s too. As a consequence of
this Cardwell retires to the House of Lords. He will not take the
leadership, nor will he consent to serve under any one but
Gladstone. He is too old, he says. Lowe protests against the
anarchical experiment, and talks of Hartington as leader. As
neither Lowe, nor Bright, nor Goschen, nor Forster is in a
position to act as leader, it may come to this, so that the
liberal front benches of the two Houses will be entirely
remodelled.(309)

Here is Mr. Gladstone's own account, written twenty-three years later, and
confirmed by all other accessible papers of the moment:--

I was most anxious to make the retirement of the ministry the
occasion of my own. I had served for more than forty years. My
age--65--was greater than that of Sir Robert Peel at his retirement
in 1846, or at his death in 1850, and was much beyond that at
which most of the leading commoners of the century had terminated
their political career, together with their natural life. I felt
myself to be in some measure out of touch with some of the
tendencies of the liberal party, especially in religious matters.
Sir A. Clark, whom I consulted, would give me on medical grounds
no encouragement whatever. But I deeply desired an interval
between parliament and the grave. In spite of the solicitations of
my friends I persisted. For 1874 there was a sort of compromise
"without prejudice." As having a title to some rest I was not a
very regular attendant, but did not formally abdicate.

(M158) He found specific reasons for withdrawal in the state of the party
(Feb. 12):--

1. The absence of any great positive aim (the late plan [budget]
having failed) for which to co-operate. 2. The difficulty of
establishing united and vigorous action in the liberal party for
the purposes of economy. 3. The unlikelihood of arriving at any
present agreement respecting education.

In another fragment of the same date, he says:--

I do not forget that I am in debt to the party generally for
kindness, indulgence, and confidence, much beyond what I have
deserved. Deeming myself unable to hold it together from my
present position in a manner worthy of it, I see how unlikely it
is that I should hereafter be able to give any material aid in the
adjustment of its difficulties. Yet if such aid should at any time
be