The time of the split of the conservative party was a great one for the Liberals, as they believed that everyone should have equal rights and many people found it very unfair that only some religions were emancipated and yet others were still persecuted. The rise of the Liberal party began around this time and it was also after the split of the conservative party that Gladstone joined the Liberals.
William Gladstone’s career in the Liberal party was a successful one, he not only helped to establish Classic Liberalism, but also lead the party to their first regime in power as they won the 1868 elections and Gladstone became prime minister. They won the elections four times and Gladstone ran the country from 1868-94 when he resigned.
During his career as Prime Minister Gladstone had one key aim; to ensure that Ireland was given free rule. Throughout the years he pushed for this, but in1894 he still hadn’t achieved it. He was faced by to much opposition from other parties as well as
his own to over come and there was still much mixed feeling in Britain about this issue. Also as a result of his religious beliefs, which influenced his rule of Britain, he used to go and rescue prostitutes from the streets of London at night and take them to his own home and talk to them hoping to persuade them to give up their career, which contained no Christian morality. His antics were common knowledge at the time and whilst in today’s society people may be mocked for such actions he was respected even more so.
At the age of eighty-five years, William Gladstone was still Prime Minister of Britain and although he was not thrown out of the cabinet and his love for politics and Britain still burned fiercely he resigned as the leader of Britain. The government as a whole had undertaken a decision to increase the size of Britain’s naval army, a move that would later definitely lead to a war within the continent. Even at the age of 60 Gladstone still had strong religious morals and was a firm believer in the idea that Europe was a community designed by God to uphold the highest standards of civilisation. The idea of was within Europe to Gladstone was sacrilegious and he stood by his religious principles even if that meant standing alone. He did not want to be part of the group of people whose actions could later lead to a war and therefore he resigned as the leader of the Liberal party, thus ending his political career. The day of his resignation was said to be like a funeral as people left him flowers and thank you cards for his rule in Britain. He resigned as a much loved man and ‘The People’s Prime Minister.’
William Gladstone founded Classical Liberalism, which is now often known as Gladstonian Liberalism. This is summed up in six main point and ideas. These theories not only came from his religious beliefs but from his morals and his upbringing. Where he was educated as well as how he was brought up played a large part in developing these ideas and set a foundation for Liberalism, as we know it today.
The main theory of Gladstone’s beliefs centred around the idea that politics was the will of God and that God’s resources should not be wasted. Gladstone was a very religious man and he believed that everything happened for a reason and that the reason he became Prime Minister was to ensure that the government was run in a Godly manner. It was his religious beliefs that caused him to resign in 1894, as he would not go against his religious beliefs. War was to be avoided as it breaded hostility and this was not the will of God.
Although Gladstone was brought up in middle class family, he still understood the poverty that many people faced in Britain. He believed that government expenditure should be kept as low as possible therefore keeping taxes low. This is also known as retrenchment. He didn’t believe in having a NHS service where anyone could go to get medical treatment or even in the idea that people without jobs should be given money from the government, as this raised taxes and his aim was to keep taxes as low as possible. This tied in with his belief of self-help and the idea that nobody should depend on anyone else as this bread dependency in a society and encouraged laziness. Gladstone believed that to be lazy was a sin and not the way that God intended people to be. He wanted to run a country where people learnt to help themselves and depended on no one else. Gladstone didn’t believe that raising taxes to create a dole system was necessary, as he thought that why should some people work very hard to support their families, only to have some of their earnings taken away form them to
help others who didn’t have the will to work. Gladstone believed that there was work for those who wanted it and those who didn’t want to work are just lazy, a habit that he didn’t encourage.
As a result of Gladstone’s religious beliefs, he thought that everyone should have an equal opportunity in life. He lived in a society where to get into some professions such as the civil service or the army; you had to have a lot of money to be able to pay your way into it. This didn’t open up doors for common people who wanted a career as a soldier or a veteran nurse and went against his belief of equality of opportunity. Gladstone brought into the civil service and the army an exam that you had to pass to get into that profession, so that no matter how much money you had you couldn’t have a profession in these two areas unless you actually were good at it. There was also the Boer war going on at the time that this was brought in and as a result of years of dukes, lords and Barons bribing themselves into the army, the British army was filled with people that couldn’t necessarily do the job properly and therefore Britain was struggling to win this war. Gladstone’s system of having an entrance exam into the army solved this problem as well as enhancing his principle of equality of opportunity, as now working class people theoretically had the same chance of getting into the army as those in the upper class.
Gladstonian Liberalism also contains the idea of free trade; the theory that goods should be able to move from one country to the next without import or export duties. Gladstone understood that if Britain placed import duties on foreign goods, other countries would place the same export duties on British goods. This would push up the prices of goods and make living more expensive. As Gladstone believed that God’s resources should not be wasted he counted these import or export duties as a waste of money and didn’t think that they were necessary for the British economy to survive.
The absence of import and export duties during the Gladstonian rule, also ties in with his belief in Laissez-faire; the idea that the government should not interfere in industries and the way that businesses operate. Gladstone believed that when if the government started to meddle in the affairs of industries they would start interfering in the affairs of the government and that the two should be kept separate. Gladstone trusted business to run in a way that would profit them and the country the most, he saw no need to place rules or regulations on the way they conduct their business because he knew that the owners of businesses would run their companies in a manner that worked the best and created the most profit and prosperity for them.
William Gladstone’s final belief is not part of Classical Liberalism, but throughout his political career is something that he worked very hard for and that he believed in strongly. Home rule for Ireland was one of Gladstone’s main policies and although he didn’t succeed in it he believed very strongly that the only way to bring peace and prosperity to Ireland was to give them home rule. During the nineteenth century, Ireland was filled with poverty as a result of a terrible famine, causing millions to die of starvation. These desperate circumstances encouraged a great deal of violence and the idea that the Irish having their own rule would bring back prosperity was very popular at the time. Gladstone eventually became a one-issue politician, as he believed that his objective was to give Ireland their independence. However he failed at this as he was faced with a lot of opposition on this issue.
Classical Liberalism is based upon William Gladstone’s religious and morals beliefs, and it is this that makes it so applicable to today’s society. During the time in which he was Prime Minister issues such as equality did not exist because of the class system that was in place. Equality did not exist on the level that it does so today, which is why now it is such a big issue and then it was not. Gladstone’s theories on issues such as this I agree on, as in today’s society equality is important and as a result of not only religious beliefs but also moral beliefs I do think that everyone should be given equal opportunities in life. Issues such as laissez-faire I do not agree on, as often enough the government can improve big companies, such as the government taking over the railways in Britain. They did improve them, as train journeys became safer and more pleasant as the government made sure that it was sticking to its own rules and since they have been privatised trains have become a hazard to use. If the government didn’t also lay down laws about some companies then we would not have a minimum wage system or a health and safety system to ensure that employees are well looked after. Gladstone’s belief in self-help although I do agree up to a point I do not think that it is in the country’s best interest not to have a system to look after those without jobs or not to have a NHS system, as often enough people can’t help the situations that they are in.
William Gladstone was the first Liberal Prime Minister of Britain and had four successful reigns in office before retiring on a matter of principle in 1894. He was not only the founder of Classical Liberalism but also a much loved Prime Minister, husband and father. His beliefs were based on his religious and morals values. He believed in giving people equal opportunities, retrenchment, self-help, free trade and laissez faire. All these beliefs were based in the idea that politics was the will of God. I think that overall Classical Liberalism is a good set of beliefs that could be moulded to shape the society that we live in today. However for it to work properly some of it would have to change as not many people would vote for a government that wanted to privatise hospitals, schools and doctors surgeries.
