em. 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 25, 1835) 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.[65]

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.[66] 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 pres