Celebrating 1859 Party, Patriotism and Liberal Values The remarkable year 1859 saw the publication of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species, John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty and Samuel Smiles’s Self-Help. This annus mirabilis is rich ground for commemoration. It also saw the formal foundation of the parliamentary Liberal Party. On 6 June 1859, 280 Whig, Liberal, former and radical MPs met at Willis’s Rooms in King Street, St. James’s. They gathered to agree on a strategy to oust Lord Derby’s Conservative our days later, 323 appointed , and government from opposition MPs voted the former Peelite, William Glad- for a motion of ‘no con- stone, became Chancellor of the office.Angus fidence’ in the Con- Exchequer. Hawkins analyses the ser vat ive m in istr y. Conceived in 1859, the gesta- DerbyF promptly resigned. On 12 tion of the parliamentary Liberal significance of this key June, Lord Palmerston became Party followed under the care of Prime Minister of a Liberal gov- the elderly Palmerston. The death event in Liberal history. ernment. Lord John Russell was of Palmerston in October 1865,

8 Journal of Liberal History 65 Winter 2009–10 Celebrating 1859 Party, Patriotism and Liberal Values

Russell’s eight-month premier- Whigs, Reformers, and the Liberal Party proved itself a ship and the dramatic Reform Irish Repealers found a temporary British movement drawing on debates of 1866–67 were then fol- unity over particular issues. Some manufacturing, commercial, lowed by the birth of wide-rang- spoke of this fragile alignment as Nonconformist and urban loy- ing meritocratic constituting a Liberal party. But alty in English and Welsh con- under Gladstone’s first ministry of the tenuous alliance fractured in stituencies, enjoying electoral 1868–74. The legislative achieve- the immediate years which fol- dominance in Scotland and broad ment of Gladstone’s govern- lowed. After Corn Law repeal in support in Ireland. ment affirmed the Liberal Party’s 1846 and the establishment of free The progeny of 1859 is, indeed, embodiment of a broad and varied trade as economic orthodoxy, an remarkable. Its political signifi- community of progressive senti- increasing number of MPs, a third cance can be appreciated at two ment and moral aspiration. As a of the Commons in 1852, adopted levels: by examining the dynam- dominant force in British politics the designation Liberal, earlier ics of party connection on the one it carried hopes of greater social labels such as Whig and Reformer hand, and delineating the nature equality, more virtuous citizen- gradually dropping out of use. of political doctrine on the other. ship, enlightened government and By 1859 Liberal was the common What were the events leading up stable progress, bringing liberty label adopted by the great major- to the formation of the Liberal to British subjects and providing a ity of non-Conservative MPs. Party in Westminster? Here we moral beacon of freedom for other as a political mental- see the failure of Russell to secure nations of the world. ity became aligned with Liberal the Liberal leadership and the suc- The origins of Liberalism as as a party designation. The shift- cess of Palmerston in heading the a doctrine lay in the political ing political association of Whigs, Liberal ministry of 1859. Russell’s economy of the 1820s, the Whig Liberals, and radicals of hope of a triumphant apotheosis cry of civil and religious lib- the 1850s gave way to a cohesive was ultimately dashed by Con- erty, Nonconformist pressure for parliamentary alignment, her- servative moderation, radical reti- humanitarian reform, the radi- alding the adversarial contest cence and Palmerston’s patience. cal demand for retrenchment in between Liberals and Conserva- What was the nature of those Lib- government expenditure, and the tives after 1868 in Westminster eral beliefs which gave the parlia- belief in efficient, disinterested and the country, as personified Left: Willis’ mentary party that came together administration serving the needs by the figures of Gladstone and Rooms, King in 1859 its purposes and ideals? of society as a whole. During Disraeli. If the Conservative Street, St. Liberal belief in the rule of law as the 1830s and 1840s, this potent Party was the champion of the James’s, London, the safeguard of liberties, low tax- amalgam of values began to coa- landed interest and the Established in the mid- ation, economic government and lesce. In 1835, in meetings dubbed Church, with its electoral strength nineteenth , policies for the benefit the ‘Lichfield House Compact’, in English county constituencies, century of society as a whole, rather than

Journal of Liberal History 65 Winter 2009–10 9 celebrating 1859: party, patriotism and liberal values special ‘interests’, and the encour- sway in the world, proved a potent form a government proved still- agement of self-improvement, message. It secured broad political born. After accepting Cabinet social reform and moral propriety support within Westminster and office under Palmerston in Febru- together comprised a powerful the acclaim of popular audiences ary 1855, he was forced to resign vision of progressive aspiration. In in Manchester, Salford and Liver- five months later, finding him- 1859, tensions between elements pool. The success of Lady Palm- self caught in the political cross- of mid-Victorian Liberal belief erston’s glittering entertainments currents of negotiating a Crimean found resolution in a patriotic at Cambridge House further bol- peace settlement. Embittered and affirmation of Britain’s role as a stered his influence, highlighting hostile, he nursed a lingering champion of progress and reform Russell’s seclusion at Pembroke resentment against his former col- in Europe. Lodge. While serving as Home leagues. When Palmerston gagged Six months before the Willis’s Secretary in Lord Aberdeen’s coa- his education reform proposals in Rooms meeting, in January 1859, lition of 1852–55, Palmerston had