the time when it came forth. He said he was glad
of it, as it would tend to expose and explode the whole system. I
contended, with a freedom which he always seemed to encourage,
that we all had an interest in the well being and well doing,
absolute or relative, of that great Christian communion, and that
whatever indicated or increased the predominance of the worse
influences within her pale over the better was a thing we ought
much to deplore. No assent, even qualified, was to be got.(72)

The death of the Prince Consort was a greater personal calamity to Mr.
Gladstone than he could then foresee. Perhaps the disadvantage was almost
as real as the death of the consort of King George II. to Sir Robert
Walpole. Much as they might differ in political and religious opinion, yet
in seriousness, conscience, and laborious temperament, the Prince and he
were in exact accord, and it is impossible to doubt that if the Prince had
survived at the Queen's right hand, certain jars might have been avoided
that made many difficulties for the minister in later times.

II

I may as well here gather into a chapter some short pieces, mainly from
letters to Mrs. Gladstone during the period covered by this fifth book.
The most interesting of them, perhaps, are the little pictures of his life
as minister in attendance at Balmoral; but there are, besides, two or
three hints of a simplicity in his faculty of enjoyment in regions outside
of graver things, that may shock critics of more complex or fastidious
judgment. Readers will benevolently take them all as they come. He made a
curious entry in his diary upon his birthday at the end of 1860: "_'Dec.
29._ Began my fifty-second year. I cannot believe it. I feel within me the
rebellious unspoken word, I will not be old. The horizon enlarges, the sky
shifts, around me. It is an age of shocks; a discipline so strong, so
manifold, so rapid and whirling that only when it is at an end, if then,
can I hope to comprehend it." Yet nearly all the most conspicuous scenes
still lay before him.

_October 18, 1860._--I did not get to the play last night from
finding _The Woman in White_ so very interesting. It has no dull
parts, and is far better sustained than _Adam Bede_, though I do
not know if it rises quite as high. The character drawing is
excellent.

_Downing Street, Dec. 15._--The chancellor says (keep this from
view) that Prince A