This was the golden period of Gladstone’s public services.  During Disraeli’s short lease of power, Gladstone had carried the abolition of compulsory church-rates, and had moved, with great eloquence, the disestablishment of the English Church in Ireland.  On the latter question Parliament was dissolved, and an appeal made to the country; and the triumphant success of the Liberals brought Mr. Gladstone into power with the brightest prospects for the cause to which he was now committed.  He was fifty-nine years old before he reached the supreme object of his ambition,—­to rule England; but in accordance with law, and in the interest of truth and justice.  In England the strongest man can usually, by persevering energy, reach the highest position to which a subject may aspire.  In the United States, political ambition is defeated by rivalries and animosities.  Practically the President reigns, like absolute kings, “by the grace of God,”—­as it would seem when so many ordinary men, and even obscure, are elevated to the highest place, and when these comparatively unknown men often develop when elected the virtues and abilities of a Saul or a David, as in the cases of Lincoln and Garfield.

So great was the popularity of Mr. Gladstone at this time, so profound was the respect he inspired for his lofty character, his abilities, his vast and varied learning, his unimpeachable integrity and conscientious discharge of his duties, that for five years he was virtually dictator, wielding more power than any premier since Pitt, if we except Sir Robert Peel in his glory.  He was not a dictator in the sense that Metternich or Bismarck was,—­not a grand vizier, the vicegerent of an absolute monarch, controlling the foreign policy, the army, the police, and the national expenditures.  He could not send men to prison without a trial, or interfere with the peaceful pursuits of obnoxious citizens; but he could carry out any public measure he proposed affecting the general interests, for Parliament was supreme, and his influence ruled the Parliament.  He was liable to disagreeable attacks from members of the opposition, and could not silence them; he might fall before their attacks; but while he had a great majority of members to back him, ready to do his bidding, he stood on a proud pedestal and undoubtedly enjoyed the sweets of power.  He would not have been human if he had not.

Yet Mr. Gladstone carried his honors with dignity and discretion.  He was accessible to all who had claims upon his time; he was never rude or insolent; he was gracious and polite to delegations; he was too kind-hearted to snub anybody.  No cares of office could keep him from attending public worship; no popular amusements diverted him from his duties; he was feared only as a father is feared.  I can conceive that he was sometimes intolerant of human infirmities; that no one dared to obtrude familiarities or make unseemly jokes in his presence; that few felt quite