April 1856, Russell became, one the MP Sidney Herbert com- distanced himself from the pre- Whig observed, ‘a concentrated plained that there was no prospect mier’s hesitant diplomacy, imply- essence of lemon’.4 ‘of the formation of an efficient ing that his more forthright views In 1857 Russell raised the ban- party, let alone government, out would have avoided the dithering ner of progressive Liberal reform of the chaos on the opposition that had characterised Britain’s at home as an alternative to Palm- benches’.1 Whigs, Liberals and slide into the Crimean War. In the erston’s patriotic rhetoric. In radicals appeared divided and midst of a mismanaged Crimean February, Russell led 165 Whig, scattered. This was the legacy of campaign, in February 1855, Liberal, radical and Peelite MPs the politics of the 1850s. As Prime these perceptions delivered the into the division lobby against Minister between 1846 and 1852, premiership. The seventy-one- Palmerston’s Cabinet on a motion Russell’s standing had been seri- year-old Palmerston was the only to equalise parliamentary suffrage ously damaged by the tribulations politician, The Times declared, in counties and boroughs. At a of Whig policy. His substantial who could inject a purposeful stroke he revived parliamentary Liberal credentials and genuine vigour into the nation’s affairs. Reform as a live party issue and progressive instincts were com- This was a triumph of diligence, demonstrated the force of Liberal promised by difficulties over style, longevity and luck. rectitude as the solvent of Palm- the famine in Ireland, a banking In reaction to Palmerston’s erstonian support. The following crisis, fiscal policy, government putative on domes- month he voted with the opposi- expenditure, Chartist campaign- tic reform, during the 1850s tion majority denouncing Palmer- ing, and the ‘Papal Aggression’ Russell burnished his Liberal cre- ston’s policy in China, prompting episode. Russell’s reclusive tem- dentials. He undertook a biog- the premier to call a general elec- perament, the alleged intrigues raphy of his Whig hero Charles tion. In his election speeches of his ambitious wife and her James Fox, presented as the lineal in the City of London, Russell numerous relatives, his purported inspiration for his own progressive Six months called for further parliamentary impulsiveness, and criticisms of the principles. Sharing Palmerston’s Reform as necessary to the pro- ministerial nepotism of the Whig belief in Britain’s international before motion of progress. Numerous cousinhood as ‘a Venetian oligar- role as a champion of liberal and successful Liberal candidates sub- chy’ further damaged his reputa- humanitarian values, Russell took the Wil- sequently pledged themselves to tion. An impression prevailed that to himself the cause of progres- reform. Palmerston saw this ‘bit ‘if he were not conceited, ignorant sive domestic reform, carrying lis’s Rooms of treachery’ as proof that some of human nature, [and] a wee self- forward the Foxite flame of lib- Liberals were looking to ‘a radi- ish, [Russell] had all the charac- erty. As a member of Aberdeen’s meeting, cal parliament with John Russell teristics and experiences of a very Cabinet in 1853, Russell pressed as its head’.5 A dangerous Russel- superior man of his age’.2 for a parliamentary Reform bill. in January lite undercurrent lay just beneath By 1852, Russell’s authority In response, Palmerston declared the surface of Palmerston’s seem- faced serious challenges, notably his refusal ‘to be dragged through 1859, Whigs, ing electoral success. There from the tough and resourceful the dirt by John Russell’.3 This must eventually emerge, Russell Palmerston, who had served as reflected the wariness of many Liberals predicted, two distinct parties, Foreign Secretary under Lords Whigs and moderate Liberals a party of Reform and a Con- Grey, Melbourne and Russell. towards an extensive broadening and radicals servative opposition. So would The rivalry between Russell and of the suffrage, placing power in Palmerston’s ‘sham’ Liberalism Palmerston disrupted Whig, Lib- the votes of an uneducated popu- appeared be unmasked and his own natural eral and radical parliamentary lace susceptible to demagogues, claim to the leadership of Liberal relations throughout the 1850s. and a redistribution of parlia- divided and aspiration affirmed. Although Palmerston’s pre-eminence stood mentary seats, depriving them of scattered. events had ‘staved [Reform] off on his personification of patriotic their control in smaller boroughs. for a while’, the veteran Reformer sentiment – his robust foreign pol- Following the outbreak of the This was the Joseph Parkes noted, ‘Lord John icy championing liberal interests Crimean War, an emotional Rus- is a pointer dog – a setter at the abroad. A genial affability, diplo- sell was forced, in April 1854, to legacy of the game’.6 matic expertise, subtle cultivation withdraw his Reform bill from By February 1858, a host of dif- of press support, and his celebra- the Commons. Upon the col- politics of ficulties had descended on Palmer- tion of Britain’s liberal political lapse of the Aberdeen coalition ston’s government. The reform of values, giving the country a moral in early 1855 Russell’s attempt to the 1850s. Indian administration in the wake

10 Journal of Liberal History 65 Winter 2009–10 celebrating 1859: party, patriotism and liberal values

