Description:

Disraeli Benjamin

Disraeli Seeks Help for Protectionism, 8 Page Incredible Letter!

 

“meetings shd be held throughout the country, to petition the Queen immediately to dissolve Parliament, in order that a Protectionist ministry may, at once, be formed, & protection restored.”

 

BENJAMIN DISRAELI, Autograph Letter Signed, to Harvey, October 25, 1849, High Wycombe, England. 8 p., 4.5" x 7.25".  Expected folds; edge mounted on two paper frames.

 

Complete Transcript

Hughenden, H. Wycombe, / Oct. 25, 1849

My dear Mr Harvey,

There is a meeting at Aylesbury on the 31st Inst of a very interesting & important nature; & I think it of the utmost importance that there shd be some exhibition of the feeling of the county in the subject. Affairs are very critical = far beyond mere party politics = & unless great courage & discretion are shown at the present moment, I tremble for the aristocratic settlement of this country.

Read the enclosed, of wh: fifty copies only were privately printed & transmitted to the leading members of our party in both houses. It is a reply to a very busy gentleman, who objects to the proposition of specific measures of relief for the landed interest, but is of opinion, that hole & corner meetings shd be held throughout the country, to petition the Queen immediately to dissolve Parliament, in order that a Protectionist ministry may, at once, be formed, & protection restored. He, & his followers, think that the suggestion of practical & specific measures of relief may embarrass this government: as if there could be a greater embarrassment than such supporters.

           

I think the time has come, when some great effort should be made, without reserve, to form the opinions, & guide the conduct, of the Agricultural Party. Placed behind the scenes, I know unfortunately, there exist only perplexity & dismay. I know it is asking you to make a great sacrifice to come to Aylesbury. Believe me it is no slight sacrifice, that I myself make in moving in this business. I want repose as much as most men, & nothing, but an overwhelming sense of duty, sustains me, & urges me onward. I see a terrible future, wh: I wish to avert. You know, how difficult it is to move this scattered Country & how disheartened the yeomanry & farmers are by the non-attendance of the landlords at meetings of this kind. I am in hopes, that this meeting may, in that respect, prove some exception to the usual run of our political assemblages: but, unquestionably, the presence of yourself, or your son to represent your home, wd have a most excellent effect. If we were together, I wd endeavor to impress upon you, not only the importance & the duty of yr own presence, but that of exerting your great & just influence upon yr neighbours for the same purpose.

            I wish, most sincerely, we had pleasanter affairs to transact, & that; instead of asking you to come, at this time of the year to our rough County Town, I might rather offer to be again the guest of your refined & amiable roof, lounge in Venice with Canaletti, & listen to Mrs Harvey’s charming conversation = but these are gloomy times, & my destiny is not to shrink from a disagreeable duty.

                                                                       

Yours sincerely

                                                                       

Disraeli

 

Historical Background

From 1815 to 1846, Great Britain had Corn Laws, tariffs that prevented the import of cheap grain and thus kept grain prices high to favor domestic farmers. Critics of the Corn Laws argued that they kept the price of bread high, even when food supplies were short. In 1846, Conservative Prime Minister Robert Peel supported repeal of the Corn Laws. The issue split the Tory Party (now known as the Conservatives) and John Russell and William Gladstone were among the many “Peelites,” while Benjamin Disraeli remained with those who opposed the repeal. So many talented Members of Parliament followed Peel that Disraeli was left as one of the few politicians of note who were capable of leadership on the Protectionist side. He, therefore, became the Conservative leader in the House of Commons by default.

 

Buckinghamshire is a county in southeastern England just to the northwest of Greater London, and it includes the towns of High Wycombe and Aylesbury. Robert Harvey had been High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire in 1828. When Benjamin Disraeli wanted to overturn the government of John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, in the fall of 1849, Disraeli turned to Harvey for support in Buckinghamshire, both Disraeli’s and Harvey’s home county.

 

 

Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) was born in London into a Sephardic Jewish Italian mercantile family. His father had his four children baptized into the Church of England in 1817, which opened the possibility of a political career. Disraeli was brought up as an Anglican, “the blank page between the Old Testament and the New,” as he described himself. He first stood for election in 1832 as a Radical, but lost. In 1835, after running as a Tory and again losing, he began writing for the Tory Party. In 1837, he won a seat in the House of Commons, his campaign funded in part by his writing of novels. He married widow Mary Anne Lewis (1792-1872) in 1839, who was wealthy and a dozen years his senior. Disraeli hoped to forge a paternalistic alliance between Tories and Radicals, and while he developed a personal relationship with radical John Bright, he was unsuccessful in establishing an alliance. During the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846, Disraeli led the protectionists who battled repeal. In the late 1840s, Disraeli purchased Hughenden Manor, in Buckinghamshire. Disraeli served as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons under the Earl of Derby as Prime Minister in 1852, from 1858 to 1859, and again from 1866 to 1868. He served as Prime Minister in 1868 and again from 1874 to 1880, succeeded each time by Liberal Party leader William Gladstone. Disraeli maintained a close relationship with Queen Victoria, and in 1876, she appointed him as Earl of Beaconsfield. He published his last completed novel shortly before he died at the age of 76.

 

Robert Harvey (1791-1863) was born as the illegitimate son of Sir Robert Bateson-Harvey (1747-1825). In 1825, he inherited Langley Park from his father, who died without legitimate heirs. The younger Harvey served as the High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire in 1828. He married Jane Jemima Collins, and they had two children, Caroline Harvey and Robert Bateson Harvey.

 

Robert Bateson Harvey, 1st Baronet of Langley Park (1825-1887) was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford University. He was a captain the 5th Buckinghamshire Rifle Volunteers and then in the Royal Buckinghamshire Yeoman Cavalry. He was elected a Member of Parliament for Buckinghamshire in 1863 and held the seat until 1868. In 1868 he was created a baronet of Langley Park. He was re-elected a Member of Parliament in 1874 and held the seat until 1885. In 1855, he married Diana Jane Creyke (b. 1825). In 1874, he married the widow Magdalene Breadalbane Anderson (d. 1913).

 

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