ABSTRACT
Salisbury took his seat in the Lords as a Tory estranged from his party and doubtful whether it could ever again be a vehicle for the high-minded conservatism he embodied. If he strained the doctrine in its application, the influence he wielded over the peers confirmed and extended the perception of him as the conscience of his party. If he could never have been described as a good party man, Salisbury's clear-sightedness prevented him from trying to ignore for any length of time the reality that the clash of parties regulated the pace of change in his country. The High Churchmen were divided: the more realistic among them appreciated that Gladstone risked his hold on the party over this bill. The Conservative party organizer, J. E. Gorst, drew Salisbury's attention to the co-operation of Churchmen and Dissenters on school boards in industrial Yorkshire, making the best of undenominational religion.
