The Victorian elite's leisurely habits were a deliberate way to build trust. They rose late, lunched for hours at clubs, ate multi-course dinners, and spent February to July in London for "the Season", a round of balls and parties where politics, business, and marriage were all arranged. The ruling class was small and closely linked: about 30% of 19th-century cabinet ministers and 40% of prime ministers attended Eton. Gladstone hosted breakfasts at 10.30 am with claret, and Balfour rarely left his bedroom before lunch. Because MPs were unpaid, status did the work salaries do now.
Was this closeness a real source of effective government, or a flattering story about a narrow class?
Well, army of beaurocrats to handle daily affair also helps bt that being said:
those living life of leisure were not those running the empire. We have scheludes of various politicians and officials showing they worked late night and during time of crisis spend days in office.
[OP] works-in-progress | 6 hours ago
The Victorian elite's leisurely habits were a deliberate way to build trust. They rose late, lunched for hours at clubs, ate multi-course dinners, and spent February to July in London for "the Season", a round of balls and parties where politics, business, and marriage were all arranged. The ruling class was small and closely linked: about 30% of 19th-century cabinet ministers and 40% of prime ministers attended Eton. Gladstone hosted breakfasts at 10.30 am with claret, and Balfour rarely left his bedroom before lunch. Because MPs were unpaid, status did the work salaries do now.
Was this closeness a real source of effective government, or a flattering story about a narrow class?
Source: Works in Progress
Iheartthe1990s | 3 hours ago
And those that didn’t go to Eton went to about 3 other highly regarded public schools.
Eireika | 3 hours ago
Well, army of beaurocrats to handle daily affair also helps bt that being said:
those living life of leisure were not those running the empire. We have scheludes of various politicians and officials showing they worked late night and during time of crisis spend days in office.