e of this, before she would acquiesce in his refusal to undertake the
commission. The Queen, as Mr. Gladstone says, had a right to require
positive information, and Lord Hartington had a right, and it was even his
duty, to procure this information for her, and to put the direct question
to Mr. Gladstone, whether he would or would not act in an administration
of which he was not the head. He went back to Windsor, not in the position
of a statesman who has tried to form a government and failed, but in the
position of one who had refused a task because he knew all along that
failure was certain, and now brought proof positive that his refusal was
right.(370)

What happened next was easy to foresee:--

_Interview with Lord Granville and Lord Hartington._

_April 23, 1880._--Soon after half-past three to-day, Lord
Granville and Lord Hartington arrived from Windsor at my house,
and signified to me the Queen's command that I should repair to
Windsor, where she would see me at half-past six.

The purport of Lord Hartington's conversation with me yesterday
had been signified. They had jointly advised thereupon that I
should be sent for with a view to the formation of a government,
and her Majesty desired Lord Granville would convey to me the
message. I did not understand that there had been any lengthened
audience, or any reference to details.

Receiving this intimation, I read to them an extract from an
article in the _Daily News_ of yesterday,(371) descriptive of
their position relatively to me, and of mine to them, and said
that, letting drop the epithets, so I understood the matter. I
presumed, therefore, that under the circumstances as they were
established before their audience, they had unitedly advised the
sovereign that it was most for the public advantage to send for
me. To this they assented. I expressed, a little later, my sense
of the high honour and patriotism with which they had acted; said
that I had endeavoured to fulfil my own duty, but was aware I
might be subject to severe criticism for my resignation of the
leadership five years ago, which I had forced upon them; but I did
it believing in good faith that we were to have quiet times, and
for the first years, 1875 and 1876, and to the end of the session
I had acted in a manner conformable to that resignation, and had
only been driven from my corne