on the ebb. mr. gladstone, though mocked as a mere schoolboy, and fiercely assailed as a slavery man, exhibited from the first hour of the fight tremendous gifts of speech and skill of fence. his red club worked valiantly; the sergeant did not play his cards skilfully; and pretty early in the long struggle it was felt that the duke would this time come into his own again. the young student soon showed that his double first class, his love of books, his religious preoccupations, had not unfitted him by a single jot for one of the most arduous of all forms of the battle of life. he proved a diligent and prepossessing canvasser, an untiring combatant, and of course the readiest and most fluent of speakers. wilde after hearing him said sententiously to one of his own supporters, 'there is a great future before this young man.' the rather rotten borough became suffused with the radiant atmosphere of olympus. the ladies presented their hero with a banner of red silk, and an address expressive of their conviction that the good old red cause was the salvation of their ancient borough. the young candidate in reply speedily put it in far more glowing colours. it was no trivial banner of a party club, it was the red flag of england that he saw before him, the symbol of national moderation and national power, under which, when every throne on the continent had crumbled into dust beneath the tyrannous strength of france, mankind had found sure refuge and triumphant hope, and the blast that tore every other ensign to tatters served only to unfold their own and display its beauty and its glory. amid these oratorical splendours the old hands of the club silently supplemented eloquence and argument by darker agencies, of which happily the candidate knew little until after. there was a red band and each musician received fifteen shillings a day, there happening accidentally to be among them no fewer than ten patriotic red plumpers. large tea-parties attracted red ladies. the inns great and small were thrown joyously open on one side or other, and when the time came, our national heroes from robin hood to lord nelson and the duke of wellington, as well as half the animal kingdom, the swan and salmon, horses, bulls, boars, lions, and eagles, of all the colours of the rainbow and in every kind of strange partnership, sent in bills for meat and liquor supplied to free and independent electors to the tune of a couple of thousand pounds. apart from these black arts, and apart from the duke's interest, there was a good force of the staunch and honest type, the life-blood of electioneering and the salvation of party government, who cried stoutly, 'i was born red, i live red, and i will die red.' 'we started on the canvass,' says one who was with mr. gladstone, 'at eight in the morning and worked at it for about nine hours, with a great crowd, band and flags, and innumerable glasses of beer and wine all jumbled together; then a dinner of or , with speeches and songs until say ten o'clock; then he always played a rubber of whist, and about twelve or one i got to bed and not to sleep.' humours of an old election at length the end came. at the nomination the show of hands was against the reds, but when the poll was taken and closed on the second day, gladstone appeared at the head of it with votes, against for his colleague handley, and for the fallen wilde. 'yesterday' (dec. , ), he tells his father, 'we went to the town hall at a.m., when the mayor cast up the numbers and declared the poll. while he was doing this the popular wrath vented itself for the most part upon handley.... the sergeant obtained me a hearing, and i spoke for perhaps an hour or more, but it was flat work, as they were no more than patient, and agreed with but little that i said. the sergeant then spoke for an hour and a half.... he went into matters connected with his own adieu to newark, besought the people most energetically to bear with their disappointment like men, and expressed his farewell with great depth of feeling. affected to tears himself, he affected others also. in the evening near fifty dined here [clinton arms] and the utmost enthusiasm was manifested.' the new member began his first speech as a member of parliament as follows:-- gentlemen: in looking forward to the field which is now opened before me, i cannot but conceive that i shall often be reproached with being not your representative but the representative of the duke of newcastle. now i should rather incline to exaggerate than to extenuate such connection as does exist between me and that nobleman: and for my part should have no reluctance to see every sentiment which ever passed between us, whether by letter or by word of mouth, exposed to the view of the world. i met the duke of newcastle upon the broad ground of public principle, and upon that ground alone. i own no other bond of union with him than this, that he in his exalted sphere, and i in my humble one, entertained the same persuasion, that the institutions of this country are to be defended against those who threaten their destruction, at all hazards, and to all extremities. why do you return me to parliament? not because i am the duke of newcastle's man, simply: but because, coinciding with the duke in political sentiment, you likewise admit that one possessing so large a property here, and faithfully discharging the duties which the possession of that property entails, ought in the natural course of things to exercise a certain influence. you return me to parliament, not merely because i am the duke of newcastle's man: but because both the man whom the duke has sent, and the duke himself, are _your men_. returned for newark the election was of course pointed to by rejoicing conservatives as a proof the more of that reaction which the ministerial and radical press was audacious enough to laugh at. this borough, says the local journalist, was led away by the bubble reform, to support those who by specious and showy qualification had dazzled their eyes; delusion had vanished, shadows satisfied no longer, newark was restored to its high place in the esteem of the friends of order and good government. of course the intimates of the days of his youth were delighted. we want such a man as gladstone, wrote hallam to gaskell (october , ); 'in some things he is likely to be obstinate and prejudiced; but he has a fine fund of high chivalrous tory sentiment, and a tongue, moreover, to let it loose with. i think he may do a great deal.' in the course of his three months of sojourn at newark mr. gladstone paid his first visit to the great man at clumber. the duke received me, he tells his father, with the greatest kindness, and conversed with such ease and familiarity of manner as speedily to dispel a certain degree of awe which i had previously entertained, and to throw me perhaps more off my guard than i ought to have been in company with a man of his age and rank.... the utmost regularity and subordination appears to prevail in the family, and no doubt it is in many respects a good specimen of the old english style. he is apparently a most affectionate father, but still the sons and daughters are under a certain degree of restraint in his presence.... a man, be his station of life what it may, more entirely divested of personal pride and arrogance, more single-minded and disinterested in his views, or more courageous and resolute in determination to adhere to them as the dictates of his own conscience, i cannot conceive. from this frigid interior mr. gladstone made his way to the genial company of milnes gaskell at thornes and had a delightful week. thence he proceeded to spend some days with his sick mother at leamington. 'we have been singularly dealt with as a family,' he observes, 'once snatched from a position where we were what is called entering society, and sent to comparative seclusion as regards family establishment--and now again prevented from assuming the situation that seems the natural termination of a career like my father's. here is a noble trial--for me personally to exercise a kindly and unselfish feeling, if amid the excitements and allurements now near me, i am enabled duly to realise the bond of consanguinity and suffer with those whom providence has ordained to suffer.' and this assuredly was no mere entry in a journal. in betrothals, marriages, deaths, on all the great occasions of life in his circle, his letters under old-fashioned formalities of phrase yet beat with a marked and living pulse of genuine interest, solicitude, sympathy, unselfishness, and union. iii as always, he sought refreshment from turmoil that was only moderately congenial to him, in reading and writing. among much else he learns shelley by heart, but his devotion to wordsworth is unshaken. 'one remarkable similarity prevails between wordsworth and shelley; the quality of combining and connecting everywhere external nature with internal and unseen mind. but how different are they in applications. it frets and irritates the one, it is the key to the peacefulness of the other.' two books of _paradise regained_, he finds 'very objectionable on religious grounds,'--the books presumably where milton has been convicted of arian heresy. he still has energy enough left for more mundane things, to write a succession of articles for the _liverpool standard_, and he finds time to record his joy (december ) 'over five eton first classes' at oxford. then, by and by, the election accounts come in. the arrangement had been made that the expenses were not to exceed a thousand pounds, of which the duke was to contribute one half, and john gladstone the other half. it now appeared that twice as much would not suffice. the new member flung himself with all his soul into a struggle with his committee against the practice of opening public houses and the exorbitant demands that came of it. open houses, he protested, meant profligate expenditure and organised drunkenness; they were not a pecuniary question, but a question of right and wrong. in the afternoon of the second day of polling, his agent had said to him, speaking about special constables, that he scarcely knew how they could be got if wanted, for he thought nearly every man in the town was drunk. it was in vain that the committee assured him of the discouraging truth that a certain proportion of the voters could not be got to the poll without a breakfast; and an observer from another planet might perhaps have asked himself whether all this was so remarkable an improvement on the duke doing what he liked with his own. mr. gladstone still stood to it that a system of entertainment that ended in producing a state of general intoxication, was the most demoralising and vicious of all forms of outlay, and the newark worthies were bewildered and confounded by the gigantic dialectical and rhetorical resources of their incensed representative. the fierce battle lasted, with moments of mitigation, over many of the thirteen years of the connection. of all the measures that mr. gladstone was destined in days to come to place upon the statute book, none was more salutary than the law that purified corrupt practices at elections.[ ] his birthday on his birthday at the close of this eventful year, here is his entry in his diary:--'on this day i have completed my twenty-third year.... the exertions of the year have been smaller than those of the last, but in some respects the diminution has been unavoidable. in future i hope circumstances will bind me down to work with a rigour which my natural sluggishness will find it impossible to elude. i wish that i could hope my frame of mind had been in any degree removed from earth and brought nearer to heaven, that the habit of my mind had been imbued with something of that spirit which is not of this world. i have now familiarised myself with maxims sanctioning and encouraging a degree of intercourse with society, perhaps attended with much risk.... nor do i now think myself warranted in withdrawing from the practices of my fellow men except when they really _involve_ an encouragement of sin, in which case i do certainly rank races and theatres....' 'periods like these,' he writes to his friend gaskell (january , ), 'grievous generally in many of their results, are by no means unfavourable to the due growth and progress of individual character. i remember a very wise saying of archidamus in thucydides, that the being educated [greek: en tois anankaiotatois] brings strength and efficacy to the character.'[ ] in one of his letters to his father at this exciting epoch mr. gladstone says, that before the sudden opening now made for him, what he had marked out for himself was 'a good many years of silent reading and inquiry.' that blessed dream was over; his own temperament and outer circumstances, both of them made its realisation impossible; but in a sense he clung to it all his days. he entered at lincoln's inn (january ), and he dined pretty frequently in hall down to , meeting many old eton and oxford acquaintances, more genuine law students than himself. he kept thirteen terms but was never called to the bar. if he had intended to undergo a legal training, the design was ended by newark. after residing for a short time in lodgings in jermyn street, he took quarters at the albany (march ), which remained his london home for six years. 'i am getting on rapidly with my furnishing,' he tells his father, 'and i shall be able, i feel confident, to do it all, including plate, within the liberal limits which you allow. i cannot warmly enough thank you for the terms and footing on which you propose to place me in the chambers, but i really fear that after this year my allowance in all will be greater not only than i have any title to, but than i ought to accept without blushing.' he became a member of the oxford and cambridge club the previous month,[ ] and now was 'elected _without_ my will (but not more than without it) a member of the carlton club.' he would not go to dinner parties on sundays, not even with sir robert peel. he was closely attentive to the minor duties of social life, if duties they be; he was a strict observer of the etiquette of calls, and on some afternoons he notes that he made a dozen or fourteen of them. he frequented musical parties, where his fine voice, now reasonably well trained, made him a welcome guest, and he goes to public concerts where he finds pasta and schröder splendid. his irrepressible desire to expand himself in writing or in speech found a vent in constant articles in the _liverpool standard_, neither better nor worse than the ordinary juvenilia of a keen young college politician. he was confident that, whether estimated by their numbers, their wealth, or their respectability, the conservatives indubitably held in their hands the means and elements of permanent power. he discharges a fusillade from roman history against the bare idea of vote by ballot, quotes cicero as its determined enemy, and ascribes to secret suffrage the fall of the republic. he quotes with much zest a sentence from an ultra-radical journal that the life of the west indian negro is happiness itself compared with that of the poor inmate of our spinning-mills. he scores a good point for the patron of newark, by an eloquent article on the one man who had laboured to retrieve the miserable condition of the factory children, and ends with a taunting reminder to the reformers that this one man, sadler,[ ] was the nominee of a borough-monger, and that borough-monger the duke of newcastle. london life it need not be said that his church-going never flagged. in his friend, the elder acland, interested himself in forming a small brotherhood, with rules for systematic exercises of devotion and works of mercy. mr. gladstone was one of the number. the names were not published, nor did any one but the treasurer know the amounts given. the pledge to personal and active benevolence seems not to have been strongly operative, for at the end of (dec. ) mr. gladstone writes to hope in reference to acland's scheme:--'the desire we then both felt passed off, as far as i am concerned, into a plan of asking only a donation and subscription. now it is very difficult to satisfy the demands of duty to the poor by money alone. on the other hand, it is extremely hard for me--and i suppose possibly for you--to give them much in the shape of time and thought, for both with me are already tasked up to and beyond their powers.... i much wish we could execute some plan which without demanding much time would entail the discharge of some humble and humbling office.... if you thought with me--and i do not see why you should not, except to assume the reverse is paying myself a compliment--let us go to work, as in the young days of the college plan but with a more direct and less ambitious purpose.' of this we may see something later. at a great service at st. paul's, he notes the glory alike of sight and sound as 'possessing that remarkable criterion of the sublime, a grand result from a combination of simple elements.' edward irving did not attract; 'a scene pregnant with melancholy instruction.' he was immensely struck by melvill, whom some of us have heard pronounced by the generation before us to be the most puissant of all the men in his calling. 'his sentiments,' says mr. gladstone, 'are manly in tone; he deals powerfully with all his subjects; his language is flowing and unbounded; his imagery varied and intensely strong. vigorous and lofty as are his conceptions, he is not, i think, less remarkable for soundness and healthiness of mind.' such a passage shows among other things how the diarist was already teaching himself to analyse the art of oratory. i may note one rather curious habit, no doubt practised with a view to training in the art of speech. besides listening to as many sermons as possible, he was also for a long time fond of reading them aloud, especially dr. arnold's, in rather a peculiar way. 'my plan is,' he says, 'to strengthen or qualify or omit expressions as i go along.' iv house of commons in an autobiographical note, written in the late days of his life, when he had become the only commoner left who had sat in the old burned house of commons, he says:-- i took my seat at the opening of , provided unquestionably with, a large stock of schoolboy bashfulness. the first time that business required me to go to the arm of the chair to say something to the speaker, manners sutton--the first of seven whose subject i have been--who was something of a keate, i remember the revival in me bodily of the frame of mind in which a schoolboy stands before his master. but apart from an incidental recollection of this kind, i found it most difficult to believe with, any reality of belief, that such a poor and insignificant creature as i, could really belong to, really form a _part_ of, an assembly which, notwithstanding the prosaic character of its entire visible equipment, i felt to be so august. what i may term its corporeal conveniences were, i may observe in passing, marvellously small. i do not think that in any part of the building it afforded the means of so much as washing the hands. the residences of members were at that time less distant: but they were principally reached on foot. when a large house broke up after a considerable division, a copious dark stream found its way up parliament street, whitehall, and charing cross. i remember that there occurred some case in which a constituent (probably a maltster) at newark sent me a communication which made oral communication with the treasury, or with the chancellor of the exchequer (then lord althorp), convenient. as to the means of bringing this about, i was puzzled and abashed. some experienced friend on the opposition bench, probably mr. goulburn, said to me, there is lord althorp sitting alone on the treasury bench, go to him and tell him your business. with such encouragement i did it. lord althorp received me in the kindest manner possible, alike to my pleasure and my surprise. the exact composition of the first reformed house of commons was usually analysed as tories ; reformers ; english and scotch radicals ; irish repealers . mr. gladstone was for counting the decided conservatives as and reckoning as a separate group a small party who had once been tories and now ranked between conservative opposition and whig ministers. the irish representatives he divided between tories, and a body of who were made up of ministerialists, conditional repealers, and tithe extinguishers. he heard joseph hume, the most effective of the leading radicals, get the first word in the reformed parliament, speaking for an hour and perhaps justifying o'connell's witty saying that hume would have been an excellent speaker, if only he would finish a sentence before beginning the next but one after it. no more diligent member of parliament than mr. gladstone ever sat upon the green benches. he read his blue-books, did his duty by election committees, and on the first occasion when, in consequence of staying a little too long at a dinner at the duke of hamilton's, he missed a division, his self-reproach was almost as sharp as if he had fallen into mortal sin. this is often enough the way with virtuous young members, but mr. gladstone's zealous ideal of parliamentary duty lasted, and both at first and always he was a singular union of deep meditative seriousness with untiring animation, assiduity, and practical energy and force working over a wide field definitely mapped. maiden speech in the assembly where he was one day to rank among the most powerful orators ever inscribed upon its golden roll, he first opened his lips in a few words on a newark petition (april ) and shortly after (may ) he spoke two or three minutes on an edinburgh petition. a little later the question of slavery, where he knew every inch of the ground, brought him to a serious ordeal. in may, stanley as colonial secretary introduced the proposals of the government for the gradual abolition of colonial slavery. abolition was to be preceded by an intermediate stage, designated as apprenticeship, to last for twelve years; and the planters were to be helped through the difficulties of the transition by a loan of fifteen millions. in the course of the proceedings, the intermediate period was shortened from twelve years to seven, and the loan of fifteen millions was transformed into a free gift of twenty. to this scheme john gladstone, whose indomitable energy made him the leading spirit of the west indian interest, was consistently opposed, and he naturally became the mark of abolitionist attack. the occasion of mr. gladstone's first speech was an attack by lord howick on the manager of john gladstone's demerara estates, whom he denounced as 'the murderer of slaves,'--an attack made without notice to the two sons of the incriminated proprietor sitting in front of him. he declared that the slaves on the vreedenhoop sugar plantations were systematically worked to death in order to increase the crop. mr. gladstone tried in vain to catch the eye of the chairman on may , and the next day he wished to speak but saw no good opportunity. 'the emotions through which one passes, at least through which i pass, in anticipating such an effort as this, are painful and humiliating. the utter prostration and depression of spirit; the deep sincerity, the burdensome and overpowering reality of the feeling of mere feebleness and incapacity, felt in the inmost heart, yet not to find relief by expression, because the expression of such things goes for affectation,--these things i am unequal to describe, yet i have experienced them now.' on june , the chance came. here is his story of the day: 'began _le miei prigioni_. west india meeting of members at one at lord sandon's. resolutions discussed and agreed upon; ... dined early. re-arranged my notes for the debate. rode. house to . spoke my first time, for minutes. my leading desire was to benefit the cause of those who are now so sorely beset. the house heard me very kindly, and my friends were satisfied. tea afterwards at the carlton.' the speech was an uncommon success. stanley, the minister mainly concerned, congratulated him with more than those conventional compliments which the good nature of the house of commons expects to be paid to any decent beginner. 'i never listened to any speech with greater pleasure,' said stanley, himself the prince of debaters and then in the most brilliant part of his career; 'the member for newark argued his case with a temper, an ability, and a fairness which may well be cited as a good model to many older members of this house.' his own leader, though he spoke later, said nothing in his speech about the new recruit, but two days after mr. gladstone mentioned that sir r. peel came up to him and praised monday night's affair. king william wrote to althorp: 'he rejoices that a young member has come forward in so promising a manner, as viscount althorp states mr. w. e. gladstone to have done.'[ ] apart from its special vindication in close detail of the state of things at vreedenhoop as being no worse than others, the points of the speech on this great issue of the time were familiar ones. he confessed with shame and pain that cases of cruelty had existed, and would always exist, under the system of slavery, and that this was 'a substantial reason why the british legislature and public should set themselves in good earnest to provide for its extinction.' he admitted, too, that we had not fulfilled our christian obligations by communicating the inestimable benefits of our religion to the slaves in our colonies, and that the belief among the early english planters, that if you made a man a christian you could not keep him a slave, had led them to the monstrous conclusion that they ought not to impart christianity to their slaves. its extinction was a consummation devoutly to be desired, and in good earnest to be forwarded, but immediate and unconditioned emancipation, without a previous advance in character, must place the negro in a state where he would be his own worst enemy, and so must crown all the wrongs already done to him by cutting off the last hope of rising to a higher level in social existence. at some later period of his life mr. gladstone read a corrected report of his first speech, and found its tone much less than satisfactory. 'but of course,' he adds, 'allowance must be made for the enormous and most blessed change of opinion since that day on the subject of negro slavery. i must say, however, that even before this time i had come to entertain little or no confidence in the proceedings of the resident agents in the west indies.' 'i can now see plainly enough,' he said sixty years later, 'the sad defects, the real illiberalism of my opinions on that subject. yet they were not illiberal as compared with the ideas of the times, and as declared in parliament in they obtained the commendation of the liberal leaders.' common opinions on slavery it is fair to remember that pitt, fox, grenville, and grey, while eager to bring the slave trade to an instant end, habitually disclaimed as a calumny any intention of emancipating the blacks on the sugar islands. in , when the foul blot of the trade was abolished, even wilberforce himself discouraged attempts to abolish slavery, though the noble philanthropist soon advanced to the full length of his own principles. peel in would have nothing to do with either immediate emancipation or gradual. disraeli has put his view on deliberate record that 'the movement of the middle class for the abolition of slavery was virtuous, but it was not wise. it was an ignorant movement. the history of the abolition of slavery by the english, and its consequences, would be a narrative of ignorance, injustice, blundering, waste, and havoc, not easily paralleled in the history of mankind.'[ ] a week later lord howick proposed to move for papers relating to vreedenhoop. lord althorp did not refuse to grant them, but recommended him to drop his motion, as mr. gladstone insisted on the equal necessity of a similar return for all neighbouring plantations. howick withdrew his motion, though he afterwards asserted that ministers had declined the return, which was not true. when buxton moved to reduce the term of apprenticeship, mr. gladstone voted against him. on the following day stanley, without previous intimation, announced the change from twelve years to seven. 'i spoke a few sentences,' mr. gladstone enters in his diary, 'in much confusion: for i could not easily recover from the sensation caused by the sudden overthrow of an entire and undoubting alliance.' the question of electoral scandals at liverpool, which naturally excited lively interest in a family with local ties so strong, came up in various forms during the session, and on one of these occasions (july ) mr. gladstone spoke upon it, 'for twenty minutes or more, anything but satisfactorily to myself.' nor can the speech now be called satisfactory by any one else, except for the enunciation of the sound maxim that the giver of a bribe deserves punishment quite as richly as the receiver. four days later he spoke for something less than half an hour on the third reading of the irish church reform bill. 'i was heard,' he tells his father, 'with kindness and indulgence, but it is, after all, uphill work to address an assembly so much estranged in feeling from one's self.' peel's speech was described as temporising, and the deliverance of his young lieutenant was temporising too, though firm on the necessary principle, as he called it, of which the world was before long to hear so much from him, that the nation should be taxed for the support of a national church. besides his speeches he gave a full number of party votes, some of them interesting enough in view of the vast career before him. i think the first of them all was in the majority of against upon o'connell's amendment for repeal,--an occasion that came vividly to his memory on the eve of his momentous change of policy in . he voted for the worst clauses of the irish coercion bill, including the court-martial clause. he fought steadily against the admission of jews to parliament. he fought against the admission of dissenters without a test to the universities, which he described as seminaries for the established church. he supported the existing corn law. he said 'no' to the property tax and 'aye' for retaining the house and window taxes. he resisted a motion of hume's for the abolition of military and naval sinecures (february ), and another motion of the same excellent man's for the abolition of all flogging in the army save for mutiny and drunkenness. he voted against the publication of the division lists. he voted with ministers both against shorter parliaments and (april ) against the ballot, a cardinal reform carried by his own government forty years later. on the other hand he voted (july ) with lord ashley against postponing his beneficent policy of factory legislation; but he did not vote either way a fortnight later when althorp sensibly reduced the limit of ten hours' work in factories from the impracticable age of eighteen proposed by ashley, to the age of thirteen. he supported a bill against work on sundays. v purchase of fasque a page or two from his diary will carry us succinctly enough over the rest of the first and second years of his parliamentary life. _july , , sunday._-- ... wrote some lines and prose also. finished strype. read abbott and sumner aloud. thought for some hours on my own future destiny, and took a solitary walk to and about kensington gardens. _july ._--read _l'allemagne_, _rape of the lock_, and finished factory report. _july _.--went to breakfast with old mr. wilberforce, introduced by his son. he is cheerful and serene, a beautiful picture of old age in sight of immortality. heard him pray with his family. blessing and honour are upon his head. _july ._--_l'allemagne_. bulwer's england. parnell. looked at my plato. rode. house. _july ._--hallam breakfasted with me.... committee on west india bill finished.... german lesson. _august ._--worked german several hours. head half of the _bride of lammermoor_. _l'allemagne_. rode. house. _august_ .--german lesson and worked alone.... attended mr. wilberforce's funeral; it brought solemn thoughts, particularly about the slaves. this a burdensome question. [german kept up steadily for many days.] _august ._--house ... voted in to against legal tender clause.... read tasso. _august _.--st. james's morning and afternoon. read bible. abbott (finished) and a sermon of blomfield's aloud. wrote a paraphrase of part of chapter of romans. _august ._--committee - ¼. rode. plato. finished tasso, canto . anti-slavery observations on bill. german vocabulary and exercise. _august ._-- ¾- ½ committee finished. german lesson. finished plato, _republic_, bk. v. preparing to pack. _august_ .--started for aberdeen on board _queen of scotland_ at . _august th._--rose to breakfast, but uneasily. attempted reading, and read most of baxter's narrative. not too unwell to reflect. _august th._--remained in bed. read goethe and translated a few lines. also _beauties of shakespeare_. in the evening it blew: very ill though in bed. could not help admiring the crests of the waves even as i stood at cabin window. _august ._--arrived ½ a.m.-- ½ hours. his father met him, and in the evening he and his brother found themselves at the new paternal seat. in john gladstone, after much negotiation, had bought the estate of fasque in kincardineshire for, £ , , to which and to other scotch affairs he devoted his special and personal attention pretty exclusively. the home at seaforth was broken up, though relatives remained there or in the neighbourhood. for some time he had a house in edinburgh for private residence--the centre house in atholl crescent. they used for three or four years to come in from kincardineshire, and spend the winter months in edinburgh. fasque was his home for the rest of his days. this was w. e. gladstone's first visit, followed by at least one long annual spell for the remaining eighteen years of his father's life. on the morning of his arrival, he notes, 'i rode to the mill of kincairn to see mackay who was shot last night. he was suffering much and seemed near death. read the holy scriptures to him (psalms , , , isaiah , joh. , col. ). left my prayer book.' the visit was repeated daily until the poor man's death a week later. apart from such calls of duty, books are his main interest. he is greatly delighted with hamilton's _men and manners in america_. alfieri's _antigone_ he dislikes as having the faults of both ancient and modern drama. he grinds away through gifford's _pitt_, and reads hallam's _middle ages_. 'my method has usually been, , to read over regularly; , to glance again over all i have read, and analyse.' he was just as little of the lounger in his lighter reading. schiller's plays he went through with attention, finding it 'a good plan to read along with history, historical plays of the same events for material illustration, as well as aid to the memory.' he read scott's chapters on mary stuart in his history of scotland, 'to enable me better to appreciate the admirable judgment of schiller (in _maria stuart_) both where he has adhered to history and where he has gone beyond it.' he finds fault with the _temistocle_ of metastasio, as 'too humane.' 'history should not be violated without a reason. it may be set aside to fill up poetical verisimilitude. if history assigns a cause inadequate to its effect, or an effect inadequate to its cause, poetry may supply the deficiency for the sake of an impressive whole. but it is too much to overset a narrative and call it a historical play.' then came a tragic stroke in real life. days in scotland _october , ._--post hour to-day brought me a melancholy announcement--the death of arthur hallam. this intelligence was deeply oppressive even to my selfish disposition. i mourn in him, for myself, my earliest near friend; for my fellow creatures, one who would have adorned his age and country, a mind full of beauty and of power, attaining almost to that ideal standard of which it is presumption to expect an example. when shall i see his like? yet this dispensation is not all pain, for there is a hope and not (in my mind) a bare or rash hope that his soul rests with god in jesus christ.... i walked upon the hills to muse upon this very mournful event, which cuts me to the heart. alas for his family and his intended bride. _october th._--my usual occupations, but not without many thoughts upon my departed friend. bible. alfieri, _wallenstein_, plato, gifford's _pitt_, _biographia literaria_. rode with my father and helen. all objects lay deep in the softness and solemnity of autumnal decay. alas, my poor friend was cut off in the spring of his bright existence. _december , edinburgh._--breakfast with dr. chalmers. his modesty is so extreme that it is oppressive to those who are in his company, especially his juniors, since it is impossible for them to keep their behaviour in due proportion to his. he was on his own subject, the poor laws, very eloquent, earnest, and impressive. perhaps he may have been hasty in applying maxims drawn from scotland to a more advanced stage of society in england. _december ._--robertson's _charles v._, plato, began book . chalmers. singing-lesson and practice. whist. walked on the glasgow road, first milestone to fourth and back in minutes--the returning three miles in about ¾. ground in some places rather muddy and slippery. _december ._--a feeble day. three successive callers and conversation with my father occupied the morning. read a good allowance of robertson, an historian _who leads his reader on_, i think, more pleasantly than any i know. the style most attractive, but the mind of the writer does not set forth the loftiest principles. _december th, sunday._--twenty-four years have i lived.... where is the _continuous_ work which ought to fill up the life of a christian without intermission?... i have been growing, that is certain; in good or evil? much fluctuation; often a supposed progress, terminating in finding myself at, or short of, the point which i deemed i had left behind me. business and political excitement a tremendous trial, not so much alleviating as forcibly dragging down the soul from that temper which is fit to inhale the air of heaven. _jan. , , edinburgh._--breakfast with dr. chalmers. attended his lecture - .... more than ever struck with the superabundance of dr. c.'s gorgeous language, which leads him into repetitions, until the stores of our tongue be exhausted on each particular point. yet the variety and magnificence of his expositions must fix them very strongly in the minds of his hearers. in ordinary works great attention would be excited by the very infrequent occurrence of the very brilliant expressions and illustrations with which he cloys the palate. his gems lie like paving stones. he does indeed seem to be an _admirable_ man. of edinburgh his knowledge soon became intimate. his father and mother took him to that city, as we have seen, in . he spent a spring there in just before going to oxford, and he recollected to the end of his life a sermon of dr. andrew thomson's on the repentance of judas, 'a great and striking subject.' some circumstance or another brought him into relations with chalmers, that ripened into friendship. 'we used to have walks together,' mr. gladstone remembered, 'chiefly out of the town by the dean bridge and along the queensferry road. on one of our walks together, chalmers took me down to see one of his districts by the water of leith, and i remember we went into one or more of the cottages. he went in with smiling countenance, greeting and being greeted by the people, and sat down. but he had nothing to say. he was exactly like the duke of wellington, who said of himself that he had no small talk. his whole mind was always full of some great subject and he could not deviate from it. he sat smiling among the people, but he had no small talk for them and they had no large talk. so after some time we came away, he pleased to have been with the people, and they proud to have had the doctor with them.[ ] for chalmers he never lost a warm appreciation, often expressed in admirable words--'one of nature's nobles; his warrior grandeur, his rich and glowing eloquence, his absorbed and absorbing earnestness, above all his singular simplicity and detachment from the world.' among other memories, 'there was a quaint old shop at the bowhead which used to interest me very much. it was kept by a bookseller, mr. thomas nelson. i remember being amused by a reply he made to me one day when i went in and asked for booth's _reign of grace_. he half turned his head towards me, and remarked with a peculiar twinkle in his eye, "ay, man, but ye're a young chiel to be askin' after a book like that."' relations with chalmers on his way south in january , mr. gladstone stays with relatives at seaforth, 'where even the wind howling upon the window at night was dear and familiar;' and a few days later finds himself once more within the ever congenial walls of oxford. _january , sunday._--read the first lesson in morning chapel. a most masterly sermon of pusey's preached by clarke. lancaster in the afternoon on the sacrament. good walk. wrote [family letters]. read whyte. three of girdlestone's sermons. pickering on adult baptism (some clever and singularly insufficient reasoning). episcopal pastoral letter for . doane's ordination sermon, , admirable,--wrote some thoughts. _jan. ._--sismondi's _italian republics_. dined at merton, and spent all the evening there in interesting conversation. i was hamilton's guest [afterwards bishop of salisbury]. it was delightful, it wrings joy even from the most unfeeling heart, to see religion on the increase as it is here. _jan. rd._--much of to-day, it fell out, spent in conversation of an interesting kind, with brandreth and pearson on eternal punishment; with williams on baptism; with churton on faith and religion in the university; with harrison on prophecy and the papacy.... _jan. ._--began _essay on saving faith_, and wrote thereon. _jan. th._--dined at oriel. conversation with newman chiefly on church matters.... i excuse some idleness to myself by the fear of doing some real injury to my eyes. [after a flight of three or four days to london, he again returns for a sunday in oxford.] _feb. ._--two university sermons and st. peter's. round the meadows with williams. dined with him, common room. tea and a pleasant conversation with harrison. began _chrysostom de sacerdotio_, and cecil's _friendly visit_. [then he goes back to town for the rest of the session.] _feb. , london._--finished _friendly visit_, beautiful little book. finished tennyson's poems. wrote a paper on [greek: êthikê pistis] in poetry. recollections of robert hall. _ th._--with doyle, long and solemn conversation on the doctrine of the trinity.... began wardlaw's _christian ethics._ _ th, london._--a busy day, yet of little palpable profit.... read two important demerara papers.... rode. at the levee. house ½ - . wished to speak, but deterred by the extremely ill disposition to hear. much sickened by their unfairness in the judicial character, more still at my own wretched feebleness and fears. _april ._--dined at sir r. peel's. herries, sir g. murray, chantrey, etc. sir r. peel very kind in his manner to us. _may ._--mignet's _introduction_ [to 'the history of the spanish succession,' one of the masterpieces of historical literature]. _june ._--bruce to breakfast. paper. mignet and analysis. burke. harvey committee.[ ] ancient music concert. dined at lincoln's inn. house ¼- ¾. rode. _june ._--_paradise lost._ began leibnitz's _tentamina theodiceæ_. _june ._--read pitt's speeches on the union in january, , and grattan on catholic petition in . _ th._--read some passages in the latter part of _corinne_, which always work strongly on me. _ th._--coming home to dine, found _remains of a. h. h._ yesterday a bridal at a friend's, to-day a sad memorial of death. 'tis a sad subject, a very sad one to me. i have not seen his like. the memory of him reposes gently in my inmost heart, a fountain of tears which soften and fertilise it in the midst of pursuits whose tendency is to dry up the sources of emotion by the fever of excitement. i read his memoir. his father had done me much and undeserved kindness there. _ th._--most of my time went in thinking confusedly over the university question. very anxious to speak, tortured with nervous anticipations; could not get an opportunity. certainly my inward experience on these occasions ought to make me humble. herbert's maiden speech very successful. i ought to be thankful for my _miss_; perhaps also because my mind was so much oppressed that i could not, i fear, have unfolded my inward convictions. what a world it is, and how does it require the divine power and aid to clothe in words the profound and mysterious thoughts on those subjects most connected with the human soul--thoughts which the mind does not command as a mistress, but entertains reverentially as honoured guests ... content with only a partial comprehension, hoping to render it a progressive one, but how difficult to define in words a conception, many of whose parts are still in a nascent state with no fixed outline or palpable substance. _july ._-- ... guizot. cousin. bossuet (_hist. univ._). rode. committee and house. curious detail from o'connell of his interview with littleton. _ th._-- ¼ a.m.- ½ in an open chaise to coggeshall and back with o'connell and sir g. sinclair, to examine skingley [a proceeding arising from the harvey committee], which was done with little success. the university question the conversation of the great liberator was never wholly forgotten, and it was probably his earliest chance of a glimpse of the irish point of view at first hand. _july ._--no news till the afternoon and then heard on very good authority that the grey government is definitely broken up, and that attempts at reconstruction have failed. cousin, sismondi, education evidence. letters. house. _ st._--to-day not for the first time felt a great want of courage to express feelings strongly awakened on hearing a speech of o'connell. to have so strong an impulse and not obey it seems unnatural; it seems like an inflicted dumbness. _ th._--spoke to minutes on university bill, with more ease than i had hoped, having been more mindful or less unmindful of divine aid. divided in v. . [to his father next day.] you will see by your _post_ that i held forth last night on the universities bill. the house i am glad to say heard me with the utmost kindness, for they had been listening previously to an indian discussion in which very few people took any interest, though indeed it was both curious and interesting. but the change of subject was no doubt felt as a relief, and their disposition to listen set me infinitely more at my ease than i should otherwise have been. _ th._--pleasant house dinner at carlton. lincoln got up the party. sir r. peel was in good spirits and very agreeable. it was on this occasion that he wrote to his mother,--'sir robert peel caused me much gratification by the way in which he spoke to me of my speech, and particularly the great warmth of his manner. he told me he cheered me loudly, and i said in return that i had heard his voice under me while speaking, and was much encouraged thereby.' he ends the note already cited (sept. , ) on the old house of commons, which was burned down this year, with what he calls a curious incident concerning sir robert peel, and with a sentence or two upon the government of lord grey:-- cobbett made a motion alike wordy and absurd, praying the king to remove him [peel] from the privy council as the author of the act for the re-establishment of the gold standard in . the entire house was against him, except his colleague fielden of oldham, who made a second teller.[ ] after the division i think lord althorp at once rose and moved the expunction of the proceedings from the votes or journals; a severe rebuke to the mover. sir robert in his speech said, 'i am at a loss, sir, to conceive what can be the cause of the strong hostility to me which the honourable gentleman exhibits. _i_ never conferred on him an obligation.' this stroke was not original. but what struck me at the time as singular was this, that notwithstanding the state of feeling which i have described, sir r. peel was greatly excited in dealing with one who at the time was little more than a contemptible antagonist. at that period shirt collars were made with 'gills' which came up upon the cheek; and peel's gills were so soaked with perspiration that they actually lay down upon his neck-cloth. in one of these years, i think , a motion was made by some political economist for the abolition of the corn laws. i (an absolute and literal ignoramus) was much struck and staggered with it. but sir james graham--who knew more of economic and trade matters, i think, than the rest of the cabinet of all put together--made a reply in the sense of protection, whether high or low i cannot now say. but i remember perfectly well that this speech of his built me up again for the moment and enabled me (i believe) to vote with the government. a year of splendid legislation the year was, as measured by quantity and in part by quality, a splendid year of legislation. in the government and lord althorp far beyond all others did themselves high honour by the new poor law act, which rescued the english peasantry from the total loss of their independence. of the members of parliament about must have been their general supporters. much gratitude ought to have been felt for this great administration. but from a variety of causes, at the close of the session the house of commons had fallen into a state of cold indifference about it. he was himself destined one day to feel how soon parliamentary reaction may follow a sweeping popular triumph. footnotes: [ ] sir henry james's act ( ). [ ] thuc. i. , § .--'we should remember that man differs little from man, except that he turns out best who is trained in the sharpest school.' [ ] proposed by sir r. inglis and seconded by george denison, afterwards the militant archdeacon of taunton. he was on the committee from to , and he withdrew from the club at the end of . [ ] sadler is now not much more than a name, except to students of the history of social reform in england, known to some by a couple of articles of macaulay's, written in that great man's least worthy and least agreeable style, and by the fact that macaulay beat him at leeds in . but he deserves our honourable recollection on the ground mentioned by mr. gladstone, as a man of indefatigable and effective zeal in one of the best of causes. [ ] _memoir of althorp_, p. . [ ] _lord george bentinck_, chapter xviii. p. . [ ] report of an interview with mr. gladstone in , in _scottish liberal_, may , , etc., . [ ] daniel whittle harvey was an eloquent member of parliament whom the benchers of his inn refused to call to the bar, on the ground of certain charges against his probity. the house appointed a committee of which mr. gladstone was a member to inquire into these charges. o'connell was chairman, and they acquitted harvey, without however affecting the decision of the benchers. mr. gladstone was the only member of the committee who did not concur in its final judgment. see his article on daniel o'connell in the _nineteenth century_, jan. . [ ] see cobbett's _life_ by edward smith, ii. p. . attwood of birmingham seems to have voted for the motion. chapter ii the new conservatism and office (_ - _) i consider the reform bill a final and irrevocable settlement of a great constitutional question.... if by adopting the spirit of the reform bill it be meant that we are to live in a perpetual vortex of agitation; that public men can only support themselves in public estimation by adopting every popular impression of the day, by promising the instant redress of anything that anybody may call an abuse ... i will not undertake to adopt it. but if the spirit of the reform bill implies merely a careful review of institutions civil and ecclesiastical, undertaken in a friendly temper, the correction of proved abuses and the redress of real grievances, then, etc. etc.--peel (_tamworth address_). miscellaneous reading the autumn of was spent at fasque. an observant eye followed political affairs, but hardly a word is said about them in the diary. a stiff battle was kept up against electioneering iniquities at newark. riding, boating, shooting were mr. gladstone's pastimes in the day; billiards, singing, backgammon, and a rubber in the evening. sport was not without compunction which might well, in an age that counts itself humane, be expected to come oftener. 'had to kill a wounded partridge,' he records, 'and felt after it as if i had shot the albatross. it might be said: this should be more or less.' and that was true. he was always a great walker. he walked from montrose, some thirteen or fourteen miles off, in two hours and three quarters, and another time he does six miles in seventy minutes. nor does he ever walk with an unobserving mind. at lochnagar: 'saw highland women from strathspey coming down for harvest with heavy loads, some with babies, over these wild rough paths through wind and storm. ah, with what labour does a large portion of mankind subsist, while we fare sumptuously every day!' this was the ready susceptibility to humane impression in the common circumstance of life, the eye stirring the emotions of the feeling heart, that nourished in him the soul of true oratory, to say nothing of feeding the roots of statesmanship. his bookmindedness is unabated. he began with a resolution to work at least two hours every morning before breakfast, and the resolution seems to have been manfully kept, without prejudice to systematic reading for a good many hours of the day besides. for the first time, rather strange to say, he read st. augustine's _confessions_, and with the delight that might have been expected. he finds in that famous composition 'a good deal of prolix and fanciful, though acute speculation, but the practical parts of the book have a wonderful force, and inimitable sweetness and simplicity.' in other departments of religion, he read archbishop leighton's life and hannah more's, arnold's sermons and milner's _church history_ and whewells _bridgewater treatise_. once more he analyses the _novum organum_ and the _advancement of learning_, and he reads or re-reads locke's _essay_. he studies political science in the two great manuals of the old world and the new, in the _politics_ of aristotle and the _prince_ of machiavelli. he goes through three or four plays of schiller; also manzoni, and petrarch, and dante at the patient rate of a couple of cantos a day; then boccaccio, from whom, after a half-dozen of the days, he willingly parts company, only interested in him as showing a strange state of manners and how religion can be dissociated from conduct. in modern politics he reads the memoirs of chatham, and brougham on colonial policy, of which he says that 'eccentricity, paradox, fast and loose reasoning and (much more) sentiment, appear to have entered most deeply into the essence of this remarkable man when he wrote his colonial policy, as now; with the rarest power of _expressing_ his thoughts, has he any fixed law to guide them?' on roscoe's _leo x._ he remarks how interesting and highly agreeable it is in style, and while disclaiming any right to judge its fidelity and research, makes the odd observation that it has in some degree subdued the leaven of its author's unitarianism. he writes occasional verses, including the completion of 'some stanzas of december on "the human heart," but i am not impudent enough to call them by that name.' in the midst of days well filled by warm home feeling, reasonable pleasure, and vigorous animation of intellect came the summons to action. on november , a guest arrived with the astonishing news that ministers were out. the king had dismissed the melbourne government, partly because he did not believe that lord john russell could take the place of althorp as leader of the commons, partly because like many cleverer judges he was sick of them, and partly because, as is perhaps the case with more cabinets than the world supposes, the ministers were sick of one another, and king william knew it. mr. gladstone in [ ] described the dismissal of the whigs in as the indiscreet proceeding of an honest and well-meaning man, which gave the conservatives a momentary tenure of office without power, but provoked a strong reaction in favour of the liberals, and greatly prolonged the predominance which they were on the point of losing through the play of natural causes.[ ] sir robert peel was summoned in hot haste from rome, and after a journey of twelve days over alpine snows, eight nights out of the twelve in a carriage, on december he reached london, saw the king and kissed hands as first lord of the treasury. less than two years before, he had said, 'i feel that between me and office there is a wider gulf than there is perhaps between it and any other man in the house.' proposal of office mr. gladstone meanwhile at fasque worked off some of his natural excitement which he notes as invading even sundays, by the composition of a political tract. the tract has disappeared down the gulf of time. december was his father's seventieth birthday, 'his strength and energy wonderful and giving promise of many more.' within the week the fated message from the new prime minister arrived; the case is apt to quicken the pulse of even the most serene of politicians, and we may be sure that mr. gladstone with the keen vigour of five-and-twenty tingling in his veins was something more or less than serene. _dec. ._--locke, and russell's _modern europe_ in the morning. went to meet the post, found a letter from peel desiring to see me, dated th. all haste; ready by --no place! reluctantly deferred till the morning. wrote to lincoln, sir r. peel, etc.... a game of whist. this is a serious call. i got my father's advice to take anything with work and responsibility. _ th._--off at . by mail. i find it a privation to be unable to read in a coach. the mind is distracted through the senses, and rambles. nowhere is it to me so incapable of continuous thought.... newcastle at ¼ p.m. _ th._--same again. at york at ¼ a.m. to . ran to peep at the minster and bore away a faint twilight image of its grandeur. _ th._--arrived safe, thank god, and well at the bull and mouth ¾ a.m. albany soon. to bed for ¼ hours. went to peel about eleven. he writes to his father the same day-- my interview with him was not more than six or eight minutes, but he was _extremely_ kind. he told me his letter to me was among his first; that he was prompted only by his own feelings towards me and some more of that kind; that i might have a seat either at the admiralty or treasury boards, but the latter was that which he intended for me; that i should then be in immediate and confidential communication with himself; and should thereby have more insight into the general concerns of government; that there was a person very anxious for the seat at the treasury, who would go to the admiralty if i did not; but that he meant to go upon the principle of putting every one to the post for which he thought them most fit, so far as he could, and therefore preferred the arrangement he had named. as he distinctly preferred the treasury for me, and assigned such reasons for the preference, it appeared to me that the question was quite settled, and i immediately closed with his offer. i expressed my gratitude for the opinions of me which he had expressed; and said i thought it my duty to mention that the question of my re-election at newark upon a single vacancy had never been put to my friends, and i asked whether i should consider any part of what he had said as contingent upon the answer i might receive from them. he said no, that he would willingly take that risk. at first, he thought i had suspicions about the duke of newcastle, and assured me that he would be much pleased, of which i said i felt quite persuaded. this inquiry, however, served the double purpose of discharging my own duty, and drawing out something about the dissolution. he said to me, 'you will address your constituents upon vacating your seat, and acquaint them of your intention to solicit a renewal of their confidence whenever they are called upon to exercise their franchise, _which i tell you confidentially_,' he added, 'will be very soon.' i would have given a hundred pounds to be then and there in a position to express my hopes and fears! but it is, then, you see _certain_ that we are to have it, and that they will not meet the present parliament. most bitterly do i lament it. mr. gladstone at a later date (july , ) recorded that he had reason to believe from a conversation with a tory friend who was in many party secrets, that the duke of wellington set their candidates in motion all over the country before sir robert's return. active measures, and of course expense, had so generally begun, so much impatience for the dissolution had been excited, and the anticipations had been permitted for so long a time to continue and to spread, as to preclude the possibility of delay.[ ] second election at newark the appointment of the young member for newark was noted at the time as an innovation upon a semi-sacred social usage. sir robert inglis said to him, 'you are about the youngest lord who was ever placed at the treasury on his own account, and not because he was his father's son.' the prime minister, no doubt, rejoiced in finding for the public service a young man of this high promise, sprung out of the same class, and bred in the same academic traditions as his own.[ ] the youthful minister's path was happily smoothed at newark. this time blues and reds called a grand truce, divided the honours, and returned mr. gladstone and sergeant wilde without a contest. the question that excited most interest in the canvass was the new poor law. mr. gladstone gave the fallen ministers full credit for their measure. most of their bills, he said, were projected from a mere craving for popularity, but in the case of the poor law they acted in defiance of the public press and many of their own friends. on the other hand, he defended the new government as the government of a truly reforming party, pointing to the commercial changes made by lord liverpool's administration, to the corporation and test acts, and to catholic emancipation. who could deny that these were changes of magnitude settled in peaceful times by a parliament unreformed? who could deny that sir robert peel had long been a practical reformer of the law, and that the duke of wellington had carried out great retrenchments? let them then rally round throne and altar, and resist the wild measures of the destructives. the red hero was drawn through the town by six greys, with postilions in silk jackets, amid the music of bands, the clash of bells, and the cheers of the crowd. when the red procession met the blue, mutual congratulations took the place of the old insult and defiance, and at five o'clock each party sat down to its own feast. the reds drank toasts of a spirited, loyal, and constitutional character, many admirable speeches were made which the chronicler regrets that his limits will not allow him to report,--regrets unshared by us,--and soon after eleven mr. gladstone escaped. after a day at clumber, he was speedily on his way to london. 'off at ½ p.m. missed the high flyer at tuxford, broke down in my chaise on the way to newark; no injury, thanks to god. remained ½ hours alone; overtaken by the wellington at ½ a.m. arrived in london (jan. ) before p.m. good travelling.' on reckoning up his movements he finds that, though not at all fond of travelling for the sake of going from place to place, he has had in quite miles of it. before the dissolution, sir h. hardinge had told him that the conservatives would not be over nor under , but by the middle of the month things looked less prosperous. the reaction against the whigs had not yet reached full flood, the royal dismissal of the administration was unpopular, moderate people more especially in scotland could not stand a government where the duke of wellington, the symbol of a benighted and stubborn toryism, was seen over peel's shoulder. 'at present,' mr. gladstone writes, 'the case is, even in my view, hopeful; in that of most here it is more. and certainly, to have this very privilege of entertaining a deliberate and reasonable hope, to think that notwithstanding the ten pound clause, a moderate parliament may be returned; in fine, to believe that we have now _some_ prospect of surviving the reform bill without a bloody revolution, is to me as surprising as delightful; it seems to me the greatest and most providential mercy with which a nation was ever visited.... to-day i am going to dine with the lord chancellor [lyndhurst], having received a card to that effect last night.' it was at this dinner that mr. gladstone had his first opportunity of making a remarkable acquaintance. in his diary he mentions as present three of the judges, the flower of the bench, as he supposes, but he says not a word of the man of the strangest destiny there, the author of _vivian grey_. disraeli himself, in a letter to his sister, names 'young gladstone,' and others, but condemns the feast as rather dull, and declares that a swan very white and tender, and stuffed with truffles, was the best company at the table. what mr. gladstone carried away in his memory was a sage lesson of lyndhurst's, by which the two men of genius at his table were in time to show themselves extremely competent to profit,--'never defend yourself before a popular assemblage, except with and by retorting the attack; the hearers, in the pleasure which the assault gives them, will forget the previous charge.' as disraeli himself put it afterwards, _never complain and never explain._ ii change of office one afternoon, a few days later, while he was grappling at the treasury with a file of papers on the mysteries of superannuation, mr. gladstone was again summoned by the prime minister, and again (jan. ) he writes to his father:-- i have had an important interview with sir r. peel, the result of which is that i am to be under-secretary for the colonies. i will give you a hurried and imperfect sketch of the conversation. he began by saying he was about to make a great sacrifice both of his own feelings and convenience, but that what he had to say he hoped would be gratifying to me, as a mark of his confidence and regard. 'i am going to propose to you, gladstone, that you should be, for you know wortley has lost his election, under-secretary of state for the colonies, and i give you my word that i do not know six offices which are at this moment of greater importance than that to which is attached the representation of the colonial department in the house of commons, at a period when so many questions of importance are in agitation.' i expressed as well as i could, and indeed it was but ill, my unfeigned and deep sense of his kindness, my hesitation to form any opinion of my own competency for the office, and at the same time my general desire not to shrink from any responsibility which he might think proper to lay upon me. he said that was the right and manly view to take.... he adverted to my connection with the west indies as likely to give satisfaction to persons dependent on those colonies, and thought that others would not be displeased. in short, i cannot go through it all, but i can only say that if i had always heard of him that he was the warmest and freest person of all living in the expression of his feelings, such description would have been fully borne out by his demeanour to me. when i came away he took my hand and said, '_well, god bless you, wherever you are._' from sir robert the new under-secretary made his way, in fear and trembling, to his new chief, lord aberdeen. distinction of itself naturally and properly rather alarms the young. i had heard of his high character; but i had also heard of him as a man of cold manners, and close and even haughty reserve. it was dark when i entered his room, so that i saw his figure rather than his countenance. i do not recollect the matter of the conversation, but i well remember that, before i had been three minutes with him, all my apprehensions had melted away like snow in the sun. i came away from that interview conscious indeed of his dignity, but of a dignity so tempered by a peculiar purity and gentleness, and so associated with impressions of his kindness and even friendship, that i believe i thought more about the wonder of his being at that time so misunderstood by the outer world, than about the new duties and responsibilities of my office.[ ] time only deepened these impressions. it is not hard for a great party chief to win the affection and regard of his junior colleague, and where good fortune has brought together a congenial pair, no friendship outside the home can be more valuable, more delightful, alike to veteran and to tiro. of all the host of famous or considerable men with whom he was to come into official and other relations, none ever, as we shall see, held the peculiar place in mr. gladstone's esteem and reverence of the two statesmen under whose auspices he now first entered the enchanted circle of public office. the promotion was a remarkable stride. he was only five-and-twenty, his parliamentary existence had barely covered two years, and he was wholly without powerful family connection. 'you are aware,' peel wrote to john gladstone, 'of the sacrifice i have made of personal feeling to public duty, in placing your son in one of the most important offices--that of representative of the colonial department in the house of commons, and thus relinquishing his valuable aid in my own immediate department. wherever he may be placed, he is sure to distinguish himself.'[ ] iii position of government mr. gladstone's first spell of office was little more than momentary. the liberal majority, as has so often happened, was composite, but peel can hardly have supposed that the sections of which it was made up would fail to coalesce, and coalesce pretty soon, for the irresistible object of ejecting ministers who were liked by none of them, and through whose repulse they could strike an avenging blow against the king. ardent subalterns like mr. gladstone took more vehement views. the majority at once beat the government (supported by the group of stanleyites, fifty-three strong) in the contest for the speaker's chair. other repulses followed. 'the division,' writes mr. gladstone to his father, with the honourable warmth of the young party man, 'i need not say was a disappointment to me; but it must have been much more so to those who have ever thought well of the parliament. our party mustered splendidly. some few, but very, very few, of the others appear to have kept away through a sense of decency; they had not virtue enough to vote for the man whom they knew to be incomparably the best, and against whom they had no charge to bring. no more shameful act i think has been done by a british house of commons.' not many days after fervently deprecating a general resignation, an ill-omened purpose of this very course actually flitted across the mind of the young under-secretary himself. a scheme was on the anvil for the education of the blacks in the west indies, and a sudden apprehension startled mr. gladstone, that his chief might devote public funds to all varieties of denominational religious teaching. any plan of that kind would be utterly opposed to what with him, as we shall soon discover, was then a fundamental principle of national polity. happily the fatal leap was not needed, but if either small men like the government whips, or great men like peel and aberdeen, could have known what was passing, they would have shaken grave heads over this spirit of unseasonable scruple at the very start of the race in a brilliant man with all his life before him. _feb. or ._--charles canning told me peel had offered him the vacant lordship of the treasury, through his mother. they were, he said, very much gratified with the manner in which it had been done, though the offer was declined, upon the ground stated in the reply, that though he did not anticipate any discrepancy in political sentiments to separate him from the present government, yet he should prefer in some sense deserving an official station by parliamentary conduct.... peel's letter was written at some length, very friendly, without any statesmanlike reserve or sensitive attention to nicety of style. in the last paragraph it spoke with amiable embarrassment of mr. canning; stating that his 'respect, regard, and admiration' (i think even), apparently interrupted by circumstances, continued fresh and vivid, and that those very circumstances made him more desirous of thus publicly testifying his real sentiments. _march ._--wished to speak on irish church. no opportunity. wrote on it. a noble-minded speech from sir j. graham. _march ._--spoke on the irish church--under forty minutes. i cannot help here recording that this matter of speaking is really my strongest religious exercise. on all occasions, and to-day especially, was forced upon me the humiliating sense of my inability to exercise my reason in the face of the h. of c., and of the necessity of my utterly failing, unless god gave me the strength and language. it was after all a poor performance, but would have been poorer had he never been in my thoughts as a present and powerful aid. but this is what i am as yet totally incompetent to effect--to realise, in speaking, anything, however small, which at all satisfies my mind. debating seems to me less difficult, though unattained. but to hold in serene contemplative action the mental faculties in the turbid excitement of debate, so as to see truth clearly and set it forth such as it is, this i cannot attain to. as regards my speech in the irish church debate, he tells his father (april ), it was received by the house, and has been estimated, in a manner extremely gratifying to me. as regards satisfaction to myself in the manner of its execution, i cannot say so much. backed by a numerous and warm-hearted party, and strong in the consciousness of a good cause, i did not find it difficult to grapple with the more popular parts of the question; but i fell miserably short of my desires in touching upon the principles which the discussion involved, and i am sure that it must be long before i am enabled in any reasonable sense to be a speaker according even to the conception which i have formed in my own mind. a few days later, he received the congratulations of a royal personage:-- in the evening, dining at lord salisbury's, i was introduced to the duke of cumberland, who was pleased to express himself favourably of my speech. he is fond of conversation, and the common reputation which he bears of including in his conversation many oaths, appears to be but too true. yet he said he had made a point of sending his son to george the fourth's funeral, thinking it an excellent advantage for a boy to receive the impression which such a scene was calculated to convey. the duke made many acute remarks, and was, i should say, most remarkably unaffected and kind. these are fine social qualities for a prince, though, of course, not the most important--'my dear sir,' and thumps on the shoulder after a ten minutes' acquaintance. he spoke broadly and freely--much on the disappearance of the bishops' wigs, which he said had done more harm to the church than anything else! ministers defeated on the same night the catastrophe happened. after a protracted and complex struggle lord john russell's proposal for the appropriation of the surplus revenues of the irish church was carried against ministers. the following day peel announced his resignation. though his official work had been unimportant, mr. gladstone had left an excellent impression behind him among the permanent men. when he first appeared in the office, henry taylor said, 'i rather like gladstone, but he is said to have more of the devil in him than appears.' a few weeks were enough to show him that 'gladstone was far the most considerable of the rising generation, having besides his abilities an excellent disposition and great strength of character.' james stephen thought well of him, but doubted if he had pugnacity enough for public life. a few days later mr. gladstone dined with an official party at the fallen minister's:-- sir r. peel made a very nice speech on lincoln's proposing and our drinking his health. the following is a slight and bad sketch:--'i really can hardly call you gentlemen alone. i would rather address you as my warm and attached friends in whom i have the fullest confidence, and with whom it has afforded me the greatest satisfaction to be associated during the struggle which has just been brought to a close. in undertaking the government, from the first i have never expected to succeed; still it was my conviction that good might be done, and i trust that good has been effected. i believe we have shown that even if a conservative government be not strong enough to carry on the public affairs of this country, at least we are so strong that we ought to be able to prevent any other government from doing any serious mischief to its institutions. we meet now as we met at the beginning of the session, then perhaps in somewhat finer dresses, but not, i am sure, with kindlier feelings towards each other.' the rest of the session mr. gladstone passed in his usual pursuits, reading all sorts of books, from the correspondence of leibnitz with bossuet, and alexander knox's _remains_, down to rousseau's _confessions_. as to the last of these he scarcely knew whether to read on or to throw it aside, and, in fact, he seems only to have persevered with that strange romance of a wandering soul for a day or two. besides promiscuous reading, he performed some scribbling, including a sonnet, recorded in his diary with notes of wondering exclamation. his family were in london for most of may, his mother in bad health; no other engagement ever interrupted his sedulous attendance on her every day, reading the bible to her, and telling the news about levees and drawing-rooms, a great dinner at sir robert peel's, and all the rest of his business and recreations. in the house he did little between the fall of the ministry and the close of the session. he once wished to speak, but was shut out by the length of other speeches. 'so,' he moralises, 'i had two useful lessons instead of one. for the sense of helplessness which always possesses me in prospect of a speech is one very useful lesson; and being disappointed after having attained some due state of excitement and anticipation is another.' speech at newark in june at a feast at newark, which, terrible to relate, lasted from four o'clock to eleven, mr. gladstone gave them nearly an hour, not to mention divers minor speeches. his father 'expressed himself with beautiful and affectionate truth of feeling, and the party sympathised.' his own speech deserves to be noted as indicating the political geography for three or four years to come. the standing dish of the tory opposition of the period was highly-spiced reproach of the ministers for living on the support of o'connell, and newark was regaled with an ample meal. mr. gladstone would not enter into a detail of the exploits, character, political opinions of that irish gentleman; he would rather say what he thought of him in his presence than in his absence, because he could unfortunately say nothing of him but what was bad. 'this is not the first period in english history,' mr. gladstone noted down at that time, 'in which a government has leaned on the roman catholic interest in ireland for support. under the administration of strafford and at the time of the scotch revolt, charles i. was enthusiastically supported by the recusants of the sister isle, and what was the effect? the religious sympathies of the people were touched then and they were so now with the same consequence, in the gradual decline of the party to whom the suspicion attaches in popular fervour and estimation.' half a century later he may have recalled this early fruit of historic observation. meanwhile, in his newark speech, he denounced the government for seeking to undo the mischief of the irish alliance by systematic agitation. but it was upon the church question, far deeper and more vital than municipal corporations, that the fate of the government should be decided. then followed a vindication of the church in ireland. 'the protestant faith is held good for us, and _what is good for us is also good for the population of ireland_.' that most disastrous of all our false commonplaces was received at newark, as it has been received so many hundreds of times ever since all over england, with loud and long-continued cheering, to be invariably followed in after act and event with loud and long-continued groaning.[ ] four years later mr. gladstone heard words from lord john russell on this point, that began to change his mind. 'often do i think,' he wrote to lord russell in , 'of a saying of yours more than thirty years back which struck me ineffaceably at the time. you said: "the true key to our irish debates was this: that it was not properly borne in mind that as england is inhabited by englishmen, and scotland by scotchmen, so ireland is inhabited by irishmen."'[ ] footnotes: [ ] _gleanings_, i. p. . [ ] in another place he describes it as an action done 'with no sort of reason' (_ib._ p. ). but the melbourne papers, published in , pp. - and , indicate that melbourne had spontaneously given the king good reasons for cashiering him and his colleagues. [ ] lord palmerston doubted (nov. , ) whether peel would dissolve. 'i think his own bias will rather be to abide by the decision of this house of commons, and try to propitiate it by great professions of reform. the effect of a dissolution must be injurious to the principles that he professes.... but he may be overborne by the violent people of his own party whom he will not be able to control.' ashley's _life of palmerston_ ( ), i. p. . [ ] greville, on the other hand, grumbled at peel, for taking high birth and connections as substitutes for other qualities, because he made sidney herbert secretary at the board of control, instead of making him a lord of the treasury, and sending 'gladstone, who is a very clever man,' to the other and more responsible post. [ ] lord stanmore's _earl of aberdeen_ ( ), p. iii. [ ] parker's _peel_, ii. p. . [ ] o'connell paid newark a short visit in --spoke against mr. gladstone for an hour in the open air, and then left the town, both he and it much as they had been before his arrival. [ ] walpole, _life of lord john russell_, ii. p. . chapter iii progress in public life (_ - _) les hommes en tout ne s'éclairent que par le tâtonnement de l'expérience. les plus grands génies sont eux-mêmes entraînés par leur siècle.--turgot. men are only enlightened by feeling their way through experience. the greatest geniuses are themselves drawn along by their age. in september ( ), after long suffering, his mother died amid tender care and mournful regrets. her youngest son was a devoted nurse; her loss struck him keenly, but with a sense full of the consolations of his faith. to gaskell he writes: 'how deeply and thoroughly her character was imbued with love; with what strong and searching processes of bodily affliction she was assimilated in mind and heart to her redeemer; how above all other things she sighed for the advancement of his kingdom on earth; how few mortals suffered more pain, or more faithfully recognised it as one of the instruments by which god is pleased to forward that restoring process for which we are placed on earth.' then the world resumed its course for him, and things fell into their wonted ways of indefatigable study. his scheme for week-days included blackstone, mackintosh, aristotle's _politics_--'a book of immense value for all governors and public men'--dante's _purgatorio_, spanish grammar, tocqueville, fox's _james ii._, by which he was disappointed, not seeing such an acuteness in extracting and exhibiting the principles that govern from beneath the actions of men and parties, nor such a grasp of generalisation, nor such a faculty of separating minute from material particulars, nor such an abstraction from a debater's modes of thought and forms of expression, as he should have hoped. to these he added as he went along the _génie du christianisme_, bolingbroke, bacon's _essays_, _don quixote_, the _annals_ of tacitus, le bas' _life of laud_ ('somewhat too laudish, though right _au fond_'; unlike lawson's _laud_, 'a most intemperate book, the foam swallows up all the facts'), _childe harold_, _jerusalem delivered_ ('beautiful in its kind, but how can its author be placed in the same category of genius as dante?'), pollok's _course of time_ ('much talent, little culture, insufficient power to digest and construct his subject or his versification; his politics radical, his religious sentiments generally sound, though perhaps hard'). in the evenings he read aloud to his father the _faery queen_ and shakespeare. on sundays he read chillingworth and jewel, and, above all, he dug and delved in st. augustine. he drew a sketch of a project touching peculiarities in religion. for several days he was writing something on politics. then an outline or an essay on our colonial system. for he was no reader of the lounging, sauntering, passively receptive species; he went forward in a sedulous process of import and export, a mind actively at work on all the topics that passed before it. at the beginning of the year he was invited to pay a visit to drayton, where he found only lord harrowby--a link with the great men of an earlier generation, for he had acted as pitt's second in the duel with tierney, and had been foreign secretary in pitt's administration of ; might have been prime minister in if he had liked; and he headed the waverers who secured the passing of the reform bill by the lords. other guests followed, the host rather contracting in freedom of conversation as the party expanded.[ ] visit to drayton i cannot record anything continuous, mr. gladstone writes in his memorandum of the visit, but commit to paper several opinions and expressions of sir r. peel, which bore upon interesting and practical questions. that fox was not a man of settled, reasoned, political principle. lord harrowby added that he was thrown into opposition and whiggism by the insult of lord north. that his own doctrines, both as originally declared, and as resumed when finally in office, were of a highly toned spirit of government. that brougham was the most _powerful_ man he had ever known in the h. of c.; that no one had ever fallen so fast and so far. that the political difficulties of england might be susceptible of cure, and were not appalling; but that the state of ireland was to all appearance hopeless. that there the great difficulty lay in procuring the ordinary administration of justice; that the very institution of juries supposed a common interest of the juror and the state, a condition not fulfilled in the present instance; that it was quite unfit for the present state of society in ireland. lord harrowby thought that a strong conservative government might still quell agitation. and sir b. peel said stanley had told him that the whig government were on the point of succeeding in putting a stop to the resistance to payment of tithe, when lord althorp, alarmed at the expense already incurred, wrote to stop its collection by the military. we should probably live to see the independence of poland established. the duke of wellington and others arrived later in the day. it was pleasing to see the deference with which he was received as he entered the library; at the sound of his name everybody rose; he is addressed by all with a respectful manner. he met peel most cordially, and seized both lady peel's hands. i now recollect that it was with _glee_ sir r. peel said to me on monday, 'i am glad to say you will meet the duke here,' which had reference, i doubt not, partly to the anticipated pleasure of seeing him, partly to the dissipation of unworthy suspicions. he reported that government are still labouring at a church measure without appropriation. _jan. ._--the duke of wellington appears to speak little; and never for speaking's sake, but only to convey an idea, commonly worth conveying. he receives remarks made to him very frequently with no more than 'ha,' a convenient, suspensive expression, which acknowledges the arrival of the observation and no more. of the two days which he spent here he hunted on thursday, shot on friday, and to-day travelled to strathfieldsay, more, i believe, than miles, to entertain a party of friends to dinner. with this bodily exertion he mixes at or a constant attention to business. sir r. peel mentioned to me to-night a very remarkable example of his [the duke's] perhaps excessive precision. whenever he signs a draft on coutts's, he addresses to them at the same time a note apprising them that he has done so. this perfect facility of transition from one class of occupation to their opposites, and their habitual intermixture without any apparent encroachments on either side, is, i think, a very remarkable evidence of self-command, and a mental power of singular utility. sir robert is also, i conceive, a thrifty dealer with his time, but in a man of his age [peel now ] this is less beyond expectation. he said good-bye on the last night with regret. in the midst of the great company he found time to read bossuet on variations, remarking rather oddly, 'some of bossuet's theology seems to me very good.' mixed avocations on jan. th is the entry of his journey from liverpool, ' to to hawarden castle.' [i suppose his first visit to his future home.] got to chester (feb. ) five minutes after the mail had started. got on by albion. outside all night; frost; rain; arrived at albany ¾. _feb. th._--session opens. voted in - . a good opportunity for speaking, but in my weakness did not use it. _feb. th._--stanley made a noble speech. voted in to for abolition of irish corporations. pendulums and nothingarians all against us. _sunday._--wrote on hypocrisy. on worship. attempted to explain this to the servants at night. newman's sermons and j. taylor. trench's poems. _march nd._--read to my deep sorrow of anstice's death on monday. his friends, his young widow, the world can spare him ill; so says at least the flesh. stapleton. _paradiso_, vii. viii. calls. rode. wrote. dined at lord ashbuxton's. house. statistical society's _proceedings._ verses on anstice's death. _march nd._--house ¼- ¾. spoke minutes [on negro apprenticeship; see p. ]; kindly heard, and i should thank god for being made able to speak even thus indifferently.[ ] _march rd_.... late, having been awake last night till between and , as usual after speaking. how useful to make us feel the habitual unremembered blessing of sound sleep.... _april th._--_gerus. lib._ c. xi.... dr. pusey here from to about church building. rode. at night to perusing henry taylor's proofs of _the statesman_, and writing notes on it, presumptuous enough.... _gerus._ xii. re-perused taylor's sheets. a batch of calls. wrote letters. bossuet. dined at henry taylor's, a keen intellectual exercise, and thus a place of danger, especially as it is exercise seen.... _ th._--spedding at breakfast. _gerus._ xiii. finished locke on understanding. it appears to me on the whole a much overrated, though, in some respects, a very useful book.... _may th._--mr. wordsworth, h. taylor, and doyle to breakfast. sat till ¾. conversation on shelley, trench, tennyson; travelling, copyright, etc. _ th._--milnes, blakesley, taylor, cole, to breakfast. church meeting at archbishop of armagh's. ancient music rehearsal. house - ¼ and ¼- . _june st._--read wordsworth.... house - . spoke about minutes [on tithes and church (ireland) bill]. i had this pleasure in my speech, that i never rose more intent upon telling what i believe to be royal truth; though i did it very ill, and further than ever below the idea which i would nevertheless hold before my mind. _ rd._--west indies committee - . finished writing out my speech and sent it. read wordsworth.... saw sir r. peel. dined at sergeant talfourd's to meet wordsworth.... _ th._--st. james's, communion. dined at lincoln's inn. st. sepulchre's. wrote. jer. taylor, newman. began nicole's _préjugés_. arnold aloud. _ th._--wordsworth, since he has been in town, has breakfasted twice and dined once with me. intercourse with him is, upon the whole, extremely pleasing. i was sorry to hear sydney smith say that he did not see very much in him, nor greatly admire his poems. he even adverted to the london sonnet as ridiculous. sheil thought this of the line: 'dear god! the very houses seem asleep.' i ventured to call his attention to that which followed as carrying out the idea: 'and all that mighty heart is lying still.' of which i may say _omne tulit punctum_. wordsworth came in to breakfast the other day before his time. i asked him to excuse me while i had my servant to prayers; but he expressed a _hearty_ wish to be present, which was delightful. he has laboured long; if for himself, yet more for men, and over all i trust for god. will he ever be the bearer of evil thoughts to any mind? glory is gathering round his later years on earth, and his later works especially indicate the spiritual ripening of his noble soul. i heard but few of his opinions; but these are some he was charmed with trench's poems; liked alford; thought shelley had the greatest native powers in poetry of all the men of this age. in reading _die braut von korinth_ translated, was more horrified than enchained, or rather altogether the first. wondered how any one could translate it or the faust, but spoke as knowing the original. thought little of murillo as to the mind of painting; said he could not have painted paul veronese's 'marriage of cana.' considered that old age in great measure disqualified him by its rigid fixity of habits from judging of the works of young poets--i must say that he was here even over liberal in self-depreciation. he defended the make of the steamboat as more poetical than otherwise to the eye (see sonnets).[ ] thought coleridge admired ossian only in youth, and himself admired the spirit which macpherson _professes_ to embody. sergeant talfourd dined here to meet wordsworth yesterday. wordsworth is vehement against byron. saw in shelley the lowest form of irreligion, but a later progress towards better things. named the discrepancy between his creed and his imagination as the marring idea of his works, in which description i could not concur. spoke of the _entire_ revolution in his own poetical taste. we were agreed that a man's personal character ought to be the basis of his politics. he quoted his sonnet on the contested election [what sonnet is this?], from which i ventured to differ as regards its assuming nutriment for the heart to be inherent in politics. he described to me his views; that the reform act had, as it were, brought out too prominently a particular muscle of the national frame: the strength of the towns; that the cure was to be found in a large further enfranchisement, i fancy, of the country chiefly; that you would thus extend the base of your pyramid and so give it strength. he wished the old institutions of the country preserved, and thought this the way to preserve them. he thought the political franchise upon the whole a good to the mass--regard being had to the state of human nature; against me. _ th._--read browning's _paracelsus_. went to richmond to dine with the gaskells. a two hours' walk home at night. _ th._--wrote two sonnets. finished and wrote out _brant von korinth_. shall i ever dare to make out a counterpart? _ st._--breakfast at mr. hallam's to meet mr. wordsworth and mr. rogers. wordsworth spoke much and justly about copyright. conversation with talfourd in the evening, partly about that subject. began something on egotism. _ th._--breakfast with mr. rogers, mr. wordsworth only there. very agreeable. rogers produced an american poem, the death of bozzaris, which wordsworth proposed that i should read to them: of course i declined, so even did rogers. but wordsworth read it through in good taste, and doing it justice. _fasque_ in time for aug. ; out on the hill, but unlucky with a sprained ankle, and obliged to give up early. _aug. th._--wrote (long) to dr. chalmers. orator. _sept. th._--milner, finished vol. ii. cic. _acad._ wraxall. began goethe's _iphigenie_. wrote. _oct. th._--milner. wraxall. a dinner-party. wrote out a sketch for an essay on justification. singing, whist, shooting. copied a paper for my father. _ th._--a day on the hill for roe. guns. [to liverpool for public dinner at the amphitheatre.] _ th._--most kindly heard. canning's début everything that could be desired. i thought i spoke minutes, but afterwards found it was . read _marco visconti_. _ st._--operative dinner at amphitheatre. spoke perhaps or minutes. _ th._--_haddo_ [lord aberdeen's]. finished _marco visconti_, a long bout, but i could not let it go. buckland's opening chapters. _on the whole_ satisfactory. _ th._--lord aberdeen read prayers in the evening with simple and earnest pathos. _nov. th._--_wilhehm meister_, book i., and there i mean to leave it, unless i hear a better report of the succeeding one than i could make of the first. next day, recommenced with great anticipations of delight the _divina commedia_. _ th._--finished nicole _de l'unité_. august. _de civ._ [every day at this time.] _ th._--began cicero's _tusculan questions_.... _ th._--aug. _civ. dei._ i am now in book xiv. cic. _tusc._ finished. book ii. _purgatorio_, iii.-v. a dose of whist. still snow and rain. _ th._--aug. cicero. billiards. _purgatorio_, vi.-viii. began dryden's _fables._ my eyes are not in their best plight, and i am obliged to consider type a little. _jan. rd_, .--breakfasted with dr. chalmers. how kind my father is in small matters as well as great--thoughtfully sending carriage. _ th, glasgow._--the pavilion astonishing, and the whole effect very grand. near . sir e. peel spoke h. m. explicit and bold; it was a very great effort. i kept within min.--quite long enough. _ th._-- ½- ½ mail to carlisle. on all night, _ th._ wetherby at ½. leeds ½. church there. walked over to wakefield. church there. evening at thornes. [milnes gaskell's.] _ th._--to newark. very good meeting. spoke ¾ hour. in this speech, after the regulation denunciation of the reckless wickedness of o'connell, he set about demonstrating the change that had taken place in the character of public feeling during the last few years. he pointed out that at the dissolution of the conservative members of the house of commons amounted perhaps to . in they saw this small dispirited band grow into a resolute and formidable phalanx of . the cry was: 'resolute attachment to the institutions of the country.' one passage in the speech is of interest in the history of his attitude on toleration. sir william moles worth had been invited to come forward as candidate for the representation of leeds. a report spread that sir william was not a believer in the christian articles of faith. somebody wrote to molesworth, to know if this was true. he answered, that the question whether he was a believer in the christian religion was one that no man of liberal principles ought to propose to another, or could propose without being guilty of a dereliction of duty. on this incident, mr. gladstone said that he would ask, 'is it not a time for serious reflection among moderate and candid men of all parties, when such a question was actually thought impertinent interference? surely they would say with him, that men who have no belief in the divine revelation are not the men to govern this nation, be they whigs or radicals.' long, extraordinary, and not inglorious, was the ascent from such a position as this, to the principles so nobly vindicated in the speech on the affirmation bill in . party councils at the end of january he is back in london, arranging books and papers and making a little daylight in his chaos. 'what useful advice might a man who has been _buon pezzo_ in parliament give to one going into it, on this mechanical portion of his business.' the entries for are none of them especially interesting. every day in the midst of full parliamentary work, social engagements, and public duties outside of the house of commons, he was elaborating the treatise on the relations of church and state, of which we shall see more in our following chapter. at the beginning of the session he went to a dinner at peel's, at which lord stanley and some of his friends were present--a circumstance noted as a sign of the impending fusion between the whig seceders of and the conservative party. sir robert seems to have gone on extending his confidence in him. i visited sir robert peel (march th) about the canada question, and again by appointment on the th, with lord aberdeen. on the former day he said, 'is there anyone else to invite?' i suggested lord stanley. he said, perhaps he might be inclined to take a separate view. but in the interval he had apparently thought otherwise. for on monday he read to lord aberdeen and myself a letter from stanley written with the utmost frankness and in a tone of political intimacy, saying that an engagement as chairman of a committee at the house would prevent his meeting us. the business of the day was discussed in conversation, and it was agreed to be quite impossible to support the resolution on the legislative council in its existing terms, without at least a protest. peel made the following remark: 'you have got another ireland growing up in every colony you possess.' a week later he was shocked by the death of lady canning. 'breakfast with gaskell' (march rd), 'and thence to lady canning's funeral in westminster abbey. we were but eleven in attendance. her coffin was laid on that of her illustrious husband. canning showed a deep but manly sorrow. may we live as by the side of a grave and looking in.' in the same month he spoke on canada (march th) 'with insufficient possession of the subject,' and a week later on church rates, for an hour or more, 'with more success than the matter or manner deserved.' he finished his translation of the _bride of corinth_, and the episode of ugolino from dante, and read eckermann's _conversations with goethe_, to which he gives the too commonplace praise of being very interesting. he learned manzoni's noble ode on the death of napoleon, of which he by-and-by made a noble translation; this by way of sparing his eyes, and italian poetry not taking him nearly half the time of any other to commit to memory. he found a 'beautiful and powerful production' in channing's letter to clay, and he made the acquaintance of southey, 'in appearance benignant, melancholy, and intellectual.' ii the general election of in june king william iv. died, 'leaving a perilous legacy to his successor.' a month later (july ) mr. gladstone went up with the oxford address, and this was, i suppose, the first occasion on which he was called to present himself before the queen, with whose long reign his own future career and fame were destined to be so closely and so conspicuously associated. according to the old law prescribing a dissolution of parliament within six months of the demise of the crown, mr. gladstone was soon in the thick of a general election. by july th he was at newark, canvassing, speaking, hand-shaking, and in lucid intervals reading filicaja. he found a very strong, angry, and general sentiment, not against the principle of the poor law as regards the able-bodied, but against the regulations for separating man and wife, and sending the old compulsorily to the workhouse, with others of a like nature. with the disapprobation on these heads he in great part concurred. there was to be no contest, but arrangements of this kind still leave room for some anxiety, and in mr. gladstone's case a singular thing happened. two days after his arrival at newark he was followed by a body of gentlemen from manchester, with an earnest invitation that he would be a candidate for that great town. he declined the invitation, absolutely as he supposed, but the manchester tories nominated him notwithstanding. they assured the electors that he was the most promising young statesman of the day. the whigs on the other hand vowed that he was an insulter of dissent, a bigot of such dark hue as to wish to subject even the poor negroes of his father's estates to the slavery of a dominant church, a man who owed whatever wealth and consequence his family possessed to the crime of holding his fellow-creatures in bondage, a man who, though honest and consistent, was a member of that small ultra-tory minority which followed the duke of cumberland. when the votes were counted, mr. gladstone was at the bottom of the poll, with a majority of many hundreds against him.[ ] meantime he was already member for newark. his own election was no sooner over than he caught the last vacant place on the mail to carlisle, whence he hastened to the aid of his father's patriotic labours as candidate for dundee. here he worked hard at canvassing and meetings, often pelted with mud and stones, but encouraged by friends more buoyant than the event justified. _aug. st._--my father beaten after all, our promised votes in many cases going back or going against us.... two hundred promises broken. poll closed at parnell, ; gladstone, . it is not in human approbation that the reward of right action is to be sought. left at ½ amid the hisses of the crowd. perth at ¼. left at one in the morning for glasgow. _ nd._--glasgow ½. steamer at . breeze; miserably sick; deck all night. _ rd._--arrived at ½; (liverpool), very sore. _ th._--out at ½ to vote for s. lancashire. acted as representative in the booth half the day. results of election excellent. _ th._--again at the booths. a great victory here. _ th._--wrote to manning on the death of his wife. _ th._--_manchester._ public dinner at ; lasted till near . music excellent. spoke ½ hours, i am told, _proh pudor!_[ ] back at fasque, only a day too late for the twelfth, he found the sport bad and he shot badly, but he enjoyed the healthful walks on the hill. his employments were curiously mixed. '_sept. th._--in the bog for snipe with sir j. mackenzie. read _timæus_. began byron's life. my eyes refused progress. verses. _ th._--snipe-shooting with f. in the bog. began _critias_. _ nd._--_haddo._ otter-hunting, _senz esito_. finished plato's _laws_. hunting too in the library.' the mental dispersion of country-house visiting never affects either multifarious reading or multifarious writing. spanish grammar, _don quixote_ in the original, crabbe, _don juan_, alternate with augustine _de peccatorum remissione_ or _de utilitate credendi_ ('beautiful and useful'). he works at an essay of his own upon justification, at adversaria on aristotle's _ethics_, at another essay upon rationalism, and to save his eyes, spins verse enough to fill a decent volume of a hundred and fifty pages. he makes a circuit of calls upon the tenants, taking a farming lecture from one, praying by the sick-bed of another. business with wellington in november he was again in london to be sworn of the new parliament, and at the end of the month he had for the first time an interview on business with the duke of wellington--of interest as the collocation of two famous names. 'the immediate subject was the cape of good hope. his reception of me was plain but kind. he came to the door of his room. "will you come in? how do you do? i am glad to see you." we spoke a little of the cape. he said with regard to the war--and with sufficient modesty--that he was pretty well aware of the operations that had taken place in it, having been at the cape, and being in some degree able to judge of those matters. he said, "i suppose it is there as everywhere else, as we had it last night about ireland and the house of lords. they won't use the law, as it is in canada, as it is in the west indies. they excite insurrection everywhere (i, however, put in an apology for them in the west indies), they _want to play the part of opposition_; they are not a government, for they don't maintain the law." he appointed me to return to him to-morrow.' the result of the general election was a slight improvement in the position of the conservatives, but they still mustered no more than against supporters of the ministry, including the radical and irish groups. if melbourne and russell found their team delicate to drive, peel's difficulties were hardly less. few people, he wrote at this moment, can judge of the difficulty there has frequently been in maintaining harmony between the various branches of the conservative party. the great majority in the lords and the minority in the commons consisted of very different elements; they included men like stanley and graham, who had been authors and advocates of parliamentary reform, and men who had denounced reform as treason to the constitution and ruin to the country. even the animosities of and catholic emancipation were only half quenched within the tory ranks.[ ] it was at a meeting held at peel's on december , , that lord stanley for the first time appeared among the conservative members. the distractions produced in canada by mismanagement and misapprehension in downing street had already given trouble during the very short time when mr. gladstone was under-secretary at the colonial office; but they now broke into the flame of open revolt. the perversity of a foolish king and weakness and disunion among his whig ministers had brought about a catastrophe. at the beginning of the session ( ) the government introduced a bill suspending the constitution and conferring various absolute powers on lord durham as governor general and high commissioner. it was in connection with this proposal that mr. gladstone seems to have been first taken into the confidential consultations of the leaders of his party. canadian speech the sage marshalling and manoeuvring of the parliamentary squads was embarrassed by a move from sir william molesworth, of whom we have just been hearing, the editor of hobbes, and one of the group nicknamed philosophic radicals with whom mr. gladstone at this stage seldom or never agreed. 'the new school of morals,' he called them, 'which taught that success was the only criterion of merit,'--a delineation for which he would have been severely handled by bentham or james mill. molesworth gave notice of a vote of censure on lord glenelg, the colonial minister; that is, he selected a single member of the cabinet for condemnation, on the ground of acts for which all the other ministers were collectively just as responsible. for this discrimination the only precedent seems to be fox's motion against lord sandwich in . mr. gladstone's memorandum[ ] completes or modifies the account of the dilemma of the conservative leader, already known from sir robert peel's papers,[ ] and the reader will find it elsewhere. it was the right of a conservative opposition to challenge a whig ministry; yet to fight under radical colours was odious and intolerable. on the other hand he could not vote for molesworth, because he thought him unjust; but he could not vote against him, because that would imply confidence in the canadian policy of ministers. a certain conservative contingent would not acquiesce in support of ministers against molesworth, or in tame resort to the previous question. again, peel felt or feigned an apprehension that if by aggressive action they beat the government, a conservative ministry must come in, and he did not think that such a ministry could last. even at this risk, it became clear that the only way of avoiding the difficulty was an amendment to molesworth's motion from the official opposition. mr. gladstone spoke (mar. ), and was described as making his points with admirable precision and force, though 'with something of a provincial manner, like the rust to a piece of powerful steel machinery that has not worked into polish.' the debate, on which such mighty issues were thought to hang, lasted a couple of nights with not more than moderate spirit. at the close the amendment was thrown out by a majority of twenty-nine for ministers. the general result was to moderate the impatience of the carlton club men, who wished to see their party in, on the one hand; and of the radical men, who did not object to having the whigs out, on the other. it showed that neither administration nor opposition was in a station of supreme command. iii at the end of march mr. gladstone produced the strongest impression that he had yet made in parliament, and he now definitely took his place in the front rank. it was on the old embarrassment of slavery. reports from the colonies showed that in some at least, and more particularly in jamaica, the apprenticeship system had led to harsher treatment of the negroes than under slavery. as it has been well put, the bad planters regarded their slave-apprentices as a bad farmer regards a farm near the end of an expiring term. in buxton moved for a select committee to inquire into the working of the system. mr. gladstone defended it, and he warned parliament against 'incautious and precipitate anticipations of entire success' (march ). six days later he was appointed a member of the apprenticeship committee which at once began to investigate the complaints from jamaica. mr. gladstone acted as the representative of the planters on the committee, and he paid very close attention to the proceedings during two sessions. in the spring of a motion was made to accelerate by two years the end of the apprenticeship system on the slave plantations of the west indies. brougham had been raising a tempest of humane sentiment by more than one of his most magnificent speeches. the leading men on both sides in parliament were openly and strongly against a disturbance of the settlement, but the feeling in the constituencies was hot, and in liberal and tory camp alike members in fear and trembling tried to make up their minds. sir george grey made an effective case for the law as it stood, and peel spoke on the same side; but it was agreed that mr. gladstone, by his union of fervour, elevation, and a complete mastery of the facts of the case, went deeper than either. even unwilling witnesses 'felt bound to admit the great ability he displayed.' his address was completely that of an advocate, and he did not even affect to look on both sides of the question, expressing his joy that the day had at length arrived when he could meet the charges against the planters and enter upon their defence. _march th._--spoke from to . received with the greatest and most affecting kindness from, all parties, both during and after. through the debate i felt the most painful depression. except mr. plumptre and lord john russell, all who spoke damaged the question to the utmost possible degree. prayer earnest for the moment was wrung from me in my necessity; i hope it was not a blasphemous prayer, for support in pleading the cause of justice.... i am half insensible even in the moment of delight to such pleasures as this kind of occasion affords. but this is a dangerous state; indifference to the world is not love of god.... speech on slavery in writing to him upon this speech, mr. stephen, his former ally at the colonial office, addressed an admonition, which is worth, recalling both for its own sake and because it hits by anticipation what was to be one of the most admirable traits in the mighty parliamentarian to whom it was written. 'it seems to me,' says stephen, 'that this part of your speech establishes nothing more than the fact that your opponents are capricious in the distribution of their sympathy, which is, after all, a reproach and nothing more. now, reproach is not only not your strength, but it is the very thing in the disuse of which your strength consists; and indulging as i do the hope that you will one day occupy one of the foremost stations in the house of commons, if not the first of all, i cannot help wishing that you may also be the founder of a more magnanimous system of parliamentary tactics than has ever yet been established, in which recrimination will be condemned as unbefitting wise men and good christians.' in an assembly for candid deliberation modified by party spirit, this is, i fear, almost as much a counsel of perfection as it would have been in a school of roman gladiators, but at any rate it points the better way. the speech itself has a close, direct, sinewy quality, a complete freedom from anything vague or involved; and shows for the first time a perfect mastery of the art of handling detail upon detail without an instant of tediousness, and holding the attention of listeners sustained and unbroken. it was a remonstrance against false allegations of the misbehaviour of the planters since the emancipating act, but there is not a trace of backsliding upon the great issue. 'we joined in passing the measure; we declared a belief that slavery was an evil and demoralising state, and _a desire to be relieved from it_; we accepted a price in composition for the loss which was expected to accrue.' neither now or at any time did mr. gladstone set too low a value on that great dead-lift effort, not too familiar in history, to heave off a burden from the conscience of the nation, and set back the bounds of cruel wrong upon the earth. on the day after this performance, the entry in his diary is--'in the morning my father was greatly overcome, and i could hardly speak to him. now is the time to turn this attack into measures of benefit for the negroes.' more than once in the course of the spring he showed how much in earnest he was about the negroes, by strenuously pressing his father to allow him to go to the west indies and view the state of things there for himself. perhaps by prudent instinct his father disapproved, and at last spoke decidedly against any project of the kind. the question of the education of the people was rising into political prominence, and its close relations with the claims of the church sufficed to engage the active interest of so zealous a son of the church as mr. gladstone. from a very early stage we find him moving for returns, serving on education committees in parliament, corresponding energetically with manning, acland, and others of like mind in and out of parliament. primary education is one of the few subjects on which the fossils of extinct opinion neither interest nor instruct. it is enough to mark that mr. gladstone's position in the forties was that of the ultra-churchman of the time, and such as no church-ultra now dreams of fighting for. we find him 'objecting to any infringement whatever of the principle on which the established church was founded--that of confining the pecuniary support of the state to one particular religious denomination.'[ ] to dr. hook (march , ), he speaks of 'a safe and precious interval, perhaps the last to those who are desirous of placing the education of the people under the efficient control of the clergy.' the aims of himself and his allies were to plant training schools in every diocese; to connect these with the cathedrals through the chapters; to license the teachers by the bishops after examination. writing to manning (feb. , ), he compares control by government to the 'little lion cub in the _agamemnon_,' which after being in its primeval season the delight of the young and amusement of the old, gradually revealed its parent stock, and grew to be a creature of huge mischief in the household.[ ] he describes a divergence of view among them on the question whether the clergyman should have his choice as to 'admitting the children of dissenters without at once teaching them the catechism.' how mr. gladstone went he does not say, nor does it matter. he was not yet thirty. he accepted his political toryism on authority and in good faith, and the same was true of his views on church policy. he could not foresee that it was to be in his own day of power that the cub should come out full-grown lion. in society his work did not prevent him from mixing pretty freely with men in society, though he seems to have thought that little of what passed was worth transcribing, nor in truth had mr. gladstone ever much or any of the rare talent of the born diarist. here are one or two miscellanea which must be made to serve:-- _april / ._--a long sitting and conversation with mr. rogers after the milnes' marriage breakfast. he spoke unfavourably of bulwer; well of milnes' verses; said his father wished them not to be published, because such authorship and its repute would clash with the parliamentary career of his son. mr. rogers thought a great author would undoubtedly stand better in parliament from being such; but that otherwise the additament of authorship, unless on germane subjects, would be a hindrance. he quoted swift on women.... he has a good and tender opinion of them; but went nearly the length of maurice (when mentioned to him) that they had not that specific faculty of understanding which lies beneath the reason. peel was odd, in the contrast of a familiar first address, with slackness of manner afterwards. the duke of wellington took the greatest interest in the poor around him at strathfieldsay, had all of eloquence except the words. mr. rogers quoted a saying about brougham that he was not so much a master of the language as mastered by it. i doubt very much the truth of this. brougham's management of his sentences, as i remember the late lady canning observing to me, is surely most wonderful. he never loses the thread, and yet he habitually twists it into a thousand varieties of intricate form. he said, when stanley came out in public life, and at the age of thirty, he was by far the cleverest young man of the day; and at sixty he would be the same, still by far the cleverest young man of the day. progress in public life _june th._--sir r. peel dined at mr. dugdale's. after dinner he spoke of wilberforce; believed him to be an excellent man independently of the book, or would not have been favourably impressed by the records of his being in society, and then going home and describing as lost in sin those with whom he had been enjoying himself. upon the other hand, however, he would have exposed himself to the opposite reproach had he been more secluded, morosely withdrawing himself from the range of human sympathies. he remembered him as an admirable speaker; agreed that the results of his life were very great (and the man must be in part measured by them). he disapproved of taking people to task by articles in the papers, for votes against their party. _july th._--i complimented the speaker yesterday on the time he had saved by putting an end to discussions upon the presentation of petitions. he replied that there was a more important advantage; that those discussions very greatly increased the influence of popular feeling on the deliberations of the house; and that by stopping them he thought a wall was erected against such influence--not as strong as might be wished. probably some day it might be broken down, but he had done his best to raise it. his maxim was to shut out as far as might be all extrinsic pressure, and then to do freely what was right within doors. this high and sound way of regarding parliament underwent formidable changes before the close of mr. gladstone's career, and perhaps his career had indirectly something to do with them. but not, i think, with intention. in he cited with approval an exclamation of roebuck's in the house of commons, 'we, sir, are or ought to be the _élite_ of the people of england for mind: we are at the head of the mind of the people of england.' expectations of friends mr. gladstone's position in parliament and the public judgment, as the session went on, is sufficiently manifest from a letter addressed to him at this time by samuel wilberforce, four years his junior, henceforth one of his nearest friends, and always an acute observer of social and political forces. 'it would be an affectation in you, which you are above,' writes the future bishop (april , ), 'not to know that few young men have the weight you have in the h. of c. and are gaining rapidly throughout the country.... i want to urge you to look calmly before you, ... and act now with a view to _then_. there is no height to which you may not fairly rise in this country. if it pleases god to spare us violent convulsions and the loss of our liberties, you may at a future day wield the whole government of this land; and if this should be so, of what extreme moment will your _past steps_ then be to the real usefulness of your high station.' footnotes: [ ] parker's _peel_, ii. p. . [ ] the _standard_ marks it 'as a brilliant and triumphant argument--one of the few gems that have illuminated the reformed house of commons.' [ ] 'motions and means on land and sea at war,' v. . steamboats, viaducts, and railways. [ ] thomson, ; philips, ; gladstone, . [ ] in this speech he dealt with an attack made upon him by his opponent, poulett thomson, afterwards lord sydenham, on the question of negro slavery:-- 'i have had some obloquy cast upon me by mr. thomson, in reference to the part which i took in the question of negro slavery. now, if there was ever a question upon which i would desire to submit all that i have ever said to a candid inquirer, it is that of negro slavery. he should try me in opposition to lord stanley, and did lord stanley complain? it is well known that he stated that the only two speeches which were decidedly hostile to that measure were delivered by two gentlemen who hold office under her majesty's present government, whilst, on the contrary, his lordship was pleased to express candidly his high approbation of my sentiments, and my individual exertions for the settlement of that matter. does mr. thomson mean to say that the great conservative body in parliament has offered opposition to that measure? who, i would ask, conducted the correspondence of the government office with reference to that important question? will any man who knows the character of lord bathurst--will any man who knows the character of mr. stephen, the under-secretary for the colonies--the chosen assistant of the noble lord in that ministry of which he was no unimportant member--will any man say that mr. stephen, who was all along the advocate of the slaves, with his liberal and enlightened views, exercised an influence less than under lord stanley? does mr. thomson presume to state that lord aberdeen was guilty of neglect to the slaves? when i add that the question underwent a considerable discussion last year, in the house of commons, when all parties and all interests were fairly represented, and the best disposition was evinced to assist the proper working of the measure, and to alter some parts that were considered injurious to the slaves, and which had come under the immediate cognisance of the conservative party, is it fair, is it just, that a minister of the crown should take advantage, for electioneering purposes, of the fact that my connections have an interest in the west indies, to throw discredit upon me and the cause which i advocate?' [ ] parker's _peel_, ii. pp. - . [ ] see appendix. [ ] parker, ii. pp. - . [ ] _hansard_, june , . [ ] _agam._ - . even so belike might one a lion suckling nurse, like a foster-son, to his home a future curse. in life's beginnings mild dear to sire and kind to child.... but in time he showed the habit of his blood.... --gladstone in _translations_, p. . chapter iv the church (_ _) a period and a movement certainly among the most remarkable in the christendom of the last three and a half centuries; probably more remarkable than the movement associated with the name of port royal, for that has passed away and left hardly a trace behind; but this has left ineffaceable marks upon the english church and nation.--gladstone ( ). it was the affinity of great natures for great issues that made mr. gladstone from his earliest manhood onwards take and hold fast the affairs of the churches for the objects of his most absorbing interest. he was one and the same man, his genius was one. his persistent incursions all through his long life into the multifarious doings, not only of his own anglican communion, but of the latin church of the west, as well as of the motley christendom of the east, puzzled and vexed political whippers-in, wire-pullers, newspaper editors, leaders, colleagues; they were the despair of party caucuses; and they made the neutral man of the world smile, as eccentricities of genius and rather singularly chosen recreations. all this was, in truth, of the very essence of his character, the manifestation of its profound unity. the quarrel upon church comprehension that had perplexed elizabeth and burleigh, had distracted the councils of charles i. and of cromwell, had bewildered william of orange and tillotson and burnet, was once more aglow with its old heat. the still mightier dispute, how wide or how narrow is the common ground between the church of england and the church of rome, broke into fierce flame. the religious question then by and by these familiar contests of ancient tradition, thus quickened in the eternal ebb and flow of human things into fresh vitality, were followed by a revival, with new artillery and larger strategy, of a standing war that is roughly described as the conflict between reason and faith, between science and revelation. the controversy of laudian divines with puritans, of hoadly with non-jurors, of hanoverian divines with deists and free-thinkers, all may seem now to us narrow and dry when compared with such a drama, of so many interesting characters, strange evolutions, and multiple and startling climax, as gradually unfolded itself to mr. gladstone's ardent and impassioned gaze. his is not one of the cases, like pascal, or baxter, or rutherford, or a hundred others, where a man's theological history is to the world, however it may seem to himself, the most important aspect of his career or character. this is not the place for an exploration of mr. gladstone's strictly theological history, nor is mine the hand by which such exploration could be attempted. in the sphere of dogmatic faith, apart from ecclesiastical politics and all the war of principles connected with such politics, mr. gladstone, by the time when he was thirty, had become a man of settled questions. nor was he for his own part, with a remarkable exception in respect of one particular doctrine towards the end of his life, ever ready to re-open them. what is extraordinary in the career of this far-shining and dominant character of his age, is not a development of specific opinions on dogma, or discipline, or ordinance, on article or sacrament, but the fact that with a steadfast tread he marched along the high anglican road to the summits of that liberalism which it was the original object of the new anglicans to resist and overthrow. the years from to mr. gladstone marked as an era of a marvellous uprising of religious energy throughout the land; it saved the church, he says. not only in oxford but in england he declares that party spirit within the church had fallen to a low ebb. coming hurricanes were not foreseen. in lord liverpool's government patronage was considered to have been respectably dispensed, and church reform was never heard of.[ ] this dreamless composure was rudely broken. the repeal of the test and corporation acts in first roused the church; and her sons rubbed their eyes when they beheld parliament bringing frankly to an end the odious monopoly of office under the crown, all corporate office, all magistracy, in men willing to take the communion at the altar of the privileged establishment. the next year a deadlier blow fell after a more embittered fight--the admission of roman catholics to parliament and place. the reform bill of followed. even when half spent, the forces that had been gathering for many years in the direction of parliamentary reform, and had at last achieved more than one immense result, rolled heavily forward against the church. the opening of parliament and of close corporations was taken to involve an opening to correspond in the grandest and closest of all corporations. the resounding victory of the constitutional bill of was followed by a drastic handling of the church in ireland, and by a proposal to divert a surplus of its property to purposes not ecclesiastical. a long and peculiarly unedifying crisis ensued. stanley and graham, two of the most eminent members of the reforming whig cabinet, on this proposal at once resigned. the grey ministry was thus split in , and the peel ministry ejected in , on the ground of the absolute inviolability of the property of the irish church. the tide of reaction set slowly in. the shock in political party was in no long time followed by shock after shock in the church. as has happened on more than one occasion in our history, alarm for the church kindled the conservative temper in the nation. or to put it in another way, that spontaneous attachment to the old order of things, with all its symbols, institutes, and deep associations, which the radical reformers had both affronted and ignored, made the church its rallying-point. the three years of tortuous proceedings on the famous appropriation clause--proceedings that political philosophers declared to have disgraced this country in the face of europe, and that were certainly an ignominy and a scandal in a party called reforming--were among the things that helped most to prepare the way for the fall of the whigs and the conservative triumph of . within ten years from the death of canning the church transfixed the attention of the politician. the duke of wellington was hardly a wizard in political foresight, but he had often a good soldier's eye for things that stood straight up in front of him. 'the real question,' said the duke in , 'that now divides the country and which truly divides the house of commons, is church or no church. people talk of the war in spain, and the canada question. but all that is of little moment. the real question is church or no church.' changed position of the church the position of the tory party as seen by its powerful recruit was, when he entered public life, a state of hopeless defeat and discomfiture. 'but in my imagination,' wrote mr. gladstone, 'i cast over that party a prophetic mantle and assigned to it a mission distinctly religious as the champion in the state field of that divine truth which it was the office of the christian ministry to uphold in the church. neither then did i, nor now can i, see on what ground this inviolability could for a moment be maintained, except the belief that the state had such a mission.' he soon discovered how hard it is to adjust to the many angles of an english political party the seamless mantle of ecclesiastical predominance. the changes in the political constitution in , in , and in , carried with them a deliberate recognition that the church was not the nation; that it was not identical with the parliament who spoke for the nation; that it had no longer a title to compose the governing order; and--a more startling disclosure still to the minds of churchmen--that laws affecting the church would henceforth be made by men of all churches and creeds, or even men of none. this hateful circumstance it was that inevitably began in multitudes of devout and earnest minds to produce a revolution in their conception of a church, and a resurrection in curiously altered forms of that old ideal of milton's austere and lofty school--the ideal of a purely spiritual association that should leave each man's soul and conscience free from 'secular chains' and 'hireling wolves.' changed social conditions strange social conditions were emerging on every side. the factory system established itself on a startling scale. huge aggregates of population collected with little regard to antique divisions of diocese and parish. colonies over the sea extended in boundaries and numbers, and churchmen were zealous that these infant societies should be blessed by the same services, rites, ecclesiastical ordering and exhortation, as were believed to elevate and sanctify the parent community at home. the education of the people grew to be a formidable problem, the field of angry battles and campaigns that never end. trade, markets, wages, hours, and all the gaunt and haggard economics of the labour question, added to the statesman's load. pauperism was appalling. in a word, the need for social regeneration both material and moral was in the spirit of the time. here were the hopes, vague, blind, unmeasured, formless, that had inspired the wild clamour for the bill, the whole bill, and nothing but the bill. the whig patricians carried away the prizes of great office, though the work had been done by men of a very different stamp. it was the utilitarian radicals who laid the foundations of social improvement in a reasoned creed. with admirable ability, perseverance, unselfishness, and public spirit, bentham and his disciples had regenerated political opinion, and fought the battle against debt, pauperism, class-privilege, class-monopoly, abusive patronage, a monstrous criminal law, and all the host of sinister interests.[ ] as in every reforming age, men approached the work from two sides. evangelical religion divides with rationalism the glory of more than one humanitarian struggle. brougham, a more potent force than we now realise, plunged with the energy of a titan into a thousand projects, all taking for granted that ignorance is the disease and useful knowledge the universal healer, all of them secular, all dealing with man from the outside, none touching imagination or the heart. march-of-mind became to many almost as wearisome a cry as wisdom-of-our-ancestors had been. according to some eager innovators, dogma and ceremony were to go, the fabrics to be turned into mechanics' institutes, the clergy to lecture on botany and statistics. the reaction against this dusty dominion of secularity kindled new life in rival schools. they insisted that if society is to be improved and civilisation saved, it can only be through improvement in the character of man, and character is moulded and inspired by more things than are dreamed of by societies for useful knowledge. the building up of the inward man in all his parts, faculties, and aspirations, was seen to be, what in every age it is, the problem of problems. this thought turned the eyes of many--of mr. gladstone first among them--to the church, and stirred an endeavour to make out of the church what coleridge describes as the sustaining, correcting, befriending opposite of the world, the compensating counterforce to the inherent and inevitable defects of the state as a state. such was the new movement of the time between and . 'it is surprising,' said proudhon, the trenchant genius of french socialism in and onwards, 'how at the bottom of our politics we always found theology.' it is true at any rate that the association of political and social change with theological revolution was the most remarkable of all the influences in the first twenty years of mr. gladstone's public life. then rose once more into active prominence the supreme debate, often cutting deep into the labours of the modern statesman, always near to the heart of the speculations of the theologian, in many fields urgent in its interest alike to ecclesiastic, historian, and philosopher, the inquiry: what is a church? this opened the sluices and let out the floods. what is the church of england? to ask that question was to ask a hundred others. creeds, dogmas, ordinances, hierarchy, parliamentary institution, judicial tribunals, historical tradition, the prayer-book, the bible--all these enormous topics sacred and profane, with all their countless ramifications, were rapidly swept into a tornado of such controversy as had not been seen in england since the revolution. was the church a purely human creation, changing with time and circumstance, like all the other creations of the heart and brain and will of man? were its bishops mere officers, like high ministers of mundane state, or were they, in actual historic truth as in supposed theological necessity, the direct lineal successors of the first apostles, endowed from the beginning with the mystical prerogatives on which the efficacy of all sacramental rites depended? what were its relations to the councils of the first four centuries, what to the councils of the fifteenth century and the sixteenth, what to the fathers? the scottish presbyterians held the conception of a church as strongly as anybody;[ ] but england, broadly speaking, had never been persuaded that there could be a church without bishops. in the answers to this group of hard questions, terrible divisions that had been long muffled and huddled away burst into view. the stupendous quarrel of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries again broke out. to the erastian lawyer the church was an institution erected on principles of political expediency by act of parliament. to the school of whately and arnold it was a corporation of divine origin, devised to strengthen men in their struggle for goodness and holiness by the association and mutual help of fellow-believers. to the evangelical it was hardly more than a collection of congregations commended in the bible for the diffusion of the knowledge and right interpretation of the scriptures, the commemoration of gospel events, and the linking of gospel truths to a well-ordered life. to the high anglican as to the roman catholic, the church was something very different from this; not a fabric reared by man, nor in truth any mechanical fabric at all, but a mystically appointed channel of salvation, an indispensable element in the relation between the soul of man and its creator. to be a member of it was not to join an external association, but to become an inward partaker in ineffable and mysterious graces to which no other access lay open. such was the church catholic and apostolic as set up from the beginning, and of this immense mystery, of this saving agency, of this incommensurable spiritual force, the established church of england was the local presence and the organ. hard questions revived the noble restlessness of the profounder and more penetrating minds was not satisfied, any more than bossuet had been, to think of the church as only an element in a scheme of individual salvation. they sought in it the comprehensive solution of all the riddles of life and time. newman drew in powerful outline the sublime and sombre anarchy of human history. this is the enigma, this the solution in faith and spirit, in which mr. gladstone lived and moved. in him it gave to the energies of life their meaning, and to duty its foundation. while poetic voices and the oracles of sages--goethe, scott, wordsworth, shelley, byron, coleridge--were drawing men one way or another, or else were leaving the void turbid and formless, he, in the midst of doubts, distractions, and fears, saw a steadfast light where the oxford men saw it; in that concrete representation of the unseen power that, as he believed, had made and guides and rules the world, in that church catholic and apostolic which alone would have the force and the stoutness necessary to serve for a breakwater against the deluge. yet to understand mr. gladstone's case, we have ever to remember that what is called the catholic revival was not in england that which the catholic counter-revolution had been on the continent of europe, primarily a political movement. its workings were inward, in the sphere of the mind, in thought and faith, in idealised associations of historic grandeur.[ ] ii his religious growth the reader has already been told how at rome and in naples in , mr. gladstone was suddenly arrested by the new idea of a church, interweaving with the whole of human life a pervading and equalised spirit of religion. long years after, in an unfinished fragment, he began to trace the golden thread of his religious growth:-- my environment in my childhood was strictly evangelical. my dear and noble mother was a woman of warm piety but broken health, and i was not directly instructed by her. but i was brought up to believe that doyly and mant's bible (then a standard book of the colour ruling in the church) was heretical, and that every unitarian (i suppose also every heathen) must, as matter of course, be lost forever. this deplorable servitude of mind oppressed me in a greater or less degree for a number of years. as late as in the year (i think) , one of my brothers married a beautiful and in every way charming person, who had been brought up in a family of the unitarian profession, yet under a mother very sincerely religious. i went through much mental difficulty and distress at the time, as there had been no express renunciation [by her] of the ancestral creed, and i absurdly busied myself with devising this or that religious test as what if accepted might suffice.[ ] so, as will be seen, the first access of churchlike ideas to my mind by no means sufficed to expel my inherited and bigoted misconception, though in the event they did it as i hope effectively. but i long retained in my recollection an observation made to me in (i think) the year , by mrs. benjamin gaskell of thornes, near wakefield, a seed which was destined long to remain in my mind without germinating. i fell into religious conversation with this excellent woman, the mother of my eton friend milnes gaskell, himself the husband of an unitarian. she said to me, surely we cannot entertain a doubt as to the future condition of any person truly united to christ by faith and love, whatever may be the faults of his opinions. here she supplied me with the key to the whole question. at this hour i feel grateful to her accordingly, for the scope of her remark is very wide; and it is now my rule to remember her in prayer before the altar. there was nothing at eton to subvert this frame of mind; for nothing was taught us either for it or against it. but in the spring and summer of , i set to work on hooker's _ecclesiastical polity_, and read it straight through. intercourse with my elder sister anne had increased my mental interest in religion, and she, though generally of evangelical sentiments, had an opinion that the standard divines of the english church were of great value. hooker's exposition of the case of the church of england came to me as a mere abstraction; but i think that i found the doctrine of baptismal regeneration, theretofore abhorred, impossible to reject, and the way was thus opened for further changes. in like manner at oxford, i do not doubt that in and the study of bishop butler laid the ground for new modes of thought in religion, but his teaching in the sermons on our moral nature was not integrated, so to speak, until several years later by larger perusal of the works of saint augustine. i may, however, say that i was not of a mind ill disposed to submit to authority. the oxford movement, properly so called, began in the year , but it had no direct effect upon me. i did not see the tracts, and to this hour i have read but few of them. indeed, my first impressions and emotions in connection with it were those of indignation at what i thought the rash intemperate censures pronounced by mr. hurrell froude upon the reformers. my chief tie with oxford was the close friendship i had formed in with walter hamilton.[ ] his character, always loving and loved, had, not very greatly later, become deeply devout. but i do not think he at this time sympathised with newman and his friends; and he had the good sense, in conjunction with mr. denison, afterwards bishop, to oppose the censure upon dr. hampden, to which i foolishly and ignorantly gave in, without, however, being an active or important participator. but the blow struck by the prayer-book in set my mind in motion, and that motion was never arrested. i found food for the new ideas and tendencies in various quarters, not least in the religious writings of alexander knox, all of which i perused. moreover, i had an inclination to ecclesiastical conformity, and obedience as such, which led me to concur with some zeal in the plans of bishop blomfield. in the course of two or three years, manning turned from a strongly evangelical attitude to one as strongly anglican, and about the same time converted his acquaintance with me into a close friendship. in the same manner james hope, whom i had known but slightly at eton or oxford, made a carefully considered change of the same kind; which also became the occasion of a fast friendship. both these intimacies led me forward; hope especially had influence over me, more than i think any other person at any period of my life.[ ] when i was preparing in - _the state in its relations with the church_, he took a warm interest in the work, which, during my absence on the continent, he corrected for the press. his attitude towards the work, however, included a desire that its propositions should be carried further. the temper of the times among young educated men was working in the same direction. i had no low churchmen among my near friends, except walter farquhar. anstice, a great loss, died very early in his beautiful married life. while i was busy about my book, hope made known to me palmer's work on the church, which had just appeared. i read it with care and great interest. it took hold upon me; and gave me at once the clear, definite, and strong conception of the church which, through all the storm and strain of a most critical period, has proved for me entirely adequate to every emergency, and saved me from all vacillation. i did not, however, love the extreme rigour of the book in its treatment of non-episcopal communions. it was not very long after this, i think in , that i reduced into form my convictions of the large and important range of subjects which recent controversy had brought into prominence. i conceive that in the main palmer completed for me the work which inspection of the prayer-book had begun. before referring further to my 'redaction' of opinions, i desire to say that at this moment i am as closely an adherent to the doctrines of grace generally, and to the general sense of saint augustine, as at the date from which this narrative set out. i hope that my mind has dropped nothing affirmative. but i hope also that there has been dropped from it all the damnatory part of the opinions taught by the evangelical school; not only as regards the roman catholic religion, but also as to heretics and heathens; nonconformists and presbyterians i think that i always let off pretty easily.... iii influence of friends and books the tractarian movement is by this time one of the most familiar chapters in our history, and it has had singular good fortune in being told by three masters of the most winning, graphic, and melodious english prose of the century to which the tale belongs.[ ] whether we call it by the ill name of oxford counter-reformation or the friendlier name of catholic revival, it remains a striking landmark in the varied motions of english religious thought and feeling for the three-quarters of a century since the still unfinished journey first began. in its early stages, the movement was exclusively theological. philanthropic reform still remained with the evangelical school that so powerfully helped to sweep away the slave trade, cleansed the prisons, and aided in humanising the criminal law. it was they who 'helped to form a conscience, if not a heart, in the callous bosom of english politics,' while the very foremost of the oxford divines was scouting the fine talk about black men, because they 'concentrated in themselves all the whiggery, dissent, cant, and abomination that had been ranged on their side.'[ ] nor can we forget that shaftesbury, the leader in that beneficent crusade of human mercy and national wisdom which ended in the deliverance of women and children in mines and factories, was also a leader of the evangelical party. the tractarian movement, as all know, opened, among other sources, in antagonism to utilitarian liberalism. yet j. s. mill, the oracle of rationalistic liberalism in oxford and other places in the following generation, had always much to say for the tractarians. he used to tell us that the oxford theologians had done for england something like what guizot, villemain, michelet, cousin had done a little earlier for france; they had opened, broadened, deepened the issues and meanings of european history; they had reminded us that history is european; that it is quite unintelligible if treated as merely local. he would say, moreover, that thought should recognise thought and mind always welcome mind; and the oxford men had at least brought argument, learning, and even philosophy of a sort, to break up the narrow and frigid conventions of reigning system in church and college, in pulpits and professorial chairs. they had made the church ashamed of the evil of her ways, they had determined that spirit of improvement from within 'which, if this sect-ridden country is ever really to be taught, must proceed _pari passu_ with assault from without.'[ ] one of the ablest of the oxford writers talking of the non-jurors, remarks how very few of the movements that are attended with a certain romance, and thus bias us for a time in their favour, will stand full examination; they so often reveal some gross offence against common sense.[ ] want of common sense is not the particular impression left by the tractarians, after we have put aside the plausible dialectic and winning periods of the leader, and proceed to look at the effect, not on their general honesty but on their intellectual integrity, of their most peculiar situation and the methods which they believed that situation to impose. nobody will be so presumptuous or uncharitable as to deny that among the divines of the oxford movement were men as pure in soul, as fervid lovers of truth, as this world ever possessed. on the other hand it would be nothing short of a miracle in human nature, if all that dreadful tangle of economies and reserves, so largely practised and for a long time so insidiously defended, did not familiarise a vein of subtlety, a tendency to play fast and loose with words, a perilous disposition to regard the non-natural sense of language as if it were just as good as the natural, a willingness to be satisfied with a bare and rigid logical consistency of expression, without respect to the interpretation that was sure to be put upon that expression by the hearer and the reader. the strain of their position in all these respects made newman and his allies no exemplary school. their example has been, perhaps rightly, held to account for something that was often under the evil name of sophistry suspected and disliked in mr. gladstone himself, in his speeches, his writings, and even in his public acts. mischievous effects of oxford entanglements it is true that to the impartial eye newman is no worse than teachers in antagonistic sects; he is, for instance, no subtler than maurice. the theologian who strove so hard in the name of anglican unity to develop all the catholic elements and hide out of sight all the calvinistic, was not driven to any hardier exploits of verbal legerdemain, than the theologian who strove against all reason and clear thinking to devise common formulæ that should embrace both catholic and calvinistic explanations together, or indeed anything else that anybody might choose to bring to the transfusing alchemy of his rather smoky crucible. nor was the third, and at that moment the strongest, of the church parties at oxford and in the country, well able to fling stones at the other two. what better right, it was asked, had low churchmen to shut their eyes to the language of rubrics, creeds, and offices, than the high churchmen had to twist the language of the articles? the confusion was grave and it was unfathomable. newman fought a skilful and persistent fight against liberalism, as being nothing else than the egregious doctrine that there is no positive truth in religion, and that one creed is as good as another. dr. arnold, on the other hand, denounced newmanism as idolatry; declared that if you let in the little finger of tradition, you would soon have in the whole monster, horns and tail and all; and even complained of the english divines in general, with the noble exceptions of butler and hooker, that he found in them a want of believing or disbelieving anything because it was true or false, as if that were a question that never occurred to them.[ ] the plain man, who was but a poor master either of theology or of the history of the church of england, but who loved the prayer-book and hated confession, convents, priest-craft, and mariolatry, was wrought to madness by a clergyman who should describe himself, as did r. h. froude, as a catholic without the popery, and a church of england man without the protestantism. the plain man knew that he was not himself clever enough to form any distinct idea of what such talk meant. but then his helplessness only deepened his conviction that the more distinct his idea might become, the more intense would his aversion be, both to the thing meant and to the surpliced conjurer who, as he bitterly supposed, was by sophistic tricks trying hard to take him in. other portents were at the same time beginning to disturb the world. the finds and the theories of geologists made men uncomfortable, and brought down sharp anathemas. wider speculations on cosmic and creative law came soon after, and found their way into popular reading.[ ] in prose literature, in subtler forms than the verse of shelley, new dissolving elements appeared that were destined to go far. schleiermacher, between and , opened the sluices of the theological deep, whether to deluge or to irrigate. in an alarming note was sounded in the publication by a learned clergyman of a history of the jews. we have seen (p. ) how mr. gladstone was horrified by it. milman's book was the beginning of a new rationalism within the fold. a line of thought was opened that seemed to make the history of religious ideas more interesting than their truth. the special claims of an accepted creed were shaken by disclosing an unmistakeable family likeness to creeds abhorred. a belief was deemed to be accounted for and its sanctity dissolved, by referring it historically to human origins, and showing it to be only one branch of a genealogical trunk. historic explanation became a graver peril than direct attack. iv new ideas and tendencies the first skirmish in a dire conflict that is not even now over or near its end happened in . lord melbourne recommended for the chair of divinity at oxford dr. hampden, a divine whose clumsy handling of nice themes had brought him, much against his intention, under suspicion of unsound doctrine, and who was destined eleven years later to find himself the centre of a still louder uproar. evangelicals and tractarians flew to arms, and the two hosts who were soon to draw their swords upon one another, now for the first time, if not the last, swarmed forth together side by side against the heretic. what was rather an affront than a penalty was inflicted upon hampden by a majority of some five to one of the masters of arts of the university, and in accord with that majority, as he has just told us, though he did not actually vote, was mr. gladstone. twenty years after, when he had risen to be a shining light in the world's firmament, he wrote to hampden to express regret for the injustice of which in this instance 'the forward precipitancy of youth' had made him guilty.[ ] the case of hampden gave a sharp actuality to the question of the relations of church and crown. the particular quarrel was of secondary importance, but it brought home to the high churchmen what might be expected in weightier matters than the affair of dr. hampden from whig ministers, and confirmed the horrible apprehension that whig ministers might possibly have to fill all the regius chairs and all the sees for a whole generation to come. not less important than the theology of the oxford divines in its influence on mr. gladstone's line of thought upon things ecclesiastical was the speculation of coleridge on the teaching and polity of a national church. his fertile book on _church and state_ was given to the world in , four years before his death, and this and the ideas proceeding from it were the mainspring, if not of the theology of the movement, at least of mr. gladstone's first marked contribution to the stirring controversies of the time. he has described the profound effect upon his mind of another book, the _treatise on the church of christ_, by william palmer of worcester college ( ), and to the end of his life it held its place in his mind among the most masterly performances of the day in the twin hemispheres of theology and church polity.[ ] newman applauded the book for its magnificence of design, and undoubtedly it covers much ground, including a stiff rejection of locke's theory of toleration, and the assertion of the strong doctrine that the christian prince has a right by temporal penalties to protect the church from the gathering together of the froward and the insurrection of wicked doers. it has at least the merit, so far from universal in the polemics of that day, of clear language, definite propositions, and formal arguments capable of being met by a downright yes or no.[ ] the question, however, that has often slumbered yet never dies, of the right relations between the christian prince or state and the christian church, was rapidly passing away from logicians of the cloister. note to page . '_hawarden, chester, november , ._--my lord bishop,--your lordship will probably be surprised at receiving a letter from me, as a stranger. the simple purpose of it is to discharge a debt of the smallest possible importance to you, yet due i think from me, by expressing the regret with which i now look back on my concurrence in a vote of the university of oxford in the year , condemnatory of some of your lordship's publications. i did not take actual part in the vote; but upon reference to a journal kept at the time, i find that my absence was owing to an accident. 'for a good many years past i have found myself ill able to master books of an abstract character, and i am far from pretending to be competent at this time to form a judgment on the merits of any propositions then at issue. i have learned, indeed, that many things which, in the forward precipitancy of my youth, i should have condemned, are either in reality sound, or lie within the just limits of such discussion as especially befits an university. but that which (after a delay, due, i think, to the cares and pressing occupations of political life) brought back to my mind the injustice of which i had unconsciously been guilty in , was my being called upon, as a member of the council of king's college in london, to concur in a measure similar in principle with respect to mr. maurice; that is to say, in a condemnation couched in general terms which did not really declare the point of imputed guilt, and against which perfect innocence could have no defence. i resisted to the best of my power, though ineffectually, the grievous wrong done to mr. maurice, and urged that the charges should be made distinct, that all the best means of investigation should be brought to bear on them, ample opportunity given for defence, and a reference then made, if needful, to the bishop in his proper capacity. but the majority of laymen in the council were inexorable. it was only, as i have said, after mature reflection that i came to perceive the bearing of the case on that of , and to find that by my resistance i had condemned myself. i then lamented very sincerely that i had not on that occasion, now so remote, felt and acted in a different manner. 'i beg your lordship to accept this expression of my cordial regret, and to allow me to subscribe myself, very respectfully, your obedient and humble servant, w. e. gladstone.'[ ] footnotes: [ ] newman, _essays_. ii. p. . [ ] see sir leslie stephen's _english utilitarians_, ii. p. . [ ] 'nowhere that i know of,' the duke of argyll once wrote in friendly remonstrance with mr. gladstone, 'is the doctrine of a separate society being of divine foundation, so dogmatically expressed as in the scotch confession; the articles are less definite on the subject.' [ ] on this, see fairbairn's _catholicism, roman and anglican_, pp. - . [ ] a little sheaf of curious letters on this family episode survives. [ ] afterwards bishop of salisbury. [ ] marrying walter scott's granddaughter ( ) he was named hope-scott after . [ ] the _apologia_ of its leader; froude, _short studies_, vol. iv.; and dean church's _oxford movement_, - , a truly fascinating book--called by mr. gladstone a great and noble book. 'it has all the delicacy,' he says, 'the insight into the human mind, heart, and character, which were newman's great endowment; but there is a pervading sense of soundness about it which newman, great as he was, never inspired.' [ ] see dr. fairbairn's _catholicism, roman and anglican_, p. . pusey speaks of our 'paying twenty millions for a theory about slavery' (liddon, _life of pusey_, iii. p. ). [ ] _dissertations_, i. p. . [ ] j. b. mozley's _letters_, p. . [ ] stanley's _life of arnold_, ii. p. _n_. [ ] the _vestiges of creation_ appeared in . [ ] the letter will be found at the end of the chapter. [ ] see his article in the _nineteenth century_ for august, , where he calls palmer's book the most powerful and least assailable defence of the position of the anglican church from the sixteenth century downwards. [ ] see church, _oxford movement_, pp. - . [ ] this letter is printed in the _life of hampden_ ( ), p. . chapter v his first book (_ - _) the union [with the state] is to the church of secondary though great importance. _her_ foundations are on the holy hills. her charter is legibly divine. she, if she should be excluded from the precinct of government, may still fulfil all her functions, and carry them out to perfection. her condition would be anything rather than pitiable, should she once more occupy the position which she held before the reign of constantine. but the state, in rejecting her, would actively violate its most solemn duty, and would, if the theory of the connection be sound, entail upon itself a curse.--gladstone ( ). according to mr. gladstone, a furore for church establishment came down upon the conservative squadrons between and . he describes it as due especially to the activity of the presbyterian established church of scotland before the disruption, and especially to the 'zealous and truly noble propagandism of dr. chalmers, a man with the energy of a giant and the simplicity of a child.' in , mr. gladstone says in one of the many fragments written when in his later years he mused over the past, 'we had a movement for fresh parliamentary grants to build churches in scotland. the leaders did not seem much to like it, but had to follow. i remember dining at sir r. peel's with the scotch deputation. it included collins, a church bookseller of note, who told me that no sermon ought ever to fall short of an hour, for in less time than that it was not possible to explain any text of the holy scripture.' in the spring of , the mighty chalmers was persuaded to cross the border and deliver in london half a dozen discourses to vindicate the cause of ecclesiastical establishments. the rooms in hanover square were crowded to suffocation by intense audiences mainly composed of the governing class. princes of the blood were there, high prelates of the church, great nobles, leading statesmen, and a throng of members of the house of commons, from both sides of it. the orator was seated, but now and again in the kindling excitement of his thought, he rose unconsciously to his feet, and by ringing phrase or ardent gesture roused a whirlwind of enthusiasm such that vehement bystanders assure us it could not be exceeded in the history of human eloquence.[ ] in chalmers' fulminating energy, the mechanical polemics of an appropriation clause in a parliamentary bill assume a passionate and living air. he had warned his northern flock, 'should the disaster ever befall us, of vulgar and upstart politicians becoming lords of the ascendant, and an infidel or demi-infidel government wielding the destinies of this mighty empire, and should they be willing at the shrines of their own wretched partizanship to make sacrifice of those great and hallowed institutions which were consecrated by our ancestors to the maintenance of religious truth and religious liberty,--should in particular the monstrous proposition ever be entertained to abridge the legal funds for the support of protestantism,--let us hope that there is still enough, not of fiery zeal, but of calm, resolute, enlightened principle in the land to resent the outrage--enough of energy and reaction in the revolted sense of this great country to meet and overbear it.' chalmers in london the impression made by all this on mr. gladstone he has himself described in an autobiographic note of :-- the primary idea of my early politics was the church. with this was connected the idea of the establishment, as being everything except essential. when therefore dr. chalmers came to london to lecture on the principle of church establishments, i attended as a loyal hearer. i had a profound respect for the lecturer, with whom i had had the honour of a good deal of acquaintance during winter residences in edinburgh, and some correspondence by letter. i was in my earlier twenties, and he near his sixties [he was ], with a high and merited fame for eloquence and character. he subscribed his letters to me 'respectfully' (or 'most respectfully') yours, and puzzled me extremely in the effort to find out what suitable mode of subscription to use in return. unfortunately the basis of his lectures was totally unsound. parliament as being christian was bound to know and establish the truth. but not being made of theologians, it could not follow the truth into its minuter shadings, and must proceed upon broad lines. fortunately these lines were ready to hand. there was a religious system which, taken in the rough, was truth. this was known as protestantism: and to its varieties it was not the business of the legislature to have regard. on the other side lay a system which, taken again in the rough, was not truth but error. this system was known as popery. parliament therefore was bound to establish and endow some kind of protestantism, and not to establish or endow popery. in a letter to manning (may , ) he puts the case more bluntly:-- such a jumble of church, un-church, and anti-church principles as that excellent and eloquent man dr. chalmers has given us in his recent lectures, no human being ever heard, and it can only be compared to the state of things-- ante mare et terras et quod tegit omnia coelum.[ ] he thinks that the state has not cognisance of spirituals, except upon a broad simple principle like that which separates popery from protestantism, namely that protestantism receives the word of god only, popery the word of god and the word of man alike--it is easy, he says, such being the alternatives, to judge which is preferable. he flogged the apostolic succession grievously, seven bishops sitting below him: london, winchester, chester, oxford, llandaff, gloucester, exeter, and the duke of cambridge incessantly bobbing assent; but for fear we should be annoyed he then turned round on the cathedrals plan and flogged it with at least equal vigour. he has a mind keenly susceptible of what is beautiful, great, and good; tenacious of an idea when once grasped, and with a singular power of concentrating the whole man upon it. but unfortunately i do not believe he has ever looked in the face the real doctrine of the visible church and the apostolic succession, or has any idea what is the matter at issue. mr. gladstone says he could not stand the undisputed currency in conservative circles of a theory like this, and felt that the occasion ought to be seized for further entrenching the existing institution, strong as it seemed in fact, by more systematic defences in principle and theory. he sat down to the literary task with uncommon vigour and persistency. his object was not merely to show that the state has a conscience, for not even the newest of new machiavellians denies that a state is bound by some moral obligations, though in history and fact it is true that earth is sick, and heaven is weary, of the hollow words which states and kingdoms utter when they talk of truth and justice.[ ] but the obligation of conscience upon a state was not mr. gladstone's only point. his propositions were, that the state is cognisant of the difference between religious truth and religious error: that the propagation of this truth and the discouragement of this error are among the ends for which government exists; that the english state did recognise as a fundamental duty to give an active and exclusive support to a certain religion; and finally that the condition of things resulting from the discharge of this duty was well worth preserving against encroachment, from whatever quarter encroachment might threaten. composition of his work on july rd, the draft of his book was at last finished, and he dispatched it to james hope for free criticism, suggestions, and revision. the 'physical state of the ms.,' as mr. gladstone calls it, seems to have been rather indefensible, and his excuse for writing 'irregularly and confusedly, considering the pressure of other engagements'--an excuse somewhat too common with him--was not quite so valid as he seems to have thought it. 'the defects,' writes hope, 'are such as must almost necessarily occur when a great subject is handled piecemeal and at intervals; and i should recommend, with a view to remedying them, that you procure the whole to be copied out in a good legible hand with blank pages, and that you read it through in this shape once connectedly, with a view to the whole argument, and again with a view to examining the structure of each part.'[ ] hope took as much trouble with the argument and structure of the book as if he were himself its author. for many weeks the fervid toil went on. the strain on his eyesight that had embarrassed mr. gladstone for several months now made abstinence from incessant reading and writing necessary, and he was ordered to travel. he first settled with his sister at ems (august th), whither the proofs of his book with hope's annotations followed, nor did he finally get rid of the burden until the middle of september. the tedium of life in hotels was almost worse than the tedium of revising proofs, and at milan and florence he was strongly tempted to return home, as the benefit was problematical; it was even doubtful whether pictures were any less trying to his eyes than books. he made the acquaintance of one celebrated writer of the time. 'i went to see manzoni,' he says, 'in his house some six or eight miles from milan in . he was a most interesting man, but was regarded, as i found, among the more fashionable priests in milan as a _bacchettone_ [hypocrite]. in his own way he was, i think, a liberal and a nationalist, nor was the alliance of such politics with strong religious convictions uncommon among the more eminent italians of those days.' october found him in sicily,[ ] where he travelled with sir stephen glynne and his two sisters, and here we shall soon see that with one of these sisters a momentous thing came to pass. it was at catania that he first heard of the publication of his book. a month or more was passed in rome in company with manning, and together they visited wiseman, manning's conversion still thirteen years off. macaulay too, now eight-and-thirty, was at rome that winter. 'on christmas eve,' he says, 'i found gladstone in the throng, and i accosted him, as we had met, though we had never been introduced to each other. we talked and walked together in st. peter's during the best part of an afternoon. he is both a clever and an amiable man....' at rome, as the state of his eyesight forbade too close resort to picture galleries and museums, he listened to countless sermons, all carefully recorded in his diary. dr. wiseman gave him a lesson in the missal. on his birthday he went with manning to hear mass with the pope's choir, and they were placed on the bench behind the cardinals. at st. peter's he recalled that there his first conception of the unity of the church had come into his mind, and the desire for its attainment--'an object in every human sense hopeless, but not therefore the less to be desired, for the horizon of human hope is not that of divine power and wisdom. that idea has been upon the whole, i believe, the ruling one of my life during the period that has since elapsed.' on january , he bade 'a reluctant adieu to the mysterious city, whither he should repair who wishes to renew for a time the dream of life.' a few years later mr. gladstone noted some differences between english and italian preaching that are of interest:-- the fundamental distinction between english and italian preaching is, i think, this: the mind of the english preacher, or reader of sermons, however impressive, is fixed mainly upon his composition, that of the italian on his hearers. the italian is a man applying himself by his rational and persuasive organs to men, in order to move them; the former is a man applying himself, with his best ability in many cases, to a fixed form of matter, in order to _make it_ move those whom he addresses. the action in the one case is warm, living, direct, immediate, from heart to heart; in the other it is transfused through a medium comparatively torpid. the first is surely far superior to the second in truth and reality. the preacher bears an awful message. such messengers, if sent with authority, are too much identified with, and possessed by, that which they carry, to view it objectively during its delivery, it absorbs their very being and all its energies, they _are_ their message, and they see nothing extrinsic to themselves except those to whose hearts they desire to bring it. in truth, what we want is the following of nature, and her genial development. (march , palm sunday, ' .) ii goes abroad. book published it was the end of january ( ) before mr. gladstone arrived in london, and by that time his work had been out for six or seven weeks.[ ] on his return we may be sure that his book and its fortunes were the young author's most lively interest. church authorities and the clergy generally, so far as he could learn, approved, many of them very warmly. the bishop of london wrote this, and the archbishop of canterbury said it. it is easy to understand with what interest and delight the average churchman would welcome so serious a contribution to the good cause, so bold an effort by so skilled a hand, by lessons from history, by general principles of national probity and a national religion, and by well-digested materials gathered, as hooker gathered his, 'from the characteristic circumstances of the time,' to support the case for ecclesiastical privilege. anglicans of the better sort had their intellectual self-respect restored in mr. gladstone's book, by finding that they need no longer subsist on the dregs of eldonian prejudice, but could sustain themselves in intellectual dignity and affluence by large thoughts and sonorous phrases upon the nature of human society as a grand whole.[ ] even unconvinced whigs who quarrelled with the arguments, admitted that the tories had found in the young member for newark a well-read scholar, with extraordinary amplitude of mind, a man who knew what reasoning meant, and a man who knew how to write. the first chapter dealing with establishment drew forth premature praise from many who condemned the succeeding chapters setting out high notions as to the church. from both universities he had favourable accounts. 'from scotland they are mixed; those which are most definite tend to show there is considerable soreness, at which, god knows, i am not surprised; but i have not sought nor desired it.' the germans on the whole approved. bunsen was exuberant; there was nobody, he said, with whom he so loved [greek: symphilosophein kai symphilologein]; people have too much to do about themselves to have time to seek truth on its own account; the greater, therefore, the merit of the writer who forces his age to decide, whether they will serve god or baal. gladstone is the first man in england as to intellectual power, he cried, and he has heard higher tones than any one else in this land. the crown prince of prussia sent him civil messages, and meant to have the book translated. rogers, the poet, wrote that his mother was descended from stout nonconformists, that his father was perverted to his mother's heresies, and that therefore he himself could not be zealous in the cause; but, however that might be, of this mr. gladstone might be very sure, that he would love and admire the author of the book as much as ever. the duke of newcastle expected much satisfaction; meanwhile declared it to be a national duty to provide churches and pastors; parliament should vote even millions and millions; then dissent would uncommonly soon disappear, and a blessing would fall upon the land. dr. arnold told his friends how much he admired the spirit of the book throughout, how he liked the substance of half of it, how erroneous he thought the other half. wordsworth pronounced it worthy of all attention, doubted whether the author had not gone too far about apostolical descent; but then, like the sage that he was, the poet admitted that he must know a great deal more ecclesiastical history, be better read in the fathers, and read the book itself over again, before he could feel any right to criticise.[ ] its reception his political leaders had as yet not spoken a word. on february th, mr. gladstone dined at sir robert peel's. 'not a word from him, stanley, or graham yet, even to acknowledge my poor book; but no change in manner, certainly none in peel or graham.' monckton milnes had been to drayton, and told how the great man there had asked impatiently why anybody with so fine a career before him should go out of his way to write books. 'sir robert peel,' says mr. gladstone, 'who was a religious man, was wholly anti-church and unclerical, and largely undogmatic. i feel that sir r. peel must have been quite perplexed in his treatment of me after the publication of the book, partly through his own fault, for by habit and education he was quite incapable of comprehending the movement in the church, the strength it would reach, and the exigencies it would entail. lord derby, i think, early began to escape from the erastian yoke which weighed upon peel. lord aberdeen was, i should say, altogether enlightened in regard to it and had cast it off: so that he obtained from some the sobriquet (during his ministry) of "the presbyterian puseyite."' even mr. gladstone's best friends trembled for the effect of his ecclesiastical zeal upon his powers of political usefulness, and to the same effect was the general talk of the town. the common suspicion that the writer was doing the work of the hated puseyites grew darker and spread further. then in april came macaulay's article in the _edinburgh_, setting out with his own incomparable directness, pungency, and effect, all the arguments on the side of that popular antagonism which was rooted far less in specific reasoning than in a general anti-sacerdotal instinct that lies deep in the hearts of englishmen. john sterling called the famous article the assault of an equipped and practised sophist against a crude young platonist, who happens by accident to have been taught the hard and broken dialect of aristotle rather than the deep, continuous, and musical flow of his true and ultimate master. author and critic exchanged magnanimous letters worthy of two great and honourable men.[ ] not the least wonderful thing about macaulay's review is that he should not have seen how many of his own most trenchant considerations told no more strongly against mr. gladstone's theory, than they told against that whig theory of establishment which at the end of his article he himself tried to set up in its place. praise indeed came, and praise that no good man could have treated with indifference, from men like keble, and it came from other quarters whence it was perhaps not quite so welcome, and not much more dangerous. he heard (march ) that the duke of sussex, at lord durham's, had been strongly condemning the book; and by an odd contrast just after, as he was standing in conversation with george sinclair, o'connell with evident purpose came up and began to thank him for a most valuable work; for the doctrine of the authority of the church and infallibility in essentials--a great approximation to the church of rome--an excellent sign in one who if he lived, etc. etc. it did not go far enough for the roman catholic archbishop of tuan; but dr. murray, the archbishop of dublin, was delighted with it; he termed it an honest book, while as to the charges against romanism mr. gladstone was misinformed. 'i merely said i was very glad to approximate to any one on the ground of _truth_; _i.e._ rejoiced when truth immediately wrought out, in whatever degree, its own legitimate result of unity. o'connell said he claimed half of me.... count montalembert came to me to-day (march rd), and sat long, for the purpose of ingenuously and kindly impugning certain statements in my book, viz. ( ) that the peculiar tendency of the policy of romanism before the reformation went to limit in the mass of men intellectual exercise upon religion. ( ) that the doctrine of purgatory adjourned until after death, more or less, the idea and practice of the practical work of religion. ( ) that the roman catholic church restricts the reading of the scriptures by the christian people. he spoke of the evils; i contended we had a balance of good, and that the idea of duty in individuals was more developed here than in pure roman catholic countries.' the book too late all was of no avail. 'scarcely had my work issued from the press,' wrote mr. gladstone thirty years later, 'when i became aware that there was no party, no section of a party, no individual person probably, in the house of commons, who was prepared to act upon it. i found myself the last man on a sinking ship.' exclusive support to the established religion of the country had been the rule; 'but when i bade it live, it was just about to die. it was really a quickened, not a deadened conscience, in the country, that insisted on enlarging the circle of state support.'[ ] the result was not wholly unexpected, for in the summer of while actually writing the book, he records that he 'told pusey for himself alone, i thought my own church and state principles within one stage of being hopeless as regards success in this generation.' another set of fragmentary notes, composed in , and headed 'some of my errors,' contains a further passage that points in a significant direction:-- oxford had not taught me, nor had any other place or person, the value of liberty as an essential condition of excellence in human things. true, oxford had supplied me with the means of applying a remedy to this mischief, for she had undoubtedly infused into my mind the love of truth as a dominant and supreme motive of conduct. but this it took long to develop into its proper place and function. it may, perhaps, be thought that among these errors i ought to record the publication in of my first work, _the state in its relation with the church_. undoubtedly that work was written in total disregard or rather ignorance of the conditions under which alone political action was possible in matters of religion. it involved me personally in a good deal of embarrassment.... in the sanguine fervour of youth, having now learned something about the nature of the church and its office, and noting the many symptoms of revival and reform within her borders, i dreamed that she was capable of recovering lost ground, and of bringing back the nation to unity in her communion. a notable projection from the ivory gate, 'sed falsa ad coelum mittunt insomnia manes.'[ ] from these points of view the effort seems contemptible. but i think that there is more to be said. the land was overspread with a thick curtain of prejudice. the foundations of the historic church of england, except in the minds of a few divines, were obscured. the evangelical movement, with all its virtues and merits, had the vice of individualising religion in degree perhaps unexampled, and of rendering the language of holy scripture about mount sion and the kingdom of heaven little better than a jargon.... to meet the demands of the coming time, it was a matter of vital necessity to cut a way through all this darkness to a clearer and more solid position. immense progress has been made in that direction during my lifetime, and i am inclined to hope that my book imparted a certain amount of stimulus to the public mind, and made some small contribution to the needful process in its earliest stage. in the early pages of this very book, mr. gladstone says, that the union of church and state is to the church of secondary though great importance; _her_ foundations are on the holy hills and her condition would be no pitiable one, should she once more occupy the position that she held before the reign of constantine.[ ] faint echo of the unforgotten lines in which dante cries out to constantine what woes his fatal dower to the papacy had brought down on religion and mankind.[ ] in these sentences lay a germ that events were speedily to draw towards maturity, a foreshadowing of the supreme principle that neither oxford nor any other place had yet taught him, 'the value of liberty as an essential condition of excellence in human things.' writes _church principles_ this revelation only turned his zeal for religion as the paramount issue of the time and of all times into another channel. feeling the overwhelming strength of the tide that was running against his view of what he counted vital aspects of the church as a national institution, he next flew to the new task of working out the doctrinal mysteries that this institution embodied, and with mr. gladstone to work out a thing in his own mind always meant to expound and to enforce for the minds of others. his pen was to him at once as sword and as buckler; and while the book on _church and state_, though exciting lively interest, was evidently destined to make no converts in theory and to be pretty promptly cast aside in practice, he soon set about a second work on _church principles_. it is true that with the tenacious instinct of a born controversialist, he still gave a good deal of time to constructing buttresses for the weaker places that had been discovered by enemies or by himself in the earlier edifice, and in he published a revised version of _church and state_.[ ] but ecclesiastical discussion was by then taking a new shape, and the fourth edition fell flat. of _church principles_, we may say that it was stillborn. lockhart said of it, that though a hazy writer, gladstone showed himself a considerable divine, and it was a pity that he had entered parliament instead of taking orders. the divinity, however, did not attract. the public are never very willing to listen to a political layman discussing the arcana of theology, and least of all were they inclined to listen to him about the new-found arcana of anglo-catholic theology. as macaulay said, this time it was a theological treatise, not an essay upon important questions of government; and the intrepid reviewer rightly sought a more fitting subject for his magician's gifts in the dramatists of the restoration. newman said of it, 'gladstone's book is not open to the objections i feared; it is doctrinaire, and (i think) somewhat self-confident; but it will do good.' iii a few sentences more will set before us the earliest of his transitions, and its gradual dates. he is writing about the first election at newark:-- it was a curious piece of experience to a youth in his twenty-third year, young of his age, who had seen little or nothing of the world, who resigned himself to politics, but whose desire had been for the ministry of god. the remains of this desire operated unfortunately. they made me tend to glorify in an extravagant manner and degree not only the religious character of the state, which in reality stood low, but also the religious mission of the conservative party. there was in my eyes a certain element of antichrist in the reform act, and that act was cordially hated, though the leaders soon perceived that there would be no step backward. it was only under the second government of sir robert peel that i learned how impotent and barren was the conservative office for the church, though that government was formed of men able, upright, and extremely well-disposed. it was well for me that the unfolding destiny carried me off in a considerable degree from political ecclesiasticism of which i should at that time have made a sad mess. providence directed that my mind should find its food in other pastures than those in which my youthfulness would have loved to seek it. i went beyond the general views of the tory party in state churchism, ... it was my opinion that as to religions other than those of the state, the state should tolerate only and not pay. so i was against salaries for prison chaplains not of the church, and i applied a logic plaster to all difficulties.... so that macaulay ... was justified in treating me as belonging to the ultra section of the tories, had he limited himself to ecclesiastical questions. in , when he received manning's imprimatur for _church principles_, he notes how hard the time and circumstances were in which he had to steer his little bark. 'but the polestar is clear. reflection shows me that a political position is mainly valuable as instrumental for the good of the church, and under this rule every question becomes one of detail only.' by reflection had taken him a step further:-- i now approach the _mezzo del cammin_; my years glide away. it is time to look forward to the close, and i do look forward. my life ... has two prospective objects, for which i hope the performance of my present public duties may, if not qualify, yet extrinsically enable me. one, the adjustment of certain relations of the church to the state. not that i think the action of the latter can be harmonised to the laws of the former. we have passed the point at which that was possible.... but it would be much if the state would honestly aim at enabling the church to develop her own intrinsic means. to this i look. the second is, unfolding the catholic system within her in some establishment or machinery looking both towards the higher life, and towards the external warfare against ignorance and depravity. internal conflict in the autumn of , mr. gladstone explains to his father the relative positions of secular and church affairs in his mind, and this is only a few months after what to most men is the absorbing moment of accession to cabinet and its responsibilities. 'i contemplate secular affairs,' he says, 'chiefly as a means of being useful in church affairs, though i likewise think it right and prudent not to meddle in church matters for any small reason. i am not making known anything new to you.... these were the sentiments with which i entered public life, and although i do not at all repent of [having entered it, and] am not disappointed in the character of the employments it affords, certainly the experience of them in no way and at no time has weakened my original impressions.' at the end of he reached what looked like a final stage:-- of public life, i certainly must say, every year shows me more and more that the idea of christian politics cannot be realised in the state according to its present conditions of existence. for purposes sufficient, i believe, but partial and finite, i am more than content to be where i am. but the perfect freedom of the new covenant can only, it seems to me, be breathed in other air; and the day may come when god may grant to me the application of this conviction to myself. footnotes: [ ] hanna's _life of chalmers_, iv. pp. - . [ ] ovid, _met._ i. .--chaos, before sea and land and all-covering skies. [ ] _excursion_, v. [ ] _memoirs of j. r. hope-scott_, i. p. , where an adequate portion of the correspondence is to be found. [ ] he wrote an extremely graphic account of their ascent of mount etna, which has since found a place in murray's handbook for sicily. [ ] of the first edition some or copies were sold. [ ] _memoirs of j. r. hope-scott_, i. p. . [ ] carlyle wrote to emerson (feb. , ): one of the strangest things about these new england orations (emerson's) is a fact i have heard, but not yet seen, that a certain w. gladstone, an oxford crack scholar, tory m.p., and devout churchman of great talent and hope, has contrived to insert a piece of you (_first_ oration it must be) in a work of his own on _church and state_, which, makes some figure at present! i know him for a solid, serious, silent-minded man; but how with his coleridge shovel-hattism he has contrived to relate himself to _you_, there is the mystery. true men of all creeds, it _would_ seem, are brothers.--_correspondence of carlyle and emerson_, i. p. . there is more than one reference to emerson in mr. gladstone's book, _e.g._ i. pp. , . [ ] the letters are given in full in _gleanings_, vii. p. . see also trevelyan's _macaulay_, chap. viii. [ ] chapter of autobiography, .--_gleanings_, vii. p. . [ ] _aeneid_, vi. . but through the ivory gate the shades send to the upper air apparitions that do but cheat us. [ ] chapter i. p. . [ ] _inferno_, xix. - . [ ] it was translated into german and published, with a preface by tholuck, in . chapter vi characteristics (_ _) be inspired with the belief that life is a great and noble calling; not a mean and grovelling thing that we are to shuffle through as we can, but an elevated and lofty destiny.--gladstone.[ ] it is the business of biography to depict a physiognomy and not to analyse a type. in our case there is all the more reason to think of this, because type hardly applies to a figure like gladstone's, without any near or distant parallel, and composed of so many curious dualisms and unforeseen affinities. truly was it said of fénelon, that half of him would be a great man, and would stand out more clearly as a great man than does the whole, because it would be simpler. so of mr. gladstone. we are dazzled by the endless versatility of his mind and interests as man of action, scholar, and controversial athlete; as legislator, administrator, leader of the people; as the strongest of his time in the main branches of executive force, strongest in persuasive force; supreme in the exacting details of national finance; master of the parliamentary arts; yet always living in the noble visions of the moral and spiritual idealist. this opulence, vivacity, profusion, and the promise of it all in these days of early prime, made an awakening impression even on his foremost contemporaries. the impression might have been easier to reproduce, if he had been less infinitely mobile. 'i cannot explain my own foundation,' fénelon said; 'it escapes me; it seems to change every hour.' how are we to seek an answer to the same question in the history of mr. gladstone? ii internal conflict his physical vitality--his faculties of free energy, endurance, elasticity--was a superb endowment to begin with. we may often ask for ourselves and others: how many of a man's days does he really live? however men may judge the fruit it bore, mr. gladstone lived in vigorous activity every day through all his years. time showed that he was born with a frame of steel. though, unlike some men of heroic strength--napoleon for example--he often knew fatigue and weariness, yet his organs never failed to answer the call of an intense and persistent will. as we have already seen, in early manhood his eyes gave him much trouble, and he both learned by heart and composed a good deal of verse by way of sparing them. he was a great walker, and at this time he was a sportsman, as his diary has shown. 'my object in shooting, ill as i do it, is the invigorating and cheering exercise, which does so much for health ( ).' one day this year (sept. , ' ) while out shooting, the second barrel of a gun went off while he was reloading, shattering the forefinger of his left hand. the remains of the finger the surgeons removed. 'i have hardly ever in my life,' he says, 'had to endure serious bodily pain, and this was short.' in , he notes, 'a hard day. what a mercy that my strength, in appearance not remarkable, so little fails me.' in the autumn of he was able to record, 'eight or nine days of bed illness, the longest since i had the scarlet fever at nine or ten years old.' it was the same all through. his bodily strength was in fact to prove extraordinary, and was no secondary element in the long and strenuous course now opening before him. not second to vigour of physical organisation--perhaps, if we only knew all the secrets of mind and matter, even connected with this vigour--was strength and steadfastness of will. character, as has been often repeated, is completely fashioned will, and this superlative requirement, so indispensable for every man of action in whatever walk and on whatever scale, was eminently mr. gladstone's. from force of will, with all its roots in habit, example, conviction, purpose, sprang his leading and most effective qualities. he was never very ready to talk about himself, but when asked what he regarded as his master secret, he always said, '_concentration_.' slackness of mind, vacuity of mind, the wheels of the mind revolving without biting the rails of the subject, were insupportable. such habits were of the family of faintheartedness, which he abhorred. steady practice of instant, fixed, effectual attention, was the key alike to his rapidity of apprehension and to his powerful memory. in the orator's temperament exertion is often followed by a reaction that looks like indolence. this was never so with him. by instinct, by nature, by constitution, he was a man of action in all the highest senses of a phrase too narrowly applied and too narrowly construed. the currents of daimonic energy seemed never to stop, the vivid susceptibility to impressions never to grow dull. he was an idealist, yet always applying ideals to their purposes in act. toil was his native element; and though he found himself possessed of many inborn gifts, he was never visited by the dream so fatal to many a well-laden argosy, that genius alone does all. there was nobody like him when it came to difficult business, for bending his whole strength to it, like a mighty archer stringing a stiff bow. force of will and power or toil sir james graham said of him in these years that gladstone could do in four hours what it took any other man sixteen to do, and he worked sixteen hours a day. when i came to know him long years after, he told me that he thought when in office in the times that our story is now approaching, fourteen hours were a common tale. nor was it mere mechanic industry; it was hard labour, exact, strenuous, engrossing rigorous. no hohenzollern soldier held with sterner regularity to the duties of his post. needless to add that he had a fierce regard for the sanctity of time, although in the calling of the politician it is harder than in any other to be quite sure when time is well spent, and when wasted. his supreme economy here, like many other virtues, carried its own defect, and coupled with his constitutional eagerness and his quick susceptibility, it led at all periods of his life to some hurry. the tumult of business, he says one year in his diary, 'follows and whirls me day and night.' he speaks once in of 'a day restless as the sea.' there were many such. that does not mean, and has nothing to do with, 'proud precipitance of soul,' nor haste in forming pregnant resolves. here he was deliberate enough, and in the ordinary conduct of life even minor things were objects of scrutiny and calculation, far beyond the habit of most men. for he was lowlander as well as highlander. but a vast percentage of his letters from boyhood onwards contain apologies for haste. more than once when his course was nearly run, he spoke of his life having been passed in 'unintermittent hurry,' just as mill said, he had never been in a hurry in his life until he entered parliament, and then he had never been out of a hurry. it was no contradiction that deep and constant in him, along with this vehement turn for action, was a craving for tranquil collection of himself that seemed almost monastic. to mrs. gladstone he wrote a couple of years after their marriage (dec. , ):-- you interpret so indulgently what i mean about the necessity of quiescence at home during the parliamentary session, that i need not say much; and yet i think my doctrine must _seem_ so strange that i wish again and again to state how entirely it is different from anything like disparagement, of george for example. it is always relief and always delight to see and to be with you; and you would, i am sure, be glad to know, how near mary [lady lyttelton] comes as compared with others to you, as respects what i can hardly describe in few words, my mental rest, when she is present. but there is no _man_ however near to me, with whom i am fit to be habitually, when hard worked. i have told you how reluctant i have always found myself to detail to my father on coming home, when i lived with him, what had been going on in the house of commons. setting a tired mind to work is like making a man run up and down stairs when his limbs are weary. if he sometimes recalls a fiery hero of the _iliad_, at other times he is the grave and studious benedictine, but whether in quietude or movement, always a man with a purpose and never the loiterer or lounger, never apathetic, never a sufferer from that worst malady of the human soul--from cheerlessness and cold. we need not take him through a phrenological table of elements, powers, faculties, leanings, and propensities. very early, as we shall soon see, mr. gladstone gave marked evidence of that sovereign quality of courage which became one of the most signal of all his traits. he used to say that he had known three men in his time possessing in a supreme degree the virtue of parliamentary courage--peel, lord john russell, and disraeli. to some other contemporaries for whom courage might be claimed, he stoutly denied it. nobody ever dreamed of denying it to him, whether parliamentary courage or any other, in either its active or its passive shape, either in daring or in fortitude. he had even the courage to be prudent, just as he knew when it was prudent to be bold. he applied in public things the spenserian line, '_be bold, be bold, and everywhere be bold_,' but neither did he forget the iron door with its admonition, '_be not too bold_.' the great condé, when complimented on his courage, always said that he took good care never to call upon it unless the occasion were absolutely necessary. no more did mr. gladstone go out of his way to summon courage for its own sake, but only when spurred by duty; then he knew no faltering. capable of much circumspection, yet soon he became known for a man of lion heart. measure of his gifts nature had bestowed on him many towering gifts. whether humour was among them, his friends were wont to dispute. that he had a gaiety and sympathetic alacrity of mind that was near of kin to humour, nobody who knew him would deny. of playfulness his speeches give a thousand proofs; of drollery and fun he had a ready sense, though it was not always easy to be quite sure beforehand what sort of jest would hit or miss. for irony, save in its lighter forms as weapon in debate, he had no marked taste or turn. but he delighted in good comedy, and he reproached me severely for caring less than one ought to do for the _merry wives of windsor_. had he imagination? in its high literary and poetic form he rose to few conspicuous flights--such, for example, as burke's descent of hyder ali upon the carnatic--in vast and fantastic conceptions such as arose from time to time in the brain of napoleon, he had no part or lot. but in force of moral and political imagination, in bold, excursive range, in the faculty of illuminating practical and objective calculations with lofty ideals of the strength of states, the happiness of peoples, the whole structure of good government, he has had no superior among the rulers of england. his very ardour of temperament gave him imagination; he felt as if everybody who listened to him in a great audience was equally fired with his own energy of sympathy, indignation, conviction, and was transported by the same emotion that thrilled through himself. all this, however, did not fully manifest itself at this time, nor for some years to come. strength of will found scope for exercise where some would not discover the need for it. in native capacity for righteous anger he abounded. the flame soon kindled, and it was no fire of straw; but it did not master him. mrs. gladstone once said to me ( ), that whoever writes his life must remember that he had two sides--one impetuous, impatient, irrestrainable, the other all self-control, able to dismiss all but the great central aim, able to put aside what is weakening or disturbing; that he achieved this self-mastery, and had succeeded in the struggle ever since he was three or four and twenty, first by the natural power of his character, and second by incessant wrestling in prayer--prayer that had been abundantly answered. problems of compromise are of the essence of the parliamentary and cabinet system, and for some years at any rate he was more than a little restive when they confronted him. though in the time to come he had abundant difference with colleagues, he had all the virtues needed for political co-operation, as cobden, bright, and mill had them, nor did he ever mistake for courage or independence the unhappy preference for having a party or an opinion exclusively to one's self. 'what is wanted above all things,' he said, 'in the business of joint counsel, is the faculty of making many one, of throwing the mind into the common stock.'[ ] this was a favourite phrase with him for that power of working with other people, without which a man would do well to stand aside from public affairs. he used to say that of all the men he had ever known, sir george grey had most of this capacity for throwing his mind into joint stock. the demands of joint stock he never took to mean the quenching of the duty in a man to have a mind of his own. he was always amused by the recollection of somebody at oxford--'a regius professor of divinity, i am sorry to say'--who was accustomed to define taste as 'a faculty of coinciding with the opinion of the majority.' hard as he strove for a broad basis in general theory and high abstract principle, yet always aiming at practical ends he kept in sight the opportune. nobody knew better the truth, so disastrously neglected by politicians who otherwise would be the very salt of the earth, that not all questions are for all times. 'for my part,' mr. gladstone said, 'i have not been so happy, at any time of my life, as to be able sufficiently to adjust the proper conditions of handling any difficult question, until the question itself was at the door.'[ ] he could not readily apply himself to topics outside of those with which he chanced at the moment to be engrossed:--'can you not wait? is it necessary to consider now?' that was part of his concentration. nor did he fly at a piece of business, deal with it, then let it fall from his grasp. it became part of him. if circumstances brought it again into his vicinity, they found him instantly ready, with a prompt continuity that is no small element of power in public business. how little elastic and self-confident at heart he was in some of his moods in early manhood, we discern in the curious language of a letter to his brother-in-law lyttelton in :-- it is my nature to lean not so much on the applause as upon the assent of others to a degree which perhaps i do not show, from that sense of weakness and utter inadequacy to my work which never ceases to attend me while i am engaged upon these subjects.... i wish you knew the state of total impotence to which i should be reduced if there were no echo to the accents of my own voice. i go through my labour, such as it is, not by a genuine elasticity of spirit, but by a plodding movement only just able to contend with inert force, and in the midst of a life which indeed has little claim to be called active, yet is broken this way and that into a thousand small details, certainly unfavourable to calm and continuity of thought. here we have a glimpse of a singular vein peculiarly rare in ardent genius at thirty, but disclosing its traces in mr. gladstone even in his ripest years. as orator was this the instinct of the orator? for it was in the noble arts of oratory that nature had been most lavish, and in them he rose to be consummate. the sympathy and assent of which he speaks are a part of oratorical inspiration, and even if such sympathy be but superficial, the highest efforts of oratorical genius take it for granted. 'the work of the orator,' he once wrote, 'from its very inception is inextricably mixed up with practice. it is cast in the mould offered to him by the mind of his hearers. it is an influence principally received from his audience (so to speak) in vapour, which he pours back upon them in a flood. the sympathy and concurrence of his time, is, with his own mind, joint parent of the work. he cannot follow nor frame ideals: his choice is, to be what his age will have him, what it requires in order to be moved by him; or else not to be at all.'[ ] among mr. gladstone's physical advantages for bearing the orator's sceptre were a voice of singular fulness, depth, and variety of tone; a falcon's eye with strange imperious flash; features mobile, expressive, and with lively play; a great actor's command of gesture, bold, sweeping, natural, unforced, without exaggeration or a trace of melodrama. his pose was easy, alert, erect. to these endowments of external mien was joined the gift and the glory of words. they were not sought, they came. whether the task were reasoning or exposition or expostulation, the copious springs never failed. nature had thus done much for him, but he superadded ungrudging labour. later in life he proffered to a correspondent a set of suggestions on the art of speaking:-- . study plainness of language, always preferring the simpler word. . shortness of sentences. . distinctness of articulation. . test and question your own arguments beforehand, not waiting for critic or opponent. . seek a thorough digestion of, and familiarity with, your subject, and rely mainly on these to prompt the proper words. . remember that if you are to sway an audience you must besides thinking out your matter, watch them all along.--(march , .) the first and second of these rules hardly fit his own style. yet he had seriously studied from early days the devices of a speaker's training. i find copied into a little note-book many of the precepts and maxims of quintilian on the making of an orator. so too from cicero's _de oratore_, including the words put into the mouth of catulus, that nobody can attain the glory of eloquence without the height of zeal and toil and knowledge.[ ] zeal and toil and knowledge, working with an inborn faculty of powerful expression--here was the double clue. he never forgot the ciceronian truth that the orator is not made by the tongue alone, as if it were a sword sharpened on a whetstone or hammered on an anvil; but by having a mind well filled with a free supply of high and various matter.[ ] his eloquence was 'inextricably mixed up with practice.' an old whig listening to one of his budget speeches, said with a touch of bitterness, 'ah, oxford on the surface, but liverpool below.' no bad combination. he once had a lesson from sir robert peel. mr. gladstone, being about to reply in debate, turned to his chief and said: 'shall i be short and concise?' 'no,' was the answer, 'be long and diffuse. it is all important in the house of commons to state your case in many different ways, so as to produce an effect on men of many ways of thinking.' in discussing macaulay, sir francis baring, an able and unbiassed judge, advised a junior ( ) about patterns for the parliamentary aspirant:--'gladstone is to my mind a much better model for speaking; i mean he is happier in joining great eloquence and selection of words and rhetoric, if you will, with a style not a bit above debate. it does not smell of the oil. of course there has been plenty of labour, and that not of to-day but during a whole life.' nothing could be truer. certainly for more than the first forty years of his parliamentary existence, he cultivated a style not above debate, though it was debate of incomparable force and brilliance. when simpletons say, as if this were to dispose of every higher claim for him, that he worked all his wonders by his gifts as orator, do they ever think what power over such an assembly as the house of commons signifies? here--and it was not until he had been for thirty years and more in parliament that he betook himself largely to the efforts of the platform--here he was addressing men of the world, some of them the flower of english education and intellectual accomplishment; experts in all the high practical lines of life, bankers, merchants, lawyers, captains of industry in every walk; men trained in the wide experience and high responsibilities of public office; lynx-eyed rivals and opponents. is this the scene, or were these the men, for the triumphs of the barren rhetorician and the sophist, whose words have no true relation to the facts? where could general mental strength be better tested? as a matter of history most of those who have held the place of leading minister in the house of commons have hardly been orators at all, any more than washington and jefferson were orators. mr. gladstone conquered the house, because he was saturated with a subject and its arguments; because he could state and enforce his case; because he plainly believed every word he said, and earnestly wished to press the same belief into the minds of his hearers; finally because he was from the first an eager and a powerful athlete. the man who listening to his adversary asks of his contention, 'is this true?' is a lost debater; just as a soldier would be lost who on the day of battle should bethink him that the enemy's cause might after all perhaps be just. the debater does not ask, 'is this true?' he asks, 'what is the answer to this? how can i most surely floor him?' lord coleridge inquired of mr. gladstone whether he ever felt nervous in public speaking: 'in opening a subject often,' mr. gladstone answered, 'in reply never.' yet with this inborn readiness for combat, nobody was less addicted to aggression or provocation. it was with him a salutary maxim that, if you have unpalatable opinions to declare, you should not make them more unpalatable by the way of expressing them. in his earlier years he did not often speak with passion. 'this morning,' a famous divine once said, 'i preached a sermon all flames.' mr. gladstone sometimes made speeches of that cast, but not frequently, i think, until the seventies. meanwhile he impressed the house by his nobility, his sincerity, his simplicity; for there is plenty of evidence besides mr. gladstone's case, that simplicity of character is no hindrance to subtlety of intellect. contemporaries in these opening years describe his parliamentary manners as much in his favour. his countenance, they say, is mild and pleasant, and has a high intellectual expression. his eyes are clear and quick. his eyebrows are dark and rather prominent. there is not a dandy in the house but envies his fine head of jet-black hair. mr. gladstone's gesture is varied, but not violent. when he rises, he generally puts both his hands behind his back, and having there suffered them to embrace each other for a short time, he unclasps them, and allows them to drop on either side. they are not permitted to remain long in that locality before you see them again closed together, and hanging down before him.[ ] other critics say that his air and voice are too abstract, and 'you catch the sound as though he were communing with himself. it is as though you saw a bright picture through a filmy veil. his countenance, without being strictly handsome, is highly intellectual. his pale complexion, slightly tinged with olive, and dark hair, cut rather close to his head, with an eye of remarkable depth, still more impress you with the abstracted character of his disposition. the expression of his face would be sombre were it not for the striking eye, which has a remarkable fascination. his triumphs as a debater are achieved not by the aid of the passions, as with sir james graham, or with mr. sheil; not of prejudice and fallacy, as with robert peel; not with imagination and high seductive colouring, as with mr. macaulay: but--of pure reason. he prevails by that subdued earnestness which results from deep religious feelings, and is not fitted for the more usual and more stormy functions of a public speaker.'[ ] iii action his field we are not to think of him as prophet, seer, poet, founder of a system, or great born man of letters like gibbon, macaulay, carlyle. of these characters he was none, though he had warmth and height of genius to comprehend the value of them all, and--what was more curious--his oratory and his acts touched them and their work in such a way that men were always tempted to apply to him standards that belonged to them. his calling was a different one, and he was wont to appraise it lower. his field lay 'in working the institutions of his country.' whether he would have played a part as splendid in the position of a high ruling ecclesiastic, if the times had allowed such a personage, we cannot tell; perhaps he had not 'imperious immobility' enough. nor whether he would have made a judge of the loftier order; perhaps his mind was too addicted to subtle distinctions, and not likely to give a solid adherence to broad principles of law. a superb advocate? an evangelist, as irresistible as wesley or as whitefield? what matters it? all agree that more magnificent power of mind was never placed at the service of the british senate. his letters to his father from onwards show all the interest of a keen young member in his calling, though they contain few anecdotes, or tales, or vivid social traits. 'of political gossip,' he admits to his father ( ), 'you always find me barren enough.' what comes out in all his letters to his kinsfolk is his unbounded willingness to take trouble in order to spare others. even in prolonged and intricate money transactions, of which we shall see something latertransactions of all others the most apt to produce irritation--not an accent of impatience or dispute escapes him, though the guarded firmness of his language marks the steadfast self-control. we may say of mr. gladstone that nobody ever had less to repent of from that worst waste in human life that comes of unkindness. kingsley noticed, with some wonder, how he never allowed the magnitude and multiplicity of his labours to excuse him from any of the minor charities and courtesies of life. active hatred of cruelty, injustice, and oppression is perhaps the main difference between a good man and a bad one; and here mr. gladstone was sublime. yet though anger burned fiercely in him over wrong, nobody was more chary of passing moral censures. what he said of himself in , when he was three and thirty, held good to the end:-- nothing grows upon me so much with lengthening life as the sense of the difficulties, or rather the impossibilities, with which we are beset whenever we attempt to take to ourselves the functions of the eternal judge (except in reference to ourselves where judgment is committed to us), and to form any accurate idea of relative merit and demerit, good and evil, in actions. the shades of the rainbow are not so nice, and the sands of the sea-shore are not such a multitude, as are all the subtle, shifting, blending forms of thought and of circumstances that go to determine the character of us and of our acts. but there is one that seeth plainly and judgeth righteously. his silences this was only one side of mr. gladstone's many silences. to talk of the silences of the most copious and incessant speaker and writer of his time may seem a paradox. yet in this fluent orator, this untiring penman, this eager and most sociable talker at the dinner-table or on friendly walks, was a singular faculty of self-containment and reserve. quick to notice, as he was, and acutely observant of much that might have been expected to escape him, he still kept as much locked up within as he so liberally gave out. bulwer lytton was at one time, as is well known, addicted to the study of mediæval magic, occult power, and the conjunctions of the heavenly bodies; and among other figures he one day amused himself by casting the horoscope of mr. gladstone ( ). to him the astrologer's son sent it. like most of such things, the horoscope has one or two ingenious hits and a dozen nonsensical misses. but one curious sentence declares mr. gladstone to be '_at heart a solitary man_.' here i have often thought that the stars knew what they were about. whether mr. gladstone ever became what is called a good judge of men it would be hard to say. such characters are not common even among parliamentary leaders. they do not always care to take the trouble. the name is too commonly reserved for those who think dubiously or downright ill of their fellow-creatures. those who are accustomed to make most of knowing men, do their best to convince us that men are hardly worth knowing. this was not mr. gladstone's way. like lord aberdeen, he had a marked habit of believing people; it was part of his simplicity. his life was a curious union of ceaseless contention and inviolable charity--a true charity, having nothing in common with a lazy spirit of unconcern. he knew men well enough, at least, to have found out that none gains such ascendency over them as he who appeals to what is the nobler part in human nature. nestors of the whigs used to wonder how so much imagination, invention, courage, knowledge, diligence--all the qualities that seem to make an orator and a statesman--could be neutralised by the want of a sound overruling judgment. they said that gladstone's faculties were like an army without a general, or a jury without guidance from the bench.[ ] yet when the time came, this army without a general won the crowning victories of the epoch, and for twenty years the chief findings of this jury without a judge proved to be the verdicts of the nation. it is not easy for those less extraordinarily constituted, to realise the vigour of soul that maintained an inner life in all its absorbing exaltation day after day, year after year, decade after decade, amid the ever-swelling rush of urgent secular affairs. immersed in active responsibility for momentous secular things, he never lost the breath of what was to him a diviner aether. habitually he strove for the lofty uplands where political and moral ideas meet. even in those days he struck all who came into contact with him by a goodness and elevation that matched the activity and power of his mind. his political career might seem doubtful, but there was no doubt about the man. one of the most interesting of his notes about his own growth is this:-- there was a singular slowness in the development of my mind, so far as regarded its opening into the ordinary aptitudes of the man of the world. for years and years well into advanced middle life, i seem to have considered actions simply as they were in themselves, and did not take into account the way in which they would be taken and understood by others. i did not perceive that their natural or probable effect upon minds other than my own formed part of the considerations determining the propriety of each act in itself, and not unfrequently, at any rate in public life, supplied the decisive criterion to determine what ought and what ought not to be done. in truth the dominant tendencies of my mind were those of a recluse, and i might, in most respects with ease, have accommodated myself to the education of the cloister. all the mental apparatus requisite to constitute the 'public man' had to be purchased by a slow experience and inserted piecemeal into the composition of my character. lord malmesbury describes himself in as curious to see mr. gladstone, 'for he is a man much spoken of as one who will come to the front.' he was greatly disappointed at his personal appearance, 'which is that of a roman catholic ecclesiastic, but he is very agreeable.'[ ] few men can have been more perplexed, and few perhaps more perplexing, as the social drama of the capital was in time unfolded to his gaze. there he beheld the glitter of rank and station, and palaces, and men and women bearing famous names; worlds within worlds, high diplomatic figures, the partisan leaders, the constant stream of agitated rumours about weighty affairs in england and europe; the keen play of ambition, passions, interests, under easy manners and fugitive pleasantry; gross and sordid aims, as king hudson was soon to find out, masked by exterior refinement; so much kindness with a free spice of criticism and touches of ill-nature; so much of the governing force of england still gathered into a few great houses, exclusive and full of pride, and yet, after the astounding discovery that in spite of the deluge of the reform bill they were still alive as the directing class, always so open to political genius if likely to climb, and help them to climb, into political power. these were the last high days of the undisputed sway of territorial aristocracy in england. the artificial scene was gay and captivating; but much in it was well fitted to make serious people wonder. queen victoria was assuredly not of the harsh fibre of the misanthropist in molière's fine comedy; yet she once said a strange and deep thing to an archbishop. 'as i get older,' she said, 'i cannot understand the world. i cannot comprehend its littlenesses. when i look at the frivolities and littlenesses, _it seems to me as if they were all a little mad_.'[ ] the social drama this was the stage on which mr. gladstone, with 'the dominant tendencies of a recluse' and a mind that might easily have been 'accommodated to the cloister,' came to play his part,--in which he was 'by a slow experience' to insert piecemeal the mental apparatus proper to the character of the public man. yet it was not among the booths and merchandise and hubbub of vanity fair, it was among strata in the community but little recognised as yet, that he was to find the field and the sources of his highest power. his view of the secular world was never fastidious or unmanly. looking back upon his long experience of it he wrote ( ):-- that political life considered as a profession has great dangers for the inner and true life of the human being, is too obvious. it has, however, some redeeming qualities. in the first place, i have never known, and can hardly conceive, a finer school of temper than the house of commons. a lapse in this respect is on the instant an offence, a jar, a wound, to every member of the assembly; and it brings its own punishment on the instant, like the sins of the jews under the old dispensation. again, i think the imperious nature of the subjects, their weight and force, demanding the entire strength of a man and all his faculties, leave him no residue, at least for the time, to apply to self-regard; no more than there is for a swimmer swimming for his life. he must, too, in retrospect feel himself to be so very small in comparison with the themes and the interests of which he has to treat. it is a further advantage if his occupation be not mere debate, but debate ending in work. for in this way, whether the work be legislative or administrative, it is continually tested by results, and he is enabled to strip away his extravagant anticipations, his fallacious conceptions, to perceive his mistakes, and to reduce his estimates to the reality. no politician has any excuse for being vain. like the stoic emperor, mr. gladstone had in his heart the feeling that the man is a runaway who deserts the exercise of civil reason. iv religion the mainspring all his activities were in his own mind one. this, we can hardly repeat too often, is the fundamental fact of mr. gladstone's history. political life was only part of his religious life. it was religion that prompted his literary life. it was religious motive that, through a thousand avenues and channels stirred him and guided him in his whole conception of active social duty, including one pitiful field of which i may say something later. the liberalism of the continent at this epoch was in its essence either hostile to christianity or else it was indifferent; and when men like lamennais tried to play at the same time the double part of tribune of the people and catholic theocrat, they failed. the old world of pope and priest and socialist and red cap of liberty fought on as before. in england, too, the most that can be said of the leading breed of the political reformers of that half century, with one or two most notable exceptions, is that they were theists, and not all of them were even so much as theists.[ ] if liberalism had continued to run in the grooves cut by bentham, james mill, grote, and the rest, mr. gladstone would never have grown to be a liberal. he was not only a fervid practising christian; he was a christian steeped in the fourth century, steeped in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. every man of us has all the centuries in him, though their operations be latent, dim, and very various; in his case the roots were as unmistakeable as the leafage, the blossom, and the fruits. a little later than the date with which we are now dealing (may , )--and here the date matters little, for the case was always the same--he noted what in hours of strain and crisis the bible was to him:-- on most occasions of very sharp pressure or trial, some word of scripture has come home to me as if borne on angels' wings. many could i recollect. the psalms are the great storehouse. perhaps i should put some down now, for the continuance of memory is not to be trusted. . in the winter of , psalm . this came in a most singular manner, but it would be a long story to tell. . in the oxford contest of (which was very harrowing) the verse--'o lord god, thou strength of my health, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.' . in the gorham contest, after the judgment: 'and though all this be come upon us, yet do we not forget thee; nor behave ourselves frowardly in thy covenant. our heart is not turned back; neither our steps gone out of thy way. no not when thou hast smitten us into the place of dragons: and covered us with the shadow of death.' . on monday, april , [his first budget speech], it was: 'o turn thee then unto me, and have mercy upon me: give thy strength unto thy servant, and help the son of thine handmaid.' last sunday [crimean war budget] it was not from the psalms for the day: 'thou shalt prepare a table before me against them that trouble me; thou hast anointed my head with oil and my cup shall be full.' in that stage at least he had shaken off none of the grip of tradition, in which his book and college training had placed him. his mind still had greater faith in things because aristotle or augustine said them, than because they are true.[ ] if the end of education be to teach independence of mind, the socratic temper, the love of pushing into unexplored areas--intellectual curiosity in a word--oxford had done none of all this for him. in every field of thought and life he started from the principle of authority; it fitted in with his reverential instincts, his temperament, above all, his education. place of dante in his mind the lifelong enthusiasm for dante should on no account in this place be left out. in mr. gladstone it was something very different from casual dilettantism or the accident of a scholar's taste. he was always alive to the grandeur of goethe's words, _im ganzen, guten, wahren, resolut zu leben_, 'in wholeness, goodness, truth, strenuously to live.' but it was in dante--active politician and thinker as well as poet--that he found this unity of thought and coherence of life, not only illuminated by a sublime imagination, but directly associated with theology, philosophy, politics, history, sentiment, duty. here are all the elements and interests that lie about the roots of the life of a man, and of the general civilisation of the world. this ever memorable picture of the mind and heart of europe in the great centuries of the catholic age,--making heaven the home of the human soul, presenting the natural purposes of mankind in their universality of good and evil, exalted and mean, piteous and hateful, tragedy and farce, all commingled as a living whole,--was exactly fitted to the quality of a genius so rich and powerful as mr. gladstone's in the range of its spiritual intuitions and in its masculine grasp of all the complex truths of mortal nature. so true and real a book is it, he once said,--such a record of practical humanity and of the discipline of the soul amidst its wonderful poetical intensity and imaginative power. in him this meant no spurious revivalism, no flimsy and fantastic affectation. it was the real and energetic discovery in the vivid conception and commanding structure of dante, of a light, a refuge, and an inspiration in the labours of the actual world. 'you have been good enough,' he once wrote to an italian correspondent ( ), 'to call that supreme poet "a solemn master" for me. these are not empty words. the reading of dante is not merely a pleasure, a _tour de force_, or a lesson; it is a vigorous discipline for the heart, the intellect, the whole man. in the school of dante i have learned a great part of that mental provision (however insignificant it may be) which has served me to make the journey of human life up to the term of nearly seventy-three years.' he once asked of an accomplished woman possessing a scholar's breadth of reading, what poetry she most lived with. she named dante for one. 'but what of dante?' 'the paradiso,' she replied. 'ah, that is right,' he exclaimed, 'that's my test.' in the paradiso it was, that he saw in beams of crystal radiance the ideal of the unity of the religious mind, the love and admiration for the high unseen things of which the christian church was to him the sovereign embodiment. the mediæval spirit, it is true, wears something of a ghostly air in the light of our new day. this attempt, which has been made many a time before, 'to unify two ages,' did not carry men far in the second half of the nineteenth century. nevertheless it were an idle dream to think that the dead hand of dante's century, and all that it represented, is no longer to be taken into account by those who would be governors of men. meanwhile, let us observe once more that the statesman who had drunk most deeply from the mediæval fountains was yet one of the supreme leaders of his own generation in a notable stage of the long transition from mediæval to modern. 'at oxford,' he records, 'i read rousseau's _social contract_ which had no influence upon me, and the writings of burke which had a great deal.' yet the day came when he too was drawn by the movement of things into the flaming circle of thought, feeling, phrase, that in romance and politics and all the ways of life europe for a century associated with the name of rousseau. there was what men call rousseau in a statesman who could talk of men's common 'flesh and blood' in connection with a franchise bill. indeed one of the strangest things in mr. gladstone's growth and career is this unconscious raising of a partially rousseauite structure on the foundations laid by burke, to whom rousseau was of all writers on the nature of man and the ordering of states the most odious and contemptible. we call it strange, though such amalgams of contrary ways of thinking and feeling are more common than careless observers may suppose. mr. gladstone was never an 'equalitarian,' but the passion for simplicity he had--simplicity in life, manners, feeling, conduct, the relations of men to men; dislike of luxury and profusion and all the fabric of artificial and factitious needs. it may well be that he went no further for all this than the sermon on the mount, where so many secret elements of social volcano slumber. however we may choose to trace the sources and relations of mr. gladstone's general ideas upon the political problems of his time, what he said of himself in the evening of his day was at least true of its dawn and noon. 'i am for old customs and traditions,' he wrote, 'against needless change. i am for the individual as against the state. i am for the family and the stable family as against the state.' he must have been in eager sympathy with wordsworth's line taken from old spenser in these very days, 'perilous is sweeping change, all chance unsound.'