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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 February 2009
The return of Gladstone as prime minister, after the Liberals had secured a decisive majority at the polls in April 1880, has for long been established in the mythology of the Liberal party. In retrospect, the series of events which had drawn Gladstone back into active politics after his retirement in 1875 – his opposition to Beaconsfield's Eastern policy, the oratorical campaigns in Midlothian, and the rout of ‘Jingoism’ at the general election – came to be seen as a natural, linear development, whereby his special sense of affinity with the ‘;people’ was re-established and the great election victory assured. His subsequent resumption of the premiership accordingly became surrounded by an air of inevitability: the hesitant leadership of the whigs giving way to that of the man who had inspired the struggle against Beaconsfield's ‘system of government’ and who alone could command the allegiance of all sections of the great Liberal majority.
1 E.g. Paul, Herbert, A history of modern England (London, 1905), IV, 137Google Scholar.
2 McCarthy, Justin, A history of our own times (London, 1905), 111, 115, 145Google Scholar.
3 Ensor, R. C. K., England 1870–1914 (Oxford, 1936), p. 66Google Scholar.
4 Notably Shannon's, R. T. brilliant work, Gladstone and the Bulgarian agitation 1876 (1975 edn, Hassocks)Google Scholar. Though discussing some of the implications of Gladstone's return to the leadership, it was beyond the scope of this book to examine the events of 1879–80.
5 Lloyd's, T. O.The general election of 1880 (Oxford, 1968)Google Scholar is disappointing on the electoral aspect and deficient in its understanding of the political context in which the election took place. A recent, and highly conventional, account of the politics of 1879–80 is to be found in Rossi, John P., ‘The transformation of the British Liberal party: a study of the tactics of the Liberal opposition, 1874–1880’, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, LXVIII (12 1978)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
6 Lord Cranbrook's diary, 4 Apr. 1880, Johnson, Nancy E. (ed.), The diary of Gathorne Hardy, later Lord Cranbrook, 1866–1892 (Oxford, 1981), p. 443CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
7 Harcourt, to Harrington, , 04 1880, Devonshire MSS (Chatsworth House), 2nd series, 340.924Google Scholar; Chamberlain, to Harcourt, , 10 04 1880, Harcourt MSS (Bodleian Library), box 716Google Scholar.
8 Gladstone, to Brand, Speaker, 9 04 1880, Hampden MSS (House of Lords Record Office)Google Scholar.
9 Manchester Guardian, 16 04 1880, p. 5Google Scholar.
10 Leeds Mercury, 19 04 1880, p. 4Google Scholar.
11 For the state of the Liberal party after the 1874 election, see, for example, Halifax to Northbrook, 20 Feb. 1874, and Granville, to Northbrook, , 3 03 1874, Northbrook MSS (India Office Library), vol. 22Google Scholar.
21 Rathbone, William to Adam, W. P., 25 03 1875, Blairadam MSS (Scottish Record Office), 4/413Google Scholar. Cf the Leeds Mercury, 16 03 1875, p. 7Google Scholar; Daily News, 29 03 1875, p. 4Google Scholar, for views of the position of the post-Gladstonian Liberal party.
13 For Yorkshire, see Lord Ripon's journal, 2 Aug and 14 Nov. 1879. Also 25 Sept. and 25 Oct. 1879, for Harrington's speeches at Newcastle and Manchester. Ripon MSS (British Library), Add. MSS 43642.
14 Granville to Samuel Morley, 2 Nov. 1879, Hodder, E., The Life of Samuel Morley (London, 1887), p. 405Google Scholar. Cf the report of the London correspondent of the Manchester Guardian, 6 11 1879, p. 5Google Scholar, ‘It is stated on good authority that in no fewer than 35 boroughs the Liberals have no candidate at present, while they are in the same condition in 49 divisions of counties.’ The papers of the Liberal Chief Whip include an undated list of thirty county seats which either ‘might be fought’ or ‘ought to be fought’. Blairadam MSS, 4/426.
