The voters for Gladstone went up to that candidate's booth
(the slave-driver, as they called him) with Wilde's colors. People who
had before voted for Wilde, on being asked to give their suffrage said,
'We cannot, we dare not. We have lost half our business, and shall lose
the rest if we go against the Duke. We would do anything in our power
for Sergeant Wilde and for the cause, but we cannot starve!' Now what
say ye, our merry men, touching the Ballot?"
However Mr. Gladstone had won as we have seen the golden opinions of
many, and the dreams of his more youthful days were realized when he was
sent to represent the people in the House of Commons.
On the 29th of January, 1833, the first Reformed Parliament met, and
William E. Gladstone, as the member from Newark, took his seat for the
first time in "an assembly which he was destined to adorn, delight and
astonish for more than half a century, and over which for a great
portion of that period, he was to wield an unequalled and a paramount
authority." There were more than three hundred new members in the House
of Commons. Lord Althorp led the Whigs, who were largely in the majority
and the Tories constituted a compact minority under the skillful
leadership of Sir Robert Peel, while the Irish members who were hostile
to the ministry followed O'Connell.
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