ABSTRACT
The religious movements which constituted so marked a feature of the period claimed William Ewart Gladstone’s eager attention. Gladstone with his profession of the principle of non-intervention, had attacked the very heart of Palmerston’s policy. No one thought any more about Don Pacifico’s doctor’s bill; each of his hearers was conscious only of the glorious image of his mother country that these words conjured up in his mind. Gladstone attended the trial of the former Minister Poerio and other political prisoners, and he visited the prisons in which the protagonists of the liberation movement were languishing. Moreover, since the General Election of 1847 he had been the Member for the University of Oxford. Gladstone spoke with admiration of his friend’s liberal views; and Ignaz von Dollinger introduced him to others who shared his opinions; for example, Gorres.