15 Forster's diary, 30 Oct. 1879, Reid, T. Wemyss, Life of the Right Hon. W. E. Forster (London, 1888), 11, 222–3Google Scholar; Harcourt to Chamberlain, 3 Nov. 1879, Chamberlain MSS (Birmingham University Library), JC5/38/3.
16 Some, including Gladstone, had operated on the assumption that the general election would take place in the autumn of 1879. Gladstone to Adam, 17 Jan. 1879, Blairadam MSS 4/431.
17 Brand's, Speaker journal, 28 10 1879, Hampden MSSGoogle Scholar; SirJames, Henry to Chamberlain, , 11 1879, Chamberlain MSS, JC5/46/2Google Scholar.
18 Cf. Harcourt, to Hartington, , 7 11 1878, (copy) Harcourt MSS, Box 720Google Scholar, for a view of the unreliability of public opinion.
19 Brett, to Hartington, , 3 12 1879, Devonshire MSS, 340.855Google Scholar. Cf Hartington, to Adam, , 5 12 1879, Blairadam MSS, 4/1096Google Scholar.
20 Childers, to Halifax, , 10 02 1880, Hickleton MSS (microfilm copy in Cambridge University Library), A4.90Google Scholar.
21 Daily News, 16 02 1880, p. 4Google Scholar; Leeds Mercury, 17 02 1880, p. 4Google Scholar.
22 The Times, 16 02 1880, p. 9Google Scholar.
23 Daily Telegraph, 16 02 1880, p. 4Google Scholar.
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25 Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, CXXVII, 03 1880, pp. 400–1Google Scholar; Apr. 1880, p. 530.
26 Ripon's, journal, 24 02 1880, Ripon MSS, 43642Google Scholar.
27 Stansfeld, to Halifax, , 24 02 1880, Hickleton MSS, A4.51Google Scholar.
28 The Spectator, 14 02 1880, p. 197Google Scholar; Leeds Mercury, 17 02 1880, p. 4Google Scholar.
29 The Spectator, 21 02 1880, p. 229Google Scholar.
30 Derby's, Lord journal, 14 02 1880, Derby MSS (Liverpool Record Office)Google Scholar; Ripon's, journal, 24 02 1880, Ripon MSS, 43642Google Scholar.
31 The Spectator, 6 03 1880, p. 293Google Scholar.
32 The queen's journal, 5 Mar. 1880, Buckle, G. E. (ed.), The letters of Queen Victoria (2nd series, London, 1926–1928), II, 71–2Google Scholar.
33 Moneypenny, W. F. and Buckle, G. E., The life of Benjamin Disraeli, earl of Beaconsfield (London, 1929 edn), II, 1386–8Google Scholar.
34 E.g. the queen to Martin, Theodore, 10 03 1880, Buckle, , Queen Victoria, III, 73Google Scholar; Cartwright, Julia (ed.), The journals of Lady Knightley of Fawsley (London, 1915), entry for 9 03 1880, p. 357Google Scholar; Sir George Russell to Lord Cranbrook, 29 Mar. 1880, Hardy, A. E. Gathorne, Gathome Gathorne-Hardy, first earl of Cranbrook, a memoir (London, 1910), II, 132Google Scholar.
35 Brand's, Speaker journal, 15 03 1880, Hampden MSSGoogle Scholar.
36 Aberdare, to his wife, 14 03 1880, Letters of…Lord Aberdare (privately printed, Oxford, 1902), II, 85Google Scholar; cf. Reay, Lord to Rosebery, , 17 03 1880, Rosebery MSS (National Library of Scotland), 10043Google Scholar, for Shaw Lefevre's estimate of Liberal gains, implying a majority of about ten over the Conservatives.
