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Title: The Life of the Rt. Hon. Sir Charles W. Dilke, Vol. 2

Author: Stephen Gwynn

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF CHARLES W. DILKE, VOL. 2 ***




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THE LIFE OF THE RT. HON.

SIR CHARLES W. DILKE

BART., M.P.

BEGUN BY STEPHEN GWYNN, M.P.

COMPLETED AND EDITED BY

GERTRUDE M. TUCKWELL

LITERARY EXECUTRIX OF SIR CHARLES DILKE

WITH PORTRAITS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

IN TWO VOLUMES

VOL. II.



CONTENTS OF VOL. II.

CHAPTER

XXXIV. HOME AFFAIRS (OCTOBER, 1883, TO DECEMBER, 1884)

XXXV. EGYPT (1884)

XXXVI. FRANCHISE AND REDISTRIBUTION (JULY TO DECEMBER, 1884)

XXXVII. FOREIGN AFFAIRS IN 1884

XXXVIII. DIVIDED COUNSELS (JANUARY AND FEBRUARY, 1885)

XXXIX. THE FALL OF KHARTOUM AND THE PENJDEH INCIDENT

XL. REDISTRIBUTION: COERCION AND DEVOLUTION (1885)

XLI. FALL OF ADMINISTRATION (JUNE TO JULY, 1885)

XLII. OUT OF OFFICE (JULY, 1885)

XLIII. THE TURNING-POINT (JULY, 1885, TO JULY, 1886)

XLIV. THE RADICAL PROGRAMME _VERSUS_ HOME RULE (JULY TO DECEMBER, 1885)

XLV. BEGINNING OF THE HOME RULE SPLIT (DECEMBER, 1885, TO FEBRUARY,
     1886)

XLVI. THE FIRST HOME RULE BILL (FEBRUARY TO JULY, 1886)

XLVII. LADY DILKE--76, SLOANE STREET

XLVIII. FOREIGN POLICY

XLIX. PUBLIC LIFE AND RETURN TO PARLIAMENT (1886-1894)

L. INDIA AND FRANCE--RHODES AND BISMARCK (1886-1892)

LI. PERSONAL LIFE--IN OPPOSITION (1895-1904)

LII. LABOUR (1870-1911)

LIII. WORK FOR NATIVE RACES (1870-1911)

LIV. THE BRITISH ARMY

LV. IMPERIAL DEFENCE

LVI. ARMY AND NAVY IN PARLIAMENT

LVII. DEATH OF LADY DILKE--PARLIAMENT OF 1905

LVIII. FOREIGN AFFAIRS (1890-1910)

LIX. THE LAST YEARS

LX. LITERARY WORK AND INTERESTS

LXI. TABLE TALK

INDEX

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOL. II

SIR CHARLES W. DILKE IN THE YEAR 1908
From a drawing by W. Strang.

MRS. MARK PATTISON
From a photograph taken about 1878.

SIR THOMAS WENTWORTH, 1ST BARON WENTWORTH (DIED
MARCH 3RD, 1550-51)
From a painting ascribed to Theodore Bernardi.

BISMARCK
From a photograph given by him to Sir Charles W. Dilke.

SIR CHARLES W. DILKE ROWING
From a photograph reproduced by permission of the _Daily Mirror_.

DOCKETT EDDY
From photographs.

PYRFORD ROUGH
From photographs.

LADY DILKE IN THE YEAR 1903
From a photograph by Thomson.



THE LIFE OF SIR CHARLES DILKE

CHAPTER XXXIV

HOME AFFAIRS

OCTOBER, 1883-DECEMBER, 1884


I.

The interval between the Sessions of 1883 and 1884 was critical for the
question of electoral reform which interested Liberals beyond all other
questions, but involved the risk of bringing dissensions in the Cabinet
to the point of open rupture. As the months went by, Mr. Chamberlain and
Lord Hartington used less and less concealment of their differences,
while it was well known to all the Cabinet that the alliance between
Chamberlain and Dilke was complete and unconditional. Whoever broke with
Chamberlain broke with Dilke. Fortunately a certain bond of personal
sympathy, in spite of divergent views, existed between Lord Hartington
and Sir Charles Dilke, and this bond largely helped to hold Mr.
Gladstone's Government together.

