Description:

After losing the general election just days before Liberal William E. Gladstone would succeed him as Prime Minister Disraeli writes a fellow Conservative who was defeated and has asked for a favor: "The power of a defeated Minister is limited & whatever influence I yet retain must be exercised for those friends who have so long supported me & in so doing often made great sacrifices..."

BENJAMIN DISRAELI (1804-1881) Black-bordered Autograph Letter Signed "Beaconsfield" as Prime Minister, 3 pages, 4.5" x 7", front and verso on two conjoined sheets. Downing Street, Whitehall [London], April 15, 1880. Disraeli's monogrammed EDB seal as Earl of Beaconsfield at top left. To"Sir George Elliott / Bar[one]t." Fine condition.

In full, "The gentleman you write about has no doubt claims to public consideration, & his friends will soon have an opportunity of recognising them. The power of a defeated Minister is limited & whatever influence I yet retain must be exercised for those friends who have so long supported me, & in so doing, often made great sacrifices. I was grieved at your defeat. You are a man who ought to be in the House of Commons."

In the March-April 1880 General Elections, William E. Gladstone's Liberal Party defeated the Conservatives led by Disraeli who had been created the Earl of Beaconsfield in 1876. He left office on April 21, 1880, and was succeeded as Prime Minister by Gladstone. Conservative Sir George Elliott (1814-1893) had lost his seat in the 1880 but regained it in a by-election in 1881.

Deaccessioned from Queen's University, Kingston, Canada, The Disraeli Project at Queen's University (1975-2014)

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