Gladstone

WILLIAM EWART, (glad's tun,) an English statesman, orator, and man of letters, B. in Liverpool, 1809, and educated at Oxford, where he graduated with more than ordinary distinction. He entered Parliament as a Conservative in 1832, and became a Lord of the Treasury in '34. In 1841 he again took office under Sir R. Peel, whom he supported in the Repeal of the Corn-Laws. In 1847 he deserted his party, and became a Peelite, - a hybrid sort of radical,-joined the " Peace at any Price " party during the Crime an War, and opposed the hostilities in China, 1857. In 1858 he acted as special Lord High Commi ioner to the Ionian Islands, and in the following year became Chancellor of the Exchequer, -a position for which he was admirably fitted, -finance being his strongest point. In 1865, on account of his a ociation with the Manchester School of politicians, he lost his seat for Oxford University, but succeeded in getting another one; and after the death of Lord Palmers ton, led the Liberal side of the House of Commons. In 1868 he succeeded in pa ing a bill disendowing the Established Church in Ireland, and became prime-minister of England in 1868. As a statesman, G. falls little, if any, below the mark of such men as Pitt, Canning, and Palmers ton. In 1873 he was succeeded as premier by Disraeli, and in 1874 published a brochure antagonistic to Roman Catholic allegiance, which created a sensation. In April, 1880, he succeeded Lord Beacons field (Disraeli,) as prime minister. [s. 410]