I.

Introduction

William Gladstone (1809-1898), four times prime minister of Britain (1868-1874, 1880-1885, 1886, and 1892-1894), and one of the dominant political forces in Victorian England. Leader of the Liberal Party after 1867, Gladstone changed the role of government in England.

William Ewert Gladstone was born in Liverpool, the son of John Gladstone, a prosperous merchant of Scottish origin. He was raised in a devoutly evangelical home, and religion became a dominant force in his life. Following four years at Eton, he had a distinguished university career at Christ Church, University of Oxford. There, after much soul-searching, he chose politics rather than the church, but he maintained strong religious convictions throughout his life. In 1839 he married Catherine Glynne, and they had eight children.

II.

Gladstone's Political Development

Gladstone was first elected to Parliament in 1832 with the Tory Party, which became the Conservative Party in that year. Throughout the 1830s the young Gladstone opposed almost all reform; his first speech was a defense 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 cabinet of Sir Robert Peel. Gladstone supported Peel's movement toward free trade, but in 1846, when Peel rescinded the Corn Laws, which had taxed imported grain, the Conservative Party was shattered, and Peel's government collapsed.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 from conservative to liberal. 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 Liberals and served as chancellor of the Exchequer under Lord Palmerston. His consequent acceptance of the democratic principle made him a champion of the lower classes. In 1866 Gladstone proposed amending the Reform Acts to further enfranchise the working class by using certain monetary amounts paid to landlords as qualifiers, allowing people without land the right to vote. However, the proposal failed, and the government was forced to resign. Gladstone's great rival, Benjamin Disraeli, presented a stronger amendment to the Reform Acts that decreased financial qualifications and extended the vote to householders, including many urban workers. Disraeli's bill passed in 1867.

III.

Gladstone as Prime Minister

In his first ministry from 1868 to 1874, Gladstone implemented many government reforms. One of his most significant acts was to create in 1870 a national elementary education program for all children. His government made major reforms in the justice system, making the central courts more efficient; in the civil service, basing employment on merit; and in the military, abolishing the purchase of army commissions. Another major policy, which haunted Gladstone throughout his career, was his effort to find a solution in Ireland where the Irish demanded their independence from British rule, which Britain was reluctant to grant. The majority of the Irish population were Roman Catholics. However, several hundred years of migration had brought many Anglican and Presbyterian settlers from Great Britain to Ireland. Gladstone disestablished the Anglican church in Ireland, no longer forcing Irish Catholics to pay taxes to support the Anglican church. He also added protection for tenants by requiring that landlords pay compensation for evictions. Gradually, the voters grew tired of reform, and in 1874 the Conservatives were voted into office with Disraeli as prime minister.

While the Conservatives controlled the government, Gladstone criticized the practices of the Disraeli government in Britain's overseas empire. During the election of 1880, Gladstone won support for his outspoken opposition to the British annexation of the South African Republic, the Afrikaner (or Boer) state in the Transvaal region of what is now northern South Africa. Gladstone was firmly guided by his moral beliefs and could not support what he viewed as an encroachment on free people. He won the election of 1880 and resumed his place as prime minister.

During Gladstone's second ministry, his most important action was the Reform Act of 1884, which extended the vote to many rural voters. He continued to battle with the question of how to establish peace in Ireland, passing the Land Act of 1881, which gave Irish tenant farmers greater control over the land they farmed. However, violence continued in Ireland when the chief secretary and undersecretary were assassinated. By 1885 Gladstone believed that Irish home rule was necessary. In foreign affairs, he was criticized for abandoning the Transvaal to the Afrikaners in 1881; for heavily bombing Alexandria during an Egyptian revolt; and in 1885 for failing to get relief troops to the Sudan in time to prevent the death of Charles Gordon, a popular British general. Gladstone and his cabinet were slow to react to problems in the empire, arguing against expansion with complicated debates about morality and the treatment of the people in British colonies.

Gladstone's third (1886) and fourth (1892-1894) ministries were dominated by his crusade for home rule in Ireland. His first home rule bill in 1886 split the Liberal Party, with many Liberals refusing to support any reduction in British power over Ireland. In 1893 a second home rule bill passed the House of Commons, but it was 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 the age of 88 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

IV.

Evaluation

Gladstone was able to mobilize the idealism of the British public, and he believed that government reform created improvement for all British citizens. He responded to the needs of exploited workers with his reforms by increasing enfranchisement and providing public education, although some historians question whether he really understood the needs of the working classes. Gladstone created a strong Liberal Party, and his governments provided political stability in England for almost three decades. Throughout his career, he was guided by his morality and firm religious beliefs. He distrusted imperialism and decried mistreatment of people throughout the world. He became a leading symbol of the reforming trends of the Victorian Age.