John Stuart Mill: Victorian Firebrand, by Richard Reeves
Atlantic books, £30
The Liberal electoral committee for the parliamentary borough of Westminster took a big risk when it invited John Stuart Mill to be its candidate in the general election of 1865. The 58-year-old philosopher had written respected books on logic, political economy and representative government, and spent 35 years working as a senior public servant at the India office. But he was impatient with all kinds of formal flummery and he had a most unfortunate reputation as the cleverest person in the world. He was also a grief-stricken widower who had just retired to a cottage in the south of France to study wild flowers and commune with the Greek philosophers. He made it clear to the committee that he would prefer not to become an MP, and that if elected he would devote himself only to the “emancipation of the dependent classes”—particularly workers and women. He was committed to “advanced liberalism,” he said, and would never lift a finger to promote the “local interests” of his constituents.
In spite of his perversity, Mill was elected by a comfortable margin. A vast crowd gathered in Covent Garden to greet the announcement, cheering so loudly that he could not make himself heard. He blinked out at them for several minutes before his reserve gave way and he rewarded them with a brilliant smile.
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