37 Manchester Guardian, 12 03 1880, p. 5Google Scholar.
38 Daily News, 13 03 1880, pp. 4–5Google Scholar.
39 Labouchere, to Rosebery, , ‘Saturday’ [03 1880], Rosebery MSS, 10041Google Scholar.
40 Manchester Guardian, 31 03 1880, p. 5Google Scholar.
41 Daily News, 30 03 1880, p. 4Google Scholar.
42 Manchester Guardian, 30 03 1880, p. 5Google Scholar. As Lloyd, Election of 1880, pp. 32–3, points out, there is no foundation for the belief that the provincial Liberal press had all along predicted a great majority for the Liberal party. Cf. the Leeds Mercury, 30 03 1880, p. 5Google Scholar, which admitted that it was ‘possible that the election for a single constituency may decide the fate of Lord Beaconsfield's Government and of the country’.
43 Daily Telegraph, 11 03 1880, p. 6Google Scholar.
44 Pall Mall Gazette, 11 03 1880, p. 1Google Scholar.
45 Daily Telegraph, 30 03 1880, p. 4Google Scholar.
46 Pall Mall Gazette, 9 03 1880, p. 1Google Scholar. CfDaily Telegraph, 30 03 1880, p. 4Google Scholar; Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, CXXVII, 04 1880, p. 540Google Scholar.
47 Bailey, J. (ed.), The diaries of Lady Frederick Cavendish (London, 1927), II, 241Google Scholar, entry for 8–14 Dec. 1879.
48 Gladstone to Granville, 19 May 1877, 19 Nov. 1876, 12 Apr. 1878, Ramm, Agatha (ed.), The political correspondence of Mr Gladstone and Lord Granville, 1876–1886 (Oxford, 1962), II, 40, 22–3, 71Google Scholar.
49 Herbert Gladstone's journal, 30 Jan. 1881, Gladstone, Viscount, After thirty years (London, 1928), pp. 189–90Google Scholar.
50 Gladstone to Henry Neville Gladstone, Oct. 1879, Morley, John, The life of William Ewart Gladstone (London, 1903), II, 598Google Scholar.
51 Wolverton to Gladstone, 20 Dec. 1879, Gladstone MSS (British Library), Add. MSS 44349, fo. 121. Morley, Gladstone, II, 602.
52 Gladstone, to Wolvcrton, , 18 12 1879, Gladstone MSS 44349, fo. 119Google Scholar, Morley, Gladstone, II, 603.
53 It is interesting to note the depressing effect of his sister's death in January 1880. Harcourt wrote on 24 Jan., ‘I hear Gladstone talks more than ever of retire [ment] and thoughts of the afterworld.’ Chamberlain MSS, JC5/36/7. A little earlier, on the 10th, Gladstone had mentioned to J. G. Dodson ‘a growing slowness (clearly related to infirmity) of eyesight’. Monk Bretton MSS (Bodleian Library).
54 Gladstone, to Bright, , 28 11 1879, Gladstone MSS, 441132, fo. 117Google Scholar, Morley, Gladstone, II, 599–600.
55 Gladstone's, diary, 28 12 1879, Morley, , Gladstone, II, 597Google Scholar.
56 Gladstone to Abraham Hayward, 15 Nov. 1879, Carlisle, Henry E. (ed.), Correspondence of Abraham Hayward (London, 1886), II, 308Google Scholar.
57 Gladstone, to Broadhurst, , 27 12 1879, Broadhurst MSS (British Library of Political and Economic Science), vol. 1Google Scholar.
58 Gladstone, to Lord, Acton, 14 03 1880, Morley, , Gladstone II, 608Google Scholar. It is important to note that Acton reported the contents of this letter to Granville, and Granville evidently passed on Acton's letter to Hartington. Acton, to Granville, , 2 04 1880, Devonshire MSS, 340.922Google Scholar.
59 Gladstone, to Acton, , 14 03 1880, Morley, , Gladstone 11, 608Google Scholar. Even in the case of the Midlothian election, however, Gladstone was being prepared for a slender majority, at which news he ‘expressed his bitter disappointment and hinted that in that case the election would be a coup manqué’: Rosebery, to Granville, , 30 03 1880, Granville MSS (Public Record Office), 30/29/27BGoogle Scholar. It would be interesting to speculate as to Gladstone's course of action had the Liberals failed to win the general election. In a retrospective entry to his journal, Herbert Gladstone wrote that in January 1880 he had been considering acting as his father's secretary in private life if the Conservatives won (21 Dec. 1880, Glynne-Gladstone MSS, Clwyd Record Office, Hawarden). Presumably Gladstone would have continued to play the independent part he had given himself in 1875. But what would he have done in the event of the formation of a minority Liberal administration?