of the Mutiny in the subcontinent, Colleagues Whigs and Liberals retreated of the Governor-General’s policy the scandal of Lord Clanricarde’s and rivals: to the opposition benches divided in India gave renewed life to Der- appointment as , Russell (left) and demoralised. The Whig Lord by’s ministry and advertised the the commitment to further par- and Palmerston Clarendon thought they were divisions ravaging Whig, Liberal liamentary Reform, and a crisis in (right). ‘split into factions more bent on and radical ranks. The Whigs, the Anglo-French relations caused by cutting each other’s throats than diarist Charles Greville observed, the involvement of Italian politi- disposed to unite against the ‘are in the condition of a defeated cal refugees residing in England Tories’.7 The ‘Whig leaders, after army, who require to be com- in an attempted assassination of 20 years service’, Russell pri- pletely reorganised and reformed Napoleon III confronted the Cabi- vately complained, ‘discarded me before they can take the field net, ministers succumbing to the … I can never serve or act with again. The general resentment terminal political contagion of them until I am returned to my and mortification is extreme.’9 chronic self-doubt. In response to proper position. There is my point Derby’s government were French diplomatic pressure, Palm- of honour’.8 While Palmerston, committed to bringing forward erston put before the Commons a with his authority haemorrhag- a parliamentary Reform bill in conspiracy to murder bill, increas- ing, sat on the opposition front- 1859, a pledge inherited from ing the penalties for those proved bench across from Conservative Palmerston’s ministry. Antici- guilty of planning political vio- ministers, Russell took a seat on pation of Reform provided the lence abroad. Amendment of Brit- the opposition benches below touchstone of political calcula- ish asylum laws in answer to what the gangway among the radicals tion. Russell prepared to step for- was portrayed as Gallic threats and ‘independent’ Liberals. The ward as of historic galvanised the opposition to Palm- Peelite Sir James Graham aligned Whig principles, bringing Whigs, erston. British liberal values and himself with Russell, while Glad- Liberals and radicals together liberty, opponents declared, were stone gave journalistic expression behind the cry for genuine being sacrificed to the demands to his strong anti-Palmerstonian Reform. Ministerial legislation, of a foreign regime, whose press views, flirted with joining Der- he predicted, would prove inad- had characterised Britain as a den by’s Cabinet, and felt a growing equate and partisan. As the unnat- of assassins. On a motion proposed isolation. By 1857, a majority of ural product of Conservative by the radical Thomas Milner Peelite MPs, sixty-nine in all, had authorship, a government Reform Gibson, on 19 February, Russell rejoined the Conservative Party, bill would inevitably be flawed. joined eighty-nine Whig, Liberal leaving a rump of just thirty-five Palmerston’s political sway, and radical MPs in the anti-gov- Peelite MPs inclining to the Lib- meanwhile, continued to wane. ernment lobby, voting alongside erals. In April, Russell eased the The impossibility of Palmerston the Conservative opposition. Mil- Conservative government’s diffi- again becoming Prime Minister ner Gibson’s motion was carried culties over their India bill, liais- became a commonplace topic of by nineteen votes. The following ing with radicals and indirectly opposition dinner table conversa- day Palmerston’s Cabinet resigned. with members of Derby’s Cabinet. tion. When he visited Napoleon On 21 February, Derby formed In May, the spectacular collapse of III at Compiègne in Novem- his second minority Conservative an opposition Commons motion ber 1858, anti-French feeling in ministry. over the Conservatives’ criticism Britain was aroused and harsh

Journal of Liberal History 65 Winter 2009–10 11 celebrating 1859: party, patriotism and liberal values criticism expressed. Returning Between attacked the as an ballot. Russell’s Reform bill of to London, Palmerston adopted assembly of hereditary legislators 1854, meanwhile, had hedged a prudent passivity, declining to October and unsuited to a free constitution. the lowering of the suffrage with endorse a Russellite call for sub- He portrayed the Commons as an ‘merit franchises’, giving the vote stantial Reform and choosing to December organ of the great territorial inter- to professional groups and hold- await the details of a Conserva- ests of the country. The law of ers of university degrees, whose tive measure. Having declined a 1858 Bright’s primogeniture ensured the pres- education and status might offset second invitation to join Derby’s ervation of vast estates in individ- additional votes granted to work- Cabinet in May 1858, a restless central ual ownership through successive ing men. Derby’s bill incorporated Gladstone accepted charge of a generations. British foreign policy these principles in an attempt to diplomatic mission in September theme was a gigantic system of outdoor ensure that Conservative Reform to negotiate a constitutional set- was the relief for the aristocracy. Parlia- was seen as safe and substantial, tlement for the Ionian Islands. He mentary Reform, he declared, eliciting moderate opposition sup- did not return to London until continued was the necessary cure for a politi- port. It proposed a uniform £10 March 1859. Peelite colleagues cal system afflicted by stifling suffrage in boroughs and coun- such as Graham and Cardwell saw dominance landed influence, smothering ties, and the vote for those with Gladstone’s agreement to head the the freedoms of the people. As at least £60 in savings, graduates, mission as a preliminary to his of landed announced at Bradford in January ministers of religion, barristers, joining the Conservatives. Rus- 1859 Bright’s recommendations, attorneys and registered medical sell thought it provided Gladstone power in a borough franchise for all males men. It did not propose the intro- with a convenient excuse for trav- who paid poor rates, a £10 lodger duction of the ballot. It did, how- elling abroad and absenting him- British franchise, and a £10 rental fran- ever, attend to Derby’s concern self from awkward discussion of chise in the counties, protected over urban freehold votes swamp- parliamentary Reform. politics, by the ballot, fell short of a demo- ing rural county constituencies In late 1858 John Bright gave cratic suffrage, restricting the vote by restricting freehold votes to tangible form to radical hopes of