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 GLADSTONE 833 of Oxford, and one of his first speeches in par- liament was in favor of the bill for the removal of the disabilities of the Jews, which he had opposed in 1841. His speech against the for- eign policy of Lord Palmerston in the Don Pacifico debates was generally regarded as one of the most admirable pieces of English elo- quence of recent times. In the ministerial crisis of 1852 he was invited by Lord Derby to enter his cabinet, but declined, and on the overthrow of that minister in December of the same year accepted the office of chancellor of the exchequer under the earl of Aberdeen. While holding this office he introduced in 1853 his celebrated budget in a remarkable series of addresses which were pronounced by Lord John Eussell " to contain the ablest expositions of the true principles of finance ever delivered by an English statesman." On the resignation of Lord Aberdeen in February, 1855, and the elevation of Lord Palmerston to the premier- ship, Mr. Gladstone retained his office of chan- cellor of the exchequer ; but he soon resigned, together with the other Peelite members of the government, in consequence of Lord Palmer- ston's refusing to oppose a motion of inquiry into the conduct of the Crimean war, which was considered indirectly to convey a censure on the duke of Newcastle and Mr. Sidney Her- bert. On the overthrow of Lord Palmerston's government and the second accession of Lord Derby to power in 1858, Mr. Gladstone again declined the pressing overtures of that noble- man, but in November accepted an appointment as lord high commissioner extraordinary to the Ionian islands. In 1859, on Lord Palmerston's return to office, Mr. Gladstone again became chancellor of the exchequer. He was chiefly instrumental in procuring the repeal of the duty on paper, and the ratification of the com- mercial treaty between England and France, negotiated by Mr. Gobden and M. Chevalier. From this time Mr. Gladstone has been classed as an advanced liberal. He also during the few succeeding years exhibited a theoretical knowledge and a practical skill in the manage- ment of the national finances that excited the admiration of all Europe. At the general elec- tion of 1865 he was rejected by the university of Oxford, but was returned for South Lan- cashire. After the death of Lord Palmerston in the same year, Mr. Gladstone became the leader of the house of commons. He procured the adoption of the measures recommended by the ministry for the suppression of the Fenian disturbances in Ireland, but a reform bill intro- duced by him on behalf of the ministry was defeated, and he and his colleagues resigned, and were succeeded by one formed by Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli, July 6, 1866. In the early part of the session of 1868 Mr. Gladstone introduced a series of resolutions in favor of the disestablishment and disendowment of the Irish church. Soon after a bill for effecting this object was passed by the commons, but rejected by the peers. In the general election of that year Mr. Gladstone was defeated as a candidate for Southwest Lancashire after an exciting contest, but was returned by a large majority by the borough of Greenwich. Mr. Disraeli's ministry resigned in December, and Mr. Gladstone succeeded him as premier. The Irish church bill was passed at the session of 1869, the Irish land act in 1870, and the pur- chase of commissions in the army was abolished in 1871 by the exercise of the royal preroga- tive. He also procured the abolition of con- fiscation in English penal law. During the war between France and Germany the English government, under the lead of Mr. Gladstone, maintained a complete neutrality, and in order to avoid all complications with the great pow- ers of the continent reluctantly consented to the abrogation of those provisions of the treaty of 1856 with Russia which established the neu- trality of the Black sea. Under his admin- istration the treaty of Washington, by which the matters in dispute between the United States and Great Britain were settled, was ne- gotiated and carried into effect. At the ses- sion of 1873 Mr. Gladstone introduced an elab- orate bill for the reform of university educa- tion in Ireland, the main object of which was the establishment of a system which should be acceptable to both Protestants and Catholics. The discussion in the house of commons made it clear that the bill satisfied neither, and it was defeated. Mr. Gladstone and his colleagues immediately resigned. The queen called upon Mr. Disraeli to form a new ministry, but after some days he announced to the house that he was unable, and if not unable unwilling, to do so, and declared that he did not regard the defeat of the university bill as exhibiting such a want of confidence in the general conduct of the government as required the resignation of the ministry. Mr. Gladstone and his colleagues accordingly returned to their posts; but re- peated defeats of the ministry followed, and on Jan. 24, 1874, Gladstone unexpectedly issued an address announcing the dissolution of par- liament, assigning as a reason for the step that the government felt its power was ebbing. He promised a diminution of local taxation and the abolition of the income tax. The succeeding elections for a new parliament resulted in the return of 351 conservatives and 302 liberals, a conservative majority of 49, against a liberal majority of 112 in that of 1868. Mr. Gladstone himself was returned from Greenwich by a vote of 5,968, against 6,386 in 1868. On Feb. 17 he resigned, and on the foUowing day Mr. Disraeli accepted the premiership. Mr. Gladstone's published works are : " The State in its Relations with the Church" (2 vols., 1838) ; " Church Principles Considered " (1840) ; "Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age" (3 vols., Oxford, 1858); "Essays on Ecce Homo," and a pamphlet on the Irish church question, entitled "A Chapter of Autobiogra- phy" (1868) ; and " Juventus Mundi : the Gods and Men of the Heroic Age " (1869). He has