BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

League, "the maintenance of religion," "estates of the realm," and the
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"Imperial
Ascendancy of Great Britain," were derived from his Crytal
Palace speech delivered in 1872.12
Repeatedly the League stressed
selective Disraelian themes:
the importance of maintaining the
constitution, the role of the Conservative party in serving national
interests and in promoting the union of all classes, as well as the
famed slogans of Disraeli, "Peace with Honor" and "Imperium et
Libertas."
These issues were referred to continuously in speeches,
literature, pamphlets, and newspapers sponsored by the League
throughout the period under study.
The anniversary of Disraeli's death evolved into a virtual
carnival of remembrance.
In assessing the tributes paid to his memory
in 1884, England noted in exaggerated fashion, "by the Queen down to
the humblest peasant his memory has been cherished and his principles
honoured."
In 1885 the newspaper began sponsoring a special annual
Primrose edition, appropriately tinted yellow to represent "his
favorite flower."
Prize poems were featured from patriotic
contestants, as were excerpts from his novels, an impression rendered
on his last public appearance, a description of his final hours, and a
glowing overview of his achievements.^
12
24 June 1874; Disraeli Papers, Box 66, B/XV/15.
13
England, 26 April 1884, p. 7; 18 April 1885, pp. 4-5, 9-10.
Not all members of the Primrose League were comfortable with endorsing
the Disraelian mythology, although few, if any, were prepared to voice
their objections. One of the most active members of the LGC, Lady
Knightly, never overcame her distrust for a man, who had managed to
make his way to the "top of the greasy pole." After his victorious
settlement of the Balkins crisis in 1878, she grudgingly conceded the
achievement. None-the-less, Lady Knightly minimized Disraeli's social
origins, characterizing him as an individual, "who from a simple
attorney's clerk has risen to the truly proud position he now occupies,