suppress- to those he deemed respectable the boroughs. To reassure mod- Reform, speaking to large popu- male citizens. The redistribution erate opinion, redistribution was lar audiences at Birmingham, ing popular of seats in relation to population limited. It was proposed to trans- Manchester and Glasgow. Having he emphasised as key to genuine fer just fifteen seats. Two Cabi- suffered a nervous breakdown in liberties. Reform. But his language aroused net ministers resigned over the 1856, he returned to the platform extensive fear of class warfare. bill drawn up by the government a giant refreshed. Yet the division Bright privately insisted that his prior to the 1859 session: Joseph in radical ranks that had emerged proposals were moderate, that Henley and Spencer Walpole. The over the Crimean War remained. he was opposed to unnecessary rest of the Cabinet consented to This reflected that confluence of change. But Whigs and moderate the measure as a substantial exten- varied populist traditions which Liberals seized on Bright’s rheto- sion of voting privileges, refuting flowed into radical activism, ric as revealing the true extent of accusations of reactionary minis- Benthamite ‘Philosophic Radi- radical intention, signalling the terial sentiment. calism’, Chartism, militant Non- subversive dangers which respon- A developing crisis over the conformity and the Cobdenite sible politicians must resist. Italian states during the1858 recess advocacy of free trade. Bright had That Bright broke ground over saved politicians from an exclusive denounced the Crimean conflict. Reform in late 1858, express- preoccupation with parliamentary But other ‘patriotic’ radicals, such ing radical demands in language Reform. But while the complexi- as John Roebuck, supported the exciting fear of class conflict, ties of Reform exposed differences war in language which rejected encouraged Whigs such as Lord between Conservatives, Whigs, the moral internationalism, based Grey, Lord Clarendon and Sir Liberals and radicals, the issue upon unrestricted trade and com- George Cornewall Lewis to of Italy affirmed a consensus of merce, advocated by the Man- believe that moderate Reform view, notwithstanding the long- chester School. Bright’s mentor would satisfy the nation’s wishes, standing hostility of Liberals and from the Anti-Corn Law League, as long as Russell was not lured radicals towards the autocratic Richard Cobden, remained in into advocating an extreme empires of Austria and Russia. rural seclusion, living the life of a measure. Derby’s Conservative Within British political circles, gentleman farmer in Sussex. Dur- Cabinet also took comfort from there was broad support for liberal ing Bright’s illness Milner Gibson the reaction to Bright’s speeches. Italian nationalism, the Kingdom had emerged as a rival leading During the recess Derby chaired of Piedmont-Sardinia being seen parliamentary radical, spearhead- a Cabinet committee drawing up as the best hope for an accept- ing the ejection of Palmerston a government Reform bill. The able form of unification. Italian from office in February 1858. As main features of the measure drew nationalists wished to drive Aus- a consequence, radicals enjoyed on indications of what moderate tria out of Lombardy and Venetia, no greater unanimity than Whigs Whigs and Liberals would accept. overthrowing the Vienna Settle- and Liberals. In June 1858 the great majority ment of 1815. But British politi- Between October and Decem- of the Commons opposition had cians, while disliking Austrian ber 1858 Bright’s central theme supported a proposal to equalise repression, harboured a deeper was the continued dominance of the borough and county fran- loathing for the brutal corrup- landed power in British politics, chise at the £10 level. They had tion endemic in the Kingdom of suppressing popular liberties. He split over the introduction of the the Two Sicilies and contempt for

12 Journal of Liberal History 65 Winter 2009–10 celebrating 1859: party, patriotism and liberal values the temporal power exercised by government could hope to carry, offered the best prospect of unify- Pope Pius IX. Distrust of French given the temper of the Com- ing opposition feeling. Nonethe- ambitions in the Italian peninsula mons and the public mind. The less, Lord Grey thought Russell’s and anxiety that disruption of the Conservatives also brought for- resolution objectionable. Claren- status quo would forge a hostile ward proposals for law reform and don deemed it factious. Palm- Franco-Russian alliance exploit- legislation presented as a reason- erston indicated that the success ing Austrian weakness, moreover, able settlement of the church rates of Russell’s motion need not be tempered enthusiasm for Italian question. When Palmerston, with fatal to the bill if it led to desirable unification. Napoleonic aggran- Russell’s support, challenged the amendments. This milked Rus- disement, destabilising Austrian government’s Italian policy, sug- sell’s motion of its venom. humiliation and the incitement of gesting Malmesbury was failing In the Commons during Piedmont to acts of aggression as a to prevent a threatened war, while March Palmerston declared pawn of French ambition, leaving appearing indifferent to reform in his support for Russell’s reso- untouched the worst repression in the Papal States, Disraeli dramati- lution on the understanding the region existing in the Papal cally announced on 25 February that it would prompt changes States and the Kingdom of the that Lord Cowley was being des- to the Reform bill in commit- Two Sicilies, would, British poli- patched on a diplomatic mission tee. Bright dubbed the proposed ticians agreed, be too high a price to negotiate a settlement secur- merit franchises contained in the to pay for Italian liberty. Derby’s ing peace and desirable reforms. measure ‘fancy franchises’. Roe- Foreign Secretary, Lord Malm- Disraeli’s declaration swiftly pre- When, on buck urged the government to esbury, shaped British policy to