However Mr. Gladstone had won as we have seen the golden opinions of many, and the dreams of his more youthful days were realized when he was sent to represent the people in the House of Commons.
On the 29th of January, 1833, the first Reformed Parliament met, and William E. Gladstone, as the member from Newark, took his seat for the first time in "an a.s.sembly which he was destined to adorn, delight and astonish for more than half a century, and over which for a great portion of that period, he was to wield an unequalled and a paramount authority." There were more than three hundred new members in the House of Commons. Lord Althorp led the Whigs, who were largely in the majority and the Tories const.i.tuted a compact minority under the skillful leadership of Sir Robert Peel, while the Irish members who were hostile to the ministry followed O"Connell. On the 5th of February the king attended and delivered the speech from the throne in person. This Parliamentary session was destined to become one of the most memorable in history for the importance of the subjects discussed and disposed of, among them the social condition of Ireland, the position of the Irish church, the discontent and misery of the poor in England, and slavery in the British colonies; and for the fact that it was the first Parliament in which William E. Gladstone sat and took part.
There was no reference made to the subject of slavery in the speech from the throne, but the ministry resolved to consider it. Mr. Stanley, the Colonial Secretary, afterwards fourteenth Earl of Derby and Prime Minister, brought forth, May 14th, 1833, a series of resolutions in favor of the extinction of slavery in the British colonies. "All children of slaves, born after the pa.s.sage of the Act, and all children of six years old and under, were declared free. But the rest of the slaves were to serve a sort of apprenticeship--three-fourths of their time was for a certain number of years to remain at the disposal of the masters; the other fourth was their own, to be paid for at a fixed rate of wages." The planters were to be duly compensated out of the national treasury.
It was during the discussion of these resolutions that Mr. Gladstone made his maiden speech in Parliament. It was made in answer to what seemed a personal challenge by Lord Howick, Ex-Under Secretary for the colonies, who, opposing gradual emanc.i.p.ation, referred to an estate in Demerara, owned by Mr. Gladstone"s father, for the purpose of showing that great destruction of life had taken place in the West Indies owing to the manner in which the slaves were worked. In reply to this Mr.
Gladstone said that he would meet some of Lord Howick"s statements with denials and others with explanations. He admitted that he had a pecuniary interest in it as a question of justice, of humanity, and of religion. The real cause of the decrease, he said, was owing, not to the increased cultivation of sugar, but to the very large proportion of Africans upon the estate. When it came into his father"s possession it was so weak, owing to the large number of negroes upon it, that he was obliged to add two hundred more people to the gang. It was well known that negroes were imported into Demarara and Trinidad up to a later period than into any of the colonies; and he should at a proper time, be able to prove that the decrease on his father"s plantation, Vreeden Hoop, was among the old Africans, and that there was an increase going on in the Creole population, which would be a sufficient answer to the charges preferred. The quant.i.ty of sugar produced was small compared to that produced on other estates. The cultivation of cotton in Demarara had been abandoned, and that of coffee much diminished, and the people engaged in these sources of production had been employed in the cultivation of sugar. Besides in Demarara the labor of the same number of negroes, distributed over the year, would produce in that colony a certain quant.i.ty of sugar with less injury to the people, than negroes could produce in other colonies, working only at the stated periods of crops.
He was ready to concede that the cultivation was of a more injurious character than others; and he would ask, Were there not certain employments in other countries more destructive of life than others? He would only instance those of painting and working in lead mines, both of which were well known to have that tendency. The n.o.ble lord attempted to impugn the character of the gentleman acting as manager of his father"s estates; and in making the selection he had surely been most unfortunate; for there was not a person in the colony more remarkable for humanity and the kind treatment of his slaves than Mr. Maclean. Mr.
Gladstone, in concluding this able defense of his father, said, that he held in his hand two letters from Mr. Maclean, in which he spoke in the kindest terms of the negroes under his charge; described their state of happiness, content and healthiness--their good conduct and the infrequency of severe punishment--and recommended certain additional comforts, which he said the slaves well deserved.