[ ] finally and above all, he stood firm in 'the old christian faith.' life was to him in all its aspects an application of christian teaching and example. if we like to put it so, he was steadfast for making politics more human, and no branch of civilised life needs humanising more. here we touch the question of questions. at nearly every page of mr. gladstone's active career the vital problem stares us in the face, of the correspondence between the rule of private morals and of public. is the rule one and the same for individual and for state? from these early years onwards, mr. gladstone's whole language and the moods that it reproduces,--his vivid denunciations, his sanguine expectations, his rolling epithets, his aspects and appeals and points of view,--all take for granted that right and wrong depend on the same set of maxims in public life and private. the puzzle will often greet us, and here it is enough to glance at it. in every statesman's case it arises; in mr. gladstone's it is cardinal and fundamental. v maxims of ordered life to say that he had drawn prizes in what is called the lottery of life would not be untrue; but just as true is it that one of those very prizes was the determined conviction that life is no lottery at all, but a serious business worth taking infinite pains upon. to one of his sons at oxford he wrote a little paper of suggestions that are the actual description of his own lifelong habit and unbroken practice. _strathconan, oct. , ._-- . to keep a short journal of principal employments in each day: most valuable as an account-book of the all-precious gift of time. . to keep also an account-book of receipt and expenditure; and the least troublesome way of keeping it is to keep it with care. this done in early life, and carefully done, creates the habit of performing the great duty of keeping our expenditure (and therefore our desires) within our means. . read attentively (and it is pleasant reading) taylor's essay on money,[ ] which if i have not done it already, i will give you. it is most healthy and most useful reading. . establish a minimum number of hours in the day for study, say seven at present, and do not without reasonable cause let it be less; noting down against yourself the days of exception. there should also be a minimum number for the vacations, which at oxford are extremely long. . there arises an important question about sundays. though we should to the best of our power avoid secular work on sundays, it does not follow that the mind should remain idle. there is an immense field of knowledge connected with religion, and much of it is of a kind that will be of use in the schools and in relation to your general studies. in these days of shallow scepticism, so widely spread, it is more than ever to be desired that we should be able to give a reason for the hope that is in us. . as to duties directly religious, such as daily prayer in the morning and evening, and daily reading of some portion of the holy scripture, or as to the holy ordinances of the gospel, there is little need, i am confident, to advise you; one thing, however, i would say, that it is not difficult, and it is most beneficial, to cultivate the habit of inwardly turning the thoughts to god, though but for a moment in the course or during the intervals of our business; which continually presents occasions requiring his aid and guidance. . turning again to ordinary duty, i know no precept more wide or more valuable than this: cultivate self-help; do not seek nor like to be dependent upon others for what you can yourself supply; and keep down as much as you can the standard of your wants, for in this lies a great secret of manliness, _true_ wealth, and happiness; as, on the other hand, the multiplication of our wants makes us effeminate and slavish, as well as selfish. . in regard to money as well as to time, there is a great advantage in its methodical use. especially is it wise to dedicate a certain portion of our means to purposes of charity and religion, and this is more easily begun in youth than in after life. the greatest advantage of making a little fund of this kind is that when we are asked to give, the competition is not between _self_ on the one hand and charity on the other, but between the different purposes of religion and charity with one another, among which we ought to make the most careful choice. it is desirable that the fund thus devoted should not be less than one-tenth of our means; and it tends to bring a blessing on the rest. . besides giving this, we should save something, so as to be before the world, _i.e._ to have some preparation to meet the accidents and unforeseen calls of life as well as its general future. fathers are generally wont to put their better mind into counsels to their sons. in this instance the counsellor was the living pattern of his own maxims. his account-books show in full detail that he never at any time in his life devoted less than a tenth of his annual incomings to charitable and religious objects. the peculiarity of all this half-mechanic ordering of a wise and virtuous individual life, was that it went with a genius and power that 'moulded a mighty state's decrees,' and sought the widest 'process of the suns.' vi mental growth once more, his whole temper and spirit turned to practice. his thrift of time, his just and regulated thrift in money, his hatred of waste, were only matched by his eager and minute attention in affairs of public business. he knew how to be content with small savings of hours and of material resources. he was not downcast if progress were slow. in watching public opinion, in feeling the pulse of a cabinet, in softening the heart of a colleague, even when skies were gloomiest, he was almost provokingly anxious to detect signs of encouragement that to others were imperceptible. he was of the mind of the roman emperor, 'hope not for the republic of plato; but be content with ever so small an advance, and look on even that as a gain worth having.'[ ] a commonplace, but not one of the commonplaces that are always laid to heart. if faith was one clue, then next to faith was growth. the fundamentals of christian dogma, so far as i know and am entitled to speak, are the only region in which mr. gladstone's opinions have no history. everywhere else we look upon incessant movement; in views about church and state, tests, national schools; in questions of economic and fiscal policy; in relations with party; in the questions of popular government--in every one of these wide spheres of public interest he passes from crisis to crisis. the dealings of church and state made the first of these marked stages in the history of his opinions and his life, but it was only the beginning. i was born with smaller natural endowments than you, he wrote to his old friend sir francis doyle ( ), and i had also a narrower early training. but my life has certainly been remarkable for the mass of continuous and searching experience it has brought me ever since i began to pass out of boyhood. i have been feeling my way; owing little to living teachers, but enormously to four dead ones[ ] (over and above the four gospels). it has been experience which has altered my politics. my toryism was accepted by me on authority and in good faith; i did my best to fight for it. but if you choose to examine my parliamentary life you will find that on every subject as i came to deal with it practically, i had to deal with it as a liberal elected in ' . i began with slavery in , and was commended by the liberal minister, mr. stanley. i took to colonial subjects principally, and in was commended for treating them liberally by lord russell. then sir r. peel carried me into trade, and before i had been six months in office, i wanted to resign because i thought his corn law reform insufficient. in ecclesiastical policy i had been a speculator; but if you choose to refer to a speech of sheil's in on the dissenters' chapels bill,[ ] you will find him describing me as predestined to be a champion of religious equality. all this seems to show that i have changed under the teaching of experience. and much later he wrote of himself:-- the stock in trade of ideas with which i set out on the career of parliamentary life was a small one. i do not think the general tendencies of my mind were even in the time of my youth illiberal. it was a great accident that threw me into the anti-liberal attitude, but having taken it up i held to it with energy. it was the accident of the reform bill of . for teachers or idols or both in politics i had had mr. burke and mr. canning. i followed them in their dread of reform, and probably caricatured them as a raw and unskilled student caricatures his master. this one idea on which they were anti-liberal became the master-key of the situation, and absorbed into itself for the time the whole of politics. this, however, was not my only disadvantage. i had been educated in an extremely narrow churchmanship, that of the evangelical party. this narrow churchmanship too readily embraced the idea that the extension of representative principles, which was then the essential work of liberalism, was associated with irreligion; an idea quite foreign to my older sentiment on behalf of roman catholic emancipation. (_autobiographic note, july , _.) vii limitations of interest notwithstanding his humility, his willingness within a certain range to learn, his profound reverence for what he took for truth, he was no more ready than many far inferior men to discern a certain important rule of intellectual life that was expressed in a quaint figure by one of our old english sages. 'he is a wonderful man,' said the sage, 'that can thread a needle when he is at cudgels in a crowd; and yet this is as easy as to find truth in the hurry of disputation.'[ ] the strenuous member of parliament, the fervid minister fighting the clauses of his bill, the disputant in cabinet, when he passed from man of action to the topics of balanced thought, nice scrutiny, long meditation, did not always succeed in getting his thread into the needle's eye. as to the problems of the metaphysician, mr. gladstone showed little curiosity. nor for abstract discussion in its highest shape--for investigation of ultimate propositions--had he any of that power of subtle and ingenious reasoning which was often so extraordinary when he came to deal with the concrete, the historic, and the demonstrable. a still more singular limitation on the extent of his intellectual curiosity was hardly noticed at this early epoch. the scientific movement, which along with the growth of democracy and the growth of industrialism formed the three propelling forces of a new age,--was not yet developed in all its range. the astonishing discoveries in the realm of natural science, and the philosophic speculations that were built upon them, though quite close at hand, were still to come. darwin's _origin of species_, for example, was not given to the world until . mr. gladstone watched these things vaguely and with misgiving; instinct must have told him that the advance of natural explanation, whether legitimately or not, would be in some degree at the expense of the supernatural. but from any full or serious examination of the details of the scientific movement he stood aside, safe and steadfast within the citadel of tradition. he was once asked to subscribe to a memorial of tyndale, the translator of the bible,[ ] and he put his refusal upon grounds that show one source at least of his scruple about words. he replies that he has been driven to a determination to renounce all subscriptions for the commemoration of ancient worthies, as he finds that he cannot signify gratitude for services rendered, without being understood to sanction all that they have said or done, and thus becoming involved in controversy or imputation about them. 'i am often amazed,' he goes on, 'at the construction put upon my acts and words; but experience has shown me that they are commonly put under the microscope, and then found to contain all manner of horrors, like the animalcules in thames water.' this microscope was far too valuable an instrument in the contentions of party, ever to be put aside; and the animalcules, duly magnified to the frightful size required, were turned into first-rate electioneering agents. even without party microscopes, those who feel most warmly for mr. gladstone's manifold services to his country, may often wish that he had inscribed in letters of gold over the door of the temple of peace, a certain sentence from the wise oracles of his favourite butler. 'for the conclusion of this,' said the bishop, 'let me just take notice of the danger of over-great refinements; of going beside or beyond the plain, obvious first appearances of things, upon the subject of morals and religion.'[ ] nor would he have said less of politics. it is idle to ignore in mr. gladstone's style an over-refining in words, an excess of qualifying propositions, a disproportionate impressiveness in verbal shadings without real difference. nothing irritated opponents more. they insisted on taking literary sin for moral obliquity, and because men could not understand, they assumed that he wished to mislead. yet if we remember how carelessness in words, how the slovenly combination under the same name of things entirely different, how the taking for granted as matter of positive proof what is at the most only possible or barely probable--when we think of all the mischief and folly that has been wrought in the world by loose habits of mind that are almost as much the master vice of the head as selfishness is the master vice of the heart, men may forgive mr. gladstone for what passed as sophistry and subtlety, but was in truth scruple of conscience in that region where lack of scruple half spoils the world. verbal refining this peculiar trait was connected with another that sometimes amused friends, but always exasperated foes. among the papers is a letter from an illustrious man to mr. gladstone--wickedly no better dated by the writer than 'saturday,' and no better docketed by the receiver than 't. b. macaulay, march ,'--showing that mr. gladstone was just as energetic, say in some year between and , in defending the entire consistency between a certain speech of the dubious date and a speech in , as he ever afterwards showed himself in the same too familiar process. in later times he described himself as a sort of purist in what touches the consistency of statesmen. 'change of opinion,' he said, 'in those to whose judgment the public looks more or less to assist its own, is an evil to the country, although a much smaller evil than their persistence in a course which they know to be wrong. it is not always to be blamed. but it is always to be watched with vigilance; always to be challenged and put upon its trial.'[ ] to this challenge in his own case--and no man of his day was half so often put upon his trial for inconsistency--he was always most easily provoked to make a vehement reply. in that process mr. gladstone's natural habit of resort to qualifying words, and his skill in showing that a new attitude could be reconciled by strict reasoning with the logical contents of old dicta, gave him wonderful advantage. his adversary, as he strode confidently along the smooth grass, suddenly found himself treading on a serpent; he had overlooked a condition, a proviso, a word of hypothesis or contingency, that sprang from its ambush and brought his triumph to naught on the spot. if mr. gladstone had only taken as much trouble that his hearers should understand exactly what it was that he meant, as he took trouble afterwards to show that his meaning had been grossly misunderstood, all might have been well. as it was, he seemed to be completely satisfied if he could only show that two propositions, thought by plain men to be directly contradictory, were all the time capable on close construction of being presented in perfect harmony. as if i had a right to look only to what my words literally mean or may in good logic be made to mean, and had no concern at all with what the people meant who used the same words, or with what i might have known that my hearers were all the time supposing me to mean. hope-scott once wrote to him (november , ): 'we live in a time in which accurate distinctions, especially in theology, are absolutely unconsidered. the "common sense" or general tenor of questions is what alone the majority of men are guided by. and i verily believe that semi-arian confessions or any others turning upon nicety of thought and expression, would be for the most part considered as fitter subjects for scholastic dreamers than for earnest christians.' in politics at any rate, bishop butler was wiser. the explanation of what was assailed as inconsistency is perhaps a double one. in the first place he started on his journey with an intellectual chart of ideas and principles not adequate or well fitted for the voyage traced for him by the spirit of his age. if he held to the inadequate ideas with which oxford and canning and his father and even peel had furnished him, he would have been left helpless and useless in the days stretching before him. the second point is that the orator of mr. gladstone's commanding school exists by virtue of large and intense expression; then if circumstances make him as vehement for one opinion to-day as he was vehement for what the world regards as a conflicting opinion yesterday, his intellectual self-respect naturally prompts him to insist that the opinions do not really clash, but are in fact identical. you may call this a weakness if you choose, and it certainly involved mr. gladstone in much unfruitful and not very edifying exertion; but it is at any rate better than the front of brass that takes any change of opinion for matter-of-course expedient, as to which the least said will be soonest mended. and it is better still than the disastrous self-consciousness that makes a man persist in a foolish thing to-day, because he chanced to say or do a foolish thing yesterday. viii minor morals in this period of his life, with the battle of the world still to come, mr. gladstone to whose grave temperament everything, little or great, was matter of deliberate reflection, of duty and scruple, took early note of minor morals as well as major. characteristically he found some fault with a sermon of dr. wordsworth's upon saint barnabas, for hardly pushing the argument for the connection of good manners with christianity to the full extent of which it is fairly capable. the whole system of legitimate courtesy, politeness, and refinement is surely nothing less than one of the genuine though minor and often unacknowledged results of the gospel scheme. all the great moral qualities or graces, which in their large sphere determine the formation and habits of the christian soul as before god, do also on a smaller scale apply to the very same principles in the common intercourse of life, and pervade its innumerable and separately inappreciable particulars; and the result of this application is that good breeding which distinguishes christian civilisation. (march , .) it is not for us to discuss whether the breeding of plato or cicero or the arabs of cordova was better or worse than the breeding of the eastern bishops at nicæa or ephesus. good manners, we may be sure, hardly have a single master-key, unless it be simplicity, or freedom from the curse of affectation. what is certain is that nobody of his time was a finer example of high good manners and genuine courtesy than mr. gladstone himself. he has left a little sheaf of random jottings which, without being subtle or recondite, show how he looked on this side of human things. here is an example or two:-- there are a class of passages in mr. wilberforce's _journals_, _e.g._, some of those recording his successful speeches, which might in many men be set down to vanity, but in him are more fairly i should think ascribable to a singlemindedness which did not inflate. surely with _most_ men it is the safest rule, to make scanty records of success achieved, and yet more rarely to notice praise, which should pass us like the breeze, enjoyed but not arrested. there must indeed be some sign, a stone as it were set up, to remind us that such and such were occasions for thankfulness; but should not the memorials be restricted wholly and expressly for this purpose? for the fumes of praise are rapidly and fearfully intoxicating; it comes like a spark to the tow if once we give it, as it were, admission within us. ( .) there are those to whom vanity brings more of pain than of pleasure; there are also those whom it oftener keeps in the background, than thrusts forward. the same man who to-day volunteers for that which he is not called upon to do, may to-morrow flinch from his obvious duty from one and the same cause,--vanity, or regard to the appearance he is to make, for its own sake, and perhaps that vanity which shrinks is a more subtle and far-sighted, a more ethereal, a more profound vanity than that which presumes. ( .) a question of immense importance meets us in ethical inquiries, as follows: is there a sense in which it is needful, right, and praiseworthy, that man should be much habituated to look back upon himself and keep his eye upon himself; a self-regard, and even a self-respect, which are compatible with the self-renunciation and self-distrust which belong to christianity? in the observance of a single distinction we shall find, perhaps, a secure and sufficient answer. we are to respect our responsibilities, not ourselves. we are to respect the duties of which we are capable, but not our capabilities simply considered. there is to be no complacent self-contemplation, beruminating upon self. when self is viewed, it must always be in the most intimate connection with its purposes. how well were it if persons would be more careful, or rather, more conscientious, in paying compliments. how often do we delude another, in subject matter small or great, into the belief that he has done well what we know he has done ill, either by silence, or by so giving him praise on a particular point as to _imply_ approbation of the whole. now it is undoubtedly difficult to observe politeness in all cases compatibly with truth; and politeness though a minor duty is a duty still. ( .) if truth permits you to praise, but binds you to praise with a qualification, observe how much more acceptably you will speak, if you put the qualification first, than if you postpone it. for example: 'this is a good likeness; but it is a hard painting,' is surely much less pleasing, than 'this is a hard painting; but it is a good likeness.' the qualification is generally taken to be more genuinely the sentiment of the speaker's mind, than the main proposition; and it carries ostensible honesty and manliness to propose first what is the less acceptable. ( - .) ix spirit of submission to go back to fénelon's question about his own foundation. 'the great work of religion,' as mr. gladstone conceived it, was set out in some sentences of a letter written by him to mrs. gladstone in , five years after they were married. in these sentences we see that under all the agitated surface of a life of turmoil and contention, there flowed a deep composing stream of faith, obedience, and resignation, that gave him, in face of a thousand buffets, the free mastery of all his resources of heart and brain:-- _to mrs. gladstone._ _c.h. terrace, sunday evening, jan. , ._--although i have carelessly left at the board of trade with your other letters that on which i wished to have said something, yet i am going to end this day of peace by a few words to show that what you said did not lightly pass away from my mind. there is a beautiful little sentence in the works of charles lamb concerning one who had been afflicted: 'he gave his heart to the purifier, and his will to the sovereign will of the universe.'[ ] but there is a speech in the third canto of the _paradiso_ of dante, spoken by a certain piccarda, which is a rare gem. i will only quote this one line: _in la sua volontade è nostra pace._[ ] the words are few and simple, and yet they appear to me to have an inexpressible majesty of truth about them, to be almost as if they were spoken from the very mouth of god. it so happened that (unless my memory much deceives me) i first read that speech on a morning early in the year , which was one of trial. i was profoundly impressed and powerfully sustained, almost absorbed, by these words. they cannot be too deeply graven upon the heart. in short, what we all want is that they should not come to us as an admonition from without, but as an instinct from within. they should not be adopted by effort or upon a process of proof, but they should be simply the translation into speech of the habitual tone to which all tempers, affections, emotions, are set. in the christian mood, which ought never to be intermitted, the sense of this conviction should recur spontaneously; it should be the foundation of all mental thoughts and acts, and the measure to which the whole experience of life, inward and outward, is referred. the final state which we are to contemplate with hope, and to seek by discipline, is that in which our will shall be _one_ with the will of god; not merely shall submit to it, not merely shall follow after it, but shall live and move with it, even as the pulse of the blood in the extremities acts with the central movement of the heart. and this is to be obtained through a double process; the first, that of checking, repressing, quelling the inclination of the will to act with reference to self as a centre; this is to mortify it. the second, to cherish, exercise, and expand its new and heavenly power of acting according to the will of god, first, perhaps, by painful effort in great feebleness and with many inconsistencies, but with continually augmenting regularity and force, until obedience become a necessity of second nature.... resignation is too often conceived to be merely a submission not unattended with complaint to what we have no power to avoid. but it is less than the whole of a work of a christian. your full triumph as far as that particular occasion of duty is concerned will be to find that you not merely repress inward tendencies to murmur--but that you would not if you could alter what in any matter god has plainly willed.... here is the great work of religion; here is the path through which sanctity is attained, the highest sanctity; and yet it is a path evidently to be traced in the course of our daily duties.... when we are thwarted in the exercise of some innocent, laudable, and almost sacred affection, as in the case, though its scale be small, out of which all of this has grown, satan has us at an advantage, because when the obstacle occurs, we have a sentiment that the feeling baffled is a right one, and in indulging a rebellious temper we flatter ourselves that we are merely as it were indulgent on behalf, not of ourselves, but of a duty which we have been interrupted in performing. but our duties can take care of themselves when god calls us away from any of them.... to be able to relinquish a duty upon command shows a higher grace than to be able to give up a mere pleasure for a duty.... responsibility for gifts the resignation thus described with all this power and deep feeling is, of course, in one form of thoughts and words, of symbol and synthesis, or another, the foundation of all the great systems of life. a summary of mr. gladstone's interpretation of it is perhaps found in a few words used by him of blanco white, a heterodox writer whose strange spiritual fortunes painfully interested and perplexed him. 'he cherished,' says mr. gladstone, 'with whatever associations, the love of god, and maintained resignation to his will, even when it appears almost impossible to see how he could have had a dogmatic belief in the existence of a divine will at all. there was, in short [in blanco white], a disposition _to resist the tyranny of self; to recognise the rule of duty; to maintain the supremacy of the higher over the lower parts of our nature_.'[ ] this very disposition might with truth no less assured have been assigned to the writer himself. these three bright crystal laws of life were to him like pointer stars guiding a traveller's eye to the celestial pole by which he steers. when all has been said of a man's gifts, the critical question still stands over, how he regards his responsibility for using them. once in a conversation with mr. gladstone, some fifty years from the epoch of this present chapter, we fell upon the topic of ambition. 'well,' he said, 'i do not think that i can tax myself in my own life with ever having been much moved by ambition.' the remark so astonished me that, as he afterwards playfully reported to a friend, i almost jumped up from my chair. we soon shall reach a stage in his career when both remark and surprise may explain themselves. we shall see that if ambition means love of power or fame for the sake of glitter, decoration, external renown, or even dominion and authority on their own account--and all these are common passions enough in strong natures as well as weak--then his view of himself was just. i think he had none of it. ambition in a better sense, the motion of a resolute and potent genius to use strength for the purposes of strength, to clear the path, dash obstacles aside, force good causes forward--such a quality as that is the very law of the being of a personality so vigorous, intrepid, confident, and capable as his. footnotes: [ ] hawarden grammar school, sept. , . [ ] mr. gladstone on lord houghton's _life_; _speaker_, nov. , . [ ] _gleanings_, vii. p. . [ ] _homeric studies_, vol. iii. [ ] book ii. § , . [ ] non enim solum acuenda nobis neque procudenda lingua est, sed onerandum complendumque pectus maximarum rerum et plurimarum suavitate, copia, varietate. cicero, _de orat._, iii. § . [ ] _the british senate_, by james grant, vol. ii. pp. - . [ ] _anatomy of parliament_, november . 'contemporary orators,' in _fraser's magazine_. [ ] lord lansdowne to senior ( ), in mrs. simpson's _many memories_, p. . [ ] malmesbury, _memoirs of an ex-minister_, i. p. . [ ] _life of archbishop benson_, ii. p. . [ ] the noble anti-slavery movement must be excepted, for it was very directly connected with evangelicalism. [ ] paruta, i. p. . [ ] 'blest statesman he, whose mind's unselfish will' ( ).--knight's _wordsworth_, viii. p. . [ ] the first chapter in sir henry taylor's _notes from life_ ( ). [ ] marcus aurelius, ix. p. . [ ] aristotle, augustine, dante, butler. 'my four "doctors,"' he tells manning, 'are doctors to the speculative man; would they were such to the practical too!' [ ] see below, p. . [ ] glanville's _vanity of dogmatising_. [ ] see shaftesbury's _life_, iii. p. . he refused to be on a committee for a memorial to thirlwall. ( .) [ ] first sermon, _upon compassion_. [ ] _gleanings_, vii. p. , . [ ] _rosamund gray_, chap. xi. [ ] mr. gladstone's rendering of the speech of piccarda (_paradiso_, iii. ) is in the volume of collected translations (p. ), under the date of : 'in his will is our peace. to this all things by him created, or by nature made, as to a central sea, self-motion brings.' [ ] _gleanings_, ii. p. , . chapter vii close of apprenticeship (_ - _) what are great gifts but the correlative of great work? we are not born for ourselves, but for our kind, for our neighbours, for our country: it is but selfishness, indolence, a perverse fastidiousness, an unmanliness, and no virtue or praise, to bury our talent in a napkin.--cardinal newman. along with his domestic and parliamentary concerns, we are to recognise the ferment that was proceeding in mr. gladstone's mind upon new veins of theology; but it was an interior working of feeling and reflection, and went forward without much visible relation to the outer acts and facts of his life during this period. as to those, one entry in the diary (feb. st, ) tells a sufficient tale for the next two years. 'i find i have, besides family and parliamentary concerns and those of study, _ten_ committees on hand: milbank, society for propagation of the gospel, church building metropolis, church commercial school, national schools inquiry and correspondence, upper canada, clergy, additional curates' fund, carlton library, oxford and cambridge club. these things distract and dissipate my mind.' well they might; for in any man with less than mr. gladstone's amazing faculty of rapid and powerful concentration, such dispersion must have been disastrous both to effectiveness and to mental progress. as it is, i find little in the way of central facts to remark in either mental history or public action. he strayed away occasionally from the fathers and their pastures and dipped into the new literature of the hour, associated with names of dawning popularity. carlyle he found hard to lay down. some of emerson, too, he became acquainted with, as we have already seen; but his mind was far too closely filled with transcendentalisms of his own to offer much hospitality to the serene and beautiful transcendentalism of emerson. he read _oliver twist_ and _nicholas nickleby_, and on the latter he makes a characteristic comment--'the tone is very human; it is most happy in touches of natural pathos. no church in the book, and the motives are not those of religion.' so with hallam's _history of literature_, 'finished (oct. , ) his theological chapter, in which i am sorry to find amidst such merits, what is even far more grievous than his anti-church sarcasms, such notions on original sin as in iv. p. .' he found chillingworth's _religion of protestants_ 'a work of the most mixed merits,' an ambiguous phrase which i take to mean not that its merits were various, but that they were much mixed with those demerits for which the puritan cheynell baited the unlucky latitudinarian to death. about this time also he first began father paul's famous history of the council of trent, a work that always stood as high in his esteem as in macaulay's, who liked sarpi the best of all modern historians. to the great veteran poet of the time mr. gladstone's fidelity was unchanging, even down to compositions that the ordinary wordsworthian gives up:-- read aloud wordsworth's _cumberland beggar_ and _peter bell_. the former is generally acknowledged to be a noble poem. the same justice is not done to the latter; i was more than ever struck with the vivid power of the descriptions, the strong touches of feeling, the skill and order with which the plot upon peter's conscience is arranged, and the depth of interest which is made to attach to the humblest of quadrupeds. it must have cost great labour, and is an extraordinary poem, both as a whole and in detail. let not the scorner forget that matthew arnold, that admirable critic and fine poet, confesses to reading _peter bell_ with pleasure and edification. in the political field he moved steadily on. sir r. peel spoke to him (april , ) in the house about the debate and wished him to speak after sheil, if graham, who was to speak about or , could bring him up. peel showed him several points with regard to the committee which he thought might be urged. 'this is very kind in him as a mark of confidence; and assures me that if, as i suspect, he considers my book as likely to bring me into some embarrassment individually, yet he is willing to let me still act under him, and fight my own battles in that matter as best with god's help i may, which is thoroughly fair. it imposes, however, a great responsibility. i was not presumptuous enough to dream of following sheil; not that his speech is formidable, but the impression it leaves on the house is. i meant to provoke him. a mean man may fire at a tiger, but it requires a strong and bold one to stand his charge; and the longer i live, the more i feel my own (intrinsically) utter _powerlessness_ in the house of commons. but my principle is this--not to shrink from any such responsibility when laid upon me by a competent person. sheil, however, did not speak, so i am reserved and may fulfil my own idea, please god, to-night.' the jamaica case we come now to one of the memorable episodes in this vexed decade of our political history. the sullen demon of slavery died hard. the negro still wore about his neck galling links of the broken chain. the transitory stage of apprenticeship was in some respects even harsher than the bondage from which it was to bring deliverance, and the old iniquity only worked in new ways. the pity and energy of the humane at home drove a perplexed and sluggish government to pass an act for dealing with the abominations of the prisons to which the unhappy blacks were committed in jamaica. the assembly of that island, a planter oligarchy, resented the new law from the mother country as an invasion of their constitutional rights, and stubbornly refused in their exasperation, even after a local dissolution, to perform duties that were indispensable for working the machinery of administration. the cabinet in consequence asked parliament (april th) to suspend the constitution of jamaica for a term of five years. the tory opposition, led by peel with all his force, aided by the aversion of a section of the liberals to a measure in which they detected a flavour of dictatorship, ran the ministers (may th) within five votes of defeat on a cardinal stage. 'i was amused,' says mr. gladstone, 'with observing yesterday the differences of countenance and manner in the ministers whom i met on my ride. ellice (their friend) would not look at me at all. charles wood looked but askance and with the hat over the brow. grey shouted, "wish you joy!" lord howick gave a remarkably civil and smiling nod; and morpeth a hand salute with all his might, as we crossed in riding. on monday night after the division, peel said just as it was known and about to be announced, "jamaica was a good horse to start."' of his own share in the performance, mr. gladstone only says that he spoke a dry speech to a somewhat reluctant house. 'i cannot work up my matter at all in such a plight. however, considering what it was, they behaved very well. a loud cheer on the announcement of the numbers from our people, in which i did not join.' to have won the race by so narrow a majority as five seemed to the whigs, wearied of their own impotence and just discredit, a good plea for getting out of office. peel proceeded to begin the formation of a government, but the operation broke down upon an affair of the bedchamber. he supposed the queen to object to the removal of any of the ladies of her household, and the queen supposed him to insist on the removal of them all. the situation was unedifying and nonsensical, but the queen was not yet twenty, and lord melbourne had for once failed to teach a prudent lesson. a few days saw melbourne back in office, and in office he remained for two years longer.[ ] ii marriage in june the understanding arrived at with miss catherine glynne during the previous winter in sicily, ripened into a definite engagement, and on the th of the following july their marriage took place amid much rejoicing and festivity at hawarden. at the same time and place, mary glynne, the younger sister, was married to lord lyttelton. sir stephen glynne, their brother, was the ninth, and as was to happen, the last baronet. their mother, born mary neville, was the daughter of the second lord braybrooke and mary grenville his wife, sister of the first marquis of buckingham. hence lady glynne was one of a historic clan, granddaughter of george grenville, the minister of american taxation, and niece of william, lord grenville, head of the cabinet of all the talents in . she was first cousin therefore of the younger pitt, and the glynnes could boast of a family connection with three prime ministers, or if we choose to add lord chatham who married hester grenville, with four.[ ] 'i told her,' mr. gladstone recorded on this occasion of their engagement (june th), 'what was my original destination and desire in life; in what sense and manner i remained in connection with politics.... i have given her (led by her questions) these passages for canons of our living:-- 'le fronde, onde s'infronda tutto l'orto dell' ortolano eterno, am' io cotanto, quanto da lui a lor di bene è porto.'[ ] and dante again-- 'in la sua volontade è nostra pace: ella è quel mare, al qual tutto si muove.'[ ] in few human unions have the good hopes and fond wishes of a bridal day been better fulfilled or brought deeper and more lasting content. sixty long years after, mr. gladstone said, 'it would not be possible to unfold in words the value of the gifts which the bounty of providence has conferred upon me through her.' and the blessing remained radiant and unclouded to the distant end. at the close of august, after posting across scotland from greenock by a route better known now than then to every tourist, the young couple made their way to fasque, where the new bride found an auspicious approach and the kindest of welcomes. her 'entrance into her adoptive family was much more formidable than it would be to those who had been less loved, or less influential, or less needed and leant upon, in the home where she was so long a queen.' at fasque all went as usual. soon after his arrival, his father communicated that he meant actually to transfer to his sons his demerara properties--robertson to have the management. 'this increased wealth, so much beyond my needs, with its attendant responsibility is very burdensome, however on his part the act be beautiful.' iii the parliamentary session of was unimportant and dreary. the government was tottering, the conservative leaders were in no hurry to pluck the pear before it was ripe, and the only men with any animating principle of active public policy in them were cobden and the league against the corn law. the attention of the house of commons was mainly centred in the case of stockdale and the publication of debates. but mr. gladstone's most earnest thoughts were still far away from what he found to be the dry sawdust of the daily politics, as the following lines may show:-- _march th, ._--manning dined with us. he kindly undertook to revise my manuscript on 'church principles.' _march th._--yesterday i had a long conversation with james hope. he came to tell me, with great generosity, that he would always respond to any call, according to the best of his power, which i might make on him for the behalf of the common cause--he had given up all views of advancement in his profession--he had about £ a year, and this, which includes his fellowship, was quite sufficient for his wants; his time would be devoted to church objects; in the intermediate region he considered himself as having the first tonsure. hope urged strongly the principle, 'let every man abide in the calling ----' i thought even over strongly. my belief is that he foregoes the ministry from deeming himself unworthy.... the object of my letter to hope was in part to record on paper my abhorrence of party in the church, whether oxford party or any other. _march th._--to-day a meeting at peel's on the china question; considered in the view of censure upon the conduct of the administration, and a motion will accordingly be made objecting to the attempts to force the chinese to modify their old relations with us, and to the leaving the superintendent without military force. it was decided not to move simultaneously in the lords--particularly because the radicals would, if there were a double motion, act not on the merits but for the ministry. otherwise, it seemed to be thought we should carry a motion. the duke of wellington said, 'god! if it is carried, they will go,' that they were as near as possible to resignation on the last defeat, and would not stand it again. peel said, he understood four ministers were then strongly for resigning. the duke also said, our footing in china could not be re-established, unless under some considerable naval and military demonstration, now that matters had gone so far. he appeared pale and shaken, but spoke loud and a good deal, much to the point and with considerable gesticulation. the mind's life i never saw more vigorous. the china question the chinese question was of the simplest. british subjects insisted on smuggling opium into china in the teeth of chinese law. the british agent on the spot began war against china for protecting herself against these malpractices. there was no pretence that china was in the wrong, for in fact the british government had sent out orders that the opium-smugglers should not be shielded; but the orders arrived too late, and war having begun, great britain felt bound to see it through, with the result that china was compelled to open four ports, to cede hong kong, and to pay an indemnity of six hundred thousand pounds. so true is it that statesmen have no concern with pater nosters, the sermon on the mount, or the _vade mecum_ of the moralist. we shall soon see that this transaction began to make mr. gladstone uneasy, as was indeed to be expected in anybody who held that a state should have a conscience.[ ] on april , , his journal says: 'read on china. house.... spoke heavily; strongly against the trade and the war, having previously asked whether my speaking out on them would do harm, and having been authorised.' an unguarded expression brought him into a debating scrape, but his speech abounded in the pure milk of what was to be the gladstonian word:-- i do not know how it can be urged as a crime against the chinese that they refused provisions to those who refused obedience to their laws whilst residing within their territory. i am not competent to judge how long this war may last, nor how protracted may be its operations, but this i can say, that a war more unjust in its origin, a war more calculated in its progress to cover this country with disgrace, i do not know and i have not read of. mr. macaulay spoke last night in eloquent terms of the british flag waving in glory at canton, and of the animating effect produced upon the minds of our sailors by the knowledge that in no country under heaven was it permitted to be insulted. but how comes it to pass that the sight of that flag always raises the spirits of englishmen? it is because it has always been associated with the cause of justice, with opposition to oppression, with respect for national rights, with honourable commercial enterprise, but now under the auspices of the noble lord [palmerston] that flag is hoisted to protect an infamous contraband traffic, and if it were never to be hoisted except as it is now hoisted on the coast of china, we should recoil from its sight with horror, and should never again feel our hearts thrill, as they now thrill, with emotion when it floats magnificently and in pride upon the breeze.... although the chinese were undoubtedly guilty of much absurd phraseology, of no little ostentatious pride, and of some excess, justice in my opinion is with them, and whilst they the pagans and semi-civilised barbarians have it, we the enlightened and civilised christians are pursuing objects at variance both with justice and with religion.[ ] _may th._--consulted [various persons] on opium. all but sir r. inglis were on grounds of prudence against its [a motion against the compensation demanded from china] being brought forward. to this majority of friendly and competent persons i have given way, i hope not wrongfully; but i am in dread of the judgment of god upon england for our national iniquity towards china. it has been to me matter of most painful and anxious consideration. i yielded specifically to this; the majority of the persons most trustworthy feel that to make the motion would, our leaders being in such a position and disposition with respect to it, injure the cause. _june st._--meeting of the society for suppression of the slave trade. [this was the occasion of a speech from prince albert, who presided.] exeter hall crammed is really a grand spectacle. samuel wilberforce a beautiful speaker; in some points resembles macaulay. peel excellent. _june th._--this evening i voted for the irish education grant; on the ground that in its principle, according to lord stanley's letter, it is identical practically with the english grant of ' - , and i might have added with the kildare place grant. to exclude doctrine from exposition is in my judgment as truly a mutilation of scripture, as to omit bodily portions of the sacred volume. social diversion his first child and eldest son was born (june ), and manning and hope became his godfathers; these two were mr. gladstone's most intimate friends at this period. social diversions were never wanting. one june afternoon he went down to greenwich, 'grillion's fish dinner to the speaker. great merriment; and an excellent speech from stanley, "good sense and good nonsense." a modest one from morpeth. but though we dined at six, these expeditions do not suit me. i am ashamed of paying £ , s. for a dinner. but on this occasion the object was to do honour to a dignified and impartial speaker.' he had been not at all grateful, by the way, for the high honour of admission to grillion's dining club this year,--'a thing quite alien to my temperament, which requires more soothing and domestic appliances after the feverish and consuming excitements of party life; but the rules of society oblige me to submit.' as it happened, so narrow is man's foreknowledge, grillion's down to the very end of his life, nearly sixty years ahead, had no more faithful or congenial member. _july st._--last evening at lambeth palace i had a good deal of conversation with colonel gurwood about the duke of wellington and about canada. he told me an anecdote of lord seaton which throws light upon his peculiar reserve, and shows it to be a modesty of character, combined no doubt with military habits and notions. when captain colborne, and senior officer of his rank in the st foot, he [lord seaton] was military secretary to general fox during the war. a majority in his regiment fell vacant, gen. fox desired him to ascertain who was the senior captain on the _command_. 'captain so-and-so of the th [i think].' 'write to colonel gordon and recommend him to his royal highness for the vacant majority.' he did it. the answer came to this effect: 'the recommendation will not be refused, but we are surprised to see that it comes in the handwriting of captain colborne, the very man who, according to the rules of the service, ought to have this majority.' general fox had forgotten it, and captain colborne had not reminded him! the error was corrected. he (gurwood) said he had never known the duke of wellington speak on the subject of religion but once, when he quoted the story of oliver cromwell on his death-bed, and said: 'that state of grace, in my opinion, is a state or habit of doing right, of persevering in duty, and to fall from it is to cease from acting right.' he always attends the service at a.m. in the chapel royal, and says it is a duty which ought to be done, and the earlier in the day it is discharged the better. _july th._ heard [james] hope in the house of lords against the chapters bill; and he spoke with such eloquence, learning, lofty sentiment, clear and piercing diction, continuity of argument, just order, sagacious tact, and comprehensive method, as one would say would have required the longest experience as well as the greatest natural gifts. yet he never acted before, save as counsel for the edinburgh and glasgow railway. if hearts are to be moved, it must be by this speech.[ ] _july th_.--again went over and got up the subject of opium compensation as it respects the chinese. i spoke thereon ½ hours for the liberation of my conscience, and to afford the friends of peace opposite an opportunity, of which they would not avail themselves. in august he tells mrs. gladstone how he has been to dine with 'such an odd party at the guizots'; austin, radical lawyer; john mill, radical reviewer; m. gaskell, monckton milnes, thirlwall, new bishop of st. david's, george lewis, poor law commissioner. not very ill mixed, however. the host is extremely nice.' an odd party indeed; it comprised four at least of the strongest heads in england, and two of the most illustrious names of all the century in europe. examiner at eton in march ( ) mr. gladstone and lord lyttelton went to eton together to fulfil the ambitious functions of examiner for the newcastle scholarship. in thanking mr. gladstone for his services, hawtrey speaks of the advantage of public men of his stamp undertaking such duties in the good cause of the established system of education, 'as against the nonsense of utilitarians and radicals.' the questions ran in the familiar mould in divinity, niceties of ancient grammar, obscurities of classical construction, caprices of vocabulary, and all the other points of the old learning. the general merit mr. gladstone found 'beyond anything possible or conceivable' when he was a boy at eton a dozen years before:-- we sit with the boys ( in number) and make about ten hours a day in looking over papers with great minuteness.... although it is in quantity hard work, it is lightened by a warm interest, and the refreshment of early love upon a return to this sweet place. it is work apart from human passion, and is felt as a moral relaxation, though it is not one in any other sense.... this is a curious experience to me, of jaded body and mind refreshed. i propose for latin theme a little sentence of burke's which runs to this effect, 'flattery corrupts both the receiver and the giver; and adulation is not of more service to the people than to kings.' _april nd._--the statistics become excessively interesting. henry hallam gained, and now stands second [the brother of his dead friend]. _april rd._--in, hours; out, from to hours more upon the papers. vinegar, thank god, carries my eyes through so much ms., and the occupation is deeply interesting, especially on hallam's account. our labours were at one time anxious and critical, the two leaders being and respectively. at night, however, all was decided. _april th._ . .--_viva voce_ for fourteen select. at ½ seymour was announced scholar to the boys, and chaired forthwith. hallam, medallist. it was quite overpowering. henry hallam was the second son of the historian, the junior of arthur by some fourteen or fifteen years. mr. gladstone more than a generation later described a touching supplement to his eton story. 'in henry hallam had attained an age exceeding only by some four years the limit of his brother's life. during that autumn i was travelling post between turin and genoa, upon my road to naples. a family coach met us on the road, and the glance of a moment at the inside showed me the familiar face of mr. hallam. i immediately stopped my carriage, descended, and ran after his. on overtaking it, i found the dark clouds accumulated on his brow, and learned with indescribable pain that he was on his way home from florence, where he had just lost his second and only remaining son, from an attack corresponding in its suddenness and its devastating rapidity with that which had struck down his eldest born son seventeen years before.' at fasque, where his autumn sojourn began in september, he threw himself with special ardour into his design for a college for scotch episcopalians, especially for the training of clergy. he wrote to manning (aug. , ):-- hope and i have been talking and writing upon a scheme for raising money to found in scotland a college akin in structure to the romish seminaries in england; that is to say, partly for training the clergy, partly for affording an education to the children of the gentry and others who now go chiefly to presbyterian schools or are tended at home by presbyterian tutors. i think £ , would do it, and that it might be got. i must have my father's sanction before committing myself to it. hope's intended absence for the winter is a great blow. were he to be at home i do not doubt that great progress might be made. in the kirk toil and trouble, double, double, the fires burn and cauldrons bubble: and though i am not sanguine as to very speedy or extensive resumption by the church of her spiritual rights, she may have a great part to play. at present she is very weakly manned, and this is the way i think to strengthen the crew. glenalmond the scheme expanded as time went on. his father threw himself into it with characteristic energy and generosity, contributing many thousand pounds, for the sum required greatly exceeded the modest figure above mentioned. mr. gladstone conducted a laborious and sometimes vexatious correspondence in the midst of more important public cares. plans were mature, and adequate funds were forthcoming, and in the autumn of hope and the two gladstones made what they found an agreeable tour, examining the various localities for a site, and finally deciding on a spot 'on a mountain-stream, ten miles from perth, at the very gate of the highlands.' it was before the college at glenalmond was opened for its destined purposes.[ ] we all know examples of men holding opinions with trenchancy, decision, and even a kind of fervour, and yet with no strong desire to spread them. mr. gladstone was at all times of very different temper; consumed with missionary energy and the fire of ardent propagandism. letter from cobden he laboured hard at the fourth edition of his book, sometimes getting eleven hours of work, 'a good day as times go,'--montesquieu, burke, bacon, clarendon, and others of the masters of civil and historic wisdom being laid under ample contribution. by christmas he was at hawarden. in january he made a speech at a meeting held in liverpool for the foundation of a church union, and a few days later he hurried off to walsall to help his brother john, then the tory candidate, and a curious incident happened:-- i either provided myself, or i was furnished from headquarters, with a packet of pamphlets in favour of the corn laws. these i read, and i extracted from them the chief material of my speeches. i dare say it was sad stuff, furbished up at a moment's notice. we carried the election. cobden sent me a challenge to attend a public discussion of the subject. whether this was quite fair, i am not certain, for i was young, made no pretension to be an expert, and had never opened my lips in parliament on the subject. but it afforded me an excellent opportunity to decline with modesty and with courtesy as well as reason. i am sorry to say that, to the best of my recollection, i did far otherwise, and the pith of my answer was made to be that i regarded the anti-corn law league as no better than a big borough-mongering association. such was my first capital offence in the matter of protection; redeemed from public condemnation only by obscurity. the letters are preserved, but a sentence or two from mr. gladstone's to cobden are enough. 'the phrases which you quote from a report in the _times_ have reference, not to the corn law, but to the anti-corn law league and its operations in walsall. complaining apparently of these, you desire me to meet you in discussion, not upon the league but upon the corn law. i cannot conceive two subjects more distinct. i admit the question of the repeal of the corn laws to be a subject fairly open to discussion, although i have a strong opinion against it. but as to the anti-corn law league, i do not admit that any equitable doubt can be entertained as to the character of its present proceedings; and, excepting a casual familiarity of phrase, i adhere rigidly to the substance of the sentiments which i have expressed. i know not who may be answerable for these measures, nor was your name known to me, or in my recollection at the time when i spoke.' time soon changed all this, and showed who was teacher and who the learner. by and by the session of opened, the whigs moving steadily towards their fall, and mr. gladstone almost overwhelmed with floods of domestic business. he settled in the pleasant region which is to the metropolis what delphi was to the habitable earth, and where, if we include in it downing street, he passed all the most important years of his life in london.[ ] though he speaks of being overwhelmed by domestic business, and he was undoubtedly hard beset by all the demands of early housekeeping, yet he very speedily recovered his balance. he resisted now and always as jealously as he could those promiscuous claims on time and attention by which men of less strenuous purpose suffer the effectiveness of their lives to be mutilated. 'i well know,' he writes to his young wife who was expecting him to join her at hagley, 'you would not have me come on any conditions with which one's sense of duty could not be quieted, and would (i hope) send me back by the next train. these delays are to you a practical exemplification of the difficulty of reconciling domestic and political engagements. the case is one that scarcely admits of compromise; the least that is required in order to the fulfilment of one's duty is constant bodily presence in london until the fag-end of the session is fairly reached.' here are a few examples of the passing days:-- _march th_, .--_tracts for the times_, no. ; ominous. _march th._--went to see reform club. sat to bradley ½- . london library committee. carlton library committee. corrected two proof-sheets. conversed an hour and a half with mr. richmond, who came to tea, chiefly on my plan for a picture-life of christ. chess with c. [his wife]. _march th_ (_sunday_).--communion (st. james's), st. margaret's afternoon. wrote on ephes. v. , and read it aloud to servants. _march th._--city to see freshfield. afternoon service in saint paul's. what an image, what a crowd of images! amidst the unceasing din, and the tumult of men hurrying this way and that for gold, or pleasure, or some self-desire, the vast fabric thrusts itself up to heaven and firmly plants itself on soil begrudged to an occupant that yields no lucre. but the city cannot thrust forth its cathedral; and from thence arises the harmonious measured voice of intercession from day to day. the church praying and deprecating continually for the living mass that are dead while they live, from out of the very centre of that mass; silent and lonesome is her shrine, amidst the noise, the thunder of multitudes. silent, lonesome, motionless, yet full of life; for were we not more dead than the stones, which built into that sublime structure witness continually to what is great and everlasting,--did priest or chorister, or the casual worshipper but apprehend the grandeur of his function in that spot,--the very heart must burst with the tide of emotions gathering within it. oh for speed, speed to the wings of that day when this glorious unfulfilled outline of a church shall be charged as a hive with the operations of the spirit of god and of his war against the world; when the intervals of space and time within its walls, now untenanted by any functions of that holy work, shall be thickly occupied; and when the glorious sights and sounds which shall arrest the passenger in his haste that he may sanctify his purposes by worship, shall be symbols still failing to express the fulness of the power of god developed among his people. _march ._--wrote on thess. v. , and read it to servants. read _the young communicants_; bishop hall's _life_. it seems as if at this time the number and close succession of occupations without any great present reward of love or joy, and chiefly belonging to an earthly and narrow range, were my special trial and discipline. other i seem hardly to have any of daily pressure. health in myself and those nearest me; (comparative) wealth and success; no strokes from god; no opportunity of pardoning others, for none offend me. _april ._--two or three nights ago mrs. wilbraham told catherine that stanley was extremely surprised to find, after his speech on the tarmworth and rugby railway bill, that peel had been very much annoyed with the expression he had used: 'that his right hon. friend had in pleading for the bill made use of all that art and ingenuity with which he so well knew how to dress up a statement for that house,' and that he showed his annoyance very much by his manner to him, s., afterwards. he, upon reflecting that this was the probable cause, wrote a note to peel to set matters to rights, in which he succeeded; but he thought peel very thin-skinned. wm. cowper told me the other day at milnes's that lord john russell is remarkable among his colleagues for his anxiety during the recess for the renewal of the session of parliament; that he always argues for fixing an early day of meeting, and finds pleas for it, and finds the time long until it recommences. a visit to nuneham (april ) and thence to oxford brought him into the centre of the tractarians. he saw much of hamilton, went to afternoon service at littlemore, breakfasted in company with newman at merton, had a long conversation with pusey on tract , and gathered that newman thought differently of the council of trent from what he had thought a year or two back, and that he differed from pusey in thinking the english reformation uncatholic. mr. gladstone replied that no. had the appearance to his mind of being written by a man, if in, not of, the church of england; and would be interpreted as exhibiting the tridentine system for the ideal, the anglican for a mutilated and _just_ tolerable actual. then in the same month he 'finished palmer on the articles, deep, earnest, and generally trustworthy. worked upon a notion of private eucharistical devotions, to be chiefly compiled; and attended a meeting about colonial bishoprics,' where he spoke but indifferently. iv new fiscal policy in the whigs in the expiring hours of their reign launched parliament and parties upon what was to be the grand marking controversy of the era. to remedy the disorder into which expenditure, mainly due to highhanded foreign policy, had brought the national finance, they proposed to reconstruct the fiscal system by reducing the duties on foreign sugar and timber, and substituting for wellington's corn law a fixed eight shilling duty on imported wheat. the wiser heads, like lord spencer, were aware that as an electioneering expedient the new policy would bring them little luck, but their position in any case was desperate. the handling of their proposals was curiously maladroit; and even if it had been otherwise, ministerial repute alike for competency and for sincerity was so damaged both, in the house of commons and the country, that their doom was certain. the reduction of the duty on slave-grown sugar from foreign countries was as obnoxious to the abolitionist as it was disadvantageous to the west indian proprietors, and both of these powerful sections were joined by the corn-grower, well aware that his turn would come next. many meetings took place at sir robert peel's upon the sugar resolutions, and mr. gladstone worked up the papers and figures so as to be ready to speak if necessary. at one of these meetings, by the way, he thought it worth while to write down that peel had the tradesmen's household books upon his desk--a circumstance that he mentioned also to the present writer, when by chance we found ourselves together in the same room fifty years later. on may th, his speech on the sugar duties came off in due course. in this speech he took the sound point that the new arrangement must act as an encouragement to the slave trade, 'that monster which, while war, pestilence, and famine were slaying their thousands, slew from year to year with unceasing operation its tens of thousands.' as he went on, he fell upon macaulay for being member of a cabinet that was thus deserting a cause in which macaulay's father had been the unseen ally of wilberforce, and the pillar of his strength,--'a man of profound benevolence, of acute understanding, of indefatigable industry, and of that self-denying temper which is content to work in secret, and to seek for its reward beyond the grave.' macaulay was the last man to suffer rebuke in silence, and he made a sharp reply on the following day, followed by a magnanimous peace-making behind the speaker's chair. defeat of whig ministry meanwhile the air was thick and loud with rumours. lord eliot told mr. gladstone in the middle of the debate that there had been a stormy cabinet that morning, and that ministers had at last made up their minds to follow lord spencer's advice, to resign and not to dissolve. when the division on the sugar duties was taken, ministers were beaten (may ) by a majority of , after fine performances from sir robert, and a good one from palmerston on the other side. the cabinet, with, a tenacity incredible in our own day, were still for holding on until their whole scheme, with the popular element of cheap bread in it, was fully before the country. peel immediately countered them by a vote of want of confidence, and this was carried (june ) by a majority of one:-- on saturday morning the division in the house of commons presented a scene of the most extraordinary excitement. while we were in our lobby we were told that we were and the government either or . it was also known that they had brought down lord ---- who was reported to be in a state of total idiocy. after returning to the house i went to sit near the bar, where the other party were coming in. we had all been counted, , and the tellers at the government end had counted to ; there remained behind this unfortunate man, reclining in a chair, evidently in total unconsciousness of what was proceeding. loud cries had been raised from our own side, when it was seen that he was being brought up, to clear the bar that the whole house might witness the scene, and every one stood up in intense curiosity. there were now only this figure, less human even than an automaton, and two persons, r. stuart and e. ellice, pushing the chair in which he lay. a loud cry of 'shame, shame,' burst from our side; those opposite were silent. those three were counted without passing the tellers, and the moment after we saw that our tellers were on the right in walking to the table, indicating that we had won. fremantle gave out the numbers, and then the intense excitement raised by the sight we had witnessed found vent in our enthusiastic (quite irregular) hurrah with great waving of hats. upon looking back i am sorry to think how much i partook in the excitement that prevailed; but how could it be otherwise in so extraordinary a case? i thought lord john's a great speech--it was delivered too under the pressure of great indisposition. he has risen with adversity. he seemed rather below par as a leader in when he had a clear majority, and the ball nearly at his foot; in each successive year the strength of his government has sunk and his own has risen. then came the dissolution, and an election memorable in the history of party. thinking quite as much of the scotch college, the colonial bishoprics, and tract ninety, as of sugar duties or the corn law, mr. gladstone hastened to newark. he was delighted with the new colleague who had been provided for him. 'as a candidate,' he writes to his wife, 'lord john manners is excellent; his speaking is popular and effective, and he is a good canvasser, by virtue not i think of effort, but of a general kindliness and warmth of disposition which naturally shows itself to every one. nothing can be more satisfactory than to have such a partner.' in his address mr. gladstone only touched on the poor law and the corn law. on the first he would desire liberal treatment for aged, sick, and widowed poor, and reasonable discretion to the local administrators of the law. as to the second, the protection of native agriculture is an object of the first economical and national importance, and should be secured by a graduated scale of duties on foreign grain. 'manners and i,' he says, 'were returned as protectionists. my speeches were of absolute dulness, but i have no doubt they were sound in the sense of my leaders peel and graham and others of the party.' the election offered no new incidents. one old lady reproached him for not being content with keeping bread and sugar from the people, but likewise by a new faith, the mysterious monster of puseyism, stealing away from them the bread of life. he found the wesleyans shaky, partly because they disliked his book and were afraid of the oxford tracts, and partly from his refusal to subscribe to their school. otherwise, flags, bands, suppers, processions, all went on in high ceremonial order as before. day after day passed with nothing worse than the threat of a blue candidate, but one sunday morning (june ) as people came out of church, they found an address on the walls and a dark rumour got afloat that the new man had brought heavy bags of money. for this rumour there was no foundation, but it inspired annoying fears in the good and cheerful hopes in the bad. the time was in any case too short, and at four o'clock on june the poll was found to be, gladstone , manners , hobhouse . his own election safely over, mr. gladstone turned to take part in a fierce contest in which sir stephen glynne was candidate for the representation of flintshire, but 'bribery, faggotry, abduction, personation, riot, factious delays, landlord's intimidations, partiality of authorities,' carried the day, and to the bitter dismay of hawarden, sir stephen was narrowly beaten. one ancient dame, overwhelmed by the defeat of the family that for eighty years she had idolised, cried aloud to mrs. gladstone, 'i am a great woman for thinking of the lord, but o, my dear lady, this has put it all out of my head.' the election involved him in what would now be thought a whimsical correspondence with one of the grosvenor family, who complained of mr. gladstone for violating the sacred canons of electioneering etiquette by canvassing lord westminster's tenants. 'i did think,' says the wounded patrician, 'that interference between a landlord with whose opinions you were acquainted and his tenants was not justifiable according to those laws of delicacy and propriety which i considered binding in such cases.' election of at last he was able to snatch a holiday with his wife and child by the seaside at hoylake, which rather oddly struck him as being like pæstum without the temples. he read away at gibbon and dante until he went to hawarden, partly to consider the state of its financial affairs; as to these something is to be said later. 'walked alone in the hawarden grounds,' he says one day during his stay; 'ruminated on the last-named subject [accounts], also on anticipated changes [in government]. i can digest the crippled religious action of the state; but i cannot be a party to exacting by blood opium compensation from the chinese.' then to london (aug. ). he attended the select party meetings at sir robert peel's and lord aberdeen's. dining at grillion's he heard stanley, speaking of the new parliament, express a high opinion of roebuck as an able man and clear speaker, likely to make a figure; and also of cobden as a resolute perspicacious man, familiar with all the turns of his subject; and when the new house assembled, he had made up his mind for himself that '_cobden will be a worrying man on corn_.' this was cobden's first entry into the house. at last the whigs were put out of office by a majority of , and peel undertook to form a government. _aug. / ._--in consequence of a note received this morning from sir robert peel i went to him at half-past eleven. the following is the substance of a quarter of an hour's conversation. he said: 'in this great struggle, in which we have been and are to be engaged, the chief importance will attach to questions of finance. it would not be in my power to undertake the business of chancellor of the exchequer in detail; i therefore have asked goulburn to fill that office, and i shall be simply first lord. i think we shall be very strong in the house of commons if as a part of this arrangement you will accept the post of vice-president of the board of trade, and conduct the business of that department in the house of commons, with lord ripon as president. i consider it an office of the highest importance, and you will have my unbounded confidence in it.'[ ] i said, 'of the importance and responsibility of that office at the present time i am well aware; but it is right that i should say as strongly as i can, that i really am not fit for it. i have no general knowledge of trade whatever; with a few questions i am acquainted, but they are such as have come across me incidentally.' he said, 'the satisfactory conduct of an office of that kind must after all depend more upon the intrinsic qualities of the man, than upon the precise amount of his previous knowledge. i also think you will find lord ripon a perfect master of these subjects, and depend upon it with these appointments at the board of trade we shall carry the whole commercial interests of the country with us.' vice-president of the board of trade he resumed, 'if there be any other arrangement that you would prefer, my value and "affectionate regard" for you would make me most desirous to effect it so far as the claims of others would permit. to be perfectly frank and unreserved, i should tell you, that there are many reasons which would have made me wish to send you to ireland; but upon the whole i think that had better not be done. some considerations connected with the presbyterians of ireland make me prefer on the whole that we should adopt a different plan.[ ] then, if i had had the exchequer, i should have asked you to be financial secretary to the treasury; but under the circumstances i have mentioned, that would be an office of secondary importance and i am sure you will not estimate that i now propose to you by the mere name which it bears.' he also made an allusion to the admiralty of which i do not retain the exact form. but i rather interposed and said, 'my objection on the score of fitness would certainly apply with even increased force to anything connected with the military and naval services of the country, for of them i know nothing. nor have i any other object in view; there is no office to which i could designate myself. i think it my duty to act upon your judgment as to my qualifications. if it be your deliberate wish to make me vice-president of the board of trade, i will not decline it; i will endeavour to put myself into harness, and to prepare myself for the place in the best manner i can; but it really is an apprenticeship.' he said, 'i hope you will be content to act upon the sense which others entertain of your suitableness for this office in particular, and i think it will be a good arrangement both with a view to the present conduct of business and to the brilliant destinies which i trust are in store for you.' i answered, that i was deeply grateful for his many acts of confidence and kindness; and that i would at once assent to the plan he had proposed, only begging him to observe that i had mentioned my unfitness under a very strong sense of duty and of the facts, and not by any means as a mere matter of ceremony. i then added that i thought i should but ill respond to his confidence if i did not mention to him a subject connected with his policy which might raise a difficulty in my mind. 'i cannot,' i said, 'reconcile it to my sense of right to exact from china, as a term of peace, compensation for the opium surrendered to her.'... he agreed that it was best to mention it; observed that in consequence of the shape in which the chinese affair came into the hands of the new government, they would not be wholly unfettered; seemed to hint that under any other circumstances the vice-president of board of trade need not so much mind what was done in the other departments, but remarked that at present every question of foreign relations and many more would be very apt to mix themselves with the department of trade. he thought i had better leave the question suspended. i hesitated a moment before coming away and said it was only from my anxiety to review what i had said, and to be sure that i had made a clean breast on the subject of my unfitness for the department of trade. nothing could be more friendly and warm than his whole language and demeanour. it has always been my hope, that i might be able to avoid this class of public employment. on this account i have not endeavoured to train myself for them. the place is very distasteful to me, and what is of more importance, i fear i may hereafter demonstrate the unfitness i have to-day only stated. however, it comes to me, i think, as a matter of plain duty; it may be all the better for not being according to my own bent and leaning; i must forthwith go to work, as a reluctant schoolboy meaning well. _sept. ._--this day i went to claremont to be sworn in. when the council was constructed, the duke of buckingham and lord liverpool were first called in to take their oaths and seats; then the remaining four followed, lincoln, eliot, ernest bruce, and i. the queen sat at the head of the table, composed but dejected--one could not but feel for her, all through the ceremonial. we knelt down to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy and stood up to take (i think) the councillor's oath, then kissed the queen's hand, then went round the table shaking hands with each member, beginning from prince albert who sat on the queen's right, and ending with lord wharncliffe on her left. we then sat at the lower end of the table, excepting lord e. bruce, who went to his place behind the queen as vice-chamberlain. then the chancellor first and next the duke of buckingham were sworn to their respective offices. c. greville forgot the duke's privy seal and sent him off without it; the queen corrected him and gave it.... then were read and approved several orders in council; among which was one assigning a district to a church and another appointing lord ripon and me to act in matters of trade. these were read aloud by the queen in a very clear though subdued voice; and she repeated 'approved' after each. upon that relating to lord r. and myself we were called up and kissed hands again. then the queen rose, as did all the members of the council, and retired bowing. we had luncheon in the same room half an hour later and went off. the duke of wellington went in an open carriage with a pair; all our other grand people with four. peel looked shy all through. i visited claremont once before, years ago i think, as a child, to see the place, soon after the princess charlotte's death. it corresponded pretty much with my impressions. sworn of the privy council he secured his re-election at newark on september without opposition, and without trouble, beyond the pressure of a notion rooted in the genial mind of his constituency that as master of the mint he would have an unlimited command of public coin for all purposes whether general or particular. his reflections upon his ministerial position are of much biographic interest. he had evidently expected inclusion in the cabinet:-- _sept. ._--upon quietly reviewing past times, and the degree of confidence which sir robert peel had for years, habitually i may say, reposed in me, and especially considering its climax, in my being summoned to the meetings immediately preceding the debate on the address in august, i am inclined to think, after allowing for the delusions of self love, that there is not a perfect correspondence between the tenor of the past on the one hand, and my present appointment and the relations in which it places me to the administration on the other. he may have made up his mind at those meetings that i was not qualified for the consultations of a government, nor would there be anything strange in this, except the supposition that he had not seen it before. having however taken the alarm (so to speak) upon the invitation at that time, and been impressed with the idea that it savoured of cabinet office, i considered and consulted on the chinese question, which i regarded as a serious impediment to office of that description, and i had provisionally contemplated saying to peel in case he should offer me ireland with the cabinet, to reply that i would gladly serve his government in the secretaryship, but that i feared his chinese measures would hardly admit of my acting in the cabinet. i am very sorry now to think that i may have been guilty of an altogether absurd presumption, in dreaming of the cabinet. but it was wholly suggested by that invitation. and i still think that there must have been some consultation and decision relating to me in the interval between the meetings and the formation of the new ministry, which produced some alteration.... in confirmation of the notion i have recorded above, i am distinct in the recollection that there was a shyness in peel's manner and a downward eye, when he opened the conversation and made the offer, not usual with him in speaking to me. in after years, he thus described his position when he went to the board of trade:-- i was totally ignorant both of political economy and of the commerce of the country. i might have said, as i believe was said by a former holder of the vice-presidency, that my mind was in regard to all those matters a 'sheet of white paper,' except that it was doubtless coloured by a traditional prejudice of protection, which had then quite recently become a distinctive mark of conservatism. in a spirit of ignorant mortification i said to myself at the moment: the science of politics deals with the government of men, but i am set to govern packages. in my journal for aug. i find this recorded: 'since the address meetings' (which were quasi-cabinets) 'the idea of the irish secretaryship had nestled imperceptibly in my mind.'[ ] the vice-presidency was the post, by the way, impudently proposed four years later by the whigs to gobden, after he had taught both whigs and tories their business. mr. gladstone, at least, was quick to learn the share of 'packages' in the government of men. reflections on his office _sept. ._--closing the month, and a period of two years comprehended within this book, i add a few words. my position is changed by office. in opposition i was frequently called, or sometimes at least, to the confidential councils of the party on a variety of subjects. in office, i shall of course have to do with the department of trade and with little or nothing beyond. there is some point in the query of the _westminster review: whether my appointments are a covet satire?_ but they bring great advantages; much less responsibility, much less anxiety. i could not have made myself answerable for what i expect the cabinet will do in china. it must be admitted that it presents an odd appearance, when a person whose mind and efforts have chiefly ranged within the circle of subjects connected with the church, is put into office of the most different description. it looks as if the first object were to neutralise his mischievous tendencies. but i am in doubt whether to entertain this supposition would be really a compliment to the discernment of my superiors, or a breach of charity; therefore it is best not entertained. paragraphs appeared in newspapers imputing to mr. gladstone a strong reprobation of the prime minister's opinions upon church affairs, and he thought it worth while to write to sir robert a strong (and most excessively lengthy) disclaimer of being, among other things, an object of hope to unbending tories as against their moderate and cautious leader.[ ] 'should party spirit,' he went on, 'run very high against your commercial measures, i have no doubt that the venom of my religious opinions will be plentifully alleged to have infused itself into your policy even in that direction, ... and more than ever will be heard of your culpability in taking into office a person of my bigoted and extreme sentiments.' peel replied (october , ) with kindness and good sense. he had not taken the trouble to read the paragraph; he had read the works from which a mischievous industry had tried to collect means of defaming their author; he found nothing in them in the most distant manner to affect political co-operation; and he signed his name to the letter, 'with an esteem and regard, which are proof against evil-minded attempts to sow jealousy and discord.'[ ] footnotes: [ ] for mr. gladstone's later view of this transaction, see _gleanings_, i. p. . he composed a letter on the subject, which, he says, 'will probably never see the light.' [ ] mr. gladstone compiled this list of the statesmen in the maternal ancestry of his children:-- right hon. george grenville, great, great grandfather. sir w. wyndham, great, great, great grandfather. lord chatham, great, great granduncle-in-law. mr. pitt, first cousin thrice removed. lord grenville, great granduncle. mr. grenville, great granduncle. [ ] _paradiso_, xxvi. - -- 'love for each plant that in the garden grows, of the eternal gardener, i prove, proportioned to the goodness he bestows.'--wright. [ ] _ibid._ iii. . see above, p. . [ ] see lord palmerston's speech, aug. , . [ ] _hansard_, s. vol. , p. . [ ] 'it was the common talk of oxford how the most distinguished lawyer of the day, a literary man and a critic, on hearing the speech in question, pronounced his prompt verdict on him in the words, "that young man's fortune is made."'--newman's funeral sermon on j. r. hope-scott in _sermons preached on various occasions_, p. . [ ] the reader who cares for further particulars may consult the _memoirs of j. r. hope-scott_, i. pp. , - ; and ii. p. . [ ] his first house was carlton house terrace, then his father gave him carlton gardens. in he purchased carlton house terrace, which was his london home until . from to he occupied harley street. [ ] 'at that period the board of trade was the department which administered to a great extent the functions that have since passed principally into the hands of the treasury, connected with the fiscal laws of the country.'--_mr. gladstone at leeds_, oct. , . in , writing to mr. chamberlain, then president, he says: 'if you were to look back to the records of your department thirty-five and forty years ago, you would find how much of the public trade business was transacted in it. revenue was then largely involved: and hence, i imagine, it came about that this business was taken over in a great degree by the treasury. i myself have drawn up new tariffs in both, at the b. of t. in and - , and at the treasury in and . why and how the old b. of t. functions also passed in part to the f.o. i do not so well know.' [ ] i suppose this points to incompatibility in the fevers of the hour between protestant ulster and a puseyite chief secretary. [ ] autobiographic note. [ ] it would appear from the manuscript at the british museum, that macaulay's sentence about mr. gladstone as the rising hope of the stern and unbending tories, which later events made long so famous and so tiresome, was a happy afterthought, written in along the margin. [ ] parker's _peel_, ii. pp. - . chapter viii peel's government (_ - _) in many of the most important rules of public policy sir r. peel's government surpassed generally the governments which have succeeded it, whether liberal or conservative. among them i would mention purity in patronage, financial strictness, loyal adherence to the principle of public economy, jealous regard to the rights of parliament, a single eye to the public interest, strong aversion to extension of territorial responsibilities and a frank admission of the rights of foreign countries as equal to those of their own.--mr. gladstone ( ).[ ] of the four or five most memorable administrations of the century, the great conservative government of sir robert peel was undoubtedly one. it laid the groundwork of our solid commercial policy, it established our railway system, it settled the currency, and, by no means least, it gave us a good national character in europe as lovers of moderation, equity, and peace. little as most members of the new cabinet saw it, their advent definitely marked the rising dawn of an economic era. if you had to constitute new societies, peel said to croker, then you might on moral and social grounds prefer cornfields to cotton factories, and you might like an agricultural population better than a manufacturing; as it was, the national lot was cast, and statesmen were powerless to turn back the tide. the food of the people, their clothing, the raw material for their industry, their education, the conditions under which women and children were suffered to toil, markets for the products of loom and forge and furnace and mechanic's shop,--these were slowly making their way into the central field of political vision, and taking the place of fantastic follies about foreign dynasties and the balance of power as the true business of the british statesman. on the eve of entering parliament (september , ), mr. gladstone recounts some articles of his creed at the time to his friend gaskell, and to modern eyes a curious list it is. the first place is given to his views on the relative merits of pedro, miguel, donna maria, in respect of the throne of portugal. the second goes to poland. the third to the affairs of lombardy. free trade comes last. this was still the lingering fashion of the moment, and it died hard. the new ministry contained an unusual number of men of mark and capacity, and they were destined to form a striking group. at their head was a statesman whose fame grows more impressive with time, not the author or inspirer of large creative ideas, but with what is at any rate next best--a mind open and accessible to those ideas, and endowed with such gifts of skill, vigilance, caution, and courage as were needed for the government of a community rapidly passing into a new stage of its social growth. one day in february , he sent for mr. gladstone on some occasion of business. peel happened not to be well, and in the course of the conversation his doctor called. sir james graham who had come in, said to his junior in peel's absence with the physician, 'the pressure upon him is immense. we never had a minister who was so truly a first minister as he is. he makes himself felt in every department, and is really cognisant of the affairs of each. lord grey could not master such an amount of business. canning could not do it. now he is an actual minister, and is indeed _capax imperii_.' next to peel as parliamentary leaders stood graham himself and stanley. they had both of them sat in the cabinet of lord grey, and now found themselves the colleagues of the bitterest foes of grey's administration. as we have seen, mr. gladstone pronounces graham to have known more about economic subjects than all the rest of the government put together. such things had hitherto been left to men below the first rank in the hierarchy of public office, like huskisson. pedro and miguel held the field. end of his protectionist stage mr. gladstone's own position is described in an autobiographic fragment of his last years:-- when i entered parliament in , the great controversy between protection or artificial restraint and free trade, of which cobden was the leading figure, did not enter into the popular controversies of the day, and was still in the hands of the philosophers. my father was an active and effective local politician, and the protectionism which i inherited from him and from all my youthful associations was qualified by a thorough acceptance of the important preliminary measures of mr. huskisson, of whom he was the first among the local supporters. moreover, for the first six years or so of my parliamentary life free trade was in no way a party question, and it only became strictly such in at, and somewhat before, the general election, when the whig government, _in extremis_, proposed a fixed duty upon corn. my mind was in regard to it a sheet of white paper, but i accepted the established conditions in _the lump_, and could hardly do otherwise. in only, the question was debated in the house of commons, and the speech of the mover against the corn laws made me uncomfortable. but the reply of sir james graham restored my peace of mind. i followed the others with a languid interest. yet i remember being struck with the essential unsoundness of the argument of mr. villiers. it was this. under the present corn law our trade, on which we depend, is doomed, for our manufacturers cannot possibly contend with the manufacturers of the continent if they have to pay wages regulated by the protection price of food, while their rivals pay according to the natural or free trade price. the answer was obvious. 'thank you. we quite understand you. your object is to get down the wages of your workpeople.' it was cobden who really set the argument on its legs; and it is futile to compare any other man with him as the father of our system of free trade. i had in to dabble in this question, and on the wrong side of it[ ].... the matter passed from my mind, full of churches and church matters, in which i was now gradually acquiring knowledge. in the necessities of the whig government led to a further development of the great controversy; but i interfered only in the colonial part of it in connection with the colonies and the slave trade to porto rico and brazil. we west indians were now great philanthropists! when sir robert peel assumed the government he had become deeply committed to protection, which in the last two or three years had become the subject of a commanding controversy. i suppose that at newark i followed suit, but i have no records. on the change of government peel, with much judgment, offered me the vice-presidentship of the board of trade. on sound principles of party discipline, i took the office at once; and having taken it i set to work with all my might as a worker. in a very short time i came to form a low estimate of the knowledge and information of lord ripon; and of the cabinet sir james graham, i think, knew most. and now the stones of which my protectionism was built up began to get uncomfortably loose. when we came to the question of the tariff, we were all nearly on a par in ignorance, and we had a very bad adviser in macgregor, secretary to the board of trade. but i had the advantage of being able to apply myself with an undivided attention. my assumption of office at the board of trade was followed by hard, steady, and honest work; and every day so spent beat like a battering ram on the unsure fabric of my official protectionism. by the end of the year i was far gone in the opposite sense. i had to speak much on these questions in the session of , but it was always done with great moderation. ii peel's slow conversion the case on the accession of the new ministers was difficult. peel himself has drawn the picture. by incompetent finance, by reckless colonial expenditure, by solving political difficulties through gifts or promises of cash from the british treasury, by war and foreign relations hovering on the verge of war and necessitating extended preparations, the whigs had brought the national resources into an embarrassment that was extreme. the accumulated deficits of five years had become a heavy incubus, and the deficit of - was likely to be not less than two and a half millions more. commerce and manufactures were languishing. distress was terrible. poor-rates were mounting, and grants-in-aid would extend impoverishment from the factory districts to the rural. 'judge then,' said peel, 'whether we can with safety retrograde in manufactures.'[ ] so grave a crisis could only be met by daring remedies. with the highest courage, moral courage no less than political, peel resolved to ask parliament to let him raise four or five millions a year by income-tax, in order to lower the duties on the great articles of consumption, and by reforming the tariff both to relieve trade, and to stimulate and replenish the reciprocal flow of export and import. that he at this time, or perhaps in truth at any time, had acquired complete mastery of those deeper principles and wider aspects of free trade of which adam smith had been the great exponent--principles afterwards enforced by the genius of cobden with such admirable still, persistency, and patriotic spirit--there was nothing to show. such a scheme had no originality in it. huskisson, and men of less conspicuous name, had ten years earlier urged the necessity of a new general system of taxation, based upon remission of duty on raw materials and on articles of consumption, and upon the imposition of an income-tax. the famous report of the committee on import duties of , often rightly called the charter of free trade, and of which peel, not much to his credit, had at this moment not read a word,[ ] laid the foundations of the great policy of tariff reform with which the names of peel and gladstone are associated in history. the policy advocated in in the admirable treatise of sir henry parnell is exactly the policy of peel in , as he acknowledged. after all it is an idle quarrel between the closet strategist and the victorious commander; between the man who first discerns some great truth of government, and the man who gets the thing, or even a part of the thing, actually done. peel's government mr. gladstone has left on record some particulars of his own share as subordinate minister not in the cabinet, in this first invasion upon the old tory corn law of . peel from the beginning appreciated the powers of his keen and zealous lieutenant, and even in the autumn of he had taken him into confidential counsel.[ ] besides a letter of observations on the general scheme of commercial freedom, mr. gladstone prepared for the prime minister a special paper on the corn laws. the ordinary business of the department soon fell into my hands to transact with the secretaries, one of them macgregor, a loose-minded free trader, and the other lefevre, a clear and scientific one. in that autumn i became possessed with the desire to relax the corn law, which formed, i believe, the chief subject of my meditations. hence followed an important consequence. very slow in acquiring relative and secondary knowledge and honestly absorbed in my work, i simply thought on and on as to what was right and fair under the circumstances. in january , as the session approached, they came to close quarters. the details of all the mysteries of protectionist iniquity we may well spare ourselves. peel, feeling the pulse of his agricultural folk, thought it would never do to give them less than a ten-shilling duty, when the price of wheat was at sixty-two shillings the quarter; while mr. gladstone thought a twelve-shilling duty at a price of sixty far too low a relief to the consumer. his eyes were beginning to be opened. _feb. ._--i placed in sir r. peel's hands a long paper on the corn law in the month of november, which, on wishing to refer to it, he could not find; and he requested me to write out afresh my argument upon the value of a rest or dead level, and the part of the scale of price at which it should arrive; this i did. on monday i wrote another paper arguing for a rest between / and / or thereabouts; and yesterday a third intended to show that the present law has been in practice _fully_ equivalent to a prohibition up to /. lord ripon then told me the cabinet had adopted peel's scale as it originally stood--and seemed to doubt whether _any_ alteration could be made. on his announcing the adoption, i said in a marked manner, '_i am very sorry for it_'--believing that it would be virtual prohibition up to / or / and often beyond, to the minimum; and not being able, in spite of all the good which the government is about to do with respect to commerce, to make up my mind to support such a protection. i see, from conversations with them to-day, that lord ripon, peel, and graham, are all aware the protection is greater than is necessary. mr. gladstone's rapid advance this mood soon carried the vice-president terribly far. on feb. he met most of the members of the cabinet at peel's house. he argued his point that the scale would operate as virtual protection up to seventy shillings, and in a private interview with peel afterwards hinted at retirement. peel declared himself so taken by surprise that he hardly knew what to say; 'he was thunderstruck;' and he told his young colleague that 'the retirement of a person holding his office, on this question, immediately before his introducing it, would endanger the existence of the administration, and that he much doubted whether in such a case he could bring it on.' i fear peel was much annoyed and displeased, for he would not give me a word of help or of favourable supposition as to my own motives and belief. he used nothing like an angry or unkind word, but the negative character of the conversation had a chilling effect on my mind. i came home sick at heart in the evening and told all to catherine, my lips being to every one else, as i said to sir r. peel, absolutely sealed. 'he might have gained me more easily, i think,' mr. gladstone wrote years afterwards, 'by a more open and supple method of expostulation. but he was not skilful, i think, in the management of personal or sectional dilemmas, as he showed later on with respect to two important questions, the factory acts and the crisis on the sugar duties in .' this sharp and unnecessary corner safely turned, mr. gladstone learned the lesson how to admire a great master overcoming a legislator's difficulties. i have been much struck (he wrote, feb. ) throughout the private discussions connected with, the new project of a corn law, by the tenacity with which sir robert peel, firstly by adhering in every point to the old arrangements where it seemed at all possible, and since the announcement of the plan to parliament, by steadily resisting changes in any part of the resolutions, has narrowed the ground and reduced in number the points of attack, and thus made his measure practicable in the face of popular excitement and a strong opposition. until we were actually in the midst of the struggle, i did not appreciate the extraordinary sagacity of his parliamentary instinct in this particular. he said yesterday to lord ripon and to me, 'among ourselves, in this room, i have no hesitation in saying, that if i had not had to look to other than abstract considerations, i would have proposed a lower protection. but it would have done no good to push the matter so far as to drive knatchbull out of the cabinet after the duke of buckingham, nor could i hope to pass a measure with greater reductions through the house of lords.' when lord john russell proposed an amendment substituting an eight-shilling duty for a sliding scale, peel asked mr. gladstone to reply to him. 'this i did (feb. , ),' he says, 'and with my whole heart, for i did not yet fully understand the vicious operation of the sliding scale on the corn trade, and it is hard to see how an eight-shilling duty could even then have been maintained.' iii the new policy the three centres of operations were the corn bill, then the bill imposing the income-tax, and finally the reform of the duties upon seven hundred and fifty out of the twelve hundred articles that swelled the tariff. the corn bill was the most delicate, the tariff the most laborious, the income-tax the boldest, the most fraught alike with peril for the hour and with consequences of pith and moment for the future. it is hardly possible for us to realise the general horror in which this hated impost was then enveloped. the fact of brougham procuring the destruction of all the public books and papers in which its odious accounts were recorded, only illustrates the intensity of the common sentiment against the dire hydra evoked by mr. pitt for the destruction of the regicide power of france, and sent back again to its gruesome limbo after the ruin of napoleon. from until the question of the income-tax was the vexing enigma of public finance. it was upon mr. gladstone that the burden of the immense achievement of the new tariff fell, and the toil was huge. he used afterwards to say that he had been concerned in four revisions of the tariff, in , , , and , and that the first of them cost six times as much trouble as the other three put together. he spoke one hundred and twenty-nine times during the session. he had only once sat on a committee of trade, and had only once spoken on a purely trade question during the nine years of his parliamentary life. all his habits of thought and action had been cast in a different mould. it is ordinarily assumed that he was a born financier, endowed besides with a gift of idealism and the fine training of a scholar. as matter of fact, it was the other way; he was a man of high practical and moral imagination, with an understanding made accurate by strength of grasp and incomparable power of rapid and concentrated apprehension, yoked to finance only by force of circumstance--a man who would have made a shining and effective figure in whatever path of great public affairs, whether ecclesiastical or secular, duty might have called for his exertions. it is curious that the first measure of commercial policy in this session should have been a measure of protection in the shape of a bill introduced by the board of trade, imposing a duty on corn, wheat, and flour brought from the united states into canada.[ ] but this was only a detail, though a singular one, in a policy that was in fact a continuance of the relaxation of the commercial system of the colonies which had been begun in and by robinson and huskisson. in his present employment mr. gladstone was called upon to handle a mass of questions that were both of extreme complexity in themselves, and also involved collision with trade interests always easily alarmed, irritated, and even exasperated. with merchants and manufacturers, importers and exporters, brokers and bankers, with all the serried hosts of british trade, with the laws and circumstances of international commerce, he was every day brought into close, detailed, and responsible contact:--whether the duty on straw bonnets should go by weight or by number; what was the difference between boot-fronts at six shillings per dozen pairs and a per cent. duty _ad valorem_; how to distinguish the regulus of tin from mere ore, and how to fix the duty on copper ore so as not to injure the smelter; how to find an adjustment between the liquorice manufacturers of london and the liquorice growers of pontefract; what was the special case for muscatels as distinct from other raisins; whether pounds of ship biscuits would be a fair deposit for taking out of bond pounds of wheat if not kiln-dried, or pounds if kiln-dried; whether there ought to be uniformity between hides and skins. he applies to cornewall lewis, then a poor-law commissioner, not on the astronomy of the ancients or the truth of early roman history, but to find out for a certain series of years past the contract price of meat in workhouses. he listens to the grievances of the lath-renders; of the coopers who complain that casks will come in too cheap; of the coal-whippers, and the frame-work knitters; and he examines the hard predicament of the sawyers, who hold government answerable both for the fatal competition of machinery and the displacement of wood by iron. 'these deputations,' he says, 'were invaluable to me, for by constant close questioning i learned the nature of their trades, and armed with this admission to their interior, made careful notes and became able to defend in debate the propositions of the tariff and to show that the respective businesses would be carried on and not ruined as they said. i have ever since said that deputations are most admirable aids for the transaction of public business, provided the receiver of them is allowed to fix the occasion and the stage at which they appear.' peel to john gladstone among the deputations of this period mr. gladstone always recalled one from lancashire, as the occasion on which he first saw mr. bright:-- the deputation was received not by me but by lord ripon, in the large room at the board of trade, i being present. a long line of fifteen or twenty gentlemen occupied benches running down and at the end of the room, and presented a formidable appearance. all that i remember, however, is the figure of a person in black or dark quaker costume, seemingly the youngest of the band. eagerly he sat a little forward on the bench and intervened in the discussion. i was greatly struck with him. he seemed to me rather fierce, but very strong and very earnest. i need hardly say this was john bright. a year or two after he made his appearance in parliament.[ ] the best testimony to mr. gladstone's share in this arduous task is supplied in a letter written by the prime minister himself to john gladstone, and that he should have taken the trouble to write it shows, moreover, that though peel may have been a 'bad horse to go up to in the stable,' his reserve easily melted away in recognition of difficult duty well done:-- _sir robert peel to john gladstone._ _whitehall, june , ._--you probably have heard that we have concluded the discussions (the preliminary discussions at least) on the subject of the tariff. i cannot resist the temptation, if it be only for the satisfaction of my own feelings, of congratulating you most warmly and sincerely, on the distinction which your son has acquired, by the manner in which he has conducted himself throughout those discussions and all others since his appointment to office. at no time in the annals of parliament has there been exhibited a more admirable combination of ability, extensive knowledge, temper, and discretion. your paternal feelings must be gratified in the highest degree by the success which has naturally and justly followed the intellectual exertions of your son, and you must be supremely happy as a father in the reflection that the capacity to make such exertions is combined in his case with such purity of heart and integrity of conduct. more than fifty years later in offering to a severe opponent magnanimous congratulations in debate on his son's successful maiden speech, mr. gladstone said he knew how refreshing to a father's heart such good promise must ever be. and in his own instance peel's generous and considerate letter naturally drew from john gladstone a worthy and feeling response:-- _john gladstone to sir r. peel._ _june ._--the receipt last evening of your kind letter of yesterday filled my eyes with tears of gratitude to almighty god, for having given me a son whose conduct in the discharge of his public duties has received the full approbation of one, who of all men, is so well qualified to form a correct judgment of his merits. permit me to offer you my most sincere thanks for this truly acceptable testimonial, which i shall carefully preserve. william is the youngest of my four sons; in the conduct of all of them, i have the greatest cause for thankfulness, for neither have ever caused me a pang. he excels his brothers in talent, but not so in soundness of principles, habits of usefulness, or integrity of purpose. my eldest, as you are aware, has again, and in a most satisfactory manner, got into parliament. to have the third also again there, whilst the services of naval men, circumstanced as he is, who seek unsuccessfully for employment, are not required, we are desirous to effect, and wait for a favourable opportunity to accomplish. whenever we may succeed, i shall consider my cup to be filled, for the second is honourably and usefully engaged as a merchant in liverpool, occupying the situation i held there for so many years. it was while they were in office that peel wrote from windsor to beg mr. gladstone to sit for his portrait to lucas, the same artist who had already painted graham for him. 'i shall be very glad of this addition to the gallery of the eminent men of my own time.' entry into the cabinet it was evident that mr. gladstone's admission to the cabinet could not be long deferred, and in the spring of the following year, the head of the government made him the coveted communication:-- _whitehall, may , ._ my dear gladstone,--i have proposed to the queen that lord ripon should succeed my lamented friend and colleague, lord fitzgerald, as president of the board of control. i, at the same time, requested her majesty's permission (and it was most readily conceded) to propose to you the office of president of the board of trade, with a seat in the cabinet. if it were not for the occasion of the vacancy i should have had unmixed satisfaction in thus availing myself of the earliest opportunity that has occurred since the formation of the government, of giving a wider scope to your ability to render public service, and of strengthening that government by inviting your aid as a minister of the crown. for myself personally, and i can answer also for every other member of the government, the prospect of your accession to the cabinet is very gratifying to our feelings.--believe me, my dear gladstone, with sincere esteem and regard, most truly yours, robert peel. at two to-day (may ), mr. gladstone records, i went to sir r. peel's on the subject of his letter. i began by thanking him for the indulgent manner in which he had excused my errors, and more than appreciated any services i might have rendered, and for the offer he had made and the manner of it. i said that i went to the board of trade without knowledge or relish, but had been very happy there; found quite enough to occupy my mind, enough responsibility for my own strength, and had no desire to move onwards, but should be perfectly satisfied with any arrangement which he might make as to lord ripon's successor. he spoke most warmly of service received, said he could not be governed by any personal considerations, and this which he proposed was obviously the right arrangement. i then stated the substance of what i had put in my memorandum, first on the opium question, to which his answer was, that the immediate power and responsibility lay with the east india company; he did not express agreement with my view of the cultivation of the drug, but said it was a minor subject as compared with other imperial interests constantly brought under discussion; intimated that the duke of wellington had surrendered his opinion (i think) upon the boundary question; and he referred to the change in his own views, and said that in future he questioned whether he could undertake the defence of the corn laws on principle. his words were addressed to a sympathising hearer. my speeches in the house had already excited dissatisfaction if not dismay. then came something about the preservation of the two bishoprics in north wales.[ ] to mr. gladstone's surprise, peel reckoned this a more serious matter, as it involved a practical course. after much had been said on the topic, mr. gladstone asked for a day or two to consider the question. 'i have to consider with god's help by monday whether to enter the cabinet or to retire altogether: at least such is probably the second alternative.' he wished to consult hope and manning, and they, upon discussion, urged that the point was too narrow on which to join issue with the government. this brought him round. 'i well remember,' he says of this early case of compromise, 'that i pleaded against them that i should be viewed as a traitor, and they observed to me in reply that i must be prepared for that if necessary, that (and indeed i now feel) in these times the very wisest and most effective servants of any cause must necessarily fall so far short of the popular sentiment of its friends, as to be liable constantly to incur mistrust and even abuse. but patience and the power of character overcome all these difficulties. i am certain that hope and manning in were not my tempters but rather my good angels.'[ ] peel had been in parliament as long, and almost as long in office, as mr. gladstone had lived, but experience of public life enlarges the man of high mind, and peel, while perhaps he wondered at his junior's bad sense of proportion, was the last man to laugh at force of sincerity and conscience. men of the other sort, as he knew, were always to be had for the asking. 'he spoke again of the satisfaction of his colleagues, and even said he did not recollect former instances of a single vacancy in a cabinet, on which there was an entire concurrence. i repeated what i had said of his and their most indulgent judgment and took occasion distinctly to apologise for my blunder, and the consequent embarrassment which i caused to him in feb. , on the corn scale.'[ ] parliamentary success his parliamentary success had been extraordinary. from the first his gifts of reasoning and eloquence had pleased the house; his union of sincerity and force had attracted it as sincerity and force never fail to do; and his industry and acuteness, his steady growth in political stature, substance, and acquisition, had gained for him the confidence of the austerest of leaders. he had reached a seat in the cabinet before he was thirty-four, and after little more than ten years of parliamentary life. canning was thirty-seven before he won the same eminence, and he had been thirteen years in the house; while peel had the cabinet within reach when he was four-and-thirty, and had been in the house almost thirteen years, of which six had been passed in the arduous post of irish secretary. mr. gladstone had shown that he had in him the qualities that make a minister and a speaker of the first class, though he had shown also the perilous quality of a spirit of minute scruple. he had not yet displayed those formidable powers of contention and attack, that were before long to resemble some tremendous projectile, describing a path the law of whose curves and deviations, as they watched its journey through the air in wonder and anxiety for the shattering impact, men found it impossible to calculate. mr. gladstone's brief notes of his first and second cabinets are worth transcribing: the judicious reader will have little difficulty in guessing the topic for deliberation; it figured in the latest of his cabinets as in the earliest, as well as in most of those that intervened. '_may ._--my first cabinet. on irish repeal meetings. no fear of breach of the peace, grounded on reasons. therefore no case for interference. (the duke, however, was for issuing a proclamation.) _may ._--second [cabinet] repeal. constabulary tainted.' it would be safe to say of any half dozen consecutive meetings of the queen's servants, taken at random during the reign, that ireland would be certain to crop up. still, protection was the burning question. from one cause or another, said mr. gladstone looking back to these times, 'my reputation among the conservatives on the question of protection oozed away with rapidity. it died with the year , and early in a duke, i think the duke of richmond, speaking in the house of lords, described some renegade proceeding as a proceeding conducted under the banner of the vice-president of the board of trade.' he was not always as careful as peel, and sometimes came near to a scrape. in my speech, on lord howick's motion (mar. , ) i was supposed to play with the question, and prepare the way for a departure from the corn law of last year, and i am sensible that i so far lost my head, as not to put well together the various, and, if taken separately, conflicting considerations which affect the question.... it so happens that i spoke under the influence of a new and most sincere conviction, having reference to the recent circumstances of commercial legislation abroad, to the effect that it would not be wise to displace british labour for the sake of cheap corn, without the counteracting and sustaining provisions which exchange, not distorted by tariffs all but prohibitory, would supply.... this, it is clear, is a slippery position for a man who does not think firmly in the midst of ambiguous and adverse cheering, and i did my work most imperfectly, but i do think honestly. sir r. peel's manner, by negative signs, showed that he thought either my ground insecure or my expressions dangerous. an artificial situation the situation was essentially artificial. there was little secret of the surrender of protection as a principle. in introducing the proposals for the reform of the customs tariff, peel made the gentlemen around him shiver by openly declaring that on the general principle of free trade there was no difference of opinion; that all agreed in the rule that we should buy in the cheapest market and sell in the dearest; that even if the foreigner were foolish enough not to follow suit, it was still for the interest of this country to buy as cheap as we could, whether other countries will buy from us or no.[ ] even important cabinet colleagues found this too strong doctrine for them. 'on tuesday night,' says mr. gladstone, 'peel opened the tariff anew, and laid down, in a manner which drew great cheering from the opposition, the doctrine of purchasing in the cheapest market. stanley said to me afterwards, "peel laid that down a great deal too broadly." last night he (lord s.) sat down angry with himself, and turned to me and said, "it does not signify, i _cannot_ speak on these subjects; i quite lost my head." i merely answered that no one but himself would have discovered it.' yet it was able men, apt to lose their heads in economics, whom peel had to carry along with him. 'on another night,' says mr. gladstone, 'i thought sir r. peel appeared in an attitude of conspicuous intellectual greatness, and on comparing notes next day with sir j. graham at the palace, i found he was similarly impressed. sheil delivered a very effective rhetorical speech. lord stanley had taken a few notes and was to follow him. sheil was winding up just as the clock touched twelve. lord stanley said to peel, "it is twelve, shall i follow him? i think not." peel said, "i do not think it will do to let this go unanswered." he had been quite without the idea of speaking that night. sheil sat down, and peals of cheering followed. stanley seemed to hesitate a good deal, and at last said, as it were to himself, "no, i won't, it's too late." in the meantime the adjournment had been moved; but when peel saw there was no one in the breach, he rose. the cheers were still, a little spitefully, prolonged from the other side. he had an immense subject, a disturbed house, a successful speech, an entire absence of notice to contend against; but he began with power, gathered power as he went on, handled every point in his usual mode of balanced thought and language, and was evidently conscious at the close, of what no one could deny, that he had made a deep impression on the house.' iv mr. gladstone kept pretty closely in step with his leader. from sir robert he slowly learned lessons of circumspection that may not seem congenial to his temperament, though for that matter we should remember all through that his temperament was double. he was of opinion, as he told the house of commons, that a sliding-scale, a fixed duty, and free trade were all three open to serious objection. he regarded the defects of the existing law as greatly exaggerated, and he refused to admit that the defects of the law, whatever they might be, were fatal to every law with a sliding-scale. he wished to relieve the consumer, to steady the trade, to augment foreign commerce, and the demand for labour connected with commerce. on the other hand he desired to keep clear of the countervailing evils of disturbing either vast capitals invested in land, or the immense masses of labour employed in agriculture.[ ] he noted with some complacency, that during the great controversy of and following years, he never saw any parliamentary speech of his own quoted in proof of the inconsistency of the peelites. here are a couple of entries from lord broughton's diary for :--'_june ._ brougham said "gladstone was a d----d fellow, a prig, and did much mischief to the government," alluding to his speech about keeping sugar duties. _june ._ gladstone made a decided agricultural protection speech, and was lauded therefor by miles--so the rebels were returning to their allegiance.' gladstone's arguments, somebody said, were in favour of free trade, and his parentheses were in favour of protection. well might the whole position be called as slippery a one as ever occurred in british politics. it was by the principles of free trade that peel and his lieutenant justified tariff-reform; and they indirectly sapped protection in general by dwelling on the mischiefs of minor forms of protection in particular. they assured the country gentlemen that the sacred principle of a scale was as tenderly cherished in the new plan as in the old; on the other hand they could assure the leaguers and the doubters that the structure of the two scales was widely different. we cannot wonder that honest tories who stuck to the old doctrine, not always rejected even by huskisson, that a country ought not to be dependent on foreign supply, were mystified and amazed as they listened to the two rival parties disputing to which of them belonged the credit of originating a policy that each of them had so short a time before so scornfully denounced. the only difference was the difference between yesterday and the day before yesterday. the whigs, with their fixed duty, were just as open as the conservatives with their sliding-scale to the taunts of the manchester school, when they decorated economics by high _a priori_ declaration that the free importation of corn was not a subject for the deliberations of the senate, but a natural and inalienable law of the creator. rapid was the conversion. even lord palmerston, of all people in the world, denounced the arrogance and presumptuous folly of dealers in restrictive duties 'setting up their miserable legislation instead of the great standing laws of nature.' mr. disraeli, still warmly on the side of the minister, flashed upon his uneasy friends around him a reminder of the true pedigree of the dogmas of free trade. was it not mr. pitt who first promulgated them in , who saw that the loss of the market of the american colonies made it necessary by lowering duties to look round for new markets on the continent of europe? and was it not fox, burke, sheridan, and the minor whig luminaries, who opposed him, while not a single member of his own government in the house of lords was willing or able to defend him? but even reminiscences of mr. pitt, and oracular descriptions of lord shelburne as the most remarkable man of his age, brought little comfort to men sincerely convinced with fear and trembling that free corn would destroy rent, close their mansions and their parks, break up their lives, and beggar the country. they remembered also one or two chapters of history nearer to their own time. they knew that lord john had a right to revive the unforgotten contrast between peel's rejection of so-called protestant securities in and , and the total surrender of emancipation in . natural forebodings darkened their souls that protectionism would soon share the fate of protestantism, and that capitulation to cobden was doomed to follow the old scandal of capitulation to o'connell. they felt that there was something much more dreadful than the mere sting of a parliamentary recrimination, in the contrast between the corn bill of and peel's panegyrics in ' , ' , and ' on the very system which that bill now shattered. on the other side some could not forget that in the whig prime minister, the head of a party still even at the eleventh hour unregenerated by manchester, predicted a violent struggle as the result of the manchester policy, stirring society to its foundations, kindling bitter animosities not easy to quench, and creating convulsions as fierce as those of the reform bill. a situation so precarious and so unedifying was sure to lead to strange results in the relations of parties and leaders. in july the speaker told hobhouse that peel had lost all following and authority; all but votes. hobhouse meeting a tory friend told him that sir robert had got nothing but his majority. 'he won't have that long,' the tory replied. 'who will make sacrifices for such a fellow? they call me a _frondeur_, but there are many such. peel thinks he can govern by fremantle and a little clique, but it will not do. the first election that comes, out he must go.' melbourne, only half in jest, was reported to talk of begging peel to give him timely notice, lest the queen might take him by surprise. on one occasion hobhouse wished a secondary minister to tell sir robert how much he admired a certain speech. 'i!' exclaimed the minister; 'he would kick me away if i dared to speak to him.' 'a man,' hobhouse observes, 'who will not take a civil truth from a subaltern is but a sulky fellow after all; there is no true dignity or pride in such reserve.' oddly enough, lord john was complaining just as loudly about the same time of his own want of hold upon his party. the tariff operations of worked no swift social miracle. general stagnation still prevailed. capital was a drug in the market, but food was comparatively cheap.[ ] stocks were light, and there was very little false credit. in spite of all these favouring conditions, mr. gladstone (march , ) had to report to his chief that 'the deadness of foreign demand keeps our commerce in a state of prolonged paralysis.' cobden had not even yet convinced them that the true way to quicken foreign demand was to open the ports to that foreign supply, with which they paid us for what they bought from us. mr. gladstone saw no further than the desire of making specific arrangement with other countries for reciprocal reductions of import duties. in one of his autobiographic notes ( ) mr. gladstone describes the short and sharp parliamentary crisis in brought about by the question of the sugar duties, but this may perhaps be relegated to an appendix.[ ] v from to mr. gladstone's department was engaged in other matters lying beyond the main stream of effort. 'we were anxiously and eagerly endeavouring to make tariff treaties with many foreign countries. austria, i think, may have been included, but i recollect especially france, prussia, portugal, and i believe spain. and the state of our tariff, even after the law of , was then such as to supply us with plenty of material for liberal offers. notwithstanding this, we failed in every case. i doubt whether we advanced the cause of free trade by a single inch.' the question of the prohibition against the export of machinery came before him. the custom-house authorities pronounced it ineffective, and recommended its removal. a parliamentary committee in had reported in favour of entire freedom. the machine makers, of course, were active, and the general manufacturers of the country, excepting the nottingham lace makers and the flax-spinners of the north of ireland, had become neutral. only a very limited portion of the trade was any longer subject to restriction, and mr. gladstone, after due consultation with superior ministers, proposed a bill for removing the prohibition altogether.[ ] he also brought in a bill (april ) for the regulation of companies. it was when he was president of the board of trade that the first telegraph act was passed. 'i was well aware,' he wrote, 'of the advantage of taking them into the hands of the government, but i was engaged in a plan which contemplated the ultimate acquisition of the railways by the public, and which was much opposed by the railway companies, so that to have attempted taking the telegraphs would have been hopeless. the bill was passed, but the executive machinery two years afterwards broke down.' railways questions that do not fall within the contentions of party usually cut a meagre figure on the page of the historian, and the railway policy of this decade is one of those questions. it was settled without much careful deliberation or foresight, and may be said in the main to have shaped itself. at the time when mr. gladstone presided over the department of trade, an immense extension of the railway system was seen to be certain, and we may now smile at what then seemed the striking novelty of such a prospect. mr. gladstone proposed a select committee on the subject, guided its deliberations, drew its reports, and framed the bill that was founded upon them. he dwelt upon the favour now beginning to be shown to the new roads by the owners of land through which they were to pass, so different from the stubborn resistance that had for long been offered; upon the cheapened cost of construction; upon the growing disposition to employ redundant capital in making railways, instead of running the risks that had made foreign investment so disastrous. it was not long, indeed, before this very disposition led to a mania that was even more widely disastrous than any foreign investment had been since the days of the south sea bubble. meanwhile, mr. gladstone's railway act of , besides a number of working regulations for the day, laid down two principles of the widest range: reserving to the state the full right of intervention in the concerns of the railway companies, and giving to the state the option to purchase a line at the end of a certain term at twenty-five years' purchase of the divisible profits.[ ] it was during these years of labour under peel that he first acquired principles of administrative and parliamentary practice that afterwards stood him in good stead: on no account to try to deal with a question before it is ripe; never to go the length of submitting a difference between two departments to the prime minister before the case is exhausted and complete; never to press a proposal forward beyond the particular stage at which it has arrived. pure commonplaces if we will, but they are not all of them easy to learn. we cannot forget that peel and mr. gladstone were in the strict line of political succession. they were alike in social origin and academic antecedents. they started from the same point of view as to the great organs of national life, the monarchy, the territorial peerage and the commons, the church, the universities. they showed the same clear knowledge that it was not by its decorative parts, or what burke styled 'solemn plausibilities,' that the community derived its strength; but that it rested for its real foundations on its manufactures, its commerce, and its credit. even in the lesser things, in reading sir robert peel's letters, those who in later years served under mr. gladstone can recognise the school to which he went for the methods, the habits of mind, the practices of business, and even the phrases which he employed when his own time came to assume the direction of public affairs, the surmounting of administrative difficulties, the piloting of complex measures, and the handling of troublesome persons. footnotes: [ ] undated fragment of letter to the queen. see appendix. [ ] see above, p. . [ ] parker, ii. pp. , , . [ ] _ibid._, p. . before the end of the session (aug. , ) he had learned enough to do more justice to hume and the committee. [ ] the editor of sir robert peel's papers was allowed to print three or four of mr. gladstone's letters to his chief at this interesting date. the reader will find the correspondence in parker, ii. pp. - , , . [ ] in a bill was passed lowering the duty on canadian corn imported into england, and mr. gladstone says in a memo, of : 'in i pleaded strongly for the admission of all the colonies to the privilege then granted to canada.' [ ] bright was elected for durham in july . [ ] the question of the welsh bishoprics was one of a certain magnitude in its day. the union of bangor and st. asaph had been provided for by parliament in , with a view to form a new see at manchester. the measure was passed with the general assent of the episcopal bench and the church at large. but sentiment soon changed, and a hostile cry was raised before the death of the bishop of st. asaph, when its provisions would come into force. on his death in the whig ministry gave way and the sees remained separate. [ ] mr. gladstone to lord lyttelton, dec. , . [ ] see above, p. . [ ] _hansard_, may , . [ ] _hansard_, february , . [ ] the average price of wheat per quarter in was shillings, in , shillings, and in , shillings, a lower average than for any year until . [ ] see appendix. [ ] see speech, aug. , . [ ] wordsworth wrote (oct. , ) to implore him to direct special attention to the desecrating project of a railway from kendal to the head of windermere, and enclosed a sonnet. the sixth line, by the way, is a variant from the version in the books: 'and must he too his old delights disown.'--knight's _wordsworth_ ( edition), viii. . chapter ix maynooth (_ - _) when i consider how munificently the colleges of cambridge and oxford are endowed, and with what pomp religion and learning are there surrounded; ... when i remember what was the faith of edward iii. and of henry vi., of margaret of anjou and margaret of richmond, of william of wykeham and william of waynefleet, of archbishop chichele and cardinal wolsey; when i remember what we have taken from the roman catholics, king's college, new college, christ church, my own trinity; and when i look at the miserable dotheboys' hall which we have given them in exchange, i feel, i must own, less proud than i could wish of being a protestant and a cambridge man.--macaulay. irish policy of conciliation in pursuit of the policy of conciliation with which he was now endeavouring to counter o'connell, peel opened to his colleagues in a plan for dealing with the sum annually voted by parliament to the seminary for the training of catholic clergy at maynooth. the original grant was made by the irish parliament, protestant as it was; and was accepted even by anti-catholic leaders after as virtually a portion of the legislative union with ireland. peel's proposal, by making an annual grant permanent, by tripling the amount, by incorporating the trustees, established a new and closer connection between the state and the college. it was one of the boldest things he ever did. what lord aberdeen wrote to madame de lieven in was hardly a whit less true in : 'there is more intense bigotry in england at this moment than in any other country in europe.' peel said to mr. gladstone at the beginning of --'i wish to speak without any reserve, and i ought to tell you, i think it will very probably be fatal to the government.' 'he explained that he did not know whether the feeling among goulburn's constituents [the university of cambridge] might not be too strong for him; that in scotland, as he expected, there would be a great opposition; and he seemed to think that from the church also there might be great resistance, and he said the proceedings in the diocese of exeter showed a very sensitive state of the public mind.' during the whole of the project simmered. at a very early moment mr. gladstone grew uneasy. he did not condemn the policy in itself, but whatever else might be said, it was in direct antagonism to the principle elaborately expounded by him only six years before, as the sacred rule and obligation between a christian state and christian churches. he had marked any departure from that rule as a sign of social declension, as a descent from a higher state of society to a lower, as a note in the ebb and flow of national life. was it not inevitable, then, that his official participation in the extension of the public endowment of maynooth would henceforth give to every one the right to say of him, 'that man cannot be trusted'? he was not indeed committed, by anything that he had written, to the extravagant position that the peace of society should be hazarded because it could no longer restore its ancient theories of religion; but was he not right in holding it indispensable that any vote or further declaration from him on these matters should be given under circumstances free from all just suspicions of his disinterestedness and honesty?[ ] in view of these approaching difficulties upon maynooth, on july he made a truly singular tender to the head of the government. he knew peel to be disposed to entertain the question of a renewal of the public relations with the papal court at rome, first to be opened by indirect communications through the british envoy at florence or naples. 'what i have to say,' mr. gladstone now wrote to the prime minister, 'is that if you and lord aberdeen should think fit to appoint me to florence or naples, and to employ me in any such communications as those to which i have referred, i am at your disposal.' of this startling offer to transform himself from president of the board of trade into vatican envoy, mr. gladstone left his own later judgment upon record; here it is, and no more needs to be said upon it:-- about the time of my resignation on account of the contemplated increase of the grant to the college of maynooth, i became possessed with the idea that there was about to be a renewal in some shape of our diplomatic [relations] with the see of rome, and i believe that i committed the gross error of tendering myself to sir robert peel to fill the post of envoy. i have difficulty at this date ( ) in conceiving by what obliquity of view i could have come to imagine that this was a rational or in any way excusable proposal: and this, although i vaguely think my friend james hope had some hand in it, seems to show me now that there existed in my mind a strong element of fanaticism. i believe that i left it to sir r. peel to make me any answer or none as he might think fit; and he with great propriety chose the latter alternative. intention to resign in the autumn of , the prime minister understood that if he proceeded with the maynooth increase, he would lose mr. gladstone. the loss, peel said to graham, was serious, and on every account to be regretted, but no hope of averting it would justify the abandonment of a most important part of their irish policy. meanwhile, in the midst of heavy labours on the tariff in preparation for the budget of , mr. gladstone was sharply perturbed, as some of his letters to mrs. gladstone show:-- _whitehall, nov. , ' ._--it is much beyond my expectation that newman should have taken my letter so kindly; it seemed to me so like the operation of a clumsy, bungling surgeon upon a sensitive part. i cannot well comment upon his meaning, for as you may easily judge, what with cabinet, board, and oak farm, i have enough in my head to-day--and the subject is a fine and subtle one. but i may perhaps be able to think upon it to-night, in the meantime i think yours is a very just conjectural sketch. we have not got in cabinet to-day to the really pinching part of the discussion, the roman catholic religious education. that comes on monday. my mind does not waver; pray for me, that i may do right. i have an appointment with peel to-morrow, and i rather think he means to say something to me on the question. _nov. ._--you will see that whatever turns up, i am sure to be in the wrong. an invitation to windsor for us came this morning, and i am _sorry to say_ one including sunday--nov. to dec. . i have had a long battle with peel on the matters of my office; not another syllable. so far as it goes this tends to make me think he does not calculate on any change in me; yet on the whole i lean the other way. manning comes up on monday. _nov. ._--events travel fast and not slow. my opinion is that i shall be out on friday evening. we have discussed maynooth to-day. an intermediate letter which sir james graham has to write to ireland for information causes thus much of delay. i have told them that if i go, i shall go on the ground of what is required by my personal character, and not because my mind is _made up_ that the course which they propose can be avoided, far less because i consider myself bound to resist it. i had the process of this declaration to repeat. i think they were prepared for it, but they would not assume that it was to be, and rather proceeded as if i had never said a word before upon the subject. it was painful, but not so painful as the last time, and by an effort i had altogether prevented my mind from brooding upon it beforehand. at this moment ( ¼) i am sure they are talking about it over the way. i am going to dine with sir r. peel. under these circumstances the windsor visit will be strange enough! in the meantime my father writes to me most urgently, desiring me to come to liverpool. i _hope_ for some further light from him on wednesday morning.... _nov. ._--i have no more light to throw upon the matters which i mentioned yesterday. the dinner at peel's went off as well as could be expected; i did not sit near him. lord aberdeen was with me to-day, and said very kindly it _must_ be prevented. but i think it cannot, and friendly efforts to prolong the day only aggravate the pain. manning was with me all this morning; he is well, and is to come back to-morrow. _jan. , ' ._--another postponement; but our explanations were as satisfactory as could possibly be made under such circumstances. the tone and manner as kind as at any time--nothing like murmur. at the same time peel said he thought it right to intimate a belief that the government might very probably be shipwrecked upon the maynooth question, partly in connection with my retirement, but also as he intimated from the uncertainty whether there might not be a very strong popular feeling against it. _he_ takes upon himself all responsibility for any inconvenience to which the government may possibly be put from the delay and a consequent abrupt retirement, and says i have given him the fullest and fairest notice.... i saw manning for two hours this morning, and let the cat out of the bag to him in part. have a note from lockhart saying the bishop of london had sent his chaplain to murray to express high approval of the article on ward--and enclosing the vulgar addition of £ . at windsor castle _windsor castle, jan. ._--first, owing to the spanish ambassador's not appearing, lady lyttelton was suddenly invited, and fell to my lot to hand in and sit by, which was very pleasant. i am, as you know, a shockingly bad witness to looks, but she appeared to me, i confess, a little worn and aged. she ought to have at least two months' holiday every year. after dinner the queen inquired as usual about you, and rather particularly with much interest about lady glynne. i told her plainly all i could. this rather helped the queen through the conversation, as it kept me talking, and she was evidently hard pressed at the gaps. then we went to cards, and played commerce; fortunately i was never the worst hand, and so was not called upon to pay, for i had locked up my purse before going to dinner; but i found i had won s. d. at the end, d. of which was paid me by the prince. i mean to keep the d. piece (the d. i cannot identify) accordingly, unless i lose it again to-night. i had rather a nice conversation with him about the international copyright convention with prussia.... _whitehall, jan. ._--i came back from windsor this morning, very kindly used. the queen mentioned particularly that you were not asked on account of presumed inconvenience, and sent me a private print of the prince of wales, and on my thanking for it through lady lyttelton, another of the princess. also she brought the little people through the corridor yesterday after luncheon, where they behaved very well, and she made them come and shake hands with me. the prince of wales has a very good countenance; the baby i should call a very fine child indeed. the queen said, after your own you must think them dwarfs; but i answered that i did not think the princess royal short as compared with willy. we had more cards last evening; lady ---- made more blunders and was laughed at as usual.... _jan. ._--i think there will certainly be at least one cabinet more in the end of the week. my position is what would commonly be called uncomfortable. i do not know how long the maynooth matter may be held over. i may remain a couple of months, or only a week--may go at any time at twenty-four hours' notice. i think on the whole it is an even chance whether i go before or after the meeting of parliament, so that i am unfeignedly put to obey the precept of our lord, 'take no thought for the morrow; the morrow will take thought for the things of itself.' i am sorry that a part of the inconvenience falls on your innocent head. i need not tell you the irksomeness of business is much increased, and one's purposes unmanned by this indefiniteness. still, having very important matters in preparation, i must not give any signs of inattention or indifference. _cabinet room, jan. ._--i have no news to give you about myself, but continue to be quite in the dark. there is a certain maynooth bill in preparation, and when that appears for decision my time will probably have come, but i am quite ignorant when it will be forthcoming. i am to be with peel to-morrow morning, but i think on board of trade business only. graham has just told us that the draft of the maynooth bill will be ready on saturday; but it cannot, i think, be _considered_ before the middle of next week at the earliest. _jan. ._--the nerves are a little unruly on a day like this between (official) life and death; so much of feeling mixes with the more abstract question, which would be easily disposed of if it stood alone. (_diary._) it was february before mr. gladstone wrote his last note from his desk at the board of trade, thanking the prime minister for a thousand acts of kindness which he trusted himself not readily to forget. the feeling of the occasion he described to manning:-- do you know that daily intercourse and co-operation with men upon matters of great anxiety and moment interweaves much of one's being with theirs, and parting with them, leaving them under the pressure of their work and setting myself free, feels, i think, much like dying: more like it than if i were turning my back altogether upon public life. i have received great kindness, and so far as personal sentiments are concerned, i believe they are as well among us as they can be. one other incident he describes to his wife:-- peel thought i should ask an audience of the queen on my retirement, and accordingly at the palace to-day (feb. ) he intimated, and then the lord-in-waiting, as is the usage, formally requested it. i saw the queen in her private sitting-room. as she did not commence speaking immediately after the first bow, i thought it my part to do so; and i said, 'i have had the boldness to request an audience, madam, that i might say with how much pain it is that i find myself separated from your majesty's service, and how gratefully i feel your majesty's many acts of kindness.' she replied that she regretted it very much, and that it was a great loss. i resumed that i had the greatest comfort i could enjoy under the circumstances in the knowledge that my feelings towards her majesty's person and service, and also towards sir r. peel and my late colleagues, were altogether unchanged by my retirement. after a few words more she spoke of the state of the country and the reduced condition of chartism, of which i said i believed the main feeder was want of employment. at the pauses i watched her eye for the first sign to retire. but she asked me about you before we concluded. then one bow at the spot and another at the door, which was very near, and so it was all over. _feb. ._--ruminated on the dangers of my explanation right and left, and it made me unusually nervous. h. of c. ½- . i was kindly spoken of and heard, and i hope attained practically purposes i had in view, but i think the house felt that the last part by taking away the sting reduced the matter to flatness. resignation of office according to what is perhaps a questionable usage, lord john russell invited the retiring minister to explain his secession from office to the house. in the suspicion, distraction, tension that marked that ominous hour in the history of english party, people insisted that the resignation of the head of the department of trade must be due to divergence of judgment upon protection. the prime minister, while expressing in terms of real feeling his admiration for mr. gladstone's character and ability, and his high regard for his colleague's private qualities, thought well to restate that the resignation came from no question of commercial policy. 'for three years,' he went on, 'i have been closely connected with mr. gladstone in the introduction of measures relating to the financial policy of the country, and i feel it my duty openly to avow that it seems almost impossible that two public men, acting together so long, should have had so little divergence in their opinions upon such questions.' if anybody found fault with mr. gladstone for not resigning earlier, the prime minister was himself responsible: 'i was unwilling to lose until the latest moment the advantages i derived from one whom i consider capable of the highest and most eminent services.'[ ] the point of mr. gladstone's reply was in fact an extremely simple and a highly honourable one. while carefully abstaining from laying down any theory of political affairs as under all circumstances inflexible and immutable, yet he thought that one who had borne such solemn testimony as he had borne in his book, to a particular view of a great question, ought not to make himself responsible for a material departure from it, without at least placing himself openly in a position to form a judgment that should be beyond all mistake at once independent and unsuspected. that position in respect of the maynooth policy he could not hold, so long as he was a member of the cabinet proposing it, and therefore he had resigned, though it was understood that he would not resist the maynooth increase itself. all this, i fancy, might easily have been made plain even to those who thought his action a display of overstrained moral delicacy. as it was, his anxiety to explore every nook and cranny of his case, and to defend or discover in it every point that human ingenuity could devise for attack, led him to speak for more than an hour; at the end of which even friendly and sympathetic listeners were left wholly at a loss for a clue to the labyrinth. 'what a marvellous talent is this,' cobden exclaimed to a friend sitting near him; 'here have i been sitting listening with pleasure for an hour to his explanation, and yet i know no more why he left the government than before he began.' 'i could not but know,' mr. gladstone wrote on this incident long years after, 'that i should inevitably be regarded as fastidious and fanciful, fitter for a dreamer or possibly a schoolman, than for the active purposes of public life in a busy and moving age.'[ ] views of his resignation sir robert inglis begged him to lead the opposition to the bill. in the course of the conversation inglis went back to the fatal character and consequences of the act of ; and wished that his advice had then been taken, which was that the duke of cumberland should be sent as lord lieutenant to ireland with thirty thousand men. 'as that good and very kind man spoke the words,' mr. gladstone says, 'my blood ran cold, and he too had helped me onwards in the path before me.' william palmer wrote that the grant to maynooth was the sin of over again, and would bring with it the same destruction of the conservative party. lord winchilsea, one of his patrons at newark, protested against anything that savoured of the national endowment of romanism. mr. disraeli was reported as saying that with his resignation on maynooth mr. gladstone's career was over. the rough verdict pronounced his act a piece of political prudery. one journalistic wag observed, 'a lady's footman jumped off the great western train, going forty miles an hour, merely to pick up his hat. pretty much like this act, so disproportional to the occasion, is mr. gladstone's leap out of the ministry to follow his book.' when the time came he voted for the second reading of the maynooth bill (april ) with remarkable emphasis. 'i am prepared, in opposition to what i believe to be the prevailing opinion of the people of england and of scotland, in opposition to the judgment of my own constituents, from whom i greatly regret to differ, and in opposition to my own deeply cherished predilections, to give a deliberate and even anxious support to the measure.' the 'dreamer and the schoolman' meanwhile had left behind him a towering monument of hard and strenuous labour in the shape of that second and greater reform of the tariff, in which, besides the removal of the export duty on coal and less serious commodities, no fewer than four hundred and thirty articles were swept altogether away from the list of the customs officer. glass was freed from an excise amounting to twice or thrice the value of the article, and the whole figure of remission was nearly three times as large as the corresponding figure in the bold operations of . whether the budget of or that of marked the more extensive advance, we need not discuss; it is enough that mr. gladstone himself set down the construction of these two tariffs among the principal achievements in the history of his legislative works. his unofficial relations with the colleagues whom he had left were perfectly unchanged. 'you will be glad to know,' he writes to his father, 'that the best feeling, as i believe, subsists between us. although our powers of entertaining guests are not of the first order, yet with a view partly to these occurrences we asked sir r. and lady peel to dinner to-day, and also lord and lady stanley and lord aberdeen. all accepted, but unfortunately an invitation to windsor has carried off sir r. and lady peel. a small matter, but i mention it as a symbol of what is material.' before many days were over, he was working day and night on a projected statement, involving much sifting and preparation, upon the recent commercial legislation. lord john russell had expressed a desire for a competent commentary on the results of the fiscal changes of , and the pamphlet in which mr. gladstone showed what those results had been was the reply. three editions of it were published within the year.[ ] this was not the only service that mr. gladstone had an opportunity of rendering in the course of the session to the government that he had quitted. 'peel,' he says, 'had a plan for the admission of free labour sugar on terms of favour. lord palmerston made a motion to show that this involved a breach of our old treaties with spain. i examined the case laboriously, and, though i think his facts could not be denied, i undertook (myself out of office) to answer him on behalf of the government. this i did, and peel, who was the most conscientious man i ever knew in spareness of eulogium, said to me when i sat down, "that was a wonderful speech, gladstone."' the speech took four hours, and was, i think, the last that he made in parliament for two years and a half, for reasons that we shall presently discover. thoughts of visiting ireland in the autumn of , mr. gladstone made a proposal to hope-scott. 'as ireland,' he said, 'is likely to find this country and parliament so much employment for years to come, i feel rather oppressively an obligation to try and see it with my own eyes instead of using those of other people, according to the limited measure of my means.' he suggested that they should devote some time 'to a working tour in ireland, eschewing all grandeur and taking little account of scenery, compared with the purpose of looking at close quarters at the institutions for religion and education of the country and at the character of the people.' philip pusey was inclined to join them. 'it will not alarm you,' says pusey, 'if i state my belief that in these agrarian outrages the irish peasants have been engaged in a justifiable civil war, because the peasant ejected from his land could no longer by any efforts of his own preserve his family from the risk of starvation. this view is that of a very calm utilitarian, george lewis.'[ ] they were to start from cork and the south and work their way round by the west, carrying with them lewis's book, blue books, and a volume or two of plato, �schylus, and the rest. the expedition was put off by pusey's discovery that the _times_ was despatching a correspondent to carry on agrarian investigations. mr. gladstone urged that the irish land question was large enough for two, and so indeed it swiftly proved, for ireland was now on the edge of the black abysses of the famine. footnotes: [ ] the letters from mr. gladstone to peel on this topic are given by mr. parker, _peel_, iii. pp. , , . [ ] in the course of may, , peel made some remarks on resignations, of which mr. gladstone thought the report worth preserving:--'i admit that there may be many occasions when it would be the duty of a public man to retire from office, rather than propose measures which are contrary to the principles he has heretofore supported. i think that the propriety of his taking that course will mainly depend upon the effect which his retirement will have upon the success of that public measure, which he believes to be necessary for the good of his country. i think it was perfectly honourable, perfectly just, in my right honourable friend the late president of the board of trade to relinquish office. the hon. gentleman thinks i ought to have pursued the same course in . that was precisely the course i wished to pursue--it was precisely the course which i intended to pursue. until within a month of the period when i consented to bring forward the measure for the relief of the roman catholics, i did contemplate retiring from office--not because i shrank from the responsibility of proposing that measure--not from the fear of being charged with inconsistency--not because i was not prepared to make the painful sacrifice of private friendships and political connections, but because i believed that my retirement from office would promote the success of the measure. i thought that i should more efficiently assist my noble friend in carrying that measure if i retired from office, and gave the measure my cordial support in a private capacity. i changed my opinion when it was demonstrated to me that there was a necessity for sacrificing my own feelings by retaining office--when it was shown to me that, however humble my abilities, yet, considering the station which i occupied, my retiring from office would render the carrying of that measure totally impossible--when it was proved to me that there were objections in the highest quarters which would not be overcome unless i was prepared to sacrifice much that was dear to me--when it was intimated to my noble friend that there was an intention on the part of the highest authorities in the church of england to offer a decided opposition to the measure, and when my noble friend intimated to me that he thought, if i persevered in my intention to retire, success was out of the question. it was then i did not hesitate to say that i would not expose others to obloquy or suspicions from which i myself shrunk.' [ ] _gleanings_, vii. p. . [ ] 'remarks upon recent commercial legislation suggested by the expository statement of the revenue from customs, and other papers lately submitted to parliament, by the right hon. w. e. gladstone, m.p. for newark.' london, murray, . mr. gladstone had written on the same subject in the _foreign and colonial quarterly review_, january . [ ] see his memorable work on irish disturbances, published in . chapter x triumph of policy and fall of the minister (_ _) change of opinion, in those to whose judgment the public looks more or less to assist its own, is an evil to the country, although a much smaller evil than their persistence in a course which they know to be wrong. it is not always to be blamed. but it is always to be watched with vigilance; always to be challenged and put upon its trial.--gladstone. not lingering for the moment on mr. gladstone's varied pre-occupations during , and not telling over again the well-known story of the circumstances that led to the repeal of the corn law, i pass rapidly to mr. gladstone's part--it was a secondary part--in the closing act of the exciting political drama on which the curtain had risen in . the end of the session of had left the government in appearance even stronger than it was in the beginning of . two of the most sagacious actors knew better what this was worth. disraeli was aware how the ties had been loosened between the minister and his supporters, and cobden was aware that, in words used at the time, 'three weeks of rain when the wheat was ripening would rain away the corn law.'[ ] an exciting december everybody knows how the rain came, and alarming signs of a dreadful famine in ireland came; how peel advised his cabinet to open the ports for a limited period, but without promising them that if the corn duties were ever taken off, they could ever be put on again; how lord john seized the moment, wrote an edinburgh letter, and declared for total and immediate repeal; how the minister once more called his cabinet together, invited them to support him in settling the question, and as they would not all assent, resigned; how lord john tried to form a government and failed; and how sir robert again became first minister of the crown, but not bringing all his colleagues back with him. 'i think,' said mr. gladstone in later days, 'he expected to carry the repeal of the corn law without breaking up his party, but meant at all hazard to carry it.' peel's conduct in , lord aberdeen said to a friend ten years later, was very noble. with the exception of graham and myself, his whole cabinet was against him. lyndhurst, goulburn, and stanley were almost violent in their resistance. still more opposed to him, if it were possible, was the duke of wellington. to break up the cabinet was an act of great courage. to resume office when lord john had failed in constructing one, was still more courageous. he said to the queen: 'i am ready to kiss hands as your minister to-night. i believe i can collect a ministry which will last long enough to carry free trade, and i am ready to make the attempt.' when he said this there were only two men on whom he could rely. one of the first to join him was wellington. 'the queen's government,' he said, 'must be carried on. we have done all that we could for the landed interest. now we must do all that we can for the queen.'[ ] on one of the days of this startling december, mr. gladstone writes to his father: 'if peel determines to form a government, and if he sends for me (a compound uncertainty), i cannot judge what to do until i know much more than at present of the irish case. it is there if anywhere that he must find his justification; there if anywhere that one returned to parliament as i am, can honestly find reason for departing at this time from the present corn law.' two other letters of mr. gladstone's show us more fully why he followed peel instead of joining the dissentients, of whom the most important was lord stanley. the first of these was written to his father four and a half years later:-- _ carlton gardens, june , ._--as respects my 'having made peel a free trader,' i have never seen that idea expressed anywhere, and i think it is one that does great injustice to the character and power of his mind. in every case, however, the head of a government may be influenced more or less in the affairs of each department of state by the person in charge of that department. if, then, there was any influence at all upon peel's mind proceeding from me between and , i have no doubt it may have tended on the whole towards free trade.... but all this ceased with the measures of , when i left office. it was during the alarm of a potato famine in the autumn of that year that the movement in the government about the corn laws began. i was then on the continent, looking after helen [his sister], and not dreaming of office or public affairs.... i myself had invariably, during peel's government, spoken of protection not as a thing good in principle, but to be dealt with as tenderly and cautiously as might be according to circumstances, always moving in the direction of free trade. it _then_ appeared to me that the case was materially altered by events; it was no longer open to me to pursue that cautious course. a great struggle was imminent, in which it was plain that two parties only could really find place, on the one side for repeal, on the other side for _permanent_ maintenance of a corn law and a protective system generally and on principle. it would have been more inconsistent in me, even if consistency had been the rule, to join the latter party than the former. but independently of that, i thought, and still think, that the circumstances of the case justified and required the change. so far as relates to the final change in the corn law, you will see that no influence proceeded from me, but rather that events over which i had no control, and steps taken by sir r. peel while i was out of the government, had an influence upon me in inducing me to take office. i noticed some days ago that you had made an observation on this subject, but i did not recollect that it was a question. had i adverted to this i should have answered it at once. if i had any motive for avoiding the subject, it was, i think, this--that it is not easy to discuss such a question as that of an influence of mine over a mind so immeasurably superior, without something of egotism and vanity. secretary of state so much for the general situation. the second letter is to mrs. gladstone, and contributes some personal details:-- _ carlton house terrace, dec. , p.m., ._--it is offensive to begin about myself, but i must. within the last two hours i have accepted the office of secretary for the colonies, succeeding lord stanley, who resigns. the last twenty-four have been very anxious hours. yesterday afternoon (two hours after holy communion) lincoln came to make an appointment on peel's part. i went to meet him in lincoln's house at five o'clock. he detailed to me the circumstances connected with the late political changes, asked me for no reply, and gave me quantities of papers to read, including letters of his own, the queen's, and lord j. russell's, during the crisis. this morning i had a conversation with bonham [the party whipper-in] upon the general merits, but without telling him precisely what the proposal made to me was. upon the whole my mind, though i felt the weight of the question, was clear. i had to decide what was best to be done _now_. i arrived speedily at the conviction that _now_, at any rate, it is best that the question should be finally settled; that peel ought and is bound now to try it; that i ought to support it in parliament; that if, in deciding the mode, he endeavours to include the most favourable terms for the agricultural body that it is in his power to obtain, i ought not only to support it, by which i mean vote for it in parliament, but likewise not to refuse to be a party to the proposal. i found from him that he entirely recognised this view, and did feel himself bound to make the best terms that he believed attainable, while, on the other hand, i am convinced that we are now in a position that requires provision to be made for the final abolition of the corn law. such being the state of matters, with a clear conscience, but with a heavy heart, i accepted office. he was exceedingly warm and kind. but it _was_ with a heavy heart.... i have seen lord stanley. 'i am extremely glad to hear you have taken office,' said he. we go to windsor to-morrow to a council--he to resign the seals, and i to receive them. in the diary he enters:-- saw sir r. peel at , and accepted office--in opposition, as i have the consolation of feeling, to my leanings and desires, and with the most precarious prospects. peel was most kind, nay fatherly. we _held_ hands instinctively, and i could not but reciprocate with emphasis his 'god bless you.' i well remember, mr. gladstone wrote in a memorandum of oct. , , peel's using language to me in the duke of newcastle's house on sunday, dec. , , which, as i conceive, distinctly intimated his belief that he would be able to carry his measure, and at the same time hold his party together. he spoke with a kind of glee and complacency in his tone when he said, making up his meaning by signs, 'i have not lived near forty years in public life to find myself wholly without the power of foreseeing the course of events in the house of commons'--in reference to the very point of the success of his government. one thing is worth noting as we pass. the exact proceedings of the memorable cabinets of november and the opening days of december are still obscure. it has generally been held that disraeli planted a rather awkward stroke when he taunted peel with his inconsistency in declaring that he was not the proper minister to propose repeal, and yet in trying to persuade his colleagues to make the attempt before giving the whigs a chance. the following note of mr. gladstone's (written in after reading sir r. peel's original memoir on the corn act of ) throws some light on the question:-- when sir r. peel invited me to take office in december he did not make me aware of the offer he had made to the cabinet in his memorandum, i think of dec. , to propose a new corn law with a lowered sliding duty, which should diminish annually by a shilling until in some eight or ten years the trade would be free. no doubt he felt that after lord john russell had made his attempt to form a government, and after, by lord stanley's resignation, he had lost the advantages of unanimity, he could not be justified in a proposal involving so considerable an element of protection. it has become matter of history. but as matter of history it is important to show how honestly and perseveringly he strove to hold the balance fairly between contending claims, and how far he was from being the mere puppet of abstract theories. that is to say, what he proposed to his cabinet early in december was not the total and immediate repeal to which he was led by events before the end of the month. ii out of parliament the acceptance of office vacated the seat at newark, and mr. gladstone declined to offer himself again as a candidate. he had been member for newark for thirteen years, and had been five times elected. so ended his connection with the first of the five constituencies that in his course he represented. 'i part from my constituents,' he tells his father, 'with deep regret. though i took office under circumstances which might reasonably arouse the jealousy of my friends, an agricultural constituency, the _great_ majority of my committee were prepared to support me, and took action and strong measures in my favour.' 'my deep obligation,' he says, 'to the duke of newcastle for the great benefit he conferred upon me, not only by his unbroken support, but, far above all, by his original introduction of me to the constituency, made it my duty at once to decline some overtures made to me for the support of my re-election, so it only remained to seek a seat elsewhere.' some faint hopes were entertained by mr. gladstone's friends that the duke might allow him to sit for the rest of the parliament, but the duke was not the man to make concessions to a betrayer of the territorial interest. mr. gladstone, too, we must not forget, was still and for many years to come, a tory. when it was suggested that he might stand for north notts, he wrote to lord lincoln:--'it is not for one of my political opinions without an extreme necessity to stand upon the basis of democratic or popular feeling against the local proprietary: for you who are placed in the soil the case is very different.' soon after the session of began, it became known that the protectionist petition against the peelite or liberal sitting member for wigan was likely to succeed in unseating him. 'proposals were made to me to succeed him, which were held to be eligible. i even wrote my address; on a certain day, i was going down by the mail train. but it was an object for our opponents to keep a secretary of state out of parliament during the corn law crisis, and their petition was suddenly withdrawn. the consequence was that i remained until the resignation of the government in july a minister of the crown without a seat in parliament. this was a state of things not agreeable to the spirit of parliamentary government; and some objection was taken, but rather slightly, in the house of commons. sir r. peel stood fire.' there can be little doubt that in our own day a cabinet minister without a seat in either house of parliament would be regarded, in mr. gladstone's words, as a public inconvenience and a political anomaly, too _dark_ to be tolerated; and he naturally felt it his absolute duty to peep in at every chink and cranny where a seat in parliament could be had. a peelite, however, had not a good chance at a by-election, and mr. gladstone remained out of the house until the general election in the year following.[ ] lord lincoln, also a member of the cabinet, vacated his seat, but, unlike his friend, found a seat in the course of the session. mr. gladstone's brother-in-law, lyttelton, was invited to represent the colonial office in the lords, but had qualms of conscience about the eternal question of the two welsh bishoprics. 'how could the government of this wonderful empire,' peel wrote to mr. gladstone, 'be ever constructed, if a difference on such a point were to be an obstruction to union? might not any one now say with perfect honour and, what is of more importance (if they are not identical), perfect satisfaction to his own conscience, "i will not so far set up my own judgment on one isolated measure against that of a whole administration, to such an extent as to preclude me from co-operation with them at a critical period." this, of course, assumes general accordance of sentiment on the great outlines of public policy.' wise words and sound, that might prevent some of the worst mistakes of some of the best men. iii the session of this memorable session of was not a session of argument, but of lobby computations. the case had been argued to the dregs, the conclusion was fixed, and all interest was centred in the play of forces, the working of high motives and low, the balance of parties, the secret ambitions and antagonism of persons. mr. gladstone therefore was not in the shaping of the parliamentary result seriously missed, as he had been missed in . 'it soon became evident,' says a leading whig in his journal of the time, 'that peel had very much over-rated his strength. even the expectation of december that he could have carried with him enough of his own followers to enable lord john, if that statesman had contrived to form a government, to pass the repeal of the corn law, was perceived to have been groundless, when the formidable number of the protectionist dissentients appeared. so many even of those who remained with peel avowed that they disapproved of the measure, and only voted in its favour for the purpose of supporting peel's government.'[ ] the tyranny of the accomplished fact obscures one's sense of the danger that peel's high courage averted. it is not certain that lord john as head of a government could have carried the whole body of whigs for total and immediate repeal, lord lansdowne and palmerston openly stating their preference for a fixed duty, and not a few of the smaller men cursing the precipitancy of the edinburgh letter. it is certain, as is intimated above, that peel could not have carried over to him the whole of the men who voted for repeal solely because it was his measure. in the course of this session sir john hobhouse met mr. disraeli at an evening party, and expressed a fear lest peel having broken up one party would also be the means of breaking up the other. 'that, you may depend upon it, he will,' replied disraeli, 'or any other party that he has anything to do with.' it was not long after this, when all was over, that the duke of wellington told lord john that he thought peel was tired of party and was determined to destroy it. after the repeal of the corn law was safe, the minister was beaten on the irish coercion bill by what wellington called a 'blackguard combination' between the whigs and the protectionists. he resigned, and lord john russell at the head of the whigs came in. 'until three or four days before the division on the coercion bill,' mr. gladstone says in a memorandum written at the time, 'i had not the smallest idea, beyond mere conjecture, of the views and intentions of sir r. peel with respect to himself or to his government. only we had been governed in all questions, so far as i knew, by the determination to carry the corn bill and to let no collateral circumstance interfere with that main purpose.... he sent round a memorandum some days before the division arguing for resignation against dissolution. there was also a correspondence between the duke of wellington and him. the duke argued for holding our ground and dissolving. but when we met in cabinet on friday the th of june, not an opposing voice was raised. it was the shortest cabinet i ever knew. peel himself uttered two or three introductory sentences. he then said that he was convinced that the formation of a conservative party was impossible while he continued in office. that he had made up his mind to resign. that he strongly advised the resignation of the entire government. some declared their assent. none objected; and when he asked whether it was unanimous, there was no voice in the negative.' 'this was simply,' as mr. gladstone added in later notes, 'because he had very distinctly and positively stated his own resolution to resign. it amounted therefore to this,--no one proposed to go on without him.' one other note of mr. gladstone's on this grave decision is worth quoting:-- i must put into words the opinion which i silently formed in my room at the colonial office in june , when i got the circulation box with peel's own memorandum not only arguing in favour of resignation but intimating his own intention to resign, and with the duke of wellington's in the opposite sense. the duke, in my opinion, was right and peel wrong, but he had borne the brunt of battle already beyond the measure of human strength, and who can wonder that his heart and soul as well as his physical organisation needed rest?[ ] defeat of the government in announcing his retirement to the house (june ), peel passed a magnanimous and magnificent eulogium on cobden.[ ] strange to say, the panegyric gave much offence, and among others to mr. gladstone. the next day he entered in his diary:-- much comment is made upon peel's declaration about cobden last night. my objection to it is that it did not do full justice. for if his power of discussion has been great and his end good, his tone has been most harsh and his imputation of bad and vile motives to honourable men incessant. i do not think the thing was done in a manner altogether worthy of peel's mind. but he, like some smaller men, is, i think, very sensible of the sweetness of the cheers of opponents. he describes himself at the time as 'grieved and hurt' at these closing sentences; and even a year later, in answer to some inquiry from his father, who still remained protectionist, he wrote: 'july , ' .--i do not know anything about peel's having repented of his speech about cobden; but i hope that he has seen the great objection to which it is, as i think, fairly open.' some of his own men who voted for peel declared that after this speech they bitterly repented. peel's tribute to cobden the suspected personal significance of the cobden panegyric is described in a memorandum written by mr. gladstone a few days later (july ):-- a day or two afterwards i met lord stanley crossing the park, and we had some conversation, first on colonial matters. then he said, 'well, i think our friend peel went rather far last night about cobden, did he not?' i stated to him my very deep regret on reading that passage (as well as what followed about the monopolists), and that, not for its impolicy but for its injustice. all that he said was true, but he did not say the whole truth; and the effect of the whole, as a whole, was therefore untrue. mr. cobden has throughout argued the corn question on the principle of holding up the landlords of england to the people, as plunderers and as knaves for maintaining the corn law to save their rents, and as fools because it was not necessary for that purpose. this was passed by, while he was praised for sincerity, eloquence, indefatigable zeal. on thursday the nd i saw lord aberdeen. he agreed in the general regret at the tone of that part of the speech. he said he feared it was designed with a view to its effects, for the purpose of making it impossible that peel should ever again be placed in connection with the conservative party as a party. he said that peel had absolutely made up his mind never again to lead it, never again to enter office; that he had indeed made up his mind, at one time, to quit parliament, but that probably on the queen's account, and in deference to her wishes, he had abandoned this part of his intentions. but that he was fixed in the idea to maintain his independent and separate position, taking part in public questions as his views of public interests might from time to time seem to require. i represented that this for _him_, and in the house of commons, was an intention absolutely impossible to fulfil; that with his greatness he could not remain there overshadowing and eclipsing all governments, and yet have to do with no governments; that acts cannot for such a man be isolated, they must be in series, and his view of public affairs must coincide with one body of men rather than another, and that the attraction must place him in relations with them. lord aberdeen said that earl spencer in his later days was sir r. peel's ideal,--rare appearances for serious purposes, and without compromise generally to the independence of his personal habits. i put it that this was possible in the house of lords, but only there.... on saturday i saw him again as he came from the palace. he represented that the queen was sorely grieved at this change; which indeed i had already heard from catherine through lady lyttelton, but this showed that it continued. and again on monday we heard through lady lyttelton that the queen said it was a comfort to think that the work of that day would soon be over. it appears too that she spoke of the kindness she had received from her late ministers; and that the prince's sentiments are quite as decided. on monday we delivered up the seals at our several audiences. her majesty said simply but very kindly to me, 'i am very sorry to receive them from you.' i thanked her for my father's baronetcy, and apologised for his not coming to court. she had her glove half off, which made me think i was to kiss hands; but she simply bowed and retired. her eyes told tales, but she smiled and put on a cheerful countenance. it was in fact the st of september over again as to feelings; but this time with more mature judgment and longer experience. lord aberdeen and sir j. graham kissed hands, but this was by favour. the same night i saw sidney herbert at lady pembroke's. he gave me in great part the same view of sir r. peel's speech, himself holding the same opinion with lord aberdeen. but he thought that peel's natural temper, which he said is very violent though usually under thorough discipline, broke out and coloured that part of the speech, but that the end in view was to cut off all possibility of reunion. he referred to a late conversation with peel, in which peel had intimated his intention of remaining in parliament and acting for himself without party, to which herbert replied that he knew of no minister who had done so except lord bute, a bad precedent. peel rejoined 'lord grenville,' showing that his mind had been at work upon the subject. he had heard him not long ago discussing his position with lord aberdeen and sir james graham, when he said, putting his hand up to the side of his head, 'ah! you do not know what i suffer here.' yesterday lord lyndhurst called on me.... he proceeded to ask me what i thought with respect to our political course. he said he conceived that the quarrel was a bygone quarrel, that the animosities attending it ought now to be forgotten, and the old relations of amity and confidence among the members of the conservative body resumed. i told him, in the first place, that i felt some difficulty in answering him in my state of total ignorance, so far as direct communication is concerned, of sir r. peel's knowledge and intentions; that on tuesday i had seen him on colonial matters, and had talked on the probable intentions of the new government as to the sugar duties, but that i did not like to ask what he did not seem to wish to tell, and that i did not obtain the smallest inkling of light as to his intentions in respect to that very matter now immediately pending. he observed it was a pity sir r. peel was so uncommunicative; but that after having been so long connected with him, he would certainly be very unwilling to do anything disagreeable to him; still, if i and others thought fit, he was ready to do what he could towards putting the party together again. i then replied that i thought, so far as extinguishing the animosities which had been raised in connection with the corn law was concerned, i could not doubt its propriety, that i thought we were bound to give a fair trial to the government, and not to assume beforehand an air of opposition, and that if so much of confidence is due to them, much more is it due towards friends from whom we have differed on the single question of free trade, that our confidence should be reposed in them. that i thought, however, that in any case, before acting together as a party, we ought to consider well the outline of our further course, particularly with reference to irish questions and the church there, as i was of opinion that it was very doubtful whether we had now a justification for opposing any change with respect to it, meaning as to the property. he said with his accustomed facility, 'ah yes, it will require to be considered what course we shall take.'[ ] conversations with colleagues i met lord aberdeen the same afternoon in bond street, and told him the substance of this conversation. he said, 'it is stated that lord g. bentinck is to resign, and that they are to have you.' that, i replied, was quite new to me. the (late) chancellor had simply said, when i pointed out that the difficulties lay in the house of commons, that it was true, and that my being there would make the way more open. i confess i am very doubtful of that, and much disposed to believe that i am regretted, as things and persons _absent_ often are, in comparison with the present. at dinner i sat between graham and jocelyn. the latter observed particularly on the absence from sir r. peel's speech of any acknowledgment towards his supporters and his colleagues. these last, however, are named. jocelyn said the new government were much divided.... jocelyn believes that lord palmerston will not be very long in union with this cabinet. with sir j. graham i had much interesting conversation. i told him, i thought it but fair to mention to him the regret and blame which i found to have been elicited from all persons whom i saw and conversed with, by the passage relating to cobden. he said he believed it was the same on all hands; and that the new government in particular were most indignant at it. he feared that it was deliberately preconceived and for the purpose; and went on to repeat what lord aberdeen had told me, that sir r. peel had been within an ace of quitting parliament, and was determined to abjure party and stand aloof for ever, and never resume office. i replied as before, that in the house of commons it was impossible. he went on to sketch the same kind of future for himself. he was weary of labour at thirteen or fourteen hours a day, and of the intolerable abuse to which he was obliged to submit; but his habits were formed in the house of commons and for it, and he was desirous to continue there as an independent gentleman, taking part from time to time in public business as he might find occasion, and giving his leisure to his family and to books. i said, 'are you not building houses of cards? do you conceive that men who have played a great part, who have swayed the great moving forces of the state, who have led the house of commons and given the tone to public policy, can at their will remain there, but renounce the consequences of their remaining, and refuse to fulfil what must fall to them in some contingency of public affairs? the country will demand that they who are the ablest shall not stand by inactive.' he said sir robert peel had all but given up his seat. i answered that would at any rate have made his resolution a practicable one. he said, 'you can have no conception of what the virulence is against peel and me.' i said, no; that from having been out of parliament during these debates my sense of these things was less lively and my position in some respects different. he replied, 'your position is quite different. you are free to take any course you please with perfect honour.' i told him of lord lyndhurst's visit and the purport of his conversation, of the meaning of the junction on the opposition bench in the lords, and of what we had said of the difficulties in the commons. he said, 'my resentment is not against the new government, but against the seventy-three conservative members of parliament who displaced the late government by a factious vote; nearly all of them believed the bill to be necessary for ireland; and they knew that our removal was not desired by the crown, not desired by the country. i find no fault with the new ministers, they are fairly in possession of power--but with those gentlemen i can never unite.' later, however, in the evening he relented somewhat, and said he must admit that what they did was done under great provocation; that it was no wonder they regarded themselves as betrayed; and that unfortunately it had been the fate of sir r. peel to perform a similar operation twice.... graham dwelt with fondness and with pain on lord stanley; said he had very great qualities--that his speech on the corn law, consisting as it did simply of old fallacies though in new dress, was a magnificent speech, one of his greatest and happiest efforts--that all his conduct in the public eye had been perfectly free from exception; that he feared, however, he had been much in lord geo. bentinck's counsels, and had concurred in much more than he had himself done, and had aided in marking out the course taken in the house of commons. he had called on lord stanley several times but had never been able to see him, he trusted through accident, but seemed to doubt. on the cobden eulogy, though he did not defend it outright by any means, he said, 'do you think if cobden had not existed the repeal of the corn law would have been carried at this moment?' i said very probably not, that he had added greatly to the force of the movement and accelerated its issue, that i admitted the truth of every word that peel had uttered, but complained of its omissions, of its spirit towards his own friends, of its false moral effect, as well as and much more than of its mere impolicy.[ ] iv farewell interview with peel still more interesting is an interview with the fallen minister himself, written ten days after it took place:-- _july ._--on monday the th i visited sir r. peel, and found him in his dressing-room laid up with a cut in one of his feet. my immediate purpose was to let him know the accounts from new zealand which lord grey had communicated to me.... however _i_ led on from subject to subject, for i thought it my duty not to quit town, at the end possibly of my political connection with sir r. peel, that is if he determined to individualise himself, without giving the opportunity at least for free communication. though he opened nothing, yet he followed unreluctantly. i said the government appeared to show signs of internal discord or weakness. he said, yes; related that lord john did not mean to include lord grey, that he sent sir g. grey and c. wood to propitiate him, that lord grey was not only not hostile but volunteered his services. at last i broke the ice and said, 'you have seen lord lyndhurst.' he said, 'yes.' i mentioned the substance of my interview with lord lyndhurst, and also what i had heard from goulburn of his. he said, 'i am _hors de combat_.' i said to him, 'is that possible? whatever your present intentions may be, can it be done?' he said he had been twice prime minister, and nothing should induce him again to take part in the formation of a government; the labour and anxiety were too great and he repeated more than once emphatically with regard to the work of his post, 'no one in the least degree knows what it is. i have told the queen that i part from her with the deepest sentiments of gratitude and attachment; but that there is one thing she must not ask of me, and that is to place myself again in the same position.' then he spoke of the immense accumulation. 'there is the whole correspondence with the queen, several times a day, and all requiring to be in my own hand, and to be carefully done; the whole correspondence with peers and members of parliament, in my own hand, as well as other persons of consequence; the sitting seven or eight hours a day to listen in the house of commons. then i must, of course, have my mind in the principal subjects connected with the various departments, such as the oregon question for example, and all the reading connected with them. i can hardly tell you, for instance, what trouble the new zealand question gave me. then there is the difficulty that you have in conducting such questions on account of your colleague whom they concern.' it was evident from this, as it had been from other signs, that he did not think stanley had been happy in his management of the new zealand question. i said, however, 'i can quite assent to the proposition that no one understands the labour of your post; that, i think, is all i ever felt i could know about it, that there is nothing else like it. but then you have been prime minister in a sense in which no other man has been it since mr. pitt's time.' he said, 'but mr. pitt got up every day at eleven o'clock, and drank two bottles of port wine every night.' 'and died of old age at forty-six,' i replied. 'this all strengthens the case. i grant your full and perfect claim to retirement in point of justice and reason; if such a claim can be made good by amount of service, i do not see how yours could be improved. you have had extraordinary physical strength to sustain you; and you have performed an extraordinary task. your government has not been carried on by a cabinet, but by the heads of departments each in communication with you.' he assented, and added it had been what every government ought to be, a government of confidence in one another. 'i have felt the utmost confidence as to matters of which i had no knowledge, and so have the rest. lord aberdeen in particular said that nothing would induce him to hold office on any other principle, or to be otherwise than perfectly free as to previous consultations.' and he spoke of the defects of the melbourne government as a mere government of departments without a centre of unity, and of the possibility that the new ministers might experience difficulty in the same respect. i then went on to say, 'mr. perceval, lord liverpool, lord melbourne were not prime ministers in this sense; what mr. canning might have been, the time was too short to show. i fully grant that your labours have been incredible, but, allow me to say, that is not the question. the question is not whether you are entitled to retire, but whether after all you have done, and in the position you occupy before the country, you can remain in the house of commons as an isolated person, and hold yourself aloof from the great movements of political forces which sway to and fro there?' he said, 'i think events will answer that question better than any reasoning beforehand.' i replied, 'that is just what i should rely upon, and should therefore urge how impossible it is for you to lay down with certainty a foregone conclusion such as that which you have announced to-day, and which events are not to influence, merely that you will remain in parliament and yet separate yourself from the parliamentary system by which our government is carried on.' then he said, (if it is necessary i will) 'go out of parliament'--the first part of the sentence was indistinctly muttered, but the purport such as i have described. to which i merely replied that i hoped not, and that the country would have something to say upon that too.... no man can doubt that he is the strong man of this parliament--of this political generation. then it is asked, is he honest? but this is a question which i think cannot justly be raised nor treated as admissible in the smallest degree by those who have known and worked with him.... he spoke of the immense multiplication of details in public business and the enormous task imposed upon available time and strength by the work of attendance in the house of commons. he agreed that it was extremely adverse to the growth of greatness among our public men; and he said the mass of public business increased so fast that he could not tell what it was to end in, and did not venture to speculate even for a few years upon the mode of administering public affairs. he thought the consequence was already manifest in its being not well done. it sometimes occurred to him whether it would after all be a good arrangement to have the prime minister in the house of lords, which would get rid of the very encroaching duty of attendance on and correspondence with the queen. i asked if in that case it would not be quite necessary that the leader in the commons should frequently take upon himself to make decisions which ought properly to be made by the head of the government? he said, certainly, and that that would constitute a great difficulty. that although lord melbourne might be very well adapted to take his part in such a plan, there were, he believed, difficulties in it under him when lord j. russell led the house of commons. that when he led the house in under the duke of wellington as premier, he had a very great advantage in the disposition of the duke to follow the judgments of others in whom he had confidence with respect to all civil matters. he said it was impossible during the session even to work the public business through the medium of the cabinet, such is the pressure upon time.... he told me he had suffered dreadfully in his head on the left side--that twenty-two or twenty-three years ago he injured the ear by the use of a detonating tube in shooting. since then he had always had a noise on that side, and when he had the work of office upon him, this and the pain became scarcely bearable at times, as i understood him. brodie told him that 'as some overwork one part and some another, he had overworked his brain,' but he said that with this exception his health was good. it was pleasant to me to find and feel by actual contact as it were (though i had no suspicion of the contrary) his manner as friendly and as much unhurt as at any former period. v before leaving office peel wrote to mr. gladstone (june ) requesting him to ask his father whether it would be acceptable to him to be proposed to the queen for a baronetcy. 'i should name him to the queen,' he said, 'as the honoured representative of a great class of the community which has raised itself by its integrity and industry to high social eminence. i should gratify also my own feeling by a mark of personal respect for a name truly worthy of such illustration as hereditary honour can confer.' john gladstone replied in becoming words, but honestly mentioned that he had published his strong opinion of the injurious consequences that he dreaded from 'the stupendous experiment about to be made' in commercial policy. peel told him that this made no difference.[ ] lord george bentinck at the close of the session a trivial incident occurred that caused mr. gladstone a disproportionate amount of vexation for several months. hume stated in the house that the colonial secretary had countersigned what was a lie, in a royal patent appointing a certain indian judge. the 'lie' consisted in reciting that a judge then holding the post had resigned, whereas he had not resigned, and the correct phrase was that the queen had permitted him to retire. lord george bentinck, whose rage was then at its fiercest, pricked up his ears, and a day or two later declared that mr. secretary gladstone had 'deliberately affirmed, not through any oversight or inadvertence or thoughtlessness, but designedly and of his own malice prepense, that which in his heart he knew not to be true.' things of this sort may either be passed over in disdain, or taken with logician's severity. mr. gladstone might well have contented himself with the defence that his signature had been purely formal, and that every secretary of state is called upon to put his name to recitals of minute technical fact which he must take on trust from his officials. as it was, he chose to take bentinck's reckless aspersion at its highest, and the combat lasted for weeks and months. bentinck got up the case with his usual industrious tenacity; he insisted that the queen's name stood at that moment in the degrading position of being prefixed to a proclamation that all her subjects knew to recite and to be founded upon falsehood; he declared that the whole business was a job perpetrated by the outgoing ministers, to fill up a post that was not vacant; he imputed no corrupt motive to mr. gladstone; he admitted that mr. gladstone was free from the betrayal and treachery practised by his political friends; but he could not acquit him of having been in this particular affair the tool and the catspaw of two old foxes greedier and craftier than himself. to all this unmannerly stuff the recipient of it only replied by holding its author the more tight to the point of the original offence; the blood of his highland ancestors was up, and the poet's contest between eagle and serpent was not more dire. the affair was submitted to lord stanley. he reluctantly consented (oct. ) to decide the single question whether bentinck was justified 'on the information before him in using the language quoted.' there was a dispute what information bentinck had before him, and upon this point, where bentinck's course might in his own polite vocabulary be marked as pure shuffling, lord stanley returned the papers (feb. , ) and expressed his deep regret that he could bring about no more satisfactory result. even so late as the spring of mr. gladstone was only dissuaded by the urgent advice of lord lincoln and others from pursuing the fray. it was, so far as i know, the only personal quarrel into which he ever allowed himself to be drawn. footnotes: [ ] perhaps i may refer to my _life of cobden_, which had the great advantage of being read before publication by mr. bright. chapters xiv. and xv. [ ] lord aberdeen to senior, sept. . mrs. simpson's _many memories_, p. . [ ] sibthorp asked peel in the h. of c. when gladstone and lincoln would appear. peel replied that if s. would take the chiltern hundreds, g. should stand against him. s. retorted that the chiltern hundreds is a place under government, and he would never take place from peel; but if p. would dissolve he would welcome gladstone to lincoln--or p. himself; and added privately that he would give p. or g. best bottle of wine in his cellar if he would come to lincoln and fight him fairly.--_lord broughton's diaries_. [ ] _halifax papers._ [ ] cobden also wrote to peel strongly urging him to hold on, and peel replied with an effective defence of his own view. _life of cobden_, i. chap. . [ ] 'there is a name that ought to be associated with the success of these measures; it is not the name of lord john russell, neither is it my name. sir, the name which ought to be, and will be, associated with these measures is the name of a man who, acting from pure and disinterested motives, has advocated their cause with untiring energy, and by appeals to reason expressed by an eloquence the more to be admired because it was unaffected and unadorned--the name which ought to be associated with the success of these measures is the name of richard cobden. without scruple, sir, i attribute the success of these measures to him.' [ ] see _life of lord lyndhurst_, by lord campbell, p. . [ ] six years later (nov. , ), mr. gladstone in the house of commons said of cobden, with words of characteristic qualification:--'agree you may in his general politics, or you may not; complain you may, if you think you have cause, of the mode and force with which in the freedom of debate he commonly states his opinions in this house. but it is impossible for us to deny that those benefits of which we are now acknowledging the existence are, in no small part at any rate, due to the labours in which he has borne so prominent a share.' [ ] parker, iii. pp. - . chapter xi the tractarian catastrophe (_ - _) the movement of started out o£ the anti-roman feelings of the emancipation time. it was anti-roman as much as it was anti-sectarian and anti-erastian. it was to avert the danger of people becoming romanists from ignorance of church principles. this was all changed in one important section of the party. the fundamental conceptions were reversed. it was not the roman church but the english church that was put on its trial.... from this point of view the object of the movement was no longer to elevate and improve an independent english church, but to approximate it as far as possible to what was assumed to be undeniable--the perfect catholicity of rome.--dean church. the fall of peel and the break-up of his party in the state coincided pretty nearly with a hardly less memorable rupture in that rising party in the church, with which mr. gladstone had more or less associated himself almost from its beginning. two main centres of authority and leading in the land were thus at the same moment dislodged and dispersed. a long struggle in secular concerns had come to a decisive issue; and the longer struggle in religious concerns had reached a critical and menacing stage. the reader will not wonder that two events so far-reaching as the secession of newman and the fall of sir robert, coupled as these public events were with certain importunities of domestic circumstance of which i shall have more to say by and by, brought mr. gladstone to an epoch in his life of extreme perturbation. roughly it may be said to extend from to . at the time of his resignation in the beginning of , he wrote to lord john manners, then his colleague at newark, a curious account of his views on party life. lord john was then acting with the young england group inspired by disraeli, who has left a picture of them in _sybil_, the most far-seeing of all his novels. _to lord john manners._ _jan. , ._--you, i have no doubt, are disappointed as to the working of a conservative government. and so should i be if i were to estimate its results by a comparison with the anticipations which, from a distance and in the abstract, i had once entertained of political life. but now my expectations not only from this but from any government are very small. if they do a little good, if they prevent others from doing a good deal of evil, if they maintain an unblemished character, it is my fixed conviction that under the circumstances of the times i can as an independent member of parliament, for i am now virtually such, ask no more. and i do entertain the strongest impression that if, with your honourable and upright mind, you had been called upon for years to consult as one responsible for the movements of great parliamentary bodies, if you thus had been accustomed to look into public questions at close quarters, your expectations from an administration, and your dispositions towards it, would be materially changed.... the principles and moral powers of government as such are sinking day by day, and it is not by laws and parliaments that they can be renovated.... i must venture even one step further, and say that such schemes of regeneration as those which were propounded (not, i am bound to add, by you) at manchester,[ ] appear to me to be most mournful delusions; and their re-issue, for their real parentage is elsewhere, from the bosom of the party to which we belong, an omen of the worst kind if they were likely to obtain currency under the new sanction they have received. it is most easy to complain as you do of _laissez-faire_ and _laissez-aller_; nor do i in word or in heart presume to blame you; but i should sorely blame myself if with my experience and convictions of _the growing impotence of government for its highest functions_, i were either to recommend attempts beyond its powers, which would react unfavourably upon its remaining capabilities, or to be a party to proposed substitutes for its true moral and paternal work which appear to me mere counterfeits. religion at oxford on this letter we may note in passing, first, that the tariff legislation did in the foundations what the young england party wished to do in a superficial and flimsy fashion; and second, it was the tariff legislation that drove back a rising tide of socialism, both directly by vastly improving the condition of labour, and indirectly by force of the doctrine of free exchange which was thus corroborated by circumstances. of this we shall see more by and by. throughout the years of sir robert peel's government, mr. gladstone had been keenly intent upon the progress of religious affairs at oxford. 'from till the beginning of ,' he says in a fragmentary note, 'i continued a hardworking official man, but with a decided predominance of religious over secular interests. although i had little of direct connection with oxford and its teachers, i was regarded in common fame as tarred with their brush; and i was not so blind as to be unaware that for the clergy this meant not yet indeed prosecution, but proscription and exclusion from advancement by either party in the state, and for laymen a vague and indeterminate prejudice with serious doubts how far persons infected in this particular manner could have any real capacity for affairs. sir robert peel must, i think, have exercised much self-denial when he put me in his cabinet in .' the movement that began in had by the opening of the next decade revealed startling tendencies, and its first stage was now slowly but unmistakeably passing into the second. mr. gladstone has told us[ ] how he stood at this hour of crisis; how strongly he believed that the church of england would hold her ground, and even revive the allegiance not only of the masses, but of those large and powerful nonconforming bodies who were supposed to exist only as a consequence of the neglect of its duties by the national church. he has told us also how little he foresaw the second phase of the oxford movement--the break-up of a distinguished and imposing generation of clergy; 'the spectacle of some of the most gifted sons reared by oxford for the service of the church of england, hurling at her head the hottest bolts of the vatican; and along with this strange deflexion on one side, a not less convulsive rationalist movement on the other,--all ending in contention and estrangement, and in suspicions worse than either, because less accessible and more intractable.' ii the landmarks of the tractarian story are familiar, and i do not ask the reader in any detail to retrace them. the publication of froude's _remains_ was the first flagrant beacon lighting the path of divergence from the lines of historical high churchmen in an essentially anti-protestant direction. mr. gladstone read the first instalment of this book ( ) 'with repeated regrets.' then came the blaze kindled by tract ninety ( ). this, in the language of its author and his friends, was the famous attempt to clear the articles from the glosses encrusting them like barnacles, and to bring out the old catholic truth that man had done his worst to disfigure and to mutilate, and yet in spite of all man's endeavour it was in the articles still. mr. gladstone, as we have seen, regarded tract ninety with uneasy doubts as to its drift, its intentions, the way in which the church and the world would take it. 'this no. ninety of _tracts for the times_ which i read by desire of sir r. inglis,' he writes to lord lyttelton, 'is like a repetition of the publication of froude's _remains_, and newman has again burned his fingers. the most serious feature in the tract to my mind is that, doubtless with very honest intentions and with his mind turned for the moment so entirely towards those inclined to defection, and therefore occupying _their_ point of view exclusively, he has in writing it placed himself quite outside the church of england in point of spirit and sympathy. as far as regards the proposition for which he intended mainly to argue, i believe not only that he is right, but that it is an a b c truth, almost a truism of the reign of elizabeth, namely that the authoritative documents of the church of england were not meant to bind _all_ men to every opinion of their authors, and particularly that they intended to deal as gently with prepossessions thought to look towards rome, as the necessity of securing a certain amount of reformation would allow. certainly also the terms in which newman characterises the present state of the church of england in his introduction are calculated to give both pain and alarm; and the whole aspect of the tract is like the assumption of a new position.' tractarian landmarks next followed the truly singular struggle for the university chair of poetry at the end of the same year, between a no-popery candidate and a puseyite. seldom surely has the service of the muses been pressed into so alien a debate. mr. gladstone was cut to the heart at the prospect of a sentence in the shape of a vote for this professorship, passed by the university of oxford 'upon all that congeries of opinions which the rude popular notion associates with the _tracts for the times_.' such a sentence would be a disavowal by the university of catholic principles in the gross; the association between catholic principles and the church of england would be miserably weakened; and those who at all sympathised with the tracts would be placed in the position of aliens, corporally within the pale, but in spirit estranged or outcast. if the church should be thus broken up, there would be no space for catholicity between the rival pretensions of an ultra-protestantised or decatholicised english church, and the communion of rome. 'miserable choice!' these and other arguments are strongly pressed (december , ) in favour of an amicable compromise, in a letter addressed to his close friend frederic rogers. in the same letter mr. gladstone says that he cannot profess to understand or to have studied the tracts on reserve.[ ] he 'partakes perhaps in the popular prejudice against them.' anybody can now see in the coolness of distant time that it was these writings on reserve that roused not merely prejudice but fury in the public mind--a fury that without either justice or logic extended from hatred of romanisers to members of the church of rome itself. it affected for the worse the feeling between england and ireland, for in those days to be ultra-protestant was to be anti-irish; and it greatly aggravated, first the storm about the maynooth grant in , and then the far wilder storm about the papal aggression six years later. the jerusalem bishopric further fuel for excitement was supplied the same year ( ) in a fantastic project by which a bishop, appointed alternately by great britain and prussia and with his headquarters at jerusalem, was to take charge through a somewhat miscellaneous region, of any german protestants or members of the church of england or anybody else who might be disposed to accept his authority. the scheme stirred much enthusiasm in the religious world, but it deepened alarm among the more logical of the high churchmen. ashley and the evangelicals were keen for it as the blessed beginning of a restoration of israel, and the king of prussia hoped to gain over the lutherans and others of his subjects by this side-door into true episcopacy. politics were not absent, and some hoped that england might find in the new protestant church such an instrument in those uncomfortable regions, as russia possessed in the greek church and france in the latin. dr. arnold was delighted at the thought that the new church at jerusalem would comprehend persons using different liturgies and subscribing different articles,--his favourite pattern for the church of england. pusey at first rather liked the idea of a bishop to represent the ancient british church in the city of the holy sepulchre; but newman and hope, with a keener instinct for their position, distrusted the whole design in root and branch as a betrayal of the church, and pusey soon came to their mind. with caustic scorn newman asked how the anglican church, without ceasing to be a church, could become an associate and protector of nestorians, jacobites, monophysites, and all the heretics one could hear of, and even form a sort of league with the mussulman against the greek orthodox and the latin catholics. mr. gladstone could not be drawn to go these lengths. nobody could be more of a logician than mr. gladstone when he liked, no logician could wield a more trenchant blade; but nobody ever knew better in complex circumstance the perils of the logical short cut. hence, according to his general manner in all dubious cases, he moved slowly, and laboured to remove practical grounds for objection. ashley describes him (october ) at a dinner at bunsen's rejoicing in the bishopric, and proposing the health of the new prelate, and this gave ashley pleasure, for 'gladstone is a good man and a clever man and an industrious man.'[ ] while resolute against any plan for what hope called gathering up the scraps of christendom and making a new church out of them, and resolute against what he himself called the inauguration of an experimental or fancy church, mr. gladstone declared himself ready 'to brave misconstruction for the sake of union with any christian men, provided the terms of union were not contrary to sound principles.' with a strenuous patience that was thoroughly characteristic, he set to work to bring the details of the scheme into an order conformable to his own views, and he even became a trustee of the endowment fund. two bishops in succession filled the see, but in the fulness of time most men agreed with newman, who 'never heard of any either good or harm that bishopric had ever done,' except what it had done for him. to him it gave a final shake, and brought him on to the beginning of the end.[ ] in the summer of mr. gladstone received confidences that amazed him. here is a passage from his diary:-- _july , ._--walk with r. williams to converse on the subject of our recent letters. i made it my object to learn from him the general view of the ulterior section of the oxford writers and their friends. it is startling. they look not merely to the renewal and development of the catholic idea within the pale of the church of england, but seem to consider the main condition of that development and of all health (some tending even to say of all life) to be reunion with the church, of rome as the see of peter. they recognise, however, authority in the church of england, and abide in her without love specifically fixed upon her, to seek the fulfilment of this work of reunion. it is, for example, he said, the sole object of oakeley's life. they do not look to any defined order of proceedings in the way of means. they consider that the end is to be reached through catholicising the mind of the members of the church of england, but do not seem to feel that this can be done to any great degree in working out and giving free scope to her own rubrical system. they have no strong feeling of revulsion from actual evils in the church of rome, first, because they do not wish to judge; secondly, especially not to judge the saints; thirdly, they consider that infallibility is somewhere and nowhere but there. they could not remain in the church of england if they thought that she dogmatically condemned anything that the church of rome has defined _de fide_, but they do and will remain on the basis of the argument of tract ; upon which, after mental conflict, they have settled steadily down. they regret what newman has said strongly against the actual system of the church of rome, and they could not have affirmed, though neither do they positively deny it. wherever roman doctrine _de fide_ is oppugned they must protest; but short of this they render absolute obedience to their ecclesiastical superiors in the church of england. they expect to work on in practical harmony with those who look mainly to the restoration of catholic ideas on the foundation laid by the church of england as reformed, and who take a different view as to reunion with rome in particular, though of course desiring the reunion of the whole body of christ. all this is matter for very serious consideration. in the meantime i was anxious to put it down while fresh. position of newman now was the time at which mr. gladstone's relations with manning and hope began to approach their closest. newman, the great enchanter, in obedience to his bishop had dropped the issue of the tracts; had withdrawn from all public discussion of ecclesiastical politics; had given up his work in oxford; and had retired with a neophyte or two to littlemore, a hamlet on the outskirts of the ever venerable city, there to pursue his theological studies, to prepare translations of athanasius, to attend to his little parish, and generally to go about his own business so far as he might be permitted by the restlessness alike of unprovoked opponents and unsought disciples. this was the autumn of . in october manning sent to mr. gladstone two letters that he had received from newman, indicating only too plainly, as they were both convinced, that the foundations of their leader's anglicanism had been totally undermined by the sweeping repudiation alike by episcopal and university authority of the doctrines of tract ninety. dr. pusey, on the other hand, admitted that the expressions in newman's letter were portentous, but did not believe that they necessarily meant secession. in a man of the world this would not have been regarded as candid. for newman says, 'i formally told pusey that i expected to leave the church of england in the autumn of , and begged him to tell others, that no one might be taken by surprise or might trust me in the interval.'[ ] but newman has told us that he had from the first great difficulty in making dr. pusey understand the differences between them. the letters stand in the _apologia_ (chapter iv. § ) to tell their own tale. to mr. gladstone their shock was extreme, not only by reason of the catastrophe to which they pointed, but from the ill-omened shadow that they threw upon the writer's probity of mind if not of heart. 'i stagger to and fro like a drunken man,' he wrote to manning, 'i am at my wit's end.' he found some of newman's language, 'forgive me if i say it, more like the expressions of some faust gambling for his soul, than the records of the inner life of a great christian teacher.' in his diary, he puts it thus:-- _oct. , ._--s. simon and s. jude. st. james's a.m. with a heavy heart. another letter had come from manning, enclosing a second from newman, which announced that since the summer of he had had the conviction that the church of rome is the catholic church, and ours not a branch of the catholic church because not in communion with rome; that he had resigned st. mary's because he felt he could not with a safe conscience longer teach in her; that by the article in the _british critic_ on the catholicity of the english church he had quieted his mind for two years; that in his letter to the bishop of oxford, written most reluctantly, he, as the best course under the circumstances, committed himself again; that his alarms revived with that wretched affair of the jerusalem bishopric, and had increased ever since; that manning's interference had only made him the more realise his views; that manning might make what use he pleased of his letters; he was relieved of a heavy heart; yet he trusted that god would beep him from hasty steps and resolves with a doubting conscience! how are the mighty fallen and the weapons of war perished! with the characteristic spirit with which, in politics and in every other field, he always insisted on espying patches of blue sky where others saw unbroken cloud, he was amazed that newman did not, in spite of all the pranks of the oxford heads, perceive the english church to be growing in her members more catholic from year to year, and how much more plain and undeniable was the sway of catholic principles within its bounds, since the time when he entertained no shadow of doubt about it. but while repeating his opinion that in many of the tracts the language about the roman church had often been far too censorious, mr. gladstone does not, nor did he ever, shrink from designating conversion to that church by the unflinching names of lapse and fall.[ ] as he was soon to put it, 'the temptation towards the church of rome of which some are conscious, has never been before my mind in any other sense than as other plain and flagrant sins have been before it.'[ ] two days later he wrote to manning again:-- _oct. , ._-- ... i have still to say that my impressions, though without more opportunity of testing them i cannot regard them as final, are still and strongly to the effect that upon the promulgation of those two letters to the world. newman stands in the general view a _disgraced man_--and all men, all principles, with which he has had to do, disgraced in proportion to the proximity of their connection. and further i am persuaded that were he not spellbound and entranced, he could not fail to see the gross moral incoherence of the parts of his two statements; and that were i upon the terms which would warrant it, i should feel it my duty, at a time when as now, _summa res agitur_, to tell him so, after having, however, tried my own views by reference to some other mind, for instance to your own. but surely it will be said that his 'committing himself again' was simply a deliberate protestation of what he knew to be untrue. i have no doubt of his having proceeded honestly; no doubt that he can show it; but i say that those two letters are quite enough to condemn a man in whom one has no [greek: pistis êthikê]: much more then one whom a great majority of the community regard with prejudice and deep suspicion.... with regard to your own feelings believe me that i enter into them; and indeed our communications have now for many years been too warm, free, and confiding to make it necessary for me, as i trust, to say what a resource and privilege it is to me to take counsel with you upon those absorbing subjects and upon the fortunes of the church; to which i desire to feel with you that life, strength, and all means and faculties, ought freely to be devoted, and indeed from such devotion alone can they derive anything of true value.[ ] ward's _ideal_ the next blow was struck in the summer of by ward's _ideal of a christian church_, which had the remarkable effect of harassing and afflicting all the three high camps--the historical anglicans, the puseyites and moderate tractarians, and finally the newmanites and moderate romanisers.[ ] the writer was one of the most powerful dialecticians of the day, defiant, aggressive, implacable in his logic, unflinching in any stand that he chose to take; the master-representative of tactics and a temper like those to which laud and strafford gave the pungent name of thorough. it was not its theology, still less its history, that made his book the signal for the explosion; it was his audacious proclamation that the whole cycle of roman doctrine was gradually possessing numbers of english churchmen, and that he himself, a clergyman in orders and holding his fellowship on the tenure of church subscription, had in so subscribing to the articles renounced no single roman doctrine. this, and not the six hundred pages of argumentation, was the ringing challenge that provoked a plain issue, precipitated a decisive struggle, and brought the first stage of tractarianism to a close. article on ward it was impossible that mr. gladstone even in the thick of his tariffs, his committees and deputations, his cabinet duties, and all the other absorbing occupations of an important minister in strong harness, should let a publication, in his view so injurious, pass in silence.[ ] with indignation he flew to his intrepid pen, and dealt as trenchantly with ward as ward himself had dealt trenchantly with the reformers and all others whom he found planted in his dialectic way. mr. gladstone held the book up to stringent reproof for its capricious injustice; for the triviality of its investigations of fact; for the savageness of its censures; for the wild and wanton opinions broached in its pages; for the infatuation of mind manifested in some of its arguments; and for the lamentable circumstance that it exhibited a far greater debt in mental culture to mr. john stuart mill than to the whole range of christian divines. in a sentence, ward 'had launched on the great deep of human controversy as frail a bark as ever carried sail,' and his reviewer undoubtedly let loose upon it as shrewd a blast as ever blew from the �olian wallet. the article was meant for the _quarterly review_, and it is easy to imagine the dire perplexities of lockhart's editorial mind in times so fervid and so distracted. the practical issue after all was not the merits or the demerits of cranmer, ridley, latimer, nor the real meaning of hooker, jewel, bull, but simply what was to be done to ward. lockhart wrote to murray that he had very seriously studied the article and studied ward's book, and not only these, but also the articles and the canons of the church, and he could not approve of the _review_ committing itself to a judgment on the line proper to be taken by the authorities of church and university, and the expression of such a judgment he suspected to be mr. gladstone's main object in writing. mr. gladstone, describing himself most truly as 'one of those soldiers who do not know when they are beat,' saw his editor; declared that what he sought was three things, first, that the process of mobbing out by invective and private interpretations is bad and should be stopped; second, that the church of england does not make assent to the proceedings of the reformation a term of communion; and third, that before even judicial proceedings in one direction, due consideration should be had of what judicial proceedings in another direction consistency might entail, if that game were once begun. as ward himself had virtually put it, 'show me how any of the recognised parties in the church can subscribe in a natural sense, before you condemn me for subscribing in a non-natural.'[ ] the end was a concordat between editor and contributor, followed by an immense amount of irksome revision, mutilation, and re-revision, reducing the argument in some places 'almost to tatters'; but the writer was in the long run satisfied that things were left standing in it which it was well to plant in a periodical like the _quarterly review_. we have a glimpse of the passionate agitation into which this great controversy, partly theologic, partly moral, threw mr. gladstone:-- _feb. ._--breakfast at mr. macaulay's. conversation chiefly on aristotle's politics and on the oxford proceedings. i grew hot, for which _ignoscat deus_. _feb. ._--oxford - . we were in the theatre. ward was like himself, honest to a fault, as little like an advocate in his line of argument as well could he, and strained his theology even a point further than before. the forms are venerable, the sight imposing; the act is fearful [the degradation of ward], if it did not leave strong hope of its revisal by law. to dr. pusey he writes (feb. ):-- indignation at this proposal to treat mr. newman worse than a dog really makes me mistrust my judgment, as i suppose one should always do when any proposal seeming to present an aspect of incredible wickedness is advanced. _feb. ._--i concur with my whole heart and soul in the desire for repose; and i fully believe that the gift of an interval of reflection is that which would be of all gifts the most precious to us all, which would restore the faculty of deliberation now almost lost in storms, and would afford the best hope both of the development of the soundest elements that are in motion amongst us, and of the mitigation or absorption of those which are more dangerous. in the proceedings at oxford against ward (february , ), mr. gladstone voted in the minority both against the condemnation of the book, and against the proposal to strip its writer of his university degree. he held that the censure combined condemnation of opinions with a declaration of personal dishonesty, and the latter question he held to be one 'not fit for the adjudication of a human tribunal.' all this has a marked place in mr. gladstone's mental progress. though primarily and ostensibly the concern of the established church, yet the series of proceedings that had begun with the attack on hampden in , and then were followed down to our own day by academical, ecclesiastical and legal censures and penalties, or attempts at censure and penalty, on newman, pusey, maurice, gorham, _essays and reviews_, colenso, and ended, if they have yet ended, in a host of judgments affecting minor personages almost as good as nameless--all constitute a chapter of extraordinary importance in the general history of english toleration, extending in its consequences far beyond the pale of the communion immediately concerned. it was a long and painful journey, often unedifying, not seldom squalid, with crooked turns not a few, and before it was over, casting men into strange companionship upon bleak and hazardous shores. mr. gladstone, though he probably was not one of those who are as if born by nature tolerant, was soon drawn by circumstance to look with favour upon that particular sort of toleration which arose out of the need for comprehension. when the six doctors condemned pusey (june ) for preaching heresy and punished him by suspension, mr. gladstone was one of those who signed a vigorous protest against a verdict and a sentence passed upon an offender without hearing him and without stating reasons. this was at least the good beginning of an education in liberal rudiments. iii newman's secession in october the earthquake came. newman was received into the roman communion. of this step mr. gladstone said that it has never yet been estimated at anything like the full amount of its calamitous importance. the leader who had wielded a magician's power in oxford was followed by a host of other converts. more than once i have heard mr. gladstone tell the story how about this time he sought from manning an answer to the question that sorely perplexed him: what was the common bond of union that led men of intellect so different, of character so opposite, of such various circumstance, to come to the same conclusion. manning's answer was slow and deliberate: '_their common bond is their want of truth._' 'i was surprised beyond measure,' mr. gladstone would proceed, 'and startled at his judgment.'