acquired
the franchise as well as cheap newspapers, the reign of peace would
thenceforth be unbroken. In a people of bold and martial temper such as
are the people of our island, this proved to be a miscalculation.
Meanwhile there is little doubt that Mr. Gladstone's share in thus
fostering the growth of the cheap press was one of the secrets of his
rapid rise in popularity.

Chapter III. Battle For Economy. (1860-1862)

The session of 1860, with its complement in the principal part of
1861, was, I think, the most trying part of my whole political
life.--GLADSTONE (1897).

In reading history, we are almost tempted to believe that the
chief end of government in promoting internal quiet has been to
accumulate greater resources for foreign hostilities.--CHANNING.

I

All this time the battle for thrifty husbandry went on, and the bark of
the watch-dog at the exchequer sounded a hoarse refrain. "We need not
maunder in ante-chambers," as Mr. Disraeli put it, "to discover
differences in the cabinet, when we have a patriotic prime minister
appealing to the spirit of the country; and when at the same time we find
his chancellor of the exchequer, whose duty it is to supply the ways and
means by which those exertions are to be supported, proposing votes with
innuendo, and recommending expenditure in a whispered invective."

(M13) Severer than any battle in parliament is a long struggle inside a
cabinet. Opponents contend at closer quarters, the weapons are shorter, it
is easier to make mischief. Mr. Gladstone was the least quarrelsome of the
human race; he was no wrestler intent only on being a winner in Olympic
games; nor was he one of those who need an adversary to bring out all
their strength. But in a cause that he had at heart he was untiring,
unfaltering, and indomitable. Parallel with his contention about budget
and treaty in 1860 was persistent contention for economy. The financial
crisis went on with the fortifications crisis. The battle was incessant.
He had not been many months in office before those deep differences came
prominently forward in temperament, tradition, views of national policy,
that continued to make themselves felt between himself and Lord Palmerston
so long as the government endured. Perhaps I should put it more widely,
and say between himself and that vast body of excited opinion in the
country, of which Lord Palmerston was the cheerful mouthpiece. The
str