60 Brett's, journal, 5 12 1878, Esher MSS (Churchill College, Cambridge)Google Scholar.
61 Ibid. 19 Feb. 1880.
62 On several occasions Hartington was driven to the point of threatening to resign. Hartington to Granville, 29 Jan. 1878, Granville MSS, 30/29/22A/2. Also, 5 Oct. 1878, ibid. 30/29/26, part I. His concern about the effects of Gladstone's activities is expressed in his letters to Granville of 18 Dec. 1876 and 25 May 1877, ibid. 30/29/22A/2. For the strong hostility of most whigs towards Gladstone at the time of the five resolutions, see Reid, Forster, II, 174. For one view of the damage done to the party by Gladstone, see Goschen's diary, 6 Feb. 1878, Elliot, A. D., The Life of…Viscount Goschen (London, 1911), II, 185–6Google Scholar.
63 John Bright's diary, 5 Apr. 1878, Walling, R. A. J. (ed.), The diaries of John Bright (London, 1930), pp. 406–7Google Scholar.
64 Cardwell, to Halifax, , 12 07 1878, Hickleton MSS, A4.154Google Scholar.
65 Granville, to Derby, , 10 09 1878 and 8 Jan. 1879, Derby MSSGoogle Scholar.
66 Hartington, to Granville, , 2 12 1879, Granville MSS, 30/29/22A/2Google Scholar.
67 This was Wolverton's account. He had spoken to Granville after the meeting. Wolverton, to Gladstone, , 17 12 1879, Gladstone MSS, 44349, fo. 113Google Scholar, Morley, Gladstone, II, 601–2.
68 Rossi, Transformation of Liberal Party, pp. 108–9.
69 Brett's, journal, 31 12 1879, Esher MSSGoogle Scholar.
70 Granville, to Halifax, , 1 02 1880, Hickleton MSS, A4.85Google Scholar.
71 Granville, to Adam, , 16 03 1880, Blairadam MSS, 4/427Google Scholar.
72 Selborne, to Granville, , 27 12 1879, Granville MSS, 30/29/22A/4Google Scholar.
73 Brett, to Hartington, , 15 12 1879, Devonshire MSS, 340.858Google Scholar.
74 ‘Plain Whig principles’, Edinburgh Review, CLI, 03, 1880, pp. 257–80Google Scholar. This scarcely concealed attack on Gladstone, by Henry Reeve, went further than Hartington had wanted, probably in that it expressed the wish that Gladstone might accept the exchequer in a whig ministry. Hartington, to Granville, , 19 01 1880, Granville MSS, 30/29/27BGoogle Scholar.
75 ‘Plain Whig principles’, pp. 257–8.
76 Ibid. p. 258.
77 Ibid. p. 266.
78 Derby's, Lord journal, 8 06 1879, Derby MSSGoogle Scholar, contains an illuminating account of a conversation with Dilke, who stood out in his true whig colours. Fawcett's enthusiasm for Hartington is noted in Brett's, journal, 4 02 1879, Esher MSSGoogle Scholar. Hill, Frank, the editor of the Daily News, told Forster's brother-in-law, in 12 1879Google Scholar, that there were ‘many below the gangway…by no means anxious that Gladstone should resume the leadership – he named Dilke an d Fawcett…Lord G. and Lord H. to prove their radicalism must appoint many of the extreme people, and so these men hope that something will fall to them’. W. T. Arnold to Forster (copy), Devonshire MSS, 340.861. Chamberlain's inclination to ‘pull together’ with the whigs is illustrated by his conversation with Brett, recorded in Brett's, journal, 20 05 1879, Esher MSSGoogle Scholar, and by Chamberlain, to Morley, John, 25 01 1880, Chamberlain MSS, JC5/54/283Google Scholar, in which he recounts a long conversation with Harcourt.