On the 3d of June, on the resumption of the debate on the abolition of slavery, Mr. Gladstone again addressed the House. He now entered more fully into the charges which Lord Howick had brought against the management of his father"s estates in Demarara, and showed their groundlessness. When he had discussed the existing aspect of slavery in Trinidad, Jamaica and other places, he proceeded to deal with the general question. He confessed with shame and pain that cases of wanton cruelty had occurred in the colonies, but added that they would always exist, particularly under the system of slavery; and this was unquestionably a substantial reason why the British Legislature and public should set themselves in good earnest to provide for its extinction; but he maintained that these instances of cruelty could easily be explained by the West Indians, who represented them as rare and isolated cases, and who maintained that the ordinary relation of master and slave was one of kindliness and not of hostility. He deprecated cruelty, and he deprecated slavery, both of which were abhorrent to the nature of Englishmen; but, conceding these things, he asked, "Were not Englishmen to retain a right to their own honestly and legally-acquired property?" But the cruelty did not exist, and he saw no reason for the attack which had recently been made upon the West India interest. He hoped the House would make a point to adopt the principle of compensation, and to stimulate the slave to genuine and spontaneous industry. If this were not done, and moral instruction were not imparted to the slaves, liberty would prove a curse instead of a blessing to them. Touching upon the property question, and the proposed plans for emanc.i.p.ation, Mr. Gladstone said that the House might consume its time and exert its wisdom in devising these plans, but without the concurrence of the Colonial Legislatures success would be hopeless. He thought there was excessive wickedness in any violent interference under the present circ.u.mstances. They were still in the midst of unconcluded inquiries, and to pursue the measure then under discussion, at that moment, was to commit an act of great and unnecessary hostility toward the island of Jamaica. "It was the duty of the House to place as broad a distinction as possible between the idle and the industrious slaves, and nothing could be too strong to secure the freedom of the latter; but, with respect to the idle slaves, no period of emanc.i.p.ation could hasten their improvement. If the labors of the House should be conducted to a satisfactory issue, it would redound to the honor of the nation, and to the reputation of his Majesty"s Ministers, whilst it would be delightful to the West India planters themselves--for they must feel that to hold in bondage their fellow-men must always involve the greatest responsibility. But let not any man think of carrying this measure by force. England rested her power not upon physical force, but upon her principles, her intellect and virtue; and if this great measure were not placed on a fair basis, or were conducted by violence, he should lament it, as a signal for the ruin of the Colonies and the downfall of the Empire." The att.i.tude of Mr. Gladstone, as borne out by the tenor of his speech, was not one of hostility to emanc.i.p.ation, though he was undoubtedly unfavorable to an immediate and indiscriminate enfranchis.e.m.e.nt. He demanded, moreover, that the interests of the planters should be duly regarded.
The result of the consideration of these resolutions in the House of Commons was that human slavery in the British Colonies was abolished, and the sum of twenty million pounds, or one hundred million dollars was voted to compensate the slave-owners for their losses. Thus was the work begun by Wilberforce finally crowned with success.
It is an interesting question how Mr. Gladstone"s first efforts in Parliament were received. Among his friends his speech was antic.i.p.ated with lively interest. That morning he was riding in Hyde Park, on his gray Arabian mare, "his hat, narrow-brimmed, high up on the centre of his head, sustained by a crop of thick curly hair." He was pointed out to Lord Charles Russell by a pa.s.ser-by who said, "That is Gladstone. He is to make his maiden speech to-night. It will be worth hearing."
From the first he appears to have favorably impressed the members of the House. Modest in demeanor, earnest in manner, and fluent in speech, he at once commanded the respect and attention of his fellow-members.
And here is a later testimony as to the early impression made upon his colleagues and contemporaries, when he was twenty-nine years of age, erroneously stated as thirty-five: "Mr. Gladstone, the member for Newark, is one of the most rising young men on the Tory side of the House. His party expect great things from him; and certainly, when it is remembered that his age is only thirty-five, the success of the Parliamentary efforts he has already made justifies their expectations.