[ ] most ordinary churchmen remained where they were. an erastian statesman of our own time, when alarmists ran to him with the news that a couple of noblemen and their wives had just gone over to rome, replied with calm, 'show me a couple of grocers and their wives who have gone over, then you will frighten me.' the great body of church people stood firm, and so did pusey, keble, gladstone, and so too, for half a dozen years to come, did his two closest friends, manning and hope. the dominant note in mr. gladstone's mind was clear and it was constant. as he put it to manning (august , ),--'that one should entertain love for the church of rome in respect of her virtues and her glories, is of course right and obligatory; but one is equally bound under the circumstances of the english church in direct antagonism with rome to keep clearly in view their very fearful opposites.' tidings of the great secession happened to find mr. gladstone in a rather singular atmosphere. in the course of , to the keen distress of her relatives, his sister had joined the roman church, and her somewhat peculiar nature led to difficulties that taxed patience and resource to the uttermost. she had feelings of warm attachment to her brother, and spoke strongly in that sense to dr. wiseman; and it was for the purpose of carrying out some plans of his father's for her advantage, that in the autumn of (september -november ), mr. gladstone passed nearly a couple of months in germany. the duty was heavy and dismal, but the journey brought him into a society that could not be without effect upon his impressionable mind. at munich he laid the foundation of one of the most interesting and cherished friendships of his life. hope-scott had already made the acquaintance of dr. döllinger, and he now begged mr. gladstone on no account to fail to present himself to him, as well as to other learned and political men, 'good catholics and good men with no ordinary talent and information.' 'nothing,' mr. gladstone once wrote in after years, 'ever so much made me anglican _versus_ roman as reading in döllinger over forty years ago the history of the fourth century and athanasius _contra mundum_.' here is his story to his wife:-- _munich, sept. , ._--yesterday evening after dinner with two travelling companions, an italian _negoziante_ and a german, i must needs go and have a shilling's worth of the augsburg opera, where we heard mozart (_don juan_) _well_ played and very respectably sung. to-day i have spent my evening differently, in tea and infinite conversation with dr. döllinger, who is one of the first among the roman catholic theologians of germany, a remarkable and a very pleasing man. his manners have great simplicity and i am astonished at the way in which a busy student such as he is can receive an intruder. his appearance is, singular to say, just compounded of those of two men who are among the most striking in appearance of our clergy, newman and dr. mill. he surprises me by the extent of his information and the way in which he knows the details of what takes place in england. most of our conversation related to it. he seemed to me one of the most liberal and catholic in mind of all the persons of his communion whom i have known. to-morrow i am to have tea with him again, and there is to be a third, dr. görres, who is a man of eminence among them. do not think he has designs upon me. indeed he disarms my suspicions in that respect by what appears to me a great sincerity.... dr. d�llinger _oct. ._--on tuesday after post i began to look about me; and though i have not seen all the sights of munich i have certainly seen a great deal that is interesting in the way of art, and having spent a good deal of time in dr. döllinger's company, last night till one o'clock, i have lost my heart to him. what i like perhaps most, or what crowns other causes of liking towards him, is that he, like rio, seems to take hearty interest in the progress of religion in the church of england, apart from the (so to speak) party question between us, and to have a mind to appreciate good wherever he can find it. for instance, when in speaking of wesley i said that his own views and intuitions were not heretical, and that if the ruling power in our church had had energy and a right mind to turn him to account, or if he had been in the church of rome i was about to add, he would then have been a great saint, or something to that effect. but i hesitated, thinking it perhaps too strong, and even presumptuous, but he took me up and used the very words, declaring that to be his opinion. again, speaking of archbishop leighton he expressed great admiration of his piety, and said it was so striking that he could not have been a real calvinist. he is a great admirer of england and english character, and he does not at all _slur_ over the mischief with which religion has to contend in germany. lastly, i may be wrong, but i am persuaded he in his mind abhors a great deal that is too frequently taught in the church of rome. last night he spoke with such a sentiment of the doctrine that was taught on the subject of indulgences which moved luther to resist them; and he said he believed it was true that the preachers represented to the people that by money payments they could procure the release souls from purgatory. i told him that was exactly the doctrine i had heard preached in messina, and he said a priest preaching so in germany would be suspended by his bishop. last night he invited several of his friends whom i wanted to meet, to an entertainment which consisted first of weak tea, immediately followed by meat supper with beer and wine and sweets. for two hours was i there in the midst of five german professors, or four, and the editor of a paper, who held very interesting discussions; i could only follow them in part, and enter into them still less, as none of them (except dr. d.) seemed to speak any tongue but their own with any freedom, but you would have been amused to see and hear them, and me in the midst. i never saw men who spoke together in a way to make one another inaudible as they did, always excepting dr. döllinger, who sat like rogers, being as he is a much more refined man than the rest. but of the others i assure you always two, sometimes three, and once all four, were speaking at once, very loud, each not trying to force the attention of the others, but to be following the current of his own thoughts. one of them was dr. görres,[ ] who in the time of napoleon edited a journal that had a great effect in rousing germany to arms. unfortunately he spoke more _thickly_ than any of them.[ ] at baden-baden (october ) he made the acquaintance of mrs. craven, the wife of the secretary of the stuttgart mission, and authoress of the _récit d'une soeur_. some of the personages of that alluring book were of the company. 'i have drunk tea several times at her house, and have had two or three long conversations with them on matters of religion. they are excessively acute and also full of christian sentiment. but they are much more difficult to make real way with than a professor of theology, because they are determined (what is vulgarly called) to go the whole hog, just as in england usually when you find a woman anti-popish in spirit, she will push the argument against them to all extremes.' further advance it was at the same time that he read bunsen's book on the church. 'it is dismal,' he wrote home to mrs. gladstone, 'and i must write to him to say so as kindly as i can.' bunsen would seem all the more dismal from the contrast with the spiritual graces of these catholic ladies, and the ripe thinking and massive learning of one who was still the great catholic doctor. at no time in mr. gladstone's letters to manning or to hope is there a single faltering accent in respect of rome. the question is not for an instant, or in any of his moods, open. he never doubts nor wavers. none the less, these impressions of his german journey would rather confirm than weaken his theological faith within the boundaries of anglican form and institution. 'with my whole soul i am convinced,' he says to manning (june , ), 'that if the roman system is incapable of being powerfully modified in spirit, it never can be the instrument of the work of god among us; the faults and the virtues of england are alike against it.' the lady hewley case i need spend no time in pointing out how inevitably these new currents drew mr. gladstone away from the old moorings of his first book. even in he had parted company with the high ecclesiastical principles of good tories like sir robert inglis. peel, to his great honour, in that year brought in what macaulay truly called 'an honest, an excellent bill, introduced from none but the best and purest motives.' it arose from a judicial decision in what was known as the lady hewley case, and its object was nothing more revolutionary or latitudinarian than to apply to unitarian chapels the same principle of prescription that protected gentlemen in the peaceful enjoyment of their estates and their manor-houses. the equity of the thing was obvious. in parliament had relieved protestant dissenting ministers from the necessity of declaring their belief in certain church articles, including especially those affecting the doctrine of the trinity. in parliament had repealed the act of william iii. that made it blasphemy to deny that doctrine. this legislation, rendered unitarian foundations legal, and the bill extended to unitarian congregations the same prescriptions as covered the titles of other voluntary bodies to their places of worship, their school-houses, and their burial-grounds. but what was thus a question of property was treated as if it were a question of divinity; 'bigotry sought aid from chicane,' and a tremendous clamour was raised by anglicans, wesleyans, presbyterians, not because they had an inch of _locus standi_ in the business, but because unitarianism was scandalous heresy and sin. follett made a masterly lawyer's speech, sheil the speech of a glittering orator, guarding unitarians by the arguments that had (or perhaps i should say had not) guarded irish catholics, peel and gladstone made political speeches lofty and sound, and macaulay the speech of an eloquent scholar and a reasoner, manfully enforcing principles both of law and justice with a luxuriance of illustration all his own, from jurists of imperial rome, sages of old greece, hindoos, peruvians, mexicans, and tribunals beyond the mississippi.[ ] we do not often enjoy such parliamentary nights in our time. mr. gladstone supported the proposal on the broadest grounds of unrestricted private judgment:-- i went into the subject laboriously, he says, and satisfied myself that this was not to be viewed as a mere quieting of titles based on lapse of time, but that the unitarians were the true lawful holders, because though they did not agree with the puritan opinions they adhered firmly to the puritan principle, which was that scripture was the rule without any binding interpretation, and that each man, or body, or generation must interpret for himself. this measure in some ways heightened my churchmanship, but depressed my church-and-statesmanship. far from feeling that there was any contrariety between his principles of religious belief and those on which legislation in their case ought to proceed, he said that the only use he could make of these principles was to apply them to the decisive performance of a great and important act, founded on the everlasting principles of truth and justice. sheil, who followed mr. gladstone, made a decidedly striking observation. he declared how delighted he was to hear from such high authority that the bill was perfectly reconcilable with the strictest and the sternest principles of state conscience. 'i cannot doubt,' he continued, 'that the right hon. gentleman, the champion of free trade, will ere long become the advocate of the most unrestricted liberty of thought.' time was to justify sheil's acute prediction. unquestionably the line of argument that suggested it was a great advance from the arguments of , of which macaulay had said that they would warrant the roasting of dissenters at slow fires. iv in this vast field of human interest what engaged and inflamed him was not in the main place that solicitude for personal salvation and sanctification, which under sharp stress of argument, of pious sensibility, of spiritual panic, now sent so many flocking into the roman fold. it was at bottom more like the passion of the great popes and ecclesiastical master-builders, for strengthening and extending the institutions by which faith is spread, its lamps trimmed afresh, its purity secured. what wrung him with affliction was the laying waste of the heritage of the lord. 'the promise,' he cried, 'indeed stands sure to the church and the elect. in the farthest distance there is peace, truth, glory; but what a leap to it, over what a gulf.' for himself, the old dilemma of his early years still tormented him. 'i wish,' he writes to manning (march , ) good humouredly, 'i could get a synodical decision in favour of my retirement from public life. for, i profess to remain there (to myself) for the service of the church, and my views of the mode of serving her are getting so fearfully wide of those generally current, that even if they be sound, they may become wholly unavailable.' the question whether the service of the church can be most effectually performed in parliament was incessantly present to his mind. manning pressed him in one direction, the inward voice drew him in the other. 'i could write down in a few lines,' he says to manning, 'the measures, after the adoption of which i should be prepared to say to a young man entering life, if you wish to serve the church do it in the sanctuary, and not in parliament (unless he were otherwise determined by his station, and not always then; it must depend upon his inward vocation), and should not think it at all absurd to say the same thing to some who have already placed themselves in this latter sphere. for when the end is attained of letting "the church help herself," and when it is recognised that active help can no longer be given, the function of serving the church in the state, such as it was according to the old idea, dies of itself, and what remains of duty is of a character essentially different.' then a pregnant passage:--'it is the essential change now in progress from the catholic to the infidel idea of the state which is the determining element in my estimate of this matter, and which has, i think, no place in yours. for i hold and believe that when that transition has once been effected, the state never can come back to the catholic idea by means of any agency from within itself: that, if at all, it must be by a sort of re-conversion from without. i am not of those (excellent as i think them) who say, remain and bear witness for the truth. there is a place where witness is ever to be borne for truth, that is to say for full and absolute truth, but it is not there.'[ ] he reproaches himself with being 'actively engaged in carrying on a process of, lowering the religious tone of the state, letting it down, demoralising it, and assisting in its transition into one which is mechanical.' the objects that warrant public life in one in whose case executive government must be an element, must be very special. true that in all probability the church will hold her nationality in substance beyond our day. 'i think she will hold it as long as the monarchy subsists.' so long the church will need parliamentary defence, but in what form? the dissenters had no members for universities, and yet their real representation was far better organised in proportion to its weight than the church, though formally not organised at all. 'strength with the people will for our day at least be the only effectual defence of the church in the house of commons, as the want of it is now our weakness there. it is not everything that calls itself a defence that is really such.'[ ] hopes for the church manning expressed a strong fear, amounting almost to a belief, that the church of england must split asunder. 'nothing can be firmer in my mind,' mr. gladstone replied (aug. , ), 'than the opposite idea. she will live through her struggles, she has a great providential destiny before her. recollect that for a century and a half, a much longer period than any for which puritan and catholic principles have been in conflict within the church of england, jansenist and anti-jansenist dwelt within the church of rome with the unity of wolf and lamb. their differences were not absorbed by the force of the church; they were in full vigour when the revolution burst upon both. then the breach between nation and church became so wide as to make the rivalries of the two church sections insignificant, and so to cause their fusion.' later, he thinks that he finds a truer analogy between 'the superstition and idolatry that gnaws and corrodes' the life of the roman church, and the puritanism that with at least as much countenance from authority abides in the english church. there are two systems, he says, in the english church vitally opposed to one another, and if they were equally developed they could not subsist together in the same sphere. if puritanical doctrines were the base of episcopal and collegiate teaching, then the church must either split or become heretical. as it is, the basis is on the whole anti-puritanic, and what we should call catholic. the conflict may go on as now, and with a progressive advance of the good principle against the bad one. 'that has been on the whole the course of things during our lifetime, and to judge from present signs it is the will of god that it should so continue.' (dec. , .) the following to mr. phillimore sums up the case as he then believed it to stand (june , ):-- ... the church is now in a condition in which her children may and must desire that she should keep her national position and her civil and proprietary rights, and that she should by degrees obtain the means of extending and of strengthening herself, not only by covering a greater space, but by a more vigorous organisation. her attaining to this state of higher health depends in no small degree upon progressive adaptations of her state and her laws to her ever enlarging exigencies; these depend upon the humour of the state, and the state cannot and will not be in good humour with her, if she insists upon its being in bad humour with all other communions. it seems to me, therefore, that while in substance we should all strive to sustain her in her national position, we shall do well on her behalf to follow these rules: to part earlier, and more freely and cordially, than heretofore with such of her privileges, here and there, as may be more obnoxious than really valuable, and some such she has; and further, not to presume too much to give directions to the state as to its policy with respect to other religious bodies.... this is not political expediency as opposed to religious principle. nothing did so much damage to religion as the obstinate adherence to a negative, repressive, and coercive course. for a century and more from the revolution it brought us nothing but outwardly animosities and inwardly lethargy. the revival of a livelier sense of duty and of god is now beginning to tell in the altered policy of the church.... as her sense of her spiritual work rises, she is becoming less eager to assert her exclusive claim, leaving that to the state as a matter for itself to decide; and she also begins to forego more readily, but cautiously, her external prerogatives. footnotes: [ ] some proceedings, i think, of mr. disraeli and his young england friends. [ ] chapter of autobiography: _gleanings_, vii. pp. - . [ ] on reserve in communicating religious knowledge--tracts and . ( - ). with the ominous and in every sense un-english superscription, _ad clerum_. isaac williams was the author. [ ] _life of shaftesbury_, i. p. . there is a letter from bunsen (p. ), in which he exclaims how wonderful it is 'that the great-grandson of anthony earl of shaftesbury, the friend of voltaire, should write thus to the great-grandson of frederick the great, the admirer of both.' but not more wonderful than bunsen forgetting that frederick had no children. [ ] see _memoirs of j. r. hope-scott_, i. chapters - . _apologia_, chapter , _ad fin._ [ ] _story of dr. pusey's life_, p. . [ ] this letter of october is in purcell, _manning_, i. p. . [ ] mr. gladstone to dr. hook, jan. . ' . [ ] it was on the fifth of november, a week after this correspondence, that manning preached the guy fawkes sermon which caused newman to send j. a. froude to the door to tell manning that he was 'not at home.'--purcell, i. pp. - . [ ] for a full account of this book and its consequences the reader will always consult chapters xi., xii., and xiii., of mr. wilfrid ward's admirably written work, _william george ward and the oxford movement_. [ ] it was in the midst of these laborious employments that mr. gladstone published a prayer-book, compiled for family use, from the anglican liturgy. an edition of two thousand copies went off at once, and was followed by many editions more. [ ] _william george ward_, p. . [ ] the story is told in purcell, _manning_, i. p. . [ ] joseph görres, one of the most famous of european publicists and gazetteers between the two revolutionary epochs of and . his journal was the _rhine mercury_, where the doctrine of a free and united germany was preached ( - ) with a force that made napoleon call the newspaper a fifth great power. in times görres became a vehement ultramontane. [ ] see friedrich's _life of döllinger_, ii. pp. - , for a letter from döllinger to mr. gladstone after his visit, dated nov. , . [ ] _hansard_, june , . [ ] to manning, april , . [ ] to manning, april , . book iii _ - _ chapter i member for oxford (_ _) there is not a feature or a point in the national character which has made england great among the nations of the world, that is not strongly developed and plainly traceable in our universities. for eight hundred or a thousand years they have been intimately associated with everything that has concerned the highest interests of the country.--gladstone. in the fortunes of a general election brought mr. gladstone into relations that for many years to come deeply affected his political course. as a planet's orbit has puzzled astronomers until they discover the secret of its irregularities in the attraction of an unseen and unsuspected neighbour in the firmament, so some devious motions of this great luminary of ours were perturbations due in fact to the influence of his new constituency. as we have seen, mr. gladstone quitted newark when he entered the cabinet to repeal the corn law. at the end of , writing to lord lyttelton from fasque, he tells him: 'i wish to be in parliament but coldly; feeling at the same time that i ought to wish it warmly on many grounds. but my father is so very keen in his protective opinions, and i am so very decidedly of the other way of thinking, that i look forward with some reluctance and regret to what must, when it happens, place me in marked and public contrast with him.' the thing soon happened. i remained, he says, without a seat until the dissolution in june . but several months before this occurred it had become known that mr. estcourt would vacate his seat for oxford, and i became a candidate. it was a serious campaign. the constituency, much to its honour, did not stoop to fight the battle on the ground of protection. but it was fought, and that fiercely, on religious grounds. there was an incessant discussion, and i may say dissection, of my character and position in reference to the oxford movement. this cut very deep, for it was a discussion which each member of the constituency was entitled to carry on for himself. the upshot was favourable. the liberals supported me gallantly, so did many zealous churchmen, apart from politics, and a good number of moderate men, so that i was returned by a fair majority. i held the seat for eighteen years, but with five contests and a final defeat. the other sitting member after the retirement of mr. estcourt was sir robert harry inglis, who had beaten peel by a very narrow majority in the memorable contest for the university seat on the final crisis of the catholic question in . he was blessed with a genial character and an open and happy demeanour; and the fact that he was equipped with a full store of sincere and inexorable prejudices made it easy for him to be the most upright, honourable, kindly, and consistent of political men. repeal of the test acts, relief of the catholics, the reform bill, relief of the jews, reform of the irish church, the grant to maynooth, the repeal of the corn laws--one after another he had stoutly resisted the whole catalogue of revolutionising change. so manful a record made his seat safe. in the struggle for the second seat, mr. gladstone's friends encountered first mr. cardwell, a colleague of his as secretary of the treasury in the late government. cardwell was deep in the confidence and regard of sir robert peel, and he earned in after years the reputation of an honest and most capable administrator; but in these earlier days the ill-natured called him peel-and-water, others labelled him latitudinarian and indifferent, and though he had the support of peel, promised before mr. gladstone's name as candidate was announced, he thought it wise at a pretty early hour to withdraw from a triangular fight. the old high-and-dry party and the evangelical party combined to bring out mr. round. if he had achieved no sort of distinction, mr. round had at least given no offence: above all, he had kept clear of all those tractarian innovations which had been finally stamped with the censure of the university two years before. oxford supporters charles wordsworth, his old tutor and now warden of glenalmond, found it hard to give mr. gladstone his support, because he himself held to the high principle of state conscience, while the candidate seemed more than ever bent on the rival doctrine of social justice. mr. hallam joined his committee, and what that learned veteran's adhesion was in influence among older men, that of arthur clough was among the younger. northcote described clough to mr. gladstone as a very favourable specimen of a class, growing in numbers and importance among the younger oxford men, a friend of carlyle's, frank newman's, and others of that stamp; well read in german literature and an admirer of german intellect, but also a still deeper admirer of dante; just now busily taking all his opinions to pieces and not beginning to put them together again; but so earnest and good that he might be trusted to work them into something better than his friends inclined to fear. ruskin, again, who had the year before published the memorable second volume of his _modern painters_ (he was still well under thirty), was on the right side, and the oxford chairman is sure that mr. gladstone will appreciate at its full value the support of such high personal merit and extraordinary natural genius. scott, the learned grecian who had been beaten along with mr. gladstone in the contest for the ireland scholarship seventeen years before, wrote to him:--'ever since the time when you and i received strypes at the hand of the vice-chancellor, and so you became my [greek: homomastigias labôn agônos tas isas plêgas emoi,'][ ] i have looked forward to your being the representative of the university.' richard greswell of worcester was the faithful chairman of his oxford committee now and to the end, eighteen years off. he had reached the dignity of a bachelor of divinity, but nearly all the rest were no more than junior masters. routh, the old president of magdalen, declined to vote for him on the well-established ground that christ church had no business to hold both seats. mr. gladstone at once met this by the dexterous proposition that though christ church was not entitled to elect him against the wish of the other colleges, yet the other colleges were entitled to elect him if they liked, by giving him a majority not made up of christ church votes. his eldest brother had written to tell him in terms of affectionate regret, that he could take no part in the election; mere political differences would be secondary, but in the case of a university, religion came first, and there it was impossible to separate a candidate from his religious opinions. when the time came, however, partly under strong pressure from sir john, thomas gladstone took a more lenient view and gave his brother a vote. the round men pointed triumphantly to their hero's votes on maynooth and on the dissenters' chapels bill, and insisted on the urgency of upholding the principles of the united church of england and ireland in their full integrity. the backers of mr. gladstone retorted by recalling their champion's career; how in he first made himself known by his resistance to the admission of dissenters to the universities; how in he threw himself into the first general move for the increase of the colonial episcopate, which had resulted in the erection of eleven new sees in six years; how zealously with energy and money he had laboured for a college training for the episcopalian clergy in scotland; how instrumental he was in , during the few months for which he held the seals of secretary of state, in erecting four colonial bishoprics; how the society for the propagation of the gospel, through the mouth of the archbishop of canterbury himself, had thanked him for his services; how long he had been an active supporter of the great societies for the spread of church principles, the propagation of church doctrines, and the erection of church fabrics. as for the dissenters' chapels bill, it was an act of simple justice and involved no principles at issue between the church and dissent, and mr. gladstone's masterly exposition of the tendency of dissent to drop one by one all the vital truths of christianity was proclaimed to be a real service to the church. the reader will thus see the lie of the land, what it meant to be member for a university, and why mr. gladstone thought the seat the highest of electoral prizes. the contest a circular was issued impugning his position on protestant grounds. 'i humbly trust,' wrote mr. gladstone in reply (july ), 'that its writers are not justified in exhibiting me to the world as a person otherwise than heartily devoted to the doctrine and constitution of our reformed church. but i will never consent to adopt as the test of such doctrine, a disposition to identify the great and noble cause of the church of england with the restraint of the civil rights of those who differ from her.' much was made of mr. gladstone's refusal to vote for the degradation of ward. people wrote to the newspapers that it was an admitted and notorious fact that a sister of mr. gladstone's under his own influence had gone over to the church of rome.[ ] the fable was retracted, but at once revived in the still grosser untruth, that he habitually employed 'a jesuitical system of argument' to show that nobody need leave the church of england, 'because all might be had there that was to be enjoyed in the church of rome.' maurice published a letter to a london clergyman vigorously remonstrating against the bigoted spirit that this election was warming into life, and fervently protesting against making a belief in the nicene creed into the same thing as an opinion about a certain way of treating the property of unitarians. 'one artifice of this kind,' said maurice, 'has been practised in this election which it makes me blush to speak of. mr. ward called the reformation a vile and accursed thing; mr. gladstone voted against a certain measure for the condemnation of mr. ward; therefore he spoke of the reformation as a vile and accursed thing. i should not have believed it possible that such a conclusion had been drawn from such premisses even by our religious press.' the worthy mr. round, on the other hand, was almost impregnable. a diligent scrutiny at last dragged the dark fact to the light of day, that he had actually sat on peel's election committee at the time of catholic emancipation in , and had voted for him against inglis. so it appears, said the mocking gladstonians, that the protestant mr. round 'was willing to lend a helping hand to the first of a series of measures which are considered by his supporters as fraught with danger to the country's very best interests.' a still more sinister rumour was next bruited abroad: that mr. round attended a dissenting place of worship, and he was constrained to admit that, once in and thrice in , he had been guilty of this blacksliding. the lost ground, however, was handsomely recovered by a public declaration that the very rare occasions on which he had been present at other modes of christian worship had only confirmed his affection and reverential attachment to the services and formularies of his own church. victory at the poll the nomination was duly made in the sheldonian theatre (july ), the scene of so many agitations in these fiery days. inglis was proposed by a canon of christ church, round by the master of balliol, and gladstone by dr. richards, the rector of exeter. the prime claim advanced for him by his proposer, was his zeal for the english church in word and deed, above all his energy in securing that wherever the english church went, thither bishoprics should go too. besides all this, his master work, he had found time to spare not only for public business of the commonwealth, but for the study of theology, philosophy, and the arts.[ ] then the voting began. the gladstonians went into the battle with promises. northcote,[ ] passing vigilant days in the convocation house, sent daily reports to mr. gladstone at fasque. peel went up to vote for him (splitting for inglis); ashley went up to vote against him. at the close of the second day things looked well, but there was no ground for over-confidence. inglis was six hundred ahead of gladstone, and gladstone only a hundred and twenty ahead of round. the next day round fell a little more behind, and when the end came (august ) the figures stood:--inglis , gladstone , round , giving gladstone a majority of over his competitor. numbers were not the only important point. when the poll came to be analysed by eager statisticians, the decision of the electors was found to have a weight not measured by an extra hundred and seventy votes. for example, mr. gladstone had among his supporters twenty-five double-firsts against seven for round, and of single first-classes he had one hundred and fifty-seven against round's sixty-six. of ireland and hertford scholars mr. gladstone had nine to two and three to one respectively; and of chancellor's prizemen who voted he had forty-five against twelve. of fellows of colleges he had two hundred and eighteen against one hundred and twenty-eight, and his majority in this class was highest where the elections to fellowships were open. the heads of the colleges told a different tale. of these, sixteen voted for round and only four for gladstone. this discrepancy it was that gave its significance to the victory. sitting in the convocation house watching the last casual voters drop in at the rate of two or three an hour through the summer afternoon, the ever faithful northcote wrote to mr. gladstone at fasque:-- since i have been here, the contest has seemed even more interesting than it did in london. the effect of the contest itself has apparently been good. it has brought together the younger men without distinction of party, and has supplied the elements of a very noble party which will now look to you as a leader. i think men of all kinds are prepared to trust you, and though each feels that you will probably differ from his set in some particulars, each seems disposed to waive objections for the sake of the general good he expects.... the victory is not looked upon as 'puseyite'; it is a victory of the masters over the hebdomadal board, and as such a very important one. the heads felt it their last chance, and are said to have expressed themselves accordingly. the provost of queen's, who is among the dissatisfied supporters of round, said the other day, 'he would rather be represented by an old woman than by a young man.' it is not as a maynoothian that you are dreaded here, though they use the cry against you and though that is the country feeling, but as a possible reformer and a man who thinks. on the other hand, the young men exult, partly in the hope that you will do something for the university yourself, partly in the consciousness that they have shown the strength of the magisterial party by carrying you against the opposition of the heads, and have proved their title to be considered an important element of the university. they do not seem yet to be sufficiently united to effect great things, but there is a large amount of ability and earnestness which only wants direction, and this contest has tended to unite them. 'puseyism' seems rather to be a name of the past, though there are still puseyites of importance. marriott, mozley, and church appear to be regarded as leaders; but church who is now abroad, is looked upon as something more, and i am told may be considered on the whole the fairest exponent of the feelings of the place. stanley, jowett, temple, and others are great names in what is nicknamed the germanising party. lake, and perhaps i should say temple, hold an intermediate position between the two parties.... whatever may have been the evils attendant on the puseyite movement, and i believe they were neither few nor small, it has been productive of great results; and it is not a little satisfactory to see how its distinctive features are dying away and the spirit surviving, instead of the spirit departing and leaving a great sham behind it. peculiarity of election of the many strange positions to which in his long and ardent life mr. gladstone was brought, none is more startling than to find him, as in this curious moment at oxford, the common rallying-point of two violently antagonistic sections of opinion. dr. pusey supported him; stanley and jowett supported him. the old school who looked on oxford as the ancient and peculiar inheritance of the church were zealous for him; the new school who deemed the university an organ not of the church but of the nation, eagerly took him for their champion. a great ecclesiastical movement, reviving authority and tradition, had ended in complete academic repulse in . it was now to be followed by an anti-ecclesiastical movement, critical, sceptical, liberal, scornful of authority, doubtful of tradition. yet both the receding force and the rising force united to swell the stream that bore mr. gladstone to triumph at the poll. the fusion did not last. the two bands speedily drew off into their rival camps, to arm themselves in the new conflict for mastery between obscurantism and illumination. the victor was left with his laurels in what too soon proved to be, after all, a vexed and precarious situation, that he could neither hold with freedom nor quit with honour. meanwhile he thoroughly enjoyed his much coveted distinction:-- _to mrs. gladstone._ _exeter coll., nov. , ._--this morning in company with sir r. inglis, and under the protection or chaperonage of the dean, i have made the formal circuit of visits to all the heads of houses and all the common-rooms. it has gone off very well. there was but one reception by a head (corpus) that was not decidedly _kind_, and that was only a little cold. marsham (merton), who is a frank, warm man, keenly opposed, said very fairly, to inglis, 'i congratulate you warmly'; and then to me, 'and i would be very glad to do the same to you, mr. gladstone, if i could think you would do the same as sir r. inglis.' i like a man for this. they say the dean should have asked me to dine to-day, but i think he may be, and perhaps wisely, afraid of recognising me in any very marked way, for fear of endangering the old christ church right to one seat which it is his peculiar duty to guard. we dined yesterday in the hall at christ church, it being a grand day there. rather unfortunately the undergraduates chose to make a row in honour of me during dinner, which the two censors had to run all down the hall to stop. this had better not be talked about. thursday the warden of all souls' has asked me and i _think_ i must accept; had it not been a head (and it is one of the little party of four who voted for me) i should not have doubted, but at once have declined. footnotes: [ ] _frogs_, ; the second line is scott's own. an aristophanic friend translates:-- 'good brother-rogue, we've shared the selfsame beating: at least, we carried off one strype apiece.' strype was the book given to scott and gladstone as being good seconds to the winner of the ireland. see above p. . [ ] _standard_, may , . [ ] the proposer's latin is succinct, and may be worth giving for its academic flavour:--'jam inde a pueritia literarum studio imbutus, et in celeberrimo etonensi gymnasio informatus, ad nostram accessit academiam, ubi morum honestate, pietate, et pudore nemini æqualium secundus, indole et ingenio facile omnibus antecellebat. summis deinde nostræ academiæ honoribus cumulatus ad res civiles cum magnâ omnium expectatione se contulit; expectatione tamen major omni evasit. in senatûs enim domum inferiorem cooptatus, eam ad negotia tractanda habilitatem, et ingenii perspicacitatem exhibebat, ut reipublicæ administrationis particeps et adjutor adhuc adolescens fieret. quantum erga ecclesiam anglicanam ejus studium non verba, sed facta, testentur. is enim erat qui inter primos et perpaucos summo labore et eloquentiâ contendebat, ut ubicunque orbis terrarum ecclesia anglicana pervenisset, episcopatus quoque eveheretur. et quamdiu e secretis reginæ fuit, ecclesia anglicana apud colonos nostros plurimis locis labefactam suâ ope stabilivit, et patrocinium ejus suscepit. neque vero publicis negotiis adeo se dedit quin theologiæ, philosophiæ, artium studio vacaret. quæ cum ita sint, si delegatum, academici, cooptare velimus, qui cum omni laude idem nostris rebus decus et tutamen sit, et qui summa eloquentiæ et argumenti vi, jura et libertates nostras tueri queat, hunc hodie suffragiis nostris comprobemus.' [ ] stafford northcote had been private secretary to mr. gladstone at the board of trade. on the appointment of his first private secretary, mr. rawson, to a post in canada in , mr. gladstone applied to coleridge of eton to recommend a successor. he suggested three names, farrer, afterwards lord farrer, northcote, and pocock. northcote, who looked to a political career, was chosen. 'mr. gladstone,' he wrote to a friend, june , , 'is the man of all others among the statesmen of the present day to whom i should desire to attach myself.... he is one whom i respect beyond measure; he stands almost alone as representative of principles with which i cordially agree; and as a man of business, and one who humanly speaking is sure to rise, he is preeminent.'--lang's _life of lord iddesleigh_, i. pp. - . chapter ii the hawarden estate (_ _) it is no baseness for the greatest to descend and looke into their owne estate. some forbeare it, not upon negligence alone, but doubting to bring themselves into melancholy in respect they shall finde it broken. but wounds cannot be cured without searching. hee that cleareth by degrees induceth a habit of frugalitie, and gaineth as well upon his minde, as upon his estate.--bacon. i must here pause for material affairs of money and business, with which, as a rule, in the case of its heroes the public is considered to have little concern. they can no more be altogether omitted here than the bills, acceptances, renewals, notes of hand, and all the other financial apparatus of his printers and publishers can be left out of the story of sir walter scott. not many pages will be needed, 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 , and under the advice of an energetic and sanguine agent proceeded to its rapid development. on the double marriage in , 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 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 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.[ ] 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 , at birmingham, mr. gladstone purchased the concern on behalf of himself and his two brothers-in-law, subject to certain existing interests; and in may sir stephen glynne resumed legal possession of the wreck of oak farm. the burden on hawarden was over £ , , leaving its owner with no margin to live upon. into this far-spreading entanglement mr. gladstone for several years threw himself with the whole weight of his untiring tenacity and force. he plunged into masses of accounts, mastered the coil of interests and parties, studied legal intricacies, did daily battle with human unreason, and year after year carried on a voluminous correspondence. oak farm there are a hundred and forty of his letters to mr. freshfield on oak farm alone. let us note in passing what is, i think, a not unimportant biographic fact. these circumstances brought him into close and responsible contact with a side of the material interests of the country that was new to him. at home he had been bred in the atmosphere of commerce. at the board of trade, in the reform of the tariff, in connection with the bank act and in the growth of the railway system, he had been well trained in high economics. now he came to serve an arduous apprenticeship in the motions and machinery of industrial life. the labour was immense, prolonged, uncongenial; but it completed his knowledge of the customs, rules, maxims, and currents of trade and it bore good fruit in future days at the exchequer. he manfully and deliberately took up the burden as if the errors had been his own, and as if the financial sacrifice that he was called to make both now and later were matter of direct and inexorable obligation. these, indeed, are the things in life that test whether a man be made of gold or clay. 'the weight,' he writes to his father (june , ), 'of the private demands upon my mind has been such, since the oak farm broke down, as frequently to disqualify me for my duties in the house of commons.' the load even tempted him, along with the working of other considerations, to think of total withdrawal from parliament and public life. yet without a trace of the frozen stoicism or cynical apathy that sometimes passes muster for true resignation, he kept himself nobly free from vexation, murmur, repining, and complaint. here is a moving passage from a letter of the time to mrs. gladstone:-- _fasque, jan. , ._--do not suppose for a moment that if i could by waving my hand strike out for ever from my cares and occupations those which relate to the oak farm and stephen's affairs, i would do so; i have never felt that, have never asked it; and if my language seems to look that way, it is the mere impatience of weakness comforting itself by finding a vent. it has evidently come to me by the ordinance of god; and i am rather frightened to think how light my lot would be, were it removed, so light that something else would surely come in its place. i do not confound it with visitations and afflictions; it is merely a drain on strength and a peculiar one, because it asks for a kind of strength and skill and habits which i have not, but it falls altogether short of the category of high trials. least of all suppose that the subject can ever associate itself painfully with the idea of you. no persons who have been in contact with it can be so absolutely blameless as you and mary, nor can _our_ relation together be rendered in the very smallest degree less or more a blessing by the addition or the subtraction of worldly wealth. i have abundant comfort _now_ in the thought that at any rate i am the means of keeping a load off the minds of others; and i shall have much more hereafter when stephen is brought through, and once more firmly planted in the place of his fathers, provided i can conscientiously feel that the restoration of his affairs has at any rate not been impeded by indolence, obstinacy, or blunders on my part. nor can anything be more generous than the confidence placed in me by all concerned. indeed, i can only regret that it is too free and absolute. letter to his son i may as well now tell the story to the end, though in anticipation of remote dates, for in truth it held a marked place in mr. gladstone's whole life, and made a standing background amid the vast throng of varying interests and transient commotions of his great career. here is his own narrative as told in a letter written to his eldest son for a definite purpose in :-- _to w. h. gladstone._ _hawarden, oct. , ._--down to the latter part of that year ( ), your uncle stephen was regarded by all as a wealthy country gentleman with say £ , a year or more (subject, however, to his mother's jointure) to spend, and great prospects from iron in a midland estate. in the bank crisis of that year the whole truth was revealed; and it came out that his agent at the oak farm (and formerly also at hawarden) had involved him to the extent of £ , ; to say nothing of minor blows to your uncle lyttelton and myself. at a conversation in the library of carlton house terrace, it was considered whether hawarden should be sold. every obvious argument was in favour of it, for example the comparison between the income and the liabilities i have named. how was lady glynne's jointure (£ ) to be paid? how was sir stephen to be supported? there was _no_ income, even less than none. oak farm, the iron property, was under lease to an insolvent company, and could not be relied on. your grandfather, who had in some degree surveyed the state of affairs, thought the case was hopeless. but the family were unanimously set upon making any and every effort and sacrifice to avoid the necessity of sale. mr. barker, their lawyer, and mr. burnett, the land agent, entirely sympathised; and it was resolved to persevere. but the first effect was that sir stephen had to close the house (which it was hoped, but hoped in vain, to let); to give up carriages, horses, and i think for several years his personal servant; and to take an allowance of £ a year out of which, i believe, he continued to pay the heavy subvention of the family to the schools of the parish, which was certainly counted by hundreds. had the estate been sold, it was estimated that he would have come out a wealthy bachelor, possessed of from a hundred to a hundred and twenty thousands pounds free from all encumbrance but the jointure. in order to give effect to the nearly hopeless resolution thus taken at the meeting in london, it was determined to clip the estate by selling £ , worth of land. of this, nearly one-half was to be taken by your uncle lyttelton and myself, in the proportion of about two parts for me and one for him. neither of us had the power to buy this, but my father enabled me, and lord spencer took over his portion. the rest of the sales were effected, a number of fortunate secondary incidents occurred, and the great business of recovering and realising from the oak farm was laboriously set about. considerable relief was obtained by these and other measures. by , there was a partial but perceptible improvement in the position. the house was reopened in a very quiet way by arrangement, and the allowance for sir stephen's expenditure was rather more than doubled. but there was nothing like ease for him until the purchase of the reversion was effected by me in . i paid £ , for the bulk of the property, subject to debts not exceeding £ , , and after the lives of the two brothers, the table value of which was, i think, twenty-two and a-half years. from this time your uncle had an income to spend of, i think, £ , or not more than half what he probably would have had since had the estate been sold, which it would only have been through the grievous fault of others. the full process of recovery was still incomplete, but the means of carrying it forward were now comparatively simple. since the reversion came in, i have, as you know, forwarded that process; but it has been retarded by agricultural depression and by the disastrous condition through so many years of coal-mining; so that there still remains a considerable work to be done before the end can be attained, which i hope will never be lost sight of, namely, that of extinguishing the debt upon the property, though for family purposes the estate may still remain subject to charges in the way of annuity. the full history of the hawarden estate from would run to a volume. for some years after , it and the oak farm supplied my principal employment[ ]; but i was amply repaid by the value of it a little later on as a home, and by the unbroken domestic happiness there enjoyed. what i think you will see, as clearly resulting from this narrative, is the high obligation not only to keep the estate in the family, and as i trust in its natural course of descent, but to raise it to the best condition by thrift and care, and to promote by all reasonable means the aim of diminishing and finally extinguishing its debt. this i found partly on a high estimate of the general duty to promote the permanence of families having estates in land, but very specially on the sacrifices made, through his remaining twenty-seven years of life, by your uncle stephen, without a murmur, and with the concurrence of us all.... before closing i will repair one omission. when i concurred in the decision to struggle for the retention of hawarden, i had not the least idea that my children would have an interest in the succession. in your uncle stephen was only forty; your uncle henry, at thirty-seven, was married, and had a child almost every year. it was not until that i had any title to look forward to your becoming at a future time the proprietor.--ever your affectionate father. final settlement the upshot is this, that mr. gladstone, with his father's consent and support, threw the bulk of his own fortune into the assets of hawarden. by this, and the wise realisation of everything convertible to advantage, including, in , the reversion after the lives of sir stephen glynne and his brother, he succeeded in making what was left of hawarden solvent. his own expenditure from first to last upon the hawarden estate as now existing, he noted at £ , . 'it has been for thirty-five years,' he wrote to w. h. gladstone in , '_i.e._, since the breakdown in , a great object of my life, in conjunction with your mother and your uncle stephen, to keep the hawarden estate together (or replace what was alienated), to keep it in the family, and to relieve it from debt with which it was ruinously loaded.' in a settlement was made, to which sir stephen glynne and his brother, and mr. gladstone and his wife, were the parties, by which the estate was conveyed in trust for one or more of the gladstone children as mr. gladstone might appoint.[ ] this was subject to a power of determining the settlement by either of the glynne brothers, on repaying with interest the sum paid for the reversion. as the transaction touched matters in which he might be supposed liable to bias, mr. gladstone required that its terms should be referred to two men of perfect competence and probity--lord devon and sir robert phillimore--for their judgment and approval. phillimore visited hawarden (august - , ) to meet lord devon, and to confer with him upon sir stephen glynne's affairs. here are a couple of entries from his diary:-- _aug. ._--the whole morning was occupied with the investigation of s. g.'s affairs by lord devon and myself. we examined at some length the solicitor and the agent. lord d. and i perfectly agreed in the opinion expressed in a memorandum signed by us both. gladstone, as might have been expected, has behaved very well. _sept. _ [_london_].--correspondence between lyttelton and gladstone, contained in lord devon's letter. same subject as that which lord d. and i came to consult upon at hawarden. _sept. ._--i wrote to stephen glynne to the effect that henry entirely approved of the scheme agreed upon by lord d. and myself, after a new consideration of all the circumstances, and after reading the lyttelton-gladstone correspondence. i showed henry glynne the letter, of which he entirely approved. in the death of sir stephen glynne, following that of his brother two years before, made mr. gladstone owner in possession of the hawarden estate, under the transaction of . with as little delay as possible (april ) he took the necessary steps to make his eldest son the owner in fee, and seven years after that (october ) he further transferred to the same son his own lands in the county, acquired by purchase, as we have seen, after the crash in . by agreement, the possession and control of the castle and its contents remained with mrs. gladstone for life, as if she were taking a life-interest in it under settlement or will. further letters to his son although, therefore, for a few months the legal owner of the whole hawarden estate, mr. gladstone divested himself of that quality as soon as he could, and at no time did he assume to be its master. the letters written by him on these matters to his son are both too interesting as the expression of his views on high articles of social policy, and too characteristic of his ideas of personal duty, for me to omit them here, though much out of their strict chronological place. the first is written after the death of sir stephen, and the falling in of the reversion:-- _to w. h. gladstone._ _carlton house terrace, april , ._--there are several matters which i have to mention to you, and for which the present moment is suitable; while they embrace the future in several of its aspects. . i have given instructions to messrs. barker and hignett to convert your life interest under the hawarden settlement into a fee simple. reflection and experience have brought me to favour this latter method of holding landed property as on the whole the best, though the arguments may not be all on one side. in the present case, they are to my mind entirely conclusive. first, because i am able thoroughly to repose in you an entire confidence as to your use of the estate during your lifetime, and your capacity to provide wisely for its future destination. secondly, because you have, delivered over to you with the estate, the duty and office of progressively emancipating it from the once ruinous debt; and it is almost necessary towards the satisfactory prosecution of this purpose, which it may still take very many years to complete, that you should be entire master of the property, and should feel the full benefit of the steady care and attention which it ought to receive from you. . i hope that with it you will inherit the several conterminous properties belonging to me, and that you will receive these in such a condition as to enjoy a large proportion of the income they yield. taking the two estates together, they form the most considerable estate in the county, and give what may be termed the first social position there. the importance of this position is enhanced by the large population which inhabits them. you will, i hope, familiarise your mind with this truth, that you can no more become the proprietor of such a body of property, or of the portion of it now accruing, than your brother stephen could become rector of the parish, without recognising the serious moral and social responsibilities which belong to it. they are full of interest and rich in pleasure, but they demand (in the absence of special cause) residence on the spot, and a good share of time, and especially a free and ungrudging discharge of them. nowhere in the world is the position of the landed proprietor so high as in this country, and this in great part for the reason that nowhere else is the possession of landed property so closely associated with definite duty. . in truth, with this and your seat in parliament, which i hope (whether whitby supply it, or whether you migrate) will continue, you will, i trust, have a well-charged, though not an over-charged, life, and will, like professional and other thoroughly employed men, have to regard the bulk of your time as forestalled on behalf of duty, while a liberal residue may be available for your special pursuits and tastes, and for recreations. this is really the sound basis of life, which never can be honourable or satisfactory without adequate guarantees against frittering away, even in part, the precious gift of time. while touching on the subject i would remind you of an old recommendation of mine, that you should choose some parliamentary branch or subject, to which to give special attention. the house of commons has always heard your voice with pleasure, and ought not to be allowed to forget it. i say this the more freely, because i think it is, in your case, the virtue of a real modesty, which rather too much indisposes you to put yourself forward. yet another word. as years gather upon me, i naturally look forward to what is to be after i am gone; and although i should indeed be sorry to do or say anything having a tendency to force the action of your mind beyond its natural course, it will indeed be a great pleasure to me to see you well settled in life by marriage. well settled, i feel confident, you will be, if settled at all. in your position at hawarden, there would then be at once increased ease and increased attraction in the performance of your duties; nor can i overlook the fact that the life of the unmarried man, in this age particularly, is under peculiar and insidious temptations to selfishness, unless his celibacy arise from a very strong and definite course of self-devotion to the service of god and his fellow creatures. the great and sad change of hawarden [by the death of sir stephen] which has forced upon us the consideration of so many subjects, gave at the same time an opening for others, and it seemed to me to be best to put together the few remarks i had to make. i hope the announcement with which i began will show that i write in the spirit of confidence as well as of affection. it is on this footing that we have ever stood, and i trust ever shall stand. you have acted towards me at all times up to the standard of all i could desire. may you have the help of the almighty to embrace as justly, and fulfil as cheerfully, the whole conception of your duties in the position to which it has pleased him to call you, and which perhaps has come upon you with somewhat the effect of a surprise; that may, however, have the healthy influence of a stimulus to action, and a help towards excellence. believe me ever, my dear son, your affectionate father. duties of a landowner in the second letter mr. gladstone informed w. h. gladstone that he had at chester that morning (oct. , ), along with mrs. gladstone, executed the deeds that made his son the proprietor of mr. gladstone's lands in flintshire, subject to the payment of annuities specified in the instrument of transfer; and he proceeds:-- i earnestly entreat that you will never, under any circumstances, mortgage any of your land. i consider that our law has offered to proprietors of land, under a narrow and mistaken notion of promoting their interests, dangerous facilities and inducements to this practice; and that its mischievous consequences have been so terribly felt (the word is strong, but hardly too strong) in the case of hawarden, that they ought to operate powerfully as a warning for the future. you are not the son of very wealthy parents; but the income of the estates (the hawarden estates and mine jointly), with your prudence and diligence, will enable you to go steadily forward in the work i have had in hand, and after a time will in the course of nature give considerable means for the purpose. i have much confidence in your prudence and intelligence; i have not the smallest fear that the rather unusual step i have taken will in any way weaken the happy union and harmony of our family; and i am sure you will always bear in mind the duties which attach to you as the head of those among whom you receive a preference, and as the landlord of a numerous tenantry, prepared to give you their confidence and affection. a third letter on the same topics followed three years after, and contains a narrative of the hawarden transactions already given in an earlier page of this chapter. _to w. h. gladstone._ _oct. , ._--when you first made known to me that you thought of retiring from the general election of this year, i received the intimation with mixed feelings. the question of money no doubt deserves, under existing circumstances, to be kept in view; still i must think twice before regarding this as the conclusive question. i conceive the balance has to be struck mainly between these two things; on the one hand, the duty of persons connected with the proprietorship of considerable estates in land, to assume freely the burden and responsibility of serving in parliament. on the other hand, the peculiar position of this combined estate, which in the first place is of a nature to demand from the proprietor an unusual degree of care and supervision, and which in the second place has been hit severely by recent depressions in corn and coal, which may be termed its two pillars. on the first point it may fairly be taken into view that in serving for twenty years you have stood four contested elections, a number i think decidedly beyond the average.... i will assume, for the present, that the election has passed without bringing you back to parliament. i should then consider that you had thus relieved yourself, at any rate for a period, from a serious call upon your time and mind, mainly with a view to the estate; and on this account, and because i have constituted you its legal master, i write this letter in order to place clearly before you some of the circumstances which invest your relation to it with a rather peculiar character. i premise a few words of a general nature. an enemy to entails, principally though not exclusively on social and domestic grounds, i nevertheless regard it as a very high duty to labour for the conservation of estates, and the permanence of the families in possession of them, as a principal source of our social strength, and as a large part of true conservatism, from the time when aeschylus wrote [greek: archaioploutôn despotôn pollê charis].[ ] but if their possession is to be prolonged by conduct, not by factitious arrangements, we must recognise this consequence, that conduct becomes subject to fresh demands and liabilities. in condemning laws which tie up the _corpus_, i say nothing against powers of charge, either by marriage settlement or otherwise, for wife and children, although questions of degree and circumstance may always have to be considered. but to mortgages i am greatly opposed. whether they ought or ought not to be restrained by law, i do not now inquire. but i am confident that few and rare causes only will warrant them, and that as a general rule they are mischievous, and in many cases, as to their consequences, anti-social and immoral. wherever they exist they ought to be looked upon as evils, which are to be warred upon and got rid of. one of our financial follies has been to give them encouragement by an excessively low tax; and one of the better effects of the income-tax is that it is a fine upon mortgaging. footnotes: [ ] for an account of the creditors' meeting held at birmingham on dec. , , see the _times_ of dec. , . [ ] to lord lyttelton, july , : 'i could not devote my entire life to it; and after my attention was only occasional.' [ ] this settlement followed the lines of a will made by sir stephen in , devising the estate to his brother for life, with the remainder to his brother's sons in tail male; and next to w. h. gladstone and his sons in tail male, and then to w. e. gladstone's other sons; and in default of male issue of w. e. gladstone, then to the eldest and other sons of lord lyttelton, and so forth in the ordinary form of an entailed estate. [ ] _agam._ , 'a great blessing are masters with, ancient riches.' chapter iii party evolution--new colonial policy (_ - _) i shall ever thankfully rejoice to have lived in a period when so blessed a change in our colonial policy was brought about; a change which is full of promise and profit to a country having such claims on mankind as england, but also a change of system, in which we have done no more than make a transition from misfortune and from evil, back to the rules of justice, of reason, of nature, and of common sense.--gladstone ( ). the fall of peel and the break up of the conservative party in led to a long train of public inconveniences. when lord john russell was forming his government, he saw peel, and proposed to include any of his party. peel thought such a junction under existing circumstances unadvisable, but said he should have no ground of complaint if lord john made offers to any of his friends; and he should not attempt to influence them either way.[ ] the action ended in a proposal of office to dalhousie, lincoln, and sidney herbert. nothing came of it, and the whigs were left to go on as they best could upon the narrow base of their own party. the protectionists gave them to understand that before bentinck and his friends made up their minds to turn peel out, they had decided that it would not be fair to put the whigs in merely to punish the betrayer, and then to turn round upon them. on the contrary, fair and candid support was what they intended. the conservative government had carried liberal measures; the liberal government subsisted on conservative declarations. such was this singular situation. peelites and protectionists the peelites, according to a memorandum of mr. gladstone's, from a number approaching in the corn law crisis of , were reduced at once by the election of to less than half. this number, added to the liberal force, gave free trade a very large majority: added to the protectionists it just turned the balance in their favour. so long as sir robert peel lived (down to june ) the entire body never voted with the protectionists. from the first a distinction arose among peel's adherents that widened, as time went on, and led to a long series of doubts, perturbations, manoeuvres. these perplexities lasted down to , and they constitute a vital chapter in mr. gladstone's political story. the distinction was in the nature of political things. many of those who had stood by peel's side in the day of battle, and who still stood by him in the curious morrow that combined victorious policy with personal defeat, were in more or less latent sympathy with the severed protectionists in everything except protection.[ ] differing from these, says mr. gladstone, others of the peelites 'whose opinions were more akin to those of the liberals, cherished, nevertheless, personal sympathies and lingering wishes which made them tardy, perhaps unduly tardy, in drawing towards that party. i think that this description applied in some degree to mr. sidney herbert, and in the same or a greater degree to myself.'[ ] shortly described, the peelites were all free trade conservatives, drawn by under-currents, according to temperament, circumstances, and all the other things that turn the balance of men's opinions, to antipodean poles of the political compass. 'we have no party,' mr. gladstone tells his father in june , 'no organisation, no whipper-in; and under these circumstances we cannot exercise any considerable degree of permanent influence as a body.' the leading sentiment that guided the proceedings of the whole body of peelites alike was a desire to give to protection its final quietus. while the younger members of the peel cabinet held that this could only be done in one way, namely, by forcing the protectionists into office where they must put their professions to the proof, peel himself, and graham with him, took a directly opposite view, and adopted as the leading principle of their action the vital necessity of keeping the protectionists out. this broad difference led to no diminution of personal intercourse or political attachment. certainly this was not due, says mr. gladstone, to any desire (at least in sir r. peel's mind) for, or contemplation of, coalition with the liberal party. it sprang entirely from a belief on his part that the chiefs of the protectionists would on their accession to power endeavour to establish a policy in accordance with the designation of their party, and would in so doing probably convulse the country. as long as lord george bentinck lived, with his iron will and strong convictions, this was a contingency that could not be overlooked. but he died in , and with his death it became a visionary dream. yet i remember well sir robert peel saying to me, when i was endeavouring to stir him up on some great fault (as i thought it), in the colonial policy of the ministers, 'i foresee a tremendous struggle in this country for the restoration of protection.' he would sometimes even threaten us with the possibility of being 'sent for' if a crisis should occur, which was a thing far enough from our limited conceptions. we were flatly at issue with him on this opinion. we even considered that as long as the protectionists had no responsibilities but those of opposition, and as there were two hundred and fifty seats in parliament to be won by chanting the woes of the land and promising redress, there would be protectionists in plenty to fill the left hand benches on those terms. relations with peel the question what it was that finally converted the country to free trade is not easy to answer. not the arguments of cobden, for in the summer of even his buoyant spirit perceived that some precipitating event, and not reasoning, would decide. his appeals had become, as disraeli wrote, both to nation and parliament a wearisome iteration, and he knew it. those arguments, it is true, had laid the foundations of the case in all their solidity and breadth. but until the emergency in ireland presented itself, and until prosperity had justified the experiment, peel was hardly wrong in reckoning on the possibility of a protectionist reaction. even the new prosperity and contentment of the country were capable of being explained by the extraordinary employment found in the creation of railways. as mr. gladstone said to a correspondent in the autumn of , 'the liberal proceedings of conservative governments, and the conservative proceedings of the new liberal administration, unite in pointing to the propriety of an abstinence from high-pitched opinions.' this was a euphemism. what it really meant was that outside of protection no high-pitched opinions on any other subject were available. the tenets of party throughout this embarrassed period from to were shifting, equivocal, and fluid. nor even in the period that followed did they very rapidly consolidate. mr. gladstone writes to his father (june , ):-- i will only add a few words about your desire that i should withdraw my confidence from peel. my feelings of admiration, attachment, and gratitude to him i do not expect to lose; and i agree with graham that he has done more and _suffered_ more than any other living statesman for the good of the people. but still i must confess with sorrow that the present course of events tends to separate and disorganise the small troop of the late government and their adherents. on the west indian question last year i, with others, spoke and voted against peel. on the navigation law this year i was saved from it only by the shipowners and their friends, who would not adopt a plan upon the basis i proposed. upon canada--a vital question--i again spoke and voted against him.[ ] and upon other colonial questions, yet most important to the government, i fear even this year the same thing may happen again. however painful, then, it may be to me to differ from him, it is plain that my conduct is not placed in his hands to govern. we find an illustration of the distractions of this long day of party metamorphosis, as well as an example of what was regarded as mr. gladstone's over-ingenuity, in one among other passing divergences between him and his chief. mr. disraeli brought forward a motion (feb. , ) of a very familiar kind, on the distress of the agricultural classes and the insecurity of relief of rural burdens. bright bluntly denied that there was a case in which the fee of land had been depreciated or rent been permanently lowered. graham said the mover's policy was simply a transfer of the entire poor rate to the consolidated fund, violating the principles of local control and inviting prodigal expenditure. fortune then, in mr. disraeli's own language, sent him an unexpected champion, by whom, according to him, graham was fairly unhorsed. the reader will hardly think so, for though the unexpected champion was mr. gladstone, he found no better reason for supporting the motion, than that its adoption would weaken the case for restoring protection. as if the landlords and farmers were likely to be satisfied with a small admission of a great claim, while all the rest of their claim was to be as bitterly contested as ever; with the transfer of a shabby couple of millions from their own shoulders to the consolidated fund, when they were clamouring that fourteen millions would hardly be enough. peel rose later, promptly took this plain point against his ingenious lieutenant, and then proceeded to one more of his elaborate defences, both of free trade and of his own motives and character. for the last time, as it was to happen, peel declared that for mr. gladstone he had 'the greatest respect and admiration.' 'i was associated with him in the preparation and conduct of those measures, to the desire of maintaining which he partly attributes the conclusion at which he has arrived. i derived from him the most zealous, the most effective assistance, and it is no small consolation to me to hear from him, although in this particular motion we arrive at different conclusions, that his confidence in the justice of those principles for which we in common contended remains entirely unshaken.'[ ] on his position on this particular battle, as well as on more general matter, a letter from mr. gladstone to his wife (feb. , ) sheds some light:--: _to mrs. gladstone._ indeed you do rise to very daring flights to-day, and suggest many things that flow from your own deep affection which, perhaps, disguises from you some things that are nevertheless real. i cannot form to myself any other conception of my duty in parliament except the simple one of acting independently, without faction, and without subserviency, on all questions as they arise. to the formation of a party, or even of the nucleus of a party, there are in my circumstances many obstacles. i have been talking over these matters with manning this morning, and i found him to be of the opinion which is deliberately mine, namely, that it is better that i should not be the head or leader even of my own contemporaries; that there are others of them whose position is less embarrassed, and more favourable and powerful, particularly from birth or wealth or both. three or four years ago, before i had much considered the matter, and while we still felt as if peel were our actual chief in politics, i did not think so, but perhaps thought or assumed that as, up to the then present time, i had discharged some prominent duties in office and in parliament, the first place might naturally fall to me when the other men were no longer in the van. but since we have become more disorganised, and i have had little sense of union except with the men of my own standing, and i have _felt_ more of the actual state of things, and how this or that would work in the house of commons, i have come to be satisfied in my own mind that, if there were a question whether there should be a leader and who it should be, it would be much better that either lincoln or herbert should assume that post, whatever share of the mere work might fall on me. i have viewed the matter very drily, and so perhaps you will think i have written on it. to turn then to what is more amusing, the battle of last night. after much consideration and conference with herbert (who has had an attack of bilious fever and could not come down, though much better, and soon, i hope, to be out again, but who agreed with me), i determined that i ought to vote last night with disraeli; and made up my mind accordingly, which involved saying why, at some period of the night. i was anxious to do it early, as i knew graham would speak on the other side, and did not wish any conflict even of reasoning with him. but he found i was going to speak, and i suppose may have had some similar wish. at any rate, he had the opportunity of following stafford who began the debate, as he was to take the other side. then there was an amusing scene between him and peel. both rose and stood in competition for the speaker's eye. the speaker had seen graham first, and he got it. but when he was speaking i felt i had no choice but to follow him. he made so very able a speech that this was no pleasant prospect; but i acquired the courage that proceeds from fear, according to a line from ariosto: _chi per virtù, chi per paura vale_ [one from valour, another from fear, is strong], and made my plunge when he sat down. but the speaker was not dreaming of me, and called a certain mr. scott who had risen at the same time. upon this i sat down again, and there was a great uproar because the house always anticipating more or less interest when men speak on opposite sides and in succession, who are usually together, called for me. so i was up again, and the speaker deserted scott and called me, and i had to make the best i could after graham. that is the end of the story, for there is nothing else worth saying. it was at the dinner hour from to ¾, and then i went home for a little quiet. peel again replied upon me, but i did not hear that part of him; and disraeli showed the marvellous talent that he has, for summing up with brilliancy, buoyancy, and comprehensiveness at the close of a debate. you have heard me speak of that talent before when i have been wholly against him; but never, last night or at any other time, would i go to him for conviction, but for the delight of the ear and the fancy. what a long story! partial withdrawal during the parliament that sat from to , mr. gladstone's political life was in partial abeyance. the whole burden of conducting the affairs of the hawarden estate fell upon him. for five years, he said, 'it constituted my daily and continuing care, while parliamentary action was only occasional. it supplied in fact my education for the office of finance minister.' the demands of church matters were anxious and at times absorbing. he warmly favoured and spoke copiously for the repeal of the navigation laws. he desired, however, to accept a recent overture from america which offered everything, even their vast coasting trade, upon a footing of absolute reciprocity. 'i gave notice,' he says, 'of a motion to that effect. but the government declined to accept it. i accordingly withdrew it. at this the tories were much put about. i, who had thought of things only and not taken persons into view, was surprised at their surprise. it did not occur to me that by my public notification i had given to the opposition generally something _like_ a vested interest in my proposal. i certainly should have done better never to have given my notice. this is one of the cases illustrating the extreme slowness of my political education.' the sentence about thinking of things only and leaving persons out, indicates a turn of mind that partly for great good, partly for some evil, never wholly disappeared. yet partially withdrawn as he was from active life in the house of commons, mr. gladstone was far too acute an observer to have any leanings to the delusive self-indulgence of temporary retirements. to his intimate friend, sir walter james, who seems to have nursed some such intention, he wrote at this very time (feb. , ):-- the way to make parliament profitable is to deal with it as a calling, and if it be a calling it can rarely be advantageous to suspend the pursuit of it for years together with an uncertainty, too, as to its resumption. you have not settled in the country, nor got your other vocation open and your line clear before you. the purchase of an estate is a very serious matter, which you may not be able to accomplish to your satisfaction except after the lapse of years. it would be more satisfactory to drop parliament with another path open to you already, than in order to seek about for one.... i think with you that the change in the position of the conservative party makes public life still more painful where it was painful before, and less enjoyable, where it was enjoyable; but i do not think it remains less a duty to work through the tornado and to influence for good according to our means the new forms into which, political combination may be cast. in northcote speaks of mr. gladstone as the 'patron saint' of the coal-whippers, who, as a manifestation of their gratitude for the act which he had induced parliament to pass for them, offered their services to put down the chartist mob. both mr. gladstone and his brother john served as special constables during the troubled days of april. in his diary he records on april , 'on duty from to ¾ p.m.' ii views of colonial government when mr. gladstone became colonial secretary at the end of , he was described as a strong accession to the progressive or theorising section of the cabinet--the men, that is to say, who applied to the routine of government, as they found it, critical principles and improved ideals. if the church had been the first of mr. gladstone's commanding interests and free trade the second, the turn of the colonies came next. he had not held the seals of the colonial department for more than a few months, but to any business, whatever it might be, that happened to kindle his imagination or work on his reflection, he never failed to bend his whole strength. he had sat upon a committee in - on native affairs at the cape, and there he had come into full view of the costly and sanguinary nature of that important side of the colonial question. molesworth mentions the 'prominent and valuable' part taken by him in the committee on waste lands ( ). he served on committees upon military expenditure in the colonies, and upon colonial accounts. he was a member of the important committee of on the colonisation of new zealand, and voted in the minority for the draft report of the chairman, containing among other things the principle of the reservation of all unoccupied lands to the crown.[ ] between and he spoke frequently on colonial affairs. when he was secretary of state in , questions arose upon the legal status of colonial clergy, full of knotty points as to which he wrote minutes; questions upon education in penal settlements, and so forth, in which he interested himself, not seldom differing from stephen, the chief of the staff in the office. he composed an argumentative despatch on the commercial relations between canada and the mother country, endeavouring to wean the canadian assembly from its economic delusions. it was in effect little better than if written in water. he made the mistake of sending out despatches in favour of resuming on a limited scale the transportation of convicts to australia, a practice effectually condemned by the terrible committee eight years before. opinion in australia was divided, robert lowe leading the opposition,[ ] and the experiment was vetoed by mr. gladstone's successor at the colonial office. he exposed himself to criticism and abuse by recalling a colonial governor for inefficiency in his post; imprudently in the simplicity of his heart he added to the recall a private letter stating rumours against the governor's personal character. these he had taken on trust from the bishop of the diocese and others. the bishop left him in the lurch; the recall was one affair, the personal rumours were another; nimble partizanship confused the two, to the disadvantage of the secretary of state; the usual clatter that attends any important personage in a trivial scrape ensued; mr. gladstone's explanations, simple and veracious as the sunlight in their substance, were over-skilful in form, and half a dozen blunt, sound sentences would have stood him in far better stead. 'there was on my part in this matter,' he says in a fugitive scrap upon it, 'a singular absence of worldly wisdom.'[ ] to colonial policy at this stage i discern no particular contribution, and the matters that i have named are now well covered with the moss of kindly time. almost from the first he was convinced that some leading maxims of downing street were erroneous. he had, from his earliest parliamentary days, regarded our colonial connection as one of duty rather than as one of advantage. when he had only been four years in the house he took a firm stand against pretensions in canada to set their assembly on an equal footing with the imperial parliament at home.[ ] on the other hand, while he should always be glad to see parliament inclined to make large sacrifices for the purpose of maintaining the colonies, he conceived that nothing could be more ridiculous, or more mistaken, than to suppose that great britain had anything to gain by maintaining that union in opposition to the deliberate and permanent conviction of the people of the colonies themselves.[ ] he did not at all undervalue what he called the mere political connection, but he urged that the root of such a connection lay in the natural affection of the colonies for the land from which they sprang, and their spontaneous desire to reproduce its laws and the spirit of its institutions. from first to last he always declared the really valuable tie with a colony to be the moral and the social tie.[ ] the master key with him was local freedom, and he was never weary of protest against the fallacy of what was called 'preparing' these new communities for freedom: teaching a colony, like an infant, by slow degrees to walk, first putting it into long clothes, then into short clothes. a governing class was reared up for the purposes which the colony ought to fulfil itself; and, as the climax of the evil, a great military expenditure was maintained, which became a premium on war. our modern colonists, he said, after quitting the mother country, instead of keeping their hereditary liberties, go out to australia or new zealand to be deprived of these liberties, and then perhaps, after fifteen or twenty or thirty years' waiting, have a portion given back to them, with magnificent language about the liberality of parliament in conceding free institutions. during the whole of that interval they are condemned to hear all the miserable jargon about fitting them for the privileges thus conferred; while, in point of fact, every year and every month during which they are retained under the administration of a despotic government, renders them less fit for free institutions. 'no consideration of money ought to induce parliament to sever the connection between any one of the colonies and the mother country,' though it was certain that the cost of the existing system was both large and unnecessary. but the real mischief was not here, he said. our error lay in the attempt to hold the colonies by the mere exercise of power.[ ] even for the church in the colonies he rejected the boon of civil preference as being undoubtedly a fatal gift,--'nothing but a source of weakness to the church herself and of discord and difficulty to the colonial communities, in the soil of which i am anxious to see the church of england take a strong and healthy root.'[ ] he acknowledged how much he had learned from molesworth's speeches,[ ] and neither of them sympathised with the opinion expressed by mr. disraeli in those days, 'these wretched colonies will all be independent too in a few years, and are a millstone round our necks.'[ ] nor did mr. gladstone share any such sentiments as those of molesworth who, in the canadian revolt of the winter of , actually invoked disaster upon the british arms.[ ] the two schools in their views of colonial policy mr. gladstone was in substantial accord with radicals of the school of cobden, hume, and molesworth. he does not seem to have joined a reforming association founded by these eminent men among others in , but its principles coincided with his own:--local independence, an end of rule from downing street, the relief of the mother country from the whole expense of the local government of the colonies, save for defence from aggression by a foreign power. parliament was, as a rule, so little moved by colonial concerns that, according to mr. gladstone, in nine cases out of ten it was impossible for the minister to secure parliamentary attention, and in the tenth case it was only obtained by the casual operations of party spirit. lord glenelg's case showed that colonial secretaries were punished when they got into bad messes, and his passion for messes was punished, in the language of the journals of the day, by the life of a toad under a harrow until he was worried out of office. there was, however, no force in public opinion to prevent the minister from going wrong if he liked; still less to prevent him from going right if he liked. popular feeling was coloured by no wish to give up the colonies, but people doubted whether the sum of three millions sterling a year for colonial defence and half a million more for civil charges, was not excessive, and they thought the return by no means commensurate with the outlay.[ ] in discussions on bills effecting the enlargement of australian constitutions, mr. gladstone's views came out in clear contrast with the old school. 'spoke ½ hours on the australian colonies bill,' he records (may , ), 'to an indifferent, inattentive house. but it is necessary to speak these truths of colonial policy even to unwilling ears.' in the proceedings on the constitution for new zealand, he delivered a speech justly described as a pattern of close argument and classic oratory.[ ] lord john russell, adverting to the concession of an elective chamber and responsible government, said that one by one in this manner, all the shields of our authority were thrown away, and the monarchy was left exposed in the colonies to the assaults of democracy. 'now i confess,' said mr. gladstone, in a counter minute, 'that the nominated council and the independent executive were, not shields of authority, but sources of weakness, disorder, disunion, and disloyalty.'[ ] his whole view his whole view he set out at chester[ ] a little later than the time at which we now stand:-- ... experience has proved that if you want to strengthen the connection between the colonies and this country--if you want to see british law held in respect and british institutions adopted and beloved in the colonies, never associate with them the hated name of force and coercion exercised by us, at a distance, over their rising fortunes. govern them upon a principle of freedom. defend them against aggression from without. regulate their foreign relations. these things belong to the colonial connection. but of the duration of that connection let them be the judges, and i predict that if you leave them the freedom of judgment it is hard to say when the day will come when they will wish to separate from the great name of england. depend upon it, they covet a share in that great name. you will find in that feeling of theirs the greatest security for the connection. make the name of england yet more and more an object of desire to the colonies. their natural disposition is to love and revere the name of england, and this reverence is by far the best security you can have for their continuing, not only to be subjects of the crown, not only to render it allegiance, but to render it that allegiance which is the most precious of all--the allegiance which proceeds from the depths of the heart of man. you have seen various colonies, some of them lying at the antipodes, offering to you their contributions to assist in supporting the wives and families of your soldiers, the heroes that have fallen in the war. this, i venture to say, may be said, without exaggeration, to be among the first fruits of that system upon which, within the last twelve or fifteen years, you have founded a rational mode of administering the affairs of your colonies without gratuitous interference. as i turn over these old minutes, memoranda, despatches, speeches, one feels a curious irony in the charge engendered by party heat or malice, studiously and scandalously careless of facts, that mr. gladstone's policy aimed at getting rid of the colonies. as if any other policy than that which he so ardently enforced could possibly have saved them. iii a painful incident in mr. gladstone was concerned in a painful incident that befel one of his nearest friends. nobody of humane feeling would now willingly choose either to speak or hear of it, but it finds a place in books even to this day; it has been often misrepresented; and it is so characteristic of mr. gladstone, and so entirely to his honour, that it cannot be wholly passed over. fortunately a few sentences will suffice. his friend's wife had been for some time travelling abroad, and rumours by and by reached england of movements that might be no more than indiscreet, but might be worse. in consequence of these rumours, and after anxious consultations between the husband and three or four important members of his circle, it was thought best that some one should seek access to the lady, and try to induce her to place herself in a position of security. the further conclusion reached was that mr. gladstone and manning were the two persons best qualified by character and friendship for this critical mission. manning was unable to go, but mr. gladstone at the earnest solicitation of his friend, and also of his own wife who had long been much attached to the person missing, set off alone for a purpose, as he conscientiously believed, alike friendly to both parties and in the interests of both. i have called the proceeding characteristic, for it was in fact exactly like him to be ready at the call of friendship, and in the hope of preventing a terrible disaster, cheerfully to undertake a duty detestable to anybody and especially detestable to him; and again, it was like him to regard the affair with an optimistic simplicity that made him hopeful of success, where to ninety-nine men of a hundred the thought of success would have seemed absurd. to no one was it a greater shock than to him when, after a journey across half europe, he suddenly found himself the discoverer of what it was inevitable that he should report to his friend at home. in the course of the subsequent proceedings on the bill for a divorce brought into the house of lords, he was called as a witness to show that in this case the person claiming the bill had omitted no means that duty or affection could suggest for averting the calamity with which his hearth was threatened. it was quite untrue, as he had occasion to tell the house of commons in , that he had anything whatever to do with the collection of evidence, or that the evidence given by him was the evidence, or any part of it, on which the divorce was founded. the only thing to be added is the judgment of sir robert peel upon a transaction, with all the details of which he was particularly well acquainted:-- _aug. , ._ my dear gladstone,--i am deeply concerned to hear the result of that mission which, with unparalleled kindness and generosity, you undertook in the hope of mitigating the affliction of a friend, and conducing possibly to the salvation of a wife and mother. your errand has not been a fruitless one, for it affords the conclusive proof that everything that the forbearance and tender consideration of a husband and the devotion of a friend could suggest as the means of averting the necessity for appealing to the law for such protection as it can afford, had been essayed and essayed with the utmost delicacy. this proof is valuable so far as the world and the world's opinion is concerned--much more valuable as it respects the heart and conscience of those who have been the active agents in a work of charity. i can offer you nothing in return for that which you undertook with the promptitude of affectionate friendship, under circumstances which few would not have considered a valid excuse if not a superior obligation, but the expression of my sincere admiration for truly virtuous and generous conduct.--ever, my dear gladstone, most faithfully yours, robert peel. footnotes: [ ] _the halifax papers._ [ ] among them were such men as wilson patten, general peel, mr. corry, lord stanhope, lord hardinge, most of whom in days to come took their places in conservative administrations. [ ] memo, of . [ ] a bill to indemnify the inhabitants of lower canada, many of whom had taken part in the rebellion of - , for the destruction and injury of their property. mr. gladstone strongly opposed any compensation being given to canadian, rebels.--_hansard_, june , . [ ] _hansard_, feb. , , p. . [ ] garnett's _edward gibbon wakefield_, p. . see also p. . [ ] see _the gladstone colony_ by j. f. hogan, m.p., with prefatory note by mr. gladstone, april , , and the chapter in lord sherbrooke's _life_, 'mr. gladstone's penal colony.' [ ] stafford northcote published an effective vindication in a 'letter to a friend,' . [ ] speech on affairs of lower canada, mar. , . [ ] on government of canada bill, may , . [ ] see his evidence before a select committee on colonial military expenditure, june , . [ ] see speech on australian colonies bill, june , , colonial administration, april , , on the australian colonies, feb. , , march , , and may , . on the kaffir war, april , . on the new zealand government bill, may , . also speech on scientific colonisation before the st. martin in the fields association for the propagation of the gospel in foreign parts, march , . [ ] on the colonial bishops bill, april , . [ ] wakefield was their common teacher. in a letter as secretary of state to sir george grey, then governor of new zealand (march ), , he states how the signal ability of wakefield and his devotion to every subject connected with the foundation of colonies has influenced him. [ ] to lord malmesbury, aug. , . _memoirs of an ex-minister_, by the earl of malmesbury, i. p. . [ ] 'should a war take place, i must declare that i should more deplore success on the part of this country than defeat; and though as an english citizen i could not but lament the disasters of my countrymen, still it would be to me a less poignant matter of regret than a success which would offer to the world the disastrous and disgraceful spectacle of a free and mighty nation succeeding by force of arms in putting down and tyrannising over a free though feebler community struggling in defence of its just rights.... that our dominion in america should now be brought to a conclusion, i for one most sincerely desire, but i desire it should terminate in peace and friendship. great would be the advantages of an amicable separation of the two countries, and great would be the honour this country would reap in consenting to such a step.' mr. gladstone spoke the same evening in an opposite sense.--_hans._ , p. , dec. , . walpole, _hist. eng._, iii. p. . [ ] see, for instance, _spectator_, jan. , ; _times_, june , . in it was estimated that colonial military expenditure was between three and four millions a year, about nine-tenths of which was borne by british taxpayers, and one-tenth by colonial contribution. [ ] _edward gibbon wakefield_, p. . the reader will find an extract in the appendix. 'the new zealand government bill of , with all its errors and complications, was a grand step in the recovery of our old colonial policy; but perhaps its chief contribution to the re-establishment of constitutional views was mr. gladstone's speech on its second reading.'--right hon. c. b. adderley, _review of earl grey's colonial policy of lord john russell's administration_, p. . [ ] see mr. gladstone's speech on introducing the government of ireland bill, april , . [ ] nov. , . see also two speeches of extraordinary fervour and exaltation, one at mold (sept. , ), and the other at liverpool the same evening, both in support of the claims of societies for foreign missions. chapter iv death of sir robert peel (_ _) famous men--whose merit it is to have joined their name to events that were brought onwards by the course of things.--paul-louis courier. lord palmerston it was now that lord palmerston strode to a front place--one of the two conspicuous statesmen with whom, at successive epochs in his career, mr. gladstone found himself in different degrees of energetic antagonism. this was all the stiffer and more deeply rooted, for being in both cases as much a moral antagonism as it was political. after a long spell of peace, earnestness, and political economy, the nation was for a time in a mood for change, and palmerston convinced it that he was the man for its mood. he had his full share of shrewd common sense, yet was capable of infinite recklessness. he was good-tempered and a man of bluff cheerful humour. but to lose the game was intolerable, and it was noticed that with him the next best thing to success was quick retaliation on a victorious adversary--a trait of which he was before long to give the world an example that amused it. yet he had no capacity for deep and long resentments. like so many of his class, he united passion for public business to sympathy with social gaiety and pleasure. diplomatists found him firm, prompt, clean-cut, but apt to be narrow, teasing, obstinate, a prisoner to his own arguments, and wanting in the statesman's first quality of seeing the whole and not merely the half. metternich described him as an audacious and passionate marksman, ready to make arrows out of any wood. he was a sanguine man who always believed what he desired; a confident man who was sure that he must be right in whatever he chose to fear. on the economic or the moral side of national life, in the things that make a nation rich and the things that make it scrupulous and just, he had only limited perception and moderate faith. where peel was strong and penetrating, palmerston was weak and purblind. he regarded bright and cobden as displeasing mixtures of the bagman and the preacher. in he had brought us within an ace of war with france. disputes about an american frontier were bringing us at the same period within an ace of war with the united states. when peel and aberdeen got this quarrel into more promising shape, palmerston characteristically taunted them with capitulation. lord grey refused help in manufacturing a whig government in december , because he was convinced that at that moment palmerston at the foreign office meant an american war. when he was dismissed by lord john russell in a foreign ruler on an insecure throne observed to an englishman, 'this is a blow to me, for so long as lord palmerston remained at the foreign office, it was certain that you could not procure a single ally in europe.' yet all this policy of high spirits and careless dictatorial temper had its fine side. with none of the grandeur of the highest heroes of his school--of chatham, carteret, pitt--without a spark of their heroic fire or their brilliant and steadfast glow, palmerston represented, not always in their best form, some of the most generous instincts of his countrymen. a follower of canning, he was the enemy of tyrants and foreign misrule. he had a healthy hatred of the absolutism and reaction that were supreme at vienna in ; and if he meddled in many affairs that were no affairs of ours, at least he intervened for freedom. the action that made him hated at vienna and petersburg won the confidence of his countrymen. they saw him in belgium and holland, spain, italy, greece, portugal, the fearless champion of constitutions and nationality. of aberdeen, who had been peel's foreign minister, it was said that at home he was a liberal without being an enthusiast; abroad he was a zealot, in the sense most opposed to palmerston. so, of palmerston it could be said that he was conservative at home and revolutionist abroad. if such a word can ever be applied to such a thing, his patriotism was sometimes not without a tinge of vulgarity, but it was always genuine and sincere. this masterful and expert personage was the ruling member of the weak whig government now in office, and he made sensible men tremble. still, said graham to peel, 'it is a choice of dangers and evils, and i am disposed to think that palmerston and his foreign policy are less to be dreaded than stanley and a new corn law.'[ ] in a debate of extraordinary force and range in the summer of , the two schools of foreign policy found themselves face to face. palmerston defended his various proceedings with remarkable amplitude, power, moderation, and sincerity. he had arrayed against him, besides mr. gladstone, the greatest men in the house--peel, disraeli, cobden, graham, bright--but in his last sentence the undaunted minister struck a note that made triumph in the division lobbies sure. for five hours a crowded house hung upon his lips, and he then wound up with a fearless challenge of a verdict on the question, 'whether, as the roman in days of old held himself free from indignity when he could say _civis romanus sum_, so also a british subject, in whatever land he may be, shall feel confident that the watchful eye and the strong arm of england will protect him against injustice and wrong?' don pacifico the roman citizen was in this instance a mediterranean jew who chanced to be a british subject. his house at athens had for some reason or other been sacked by the mob; he presented a demand for compensation absurdly fraudulent on the face of it. the greek government refused to pay. england despatched the fleet to collect this and some other petty accounts outstanding. russia and france proposed their good offices; the mediation of france was accepted; then a number of greek vessels were peremptorily seized, and france in umbrage recalled her ambassador from london. well might peel, in the last speech ever delivered by him in the house of commons, describe such a course of action as consistent neither with the dignity nor the honour of england. the debate travelled far beyond don pacifico, and it stands to this day as a grand classic exposition in parliament of the contending views as to the temper and the principles on which nations in our modern era should conduct their dealings with one another. it was in the greek debate of , which involved the censure or acquittal of lord palmerston, that i first meddled in speech with foreign affairs, to which i had heretofore paid the slightest possible attention. lord palmerston's speech was a marvel for physical strength, for memory, and for lucid and precise exposition of his policy as a whole. a very curious incident on this occasion evinced the extreme reluctance of sir r. peel to appear in any ostensible relation with disraeli. voting with him was disagreeable enough, but this with his strong aversion to the palmerstonian policy peel could not avoid; besides which, it was known that lord palmerston would carry the division. disraeli, not yet fully recognised as leader of the protectionists, was working hard for that position, and assumed the manners of it, with beresford, a kind of whipper-in, for his right-hand man. after the palmerston speech he asked me on the next night whether i would undertake to answer it. i said that i was incompetent to do it, from want of knowledge and otherwise. he answered that in that case he must do it. as the debate was not to close that evening, this left another night free for peel when he might speak and _not_ be in disraeli's _neighbourhood_. i told peel what disraeli had arranged. he was very well satisfied. but, shortly afterwards, i received from disraeli a message through beresford, that he had changed his mind, and would not speak until the next and closing night, when peel would have to speak also. i had to make known to peel this alteration. he received the tidings with extreme annoyance: thinking, i suppose, that if the two spoke on the same side and in the late hours just before the division it would convey the idea of some concert or co-operation between them, which it was evident that he was most anxious to avoid. but he could not help himself. disraeli's speech was a very poor one, almost like a 'cross,' and peel's was prudent but otherwise not one of his best.[ ] mr. gladstone had not in at all acquired such full parliamentary ascendency as belonged to the hardy veteran confronting him; still less had he such authority as the dethroned leader who sat by his side. yet the house felt that, in the image of an ancient critic, here was no cistern of carefully collected rain-water, but the bounteous flow of a living spring. it felt all the noble elevation of an orator who transported them apart from the chicane of diplomatic chanceries, above the narrow expediencies of the particular case, though of these too he proved himself a thoroughly well-armed master, into a full view of the state system of europe and of the principles and relations on which the fabric is founded. now for the first time he made the appeal, so often repeated by him, to the common sentiment of the civilised world, to the general and fixed convictions of mankind, to the principles of brotherhood among nations, to their sacred independence, to the equality in their rights of the weak with the strong. such was his language. 'when we are asking for the maintenance of the rights that belong to our fellow-subjects resident in greece,' he said, '_let us do as we would be done by_; let us pay all respect to a feeble state and to the infancy of free institutions, which we should desire and should exact from others towards their authority and strength.' mr. gladstone had not read history for nothing, he was not a christian for nothing. he knew the evils that followed in europe the breakdown of the great spiritual power--once, though with so many defects, a controlling force over violence, anarchy, and brute wrong. he knew the necessity for some substitute, even a substitute so imperfect as the law of nations. 'you may call the rule of nations vague and untrustworthy,' he exclaimed; 'i find in it, on the contrary, a great and noble monument of human wisdom, founded on the combined dictates of sound experience, a precious inheritance bequeathed to us by the generations that have gone before us, and a firm foundation on which we must take care to build whatever it may be our part to add to their acquisitions, if indeed we wish to promote the peace and welfare of the world.' exalts the law of nations the government triumphed by a handsome majority, and mr. gladstone, as was his wont, consoled himself for present disappointment by hopes for a better future. 'the majority of the house of commons, i am convinced,' he wrote to guizot, then in permanent exile from power, 'was with us in heart and in conviction; but fear of inconveniences attending the removal of a ministry which there is no regularly organised opposition ready to succeed, carried the day beyond all authoritative doubt, against the merits of the particular question. it remains to hope that the demonstration which has been made may not be without its effect upon the tone of lord palmerston's future proceedings.' the conflict thus opened between mr. gladstone and lord palmerston in went on in many changing phases, with some curious vicissitudes and inversions. they were sometimes frank foes, occasionally partners in opposition, and for a long while colleagues in office. never at any time were they in thought or feeling congenial.[ ] on the afternoon of the day following this debate, peel was thrown from his horse and received injuries from which he died three days later (july ), in the sixty-third year of his age, and after forty-one years of parliamentary life. when the house met the next day, hume, as one of its oldest members, at once moved the adjournment, and it fell to mr. gladstone to second him. he was content with a few words of sorrow and with the quotation of scott's moving lines to the memory of pitt:-- 'now is the stately column broke, the beacon-light is quench'd in smoke, the trumpet's silver sound is still, the warder silent on the hill!' these beautiful words were addressed, said mr. gladstone, 'to a man great indeed, but not greater than sir robert peel.' 'great as he was to the last,' wrote mr. gladstone in one of his notes in , 'i must consider the closing years of his life as beneath those that had preceded them. his enormous energies were in truth so lavishly spent upon the gigantic work of government, which he conducted after a fashion quite different,--i mean as to the work done in the workshop of his own brain,--from preceding and succeeding prime ministers, that their root was enfeebled, though in its feebleness it had more strength probably remaining than fell to the lot of any other public man.' peel may at least divide with walpole the laurels of our greatest peace minister to that date--the man who presided over beneficent and necessary changes in national polity, that in hands less strong and less skilful might easily have opened the sluices of civil confusion. and when we think of walpole's closing days, and of the melancholy end of most other ruling spirits in our political history--of the mortifications and disappointments in which, from chatham and pitt down to canning and o'connell, they have quitted the glorious field--peel must seem happy in the manner and moment of his death. daring and prosperous legislative exploits had marked his path. his authority in parliament never stood higher, his honour in the country never stood so high. his last words had been a commanding appeal for temperance in national action and language, a solemn plea for peace as the true aim to set before a powerful people. to his father mr. gladstone wrote:-- _july , ._--i thought sir r. peel looked extremely feeble during the debate last week. i mean as compared with what he usually is. i observed that he slept during much of lord palmerston's speech, that he spoke with little physical energy, and next day, saturday, in the forenoon i thought he looked very ill at a meeting which, in common with him, i had to attend. this is all that i know and that is worth telling on a subject which is one of deep interest to all classes, from the queen downwards. i was at the palace last night and she spoke to me with great earnestness about it. as to the division i shall say little; it is an unsatisfactory subject. the majority of the government was made up out of our ranks, partly by people staying away and partly by some twenty who actually voted with the government. by far the greater portion, i am sorry to say, of both sets of persons were what are called peelites, and not protectionists. the fact is, that if all calling themselves liberal be put on one side, and all calling themselves conservatives on the other, the house of commons is as nearly as possible _equally_ divided. questions of leadership i have already described how mr. gladstone thought it a great mistake in peel to resist any step that might put upon the protectionists the responsibilities of office. in a note composed a quarter of a century later ( ), he says: 'this i think was not only a safe experiment (after ) but a vital necessity. i do not, therefore, think, and i did not think, that the death of sir r. peel at the time when it occurred was a great calamity so far as the chief question of our internal politics was concerned. in other respects it was indeed great; in some of them it may almost be called immeasurable. the moral atmosphere of the house of commons has never since his death been quite the same, and is now widely different. he had a kind of authority there that was possessed by no one else. lord john might in some respects compete with, in some even excel, him; but to him, as leader of the liberals, the loss of such an opponent was immense. it is sad to think what, with his high mental force and noble moral sense, he might have done for us in after years. even the afterthought of knowledge of such a man and of intercourse with him, is a high privilege and a precious possession.' an interesting word or two upon his own position at this season occur in a letter to his father (july , ):-- the letter in which you expressed a desire to be informed by me, so far as i might be able to speak, whether there was anything in the rumours circulated with regard to my becoming the leader in parliament of the conservative party, did not come to my hands until yesterday. the fact is, that there is nothing whatever in those rumours beyond mere speculation on things supposed probable or possible, and they must pass for what they are worth in that character only. people feel, i suppose, that sir robert peel's life and continuance in parliament were of themselves powerful obstacles to the general reorganisation of the conservative party, and as there is great annoyance and dissatisfaction with the present state of things, and a widely spread feeling that it is not conducive to the public interests, there arises in men's minds an expectation that the party will be in some manner reconstituted. i share in the feeling that it is desirable; but i see very great difficulties in the way, and do not at present see how they are to be effectually overcome. the house of commons is almost equally divided, indeed, between those professing liberal and those professing conservative politics; but the late division [don pacifico] showed how ill the latter could hang together, even when all those who had any prominent station among them in any sense were united.... cornewall lewis wrote,'upon gladstone the death of peel will have the effect of removing a weight from a spring--he will come forward more and take more part in discussion. the general opinion is that gladstone will renounce his free trade opinions, and become leader of the protectionists. i expect neither the one event nor the other.'[ ] more interesting still is something told by the duke of buccleuch. 'very shortly,' said the duke in , 'before sir robert peel's death, he expressed to me his belief that sidney herbert or gladstone would one day be premier; but peel said with sarcasm, if the hour comes, disraeli must be made governor-general of india. he will be a second ellenborough.'[ ] footnotes: [ ] parker, iii. p. . [ ] fragment of . [ ] mr. gladstone's don pacifico speech is still not quite out of date.--june , _hansard_, . [ ] _letters_, p. . [ ] dean boyle's _recollections_, p. . chapter v gorham case--secession of friends (_ - _) it is not by the state that man can be regenerated, and the terrible woes of this darkened world effectually dealt with.--gladstone ( ). the test case of toleration at the moment of the oxford election of was the admission of the jews to sit in parliament, and in the last month of mr. gladstone astonished his father, as well as a great host of his political supporters, by voting with the government in favour of the removal of jewish disabilities. no ordinary degree of moral courage was needed for such a step by the member for such a constituency. 'it is a painful decision to come to,' he writes in his diary (dec. ), 'but the only substantive doubt it raises is about remaining in parliament, and it is truly and only the church which holds me there, though she may seem to some to draw me from it.' pusey wrote to him in rather violent indignation, for mr. gladstone was the only man of that school who learned, or was able to learn, what the modern state is or is going to be. this was the third phase, so gladstone argued, of an irresistible movement. the tory party had fought first for an anglican parliament, second they fought for a protestant parliament, and now they were fighting for a christian parliament. parliament had ceased to be anglican and it had ceased to be protestant, and the considerations that supported these two earlier operations thenceforth condemned the exclusion from full civil rights of those who were not christians. to his father he explained (december , ): 'after much consideration, prolonged indeed i may say for the last two years and a half, i made up my mind to support lord john russell's bill for the admission of the jews. i spoke to this effect last night. it is with reluctance that i give the vote, but i am convinced that after the civil privileges we have given them already (including the magistracy and the franchise), and after the admission we have already conceded to unitarians who refuse the whole of the most vital doctrines of the gospel, we cannot compatibly with entire justice and fairness refuse to admit them.' his father, who was sometimes exacting, complained of concealment. mr. gladstone replied that he regarded the question as one of difficulty, and he therefore took as much time as he possibly could for reflection upon it, though he never intended to run it as close as it actually came. 'i know,' he says, in a notable sentence, 'it seems strange to you that i should find it necessary to hold my judgment in suspense on a question which seemed to many so plain; _but suspense is of constant occurrence in public life upon very many kinds of questions, and without it errors and inconsistencies would be much more frequent than even they are now_.' this did not satisfy his father. 'i shall certainly read your speech to find some fair apology for your vote: good and satisfactory reason i do not expect. i cannot doubt you thought you withheld your opinions from me under the undecided state you were in, without any intention whatever to annoy me. there is, however, a natural closeness in your disposition, with a reserve towards those who may think they may have some claim to your confidence, probably increased by official habits, which it may perhaps in some cases be worth your inquiring into.' the sentence above about suspense is a key to many misunderstandings of mr. gladstone's character. his stouthearted friend thomas acland had warned him, for the sake of his personal influence, to be sure to deal with the jew question on broad grounds, without refining, and without dragging out some recondite view not seen by common men, 'in short, to be _as little as possible like maurice, and more like the duke of wellington_.' 'my speech,' mr. gladstone answered, 'was most unsatisfactory in many ways, but i do not believe that it mystified or puzzled anybody.' jewish disabilities the following year he received the honour of a d.c.l. degree at oxford. mrs. gladstone was there, he tells his father, and 'was well satisfied with my reception, though it is not to be denied that my vote upon the jew bill is upon the whole unpalatable there, and they had been provoked by a paragraph in the _globe_ newspaper stating that i was to have the degree, and that this made it quite clear that the minority was not unfavourable to the jew bill.' _july ._--i went off after breakfast to oxford. joined the v.-c. and doctors in the hall at wadham, and went in procession to the divinity schools provided with a white neckcloth by sir r. inglis, who seized me at the station in horror and alarm when he saw me with a black one. in due time we were summoned to the theatre where my degree had been granted with some _non placets_ but with no scrutiny. the scene remarkable to the eye and mind, so pictorial and so national. there was great tumult about me, the hisses being obstinate, and the _fautores_ also very generous. 'gladstone and the jew bill' came sometimes from the gallery, sometimes more favouring sounds. ii after the whig government was formed in , mr. gladstone expressed himself as having little fear that they could do much harm, 'barring church patronage.' he was soon justified in his own eyes in this limitation of his confidence, for the next year dr. hampden was made a bishop.[ ] this was a rude blow both to the university which had eleven years before pronounced him heretical, and to the bishops who now bitterly and fervidly remonstrated. grave points of law were raised, but mr. gladstone, though warmly reprobating the prime minister's recommendation of a divine so sure to raise the hurricane, took no leading part in the strife that followed. 'never in my opinion,' he said to his father (feb. , ), 'was a firebrand more wantonly and gratuitously cast.' it was an indication the more of a determination to substitute a sort of general religion for the doctrines of the church. the next really marking incident after the secession of newman was a decision of a court of law, known as the gorham judgment. this and the preferment of hampden to his bishopric produced the second great tide of secession. 'were we together,' mr. gladstone writes to manning at the end of (december ), 'i should wish to converse with you from sunrise to sunset on the gorham case. it is a stupendous issue. perhaps they will evade it. on abstract grounds this would be still more distasteful than a decision of the state against a catholic doctrine. but what i feel is that as a body we are not ready yet for the last alternatives. more years must elapse from the secession of newman and the group of secessions which, following or preceding, belonged to it. a more composed and settled state of the public mind in regard to our relations with the church of rome must supervene. there must be more years of faithful _work_ for the church to point to in argument, and to grow into her habits. and besides all these very needful conditions of preparation for a crisis, i want to see the question more fully answered, what will the state of its own free and good will do, or allow to be done, for the church while yet in alliance with it?' the gorham case was this: a bishop refused to institute a clergyman to a vicarage in the west of england, on the ground of unsound doctrine upon regeneration by baptism. the clergyman sought a remedy in the ecclesiastical court of arches. the judge decided against him. the case then came on appeal before the judicial committee of the privy council, and here a majority with the two archbishops as assessors reversed the decision of the court below. the bishop, one of the most combative of the human race, flew to westminster hall, tried move upon move in queen's bench, exchequer, common pleas; declared that his archbishop had abused his high commission; and even actually renounced communion with him. but the sons of zeruiah were too hard. the religious world in both of its two standing camps was convulsed, for if gorham had lost the day it would or might have meant the expulsion from the establishment of calvinists and evangelicals bag and baggage. 'i am old enough,' said the provost of oriel, 'to remember three baptismal controversies, and this is the first in which one party has tried to eject the other from the church.' on the other hand the sacramental wing found it intolerable that fundamental doctrines of the church should be settled under the veil of royal supremacy, by a court possessed of no distinctly church character. the judgment the judgment was declared on march ( ), and manning is made to tell a vivid story about going to mr. gladstone's house, finding him ill with influenza, sitting down by his bedside and telling him what the court had done; whereon mr. gladstone started up, threw out his arms and exclaimed that the church of england was gone unless it relieved itself by some authoritative act. a witty judge once observed in regard to the practice of keeping diaries, that it was wise to keep diary enough at any rate to prove an _alibi_. according to mr. gladstone's diary he was not laid up until several days later, when he did see various people, manning included, in his bedroom. on the black day of the judgment, having dined at the palace the night before, and having friends to dine with him on this night, he records a busy day, including a morning spent after letter-writing, in discussion with manning, hope, and others on the gorham case and its probable consequences. this slip of memory in the cardinal is trivial and not worth mentioning, but perhaps it tends to impair another vivid scene described on the same authority; how thirteen of them met at mr. gladstone's house, agreed to a declaration against the judgment, and proceeded to sign; how mr. gladstone, standing with his back to the fire, began to demur; and when pressed by manning to sign, asked him in a low voice whether he thought that as a privy councillor he ought to sign such a protest; and finally how manning, knowing the pertinacity of his character, turned and said: we will not press him further.[ ] this graphic relation looks as if mr. gladstone were leaving his friends in the lurch. none of them ever said so, none of them made any signs of thinking so. there is no evidence that mr. gladstone ever agreed to the resolution at all, and there is even evidence that points presumptively the other way: that he was taking a line of his own, and arguing tenaciously against all the rest for delay.[ ] mr. gladstone was often enough in a hurry himself, but there never was a man in this world more resolute against being hurried by other people.[ ] exciting effect of the judgment we need not, however, argue probabilities. mr. gladstone no sooner saw the story than he pronounced it fiction. in a letter to the writer of the book on cardinal manning (jan. , ) he says:-- i read with surprise manning's statement (made first after years) that i would not sign the declaration of because i 'was a privy councillor.' i should not have been more surprised had he written that i told him i could not sign because my name began with g. i had done stronger things than that when i was not only privy councillor but official servant of the crown, nay, i believe cabinet minister. the declaration was liable to _many_ interior objections. seven out of the thirteen who signed did so without (i believe) any kind of sequel. i wish you to know that i entirely disavow and disclaim manning's statement as it _stands_. and here i have to ask you to insert two lines in your second or next edition; with the simple statement that i prepared and published with promptitude an elaborate argument to show that the judicial committee was historically unconstitutional, as an organ for the decision of ecclesiastical questions. this declaration was entitled, i think, 'a letter to the bishop of london on the ecclesiastical supremacy.' if i recollect right, while it dealt little with theology, it was a more pregnant production than the declaration, and it went much nearer the mark. it has been repeatedly published, and is still on sale at murray's. i am glad to see that sidney herbert (a _gentleman_ if ever there was one) also declined to sign. it seems to me _now_, that there is something almost ludicrous in the propounding of such a congeries of statements by such persons as we were; not the more, but certainly not the less, because of being privy councillors. it was a terrible time; aggravated for me by heavy cares and responsibilities of a nature quite extraneous: and far beyond all others by the illness and death of a much-loved child, with great anxieties about another. my recollections of the conversations before the declaration are little but a mass of confusion and bewilderment. i stand only upon what i _did_. no one of us, i think, understood the actual position, not even our lawyers, until baron alderson printed an excellent statement on the points raised.[ ] iii for long the new situation filled his mind. 'the case of the church of england at this moment,' he wrote to lord lyttelton, 'is a very dismal one, and almost leaves men to choose between a broken heart and no heart at all. but at present it is all dark or only twilight which rests upon our future.' he busily set down thoughts upon the supremacy. he studied cawdry's case, and he mastered lord coke's view of the law. he feels better pleased with the reformation in regard to the supremacy; but also much more sensible of the drifting of the church since, away from the range of her constitutional securities; and more than ever convinced how thoroughly false is the present position. as to himself and his own work in life, in reply i suppose to something urged by manning, he says (april , ), 'i have two characters to fulfil--that of a lay member of the church, and that of a member of a sort of wreck of a political party. i must not break my understood compact with the last, and forswear my profession, unless and until the necessity has arisen. that necessity will plainly have arisen for me when it shall have become evident that justice cannot, _i.e._, will not, be done by the state to the church.' with boundless exaltation of spirit he expatiated on the arduous and noble task which it was now laid upon the children of the church of england amid trouble, suspense, and it might be even agony to perform. 'fully believing that the death of the church of england is among the alternative issues of the gorham case,' he wrote to a clerical friend (april ), 'i yet also believe that all christendom and all its history have rarely afforded a nobler opportunity of doing battle for the faith in the church than that now offered to english churchmen. that opportunity is a prize far beyond any with which the days of her prosperity, in any period, can have been adorned.' he does not think (june , ), that a loftier work was ever committed to men. such vast interests were at stake, such unbounded prospects open before them. what they wanted was the divine art to draw from present terrible calamities and appalling future prospects the conquering secret to rise through the struggle into something better than historical anglicanism, which essentially depended on conditions that have passed away. 'in my own case,' he says to manning a little later, 'there is work ready to my hand and much more than enough for its weakness, a great mercy and comfort. but i think i know what my course would be, were there not. it would be to set to work upon the holy task or clearing, opening, and establishing positive truth in the church of england, which is an office doubly blessed, inasmuch as it is both the business of truth, and the laying of firm foundations for future union in christendom.' if this vision of a dream had ever come to pass, perhaps europe might have seen the mightiest christian doctor since bossuet; and just as bossuet's struggle was called the grandest spectacle of the seventeenth century, so to many eyes this might have appeared the greatest of the nineteenth. mr. gladstone did not see, in truth he never saw, any more than bossuet saw in his age, that the time-spirit was shifting the foundations of the controversy. however that may be, the interesting thing for us in the history of his life is the characteristic blaze of battle that this case now kindled in his breast. view of the crisis in the church on the eve of his return from germany in the autumn of , one of his letters to mrs. gladstone reveals the pressing intensity of his conviction, deepened by his intercourse with the grave and pious circles at munich and at stuttgart, of the supreme interest of spiritual things:-- in my wanderings my thoughts too have had time to travel; and i have had much conversation upon church matters first at munich and since coming here with mrs. craven and some connections of hers staying with her, who are roman catholics of a high school. all that i can see and learn induces me more and more to feel what a crisis for religion at large is this period of the world's history--how the power of religion and its permanence are bound up with the church--how inestimably precious would be the church's unity, inestimably precious on the one hand, and on the other to human eyes immeasurably remote--lastly how loud, how solemn is the call upon all those who hear and who _can_ obey it, to labour more and more in the spirit of these principles, to give themselves, if it may be, clearly and wholly to that work. it is dangerous to put indefinite thoughts, instincts, longings, into language which is necessarily determinate. i cannot trace the line of my own future life, but i hope and pray it may not always be where it is.... ireland, ireland! that cloud in the west, that coming storm, the minister of god's retribution upon cruel and inveterate and but half-atoned injustice! ireland forces upon us those great social and great religious questions--god grant that we may have courage to look them in the face, and to work through them. were they over, were the path of the church clear before her, as a body able to take her trial before god and the world upon the performance of her work as his organ for the recovery of our country--how joyfully would i retire from the barren, exhausting strife of merely political contention. i do not think that you would be very sorrowful? as to ambition in its ordinary sense, we are spared the chief part of its temptations. if it has a valuable reward upon earth over and above a good name, it is when a man is enabled to bequeath to his children a high place in the social system of his country. that cannot be our case. the days are gone by when such a thing might have been possible. to leave to willy a title with its burdens and restraints and disqualifications, but without the material substratum of wealth, and the duties and means of good, as well as the general power attending it, would not i think be acting for him in a wise and loving spirit--assuming, which may be a vain assumption, that the alternative could ever be before us. the fact that in scotland, a country in which mr. gladstone passed so much time and had such lively interests, the members of his own episcopal church were dissenters, was well fitted to hasten the progress of his mind in the liberal direction. certain it is that in a strongly-written letter to a scotch bishop at the end of , mr. gladstone boldly enlarged upon the doctrine of religious freedom, with a directness that kindled both alarm and indignation among some of his warmest friends.[ ] away, he cried, with the servile doctrine that religion cannot live but by the aid of parliaments. when the state has ceased to bear a definite and full religious character, it is our interest and our duty alike to maintain a full religious freedom. it is this plenary religious freedom that brings out in full vigour the internal energies of each communion. of all civil calamities the greatest is the mutilation, under the seal of civil authority, of the christian religion itself. one fine passage in this letter denotes an advance in his political temper, as remarkable as the power of the language in which it finds expression:-- it is a great and noble secret, that of constitutional freedom, which has given to us the largest liberties, with the steadiest throne and the most vigorous executive in christendom. i confess to my strong faith in the virtue of this principle. i have lived now for many years in the midst of the hottest and noisiest of its workshops, and have seen that amidst the clatter and the din a ceaseless labour is going on; stubborn matter is reduced to obedience, and the brute powers of society like the fire, air, water, and mineral of nature are, with clamour indeed but also with might, educated and shaped into the most refined and regular forms of usefulness for man. i am deeply convinced that among us all systems, whether religious or political, which rest on a principle of absolutism, must of necessity be, not indeed tyrannical, but feeble and ineffective systems; and that methodically to enlist the members of a community, with due regard to their several capacities, in the performance of its public duties, is the way to make that community powerful and healthful, to give a firm seat to its rulers, and to engender a warm and intelligent devotion in those beneath their sway.[ ] foundations of liberalism these were the golden trumpet-notes of a new time. when they readied the ears of old dr. routh, as he sat in wig and cassock among his books and manuscripts at magdalen, revolving nearly a hundred years of mortal life, he exclaimed that he had heard enough to be quite sure that no man holding such opinions as these could ever be a proper member for the university of oxford. a few months later, it was seen how the learned man found several hundreds of unlearned to agree with him. iv this chapter naturally closes with what was to mr. gladstone one of the dire catastrophies of his life. with growing dismay he had seen manning drawing steadily towards the edge of the cataract. when he took the ominous step of quitting his charge at lavington, mr. gladstone wrote to him from naples (january , ): 'without description from you, i can too well comprehend what you have suffered.... such griefs ought to be sacred to all men, they must be sacred to me, even did they not touch me sharply with a reflected sorrow. you can do nothing that does not reach me, considering how long you have been a large part both of my actual life and of my hopes and reckonings. should you do the act which i pray god with my whole soul you may not do, it will not break, however it may impair or strain, the bonds between us.' 'if you go over,' he says, in another letter of the same month, 'i should earnestly pray that you might not be as others who have gone before you, but might carry with you a larger heart and mind, able to raise and keep you above that slavery to a system, that exaggeration of its forms, that disposition to rivet every shackle tighter and to stretch every breach wider, which makes me mournfully feel that the men who have gone from the church of england after being reared in her and by her, are far more keen, and i must add, far more cruel adversaries to her, than were the mass of those whom they joined.' in the case of hope there had been for some considerable time a lingering sense of change. 'my affection for him, during these later years before his change, was i may almost say intense: there was hardly anything i think which he could have asked me to do, and which i would not have done. but as i saw more and more through the dim light what was to happen, it became more and more like the affection felt for one departed.' hope, he says, was not one of those shallow souls who think that such a relation can continue after its daily bread has been taken away. at the end of march he enters in his diary: 'wrote a paper on manning's question and gave it him. he smote me to the ground by announcing with suppressed emotion that he is now upon the _brink_, and hope too. such terrible blows not only overset and oppress but, i fear, demoralise me.' on the same day in april , manning and hope were received together into the roman church. political separations, though these too have their pangs, must have seemed to mr. gladstone trivial indeed, after the tragic severance of such a fellowship as this had been. manning and hope go over 'they were my two props,' he wrote in his diary the next day. 'their going may be to me a sign that my work is gone with them.... one blessing i have: total freedom from doubts. these dismal events have smitten, but not shaken.' the day after that, he made a codicil to his will striking out hope as executor, and substituting northcote. friendship did not die, but only lived 'as it lives between those who inhabit separate worlds.' communication was not severed; social intercourse was not avoided; and both on occasions in life, the passing by of which, as hope-scott said, would be a loss to friendship, and on smaller opportunities, they corresponded in terms of the old affection. _quis desiderio_ is mr. gladstone's docket on one of hope's letters, and in another ( ) hope communicates in words of tender feeling the loss of his wife, and the consolatory teachings of the faith that she, like himself, had embraced; and he recalls to mr. gladstone that the root of their friendship which struck the deepest was fed by a common interest in religion.[ ] in manning's case the wound cut deeper, and for many years the estrangement was complete.[ ] to wilberforce, the archdeacon, mr. gladstone wrote (april , ):-- i do indeed feel the loss of manning, if and as far as i am capable of feeling anything. it comes to me cumulated, and doubled, with that of james hope. nothing like it can ever happen to me again. arrived now at middle life, i never _can_ form i suppose with any other two men the habits of communication, counsel, and dependence, in which i have now for from fifteen to eighteen years lived with them both.... my intellect does deliberately reject the grounds on which manning has proceeded. indeed they are such as go far to destroy my confidence, which was once and far too long at the highest point, in the healthiness and soundness of his. to show that at any rate this is not from the mere change he has made, i may add, that my conversations with hope have not left any corresponding impression upon my mind with regard to him. a wider breach was this same year made in his inmost circle. in april of the year before a little daughter, between four and five years old, had died, and was buried at fasque. the illness was long and painful, and mr. gladstone bore his part in the nursing and watching. he was tenderly fond of his little children, and the sorrow had a peculiar bitterness. it was the first time that death entered his married home. when he returned to fasque in the autumn he found that his father had taken 'a decided step, nay a stride, in old age'; not having lost any of his interest in politics, but grown quite mild. the old man was nearing his eighty-seventh year. 'the very wreck of his powerful and simple nature is full of grandeur.... mischief is at work upon his brain--that indefatigable brain which has had to stand all the wear and pressure of his long life.' in the spring of he finds him 'very like a spent cannon-ball, with a great and sometimes almost frightful energy remaining in him: though weak in comparison with what he was, he hits a very hard knock to those who come across him.' when december came, the veteran was taken seriously ill, and the hope disappeared of seeing him even reach his eighty-seventh birthday (dec. ). on the th he died. as mr. gladstone wrote to phillimore, 'though with little left either of sight or hearing, and only able to walk from one room to another or to his brougham for a short drive, though his memory was gone, his hold upon language even for common purposes imperfect, the reasoning power much decayed, and even his perception of personality rather indistinct, yet so much remained about him as one of the most manful, energetic, affectionate, and simple-hearted among human beings, that he still filled a great space to the eye, mind, and heart, and a great space is accordingly left void by his withdrawal.' 'the death of my father,' mr. gladstone wrote to his brother john, 'is the loss of a great object of love, and it is the shattering of a great bond of union. among few families of five persons will be found differences of character and opinion to the same aggregate amount as among us. we cannot shut our eyes to this fact; by opening them, i think we may the better strive to prevent such differences from begetting estrangement.' footnotes: [ ] see above, p. . [ ] purcell, _manning_, i. pp. - . [ ] see j. b. hope's letter (undated) in purcell, i. p. . [ ] on march , hope writes to mr. gladstone from curzon street:--'keble and pusey have been with me to-day, and the latter has suggested some alterations in the resolutions; i have taken upon me to propose a meeting at your house at ¼ before to-morrow morning. if you cannot _or do not wish_ to be present, i do not doubt you will at any rate allow me the use of your rooms.' the meeting seems to have taken place, for the entry on march in mr. gladstone's diary is this:--'hope, badeley, talbot, cavendish, denison, dr. pusey, keble, bennett, here from ¾ to on the draft of the resolutions. badeley again in the evening. on the whole i resolved to try some immediate effort.' this would appear to be the last meeting, and manning is not named as present. on the th:--'drs. mill, pusey, etc., met here in the evening, i was not with them.' on the same day mr. gladstone had written to the rev. w. maskell, 'as respects myself, i do not intend to pursue the consideration of them with those who meet to-night, first, because the pressure of other business has become very heavy upon me, and secondly and mainly, because i do not consider that the time for any enunciation of a character pointing to ultimate issues will have arrived until the gorham judgment shall have taken effect.' no later meeting is ever mentioned. [ ] purcell professed to rectify the matter in the fourth edition, i. p. , but the reader is nowhere told that mr. gladstone disavowed the original story. [ ] _letter to the right rev. william skinner, bishop of aberdeen and primus, on the functions of laymen in the church_, reprinted in _gleanings_, vi. also _letter_ to mr. gladstone on this letter by charles wordsworth, the warden of glenalmond. oxford. j. h. parker, . [ ] _gleanings_, vi. p. . [ ] in mr. gladstone urged him to produce an abridged version of lockhart's _life of scott_. then hope found that his father-in-law's own abridgment was unknown; and ( ) asks mr. gladstone's leave to dedicate a reprint of it to him as 'one among those who think that scott still deserves to be remembered, not as an author only, but as a noble and vigorous man.' [ ] from to they did not correspond nor did they even meet. chapter vi naples (_ - _) it would be amusing, if the misfortunes of mankind ever could be so, to hear the pretensions of the government here [naples] to mildness and clemency, because it does not put men to death, and confines itself to leaving six or seven thousand state prisoners to perish in dungeons. i am ready to believe that the king of naples is naturally mild and kindly, but he is afraid, and the worst of all tyrannies is the tyranny of cowards.--tocqueville [ ]. in the autumn of , with the object of benefiting the eyesight of one of their daughters, the gladstones made a journey to southern italy, and an eventful journey it proved. for italy it was, that now first drew mr. gladstone by the native ardour of his humanity, unconsciously and involuntarily, into that great european stream of liberalism which was destined to carry him so far. two deep principles, sentiments, aspirations, forces, call them what we will, awoke the huge uprisings that shook europe in --the principle of liberty, the sentiment of nationality. mr. gladstone, slowly and almost blindly heaving off his shoulders the weight of old conservative tradition, did not at first go beyond liberty, with all that ordered liberty conveys. nationality penetrated later, and then indeed it penetrated to the heart's core. he went to naples with no purposes of political propagandism, and his prepossessions were at that time pretty strongly in favour of established governments, either at naples or anywhere else. the case had doubtless been opened to him by panizzi--a man as mr. gladstone described him, 'of warm, large, and free nature, an accomplished man of letters, and a victim of political persecution, who came to this country a nearly starving refugee.' but panizzi had certainly made no great revolutionist of him. his opinions, as he told lord aberdeen, were the involuntary and unexpected result of his sojourn. he had nothing to do with the subterranean forces at work in the kingdom of the two sicilies, in the states of the church, and in truth all over the peninsula. the protracted struggle that had begun after the establishment of austrian domination in the peninsula in , and was at last to end in the construction of an italian kingdom--the most wonderful political transformation of the century--seemed after the fatal crisis of novara ( ) further than ever from a close. now was the morrow of the vast failures and disenchantments of . jesuits and absolutists were once more masters, and reaction again alternated with conspiracy, risings, desperate carbonari plots. mazzini, four years older than mr. gladstone, and cavour, a year his junior, were directing in widely different ways, the one the revolutionary movement of young italy, the other the constitutional movement of the italian resurrection. the scene presented brutal repression on the one hand; on the other a chaos of republicans and monarchists, unitarians and federalists, frenzied idealists and sedate economists, wild ultras and men of the sober middle course. in the midst was the pope, the august shadow, not long before the centre, now once again the foe, of his countrymen's aspirations after freedom and a purer glimpse of the lights of the sun. the evolution of this extraordinary historic drama, to which passion, genius, hope, contrivance, stratagem, and force contributed alike the highest and the lowest elements in human nature and the growth of states, was to be one of the most sincere of mr. gladstone's interests for the rest of his life. spectacle of misrule as we shall see, he was at first and he long remained untouched by the idea of italian unity and italy a nation. he met some thirty or more italian gentlemen in society at naples, of whom seven or eight only were in any sense liberals, and not one of them a republican. it was now that he made the acquaintance of lacaita, afterwards so valued a friend of his, and so well known in many circles in england for his geniality, cultivation, and enlightenment. he was the legal adviser to the british embassy; he met mr. gladstone constantly; they talked politics and literature day and night, 'under the acacias and palms, between the fountains and statues of the villa reale, looking now to the sea, now to the world of fashion in the corso.' here lacaita first opened the traveller's eyes to the condition of things, though he was able to say with literal truth that not a single statement of fact was made upon lacaita's credit. mr. gladstone saw bourbon absolutism no longer in the decorous hues of conventional diplomacy, but as the black and execrable thing it really was,--'the negation of god erected into a system of government.' sitting in court for long hours during the trial of poerio, he listened with as much patience as he could command to the principal crown witness, giving such evidence that the tenth part of what he heard should not only have ended the case, but secured condign punishment for perjury--evidence that a prostitute court found good enough to justify the infliction on poerio, not long before a minister of the crown, of the dreadful penalty of four-and-twenty years in irons. mr. gladstone accurately informed himself of the condition of those who for unproved political offences were in thousands undergoing degrading and murderous penalties. he contrived to visit some of the neapolitan prisons, another name for the extreme of filth and horror; he saw political prisoners (and political prisoners included a large percentage of the liberal opposition) chained two and two in double irons to common felons; he conversed with poerio himself in the bagno of nisida chained in this way; he watched sick prisoners, men almost with death in their faces, toiling upstairs to see the doctors, because the lower regions were too foul and loathsome to allow it to be expected that professional men would enter. even these inhuman and revolting scenes stirred him less, as it was right they should, than the corruptions of the tribunals, the vindictive treatment for long periods of time of uncondemned and untried men, and all the other proceedings of the government, 'desolating entire classes upon which the life and growth of the nation depend, undermining the foundation of all civil rule.' it was this violation of all law, and of the constitution to which king ferdinand had solemnly sworn fidelity only a year or two before, that outraged him more than even rigorous sentences and barbarous prison practice. 'even on the severity of these sentences,' he wrote, 'i would not endeavour to fix attention so much as to draw it off from the great fact of illegality, which seems to me to be the foundation of the neapolitan system; illegality, the fountain-head of cruelty and baseness and every other vice; illegality which gives a bad conscience, creates fears; those fears lead to tyranny, that tyranny begets resentment, that resentment creates true causes of fear where they were not before; and thus fear is quickened and enhanced, the original vice multiplies itself with fearful speed, and the old crime engenders a necessity for new.'[ ] poerio apprehended that his own case had been made worse by the intervention of mr. temple, the british minister and brother of lord palmerston; not in the least as blaming him or considering it officious. he adopted the motto, 'to suffer is to do,' '_il patire è anche operare_.' for himself he was not only willing--he rejoiced--to play the martyr's part. i was particularly desirous, wrote mr. gladstone in a private memorandum, to have poerio's opinion on the expediency of making some effort in england to draw general attention to these horrors, and dissociate the conservative party from all suppositions of winking at them; because i had had from a sensible man one strong opinion against such a course. i said to him that in my view only two models could be thought of,--the first, amicable remonstrance through the cabinets, the second public notoriety and shame. that had lord aberdeen been in power the first might have been practicable, but that with lord palmerston it would not, because of his position relatively to the other cabinets (yes, he said, lord palmerston was _isolato_), not because he would be wanting in the will. matters standing thus, i saw no way open but that of exposure; and might that possibly exasperate the neapolitan government, and increase their severity? his reply was, 'as to us, never mind; we can hardly be worse than we are. but think of our country, for which we are most willing to be sacrificed. exposure will do it good. the present government of naples rely on the english conservative party. consequently we were all in horror when lord stanley last year carried his motion in the house of lords. let there be a voice from that party showing that whatever government be in power in england, no support will be given to such proceedings as these. it will do much to break them down. it will also strengthen the hands of a better and less obdurate class about the court. even there all are not alike. i know it from observation. these ministers are the extremest of extremes. there are others who would willingly see more moderate means adopted.' on such grounds as these (i do not quote words) he strongly recommended me to _act_. ii return to london mr. gladstone reached london on february . phillimore met him at the station with lord stanley's letter, of which we shall hear in the next chapter, pressing him to enter the government. 'i was never more struck,' says phillimore, 'by the earnestness and simplicity of his character. he could speak of nothing so readily as the horrors of the neapolitan government, of which i verily believe he thought nearly as much as the prospect of his own accession to one of the highest offices of state.' he probably thought not only nearly as much, but infinitely more of those 'scenes fitter for hell than earth,' now many hundred miles away, but still vividly burning in the haunted chambers of his wrath and pity. after rapidly despatching the proposal to join the new cabinet, after making the best he could of the poignant anxieties that were stirred in him by the unmistakeable signs of the approaching secession of hope and manning, he sought lord aberdeen (march ), and 'found him as always, satisfactory; kind, just, moderate, humane' (to mrs. gladstone, march ). he had come to london with the intention of obtaining, if possible, aberdeen's intervention, in preference to any other mode of proceeding,[ ] and they agreed that private representation and remonstrance should be tried in the first instance, as less likely than public action by mr. gladstone in parliament, to rouse international jealousy abroad, or to turn the odious tragedy into the narrow channels of party at home. mr. gladstone, at lord aberdeen's desire, was to submit a statement of the case for his consideration and judgment. position of lord aberdeen this statement, the first memorable letter to lord aberdeen, was ready at the beginning of april. the old minister gave it 'mature consideration' for the best part of a month. his antecedents made him cautious. mr. gladstone, ten years later, admitted that lord aberdeen's views of italy did not harmonise with what was his general mode of estimating human action and the world's affairs, and there was a reason for this in his past career. in very early youth he had been called upon to deal with the gigantic questions that laid their mighty weight upon european statesmen at the fall of napoleon; the natural effect of this close contact with the vast and formidable problems of - was to make him regard the state-system then founded as a structure on which only reckless or criminal unwisdom would dare to lay a finger. the fierce storms of were not calculated to loosen this fixed idea, or to dispose him to any new views of either the relations of austria to italy, or of the uncounted mischiefs to the peninsula of which those relations were the nourishing and maintaining cause. in a debate in the lords two years before (july , ), lord aberdeen had sharply criticised the british government of the day for doing the very thing officially, which mr. gladstone was now bringing moral compulsion on him to attempt unofficially. lord palmerston had called attention at vienna to the crying evils of the government of naples, and had boldly said that it was little wonder if men groaning for long years under such grievances and seeing no hope of redress, should take up any scheme, however wild, that held out any chance of relief. this and other proceedings indicating unfriendliness to the king of naples and a veiled sympathy with rebellion shocked aberdeen as much as lamartine's trenchant saying that the treaties of vienna were effete. in attacking palmerston's foreign policy again in , he protested that we had deeply injured austria and had represented her operations in italy in a completely false light. in his speech in the pacifico debate, he had referred to the neapolitan government without approval but in guarded phrases, and had urged as against lord palmerston that the less they admired neapolitan institutions and usages, the more careful ought they to be not to impair the application of the sacred principles that govern and harmonise the intercourse between states, from which you never can depart without producing mischiefs a thousand fold greater than any promised advantage. aberdeen was too upright and deeply humane a man to resist the dreadful evidence that was now forced upon him. still that evidence plainly shook down his own case of a few months earlier, and this cannot have been pleasing. he felt the truth and the enormity of the indictment laid before him; he saw the prejudice that would inevitably be done to conservatism both at home and on the european continent, by the publication of such an indictment from the lips of such a pleader; and he perceived from mr. gladstone's demeanour that the decorous plausibilities of diplomacy would no more hold him back from resolute exposure, than they would put out the fires of vesuvius or etna. on may lord aberdeen wrote to schwarzenberg at vienna, saying that for forty years he had been connected with the austrian government, and taken a warm interest in the fortunes of the empire; that mr. gladstone, one of the most distinguished members of the cabinet of peel, had been so shocked by what he saw at naples, that he was resolved to make some public appeal; that to avoid the pain and scandal of a conservative statesman taking such a course, would not his highness use his powerful influence to get done at naples all that could reasonably be desired? the austrian minister replied several weeks after (june ). if he had been invited, he said, officially to interfere he would have declined; as it was, he would bring mr. gladstone's statements to the notice of his sicilian majesty. meanwhile, at great length, he reminded lord aberdeen that a political offender may be the worst of all offenders, and argued that the rigour exercised by england herself in the ionian islands, in ceylon, in respect of irishmen, and in the recent case of ernest jones, showed how careful she should be in taking up abroad the cause of bad men posing as martyrs in the holy cause of liberty. during all these weeks, while aberdeen was maturely considering, and while prince schwarzenberg was making his secretaries hunt up recriminatory cases against england, mr. gladstone was growing impatient. lord aberdeen begged him to give the austrian minister a little more time. it was nearly four months since mr. gladstone landed at dover, and every day he thought of poerio, settembrini, and the rest, wearing their double chains, subsisting on their foul soup, degraded by forced companionship with criminals, cut off from the light of heaven, and festering in their dungeons. the facts that escaped from him in private conversation seemed to him--so he tells lacaita--to spread like wildfire from man to man, exciting the liveliest interest, and extending to the highest persons in the land. he waited a fortnight more, then at the beginning of july he launched his thunderbolt, publishing his letter to lord aberdeen, followed by a second explanation and enlargement a fortnight later.[ ] he did not obtain formal leave from lord aberdeen for the publication, but from their conversation took it for granted. neapolitan letters published the sensation was profound, and not in england only. the letters were translated into various tongues and had a large circulation. the society of the friends of italy in london, the disciples of mazzini (and a high-hearted band they were), besought him to become a member. exiles wrote him letters of gratitude and hope, with all the moving accent of revolutionary illusion. italian women composed fervid odes in fire and tears to the '_generoso britanno_,' the '_magnanimo cor_,' the '_difensore d'un popolo gemente_.' the press in this country took the matter up with the warmth that might have been expected. the character and the politics of the accuser added invincible force to his accusations, and for the first time in his life mr. gladstone found himself vehemently applauded in liberal prints. even the contemporary excitement of english public feeling against the roman catholic church fed the flame. it was pointed out that the king of naples was the bosom friend of the pope, and that the infernal system described by mr. gladstone was that which the roman clergy regarded as normal and complete.[ ] mr. gladstone had denounced as one of the most detestable books he ever read a certain catechism used in the neapolitan schools. why then, cried the _times_, does he omit all comment on the church which is the main and direct agent in this atrocious instruction? the clergy had either basely accepted from the government doctrines that they were bound to abhor, or else these doctrines were their own. and so things glided easily round to dr. cullen and the irish education question. this line was none the less natural from the fact that the editor of the _univers_, the chief catholic organ in france, made himself the foremost champion of the neapolitan policy. the letters delighted the paris reds. they regarded their own epithets as insipid by comparison with the ferocious adjectives of the english conservative. on the other hand, an english gentleman was blackballed at one of the fashionable clubs in paris for no better reason than that he bore the name of gladstone. for european conservatives read the letters with disgust and apprehension. people like madame de lieven pronounced mr. gladstone the dupe of men less honest than himself, and declared that he had injured the good cause and discredited his own fame, besides doing lord aberdeen the wrong of setting his name at the head of a detestable libel. the illustrious guizot wrote mr. gladstone a long letter expressing, with much courtesy and kindness, his regret at the publication. nothing is left in italy, said guizot, between the terrors of governments attacked in their very existence and the fury of the beaten revolutionists with hopes more alert than ever for destruction and chaos. the king of naples on one side, mazzini on the other; such, said guizot, is italy. between the king of naples and mazzini, he for one did not hesitate. this was mr. gladstone's first contact with the european party of order in the middle of the century. guizot was a great man, but ' had perverted his generalising intellect, and everywhere his jaundiced vision perceived in progress a struggle for life and death with 'the revolutionary spirit, blind, chimerical, insatiate, impracticable.' he avowed his own failure when he was at the head of the french government, to induce the rulers of italy to make reforms; and now the answer of schwarzenberg to lord aberdeen, as well as the official communications from naples, showed that like guizot's french policy the austrian remedy was moonshine. perhaps discomposed by the reproaches of reactionary friends abroad, lord aberdeen thought he had some reason to complain of the publication. it is not easy to see why. mr. gladstone from the first insisted that if private remonstrance did not work 'without elusion or delay,' he would make a public appeal. in transmitting the first letter, he described in very specific terms his idea that a short time would suffice to show whether the private method could be relied upon.[ ] the attitude of the minister at vienna, of fortunato at naples, and of castelcicala in london, discovered even to aberdeen himself how little reasonable hope there was of anything being done; elusion and delay was all that he could expect. he was forced to give entire credit to mr. gladstone's horrible story, and was as far as possible from thinking it a detestable libel. he never denied the foundation of the case, or the actual state of the abominable facts. schwarzenberg never consented to comply with his wishes even when writing before the publication. how then could aberdeen expect that mr. gladstone should abandon the set and avowed purpose with which he had come flaming and resolved to england? sensation in europe it was exactly because the party with which mr. gladstone was allied had made itself the supporter of established governments throughout europe, that in his eyes that party became specially responsible for not passing by in silence any course of conduct, even in a foreign country, flagrantly at variance with right.[ ] and what was there, when at last they arrived, in prince schwarzenberg's idle dissertations and recriminations, winding up with a still more idle sentence about bringing the charges under the notice of the neapolitan government, that should induce mr. gladstone to abandon his purpose? he had something else to think of than the scandal to the reactionaries of europe. 'i wish it were in your power,' he writes to lacaita in may, 'to assure any of those directly interested, in my name, that i am not unfaithful to them, and will use every means in my power; feeble they are, and i lament it; but god is strong and is just and good; and the issue is in his hands.' that is what he was thinking of. when he talked of 'the sacred purposes of humanity' it was not artificial claptrap in a protocol.[ ] 'when i consider,' mr. gladstone wrote to lord aberdeen, 'that prince schwarzenberg really knew the state of things at naples well enough independently of me, and then ask myself why did he wait seven weeks before acknowledging a letter relating to the intense sufferings of human beings which were going on day by day and hour by hour, while his people were concocting all that trash about frost and ernest jones and o'brien, i cannot say that i think the spirit of the letter was creditable to him, or very promising as regards these people.' the neapolitan government entered the field with a formal reply point by point, and mr. gladstone met them with a point by point rejoinder. the matter did not rest there. soon after his arrival at home, he had had some conversation with john russell, palmerston, and other members of the government. they were much interested and not at all incredulous. lord palmerston's brother kept him too well informed about the state of things there for him to be sceptical. 'gladstone and molesworth,' wrote palmerston, 'say that they were wrong last year in their attacks on my foreign policy, but they did not know the truth.'[ ] lord palmerston directed copies of mr. gladstone's letters to be sent to the british representatives in all the courts of europe, with instructions to give a copy to each government. the neapolitan envoy in london in his turn requested him also to send fifteen copies of the pamphlet that had been got up on the other side. palmerston promptly, and in his most characteristic style, vindicated mr. gladstone against the charges of overstatement and hostile intention; warned the neapolitan government of the violent revolution that long-continued and widespread injustice would assuredly bring upon them; hoped that they might have set to work to correct the manifold and grave abuses to which their attention had been drawn; and flatly refused to have anything to do with an official pamphlet 'consisting of a flimsy tissue of bare assertions and reckless denials, mixed up with coarse ribaldry and commonplace abuse.' this was the kind of thing that gave to lord palmerston the best of his power over the people of england. energetic sympathy of palmerston in the house of commons he spoke with no less warmth. though he had not felt it his duty, he said, to make representations at naples on a matter relating to internal affairs, he thought mr. gladstone had done himself great honour. instead of seeking amusements, diving into volcanoes and exploring excavated cities, he had visited prisons, descended into dungeons, examined cases of the victims of illegality and injustice, and had then sought to rouse the public opinion of europe. it was because he concurred in this opinion that he had circulated the pamphlet, in the hope that the european courts might use their influence.[ ] as lord aberdeen told madame de lieven, mr. gladstone's pamphlet by the extraordinary sensation it had created among men of all parties had given a great practical triumph to palmerston and the foreign office. the immediate effect of mr. gladstone's appeal was an aggravation of prison rigour. panizzi was convinced that the king did not know of all the iniquities exposed by mr. gladstone. at the close of he obtained an interview with ferdinand, and for twenty minutes spoke of poerio, settembrini and the condition of the prisons. the king suddenly cut short the interview, saying, _addio, terribile panizzi_.[ ] faint streaks of light from the outside world pierced the gloom of the dungeons. as time went on, a lady contrived to smuggle in a few pages of mr. gladstone's first letter; and in the martyrs heard vaguely of the action of cavour. but it was not until that the tyrant, fearing the cry of horror that would go up in europe if poerio should die in chains, or worse than death, should go mad, commuted prison to perpetual exile,[ ] and sixty-six of them were embarked for america. at lisbon they were transferred to an american ship; the captain, either intimidated or bribed, put in at queenstown. 'in setting foot on this free soil,' poerio wrote to mr. gladstone from the irish haven (march , ), 'the first need of my heart was to seek news of you.' communications were speedily opened. the italians made their way to bristol, where they were received with sympathy and applause by the population. the deliverance of their country was close at hand. not now, nor for many years to come, did mr. gladstone grasp the idea of italian unity. it was impossible for him to ignore, but he did undoubtedly set aside, the fact that every shade and section of italian liberalism from farini on the right, to mazzini on the furthest left, insisted on treating italy as a political integer, and placed the independence of italy and the expulsion of austria from italian soil as the first and fundamental article in the creed of reform. like most of the english friends of the italian cause at this time, except the small but earnest group who rallied round the powerful moral genius of mazzini, he thought only of local freedom and local reforms. 'the purely abstract idea of italian nationality,' said mr. gladstone at this time, 'makes little impression and finds limited sympathy among ourselves.' 'i am certain,' he wrote to panizzi (june , ), 'that the italian habit of preaching unity and nationality in preference to showing grievances produces a revulsion here; for if there are two things on earth that john bull hates, they are an abstract proposition and the pope.' 'you need not be afraid, i think,' he told lord aberdeen (december , ), 'of mazzinism from me, still less of kossuth-ism, which means the other _plus_ imposture, lord palmerston, and his nationalities.' but then in manin came to england, and failed to persuade even lord palmerston that the unity of italy was the only clue to her freedom.[ ] the russian war made it inconvenient to quarrel with austria about italy. with mr. gladstone he made more way. 'seven to breakfast to meet manin,' says the diary; 'he too is wild.' not too wild, however, to work conversion on his host. 'it was my privilege,' mr. gladstone afterwards wrote, 'to welcome manin in london in , when i had long been anxious for reform in italy, and it was from him that, in common with some other englishmen, i had my first lessons upon italian unity as the indispensable basis of all effectual reform under the peculiar circumstances of that country.'[ ] yet the page of dante holds the lesson. iii the temporal power on one important element in the complex italian case at this time, mr. gladstone gained a clear view. some things i have learned in italy, he wrote to manning (_january , _), that i did not know before, one in particular. the temporal power of the pope, that great, wonderful, and ancient erection, is _gone_. the problem has been worked out--the ground is mined--the train is laid--a foreign force, in its nature transitory, alone stays the hand of those who would complete the process by applying the match. this seems, rather than is, a digression. when that event comes, it will bring about a great shifting of parts--much super-and much subter-position. god grant it may be for good. i desire it, because i see plainly that justice requires it. not out of malice to the popedom; for i cannot at this moment dare to answer with a confident affirmative, the question, a very solemn one--ten, twenty, fifty years hence, will there be any other body in western christendom witnessing for fixed dogmatic truth? with all my heart i wish it well (though perhaps not wholly what the consistory might think agreed with the meaning of the term)--it would be to me a joyous day in which i should see it really doing well. various ideas of this kind set him to work on the large and curious enterprise, long since forgotten, of translating farini's volumes on the roman state from down to . according to the entries in his diary he began and finished the translation of a large portion of the book at naples in --dictating and writing almost daily. three of the four volumes of this english translation were done with extraordinary speed by mr. gladstone's own hand, and the fourth was done under his direction.[ ] his object was, without any reference to italian unity, to give an illustration of the actual working of the temporal power in its latest history. it is easy to understand how the theme fitted in with the widest topics of his life; the nature of theocratic government; the possibility (to borrow cavour's famous phrase) of a free church in a free state; and above all,--as he says to manning now, and said to all the world twenty years later in the day of the vatican decrees,--the mischiefs done to the cause of what he took for saving truth by evil-doing in the heart and centre of the most powerful of all the churches. his translation of farini, followed by his article on the same subject in the _edinburgh_ in , was his first blast against 'the covetous, domineering, implacable policy represented in the term ultramontanism; the winding up higher and higher, tighter and tighter, of the hierarchical spirit, in total disregard of those elements by which it ought to be checked and balanced; and an unceasing, covert, smouldering war against human freedom, even in its most modest and retiring forms of private life and of the individual conscience.' with an energy not unworthy of burke at his fiercest, he denounces the fallen and impotent regality of the popes as temporal sovereigns. 'a monarchy sustained by foreign armies, smitten with the curse of social barrenness, unable to strike root downward or bear fruit upward, the sun, the air, the rain soliciting in vain its sapless and rotten boughs--such a monarchy, even were it not a monarchy of priests, and tenfold more because it is one, stands out a foul blot upon the face of creation, an offence to christendom and to mankind.'[ ] as we shall soon see, he was just as wrathful, just as impassioned and as eloquent, when, in a memorable case in his own country, the temporal power bethought itself of a bill for meddling with the rights of a roman voluntary church. footnotes: [ ] for the two _letters to lord aberdeen_, see _gleanings_, iv. [ ] there was a slight discrepancy between the two on this point, mr. gladstone describing the position as above, aberdeen believing that it was by his persuasion that mr. gladstone dropped his intention of instant publicity. probably the latter used such urgent language about an appeal to the public opinion of england and europe, that lord aberdeen supposed it to be an immediate and not an ulterior resort. aberdeen to castelcicala, september , , and mr. gladstone to aberdeen, october . [ ] the mere announcement caused such a demand that a second edition was required almost before the first was published. [ ] _wesleyan methodist magazine_, october . _protestant magazine_, september . [ ] gladstone to lord aberdeen, september , . [ ] mr. gladstone in an undated draft letter to castelcicala. [ ] the one point on which lord aberdeen had a right to complain was that mr. gladstone did not take his advice. as the point revives in lord stanmore's excellent life of his father, it may be worth while to reproduce two further passages from mr. gladstone's letter to lord aberdeen of july , . before publishing the second of the two letters, he wrote to lord aberdeen: 'i ought perhaps to have asked your formal permission for the act of publication; but _i thought that i distinctly inferred it from a recent conversation with you as to the mode of proceeding_'--(mr. gladstone to lord aberdeen, july , ). then he proceeds as to the new supplementary publication: 'if it be disagreeable to you in any manner to be the recipient of such sad communications, or if you think it better for any other reason, i would put the further matter into another form.' in answer to this, lord aberdeen seems not to have done any more to refuse leave to associate his name with the second letter, than he had done to withdraw the assumed leave for the association of his name with the first. [ ] ashley, _palmerston_, ii. p. . [ ] august , . _hansard_, cxv. p. . [ ] fagan's _life of panizzi_, ii. pp. - . [ ] on the share of mr. gladstone's letters in leading indirectly to this decision, see the address of baldacchini, _della vita e de' tempi di carlo poerio_ ( ), p. . [ ] _gleanings_, iv. pp. , . trans. of farini, pref. p. ix. [ ] to dr. errera, author of _a life of manin_, sept. , . for manin's account, see his _life_, by henri martin, p. . [ ] the first two volumes were published by mr. murray in , and the last two in . '_june , ._--got my first copies of farini. sent no. to the prince; and wrote with sad feelings in those for hope and manning.'--_diary._ [ ] _gleanings_, iv. pp. , . chapter vii religious tornado--peelite difficulties (_ - _) i am always disposed to view with regret the rupture of party ties--my disposition is rather to maintain them. i confess i look, if not with suspicion, at least with disapprobation on any one who is disposed to treat party connections as matters of small importance. my opinion is that party ties closely appertain to those principles of confidence which we entertain for the house of commons.--gladstone ( ). as we have seen, on the morning of his arrival from his italian journey (february , ) mr. gladstone found that he was urgently required to meet lord stanley. mortified by more than one repulse at the opening of the session, the whigs had resigned. the queen sent for the protectionist leader. stanley said that he was not then prepared to form a government, but that if other combinations failed, he would make the attempt. lord john russell was once more summoned to the palace, this time along with aberdeen and graham--the first move in a critical march towards the fated coalition between whigs and peelites. the negotiation broke off on the no popery bill; lord john was committed to it, the other two strongly disapproved. the queen next wished aberdeen to undertake the task. apparently not without some lingering doubts, he declined on the good ground that the house of commons would not stand his attitude on papal aggression.[ ] then according to promise lord stanley tried his hand. proceedings were suspended for some days until mr. gladstone should be on the ground. he no sooner reached carlton gardens, than lord lincoln arrived, eager to dissuade him from accepting office. before the discussion had gone far, the tory whip hurried in from stanley, begging for an immediate visit. i promised, says mr. gladstone, to go directly after seeing lord aberdeen. but he came back with a fresh message to go at once, and _hear_ what stanley had to say. i did not like to stickle, and went. he told me his object was that i should take office with him--_any_ office, subject to the reservation that the foreign department was offered to canning, but if he declined it was open to me, along with others of which he named the colonial office and the board of trade. nothing was said of the leadership of the house of commons, but his anxiety was evident to have any occupant but one for the foreign office. i told him, i should ask no questions and make no remark on these points, as none of them would constitute a difficulty with me, provided no preliminary obstacle were found to intervene. stanley then said that he proposed to maintain the system of free trade generally, but to put a duty of five or six shillings on corn. i heard him pretty much in silence, but with an intense sense of relief; feeling that if he had put protection in abeyance, i might have had a most difficult question to decide, whereas now i had no question at all. i thought, however, it might be well that i should still see lord aberdeen before giving him an answer; and told him i would do so. i asked him also what was his intention with respect to papal aggression. he said that this measure was hasty and intemperate as well as ineffective; and that he thought something much better might result from a comprehensive and deliberate inquiry. i told him i was utterly against all penal legislation and against the ministerial bill, but that i did not on principle object to inquiry; that, on general as well as on personal grounds, i wished well to his undertakings; and that i would see lord aberdeen, but that what he had told me about corn constituted, i must not conceal from him, 'an enormous difficulty.' i used this expression for the purpose of preparing him to receive the answer it was plain i must give; he told me his persevering would probably depend on me. declines office mr. gladstone next hastened to lord aberdeen, and learned what had been going on during his absence abroad. he learned also the clear opinions held by aberdeen and graham against no popery legislation, and noticed it as remarkable that so many minds should arrive independently at the same conclusion on a new question, and in opposition to the overwhelming majority. 'i then,' he continues, 'went on to the levee, saw lord normanby and others, and began to bruit abroad the fame of the neapolitan government. immediately after leaving the levee (where i also saw canning, told him what i meant to do, and gathered that he would do the like), i changed my clothes and went to give lord stanley my answer, at which he did not show the least surprise. he said he would still persevere, though with little hope. i think i told him it seemed to me he ought to do so. i was not five minutes with him this second time.'[ ] the protectionists having failed, and the peelites standing aside, the whigs came back, most of them well aware that they could not go on for long. the events of the late crisis had given mr. gladstone the hope that graham would effectively place himself at the head of the peelites, and that they would now at length begin to take an independent course of their own. 'but it soon appeared that, unconsciously i think more than consciously, he is set upon the object of avoiding the responsibility either of taking the government with the peel squadron, or of letting in stanley and his friends.' here was the weak point in a strong and capable character. when graham died ten years after this ( ), mr. gladstone wrote to a friend, 'on administrative questions, for the last twenty years and more, i had more spontaneous recourse to him for advice, than to all other colleagues together.' in some of the foundations of character no two men could be more unlike. one of his closest allies talks to graham of 'your sombre temperament.' 'my forebodings are always gloomy,' says graham himself; 'i shudder on the brink of the torrent.' all accounts agree that he was a good counsellor in cabinet, a first-rate manager of business, a good if rather pompous speaker, admirably loyal and single-minded, but half-ruined by intense timidity. i have heard nobody use warmer language of commendation about him than mr. bright. but nature had not made him for a post of chief command. it by and by appeared that the duke of newcastle, known to us hitherto as lord lincoln, coveted the post of leader, but mr. gladstone thought that on every ground lord aberdeen was the person entitled to hold it. 'i made,' says mr. gladstone, 'my views distinctly known to the duke. he took no offence. i do not know what communications he may have held with others. but the upshot was that lord aberdeen became our leader. and this result was obtained without any shock or conflict.'[ ] ii bill against ecclesiastical titles in the autumn of the people of this country were frightened out of their senses by a document from the vatican, dividing england into dioceses bearing territorial titles and appointing cardinal wiseman to be archbishop of westminster. the uproar was tremendous. lord john russell cast fuel upon the flame in a perverse letter to the bishop of durham (nov. , ). in this unhappy document he accepted the description of the aggression of the pope upon our protestantism as insolent and insidious, declared his indignation to be greater even than his alarm, and even his alarm at the aggressions of a foreign sovereign to be less than at the conduct of unworthy sons of the church of england within her own gates. he wound up by declaring that the great mass of the nation looked with contempt upon the mummeries of superstition. justified indeed was bright's stern rebuke to a prime minister of the queen who thus allowed himself to offend and to indict eight millions of his countrymen, recklessly to create fresh discords between the irish and english nations, and to perpetuate animosities that the last five-and-twenty years had done so much to assuage. having thus precipitately committed himself, the minister was forced to legislate. 'i suspect,' wrote mr. gladstone to his great friend, sir walter james, 'john russell has more rocks and breakers ahead than he reckoned upon when he dipped his pen in gall to smite first the pope, but most those who not being papists are such traitors and fools as really to mean something when they say, "i believe in one holy catholic church."' there was some division of opinion in the cabinet,[ ] but a bill was settled, and the temper of the times may be gauged by the fact that leave to introduce it was given by the overwhelming majority of votes to . in his own language, mr. gladstone lamented and disapproved of the pope's proceeding extremely, and had taken care to say so in parliament two and a half years before, when 'lord john russell, if he had chosen, could have stopped it; but the government and the press were alike silent at that period.'[ ] his attitude is succinctly described in a letter to greswell, his oxford chairman, in : 'do not let it be asserted without contradiction that i ever felt or counselled indifference in regard to the division of england into romish dioceses. so far is this from being the truth that shortly after i was elected, _when the government were encouraging the pope to proceed_, and when there was yet time to stop the measure (which i deplore sincerely) by amicable means, i took the opportunity in the house (as did sir r. inglis, i _think_ a little later), of trying to draw attention to it. but it was nobody's game then, and the subject fell to the ground. amicable prevention i desired; spiritual and ecclesiastical resistance i heartily approved; but while i say this, i cannot recede from one inch of the ground i took in opposing the bill, and i would far rather quit parliament for ever than not have voted against so pernicious a measure.' other matters, as we have seen, brought on a ministerial crisis, the bill was stopped, and after the crisis was over the measure came to life again with changes making it still more futile for its ends. the peelites while, like mr. bright, 'despising and loathing' the language of the vatican and the flaminian gate, had all of them without concert taken this outburst of prejudice and passion at its right value, and all resolved to resist legislation. how, they asked, could you tolerate the roman catholic religion, if you would not tolerate its tenet of the ecclesiastical supremacy of the pope; and what sort of toleration of such a tenet would that be, which forbade the pope to name ecclesiastics to exercise the spiritual authority exercised in any other voluntary episcopal church, scottish, colonial, or another? why was it more of a usurpation for the pope to make a new archbishop of westminster, than to administer london by the old form of vicars apostolic? was not the action of the pope, after all, a secondary consideration, and the frenzy really and in essence an explosion of popular wrath against the puseyites? what was to be thought of a prime minister who, at such risk to the public peace, tried to turn the ferment to account for the sake of strengthening his tottering government? to all this there was no rational reply; and even the editor of a powerful newspaper that every morning blew up the coals, admitted to greville that 'he thought the whole thing humbug and a pack of nonsense!'[ ] great speech against the bill the debate on the second reading was marked by a little brutality and much sanctimony. mr. gladstone (march , ) spoke to a house practically almost solid against him. yet his superb resources as an orator, his transparent depth of conviction, the unmistakeable proofs that his whole heart was in the matter, mastered his audience and made the best of them in their hearts ashamed. he talked of boniface viii. and honorius ix.; he pursued a long and close historical demonstration of the earnest desire of the lay catholics of this country for diocesan bishops as against vicars apostolic; he moved among bulls and rescripts, briefs and pastorals and canon law, with as much ease as if he had been arguing about taxes and tariffs. through it all the house watched and listened in enchantment, as to a magnificent tragedian playing a noble part in a foreign tongue. they did not apprehend every point, nor were they converted, but they felt a man with the orator's quality of taking fire and kindling fire at a moral idea. they felt his command of the whole stock of fact and of principle belonging to his topics, as with the air and the power of a heroic master he cleared the way before him towards his purpose. along with complete grasp of details, went grasp of some of the most important truths in the policy of a modern state. he clearly perceived the very relevant fact, so often overlooked by advocates of the free church in a free state, that 'there is no religious body in the world where religious offices do not in a certain degree conjoin with temporal incidents.' but this did not affect the power of his stroke, as he insisted on respect for the frontier--no scientific frontier--between temporal and spiritual. 'you speak of the progress of the roman catholic religion, and you pretend to meet that progress by a measure false in principle as it is ludicrous in extent. you must meet the progress of that spiritual system by the progress of another; you can never do it by penal enactments. here, once for all, i enter my most solemn, earnest, and deliberate protest against all attempts to meet the spiritual dangers of our church by temporal legislation of a penal character.' the whole speech is in all its elements and aspects one of the great orator's three or four most conspicuous masterpieces, and the reader would not forgive me if i failed to transcribe its resplendent close. he went back to a passage of lord john russell's on the maynooth bill of . 'i never heard,' said mr. gladstone, 'a more impressive passage delivered by any statesman at any time in this house.' the noble lord referred to some beautiful and touching lines of virgil, which the house will not regret to hear:-- 'scilicet et tempus veniet, cum finibus illis agricola, incurvo terram molitus aratro, exesa inveniet scabra rubigine pila; aut gravibus rastris galeas pulsabit inanes, grandiaque effossis mirabitur ossa sepulcris.'[ ] and he said, upon those scenes where battles have been fought, the hand of nature effaces the traces of the wrath of man, and the cultivator of the soil in following times finds the rusted arms, and looks upon them with calm and joy, as the memorials of forgotten strife, and as quickening his sense of the blessings of his peaceful occupation. the noble lord went on to say, in reference to the powerful opposition then offered to the bill for the endowment of maynooth, that it seems as if upon the questions of religious freedom, our strife is never to cease, and our arms are never to rust. would any man, who heard the noble lord deliver these impressive sentiments, have believed not only that the strife with respect to religious liberty was to be revived with a greater degree of acerbity, in the year , but that the noble lord himself was to be a main agent in its revival--that his was to be the head that was to wear the helmet, and his the hand that was to grasp the spear? my conviction is, that this great subject of religious freedom is not to be dealt with, as one of the ordinary matters in which you may, with safety or with honour, do to-day and undo to-morrow. this great people, whom we have the honour to represent, moves slowly in politics and legislation; but, although it moves slowly, it moves steadily. the principle of religious freedom, its adaptation to our modern state, and its compatibility with ancient institutions, was a principle which you did not adopt in haste. it was a principle well tried in struggle and conflict. it was a principle which gained the assent of one public man after another. it was a principle which ultimately triumphed, after you had spent upon it half a century of agonising struggle. and now what are you going to do? you have arrived at the division of the century. are you going to repeat penelope's process, but without the purpose of penelope? are you going to spend the decay and the dusk of the nineteenth century in undoing the great work which with so much pain and difficulty your greatest men have been achieving during its daybreak and its youth? surely not. oh, recollect the functions you have to perform in the face of the world. recollect that europe and the whole of the civilised world look to england at this moment not less, no, but even more than ever they looked to her before, as the mistress and guide of nations, in regard to the great work of civil legislation. and what is it they chiefly admire in england? it is not the rapidity with which you form constitutions and broach abstract theories. on the contrary; they know that nothing is so distasteful to you as abstract theories, and that you are proverbial for resisting what is new until you are well assured by gradual effort, by progressive trials, and beneficial tendency. but they know that when you make a step forward you keep it. they know that there is reality and honesty, strength and substance, about your proceedings. they know that you are not a monarchy to-day, a republic to-morrow, and a military despotism the day after. they know that you have been happily preserved from irrational vicissitudes that have marked the career of the greatest and noblest among the neighbouring nations. your fathers and yourselves have earned this brilliant character for england. do not forfeit it. do not allow it to be tarnished or impaired. show, i beseech you--have the courage to show the pope of rome, and his cardinals, and his church, that england too, as well as rome, has her _semper eadem_; and that when she has once adopted some great principle of legislation, which is destined to influence the national character, to draw the dividing lines of her policy for ages to come, and to affect the whole nature of her influence and her standing among the nations of the world--show that when she has done this slowly, and done it deliberately, she has done it once for all; and that she will then no more retrace her steps than the river that bathes this giant city can flow back upon its source. the character of england is in our hands. let us feel the responsibility that belongs to us, and let us rely on it; if to-day we make this step backwards, it is one which hereafter we shall have to retrace with pain. we cannot change the profound and resistless tendencies of the age towards religious liberty. it is our business to guide and to control their application; do this you may, but to endeavour to turn them backwards is the sport of children, done by the hands of men, and every effort you may make in that direction will recoil upon you in disaster and disgrace. the noble lord appealed to gentlemen who sit behind me, in the names of hampden and pym. i have great reverence for these in one portion at least of their political career, because they were men energetically engaged in resisting oppression. but i would rather have heard hampden and pym quoted on any other subject than one which relates to the mode of legislation or the policy to be adopted with our roman catholic fellow-citizens, because, if there was one blot on their escutcheon, if there was one painful--i would almost say odious--feature in the character of the party among whom they were the most distinguished chiefs, it was the bitter and ferocious intolerance which in them became the more powerful because it was directed against the roman catholics alone. i would appeal in other names to gentlemen who sit on this side of the house. if hampden and pym were friends of freedom, so were clarendon and newcastle, so were the gentlemen who sustained the principles of loyalty.... they were not always seeking to tighten the chains and deepen the brand. their disposition was to relax the severity of the law, and attract the affections of their roman catholic fellow-subjects to the constitution by treating them as brethren.... we are a minority insignificant in point of numbers. we are more insignificant still, because we are but knots and groups of two or three, we have no power of cohesion, no ordinary bond of union. what is it that binds us together against you, but the conviction that we have on our side the principle of justice--the conviction that we shall soon have on our side the strength of public opinion (_oh, oh!_). i am sure i have not wished to say a syllable that would wound the feelings of any man, and if in the warmth of argument such expressions should have escaped me, i wish them unsaid. but above all we are sustained by the sense of justice which we feel belongs to the cause we are defending; and we are, i trust, well determined to follow that bright star of justice, beaming from the heavens, whithersoever it may lead. all this was of no avail, just as the same arguments and temper on two other occasions of the same eternal theme in his life,[ ] were to be of no avail. disraeli spoke strongly against the line taken by the peelites. the second reading was carried by against , one-third even of this minority being irish catholics, and the rest mainly peelites, 'a limited but accomplished school,' as disraeli styled them. hume asked mr. gladstone for his speech for publication to circulate among the dissenters who, he said, know nothing about religious liberty. it was something, however, to find mr. gladstone, the greatest living churchman, and bright, the greatest living nonconformist, voting in the same lobby. the fight was stiff, and was kept up until the end of the summer. the weapon that had been forged in this blazing furnace by these clumsy armourers proved blunt and worthless; the law was from the first a dead letter, and it was struck out of the statute book in in mr. gladstone's own administration.[ ] iii fall of the russell government in the autumn ( ) a committee of the whig cabinet, now reinforced by the admission for the first time of lord granville, was named to prepare a reform bill. palmerston, no friend to reform, fell into restive courses that finally upset the coach. the cabinet, early in november, settled that he should not receive kossuth, and he complied; but he received a public deputation and an address complimenting him for his exertions on kossuth's behalf. the court at this proceeding took lively offence, and the queen requested the prime minister to ascertain the opinion of the cabinet upon it. such an appeal by the sovereign from the minister to the cabinet was felt by them to be unconstitutional, and though they did not conceal from palmerston their general dissatisfaction, they declined to adopt any resolution. before the year ended palmerston persisted in taking an unauthorised line of his own upon napoleon's _coup d'état_ (this time for once not on the side of freedom against despotism), and lord john closed a correspondence between them by telling him that he could not advise the queen to leave the seals of the foreign department any longer in his hands. this dismissal of palmerston introduced a new element of disruption and confusion, for the fallen minister had plenty of friends. lord lansdowne was very uneasy about reform, and talked ominously about preferring to be a supporter rather than a member of the government; and whig dissensions, though less acute in type, threatened a perplexity as sharp in the way of a stable administration, as the discords among conservatives. lord john (jan. , ) next asked his cabinet whether an offer should be made to graham. a long discussion followed; whether graham alone would do them any good; whether the peelites, considering themselves as a party, might join, but would not consent to be absorbed; whether an offer to them was to be a persistent attempt in good faith or only a device to mend the parliamentary case, if the offer were made and refused. two or three of the whig ministers, true to the church traditions of the caste, made great difficulties about the puseyite notions of newcastle and mr. gladstone. 'gladstone,' writes one of them, 'is a jesuit, and more peelite than i believe was peel himself.' in the end lord john russell and his men met parliament without any new support. their tottering life was short, and it was an amendment moved by palmerston (feb. ) on a clause in a militia bill, that slit the thread. the hostile majority was only eleven, but other perils lay pretty thick in front. the ministers resigned, and lord stanley, who had now become earl of derby, had no choice but to give his followers their chance. the experiment that seemed so impossible when bentinck first tried it, of forming a new third party in the state, seemed up to this point to have prospered, and the protectionists had a definite existence. the ministers were nearly all new to public office, and seventeen of them were for the first time sworn of the privy council in a single day. one jest was that the cabinet consisted of three men and a half--derby, disraeli, st. leonards, and a worthy fractional personage at the admiralty. sending to his wife at hawarden a provisional list (feb. ), mr. gladstone doubts the way in which the offices were distributed:--'it is not good, as compared i mean with what it should have been. disraeli could not have been worse placed than at the exchequer. henley could not have been worse than at the board of trade. t. baring, who would have been their best chancellor of the exchequer, seems to have declined. herries would have been much better than disraeli for that particular place. i suppose lord malmesbury is temporary foreign secretary, to hold the place for s. canning. what does not appear on the face of the case is, who is to lead the house of commons, and about that everybody seems to be in the dark....' iv first derby administration the first derby administration, thus formed and covering the year , marks a highly interesting stage in mr. gladstone's career. 'the key to my position,' as he afterwards said, 'was that my opinions went one way, my lingering sympathies the other.' his opinions looked towards liberalism, his sympathies drew him to his first party. it was the peelites who had now been thrown into the case of a dubious third party. at the end of february mr. gladstone sought lord aberdeen, looking 'to his weight, his prudence, and his kindliness of disposition as the main anchor of their section. his tone has usually been, during the last few years, that of anxiety to reunite the fragments and reconstruct the conservative party, but yesterday, particularly at the commencement of our conversation, he seemed to lean the other way; spoke kindly of lord derby and wished that _he_ could be extricated from the company with which he is associated; said that though called a despot all his life, he himself had always been, and was now, friendly to a liberal policy. he did not, however, like the reform question in lord john's hands; but he considered, i thought (and if so he differed from me), that on church questions we all might co-operate with him securely.' mr. gladstone, on the contrary, insisted that their duty plainly was to hold themselves clear and free from whig and derbyite alike, so as to be prepared to take whatever of three courses might, after the defeat of protectionist proposals, seem most honourable--whether conservative reconstruction, or liberal conjunction, or peelism single-handed. the last he described as their least natural position; for, he urged, they might be 'liberal in the sense of peel, working out a liberal policy through the medium of the conservative party.' to that procrastinating view mr. gladstone stood tenaciously, and his course now is one of the multitudinous illustrations of his constant abhorrence of premature committal, and the taking of a second step before the first. after aberdeen he approached graham, who proceeded to use language that seemed to point to his virtual return to his old friends of the liberal party, for the reader will not forget the striking circumstance that the new head of a conservative government, and the most trusted of the cabinet colleagues of peel, had both of them begun official life in the reform ministry of lord grey. graham said he had a very high opinion of lord derby's talents and character, and that lord j. russell had committed many errors, but that looking at the two as they stood, he thought that the opinions of lord derby as a whole were more dangerous to the country than those of lord john. mr. gladstone said it did not appear to him that the question lay between these two; but graham's reception of this remark implied a contrary opinion. lincoln, now duke of newcastle, he found obdurate in another direction, speaking with great asperity against lord derby and his party; he would make no vows as to junction, not even that he would not join disraeli; but he thought this government must be opposed and overthrown; then those who led the charge against it would reap the reward; if the peelites did not place themselves in a prominent position, others would. they had a further conversation. the duke told him that beresford, the whip, had sent out orders to tory newspapers to run them down; that the same worthy had said 'the peelites, let them go to hell.' mr. gladstone replied that beresford's language was not a good test of the feelings of his party, and that his violence and that of other people was stimulated by what they imagined or heard of the peelites. newcastle persisted in his disbelief in the government. 'during this conversation, held on a sofa at the carlton, we were rather warm; and i said to him, "it appears to me that you do not believe this party to be composed even of men of honour or of gentlemen."... he clung to the idea that we were hereafter to form a party of our own, containing all the good elements of both parties. to which i replied, the country cannot be governed by a third or middle party unless it be for a time only, and on the whole i thought a liberal policy would be worked out with greater security to the country through the medium of the conservative party, and i thought a position like peel's on the liberal side of that party preferable, comparing all advantages and disadvantages, to the conservative side of the liberal party. and when he spoke of the tories as the obstructive body i said not all of them--for instance mr. pitt, mr. canning, mr. huskisson, and in some degree lord londonderry and lord liverpool.' four shades of peelites the upshot of all these discussions was the discovery that there were at least four distinct shades among the peelites. 'newcastle stands nearly alone, if not quite, in the rather high-flown idea that we are to create and lead a great, virtuous, powerful intelligent party, neither the actual conservative nor the actual liberal party but a new one. apart from these witcheries, graham was ready to take his place in the liberal ranks; cardwell, fitzroy and oswald would i think have gone with him, as f. peel and sir c. douglas went before him. but this section has been arrested, not thoroughly amalgamated, owing to graham. thirdly, there are the great bulk of the peelites from goulburn downwards, more or less undisguisedly anticipating junction with lord derby, and avowing that free trade is their only point of difference. lastly myself, and i think i am with lord aberdeen and s. herbert, who have nearly the same desire, but feel that the matter is too crude, too difficult and important for anticipating any conclusion, and that our clear line of duty is independence, until the question of protection shall be settled.' (march , .) the personal composition of this section deserves a sentence. in , during peel's short government, the whig phalanx opposed to it in the house of commons consisted of john russell and seven others.[ ] of these eight all were alive in , seven of them in the then existing cabinet; six of the eight still in the commons. on the other hand, peel's cabinet began its career thus manned in the commons--peel, stanley, graham, hardinge, knatchbull, goulburn. of these only the last remained in his old position. peel and knatchbull were dead; stanley in the lords and separated; graham isolated; hardinge in the lords and by way of having retired. nor was the band very large even as recruited. of ex-cabinet ministers there were but three commoners; goulburn, herbert, gladstone. and of others who had held important offices there were only available, clerk, cardwell, sir j. young, h. corry. the lords contributed aberdeen, newcastle, canning,[ ] st. germains and the duke of argyll. such, as counted off by mr. gladstone, was the peelite staff. graham in april made his own position definitely liberal, or 'whig and something more,' in so pronounced a way as to cut him off from the gladstonian subdivision or main body of the peelites. mr. gladstone read the speech in which this departure was taken, 'with discomfort and surprise.' he instantly went to read to lord aberdeen some of the more pungent passages; one or two consultations were held with newcastle and goulburn; and all agreed that graham's words were decisive. 'i mentioned that some of them were coming to carlton gardens in the course of the afternoon (april ); and my first wish was that now lord aberdeen himself would go and tell them how we stood upon graham's speech. to this they were all opposed; and they seemed to feel that as we had had no meeting yet, it would seem ungracious and unkind to an old friend to hold one by way of ovation over his departure. it was therefore agreed that i should acquaint young it was their wish that he should tell any one who might come, that we, who were there present, looked upon our political connection with graham as dissolved by the carlisle speech.'[ ] attitude of graham the temporary parting from graham was conducted with a degree of good feeling that is a pattern for such occasions in politics. in writing to mr. gladstone (mar. , ), and speaking of his colleagues in peel's government, graham says, 'i have always felt that my age and position were different from theirs: that the habits and connections of my early political life, though broken, gave to me a bias, which to them was not congenial; and since the death of our great master and friend, i have always feared that the time might arrive when we must separate. you intimate the decision that party connection must no longer subsist between us. i submit to your decision with regret; but at parting i hope that you will retain towards me some feelings of esteem and regard, such as i can never cease to entertain towards you; and though political friendships are often short-lived, having known each other well, we shall continue, i trust, to maintain kindly relations. it is a pleasure to me to remember that we have no cause of complaint against each other.' 'i have to thank you,' mr. gladstone replies, 'for the unvarying kindness of many years, to acknowledge all the advantages i have derived from communication with you, to accept and re-echo cordially your expressions of good will, and to convey the fervent hope that no act or word of mine may ever tend to impair these sentiments in my own mind or yours.' when the others had withdrawn, aberdeen told mr. gladstone that lord john had been to call upon him the day before for the first time, and he believed that the visit had special reference to mr. gladstone himself. 'the tenor of his conversation,' mr. gladstone reports, 'was that my opinions were quite as liberal as his; that in regard to the colonies i went beyond him; that my naples pamphlets could have been called revolutionary if he had written them; and in regard to church matters he saw no reason why there should not be joint action, for he was cordially disposed to maintain the church of england, and so, he believed, was i.' lord john, however, we may be sure was the last man not to know how many another element, besides agreement in opinion, decides relations of party. personal sympathies and antipathies, hosts of indirect affinities having apparently little to do with the main trunk of the school or the faction, hosts of motives only half disclosed, or not disclosed at all even to him in whom they are at work--all these intrude in the composition and management of parties whether religious or political. grave discussions turned on new nicknames. the tories had greatly gained by calling themselves conservatives after . the name of whig had some associations that were only less unpopular in the country than the name of tory. it was pointed out that many people would on no account join the whigs, who yet would join a government of which russells, greys, howards, cavendishes, villierses, were members. on the other hand graham declared that paley's maxim about religion was just as true in politics--that men often change their creed, but not so often the name of their sect. and as to the suggestion, constantly made at all times in our politics for the benefit of waverers, of the name of liberal-conservative, lord john caustically observed that whig has the convenience of expressing in one syllable what liberal-conservative expresses in seven, and whiggism in two syllables what conservative progress expresses in six. mr. gladstone and his group connected with all this arose a geographical question--in what quarter of the house were the peelites to sit? hitherto the two wings of the broken tory party, protectionist and peelite, had sat together on the opposition benches. the change of administration in sent the protectionists over to the speaker's right, and brought the whigs to the natural place of opposition on his left. the peelite leaders therefore had no other choice than to take their seats below the gangway, but on which side? such a question is always graver than to the heedless outsider it may seem, and the peelite discussions upon it were both copious and vehement.[ ] graham at once resolved on sharing the front opposition bench with the whigs: he repeated that his own case was different from the others, because he had once been a whig himself. herbert, who acted pretty strictly with mr. gladstone all this year, argued that they only held aloof from the new ministers on one question, and therefore that they ought not to sit opposite to them as adversaries, but should sit below the gangway on the ministerial side. newcastle intimated dissent from both, looking to the formation of his virtuous and enlightened third party, but where they should sit in the meantime he did not seem to know. mr. gladstone expressed from the first a decided opinion in favour of going below the gangway on the opposition side. what they ought to desire was the promotion of a government conservative in its personal composition and traditions, as soon as the crisis of protection should be over. taking a seat, he said, is an external sign and pledge that ought to follow upon full conviction of the thing it was understood to betoken; and to sit on the front opposition bench would indicate division from the conservative government as a party, while in fact they were not divided from them as a party, but only on a single question. in the end, graham sat above the opposition gangway next to lord john russell and cardwell. the peelite body as a whole determined on giving the new government what is called a fair trial. 'mr. sidney herbert and i,' says mr. gladstone, 'took pains to bring them together, in the recognised modes. they sat on the opposition side, but below the gangway, full, or about forty strong; and sir james graham, i recollect, once complimented me on the excellent appearance they had presented to him as he passed them in walking up the house.' considerable uneasiness was felt among some of them at finding themselves neighbours on the benches to cobden and bright and hume and their friends on the one hand, and 'the irish brass band' on the other. it depended entirely on the peelites whether the new government should be permitted to conduct the business of the session (subject to conditions or otherwise), or whether they should be open to an instant attack as the enemies of free trade. the effect of such attack must have been defeat, followed by dissolution forthwith, and by the ejection of the derby government in june (as happened in ) instead of in december. the tactics of giving the ministers a fair trial prevailed and were faithfully adhered to, graham and cardwell taking their own course. as the result of this and other conditions, for ten months ministers, greatly outnumbered, were maintained in power by the deliberate and united action of about forty peelites. lord derby had opened his administration with a pledge, as the peelites understood, to confine himself during the session to business already open and advanced, or of an urgent character. when mr. disraeli gave notice of a bill to dispose of four seats which were vacant, this was regarded by them as a manner of opening new and important issues, and not within the definition that had been the condition of their provisional support.[ ] 'lord john russell came and said to me,' says mr. gladstone, '"what will you do?" i admitted we were bound to act; and, joining the liberals, we threw over the proposal by a large majority. this was the only occasion of conflict that arose; and it was provoked, as we thought, by the government itself.' footnotes: [ ] 'he had told the queen that he thought all the offices might be filled in a respectable manner from among the members of the peel administration. on a subsequent day both herbert and cardwell made out from his conversation what i did not clearly catch, namely that lord aberdeen himself would have acted on the queen's wish, and that graham had either suggested the difficulty altogether, or at any rate got it put forward into its position.' gladstone memo., april , . [ ] memorandum, dated fasque, april , . [ ] memorandum, sept. , . [ ] _grey papers._ [ ] to phillimore, nov. , . [ ] greville, part ii, vol. iii. p. . [ ] _georgics_, i. - . 'aye, and time will come when the husbandman with bent ploughshare upturning the clods, shall find all corroded by rusty scurf the roman pikeheads; shall strike with heavy rake on empty helms, and gaze in wonder on giant bones cast from their broken graves.' [ ] affirmation bill ( ) and religious disabilities removal bill ( ). [ ] one of the most illustrious of the european liberals of the century wrote to senior:-- ce que vous me dites que le bill contre les titres ecclésiastiques ne mènera à rien, me paraît vraisemblable, grâce aux moeurs du pays. mais pourquoi faire des lois pires que les moeurs? c'est le contraire qui devait être. je vous avoue que j'ai été de coeur et d'esprit avec ceux qui comme lord aberdeen et m. gladstone, se sont opposés au nom de la liberté et du principe même de la réforme, à ces atteintes à la fois vaines et dangereuses que le bill a portées au moins en théorie à l'indépendance de conscience. où se réfugiera la liberté religieuse, si on la chasse de l'angleterre?--tocqueville, _corr._ iii. p. . [ ] namely palmerston, spring-rice, f. baring, charles wood, hobhouse, labouchere, lord howick. [ ] this, of course, was charles john earl canning, third son of canning the prime minister, mr. gladstone's contemporary at eton and christ church, and known to history as governor-general of india in the mutiny. stratford canning, afterwards lord stratford de redcliffe, was cousin of george canning. [ ] graham spoke of himself as a tried reformer and as a member of the liberal party, and as glad to find himself the ally of so faithful a liberal and reformer as his fellow-candidate. he would not exactly pledge himself to support the ballot, but he admitted it was a hard question, and said he was not so blind that practical experience might not convince him that he was wrong. (mar. , .) [ ] the same question greatly exercised mr. gladstone's mind in , for the same reason, that he again hoped for the reunion of a divided party. [ ] this was a bill to assign the four disfranchised seats for sudbury and st. albans to the west riding of yorkshire and the southern division of lancashire. mr. gladstone carried the order of the day by a majority of against the government. chapter viii end of protection (_ _) it is not too much to ask that now at least, after so much waste of public time, after ministries overturned and parties disorganised, the question of free trade should be placed high and dry on the shore whither the tide of political party strife could no longer reach it.--gladstone. the parliament was now dissolved (july ) to decide a great question. the repeal of the corn law, the ultimate equalisation of the sugar duties, the repeal of the navigation laws, had been the three great free trade measures of the last half-dozen years, and the issue before the electors in was whether this policy was sound or unsound. lord derby might have faced it boldly by announcing a moderate protection for corn and for colonial sugar. or he might have openly told the country that he had changed his mind, as peel had changed his mind about the catholic question and about free trade, and as mr. disraeli was to change his mind upon franchise in , and mr. gladstone upon the irish church in . instead of this, all was equivocation. the derbyite, as was well said, was protectionist in a county, neutral in a small town, free trader in a large one. he was for maynooth in ireland, and against it in scotland. mr. disraeli did his best to mystify the agricultural elector by phrases about set-offs and compensations and relief of burdens, 'seeming to loom in the future.' he rang the changes on mysterious new principles of taxation, but what they were to be, he did not disclose. the great change since was that the working-class had become strenuous free traders. they had in earlier times never been really convinced when cobden and bright assured them that no fall in wages would follow the promised fall in the price of food. it was the experience of six years that convinced them. england alone had gone unhurt and unsinged through the fiery furnace of , and nobody doubted that the stability of her institutions and the unity of her people were due to the repeal of bad laws, believed to raise the price of bread to the toilers in order to raise rents for territorial idlers. again elected for oxford long before the dissolution, it was certain that mr. gladstone would have to fight for his seat. his letter to the scotch bishop (see above, p. ), his vote for the jews, his tenacity and vehemence in resisting the bill against the pope,--the two last exhibitions in open defiance of solemn resolutions of the university convocation itself,--had alienated some friends and inflamed all his enemies. half a score of the heads induced dr. marsham, the warden of merton, to come out. in private qualities the warden was one of the most excellent of men, and the accident of his opposition to mr. gladstone is no reason why we should recall transient electioneering railleries against a forgotten worthy. the political addresses of his friends depict him. they applaud his sound and manly consistency of principle and his sober attachment to the reformed church of england, and they dwell with zest on the goodness of his heart. the issue, as they put it, was simple: 'at a time when the stability of the protestant succession, the authority of a protestant queen, and even the christianity of the national character, have been rudely assailed by rome on one side, and on the other by democratic associations directed against the union of the christian church with the british constitution--at such a time, it becomes a protestant university, from which emanates a continuous stream of instruction on all ecclesiastical and christian questions over the whole empire, to manifest the importance which it attaches to protestant truth, by the selection of a _protestant representative_.' the teaching residents were, as always, decisively for gladstone, and nearly all the fellows of merton voted against their own warden. in one respect this was remarkable, for mr. gladstone had in (july ) resisted the proposal for that commission of inquiry into the universities which the oxford liberals had much at heart, and it would not have been surprising if they had held aloof from a candidate who had told the house of commons that 'after all, science was but a small part of the business of education,'--a proposition that in one sense may be true, but applied to unreformed oxford was the reverse of true. the non-residents were diligently and rather unscrupulously worked upon, and they made a formidable set of discordant elements. the evangelicals disliked mr. gladstone. the plain high-and-dry men distrusted him as what they called a sophist. even some of the anglo-catholic men began to regard as a bad friend 'to the holy apostolic church of these realms, the author of the new theory of religious liberty' in the scotch letter. they reproachfully insisted that had he headed a party in the house of commons defending the church, not upon latitudinarian theories of religious liberty, not upon vague hints of a disaffected movement of the non-juring sort, still less upon romanising principles, but on the principles of the constitution, royal supremacy included, then the church would have escaped the worst that had befallen her since . the minister would never have dared to force hampden into the seat of a bishop. the privy council would never have reversed the court of arches in the gorham case. the claim of the clergy to meet in convocation would never have been refused. the committee of council would have treated education very differently.[ ] all came right in the end, however, and mr. gladstone was re-elected (july ), receiving votes fewer than sir robert inglis, but more than the warden of merton.[ ] we have to remember that he was not returned as a liberal. ii the leaders of the sections out of office, when the general election was over, at once fetched forth line and plummet to take their soundings. 'the next few months,' mr. gladstone wrote to lord aberdeen (aug. ), 'are, i apprehend, the crisis of _our_ fate, and will show whether we are equal or unequal to playing out with prudence, honour, and resolution _the drama or trilogy that has been on the stage since _.' he still regarded the situation as something like a reproduction of the position of the previous march. the precise number of the ministerialists could not be ascertained until tested by a motion in the house. they had gained rather more than was expected, and some put them as high as , others as low as . what was undoubted was that lord derby was left in a minority, and that the support of the peelites might any hour turn it into a majority. notwithstanding a loss or two in the recent elections, that party still numbered not far short of , and mr. gladstone was naturally desirous of retaining it in connection with himself. most of the group were disposed rather to support a conservative government than not, unless such a government were to do, or propose, something open to strong and definite objection. at the same time what he described as the difficulty of keeping peelism for ever so short a space upon its legs, was as obvious to him as to everybody else. 'it will be an impossible parliament,' graham said to mr. gladstone (july ), 'parties will be found too nicely balanced to render a new line of policy practicable without a fresh appeal to the electors.' before a fresh appeal to the electors took place, the impossible parliament had tumbled into a great war. the new parliament when the newly chosen members met in november, mr. disraeli told the house of commons that 'there was no question in the minds of ministers with respect to the result of that election: there was no doubt that there was not only not a preponderating majority in favour of a change in the laws [free trade] passed in the last few years, or even of modifying them in any degree; but that on the contrary there was a decisive opinion on the part of the country that that settlement should not be disturbed.' mr. gladstone wrote to lord aberdeen (july ) that he thought the government absolutely chained to mr. disraeli's next budget, and 'i, for one, am not prepared to accept him as a financial organ, or to be responsible for what he may propose in his present capacity.' each successive speech made by mr. disraeli at aylesbury he found 'more quackish in its flavour than its predecessor.' yet action on his own part was unavoidably hampered by oxford. 