ABSTRACT
William Ewart Gladstone was born in Liverpool of a family of merchant princes. Both his parents were first-generation Scots immigrants. Though his father was steeped in the traditions of Scottish Presbyterianism, his mother was Episcopalian, and William grew up in a wholly Anglican context. Like most other upper-class Victorians, Gladstone visited Italy several times between 1838 and 1851, and studied its culture and history. Classics provided a good introduction to Italian studies, but it was Dante and the Italian Romantics which fired Gladstone’s emotions and intellect. Gladstone’s tactical mistake in 1874 was to call an election without the preparation provided by a long electoral campaign, essential for stirring up popular support and increasing the voters’ turnout. Gladstone displayed a remarkable sensitivity towards the moods and susceptibilities of the masses, and built his political credibility on the popular outcry about electoral reform.
