Gladstone and Russell

J. M. Prest

doi:10.2307/3678794

Gladstone and Russell

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 February 2009

J. M. Prest

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J. M. Prest: Affiliation:
Balliol College, Oxford

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Who could have foreseen that even fifteen years after Peel's death, Peel's most ardent disciple would accept the lead of the House of Commons at the hands of one of Peel's more scornful foes? Seldom has a political combination been based upon wider differences of upbringing, character and belief, than that of Gladstone and Russell. Striking as it was that they should ever have formed a government, their ministry has not attracted much attention. It is not difficult to see why Gladstone's biographer, Morley, followed the example set by Lord John Russell's, Spencer Walpole, and passed hurriedly over an episode so brief and, apparently, so barren. Only one man has since had much to say about the eight months' ministry of 1865–66. In The Rise of Gladstone to the Leadership of the Liberal Party, W. E. Williams concluded that throughout 1866 Russell provided the inspiration, and that if Gladstone was a learner all his life ‘one of his wisest teachers was Lord John Russell’. Although I think one must be careful to distinguish between a man's receiving a letter and his being influenced by it, I do not wish to challenge this judgment on the events of 1865–66 so much as to elaborate it, by touching briefly on the whole relationship between the two men from the time Gladstone entered the House of Commons to the time Russell died, dividing it into four periods: from 1832 to 1855, from 1855 to 1865, from 1865 to 1866, and from 1866 to 1878.

Type: Research Article
Information: Transactions of the Royal Historical Society , Volume 16 , December 1966 , pp. 43 - 63

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3678794 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © Royal Historical Society 1966

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References

^{page 43 note 1} Williams, W. E., The Rise of Gladstone to the Leadership of the Liberal Party, 1859–68 (1934), p. 143.Google Scholar

^{page 43 note 2} Published in The English Review, April 1844.

^{page 44 note 1} B[ritish] M[useum], Add. MS. 44,683, fo. 107.

^{page 44 note 2} Speech on the Commission of Inquiry into the State of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge (Oxford, 1850), pp. 19, 23. In each case the phrasing is sharper than that recorded in Hansard.

^{page 44 note 3} Morley, J., The Life of William Ewart Gladstone, 2 vols. (New York, 1905), vol. i, p. 409.Google Scholar

^{page 44 note 4} B.M., Add. MS. 43,066, fos 87–90.

^{page 44 note 5} B.M., Add. MS. 43,066, fos 99–104.

^{page 45 note 1} B.M., Add. MS. 43,066, fos 107–8.

^{page 45 note 2} B.M., Add. MS. 44,291, fos 17–20, 41–44.

^{page 45 note 3} Russell Papers, P.R.O. 30/22/10 H, fos 2207–8.

^{page 45 note 4} Morley, op. cit., i, pp. 464–67.

^{page 45 note 5} The phrase was Clarendon's. Parker, C. S., Life and Letters of Sir James Graham, 2 vols. (1907), vol. ii, p. 206.Google Scholar

^{page 45 note 6} B.M., Add. MS. 44,291, fos 46–47.

^{page 45 note 7} B.M., Add. MS. 44,291, fo. 174.

TRANS. 5TH S.—VOL. 16—D

^{page 46 note 1} Russell Papers, P.R.O. 30/22/10, H, fos 2201–2.

^{page 46 note 2} B.M., Add. MS. 44,291, fos 79–80, 158, 196–97.

^{page 46 note 3} Russell Papers, P.R.O. 30/22/11 B, fos 488–93.

^{page 46 note 4} B.M., Add. MS. 44,291, fos 67–68.

^{page 46 note 5} B.M., Add. MS. 44,291, fos 88, 125–26.

^{page 46 note 6} Russell Papers, P.R.O., 30/22/11 C, fos 640–41.

^{page 46 note 7} Morley, op. cit., i, pp. 502–3.

^{page 47 note 1} B.M., Add. MS. 44,291, fos 165–68.

^{page 47 note 2} B.M., Add. MS. 44,291, fos 117–19.

^{page 47 note 3} B.M., Add. MS. 44,291, fos 91–92.

^{page 47 note 4} B.M., Add. MS. 44,291, fos 93–104; Morley, op. cit., i, p. 511.

^{page 48 note 1} E.g., Sir Charles Wood told Mrs Gladstone that ‘in the quarrel between Lord John and Gladstone, the former had behaved ill, and the latter well’. Morley, op. cit., i, p. 623.

^{page 48 note 2} The correspondence between Lord John Russell and Gladstone is to be found in British Museum, Add. MS. 44,291, between fo. 179 and fos 206–9, and in Add. MS. 44,529 fo. 190 and fo. 248, and in Russell Papers, P.R.O. 30/22/11 D, fos 1069–1289.

^{page 48 note 3} B.M., Add. MS. 44,291, fos 190–91.

^{page 48 note 4} Russell Papers, P.R.O., 30/22/11 D, fos 1175–78.