'were i either of opinion,' he told lord aberdeen (aug. ), 'that lord john russell ought to succeed lord derby, or prepared without any further development of the plans of the government to take my stand as one of the party opposed to them, the first step which, as a man of honour, i ought to adopt, should be to resign my seat.' 'i do not mean hereby,' he adds in words that were soon to derive forcible significance from the march of events, 'that i am unconditionally committed against any alliance or fusion, but that any such alliance or fusion, to be lawful for me, must grow out of some failure of the government in carrying on public affairs, or a disapproval of its measures when they shall have been proposed.' he still, in spite of all the misdeeds of ministers during the elections, could not think so ill of them as did lord aberdeen. 'protection and religious liberty,' he wrote to lord aberdeen (aug. ),'are the subjects on which my main complaints would turn; shuffling as to the former, trading on bigotry as to the latter. the shifting and shuffling that i complain of have been due partly to a miserably false position and the giddy prominence of inferior men; partly to the (surely not unexpected) unscrupulousness and second motives of mr. disraeli, at once the necessity of lord derby and his curse. i do not mean that this justifies what has been said and done; i only think it brings the case within the common limits of political misconduct. as for religious bigotry,' he continues, 'i condemn the proceedings of the present government; yet much less strongly than the unheard-of course pursued by lord john russell in - , the person to whom i am now invited to transfer my confidence.' even on the superficial conversion of the derbyites to free trade, mr. gladstone found a _tu quoque_ against the whigs. 'it is, when strictly judged, an act of public immorality to form and lead an opposition on a certain plea, to succeed, and then in office to abandon it.... but in this view, the conduct of the present administration is the counterpart and copy of that of the whigs themselves in , who ran sir robert peel to ground upon the appropriation clause, worked it just while it suited them, and then cast it to the winds; to say nothing of their conduct on the irish assassination bill of .' this letter was forwarded by aberdeen to lord john russell. lord john had the peculiar temperament that is hard to agitate, but easy to nettle. so polemical a reading of former whig pranks nettled him considerably. why, he asked, should he not say just as reasonably that mr. gladstone held up the whigs to odium in for stripping the farmer of adequate protection; worked the corn law of as long as it suited him; and then turned round and cast the corn law to the winds? if he gave credit to mr. gladstone for being sincere in , , and , why should not mr. gladstone give the same credit to him? as to the principle of appropriation, he and althorp had opposed four of their colleagues in the grey cabinet; how could he concede to peel what he had refused to them? as for the irish bill on which he had turned peel out, it was one of the worst of all coercion bills; peel with followers evidently could not carry on the government; and what sense could there have been in voting for a bad bill, in order to retain in office an impossible ministry? this smart apologia of lord john's was hardly even plausible, much less did it cover the ground. the charge against the whigs is not that they took up appropriation, but that having taken it up they dropped it for the sake of office. nor was it a charge that they resisted an irish coercion bill, but that having supported it on the first reading ('worst of all coercion bills' as it was, even in the eyes of men who had passed the reckless act of ), they voted against it when they found that both bentinck and the manchester men were going to do the same, thus enabling them to turn peel out. confusions of party sharp sallies into the past, however, did not ease the present. it was an extraordinary situation only to be described in negatives. a majority could not be found to beat the government upon a vote of want of confidence. nobody knew who could take their places. lord john russell as head of a government was impossible, for his maladroit handling of papal aggression had alienated the irish; his dealings with palmerston had offended one powerful section of the english whigs; the scottish whigs hated him as too much managed by the lights of the free church; and the radicals proscribed him as the chief of a patrician clique. yet though he was impossible, he sometimes used language to the effect that for him to take any place save the first would be a personal degradation that would lower him to the level of sidmouth or goderich. lord palmerston represented the moderate centre of the liberal party. even now he enjoyed a growing personal favour out of doors, not at all impaired by the bad terms on which he was known to be with the court, for the court was not at that date so popular an institution as it became by and by. among other schemes of ingenious persons at this confused and broken time was a combination under palmerston or lansdowne of aristocratic whigs, a great contingent of derbyites, and the peelites; and before the elections it was true that lord derby had made overtures to these two eminent men. a lansdowne combination lingered long in the mind of lord palmerston himself, who wished for the restoration of a whig government, but resented the idea of serving under its late head. some dreamed that palmerston and disraeli might form a government on the basis of resistance to parliamentary reform. strange rumours were even afloat that mr. gladstone's communications with palmerston before he left london at the election had been intimate and frequent. 'i cannot make gladstone out,' said lord malmesbury, 'he seems to me a dark horse.' in the closing days of the autumn (september ) graham interpreted some obscure language of mr. gladstone's as meaning that if protection were renounced, as it might be, if palmerston joined derby and the government were reconstructed, and if disraeli ceased to be leader, then his own relations with the government would be changed. gladstone was so uneasy in his present position, so nice in the equipoise of his opinions that he wished to be, as he said, 'on the liberal side of the conservative party, rather than on the conservative side of the liberal party.' a little earlier than this, lord aberdeen and graham agreed in thinking (august) that 'disraeli's leadership was the great cause of gladstone's reluctance to have anything to do with the government; ... that even if this should be removed, it would not be very easy for him to enter into partnership with them.' mr. gladstone himself now and always denied that the lead in the commons or other personal question had anything to do with the balance of his opinions at the present and later moments. those who know most of public life are best aware how great is the need in the case of public men for charitable construction of their motives and intent. yet it would surely have been straining charity to the point of dishonour if, within two years of peel's death, any of those who had been attached to him as master and as friend, either mr. gladstone or anybody else, could have looked without reprobation and aversion on the idea of cabinet intimacy with the bitterest and least sincere of all peel's assailants. iii opening skirmishes mr. gladstone repaired to london some weeks before the new session, and though he was not in a position to open direct relations with the government, he expressed to lord hardinge, with a view to its communication to lord derby, his strong opinion that the house of commons would, and should, require from ministers a frank and explicit adoption of free trade through the address, and secondly, the immediate production of their financial measures. lord derby told hardinge at windsor that he thought that neither expectation was far wrong. when the peelites met at lord aberdeen's to discuss tactics, they were secretly dissatisfied with the paragraphs about free trade. mr. disraeli had laid down at the election the sonorous maxim, that no statesman can disregard with impunity the genius of the epoch in which he lives. and he now after the election averred that the genius of the age was in favour of free exchange. still it was pleasanter to swallow the dose with as little public observation as possible. 'what would have been said,' cried lord derby in fervid remonstrance, 'if shortly after catholic emancipation and the reform bill had been admitted as settlements, their friends had come down and insisted not only that the houses of parliament should consent to act on the new policy they had adopted, but should expressly recant their opinion in favour of the policy that had formerly prevailed? what would the friends of sir r. peel have said in if, when he assumed the government and when the new parliament assembled, he had been called upon to declare that the reform bill was wise, just, and necessary?' the original free traders were not disposed to connive at derbyite operations any more than were the whigs. notice was at once given by mr. villiers of a motion virtually assailing the ministers, by asserting the doctrine of free trade in terms they could not adopt. 'now,' says mr. gladstone, 'we came to a case in which the liberals did that which had been done by the government in the case of the four seats bill; that is to say, they raised an issue which placed us against them. lord palmerston moved the amendment which defeated the attack, but he did this at the express request of s. herbert and mine, and we carried the amendment to him at his house. he did not recommend any particular plan of action, and he willingly acquiesced in and adopted ours.' he said he would convey it to disraeli, 'with whom,' he said, 'i have had communications from time to time.' in the debate (nov. ) upon the two rival amendments--that of mr. villiers, which the ministers could not accept, and that of palmerston, which they could--sidney herbert paid off some old scores in a speech full of fire and jubilation; mr. gladstone, on the other hand, was elaborately pacific. he earnestly deprecated the language of severity and exasperation, or anything that would tend to embitter party warfare. his illustrious leader peel, he said, did indeed look for his revenge; but for what revenge did he look? assuredly not for stinging speeches, assuredly not for motions made in favour of his policy, if they carried pain and degradation to the minds of honourable men. were they not celebrating the obsequies of an obnoxious policy? let them cherish no desire to trample on those who had fought manfully and been defeated fairly. rather let them rejoice in the great public good that had been achieved; let them take courage from the attainment of that good, for the performance of their public duty in future. all this was inspired by the strong hope of conservative reunion. 'nervous excitement kept me very wakeful after speaking,' says mr. gladstone, 'the first time for many years.' (_diary._) villiers's motion was rejected by to , the peelites and graham voting with ministers in the majority. the peelite amendment in moderated terms, for which palmerston stood sponsor, was then carried against the radicals by to . for the moment the government was saved. this evening, mr. gladstone writes on the next day, nov. , i went to lady derby's evening party, where lord derby took me a little aside and said he must take the opportunity of thanking me for the tone of my speech last night, which he thought tended to place the discussion on its right footing. it was evident from his manner, and lady derby's too, that they were highly pleased with the issue of it. i simply made my acknowledgments in terms of the common kind, upon which he went on to ask me what in my view was to happen next? the great object, he said, was to get rid of all personal questions, and to consider how all those men who were united in their general views of government might combine together to carry on with effect. for himself he felt both uncertain and indifferent; he might be able to carry on the government or he might not; but the question lay beyond that, by what combination or arrangement of a satisfactory nature, in the event of his displacement, the administration of public affairs could be conducted. to this i replied, that it seemed to me that _our_ situation (meaning that of herbert, goulburn, and others, with myself) in relation to his government remained much as it was in march and april last.... we have to expect your budget, and the production of that is the next step. he replied that he much desired to see whether there was a possibility of any _rapprochement_, and seemed to glance at personal considerations as likely perhaps to stand in the way [disraeli, presumably]. i said in reply, that no doubt there were many difficulties of a personal nature to be faced in conceiving of any ministerial combination when we looked at the present house of commons: many men of power and eminence, but great difficulties arising from various causes, present and past relations, incompatibilities, peculiar defects of character, or failure in bringing them into harmony. i said that, as to relations of parties, circumstances were often stronger than the human will; that we must wait for their guiding, and follow it.... he said, rather decidedly, that he assented to the truth of this doctrine. he added, 'i think sidney said more last night than he intended, did he not?' i answered, 'you mean as to one particular expression or sentence?' he rejoined, 'yes.'[ ] i said, 'i have had no conversation with him on it, but i think it very probable that he grew warm and went beyond his intention at that point; at the same time, i think i ought to observe to you that i am confident that expression was occasioned by one particular preceding speech in the debate.' he gave a significant assent, and seemed to express no surprise. iv mr. disraeli's proposals the respite for ministers was short. the long day of shadowy promises and delusive dreams was over; and the oracular expounder of mysteries was at last gripped by the hard realities of the taxes. whigs and peelites, men who had been at the exchequer and men who hoped to be, were all ready at last to stalk down their crafty quarry. without delay disraeli presented his budget (dec. ). as a private member in opposition he had brought forward many financial proposals, but it now turned out that none of them was fit for real use. with a serene audacity that accounts for some of mr. gladstone's repulsion, he told the house that he had greater subjects to consider 'than the triumph of obsolete opinions.' his proposals dazzled for a day, and then were seen to be a scheme of illusory compensations and dislocated expedients. he took off half of the malt-tax and half of the hop duty, and in stages reduced the tea duty from two shillings and twopence to one shilling. more important, he broke up the old frame of the income-tax by a variation of its rates, and as for the house-tax, he doubled its rate and extended its area. in one of his fragmentary notes, mr. gladstone says:-- having run away from protection, as it was plain from the first they would do, they had little to offer the land, but that little their minority was ready to accept. it was a measure essentially bad to repeal half the malt duty. but the flagrantly vicious element in disraeli's budget was his proposal to reduce the income-tax on schedule d. to fivepence in the pound, leaving the other schedules at sevenpence. this was no compensation to the land; but, inasmuch as to exempt one is to tax another, it was a distinct addition to the burdens borne by the holders of visible property. it was on disraeli's part a most daring bid for the support of the liberal majority, for we all knew quite well that the current opinion of the whigs and liberals was in favour of this scheme; which, on the other hand, was disapproved by sound financiers. the authority of pitt and peel, and then my own study of the subject, made me believe that it was impracticable, and probably meant the disruption of the tax, with confusion in finance, as an immediate sequitur. what angered me was that disraeli had never examined the question. and i afterwards found that he had not even made known his intentions to the board of inland revenue. the gravity of the question thus raised made me feel that the day was come to eject the government. attack on the budget it was upon the increase of the house-tax that the great battle was finally staked. mr. gladstone's letters to his wife at hawarden bring the rapid and excited scenes vividly before us. _ carlton gardens, dec. , ._--i write from h. of c. at ½ just expecting the budget. all seem to look for startling and dangerous proposals. you will read them in the papers of to-morrow, be they what they may. if there is anything outrageous, we may protest at once; but i do not expect any extended debate to-night.... the rush for places in the h. of c. is immense. _monday, dec. ._--on saturday, in the early part of the day, i had a return, perhaps caused by the damp relaxing weather, of the neuralgic pain in my face, and in the afternoon a long sitting at lord aberdeen's about the budget, during which strange to say my pain disappeared, but which kept me past the ordinary post hour. these were the causes of your having no letter. the said budget will give rise to serious difficulties. it is plain enough that when its author announced something looming in the distance, he did not mean this plan but something more extensive. even his reduced scheme, however, includes fundamental faults of principle which it is impossible to overlook or compound with. the first day of serious debate on it will be friday next, and a vote will be taken either then or on monday. _dec. ._--be sure to read lord derby's speech on monday. his reference to the cause of his quarrel with lord george bentinck was most striking, and is interpreted as a rap at disraeli.[ ] i have had a long sit with lord aberdeen to-day talking over possibilities. the government, i believe, talk confidently about the decision on the house-tax, but i should doubt whether they are right. meantime i am convinced that disraeli's is the least conservative budget i have ever known. _dec. ._--i need hardly say the vision of going down to-morrow has been dissolved. it has been arranged that i am not to speak until the close of the debate; and it is considered almost certain to go on till monday. ministers have become much less confident, but i understand that some, i know not how many, of lord john's men are not to be relied on. whether they win or not (i expect the latter, but my opinion is _naught_) they cannot carry this house-tax nor their budget. but the mischief of the proposals they have launched will not die with them. _dec. ._--i write in great haste. though it is wednesday, i have been down at the house almost all day to unravel a device of disraeli's about the manner in which the question is to be put, by which he means to catch votes; and _i think_ after full consultation with mahon and wilson patten, that this will be accomplished. the debate may close to-morrow night. i am sorry to say i have a long speech fermenting in me, and i feel as a loaf might in the oven. the government, it is thought, are likely to be beaten. _dec. ._--i have been engaged in the house till close on post time. disraeli trying to wriggle out of the question, and get it put upon words without meaning, to enable more to vote as they please, _i.e._ his men or those favourably inclined to him. but he is beaten in this point, and we have now the right question before us. it is not now quite certain whether we shall divide to-night; i hope we may, for it is weary work sitting with a speech fermenting inside one.[ ] _dec. ._--i have never gone through so exciting a passage of parliamentary life. the intense efforts which we made to obtain, and the government to escape, a definite issue, were like a fox chase, and prepared us all for excitement. i came home at seven, dined, read for a quarter of an hour, and actually contrived (only think) to sleep in the fur cloak for another quarter of an hour; got back to the house at nine. disraeli rose at . [dec. ], and from that moment, of course, i was on tenterhooks, except when his superlative acting and brilliant oratory from time to time absorbed me and made me quite _forget_ that i had to follow him. he spoke until one. his speech as a whole was grand; i think the most powerful i ever heard from him. at the same time it was disgraced by shameless personalities and otherwise; i had therefore to begin by attacking him for these. there was a question whether it would not be too late, but when i heard his personalities i felt there was no choice but to go on. my great object was to show the conservative party how their leader was hoodwinking and bewildering them, and this i have the happiness of believing that in some degree i effected; for while among some there was great heat and a disposition to interrupt me when they could, i could _see_ in the faces and demeanour of others quite other feelings expressed. but it was a most difficult operation, and altogether it might have been better effected. the house has not i think been so much excited for years. the power of his speech, and the importance of the issue, combined with the lateness of the hour, which always operates, were the causes. my brain was strung very high, and has not yet quite got back to calm, but i slept well last night. on thursday night [_i.e._ friday morning] after two hours of sleep, i awoke, and remembered a gross omission i had made, which worked upon me so that i could not rest any more. and still, of course, the time is an anxious one, and i wake with the consciousness of it, but i am very well and really not unquiet. when i came home from the house, i thought it would be good for me to be mortified. next morning i opened the _times_, which i thought _you_ would buy, and _was_ mortified when i saw it did not contain my speech but a mangled abbreviation. such is human nature, at least mine. but in the _times_ of to-day you will see a very curious article descriptive of the last scene of the debate. it has evidently been written by a man who must have seen what occurred, or been informed by those who did see. he by no means says too much in praise of disraeli's speech. i am told he is much stung by what i said. i am very sorry it fell to me to say it; god knows i have no wish to give him pain; and really with my deep sense of his gifts i would only pray they might be well used. the two antagonists the writer in the _times_ to whom the victorious orator here refers describes how, 'like two of sir walter scott's champions, these redoubtable antagonists gathered up all their force for the final struggle, and encountered each other in mid-career; how, rather equal than like, each side viewed the struggle of their chosen athletes, as if to prognosticate from the war of words the fortunes of two parties so nicely balanced and marshalled in apparently equal array. mr. disraeli's speech,' he says, 'was in every respect worthy of his oratorical reputation. the retorts were pointed and bitter, the hits telling, the sarcasm keen, the argument in many places cogent, in all ingenious, and in some convincing. the merits were counterbalanced by no less glaring defects of tone, temper, and feeling. in some passages invective was pushed to the limit of virulence, and in others, meant no doubt to relieve them by contrast, the coarser stimulants to laughter were very freely applied. occasionally whole sentences were delivered with an artificial voice and a tone of studied and sardonic bitterness, peculiarly painful to the audience, and tending greatly to diminish the effect of this great intellectual and physical effort. the speech of mr. gladstone was in marked contrast. it was characterised throughout by the most earnest sincerity. it was pitched in a high tone of moral feeling--now rising to indignation, now sinking to remonstrance--which was sustained throughout without flagging and without effort. the language was less ambitious, less studied, but more natural and flowing than that of mr. disraeli; and though commencing in a tone of stern rebuke, it ended in words of almost pathetic expostulation.... that power of persuasion which seems entirely denied to his antagonist, mr. gladstone possesses to great perfection, and to judge by the countenances of his hearers, those powers were very successfully exerted. he had, besides, the immense advantage resulting from the tone of moral superiority which he assumed and successfully maintained, and which conciliated to him the goodwill of his audience in a degree never attained by the most brilliant sallies of his adversary, and when he concluded the house might well feel proud of him and of themselves.' a violent thunderstorm raged during the debate, but the excited senators neither noticed the flashes of lightning nor heard a tremendous shock of thunder. a little before four o'clock in the morning (dec. ), the division was taken, and ministers were beaten by nineteen ( to ). 'there was an immense crowd,' says macaulay, 'a deafening cheer when hayter took the right hand of the row of tellers, and a still louder cheer when the numbers were read.'[ ] defeat of government a small incident occurred a few nights later to show that it was indeed high time to abate the passions of these six years and more. a politician of secondary rank had been accused of bribery at derby, and a band of tory friends thought the moment opportune to give him a banquet at the carlton. mr. gladstone in another room was harmlessly reading the paper. presently in came the revellers, began to use insulting language, and finally vowed that he ought to be pitched headlong out of the window into the reform. mr. gladstone made some courteous reply, but as the reporter truly says, courtesy to gentry in this humour was the casting of pearls before swine. eventually they ordered candles in another room, and left him to himself.[ ] 'you will perhaps,' he wrote to his wife, 'see an account of a row at the carlton in which i have taken no harm.' the affair indeed was trivial, but it illustrates a well-known and striking reflection of cornewall lewis upon the assault perpetrated on sumner in the senate at washington by brooks. 'that outrage,' he said, 'is no proof of brutal manners or low morality in americans; it is the first blow in a civil war.... if peel had proposed a law not only reducing rents, but annihilating them, instead of being attacked by a man of words like disraeli, he would have been attacked with physical arguments by some man of blows.'[ ] in point of numbers the stroke given to protection was not tremendous, but as the history of half a century has shown, it was adequate and sufficient, and lord derby at once resigned. he did not take his defeat well. 'strange to say,' mr. gladstone wrote to his wife, 'lord derby has been making a most petulant and intemperate speech in the house of lords on his resignation; such that newcastle was obliged to rise after him and contradict the charge of combination; while nothing could be better in temper, feeling, and judgment than disraeli's farewell.' derby angrily divided the combination that had overthrown him into, first, various gradations of liberalism from 'high aristocratic and exclusive whigs down to the extremest radical theorists'; second, irish ultramontanes; and lastly, a party of some thirty or thirty-five gentlemen 'of great personal worth, of great eminence and respectability, possessing considerable official experience and a large amount of talent--who once professed, and i believe do still profess, conservative opinions.' mr. disraeli, on the contrary, with infinite polish and grace asked pardon for the flying words of debate, and drew easy forgiveness from the member whom a few hours before he had mocked as 'a weird sibyl'; the other member whom he would not say he greatly respected, but whom he greatly regarded; and the third member whom he bade learn that petulance is not sarcasm, and insolence is not invective. lord john russell congratulated him on the ability and the gallantry with which he had conducted the struggle, and so the curtain fell. the result, as the great newspaper put it with journalistic freedom, was 'not merely the victory of a battle, but of a war; not a reverse, but a conquest. the vanquished have no principles which they dare to assert, no leaders whom they can venture to trust.' footnotes: [ ] charles wordsworth, _letter to mr. gladstone_, , p. . [ ] inglis, ; gladstone, ; marsham, . [ ] i suppose this refers to a passage about mr. disraeli:--'for my part i acquit the chancellor of the exchequer, so far as his own convictions are concerned, of the charge of having ever been a protectionist. i never for one moment thought he believed in the least degree in protection. i do not accuse him of having forgotten what he said or what he believed in those years. i only accuse him of having forgotten now what he then wished it to appear that he believed.' the same speech contains a whimsical reason why the jews make no converts, which the taste of our more democratic house would certainly not tolerate. [ ] 'the only serious misunderstanding i ever had with my noble and lamented friend lord george bentinck, which i am happy to say was thoroughly removed before his untimely death--was upon a full and frank expression of my opinion that nothing could be more unfitting nor more impolitic than to load with terms of vituperation those from whom we are compelled conscientiously to differ' (_dec. _). [ ] 'we had a preliminary debate to have the whole resolution put, instead of the preamble only, which was ultimately agreed to, and placed the question more fairly before the public, disraeli making the extraordinary declaration that though the proposal was for doubling the house-tax, nobody was bound by that vote to do so. it was an attempt at a shuffle in order to catch votes from his own people, and to a certain extent it succeeded.'--_halifax papers_, . [ ] trevelyan, ii. p. . [ ] _times_, dec. , . [ ] _letters_, p. . book iv _ - _ chapter i the coalition (_ _) the materials necessary for a sound judgment of facts are not found in the success or failure of undertakings; exact knowledge of the situation that has provoked them forms no inconsiderable element of history.--metternich. england was unconsciously on the eve of a violent break in the peace that had been her fortunate lot for nearly forty years. to the situation that preceded this signal event, a judicious reader may well give his attention. some of the particulars may seem trivial. in countries governed by party, what those out of the actualities of the fray reckon trivial often count for much, and in the life of a man destined to be a conspicuous party leader, to pass them by would be to leave out real influences. the first experiment in providing the country with a tory government had failed. that alliance between whig and peelite which lord john the year before had been unable to effect, had become imperative, and at least a second experiment was to be tried. the initial question was who should be head of the new government. in august, lord aberdeen had written to mr. gladstone in anticipation of the derbyite defeat: 'if high character and ability only were required, _you_ would be the person; but i am aware that for the present at least this would not be practicable. whether it would be possible for newcastle or me to undertake the concern is more than i can say.' other good reasons apart, it is easy to see that mr. gladstone's attitude in things ecclesiastical put him out of court, and though he had made a conspicuous mark not only, as lord aberdeen said, by character and ability but by liberality of view especially in the region of colonial reform, still he had as yet had no good opportunity for showing an independent capacity for handling great affairs. not any less impossible was lord john. shortly before the occasion arose, a whig intimate told him plainly that reconstruction on the basis of his old government was out of the question. 'lord john's answer was a frank acceptance of that opinion; and he was understood to say that the composition of the next government must be mainly from the ranks of the peelites; he evidently looked forward to being a member of it, but not the head. when various persons were named as possible heads, lord aberdeen was distinctly approved, graham was distinctly rejected, newcastle was mentioned without any distinct opinion expressed. we [aberdeen and gladstone] were both alike at a loss to know whether lord john had changed his mind, or had all along since his resignation been acting with this view. all his proceedings certainly seem to require an opposite construction, and to contemplate his own leadership.'[ ] lord palmerston was determined not to serve again under a minister who had with his own hand turned him out of office, and of whose unfitness for the first post he was at the moment profoundly convinced. he told a peelite friend that lord john's love of popularity would always lead him into scrapes, and that his way of suddenly announcing new policies (durham letter and edinburgh letter) without consulting colleagues, could not be acquiesced in. besides the hostility of palmerston and his friends, any government with the writer of the durham letter at its head must have the hostility of the irishmen to encounter. the liberal attitude of the peelites on the still smouldering question of papal aggression gave aberdeen a hold on the irish such as nobody else could have. a harassed week another man of great eminence in the whig party might have taken the helm, but lord lansdowne was seventy-two, and was supposed to have formally retired from office for ever. the leader of the peelites visited the patrician whig at lansdowne house, and each begged the other to undertake the uncoveted post. lord aberdeen gave a slow assent. previously understanding from lord john that he would join, aberdeen accepted the queen's commission to form a government. he had a harassed week. at first the sun shone. 'lord john consents,' wrote mr. gladstone to his wife at hawarden, 'and has behaved very well. palmerston refuses, which is a serious blow. to-morrow i think we shall get to detailed arrangements, about which i do not expect extraordinary difficulty. but i suppose palmerston is looking to become the leader of a derby opposition; and without him, or rather with him between us and the conservatives, i cannot but say the game will be a very difficult one to play. it is uncertain whether i shall be chancellor of the exchequer or secretary for the colonies; one of the two i think certainly; and the exchequer will certainly come to graham or me.' within a few hours angry squalls all but capsized the boat. lord john at first had sought consolation in an orthodox historical parallel--the case of mr. fox, though at the head of the largest party, leading the commons under lord grenville as head of the government. why should he, then, refuse a position that fox had accepted? but friends, often in his case the most mischievous of advisers, reminded him what sort of place he would hold in a cabinet in which the chief posts were filled by men not of his own party. lord john himself thought, from memories of bishop hampden and other ecclesiastical proceedings, that mr. gladstone would be his sharpest opponent. then as the days passed, he found deposition from first place to second more bitter than he had expected. historic and literary consolation can seldom be a sure sedative against the stings of political ambition. he changed his mind every twelve hours, and made infinite difficulties. when these were with much travail appeased, difficulties were made on behalf of others. the sacred caste and their adherents were up in arms, and a bitter cry arose that all the good things were going to the peelites, only the leavings to the whigs. lord john doubtless remembered what fox had said when the ministry of all the talents was made,--'we are three in a bed.' disraeli now remarked sardonically, 'the cake is too small.' to realise the scramble, the reader may think of the venerable carp that date from henry iv. and sully, struggling for bread in the fish-ponds of the palace of fontainebleau. the whigs of this time were men of intellectual refinement; they had a genuine regard for good government, and a decent faith in reform; but when we chide the selfishness of machine politicians hunting office in modern democracy, let us console ourselves by recalling the rapacity of our oligarchies. 'it is melancholy,' muses sir james graham this christmas in his journal, 'to see how little fitness for office is regarded on all sides, and how much the public employments are treated as booty to be divided among successful combatants.' from that point of view, the whig case was strong. 'of members of the house of commons,' wrote lord john to aberdeen, ' are whig and radical, thirty are irish brigade, thirty are peelites. to this party of thirty you propose to give seven seats in cabinet, to the whigs and radicals five, to lord palmerston one.' in the end there were six whigs, as many peelites, and one radical. the case of four important offices out of the cabinet was just as heartrending: three were to go to the thirty peelites, and one to the two hundred and seventy just persons. 'i am afraid,' cried lord john, 'that the liberal party will never stand this, and that the storm will overwhelm me.' whig pride was deeply revolted at subjection to a prime minister whom in their drawing-rooms they mocked as an old tory. in the aberdeen cabinet, says mr. gladstone, 'it may be thought that the whigs, whose party was to supply five-sixths or seven-eighths of our supporters, had less than their due share of power. it should, however, be borne in mind that they had at this juncture in some degree the character of an used up, and so far a discredited, party. without doubt they were sufferers from their ill-conceived and mischievous ecclesiastical titles act. whereas we, the peelites had been for six and a half years out of office, and had upon us the gloss of freshness.' chancellor of the exchequer lord palmerston refused to join the coalition, on the honourable ground that for many years he and aberdeen had stood at the antipodes to one another in the momentous department of foreign affairs. in fact he looked in another direction. if the aberdeen-russell coalition broke down, either before they began the journey or very soon after, lord derby might come back with a reconstructed team, with palmerston leading in the commons a centre party that should include the peelites. he was believed to have something of this kind in view when he consented to move the amendment brought to him by gladstone and herbert in november, and he was bitterly disappointed at the new alliance of that eminent pair with lord john. with the tories he was on excellent terms. pall mall was alive with tales of the anger and disgust of the derbyites against mr. disraeli, who had caused them first to throw over their principles and then to lose their places. the county constituencies and many conservative boroughs were truly reported to be sick of the man who had promised marvels as 'looming in the future,' and then like a bad jockey had brought the horse upon its knees. speculative minds cannot but be tempted to muse upon the difference that the supersession by lord palmerston of this extraordinary genius at that moment might have made, both to the career of disraeli himself, and to the nation of which he one day became for a space the supreme ruler. cobden and bright let it be understood that they were not candidates for office. 'our day has not come yet,' bright said to graham, and the representative of the radicals in the cabinet was sir william molesworth. in their newspaper the radicals wrote rather stiffly and jealously. in the end lord palmerston changed his mind and joined. it was three days before the post of the exchequer was filled. mr. gladstone in his daily letter to hawarden writes: 'at headquarters i understand they say, "mr. g. destroyed the budget, so he ought to make a new one." however we are trying to press graham into that service.' the next day it was settled. from osborne a letter had come to lord aberdeen: 'the queen hopes it may be possible to give the chancellorship of the exchequer to mr. gladstone, and to secure the continuance of lord st. leonards as chancellor.'[ ] notwithstanding the royal wish, 'we pressed it,' says mr. gladstone, 'on graham, but he refused point blank.' graham, as we know, was the best economist in the administration of peel, and mr. gladstone's frequent references to him in later times on points of pure finance show the value set upon his capacity in this department. his constitutional dislike of high responsibility perhaps intervened. mr. gladstone himself would cheerfully have returned to the colonial office, but the whigs suspected the excesses of his colonial liberalism, and felt sure that he would sow the tares of anglicanism in these virgin fields. so before christmas day came, mr. gladstone accepted what was soon in influence the second post in the government,[ ] and became chancellor of the exchequer. say what they would, the parliamentary majority was unstable as water. his own analysis of the house of commons gave british liberals, not very compact, and the radical wing of them certain to make occasions of combination against the government, especially in finance. the only other party avowing themselves general supporters of the government were the forty peelites--for at that figure he estimated them. the ministry, therefore, were in a minority, and a portion even of that minority not always to be depended on. the remainder of the house he divided into forty irish brigaders, bent on mischief; from fifty to eighty conservatives, not likely to join in any factious vote, and not ill-disposed to the government, but not to be counted on either for attendance or confidence; finally, the derby opposition, from to , ready to follow mr. disraeli into any combination for turning out the government. 'it thus appears, if we strike out the fifty conservatives faintly favourable, that we have a government with supporters, liable on occasions, which frequently arise, to heavy deductions; with an opposition of (derbyites and brigaders), most of them ready to go all lengths. such a government cannot be said to possess the confidence of the house of commons in the full constitutional sense.' early position of the ministry the general course seemed smooth. palmerston had gone to the harmless department of home affairs. the international airs were still. but a cabinet finally composed of six peelites, six whigs, and a radical, was evidently open to countless internal hazards. 'we shall all look strangely at each other,' one of them said, 'when we first meet in cabinet.' graham describes them as a powerful team that would need good driving. 'there are some odd tempers and queer ways among them; but on the whole they are gentlemen, and they have a perfect gentleman at their head, who is honest and direct, and who will not brook insincerity in others.' the head of the new government described it to a friend as 'a great experiment, hitherto unattempted, and of which the success must be considered doubtful, but in the meantime the public had regarded it with singular favour.' to the king of the belgians, aberdeen wrote: 'england will occupy her true position in europe as the constant advocate of moderation and peace'; and to guizot, that 'the position which we desired so see england occupy among the nations of europe, was to act the part of a moderator, and by reconciling differences and removing misunderstandings to preserve harmony and peace.' i have seen no more concise analysis of the early position of the coalition government than that by one of the ablest and most experienced members of the whig party, not himself a candidate for office:-- 'it is strong,' sir francis baring wrote to his son, 'in personal talent; none that i can remember stronger, though the head of the government is untried. it is strong in one point of view: as to public feeling. the country, i believe, wanted a moderate liberal government, and a fusion of liberal conservatives and moderate liberals. it is weak in the feelings of the component parts: palmerston is degraded, gladstone will struggle for power, lord john cannot be comfortable. it is weak in the discordant antecedents of the cabinet; they must all make some sacrifices and work uncomfortably. it is weak in the support. i do not mean the numbers, but the class of supporters. the peelites are forty; they will have the liberals on the one side and the conservatives on the other. the whigs of the cabinet will be anxious to satisfy the former; the peelites (gladstone especially) the other. they are weak in their church views. the protestants look on those who voted against the aggression bill with distrust; the evangelicals on gladstone and s. herbert with dislike. i don't pretend to be a prophet, but it is always well to put down what you expect and to compare these expectations with results. my conjecture is that gladstone will, before long, leave the government or that he will break it up.'[ ] long afterwards mr. gladstone himself said this of the coalition:-- i must say of this cabinet of lord aberdeen's that in its deliberations it never exhibited the marks of its dual origin. sir w. molesworth, its radical member, seemed to be practically rather nearer in colour to the peelites than to the whigs. there were some few idiosyncrasies without doubt. lord palmerston, who was home secretary, had in him some tendencies which might have been troublesome, but for a long time were not so. it is, for instance, a complete error to suppose that he asked the cabinet to treat the occupation of the principalities as a _casus belli_. lord russell shook the position of lord aberdeen by action most capricious and unhappy. but with the general course of affairs this had no connection; and even in the complex and tortuous movements of the eastern negotiations, the cabinet never fell into two camps. that question and the war were fatal to it. in itself i hardly ever saw a cabinet with greater promise of endurance. ii opposition at oxford acceptance of office vacated the oxford seat, and the day after christmas a thunderbolt fell upon the new chancellor of the exchequer from his friend, the militant archdeacon of taunton. 'i wish to use few words,' denison wrote, 'where every word i write is so bitterly distressing to me, and must be little less so, i cannot doubt, to yourself and to many others whom i respect and love. i have to state to you, as one of your constituents, that from this time i can place no confidence in you as representative of the university of oxford, or as a public man.' mr. gladstone's protestations that church patronage would be as safe in lord aberdeen's hands as in lord derby's; that his own past history dispensed with the necessity of producing other assurances of his own fidelity; that his assumption of office could not shake it--all these were vain in face of the staring and flagrant fact that he would henceforth be the intimate and partner in council of lord john russell, the latitudinarian, the erastian, the appropriationist, the despoiler; and worse still, of molesworth, sometimes denounced as a socinian, sometimes as editor of the atheist hobbes, but in either case no fit person to dispense the church patronage of the duchy of lancaster. only a degree less shocking was the thought of the power of filling bishoprics and deaneries by a prime minister himself a presbyterian. no guarantee that the member for oxford might have taken against aggression upon the church, or for the concession of her just claims, was worth a feather when weighed against the mere act of a coalition so deadly as this. it was an awkward fact for mr. gladstone's canvassers that lord derby had stated that his defeat was the result of a concert or combination between the peelites and other political parties. mr. gladstone himself saw no reason why this should cause much soreness among his oxford supporters. 'no doubt,' he said, 'they will remember that i avowed before and during the last election a wish to find the policy and measures of the government such as would justify me in giving them my support. that wish i sincerely entertained. but the main question was whether the concert or combination alleged to have taken place for the purpose of ejecting lord derby's government from office was fact or fiction. i have not the slightest hesitation in stating to you that it is a fiction. evidence for the only presumption in its favour was this--that we voted against the budget of mr. disraeli in strict conformity with every principle of finance we had professed through our political lives and with the policy of former finance ministers from the time of mr. pitt, against the "new principles" and "new policies" which mr. disraeli declared at aylesbury his intention to submit to the house of commons--a pledge which i admit that he completely redeemed.'[ ] all this was true enough, but what people saw was that the first fruits of the victory were a coalition with the whigs, who by voting with villiers had from the first shown their predetermination against ministers. as northcote humorously said, mary stuart could never get over the presumption which her marriage with bothwell immediately raised as to the nature of her previous connection with him. it is hard to deny that, as the world goes, the oxford tories clerical and lay might think they had a case. lord derby was the tory minister, and mr. gladstone had been a chief instrument in turning him out. that was the one salient fact, and the political flock is often apt to see a thing with a more single eye than their shepherds. a candidate was found in mr. perceval, son of the tory prime minister who had met a tragic death forty years before. the country clergy were plied with instigations and solicitations, public and private. no absurdity was too monstrous to set afloat. mr. gladstone had seceded to the episcopal church of scotland. he had long ceased to be a communicant. he was on close and intimate terms with cardinal wiseman. he had incited the pope to persecute protestants at florence. in this vein a flight of angry articles and circulars descended on every parsonage where there was an oxford master of arts with his name still on the university books. at the beginning the enemy by a rush were in a majority, but they were speedily beaten out of it. at the end of six days, in spite of frenzied efforts, no more than votes out of a constituency of had been recorded. still the indomitable men insisted on the legal right of keeping the poll open for fifteen days, and learned persons even gloomily hinted that the time might be extended to forty days. in the end (jan. ) mr. gladstone had votes against perceval's , or a narrow majority of . the tory press justly consoled themselves by calculating that such a majority was only six per cent. of the votes polled, but they were very angry with the failure of the protestant electors in doing their patriotic duty against 'the pro-romanist candidate.' the organ of the peelites, on the other hand, was delighted at the first verdict thus gained from the most influential constituency in great britain, in favour of the new experiment of conservative-liberalism and wise and rational progress. graham said, and truly, that 'though gladstone's defeat at that precise juncture would have been a misfortune, yet for his own sake hereafter, emancipation from the thraldom of that constituency would be a blessing. it is a millstone under which even peel would have sunk.' was mr. gladstone right in his early notion of himself as a slow moving mind? would it be true to say that, compared with pitt, for instance, he ripened slowly? or can we accurately describe him as having in any department of life, thought, knowledge, feeling, been precocious? perhaps not. to speak of slowness in a man of such magical rapidity of intellectual apprehension would be indeed a paradox, but we have seen already how when he is walking in the middle path of his years, there is a sense in which he was slow in character and motion. slowness explains some qualities in his literary and oratorical form, which was often, and especially up to our present period, vague, ambiguous, and obscure. the careless and the uncharitable set all down to sophistry. better observers perceived that his seeming mystifications were in fact the result of a really embarrassed judgment. they pointed out that where the way was clear, as in free trade, colonial government, dissenters' chapels, jewish disabilities, catholic bishoprics, nobody could run more straight, at higher speed, or with more powerful stride. they began to say that in spite of russells, palmerstons, grahams, mr. gladstone, after all, was the least unlikely of them 'to turn out a thoroughgoing man of the people.' these anticipations of democracy there is no sign that mr. gladstone himself, in the smallest degree, shared. the newspapers, meanwhile, were all but unanimous in declaring that 'if experience, talent, industry, and virtue, are the attributes required for the government of this empire,' then the coalition government would be one of the best that england had ever seen. iii mr. gladstone's dislike and distrust of the intrusion not only of the rude secular arm, but of anything temporal into the sphere of spiritual things, had been marked enough in the old days of battle at oxford between the tractarians and the heads, though it was less manifest in the gorham case. in he found occasion for an honourable exhibition of the same strong feeling. maurice had got into trouble with the authorities at king's college by essays in which he was taken to hold that the eternity of the future torment of the wicked is a superstition not warranted by the thirty-nine articles. a movement followed in the council of the college to oust maurice from his professorial chair. mr. gladstone took great pains to avert the stroke, and here is the story as he told it to his brother-in-law, lord lyttelton:-- _to lord lyttelton._ _oct. , ._--i remained in town last thursday in order to attend the council of k.c., and as far as i could, to see fair play. i was afraid of a very precipitous proceeding, and i regret to say my fears have been verified. the motion carried was the bishop of london's, but i am bound to say he was quite willing to have waived it for another course, and the proceeding is due to a body of laymen chiefly lords. the motion carried is to the effect that the statements on certain points contained in maurice's last essay are of a dangerous character, and that his connection with the theology of the school ought not to continue. i moved as an amendment that the bishop be requested to appoint competent theologians who should personally examine how far the statements of mr. maurice were conformable to or at variance with the three creeds and the formularies of the church of england, and should make a report upon them, and that the bishop should be requested to communicate with the council. for myself i find in different parts of what maurice has written things that i cannot, and i am quite certain the council had not been able to, reconcile. this consideration alone seemed to me to show that they were not in a condition to proceed with a definite judgment. i do not feel sufficiently certain what his view as a whole may be, even if i were otherwise competent to judge whether it is within or beyond the latitude allowed by the church in this matter. and independently of all this i thought that even decency demanded of the council, acting perforce in a judicial capacity, that they should let the accused person know in the most distinct terms for _what_ he was dismissed, and should show that they had dismissed him, if at all, only after using greater pains to ascertain that his opinions were in real contrariety to some article of the faith. i also cherished the hope, founded on certain parts of what he has said, that his friends might be able in the meantime to arrange some _formula concordiæ_ which might avert the scandal and mischief of the dismissal. sir j. patteson, sir b. brodie, and mr. green supported the amendment, but the majority went the other way, and much was i grieved at it. i am not inclined to abate the dogmatic profession of the church--on the contrary, nothing would induce me to surrender the smallest fraction of it; but while jealous of its infraction in any particular, i am not less jealous of the obtrusion of any private or local opinion into the region of dogma; and above all i hold that there should be as much rigour in a trial of this kind, irrespective of the high character and distinguished powers of the person charged in this particular case, as if he were indicted for murder.[ ] defence of maurice long afterwards, when the alleged heretic was dead, mr. gladstone wrote of him to mr. macmillan (april , ): 'maurice is indeed a spiritual splendour, to borrow the phrase of dante about st. dominic. his intellectual constitution had long been, and still is, to me a good deal of an enigma. when i remember what is said and thought of him, and by whom, i feel that this must be greatly my own fault.' some years after the affair at king's college, maurice was appointed to vere street, and the attack upon him was renewed. mr. gladstone was one of those who signed an address of recognition and congratulation. footnotes: [ ] memo, by mr. gladstone of a conversation with aberdeen. [ ] the practical impossibility of retaining this learned man, the derbyite chancellor, upon the coalition woolsack, is an illustration of the tenacity of the modern party system. [ ] it was not until the rise of mr. gladstone that a chancellor of the exchequer, not being prime minister, stood at this high level. [ ] from the baring papers, for which i am indebted to the kindness of lord northbrook. [ ] _times_, december , . [ ] see _life of maurice_, ii. p. ; _life of wilberforce_, ii. pp. - . see also mr. gladstone's letter to bishop hampden, , above p. . chapter ii the triumph of (_ _) we have not sought to evade the difficulties of our position.... we have not attempted to counteract them by narrow or flimsy expedients.... we have proposed plans which will go some way towards closing up many vexed financial questions.... while we have sought to do justice to intelligence and skill as compared with property--while we have sought to do justice to the great labouring community by further extending their relief from indirect taxation, we have not been guided by any desire to set one class against another.--gladstone ( ). mr. gladstone began this year, so important both to himself and to the country, with what he described as a short but active and pleasant visit to oxford. he stayed at christ church with dr. jacobson, of whom it was observed that he always looked as if on the point of saying something extremely piercing and shrewd, only it never came. he paid many calls, dined at oriel, had a luncheon and made a speech in the hall at balliol; passed busy days and brisk evenings, and filled up whatever spare moments he could find or manufacture, with treasury papers, books on taxation, consolidated annuities, and public accounts, alternating with dips into lamennais--the bold and passionate french mystic, fallen angel of his church, most moving of all the spiritual tragedies of that day of heroic idealists. on february he moved into the house of the chancellor of the exchequer in that best known of all streets which is not a street, where he was destined to pass some two and twenty of the forty-one years of the public life that lay before him. he had a correspondence with mr. disraeli, his predecessor, on the valuation of the furniture in the official house. there was question, also, of the robe that passes down under some law of exchange from one chancellor to another on an apparently unsettled footing. the tone on this high concern was not wholly amicable. mr. gladstone notes especially in his diary that he wrote a draft of one of his letters on a sunday, as being, i suppose, the day most favourable to self-control; while mr. disraeli at last suggests that mr. gladstone should really consult sir charles wood, 'who is at least a man of the world.' such are the angers of celestial minds. at an early cabinet (feb. ) he began the battle that lasted in various shapes all the rest of his life. it was on a question of reducing the force in the pacific. 'lord aberdeen, granville, molesworth, and i were for it. we failed.' what was the case for this particular retrenchment i do not know, nor does it matter. fiercer engagements, and many of them, were to follow. meanwhile he bent all the energies of his mind to the other front of financial questions--to raising money rather than expending it, and with unwearied industry applied himself to solve the problem of redistributing the burdens and improving the machinery of taxation. for many years circumstances had given to finance a lively and commanding place in popular interest. the protracted discussion on the corn law, conducted not only in senate and cabinet, but in country market-places and thronged exchanges, in the farmer's ordinary and at huge gatherings in all the large towns in the kingdom, had agitated every class in the community. the battle between free trade and protection, ending in a revolution of our commercial system, had awakened men to the enormous truth, as to which they are always so soon ready to relapse into slumber, that budgets are not merely affairs of arithmetic, but in a thousand ways go to the root of the prosperity of individuals, the relations of classes, and the strength of kingdoms. the finance of the whigs in the years after the reform bill had not only bewildered parliament, but had filled merchants, bankers, shipowners, manufacturers, shopkeepers, and the whole array of general taxpayers with perplexity and dismay. peel recovered a financial equilibrium and restored public confidence, but peel was gone. the whigs who followed him after had once more laboured under an unlucky star in this vital sphere of national affairs. they performed the unexampled feat of bringing forward four budgets in a single year, the first of them introduced by lord john russell himself as prime minister. by floundering had reached a climax. finance had thus discredited one historical party; it had broken up the other. it was finance that overthrew weak governments and hindered the possibility of a strong one. fiscal confusion mr. disraeli, the most unsparing of all the assailants of peel, tried his own hand in . to have the genius and the patience of a great partisan chief is one gift, and this he had; to grasp the complex material interests of a vast diversified society like the united kingdom demands powers of a different order. the defeat of mr. disraeli's budget at the end of seemed to complete the circle of fiscal confusion. every source of public income was the object of assault. every indirect tax was to be reduced or swept away, and yet no two men appeared to agree upon the principles of the direct taxes that were to take their place. the window duty, the paper duty, the tax on advertisements, the malt-tax, the stamp on marine insurances, were all to vanish, but even the most zealous reformers were powerless to fill the void. the order-book of the house of commons was loaded with motions about the income-tax, and an important committee sat in to consider all the questions connected with the possibility of its readjustment and amendment. they could not even frame a report. the belief that it was essentially unjust to impose the tax at one and the same rate upon permanent and temporary incomes, prevailed in the great mass, especially of the liberal party. discussions arose all through this period, descending not only to the elementary principles of taxation, but, as mr. gladstone said, almost to the first principles of civilised society itself. party distraction, ministerial embarrassment, adjournment after adjournment of a decision upon fundamental maxims of national taxation--such was the bewildered scene. at last a statesman appeared, a financier almost by accident (for, as we have seen, it was by no special choice of his own that mr. gladstone went to the exchequer), but a financier endowed with a practical imagination of the highest class, with a combination of the spirit of vigorous analysis and the spirit of vigorous system, with the habit of unflagging toil, and above all, with the gift of indomitable courage. if anybody suggested the reappointment of hume's committee, the idea was wisely dismissed. it was evidently, as graham said, the duty of the executive government to lead the way and to guide public opinion in a matter of this crucial importance. it seemed impossible and unworthy to avoid a frank declaration about the income-tax. he was strongly of opinion (march ) that a larger measure would be carried with greater certainty and ease than simple renewal; and that a combination of income-tax, gradually diminishing to a fixed term of extinction, with reduction of the interest of debt, and a review of the probate and legacy duties, afforded the best ground for a financial arrangement both successful and creditable. it was strong ideas of this kind that encouraged mr. gladstone to build on a broad foundation. the nature of his proceedings he set out in one of the most interesting of his political memoranda:-- the liberals were, to all appearance, pledged to the reconstruction of the tax by their opinions, and the tories by their party following. the small fraction of peelites could probably be relied upon the other way, and some few individuals with financial knowledge and experience. the mission of the new government was described by lord aberdeen in the house of lords as a financial mission, and the stress of it thus lay upon a person, very ill-prepared. my opinions were with peel; but under such circumstances it was my duty to make a close and searching investigation into the whole nature of the tax, and make up my mind whether there was any means of accepting or compounding with the existing state of opinion. i went to work, and laboured very hard. when i had entered gravely upon my financial studies, i one day had occasion--i know not what--to go into the city and to call upon mr. samuel gurney, to whom experience and character had given a high position there. he asked me with interest about my preparations for my budget; and he said, 'one thing i will venture to urge, whatever your plan is,--let it be simple.' i was a man much disposed to defer to authority, and i attached weight to this advice. but as i went further and further into my subject, i became more and more convinced that, as an honest steward, i had no option but to propose the renewal of the tax in its uniform shape. i constructed much elaborate argument in support of my proposition, which i knew it would be difficult to answer. but i also knew that no amount of unassisted argument would suffice to overcome the obstacles in my way, and that this could only be done by large compensations in my accompanying propositions. so i was led legitimately on, and on, until i had framed the most complicated scheme ever submitted to parliament. the fabric planned truly has it been said that there is something repulsive to human nature in the simple reproduction of defunct budgets. certainly if anything can be more odious than a living tax, it is a dead one. it is as much as is consonant to biography to give an outline of the plan that was gradually wrought out in mr. gladstone's mind during the first three laborious months of , and to mark the extraordinarily far-reaching and comprehensive character of the earliest of his thirteen budgets. its initial boldness lay in the adoption of the unusual course of estimating the national income roughly for a long period of seven years, and assuming that expenditure would remain tolerably steady for the whole of that period. just as no provident man in private life settles his establishment on the basis of one year or two years only, so mr. gladstone abandoned hand-to-mouth, and took long views. 'i ought, no doubt,' he said afterwards, 'to have pointed out explicitly that a great disturbance and increase of our expenditure would baffle my reckonings.' meanwhile, the fabric was planned on strong foundations and admirable lines. the simplification of the tariff of duties of customs, begun by peel eleven years before, was carried forward almost to completion. nearly one hundred and forty duties were extinguished, and nearly one hundred and fifty were lowered. the tea duty was to be reduced in stages extending over three years from over two shillings to one shilling. in the department of excise, the high and injurious duty on soap, which brought into the exchequer over eleven hundred thousand pounds annually, was swept entirely away. in the same department, by raising the duties on spirits manufactured in ireland nearer to the level of england and scotland, a step was taken towards identity of taxation in the three kingdoms--by no means an unequivocal good. miscellaneous provisions and minor aspects of the scheme need not detain us; but a great reform of rate and scale in the system of the assessed taxes, the reduction of the duty on the beneficent practice of life insurance from half-a-crown to sixpence on the hundred pounds, and the substitution of a uniform receipt stamp, were no contemptible contributions to the comfort and well-being of the community. advertisements in newspapers became free of duty.[ ] keystone of the budget the keystone of the budget in mr. gladstone's conception was the position to be assigned in it to the income-tax. this he determined to renew for a period of seven years,--for two years at sevenpence in the pound, for two years more at sixpence, and for the last three at fivepence. by that time he hoped that parliament would be able to dispense with it. meanwhile it was to be extended to ireland, in compensation for the remission of a debt owed by ireland to the british treasury of between four and five millions. it was to be extended, also, at a reduced rate of fivepence, to incomes between a hundred and fifty and a hundred pounds--the former having hitherto been the line of total exemption. from the retention of the income-tax as a portion of the permanent and ordinary finance of the country the chancellor of the exchequer was wholly and strongly averse, and so he remained for more than twenty years to come. in order, however, to meet a common and a just objection, that under this impost intelligence, enterprise, and skill paid too much and property paid too little, he resolved upon a bold step. he proposed that the legacy duty, hitherto confined to personal property passing on death, either by will or by inheritance and not by settlement, should henceforth be extended to real property, and to both descriptions of property passing by settlement, whether real or personal. in a word, the legacy duty was to extend to all successions whatever. this was the proposal that in many senses cut deepest. it was the first rudimentary breach in the ramparts of the territorial system, unless, indeed, we count as first the abolition of the corn law.[ ] mr. gladstone eagerly disclaimed any intention of accelerating by the pressure of fiscal enactment changes in the tenure of landed property, and the letters which the reader has already seen (pp. - ) show the high social value that he invariably set upon the maintenance of the old landed order. the succession duty, as we shall find, for the time disappointed his expectations, for he counted on two millions, and in fact it yielded little more than half of one. but it secured for its author the lasting resentment of a powerful class. such was the scheme that mr. gladstone now worked out in many weeks of toil that would have been slavish, were it not that toil is never slavish when illuminated by a strenuous purpose. when by and by the result had made him the hero of a glorious hour, he wrote to lord aberdeen (april ): 'i had the deepest anxiety with regard to you, as our chief, lest by faults of my own i should aggravate the cares and difficulties into which i had at least helped to bring you; and the novelty of our political relations with many of our colleagues, together with the fact that i had been myself slow, and even reluctant, to the formation of a new connection, filled me with an almost feverish desire to do no injustice to that connection now that it was formed; and to redeem the pledge you generously gave on my behalf, that there would be no want of cordiality and zeal in the discharge of any duties which it might fall to me to perform on behalf of such a government as was then in your contemplation.' thirteen, fourteen, fifteen hours a day he toiled at his desk. treasury officials and trade experts, soap deputations and post-horse deputations, representatives of tobacco and representatives of the west india interest, flocked to downing street day by day all through march. if he went into the city to dine with the lord mayor, the lamentable hole thus made in his evening was repaired by working till four in the morning upon customs reform, australian mints, budget plans of all kinds. it is characteristic that even this mountain load of concentrated and exacting labour did not prevent him from giving a latin lesson every day to his second boy. ii 'some days before the day appointed for my statement,' says mr. gladstone, 'i recited the leading particulars to my able and intelligent friend cardwell, not in the cabinet but then holding office as president of the board of trade. he was so bewildered and astounded at the bigness of the scheme, that i began to ask myself, have i a right to ask my colleagues to follow me amidst all these rocks and shoals? in consequence i performed a drastic operation upon the plan, and next day i carried to lord aberdeen a reduced and mutilated scheme which might be deemed by some politicians to be weaker but safer. i put to lord aberdeen the question i had put to myself, and stated my readiness, if he should think it called for, to make this sacrifice to the probable inclinations of my colleagues. but he boldly and wisely said, "i take it upon myself to ask you to bring your original and whole plan before the cabinet." i thought this an ample warrant.' the budget in cabinet at last, after mr. gladstone had spent an hour at the palace in explaining his scheme to the prince consort, the budget was opened to the cabinet (april ) in a speech of three hours--an achievement, i should suppose, unparalleled in that line, for a cabinet consists of men each with pretty absorbing pre-occupations of his own. the exposition was 'as ingenious,' lord aberdeen told prince albert, 'as clear, and for the most part as convincing, as anything i have ever heard.' 'gladstone,' said lord aberdeen later ( ) 'does not weigh well against one another different arguments, each of which has a real foundation. but he is unrivalled in his power of proving that a specious argument has no real foundation. on the succession bill the whole cabinet was against him. he delivered to us much the same speech as he made in the house of commons. at its close we were all convinced.'[ ] differences that might easily become serious speedily arose upon details in the minds of two or three of them, and for some days the prime minister regarded the undertaking as not only difficult but perilous. sir charles wood, in cabinet (april ), strongly disapproved of the extension of income-tax to ireland, and to the lowering of the exemption line. on ireland the plan would lay more than half a million of new taxation, whereas much of the relief, such as soap and assessed taxes, would not touch her.[ ] palmerston thought it a great plan, perfectly just, and admirably put together, only it opened too many points of attack, and it could never be carried: disraeli was on the watch, the irish would join him, so would the radicals, while the succession duty, to which palmerston individually had great objection, would estrange many conservatives. lord john russell perceived difficulties, but he did not see an alternative. graham then fell in, disliked the twofold extension of the income-tax, and thought they should only take away half the soap-tax. lord lansdowne (a great irish landlord) agreed with him. mr. gladstone told them that he was willing to propose whatever the cabinet might decide on, except one thing, namely, the breaking up of the basis of the income-tax: that he could not be a party to; he should regard it as a high political offence. with this reservation he should follow their judgment, but he strongly adhered to his whole plan. lord aberdeen said, 'you must take care your proposals are not unpopular ones.' mr. gladstone replied that it was after applying the test of popularity, that he was convinced the budget would be damaged beforehand by some of the small changes that had been suggested. at the end of a long and interesting discussion, there stood for the whole budget lord john, newcastle, clarendon, molesworth, gladstone, with argyll and aberdeen more or less favourable; for dropping the two extensions of income-tax and keeping half the soap duty, lansdowne, graham, wood; more or less leaning towards them, palmerston and granville. they agreed to meet again the next day (april ), when they got into the open sea. wood stuck to his text. lansdowne suggested that an increased spirit duty and an income-tax for ireland together would be something like a breach of faith. palmerston thought they would be beaten, but he would accept the budget provided they were not to be bound to dissolve or resign upon such a point as to the two extensions of the income-tax. lord john said that if they were beaten on differentiating the tax, they would have to dissolve. palmerston expressed his individual opinion in favour of a distinction for precarious incomes, and would act in that sense if he were out of the government; as it was, he assented. argyll created a diversion by suggesting the abandonment of the irish spirit duty. mr. gladstone admitted that he thought the spirit duty the weakest point of the plan, though warrantable and tenable on the whole. at last, after further patient and searching discussion, the cabinet finding that the suggested amendments cut against one another, were for adopting the entire budget, the dissentients being lansdowne, graham, wood, and herbert. graham was full of ill auguries, but said he would assent and assist. wood looked grave, and murmured that he must take time. cabinet misgivings in the course of these preliminaries lord john russell had gone to graham, very uneasy about the income-tax. graham, though habitually desponding, bade him be of good cheer. their opponents, he said, were in numbers strong; but the budget would be excellent to dissolve upon, and lord john admitted that they would gain forty seats. they agreed, however, in graham's language, that it would never do to play their trump card until the state of the game actually required it. lord john confessed that he was no judge of figures,--somewhat of a weakness in a critic of a budget,--and graham comforted him by the reply that he was at any rate the best judge living of house of commons tactics. the position of the government in the house of commons was notoriously weak. the majority that had brought them into existence was excessively narrow. it had been well known from the first that if any of the accidents of a session should happen to draw the tories, the irish, and the radicals into one lobby, ministers would find themselves in a minority. small defeats occurred. the budget was only four days off. mr. gladstone enters in his diary: 'spoke against gibson; beaten by - . our third time this week. very stiff work this. ellice said dissolution would be the end of it; we agreed in the house to a cabinet to-morrow. herbert and cardwell, to whom i spoke, inclined to dissolve.' next day (april ), the cabinet met in a flutter, for the same tactics might well be repeated, whenever mr. disraeli should think the chances good. lord john adverted to the hostility of the radicals as exhibited in the tone of the debate, and hinted the opinion that they must take in a reef or two. mr. gladstone doubted whether the budget could live in that house, whatever form it might assume; but even with such perils he should look upon the whole budget as less unsafe than a partial contraction. graham took the same view of the disposition of parliament: keen opposition; lukewarm support; the necessity of a greater party sympathy and connection to enable them to surmount the difficulties of a most unusual and hazardous operation. but he did not appear to lean to dissolution, and the older members of the cabinet generally declared themselves against it. 'in the end we went back to the position that we must have a budget on monday, but clarendon, herbert, and palmerston joined the chorus of those who said the measure was too sharp upon ireland. the idea was then started whether we should go the length of the entire remission of the consolidated annuities[ ] and impose the income-tax at sevenpence, with the augmented spirit duty. this view found favour generally; and i felt that some excess in the mere sacrifice of money was no great matter compared with the advantage of so great an approximation to equal taxation.' then, 'speaking with great deference,' gladstone repeated his belief once more that the entire budget was safer than a contracted one, both for the house and the country, and his conviction that if they proposed it, the name and fame of the government at any rate would stand well. 'wood seemed still to hang back, but the rest of the cabinet now appeared well satisfied, and we parted, each resolved and certainly more likely to stand or fall by the budget as a whole than we seemed to be on wednesday.' iii the decisive cabinet was on saturday, april . it was finally settled that the budget should be proposed as it stood, with its essential features unaltered. on sunday, the chancellor of the exchequer went as usual twice to church, and read the _paradiso_; 'but i was obliged,' he says, with an accent of contrition, 'to give several hours to my figures.' monday brought the critical moment. 'april . wrote minutes. read shakespeare at night. this day was devoted to working up my papers and figures for the evening. then drove and walked with c. [mrs. gladstone]. went at ½ to the house. spoke ¾ hours in detailing the financial measures, and my strength stood out well, thank god. many kind congratulations afterwards. herberts and wortleys came home with us and had soup and negus.' laid before parliament the proceeding that figures here so simply was, in fact, one of the great parliamentary performances of the century. lord aberdeen wrote to prince albert that 'the display of power was wonderful; it was agreed in all quarters that there had been nothing like the speech for many years, and that under the impression of his commanding eloquence the reception of the budget had been most favourable.' lord john told the queen the speech was one of the ablest ever made in the house of commons. 'mr. pitt, in the days of his glory, might have been more imposing, but he could not have been more persuasive.' lord aberdeen heard from windsor the next day: 'the queen must write a line to lord aberdeen to say how delighted she is at the great success of mr. gladstone's speech last night.... we have every reason to be sanguine now, which is a great relief to the queen.' prince albert used the same language to mr. gladstone: 'i cannot resist writing you a line in order to congratulate you on the success of your speech of yesterday. i have just completed a close and careful perusal of it and should certainly have cheered had i a seat in the house. i hear from all sides that the budget has been well received. trusting that your christian humility will not allow you to be dangerously elated, i cannot help sending for your perusal the report which lord john russell sent to the queen, feeling sure that it will give you pleasure, such approbation being the best reward a public man can have.' on the cardinal question of the fortunes of the ministry its effect was decisive. the prime minister wrote to mr. gladstone himself (april ): 'while everybody is congratulating _me_ on the wonderful impression produced in the house of commons last night, it seems only reasonable that i should have a word of congratulation for _you_. you will believe how much more sincerely i rejoice on your account than on my own, although most assuredly, if the existence of my government shall be prolonged, it will be your work.' to madame de lieven aberdeen said that gladstone had given a strength and lustre to the administration which it could not have derived from anything else. no testimony was more agreeable to mr. gladstone than a letter from lady peel. 'i know the recollections,' he replied, 'with which you must have written, and therefore i will not scruple to say that as i was inspired by the thought of treading, however unequally, in the steps of my great teacher and master in public affairs, so it was one of my keenest anxieties not to do dishonour to his memory, or injustice to the patriotic policy with which his name is forever associated.'[ ] power of the performance greville makes a true point when he says that the budget speech 'has raised gladstone to a great political elevation, and what is of far greater consequence than the measure itself, has given the country assurance of a _man_ equal to great political necessities and fit to lead parties and direct governments.'[ ] mr. gladstone had made many speeches that were in a high degree interesting, ingenious, attractive, forcible. he now showed that besides and apart from all this, he was the possessor of qualities without which no amount of rhetorician's glitter commands the house of commons for a single hour after the fireworks have ceased to blaze. he showed that he had precise perception, positive and constructive purpose, and a powerful will. in , he had on two occasions exhibited the highest competency as a critic of the budget of sir charles wood. on the memorable night in the previous december, when he had torn mr. disraeli's budget to pieces, he had proved how terrifying he could be in exposure and assault. he now triumphantly met the test that he had triumphantly applied to his predecessor, and presented a command of even more imposing resources in the task of responsible construction than he had displayed in irresponsible criticism. the speech was saturated with fact; the horizons were large; and the opening of each in the long series of topics, from mr. pitt and the great war, down to the unsuspected connection between the repeal of the soap-tax and the extinction of the slave trade in africa, was exalted and spacious. the arguments throughout were close, persuasive, exhaustive; the moral appeal was in the only tone worthy of a great minister addressing a governing assembly--a masculine invocation of their intellectual and political courage. this is the intrepid way in which a strong parliament and a strong nation like to see public difficulties handled, and they now welcomed the appearance of a new minister, who rejected what he called narrow and flimsy expedients, of which so much had been seen in the last half dozen years; who was not afraid to make a stand against heedless men with hearts apparently set on drying up one source of revenue after another; who did not shrink from sconcing the powerful landed phalanx like other people; and who at the same time boldly used and manfully defended the most unpopular of all the public imposts. in politics the spectacle of sheer courage is often quite as good in its influence and effect as the best of logic. it was so here. while proposing that the income-tax should come to an end in seven years, he yet produced the most comprehensive analysis and the boldest vindication of the structure of the tax as it stood. his manner was plain, often almost conversational, but his elaborate examination of the principles of an income-tax remains to this day a master example of accurate reasoning thrown into delightful form. he admitted all the objections to it: the inquisition that it entailed, the frauds to which it led, the sense in the public mind of its injustice in laying the same rate upon the holder of idle and secured public funds, upon the industrious trader, upon the precarious earnings of the professional man. it was these disadvantages that made him plan the extinction of the tax at the end of a definite period, when the salutary remissions of other burdens now proposed would have had time to bring forth their fruits. as was said by a later chancellor of the exchequer, this speech not only won 'universal applause from his audience at the time, but changed the convictions of a large part of the nation, and turned, at least for several years, a current of popular opinion which had seemed too powerful for any minister to resist.'[ ] the succession duty brought mr. gladstone into the first conflict of his life with the house of lords. that land should be made to pay like other forms of property was a proposition denounced as essentially impracticable, oppressive, unjust, cowardly, and absurd. it was called _ex post facto_ legislation. it was one of the most obnoxious, detestable, and odious measures ever proposed. its author was a vulture soaring over society, waiting for the rich harvest that death would pour into his treasury. lord derby invoked him as a phoenix chancellor, in whom mr. pitt rose from his ashes with double lustre, for mr. gladstone had ventured where pitt had failed. he admitted that nothing short of the chancellor's extraordinary skill and dexterity could have carried proposals so evil through the house of commons.[ ] meanwhile the public counted up their gains: a remission on tea, good for twenty shillings a year in an ordinary household; a fall in the washing bill; a boon of a couple of pounds for the man who insured his life for five hundred; an easy saving of ten pounds a year in the assessed taxes, and so forth,--the whole performance ending with 'a dissolving view of the decline and fall' of the hated income-tax. succession duty and redemption the financial proceedings of this year included a proposal for the redemption of south sea stock and an attempted operation on the national debt, by the creation of new stocks bearing a lower rate of interest, two options of conversion being given to the holders of old stock. the idea of the creation of a two-and-half-per-cent. stock, said mr. gladstone in later years, though in those days novel, was very favourably received.[ ] i produced my plan. disraeli offered it a malignant opposition. he made a demand for time; the one demand that ought not to have been made. in proposals of this kind, it is allowed to be altogether improper. in mr. goulburn was permitted, i think, to carry through with great expedition his plan for a large reduction of interest. when mr. goschen produced his still larger and much more important measure, we, the opposition, did our best to expedite the decision. there are no complications requiring time on such an occasion. it is a matter of aye or no. but when time is allowed the chapter of accidents allows an opponent to hope that a situation known to be unusually happy will deteriorate. of this contingency disraeli took his chance. time as it happened was in his favour. it was no question of the substance of the plan, but a moderate change in the political barometer, which reduced to two or three millions a subscription which at the right moment would probably have been twenty or thirty.[ ] in a letter to w. r. farquhar (march , ) he makes further remarks, which are introspective and autobiographic:-- looking back now upon those of my proceedings in which related to interest upon exchequer bills and to the reduction of interest on the public debt, i think that there was nothing in the proposals themselves which might not have taken full and quick effect, if they had been made at a time which i may best describe as the time that precedes high-water with respect to abundance of money and security of the market. as respects exchequer bills, i am decidedly of opinion that the rates of premium current for some years before ' were wholly incompatible with a sound state of things: and the fluctuations then were even greater than since. still i think that i committed an error from want of sufficient quickness in discerning the signs of the times, for we were upon the very eve of an altered state of things, and any alteration of a kind at all serious was enough to make the period unfit for those grave operations. it is far from being the first or only time when i have had reason to lament my own deficiency in the faculty of rapid and comprehensive observation. i failed to see that high-water was just past; and that although the tide had not perceptibly fallen, yet it was going to fall. the truth likewise is this (to go a step further in my confessions) that almost all my experience in money affairs had been of a most difficult and trying kind, under circumstances which admitted of no choice but obliged me to sail always very near the wind, and this induced a habit of more daring navigation than i could now altogether approve. nor will i excuse myself by saying that others were deceived like me, for none of them were in a condition to have precisely my responsibility. another note contributes a further point of explanation: 'i have always imagined that this fault was due to my experience in the affairs of the hawarden and oak farm estates, where it was an incessant course of sailing near the wind, and there was really no other hope.' income-tax seven years later mr. gladstone, once more chancellor of the exchequer, again produced a budget. semi-ironic cheers met his semi-ironic expression of an expectation that he would be asked the question: what had become of the calculations of ? the succession duty proved a woeful disappointment, and instead of producing two million pounds, produced only six hundred thousand. a similar but greater disappointment, we must recollect, owing mainly to a singular miscalculation as to the income-tax, had marked peel's memorable budget of , which landed him in a deficiency of nearly two and a quarter millions, instead of a surplus of half a million.[ ] of the disappointment in his own case, mr. gladstone when the time came propounded an explanation, only moderately conclusive. i need not discuss it, for as everybody knows, the effective reason why the income-tax could not be removed was the heavy charge created by the crimean war. what is more to the point in estimating the finance of , is its effect in enabling us to meet the strain of the war. it was this finance that, continuing the work begun by peel, made the country in richer by more than sixteen per cent, than it had been in . it was this finance, that by clinching the open questions that enveloped the income-tax, and setting it upon a defensible foundation while it lasted, bore us through the struggle. unluckily, in demonstrating the perils of meddling with the structure of the tax, in showing its power and simplicity, the chancellor was at the same time providing the easiest means, if not also the most direct incentive, to that policy of expenditure--it rose from fifty to seventy millions between and --which was one of the most fatal obstacles to the foremost aims of his political life. it was twenty years from now, as my readers will see, before the effort, now foreshadowed, to exclude the income-tax from the ordinary sources of national revenue, reached its dramatic close. footnotes: [ ] a curious parliamentary incident occurred. the original proposal was to reduce the duty from eighteen-pence to sixpence. a motion to repeal it altogether was rejected by ten. then a motion was made to substitute zero for sixpence in the clause. the speaker ruled that this reversal of the previous vote was not out of order, and it was carried by nine. [ ] some may place first the act of making real estate liable for simple contract debts. [ ] mrs. simpson's _many memories_, p. . [ ] for paper on irish income-tax, see appendix. [ ] loans made to ireland for various purposes. [ ] cavour, as costi's letters show, took an eager interest in mr. gladstone's budget speech. [ ] greville, third series, i. p. . [ ] northcote, _twenty years of financial policy_, p. . [ ] mr. gladstone received valuable aid from bethell, the solicitor-general. on leaving, office in he wrote to bethell: 'after having had to try your patience more than once in circumstances of real difficulty, i have found your kindness inexhaustible, and your aid invaluable, so that i really can ill tell on which of the two i look back with the greater pleasure. the memory of the succession duty bill is to me something like what inkermann may be to a private of the guards: you were the sergeant from whom i got my drill and whose hand and voice carried me through.' [ ] the city articles of the time justify this statement. [ ] gladstone memo., . see also appendix. [ ] it may be said, however, that peel was right about the yield of the income-tax, and only overlooked the fact that it would not all be collected, within the year. chapter iii the crimean war (_ - _) he [burke] maintained that the attempt to bring the turkish empire into the consideration of the balance of power in europe was extremely new, and contrary to all former political systems. he pointed out in strong terms the danger and impolity of our espousing the ottoman cause.--burke ( ). after the session mr. gladstone had gone on a visit to dunrobin, and there he was laid up with illness for many days. it was the end of september before he was able to travel south. at dingwall they presented him (sept. ) with the freedom of that ancient burgh. he spoke of himself as having completed the twenty-first year of his political life, and as being almost the youngest of those veteran statesmen who occupied the chief places in the counsels of the queen. at inverness the same evening, he told them that in commercial legislation he had reaped where others had sown; that he had enjoyed the privilege of taking a humble but laborious part in realising those principles of free trade which, in the near future, would bring, in the train of increased intercourse and augmented wealth, that closer social and moral union of the nations of the earth which men all so fervently desire, and which must in the fulness of time lessen the frequency of strife and war. yet even while the hopeful words were falling from the speaker's lips, he might have heard, not in far distance but close at hand, the trumpets and drums, the heavy rumbling of the cannon, and all the clangour of a world in arms. ii ottomans and the west one of the central and perennial interests of mr. gladstone's life was that shifting, intractable, and interwoven tangle of conflicting interests, rival peoples, and antagonistic faiths, that is veiled under the easy name of the eastern question. the root of the eastern question, as everybody almost too well knows, is the presence of the ottoman turks in europe, their possession of constantinople,--that incomparable centre of imperial power standing in europe but facing asia,--and their sovereignty as mahometan masters over christian races. in one of the few picturesque passages of his eloquence mr. gladstone once described the position of these races. 'they were like a shelving beach that restrained the ocean. that beach, it is true, is beaten by the waves; it is laid desolate; it produces nothing; it becomes perhaps nothing save a mass of shingle, of rock, of almost useless sea-weed. but it is a fence behind which the cultivated earth can spread, and escape the incoming tide, and such was the resistance of bulgarians, of servians, and of greeks. it was that resistance which left europe to claim the enjoyment of her own religion and to develop her institutions and her laws.' this secular strife between ottoman and christian gradually became a struggle among christian powers of northern and western europe, to turn tormenting questions in the east to the advantage of rival ambitions of their own. at a certain epoch in the eighteenth century russia first seized her place among the powers. by the end of the century she had pushed her force into the west by the dismemberment of poland; she had made her way to the southern shores of the black sea; and while still the most barbaric of all the states, she had made good a vague claim to exercise the guardianship of civilisation on behalf of the christian races and the orthodox church. this claim it was that led at varying intervals of time, and with many diversities of place, plea, and colour, to crisis after crisis springing up within the turkish empire, but henceforth all of them apt to spread with dangerous contagion to governments beyond ottoman limits. england, unlike france, had no systematic tradition upon this complicated struggle. when war began between russia and the porte in , we supported russia and helped her to obtain an establishment in the black sea. towards the end of when catherine by a sort of royal syllogism, as fox called it, took the crimea into her own hands, the whig cabinet of the hour did not think it necessary to lend turkey their support, though france and spain proposed a combination to resist. then came pitt. the statesman whose qualities of greatness so profoundly impressed his contemporaries has usually been praised as a minister devoted to peace, and only driven by the french revolution into the long war. his preparations in for a war with russia on behalf of the turk are a serious deduction from this estimate. happily the alarms of the baltic trade, and the vigorous reasoning of fox, produced such an effect upon opinion, that pitt was driven, on peril of the overthrow of his government, to find the best expedient he could to bring the business to an end without extremities. in the country was less fortunate than it had been in . a russian diplomatist made a homely comparison of the eastern question to the gout; now its attack is in the foot, now in the hand; but all is safe if only it does not fly to a vital part. in the eastern question showed signs of flying to the heart, and a catastrophe was sure. a dispute between greek and latin religious as to the custody of the holy places at jerusalem, followed by the diplomatic rivalries of their respective patrons, russia and france, produced a crisis that was at first of no extraordinary pattern. the quarrel between two packs of monks about a key and a silver star was a trivial symbol of the vast rivalry of centuries between powerful churches, between great states, between heterogeneous races. the dispute about the holy places was adjusted, but was immediately followed by a claim from the czar for recognition by treaty of his rights as protector of the sultan's christian subjects. this claim the sultan, with encouragement from the british ambassador, rejected, and the czar marched troops into the danubian provinces, to hold them in pledge until the required concession should be made to his high protective claims. this issue was no good cause for a general conflagration. unfortunately many combustibles happened to lie about the world at that time, and craft, misunderstanding, dupery, autocratic pride, democratic hurry, combined to spread the blaze. diplomatic rivalries the story is still fresh. with the detailed history of the diplomacy that preceded the outbreak of war between england, france, and turkey on the one part and russia on the other, we have here happily only the smallest concern. the large question, as it presented itself to mr. gladstone's mind in later years, and as it presents itself now to the historic student, had hardly then emerged to the view of the statesmen of the western powers. would the success of russian designs at that day mean anything better than the transfer of the miserable christian races to the yoke of a new master?[ ] or was the repulse of these designs necessary to secure to the christian races--who, by the by, were not particularly good friends to one another--the power of governing themselves without any master, either russian or turk? to this question, so decisive as it is in judging the policy of the crimean war, it is not quite easy even now for the historian--who has many other things to think of than has the contemporary politician--to give a confident answer. nicholas was not without advisers who warned him that the break-up of turkey by force of russian arms might be to the deliverer a loss and not a gain. brunnow, then russian ambassador at st. james's, said to his sovereign: 'the war in its results would cause to spring out of the ruins of turkey all kinds of new states, as ungrateful to us as greece has been, as troublesome as the danubian principalities have been, and an order of things where our influence will be more sharply combated, resisted, restrained, by the rivalries of france, england, austria, than it has ever been under the ottoman. war cannot turn to our direct advantage. we shall shed our blood and spend our treasure in order that king otho may gain thessaly; that the english may take more islands at their own convenience; that the french too may get their share; and that the ottoman empire may be transformed into independent states, which for us will only become either burdensome clients or hostile neighbours.' if this forecast was right, then to resist russia was at once to prevent her from embarrassing and weakening herself, and to lock up the christians in their cruel prison-house for a quarter of a century longer. if sagacious calculation in such a vein as this were the mainspring of the world, history would be stripped of many a crimson page. but far-sighted calculation can no longer be ascribed to the actors in this tragedy of errors--to nicholas or napoleon, to aberdeen or palmerston, or to any other of them excepting cavour and the turk. in england both people and ministers have been wont to change their minds upon the eastern question. in the war between russia and turkey in , during the last stage of the struggle for greek independence, russia as greek champion against the turk had the english populace on her side; palmerston was warmly with her, regarding even her advance to constantinople with indifference; and aberdeen was reproached as a turkish sympathiser. now we shall see the parts inverted,--england and palmerston ardent turks, and aberdeen falling into disgrace (unjustly enough) as russian. before we have done with mr. gladstone, the popular wheel will be found to make another and yet another revolution. iii the british cabinet when kinglake's first two volumes of his history of the crimean war appeared ( ), mr. gladstone wrote to a friend (may ): 'kinglake is fit to be a brilliant popular author, but quite unfit to be a historian. his book is too bad to live, and too good to die. as to the matter most directly within my cognisance, he is not only not too true, but so entirely void of resemblance to the truth, that one asks what was really the original of his picture.'[ ] a little earlier he had written to sir john acton: 'i was not the important person in the negotiation before the war that mr. kinglake seems to suppose; and with him every supposition becomes an axiom and a dogma.' all the papers from various sources to which i have had access show that mr. gladstone, as he has just said, had no special share in the various resolutions taken in the decisive period that ended with the abandonment of the vienna note in the early autumn of . he has himself told us that through the whole of this critical stage lord clarendon, then in charge of foreign affairs, was the centre of a distinct set of communications, first, with the prime minister, next, with lord john russell as leader in the commons, and third, with lord palmerston, whose long and active career at the foreign office had given him special weight in that department. the cabinet as a body was a machine incapable of being worked by anything like daily and sometimes hourly consultations of this kind, 'the upshot of which would only become known on the more important occasions to the ministers at large, especially to those among them charged with the most laborious departments.'[ ] this was not at all said by way of exculpating mr. gladstone from his full share of responsibility for the war, for of that he never at any time showed the least wish or intention to clear himself, but rather the contrary. as matter of fact, it was the four statesmen just named who were in effective control of proceedings until the breakdown of the vienna note, and the despatch of the british and french squadrons through the dardanelles in october, opened the second stage of the diplomatic campaign, and led directly if not rapidly to its fatal climax. we have little more than a few glimpses of mr. gladstone's participation in the counsels of the eventful months that preceded the outbreak of the war. to mrs. gladstone he writes (october ): 'i can hardly at this moment write about anything else than the turkish declaration of war. this is a most serious event, and at once raises the question, are we to go into it? the cabinet meets on friday, and you must not be surprised at anything that may happen. the weather may be smooth; it also may be _very rough_.' first the smooth weather came. 'october . we have had our cabinet, three hours and a half; all there but graham and molesworth,[ ] who would both have been strongly for peace. we shall have another to-morrow, to look over our results in writing. some startling things were said and proposed, but i think that as far as government is concerned, all will probably keep straight at this juncture, and as to war i hope we shall not be involved in it, even if it goes on between russia and turkey, which is not quite certain.' aberdeen himself thought the aspect of this cabinet of the th on the whole very good, gladstone arguing strongly against a proposal of palmerston's that england should enter into an engagement with turkey to furnish her with naval assistance. most of the cabinet were for peace. lord john was warlike, but subdued in tone. palmerston urged his views 'perseveringly but not disagreeably.' the final instruction was a compromise, bringing the fleet to constantinople, but limiting its employment to operations of a strictly defensive character. this was one of those peculiar compromises that in their sequel contain surrender. the step soon showed how critical it was. well indeed might lord aberdeen tell the queen that it would obviously every day become more and more difficult to draw the line between defensive and offensive, between an auxiliary and a principal. so much simpler is a distinction in words than in things. still, he was able to assure her that, though grounds of difference existed, the discussions of the cabinet of the th were carried on amicably and in good humour. with straightforward common sense the queen pressed the prime minister for his own deliberate counsel on the spirit and ultimate tendency of the policy that he would recommend her to approve. in fact, lord aberdeen had no deliberate counsel to proffer. speedily the weather roughened. speech at manchester four days later (october ) the minister repeated that, while elements of wide difference existed, still the appearance of that day was more favourable and tended to mutual agreement. at this cabinet mr. gladstone was not present, having gone on an expedition to manchester, the first of the many triumphal visits of his life to the great industrial centres of the nation. 'nothing,' he wrote to lord aberdeen, 'could have gone off better. yesterday (october ), i had to make a visit to the exchange, which was crammed and most cordial. this morning we had first the "inauguration" of the peel statue, in the presence of an enormous audience--misnamed so, inasmuch as but a portion of them could hear; and then a meeting in the town hall, where there were addresses and speeches made, to which i had to reply. i found the feeling of the assemblage so friendly that i said more on the war question than i had intended, but i sincerely hope i did not transgress the limits you would think it wise for me to observe. the existence of a peace and a war party was evident, from alternate manifestations, but i think the former feeling was decidedly the stronger, and at any rate i should say without the smallest doubt that the feeling of the whole meeting as a mass was unequivocally favourable to the course that the government have pursued.' 'your manchester speech,' lord aberdeen wrote to him in reply, 'has produced a great and, i hope, a very beneficial effect upon the public mind, and it has much promoted the cause of peace.' this result was extremely doubtful. the language of the manchester speech is cloudy, but what it comes to is this. it recognises the duty of maintaining the integrity and independence of the ottoman empire. independence, however, in this case, says mr. gladstone, designates a sovereignty full of anomaly, of misery, of difficulty, and it has been subject every few years since we were born to european discussion and interference; we cannot forget the political solecism of mahometans exercising despotic rule over twelve millions of our fellow christians; into the questions growing out of this political solecism we are not now entering; what we see to-day is something different; it is the necessity for regulating the distribution of power in europe; the absorption of power by one of the great potentates of europe, which would follow the fall of the ottoman rule, would be dangerous to the peace of the world, and it is the duty of england, at whatever cost, to set itself against such a result. this was mr. gladstone's first public entry upon one of the most passionate of all the objects of his concern for forty years to come. he hears the desolate cry, then but faint, for the succour of the oppressed christians. he looks to european interference to terminate the hateful solecism. he resists the interference single-handed of the northern invader. it was intolerable that russia should be allowed to work her will upon turkey as an outlawed state.[ ] in other words, the partition of turkey was not to follow the partition of poland. what we shortly call the crimean war was to mr. gladstone the vindication of the public law of europe against a wanton disturber. this was a characteristic example of his insistent search for a broad sentiment and a comprehensive moral principle. the principle in its present application had not really much life in it; the formula was narrow, as other invasions of public law within the next dozen years were to show. but the clear-cut issues of history only disclose themselves in the long result of time. it was the diplomatic labyrinth of the passing hour through which the statesmen of the coalition had to thread their way. the disastrous end was what mr. disraeli christened the coalition war. 'the first year of the coalition government,' lord aberdeen wrote to mr. gladstone, 'was eminently prosperous, and this was chiefly owing to your own personal exertions, and to the boldness, ability, and success of your financial measures. our second year, if not specially brilliant, might still have proved greatly advantageous to the country, had we possessed the courage to resist popular clamour and to avoid war; but this calamity aggravated all other causes of disunion and led to our dissolution.'[ ] iv england slowly drawn in on november , clarendon wrote to lord aberdeen that they were now in an anomalous and painful position, and he had arrived at the conviction that it might have been avoided by firm language and a more decided course five months ago. 'russia would then, as she is now, have been ready to come to terms, and we should have exercised a control over the turks that is now not to be obtained.' nobody, i suppose, doubts to-day that if firmer language had been used in june to sultan and czar alike, the catastrophe of war would probably have been avoided, as lord clarendon here remorsefully reflects. however that may have been, this pregnant and ominous avowal disclosed the truth that the british cabinet were no longer their own masters; that they had in a great degree, even at this early time, lost all that freedom of action which they constantly proclaimed it the rule of their policy to maintain, and which for a few months longer some of them at least strove very hard but all in vain to recover. the turks were driving at war whilst we were labouring for peace, and both by diplomatic action and by sending the fleet to protect turkish territory against russian attack, we had become auxiliaries and turned the weaker of the two contending powers into the stronger. a few months afterwards mr. gladstone found a classic parallel for the turkish alliance. 'when aeneas escaped from the flames of troy he had an ally. that ally was his father anchises, and the part which aeneas performed in the alliance was to carry his ally upon his back.' but the discovery came too late, nor was the turk the only ally. against the remonstrances of our ambassador the sultan declared war upon russia, and proceeded to acts of war, well knowing that england and france in what they believed to be interests of their own would see him through it. if the sultan and his ulemas and his pashas were one intractable factor, the french emperor was another. 'we have just as much to apprehend,' graham wrote (oct. ), 'from the active intervention of our ally as from the open hostility of our enemy.' behind the decorous curtain of european concert napoleon iii. was busily weaving scheme after scheme of his own to fix his unsteady diadem upon his brow, to plant his dynasty among the great thrones of western europe, and to pay off some old scores of personal indignity put upon him by the czar. the czar fell into all the mistakes that a man could. emperor by divine right, he had done his best to sting the self-esteem of the revolutionary emperor in paris. by his language to the british ambassador about dividing the inheritance of the sick man, he had quickened the suspicions of the english cabinet. it is true the sick man will die, said lord john russell, but it may not be for twenty, fifty, or a hundred years to come; when william iii. and louis xiv. signed their treaty for the partition of the spanish monarchy, they first made sure that the death of the king was close at hand. then the choice as agent at constantinople of the arrogant and unskilful menschikoff proved a dire misfortune. finally, the czar was fatally misled by his own ambassador in london. brunnow reported that all the english liberals and economists were convinced that the notion of turkish reform was absurd; that aberdeen had told him in accents of contempt and anger, 'i hate the turks'; and that english views generally as to russian aggression and turkish interests had been sensibly modified. all this was not untrue, but it was not true enough to bear the inference that was drawn from it at st. petersburg. the deception was disastrous, and brunnow was never forgiven for it.[ ] lord stratford de redcliffe another obstacle to a pacific solution, perhaps most formidable of them all, was lord stratford de redcliffe, the british ambassador at constantinople. animated by a vehement antipathy to russia, possessing almost sovereign ascendency at the porte, believing that the turk might never meet a happier chance of having the battle out with his adversary once for all, and justly confident that a policy of war would find hearty backers in the london cabinet--in him the government had an agent who while seeming to follow instructions in the narrow letter baffled them in their spirit. in the autumn of lord aberdeen wrote to graham, 'i fear i must renounce the sanguine view i have hitherto taken of the eastern question; for nothing can be more alarming than the present prospect. i thought that we should have been able to conquer stratford, but i begin to fear that the reverse will be the case, and that he will succeed in defeating us. although at our wit's end, clarendon and i are still labouring in the cause of peace; but really to contend at once with the pride of the emperor, the fanaticism of the turks, and the dishonesty of stratford is almost a hopeless attempt.'[ ] this description, when he saw it nearly forty years later, seems to have struck mr. gladstone as harsh. though he agreed that the passage could hardly be omitted, he confessed his surprise that lord aberdeen should have applied the word dishonesty to lord stratford. he suggested the addition of a note that should recognise the general character of lord stratford, and should point out that prejudice and passion, by their blinding powers, often produce in the mind effects like those proper to dishonesty.[ ] perhaps we may find this a hard saying. doubtless when he comes to praise and blame, the political historian must make due allowance for his actors; and charity is the grandest of illuminants. still hard truth stands first, and amiable analysis of the psychology of a diplomatic agent who lets loose a flood of mischief on mankind is by no means what interests us most about him. why not call things by their right names?[ ] in his private letters (november) stratford boldly exhibited his desire for war, and declared that 'the war, to be successful, must be a very comprehensive war on the part of england and france.' well might the queen say to the prime minister that it had become a serious question whether they were justified in allowing lord stratford any longer to remain in a situation that enabled him to frustrate all the efforts of his government for peace. yet here, as many another time in these devious manoeuvres, that fearful dilemma interposed--inseparable in its many forms from all collective action whether in cabinet or party; so fit to test to the very uttermost all the moral fortitude, all the wisdom of a minister, his sense of proportion, his strength of will, his prudent pliancy of judgment, his power of balance, his sure perception of the ruling fact. the dilemma here is patent. to recall lord stratford would be to lose lord palmerston and lord john; to lose them would be to break up the government; to break up the government would be to sunder the slender thread on which the chances of peace were hanging.[ ] the thought, in short, of the high-minded aberdeen striving against hope to play a steadfast and pacific part in a scene so sinister, among actors of such equivocal or crooked purpose, recalls nothing so much as the memorable picture long ago of maria theresa beset and baffled by her kaunitzes and thuguts, catherines, josephs, great fredericks, grand turks, and wringing her hands over the consummation of an iniquitous policy to which the perversity of man and circumstance had driven her. as the proceedings in the cabinet dragged on through the winter, new projects were mooted. the ground was shifted to what lord stratford had called a comprehensive war upon russia. some of the cabinet began to aim at a transformation of the policy. it was suggested that the moment should be seized to obtain not merely the observance by russia of her treaty obligations to turkey, but a revision and modification of the treaties in turkish interests. this is the well-known way in which, ever since the world called civilised began, the area of conflict is widened. if one plea is eluded or is satisfied, another is found; and so the peacemakers are at each step checkmated by the warmakers. the powers of central europe were immovable, with motives, interests, designs, each of their own. austria had reasons of irresistible force for keeping peace with russia. a single victory of russia in austrian poland would enable her to march direct upon vienna. austria had no secure alliance with prussia; on the contrary, her german rival opposed her on this question, and was incessantly canvassing the smaller states against her in respect to it. the french emperor was said to be revolving a plan for bribing austria out of northern italy by the gift of moldavia and wallachia. all was intricate and tortuous. the view in downing street soon expanded to this, that it would be a shame to england and to france unless the czar were made not only to abandon his demands, and to evacuate the principalities, but also to renounce some of the stipulations in former treaties on which his present arrogant pretensions had been formed. in the future, the guarantees for the christian races should be sought in a treaty not between sultan and czar, but between the sultan and the five powers. british opinion men in the cabinet and men out of it, some with ardour, others with acquiescence, approved of war for different reasons, interchangeable in controversial value and cumulative in effect. some believed, and more pretended to believe, that turkey abounded in the elements and energies of self-reform, and insisted that she should have the chance. others were moved by vague general sympathy with a weak power assailed by a strong one, and that one, moreover, the same tyrannous strength that held an iron heel on the neck of prostrate poland; that only a few years before had despatched her legions to help austria against the rising for freedom and national right in hungary; that urged intolerable demands upon the sultan for the surrender of the hungarian refugees. others again counted the power of russia already exorbitant, and saw in its extension peril to europe, and mischief to the interests of england. russia on the danube, they said, means russia on the indus. russia at constantinople would mean a complete revolution in the balance of power in the mediterranean, and to an alarmed vision, a russia that had only crossed the pruth was as menacing as if her cossacks were already encamped in permanence upon the shores of the bosphorus. along with the anxieties of the eastern question, ministers were divided upon the subject of parliamentary reform. some, including the prime minister, went with lord john russell in desiring to push a reform bill. others, especially palmerston, were strongly adverse. mr. gladstone mainly followed the head of the government, but he was still a conservative, and still member for a tory constituency, and he followed his leader rather mechanically and without enthusiasm. lord palmerston was suspected by some of his colleagues of raising the war-cry in hopes of drowning the demand for reform. in the middle of december ( ) he resigned upon reform,[ ] but nine days later he withdrew his resignation and returned. in the interval news of the russian attack on the turkish fleet at sinope (november ) had arrived--an attack justified by precedent and the rule of war. but public feeling in england had risen to fever; the french emperor in exacting and peremptory language had declared that if england did not take joint action with him in the black sea, he would either act alone or else bring his fleet home. the british cabinet yielded, and came to the cardinal decision (dec. ) to enter the black sea. 'i was rather stunned,' gladstone wrote to sidney herbert next day, 'by yesterday's cabinet. i have scarcely got my breath again. i told lord aberdeen that i had had wishes that palmerston were back again on account of the eastern question.' here is a glimpse of this time:-- _nov. , ' ._--cabinet. reform discussed largely, amicably, and satisfactorily on the whole. _dec. ._--hawarden. off at a.m. astounded by a note from a. gordon. [palmerston had resigned the day before.] after dinner went to the admiralty, ½- ½, where lord aberdeen, newcastle, graham, and i went over the late events and went over the course for to-morrow's cabinet. _dec. ._--called on lord palmerston, and sat an hour. .--cabinet, - ½, on eastern question. palmerston and reform. a day of no small matter for reflection. _jan. , ._--to windsor. i was the only guest, and thus was promoted to sit by the queen at dinner. she was most gracious, and above all so thoroughly natural. the decision of december on the decision of dec. , sir charles wood says:-- we had then a long discussion on the question of occupying the black sea, as proposed by france, and it seemed to me to be such a tissue of confusions that i advocated the simple course of doing so. gladstone could not be persuaded to agree to this, in spite of a strong argument of newcastle's. gladstone's objection being to our being hampered by any engagement. his scheme was that our occupying the black sea was to be made dependent, in the first place, on the turks having acceded to the vienna proposals, or at any rate to their agreeing to be bound by any basis of peace on which the english and french governments agreed. newcastle and i said we thought this would bind us much more to the turks than if we occupied the black sea as part of our own measures, adopted for our own purposes, and without any engagement to the turks, under which we should be if they accepted our conditions. gladstone said he could be no party to unconditional occupation; so it ended in our telling france that we would occupy the black sea, that is, prevent the passage of any ships or munitions of war by the russians, but that we trusted she would join us in enforcing the above condition on the turks. if they agreed, then we were to occupy the black sea; if they did not, we were to reconsider the question, and then determine what to do. clarendon saw walewski, who was quite satisfied. by the middle of february war was certain. mr. gladstone wrote an account of a conversation that he had at this time with lord aberdeen:-- _feb. ._--lord aberdeen sent for me to-day and informed me that lord palmerston had been with him to say that he had made up his mind to vote for putting off (without entering into the question of its merits) the consideration of the reform bill for the present year. [conversation on reform.][ ] he then asked me whether i did not think that he might himself withdraw from office when we came to the declaration of war. all along he had been acting against his feelings, but still defensively. he did not think that he could regard the offensive in the same light, and was disposed to retire. i said that a defensive war might involve offensive operations, and that a declaration of war placed the case on no new ground of principle. it did not make the quarrel, but merely announced it, notifying to the world (of itself justifiable) a certain state of facts which would have arrived. he said all wars were called or pretended to be defensive. i said that if the war was untruly so called, then our position was false; but that the war did not become less defensive from our declaring it, or from our entering upon offensive operations. to retire therefore upon such a declaration, would be to retire upon no ground warrantable and conceivable by reason. it would not be standing on a principle, whereas any man would require a distinct principle to justify him in giving up at this moment the service of the crown. he asked: how could he bring himself to fight for the turks? i said we were not fighting for the turks, but we were warning russia off the forbidden ground. that if, indeed, we undertook to put down the christians under turkish rule by force, then we should be fighting for the turks; but to this i for one could be no party. he said if i saw a way for him to get out, he hoped i would mention it to him. i replied that my own views of war so much agreed with his, and i felt such a horror of bloodshed, that i had thought the matter over incessantly for myself. we stand, i said, upon the ground that the emperor has invaded countries not his own, inflicted wrong on turkey, and what i feel much more, most cruel wrong on the wretched inhabitants of the principalities; that war had ensued and was raging with all its horrors; that we had procured for the emperor an offer of honourable terms of peace which he had refused; that we were not going to extend the conflagration (but i had to correct myself as to the baltic), but to apply more power for its extinction, and this i hoped in conjunction with all the great powers of europe. that i, for one, could not shoulder the musket against the christian subjects of the sultan, and must there take my stand. (not even, i had already told him, if he agreed to such a course, could i bind myself to follow him in it.) he said granville and wood had spoken to him in the same sense. i added that s. herbert and graham probably would adhere; perhaps argyll and molesworth, and even others might be added. lord aberdeen's misgivings ellice had been with him and told him that j. russell and palmerston were preparing to contend for his place. ellice himself, deprecating lord aberdeen's retirement, anticipated that if it took place lord palmerston would get the best of it, and drive lord john out of the field by means of his war popularity, though lord john had made the speech of friday to put himself up in this point of view with the country. in consequence of what i had said to him about newcastle, he [aberdeen] had watched him, and had told the queen to look to him as her minister at some period or other; which, though afraid of him (as well as of me) about church matters, she was prepared to do. i said i had not changed my opinion of newcastle as he had done of lord john russell, but i had been disappointed and pained at the recent course of his opinions about the matter of the war. at my house last wednesday he [newcastle] declared openly for putting down by force the christians of european turkey. yes, lord aberdeen replied; but he thought him the description of man who would discharge well the duties of that office. in this i agree.[ ] a few days later (march ) lord john russell, by way of appeasing aberdeen's incessant self-reproach, told him that the only course that could have prevented war would have been to counsel the turks to acquiesce, and not to allow the british fleet to quit malta. 'but that was a course,' lord john continued, 'to which lansdowne, palmerston, clarendon, newcastle, and i would not have consented; so that you would only have broken up your government if you had insisted upon it.' then the speaker added his belief that the czar, even after the turk's acquiescence and submission, if we could have secured so much, would have given the sultan six months' respite, and no more. none of these arguments ever eased the mind of lord aberdeen. even in his last interview with the departing ambassador of the czar, he told him how bitterly he regretted, first, the original despatch of the fleet from malta to besika bay (july ); and second that he had not sent lord granville to st. petersburg immediately on the failure of menschikoff at constantinople (may ), in order to carry on personal negotiations with the emperor.[ ] an ultimatum demanding the evacuation of the principalities was despatched to st. petersburg by england and france, the czar kept a haughty silence, and at the end of march war was declared. in the event the principalities were evacuated a couple of months later, but the state of war continued. on september , english, french, and turkish troops disembarked on the shores of the crimea, and on the th of the month was fought the battle of the alma. 'i cannot help repeating to you,' mr. gladstone wrote to lord palmerston (oct. , ), 'which i hope you will forgive, the thanks i offered at an earlier period, for the manner in which you urged--when we were amidst many temptations to far more embarrassing and less effective proceedings--the duty of concentrating our strokes upon the heart and centre of the war at sebastopol.'[ ] in the same month bright wrote the solid, wise, and noble letter that brought him so much obloquy then, and stands as one of the memorials of his fame now.[ ] mr. gladstone wrote to his brother robertson upon it:-- _nov. , ._--i thought bright's letter both an able and a manly one, and though i cannot go his lengths, i respect and sympathise with the spirit in which it originated. i think he should draw a distinction between petty meddlings of our own, or interferences for selfish purposes, and an operation like this which really is in support of the public law of europe. i agree with him in some of the retrospective part of his letter. then came the dark days of the crimean winter. did the cabinet drift? in his very deliberate vindication of the policy of the crimean war composed in , mr. gladstone warmly denies either that the ship of state drifted instead of being steered, or that the cabinet was in continual conflict with itself at successive stages of the negotiation.[ ] he had witnessed, he declares, much more of sharp or warm argument in every other of the seven cabinets to which he belonged.[ ] in he said to the present writer: 'as a member of the aberdeen cabinet i never can admit that divided opinions in that cabinet led to hesitating action, or brought on the war. i do not mean that all were always and on all points of the same mind. but i have known much sharper divisions in a cabinet that has worked a great question honourably and energetically, and i should confidently say, whether the negotiations were well or ill conducted, that considering their great difficulty they were worked with little and not much conflict. it must be borne in mind that lord aberdeen subsequently developed opinions that were widely severed from those that had guided us, but these never appeared in the cabinet or at the time.' still he admits that this practical harmony could much less truly be affirmed of the four ministers especially concerned with foreign affairs;[ ] that is to say, of the only ministers whose discussions mattered. it is certainly impossible to contend that aberdeen was not in pretty continual conflict, strong and marked though not heated, with these three main coadjutors. whether it be true to say that the cabinet drifted, depends on the precise meaning of a word. it is undoubtedly true that it steered a course bringing the ship into waters that the captain most eagerly wished to avoid, and each tack carried it farther away from the expected haven. winds and waves were too many for them. we may perhaps agree with mr. gladstone that as it was feeling rather than argument that raised the crimean war into popularity, so it is feeling and not argument that has plunged it into the 'abyss of odium.' when we come to a period twenty years after this war was over, we shall see that mr. gladstone found out how little had time changed the public temper, how little had events taught their lesson. footnotes: [ ] in burke had said that he did not wish well to turkey, for any people but the turks, situated as they are, would have been cultivated in three hundred years; yet they grow more gross in the very native soil of civility and refinement. but he did not expect to live to see the turkish barbarian civilised by the russian.--_corr._ i. p. . [ ] to mrs. gladstone, jan. , : 'in the evenings i have leisure. much of it i have been spending in reading kinglake's book, which touches very nearly, and not agreeably or justly, the character of lord aberdeen and his government. i am afraid newcastle blabbed on what took place, and that his blabbing was much coloured with egotism. clarendon, i hear, is very angry with the book, and lewis too, but lewis is not a party concerned.' [ ] _eng. hist. rev._ no. vi. p. . [ ] 'molesworth in the cabinet,' said lord aberdeen later, 'was a failure. until the war he was a mere cipher. when the war had broken out and was popular he became outrageously warlike.'--mrs. simpson's _many memories_, p. ; see also cobden's _speeches_, ii. p. . [ ] _eng. hist. rev. no._ vi. p. . [ ] march , . [ ] see martens' _recueil des traités_, etc., published by the russian foreign office, , vol. xii., containing many graphic particulars of these events. [ ] stanmore, _earl of aberdeen_, pp. - . [ ] to sir a. gordon, aug. , . [ ] see stanmore, p. . [ ] this is clearly worked out by lord stanmore, p. , etc. [ ] ashley's _life of palmerston_, ii. p. . [ ] see appendix. [ ] lord blachford in his _letters_ says of newcastle (p. ): 'an honest and honourable man, a thorough gentleman in all his feelings and ways, and considerate of all about him. he respected other people's position, but was sensible of his own; and his familiarity, friendly enough, was not such as invited response. it was said of him that he did not remember his rank unless you forgot it. in political administration he was painstaking, clear-headed, and just. but his abilities were moderate, and he did not see how far they were from being sufficient for the management of great affairs, which, however, he was always ambitious of handling.' see also selborne's _memorials_, ii. pp. - . [ ] martens. [ ] the equivocal honour of originality seems to belong to the french, but they had allowed the plan to slumber.--de la gorce, _hist. du second empire_, i. pp. - . [ ] it is given in _speeches_, i. p. . oct. , . [ ] _eng. hist. rev._ april . this article was submitted to the duke of argyll and lord granville for correction before publication. [ ] the cabinet of was his eighth. [ ] aberdeen, russell, palmerston, clarendon. chapter iv oxford reform--open civil service (_ _) to rear up minds with aspirations and faculties above the herd, capable of leading on their countrymen to greater achievements in virtue, intelligence, and social well-being; to do this, and likewise so to educate the leisured classes of the community generally, that they may participate as far as possible in the qualities of these superior spirits, and be prepared to appreciate them, and follow in their steps--these are purposes requiring institutions of education placed above dependence on the immediate pleasure of that very multitude whom they are designed to elevate. these are the ends for which endowed universities are desirable; they are those which all endowed universities profess to aim at; and great is their disgrace, if, having undertaken this task, and claiming credit for fulfilling it, they leave it unfulfilled.--j. s. mill. the last waves of the tide of reform that had been flowing for a score of years, now at length reached the two ancient universities. the tractarian revival with all its intense pre-occupations had given the antique oxford a respite, but the hour struck, and the final effort of the expiring whigs in their closing days of power was the summons to oxford and cambridge to set their houses in order. oxford had been turned into the battle-field on which contending parties in the church had at her expense fought for mastery. the result was curious. the nature of the theological struggle, by quickening mind within the university, had roused new forces; the antagonism between anglo-catholic and puritan helped, as it had done two centuries before, to breed the latitudinarian; a rising school in the sphere of thought and criticism rapidly made themselves an active party in the sphere of affairs; and mr. gladstone found himself forced to do the work of the very liberalism which his own theological leaders and allies had first organised themselves to beat down and extinguish. first oxford commission in lord john russell, worked upon by a persevering minority in oxford, startled the house of commons, delighted the liberals, and angered and dismayed the authorities of the powerful corporations thus impugned, by the announcement of a commission under the crown to inquire into their discipline, state, and revenues, and to report whether any action by crown and parliament could further promote the interests of religion and sound learning in these venerable shrines. this was the first step in a long journey towards the nationalisation of the universities, and the disestablishment of the church of england in what seemed the best fortified of all her strongholds. after elaborate correspondence with both liberal and tory sections in oxford, mr. gladstone rose in his place and denounced the proposed commission as probably against the law, and certainly odious in the eye of the constitution. he undertook to tear in tatters the various modern precedents advanced by the government for their purpose; scouted the alleged visitorial power of the crown; insisted that it would blight future munificence; argued that defective instruction with freedom and self-government would, in the choice of evils, be better than the most perfect mechanism secured by parliamentary interference; admitted that what the universities had done for learning was perhaps less than it might have been, but they had done as much as answered the circumstances and exigencies of the country. when we looked at the lawyers, the divines, the statesmen of england, even if some might judge them inferior in mere scholastic and technical acquirements, why need we be ashamed of the cradles in which they were mainly nurtured? he closed with a triumphant and moving reference to peel (dead a fortnight before), the most distinguished son of oxford in the present century, and beyond all other men the high representative and the true type of the genius of the british house of commons.[ ] in truth no worse case was ever more strongly argued, and fortunately the speech is to be recorded as the last manifesto, on a high theme and on a broad scale, of that toryism from which this wonderful pilgrim had started on his shining progress. it is just to add that the party in oxford who resisted the commission was also the party most opposed to mr. gladstone, and further that the view of the crown having no right to issue such a commission _in invitos_ was shared with him by sir robert peel.[ ] of this debate, arthur stanley (a strong supporter of the measure), tells us: 'the ministerial speeches were very feeble.... gladstone's was very powerful; he said, in the most effective manner, anything which could be said against the commission. his allusion to peel was very touching, and the house responded to it by profound and sympathetic silence.... heywood's closing speech was happily drowned in the roar of "divide," so that nothing could be heard save the name of "cardinal wolsey" thrice repeated.'[ ] the final division was taken on the question of the adjournment, when the government had a majority of . (july , .) ii report of the commission in oxford the party of 'organised torpor' did not yield without a struggle. they were clamorous on the sanctity of property; contemptuous of the doctrine of the rights of parliament over national domains; and protestant collegians subsisting on ancient roman catholic endowments edified the world on the iniquity of setting aside the pious founder. they submitted an elaborate case to the most eminent counsel of the day, and counsel advised that the commission was not constitutional, not legal, and not such as the members of the university were bound to obey. the question of duty apart from legal obligation the lawyers did not answer, but they suggested that a petition might be addressed to the crown, praying that the instrument might be cancelled. the petition was duly prepared, and duly made no difference. many of the academic authorities were recalcitrant, but this made no difference either, nor did the bishop of exeter's hot declaration that the proceeding had 'no parallel since the fatal attempt of king james ii. to subject the colleges to his unhallowed control.' the commissioners, of whom tait and jeune seem to have been the leading spirits, with stanley and mr. goldwin smith for secretaries, conducted their operations with tact, good sense, and zeal. at the end of two years (april ) the inquiry was completed and the report made public--one of the high landmarks in the history of our modern english life and growth. 'when you consider,' stanley said to jowett, 'the den of lions through which the raw material had to be dragged, much will be excused. in fact the great work was to finish it at all. there is a harsh, unfriendly tone about the whole which ought, under better circumstances, to have been avoided, but which may, perhaps, have the advantage of propitiating the radicals.'[ ] mr. gladstone thought it one of the ablest productions submitted in his recollection to parliament, but the proposals of change too manifold and complicated. the evidence he found more moderate and less sweeping in tone than the report, but it only deepened his conviction of the necessity of important and, above all, early changes. he did not cease urging his friends at oxford to make use of this golden opportunity for reforming the university from within, and warning them that delay would be dearly purchased.[ ] 'gladstone's connection with oxford,' said sir george lewis, 'is now exercising a singular influence upon the politics of the university. most of his high church supporters stick to him, and (insomuch as it is difficult to struggle against the current) he is liberalising them, instead of their torifying him. he is giving them a push forwards instead of their giving him a pull backwards.'[ ] the originators of the commission were no longer in office, but things had gone too far for their successors to burke what had been done.[ ] the derby government put into the queen's speech, in november ( ), a paragraph informing parliament that the universities had been invited to examine the recommendations of the report. after a year's time had been given them to consider, it became the duty of the aberdeen government to frame a bill. the charge fell upon mr. gladstone as member for oxford, and in the late autumn of he set to work. in none of the enterprises of his life was he more industrious or energetic. before the middle of december he forwarded to lord john russell what he called a rude draft, but the rude draft contained the kernel of the plan that was ultimately carried, with a suggestion even of the names of the commissioners to whom operations were to be confided. 'it is marvellous to me,' wrote dr. jeune to him (dec. , ), 'how you can give attention so minute to university affairs at such a crisis. do great things become to great men from the force of habit, what their ordinary cares are to ordinary persons?' as he began, so he advanced, listening to everybody, arguing with everybody, flexible, persistent, clear, practical, fervid, unconquerable. 'i fear,' lord john russell wrote to him (march ), 'my mind is exclusively occupied with the war and the reform bill, and yours with university reform.' perhaps, unluckily for the country, this was true. 'my whole heart is in the oxford bill,' mr. gladstone writes (march ); 'it is my consolation under the pain with which i view the character my office [the exchequer] is assuming under the circumstances of war.' 'gladstone has been surprising everybody here,' writes a conspicuous high churchman from oxford, 'by the ubiquity of his correspondence. three-fourths of the colleges have been in communication with him, on various parts of the bill more or less affecting themselves. he answers everybody by return of post, fully and at length, quite entering into their case, and showing the greatest acquaintance with it.'[ ] 'as one of your burgesses,' he told them, 'i stand upon the line that divides oxford from the outer world, and as a sentinel i cry out to tell what i see from that position.' what he saw was that if this bill were thrown out, no other half so favourable would ever again be brought in. the bill framed the scheme accepted by the cabinet was in essentials mr. gladstone's own. jowett at the earliest stage sent him a comprehensive plan, and soon after, saw lord john (jan. ). 'i must own,' writes the latter to gladstone, 'i was much struck by the clearness and completeness of his views.' the difference between jowett's plan and mr. gladstone's was on the highly important point of machinery. jowett, who all his life had a weakness for getting and keeping authority into his own hands, or the hands of those whom he could influence, contended that after parliament had settled principles, oxford itself could be trusted to settle details far better than a little body of great personages from outside, unacquainted with special wants and special interests. mr. gladstone, on the other hand, invented the idea of an executive commission with statutory powers. the two plans were printed and circulated, and the balance of opinion in the cabinet went decisively for mr. gladstone's scheme. the discussion between him and jowett, ranging over the whole field of the bill, was maintained until its actual production, in many interviews and much correspondence. in drawing the clauses mr. gladstone received the help of bethell, the solicitor-general, at whose suggestion phillimore and thring were called in for further aid in what was undoubtedly a task of exceptional difficulty. the process brought into clearer light the truth discerned by mr. gladstone from the first, that the enormous number of diverse institutions that had grown up in oxford made resort to what he called sub-legislation inevitable; that is to say, they were too complex for parliament, and could only be dealt with by delegation to executive act. it is untrue to say that oxford as a place of education had no influence on the mind of the country; it had immense influence, but that influence was exactly what it ought not to have been. instead of stimulating it checked, instead of expanding it stereotyped. even for the church it had failed to bring unity, for it was from oxford that the opinions had sprung that seemed to be rending the church in twain. the regeneration introduced by this momentous measure has been overlaid by the strata of subsequent reforms. enough to say that the objects obtained were the deposition of the fossils and drones, and a renovated constitution on the representative principle for the governing body; the wakening of a huge mass of sleeping endowments; the bestowal of college emoluments only on excellence tested by competition, and associated with active duties; the reorganisation or re-creation of professorial teaching; the removal of local preferences and restrictions. beyond these aspects of reform, mr. gladstone was eager for the proposed right to establish private halls, as a change calculated to extend the numbers and strength of the university, and as settling the much disputed question, whether the scale of living could not be reduced, and university education brought within reach of classes of moderate means. these hopes proved to be exaggerated, but they illustrate his constant and lifelong interest in the widest possible diffusion of all good things in the world from university training down to a cook's tour. mr. gladstone seems to have pressed his draftsmen hard, as he sometimes did. bethell returning to him 'the _disjecta membra_ of this unfortunate bill,' tells him that he is too deeply attached to him to care for a few marks of impatience, and adds, 'write a few kind words to phillimore, for he really loves you and feels this matter deeply.' oxford, scene of so many agitations for a score of years past, was once more seized with consternation, stupefaction, enthusiasm. a few private copies of the draft were sent down from london for criticism. on the vice-chancellor it left 'an impression of sorrow and sad anticipations'; it opened deplorable prospects for the university, for the church, for religion, for righteousness. the dean of christ church thought it not merely inexpedient, but unjust and tyrannical. jowett, on the other hand, was convinced that it must satisfy all reasonable reformers, and added emphatically in writing to mr. gladstone, 'it is to yourself and lord john that the university will be indebted for the greatest boon that it has ever received.' after the introduction of the bill by lord john russell, the obscurantists made a final effort to call down one of their old pelting hailstorms. a petition against the bill was submitted to convocation; happily it passed by a majority of no more than two. second reading at length the blessed day of the second reading came. the ever zealous arthur stanley was present. 'a superb speech from gladstone,' he records, 'in which, for the first time, all the arguments from our report were worked up in the most effective manner. he vainly endeavoured to reconcile his present with his former position. but, with this exception, i listened to his speech with the greatest delight.... to behold one's old enemies slaughtered before one's face with the most irresistible weapons was quite intoxicating. one great charm of his speaking is its exceeding good-humour. there is great vehemence but no bitterness.'[ ] an excellent criticism of many, perhaps most, of his speeches. 'it must ever be borne in mind,' mr. gladstone wrote to lord john at the outset, 'with respect to our old universities that history, law, and usage with them form such a manifold, diversified, and complex mass, that it is not one subject but a world of subjects that we have to deal with in approaching them.' and he pointed out that if any clever lawyer such as butt or cairns were employed to oppose the bill systematically, debate would run to such lengths as to make it hopeless. this was a point of view that mr. gladstone's more exacting and abstract critics now, and many another time, forgot: they forgot that, whatever else you may say of a bill, after all it is a thing that is to be carried through parliament. everybody had views of his own. a characteristic illustration of mr. gladstone's temper in the arduous work of practical legislation to which so much of the energies of his life was devoted, is worth giving here from a letter of this date to burgon of oriel. nobody answers better to the rare combination, in bacon's words, of a 'glorious nature that doth put life into business, with a solid and sober nature that hath as much of the ballast as of the sail':-- sometimes it may be necessary in dealing with a very ancient institution to make terms, as it were, between such an institution and the actual spirit of the age. this may be in certain circumstances a necessary, but it can never be a satisfactory, process. it is driving a bargain, and somewhat of a wretched bargain. but i really do not find or feel that this is the case now before us. in that case, my view, right or wrong, is this: that oxford is far behind her duties or capabilities, not because her working men work so little, but because so large a proportion of her children do not work at all, so large a proportion of her resources remains practically dormant, and her present constitution is so ill-adapted to developing her real but latent powers. what i therefore anticipate is not the weakening of her distinctive principles, not the diminution of her labour, already great, that she discharges for the church and for the land, but a great expansion, a great invigoration, a great increase of her numbers, a still greater increase of her moral force, and of her hold upon the heart and mind of the country. admission of dissenters pusey seems to have talked of the university as ruined and overthrown by a parricidal hand; oxford would be lost to the church; she would have to take refuge in colleges away from the university. oxford had now received its death-blow from mr. gladstone and the government to which he belonged, and he could no longer support at election times the worker of such evil, and must return to that inactivity in things political, from which only love and confidence for mr. gladstone had roused him. 'personally,' the good man adds, 'i must always love you.' to pusey, and to all who poured reproach upon him from this side, mr. gladstone replied with inexhaustible patience. he never denied that parliamentary intervention was an evil, but he submitted to it in order to avert greater evil. 'if the church of england has not strength enough to keep upright, this will soon appear in the troubles of emancipated oxford: if she has, it will come out to the joy of us all in the immensely augmented energy and power of the university for good. if germanism and arnoldism are now to carry the day at oxford (i mean supposing the bill is carried into law), they will carry it fairly; let them win and wear her (god forbid, however); but if she has a heart true to the faith her hand will be stronger ten times over than it has been heretofore, in doing battle.... nor am i saddened by the pamphlet of a certain mr. ---- which i have been reading to-day. it has more violence than venom, and also much more violence than strength. i often feel how hard it is on divines to be accused of treachery and baseness, because they do not, like _us_, get it every day and so become case-hardened against it.' in parliament the craft laboured heavily in cross-seas. 'i have never known,' says its pilot, 'a measure so foolishly discussed in committee.' nor was oil cast upon the waters by its friends. by the end of may mr. gladstone and lord john saw that they must take in canvas. at this point a new storm broke. it was impossible that a measure on such a subject could fail to awaken the ever ready quarrel between the two camps into which the english establishment, for so many generations, has so unhappily divided the life of the nation. from the first, the protestant dissenters had been extremely sore at the absence from the bill of any provision for their admission to the remodelled university. bright, the most illustrious of them, told the house of commons that he did not care whether so pusillanimous and tinkering an affair as this was passed or not. dissenters, he said with scorn, are expected always to manifest too much of those inestimable qualities which are spoken of in the epistle to the corinthians: 'to hope all things, to believe all things, and to endure all things.' more discredit than he deserved fell upon mr. gladstone for this obnoxious defect. in announcing the commission of inquiry four years before, lord john as prime minister had expressly said that the improvement of the universities should be treated as a subject by itself, and that the admission of dissenters ought to be reserved for future and separate consideration. writing to mr. gladstone (jan. ) he said, 'i do not want to stir the question in this bill,' but he would support a proposal in a separate bill by which the halls might be the means of admitting dissenters. mr. gladstone himself professed to take no strong line either way; but in a parliamentary case of this kind to take no line is not materially different from a line in effect unfriendly. arthur stanley pressed him as hard as he could. 'justice to the university,' said mr. gladstone in reply, 'demands that it should be allowed to consider the question for itself.... indeed, while i believe that the admission of dissenters without the breaking up of the religious teaching and the government of the university would be a great good, i am also of opinion that to give effect to that measure by forcible intervention of parliament would be a great evil. whether it is an evil that must some day or other be encountered, the time has not yet, i think, arrived for determining.' the letter concludes with a remark of curious bearing upon the temper of that age. 'the very words,' he says to stanley, 'which you have let fall upon your paper--"roman catholics"--used in this connection, were enough to burn it through and through, considering we have _a parliament which, were the measure of not law at this moment, would i think probably refuse to make it law_.' there is no reason to think this an erroneous view. perhaps it would not be extravagant even to-day. what mr. gladstone called 'the evil of parliamentary interference' did not tarry, and on the report stage of the bill, a clause removing the theological test at matriculation was carried (june ) against the government by ninety-one. the size of the majority and the diversified material of which it was composed left the government no option but to yield. 'parliament having now unhappily determined to legislate upon the subject,' mr. gladstone writes to the provost of oriel, 'it seems to me, i may add it seems to my colleagues, best for the interests of the university that we should now make some endeavour to settle the whole question and so preclude, if we can, any pretext for renewed agitation.' 'the basis of that settlement,' he went on in a formula which he tenaciously reiterated to all his correspondents, and which is a landmark in the long history of his dealing with the question, 'should be that the whole teaching and governing function in the university and in the colleges, halls, and private halls, should be retained, as now, in the church of england, but that everything outside the governing and teaching functions, whether in the way of degrees, honours, or emoluments, should be left open.' the new clause he described as 'one of those incomplete arrangements that seem to suit the practical habits of this country, and which by taking the edge off a matter of complaint, are often found virtually to dispose of it for a length of time.' in the end the church of england test was removed, not only on admission to the university, but from the bachelor's degree. tests in other forms remained, as we shall in good time perceive. 'we have proceeded,' mr. gladstone wrote, 'in the full belief that the means of applying a church test to fellowships in colleges are clear and ample.' so they were, and so remained, until seventeen years later in the life of an administration of his own the obnoxious fetter was struck off. mr. disraeli on the bill the debates did not close without at least one characteristic masterpiece from mr. disraeli. he had not taken a division on the second reading, but he executed with entire gravity all the regulation manoeuvres of opposition, and his appearance on the page of hansard relieves a dull discussion. if government, he asked, could defer a reform of the constitution (referring to the withdrawal of lord john's bill) why should they hurry to reform the universities? the talk about the erudite professors of germany as so superior to oxford was nonsense. the great men of germany became professors only because they could not become members of parliament. 'we, on the contrary, are a nation of action, and you may depend upon it, that though you may give an oxford professor two thousand a year instead of two hundred, still ambition in england will look to public life and to the house of commons, and not to professors' chairs.' the moment the revolution of gave the german professors a chance, see how they rushed into political conventions and grasped administrative offices. again, the principle of the bill was the laying of an unhallowed hand upon the ark of the universities, and wore in effect the hideous aspect of the never-to-be-forgotten appropriation clause. if he were asked whether he would rather have oxford free with all its imperfections, or an oxford without imperfections but under the control of the government, he would reply, 'give me oxford free and independent, with all its anomalies and imperfections.' an excellently worded but amusingly irrelevant passage about voltaire and rousseau, and the land that was enlightened by the one and inflamed by the other, brought the curious performance to a solemn close. high fantastic trifling of this sort, though it may divert a later generation to whose legislative bills it can do no harm, helps to explain the deep disfavour with which disraeli was regarded by his severe and strenuous opponent. 'the admiration of posterity,' dr. jeune wrote to mr. gladstone, 'would be greatly increased if men hereafter could know what wisdom, what firmness, what temper, what labour your success has required.' more than this, it was notorious that mr. gladstone was bravely risking his seat. this side of the matter jeune made plain to him. 'had i foreseen in ,' replied mr. gladstone (_broadstairs_, aug. , ), 'that church controversies which i then hoped were on the decline, were really about to assume a fiercer glare and a wider range than they had done before, i should not have been presumptuous enough to face the contingencies of such a seat at such a time.' as things stood he was bound to hold on. with dauntless confidence that never failed him, he was convinced that no long time would suffice to scatter the bugbears, and the bill would be nothing but a source of strength to any one standing in reputed connection with it. to dr. jeune when the battle was over he expresses 'his warm sense of the great encouragement and solid advantage which at every stage he had derived from his singularly ready and able help.' to jowett and goldwin smith he acknowledged a hardly lower degree of obligation. the last twenty years, wrote a shrewd and expert sage in , 'have seen more improvement in the temper and teaching of oxford than the three centuries since the reformation. this has undoubtedly been vastly promoted by the reform bill of , or at least by one enactment in it, the abolition of close fellowships, which has done more for us than all the other enactments of the measure put together.'[ ] 'the indirect effects,' says the same writer in words of pregnant praise, 'in stimulating the spirit of improvement among us, have been no less important than the specific reforms enacted by it.'[ ] iii another far-reaching change another of the most far-reaching changes of this era of reform affected the civil service. j. s. mill, then himself an official at the india house, did not hesitate 'to hail the plan of throwing open the civil service to competition as one of the greatest improvements in public affairs ever proposed by a government.' on the system then reigning, civil employment under the crown was in all the offices the result of patronage, though in some, and those not the more important of them, nominees were partially tested by qualifying examination and periods of probation. the eminent men who held what were called the staff appointments in the service--the merivales, taylors, farrers--were introduced from without, with the obvious implication that either the civil service trained up within its own ranks a poor breed, or else that the meritorious men were discouraged and kept back by the sight of prizes falling to outsiders. mr. gladstone was not slow to point out that the existing system if it brought eminent men in, had driven men like manning and spedding out. what patronage meant is forcibly described in a private memorandum of a leading reformer, preserved by mr. gladstone among his papers on this subject. 'the existing corps of civil servants,' says the writer, 'do not like the new plan, because the introduction of well-educated, active men, will force them to bestir themselves, and because they cannot hope to get their own ill-educated sons appointed under the new system. _the old established political families habitually batten on the public patronage_--their sons legitimate and illegitimate, their relatives and dependents of every degree, are provided for by the score. besides the adventuring disreputable class of members of parliament, who make god knows what use of the patronage, a large number of borough members are mainly dependent upon it for their seats. what, for instance, are the members to do who have been sent down by the patronage secretary to contest boroughs in the interest of the government, and who are pledged twenty deep to their constituents?' the foreign office had undergone, some years before, a thorough reconstruction by lord palmerston, who, though very cool to constitutional reform, was assiduous and exacting in the forms of public business, not least so in the vital matter of a strong, plain, bold handwriting. revision had been attempted in various departments before mr. gladstone went to the exchequer, and a spirit of improvement was in the air. lowe, beginning his official career as one of the secretaries of the board of control, had procured the insertion in the india bill of of a provision throwing open the great service of india to competition for all british-born subjects, and he was a vigorous advocate of a general extension of the principle.[ ] it was the conditions common to all the public establishments that called for revision, and the foundations for reform were laid in a report by northcote and sir charles trevelyan (november ), prepared for mr. gladstone at his request, recommending two propositions, so familiarised to us to-day as to seem like primordial elements of the british constitution. one was, that access to the public service should be through the door of a competitive examination; the other, that for conducting these examinations a central board should be constituted. the effect of such a change has been enormous not only on the efficiency of the service, but on the education of the country, and by a thousand indirect influences, raising and strengthening the social feeling for the immortal maxim that the career should be open to the talents. the lazy doctrine that men are much of a muchness gave way to a higher respect for merit and to more effectual standards of competency. old system and new the reform was not achieved without a battle. the whole case was argued by mr. gladstone in a letter to lord john russell of incomparable trenchancy and force, one of the best specimens of the writer at his best, and only not worth reproducing here, because the case has long been finished.[ ] lord john (jan. ) wrote to him curtly in reply, 'i hope no change will be made, and i certainly must protest against it.' in reply to even a second assault, he remained quite unconvinced. at present, he said, the queen appointed the ministers, and the ministers the subordinates; in future the board of examiners would be in the place of the queen. our institutions would be as nearly republican as possible, and the new spirit of the public offices would not be loyalty but republicanism! as one of lord john's kindred spirits declared, 'the more the civil service is recruited from the lower classes, the less will it be sought after by the higher, until at last the aristocracy will be altogether dissociated from the permanent civil service of the country.' how could the country go on with a democratic civil service by the side of an aristocratic legislature?[ ] this was just the spirit that mr. gladstone loathed. to graham he wrote (jan. , ), 'i do not want any pledges as to details; what i seek is your countenance and favour in an endeavour to introduce to the cabinet a proposal that we should give our sanction to the principle that in every case where a satisfactory test of a defined and palpable nature can be furnished, the public service shall be laid open to personal merit.... this is _my_ contribution to parliamentary reform.' on january ( ) the cabinet was chiefly occupied by mr. gladstone's proposition, and after a long discussion his plan was adopted. when reformers more ardent than accurate insisted in later years that it was the aristocracy who kept patronage, mr. gladstone reminded the house, 'no cabinet could have been more aristocratically composed than that over which lord aberdeen presided. i myself was the only one of fifteen noblemen and gentlemen who composed it, who could not fairly be said to belong to that class.' yet it was this cabinet that conceived and matured a plan for the surrender of all its patronage. there for the moment, in spite of all his vigour and resolution, the reform was arrested. time did not change him. in november he wrote to trevelyan: 'my own opinions are more and more in favour of the plan of competition. i do not mean that they can be more in its favour as a principle, than they were when i invited you and northcote to write the report which has lit up the flame; but more and more do the incidental evils seem curable and the difficulties removable.' as the crimean war went on, the usual cry for administrative reform was raised, and mr. gladstone never made a more terse, pithy, and incontrovertible speech than his defence for an open civil service in the summer of .[ ] for this branch of reform, too, the inspiration had proceeded from oxford. two of the foremost champions of the change had been temple--afterwards archbishop of canterbury--and jowett. the latter was described by mr. gladstone to graham as being 'as handy a workman as you shall readily find,' and in the beginning of he proposed to these two reformers that they should take the salaried office of examiners under the civil service scheme. much of his confident expectation of good, he told them, was built upon their co-operation. in all his proceedings on this subject, mr. gladstone showed in strong light in how unique a degree he combined a profound democratic instinct with the spirit of good government; the instinct of popular equality along with the scientific spirit of the enlightened bureaucrat. footnotes: [ ] july , . [ ] letter to bishop davidson, june , . [ ] _life_, i. p. . [ ] _life of stanley_, i. p. . [ ] letters to graham, july , , and dr. haddan, aug. and sept. , . [ ] _letters_, march , , p. . [ ] interesting particulars of this memorable commission are to be found in the _life of archbishop tait_, i. pp. - . [ ] mozley, _letters_, p. . mr. gladstone preserved letters and documents relating to the preparation and passing of the oxford university bill. among them are copies of his own letters written between dec. and dec. , and letters received by him during the same period. [ ] _life_, i. p. . [ ] _academical organisation._ by mark pattison, p. . [ ] the following speeches made by mr. gladstone on the oxford bill were deemed by him of sufficient importance to be included in the projected edition of his collected speeches: on the introduction of the bill, march ( ); on the second reading, april ; during the committee stage, april , june , , , and july . [ ] _life of lord sherbrooke_, pp. - . [ ] for an extract see appendix. [ ] romilly, quoted by layard, june th, . [ ] he made three speeches on the subject at this period; june th and july th, , and april th, . the first was on layard's motion for reform, which was rejected by to . chapter v war finance--tax or loan (_ _) the expenses of a war are the moral check which it has pleased the almighty to impose upon the ambition and lust of conquest, that are inherent in so many nations. there is pomp and circumstance, there is glory and excitement about war, which, notwithstanding the miseries it entails, invests it with charms in the eyes of the community, and tends to blind men to those evils to a fearful and dangerous degree. the necessity of meeting from year to year the expenditure which it entails is a salutary and wholesome check, making them feel what they are about, and making them measure the cost of the benefit upon which they may calculate.--gladstone. the finance of offered nothing more original or ingenious than bluntly doubling the income tax (from seven pence to fourteen pence), and raising the duties on spirits, sugar, and malt. the draught was administered in two doses, first in a provisional budget for half a year (march ), next in a completed scheme two months later. during the interval the chancellor of the exchequer was exposed to much criticism alike from city experts and plain men. the plans of had, in the main, proved a remarkable success, but they were not without weak points. reductions in the duties of customs, excise, and stamps had all been followed by increase in their proceeds. but the succession duty brought in no more than a fraction of the estimated sum--the only time, mr. gladstone observes, in which he knew the excellent department concerned to have fallen into such an error. the proposal for conversion proved, under circumstances already described, to have no attraction for the fundholder. the operation on the south sea stock was worse than a failure, for it made the exchequer, in order to pay off eight millions at par, raise a larger sum at three and a half per cent., and at three per cent. in a stock standing at .[ ] all this brought loudish complaints from the money market. the men at the clubs talked of the discredit into which gladstone had fallen as a financier, and even persons not unfriendly to him spoke of him as rash, obstinate, and injudicious. he was declared to have destroyed his prestige and overthrown his authority.[ ] powerful self-defence this roused all the slumbering warrior in him, and when the time came (may ), in a speech three and a half hours long, he threw his detractors into a depth of confusion that might have satisfied the psalmist himself. peremptorily he brushed aside the apology of his assailants for not challenging him by a direct vote of want of confidence, that such a vote would be awkward in a time of war. on the contrary, he said, a case so momentous as the case of war is the very reason why you should show boldly whether you have confidence in our management of your finances or not; if you disapprove, the sooner i know it the better. then he dashed into a close and elaborate defence in detail, under all the heads of attack,--his manner of dealing with the unfunded debt, his abortive scheme of conversion, his mode of charging deficiency bills. this astonishing mass of dry and difficult matter was impressed in full significance upon the house, not only by the orator's own buoyant and energetic interest in the performance, but by the sense which he awoke in his hearers, that to exercise their attention and judgment upon the case before them was a binding debt imperatively due to themselves and to the country, by men owning the high responsibility of their station. this was the way in which he at all times strove to stir the self-respect of the house of commons. not sparing his critics a point or an argument, he drove his case clean home with a vigour that made it seem as if the study of augustine and dante and the fathers were after all the best training for an intimate and triumphant mastery of the proper amount of gold to be kept at the bank, the right interest on an exchequer bond and an exchequer bill, and all the arcana of the public accounts.[ ] even where their case had something in it, he showed that they had taken the wrong points. nor did he leave out the spice of the sarcasm that the house loves. a peer had reproached him for the amount of his deficiency bills. this peer had once himself for four years been chancellor of the exchequer. 'my deficiency bills,' cried mr. gladstone, 'reached three millions and a half. how much were the bills of the chancellor whom this figure shocks? in his first year they were four millions and a half, in the second almost the same, in the third more than five and a quarter, in the fourth nearly five millions and a half.' disraeli and others pretended that they had foreseen the failure of the conversion. mr. gladstone proved that, as matter of recorded fact, they had done nothing of the sort. 'this is the way in which mythical history arises. an event happens without attracting much notice; subsequently it excites interest; then people look back upon the time now passed, and see things not as they are or were, but through the haze of distance--they see them as they wish them to have been, and what they wish them to have been, they believe that they were.' for this budget no genius, only courage, was needed; but mr. gladstone advanced in connection with it a doctrine that raised great questions, moral, political, and economic, and again illustrated that characteristic of his mind which always made some broad general principle a necessity of action. all through , and in a sense very often since, parliament was agitated by mr. gladstone's bold proposition that the cost of war should be met by taxation at the time, and not by loans to be paid back by another generation. he did not advance his abstract doctrine without qualification. this, in truth, mr. gladstone hardly ever did, and it was one of the reasons why he acquired a bad name for sophistry and worse. men fastened on the general principle, set out in all its breadth and with much emphasis; they overlooked the lurking qualification; and then were furiously provoked at having been taken in. 'i do not know,' he wrote some years later to northcote, 'where you find that i laid down any general maxim that all war supplies were to be raised by taxes.... i said in my speech of may , revised for hansard, it was the duty and policy of the country to make _in the first instance_ a great effort from its own resources.' the discussions of the time, however, seem to have turned on the unqualified construction. while professing his veneration and respect for the memory of pitt, he opened in all its breadth the question raised by pitt's policy of loan, loan, loan. the economic answer is open to more dispute than he then appeared to suppose, but it was the political and moral reasons for meeting the demands of war by tax and not by loan that coloured his economic view. the passage in which he set forth the grounds for his opinion has become a classic place in parliamentary discussion, but it is only too likely for a long time to come to bear reproducing, and i have taken it as a motto for this chapter. his condemnation of loans, absolutely if not relatively, was emphatic. 'the system of raising funds necessary for wars by loan practises wholesale, systematic, and continual deception upon the people. the people do not really know what they are doing. the consequences are adjourned into a far future.' i may as well here complete or correct this language by a further quotation from the letter to northcote to which i have already referred. he is writing in on northcote's book on _twenty years of finance_. 'i cannot refrain,' he says, 'from paying you a sincere compliment, first on the skill with which you have composed an eminently readable work on a dry subject; and secondly, on the tact founded in good feeling and the love of truth with which you have handled your materials throughout.' he then remarks on various points in the book, and among the rest on this:-- letters to northcote allow me also to say that i think in your comparison of the effect of taxes and loans you have looked (p. ) too much to the effect on labour at the moment. capital and labour are in permanent competition for the division of the fruits of production. when in years of war say twenty millions annually are provided by loan say for three, five, or ten years, then two consequences follow. . an immense factitious stimulus is given to labour at the time--and thus much more labour is brought into the market. . when that stimulus is withdrawn an augmented quantity of labour is left to compete in the market with a greatly diminished quantity of capital. here is the story of the _misery_ of great masses of the english people after , or at the least a material part of that story. i hold by the doctrine that war loans are in many ways a great evil: but i admit their necessity, and in fact the budget of was handed over by me to sir george lewis, and underwent in his hands little alteration unless such as, with the growing demands of the war, i should myself have had to make in it, _i.e._ some, not very considerable, enlargement. writing a second letter to northcote a few days later (august , ), he goes a little deeper into the subject:-- the general question of loans _v._ taxes for war purposes is one of the utmost interest, but one that i have never seen worked out in print. but assuming as _data_ the established principles of our financial system, and by no means denying the necessity of loans, i have not the least doubt that it is for the interest of labour, as opposed to capital, that as large a share as possible of war expenditure should be defrayed from taxes. when war breaks out the wages of labour on the whole have a tendency to rise, and the labour of the country is well able to bear some augmentation of taxes. the sums added to the public expenditure are likely at the outset, and for some time, to be larger than the sums withdrawn from commerce. when war ends, on the contrary, a great mass of persons are dismissed from public employment, and, flooding the labour market, reduce the rate of wages. but again, when war comes, it is quite certain that a large share of the war taxes will be laid upon property: and that, in war, property will bear a larger share of our total taxation than in peace. from this it seems to follow at once that, up to the point at which endurance is practicable, payment by war-taxes rather than by taxes in peace is for the interest of the people at large. i am not one of those who think that our system of taxation, taken as a whole, is an over-liberal one towards them. these observations are mere contributions to a discussion, and by no means pretend to dispose of the question. ii dispute with the bank in the autumn he had a sharp tussle with the bank of england, and displayed a toughness, stiffness, and sustained anger that greatly astonished threadneedle street. in the spring he had introduced a change in the mode of issuing deficiency bills, limiting the quarterly amount to such a sum as would cover the maximum of dividends payable, as known by long experience to be called for. the bank held this to be illegal; claimed the whole amount required, along with balances actually in hand, to cover the entire amount payable; and asked him to take the opinion of the law officers. the lawyers backed the chancellor of the exchequer. then the bank took an opinion of their own; their counsel (kelly and palmer) advised that the attorney and solicitor were wrong; and recommended the bank to bring their grievance before the prime minister. mr. gladstone was righteously incensed at this refusal to abide by an opinion invited by the bank itself, and by which if it had been adverse he would himself have been bound. 'and then,' said bethell, urging mr. gladstone to stand to his guns, 'its counsel call the bank a trustee for the public! proh pudor! what stuff lawyers will talk. but 'tis their vocation.' mr. gladstone's letters were often prolix, but nobody could be more terse and direct when occasion moved him, and the proceedings of the lawyers with their high bank views and the equivocal faith of the directors in bringing fresh lawyers into the case at all provoked more than one stern and brief epistle. the governor, who was his private friend, winced. 'i do not study diplomacy in letters of this kind,' mr. gladstone replied, 'and there is no sort of doubt that i am very angry about the matter of the opinion; but affected and sarcastic politeness is an instrument which in writing to you i should think it the worst taste and the worst feeling to employ. i admire the old fashion according to which in english pugilism (which, however, i do not admire) the combatants shook hands before they fought; only i think much time ought not to be spent upon such salutations when there is other work to do.' in a letter to his wife seven years later, mr. gladstone says of this dispute, 'mr. arbuthnot told me to-day an observation of sir george lewis's when at the exchequer here. speaking of my controversy with the bank in , he said, "it is a pity gladstone puts so much heat, so much irritability into business. now i am as cool as a fish."' the worst of being as cool as a fish is that you never get great things done, you effect no improvements, and you carry no reforms, against the lethargy or selfishness of men and the tyranny of old custom.[ ] now also his attention was engaged by the controversies on currency that thrive so lustily in the atmosphere of the bank charter act, and, after much discussion with authorities both in lombard street and at the treasury, without committal he sketched out at least one shadow of a project of his own. he knew, however, that any great measure must be undertaken by a finance minister with a clear position and strong hands, and he told graham that even if he saw his way distinctly to a plan, he did not feel individually strong enough for the attempt. nor was there time. to reconstitute the savings bank finance, to place the chancery and some other accounts on a right basis, and to readjust the banking relations properly so-called between the bank and the state, would be even more than a fair share of financial work for the session. before the year was over he passed a bill, for which he had laid before the cabinet elaborate argumentative supports, removing a number of objections to the then existing system of dealing with the funds drawn from savings banks.[ ] the year closed with an incident that created a considerable stir, and might by misadventure have become memorable. what has been truly called a warm and prolonged dispute[ ] arose out of mr. gladstone's removal of a certain official from his post in the department of woods and forests. as lord aberdeen told the queen that he could not easily make the case intelligible, it is not likely that i should succeed any better, and we may as well leave the thick dust undisturbed. enough to say that lord john russell thought the dismissal harsh; that mr. gladstone stood his ground against either the reversal of what he had done, or any proceedings in parliament that might look like contrition, but was willing to submit the points to the decision of colleagues; that lord john would submit no point to colleagues 'affecting his personal honour'--to such degrees of heat can the quicksilver mount even in a cabinet thermometer. if such quarrels of the great are painful, there is some compensation in the firmness, patience, and benignity with which a man like lord aberdeen strove to appease them. some of his colleagues actually thought that lord john would make this paltry affair a plea for resigning, while others suspected that he might find a better excuse in the revival of convocation. as it happened, a graver occasion offered itself. footnotes: [ ] northcote, _financial policy_, p. ; buxton, _mr. gladstone: a study_, pp. - . [ ] greville, part iii. i. pp. , , . [ ] not many years before ( ), talleyrand had surprised the french institute by a paper in which he passed a eulogy on strong theological studies; their influence on vigour as well as on finesse of mind; on the skilful ecclesiastical diplomatists that those studies had formed. [ ] see appendix. [ ] and vict., c. . [ ] walpole's _russell_, ii. p. _n_. chapter vi crisis of and break-up of the peelites (_ _) party has no doubt its evils; but all the evils of party put together would be scarcely a grain in the balance, when compared with the dissolution of honourable friendships, the pursuit of selfish ends, the want of concert in council, the absence of a settled policy in foreign affairs, the corruption of certain statesmen, the caprices of an intriguing court, which the extinction of party connection has brought and would bring again upon this country.--earl russell.[ ] the administrative miscarriages of the war in the crimea during the winter of - destroyed the coalition government.[ ] when parliament assembled on january , , mr. roebuck on the first night of the session gave notice of a motion for a committee of inquiry. lord john russell attended to the formal business, and when the house was up went home accompanied by sir charles wood. nothing of consequence passed between the two colleagues, and no word was said to wood in the direction of withdrawal. the same evening as the prime minister was sitting in his drawing-room, a red box was brought in to him by his son, containing lord john russell's resignation. he was as much amazed as lord newcastle, smoking his evening pipe of tobacco in his coach, was amazed by the news that the battle of marston moor had begun. nothing has come to light since to set aside the severe judgment pronounced upon this proceeding by the universal opinion of contemporaries, including lord john's own closest political allies. that a minister should run away from a hostile motion upon affairs for which responsibility was collective, and this without a word of consultation with a single colleague, is a transaction happily without a precedent in the history of modern english cabinets.[ ] it opened an intricate and unexpected chapter of affairs. the ministerial crisis of was unusually prolonged; it was interesting as a drama of character and motive; it marked a decisive stage in the evolution of party, and it was one of the turning points in the career of the subject of this biography. fortunately for us, mr. gladstone has told in his own way the whole story of what he calls this 'sharp and difficult passage in public affairs,' and he might have added that it was a sharp passage in his own life. his narrative, with the omission of some details now dead and indifferent, and of a certain number of repetitions, is the basis of this chapter. i lord john's resignation on the day following lord john's letter the cabinet met, and the prime minister told them that at first he thought it meant the break-up of the government, but on further consideration he thought they should hold on, if it could be done with honour and utility. newcastle suggested his own resignation, and the substitution of lord palmerston in his place. palmerston agreed that the country, rightly or wrongly, wished to see him at the war office, but he was ready to do whatever his colleagues thought best. the whigs thought resignation necessary. mr. gladstone thought otherwise, and scouted the suggestion that as newcastle was willing to resign, lord john might come back. lord john himself actually sent a sort of message to know whether he should attend the cabinet. in the end lord aberdeen carried all their resignations to the queen. these she declined to accept, and she 'urged with the greatest eagerness that the decision should be reconsidered.' it is hard at this distance of time to understand how any cabinet under national circumstances of such gravity could have thought of the ignominy of taking to flight from a motion of censure, whatever a single colleague like lord john russell might deem honourable. on pressure from the queen, the whigs in the government, lord john notwithstanding, agreed to stand fire. mr. gladstone proceeds:-- lord john's explanation, which was very untrue in its general effect, though i believe kindly conceived in feeling as well as tempered with some grains of policy and a contemplation of another possible premiership, carried the house with him, as herbert observed while he was speaking. palmerston's reply to him was wretched. it produced in the house (that is, in so much of the house as would otherwise have been favourable), a flatness and deadness of spirit towards the government which was indescribable; and charles wood with a marked expression of face said while it was going on, 'and this is to be our leader!' i was myself so painfully full of the scene, that when palmerston himself sat down i was on the very point of saying to him unconsciously, 'can anything more be said?' but no one would rise in the adverse sense, and therefore there was no opening for a minister. palmerston [now become leader in the commons] had written to ask me to follow lord john on account of his being _a party_. but it was justly thought in the cabinet that there were good reasons against my taking this part upon me, and so the arrangement was changed. roebuck brought forward his motion. mr. gladstone resisted it on behalf of the government with immense argumentative force, and he put the point against lord john which explains the word 'untrue' in the passage just quoted, namely, that though he desired in november the substitution of palmerston for newcastle as war minister, he had given it up in december, and yet this vital fact was omitted.[ ] it was not for the government, he said, either to attempt to make terms with the house by reconstruction of a cabinet, or to shrink from any judgment of the house upon their acts. if they had so shrunk, he exclaimed, this is the sort of epitaph that he would expect to have written over their remains: 'here lie the dishonoured ashes of a ministry that found england in peace and left in it war, that was content to enjoy the emoluments of office and to wield the sceptre of power, so long as no man had the courage to question their existence: they saw the storm gathering over the country; they heard the agonising accounts that were almost daily received of the sick and wounded in the east. these things did not move them, but so soon as a member of opposition raised his hand to point the thunderbolt, they became conscience-stricken into a sense of guilt, and hoping to escape punishment, they ran away from duty.' such would be their epitaph. of the proposed inquiry itself,--an inquiry into the conduct of generals and troops actually in the field, and fighting by the side of, and in concert with, foreign allies, he observed--'your inquiry will never take place as a real inquiry; or, if it did, it would lead to nothing but confusion and disturbance, increased disasters, shame at home and weakness abroad; it would convey no consolation to those whom you seek to aid, but it would carry malignant joy to the hearts of the enemies of england; and, for my part, i shall ever rejoice, if this motion is carried to-night, that my own last words as a member of the cabinet of the earl of aberdeen have been words of solemn and earnest protest against a proceeding which has no foundation either in the constitution or in the practice of preceding parliaments; which is useless and mischievous for the purpose which it appears to contemplate; and which, in my judgment, is full of danger to the power, dignity, and usefulness of the commons of england.' a journalistic observer, while deploring the speaker's adherence to 'the dark dogmatisms of medieval religionists,' admits that he had never heard so fine a speech. the language, he says, was devoid of redundance. the attitude was calm. mr. gladstone seemed to feel that he rested upon the magnitude of the argument, and had no need of the assistance of bodily vehemence of manner. his voice was clear, distinct, and flexible, without monotony. it was minute dissection without bitterness or ill-humoured innuendo. he sat down amid immense applause from hearers admiring but unconvinced. mr. gladstone himself records of this speech: 'hard and heavy work, especially as to the cases of three persons: lord john russell, duke of newcastle, and lord raglan.' ministers were beaten (january ) by to , and they resigned. _jan. , ._--cabinet - . we exchanged friendly adieus. dined with the herberts. this was a day of personal light-heartedness, but the problem for the nation is no small one. end of the coalition the queen sent for lord derby, and he made an attempt to form a government. without aid from the conservative wing of the fallen ministry there was no hope, and his first step (jan. ) was to call on lord palmerston, with an earnest request for his support, and with a hope that he would persuade mr. gladstone and sidney herbert to rejoin their old political connection; with the intimation moreover that mr. disraeli, with a self-abnegation that did him the highest credit, was willing to waive in lord palmerston's favour his own claim to the leadership of the house of commons. palmerston was to be president of the council, and ellenborough minister of war. in this conversation lord palmerston made no objection on any political grounds, or on account of any contemplated measures; he found no fault with the position intended for himself, or for others with whom he would be associated. lord derby supposed that all would depend on the concurrence of mr. gladstone and herbert. he left cambridge house at half-past two in the afternoon, and at half-past nine in the evening he received a note from lord palmerston declining. three hours later he heard from mr. gladstone, who declined also. the proceedings of this eventful day, between two in the afternoon and midnight, whatever may have been the play of motive and calculation in the innermost minds of all or any of the actors, were practically to go a long way, though by no means the whole way, as we shall see, towards making mr. gladstone's severance from the conservative party definitive. _jan. ._--lord palmerston came to see me between three and four, with a proposal from lord derby that he and i, with s. herbert should take office under him; palmerston to be president of the council and lead the house of commons. not finding me when he called before, he had gone to s. herbert, who seemed to be disinclined. i inquired ( ) whether derby mentioned graham? ( ) whether he had told lord palmerston if his persevering with the commission he had received would depend on the answer to this proposal. ( ) how he was himself inclined. he answered the two first questions in the negative, and said as to the third, though not keenly, that he felt disinclined, but that if he refused it would be attributed to his contemplating another result, which other result he considered would be agreeable to the country. i then argued strongly with him that though he might form a government, and though if he formed it, he would certainly start it amidst immense clapping of hands, yet he could not have any reasonable prospect of stable parliamentary support; on the one hand would stand derby with his phalanx, on the other lord j. russell, of necessity a centre and nucleus of discontent, and between these two there would and could be no room for a parliamentary majority such as would uphold his government. he argued only rather faintly the other way, and seemed rather to come to my way of thinking. i said that even if the proposition were entertained, there would be much to consider; that i thought it clear, whatever else was doubtful, that we could not join without him, for in his absence the wound would not heal kindly again, that i could not act without lord aberdeen's approval, nor should i willingly separate myself from graham; that if we joined, we must join in force. but i was disposed to wish that if all details could be arranged, we should join in that manner rather than that derby should give up the commission, though i thought the best thing of all would be derby forming a ministry of his own men, provided only he could get a good or fair foreign secretary instead of clarendon, who in any case would be an immense loss.... i went off to speak to lord aberdeen, and palmerston went to speak to clarendon, with respect to whom he had told derby that he could hardly enter any government which had not clarendon at the foreign office. when we reassembled, i asked lord palmerston whether he had made up his mind for himself independently of us, inasmuch as i thought that if he had, that was enough to close the whole question? he answered, yes; that he should tell derby he did not think he could render him useful service in his administration. he then left. it was perhaps . . herbert and i sat down to write, but thought it well to send off nothing till after dinner, and we went to grillion's where we had a small but merry party. herbert even beyond himself amusing. at night we went to lord aberdeen's and graham's, and so my letter came through some slight emendations to the form in which it went.[ ] i had doubts in my mind whether derby had even intended to propose to herbert and me _except_ in conjunction with palmerston, though i had no doubt that without palmerston it would not do; and i framed my letter so as not to assume that i had an independent proposal, but to make my refusal a part of his. _feb. ._--i yesterday also called on lord palmerston and read him my letter to lord derby. he said: 'nothing can be better.' lord derby's proposals lord derby knew that, though he had the country gentlemen behind him, his own political friends, with the notable and only half-welcome exception of mr. disraeli, were too far below mediocrity in either capacity or experience to face so angry and dangerous a crisis. accordingly he gave up the task. many years after, mr. gladstone recorded his opinion that here lord derby missed his one real chance of playing a high historic part. 'to a derby government,' he said, 'now that the party had been _drubbed_ out of protection, i did not in principle object; for old ties were with me more operatively strong than new opinions, and i think that lord derby's error in not forming an administration was palpable and even gross. such, it has appeared, was the opinion of disraeli.[ ] lord derby had many fine qualities; but strong parliamentary courage was not among them. when lord palmerston (probably with a sagacious discernment of the immediate future) declined, he made no separate offer to the peelites. had lord derby gone on, he would have been supported by the country, then absorbed in the consideration of the war. none of the three occasions when he took office offered him so fine an opportunity as this; but he missed it.' on the previous day, mr. gladstone records: 'saw mr. disraeli in the house of lords and put out my hand, which was very kindly accepted.' to nobody was the hour fraught with more bitter mortification than to mr. disraeli, who beheld a golden chance of bringing a consolidated party into the possession of real power flung away. ii error of refusing lord lansdowne next, at the queen's request, soundings in the whig and peelite waters were undertaken by lord lansdowne, and he sent for mr. gladstone, with a result that to the latter was ever after matter of regret. _feb. ._--in consequence of a communication from lord lansdowne, i went to him in the forenoon and found him just returned from windsor. he trusted i should not mind speaking freely to him, and i engaged to do it, only premising that in so crude and dark a state of facts, it was impossible to go beyond first impressions. we then conversed on various combinations, as ( ) lord j. russell, premier, ( ) lord palmerston, ( ) lord clarendon, ( ) lord lansdowne himself. of the first i doubted whether, in the present state of feeling, he could get a ministry on its legs. in answer to a question from him, i added that i thought, viewing my relations to lord aberdeen and to newcastle, and _his_ to them also, the public feeling would be offended, and it would not be for the public interest, if i were to form part of his government (_i.e._ russell's). of the second i said that it appeared to me lord palmerston could not obtain a party majority. aloof from him would stand on the one hand derby and his party, on the other lord j. russell, who i took it for granted would never serve under him. whatever the impression made by russell's recent conduct, yet his high personal character and station, forty years career, one-half of it in the leadership of his party, and the close connection of his name with all the great legislative changes of the period, must ever render him a power in the state, and render it impossible for a government depending on the liberal party to live independently of him. i also hinted at injurious effects which the substitution of palmerston for lord aberdeen would produce on foreign powers at this critical moment, but dwelt chiefly on the impossibility of his having a majority. in this lord lansdowne seemed to agree. lastly, i said that if lord lansdowne himself could venture to risk his health and strength by taking the government, this would be the best arrangement. my opinion was that at this crisis derby, if he could have formed an administration, would have had advantages with regard to the absorbing questions of the war and of a peace to follow it, such as no other combination could possess. failing this, i wished for a homogeneous whig government. the best form of it would be under him. he said he might dare it provisionally, if he could see his way to a permanent arrangement at the end of a short term; but he could see nothing of the sort at present. _an autobiographic note of gives a further detail of moment_:--he asked whether i would continue to hold my office as chancellor of the exchequer in the event of his persevering. he said that if i gave an affirmative reply he would persevere with the commission, and i think intimated that except on this condition he would not. i said that the working of the coalition since its formation in december had been to me entirely satisfactory, but that i was not prepared to co-operate in its continuation under any other head than lord aberdeen. i think that though perfectly satisfied to be in a peelite government which had whigs or radicals in it, i was not ready to be in a whig government which had peelites in it. it took a long time, with my slow-moving and tenacious character, for the ethiopian to change his skin. in the paper that i have already mentioned, as recording what, when all was near an end, he took to be some of the errors of his life, mr. gladstone names as one of those errors this refusal in to join lord lansdowne. 'i can hardly suppose,' he says, more than forty years after that time, 'that the eventual failure of the queen's overture to lord lansdowne was due to my refusal; but that refusal undoubtedly constituted one of his difficulties and helped to bring about the result. i have always looked back upon it with pain as a serious and even gross error of judgment. it was, i think, injurious to the public, if it contributed to the substitution as prime minister of lord palmerston for lord lansdowne,--a personage of greater dignity, and i think a higher level of political principle. there was no defect in lord lansdowne sufficient to warrant my refusal. he would not have been a strong or very active prime minister; but the question of the day was the conduct of the war, and i had no right to take exception to him as a head in connection with this subject. his attitude in domestic policy was the same as palmerston's, but i think he had a more unprejudiced and liberal mind, though less of motive force in certain directions.' iii fruitless negotiations the next day mr. gladstone called on lord aberdeen, who for the first time let drop a sort of opinion as to their duties in the crisis on one point; hithertofore he had restrained himself. he said, 'certainly the most natural thing under the circumstances, if it could have been brought about in a satisfactory form, would have been that you should have joined derby.' on returning home, mr. gladstone received an important visitor and a fruitless visit. at half-past two to-day lord john russell was announced; and sat till three--his hat shaking in his hand. a communication had reached him late last night from the queen, charging him with the formation of a government, and he had thought it his duty to make the endeavour. i repeated to him what i had urged on lord lansdowne, that a coalition with advantages has also weaknesses of its own, that the late coalition was i thought fully justified by the circumstances under which it took place, but at this juncture it had broken down. this being so, i thought what is called a homogeneous government would be best for the public, and most likely to command approval; that derby if he could get a good foreign minister would have had immense advantages with respect to the great questions of war and peace. lord john agreed as to derby; thought that every one must have supported him, and that he ought to have persevered. i held to my point, adding that i did not think lord aberdeen and lord palmerston represented opposite principles, but rather different forms of the same principles connected with different habits and temperaments. he said that lord palmerston had agreed to lead the house of commons for him, he going as first minister to the lords; but he did not mention any other alteration. upon the whole his tone was low and doubtful. he asked whether my answer was to be considered as given, or whether i would take time. but i said as there was no probability that my ideas would be modified by reflection, it would not be fair to him to ask any delay. with the single exception of lord palmerston, none of his colleagues would have anything to do with lord john, some even declining to go to see him. wood came to mr. gladstone, evidently in the sense of the palmerston premiership. he declared that aberdeen was impossible, to which, says mr. gladstone, 'i greatly demurred.' iv thus the two regular party leaders had failed; lord aberdeen, the coalition leader, was almost universally known to be out of the question; the public was loudly clamouring for lord palmerston. a palmerston ministry was now seen to be inevitable. were the peelites, then, having refused lord derby, having refused lord john, having told lord lansdowne that he had better form a system of homogeneous whigs, now finally to refuse lord palmerston, on no better ground than that they could not have lord aberdeen, whom nobody save themselves would consent on any terms to have? to propound such a question was to answer it. lord aberdeen himself, with admirable freedom from egotism, pressed the point that in addition to the argument of public necessity, they owed much to their late whig colleagues, 'who behaved so nobly and so generously towards us after lord john's resignation.' 'i have heard club talk and society talk,' wrote an adherent to mr. gladstone late one night (february ), 'and i am sure that in the main any government containing good names in the cabinet, provided lord john is not in it, will obtain general support. lord clarendon is universally, or nearly so, looked on as essential. next to him, i think you are considered of vital importance in your present office. after all, rightly or wrongly, lord palmerston is master of the situation in the country; he is looked upon as the man. if the country sees you and sidney herbert holding aloof from him, it will be said the peelites are selfish intriguers.' the same evening, another correspondent said to mr. gladstone: 'two or three people have come in since eleven o'clock with the news of brooks's and the reform. exultation prevails there, and the certainty of palmerston's success to-morrow. there is a sort of rumour prevalent that lord palmerston may seek lord j. russell's aid.... this would, of course, negative all idea of your joining in the concern. otherwise a refusal would be set down as sheer impracticability, or else the selfish ambition of a clique which could not stand alone, and should no longer attempt to do so. if the refusal to join palmerston is to be a going over to the other side, and a definite junction within a brief space, that is clear and intelligible. but a refusal to join lord palmerston and yet holding out to him a promise of support, is a half-measure which no one will understand, and which, i own, i cannot see the grounds to defend.' palmerston forms a ministry we shall now find how after long and strenuous dubitation, the peelite leaders refused to join on the fifth of february, and then on the sixth they joined. unpromising from the very first cabinet, the junction was destined to a swift and sudden end. here is the story told by one of the two leading actors. _sunday, feb. ._--herbert came to me soon after i left him, and told me palmerston had at last got the commission. he considered that this disposed of lord lansdowne; and seemed himself to be disposed to join. he said _we_ must take care what we were about, and that we should be looked upon by the country as too nice if we declined to join palmerston; who he believed (and in this i inclined to agree), would probably form a government. he argued that lord aberdeen was out of the question; that the vote of monday night was against him; that the country would not stand him. no new coalition ought to be formed, i said, without a prospect of stability; and joining lord palmerston's cabinet would be a new coalition. he said he rather applied that phrase to a junction with derby. i quite agreed we could not join derby except under conditions which might not be realised; but if we _did_ it, it would be a reunion, not a coalition. in coalition the separate existence is retained. i referred to the great instances of change of party in our time; palmerston himself, and stanley with graham. but these took place when parties were divided by great questions of principle; there were none such now, and no one could say that the two sides of the house were divided by anything more than this, that one was rather more stationary, the other more movable. he said, 'true, the differences are on the back benches.' i said i had now for two years been holding my mind in suspense upon the question i used to debate with newcastle, who used to argue that we should grow into the natural leaders of the liberal party. i said, it is now plain this will not be; we get on very well with the independent liberals, but the whigs stand as an opaque body between us and them, and moreover, there they will stand and ought to stand. lord palmerston came a little after two, and remained perhaps an hour. lord lansdowne had promised to join him if he formed an administration on a basis sufficiently broad. he wished me to retain my office; and dwelt on the satisfactory nature of my relations with the liberal party. he argued that lord aberdeen was excluded by the vote on monday night; and that there was now no other government in view. my argument was adverse, though without going to a positive conclusion. i referred to my conversation of wednesday, jan. , in favour of a homogeneous government at this juncture. at half-past eleven i went to lord aberdeen's and stayed about an hour. his being in the palmerston cabinet which had been proposed, was, he said, out of the question; but his _velleities_ seemed to lean rather to _our_ joining, which surprised me. he was afraid of the position we should occupy in the public eye if we declined.... _feb. ._--the most irksome and painful of the days; beginning with many hours of anxious consultation to the best of our power, and ending amidst a storm of disapproval almost unanimous, not only from the generality, but from our own immediate political friends. at . i went to sir james graham, who is still in bed, and told him the point to which by hard struggles i had come. the case with me was briefly this. i was ready to make the sacrifice of personal feeling; ready to see him (lord aberdeen) expelled from the premiership by a censure equally applicable to myself, and yet to remain in my office; ready to overlook not merely the inferior fitness, but the real and manifest unfitness, of palmerston for that office; ready to enter upon a new venture with him, although in my opinion without any reasonable prospect of parliamentary support, such as is absolutely necessary for the credit and stability of a government--upon the one sole and all-embracing ground that the prosecution of the war with vigour, and the prosecution of it to and for peace, was now the question of the day to which every other must give way. but then it was absolutely necessary that if we joined a cabinet after our overlooking all this and more, it should be a cabinet in which confidence should be placed with reference to war and peace. was the aberdeen cabinet without lord aberdeen one in which i could place confidence? i answer, no. he was vital to it; his love of peace was necessary to its right and steady pursuit of that great end; if, then, _he_ could belong to a palmerston cabinet, i might; but without him i could not. in all this, sir j. graham concurred. herbert came full of doubts and fears, but on the whole adopted the same conclusion. lord aberdeen sent to say he would not come, but i wrote to beg him, and he appeared. on hearing how we stood, he said his remaining in the cabinet was quite out of the question; and that he had told palmerston so yesterday when he glanced at it. but he thought we should incur great blame if we did not; which, indeed, was plainly beyond all dispute. the peelites join at length, when i had written and read aloud the rough draft of an answer, lord aberdeen said he must strongly advise our joining. i said to him, 'lord aberdeen, when we have joined the palmerston cabinet, you standing aloof from it, will you rise in your place in the house of lords and say that you give that cabinet your confidence with regard to the question of war and peace?' he replied, 'i will express my hope that it will do right, but not my confidence, which is a different thing.' 'certainly,' i answered, 'and that which you have now said is my justification. the unswerving honesty of your mind has saved us. ninety-nine men out of a hundred in your position at the moment would have said, "oh yes, i shall express my confidence." but you would not deviate an inch to the right or to the left.' herbert and i went to my house and despatched our answers. now began the storm. granville met us driving to newcastle. sorry beyond expression; he almost looked displeased, which for him is much. _newcastle_: i incline to think you are wrong. _canning_: my impression is you are wrong. various letters streaming in, all portending condemnation and disaster. herbert became more and more uneasy. _feb. ._--the last day i hope of these tangled records; in which we have seen, to say nothing of the lesser sacrifice, one more noble victim struck down, and we are set to feast over the remains. the thing is bad and the mode worse. arthur gordon came early in the day with a most urgent letter from lord aberdeen addressed virtually to us, and urging us to join. he had seen both palmerston and clarendon, and derived much satisfaction from what they said. we met at the admiralty at twelve, where graham lay much knocked up with the fatigue and anxiety of yesterday. i read to him and lord aberdeen palmerston's letter of to-day to me. herbert came in and made arguments in his sense. i told him i was at the point of yesterday, and was immovable by considerations of the class he urged. _the only security worth having lies in men_; the man is lord aberdeen; moral union and association with him must continue, and must be publicly known to continue. i therefore repeated my question to lord aberdeen, whether he would in his place as a peer declare, if we joined the cabinet, that it had his confidence with reference to war and peace? he said, much moved, that he felt the weight of the responsibility, but that after the explanation and assurances he had received, he would. he was even more moved when graham said that though the leaning of his judgment was adverse, he would place himself absolutely in the hands of lord aberdeen. to herbert, of course, it was a simple release from a difficulty. palmerston had told cardwell, 'gladstone feels a difficulty first infused into him by graham; argyll and herbert have made up their minds to do what gladstone does.' newcastle joined us, and was in herbert's sense. i repeated again that lord aberdeen's declaration of confidence enabled me to see my way to joining.... i went to lord aberdeen in his official room after his return from palmerston. it was only when i left that room to-day that i began to realise the pang of parting. there he stood, struck down from his eminence by a vote that did not dare to avow its own purpose, and for his wisdom and virtue; there he stood endeavouring to cure the ill consequences to the public of the wrong inflicted upon himself, and as to the point immediately within reach successful in the endeavour. i ventured, however, to tell him that i hoped our conduct and reliance on him would tend to his eminence and honour, and said, 'you are not to be of the cabinet, but you are to be its tutelary deity.' i had a message from palmerston that he would answer me, but at night i went up to him. v the committee revived the rush of events was now somewhat slackened. lord john called on graham, and complained of the peelites for having selfishly sought too many offices, alluding to what canning had done, and imputing the same to cardwell. he also thought they had made a great mistake in joining palmerston. he seemed sore about mr. gladstone, and told graham that christopher, a stout tory, had said that if gladstone joined derby, a hundred of the party would withdraw their allegiance. at the party meeting on feb. , lord derby was received with loud cries of 'no puseyites; no papists,' and was much reprehended for asking gladstone and graham to join. 'i ought to have mentioned before,' mr. gladstone writes here, 'that, during our conferences at the admiralty, lord aberdeen expressed great compunction for having allowed the country to be dragged without adequate cause into the war. so long as he lived, he said with his own depth and force, it would be a weight upon his conscience. he had held similar language to me lately at argyll house; but when i asked him at what point _after_ the fleet went to besika bay it would have been possible to stop short, he alluded to the _sommation_, which we were encouraged however, as he added, by austria to send; and thought _this_ was the false step. yet he did not seem quite firm in the opinion.' then came the first cabinet (feb. ). it did not relieve the gloom of mr. gladstone's impressions. he found it more 'acephalous' than ever; 'less order; less unity of purpose.' the question of the roebuck committee was raised, on which he said he thought the house would give it up, if government would promise an investigation under the authority of the crown. the fatal subject came up again three days later. palmerston said it was plain from the feeling in the house the night before, that they were set upon it; if they could secure a fair committee, he was disposed to let the inquiry go forward. on this rock the ship struck. one minister said they could not resign in consequence of the appointment of the committee, because it stood affirmed by a large majority when they took office in the reconstructed cabinet. mr. gladstone says he 'argued with vehemence upon the breach of duty which it would involve on our part towards those holding responsible commands in the crimea, if we without ourselves condemning them were to allow them to be brought before another tribunal like a select committee.' dining the same evening at the palace, mr. gladstone had a conversation on the subject both with the queen and prince albert. 'the latter compared this appointment of a committee to the proceedings of the convention of france; but still seemed to wish that the government should submit rather than retire. the queen spoke openly in that sense, and trusted that she should not be given over into the hands of those "who are the least fit to govern." without any positive and final declaration, i intimated to each that i did not think i could bring my mind to acquiesce in the proposition for an inquiry by a select committee into the state of the army in the crimea.' time did not remove difficulties. mr. gladstone and graham fought with extreme tenacity, and the first of them with an ingenuity for which the situation gave boundless scope. to the argument that they accepted office on reconstruction with the decision of the house for a committee staring them in the face, he replied: 'before we were _out_, we were _in_. why did we go out? because of that very decision by the house of commons. our language was: the appointment of such a committee is incompatible with the functions of the executive, therefore it is a censure on the executive; therefore we resign! but it is not a whit _more_ compatible with the functions of the executive now than it was then; therefore it is not one whit less a censure; and the question arises, ( ) whether any government ought to allow its (now) principal duty to be delegated to a committee or other body, especially to one not under the control of the crown? ( ) whether _that_ government ought to allow it, the members of which (except one) have already resigned rather than allow it? in what way can the first resignation be justified on grounds which do not require a second?' he dwelt mainly on these two points--that the proposed transfer of the functions of the executive to a select committee of the house of commons, with respect to an army in the face of the enemy and operating by the side of our french allies, and the recognition of this transfer by the executive government, was an evil greater than any that could arise from a total or partial resignation. second, that it was clear that they did not, as things stood, possess the confidence of a majority of the house. 'i said that the committee was itself a censure on the government. they had a right to believe that parliament would not inflict this committee on a government which had its confidence. i also,' he says, 'recited my having ascertained from palmerston (upon this recital we were agreed) on the th, before our decision was declared, his intention to oppose the committee....' peelites resign graham did not feel disposed to govern without the confidence of the house of commons, or to be responsible for the granting of a committee which the cabinet had unanimously felt to be unprecedented, unconstitutional, and dangerous. lord palmerston met all this by a strong practical clincher. he said that the house of commons was becoming unruly from the doubts that had gone abroad as to the intentions of the government with respect to the committee; that the house was determined to have it; that if they opposed it they should be beaten by an overwhelming majority; to dissolve upon it would be ruinous; to resign a fortnight after taking office would make them the laughingstock of the country. mr. gladstone, herbert, and graham then resigned. of the peelite group the duke of argyll and canning remained. _feb. ._--after considering various _sites_, we determined to ask the manchester school to yield us, at any rate for to-morrow, the old place devoted to ex-ministers.[ ] sir j. graham expressed his wish to begin the affair, on the proposal of the first name [of the committee]. cardwell came at to inform me that he had declined to be my successor; and showed me his letter, which gave as his reason disinclination to step into the cabinet over the bodies of his friends. it seems that palmerston and lord lansdowne, who assists him, sent canning to lord aberdeen to invoke his aid with cardwell and prevail on him to retract. but lord aberdeen, though he told canning that he disapproved (at variance here with what graham and i considered to be his tone on monday, but agreeing with a note he wrote in obscure terms the next morning), said he could not make such a request to cardwell, or again play the peculiar part he had acted a fortnight ago. the cabinet on receiving cardwell's refusal were at a deadlock. application was to be made, or had been made, to sir francis baring, but it seems that he is reluctant; he is, however, the best card they have to play. _feb. ._--on sunday, sir george lewis called on me, and said my office had been offered him. this was after being refused by cardwell and baring. he asked my advice as to accepting it. this i told him i could not give. he asked if i would assist him with information in case of his accepting. i answered that he might command me precisely as if instead of resigning i had only removed to another department. i then went over some of the matters needful to be made known. on tuesday he came again, acquainted me with his acceptance, and told me he had been mainly influenced by my promise.[ ] this day at a quarter to three i attended at the palace to resign the seals, and had an audience of about twenty minutes. the queen, in taking them over, was pleased to say that she received them with great pain. i answered that the decision which had required me to surrender them had been the most painful effort of my public life. the queen said she was afraid on saturday night [feb. , when he had dined at the palace] from the language i then used that this was about to happen. i answered that we had then already had a discussion in the cabinet which pointed to this result, and that i spoke as i did, because i thought that to have no reserve whatever with h. m. was the first duty of all those who had the honour and happiness of being her servants. i trusted h. m. would believe that we had all been governed by no other desire than to do what was best for the interests of the crown and the country. h. m. expressed her confidence of this, and at no time throughout the conversation did she in any manner indicate an opinion that our decision had been wrong. she spoke of the difficulty of making arrangements for carrying on the government in the present state of things, and i frankly gave my opinion to h. m. that she would have little peace or comfort in these matters, until parliament should have returned to its old organisation in two political parties; that at present we were in a false position, and that both sides of the house were demoralised--the ministerial side overcharged with an excess of official men, and the way stopped up against expectants, which led to subdivision, jealousy, and intrigue; the opposition so weak in persons having experience of affairs as to be scarcely within the chances of office, and consequently made reckless by acting without keeping it in view; yet at the same time, the party continued and must continue to exist, for it embodied one of the great fundamental elements of english society. the experiment of coalition had been tried with remarkable advantage under a man of the remarkable wisdom and powers of conciliation possessed by lord aberdeen, one in entire possession too of h. m.'s confidence. they intimated that there were peculiar disadvantages, too, evidently meaning lord j. russell. i named him in my answer, and said i thought that even if he had been steady, yet the divisions of the ministerial party would a little later have brought about our overthrow.[ ] h. m. seeming to agree in my main position, as did the prince, asked me: but when will parliament return to that state? i replied i grieved to say that i perceived neither the time when, nor the manner how, that result is to come about; but until it is reached, i fear that y. m. will pass through a period of instability and weakness as respects the executive. she observed that the prospect is not agreeable. i said, true, madam, but it is a great consolation that all these troubles are upon the surface, and that the throne has for a long time been gaining and not losing stability from year to year. i could see but one danger to the throne, and that was from encroachments by the house of commons. no other body in the country was strong enough to encroach. this was the consideration which had led my resigning colleagues with myself to abandon office that we might make our stand against what we thought a formidable invasion.... i thought the effect of the resistance was traceable in the good conduct of the house of commons last night, when another attempt at encroachment was proposed and firmly repelled.... i expressed my comfort at finding that our motives were so graciously appreciated by h. m. and withdrew. public outcry loud was the public outcry. all the censure that had been foretold in case they should refuse to join, fell with double force upon them for first joining and then seceding. lord clarendon pronounced their conduct to be actually worse and more unpatriotic than lord john's. the delight at brooks's club was uproarious, for to the whigs the peelites had always been odious, and they had been extremely sorry when palmerston asked them to join his government.[ ] for a time mr. gladstone was only a degree less unpopular in the country than cobden and bright themselves. the newspapers declared that gladstone's epitaph over the aberdeen administration might be applied with peculiar force to his own fate. the short truth seems to be that graham, gladstone, and palmerston were none of them emphatic or explicit enough beforehand on the refusal of the committee when the government was formed, though the intention to refuse was no doubt both stated and understood. graham admitted afterwards that this omission was a mistake. the world would be astonished if it knew how often in the pressure of great affairs men's sight proves short. after the language used by mr. gladstone about the inquiry, we cannot wonder that he should have been slow to acquiesce. the result in time entirely justified his description of the sebastopol committee.[ ] but right as was his judgment on the merits, yet the case was hardly urgent enough to make withdrawal politic or wise. idle gossip long prevailed, that graham could not forgive palmerston for not having (as he thought) helped to defend him in the matter of opening mazzini's letters; that from the first he was bent on overthrowing the new minister; that he worked on gladstone; and that the alleged reason why they left was not the real one. all the evidence is the other way; that graham could not resist the obvious want of the confidence of parliament, and that gladstone could not bear a futile and perilous inquiry. that they both regretted that they had yielded to over-persuasion in joining, against their own feelings and judgment, is certain. graham even wrote to mr. gladstone in the following summer that his assent to joining palmerston was perhaps the greatest mistake of his public life. in mr. gladstone's case, the transaction gave a rude and protracted shock to his public influence. lord palmerston's reign lord palmerston meanwhile sat tight in his saddle. when the crisis first began, roebuck in energetic language had urged him to sweep the peelites from his path, and at any rate he now very steadily went on without them. everybody took for granted that his administration would be temporary. mr. gladstone himself gave it a twelvemonth at most. as it happened, lord palmerston was in fact, with one brief interruption, installed for a decade. he was seventy-one; he had been nearly forty years in office; he had worked at the admiralty, war department, foreign office, home office; he had served under ten prime ministers--portland, perceval, liverpool, canning, goderich, wellington, grey, melbourne, russell, aberdeen. he was not more than loosely attached to the whigs, and he had none of the strength of that aristocratic tradition and its organ, the bedford sect. the landed interest was not with him. the manchester men detested him. the church in all its denominations was on terms of cool and reciprocated indifference with one who was above all else the man of this world. the press he knew how to manage. in every art of parliamentary sleight of hand he was an expert, and he suited the temper of the times, while old maxims of government and policy were tardily expiring, and the forces of a new era were in their season gathering to a head. footnotes: [ ] on bute's plan of superseding party by prerogative, in the introduction to vol. iii. of the bedford _correspondence_. [ ] see appendix. [ ] see chap. x. of lord stanmore's _earl of aberdeen_. [ ] 'this _suppressio veri_ is shocking, and one of the very worst things he ever did.'