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Home Politics and Parties from the Reform Act of 1867 to the Parliament Act of 1911 From the Reform Act of 1867 to the Home Rule Bill of 1886; Part 2 |
From the Reform Act of 1867 to the Home Rule Bill of 1886; Part 2Disraeli was the grandson of an Italian Jew, and was not brought up at any school or university. Notorious in his early manhood for the length of his ringlets, the quantity of his rings, and the extravagant taste of his waistcoats (A lady who met him at a dinner party when he was a young man describes him as wearing a black velvet coat lined with satin, purple trousers with a gold band running down the outside seam, a scarlet waistcoat, and white gloves with several brilliant rings outside them!), he tried four times to get into Parliament before he eventually in 1837 succeeded, and he was laughed down when he made his maiden speech in the House of Commons (It was then that he made his famous remark: " I will sit down now, but the time will come when you will hear me"). His great chance for distinction had come over the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. He was the brain of the protectionists under the leadership first of Lord George Bentinck and then of Lord Derby, and, though disliked and distrusted at first by some of his own party, who regarded him as a political adventurer, he had shown conspicuous capacity in the long periods of Conservative opposition between 1846 and 1866.The great duel between Disraeli and Gladstone absorbed political interest for the next few years, the former being, by the irony of history, the leader of the great aristocratic party in the State, and the latter of the more advanced Liberals. Both men had the gift, at all events in their later years, of arousing the enthusiasm and devotion of their respective supporters, and also, it must be added, of provoking the lively distrust of their respective opponents. Both were men of exceptional ability, who shone in spheres outside politics. Disraeli was a writer of romances, and perhaps the most successful of all writers of political novels. Gladstone's variety of tastes and interests was extraordinary, and made him an omnivorous reader, a productive writer, and the best talker in London, so it was said, after Thomas Carlyle. Intense conviction, great courage, a noble voice and delivery, and a wonderful flow of language, combined to make Gladstone an orator who had few equals for the effect that he could produce on his hearers. Moreover, he was a statesman with almost superhuman powers of work and capacity for detail. Disraeli was a great coiner of telling phrases, and his speeches had an epigrammatic flavour which delighted his hearers, whilst he excelled in satire. He was a man of imagination, who could see further into the future than any of his party, and his predictions were often strikingly verified. "If men were attracted", wrote a distinguished historian, "to Gladstone by what he said, they were fascinated by an attempt to ascertain what Disraeli thought." The British people never quite understood Disraeli; he was the "mystery-man", as a bishop called him, of British politics, and this mysteriousness undoubtedly increased his power. On Lord Derby's resignation at the beginning of 1868, Disraeli became prime minister. A general election was held in that year. Contrary to Disraeli's expectation, a great many of the new voters were on the Liberal side. Consequently the Liberals got a majority in the House of Commons, and before the end of the year Disraeli had resigned. The new ministry, under the leadership of Gladstone held office for just over five years (1868-1874). It included Lowe as chancellor of the exchequer—a brilliant but indiscreet statesman who had been the leader of the Adullamites—and Cardwell as secretary for war. Brlghty the leader of the advanced section, was at the board of trade, but he resigned in 1870. Lord Clarendon was foreign secretary till his death in 1870, when Lord Granville who throughout led the Liberals in the House of Lords, succeeded him. Gladstone boasted with truth that this administration was not an idle one; indeed it made changes more important than any since that of Lord Grey in 1830. An Act was passed making education compulsory, and establishing school boards where necessary. Religious tests were abolished for the holders of fellowships and scholarships at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Trade unions were legalized, Under the Ballot Act, secret voting was established at the election of members of Parliament. |
Chronology |
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