Meanwhile the course of domestic politics in Great Britain claimed the immediate attention of statesmen. On November 24, 1879, Mr. Gladstone, once more the actual, though not the nominal, leader of the Opposition, started from Liverpool on a memorable tour. The Earl of Dalkeith was then member for Midlothian. He was the eldest son of the Duke of Buccleuch, at that time the most notable Scottish peer, of immense influence north of the Tweed and leader of the Conservative Party in the North. Mr. Gladstone had conceived the chivalrous idea of doing battle with this doughty chief on his own ground. The first "Midlothian Campaign" lasted till December 5, and it took the country by storm. The failure of the City of Glasgow Bank in the previous year had not only brought disaster to thousands of persons in the North, but it had emphasised in a peculiar manner the end of a period of prosperity. Agriculture, especially, began to feel the full effects of foreign competition; farmers, whose rents had been gradually increasing as the value of land rose with favourable markets, now found it impossible to meet their obligations out of income. There was the usual tendency to lay the blame of individual misfortune on the Government, and Mr. Gladstone, though his attacks on the policy of the Cabinet were based principally on their foreign policy, which he denounced as aggressive, evoked an immense amount of sympathy and encouragement from those who listened to him or read his speeches. [Illustration: _G. Richmond, R.A._} {_From the "Life of Archbishop Tait," by permission of Messrs. Macmillan._ ARCHIBALD C. TAIT, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, 1811-1882. Was of Presbyterian descent. Went to Balliol College, Oxford, in 1830, and was one of the four Tutors who publicly protested against Newman's "Tract XC." (see page 42). Head Master of Rugby, 1842; Dean of Carlisle, 1850; Bishop of London, 1856; Archbishop of Canterbury, 1868.] [Illustration: _From a Photograph by H. H. Hay Cameron._ BENJAMIN JOWETT, D.D., MASTER OF BALLIOL, 1817-1893. Educated at St. Paul's School, he went to Balliol College, Oxford, in 1835 as scholar; became a Fellow in 1838; Tutor in 1842; Regius Professor of Greek, 1855; Master, 1870; Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, 1882. He was one of the authors of "Essays and Reviews" (1861) and a leader in University reform. His influence upon modern thought has been very great.] [Sidenote: Sudden Dissolution of Parliament.] Ministers had still a year more to exist before an appeal to the country should be necessary, and all was going quietly in Parliament, when, on March 8, people were taken by surprise on hearing it announced that the dissolution was to take place at once, and a manifesto from the Prime Minister, in the form of a letter to the Duke of Marlborough, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, was published in the newspapers, setting forth the imminence of trouble from Irish sedition, and calling on the nation to be on its guard.