Editing Midlothian campaign (section)

==Gladstone's personal situation in the Mid-1870s==
[[File:Portrait of Hawarden 1877 William Gladstone (4672759) (cropped).jpg|thumb|Gladstone in 1877 at Hawarden]]
After six years of government, the Liberal government led by Prime Minister [[William Ewart Gladstone]] came to an end when the Liberals suffered a heavy defeat in the [[1874 United Kingdom general election|
general election of 1874]]. After a short transition period, Gladstone relinquished the leadership of the Liberal Party and subsequently became a mere backbencher in the British [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]]. Subsequently, he had to suffer a painful defeat when the [[Public Worship Regulation Act 1874]] was introduced as a [[Private Member's Bill]] by [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] [[Archibald Campbell Tait]], to limit what he perceived as the growing [[ritualism in the Church of England|ritualism]] of [[Anglo-Catholicism]] and the [[Oxford Movement]] within the [[Church of England]]. The bill was supported by [[Queen Victoria]] and Gladstone's longstanding political nemesis, Prime Minister [[Benjamin Disraeli]], who saw the bill purely in political terms.<ref>John Campbell: ''Pistols at Dawn: Two Hundred Years of Political Rivalry from Pitt and Fox to Blair and Brown.'' Vintage Books, London 2009, p.&nbsp;125.</ref> Gladstone, a [[high church]] Anglican whose sympathies were for [[separation of church and state]], felt disgusted that the [[liturgy]] was made, as he saw it, "a parliamentary football"<ref>{{cite book|last=Jenkins|first=Roy|author-link=Roy Jenkins|title=Gladstone|year=1995|publisher=Macmillan|location=London|isbn=0-333-60216-1|pages=383–384|chapter=22: Defeat and Retirement}}</ref> and introduced six resolutions when the bill came to the House of Commons. But on this he found himself out of step with his own party and had to back down when Disraeli put the weight of the government behind the bill.<ref>Richard Aldous: ''The Lion and the Unicorn: Gladstone vs Disraeli'' Pimlico, London 2007, p.&nbsp;257&nbsp;f.</ref> When the bill was passed, he retreated to his country mansion [[Hawarden Castle (18th century)|Hawarden Castle]]. In January 1875 he made good of his promise given years earlier and withdrew himself altogether from politics. Instead he spent his time at Hawarden with his studies of [[Homer]].<ref>John Campbell: ''Pistols at Dawn: Two Hundred Years of Political Rivalry from Pitt and Fox to Blair and Brown.'' Vintage Books, London 2009, p.&nbsp;125&nbsp;f.</ref> After his self-imposed exile, leadership of the Liberal party was shared by [[Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire|Lord Hartington]], who led the Liberals in the House of Commons and [[Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville|Lord Granville]], who was Leader of the Liberals in the [[House of Lords]].<ref>Richard Aldous: ''The Lion and the Unicorn: Gladstone vs Disraeli'' Pimlico, London 2007, p.&nbsp;260&nbsp;f.</ref> His biographers are in accordance that Gladstones self-imposed political exile was never complete and that he privately toyed with the idea of a political comeback as soon as there was an external cause for a reverse of his former decision.<ref>[[D. C. Somervell]]: ''Disraeli and Gladstone.'' Jarrolds Publishers, London 1925, p. 173 f.<br />[[Francis Birrell]]: ''Gladstone.'' Duckworth, London 1933, p. 89.<br />H. C. G Matthew: ''Gladstone: 1809–1898.'' London 1997, p. 256.<br />Richard Aldous: ''The Lion and the Unicorn. Gladstone vs Disraeli.'' Pimlico, London 2007, p. 260 f.<br />John Campbell: ''Pistols at Dawn: Two Hundred Years of Political Rivalry from Pitt and Fox to Blair and Brown.'' Vintage Books, London 2009, p. 126.</ref>