| Description | Letter written from 40 Prince's Gardens [London], dated 4 April. Chamberlain writes to Russell [1834-1920, first Baron Russell of Liverpool, newspaper editor and proprietor] to say that Gladstone [William Ewart Gladstone, 1809-1898, prime minister and author] may have been in contact with the Irish government about administration but it is not a subject that has been brought before Cabinet. He writes about the state of the Conservative party and the 'quarrelling' between its members over the leadership succession, mentioning Lord Salisbury [Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 1830-1903], Sir Stafford Northcote [Stafford Henry Northcote, 1818-1887], 'The Fourth Party' [an informal grouping of Conservative back-benchers], Smith and Cross, and Stanhope [Edward Stanhope, 1840-1893]. |