In the negotiations which followed between the leaders of the two great
Parties, Sir Charles Dilke was able to show the full measure of his
value to the State. It was of first-rate importance that the Liberal
Party should possess at that moment a representative with whom Lord
Salisbury found it congenial to treat, and whom the most advanced
Liberals trusted unreservedly to treat with Lord Salisbury.

The same confidence could hardly have been given by them to Lord
Hartington, who held that "equalization of the franchise was pressing
mainly on account of the pledges that had been given, and not much for
any other reason." [Footnote: Letter to Mr. Gladstone of October 24th,
1883, quoted by Mr. Bernard Holland in his _Life of the Duke of
Devonshire_, vol. i., p. 395.] Most Liberals took a very different view
of the need for this reform. Further, Lord Hartington held that
franchise and redistribution should be treated simultaneously, and he
was unwilling to extend the franchise in Ireland.

At a Cabinet on October 25th, 1883, the question of simultaneous or
separate treatment of the problems had been settled. Mr. Gladstone, says
Sir Charles, 'made a speech which meant franchise first and the rest
nowhere.' On the Irish question, Sir Charles was instructed to get
accurate statistics as to the effects of equalizing the franchise
between boroughs and counties, and 'on Friday, November 16th,' he notes,
'I wrote to Chamberlain: "I have some awful figures for poor Hartington
to swallow--700,000 county householders in the Irish counties."' Lord
Hartington still stuck to his point of linking redistribution and
franchise.

But on November 22nd,

    'Mr. Gladstone read a long and admirable memorandum in favour of the
    views held by him, by Chamberlain, and by me, as to franchise and
    redistribution--that is, franchise first, with a promise of
    redistribution but no Bill; and Hartington received no support after
    this from any members of the Cabinet.'

There were, however, matters in which Lord Hartington's Conservative
tendencies found an ally in the Prime Minister. On November 28th, 1883,
at the Committee of the Cabinet on Local Government,

    'Chamberlain noted: "Mr. Gladstone hesitates to disfranchise the
    freeholders in boroughs--persons voting as householders in boroughs
    and as freeholders in the counties in which the boroughs are
    constituted. I am in favour of one man one vote, and told him so."
    Our not getting one man one vote was entirely Mr. Gladstone's fault,
    for the Cabinet expected and would have taken it, Hartington alone
    opposing, as he opposed everything all through.'

The question of widening the franchise in Ireland was still unsettled,
and Mr. Chamberlain and Lord Hartington both made allusion to it in
public speeches at this moment. The speeches, apart from their marked
difference in general tone, were on this point in flat contradiction to
each other, and on December 2nd Lord Hartington wrote to Mr. Gladstone
with a threat of resignation. On that day he delivered at Accrington a
long eulogy of the Whigs, who had 'formed a connecting link between the
advanced party and those classes which, possessing property, powers, and
influence, are naturally averse to change.' The Whigs it was, he
contended, who had by their guidance and their action reduced changes in
the direction of popular reform to the 'calm and peaceful process of
constitutional acts.'

    'At this moment there was a conflict raging between Chamberlain and
    Hartington, and in their autumn speeches each of them pretty plainly
    attacked the other's policy. Chamberlain wrote to me: "Why does
    Hartington think _aloud_ when he thinks one thing and is going to do
    the other? And why does he snub the Caucus when he has made up his
    mind to do exactly what they want? If he cannot learn to be a little
    more diplomatic, he will make a devil of a rum leader!" A little
    later Chamberlain gave me "passages from a speech which _ought_ to
    be delivered: 'Yes, gentlemen, I entirely agree with Lord
    Hartington. It is the business and duty of Radicals to lead great
    popular movements, and if they are fortunate enough to kindle the
    fire of national enthusiasm and to stir the hearts of the people,
    then it will be the high prerogative of the great Whig noble who has
    been waiting round the corner to direct and guide and moderate the
    movement which he has done all in his power to prevent and
    discourage.'"