--_greville_, iii. i. p. . [ ] at lord aberdeen's the question seems to have been discussed on the assumption that the offer to mr. gladstone and herbert was meant to be independent of palmerston's acceptance or refusal, and the impression there was that mr. gladstone had been not wholly disinclined to consider the offer. [ ] malmesbury's _memoirs of an ex-minister_, i. pp. , . [ ] on feb. , he writes to mr. hayter, the government whip: 'we have arranged to sit in the orthodox ex-ministers' place to-night, _i.e._ second bench immediately below the gangway. this avoids constructions and comparisons which we could hardly otherwise have escaped; and bright and his friends agreed to give it us. might i trust to your kindness to have some cards put in the place for us before prayers?' [ ] while lewis went to the exchequer, sir charles wood succeeded graham at the admiralty, lord john, then on his way to vienna, agreed to come hack to the cabinet and took the colonial office, which sir george grey had left for the home office, where he succeeded palmerston. [ ] this seems to contradict the proposition in the article on greville in the _eng. hist. rev._ of . [ ] _greville_, iii. i. p. . [ ] mr. gladstone projected and partly executed some public letters on all this, to be addressed, like the neapolitan letters, to lord aberdeen. chapter vii political isolation (_ - _) [greek: êkista gar polemos epì rêtois chôrei]--thuc. i. . war is the last thing in all the world to go according to programme. statesmen are invincibly slow to learn the lesson put by thucydides long centuries ago into the mouth of the athenian envoys at sparta, and often repeated in the same immortal pages, that war defies all calculations, and if it be protracted comes to be little more than mere matter of chance, over which the combatants have no control. a thousand times since has history proved this to be true. policy is mastered by events; unforeseen sequels develop novel pretexts, or grow into startling and hateful necessities; the minister finds that he is fastened to an inexorable chain. new views of the war mr. gladstone now had this fatal law of mundane things brought home to him. as time went on, he by rapid intuition gained a truer insight into the leading facts. he realised that mahometan institutions in the ottoman empire were decrepit; that the youthful and vigorous elements in european turkey were crushed under antiquated and worn-out forms and forces unfit for rule. he awoke to the disquieting reflection how the occupation of the principalities had been discussed, day after day and month after month, entirely as a question of the payment of forty thousand pounds a year to turkey, or as a violation of her rights as suzerain, but never in reference to the well-being, happiness, freedom, or peace of the inhabitants. he still held that the war in its origin was just, for it had been absolutely necessary, he said, to cut the meshes of the net in which russia had entangled turkey. he persisted in condemning the whole tone and policy of russia in . by the end of , in mr. gladstone's eyes, this aggressive spirit had been extinguished, the czar promising an almost unreserved acceptance of the very points that he had in the previous august angrily rejected. the essential objects of the war were the abolition of russian rights in the principalities, and the destruction of russian claims upon greek christians under ottoman sway. these objects, mr. gladstone insisted, were attained in january , when russia agreed to three out of the four points--so the bases of agreement were named--and only demurred upon the plan for carrying out a portion of the fourth. the special object was to cancel the preponderance of russia in the black sea. no fewer than seven different plans were simultaneously or in turn propounded. they were every one of them admitted to be dubious, inefficient, and imperfect. i will spare the reader the mysteries of limitation, of counterpoise, of counterpoise and limitation mixed. russia preferred counterpoise, the allies were for limitation. was this preference between two degrees of the imperfect, the deficient, and the ineffective a good ground for prolonging a war that was costing the allies a hundred million pounds a year, and involved to all the parties concerned the loss of a thousand lives a day? yet, for saying no to this question, mr. gladstone was called a traitor, even by men who in had been willing to content themselves with the vienna note, and in had been anxious to make peace on the basis of the four points. in face of pleas so wretched for a prolongation of a war to which he had assented on other grounds, was he bound to silence? 'would it not, on the contrary,' he exclaimed, 'have been the most contemptible effeminacy of character, if a man in my position, who feels that he has been instrumental in bringing his country into this struggle, were to hesitate a single moment when he was firmly convinced in his own mind that the time had arrived when we might with honour escape from it?' the prospect of reducing russia to some abstract level of strength, so as to uphold an arbitrary standard of the balance of power--this he regarded as mischief and chimera. rightly he dreaded the peril of alliances shifting from day to day, like quicksands and sea-shoals--austria moved by a hundred strong and varying currents, france drawing by unforeseen affinities towards russia. every war with alliances, he once said, should be short, sharp, decisive.[ ] as was to be expected, the colleagues from whom he had parted insisted that every one of his arguments told just as logically against the war in all its stages, against the first as legitimately as the last. in fact, we can never say a plain sure aye or no to questions of peace and war, after the sword has once left the scabbard. they are all matter of judgment on the balance of policy between one course and another; and a very slight thing may incline the balance either way, even though mighty affairs should hang on the turn of the scale. meanwhile, as the months went on, sebastopol still stood untaken, excitement grew, people forgot the starting point. they ceased to argue, and sheer blatancy, at all times a power, in war-time is supreme. mr. gladstone's trenchant dialectic had no more chance than bright's glowing appeals. shrewd and not unfriendly onlookers thought that graham and gladstone were grievously mistaken in making common cause with the peace party, immediately after quitting a war government, and quitting it, besides, not on the issues of the war. herbert was vehement in his remonstrances. the whole advantage of co-operation with the manchester men, he cried, would be derived by them, and all the disrepute reaped by us. 'for the purposes of peace, they were the very men we ought to avoid. as advocates for ending the war, they were out of court, for they were against beginning it.'[ ] if gladstone and graham had gone slower, their friends said, they might have preached moderation to ministers and given reasonable advice to people out of doors. as it was, they threw the game into the hands of lord palmerston. they were stamped as doctrinaires, and what was worse, doctrinaires suspected of a spice of personal animus against old friends. herbert insisted that the manchester school 'forgot that the people have flesh and blood, and propounded theories to men swayed by national feeling.' as a matter of fact, this was wholly untrue. cobden and bright, as everybody nowadays admits, had a far truer perception of the underlying realities of the eastern question in , than either the aberdeen or the palmerston cabinet, or both of them put together. what was undeniable was that the public, with its habits of rough and ready judgment, did not understand, and could not be expected to understand, the new union of the peelites with a peace party, in direct opposition to whose strongest views and gravest warnings they had originally begun the war. 'in gladstone,' cornewall lewis said, 'people ascribe to faction, or ambition, or vanity, conduct which i believe to be the result of a conscientious, scrupulous, ingenuous, undecided mind, always looking on each side of a question and magnifying the objections which belong to almost every course of action.'[ ] advocates of peace a foreign envoy then resident in england was struck by the general ignorance of facts even among leading politicians. of the friends of peace, he says, only lord grey and gladstone seemed to have mastered the vienna protocols: the rest were quite astonished when the extent of the russian concessions was pointed out to them. the envoy dined with mr. gladstone at the table of the queen, and they talked of milner gibson's motion censuring ministers for losing the opportunity of the vienna conferences to make a sound and satisfactory peace. mr. gladstone said to him that he should undertake the grave responsibility of supporting this motion, 'because in his opinion the concessions promised by russia contain sufficient guarantees. those very concessions will tear to pieces all the ancient treaties which gave an excuse to russia for interfering in the internal affairs of turkey.'[ ] at all times stimulated rather than checked by a difficult situation, mr. gladstone argued the case for peace to the house during the session of in two speeches of extraordinary power of every kind. his position was perfectly tenable, and he defended it with unsurpassed force. for the hour unfortunately his influence was gone. great newspapers thought themselves safe in describing one of these performances as something between the rant of the fanatic and the trick of the stage actor; a mixture of pious grimace and vindictive howl, of savage curses and dolorous forebodings; the most unpatriotic speech ever heard within the walls of parliament. in sober fact, it was one of the three or four most masterly deliverances evoked by the crimean war. at the very same time lord john russell was still sitting in the cabinet, though he had held the opinion that at the beginning of may the austrian proposal ought to have ended the war and led to an honourable peace. the scandal of a minister remaining in a government that persisted in a war condemned by him as unnecessary was intolerable, and lord john resigned (july ). the hopes of the speedy fall of sebastopol brightened in the summer of , but this brought new alarms to lord palmerston. 'our danger,' he said in remarkable words, 'will then begin--a danger of peace and not a danger of war.' to drive the russians out of the crimea was to be no more than a preliminary. england would go on by herself, if conditions deemed by her essential were not secured. 'the british nation is unanimous, for i cannot reckon cobden, bright, and co. for anything.'[ ] his account of the public mind was indubitably true. well might aberdeen recall to his friends that, with a single exception, every treaty concluded at the termination of our great wars had been stigmatised as humiliating and degrading, ignominious, hollow and unsafe. he cited the peace of utrecht in , the peace of aix-la-chapelle in , the peace of paris in , the peace of versailles in , and the peace of amiens in . the single exception was the peace of paris in . it would have been difficult in this case, he said, for patriotism or faction to discover humiliation 'in a treaty dictated at the head of a victorious army in the capital of the enemy.' at penmaenmawr while the storm was raging, mr. gladstone made his way with his family to penmaenmawr, whence he writes to lord aberdeen (aug. ): 'it was a charitable act on your part to write to me. it is hardly possible to believe one is not the greatest scoundrel on earth, when one is assured of it from all sides on such excellent authority.... i am busy reading homer about the sebastopol of old time, and all manner of other fine fellows.' in another letter of the same time, written to sir walter james, one of the most closely attached of all his friends, he strikes a deeper note:-- _sept. ._--if i say i care little for such an attack you will perhaps think i make little of sympathy like yours and lord hardinge's, but such, i beg you and him to believe, is not the case. public life is full of snares and dangers, and i think it a fearful thing for a christian to look forward to closing his life in the midst of its (to me at least) essentially fevered activity. it has, however, some excellent characteristics in regard to mental and even spiritual discipline, and among these in particular it absolutely requires the habits of resisting temper and of suppressing pain. i never allow myself, in regard to my public life, to realise, _i.e._ to dwell upon, the fact that a thing is _painful_. indeed life has no time for such broodings: neither in session nor recess is the year, the day, or the hour long enough for what it brings with it. nor was there ever a case in which it was so little difficult to pass over and make little of a personal matter: for if indeed it be true, as i fear it is, that we have been committing grave errors, that those errors have cost many thousands of lives and millions of money, and that no glare of success can effectually hide the gloom of thickening complications, the man who can be capable of weighing his own fate and prospects in the midst of such contingencies has need to take a lesson from the private soldier who gives his life to his country at a shilling a day. 'we are on our way back,' he writes at the end of september, 'after a month of sea-bathing and touring among the welsh mountains. most of my time is taken up with homer and homeric literature, in which i am immersed with great delight up to my ears; perhaps i should say out of my depth.' mr. gladstone was one of the men whom the agitations of politics can never submerge. political interests were what they ought to be, a very serious part of life; but they took their place with other things, and were never suffered, as in narrower natures sometimes happens, to blot out 'stars and orbs of sun and moon' from the spacious firmament above us. he now found a shelter from the intensity of the times in the systematic production of his book on homer, a striking piece of literature that became the most definite of his pursuits for two years or more. his children observed that he never lounged or strolled upon the shore, but when the morning's labour was over--and nothing was ever allowed to break or mutilate the daily spell of serious work--he would stride forth staff in hand, and vigorously breast the steepest bluffs and hills that he could find. this was only emblematic of a temperament to which the putting forth of power was both necessity and delight. the only rest he ever knew was change of effort. while he was on the welsh coast sebastopol fell, after a siege of three hundred and fifty days. negotiations for peace were opened tolerably soon afterwards, ending, after many checks and diplomatic difficulties, in the treaty of paris (march , ), as to which i need only remind the reader, with a view to a future incident in mr. gladstone's history, that the black sea was neutralised, and all warships of every nation excluded from its waters. three hundred thousand men had perished. countless treasure had been flung into the abyss. the nation that had won its last victory at waterloo did not now enhance the glory of its arms, nor the power of its diplomacy, nor the strength of any of its material interests. it was our french ally who profited. the integrity of turkey was so ill confirmed that even at the congress of paris the question of the danubian principalities was raised in a form that in a couple of years reduced turkish rule over six millions of her subjects to the shadow of smoke. of the confidently promised reform of mahometan dominion there was never a beginning nor a sign. the vindication of the standing european order proved so ineffectual that the crimean war was only the sanguinary prelude to a vast subversion of the whole system of european states. ii work on homer other interests now came foremost in mr. gladstone's mind. the old ground so constantly travelled over since the death of peel was for three years to come traversed again with fatiguing iteration. in the spring of lord derby repeated the overtures that he had made in specific form in and in . the government was weak, as mr. gladstone had predicted that it would be. lord derby told sir william heathcote, through whom he and mr. gladstone communicated, that as almost any day it might be overturned, and he might be sent for by the queen, he was bound to see what strength he might rely upon, and he was anxious to know what were mr. gladstone's views on the possibility of co-operation. what was the nature of his relations with other members of the peel government who had also been in the cabinet of lord aberdeen? did they systematically communicate? were they a party? did they intend to hold and to act together? these questions were soon answered:-- on the first point, mr. gladstone said, you cannot better describe my views for present purposes than by saying that they are much like lord derby's own as i understand them--there was nothing in them to prevent a further consideration of the subject, if public affairs should assume such a shape as to recommend it. on the second, i said graham, herbert, cardwell, and i communicated together habitually and confidentially; that we did not seek to act, but rather eschewed acting, as a party; that our habits of communication were founded upon long political association, general agreement, and personal friendship; that they were not, however, a covenant for the future, but a natural growth and result of the past. then he proceeds to tell with a new and rather startling conclusion the old story of the peelite responsibility for the broken and disorganised state of the house of commons:-- we, the friends of lord aberdeen, were a main cause of disunion and weakness in the executive government, and must be so, from whichever side the government were formed, so long as we were not absolutely incorporated into one or the other of the two great parties. for though we had few positively and regularly following us, yet we had indirect relations with others on both sides of the house, which tended to relax, and so far disable, party connections, and our existence as a section encouraged the formation of other sections all working with similar effects. i carried my feeling individually so far upon the subject as even to be ready, if i had to act alone, to surrender my seat in parliament, rather than continue a cause of disturbance to any government to which i might generally wish well.[ ] relations with lord derby this exchange of views with lord derby he fully reported to graham, herbert, and cardwell, whom lord aberdeen, at his request, had summoned for the purpose. herbert doubted the expediency of such communications, and graham went straight to what was a real point. 'he observed that the question was of the most vital consequence, who should lead the house of commons? this he thought must come to me, and could not be with disraeli. i had said and repeated, that i thought we could not bargain disraeli out of the saddle; that it must rest with him (so far as we were concerned) to hold the lead if he pleased; that besides my looking to it with doubt and dread, i felt he had this right; and that i took it as one of the _data_ in the case before us upon which we might have to consider the question of political junction, and which might be seriously affected by it.' of these approaches in the spring of nothing came. the struggle in mr. gladstone's mind went on with growing urgency. he always protested that he never at any time contemplated an isolated return to the conservative ranks, but 'reunion of a body with a body.' besides his sense of the vital importance of the reconstruction of the party system, he had two other high related aims. the commanding position that had first been held in the objects of his activity by the church, then, for a considerable space, by the colonies, was now filled by finance. as he put it in a letter to his sympathetic brother robertson: he saw two cardinal subjects for the present moment in public affairs, a rational and pacific foreign policy, and second, the due reduction in our establishments, economy in administration, and finance to correspond. in he had, as he believed, given financial pledges to the country. these pledges were by the present ministers in danger of being forgotten. they were incompatible with palmerston's spirit of foreign policy. his duty, then, was to oppose that policy, and to labour as hard as he could for the redemption of his pledges. yet isolated as he was, he had little power over either one of these aims or the other. the liberal party was determined to support the reigning foreign policy, and this made financial improvement desperate. of lord derby's friends he was not hopeful, but they were not committed to so dangerous a leader.[ ] as he put it to elwin, the editor of the _quarterly_: there is a policy going a begging; the general policy that sir robert peel in took office to support--the policy of peace abroad, of economy, of financial equilibrium, of steady resistance to abuses, and promotion of practical improvements at home, with a disinclination to questions of reform, gratuitously raised.[ ] his whole mind beset, possessed, and on fire with ideals of this kind, and with sanguine visions of the road by which they might be realised--it was not in the temperament of this born warrior to count the lions in his path. he was only too much in the right, as his tribulations of a later date so amply proved, in his perception that neither palmerston nor palmerstonian liberals would take up the broken clue of peel. the importunate presence of mr. disraeli was not any sharper obstacle to a definite junction with conservatives, than was the personality of lord palmerston to a junction with liberals. as he had said to graham in november , 'the pain and strain of public duty is multiplied tenfold by the want of a clear and firm ground from which visibly to act.' in rougher phrase, a man must have a platform and work with a party. this indeed is for sensible men one of the rudiments of practical politics. of a certain kind of cant about public life and office mr. gladstone was always accustomed to make short work. the repudiation of desire for official power, he at this time and always roundly denounced as 'sentimental and maudlin.' one of the not too many things that he admired in lord palmerston was 'the manly frankness of his habitual declarations that office is the natural and proper sphere of a public man's ambition, as that in which he can most freely use his powers for the common advantage of his country.' 'the desire for office,' said mr. gladstone, 'is the desire of ardent minds for a larger space and scope within which to serve the country, and for access to the command of that powerful machinery for information and practice, which the public departments supply. he must be a very bad minister indeed, who does not do ten times the good to the country that he would do when out of office, because he has helps and opportunities which multiply twenty fold, as by a system of wheels and pulleys, his power for doing it.' it is true, as the smallest of men may see--and the smaller the man, the more will he make of it--that this sterling good sense may set many a snare for the politician; but then even the consecrated affectations of our public life have their snares too. the world was not in the secret of the communications with lord derby, but the intrinsic probabilities of a case often give to the public a trick of divination. in the middle of december ( ) articles actually appeared in the prints of the day announcing that mr. gladstone would at the opening of the next session figure at the head of the opposition. the tories, they said, wanted a leader, mr. gladstone wanted a party. they were credulous, he was ingenious. the minority in a party must yield to a majority, and he stood almost by himself. he would be a returned prodigal in the conservative household, for unlike sir james graham, he had never merged himself in the ordinary ruck of liberalism. a tory peer writes to assure him that there never was such a chance for the reunion of the party. even the nobleman who had moved mr. gladstone's expulsion from the carlton said that he supposed reunion must pretty soon come off. a few, perhaps under a score, made a great noise, but if lord derby would only form a government, the noisy ones would be as glad as the rest. true--and here the writer came nearer to the central difficulty--'disraeli ought _at first_ to lead the commons,' because he had been leader before; second, he had the greater number of followers; third, because on public grounds he must desire to see mr. gladstone at the exchequer; and to transfer to him both the great subject of finance and the great prize of leadership would be impossible. so easy do flat impossibilities ever seem to sanguine simpletons in pall mall. another correspondent has been staying at a grand country-house, full of tory company, and the state of parties was much discussed--'there was one unanimous opinion,' he tells mr. gladstone, 'that nothing could save the conservative party except electing you for their leader.' the same talk was reported from the clubs. 'the difficulty was disraeli, not so much for any damage that his hostility could do the party, as because lord derby had contracted relations with him which it would perhaps be impossible for him to disown.' meanwhile the sagacious man in the tents of the tories, whose course was so neatly chalked out for him by sulky followers not relishing his lead, was, we may be sure, entirely wide-awake, watching currents, gales, and puffs of wind without haste, without rest. disraeli made a bold stroke for party consolidation by inviting to his official dinner at the opening of the session of , general peel, the favourite brother of the great minister and his best accredited representative. peel consulted mr. gladstone on the reply to disraeli's invitation, and found him strongly adverse. the public, said mr. gladstone, views with much jealousy every change of political position not founded on previous parliamentary co-operation for some national object. mr. gladstone might have put it on the narrower ground that attendance at the dinner would be an explicit condonation of disraeli's misdeeds ten years before, and a direct acceptance of his leadership henceforth. elwin believed that he had the direct sanction of lord derby for a message from him to mr. gladstone suggesting communication. after much ruminating and consulting, mr. gladstone wrote (dec. , ) in sufficiently circuitous language to elwin, that though he should not be justified in communicating with lord derby, considered simply as a political leader with whom he was not in relations of party, yet, he proceeds, 'remembering that i was once his colleague, and placing entire reliance on his honour, i am ready to speak to him in confidence and without reserve on the subject of public affairs, should it be his desire.' his three friends, graham, aberdeen, and herbert, still viewed the proceeding with entire disfavour, and no counsels were ever dictated by sincerer affection and solicitude. your financial scheme, says graham, is conceived in the very spirit of peel; it would be most conducive to national welfare; you alone and in high office can carry it; but it must be grafted on a pacific policy and on a moderate scale of public expenditure; it is not under palmerston that such blessings are to be anticipated; but then are they more probable under derby and disraeli? lord aberdeen took another line, insisting that to make any sort of approach to lord derby, after joining palmerston only the previous year, would be unjustifiable; the bare apprehension of a vicious policy would be no intelligible ground for changing sides; more tangible reasons would be needed, and they were only too likely soon to arrive from palmerston's foreign policy. then a reasonable chance might come. herbert, in his turn, told mr. gladstone that though he might infuse vigour and respectability into a party that stood much in need of both, yet he would always be in a false position. 'your opinions are essentially progressive, and when the measures of any government mast be liberal and progressive, the country will prefer the men whose antecedents and mottoes are liberal, while the conservatives will always prefer a leader whose prejudices are with themselves.' as graham put it to him: 'if you were to join the tory party to-morrow, you would have neither their confidence nor their real good will, and they would openly break with you in less than a year.' it all reminds one of the chorus in greek plays, sagely expostulating with a hero bent on some dread deed of fate. iii meditations in the autumn of ecclesiastical questions held a strong place in mr. gladstone's interests. the condemnation of archdeacon denison for heresy roused him to lively indignation. he had long interviews with the archdeacon, drafted answers for him, and flung his whole soul into the case, though he was made angry by denison's oscillations and general tone. 'gladstone tells me,' said aberdeen, 'that he cannot sleep for it, and writes to me volumes upon volumes. he thinks that denison ought to have been allowed to show that his doctrine, whether in accordance or not with the articles, is in accordance with scripture. and he thinks the decision ought to have been in his case as it was in gorham's, that the articles are comprehensive, that they admit denison's view of the eucharist as well as that of his opponents.'[ ] his closing entry for the year ( ) depicts an inner mood:-- it appears to me that there are few persons who are so much as i am enclosed in the invisible net of pendent steel. i have never known what tedium was, have always found time full of calls and duties, life charged with every kind of interest. but now when i look calmly around me, i see that these interests are for ever growing and grown too many and powerful, and that were it to please god to call me i might answer with reluctance.... see how i stand. into politics i am drawn deeper every year; in the growing anxieties and struggles of the church i have no less [interest] than i have heretofore; literature has of late acquired a new and powerful hold upon me; the fortunes of my wife's family, which have had, with all their dry detail, all the most exciting and arduous interest of romance for me now during nine years and more; seven children growing up around us, and each day the object of deeper thoughts and feelings, and of higher hopes to catherine and me,--what a network is here woven out of all that the heart and all that the mind of man can supply.... footnotes: [ ] see appendix. [ ] herbert to gladstone, may , . [ ] _many memories_, p. . [ ] vitzthum, _st. petersburg and london_, i. p. . a full account of these parliamentary events from may to july, , is to be found in martin's _prince consort_, iii. pp. - . [ ] ashley, ii. pp. , . [ ] memo. april , . [ ] to robertson gladstone, dec. , . [ ] to mr. elwin, dec. , . [ ] simpson's _many memories_, p. . chapter viii general election--new marriage law (_ _) no wave on the great ocean of time, when once it has floated past us, can be recalled. all we can do is to watch the new form and motion of the next, and launch upon it to try in the manner our best judgment may suggest our strength and skill.--gladstone. in spite of wise counsels of circumspection, mr. gladstone clung to the chances that might come from personal communication between himself and lord derby. under pressure from his friends, he agreed with lord derby to put off an interview until after the debate on the address. then, after parliament met, they took the plunge. we are now at the beginning of february. this afternoon at three i called on lord derby and remained with him above three hours, in prosecution of the correspondence which had passed between us. i told him that i deliberately disapproved of the government of lord palmerston, and was prepared and desirous to aid in any proper measures which might lead to its displacement. that so strong were my objections that i was content to act thus without inquiring who was to follow, for i was convinced that any one who might follow would govern with less prejudice to the public interests. that in the existing state of public affairs i did not pretend to see far, but thus far i saw clearly. i also told him that i felt the isolated position in which i stood, and indeed in which we who are called peelites all stand, to be a great evil as tending to prolong and aggravate that parliamentary disorganisation which so much clogs and weakens the working of our government; and i denounced myself as a public nuisance, adding that it would be an advantage if my doctor sent me abroad for the session. peelites and tories he concurred in the general sentiments which i had expressed, but said it was material for him, as he had friends with and for whom to act, and as i had alluded to the possibility, in the event of a change, of his being invited by the queen to form a government, to consider beforehand on what strength he could rely. he said he believed his friends were stronger than any other single section, but that they were a minority in both houses. weak in , he was weaker now, for it was natural that four years of exclusion from office should thin the ranks of a party, and such had been his case. he described the state of feeling among his friends, and adverted to the offer he had made in and in . the fact of an overture made and not accepted had led to much bitterness or anger towards us among a portion of his adherents. he considered that in lord palmerston had behaved far from well either to herbert and me, or to him.[ ] other interviews followed; resolutions were discussed, amendments, forms of words. they met at discreet dinners. 'nobody,' lord derby tells him, 'except disraeli knows the length to which our communications have gone.' nobody, that is to say, excepting also mr. gladstone's three personal allies; them he kept accurately informed of all that passed at every stage. on february the government presented their budget. in introducing his plan, cornewall lewis rashly quoted, and adopted as his own, the terrible heresy of arthur young, that to multiply the number of taxes is a step towards equality of burden, and that a good system of taxation is one that bears lightly on an infinite number of points. the reader will believe how speedily an impious opinion of this sort kindled volcanic flame in mr. gladstone's breast. he thought moreover that he espied in the ministerial plan a prospective deficiency a year ahead. to maintain a steady surplus of income over expenditure, he reflected; to lower indirect taxes when excessive in amount, for the relief of the people, and bearing in mind the reproductive power inherent in such operations; to simplify our fiscal system by concentrating its pressure on a few well chosen articles of extended consumption; and to conciliate support to the income-tax by marking its temporary character, and by associating it with beneficial changes in the tariff: these aims have been for fifteen years the labour of our life. by this budget he found them in principle utterly reversed. he told his friends that the shade of peel would appear to him if he did not oppose such plans with his whole strength. when the time came (feb. ), 'the government was fired into from all quarters. disraeli in front; gladstone on flank; john russell in rear. disraeli and gladstone rose at same time. speaker called the former. both spoke very well. it was a night of triumph for gladstone.'[ ] there is another note of the proceedings on lewis's budget:-- _saturday, feb. ._--i was engaged to meet graham, herbert, and cardwell at lord aberdeen's, and i knew from lord derby that he was to see his friends at noon. so i went to him on my way, first to point out the _deficit_ of between five and six millions for - which is created by this budget, with the augmentations of it in subsequent years; and secondly, to say that in my opinion it was hopeless to attack the scheme in detail, and that it must be resisted on the ground of deficit as a whole, to give a hope of success. i said that if among the opposition there still lingered a desire to revive and extend indirect taxation, i must allow that the government had bid high for support from those who entertained it; that it was the worst proposition i had ever heard from a minister of finance. at lord aberdeen's we examined the figures of the case, and drafted two resolutions which expressed our opinions. the more serious point, however, was that they all wished me to insist upon taking the motion into my own hands; and announcing this to lord j. russell as well as to lord derby. as to the second i had no difficulty, could i have acceded to the first. but i did not doubt that disraeli would still keep hold of so much of his notice of feb. as had not been set aside by the budget. i said that from motives which i could neither describe nor conquer i was quite unable to undertake to enter into any squabble or competition with him for the possession of a post of prominence. we had much conversation on political prospects: graham wishing to see me lead the commons under lord john as prime minister in the lords; admitting that the same thing would do under lord derby, but for disraeli, who could not be thrown away like a sucked orange; and i vehemently deploring our position, which i said, and they admitted, was generally condemned by the country. i again went to derby, as he had requested, at five; and he told me that he had had with him malmesbury, hardwicke, disraeli, pakington, walpole, lytton. they had all agreed that the best motion would be a resolution (from disraeli) on monday, before the speaker left the chair, which would virtually rest the question on deficit. i made two verbal suggestions on the resolution to improve its form. co-operation with mr. disraeli late in the evening lord derby writes, enclosing a note received at dinner from disraeli, 'i hope i may take it for granted that there is now a complete understanding between us as to the move on monday night.' 'my dear lord,' runs the note, 'i like the resolution as amended. it is improved. yours ever, d.' when monday came, the move was duly made, and gladstone and disraeli again fought side by side as twin champions of the cause of reduced expenditure. time had incensed mr. gladstone still further, and he conducted a terrific fusillade. he recounted how between and two and twenty millions of taxation had been taken off without costing a farthing. 'a man may be glad and thankful to have been an englishman and a member of the british parliament during these years, bearing his part in so blessed a work. but if it be a blessed work, what are we to say of him who begins the undoing of it?' the proposal of the government showed a gross, a glaring, an increasing deficiency, a deficiency unparalleled in the financial history of a quarter of a century. it was deluding the people and trifling with national interests. it is certain that no financier before or since ever, in cromwellian phrase, made such a conscience of the matter, or ever found the task more thankless.[ ] great as was the effect of the close and searching argument that accompanied all this invective, even mr. gladstone's friends thought it too impassioned and too severe upon lewis, in whose favour there was consequently a reaction. the cool minister contented himself with quoting horace's lines upon the artist skilled in reproducing in his bronze fierce nails or flowing hair, yet who fails because he lacks the art to seize the whole.[ ] at the end of february ( ), at a party meeting of members, lord derby told his men that the course taken by mr. disraeli upon the budget had been concerted with him and had his entire approval; spoke with admiration of mr. gladstone; justified political union when produced by men finding themselves drawn to the same lobby by identity of sentiment; and advised them not to decline such accession of strength as would place their party in a position to undertake the government of the country. the newspapers cried out that the long-expected coalition had at length really taken place. in their hearts the conservative managers were not sure that mr. gladstone's adhesion would not cost them too dearly. 'he would only benefit us by his talents' (says lord malmesbury) 'for we should lose many of our supporters. the duke of beaufort, one of our staunchest adherents, told me at longleat that if we coalesced with the peelites he would leave the party, and i remember in , when lord derby attempted to form a government, and offered places to gladstone and herbert, that no less than eighty members of the house of commons threatened to leave him.'[ ] all these schemes and calculations were destined to be rudely interrupted. ii speech on the china war while he was acting with lord derby on the one hand, mr. gladstone sought counsel from cobden on the other, having great confidence in his 'firmness and integrity of purpose,' and hoping for support from him in face of a faint-hearted disposition to regard lord palmerston as a magician against whom it was vain to struggle. events were speedily to show that lord palmerston had more magic at his disposal than his valiant foe believed. the agent of the british government in the china seas--himself, by the way, a philosophic radical--had forced a war upon the chinese. the cabinet supported him. on the motion of cobden, the house censured the proceeding. mr. gladstone, whose hatred of high-handed iniquities in china had been stirred in early days,[ ] as the reader may recall, made the most powerful speech in a remarkable debate. 'gladstone rose at half-past nine,' phillimore says (mar. ), 'and delivered for nearly two hours an oration which enthralled the house, and which for argument, dignity, eloquence, and effect is unsurpassed by any of his former achievements. it won several votes. nobody denies that his speech was the finest delivered in the memory of man in the house of commons.' apart from a rigorous examination of circumstance and fact in the special case, as in the famous precedent of don pacifico seven years before, he raised the dispute to higher planes and in most striking language. he examined it both by municipal and international law, and on 'the higher ground of natural justice'--'that justice which binds man to man; which is older than christianity, because it was in the world before christianity; which is broader than christianity, because it extends to the world beyond christianity; and which underlies christianity, for christianity itself appeals to it.... war taken at the best is a frightful scourge upon the human race; but because it is so, the wisdom of ages has surrounded it with strict laws and usages, and has required formalities to be observed which shall act as a curb upon the wild passions of man.... you have dispensed with all these precautions. you have turned a consul into a diplomatist, and that metamorphosed consul is forsooth to be at liberty to direct the whole might of england against the lives of a defenceless people.' disraeli in turn denounced proceedings which began in outrage and ended in ruin, mocked at 'no reform, new taxes, canton blazing, persia invaded,' as the programme of the party of progress and civilisation, and reprobated a prime minister who had professed almost every principle, and connected himself with almost every party. palmerston replied by a stout piece of close argument, spiced by taunts about coalitions, combinations, and eloquent flourishes. but this time in parliament his slender majority failed him. _march , ' ._--spoke on cobden's resolutions, and voted in - --a division doing more honour to the house of commons than any i ever remember. home with c. and read lord ellesmere's _faust_, being excited, which is rare with me. (_diary._) lord palmerston's triumph the repulse was transient. the minister appealed to the constituencies, and won a striking triumph. nearly all the manchester politicians, with bright and cobden at their head, were ruthlessly dismissed, and the election was a glorious ratification not only of the little war among the chinese junks, but of the great war against the czar of russia, and of much besides. this, said mr. gladstone, was not an election like that of , when pitt appealed on the question whether the crown should be the slave of an oligarchic faction; nor like that of , when grey sought a judgment on reform; nor like that of , when the issue was the expiring controversy of protection. the country was to decide not upon the canton river, but whether it would or would not have lord palmerston for prime minister. 'the insolent barbarian wielding authority at canton who had violated the british flag' was indeed made to play his part. but the mainspring of the electoral victory was to be sought in the profound public weariness of the party dispersions of the last eleven years; in the determination that the country should be governed by men of intelligible opinions and definite views; in the resolution that the intermediate tints should disappear; in the conviction that palmerston was the helmsman for the hour. the result was justly compared to the plebiscite taken in france four or five years earlier, whether they would have louis napoleon for emperor or not. it was computed that no fewer than one-sixth, or at best one-seventh, of the most conspicuous men in the former house of commons were thrust out. the derbyites were sure that the report of the coalition with the peelites had done them irreparable harm, though their electioneering was independent. at oxford mr. gladstone was returned without opposition. on the other hand, his gallant attempt to save the seat of his brother-in-law in flintshire failed, his many speeches met much rough interruption, and to his extreme mortification sir stephen glynne was thrown out. the moral of the general election was undoubtedly a heavy shock to mr. gladstone, and he was fully conscious of the new awkwardness of his public position. painful change seemed imminent even in his intimate relations with cherished friends. sidney herbert had written to him that as for gladstone, graham, and himself, they were not only broken up as a party, but the country intended to break them up and would resent any attempt at resuscitation; they ought on no account to reappear as a triumvirate on their old bench. mr. gladstone's reply discloses in some of its phrases a peculiar warmth of sensibility, of which he was not often wont to make much display:-- _to sidney herbert._ _march , ._--i did not reply to your letter when it arrived, because it touches principally upon subjects with respect to which i feel that my mind has been wrought into a state of sensitiveness which is excessive and morbid. for the last eleven years, with the exception of only two among them, the pains of political strife have not for us found their usual and proper compensation in the genial and extended sympathies of a great body of comrades, while suspicion, mistrust, and criticism have flanked us on both sides and in unusual measure. our one comfort has been a concurrence of opinion which has been upon the whole remarkably close, and which has been cemented by the closer bonds of feeling and of friendship. the loss of this one comfort i have no strength to face. contrary to your supposition, i have nothing with which to replace it; but the attachments, which began with political infancy, and which have lived through so many storms and so many subtler vicissitudes will never be replaced. you will never be able to get away from me as long as i can cling to you, and if at length, urged by your conscience and deliberate judgment, you effect the operation, the result will not be to throw me into the staff of lord derby. i shall seek my duty, as well as consult my inclination, first, by absconding from what may be termed general politics, and secondly, by appearing, wherever i must appear, only in the ranks. i can neither give even the most qualified adhesion to the ministry of lord palmerston, nor follow the liberal party in the abandonment of the very principles and pledges which were original and principal bonds of union with it. so, on the other hand, i never have had any hope of conservative reconstruction except (and that slender and remote) such as presupposed the co-operation--i am now speaking for the house of commons only--of yourself and graham in particular. by adopting reform as a watchword of present political action he has certainly inserted a certain amount of gap between himself and me, which may come to be practically material or may not. if you make a gap upon this opportunity, i believe it will be a novelty in political history: it will be the first case on record of separation between two men, all of whose views upon every public question, political, administrative, or financial, are i believe in as exact accordance as under the laws of the human mind is possible.... his leaning towards the conservative party seemed to become more decided rather than less. lord aberdeen had written to him as if the amalgamation of peel's friends with the liberal party had practically taken place. 'if that be true,' mr. gladstone replies (april , ), 'then i have been deceiving both the world and my constituents, and the deception has reached its climax within the last fortnight, during which i have been chosen without opposition to represent oxford under a belief directly contrary in the minds of the majority of my constituents.' he saw nothing but evil in lord palmerston's supremacy. that was his unending refrain. he tells one of his constituents, the state of things 'is likely to end in much political confusion if it is not stopped by the failure of lord palmerston's physical force, the only way of stopping it which i could view with regret, for i admire the pluck with which he fights against the infirmities of age, though in political and moral courage i have never seen a minister so deficient.' cobden asked him in the course of the first session of the new parliament, to take up some position adverse to the ministers. 'i should not knowingly,' mr. gladstone replies (june , ), 'allow any disgust with the state of public affairs to restrain me from the discharge of a public duty; but i arrived some time ago at the conclusion, which has guided my conduct since the dissolution, that the house of commons would sooner and more healthily return to a sense of its own dignity and of its proper functions, if let alone by a person who had so thoroughly worried both it and the country as myself.' iii divorce bill this stern resolve to hold aloof did not last. towards the end of the session a subject was brought before parliament that stirred him to the very depths of heart and conscience. it marked one more stage of the history of english laws in that immense process of the secularisation of the state, against which, in his book of , mr. gladstone had drawn up, with so much weight of reading and thought, a case so wholly unavailing. the legal doctrine of marriage had been established against the theological doctrine by lord hardwicke's famous act of , for that measure made the observance of certain requirements then set up by law essential to a good marriage. a further fundamental change had begun with the legislation of civil marriage in . the conception of marriage underlying such a change obviously removed it from sacrament, or anything like a sacrament, to the bleak and frigid zone of civil contract; it was antagonistic, therefore, to the whole ecclesiastical theory of divorce.[ ] a royal commission issued a report in , setting forth the case against the existing system of dissolving marriage, and recommending radical changes. in the following year the cabinet of which mr. gladstone was a member framed and introduced a bill substantially conforming to these recommendations. for one reason or another it did not become law, nor did a bill of similar scope in . in the interval of leisure that followed, mr. gladstone was pressed, perhaps by bishop wilberforce, thoroughly to consider the matter. with his prepossessions, there could be little doubt that he would incline to that view of marriage, and the terms and legal effects of loosening the marriage tie, that the council of trent had succeeded in making the general marriage law of catholic europe. the subject was one peculiarly calculated to interest and excite him. religion and the church were involved. it raised at our own hearths the eternal question of rendering to cæsar what is cæsar's, and to the church what belongs to the church. it was wrapped up with topics of history and of learning. it could not be discussed without that admixture of legality and ethics which delights a casuistic intellect. above all, it went to the root both of that deepest of human relations, and of that particular branch of morals, in which mr. gladstone always felt the vividest concern. so, in short, being once called upon for a practical purpose to consider divorce and the many connected questions of re-marriage, he was inevitably roused to a fervour on one side, not any less heated and intense than the fervour of the mighty milton on the other side two centuries before. he began operations by an elaborate article in the _quarterly review_.[ ] here he flings himself upon the well-worn texts in the bible familiar to the readers of _tetrachordon_,--if, indeed, _tetrachordon_ have any readers,--with a dialectical acuteness and force that only make one wonder the more how a mind so powerful as mr. gladstone's could dream that, at that age of the world, men would suffer one of the most far-reaching of all our social problems, whatever be the right or wrong social solution, to be in the slightest degree affected by a greek word or two of utterly disputable and unfixed significance. interest in law of divorce i may note in passing that in another department of supposed levitical prohibition--the case of the wife's sister--he had in strongly argued against relaxation, mainly on the ground that it would involve an alteration of the law and doctrines of the church of england, and therefore of the law of christianity.[ ] experience and time revolutionised his point of view, and in , in supporting a bill legalising these marriages, he took the secular and utilitarian line, and said that twelve or fourteen years earlier (about the time on which we are now engaged) he formed the opinion that it was the mass of the community to which we must look in dealing with such a question, and that the fairest course would be to legalise the marriage contracts in question, and legitimise their issue, leaving to each religious community the question of attaching to such marriages a religious character.[ ] the divorce bill of was introduced in the lords, and passed by them without effective resistance. it was supported by the archbishop of canterbury and nine other prelates. authorities no less exalted than bishop wilberforce were violently hostile, even at one stage carrying amendments (ultimately rejected), not only for prohibiting the inter-marriage of the guilty parties, but actually imposing a fine or imprisonment on either of them. this, i fancy, is the high-water mark of the ecclesiastical theory in the century.[ ] lord mahon in a letter to mr. gladstone at this date pictures macaulay's new zealander being taken to the house of lords and hearing learned lords and reverend prelates lay down the canon that marriage is indissoluble by the law of england and by the law of the church. but who, he might have asked, are those two gentlemen listening so intently? oh, these are two gentlemen whose marriages were dissolved last year. and that other man? oh, he was divorced last week. and those three ladies? oh, their marriages may in all probability be dissolved in another year or two. still this view of the absurdity of existing practice did not make a convert. as soon as the bill came down to the house of commons mr. gladstone hastened up to london in the dog-days. 'a companion in the railway carriage,' he wrote to mrs. gladstone, 'more genial than congenial, offered me his _times_, and then brandy! this was followed by a proposal to smoke, so that he had disabled me from objecting on personal grounds.' tobacco, brandy at odd hours, and the newspaper made a triple abomination in a single dose, for none of the three was ever a favourite article of his consumption. in london he found the counsels of his friends by no means encouraging for the great fight on which he was intent. they deprecated anything that would bring him into direct collision with lord palmerston. they urged that violent opposition now would be contrasted with his past silence, and with his own cabinet responsibility for the very same proposal. nothing would be intelligible to the public, lord aberdeen said, beyond a 'carefully moderated course.' but a carefully moderated course was the very last thing possible to mr. gladstone when the flame was once kindled, and he fought the bill with a holy wrath as vehement as the more worldly fury with which henry fox, from very different motives, had fought the marriage bill of . the thought that stirred him was indicated in a phrase or two to his wife at hawarden: '_july ._--parliamentary affairs are very black; the poor church gets deeper and deeper into the mire. i am to speak to-night; it will do no good; and the fear grows upon me from year to year that when i finally leave parliament, i shall not leave the great question of state and church better, but perhaps even worse, than i found it.' vehement opposition the discussion of the bill in the commons occupied no fewer than eighteen sittings, more than one of them, according to the standard of those primitive times, inordinately long. in the hundred encounters between mr. gladstone and bethell, polished phrase barely hid unchristian desire to retaliate and provoke. bethell boldly taunted mr. gladstone with insincerity. mr. gladstone, with a vivacity very like downright anger, reproached bethell with being a mere hewer of wood and drawer of water to the cabinet who forced the bill into his charge; with being disorderly and abusing the privileges of speech by accusations of insincerity, 'which have not only proceeded from his mouth but gleamed from those eloquent eyes of his, which have been continuously turned on me for the last ten minutes, instead of being addressed to the chair.' on every division those who affirmed the principle of the bill were at least two to one. 'all we can do,' mr. gladstone wrote to his wife, 'is to put shoulder to shoulder, and this, please god, we will do. graham is with us, much to my delight, and much too, let me add, to my surprise. i am as thankful to be in parliament for this (almost) as i was for the china vote.... yesterday ten and a-half hours, rather angry; to-day with pacification, but still tough and prolonged.' an unfriendly but not wholly unveracious chronicler says of this ten hours' sitting (august ) on a single clause: 'including questions, explanations, and interlocutory suggestions, mr. gladstone made nine-and-twenty speeches, some of them of considerable length. sometimes he was argumentative, frequently ingenious and critical, often personal, and not less often indignant at the alleged personality of others.' he made no pretence of thinking the principle of divorce _a vinculo_ anything but an immense evil, but he still held himself free, if that view were repudiated, to consider the legislative question of dissolubility and its conditions. he resorted abundantly to what palmerston called 'the old standard set-up form of objecting to any improvement, to say that it does not carry out all the improvements of which the matter in hand is susceptible.' one of the complaints of which he made most was the inequality in the bill between the respective rights of husband and wife. 'it is the special and peculiar doctrines of the gospel,' he said, 'respecting the personal relation of every christian, whether man or woman, to the person of christ, that form the firm, the broad, the indestructible basis of the equality of the sexes under the christian law.' again, 'in the vast majority of instances where the woman falls into sin, she does so from motives less impure and ignoble than those of the man.' he attacks with just vigour the limitation of legal cruelty in this case to the cruelty of mere force importing danger to life, limb, or health, though he was shocked in after years, as well he might be, at the grotesque excess to which the doctrine of 'mental cruelty' has been carried in some states of the american union. in this branch of the great controversy, at any rate, he speaks in a nobler and humaner temper than milton, who writes with a tyrannical jewish belief in the inferiority of women to men, and wives to husbands, that was in mr. gladstone's middle life slowly beginning to melt away in english public opinion. his second complaint, and in his eyes much the more urgent of the two, was the right conferred by the government bill upon divorced persons to claim marriage by a clergyman in a church, and still more bitterly did he resent the obligation imposed by the bill upon clergymen to perform such marriages. here the fight was not wholly unsuccessful, and modifications were secured as the fruit of his efforts, narrowing and abating, though not removing, his grounds of objection.[ ] iv death of lady lyttelton before the battle was over, he was torn away from the scene by a painful bereavement. mrs. gladstone was at hagley nursing her beloved sister, lady lyttelton. he wrote to his wife in the fiercest hours of the fight ( carlton house terrace, aug. ): 'i read too plainly in your letter of yesterday that your heart is heavy, and mine too is heavy along with yours. i have been in many minds about my duty to-day; and i am all but ready to break the bands even of the high obligations that have kept me here with reference to the marriage bill. you have only to speak the word by telegraph or otherwise, showing that i can help to give any of the support you need, and i come to you. as matters stand i am wanted in the house to-day, and am wanted for the divorce bill again on monday.' before monday came, lady lyttelton was no more. four days after her death, mr. gladstone wrote to mr. arthur gordon from hagley:-- the loss suffered here is a dreadful one, but it is borne in the way which robs death and all evil of its sting. my deceased sister-in-law was so united with my wife; they so drew from their very earliest years, and not less since marriage than before it, their breath so to speak in common, that the relation i bore to her conveys little even of what i have lost; but that again is little compared to my wife's bereavement; and far above all to that of lyttelton, who now stands lonely among his twelve children. but the retrospect from first to last is singularly bright and pure. she seemed to be one of those rare spirits who do not need affliction to draw them to their lord, and from first to last there was scarce a shade of it in her life. when she was told she was to die, her pulse did not change; the last communion appeared wholly to sever her from the world, but she smiled upon her husband within a minute of the time when the spirit fled. footnotes: [ ] see above pp. - . [ ] phillimore's diary. [ ] the reader will find a candid statement of the controversy in northcote, _financial policy_, pp. - . [ ] _ars poetica_, - . [ ] malmesbury, _memoirs_, ii. pp. - . see above, p. . [ ] see above, p. . [ ] it is a striking indication of the tenacity of custom against logic that in france, though civil marriage was made not merely permissive, as with us, but compulsory in , divorce was banished from french law from down to . [ ] july . reprinted in _gleanings_, vi. p. . [ ] house of commons, june , . [ ] _ibid._, july , . see also _gleanings_, vi. p. . [ ] it may be said that the exaction of damages comes to the same thing. [ ] in republishing in his article from the _quarterly_ (_gleanings_, vi. p. ), he says his arguments have been too sadly illustrated by the mischievous effects of the measure. the judicial statistics, however, hardly support this view, that petitions for divorce were constantly increasing, and at an accelerating rate of progression. in england the proportion of divorce petitions to marriages and the proportion of divorce decrees to population are both of them lower than they were a few years ago. mr. gladstone used to desire the prohibition of publicity in these proceedings, until he learned the strong view of the president of the court that the hideous glare of this publicity acts probably as no inconsiderable deterrent. chapter ix the second derby government (_ _) extravagance and exaggeration of ideas are not the essential characteristic of either political party in this country. both of them are composed in the main of men with english hearts and english feelings. each of them comprises within itself far greater diversities of political principles and tendencies, than can be noted as dividing the more moderate portion of the one from the more moderate portion of the other.... but while the great english parties differ no more in their general outlines than by a somewhat varied distribution of the same elements in each, they are liable to be favourably or unfavourably affected and their essential characteristics unduly exaggerated, by circumstances of the order that would be termed accidental.--gladstone. the turn of the political wheel is constantly producing strange results, but none has ever been more strikingly dramatic than when, on february , bright and milner gibson, who had been ignominiously thrown out at manchester the year before, had the satisfaction of walking to the table of the house of commons as victorious tellers in the division on the conspiracy to murder bill that overthrew lord palmerston. a plot to slay the french emperor had been organised by a band of italian refugees in london. the bombs were manufactured in england. orsini's design miscarried, but feeling in france was greatly excited, and the french government formally drew attention at st. james's to the fact that bodies of assassins abused our right of asylum. they hinted further that the amity of the crown called for stronger law. palmerston very sensibly did not answer the french despatch, but introduced a bill with new powers against conspiracy. he in an instant became the most unpopular man in the country, and the idol of the year before was now hooted in the park. lord palmerston defeated mr. gladstone was at first doubtful, but soon made up his mind. to mrs. gladstone he writes (feb. ):-- as respects the conspiracy bill, you may depend upon our having plenty of fight; the result is doubtful; but if the bill gets into the house of lords it will pass. lord aberdeen is strong against it. from him i went to-day to lord lyndhurst, and i found lord brougham with him. a most interesting conversation followed with these two wonderful old men at and (coming next birthday) respectively, both in the fullest possession of their faculties, brougham vehement, impulsive, full of gesticulation, and not a little rambling, the other calm and clear as a deep pool upon rock. lord lyndhurst is decidedly against the bill, brougham somewhat inclines to it; being, as lord lyndhurst says, half a frenchman. [lord lyndhurst expounded the matter in a most luminous way from his point of view. brougham went into raptures and used these words: 'i tell you what, lyndhurst, i wish i could make an exchange with you. i would give you some of my walking power, and you should give me some of your brains.' i have often told the story with this brief commentary, that the compliment was the highest i have ever known to be paid by one human being to another.][ ] the debate showed a curious inversion of the parts usually played by eminent men. palmerston vainly explained that he was doing no more than international comity required, and doing no worse than placing the foreign refugee on the same footing in respect of certain offences as the british subject. mr. gladstone (feb. ), on the other hand, 'as one who has perhaps too often made it his business to call attention to the failings of his countrymen,' contended that if national honour was not henceforth to be a shadow and a name, it was the paramount, absolute, and imperative duty of her majesty's ministers to protest against the imputation upon us of favour for assassination, 'a plant which is congenial neither to our soil nor to the climate in which we live.'[ ] one of the truest things said in the debate was disraeli's incidental observation that 'the house should remember that in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, when there is a quarrel between two states, it is generally occasioned by some blunder of a ministry.' mr. disraeli perhaps consoled himself by the pithy saying of baron brunnow, that if no one made any blunders, there would be no politics. the blood of the _civis romanus_, however, was up, and palmerston, defeated by a majority of nineteen, at once resigned. correspondence with lord derby lord derby, whose heart had failed him three years earlier, now formed his second administration, and made one more attempt to bring mr. gladstone over to the conservative ranks. lord lansdowne had told the queen that no other government was possible, and an hour after he had kissed hands the new prime minister applied to mr. gladstone. the decisions taken by him in answer to this and another application three months later, mark one more of the curious turning points in his career and in the fate of his party. _feb. , ._--dined at herbert's with graham. we sat till ½, but did not talk quite through the crisis. palmerston has resigned. he is down. i must now cease to denounce him. .--st. james's morning, and holy communion. westminster abbey in evening, when i sat by sir george grey. from st. james's i went to lord aberdeen's. there derby's letter reached me. we sent for herbert and i wrote an answer. graham arrived and heard it; with slight modifications it went. the case though grave was not doubtful. made two copies and went off before with s. herbert. we separated for the evening with the fervent wish that in public life we might never part. two or three letters exhibit the situation:-- _lord derby to mr. gladstone._ _st. james's square, feb. , ._--in consequence of the adverse vote of the other night, in which you took so prominent and distinguished a part, the government, as you know, has resigned; and i have been entrusted by the queen with the difficult task, which i have felt it my duty not to decline, of forming an administration. in doing so, i am very desirous, if possible, of obtaining the co-operation of men of eminence, who are not at this moment fettered by other ties, and whose principles are not incompatible with my own. believing that you stand in this position, it would afford me very great satisfaction if i could obtain your valuable aid in forming my proposed cabinet; and if i should be so fortunate as to do so, i am sure there would be on all hands a sincere desire to consult your wishes, as far as possible, as to the distribution of offices. i would willingly include sidney herbert in this offer; but i fear he is too intimately associated with john russell to make it possible for him to accept. _mr. gladstone to lord derby._ _great george street, feb. , ._--i am very sensible of the importance of the vote taken on friday; and i should deeply lament to see the house of commons trampled on in consequence of that vote. the honour of the house is materially involved in giving it full effect. it would therefore be my first wish to aid, if possible, in such a task; and remembering the years when we were colleagues, i may be permitted to say that there is nothing in the fact of your being the head of a ministry, which would avail to deter me from forming part of it. among the first questions i have had to put to myself, in consequence of the offer which you have conveyed in such friendly and flattering terms, has been the question whether it would be in my power by accepting it, either alone or in concert with others, to render you material service. after the long years during which we have been separated, there would be various matters of public interest requiring to be noticed between us; but the question i have mentioned is a needful preliminary. upon the best consideration which the moment allows, i think it plain that alone, as i must be, i could not render you service worth your having. the dissolution of last year excluded from parliament men with whom i had sympathies; and it in some degree affected the position of those political friends with whom i have now for many years been united through evil and (much more rarely) through good report. those who lament the rupture of old traditions may well desire the reconstitution of a party; but the reconstitution of a party can only be effected, if at all, by the return of the old influences to their places, and not by the junction of an isolated person. the difficulty is even enhanced in my case by the fact that in your party, reduced as it is at the present moment in numbers, there is a small but active and not unimportant section who avowedly regard me as the representative of the most dangerous ideas. i should thus, unfortunately, be to you a source of weakness in the heart of your own adherents, while i should bring you no party or group of friends to make up for their defection or discontent. for the reasons which i have thus stated or glanced at, my reply to your letter must be in the negative. i must, however, add that a government formed by you at this time will, in my opinion, have strong claims upon me, and upon any one situated as i am, for favourable presumptions, and in the absence of conscientious difference on important questions, for support. i have had an opportunity of seeing lord aberdeen and sidney herbert; and they fully concur in the sentiments i have just expressed. letter from mr. bright mr. gladstone had no close personal or political ties with the manchester men at this moment, but we may well believe that a sagacious letter from mr. bright made its mark upon his meditations:-- _mr. bright to mr. gladstone._ _reform club, feb. , ' ._--coming down park lane just now, i met a leading lawyer of lord derby's party, who will doubtless be in office with him if he succeeds in forming a government. he told me that lord derby and his friends were expecting to be able to induce you to join them. will you forgive me if i write to you on this matter? i say nothing but in the most friendly spirit, and i have some confidence that you will not misinterpret what i am doing. lord derby has only about one-third of the house of commons with him--and it is impossible by any management, or by any dissolution, to convert this minority into a majority. his minority in the house is greater and more powerful than it is in the country--and any appeal to the country, now or hereafter, must, i think, leave him in no better position than that in which he now finds himself. the whole liberal party in the country dislike him, and they dislike his former leader in the commons; and notoriously his own party in the country, and in the house, have not much confidence in him. there is no party in the country to rally round him, as peel was supported in . a derby government can only exist upon forbearance, and will only last till it is convenient for us and the whigs to overthrow it. lord palmerston may give it his support for a time, but he can give it little more than his own vote and speeches, for the liberal constituencies will not forgive their members if they support it. if you join lord derby, you link your fortunes with a constant minority, and with a party in the country which is every day lessening in numbers and in power. if you remain on our side of the house, you are with the majority, and no government can be formed without you. you have many friends there, and some who would grieve much to see you leave them--and i know nothing that can prevent your being prime minister before you approach the age of every other member of the house who has or can have any claim to that high office. if you agree rather with the men opposite than with those among whom you have been sitting of late, i have nothing to say. i am sure you will follow where 'the right' leads, if you only discover it, and i am not hoping or wishing to keep you from the right. i think i am not mistaken in the opinion i have formed of the direction in which your views have for some years been tending. you know well enough the direction in which the opinions of the country are tending. the minority which invites you to join it, if honest, must go or wish to go, in an opposite direction, and it cannot therefore govern the country. will you unite yourself with what must be, from the beginning, an inevitable failure? don't be offended, if, by writing this, i seem to believe you will join lord derby. i don't believe it--but i can imagine your seeing the matter from a point of view very different to mine--and i feel a strong wish just to say to you what is passing in my mind. you will not be the less able to decide on your proper course. if i thought this letter would annoy you, i would not send it. i think you will take it in the spirit in which it is written. no one knows that i am writing it, and i write it from no idea of personal advantage to myself, but with a view to yours, and to the interests of the country. i may be mistaken, but think i am not. don't think it necessary to reply to this. i only ask you to read it, and to forgive me the intrusion upon you--and further to believe that i am yours, with much respect. _mr. gladstone to mr. bright._ _ great george street, feb. , ' ._--your letter can only bear one construction, that of an act of peculiar kindness which ought not to be readily forgotten. for any one in whom i might be interested i should earnestly desire, upon his entering public life, that, if possible, he might with a good conscience end in the party where he began, or else that he might have broad and definite grounds for quitting it. when neither of these advantages appears to be certainly within command, there remains a strong and paramount consolation in seeking, as we best can, the truth and the public interests; and i think it a marked instance of liberality, that you should give me credit for keeping this object in my view. my seeking, however, has not on the present occasion been very difficult. the opinions, such as they are, that i hold on many questions of government and administration are strongly held; and although i set a value, and a high value, upon the power which office gives, i earnestly hope never to be tempted by its exterior allurements, unless they are accompanied with the reasonable prospect of giving effect to some at least of those opinions and with some adequate opening for public good. on the present occasion i have not seen such a prospect; and before i received your letter yesterday afternoon i had made my choice. this ended the first scene of the short fifth act. the new government was wholly conservative. ii uneasiness of friends throughout the whole of this period, mr. gladstone's political friends were uneasy about him. 'he writes and says and does too much,' graham had told lord aberdeen (dec. ), and a year and a half later the same correspondent notices a restless anxiety for a change of position, though at gladstone's age and with his abilities he could not wonder at it. mr. gladstone was now approaching fifty; graham was nearer seventy than sixty; and aberdeen drawing on to seventy-five. one of the most eminent of his friends confessed that he was 'amazed at a man of gladstone's high moral sense of feeling being able to _bear_ with dizzy. i can only account for it on the supposition, which i suppose to be the true one, that personal dislike and distrust of palmerston is the one absorbing feeling with him.... i see no good ground for the violent personal prejudice which is the sole ruling motive of gladstone's and graham's course--especially when the alternative is such a man as dizzy.' then comes some angry language about that enigmatic personage which at this cooling distance of time need not here be transcribed. at the end of lord aberdeen told mr. gladstone that his position in the house was 'very peculiar.' 'with an admitted superiority of character and intellectual power above any other member, i fear that you do not really possess the sympathy of the house at large, while you have incurred the strong dislike of a considerable portion of lord derby's followers.' things grew worse rather than better. even friendly journalists in the spring of wrote of him as 'the most signal example that the present time affords of the man of speculation misplaced and lost in the labyrinth of practical politics.' they call him the chief orator and the weakest man in the house of commons. he has exhibited at every stage traces of an unhappy incoherence which is making him a mere bedouin of parliament, a noble being full of spirit and power, but not to be tamed into the ordinary ways of civil life. his sympathies hover in hopeless inconsistency between love for righteous national action, good government, freedom, social and commercial reform, and a hankering after a strong, unassailable executive in the old obstructive tory sense. he protests against unfair dealing with the popular voice in the principalities on the danube, but when the popular voice on the thames demands higher honours for general havelock he resists it with the doctrine that the executive should be wholly free to distribute honours as it pleases. he is loudly indignant against the supersession of parliament by diplomacy, but when a motion is made directly pointing to the rightful influence of the house over foreign affairs, he neither speaks nor votes. is it not clear beyond dispute that his cannot be the will to direct, nor the wisdom to guide the party of progress out of which the materials for the government of this country will have to be chosen?[ ] in organs supposed to be inspired by disraeli, mr. gladstone's fate is pronounced in different terms, but with equal decision. in phrases that must surely have fallen from the very lips of the oracle itself, the public was told that 'cerebral natures, men of mere intellect without moral passion, are quite unsuited for governing mankind.' the days of the mere dialectician are over, and the rulers of christendom are no longer selected from the serfs of aristotle. without the emotions that soar and thrill and enkindle, no man can attain 'a grand moral vision.' when mr. gladstone aims at philosophy, he only reaches casuistry. he reasons like one of the sons of ignatius loyola. what their society is to the jesuit, his own individualism is to mr. gladstone. he supports his own interests as much from intellectual zeal as from self-love. a shrewd observer is quoted: 'looking on mr. gladstone and mr. sidney herbert sitting side by side, the former with his rather saturnine face and straight black hair, and the latter eminently handsome, with his bright, cold smile and subtlety of aspect, i have often thought that i was beholding the jesuit of the closet really devout, and the jesuit of the world, ambitious, artful, and always on the watch for making his rapier thrusts.' mr. gladstone, in a word, is extremely eminent, but strangely eccentric, 'a simeon stylites among the statesmen of his time.'[ ] renewed proposal of office in may an important vacancy occurred in the ministerial ranks by lord ellenborough's resignation of the presidency of the board of control. this became the occasion of a renewed proposal to mr. gladstone. he tells the story in a memorandum prepared (may ) for submission to aberdeen and graham, whom lord derby urged him to consult. _memorandum by mr. gladstone submitted to lord aberdeen and sir james graham. may , ' ._ _secret._--last week after mr. cardwell's notice but before the debate began, mr. walpole, after previously sounding sir william heathcote to a similar effect, called me aside in the lobby of the house of commons and inquired whether i could be induced to take office. i replied that i thought that question put by him of his own motion--as he had described it--was one that i could hardly answer. it seemed plain, i said, that the actual situation was one so entirely belonging to the government as it stood, that they must plainly work through it unchanged; that the head of the government was the only person who could make a proposal or put a question about taking office in it; i added, however, that my general views were the same as in february. this morning i had a note from walpole asking for an appointment; and he called on me at four o'clock accordingly. he stated that he came by authority of lord derby to offer me the board of control or, if i preferred it, the colonial office. that he had told lord derby i should, he thought, be likely to raise difficulties on two points: first, the separation from those who have been my friends in public life; secondly, the leadership of the house of commons. i here interrupted him to say it must be in his option to speak or to be silent on the latter of these subjects; it was one which had never been entertained or opened by me in connection with this subject, since the former of the two points had offered an absolute preliminary bar to the acceptance of office. he, however, explained himself as follows, that mr. disraeli had stated his willingness to surrender the leadership to sir james graham, if he were disposed to join the government; but that the expressions he had used in his speech of thursday[ ] (apparently those with respect to parties in the house and to office), seemed to put it beyond the right of the government to make any proposal to him. he at the same time spoke in the highest terms not only of the speech, but of the position in which he thought it placed sir james graham; and he left me to infer that there would have been, but for the cause named, a desire to obtain his co-operation as leader of the house of commons. with respect to the proposal as one the acceptance of which would separate me from my friends, he hoped it was not so. it was one made to me alone, the immediate vacancy being a single one; but the spirit in which it was made was a desire that it should be taken to signify the wish of the government progressively to extend its basis, as far as it could be effected compatibly with consistency in its opinions. he added that judging from the past he hoped he might assume that there was no active opposition to the government on the part of my friends, naming lord aberdeen, sir james graham, and the duke of newcastle. i told him with respect to the leadership that i thought it handsome on the part of mr. disraeli to offer to waive it on behalf of sir james graham; that it was a subject which did not enter into my decision for the reason i had stated; and i hinted also that it was one on which i could never negotiate or make stipulations. it was true, i said, i had no broad differences of principle from the party opposite; on the whole perhaps i differed more from lord palmerston than from almost any one, and this was more on account of his temper and views of public conduct, than of any political opinions. nay more, it would be hard to show broad differences of public principle between the government and the bench opposite. renewed proposal of office i said, however, that in my view the proposal which he had made to me could not be entertained. i felt the personal misfortune and public inconvenience of being thrown out of party connection; but a man at the bottom of the well must not try to get out, however disagreeable his position, until a rope or a ladder is put down to him. in this case my clear opinion was that by joining the government i should shock the public sentiment and should make no essential, no important, change in their position. i expressed much regret that accidental causes had kept back from my view at the critical moment the real extent of lord derby's proposals in february; that i answered him then as an individual with respect to myself individually.... i could not separate from those with whom i had been acting all my life long, in concert with whom all the habits of my mind and my views of public affairs had been formed, to go into what might justly be called a cabinet of strangers, since it contained no man to whom i had ever been a colleague, with the single exception of lord derby, and that twelve or fourteen years ago. while i did not conceive that public feeling would or ought to approve this separation, on the other hand i felt that my individual junction would and could draw no material accession of strength to the cabinet. he made the marked admission that if my acceptance must be without the _approval_ of friends, that must undoubtedly be an element of great weight in the case. this showed clearly that lord derby was looking to me in the first place, and then to others beyond me. he did not, however, found upon this any request, and he took my answer as an absolute refusal. his tone was, i need not say, very cordial; and i think i have stated all that was material in the conversation, except that he signified they were under the belief that herbert entertained strong personal feelings towards disraeli. returning home, however, at seven this evening i found a note from walpole expressing lord derby's wish in the following words: 'that before you finally decide on refusing to accept the offer he has made either of the colonies or of the india board he wishes you would consult sir james graham and lord aberdeen.' in order to meet this wish, i have put down the foregoing statement. lord aberdeen agreed with mr. gladstone that on the whole the balance inclined to _no_. graham, in an admirable letter, truly worthy of a wise, affectionate, and faithful friend, said, 'my judgment is, on this occasion, balanced like your own.' he ran through the catalogue of mr. gladstone's most intimate political friends; the result was that he stood alone. fixed party ties and active official duties would conduce to his present happiness and his future fame. he might form an intimate alliance with lord derby with perfect honour. his natural affinities were strong, and his 'honest liberal tendencies' would soon leaven the whole lump and bring it into conformity with the shape and body of the times. as for the leadership in the commons, graham had once thought that for gladstone to sit on the treasury bench with disraeli for his leader would be humiliation and dishonour. later events had qualified this opinion. of course, the abdication of disraeli could not be made a condition precedent, but the concession would somehow be made, and in the commons pre-eminence would be gladstone's, be the conditions what they might. in fine, time was wearing fast away, gladstone had reached the utmost vigour of his powers, and present opportunities were not to be neglected in vain expectation of better. iii letter from mr. disraeli before this letter of graham's arrived, an unexpected thing happened, and mr. disraeli himself advanced to the front of the stage. his communication, which opens and closes without the usual epistolary forms, just as it is reproduced here, marks a curious episode, and sheds a strange light on that perplexing figure:-- _mr. disraeli to mr. gladstone._ _confidential._ i think it of such paramount importance to the public interests, that you should assume at this time a commanding position in the administration of affairs, that i feel it a solemn duty to lay before you some facts, that you may not decide under a misapprehension. our mutual relations have formed the great difficulty in accomplishing a result, which i have always anxiously desired. listen, without prejudice, to this brief narrative. in , when the balanced state of parties in the house of commons indicated the future, i endeavoured, through the medium of the late lord londonderry, and for some time not without hope, to induce sir james graham to accept the post of leader of the conservative party, which i thought would remove all difficulties. when he finally declined this office, i endeavoured to throw the game into your hands, and your conduct then, however unintentional, assisted me in my views. the precipitate ministry of baffled all this. could we have postponed it another year, all might have been right. nevertheless, notwithstanding my having been forced publicly into the chief place in the commons, and all that occurred in consequence, i was still constant to my purpose, and in suggested that the leadership of the house should be offered to lord palmerston, entirely with the view of consulting your feelings and facilitating your position. some short time back, when the power of dissolution was certain, and the consequences of it such as, in my opinion, would be highly favourable to the conservative party, i again confidentially sought sir james graham, and implored him to avail himself of the favourable conjuncture, accept the post of leader in the h. of c, and allow both of us to serve under him. he was more than kind to me, and fully entered into the state of affairs, but he told me his course was run, and that he had not strength or spirit for such an enterprise. thus you see, for more than eight years, instead of thrusting myself into the foremost place, i have been, at all times, actively prepared to make every sacrifice of self for the public good, which i have ever thought identical with your accepting office in a conservative government. don't you think the time has come when you might deign to be magnanimous? mr. canning was superior to lord castlereagh in capacity, in acquirements, in eloquence, but he joined lord c. when lord c. was lord liverpool's lieutenant, when the state of the tory party rendered it necessary. that was an enduring, and, on the whole, not an unsatisfactory connection, and it certainly terminated very gloriously for mr. canning. i may be removed from the scene, or i may wish to be removed from the scene. every man performs his office, and there is a power, greater than ourselves, that disposes of all this. the conjuncture is very critical, and if prudently yet boldly managed, may rally this country. to be inactive now is, on your part, a great responsibility. if you join lord derby's cabinet, you will meet there some warm personal friends; all its members are your admirers. you may place me in neither category, but in that, i assure you, you have ever been sadly mistaken. the vacant post is, at this season, the most commanding in the commonwealth; if it were not, whatever office you filled, your shining qualities would always render you supreme; and if party necessities retain me formally in the chief post, the sincere and delicate respect which i should always offer you, and the unbounded confidence, which on my part, if you choose you could command, would prevent your feeling my position as anything but a form. think of all this in a kindly spirit. these are hurried lines, but they are heartfelt. i was in the country yesterday, and must return there to-day for a county dinner. my direction is langley park, slough. but on wednesday evening i shall be in town.--b. disraeli. _grosvenor gate_, _may_ , . none of us, i believe, were ever able to persuade mr. gladstone to do justice to disraeli's novels,--the spirit of whim in them, the ironic solemnity, the historical paradoxes, the fantastic glitter of dubious gems, the grace of high comedy, all in union with a social vision that often pierced deep below the surface. in the comparative stiffness of mr. gladstone's reply on this occasion, i seem to hear the same accents of guarded reprobation:-- _mr. gladstone to mr. disraeli._ _carlton house terrace_, _may_ , ' .--my dear sir,--the letter you have been so kind as to address to me will enable me, i trust, to remove from your mind some impressions with which you will not be sorry to part. you have given me a narrative of your conduct since with reference to your position as leader of your party. but i have never thought your retention of that office matter of reproach to you, and on saturday last i acknowledged to mr. walpole the handsomeness of your conduct in offering to resign it to sir james graham. you consider that the relations between yourself and me have proved the main difficulty in the way of certain political arrangements. will you allow me to assure you that i have never in my life taken a decision which turned upon those relations. you assure me that i have ever been mistaken in failing to place you among my friends or admirers. again i pray you to let me say that i have never known you penurious in admiration towards any one who had the slightest claim to it, and that at no period of my life, not even during the limited one when we were in sharp political conflict, have i either felt any enmity towards you, or believed that you felt any towards me. at the present moment i am awaiting counsel which at lord derby's wish i have sought. but the difficulties which he wishes me to find means of overcoming, are broader than you may have supposed. were i at this time to join any government i could not do it in virtue of party connections. i must consider then what are the conditions which make harmonious and effective co-operation in cabinet possible--how largely old habits enter into them--what connections can be formed with public approval--and what change would be requisite in the constitution of the present government, in order to make any change worth a trial. i state these points fearlessly and without reserve, for you have yourself well reminded me that there is a power beyond us that disposes of what we are and do, and i find the limits of choice in public life to be very narrow.--i remain, etc. the second derby government the next day mr. gladstone received graham's letter already described. the interpretation that he put upon it was that although graham appeared to lean in favour of acceptance, 'yet the counsel was indecisive.' on ordinary construction, though the counsellor said that this was a case in which only the man himself could decide, yet he also said that acceptance would be for the public good. 'your affirmative advice, had it even been more positive, was not approval, nor was lord aberdeen's. on the contrary it would have been like the orders to balaam, that he should go with the messengers of balak, when notwithstanding the command, the act was recorded against him.' we may be quite sure that when a man draws all these distinctions, between affirmative advice, positive advice, approval, he is going to act without any advice at all, as mr. gladstone was in so grave a case bound to do. he declined to join. _mr. gladstone to lord derby._ _private._ _ c.h. terrace, may , ' ._--i have this morning received sir james graham's reply, and i have seen lord aberdeen before and since. their counsel has been given in no narrow or unfriendly spirit. it is, however, indecisive, and leaves upon me the responsibility which they would have been glad if it had been in their power to remove. i must therefore adhere to the reply which i gave to mr. walpole on saturday; for i have not seen, and i do not see, a prospect of public advantage or of material accession to your strength, from my entering your government single-handed. had it been in your power to raise fully the question whether those who were formerly your colleagues, could again be brought into political relation with you, i should individually have thought it to be for the public good that, under the present circumstances of the country, such a scheme should be considered deliberately and in a favourable spirit. but i neither know that this is in your power, nor can i feel very sanguine hopes that the obstacles in the way of this proposal on the part of those whom it would embrace, could be surmounted. lord aberdeen is the person who could best give a dispassionate and weighty opinion on that subject. for me the question, confined as it is to myself, is a narrow one, and i am bound to say that i arrive without doubt at the result. refusal 'i hope and trust,' said graham, when he knew what mr. gladstone had done, 'that you have decided rightly; my judgment inclined the other way. i should be sorry if your letter to lord derby led him to make any more extended proposal. it could not possibly succeed, as matters now stand; and the abortive attempt would be injurious to him. the reconstruction of the fossil remains of the old peel party is a hopeless task. no human power can now reanimate it with the breath of life; it is decomposed into atoms and will be remembered only as a happy accident, while it lasted.'[ ] iv suez canal in one remarkable debate of this summer the solitary statesman descended from his pillar. now was the time of the memorable scheme for the construction of the suez canal, that first emanated from the french group of saint simonian visionaries in the earlier half of the century. their dream had taken shape in the fertile and persevering genius of lesseps, and was at this time the battle-ground of engineers, statesmen, and diplomatists in every country in europe. for fifteen years the british government had used all their influence at constantinople to prevent the sultan from sanctioning the project. in june a motion of protest was made in the house of commons. lord palmerston persisted that the scheme was the greatest bubble that ever was imposed upon the credulity and simplicity of the people of this country; the public meetings on its behalf were got up by a pack of foreign projectors; traffic by the railway would always beat traffic by steamer through the canal; it would be a step towards the dismemberment of the turkish empire; it would tend to dismember our own empire by opening a passage between the mediterranean and the indian ocean, which would be at the command of other nations and not at ours. away, then, with such a sacrifice of the interest of great britain to philanthropic schemes and philosophic reveries! so much for the sound practical man. mr. gladstone followed. don't let us, he said, have governments and ex-governments coming down to instruct us here on bubble schemes. as a commercial project, let the suez canal stand or fall upon commercial grounds. with close reasoning, he argued against the proposition that the canal would tend to sever turkey from egypt. as to possible danger to our own interests, was it not a canal that would fall within the control of the strongest maritime power in europe? and what could that power be but ourselves? finally, what could be more unwise than to present ourselves to the world as the opponents of a scheme on the face of it beneficial to mankind, on no better ground than remote and contingent danger to interests of our own, with the alleged interest of turkey merely thrust hypocritically in for the purpose of justifying a policy purely narrow-minded and wholly selfish? the majority against the motion was large, as it was in the case of the seven cardinals against galileo. still the canal was made, with some very considerable consequences that were not foreseen either by those who favoured it or those who mocked it as a bubble. m. de lesseps wrote to mr. gladstone from constantinople that the clearness of his speech had enabled him to use it with good effect in his negotiations with the porte. 'your eloquent words, the authority of your name, and the consideration that attaches to your character, have already contributed much and will contribute more still to hinder the darkening and complication of a question of itself perfectly clear and simple, and to avoid the troubling of the relations between two countries of which it is the natural mission to hold aloft _together_ the flag of modern civilisation.' mr. gladstone took an active interest in the various measures--some of them extremely singular--proposed by mr. disraeli for the transfer of the government of india from the company to the crown. writing early in the year to sir james graham he argued that their object should be steadily and vigorously to resist all attempts at creating a monster military and civil patronage, and to insist upon a real check on the indian minister. he had much conversation with mr. bright--not then an intimate acquaintance--on the difficulty of the problem to govern a people by a people. the two agreed strongly as to one prominent possibility of mischief: they both distrusted the discretion confided to the indian minister in the use of the indian army. mr. gladstone set a mark upon the bill by carrying a clause to provide that the indian army should not be employed beyond the frontiers of india without the permission of parliament. this clause he privately hoped would 'afford a standing-ground from which a control might be exercised on future palmerstons.' footnotes: [ ] the portion within brackets is from a letter of mr. gladstone's to lady lyndhurst, aug. , , and he continues: 'i have often compared lord lyndhurst in my own mind with the five other lord chancellors who since his time have been my colleagues in cabinet: much to the disadvantage in certain respects of some of them. once i remember in the peel cabinet the conversation happened to touch some man (there are such) who was too fond of making difficulties. peel said to your husband, "that is not your way, lyndhurst." of all the intellects i have ever known, his, i think, worked with the least friction.' [ ] 'happily for the reputation of the house, but unhappily for the ministry, the debate assumed once more, with gladstone's eloquence, a statesmanlike character. the foremost speaker of the house showed himself worthy of his reputation ... much as there was to lament in the too radical tone of his often finespun argumentation. his thundering periods were received with thundering echoes of applause.'--vitzthum, _st. petersburg and london_, i. p. . [ ] see _spectator_, may , . [ ] _press_, april , . [ ] i wish to state that it is by the courtesy of hon. gentlemen that i occupy a seat on this (the ministerial) side of the house, although i am no adherent of her majesty's government. by no engagement, express or implied, am i their supporter. on the contrary, my sympathies and opinions are with the liberal party sitting on the opposite side of the house, and from recent kind communications i have resumed those habits of friendly intercourse and confidential communication with my noble friend (lord john russell) which formerly existed between us.--_may_ , . [ ] 'i wish,' said mr. disraeli to bishop wilberforce in , 'you could have induced gladstone to join lord derby's government when lord ellenborough resigned in . it was not my fault that he did not: i almost went on my knees to him.'--_life_, iii. p. . vitzthum reports a conversation with mr. disraeli in january , of a different tenor: 'we are at all times ready,' he said, 'to take back this deserter, but only if he surrenders unconditionally.'--vitzthum, i. p. . chapter x the ionian islands (_ - _) the world is now taking an immense interest in greek affairs, and does not seem to know why. but there are very good reasons for it. greece is a centre of life, and the only possible centre for the archipelago, and its immediate neighbourhood. but it is vain to think of it as a centre from which light and warmth can proceed, until it has attained to a tolerable organisation, political and economical. i believe in the capacity of the people to receive the boon.--gladstone ( ). proposal from bulwer at the beginning of october, while on a visit to lord aberdeen at haddo, mr. gladstone was amazed by a letter from the secretary of state for the colonies--one of the two famous writers of romance then in lord derby's cabinet--which opened to him the question of undertaking a special mission to the ionian islands. this, said bulwer lytton, would be to render to the crown a service that no other could do so well, and that might not inharmoniously blend with his general fame as scholar and statesman. 'to reconcile a race that speaks the greek language to the science of practical liberty seemed to me a task that might be a noble episode in your career.' the origin of an invitation so singular is explained by phillimore:-- _november_ nd, .--lord carnarvon (then under-secretary at the colonial office) sent an earnest letter to me to come to the c.o. and advise with rogers and himself as to drawing the commission. i met bulwer lytton there, overflowing with civility. the offer to gladstone had arisen as i expected from lord c., and he had told b. l. the conversation which he (c.) and i had together in the summer, in which i told lord c. that i thought gladstone would accept a mission extraordinary to naples.... i risked without authority from g. this communication. lord c. bore it in mind, and from this suggestion of mine sprang in fact this offer. so lord c. said to me. lord malmesbury very sensibly observed that to send mr. gladstone to naples was out of the question, in view of his famous letters to lord aberdeen. to the new proposal mr. gladstone replied that his first impulse on any call from a minister of the crown to see him on public business, would be to place himself at the minister's disposal. the interview did not occur for a week or two. papers were sent from the colonial office to hawarden, long letters followed from the secretary of state, and mr. gladstone took time to consider. the constitution of the ionian islands had long been working uneasily, and what the colonial secretary invited him to undertake was an inquiry on the spot into our relations there, and into long-standing embarrassments that seemed to be rapidly coming to a head. sir john young, then lord high commissioner of the ionian islands, had been with him at eton and at oxford, besides being a peelite colleague in parliament, and mr. gladstone was not inclined to be the instrument of indicating disparagement of his friend. then, moreover, he was in favour of 'a very liberal policy' in regard to the ionian islands, and possibly the cabinet did not agree to a very liberal policy. as for personal interest and convenience, he was not disposed to raise any difficulty in such a case. the peelite colleagues whose advice he sought were all, with the single exception of the duke of newcastle, more or less unconditionally adverse. lord aberdeen (october ) admitted that mr. gladstone's name, acquirements, and conciliatory character might operate powerfully on the ionians; still many of them were false and artful, and the best of them little better than children. 'it is clear,' he said, 'that bulwer has sought to allure you with vague declarations and the attractions of homeric propensities.... i doubt if homer will be a _cheval de bataille_ sufficiently strong to carry you safely through the intricacies of this enterprise.' the sagacious graham also warned him that little credit would be gained by success, while failure would be attended by serious inconveniences: in any case to quell 'a storm in a teapot' was no occupation worthy of his powers and position. sidney herbert was strong that governments were getting more and more into the bad habit of delegating their own business to other people; he doubted success, and expressed his hearty wish that we could be quit of the protectorate altogether, and could hand the islands bodily over to greece, to which by blood, language, religion, and geography they belonged. i have said that these adverse views were almost unqualified, and such qualification as existed was rather remarkable. 'the only part of the affair i should regard with real pleasure,' wrote lord aberdeen, 'would be the means it might afford you of drawing closer to the government, and of naturally establishing yourself in a more suitable position; for in spite of homer and ulysses, your ionian work will by no means be _tanti_ in itself.' graham took the same point: 'an approximation to the government may be fairly sought or admitted by you. but this should take place on higher grounds.' thus, though he was now in fact unconsciously on the eve of his formal entry into a liberal cabinet, expectations still survived that he might re-join his old party. as might have been expected, the wanderings of ulysses and the geography of homer prevailed in mr. gladstone's mind over the counsels of parliamentary nestors. besides the ancient heroes, there was the fascination of the orthodox church, so peculiar and so irresistible for the anglican school to which mr. gladstone belonged. nor must we leave out of account the passion for public business so often allied with the student's temperament; the desire of the politician out of work for something definite to do; mr. gladstone's keen relish at all times for any foreign travel that came in his way; finally, and perhaps strongest of all, the fact that his wife's health had been much shaken by the death of her sister, lady lyttelton, and the doctors were advising change of scene, novel interests, and a southern climate. his decision was very early a foregone conclusion. so his doubting friends could only wish him good fortune. graham said, 'if your hand be destined to lay the foundation of a greek empire on the ruins of the ottoman, no hand can be more worthy, no work more glorious. _recidiva manu posuissem pergama_ was a noble aspiration;[ ] with you it may be realised.' mission accepted he hastened to enlist the services as secretary to his commission of mr. lacaita, whose friendship he had first made seven years before, as we have seen, amid the sinister tribunals and squalid dungeons of naples. for dealings with the greco-italian population of the islands he seemed the very man. 'as regards greek,' mr. gladstone wrote to him, 'you are one of the few persons to whom one gives credit for knowing everything, and i assumed on this ground that you had a knowledge of ancient greek, such as would enable you easily to acquire the _kind_ of acquaintance with the modern form, such as is, i presume, desirable. that is my own predicament; with the additional disadvantage of our barbarous english pronunciation.' accompanied by mrs. gladstone and their eldest daughter, and with mr. arthur gordon, the son of lord aberdeen, and now, after long service to the state, known as lord stanmore, for private secretary, mr. gladstone left england on november , , and he returned to it on the th of march . ii the ionian case the ionian case was this. by a treaty made at paris in november , between great britain, russia, austria, and prussia, the seven islands--scattered along the coast from epiros to the extreme south of the morea--were constituted into a single free and independent state under the name of the united states of the ionian islands, and this state was placed under the immediate and exclusive protection of great britain. the powers only thought of keeping the islands out of more dubious hands, and cared little or not at all about conferring any advantage upon either us or the ionians. the states were to regulate their own internal organisation, and great britain was 'to employ a particular solicitude with regard to the legislation and general administration of those states,' and was to appoint a lord high commissioner to reside there with all necessary powers and authorities. the duke of wellington foretold that it would prove 'a tough and unprofitable job,' and so in truth it did. a constitutional charter in formed a system of government that soon became despotic enough to satisfy metternich himself. the scheme has been justly described as a singularly clever piece of work, appearing to give much while in fact giving nothing at all. it contained a decorous collection of chapters, sections, and articles imposing enough in their outer aspect, but in actual operation the whole of them reducible to a single clause enabling the high commissioner to do whatever he pleased. this rough but not ill-natured despotism lasted for little more than thirty years, and then in , under the influence of the great upheaval of , it was changed into a system of more popular and democratic build. the old venetians, when for a couple of centuries they were masters in this region, laid it down that the islanders must be kept with their teeth drawn and their claws clipped. bread and the stick, said father paul, that is what they want. this view prevailed at the colonial office, and maxims of father paul sarpi's sort, incongruously combined with a paper constitution, worked as ill as possible. mr. gladstone always applied to the new system of charles buller's figure, of first lighting the fire and then stopping up the chimney. the stick may be wholesome, and local self-government may be wholesome, but in combination or rapid alternation they are apt to work nothing but mischief either in ionian or any other islands. sir charles napier--the napier of scinde--who had been resident in cephalonia thirty years before, in byron's closing days, describes the richer classes as lively and agreeable; the women as having both beauty and wit, but of little education; the poor as hardy, industrious, and intelligent--all full of pleasant humour and vivacity, with a striking resemblance, says napier, to his countrymen, the irish. the upper class was mainly italian in origin, and willingly threw all the responsibility for affairs on the british government. the official class, more numerous in proportion to population than in any country in europe, scrambled for the petty salaries of paltry posts allotted by popular election. since they had increased by twenty-five per cent., and were now one in a hundred of the inhabitants. the clergy in a passive way took part with the demagogues. men of ability and sense were not wanting, but being unorganised, discouraged, and saturated with distrust, they made no effort to stem the jobbery, corruption, waste, going on around them. roads, piers, aqueducts, and other monuments of the british protectorate reared before , were falling to pieces. taxes were indifferently collected. transgressors of local law went unpunished. in ten years the deficit in the revenue had amounted to nearly £ , , or two-thirds of a year's income. the cultivators of the soil figured in official reports as naturally well affected, and only wishing to grow their currants and their olives in peace and quietness. but they were extremely poor, and they were ignorant and superstitious, and being all these things it was inevitable that they should nurse discontent with their government. whoever wanted their votes knew that the way to get them was to denounce the englishman as [greek: heterodoxos kai xenos], heretic, alien, and tyrant. there was a senate of six members, chosen by the high commissioner from the assembly. the forty-two members of the assembly met below galleries that held a thousand persons, and nothing made their seats and salaries so safe as round declamations from the floor to the audience above, on the greatness of the hellenic race and the need for union with the greek kingdom. the municipal officer in charge of education used to set as a copy for the children, a prayer that panhellenic concord might drive the turks out of greece and the english out of the seven islands. cephalonia exceeded the rest of the group both in population and in vehemence of character, while zante came first of all in the industry and liveliness of its people.[ ] these two islands were the main scene and source of difficulty. in cephalonia nine years before the date with which we are now dealing, an agrarian rising had occurred more like a bad whiteboy outrage than a national rebellion, and it was suppressed with cruel rigour by the high commissioner of the day. twenty-two people had been hanged, three hundred or more had been flogged, most of them without any species of judicial investigation. the fire-raisings and destruction of houses and vineyards were of a fierce brutality to match. these ionian atrocities were the proceedings with which prince schwarzenberg had taunted lord aberdeen by way of rejoinder to mr. gladstone's letters on barbarous misgovernment in naples, and the feelings that they had roused were still smouldering. half a dozen newspapers existed, all of them vehemently and irreconcilably unionist, though all controlled by members of the legislative assembly who had taken an oath at the beginning of each parliament to respect and maintain the constitutional rights of the protecting sovereign. the liberty of unlicensed printing, however, had been subject to a pretty stringent check. by virtue of what was styled a power of high police, the lord high commissioner was able at his own will and pleasure to tear away from home, occupation, and livelihood anybody that he chose, and the high police found its commonest objects in the editors of newspapers. an obnoxious leading article was not infrequently followed by deportation to some small and barren rock, inhabited by a handful of fishermen. not cherubim and seraphim, said mr. gladstone, could work such a system. a british corporal with all the patronage in his hands, said another observer, would get on better than the greatest and wisest statesman since pericles, if he had not the patronage. it was little wonder that a distracted lord high commissioner, to adopt the similes of the florid secretary of state, should one day send home a picture like salvator's massacre of the innocents, or michel angelo's last judgment, and the next day recall the swains of albano at repose in the landscapes of claude; should one day advise his chiefs to wash their hands of the ionians, and on the morrow should hint that perhaps the best thing would be by a bold _coup d'état_ to sweep away the constitution.[ ] iii the stolen despatch immediately after mr. gladstone had started, what the secretary of state described as the most serious misfortune conceivable happened. a despatch was stolen from the pigeon-holes of the colonial office, and a morning paper printed it. it had been written home some eighteen months before by sir john young, and in it he advised his government, with the assent of the contracting powers, to hand over either the whole of the seven islands to greece, or else at least the five southern islands, while transforming corfu and its little satellite of paxo into a british colony. it was true that a few days later he had written a private letter, wholly withdrawing this advice and substituting for it the exact opposite, the suppression namely of such freedom as the islanders possessed. this second fact the public did not know, nor would the knowledge of it have made any difference. the published despatch stood on record, and say what they would, the startling impression could not be effaced. well might lytton call it an inconceivable misfortune. it made austria uneasy, it perturbed france, and it irritated russia, all of them seeing in mr. gladstone's mission a first step towards the policy recommended in the despatch. in the breasts of the islanders it kindled intense excitement, and diversified a chronic disorder by a sharp access of fever. it made young's position desperate, though he was slow to see it, and practically it brought the business of the high commissioner extraordinary to nought before it had even begun. he learned the disaster, for disaster it was, at vienna, and appears to have faced it with the same rigorous firmness and self-command that some of us have beheld at untoward moments long after. the ambassador told him that he ought to see the austrian minister. with count buol he had a long interview accordingly, and assured him that his mission had no concern with any question of ionian annexation whether partial or total. count buol on his part disclaimed all aggressive tendencies in respect of turkey, and stated emphatically that the views and conduct of austria in her eastern policy were in the strictest sense conservative. embarking at trieste on the warship _terrible_, nov. , and after a delightful voyage down the adriatic, five days after leaving vienna (nov. th) mr. gladstone found himself at corfu--the famous island of which he had read such memorable things in thucydides and xenophon, the harbour where the athenians had fitted out the expedition to syracuse, so disastrous to greek democracy; where the young octavian had rallied his fleet before the battle of actium, so critical for the foundation of the empire of the cæsars; and whence don john had sallied forth for the victory of lepanto, so fatal to the conquering might of the ottoman turks. it was from corfu that the brothers bandiera had started on their tragic enterprise for the deliverance of italy fourteen years before. mr. gladstone landed under a salute of seventeen guns, and was received with all ceremony and honour by the lord high commissioner and his officers. arrival at corfu he was not long in discovering what mischief the stolen despatch had done, and may well have suspected from the first in his inner mind that his efforts to undo it would bear little fruit. the morning after his arrival the ten members for corfu came to him in a body with a petition to the queen denouncing the plan of making their island a british colony, and praying for union with greece. the municipality followed suit in the evening. the whole sequel was in keeping. mr. gladstone with young's approval made a speech to the senate, in which he threw over the despatch, severed his mission wholly from any purpose or object in the way of annexation, and dwelt much upon a circular addressed by the foreign office in london to all its ministers abroad disclaiming any designs of that kind. he held levees, he called upon the archbishop, he received senators and representatives, and everywhere he held the same emphatic language. he soon saw enough to convince him of the harm done to british credit and influence by the severities in cephalonia; by the small regard and frequent contempt shown by many englishmen for the religion of the people for whose government they were responsible; by the diatribes in the london press against the ionians as brigands, pirates, and barbarians; and by the absence in high commissioners and others 'of tact, good sense, and good feeling in the sense in which it is least common in england, the sense namely in which it includes a disposition to enter into and up to a certain point sympathise with, those who differ with us in race, language, and creed.' perhaps his penetrating eye early discovered to him that forty years of bad rule had so embittered feeling, that even without the stolen despatch, he had little chance. he made a cruise round the islands. his visit shook him a good deal with respect to two of the points--corfu and ithaca--on which it has been customary to dwell as proving homer's precise local knowledge. the rain poured in torrents for most of the time, but it cleared up for a space to reveal the loveliness of ithaca. in the island of ulysses and penelope he danced at a ball given in his honour. in cephalonia he was received by a tumultuous mob of a thousand persons, whom neither the drenching rains nor the unexpected manner of his approach across the hills could baffle. they greeted him with incessant cries for union with greece, thrust disaffected papers into his carriage, and here and there indulged in cries of [greek: katô ê prostasia], down with the protectorate, down with the tyranny of fifty years. this exceptional disrespect he ascribed to what he leniently called the history of cephalonia, meaning the savage dose of martial law nine years before. he justly took it for a marked symbol of the state of excitement at which under various influences the popular mind had arrived. age and infirmity prevented the archbishop from coming to offer his respects, so after his levee mr. gladstone with his suite repaired to the archbishop. 'we found him,' says mr. gordon, 'seated on a sofa dressed in his most gorgeous robes of gold and purple, over which flowed down a long white beard.... behind him stood a little court of black-robed, black-bearded, black-capped, dark-faced priests. he is eighty-six years old, and his manners and appearance were dignified in the extreme. speaking slowly and distinctly he began to tell gladstone that the sole wish of cephalonia was to be united to greece, and there was something very exciting and affecting in the tremulous tones of the old man saying over and over again, "_questa infelice isola, questa isola infelice_," as the tears streamed down his cheeks and long silvery beard. it was like a scene in a play.' at zante (dec. ), the surface was smoother. a concourse of several thousands awaited him; greek flags were flying on all sides in the strong morning sea-breeze; the town bands played greek national tunes; the bells were all ringing; the harbour was covered with boats full of gaily dressed people; and the air resounded with loud shouts [greek: zêtô ho philellên gladstôn, zêtô hê henôsis meta tês hellados], long live gladstone the philhellene, hurrah for union with greece. every room and passage in the residency, mr. gordon writes to lord aberdeen, was already thronged.... upstairs the excitement was great, and as soon as gladstone had taken his place, in swept gerasimus the bishop (followed by scores of swarthy priests in their picturesque black robes) and tendered to him the petition for union. but before he could deliver it, gladstone stopped him and addressed to him and to the assembly a speech in excellent italian. never did i hear his beautiful voice ring out more clear or more thrillingly than when he said, '_ecco l' inganno_.'... it was a scene not to be forgotten. the priests, with eye and hand and gesture, expressed in lively pantomime to each other the effect produced by each sentence, in what we should think a most exaggerated way, like a chorus on the stage, but the effect was most picturesque. visits athens he attended a banquet one night, went to the theatre the next, where he was greeted with lusty zetos, and at midnight embarked on the _terrible_ on his way to athens. his stay in the immortal city only lasted for three or four days, and i find no record of his impressions. they were probably those of most travellers educated enough to feel the spell of the violet crown. illusions as to the eternal summer with which poets have blessed the isles of greece vanished as they found deep snow in the streets, icicles on the acropolis, and snow-balling in the parthenon. he had a reception only a shade less cordial than if he were demosthenes come back. he dined with king otho, and went to a _te deum_ in honour of the queen's birthday. finlay, the learned man who had more of the true spirit of history than most historians then alive, took him to a meeting of the legislature; he beheld some of the survivors of the war of independence, and made friends with one valiant lover of freedom, the veteran general church. though, thanks to the generosity of an englishman, they had a university of their own at corfu, the ionians preferred to send their sons to athens, and the athenian students immediately presented a memorial to mr. gladstone with the usual prayer for union with the hellenic kingdom. on the special object of his visit, he came away from athens with the impression that opinion in greece was much divided on the question of immediate union with the ionian islands. in truth his position had been a false one. everybody was profoundly deferential, but nobody was quite sure whether he had come to pave the way for union, or to invite the athenian government to check it, and when rangabé, the foreign minister, found him without credentials or instructions, and staved off all discussion, mr. gladstone must have felt that though he had seen one of the two or three most wondrous historic sites on the globe, that was all. in albania of a jaunt to wilder scenes a letter of mr. arthur gordon's gives a pleasant glimpse:-- you will like an account of an expedition the whole party made yesterday to albania to pay a visit to an old lady, a great proprietress, who lives in a large ruinous castle at a place called filates. she is about the greatest personage in these regions, and it was thought that the lord high commissioner should pay her a visit if he wished to see albania.... it was a lovely morning, and breakfast was laid on the balcony of the private apartments looking over the garden and commanding the loveliest of views across the strait. gladstone was in the highest spirits, full of talk and _romping boyishly_. after breakfast the l.h.c.'s barge and the cutters of the _terrible_ conveyed us on board the pretty little gunboat. we reached sayada in about two hours, and were received on landing by the governor of the province, who had ridden down from filates to meet us. we went to the house of the english vice-consul, whilst the long train of horses was preparing to start, but after a few minutes' stay there gladstone became irrepressibly restless, and insisted on setting off to walk--i of course walked too. the old steward also went with us, and a guard of eight white-kilted palikari on foot. the rest of the party rode, and from a slight hill which we soon reached, it was very pretty to look back at the long procession starting from sayada and proceeding along the narrow causeway running parallel to our path, the figures silhouetted against the sea. filates is about miles from sayada, perhaps more, the path is rugged and mountainous, and commands some fine views. our palikari guards fired off their long afghan-looking guns in every direction, greatly to gladstone's annoyance, but there was no stopping them. scouts on the hills gave warning of our approach, and at the entrance to filates we were met by the whole population. first the valideh's retainers, then the elders, then the moolahs in their great green turbans, the christian community, and finally, on the top of the hill, the valideh's little grandson, gorgeously dressed, and attended by his tutor and a number of black slaves. the little boy salaamed to gladstone with much grace and self-possession, and then conducted us to the castle, in front of which all the townsfolk who were not engaged in receiving us were congregated in picturesque groups on the smooth grassy lawns and under the great plane trees. the castle is a large ruinous enclosure of walls and towers, with buildings of all sorts and ages within. the valideh herself, attired in green silk and a fur pelisse, her train held by two negro female slaves, received us at the head of the stairs and ushered us into a large room with a divan round three sides of it. sweetmeats and water and pipes and coffee were brought as usual, some of the cups and their filigree stands very handsome. we went out to see the town, preceded by a tall black slave in a gorgeous blue velvet jacket, with a great silver stick in his hand. under his guidance we visited the khans, the bazaar, and the mosque; not only were we allowed to enter the mosque with our shoes on, but on gladstone expressing a wish to hear the call to prayer, the muezzin was sent up to the top of the minaret to call the azan two hours before the proper time. the sight of the green-turbaned imam crying the azan for a frank was most singular, and the endless variety of costume displayed by the crowds who thronged the verandahs which surround the mosque was most picturesque. the gateway of the castle too was a picturesque scene. retainers and guards, slaves and soldiers, and even women, were lounging about, and a beautiful tame little pet roedeer played with the pretty children in bright coloured dresses, clustering under the cavernous archway. we had dinner in another large room. i counted thirty-two dishes, or i may say courses, for each dish at a turkish dinner is brought in separately, and it is rude not to eat of all! the most picturesque part of the dinner, and most unusual, was the way the room was lighted. eight tall, grand albanians stood like statues behind us, each holding a candle. it reminded me of the torch-bearers who won the laird his bet in the _legend of montrose_. after dinner there was a long and somewhat tedious interval of smoking and story-telling in the dark, and we called upon lacaita to recite italian poetry, which he did with much effect, pouring out sonnet after sonnet of petrarch, including that which my father thinks the most beautiful in the italian language, that which has in it the 'campeggiar del angelico riso.' this showed me how easy it was to fall into the habits of a country. gladstone is as unoriental as any man well can be, yet his calling on lacaita to recite was really just the same thing that every pasha does after dinner, when he orders his tale-teller to repeat a story. the ladies meanwhile were packed off to the harem for the night, lady bowen acting as their interpreter. my l.h.c., his two secretaries, his three aide-de-camps, captains blomfield and clanricarde, and the vice-consul, all slept in the same room, and that not a large one, and we were packed tight on the floor, under quilts of brusa silk and gold, tucked up round us by gorgeous albanians. gladstone amused himself with speculating whether or no we were in contravention of the provisions of lord shaftesbury's lodging-house act! after a month of cloudless sunshine it took it into its head to rain this night of all nights in the year, and rain as it only does in these regions. gladstone and i walked down again despite of wind, rain, and mud, and our palikari guard--to keep up their spirits, i suppose--chanted wild choruses all the way. we nearly got stuck altogether in the muddy flat near sayada, and got on board the _osprey_ wet through, my hands so chilled i could hardly steer the boat. of course we had far outwalked the riding party, so we had to wait. what a breakfast we ate! that is those of us who could eat, for the passage was rough and gladstone and the ladies flat on their backs and very sorry for themselves. mr. gladstone's comment in his diary is brief: 'the whole impression is saddening; it is all indolence, decay, stagnation; the image of god seems as if it were nowhere. but there is much of wild and picturesque.' the english in the island, both civil and military, adopted the tone of unfriendly journals in london, and the garrison went so far as not even to invite mr. gladstone to mess, a compliment never omitted before. the ionians, on the other hand, like people in most other badly governed countries did not show in the noblest colours. there were petitions, letters, memorials, as to which mr. gladstone mildly notes that he has to 'lament a spirit of exaggeration and obvious errors of fact.' there was a stream of demands from hosts of spiridiones, christodulos, euphrosunes, for government employ, and the memorial survives, attested by bishop and clergy, of a man with a daughter to marry, who being too poor to find a dowry 'had decided on reverting to your excellency's well-known philhellenism, and with tears in his eyes besought that your excellency,' et cetera. correspondence with bulwer one incident was much disliked at home, as having the fearsome flavour of the puseyite. it had been customary at levees for the lord high commissioner to bow to everybody, but also to shake hands with the bishops and sundry other high persons. mr. gladstone stooped and actually kissed the bishop's hand. sir edward lytton inquired if the story were true, as a question might be asked in parliament. it is true, said mr. gladstone (february ), but 'i hope sir e. l. will not in his consideration for me entangle himself in such a matter, but as he knows nothing now, will continue to know nothing, and will say that the subject did not enter into his instructions, and that he presumes i shall be at home in two or three more weeks to answer for all my misdeeds.'[ ] the secretary of state and his potent emissary--the radical who had turned tory and the tory who was on the verge of formally turning liberal--got on excellently together. though he was not exact in business, the minister's despatches and letters show shrewdness, good sense, and right feeling, with a copious garnish of flummery. demagogy, he says to mr. gladstone, will continue to be a trade and the most fascinating of all trades, because animated by personal vanity, and its venality disguised even to the demagogue himself by the love of country, by which it may be really accompanied. the ionian constitution should certainly be mended, for 'my convictions tell me that there is nothing so impracticable as the unreal.' he comforts his commissioner by the reminder that a population after all has one great human heart, and a great human heart is that which chiefly exalts the man of genius over the mere man of talent, so that when a man of genius with practical experience of the principles of sound government comes face to face with a people whose interest it is to be governed well, the chances are that they will understand each other. iv mr. gladstone applied himself with the utmost gravity to the affairs of a pygmy state with a total population under , . his imagination did its work. while you seem, he said most truly, to be dealing only with a few specks scarcely visible on the map of europe, you are engaged in solving a problem as delicate and difficult as if it arose on a far more conspicuous stage. the people he found to be eminently gifted by nature with that subtlety which is apt to degenerate into sophistry, and prone to be both rather light-minded and extremely suspicious. the permanent officials in downing street, with less polite analysis, had been accustomed to regard the islanders more bluntly as a 'pack of scamps.' this was what had done the mischief. the material condition of the cultivators was in some respects not bad, but mr. gladstone laid down a profound and solid principle when he said that 'no method of dealing with a civilised community can be satisfactory which does not make provision for its political action as well as its social state.'[ ] the idea of political reform had for a time made head against the idea of union with the greek kingdom, but for some years past the whole stream of popular tendency and feeling set strongly towards union, and disdained contentment with anything else. mankind turn naturally to the solutions that seem the simplest. mr. gladstone condemned the existing system as bad for us and bad for them. circumstances made it impossible for him to suggest amendment by throwing the burden bodily off our shoulders, and at that time he undoubtedly regarded union with greece as in itself undesirable for the ionians. circumstances and his own love of freedom made it equally impossible to recommend the violent suppression of the constitution. the only course left open was to turn the mockery of free government into a reality, and this operation he proposed to carry out with a bold hand. the details of this enlargement of popular rights and privileges, and the accompanying financial purgation, do not now concern us. whether the case either demanded or permitted originality in the way of construction i need not discuss. the manufacture of a constitution is always the easiest thing in the world. the question is whether the people concerned will work it, and in spite of that buoyant optimism which never in any circumstances deserted him in respect of whatever business he might have in hand, mr. gladstone must have doubted whether his islanders would ever pretend to accept what they did not seek, as a substitute for what they did seek but were not allowed to have. before anybody knew the scope of his plan, the six newspapers flew to arms with a vivacity that, whether it was italian or was greek, was in either case a fatal sign of the public temper. what, they cried, did the treaty of mean by describing the ionian state as free and independent? what was a protectorate, and what the rights of the protector? was there no difference between a protector and a sovereign? what could be more arrogant and absurd than that the protector, who was not sovereign, should talk about 'conceding' reforms to a free and independent state? all these questions were in themselves not very easy to answer, but what was a more serious obstacle than the argumentative puzzles of partisans was a want of moral and political courage; was the sycophancy of one class, and the greediness of others.[ ] constitutional reform closely connected with the recommendations of constitutional reform was the question by whom the necessary communications with the assembly were to be conducted. sir john young was obviously impossible, though he was not at once brought to face the fact. mr. gladstone upon this made to the colonial secretary (december ) an offer that if he had already determined on young's recall, and if he thought reform would stand a better chance if introduced by mr. gladstone himself, he was willing to serve as lord high commissioner for the very limited time that might be necessary. we may be sure that the government lost not an hour in making up their minds on a plan that went still further both in the way of bringing mr. gladstone into still closer connection with them, and towards relieving themselves of a responsibility which they never from the first had any business to devolve upon mr. gladstone or anybody else. the answer came by telegraph (january ), 'the queen accepts. your commission is being made out.' all other embarrassments were now infinitely aggravated by the sudden discovery from the lawyers that acceptance of the new office not only vacated the seat in parliament, but also rendered mr. gladstone incapable of election until he had ceased to hold the office. 'this, i must confess,' he told sir edward, 'is a great blow. the difficulty and the detriment are serious' (january ). if some enemy on the meeting of the house in february should choose to move the writ for the vacant seat at oxford, the election would necessarily take place at a date too early for the completion of the business at corfu, and mr. gladstone still at work as high commissioner would still therefore be ineligible. nobody was ever by constitution more averse than mr. gladstone to turning backward, and in this case he felt himself especially bound to go forward not only by the logic of the ionian situation at the moment, but for the reason which was also characteristic of him, that the queen in approving his appointment (january ) had described his conduct as both patriotic and most opportune, and therefore he thought there would be unspeakable shabbiness in turning round upon her by a hurried withdrawal. the oxford entanglement thus became almost desperate. resolved not to disturb the settled order of proceeding with his assembly, mr. gladstone with a thoroughly characteristic union of ingenuity and tenacity tried various ways of extrication. to complete the mortifications of the position, the telegraph broke down. question of the oxford seat the scrape was nearly as harassing to his friends at home as to himself. politicians above all men can never safely count on the charity that thinketh no evil. lord john russell told lord aberdeen that it was clear that gladstone was staying away to avoid a discussion on the coming reform bill. there was a violent attack upon him in the _times_ (january ) as having supplanted young. the writers of leading articles looked up greek history from the days of the visit of ulysses to alcinous downwards, and they mocked his respect for the countrymen of miltiades, and his reverence for the church of chrysostom and athanasius. the satirists of the cleverest journal of the day admitted his greatness, the brilliance and originality of his finance, the incomparable splendour of his eloquence, and a courage equal to any undertaking, that quailed before no opposition and suffered no abatement in defeat, and they only marvelled the more that a statesman of the first rank should accept at the hands of an insidious rival a fifth-rate mission--insidious rival not named but easy to identify. the fact that mr. gladstone had hired a house at corfu was the foundation of a transcendent story that mr. disraeli wished to make him the king of the ionian islands. 'i hardly think it needful to assure you,' mr. gladstone told lytton, 'that i have never attached the smallest weight to any of the insinuations which it seems people have thought worth while to launch at some member or members of your government with respect to my mission.' though mr. gladstone was never by any means unconscious of the hum and buzz of paltriness and malice that often surrounds conspicuous public men, nobody was ever more regally indifferent. graham predicted that though gladstone would always be the first man in the house of commons, he would not again be what he was before the ionian business. they all thought that he would be attacked on his return. '_ah_,' said aberdeen, '_but he is terrible in the rebound_.' after much perplexity and running to and fro in london, it was arranged between the secretary of state and mr. gladstone's friends, including phillimore principally, and then northcote and m. bernard, that a course of proceeding should be followed, which mr. gladstone when he knew it thought unfortunate. a new commission naming a successor was issued, and mr. gladstone then became _ipso facto_ liberated. sir henry storks was the officer chosen, and as soon as his commission was formally received by him, he was to execute a warrant under which he deputed all powers to mr. gladstone until his arrival. whether mr. gladstone was lord high commissioner when he came to propose his reform is a moot point. so intricate was the puzzle that the under-secretary addressed a letter to mr. gladstone by his name and not by the style of his official dignity, because he could not be at all sure what that official dignity really was. what is certain is that mr. gladstone, though it was never his way to quarrel with other people's action taken in good faith on his behalf, did not perceive the necessity for proceeding so rapidly to the appointment of his successor, and thought it decidedly injurious to such chances as his reforms might have possessed.[ ] the assembly that had been convoked by sir john young for an extraordinary session (january ), at once showed that its labours would bear no fruit. mr. gladstone as lord high commissioner opened the session with a message that they had met to consider proposals for reform which he desired to lay before them as soon as possible. the game began with the passing of a resolution that it was the single and unanimous _will_ ([greek: thelêsis]) of the ionian people that the seven islands should be united to greece. mr. gladstone fought like a lion for scholar's authority to treat the word as only meaning wish or disposition, and he took for touchstone the question whether men could speak of the [greek: thelêsis] of the almighty; the word in the lord's prayer was found to be [greek: thelêma]. as finlay truly says, it would have been much more to the point to accept the word as it was meant by those who used it. as to that no mistake was possible. some say that he ought plainly to have told them they had violated the constitution, to have dissolved them, and above all to have stopped their pay. instead of this he informed them that they must put their wishes into the shape of a petition to the queen. the idea was seized with alacrity (january ). oligarchs and demagogues were equally pleased to fall in with it, the former because they hoped it would throw their rivals into deeper discredit with their common master, the latter because they knew it would endear them to their constituents. opening of the ionian session the corfiotes received the declaration of the assembly and the address to the queen with enthusiasm. great crowds followed the members to their homes with joyous acclamations, all the bells of the town were set ringing, there was a grand illumination for two nights, and the archbishop ordered a _te deum_. neither te-deums nor prayers melted the heart of the british cabinet, aware of the truth impressed at the time on mr. gladstone by lytton, that neither the english public nor the english parliament likes any policy that '_gives anything up_.' the queen was advised to reply that she could neither consent to abandon the obligations she had undertaken, nor could permit any application from the islands to other powers in furtherance of any similar design. then at last came the grand plan for constitutional reconstruction. mr. gladstone after first stating the reply of the queen, read an eloquent address to the assembly (february ) in italian, adjuring them to reject all attempts to evade by any indirect devices the duty of pronouncing a clear and intelligible judgment on the propositions now laid before them. his appeal was useless, and it was received exactly as plans for assimilating irish administration to english used to be. the nationalists knew that reform would be a difficulty the more in the way of separation, the retrogrades knew it would be a spoke in the wheel of their own jobbery. mr. gladstone professed extreme and truly characteristic astonishment in respect of the address to the queen, that they should regard the permission to ask as identical with the promise to grant, and the right to petition as equivalent to the right to demand. if the affair had been less practically vexatious, we can imagine the socratic satisfaction with which mr. gladstone would have revelled in pressing all these and many other distinctions on those who boasted of being socrates' fellow-countrymen. from day to day anxiously did mr. gladstone watch what he called the dodges of the assembly. abundant reason as there was to complain of the conduct of the ionians in all these proceedings, it is well to record the existence of a number of sincere patriots and enlightened men like the two brothers themistocles, napoleon zambelli, and sir peter braila, afterwards greek minister in london. this small band of royal adherents gave mr. gladstone all the help they could in preparing his scheme of reform, and after the scheme was launched, they strained every nerve to induce the assembly to assent to it in spite of the pressure from the people. their efforts were necessarily unavailing. the great majority, composed as usual of the friends of england who trembled for their own jobs, joining hands with the demagogues, was hostile to the changes proposed, and only flinched from a peremptory vote from doubt as to its reception among the people. promptitude and force were not to be expected in either way from men in such a frame of mind. 'on a preliminary debate,' mr. gladstone wrote mournfully to phillimore, 'without any motion whatever, one man has spoken for nearly the whole of two days.' strong language about the proposals as cheating and fraudulent was freely used, but nothing that in mr. gladstone's view justified one of those high-handed prorogations after the manner of the stuarts, that had been the usual expedient in quarrels between the high commissioner and a recalcitrant assembly. these doings had brought english rule over the islands to a level in the opinion of southern europe with austrian rule at venice and the reign of the cardinals in the pontifical states. proceedings in assembly sir henry storks arrived on the th of february, and the same day the assembly which before had been working for delay, in a great hurry gave a vote against the proposals, which, though in form preliminary, was in substance decisive; there were only seven dissentients. mr. gladstone sums up the case in a private letter to sidney herbert. _corfu, th feb. ._--this decision is not convenient for me personally, nor for the government at home; but as a whole i cannot regret it so far as england is concerned. i think the proposals give here almost for the first time a perfectly honourable and tenable position in the face of the islands. the first set of manoeuvres was directed to preventing them from being made; and that made me really uneasy. the only point of real importance was to get them out.... do not hamper yourself in this affair with me. let me sink or swim. i have been labouring for truth and justice, and am sufficiently happy in the consciousness of it, to be little distressed either with the prospect of blame, or with the more serious question whether i acted rightly or wrongly in putting myself in the place of l.h.c. to propose these reforms,--a step which has of course been much damaged by the early nomination of sir h. storks, done out of mere consideration for me in another point of view. lytton's conduct throughout has been such that i could have expected no more from the oldest and most confiding friend. to lytton himself he writes (feb. , ):-- i sincerely wish that i could have repaid your generous confidence and admirable support with recommendations suited to the immediate convenience of your government. but in sending me, you grappled with a difficulty which you might have postponed, and i could not but do the same. whether it was right that i should come, i do not feel very certain. yet (stolen despatch and all) i do not regret it. for my feelings are those you have so admirably described; and i really do not know for what it is that political life is worth the living, if it be not for an opportunity of endeavouring to redeem in the face of the world the character of our country wherever, it matters not on how small a scale, that character has been compromised. language like this, as sincere as it was lofty, supplies the true test by which to judge mr. gladstone's conduct both in the ionian transaction and many another. from the point of personal and selfish interest any simpleton might see that he made a mistake, but measured by his own standard of public virtue, how is he to be blamed, how is he not to be applauded, for undertaking a mission that, but for an unforeseen accident, might have redounded to the honour and the credit of the british power? v on february he quitted the scene of so many anxieties and such strenuous effort as we have seen. the _terrible_ fell into a strong north-easter in the adriatic, and took thirty-six hours to pola. there they sought shelter and got across with a smooth sea to venice on the rd. he saw the austrian archduke whom he found kind, intelligent, earnest, pleasing. at turin a few days later (march ), he had an interview with cavour, for whom at that moment the crowning scenes of his great career were just opening. 'at vicenza,' the diary records (feb. ), 'we had cavalry and artillery at the station about to march; more cavalry on the road with a van and pickets, some with drawn swords; at verona regiments in review; at milan pickets in the streets; as i write i hear the tread of horse patrolling the streets. dark omens!' the war with austria was close at hand. i may as well in a few sentences finally close the ionian chapter, though the consummation was not immediate. mr. gladstone, while he was for the moment bitten by the notion of ceding the southern islands to greece, was no more touched by the nationalist aspirations of the ionians than he had been by nationalism and unification in italy in . just as in italy he clung to constitutional reforms in the particular provinces and states as the key to regeneration, so here he leaned upon the moderates who, while professing strong nationalist feeling, did not believe that the time for its realisation had arrived. a debate was raised in the house of commons in the spring of , by an irish member. the irish catholics twitted mr. gladstone with flying the flag of nationality in italy, and trampling on it in the ionian islands. he in reply twitted them with crying up nationality for the greeks, and running it down when it told against the pope. in the italian case lord john russell had ( ) set up the broad doctrine that a people are the only true judges who should be their rulers--a proposition that was at once seized and much used by the dandolos, lombardos, cavalieratos and the rest at corfu. scarcely anybody pretended that england had any separate or selfish interest of her own. 'it is in my view,' said mr. gladstone, 'entirely a matter of that kind of interest only, which, is in one sense the highest interest of all--namely the interest which is inherent in her character and duty, and her exact and regular fulfilment of obligations which she has contracted with europe.'[ ] later fortunes of the islands but he held the opinion that it would be nothing less than a crime against the safety of europe, as connected with the state and course of the eastern question, if england were at this moment to surrender the protectorate; for if you should surrender the protectorate, what were you to say to candia, thessaly, albania, and other communities of greek stock still under turkish rule? then there was a military question. large sums of british money had been flung away on fortifications,[ ] and people talked of corfu as they talked in later years about cyprus, as a needed supplement to the strength of gibraltar and malta, and indispensable to our mediterranean power. people listened agape to demonstrations that the ionian islands were midway between england and the persian gulf; that they were two-thirds of the way to the red sea; that they blocked up the mouth of the adriatic; constantinople, smyrna, alexandria, naples, formed a belt of great towns around them; they were central to asia, europe, and africa. and so forth in the alarmist's well-worn currency. lord palmerston in had declared in his highest style that corfu was a very important position for mediterranean interests in the event of a war, and it would be great folly to give it up. a year later he repeated that though he should not object to the annexation of the southern islands to greece, corfu was too important a military and naval post ever to be abandoned by us.[ ] as lord palmerston changed, so did mr. gladstone change. 'without a good head for greece, i should not like to see the ionian protectorate surrendered; with it, i should be well pleased for one to be responsible for giving it up.' among many other wonderful suggestions was one that he should himself become that 'good head.' 'the first mention,' he wrote to a correspondent in parliament (jan. , ), 'of my candidature in greece some time ago made me laugh very heartily, for though i do love the country and never laughed at anything else in connection with it before, yet the seeing my own name, which in my person was never meant to carry a title of any kind, placed in juxtaposition with that particular idea, made me give way.' meanwhile it is safe to conjecture, for the period with which in this chapter we are immediately concerned, that in conceiving and drawing up his ionian scheme, close contact with liberal doctrines as to free institutions and popular government must have quickened mr. gladstone's progress in liberal doctrines in our own affairs at home. in [ ] lord palmerston himself, in spite of that national aversion to anything like giving up, of which he was himself the most formidable representative, cheerfully handed the ionians over to their kinsfolk, if kinsfolk they truly were, upon the mainland.[ ] footnotes: [ ] virg. _aen._ iv. . [ ] see sir c. napier's _the colonies: treating of their value generally and of the ionian islands in particular._ [ ] _parliamentary papers, relative to the mission of the right hon. w. e. gladstone to the ionian islands in ._ presented in . finlay's _history of greece_, vii. p. , etc. _letters by lord charles fitzroy, etc., showing the anomalous political and financial position of the ionian islands._ (ridgway, .) _le gouvernement des iles ioniennes._ lettre à lord john russell, par francois lenormant. (paris, amyot, .) _the ionian islands in relation to greece._ by john dunn gardner, esqr., . _four years in the ionian islands._ by whittingham. pamphlet by s. g. potter, d.d. see also _gleanings_, iv. p. . [ ] this and his alleged attendance at mass, and compliance with sundry other rites, were often heard of in later times, and even so late as mr. gladstone was subjected to some rude baiting from doctors of divinity and others. [ ] finlay, _history of greece_, vii. p. , blames both bulwer and mr. gladstone because they 'directed their attention to the means of applying sound theories of government to a state of things where a change in the social relations of the inhabitants and modifications in the tenure and rights of property were the real evils that required remedy, and over these the british government could exercise very little influence if opposed by the ionian representatives.' but is not this to say that the real remedy was unattainable without political reform? [ ] may , . _hans._ rd ser. , p. . the salaries of the deputies struck him as especially excessive, and on the same occasion he let fall the _obiter dictum_; 'for my part i trust that of all the changes that may in the course of generations be made in the constitution of this country, the very last and latest will be the payment of members of this house.' [ ] on feb. , the secretary of the treasury moved the writ, and the next day the vice-chancellor notified that there would be an election, mr. gladstone having 'vacated his seat by accepting the office of lord high commissioner of the ionian islands, which he no longer holds.' he was re-elected (feb. ) without opposition. [ ] mr. gladstone, may , .--_hans._ third ser. . p. . [ ] napier in his _memoir on the roads of cephalonia_ (p. ) tells how maitland had a notion of building a fort on that island, and on his boat one day asked the commanding engineer how much it would cost. the engineer talked about £ , . 'upon this sir thomas turned round in the boat, with a long and loud whistle. after this whistle i thought it best to let at least a year pass without again mentioning the subject.' [ ] ashley, ii. pp. , . [ ] _dec. , ._--cabinet. resolution to surrender the ionian protectorate. only lord w[estbury] opposing. [ ] mr. gladstone sent home and revised afterwards three elaborate reports on the mischiefs of ionian government and the constitutional remedies proper for them. they were printed for the use of the cabinet, though whether these fifty large pages, amounting to about a quarter of this volume, received much attention from that body, may without _scandalum magnatum_ be doubted, nor do the reports appear to have been laid before parliament. the italian war was then creating an agitation in europe upon nationality, as to which the people of the ionian islands were sensitively alive, and the reports would have supplied a good deal of fuel. there was a separate fourth report upon the suppression of disorder in cephalonia in , which everybody afterwards agreed that it was not expedient to publish. it still exists in the archives of the colonial office. chapter xi junction with the liberals (_ _) conviction, in spite of early associations and long-cherished preposessions--strong conviction, and an overpowering sense of the public interests operating for many, many years before full effect was given to it, placed me in the ranks of the liberal party.--gladstone (ormskirk, ). when mr. gladstone returned to england in march , he found the conservatives with much ineffectual industry, some misplaced ingenuity, and many misgivings and divisions, trying their hands at parliamentary reform. their infringement of what passed for a liberal patent was not turning out well. convulsions in the cabinet, murmurs in the lobbies, resistance from the opposite benches, all showed that a ministry existing on sufferance would not at that stage be allowed to settle the question. in this contest mr. gladstone did not actively join. speaking from the ministerial side of the house, he made a fervid defence of nomination boroughs as the nurseries of statesmen, but he voted with ministers against a whig amendment. his desire, he said, was to settle the question as soon as possible, always, however, on the foundation of trust in the people, that 'sound and satisfactory basis on which for several years past legislation had been proceeding.' the hostile amendment was carried against ministers by statesmen irreconcilably at variance with one another, alike in principle and object. the majority of thirty-nine was very large for those days, and it was decisive. though the parliament was little more than a couple of years old, yet in face of the desperate confusion among leaders, parties, and groups, and upon the plea that reform had not been formally submitted as an issue to the country, lord derby felt justified in dissolving. mr. gladstone held the oxford seat without opposition. the constituencies displayed an extension of the same essentially conservative feeling that had given lord palmerston the victory two years before. once more the real question lay not so much between measures as men; not so much between democratic change and conservative moderation, as between palmerston and russell on the one hand, and derby and disraeli on the other. the government at the election improved their position by some thirty votes. this was not enough to outnumber the phalanx of their various opponents combined, but was it possible that the phalanx should combine? mr. gladstone, who spoke of the dissolution as being a most improper as well as a most important measure, alike in domestic and in foreign bearings, told acland that he would not be surprised if the government were to attempt some reconstruction on a broad basis before the new parliament met. this course was not adopted. critical moments the chances of turning out the government were matters of infinite computation among the leaders. the liberal whip after the election gave his own party a majority of fifteen, but the treasury whip, on the other hand, was equally confident of a majority of ten. still all was admittedly uncertain. the prime perplexity was whether if a new administration could be formed, lord palmerston or lord john should be at its head. everybody agreed that it would be both impossible and wrong to depose the tories until it was certain that the liberals were united enough to mount into their seat, and no government could last unless it comprehended both the old prime ministers. could not one of them carry the prize of the premiership into the lords, and leave to the other the consolation stake of leadership in the commons? lord palmerston, who took the crisis with a veteran's good-humoured coolness, told his intimates that he at any rate would not go up to the lords, for he could not trust john russell in the other house. with a view, however, to ministerial efficiency, he was anxious to keep russell in the commons, as with him and gladstone they would make a strong treasury bench. but was it certain that gladstone would join? on this there was endless gossip. one story ran that mrs. gladstone had told somebody that her husband wished bygones to be bygones, was all for a strong government, and was ready to join in forming one. then the personage to whom this was said upset the inference by declaring there was nothing in the conversation incompatible with a derby junction. sir charles wood says in his journal:-- _may ._--saw mrs. gladstone, who did not seem to contemplate a junction with palmerston but rather that he should join derby. i stated the impossibility of that, and that the strongest government possible under present circumstances would be by such a union as took place under aberdeen. to effect this, all people must pull the same and not different ways as of late years. i said that i blamed her husband for quitting, and ever since he quitted, palmerston's government in , as well as lord john; that in the quarrel between lord john and gladstone the former had behaved ill, and the latter well. _may ._--gladstone dined here.... he would vote a condemnation of the dissolution, and is afraid of the foreign affairs at so critical a moment being left in the hands of malmesbury; says that we, the opposition, are not only justified but called upon by the challenge in the queen's speech on the dissolution, to test the strength of parties; but that he is himself in a different position, that he would vote a condemnation of the dissolution, but hesitates as to no confidence. sir robert phillimore[ ] gives us other glimpses during this month:-- _may ._--long interview with gladstone. he entered most fully and without any reserve into his views on the state of political parties and on the duties of a statesman at this juncture. thought the only chance of a strong government was an engrafting of palmerston upon lord derby, dethroning disraeli from the leadership of the house of commons, arranging for a moderate reform bill, placing the foreign office in other hands, but not in disraeli's. he dwelt much upon this. foreign politics seemed to have the chief place in his mind. _may ._--gladstone has seen palmerston, and said he will not vote against lord derby in support of lord john's supposed motion. the government gladstone thinks desirable is a fusion of palmerston and his followers with lord derby, which implies, of course, weeding out half at least of the present cabinet. gladstone will have to vote with government and speak against the cabinet, and violently he will be abused. _june ._--dined with gladstone. he is much harassed and distressed at his position relative to the government and opposition. spoke strongly against lord malmesbury. said if the proposal is to censure the dissolution, he must agree with it, but he will vote against a want of confidence. one important personage was quite confident that gladstone would vote the government out. another thought that he would be sure to join a liberal administration. palmerston believed this too, even though he might not vote for a motion of want of confidence. clarendon expected gladstone to join, though he would rather see him at the foreign office than at the exchequer. at a dinner party at lord carlisle's where palmerston, lord john, granville, clarendon, lewis, argyll, and delane were present, sir charles wood in a conversation with mrs. gladstone found her much less inclined to keep the derby government in. in the last week of may a party feast was planned by lord palmerston and the whip, but lord john russell declined to join the dinner. it was decided to call a meeting of the party. a confidential visitor was talking of it at cambridge house, when the brougham came to the door to take palmerston down to pembroke lodge. he was going, he said, to ask lord john what they should say if they were asked at the meeting whether they had come to an agreement. the interview was not unsatisfactory. four days later (june ) a well-attended meeting of the party was held at willis's rooms. the two protagonists declared themselves ready to aid in forming a government on a broad basis, and it was understood that either would serve under the other. it would be for the sovereign to decide. mr. bright spoke in what the whigs pronounced to be a highly reasonable vein, and they all broke up in great spirits. the whip pored over his lists, and made out that they could not beat the government by less than seven. this was but a slender margin for a vote of no confidence, but it was felt that mere numbers, though a majority might be an indispensable incident, were in this case not the only test of the conditions required for a solid government. lord hartington, the representative of the great house of cavendish, was put up to move a vote of no confidence.[ ] fall of the derby government after three days' debate, ministers were defeated (june ) by the narrow figure of thirteen in a house of six hundred and thirty-seven. mr. gladstone did not speak, but he answered the riddle that had for long so much harassed the wirepullers, by going into the lobby with disraeli and his flock. the general sense of the majority was probably best expressed by mr. bright. since the fall of the government of sir robert peel, he said, there had been no good handling of the liberal party in the house: the cabinet had been exclusive, the policy had been sometimes wholly wrong, and generally feeble and paltering: if in the new government there should be found men adequately representing these reconciled sections, acting with some measure of boldness and power, grappling with the abuses that were admitted to exist, and relying upon the moral sense and honest feeling of the house, and the general sympathy of the people of england for improvement in our legislation, he was bold to hope that the new government would have a longer tenure of office than any government that had existed for many years past. the queen, in the embarrassment of a choice between the two whig veterans, induced lord granville, whose cabinet life as yet was only some five years, to try to form a government. this step palmerston explained by her german sympathies, which made her adverse alike to lord john and himself. lord granville first applied to palmerston, who said that the queen ought to have sent for himself first; still he agreed to serve. lord john would only serve under granville on condition of being leader in the house of commons; if he joined--so he argued--and if palmerston were leader in the commons, this would make himself third instead of second: on that point his answer was final. so lord granville threw up a commission that never had life in it; the queen handed the task over to palmerston, and in a few days the new administration was installed. (june , .) ii mr. gladstone went back to the office that he had quitted four years and a half before, and undertook the department of finance. the appointment did not pass without considerable remark. 'the real scandal,' he wrote to his oxford chairman, 'is among the extreme men on the liberal side; they naturally say, "this man has done all he could on behalf of lord derby; why is he here to keep out one of us?"' even some among mr. gladstone's private friends wondered how he could bring himself to join a minister of whom he had for three or four years used such unsparing language as had been common on his lips about lord palmerston. the plain man was puzzled by a vote in favour of keeping a tory government in, followed by a junction with the men who had thrown that government out. cobden, as we know, declined to join.[ ] 'i am exceedingly sorry,' wrote mr. gladstone to his brother robertson (july ), 'to find that cobden does not take office. it was in his person that there seemed to be the best chance of a favourable trial of the experiment of connecting his friends with the practical administration of the government of this country. i am very glad we have gibson; but cobden would, especially as an addition to the former, have made a great difference in point of weight.'[ ] again at the exchequer mr. gladstone, with no special anxiety to defend himself, was clear about his own course. 'never,' he says, 'had i an easier question to determine than when i was asked to join the government. i can hardly now think how i could have looked any one in the face, had i refused my aid (such as it is) at such a time and under such circumstances.' 'at a moment,' he wrote to the warden of all souls, 'when war is raging in europe, when the english government is the only instrument through which there is any hope, humanly speaking, of any safe and early settlement, and when all parties agree that the government of the queen ought to be strengthened, i have joined the only administration that could be formed, in concert with all the friends (setting aside those whom age excludes) with whom i joined and acted in the government of lord aberdeen.' to the provost of oriel he addressed a rather elaborate explanation,[ ] but it only expands what he says more briefly in a letter (june ) to sir william heathcote, an excellent and honourable man, his colleague in the representation of oxford:-- i am so little sensible of having had any very doubtful point to consider, that i feel confident that, given the antecedents of the problem as they clearly stood before me, you would have decided in the way that i have done. for thirteen years, the middle space of life, i have been cast out of party connection, severed from my old party, and loath irrecoverably to join a new one. so long have i adhered to the vague hope of a reconstruction, that i have been left alone by every political friend in association with whom i had grown up. my votes too, and such support as i could give, have practically been given to lord derby's government, in such a manner as undoubtedly to divest me of all claims whatever on the liberal party and the incoming government. under these circumstances i am asked to take office. the two leading points which must determine immediate action are those of reform and foreign policy. on the first i think that lord derby had by dissolution lost all chance of settling it; and, as i desire to see it settled, it seems my duty to assist those who perhaps may settle it. upon the second i am in real and close harmony of sentiment with the new premier, and the new foreign secretary. how could i, under these circumstances, say, i will have nothing to do with you, and be the one remaining ishmael in the house of commons? writing to sir john acton in , mr. gladstone said:-- when i took my present office in , i had several negative and several positive reasons for accepting it. of the first, there were these. there had been differences and collisions, but there were no resentments. i felt myself to be mischievous in an isolated position, outside the regular party organisation of parliament. and i was aware of no differences of opinion or tendency likely to disturb the new government. then on the positive side. i felt sure that in finance there was still much useful work to be done. i was desirous to co-operate in settling the question of the franchise, and failed to anticipate the disaster that it was to undergo. my friends were enlisted, or i knew would enlist: sir james graham indeed declining office, but taking his position in the party. and the overwhelming interest and weight of the italian question, and of our foreign policy in connection with it, joined to my entire mistrust of the former government in relation to it, led me to decide without one moment's hesitation.... contest at oxford on the day on which mr. gladstone kissed hands (june ) disturbing news came from oxford. not only was his re-election to be opposed, but the enemy had secured the most formidable candidate that he had yet encountered, in the person of lord chandos, the eldest son of the duke of buckingham. his old chairman became chairman for his new antagonist, and stafford northcote, who with phillimore and bernard had hitherto fought every election on his behalf, now refused to serve on his committee, while even sir john coleridge was alarmed at some reported wavering on the question of a deceased wife's sister. 'gladstone, angry, harassed, sore,' phillimore records, 'as well he might be.' the provost of oriel explains to him that men asked whether his very last vote had not been a vote of confidence in a derby government, and of want of confidence in a palmerston government, yet he had joined the government in which he declared by anticipation that he had no confidence. after all, the root of the anger against him was simply that the tories were out and the liberals in, with himself as their strongest confederate. a question was raised whether he ought not to go down and address convocation in person. the dean of christ church, however, thought it very doubtful whether he would get a hearing. 'those,' he told mr. gladstone, 'who remember sir robert peel's election testify that there never was a more unreasonable and ferocious mob than convocation was at that time. if you were heard, it is doubtful whether you would gain any votes at that last moment, while it is believed you would lose some. you would be questioned as to the ecclesiastical policy of the cabinet. either you would not be able to answer fully, or you would answer in such terms as to alienate one or other of the two numerous classes who will now give you many votes.' the usual waterspout began to pour. the newspapers asserted that mr. gladstone meant to cut down naval estimates, and this moved the country clergy to angry apprehension that he was for peace at any price. the candidate was obliged to spend thankless hours on letters to reassure them. 'the two assertions of fact respecting me are wholly unfounded. i mean these two:-- . that as chancellor of the exchequer i "starved" the crimean war: that is to say limited the expenditure upon it. there is not a shadow of truth in this statement. . that as soon as the war was over i caused the government to reduce their estimates, diminish the army, disband two fleets, and break faith with our seamen. when the war was over, that is in the year , i did not take objection at all to the establishment or expenditure of the year. in the next year, , i considered that they ought to have been further reduced: but neither a man nor a shilling was taken from them in consequence of my endeavours.' other correspondents were uneasy about his soundness on rifle corps and rifle clubs. 'how,' he replied, 'can any uncertainty exist as to the intentions in regard to defence in a government with lord palmerston at its head?' he was warned that cobden, bright, and gibson were odious in oxford, and he was suspected of being their accomplice. the clamour against puseyism had died down, and the hostility of the evangelicals was no longer keen; otherwise it was the old story. goldwin smith tells him, 'win or lose, you will have the vote of every one of heart and brain in the university and really connected with it. young oxford is all with you. every year more men obtain the reward of their industry through your legislation. but old oxford takes a long time in dying.' in the end (july ), he won the battle by a majority of --gladstone, , chandos, . 'my conscience is light and clear,' he wrote to heathcote in the course of the contest. 'the interests that have weighed with me are in some degree peculiar, and i daresay it is a fault in me, especially as member for oxford, that i cannot merge the man in the representative. while they have had much reason to complain, i have not had an over-good bargain. in the estimate of mere pleasure and pain, the representation of the university is not worth my having; for though the account is long on both sides, the latter is the heavier, and sharper. in the true estimates of good and evil, i can look back upon the last twelve years with some satisfaction, first, because i feel that as far as i am capable of labouring for anything, i have laboured for oxford; and secondly, because in this respect at least i have been happy, that the times afforded me in various ways a field. and even as to the contemptible summing up between suffering and enjoyment, my belief is that the latter will endure, while the former will pass away.' the balance struck in this last sentence is a characteristic fragment of mr. gladstone's philosophy of public life. it lightened and dispelled the inevitable hours of disappointment and chagrin that, in natures of less lofty fortitude than his, are apt to slacken the nerve and rust the sword. iii party severance, not changed principles it seems a mistake to treat the acceptance of office under lord palmerston as a chief landmark in mr. gladstone's protracted journey from tory to liberal. the dilemma between joining derby and joining palmerston was no vital choice between two political creeds. the new prime minister and his chancellor of the exchequer had both of them started with canning for their common master; but there was a generation between them, and mr. gladstone had travelled along a road of his own, perhaps not even now perceiving its goal. as we have seen, he told mr. walpole in may (p. ), that there were 'no broad and palpable differences of opinion on public questions of principle,' that separated himself from the derbyite tories.[ ] palmerston on the other hand was so much of a derbyite tory, that his government, which mr. gladstone was now entering, owed its long spell of office and power to the countenance of derby and his men. mr. bright had contemplated (p. ) the possibility of a reverse process--a derbyite government favoured by palmerston's men. in either case, the political identity of the two leaders was recognised. to join the new administration, then, marked a party severance but no changed principles. i am far from denying the enormous significance of the party wrench, but it was not a conversion. mr. gladstone was at this time in his politics a liberal reformer of turgot's type, a born lover of good government, of just practical laws, of wise improvement, of public business well handled, of a state that should emancipate and serve the individual. the necessity of summoning new driving force, and amending the machinery of the constitution, had not yet disclosed itself to him. this was soon discovered by events. meanwhile he may well have thought that he saw as good a chance of great work with palmerston as with disraeli; or far better, for the election had shown that bright was not wrong when he warned him that a derby government could only exist upon forbearance. bright's own words already referred to (p. ) sufficiently describe mr. gladstone's point of view; the need for a ministry with men in it 'acting with some measure of boldness and power, grappling with abuses, and relying upon the moral sense and honest feeling of the house, and the general sympathy of the people of england for improvement.' with such purposes an alliance with liberals of lord palmerston's temper implied no wonderful dislodgment. the really great dislodgment in his life had occurred long before. it was the fates that befell his book, it was the maynooth grant, and the gorham case, that swept away the foundations on which he had first built. in writing to manning in (april ) after his retirement on the question of maynooth, mr. gladstone says to him, 'newman sent me a letter giving his own explanation of my position. it was admirably done.' newman in his letter told him that various persons had asked how he understood mr. gladstone's present position, so he put down what he conceived it to be, and he expresses the great interest that he feels in the tone of thought then engaging the statesman's mind:-- letter from newman i say then [writes newman, addressing an imaginary interlocutor]: 'mr. gladstone has said the state _ought_ to have a conscience, but it has not a conscience. can _he_ give it a conscience? is he to impose his own conscience on the state? he would be very glad to do so, if it thereby would become the state's conscience. but that is absurd. he must deal with facts. it has a thousand consciences, as being in its legislative and executive capacities the aggregate of a hundred minds; that is, it has no conscience. 'you will say, "well the obvious thing would be, if the state has not a conscience, that he shall cease to be answerable for it." so he has--he has retired from the ministry. while he thought he could believe it had a conscience--till he was forced to give up, what it was his duty to cherish as long as ever he could, the notion that the british empire was a subject and servant of the kingdom of christ--he served the state. now that he finds this to be a mere dream, much as it ought to be otherwise, and as it once was otherwise, he has said, i cannot serve such a mistress. 'but really,' i continue, 'do you in your heart mean to say that he should absolutely and for ever give up the state and country? i hope not. i do not think he has so committed himself. that the conclusion he has come to is a very grave one, and not consistent with his going on blindly in the din and hurry of business, without having principles to guide him, i admit; and this, i conceive, is his reason for at once retiring from the ministry, that he may contemplate the state of things calmly and from without. but i really cannot pronounce, nor can you, nor can he perhaps at once, what is a christian's duty under these new circumstances, whether to remain in retirement from public affairs or not. retirement, however, could not be done by halves. if he is absolutely to give up all management of public affairs, he must retire not only from the ministry but from parliament. 'i see another reason for his retiring from the ministry. the public thought they had in his book a pledge that the government would not take such a step with regard to maynooth as is now before the country. had he continued in the ministry he would to a certain extent have been misleading the country. 'you say, "he made some show of seeing his way in future, for he gave advice; he said it would be well for all parties to yield something. to see his way and to give advice is as if he had found some principle to go on." i do not so understand him. i thought he distinctly stated he had not yet found a principle. but he gave that advice which facts, or what he called circumstances, made necessary, and which if followed out, will, it is to be hoped, lead to some basis of principle which we do not see at present.' compared to the supreme case of conscience indicated here, and it haunted mr. gladstone for nearly all his life, the perplexities of party could be but secondary. those perplexities were never sharper than in the four years from to ; and with his living sense of responsibility for the right use of transcendent powers of national service, it was practically inevitable that he should at last quit the barren position of 'the one remaining ishmael in the house of commons.' iv later in this year mr. gladstone was chosen to be the first lord rector of the university of edinburgh under powers conferred by a recent law. his unsuccessful rival was lord neaves, excellent as lawyer, humorist, and scholar. in april the following year, in the midst of the most trying session of his life, he went down from the battle-ground at westminster, and delivered his rectorial address[ ]--not particularly pregnant, original, or pithy, but marked by incomparable buoyancy; enforcing a conception of the proper functions of a university that can never be enforced too strongly or too often; and impressing in melodious period and glowing image those ever needed commonplaces about thrift of time and thirst for fame and the glory of knowledge, that kindle sacred fire in young hearts. it was his own career, intellectual as well as political, that gave to his discourse momentum. it was his own example that to youthful hearers gave new depth to a trite lesson, when he exclaimed: 'believe me when i tell you that the thrift of time will repay you in after life with an usury of profit beyond your most sanguine dreams, and that the waste of it will make you dwindle, alike in intellectual and in moral stature, beneath your darkest reckonings.' so too, we who have it all before us know that it was a maxim of his own inner life, when he told them: 'the thirst for an enduring fame is near akin to the love of true excellence; but the fame of the moment is a dangerous possession and a bastard motive; and he who does his acts in order that the echo of them may come back as a soft music in his ears, plays false to his noble destiny as a christian man, places himself in continual danger of dallying with wrong, and taints even his virtuous actions at their source.' footnotes: [ ] not, however, sir robert until , when he was knighted on becoming queen's advocate. he was created baronet in . [ ] lord hartington's motion was--'that it is essential for the satisfactory result of our deliberations, and for facilitating the discharge of your majesty's high functions, that your majesty's government should possess the confidence of this house and of the country; and we deem it our duty respectfully to submit to your majesty that such confidence is not reposed in the present advisers of your majesty.' [ ] _life of cobden_, ii. pp. - . [ ] there is a strange story in the _halifax papers_ of bright at this time visiting lord aberdeen, and displaying much ill humour. 'he cannot reconcile himself to not being considered capable of taking office. lord john broached a scheme for sending him as governor-general to canada. i rather doubted the expediency of this, but mr. gladstone seemed to think it not a bad scheme' (june , ). many curious things sprang up in men's minds at that moment. [ ] reproduced in mr. russell's book on mr. gladstone, pp. - . [ ] it is worth noticing that he sat on the ministerial side of the house without breach of continuity from to . during the first derby government, as we have already seen (p. ), he sat below the gangway on the opposition side; during the palmerston administration of he sat below the gangway on the government side; and he remained there after the second derby accession to office in . [ ] the address is in _gleanings_, vii. appendix choice of profession _page _ _mr. gladstone to his father_ _cuddesdon, aug. , ._--my beloved father,--i have a good while refrained from addressing you on a subject of importance and much affecting my own future destiny, from a supposition that your time and thoughts have been much occupied for several months past by other matters of great interest in succession. now, however, believing you to be more at leisure, i venture to bring it before you. it is, as you will have anticipated, the decision of the profession to which i am to look forward for life. above eighteen months have now passed since you spoke to me of it at seaforth, and most kindly desired me, if unable then to make up my mind to go into the law, to take some time to consider calmly of the whole question. it would have been undutiful to trouble you with a recurrence of it, until such a period had been suffered to elapse, as would suffice to afford, by the effects it should itself produce, some fair criterion and presumption of the inclination which my mind was likely to adopt in reference to the _final_ decision. at the same time it would also have been undutiful, and most repugnant to my feelings, to permit the prolongation of that intervening period to such an extent, as to give the shadow of a reason to suppose that anything approaching to reserve had been the cause of my silence. the present time seems to lie between these two extremes, and therefore to render it incumbent on me to apprise you of the state of my own views. i trust it is hardly necessary to specify my knowledge that when i speak of 'the state of my own views' on this question, i do so not of right but by sufferance, by invitation from you, by that more than parental kindness and indulgence with which i have ever met at my parents' hands, which it would be as absurd to make a matter of _formal_ acknowledgment as it would be impossible to repay, and for which i can only say, and i say it from the bottom of my heart, may god reward them with his best and choicest gifts, eternal, unfading in the heavens. if then i am to advert to the disposition of my own mind as regards this matter, i cannot avoid perceiving that it has inclined to the ministerial office, for what has now become a considerable period, with a bias at first uncertain and intermittent, but which has regularly and rapidly increased in force and permanence. it has not been owing as far as i can myself discern, to the operation of any external cause whatever; nor of internal ones to any others than those which work their effects in the most gradual and imperceptible manner. day after day it has grown upon and into my habit of feeling and desire. it has been gradually strengthened by those small accessions of power, each of which singly it would be utterly impossible to trace, but which collectively have not only produced a desire of a certain description, but have led me by reasonings often weighed and sifted and re-sifted to the best of my ability, to the deliberate conclusion which i have stated above. i do not indeed mean to say that there has been _no_ time within this period at which i have felt a longing for other pursuits; but such feelings have been unstable and temporary; that which i now speak of is the permanent and habitual inclination of my mind. and such too, i think, it is likely to continue; as far at least as i can venture to think i see anything belonging to the future, or can anticipate the continuance of any one desire, feeling, or principle, in a mind so wayward and uncertain as my own--so far do i believe that this sentiment will remain. it gives me pain, great pain, to communicate anything which i have even the remotest apprehension can give the slightest annoyance to you. i trust this will not do so; although i fear it may. but though fearing it may, i feel it is my duty to do it: because i have only these three alternatives before me. first, to delay communication to some subsequent opportunity: but as i have no fair prospect of being able _then_ to convey a different statement, this plan would be attended with no advantage whatever, as far as i can see. secondly, to dissemble my feelings: an alternative on which if i said another word i should be behaving undutifully and wickedly towards you. thirdly, to follow the course i have now chosen, i trust with no feelings but those of the most profound affection, and of unfeigned grief that as far as my own view is concerned, i am unable to make it coincide with yours. i say, _as far_ as my own view goes, because i do not now see that my own view can or ought to stand for a moment in the way of your desires. in the hands of my parents, therefore, i am left. but lest you should be led to suppose that i have never reasoned with myself on this matter, but yielded to blind impulses or transitory whims, i will state, not indeed at length, but with as much simplicity and clearness as i am able, some of the motives which seem to me to urge me with an irresistible accumulation of moral force, to this conclusion, and this alone. in the first place, i would say that my own state and character is _not_ one of them; nor, i believe, could any views of that character be compatible with their existence and reception, but that in which it now appears to me: namely, as one on which i can look with no degree of satisfaction whatever, and for the purification of which i can only direct my eyes and offer up my prayers to the throne of god. first, then, with reference to the _dignity_ of this office, i know none to compare with it; none which can compete with the grandeur of its end or of its means--the end, the glory of god, and the means, the restoration of man to that image of his maker which is now throughout the world so lamentably defaced. true indeed it is, that there are other fields for the use and improvement of all which god lends to us, which are wide, dignified, beneficial, desirable: desirable in the first and highest degree, _if we had not this_. but as long as this field continues, and as long as it continues unfilled, i do not see how i am to persuade myself that any powers, be they the meanest or the greatest, can be _so_ profitably or _so_ nobly employed as in the performance of this sublime duty. and that this field is _not_ yet filled, how can any one doubt who casts his eyes abroad over the moral wilderness of this world, who contemplates the pursuits, desires, designs, and principles of the beings that move so busily in it to and fro, without an object beyond the finding food, be it mental or bodily, for the _present_ moment or the _present_ life--it matters little which--or beyond ministering to the desires, under whatever modification they may appear, of self-will and self-love? when i look to the standard of habit and principle adopted in the world at large, and then divert my eyes for a moment from that spectacle to the standard fixed and the picture delineated in the book of revelation, then, my beloved father, the conviction flashes on my soul with a moral force i cannot resist, and would not if i could, that the vineyard still wants labourers, that 'the kingdoms of this world are not yet become the kingdoms of our lord and of his christ,' and that _till_ they are become such, till the frail race of adam is restored to the knowledge and the likeness of his maker, till universally and throughout the wide world the will of god is become our delight, and its accomplishment our first and last desire, there can be no claim so solemn and imperative as that which even now seems to call to us with the voice of god from heaven, and to say 'i have given mine own son for this rebellious and apostate world, the sacrifice is offered and accepted, but you, you who are basking in the sunbeams of christianity, you who are blessed beyond measure, and, oh, how beyond desert in parents, in friends, in every circumstance and adjunct that can sweeten your pilgrimage, why will you not bear to fellow-creatures sitting in darkness and the shadow of death the tidings of this universal and incomprehensible love?' in this, i believe, is included the main reason which influences me; a reason as full of joy as of glory: that transcendent reason, in comparison with which every other object seems to dwindle into utter and absolute insignificance. but i would not conceal from you--why should i?--that which i cannot conceal from myself: that the darker side of this great picture sometimes meets me, and it is vain that, shuddering, i attempt to turn away from it. my mind involuntarily reverts to the sad and solemn conviction that a fearfully great portion of the world round me is dying in sin. this conviction is the result of that same comparison i have mentioned before, between the principles and practices it embraces, and those which the almighty authoritatively enjoins: and _entertaining it_ as i do, how, my beloved parent, can i bear to think of my own seeking to wanton in the pleasures of life (i mean even its innocent pleasures), or to give up my heart to its business, while my fellow-creatures, to whom i am bound by every tie of human sympathies, of a common sinfulness and a common redemption, day after day are sinking into death? i mean, not the death of the body, which is but a gate either to happiness or to misery, but that of the soul, the true and the only true death. can i, with this persuasion engrossing me, be justified in inactivity? or in any measure short of the most direct and most effective means of meeting, if in _any degree_ it be possible, these horrible calamities? nor is impotency and incompetency any argument on the other side: if i saw a man drowning i should hold out my hand to help him, although i were uncertain whether my strength would prove sufficient to extricate him or not; how much more strongly, then, is this duty incumbent when there are thousands on thousands perishing in sin and ignorance on every side, and where the stake is not the addition or subtraction of a few short years from a life, which can but be a span, longer or shorter, but the doom, the irrevocable doom of spirits made for god, and once like god, but now alienated and apostate? and the remedy which god has provided for this portentous evil is not like the ponderous and elaborate contrivances of men; its spear is not, like goliath's, the weaver's beam, but all its weapons are a few pure and simple elements of truth, ill calculated, like the arms of david, in the estimation of the world to attain their object, but yet capable of being wielded by a stripling's hand, and yet more, 'mighty, through god, to the pulling down of strongholds.' what i have said is from the bottom of my heart, and put forward without the smallest reservation of any kind: and i have said it thus, because in duty bound to do it; and having, too, the comfort of the fullest persuasion that even if your judgment should disallow it, your affection would pardon it. it is possible, indeed, that the (as it seems to me) awful consideration which i have last put forward may have been misstated or misapprehended. would god it may be so! happy should i be to find either by reason or revelation that the principles of this world were other than i have estimated them to be, and consequently that their fate would be other likewise. i may be under darkness and delusion, having consulted with none in this matter; but till it is shown that i am so, i am bound by all the most solemn ties, ties not created in this world nor to be dissolved with it, but eternal and changeless as our spirits and he who made them, to regulate my actions with reference to these all-important truths--the apostasy of man on the one hand, the love of god on the other. of my duties _to men_ as a social being, can any be so important as to tell them of the danger under which i believe them to lie, of the precipice to which i fear many are approaching, while thousands have already fallen headlong, and others again, even while i write, are continuing to fall in a succession of appalling rapidity? of my duties _to god_ as a rational and responsible being, especially as a being for whom in common with all men the precious blood of christ has been given, can any more imperatively and more persuasively demand all the little i can give than this, the proclaiming that one instance of god's unfathomable love which alone so transcends as almost to swallow up all others? while those others thus transcended and eclipsed are such as would be of themselves by far the highest and holiest obligations man could know, did we not know this. thus i have endeavoured to state these truths, if truths they are, at least these convictions, to you, dwelling upon them at a length which may perhaps be tedious and appear affected, simply as i trust, in order to represent them to your mind as much to the life as possible, i mean as nearly as possible in the light in which they have again and again appeared, and do habitually appear, to my own, so as to give you the best means in my power of estimating the strength or detecting the weakness of those grounds on which the conclusions above stated rest. (i have not mentioned the benefit i might hope myself to derive from this course of living compared with others; and yet this consideration, though here undoubtedly a secondary one, is, i believe, more weighty than any of those which can be advanced in favour of an opposite determination.) for some time i doubted whether to state reasons at all: fearing that it might appear presumptuous; but i resolved to do it as choosing rather to incur that risk, than the hazarding an appearance of reserve and desire to conceal my real sentiments from one who has a right to see into the bottom of my heart. yet one trespass more i must make on your patience. it may perhaps seem that the inducements i have stated are of an unusual character, unsubstantial, romantic, theoretical, and not practical. unusual, indeed, they are: because (though it is not without diffidence that i bring this sweeping charge--indeed, i should not dare to bring it were it not brought elsewhere) it is a rare thing in this world even where right actions are performed to ground them upon right motives. at least, i am convinced that there are fundamental errors on this subject very prevalent--that they are in general fixed far too low, and that the height of our standard of practice must ever be adapted more or less to that of principle. god only knows whether this be right. but hence it has been that i have endeavoured, i trust not improperly, to put these motives forward in the simplicity of that form wherein they seem to me to come down from the throne of god to the hearts of men; and to consider my prospects and obligations, not under all the limitations which a highly artificial state of society might seem to impose upon them, but direct and undiluted; not, in short, as one who has certain pursuits to follow, certain objects of his own to gain, and relations to fulfil, and arrangements to execute--but as a being destined shortly to stand before the judgment seat of god, and there give the decisive account of his actions at the tribunal whose awards admit of no evasion and of no appeal. that i _have_ viewed them in this light i dare not assert; but i have wished and striven to view them so, and to weigh them, and to answer these questions in the same manner as i must answer them on that day when the trumpet of the archangel shall arouse the living and the dead, and when it will be demanded of me in common with all others, how i have kept and how employed that which was committed to my charge. i dare not pretend that i could act even up to the standard here fixed, but i can eye it though distant, with longing hope, and look upwards for the power which i know is all-sufficient, and therefore sufficient to enable even such an one as myself to reach it. viewing, then, these considerations in such a light as this, i can come to no other conclusion, at least unaided, than that the work of spreading religion has a claim infinitely transcending all others in dignity, in solemnity, and in usefulness: destined to continue in force until the happy moment come when every human being has been made fully and effectually acquainted with his condition and its remedies--when too, as it seems to me, it will be soon enough--of course, i lay down this rule for myself, provided as i am to the extent of my wants and very far beyond them--to devise other occupations: _now_ it behoves me to discharge the overwhelming obligation which summons me to this. i have scarcely mentioned my beloved mother in the whole of this letter; for though little has ever passed between us on this subject through the medium of language, and nothing whatever, i believe, since i last spoke with you upon it, yet i have long been well aware of the tendency of her desires, long indeed before my own in any degree coincided with them. i await with deference and interest the communication of your desires upon this subject: earnestly desiring that if i have said anything through pride or self-love, it may be forgiven me at your hands, and by god through his son; and that if my statements be false, or exaggerated, or romantic, or impracticable, i may, by his mercy and through your instrumentality or that of others, be brought back to my right mind, and taught to hold the truth of god in all its sobriety as well as in all its force.--and believe me ever, my beloved and honoured father, your affectionate and dutiful son, wm. e. gladstone. _john gladstone to his son_ _leamington, aug. _. my beloved william,--i have read and given my best consideration to your letter, dated the th, which i only received yesterday. i did hope that you would have delayed making up your mind on a subject so important as your future pursuits in life must be to yourself and to us all, until you had completed those studies connected with the attainment of the honours or distinctions of which you were so justly ambitious, and on which your mind seemed so bent when we last communicated respecting them. you know my opinion to be, that the field for actual usefulness to our fellow-creatures, where a disposition to exercise it actively exists, is more circumscribed and limited in the occupations and duties of a clergyman, whose sphere of action, unless pluralities are admitted (as i am sure they would not be advocated by you) is necessarily in a great degree confined to his parish, than in those professions or pursuits which lead to a more general knowledge, as well as a more general intercourse with mankind, such as the law, taking it as a basis, and introduction to public life, to which i had looked forward for you, considering you, as i do, peculiarly well qualified to be made thus eminently useful to others, with credit and satisfaction to yourself. there is no doubt but as a clergyman, faithfully and conscientiously discharging the duties of that office to those whose spiritual interests are entrusted to your care, should you eventually be placed in that situation, that you may have both comfort and satisfaction, with few worldly responsibilities, but you will allow me to doubt whether the picture your perhaps too sanguine mind has drawn in your letter before me, would ever be practically realised. be this as it may, whenever your mind shall be finally made up on this most important subject, i shall trust to its being eventually for your good, whatever that determination may be. in the meantime i am certainly desirous that those studies with which you have been occupied in reading for your degree may be followed up, whether the shorter or longer period may be necessary to prepare you for the results. you are young and have ample time before you. let nothing be done rashly; be consistent with yourself, and avail yourself of all the advantages placed within your reach. if, when that ordeal is passed, you should continue to think as you now do, i shall not oppose your _then_ preparing yourself for the church, but i do hope that your final determination will not until then be taken, and that whatever events may occur in the interval, you will give them such weight and consideration as they may appear to merit.... your mother is much as usual.--with our united and affectionate love, i ever am your affectionate father, john gladstone. canada, _page _ _jan. / ._--to-day there was a meeting on canada at sir r. peel's. there were present duke of wellington, lords aberdeen, ripon, ellenborough, stanley, hardinge, and others.... peel said he did not object to throwing out the government provided it were done by us on our own principles; but that to throw them out on radical principles would be most unwise. he agreed that less might have been done, but was not willing to take the responsibility of refusing what the government asked. he thought that this rebellion had given a most convenient opportunity for settling the question of the canadian constitution, which had long been a thorny one and inaccessible; that if we postponed the settlement by giving the assembly another trial, the revolt would be forgotten, and in colder blood the necessary powers might be refused. he thought that when once you went into a measure of a despotic character, it was well to err, if at all, on the side of sufficiency; lord ripon strongly concurred. the duke sat with his hand to his ear, turning from one towards another round the circle as they took up the conversation in succession, and said nothing till directly and pressingly called upon by peel, a simple but striking example of the self-forgetfulness of a great man. _jan. / ._--i was myself present at about eight hours [_i.e._ on three occasions] of discussion in peel's house upon the canadian question and bill, and there was one meeting held to which i was not summoned. the conservative amendments were all adopted in the thoroughly straightforward view of looking simply at the bill and not at the government and the position of parties. peel used these emphatic words: 'depend upon it, our course is the direct one; don't do anything that is wrong for the sake of putting them out; don't avoid anything that is right for the sake of keeping them in.' every one of these points has now been carried without limitation or exception. for the opposition party this is, in familiar language, a feather in its cap. the whole has been carefully, thoroughly, and effectually done. nothing since i have been in parliament--not even the defeat of the church rate measure last year--has been of a kind to tell so strikingly as regards appearances upon the comparative credit of the two parties. sir robert peel's government _page _ _in the great mountain of mr. gladstone's papers i have come across an unfinished and undated draft of a letter written by him for the queen in on sir robert peel's government_:-- mr. gladstone with his humble duty reverts to the letter which your majesty addressed to him a few days back, and in which your majesty condescended to recollect and to remind him of the day now nearly forty years ago, a day he fears not altogether one of pleasure to your majesty, when together with others he had the honour to be sworn of your majesty's privy council. your majesty is pleased to pronounce upon the government then installed into office a high eulogy: a eulogy which mr. gladstone would presume, as far as he may, to echo. he values it, and values the recollection of the men who principally composed it, because it was, in the first place, a most honourable and high-minded government; because its legislative acts tended greatly, and almost uniformly, to increase the wellbeing of the country, and to strengthen the attachment of the people to the throne and the laws; while it studied in all things to maintain the reverse of an ambitious or disturbing policy. it was mr. gladstone's good fortune to live on terms of intimacy, and even affection, with the greater portion of its principal and more active members until the close of their valued lives; and although he is far from thinking that they, and he himself with them, committed no serious errors, yet it is his conviction that in many of the most important rules of public policy that government surpassed generally the governments which have succeeded it, whether liberal or conservative. among them he would mention purity in patronage, financial strictness, loyal adherence to the principle of public economy, jealous regard to the rights of parliament, a single eye to the public interest, strong aversion to extension of territorial responsibilities, and a frank admission of the rights of foreign countries as equal to those of their own. with these recollections of the political character of sir r. peel and his government mr. gladstone has in no way altered his feelings of regard and respect for them. in all the points he has mentioned he would desire to tread in their steps, and in many of them, or at least in some, he has no hope of soon seeing them equalled. the observance of such principles is in his conviction the best means of disarming radicalism of whatever is dangerous in its composition, and he would feel more completely at ease as to the future prospects of this country could he feel more sure of their being faithfully observed. mr. gladstone is, and has been, but a learner through his life, and he can claim no special gift of insight into the future: the history of his life may not be flattering to his self-love, but he has great consolation in believing that the great legislative acts of the last half-century, in most of which he has had some share ... _and here the fragment closes_. crisis on the sugar duties, _page _ in the whig government raised the question of the sugar duties, and proposed to substitute a protective duty of / per cwt. for the actual or virtual prohibition of foreign sugars which had up to that time subsisted. they were strongly opposed, and decisively beaten. the argument used against them was, i think, twofold. there was the protection plea on behalf of the west indians whose estates were now worked only by free labour--and there was the great and popular contention that the measure not only admitted sugar the product of slave labour, which we would not allow our own colonies to employ, but that our new supplies would be derived from brazil, and above all from cuba and puerto rico, where the slave trade was rampant, and was prosecuted on an enormous scale. the government of sir r. peel largely modified our system. its general professions were the abolition of prohibition, and the reduction of protective duties to a moderate rate. in it was determined to deal with the sugar duties, and to admit sugar at, i think, a rate of / per cwt. beyond the rate for british-grown. but we had to bear in mind the arguments of , and it was determined that the sugars so to be admitted were to be the product of free labour only. there was some uncertainty from whence they were to come. java produced sugar largely, under a system involving certain restraints, but as we contended essentially free. the whole argument, however, was difficult and perplexed, and a parliamentary combination was formed against the government. the opposition, with perfect consistency, mustered in full force. the west indian interest, which, though much reduced in wealth, still subsisted as a parliamentary entity, was keenly arrayed on the same side. there were some votes attracted by dislike, perhaps, to the argument on our side, which appeared to be complex and over-refined. a meeting of the party was held in order to confront the crisis. sir robert peel stated his case in a speech which was thought to be haughty and unconciliatory. i do not recollect whether there was hostile discussion, or whether silence and the sulks prevailed. but i remember that when the meeting of the party broke up, sir robert peel said on quitting the room that it was the worst meeting he had ever attended. it left disagreeable anticipations as to the division which was in immediate prospect.... the opposition in general had done what they could to strengthen their momentary association with the west indian conservatives. their hopes of a majority depended entirely upon conservative votes. of course, therefore, it was vital to confine the attack to the merits of the question immediately before the house, as an attack upon the policy of the government generally could only strengthen it by awakening the susceptibilities of party and so reclaiming the stray voters to the administration. lord howick, entering into the debate as the hours of enhanced interest began, made a speech which attacked the conservative policy at large, and gave the opening for an effective reply. lord stanley perceived his opportunity and turned it to account with great force and adroitness. in a strictly retaliatory speech, he wound up conservative sentiment on behalf of ministers, and restored the tone of the house. the clouds of the earlier evening hours dispersed, and the government was victorious. two speeches, one negatively and the other positively, reversed the prevailing current, and saved the administration. i have never known a parallel case. the whole honour of the fray, in the ministerial sense, redounded to lord stanley. i doubt whether in the twenty-six years of his after life he ever struck such a stroke as this. colonial policy _page _ you have reversed, within the last seventy years, every one of these salutary principles. your policy has been this; you have retained at home the management of and property in colonial lands. you have magnificent sums figuring in your estimates for the ordinary expenses of their governments, instead of allowing them to bear their own expenses. instead of suffering them to judge what are the measures best adapted to secure their peaceful relations with the aboriginal tribes, and endeavouring to secure their good conduct--instead of telling them that they must not look for help from you unless they maintain the principles of justice, you tell them, 'you must not meddle with the relations between yourselves and the natives; that is a matter for parliament'; a minister sitting in downing street must determine how the local relations between the inhabitants of the colony and the aboriginal tribes are to be settled, in every point down to the minutest detail. nay, even their strictly internal police your soldiery is often called upon to maintain. then, again, the idea of their electing their own officers is, of course, revolutionary in the extreme--if not invading the royal supremacy, it is something almost as bad, dismembering the empire; and as to making their own laws upon their local affairs without interference or control from us, that is really an innovation so opposed to all ideas of imperial policy, that i think my honourable friend the member for southwark (sir william molesworth) has been the first man in the house bold enough to propose it. thus, in fact, the principles on which our colonial administration was once conducted have been precisely reversed. our colonies have come to be looked upon as being, not municipalities endowed with internal freedom, but petty states. if you had only kept to the fundamental idea of your forefathers, that these were municipal bodies founded within the shadow and cincture of your imperial powers--that it was your business to impose on them such positive restraints as you thought necessary, and having done so, to leave them free in everything else--all those principles, instead of being reversed, would have survived in full vigour--you would have saved millions, i was going to say countless millions, to your exchequer; but you would have done something far more important by planting societies more worthy by far of the source from which they spring; for no man can read the history of the great american revolution without seeing that a hundred years ago your colonies, such as they then were, with the institutions they then possessed, and the political relations in which they then stood to the mother-country, bred and reared men of mental stature and power such as far surpassed anything that colonial life is now commonly considered to be capable of producing.--_speech on second reading of the new zealand constitution bill, may_ , . financial arrangements of as affecting ireland _page _ _when the report of the irish financial relations commission of was named to him, mr. gladstone made the following observations:--_ the changes adopted in that year were explained in my budget speech, and will be found in my volume of _financial statements_, pp. , , and . they affected the spirit duties and the income-tax. . _the spirit duties._--we laid d. per gallon upon irish spirits, imposed at the same time s. per gallon in scotland, and laid it down that the equalisation of the duty in the three countries would require a reduction of the duty of s. chargeable in england. sir robert peel had imposed s. per gallon on irish spirits in , but was defeated by the smuggler, and repealed the duty in consequence of the failure. in the duty was levied by a separate revenue police. i abolished this separate police, and handed the duty to the constabulary force, which raised it, and without difficulty. . _the income-tax_ was also in that year extended to ireland. i pointed out that sir robert peel, in imposing the burden on great britain, proposed to give a compensation for it by progressive reductions of duty on consumable commodities, and that ireland had for twelve years enjoyed her full share of the compensation without undergoing any part of the burden; but i also laid it down as a fundamental principle that the peace income-tax was to be temporary, and i computed that it might cease in . this computation was defeated, first by the crimean war, second by a change of ideas as to expenditure and establishments which i did everything in my power to check, but which began to creep in with, and after, that war. we were enabled to hold it in check during the government of - . it has since that time, and especially in these last years, broken all bounds. but although the computation of was defeated, the principle that the income-tax should be temporary was never forgotten, at least by me, and in the year i redeemed my pledge by proposing, as mentioned, to repeal it--a course which would have saved the country a sum which it is difficult to reckon, but very large. this fact which was in the public mind in when the income-tax was temporary, is the key to the whole position. from this point of view we must combine it with the remission of the consolidated annuities. i have not now the means of making the calculation exactly, but it will be found that a descending income-tax on ireland for seven years at d., then d., then d., is largely, though not completely, balanced by that remission. it will thus be seen that the finance of is not responsible either for a permanent peace income-tax upon ireland, or for the present equalisation of the spirit duties. at the same time, i do not mean to condemn those measures. i condemn utterly the extravagance of the civil expenditure in ireland, which, if ireland has been unjustly taxed, cannot for a moment be pleaded as a compensation. i reserve my judgment whether political equality can be made compatible with privilege in point of taxation. i admit, for my own part, that in i never went back to the union whence the difficulty springs, but only to the union of the exchequers in or about . it is impossible to resist the authority which has now affirmed that we owe a pecuniary, as well as a political debt to ireland. financial proposal of _page _ _mr. gladstone to sir stafford northcote_ _aug._ , .--i have three main observations to make upon the conversion scheme, two of which are confessions, and one a maxim for an opposition to remember. . in the then doubtful state of foreign politics, had i been capable of fully appreciating it at the time, i ought not to have made the proposal. . such a proposal when made by a government ought either to be resisted outright, or allowed to pass, i do not say without protest, but without delay. for _that_ can do nothing but mischief to a proposal depending on public impression. the same course should be taken as is taken in the case of loans. . i am sorry to say i made a more serious error, as regards the south sea stocks, than the original proposal. in the summer, i think, of , and a good while before harvest the company proposed to me to take mr. goulburn's per cents. to an equal amount in lieu of their own. they were at the time more valuable and i refused; but it would have been wise to accept, not because the event proved it so, but because the state of things at the time was so far doubtful as to have made this kind of insurance prudent. _for the benefit of the expert, i give mr. gladstone's further observations on this highly technical matter:--_ i have other remarks to offer. i write, however, from memory. three millions of the £ , , were paid in exchequer bills. the difference between £ and the price of consols at the time may, in argument at least, fairly be considered as public loss. you say it was or . we could not, however, if the operation had not taken place, have applied our surplus revenue with advantage to the reduction of debt. the balances would have been richer by £ , , , but we had to raise seven millions for the services of the year - . now, as i am making myself liable for the loss of half a million of money in repaying the south sea company, and thereby starving the balances, i am entitled to say on the other hand that the real loss is to be measured by the amount of necessity created for replenishing them, and the charge entailed in effecting it. this i think was done by the exchequer bonds: and beyond all doubt a large saving was effected to the public by raising money upon those bonds, instead of borrowing in consols at or thereabouts, which i think would have been the price for which we should in that year have borrowed--say, at . the redemption price, _i.e._ the price at which on the average consols have been in recent times redeemed, can hardly i think be less than , and may be higher. there was in a strong combination in the city to compel a 'loan' by bearing the funds; and when it was defeated by the vote of the house of commons, a rapid reaction took place, several millions, as i understand, were lost by the 'bear,' and the attempt was not renewed in , when the loan was, i believe, made on fair terms, relatively to the state of the market. the reform bill of _page _ in cabinet on wednesday lord john russell opened the question of the reform bill, stated the prospect of defeat on sir e. dering's motion, and expressed his willingness to postpone the measure until the th april. lord palmerston recommended postponement altogether. lord aberdeen and graham were averse to any postponement, the latter even declaring his opinion that we ought at the time when the queen's speech was framed to have assumed the present state of circumstances as inevitable, and that, therefore, we had no apology or ground for change; further, that we ought if necessary to dissolve upon defeat in order to carry the measure. no one else went this length. all the three i have named were, from their different points of view, disposed to concur in the expedient of postponement, which none of them preferred on its merits. of the rest of the cabinet, molesworth and i expressed decidedly our preference for the more decided course of at once giving up the bill for the year, as did the chancellor, and this for the ultimate interest of the plan itself. lord lansdowne, wood, clarendon, herbert were all, with more or less decision of phrase, in the same sense. newcastle, granville, and argyll were, i believe, of the same mind. but all were willing to accept the postponement until april , rather than the very serious alternative. molesworth and i both expressed our apprehension that this course would in the end subject the government to far more of censure and of suspicion than if we dealt with the difficulty at once. next day lord john came to see me, and told me he had the idea that in april it might probably be found advisable to divide the part of the bill which enfranchises new classes from that which disfranchises places and redistributes seats; with a view of passing the first and letting the latter take its chance; as the popular feeling would tell for the first while the selfish interests were provoked by the last. he thought that withdrawal of the bill was equivalent to defeat, and that either must lead to a summary winding up of the session. i said the division of the bill was a new idea and a new light to me; but observed that it would by no means help graham, who felt himself chiefly tied to the disfranchising part; and submitted to him that his view of a withdrawal of the bill, given such circumstances as would alone induce the cabinet to think of it, was more unfavourable than the case warranted--_march_ , . civil service reform _page _ _extracts from a letter to lord john russell, jan. , _ ... i do not hesitate to say that one of the great recommendations of the change in my eyes would be its tendency to strengthen and multiply the ties between the higher classes and the possession of administrative power. as a member for oxford, i look forward eagerly to its operation. there, happily, we are not without some lights of experience to throw upon this part of the subject. the objection which i always hear there from persons who wish to retain restrictions upon elections is this: 'if you leave them to examination, eton, harrow, rugby, and the other public schools will carry _everything_.' i have a strong impression that the aristocracy of this country are even superior in natural gifts, on the average, to the mass: but it is plain that with their acquired advantages, their _insensible education_, irrespective of book-learning, they have an immense superiority. this applies in its degree to all those who may be called gentlemen by birth and training; and it must be remembered that an essential part of any such plan as is now under discussion is the separation of _work_, wherever it can be made, into mechanical and intellectual, a separation which will open to the highly educated class a career, and give them a command over all the higher parts of the civil service, which up to this time they have never enjoyed.... i must admit that the aggregate means now possessed by government for carrying on business in the house of commons are not in excess of the real need, and will not bear serious diminution. i remember being alarmed as a young man when lord althorp said, or was said to have said, that this country could no longer be governed by patronage. but while sitting thirteen years for a borough with a humble constituency, and spending near ten of them in opposition, i was struck by finding that the loss or gain of access to government patronage was not traceable in its effect upon the local political influences. i concluded from this that it was not the intrinsic value of patronage (which is really none, inasmuch as it does not, or ought not, to multiply the aggregate number of places to be given, but only acts on the mode of giving them) that was regarded, but simply that each party liked and claimed to be upon a footing of equality with their neighbours. just in the same way, it was considered necessary that bandsmen, flagmen, and the rest, should be paid four times the value of their services, without any intention of bribery, but because it was the custom, and was done on the other side--in places where this was thought essential, it has now utterly vanished away, and yet the people vote and work for their cause as zealously as they did before. may not this after all be found to be the case in the house of commons as well as in many constituencies?... it might increase the uncertainties of the government in the house of commons on particular nights; but is not the hold even now uncertain as compared with what it was thirty or forty years ago; and is it really weaker for general and for good purposes, on account of that uncertainty, than it then was? i have heard you explain with great force to the house this change in the position of governments since the reform bill, as a legitimate accompaniment of changes in our political state, by virtue of which we appeal _more_ to reason, less to habit, direct interest, or force. may not this be another legitimate and measured step in the same direction? may we not get, i will not say more ease and certainty for the leader of the house, but more real and more honourable strength with the better and, in the long run, the ruling part of the community, by a signal proof of cordial desire that the processes by which government is carried on should not in elections only, but elsewhere too be honourable and pure? i speak with diffidence; but remembering that at the revolution we passed over from prerogative to patronage, and that since the revolution we have also passed from bribery to influence, i cannot think the process is to end here; and after all we have seen of the good sense and good feeling of the community, though it may be too sanguine, i cherish the hope that the day is now near at hand, or actually come, when in pursuit not of visionary notions, but of a great practical and economical improvement, we may safely give yet one more new and striking sign of rational confidence in the intelligence and character of the people. mr. gladstone and the bank _page _ from the time i took office as chancellor of the exchequer i began to learn that the state held in the face of the bank and the city an essentially false position as to finance. when those relations began, the state was justly in ill odour as a fraudulent bankrupt who was ready on occasion to add force to fraud. after the revolution it adopted better methods though often for unwise purposes, and in order to induce monied men to be lenders it came forward under the countenance of the bank as its sponsor. hence a position of subserviency which, as the idea of public faith grew up and gradually attained to solidity, it became the interest of the bank and the city to prolong. this was done by amicable and accommodating measures towards the government, whose position was thus cushioned and made easy in order that it might be willing to give it a continued acquiescence. the hinge of the whole situation was this: the government itself was not to be a substantive power in matters of finance, but was to leave the money power supreme and unquestioned. in the conditions of that situation i was reluctant to acquiesce, and i began to fight against it by financial self-assertion from the first, though it was only by the establishment of the post office savings banks and their great progressive development that the finance minister has been provided with an instrument sufficiently powerful to make him independent of the bank and the city power when he has occasion for sums in seven figures. i was tenaciously opposed by the governor and deputy-governor of the bank, who had seats in parliament, and i had the city for an antagonist on almost every occasion.