(1809-1898), a British statesman, born at Liverpool. He was educated at Eton and at Christ Church, Oxford, and left college in 1831. In 1832 the first Reform Act was passed, and Gladstone's public career commenced by his being returned for Newark. When Peel assumed office in 1834 Gladstone accepted the post of junior lord of the treasury, and in 1841 he became, under Peel, vice-president of the board of trade and master of the mint. Two years later he became president of the board of trade and showed in this position the high financial ability for which he later became so famous. He took part with Peel in the repeal of the Corn Laws, a course which cost him his seat for Newark, but in 1847 he was returned for Oxford University. His ability as a financier grew, and it was in his attack on Disraeli's budget of 1852 that his first really great speech was made. In the following year he became chancellor of the exchequer under the earl of Aberdeen, a post which he also held for a short time in 1855 under Lord Palmerston. In 1859 he again took office as chancellor of the exchequer under Lord Palmerston. The budgets which he brought forward during the six years that followed were remarkable documents. At the general election of 1865 he was returned for South Lancashire, and in the same year he became the Liberal leader in the Commons in the Russell administration, still continuing to hold the chancellorship of the exchequer. In 1867 a Reform Bill was brought forward, to the final shape of which Gladstone materially contributed. His advocacy of this measure shows his definite break with the Conservative party and his transition to the Liberals. At the general election of 1868 Gladstone lost his seat for South Lancashire, but was returned by Greenwich. There being a great Liberal majority in the new Parliament, Gladstone became premier. Next year he carried his bill for the disestablishment of the Irish Church, and in 1870 he passed his Irish Land Act. Parliament was dissolved in 1874, and the Conservatives succeeded to office. During Lord Beaconsfield's tenure of office, Gladstone denounced the Bulgarian atrocities, the Anglo-Turkish treaty and the Afghan War, and his speeches during his candidature for Midlothian greatly helped to render the government unpopular. In 1880 the general election reinstated him firmly in power. In 1882 a Prevention of Crimes and an Arrears Act for Ireland were passed, and in 1883 measures relating to bankruptcy were carried. The bill extending household suffrage to the counties was next carried, but the Gladstone ministry fell the following year. In 1885 Salisbury resigned after an adverse vote in the Commons, and Gladstone again came into power. He soon startled the country by introducing a measure of home rule for Ireland (1886). It failed to pass the Commons, and an appeal was made to the country, the result of which was emphatically adverse to Gladstone's proposals. He had to make way for Lord Salisbury. In 1892, however, the result was again reversed, and Gladstone once more resumed authority. He introduced another Home Rule bill, which was passed by the House of Commons, but rejected by the House of Lords. After this Mr. Gladstone retired from public life. He wrote several books, among which are Gleanings from Past Years and Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age.