^{page 48 note 5} Russell Papers, P.R.O., 30/22/11 F, fos 1650–53. B.M., Add. MS. 43,068, fos 173–74.

^{page 48 note 6} The correspondence between Lord John Russell and Aberdeen is to be found in British Museum, Add. MS. 43,068, between fos 167–68 and fos 262–63, and in the Russell Papers, P.R.O., 30/22/11 D, E, F.

^{page 48 note 7} Morley, op. cit., i, p. 561. Aberdeen also suggested this to Lord John. A. R. Ashwell, Life of Bishop Wilberforce, 3 vols. (1880–82), vol. ii, p. 410.

^{page 49 note 1} B.M., Add. MS. 43,068, fos 289–90.

^{page 49 note 2} B.M., Add. MS. 43,068, fos 305–6.

^{page 49 note 3} Morley, op. cit., i, p. 788.

^{page 49 note 4} Kennedy, A. L., My Dear Duchess (1956)Google Scholar, Clarendon to the Duchess of Manchester, 16 December 1859.

^{page 49 note 5} Russell Papers, P.R.O., 30/22/19, 16 November 1859.

^{page 49 note 6} W. E. Williams, op. cit., ch. III to ch. V. See, too, Parker, op. cit., p. 338.

^{page 50 note 1} Dunham, A. L., The Anglo-French Treaty of Commerce of 1860 (1930), pp. 86 to 114.Google Scholar

^{page 50 note 2} Morley, op. cit., ii, p. 22.

^{page 50 note 3} Morley, op. cit., i, p. 656.

^{page 50 note 4} B.M., Add. MSS. 44,531, fos 136–37, 44,292, fos 72–73, 44,532, fo. 287, 44,292 fos 126–27, 44,534, fos 45, 74, 86, 44,292, fo. 132, 44,292, fos 154–55. Russell Papers, P.R.O., 30/22/19, letters of 29 October 1860, 12 June 1862, and P.R.O., 30/22/23, fos 179–83, 185–86.

^{page 50 note 5} Maxwell, Sir H., Life and Letters of the Fourth Earl of Clarendon (1913), vol. ii, pp. 210, 215, 220.Google Scholar

^{page 50 note 6} Morley, op. cit., i, p. 667.

^{page 50 note 7} B.M., Add. MS. 44,291, fos 326–27.

^{page 50 note 8} Maxwell, op. cit. vol. ii, pp. 208, 215, and A. L. Kennedy, op. cit., the letters dated prob. late June 1860 and 7 August 1860.

^{page 50 note 9} Bertrand and Patricia Russell, ed. The Amberley Papers (1937), vol. i, p. 183.

^{page 51 note 1} Russell Papers, P.R.O., 30/22/19, 21 December 1859.

^{page 51 note 2} B.M., Add. MS. 44,292, fos 21–22.

^{page 51 note 3} Morley, op. cit., i, p. 674, and B.M., Add. MSS. 44,292, fos 15–16, and 44,531, fos 252–53.

^{page 51 note 4} B.M., Add. MS. 44,531, fo. 383.

^{page 51 note 5} Morley, op. cit., i, pp. 663–64, confirmed in Kennedy, op. cit., 27 February, 1860.

^{page 51 note 6} Morley, op. cit., i, p. 726, and B.M., Add. MS. 44,292, fos 3–4.

^{page 52 note 1} B.M., Add. MS. 44,292, fos 5–8, and fos 9–10, and Morley, op. cit., i, p. 726.

^{page 52 note 2} B.M., Add. MSS. 44,530, fo. 176. 44,291, fos 253–60, 263–64.

^{page 52 note 3} B.M., Add. MSS. 44,292, fos 137–38.

^{page 52 note 4} Russell Papers, P.R.O., 30/22/23, fos 187–88.

^{page 52 note 5} Parker, op. cit., ii, pp. 360–61.

^{page 52 note 6} B.M., Add. MSS. 44,292, fos 35–36, and 44,531, fo. 374.

^{page 53 note 1} The Times, 3 February, 1865.

^{page 53 note 2} B. and P. Russell, op. cit., vol. i, pp. 382–83.

^{page 53 note 3} B. and P. Russell, op. cit., vol. i, p. 360.

^{page 53 note 4} Russell Papers, P.R.O., 30/22/23, fos 191–95.

^{page 53 note 5} S. Walpole, Life of Lord John Russell (1889), vol. ii, p. 440, n. 1.

^{page 54 note 1} B.M., Add. MS. 44,538, fos 248–49. Walpole, op. cit., vol. ii, p. 440.

^{page 54 note 2} A. R. Ashwell, op. cit., vol. iii, p. 92, and pp. 162–64.

^{page 54 note 3} Hansard, third series, CLXXXIII, col. 129.

^{page 55 note 1} Russell Papers, P.R.O., 30/22/15 F, fos 1183–86, printed in Walpole, op. cit., ii, pp. 407–8.

^{page 55 note 2} B.M., Add. MS. 44,292, fos 196–97.

