Gladstone stood in the most trying of all the varied positions of his life, and without flinching he confronted it in the strong faith that the national honour as well as the assuagement (M128) of the inveterate Irish wound in the flank of his country, were the issues at stake.
Morley highlights Gladstone's resilience in facing a challenging political situation, emphasizing the stakes involved.
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Could ministers justify abandonment, without far stronger evidence than they then possessed that they could not govern the Transvaal peaceably?
I am trying to feel my way through the most difficult problem, the most difficult situation that a responsible Government can have to face.
How should we look in the face of the civilised world if we had so turned our back upon our duty and sovereign task?
But we have no right to cast on him any responsibility beyond what is strictly military.
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