ABSTRACT
The most dramatic elements in Gladstone's career came in the 30 years after 1866, and not surprisingly historical attention has been devoted to that second half of his career, much of which was dominated by the problems of Ireland. Consequently, Gladstone's career as a Treasury minister remains one of the less explored aspects of his life, which is paradoxical because it could be argued to frame much of his later administrative politics. In the early 1840s the question of Irish university education and the increased grant proposed for the college at Maynooth did not lead Gladstone into any wider reflections on the Irish education system. Gladstone's decision to join Palmerston's government in 1859 may have been the most significant turning point in his political career. Gladstone should, however, have the last words, as expressed in 1866 and 1880 respectively and encapsulating the mixture of stern economic principle and moral idealism.