He is well informed on most of the subjects which usually occupy the attention of the Legislature; and he is happy in turning his information to good account. He is ready on all occasions, which he deems fitting ones, with a speech in favor of the policy advocated by the party with whom he acts. His extempore resources are ample. Few men in the House can improvise better. It does not appear to cost him an effort to speak.... He is a man of very considerable talent, but has nothing approaching to genius. His abilities are much more the result of an excellent education and of mature study than of any prodigality of nature in the distribution of her mental gifts. _I have no idea that he will ever acquire the reputation of a great statesman. His views are not sufficiently profound or enlarged for that; his celebrity in the House of Commons will chiefly depend on his readiness and dexterity as a debater, in conjunction with the excellence of his elocution, and the gracefulness of his manner when speaking_.... His style is polished, but has no appearance of the effect of previous preparation. He displays considerable acuteness in replying to an opponent; he is quick in his perception of anything vulnerable in the speech to which he replies, and happy in laying the weak point bare to the gaze of the House. He now and then indulges in sarcasm, which is, in most cases, very felicitous. He is plausible even when most in error. When it suits himself or his party he can apply himself with the strictest closeness to the real point at issue; when to evade the point is deemed most politic, no man can wander from it more widely."
How far these estimates were true we leave to the reader to determine, after the perusal of his life, and in the light of subsequent events.
Mr. Gladstone, after his maiden speech, took an active part in the business of the House during the remainder of the session of 1833. He spoke upon the question of bribery and corruption at Liverpool, and July 8th made an elaborate speech on the Irish Church Temporalities Bill. The condition of Ireland was then, as now, one of the most urgent questions confronting the Ministry. Macaulay "solemnly declared that he would rather live in the midst of many civil wars that he had read of than in some parts of Ireland at this moment." Sydney Smith humorously described "those Irish Protestants whose shutters are bullet-proof; whose dinner-table is regularly spread out with knife, fork, and c.o.c.ked pistol; salt-cellar and powder-flask; who sleep in sheet-iron nightcaps; who have fought so often and so n.o.bly before their scullery-door, and defended the parlor pa.s.sage as bravely as Leonidas defended the pa.s.s of Thermopylae." Crime was rife and to remedy the serious state of affairs a stringent Coercion Bill was introduced by the government. Mr.
Gladstone voted silently for the bill which became a law.
The other bill introduced was that upon the Irish Church, and proposed the reduction of the number of Protestant Episcopal Bishops in Ireland and the curtailment of the income of the Church. This bill Mr. Gladstone opposed in a speech, and he voted against it, but it was pa.s.sed.
It was in the following session that Mr. Hume introduced his ""Universities Admission Bill," designed to enable Nonconformists of all kinds to enter the universities, by removing the necessity of subscribing to the thirty-nine articles at matriculation." In the debate that followed Mr. Gladstone soon gave evidence that he knew more about the subject than did the author of the bill. In speaking against the bill, he said in part, "The whole system of the university and of its colleges, both in study and in discipline, aimed at the formation of a moral character, and that aim could not be attained if every student were at liberty to exclude himself from the religious training of the place." And in reply to a remark made by Lord Palmerston in reference to the students going "from wine to prayers, and from prayers to wine," Mr.
Gladstone replied, he did not believe that in their most convivial moments they were unfit to enter the house of prayer. This bill was also pa.s.sed.
It might have been expected that Mr. Gladstone"s active partic.i.p.ation in the debates in the House of Commons, and the practical ability and debating power he manifested would not escape the attention of the leaders of his party. But the recognition of his merit came sooner than could have been expected. It became evident, towards the close of 1834 that the downfall of the Liberal Ministry was near at hand. Lord Althorp, who had kept the Liberals together, was transferred to the House of Lords, and the growing unpopularity of the Whigs did the rest.
The Ministry under Lord Melbourne was dismissed by the king, and a new Cabinet formed by Sir Robert Peel. The new Premier offered Mr. Gladstone the office of Junior Lord of the Treasury, which was accepted.
