He was met on the following Sunday by a friend, and when asked how he viewed the situation, declared that he was rather "low!" Why?
he was asked.

Because his heart was saddened and enraged by the treatment of the splendid Old Man by Mr.Chamberlain and the Tories.

To a leading Liberal Minister, two Tories privately declared that their pain and shame and disgust with the conduct of their own side to Mr.Gladstone was so profound, that they had to get up and leave the House to control their feelings.
[Sidenote: A complex situation.] When, therefore, Mr.Chamberlain came forward with his audacious complaint, this was the curious situation: that the bulk of the Liberal party, and many even of their opponents, were convinced that the comments of the _Daily News_ were more than justified.

The frantic cheers with which each successive sentence of the scathing attack in the description was punctuated by the Liberal and Irish Benches, as Joe, with affected horror, read them out, sufficiently indicated what they thought.

And, on the other hand, the man in whose defence this reply to his assailants was made was just as convinced that his enemies had been unjustly assailed, and that he himself had been well and courteously treated.