1-150-740 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

Good-Bye !, 1875. Mr Gladstone on the right shakes hands with Prime Minister Disraeli. In the previous year, Mr Gladstone's Liberal government had lost the General Election to Disraeli's Conservative Party. Now, Mr Gladstone announced his withdrawal from the leadership of the Liberal Party. At the age of 65, he said that although he would continue to adhere at all times to the principles that had governed his 45 years in public life, he now felt the time was right to retire from office. He added that he was to undertake a special matter that would require his attention. Punch took this to mean that he would be writing his memoirs. Disraeli had had his first short story published when he was just 16 and he went on to write many novels and plays during the course of his life. From Punch, or the London Charivari, January 30, 1875.