--_undated fragment_. the duke of newcastle and sidney herbert _page _ with reference to the crimean war, i may give a curious example of the power of self-deception in the most upright men. the offices of colonial secretary and war minister were, in conformity with usage, united in the hands of the duke of newcastle. on the outbreak of war it became necessary to separate them. it evidently lay with the holder to choose which he would keep. the duke elected for the war department, and publicly declared that he did this in compliance with the unanimous desire of his colleagues. and no one contradicted him. we could only 'grin and bear it.' i cannot pretend to know the sentiments of each and every minister on the matter. but i myself, and every one with whom i happened to communicate, were very strongly of an opposite opinion. the duke was _well_ qualified for the colonial seals, for he was a statesman; _ill_ for the war office, as he was no administrator. i believe we all desired that lord palmerston should have been war minister. it might have made a difference as to the tolerance of the feeble and incapable administration of our army before sebastopol. indeed, i remember hearing lord palmerston suggest in cabinet the recall of sir richard airy. in that crisis one man suffered most unjustly. i mean sidney herbert. to some extent, perhaps, his extraordinary and most just popularity led people to refrain from pouring on him those vials of wrath to which his office exposed him in the eyes especially of the uninformed. the duties of his department were really financial. i suppose it to be doubtful whether it was not the duty of the secretary of state's department to deal with the question of supply for the army, leaving to him only the management of the purchasing part. but i conceive it could be subject to no doubt at all that it was the duty of the administrative department of the army on the spot to anticipate and make known their wants for the coming winter. this, if my memory serves me, they wholly failed to do: and, the duke of newcastle's staff being in truth very little competent, herbert strained himself morning, noon, and night to invent wants for the army, and according to his best judgment or conjecture to supply them. so was laden the great steamer which went to the bottom in the harbour of balaclava. and so came herbert to be abused for his good deeds.--_autobiographic note_, sept. , . the crimean war _page _ _mr. gladstone to duke of argyll_ _oct._ , ' .--you have conferred a great obligation on me by putting me into the witness-box, and asking me why i thought last year that we were under an obligation to lord palmerston for 'concentrating the attention of the cabinet on the expedition to the crimea.' such was _then_ my feeling, entertained so strongly that i even wrote to him for the purpose of giving to it the most direct expression. and such is my feeling _still_. i think the fall of sebastopol, viewed in itself and apart from the mode in which it has been brought about, a great benefit to europe.... this benefit i should have contemplated with high and, so to speak, unmixed satisfaction, were i well assured as to the means by which we had achieved it. but, of course, there is a great difference between a war which i felt, however grievous it was, yet to be just and needful, and a war carried on without any adequate justification; so far as i can to this hour tell, without even any well-defined practical object.... your letter (if i must now pass from the defensive) seems to me to involve assumptions as to our right to rectify the distribution of political power by bloodshed, which carry it far beyond just bounds. in the hour of success doctrines and policy are applauded, or pass unquestioned even under misgiving, which are very differently handled at a period of disaster, or when a nation comes to feel the embarrassments it has accumulated. the government are certainly giving effect to the public opinion of the day. if that be a justification, they have it: as all governments of england have had, in all wars, at eighteen months from their commencement. apart from the commanding consideration of our duty as men and christians, i am not less an objector to the post-april-policy, on the ground of its certain or probable consequences--in respect first and foremost to turkey; in respect to the proper place and power of france; in respect to the interest which europe has in keeping her (and us all) within such place and power; in respect to the permanence of our friendly relations with her; and lastly, in respect to the effects of continued war upon the condition of our own people, and the stability of our institutions. but each of these requires an octavo volume. i must add another head: i view with alarm the future use against england of the arguments and accusations we use against russia. _dec._ .--what i find press hardest among the reproaches upon me is this:--'you went to war for limited objects; why did you not take into account the high probability that those objects would be lost sight of in the excitement which war engenders, and that this war, if once begun, would receive an extension far beyond your views and wishes?' _dec. ._--i _do_ mean that the reproach i named is the one most nearly just. what the weight due to it is, i forbear finally to judge until i see the conclusion of this tremendous drama. but i quite see enough to be aware that the particular hazard in question ought to have been more sensibly and clearly before me. it _may_ be good logic and good sense, i think, to say:--'i will forego ends that are just, for fear of being driven upon the pursuit of others that are not so.' whether it is so in a particular case depends very much upon the probable amount of the driving power, and of the resisting force which may be at our command. chronology[ ] . dec. . elected member for newark,--gladstone, ; handley, ; wilde, . . jan. . admitted a law student at lincoln's inn. march . elected member of carlton club. april . speaks on a newark petition. may . appointed on colchester election committee. " . presents an edinburgh petition against immediate abolition of slavery. june . on slavery abolition bill. july . on liverpool election petition. " . opposes church reform (ireland) bill. " and . on negro apprenticeship system. aug. . serves on select committee on stationary office. " . moves for return on irish education. . mar. and . on bill disenfranchising liverpool freemen. june . serves on select committee on education in england. july . opposes universities admission bill. dec. . junior lord of the treasury in sir r. peel's ministry. . jan. . returned unopposed for newark. " . under-secretary for war and the colonies. march . moves for, and serves on, a committee on military expenditure in the colonies. " . brings in colonial passengers' bill for improving condition of emigrants. " . in defence of irish church. june . entertained at newark. " , july . criticises municipal corporation bill. aug. . defends house of lords. sept. . death of his mother. . feb. . a member of aborigines committee. march . on negro apprenticeship in jamaica. " . a member of negro apprenticeship committee. june . on tithes and church (ireland) bill. " . a member of select committee on disposal of land in the colonies. oct. . speaks at dinner of liverpool tradesmen's conservative association. " . speaks at dinner of liverpool operatives' conservative association. . jan. . speaks at peel banquet at glasgow. " . speaks at newark. feb. . moves for return showing religious instruction in the colonies. march . a member of committee on irish education. " . on affairs of lower canada. " . in support of church rates. april . a member of colonial accounts committee. " . at newark on poor law. " . returned unopposed for newark. " . defeated for manchester,--thomson, ; philips, ; gladstone, . aug. . speaks at dinner at manchester. dec. . member of committee on education of poor children. " . on canadian discontent. . jan. . on canadian affairs. march . criticises action of government in canada. " . in defence of west indian sugar planters. june . on private bill to facilitate colonisation of new zealand. july . moves for a commission on grievances of cape colonists. " and . opposes the appointment of dissenting chaplains in prisons. " . a member of committee on scotch education. " . opposes grant to maynooth college. aug. visits the continent. oct. in sicily; dec. in rome. dec. _the church in its relations with the state_, published. . jan. . returns to england. apr. . withdraws from lincoln's inn. may . opposes suspension of the jamaica constitution. june . opposes bill for temporary government of jamaica. " . criticises the proposal for a board of education. july . married to miss catherine glynne at hawarden. . mar. -april . examiner at eton for newcastle scholarship. april . denounces traffic in opium and chinese war. " . a member of committee on opium question. may . in support of government of canada bill. june . eldest son, william henry, born. " . on canadian clergy reserves bill. " . on sugar duties. " , july . opposes ecclesiastical revenues bill. july . a member of select committee on colonisation of new zealand. " . denounces traffic in opium. sept. . speaks at liverpool on religious education. nov. _church principles considered in their results_, published. . jan. . on the corn laws at walsall. march . proposes rejection of bill admitting jews to corporate office. april revised edition of _the church in its relations with the state_, published. may . opposes reduction of duty on foreign sugar. july . re-elected for newark,--mr. gladstone, ; lord john manners, ; mr. hobhouse, . sept. . appointed vice-president of the board of trade. " . returned unopposed for newark. . feb. . proposes colonial trade resolutions, and brings in bill for better regulation of railways. " . replies to lord j. russell's condemnation of government's proposals for amending corn law. " . opposes mr. christopher's sliding scale amendment. march . on second reading of corn law importation bill. april . on colonial customs duties bill. may . on preferential duties for colonial goods. " . on importation of live cattle. june . on sugar duties. " . on export duty on coal. sept. . loses finger of left hand in gun accident. . jan. anonymous article, 'the course of commercial policy at home and abroad,' in _foreign and colonial quarterly review_. " . inaugural address at opening of collegiate institute, liverpool. feb. . replies to viscount howick on the corn law. april . opposes mr. ricardo's motion for immediate free trade. may . opposes mr. villiers's motion for the immediate abolition of corn laws. " . attends first cabinet as president of the board of trade. " . supports bill reducing duty on canadian corn. june . opposes lord j. russell's motion for fixed duty on imported corn. aug. . moves second reading of bill legalising exportation of machinery. oct. 'present aspects of the church' in _foreign and colonial review_. . feb. . moves for select committeen on railways. march . on recommendations of committee on railways. " . on slave trade and commercial relations with brazil. " . replies to mr. cobden's speech on his motion for committee on protective duties. " . on reciprocity in commercial treaties. " . opposes motion to extend low duty on canadian corn to colonial wheat. april 'on lord john russell's translation of the francesca da rimini,' in the _english review_. " . outlines provisions of joint stock companies regulation bill. " . second son, stephen edward, born. may . presides at eton anniversary dinner. june . on sugar duties bill. " . in support of dissenters' chapels bill. " . opposes mr. villiers's motion for abolition of corn laws. july. review of 'ellen middleton,' in _english review._ " . on second reading of railways bill. aug. . introduces three bills for regulating private bill procedure. oct. 'the theses of erastus and the scottish church establishment' in the _new quarterly review_. dec. on mr. ward's 'ideal church,' in _quarterly review_. . jan. . retires from cabinet. feb. . personal explanation. " . in favour of discriminating duties on sugar. " . defends distinction between free-labour and slave-labour sugar. march. _remarks upon recent commercial legislation_, published. april . on second reading of maynooth college bill. june. review of 'life of mr. blanco white,' in _quarterly_. " . supports academical institutions (ireland) bill. july . on spanish treaties and slave-labour sugar. sept. -nov. . visits germany. dec. 'scotch ecclesiastical affairs,' in the _quarterly_. " . colonial secretary. publishes, _a manual of prayers from the liturgy, arranged for family use_. . jan. . retires from the representation of newark. . june 'from oxford to rome' in the _quarterly_. " . captain gladstone defends his brother's action in recalling sir eardley wilmot. aug. . elected for oxford university,--sir r. inglis, ; w. e. gladstone, ; mr. round, . sept. on lachmann's 'ilias' in the _quarterly_. dec. . supports roman catholic relief bill. " . on government of new zealand. " . in favour of admission of jews to parliament. . feb. and . on new zealand government bill. " . on roman catholic relief bill. march . on recent commercial changes. april . on repeal of navigation laws, criticising government's proposal. " . on episcopal revenues. " . serves as special constable. " . moves address to the queen at vestry of st. martin's-in-the-fields. may . in favour of increasing usefulness of cathedrals. " . replies to lord g. bentinck on free trade. june . in favour of freedom of navigation. " . opposes reduction of sugar duties. aug. . in favour of legalising diplomatic relations with the vatican. " . on vancouver's island, and free colonisation. dec. on the duke of argyll's _presbytery examined_ in the _quarterly_. . feb. . on revision of parliamentary oaths. " , may . in favour of clergy relief bill. march . on transportation of convicts. " . on navigation laws. " . on church rates. " . in favour of scientific colonisation at st. martin's-in-the-fields. april . on colonial administration. may . defends right of parliament to interfere in colonial affairs. " . in favour of better government of colonies. june . on australian colonies bill. " . protests against compensating canadian rebels. " . opposes bill legalising marriage with deceased wife's sister. " . explains views on colonial questions and policy. july . moves for inquiry into powers of hudson bay company. " -aug. . visits italy: rome, naples, como. dec. 'the clergy relief bill' in _quarterly_. . feb. . in favour of double chamber constitutions for colonies. " . on causes of agricultural distress, in support of mr. disraeli's motion. march. 'giacomo leopardi' in the _quarterly_. " . on suppression of slave trade. " . on principles of colonial policy. april . death of his daughter, catherine jessy. may . in favour of colonial self-government, and ecclesiastical constitution for church in australia. " . moves that australian government bill be submitted to colonists. " . in favour of differential sugar duties. june . letter to bishop of london: _remarks on the royal supremacy._ " . attacks lord palmerston's foreign policy in don pacifico debate. july . on death of sir r. peel. " . criticises ecclesiastical commission bill. " . explains plan for creation of new bishoprics. " . opposes commission of inquiry into english and irish universities. aug. . 'last earnest protest' against australian colonies government bill. oct. . leaves england for naples. . feb. . returns to england from naples. declines lord stanley's invitation to join his government. march . opposes ecclesiastical titles assumption bill. april . on financial plans to relieve agricultural distress. " . opposes appointment of committee on relations with kaffir tribes. may . on grievances of inhabitants of ceylon. june . opposes inhabited house duty bill. july . protests against ecclesiastical titles bill. " . on rajah brooke's methods of suppressing piracy. " . on discipline in colonial church. " publishes two letters to lord aberdeen on neapolitan misgovernment. dec. . death of sir john gladstone at fasque. " letter to dr. skinner, bishop of aberdeen, _on the functions of laymen in the church_. translation of farini's _the roman state_, to , vols. i. and ii. published. . jan. . publishes _an examination of the official reply of the neapolitan government_. feb. . brings in colonial bishops bill. march . on free trade. april on farini's 'stato romano,' in _edinburgh review_. " . third son, henry neville, born. " . protests against policy of kaffir war. " . moves second reading of colonial bishops bill. " . on mr. disraeli's budget statement. may . proposes rejection of bill to assign disenfranchised seats of st. albans and sudbury. " . in favour of select committee on education at maynooth college. " . on paper duty. " . on new zealand government bill. june and . defends action of bishop of bath and wells in the case of frome vicarage. " . brings in bill to amend colonial church laws. july . re-elected for oxford university,--sir. r. inglis, ; w. e. gladstone, ; dr. marsham, . nov. , . in defence of principles of free trade. " . defends sir r. peel's free trade policy. dec. 'count montalembert on catholic interests in the nineteenth century' in the _quarterly_. " . attacks government's income-tax proposals. " . replies to mr. disraeli's speech in defence of his budget proposals. " . appointed chancellor of the exchequer. . jan. . re-elected for oxford university,--w. e. gladstone, ; mr. perceval, . march . speech on mr. hume's motion for repeal of all protective import duties. " and . on clergy reserves (canada) bill. " . at mansion house banquet, on public opinion and public finance. april . on government's proposal to improve education in england and wales. " . explains nature of proposals for conversion of portion of national debt. " . on irish taxation. " . opposes motion for repeal of advertisement duty, newspaper stamp tax, and paper duty on financial grounds. " . introduces his first budget. " . defends south sea commutation bill. may . opposes amendment, in the interest of property, to income-tax. " . explains changes proposed in succession duties. " . on taxation of ireland. june . moves second reading of savings bank bill; and july . july . proposes reduction of advertisement duty to sixpence. " . on south sea annuities. aug. . on colonial church regulation bill. sept. . at dingwall and inverness, on results of free trade and evils of war. oct. . tribute to memory of sir r. peel at unveiling of statue at manchester. at town hall on russo-turkish question. . jan. . fourth son, herbert john, born. march . introduces budget. " . in support of oxford university bill. " . replies to mr. disraeli's attack on his financial schemes. " . at mansion house banquet on war and finance. april . on second reading of oxford university bill. " . statement on public expenditure and income. may . introduces war budget. " . defends resolution empowering government to issue two millions of exchequer bonds against criticism of mr. disraeli. " . on second reading of bill for revision of parliamentary oaths. " . on withdrawal of bribery prevention bills. june . explains provisions of revenue and consolidated fund charges bill. " . on proposal to abolish church rates. " . brings in bill for repeal of usury laws. dec. . on the crimean war. " . moves resolution for regulation of interest on savings bank deposits. . jan. . opposes mr. roebuck's motion. feb. . explains reasons for government's resignation. " . withdraws from cabinet. " . explains reasons. march . explains methods adopted to meet war expenditure. " . in favour of free press. " . defends government of sardinia in debate on military convention. april . criticises budget of sir g. c. lewis. " . on principles of taxation. " . criticises government loan bill. may . opposes bill for amendment of marriage law. " . moves adjournment of debate to discuss vienna conferences. " . on prosecution of the war. june. 'sardinia and rome,' in _quarterly_. " . on civil service reform. " . statement as to aberdeen government, and terms of peace. july . in favour of open admission to civil service. " , , and . protests against the system of subsidies, on the guarantee of turkish loan. aug. . on vienna negotiations. oct. . lecture on colonial policy at hawarden. nov. . lecture on colonies at chester. . feb. . on report of crimean commissioners. april . condemns government proposals for national education. " . on civil service reform. may . on treaty of peace. " . criticises budget. july . on differences with the united states government on recruiting for the british army. " . criticises county courts amendment bill. " . strongly opposes the bishops of london and durham retirement bill. aug. 'the war and the peace' in _gentleman's magazine_. sept. 'the declining efficiency of parliament' in the _quarterly_. " . at town hall, mold, in support of foreign missionary society; in the evening at collegiate institution, liverpool, for society for propagation of the gospel. . jan. 'homer and his successors in epic poetry,' and 'prospects political and financial' in _quarterly_. " . at stepney, on duty of rich to poor. feb. . criticises government's foreign policy and financial measures. " . in support of motion to appoint committee on the hudson bay company. nominated member of the committee. " . condemns budget of sir g. c. lewis. march . supports mr. cobden's resolution on china. " . proposes reduction of tea duty, and condemns sir g. c. lewis's financial proposals. " . moves resolution in favour of revising and reducing expenditure. " . returned unopposed for oxford university. april. 'the new parliament and its work' in _quarterly_. june . speaks at oxford at inauguration of diocesan spiritual help society. july. 'the bill for divorce,' and 'homeric characters in and out of homer' in _quarterly_. " . at glenalmond college on christian and classical education. " . on the persian war. " . denounces war with china. " . on lord j. russell's oaths validity act amendment bill. " , aug. . criticises and moves amendments to burials act amendment bill. " . explains strong objections to divorce and matrimonial causes bill. " . opposes superannuation act amendment bill. " . opposes second reading of the divorce bill. aug. . protests against unequal treatment of men and women in divorce bill. " . supports continuance of tea and sugar duties. " . on balkan principalities. " . personal explanation regarding his connection with lord lincoln's divorce. oct. . at chester, on duty of england to india. " . at liverpool, urging closer connection between the great manufacturing towns and the universities. dec. and . criticises the bank issues indemnity bill. " . protests against proposal to increase pension of sir henry havelock. " . on appointment of select committee on bank act. . feb. . opposes conspiracy to murder bill. march. _studies in homer and the homeric age_ published. april. 'the fall of the late ministry' in _quarterly_. " . on mr. disraeli's budget statement. " , june . criticises church rates abolition bill. " and . on proposals for government of india. may . on financial condition of the country. " , june , , , and july . on government of india. " . moves address on danubian principalities. " . defends lord canning in debate on the oude proclamation. june . on the suez canal, condemning english interference with the project. " . supports funded debt bill. july and . proposes additional clause to universities (scotland) bill facilitating the creation of a national university. " . moves that the army of india be not employed beyond the frontiers of india without permission of parliament. " . on government of british columbia bill. " . on hudson bay company. oct. 'the past and present administrations' in _quarterly_. " . address at liverpool on university extension. nov. . leaves england for corfu, on appointment as lord high commissioner extraordinary of the ionian islands. dec. . addresses ionian assembly. . feb. . presents new constitution to ionian chamber of deputies. " . returned unopposed for oxford university. march . returns to london. " . on representation of the people bill. april. 'the war in italy' in the _quarterly_. " . on the state of italy. " . returned unopposed for oxford university. june . letter to the provost of oriel. " . appointed chancellor of the exchequer. " . presides at annual dinner of royal literary fund. july . re-elected for oxford university,--mr. gladstone, ; marquis of chandos, . " . supports bill enabling roman catholics to hold office of chancellor of ireland. " . introduces budget. " . replies to mr. disraeli's criticisms. aug. . in defence of government's italian policy. oct. on 'tennyson's poems' in _quarterly_. nov. . at cambridge, in support of oxford and cambridge mission to central africa. " . elected lord rector of university of edinburgh,--mr. gladstone, ; lord neaves, . dec. 'nelda, a romance,' translated from grossi, in _fraser's magazine_. footnotes: [ ] all speeches unless otherwise stated were made in the house of commons. index aberdare, lord (henry austin bruce), home secretary ( ), ii. ; on collier affair, ii. ; on ewelmcase, ii. ; licensing bill of, ii. - ; on _alabama_ case, ii. _note_; on irish university bill, ii. ; gladstone's appreciation of, ii. ; president of the council ( ), ii. _note_, ; describes last cabinet meeting ( ), ii. ; otherwise mentioned, ii. , ; iii. . ---- papers, extract from, on position in , ii. . aberdeen, gladstone presented with freedom of, ii. . aberdeen, th earl of:-- _chronology_--on wellington's anti-reform speech, i. ; gladstone's visit to ( ), i. ; at canada meeting, i. ; party meetings, i. ; on maynooth resignation, i. ; gladstone's relations with, i. ; estimate of peel, i. ; on peel's eulogium of cobden, i. ; on freedom in official position, i. ; home and foreign policy of, contrasted, i. ; learns gladstone's views of neapolitan tyranny, i. , - ; on don pacifico case, i. ; gladstone's letters to, i. , _and note_, , , _note _, , _note _, , ; views on papal aggression question, i. , ; asked to form a government ( ), i. _and note_; leader of peelites, i. ; reform bill of ( ), ii. ; attitude of, towards first derby administration, i. , , ; on gladstone's attitude towards disraeli, i. ; on possible heads for peelite government, i. ; irish attitude towards, i. ; undertakes to form a government, i. ; gladstone's budget, i. - ; letter to prince albert on gladstone's speech, i. ; letter to gladstone, i. ; attitude towards turkey in , i. ; crimean war, preliminary negotiations, i. - , , ; on gladstone's manchester speech, i. ; on effect of crimean war, i. ; suggests retirement, i. - ; opposes postponement of reform bill, i. ; regrets of, regarding the war, i. , - ; defeat of, ii. ; gladstone's consultations with, in ministerial crisis ( ), i. , - ; on position of premier, ii. ; gladstone's projected letters to, on sebastopol committee, i. _note_; discourages gladstone's communicating with derby, i. ; lewis's budget, i. ; divorce bill, i. ; conspiracy bill, i. ; approves gladstone's refusals to join derby, i. , ; uneasiness regarding gladstone's position, i. ; gladstone's visit to, i. ; discourages ionian project, i. ; desires closer relations between gladstone and government, i. ; arthur gordon's letter to, i. ; bright's visit to, i. _note _; death of, ii. . foreign influence of, i. , ; foreign estimate of, ii. ; iii. . gladstone's estimate of, i. , , ; ii. , - ; his estimate of gladstone, i. ; ii. , ; gladstone's letters to, i. - , , , ; ii. . palmerston contrasted with, i. . patience of, with colleagues' quarrels, i. ; loyalty to colleagues, ii. - . sobriquet of, i. . trustfulness of, i. ; ii. , , - , otherwise mentioned, i. , _note_, , , , , , , , , _note_, , , , , ; ii. , ; iii. . aberdeen, th earl of, iii. , . abeken, h., ii. - _and note_. abercromby, sir ralph, iii. . abolition, _see_ slave-holding. acland, a. h. d., iii. _and note_. ---- arthur, i. , _note_, . ---- sir h. w., iii. . ---- sir thomas, member of w e g, i. _note_; brotherhood formed by gladstone and, i. ; advice to gladstone on jewish disabilities question, i. ; correspondence with gladstone on popular discontent, ii. - ; on gladstone's position ( ), ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , ; ii. , , ; iii, . act of uniformity bill ( ), ii. . acton, lord, recommended by gladstone for a peerage, ii. ; correspondence with gladstone on vaticanism, ii. , , , - ; compared with döllinger, ii. ; letter on gladstone's proposed retirement, iii. ; elected fellow of all souls', iii. ; gladstone's letters to, i. , ; ii. , ; iii. - , - , , , , ; criticism of gladstone, iii. - ; otherwise mentioned, ii. , ; iii. , , . adam, w. p., commissioner of public works, ii. _note_; supports gladstone's midlothian candidature, ii. - ; otherwise mentioned, ii. , , . adams, charles francis (american minister), hints withdrawal, ii. and _note _, ; evarts coadjutor to, ii. ; breakfasts with gladstone, ii. - ; on _alabama_ case, ii. - ; work on the arbitration board, ii. - . adderley, c. b., quoted, i. _note _. adullamites, ii. , , , . advertisements, tax on, i. , _and note_. affirmation bill ( ), i. _note_; iii. , - , note, . afghanistan:-- cavagnari in, iii. . reversal of conservative policy in, iii. . russian action in ( ), iii. , - , _note_. war with, ii. ; gladstone's references to, ii. , . africa south:-- cape colony-- dutch sympathy in, with transvaal, iii. - _and note _, _note _, . representatives from, on south african situation, iii. . cape of good hope petition, ii. . confederation scheme, iii. - , . frere in, iii. , . native affairs in, committee on, i. . orange free state-- advice from, iii. - . sympathy in with transvaal, iii. - _and note _, . transvaal-- administration of, by great britain, iii. _and note _. annexation of ( ), iii. ; boer resistance to annexation, iii. - , ; gladstone's attitude towards, iii. ; hartington's attitude to, iii. . cabinet abstentions on division regarding, iii. . commission suggested by boers, iii. ; suggestion accepted, iii. _and note _, ; constitution of commission, iii. ; boer requests regarding, refused, iii. ; parliamentary attack on appointment, iii. - ; boer attitude towards, iii. ; pretoria convention concluded by, iii. - . conventions with, iii. _and note_. forces in, iii. , _note _. midlothian reference to ( ), ii. ; ( ), iii. . misrepresentations regarding boers, iii. . native struggles with boers in, iii. . rising of, iii. - ; course of hostilities, iii. - ; armistice, iii. . self-government promised to, iii. , _and note _, , _and note _; promises evaded, iii. , . w. h. smith's view of proceedings in, ii. . suzerainty question, iii. _and note_. sympathy with, from south african dutch, iii. - _and note _, _note _, . ailesbury, lord, ii. . airey, sir richard, i. . _alabama_ claims-- arbitration accepted on, ii. . gladstone's views on, ii. , - , , , . indirect damages claimed by sumner, ii. , - . mixed commission proposed to deal with, ii. ; refused by united states, ii. ; accepted, ii. ; constitution of, ii. - ; work of, ii. - . origin of, ii. - . parliamentary anxieties regarding, ii. . soreness regarding, ii. . albania, i. - . albert, prince, speeches at suppression of slave trade meeting, i. ; on peel's retirement, i. ; presented with gladstone's translation of _farini_, i. _note_; gladstone's budget submitted to, i. ; on gladstone's budget speech, i. ; unpopularity of, ii. , ; views on roebuck committee, i. ; estimate of gladstone, ii. ; on _trent_ affair, ii. ; on danish question, ii. , ; death of, ii. ; gladstone's estimate of, ii. - ; effect of his death on gladstone's relations with the queen, ii. ; statue to, at aberdeen, ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , ; ii. , . albert victor, prince, iii. . alderson, baron, i. . alfred, prince, ii. , , . alexander ii., emperor of russia, ii. . alexander iii., emperor of russia, iii. , . alexandretta, project to seize, ii. . alexandria, english and french fleets at, iii. ; bombardment of, iii. , , . alice, princess, _see_ louis. all the talents ministry, i. . allon, dr., ii. - , , . alsace, annexation of, ii. - . althorp, viscount, gladstone's first intercourse with, i. ; dissuades howick from moving for papers on vreedenhoop, i. ; views on ashley's factory proposals, i. ; cobbett snubbed by, i. ; contrasted with russell, i. ; action of, on tithe collection, i. ; grey opposed by, i. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , ; ii. ; iii. . america:-- british north, ii. . canada, _see that title_. united states, _see that title_. american civil war, _see under_ united states. annuities bill, ii. - , . anonymous articles by gladstone, ii. _note _; iii. . anson, sir w. (warden of all souls'), iii. . anstice, prof., i. - , , _note_, , , , . antonelli, cardinal, ii. . _antony and cleopatra_ at drury lane, ii. . aosta, duke of, ii. . appointments and honours, gladstone's care in selections for, ii. ; iii. . arabi, iii. , , , - . arbitration in _alabama_ case, ii. , - ; soreness at award, ii. , . arbuthnot, george, i. ; ii. , . argyll, duke of, on presbyterian view of a church, i. _note_; attitude towards gladstone's budget, i. ; on postponement of reform bill, i. ; attitude towards french treaty scheme, ii. ; on paper duties bill, ii. , ; ecclesiastical views, ii. ; supports gladstone on estimates struggle, ii. ; views on danish question, ii. ; advises dissolution on reform bill, ii. ; in rome, ii. ; the pope's estimate of, ii. ; views on annexation of alsace and lorraine, ii. ; on _alabama_ case, ii. ; views on gladstone's retirement, ii. ; views on j. s. mill memorial, ii. ; on bulgarian question, ii. ; hawarden, ii. ; indian secretary ( ), ii. ; lord privy seal ( ), ii. ; letter to gladstone on outside influence, iii. ; views on transvaal commission, iii. ; divergence of views from chamberlain's, iii. - ; resignation, ii. ; iii. ; on disturbance compensation bill, iii. ; on franchise disagreement ( ), iii. ; suggested to effect conference between leaders on franchise bill, i. ; letter to gladstone on election address, iii. - ; views on carnarvon's interview with parnell, iii. _note _; on irish situation, iii. - ; refuses gladstone's invitation to birthday dinner, iii. ; on land question, iii. ; gladstone's letters to, i. ; ii. , , , - , , , , , , , , , , ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , , , , , - ; ii. _notes_; ii. , , , , , . aristotle, i. , _note _. armellini, iii. . armenian atrocities, iii. , . armitstead, george, iii. _and note_, , , . armstrong, e. j., ii. _and note_. army:-- cardwell's work for, ii. . commander-in-chief, position of in parliament, ii. , . estimates for ( ), ii. . purchase abolished, ii. - . short service system, ii. , . war office, qualifications for, ii. . arnold, matthew, views of, on _peter bell_, i. ; appointment sought by, ii. ; views on copyright, ii. ; poem on his father, iii. ; estimate of wordsworth, iii. ; on christianity, iii. . arnold, dr. t., sermons of, read by gladstone, i. , ; view of the church, i. ; attitude towards newman, i. ; on gladstone's first book, i. ; on jerusalem bishopric, i. ; m. arnold's poem on, iii. . ---- mrs. t., iii. . ashley, lord, on factory legislation, i. ; on jerusalem bishopric, i. , ; votes against gladstone at oxford, i. . ---- evelyn, ii. and _note_, , , . asquith, h. h., iii. _note_. athenæum club, ii. . athens, i. ; iii. . attwood, thomas, i. _note_. augustenburg, duke of, ii. , . augustine, saint, i. , , _note ; ii. . d'aumale, duc, ii. . austin, charles, i. ; iii. . australia, convict transportation to, i. _and note_. austria:-- alliance with, gladstone's view of, i. . berlin memorandum, ii. . berlin treaty obligation, attitude towards ( ), iii. . black sea provisions of treaty of paris disapproved by, ii. . bosnia and herzegovina transferred to, ii. ; iii. . confusion in policy of, ii. . danubian provinces, quasi-independence of, opposed by, ii. . eastern question, attitude towards, ii. , . egyptian question, attitude towards, iii. , . excessive expenditure, effects of, ii. . france, peace with, lord elcho's motion on, ii. _note _ expects aid from, ii. ; alliance sought by ( ), ii. ; efforts to avert franco-prussian war, ii. ; neutrality during the war, ii. . ionian islands despatch, attitude towards, i. . italy, tyranny in and war with, i. - , , _note _; ii. _et seq._, . midlothian references to, iii. . prussia--attitude of, i. ; war with, ii. , _note_, . russia--policy towards, i. ; hostility of, ii. . sadowa, defeat at, ii. . slowness of, ii. . tariff negotiations with, i. . ayrton, a. s., ii. - , - , . d'azeglio, ii. . bach's passion music, ii. . bacon, lord, cited, ii. . badeley, ----, i. _note _. bagehot, w., ii. . baker, sir samuel, iii. _note _, . balfour, a. j., gladstone's communications with, on irish situation, iii. , ; irish secretary, iii. ; on irish rents, iii. ; compared to halifax, iii. ; irish administration of, iii. - ; mitchelstown, iii. - ; on adverse bye-elections, iii. ; defends irish policy at newcastle, i. ; replies to gladstone, iii. ; moves vote of censure on irish administration, iii. ; tribute to gladstone, iii. , . ball, dr., ii. , . ballot, gladstone's opposition to ( ), i. , ; his later views ( - ), ii. - ; recommended by committee, ii. ; government bill ( ), ii. - ; results of, ii. . balmoral, gladstone's visits to, ii. - ; queen's fondness for, ii. . bangor, bishopric of, i. _note _. bank charter act ( ), iii. . ---- of england, gladstone in conflict with, i. - , - . bankruptcy bill ( ), iii. . banks, abolition of private notes of, desired by gladstone, ii. - . _baptist_, chamberlain's article in, iii. _and note _. baring, bingham, ii. . ---- sir e., administration of, iii. ; advises abandonment of soudan, iii. ; agrees on fitness of gordon for the work, iii. ; warns granville of difficulties, iii. , ; telegram to, approved by gladstone, iii. ; procures nomination of gordon as governor-general of soudan for evacuation, iii. ; gives him an executive mission, iii. ; gordon's request to, regarding zobeir, iii. ; supports request, iii. ; forbids gordon's advance to equatoria, iii. ; advises immediate preparations for relief of gordon, iii. ; position of, iii. ; advises abandonment of khartoum expedition, iii. . ---- sir francis, macaulay and gladstone contrasted by, i. - ; in whig opposition, i. _and note _; estimate of the coalition, i. - _and note _; refuses to succeed gladstone, i. . ---- t., i. . barker, mr., i. , . barrow, ii. ; iii. _note_. bassetlaw election ( ), iii. . bath, lord, ii. . bathurst, lord, i. _note_. baxter, w. e., ii. _note_. beach, sir m. hicks, colonial secretary, iii. ; negotiations with hartington on franchise bill, iii. , ; moves amendment on budget ( ), iii. , ; views on spencer's irish policy, iii. ; in debate on the address, iii. ; gives notice regarding irish bill, iii. ; on collings' amendment, iii. ; on suggestion of withdrawal of home rule bill after second reading, iii. ; speech on night of the division, iii. - ; irish secretary ( ), iii. ; denounces parnell's bill, iii. ; repudiates policy of blackmail, iii. , ; retires from secretaryship, iii. . beaconsfield, earl of (benjamin disraeli):-- _chronology_--views on slavery, i. - ; gladstone's first meeting with, i. ; on free trade, i. ; on gladstone's maynooth resignation, i. ; taunts peel with inconsistency, i. ; on peel's party relations, i. ; young england group of, i. - ; motion on agricultural distress ( ), i. ; supported by gladstone, i. - ; on cobden, i. ; view of the colonies, i. ; don pacifico debate, i. - ; peel's forecast regarding, i. ; on ecclesiastical titles bill, i. ; in derby's cabinet ( ), i. ; on protection ( ), i. , ; aylesbury speeches, i. - , ; combination of, with palmerston suggested, i. ; attitude towards peel, i. ; on free trade, i. ; herbert's speech against, i. , _and note_; budget of ( ), i. - , ; defeat of, on house duty ( ), iii. _note _; acceptance of defeat, i. - ; remark on coalition government, i. ; correspondence with gladstone on valuation of furniture, i. - ; opposes gladstone's attempted operation on national debt, i. - ; on oxford reform, i. - ; willing to yield leadership of commons to palmerston, i. ; views on derby's failure to form a ministry, i. - ; leadership of commons by, discussed, i. , ; overtures to genl. peel, i. ; derby's relations with, i. , ; conversant of derby's communications with gladstone, i. ; on lewis' budget, i. , ; denounces china war, i. ; on ministerial blundering as occasion for international quarrel, i. ; animosity against, i. ; attitude towards graham, i. , ; herbert's alleged attitude towards, i. ; letter to gladstone, i. ; conversation with vitzthum, i. _note_; remark to wilberforce regarding gladstone, i. _note_; schemes of, regarding government of india, i. ; ionian schemes attributed to, i. ; opposes union of the principalities, ii. ; gladstone's renewed conflicts with, ii. ; on gladstone's efforts for economy, ii. ; on excessive expenditure, ii. ; estimate of financial statements of, ii. ; on danish question, ii. - ; on gladstone's franchise pronouncement, ii. ; on franchise ( ), ii. ; taunts gladstone on oxford speech, ii. ; on reform bill ( ), ii. ; position in derby government ( ), ii. ; reform bill of , ii. - ; thirteen resolutions, iii. _note _; cabinet divisions of, iii. ; proposals for ireland, ii. ; becomes premier, ii. ; on irish church question, ii. ; on the bill, ii. , _and note_, , , ; dissolves, ii. ; resigns, ii. ; on irish land bill, ii. ; taunts gladstone on irish policy, ii. ; on franco-prussian question, ii. , ; on crown prerogative, ii. ; watchfulness during , ii. ; speech at manchester, ii. ; strikes imperialist note, ii. ; on _alabama_ case, ii. , , ; irish university question, ii. , ; action during ministerial crisis, ii. - , - ; brand's view of position of, ii. ; letter at bath election, ii. ; on gladstone's manifesto, ii. ; counter manifesto, ii. - ; on the dissolution ( ), ii, ; letters from, on his wife's illness and death, ii. - ; refuses adherence to the berlin memorandum, ii. ; created earl of beaconsfield, ii. ; speech at lord mayor's feast, ii. ; at berlin congress, ii. , ; attack on gladstone's eastern policy, ii. ; turn of popular feeling against, ii. ; election address ( ), ii. - ; reception of defeat ( ), ii. ; _daily telegraph_ inspired by, ii. ; on mediocrity in cabinets, iii. ; apprehensions on ireland, iii. ; peers created by, ii. _and note_; death of--tribute from gladstone, iii. . deterioration in public life due to, iii. . eminence of, iii. . estimate of, ii. ; iii. . gladstone's estimate of, i. ; gladstone's antipathy to, i. , , , , ; contrasted with gladstone, ii. , . judaism of, ii. - , ; iii. - . novels of, i. . penetration of, ii. , ; iii. . parliamentary courage of, i. ; debating method of, ii. ; parliamentary wit of, iii. . turkish sympathies of, ii. , , . otherwise mentioned, i. , , , , ; ii. _note _, , , , , ; iii. , . beard, c, ii. . beatrice, princess, ii. . beaufort, duke of, on coalition with peelites, i. . bedford, duke of, ii. ; iii. . beer duty, ii. ; iii. , , . bekker, dr., ii. . belgium:-- bismarck's threat to, ii. . franco-prussian treaty regarding, ii. . neutrality of, guaranteed ( ), ii. , . severance of, from holland, ii. . benedetti, ii. - , _note_, . bennett, w. j. e., i. _note _. benson, archbishop, iii. , , , . bentham, jeremy, i. , , , ; ii. . bentinck, lord george, quarrel with gladstone, i. - ; protectionist position of, i. ; iii. ; on irish university bill, ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , , , , _and note_. berber, gordon's arrival at, iii. ; gordon shows khedive's firman at, iii. ; route by, impossible for relieving force, iii. ; fall of, iii. ; reconnaissance towards, iii. ; railway from suakin to, iii. . beresford, lord, required to support roman catholic relief bill, ii. . ---- major, relations with disraeli, i. ; views on the peelites, i. . berlin congress ( ), ii. , ; iii. . ---- memorandum ( ), ii. . berlin treaty ( ), ii. - ; iii. , ; enforcement of, attempted ( ), iii. - . bernard, mountague, i. ; ii. . berryer, m., ii. _and note_, . bessarabia, ii. _and note _, . bessborough, lord, presides over irish land commission, iii. , ; otherwise mentioned, ii. , , . bethell, sir r., _see_ westbury. beugnot's _chute du paganisme_, iii. . biarritz, gladstone's visit to, ( - ), iii. _et seq._; ( ), iii. , . biblical passages on special occasions, i. ; biblical studies, iii. - , , . biggar, j. g., iii. . biggar, family settlement in, i. _note_. binney, t., ii. . birmingham:-- bright celebration at, iii. . gladstone's visit to ( ), ii. ; gladstone's speech at ( ), iii. - . biscoe, f., i. , , . bismarck, prince, napoleon iii. in collision with, ii. ; rise of, ii. ; french diplomatic overtures reported by, ii. ; views on belgium and holland, iii. ; scorn for france, ii. ; hopeful of peace, ii. ; anxious for war with france, ii. - , , - , _note _; complaint against england, ii. ; condensed telegram incident, ii. - ; on franco-prussian agreement regarding belgium, ii. ; agrees to arrangement for neutrality of belgium, ii. ; understanding with russia regarding black sea, ii. ; interviews with odo russell, ii. - ; estimate of russian diplomacy, ii. _note_; on egyptian question, iii. , , ; french suspicion of ( ), iii. ; gladstone's annoyance with, iii. ; antipathy towards england, i. ; otherwise mentioned, ii. , ; iii. . blachford, lord (frederick rogers), i. , , ; ii. - . blackburn, lord, ii. . blackheath, gladstone's speech at ( ), ii. - ; speech on bulgarian atrocities ( ), ii. , . black sea:-- neutralisation of ( ), i. . russian claims in ( ), ii. - , , . blakesley, j. w., i. . blanc, louis, cited, ii. . blantyre, lady, ii. . de blignières, iii. . blomfield, bishop, i. , , . ---- captain, i. . board of trade:-- cobden offered vice-presidency of ( ), i. . functions of, formerly, i. _note_. gladstone vice-president of, i. - , ; his views on, i. - . boccaccio, i. . boers, _see under_ africa, south. bohn, h. g., ii. . bonham, f. r., i. . boniface viii., pope, ii. . bonn conference, iii. . boord, t. w., ii. . booth, general, ii. . borough franchise bill ( ), ii. - . bosnia:-- austrian acquisition of, ii. , iii. . revolt in, , . bossuet, i. , , - ; ii. ; gladstone compared with, i. - ; denounced by de maistre, ii. . bournemouth, iii. . bouverie, e. p., ii. _note_. bowen, lady, i. . bowen, lord-justice, ii. , . boycotting, _see under_ ireland. bradlaugh, opinions of, iii. ; claims to affirm, iii. _and note_; to take the oath, iii. ; hostility to, iii. - , ; elected again ( ), iii. ; carries an affirmation law, iii. - . braemar, gladstone's visit to ( ), iii. . braila, sir peter, i. . bramwell, baron, ii. , . brancker, t., i. - . brand, president, messages from, on south african situation, iii, - , ; on transvaal commission, iii. . ---- h. b. w., _see_ hampden. brandreth, w. f., i. . brasseur, m., ii. . brassey, sir thomas and lady, iii. . braybrooke, lord, i. . brazil, _alabama_ case, ii. , . brewster, sir d., ii. . bright, john:-- _chronology_--gladstone's first meeting with, i. ; elected for durham, i. _note_; _life of cobden_ submitted to, i. _note_; on disraeli's agricultural distress motion, i. ; palmerston's view of, i. ; don pacifico debate, i. ; estimate of graham, i. ; on papal aggression question, i. , ; letter on the crimean war, i. _and note _; on exclusion of dissenters from universities, i. ; peelites sit with, after resignation from palmerston cabinet, i. _and note_; unpopularity of, i. , ; on crimean war, i. ; ii. , ; view of the eastern question, i. ; repulsed at election ( ), i. ; return to parliament ( ), i. ; letter to gladstone, i. ; on indian government, i. ; on the 'moral sense and honest feeling of the house,' i. , ; unpopularity of, in oxford, i. ; suggests commercial treaty with france, ii. ; on paper duties bill, ii. _note_, ; attacks fortifications scheme, ii. ; gladstone's protest against being classed with, ii. ; iii. ; letter against american war with england, ii. ; speech on american civil war, ii. ; reform bill of , ii. , ; remarks on death of cobden, ii. ; palmerston's remark on class attacks of, ii. ; views on reform bill of , ii. ; advises dissolution, ii. ; reform campaign of , ii. ; disapproved by gladstone, ii. ; induced to join gladstone's cabinet ( ), ii. ; president of board of trade, ii. ; on irish church bill, ii. ; views on irish land question, ii. , - , ; iii. ; on education bill, ii. , - ; on civil service reform, ii. ; on belgian neutrality guarantee, ii. ; on annexation of alsace and lorraine, ii. ; on great thinkers, ii. ; resignation ( ), ii. _note_, , ; at hawarden ( ), ii. - ; succeeds childers in the duchy, ii. _note_; on the greenwich seat question, ii. ; chancellor of the duchy ( ), ii. ; at hawarden ( ), ii. ; on gladstone's retirement, ii. ; radical attitude towards, ii. ; chancellor of the duchy ( ), ii. ; on the bradlaugh question, iii. , ; on transvaal affairs, iii. , , _note _; on suspension of habeas corpus act in ireland, iii. ; resigns on bombardment of alexandria, iii. , ; explanation in parliament, iii. ; birmingham speech on 'irish rebels,' iii. - ; on gladstone's view of gordon's mission, iii. ; at spencer banquet, iii. ; against home rule, iii. _note_, ; again declines to join cabinet, iii. _note_; views on exclusion of irish members from westminster, iii. , - ; disapproves land bill, iii. - ; conversation with gladstone on home rule and land bills, iii. ; letter to gladstone, iii. ; long demur regarding vote on second reading, iii. ; letter to dissentients' meeting, iii. ; electioneering against the bill, iii. . co-operation, faculty for, i. . forster's estimate of, ii. . gladstone's appreciation of, ii. , , ; iii. , ; his appreciation of gladstone, ii. - , - , ; gladstone's letters to, ii. , , ; iii. , . granville's estimate of, ii. . influence of, iii. , , . linguistic error of, iii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , _note _, , ; ii. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; iii. , , , . brodie, sir b., i. , . broglie, duc de, ii. . brontë, charlotte, ii. . brooks, mr., i. . brougham, lord, loses liverpool election, i. ; wetherell on, i. ; estimates of, i. , , , ; on slave-apprenticeship system, i. ; view of social reform, i. ; estimate of gladstone, i. ; on conspiracy bill, i. ; oratory of, i. , ; ii. ; otherwise mentioned, ii. , . broughton, lord, i. , _note_. brown, baldwin, ii. . browne, bp. harold, iii. , _note_. browning, robert, iii. . bruce, sir f. w. a., ii. _note_. ---- mrs., ii. , . ---- lady augusta, ii. - . ---- lord ernest, i. . ---- f., i. _note_. ---- henry austin, _see_ aberdare. ---- j., _see_ elgin, earl of. brunnow, baron, on war with turkey, i. ; in disfavour, i. _and note_; on blunders, i. ; gladstone desirous of an interview with, ii. - . bryce, james, iii. _note_, _note _. buccleuch, duke of, i. ; ii. , . buckingham, duke of, i. - , . budgets:-- disraeli's ( ), i. - , . gladstone's-- his keenness regarding, ii. ; ( ), i. - , - ; iii. ; ( ), i. - ; ( ), ii. ; ( ), i. ; ii. _et seq._, ; ( ), ii. - ; ( ), ii. , ; ( ), ii. , ; ( ), iii. ; ( ), iii. , . goschen's ( ), iii. . lewis' ( ), i. - . lowe's, ii. . whigs', i. . bulgaria:-- atrocities in ( ), ii. , , . division of, into northern and southern, ii. , and _note _. gladstone's first pamphlet on, ii. - ; second, ii. , . resistance of, a breakwater to europe, i. . _bulgarian horrors and the question of the east, the_, ii. - . buller, c., i. . ---- sir redvers, cited, iii. . bulteel, h. b., i. . bulwer, _see_ lytton. bunsen, gladstone's book approved by, i. ; gladstone's view of book by, i. ; otherwise mentioned, i. and _note _. buol, count, i. . burgon, j. w., i. , . burke, sir b., ii. . ---- edmund, gladstone influenced by, i. , ; attitude towards turkey, i. _note_; gladstone's estimate of, iii. , ; macaulay's estimate of, iii. _note_; citations from, in home rule debate, iii. ; quoted, i. ; ii. , , ; otherwise mentioned, i. ; ii. , ; iii. . ---- t. h., murder of, iii. _and note_, , _note _, . burne-jones, sir edward, ii. . burnett, mr., i. ; ii. . burton, sir e., cited, iii. _note_. bute, lord, i. . butler, bishop, gladstone's attitude towards, i. , _note _; ii. ; iii. - ; on over-great refinements, i. ; on habit, iii. . butt, isaac, i. , buxton, sir t. f., i. , . byron, i. . cabinets:-- angularities a cause of friction in, ii. . authority of, gladstone's views on, ii. . committees in, gladstone's view of, ii. . consultation of, on succession to cabinet office, not necessary, iii. _note_. divisions in, iii. . gladstone's ( ), efficiency of, ii. , - ; his estimates of colleagues, ii. , , , ; his censure of defaulters, ii. - ; changes in, ii. _note_; cabinet of , ii. ; of , iii. _note _; of , iii. _note_. mediocrity in, iii. . peel's view of government by, i. . responsibility of members of, gladstone's views on, iii. _note_, . caird, dr., ii. . cairnes, j. e., cited, ii. _note_. cairns, lord, on irish church bill, ii. , - ; on irish land bill ( ), ii. . cambridge:-- dissenters' disabilities at, ii. _note _. famous sons of, iii. . gladstone's early visit to, i. ; visit in , i. ; in , iii. ; his solicitude regarding, iii. . ---- duke of, i. ; ii. ; iii. , _note_, . cameron, mr., i. . campbell, lord chancellor, ii. , , , - . campbell-bannerman, sir h., irish secretary ( ), ii. ; war secretary ( ), iii. _note_; war secretary ( ), iii. _note_; on home rule bill committee of cabinet, iii. _note _. canada:-- american relations with, ii. , . assembly in, gladstone's speech on, i. _and note _. cession of, to united states suggested, ii. _and note _. commercial relations with, gladstone's despatch on, i. . constitution suspended ( ), i. , . duty on corn from, lowered, i. _note_. ecclesiastical position in, ii. . fishery questions of, adjusted ( ), ii. . government of canada bill ( ), i. and _note _. revolt of ( ), molesworth's view of, i. and _note _; gladstone's opposition to indemnification of rebels in, i. _note_. irish constitution to approximate to, suggestions regarding, iii. , . liberal policy towards, ii. . cannes ( ), iii. - ; ( ), iii. ; ( ), iii. . canning, lady, i. , . ---- charles john, earl, offered lordship of the treasury, i. ; in parliament, i. ; russell's disapproval of, i. ; on peelites' refusal to join palmerston, i. ; death of, ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , _and note _, ; ii. , , . ---- george, views on slavery, i. ; gladstone's attitude towards, i. , , , , , ; call at eton, i. ; attitude towards reform, i. , ; peel's reference to, i. ; peel contrasted with, i. ; age of, on entering cabinet, i. ; palmerston a follower of, i. ; chancellor and first lord ( ), ii. ; wit of, iii. ; wellington's treatment of ( ), iii. ; turgot praised by, iii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. - , , , , , , _note _; cited, ii. , , , ; iii. , . ---- stratford, _see_ redcliffe. cardwell, lord, withdraws from oxford election, i. - ; attitude of, towards liberals ( ), i. ; gladstone's budget submitted to, i. ; favours dissolution, i. ; russell's disapproval of, i. ; refuses to succeed gladstone, i. ; gladstone's relations with, i. , , ; on paper duties bill, ii. , , ; against economy, ii. ; estimate of gladstone's position, ii. ; the pope's estimate of, ii. ; war secretary ( ), ii. ; on irish land question, ii. , ; on civil service reform, ii. ; on suggested antwerp expedition, ii. ; capacity of, ii. ; army reforms of, ii. , - ; gladstone's letter to, on qualifications for war office, ii. ; unpopularity of, ii. - ; gladstone's letter to, on quarrelsome colleagues, ii. ; objects to reduction of estimates, ii. - ; peerage, ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. _note_, , ; ii. , , , , , , , , , . carey, j., iii. . carlingford, lord (chichester fortescue), views of, and correspondence with, on irish land question ( - ), ii. , , - ; electoral defeat of ( ), ii. ; irish secretary ( ), ii. ; president of board of trade ( ), ii. ; president of council ( ), ii. ; lord privy seal ( ), ii. ; against home rule, iii. _note_; otherwise mentioned, ii. , ; iii. . carlisle, lord, i. . carlow election ( ), iii. . carlton club, gladstone's membership of, i. ; gladstone insulted at, i. ; gladstone withdraws from, ii. . carlyle, thomas, on gladstone's first book, i. _note_; gladstone contrasted with, i. ; gladstone attracted by, i. ; estimate of gladstone, ii. - ; supports gladstone on the bulgarian question, ii. ; death of, iii. ; gladstone's estimate of, iii. - , ; otherwise mentioned, i. ; ii. , . carnarvon, nd earl of, i. . ---- th earl of, suggests gladstone for ionian islands, i. ; on irish church bill, ii. _note _, , ; resigns, ii. _note _; on transvaal annexation, iii. ; address to house of lords on irish policy, iii. , ; interview with parnell, iii. - ; anxieties of, regarding national league, iii. ; resigns, iii. , ; otherwise mentioned, iii. , . carteret, i. ; ii. , _note_. castelcicala, i. , _note _, . catholic emancipation, _see_ roman catholic. cavagnari, iii. . cavendish, i. _note _. ---- lord f., gladstone's appreciation of, ii. ; appointed lord of the treasury, ii. _note_; appointed irish secretary, ii. ; iii. ; murdered, i. , _note _; gladstone's tribute to, i. ; otherwise mentioned, ii. , , , . ---- lady f., iii. - . ---- lord richard, ii. . cavour, count, interested in gladstone's budget, i. ; ii. ; gladstone's interview with ( ), i. ; ii. ; england a difficulty to, ii. ; dealings with napoleon iii., ii. ; resigns, ii. ; manzoni's estimate of, ii. ; development of aims of, ii. ; remarks on italian free trade, ii. ; death of, ii. and _note _; prediction of, regarding prussia, ii. , ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , , ; ii. , , , ; iii. , , . cecil, lord robert, _see_ salisbury. cephalonia:-- archbishop of, i. - ; ii. . condition of ( ), i. - , - . rising in ( ), i. , ; gladstone's despatch on, i. _note _. chaillé-long, colonel c., cited, iii. _note_. challemel-lacour, iii. . chalmers, dr., gladstone's estimate of, i. , - , - ; views on church establishment, i. - ; otherwise mentioned, i. , . chamberlain, joseph, on education act ( ), ii. ; supports the resolutions on turkey, ii. ; with gladstone calling on cardinal newman, ii. _note_; president of board of trade ( ), i. _note_; ii. , ; popularity of, with radicals, iii. ; on transvaal annexation, iii. - ; abstains from voting in transvaal division, iii. ; argyll uneasy at speeches of, iii. ; on suspension of habeas corpus act in ireland, iii. ; communications with parnell, in. ; offers to yield dilke his post, iii. ; gladstone's correspondence with the queen regarding, iii. - ; views on liberty of speech for cabinet ministers, iii. - ; social programme of, iii. - ; on crimes act, iii. ; suggests central board of local government for ireland, iii. ; opposes land purchase for ireland, iii. - ; resigns, iii. ; on conservative repudiation of lord spencer's policy, iii. - ; view of gladstone's election address, iii. ; gladstone's conversation with, iii. - _and notes_; gladstone's attitude towards (sept. ' ), iii. ; antagonism to hartington, iii. , ; opposes home rule, iii. , ; former nationalist leanings of, iii. ; russian and austrian speech of june th, iii. - ; visit to hawarden, iii. ; liberal losses attributed to, iii. ; on liberal losses at the elections, iii. ; agrarian policy of, iii. , ; advises leaving parnell to conservatives, iii. ; parnell's attitude towards, iii. ; alleged desire for irish secretaryship, iii. ; joins the cabinet, iii. - ; local government board, iii. _note_; objections to proposed home rule bill, iii. ; resigns, iii. - ; propounds federation views, iii. - , , ; opposed to land bill, iii. ; meeting of dissentients in committee, iii. - ; no terrors for, in dissolution, iii. ; gladstone's comments on, to acton, iii. ; speech at birmingham, iii. , , ; gladstone's comments on position of, iii. ; at round table conference, iii. _note_, ; article in _baptist_, iii. _and note _; gives up conference, iii. ; gladstone's conversation with (ap. ' ), iii. ; gladstone's reply to, on home rule bill (may ' ), iii. - ; gladstone's letters to, iii. , ; otherwise mentioned, iii. , , , , . chancery commission, ii. . chandos, lord, i. , . chantrey, sir f., i. . _chapter of autobiography_, publication of, ii. - . charities and income-tax, ii. - . charity, sums spent in, iii. - . charles i., king, iii. - . chartism, i. , . chatham, lord, i. _and note _, , ; iii. . chester, speech at, on colonial policy ( ), i. . chevalier, michel, gladstone's letters to, ii. , . childers, h. c. e., on estimates ( ), ii. ; on civil service reform, ii. ; on russia's black sea announcement, ii. ; retirement of ( ), ii. _note_; on the greenwich seat question, ii. _note_; suggested for war office, ii. , ; first lord of admiralty ( ), ii. ; resigns ( ), ii. ; chancellor of the duchy ( ), ii. ; retires ( ), ii. ; war secretary ( ), ii. ; colley's acknowledgments to, iii. _note_; efficiency of, in egyptian campaign ( ), iii. _note_; chancellor of exchequer ( ), iii. , ; home rule views of, iii. , _note_; home secretary ( ), iii. _note _, _note_; otherwise mentioned, ii. , _note _, ; iii. . chillingworth, i. . chiltern hundreds, i. _note_. china:-- opium question ( ), i. - ; gladstone's attitude towards, i. - , , , , . tai-ping rising in, suppressed by gordon, iii. _note _. war with ( ), i. - ; ( - ), ii. _and note_, , . china, collection of, ii. , _and note_. chios, archbishop of, ii. . christianity, acton on, iii. - . christopher, r.a., i. . church, dean, _oxford movement_ by, i. _note _, _note _; position of, at oxford ( ), i. - ; estimate of gladstone, ii. , ; appointed to st. paul's by gladstone, ii. ; otherwise mentioned, ii. , ; iii. - , , . _church and state_ (coleridge), i. . _church principles_, i. , , . churches:-- anglican-- antagonism of, to liberal party, ii. . catholic revival in, nature of, i. . clerical calling, gladstone's leanings to, i. - , - , , , - . condition of ( - ), i. . convocation, revival of, ii. - . crisis in ( ), iii. . disestablishment-- gladstone's speech against ( ), ii. - _and note_; his attitude towards ( ), ii. - , iii. ; his views on ( ), iii. ; chamberlain's view of, iii. . evangelical party in, social reforms effected by, i. , ; gladstone brought up in, i. , ; tractarians in alliance with, i. ; anti-slavery work of, i. _note_. gladstone's position regarding, iii. - . gorham case, i. , - , . guizot's views on, ii. . ireland, in, _see under_ ireland. manning's views on outlook for ( ), i. . orders in, iii. . palmer's book on, i. , , _note _. poetry in, iii. . preferments in, gladstone's case with, ii. - . rates, abolition of, ii. . ritualism in, ii. , . roman _versus_, gladstone's views on, i. - , . state and-- gladstone's views on, ( ), i. - ; ( ), i. ; ( ), ii. - ; growth of ideas on, i. - ; views modified by lady hewley case, i. ; supremacy question, i. ; gladstone's view of concessions, ii. ; conversation at biarritz, iii. - . _state in its relation with the church, the_ ( ), i. , . welsh disestablishment question, chamberlain's article on, iii. _and note _; difficulty of, iii. ; advance of ( - ), iii. . distinction of, from state, in general view, i. . gladstone's interest in, i. ; ii. . nature of, gladstone's ideas regarding, i. - , - . roman:-- anglican _versus_, gladstone's views on, i. - , . infallibility dogma of, ii. , - , , , . jansenists in, i. . jesuits of, ii. . neapolitan tyranny connected with, i. . old catholic dissenters from, ii. , . papal aggression question ( ), i. ; views on, i. - , , _and note_. parnell leadership denounced by, iii. - . proselytising of, ii. , . religion spoiling morality in, ii. . secession to, by newman, i. ; by miss helen gladstone, i. ; by hope and manning, i. - ; second great tide of, i. ; gladstone's views on, i. , ; manning's views on, i. . syllabus ( )-- importance of, ii. ; influence of, on irish legislation, ii. ; contents of, ii. ; gladstone's correspondence with acton regarding, ii. . temporal power, gladstone's views on, i. , ; ii. - , ; iii. ; vatican decrees in relation to, ii. , , . ultramontanes _v._ liberals, ii. - , - ; basis of ultra-montanism, ii. . vatican decrees ( ), ii. , _et seq._; in relation to temporal power, ii. , , . scottish, establishment question, iii. , . churchill, lady, ii. , , . ---- lord randolph, party of, iii. , , _note_; on dutch sentiment in south africa, iii. _note _; on franchise extension in ireland, iii. ; on crimes act, iii. - ; revolt of, against 'the old gang,' iii. - ; on irish affairs, iii. , , ; on tory prospects after the defeat, iii. ; on gladstone's chances of forming a government ( ), iii. ; on 'reconstruction' of home rule bill, iii. ; chancellor of exchequer, iii. ; resignation, iii. , - ; ulster plan of campaign encouraged by, iii. _note_; speaks on budget ( ), iii. ; on imprisonment of irish members, iii. ; on gladstone's reply to balfour, iii. . churton, e., i. . civil service reform, i. - , - ; ii. - . clanricarde, captain, i. . claremont, i. , . clarendon, earl of, addresses house of lords, on irish policy ( ), iii. _note_; attitude towards gladstone's budget, i. , ; on british policy preceding crimean war, i. , ; efforts for peace, i. ; aberdeen in conflict with, i. _and note _; attitude towards ecumenical council, ii. , ; satisfies aberdeen, i. ; condemns peelites' resignation, i. ; on garibaldi's departure, ii. ; foreign secretary ( ), ii. _note_; the pope's estimate of, ii. ; in rome, ii. ; foreign secretary ( ), ii. , ; on civil service reform, ii. ; foreign policy of, ii. - ; correspondence on reduction of armaments, ii. - ; _alabama_ case, ii. , ; death of ( ), ii. , ; gladstone's appreciation of, ii. , ; iii. ; granville's estimate of, ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. _note_, , , , , , ; ii. , , , , , , , . clark, sir andrew, ii. , , , , , , ; iii. , , _note_, , , . clarke, mr., i. . classical education, gladstone's view of, ii. , - . clémenceau, m., iii. . clerk, sir g., i. . clifford, w. k., ii. . closure, _see under_ parliament. clough, arthur h., i. . clowes, mr., ii. . clumber, i. , ; ii. . clyde, lord, ii. . coalition government ( - ), i. _et seq._; cabinet harmony in, i. ; crimean war's effect on, i. , , . coalitions, views on, i. . cobbett, i. ; ii. . cobden, richard:-- _chronology_-- free-trade advocacy of, i. , ; peel's eulogium on, i. - , , ; views on colonial government, i. ; don pacifico debate, i. ; on crimean war, ii. ; unpopularity of, i. , , ; view of the eastern question, i. ; on proceedings in china, i. ; repulsed at election ( ), i. ; declines to join palmerston's government, i. ; visit to hawarden, ii. , ; french treaty negotiations, ii. - , , _note _; experience on expenditure committees, ii. ; gladstone's protest against being classed with, ii. ; iii. ; writes against american war with england, ii. ; on danish question, ii. , ; death of, ii. . co-operation, faculty for, i. . disraeli on, i. . forster's estimate of, ii. . gladstone's estimate of, i. , , , , _note_; ii. , ; gladstone's confidence in, i. . graham's estimate of, i. . _life_ of, cited, _and note_, _note _. originality of, ii. , ; iii. . palmerston's view of, i. . stanley's estimate of, i. . otherwise mentioned, i. , , , , ; ii. , , , , , , ; iii. . ---- club:-- chamberlain's speech at dinner of ( ), iii. - . gladstone's eulogy of cobden at dinner of ( ), ii. . cockburn, chief justice, ii. , , . coercion, _see under_ ireland. colborne, capt., i. . cole, mr., i. _note_, . colenso, bishop, i. ; ii. - , . coleridge, s. t., i. , , _note._ ---- lord chief justice, recommends northcote to gladstone, i. _note _; uneasy regarding gladstone's views, i. ; introduces bill for removing tests, ii. ; made lord chief justice, ii. _note_, ; on the greenwich seat question, ii. _and note_; _times_ libel action tried before, iii. . colley, sir george, iii. _and note _, - , . collier, jeremy, cited, iii. . ---- sir robert, ii. - . collings, jesse, iii. . collins, i. . colonial society, ii. _note _. colonies:-- church in, ii. - . disraeli's views on, i. ; ii. ; speech on ( ), ii. . gladstone's views on, i. - , - , . home rule (irish), attitude towards, iii. . military expenditure for, i. _and note _; reduction of troops in ( ), ii. and _note_, . protection adopted by, against england, ii. . combes, m., iii. _note_. commercial treaties-- french, ii. - , ; various ( ), ii. . companies, gladstone's bill for regulation of, i. . concert of europe, gladstone's view of, ii. , , , ; iii. , . condé, cited, i. . congo debate ( ), iii. . 'conservative,' adoption of name of, i. . conservative party:-- changes in ( - ), iii. . church the rallying point of, i. . closure by guillotine introduced by, iii. . coercion-- repudiated by, iii. - , ; revival of, a last resort for, iii. - , ; proposed by, iii. ; salisbury's 'twenty years' proposal, iii. . electoral losses of ( - ), iii. . factions in, i. . fourth party among, iii. , , _note_. franchise extension not inimical to, iii. . gladstone's early connection with, i. _note_; his views on ( ), iii. . ireland, traditional policy towards, iii. - . irish alliance with, iii. - , , , , , - , , , . liberal aid to, on important measures, iii. - ; liberal seceders' union with, iii. . nationalist support of, at general election ( ), iii. - . o'connell, attitude towards, i. , . lord spencer's policy, and, iii. . tory democracy, iii. , , - . whig seceders' fusion with, i. . consistency, gladstone's view of, i. - . conspiracy to murder bill, i. - . constantinople:-- meeting of the powers at ( ), ii. . patriarch of, ii. . convocation, revival of, ii. - . conway, general, iii. . copyright, gladstone's views on, ii. , . cordite vote, iii. _and note_. corfu:-- british retention of, advised, i. , - . gladstone's arrival at, i. ; house at, i. . petition drawn up by, i. . university at, i. . corn laws:-- gladstone's support of, i. , , - , ; modification of views, i. - , - , . graham's defence of, i. . repeal of-- peel's policy regarding, i. - , ; results of, i. ; liberal aid to tories for, iii. , . correspondence in the octagon, ii. - . corrie, messrs., i. . corry, h., i. _note _, . corrupt practices bill ( ), i. _and note _; iii. . court gossip, gladstone's view of, ii. . cousin, victor, i. ; ii. - . coutts, miss burdett, ii. . cowan, sir j., ii. ; iii. _note _, _note_. cowley, lord, ii. . cowper, lord, iii. , , . ---- william (lord mount-temple), i. ; ii. . craik, sir henry, cited, ii. _note_. cranborne, lord, _see_ salisbury. cranmer, archbishop, iii. - . craven, mrs., i. , . crawford, r. w., ii. , , . creighton, bishop, ii. . crimea, catherine's seizure of, i. . crimean war:-- coalition government wrecked on, i. , , . committee on, roebuck's motion for, i. , , - , . course of, i. - , - . end of, i. . gladstone's view of, i. , , - , - ; gladstone charged with 'starving,' i. . ignorance of facts of, among politicians, i. . illusions of, ii. . income-tax renewal necessitated by, i. . kinglake's book on, i. - _and note_. napoleon iii. strengthened by, ii. . newcastle and herbert, charges against, i. - . objects of, i. . origin of, i. . popular british opinion on, i. - . responsibilities for, i. . turkish position after, ii. . croke, dr., iii. . cromwell, ii. , ; iii. . crown:-- critical wave against, ii. - . gladstone's attitude towards, ii. - . prerogative of, gladstone charged with resorting to, ii. - . crown princess, ii. , . crowther, rev. ----, i. - . ---- ---- ii. . cullen, cardinal, opposes irish university bill, ii. , - , ; gladstone's meeting with ( ), ii. ; mentioned, i. . cumberland, duke of, i. , , . currie, sir donald, iii. , . customs, articles liable to, in various years, ii. _and note_. cyprus:-- british acquisition of, ii. . convention regarding, ii. , ; iii. . gladstone's midlothian reference to, ii. ; iii. - . seizure of, projected, ii. . _daily news_, ii. , _and note_. _daily telegraph_, ii. ; iii. _and note_. dale, r. w., ii. - , , , . dalhousie, lord, i. ; iii. _note_. dalkeith, lord, ii. , . dalmeny, ii. , - ; iii. , . dalrymple, mr., iii. . dante:-- gladstone's appreciation of, i. , _note _, , ; iii. - , , . scartazzini on, iii. . darbishire, mr., ii. . darfur, iii. , _note _, . daru, ii. - . darwin, ii. - , . davidson, bishop, i. _note _. davis, jefferson, ii. , - . de retz, iii. . de tabley, lord, ii. . december, important events in gladstone's life in, ii. . delane, mr., i. , ; ii. , , . demerara, i. - , . democracy:-- fair play a natural tendency of, iii. . gladstone's feeling for, ii. ; iii. , , , , - ; iii. ; his efforts against besetting vice of, ii. - ; his faith in, i. , ; iii. ; his moulding of opinion of, iii. ; their devotion to gladstone, iii. , , , . mazzini's work for, iii. . oxford in relation to, ii. . spendthrift tendency of, iii. . denison, bishop edward, censure of hampden opposed by, i. . ---- archdeacon, gorham case, i. _note_ ; withdraws support from gladstone, i. ; condemnation of, for heresy, i. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , , _note_. ---- j. e. (speaker), ii. . denmark:-- gladstone's cruise to ( ), iii. - ( ), iii. ; tribute from, ii. . schleswig-holstein question, see _that title_. deputations, i. . derby, th earl of, abolition, proposals of, i. , ; advocates reform, i. ; joins conservatives, i. ; brougham's estimate of, i. ; resigns on irish church question, i. ; peel's annoyance with, i. ; on tariff question, i. ; gladstone's relations with, i. ; attitude towards repeal, i. ; resigns, i. ; on peel's eulogium of cobden, i. - ; new zealand question, i. ; on quarrel between gladstone and bentinck, i. - ; graham's attitude towards, i. ; invites gladstone to enter the government, i. , ; gladstone declines, i. ; views on papal aggression question, i. ; reply to lord howick in sugar duties' debate, i. ; cabinet of three men and a half ( ), i. ; supported by the peelites, i. , ; attitude towards free trade, i. , ; oxford commission, i. ; gratitude to gladstone, i. ; resigns on budget defeat, i. ; views on gladstone's budget, i. ; attempts to form a ministry ( ), i. - ; fails, i. , ; communications with gladstone, i. - , , , ; relations with disraeli, i. , ; recommends union with disraeli and peelites, i. ; vote of censure on palmerston ( ), ii. ; forms second administration ( ), i. ; financial policy of, ii. ; letter to gladstone, i. ; bright's views on position of, i. ; reform bill ( ), i. ; ii. ; defeat and dissolution, i. ; ii. ; gladstone in sympathy with, i. ; gladstone's estimate of, ii. ; forms a government ( ), ii. ; on irish railways commission, ii. _note_; on irish church bill, ii. , ; peers created by, ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , _and note_, , , , ; ii. _note_ , , ; iii. _note_, . derby, th earl of, on reform bill ( ), ii. ; on ireland, ii. ; on luxemburg guarantee, ii. , _and note_; declines to serve on _alabama_ commission, ii. ; subscribes to mill memorial, ii. ; views on eastern question, ii. , , ; resigns, ii. _note_ ; declines office with gladstone, ii. ; colonial secretary ( ), ii. ; london convention with transvaal ( ), iii. _and note_; declines to join gladstone's government ( ), iii. ; joins as colonial secretary, iii. ; gladstone's letter to, on ireland, iii. ; declares against home rule, iii. _note_, ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , , , , , , , , , ; ii. ; iii. , . devon, lord, i. - . devonshire, duke of, ii. _note_; iii. , , . dickson, colonel, ii. . dilke, sir charles, supports the resolutions on turkey, ii. ; declines to join gladstone's government except with chamberlain, ii. ; president of local government board, ii. ; claim of, to cabinet position, iii. ; appointed to local government board, iii. ; conferences on franchise bill, iii. ; agrees to send gordon to soudan, iii. ; on crimes act, iii. ; opposes land purchase for ireland, iii. - ; resigns, iii. ; speech on irish policy, iii. ; for home rule, iii. _note_. dillon, j., iii. , . dillwyn, l., ii. . dingwall, gladstone presented with freedom of, i. . disestablishment, _see under_ churches. disraeli, b., _see_ beaconsfield. ---- mrs., ii. , , - . dissenters:-- affirmation bill opposed by, iii. . disestablishment speech by gladstone, effect of, ii. - . educational views of ( and ), ii. ; ( ) ii. - ; estrangement of, by education act of , ii. , ; opposition to the act, ii. . election of , action in, ii. . gladstone's relations with ( ), ii. - ; ( ) ii. ; ( ) ii. ; views on gladstone's retirement, ii. - . home rule, attitude towards, in wales, iii. . university exclusion of, i. - ; ii. _and note _. dissenters' chapels bill, i. , , . disturbance compensation bill, iii. . divorce:-- french law on, i. _note_. gladstone's views on, i. - _and note_. statistics regarding, i. _note_. ---- bill ( ), i. - . dodson, j. g., ii. _note_, ; iii. _note_. döllinger, dr., gladstone's visit to ( ), i. - _and note _; later visit ( ), ii. - ; criticisms from, on vaticanism, ii. ; acton compared with, ii. ; gladstone's visit to ( ), iii. - ; salmon's agreement with, iii. ; death of, iii. ; gladstone's estimate of, iii. - , . dollis hill, iii. , . don pacifico debate, i. - _and note_, , , . dongola, iii. , . donnachaidh clan, i. . douglas, sir c., i. . dobrudscha, ii. _note _. doyle, francis, at eton, i. , , - ; gladstone's friendship with, i. , ; gladstone's letters to, i. ; ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. _note_, _note_, , , , ; ii. . dragonetti, the marquis, ii. . drayton, i. . drew, mrs. (mary gladstone), gladstone's letter to, ii. ; accompanies gladstone to midlothian, ii. ; acton's letter to, on middlesex candidature, ii. ; engagement of, iii. ; gladstone's letter to, on _robert elsmere_, iii. . drift, gladstone's view of, ii. . dryden, iii. . duff, grant, iii. _note _. dufferin, lord, urges turkish intervention in egypt, iii. ; advises abandonment of kordofan and darfur, iii. ; mentioned, ii. , , , ; iii. . dugdale, w. s., i. . duncan, mr., ii. _note_. dundonald, lord, iii. _note_. dunfermline, lord (speaker), i. . dunkellin, lord, ii. . dunrobin, i. . dupanloup, bishop, ii. . durham, lord, i. , . dyke, sir w. hart, iii. . eastern question, _see_ turkey. ---- roumelia, ii. . eastlake, sir c., ii. . _ecce homo_, ii. - , , , . ecclesiastical appointments, i. ; ii. , - . ---- commission ( - ), iii. . ---- titles bill, i. , - _and note_; effect of act on whigs, i. ; repeal of ( ), ii. . economy:-- churchill's efforts for, iii. . direct taxation conducive to, ii. . gladstone's efforts for, ii. - , , , - , - , ; iii. , , , . edinburgh, gladstone's early visit to, i. ; reception in (june ' ), iii. ; gladstone first lord rector of university, i. . ---- duke of, ii. , . _edinburgh review_, gladstone's anonymous article in, ii. . education, primary:-- board school question at hawarden, ii. . condition of, in , ii. _note_. controversy on, nature of, ii. - . differences regarding, in liberal party, ii. . dissenters' views on ( and ), ii. ; ( ), ii. - ; estrangement by act of , ii. ; opposition to the act, ii. . forster's bill ( ), ii. , , - , - , . free, advocated by chamberlain ( ), iii. , . peel's bill ( ), ii. _note_. state aid for, gladstone's views on, i. ; ii. - , , . ---- secondary:-- classical course, gladstone's view of, ii. - . reform of ( ), ii. - . edwards, jonathan, iii. . egerton, sir p., i. _note_. ---- ii. - _and note_. egypt:-- alexandria--english and french fleets at, iii. ; bombardment of, iii. , - . anglo-french control in, iii. , , ; proposal of anglo-french occupation, i. - . annexation idea unfavourably viewed in england, iii. . army, revolt of, in. , , . british responsibilities in, ii. ; iii. . conference of constantinople, iii. . financial position of, iii. , , - , , , ; london convention, iii. . gladstone's prognostication regarding, iii. . northbrook's mission to, iii. . reforms in, possible only by evacuation of soudan, iii. . soudan, _see that title_. southern frontier of, determined ( ), iii. . suez canal:-- construction of, i. - . france, attempted agreement with, regarding, iii. . protection of ( ), iii. , , . tel-el-kebir, iii. , _note_. withdrawal from, difficulties of, iii. ; salisbury's policy regarding, iii. . d'eichthal, gustave, ii. . elcho, lord, ii. _note _. elections, general:-- ( ) iii. - ; ( ) iii. - ; ( ) iii. , ; dates of gladstone's, ii. . elgin, lord (j. bruce), i. , _note_; ii. , , . eliot, lord, i. . elizabeth, queen, iii. . ellenborough, lord, i. , , . ellice, e., i. , , , ; ii. . elliot, arthur, iii. . elwin, w., i. , . emancipation, _see_ slave-holding. emerson, r. w., i. - _note_, ; ii. . employers' liability bill ( ), iii. . endowed schools bill ( ), ii. . epirus, ii. . errington, w. v., iii. . esher, viscount, cited, ii. _note_. essays and reviews, i. ; ii. - , . estcourt, t. g. b., i. . estimates (_see also_ expenditure), ( and ), ii. ; ( - ) ii. _note _, ; ( ), iii. - . eton, gladstone's career at, i. - ; examines at ( ), i. . _eton miscellany_, i. , - . eugénie, empress, ii. . evarts, w. m., ii. . eversley, viscount (speaker), i. . ewelme appointment, ii. - ; iii. . exchequer and audit act ( ), ii. . expenditure:-- annual amount of ( - and ), ii. . army and navy, on ( - ), ii. . excess in, gladstone's efforts against, ii. - , , , - . policy of ( - ), i. . spirit of, gladstone's protest against, ii. , . export trade, growth of ( - ), ii. - . factory legislation, i. . faguet, cited, ii. . farini, i. - ; ii. . farquhar, sir w., i. , ; ii. . farr, w. w., i. . farrer, lord, i. _note _. fasque, family portraits at, i. ; church at, i. _note _; purchase of, i. ; helen gladstone buried at, ii. ; t. gladstone's golden wedding at, iii. ; gladstone's visit to ( ), iii. . favre, jules, ii. . fawcett, h., ii. , _note_, , _note_. fechter, c. a., ii. _and note_, . fénelon, i. , . fenians:-- papal rescript, attitude towards, iii. . parnell's alleged conversation with a spy regarding, iii. - . plots by ( ), ii. - . temper of ( ), iii. . ferdinand, king, i. , , . ferguson, dr., ii. . field, cyrus, ii. , . fielden, j., i. . finance (_see also_ budgets, expenditure, national debt, taxation):-- egyptian, iii. , , . gladstone's masterly statements on, ii. ; iii. ; his principles of, ii. , - , , . home rule bill provisions regarding, _see under_ ireland. pitt's, ii. - . popular interest in, i. . finance bill, ii. - . finlay, g., i. , _note_, . fire insurance duty, ii. , . fish, h., ii. , - , . fisher, bishop, ii. . fitzgerald, lord, i. . fitzmaurice, lord e., ii. _note_. fitzroy, lord c., i. ; ii. . fitzwilliam, lord, iii. , . florence, ii. - ; iii. . follett, sir w. w., i. . foreign affairs, british ignorance of, ii. - . foreign enlistment act ( ), ii. and _note_, . ---- policy:-- gladstone's views on, ii. - . peel's influence on, i. . popular fickleness regarding, i. . forster, w. e., on american civil war, ii. ; views on liberal party, ii. ; vice-president of council ( ), ii. ; education bill of, ii. , , - , - , ; endowed schools, bill of, ii. ; ballot bill, ii. ; on _alabama_ case, ii. , ; on irish university debate, ii. - ; on bulgarian question, ii. ; irish secretary ( ), ii. , ; radical attitude towards, ii. ; allows coercion act to lapse ( ), iii. ; on lords' rejection of disturbance bill, iii. ; 'village ruffian' theory, iii. ; seeks coercive powers, iii. , ; coercion bill of, iii. _and notes_, _note _; at hawarden, iii. ; gladstone's letters to, iii. , ; condition of ireland under, iii. ; resigns, iii. , , ; on franchise extension in ireland, iii. _note _; otherwise mentioned, ii. _note_, , , , , , ; iii. , , , _and note _. fortescue, c., _see_ carlingford. _fortnightly review_, iii. - . fortunato, i. . fould, a., ii. - , . fowler, h. h., iii. , _note_. ---- william, ii. . fox, general, i. . ---- c. j., views of, on emancipation of slaves, i. ; estimates of, by peel and harrowby, i. - ; motion of, against lord sandwich, i. ; parliamentary position of, i. - ; protests against british interference in crimea, i. . otherwise mentioned, i. , ; ii. , . ---- henry, i. . france:-- alliance with, gladstone's view of, i. ; ii. . alliances sought by ( ), ii. , . american war, joint mediation in, urged on england and russia, ii. . austria, peace with, lord elcho's motion on, ii. _note _. berlin treaty obligations, attitude towards, iii. . black sea affair, ii. , _and note_. commercial treaty with:-- suggested by cobden, ii. , ; negotiation of, ii. , ; discussed in cabinet, ii. - ; provisions of, ii. _note_, ; objects of, ii. - ; publication of, in belgian papers, ii. ; results of, ii. , , ; gladstone's later views on, ii. _note_. commune ( ), ii. . confusion in policy of, ii. . crimean war, _see that title_. danubian provinces, policy regarding, ii. . divorce illegal in ( - ), i. _note_. don pacifico case, offer of good offices in, i. . egypt, action regarding ( ), iii. ; understanding with salisbury, iii. ; the joint note, iii. - ; fleet at alexandria, iii. ; fleet withdrawn, iii. ; agrees to british advance in egypt, iii. ; declines to take any action, iii. ; salisbury policy frustrated by, iii. . german unity a menace to, ii. . gladstone's finance admired in, ii. ; gladstone elected foreign associate of institute of, ii. _and note_; tribute at his death, iii. . italian unity aided by, ii. - , , _see also_ napoleon. land question in, iii. . nice and savoy acquired by, ii. , , , . orsini affair, representations regarding, i. . palmerston's attitude towards, i. ; ii. , . poetry in, iii. . prussia:-- treaty with, regarding belgium, ii. . war with ( )--british efforts to avert, ii. - , - ; declaration of, ii. _and note _; french miscalculations, ii. ; course of, ii. - ; british sympathy after sedan, ii. ; effect of the war on british naval expenditure, ii. . republic-- recognition of ( ), ii. ; statesmen of, iii. . rome-- occupation of, ii. - , , , ; british attitude towards the occupation, ii. ; evacuation of, ii. , . roumania, coolness with britain regarding, ii. . schleswig-holstein question, ii. - . tariff negotiations with, i. . turkish murder of consul at salonica, ii. ; attitude towards turkey ( ), iii. . vatican decrees, attitude towards, ii. . vicissitudes of government in, i. . war with ( ), iii. ; war rumoured ( - ), ii. - , - . zenith of the empire, ii. . franchise extension:-- anticipations regarding ( ), iii. , . bill of , ii. ; bill of , ii. - ; bill of , ii. - , , . boroughs, for, workmen's attitude towards, ii. , , , , ; palmerston's views regarding, ii. , ; household suffrage struggle, ii. - ; liberal aid to tories for ( ), iii. , . counties, for, ii. , , ; iii. _et seq._ conservative party the gainers by, iii. . ireland, _see under_ ireland. gladstone's speech on ( ), ii. - . manhood, chamberlain's pronouncement on, iii. . reform bill of restricted to, ii. . fraser, family of, i. _note_. ---- bishop, ii. . ---- sir william, i. and _note _, _note_. frederick william, crown prince of prussia, i. . free trade:-- disraeli's pronouncement on, i. . employment in relation to, ii. . external agitation, production of, ii. . french commercial treaty in relation to, ii. _note_, . gladstone's speech on ( ), iii. . freeman, e. a., ii. . _freeman's journal_, ii. . fremantle, t. f., i. . frere, sir bartle, liberal disapproval of, iii. , ; responsible for zulu war, iii. ; the queen's feeling for, iii. - ; enquires liberal policy, iii. ; promises boers self-government, iii. ; south african dutch exasperated by, iii. _note_; recalled, iii. , _note_. freshfield, j. w., i. , . freycinet, m. de, iii. , - . frohschammer, j., ii. . frost, j., i. . froude, hurrell, i. , , . ---- j. a., i. _note _; ii. , . funerals, ii. . furse, c. w., ii. . gaisford, dr., i. . gambetta, ii. _note _; iii. , , , , . garfield, mrs., iii. . garibaldi-- sails from genoa, ii. - ; enters naples, ii. ; in england, ii. - ; gladstone's estimate of, ii. - , ; italian estimate of, ii. ; manning's attitude towards, ii. ; letters from, ii. ; mentioned, ii. ; iii. . gaskell, mrs. benjamin, i. . ---- james milnes, gladstone's friendship with, i. , ; debating society in rooms of, i. ; speech on reform bill, i. ; gladstone's visits to, i. ; ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . george iii., ii. ; iii. . gerasimus, bishop, i. . germany (_see also_ prussia):-- berlin memorandum, ii. , . ---- treaty obligations, attitude towards ( ), iii. . black sea provisions of treaty of paris disapproved by, ii. . colonial question in, iii. . egyptian question, attitude towards, iii. , , , . italian alliance with, iii. . luxemburg affair, ii. , _and note_. poetry in, iii. . schleswig-holstein question, ii. - . turkish murder of consul at salonica, ii. . unification of, ii. ; france menaced by, ii. . vatican decrees, attitude towards, ii. . gibbon, i. ; iii. . gibson, milner-, gladstone against, i. ; efforts towards peace, i. ; return to parliament ( ), i. ; in palmerston government, i. ; unpopularity of, in oxford, i. ; on paper duties bill, ii. , - ; gladstone supported by, ii. , , - . gladstone, name changed from gladstones, i. and _note _. ---- agnes (daughter), engagement of, ii. - ; marriage, ii. . ---- anne (sister), i. _note _, . ---- helen jane (sister), i. _note _; gladstone abroad with, i. , ; secession to rome, i. , ; death, ii. . ---- henry (son), gladstone's message to, on learning latin, ii. ; at school, ii. ; starts for india, ii. ; gladstone's letters to, ii. , ; iii. . ---- herbert (son), gladstone's letters to, ii. _and note_, ; iii. ; returned for leeds, ii. ; press interview of (dec. ' ), iii. - ; otherwise mentioned, ii. , , , ; iii. . ---- sir john (father), political work of, i. - , - , ; churches built by, i. _and note _; marriage of, i. ; views of, on slave-holding, i. - ; gladstone's defence of, in the _liverpool courier_, i. ; loses berwick election, i. ; political acuteness of, i. - ; criticisms on w. e. gladstone, i. ; howick's attack on, i. ; fasque bought by, i. ; seventieth birthday of, i. ; loses dundee election ( ), i. ; disapproves jamaica journey, i. ; transfers demerara property to his sons, i. ; assists scotch training college scheme, i. ; correspondence with peel regarding his sons, i. - ; views of, on protection, i. , ; baronetcy of, i. , ; views on gladstone's oxford candidature, i. ; on jewish disabilities removal bill, i. ; buys portion of hawarden estates, i. ; attitude towards peel ( ), i. ; death of, i. ; w. e. gladstone's relations with, i. , , , - , ; w. e. gladstone's letters to, i. , , - , , - , ; letters from, on choice of profession, i. ; w. e. gladstone's estimate of, i. , . gladstone, mrs. john (mother), w. e. gladstone's devotion to, i. , , ; death of, i. . ---- john (brother), i. , _note _; travels of, with w. e. gladstone, i. ; walsall candidature of, i. - ; parliamentary election of, desired by his father, i. ; w. e. gladstone's letter to, on family differences, i. ; illness and death of wife of, ii. , ; death of, ii. . ---- mary (daughter), _see_ drew. ---- robertson (brother), i. _note _; appointed manager of demerara properties, i. ; position of, in liverpool, i. ; at gladstone's lancashire candidature ( ), ii. ; w. e. gladstone's letters to, i. , - , ; ii. , , . ---- stephen (son), ii. , , . ---- thomas (grandfather), i. . ---- ---- (brother), slave-holding defended by, i. ; attitude towards reform bill, i. _note_; on gladstone's oxford candidature, i. ; gladstone's letter to, on offers of a peerage, ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. _note _, , . ---- william ewart:-- appearance of ( ), i. ; ( ) i. ; ( ) iii. . _career, chronological sequence of_-- = - .= birth and baptism, i. ; childhood, i. - ; at eton, i. - ; first speech, i. ; oxford, i. - ; tries for the ireland, i. , _note_. = .= foreign travel, i. - ; impressions in rome, i. ; newark candidature, i. - , - ; election addresses, i. ; first speech as member of parliament, i. ; visits to clumber, thornes, and leamington, i. ; birthday, i. . = .= lincoln's inn, i. ; membership of oxford and cambridge club and carlton club, i. _and note_; forms brotherhood with acland, i. ; enters parliament, i. ; maiden speech, i. ; party votes ( ), i. ; visit to fasque, i. . = .= visit to seaforth and oxford, i. ; at fasque, i. ; treasury appointment, i. - ; opposes admission of dissenters to universities, i. . = .= returned for newark without contest, i. ; meets disraeli at lord lyndhurst's, i. ; appointed under-secretary for the colonies, i. ; contemplates resignation, i. ; speech on irish church, i. ; speech at newark, i. ; committee on native affairs at the cape, i. . = .= death of his mother, i. ; visit to drayton, i. ; visit to hawarden, i. ; speech on negro apprenticeship, i. _and note_; visit to haddo, i. ; committee on waste lands, i. . = .= speech at newark on toleration, etc., i. ; presents the queen with the oxford address, i. ; canvassing at newark, i. ; nominated for manchester, i. ; elected for newark, i. ; at dundee, glasgow, liverpool, manchester, i. ; at fasque, i. ; first interview with duke of wellington, i. . = .= admitted to consultations on canadian affairs, i. ; speaks on molesworth's vote of censure, i. ; speech on slave apprenticeship system, i. - ; work on educational questions, i. ; influenced by coleridge and palmer, i. - _note _; _the state in its relation with the church_, i. , ; foreign travel, i. . = .= opinions on his book, i. - ; work on committees, i. ; marriage, i. . = .= speech on china question, i. ; birth of eldest son, i. ; dines at guizot's, i. ; examines at eton, i. ; scotch training college scheme, i. - , ; committee on colonisation of new zealand, i. . = .= _church principles_, i. ; his brother's walsall election, i. - ; visits nuneham and oxford, i. ; speaks on sugar duties, i. ; re-elected for newark, i. ; sir s. glynne's candidature--hoylake--hawarden, i. ; vice-president of the board of trade, i. - , ; re-elected for newark, i, ; correspondence with peel on journalistic imputations, i. - ; jerusalem bishopric, i. ; advocates increase in colonial episcopate, i. . = .= protection question, i. - ; suggests retirement, i. ; tariff reform, i. - ; shooting accident, i. ; glenalmond, i. . = .= enters the cabinet, i. ; parliamentary success, i. ; protection question, i. - ; tariff negotiations with foreign countries, i. ; advocates removal of prohibition on export of machinery, i. - ; close relations with manning and hope, i. ; anxiety regarding newman's position, i. - ; protests against sentence on pusey, i. . = .= bill for regulation of companies, i. ; telegraph act, i. ; railway act, i. ; publishes prayer-book, i. _note_; reply to ward's _ideal_, i. - ; lady hewley case, i. ; proposes himself as vatican envoy, i. - ; maynooth, i. - , . = .= at windsor castle, i. - ; resigns office, i. - , ; votes for second reading of maynooth bill, i. ; tariff reform, i. ; pamphlet on results of fiscal changes of , i. _and note_; on free labour sugar proposal, i. ; at munich, i. ; at baden-baden, i. ; corn law repeal, i. - ; secretary for the colonies, i. . = .= colonial clergy questions, i. ; recall of colonial governor, i. ; out of parliament, i. - ; offended at peel's eulogium on cobden, i. - ; conversation with lord lyndhurst on conservative party, i. - ; with jocelyn and graham, i. ; interview with peel, i. - ; quarrel with lord g. bentinck, i. - . = .= oxford candidature, i. - ; election, i. ; jewish disabilities removal bill, i. - ; oak farm and hawardenvc estate embarrassments, i. , . = .= special constable against chartists, i. ; oxford d.c.l., i. ; on hampden's appointment as bishop, i. . = .= divergences from peel, i. ; mission for his friend, i. - ; gorham case, i. . = .= supports disraeli's agricultural distress motion, i. - ; gorham case, i. - _and note_; death of his daughter, i. , - ; australian colonies bill, i. ; don pacifico debate, i. - _and note_; death of peel, i. ; question of leadership, i. - ; opposes universities commission, i. ; naples, i. - ; on committee for exhibition medal inscriptions, ii. . = .= returns to london, i. ; letters to lord aberdeen, i. , _and note_, - , - _and note _; invited by stanley to take office, i. , ; declines, i. ; ecclesiastical titles bill, i. - ; secession of manning and hope, i. - ; death of his father, i. ; letter to a scotch bishop on religious freedom, i. , . = .= first derby administration, i. ; approaches aberdeen and graham, i. - ; views on peelite policy, i. - ; overtures from russell, i. ; supports derby, i. ; on four seats bill, i. _and note_; re-elected for oxford, i. - ; equipoise of opinions, i. ; defends free trade, i. ; overtures from derby, i. ; speech on disraeli's budget, i. - ; incident at the carlton, i. - ; new zealand government bill, i. _and note _, ; appointed chancellor of the exchequer, i. . = .= difficulties at oxford, i. - ; re-election, i. ; moves to house of chancellor of exchequer, i. ; advocates reduction of force in the pacific, i. ; budget, i. - ; iii. ; attempted operation on national debt, i. - , - ; latin lessons to his son, i. ; illness at dunrobin, i. ; presented with freedom of dingwall, i. ; speech at inverness, i. ; crimean war, i. _et seq._; speech at unveiling of peel statue at manchester, i. ; case of mr. maurice, i. - ; oxford reform, i. . = .= letter on revival of convocation, ii. ; speeches on oxford reform, i. , _note _; civil service reform, i. - , ; criticisms of his finance, i. - ; speech on budget, i. - ; conflict with bank of england, i. - , - ; savings bank bill, i. ; woods and forests dismissal case, i. . = .= ministerial crisis, i. - ; opposes roebuck's motion, i. - ; joins palmerston, i. ; opposes roebuck's motion in cabinet, i. - ; resigns, i. ; unpopularity, i. - ; efforts for peace, i. - ; at penmaenmawr, i. ; homeric studies, i. - ; chester speech on colonial policy, i. . = .= communications with lord derby, i. - , ; isolation, i. ; letter to bishop hampden, i. ; case of archdeacon denison, i. . = .= interviews with lord derby, i. - ; opposes lewis' budget, i. - ; co-operation with disraeli, i. ; communications with cobden, i. ; speech on the china war, i. ; returned for oxford unopposed, i. ; opposes divorce bill, i. ; encounters with bethell, i. - ; illness and death of lady lyttelton, i. - . = .= opposes conspiracy bill, i. - _and note_; refuses to join derby, i. - ; renewed proposal from derby, i. ; refused, i. , ; motion on the principalities, ii. ; letter from disraeli, i. ; reply, i. ; supports suez canal scheme, i. ; letter to graham on indian government, i. ; at haddo, i. ; commission to ionian islands, i. - ; at athens, i. . = .= at venice, turin, vicenza, verona, milan, i. ; interview with cavour, i. ; defends nomination boroughs, i. ; speech on italian question, ii. ; votes with derby government, i. ; joins palmerston's government, i. ; letters on his position, i. - ; trouble at oxford, i. - ; re-elected for oxford, i. ; budget, ii. ; speaks on italian affairs, ii. ; cobden's visit, ii. , ; views on french war scare, ii. - ; first lord rector of edinburgh university, i. . = .= budget, i. ; ii. _et seq._, ; illness, ii. - , , , ; unpopularity, ii. , ; defeat on savings bank bill, ii. ; speech on paper duty repeal bill, ii. ; chief trains of cabinet business, ii. , - ; the fortification scheme, ii. , - ; cabinet struggle on question of economy, ii. - ; interview with palmerston, ii. - ; at penmaenmawr, ii. ; death of lord aberdeen, ii. . = .= budget, ii. - ; cabinet struggles, ii. , - ; correspondence with sir wm. heathcote on finance, ii. - ; attacks and abuse, ii. ; american civil war, ii. - , - ; on education, ii. , ; deaths of graham and herbert, ii. - . = .= speech on italy, ii. ; correspondence with palmerston, ii. - ; panegyric on prince consort, ii. ; american civil war, ii. - , - ; triumphal reception in the north, ii. - ; newcastle speech on american war, ii. - ; funeral of mrs. john gladstone, ii. ; windsor, i. . = .= death of his brother john, ii. ; budget, ii. , ; proposal to extend income tax to charities, ii. - ; speech on italy, ii. ; at penmaenmawr, ii. ; at balmoral, ii. - . = .= at balmoral, ii. - ; letters on _essays and reviews_ judgment, ii. ; speech on mr. dodson's bill, ii. _and note _; garibaldi's visit, i. - ; speech on extension of franchise, ii. , ; correspondence with palmerston, ii. - ; address from york workmen, ii. - ; schleswig-holstein question, i. - ; speeches in lancashire, ii. - ; relations with protestant dissenters, ii. - ; development in ideas, ii. _et seq._ = .= cabinet struggles, ii. ; criticism of _ecce homo_, ii. - , , ; elected foreign associate of the institute of france, ii. _and note_; speech on irish church, ii. ; death of cobden, ii. ; letter to his son on ecclesiastical affairs, ii. ; defeat at oxford, ii. ; lancashire candidature and election, ii. - ; speech on conservatism, ii. ; letter to russell on death of palmerston, ii. ; at glasgow, ii. , . = .= leader of commons, ii. - ; tribute to palmerston, ii. ; introduces reform bill, ii. ; disaffection of followers, ii. , - ; second reading of reform bill, i. - ; budget, ii. , ; votes for abolition of church rates, ii. ; against vote of confidence after debate, ii. - ; audiences of the queen, ii. , ; declines to speak at hyde park demonstration, ii. ; speech at cobden club, ii. ; goes to italy, ii. ; in rome, ii. - ; illness, ii. . = .= dinner with the society of political economists of france, ii. ; household suffrage struggle, ii. - ; disaffection of followers, ii. , , - , - ; irish church questions, i. ; speech at newspaper press fund dinner, ii. . = .= correspondence with acland on popular discontent, ii. - ; bill on church rates, ii. ; irish church question, ii. - ; election for greenwich, ii. _and note _; publication of _chapter of autobiography_, ii. - ; candidature in s.-w. lancashire, ii. - _and note _; letter from the queen, ii. ; forms a cabinet, ii. - ; speech at greenwich, ii. . = .= colonial society dinner, ii. _note_; letter to general grey on foreign policy, ii. ; irish church bill preliminaries, ii. - ; bill introduced, ii. - ; committee stage, ii. ; struggle with the lords, ii. - ; lords' amendments rejected, ii. - ; concessions, ii. - ; proposes acceptance by commons of modifications, ii. ; illness, ii. , - ; visit to walmer castle, ii. , ; irish land question, ii. _et seq._; letter to bright on principles _v._ details, ii. . = .= irish land bill withdrawn, ii. ; _alabama_ case, ii. ; education question, ii. , - ; on reduction of armaments, ii. - ; efforts to avert franco-prussian war, ii, - ; daily conferences with granville, ii. ; neutrality of belgium guaranteed, ii. - ; views on annexation of alsace and lorraine, ii. - ; russian claims in black sea, ii. - , ; difficulties with the court, ii. ; army reform, ii. _et seq._; question of commander-in-chief's position, i. - , ; ballot bill, ii. - . = .= views on neutralisation of alsace and lorraine, i. ; anonymous article in _edinburgh review_, ii. ; instructions to _alabama_ commission, ii. ; abolition of purchase, ii. - ; ballot bill, ii. , ; struggles for economy, ii. ; visit to tennyson, ii. ; freedom of aberdeen, ii. ; at balmoral, ii. ; at edinburgh, ii. ; funeral of sir e. murchison, ii. ; speech at blackheath, ii. - ; conversations with bright, ii. - ; collier appointment, ii. - ; ewelme appointment, ii. - ; licensing questions, ii. ; repeal of law against ecclesiastical titles, ii. . = .= unpopularity, ii. ; cleavage in party, ii. ; attitude of radicals, ii. - ; _alabama_ case, ii. - ; indignation on american claims, ii. ; act of uniformity bill, ii. ; speech at king's college council meeting, ii. ; visit to oxford, ii. - ; address at liverpool on strauss, ii. . = .= irish university bill, ii. - ; letters to the queen on retirement, ii. - ; ministerial crisis, ii. - , ; letter to bright, on education question, ii. , ; speech against disestablishment, ii. - _and note_; the queen's birthday, ii. ; death of wilberforce, ii. ; ministerial embarrassments, ii. - ; becomes chancellor of exchequer, ii. , ; dispute as to vacating seat thereby, ii. - ; at balmoral, ii. ; engagement of his eldest daughter, ii. - ; at hawarden, ii. - ; cabinet embarrassments, ii. ; marriage of his eldest daughter, ii. . = .= financial plans, ii. , - , ; question of dissolution, ii. _et seq._; electoral manifesto, ii. - ; speeches at greenwich, etc., ii. _and note_; election, ii. ; resignation, ii. - _and note_; offers of a peerage, ii. - ; retirement from leadership, ii. - , - ; death of sir s. glynne, ii. - ; vatican decrees question, ii. , - ; visit to munich, ii. - ; _vatican decrees_ pamphlet, ii. - ; its reception, ii. - . = .= meeting of metaphysical society, ii. ; article in _quarterly review_, ii. ; more work on vatican question, ii. - ; _vaticanism_ published, ii. ; sale of house in carlton house terrace, ii. . = .= letter to herbert gladstone on pitt's finance, ii. ; pamphlet on bulgaria, ii. - ; speech at blackheath, ii. , ; visits in the north, ii. - ; work at hawarden, ii. ; visit to liverpool, ii. ; 'the hellenic factor in the eastern problem,' ii. ; st. james's hall meeting, ii. ; letter on denominationalism, iii. . = .= _lessons in massacre_, ii. , ; visit to darwin, ii. ; the five resolutions, ii. - ; speech in parliament, ii. - ; visit to birmingham, ii. ; views on transvaal annexation, iii. , ; visit to ireland, ii. . = .= hostile crowds, ii. ; declines to stand for leeds, ii. ; speech on treaty-making power, ii. _note _; speech on anglo-turkish convention, ii. - ; article on 'england's mission,' ii. , ; literary work and emoluments, ii. ; sits to millais, ii. - ; visit of argyll and ruskin to hawarden, ii. . = .= invited to stand for midlothian, ii. ; agrees, ii. ; the campaign, ii. - ; iii. ; day at glasgow, ii. - ; from glasgow to hawarden, ii. ; reflections, ii. ; correspondence on leadership, ii. - . = .= at hawarden, ii. , ; with his sister at cologne, ii. ; election address, ii. - ; midlothian campaign in general election, ii. - ; letter to rosebery, ii. ; to argyll, ii. ; conversations on leadership, ii. - ; interview with hartington, ii. - ; with granville and hartington, ii. - ; audience of the queen, ii. - ; construction of cabinet, ii. - ; personnel of cabinet, ii. - ; iii. - ; anonymous article in _fortnightly review_, ii. _note_; parliamentary difficulties, iii. - ; budget, iii. ; illness, iii. ; cruise in _grantully castle_, iii. ; berlin treaty obligations, iii. - ; bradlaugh question, iii. _et seq._; question of frere's recall, iii. - . = .= colley's correspondence, iii. ; boer overtures, iii. ; majuba, iii. - ; letters to the queen, iii. ; parliamentary attack, iii. - ; transvaal commission, iii. ; coercion bill, iii. - ; obstruction, iii. - ; irish land bill, iii. - ; letter to granville on home rule, iii. ; visit to leed's, iii. - ; agrees to imprisonment of parnell, iii. ; address to common council, iii. ; egyptian question, iii. _et seq._ = .= egyptian question, iii. _et seq._; letter to forster, on irish local government, iii. ; communications from parnell, iii. ; letter to forster on his resignation, iii. ; to the queen on irish situation, iii. ; phoenix park murders, iii. - ; public position, iii. - ; political jubilee, iii. ; appoints benson to see of canterbury, iii. - ; reconstruction of cabinet, iii. - ; letters to bright on egyptian policy, iii. , ; vexed with bismarck, iii. . = .= stay at cannes, iii. - ; interview with clémenceau, iii. ; renewed offer of a peerage, iii. ; at paris, iii. ; at sandringham, iii. ; objects to sending troops to suakin, iii. ; speech on affirmation bill, i. ; iii. , - , , ; letter to bright on 'irish rebels' speech, iii. ; cruise to denmark, iii. - ; speech at kirkwall, iii. - , _note_; congo debate, iii. . = .= agrees to send gordon to evacuate soudan, iii. , _and note _; advises disavowing him after his abandonment of instructions, iii. ; opposes appointment of zobeir, iii. ; advises his appointment, iii. ; illness, iii. _and note_, , ; views on relief expedition for gordon, iii. ; franchise bill, iii. - , ; speech on house of lords, iii. ; memorandum on case between lords and commons, iii. ; efforts at arrangement, iii. - ; re-introduction of franchise bill, iii. ; conferences with salisbury and northcote, iii. - ; cabinet divisions, iii. ; speech at edinburgh on transvaal, iii. _note _. = .= on chamberlain's social programme, iii. ; acton's letter on retirement, iii. ; learns death of gordon, iii. , ; letter in reply to the queen's telegram, iii. ; memorandum on military position in the soudan, iii. - , - ; on russian action in afghanistan, iii. ; three cabinets on soudan, iii. - ; speech on war-supply for afghanistan, iii. ; cabinet difficulties, iii. - ; budget, iii. , ; cabinet disagreements on ireland, iii. - ; letter to the queen on irish policy, iii. ; intimation regarding crimes act, iii. ; letter to hartington on cabinet crisis, iii. ; ministerial crisis, iii. - ; audience of the queen, iii. ; offer of an earldom, iii. - ; defeated on budget, iii. ; suddenness of defeat, iii. ; resigns, iii. ; letters to the queen, iii. , ; letters on advance in irish situation, iii. - ; throat troubles, iii. ; cruise in the _sunbeam_, iii. - ; election address, iii. ; conversation with chamberlain, iii. - ; consideration of home rule question, iii. - ; letter to the queen on crimes act discussions, iii. ; work on books--miscellaneous reading--reply to réville, iii. ; midlothian speeches, iii. - ; election, iii. ; considerations of irish situation, iii. - , - , , - ; tenders support to lord salisbury, iii. - , ; unauthorised publication of home rule scheme, iii. _and note_, ; party urgency for action, iii. ; renewal of intercourse with manning, iii. ; birthday, iii. . = .= political rumours, iii. ; begins the session, iii. ; comments on hartington's communication, iii. ; attitude towards home rule, iii. ; debate on the address, iii. - ; supports collings' amendment, iii. ; accepts the queen's commission, iii. ; to osborne, iii. ; formation of government, iii. _and note_, _and note _; preparation of bills, iii. ; difficulties in cabinet, iii. - , ; interview with parnell, iii. - ; introduction of home rule bill, iii. - ; violent hostility of opponents, iii. - ; conversation with bright, iii. ; strenuous efforts for the bill, iii. ; letter from bright, iii. ; parnell's letter, iii. - ; party meeting at foreign office, iii. - ; second meeting with parnell, iii. ; replies to hicks beach, iii. - ; speech on night of the division, iii. - ; decides for dissolution, iii. ; electioneering, iii. - ; elected for midlothian and for leith, iii. ; letter to the queen, iii. ; decides for resignation, iii. - ; final audience of the queen, iii. - ; views on chamberlain's _baptist_ article, iii. ; at tegernsee, iii. - ; speaks on tenants relief bill, iii. ; at hawarden, iii. ; article on _locksley hall_, iii. - ; attitude towards plan of campaign, iii. - ; birthday, iii. - . = .= letters to acton, iii. - ; at sandringham, cambridge, hawarden, dollis hill, windsor, iii. ; speech on criminal law amendment (ireland) bill, iii. _and note_; on introduction of closure, iii. ; on mitchelstown, iii. ; _robert elsmere_ article, iii. - ; tour in south wales, iii. - ; visit to florence, iii. . = .= attitude towards parnell commission, iii. - ; sympathy with parnell, iii. ; speech on report of the commission, iii. - ; speech at birmingham, iii. - ; speech on ireland, iii. ; visit to naples, iii. . = .= reasons for not visiting rome, iii. - ; old testament studies, iii. - ; golden wedding anniversary, iii. ; parnell's visit to hawarden, iii. , - . = .= letter on general gordon, iii. ; visit to oxford, iii. - ; death of newman and döllinger, iii. ; views on parnell's position, iii. - , - , , - ; parnell leadership question, iii. , - , - ; memoranda on parnell leadership question, iii. - ; meeting at lord rendel's, iii. ; letter to morley on parnell leadership, iii. ; urges publication of letter, iii. - ; speaks at bassetlaw, iii. ; morley's visit to hawarden, iii. - ; communications with irish party towards an understanding, iii. - ; speech of condolence with the speaker, iii. . = .= death of granville, iii. ; death of his eldest son, iii. ; fasque-- glenalmond--newcastle programme, iii. ; biarritz, iii. _et seq._; birthday, iii. . = .= biarritz, iii. _et seq._; to the riviera, iii. ; re-elected for midlothian, iii. ; formation of cabinet, iii. - _note_; home rule bill, iii. . = .= home rule bill, iii. _et seq._; reply to chamberlain, iii. - ; at biarritz, iii. , . = .= advocates dissolution on lords question, iii. ; naval estimates, iii. - ; return to england, iii. ; last cabinet, iii. - ; last speech in parliament, iii. - ; at windsor, iii. - ; letter of resignation, iii. ; the queen's reply, iii. ; letter to sir h. ponsonby, iii. . = - .= literary work, iii. - ; speeches at chester and liverpool, iii. - ; last diary entry, iii. ; visit to cannes, iii. ; last meeting with the queen, iii. ; visit to butterstone, iii. ; illness, iii. - ; visit to cannes, iii. ; to bournemouth, iii. ; at hawarden, iii. - ; death, iii. ; parliamentary tributes, iii. - ; foreign tributes, iii. - ; funeral, iii. . characteristics:-- ambition for noble ends, i. . caution--suspense of judgment, i. , , , ; iii. . concentration, i. , , ; iii. . considerateness, i. , , ; iii. . continuity, i. . conversational charm, ii. , ; iii. . co-operation, aptitude for, i. - . copiousness, ii. ; iii. . courage, i. , ; ii. ; iii. . courtesy, i. ; ii. , , . deference to colleagues, ii. - , , ; iii. , , , . detachment--alacrity of mind--freedom of judgment, ii. , . disregard of appearances--regard for things rather than persons, i. ; ii. ; iii. - , . duality of disposition, i. , , , . eloquence-- oratorical power, i. - , , ; ii. , - , , , ; absence of bitterness, i. ; battle-cry element, ii. ; dramatic force, ii. , ; iii. ; lofty tone, i. , ; iii. ; persuasiveness, i. ; physical resources, ii. , ; iii. , , , . essentials, grasp of, iii. , , . excitability of temperament--nervous sensibility, i. , , ; ii. , , , , , , , , ; iii. , - , , . family feeling, i. - , . gaiety of mind, i. . gravity of temperament, i. . growth, mental, continuance of, i. - . humanity, ii. , , , . hurry, i. - , . idealism, i. - , . imagination, moral and political, i. , ; ii. , ; iii. , . impulsiveness, ii. , . industry, i. , , ; ii. , ; iii. , , ; in public duties, i. - ; ii. , ; iii. - , , , . intellectual curiosity, limits of, i. , . intensity, ii. . irritability, ii. . lancashire temperament, i. ; ii. , . liberty, instinct for, _see_ liberty. loyalty to colleagues, ii. - , , ; iii. , . magnanimity, ii. . missionary temper, i. . modesty, ii. . musical ability, i. . nature, delight in, ii. ; iii. , . opportuneness, sense of, i. ; ii. - ; iii. , , , . optimism--confidence, i. , , , , ; ii. ; iii. . orderliness, i. ; iii. . over-refining--subtlety--'sophistry,' i. , - , , , , ; ii. , , ; ii. . patience, iii. , , , . patriotism, i. . practical aptitude, i. , , ; ii. , ; iii. . personal questions, dislike of, ii. ; iii. , . quietude, desire for, i. . religious temper, i. - , , - , , - , ; fixity of dogmatic views, i. , ; religious growth, - ; leanings towards clerical calling, i. - , , , - . reserve, i. - , . resignation, i. - . scrupulosity, i. . self-control, i. , ; iii. , . self-distrust, i. - . simplicity--trustfulness, i. , , ; ii. ; iii. . sincerity--integrity, i. , , , , ; ii. , ; iii. , . slowness of mental development, i. , , ; of judgment, i. . tact, iii. . tenacity of purpose, i. ; ii. , , , , , , , , ; iii. , , , . tolerance, i. - ; ii. , , , ; iii. - , . tradition, reverence for, i. - , . unity of purpose, i. . versatility, i. ; ii. ; iii. , . vital energy, i. ; iii. , . vivacity, ii. . walking, fondness for, i. . will-power, i. , , . eyesight, difficulties with, i. , , , , , , , ; cataract, iii. , , , - . family and genealogy of, i. - _and note_, _and note _, _notes_. horoscope of, i. . letters of, characteristics of, i. ; ii. . residences of, i. - _note_; ii. _note_. verses by; i. , _note_, . gladstone, mrs. w. e. (wife), on gladstone's duality, i. ; ancestry of, i. ; to possess hawarden castle for life, i. ; at oxford ( ), i. ; at hagley, i. ; foreign travel prescribed for, i. ; wood's conversations with, i. , ; at newcastle ( ), ii. ; intimacy of, with duchess of sutherland, ii. ; medical skill of, ii. ; appears to rioters, ii. ; accompanies gladstone to midlothian, ii. ; to cannes ( ), iii. ; has news of cavendish murder, iii. ; visit to biarritz, iii. ; on necessity for her husband's hearing both sides, iii. ; eightieth birthday, i. ; rosbery's tribute to, iii. ; death of, iii. ; w. e. gladstone's letters to, i. , , , - , , , - , - , , - , - , , _note_, _and note_, , - , ; ii. , - , , , , - , , , , ; iii. , , , . ---- w. h. (son), birth of, i. ; letters to, on hawarden estate, i. - , - ; parliamentary career of, i. , ; gladstone unwilling to bequeath a title to, i. ; speech at his father's lancashire candidature, ii. ; gladstone's letter to, on ecclesiastical affairs, ii. ; letter on dissolution ( ), ii. ; worcestershire candidature of ( ), ii. ; return to hawarden after election, ii. ; death of, iii. ; otherwise mentioned, ii. , , , , , . glanville, cited, i. _and note _. glasgow, gladstone's inaugural address at ( ), ii. - ; public meetings, i. - ; iii. . _gleanings_, preparation of, ii. ; later series of, iii. . gledstanes, family of, i. - _and note_, _and note _. glenalmond, i. - ; iii. . glenelg, lord, i. , . glynne, lady, i. , . ---- catherine (_see also_ gladstone, mrs. w. e.), gladstone's engagement to, i. . glynne, henry, i. - . ---- sir stephen, gladstone's travels with, i. ; candidature of, in flintshire, i. ; financial affairs of, i. _et seq._; repulsed at election ( ), i. ; munificence of, ii. ; death of, ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. ; ii. , , _note _, , , , , , . goderich, lord, i. , , . goethe, i. , ; ii. , . gordon, colonel, i. . ---- arthur, _see_ stanmore. ---- general, advises evacuation of soudan, iii. - , - ; suggested for the work, iii. ; previous career of, iii. _note _; agrees to policy of evacuation, iii. , - ; characteristics of, iii. ; popular feeling for, iii. , ; changes his plans, iii. ; appointed temporarily governor-general of soudan, iii. ; instructions of, iii. , , ; views of, on the situation, iii. , ; request regarding zobeir, iii. - ; shows khedive's secret firman, iii. - _and note _; reports himself safe, iii. ; relief expeditions to, contemplated, iii. - ; nile expedition to, despatched, iii. ; death of, iii. ; gladstone's estimate of, iii. ; gladstone's views of appointment of, iii. , . gorham case, i. , - , . görres, dr., i. - _and note _. gortchakoff, ii. , , , _note_, , . goschen, g. j., included in russell cabinet ( ), ii. and _note _; on irish church bill, ii. ; bill of, for throwing open all lay degrees, ii. ; on civil service reform, ii. ; president of poor law board ( ), ii. ; local bating bill of, ii. , ; first lord of admiralty ( ), ii. ; considered for exchequer ( ), ii. ; opposition support of, i. - ; opposes reduction of estimates ( ), ii. - ; at constantinople, iii. - ; on soudan question, iii. , ; votes with conservatives on collings' amendment, iii. ; against home rule, iii. _note_, ; defeated in edinburgh, iii. ; chancellor of exchequer ( ), iii. ; compared with hartington, iii. ; urged by hartington to join the government, iii. ; budget ( ), iii. ; otherwise mentioned, ii. , , , , , - ; iii. , . goulburn, henry, appointed chancellor of exchequer, i. ; attitude of, towards repeal, i. ; towards lord derby, i. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , . government annuities bill, ii. - , . ---- powers, i. . gower, f. leveson, ii. _note_. ---- lord ronald, ii. . grafton, duke of, ii. . graham, general, iii. . ---- sir james:-- _chronology_--reform advocated by, i. ; corn laws defended by, i. , ; resigns on irish church question, i. ; estimate of peel, i. , ; attitude towards protection, i. , ; bill on irish colleges, ii. ; supports peel on repeal, i. ; views on peel's eulogium of cobden, i. , ; on peel's changes of policy, i. ; on disraeli's agricultural distress motion, i. - ; don pacifico debate, i. ; papal aggression question, i. ; russell's proposal to include, i. ; decides for russell rather than derby, i. - _and note_, , ; views on gladstone's attitude to disraeli, i. ; russell's attitude towards, i. ; refuses chancellorship of exchequer, i. - ; on gladstone's representation of oxford, i. ; on gladstone's budget, i. , ; misgivings of, i. , ; on napoleon iii., i. ; on peelites' position regarding palmerston, i. ; opposes roebuck's proposal, i. ; resigns, i. ; reason for resigning, i. ; efforts for peace, i. ; gladstone's relations with, i. , ; position of, contrasted with gladstone's, i. ; discourages gladstone's communicating with derby, i. , ; views of, on reconstructed government, i. ; on divorce bill, i. ; uneasiness regarding gladstone, i. ; on party relationships, i. _and note_; disraeli's attitude towards, i. , ; inclines to gladstone's joining derby, i. , , ; in sympathy with palmerston's government, i. ; on russell's despatch regarding italy, ii. ; death of, ii. - . debating, method of, i. . estimate of, i. - . gladstone's estimate of, i. , ; iii. ; his estimate of gladstone, i. ; ii. ; gladstone contrasted with, i. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , , , , , , , _note_, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , ; ii. , , , . gramont, duc de, ii. - , , , , . grant, general, ii. . ---- g., gladstone's godfather, i. . granville, lord:-- _chronology_--on cession of canada, i. _note_; on gladstone's budget, i. ; on peelites' refusal to join palmerston, i. ; tries to form a government, i. ; french treaty, ii. ; paper duties bill, ii. , ; letter to gladstone on his leadership, ii. ; against vote of confidence after reform defeat, ii. ; on gladstone's _chapter of autobiography_, ii. - ; colonial secretary ( ), ii. ; irish church bill, ii. - , - , - , ; foreign secretary ( ), ii. , ; efforts to avert franco-prussian war, ii. - , ; deprecates gladstone's absence, ii. ; gladstone's daily conferences with, ii. ; on annexation of alsace and lorraine, ii. ; on black sea provisions of treaty of paris, ii. - , ; on collier appointment, ii. ; on _alabama_ case, ii. , , ; opposes honours for mill, ii. ; consultations with, on ministerial crisis, ii. - , ; at hawarden ( ), ii. ; advocates resignation before assembling, ii. ; on question of leadership, ii. ; on italian view of _vatican decrees_ pamphlet, ii. ; reports disraeli's proposed resignation, ii. ; on bulgarian question, ii. , , , ; views on the party vote, ii. ; succession of, to power, foretold by gladstone, ii. ; approves gladstone's midlothian candidature, ii. , ; views on leadership, ii. - _and note_, - , ; omission of, by the queen, disapproved by gladstone, ii. ; foreign secretary ( ), ii. , , ; smyrna demonstration affair, iii. ; egyptian question ( - ), iii. , - , ; letter to gladstone on renewed offer of peerage, iii. ; conferences on franchise bill, iii. , ; correspondence, etc., on evacuation of soudan, iii. , _and note _, _and note_, _note _, , _note_, , ; agrees to send gordon to soudan, iii. ; at his send-off, iii. _note_; gladstone's conversations with, on ireland (may ' ), iii. - ; favours plan of central board for ireland, iii. ; on gladstone's refusal of an earldom, iii. ; correspondence with, on relations to liberal party, iii. - ; at hawarden and chatsworth, iii. ; gladstone's consultations with, iii. , , ; view of irish situation, iii. ; gladstone's memorandum, iii. - ; declines requesting gladstone to convene late cabinet, iii. ; colonial secretary, iii. _note_; declares for home rule, iii. _and note_, ; prefers home rule to chamberlain's irish scheme, iii. ; gladstone consults with, on birthday dinner, iii. ; golden wedding presentation to mr. and mrs. gladstone, iii. ; meeting at lord rendel's on parnell affair, iii. _note_; death of, iii. . brevity of letters of, ii. . gladstone's appreciation of, ii. ; loyalty to, ii. - , , ; his estimate of gladstone, ii. ; gladstone's letters to, ii. , , , , , , , , , , , ; iii. , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , - , , . temporising tendency of, ii. . otherwise mentioned, i. , , , , _note _, , - , ; ii. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , ; iii. , , , , . grattan, henry, ii. ; iii. - , . gray, sir john, ii. . greece:-- berlin treaty's provisions regarding, iii. , . don pacifico case, i. - , _and note_, , . ionian islands desirous of union with, i. , - , ; ceded to, i. . gladstone's budget ( ) popular in, ii. ; gladstone's political jubilee commemorated by, iii. ; tribute at his death, iii. . salisbury policy regarding, iii. . thessaly and epirus desired for, by palmerston and russell, ii. . greeks, position of, in relation to turkey, i. . green, j. h., i. . ---- j. r., ii. . greenwich:-- dockyard suppressed, ii. . gladstone's election for ( ), ii. _and note _; speech at, ii. ; dispute as to vacating seat by becoming chancellor of exchequer ( ), ii. - ; manifesto to ( ), ii. - ; election for, ii. ; election address, ii. _and note_; refusal to stand for ( ), ii. . greenwood, j., ii. _note_. greg, w. r., i. . gregory vii., pope, ii. . ---- xvi., pope, iii. . grenville, lord, i. , _and note _, , . ---- thomas, i. _note _. ---- george, i. _and note _. greswell, richard, i. , . greville, a., ii. _note_. ---- c., i. _note_; , ; ii. ; iii. . grévy, m., iii. . grey, general, gladstone's letter to, on foreign policy, ii. ; gladstone's appreciation of, iii. . otherwise mentioned, ii. , , , ; iii. . ---- lord, dissolution by ( ), i. ; resignation of ( ), ii. ; government of, broken up ( ), i. , ; attitude of, towards lord j. russell, i. ; refuses office ( ), i. ; ii. ; althorp and russell opposed to, i. ; taylor's estimate of, iii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , , , , , ; ii. , , ; iii. , _note_, . ---- lord de, _see_ ripon. ---- sir george, defends slave apprenticeship law, i. ; home secretary ( ), _note_; leadership of commons by, desired by gladstone, ii. - , ; estimate of gladstone, ii. ; declines to join gladstone's cabinet ( ), ii. ; on irish land bill ( ), ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , _note _, ; ii. , , , , , , - . grillion's dining club, i. - , . grosvenor, lady, iii. . ---- lord, ii. , - , . ---- lord r., iii. , . grote, george, i. ; ii. , , . ---- mrs., cited, iii. . guizot, f.-p.-g., on state of italy, i. ; aberdeen's letter to, i. ; estimate of cavour, ii. - ; letters from, ii. , ; sends gladstone his _peel_, ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , ; ii. , , , . gurdon, mr., ii. . gurney, samuel, i. . gurwood, colonel, i. . haddo, i. , . halifax, viscount (charles wood), on gladstone's budget ( ), i. , , ; budgets of, criticised by gladstone, i. ; first lord of admiralty, i. _note_; objects to french treaty project, ii. ; on paper duties bill, ii. , , ; estimate of financial statements of, ii. ; created viscount ( ), ii. _note_; views on condition of liberal party ( ), ii. ; on gladstone's position in the house, ii. ; declines irish vice-royalty, ii. ; on irish church bill, ii. ; _alabama_ case, ii. , ; appreciation of gladstone, ii. ; lord privy seal ( ), ii. ; on defections of liberal party, ii. ; on the greenwich seat question, ii. ; on election of , ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , _and note _, , , , , , , ; ii. , , - . hall, jane, i. . ---- newman, ii. . hallam, arthur, gladstone's friendship with, i. - , - ; _in memoriam_ stanzas descriptive of, i. _note_; estimate of gladstone, i. ; death of, i. ; gladstone's mourning for, i. - , ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , . ---- henry, i. , , , , ; iii. . ---- henry (junr.), i. - . hamilton, th duke of, i. . hamilton, th duke of, ii. ; iii. . ---- e. w., ii. ; iii. , ; gladstone's letter to, iii. . ---- lord george, ii. . ---- walter, bishop of salisbury, gladstone's friendship with, i. , ; gladstone's letter to, on _essays and reviews_ judgment, ii. ; gladstone's letter to, on state-aided education, ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , . ---- sir william, i. . hammond, e., ii. , . hampden, dr., oxford estimate of ( ), i. ; gladstone examined by, in science, i. ; attack on ( ), i. , , ; gladstone's early views regarding, i. , ; gladstone's letter to, i. ; made a bishop, i. . ---- lord (h. b. w. brand), advice of, on reform bill, ii. , ; gladstone's consultations with, ii. , ; gladstone's letter to, from rome, ii. , ; from paris, ii. ; dinner to, ii. - ; defines situation on educational bill ( ), ii. ; on collier appointment, ii. ; on session of , ii. ; on irish university debate, ii. ; on disraeli's tactics, ii. ; gladstone's letter to, on the greenwich seat question, ii. ; reply regarding writ, ii. ; forecast of general election ( ), ii. ; on parliament of , iii. ; the bradlaugh question, iii. - , - ; action of, against obstruction, iii. - ; views on obstruction, iii. ; on bright's 'irish rebels' speech, iii. ; letter from, iii. . ---- john, i. - . hanbury, r. w., iii. _and note _. handley, w. f., i. - . harcourt, l. v., i. . ---- sir william, on foreign enlistment act, ii. _note_; solicitor-general, ii. _note_, ; on the greenwich seat question, i. ; home secretary, ii. ; speech on khartoum vote of censure, iii. ; gladstone's consultation with, iii. ; declares for home rule, iii. _note_; round table conference convened by, iii. , - _and note_; chancellor of exchequer ( ), iii. , _note_; party loyalty of, iii. , ; meeting at lord rendel's on parnell affair, iii. _note_; chancellor of exchequer ( ), iii. _note_; at last cabinet council, iii. ; tribute to gladstone, iii. ; otherwise mentioned, ii. ; iii. , , , , , , , , , , , . hardinge, lord, i. , , _note _, , , , . hardwicke, th earl of, i. . ---- st earl of ( ), i. . hardy, gathorne, opposes gladstone at oxford, ii. - _and note_, ; on irish church bill, ii. ; bentinck's appeal to, ii. . harrison, b., i. _note_, , . ---- f., ii. . ---- archdeacon, ii. . harrowby, lord, i. , ; ii. , . hartington, lord, moves vote of censure on derby government, i. _and note_; postmaster-general ( ), ii. ; irish secretary ( ), ii. ; ballot bill of, ii. ; suggested as leader, ii. ; accepts leadership ( ), ii. ; gladstone's loyalty to, ii. - , , ; views on leadership, ii. _and note_, - ; audience at windsor and interview with gladstone, ii. - ; suggested for india office, ii. , ; indian secretary ( ), ii. ; war secretary ( ), ii. ; iii. ; compared with palmerston, iii. ; on local option motion, iii. ; on evacuation of candahar, iii. ; opposes annexation of transvaal, iii. , ; on withdrawal from egypt ( ), iii. ; negotiations with conservative leaders on franchise bill, iii. - , , ; against franchise extension in ireland, iii. ; agrees to send gordon to soudan, iii. ; views on relief of garrisons, iii. ; defence of government, iii. _and note _; readiness to send troops, iii. ; queen's telegram to, iii. ; at holker, iii. , ; on avoidance of liberal rupture, iii. ; defends the government against vote of censure, iii. ; opposes plan of central board for ireland, iii. ; gladstone's letter to, on cabinet crisis (may ' ), iii. ; presides at banquet to lord spencer, iii. ; views on conservative repudiation of spencer's policy, iii. ; friction with parnell, iii. , ; friction, with chamberlain, iii. , ; opposes home rule, iii. , , , ; gladstone's letters to, on irish policy, iii. , , ; reproaches chamberlain for indiscretion at the elections, iii. ; attends banquet at belfast, iii. ; granville's visit to, iii. ; letters to gladstone and to his chairman on irish situation, iii. ; letter to the _times_, iii. , , ; parnell's attitude towards, iii. ; announces possibility of counter-declaration, iii. ; votes with conservatives on collings' amendment, iii. ; declines to join gladstone's cabinet, iii. ; explanatory letter, iii. ; eighty club speech, iii. _note_; speech on second reading of home rule bill, iii. _note _, ; at opera house meeting, iii. ; decides to vote against second reading, iii. ; declines salisbury's offer to head government, iii. ; gladstone's comments on position of, iii. - ; declines to join round table conference, iii. ; urges gladstone to denounce plan of campaign, iii. ; otherwise mentioned, iii. , , , , , , - , , ; iii. , , , , , , , . harvey, rev. w. w., ii. - . ---- i. _and note_, . hastings, warren, iii. . hatchard, j., i. . hatherley, lord (w. page wood), ii. - , , , . hawarden:-- board school question at, ii. . cattle plague at, ii. . gladstone's first visit to ( ), i. ; his marriage at, i. . oak farm embarrassments of, i. _et seq._, ; gladstone's public finances influenced by, i. . st. deiniol's library, iii. , . tourist pilgrimages to, ii. . transference of, to w. h. gladstone, i. . hawkins, edward (provost of oriel), i. , _and note _; iii. . hawtrey, e. c., i. , , . hayter, sir w. g., i. , _note_; ii. . hayward, a., ii. . healy, t., iii. , . heathcote, sir william, derby's intermediary, i. ; walpole's advances to, i. ; gladstone's letters to, i. , ; letter to gladstone on taxation, ii. ; election of ( ), ii. _note_; secedes from derby government ( ), ii. . helena, princess, ii. , . _hellenic factor in the eastern problem, the_, ii. . helmholtz, ii. . henley, j. w., i. ; ii. , . henry viii., king, iii. . herbert, j. r., ii. . ---- george, gladstone's estimate of, ii. . ---- sidney, maiden speech of, i. ; appointed secretary at board of control, i. _note_; on peel's eulogium of cobden, i. ; russell's proposal to, i. ; peel's forecast regarding, i. ; gorham case, i. ; attitude of, towards first derby administration, i. ; against villiers' amendment, i. , _and note_; on gladstone's budget, i. , ; favours dissolution, i. ; invited by derby to join government, i. ; refuses, i. ; inclines to join palmerston, i. ; wavers, i. ; declines, i. ; agrees to join, i. ; resigns, i. ; opposes joining peace party, i. ; gladstone's friendship with, i. , , - , ; discourages gladstone's communicating with derby, i. , ; derby's attitude towards, i. ; approves gladstone's refusal to join herbert, i. ; views of, on the ionian question, i. ; work of, during crimean war, i. - ; on paper duties bill, ii. , ; on french war rumours, ii. ; correspondence with gladstone on military charges, ii. ; illness of, ii. ; death of, ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , , , _note_, , , , , , , , , , , - , , , ; ii. _note _, , , - ; ii. ; iii. . herries, j. c., i. , . herschell, lord, on the bradlaugh question, iii. ; joins gladstone's cabinet ( ), iii. _note_; at round table conference, iii. _note_; in cabinet ( ), iii. _note_, _note _. herzegovina:-- austrian acquisition of, ii. , . revolt in, ii. , . hewley, lady, case of, i. - . heywood, j., i. ; ii. _note_. hicks, general, iii. - _and note_, . hignett, mr., i. . hinds, bishop, ii. . hobhouse, sir john, i. , , , _and note _. hodgkinson, g., ii. _and note_, . holidays, ii. , - . holker, iii. , . holland:-- belgium's severance from, ii. . prussian attitude towards, ii. . holloway, t., ii. . holmbury, ii. _and note_. holmes, colonel, ii. _and note _, . homeric studies, i. - ; ii. , - , , ; iii. , , , , - . home rule, _see under_ ireland. honours and appointments, gladstone's care in selection for, ii. ; iii. . hook, dean, i. ; ii. . hooker, r., i. - , ; iii. . ---- sir joseph, ii. . hope, admiral, ii. _note_. ---- beresford, a. j. b., ii. . hope-scott, miss, ii. . ---- ---- j. r., gladstone influenced by, i. ; interest in gladstone's book, i. , - ; offers services to gladstone, i. ; godfather to gladstone's eldest son, i. ; on chapters bill, i. _and note_; interest in scotch training college scheme, i. - ; gladstone's proposal to, of visiting ireland, i. ; on jerusalem bishopric, i. , ; gladstone's close relations with, i. ; acquaintance with dr. döllinger, i. ; gorham case, i. - _notes_; secession of, to rome, i. - ; death of, ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , , , , , , ; iii. , . horace, iii. , , , . horsman, e., ii. _note_, . houghton, lord, ii. , . house-tax, i. , - . howick, lord, i. , , , , _and note _, ; iii. . howley, archbishop, i. ; ii. ; iii. . howson, dean, ii. . hoylake, i. . hübner, baron, ii. . hudson, george, i. . ---- sir james, ii. - . hume, joseph, impugns gladstone's honesty, i. ; views on intolerance of dissenters, i. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , _note _, , , . hunter, john, cited, iii. . huskisson, w., john gladstone's estimate of, i. ; his support of, i. ; work of, towards free trade, i. , , ; death of, i. , , ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , , . hutton, r. h., iii. . huxley, gladstone's articles on, iii. - ; manning's estimate of, ii. ; approves gladstone's attitude towards vatican decrees, ii. ; letters from, ii. ; estimate of gladstone, ii. ; iii. ; otherwise mentioned, ii. , . iddesleigh, lord (sir stafford northcote):-- _chronology_-- works for gladstone's oxford candidature, i. , , ; vindicates gladstone ( ), i. _note _; appointed executor in gladstone's will, i. ; return prepared by, on civil service, i. , ; _twenty years of finance_, i. ; refuses to serve on gladstone's committee ( ), i. ; article in _quarterly_ attributed to, ii. ; serves on _alabama_ commission, ii. , ; on the bradlaugh question, iii. , - ; on measures against obstruction, iii. ; on land bill of , iii. - ; on phoenix park murders, iii. ; on bright's 'irish rebels' speech, iii. ; on franchise bill, iii. - ; moves vote of censure on khartoum affair, iii. ; death of, iii. . financial ability of, ii. . gladstone's estimate of, iii. , , ; his estimate of gladstone, i. _note _; gladstone's letters to, i. , , ; ii. - , . otherwise mentioned, i. , ; iii. , , . ignatieff, general, ii. . imperialism, ii. - . _impregnable book of holy scripture, the_, iii. _note_. income-tax, _see under_ taxation. india:-- burke's work for, iii. . coolies shipped from, for west indies, i. . disraeli's schemes regarding government of, i. ; procedure on bill of , iii. . gladstone's references to wrongs of, ii. , . government of, contrasted with that of ireland, ii. . mutiny, france quiescent during, ii. . north-west frontier policy, iii. ; difficulties ( ), iii. , - . parliamentary indifference to affairs of, i. . troops from, for south africa, iii. ; refused for soudan, iii. . indulgences, i. . inglis, sir robert, oxford candidature of, i. , , ; gladstone proposed by, for oxford and cambridge club, i. _note_; on china question, i. ; gladstone's divergence from, i. ; political record of, i. ; on papal aggression, i. ; denounces irish provincial colleges, ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , , , , , . ingogo river, iii. . ingram, dr., ii. . innocent iii., pope, ii. ; iii. . inshes, family of, i. _note_. inverness, speech at, i. . ionian islands:-- case of, i. - . gladstone's commission to, i. - ; his arrival at, i. ; his scheme for, i. _et seq._ greece, union with, desired by, i. , - , ; granted, i. . ireland:-- act of union-- gladstone's views regarding, iii. . home rule in relation to, iii. . o'connell's amendment for repeal of ( ), i. ; iii. _and note_. resolutions preliminary to, iii. . agitation in, relief measures due to, iii. . ashbourne act ( ), iii. . assassination bill ( ), i. . beaconsfield's reference to, in election address ( ), ii. ; his apprehension regarding, iii. . boycotting in, iii. , - _and note _. budget of , as affecting, i. , - , . carnarvon's statement on ( ), iii. . central board, _see below_ local government. chamberlain's views on compulsory expropriation, iii. ; his attitude towards home rule, iii. , _note _, , ; his speech on condition of (june ' ), iii. - ; his federation scheme, iii. - , , . chief secretaries for, in gladstone's cabinets ( - ), ii. ; ( - ), ii. ; ( ), iii. _note_; ( ), iii. , _note_. churches-- presbyterian against home rule, iii. . protestant episcopal-- appropriation question, i. . disestablishment of-- difficulties of, ii. - ; preliminaries, ii. - ; bill in the commons, ii. - , ; with the lords, ii. - ; back to the commons, ii. - ; back to the lords, ii. - ; modifications accepted by the commons, ii. ; debates on, iii. ; gladstone's letter to the queen on, ii. , . disraeli's proposals for, ii. . gladstone speaks on, in parliament, i. ; at newark, i. ; his five resolutions on, iii. ; his attitude towards ( ), ii. - ; ( - ), ii. - ; his action regarding ( ), ii. , - . home rule opposed by, iii. . reform bill, gladstone's speech on ( ), i. ; inglis's opposition to, i. . roman catholic, parnell leadership denounced by, iii. - . coercion:-- acts and bills ( ), i. ; ( ) i. ; ( - ) iii. ; ( ) ii. ; ( ) ii. ; ( ) iii. , ; ( ) iii. _and note_, , , , , _note _; ( ) iii. , - , , - ; ( ) iii. ; ( ) iii. _and note_, _and notes_, - , . conservative party's repudiation of, iii. - , ; revival of, as a last resort, iii. - ; silence regarding, iii. ; proposal of, iii. ; salisbury's 'twenty years' proposal, iii. . english realisation of, iii. ; english attitude towards ( ), iii. - . liberal unionists accomplices in, iii. . parnell's view of, iii. ; his fear of renewal of, by liberals, iii. - . commissions and committees on ( - ), iii. ; ( ) i. . compensation for disturbance bill, iii. , , , . conservative administration of ( - ), iii. - , - , - . consolidated annuities, i. _and note_, . cowper commission, iii. , - . crimes acts, _see_ coercion _under this heading_. cromwell's insight into problem of, ii. . devon commission ( ), ii. . education grant, gladstone's views of, i. . election results in ( ), ii. ; ( ) iii. - ; ( ) iii. . english traditional attitude towards, iii. , - , . evictions in, iii. , , , , ; compensation in cases of, _see_ compensation _under this heading_. famine in ( ), i. , . fenians in:-- parnell's alleged conversation with a spy regarding, iii. . plots of ( ), ii. . release of prisoners ( ), ii. . secret committee on, proposed ( ), ii. . temper of ( ), iii. . financial relations commission, i. . fitzgerald's stanzas on, i. . franchise extension in, iii. - . gladstone's first cabinet concerned with, i. ; his proposal to visit ( ), i. ; his forecast regarding ( ), i. ; uneasiness regarding state of, ii. , ; his view of his mission regarding, ii. ; his visit to ( ), ii. . government of ireland bill ( ), _see_ home rule _under this heading_. habeas corpus act, suspension of, iii. - , , . home rule for:-- act of union, relative to, iii. . bill of :-- alterations of original plan of, iii. - . amendments proposed for, iii. . cesser of irish representation, iii. , , , , , - ; opposed, iii. - , , . defeat of, iii. . disabilities specified in, iii. , . financial provisions of, iii. , , , , . introduction and first reading of, i. _note_; iii. - , . postponement of, after second reading, suggested, iii. - . reception of, in the press, iii. - ; by irish party, iii. - _and notes_. resolutions instead of, later views on, iii. - . second reading of, iii. - , , , - . summary of, iii. - . taxation provisions of, iii. , - , . withdrawal of, after second reading, suggested, iii. - . bill of -- preparation, iii. - _and note _; crux of irish representation, iii. - ; second reading stage, iii. - ; majority, iii. ; committee stage, iii. - , - ; third reading, iii. ; defeat in house of lords, iii. . cesser of irish representation-- question of ( ), _see above under_ bill of ; gladstone's speech on, at swansea ( ), iii. ; question of ( ), iii. - . chamberlain's attitude towards, iii. _note _, , , . gladstone's speech on, at aberdeen ( ), ii. ; his letter on ( ), iii. ; his attitude towards, before the elections ( ), iii. - , - ; after the elections, iii. - , , - , , - , ; his pamphlet on, iii. _and note _. hartington's opposition to, iii. , , . independence of nationalist vote desirable for concession of, iii. . liberal party in relation to:-- central organisation declares for gladstone, iii. . cleavage in, iii. _and note_, - , ; gladstone's decision to act regardless of, iii. - ; number of seceders on night of the division, iii. . dissentients' meeting in committee room , iii. - . meeting of, at foreign office, iii. - . vacillations of, iii. . waiting attitude counselled by gladstone, iii. ; adopted, iii. . national pronouncement for, iii. - . parnell's demand for, iii. . popular sentiment regarding, iii. , . salisbury's attitude towards, iii. , , , - . inglis's views on, i. . intimidation in, iii. , , , , . invincibles, iii. , . jansenism in, iii. . lady correspondents on turbulence in, ii. ; iii. . land league:-- commission on, iii. , _et seq._ gladstone's view of, iii. , . land act of in relation to, iii. , . land tenure in:-- acts and bills:-- ( ) ii. . ( ) ii. _and note_. ( ) ii. - : iii. ; precautions against eviction, ii. ; debates on, iii. ; vatican decrees inimical to parliamentary success of, ii. ; greek congratulations on, ii. ; effect of, iii. ; failure of, iii. . ( ) iii. - ; debates and speeches on, iii. - ; parnell's attitude towards the act, iii. - ; nationalist efforts to amend the act, iii. ; inadequacy of, iii. ; effect of, iii. ; secured by agitation, iii. ; unpopular, iii. . ( ) iii. , - , ; widespread repugnance to, iii. , - , . ( ) pressed by spencer and morley, iii. ; interest in, eclipsed by home rule, iii. ; first reading of, iii. _note_. ( ) iii. - . dual ownership, iii. , . encumbered estates act ( ), ii. . english ignorance of, ii. . peculiarities of, ii. - . landed gentry, rule of, destroyed by liberal party, iii. - . local government for (other than home rule):-- canadian scheme suggested, iii. , . central board scheme, iii. ; gladstone's attitude towards, iii. , - ; parnell's approval of, iii. , , ; his repudiation of, iii. , ; his conversation with carnarvon regarding, iii. - ; liberal cabinet's attitude towards, iii. , . county government bill discussed by gladstone and chamberlain, iii. _and note _. federation views of chamberlain, iii. - , , . gladstone's letter to forster on ( ), iii. . small holdings and allotments bill, chamberlain's views on, iii. _and note_. maamtrasna debate, iii. , . military _v._ moonlighters in, iii. . mitchelstown affair, iii. - . national league:-- bill to deal with, proposed by hicks beach, iii. . commission upon, iii. , _et seq._ elections influenced by, iii. . power of, iii. . papal intervention in, suggested, iii. - ; on plan of campaign, iii. - ; on parnell leadership, iii. . parnell's position in ( ), iii. ; elections after the split, iii. , . peel's view of condition of ( ), i. ; his decision against gladstone for chief secretary, i. _and note_. peers, irish, called to house of lords by beaconsfield, ii. _note_. phoenix park murders, iii. , , , . plan of campaign:-- english and scotch view of, iii. . gladstone's attitude towards, iii. - . nature of, iii. - , . parnell's attitude towards, iii. . pope leo's pronouncements on, iii. - . ulster, for, encouraged by churchill, iii. _note_. poerio's arrival in, i. . queen's attitude towards, ii. . railways in, gladstone's commission on, ii. _note_. rents in:-- arrears bill ( ), iii. . beach on, iii. , . bessborough commission on, iii. , . buller's evidence on, iii. . conservative vacillations regarding, iii. - . cowper commission on ( ), iii. - . crime in relation to excess of, iii. , . parnell on, iii. , . richmond commission on, iii. . roman catholic party in, supporting english government, gladstone's view of, i. . social condition of ( ), iii. (_see also_ intimidation _under this heading_). tenants' relief bill, iii. , . tithes bills, iii. . tractarian movement's effect on feeling towards, i. . ulster:-- elections of in, iii. - . gladstone's consideration of, iii. . home rule opposed by, iii. . plan of campaign for, encouraged by churchill, iii. _note_. separate assembly for, suggestion of, iii. . solemn league and covenant for, iii. . variation in rents, attitude towards, iii. . university education in:-- gladstone's bill for ( ), ii. - , . roman catholic attitude towards, ii. - , - . unsettled condition of, ii. . irish party:-- aberdeen, attitude towards, i. . anti-parnellites, gladstone's responsibility towards ( ), iii. . bright's estimate of, iii. . cleavage of ( ), iii. . committee room fifteen, iii. _and note _, . conservative understanding with, iii. - , , , , , - , - , . criminal law amendment bill ( ), tactics on, iii. - . dependence upon, undesirable for settlement of home rule question, iii. . exclusion of, from westminster, proposed, iii. , , , , , - ; opposed, iii. - , , ; gladstone's speech on, at swansea ( ), iii. ; question of ( ), iii. - . gladstone, estrangement from, on italian question, ii. ; on his vatican campaign, ii. ; vituperation of ( ), iii. ; general attitude towards, iii. ; ovation to ( ), iii. . home rule bill of ' , excitement at introduction of, iii. ; acceptance of, iii. . irish university bill, attitude towards, , , . italian nationality, views on, i. ; ii. . khartoum vote of censure supported by, iii. . liberal party-- attitude of ( ), ii. ; support of ( ), iii. _and note _; opposition to ( ), iii. ; dislike of, iii. ; alliance with, apprehended by tory leaders, iii. ; alliance accomplished, iii. ; impossibility of uniform action with, iii. . obstructionist tactics of, iii. , - , , , . papal rescript, attitude towards, iii. . parnell re-elected by (nov. ), iii. ; effect on, of gladstone's letter, iii. ; split on leadership question, iii. - ; attempts at an understanding, iii. . parnellites, iii. , . revolution in parliamentary procedure effected by, iii. . russell, attitude towards, i. . separate parliamentary organisation of ( ), ii. . spencer, lord, attitude towards, iii. . strength of ( ), iii. , . violence of ( - ), iii. . irving, edward, i. , . ---- sir h., ii. . ismail pasha, iii. _note _. italian language, ii. . italy:-- _alabama_ tribunal, represented on, ii. , . austria--tyranny of, i. - ; aberdeen's views on, ii. - ; gladstone's letters on, to lord aberdeen, i. , _and note_, ; aberdeen's view on the letters, i. , _note _, , , ; effect of the letters, i. - , - _and note _; austrian war ( ), i. , _note _; ii. _et seq._ eastern question, attitude towards, ii. . ecclesiastical policy of, gladstone's views on, ii. _note_. finance of, ii. . france-- aid from, ii. - , ; alliance sought by ( ), ii. ; neutrality during franco-prussian war, ii. . german alliance of, iii. . gladstone's visit to ( ), i. - ; ( ) i. ; ( ) ii. - ; ( ) iii. ; italian recognition of his services, ii. ; iii. ; his views on policy of ( ), iii. - , . rome occupied by government of, in franco-prussian war, ii. , . savoy, distinct from, ii. . smyrna demonstration favoured by, iii. . suez canal protection, invited to help in, iii. . unification of, ii. ; gladstone slow to advocate, i. , ; ii. - ; effect of movement on england, ii. - . venetia transferred to, ii. . ithaca, i. . jackson, dean, i. _and note _. jacobson, bp., i. ; ii. . jamaica:-- apprenticeship system in, i. . slave estates in, i. . suspension of constitution of, proposed, i. . james, sir henry, made attorney-general, ii. _note_, ; on the greenwich seat question, i. ; on the bradlaugh question, iii. ; gladstone's regard for, iii. ; corrupt practices bill, i. _note _; iii. ; collings' amendment, iii. ; on spies, iii. _note_. ---- sir walter, gladstone's letters to, i. , , ; otherwise mentioned, ii. , . jansenism, iii. . jeffreys, h. a., i. , , . jelf, w. e., ii. . jenner, dr., ii. , . jerusalem:-- bishopric question, i. - , . greek and latin dispute regarding holy places in, i. . jessel, sir g., ii. _note_, - . ---- lady, iii. . jesuits, ii. . jeune, dr., i. , . jevons, w. s., ii. . jews:-- admission of, to parliament, i. - ; opposed by gladstone, i. ; by inglis, i. . disraeli's sympathies with, ii. - , ; iii. - . eastern question, attitude towards, ii. . peerage recommended for, by gladstone, ii. . rothschild's work for, iii. . jingoism, iii. . jocelyn, viscount, i. . johnson, dr., iii. . ---- reverdy, ii. _note _. jones, rev. j., i. . ---- ernest, i. , . joubert, general, iii. , , , . jowett, b., supports gladstone at oxford, i. ; on oxford reform, i. , ; gladstone's appreciation of, i. , ; advocates civil service reform, i. ; estimate of gladstone, ii. ; work on educational reform ( ), ii. . joy, henry hall, i. , . juxon, archbishop, iii. _and note _. kainadji, treaty of, ii. . kean, charles, ii. . keate, dr., i. , , , , , - . keble, john, i. , , , _note _; ii. - . kempis, thomas à, ii. , . kew gardens feud, ii. . khalifa, the, iii. . khartoum, _see under_ soudan. kimberley, earl of, lord privy seal ( ), ii. ; on _alabama_ case, ii. ; colonial secretary ( ), ii. ; ( ), ii. ; correspondence, etc., on transvaal question, iii. , - , , , - ; decides against a transvaal commission, iii. _and note_; indian secretary ( ), ii. ; for home rule, iii. _note_; indian secretary ( ), iii. _note_; president of council and indian secretary ( ), iii. _note_; at last cabinet council, iii. ; otherwise mentioned, ii. ; iii. . king, locke, ii. , . kinglake, a. w., i. - _and note_; ii. _note_. kingsley, dr., ii. . ---- rev. c, ii. . kiréeff, colonel, ii. _note_. kitchener, major, iii. . kitson, sir james, ii. ; iii. - . knapp, rev. h. h., i. , . knatchbull, sir e., i. , ; ii. _note _. knollys family, ii. . knowles, j., iii. , , . knox, alexander, i. . knutsford, lord, iii. _note_. kordofan, iii. . kossuth, i. , . kruger, president, gladstone's meeting with ( ), ii. ; urges reversal of annexation, iii. , ; correspondence with colley, iii. - , . labouchere, h. l., i. _note _. labour, war-loans as affecting, i. . lacaita, sir james, gladstone's acquaintance with, i. - ; secretary to gladstone's ionian commission, i. , ; gladstone's letters to, i. ; ii. , , , , ; otherwise mentioned, i. ; ii. . laing's nek, iii. , , , . lake, dean, i. ; iii. . lamartine, cited, i. . lamb, charles, i. _and note _. lambert, sir john, ii. , - . lamennais, i. , . lancashire:-- american civil war, effect of, ii. ; gladstone's relief works, ii. _note _; fortitude under distress, ii. . gladstone's speeches in ( ), ii. ; ( ), ii. ; invited to stand for ( ), ii. ; his candidature, ii. - ; his election, ii. . lancaster, t. w. l., i. . landed property:-- chamberlain's pronouncements on, iii. . gladstone's views on, i. - , ; his budget proposals regarding, i. , . ireland, in, _see under_ ireland. langley, ----, ii. . lansdowne, rd marquis of, view of, on repeal, i. ; on reform, i. ; retirement of, i. ; on gladstone's budget, i. , ; attempts to form a government, i. ; fails, i. ; conditionally consents to join palmerston's government, i. ; assists palmerston, i. ; recommends derby for premiership, i. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , , , . ---- th marquis of, iii. , . lanyon, sir o., iii. - , , _note_. laud, archbishop, iii. . lavalette, marquis de, ii. - , . law of nations, i. , _note_. layard, sir a. h. l., iii. . leboeuf, marshal, ii. . lecky, w. e. h., iii. . leeds, gladstone elected for ( ), ii. _and note _; his visit to ( ), iii. - ; herbert gladstone returned for, ii. . _leeds mercury_, iii. _note_. lefevre, j. g. shaw-, i. ; ii. ; iii. _note_, _note_. legacy duty, _see_ succession duty. legislation work, gladstone's review of, ii. - . legh, ----, ii. _note_. leighton, f. k. (warden of all souls'), i. . ---- archbishop, i. . leith, gladstone's election for, iii. . leo xiii., pope, iii. - . leopardi, essay on, iii. . leopold i., i. . ---- ii., king of the belgians, ii. , ; iii. . ---- prince, ii. . ---- ---- (hohenzollern), ii. - , , , _note_. lesseps, m. de, i. , ; ii. . _lessons in massacre_, ii. , . lewis, sir g. cornewall, on american civil war, ii. , , _and note_; on irish agrarian outrage, i. _and note_; on gladstone's influence in oxford, i. ; criticises gladstone's budget ( ), ii. ; succeeds gladstone as chancellor of exchequer, i. - ; budget of ( ), i. , - ; gladstone's differences with, on finance, ii. , , , ; agreement with, ii. ; objects to french treaty project, ii. ; on paper duties bill, ii. , ; views of, on nature of government, ii. ; cabinet struggle with gladstone ( ), ii. ; gladstone's estimate of, ii. ; his estimate of gladstone, i. ; death of, ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , , , _note_, , ; ii. , , , - ; iii. . lewis, sir gilbert, gladstone's letter to, ii. . ---- lady theresa, ii. . liardet, ----, ii. . liberal party:-- adullamites, ii. , , , . apathy and disorganisation of ( ), ii. . aristocratic element withdrawn from, iii. . church of england, antagonistic to ( ), ii. . cleavage in ( ), ii. , ; ( ) ii. ; ( ) ii. ; threatened ( ), iii. , , , , , , , , ; gladstone's efforts to avert, iii. , , , , , ; gladstone's determination not to take part in, iii. ; not to lead a home rule opposition, iii. ; to act regardless of followers, iii. , ; cleavage accomplished, iii. _and note_, - ; first public mark of, iii. ; number of seceders on night of home rule division, iii. ; reunion desired by gladstone, iii. , , (_see also below_, disaffection). closure countenanced by, iii. . colonial and irish policy of, vindicated by gladstone, ii. - . conservative party supported by, on important measures, iii. - . 'construction' shibboleth of, iii. . disaffection in ( - ), ii. , - , , , - , - ; ( ) ii. ; ( - ) ii. ; ( - ) ii. ; ( - ) ii. , , _and note_, ; ( ) ii. (_see also above_, cleavage). electoral losses of ( ), ii. - ; triumph ( ), ii. , - ; gains ( - ), iii. . foreign policy of, attacked by _pall mall gazette_, ii. . forster's view of ( ), ii. . gladstone's junction with, i. ; his reception by, ii. . hartington accepts leadership of ( ), ii. . home rule, _see under_ ireland. irish party, _see under_ irish party. leadership of-- hartington's acceptance of ( ), ii. ; gladstone's correspondence on ( ), iii. , - . majority of, in , ii. _and note _. parnell's denunciations of, iii. , , . questions tending to divide, list of, ii. . round table conference, iii. , - _and note_. tea-room schism, ii. , . ultra-toryism in, ii. . liberal unionist party:-- coercion the touchstone for, iii. . conservatives, union with, iii. . round table conference, iii. , - _and note_. liberalism, acton on, iii. . liberty:-- de maistre on, ii. . gladstone's feeling for, i. , , , , - ; ii. , , ; iii. - , , , , , , ; his views regarding fitness for, iii. . licensing bills ( ), ii. - . liddell, dean, i. _note_; ii. , . liddon, canon, ii. ; iii. . lieven, madame de, i. , , , . life-insurance duty, i. . lightfoot, bp., ii. . lincoln, lord, _see_ newcastle, th duke of. lincoln, president, ii. ; iii. . liquor interest, influence of, on election of , ii. . literary controversy, temper for, iii. . littlemore, i. , . littleton, e. j. l., i. . liverpool:-- canning's election for, i. - . conservatism of, ii. . early condition of, i. - . electoral scandals at, i. . gladstone, john, settles in, i. . gladstone's debt to, i. ; speech at ( ), i. _note _; speech at ( ), ii. ; election speech at ( ), ii. - ; speech at, on reform ( ), ii. ; address at, on strauss ( ), ii. ; reception at ( ), ii. ; speech at ( ), iii. . _liverpool courier_, gladstone's letters to, i. . _liverpool standard_, gladstone's contributions to, i. . ---- lord, church patronage under, i. ; nature of government of, i. ; policy of, i. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , ; iii. , . lloyd, bishop, i. . loans for war purposes, i. - . locke, i. ; iii. - . lockhart, j.g., i. , - . loch-lochy, battle at, i. _note_. lochnagar, i. ; ii. , . loftus, lord a., ii. - . lombardy, i. ; ii. . london, election results in ( ), ii. . ---- and n.-western railway, iii. . ---- convention ( ), iii. _and note_. ---- protocol, ii. . londonderry, lord, i. ; iii. . longley, archbishop, iii. _note _. 'lord dundreary,' ii. . lords, house of, _see under_ parliament. lorraine, annexation of, ii. - . louis, princess of hesse (princess alice), ii. , - , , , . ---- xvi., iii. . ---- napoleon, _see_ napoleon iii. louise, princess, ii. , , ; iii. . lowe, robert (lord sherbrooke), opposes reform, ii. - , , , , , ; iii. _note _; declines to join derby government, ii. ; pronouncement on franchise, ii. - ; on gladstone's leadership, ii. ; chancellor of exchequer ( ), ii. , ; views on irish land question, ii. , ; urges civil service reform, i. ; ii. - ; opposes transportation of convicts to australia, i. ; gladstone's letter to, on treasury administration, ii. , ; budgets of, ii. ; speech at sheffield on finance, ii. - ; on _alabama_ case, ii. , ; attitude towards gladstone, ii. ; gladstone's estimate of, ii. , - ; on irish university bill, ii. ; post office scandal, ii. - , , ; home secretary ( ), ii. _note_, ; on the greenwich seat question, ii. ; protests against gladstone's retirement, ii. ; viscounty desired for, by gladstone, ii. ; otherwise mentioned, ii. , , , , . lowther, james, ii. . lubbock, sir john, ii. . lucas, ----, i. . lucretius, iii. , , . lushington, ----, i. _note_. lyndhurst, lord, failure to form a ministry ( ), ii. ; attitude towards repeal, i. ; brougham's compliment to, i. _and note_; gladstone's estimate of, ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , - ; ii. . lyons, lord, on _trent_ affair, ii. - ; on reduction of armaments, ii. ; spanish sovereign affair, ii. , - , ; on black sea affair, ii. ; mentioned, iii. . lyttelton, lady (mary glynne), gladstone's appreciation of, i. ; marriage of, i. ; illness and death of, i. - ; mentioned, i. , ; ii. . ---- lord, marriage of, i. ; examines at eton, i. ; attitude towards welsh bishoprics question, i. ; connection with oak farm, i. _et seq._; views on gladstone's new policy ( ), ii. ; endowed schools commissioner, ii. ; gladstone's letters to, i. , , ; ii. , , , , , ; otherwise mentioned, i. , ; ii. , . lyttelton, neville, on herbert gladstone's candidature, ii. . lytton, e. l. bulwer, lord, casts gladstone's horoscope, i. - ; suggests to gladstone mission to ionian islands, i. ; gladstone's relations with, i. , ; funeral of, ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , ; ii. , . ---- sir edward, i. , . macaulay, lord, first speech of, i. _note_ ; sadler defeated by, i. _note_; meets gladstone in rome ( ), i. - ; on gladstone's first book, i. - ; on _church principles_, i. ; on gladstone's political position, i. ; gladstone contrasted with, i. - , ; debating method of, i. ; on the china question, i. ; gladstone's censure of, i. ; on lady hewley case, i. ; on gladstone's ecclesiastical views in , i. ; on disraeli's budget debate, i. ; on barrow, ii. ; iii. _note_; _warren hastings_, iii. ; gladstone's estimate of, iii. , ; linguistic purity of, iii. ; on dryden, iii. ; gladstone's essay on, iii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , _note_, , ; ii. , , , . ---- z., i. . mccarthy, j.h., on conservative overtures to irish party, iii. _and note_ ; gladstone's views on parnell leadership announced to, iii. , , ; ignorant of parnell's plans, iii. ; leads away the anti-parnellites, iii. - . macdonald, family of, ii. _note_. ---- sir john, ii. . macedonia, iii. . machiavelli, ii. _and note_, , . macgregor, j., gladstone's estimate of, i. , . macmillan, mr., i. . mcneile, rev. hugh, ii. . magee, bishop, ii. , - , _note_, _note_. magyars, eastern question, attitude towards, ii. , . mahdi, the, iii. , , , . mahon, lord, _see_ stanhope. maine, ii. . maistre, joseph de, ii. - _and note_ ; iii. . maitland, sir thomas, i. _note_ . majuba hill, iii. . malacca straits, ii. . malet, sir e., iii. . malmesbury, lord, estimate of, i. ; his estimate of gladstone, i. ; on co-operation with gladstone, i. ; distrusted by gladstone, i. , ; otherwise mentioned, i. _note_ , , , . maltby, bp., i. . manchester:-- disraeli's speech at ( ), ii. . fenian outrage in, ii. . fraser appointed bishop, ii. . gladstone nominated for ( ), i. ; his speech at ( ), i. . nonconformist protest at, against education act, ii. . manin, d., i. ; ii. . manners, lord j., _see_ rutland. manning:-- _chronology_--strongly anglican attitude, i. ; in rome with gladstone, i. , ; approves _church principles_, i. ; revises ms. of _church principles_, i. ; godfather to gladstone's eldest son, i. ; with gladstone before resignation on maynooth, i. , ; gladstone's close relations with, i. , ; newman's letters to, i. , ; guy fawkes sermon, i. _note_ ; on secession to rome, i. ; on gladstone's career, i. ; on church outlook, i. ; gorham case, i. - _and note_ ; secession to rome, i. - ; estrangement from gladstone, i. _and note_ ; on gladstone's irish church policy, ii. , , , ; letter on oxford defeat, ii. , _note_; letter to gladstone on premiership, ii. ; irish land bill ( ), ii. , ; on education bill, ii. ; on irish university bill, ii. , ; pamphlet of, replying to gladstone's on vatican decrees, ii. , - ; on eastern question, ii. ; intercourse with gladstone renewed, iii. ; on cesser of irish representation, iii. ; on parnell leadership, iii. - . contrasted with newman, ii. , . gladstone's letters to, i. , , , - , ; iii. . ultramontanism of, ii. - ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , , _note_ , , , , , _note_; ii. , - , , , , ; iii. , . mansfield, lord, i. , . manzoni, i. ; ii. , _note_ , ; ode translated, iii. . marcus aurelius, i. _and note_ . maria, donna, i. . marie antoinette, iii. . marlborough, duke of, ii. , , . marriage--civil, legalisation of, i. ; deceased wife's sister question, i. ; gladstone's views on, i. - . marriott, c, i. _note_, . marsham, dr., i. , - . martin, sir j., ii. . ---- sir theodore, ii. _note_ . martineau, miss, ii. . ---- james, ii. ; iii. . maskell, rev. w., i. _note_ . match tax, ii. _and notes_. mathew, father, ii. . maurice, f. d., influence of, i. ; newman compared with, i. ; proceedings against, i. , , - ; on gladstone's oxford candidature, i. - ; king's college attack on, i. - ; appointed to vere st., i. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , _note_, , , , , ; ii. . may, sir t. e., on the greenwich seat question, ii. , ; assists speaker against obstruction, iii. ; memo. by, iii. _note_; mentioned, iii. . maynooth:-- conservative advantage regarding act, iii. . gladstone's retirement on question of, i. ; ii. , . inglis opposes grant to, i. . irish church bill ( ) concerned with, ii. , . peel's policy regarding, i. ; gladstone's attitude towards peel's policy, i. - , . russell's speech on, i. - . mazzini, i. , , ; ii. , ; iii. , . melbourne, lord, dismissal of ( ), i. _and note_ ; hampden appointment, i. - ; on peel's position ( ), i. ; nature of government of, i. ; gladstone's estimate of, iii. ; long administration of, iii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , ; iii. , . melvill, h., i. . menschikoff, i. , . mérimée, prosper, ii. . merivale, charles, ii. . metaphysical society, ii. . metaphysics, gladstone's attitude towards, i. . metastasio, i. . metternich, i. ; ii. . mexico, french embarrassments in, ii. - . miall, e., ii. , . middlesborough, ii. _and note_. midlothian, gladstone's invitation to stand for, ii. ; agrees, ii. ; general outlook, ii. - ; the campaign, ii. - ; iii. ; the queen's disapproval, ii. ; iii. ; his return for ( ), ii. - ; ( ) iii. ; ( ) iii. ; his farewell to, iii. - . mignet, f.-a.-a., ii. . miguel, don, i. . miles, ----, i. . mill, james, i. , ; ii. - . ---- j. s., views on the tractarians, i. - ; on civil service reform, i. ; estimate of gladstone, ii. ; on government of india, ii. ; on irish land question, ii. ; on education, ii. ; against the ballot, ii. - ; memorial to, ii. - ; gladstone's estimate of, ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , , ; ii. , , , ; iii. . ---- dr. w. h., i. , _note_ . millais, sir j., ii. - . milman, dean, i. , ; ii. , . milnes, r. monckton, i. , , , , . milton, gladstone's estimate of, i. ; views on the church, i. ; on marriage, i. , ; gladstone compared with, ii. . minghetti, ii. . mold, speech at ( ), i. _note_ . moldavia, ii. . molesworth, sir william, views on toleration, i. ; on canadian revolt, i. _and note_ ; in coalition cabinet, i. , ; denison's attitude towards, i. ; supports gladstone's budget, i. ; attitude towards crimean war, i. _note_; on colonial policy, i. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , , , , , ; iii. . moltke, ii. , , - . moncreiff, rev. sir h. w., i. , . money dealings, i. ; iii. - . monsell, w., postmaster-general ( ), ii. - , _note_, , . montalembert, de, i. ; ii. , , ; letter from, ii. . monte cassino, ii. - . montenegro:-- berlin treaty's provisions regarding, iii. - . revolt in, ii. , , , - . sympathy in gladstone's illness, iii. . more, hannah, i. . moriarty, bishop, ii. . morier, sir robert, ii. . morpeth, lord, i. . morley, arnold, iii. , , _note_. ---- john, appointment of, as irish secretary, iii. , _note_; previous utterances of, on irish question, _note_ ; presses irish land bill, iii. ; in communication with parnell, iii. - , _note_ ; letter from parnell against withdrawal of bill after second reading, iii. ; letter on parnell's view of resignation, iii. ; at round table conference, iii. _note_; gladstone's letter to, on churchill's retirement, iii. ; interviews with parnell, iii. , ; gladstone's letters to, on plan of campaign, iii. - ; bingley hall meeting, iii. ; parnell consults with, on _times_ letters, iii. ; gladstone's letter to, on italian policy, iii. ; gladstone's letter to, on parnell, iii. - ; meeting at lord rendel's on parnell affair, iii. _note_; gladstone's letter to, on parnell's leadership, iii. ; interviews with parnell, iii. - , ; visit to hawarden ( ), iii. - ; gladstone's letters to, on kilkenny election, iii. ; on his birthday, iii. ; on death of eldest son, iii. ; at biarritz, iii. _et seq._; at dalmeny, iii. - ; gladstone's letter to, on election, iii. ; irish secretary ( ), iii. _note_; at butterstone with gladstone, iii. ; farewell visit, iii. ; otherwise mentioned, iii. , , _note_ , _note_, . mortgage of land, gladstone's views regarding, i. , . mozley, j. b., i. . ---- t., ii. . mulgrave, lord, iii. _note_. mundella, a. j., iii. _note_, _note_. münster, count, iii. . murray, archbishop, i. . ---- sir g., i. ; ii. _note_ . ---- john, i. ; ii. . murchison, sir r., ii. . myrianthes, archimandrite, ii. . napier, sir charles, on ionian islanders, i. - . naples:-- gladstone's visit to ( ), i. - ; later visit ( ), iii. . misgovernment of, i. - ; ii. , - . victor emmanuel's entry into, ii. . napoleon i., i. _and note_ ; iii. , , . ---- iii., plot to slay, i. ; aids italy, ii. - , ; estimate of, by a papal official, ii. _note_; difficulties of, with french ultramontanes, ii. ; cobden's negotiations with, ii. ; estimate of gladstone's budget speech, ii. ; friendliness towards england, ii. ; palmerston's mistrust of, ii. ; urges plan of representations to america, ii. - ; on garibaldi, ii. ; on danish question, ii. , , ; gladstone dines with ( ), ii. ; uneasiness regarding prussia, ii. ; deposition of, ii. ; letter from, ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. - , , ; ii. - , , _note_ , , . national debt:-- conversion scheme ( ), i. , , . proposals regarding ( ), ii. , . reduction of ( - ), ii. . terminable annuities for paying off, ii. . ---- press agency, iii. _note_, . nationalist party, _see_ irish party. nationality:-- emergence of principle of, ii. - . gladstone's attitude towards ( ), i. , ; ( ) ii. - ; ( ) i. ; ( ) iii. ; ( ) iii. . napoleon iii.'s views on, ii. . negro apprenticeship, gladstone's speech on, i. _and note_. neilson of springfield, i. . nelson, thomas, i. . neruda, mme. norman, ii. . nettleship, mr., iii. . neville, father, iii. . newark, gladstone's candidature and election for ( ), i. - , - , ; returned for, without contest ( ), i. ; speech at ( ), i. ; speech at ( ), i. ; returned for ( ), i. ; ( ) i. ; end of his connection with, i. . newcastle, gladstone's visit to ( ), ii. - ; his speeches at ( ), iii. . newcastle, th duke of, offers gladstone influence in newark, i. - ; views of, i. - ; gladstone's relations with, i. ; gladstone's visit to, i. ; sadler a nominee of, i. ; gladstone's first book approved by, i. ; mentioned, i. . ---- th duke of, informs gladstone of parliamentary opening at newark, i. ; re-elected ( ), i. ; on gladstone's quarrel with bentinck, i. ; russell's proposal to, i. ; advises gladstone to decline office, i. ; desires leadership of peelites, i. ; attitude towards derby, i. ; ideas of a third party, i. , ; supports gladstone's budget, i. ; war minister during crimean war, i. - ; suggests substitution of palmerston for himself, i. ; on peelites' refusal to join palmerston, i. ; favours ionian project, i. ; attitude towards french treaty scheme, ii. ; on paper duties bill, ii. , ; supports finance bill proposal, ii. ; death of, ii. ; gladstone trustee for, ii. ; gladstone's estimate of, ii. , ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , , , , , , , , , _note_, , , _and note_, , , , ; ii. , , - . newdegate, c. n., iii. . newman, francis, i. ; letter from, ii. , . ---- cardinal, j. h., gladstone's early contact with, i. - _and note_ ; sermons by, i. , , ; gladstone's estimate of, i. _note_ ; on _church principles_, i. ; on j. r. hope, i. _note_; gladstone's correspondence with, i. ; tract ninety, i. - , ; view on jerusalem bishopric, i. , , ; on system of roman church, i. ; position of ( ), i. - ; gladstone on treatment of, i. ; secession of, i. ; letter of, describing gladstone's position, i. ; contrasted with manning, ii. , ; on gladstone's criticism of _ecce homo_, ii. ; on gladstone's _chapter of autobiography_, ii. ; reply to gladstone's _vatican decrees_ pamphlet, ii. ; to _vaticanism_, ii. ; last letter from, ii. ; gladstone's call on, with chamberlain, ii. _and note_; gladstone's letter to, on papal responsibility for disloyal priests in ireland, iii. ; reply, iii. ; death of, iii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , , , ; ii. , ; iii. . newnham college, iii. . new zealand, i. - , , . nice, french acquisition of, ii. , , , . _nineteenth century_, iii. - , . nomination boroughs, i. . nonconformists, _see_ dissenters. normanby, lord, i. . norreys, lord, i. . north, lord, i. ; ii. ; iii. . north notts, i. . northbrook, earl of, gladstone's letter to, on egyptian mission, iii. ; agrees to send gordon to soudan, iii. ; against home rule, iii. _note_, ; otherwise mentioned, i. _note_; ii. ; iii. . northcote, sir s., _see_ iddesleigh. norway, gladstone's cruises to ( ), iii. - ; ( ) iii. - . novalis, cited, iii. . novikoff, mme., ii. , , . nubar, iii. , , . oakeley, f., i. . oak farm, financial embarrassments of, i. _et seq._; gladstone's preoccupation with, i. , , ; his public finance influenced by experiences with, i. . o'brien, w. smith, i. . ---- w., iii. . obstruction, _see under_ parliament. o'connell, daniel, repeal amendment of ( ), i. ; iii. _note_; on harvey committee, i. _note_, ; influence of, on gladstone, i. ; tory attitude towards, i. , ; visits newark, i. ; on gladstone's first book, i. ; peel's attitude towards ( ), i. ; gladstone contrasted with, ii. ; crime denounced by, iii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , ; ii. ; iii. , , . octagon, the, ii. - . office, gladstone's view of desire for, i. . o'hagan, lord, ii. . okes, provost, i. . oliver, mrs., i. _note_. opium question, i. - . oratory, political, i. - , , ; ii. ; iii. (_see also_ gladstone, w. e.--characteristics--eloquence). orsini affair, ii. , . osman digna, iii. . ossory, archdeacon of, ii. . oswald, alex., i. . otho, king, i. , . ottomans, _see_ turkey. owen, professor, ii. . oxenham, ----, i. , _note_. oxford:-- bias of, i. , , . chandos opposes gladstone at, i. . christ church, enthusiasm at, after gladstone's election ( ), i. . democracy, attitude towards, ii. . dissenters' disabilities at, ii. _and note_. ewelme appointment, ii. - . famous sons of, iii. . gladstone's career at, i. - ; his feeling for, i. , - ; ii. ; iii. , ; his combination of lancashire and, i. ; ii. ; his visits to ( ), i. ; ( ) i. , ; ( ) i. ; ( ) ii. - ; his reception of d. c. l. degree at, i. ; his advice to his son at, i. ; sympathy from, iii. . gladstone's candidature for ( ), i. - ; election, i. - ; his return for ( ), i. - ; return for ( ), i. ; return for ( ), i. ; return for ( ), i. _note_, ; defeat at ( ), ii. - . gladstone's membership for, effect of, on his career, i. , , ; on the university, i. ; as it appeared to himself, i. . influence of, i. . method of study at, i. - _and note_. reform--commission proposed by lord j. russell ( ), i. ; opposed by gladstone, i. , ; oxford resistance to, i. ; conduct and report of, i. _and note_ ; gladstone's scheme, i. , , - ; its reception, i. - ; results of, i. - ; tractarian movement's effect on, i. . tests, i. - ; abolition of, ii. _and note_; i. . tractarian movement, _see_ oxford movement. w e g essay club at, i. - . oxford and cambridge club, gladstone's membership of, i. _and note_. oxford movement:-- gladstone unaffected by, i. ; his election affected by, i. . ireland affected by, i. . nature of, i. - . oxford, influence on, i. . second phase of, i. . _tracts for the times_, i. ; tracts eighty and eighty-seven, i. _note_; tract ninety, i. , , , ; iii. . pacific, gladstone advocates reduction of force in, i. . paget, miss, iii. . ---- lord clarence, ii. , . paine, thomas, ii. . pakington, sir j., i. . palgrave, f. t., ii. . _pall mall gazette_, ii. - , . paley, cited, i. . palmer, kelly and, i. . ---- roundell, _see_ selborne. ---- william, gladstone influenced by, i. , ; gladstone's estimate of, i. ; on maynooth grant, i. . palmerston, lord:-- _chronology_--on sugar duties, i. ; on free trade, i. ; on spanish treaties, i. ; on repeal, i. ; don pacifico debate, i. - ; on neapolitan tyranny, i. , ; ii. ; relations with kossuth, i. ; dismissal by russell, i. ; amendment on militia bill, i. ; in opposition to peel, i. _and note_ ; section represented by, i. ; moves amendment against villiers, i. ; joins coalition government, i. - ; on gladstone's budget ( ), i. - ; different views of, on eastern question, i. ; communications with preceding crimean war, i. - ; approves lord stratford, i. ; desired as war minister during crimean war, i. ; on black sea affair, ii. ; derby's vote of censure on ( ), i. - ; ii. ; defeat of, on cobden's motion, i. ; ii. ; urges postponement of reform bill, i. , ; gladstone's letter to, on crimean operations, i. ; aberdeen in conflict with, i. _and note_ ; foreign office reconstructed by, i. ; suggested by newcastle as substitute for himself, i. ; invited by derby to join government, i. ; refuses, i. ; approves gladstone's refusal, i. ; peelites' attitude towards, i. - ; satisfies aberdeen, i. ; intention of, to oppose roebuck's committee, i. , ; advises acceptance of roebuck's committee, i. ; on crimean war, i. ; triumph of, at election ( ), i. ; defeated on conspiracy bill, i. - ; suggested as leader of commons by disraeli, i. ; views on suez canal scheme, i. ; on corfu, i. ; hands over ionian islands to greece, i. _and note_ ; communications with russell, i. ; forms a government ( ), i. ; views of, identical with derby's, i. ; the principalities, ii. ; french treaty scheme, ii. , ; paper duties bill, ii. - , , ; finance bill, ii. ; franchise proposals of, ii. ; supports herbert, ii. ; fortifications scheme, ii. ; makes a peace speech ( ), ii. ; correspondence with gladstone, ii. - ; on _trent_ affair, ii. ; favours suggestion of representations to america, ii. - , ; advises gladstone regarding newcastle speech, ii. ; on american separation, ii. ; on reduction in naval estimates, ii. ; receives garibaldi, ii. ; views on garibaldi's departure, ii. ; on danish question, ii. - , ; on gladstone's franchise pronouncement, ii. - ; on cabinet government, ii. ; death of, ii. ; gladstone's action regarding funeral of, ii. ; gladstone's speech on, ii. . career and abilities of, i. . characteristics of, i. - . compared with lansdowne, i. ; with aberdeen, i. ; with gladstone, ii. ; with disraeli, ii. ; with hartington, iii. . ecclesiastical appointments of, ii. , . foreign estimates of, i. , , . foreign policy, principles of, i. ; granville's view of, ii. . frankness of, i. . gladstone's relations with, from , i. ; his opposition to, i. , , , ; ii. ; his harmony of sentiment with, i. ; gladstone's estimate of, i. ; ii. ; his estimate of gladstone, ii. ; gladstone's conflicts with, on expenditure, ii. , - . leadership of, ii. . life-objects of, ii. . peers created by, ii. . popularity of, i. , , , ; ii. ; cooling of, ii. , . queen's attitude towards, ii. . selection of work by, ii. . otherwise mentioned, i. _note_, , , , , , , , , ; ii. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - ; iii. _note_ , , , , , , . panizzi, sir a., influence of, on gladstone, i. - ; interview of, with king of naples, i. ; gladstone's letters to, i. ; ii. , ; illness of ( ), ii. ; otherwise mentioned, ii. , , . papal states, ii. , . paper duty, ii. - , - , - , . paris, comte de, ii. ; iii. , . ---- treaty of ( ), i. ; ii. - , ; iii. . parish councils bill ( ), iii. , , . parliament:-- house of commons:-- attendance in--gladstone's diligence regarding, i. ; ii. , ; iii. - ; peel's view of, i. . balance of parties in ( ), i. ; ( ) i. ; ( ) i. , - . burning of, in , i. . closure, introduction of, iii. ; gladstone's distaste for, iii. ; drastic form of, on parnell commission bill, iii. . colonial affairs, indifference to, i. . committee room fifteen, irish party proceedings in, iii. _and note_ , . composition of first reformed, i. . ecclesiastical discussions in, ii. . excitement in, manifestations of, iii. ; on introduction of home rule bill ( ), iii. - . executive sphere invaded by, iii. . expenditure controlled by, under exchequer and audit act ( ), ii. . gladstone's diligence for duties of, _see above_, attendance; his feeling of powerlessness in, i. ; his care for rights and traditions of, ii. - ; iii. , , , , ; his mastery of, i. , - , ; iii. ; his place in ( - ), ii. _note_; his position in ( ), i. ; his isolation in ( ), ii. . grote's estimate of, ii. . indian discussion, indifference to, i. . intolerance of, in the bradlaugh matter, iii. - ; resolution of struck off records of, iii. . irish members of, _see_ irish party. irish representation in, cesser of, contemplated, iii. , , , , , - ; opposed, iii. - , , ; gladstone's speech on, at swansea ( ), iii. ; question of ( ), iii. - . lords, conflict with, _see below under_ house of lords. majorities, large, dating from gladstone's premiership, ii. - . obstruction in, irish, iii. , - , , - ; unionist, iii. . party obligations in, i. , , . payment of members, gladstone's views regarding ( ), i. _note_; his scheme for ( ), iii. - ; chamberlain's pronouncement, iii. . popular influence on, i. ; iii. . position of seats in, significance of, i. - , ; iii. ; gladstone's place ( - ), i. _note_. procedure of, violated by disraeli, ii. ; altered by gladstone, ii. ; gladstone's advocacy of reform in, iii. . reform, _see that title_. reversal of previous vote ruled not out of order, i. _note_. shah's interest in, ii. . supply, rights regarding, ii. , , . tactics in, stephen on, i. ; russell's skill in, i. ; gladstone's, iii. - . temper, school of, i. . temporary retirements from, gladstone's views of, i. - . uncertainties in, i. . variety of style desirable for stating a case in, i. . house of lords:-- ballot bill rejected by, ii. . chamberlain's attitude towards, iii. , . commons' feeling against premier from ( ), iii. . compensation for disturbance bill rejected by, iii. , , . conservative influence in, iii. ; occasions of defeats, ii. . employers' liability bill mutilated by, iii. . franchise bill struggle ( ), iii. - . gladstone's first hearing of debate in, i. - ; his first conflict with, i. ; his refusal of position in, iii. , ; his attitude towards ( ), iii. - , ; his later attitude towards ( ), iii. - ; his speech against (mar. ), iii. - . home rule bill ( ) thrown out by, iii. . irish church question, attitude towards, ii. , , - . opposition by, a stimulus to popular causes, ii. . paper duty struggle with commons, ii. , - , - , . parish councils bill maimed by, iii. , , . parnell's apprehensions regarding, iii. . peel's view of, ii. . permanent opinion represented by, gladstone's exposure of the theory, iii. . preponderance of cabinet in ( ), ii. - . reform bill of amended by, ii. . jews, admission of, i. - . premiership, labours entailed by, i. - . parnell, c. s. (_see also_ irish party), number of followers of ( ), ii. ; party of, iii. ; obstructionist tactics, iii. , , , - ; attitude of, towards compensation for disturbance bill, iii. ; indicted for seditious conspiracy, iii. _note_ ; attitude towards land act of , iii. , ; gladstone's warning to, at leeds, iii. ; imprisonment of, iii. - , , ; chamberlain's communications with, iii. ; offers to resign his seat, iii. ; on franchise extension in ireland, iii. ; supports government (may ), iii. ; conservative understanding with, iii. - , ; not counted on by gladstone, iii. , ; favours plan of central board for ireland, iii. , , ; repudiates it, iii. , ; on maamtrasna case, iii. ; friction with hartington, iii. , ; speech of (aug. ), iii. , , ; public estimate of, iii. ; carnarvon's interview with, iii. - ; home rule demanded by, iii. ; victory of adherents of, at the elections, iii. , ; salisbury's reference to, at newport, iii. ; gives irish vote to conservatives at the election, iii. - ; speculations regarding, iii. , ; attitude towards gladstone, iii. ; tactics after elections ( ), iii. - ; in communication with morley, iii. - ; characteristics of, iii. , ; interview with gladstone, iii. - ; objections to financial provisions of home rule bill, iii. , , , ; consultations with colleagues, iii. - _and notes_; on introduction of home rule bill, iii. ; on continued irish representation at westminster, iii. ; opposed to withdrawal of the bill, iii. ; second meeting with gladstone, iii. ; speech on night of the division, iii. , ; deprecates ministerial resignation, iii. ; systematic disagreement with, iii. ; illness of, iii. , ; disapproves plan of campaign, iii. ; tactics on crimes bill ( ), iii. - ; produces tenants relief bill, iii. ; on papal rescript, iii. ; forged letter in _times_, iii. _and note_ ; denial in the house, iii. ; further letters, iii. ; personal statement in the house, iii. ; asks for select committee, iii. ; special commission, iii. - ; alleged interview of, with spy from america, iii. ; gladstone's sympathy with, iii. ; visit to hawarden, iii. , - ; speech at liverpool, iii. _note_ ; divorce suit, iii. - ; public opinion regarding the verdict, iii. - , - ; question of leadership of, iii. _et seq._; gladstone's letter to morley regarding, iii. , ; attitude of, iii. , - ; re-elected by irish party, iii. ; interviews with morley, iii. - ; manifesto to the irish people, iii. ; committee room fifteen, iii. _and note_ - , - ; denounces liberal party, iii. - ; elections adverse to, iii. ; last speech of, in england, iii. ; death of, iii. ; otherwise mentioned, ii. ; iii. , _and note_ , , , , , , . parnell, sir henry, i. . _parnellism unmasked_, iii. . parnellites, _see under_ irish party. party:-- elements deciding relations of, i. , . gladstone's views on, i. , . tenacity of system, i. _note_ . pascal, i. . patronage, i. ; ii. . patten, wilson, i. _note_ , . patteson, bishop, ii. ; iii. . ---- sir t., i. . pattison, sister dora, ii. . ---- mark, iii. . paxo, i. . pearson, c. b., i. . pedro, don, i. . peel, general, i. _note_ , . ---- arthur, ii. ; ii. _note_; iii. . ---- mrs., iii. . ---- sir robert ( nd bart.):-- _chronology_--oxford university representation resigned by, i. ; oxford honours of, i. - ; praises gladstone's maiden speech, i. ; views on emancipation, i. ; on irish church reform bill, i. ; cobbett's attack on, i. ; gladstone encouraged by, i. ; election promises of, ii. ; summoned to form a government ( ), i. ; gladstone offered treasury post by, i. ; gladstone appointed under-secretary of the colonies by, i. ; cabinet of ( ), i. ; composition of whig opposition to, i. - _and note_ ; resigns, i. ; views on ireland ( ), i. ; speaks at glasgow ( ), i. ; stanley dines with, i. ; on canada question, i. ; on molesworth's vote of censure, i. ; on slave-apprenticeship law, i. ; on wilberforce, i. ; defeated on irish church question, i. ; views on gladstone's first book, i. ; jamaica case, i. - ; misunderstanding with the queen, i. ; china question, i. , ; annoyance with stanley, i. ; views on sugar duties, i. , , ; turns out whigs by majority of ( ), i. ; ii. _note , ; party meetings, i. ; forms a government ( ), i. ; gladstone's inclusion in cabinet, i. , ; privy council, i. ; position of, regarding protection, i. - , , - , - ; lays duty on irish spirits, i. ; miscalculation of, regarding income-tax ( ), i. _and note_; letter to sir john gladstone, i. ; appeal to pope gregory, iii. ; lady hewley case, i. , ; irish land bill introduced by government of ( ), ii. ; maynooth, i. - ; precarious position of, i. - ; resigns, i. ; agrees to resume office, i. , ; iii. _note_ ; repeal of corn laws, i. , - , , ; hostility towards ( ), iii. ; resigns ( ), i. - ; eulogium on cobden, i. - , , ; party relations of, i. - , , , ; gladstone's farewell interview with, i. - ; russell's overtures to ( ), i. ; votes for gladstone at oxford, i. ; advocates keeping protectionists out of office, i. , ; gladstone's divergencies from, i. , ; letter on gladstone's mission for his friend, i. ; don pacifico debate, i. - , ; death of, i. ; statue of, inaugurated at manchester, i. . administration of ( - ), importance of, i. ; character of, i. , - ; ministerial discipline of, iii. . age of, on entering cabinet, i. . changes of policy of, i. , . compared with grey, i. ; with gladstone, i. ; with palmerston, i. ; with russell, i. ; with aberdeen, ii. - . courage of, i. , . debating method of, i. . disraeli's attitude towards, i. . estimate of, i. ; estimate of financial statements of, ii. . gladstone--relations with, i. ; , ; confidence in, and appreciation of, i. , , , , , , , , , , ; estimate by, i. ; iii. ; influence upon, i. ; forecast regarding disraeli and, i. . graham's estimate of, i. , . guizot's book on, ii. . influence of, in the house, i. . justice of, ii. . liberalism of, i. , . oxford training of, i. ; convocation mob at election, i. . parliamentary tactics of, i. . peers, views on, ii. . premiership of, length of, ii. . otherwise mentioned, i. , , , , , , , , , , - , , - , , , , , ; ii. , , _note_ , _note_, _and note_, , , , - , , , , , , ; iii. , , . ---- sir robert ( rd bart.), ii. _note_. ---- lady, i. . peelites:-- the tory whip's attitude towards, i. . derby's first administration supported by, i. ; derby's second administration supported by, i. ; derby's questions regarding ( ), i. . dissolution of, as a party, i. . disturbing effect of, i. - , , . divergencies of, i. , , - . gladstone's view on best policy for, i. - . leadership of--discussed ( ), i. - ; accepted by aberdeen, i. . palmerston, designs of, i. ; attitude towards ( ), i. - ; in cabinet of, i. ; resignation, i. ; public outcry, i. . papal aggression question, attitude towards, i. . position of seats of ( ), i. - . protectionists, attitude towards, i. . russell's proposal to include ( ), i. . third party, position as, i. . whigs, coalition with ( ), i. _et seq._ peerage:-- additions to, during various premierships, ii. - _and note_. offer of, to gladstone, iii. , . pembroke, lady, i. . _pembroke castle_, gladstone's cruise in, iii. - . penjdeh, iii. . pensions, political, iii. - _note_. penzance, lord, ii. . people, the, _see_ democracy. perceval, spencer, i. , ; ii. _and note_. ---- mr., i. . persico, monsignor, iii. . persigny, ii. . petty, lord henry, ii. _note_ . phillimore, sir robert, on hawarden settlement, i. - ; assists in oxford reform scheme, i. , ; on gladstone's china war speech, i. ; on ionian islands mission, i. ; interview with gladstone, i. ; gladstone assisted by, at oxford, i. - ; on paper duties debate, ii. ; on gladstone's franchise pronouncement, ii. ; on irish church, ii. , - ; on disaffection of liberals, ii. , - ; on gladstone's _chapter of autobiography_, ii. ; on gladstone's intention of retiring, ii. ; on gladstone's irish university bill, ii. ; on resignation of ministers ( ), ii. ; gladstone's letters to, i. - , , , ; iii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , , , , , _note_; ii. , , , , , _note_ , , , , , , , - , , , - , . phillpotts, bishop, ii. . phipps, sir c., ii. . pickering, ----, i. . piedmont, growth of, ii. - , . pierrepont, hon. h. e. (american minister), ii. . pitt, william (the younger), finance of, ii. - , - ; views of, on emancipation of slaves, i. ; glynnes related to, i. _and note_ ; income tax imposed by, i. ; free trade theories promulgated by, i. ; habits of, i. ; palmerston contrasted with, i. ; scott's lines to memory of, i. ; gladstone compared with, i. , ; warlike preparations of ( ), i. ; censured for french war, iii. ; length of premiership of, ii. ; resolutions of, preliminary to act of union, iii. ; on the union, iii. , ; otherwise mentioned, i. , ; ii. , , , , , , ; iii. . pius ix., pope, syllabus of , issued by, _see under_ churches--roman; italian federation under, suggested, ii. ; french ambassador's estimate of, ii. ; invasion of territories of, ii. , ; annexation to piedmont of states of, ii. ; misgovernment in states of, ii. ; gladstone's intercourse with, ii. - , ; attitude towards eastern question, ii. . playfair, lord, ii. , _note_, ; iii. . plimsoll, s., ii. _and note_. plumptre, ----, i. . plunket, lord, ii. ; iii. - . poerio, imprisonment of, i. , , ; views of, i. - ; exile of, i. ; gladstone's efforts on behalf of, ii. ; gladstone's letter to, ii. ; speech at gladstone dinner ( ), ii. ; compared with mazzini, iii. . poland:-- french feeling in regard to, ii. . gladstone's interest in, i. . peel's forecast regarding, i. . russian dismemberment of, i. . warsaw, meeting of monarchs at, ii. , , . pollok, robert, i. . ponsonby, sir henry, messages during ministerial crisis ( ), ii. - , ; in lords and commons controversy, iii. ; on north's american policy, iii. ; interview with, on ministerial crisis, iii. , _and note_ ; brings gladstone the queen's commission, iii. ; states the queen's message, iii. ; on feeling against peer premier, iii. ; gladstone's letters to, iii. , , . poor law act ( ), i. , , . porter, ----, i. , . portland, duke of, i. . portugal:-- british preoccupation with affairs of, i. . tariff negotiations with, i. ; ii. . positivists, iii. . post office:-- gladstone's admiration for, ii. . scandal regarding, ii. - . ---- ---- savings banks, i. ; ii. , . postage, cheap, ii. , . preaching, english and italian, i. . premiership:-- age for quitting, gladstone's view on, ii. , . foreign secretary, gladstone's view of relations with, ii. . limitations of, ii. , . parliamentary labours entailed by, i. - . responsibilities of, ii. . prerogative of the crown, gladstone charged with resorting to, ii. - . press:-- excitement fomented by, ii. . gladstone popular with, ii. , ; his views on, ii. , . pretoria convention, iii. - _and note_. prevost, sir g., ii. . prince imperial, iii. . princess royal, i. . privy council appointment, ii. - . protection:-- colonial, against england, ii. . gladstone's position regarding, i. - , , , , - . peel's position regarding, i. - , , - , - ; his apprehensions regarding, i. ; iii. . peelites' views regarding, i. - , , . rout of, i. , , - . proudhon, i. . prussia (_see also_ germany):-- army of, ii. . austria--attitude towards ( ), i. ; war with ( ), ii. _note_, . france:-- treaty with, regarding belgium, ii. . war with ( )--british efforts to avert, ii. - , - ; declaration of, ii. _and note_ ; french miscalculations, ii. ; course of the war, ii. - ; effect of, on british naval expenditure, ii. . schleswig-holstein question, ii. - . tariff negotiations with, i. . public worship regulation act, gladstone's suggested substitute for, ii. _note_ . purcell, cited, i. _note_ , - _and note_. pusey, dr. e. b., on jerusalem bishopric, i. ; on newman's letters, i. ; intolerance towards, i. , ; supports gladstone's oxford candidature, i. ; on jewish disabilities removal bill, i. ; gorham case, i. _note_ ; on gladstone's reform scheme, i. ; gladstone's relations with, ii. ; manning's letters to, ii. ; on _ecce homo_, ii. - ; on temple's appointment, ii. ; gladstone's meeting with ( ), ii. ; death of, iii. ; gladstone's letters to, i. ; ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , _note_ , , , ; ii. , . ---- philip, on irish agrarian outrages, i. . pym, john, i. - . _quarterly review_, i. ; ii. . radical party:-- beer duty opposed by, iii. , . chamberlain's popularity with, iii. . characteristics of, gladstone's views on causes of, iii. - . coercion for ireland opposed by, iii. - . eastern question ( ), attitude towards, ii. , . educational views of, ii. . gladstone not popular with ( ), ii. ; gladstone criticised by, for resorting to crown prerogative, ii. ; his attitude towards ( ), ii. - ; ( ), ii. ; iii. . irish land purchase opposed by, iii. , - . social programme of ( ), iii. - . suffrage, attitude towards, ii. . utilitarian reforms effected by, . raikes, h. c., iii. . railways, i. , . rampolla, cardinal, iii. . ramsay, dean, ii. - . rangabé, i. . rawson, ----, i. _note_. reading aloud, ii. . reclamation work, iii. . redcliffe, lord stratford de (stratford canning), views on neapolitan question, i. ; on eastern question, i. - ; ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , _note_, . redistribution of seats bill, iii. - , - , , , . redmond, j., introduces arrears bill, iii. _note_; on parnell leadership, iii. ; otherwise mentioned, iii. , . reform, i. ; ii. . ---- bills:-- ( ), i. - , - ; ii. ; iii. , . ( ), i. . ( ), ii. . ( ), i. . ( ), ii. , - . ( ), ii. _et seq._ ( ), ii. - ; iii. , , , _note_ . ( ), iii. _et seq._ various, ii. . reid, j. j., ii. . religion:-- gladstone's prepossession by, _see under_ gladstone, w. e.--characteristics. ecclesiasticism _versus_, ii. . peerages independent of, ii. . religious controversy, temper for, iii. . ---- disabilities removal bill ( ), i. _note_. renan, ii. . rendel, lord, iii. , , , , , . retz, de, iii. . reynolds, henry, ii. . ricasoli, baron, ii. , - , ; iii. . richards, dr., _and note_. richmond, duke of, i. ; iii. , . ---- george, i. . rio, i. . ripon, earl of (f. j. robinson), at board of trade, i. , , ; gladstone's estimate of, i. ; at board of control, i. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , , , - . ripon, marquis of (lord de grey), war secretary ( ), ii. _note_; education bill ( ), ii. - , ; on civil service reform, ii. ; president of _alabama_ commission, ii. - , , , ; created marquis after treaty of washington, ii. _note_; president of council ( ), ii. ; retires ( ), ii. _note_, ; on transvaal suzerainty question, iii. _note_; gladstone's letter to, iii. ; for home rule, iii. _note_; first lord of the admiralty, iii. _note_; colonial secretary ( ), iii. _note_. _robert elsmere_, iii. - . roberts, general, iii. . robertson, provost, i. - , _note_. ---- anne, i. . ---- colin, i. . robinson, _see_ ripon, earl of. ---- sir hercules, iii. _note_, , , . roebuck, j. a., i. , , , - , ; ii. . rogers, frederick, _see_ blachford. rogers, s., i. , , , ; ii. . roman catholic church, _see under_ churches. roman catholics:-- affirmation bill opposed by, iii. . cesser of irish representation opposed by, iii. . election of , action in, ii. . emancipation of, i. - , _note_, , ; ii. ; iii. , . irish university education, attitude towards, ii. - , - . peerages recommended for, by gladstone, ii. - . rome:-- church of, _see under_ churches. ecumenical council at ( ), ii. , - . french--occupation by, ii. , , , ; evacuation by, ii. , . gladstone's visit to ( ), i. - ; his feeling for, i. ; his reasons against visiting ( ), iii. - . italian occupation of, ii. , . misgovernment in, ii. . romilly, lord, ii. . roon, albrecht, count von, ii. - . roscoe, w., i. . rose, sir john, ii. . rosebery, lord, invites gladstone to stand for midlothian, ii. ; gladstone the guest of, ii. , ; speech after gladstone's election, ii. ; first commissioner of works, ii. ; lord privy seal, ii. ; at hawarden, iii. ; gladstone's consultations with, iii. , , ; for home rule, iii. _note_; foreign secretary ( ), iii. _note_; foreign secretary ( ), iii. _note_; gladstone's letters to, ii. ; iii. , ; farewell visit to gladstone, iii. ; tribute in parliament, iii. ; otherwise mentioned, iii. , , . rothschild, baron, ii. , _note_; iii. . rouher, m., ii. . roumania, ii. ; iii. . roumelia, iii. . round, mr., i. , , , . round table conference, iii. , , _and note_. rousseau, i. , . routh, dr., i. , . ruskin, john, i. ; ii. , . russell, hastings, ii. . ---- lord john (earl russell):-- _chronology_--on irish church funds, i. ; on ireland ( ), i. ; proposes s. corn duty, i. ; edinburgh letter, i. , , ; jewish disabilities removal bill, i. ; defeat of ( ), ii. ; grey's refusal to join ( ), i. ; ii. ; fails to form a government, i. ; takes office ( ), ; overtures to peel ( ), i. ; on colonial government, i. ; palmerston dismissed by, i. , ; on neapolitan tyranny, i. ; ecclesiastical titles bill, i. , ; durham letter, i. , ; defeated ( ), ii. ; resigns, i. ; overtures to gladstone, i. ; on four seats bill, i. ; views on leadership of coalition government, i. ; joins aberdeen's government, i. ; budget of, i. ; gladstone's budget, i. - , ; negotiations preceding crimean war, i. - ; approves lord stratford, i. ; postpones reform bill, i. ; on crimean war, i. ; aberdeen in conflict with, i. , _and note_ ; oxford reform, i. , ; on exclusion of dissenters from universities, i. ; on civil service reform, i. ; on woods and forests dismissal case, i. ; resigns on roebuck's notice of motion, i. ; his explanation, i. ; gladstone unwilling to join, i. ; attempts to form a government, i. ; fails, i. ; complains of peelites, i. ; colonial secretary, i. _note_; resigns, i. ; opposes lewis' budget, i. ; graham's relations with, i. _note_; on gladstone's ionian commissionership, i. ; on italian nationality, i. - ; ii. ; declines palmerston dinner, i. ; states conditions of joining granville's government, i. ; on economy, ii. ; on the principalities, ii. ; despatch of, on italian question ( ), ii. - ; supports french treaty scheme, ii. ; on nice and savoy, ii. ; reform bill of ( ), ii. , - ; on paper duties bill, ii. - , ; supports gladstone in finance debate, ii. ; trent affair, ii. ; on american war, ii. - , , ; on gladstone's newcastle speech, ii. ; interview with mr. adams, ii. ; statement on morocco loan, ii. - ; opposes reduction in naval estimates, ii. ; on danish question, ii. - ; gladstone's letter to, on palmerston's death, ii. ; commissioned to form a government, ii. ; offers gladstone leadership of commons, ii. ; reform bill of , ii. , _et seq._; the supplemental charter, ii. ; resigns, ii. ; audience with the queen, i. - ; disaffection against, ii. ; on irish church question, ii. ; retires, ii. ; asked by gladstone to enter his cabinet, ii. ; education proposals of, opposed by dissenters, ii. ; on _alabama_ case, ii. - , _and note_; on thessaly and epirus, ii. ; gladstone's visit to ( ), ii. . compared with althorp, i. ; with peel, i. . gladstone's estimate of, i. ; ii. ; his attitude towards, i. ; ii. . impatience during recess, i. . irish attitude towards, i. . leadership of, i. . palmerston's views regarding, i. . parliamentary courage of, i. . queen's mistrust of, ii. . otherwise mentioned, i. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; ii. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - ; iii. , , , . russell, odo, ii. - , , ; iii. _note_. russia:-- accusations against, applicable to, i. . afghanistan, action in ( ), iii. , - , _note_. american war, mediation in, declined by, ii. . austria, attitude of, i. ; hostility to, ii. . berlin memorandum, ii. . bessarabia claimed by, ii. _and note_ , . bismarck's estimate of policy pursued by, ii. _note_. black sea claims of, ii. - , , . british secret agreement with, ii. , . confusion in policy of, ii. . crimean war, _see that title_. don pacifico case, offer of good offices in, i. . egyptian question, attitude towards, iii. , . france, estrangement of, from england the aim of, ii. ; neutrality in franco-prussian war, ii. . germany, attitude towards, ii. , . gladstone's attitude towards, i. ; ii. , ; tribute at his death, iii. . ionian islands despatch, attitude towards, i. . rise of, i. . san stefano, treaty of, ii. , . smyrna demonstration favoured by, iii. . turkey, war with ( ), i. ; ( ) i. ; ( ) _see_ crimean war; ( ) ii. , , . rutland, duke of (lord john manners), i. , - ; iii. . ryder, _see_ harrowby. sadler, michael t., i. _and note_. sadowa, ii. , , , , . st. asaph, bishopric of, i. _note_ . st. deiniol's, iii. , . st. germans, lord, i. . st. leonards, lord, i. , _and note_ . st. paul's cathedral, i. , - . salisbury, marquis of:-- _chronology_--views on the principalities, ii. ; on gladstone's american war speech, ii. ; on danish question, ii. ; retires from derby government ( ), ii. , , ; disraeli's sarcasms against, ii. ; on irish church bill, ii. , - ; on religious tests, ii. ; subscribes to mill memorial, ii. ; at constantinople, ii. - ; at berlin congress, ii. , ; egyptian policy, iii. , _and note_, ; on franchise bill ( ), iii. , - ; overtures to irish party, iii. - ; unwilling to take office ( ), iii. - ; takes office, ; countenances repudiation of coercion, iii. - ; carnarvon's interview with parnell unauthorised by, iii. _note_ ; but known to, iii. - ; speeches on irish policy (oct. ), iii. , - , ; (nov. ) ; nationalist support of, at the elections, iii. - ; on destruction of government system in ireland, iii. - _and note_ ; gladstone's tender of support to, iii. - , ; resigns, iii. ; hottentot speech, iii. - ; at opera house meeting, iii. ; offers hartington premiership, iii. ; on rents in ireland, iii. - ; on _times_ forgeries, iii. ; on report of special commission, iii. ; gladstone's estimate of, ii. ; his estimate of gladstone, i. ; iii. ; hesitation of, iii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. ; ii. , ; iii. , , , , , . ---- lady, iii. . salmon, dr., iii. . san juan boundary question, ii. . san stefano, treaty of, ii. , . sand river convention, iii. . sandon, lord, i. . sandwich, lord, i. . sandwith, humphry, ii. . sanquhar, i. . sarpi, father paul, i. . saunders, dean, i. , . saunderson, e., ii. . savings banks, i. ; ii. . savoy, french acquisition of, ii. , , . say, léon, iii. . scartazzini, iii. . science, gladstone's attitude towards, i. ; iii. . schiller, i. . schleswig-holstein question, ii. - , , ; prince consort's view of, ii. , . schleiermacher, i. . schouvaloff memorandum, ii. . schwarzenberg, prince, i. - , , , . scott, hon. f., i. . ---- sir claude, i. . ---- james hope, _see_ hope-scott. ---- dr., dean of rochester, i. , _and note_; ii. , . ---- sir walter, i. , , , _note_ ; iii. , . scotland:-- disestablishment question in, iii. . election results in ( ), ii. - . enthusiasm of, ii. , , - . home rule (irish), attitude towards ( ), iii. , , . liberalism of, iii. ; liberal losses ( ), ii. . local government suggested for, iii. . peers, scotch, called to house of lords by beaconsfield, ii. _note_. reform act's effect on, iii. . religious freedom in, gladstone's views on, i. . scotch patronage bill, ii. . seaforth, i. . seaton, lord, i. . seats bill, _see_ redistribution. seely, c., ii. _note_ . selborne, lord (sir r. palmer), ignorant of irish land tenure, ii. ; on irish land bill, ii. , ; on education bill, ii. ; on abolition of army purchase, ii. , ; on collier appointment, ii. ; on _alabama_ case, ii. ; on the greenwich seat question, ii. - ; on leadership discussion, ii. _note_; lord chancellor ( ), ii. ; on irish church bill, ii. ; otherwise mentioned, ii. , , _note_, , , , , , ; iii. , . selden on contracts, iii. - . selwyn, bishop, i. , , ; iii. . semon, dr., iii. . servia, i. ; ii. , . settembrini, i. , ; ii. . seward, w. h., ii. . sexton, thomas, iii. , , , _note_. seymer, h. k., i. , _note_. seymour, ----, i. . shaftesbury, lord, i. ; ii. , , , , , . shah, the, ii. . shaw, sir f., iii. . ---- w., ii. . ---- lefevre, _see_ lefevre. sheil, r. l., i. , , , , - , - . shelburne, lord, i. ; ii. _note_ . sheldon, archbishop, iii. . shelley, i. , ; iii. , . shepstone, sir t., iii. _note_, . sheridan, i. ; ii. . shurey, mrs., i. . sibthorp, col., i. _note_. sidmouth, lord, i. . simeon, charles, i. _and note_ . simon, jules, ii. . sinclair, sir g., i. , . sinking fund, ii. . sinope, i. . skingley, ----, i. . slavery:-- american war, ii. _et seq._ apprenticeship system, i. _and note_, - , . demerara estates question, i. - . education scheme for slaves, i. . emancipation question, i. - ; iii. . evangelical party against, i. _note_. gladstone's reply to poulett thomson on, i. _note_. gordon's decree sanctioning, iii. ; his observations on, iii. - . suakin retained to check slave trade, iii. _note_. _slave power, the,_ cited, ii. _note_. smith, adam, i. ; ii. . ---- goldwin, i. , , ; ii. , . ---- john, i. _and note_. ---- sydney, i. , . ---- w. h., view of, on south african affairs, ii. ; against franchise extension in ireland, iii. ; irish secretary, iii. ; rapid visit of, to dublin, iii. ; on introduction of closure, iii. ; on _times_ letters, iii. ; on bill for special commission, iii. . smyrna, iii. . smyth, sir j. c., i. _note_ . soap duty, i. , , . social question, gladstone's attitude towards, ii. , ; his disapproval of socialism, iii. . socrates, ii. . solferino, ii. . 'some of my errors,' quoted, i. . somerset, duke of, ii. , _note_, , ; iii. . soudan:-- egyptian misrule of, iii. - ; loss of, iii. . evacuation of, advised, iii. - ; difficulties of, iii. , ; determined, iii. ; agreed to, by gordon, iii. , - ; intention of, divulged by gordon, iii. - _and note_ . foreign attitude towards embarrassments in, iii. - , . garrisons in, to be extricated, iii. , ; mahdi's treatment of, iii. _note_ ; gordon's opinion regarding abandonment of, iii. ; zobeir's appointment urged for extrication of, iii. . khartoum, garrison of, to be relieved, iii. , ; gordon's arrival at, iii. ; disaffection of tribes round, iii. ; fall of, iii. ; expedition to, urged by goschen, iii. ; deprecated by baring, iii. . mahdi's rise in, iii. . nile campaign, iii. - . south sea stock, i. , , . southey, i. ; ii. . spain:-- hohenzollern candidate for throne of, ii. - , , , _note_. land question in, iii. . palmerston on treaties with, i. . tariff negotiations with, i. . special commission, the, unconstitutional character of, iii. , , ; offer of, by government, iii. ; bill for, iii. - ; sittings of, iii. - ; scope of, iii. ; report of, iii. , - ; effect of, on public opinion, iii. - . _spectator_, ii. - . spedding, james, i. ; ii. . spencer, rd earl, i. , . ---- th earl, i. . ---- th earl, interview of, with cardinal cullen, ii. - ; president of the council ( ), ii. ; irish viceroy ( ), iii. , ; magnitude of task in ireland, iii. - ; irish party, attitude towards, iii. ; on renewal of crimes act, iii. , ; views on land purchase bill, iii. - ; conservative attack on, iii. - , ; banquet to, , ; at chatsworth and hawarden, iii. ; irish administration of, , ; gladstone's consultations with, iii. , , ; gladstone's letter to (dec. ), i. ; for home rule, iii. _note_; views on chamberlain's irish scheme, iii. ; president of council ( ), iii. _note_; first lord of admiralty ( ), iii. _note_; gladstone's intention to recommend, as his successor, iii. ; otherwise mentioned, ii. , ; iii. _note_, , , , , , , , , , _note_. spencer, lady sarah, iii. . sport, gladstone's view of, i. . spring-rice, t., lord monteagle, i. _and note_. spurgeon, rev. charles, ii. , , , . stafford, augustus, i. . _standard_, iii. _note_. stanhope, lord (lord mahon), i. _note_, , ; ii. . stanley, dean, position of, at oxford ( ), i. ; on oxford reform, i. , ; serves on oxford commission, i. ; on religious tests, i. ; visits to monte cassino, ii. ; in rome, ii. ; death of, iii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , - ; iii. . ---- edward, bishop of norwich, i. . ---- lady augusta, ii. _and note_; ii. . ---- of alderley, lord, ii. - , . ----, lord, _see_ derby. stanmore, lord (arthur gordon), private secretary to gladstone, i. , - ; gladstone's letters to, i. ; ii. , , ; iii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. _note_ ; ; ii. . stansfeld, sir james, ii. _note_ , , , ; iii. _note_. _state in its relation with the church, the_, hope's interest in, i. , - ; gladstone's purpose in, i. ; his later estimate of, i. - ; opinions on, i. - ; german translation of, i. _note_. stead, w., ii. _note_. stephen, sir james, i. , _note_, , , . sterling, john, i. ; ii. . stewart, colonel sir herbert, iii. - , , , . stocker, c. w., i. . stockmar, baron, ii. . stopford, archdeacon, ii. - . storks, sir henry, i. , , ; ii. - . stowe, mrs. beecher, ii. . strahan, sir george, iii. _note_. stratford, lord, _see_ redcliffe. strauss, ii. _and note_ , . strossmayer, bishop, iii. - . stuart, r., i. . stubbs, bishop, ii. , . suakin, iii. , _note_. succession duty, i. , , , . success, gladstone's view of, i. - . suffrage, _see_ franchise. sugar duties, i. , - ; ii. - . sullivan, sir edward, ii. , , . sumner, bishop, iii. _note_. ---- charles, i. ; ii. , , , , . _sunbeam_, gladstone's cruise in, iii. - . sussex, duke of, i. . sutherland, duchess of, gladstone's letters to, ii. , , , , - , - , , ; friendship for gladstone, ii. , ; death of, ii. . sutherland, duke of, ii. , , - . sutton, manners (speaker), i. . sydenham, lord (poulett thomson), i. _note_. tait, archbishop, on oxford commission, i. ; gladstone's letter to, on _essays and reviews_ judgment, ii. ; consultations with, on irish church bill, ii. - , - , , , ; conversation with disraeli, ii. _and note_; on gladstone's concern at outbreak of franco-prussian war, ii. ; gladstone's relations with, iii. ; erastianism of, iii. . talbot, ----, i. _note_ . ---- bp. of rochester, ii. . talfourd, sir t. n., i. , ; iii. . talleyrand, i. _note_; ii. ; iii. . tariff revision ( ), i. - ; ( ) i. . ---- treaties, attempts at, i. ; ii. . taste, i. . taunton, lady, ii. . taxation:-- chamberlain's views on ( ), iii. , . collection of taxes, ii. . conveyance duties, ii. , . customs, articles liable to, in various years, ii. _and note_. direct, ii. , , . fire insurance duty, ii. , . gladstone's policy regarding ( ), ii. - . home rule bill's provisions regarding, iii. , - . house tax, i. , - . income tax:-- assessments for, in and , ii. . chamberlain's pronouncement on, iii. . charities, proposed extension to, ii. - . committee on ( ), i. . crimean war, effect of, i. . disraeli's proposals regarding ( ), i. . expenditure, spirit of, fostered by, ii. . gladstone's policy regarding ( ), i. , , , , , , ; iii. ; ( ) ii. - ; ( ) ii. ; ( ) ii. , . ireland, proposals regarding, i. , . peel's policy regarding, i. ; his miscalculation, i. _and note_. rate of, in , ii. . repeal of, possible only in , ii. . rise of, in , ii. . unpopularity of, i. - . indirect, ii. , , . local--goschen's local rating bill, ii. , ; question of ( ), ii. , , . malt duty, i. ; ii. ; iii. . match tax, ii. _and notes_. powers regarding, ii. . probate duty, ii. . soap duty, i. , . sugar duties, i. , - ; ii. - . tea duty, disraeli's operation on ( ), i. ; gladstone's operation on ( ), i. ; lewis' additions to, ii. ; gladstone's policy regarding, ii. - . tea licences, ii. . war, for, i. - . arthur young's view of, i. . taylor, colonel, ii. . ---- sir henry, remark of, on gladstone, i. ; on money-dealings, iii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , _and note_; ii. , _note_, ; iii. . tea duties, _see under_ taxation. tegernsee, iii. - . telegraph act ( ), i. . tel-el-kebir, iii. , _note_. temple, archbishop, position of, at oxford ( ), i. ; advocates civil service reform, i. ; views on gladstone's irish church bill, ii. _note_ ; work on educational reform ( ), ii. ; appointment to exeter, ii. - . ---- william, i. , . temporal power, _see_ churches--roman. tenants relief (ireland) bill, iii. . tennyson, alfred, lord, essay club's vote on, i. ; lines on prince consort, ii. ; gladstone's estimate of _maud_, ii. ; iii. - ; later estimate, ii. ; given gladstone's translation of _iliad_, bk. i. ii. ; gladstone's visit to ( ), ii. ; on irish self-government, ii. ; pension of, ii. _note_; reads _harold_, ii. ; conversation with, on theology, ii. ; with gladstone on _pembroke castle_, iii. , ; at kirkwall, iii. - ; views on franchise bill, iii. ; _locksley hall_, gladstone's article on, iii. - ; early work of, iii. ; gladstone's essay on, iii. - ; otherwise mentioned, ii. , , , . tenterden, lord, ii. , , . _terrible_, gladstone's voyages in, i. , - , ; cost of constructing deck cabins on, ii. - . tests, religious:-- abolition of, i. ; ii. _and note_ , ; iii. . gladstone's early attitude towards ( ), i. ; later ( ), ii. . tewfik, khedive, constitutional position of, iii. ; embarrassments of, iii. , ; claims of, on england, iii. . thackeray, w. m., ii. , . theological studies as mental training, i. - _and note_. thessaly, palmerston's and russell's views regarding, ii. . thiers, m., opposes war with prussia, ii. _note_ , ; mission to courts of europe, ii. ; anecdote of, iii. ; otherwise mentioned, ii. , . thirlwall, bishop, gladstone's estimate of, ii. ; on irish church bill, ii. ; on gladstone's disestablishment speech ( ), ii. ; letters from, ii. ; memorial to, i. _note_ ; otherwise mentioned, i. ; ii. . tholuck, f. a., i. _note_. thompson, ----, ii. _note_. ---- dr. w. h., ii. . thomson, dr. andrew, i. . ---- poulett (lord sydenham), i. _note_. thornton, ----, i. _note_. ---- sir edward, ii. . thring, lord, i. . _times_-- chamberlain's _baptist_ article in, iii. _note_ . forged letters published by, iii. _and note_ , ; libel action, iii. - . franco-prussian treaty divulged by, ii. . gladstone's retirement, article on ( ), ii. ; on his position ( ), iii. . hartington's letter to, iii. , , . irish land question, letters on ( ), ii. . _parnellism and crime_ article, iii. , . tocqueville, de, i. _note_; iii. . toleration:-- bradlaugh's question, iii. - , . gladstone's growth towards, i. - , ; ii. . papal aggression question in relation to, i. . torquay, i. . tory democracy, iii. , . ---- party, _see_ conservative. tosti, padre, ii. . total abstinence, gladstone's view on, ii. . townsend, m., ii. - . tractarians, _see_ oxford movement. traill's _new lucian_, iii. _and note_. treaties:-- berlin convention ( ), ii. - ; iii. ; enforcement of, attempted ( ), iii. - . ---- memorandum ( ), ii. . kainardji, ii. . london convention ( ), iii. . paris ( ), i. ; ii. - , ; iii. . san stefano, ii. , . transvaal, with, iii. _and note_. washington, ii. , , . trench, archbishop, views on irish church question, ii. , , _note_; gladstone's letter to, offering help in organising irish voluntary church, ii. . _trent_ affair, ii. - , . trevelyan, sir charles, i. , . ---- sir g. o., views on abolition of army purchase, ii. ; county franchise extension pressed by, ii. ; iii. ; views on bulgarian question, ii. ; question by, on turkey, ii. ; irish secretary ( ), ii. ; iii. ; chancellor of the duchy ( ), ii. ; scotch secretary, iii. , _note_; at round table conference, iii. _note_; against home rule, iii. _note_; resigns, iii. - ; scotch secretary ( ), iii. _note_; otherwise mentioned, ii. _note_. truro, lord, i. , , . tupper, m. f., i. _and note_, . turgot, iii. , . turkey:-- armenian atrocities, iii. - . berlin treaty obligations repudiated by, iii. ; effect of pressure, i. . britain--support from ( ), i. ; secret convention with, ii. , , ; antipathy of ( ), iii. . bulgarian atrocities ( ), ii. _et seq._ crimean war, _see that title_. egypt, pretensions in, iii. ; irritation at the joint note, i. ; declines to join european conference, i. ; complications of the conference, i. ; unfitness of the sultan to be protector of the khedive, i. ; interference in, suggested, iii. ; frustration of salisbury policy in, iii. . foreign consuls murdered in, ii. - . french, hostility towards ( ), iii. . gladstone's distinction regarding government of, towards christians and orientals, iii. _note_; his achievements against, iii. . lebanon government, ii. . problem of, i. , . roumania and servia partially released from, ii. . russia, war with ( ), i. ; ( ) _see_ crimean war; ( ) ii. , , . salisbury policy regarding, iii. . san stefano, treaty of, ii. , . secret convention with, ii. . suez canal scheme as affecting, i. - . turkey, asiatic, british protectorate over, ii. . turner, ----, ii. - _and note_. ---- dr., i. . tyler, j. e., i. . tyndale memorial, i. . tyndall, john, ii. . ultramontanism, i. . unitarian chapels, i. - . unitarianism, i. ; ii. . united states:-- _alabama_ claims, _see that title_. church in, ii. . civil war:-- books on, cited, ii. _note_. course of, ii. , . forster's attitude towards, ii. . france and russia, attitude of, ii. . gladstone's view of, ii. - , - , - ; later view, ii. ; his speeches on, ii. - , _and note_ , . lancashire, effect on, ii. , _note_ , . lewis' estimate of, ii. . principles of, ii. . rams built at birkenhead for confederates, ii. - . gladstone--popularity of, ii. - ; tribute to, iii. . irish--on home rule bill, iii. , ; on papal rescript, iii. ; spy from among, at parnell commission, iii. ; parnell repudiated by, iii. . materialism of, iii. . palmerston's attitude towards ( ), i. . roman catholic prelates in, chances of, ii. . senate of, ii. . war with ( ), iii. - . universities, gladstone's view of ( ), i. (_see also_ cambridge _and_ oxford). utilitarians, i. . vatican decrees, döllinger's attitude towards, iii. . _vatican decrees in their bearing on civil allegiance_, ii. - ; reception of, ii. - . _vaticanism_, ii. ; iii. . vattel, cited, ii. . vaudois valley, i. . vaughan, mr., ii. . ---- rev. ----, i. _note_. ---- dean, ii. . vauvenargues cited, iii. . veitch, prof. john, i. _note_. _vestiges of creation_, ii. , _and note_. victor emmanuel, king, ability of, ii. ; gladstone's appreciation of, ii. , ; gladstone's audience of, ii. ; otherwise mentioned, ii. , , . victoria, princess, ii. . ---- queen:-- _chronology_:--gladstone's first presentation to, i. ; misunderstanding with peel, i. ; at swearing in of privy council ( ), i. - ; gladstone's audience of, on maynooth resignation, i. ; on peel's retirement, i. ; premier's correspondence with, i. , ; on palmerston's relations with kossuth, i. ; on gladstone's budget speech, ( ), i. ; consults aberdeen on crimean question, i. ; views on stratford's policy, i. ; gladstone dines with, i. ; newcastle recommended to, i. ; refuses resignation of coalition ministry, i. ; sends for derby, i. ; for lansdowne, i. ; for russell, i. ; desires continuance of palmerston government, i. ; on peelites' resignation, i. - ; commends gladstone's offer regarding ionian position, i. ; reply of, to corfiote petition, i. ; sends for lord granville, i. ; for palmerston, i. ; draft of letter to, on peel's government, i. ; grief at prince albert's death, ii. - , ; references to prince albert, ii. , , , ; at balmoral, ii. - ; on danish question, ii. , , , ; on garibaldi, ii. _note_ ; action on palmerston's death, ii. , ; commends gladstone's leadership, ii. ; russell and gladstone in audience, ii. - ; sends for lord derby, ii. ; advised by disraeli to dissolve, ii. ; difficulty regarding lord clarendon, ii. ; irish church disestablishment, ii. - , - , , , ; urged by gladstone to open parliament ( ), ii. ; suggested action of, to avert franco-prussian war, ii. ; army reform, ii. , , ; at balmoral ( ), ii. - ; seclusion of, criticised, ii. - ; gladstone's report to, on irish university bill, ii. , ; ministerial crisis, ii. - , ; gladstone's communications to, on dissolution, ii. - ; offers peerage to gladstone, ii. ; receives ministers' resignations, ii. _note_; remarks on gladstone's retirement, ii. - ; averse to meddling with ecumenical council, ii. ; on disraeli's proposed resignation, ii. ; hartington's audiences of, ii. - ; views on lowe's viscounty, ii. ; friendship for dean wellesley, iii. ; desirous of harold browne's appointment to canterbury, iii. - ; on cabinet reconstruction ( ), iii. ; urges gladstone's acceptance of a peerage, iii. ; gladstone's memorandum to, on case between lords and commons, iii. ; her efforts towards settlement, iii. - ; on egyptian question, iii. , , , , ; gladstone's letters to, on ministerial defeat, i. , ; suggests continuance, i. ; summons lord salisbury, i. ; gladstone's audience of, i. ; negotiations through sir h. ponsonby, i. - ; offers gladstone an earldom, i. ; gladstone's audience of (feb. , ' ), iii. , ; views on gladstone's electioneering, iii. ; gladstone's final audience of ( ), iii. - ; gladstone's last cabinet report to, iii. ; gladstone's last audience of, iii. - ; last meeting with gladstone, iii. . enthusiasm, dislike of, ii. . gladstone, letters to, ii. - , , , , , , ; iii. - , , - , , , , , , , ; appreciation of, ii. , ; friction with, ii. - , ; his estimate of, ii. , , . gladstone, mrs., letter to, ii. - ; telegram to, iii. . home rule, attitude towards, iii. . otherwise mentioned, i. , , , ; ii. , , , - , , , , , - , , , , ; iii. , - , . villafranca, ii. , . villiers, de, chief justice, iii. , . ---- c., i. , ; ii. , , , - . virgil, iii. . vitzthum, i. _note_, _note_. vivian, third lord, iii. . ---- sir hussey, iii. . _vivian grey_, ii. . votes of confidence, gladstone's dislike of, ii. , . wakefield, e. g., i. , _note _. wales:-- bishoprics question, i. and _note_, . church disestablishment question in, iii. and _note _, , . election results in ( ), ii. ; ( ) ii. , . gladstone's tour in ( ), iii. , . home rule (irish), attitude towards ( ), iii. , . ---- prince of (king edward vii.), on danish question, ii. ; on phoenix park murders, iii. ; friendliness to gladstone, iii. , ; gladstone's letter to, iii. ; gift to gladstone on golden wedding anniversary, iii. ; letter from, on gladstone's impending resignation, iii. ; gladstone's estimate of, ii. , ; iii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. ; ii. , ; iii. , , , . ---- princess of (queen alexandra), ii. , , ; iii. , , . walewski, i. ; ii. . wallace, d. mackenzie, ii. . wallachia, ii. . _wallenstein_, ii. . walpole, sir r., i. ; ii. , , , . ---- spencer h., i. , , ; ii. , . ---- spencer, i. _note_. walsh, dr., iii. . ---- father, ii. . war:-- gladstone's opinion of, iii. - _and note_; - . manchester school's view of, iii. . popular fevers for, ii. , , . preparations for, effect of, ii. . taxation and loans for, i. - . ward, mrs. humphry, iii. - . ---- w. g., i. , - , ; ii. . waste lands, committee on, i. . waterford, lord, iii. _and note_. watson, colonel, iii. . watts, george, ii. - . webster, daniel, ii. . ---- sir richard, iii. , , . welby, lord, iii. , . wellesley, dean, i. ; ii. , - ; iii. - . wellington, duchess of, iii. . ---- duke of, retrenchments by, i. ; unpopularity of, i. ; at drayton, i. ; methodical ways of, i. ; gladstone's first interview with, i. ; view of, on church question, i. ; on china question, i. ; gurwood on, i. ; on boundary question, i. ; on 'the queen's government,' i. ; advises dissolution, i. ; on peel's view of party, i. ; as premier, i. ; on ionian islands, i. ; leadership of lords by, ii. ; brevity of, ii. , ; letters from, ii. ; cabinet fight over statue of, iii. ; gladstone's estimate of, iii. ; position of, iii. - ; otherwise mentioned, i. - , , , , , , , , - ; ii. , , ; iii. , . wells, david ames, ii. . wesley, john, i. . west, sir algernon, ii. . westbury, lord (sir richard bethell), gladstone assisted by, i. _note _, ; views on divorce bill, i. - ; on ionian islands, i. _note _; on stamp duties, ii. ; on danish question, ii. ; _essays and reviews_ judgment, ii. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , . westminster, duke of, iii. _note_. ---- lord, i. . ---- abbey, ii. ; iii. , . wharncliffe, lord, i. , . whately, archbishop, i. , , . whigs:-- characteristics of ( ), i. . coalition of peelites with ( ), i. _et seq._ defeat of ( ), i. ; ii. _note _, . finance of, i. , . fusion of seceders with tory party, i. . influence of, till , iii. . name of, discussed, . opposition of, to peel ( ), composition of, i. - _and note_. protectionist combination with, i. . whitbread, s., iii. , _note_. white, blanco, i. , , . ---- edward, ii. . whiteside, chief justice, ii. . wigan, i. . wilberforce, samuel, bishop (of winchester), advice to gladstone, i. - ; on marriage question, i. ; advocates revival of convocation, ii. ; on rise of disraeli, ii. ; archbishopric of york desired for, by gladstone, ii. ; death of, ii. ; gladstone's estimate of, ; _life_ of, ii. ; gladstone's estimate of, i. ; ii. ; his estimate of gladstone's position, ii. , ; gladstone's letters to, i. ; ii. , , ; otherwise mentioned, i. ; ii. , , ; iii. _note_. ---- william, gladstone's meeting with, i. ; emancipation views of, i. ; gladstone's estimate of, i. - ; peel's view of, i. ; otherwise mentioned, i. , , . wilbraham, mrs., i. . willes, sir james shaw, ii. . william i., emperor, on russell's despatch, ii. ; interviews with benedetti, ii. - , _note_; san juan boundary question referred to, ii. . ---- iii., king, iii. _note_. ---- iv., king, melbourne government dismissed by, i. _and note_; death of, i. ; perversity of, i. ; otherwise mentioned, i. ; iii. . _william george ward and the oxford movement_, i. _note _. williams, isaac, i. , _note_. ---- r., i. - . wilmslow, ----, i. . wilson, sir charles, iii. . winchelsea, lord, i. . window duty, i. , . wiseman, cardinal, i. , , , . wolf, f. a., iii. . wolowski, count, ii. . wolseley, lord, in south africa ( ), iii. - , _note _; defeats arabi at tel-el-kebir, iii. ; at gordon's send-off, iii. and _note_; advises preparations for relief expedition, iii. ; appointed to command, iii. - ; asks reinforcement, iii. ; position of, ; cited, ii. . wolverton, lord, at hawarden, ii. ; letter on leadership, ii. - ; gladstone's reply, ii. ; discusses leadership with gladstone, ii. - ; at hawarden (june ), iii. ; otherwise mentioned, ii. , , , , , , ; iii. . wood, sir charles, _see_ halifax, lord. ---- general sir e., on south africa, iii. - ; on general gordon, iii. . woods and forests dismissal case, i. . woolner, thomas, ii. , . wordsworth, charles, bishop of st. andrews, i. , , . ---- dr. christopher, i. , . ---- william, gladstone's estimate of, i. , , ; intimacy with, i. - ; on gladstone's first book, i. ; on kendal railway scheme, i. _note_; ii. ; pension of, ii. _note_; gladstone's reminiscences of, iii. - , ; otherwise mentioned, i. , _and note_. wortleys, the, i. , . wyndham, sir w., i. _note _. wynford, first baron, i. . york, address from, ii. - . young, arthur, cited, i. . ---- sir john, i. , , , . ---- lord, ii. . young england group with disraeli, i. - . zambelli, napoleon, i. . zante, i. , . zetland, lord, ii. . zobeir, iii. - . zulu war, ii. , , ; iii. , . errata volume i: page , marginal date, for _Æt. _ read _Æt. _. " and , marginal dates, for _ _ read _ _; for _Æt. _ read _Æt. _. " , line , omit _and_. volume ii: page , line , for _council-keeping_ read _counsel-keeping_. " , line , for _previous year_ read _ _. " , line , for _ _ read _ _. " , line , for _ _ read _ _. " , footnote, for _three_ years read _two_ years. " , line , for _on luxury_ read _luxury_. " , line , for _made_ read _much_. " , line , after _ _ insert _ _. * * * * * transcriber's note: text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. in this text file the transcriber has chosen to show the superscripted note numbers as non-superscripted numbers (example: _note _ rather than _note ^ _). the cover for the ebook version of this book was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain. little journeys to the homes of the great elbert hubbard memorial edition printed and made into a book by the roycrofters, who are in east aurora, erie county, new york wm. h. wise & co. new york publisher's preface elbert hubbard is dead, or should we say, has gone on his last little journey to the great beyond. but the children of his fertile brain still live and will continue to live and keep fresh the memory of their illustrious forebear. fourteen years were consumed in the preparation of the work that ranks today as elbert hubbard's masterpiece. in eighteen hundred ninety-four, the series of little journeys to the homes of the great was begun, and once a month for fourteen years, without a break, one of these little pilgrimages was given to the world. these little gems have been accepted as classics and will live. in all there are one hundred eighty little journeys that take us to the homes of the men and women who transformed the thought of their time, changed the course of empire, and marked the destiny of civilization. through him, the ideas, the deeds, the achievements of these immortals have been given to the living present and will be sent echoing down the centuries. hubbard's little journeys to the homes of these men and women have not been equaled since plutarch wrote his forty-six parallel lives of the greeks and romans. and these were given to the world before the first rosy dawn of modern civilization had risen to the horizon. without dwelling upon their achievements, plutarch, with a trifling incident, a simple word or an innocent jest, showed the virtues and failings of his subject. as a result, no other books from classical literature have come down through the ages to us with so great an influence upon the lives of the leading men of the world. who can recount the innumerable biographies that begin thus: "in his youth, our subject had for his constant reading, plutarch's lives, etc."