The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-05-19

majority of 95. At the general elec- tion of 1868 MT Gladstone stood as one of the candidates, for southwest Lan- cashire. After a fierce contest, the re- suit of which excited the most intense interest throughout the country, he was defeated, but this defeat did not ex- as in anticipation of such an event the electors of Greenwich had, few days previous, returned him by large ma- jority as one of the members for that borough. On the resignation of MT. Disraeli's ministry in December, 1868, MT. Gladstone succeeded that states man as first lord of the treasury. The principal events of his administration were the passing of the Irish church disestablishment act QS69), of the Irish land act QS70) and of the elementary education act QS70); the abolition of purchase in the army by the exercise of the royal prerogative in consequence of an adverse vote by the house of lords on the army regulation bill GS7D; the negotiation of the treaty of Wash ington respecting the Alabama claims QS7D; the passing of the ballot act (1S72), and the judicature act QS73). The principal measure proposed by the government in the session of 1873 was the university education Greland) bill, which was opposed by the Roman Catholic members, who, voting on this occasion with the conservatives, caused the rejection of the bill by 2S7 votes against 2S4 (March 1D.
 Upon this Mr. Gladstone rendered his resignation to her majesty, and MT. Disraeli was sent for, but as he declin- ed to take office MT. Gladstone, though with reluctance, undertook (March 16) to reconstruct the cabinet. In August, 1873, immediately after the close of the session, the cabinet was considerably remodeled, MT. Gladstone assuming the chancellorship of the exchequer in ad- dition to his office of first lord of the treasury. On January 24 1874, a fort night before both houses were to have met for the dispatch of public business, MT Gladstone took everybody by sur prise by announcing the immediate dis solution of parliament and issuing his address to his constituents at Green wich, in which he promised to abolish the income tax.
 At the general election which ensued the votes were for the first time, taken by secret ballot. The result proved most disastrous to the liberal party The returns, completed on February 27 showed that 351 conservatives had been elected and 302 liberals, inclusive of the home rulers, who, in point of fact, de- clined to identify themselves with eith- q ala ioS Mir Gladstone at once resigned, and Mr. Disraeli became prime minister. In the session of 1874 MT. Gladstone, who had been reelected for Greenwich, was rarely to be seen in his place in the house of commons, but at its close he offered a persistent opposition to the public worship regulation bill. Even amid the turmoil of political life MT. Gladstone had devoted portion of his time to literature.
 His "Ecce Home" printed from Good Words appeared in 1868; a pam phlet on the Irish church question: en- titled "A Chapter of Autobiography" was published November 23, 1868; and "Juvenatus Mundi; the Gods and Men of the Heroic Age in 1S69 After his unsuccessful attempt to prevent the passing of the Public Worship regula- tion act, he contributed to the Contem- porary Review for October 2, 1874, an article on "Ritualism" which gave rise to an animated controversy. In it he asserted that Rome had substituted for the proud boast of Semper eadem policy of violence and change of faith" that she had refurbished and paraded anew every trusty tool which she was fondly thought to have disused," that mo one could become her convert with out renouncing his moral and mental freedom, and placing his civil loyalty and duty at the mercy of another" and that she had equally repudiated mod ern thought and ancient history" Chal- lenged by his Roman Catholic friends to substantiate these grave charges, MT. Gladstone published (November z, 1874) a bulky pamphlet entitled ''rhe Vatican Decrees in their Bearing on Civil Allegiance; a Political Expostu1a- tion," which elicited numerous elabo- rate replies from Mgr. Capel, Dr. New man, Archbishop Manning, and other distinguished members of the Roman 1dlHOltC ClulSii. NIlduolOIc reply to his opponents, published February l 24, 1875, is entitled "Vaticanism; an An- swer to Replies and Reproofs' Mr. Gladstone followed up his attacks on the Roman Catholic church in an ar- ticle on "'The Speeches of Plus TX" in the Quarterly Review for January, 1875. On January 13, 1875, three weeks before the assembling of parliament, Mr. Gladstone announced in a letter to Earl Granville his determination to retire from the leadership of the liberal par- ty "At the age of sixty-five," he re- marked, "and after forty-two years of laborious public life, think myself entitled to retire on the present oppor- tunity This retirement is dictated to me by my personal views as to the best methods of spending the closing years of my life" Soon afterwards the marquis of Harrington was chosen by the liberal party to be it's leader in the house of commons. Subsequent ly, however MT. Gladstone constantly took part in the discussions of that as- semb1y. In 1876 he published "Homeric Aynchronism; an Inquiry into the Time and Place of Homer,' and on Septem- Der in the same year appeared his