empted Palmerston and Russell’s accept amendments to their bill this domestic consensus, adopt- hostile initiative and restored the 28 Febru- so that the opportunity to settle ing a vigilant non-intervention. parliamentary consensus over for- the question should not be lost. Palmerston agreed that, in the eign affairs. ary, Russell Gladstone’s convoluted state- event of war, neutrality was Brit- When, on 28 February, Rus- ment that he intended to vote ain’s only course. He had no wish sell and Bright criticised the and Bright against Russell’s motion, but did to see Austria crippled as a Euro- Conservative Reform bill for not not want this to be interpreted as pean power. Suspicions grew dur- enfranchising a larger portion of criticised the support for the government, was ing early 1859 that Napoleon III the working classes, Palmerston received with puzzled amuse- was cynically encouraging Pied- remained silent. Whigs and mod- Conserva- ment. Early in the morning of 1 mont-Sardinia to open hostilities erate Liberals nervously noted April Russell’s motion was passed against Austria, giving France an that Russell was adopting the tive Reform by 330 to 291 votes. Ambiguity opportunity to push troops into radical language of Bright. Rus- about the intended effect of the the region under the pretext of sell was dissuaded during March bill for not vote, whether or not it should be rushing to Piedmont’s aid. The from calling a general meeting enfranchis- regarded as a wholesale rejection Italian peninsula was in danger of the Liberal opposition, which of the bill, secured an opposi- of becoming a second Mexico, would prove ‘a Tower of Babel’.10 ing a larger tion majority. It was a victory Malmesbury feared, with Pied- Instead, he decided to proceed of sorts for Russell – but not the mont-Sardinia the tool of Napo- against the government Reform portion of unqualified personal endorsement leonic intrigue. bill by way of a resolution moved for which he hoped. The Queen Russell looked to the 1859 par- on the measure’s second read- the work- commented with irritation that liamentary session as his opportu- ing. Graham and Herbert per- the motion showed that Russell nity to recover the leadership of suaded Russell to temper the ing classes, was ‘ever ready to make mischief progressive opinion in Westmin- wording of his motion, reference and do his country harm’.11 Faced ster. The political agenda seemed to the ‘industrial classes’ being Palmerston with a choice between amending ideal. Parliamentary Reform was removed. What remained was an their measure, deferring further the main item of business and objection to the bill’s failure to remained consideration of Reform, resign- hopes for liberal reform in the lower the borough franchise and ing or dissolving parliament, Italian peninsula a supplemen- the denial of the ancient right of silent. Whigs Derby’s Cabinet decided to call tary issue. He came close to suc- urban forty-shilling freeholders an election. The Conservative cess. The dramatic theme in the to vote in county elections. The and moder- electoral text was the scuttling parliamentary politics of January Times observed that the second of their moderate Reform bill by to June 1859 is the frustration of reading of legislation was con- ate Liberals a factious and motley opposition Russell’s ambitions. Conserva- ventionally the opportunity to preferring party interest to the tive moderation, radical reticence, discuss the general principles of a nervously interest of the country. Peelite ambivalence and Palmer- measure. Russell’s motion imme- noted that Reform proved the main ston’s patience denied Russell the diately focused debate on specific subject of candidates’ hustings personal vindication he sought. clauses more properly left to the Russell was speeches over the following The Reform bill introduced by committee stage. This was the weeks. In London, on 15 April, the Conservative government tactical requirement of Russell’s adopting Russell dismissed the Conserva- in late February, as its authors position in opposition to a bill that tive measure as a sham, devoid intended, was not the sham meas- was more moderate than he had the radical of any honest intent to secure ure Russell anticipated. The Times predicted. Concentrating debate genuine Reform. But dramatic praised it for dealing with the on the particular inadequacies of language of international events between 19 question on honest and intelligible the bill, forestalling a broader dis- and 21 April allowed some, nota- principles, it being as strong as any cussion of the measure’s merits, Bright. bly Russell, to take up the cry

Journal of Liberal History 65 Winter 2009–10 13 celebrating 1859: party, patriotism and liberal values of Italian liberty. Contrary to Palmerston’s prospects became. platform at the beginning of expectation Austria, provoked by During late May intense con- proceedings he noticed the step Piedmont’s refusal to disarm prior sultation among the opposition was too high for the diminutive to participating in a Congress, ensued. Russell entered discussion Russell. To roars of droll laugh- issued an ultimatum demanding insistent upon two points: first, ter around the room Palmerston Piedmont’s disarmament or else that a prospective Liberal Cabinet assisted Russell on to the stage. hostilities would ensue. Advised must include Peelites and radicals The act held a poignant sym- by France to give a defiant reply, – it could not be a restoration of bolism. Palmerston spoke of his Piedmont portrayed the ultima- Palmerston’s former frontbench; readiness to cooperate with Rus- tum as an insult. Preparations for and second, that there must be sell in moving a general motion war promptly followed. The ulti- agreement on a Reform bill. against the government and was matum, a disastrous miscalcula- These conditions he saw as the received with great cheering. tion, immediately cast Austria as protection of his position. Palm- Russell followed, expressing his the aggressor and