79 Reid, T. Wemyss, Politicians of today (London, 1880), pp. 25–42Google Scholar.
80 For newspaper praise of Harrington's Newcastle and Manchester speeches, see Daily News, 22 09 1879, p. 4, and 25 Oct. 1879, p. 4Google Scholar; Leeds Mercury, 22 09 1879, p. 4, and 27 Oct. 1879, p. 4Google Scholar; Manchester Guardian, 25 10 1879, p. 7Google Scholar. It is also worthwhile to note the way the Liberal press sprang to the defence of Hartington at the time of his row with Chamberlain over the flogging debate in July 1879. Daily News, 10 07 1879, pp. 4–5Google Scholar; Leeds Mercury, 9 07 1879, p. 4Google Scholar; Manchester Guardian, 11 07 1879, p. 5Google Scholar.
81 Brett's, journal, 15 12 1879, Esher MSSGoogle Scholar.
82 Forster to Granville, 9 and 14 Dec. 1879, Fitzmaurice, Lord Edmond, The Life of Lord Granville (London, 1905), II, 186–8Google Scholar.
83 Ripon's, journal, 27 12 1879, Ripon MSS, 43642Google Scholar.
84 Halifax, to Granville, , 2 02 1880, Granville MSS, 30/29/27BGoogle Scholar.
85 E.g. Harrington, to Northbrook, , 3 10 1879, Northbrook MSS, vol 7Google Scholar.
86 Granville, to Hartington, , 14 10 1879, Devonshire MSS, 340.840Google Scholar. Ponsonby's call followed rumours of a sudden dissolution of parliament.
87 Ponsonby, to Granville, , 23 10 1879. Granville MSS, 30/29/22A/4Google Scholar. Lord C. was probably Cranbrook though possibly Cairns. Lord S. was undoubtedly Salisbury.
88 Kimberley, to Dodson, , 30 09 1879, Monk Bretton MSSGoogle Scholar.
89 Derby's, Lord journal, 15 03 1880, Derby MSSGoogle Scholar.
90 Cf Brett's, journal, 22 and 23 12 1879, Esher MSSGoogle Scholar, for the views of Harcourt and Hartington respectively.
91 Ibid. 31 Dec. 1879.
92 This was the view, incidentally, of Léon Gambetta, who told Brett ‘he hoped our people would not come in, as it would be perhaps fatal to the party. He cannot understand how we can effect any compromise with “ces gens là” (his way of describing the Irish) and without them we could not keep even a small majority.’ Ibid, 14 Nov. 1879.
93 Granville, to Halifax, , 1 02 1880, Hickleton MSS, A4.85Google Scholar.
94 E.g. Derby's, Lord journal, 19 11 1879, Derby MSSGoogle Scholar. Derby's own observation is worthy of note: ‘With these numbers they [the government] can go on, but they cannot do as they have been doing in the present parliament.’
95 Morley, to Chamberlain, , 17 03 1880, Chamberlain MSS, JC5/54/293Google Scholar. Cf. Derby's, journal, 18 03 1880, Derby MSSGoogle Scholar.
96 It was for this reason that the short-term expedient of maintaining the Conservatives in power was so attactive to those who wished to run the Liberal party along ‘Palmerstonian’ lines. There is an interesting parallel here with the conduct of the Derbyite Conservatives towards the Palmerston Ministry in the early 1860s. The idea was a recurrent one during the lifetime of the second Gladstone Ministry, and it found its consummation in Liberal Unionism between 1886 and 1895.
97 Ponsonby's memorandum, 17 Mar. 1880, Ponsonby, Arthur, Henry Ponsonby, his life from his letters (London, 1942), p. 184Google Scholar. Cf. the queen's reaction to the result of the general election: ‘She discussed the Elections, which had amazed her, as she had assurances from the Liberals that we [the Conservatives] must succeed.’ Johnson, , Lord Cranbrook diary entry for 20 04. 1880, p. 446Google Scholar.