    'The storm between Hartington and Chamberlain having broken out
    again, Chamberlain wrote to me on December 5th, enclosing a letter
    of reproof from Mr. Gladstone, and saying: "I replied casuistically
    that I would endeavour to exclude from my speeches the slightest
    reference to Hartington, but that he was really too trying. I
    reminded Mr. G. that I had asked if I were free to argue the
    question, and that he had said: Yes--no one taking exception." In
    the following week Chamberlain came to town and dined with me,
    and we discussed the matter. Although Mr. Gladstone had blown
    Chamberlain up, he was really much more angry with Hartington.'

It appears from the _Life of the Duke of Devonshire_ that Mr. Gladstone
continued through December his attempts to mediate. [Footnote: See _Life
of the Duke of Devonshire_, by Mr. Bernard Holland, vol. i, p. 398 _et
seq_.] The matter is thus related by Sir Charles, though not from first-
hand knowledge, since he went to Toulon in the middle of December, and
stayed there till January 8th, 1884:

    'During my absence I had missed one Cabinet, the first that I ever
    missed, and perhaps the only one. It was held suddenly on January
    3rd, and I could not arrive in time. Mr. Gladstone had come up from
    Hawarden under the impression that Hartington was going to resign,
    because we would not produce a redistribution scheme along with
    franchise. On the morning of the 3rd, however, he received a letter
    in which Hartington gave way on the understanding that Mr. Gladstone
    would state the general heads of his redistribution scheme. The
    subject was not named at the Cabinet of the 3rd, which dealt with
    Egypt only. But the Cabinet adjourned to the 4th, and on January 4th
    discussed South Africa, and also ... received a statement from Mr.
    Gladstone as to his intention to state the heads of our
    redistribution scheme in "very general terms." On the 10th I noted:
    "The Cabinets have resulted in peace between Lord Hartington and Mr.
    Gladstone, but the Reform Bill will be less complete than I had
    hoped." "Mr. Gladstone calmed Hartington by promising not to run
    away from us after franchise and before redistribution, which was
    what Hartington feared he meant to do."'

Discussion upon the detail of the Bill was resumed, and on January 23rd,
1884,

    'the Chancellor (Lord Selborne), Hartington, Kimberley, and Dodson,
    supported by Mr. Gladstone, forced, against Harcourt, Chamberlain,
    and myself, a decision not to attach any condition of residence to
    the property vote.'

    'On January 28th there was a meeting of the Committee of the Cabinet
    on the Franchise Bill in Mr. Gladstone's room. Chamberlain was
    anxious to "make Hartington go out on franchise." I asked him how he
    thought it was to be done, and he replied: "If he is restive now,
    raise the question of Mr. Gladstone's statement on redistribution,
    and oppose all limitations in that statement"; and he added that Mr.
    Gladstone had only agreed to make the statement unwillingly to quiet
    Hartington, and that if Hartington were not quieted Mr. Gladstone
    would go back about it. Chamberlain and I on this occasion tried to
    make the Franchise Bill more Radical, but failed, Mr. Gladstone
    opposing us on old-fashioned grounds.'

    'Chamberlain came to me' (on April 26th) 'about a plan which Mr.
    Gladstone was to broach at the next Cabinet, for putting off the
    operation of the Franchise Act until January 1st, '86, in order to
    give time for redistribution to be dealt with. We decided to oppose
    it, on the ground that it would not improbably lead to our being
    forced into holding an election on the old franchise.'

At the beginning of the Session Sir Charles helped on the general policy
of Radicalism by one of his many minor electoral reforms. This was a
Bill to extend over the United Kingdom the right of keeping the poll
open till eight o'clock at night, which he had secured as a privilege
for Londoners in 1878. He notes that on February 11th he 'fought with
Tory obstructives as to hours of polling, and won'; but the violent
resistance which was offered at first did not continue, and the Bill
passed quietly in July, after time had been given to discuss it in the
constituencies.

    'On this day (July 22nd) I had a long and curious conversation with
    Healy as to Irish redistribution and as to the hours of poll in
    counties, with regard to which he was against extension, but said
    that he was forced to support it in public. He told me that his
    private opinion was that the Land Act had quieted Ireland.'

The 'Representation of the People' Bill, as the franchise measure was
called, was introduced on February 28th, 1884, and made steady progress,
Liberals finding their task facilitated by the difficulties of their
opponents.

