William Gladstone

I

Introduction

William Gladstone (1809-1898), British statesman, four times Prime Minister of Great Britain (1868-1874, 1880-1885, 1886, and 1892-1894), one of the dominant political forces of Victorian Britain. Leader of the Liberal Party after 1867, he became the symbol throughout Europe of the reforming trends of his age.

Gladstone, born in Liverpool on December 29, 1809, was the son of John Gladstone, a prosperous merchant of Scottish origin. He was raised in a devoutly evangelical home, and religion was a dominant force throughout his life. Following four years at Eton College, he had a distinguished university career at Christ Church, Oxford University. There, after much soul-searching, he chose politics rather than the Church of England. Because of his early conservative views, he was elected to Parliament as a Tory in 1832.

II

Gladstone's Political Development

Throughout the 1830s the young Gladstone opposed almost all reform; his first speech was a defence of slavery in the West Indies, and he was a staunch defender of the Church of England. In 1843 he became President of the Board of Trade in the Conservative (Tory) Cabinet of Sir Robert Peel. Gladstone supported Peel's movement towards free trade, but when Peel repealed (1846) the Corn Laws, which had taxed imported grain, the Tory Party was shattered, and Peel's government collapsed. Between 1846 and 1859 Gladstone, a Peelite, was politically isolated, although he held some Cabinet posts. During this time his views changed. He accepted the need for religious freedom, including the admission of Jews into Parliament. He also supported the cause of Italian nationalism and unity, which made him a moral force throughout Europe. In 1859 he joined the Whigs (or Liberals) as Chancellor of the Exchequer (1859-1866) under Lord Palmerston, though he had previously opposed Palmerston's aggressive foreign policy. His consequent acceptance of the democratic principle made him a champion of the lower classes. In 1866 he proposed successful amendments to the Reform Act, which was passed in 1867, and which extended the vote to about 1 million urban workers. In 1868, following the resignation of his great Conservative Party rival Benjamin Disraeli, he was invited by Queen Victoria to form a government.

III

Gladstone as Prime Minister

In his first and greatest ministry (1868-1874) Gladstone sought to free the individual from obsolete restrictions. Entrance to the civil service was based on competition, the purchase of army commissions was ended, and the secret ballot was introduced. In addition, a system of state-supported elementary education guaranteed all children the right to schooling. Replaced by Disraeli in 1874, Gladstone strongly condemned Disraeli's aggressive foreign and imperial policies. He appealed to the morality of the British voters with tremendous speeches during the famous Midlothian campaign of 1879-1880 and was returned to power in 1880.

Gladstone's most important reform during his second term (1880-1885) was the Reform Act of 1884, which extended the vote to many rural voters. He also eliminated corruption in elections and secured for married women greater control over their property. Increasingly, however, he was forced to devote much of his time to troublesome British Empire and Irish questions. He was forced to allow British intervention in Egypt in 1882, where his failure to rescue the British soldier Charles George Gordon from Khartoum in 1885, after sending him on a mission against the Mahdi, lost him considerable popularity. His Land Act of 1881 attempted to end Irish unrest by giving Irish tenant farmers greater rights to the land they farmed, but by 1885 he had accepted the necessity for Irish Home Rule.

Gladstone's third (1886) and fourth (1892-1894) ministries were dominated by his Home Rule crusade. His first Home Rule bill of 1886 split the Liberal Party, when many Liberals refused to support any reduction in British power over Ireland. In 1893 a second Home Rule bill passed the House of Commons, only to be rejected by the House of Lords. Gladstone, who as early as 1868 had stated that his “mission” was to “pacify Ireland”, wanted to continue to fight for Home Rule, but his Cabinet refused. He therefore resigned as prime minister in 1894 and retired. He died of cancer at Hawarden in Flintshire on May 19, 1898, at the age of 88. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.

IV

Evaluation

Gladstone's importance rests in part on his reforms, which attempted to free the individual from all unnecessary restrictions—a fundamental belief of 19th-century liberalism. More than any other statesman of his age, he was able to mobilize the idealism of the British public. He succeeded in part because of his strong religious convictions. A daily reader of the Bible and the author of numerous books on religion, he believed that, through politics, religion could be reflected and made practical. His personal life supported his public life. Gladstone was a devoted husband to his wife, Catherine Glynne, whom he married in 1839; they had eight children. His family and his home at Hawarden, where he spent six months each year, were sources of rest and inspiration.

Despite Gladstone's many achievements and his idealism, most historians today argue that he never really understood the needs and aspirations of the lower classes. His insistence on economy in government, his distrust of imperialism and foreign adventure, his hatred of socialism, and his disbelief in the ability of government to solve social problems made him reluctant to accept the implications of democracy. Gladstone remains what he always was—the greatest liberal of the Victorian Age.