A Short History of English Liberalism

by Walter Lyon Blease

No rational man ever did govern himself by abstractions and universals.... A statesman differs from a professor in an university; the latter has only the general view of society.... A statesman, never losing sight of principles, is to be guided by circumstances; and, judging contrary to the exigencies of the moment, he may ruin his country for ever.

Burke, "On the Petition of the Unitarians."

Contents

• I. Liberalism and Toryism
• II. Political Conditions in the Reign of George III
• III. The First Movement towards Liberalism
• IV. The French Revolution and English Opinion
• V. The Decline of Toryism
• VI. The Middle-Class Supremacy
• VII. The Manchester School and Palmerston
• VIII. The Beginning of the Gladstone Period
• IX. Gladstone versus Disraeli
• X. The Imperialist Reaction
• XI. Liberalism since 1906
• Index