    'On May 7th I wrote to Chamberlain to say that I had to speak at a
    house dinner of the Devonshire Club that night, and to ask him if
    there was anything he wanted said, to which he replied: "Note
    Randolph Churchill's letter to Salisbury with reference to the
    Conservative Caucus, and the vindication of the Birmingham one." It
    was impossible not to notice this important letter, which
    revolutionized politics for some time.'

    '_May 14th_.--After the Cabinet I was informed by Chamberlain that a
    week earlier, on Wednesday, May 7th, Randolph Churchill had sent to
    him to know whether, if he broke with the Conservatives, the
    Birmingham Liberals would support him as an independent candidate.'

Sir Charles's letter to his agent at this time sums up the political
position:

    'The Tory game is to delay the franchise until they have upset us
    upon Egypt, before the Franchise Bill has reached the Lords.... Our
    side will be in a humour to treat as traitors any who do not insist
    that the one Bill and nothing else shall be had in view--in face of
    the tremendous struggle impending in the Lords.'

    'On _May 13th_ I had received a letter from Mr. Gladstone in answer
    to one from me in a matter which afterwards became important, and
    but for Chamberlain's strong stand would have forced me to leave the
    Government. I had so strong an opinion in favour of woman's suffrage
    that I could not undertake to vote against it, even when proposed as
    an amendment to a great Government Bill.'

Sir Charles had written as follows:

    'ANTIBES,
    '_Easter Eve_, '84.

    'I had thought till lately that the Woman's Suffrage division in
    Committee on the Franchise Bill would have been so hollow that my
    absence from it would not have mattered; but as I find that
    Grosvenor thinks that it will not be hollow, it becomes my duty to
    write to you about it. I myself think Grosvenor wrong; the woman's
    suffrage people claim some 250 "friends," but this they do by
    counting all who, having voted with them once, have abstained from
    voting for many years, and who are really foes. The division can
    only be a close one if the Tory party as a body support the view
    which is Northcote's, I believe, and was Disraeli's, but many of the
    leaders would be bitterly opposed to such a course. Mr. Disraeli
    left the woman's suffrage amendment an open question on his own
    Reform Bill, and forbade the Government Whips to tell against the
    amendment, but the mass of the Tory party voted in the majority. On
    this next occasion there will be a larger Liberal vote against the
    change than there was last year, and I do not believe that there
    will be a larger Tory vote in its favour. But, supposing that I am
    wrong and Grosvenor right, I should feel no difficulty in voting
    against the amendment on the grounds of tactics which would be
    stated, provided that Fawcett and Courtney, who are the only other
    thick-and-thin supporters of woman's suffrage in the Government,
    voted also, but I cannot vote if they abstain. Under these
    circumstances what had I better do?'

Mr. Gladstone wrote back on May 11th:

    'The question as to the votes of members of the Government on
    woman's suffrage is beyond me, and I have always intended to ask the
    Cabinet, and (like the Gordon rescue) at the proper time. The
    distinction appears to me as clear as possible between supporting a
    thing in its right place and forcing it into its wrong place. To
    nail on to the extension of the franchise, founded upon principles
    already known and in use, a vast social question, which is surely
    entitled to be considered as such, appears to me in principle very
    doubtful. When to this is added the admirable pretext--nay, the fair
    argument--it would give to the House of Lords for "putting off" the
    Bill, I cannot see the ground for hesitation. But I quite understand
    what (I believe) is your view, that there should be one rule for all
    the members of the Government.'

    'This was an important letter. The words "(like the Gordon rescue)
    at the proper time" seem to show that Mr. Gladstone had already made
    up his mind to send an expedition to Khartoum, although he would not
    say so. The body of the letter proved that Mr. Gladstone had a very
    strong opinion against me on the main point, and the consultation of
    the Cabinet (which was dead against woman suffrage), and the one
    rule for all members of the Government, meant that he intended to
    force my vote by a Cabinet resolution, and, killing two birds with
    one stone, to attack at the same time Fawcett, who had walked out on
    several questions, and announced his intention of walking out on
    others.

