character and distinctions of those who have given it, as has, in my
belief, ever been accorded by any constituency to any representative."

One event in Parliament, in 1865, contributed much to Mr. Gladstone's
defeat: In March, 1865, Mr. Dillwyn, the Radical member for Swansea,
moved "that the present position of the Irish Church Establishment is
unsatisfactory, and calls for the early attention of her Majesty's
Government."

Sir Stafford Northcote wrote: "Gladstone made a terribly long stride in
his downward progress last night, and denounced the Irish Church in a
way which shows how, by and by, he will deal not only with it, but with
the Church of England too.... He laid down the doctrines that the tithe
was national property, and ought to be dealt with by the State in a
manner most advantageous to the people; and that the Church of England
was only national because the majority of the people still belong
to her."

"It was now felt that henceforth Mr. Gladstone must belong to the
country, and not to the University." He realized this himself, for
driven from Oxford, he went down to South Lancashire, seeking to be
returned from there to Parliament, and in the Free Trade Hall,
Manchester, said: "At last, my friends, I am come among you, and I am
come among you unmuzzled." These words were greeted with loud and
prolonged applause. The advanced Liberals seemed to take the same view,
and regarded Mr. Gladstone's defeat at Oxford by the Conservatives as
his political enfranchisement. His defeat was not wholly unexpected to
himself. In 1860 he said: "Without having to complain, I am entirely
sick and weary of the terms upon which I hold the seat."