^{page 55 note 3} B.M., Add. MS. 44,292, fos 201–6; Russell Papers, P.R.O., 30/22/15 F, fos 1300–1. Gladstone's answer is printed in W. E. Williams, op. cit., pp. 118–19.

^{page 55 note 4} A. L. Kennedy, op. cit., 26 April 1865, and Sir H. Maxwell, op. cit., ii, pp. 304–5.

^{page 55 note 5} Hansard, third series, CLXXXII, col. 22.

^{page 56 note 1} B.M., Add. MS. 44,293, fos 30–31; W. E. Williams, op. cit., p. 118.

^{page 56 note 2} Russell Papers, P.R.O., 30/22/16 A, fos 217–18, printed in W. E. Williams, op. cit., p. 127.

^{page 56 note 3} Hansard, third series, CLXXXIII, col. 128–29.

^{page 56 note 4} Hansard, third series, CLXXXIV, col. 746–47.

^{page 57 note 1} Walpole, op. cit., ii, p. 432.

^{page 57 note 2} W. E. Williams, op. cit., ch. VIII.

^{page 57 note 3} Gooch, G. P., Later Correspondence of Lord John Russell (1925), vol. ii, p. 350.Google Scholar See, too, Letters of Queen Victoria, 2nd series, vol. i, pp. 339–42.

^{page 57 note 4} B. and P. Russell, op. cit., i, p. 483.

^{page 57 note 5} B. and P. Russell, op. cit., i, pp. 514–15.

^{page 57 note 6} Recollections and Suggestions (1875), pp. 288–89.

^{page 57 note 7} The Times, 21 June 1866.

^{page 57 note 8} Sir H. Maxwell, op. cit., ii, pp. 316–17.

^{page 57 note 9} Bodleian Library, Clarendon MS. c.93, fos 380–81, and Russell Papers, P.R.O., 30/22/16 D, fo. 1427.

^{page 57 note 10} Russell Papers, P.R.O., 30/22/16 C, fos 1137–44.

^{page 58 note 1} B. and P. Russell, op. cit., i, p. 486.

^{page 58 note 2} Bodleian Library, Clarendon MS. c.93, fo. 393.

^{page 58 note 3} G. P. Gooch, op. cit., ii, p. 345.

^{page 58 note 4} B. and P. Russell, op. cit., i, p. 512.

^{page 58 note 5} G. P. Gooch, op. cit., ii, pp. 351–52.

^{page 58 note 6} Hansard, third series, CLXXXIII, col. 505.

^{page 58 note 7} The Times, 28 February, 1867.

^{page 59 note 1} B. and P. Russell, op. cit., ii, p. 17.

^{page 59 note 2} B.M., Add. MS. 44,293, fos 197–98.

^{page 59 note 3} B.M., Add. MS. 44,293, fos 209–10.

^{page 59 note 4} Sir H. Maxwell, op. cit., ii, p. 328.

^{page 59 note 5} B.M., Add. MS. 44,293, fos 322–23.

^{page 59 note 6} B.M., Add. MS. 44,293, fos 306–7.

^{page 59 note 7} B.M., Add. MS. 44,293, fos 265–66, 269–70, 315–16, 322–23.

^{page 60 note 1} B.M., Add. MS. 44,293, fos 331–32.

^{page 60 note 2} Russell Papers, P.R.O., 30/22/16 D, fos 1631–34, printed in S. Walpole, op. cit., ii, pp. 431–32.

^{page 60 note 3} B.M., Add. MS. 44,294, fos 147–48.

^{page 60 note 4} B.M., Add. MS. 44,294, fos 153–54.

^{page 60 note 5} Recollections, p. 345.

^{page 60 note 6} The correspondence occupies a very large part of British Museum, Add. MS. 44,294, fos 1 to 150.

^{page 60 note 7} B.M., Add. MS. 44,294, fos 170–71 to the end.

^{page 60 note 8} Ramm, A., ed., The Political Correspondence of Mr Gladstone and Lord Granville (1952), vol. i, no. 55.Google Scholar

^{page 61 note 1} Recollections, pp. 293–94.

^{page 61 note 2} Russell Papers, P.R.O., 30/22/16 F, fos 1961–62.

^{page 61 note 3} Russell Papers, P.R.O., 30/22/16 F, fos 2039–40, printed in S. Walpole, op. cit., ii, p. 437.

^{page 61 note 4} Morley, op. cit., i, p. 878.

^{page 61 note 5} A. Ramm, op. cit., i, no. 613.

^{page 61 note 6} A. Ramm, op. cit., i, no. 797.

^{page 62 note 1} Russell Papers, P.R.O., 30/22/16 F, fos 2112–15.

^{page 62 note 2} B.M., Add. MS. 44,540, fo. 178.

^{page 63 note 1} The Nineteenth Century, January 1890, pp. 40, 55, article on The Melbourne Ministry.

^{page 63 note 2} Russell Papers, P.R.O. 30/22/16 D, fos 1631–34, printed in Walpole, op. cit., ii, p. 431.

^{page 63 note 3} The Nineteenth Century, January 1890, p. 55.

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