    'By May 22nd I had finally made up my mind that I could not vote
    against the woman franchise amendment--even as a mere matter of
    tactics and deference to others--if Courtney and Fawcett went out on
    the matter. I could not speak to them about it because of the
    "Cabinet secret" doctrine. Childers had been directed by the Cabinet
    to sound Courtney, because he was Courtney's official superior in
    the Treasury. Childers was to offer Courtney that if he would vote
    against the amendment he should be allowed to speak for woman
    franchise on the merits, and that none of its opponents in the
    Cabinet (that is, all except myself) should speak against it on the
    merits. I noted: "On the whole I think that we shall walk out, and
    not be turned out for so doing." I again explained my position to
    Mr. Gladstone.... I felt that the majority of those voting for woman
    franchise on this occasion would be Tories, voting for party
    reasons, and in order to upset the Bill. I was therefore unwilling
    to go out on this occasion, but thought I could not do otherwise
    than make common cause with Courtney. On the merits of woman
    franchise I had and have a strong opinion. I always thought the
    refusal of it contrary to the public interest. The refusal of the
    franchise also affects the whole position of women most
    unfavourably.' [Footnote: Mrs. Fawcett wrote thanking him 'in the
    name of the friends of Women's Suffrage. Your being a member of the
    Cabinet made your position in the matter one of special difficulty;
    but I do assure you that our gratitude is real and unfeigned.']

On May 24th Sir Charles told the Cabinet what 'I had told Mr. Gladstone
in a letter which I had written to him on Easter Eve, and renewed on the
occasion when he made the reply which has been quoted above.'

When the amendment was reached, Dilke, with Fawcett and Courtney,
abstained. This led to serious trouble. Sir Charles wrote on June 12th
in his Diary:

    'Hartington is very angry with me for not voting, and wants me
    turned out for it. He has to vote every day for things which he
    strongly disapproves, and this makes the position difficult. He says
    that my position was wholly different from that of Fawcett and
    Courtney, because I was a party to the decision of the Cabinet, and
    that custom binds the minority in the collective decision of Her
    Majesty's servants. This is undoubtedly the accepted theory. Poor
    Hibbert was made to vote. [Footnote: Sir John Tomlinson Hibbert (d.
    1908), at this time Financial Secretary to the Treasury, was an able
    administrator, and held office in Mr. Gladstone's four
    administrations. He assisted materially in the passing of the
    Execution within Gaols Act, Married Women's Property Act, and Clergy
    Disabilities Act, and was keenly interested in the reform of the
    Poor Law.] I fear the Cabinet put the yoke, not of political
    necessity, but of their personal prejudice against woman suffrage,
    on the necks of their followers.'

The matter came up at a Cabinet on June 14th, and was made worse because
a letter from Lord Hartington, 'offensive in tone,' had been circulated
by accident. However, Mr. Gladstone issued a minute about my walking out
on woman's suffrage, which concluded by a proposal, if his colleagues
concurred, to request me to remain in the Government. Thus ended a
personal crisis which, to use the French phrase, had been 'open' since
my letter to Mr. Gladstone dated 'Antibes, Easter Eve.'

    'Chamberlain wrote to me: "It is settled"; and I wrote back: "It is
    settled. I would not have asked you to stand by me, as I have no
    constitutional case, and your conduct in so doing could not be
    defended. I always count on your friendship, but this would have
    been too much." He replied: "We are both right. You could not ask
    me, but if you had been requested to resign I should have gone too."
    Chamberlain had previously informed the Cabinet that, though he
    differed from me about woman's suffrage, and regretted the course
    that I had felt myself obliged to take, he intended to stand by me
    "to the fullest extent."' [Footnote: The further negotiations with
    regard to Franchise and Redistribution in 1884, and the 'compact'
    which ended them, are dealt with in Chapter XXXVI., infra, pp.
    63-79.]


II.

While the great measure of the Session went steadily through its stages,
various other questions were also occupying the Cabinet. The search for
a new Speaker in succession to Sir Henry Brand, who had declared at the
beginning of 1883 his unwillingness to retain office beyond that
Session, was one, and not the least important, of these questions. Sir
Henry James was first mentioned, and he refused.