? emerson must have had in mind this silent, irresistible force that shaped the lives of the great men of these twenty centuries when he declared, "all history resolves itself very easily into the biography of a few stout and earnest persons." plutarch lived in the time of saint paul, and wrote of the early greeks and romans. after two thousand years hubbard appeared, to bridge the centuries from athens, in the golden age of pericles, to america, in the wondrous age of edison. with the magic wand of genius he touched the buried mummies of all time, and from each tomb gushed forth a geyser of inspiration. hugh chalmers once remarked that, if he were getting out a blue book of america, he would publish elbert hubbard's subscription-lists. whether we accept this authoritative statement or not, there is no doubt that the pen of this immortal did more to stimulate the best minds of the country than any other american writer, living or dead. eminent writers study hubbard for style, while at the same time thousands of the tired men and women who do the world's work read him for inspiration. truly, this man wielded his pen like an archangel. not only as a writer does this many-sided genius command our admiration, but in many chosen fields, in all of which he excelled. as an institution, the roycroft shops would reflect credit upon the business acumen of the ablest men that america has produced in the field of achievement. the industry, it would seem, was launched to demonstrate the practicality of the high principles and philosophy preached by its founder, not only by the printed page, but from the platform. right here let it be noted that, as a public speaker, hubbard appeared before more audiences than any other lecturer of his time who gave the platform his undivided attention. where, one asks in amazement, did this remarkable man find the inspiration for carrying forward his great work? it is no secret. it was drawn from his own little pilgrimages to the haunts of the great. again like plutarch, these miniature biographies were composed for the personal benefit of the writer. it was his own satisfaction and moral improvement that inspired the work. following hubbard's tragic death, the announcement was made from east aurora that "the philistine" magazine would be discontinued--hubbard had gone on a long journey and might need his "philistine." besides, who was there to take up his pen? it was also a beautiful tribute to the father from the son. the same spirit of devotion has prompted the roycrofters to issue their memorial edition of the "little journeys to the homes of the great." in no other way could they so fittingly perpetuate the memory of the founder of their institution as to liberate the influence that was such an important factor in molding the career of his genius. if he should cast a backward glance, he would nod his approval. if there is to be a memorial, certainly let it be a service to mankind. he would have us all tap the same source from which he drew his inspiration. autobiographical the mintage of wisdom is to know that rest is rust, and that real life is in love, laughter and work. --_elbert hubbard_ i have been asked to write an article about myself and the work in which i am engaged. i think i am honest enough to sink self, to stand outside my own personality, and answer the proposition. let me begin by telling what i am not, and thus reach the vital issue by elimination. first, i am not popular in "society," and those who champion _my cause in my own town_ are plain, unpretentious people. second, i am not a popular writer, since my name has never been mentioned in the "atlantic," "scribner's," "harper's," "the century" or the "ladies' home journal." but as a matter of truth, it may not be amiss for me to say that i have waited long hours in the entryway of each of the magazines just named, in days agone, and then been handed the frappe. third, i am not rich, as the world counts wealth. fourth, as an orator i am without the graces, and do scant justice to the double-breasted prince albert. fifth, the roycroft shop, to the welfare of which my life is dedicated, is not so large as to be conspicuous on account of size. sixth, personally, i am no ten-thousand-dollar beauty: the glass of fashion and the mold of form are far from mine. then what have i done concerning which the public wishes to know? simply this: in one obscure country village i have had something to do with stopping the mad desire on the part of the young people to get out of the country and flock to the cities. in this town and vicinity the tide has been turned from city to country. we have made one country village an attractive place for growing youth by supplying congenial employment, opportunity for education and healthful recreation, and an outlook into the world of art and beauty. all boys and girls want to make things with their hands, and they want to make beautiful things, they want to "get along," and i've simply given them a chance to get along here, instead of seeking their fortunes in buffalo, new york or chicago. they have helped me and i have helped them; and through this mutual help we have made head, gained ground upon the whole. by myself i could have done nothing, and if i have succeeded, it is simply because i have had the aid and co-operation of cheerful, willing, loyal and loving helpers. even now as i am writing this in my cabin in the woods, four miles from the village, they are down there at the shop, quietly, patiently, cheerfully doing my work--which work is also theirs. no man liveth unto himself alone: our interests are all bound up together, and there is no such thing as a man going off by himself and corraling the good. when i came to this town there was not a house in the place that had a lavatory with hot and cold water attachments. those who bathed, swam in the creek in the summer or used the family wash tub in the kitchen in winter. my good old partner, ali baba, has always prided himself on his personal cleanliness he is arrayed in rags, but underneath, his hide is clean, and better still, his heart is right. yet when he first became a member of my household, he was obliged to take his saturday-night tub out in the orchard, from spring until autumn came with withered leaves. he used to make quite an ado in the kitchen, heating the water in the wash-boiler. six pails of cistern-water, a gourd of soft soap, and a gunny-sack for friction were required in the operation. of course, the baba waited until after dark before performing his ablutions. but finally his plans were more or less disturbed by certain rising youth, who timed his habits and awaited his disrobing with o'erripe tomatoes. the bombardment, and the inability to pursue the enemy, turned the genial current of the baba's life awry until i put a bathroom in my house, with a lock on the door. this bit of history i have mentioned for the dual purpose of shedding light on former bathing facilities in east aurora, and more especially to show that once we had the hoodlum with us. hoodlumism is born of idleness; it is useful energy gone to seed. in small towns hoodlumism is rife, and the hoodlums are usually the children of the best citizens. hoodlumism is the first step in the direction of crime. the hoodlum is very often a good boy who does not know what to do; and so he does the wrong thing. he bombards with tomatoes a good man taking a bath, puts ticktacks on windows, ties a tin can to the dog's tail, takes the burs off your carriage-wheels, steals your chickens, annexes your horse-blankets, and scares old ladies into fits by appearing at windows wrapped in a white sheet. to wear a mask, walk in and demand the money in the family ginger-jar is the next and natural evolution. to a great degree the roycroft shop has done away with hoodlumism in this village, and a stranger wearing a silk hat, or an artist with a white umbrella, is now quite safe upon our streets. very naturally, the oldest inhabitant will deny what i have said about east aurora--he will tell you that the order, cleanliness and beauty of the place have always existed. the change has come about so naturally, and so entirely without his assistance, that he knows nothing about it. truth when first presented is always denied, but later there comes a stage when the man says, "i always believed it." and so the good old citizens are induced to say that these things have always been, or else they gently pooh-pooh them. however, the truth remains that i introduced the first heating-furnace into the town; bought the first lawn-mower; was among the first to use electricity for lights and natural gas for fuel; and so far, am the only one in town to use natural gas for power. until the starting of the roycroft shop, there were no industries here, aside from the regulation country store, grocery, tavern, blacksmith-shop and sawmill--none of which enterprises attempted to supply more than local wants. there was hamlin's stock-farm, devoted to raising trotting-horses, that gave employment to some of the boys; but for the girls there was nothing. they got married at the first chance; some became "hired girls," or, if they had ambitions, fixed their hearts on the buffalo normal school, raised turkeys, picked berries, and turned every honest penny towards the desire to get an education so as to become teachers. comparatively, this class was small in number. most of the others simply followed that undefined desire to get away out of the dull, monotonous, gossiping village; and so, craving excitement, they went away to the cities, and the cities swallowed them. a wise man has said that god made the country, man the city, and the devil the small towns. the country supplies the city its best and its worst. we hear of the few who succeed, but of the many who are lost in the maelstrom we know nothing. sometimes in country homes it is even forbidden to mention certain names. "she went to the city," you are told--and there the history abruptly stops. and so, to swing back to the place of beginning, i think the chief reason many good folks are interested in the roycroft shop is because here country boys and girls are given work at which they not only earn their living, but can get an education while doing it. next to this is the natural curiosity to know how a large and successful business can be built up in a plain, humdrum village by simply using the talent and materials that are at hand, and so i am going to tell now how the roycroft shop came to start; a little about what it has done; what it is trying to do; and what it hopes to become. and since modesty is only egotism turned wrong side out, i will make no special endeavor to conceal the fact that i have had something to do with the venture. in london, from about sixteen hundred fifty to sixteen hundred ninety, samuel and thomas roycroft printed and made very beautiful books. in choosing the name "roycroft" for our shop we had these men in mind, but beyond this the word has a special significance, meaning king's craft--king's craftsmen being a term used in the guilds of the olden times for men who had achieved a high degree of skill--men who made things for the king. so a roycrofter is a person who makes beautiful things, and makes them as well as he can. "the roycrofters" is the legal name of our institution. it is a corporation, and the shares are distributed among the workers. no shares are held by any one but roycrofters, and it is agreed that any worker who quits the shop shall sell his shares back to the concern. this co-operative plan, it has been found, begets a high degree of personal diligence, a loyalty to the institution, a sentiment of fraternity and a feeling of permanency among the workers that is very beneficial to all concerned. each worker, even the most humble, calls it "our shop," and feels that he is an integral and necessary part of the whole. possibly there are a few who consider themselves more than necessary. ali baba, for instance, it is said, has referred to himself, at times, as the whole thing. and this is all right, too--i would never chide an excess of zeal: the pride of a worker in his worth and work is a thing to foster. it's the man who "doesn't give a damn" who is really troublesome. the artistic big-head is not half so bad as apathy. * * * * * in the month of december, eighteen hundred ninety-four, i printed the first "little journeys" in booklet form, at the local printing-office, having become discouraged in trying to find a publisher. but before offering the publication to the public, i decided to lay the matter again before g.p. putnam's sons, although they had declined the matter in manuscript form. mr. george h. putnam rather liked the matter, and was induced to issue the periodical as a venture for one year. the scheme seemed to meet with success, the novel form of the publication being in its favor. the subscription reached nearly a thousand in six months; the newspapers were kind, and the success of the plan suggested printing a pamphlet modeled on similar lines, telling what we thought about things in general, and publishers and magazine-editors in particular. there was no intention at first of issuing more than one number of this pamphlet, but to get it through the mails at magazine rates we made up a little subscription list and asked that it be entered at the post office at east aurora as second-class matter. the postmaster adjusted his brass-rimmed spectacles, read the pamphlet, and decided that it surely was second class matter. we called it "the philistine" because we were going after the "chosen people" in literature. it was leslie stephen who said, "the term philistine is a word used by prigs to designate people they do not like." when you call a man a bad name, you are that thing--not he. the smug and snugly ensconced denizens of union square called me a philistine, and i said, "yes, i am one, if a philistine is something different from you." my helpers, the printers, were about to go away to pastures new; they were in debt, the town was small, they could not make a living. so they offered me their outfit for a thousand dollars. i accepted the proposition. i decided to run "the philistine" magazine for a year--to keep faith with the misguided and hopeful parties who had subscribed--and then quit. to fill in the time, we printed a book: we printed it like a william morris book--printed it just as well as we could. it was cold in the old barn where we first set up "the philistine," so i built a little building like an old english chapel right alongside of my house. there was one basement and a room upstairs. i wanted it to be comfortable and pretty, and so we furnished our little shop cozily. we had four girls and three boys working for us then. the shop was never locked, and the boys and girls used to come around evenings. it was really more pleasant than at home. i brought over a shelf of books from the library. then i brought the piano, because the youngsters wanted to dance. the girls brought flowers and birds, and the boys put up curtains at the windows. we were having a lot o' fun, with new subscriptions coming in almost every day, and once in a while an order for a book. the place got too small when we began to bind books, so we built a wing on one side; then a wing on the other side. to keep the three carpenters busy who had been building the wings, i set them to making furniture for the place. they made the furniture as good as they could--folks came along and bought it. the boys picked up field-stones and built a great, splendid fireplace and chimney at one end of the shop. the work came out so well that i said, "boys, here is a great scheme--these hardheads are splendid building material." so i advertised we would pay a dollar a load for niggerheads. the farmers began to haul stones; they hauled more stones, and at last they had hauled four thousand loads. we bought all the stone in the dollar limit, bulling the market on boulders. three stone buildings have been built, another is in progress, and our plans are made to build an art-gallery of the same material--the stones that the builders rejected. an artist blew in on the way to nowhere, his baggage a tomato-can. he thought he would stop over for a day or two--he is with us yet, and three years have gone by since he came, and now we could not do without him. then we have a few remittance-men, sent to us from a distance, without return-tickets. some of these men were willing to do anything but work--they offered to run things, to preach, to advise, to make love to the girls. we bought them tickets to chicago, and without violence conducted them to the four-o'clock train. we have boys who have been expelled from school, blind people, deaf people, old people, jailbirds and mental defectives, and have managed to set them all at useful work; but the remittance-man of good family who smokes cigarettes in bed has proved too much for us--so we have given him the four-o'clock without ruth. we do not encourage people from a distance who want work to come on--they are apt to expect too much. they look for utopia, when work is work, here as elsewhere. there is just as much need for patience, gentleness, loyalty and love here as anywhere. application, desire to do the right thing, a willingness to help, and a well-curbed tongue are as necessary in east aurora as in tuskegee. we do our work as well as we can, live one day at a time, and try to be kind. * * * * * the village of east aurora, erie county, new york, the home of the roycrofters, is eighteen miles southeast of the city of buffalo. the place has a population of about three thousand people. there is no wealth in the town and no poverty. in east aurora there are six churches, with pastors' salaries varying from three hundred to one thousand dollars a year; and we have a most excellent school. the place is not especially picturesque or attractive, being simply a representative new york state village. lake erie is ten miles distant, and cazenovia creek winds its lazy way along by the village. the land around east aurora is poor, and so reduced in purse are the farmers that no insurance-company will insure farm property in erie county under any conditions unless the farmer has some business outside of agriculture--the experience of the underwriters being that when a man is poor enough, he is also dishonest; insure a farmer's barn in new york state, and there is a strong probability that he will soon invest in kerosene. however, there is no real destitution, for a farmer can always raise enough produce to feed his family, and in a wooded country he can get fuel, even if he has to lift it between the dawn and the day. most of the workers in the roycroft shop are children of farming folk, and it is needless to add that they are not college-bred, nor have they had the advantages of foreign travel. one of our best helpers, uncle billy bushnell, has never been to niagara falls, and does not care to go. uncle billy says if you stay at home and do your work well enough, the world will come to you; which aphorism the old man backs up with another, probably derived from experience, to the effect that a man is a fool to chase after women, because, if he doesn't, the women will chase after him. the wisdom of this hard-headed old son of the soil--who abandoned agriculture for art at seventy--is exemplified in the fact that during the year just past, over twenty-eight thousand pilgrims have visited the roycroft shop--representing every state and territory of the union and every civilized country on the globe, even far-off iceland, new zealand and the isle of guam. three hundred ten people are on the payroll at the present writing. the principal work is printing, illuminating and binding books. we also have a furniture shop, where mission furniture of the highest grade is made; a modeled-leather shop, where the most wonderful creations in calfskin are to be seen; and a smithy, where copper utensils of great beauty are hammered out by hand. quite as important as the printing and binding is the illuminating of initials and title-pages. this is a revival of a lost art, gone with so much of the artistic work done by the monks of the olden time. yet there is a demand for such work; and so far as i know, we are the first concern in america to take up the hand-illumination of books as a business. of course we have had to train our helpers, and from very crude attempts at decoration we have attained to a point where the british museum and the "bibliotheke" at the hague have deigned to order and pay good golden guineas for specimens of our handicraft. very naturally we want to do the best work possible, and so self-interest prompts us to be on the lookout for budding genius. the roycroft is a quest for talent. there is a market for the best, and the surest way, we think, to get away from competition is to do your work a little better than the other fellow. the old tendency to make things cheaper, instead of better, in the book line is a fallacy, as shown in the fact that within ten years there have been a dozen failures of big publishing-houses in the united states. the liabilities of these bankrupt concerns footed the fine total of fourteen million dollars. the man who made more books and cheaper books than any one concern ever made, had the felicity to fail very shortly, with liabilities of something over a million dollars. he overdid the thing in matter of cheapness--mistook his market. our motto is, "not how cheap, but how good." this is the richest country the world has ever known, far richer per capita than england--lending money to europe. once americans were all shoddy--pioneers have to be, i'm told--but now only a part of us are shoddy. as men and women increase in culture and refinement, they want fewer things, and they want better things. the cheap article, i will admit, ministers to a certain grade of intellect; but if the man grows, there will come a time when, instead of a great many cheap and shoddy things, he will want a few good things. he will want things that symbol solidity, truth, genuineness and beauty. the roycrofters have many opportunities for improvement not the least of which is the seeing, hearing and meeting distinguished people. we have a public dining-room, and not a day passes but men and women of note sit at meat with us. at the evening meal, if our visitors are so inclined, and are of the right fiber, i ask them to talk. and if there is no one else to speak, i sometimes read a little from william morris, shakespeare, walt whitman or ruskin. david bispham has sung for us. maude adams and minnie maddern fiske have also favored us with a taste of their quality. judge lindsey, alfred henry lewis, richard le gallienne, robert barr, have visited us; but to give a list of all the eminent men and women who have spoken, sung or played for us would lay me liable for infringement in printing "who's who." however, let me name one typical incident. the boston ideal opera company was playing in buffalo, and henry clay barnabee and half a dozen of his players took a run out to east aurora. they were shown through the shop by one of the girls whose work it is to receive visitors. a young woman of the company sat down at one of the pianos and played. i chanced to be near and asked mr. barnabee if he would not sing, and graciously he answered, "fra elbertus, i'll do anything that you say." i gave the signal that all the workers should quit their tasks and meet at the chapel. in five minutes we had an audience of three hundred--men in blouses and overalls, girls in big aprons--a very jolly, kindly, receptive company. mr. barnabee was at his best--i never saw him so funny. he sang, danced, recited, and told stories for forty minutes. the roycrofters were, of course, delighted. one girl whispered to me as she went out, "i wonder what great sorrow is gnawing at barnabee's heart, that he is so wondrous gay!" need i say that the girl who made the remark just quoted had drunk of life's cup to the very lees? we have a few such with us--and several of them are among our most loyal helpers. * * * * * one fortuitous event that has worked to our decided advantage was "a message to garcia." this article, not much more than a paragraph, covering only fifteen hundred words, was written one evening after supper in a single hour. it was the twenty-second of february, eighteen hundred ninety-nine, washington's birthday, and we were just going to press with the march "philistine." the thing leaped hot from my heart, written after a rather trying day, when i had been endeavoring to train some rather delinquent helpers in the way they should go. the immediate suggestion, though, came from a little argument over the teacups when my son bert suggested that rowan was the real hero of the cuban war. rowan had gone alone and done the thing--carried the message to garcia. it came to me like a flash! yes, the boy is right, the hero is the man who does the thing--does his work--carries the message. i got up from the table and wrote "a message to garcia." i thought so little of it that we ran it in without a heading. the edition went out, and soon orders began to come for extra march "philistines," a dozen, fifty, a hundred; and when the american news company ordered a thousand i asked one of my helpers which article it was that had stirred things up. "it's that stuff about garcia," he said. the next day a telegram came from george h. daniels, of the new york central railroad, thus: "give price on one hundred thousand rowan article in pamphlet form--empire state express advertisement on back--also state how soon can ship." i replied giving price and stated we could supply the pamphlets in two years. our facilities were small, and a hundred thousand pamphlets looked like an awful undertaking. the result was that i gave mr. daniels permission to reprint the article in his own way. he issued it in booklet form in editions of one hundred thousand each. five editions were sent out, and then he got out an edition of half a million. two or three of these half-million lots were sent out by mr. daniels, and in addition the article was reprinted in over two hundred magazines and newspapers. it has been translated into eleven languages, and been given a total circulation of over twenty-two million copies. it has attained, i believe, a larger circulation in the same length of time than any written article has ever before reached. of course, we can not tell just how much good "a message to garcia" has done the shop, but it probably doubled the circulation of "the philistine." i do not consider it by any means my best piece of writing; but it was opportune--the time was ripe. truth demands a certain expression, and too much had been said on the other side about the downtrodden, honest man, looking for work and not being able to find it. the article in question states the other side. men are needed--loyal, honest men who will do their work. "the world cries out for him--the man who can carry a message to garcia." the man who sent the message and the man who received it are dead. the man who carried it is still carrying other messages. the combination of theme, condition of the country, and method of circulation was so favorable that their conjunction will probably never occur again. other men will write better articles, but they may go a-begging for lack of a daniels to bring them to judgment. * * * * * concerning my own personal history, i'll not tarry long to tell. it has been too much like the career of many another born in the semi-pioneer times of the middle west, to attract much attention, unless one should go into the psychology of the thing with intent to show the evolution of a soul. but that will require a book--and some day i'll write it, after the manner of saint augustine or jean jacques. but just now i 'll only say that i was born in illinois, june nineteenth, eighteen hundred fifty-six. my father was a country doctor, whose income never exceeded five hundred dollars a year. i left school at fifteen, with a fair hold on the three r's, and beyond this my education in "manual training" had been good. i knew all the forest-trees, all wild animals thereabout, every kind of fish, frog, fowl or bird that swam, ran or flew. i knew every kind of grain or vegetable, and its comparative value. i knew the different breeds of cattle, horses, sheep and swine. i could teach wild cows to stand while being milked; break horses to saddle or harness; could sow, plow and reap; knew the mysteries of apple-butter, pumpkin pie pickled beef, smoked side-meat, and could make lye at a leach and formulate soft soap. that is to say, i was a bright, strong, active country boy who had been brought up to help his father and mother get a living for a large family. i was not so densely ignorant--don't feel sorry for country boys: god is often on their side. at fifteen i worked on a farm and did a man's work for a boy's pay. i did not like it and told the man so. he replied, "you know what you can do." and i replied, "yes." i went westward like the course of empire and became a cowboy; tired of this and went to chicago; worked in a printing-office; peddled soap from house to house; shoved lumber on the docks; read all the books i could find; wrote letters back to country newspapers and became a reporter; next got a job as traveling salesman; taught in a district school; read emerson, carlyle and macaulay; worked in a soap factory; read shakespeare and committed most of "hamlet" to memory with an eye on the stage; became manager of the soap-factory, then partner; evolved an idea for the concern and put it on the track of making millions--knew it was going to make millions--did not want them; sold out my interest for seventy-five thousand dollars and went to harvard college; tramped through europe; wrote for sundry newspapers; penned two books (couldn't find a publisher); taught night school in buffalo; tramped through europe some more and met william morris (caught it); came back to east aurora and started "chautauqua circles"; studied greek and latin with a local clergyman; raised trotting-horses; wrote "little journeys to the homes of good men and great." so that is how i got my education, such as it is. i am a graduate of the university of hard knocks, and i've taken several postgraduate courses. i have worked at five different trades enough to be familiar with the tools. in eighteen hundred ninety-nine, tufts college bestowed on me the degree of master of arts; but since i did not earn the degree, it really does not count. i have never been sick a day, never lost a meal through disinclination to eat, never consulted a doctor, never used tobacco or intoxicants. my work has never been regulated by the eight-hour clause. horses have been my only extravagance, and i ride horseback daily now: a horse that i broke myself, that has never been saddled by another, and that has never been harnessed. my best friends have been workingmen, homely women and children. my father and mother are members of my household, and they work in the shop when they are so inclined. my mother's business now is mostly to care for the flowers, and my father we call "physician to the roycrofters," as he gives free advice and attendance to all who desire his services. needless to say, his medicine is mostly a matter of the mind. unfortunately for him, we do not enjoy poor health, so there is very seldom any one sick to be cured. fresh air is free, and outdoor exercise is not discouraged. * * * * * the roycroft shop and belongings represent an investment of about three hundred thousand dollars. we have no liabilities, making it a strict business policy to sign no notes or other instruments of debt that may in the future prove inopportune and tend to disturb digestion. fortune has favored us. first, the country has grown tired of soft platitude, silly truism and undisputed things said in such a solemn way. so when "the philistine" stepped into the ring and voiced in no uncertain tones what its editor thought, thinking men and women stopped and listened. editors of magazines refused my manuscript because they said it was too plain, too blunt, sometimes indelicate--it would give offense, subscribers would cancel, et cetera. to get my thoughts published i had to publish them myself; and people bought for the very reason for which the editors said they would cancel. the readers wanted brevity and plain statement--the editors said they didn't. the editors were wrong. they failed to properly diagnose a demand. i saw the demand and supplied it--for a consideration. next i believed the american public. a portion of it, at least, wanted a few good and beautiful books instead of a great many cheap books. the truth came to me in the early nineties, when john b. alden and half a dozen other publishers of cheap books went to the wall. i read the r.g. dun & company bulletin and i said, "the publishers have mistaken their public--we want better books, not cheaper." in eighteen hundred ninety-two, i met william morris, and after that i was sure i was right. again i had gauged the public correctly--the publishers were wrong, as wrong as the editors. there was a market for the best, and the problem was to supply it. at first i bound my books in paper covers and simple boards. men wrote to me wanting fine bindings. i said, "there is a market in america for the best--cheap boards, covered with cloth, stamped by machinery in gaudy tinsel and gilt, are not enough." i discovered that nearly all the bookbinders were dead. i found five hundred people in a book-factory in chicago binding books, but not a bookbinder among them. they simply fed the books into hoppers and shot them out of chutes, and said they were bound. next the public wanted to know about this thing--"what are you folks doing out there in that buckwheat town?" since my twentieth year i have had one eye on the histrionic stage. i could talk in public a bit, had made political speeches, given entertainments in crossroads schoolhouses, made temperance harangues, was always called upon to introduce the speaker of the evening, and several times had given readings from my own amusing works for the modest stipend of ten dollars and keep. i would have taken the lecture platform had it not been nailed down. in eighteen hundred ninety-eight, my friend major pond wanted to book me on a partnership deal at the waldorf-astoria. i didn't want to speak there--i had been saying unkind things in "the philistine" about the waldorf-astoria folks. but the major went ahead and made arrangements. i expected to be mobbed. but mr. boldt, the manager of the hotel, had placed a suite of rooms at my disposal without money and without price. he treated me most cordially; never referred to the outrageous things i had said about his tavern; assured me that he enjoyed my writings, and told me of the pleasure he had in welcoming me. thus did he heap hot cinders upon my occiput. the astor gallery seats eight hundred people. major pond had packed in nine hundred at one dollar each--three hundred were turned away. after the lecture the major awaited me in the anteroom, fell on my neck and rained pond's extract down my back, crying: "oh! oh! oh! why didn't we charge them two dollars apiece!" the next move was to make a tour of the principal cities under major pond's management. neither of us lost money--the major surely did not. last season i gave eighty-one lectures, with a net profit to myself of a little over ten thousand dollars. i spoke at tremont temple in boston, to twenty-two hundred people; at carnegie hall, new york; at central music hall, chicago. i spoke to all the house would hold; at chautauqua, my audience was five thousand people. it will be noted by the discerning that my lectures have been of double importance, in that they have given an income and at the same time advertised the roycroft wares. the success of the roycroft shop has not been brought about by any one scheme or plan. the business is really a combination of several ideas, any one of which would make a paying enterprise in itself. so it stands about thus: first, the printing and publication of three magazines. second, the printing of books (it being well known that some of the largest publishers in america--scribner and appleton, for instance--have no printing-plants, but have the work done for them). third, the publication of books. fourth, the artistic binding of books. fifth, authorship. since i began printing my own manuscript, there is quite an eager demand for my writing, so i do a little of class b for various publishers and editors. sixth, the lecture lyceum. seventh, blacksmithing, carpenter-work and basket-weaving. these industries have sprung up under the roycroft care as a necessity. men and women in the village came to us and wanted work, and we simply gave them opportunity to do the things they could do best. we have found a market for all our wares, so no line of work has ever been a bill of expense. i want no better clothing, no better food, no more comforts and conveniences than my helpers and fellow-workers have. i would be ashamed to monopolize a luxury--to take a beautiful work of art, say a painting or a marble statue, and keep it for my own pleasure and for the select few i might invite to see my beautiful things. art is for all--beauty is for all. harmony in all of its manifold forms should be like a sunset--free to all who can drink it in. the roycroft shop is for the roycrofters, and each is limited only by his capacity to absorb. * * * * * art is the expression of man's joy in his work, and all the joy and love that you can weave into a fabric comes out again and belongs to the individual who has the soul to appreciate it. art is beauty; and beauty is a gratification, a peace and a solace to every normal man and woman. beautiful sounds, beautiful colors, beautiful proportions, beautiful thoughts--how our souls hunger for them! matter is only mind in an opaque condition; and all beauty is but a symbol of spirit. you can not get joy from feeding things all day into a machine. you must let the man work with hand and brain, and then out of the joy of this marriage of hand and brain, beauty will be born. it tells of a desire for harmony, peace, beauty, wholeness--holiness. art is the expression of man's joy in his work. when you read a beautiful poem that makes your heart throb with gladness and gratitude, you are simply partaking of the emotion that the author felt when he wrote it. to possess a piece of work that the workman made in joyous animation is a source of joy to the possessor. and this love of the work done by the marriage of hand and brain can never quite go out of fashion--for we are men and women, and our hopes and aims and final destiny are at last one. where one enjoys, all enjoy; where one suffers, all suffer. say what you will of the coldness and selfishness of men, at the last we long for companionship and the fellowship of our kind. we are lost children, and when alone and the darkness gathers, we long for the close relationship of the brothers and sisters we knew in our childhood, and cry for the gentle arms that once rocked us to sleep. men are homesick amid this sad, mad rush for wealth and place and power. the calm of the country invites, and we would fain do with less things, and go back to simplicity, and rest our tired heads in the lap of mother nature. life is expression. life is a movement outward, an unfolding, a development. to be tied down, pinned to a task that is repugnant, and to have the shrill voice of necessity whistling eternally in your ears, "do this or starve," is to starve; for it starves the heart, the soul, and all the higher aspirations of your being pine away and die. at the roycroft shop the workers are getting an education by doing things. work should be the spontaneous expression of a man's best impulses. we grow only through exercise, and every faculty that is exercised becomes strong, and those not used atrophy and die. thus how necessary it is that we should exercise our highest and best! to develop the brain we have to exercise the body. every muscle, every organ, has its corresponding convolution in the brain. to develop the mind, we must use the body. manual training is essentially moral training; and physical work is, at its best, mental, moral and spiritual--and these are truths so great and yet so simple that until yesterday many wise men did not recognize them. at the roycroft shop we are reaching out for an all-round development through work and right living. and we have found it a good expedient--a wise business policy. sweat-shop methods can never succeed in producing beautiful things. and so the management of the roycroft shop surrounds the workers with beauty, allows many liberties, encourages cheerfulness and tries to promote kind thoughts, simply because it has been found that these things are transmuted into good, and come out again at the finger-tips of the workers in beautiful results. so we have pictures, statuary, flowers, ferns, palms, birds, and a piano in every room. we have the best sanitary appliances that money can buy; we have bathrooms, shower-baths, library, rest-rooms. every week we have concerts, dances, lectures. besides being a workshop, the roycroft is a school. we are following out a dozen distinct lines of study, and every worker in the place is enrolled as a member of one or more classes. there are no fees to pupils, but each pupil purchases his own books--the care of his books and belongings being considered a part of one's education. all the teachers are workers in the shop, and are volunteers, teaching without pay, beyond what each receives for his regular labor. the idea of teaching we have found is a great benefit--to the teacher. the teacher gets most out of the lessons. once a week there is a faculty meeting, when each teacher gives in a verbal report of his stewardship. it is responsibility that develops one, and to know that your pupils expect you to know is a great incentive to study. then teaching demands that you shall give--give yourself--and he who gives most receives most. we deepen our impressions by recounting them, and he who teaches others teaches himself. i am never quite so proud as when some one addresses me as "teacher." we try to find out what each person can do best, what he wants to do, and then we encourage him to put his best into it--also to do something else besides his specialty, finding rest in change. the thing that pays should be the expedient thing, and the expedient thing should be the proper and right thing. that which began with us as a matter of expediency is often referred to as a "philanthropy." i do not like the word, and wish to state here that the roycroft is in no sense a charity--i do not believe in giving any man something for nothing. you give a man a dollar and the man will think less of you because he thinks less of himself; but if you give him a chance to earn a dollar, he will think more of himself and more of you. the only way to help people is to give them a chance to help themselves. so the roycroft idea is one of reciprocity--you help me and i'll help you. we will not be here forever, anyway; soon death, the kind old nurse, will come and rock us all to sleep, and we had better help one another while we may: we are going the same way--let's go hand in hand! contents publisher's preface v autobiographical xi george eliot thomas carlyle john ruskin william e. gladstone j.m.w. turner jonathan swift walt whitman victor hugo william wordsworth william m. thackeray charles dickens oliver goldsmith william shakespeare thomas a. edison george eliot "may i reach that purest heaven, be to other souls the cup of strength in some great agony, enkindle generous ardor, feed pure love, beget the smiles that have no cruelty-- be the good presence of a good diffused, and in diffusion ever more intense. so shall i join the choir invisible whose music is the gladness of the world." [illustration: george eliot] warwickshire gave to the world william shakespeare. it also gave mary ann evans. no one will question that shakespeare's is the greatest name in english literature; and among writers living or dead, in england or out of it, no woman has ever shown us power equal to that of george eliot, in the subtle clairvoyance which divines the inmost play of passions, the experience that shows human capacity for contradiction, and the indulgence that is merciful because it understands. shakespeare lived three hundred years ago. according to the records, his father, in fifteen hundred sixty-three, owned a certain house in henley street, stratford-on-avon. hence we infer that william shakespeare was born there. and in all our knowledge of shakespeare's early life (or later) we prefix the words, "hence we infer." that the man knew all the sciences of his day, and had such a knowledge of each of the learned professions that all have claimed him as their own, we realize. he evidently was acquainted with five different languages, and the range of his intellect was worldwide; but where did he get this vast erudition? we do not know, and we excuse ourselves by saying that he lived three hundred years ago. george eliot lived--yesterday, and we know no more about her youthful days than we do of that other child of warwickshire. one biographer tells us that she was born in eighteen hundred nineteen, another in eighteen hundred twenty, and neither state the day; whereas a recent writer in the "pall mall budget" graciously bestows on us the useful information that "william shakespeare was born on the twenty-first day of april, fifteen hundred sixty-three, at fifteen minutes of two on a stormy morning." concise statements of facts are always valuable, but we have none such concerning the early life of george eliot. there is even a shadow over her parentage, for no less an authority than the "american cyclopedia annual," for eighteen hundred eighty, boldly proclaims that she was not a foundling and, moreover, that she was not adopted by a rich retired clergyman who gave her a splendid schooling. then the writer dives into obscurity, but presently reappears and adds that he does not know where she got her education. for all of which we are very grateful. shakespeare left five signatures, each written in a different way, and now there is a goodly crew who spell it "bacon." and likewise we do not know whether it is mary ann evans, mary anne evans or marian evans, for she herself is said to have used each form at various times. william winter--gentle critic, poet, scholar--tells us that the sonnets show a dark spot in shakespeare's moral record. and if i remember rightly, similar things have been hinted at in sewing-circles concerning george eliot. then they each found the dew and sunshine in london that caused the flowers of genius to blossom. the early productions of both were published anonymously, and lastly they both knew how to transmute thought into gold, for they died rich. lady godiva rode through the streets of coventry, but i walked--walked all the way from stratford, by way of warwick (call it warrick, please) and kenilworth castle. i stopped overnight at that quaint and curious little inn just across from the castle entrance. the good landlady gave me the same apartment that was occupied by sir walter scott when he came here and wrote the first chapter of "kenilworth." the little room had pretty, white chintz curtains tied with blue ribbon, and similar stuff draped the mirror. the bed was a big canopy affair--i had to stand on a chair in order to dive off into its feathery depths--everything was very neat and clean, and the dainty linen had a sweet smell of lavender. i took one parting look out through the open window at the ivy-mantled towers of the old castle, which were all sprinkled with silver by the rising moon, and then i fell into gentlest sleep. i dreamed of playing "i-spy" through kenilworth castle with shakespeare, walter scott, mary ann evans and a youth i used to know in boyhood by the name of bill hursey. we chased each other across the drawbridge, through the portcullis, down the slippery stones into the donjon-keep, around the moat, and up the stone steps to the topmost turret of the towers. finally shakespeare was "it," but he got mad and refused to play. walter scott said it was "no fair," and bill hursey thrust out the knuckle of one middle finger in a very threatening way and offered to "do" the boy from stratford. then mary ann rushed in to still the tempest. there's no telling what would have happened had not the landlady just then rapped at my door and asked if i had called. i awoke with a start and with the guilty feeling that i had been shouting in my sleep. i saw it was morning. "no--that is, yes; my shaving-water, please." after breakfast the landlady's boy offered for five shillings to take me in his donkey-cart to the birthplace of george eliot. he explained that the house was just seven miles north; but baalam's express is always slow, so i concluded to walk. at coventry a cab-owner proposed to show me the house, which he declared was near kenilworth, for twelve shillings. the advantages of seeing kenilworth at the same time were dwelt upon at great length by cabby, but i harkened not to the voice of the siren. i got a good lunch at the hotel, and asked the innkeeper if he could tell me where george eliot was born. he did not know, but said he could show me a house around the corner where a family of eliots lived. then i walked on to nuneaton. a charming walk it was; past quaint old houses, some with straw-thatched roofs, others tile--roses clambering over the doors and flowering hedgerows white with hawthorn-flowers. occasionally, i met a farmer's cart drawn by one of those great, fat, gentle shire horses that george eliot has described so well. all spoke of peace and plenty, quiet and rest. the green fields and the flowers, the lark-song and the sunshine, the dipping willows by the stream, and the arch of the old stone bridge as i approached the village--all these i had seen and known and felt before from "mill on the floss." i found the house where they say the novelist was born. a plain, whitewashed, stone structure, built two hundred years ago; two stories, the upper chambers low, with gable-windows; a little garden at the side bright with flowers, where sweet marjoram vied with onions and beets; all spoke of humble thrift and homely cares. in front was a great chestnut-tree, and in the roadway near were two ancient elms where saucy crows were building a nest. here, after her mother died, mary ann evans was housekeeper. little more than a child--tall, timid, and far from strong--she cooked and scrubbed and washed, and was herself the mother to brothers and sisters. her father was a carpenter by trade and agent for a rich landowner. he was a stern man--orderly, earnest, industrious, studious. on rides about the country he would take the tall, hollow-eyed girl with him, and at such times he would talk to her of the great outside world where wondrous things were done. the child toiled hard, but found time to read and question--and there is always time to think. soon she had outgrown some of her good father's beliefs, and this grieved him greatly; so much, indeed, that her extra-loving attention to his needs, in a hope to neutralize his displeasure, only irritated him the more. and if there is soft, subdued sadness in much of george eliot's writing we can guess the reason. the onward and upward march ever means sad separation. when mary ann was blossoming into womanhood her father moved over near coventry, and here the ambitious girl first found companionship in her intellectual desires. here she met men and women, older than herself, who were animated, earnest thinkers. they read and then they discussed, and then they spoke the things that they felt were true. those eight years at coventry transformed the awkward country girl into a woman of intellect and purpose. she knew somewhat of all sciences, all philosophies, and she had become a proficient scholar in german and french. how did she acquire this knowledge? how is any education acquired if not through effort prompted by desire? she had already translated strauss's "life of jesus" in a manner that was acceptable to the author. when ralph waldo emerson came to coventry to lecture, he was entertained at the same house where miss evans was stopping. her brilliant conversation pleased him, and when she questioned the wisdom of a certain passage in one of his essays the gentle philosopher turned, smiled, and said that he had not seen it in that light before; perhaps she was right. "what is your favorite book?" asked emerson. "rousseau's 'confessions,'" answered mary instantly. it was emerson's favorite, too; but such honesty from a young woman! it was queer. mr. emerson never forgot miss evans of coventry, and ten years after, when a zealous reviewer proclaimed her the greatest novelist in england, the sage of concord said something that sounded like "i told you so." miss evans had made visits to london from time to time with her coventry friends. when twenty-eight years old, after one such visit to london, she came back to the country tired and weary, and wrote this most womanly wish: "my only ardent desire is to find some feminine task to discharge; some possibility of devoting myself to some one and making that one purely and calmly happy." but now her father was dead and her income was very scanty. she did translating, and tried the magazines with articles that generally came back respectfully declined. then an offer came as sub-editor of the "westminster review." it was steady work and plenty of it, and this was what she desired. she went to london and lived in the household of her employer, mr. chapman. here she had the opportunity of meeting many brilliant people: carlyle and his "jeannie welsh," the martineaus, grote, mr. and mrs. mill, huxley, mazzini, louis blanc. besides these were two young men who must not be left out when we sum up the influences that evolved this woman's genius. she was attracted to herbert spencer at once. he was about her age, and their admiration for each other was mutual. miss evans, writing to a friend in eighteen hundred fifty-two, says, "spencer is kind, he is delightful, and i always feel better after being with him, and we have agreed together that there is no reason why we should not see each other as often as we wish." and then later she again writes: "the bright side of my life, after the affection for my old friends, is the new and delightful friendship which i have found in herbert spencer. we see each other every day, and in everything we enjoy a delightful comradeship. if it were not for him my life would be singularly arid." but about this time another man appeared on the scene, and were it not for this other man, who was introduced to miss evans by spencer, the author of "synthetic philosophy" might not now be spoken of in the biographical dictionaries as having been "wedded to science." it was not love at first sight, for george henry lewes made a decidedly unfavorable impression on miss evans at their first meeting. he was small, his features were insignificant, he had whiskers like an anarchist and a mouthful of crooked teeth; his personal habits were far from pleasant. it was this sort of thing, dickens said, that caused his first wife to desert him and finally drove her into insanity. but lewes had a brilliant mind. he was a linguist, a scientist, a novelist, a poet and a wit. he had written biography, philosophy and a play. he had been a journalist, a lecturer and even an actor. thackeray declared that if he should see lewes perched on a white elephant in piccadilly he should not be in the least surprised. after having met miss evans several times, mr. lewes saw the calm depths of her mind and he asked her to correct proofs for him. she did so and discovered that there was merit in his work. she corrected more proofs, and when a woman begins to assist a man the danger-line is being approached. close observers noted that a change was coming over the bohemian lewes. he had his whiskers trimmed, his hair was combed, and the bright yellow necktie had been discarded for a clean one of modest brown, and, sometimes, his boots were blacked. in july, eighteen hundred fifty-four, mr. chapman received a letter from his sub-editor resigning her position, and miss evans notified some of her closest friends that hereafter she wished to be considered the wife of mr. lewes. she was then in her thirty-sixth year. the couple disappeared, having gone to germany. many people were shocked. some said, "we knew it all the time," and when herbert spencer was informed of the fact he exclaimed, "goodness me!" and said--nothing. after six months spent at weimar and other literary centers, mr. and mrs. lewes returned to england and began housekeeping at richmond. any one who views their old quarters there will see how very plainly and economically they were forced to live. but they worked hard, and at this time the future novelist's desire seemed only to assist her husband. that she developed the manly side of his nature none can deny. they were very happy, these two, as they wrote, and copied, and studied, and toiled. three years passed, and mrs. lewes wrote to a friend: "i am very happy; happy with the greatest happiness that life can give--the complete sympathy and affection of a man whose mind stimulates mine and keeps up in me a wholesome activity." mr. lewes knew the greatness of his helpmeet. she herself did not. he urged her to write a story; she hesitated, and at last attempted it. they read the first chapter together and cried over it. then she wrote more and always read her husband the chapters as they were turned off. he corrected, encouraged, and found a publisher. but why should i tell about it here? it's all in the "britannica"--how the gentle beauty and sympathetic insight of her work touched the hearts of great and lowly alike, and of how riches began flowing in upon her. for one book she received forty thousand dollars, and her income after fortune smiled upon her was never less than ten thousand dollars a year. lewes was her secretary, her protector, her slave and her inspiration. he kept at bay the public that would steal her time, and put out of her reach, at her request, all reviews, good or bad, and shielded her from the interviewer, the curiosity-seeker, and the greedy financier. the reason why she at first wrote under a nom de plume is plain. to the great, wallowing world she was neither miss evans nor mrs. lewes, so she dropped both names as far as title-pages were concerned and used a man's name instead--hoping better to elude the pack. when "adam bede" came out, a resident of nuneaton purchased a copy and at once discovered local earmarks. the scenes described, the flowers, the stone walls, the bridges, the barns, the people--all was nuneaton. who wrote it? no one knew, but it was surely some one in nuneaton. so they picked out a mr. liggins, a solemn-faced preacher, who was always about to do something great, and they said "liggins." soon all london said "liggins." as for liggins, he looked wise and smiled knowingly. then articles began to appear in the periodicals purporting to have been written by the author of "adam bede." a book came out called "adam bede, jr.," and to protect her publisher, the public and herself, george eliot had to reveal her identity. many men have written good books and never tasted fame; but few, like liggins of nuneaton, have become famous by doing nothing. it only proves that some things can be done as well as others. this breed of men has long dwelt in warwickshire; shakespeare had them in mind when he wrote, "there be men who do a wilful stillness entertain with purpose to be dressed in an opinion of wisdom, gravity and profound conceit." lord acton in an able article in the "nineteenth century" makes this statement: "george eliot paid high for happiness with lewes. she forfeited freedom of speech, the first place among english women, and a tomb in westminster abbey." the original dedication in "adam bede" reads thus: "to my dear husband, george henry lewes, i give the manuscript of a work which would never have been written but for the happiness which his love has conferred on my life." lord acton of course assumes that this book would have been written, dedication and all, just the same had miss evans never met mr. lewes. once there was a child called romola. she said to her father one day, as she sat on his knee: "papa, who would take care of me--give me my bath and put me to bed nights--if you had never happened to meet mamma?" * * * * * the days i spent in warwickshire were very pleasant. the serene beauty of the country and the kindly courtesy of the people impressed me greatly. having beheld the scenes of george eliot's childhood, i desired to view the place where her last days were spent. it was a fine may day when i took the little steamer from london bridge for chelsea. a bird-call from the dingy brick building where turner died, and two blocks from the old home of carlyle, is cheyne walk--a broad avenue facing the river. the houses are old, but they have a look of gracious gentility that speaks of ease and plenty. high iron fences are in front, but they do not shut off from view the climbing clematis and clusters of roses that gather over the windows and doors. i stood at the gate of number cheyne walk and admired the pretty flowers, planted in such artistic carelessness as to beds and rows; then i rang the bell--an old pull-out affair with polished knob. presently a butler opened the door--a pompous, tall and awful butler in serious black and with side-whiskers. he approached; came down the walk swinging a bunch of keys, looking me over as he came, to see what sort of wares i had to sell. "did george eliot live here?" i asked through the bars. "mrs. cross lived 'ere and died 'ere, sir," came the solemn and rebuking answer. "i mean mrs. cross," i added meekly; "i only wished to see the little garden where she worked." jeemes was softened. as he unlocked the gate he said: "we 'ave many wisiters, sir; a great bother, sir; still, i always knows a gentleman when i sees one. p'r'aps you would like to see the 'ouse, too, sir. the missus does not like it much, but i will take 'er your card, sir." i gave him the card and slipped a shilling into his hand as he gave me a seat in the hallway. he disappeared upstairs and soon returned with the pleasing information that i was to be shown the whole house and garden. so i pardoned him the myth about the missus, happening to know that at that particular moment she was at brighton, sixty miles away. a goodly, comfortable house, four stories, well kept, and much fine old carved oak in the dining-room and hallways; fantastic ancient balusters, and a peculiar bay window in the second-story rear that looked out over the little garden. off to the north could be seen the green of kensington gardens and wavy suggestions of hyde park. this was george eliot's workshop. there was a table in the center of the room and three low bookcases with pretty ornaments above. in the bay window was the most conspicuous object in the room--a fine marble bust of goethe. this, i was assured, had been the property of mrs. cross, as well as all the books and furniture in the room. in one corner was a revolving case containing a set of the "century dictionary" which jeemes assured me had been purchased by mr. cross as a present for his wife a short time before she died. this caused my faith to waver a trifle and put to flight a fine bit of literary frenzy that might have found form soon in a sonnet. in the front parlor, i saw a portrait of the former occupant that showed "the face that looked like a horse." but that is better than to have the face of any other animal of which i know. surely one would not want to look like a dog! shakespeare hated dogs, but spoke forty-eight times in his plays in terms of respect and affection for a horse. who would not resent the imputation that one's face was like that of a sheep or a goat or an ox, and much gore has been shed because men have referred to other men as asses--but a horse! god bless you, yes! no one has ever accused george eliot of being handsome, but this portrait tells of a woman of fifty: calm, gentle, and the strong features speak of a soul in which to confide. at highgate, by the side of the grave of lewes, rests the dust of this great and loving woman. as the pilgrim enters that famous old cemetery, the first imposing monument seen is a pyramid of rare, costly porphyry. as you draw near, you read this inscription: to the memory of ann jewson crisp who departed this life deeply lamented, jan. , . also, her dog, emperor. beneath these tender lines is a bas-relief of as vicious-looking a cur as ever evaded the dog-tax. continuing up the avenue, past this monument just noted, the kind old gardener will show you another that stands amid others much more pretentious--a small gray-granite column, and on it, carved in small letters, you read: "of those immortal dead who live again in minds made better by their presence." here rests the body of "george eliot" (mary ann cross) born november, . died december, . thomas carlyle one comfort is that great men taken up in any way are profitable company. we can not look, however imperfectly, upon a great man without gaining something by it. he is the living fountain of life, which it is pleasant to be near. on any terms whatsoever you will not grudge to wander in his neighborhood for a while. --_heroes and hero-worship_ [illustration: thomas carlyle] while on my way to dumfries i stopped overnight at gretna green, which, as all fair maidens know, is in scotland just over the border from england. to my delight i found that the coming of runaway couples to gretna green was not entirely a matter of the past, for the very evening i arrived a blushing pair came to the inn and inquired for a "meenister." the ladye faire was a little stout and the worthy swain several years older than my fancy might have wished, but still i did not complain. the landlord's boy was dispatched to the rectory around the corner and soon returned with the reverend gentleman. i was an uninvited guest in the little parlor, but no one observed that my wedding-garment was only a cycling costume, and i was not challenged. after the ceremony, the several other witnesses filed past the happy couple, congratulating them and kissing the bride. i did likewise, and was greeted with a resounding smack which surprised me a bit, but i managed to ask, "did you run away?" "noo," said the groom; "noo, her was a widdie--we just coom over fram ecclefechan"; then, lowering his voice to a confidential whisper, "we're goin' baack on the morrow. it's cheaper thaan to ha' a big, spread weddin'." this answer banished all tender sentiment from me and made useless my plans for a dainty love-story, but i seized upon the name of the place whence they came. "ecclefechan! ecclefechan! why that's where carlyle was born!" "aye, sir, and he's buried there; a great mon he was--but an infideel." ten miles beyond gretna green is ecclefechan--a little village of stucco houses all stretched out on one street. plain, homely, rocky and unromantic is the country round about, and plain, homely and unromantic is the little house where carlyle was born. the place is shown the visitor by a good old dame who takes one from room to room, giving a little lecture meanwhile in a mixture of gaelic and english which was quite beyond my ken. several relics of interest are shown, and although the house is almost precisely like all others in the vicinity, imagination throws round it all a roseate wreath of fancies. it has been left on record that up to the year when carlyle was married, his "most pleasurable times were those when he enjoyed a quiet pipe with his mother." to few men indeed is this felicity vouchsafed. but for those who have eaten oatmeal porridge in the wayside cottages of bonny scotland, or who love to linger over "the cotter's saturday night," there is a touch of tender pathos in the picture. the stone floor, the bare, whitewashed walls, the peat smoldering on the hearth, sending out long, fitful streaks that dance among the rafters overhead, and the mother and son sitting there watching the coal--silent. the woman takes a small twig from a bundle of sticks, reaches over, lights it, applies it to her pipe, takes a few whiffs and passes the light to her son. then they talk in low, earnest tones of man's duty to man and man's duty to god. and it was this mother who first applied the spark that fired carlyle's ambition; it was from her that he got the germ of those talents which have made his name illustrious. yet this woman could barely read and did not learn to write until her firstborn had gone away from the home nest. then it was that she sharpened a gray goose-quill and labored long and patiently, practising with this instrument (said to be mightier than the sword) and with ink she herself had mixed--all that she might write a letter to her boy; and how sweetly, tenderly homely, and loving are these letters as we read them today! james carlyle with his own hands built, in seventeen hundred ninety, this house at ecclefechan. the same year he married an excellent woman, a second cousin, by name janet carlyle. she lived but a year. the poor husband was heartbroken, and declared, as many men under like conditions had done before and have done since, that his sorrow was inconsolable. and he vowed that he would walk through life and down to his death alone. but it is a matter for congratulation that he broke his vow. in two years he married margaret aitken--a serving-woman. she bore nine children. thomas was the eldest and the only one who proved recreant to the religious faith of his fathers. one of the brothers moved to shiawassee county, michigan, where i had the pleasure of calling on him, some years ago. a hard-headed man, he was: sensible, earnest, honest, with a stubby beard and a rich brogue. he held the office of school trustee, also that of pound-master, and i was told that he served his township loyally and well. this worthy man looked with small favor on the literary pretensions of his brother tammas, and twice wrote him long letters expostulating with him on his religious vagaries. "i knew no good could come of it," sorrowfully said he, and so i left him. but i inquired of several of the neighbors what they thought of thomas carlyle, and i found that they did not think of him at all. and i mounted my beast and rode away. thomas carlyle was educated for the kirk, and it was a cause of much sorrow to his parents that he could not accept its beliefs. he has been spoken of as england's chief philosopher, yet he subscribed to no creed, nor did he formulate one. however, in "latter-day pamphlets" he partially prepares a catechism for a part of the brute creation. he supposes that all swine of superior logical powers have a "belief," and as they are unable to express it he essays the task for them. the following are a few of the postulates in this creed of the brotherhood of latter-day swine: "question. who made the pig? "answer. the pork-butcher. "question. what is the whole duty of pigs? "answer. it is the mission of universal pighood; and the duty of all pigs, at all times, is to diminish the quantity of attainable swill and increase the unattainable. this is the whole duty of pigs. "question. what is pig poetry? "answer. it is the universal recognition of pig's wash and ground barley, and the felicity of pigs whose trough has been set in order and who have enough. "question, what is justice in pigdom? "answer. it is the sentiment in pig nature sometimes called revenge, indignation, etc., which if one pig provoke, another comes out in more or less destructive manner; hence laws are necessary--amazing quantities of laws--defining what pigs shall not do. "question. what do you mean by equity? "answer. equity consists in getting your share from the universal swine-trough, and part of another's. "question. what is meant by 'your share'?" "answer. my share is getting whatever i can contrive to seize without being made up into side-meat." i have slightly abridged this little extract and inserted it here to show the sympathy which mr. carlyle had for the dumb brute. one of america's great men, in a speech delivered not long ago, said, "from scotch manners, scotch religion and scotch whisky, good lord deliver us!" my experience with these three articles has been somewhat limited; but scotch manners remind me of chestnut-burs--not handsome without, but good within. for when you have gotten beyond the rough exterior of sandy you generally find a heart warm, tender and generous. scotch religion is only another chestnut-bur, but then you need not eat the shuck if you fear it will not agree with your inward state. nevertheless, if the example of royalty is of value, the fact can be stated that victoria, queen of great britain and empress of india, is a presbyterian. that is, she is a presbyterian about one-half the time--when she is in scotland, for she is the head of the scottish kirk. when in england, of course she is an episcopalian. we have often been told that religion is largely a matter of geography, and here is a bit of something that looks like proof. of scotch whisky i am not competent to speak, so that subject must be left to the experts. but a kentucky colonel at my elbow declares that it can not be compared with the blue-grass article; though i trust that no one will be prejudiced against it on that account. scotch intellect, however, is worthy of our serious consideration. it is a bold, rocky headland, standing out into the tossing sea of the unknown. assertive? yes. stubborn? most surely. proud? by all means. twice as many pilgrims visit the grave of burns as that of shakespeare. buckle declares adam smith's "wealth of nations" has had a greater influence on civilization than any other book ever writ--save none; and the average scotchman knows his carlyle a deal better than the average american knows his emerson: in fact, four times as many of carlyle's books have been printed. when carlyle took time to bring the ponderous machinery of his intellect to bear on a theme, he saw it through and through. the vividness of his imagination gives us a true insight into times long since gone by; it shows virtue her own feature, vice her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure. in history he goes beyond the political and conventional--showing us the thought, the hope, the fear, the passion of the soul. his was the masculine mind. the divination and subtle intuitions which are to be found scattered through his pages, like violets growing among the rank swale of the prairies--all these sweet, odorous things came from his wife. she gave him of her best thought, and he greedily absorbed it and unconsciously wrote it down as his own. there are those who blame and berate; volumes have been written to show the inconsiderateness of this man toward the gentle lady who was his intellectual comrade. but they know not life who do this thing. it is a fact that carlyle never rushed to pick up jeannie's handkerchief. i admit that he could not bow gracefully; that he could not sing tenor, nor waltz, nor tell funny stories, nor play the mandolin; and if i had been his neighbor i would not have attempted to teach him any of these accomplishments. once he took his wife to the theater; and after the performance he accidentally became separated from her in the crowd and trudged off home alone and went to bed forgetting all about her---but even for this i do not indict him. mrs. carlyle never upbraided him for this forgetfulness, neither did she relate the incident to any one, and for these things i to her now reverently lift my hat. jeannie welsh carlyle had capacity for pain, as it seems all great souls have. she suffered--but then suffering is not all suffering and pain is not all pain. life is often dark, but then there are rifts in the clouds when we behold the glorious deep blue of the sky. not a day passes but that the birds sing in the branches, and the tree-tops poise backward and forward in restful, rhythmic harmony, and never an hour goes by but that hope bears us up on her wings as the eagle does her young. and ever just before the year dies and the frost comes, the leaves take on a gorgeous hue and the color of the flowers then puts to shame for brilliancy all the plainer petals of springtime. and i know mr. and mrs. carlyle were happy, so happy, at times, that they laughed and cried for joy. jeannie gave all, and she saw her best thought used--carried further, written out and given to the world as that of another--but she uttered no protest. xantippe lives in history only because she sought to worry a great philosopher; we remember the daughter of herodias because she demanded the head (not the heart) of a good man; goneril and regan because they trod upon the withered soul of their sire; lady macbeth because she lured her liege to murder; charlotte corday for her dagger-thrust; lucrezia borgia for her poison; sapphira for her untruth; jael because she pierced the brain of sisera with a rusty nail (instead of an idea); delilah for the reason that she deprived samson of his source of strength; and in the "westminster review" for may, eighteen hundred ninety-four, ouida makes the flat statement that for every man of genius who has been helped by a woman, ten have been dragged down. but jeannie welsh carlyle lives in the hearts of all who reverence the sweet, the gentle, the patient, the earnest, the loving spirit of the womanly woman: lives because she ministered to the needs of a great man. she was ever a frail body. several long illnesses kept her to her bed for weeks, but she recovered from these, even in spite of the doctors, who thoroughly impressed both herself and her husband with the thought of her frailty. on april the twenty-first, eighteen hundred sixty-six, she called her carriage, as was her custom, and directed the driver to go through the park. she carried a book in her hands, and smiled a greeting to a friend as the brougham moved away from the little street where they lived. the driver drove slowly--drove for an hour--two. he got down from his box to receive the orders of his mistress, touched his hat as he opened the carriage-door, but no kindly eyes looked into his. she sat back in the corner as if resting; the shapely head a little thrown forward, the book held gently in the delicate hands, but the fingers were cold and stiff--jeannie welsh was dead--and thomas carlyle was alone. * * * * * along the thames, at chelsea, opposite the rows of quiet and well-kept houses of cheyne walk, is the "embankment." a parkway it is of narrow green, with graveled walks, bushes and trees, that here and there grow lush and lusty as if to hide the unsightly river from the good people who live across the street. following this pleasant bit of breathing space, with its walks that wind in and out among the bushes, one comes unexpectedly upon a bronze statue. you need not read the inscription: a glance at that shaggy head, the grave, sober, earnest look, and you exclaim under your breath, "carlyle!" in this statue the artist has caught with rare skill the look of reverie and repose. one can imagine that on a certain night, as the mists and shadows of evening were gathering along the dark river, the gaunt form, wrapped in its accustomed cloak, came stalking down the little street to the park, just as he did thousands of times, and taking his seat in the big chair fell asleep. in the morning the children that came to play along the river found the form in cold, enduring bronze. at the play we have seen the marble transformed by love into beauteous life. how much easier the reverse--here where souls stay only a day! cheyne row is a little, alley-like street, running only a block, with fifteen houses on one side, and twelve on the other. these houses are all brick and built right up to the sidewalk. on the north side they are all in one block, and one at first sees no touch of individuality in any of them. they are old, and solid, and plain--built for revenue only. on closer view i thought one or two had been painted, and on one there was a cornice that set it off from the rest. as i stood on the opposite side and looked at this row of houses, i observed that number five was the dingiest and plainest of them all. for there were dark shutters instead of blinds, and these shutters were closed, all save one rebel that swung and creaked in the breeze. over the doorway, sparrows had made their nests and were fighting and scolding. swallows hovered above the chimney; dust, cobwebs, neglect were all about. and as i looked there came to me the words of ursa thomas: "brief, brawling day, with its noisy phantoms, its paper crowns, tinsel-gilt, is gone; and divine, everlasting night, with her star diadems, with her silences and her verities, is come." here walked thomas and jeannie one fair may morning in eighteen hundred thirty-four. thomas was thirty-nine, tall and swarthy, strong; with set mouth and three wrinkles on his forehead that told of care and dyspepsia. jeannie was younger; her face winsome, just a trifle anxious, with luminous, gentle eyes, suggestive of patience, truth and loyalty. they looked like country folks, did these two. they examined the surroundings, consulted together--sixty pounds rent a year seemed very high! but they took the house, and t. carlyle, son of james carlyle, stone-mason, paid rent for it every month for half a century, lacking three years. i walked across the street and read the inscription on the marble tablet inserted in the front of the house above the lower windows. it informs the stranger that thomas carlyle lived here from eighteen hundred thirty-four to eighteen hundred eighty-one, and that the tablet was erected by the carlyle society of london. i ascended the stone steps and scraped my boots on the well-worn scraper, made long, long ago by a blacksmith who is now dust, and who must have been a very awkward mechanic, for i saw where he had made a misstroke with his hammer, probably as he discussed theology with a caller. then i rang the bell and plied the knocker and waited there on the steps for jeannie welsh to come bid me welcome, just as she did emerson when he, too, used the scraper and plied the knocker and stood where i did then. and my knock was answered--answered by a very sour and peevish woman next door, who thrust her head out of the window, and exclaimed in a shrill voice: "look 'ere, sir, you might as well go rap on the curb-stone, don't you know; there's nobody livin' there, sir, don't you know!" "yes, madam, that is why i knocked!" "beggin' your pardon, sir, if you use your heyes you'll see there's nobody livin' there, don't you know!" "i knocked lest offense be given. how can i get in?" "you might go in through the keyhole, sir, or down the chimney. you seem to be a little daft, sir, don't you know! but if you must get in, perhaps it would be as well to go over to mrs. brown's and brang the key," and she slammed down the window. across the street mrs. brown's sign smiled at me. mrs. brown keeps a little grocery and bakeshop and was very willing to show me the house. she fumbled in a black bag for the keys, all the time telling me of three americans who came last week to see carlyle's house, and "as how" they each gave her a shilling. i took the hint. "only americans care now for mr. carlyle," plaintively added the old lady as she fished out the keys; "soon we will all be forgot." we walked across the street and after several ineffectual attempts the rusty lock was made to turn. i entered. cold, bare and bleak was the sight of those empty rooms. the old lady had a touch of rheumatism, so she waited for me on the doorstep as i climbed the stairs to the third floor. the noise-proof back room where "the french revolution" was writ, twice over, was so dark that i had to grope my way across to the window. the sash stuck and seemed to have a will of its own, like him who so often had raised it. but at last it gave way and i flung wide the shutter and looked down at the little arbor where teufelsdrockh sat so often and wooed wisdom with the weed brought from virginia. then i stood before the fireplace, where he of the eternities had so often sat and watched the flickering embers. here he lived in his loneliness and cursed curses that were prayers, and here for near five decades he read and thought and dreamed and wrote. here the spirits of cromwell and frederick hovered; here that pitiful and pitiable long line of ghostly partakers in the revolution answered to his roll-call. the wind whistled down the chimney gruesomely as my footfalls echoed through the silent chambers, and i thought i heard a sepulchral voice say: "thy future life! thy fate is it, indeed! whilst thou makest that thy chief question, thy life to me and to thyself and to thy god is worthless. what is incredible to thee thou shalt not, at thy soul's peril, pretend to believe. elsewhither for a refuge! away! go to perdition if thou wilt, but not with a lie in thy mouth--by the eternal maker, no!!" i was startled at first, but stood still listening; then i thought i saw a faint blue cloud of mist curling up in the fireplace. watching this smoke and sitting before it in gloomy abstraction was the form of an old man. i swept my hand through the apparition, but still it stayed. my lips moved in spite of myself and i said: "hail! hard-headed man of granite outcrop and heather, of fen and crag, of moor and mountain, and of bleak east wind, hail! eighty-six years didst thou live. one hundred years lacking fourteen didst thou suffer, enjoy, weep, dream, groan, pray and strike thy rugged breast! and yet methinks that in those years there was much quiet peace and sweet content; for constant pain benumbs, and worry destroys, and vain unrest summons the grim messenger of death. but thou didst live and work and love; howbeit, thy touch was not always gentle, nor thy voice low; but on thy lips was no lie, in thy thought no concealment, in thy heart no pollution. but mark! thou didst come out of poverty and obscurity: on thy battered shield there was no crest and thou didst leave all to follow truth. and verily she did lead thee a merry chase! "thou hadst no past, but thou hast a future. thou didst say: 'bury me in westminster, never! where the mob surges, cursed with idle curiosity to see the graves of kings and nobodies? no! take me back to rugged scotland and lay my tired form to rest by the side of an honest man--my father.' "thou didst refuse the knighthood offered thee by royalty, saying, 'i am not the founder of the house of carlyle and i have no sons to be pauperized by a title,' true, thou didst leave no sons after the flesh to mourn thy loss, nor fair daughters to bedeck thy grave with garlands, but thou didst reproduce thyself in thought, and on the minds of men thou didst leave thy impress. and thy ten thousand sons will keep thy memory green so long as men shall work, and toil, and strive, and hope." the wind still howled. i looked out and saw watery clouds scudding athwart the face of the murky sky. the shutters banged, and shut me in the dark. i made haste to find the door, reached the stairway--slid down the banisters to where mrs. brown was waiting for me at the threshold. we locked the door. she went across to her little bakeshop and i stopped a passing policeman to ask the way to westminster. he told me. "did you visit carlyle's 'ouse?" he asked. "yes." "with old mrs. brown?" "yes, she waited for me in the doorway--she had the rheumatism so she could not climb the stairs." "rheumatism? huh!--you couldn't 'ire 'er to go inside. why, don't you know? they say the 'ouse is 'aunted!" john ruskin put roses in their hair, put precious stones on their breasts; see that they are clothed in purple and scarlet, with other delights; that they also learn to read the gilded heraldry of the sky; and upon the earth be taught not only the labors of it but the loveliness. --_deucalion_ [illustration: john ruskin] at windermere, a good friend, told me that i must abandon all hope of seeing mr. ruskin; for i had no special business with him, no letters of introduction, and then the fact that i am an american made it final. americans in england are supposed to pick flowers in private gardens, cut their names on trees, laugh boisterously at trifles, and often to make invidious comparisons. very properly, mr. ruskin does not admire these things. then mr. ruskin is a very busy man. occasionally he issues a printed manifesto to his friends requesting them to give him peace. a copy of one such circular was shown to me. it runs, "mr. j. ruskin is about to begin a work of great importance, and therefore begs that in reference to calls and correspondence you will consider him dead for the next two months." a similar notice is reproduced in "arrows of the chace," and this one thing, i think, illustrates as forcibly as anything in mr. ruskin's work the self-contained characteristics of the man himself. surely if a man is pleased to be considered "dead" occasionally, even to his kinsmen and friends, he should not be expected to receive with open arms an enemy to steal away his time. this is assuming, of course, that all individuals who pick flowers in other folks' gardens, cut their names on trees, and laugh boisterously at trifles, are enemies. i therefore decided that i would simply walk over to brantwood, view it from a distance, tramp over its hills, row across the lake, and at nightfall take a swim in its waters. then i would rest at the inn for a space and go my way. lake coniston is ten miles from grasmere, and even alone the walk is not long. if, however, you are delightfully attended by "king's daughters" with whom you sit and commune now and then on the bankside, the distance will seem to be much less. then there is a pleasant little break in the journey at hawkshead. here one may see the quaint old schoolhouse where wordsworth when a boy dangled his feet from a bench and proved his humanity by carving his initials on the seat. the inn at the head of coniston water appeared very inviting and restful when i saw it that afternoon. built in sections from generation to generation, half-covered with ivy and embowered in climbing roses, it is an institution entirely different from the "grand palace hotel" at oshkosh. in america we have gongs that are fiercely beaten at stated times by gentlemen of color, just as they are supposed to do in their native congo jungles. this din proclaims to the "guests" and to the public at large that it is time to come in and be fed. but this refinement of civilization is not yet in coniston, and the inn is quiet and homelike. you may go to bed when you are tired, get up when you choose, and eat when you are hungry. there were no visitors about when i arrived, and i thought i would have the coffeeroom all to myself at luncheon-time; but presently there came in a pleasant-faced old gentleman in knickerbockers. he bowed to me and then took a place at the table. he said that it was a fine day and i agreed with him, adding that the mountains were very beautiful. he assented, putting in a codicil to the effect that the lake was very pretty. then the waiter came for our orders. "together, i s'pose?" remarked thomas, inquiringly, as he halted at the door and balanced the tray on his finger-tips. "yes, serve lunch for us together," said the ruddy old gentleman as he looked at me and smiled; "to eat alone is bad for the digestion." i nodded assent. "can you tell me how far it is to brantwood?" i asked. "oh, not far--just across the lake." he arose and flung the shutter open so i could see the old, yellow house about a mile across the water, nestling in its wealth of green on the hillside. soon the waiter brought our lunch, and while we discussed the chops and new potatoes we talked ruskiniana. the old gentleman knew a deal more of "stones of venice" and "modern painters" than i; but i told him how thoreau introduced ruskin to america and how concord was the first place in the new world to recognize this star in the east. and upon my saying this, the old gentleman brought his knife-handle down on the table, declaring that thoreau and whitman were the only two men of genius that america had produced. i begged him to make it three and include emerson, which he finally consented to do. by and by the waiter cleared the table preparatory to bringing in the coffee. the old gentleman pushed his chair back, took the napkin from under his double chin, brushed the crumbs from his goodly front, and remarked: "i'm going over to brantwood this afternoon to call on mr. ruskin--just to pay my respects to him, as i always do when i come here. can't you go with me?" i think this was about the most pleasing question i ever had asked me. i was going to request him to "come again" just for the joy of hearing the words, but i pulled my dignity together, straightened up, swallowed my coffee red-hot, pushed my chair back, flourished my napkin, and said, "i shall be very pleased to go." so we went--we two--he in his knickerbockers and i in my checks and outing-shirt. i congratulated myself on looking no worse than he, and as for him, he never seemed to think that our costumes were not exactly what they should be; and after all it matters little how you dress when you call on one of nature's noblemen--they demand no livery. we walked around the northern end of coniston water, along the eastern edge, past tent house, where tennyson once lived (and found it "outrageous quiet"), and a mile farther on we came to brantwood. the road curves in to the back of the house--which, by the way, is the front--and the driveway is lined with great trees that form a complete archway. there is no lodge-keeper, no flowerbeds laid out with square and compass, no trees trimmed to appear like elephants, no cast-iron dogs, nor terra-cotta deer, and, strangest of all, no sign of the lawn-mower. there is nothing, in fact, to give forth a sign that the great apostle of beauty lives in this very old-fashioned spot. big boulders are to be seen here and there where nature left them, tangles of vines running over old stumps, part of the meadow cut close with a scythe, and part growing up as if the owner knew the price of hay. then there are flowerbeds, where grow clusters of poppies and hollyhocks (purple, and scarlet, and white), prosaic gooseberry-bushes, plain yankee pieplant (from which the english make tarts), rue and sweet marjoram, with patches of fennel, sage, thyme and catnip, all lined off with boxwood, making me think of my grandmother's garden at roxbury. on the hillside above the garden we saw the entrance to the cave that mr. ruskin once filled with ice, just to show the world how to keep its head cool at small expense. he even wrote a letter to the papers giving the bright idea to humanity--that the way to utilize caves was to fill them with ice. then he forgot all about the matter. but the following june, when the cook, wishing to make some ice-cream as a glad surprise for the sunday dinner, opened the natural ice-chest, she found only a pool of muddy water, and exclaimed, "botheration!" then they had custard instead of ice-cream. we walked up the steps, and my friend let the brass knocker drop just once, for only americans give a rat-a-tat-tat, and the door was opened by a white-whiskered butler, who took our cards and ushered us into the library. my heart beat a trifle fast as i took inventory of the room; for i never before had called on a man who was believed to have refused the poet-laureateship. a dimly lighted room was this library--walls painted brown, running up to mellow yellow at the ceiling, high bookshelves, with a stepladder, and only five pictures on the walls, and of these three were etchings, and two water-colors of a very simple sort; leather-covered chairs; a long table in the center, on which were strewn sundry magazines and papers, also several photographs; and at one end of the room a big fireplace, where a yew log smoldered. here my inventory was cut short by a cheery voice behind: "ah! now, gentlemen, i am glad to see you." there was no time nor necessity for a formal introduction. the great man took my hand as if he had always known me, as perhaps he thought he had. then he greeted my friend in the same way, stirred up the fire, for it was a north of england summer day, and took a seat by the table. we were all silent for a space--a silence without embarrassment. "you are looking at the etching over the fireplace--it was sent to me by a young lady in america," said mr. ruskin, "and i placed it there to get acquainted with it. i like it more and more. do you know the scene?" i knew the scene and explained somewhat about it. mr. ruskin has the faculty of making his interviewer do most of the talking. he is a rare listener, and leans forward, putting a hand behind his right ear to get each word you say. he was particularly interested in the industrial conditions of america, and i soon found myself "occupying the time," while an occasional word of interrogation from mr. ruskin gave me no chance to stop. i came to hear him, not to defend our "republican experiment," as he was pleased to call the united states of america. yet mr. ruskin was so gentle and respectful in his manner, and so complimentary in his attitude of listener, that my impatience at his want of sympathy for our "experiment" only caused me to feel a little heated. "the fact of women being elected to mayoralties in kansas makes me think of certain african tribes that exalt their women into warriors--you want your women to fight your political battles!" "you evidently hold the same opinion on the subject of equal rights that you expressed some years ago," interposed my companion. "what did i say--really i have forgotten?" "you replied to a correspondent, saying: 'you are certainly right as to my views respecting the female franchise. so far from wishing to give votes to women, i would fain take them away from most men.'" "surely that was a sensible answer. my respect for woman is too great to force on her increased responsibilities. then as for restricting the franchise with men, i am of the firm conviction that no man should be allowed to vote who does not own property, or who can not do considerably more than read and write. the voter makes the laws, and why should the laws regulating the holding of property be made by a man who has no interest in property beyond a covetous desire; or why should he legislate on education when he possesses none! then again, women do not bear arms to protect the state." "but what do you say to mrs. carlock, who answers that inasmuch as men do not bear children, they have no right to vote: going to war possibly being necessary and possibly not, but the perpetuity of the state demanding that some one bear children?" "the lady's argument is ingenious, but lacks force when we consider that the bearing of arms is a matter relating to statecraft, while the baby question is dame nature's own, and is not to be regulated even by the sovereign." then mr. ruskin talked for nearly fifteen minutes on the duty of the state to the individual--talked very deliberately, but with the clearness and force of a man who believes what he says and says what he believes. thus, my friend, by a gentle thrust under the fifth rib of mr. ruskin's logic, caused him to come to the rescue of his previously expressed opinions, and we had the satisfaction of hearing him discourse earnestly and eloquently. maiden ladies usually have an opinion ready on the subject of masculine methods, and, conversely, much of the world's logic on the "woman question" has come from the bachelor brain. mr. ruskin went quite out of his way on several occasions in times past to attack john stuart mill for heresy "in opening up careers for women other than that of wife and mother." when mill did not answer mr. ruskin's newspaper letters, the author of "sesame and lilies" called him a "cretinous wretch" and referred to him as "the man of no imagination." mr. mill may have been a cretinous wretch (i do not exactly understand the phrase), but the preface to "on liberty" is at once the tenderest, highest and most sincere compliment paid to a woman, of which i know. the life of mr. and mrs. john stuart mill shows that perfect mating is possible; yet mr. ruskin has only scorn for the opinions of mr. mill on a subject which mill came as near personally solving in a matrimonial "experiment" as any other public man of modern times, not excepting even robert browning. therefore we might suppose mr. mill entitled to speak on the woman question, and i intimated as much to mr. ruskin. "he might know all about one woman, and if he should regard her as a sample of all womankind, would he not make a great mistake?" i was silenced. in "fors clavigera," letter lix, the author says: "i never wrote a letter in my life which all the world is not welcome to read." from this one might imagine that mr. ruskin never loved--no pressed flowers in books; no passages of poetry double-marked and scored; no bundles of letters faded and yellow, sacred for his own eye, tied with white or dainty blue ribbon; no little nothings hidden away in the bottom of a trunk. and yet mr. ruskin has his ideas on the woman question, and very positive ideas they are too--often sweetly sympathetic and wisely helpful. i see that one of the encyclopedias mentions ruskin as a bachelor, which is giving rather an extended meaning to the word, for although mr. ruskin married, he was not mated. according to collingwood's account, this marriage was a quiet arrangement between parents. anyway, the genius is like the profligate in this: when he marries he generally makes a woman miserable. and misery is reactionary as well as infectious. ruskin is a genius. genius is unique. no satisfactory analysis of it has yet been given. we know a few of its indications--that's all. first among these is ability to concentrate. no seed can sow genius; no soil can grow it: its quality is inborn and defies both cultivation and extermination. to be surpassed is never pleasant; to feel your inferiority is to feel a pang. seldom is there a person great enough to find satisfaction in the success of a friend. the pleasure that excellence gives is oft tainted by resentment; and so the woman who marries a genius is usually unhappy. genius is excess: it is obstructive to little plans. it is difficult to warm yourself at a conflagration; the tempest may blow you away; the sun dazzles; lightning seldom strikes gently; the nile overflows. genius has its times of straying off into the infinite--and then what is the good wife to do for companionship? does she protest, and find fault? it could not be otherwise, for genius is dictatorial without knowing it, obstructive without wishing to be, intolerant unawares, and unsocial because it can not help it. the wife of a genius sometimes takes his fits of abstraction for stupidity, and having the man's interests at heart she endeavors to arouse him from his lethargy by chiding him. occasionally he arouses enough to chide back; and so it has become an axiom that genius is not domestic. a short period of mismated life told the wife of ruskin their mistake, and she told him. but mrs. grundy was at the keyhole, ready to tell the world, and so mr. and mrs. ruskin sought to deceive society by pretending to live together. they kept up this appearance for six sorrowful years, and then the lady simplified the situation by packing her trunks and deliberately leaving her genius to his chimeras; her soul doubtless softened by the knowledge that she was bestowing a benefit on him by going away. the lady afterwards became the happy wife and helpmeet of a great artist. ruskin's father was a prosperous importer of wines. he left his son a fortune equal to a little more than one million dollars. but that vast fortune has gone---principal and interest--gone in bequests, gifts and experiments; and today mr. ruskin has no income save that derived from the sale of his books. talk about "distribution of wealth"! here we have it. the bread-and-butter question has never troubled john ruskin except in his ever-ardent desire that others should be fed. his days have been given to study and writing from his very boyhood; he has made money, but he has had no time to save it. he has expressed himself on every theme that interests mankind, except perhaps "housemaid's knee." he has written more letters to the newspapers than "old subscriber," "fiat justitia," "indignant reader" and "veritas" combined. his opinions have carried much weight and directed attention into necessary lines; but perhaps his success as an inspirer of thought lies in the fact that his sense of humor exists only as a trace, as the chemist might say. men who perceive the ridiculous would never have voiced many of the things which he has said. surely those sioux indians who stretched a hay lariat across the union pacific railroad in order to stop the running of trains had small sense of the ridiculous. but it looks as if they were apostles of ruskin, every one. some one has said that no man can appreciate the beautiful who has not a keen sense of humor. for the beautiful is the harmonious, and the laughable is the absence of fit adjustment. mr. ruskin disproves the maxim. but let no hasty soul imagine that john ruskin's opinions on practical themes are not useful. he brings to bear an energy on every subject he touches (and what subject has he not touched?) that is sure to make the sparks of thought fly. his independent and fearless attitude awakens from slumber a deal of dozing intellect, and out of this strife of opinion comes truth. on account of mr. ruskin's refusing at times to see visitors, reports have gone abroad that his mind was giving way. not so, for although he is seventy-four he is as serenely stubborn as he ever was. his opposition to new inventions in machinery has not relaxed a single pulley's turn. you grant his premises and in his conclusions you will find that his belt never slips, and that his logic never jumps a cog. his life is as regular and exact as the trains on the great western, and his days are more peaceful than ever before. he has regular hours for writing, study, walking, reading, eating, and working out of doors, superintending the cultivation of his hundred acres. he told me that he had not varied a half-hour in two years from a certain time of going to bed or getting up in the morning. although his form is bowed, this regularity of life has borne fruit in the rich russet of his complexion, the mild, clear eye, and the pleasure in living in spite of occasional pain, which you know the man feels. his hair is thick and nearly white; the beard is now worn quite long and gives a patriarchal appearance to the fine face. when we arose to take our leave, mr. ruskin took a white felt hat from the elk-antlers in the hallway and a stout stick from the corner, and offered to show us a nearer way back to the village. we walked down a footpath through the tall grass to the lake, where he called our attention to various varieties of ferns that he had transplanted there. we shook hands with the old gentleman and thanked him for the pleasure he had given us. he was still examining the ferns when we lifted our hats and bade him good-day. he evidently did not hear us, for i heard him mutter: "i verily believe those miserable cook's tourists that were down here yesterday picked some of my ferns." william e. gladstone as the aloe is said to flower only once in a hundred years, so it seems to be but once in a thousand years that nature blossoms into this unrivaled product and produces such a man as we have here. --_gladstone, "lecture on homer_" [illustration: william e. gladstone] american travelers in england are said to accumulate sometimes large and unique assortments of lisps, drawls and other very peculiar things. of the value of these acquirements as regards their use and beauty, i have not room here to speak. but there is one adjunct which england has that we positively need, and that is "boots." it may be that boots is indigenous to england's soil, and that when transplanted he withers and dies; perhaps there is a quality in our atmosphere that kills him. anyway, we have no boots. when trouble, adversity or bewilderment comes to the homesick traveler in an american hotel, to whom can he turn for consolation? alas, the porter is afraid of the "guest," and all guests are afraid of the clerk, and the proprietor is never seen, and the afro-americans in the dining-room are stupid, and the chambermaid does not answer the ring, and at last the weary wanderer hies him to the barroom and soon discovers that the worthy "barkeep" has nothing to recommend him but his diamond-pin. how different, yes, how different, this would all be if boots were only here! at the quaint old city of chester i was met at the "sti-shun" by the boots of that excellent though modest hotel which stands only a block away. boots picked out my baggage without my looking for it, took me across to the inn, and showed me to the daintiest, most homelike little room i had seen for weeks. on the table was a tastefully decorated "jug," evidently just placed there in anticipation of my arrival, and in this jug was a large bunch of gorgeous roses, the morning dew still on them. when boots had brought me hot water for shaving he disappeared and did not come back until, by the use of telepathy (for boots is always psychic), i had sent him a message that he was needed. in the afternoon he went with me to get a draft cashed, then he identified me at the post-office, and introduced me to a dignitary at the cathedral whose courtesy added greatly to my enjoyment of the visit. the next morning after breakfast, when i returned to my room, everything was put to rights and a fresh bouquet of cut flowers was on the mantel. a good breakfast adds much to one's inward peace: i sat down before the open window and looked out at the great oaks dotting the green meadows that stretched away to the north, and listened to the drowsy tinkle of sheep-bells as the sound came floating in on the perfumed breeze. i was thinking how good it was to be here, when the step of boots was heard in the doorway. i turned and saw that mine own familiar friend had lost a little of his calm self-reliance--in fact, he was a bit agitated, but he soon recovered his breath. "mr. gladstone and 'is lady 'ave just arrived, sir--they will be 'ere for an hour before taking the train for lunnon, sir. i told 'is clark there was a party of americans 'ere that were very anxious to meet 'im, and he will receive you in the parlor in fifteen minutes, sir." then it was my turn to be agitated. but boots reassured me by explaining that the grand old man was just the plainest, most unpretentious gentleman one could imagine; that it was not at all necessary that i should change my suit; that i should pronounce it gladstun, not glad-stone, and that it was harden, not ha-war-den. then he stood me up, looked me over, and declared that i was all right. on going downstairs i found that boots had gotten together five americans who happened to be in the hotel. he introduced us to a bright little man who seemed to be the companion or secretary of the prime minister; he, in turn, took us into the parlor where mr. gladstone sat reading the morning paper, and presented us one by one to the great man. we were each greeted with a pleasant word and a firm grasp of the hand, and then the old gentleman turned and with a courtly flourish said, "gentlemen, allow me to present you to mrs. gladstone." mr. gladstone was wise: he remained standing; this was sure to shorten the interview. a clergyman in our party who had an impressive cough and bushy whiskers, acted as spokesman, and said several pleasant things, closing his little speech by informing mr. gladstone that americans held him in great esteem, and that we only regretted that fate had not decreed that he should have been born in the united states. mr. gladstone replied, "fate is often unkind." then he asked if we were going to london. on being told that we were, he spoke for five minutes about the things we should see in the metropolis. his style was not conversational, but after the manner of a man who was much used to speaking in public or to receiving delegations. the sentences were stately, the voice rather loud and declamatory. his closing words were: "yes, gentlemen, the way to see london is from the top of a 'bus--from the top of a 'bus, gentlemen." then there was an almost imperceptible wave of the hand, and we knew that the interview was ended. in a moment we were outside and the door was closed. the five americans who made up our little company had never met before, but now we were as brothers; we adjourned to a side-room to talk it over and tell of the things we intended to say but didn't. we all talked and talked at once, just as people do who have recently preserved an enforced silence. "how ill-fitting was that gray suit!" "yes, the sleeves too long." "did you notice the absence of the forefinger of his left hand--shot off in eighteen hundred forty-five while hunting, they say." "but how strong his voice is!" "he looks like a farmer." "eighty-five years of age! think of it, and how vigorous!" then the preacher spoke and his voice was sorrowful: "oh, but i made a botch of it--was it sarcasm or was it not?" "was what sarcasm?" "when mr. gladstone said that fate was unkind in not having him born in the united states!" and we were all silent. then boots came in, and we put the question to boots, who decided it was not sarcasm. the next day, when we went away, we rewarded boots bountifully. * * * * * william gladstone is england's glory. yet there is no english blood in his veins; his parents were scotch. aside from lord brougham, he is the only scotchman who has ever taken a prominent part in british statecraft. the name as we first find it is gled-stane, "gled" being a hawk--literally, a hawk that lives among the stones. surely the hawk is fully as respectable a bird as the eagle, and a goodly amount of granite in the clay that is used to make a man is no disadvantage. the name fits. there are deep-rooted theories in the minds of many men (and still more women) that bad boys make good men, and that a dash of the pirate, even in a prelate, does not disqualify. but i wish to come to the defense of the sunday-school story-books and show that their very prominent moral is right after all: it pays to be "good." william ewart gladstone was sent to eton when twelve years of age. from the first, his conduct was a model of propriety. he attended every chapel service, and said his prayers in the morning and before going to bed at night; he could repeat the catechism backwards or forwards, and recite more verses of scripture than any other boy in school. he always spoke the truth. he never played "hookey"; nor, as he grew older, would he tell stories of doubtful flavor, or allow others to relate such in his presence. his influence was for good, and cardinal manning has said that there was less wine drunk at oxford during the forties than would have been the case if gladstone had not been there in the thirties. he graduated from christchurch with the highest possible honors the college could bestow, and at twenty-two he seemed like one who had sprung into life full-armed. at that time he had magnificent health, a fine form, vast and varied knowledge, and a command of language so great that he was a master of forensics. his speeches were fully equal to his later splendid efforts. in feature he was handsome: the face bold and masculine; eyes of piercing luster; and hair, which he tossed when in debate, like a lion's mane. he could speak five languages, sing tenor, dance gracefully, and was on more than speaking terms with many of the best and greatest men in england. besides all this he was rich in british gold. now, here is a combination of good things that would send most young men straight to perdition--not so gladstone. he took the best care of his health, systematized his time as a miser might, listened not to the flatterers, and used his money only for good purposes. his intention was to enter the church, but his father said, "not yet," and half-forced him into politics. so, at this early age of twenty-two, he ran for parliament, was elected, and has practically never been out of the shadow of westminster palace during these sixty-odd years. at thirty-three, he was a member of the cabinet. at thirty-six, his absolute honesty compelled him for conscience' sake to resign from the ministry. his opponents then said, "gladstone is an extinct volcano," and they have said this again and again; but somehow the volcano always breaks out in a new place, stronger and brighter than ever. it is difficult to subdue a volcano. when twenty-nine, he married catherine glynne, sister and heir of sir stephen glynne, baronet. the marriage was most fortunate in every way. for over fifty years this most excellent woman has been his comrade, counselor, consolation, friend--his wife. "how can any adversity come to him who hath a wife?" said chaucer. if this splendid woman had died, then his opponents might truthfully have said, "gladstone is an extinct volcano"; but she is still with him, and a short time ago, when he had to undergo an operation for cataract, this woman of eighty was his only nurse. the influence of gladstone has been of untold value to england. his ideals for national action have been high. to the material prosperity of the country he has added millions upon millions; he has made education popular, and schooling easy; his policy in the main has been such as to command the admiration of the good and great. but there are spots on the sun. on reading mr. gladstone's books i find he has vigorously defended certain measures that seem unworthy of his genius. he has palliated human slavery as a "necessary evil"; has maintained the visibility and divine authority of the church; has asserted the mathematical certainty of the historic episcopate, the mystical efficacy of the sacraments; and has vindicated the church of england as the god-appointed guardian of truth. he has fought bitterly any attempt to improve the divorce-laws of england. much has been done in this line, even in spite of his earnest opposition, but we now owe it to mr. gladstone that there is on england's law-books a statute providing that if a wife leaves her husband he can invoke a magistrate, whose duty it will then be to issue a writ and give it to an officer, who will bring her back. more than this, when the officer has returned the woman, the loving husband has the legal right to "reprove" her. just what reprove means the courts have not yet determined; for, in a recent decision, when a costermonger admitted having given his lady "a taste of the cat," the prisoner was discharged on the ground that it was only needed reproof. i would not complain of this law if it worked both ways; but no wife can demand that the state shall return her "man" willy-nilly. and if she administers reproof to her mate, she does it without the sanction of the sovereign. however, in justice to englishmen, it should be stated that while this unique law still stands on the statute-books, it is very seldom that a man in recent years has stooped to invoke it. on all the questions i have named, from slavery to divorce, mr. gladstone has used the "bible argument." but as the years have gone by, his mind has become liberalized, and on many points where he was before zealous he is now silent. in eighteen hundred forty-one, he argued with much skill and ingenuity that jews were not entitled to full rights of citizenship, but in eighteen hundred forty-seven, acknowledging his error, he took the other side. during the war of secession the sympathies of england's chancellor of the exchequer were with the south. speaking at newcastle on october ninth, eighteen hundred sixty-two, he said, "jefferson davis has undoubtedly founded a new nation." but five years passed, and he publicly confessed that he was wrong. here is a man who, if he should err deeply, is yet so great that, like cotton mather, he might not hesitate to stand uncovered on the street-corners and ask the forgiveness of mankind. such men are saved by their enemies. their own good and the good of humanity require that their balance of power shall not be too great. had the north gone down, gladstone might never have seen his mistake. in this instance and in many others, he has not been the leader of progress, but its echo: truth has been forced upon him. his passionate earnestness, his intense volition, his insensibility to moral perspective, his blindness to the sense of proportion, might have led him into dangerous excess and frightful fanatical error, if it were not for the fact that such men create an opposition that is their salvation. to analyze a character so complex as mr. gladstone's requires the grasp of genius. we speak of "the duality of the human mind," but here are half a dozen spirits in one. they rule in turn, and occasionally several of them struggle for the mastery. when the fisk jubilee singers visited england, we find gladstone dropping the affairs of state to hear their music. he invited them to hawarden, where he sang with them. so impressed was he with the negro melodies that he anticipated that idea which has since been materialized: the founding of a national school of music that would seek to perfect in a scientific way these soul-stirring strains. he might have made a poet of no mean order; for his devotion to spiritual and physical beauty has made him a lifelong admirer of homer and dante. those who have met him when the mood was upon him have heard him recite by the hour from the "iliad" in the original. and yet the theology of homer belongs to the realm of natural religion with which mr. gladstone has little patience. a prominent member of the house of commons once said, "the only two things that the prime minister really cares for are religion and finance." the statement comes near truth; for the chief element in mr. gladstone's character is his devotion to religion; and his signal successes have been in the line of economics. he believes in free trade as the gospel of social salvation. he revels in figures; he has price, value, consumption, distribution, import, export, fluctuation, all at his tongue's end, ready to hurl at any one who ventures on a hasty generalization. and it is a significant fact that in his strong appeal for the disestablishment of the irish church, the stress of his argument was put on the point that the irish church was not in the line of the apostolic succession. mr. gladstone is grave, sober, earnest, proud, passionate, and at times romantic to a rare degree. he rebukes, refutes, contradicts, defies, and has a magnificent capacity for indignation. he will roar you like a lion, his eyes will flash, and his clenched fist will shake as he denounces that which he believes to be error. and yet among inferiors he will consult, defer, inquire, and show a humility, a forced suavity, that has given the caricaturist excuse. in his home he is gentle, amiable, always kind, social and hospitable. he loves deeply, and his friends revere him to a point that is but little this side of idolatry. and surely their affection is not misplaced. some day a plutarch without a plutarch's prejudice will arise, and with malice toward none, but with charity for all, he will write the life of the statesman, gladstone. over against this he will write the life of an american statesman. the name he will choose will be that of one born in a log hut in the forest; who was rocked by the foot of a mother whose hands meanwhile were busy at her wheel; who had no schooling, no wise and influential friends; who had few books and little time to read; who knew no formal religion; who never traveled out of his own country; who had no helpmeet, but who walked solitary--alone, a man of sorrows; down whose homely, furrowed face the tears of pity often ran, and yet whose name, strange paradox! stands in many minds as a symbol of mirth. and when the master comes, who has the power to portray with absolute fidelity the greatness of these two men, will it be to the disadvantage of the american? * * * * * the village of hawarden is in flintshire, north wales. it is seven miles from chester. i walked the distance one fine june morning--out across the battlefield where cromwell's army crushed that of charles; and on past old stone walls and stately elms. there had been a shower the night before, but the morning sun came out bright and warm and made the raindrops glisten like beads as they clung to each leaf and flower. larks sang and soared, and great flocks of crows called and cawed as they flew lazily across the sky. it was a time for silent peace, and quiet joy, and serene thankfulness for life and health. i walked leisurely, and in a little over two hours reached hawarden--a cluster of plain stone houses with climbing vines and flowers and gardens, which told of homely thrift and simple tastes. i went straight to the old stone church, which is always open, and rested for half an hour, listening to the organ on which a young girl was practising, instructed by a white-haired old gentleman. the church is dingy and stained inside and out by time. the pews are irregular, some curiously carved, and all stiff and uncomfortable. i walked around and read the inscriptions on the walls, and all the time the young girl played and the old gentleman beat time, and neither noticed my presence. one brass tablet i saw was to a woman "who for long years was a faithful servant at hawarden castle--erected in gratitude by w.e.g." near this was a memorial to w.h. gladstone, son of the premier, who died in eighteen hundred ninety-one. then there were inscriptions to various glynnes and several others whose names appear in english history. i stood at the reading-desk, where the great man has so often read, and marked the spot where william ewart gladstone and catherine glynne knelt when they were married here in july, eighteen hundred thirty-nine. a short distance from the church is the entrance to hawarden park. this fine property was the inheritance of mrs. gladstone; the park itself seems to belong to the public. if mr. gladstone were a plain citizen, people, of course, would not come by hundreds and picnic on his preserve, but serving the state, he and his possessions belong to the people, and this democratic familiarity is rather pleasing than otherwise. so great has been the throng in times past, that an iron fence had to be placed about the ivy-covered ruins of the ancient castle, to protect it from those who threatened to carry it away by the pocketful. a wall has also been put around the present "castle" (more properly, house). this was done some years ago, i was told by the butler, after a torchlight procession of a thousand enthusiastic admirers had come down from liverpool and trampled mrs. gladstone's flowers into "smithereens." the park contains many hundred acres, and is as beautiful as an english park can be, and this is praise superlative. flocks of sheep wander over the soft, green turf, and beneath the spreading trees are sleek cows which seem used to visitors, and with big, open eyes come up to be petted. occasional signs are seen: "please spare the trees." some people suppose that this is an injunction which mr. gladstone himself has never observed. but when in his tree-cutting days, no monarch of the forest was ever felled without its case being fully tried by the entire household. ruskin, once, visiting at hawarden, sat as judge, and after listening to the evidence gave sentence against several trees that were rotten at the core or overshadowing their betters. then the prime minister shouldered his faithful "snickersnee" and went forth as executioner. i looked in vain for stumps, and on inquiry was told that they were all dug out, and the ground leveled so no trace was left of the offender. the "lady of the house" at hawarden is the second daughter of mr. and mrs. gladstone. all accounts agree that she is a most capable and excellent woman. she is her father's "home secretary" and confidante, and in his absence takes full charge of the mail and looks after important business affairs. her husband, the reverend harry drew, is rector of hawarden church. i had the pleasure of meeting mr. drew and found him very cordial and perfectly willing to talk about the great man who is grandfather to his baby. we also talked of america, and i soon surmised that mr. drew's ideas of "the states" were largely derived from a visit to the wild west show. so i put the question to him direct: "did you see buffalo bill?" "oh, yes." "and did mr. gladstone go?" "not only once, but three times, and he cheered as loudly as any boy." the gladstone residence is a great, rambling, stone structure to which additions have been made from one generation to another. the towers and battlements are merely architectural appendiculæ, but the effect of the whole, when viewed from a distance, rising out of its wealth of green and backed by the forest, is very imposing. i entered only the spacious front hallway and one room--the library. bookshelves and books and more books were everywhere; several desks of different designs (one an american roll-top), as if the owner transacted business at one, translated homer at another, and wrote social letters from a third. then there were several large japanese vases, a tiger-skin, beautiful rugs, a few large paintings, and in a rack a full dozen axes and twice as many "sticks." the whole place has an air of easy luxury that speaks of peace and plenty, of quiet and rest, of gentle thoughts and calm desires. as i walked across toward the village, the church-bell slowly pealed the hour; over the distant valley, night hovered; a streak of white mist, trailing like a thin veil, marked the passage of the murmuring brook. i thought of the grand old man over whose domain i was now treading, and my wonder was, not that one should live so long and still be vigorous, but that a man should live in such an idyllic spot, with love and books to keep him company, and yet grow old. j.m.w. turner i believe that these works of turner's are at their first appearing as perfect as those of phidias or leonardo, that is to say, incapable of any improvement conceivable by human mind. --_john ruskin_ [illustration: j.m.w. turner] the beauty of the upper thames with its fairy house-boats and green banks has been sung by poets, but rash is the minstrel who tunes his lyre to sound the praises of this muddy stream in the vicinity of chelsea. as yellow as the tiber and thick as the missouri after a flood, it comes twice a day bearing upon its tossing tide a unique assortment of uncanny sights and sickening smells from the swarming city of men below. chelsea was once a country village six miles from london bridge. now the far-reaching arms of the metropolis have taken it as her own. chelsea may be likened to some rare spinster, grown old with years and good works, and now having a safe home with a rich and powerful benefactress. yet chelsea is not handsome in her old age, and chelsea was not pretty in youth, nor fair to view in middle life; but chelsea has been the foster-mother of several of the rarest and fairest souls who have ever made the earth pilgrimage. and the greatness of genius still rests upon chelsea. as we walk slowly through its winding ways, by the edge of its troubled waters, among dark and crooked turns, through curious courts, by old gateways and piles of steepled stone, where flocks of pigeons wheel, and bells chime, and organs peal, and winds sigh, we know that all has been sanctified by their presence. and their spirits abide with us, and the splendid beauty of their visions is about us. for the stones beneath our feet have been hallowed by their tread, and the walls have borne their shadows; so all mean things are transfigured and over all these plain and narrow streets their glory gleams. and it is the great men and they alone that can render a place sacred. chelsea is now to the lovers of the beautiful a sacred name, a sacred soil; a place of pilgrimage where certain gods of art once lived, and loved, and worked, and died. sir thomas more lived here and had for a frequent guest erasmus. hans sloane began in chelsea the collection of curiosities which has now developed into the british museum. bishop atterbury (who claimed that dryden was a greater poet than shakespeare), dean swift and doctor arbuthnot, all lived in church street; richard steele just around the corner and leigh hunt in cheyne row; but it was from another name that the little street was to be immortalized. if france constantly has forty immortals in the flesh, surely it is a modest claim to say that chelsea has three for all time: thomas carlyle, george eliot and joseph mallord william turner. turner's father was a barber. his youth was passed in poverty and his advantages for education were very slight. and all this in the crowded city of london, where merit may knock long and still not be heard, and in a country where wealth and title count for much. when a boy, barefoot and ragged, he would wander away alone on the banks of the river and dream dreams about wonderful palaces and beautiful scenes; and then he would trace with a stick in the sands, endeavoring, with mud, to make plain to the eye the things that his soul saw. his mother was quite sure that no good could come from this vagabondish nature, and she did not spare the rod, for she feared that the desire to scrawl and daub would spoil the child. but he was a stubborn lad, with a pug-nose and big, dreamy, wondering eyes, and a heavy jaw; and when parents see that they have such a son, they had better hang up the rod behind the kitchen-door and lay aside force and cease scolding. for love is better than a cat-o'-nine-tails, and sympathy saves more souls than threats. the elder turner considered that the proper use of a brush was to lather chins. but the boy thought differently, and once surreptitiously took one of his father's brushes to paint a picture; the brush on being returned to its cup was used the next day upon a worthy haberdasher, whose cheeks were shortly colored a vermilion that matched his nose. this lost the barber a customer and secured the boy a thrashing. young turner did not always wash his father's shop-windows well, nor sweep off the sidewalk properly. like all boys he would rather work for some one else than for "his folks." he used to run errands for an engraver by the name of smith--john raphael smith. once, when smith sent the barber's boy with a letter to a certain art-gallery with orders to "get the answer and hurry back, mind you!" the boy forgot to get the answer and to hurry back. then another boy was dispatched after the first, and boy number two found boy number one sitting, with staring eyes and open mouth, in the art-gallery before a painting of claude lorraine's. when boy number one was at last forcibly dragged away, and reached the shop of his master, he got his ears well cuffed for his forgetfulness. but from that day forth he was not the same being that he had been before his eyes fell on that claude lorraine. he was transformed, as much so as was lazarus after he was called from beyond the portals of death and had come back to earth, bearing in his heart the secrets of the grave. from that time turner thought of claude lorraine during the day and dreamed of him at night, and he stole his way into every exhibition where a claude was to be seen. and now i wish that claude lorraine was the subject of this sketch, as well as turner, for his life is a picture full of sweetest poetry, framed in a world of dullest prose. the eyes of this boy, whom they had thought dreamy, dull and listless, now shone with a different light. he thirsted to achieve, to do, to become--yes, to become a greater painter than claude lorraine. his employer saw the change and smiled at it, but he allowed the lad to put in backgrounds and add the skies to cheap prints, just because the youngster teased to do it. then one day a certain patron of the shop came and looked over the shoulder of the turner boy, and he said, "he has skill--perhaps talent." and i think the recording angel should give this man a separate page in the book of remembrance and write his name in illuminated colors, for he gave young turner access to his own collection and to his library, and he never cuffed him nor kicked him nor called him dunce--whereat the boy was much surprised. but he encouraged the youth to sketch a picture in water-colors and then he bought the picture and paid him ten shillings for it; and the name of this man was doctor munro. the next year, when young turner was fourteen, doctor munro had him admitted to the royal academy as a student, and in seventeen hundred ninety he exhibited a water-color of the archbishop's palace at lambeth. the picture took no prize, and doubtless was not worthy of one, but from now on joseph m.w. turner was an artist, and other hands had to sweep the barber-shop. but he sold few pictures--they were not popular. other artists scorned him, possibly intuitively fearing him, for mediocrity always fears when the ghost of genius does not down at its bidding. then turner was accounted unsociable; besides, he was ragged, uncouth, independent, and did not conform to the ways of society; so the select circle cast him out--more properly speaking, did not let him in. still he worked on, and exhibited at every academy exhibition, yet he was often hungry, and the london fog crept cold and damp through his threadbare clothes. but he toiled on, for claude lorraine was ever before him. in eighteen hundred two, when twenty-seven years of age, he visited france and made a tour through switzerland, tramping over many long miles with his painting-kit on his back, and he brought back rich treasures in way of sketches and quickened imagination. in the years following he took many such trips, and came to know venice, rome, florence and paris as perfectly as his own london. when thirty-three years of age he was still worshiping at the shrine of claude lorraine. his pictures painted at this time are evidence of his ideal, and his book, "liber studiorum," issued in eighteen hundred eight, is modeled after the "liber veritatis." but the book surpasses claude's, and turner knew it, and this may have led him to burst his shackles and cast loose from his idol. for, in eighteen hundred fifteen, we find him working according to his own ideas, showing an originality and audacity in conception and execution that made him the butt of the critics, and caused consternation to rage through the studios of competitors. gradually, it dawned upon a few scattered collectors that things so strongly condemned must have merit, for why should the pack bay so loudly if there were no quarry! so to have a turner was at least something for your friends to discuss. then carriages began to stop before the dingy building at forty-seven queen anne street, and broadcloth and satin mounted the creaking stairs to the studio. it happened about this time that turner's prices began to increase. like the sibyl of old, if a customer said, "i do not want it," the painter put an extra ten pounds on the price. for "dido building carthage," turner's original price was five hundred pounds. people came to see the picture and they said, "the price is too high." next day turner's price for the "carthage" was one thousand pounds. finally, sir robert peel offered the painter five thousand pounds for the picture, but turner said he had decided to keep it for himself, and he did. in the forepart of his career he sold few pictures--for the simple reason that no one wanted them. and he sold few pictures during the latter years of his life, for the reason that his prices were so high that none but the very rich could buy. first, the public scorned turner. next, turner scorned the public. in the beginning it would not buy his pictures, and later it could not. a frivolous public and a shallow press, from his first exhibition, when fifteen years of age, to his last, when seventy, made sport of his originalities. but for merit there is a recompense in sneers, and a benefit in sarcasms, and a compensation in hate; for when these things get too pronounced a champion appears. and so it was with turner. next to having a boswell write one's life, what is better than a ruskin to uphold one's cause! success came slowly; his wants were few, but his ambition never slackened, and finally the dreams of his youth became the realities of his manhood. at twenty, turner loved a beautiful girl--they became engaged. he went away on a tramp sketching-tour and wrote his ladylove just one short letter each month. he believed that "absence only makes the heart grow fonder," not knowing that this statement is only the vagary of a poet. when he returned the lady was betrothed to another. he gave the pair his blessing, and remained a bachelor--a very confirmed bachelor. perhaps, however, the reason his fiancee proved untrue was not through lack of the epistles he wrote her, but on account of them. in the british museum i examined several letters written by turner. they appeared very much like copy for a josh billings almanac. such originality in spelling, punctuation and use of capitals! it was admirable in its uniqueness. turner did not think in words--he could only think in paint. but the young lady did not know this, and when a letter came from her homely little lover she was shocked, then she laughed, then she showed these letters to a nice young man who was clerk to a fishmonger and he laughed, then they both laughed. then this nice young man and this beautiful young lady became engaged, and they were married at saint andrew's on a lovely may morning. and they lived happily ever afterward. turner was small, and in appearance plain. yet he was big enough to paint a big picture, and he was not so homely as to frighten away all beautiful women. but philip gilbert hamerton tells us, "fortunate in many things, turner was lamentably unfortunate in this: that throughout his whole life he never came under the ennobling and refining influence of a good woman." like plato, michelangelo, sir isaac newton and his own claude lorraine, he was wedded to his art. but at sixty-five his genius suddenly burst forth afresh, and his work, mr. ruskin says, at that time exceeded in daring brilliancy and in the rich flowering of imagination, anything that he had previously done. mr. ruskin could give no reason, but rumor says, "a woman." the one weakness of our hero, that hung to him for life, was the idea that he could write poetry. the tragedian always thinks he can succeed in comedy; the comedian spends hours in his garret rehearsing tragedy; most preachers have an idea that they could have made a quick fortune in business, and many businessmen are very sure that if they had taken to the pulpit there would now be fewer empty pews. so the greatest landscape-painter of recent times imagined himself a poet. hamerton says that for remarkable specimens of grammar, spelling and construction turner's verse would serve well to be given to little boys to correct. one spot in turner's life over which i like to linger is his friendship with sir walter scott. they collaborated in the production of "provincial antiquities," and spent many happy hours together tramping over scottish moors and mountains. sir walter lived out his days in happy ignorance concerning the art of painting, and although he liked the society of turner, he confessed that it was quite beyond his ken why people bought his pictures. "and as for your books," said turner, "the covers of some are certainly very pretty." yet these men took a satisfaction in each other's society, such as brothers might enjoy, but without either man appreciating the greatness of the other. turner's temperament was audacious, self-centered, self-reliant, eager for success and fame, yet at the same time scorning public opinion--a paradox often found in the artistic mind of the first class; silent always--with a bitter silence, disdaining to tell his meaning when the critics could not perceive it. he was above all things always the artist, never the realist. the realist pictures the things he sees; the artist expresses that which he feels. children, and all simple folk who use pen, pencil or brush, describe the things they behold. as intellect develops and goes more in partnership with hand, imagination soars, and things are outlined that no man can see except he be able to perceive the invisible. to appreciate a work of art you must feel as the artist felt. now, it is very plain that the vast majority of people are not capable of this high sense of sublimity which the creative artist feels; and therefore they do not understand, and not understanding, they wax merry, or cynical, or sarcastic, or wrathful, or envious; or they pass by unmoved. and i maintain that those who pass by unmoved are more righteous than they who scoff. if i should attempt to explain to my little girl the awe i feel when i contemplate the miracle of maternity, she would probably change the subject by prattling to me about a kitten she saw lapping milk from a blue saucer. if i should attempt to explain to some men what i feel when i contemplate the miracle of maternity, they would smile and turn it all into an unspeakable jest. is not the child nearer to god than the man? we thus see why to many browning is only a joke, whitman an eccentric, dante insane and turner a pretender. these have all sought to express things which the many can not feel, and consequently they have been, and are, the butt of jokes and jibes innumerable. "except ye become as little children," etc.--and yet the scoffers are often people of worth. nothing so shows the limitation of humanity as this: genius often does not appreciate genius. the inspired, strangely enough, are like the fools, they do not recognize inspiration. an englishman called on voltaire and found him in bed reading shakespeare. "what are you reading?" asked the visitor. "your shakespeare!" said the philosopher; and as he answered he flung the book across the room. "he's not my shakespeare," said the englishman. greene, rymer, dryden, warburton and doctor johnson used collectively or individually the following expressions in describing the work of the author of "hamlet": conceit, overreach, word-play, extravagance, overdone, absurdity, obscurity, puerility, bombast, idiocy, untruth, improbability, drivel. byron wrote from florence to murray: "i know nothing of painting, and i abhor and spit upon all saints and so-called spiritual subjects that i see portrayed in these churches." but the past is so crowded with vituperation that it is difficult to select--besides that, we do not wish to--but let us take a sample of arrogance from yesterday to prove our point, and then drop the theme for something pleasanter. pew and pulpit have fallen over each other for the privilege of hitting darwin; a bishop warns his congregation that emerson is "dangerous"; spurgeon calls shelley a sensualist; doctor buckley speaks of susan b. anthony as the leader of "the short-haired"; talmage cracks jokes about evolution, referring feelingly to "monkey ancestry"; and a prominent divine of england writes the world's congress of religions down as "pious waxworks." these things being true, and all the sentiments quoted coming from "good" but blindly zealous men, is it a wonder that the artist is not understood? a brilliant picture, called "cologne--evening," attracted much attention at the academy exhibition of eighteen hundred twenty-six. one day the people who so often collected around turner's work were shocked to see that the beautiful canvas had lost its brilliancy, and evidently had been tampered with by some miscreant. a friend ran to inform turner of the bad news. "don't say anything. i only smirched it with lampblack. it was spoiling the effect of laurence's picture that hung next to it. the black will all wash off after the exhibition." and his tender treatment of his aged father shows the gentle side of his nature. the old barber, whose trembling hand could no longer hold a razor, wished to remain under his son's roof in guise of a servant; but the son said, "no; we fought the world together, and now that it seeks to do me honor, you shall share all the benefits." and turner never smiled when the little, wizened, old man would whisper to some visitor, "yes, yes; joseph is the greatest artist in england, and i am his father." turner had a way of sending ten-pound notes in blank envelopes to artists in distress, and he did this so frequently that the news got out finally, but never through turner's telling, and then he had to adopt other methods of doing good by stealth. i do not contend that turner's character was immaculate, but still it is very probable that worldlings do not appreciate what a small part of this great genius touched the mire. to prove the sordidness of the man, one critic tells, with visage awfully solemn, how turner once gave an engraving to a friend and then, after a year, sent demanding it back. but to a person with a groat's worth of wit the matter is plain: the dreamy, abstracted artist, who bumped into his next-door neighbors on the street and never knew them, forgot he had given the picture and believed he had only loaned it. this is made still more apparent by the fact that, when he sent for the engraving in question, he administered a rebuke to the man for keeping it so long. the poor dullard who received the note flew into a rage--returned the picture--sent his compliments and begged the great artist to "take your picture and go to the devil." then certain scribblers, who through mental disease had lost the capacity for mirth, dipped their pen in aqua fortis and wrote of the "innate meanness," the "malice prepense" and the "old adam" which dwelt in the heart of turner. no one laughed except a few irishmen, and an american or two, who chanced to hear of the story. of turner's many pictures i will mention in detail but two, both of which are to be seen on the walls of the national gallery. first, "the old temeraire." this warship had been sold out of service and was being towed away to be broken up. the scene was photographed on turner's brain, and he immortalized it on canvas. we can not do better than borrow the words of mr. ruskin: "of all pictures not visibly involving human pain, this is the most pathetic ever painted. "the utmost pensiveness which can ordinarily be given to a landscape depends on adjuncts of ruin, but no ruin was ever so affecting as the gliding of this ship to her grave. this particular ship, crowned in the trafalgar hour of trial with chief victory--surely, if ever anything without a soul deserved honor or affection we owe them here. surely, some sacred care might have been left in our thoughts for her; some quiet space amid the lapse of english waters! nay, not so. we have stern keepers to trust her glory to--the fire and the worm. nevermore shall sunset lay golden robe upon her, nor starlight tremble on the waves that part at her gliding. perhaps where the low gate opens to some cottage garden, the tired traveler may ask, idly, why the moss grows so green on the rugged wood; and even the sailor's child may not know that the night dew lies deep in the warrents of the old temeraire." "the burial of sir david wilkie at sea" has brought tears to many eyes. yet there is no burial. the ship is far away in the gloom of the offing; you can not distinguish a single figure on her decks; but you behold her great sails standing out against the leaden blackness of the night and you feel that out there a certain scene is being enacted. and if you listen closely you can hear the solemn voice of the captain as he reads the burial service. then there is a pause--a swift, sliding sound--a splash, and all is over. turner left to the british nation by his will nineteen thousand pencil and water-color sketches and one hundred large canvases. these pictures are now to be seen in the national gallery in rooms set apart and sacred to turner's work. for fear it may be thought that the number of sketches mentioned above is a misprint, let us say that if he had produced one picture a day for fifty years it would not equal the number of pieces bestowed by his will on the nation. this of course takes no account of the pictures sold during his lifetime, and, as he left a fortune of one hundred forty-four thousand pounds (seven hundred twenty thousand dollars), we may infer that not all his pictures were given away. at chelsea i stood in the little room where he breathed his last, that bleak day in eighteen-hundred fifty-one. the unlettered but motherly old woman who took care of him in those last days never guessed his greatness; none in the house or the neighborhood knew. to them he was only mr. booth, an eccentric old man of moderate means, who liked to muse, read, and play with children. he had no callers, no friends; he went to the city every day and came back at night. he talked but little, he was absent-minded, he smoked and thought and smiled and muttered to himself. he never went to church; but once one of the lodgers asked him what he thought of god. "god, god--what do i know of god, what does any one! he is our life--he is the all, but we need not fear him--all we can do is to speak the truth and do our work. tomorrow we go--where? i know not, but i am not afraid." of art, to these strangers he would never speak. once they urged him to go with them to an exhibition at kensington, but he smiled feebly as he lit his pipe and said, "an art exhibition? no, no; a man can show on a canvas so little of what he feels, it is not worth the while." at last he died--passed peacefully away--and his attorney came and took charge of his remains. many are the hard words that have been flung off by heedless tongues about turner's taking an assumed name and living in obscurity, but "what you call fault i call accent." surely, if a great man and world-famous desires to escape the flatterers and the silken mesh of so-called society and live the life of simplicity, he has a right to do so. again, turner was a very rich man in his old age; he did much for struggling artists and assisted aspiring merit in many ways. so it came about that his mail was burdened with begging letters, and his life made miserable by appeals from impecunious persons, good and bad, and from churches, societies and associations without number. he decided to flee them all; and he did. the "carthage" already mentioned is one of his finest works, and he esteemed it so highly that he requested that when death came, his body should be buried, wrapped in its magnificent folds. but the wish was disregarded. his remains rest in the crypt of saint paul's, beside the dust of reynolds. his statue, in marble, adorns a niche in the great cathedral, and his name is secure high on the roll of honor. and if for no other reason, the name and fame of chelsea should be deathless as the home of turner. jonathan swift they are but few and meanspirited that live in peace with all men. --_tale of a tub_ [illustration: jonathan swift] birrell, the great english essayist, remarks that, "of writing books about dean swift there is no end." the reason is plain: of no other prominent writer who has lived during the past two hundred years do we know so much. his life lies open to us in many books. boswell did not write his biography, but johnson did. then followed whole schools of little fishes, some of whom wrote like whales. but among the works of genuine worth and merit, with swift for a subject, we have sir walter scott's nineteen volumes, and lives by craik, mitford, forster, collins and leslie stephen. the positive elements in swift's character make him a most interesting subject to men and women who are yet on earth, for he was essentially of the earth, earthy. and until we are shown that the earth is wholly bad, we shall find much to amuse, much to instruct, much to admire--aye, much to pity--in the life of jonathan swift. his father married at twenty. his income matched his years--it was just twenty pounds per annum. his wife was a young girl, bright, animated, intelligent. in a few short months this girl carried in her arms a baby. this baby was wrapped in a tattered shawl and cried piteously from hunger, for the mother had not enough to eat. she was cold, and sick, and in disgrace. her husband, too, was ill, and sorely in debt. it was midwinter. when spring came, and the flowers blossomed, and the birds mated, and warm breezes came whispering softly from the south, and all the earth was glad, the husband of this child-wife was in his grave, and she was alone. alone? no; she carried in her tired arms the hungry babe, and beneath her heart she felt the faint flutter of another life. but to be in trouble and in ireland is not so bad after all, for the irish people have great and tender hearts; and even if they have not much to bestow in a material way, they can give sympathy, and they do. so the girl was cared for by kind kindred, and on november thirtieth, sixteen hundred sixty-seven, at number seven, hoey's court, dublin, the second baby was born. only a little way from hoey's court is saint patrick's cathedral. on that november day, as the tones from the clanging chimes fell on the weary senses of the young mother, there in her darkened room, little did she think that the puny bantling she held to her breast would yet be the dean of the great church whose bells she heard; and how could she anticipate a whisper coming to her from the far-off future: "of writing books about your babe there is no end!" * * * * * the man-child was given to an old woman to care for, and he had the ability, even then, it seems, to win affection. the foster-mother loved him and she stole him away, carrying him off to england. charity ministered to his needs; charity gave him his education. when swift was twenty-one years old he went to see his mother. her means were scanty to the point of hardship, but so buoyant was her mind that she used to declare that she was both rich and happy--and being happy she was certainly rich. she was a rare woman. her spirit was independent, her mind cultivated, her manner gentle and refined, and she was endowed with a keen sense of humor. from her, the son derived those qualities which have made him famous. no man is greater than his mother; but the sons of brave women do not always make brave men. in one quality swift was lamentably inferior to his mother--he did not have her capacity for happiness. he had wit; she had humor. we have seen how swift's father sickened and died. the world was too severe for him, its buffets too abrupt, its burden too heavy, and he gave up the fight before the battle had really begun. this lack of courage and extreme sensitiveness are seen in the son. but so peculiar, complex and wonderful is this web of life, that our very blunders, weaknesses and mistakes are woven in and make the fabric stronger. if swift had possessed only his mother's merits, without his father's faults, he would never have shaken the world with laughter, and we should never have heard of him. in her lowliness and simplicity the mother of swift was content. she did her work in her own little way. she smiled at folly, and each day she thanked heaven that her lot was no worse. not so her son. he brooded in sullen silence; he cursed fate for making him a dependent, and even in his youth he scorned those who benefited him. this was a very human proceeding. many hate, but few have a fine capacity for scorn. their hate is so vehement that when hurled it falls short. swift's scorn was a beautifully winged arrow, with a poisoned tip. some who were struck did not at the time know it. his misanthropy defeated his purpose, thwarted his ambition, ruined his aims, and--made his name illustrious. swift wished for churchly preferment, but he had not the patience to wait. he imagined that others were standing in his way, and of course they were; for under the calm exterior of things ecclesiastic, there is often a strife, a jealousy and a competition more rabid than in commerce. to succeed in winning a bishopric requires a sagacity as keen as that required to become a senator of massachusetts or the governor of new york. the man bides his time, makes himself popular, secures advocates, lubricates the way, pulls the wires, and slides noiselessly into place. swift lacked diplomacy. when matters did not seem to progress he grew wrathful, seized his pen and stabbed with it. but as he wrote, the ludicrousness of the whole situation came over him and, instead of cursing plain curses, he held his adversary up to ridicule! and this ridicule is so active, the scorn so mixed with wit, the shafts so finely feathered with truth, that it is the admiration of mankind. vitriol mixed with ink is volatile. then what? we just run swift through a coarse sieve to take out the lumps of seventeenth century refuse, and then we give him to children to make them laugh. surely no better use can be made of pessimists. verily, the author of gulliver wrote for one purpose, and we use his work for another. he wished for office, he got contempt; he tried to subdue his enemies, they subdued him; he worked for the present, and he won immortality. said heinrich heine, prone on his bed in paris: "the wittiest sarcasms of mortals are only an attempt at jesting when compared with those of the great author of the universe--the aristophanes of heaven!" wise men over and over have wasted good ink and paper in bewailing swift's malice and coarseness. but without these very elements which the wise men bemoan, swift would be for us a cipher. yet love is life and hate is death, so how can spite benefit? the answer is that, in certain forms of germination, frost is as necessary as sunshine: so some men have qualities that lie dormant until the coldness of hate bursts the coarse husk of indifference. but while hate may animate, only love inspires. swift might have stood at the head of the church of england; but even so, he would be only a unit in a long list of names, and as it is, there is only one swift. mr. talmage averred that not ten men in america knew the name of the archbishop of canterbury until his son wrote a certain book entitled "dodo." in putting out this volume, young benson not only gave us the strongest possible argument favoring the celibacy of the clergy, but at the same time, if talmage's statement is correct, he made known his father's name. in all swift's work, save "the journal to stella," the animating motive seems to have been to confound his enemies; and according to the well-known line in that hymn sung wherever the union jack flies, we must believe this to be a perfectly justifiable ambition. but occasionally on his pages we find gentle words of wisdom that were meant evidently for love's eyes alone. there is much that is pure boyish frolic, and again and again there are clever strokes directed at folly. he has shot certain superstitions through with doubt, and in his manner of dealing with error he has proved to us a thing it were well not to forget: that pleasantry is more efficacious than vehemence. let me name one incident by way of proof--the well-known one of partridge, the almanac-maker. this worthy cobbler was an astrologer of no mean repute. he foretold events with much discretion. the ignorant bought his almanacs, and many believed in them as a bible--in fact, astrology was enjoying a "boom." swift came to london and found that partridge's predictions were the theme at the coffeehouses. he saw men argue and wax wroth, grow red in the face as they talked loud and long about nothing--just nothing. the whole thing struck swift as being very funny; and he wrote an announcement of his intention to publish a rival almanac. he explained that he, too, was an astrologer, but an honest one, while partridge was an impostor and a cheat; in fact, partridge foretold only things which every one knew would come true. as for himself, he could discern the future with absolute certainty, and to prove to the world his power he would now make a prophecy. in substance, it was as follows: "my first prediction is but a trifle; it relates to partridge, the almanac-maker. i have consulted the star of his nativity, and find that he will die on the twenty-ninth day of march, next." this was signed, "isaac bickerstaff," and duly issued in pamphlet form. it had such an air of sincerity that both the believers and the scoffers read it with interest. the thirtieth of march came, and another pamphlet from "isaac bickerstaff" appeared, announcing the fulfilment of the prophecy. it related how toward the end of march partridge began to languish; how he grew ill and at last took to his bed, and, his conscience then smiting him, he confessed to the world that he was a fraud and a rogue, that all his prophecies were impositions; he then passed away. partridge was wild with rage, and immediately replied in a manifesto declaring that he was alive and well, and moreover was alive on march twenty-ninth. to this "bickerstaff" replied in a pamphlet more seriously humorous than ever, reaffirming that partridge was dead, and closing with the statement that, "if an uninformed carcass still walks about calling itself partridge, i do not in any way consider myself responsible for that." the joke set all london on a grin. wherever partridge went he was met with smiles and jeers, and astrology became only a jest to a vast number of people who had formerly believed in it seriously. when benjamin franklin started his "poor richard's almanac," twenty-five years later, in the first issue he prophesied the death of one dart who set the pace at that time as almanac-maker in america. the man was to expire on the afternoon of october seventeenth, seventeen hundred thirty-eight, at three twenty-nine o'clock. dart, being somewhat of a joker himself, came out with an announcement that he, too, had consulted the oracle, and found he would live until october twenty-sixth, and possibly longer. on october eighteenth, franklin announced dart's death, and explained that it occurred promptly on time, all as prophesied. yet dart lived to publish many almanacs; but poor richard got his advertisement, and many staid, broad-brimmed philadelphians smiled who had never smiled before--not only smiled but subscribed. benjamin franklin was a great and good man, as any man must be who fathers another's jokes, introducing these orphaned children to the world as his own. perhaps no one who has written of swift knew him so well as delany. and this writer, who seems to have possessed a judicial quality far beyond most men, has told us that swift was moral in conduct to the point of asceticism. his deportment was grave and dignified, and his duties as a priest were always performed with exemplary diligence. he visited the sick, regularly administered the sacraments, and was never known to absent himself from morning prayers. when harley was lord treasurer, swift seems to have been on the topmost crest of the wave of popularity. invitations from nobility flowed in upon him, beautiful women deigned to go in search of his society, royalty recognized him. and yet all this time he was only a country priest with a liking for literature. collins tells us that the reason for his popularity is plain: "swift was one of the kings of the earth. like pope innocent the third, like chatham, he was one to whom the world involuntarily pays tribute." his will was a will of adamant; his intellect so keen that it impressed every one who approached him; his temper singularly stern, dauntless and haughty. but his wit was never filled with gaiety: he was never known to laugh. amid the wildest uproar that his sallies caused, he would sit with face austere--unmoved. personally, swift was a gentleman. when he was scurrilous, abusive, ribald, malicious, it was anonymously. is this to his credit? i should not say so, but if a man is indecent and he hides behind a "nom de plume," it is at least presumptive proof that he is not dead to shame. leslie stephen tells us that swift was a churchman to the backbone. no man who is a "churchman to the backbone" is ever very pious: the spirit maketh alive, but the letter killeth. one looks in vain for traces of spirituality in the dean. his sermons are models of churchly commonplace and full of the stock phrases of a formal religion. he never bursts into flame. yet he most thoroughly and sincerely believed in religion. "i believe in religion, it keeps the masses in check. and then i uphold christianity because if it is abolished the stability of the church might be endangered," he said. philip asked the eunuch a needless question when he inquired, "understandest thou what thou readest?" no one so poorly sexed as swift can comprehend spiritual truth: spirituality and sexuality are elements that are never separated. swift was as incapable of spirituality as he was of the "grand passion." the dean had affection; he was a warm friend; he was capable even of a degree of love, but his sexual and spiritual nature was so cold and calculating that he did not hesitate to sacrifice love to churchly ambition. he argued that the celibacy of the catholic clergy is a wise expediency. the bachelor physician and the unmarried priest have an influence among gentle womankind, young or old, married or single, that a benedict can never hope for. why this is so might be difficult to explain, but discerning men know the fact. in truth, when a priest marries he should at once take a new charge, for if he remains with his old flock a goodly number of his "lady parishioners," in ages varying from seventeen to seventy, will with fierce indignation rend his reputation. swift was as wise as a serpent, but not always as harmless as a dove. he was making every effort to secure his miter and crosier: he had many women friends in london and elsewhere who had influence. rather than run the risk of losing this influence he never acknowledged stella as his wife. choosing fame rather than love, he withered at the heart, then died at the top. the life of every man is a seamless garment--its woof his thoughts, its warp his deeds. when for him the roaring loom of time stops and the thread is broken, foolish people sometimes point to certain spots in the robe and say, "oh, why did he not leave that out!" not knowing that every action of man is a sequence from off fate's spindle. let us accept the work of genius as we find it; not bemoaning because it is not better, but giving thanks because it is so good. * * * * * well-fed, rollicking priest is father o'toole of dublin, with a big, round face, a double chin, and a brogue that you can cut with a knife. my letter of introduction from monseigneur satolli caused him at once to bring in a large, suspicious, black bottle and two glasses. then we talked--talked of ireland's wrongs and woman's rights, and of all the irishmen in america whom i was supposed to know. we spoke of the illustrious irishmen who had passed on, and i mentioned a name that caused the holy father to spring from his chair in indignation. "shwift is it! shwift! no, me lad, don't go near him! he was the divil's own, the very worsht that ever followed the swish of a petticoat. no, no; if ye go to his grave it'll bring ye bad luck for a year. it's tom moore ye want--tom was the bye. arrah! now, and it's meself phat'll go wid ye." and so the reverend father put on a long, black coat and his saint patrick's day hat, and we started. we were met at the gate by a delegation of "shpalpeens" that had located me on the inside of the house and were lying in wait. all american travelers in ireland are supposed to be millionaires, and this may possibly explain the lavish attention that is often tendered them. at any rate, various members of the delegation wished "long life to the iligant 'merican gintleman," and hinted in terms unmistakable that pence would be acceptable. the holy father applied his cane vigorously to the ragged rears of the more presumptuous, and bade them begone, but still they followed and pressed close about. "here, i'll show you how to get rid of the dirty gang," said his holiness. "have ye a penny, i don't know?" i produced a handful of small change, which the father immediately took and tossed into the street. instantly there was a heterogeneous mass of young hibernians piled up in the dirt in a grand struggle for spoils. it reminded me of football incidents i had seen at fair harvard. in the meantime, we escaped down a convenient alley and crossed the river liffey to old dublin; inside the walls of the old city, through crooked lanes and winding streets that here and there showed signs of departed gentility, where now was only squalor, want and vice, until we came to number twelve angier street, a quaint, three-story brick building now used as a "public." in the wall above the door is a marble slab with this inscription: "here was born thomas moore, on the twenty-eighth day of may, seventeen hundred seventy-eight." above this in a niche is a bust of the poet. tom's father was a worthy greengrocer who, according to the author of "lalla rookh," always gave good measure and full count. it was ever a cause of regret to the elder moore that his son did not show sufficient capacity to be trusted safely with the business. the upper rooms of the house were shown to us by an obliging landlady. father o'toole had been here before, and led the way to a snug little chamber and explained that in this room the future poet of ireland was found under one of his father's cabbage-leaves. we descended to the neat little barroom with its sanded floor and polished glassware and shining brass. the holy father ordered 'arf-and-'arf at my expense and recited one of moore's ballads. the landlady then gave us byron's "here's a health to thee, tom moore." a neighbor came in. then we had more ballads, more 'arf-and-'arf, a selection from "lalla rookh," and various tales of the poet's early life, which possibly would be hard to verify. and as the tumult raged, the smoke of battle gave me opportunity to slip away. i crossed the street, turned down one block, and entered saint patrick's cathedral. great, roomy, gloomy, solemn temple, where the rumble of city traffic is deadened to a faint hum: "without, the world's unceasing noises rise, turmoil, disquietude and busy fears; within, there are the sounds of other years, thoughts full of prayer and solemn harmonies which imitate on earth the peaceful skies." other worshipers were there. standing beside a great stone pillar i could make them out kneeling on the tiled floor. gradually, my eyes became accustomed to the subdued light, and right at my feet i saw a large brass plate set in the floor and on it only this: swift died oct. , aged on the wall near is a bronze tablet, the inscription of which, in latin, was dictated by swift himself: "here lies the body of jonathan swift, dean of this cathedral, where fierce indignation can no longer rend his heart. go! wayfarer, and imitate, if thou canst, one who, as far as in him lay, was an earnest champion of liberty----" above this is a fine bust of the dean, and to the right is another tablet: "underneath lie interred the mortal remains of mrs. hester johnson, better known to the world as 'stella,' under which she is celebrated in the writings of doctor jonathan swift, dean of this cathedral. she was a person of extraordinary endowments and accomplishments, in body, mind and behavior; justly admired and respected by all who knew her, on account of her eminent virtues as well as for her great natural and acquired perfections." these were suffering souls and great. would they have been so great had they not suffered? who can tell? were the waters troubled in order that they might heal the people? did swift misuse this excellent woman, is a question that has been asked and answered again and again. a great author has written: "a woman, a tender, noble, excellent woman, has a dog's heart. she licks the hand that strikes her. and wrong nor cruelty nor injustice nor disloyalty can cause her to turn." death in pity took stella first; took her in the loyalty of love and the fulness of faith from a world which for love has little recompense, and for faith small fulfilment. stella was buried by torchlight, at midnight, on the thirtieth day of january, seventeen hundred twenty-eight. swift was sick at the time, and wrote in his journal: "this is the night of her funeral, and i am removed to another apartment that i may not see the light in the church which is just over against my window." but in his imagination he saw the gleaming torches as their dull light shone through the colored windows, and he said, "they will soon do as much for me." but seventeen years came crawling by before the torches flared, smoked and gleamed as the mourners chanted a requiem, and the clods fell on the coffin, and their echoes intermingled with the solemn voice of the priest as he said, "dust to dust, ashes to ashes." in eighteen hundred thirty-five, the graves were opened and casts taken of the skulls. the top of swift's skull had been sawed off at the autopsy, and a bottle in which was a parchment setting forth the facts was inserted in the head that had conceived "gulliver's travels." i examined the casts. the woman's head is square and shapely. swift's head is a refutation of phrenology, being small, sloping and ordinary. the bones of swift and stella were placed in one coffin, and now rest under three feet of concrete, beneath the floor of saint patrick's. so sleep the lovers joined in death. walt whitman all seems beautiful to me. i can repeat over to men and women, you have done such good to me i would do the same to you, i will recruit for myself and you as i go. i will scatter myself among men and women as i go, i will toss a new gladness and roughness among them. --_song of the open road_ [illustration: walt whitman] max nordau wrote a book--wrote it with his tongue in his cheek, a dash of vitriol in the ink, and with a pen that scratched. and the first critic who seemed to place a just estimate on the work was mr. zangwill (he who has no christian name). mr. zangwill made an attempt to swear out a "writ de lunatico inquirendo" against his jewish brother, on the ground that the first symptom of insanity is often the delusion that others are insane; and this being so, doctor nordau was not a safe subject to be at large. but the assize of public opinion denied the petition, and the dear people bought the book at from three to five dollars a copy. printed in several languages, its sales have mounted to a hundred thousand volumes, and the author's net profit is full forty thousand dollars. no wonder is it that, with pockets full to bursting, doctor nordau goes out behind the house and laughs uproariously whenever he thinks of how he has worked the world! if doctor talmage is the barnum of theology, surely we may call doctor nordau the barnum of science. his agility in manipulating facts is equal to hermann's now-you-see-it and now-you-don't, with pocket-handkerchiefs. yet hermann's exhibition is worth the admittance fee, and nordau's book (seemingly written in collaboration with jules verne and mark twain) would be cheap for a dollar. but what i object to is professor hermann's disciples posing as sure-enough materializing mediums, and professor lombroso's followers calling themselves scientists, when each goes forth without scrip or purse with no other purpose than to supply themselves with both. yet it was barnum himself who said that the public delights in being humbugged, and strange it is that we will not allow ourselves to be thimblerigged without paying for the privilege. nordau's success hinged on his audacious assumption that the public knew nothing of the law of antithesis. yet plato explained that the opposites of things look alike, and sometimes are alike--and that was quite a while ago. the multitude answered, "thou hast a devil." many of them said, "he hath a devil and is mad." festus said with a loud voice, "paul, thou art beside thyself." and nordau shouts in a voice more heady than that of pilate, more throaty than that of festus, "mad--whitman was--mad beyond the cavil of a doubt!" in eighteen hundred sixty-two, lincoln, looking out of a window (before lilacs last in the dooryard bloomed) on one of the streets of washington, saw a workingman in shirt-sleeves go by. turning to a friend, the president said, "there goes a man!" the exclamation sounds singularly like that of napoleon on meeting goethe. but the corsican's remark was intended for the poet's ear, while lincoln did not know who his man was, although he came to know him afterward. lincoln in his early days was a workingman and an athlete, and he never quite got the idea out of his head (and i am glad) that he was still a hewer of wood. he once told george william curtis that he more than half expected yet to go back to the farm and earn his daily bread by the work that his hands found to do; he dreamed of it nights, and whenever he saw a splendid toiler, he felt like hailing the man as brother and striking hands with him. when lincoln saw whitman strolling majestically past, he took him for a stevedore or possibly the foreman of a construction gang. whitman was fifty-one years old then. his long, flowing beard was snow-white, and the shock that covered his jove-like head was iron-gray. his form was that of an apollo who had arrived at years of discretion. he weighed an even two hundred pounds and was just six feet high. his plain, check, cotton shirt was open at the throat to the breast; and he had an independence, a self-sufficiency, and withal a cleanliness, a sweetness and a gentleness, that told that, although he had a giant's strength, he did not use it like a giant. whitman used no tobacco, neither did he apply hot and rebellious liquors to his blood and with unblushing forehead woo the means of debility and disease. up to his fifty-third year he had never known a sick day, although at thirty his hair had begun to whiten. he had the look of age in his youth and the look of youth in his age that often marks the exceptional man. but at fifty-three his splendid health was crowded to the breaking strain. how? through caring for wounded, sick and dying men, hour after hour, day after day, through the long, silent watches of the night. from eighteen hundred sixty-four to the day of his death in eighteen hundred ninety-two, he was, physically, a man in ruins. but he did not wither at the top. through it all he held the healthy optimism of boyhood, carrying with him the perfume of the morning and the lavish heart of youth. doctor bucke, who was superintendent of a hospital for the insane for fifteen years, and the intimate friend of whitman all the time, has said: "his build, his stature, his exceptional health of mind and body, the size and form of his features, his cleanliness of mind and body, the grace of his movements and gestures, the grandeur, and especially the magnetism, of his presence; the charm of his voice, his genial, kindly humor; the simplicity of his habits and tastes, his freedom from convention, the largeness and the beauty of his manner; his calmness and majesty; his charity and forbearance--his entire unresentfulness under whatever provocation; his liberality, his universal sympathy with humanity in all ages and lands, his broad tolerance, his catholic friendliness, and his unexampled faculty of attracting affection, all prove his perfectly proportioned manliness." but whitman differed from the disciple of lombroso in two notable particulars: he had no quarrel with the world, and he did not wax rich. "one thing thou lackest, o walt whitman!" we might have said to the poet; "you are not a financier." he died poor. but this is no proof of degeneracy, save on 'change. when the children of count tolstoy endeavored to have him adjudged insane, the court denied the application and voiced the wisest decision that ever came out of russia: a man who gives away his money is not necessarily more foolish than he who saves it. and with horace l. traubel i assert that whitman was the sanest man i ever saw. * * * * * some men make themselves homes; and others there be who rent rooms. walt whitman was essentially a citizen of the world: the world was his home and mankind were his friends. there was a quality in the man peculiarly universal: a strong, virile poise that asked for nothing, but took what it needed. he loved men as brothers, yet his brothers after the flesh understood him not; he loved children--they turned to him instinctively--but he had no children of his own; he loved women, and yet this strongly sexed and manly man never loved a woman. and i might here say as philip gilbert hamerton said of turner, "he was lamentably unfortunate in this: throughout his whole life he never came under the ennobling and refining influence of a good woman." it requires two to make a home. the first home was made when a woman, cradling in her loving arms a baby, crooned a lullaby. all the tender sentimentality we throw around a place is the result of the sacred thought that we live there with some one else. it is "our" home. the home is a tryst--the place where we retire and shut the world out. lovers make a home, just as birds make a nest, and unless a man knows the spell of the divine passion i hardly see how he can have a home at all. he only rents a room. camden is separated from the city of philadelphia by the delaware river. camden lies low and flat--a great, sandy, monotonous waste of straggling buildings. here and there are straight rows of cheap houses, evidently erected by staid, broad-brimmed speculators from across the river, with eyes on the main chance. but they reckoned ill, for the town did not boom. some of these houses have marble steps and white, barn-like shutters, that might withstand a siege. when a funeral takes place in one of these houses, the shutters are tied with strips of mournful, black alpaca for a year and a day. engineers, dockmen, express-drivers and mechanics largely make up the citizens of camden. of course, camden has its smug corner where prosperous merchants most do congregate: where they play croquet in the front yards, and have window-boxes, and a piano and veranda-chairs and terra-cotta statuary; but for the most part the houses of camden are rented, and rented cheap. many of the domiciles are frame and have the happy tumbledown look of the back streets in charleston or richmond--those streets where the white trash merges off into prosperous colored aristocracy. old hats do duty in keeping out the fresh air where providence has interfered and broken out a pane; blinds hang by a single hinge; bricks on the chimney-tops threaten the passersby; stringers and posts mark the place where proud picket fences once stood--the pickets having gone for kindling long ago. in the warm, summer evenings, men in shirt-sleeves sit on the front steps and stolidly smoke, while children pile up sand in the streets and play in the gutters. parallel with mickle street, a block away, are railway-tracks. there noisy switch-engines that never keep sabbath, puff back and forth, day and night, sending showers of soot and smoke when the wind is right (and it usually is) straight over number , where, according to john addington symonds and william michael rossetti, lived the mightiest seer of the century--the man whom they rank with socrates, epictetus, saint paul, michelangelo and dante. it was in august of eighteen hundred eighty-three that i first walked up that little street--a hot, sultry summer evening. there had been a shower that turned the dust of the unpaved roadway to mud. the air was close and muggy. the houses, built right up to the sidewalks, over which, in little gutters, the steaming sewage ran, seemed to have discharged their occupants into the street to enjoy the cool of the day. barefooted children by the score paddled in the mud. all the steps were filled with loungers; some of the men had discarded not only coats but shirts as well, and now sat in flaming red underwear, holding babies. they say that "woman's work is never done," but to the women of mickle street this does not apply--but stay! perhaps their work is never done. anyway, i remember that women sat on the curbs in calico dresses or leaned out of the windows, and all seemed supremely free from care. "can you tell me where mr. whitman lives?" i asked a portly dame who was resting her elbows on a windowsill. "who?" "mr. whitman!" "you mean walt whitman?" "yes." "show the gentleman, molly; he'll give you a nickel, i'm sure!" i had not seen molly. she stood behind me, but as her mother spoke she seized tight hold of one of my fingers, claiming me as her lawful prey, and all the other children looked on with envious eyes as little molly threw at them glances of scorn and marched me off. molly was five, going on six, she told me. she had bright-red hair, a grimy face and little chapped feet that made not a sound as we walked. she got her nickel and carried it in her mouth, and this made conversation difficult. after going one block she suddenly stopped, squared me around and pointing said, "them is he!" and disappeared. in a wheeled rattan chair, in the hallway, a little back from the door of a plain, weather-beaten house, sat the coatless philosopher, his face and head wreathed in a tumult of snow-white hair. i had a little speech, all prepared weeks before and committed to memory, that i intended to repeat, telling him how i had read his poems and admired them. and further i had stored away in my mind a few blades from "leaves of grass" that i purposed to bring out at the right time as a sort of certificate of character. but when that little girl jerked me right-about-face and heartlessly deserted me, i stared dumbly at the man whom i had come a hundred miles to see. i began angling for my little speech, but could not fetch it. "hello!" called the philosopher, out of the white aureole. "hello! come here, boy!" he held out his hand and as i took it there was a grasp with meaning in it. "don't go yet, joe," he said to a man seated on the step smoking a cob-pipe. "the old woman's calling me," said the swarthy joe. joe evidently held truth lightly. "so long, walt!" "good-by, joe. sit down, lad; sit down!" i sat in the doorway at his feet. "now isn't it queer--that fellow is a regular philosopher and works out some great problems, but he's ashamed to express 'em. he could no more give you his best than he could fly. ashamed, i s'pose, ashamed of the best that is in him. we are all a little that way--all but me--i try to write my best, regardless of whether the thing sounds ridiculous or not--regardless of what others think or say or have said. ashamed of our holiest, truest and best! is it not too bad? "you are twenty-five now? well, boy, you may grow until you are thirty and then you will be as wise as you ever will be. haven't you noticed that men of sixty have no clearer vision than men of forty? one reason is that we have been taught that we know all about life and death and the mysteries of the grave. but the main reason is that we are ashamed to shove out and be ourselves. jesus expressed his own individuality perhaps more than any other man we know of, and so he wields a wider influence than any other. and this though we only have a record of just twenty-seven days of his life. now that fellow that just left is an engineer, and he dreams some beautiful dreams; but he never expresses them to any one--only hints them to me, and this only at twilight. he is like a weasel or a mink or a whippoorwill--he comes out only at night. "'if the weather was like this all the time, people would never learn to read and write,' said joe to me just as you arrived. and isn't that so? here we can count a hundred people up and down this street, and not one is reading, not one but that is just lolling about, except the children--and they are happy only when playing in the dirt. why, if this tropical weather should continue we would all slip back into south sea islanders! you can raise good men only in a little strip around the north temperate zone--when you get out of the track of a glacier, a tender-hearted, sympathetic man of brains is an accident." then the old man suddenly ceased and i imagined that he was following the thought out in his own mind. we sat silent for a space. the twilight fell, and a lamplighter lit the street lamp on the corner. he stopped an instant to salute the poet cheerily as he passed. the man sitting on the doorstep, across the street, smoking, knocked the ashes out of his pipe on his boot-heel and went indoors. women called their children, who did not respond, but still played on. then the creepers were carried in, to be fed their bread-and-milk and put to bed; and, shortly, shrill feminine voices ordered the other children indoors, and some obeyed. the night crept slowly on. i heard old walt chuckle behind me, talking incoherently to himself, and then he said, "you are wondering why i live in such a place as this?" "yes; that is exactly what i was thinking of!" "you think i belong in the country, in some quiet, shady place. but all i have to do is to shut my eyes and go there. no man loves the woods more than i--i was born within sound of the sea--down on long island, and i know all the songs that the seashell sings. but this babble and babel of voices pleases me better, especially since my legs went on a strike, for although i can't walk, you see i can still mix with the throng, so i suffer no loss. "in the woods, a man must be all hands and feet. i like the folks, the plain, ignorant, unpretentious folks; and the youngsters that come and slide on my cellar-door do not disturb me a bit. i'm different from carlyle--you know he had a noise-proof room where he locked himself in. now, when a huckster goes by, crying his wares, i open the blinds, and often wrangle with the fellow over the price of things. but the rogues have got into a way lately of leaving truck for me and refusing pay. today an irishman passed in three quarts of berries and walked off pretending to be mad because i offered to pay. when he was gone, i beckoned to the babies over the way--they came over and we had a feast. "yes, i like the folks around here; i like the women, and i like the men, and i like the babies, and i like the youngsters that play in the alley and make mud pies on my steps. i expect to stay here until i die." "you speak of death as a matter of course--you are not afraid to die?" "oh, no, my boy; death is as natural as life, and a deal kinder. but it is all good--i accept it all and give thanks--you have not forgotten my chant to death?" "not i!" i repeated a few lines from "drum-taps." he followed me, rapping gently with his cane on the floor, and with little interjectory remarks of "that's so!" "very true!" "good, good!" and when i faltered and lost the lines he picked them up where "the voice of my spirit tallied the song of the bird." in a strong, clear voice, but a voice full of sublime feeling, he repeated those immortal lines, beginning, "come, lovely and soothing death." "come, lovely and soothing death, undulate round the world, serenely arriving, arriving, in the day, in the night, to all, to each, sooner or later, delicate death. praised be the fathomless universe for life and joy, and for objects and knowledge curious, and for love, sweet love--but praise! praise! praise for the sure enwinding arms of cool, enfolding death. dark mother, always gliding near with soft feet, have none chanted for thee a chant of fullest welcome? then i chant for thee, i glorify thee above all, i bring thee a song that when thou must indeed come, come unfalteringly. approach, strong deliveress, when it is so, when thou hast taken them i joyously sing the death, lost in the loving, floating ocean of thee, laved in the flood of thy bliss, o death. from me to thee glad serenades, dances for thee i propose, saluting thee, adornments and feastings for thee, and the sights of the open landscape and the high spread sky are fitting, and life and the fields, and the huge and thoughtful night. the night in silence under many a star, the ocean shore and the husky whispering wave whose voice i know, and the soul turning to thee, o vast and well-veil'd death, and the body gratefully nestling close to thee. over the tree-tops i float thee a song, over the rising and sinking waves, over the myriad fields and the prairies wide, over the dense-packed cities all, and the teeming wharves, and ways, i float this carol with joy, with joy to thee, o death." the last playing youngster had silently disappeared from the streets. the doorsteps were deserted--save where across the way a young man and maiden sat in the gloaming, conversing in low monotone. the clouds had drifted away. a great, yellow star shone out above the chimney-tops in the east. i arose to go. "i wish you'd come oftener--i see you so seldom, lad," said the old man, half-plaintively. i did not explain that we had never met before--that i had come from new york purposely to see him. he thought he knew me. and so he did--as much as i could impart. the rest was irrelevant. as to my occupation or name, what booted it!--he had no curiosity concerning me. i grasped his outstretched hand in both of my own. he said not a word; neither did i. i turned and made my way to the ferry--past the whispering lovers on the doorsteps, and over the railway-tracks where the noisy engines puffed. as i walked on board the boat, the wind blew up cool and fresh from the west. the star in the east grew brighter, and other stars came out, reflecting themselves like gems in the dark blue of the delaware. there was a soft sublimity in the sound of the bells that came echoing over the waters. my heart was very full, for i had felt the thrill of being in the presence of a great and loving soul. it was the first time and the last that i ever saw walt whitman. * * * * * a good many writers bear no message: they carry no torch. sometimes they excite wonder, or they amuse and divert--divert us from our work. to be diverted to a certain degree may be well, but there is a point where earth ends and cloud-land begins, and even great poets occasionally befog the things they would reveal. homer was seemingly blind to much simple truth; vergil carries you away from earth; horace was undone without his mæcenas; dante makes you an exile; shakespeare was singularly silent concerning the doubts, difficulties and common lives of common people; byron's corsair life does not help you in your toil, and in his fight with english bards and scotch reviewers we crave neutrality; to be caught in the meshes of pope's "dunciad" is not pleasant; and lowell's "fable for critics" is only another "dunciad." but above all other poets who have ever lived, the author of "leaves of grass" was the poet of humanity. milton knew all about heaven, and dante conducts us through hell, but it was left for whitman to show us earth. his voice never goes so high that it breaks into an impotent falsetto, neither does it growl and snarl at things it does not understand and not understanding does not like. he was so great that he had no envy, and his insight was so sure that he had no prejudice. he never boasted that he was higher, nor claimed to be less than any of the other sons of men. he met all on terms of absolute equality, mixing with the poor, the lowly, the fallen, the oppressed, the cultured, the rich--simply as brother with brother. and when he said to an outcast, "not till the sun excludes you will i exclude you," he voiced a sentiment worthy of a god. he was brother to the elements, the mountains, the seas, the clouds, the sky. he loved them all and partook of them all in his large, free, unselfish, untrammeled nature. his heart knew no limits, and feeling his feet mortised in granite and his footsteps tenoned in infinity he knew the amplitude of time. only the great are generous; only the strong are forgiving. like lot's wife, most poets look back over their shoulders; and those who are not looking backward insist that we shall look into the future, and the vast majority of the whole scribbling rabble accept the precept, "man never is, but always to be blest." we grieve for childhood's happy days, and long for sweet rest in heaven and sigh for mansions in the skies. and the people about us seem so indifferent, and our friends so lukewarm; and really no one understands us, and our environment queers our budding spirituality, and the frost of jealousy nips our aspirations: "o paradise, o paradise, the world is growing old; who would not be at rest and free where love is never cold." so sing the fearsome dyspeptics of the stylus. o anemic he, you bloodless she, nipping at crackers, sipping at tea, why not consider that, although evolutionists tell us where we came from, and theologians inform us where we are going to, yet the only thing we are really sure of is that we are here! the present is the perpetually moving spot where history ends and prophecy begins. it is our only possession: the past we reach through lapsing memory, halting recollection, hearsay and belief; we pierce the future by wistful faith or anxious hope; but the present is beneath our feet. whitman sings the beauty and the glory of the present. he rebukes our groans and sighs--bids us look about on every side at the wonders of creation, and at the miracles within our grasp. he lifts us up, restores us to our own, introduces us to man and to nature, and thus infuses into us courage, manly pride, self-reliance, and the strong faith that comes when we feel our kinship with god. he was so mixed with the universe that his voice took on the sway of elemental integrity and candor. absolutely honest, this man was unafraid and unashamed, for nature has neither apprehension, shame nor vainglory. in "leaves of grass" whitman speaks as all men have ever spoken who believe in god and in themselves--oracular, without apology or abasement--fearlessly. he tells of the powers and mysteries that pervade and guide all life, all death, all purpose. his work is masculine, as the sun is masculine; for the prophetic voice is as surely masculine as the lullaby and lyric cry are feminine. whitman brings the warmth of the sun to the buds of the heart, so that they open and bring forth form, color, perfume. he becomes for them aliment and dew; so these buds become blossoms, fruits, tall branches and stately trees that cast refreshing shadows. there are men who are to other men as the shadow of a mighty rock in a weary land--such is walt whitman. victor hugo man is neither master of his life nor of his fate. he can but offer to his fellowmen his efforts to diminish human suffering; he can but offer to god his indomitable faith in the growth of liberty. --_victor hugo_ [illustration: victor hugo] the father of victor hugo was a general in the army of napoleon, his mother a woman of rare grace and brave good sense. victor was the third of three sons. six weeks before the birth of her youngest boy, the mother wrote to a very dear friend of her husband, this letter: "to general victor lahorie, "citizen-general: "soon to become the mother of a third child, it would be very agreeable to me if you would act as its godfather. its name shall be yours--one which you have not belied and one which you have so well honored: victor or victorine. your consent will be a testimonial of your friendship for us. "please accept, citizen-general, the assurance of our sincere attachment. "femme hugo." victorine was expected, victor came. general lahorie acted as sponsor for the infant. a soldier's family lives here or there, everywhere or anywhere. in eighteen hundred eight, general hugo was with joseph bonaparte in spain. victor was then six years old. his mother had taken as a residence a quaint house in the impasse of the feullantines, paris. it was one of those peculiar old places occasionally seen in france. the environs of london have a few; america none of which i know. this house, roomy, comfortable and antiquated, was surrounded with trees and a tangle of shrubbery, vines and flowers; above it all was a high stone wall, and in front a picket iron gate. it was a mosaic--a sample of the sixteenth century inlaid in this; solitary as the woods; quiet as a convent; sacred as a forest; a place for dreams, and reverie, and rest. at the back of the house was a dilapidated little chapel. here an aged priest counted his beads, said daily mass, and endeavored to keep moth, rust and ruin from the house of prayer. this priest was a scholar, a man of learning: he taught the children of madame hugo. another man lived in this chapel. he never went outside the gate and used to take exercise at night. he had a cot-bed in the shelter of the altar; beneath his pillow were a pair of pistols and a copy of tacitus. this man lived there summer and winter, although there was no warmth save the scanty sunshine that stole in through the shattered windows. he, too, taught the children and gave them little lectures on history. he loved the youngest boy and would carry him on his shoulder and tell him stories of deeds of valor. one day a file of soldiers came. they took this man and manacled him. the mother sought to keep her children inside the house so that they should not witness the scene, but she did not succeed. the boys fought their mother and the servants in a mad frenzy trying to rescue the old man. the soldiers formed in columns of four and marched their prisoner away. not long after, madame hugo was passing the church of saint jacques du haut pas: her youngest boy's hand was in hers. she saw a large placard posted in front of the church. she paused and pointing to it said, "victor, read that!" the boy read. it was a notice that general lahorie had been shot that day on the plains of grenville by order of a court martial. general lahorie was a gentleman of brittany. he was a republican, and five years before had grievously offended the emperor. a charge of conspiracy being proved against him, a price was placed upon his head, and he found a temporary refuge with the mother of his godson. that tragic incident of the arrest, and the placard announcing general lahorie's death, burned deep into the soul of the manling, and who shall say to what extent it colored his future life? when napoleon met his downfall, it was also a waterloo for general hugo. his property was confiscated, and penury took the place of plenty. when victor was nineteen, his mother having died, the family life was broken up. in "les miserables" the early struggles of marius are described; and this, the author has told us, may be considered autobiography. he has related how the young man lived in a garret; how he would sweep this barren room; how he would buy a pennyworth of cheese, waiting until dusk to get a loaf of bread, and slink home as furtively as if he had stolen it; how carrying his book under his arm he would enter the butcher's shop, and after being elbowed by jeering servants till he felt the cold sweat standing out on his forehead, he would take off his hat to the astonished butcher and ask for a single mutton-chop. this he would carry to his garret, and cooking it himself it would be made to last for three days. in this way he managed to live on less than two hundred dollars a year, derived from the proceeds of poems, pamphlets and essays. at this time he was already an "academy laureate," having received honorable mention for a poem submitted in a competition. in his twentieth year, fortune came to him in triple form: he brought out a book of poems that netted him seven hundred francs; soon after the publication of this book, louis the eighteenth, who knew the value of having friends who were ready writers, bestowed on him a pension of one thousand francs a year; then these two pieces of good fortune made possible a third--his marriage. early marriages are like late ones: they may be wise and they may not. victor hugo's marriage with adele foucher was a most happy event. a man with a mind as independent as victor hugo's is sure to make enemies. the "classics" were positive that he was defiling the well of classic french, and they sought to write him down. but by writing a man up you can not write him down; the only thing that can smother a literary aspirant is silence. victor hugo coined the word when he could not find it, transposed phrases, inverted sentences, and never called a spade an agricultural implement. not content with this, he put the spade on exhibition and this often at unnecessary times, and occasionally prefaced the word with an adjective. had he been let alone he would not have done this. the censors told him he must not use the name of deity, nor should he refer so often to kings. at once, he doubled his topseys and put on his stage three uncle toms when one might have answered. like shakespeare, he used idioms and slang with profusion--anything to express the idea. will this convey the thought? if so, it was written down, and, once written, beelzebub and all his hosts could not make him change it. but in the interest of truth let me note one exception: "i do not like that word," said mademoiselle mars to victor hugo at a rehearsal of "hernani"; "can i not change it?" "i wrote it so and it must stand," was the answer. mademoiselle mars used another expression instead of the author's, and he promptly asked her to resign her part. she wept, and upon agreeing to adhere to the text was reinstated in favor. rehearsal after rehearsal occurred, and the words were repeated as written. the night of the performance came. superb was the stage-setting, splendid the audience. the play went forward amid loud applause. the scene was reached where came the objectionable word. did mademoiselle mars use it? of course not; she used the word she chose--she was a woman. fifty-three times she played the part, and not once did she use the author's pet phrase; and he was wise enough not to note the fact. the moral of this is that not even a strong man can cope with a small woman who weeps at the right time. the censorship forbade the placing of "marion delorme" on the stage until a certain historical episode in it had been changed. would the author be so kind as to change it? not he. "then it shall not be played," said m. de martignac. the author hastened to interview the minister in person. he got a north pole reception. in fact, m. de martignac said that it was his busy day, and that playwriting was foolish business anyway; but if a man were bound to write, he should write to amuse, not to instruct. and young hugo was bowed out. when he found himself well outside the door he was furious. he would see the king himself. and he did see the king. his majesty was gracious and very patient. he listened to the young author's plea, talked book-lore, recited poetry, showed that he knew hugo's verses, asked after the author's wife, then the baby, and--said that the play could not go on. hugo turned to go. charles the tenth called him back, and said that he was glad the author had called--in fact, he was about to send for him. his pension thereafter should be six thousand francs a year. victor hugo declined to receive it. of course, the papers were full of the subject. all cafedom took sides: paris had a topic for gesticulation, and paris improved the opportunity. conservatism having stopped this play, there was only one thing to do: write another; for a play of victor hugo's must be put upon the stage. all his friends said so; his honor was at stake. in three weeks another play was ready. the censors read it and gave their report. they said that "hernani" was whimsical in conception, defective in execution, a tissue of extravagances, generally trivial and often coarse. but they advised that it be put upon the stage, just to show the public to what extent of folly an author could go. in order to preserve the dignity of their office, they drew up a list of six places where the text should be changed. both sides were afraid, so each was willing to give in a point. the text was changed, and the important day for the presentation was drawing nigh. the romanticists were, of course, anxious that the play should be a great success; the classics were quite willing that it should be otherwise; in fact, they had bought up the claque and were making arrangements to hiss it down. but the author's friends were numerous; they were young and lusty; they held meetings behind locked doors, and swore terrible oaths that the play should go. on the day of the initial performance, five hours before the curtain rose, they were on hand, having taken the best seats in the house. they also took the worst, wherever a hisser might hide. these advocates of liberal art wore coats of green or red or blue, costumes like bullfighters, trousers and hats to match or not to match--anything to defy tradition. all during the performance there was an uproar. theophile gautier has described the event in most entertaining style, and in "l'historie de romanticisme" the record of it is found in detail. several american writers have touched upon this particular theme, and all who have seen fit to write of it seem to have stood under umbrellas when god rained humor. one writer calls it "the outburst of a tremendous revolution in literature." he speaks of "smoldering flames," "the hordes that furiously fought entrenched behind prestige, age, caste, wealth and tradition," "suppression and extermination of heresy," "those who sought to stop the onward march of civilization," etc. let us be sensible. a "cane-rush" is not a revolution, and "bloody monday" at harvard is not "a decisive battle in the onward and upward march." if "hernani" had been hissed down, victor hugo would have lived just as long and might have written better. civilization is not held in place by noisy youths in flaming waistcoats; and even if every cabbage had hit its mark, and every egg bespattered its target, the morning stars would still sing together. "the hunchback of notre dame" was next turned out--written in five months--and was a great success. publishers besieged the author for another story, but he preferred poetry. it was thirty years before his next novel, "les miserables," appeared. but all the time he wrote--plays, verses, essays, pamphlets. everything that he penned was widely read. amid storms of opposition and cries of bravo, continually making friends, he moved steadily forward. men like victor hugo can be killed or they may be banished, but they can not be bought; neither can they be intimidated into silence. he resigned his pension and boldly expressed himself in his own way. he knew history by heart and toyed with it; politics was his delight. but it is a mistake to call him a statesman. he was bold to rashness, impulsive, impatient and vehement. because a man is great is no reason why he should be proclaimed perfect. such men as victor hugo need no veneer--the truth will answer: he would explode a keg of powder to kill a fly. he was an agitator. but these zealous souls are needed--not to govern or to be blindly followed, but rather to make other men think for themselves. yet to do this in a monarchy is not safe. the years passed, and the time came for either hugo or royalty to go; france was not large enough for both. it proved to be hugo; a bounty of twenty-five thousand francs was offered for his body, dead or alive. through a woman's devotion he escaped to brussels. he was driven from there to jersey, then to guernsey. it was nineteen years before he returned to paris--years of banishment, but years of glory. exiled by fate that he might do his work! * * * * * each day a steamer starts from southampton for guernsey, alderney and jersey. these are names known to countless farmers' boys the wide world over. you can not mistake the channel island boats--they smell like a county fair, and though you be blind and deaf it is impossible to board the wrong craft. every time one of these staunch little steamers lands in england, crates containing mild-eyed, lusty calves are slid down the gangplank, marked for maine, iowa, california, or some uttermost part of the earth. there his vealship (worth his weight in gold) is going to found a kingdom. i stood on the dock watching the bovine passengers disembark, and furtively listened the while to an animated argument between two rather rough-looking, red-faced men, clothed in corduroys and carrying long, stout staffs. mixed up in their conversation i caught the names of royalty, then of celebrities great, and artists famous--warriors, orators, philanthropists and musicians. could it be possible that these rustics were poets? it must be so. and there came to me thoughts of thoreau, walt whitman, joaquin miller, and all that sublime company of singers in shirt-sleeves. suddenly the wind veered and the veil fell; all the sacred names so freely bandied about were those of "families" with mighty milk-records. when we went on board and the good ship was slipping down the solent, i made the acquaintance of these men and was regaled with more cow-talk than i had heard since i left texas. we saw the island of portsea, where dickens was born, and got a glimpse of the spires of portsmouth as we passed; then came the isle of wight and the quaint town of cowes. i made a bright joke on the latter place as it was pointed out to me by my jersey friend, but it went for naught. a pleasant sail of eight hours and the towering cliffs of guernsey came in sight. foam-dashed and spray-covered they rise right out of the sea at the south, to the height of two hundred seventy feet. about them great flocks of sea-fowl hover, swirl and soar. wild, rugged and romantic is the scene. the isle of guernsey is nine miles long and six wide. its principal town is saint peter port, a place of about sixteen thousand inhabitants, where a full dozen hotel porters meet the incoming steamer and struggle for your baggage. hotels and boarding-houses here are numerous and good. guernsey is a favorite resort for invalids and those who desire to flee the busy world for a space. in fact, the author of "les miserables" has made exile popular. emerging from my hotel at saint peter port i was accosted by a small edition of gavroche, all in tatters, who proposed showing me the way to hauteville house for a penny. i already knew the route, but accepted the offer on gavroche's promise to reveal to me a secret about the place. the secret is this: the house is haunted, and when the wind is east, and the setting moon shows only a narrow rim above the rocks, ghosts come and dance a solemn minuet on the glass roof above the study. had gavroche ever seen them? no, but he knew a boy who had. years and years--ever so many years ago--long before there were any steamboats, and when only a schooner came to guernsey once a week, a woman was murdered in hauteville house. her ghost came back with other ghosts and drove the folks away. so the big house remained vacant--save for the spooks, who paid no rent. then after a great, long time victor hugo came and lived in the house. the ghosts did not bother him. faith! they had been keeping the place just a' purpose for him. he rented the house first, and liked it so well that he bought it--got it at half-price on account of the ghosts. here, every christmas, victor hugo gave a big dinner in the great oak hall to all the children in guernsey: hundreds of them--all the way from babies that could barely creep, to "boys" with whiskers. they were all fed on turkey, tarts, apples, oranges and figs; and when they went away, each was given a bag of candy to take home. climbing a narrow, crooked street we came to the great, dark, gloomy edifice situated at the top of a cliff. the house was painted black by some strange whim of a former occupant. "we will leave it so," said victor hugo; "liberty is dead, and we are in mourning for her." but the gloom of hauteville house is only on the outside. within all is warm and homelike. the furnishings are almost as the poet left them, and the marks of his individuality are on every side. in the outer hall stands an elegant column of carved oak, its panels showing scenes from "the hunchback." in the dining-room there is fantastic wainscoting with plaques and porcelain tiles inlaid here and there. many of these ornaments were presents, sent by unknown admirers in all parts of the world. in "les miserables" there is a chance line revealing the author's love for the beautiful as shown in the grain of woods. the result was an influx of polished panels, slabs, chips, hewings, carvings, and in one instance a log sent "collect." samples of redwood, ebony, calamander, hamamelis, suradanni, tamarind, satinwood, mahogany, walnut, maples of many kinds and oaks without limit--all are there. a mammoth ax-helve i noticed on the wall was labeled, "shagbark-hickory from missouri." these specimens of wood were sometimes made up into hatracks, chairs, canes, or panels for doors, and are seen in odd corners of these rambling rooms. charles hugo once facetiously wrote to a friend: "we have bought no kindling for three years." at another time he writes: "father still is sure he can sketch and positive he can carve. he has several jackknives, and whittles names, dates and emblems on sticks and furniture--we tremble for the piano." in the dining-room, i noticed a huge oaken chair fastened to the wall with a chain. on the mantel was a statuette of the virgin; on the pedestal victor hugo had engraved lines speaking of her as "freedom's goddess." this dining-room affords a sunny view out into the garden; on this floor are also a reception-room, library and a smoking-room. on the next floor are various sleeping-apartments, and two cozy parlors, known respectively as the red room and the blue. both are rich in curious draperies, a little more pronounced in color than some folks admire. the next floor contains the "oak gallery": a ballroom we should call it. five large windows furnish a flood of light. in the center of this fine room is an enormous candelabrum with many branches, at the top a statue of wood, the whole carved by victor hugo's own hands. the oak gallery is a regular museum of curiosities of every sort--books, paintings, carvings, busts, firearms, musical instruments. a long glass case contains a large number of autograph-letters from the world's celebrities, written to hugo in exile. at the top of the house and built on its flat roof is the most interesting apartment of hauteville house--the study and workroom of victor hugo. three of its sides and the roof are of glass. the floor, too, is one immense slab of sea-green glass. sliding curtains worked by pulleys cut off the light as desired. "more light, more light," said the great man again and again. he gloried and reveled in the sunshine. here, in the winter, with no warmth but the sun's rays, his eyes shaded by his felt hat, he wrote, always standing at a shelf fixed in the wall. on this shelf were written all "the toilers," "the man who laughs," "shakespeare" and much of "les miserables." the leaves of manuscript were numbered and fell on the floor, to remain perhaps for days before being gathered up. when victor hugo went to guernsey he went to liberty, not to banishment. he arrived at hauteville house poor in purse and broken in health. here the fire of his youth came back, and his pen retrieved the fortune that royalty had confiscated. the forenoons were given to earnest work. the daughter composed music; the sons translated shakespeare and acted as their father's faithful helpers; madame hugo collected the notes of her husband's life and cheerfully looked after her household affairs. several hours of each afternoon were given to romp and play; the evenings were sacred to music, reading and conversation. horace greeley was once a prisoner in paris. from his cell he wrote, "the saint peter who holds the keys of this place has kindly locked the world out; and for once, thank heaven, i am free from intrusion." lovers of truth must thank exile for some of our richest and ripest literature. exile is not all exile. imagination can not be imprisoned. amid the winding bastions of the brain, thought roams free and untrammeled. liberty is only a comparative term, and victor hugo at guernsey enjoyed a thousand times more freedom than ever ruling monarch knew. standing at the shelf-desk where this "gentleman of france" stood for so many happy hours, i inscribed my name in the "visitors' book." i thanked the good woman who had shown me the place, and told me so much of interest--thanked her in words that seemed but a feeble echo of all that my heart would say. i went down the stairs--out at the great carved doorway--and descended the well-worn steps. perched on a crag waiting for me was little gavroche, his rags fluttering in the breeze. he offered to show me the great stone chair where gilliatt sat when the tide came up and carried him away. and did i want to buy a bull calf? gavroche knew where there was a fine one that could be bought cheap. gavroche would show me both the calf and the stone chair for threepence. i accepted the offer, and we went down the stony street toward the sea, hand in hand. * * * * * on the twenty-eighth day of june, eighteen hundred ninety-four, i took my place in the long line and passed slowly through the pantheon at paris and viewed the body of president carnot. the same look of proud dignity that i had seen in life was there--calm, composed, serene. the inanimate clay was clothed in the simple black of a citizen of the republic; the only mark of office being the red silken sash that covered the spot in the breast where the stiletto-stroke of hate had gone home. amid bursts of applause, surrounded by loving friends and loyal adherents, he was stricken down and passed out into the unknown. happy fate! to die before the fickle populace had taken up a new idol; to step in an instant beyond the reach of malice--to leave behind the self-seekers that pursue, the hungry horde that follows, the zealots who defame; to escape the dagger-thrust of calumny and receive only the glittering steel that at the same time wrote his name indelibly on the roll of honor. carnot, thrice happy thou! thy name is secure on history's page, and thy dust now resting beneath the dome of the pantheon is bedewed with the tears of thy countrymen. saint genevieve, the patron saint of paris, died in five hundred twelve. she was buried on a hilltop, the highest point in paris, on the left bank of the seine. over the grave was erected a chapel which for many years was a shrine for the faithful. this chapel with its additions remained until seventeen hundred fifty, when a church was designed which in beauty of style and solidity of structure has rarely been equaled. the object of the architect was to make the most enduring edifice possible, and still not sacrifice proportion. louis the fifteenth laid the cornerstone of this church in seventeen hundred sixty-four, and in seventeen hundred ninety the edifice was dedicated by the roman catholics with great pomp. but the spirit of revolution was at work; and in one year after, a mob sacked this beautiful building, burned its pews, destroyed its altar, and wrought havoc with its ecclesiastical furniture. the convention converted the structure into a memorial temple, inscribing on its front the words, "aux grandes hommes la patrie reconnaisante," and they named the building the pantheon. in eighteen hundred six, the catholics had gotten such influence with the government that the building was restored to them. after the revolution of eighteen hundred thirty, the church of saint genevieve was again taken from the priests. it was held until eighteen hundred fifty-one, when the romanists in the assembly succeeded in having it again reconsecrated. in the meantime, many of the great men of france had been buried there. the first interment in the pantheon was mirabeau. next came marat--stabbed while in the bath by charlotte corday. both bodies were removed by order of the convention when the church was given back to rome. in the pantheon, the visitor now sees the elaborate tombs of voltaire and rousseau. in the dim twilight he reads the glowing inscriptions, and from the tomb of rousseau he sees the hand thrust forth bearing a torch--but the bones of these men are not here. while robed priests chanted the litany, as the great organ pealed, and swinging censers gave off their perfume, visitors came, bringing children, and they stopped at the arches where rousseau and voltaire slept side by side, and they said, "it is here." and so the dust of infidel greatness seemed to interfere with the rites. a change was made. let victor hugo tell: "one night in may, eighteen hundred fourteen, about two o'clock in the morning, a cab stopped near the city gate of la gare at an opening in a board fence. this fence surrounded a large, vacant piece of ground belonging to the city of paris. the cab had come from the pantheon, and the coachman had been ordered to take the most deserted streets. three men alighted from the cab and crawled into the enclosure. two carried a sack between them. other men, some in cassocks, awaited them. they proceeded towards a hole dug in the middle of the field. at the bottom of the hole was quicklime. these men said nothing, they had no lanterns. the wan daybreak gave a ghastly light; the sack was opened. it was full of bones. these were the bones of jean jacques and of voltaire, which had been withdrawn from the pantheon. "the mouth of the sack was brought close to the hole, and the bones rattled down into that black pit. the two skulls struck against each other; a spark, not likely to be seen by those standing near, was doubtless exchanged between the head that made 'the philosophical dictionary' and the head that made 'the social contract,' when that was done, when the sack was shaken, when voltaire and rousseau had been emptied into that hole, a digger seized a spade, threw into the opening the heap of earth, and filled up the grave. the others stamped with their feet upon the ground, so as to remove from it the appearance of having been freshly disturbed. one of the assistants took for his trouble the sack--as the hangman takes the clothing of his victim--they left the enclosure, got into the cab without saying a word, and, hastily, before the sun had risen, these men got away." the ashes of the man who wrote these vivid words now rest next to the empty tombs of voltaire and rousseau. but a step away is the grave of sadi-carnot. when the visitor is conducted to the crypt of the pantheon, he is first taken to the tomb of victor hugo. the sarcophagus on each side is draped with the red, white and blue of france and the stars and stripes of america. with uncovered heads, we behold the mass of flowers and wreaths, and our minds go back to eighteen hundred eighty-five, when the body of the chief citizen of paris lay in state at the pantheon and five hundred thousand people passed by and laid the tribute of silence or of tears on his bier. the pantheon is now given over as a memorial to the men of france who have enriched the world with their lives. over the portals of this beautiful temple are the words, "liberte, egalite, fraternite." across its floors of rarest mosaic echo only the feet of pilgrims and those of the courteous and kindly old soldiers who have the place in charge. on the walls color revels in beautiful paintings, and in the niches and on the pedestals is marble that speaks of greatness which lives in lives made better. the history of the pantheon is one of strife. as late as eighteen hundred seventy the commune made it a stronghold, and the streets on every side were called upon to contribute their paving-stones for a barricade. yet it seems meet that victor hugo's dust should lie here amid the scenes he loved and knew, and where he struggled, worked, toiled, achieved; from whence he was banished, and to which he returned in triumph, to receive at last the complete approbation so long withheld. certainly not in the quiet of a mossy graveyard, nor in a church where priests mumble unmeaning words at fixed times, nor yet alone on the mountain-side--for he chafed at solitude--but he should have been buried at sea. in the midst of storm and driving sleet, at midnight, the sails should have been lowered, the great engines stopped, and with no requiem but the sobbing of the night-wind and the sighing of the breeze through the shrouds, and the moaning of the waves as they surged about the great, black ship, the plank should have been run out, and the body wrapped in the red, white and blue of the republic: the sea, the infinite mother of all, beloved and sung by him, should have taken his tired form to her arms, and there he would rest. if not this, then the pantheon. wm. wordsworth even such a shell the universe itself is to the ear of faith; and there are times, i doubt not, when to you it doth impart authentic tidings of invisible things; of ebb and flow and ever-during power; and central peace subsisting at the heart of endless agitation. here you stand, adore and worship, when you know it not; pious beyond the intention of your thought; devout above the meaning of your will. --_wordsworth_ [illustration: william wordsworth] some one has told us that heaven is not a place but a condition of mind, and it is possible that he is right. but if heaven is a place, surely it is not unlike grasmere. such loveliness of landscape--such sylvan stretches of crystal water--peace and quiet and rest! great, green hills lift their heads to the skies, and all the old stone walls and hedgerows are covered with trailing vines and blooming flowers. the air is rich with song of birds, sweet with perfume, and the blossoms gaily shower their petals on the passer-by. overhead, white, billowy clouds float lazily over their background of ethereal blue. cool june breezes fan the cheek. distant knolls are dotted with flocks of sheep whose bells tinkle dreamily; and drowsy hum of beetle makes the bass, while lark song forms the air of the sweet symphony that nature plays. such was grasmere as i first saw it. to love the plain, homely, common, simple things of earth, of these to sing; to make the familiar beautiful and the commonplace enchanting; to cause each bush to burn with the actual presence of the living god: this is the poet's office. and if the poet lives near grasmere, his task does not seem difficult. from seventeen hundred ninety-nine to eighteen hundred eight, wordsworth lived at dove cottage. thanks to a few earnest souls, the place is now secured to the people of england and the lovers of poetry wherever they may be. a good old woman has charge of the cottage, and for a slight fee shows you the house and garden and little orchard and objects of interest, all the while talking: and you are glad, for, although unlettered, she is reverent and honest. she was born here, and all she knows is wordsworth and the people and the things he loved. is not this enough? here wordsworth lived before anything he wrote was published in book form: here his best work was done, and here dorothy--splendid, sympathetic dorothy---was inspiration, critic, friend. but who inspired dorothy? coleridge perhaps more than all others, and we know somewhat of their relationship as told in dorothy's diary. there is a little wordsworth library in dove cottage, and i sat at the window of "de quincey's room" and read for an hour. says dorothy: "sat until four o'clock reading dear coleridge's letters." "we paced the garden until moonrise at one o'clock--we three, brother, coleridge and i." "i read spenser to him aloud and then we had a midnight tea." here in this little, terraced garden, behind the stone cottage with its low ceilings and wide window-seats and little, diamond panes, she in her misery wrote: "oh, the pity of it all! yet there is recompense; every sight reminds me of coleridge, dear, dear fellow; of our walks and talks by day and night; of all the bright and witty, and sad sweet things of which we spoke and read. i was melancholy and could not talk, and at last i eased my heart by weeping." alas, too often there is competition between brother and sister, then follow misunderstandings; but here the brotherly and sisterly love stands out clear and strong after these hundred years have passed, and we contemplate it with delight. was ever woman more honestly and better praised than dorothy? "the blessings of my later years were with me when i was a boy. she gave me eyes, she gave me ears, and humble cares and gentle fears, a heart! the fountain of sweet tears, and love and thought and joy. and she hath smiles to earth unknown, smiles that with motion of their own do spread and sink and rise; that come and go with endless play, and ever as they pass away are hidden in her eyes." and so in a dozen or more poems, we see dorothy reflected. she was the steel on which he tried his flint. everything he wrote was read to her, then she read it alone, balancing the sentences in the delicate scales of her womanly judgment. "heart of my heart, is this well done?" when she said, "this will do," it was no matter who said otherwise. back of the house on the rising hillside is the little garden. hewn out of the solid rock is "dorothy's seat." there i rested while mrs. dixon discoursed of poet lore, and told me of how, many times, coleridge and dorothy had sat in the same seat and watched the stars. then i drank from "the well," which is more properly a spring; the stones that curb it were placed in their present position by the hand that wrote "the prelude." above the garden is the orchard, where the green linnet still sings, for the birds never grow old. there, too, are the circling swallows; and in a snug little alcove of the cottage you can read "the butterfly" from a first edition; and then you can go sit in the orchard, white with blossoms, and see the butterflies that suggested the poem. and if your eye is good you can discover down by the lakeside the daffodils, and listen the while to the cuckoo call. then in the orchard you can see not only "the daisy," but many of them, and, if you wish, mrs. dixon will let you dig a bunch of the daisies to take back to america; and if you do, i hope that yours will prosper as have mine, and that wordsworth's flowers, like wordsworth's verse, will gladden your heart when the blue sky of your life threatens to be o'ercast with gray. here southey came, and "thalaber" was read aloud in this little garden. here, too, came clarkson, the man with a fine feminine carelessness, as dorothy said. charles lloyd sat here and discoursed with william calvert. sir george beaumont forgot his title and rapped often at the quaint, hinged door. an artist was beaumont, but his best picture they say is not equal to the lines that wordsworth wrote about it. sir george was not only a gentleman according to law, but one in heart, for he was a friend, kind, gentle and generous. with such a friend wordsworth was rich indeed. but perhaps the friends we have are only our other selves, and we get what we deserve. we must not forget the kindly face of humphry davy, whose gracious playfulness was ever a charm to the wordsworths. the safety-lamp was then only an unspoken word, and perhaps few foresaw the sweetness and light that these two men would yet give to earth. walter scott and his wife came to dove cottage in eighteen hundred five. he did not bring his title, for it, like humphry davy's, was as yet unpacked down in london town. they slept in the little cubby-hole of a room in the upper southwest corner. one can imagine dorothy taking sir walter's shaving-water up to him in the morning; and the savory smell of breakfast as mistress mary poured the tea, while england's future laureate served the toast and eggs: mr. scott eating everything in sight and talking a torrent the while about art and philosophy as he passed his cup back, to the consternation of the hostess, whose frugal ways were not used to such ravages of appetite. of course she did not know that a combined novelist and rhymster ate twice as much as a simple poet. afterwards mrs. scott tucked up her dress, putting on one of dorothy's aprons, and helped do the dishes. then coleridge came over and they all climbed to the summit of helm crag. shy little de quincey had read some of wordsworth's poems, and knew from their flavor that the man who penned them was a noble soul. he came to grasmere to call on him: he walked past dove cottage twice, but his heart failed him and he went away unannounced. later, he returned and found the occupants as simple folks as himself. happiness was there and good society; few books, but fine culture; plain living and high thinking. wordsworth lived at rydal mount for thirty-three years, yet the sweetest flowers of his life blossomed at dove cottage. for difficulty, toil, struggle, obscurity, poverty, mixed with aspiration and ambition---all these were here. success came later, but this is naught; for the achievement is more than the public acknowledgment of the deed. after wordsworth moved away, de quincey rented dove cottage and lived in it for twenty-seven years. he acquired a library of more than five thousand volumes, making bookshelves on four sides of the little rooms from floor to ceiling. some of these shelves still remain. here he turned night into day and dreamed the dreams of "the opium-eater." and all these are some of the things that mrs. dixon told me on that bright summer day. what if i had heard them before! no difference. dear old lady, i salute you and at your feet i lay my gratitude for a day of rare and quiet joy. "farewell, thou little nook of mountain ground, thou rocky corner in the lowest stair of that magnificent temple which does bound one side of our whole vale with gardens rare, sweet garden-orchard, eminently fair, the loveliest spot that man has ever found, farewell! we leave thee to heaven's peaceful care, thee, and the cottage which thou dost surround." * * * * * at places of pleasure and entertainment in the far west, are often found functionaries known as "bouncers." it is the duty of the bouncer to give hints to objectionable visitors that their presence is not desired. and inasmuch as there are many men who can never take a hint without a kick, the bouncer is a person selected on account of his peculiar fitness--psychic and otherwise--for the place. we all have special talents, and these faculties should be used in a manner that will help our fellowmen on their way. my acquaintanceship with the bouncer has been only general, not particular. yet i have admired him from a distance, and the skill and eclat that he sometimes shows in a professional way has often excited my admiration. in social usages, america borrows constantly from the mother country. but like all borrowing it seems to be one-sided, for seldom, very, very seldom, in point of etiquette and manners does england borrow from us. yet there are exceptions. it is a beautiful highway that skirts lake windermere and follows up through ambleside. we get a glimpse of the old home of harriet martineau, and "fox howe," the home of matthew arnold. just before rydal water is reached comes rydal road, running straight up the hillside, off from the turnpike. rydal mount is the third house up on the left-hand side, i knew the location, for i had read of it many times, and in my pocketbook i carried a picture taken from an old "frank leslie's," showing the house. my heart beat fast as i climbed the hill. to visit the old home of one who was poet laureate of england is no small event in the life of a book-lover. i was full of poetry and murmured lines from "the excursion" as i walked. soon rare old rydal mount came in sight among the wealth of green. i stopped and sighed. yes, yes, wordsworth lived here for thirty-three years, and here he died; the spot whereon i then stood had been pressed many times by his feet. i walked slowly, with uncovered head, and approached the gate. it was locked. i fumbled at the latch; and just as there came a prospect of its opening, a loud, deep, guttural voice dashed over me like a wave: "there--you! now, wot you want?" the owner of this voice was not ten feet away, but he was standing up close to the wall and i had not seen him. i was somewhat startled at first. the man did not move. i stepped to one side to get a better view of my interlocutor, and saw him to be a large, red man of perhaps fifty. a handkerchief was knotted around his thick neck, and he held a heavy hoe in his hand. a genuine beefeater he was, only he ate too much beef and the ale he drank was evidently extra xxx. his scowl was so needlessly severe and his manner so belligerent that i--thrice armed, knowing my cause was just--could not restrain a smile. i touched my hat and said, "ah, excuse me, mr. falstaff, you are the bouncer?" "never mind wot i am, sir--'oo are you?" "i am a great admirer of wordsworth----" "that's the way they all begins. cawn't ye hadmire 'im on that side of the wall as well as this?" there is no use of wasting argument with a man of this stamp; besides that, his question was to the point. but there are several ways of overcoming one's adversary: i began feeling in my pocket for pence. my enemy ceased glaring, stepped up to the locked gate as though he half-wished to be friendly, and there was sorrow in his voice: "don't tempt me, sir; don't do ut! the missus is peekin' out of the shutters at us now." "and do you never admit visitors, even to the grounds?" "no, sir, never, god 'elp me! and there's many an honest bob i could turn by ut, and no one 'urt. but i've lost my place twic't by ut. they took me back though. the guv'ner 'ud never forgive me again. 