dramatically erston responded that any motion willingness to serve under Palm- wrong-footed Derby’s policy. brought against the government erston if asked to form a ministry. The diplomatic tables appeared could not contain a commitment Palmerston whispered to Russell. abruptly turned. France, suspected to introducing a Reform bill or Russell then added that Palmer- of preparing for war without a a condemnation of Conservative ston agreed to the same if Russell pretext, assumed the role of an foreign policy. He would only was sent for by the Queen. Bright injured innocent. This gave free support a general motion of ‘no promised cooperation and Her- rein to Liberal dislike of Austrian confidence’. Radical prevarica- bert preached union. Just a few of autocracy. In election speeches tion further weakened Russell’s those present expressed hesitation. on 23 and 25 April, Russell gave position. Bright held back from The meeting appeared a success. scant attention to Reform, but pressing for Russell’s return to the Palmerston judged the outcome elaborated on the falseness of Liberal leadership, and other radi- as ‘highly satisfactory’12 A united Derby’s policy of ‘armed neutral- cals, such as Roebuck and Milner Liberal opposition had been ity’, based upon misplaced suspi- Gibson, indicated that a substan- formed. It was noted that it would cions of France and concealing an tial measure of Reform might yet be difficult for Russell not to con- illiberal pro-Austrian bias. In a be secured from the Conservative cur in any arrangement after what hastily revised election address at ministry. In late May Gladstone he had said. Tiverton, Palmerston denounced made it known that Palmerston’s On Tuesday 7 June the oppo- the government’s foreign policy electoral statements about Italy sition Commons motion of ‘no as proof of the ministry’s inad- would justify his joining a Palm- confidence’ was moved by the equacies. The outbreak of war, erston Cabinet. On 30 May Palm- young Whig Lord Hartington. triggered by Austria’s ultimatum, erston was advised that, in the Disraeli attempted to catch the transformed the Italian question event of Derby resigning, there opposition unawares by calling for into an issue of party controversy. was now far less chance of Rus- an immediate division, but after The general election returned sell being sent for by the Queen. frantic scouring of the Commons 306 Conservative MPs and 349 Palmerston immediately wrote tea rooms the Liberal whips man- MPs identified as members of to Russell offering to serve under aged to keep the debate open and the opposition. Despite gain- him, if Russell would do the same eventually secured an adjourn- ing thirty-one seats, the Con- by him. Two days later Palmer- ment. The defeat of Austria by servative ministry remained in a ston and leading Whigs deter- French and Piedmontese forces Commons minority. The critical mined to call a general meeting at the battle of Magenta on 4 June question became the possibility of the opposition, which Palm- The meeting brought opposition accusations of the opposition majority, made erston would invite Russell to of Conservative incompetence up of various Liberal groupings, attend. On 2 June, Palmerston and appeared in foreign policy to the fore of approximately fifty radicals and Russell agreed jointly to address debate. Palmerston charged the a handful of prominent former a party meeting declaring their a success. government with alarming igno- Peelites, finding a common pur- readiness to serve under the other, rance as to the real state of Euro- pose. Palmerston rejected an although nothing was said about Palmerston pean affairs. The moderate Liberal overture from Disraeli invit- the future arrangement of minis- MP Edward Horsman censured ing him to join the Conservative terial places. judged the the Conservatives for a lack of Cabinet; the preferable alterna- So it was that, on Monday 6 foresight, capacity and imparti- tive, Disraeli suggested, to Palm- June 1859, Whig, Liberal, radi- outcome ality in their diplomacy. Bright erston finding himself a minister cal and a handful of prominent as ‘highly described the government’s prot- in a Russell government. Palm- former Peelite MPs (though not estations of neutrality as a pre- erston now looked to resuming Gladstone) met at Willis’s Rooms satisfactory’. tence disguising a pro-Austrian power on his own terms. Having to affirm their support for a bias. Milner Gibson also accused failed to assert his authority over motion of ‘no confidence’ in Der- A united the Conservatives of harbour- the Reform question in March, by’s government. Held on neutral ing Austrian sympathies. Russell, Russell’s plight brought the ground, rather than in the resi- Liberal oppo- while condemning the Con- engaging subplot of Palmerston’s dence of a leading politician, the servative Reform bill, declared intentions back into centre stage. gathering was publicly advertised sition had the ministry incapable of main- Moreover, the longer Russell’s in The Times two days before. taining neutrality in continental difficulties persisted the better When Palmerston ascended the been formed. affairs and guilty of diminishing

14 Journal of Liberal History 65 Winter 2009–10 celebrating 1859: party, patriotism and liberal values

