Gladstone's Influence in America: Reactions in the Press to Modern Religion and Politics

244 Pages·2018·2.37 MB·English

by  Stephen J. Peterson

STE PH E N J . PE TE RSO N
GLADSTONE’S
INFLUENCE
IN AMERICA
Reactions
in the Press
to Modern
Religion &
Politics
Gladstone’s Influence in America
Stephen J. Peterson
Gladstone’s Influence
in America
Reactions in the Press to Modern
Religion and Politics
Stephen J. Peterson
Tulsa Community College
Tulsa, OK, USA
ISBN 978-3-319-97995-3 ISBN 978-3-319-97996-0 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97996-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018955504
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG, part of Springer Nature 2018
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of
translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval,
electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now
known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the
publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to
the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The
publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and
institutional affiliations.
Cover image: Walker Art Library / Alamy Stock Photo
Cover design by Tom Howey
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
For Debbie and David
A
cknowledgments
This book grew out of my doctoral thesis at the University of Stirling in
Scotland. Grateful acknowledgment is extended first to the university
for its flexibility and accommodation of foreign graduate research stu-
dents. I also wish to recognize the University of Oklahoma for providing
public access to visiting scholars, a benefit that provided me with an
abundance of primary source material for this project. I am grateful as
well to the staff at Palgrave Macmillan for their professionalism and
guidance, and for the peer reviewers they provided who gave me essen-
tial advice during the editing process. To the many brilliant Gladstonian
and nineteenth-century Anglo-American scholars—too numerous to
name here—I am greatly indebted. My heartfelt thanks are extended to
David Bebbington, a co- dedicatee of this book and my supervising pro-
fessor at Stirling. His remarkable commitment to scholarship is an inspi-
ration to me and many others, and his wisdom was of inestimable value
in guiding my research. Finally, my utmost thanks and appreciation is
reserved for my wife Debbie, also a co-dedicatee. She has been a con-
stant source of encouragement and support throughout the project. The
completion of this book would not have been possible without her.
vii
c
ontents
Part I P rologue 1
1 Introduction 3
2 Religion, Politics, and Journalism: Modern Influences in
Nineteenth-Century America 19
Part II Gladstone as Champion of Religious Liberty 37
3 The Politics of Religion: Disestablishing the Irish Church 39
4 The Specter of Popery: Infallibility and the Vatican
Decrees 61
5 Atheism and Politics: The Charles Bradlaugh Imbroglio 101
Part III Gladstone and the Battle for Orthodox Religion 123
6 Science Versus the Bible: Debating T.H. Huxley 125
7 Battling Aggressive Infidelity: Debating Robert Ingersoll 151
ix
x CONTENTS
8 Defending Orthodoxy: Reviewing Robert Elsmere and
Gladstone’s Works of Joseph Butler 171
Part IV Epilogue 187
9 In Memoriam: America Remembers Gladstone 189
10 Conclusion 215
Bibliography 221
Index 239
A
bbreviAtions
PrimAry source PublicAtions
ACQR American Catholic Quarterly Review
AR Andover Review
BQR Baptist Quarterly Review
CA Christian Advocate
CO Christian Observer
CON Congregationalist
CT Chicago Tribune
CU Christian Union
CW Catholic World
HW Harper’s Weekly
IND Independent
MQR Methodist Quarterly Review
NAR North American Review
NYE New York Evangelist
NYH New York Herald
NYO New York Observer
NYT New York Times
NY.Trib New York Tribune
SR Springfield Republican
TN The Nation
UR Unitarian Review
ZH Zion’s Herald
individuAls
WEG William Ewart Gladstone
xi
PART I
Prologue