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Reviewed by:
  • Benjamin Disraeli Letters, 1865–1867 ed. by Michel Pharand etal.
  • Robert O’Kell
Michel Pharand, Ellen Hawman, Mary Millar, Sandra den Otter, and M.G. Wiebe, eds. Benjamin Disraeli Letters, 1865–1867. Vol. 9. University of Toronto Press. lxxiv, 534. $195.00

The years covered in this volume of Disraeli’s letters, 1865–67, are ones of great interest for those fascinated by the unlikely story of his political success. But they are also of great importance to those who want to understand the development of Britain’s democratic parliamentary government in the nineteenth century. Much of the volume is concerned with the intense rivalry between Disraeli and William Gladstone during their struggles over the passage of a second reform bill. As the leader of the Conservative Opposition, Disraeli played a significant role in the defeat of the Liberals’ bill in 1866, and as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons in Lord Derby’s subsequent minority Conservative Ministry, Disraeli was the genius of [End Page 242] the strategy that brought about the Conservatives’ triumph in the summer of 1867. Although the general outline of this story is well known, these letters give the reader an intimate sense of how the day-to-day strategy of both Gladstone’s failure and Disraeli’s success unfolded.

At the most critical moments of the reform debates in the summer of 1867, the prime minister, Lord Derby, was so incapacitated by a severe attack of gout that he withdrew from central London and for several weeks could not attend meetings of the Cabinet. Thus, Disraeli was left in charge and became the de facto leader of the government. In that respect these letters reveal both his skill and his daring, for at the crucial moment of Grosvenor Hodgkinson’s household suffrage amendment, Disraeli realized that to resist it would mean the defeat of the Conservatives’ government and the transfer of power back to Gladstone. He thus chose to seize the moment, and, without consulting either Lord Derby or the Cabinet, he accepted the spirit of the amendment, which in intention was far more radical than anything the Liberals had earlier proposed. As the letters show, Disraeli knew full well that his action would provoke discontent in his own party, but he also calculated that the theoretically huge increase in the working-class franchise, which his Conservative colleagues and even many Liberals feared would lead to class tyranny, was unlikely to be realized in fact. What Lord Derby later admitted was “a leap in the dark” enfranchised one in three adult males, where before the Second Reform Act the ratio had been one in five.

These letters are also of great interest for what they reveal about the personal relationships between Disraeli and many of the addressed recipients. Of special significance in this respect are those to Queen Victoria, Lord Derby, and other members of the Cabinet and party. They show Disraeli to be a leader of consummate tact and politeness when those qualities are needed but also one of sharp candour when that is required. One of the most touching moments in this volume occurs when Disraeli’s wife, Mary Anne, is seriously ill and he tells the Queen that Gladstone had that evening (19 November 1867) set aside the usual hostility, to express his sympathy in “a very fair and just speech” that was “very kind and considerate.” Also of interest is the fact that the most often addressed recipient of the letters of this volume is Montagu Corry (134 letters), who became Disraeli’s private secretary in July 1866 at the age of twenty-eight. What is revealed from the outset of their working relationship is the extent of the remarkable trust Disraeli placed in Corry’s judgment and discretion, a trust that was rewarded with his secretary’s devotion and complete loyalty.

In total, this volume contains 673 letters from 1865 to 1867, most of which have never before been published. In addition, in an appendix, there are twenty-three new letters from earlier years. As with previous [End Page 243] volumes in the series, the decision to provide footnotes that...

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