Britain’s influence in the councils Russell’s civil liberty, fiscal accountability, was far broader. This was Russell’s of Europe. free trade and Christian humani- achievement. Palmerston’s minis- On Friday 10 June Harting- near-success tarianism grounded the Liberal try was a rich blend of those parlia- ton’s ‘no confidence’ motion was commitment to stable and ordered mentary ingredients comprising passed by 323 to 310 votes. The in 1859, how- progress. This was a moral political Victorian Liberalism: Whig leg- following day Derby’s Cabinet creed supporting a patriotic belief islative reform and disinterested resigned. The Queen sent for ever, ensured in Britain’s status as a civilised and governance, Peelite morality and Lord Granville, but Russell indi- enlightened polity, superior to cor- administrative expertise, and rad- cated difficulties in serving under that the rupt and repressive regimes abroad. ical notions of economic and effi- him. Victoria complained of the Palmerston played to patriotic cient government. prickliness of ‘selfish, peevish Liberal gov- faith in Liberal values as a celebra- Palmerston offered Cabinet Johnny’.13 On 12 June the Queen ernment was tion of Britain’s moral pre-emi- office to Cobden, but he refused. asked Palmerston to form a gov- nence in the world. Russell looked Prior to 1859, Whigs had shared ernment. A fortnight of intense not a narrow to personify enlightened reform a hostile disparagement of radi- ministerial negotiation followed. as the key to Britain’s political calism, radicals had found com- Russell insisted on the Foreign restoration stability and material prosper- mon purpose in decrying the Office, Italy being the issue on ity, safeguarding the nation’s oligarchic assumptions of Whig- which Whigs, Liberals, Peelites of Palmer- progress. Their rivalry during the gism, and Peelites had assumed and radicals were most closely 1850s turned on this difference of a self-adulatory sense of supe- agreed. He ‘might not at another ston’s former emphasis in the nature of Liberal riority enshrined in the cult of time have wished for it’, he told belief. Significantly, it was the cry their dead leader. After 1859, as Palmerston who was pressing Cabinet. of Italian liberty that provided Whigs, former Peelites and radi- Clarendon’s claims to being For- Liberals with common cause in cals shared office, such antipathies eign Secretary, ‘but that taking 1859. Italian unification brought were displaced by a Liberal vision such interest in foreign affairs at Liberals together. of administrative efficiency, free present he wished for that place’.14 Foreign affairs occasioned trade, national prestige abroad The former Peelite Gladstone major domestic political crises and civil and religious liberty at (despite having voted against throughout the 1850s. It was a home. Cobden’s role in negoti- Hartington’s motion) accepted the mismanaged Crimean campaign ating a free trade Anglo-French Chancellorship of the Exchequer, that propelled Palmerston to the commercial treaty in 1860 sym- the Duke of Newcastle took the premiership in 1855. It was accu- bolised the ascendancy of these Colonial Office, and Herbert the sations of toadying to French Liberal values. During the 1860s, War Office. The radicals Milner intimidation that ejected Palmer- the Liberal government drew to Gibson and Charles Villiers were ston from office in 1858. In 1859 itself the popular forces of militant appointed to the Board of Trade the patriotic perception of Britain Nonconformity, organised labour and the Poor Law Board. Whigs as the champion of liberal progress and an expanding press, fulfilling were appointed to just eight out of in Europe gave Liberals a unity the Russellite vision of a progres- sixteen Cabinet posts. of purpose over Italy denied by sive alliance. This prepared the The events leading up to the their differences on domestic way for Gladstone’s transforma- conception of the Liberal Party issues, particularly parliamen- tion from Peelite to ‘the People’s in 1859, revealing those antipa- tary Reform. Palmerston’s return William’ as he reaped the harvest thies which found resolution at to the premiership affirmed the of Russell’s near-success. Willis’s Rooms, explain how power of Liberal patriotism as the During the 1850s, Gladstone Palmerston, rather than Russell, basis of party unity. In 1861, fol- had been an isolated, restless and emerged as Liberal leader. The lowing the failure of his Reform tormented figure, many assum- broader context of Liberal belief, bill in 1860 and the dénoue- ing his future lay with the Con- framing the complex dynamics ment of the Italian crisis, Russell servative Party. In 1859 he voted of political manoeuvre, points to retreated to the House of Lords against Russell’s motion on the the basis upon which party unity with a peerage. Conservative Reform bill and was achieved. By the late 1850s a Russell’s near-success in 1859, against Hartington’s ‘no confi- set of shared assumptions defined however, ensured that the Lib- dence’ motion. Yet he hungered Liberal values. Effective and fair eral government was not a nar- for executive employment and government must rest upon liber- row restoration of Palmerston’s feared languishing in barren ties protected by the rule of law former Cabinet. As Palmerston political exile. The issue of Italy – government being in the inter- acknowledged, he was forced offered him a bridge to Palm- est of the nation as a whole, rather ‘to reconstruct the government erston’s Cabinet over which he than a particular section of society. upon a different principle and … crossed in June. After 1859 he Free trade, government economy out of a larger range of political metamorphosed into a Liberal and low taxation should encourage parties’; what Gladstone referred tribune, his religious conviction individual liberty, self-improve- to as ‘our strangely constructed and his praise for diligent self- ment and moral responsibility. Cabinet’.15 When, in late March reliant working men striking deep These beliefs affirmed Britain’s 1859, Palmerston drew up a list of chords of popular moral affinity. standing as a nation of lawful toler- possible Cabinet appointments it His speeches conveyed a powerful ance and moral decency, a bulwark contained no radicals or advanced sense of consecration to which his against intolerance and dogma- Reformers. The Cabinet he was popular audiences responded with tism. The historic constitution, actually required to form in June adulation. As Chancellor of the

Journal of Liberal History 65 Winter 2009–10 15 celebrating 1859: party, patriotism and liberal values