    'November, 1883. Some had thought of putting up Dodson, but the
    Tories had announced that they should run Ridley in opposition to
    him. There was also a difficulty about filling Dodson's place.
    Trevelyan was the only man who could be put into the Cabinet without
    causing the resignation of Courtney and Fawcett, and Mr. Gladstone
    was still in the humour which he had developed at the time of the
    offer of the Chief Secretaryship to me, and declared that he would
    not have the Chief Secretary in the Cabinet, the Viceroy being in
    it, for this would be to have two Kings of Brentford.'

On November 10th 'Childers seemed the favourite for Speakership,' but on
the 12th it was decided that Herschell, Goschen, Arthur Peel, and
Campbell-Bannerman, were to be offered the Speakership--in that order.
It was known that Herschell would refuse, it was thought that Goschen
would refuse on the ground of sight, and Peel on the ground of health,
and it was intended that Campbell-Bannerman should have it. Herschell
did refuse, but Goschen accepted, and had to be shown by his doctor that
he could not see members across the House, that he would be capable of
confusing Healy with Parnell.... Peel accepted, and in spite of his bad
health took it, and has kept it till this day (1891).'

There was also continuous discussion behind the scenes as to the two
important measures of local government reform--for London and for the
country.

    'By November 8th, 1883, I had succeeded in bringing Harcourt round
    on the London police matter ... to let the City keep their police,
    and then went to Mr. Gladstone.... After twelve o'clock at night
    Harcourt joined us, and it was agreed to put both London and local
    government in the Queen's Speech for 1884.'

Dilke spent much work upon the London Government Bill with Harcourt in
January of that year; but the Bill, having passed its second reading,
was not further proceeded with, owing to House of Commons difficulties.
Sir Charles gives the true reason in a letter to his agent:

    'One unfortunate thing about the London Bill is that no one in the
    House cares about it except Dilke, Firth, and the Prime Minister,
    and no one outside the House except the Liberal electors of Chelsea.
    This is the private hidden opinion of Harcourt and of the
    Metropolitan Liberal members except Firth. I am personally so strong
    for the Bill that I have not at any time admitted this to Harcourt,
    and I have only hinted it to Firth....'

When Sir William Harcourt's Bill collapsed, Dilke attempted a minor
improvement for the Metropolis by framing a City Guilds Bill, which he
described to Mr. Gladstone as following the scheme of the Bills by which
the Universities had been reformed. But the Chancellor, Lord Selborne,
fought strongly against this proposal: and nothing came of it.

The great scheme for reforming Local Government in England and Wales was
meanwhile being considered by the Committee to which it had been
referred. Besides Sir Charles Dilke, who naturally acted as Chairman,
the Committee consisted of Mr. Chamberlain, Lord Kimberley, Mr.
Childers, Lord Carlingford, and Mr. Dodson (who were members of the
Cabinet), and Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice. With them were Sir Henry Thring,
the celebrated Parliamentary draughtsman, and Mr. Hugh Owen, the
Permanent Secretary of the Local Government Board. The task of obtaining
agreement, and even sometimes of maintaining order, in a Committee
composed of persons representing such a variety of opinion, was no easy
one, and it tested to the full the tact and ingenuity of the Chairman.
Mr. Dodson, Sir Charles Dilke's immediate predecessor at the Local
Government Board, and Lord Carlingford represented the views which had
hitherto prevailed in favour of piecemeal and gradual reform. Mr.
Chamberlain, Lord Kimberley, and Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice were, on the
contrary, supporters of the large Bill which the Chairman had prepared;
while Mr. Childers, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, was there mainly to
keep a vigilant watch on the local authorities, who were suspected, and
not without reason, of desiring to treat the Treasury as a sort of
"milch cow," a description which Mr. Gladstone had recently made current
in a debate in the House of Commons, Sir Henry Thring was no mere
draughtsman. He had had an immense experience of official life, had
known every man of public importance over a long period of years, and
had very determined views on most subjects, which he never hesitated to
express in clear-cut language and without respect of persons. Mr. Lowe,
it was asserted, had once observed at a Cabinet just before Thring
entered the room: 'I think before he arrives we had better carry a
preliminary resolution that we are all d----d fools.' As it also
happened, Local Government was a subject on which Sir Henry Thring, and
not without reason, prided himself as an expert, and the Committee over
which Sir Charles Dilke presided consequently had Sir Henry Thring's
views conveyed to them in unmistakable terms. One of his special objects
of hostility was the Poor Law Union area, which he hoped ultimately to
destroy. On the other hand, Mr. Hugh Owen, like nearly all the Local
Government Board officials of that time, regarded the Poor Law and
everything connected with it as sacred. The controversies were
frequently fierce, and on one occasion a serious crisis almost arose
owing to Lord Kimberley asking to be informed if Sir Henry Thring was
preparing a Bill of his own or was acting on his instructions.