98 Hartington, to Brett, , 2 04 1880, Esher MSS, 10/11Google Scholar.
99 See the report by the London correspondent of the Manchester Guardian, 2 04. 1880, p. 5Google Scholar.
100 Liberals 353, Conservatives 238, Home Rulers 61. Hanham, H.J., Elections and party management (1978 edn, Hassocks), p. 232Google Scholar.
101 Daily Telegraph, 7 04. 1880, p. 4Google Scholar. Cf. Derby's, Journal, 5 04 1880, Derby MSSGoogle Scholar.
102 E.g. MacColl, Malcolm to Gladstone, , 12 04 1880, Gladstone MSS, 44243, fo. 311Google Scholar, expressing the hope that Gladstone would not refuse the premiership. Cf. Stead, W. T. to Gladstone, , 9 04 1880, Gladstone MSS, 44303, fo. 333Google Scholar.
103 Leeds Mercury, 7 04. 1880, p. 4Google Scholar.
104 Daily News, 9 04. 1880, p. 4Google Scholar.
105 E.g. The Times, 12 04. 1880 p. 9Google Scholar; Daily Telegraph, 12 04. 1880, p. 4Google Scholar; Leeds Mercury,13 04. 1880, p. 4Google Scholar.
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107 Spencer, to Granville, , 10 04 1880, Granville MSS, 30/29/29Google Scholar. Forster, to Granville, , 11 04 1880Google Scholar, ibid. 30/29/28.
108 Wolverton, to Gladstone, , 12 04 1880, Gladstone MSS, 44349, fo. 130, MorleyGoogle Scholar, Gladstone, II, 620; ibid. p. 621 for Morley's attempt to explain away this letter. For further confirmation of the continued uncertainty about the leadership, see Adam, to Granville, , 14 04 1880, Granville MSS, 30/29/27BGoogle Scholar.
109 Gladstone, to Rosebery, , 10 04 1880, Morley, Gladstone, 11, 613–15Google Scholar.
110 Gladstone to Argyll, 12 Apr. 1880, ibid. 11, 615.
111 Gladstone, to Wolverton, , 13 04 1880, Gladstone MSS, 44349, fo. 132Google Scholar, Morley, Gladstone, 11, 621.
112 Walling, Bright, p. 438. Bright's visit to Hawarden may have been of some significance, in view of the widespread rumours that neither he nor Gladstone would be in the new government. Cf. Leeds Mercury, 13 04. 1880, p. 4Google Scholar.
113 Lists were published each day between 6 and 12 April.
114 Labouchere, to Rosebery, , n.d. [04 1880], Rosebery MSS, 10041Google Scholar. The crucial point about the change of editorial direction on the 12th has been overlooked by Koss, S. E., The rise and fall of the political press in Britain, vol. 1 (London, 1981), pp. 226–7Google Scholar.
115 Daily Mews, 16 04. 1880, p. 4Google Scholar.
116 Ibid. 12 Apr. 1880, p. 4.
117 E.g. Derby's, journal, 13 04 1880, Derby MSSGoogle Scholar.
118 Ibid. 16 Apr. 1880.
119 Ripon's, journal, 22 04 1880, Ripon MSS, 43643Google Scholar. Cf. the entries for 13 and 19 Apr. for Forster's change of view.
120 Wolverton, to Gladstone, , 12 04 1880, Gladstone MSS, 44349, for. 130Google Scholar, Morley, Gladstone, 11, 620; Granville, to Derby, , 15 04 1880, Derby MSSGoogle Scholar. Granville's relations with the queen had cooled during the 1870s.