Truly has an eminent writer said: "When a Prime Minister in difficulties, looking about for men to fill the minor offices of his administration, sees among his supporters a clever and comely young man, eloquent in speech, ready in debate, with a safe seat, an ample fortune, a high reputation at the university, and a father who wields political influence in an important const.i.tuency, he sees a Junior Lord of the Treasury made ready to his hand."
Appealing to his const.i.tuents at Newark, who, two years before, had sent him to Parliament, he was re-elected. Mr. Handley having retired, Sergeant Wilde was elected with Mr. Gladstone without opposition. Mr.
Gladstone was "chaired," or drawn by horses through the town, seated on a chair, after the election, and then addressed the a.s.sembled people to the number of 6,000, his speech being received with "deafening cheers."
Shortly after Parliament a.s.sembled, Mr. Gladstone was promoted to the office of Under-Secretary for the Colonies. His official chief was Lord Aberdeen, afterwards Prime Minister; and thus began a relation which was destined to greatly affect the destinies of both statesmen.
Mr. Gladstone gave ample proof in his new office of his great abilities and untiring energies.
In March he presented to the House his first bill, which was for the better regulation of the transportation of pa.s.sengers in merchant vessels to the continent and to the Islands of North America. This bill, which contained many humane provisions, was very favorably received. The new Parliament, which met February 10, 1835, contained a considerable Liberal majority. The old House of Commons had been destroyed by fire during the recess, and the new Commons rea.s.sembled in the chamber which had been the House of Lords, and for the first time there was a gallery for reporters in the House.
"A standing order still existed, which forbade the publication of the debates, but the reporters" gallery was a formal and visible recognition of the people"s right to know what their representatives were doing in their name." However, the new Ministry was but short-lived, for Sir Robert Peel resigned April 8th, and Mr. Gladstone retired with his chief.
Mr. Gladstone spent the days of his retirement from ministerial office partly in study, and partly in recreation. Being free to follow the bent of his own inclinations, he ordered his life according to his own ideals. He lived in chambers at the Albany, pursued the same steady course of work, proper recreation and systematic devotion, which he had marked out at Oxford. He freely went into society, dined out frequently, and took part in musical parties, much to the edification of his friends who were charmed with the beauty and cultivation of his rich baritone.
His friend Monckton Milnes had established himself in London and collected around him a society of young men, interested in politics and religion, and whom he entertained Sunday evenings. But this arrangement "unfortunately," as Mr. Milnes said, excluded from these gatherings the more serious members, such as Acland and Gladstone. Mr. Milnes expressed his opinion of such self-exclusion in these words: "I really think when people keep Friday as a fast, they might make a feast of Sunday." But Mr. Gladstone evidently was not of this opinion, and remained away from these Lord"s Day parties. However at other times he met his friends, and received them at his own rooms in the Albany, and on one memorable occasion entertained Wordsworth at breakfast and a few admirers of this distinguished guest.
Mr. Gladstone"s relaxations were occasional, and the most of his time was devoted to his Parliamentary duties and study. His constant companions were Homer and Dante, and he at this time, it is recorded, read the whole of St. Augustine, in twenty-two octavo volumes. He was a constant attendant upon public worship at St. James", Piccadilly, and Margaret Chapel, and a careful critic of sermons. At the same time he diligently applied himself to the work of a private member of the House of Commons, working on committees and taking constant part in debate.
In 1836 the question of slavery again came up before Parliament. This time the question was as to the working of the system of negro apprenticeship, which had taken the place of slavery. It was a.s.serted that the system was only slavery under another name. He warmly and ably defended again the West Indian planters. He pleaded that many of the planters were humane men, and defended also the honor of his relatives connected with the traffic so much denounced, when it was a.s.sailed. He contended that while the evils of the system had been exaggerated, all mention of its advantages had been carefully withheld. The condition of the negroes was improving. He deprecated the attempt made to renew and perpetuate the system of agitation at the expense of candor and truth.
He also at this time spoke on support of authority and order in the government of Canada, and on Church Rates, dwelling upon the necessity of national religion to the security of a state. Mr. Gladstone was not only a Tory but a High Churchman.
