ied by Lord Granville,
who led the Liberal Party in the House of Lords. They both assured the
Queen that the victory was Gladstone's, and that the Liberal Party would
be satisfied with no other Prime Minister. The two statesmen returned to
London in the afternoon, and called on Gladstone. He was expecting them
and the message which they brought. He went down to Windsor without an
hour's delay, and that evening "kissed hands" as Prime Minister for the
second time.

This was the climax of his career. He had dethroned Lord Beaconsfield.
He had vindicated the cause of humanity and freedom all over the world;
and he had been recalled, by unanimous acclamation, to the task of
governing the British Empire. On the 20th of May he met his twelfth
Parliament, and the second in which he had been Chief Minister of the
Crown. "At 4.15," he wrote in his diary, "I went down to the House with
Herbert.[33] There was a great and fervent crowd in Palace Yard, and
much feeling in the House. It almost overpowered me, as I thought by
what deep and hidden agencies I have been brought into the midst of the
vortex of political action and contention.... Looking calmly on the
course of experience, I do believe that the Almighty has employed me for
His purposes in a manner larger or more special than before, and has
strengthened me and led me on accordingly, though I must not forget the
admirable saying of Hooker, that even ministers of good things are like
torches--a light to others, waste and destruction to themselves."

The conviction so solemnly expressed by Gladstone was entertained by not
a few of his followers. We felt that, _Deo adjuvante_, we had won a
famous victory for the cause of Right; and, as a Party, we "stood on the
top of golden hours." An overwhelming triumph after a desperate fight;
an immense majority, in which internecine jealousies were, at least for
the moment, happily composed; a leader of extraordinary powers and
popularity; an administration of All the Talents; an attractive and
practicable programme of Ministerial measures--these were some of the
elements in a condition unusually prosperous and promising. But trained
observers of political phenomena laid even greater stress on Gladstone's
personal ascendancy over the House of Commons. Old and experienced
Members of Parliament instructed the newcomer to watch carefully the
methods of his leadership, because it was remarkable for its
completeness, its dexterity, and the w