121 Harrington, to Brett, , 13 04 1880, Esher MSS, 10/11Google Scholar. Cf. Harrington, to the duke of Devonshire, 13 04 1880, Devonshire MSS, 340.932Google Scholar; Holland, B., The life of the duke of Devonshire (London, 1911), I, 271Google Scholar. (This biography relates to the Lord Hartington of this period, later eighth duke of Devonshire.) For the evident disappointment of the Cavendish family when Hartington did not become prime minister see Bailey, , Lady Frederick Cavendish, II, 248—50, for diary entry 19– 25 04. 1880Google Scholar.
122 Childers, to Halifax, , 12 04 1880, Hickleton MSS, A4.90Google Scholar, contains an account of a conversation with Hartington the previous day.
123 Ibid.
124 Brett, to Hartington, , 14 04 1880, Devonshire MSS, 340.936Google Scholar. Cf. Harcourt to Hartington, 18 Apr. 1880, ibid. 340.937; Holland, Devonshire, 1, 278.
125 Prince of Wales to the queen, 18 04 1880, Buckle, , Queen Victoria, III, 79–80Google Scholar.
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128 Ibid.
129 Gladstone's, memorandum, 22 04 1880, Gladstone MSS, 44764, fo. 43Google Scholar, Morley, Gladstone, 11, 621–4. The meeting took place at Wolverton's house.
130 Ibid.
131 Morley, to Chamberlain, , 23 04 1880, Chamberlain MSS, JC5/54/331Google Scholar.
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133 See the queen's memorandum, 23 04 1880, Buckle, , Queen Victoria, 111, 82–4Google Scholar.
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135 Ponsonby's, memorandum, 23 04 1880, Ponsonby, Henry Ponsonby, p. 188Google Scholar.
136 Ponsonby, to Granville, , 23 04 1880, Granville MSS, 30/29/37Google Scholar. Hartington, to Lady Cavendish, Frederick, 26 04 1880Google Scholar, Bailey, Lady Frederick Cavendish, 11, 262.
137 The Manchester Guardian, 10 and 19 Apr., perhaps motivated by a certain amount of Lancastrian chauvinism, claimed that Hartington had played a more important part even than Gladstone. Meanwhile others like the Daily News, 10 04 1880, p. 4Google Scholar, congratulated Hartington on his efforts.
138 The correspondence between Chamberlain and Dilke may be found in Garvin, J. L., The Life of Joseph Chamberlain, vol. 1 (London, 1932), pp. 291–3, 296–7Google Scholar. Dilke wrote to Harcourt on the 7th that ‘I shall not bind myself to anything or anybody’. Harcourt MSS, Box 720. As Brett noted, ‘ Dilke is too sound a politician to make any such compromising arrangement.’ Journal, n.d. [Apr. 1880], Esher MSS. John Morley recognized that Dilke's appetite for office ruled out any idea of forming a separate radical group: Morley, to Chamberlain, , 12 04 1880, Chamberlain MSS, JC5 /54/311Google Scholar.
139 Labouchere, to Rosebery, , n.d. [04 1880], Rosebery MSS, 10041Google Scholar. It would be a serious mistake to assume that the majority of Liberal M.P.s were necessarily Gladstonians. This had certainly not been the case in the 1874 parliament. Cf. Lucy, Henry, A diary of two parliaments, 1874–1885 (London, 1886), entry for 13 08. 1877, PP. 314–16Google Scholar.
140 Cf. The Times, 19 04 1880, p. 9Google Scholar; Manchester Guardian, 20 04 1880, p. 5Google Scholar. From the 16th the Daily Telegraph had been advocating a Hartington premiership.
141 Leeds Mercury, 23 04 1880, p. 4Google Scholar.
142 Manchester Guardian, 22 04 1880, p. 4Google Scholar.
143 Gladstone may have been fortunate in that the outcome of the general election was so unexpected that it seemed natural to assume that his moral critique of ‘Beaconsfieldism’ had been the decisive element. It would be quite impossible, now, to separate the influence of Gladstone from that of, say, the agricultural depression, which must have played a vital part in swinging the counties to the Liberals. The most that can be said is that Gladstone's strength lay in his ability to provide a moral framework for more materialistic feelings of discontent.