King William IV died June 20, 1837, and was succeeded by Queen Victoria.
A general election ensued. The Parliament, which had been prorogued by the young queen in person, was dissolved on the 17th of July. Mr.
Gladstone, without his consent, was nominated to represent Manchester in the House, but was re-elected for Newark without opposition. He then turned his steps towards Scotland, "to see what grouse he could persuade into his bag." The new Parliament met October 20th, but no business of importance came before it until after the Christmas holidays.
In 1838 a bill was presented in both Houses of Parliament for the immediate abolition of negro apprenticeship. Many harrowing details of the cruelties practiced were cited. Mr. Gladstone returned to the championship of the planters with increased power and success. His long, eloquent and powerful speech of March 30th, although on the unpopular side of the question, is regarded as having so greatly enhanced his reputation as to bring him to the front rank among Parliamentary debaters. Having impa.s.sionately defended the planters from the exaggerated charges made against them, he further said: "You consumed forty-five millions of pounds of cotton in 1837 which proceeded from free labor; and, proceeding from slave labor, three hundred and eighteen millions of pounds! And this, while the vast regions of India afford the means of obtaining at a cheaper rate, and by a slight original outlay, to facilitate transport, all that you can require. If, Sir, the complaints against the general body of the West Indians had been substantiated, I should have deemed it an unworthy artifice to attempt diverting the attention of the House from the question immediately at issue, by merely proving that delinquencies existed in other quarters; but feeling as I do that those charges have been overthrown in debate, I think myself ent.i.tled and bound to show how capricious are the honorable gentlemen in the distribution of their sympathies among those different objects which call for their application."
Mr. Gladstone, "having turned the tables upon his opponents," concluded by demanding justice, and the motion before the House was rejected.
About one month later Rev. Samuel Wilberforce, afterwards Bishop of Oxford, and of Winchester, wrote to Mr. Gladstone: "It would be an affectation in you, which you are above, not to know that few young men have the weight you have in the House of Commons, and are gaining rapidly throughout the country. Now I do not wish to urge you to consider this as a talent for the use of which you must render an account, for so I know you do esteem it, but what I want to urge upon you is that you should calmly look far before you; see the degree of weight and influence to which you may fairly, if G.o.d spares your life and powers, look forward in future years, and thus act _now_ with a view to _then_. There is no height to which you may not fairly rise in this country. If it pleases G.o.d to spare us violent convulsions and the loss of our liberties, you may at a future day wield the whole government of this land; and if this should be so, of what extreme moment will your _past steps_ then be to the real usefulness of your high station....
Almost all our public men act from the merest expediency.... I would have you view yourself as one who may become the head of all the better feelings of this country, the maintainer of its Church and of its liberties, and who must now be fitting himself for this high vocation.... I think my father"s life so beautifully shows that a deep and increasing personal religion must be the root of that firm and unwearied consistency in right, which I have ventured thus to press upon you."
Mr. Gladstone began his Parliamentary life as a Tory. Later he developed into a Liberal, a Radical, and yet there is not one who conscientiously doubts his utter honesty. His life has been that of his century--progressive, liberal, humanitarian in its trend.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Grattan]
CHAPTER IV
BOOK ON CHURCH AND STATE
We have now followed Mr. Gladstone in his course until well on the way in his political career, and yet he is but twenty-eight years of age.
His personal appearance in the House of Commons at this early stage of his Parliamentary life is thus described: "Mr. Gladstone"s appearance and manners are much in his favor. He is a fine looking man. He is about the usual height and of good figure. His countenance is mild and pleasant, and has a highly intellectual expression. His eyes are clear and quick. His eyebrows are dark and rather prominent. There is not a dandy in the House but envies what Truefit would call his "fine head of jet-black hair." It is always carefully parted from the crown downwards to his brow, where it is tastefully shaded. His features are small and regular, and his complexion must be a very unworthy witness if he does not possess an abundant stock of health.
