reared, or of the ecclesiastical community which he represents in
Parliament.

"Yet even in the theological domain a tendency towards Liberalism shows
itself. His hatred of Erastianism is evinced by his gallant but
unsuccessful attempt to secure for the clergy and laity of each colonial
diocese the power of self-government. Amid the indignant protests of his
Tory allies, and in opposition to his own previous speech and vote, he
vindicates the policy of admitting the Jews to Parliament. He defends
the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Court of Rome; he
supports the alteration of the parliamentary oath; and, though he will
not abet an abstract attack on Church Rates, he contends that their
maintainance involves a corresponding duty to provide accommodation in
the church for the very poorest of the congregation.

"On the commercial side his Liberalism is rampant. With even fanatical
faith he clings to Free Trade as the best guarantee for our national
stability amid the crash of the dynasties and constitutions which went
down in '48. He thunders against the insidious dangers of reciprocity.
He desires, by reforming the laws which govern navigation, to make the
ocean, 'that great highway of nations, as free to the ships that
traverse its bosom as to the winds that sweep it.'

"And so the three years--1847, 1848, 1849--rolled by, full of stirring
events in Europe and in England, in Church and in State, but marked by
no special incidents in the life of Mr. Gladstone. For him these years
were a period of mental growth, of transition, of development. A change
was silently proceeding, which was not completed for twenty years, if,
indeed, it has been completed yet. 'There have been,' he wrote in later
days to Bishop Wilberforce, 'two great deaths, or transmigrations of