Exchequer his lowering of taxa- The circum- Dr Angus Hawkins is a Fellow of 5 Palmerston to Granville, 24 and 25 tion sought to liberate ‘the peo- the Royal Historical Society and a March 1857, cit. H. C. F. Bell, Lord ple’ economically, encouraging stances in member of the History Faculty at the Palmerston, 2 vols. (1936), ii, p. 170. diligence and self-reliance, rais- University of Oxford. He has writ- 6 Parkes to Ellice Jnr., 22 November ing civic maturity and stimulating which the ten extensively on Victorian politics. 1857 cit. Hawkins, Parliament, Party political responsibility. His most recent publication is a two- and the Art of Politics, p. 86. In 1868 Gladstone aligned his parliamen- volume biography of the 14th Earl 7 Clarendon to Howard, 26 February charismatic Liberal leadership of Derby entitled The Forgotten 1858, Clarendon Mss. C. 541, cit. with the transcendent cry of Irish tary Liberal Prime Minister. Hawkins, Parliament, Party and the Church disestablishment. This Party was Art of Politics, p. 115. united popular Liberalism with a 1 Herbert to Graham, 10 January 1859, 8 Russell to the Dean of Bristol, parliamentary party articulating conceived in cit. Baron Stanmore, Sidney Herbert, 9 April 1858, Russell Mss. PRO the aspirations of those dynamic Lord Herbert of Lea: A Memoir 2 vols. 30/22/13/F, fol. 24, cit. Hawkins, forces transforming mid-Victo- 1859 reveal (1906), ii, p. 165–66. The best over- Parliament, Party and the Art of Poli- rian society. It gathered a broad view of nineteenth-century Liberal- tics, p. 130. community of progressive moral the strengths ism is Jonathan Parry, The Rise and 9 Greville diary, 23 May 1858, cit. sentiment around the party Fall of Liberal Government in Victorian C. C. F. Greville, A Journal of the shibboleths of ‘civil and religious and stresses Britain (1993). See also T. A. Jenkins, Reigns of King George IV, King Wil- liberty’, ‘peace, retrenchment The Liberal Ascendancy, 1830–1886 liam IV and , ed. H. and reform’, free trade, economy within mid- (1994) and Jonathan Parry, The Poli- Reeve, 8 vols. (1888), viii, p. 201. and improvement. Between 1868 tics of Patriotism: English Liberalism, 10 Ellice to Panmure, 4 March 1859, and 1874 Gladstone’s government Victorian National Identity and Europe, 1830– cit. Hawkins, Parliament, Party and disestablished the Irish Church, 1886 (2006). John Vincent, The For- the Art of Politics, p. 212. passed an Irish Land Act, intro- Liberalism. mation of the Liberal Party, 1857–1868 11 The Queen to the Prince of Wales, duced competitive examinations (1966), remains essential reading. 1 April 1859, cit. J. Prest, Lord John for entry to most areas of the civil Other valuable studies, as well as the Russell (1972), p. 383. service, abolished the purchase of works cited below, are Alan Sykes, 12 Palmerston diary, 6 June 1859, cit. military commissions, reformed The Rise and Fall of British Liberal- E. D. Steele, Palmerston and Liberal- education for children, abol- ism, 1776–1988 (1997) and Eugenio ism, 1855–1865 (1991), p. 93. ished religious tests for Oxford Biagini, Liberty, Retrenchment and 13 The Queen to the King of the Bel- and Cambridge universities, Reform: Popular Politics in the Age of gians, 14 June 1859, cit. Prest, Rus- reformed local government, and Gladstone 1860–1880 (1992). sell, p. 384. introduced the ballot for par- 2 Parkes to Ellice, 29 December 1856, 14 Wood diary, 12 June 1859, cit. liamentary elections. The ties Ellice Mss. 15042, fol. 45, National Hawkins, Parliament, Party and the between the state and the estab- Library of Scotland, Edinburgh. Art of Politics, p. 260. lished Church were loosened, 3 Palmerston to Lansdowne, 8 15 Palmerston to Bruce, 26 Novem- the patronage system reformed, December 1853, Palmerston Mss. ber 1859, cit. Steele, Palmerston and and greater efficiency and pro- GC/LA/111, cit. Angus Hawkins, Liberalism, p. 94; Gladstone memo, fessionalism established within British Party Politics, 1852–1886 20–25 May 1860, cit. The Prime the framework of economic (1998), p. 53. Ministers’ Papers: W. E. Gladstone, government. 4 Holland to Brougham, 14 July III: Autobiographical Memoranda The circumstances in which [1856], Brougham Mss. 16295, cit. 1845–1866 (1978), John Brooke and the parliamentary Liberal Party Angus Hawkins, Parliament, Party Mary Sorenson (eds.), p. 228. was conceived in 1859 reveal the and the Art of Politics, 1855–59 (1987), strengths and stresses within mid- p. 34. Victorian Liberalism. The force of Liberal patriotic faith in Britain as a moral champion of enlight- ened values in Europe secured for Liberal Democrat History Group plaque Palmerston both the party lead- appeal successful ership and the premiership. The belief that Liberal government As Dr Hawkins recounts in this article, the meeting of 6 June 1859 at Willis’s must embrace a broad alliance of Rooms in King Street, St James, London, marks the foundation of the Liberal progressive sentiment within the Party. country was testimony to Rus- To mark the 150th anniversary of this event, over the last three months, the sell’s near-success. Gladstone’s Liberal Democrat History Group has run a campaign to raise funds to pay for subsequent emergence as a popu- the erection of a Westminster Council ‘heritage plaque’ on the current-day lar tribune affirmed the Liberal site, Almack House in King Street, to commemorate the Willis’ Rooms meeting Party’s identification with the permanently emotive moral vision of a merito- We are pleased to be able to report that thanks to the generosity of many cratic society fostering self-disci- History Group members and supporters, sufficient funds have now been raised pline, individual reliance and free to meet the cost of the plaque and its installation (about £1,000). association. Reason enough, apart from commemoration of Dar- We are now just waiting for the council to confirm a suitable date for the win, Mill and Smiles, to mark the unveiling of the plaque; we will let all History Group members know the remarkable year 1859. arrangements via our email mailing list and website.

16 Journal of Liberal History 65 Winter 2009–10