"Mr. Gladstone"s gesture is varied, but not violent. When he rises he generally puts both his hands behind his back, and having there suffered them to embrace each other for a short time, he unclasps them and allows them to drop on either side. They are not permitted to remain long in that locality before you see them, again closed together and hanging down before him. Their reunion is not suffered to last for any length of time, Again a separation takes place, and now the right hand is seen moving up and down before him. Having thus exercised it a little, he thrusts it into the pocket of his coat, and then orders the left hand to follow its example. Having granted them a momentary repose there, they are again put into gentle motion, and in a few seconds they are seen reposing _vis-a-vis_ on his breast. He moves his face and body from one direction to another, not forgetting to bestow a liberal share of his attention on his own party. He is always listened to with much attention by the House, and appears to be highly respected by men of all parties.
He is a man of good business habits; of this he furnished abundant proof when Under-Secretary for the Colonies, during the short-lived administration of Robert Peel."
From this pen picture and other like notices of Mr. Gladstone he must, at that time, have attained great distinction and attracted a good deal of attention for one so young, and from that day to this he has commanded the attention not only of the British Senate and people, but of the world at large. And why? may we ask, unless because of his modest manner and distinguished services, his exalted ability and moral worth.
"The House of Commons was his ground," writes Justin McCarthy. "There he was always seen to the best advantage."
Nevertheless, Mr. Gladstone wrote with the same earnestness and ability with which he spoke. It was early in life that he distinguished himself as an author, as well as an orator and debater in the House of Commons.
And it was most natural for him to write upon the subject of the Church, for not only his education led him to the consideration of such themes, but it was within his sphere as an English statesman, for the law of the land provided for the union of the Church and State. It was in 1838, when he was not thirty years of age, that he wrote his first book and stepped at once to the front rank as an author. He had ever been a staunch defender of the Established Church and his first appearance in literature was by a remarkable work in defense of the State Church ent.i.tled, "The State in its Relations with the Church." The treatise is thus dedicated: "Inscribed to the University of Oxford, tried and not found wanting through the vicissitudes of a thousand years; in the belief that she is providentially designed to be a fountain of blessings, spiritual, social and intellectual, to this and other countries, to present and future times; and in the hope that the temper of these pages may be found not alien from her own."
This first published book of Mr. Gladstone"s was due to the perception that the _status_ of the Church, in its connection with the secular power, was about to undergo the severe a.s.saults of the opponents of the Union. There was growing opposition to the recognition of the Episcopal Church as the Church of the State and to taxation of people of other religious beliefs for its support; and this objection was to the recognition and support of any Church by the State. What is called the "American idea"--the entire separation of the Church and State--or as enunciated first by Roger Williams in 1636, in Rhode Island, that the magistrate should have authority in civil affairs only, was becoming more and more the doctrine of dissenters. Preparations were already being made for attacking the national establishment of religion, and with all the fervor springing from conviction and a deep-seated enthusiasm, he came forward to take part in the controversy on Church and State, and as a defender of the Established or Episcopal Church of England.
Some of the positions a.s.sumed in this work have since been renounced as untenable, but its ability as a whole, its breadth and its learning could not be denied. It then created a great sensation, and has since been widely discussed. After an examination and a defense of the theory of the connection between Church and State, Mr. Gladstone thus summarizes his princ.i.p.al reasons for the maintenance of the Church establishment:
"Because the Government stands with us in a paternal relation to the people, and is bound in all things not merely to consider their existing tastes, but the capabilities and ways of their improvement; because it has both an intrinsic competency and external means to amend and a.s.sist their choice; because to be in accordance with G.o.d"s mind and will, it must have a religion, and because to be in accordance with its conscience, that religion must be the truth, as held by it under the most solemn and acc.u.mulated responsibilities; because this is the only sanctifying and preserving principle of society, as well as to the individual, that particular benefit, without which all others are worse than valueless; we must, therefore, disregard the din of political contention and the pressure of novelty and momentary motives, and in behalf of our regard to man, as well as of our allegiance to G.o.d, maintain among ourselves, where happily it still exists, the union between the Church and the State."
Dr. Russell in the following quotation not only accounts for this production from the pen, of Mr. Gladstone, but gives also an outline of the argument: