Yale University Press first edition - 1997
Although I have read Roy Jenkins' magisterial biography of Gladstone, I found this slighter work fascinating. On the dust wrapper flaps of Travis Crosby's work, it reads: this book applies an eclectic and sophisticated psychological framework to Gladstone's life that explains the duality of his character. Whilst I wouldn't go so far as that, Crosby has certainly provided much food for thought. He goes on: the book describes his childhood and adolescence, his marriage, his rise to prominence as a young Conservative member of Parliament, the temporary languishing of his political career at midcentury, his leadership of the Liberal Party, and his accomplishments in domestic and foreign affairs as prime minister. Crosby traces the disparate threads of Gladstone's volatile personality and shows how he developed a range of responses to emotional stress to shore up his need for an unquestioned control over the events of his life. Gladstone emerges as a man who wrestled with powerful internal conflicts as much as he struggled with the formidable political and social issues of his time.
Three points in particular stood out for me: firstly, Crosby's repeated argument that Gladstone needed to feel in control - at home, in Cabinet and Parliament and in governmental policy. Secondly, just how 'up and down' he was in his temper and temperament (it reminded me a little of Gordon Brown!); and thirdly, I didn't realise just how long he was in the relative political wilderness in his middle years.
Gladstone's attitude to the religious apostasy of his friends James Hope and Henry (later Cardinal) Manning was typical. He saw it as an intolerable threat to his perception of himself as the upholder of religious constancy...the Church of England represented order, an ethical system, and a certain and regulated set of rules for behaviour...for Gladstone, religion was the ultimate source of his belief in an orderly system in the midst of a disorderly world. A threat or shift in his religious beliefs was a threat to his psychological well-being and to his coherent view of life. It all contributed to his sense of spiritual malaise during the late 1840s and early 1850s. Another interesting point that Crosby makes is that Gladstone, as a firm Evangelical believer, had a keen sense of personal unworthiness joined to a highly developed self-righteousness. This was a characteristic often seen as arrogance in his later life.
Travis suggests that the two options open to Gladstone, when failing to get his way, was either to go on the attack or to 'retreat' (usually to Hawarden or abroad). One can see this in his long tussle over Ireland - e.g. his change from concilarism to coercion in the early 1880s. A great cause could subsume all other, less important issues and could promote the coherence he sought both politically and personally. D.A. Hamer (1972) says this explains Gladstone's propensity for finding "missions": his "concentration, the intensity with which it was organised, and the rhetorical power with which he presented it to others" can be seen as a conflict between his "extremely emotional and excitable temperament" and his "ceaseless striving to organise, systematise, and order the diverse materials of his existence".
Travis ends his book with a look at what other Historians have written and it is worth quoting the passage:
In Gladstone's own time, loyal friends and political foes alike, while acknowledging his intelligence, devotion to duty, and moral concerns, questioned his judgement, character, and mental stability. Historians and other scholars of the twentieth century have followed these cues. John Vincent believes that Gladstone had a "pathological lack of self-control"....Jonathan Parry condemns Gladstone's "manic frustration" and "obsession with power". To Parry, Gladstone "seemed to lack the character, tact and temper necessary to lead a party responsibly"...Michael Winstanley thought especially harmful was Gladstone's "personal", "hopeless", and "destructive obsession" with Ireland.
Crosby suggests that the apparent discords of Gladstone's outward life can best be seen as a consistent effort on his part to maintain within himself a stable and coherent psychological state. His Diaries reveal that struggle between his inward and outward lives - between the two Mr. Gladstones. One must remember that he was four times Prime Minister and at the end of his life was known as the 'People's William' and G O M - the Grand Old Man (or to his political rivals 'God's Only Mistake').
No comments:
Post a Comment