'it's three times and out, mister 'opkins,' says 'ee, only last whitsuntide." "but visitors do come?" "yes, sir; but they never gets in. mostly 'mer'cans; they don't know no better, sir. they picks all the ivy orf the outside of the wall, and you sees yourself there's no leaves on the lower branches of that tree. then they carries away so many pebbles from out there that i've to dump in a fresh weelbarrel full o' gravel every week, sir, don't you know." he thrust a pudgy, freckled hand through the bars of the gate to show that he bore me no ill-will, and also, i suppose, to mollify my disappointment. for although i had come too late to see the great poet himself and had even failed to see the inside of his house, yet i had at least been greeted at the gate by his proxy. i pressed the hand firmly, pocketed a handful of gravel as a memento, then turned and went my way. and all there is to tell about my visit to rydal mount is this interview with the bouncer. * * * * * wordsworth lived eighty years. his habitation, except for short periods, was never more than a few miles from his birthplace. his education was not extensive, his learning not profound. he lacked humor and passion; in his character there was little personal magnetism, and in his work there is small dramatic power. he traveled more or less and knew humanity, but he did not know man. his experience in so-called practical things was slight, his judgment not accurate. so he lived--quietly, modestly, dreamily. his dust rests in a country churchyard, the grave marked by a simple slab. a gnarled, old yew-tree stands guard above the grass-grown mound. the nearest railroad is fifteen miles away. as a poet, wordsworth stands in the front rank of the second class. shelley, browning, mrs. browning, tennyson, far surpass him; and the sweet singer of michigan, even in uninspired moments, never "threw off" anything worse than this: "and he is lean and he is sick: his body, dwindled and awry, rests upon ankles swollen and thick; his legs are thin and dry. one prop he has, and only one, his wife, an aged woman, lives with him near the waterfall, upon the village common." jove may nod, but when he makes a move it counts. yet the influence of wordsworth upon the thought and feeling of the world has been very great. he himself said, "the young will read my poems and be better for their truth." many of his lines pass as current coin: "the child is father of the man," "the light that never was on land nor sea," "not too bright and good for human nature's daily food," "thoughts that do lie too deep for tears," "the mighty stream of tendency," and many others. "plain living and high thinking" is generally given to emerson, but he discovered it in wordsworth, and recognizing it as his own he took it. in a certain book of quotations, "the still sad music of humanity" is given to shakespeare; but to equalize matters we sometimes attribute to wordsworth "the old oaken bucket." the men who win are those who correct an abuse. wordsworth's work was a protest--mild yet firm--against the bombastic and artificial school of the eighteenth century. before his day the "timber" used by poets consisted of angels, devils, ghosts, gods; onslaught, tourneys, jousts, tempests of hate and torrents of wrath, always of course with a very beautiful and very susceptible young lady just around the corner. the women in those days were always young and ever beautiful, but seldom wise and not often good. the men were saints or else "bad," generally bad. like the cats of kilkenny, they fought on slight cause. our young man at hawkshead school saw this: it pleased him not, and he made a list of the things on which he would write poems. this list includes: sunset, moonrise, starlight, mist, brooks, shells, stones, butterflies, moths, swallows, linnets, thrushes, wagoners, babies, bark of trees, leaves, nests, fishes, rushes, leeches, cobwebs, clouds, deer, music, shade, swans, crags and snow. he kept his vow and "went it one better," for among his verses i find the following titles: "lines left upon a seat in a yew-tree," "lines composed a few miles above tintern abbey," "to a wounded butterfly," "to dora's portrait," "to the cuckoo," "on seeing a needlebook made in the shape of a harp," etc. wordsworth's service to humanity consists in the fact that he has shown us old truth in a new light, and has made plain the close relationship that exists between physical nature and the soul of man. is this much or little? i think it is much. when we realize that we are a part of all that we see, or hear, or feel, we are not lonely. but to feel a sense of separation is to feel the chill of death. wordsworth taught that the earth is the universal mother and that the life of the flower has its source in the same universal life from whence ours is derived. to know this truth is to feel a tenderness, a kindliness, a spirit of fraternalism, toward every manifestation of this universal life. no attempt was made to say the last word, only a wish to express the truth that the spirit of god is manifest on every hand. now this is a very simple philosophy. no far-reaching, syllogistic logic is required to prove it; no miracle, nor special dispensation is needed; you just feel that it is so, that's all, and it gives you peace. children, foolish folks, old men, whose sands of life are nearly run, comprehend it. but heaven bless you! you can't prove any such foolishness. jeffrey saw the ridiculousness of these assumptions and so he declared, "this will never do," and for twenty years "the edinburgh review" never ceased to fling off fleers and jeers--and to criticize and scoff. that a great periodical, rich and influential, in the city which was the very center of learning, should go so much out of its way to attack a quiet countryman living in a four-roomed cottage, away off in the hills of cumberland, seems a little queer. then, this countryman did not seek to found a kingdom, nor to revolutionize society, nor did he force upon the world his pattypan rhymes about linnets, and larks, and daffodils. far from it: he was very modest--diffident, in fact--and his song was quite in the minor key, but still the chain-shot and bombs of literary warfare were sent hissing in his direction. there is a little story about a certain general who figured as division-commander in the war of secession: this warrior had his headquarters, for a time, in a typical southern home in the tennessee mountains. the house had a large fireplace and chimney; in this chimney, swallows had nests. one day, as the great man was busy at his maps, working out a plan of campaign against the enemy, the swallows made quite an uproar. perhaps some of the eggs were hatching; anyway, the birds were needlessly noisy in their domestic affairs, and it disturbed the great man--he grew nervous. he called his adjutant. "sir," said the mighty warrior, "dislodge those damn pests in the chimney, without delay." two soldiers were ordered to climb the roof and dislodge the enemy. yet the swallows were not dislodged, for the soldiers could not reach them. so jeffrey's tirades were unavailing, and wordsworth was not dislodged. "he might as well try to crush skiddaw," said southey. william m. thackeray to mr. brookfield september , have you read dickens? oh, it is charming! brave dickens! "david copperfield" has some of his prettiest touches, and the reading of the book has done another author a great deal of good. --w.m.t. [illustration: w.m. thackeray] there are certain good old ladies in every community who wear perennial mourning. they attend every funeral, carrying black-bordered handkerchiefs, and weep gently at the right time. i have made it a point to hunt out these ancient dames at their homes, and, over the teacups, i have discovered that invariably they enjoy a sweet peace--a happiness with contentment--that is a great gain. they seem to be civilization's rudimentary relic of the irish keeners and the paid mourners of the orient. and there is just a little of this tendency to mourn with those who mourn in all mankind. it is not difficult to bear another's woe--and then there is always a grain of mitigation, even in the sorrow of the afflicted, that makes their tribulation bearable. burke affirms, in "on the sublime," that all men take a certain satisfaction in the disasters of others. just as frenchmen lift their hats when a funeral passes and thank god that they are not in the hearse, so do we in the presence of calamity thank heaven that it is not ours. perhaps this is why i get a strange delight from walking through a graveyard by night. all about are the white monuments that glisten in the ghostly starlight, the night-wind sighs softly among the grassy mounds--all else is silent--still. this is the city of the dead, and of all the hundreds or thousands who have traveled to this spot over long and weary miles, i, only i, have the power to leave at will. their ears are stopped, their eyes are closed, their hands are folded--but i am alive. one of the first places i visited on reaching london was kensal green cemetery. i quickly made the acquaintance of the first gravedigger, a rare wit, over whose gray head have passed full seventy pleasant summers. i presented him a copy of "the shroud," the organ of the american undertakers' association, published at syracuse, new york. i subscribe for "the shroud" because it has a bright wit-and-humor column, and also for the sweet satisfaction of knowing that there is still virtue left in syracuse. the first gravedigger greeted me courteously, and when i explained briefly my posthumous predilections we grasped hands across an open grave (that he had just digged) and were fast friends. "do you believe in cremation, sir?" he asked. "no, never; it's pagan." "aye, you are a gentleman--and about burying folks in churches?" "never! a grave should be out under the open sky, where the sun by day and the moon and stars----" "right you are. how shakespeare can ever stand it to have his grave walked over by a boy choir is more than i can understand. if i had him here i could look after him right. come, i'll show you the company i keep!" not twenty feet from where we stood was a fine but plain granite block to the memory of the second wife of james russell lowell. "just mr. lowell and one friend stood by the grave when we lowered the coffin--just two men and no one else but the young clergyman who belongs here. mr. lowell shook hands with me when he went away. he gave me a guinea and wrote me two letters afterward from america; the last was sent only a week before he died. i'll show 'em to you when we go to the office. say, did you know him?" he pointed to a slab, on which i read the name of sydney smith. then we went to the graves of mulready, the painter; kemble, the actor; sir charles eastlake, the artist. next came the resting-place of buckle--immortal for writing a preface--dead at thirty-seven, with his history unwrit; leigh hunt sleeps near, and above his dust a column that explains how it was erected by friends. in life he asked for bread; when dead they gave him a costly pile of stone. here are also the graves of madame tietjens; of charles mathews, the actor; and of admiral sir john ross, the arctic explorer. "and just down the hill aways another big man is buried. i knew him well; he used to come and visit us often. the last time i saw him i said as he was going away, 'come again, sir; you are always welcome!' "'thank you, mr. first gravedigger,' says he; 'i will come again before long, and make you an extended visit.' in less than a year the hearse brought him. that's his grave--push that ivy away and you can read the inscription. did you ever hear of him?" it was a plain, heavy slab placed horizontally, and the ivy had so run over it that the white of the marble was nearly obscured. but i made out this inscription: william makepeace thackeray born july , died dec. , anne carmichael smyth died dec. , , aged --his mother by her first marriage the unpoetic exactness of that pedigree gave me a slight chill. but here they sleep--mother and son in one grave. she who gave him his first caress also gave him his last; and when he was found dead in his bed, his mother, who lived under the same roof, was the first one called. he was the child of her girlhood--she was scarcely twenty when she bore him. in life they were never separated, and in death they are not divided. it is as both desired. thackeray was born in india, and was brought to england on the death of his father, when he was six years of age. on the way from calcutta the ship touched at the island of saint helena. a servant took the lad ashore and they walked up the rocky heights to longwood, and there, pacing back and forth in a garden, they saw a short, stout man. "lookee, lad, lookee quick--that's him! he eats three sheep every day and all the children he can get!" "and that's all i had to do with the battle of waterloo," said "old thack," forty years after. but you will never believe it after reading those masterly touches concerning the battle, in "vanity fair." young thackeray was sent to the charterhouse school, where he was considered rather a dull boy. he was big and good-natured, and read novels when he should have studied arithmetic. this tendency to "play off" stuck to him at cambridge--where he did not remain long enough to get a degree, but to the relief of his tutors went off on a tour through europe. travel as a means of education is a very seductive bit of sophistry. invalids whom the doctors can not cure, and scholars whom teachers can not teach, are often advised to take "a change." still there is reason in it. in england thackeray was intent on law; at paris he received a strong bent toward art; but when he reached weimar and was introduced at the court of letters and came into the living presence of goethe, he caught the infection and made a plan for translating schiller. schiller dead was considered in germany a greater man than goethe living, as if it were an offense to live and a virtue to die. and young william makepeace wrote home to his mother that schiller was the greatest man that ever lived and that he was going to translate his books and give them to england. no doubt there are certain people born with a tendency to infectiousness in regard to certain diseases; so there are those who catch the literary mania on slight exposure. "i've got it," said thackeray, and so he had. he went back to england and made groggy efforts at blackstone, and somebody's digest, and what's-his-name's compendium, but all the time he scribbled and sketched. the young man had come into possession of a goodly fortune from his father's estate--enough to yield him an income of over two thousand dollars a year. but bad investments and signing security for friends took the money the way that money usually goes when held by a man who has not earned it. "talk about riches having wings," said thackeray; "my fortune had pinions like a condor, and flew like a carrier-pigeon." when thackeray was thirty he was eking out a meager income writing poems, reviews, criticisms and editorials. his wife was a confirmed invalid, a victim of mental darkness, and his sorrows and anxieties were many. he was known as a bright writer, yet london is full of clever, unsuccessful men. but in thackeray's thirty-eighth year "vanity fair" came out, and it was a success from the first. in "yesterdays with authors," mr. fields says: "i once made a pilgrimage with thackeray to the various houses where his books had been written; and i remember when we came to young street, kensington, he said, with mock gravity, 'down on your knees, you rogue, for here "vanity fair" was penned; and i will go down with you, for i have a high opinion of that little production myself.'" young street is only a block from the kensington metropolitan railway-station. it is a little street running off kensington road. at number sixteen (formerly number thirteen), i saw a card in the window, "rooms to rent to single gentlemen." i rang the bell, and was shown a room that the landlady offered me for twelve shillings a week if i paid in advance; or if i would take another room one flight up with a "gent who was studying hart" it would be only eight and six. i suggested that we go up and see the "gent." we did so, and i found the young man very courteous and polite. he told me that he had never heard thackeray's name in connection with the house. the landlady protested that "no man by the name o' thack'ry has had rooms here since i rented the place; leastwise, if he has been here he called hisself by sumpthink else, which was like o'nuff the case, as most ev'rybody is crooked now'days--but surely no decent person can blame me for that!" i assured her that she was in no wise to blame. from this house in young street the author of "vanity fair" moved to number thirty-six onslow square, where he wrote "the virginians." on the south side of the square there is a row of three-storied brick houses. thackeray lived in one of these houses for nine years. they were the years when honors and wealth were being heaped upon him; and he was worldling enough to let his wants keep pace with his ability to gratify them. he was made of the same sort of clay as other men, for his standard of life conformed to his pocketbook and he always felt poor. from this fine house on onslow square he moved to a veritable palace, which he built to suit his own taste, at number two palace green, kensington. but mansions on earth are seldom for long--he died here on christmas eve, eighteen hundred sixty-three. and charles dickens, mark lemon, millais, trollope, robert browning, cruikshank, tom taylor, louis blanc, charles mathews and shirley brooks were among the friends who carried him to his rest. * * * * * to take one's self too seriously is a great mistake. complacency is the unpardonable sin, and the man who says, "now i'm sure of it," has at that moment lost it. villagers who have lived in one little place until they think themselves great, having lost the sense of proportion through lack of comparison, are generally "in dead earnest." surely they are often intellectually dead, and i do not dispute the fact that they are in earnest. all those excellent gentlemen in the days gone by who could not contemplate a celestial bliss that did not involve the damnation of those who disagreed with them were in dead earnest. cotton mather once saw a black cat perched on the shoulder of an innocent, chattering old gran'ma. the next day a neighbor had a convulsion; and cotton mather went forth and exorcised tabby with a hymn-book, and hanged gran'ma by the neck, high on gallows hill, until she was dead. had the reverend mr. mather possessed but a mere modicum of humor he might have exorcised the cat, but i am sure he would never have troubled old gran'ma. but alas, cotton mather's conversation was limited to yea, yea, and nay, nay--generally, nay, nay--and he was in dead earnest. in the boston public library is a book written in sixteen hundred eighty-five by cotton mather, entitled, "wonders of the invisible world." this book received the endorsement of the governor of the province and also of the president of harvard college. the author cites many cases of persons who were bewitched; and also makes the interesting statement that the devil knows greek, latin and hebrew, but speaks english with an accent. these facts were long used at harvard as an argument in favor of the classics. and when greek was at last made optional, the devil was supposed to have filed a protest with the dean of the faculty. the reverend francis gastrell, who razed new place, and cut down the poet's mulberry-tree to escape the importunities of visitors, was in dead earnest. attila, and herod, and john calvin were in dead earnest. and were it not for the fact that luther had lucid intervals when he went about with his tongue in his cheek he surely would have worked grievous wrong. recent discoveries in egyptian archeology show that in his lifetime moses was esteemed more as a wit than as a lawmaker. his jokes were posted upon the walls and explained to the populace, who it seems were a bit slow. job was a humorist of a high order, and when he said to the wise men, "no doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you," he struck twelve. when the sons of jacob went down into egypt and joseph put up the price of corn, took their money, and then secretly replaced the coin in the sacks, he showed his artless love of a quiet joke. shakespeare's fools were the wisest and kindliest men at court. when the master decked a character in cap and bells, it was as though he had given bonds for the man's humanity. touchstone followed his master into exile; and when all seemed to have forsaken king lear the fool bared himself to the storm and covered the shaking old man with his own cloak. and if costard, trinculo, touchstone, jaques and mercutio had lived in salem in sixteen hundred ninety-two, there would have been not only a flashing of merry jests, but a flashing of rapiers as well, and every gray hair of every old dame's head would have been safe so long as there was a striped leg on which to stand. lincoln, liberator of men, loved the motley. in fact, the individual who is incapable of viewing the world from a jocular basis is unsafe, and can be trusted only when the opposition is strong enough to laugh him into line. in the realm of english letters, thackeray is prince of humorists. he could see right through a brick wall, and never mistook a hawk for a hernshaw. he had a just estimate of values, and the temperament that can laugh at all trivial misfits. and he had, too, that dread capacity for pain which every true humorist possesses, for the true essence of humor is sensibility. in all literature that lives there is mingled like pollen an indefinable element of the author's personality. in thackeray's "lectures on english humorists" this subtle quality is particularly apparent. elusive, delicate, alluring--it is the actinic ray that imparts vitality. when wit plays skittles with dulness, dulness gets revenge by taking wit at his word. vast numbers of people taking thackeray at his word consider him a bitter pessimist. he even disconcerted bright little charlotte bronte, who went down to london to see him, and then wrote back to haworth that "the great man talked steadily with never a smile. i could not tell when to laugh and when to cry, for i did not know what was fun and what fact." but finally the author of "jane eyre" found the combination, and she saw that beneath the brusk exterior of that bulky form there was a woman's tender sympathy. thackeray has told us what he thought of the author of "jane eyre," and the author of "jane eyre" has told us what she thought of the author of "vanity fair." one was big and whimsical, the other was little and sincere, but both were alike in this: their hearts were wrung at the sight of suffering, and both had tears for the erring, the groping, and the oppressed. a frenchman can not comprehend a joke that is not accompanied by grimace and gesticulation; and so m. taine chases thackeray through sixty solid pages, berating him for what he is pleased to term "bottled hate." taine is a cynic who charges thackeray with cynicism, all in the choicest of biting phrase. it is a beautiful example of sinners calling the righteous to repentance--a thing that is often done, but seldom with artistic finish. the fun is too deep for monsieur, or mayhap the brand is not the yellow label to which his palate is accustomed, so he spews it all. yet taine's criticism is charming reading, although he is only hot after an aniseed trail of his own dragging. but the chase is a deal more exciting than most men would lead, were there real live game to capture. if pushed, i might suggest several points in this man's make-up where god could have bettered his work. but accepting thackeray as we find him, we see a singer whose cage fate had overhung with black until he had caught the tune. the "ballad of boullabaisse" shows a tender side of his spirit that he often sought to conceal. his heart vibrated to all finer thrills of mercy; and his love for all created things was so delicately strung that he would, in childish shame, sometimes issue a growl to drown its rising, tearful tones. in the character of becky sharp, he has marshaled some of his own weak points and then lashed them with scorn. he looked into the mirror and seeing a potential snob he straightway inveighed against snobbery. the punishment does not always fit the crime--it is excess. but i still contest that where his ridicule is most severe, it is thackeray's own back that is bared to the knout. the primal recipe for roguery in art is, "know thyself." when a writer portrays a villain and does it well--make no mistake, he poses for the character himself. said gentle ralph waldo emerson, "i have capacity in me for every crime." the man of imagination knows those mystic spores of possibility that lie dormant, and like the magicians of the east who grow mango-trees in an hour, he develops the "inward potential" at will. the mere artisan in letters goes forth and finds a villain and then describes him, but the artist knows a better way: "i am that man." one of the very sweetest, gentlest characters in literature is colonel newcome. the stepfather of thackeray, major carmichael smyth, was made to stand for the portrait of the lovable colonel; and when that all-round athlete, f. hopkinson smith, gave us that other lovable old colonel he paid high tribute to "the newcomes." thackeray was a poet, and as such was often caught in the toils of doubt--the crux of the inquiring spirit. he aspired for better things, and at times his imperfections stood out before him in monstrous shape, and he sought to hiss them down. in the heart of the artist-poet there is an inmost self that sits over against the acting, breathing man and passes judgment on his every deed. to satisfy the world is little; to please the populace is naught; fame is vapor; gold is dross; and every love that has not the sanction of that inmost self is a viper's sting. to satisfy the demands of the god within is the poet's prayer. what doubts beset, what taunting fears surround, what crouching sorrows lie in wait, what dead hopes drag, what hot desires pursue, and what kindly lights do beckon on--ah! "'tis we musicians know." thackeray came to america to get a pot of money, and was in a fair way of securing it, when he chanced to pick up a paper in which a steamer was announced to sail that evening for england. a wave of homesickness swept over the big boy--he could not stand it. he hastily packed up his effects and without saying good-by to any one, and forgetting all his engagements, he hastened to the dock, leaving this note for the kindest of kind friends: "good-by, fields; good-by, mrs. fields--god bless everybody, says w.m.t." charles dickens i hope for the enlargement of my mind, and for the improvement of my understanding. if i have done but little good, i trust i have done less harm, and that none of my adventures will be other than a source of amusing and pleasant recollection. god bless you all! --_pickwick_ [illustration: charles dickens] the path of progress in certain problems seems barred as by a flaming sword. more than a thousand years before christ, an arab chief asked, "if a man die shall he live again?" every man who ever lived has asked the same question, but we know no more today about the subject than did job. there are one hundred five boy babies born to every one hundred girls. the law holds in every land where vital statistics have been kept; and sairey gamp knew just as much about the cause why as brown-sequard, pasteur, agnew or austin flint. there is still a third question that every parent, since adam and eve, has sought to solve: "how can i educate this child so that he will attain eminence?" and even in spite of shelves that groan beneath tomes and tomes, and advice from a million preachers, the answer is: nobody knows. "there is a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will." moses was sent adrift, but the tide carried him into power. the brethren of joseph "deposited him into a cavity," but you can not dispose of genius that way! demosthenes was weighted (or blessed) with every disadvantage; shakespeare got into difficulty with a woman eight years his senior, stole deer, ran away, and--became the very first among english poets; erasmus was a foundling. once there was a woman by the name of nancy hanks; she was thin-breasted, gaunt, yellow and sad. at last, living in poverty, overworked, she was stricken by death. she called her son--homely as herself--and pointing to the lad's sister said, "be good to her, abe," and died--died, having no expectation for her boy beyond the hope that he might prosper in worldly affairs so as to care for himself and his sister. the boy became a man who wielded wisely a power mightier than that ever given to any other american. seven college-bred men composed his cabinet; and proctor knott once said that "if a teeter were evenly balanced, and the members of the cabinet were all placed on one end, and the president on the other, he would send the seven wise men flying into space." on the other hand, marcus aurelius wrote his "meditations" for a son who did not read them, and whose name is a symbol of profligacy; charles kingsley penned "greek heroes" for offspring who have never shown their father's heroism; and charles dickens wrote "a child's history of england" for his children--none of whom has proven his proficiency in historiology. charles dickens himself received his education at the university of hard knocks. very early in life he was cast upon the rocks and suckled by the she-wolf. yet he became the most popular author the world has ever known, and up to the present time no writer of books has approached him in point of number of readers and of financial returns. these are facts--facts so hard and true that they would be the delight of mr. gradgrind. at twelve years of age, charles dickens was pasting labels on blacking-boxes; his father was in prison. at sixteen, he was spending odd hours in the reading-room of the british museum. at nineteen, he was parliamentary reporter; at twenty-one, a writer of sketches; at twenty-three, he was getting a salary of thirty-five dollars a week, and the next year his pay was doubled. when twenty-five, he wrote a play that ran for seventy nights at drury lane theater. about the same time he received seven hundred dollars for a series of sketches written in two weeks. at twenty-six, publishers were at his feet. when dickens was at the flood-tide of prosperity, thackeray, one year his senior, waited on his doorstep with pictures to illustrate "pickwick." he worked steadily, and made from eight to twenty-five thousand dollars a year. his fame increased, and the "new york ledger" paid him ten thousand dollars for one story which he wrote in a fortnight. his collected works fill forty volumes. there are more of dickens' books sold every year now than in any year in which he lived. there were more of dickens' books sold last year than any previous year. "i am glad that the public buy his books," said macready; "for if they did not he would take to the stage and eclipse us all." "not so bad as we seem," by bulwer-lytton, was played at devonshire house in the presence of the queen, dickens taking the principal part. he gave theatrical performances in london, liverpool and manchester, for the benefit of leigh hunt, sheridan knowles and various other needy authors and actors. he wrote a dozen plays, and twice as many more have been constructed from his plots. he gave public readings through england, scotland and ireland, where the people fought for seats. the average receipts for these entertainments were eight hundred dollars per night. in eighteen hundred sixty-three, he made a six months' tour of the united states, giving a series of readings. the prices of admission were placed at extravagant figures, but the box-office was always besieged until the ticket-seller put out his lights and hung out a sign: "the standing-room is all taken." the gross receipts of these readings were two hundred twenty-nine thousand dollars; the expenses thirty-nine thousand dollars; net profit, one hundred ninety thousand dollars. charles dickens died of brain-rupture in eighteen hundred seventy, aged fifty-eight. his dust rests in westminster abbey. * * * * * "to know the london of dickens is a liberal education," once said james t. fields, who was affectionately referred to by charles dickens as "massachusetts jemmy." and i am aware of no better way to become acquainted with the greatest city in the world than to follow the winding footsteps of the author of "david copperfield." beginning his london life when ten years of age, he shifted from one lodging to another, zigzag, tacking back and forth from place to place, but all the time making head, and finally dwelling in palaces of which nobility might be proud. it took him forty-eight years to travel from the squalor of camden town to poet's corner in westminster abbey. he lodged first in bayham street. "a washerwoman lived next door, and a bow street officer over the way." it was a shabby district, chosen by the elder dickens because the rent was low. as he neglected to pay the rent, one wonders why he did not take quarters in piccadilly. i looked in vain for a sign reading, "washin dun heer," but i found a bow street orf'cer who told me that bayham street had long since disappeared. yet there is always a recompense in prowling about london, because if you do not find the thing you are looking for, you find something else equally interesting. my bow street friend proved to be a regular magazine of rare and useful information--historical, archeological and biographical. a lunnun bobby has his clothes cut after a pattern a hundred years old, and he always carries his gloves in his hand--never wearing them--because this was a habit of william the conqueror. but never mind; he is intelligent, courteous and obliging, and i am perfectly willing that he should wear skirts like a ballet-dancer and a helmet too small, if it is his humor. my perliceman knew an older orf'cer who was acquainted with mr. dickens. mr. dickens 'ad a full perliceman's suit 'imself, issued to 'im on an order from scotland yard, and he used to do patrol duty at night, carrying 'is bloomin' gloves in 'is 'and and 'is chinstrap in place. this was told me by my new-found friend, who volunteered to show me the way to north gower street. it's only gower street now and the houses have been renumbered, so number four is a matter of conjecture; but my guide showed me a door where were the marks of a full-grown plate that evidently had long since disappeared. some days afterward i found this identical brass plate at an old bookshop in cheapside. the plate read: "mrs. dickens' establishment." the man who kept the place advertised himself as a "bibliopole." he offered to sell me the plate for one pun ten; but i did not purchase, for i knew where i could get its mate with a deal more verdigris--all for six and eight. dickens has recorded that he can not recollect of any pupils coming to the establishment. but he remembers when his father was taken, like mr. dorrit, to the debtors' prison. he was lodged in the top story but one, in the very same room where his son afterwards put the dorrits. it's a queer thing to know that a book-writer can imprison folks without a warrant and even kill them and yet go unpunished--which thought was suggested to me by my philosophic guide. from this house in gower street, charles used to go daily to the marshalsea to visit micawber, who not so many years later was to act as the proud amanuensis of his son. the next morning after i first met bobby he was off duty. i met him by appointment at the three jolly beggars (a place pernicious snug). he was dressed in a fashionable, light-colored suit, the coat a trifle short, and a high silk hat. his large, red neckscarf--set off by his bright, brick-dust complexion--caused me to mistake him at first for a friend of mine who drives a holborn bus. mr. 'awkins (for it was he) greeted me cordially, pulled gently at his neck-whiskers, and, when he addressed me as me lud, the barmaid served us with much alacrity and things. we went first to the church of saint george; then we found angel court leading to bermondsey, also marshalsea place. here is the site of the prison, where the crowded ghosts of misery still hover; but small trace could we find of the prison itself, neither did we see the ghosts. we, however, saw a very pretty barmaid at the public in angel court. i think she is still prettier than the one to whom bobby introduced me at the sign of the meat-axe, which is saying a good deal. angel court is rightly named. the blacking-warehouse at old hungerford stairs, strand, in which charles dickens was shown by bob fagin how to tie up the pots of paste, has rotted down and been carted away. the coal-barges in the muddy river are still there, just as they were when charles, poll green and bob fagin played on them during the dinner-hour. i saw bob and several other boys, grimy with blacking, chasing each other across the flatboats, but dickens was not there. down the river aways there is a crazy, old warehouse with a rotten wharf of its own, abutting on the water when the tide is in, and on the mud when the tide is out--the whole place literally overrun with rats that scuffle and squeal on the moldy stairs. i asked bobby if it could not be that this was the blacking-factory; but he said, no, for this one allus wuz. dickens found lodgings in lant street while his father was awaiting in the marshalsea for something to turn up. bob sawyer afterward had the same quarters. when sawyer invited mr. pickwick "and the other chaps" to dine with him, he failed to give his number, so we can not locate the house. but i found the street and saw a big, wooden pickwick on wheels standing as a sign for a tobacco-shop. the old gentleman who runs the place, and runs the sign in every night, assured me that bob sawyer's room was the first floor back. i looked in at it, but seeing no one there whom i knew, i bought tuppence worth of pigtail in lieu of fee, and came away. if a man wished to abstract himself from the world, to remove himself from temptation, to place himself beyond the possibility of desire to look out of the window, he should live in lant street, said a great novelist. david copperfield lodged here when he ordered that glass of genuine stunning ale at the red lion and excited the sympathy of the landlord, winning a motherly kiss from his wife. the red lion still crouches (under another name) at the corner of derby and parliament streets, westminster. i daydreamed there for an hour one morning, pretending the while to read a newspaper. i can not, however, recommend their ale as particularly stunning. as there are authors of one book, so are there readers of one author--more than we wist. children want the same bear story over and over, preferring it to a new one; so "grown-ups" often prefer the dog-eared book to uncut leaves. mr. hawkins preferred the dog-eared, and at the station-house, where many times he had long hours to wait in anticipation of a hurry-up call, he whiled away the time by browsing in his dickens. he knew no other author, neither did he wish to. his epidermis was soaked with dickensology, and when inspired by gin and bitters he emitted information at every pore. to him all these bodiless beings of dickens' brain were living creatures. an anachronism was nothing to hawkins. charley bates was still at large, quilp was just around the corner, and gaffer hexam's boat was moored in the muddy river below. dickens used to haunt the publics, those curious resting-places where all sorts and conditions of thirsty philosophers meet to discuss all sorts of themes. my guide took me to many of these inns which the great novelist frequented, and we always had one legend with every drink. after we had called at three or four different snuggeries, hawkins would begin to shake out the facts. now, it is not generally known that the so-called stories of dickens are simply records of historic events, like what-do-you-call-um's plays! f'r instance, dombey and son was a well-known firm, who carried over into a joint stock company only a few years ago. the concern is now known as the dombey trading company; they occupy the same quarters that were used by their illustrious predecessors. i signified a desire to see the counting-house so minutely described by dickens, and mr. hawkins agreed to pilot me thither on our way to tavistock square. we twisted down to the first turning, then up three, then straight ahead to the first right-hand turn, where we cut to the left until we came to a stuffed dog, which is the sign of a glover. just beyond this my guide plucked me by the sleeve; we halted, and he silently and solemnly pointed across the street. sure enough! there it was, the warehouse with a great stretch of dirty windows in front, through which we could see dozens of clerks bending over ledgers, just as though mr. dombey were momentarily expected. over the door was a gilt sign, "the bombay trading co." bobby explained that it was all the same. i did not care to go in; but at my request hawkins entered and asked for mister carker, the junior, but no one knew him. then we dropped in at the silver shark, a little inn about the size of a large dustbin of two compartments and a sifter. here we rested a bit, as we had walked a long way. the barmaid who waited upon us was in curl-papers, but she was even then as pretty if not prettier than the barmaid at the public in angel court, and that is saying a good deal. she was about as tall as trilby or as ellen terry, which is a very nice height, i think. as we rested, mr. hawkins told the barmaid and me how rogue riderhood came to this very public, through that same doorway, just after he had his alfred david took down by the governors both. he was a slouching dog, was the rogue. he wore an old, sodden fur cap, winter and summer, formless and mangy; it looked like a drowned cat. his hands were always in his pockets up to his elbows, when they were not reaching for something, and when he was out after game his walk was a half-shuffle and run. hawkins saw him starting off this way one night and followed him--knowing there was mischief on hand--followed him for two hours through the fog and rain. it was midnight and the last stroke of the bells that tolled the hour had ceased, and their echo was dying away, when all at once---- but the story is too long to relate here. it is so long that when mr. hawkins had finished it was too late to reach tavistock square before dark. mr. hawkins explained that as bats and owls and rats come out only when the sun has disappeared, so there are other things that can be seen best by night. and as he did not go on until the next day at one, he proposed that we should go down to the cheshire cheese and get a bite of summat and then sally forth. so we hailed a bus and climbed to the top. "she rolls like a scow in the wake of a liner," said bobby, as we tumbled into seats. when the bus man came up the little winding ladder and jingled his punch, hawkins paid our fares with a heavy wink, and the guard said, "thank you, sir," and passed on. we got off at the cheese and settled ourselves comfortably in a corner. the same seats are there, running along the wall, where doctor johnson, "goldy" and boswell so often sat and waked the echoes with their laughter. we had chops and tomato-sauce in recollection of jingle and trotter. the chops were of that delicious kind unknown outside of england. i supplied the legend this time, for my messmate had never heard of boswell. hawkins introduced me to "the cove in the white apron" who waited upon us, and then explained that i was the man who wrote "martin chuzzlewit." he kissed his hand to the elderly woman who presided behind the nickel-plated american cash-register. the only thing that rang false about the place was that register, perked up there spick-span new. hawkins insisted that it was a typewriter, and as we passed out he took a handful of matches (thinking them toothpicks) and asked the cashier to play a tune on the thingumabob, but she declined. we made our way to london bridge as the night was settling down. no stars came out, but flickering, fluttering gaslights appeared, and around each post was a great, gray, fluffy aureole of mist. just at the entrance to the bridge we saw nancy dogged by noah claypole. they turned down towards billingsgate fish-market, and as the fog swallowed them, hawkins answered my question as to the language used at billingsgate. "it's not so bloomin' bad, you know; why, i'll take you to a market in islington where they talk twice as vile." he started to go into technicalities, but i excused him. then he leaned over the parapet and spat down at a rowboat that was passing below. as the boat moved out into the glimmering light we made out lizzie hexam at the oars, while gaffer sat in the stern on the lookout. the marchioness went by as we stood there, a bit of tattered shawl over her frowsy head, one stocking down around her shoetop. she had a penny loaf under her arm, and was breaking off bits, eating as she went. soon came snagsby, then mr. vincent crummels, mr. sleary, the horseback-rider, followed by chops, the dwarf, and pickleson, the giant. hawkins said there were two picklesons, but i saw only one. just below was the stone pier and there stood mrs. gamp, and i heard her ask: "and which of all them smoking monsters is the anxworks boat, i wonder? goodness me!" "which boat do you want?" asked ruth. "the anxworks package--i will not deceive you, sweet; why should i?" "why, that is the antwerp packet, in the middle," said ruth. "and i wish it was in jonidge's belly, i do," cried mrs. gamp. we came down from the bridge, moved over toward billingsgate, past the custom-house, where curious old sea-captains wait for ships that never come. captain cuttle lifted his hook to the brim of his glazed hat as we passed. we returned the salute and moved on toward the tower. "it's a rum place; let's not stop," said hawkins. thoughts of the ghosts of raleigh, of mary queen of scots and of lady jane grey seemed to steady his gait and to hasten his footsteps. in a few moments we saw just ahead of us david copperfield and mr. peggotty following a woman whom we could make out walking excitedly a block ahead. it was martha, intent on suicide. "we'll get to the dock first and 'ead 'er orf," said 'awkins. we ran down a side street. but a bright light in a little brick cottage caught our attention--men can't run arm in arm anyway. we forgot our errand of mercy and stood still with open mouths looking in at the window at little jenny wren hard at work dressing her dolls and stopping now and then to stab the air with her needle. bradley headstone and charlie and lizzie hexam came in, and we then passed on, not wishing to attract attention. there was an old smoke-stained tree on the corner which i felt sorry for, as i do for every city tree. just beyond was a blacksmith's forge and a timber-yard behind, where a dealer in old iron had a shop, in front of which was a rusty boiler and a gigantic flywheel half buried in the sand. there were no crowds to be seen now, but we walked on and on--generally in the middle of the narrow streets, turning up or down or across, through arches where tramps slept, by doorways where children crouched; passing drunken men, and women with shawls over their heads. now and again the screech of a fiddle could be heard or the lazy music of an accordion, coming from some "sailors' home." steps of dancing with rattle of iron-shod boot-heels clicking over sanded floors, the hoarse shout of the "caller-off," and now and again angry tones with cracked feminine falsettos broke on the air; and all the time the soft rain fell and the steam seemed to rise from the sewage-laden streets. we were in stepney, that curious parish so minutely described by walter besant in "all sorts and conditions of men"--the parish where all children born at sea were considered to belong. we saw brig place, where walter gay visited captain cuttle. then we went with pip in search of mrs. wimple's house, at mill-pond bank, chink's basin, old green copper rope walk; where lived old bill barley and his daughter clara, and where magwitch was hidden. it was the dingiest collection of shabby buildings ever squeezed together in a dark corner as a club for tomcats. then, standing out in the gloom, we saw limehouse church, where john rokesmith prowled about on a 'tective scent; and where john harmon waited for the third mate radfoot, intending to murder him. next we reached limehouse hole, where rogue riderhood took the plunge down the steps of leaving shop. hawkins thought he saw the artful dodger ahead of us on the dock. he went over and looked up and down and under an old upturned rowboat, then peered over the dock and swore a harmless oath that if we could catch him we would run him in without a warrant. yes, we'd clap the nippers on 'im and march 'im orf. "not if i can help it," i said; "i like the fellow too well." fortunately hawkins failed to find him. here it was that the uncommercial traveler did patrol duty on many sleepless nights. here it was that esther summerson and mr. bucket came. and by the light of a match held under my hat we read a handbill on the brick wall: "found drowned!" the heading stood out in big, fat letters, but the print below was too damp to read, yet there is no doubt it is the same bill that gaffer hexam, eugene wrayburn and mortimer lightwood read, for mr. hawkins said so. as we stood there we heard the gentle gurgle of the tide running under the pier, then a dip of oars coming from out the murky darkness of the muddy river: a challenge from the shore with orders to row in, a hoarse, defiant answer and a watchman's rattle. a policeman passed us running and called back, "i say, hawkins, is that you? there's murder broke loose in whitechapel again! the reserves have been ordered out!" hawkins stopped and seemed to pull himself together--his height increased three inches. a moment before i thought he was a candidate for fatty degeneration of the cerebrum, but now his sturdy frame was all atremble with life. "another murder! i knew it. bill sykes has killed nancy at last. there 's fifty pun for the man who puts the irons on 'im--i must make for the nearest stishun." he gave my hand a twist, shot down a narrow courtway--and i was left to fight the fog, and mayhap this bill sykes and all the other wild phantoms of dickens' brain, alone. * * * * * a certain great general once said that the only good indian is a dead indian. just why the maxim should be limited to aborigines i know not, for when one reads obituaries he is discouraged at the thoughts of competing in virtue with those who have gone hence. let us extend the remark--plagiarize a bit--and say that the only perfect men are those whom we find in books. the receipt for making them is simple, yet well worth pasting in your scrapbook. take the virtues of all the best men you ever knew or heard of, leave out the faults, then mix. in the hands of "the lady novelist" this composition, well molded, makes a scarecrow, in the hair of which the birds of the air come and build their nests. but manipulated by an expert a figure may appear that starts and moves and seems to feel the thrill of life. it may even take its place on a pedestal and be exhibited with other waxworks and thus become confounded with the historic and though these things make the unskilful laugh, yet the judicious say, "dickens made it, therefore let it pass for a man." dear old m. taine, ever glad to score a point against the british, and willing to take dickens at his word, says, "we have no such men in france as scrooge and squeers!" but, god bless you, m. taine, england has no such men either. the novelist takes the men and women he has known, and from life, plus imagination, he creates. if he sticks too close to nature he describes, not depicts: this is "veritism." if imagination's wing is too strong, it lifts the luckless writer off from earth and carries him to an unknown land. you may then fall down and worship his characters, and there is no violation of the first commandment. nothing can be imagined that has not been seen; but imagination can assort, omit, sift, select, construct. given a horse, an eagle, an elephant, and the "creative artist" can make an animal that is neither a horse, an eagle, nor an elephant, yet resembles each. this animal may have eight legs (or forty) with hoofs, claws and toes alternating; a beak, a trunk, a mane; and the whole can be feathered and given the power of rapid flight and also the ability to run like the east wind. it can neigh, roar or scream by turn, or can do all in concert, with a vibratory force multiplied by one thousand. the novelist must have lived, and the novelist must have imagination. but this is not enough. he must have power to analyze and separate, and then he should have the good taste to select and group, forming his parts into a harmonious whole. yet he must build large. life-size will not do: the statue must be heroic, and the artist's genius must breathe into its nostrils the breath of life. the men who live in history are those whose lives have been skilfully written. "plutarch is the most charming writer of fiction the world has ever known," said emerson. dickens' characters are personifications of traits, not men and women. yet they are a deal funnier--they are as funny as a box of monkeys, as entertaining as a punch-and-judy show, as interesting as a "fifteen puzzle," and sometimes as pretty as chromos. quilp munching the eggs, shells and all, to scare his wife, makes one shiver as though a jack-in-the-box had been popped out at him. mr. mould, the undertaker, and jaggers, the lawyer, are as amusing as humpty-dumpty and pantaloon. i am sure that no live lawyer ever gave me half the enjoyment that jaggers has, and doctor slammers' talk is better medicine than the pills of any living m.d. because the burnt-cork minstrel pleases me more than a real "nigger" is no reason why i should find fault! dickens takes the horse, the eagle and the elephant and makes an animal of his own. he rubs up the feathers, places the tail at a fierce angle, makes the glass eyes glare, and you are ready to swear that the thing is alive. by rummaging over the commercial world you can collect the harshness, greed, avarice, selfishness and vanity from a thousand men. with these sins you can, if you are very skilful, construct a ralph nickleby, a scrooge, a jonas chuzzlewit, an alderman cute, a mr. murdstone, a bounderby or a gradgrind at will. a little more pride, a trifle less hypocrisy, a molecule extra of untruth, and flavor with this fault or that, and your man is ready to place up against the fence to dry. then you can make a collection of all the ridiculous traits--the whims, silly pride, foibles, hopes founded on nothing and dreams touched with moonshine--and you make a micawber. put in a dash of assurance and a good thimbleful of hypocrisy, and pecksniff is the product. leave out the assurance, replacing it with cowardice, and the result is doctor chillip or uriah heap. muddle the whole with stupidity, and bumble comes forth. then, for the good people, collect the virtues and season to suit the taste and we have the cheeryble brothers, paul dombey or little nell. they have no development, therefore no history--the circumstances under which you meet them vary, that's all. they are people the like of whom are never seen on land or sea. little nell is good all day long, while live children are good for only five minutes at a time. the recurrence with which these five-minute periods return determines whether the child is "good" or "bad." in the intervals the restless little feet stray into flowerbeds; stand on chairs so that grimy, dimpled hands may reach forbidden jam; run and romp in pure joyous innocence, or kick spitefully at authority. then the little fellow may go to sleep, smile in his dreams so that mamma says angels are talking to him (nurse says wind on the stomach); when he awakens the five-minute good spell returns. men are only grown-up children. they are cheerful after breakfast, cross at night. houses, lands, barns, railroads, churches, books, racetracks are the playthings with which they amuse themselves until they grow tired, and death, the kind old nurse, puts them to sleep. so a man on earth is good or bad as mood moves him; in color his acts are seldom pure white, neither are they wholly black, but generally of a steel-gray. caprice, temper, accident, all act upon him. the north wind of hate, the simoon of jealousy, the cyclone of passion beat and buffet him. pilots strong and pilots cowardly stand at the helm by turn. but sometimes the south wind softly blows, the sun comes out by day, the stars at night: friendship holds the rudder firm, and love makes all secure. such is the life of man--a voyage on life's unresting sea; but dickens knows it not. esther is always good, fagin is always bad, bumble is always pompous, and scrooge is always--scrooge. at no dickens' party do you ever mistake cheeryble for carker; yet in real life carker is carker one day and cheeryble the next--yes, carker in the morning and cheeryble after dinner. there is no doubt that a dummy so ridiculous as pecksniff has reduced the number of hypocrites; and the domineering and unjust are not quite so popular since dickens painted their picture with a broom. from the yeasty deep of his imagination he conjured forth his strutting spirits; and the names he gave to each are as fitting and as funny as the absurd smallclothes and fluttering ribbons which they wear. shakespeare has his gobbo, touchstone, simpcox, sly, grumio, mopsa, pinch, nym, simple, quickly, overdone, elbow, froth, dogberry, puck, peablossom, taurus, bottom, bushy, hotspur, scroop, wall, flute, snout, starveling, moonshine, mouldy, shallow, wart, bullcalf, feeble, quince, snag, dull, mustardseed, fang, snare, rumor, tearsheet, cobweb, costard and moth; but in names as well as in plot "the father of pickwick" has distanced the master. in fact, to give all the odd and whimsical names invented by dickens would be to publish a book, for he compiled an indexed volume of names from which he drew at will. he used, however, but a fraction of his list. the rest are wisely kept from the public, else, forsooth, the fledgling writers of penny-shockers would seize upon them for raw stock. dickens has a watch that starts and stops in a way of its own--never mind the sun. he lets you see the wheels go round, but he never tells you why the wheels go round. he knows little of psychology--that curious, unseen thing that stands behind every act. he knows not the highest love, therefore he never depicts the highest joy. nowhere does he show the gradual awakening in man of godlike passion--nowhere does he show the evolution of a soul; very, very seldom does he touch the sublime. but he has given the athenians a day of pleasure, and for this let us all reverently give thanks. oliver goldsmith jarvis: a few of our usual cards of compliments--that's all. this bill from your tailor; this from your mercer; and this from the little broker in crooked lane. he says he has been at a great deal of trouble to get back the money you borrowed. honeydew: but i am sure we were at a great deal of trouble in getting him to lend it. jarvis: he has lost all patience. honeydew: then he has lost a good thing. jarvis: there's that ten guineas you were sending to the poor man and his children in the fleet. i believe that would stop his mouth for a while. honeydew: ay, jarvis; but what will fill their mouths in the meantime? --_goldsmith, "the good-natured man"_ [illustration: oliver goldsmith] the isle of erin has the same number of square miles as the state of indiana; it also has more kindness to the acre than any other country on earth. ireland has five million inhabitants; once it had eight. three millions have gone away, and when one thinks of landlordism he wonders why the five millions did not go, too. but the irish are a poetic people and love the land of their fathers with a childlike love, and their hearts are all bound up in sweet memories, rooted by song and legend into nooks and curious corners, so the tendrils of affection hold them fast. ireland is very beautiful. its pasture-lands and meadow-lands, blossom-decked and water-fed, crossed and recrossed by never-ending hedgerows, that stretch away and lose themselves in misty nothingness, are fair as a poet's dream. birds carol in the white hawthorn and the yellow furze all day long, and the fragrant summer winds that blow lazily across the fields are laden with the perfume of fairest flowers. it is like crossing the dark river called death, to many, to think of leaving ireland--besides that, even if they wanted to go they haven't money to buy a steerage ticket. from across the dark river called death come no remittances; but from america many dollars are sent back to ireland. this often supplies the obolus that secures the necessary bit of cunard passport. whenever an irishman embarks at queenstown, part of the five million inhabitants go down to the waterside to see him off. not long ago i stood with the crowd and watched two fine lads go up the gangplank, each carrying a red handkerchief containing his worldly goods. as the good ship moved away we lifted a wild wail of woe that drowned the sobbing of the waves. everybody cried--i wept, too--and as the great, black ship became but a speck on the western horizon we embraced each other in frenzied grief. there is beauty in ireland--physical beauty of so rare and radiant a type that it makes the heart of an artist ache to think that it can not endure. on country roads, at fair time, the traveler will see barefoot girls who are women, and just suspecting it, who have cheeks like ripe pippins; laughing eyes with long, dark, wicked lashes; teeth like ivory; necks of perfect poise; and waists that, never having known a corset, are pure greek. of course, these girls are aware that we admire them--how could they help it? they carry big baskets on either shapely arm, bundles balanced on their heads, and we, suddenly grown tired, sit on the bankside as they pass by, and feign indifference to their charms. once safely past, we admiringly examine their tracks in the soft mud (for there has been a shower during the night), and we vow that such footprints were never before left upon the sands of time. the typical young woman in ireland is juno before she was married; the old woman is sycorax after caliban was weaned. wrinkled, toothless, yellow old hags are seen sitting by the roadside, rocking back and forth, crooning a song that is mate to the chant of the witches in "macbeth" when they brew the hellbroth. see that wizened, scarred and cruel old face--how it speaks of a seared and bitter heart! so dull yet so alert, so changeful yet so impassive, so immobile yet so cunning--a paradox in wrinkles, where half-stifled desperation has clawed at the soul until it has fled, and only dead indifference or greedy expectation is left to tell the tragic tale. "in the name of god, charity, kind gentlemen, charity!" and the old crone stretches forth a long, bony claw. should you pass on she calls down curses on your head. if you are wise, you go back and fling her a copper to stop the cold streaks that are shooting up your spine. and these old women were the most trying sights i saw in ireland. "pshaw!" said a friend of mine when i told him this; "these old creatures are actors, and if you would sit down and talk to them, as i have done, they will laugh and joke, and tell you of sons in america who are policemen, and then they will fill black 'dhudeens' out of your tobacco and ask if you know mike mcguire who lives in she-ka-gy." the last trace of comeliness has long left the faces of these repulsive beggars, but there is a type of feminine beauty that comes with years. it is found only where intellect and affection keep step with spiritual desire; and in ireland, where it is often a crime to think, where superstition stalks, and avarice rules, and hunger crouches, it is very, very rare. but i met one woman in the emerald isle whose hair was snow-white, and whose face seemed to beam a benediction. it was a countenance refined by sorrow, purified by aspiration, made peaceful by right intellectual employment, strong through self-reliance, and gentle by an earnest faith in things unseen. it proved the possible. when the nations are disarmed, ireland will take first place, for in fistiana she is supreme. james russell lowell once said that where the "code duello" exists, men lift their hats to ladies, and say "excuse me" and "if you please." and if lowell was so bold as to say a good word for the gentlemen who hold themselves "personally responsible," i may venture the remark that men who strike from the shoulder are almost universally polite to strangers. a woman can do ireland afoot and alone with perfect safety. everywhere one finds courtesy, kindness and bubbling good-cheer. nineteen-twentieths of all lawlessness in ireland during the past two hundred years has been directed against the landlord's agent. this is a very irish-like proceeding--to punish the agent for the sins of the principal. when the landlord himself comes over from england he affects a fatherly interest in "his people." he gives out presents and cheap favors, and the people treat him with humble deference. when the landlord's agent goes to america he gets a place as first mate on a mississippi river steamboat; and before the war he was in demand in the south as overseer. he it is who has taught the "byes" the villainy that they execute; and it sometimes goes hard, for they better the instruction. but there is one other character that the boys occasionally look after in ireland, and that is the "squire." he is a merry wight in tight breeches, red coat, and a number-six hat. he has yellow side-whiskers and 'unts to 'ounds, riding over the wheatfields of honest men. the genuine landlord lives in london; the squire would like to but can not afford it. of course, there are squires and squires, but the kind i have in mind is an irishman who tries to pass for an englishman. he is that curious thing--a man without a country. there is a theory to the effect that the universal mother in giving out happiness bestows on each and all an equal portion--that the beggar trudging along the stony road is as happy as the king who rides by in his carriage. this is a very old belief, and it has been held by many learned men. from the time i first heard it, it appealed to me as truth. yet recently my faith has been shaken; for not long ago in new york i climbed the marble steps of a splendid mansion and was admitted by a servant in livery who carried my card on a silver tray to his master. this master had a son in the "keeley institute," a daughter in her grave, and a wife who shrank from his presence. his heart was as lonely as a winter night at sea. fate had sent him a coachman, a butler, a gardener and a footman, but she took his happiness and passed it through a hole in the thatch of a mud-plastered cottage in ireland, where, each night, six rosy children soundly slept in one straw bed. in that cottage i stayed two days. there was a stone floor and bare, whitewashed walls; but there was a rosebush climbing over the door, and within health and sunny temper that made mirth with a meal of herbs, and a tenderness that touched to poetry the prose of daily duties. but it is well to bear in mind that an irishman in america and an irishman in ireland are not necessarily the same thing. often the first effect of a higher civilization is degeneration. just as the chinaman quickly learns big swear-words, and the indian takes to drink, and certain young men on first reading emerson's essay on "self-reliance" go about with a chip on their shoulders, so sometimes does the first full breath of freedom's air develop the worst in paddy instead of the best. as one tramps through ireland and makes the acquaintance of a blue-eyed "broth of a bye," who weighs one hundred and ninety, and measures forty-four inches around the chest, he catches glimpses of noble traits and hints of mystic possibilities. there are actions that look like rudiments of greatness gone, and you think of the days when olympian games were played, and finger meanwhile the silver in your pocket and inwardly place it on this twenty-year-old, pink-faced, six-foot "boy" that stands before you. in ireland there are no forests, but in the peat-bogs are found remains of mighty trees that once lifted their outstretched branches to the sun. are these remains of stately forests symbols of a race of men that, too, have passed away? in any wayside village of leinster you can pick you a model for an apollo. he is in rags, is this giant, and can not read, but he can dance and sing and fight. he has an eye for color, an ear for music, a taste for rhyme, a love of novelty and a thirst for fun. and withal he has blundering sympathy and a pity whose tears are near the surface. now, will this fine savage be a victim of arrested development, and sink gradually through weight of years into mere animal stupidity and sodden superstition? the chances are that this is just what he will do, and that at twenty he will be in his intellectual zenith. summer does not fulfil the promise of spring. but as occasionally there is one of those beautiful, glowing irish girls who leaves footsteps that endure (in bettered lives), instead of merely transient tracks in mud, so there has been a burke, a wellington, an o'connell, a sheridan, a tom moore and an oliver goldsmith. * * * * * while goldsmith was an irishman, swift was an englishman who chanced to be born of irish parents in dublin. in comparing these men thackeray says: "i think i would rather have had a cold potato and a friendly word from goldsmith than to have been beholden to the dean for a guinea and a dinner. no; the dean was not an irishman, for no irishman ever gave but with a kind word and a kind heart." charles goldsmith was a clergyman, passing rich on forty pounds a year. he had a nice little family of eight children, and what became of the seven who went not astray i do not know. but the smallest and homeliest one of the brood became the best-loved man in london. these sickly boys who have been educated only because they were too weak to work--what a record their lives make! little oliver had a pug-nose and bandy legs, and fists not big enough to fight, but he had a large head, and because he was absent-minded, lots of folks thought him dull and stupid, and others were sure he was very bad. in fact, let us admit it, he did steal apples and rifle birds' nests, and on "the straggling fence that skirts the way," he drew pictures of paddy byrne, the schoolmaster, who amazed the rustics by the amount of knowledge he carried in one small head. but paddy byrne did not love art for art's sake, so he applied the ferule vigorously to little goldsmith's anatomy, with a hope of diverting the lad's inclinations from art to arithmetic. i do not think the plan was very successful, for the pockmarked youngster was often adorned with the dunce-cap. "and, sir," said doctor johnson, many years after, "it must have been very becoming." it seems that paddy byrne "boarded round," and part of the time was under the roof of the rectory. now we all know that schoolmasters are dual creatures, and that once away from the schoolyard, and having laid aside the robe of office, are often good, honest, simple folks. in his official capacity paddy byrne made things very uncomfortable for the pug-nosed little boy, but, like the true irishman that he was, when he got away from the schoolhouse he was sorry for it. whether dignity is the mask we wear to hide ignorance, i am not sure, yet when paddy byrne was the schoolmaster he was a man severe and stern to view; but when he was plain paddy byrne he was a first-rate good fellow. evenings he would hold little oliver on his knee, and instead of helping him in his lessons would tell him tales of robbers, pirates, smugglers--everything and anything in fact that boys like: stories of fairies, goblins, ghosts; lion-hunts and tiger-killing in which the redoubtable paddy was supposed to have taken a chief part. the schoolmaster had been a soldier and a sailor. he had been in many lands, and when he related his adventures, no doubt he often mistook imagination for memory. but the stories had the effect of choking the desire in oliver for useful knowledge, and gave instead a thirst for wandering and adventure. byrne also had a taste for poetry, and taught the lad to scribble rhymes. very proud was the boy's mother, and very carefully did she preserve these foolish lines. all this was in the village of lissoy, county westmeath; yet if you look on the map you will look in vain for lissoy. but six miles northeast from athlone and three miles from ballymahon is the village of auburn. when goldsmith was a boy lissoy was: "sweet auburn! loveliest village of the plain, where health and plenty cheered the laboring swain, where smiling spring the earliest visits paid, and parting summer's lingering blooms delayed-- dear lovely bowers of innocence and ease, seats of my youth, when every sport could please-- how often have i loitered o'er thy green, where humble happiness endeared each scene; how often have i paused on every charm, the sheltered cot, the cultivated farm, the never-failing brook, the busy mill, the decent church, that topped the neighboring hill, the hawthorn bush, with seats beneath the shade for talking age and whispering lovers made: how often have i blessed the coming day, when toil remitting lent its turn to play, and all the village train from labor free, led up their sports beneath the spreading tree-- while many a pastime circled in the shade, the young contending as the old surveyed; and many a gambol frolicked o'er the ground, and sleights of art and feats of strength went round." in america, when a "city" is to be started, the first thing is to divide up the land into town-lots and then sell these lots to whoever will buy. this is a very modern scheme. but in ireland whole villages belong to one man, and every one in the place pays tribute. then villages are passed down from generation to generation, and sometimes sold outright, but there is no wish to dispose of corner lots. for when a man lives in your house and you can put him out at any time, he is, of course, much more likely to be civil than if he owns the place. but it has happened many times that the inhabitants of irish villages have all packed up and deserted the place, leaving no one but the village squire and that nice man, the landlord's agent. the cottages then are turned into sheep-pens or hay-barns. they may be pulled down, or, if they are left standing, the weather looks after that. and these are common sights to the tourist. now the landlord, who owned every rood of the village of lissoy, lived in london. he lived well. he gambled a little, and as the cards did not run his way he got into debt. so he wrote to his agent in lissoy to raise the rents. he did so, threatened, applied the screws, and--the inhabitants packed up and let the landlord have his village all to himself. let goldsmith tell: "sweet smiling village, loveliest of the lawn, thy sports are fled, and all thy charms withdrawn: amidst thy bowers the tyrant's hand is seen, and desolation saddens all thy green; one only master grasps the whole domain, and half a tillage stints thy smiling plain. no more thy glassy brook reflects the day, but choked with sedges, works its weedy way; along thy glades, a solitary guest, the hollow-sounding bittern guards its nest; amidst thy desert walks the lapwing flies, and tires their echoes with unvaried cries. sunk are thy bowers in shapeless ruin all, and the long grass overtops the moldering wall; and, trembling, shrinking from the spoiler's hand, far, far away, thy children leave the land." a titled gentleman by the name of napier was the owner of the estate at that time, and as his tenantry had left, he in wrath pulled down their rows of pretty white cottages, demolished the schoolhouse, blew up the mill, and took all the material and built a splendid mansion on the hillside. the cards had evidently turned in his direction, but anyway, he owned several other villages, so although he toiled not neither did he spin, yet he was well clothed and always fed. but my lord napier was not immortal, for he died, and was buried; and over his grave they erected a monument, and on it are these words: "he was the friend of the oppressed." the records of literature, so far as i know, show no such moving force in a simple poem as the re-birth of the village of auburn. no man can live in a village and illuminate it by his genius. his fellow townsmen and neighbors are not to be influenced by his eloquence except in a very limited way. his presence creates an opposition, for the "personal touch" repels as well as attracts. dying, seven cities may contend for the honor of his birthplace; or after his departure, knowledge of his fame may travel back across the scenes that he has known, and move to better things. the years went by and the napier estate got into a bad way and was sold. captain hogan became the owner of the site of the village of lissoy. now, captain hogan was a poet in feeling, and he set about to replace the village that goldsmith had loved and immortalized. he adopted the name that goldsmith supplied, and auburn it is even unto this day. in the village-green is the original spreading hawthorn-tree, all enclosed in a stone wall to preserve it. and on the wall is a sign requesting you not to break off branches. around the trees are seats. i sat there one evening with "talking age" and "whispering lovers." the mirth that night was of a quiet sort, and i listened to an old man who recited all "the deserted village" to the little group that was present. it cost me sixpence, but was cheap for the money, for the brogue was very choice. i was the only stranger present, and quickly guessed that the entertainment was for my sole benefit, as i saw that i was being furtively watched to see how i took my medicine. a young fellow sitting near me offered a little goldsmith information, then a woman on the other side did the same, and the old man who had recited suggested that we go over and see the alehouse "where the justly celebhrated docther goldsmith so often played his harp so feelin'ly." so we adjourned to the three jolly pigeons--a dozen of us, including the lovers, whom i personally invited. "and did oliver goldsmith really play his harp in this very room?" i asked. "aye, indade he did, yer honor, an' ef ye don't belave it, ye kin sit in the same chair that was his." so they led me to the big chair that stood on a little raised platform, and i sat in the great oaken seat which was surely made before goldsmith was born. then we all took ale (at my expense). the lovers sat in one corner, drinking from one glass, and very particular to drink from the same side, and giggling to themselves. the old man wanted to again recite "the deserted village," but was forcibly restrained. and instead, by invitation of himself, the landlord sang a song composed by goldsmith, but which i have failed to find in goldsmith's works, entitled, "when ireland is free." there were thirteen stanzas in this song, and a chorus and refrain in which the words of the title are repeated. after each stanza we all came in strong on the chorus, keeping time by tapping our glasses on the tables. then we all drank perdition to english landlords, had our glasses refilled, and i was called on for a speech. i responded in a few words that were loudly cheered, and the very good health of "the 'merican nobleman" was drunk with much fervor. the three jolly pigeons is arranged exactly to the letter: "the whitewashed walls, the nicely sanded floor, the varnished clock that clicked behind the door; the chest contrived a doubly debt to pay, a bed by night, a chest of drawers by day; the pictures placed for ornament and use, the twelve good rules, the royal game of goose." and behold, there on the wall behind the big oak chair are "the twelve good rules." the next morning i saw the modest mansion of the village preacher "whose house was known to all the vagrant train," then the little stone church, and beyond i came to the blossoming furze, unprofitably gay, where the village master taught his little school. a bright young woman teaches there now, and it is certain that she can write and cipher too, for i saw "sums" on the blackboard, and i also saw where she had written some very pretty mottoes on the wall with colored chalk, a thing i am sure that paddy byrne never thought to do. below the schoolhouse is a pretty little stream that dances over pebbles and untiringly turns the wheel in the old mill; and not far away i saw the round top of knockrue hill, where goldsmith said he would rather sit with a book in hand than mingle with the throng at the court of royalty. goldsmith's verse is all clean, sweet and wholesome, and i do not wonder that he was everywhere a favorite with women. this was true in his very babyhood. for he was the pet of several good old dames, one of whom taught him to count by using cards as object-lessons he proudly said that when he was three years of age he could pick out the "ten-spot." this love of pasteboard was not exactly an advantage, for when he was sixteen he went to dublin to attend college, and carried fifty pounds and a deck of cards in his pocket. the first day in dublin he met a man who thought he knew more about cards than oliver did--and the man did: in three days oliver arrived back in sweet auburn penniless, but wonderfully glad to get home and everybody glad to see him. "it seemed as if i 'd been away a year," he said. but in a few weeks he started out with no baggage but a harp, and he played in the villages and the inns, and sometimes at the homes of the rich. and his melodies won all hearts. the author of "vanity fair" says: "you come hot and tired from the day's battle, and this sweet minstrel sings to you. who could harm the kind vagrant harper? whom did he ever hurt? he carries no weapon--only the harp on which he plays to you; and with which he delights great and humble, young and old, the captains in the tent or the soldiers round the fire, or the women and children in the villages at whose porches he stops and sings his simple songs of love and beauty." * * * * * when goldsmith arrived in london in seventeen hundred fifty-six, he was ragged, penniless, friendless and forlorn. in the country he could always make his way, but the city to him was new and strange. for several days he begged a crust here and there, sleeping in the doorways at night and dreaming of the flowery wealth of gentle lissoy, where even the poorest had enough to eat and a warm place to huddle when the sun went down. he at length found work as clerk or porter in a chemist's shop, where he remained until he got money enough to buy a velvet coat and a ruffled shirt, and then he moved to the bankside and hung out a surgeon's sign. the neighbors thought the little doctor funny, and the women would call to him out of the second-story window that it was a fine day, but when they were ill they sent for some one else to attend them. goldsmith was twenty-eight, and the thought that he could make a living with his pen had never come to him. yet he loved books, and he would loiter about bookshops, pricing first editions, and talking poetry to the patrons. he chanced in this way to meet samuel richardson, who, because he wrote the first english romance, has earned the title of father of lies. in order to get a very necessary loaf of bread, doctor goldsmith asked richardson to let him read proof. so richardson gave him employment, and in correcting proof the discovery was made that the irish doctor could turn a sentence, too. he became affected with literary eczema, and wrote a tragedy which he read to richardson and a few assembled friends. they voted it "vile, demnition vile." but one man thought it wasn't so bad as it might be, and this man found a market for some of the little doctor's book reviews, but the tragedy was fed to the fireplace. with the money for his book reviews the doctor bought goose quills and ink, and inspiration in bottles. grub street dropped in, shabby, seedy, empty of pocket but full of hope, and little suppers were given in dingy coffeehouses where success to english letters was drunk. then we find goldsmith making a bold stand for reform. he hired out to write magazine articles by the day; going to work in the morning when the bell rang, an hour off at noon, and then at it again until nightfall. mr. griffiths, publisher of the "monthly review," was his employer. and in order to hold his newly captured prize, the publisher boarded the pockmarked irishman in his own house. mrs. griffiths looked after him closely, spurring him on when he lagged, correcting his copy, striking out such portions as showed too much genius and inserting a word here and there in order to make a purely neutral decoction, which it seems is what magazine readers have always desired. occasionally these articles were duly fathered by great men, as this gave them the required specific gravity. it is said that even in our day there are editors who employ convict labor in this way. but i am sure that this is not so, for we live in an age of competition, and it is just as cheap to hire the great men to supply twaddle direct as it is to employ foreign paupers to turn it out with the extra expense of elderly women to revise. after working in the griffith literary mill for five months, goldsmith scaled the barricade one dark night, leaving behind, pasted on the wall, a ballad not only to mrs. griffiths' eyebrow, but to her wig as well. soon after this, when goldsmith was thirty years of age, his first book, "enquiry into the present state of polite learning in europe," was published. it brought him a little money and tuppence worth of fame, so he took better lodgings, in green arbor court, proposing to do great things. half a century after the death of goldsmith, irving visited green arbor court: "at length we came upon fleet market, and traversing it, turned up a narrow street to the bottom of a long, steep flight of stone steps called breakneck stairs. these led to green arbor court, and down them goldsmith many a time risked his neck. when we entered the court, i could not but smile to think in what out of the way corners genius produces her bantlings. the court i found to be a small square surrounded by tall, miserable houses, with old garments and frippery fluttering from every window. it appeared to be a region of washerwomen, and lines were stretched about the square on which clothes were dangling to dry. poor goldsmith! what a time he must have had of it, with his quiet disposition and nervous habits, penned up in this den of noise and vulgarity." one can imagine goldsmith running the whole gamut of possible jokes on breakneck stairs, and green arbor court, which, by the way, was never green and where there was no arbor. "i've been admitted to court, gentlemen!" said goldsmith proudly, one day at the mitre tavern. "ah, yes, doctor, we know--green arbor court! and any man who has climbed breakneck stairs has surely achieved," said tom davies. in seventeen hundred sixty, goldsmith moved to number six wine-office court, where he wrote the "vicar of wakefield." boswell reports doctor johnson's account of visiting him there: "i received, one morning, a message from poor goldsmith that he was in great distress, and, as it was not in his power to come to me, begging that i would come to him as soon as possible. i sent him a guinea and promised to come to him directly. i accordingly went to him as soon as i was dressed, and found that his landlady had arrested him for his rent, at which he was in a violent passion. i perceived that he had already changed my guinea, and had half a bottle of madeira and a glass before him. i put the cork in the bottle, desired he would be calm, and began to talk to him of the means by which he might be extricated. he then told me he had a novel ready for the press, which he produced for me. i looked into it and saw its merits; told the landlady i would soon return, and having gone to a bookseller, sold it for sixty pounds. i brought goldsmith the money, and he discharged the rent, not without rating his landlady for having used him so ill." for the play of "the good-natured man" goldsmith received five hundred pounds. and he immediately expended four hundred in mahogany furniture, easy chairs, lace curtains and wilton carpets. then he called in his friends. this was at number two brick court, middle temple. blackstone had chambers just below, and was working as hard over his commentaries as many a lawyer's clerk has done since. he complained of the abominable noise and racket of "those fellows upstairs," but was asked to come in and listen to wit while he had the chance. i believe the bailiffs eventually captured the mahogany furniture, but goldsmith held the quarters. they are today in good repair, and the people who occupy the house are very courteous, and obligingly show the rooms to the curious. no attempt at a museum is made, but there are to be seen various articles which belonged to goldsmith and a collection of portraits that are interesting. when "the traveler" was published goldsmith's fame was made secure. as long as he wrote plays, reviews, history and criticism he was working for hire. people said it was "clever," "brilliant," and all that, but their hearts were not won until the poet had poured out his soul to his brother in that gentlest of all sweet rhymes. i pity the man who can read the opening lines of "the traveler" without a misty something coming over his vision: "where'er i roam, whatever realms i see, my heart untraveled fondly turns to thee; still to my brother turns, with ceaseless pain, and drags at each remove a lengthening chain." this is the earliest english poem which i can recall that makes use of our american indian names: "where wild oswego spreads her swamps around, and niagara stuns with thundering sound." indeed, we came near having goldsmith for an adopted citizen. according to his own report he once secured passage to boston, and after carrying his baggage aboard the ship he went back to town to say a last hurried word of farewell to a fair lady, and when he got back to the dock the ship had sailed away with his luggage. his earnest wish was to spend his last days in sweet auburn. "in all my wand'rings round this world of care, in all my griefs--and god has given my share-- i still had hopes, my latest hours to crown, amidst those humble bowers to lay me down; to husband out life's taper at its close, and keep the flame from wasting by repose. i still had hopes--for pride attends us still-- amidst the swains to show my book-learned skill, around my fire an evening group to draw, and tell of all i felt and all i saw. and as a hare, whom hounds and horns pursue, pants to the place from whence at first she flew, i still had hopes, my long vexations past, here to return--and die at home at last." but he never saw ireland after he left it in seventeen hundred fifty-four. he died in london in seventeen hundred seventy-four, aged forty-six. on the plain little monument in temple church where he was buried are only these words: here lies oliver goldsmith. hawkins once called on the earl of northumberland and found goldsmith waiting in an outer room, having come in response to an invitation from the nobleman. hawkins, having finished his business, waited until goldsmith came out, as he had a curiosity to know why the earl had sent for him. "well," said hawkins, "what did he say to you?" "his lordship told me that he had read 'the traveler,' and that he was pleased with it, and that inasmuch as he was soon to be lord-lieutenant of ireland, and knowing i was an irishman, asked what he could do for me!" "and what did you tell him?" inquired the eager hawkins. "why, there was nothing for me to say, but that i was glad he liked my poem, and--that i had a brother in ireland, a clergyman, who stood in need of help----" "enough!" cried hawkins, and left him. to hawkins himself are we indebted for the incident, and after relating it hawkins adds: "and thus did this idiot in the affairs of the world trifle with his fortunes!" let him who wishes preach a sermon on this story. but there you have it! "a brother in ireland who needs help----" the brother in london, the brother in america, the brother in ireland who needs help! all men were his brothers, and those who needed help were first in his mind. dear little doctor goldsmith, you were not a hustler, but when i get to the spirit world, i'll surely hunt you up! william shakespeare it is a melancholy of mine own, compounded of many simples, extracted from many objects, and indeed the sundry contemplation of my travels, in which my often rumination wraps me in a most humorous sadness. --_as you like it_ [illustration: william shakespeare] i have on several occasions been to the shakespeare country, approaching it from different directions, but each time i am set down at leamington. perhaps this is by some act of parliament--i really do not know; anyway, i have ceased to kick against the pricks and now meekly accept my fate. leamington seems largely under subjection to that triumvirate of despots--the butler, the coachman and the gardener. you hear the jingle of keys, the flick of the whip and the rattle of the lawnmower; and a cold, secret fear takes possession of you--a sort of half-frenzied impulse to flee, before smug modernity takes you captive and whisks you off to play tiddledywinks or to dance the racquet. but the tram is at the door--the outside fare is a penny, inside it's two--and we are soon safe, for we have reached the point where the leam and the avon meet. warwick is worth our while. for here we see scenes such as shakespeare saw, and our delight is in the things that his eyes beheld. at the foot of mill street are the ruins of the old gothic bridge that leads off to banbury. oft have i ridden to banbury cross on my mother's foot, and when i saw that sign and pointing finger i felt like leaving all and flying thence. just beyond the bridge, settled snugly in a forest of waving branches, we see storied old warwick castle, with cæsar's tower lifting itself from the mass of green. all about are quaint old houses and shops, with red-tiled roofs, and little windows, with diamond panes, hung on hinges, where maidens fair have looked down on brave men in coats of mail. these narrow, stony streets have rung with the clang and echo of hurrying hoofs; the tramp of royalist and parliamentarian, horse and foot, drum and banner; the stir of princely visits, of mail-coach, market, assize and kingly court. colbrand, armed with giant club; sir guy; richard neville, kingmaker, and his barbaric train, all trod these streets, watered their horses in this river, camped on yonder bank, or huddled in this castle yard. and again they came back when will shakespeare, a youth from stratford, eight miles away, came here and waved his magic wand. warwick castle is probably in better condition now than it was in the sixteenth century. but practically it is the same. it is the only castle in england where the portcullis is lowered at ten o'clock every night and raised in the morning (if the coast happens to be clear) to tap of drum. it costs a shilling to visit the castle. a fine old soldier in spotless uniform, with waxed white moustache and dangling sword, conducts the visitors. he imparts full two shillings' worth of facts as we go, all with a fierce roll of r's, as becomes a man of war. the long line of battlements, the massive buttresses, the angular entrance cut through solid rock, crooked, abrupt, with places where fighting men can lie in ambush, all is as shakespeare knew it. there are the cedars of lebanon, brought by crusaders from the east, and the screaming peacocks in the paved courtway: and in the great hall are to be seen the sword and accouterments of the fabled guy, the mace of the "kingmaker," the helmet of cromwell, and the armor of lord brooke, killed at litchfield. and that shakespeare saw these things there is no doubt. but he saw them as a countryman who came on certain fete-days, and stared with open mouth. we know this, because he has covered all with the glamour of his rich, boyish imagination that failed to perceive the cruel mockery of such selfish pageantry. had his view been from the inside he would not have made his kings noble nor his princes generous; for the stress of strife would have stilled his laughter, and from his brain the dazzling pictures would have fled. yet his fancies serve us better than the facts. shakespeare shows us many castles, but they are always different views of warwick or kenilworth. when he pictures macbeth's castle he has warwick in his inward eye: "this castle hath a pleasant seat: the air nimbly and sweetly recommends itself unto our gentle senses. this guest of summer, the temple-haunting martlet, does approve, by his loved mansionry, that the heaven's breath smells wooingly here: no jutty, frieze, buttress, nor coign of vantage, but this bird hath made his pendent bed, and procreant cradle; where they most breed and haunt, i have observed, the air is delicate." five miles from warwick (ten, if you believe the cab-drivers) are the ruins of kenilworth castle. in fifteen hundred seventy-five, when shakespeare was eleven years of age, queen elizabeth came to kenilworth. whether her ticket was by way of leamington i do not know. but she remained from july ninth to july twenty-seventh, and there were great doings 'most every day, to which the yeomanry were oft invited. john shakespeare was a worthy citizen of warwickshire, and it is very probable that he received an invitation, and that he drove over with mary arden, his wife, sitting on the front seat holding the baby, and all the other seven children sitting on the straw behind. and we may be sure that the eldest boy in that brood never forgot the day. in fact, in "midsummer night's dream" he has called on his memory for certain features of the show. elizabeth was forty-one years old then, but apparently very attractive and glib of tongue. no doubt kenilworth was stupendous in its magnificence, and it will pay you to take down from its shelf sir walter's novel and read about it. but today it is all a crumbling heap; ivy, rooks and daws hold the place in fee, each pushing hard for sole possession. it is eight miles from warwick to stratford by the direct road, but ten by the river. i have walked both routes and consider the latter the shorter. two miles down the river is barford, and a mile farther is wasperton, with its quaint old stone church. it is a good place to rest: for nothing is so soothing as a cool church where the dim light streams through colored windows, and out of sight somewhere an organ softly plays. soon after leaving the church a rustic swain hailed me and asked for a match. the pipe and the virginia weed--they mean amity the world over. if i had questions to ask, now was the time! so i asked, and rusticus informed me that hampton lucy was only a mile beyond and that shakespeare never stole deer at all; so i hope we shall hear no more of that libelous accusation. "but did shakespeare run away?" i demanded. "ave coorse he deed, sir; 'most all good men 'ave roon away sometime!" and come to think of it rusticus is right. most great men have at some time departed hastily without leaving orders where to forward their mail. indeed, it seems necessary that a man should have "run away" at least once, in order afterward to attain eminence. moses, lot, tarquin, pericles, demosthenes, saint paul, shakespeare, rousseau, voltaire, goldsmith, hugo--but the list is too long to give. but just suppose that shakespeare had not run away! and to whom do we owe it that he did leave--justice shallow or ann hathaway, or both? i should say to ann first and his honor second. i think if shakespeare could write an article for "the ladies' home journal" on "women who have helped me," and tell the whole truth (as no man ever will in print), he would put ann hathaway first. he signed a bond when eighteen years old agreeing to marry her; she was twenty-six. no record is found of the marriage. but we should think of her gratefully, for no doubt it was she who started the lad off for london. that's the way i expressed it to my new-found friend, and he agreed with me, so we shook hands and parted. charlcote is as fair as a dream of paradise. the winding avon, full to its banks, strays lazily through rich fields and across green meadows, past the bright red-brick pile of charlcote mansion. the river-bank is lined with rushes, and in one place i saw the prongs of antlers shaking the elders. i sent a shrill whistle and a stick that way, and out ran four fine deer that loped gracefully across the turf. the sight brought my poacher instincts to the surface, but i bottled them, and trudged on until i came to the little church that stands at the entrance to the park. all mansions, castles and prisons in england have chapels or churches attached. and this is well, for in the good old days it seemed wise to keep in close communication with the other world. for often, on short notice, the proud scion of royalty was compelled hastily to pack a ghostly valise and his him hence with his battered soul; or if he did not go himself he compelled others to do so, and who but a brute would kill a man without benefit of the clergy! so each estate hired its priests by the year, just as men with a taste for litigation hold attorneys in constant retainer. in charlcote church is a memorial to sir thomas lucy; and there is a glowing epitaph that quite upsets any of those taunting and defaming allusions in "the merry wives." at the foot of the monument is a line to the effect that the inscription thereon was written by the only one in possession of the facts, sir thomas himself. several epitaphs in the churchyard are worthy of space in your commonplace book, but the lines on the slab to john gibbs and wife struck me as having the true ring: "farewell, proud, vain, false, treacherous world, we have seen enough of thee: we value not what thou canst say of we." when the charlcote mansion was built, there was a housewarming, and good queen bess (who was not so awful good) came in great state; so we see that she had various calling acquaintances in these parts. but we have no proof that she ever knew that any such person as w. shakespeare lived. however, she came to charlcote and dined on venison, and what a pity it is that she and shakespeare did not meet in london afterward and talk it over! some hasty individual has put forth a statement to the effect that poets can only be bred in a mountainous country, where they could lift up their eyes to the hills. rock and ravine, beetling crag, singing cascade, and the heights where the lightning plays and the mists hover are certainly good timber for poetry--after you have caught your poet--but nature eludes all formula. again, it is the human interest that adds vitality to art--they reckon ill to leave man out. drayton before shakespeare's time called warwick "the heart of england," and the heart of england it is today--rich, luxuriant, slow. the great colonies of rabbits that i saw at charlcote seemed too fat to frolic, save more than to play a trick or two on the hounds that blinked in the sun. down toward stratford there are flat islands covered with sedge, long rows of weeping-willows, low hazel, hawthorn, and places where "green grow the rushes, o." then, if the farmer leaves a spot untilled, the dogrose pre-empts the place and showers its petals on the vagrant winds. meadowsweet, forget-me-nots and wild geranium snuggle themselves below the boughs of the sturdy yews. the first glimpse we get of stratford is the spire of holy trinity; then comes the tower of the new memorial theater, which, by the way, is exactly like the city hall at dead horse, colorado. stratford is just another village of niagara falls. the same shops, the same guides, the same hackmen--all are there, save poor lo, with his beadwork and sassafras. in fact, a "cabby" just outside of new place offered to take me to the whirlpool and the canada side for a dollar. at least, this is what i thought he said. of course, it is barely possible that i was daydreaming, but i think the facts are that it was he who dozed, and waking suddenly as i passed gave me the wrong cue. there is a macbeth livery-stable, a falstaff bakery, and all the shops and stores keep othello this and hamlet that. i saw briarwood pipes with shakespeare's face carved on the bowl, all for one-and-six; feather fans with advice to the players printed across the folds; the "seven ages" on handkerchiefs; and souvenir-spoons galore, all warranted gorham's best. the visitor at the birthplace is given a cheerful little lecture on the various relics and curiosities as they are shown. the young ladies who perform this office are clever women with pleasant voices and big, starched, white aprons. i was at stratford four days and went just four times to the old curiosity-shop. each day the same bright british damsel conducted me through, and told her tale, but it was always with animation, and a certain sweet satisfaction in her mission and starched apron that was very charming. no man can tell the same story over and over without soon reaching a point where he betrays his weariness, and then he flavors the whole with a dash of contempt; but a good woman, heaven bless her! is ever eager to please. each time when we came to that document certified to by her "judith x shakespeare," mark i was told that it was very probable that judith could write, but that she affixed her name thus in merry jest. john shakespeare could not write, we have no reason to suppose that ann hathaway could, and this little explanation about the daughter is so very good that it deserves to rank with that other pleasant subterfuge, "the age of miracles is past"; or that bit of jolly claptrap concerning the sacred baboons that are seen about certain temples in india: "they can talk," explain the priests, "but being wise they never do." judith married thomas quiney. the only letter addressed to shakespeare that can be found is one from the happy father of thomas, mr. richard quiney, wherein he asks for a loan of thirty pounds. whether he was accommodated we can not say; and if he was, did he pay it back, is a question that has caused much hot debate. but it is worthy of note that, although considerable doubt as to authenticity has smooched the other shakespearian relics, yet the fact of the poet having been "struck" for a loan by richard quiney stands out in a solemn way as the one undisputed thing in the master's career. little did mr. quiney think, when he wrote that letter, that he was writing for the ages. philanthropists have won all by giving money, but who save quiney has reaped immortality by asking for it! the inscription over shakespeare's grave is an offer of reward if you do, and a threat of punishment if you don't, all in choice doggerel. why did he not learn at the feet of sir thomas lucy and write his own epitaph? but i rather guess i know why his grave was not marked with his name. he was a play-actor, and the church people would have been outraged at the thought of burying a "strolling player" in that sacred chancel. but his son-in-law, doctor john hall, honored the great man and was bound he should have a worthy resting-place; so at midnight, with the help of a few trusted friends, he dug the grave and lowered the dust of england's greatest son. then they hastily replaced the stones, and over the grave they placed the slab that they had brought: "good friend, for jesus' sake forbear, to dig the dust enclosed here, blest be the man who spares these stones, and cursed be he who moves my bones." a threat from a ghost! ah, no one dare molest that grave--besides they didn't know who was buried there--neither are we quite sure. long years after the interment, some one set a bust of the poet, and a tablet, on the wall over against the grave. under certain circumstances, if occasion demands, i might muster a sublime conceit; but considering the fact that ten thousand americans visit stratford every year, and all write descriptions of the place, i dare not in the face of baedeker do it. further than that, in every library there are washington irving, hawthorne, and william winter's three lacrimose but charming volumes. and i am glad to remember that the columbus who discovered stratford and gave it to the people was an american: i am proud to think that americans have written so charmingly of shakespeare: i am proud to know that at stratford no man besides the master is as honored as irving, and while i can not restrain a blush for our english cousins, i am proud that over half the visitors at the birthplace are americans, and prouder still am i to remember that they all write letters to the newspapers at home about stratford-on-avon. * * * * * in england poets are relegated to a "corner." the earth and the fulness thereof belongs to the men who can kill; on this rock have the english state and church been built. as the tourist approaches the city of london for the first time, there are four monuments that probably will attract his attention. they lift themselves out of the fog and smoke and soot, and seem to struggle toward the blue. one of these monuments is to commemorate a calamity--the conflagration of sixteen hundred sixty-six--and the others are in honor of deeds of war. the finest memorial in saint paul's is to a certain eminent irishman, arthur wellesley. the mines and quarries of earth have been called on for their richest contributions; and talent and skill have given their all to produce this enduring work of beauty, that tells posterity of the mighty acts of this mighty man. the rare richness and lavish beauty of the wellington mausoleum are only surpassed by a certain tomb in france. as an exploiter, the corsican overdid the thing a bit--so the world arose and put him down; but safely dead, his shade can boast a grave so sumptuous that englishmen in paris refuse to look upon it. but england need not be ashamed. her land is spiked with glistening monuments to greatness gone. and on these monuments one often gets the epitomized life of the man whose dust lies below. on the carved marble to lord cornwallis i read that, "he defeated the americans with great slaughter." and so, wherever in england i see a beautiful monument, i know that probably the inscription will tell how "he defeated" somebody. and one grows to the belief that, while woman's glory is her hair, man's glory is to defeat some one. and if he can "defeat with great slaughter" his monument is twice as high as if he had only visited on his brother man a plain undoing. in truth, i am told by a friend who has a bias for statistics, that all monuments above fifty feet high in england are to the honor of men who have defeated other men "with great slaughter." the only exceptions to this rule are the albert memorial--which is a tribute of wifely affection rather than a public testimonial, so therefore need not be considered here--and a monument to a worthy brewer who died and left three hundred thousand pounds to charity. i mentioned this fact to my friend, but he unhorsed me by declaring that modesty forbade carving truth on monuments, yet it was a fact that the brewer, too, had brought defeat to vast numbers and had, like saul, slaughtered his thousands. when i visited the site of the globe theater and found thereon a brewery, whose shares are warranted to make the owner rich beyond the dream of avarice, i was depressed. in my boyhood i had supposed that if ever i should reach this spot where shakespeare's plays were first produced, i should see a beautiful park and a splendid monument; while some white-haired old patriarch would greet me, and give a little lecture to the assembled pilgrims on the great man whose footsteps had made sacred the soil beneath our feet. but there is no park, and no monument, and no white-haired old poet to give you welcome--only a brewery. "ay, mon, but ain't ut a big un?" protested an englishman who heard my murmurs. yes, yes, i must be truthful--it is a big brewery, and there are four big bulldogs in the courtway; and there are big vats, and big workmen in big aprons. and each of these workmen is allowed to drink six quarts of beer each day, without charge, which proves that kindliness is not dead. then there are big horses that draw the big wagons, and on the corner there is a big taproom where the thirsty are served with big glasses. the founder of this brewery became rich; and if my statistical friend is right, the owners of these mighty vats have defeated mankind with "great slaughter." we have seen that, although napoleon, the defeated, has a more gorgeous tomb than wellington, who defeated him, yet there is consolation in the thought that although england has no monument to shakespeare he now has the freedom of elysium; while the present address of the british worthies who have battened and fattened on poor humanity's thirst for strong drink, since samuel johnson was executor of thrale's estate, is unknown. we have this on the authority of a solid englishman, who says: "the virtues essential and peculiar to the exalted station of british worthy debar the unfortunate possessor from entering paradise. there is not a lord chancellor, or lord mayor, or lord of the chamber, or master of the hounds, or beefeater in ordinary, or any sort of british bigwig, out of the whole of british beadledom, upon which the sun never sets, in elysium. this is the only dignity beyond their reach." the writer quoted is an honorable man, and i am sure he would not make this assertion if he did not have proof of the fact. so, for the present, i will allow him to go on his own recognizance, believing that he will adduce his documents at the proper time. but still, should not england have a fitting monument to shakespeare? he is her one universal citizen. his name is honored in every school or college of earth where books are prized. there is no scholar in any clime who is not his debtor. he was born in england; he never was out of england; his ashes rest in england. but england's budget has never been ballasted with a single pound to help preserve inviolate the memory of her one son to whom the world uncovers. victor hugo has said something on this subject which runs about like this: why a monument to shakespeare? he is his own monument and england is its pedestal. shakespeare has no need of a pyramid; he has his work. what can bronze or marble do for him? malachite and alabaster are of no avail; jasper, serpentine, basalt, porphyry, granite: stones from paros and marble from carrara--they are all a waste of pains: genius can do without them. what is as indestructible as these: "the tempest," "the winter's tale," "julius cæsar," "coriolanus"? what monument sublimer than "lear," sterner than "the merchant of venice," more dazzling than "romeo and juliet," more amazing than "richard iii"? what moon could shed about the pile a light more mystic than that of "a midsummer night's dream"? what capital, were it even in london, could rumble around it as tumultuously as macbeth's perturbed soul? what framework of cedar or oak will last as long as "othello"? what bronze can equal the bronze of "hamlet"? no construction of lime, or rock, of iron and of cement is worth the deep breath of genius, which is the respiration of god through man. what edifice can equal thought? babel is less lofty than isaiah; cheops is smaller than homer; the colosseum is inferior to juvenal; the giralda of seville is dwarfish by the side of cervantes; saint peter's of rome does not reach to the ankle of dante. what architect has the skill to build a tower so high as the name of shakespeare? add anything if you can to mind! then why a monument to shakespeare? i answer, not for the glory of shakespeare, but for the honor of england! thomas a. edison the mind can not conceive what man will do in the twentieth century with his chained lightning. --_thomas a. edison_ [illustration: thomas a. edison _photogravure from drawing by gaspard_] some years ago, a law was passed out in ohio, making any man ineligible to act as a magistrate who had not studied law and been duly admitted to the bar. men who had not studied law were deemed lacking in the sense of justice. this law was designed purely for one man--samuel m. jones of toledo. was ever a jones so honored before? in athens, of old, a law was once passed declaring that every man, either of whose parents was an alien, was not a citizen and therefore ineligible to hold office. this law was aimed at the head of one man--themistocles. "and so you are an alien?" was the taunting remark flung at the mother of themistocles. and the greek matron proudly answered, "yes, i am an alien--but my son is themistocles." down at lilly dale the other day, a woman told me that she had talked with the mother of edison, and the spirit-voice had said: "it is true i was a canadian schoolteacher, and this at a time when very few women taught, but i am the mother of him you call thomas a. edison. i studied and read and wrote and in degree i educated myself. i had great ambition--i thirsted to know, to do, to become. but i was hampered and chained in an uncongenial atmosphere. my body struggled with its bonds, so that i grew weak, worried, sick, and died, leaving my boy to struggle his way alone. my only regret at death was the thought that i was leaving my boy. i thought that through my marriage i had killed my career--sacrificed myself. but my boy became heir to all my hunger for knowledge, and he has accomplished what i dimly dreamed. he has made plain what i only guessed. from my position here i have whispered secrets to him that only the freed spirits knew. i once thought my life was a failure, but now i know that the word 'failure' is a term used only by foolish mortals. in the universal sense there is no such thing as failure." just here it seems to me that some one once said that we get no mind without brain. but we had here the brain of the medium, otherwise this alleged message from the spirit realm would not be ours. so we will not now tarry to discuss psychic phenomena, but go on to other things. but the woman from lilly dale said something, just the same. * * * * * edison was born at the little village of milan, ohio, which lies six miles from norwalk on the road between cleveland and toledo. on the breaking out of the civil war the boy was fourteen years old. his parents had moved to sarnia, canada, and then across to port huron. young edison used to ride up and down from detroit on the passenger-boats and sell newspapers. his standing with the detroit "free press," backed up by his good-cheer and readiness to help the passengers with their babies and bundles, gave him free passage on all railroads and steamboat-lines. there was a public library at detroit where any one could read, but books could not be taken away. all edison's spare time was spent at the library, which to him was a gold-mine. all his mother's books had been sold, stolen or given away. and ahoy there, all you folks who have books! do you not know what books are to a child hungry for truth, that has no books? of course you do not! books to a boy like young edison are treasures-trove, in which is stored the learning of all great and good and wise who have ever lived. and the boy has to read, and read for a decade, in order to find that books are not much after all. when edison saw the inside of that library and was told he could read any or all of the books, he said, "if you please, mister, i'll begin here." and he tackled the first shelf, mentally deciding that he would go through the books ten feet at a time. a little later he bought at an auction fifty volumes of the "north american review," and moving the books up to his home at port huron proceeded to read them. the war was on--papers sold for ten cents each and business was good. edison was making money--and saving it. he only plunged on books. over at mount clemens, at the springs, folks congregated, and there young edison took weekly trips selling papers. on one such visit he rescued the little son of the station-agent from in front of a moving train. in gratitude, the man took the boy to his house and told him he must make it his home while in mount clemens; and then after supper the youngster went down to the station; and what was more, the station-agent took him in behind the ticket-window, where the telegraph-instrument clicked off dots and dashes on a long strip of paper. edison looked on with open mouth. "would you like to become a telegraph-operator?" asked the agent. "sure!" was the reply. already the boy had read up on the subject in his library of the "north american review," and he really knew the history of the thing better than did the agent. edison was now a newsboy on the grand trunk, and he arranged his route so as to spend every other night at mount clemens. in a few months he could handle the key about as well as the station-agent. about this time the ice had carried out the telegraph-line between port huron and sarnia. the telegraph people were in sore straits. edison happened along and said to the local operator, "come out here, bill, on this switch-engine and we'll fix things!" by short snorts of the whistle for dots and long ones for dashes, they soon caught the ear of the operator on the other side. he answered back, "what t'ell is the matter with you fellows?" and edison and the other operator roared with laughter, so that the engineer thought their think-boxes needed re-babbitting. and that scheme of telegraphy with a steam-whistle was edison's first invention. * * * * * instead of going to college edison started a newspaper--a kind of amateur affair, in which he himself wrote editorials, news-items and advertisements--this when he was seventeen years old. the best way to become a skilled writer is to write; and if there is a better way to learn than by doing, the world has not yet discovered it. also, if there is a finer advantage for a youth who would be a financier than to have a shiftless father, it has not been recorded. when nineteen, edison had two thousand dollars in cash--more money than his father had ever seen at any one time. the grand trunk folks found that their ex-trainboy could operate, and so they called on him to help them out, up and down the line. then the western union wanted extra good men, and young edison was given double pay to go to new orleans, where there was a pitiful dearth of operators, the southern operators being mostly dead, and northern men not caring to live in the south. so edison traveled north and south and east and west, gathering gear. he had studied the science of telegraphy closely enough to see that it could be improved upon. one message at a time for one wire was absurd--why not two, or four, and why not send messages both ways at once! it was the general idea then that electricity traveled: edison knew better--electricity merely rendered the wire sensitive. edison was getting a reputation among his associates. he had read everything, and when his key was not busy, there was in his hand a copy of gibbon's "decline and fall." he wrote a hand like copperplate and could "take" as fast as the best could send. and when it came to "sending," he had made the pride of chicago cry quits. the western union had need of a specially good man at albany while the legislature was in session, and edison was sent there. he took the key and never looked at the clock--he cleaned up the stuff. he sat glued to his chair for ten hours, straight. at one time, the line suddenly became blocked between albany and new york. the manager was in distress, and after exhausting all known expedients went to edison. the lanky youth called up a friend of his in pittsburgh and ordered that new york give the pittsburgh man the albany wire. "feel your way up the river until you find me," were the orders. edison started feeling his way down the river. in twenty minutes he called to the manager, "the break is two miles below poughkeepsie--i've ordered the section-boss at poughkeepsie to take a repairer on his handcar and go and fix it!" of course, this plain telegraph-operator had no right to order out a section-boss; but nevertheless he did it. he shouldered responsibility like tom potter of the c., b. & q. not long after the albany experience, edison was in new york, not looking for work as some say, but nosing around wall street investigating the "laws automatic ticker." the machine he was looking at suddenly stopped, and this blocked all the tickers on the line. an expert was sent for, but he could not start it. "i'll fix it," said a tall, awkward volunteer, the same which was edison. history is not yet clear as to whether edison had not originally "fixed" it, and edison so far has not confessed. and there being no one else to start the machine, edison was given a chance, and soon the tickers were going again. this gave him an introduction to the stock-ticker folks, and the western union people he already knew. this was in eighteen hundred seventy, and edison was then twenty-three years old. he studied out how stock-reporting could be bettered and invented a plan which he duly patented, and then laid his scheme before the western union managers. a stock company was formed, and young edison, aged twenty-four, was paid exactly forty thousand dollars for his patent, and retained by the company as electrical adviser at three hundred dollars a month. in eighteen hundred seventy-four, when he was twenty-seven, he had perfected his duplex telegraph apparatus and had a factory turning out telegraph-instruments and appliances at newark, new jersey, where three hundred men were employed. in eighteen hundred seventy-six, the year of the centennial exposition, edison told the exposition managers that if they would wait a year or so he would light their show with electricity. he moved to the then secluded spot of menlo park to devote himself to experiments, spending an even hundred thousand dollars in equipment as a starter. results followed fast, and soon we had the incandescent lamp, trolley-car, electric pen and many other inventions. it was on the night of october the twenty-third, eighteen hundred seventy-nine, that edison first turned the current through an incandescent burner and got the perfect light. he sat and looked at the soft, mild, beautiful light and laughed a joyous peal of laughter that was heard in the adjoining rooms. "we've got it, boys!" he cried, and the boys, a dozen of them, came tumbling in. arguments started as to how long it would last. one said an hour. "twenty-four hours," said edison. they all vowed they would watch it without sleep until the carbon film was destroyed and the light went out. it lasted just forty hours. around edison grew up a group of great workers--proud to be called "edison men"--and some of these went out and made for themselves names and fortunes. edison was born in eighteen hundred forty-seven. consequently, at this writing he is sixty-three years old. he is big and looks awkward, because his dusty-gray clothes do not fit, and he walks with a slight stoop. when he wants clothes he telephones for them. his necktie is worn by the right oblique, his iron-gray hair is combed by the wind. on his cherubic face usually sits a half-quizzical, pleased smile, that fades into a look plaintive and very gentle. the face is that of a man who has borne burdens and known sorrow, of one who has overcome only after mighty effort. i was going to say that edison looks like a roman emperor, but i recall that no roman emperor deserves to rank with him--not even julius cæsar! the face is that of napoleon at saint helena, unsubdued. the predominant characteristics of the man are his faith, hope, good-cheer and courage. but at all times his humor is apt to be near the surface. had edison been as keen a businessman as rockefeller, and kept his own in his own hands, he would today be as rich as rockefeller. but edison is worth, oh, say, two million dollars, and that is all any man should be worth--it is all he needs. yet there are at least a hundred men in the world today, far richer than edison, who have made their fortunes wholly and solely by appropriating his ideas. edison has trusted people, and some of them have taken advantage of his great, big, generous, boyish spirit to do him grievous wrong. but the nearest i ever heard him come to making a complaint was when he said to me, "fra elbertus, you never wrote but one really true thing!" "well, what was that, mr. edison?" "you said, 'there is one thing worse than to be deceived by men, and that is to distrust them.' now people say i have been successful, and so i have, in degree, and it has been through trusting men. there are a few fellows who always know just what i am doing--i confide in them--i explain things to them just to straighten the matter out in my own mind." but of the men who have used edison's money and ideas, who have made it a life business to study his patents and then use them, evading the law, not a word! from eighteen hundred seventy to eighteen hundred ninety, edison secured over nine hundred patents, or at the rate of one patent every ten days. very few indeed of these patents ever brought him any direct return, and now his plan is to invent and keep the matter a secret in his "family." "the value of an idea lies in the using of it," he said to me. "you patent a thing and the other fellow starts even with you. keep it to yourself and you have the machinery going before the other fellow is awake. patents may protect some things, and still others they only advertise. up in buffalo you have a great lawyer who says he can drive a coach and four through any will that was ever made--and i guess he can. all good lawyers know how to break wills and contracts, and there are now specialists who secure goodly fees for busting patents. if you have an idea, go ahead and invent a way to use it and keep your process secret." * * * * * the edison factories at west orange cover a space of about thirty acres, all fenced in with high pickets and barb-wire. over two thousand people are employed inside that fence. there are guards at the gates, and the would-be visitor is challenged as if he were an enemy. if you want to see any particular person, you do not go in and see him--he comes to you and you sit in a place like the visitors' dock at sing-sing. with me it was different: i had a note that made the gates swing wide. however, one gatekeeper scrutinized the note and scrutinized me, and then went back into a maze of buildings for advice. when he came back, the general manager was with him and was reproving him. in a voice full of defense the county down watchman said: "ah, now, and how did i know but that it was a forgery? and anyhow, i'd never let in a man what looks like that, even if he had an order from bill taft." the edison factories, all enclosed in the high fence and under guard, include four separate and distinct corporations, each with its own set of offices. edison himself owns a controlling interest in each corporation, and the rest of the stock is owned by the managers or "family." with his few trusted helpers he is most liberal. not only do they draw goodly salaries, but they have an interest in the profits that is no small matter. the secrets of the place are protected by having each workman stick right to one thing and work in one room. no running around is allowed--each employee goes to a certain place and remains there all day. to be found elsewhere is a misdemeanor, and while spies at the edison factory are not shot, they have been known to disappear into space with great velocity. to make amends for the close restrictions on workers, an extra wage is paid and the eight-hour day prevails, so help is never wanting. ninety-nine workers out of a hundred want their wages, and nothing else. promotion, advancement and education are things that never occur to them. but for the few that have the stuff in them, edison is always on the lookout. his place is really a college, for to know the man is an education. he radiates good-cheer and his animation is catching. to a woman who wanted him to write a motto for her son, edison wrote, "never look at the clock!" the argument is plain--get the thing done. and around the edison laboratory there is no use of looking at the clock, for none of them runs. that is the classic joke of the place. years ago edison expressed his contempt for the man who watched the clock, and now every christmas his office family take up a collection and buy him a clock, and present it with great ceremony. he replies in a speech on the nebular hypothesis and all are very happy. one year the present assumed the form of an ingersoll dollar watch, which the wizard showed to me with great pride. in the stockade is a beautiful library building and here you see clocks galore, some of which must have cost a thousand dollars a piece, all silent. one clock had a neatly printed card attached, "don't look at this clock--it has stopped." and another, "you may look at this clock, for you can't stop it!" it was already stopped. one very elegant clock had a solid block of wood where the works should have been, but the face and golden hands were all complete. however, one clock was running, with a tick needlessly loud, but this clock had no hands. the edison library is a gigantic affair, with two balconies and bookstacks limitless. the intent was to have a scientific library right at hand that would compass the knowledge of the world. the laboratory is quite as complete, for in it is every chemical substance known to man, all labeled, classified and indexed. seemingly, edison is the most careless, indifferent and slipshod of men, but the real fact is that such a thorough business general the world has seldom seen. if he wants, say, the "electrical review" for march, eighteen hundred ninety-one, he hands a boy a slip of paper and the book is in his hands in five minutes. edison of all men understands that knowledge consists in having a clerk who can quickly find the thing. in his hands the card-index has reached perfection. edison has no private office, and his desk in the great library has not had a letter written on it since eighteen hundred ninety-five. "i hate to disturb the mice," he said as he pointed it out indifferently. he arrives at the stockade early--often by seven o'clock, and makes his way direct to the laboratory, which stands in the center of the campus. all around are high factory buildings, vibrating with the suppressed roar and hum of industry. in the laboratory, edison works, secure and free from interruption unless he invites it. much of his time is spent in the chemical building, a low, one-story structure, lighted from the top. it has a cement floor and very simple furniture, the shelves and tables being mostly of iron. "we are always prepared for fires and explosions here," said edison in half-apology for the barrenness of the rooms. the place is a maze of retorts, kettles, tubes, siphons and tiny brass machinery. in the midst of the mess stood two old-fashioned armchairs--both sacred to edison. one he sits in, and the other is for his feet, his books, pads and paper. here he sits and thinks, reads or muses or tells stories or shuffles about with his hands in his pockets. edison is a man of infinite leisure. he has the faculty of throwing details upon others. at his elbow, shod in sneakers silent, is always a stenographer. then there is a bookkeeper who does nothing but record the result of every experiment, and these experiments are going on constantly, attended to by half a dozen quiet and alert men, who work like automatons. "i have tried a million schemes that will not work--i know everything that is no good. i work by elimination," says edison. when hot on the trail of an idea he may work here for three days and nights without going home, and his wife is good enough and great enough to leave him absolutely to himself. in a little room in the corner of the laboratory is a little iron cot and three gray army blankets. he can sleep at any time, and half an hour's rest will enable him to go on. when he can't quite catch the idea, he closes up his brain-cells for ten minutes and sleeps, then up and after it again. mrs. edison occasionally sends meals down for the wizard when he is on the trail of a thought and does not want to take time to go home. one day the dinner arrived when edison was just putting salt on the tail of an idea. there was no time to eat, but it occurred to the inventor that if he would just quit thinking for ten minutes and sleep, he could awaken with enough brain-power to throw the lariat successfully. so he just leaned back, put his feet in the other chair and went to sleep. the general manager came in and saw the dinner on the table and edison sleeping, so he just sat down and began to eat the dinner. he ate it all, and tiptoed out. edison slept twenty minutes, awoke, looked at the empty dishes, pulled down his vest, took out his regular after-dinner cigar, lighted it and smoked away in sweet satisfaction, fully believing that he had had his dinner; and even after the general manager had come in and offered to bet him a dollar he hadn't, he was still of the same mind. this spirit of sly joking fills the place, set afloat by the master himself. edison dearly loves a joke, and will quit work any time to hear one. it is the five minutes' sleep and the good laugh that keep his brain from becoming a hotbox--he gets his rest! "when do you take your vacation, mr. edison?" a lady asked him. "election night every november," was the reply. and this is literally true, for on that night there is a special wire run into the orange clubhouse, and edison takes the key and sits there until daylight taking the returns, writing them out carefully in that copperplate western union hand. he is as careful about his handwriting now as if he were writing out train-orders. "if i wanted to live a hundred years i would use neither tobacco nor coffee," said edison as we sat at lunch. "but you see i'd rather get a little really good work done than live long and do nothing to speak of. and so i spur what i am pleased to call my mind, at times with coffee and a good cigar--just pass the matches, thank you! some day some fellow will invent a way of concentrating and storing up sunshine to use instead of this old, absurd prometheus scheme of fire. i'll do the trick myself if some one else doesn't get at it. why, that is all there is about my work in electricity--you know, i never claimed to have invented electricity--that is a campaign lie--nail it!" "sunshine is spread out thin and so is electricity. perhaps they are the same, but we will take that up later. now the trick was, you see, to concentrate the juice and liberate it as you needed it. the old-fashioned way inaugurated by jove, of letting it off in a clap of thunder, is dangerous, disconcerting and wasteful. it doesn't fetch up anywhere. my task was to subdivide the current and use it in a great number of little lights, and to do this i had to store it. and we haven't really found out how to store it yet and let it off real easy-like and cheap. why, we have just begun to commence to get ready to find out about electricity. this scheme of combustion to get power makes me sick to think of--it is so wasteful. it is just the old, foolish prometheus idea, and the father of prometheus was a baboon." "when we learn how to store electricity, we will cease being apes ourselves; until then we are tailless orangutans. you see, we should utilize natural forces and thus get all of our power. sunshine is a form of energy, and the winds and the tides are manifestations of energy." "do we use them? oh, no! we burn up wood and coal, as renters burn up the front fence for fuel. we live like squatters, not as if we owned the property. "there must surely come a time when heat and power will be stored in unlimited quantities in every community, all gathered by natural forces. electricity ought to be as cheap as oxygen, for it can not be destroyed. "now, i am not sure but that my new storage-battery is the thing. i'd tell you about that, but i don't want to bore you. of course, i know that nothing is more interesting to the public than a good lie. you see, i have been a newspaperman myself--used to run a newspaper--in fact, veritas and old subscriber once took exception to one of my editorials and threw me into the detroit river--that is where i got my little deafness--what's that? no, i did not say my deftness--i got that in another way. but about lies, you have heard that one about my smoking big, black cigars! well, the story is that the boys in the office used to steal my cigars, and so i got a cigarmaker to make me up a box that looked just like my favorite brand, only i had 'em filled with hemp, horsehair and a touch of asafetida. then i just left the box where the boys would be sure to dip into it; but it seems the cigarman put them on, and so they just put that box into my own private stock and i smoked the fumigators and never knew the difference. "that whole story is a pernicious malrepresentation invented by the enemy of mankind in order to throw obloquy over a virtuous old telegraph-operator--brand it!" witness, therefore, that i have branded it, forevermore! * * * * * once upon a day i wrote an article on alexander humboldt. and in that article among other things i said, "this world of ours, round like an orange and slightly flattened at the poles, has produced but five educated men." and ironical ladies and gents from all parts of the united states wrote me on postal cards, begging that i should name the other four. let us leave the cynics to their little pleasantries, and make our appeal to people who think. education means evolution, development, growth. education is comparative, for there is no fixed standard--all men know more than some men, and some men know more than some other men. "every man i meet is my master in some particular," said emerson. but there are five men in history who had minds so developed, and evolved beyond the rest of mankind so far, that they form a class by themselves, and deserve to be called educated men. the men i have in mind were the following: pericles, builder of athens. aristotle, tutor of alexander, and the world's first naturalist. leonardo, the all-round man--the man who could do more things, and do them well, than any other man who every lived. sir isaac newton, the mathematician, who analyzed light and discovered the law of gravitation. alexander von humboldt, explorer and naturalist, who compassed the entire scientific knowledge of the world, issued his books in deluxe limited editions at his own expense, and sold them for three thousand dollars a set. newton and humboldt each wore a seven and three-fourths hat. leonardo and aristotle went untaped, but pericles had a head so high and so big that he looked like a caricature, and aristophanes, a nice man who lived at the same time, said that the head of pericles looked like a pumpkin that had been sat upon. all the busts of pericles represent him wearing a helmet--this to avoid what the artists thought an abnormality, the average greek having a round, smooth chucklehead like that of a bowery bartender. america has produced two men who stand out so far beyond the rest of mankind that they form a class by themselves: benjamin franklin and thomas a. edison. franklin wore a seven and a half hat; edison wears a seven and three-fourths. the difference in men is the difference in brain-power. and while size does not always token quality, yet size and surface are necessary to get power, and there is no record of a man with a six and a half head ever making a ripple on the intellectual sea. without the cells you get no mind, and if mind exists without the cells, it has not yet been proven. the brain is a storage-battery made up of millions of minute cells. the weight of an average man's brain is forty-nine ounces. now, humboldt's brain weighed fifty-six ounces, and newton's and franklin's weighed fifty-seven. let us hope the autopsist will not have a chance to weigh edison's brain for many years, but when he does the mark will register fifty-seven ounces. an orang-utan weighs about the same as a man, but its brain weighs only a pound, against three pounds for a man. give a gorilla a brain weighing fifty ounces, and he would be a methodist presiding elder. give him a brain the same size of edison's, say fifty-seven ounces, and instead of spending life in hunting for snakes and heaving cocoanuts at monkeys as respectable gorillas are wont, he would be weighing the world in scales of his own invention and making, and measuring the distances of the stars. pericles was taught by the gentle anaxagoras, who gave all his money to the state in order that he might be free. the state reciprocated by cutting off his head, for republics are always ungrateful. aristotle was a pupil of plato and worked his way through college, sifting ashes, washing windows and sweeping sidewalks. leonardo was self-taught and gathered knowledge as a bee gathers honey, although honey isn't honey until the bee digests it. sir isaac newton was a cambridge man. he held the office of master of the mint, and to relieve himself of the charge of atheism he anticipated the enemy and wrote a book on the hebrew prophets, which gave the scientists the laugh on him, but made his position with the state secure. newton is the only man herein mentioned who knew anything about theology, all the others being "infidels" in their day, devoting themselves strictly to this world. humboldt was taught by the "natural method," and never took a college degree. franklin was a graduate of the university of hard knocks, and edison's alma mater is the same. there is one special characteristic manifested by the seven educated men i have named--good-cheer, a great welling sense of happiness! they were all good animals: they gloried in life; they loved the men and women who were still on earth; they feasted on the good things in life; breathed deeply; slept soundly and did not bother about the future. their working motto was, "one world at a time." they were all able to laugh. genius is a great fund of joyousness. each and all of these men influenced the world profoundly. we are different people because they lived. every house, school, library and workshop in christendom is touched by their presence. all are dead but edison, yet their influence can never die. and no one in the list has influenced civilization so profoundly as edison. you can not look out of a window in any city in europe or america without beholding the influence of his thought. you may say that the science of electricity has gone past him, but all the sons of jove have built on him. he gave us the electric light and the electric car and pointed the way to the telephone--three things that have revolutionized society. as athens at her height was the age of pericles, so will our time be known as the age of edison. so here endeth "little journeys to the homes of good men and great," being volume one of the series, as written by elbert hubbard: edited and arranged by fred bann; borders and initials by roycroft artists and produced by the roycrofters, at their shops, which are in east aurora, erie county, new york, mcmxxii transcriber's note this plain text version uses characters from the latin- character set only. italic typeface is indicated by the use of _underscores_. small caps typeface is rendered as all caps. there is one instance of an oe-ligature symbol which is shown as [oe]. footnotes are numbered sequentially and are presented at the end of the e-book. * * * * * a chapter of autobiography. a chapter of autobiography. by the right hon. w. e. gladstone. "blame not, before thou hast examined the truth: understand first, and then rebuke."--ecclesiasticus, ch. ii. london: john murray, albemarle street. . _the right of translation is reserved._ london: printed by william clowes and sons, duke street, stamford street, and charing cross. introduction. at a time when the established church of ireland is on her trial, it is not unfair that her assailants should be placed upon their trial too: most of all, if they have at one time been her sanguine defenders. but if not the matter of the indictment against them, at any rate that of their defence, should be kept apart, as far as they are concerned, from the public controversy, that it may not darken or perplex the greater issue. it is in the character of the author of a book called 'the state in its relations with the church,' that i offer these pages to those who may feel a disposition to examine them. they were written at the date attached to them; but their publication has been delayed until after the stress of the general election. a chapter of autobiography. autobiography is commonly interesting; but there can, i suppose, be little doubt that, as a general rule, it should be posthumous. the close of an active career supplies an obvious exception: for this resembles the gentle death which, according to ancient fable, was rather imparted than inflicted by the tender arrows of apollo and of artemis. i have asked myself many times, during the present year, whether peculiar combinations of circumstance might not also afford a warrant at times for departure from the general rule, so far as some special passage of life is concerned; and whether i was not myself now placed in one of those special combinations. the motives, which incline me to answer these questions in the affirmative, are mainly two. first, that the great and glaring change in my course of action with respect to the established church of ireland is not the mere eccentricity, or even perversion, of an individual mind, but connects itself with silent changes, which are advancing in the very bed and basis of modern society. secondly, that the progress of a great cause, signal as it has been and is, appears liable nevertheless to suffer in point of credit, if not of energy and rapidity, from the real or supposed delinquencies of a person, with whose name for the moment it happens to be specially associated. one thing is clear: that if i am warranted in treating my own case as an excepted case, i am bound so to treat it. it is only with a view to the promotion of some general interest, that the public can becomingly be invited to hear more, especially in personal history, about an individual, of whom they already hear too much. but if it be for the general interest to relieve 'an enterprise of pith and moment' from the odium of baseness, and from the lighter reproach of precipitancy, i must make the attempt; though the obtrusion of the first person, and of all that it carries in its train, must be irksome alike to the reader and the writer. so far, indeed, as my observation has gone, the liberal party of this country have stood fire unflinchingly under the heavy vollies which have been fired into its camp with ammunition that had been drawn from depositories full only with matter personal to myself. and, with the confidence they entertain in the justice and wisdom of the policy they recommend, it would have been weak and childish to act otherwise. still, i should be glad to give them the means of knowing that the case may not after all be so scandalous as they are told. in the year , if i remember right, when mr. canning had just become prime minister, an effort was made to support him in the town of liverpool, where the light and music of his eloquence had not yet died away, by an address to the crown. the proposal was supported by an able and cultivated unitarian minister, mr. shepherd, who had been one of mr. canning's opponents at former periods in the liverpool elections. vindicating the consistency of his course, he said he was ready to support the devil himself, if it had been necessary, in doing good. this was a succinct and rough manner of disposing of the question in the last resort. i hope, however, that those who sustain the liberal policy respecting the established church of ireland, will not be driven to so dire an extremity. it can hardly be deemed on my part an unnatural desire, that political friends, and candid observers, should on grounds of reason and knowledge, and not merely from friendly prepossession, feel themselves warranted not to believe in the justice of language such as by way of example i subjoin. i must, however, suppose that the author of it is persuaded of its fairness and justice, since he bears her majesty's commission; and his statement is adopted and published by a brother-officer, who is himself a candidate for berwick in the ministerial interest, and therefore (i presume) not particularly squeamish on the subject of political consistency, although i entertain no doubt that both are gallant, upright, and estimable gentlemen. "there is obviously no need, on the present occasion at least, to extend this catalogue of the political delinquencies of this would-be demagogue, whom we may accordingly leave gibbeted and swinging in the winds of the fools' paradise! an object of derision and contempt to those at least who maintain that integrity of purpose and consistency ought not altogether to be discarded from public life."[ ] it freezes the blood, in moments of retirement and reflexion, for a man to think that he can have presented a picture so hideous to the view of a fellow-creature! one thing i have not done, and shall not do. i shall not attempt to laugh off the question, or to attenuate its importance. in theory at least, and for others, i am myself a purist with respect to what touches the consistency of statesmen. change of opinion, in those to whose judgment the public looks more or less to assist its own, is an evil to the country, although a much smaller evil than their persistence in a course which they know to be wrong. it is not always to be blamed. but it is always to be watched with vigilance; always to be challenged, and put upon its trial. the question is one of so much interest, that it may justify a few remarks. it can hardly escape even cursory observation, that the present century has seen a great increase in the instances of what is called political inconsistency. it is needless, and it would be invidious, to refer to names. among the living, however, who have occupied leading positions, and among the dead of the last twenty years, numerous instances will at once occur to the mind, of men who have been constrained to abandon in middle and mature, or even in advanced life, convictions which they had cherished through long years of conflict and vicissitude: and of men, too, who have not been so fortunate as to close or continue their career in the same political connexion as that in which they commenced it. if we go a little farther back, to the day of mr. pitt and mr. fox, or even to the day of mr. canning, lord londonderry, or lord liverpool, we must be struck with the difference. a great political and social convulsion, like the french revolution, of necessity deranged the ranks of party; yet not even then did any man of great name, or of a high order of mind, permanently change his side. if we have witnessed in the last forty years, beginning with the epoch of roman catholic emancipation, a great increase in the changes of party, or of opinion, among prominent men, we are not at once to leap to the conclusion that public character, as a rule, has been either less upright, or even less vigorous. the explanation is rather to be found in this, that the movement of the public mind has been of a nature entirely transcending former experience; and that it has likewise been more promptly and more effectively represented, than at any earlier period, in the action of the government and the legislature. if it is the office of law and of institutions to reflect the wants and wishes of the country, (and its wishes must ever be a considerable element in its wants), then, as the nation passes from a stationary into a progressive period, it will justly require that the changes in its own condition and views should be represented in the professions and actions of its leading men. for they exist for its sake, not it for theirs. it remains indeed their business, now and ever, to take honour and duty for their guides, and not the mere demand or purpose of the passing hour; but honour and duty themselves require their loyal servant to take account of the state of facts in which he is to work, and, while ever labouring to elevate the standard of opinion and action around him, to remember that his business is not to construct, with self-chosen materials, an utopia or a republic of plato, but to conduct the affairs of a living and working community of men, who have self-government recognised as in the last resort the moving spring of their political life, and of the institutions which are its outward vesture. the gradual transfer of political power from groups and limited classes to the community, and the constant seething of the public mind, in fermentation upon a vast mass of moral and social, as well as merely political, interests, offer conditions of action, in which it is evident that the statesman, in order to preserve the same amount of consistency as his antecessors in other times, must be gifted with a far larger range of foresight. but nature has endowed him with no such superiority. it may be true that sir robert peel shewed this relative deficiency in foresight, with reference to roman catholic emancipation, to reform, and to the corn law. it does not follow that many, who have escaped the reproach, could have stood the trial. for them the barometer was less unsteady; the future less exacting in its demands. but let us suppose that we could secure this enlargement of onward view, this faculty of measuring and ascertaining to-day the wants of a remote hereafter, in our statesmen; we should not even then be at the end of our difficulties. for the public mind is to a great degree unconscious of its own progression; and it would resent and repudiate, if offered to its immature judgment, the very policy, which after a while it will gravely consider, and after another while enthusiastically embrace. yet, as it still remains true that the actual opinions and professions of men in office, and men in authority without office, are among the main landmarks on which the public has to rely, it may seem that, in vindicating an apparent liberty of change, we destroy the principal guarantees of integrity which are available for the nation at large, and with these all its confidence in the persons who are to manage its affairs. this would be a consequence so fatal, that it might even drive us back upon the hopeless attempt to stereotype the minds of men, and fasten on their manhood the swaddling clothes of their infancy. but such is not the alternative. we may regulate the changes which we cannot forbid, by subjecting them to the test of public scrutiny, and by directing that scrutiny to the enforcement of the laws of moral obligation. there are abundant signs, by which to distinguish between those changes, which prove nothing worse than the fallibility of the individual mind, and man[oe]uvres which destroy confidence, and entail merited dishonour. changes which are sudden and precipitate--changes accompanied with a light and contemptuous repudiation of the former self--changes which are systematically timed and tuned to the interest of personal advancement--changes which are hooded, slurred over, or denied--for these changes, and such as these, i have not one word to say; and if they can be justly charged upon me, i can no longer desire that any portion, however small, of the concerns or interests of my countrymen should be lodged in my hands. let me now endeavour to state the offence of which i am held guilty. _ille ego qui quondam_: i, the person who have now accepted a foremost share of the responsibility of endeavouring to put an end to the existence of the irish church as an establishment, am also the person who, of all men in official, perhaps in public life, did, until the year , recommend, upon the highest and most imperious grounds, its resolute maintenance. the book entitled 'the state in its relations with the church' was printed during the autumn of , while i was making a tour in the south of europe, which the state of my eyesight had rendered it prudent to undertake. three editions of it were published without textual change; and in the year a fourth, greatly enlarged, though in other respects little altered, issued from the press. all interest in it had, however, even at that time, long gone by, and it lived for nearly thirty years only in the vigorous and brilliant, though not (in my opinion) entirely faithful picture, drawn by the accomplished hand of lord macaulay. during the present year, as i understand from good authority, it has again been in demand, and in my hearing it has received the emphatic suffrages of many, of whose approval i was never made aware during the earlier and less noisy stages of its existence. the distinctive principle of the book was supposed to be, that the state had a conscience. but the controversy really lies not in the existence of a conscience in the state, so much as in the extent of its range. few would deny the obligation of a state to follow the moral law. every treaty, for example, proceeds upon it. the true issue was this: whether the state, in its best condition, has such a conscience as can take cognizance of religious truth and error, and in particular whether the state of the united kingdom, at a period somewhat exceeding thirty years ago, was or was not so far in that condition as to be under an obligation to give an active and an exclusive support to the established religion of the country. the work attempted to survey the actual state of the relations between the state and the church; to show from history the ground which had been defined for the national church at the reformation; and to inquire and determine whether the existing state of things was worth preserving, and defending against encroachment from whatever quarter. this question it decided emphatically in the affirmative. an early copy of the review containing the powerful essay of lord macaulay was sent to me; and i found that to the main proposition, sufficiently startling, of the work itself, the reviewer had added this assumption, that it contemplated not indeed persecution, but yet the retrogressive process of disabling and disqualifying from civil office all those who did not adhere to the religion of the state. before (i think) the number of the 'edinburgh review' for april, , could have been in the hands of the public, i had addressed to lord (then mr.) macaulay the following letter, which i shall make no apology for inserting, inasmuch as it will introduce one more morsel of his writing, for which the public justly shows a keen and insatiable appetite. , carlton gardens, april th, . dear sir, i have been favoured with a copy of the forthcoming number of the 'edinburgh review,' and i perhaps too much presume upon the bare acquaintance with you of which alone i can boast, in thus unceremoniously assuming you to be the author of the article entitled 'church and state,' and in offering you my very warm and cordial thanks for the manner in which you have treated both the work, and the author, on whom you deigned to bestow your attention. in whatever you write, you can hardly hope for the privilege of most anonymous productions, a real concealment; but if it had been possible not to recognize you, i should have questioned your authorship in this particular case, because the candour and single-mindedness which it exhibits are, in one who has long been connected in the most distinguished manner with political party, so rare as to be almost incredible. i hope to derive material benefit, at some more tranquil season, from a consideration of your argument throughout. i am painfully sensible, whenever i have occasion to re-open the book, of its shortcomings, not only of the subject but even of my own conceptions: and i am led to suspect that, under the influence of most kindly feelings, you have omitted to criticize many things besides the argument, which might fairly have come within your animadversion. in the mean time i hope you will allow me to apprise you that on one material point especially i am not so far removed from you as you suppose. i am not conscious that i have said either that the _test act_ should be repealed, or that it should not have been passed: and though on such subjects language has many bearings which escape the view of the writer at the moment when the pen is in his hand, yet i think that i can hardly have put forth either of these propositions, because i have never entertained the corresponding sentiments. undoubtedly i should speak of the pure abstract idea of church and state as implying that they are co-extensive: and i should regard the present composition of the state of the united kingdom as a deviation from that pure idea, but only in the same sense as all differences of religious opinion in the church are a deviation from its pure idea, while i not only allow that they are permitted, but believe that (within limits) they were intended to be permitted. there are some of these deflections from abstract theory which appear to me allowable; and that of the admission of persons not holding the national creed into civil office is one which, in my view, must be determined by times and circumstances. at the same time i do not recede from any protest which i have made against the principle, that religious differences are irrelevant to the question of competency for civil office: but i would take my stand between the opposite extremes, the one that no such differences are to be taken into view, the other that all such differences are to constitute disqualifications. i need hardly say the question i raise is not whether you have misrepresented me, for, were i disposed to anything so weak, the whole internal evidence and clear intention of your article would confute me: indeed i feel i ought to apologize for even supposing that you may have been mistaken in the apprehension of my meaning, and i freely admit on the other hand the possibility that, totally without my own knowledge, my language may have led to such an interpretation. in these lacerating times one clings to everything of personal kindness in the past, to husband it for the future, and if you will allow me i shall earnestly desire to carry with me such a recollection of your mode of dealing with the subject; upon which, the attainment of truth, we shall agree, so materially depends upon the temper in which the search for it is instituted and conducted. i did not mean to have troubled you at so much length, and i have only to add that i am, with much respect, dear sir, very truly yours, w. e. gladstone. t. b. macaulay, esq. * * * * * , clarges street, april th, . my dear sir, i have very seldom been more gratified than by the very kind note which i have just received from you. your book itself, and everything that i heard about you, though almost all my information came--to the honour, i must say, of our troubled times--from people very strongly opposed to you in politics, led me to regard you with respect and good will, and i am truly glad that i have succeeded in marking those feelings. i was half afraid when i read myself over again in print, that the button, as is too common in controversial fencing even between friends, had once or twice come off the foil. i am very glad to find that we do not differ so widely as i had apprehended about the test act. i can easily explain the way in which i was misled. your general principle is that religious non-conformity ought to be a disqualification for civil office. in page you say that the true and authentic mode of ascertaining conformity is the act of communion. i thought, therefore, that your theory pointed directly to a renewal of the test act. and i do not recollect that you have ever used any expression importing that your theory ought in practice to be modified by any considerations of civil prudence. all the exceptions that you mention are, as far as i remember, founded on positive contract--not one on expediency, even in cases where the expediency is so strong and so obvious that most statesmen would call it necessity. if i had understood that you meant your rules to be followed out in practice only so far as might be consistent with the peace and good government of society, i should certainly have expressed myself very differently in several parts of my article. accept my warm thanks for your kindness, and believe me, with every good wish, my dear sir, very truly yours, t. b. macaulay. w. e. gladstone, esq., m.p. faithful to logic, and to its theory, my work did not shrink from applying them to the crucial case of the irish church. it did not disguise the difficulties of the case, for i was alive to the paradox it involved. but the one master idea of the system, that the state as it then stood was capable in this age, as it had been in ages long gone by, of assuming beneficially a responsibility for the inculcation of a particular religion, carried me through all. my doctrine was, that the church, as established by law, was to be maintained for its truth; that this was the only principle on which it could be properly and permanently upheld; that this principle, if good in england, was good also for ireland; that truth is of all possessions the most precious to the soul of man; and that to remove, as i then erroneously thought we should remove, this priceless treasure from the view and the reach of the irish people, would be meanly to purchase their momentary favour at the expense of their permanent interests, and would be a high offence against our own sacred obligations. these, i think, were the leading propositions of the work. in one important point, however, it was inconsistent with itself; it contained a full admission that a state might, by its nature and circumstances, be incapacitated from upholding and propagating a definite form of religion.[ ] "there may be a state of things in the united states of america, perhaps in some british colonies, there does actually exist a state of things, in which religious communions are so equally divided, or so variously subdivided, that the government is itself similarly chequered in its religious complexion, and thus internally incapacitated by disunion from acting in matters of religion; or, again, there may be a state in which the members of government may be of one faith or persuasion, the mass of the subjects of another, and hence there may be an external incapacity to act in matters of religion." the book goes on to describe that incapacity, however produced, as a social defect and calamity. but the latter part of the work, instead of acknowledging such incapacity as a sufficient and indeed commanding plea for abstention, went beyond the bounds of moderation, and treated it as if it must in all cases be a sin; as though any association of men, in civil government or otherwise, could be responsible for acting beyond the line of the capabilities determined for it by its constitution and composition. my meaning i believe was, to describe only cases in which there might be a deliberate renunciation of such duties as there was the power to fulfil. but the line is left too obscurely drawn between this wilful and wanton rejection of opportunities for good, and the cases in which the state of religious convictions, together with the recognised principles of government, disable the civil power from including within its work the business of either directly or indirectly inculcating religion, and mark out for it a different line of action. i believe that the foregoing passages describe fairly, if succinctly, the main propositions of 'the state in its relations with the church;' so far as the book bears upon the present controversy. they bound me hand and foot: they hemmed me in on every side. further on i shall endeavour to indicate more clearly in what i think the book was right, and in what it was wrong. what i have now to show is the manner in which i retreated from an untenable position. to this retreat, and the time and mode of it, i now draw attention, and i will endeavour to apply to them the tests i have already laid down:--was it sudden? was it performed with an indecent levity? was it made to minister to the interests of political ambition? was the gravity of the case denied or understated? was it daringly pretended that there had been no real change of front; and that, if the world had understood me otherwise, it had misunderstood me? my opinion of the established church of ireland now is the direct opposite of what it was then. i then thought it reconcilable with civil and national justice; i now think the maintenance of it grossly unjust. i then thought its action was favourable to the interests of the religion which it teaches; i now believe it to be opposed to them. but i must venture to point out that, whatever be the sharpness of this contradiction, it is one from which i could not possibly escape by endeavouring to maintain the established church of ireland on the principles on which it is now maintained. i challenge all my censors to impugn me when i affirm that, if the propositions of my work are in conflict (as they are) with an assault upon the existence of the irish establishment, they are at least as much, or even more, hostile to the grounds on which it is now attempted to maintain it. at no time of my life did i propound the maxim _simpliciter_ that we were to maintain the establishment. i appeal to the few who may have examined my work otherwise than for the purpose of culling from it passages which would tell in a quotation. i appeal to the famous article of lord macaulay,[ ] who says with truth-- "mr. gladstone's whole theory rests on this great fundamental proposition, that the propagation of religious truth is one of the principal ends of government, as government. if mr. gladstone has not proved this proposition, _his system vanishes at once_." this was entirely just. in the protest i addressed to the distinguished reviewer on a particular point, i took no exception to it whatever. my work had used (as far as i believe and remember) none of the stock arguments for maintaining the church of ireland. i did not say "maintain it, lest you should disturb the settlement of property." i did not say "maintain it, lest you should be driven to repeal the union." i did not say "maintain it, lest you should offend and exasperate the protestants." i did not say "maintain it, because the body known as the irish church has an indefeasible title to its property." i did not say "maintain it for the spiritual benefit of a small minority." least of all did i say "maintain it, but establish religious equality, setting up at the public charge other establishments along with it, or by distributing a sop here and a sop there, to coax roman catholics and presbyterians into a sort of acquiescence in its being maintained." these topics i never had made my own. scarcely ever, in the first efforts of debate, had i referred to one of them. my trumpet, however shrill and feeble, had at least rung out its note clearly. and my ground, right or wrong it matters not for the present purpose, was this: the church of ireland must be maintained for the benefit of the whole people of ireland, and must be maintained as the truth, or it cannot be maintained at all. accordingly my book contended that the principle of the grant to maynooth, unless as a simply covenanted obligation,[ ] and that of the established church of ireland, could not stand together. in the house of commons, on the question relating to the grant, i am reported as having said in the year ,[ ] that i objected to the grant because it was fatal to the main principle on which the established church was founded. and further. the liberal government and party of that day proposed, in and the following years, the famous "appropriation clause." the principle of their measure was, that the surplus funds only of the irish church were to be applied to popular education, after adequate provision had been made for the spiritual wants of the protestants. this principle, that adequate provision is to be made for the spiritual wants of the protestants, before any other claim on the property of the irish church can be admitted, was the basis of the appropriation clause; and is, as i understand the matter, the very principle which is now maintained against the liberal party of , by the (so-called) defenders of the irish established church. but this principle i denounced in as strongly as i could now do. i extract the following passage from a report in 'hansard,' which, as i remember, i had myself corrected, of a speech on the irish tithe bill with the appropriation clause:--[ ] "a church establishment is maintained either for the sake of its members or its doctrines; for those whom it teaches, or for that which it teaches. on the former ground it is not in equity tenable for a moment. "why should any preference be given to me over another fellow-subject, or what claim have i personally to have my religion supported, whilst another is disavowed by the state? no claim whatever in respect to myself. i concur entirely with gentlemen opposite, hostile to an establishment, that no personal privilege ought in such a matter to be allowed. "but if, on the contrary, i believe, as the great bulk of the british legislature does believe, that the doctrine and system of the establishment contain and exhibit truth in its purest and most effective form, and if we also believe truth to be good for the people universally, then we have a distinct and immovable ground for the maintenance of an establishment; but it follows as a matter of course from the principle, that it must be maintained, not on a scale exactly and strictly adjusted to the present number of its own members, but on such a scale that it may also have the means of offering to others the benefits which it habitually administers to them. "therefore we wish to see the establishment in ireland upheld; not for the sake of the protestants, but of the people at large, that the ministers may be enabled to use the influences of their station, of kindly offices and neighbourhood, of the various occasions which the daily intercourse and habits of social life present; aye, and i do not hesitate to add of persuasion itself, applied with a zeal tempered by knowledge and discretion, in the propagation of that which is true, and which, being true, is good as well for those who as yet have it not, as well for those who have it. it is the proposition of the noble lord which is really open to the charge of bigotry, intolerance, and arbitrary selection; because, disavowing the maintenance and extension of truth, he continues by way of personal privilege to the protestants the legal recognition of their church, which he refuses to the church of the roman catholic." the negative part of this passage i adopt, except the censure it implies upon earl russell and his friends; who, whether their actual propositions were defensible or not, had the "root of the matter" in their hearts, and were far ahead of me in their political forethought, and in their desire to hold up at least the banner of a generous and a hopeful policy towards ireland. in this manner i prove that, while i was bound by the propositions of my work, i was not singly but doubly bound. i was bound to defend the irish church, as long as it could be defended on the ground of its truth. but when the day arrived on which that ground was definitively abandoned, on which a policy was to be adopted by the imperial parliament such as to destroy this plea for the irish establishment, i was equally bound in such case to adopt no other: i had shown that justice would fail to warrant the mere support of the church of the minority; i was held, therefore, not to construct out of rags and tatters, shreds and patches, a new and different case for maintaining it on the ground of favour, or, as it is termed, justice, to protestants; and, if i had done anything of this kind, i should not have escaped the responsibility of inconsistency, but should simply have added a second and (as i think) a less excusable inconsistency to the first. the day for the adoption of such a policy as i have described was not far distant. scarcely had my work issued from the press when i became aware that there was no party, no section of a party, no individual person probably in the house of commons, who was prepared to act upon it. i found myself the last man on the sinking ship. exclusive support to the established religion of the country, with a limited and local exception for scotland under the treaty of union with that country, had been up to that time the actual rule of our policy; the instances to the contrary being of equivocal construction, and of infinitesimal amount. but the attempt to give this rule a vitality other than that of sufferance was an anachronism in time and in place. when i bid it live, it was just about to die. it was really a quickened and not a deadened conscience in the country, which insisted on enlarging the circle of state support, even while it tended to restrain the range of political interference in religion. the condition of our poor, of our criminals, of our military and naval services, and the backward state of popular education, forced on us a group of questions, before the moral pressure of which the old rules properly gave way. at and about the same period, new attempts to obtain grants of public money for the building of churches in england and scotland, i am thankful to say, failed. the powerful government of also failed to carry a measure of factory education, because of the preference it was thought to give to the established church. i believe the very first opinion i ever was called upon to give in cabinet was an opinion in favour of the withdrawal of that measure. in this state of facts and feelings, notwithstanding the strength of anti-roman opinion, it was impossible that ireland should not assert her share, and that a large one, to consideration in these critical matters. the forces, which were now at work, brought speedily to the front and to the top that question of maynooth college, which i had always (rightly or wrongly) treated as a testing question for the foundations of the irish established church; as, in point of principle, the _articulus stantis aut cadentis ecclesiæ_. in the course of the year , when i was a member of the cabinet of sir robert peel, he made known to me his opinion that it was desirable to remodel and to increase the grant to maynooth. i was the youngest member of that government, entirely bound up with it in policy, and warmly attached, by respect and even affection, to its head and to some of its leading members. of association with what was termed ultra-toryism in general politics i had never dreamed. i well knew that the words of sir r. peel were not merely tentative, but that, as it was right they should, they indicated a fixed intention. the choice before me, therefore, was, to support his measure, or to retire from his government into a position of complete isolation, and what was more than this, subject to a grave and general imputation of political eccentricity. my retirement, i knew, could have no other warrant than this: that it would be a tribute to those laws which, as i have urged, must be upheld for the restraint of changes of opinion and conduct in public men. for i never entertained the idea of opposing the measure of sir robert peel. i can scarcely be guilty of a breach of confidence when i mention that lord derby, to whom i had already been indebted for much personal kindness, was one of those colleagues who sought to dissuade me from resigning my office. he urged upon me that such an act must be followed by resistance to the measure of the government, and that i should run the risk of being mixed with a fierce religious agitation. i replied that i must adhere to my purpose of retirement, but that i did not perceive the necessity of its being followed by resistance to the proposal. overtures were, not unnaturally, made to me by some of those who resisted it; but they were at once declined. my whole purpose was to place myself in a position in which i should be free to consider my course without being liable to any just suspicion on the ground of personal interest. it is not profane if i say "with a great price obtained i this freedom." the political association in which i stood was to me at the time the alpha and omega of public life. the government of sir robert peel was believed to be of immovable strength. my place, as president of the board of trade, was at the very kernel of its most interesting operations; for it was in progress from year to year, with continually waxing courage, towards the emancipation of industry, and therein towards the accomplishment of another great and blessed work of public justice. giving up what i highly prized, aware that "malè sarta gratia nequicquam coit, et rescinditur,"[ ] i felt myself open to the charge of being opinionated, and wanting in deference to really great authorities; and i could not but know i should be regarded as fastidious and fanciful, fitter for a dreamer, or possibly a schoolman, than for the active purposes of public life in a busy and moving age. in effect so it was. in the month of january, , if not sooner, the resolution of the cabinet was taken; and i resigned. the public judgment, as might have been expected, did not favour the act. i remember that the 'daily news,' then as now a journal greatly distinguished for an almost uniform impartiality, as well as for breadth of view and high discernment, remarked at the time or afterwards upon the case, as a rare one, in which a public man had injured himself with the public by an act which must in fairness be taken to be an act of self-denial. i hope that reference to this criticism will not be considered boastful. it can hardly be so; for an infirm judgment, exhibited in a practical indiscretion, is after all the theme of these pages. i do not claim acquittal upon any one of the counts of indictment which i have admitted may be brought against the conduct i pursued. one point only i plead, and plead with confidence. it proved that i was sensible of the gravity of any great change in political conduct or opinion, and desirous beyond all things of giving to the country such guarantees as i could give of my integrity, even at the expense of my judgment and fitness for affairs. if any man doubts this, i ask him to ask himself, what demand political honour could have made with which i failed to comply? in the ensuing debate on the address (february , ), lord john russell, in terms of courtesy and kindness which i had little deserved from him, called for an explanation of the cause of my retirement. in a statement which i corrected for 'hansard's debates,' i replied that it had reference to the intentions of the government with respect to maynooth; that those intentions pointed to a measure "at variance with the system which i had maintained," "in a form the most detailed and deliberate," "in a published treatise:" that although i had never set forth any theory of political affairs as "under all circumstances inflexible and immutable," yet i thought those who had borne such solemn testimony to a particular view of a great constitutional question, "ought not to be parties responsible for proposals which involved a material departure from it." and the purpose of my retirement was to "place myself, so far as in me lay, in a position to form not only an honest, but likewise an independent and an unsuspected judgment," on the plan likely to be submitted by the government. i also spoke as follows, in more forms than one: "i wish again and most distinctly to state, that i am not prepared to take part in any religious warfare against that measure, such as i believe it may be; or to draw a distinction between the roman catholics and other denominations of christians, with reference to the religious opinions which each of them respectively may hold." now i respectfully submit that by this act my freedom was established; and that it has never since, during a period of nearly five-and-twenty years, been compromised. some may say that it is perfectly consistent to have endowed maynooth anew, and yet to uphold on principle, as a part of the constitution, the established church of ireland. it may be consistent, for them; it was not consistent, as i have distinctly shown, for me. the moment that i admitted the validity of a claim by the church of rome for the gift, by the free act of the imperial parliament, of new funds for the education of its clergy, the true basis of the established church of ireland for me was cut away. the one had always been treated by me as exclusive of the other. it is not now the question whether this way of looking at the question was a correct one. there are great authorities against it; while it seems at the same time to have some considerable hold on what may be termed the moral sense of portions, perhaps large portions, of the people. the present question is one of fact. it is enough for the present purpose, that such was my view. from that day forward, i have never to my knowledge said one word, in public or in private, which could pledge me on principle to the maintenance of the irish church. nay, in a speech, delivered on the second reading of the maynooth college bill, i took occasion distinctly to convey, that the application of religious considerations to ecclesiastical questions in ireland would be entirely altered by the passing of the measure:-- "the boon to which i for one have thus agreed, is a very great boon. i think it important, most of all important with regard to the principles it involves. i am very far, indeed, from saying that it virtually decides upon the payment of the roman catholic priests of ireland by the state: but i do not deny that it disposes of the religious objections to that measure. i mean that we, who assent to this bill, shall in my judgment no longer be in a condition to plead religious objections to such a project."[ ] true, i did not say that i was thenceforward prepared at any moment to vote for the removal of the established church in ireland. and this for the best of all reasons: it would not have been true. it is one thing to lift the anchor; it is another to spread the sails. it may be a duty to be in readiness for departure, when departure itself would be an offence against public prudence and public principle. but i do not go so far even as this. on the contrary, i was willing and desirous[ ] that it should be permitted to continue. if its ground in logic was gone, yet it might have, in fact, like much besides, its day of grace. i do not now say that i leapt at once to the conclusion that the established church of ireland must at any definite period "cease to exist as an establishment." she had my sincere good will; i was not sorry, i was glad, that while ireland seemed content to have it so, a longer time should be granted her to unfold her religious energies through the medium of an active and pious clergy, which until this our day she had never possessed. my mind recoiled then, as it recoils now, from the idea of worrying the irish church to death. i desired that it should remain even as it was, until the way should be opened, and the means at hand, for bringing about some better state of things. moreover, it was a duty, from my point of view, completely to exhaust every chance on behalf of the irish church. i have not been disposed, at any time of life, gratuitously to undertake agitation of the most difficult, and at times apparently the most hopeless questions. at the period of the appropriation clause, i represented to myself, and i believe to others, that the true power of the church as a religious engine had never up to that period been fairly tried. in name a religious institution, her influences, her benefices, her sees, were commonly employed for purposes, which we must condemn as secular, even if they had not been utterly _anti-national_. only within a few, a very few years, had her clergy even begun to bestir themselves; and they had forthwith found that, from the unsettled state of the law of tithe, they were in the midst of an agitation, both menacing to public order, and even perilous to life. i was desirous to see what, after person and property should have been rendered secure, and a peaceful atmosphere restored, a generation of pious and zealous men could accomplish in their actual position. i am still of the opinion that thirty-five years ago the religion of the irish church had not--to her and to our shame be it spoken--had fair play. from the days of elizabeth downwards, with the rarest exceptions, the worldly element had entirely outweighed the religious one (whatever the intention may have been) in the actual working of the ecclesiastical institutions of ireland. mr. burke has immortalised the burning shame and the hideous scandals of those penal laws which, perhaps for the first time in the history of christendom if not of man, aimed at persecuting men out of one religion, but not at persecuting them into another. i will not be so rash as to enter on the field-- "per quem magnus equos auruncæ flexit alumnus." but the time of awakening had come. the irish church had grown conscious that she had a gospel to declare. even with my present opinions i might feel a scruple as to the measures now proposed, but for the resistless and accumulated proof of impotence afforded by the experience of my life-time, and due, i believe, to a radically false position. for the irish church has, since the tithe war of - came to an end, had not only fair play--that is such fair play as in ireland the establishment allows to the church--but fair play and something more. she has enjoyed an opportunity, extending over a generation of men, with circumstances of favour such as can hardly be expected to recur. what has been her case? she has had ample endowments; perfect security; an almost unbroken freedom from the internal controversies which have chastened (though, in chastening, i believe improved) the church of england. the knowledge of the irish language has been extensively-attained by her clergy.[ ] she has had all the moral support that could be given her by the people of this country; for it was the people, and not a mere party, who, in - , repudiated and repelled the appropriation clause. her rival, the church of rome, has seen its people borne down to the ground by famine; and then thinned from year to year, in hundreds of thousands, by the resistless force of emigration. and, last and most of all, in the midst of that awful visitation of - , her protestant clergy came to the roman catholic people clad in the garb of angels of light; for, besides their own bounty (most liberal, i believe, in proportion to their means), they became the grand almoners of the british nation. when, after all this, we arrive at a new census of religion in , we find that only the faintest impression has been made upon the relative numbers of the two bodies; an impression much slighter, i apprehend, than would have been due to the comparative immunity of the established church from the drain of emigration; and, if so, representing in reality, not a gain, but a virtual loss of some part of the narrow ground which before was occupied by the favoured religion of the state. like others, i have watched with interest the results of those missionary operations in the west of ireland which have, perhaps, been construed as of a greater ulterior significance than really belongs to them. they were, i understand, due not so much to the established church, as to religious bodies in this country, which expend large funds in ireland for the purpose of making converts: an operation in which the presbyterians and protestant dissenters lend their aid. let them not be undervalued. but i, for one, recollect that this is not the first time when local and occasional inroads have been successfully effected by protestants upon the serried phalanx of the roman church in ireland, and have been mistaken for signs of permanent or a general conquest. more than forty years ago, bishop blomfield--no mean authority--prophesied or announced, in the house of lords, that a second reformation had then begun. and there had indeed taken place in ireland at that time one, if not more than one, instance of conversions on a large scale to the established church, such as was well calculated to excite sanguine anticipations, though they were dispelled by subsequent experience. i think we ought now to perceive that the annexation of the warrant of civil authority to the religious embassy of the irish church, discredits in lieu of recommending it in the view of the irish people. i do not mean that we are to put down the establishment for the sake of a more effective propagandism. we must not for a moment forget that civil justice, an adaptation of the state of things in ireland to the essential principles of political right, is that one broad and more than sufficient justification of the measure, in which all its advocates agree. but, over and above this, they may also agree in reflecting with satisfaction that the time is about to come when in ireland, in lieu of a system which insults the religion of the majority and makes that of the minority powerless, creeds will compete upon the level, and will thrive according to their merits. nor will they be offended with one another when, in the anticipation of such a state of things, each man who has faith in freedom, faith in justice, faith in truth, anticipates a harvest of benefit for his own. the emancipation thus effected from the net in which i had been bound was soon after tested. in , it was suggested to me that i should oppose a member of the newly-formed government of lord john russell. in my reply, declining the proposal, i wrote thus: "as to the irish church, i am not able to go to war with them on the ground that they will not pledge themselves to the maintenance of the existing appropriation of church property in ireland." this, however, was a private proceeding. but, early in , mr. estcourt announced his resignation of the seat he had held, amidst universal respect, for the university of oxford. the partiality of friends proposed me as a candidate. the representation of that university was, i think, stated by mr. canning to be to him the most coveted prize of political life. i am not ashamed to own that i desired it with an almost passionate fondness. for besides all the associations it maintained and revived, it was in those days an honour not only given without solicitation, but, when once given, not withdrawn.[ ] the contest was conducted with much activity, and some heat. i was, naturally enough, challenged as to my opinions on the established church of ireland. my friend mr. coleridge, then young, but already distinguished, was one of my most active and able supporters. he has borne spontaneous testimony, within the last few weeks, to the manner in which the challenge was met:-- "gentlemen, i must be permitted--because an attack has been made upon mr. gladstone, and it has been suggested that his conversion to his present principles is recent--to mention what is within my own knowledge and experience with regard to him. in , when i was just leaving oxford, i had the great honour of being secretary to his first election committee for that university, and i well recollect how, upon that occasion, some older and more moderate supporters were extremely anxious to draw from him some pledge that he should stand by the irish church. he distinctly refused to pledge himself to anything of the kind."[ ] the next parliamentary occasion, after the maynooth grant, which brought prominently into view the ecclesiastical arrangements of ireland, was that of the ecclesiastical titles bill in . i felt bound, as one of a very small minority, but in cordial agreement with the chief surviving associates of sir robert peel, to offer all the opposition in my power, not only to the clauses by which the party then called protectionist, and now tory, conservative, or constitutionalist, endeavoured to sharpen the sting of the measure, but to the substance of the measure itself. i may be permitted to observe, that for the representative of the university of oxford thus to set himself against the great bulk of the liberal as well as the conservative party, whatever else it may have been, was not a servile or a self-seeking course. but this is irrelevant. it is more to the present purpose to observe that, in resisting this measure, i did not attempt to mitigate the offence by any profession of adhesion in principle to the maintenance of the established church of ireland; but i spoke as follows:-- "we cannot change the profound and resistless tendencies of the age towards religious liberty. it is our business to guide and control their application. do this you may. but to endeavour to turn them backwards is the sport of children, done by the hands of men; and every effort you may make in that direction will recoil upon you in disaster and disgrace."[ ] the years flowed on. from forwards, the controversy of free trade was, as a rule, the commanding and absorbing controversy, the pole of political affairs. but from time to time motions were made in relation to the established church of ireland. that question remained as one asleep, but whose sleep is haunted with uneasy dreams. these motions were, as far as i remember them, uniformly of a narrow and partial character. they aimed at what is called getting in the thin end of the wedge. all honour, however, to each one of those who made them. the mover of any such proposal was _vox clamantis in deserto_. the people of england had, in - , settled the matter for the time. the reproaches now made against the older leaders and the body of the liberal party for not having seriously entered the struggle, appear to me to be not only unjust but even preposterous. the legislature had other great subjects to deal with, besides the irish church. four years of deadly conflict on such a matter might well be followed by five times four of repose. but in the mean time individuals, by their partial and occasional efforts, bore witness to a principle broader than any which they formally announced. that principle--the application of a true religious equality to ireland--was biding its time. no one, in my opinion, was bound to assert, by speech or vote, any decisive opinion upon so great and formidable a question until he should think, upon a careful survey of the ground and the time, of the assisting and opposing forces, that the season for action had come. the motions actually made were commonly motions for inquiry, or motions aimed generally at a change. i did not enter into the debates. when i voted, i voted against them; and against such motions, if they were made, i should vote again. i now arrive at the government of - . he who has slept long is likely soon to wake. after the free trade struggles of and were over, so it was, i thought, with the question of the irish church. there was a lull in political affairs. they hung, in a great degree, upon a single life--the remarkable life of lord palmerston. it was surely right to think a little of the future. the calm was certain to be succeeded by a breeze, if not a gale. it was too plain to me that the inner disposition of ireland, relatively to this country, was not improving; and that, in the course of years, more or fewer, the question of the irish church was certain to revive, and, if it should revive, probably to be carried to a final issue. my first thought, under these circumstances, was about my constituents. anxiously occupied in other matters, i did not give my nights and days to the question of the irish church. yet the question continually flitted, as it were, before me; and i felt that, before that question arose in a practical shape, my relation to the university should be considered, and its convocation distinctly apprised that at the proper time it would be my duty to support very extensive changes in the irish church. my valued friend, sir r. palmer, has done me the favour, of his own motion, to state in public that i then apprised him of my state of mind:-- "there had been people who had said, 'you would never have heard anything about the irish church question from mr. gladstone if the tories had not been in power, and he had not wanted to get their place.' (hear, hear.) to his certain knowledge that was not true. he could mention what had taken place between mr. gladstone and himself, and he did so the rather because it did justice to him, and would show them that his own mind had been particularly addressed to that subject, to which he had paid some degree of attention some years before the present time. in the year , at a time when no one was bringing forward this question, or seemed very likely to do so, mr. gladstone had told him privately that he had made up his mind on the subject, and that he should not be able to keep himself from giving public expression to his feelings. how far or near that might be practicable, he could not foresee; but, under the circumstances, he wanted his friends connected with the university of oxford to consider whether or not they would desire for that reason a change in the representation of the university."[ ] #/ partly because i felt that this question might come to the front, and partly because i saw a manifest determination in a portion of the academical constituency to press my friends with incessant contests, of which i was unwilling to be the hero, i was not indisposed to retire without compulsion from the seat, if it could have been done without obvious detriment to the principles on which i had been returned. this was judged to be uncertain. consequently, i remained. but in , on the motion of mr. dillwyn, i made a speech, in which i declared that present action was impossible, that at any period immense difficulties would have to be encountered, but that this was "the question of the future." i stated strongly, though summarily, some of the arguments against the church as it stood. i entirely abstained from advising or glancing at the subject of mere reform, and i did not use one word from which it could be inferred that i desired it to continue in its place as the national or established church of the country. my speech was immediately denounced by mr. (now chief justice) whiteside, as one intended to be fatal to the established church of ireland when an opportunity should arise;[ ] and i am told that my opponents in the university circulated my speech among their portion of the constituency (as i think they were quite justified in doing) to my prejudice. my friends, however, stood by me, and resolved to contend for the seat. an application was made to me by a distinguished scholar, divine, and teacher, the warden of trinity college, glenalmond, to give certain explanations for the appeasing of doubts. i did so in the following letter:-- " , carlton house terrace, s.w., june , . "dear dr. hannah, "it would be very difficult for me to subscribe to _any_ interpretation of my speech on the irish church like that of your correspondent, which contains so many conditions and bases of a plan for dealing with a question apparently remote, and at the same time full of difficulties on every side. my reasons are, i think, plain. first, because the question is remote, and apparently out of all bearing on the practical politics of the day, i think it would be for me worse than superfluous to determine upon any scheme or basis of a scheme with respect to it. secondly, because it is difficult, even if i anticipated any likelihood of being called upon to deal with it, i should think it right to make no decision beforehand on the mode of dealing with the difficulties. but the first reason is that which chiefly weighs. as far as i know, my speech signifies pretty clearly the broad distinction which i take between the abstract and the practical views of the subject. and i think i have stated strongly my sense of the responsibility attaching to the opening of such a question, except in a state of things which gave promise of satisfactorily closing it. for this reason it is that i have been so silent about the matter, and may probably be so again; but i could not as a minister, and as member for oxford, allow it to be debated an indefinite number of times and remain silent. one thing, however, i may add, because i think it a clear landmark. in any measure dealing with the irish church, i think (though i scarcely _expect_ ever to be called on to share in such a measure) the act of union must be recognised and must have important consequences, especially with reference to the position of the hierarchy. "i am much obliged to you for writing, and i hope you will see and approve my reasons for not wishing to carry my _own mind_ further into a question lying at a distance i cannot measure. "yours sincerely, (signed) "w. e. gladstone. "rev. the warden, trin. coll., perth." the letter has been the object of much criticism upon these three grounds. first, it contained a statement that the act of union ought to entail important consequences in the formation of any measure relating to the irish church. secondly, that the question was hardly within the domain of practical politics. thirdly, that i felt very uncertain whether it would be dealt with in my time. the explanation of the first is as follows:--in contemplating the subject of the irish church, i did not see how to give full effect to the principle of religious equality without touching the composition of the house of lords. in this strait, my personal opinion was that it would be best to retain (though in an altered form) the episcopal element from ireland in the house of lords, lest its withdrawal should lead to other changes, of a kind to weaken the constitution of that important branch of the legislature; and thus far i was disposed to abridge the application of religious equality to ireland. i had not yet examined the question so closely as to perceive that this mode of proceeding was wholly impracticable, and that the inconvenience of removing the irish bishops must be faced. and for my part i have not been so happy, at any time of my life, as to be able sufficiently to adjust the proper conditions of handling any difficult question, until the question itself was at the door. this retention of the bishops in the house of peers was the important consequence that i thought the act of union would draw. among those errors of the day which may be called singular as vulgar errors, is that which supposes the fifth article of the act of union with ireland to refer to the endowments of the church. its terms touch exclusively her "doctrine, worship, discipline, and government." there is no violation of this section of the act of union in withdrawing her endowments, were she stripped of every shilling. but it may be said that her "government," as distinguished from her discipline, perhaps involves the position of her exclusive relation to the state. so i thought; and accordingly thus i wrote to dr. hannah. the second proposition of the letter was not only in harmony with my speech, it was simply the condensation of the speech into a brief form of words. for, agreeing with mr. dillwyn as to the merits of the case, i held, as i have ever held, that it is not the duty of a minister to be forward in inscribing on the journals of parliament his own abstract views; or to disturb the existence of a great institution like the church of ireland, until he conceives the time to be come when he can probably give effect to his opinions. because the question was not within the range of practical politics, agreeing with his sentiment, i voted against his motion. but, forsooth, it is a matter of wonder that i should have felt doubtful whether the irish church would be dealt with in my time. now, i do not complain of this. it is an example of what is continually happening in human affairs, of the mythical handling of facts, of the reflection of the ideas, feelings, and circumstances of one period upon the events of another, and thus dressing the past in the garb of the present. i abide by this, and by every word of the letter. the question of the irish church was in my view, in the year , what, be it remembered, the question of parliamentary reform seemed to be in the first moiety of the year --namely, a remote question. had any man said to me, "how soon will it come on?" i should have replied, "heaven knows; perhaps it will be five years, perhaps it will be ten." my duty was to let my constituents know the state of my mind on a matter so important, because the wind was gradually veering to that quarter, even though i might not believe, and did not believe it to be the most probable event, that it would reach the point for action during the life of the parliament just then about to be elected. but then i referred to my own political lifetime. on that subject i will only say that a man who, in , completed his thirty-third year of a laborious career; who had already followed to the grave the remains of almost all the friends abreast of whom he had started from the university in the career of public life; and who had observed that, excepting two recent cases, it was hard to find in our whole history a single man who had been permitted to reach the fortieth year of a course of labour similar to his own within the walls of the house of commons; such a man might surely be excused if he did not venture to reckon for himself on an exemption from the lot of greater and better men, and if he formed a less sanguine estimate of the fraction of space yet remaining to him, than seems to have been the case with his critics. the reasons that, in my judgment, prove the time now to have arrived for dealing decisively with the question of the irish church establishment, must be treated elsewhere than in these pages. so far as ireland, and the immediate controversy, and my personal vindication are concerned, i have done. but there is matter of wider interest, which connects itself with the subject. the change of conduct, the shifting of the mind of an individual, shrink into insignificance by the side of the question, what has been, since , the direction of the public sentiment, the course of law and administration, the general march of affairs? i have described the erroneous impressions as to the actual and prospective state of things, under which was urged the practical application of that system of thought embodied in my work of . it may be said my error was a gross or even an absurd one. on that question i need not enter. but i will endeavour to bring into view some circumstances relating to the time, which may help to account for it. and here i feel that i pass beyond the narrower and more personal scope of these pages, if i attempt to recall some of the changes that have taken place during the last thirty or five-and-thirty years, in matters which bear upon the religious character and relations of the state. at that time, jews, and others not adopting the christian name, were excluded from civil office; and though roman catholics and nonconformists had effected an entrance into parliament, there still remained an oath for the former, and a declaration for the latter, which, if they did not practically limit freedom, yet denoted, like the mark of chains on the limbs of an emancipated slave, that there had been a time when it did not exist. the establishment of scotland was still entire, and animated with the strength principally of the eminent men who afterwards led the free church secession. the attack on the irish church, pushed in with earnestness and vigour by the liberal party, had speedily proved to be hopeless. the state continued to make to other persuasions certain grants, little more than compassionate, and handed down from other times; but, even in the case of the classes especially in its charge, such as soldiers and sailors, or such again as paupers and criminals, it rarely permitted, and still more rarely provided for them, the means of religious worship according to their own religious convictions. in the great province of popular education in england, nothing was granted except to schools of the church, or to schools in which, while the bible was read, no religion other than that of the church was taught; and he would have been deemed something more than a daring prophet, who should have foretold that in a few years the utmost ambition of the lay champions, and of the spiritual heads of the church, would be to obtain the maintenance of a denominational system in popular education, under which all religions alike should receive the indirect, yet not unsubstantial, countenance of the state. but the most important of all the changes which have taken place within the interval, has been the change in the condition of the church of england itself. even for those old enough to have an adequate recollection of the facts, it requires no inconsiderable mental effort to travel backwards over the distractions, controversies, perils, and calamities of the last thirty years, to the period immediately before those years; and to realise not only the state of facts, but especially the promises and prospects which it presented. i am well aware that any description of it which may now be attempted will appear to bear more or less the colour of romance; but, without taking it into view, no one can either measure the ground over which we have travelled, or perceive how strong was then the temptation to form an over-sanguine estimate of the probable progress of the church in her warfare with sin and ignorance, and even in persuading seceders of all kinds to re-enter her fold. that time was a time such as comes, after sickness, to a man in the flower of life, with an unimpaired and buoyant constitution; the time in which, though health is as yet incomplete, the sense and the joy of health are keener, as the fresh and living current first flows in, than are conveyed by its even and undisturbed possession. the church of england had been passing through a long period of deep and chronic religious lethargy. for many years, perhaps for some generations, christendom might have been challenged to show, either then or from any former age, a clergy (with exceptions) so secular and lax, or congregations so cold, irreverent, and indevout. the process of awakening had, indeed, begun many years before; but a very long time is required to stir up effectually a torpid body, whose dimensions overspread a great country. active piety and zeal among the clergy, and yet more among the laity, had been in a great degree confined within the narrow limits of a party, which, however meritorious in its work, presented in the main phenomena of transition, and laid but little hold on the higher intellect and cultivation of the country. our churches and our worship bore in general too conclusive testimony to a frozen indifference. no effort had been made either to overtake the religious destitution of the multitudes at home, or to follow the numerous children of the church, migrating into distant lands, with any due provision for their spiritual wants. the richer benefices were very commonly regarded as a suitable provision for such members of the higher families as were least fit to push their way in any profession requiring thought or labour. the abuses of plurality and non-residence were at a height, which, if not proved by statistical returns, it would now be scarcely possible to believe. in the greatest public school of the country (and i presume it may be taken as a sample of the rest) the actual teaching of christianity was all but dead, though happily none of its forms had been surrendered. it is a retrospect full of gloom; and with all our romanising, and all our rationalising, what man of sense would wish to go back upon those dreary times: "domos ditis vacuas, et inania regna"?[ ] but between and , the transformation, which had previously begun, made a progress altogether marvellous. much was due, without doubt, to the earnest labour of individuals. such men as bishop blomfield on the bench, and dr. hook in the parish (and i name them only as illustrious examples), who had long been toiling with a patient but a dauntless energy, began as it were to get the upper hand. but causes of deep and general operation were also widely at work. as the french revolution had done much to renovate christian belief on the continent, so the church of england was less violently, but pretty sharply, roused by the political events which arrived in a rattling succession. in , the repeal of the test act. in , the emancipation of the roman catholics. in - , the agony and triumph of reform. in , the church temporalities act for ireland. there was now a general uprising of religious energy in the church throughout the land. it saved the church. her condition before could not possibly have borne the scrutinising eye, which for thirty years past has been turned upon our institutions. her rank corruptions must have called down the avenging arm. but it was arrested just in time. it would be difficult to give a just and full idea of the beneficial changes which were either accomplished or begun during this notable decade of years. they embraced alike formal, official movements, of a nature to strike the general eye, and those local improvements in detail, which singly are known only in each neighbourhood, but which unitedly transform the face of a country. laws were passed to repress gross abuses, and the altering spirit of the clergy seconded and even outstripped the laws. the outward face of divine worship began to be renovated, and the shameful condition of the sacred fabrics was rapidly amended, with such a tide of public approval as overflowed all the barriers of party and of sect, and speedily found its manifestations even in the seceding communions. there is no reason to doubt that at that time at least, and before such changes had become too decidedly the fashion, the outward embellishment of churches, and the greater decency and order of services, answered to, and sprang from, a call within, and proved a less unworthy conception of the sublime idea of christian worship. the missionary arm of the church began to exhibit a vigour wholly unknown to former years. noble efforts were made, under the auspices of the chief bishops of the church, to provide for the unsatisfied spiritual wants of the metropolis. the great scheme of the colonial episcopate was founded; and, in its outset, led to such a development of apostolic zeal and self-denial as could not but assist, by a powerful reaction, the domestic progress. the tone of public schools (on one of which arnold was now spending his noble energies) and of universities, was steadily yet rapidly raised. the greatest change of all was within the body of the clergy.[ ] a devoted piety and an unworldly life, which had been the rare exceptions, became visibly from year to year more and more the rule. the spectacle, as a whole, was like what we are told of a russian spring: when, after long months of rigid cold, almost in a day the snow dissolves, the ice breaks up and is borne away, and the whole earth is covered with a rush of verdure. these were bright and happy days for the church of england. she seemed, or seemed to seem, as a church recalling the descriptions of holy writ; to be "beautiful as the sun which goeth forth in his might,"[ ] "and terrible as an army with banners."[ ] of this great renovating movement, a large part centred in oxford. at the time, indeed, when i resided there, from to , no sign of it had yet appeared. a steady, clear, but dry anglican orthodoxy bore sway, and frowned, this way or that, on the first indication of any tendency to diverge from the beaten path. dr. pusey was, at that time, revered, indeed, for his piety and charity, no less than admired for his learning and talents, but suspected (i believe) of sympathy with the german theology, in which he was known to be profoundly versed. dr. newman was thought to have about him the flavour of what, he has now told the world, were the opinions he had derived in youth from the works of thomas scott. mr. keble, the "sweet singer of israel," and a true saint, if this generation has seen one, did not reside in oxford.[ ] the chief chair of theology had been occupied by bishop lloyd, the old tutor and the attached and intimate friend of peel: a man of powerful talents, and of a character both winning and decided, who, had his life been spared, might have acted powerfully for good on the fortunes of the church of england, by guiding the energetic influences which his teaching had done much to form. but he had been hurried away in by an early death: and dr. whately, who was also, in his own way, a known power in the university, was in induced to accept the archbishopric of dublin. there was nothing at that time in the theology, or in the religious life, of the university to indicate what was to come. but when, shortly afterwards, the great heart of england began to beat with the quickened pulsations of a more energetic religious life, it was in oxford that the stroke was most distinct and loud. an extraordinary change appeared to pass upon the spirit of the place. i believe it would be a moderate estimate to say that much beyond one half of the very flower of its youth chose the profession of holy orders, while an impression scarcely less deep seemed to be stamped upon a large portion of its lay pupils. i doubt whether at any period of its existence, either since the reformation, or perhaps before it, the church of england had reaped from either university, in so short a time, so rich a harvest. at cambridge a similar lifting up of heart and mind seems to have been going on; and numbers of persons of my own generation, who at their public schools had been careless and thoughtless like the rest, appeared in their early manhood as soldiers of christ, and ministers to the wants of his people, worthy, i believe, as far as man can be worthy, through their zeal, devotion, powers of mind, and attainments, of their high vocation. it was not then foreseen what storms were about to rise. not only in oxford, but in england, during the years to which i refer, party spirit within the church was reduced to a low ebb. indiscretions there might be, but authority did not take alarm: it smiled rather, on the contrary, on what was thought to be in the main a recurrence both to first principles and to forgotten obligations. purity, unity, and energy seemed, as three fair sisters hand in hand, to advance together. such a state of things was eminently suited to act on impressible and sanguine minds. i, for one, formed a completely false estimate of what was about to happen; and believed that the church of england, through the medium of a regenerated clergy and an intelligent and attached laity, would not only hold her ground, but would even in great part probably revive the love and the allegiance both of the masses who were wholly falling away from religious observances, and of those large and powerful nonconforming bodies, the existence of which was supposed to have no other cause than the neglect of its duties by the national church, which had long left the people as sheep without a shepherd. and surely it would have required either a deeply saturnine or a marvellously prophetic mind to foretell that, in ten or twelve more years, that powerful and distinguished generation of clergy would be broken up: that at least a moiety of the most gifted sons, whom oxford had reared for the service of the church of england, would be hurling at her head the hottest bolts of the vatican: that, with their deviation on the one side, there would arise a not less convulsive rationalistic movement on the other; and that the natural consequences would be developed in endless contention and estrangement, and in suspicions worse than either, because even less accessible, and even more intractable. since that time, the church of england may be said to have bled at every pore; and at this hour it seems occasionally to quiver to its very base. and yet, all the while, the religious life throbs more and more powerfully within her. shorn of what may be called the romance and poetry of her revival, she abates nothing of her toil; and in the midst of every sort of partial indiscretion and extravagance, her great office in the care of souls is, from year to year, less and less imperfectly discharged. but the idea of asserting on her part those exclusive claims, which become positively unjust in a divided country governed on popular principles, has been abandoned by all parties in the state. there was an error not less serious in my estimate of english nonconformity. i remember the astonishment with which at some period,--i think in - ,--after ascertaining the vast addition which had been made to the number of churches in the country, i discovered that the multiplication of chapels, among those not belonging to the church of england, had been more rapid still. but besides the immense extension of its material and pastoral organisation, english nonconformity (in general) appears now to have founded itself on a principle of its own, which forbids the alliance of the civil power with religion in any particular form or forms. i do not embrace that principle. but i must observe, in passing, that it is not less unjust than it is common to stigmatise those who hold it as "political dissenters,"--a phrase implying that they do not dissent on religious grounds. but if they, because they object to the union of church and state, are political dissenters, it follows that all who uphold it are political churchmen. the entire miscalculation which i have now endeavoured to describe of the religious state and prospects of the country, was combined with a view of the relative position of governors and governed, since greatly modified; and the two lay at the root of my error. these two causes led me into the excess of recommending the continued maintenance of a theory which was impracticable, and which, if it could have been enforced, would have been, under the circumstances of the country, less than just. for i never held that a national church should be permanently maintained except for the nation,--i mean either for the whole of it or, at least, for the greater part, with some kind of real concurrence or general acquiescence from the remainder. against the proposals of my book, lord macaulay had set up a theory of his own.[ ] "that we may give mr. gladstone his revenge, we will state concisely our own views respecting the alliance of church and state.... "we consider the primary end of government as a purely temporal end, the protection of the persons and property of men. "we think that government, like every other contrivance of human wisdom, from the highest to the lowest, is likely to answer its main end best, when it is constructed with a single view to that end.... "government is not an institution for the propagation of religion, any more than st. george's hospital is an institution for the propagation of religion. and the most absurd and pernicious consequences would follow if government should pursue as its primary end, that which can never be more than its secondary end: though intrinsically more important than its primary end. but a government which considers the religious instruction of the people as a secondary end, and follows out that principle faithfully, will we think be likely to do much good and little harm." these sentences, i think, give a fair view of lord macaulay's philosophy of church establishments. it has all the clearness and precision that might be expected from him. but i own myself unable to accept it as it stands. i presume to think that perhaps lord macaulay, like myself, made, from a limited induction, a hasty generalisation. the difference was, that his theory was right for the practical purpose of the time, while mine was wrong. considered, however, in the abstract, that theory appears to me to claim kindred with the ethical code of another writer, not less upright, and not less limpid, so to speak, than lord macaulay himself, i mean dr. paley. and the upshot of it may be comprised in three words: government is police. all other functions, except those of police proper, are the accidents of its existence. as if a man should say to his friend when in the country, "i am going up to town; can i take anything for you?" so the state, while busy about protecting life and property, will allow its officer of police to perform any useful office for the community, to instruct a wayfarer as to his road, or tell the passer by what o'clock it is, provided it does not interfere with his watching the pickpocket, or laying the strong hand upon the assassin. i doubt if it is possible to cut out, as it were, with a pair of scissors, patterns of policy, which shall solve for all time and place the great historic problem of the relation of the civil power to religion. it seems to me that in every function of life, and in every combination with his fellow-creatures, for whatever purpose, the duties of man are limited only by his powers. it is easy to separate, in the case of a gas company or a chess club, the primary end for which it exists, from everything extraneous to that end. it is not so easy in the case of the state or of the family. if the primary end of the state is to protect life and property, so the primary end of the family is to propagate the race. but around these ends there cluster, in both cases, a group of moral purposes, variable indeed with varying circumstances, but yet inhering in the relation, and not external or merely incidental to it. the action of man in the state is moral, as truly as it is in the individual sphere; although it be limited by the fact that, as he is combined with others whose views and wills may differ from his own, the sphere of the common operations must be limited, first, to the things in which all are agreed; secondly, to the things in which, though they may not be agreed, yet equity points out, and the public sense acknowledges, that the whole should be bound by the sense of the majority. i can hardly believe that even those, including as they do so many men both upright and able, who now contend on principle for the separation of the church from the state, are so determined to exalt their theorem to the place of an universal truth, that they ask us to condemn the whole of that process, by which, as the gospel spread itself through the civilised world, christianity became incorporated with the action of civil authority, and with the framework of public law. in the course of human history, indeed, we perceive little of unmixed evil, and far less of universal good. it is not difficult to discern that (in the language of bishop heber) as the world became christian, christianity became worldly; that the average tone of a system, which embraces in its wide-spreading arms the entire community, is almost of necessity lower than that of a society which, if large, is still private, and into which no man enters except by his own deliberate choice, very possibly even at the cost of much personal and temporal detriment. but christ died for the race: and those who notice the limited progress of conversion in the world until alliance with the civil authority gave to his religion a wider access to the attention of mankind, may be inclined to doubt whether, without that alliance, its immeasurable and inestimable social results would ever have been attained. allowing for all that may be justly urged against the danger of mixing secular motives with religious administration, and above all against the intrusion of force into the domain of thought; i for one cannot desire that constantine in the government of the empire, that justinian in the formation of its code of laws, or that charlemagne in refounding society, or that elizabeth in the crisis of the english reformation, should have acted on the principle that the state and the church in themselves are separate or alien powers, incapable of coalition. but there are two causes, the combined operation of which, upon reaching a certain point of development, relaxes or dissolves their union by a process as normal (if it be less beneficial) as that by which the union was originally brought about. one of these is the establishment of the principle of popular self-government as the basis of political constitutions. the other is the disintegration of christendom from one into many communions. as long as the church at large, or the church within the limits of the nation, is substantially one, i do not see why the religious care of the subject, through a body properly constituted for the purpose, should cease to be a function of the state, with the whole action and life of which it has, throughout europe, been so long and so closely associated. as long as the state holds, by descent, by the intellectual superiority of the governing classes, and by the good will of the people, a position of original and underived authority, there is no absolute impropriety, but the reverse, in its commending to the nation the greatest of all boons. but when, either by some revolution of institutions from their summit to their base, or by a silent and surer process, analogous to that which incessantly removes and replaces the constituent parts of the human body, the state has come to be the organ of the deliberate and ascertained will of the community, expressed through legal channels--then the inculcation of a religion can no longer rest, in full or permanent force, upon its authority. when, in addition to this, the community itself is split and severed into opinions and communions, which, whatever their concurrence in the basis of christian belief, are hostile in regard to the point at issue, so that what was meant for the nation dwindles into the private estate as it were of a comparative handful--the attempt to maintain an established church becomes an error fatal to the peace, dangerous perhaps even to the life, of civil society. such a church then becomes (to use a figure i think of john foster's), no longer the temple, but the mere cemetery, of a great idea. such a policy is then not simply an attempt to treat what is superannuated and imbecile as if it were full of life and vigour, but to thwart the regular and normal action of the ruling social forces, to force them from their proper channels, and to turn them by artificial contrivance, as apollo turned the rivers of troas from their beds, to a purpose of our own. this is to set caprice against nature; and the end must be that, with more or less of delay, more or less of struggle or convulsion, nature will get the better of caprice. but does it follow from all this, that the tone of moral action in the state should be lowered? such a fear is what perplexes serious and sober men, who are laudably unwilling to surrender, in a world where falsehood has so wide a range, any portion of this vantage-ground of truth and right. i, who may have helped to mislead them by an over-hasty generalisation, would now submit what seems to me calculated to re-assure the mind. i make an appeal to the history of the last thirty years. during those years, what may be called the dogmatic allegiance of the state to religion has been greatly relaxed; but its consciousness of moral duty has been not less notably quickened and enhanced. i do not say this in depreciation of christian dogma. but we are still a christian people. christianity has wrought itself into the public life of fifteen hundred years. precious truths, and laws of relative right and the brotherhood of man, such as the wisdom of heathenism scarcely dreamed of and could never firmly grasp, the gospel has made to be part of our common inheritance, common as the sunlight that warms us, and as the air we breathe. sharp though our divisions in belief may be, they have not cut so deep as to prevent, or as perceptibly to impair, the recognition of these great guides and fences of moral action. it is far better for us to trust to the operation of these our common principles and feelings, and to serve our maker together in that wherein we are at one, rather than in aiming at a standard theoretically higher, to set out with a breach of the great commandment, which forms the groundwork of all relative duties, and to refuse to do as we would be done by. it is, then, by a practical rather than a theoretic test that our establishments of religion should be tried. in applying this practical test, we must be careful to do it with those allowances, which are as necessary for the reasoner in moral subjects, as it is for the reasoner in mechanics to allow for friction or for the resistance of the air. an establishment that does its work in much, and has the hope and likelihood of doing it in more: an establishment that has a broad and living way open to it, into the hearts of the people: an establishment that can commend the services of the present by the recollections and traditions of a far-reaching past: an establishment able to appeal to the active zeal of the greater portion of the people, and to the respect or scruples of almost the whole, whose children dwell chiefly on her actual living work and service, and whose adversaries, if she has them, are in the main content to believe that there will be a future for them and their opinions: such an establishment should surely be maintained. but an establishment that neither does, nor has her hope of doing, work, except for a few, and those few the portion of the community whose claim to public aid is the smallest of all: an establishment severed from the mass of the people by an impassable gulph, and by a wall of brass: an establishment whose good offices, could she offer them, would be intercepted by a long unbroken chain of painful and shameful recollections: an establishment leaning for support upon the extraneous aid of a state, which becomes discredited with the people by the very act of lending it: such an establishment will do well for its own sake, and for the sake of its creed, to divest itself, as soon as may be, of gauds and trappings, and to commence a new career, in which, renouncing at once the credit and the discredit of the civil sanction, it shall seek its strength from within, and put a fearless trust in the message that it bears. _september , ._ london: printed by w. clowes and sons, duke street, stamford street, and charing cross. * * * * * footnotes: [ ] from a placard just published at berwick. [ ] 'the state in its relations with the church,' ch. ii., sect. , p. . editions - . [ ] 'edinburgh review,' april, , p. . [ ] p. . [ ] 'mirror of parliament,' monday, july , . the passage, which is full and clear, is more briefly given, but to the same effect, in 'hansard,' vol. xliv. p. . [ ] june , . 'hansard,' vol. xxxiii. p. . [ ] hor. ep. ii. . . [ ] 'speech on the second reading of the maynooth college bill,' , p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] see 'life of archbishop whately.' [ ] the case of sir r. peel, in , i do not consider an exception to this remark, as he gave back the charge into the hands of the electors. [ ] mr. coleridge's speech at exeter, august, . from the 'manchester examiner' of august . [ ] 'corrected speech on the ecclesiastical titles bill,' , p. . [ ] sir r. palmer's speech at richmond, august, . from the 'manchester examiner' of august . [ ] 'hansard,' vol. clxxviii. p. .--"but i do complain of a minister who, himself the author of a book in defence of church and state, when one branch of the christian church is attacked and in danger, delivers a speech, every word of which is hostile to its existence when the right time comes for attacking it." [ ] �n. vi. [ ] it was, i think, about the year , that i first met the rev. sydney smith, at the house of mr. hallam. in conversation after dinner he said to me, with the double charm of humour and of good-humour, "the improvement of the clergy in my time has been astonishing. whenever you meet a clergyman of my age, you may be quite sure that he is a bad clergyman." [ ] judges, v. . [ ] canticles, vi. . [ ] since these lines were written i have learned, upon authority which cannot be questioned, that mr. keble acknowledged the justice of disestablishing the irish church. [ ] 'ed. rev.', april, , p. - .