The Bill of 1884 contained almost everything now to be found within the
corners of the two great measures of 1888 and 1894, which, the one
passed by a Conservative, the other by a Liberal Government, entirely
revolutionized the Local Government of England. It was, however, decided
to have no Aldermen, but a few ex-officio seats were created on the
County Council. Otherwise direct election was the method chosen for all
the new Councils. The administration of the Poor Law was kept within the
purview of the Bill, after a long controversy as to the method of
electing the representatives of urban parishes on the local Poor Law
authority, when such an authority included both a borough and a rural
district; and the limit of population that was to entitle a borough to a
complete independence from the county authority was raised from the
figure originally proposed of 20,000 to 100,000 and upwards.

It had been part of Sir Charles Dilke's plan to include education within
the framework of the Bill, making the Borough and District Councils the
local education authority, with a limited superior jurisdiction in the
County Council. But it was found that almost insurmountable difficulties
would arise in adding so immense a proposal to an already large measure,
and it had to be abandoned.

Mr. Gladstone expressed a decided view on one portion of the Bill only.
He gave his strongest support to the proposal that the price of any
increased contributions in the shape of Treasury grants should be the
complete reform of the conflict of areas and jurisdictions, which added
so much to the difficulties and the cost of local administration.
[Footnote: In a speech made at Halifax on October 13th, 1885, which
occupies nearly the whole of a page of the _Times_, Sir Charles Dilke,
after the fall of the Government, gave a full account of the proposed
measure.]

The question of female councillors inevitably found its way into the
discussions, and it was decided in their favour, notwithstanding much
divergence of opinion.

    '"I am sorry," Childers wrote, "about female councillors, but I
    suppose I am in a minority, and that we shall soon have women M.P.'s
    and Cabinet Ministers." This shows that we had decided to clear up
    the doubt as to the possibility of women serving as councillors, and
    distinctly to give them the opportunity of so doing. When Ritchie
    afterwards introduced portions of my Bill, he left this doubtful,
    and the Lady Sandhurst decision was the result.' [Footnote: See for
    "Lady Sandhurst decision," infra, p. 17.]

Sir Charles differed from other members of the Committee in the desire
to make the county and not the Local Government Board the sole appellate
authority from the district. 'I would, indeed,' he says, 'have gone
farther, had I been able to convince my colleagues, and have set up an
elective Local Government Board for England.'

Owing to the Parliamentary position, progress with any large measures of
reform was, however, difficult even in the preliminary stages; and the
road seemed to get more encumbered every day, for the period now under
review indicates the high-water mark of Parliamentary obstruction in the
skilled hands of the Irish Party and Lord Randolph Churchill, who
successfully defied the feeble reforms of procedure of 1882. So it came
about that early in 1884 Sir Charles was found rather mournfully writing
to Mr. Gladstone:

    'We produced to-day our last draft of the Local Government Bill, and
    had our funeral meeting over it, I fear. I wish to tell you with
    what spirit and skill Edmond Fitzmaurice has gone into the matter.
    He is the only man I know who is fit to be President of this Board.'

In the autumn of 1883 Sir Charles made what was rare with him, a kind of
oratorical progress. He spoke at Glasgow, at Greenock, and lastly at
Paisley, where he received the freedom of the burgh for his services
connected with the commercial negotiations. His speech at Paisley
naturally dealt with commercial policy, and drew an admiring letter from
Sir Robert Morier, who was then just bringing to a head the offer of a
commercial treaty with Spain. The Cabinet, however, had been much
inclined to issue a general declaration on the subject,

    'Mr. Gladstone and Lord Granville being against all commercial
    treaties, I for good ones and against bad ones, and Chamberlain for
    punishing Italy for her conduct to us.' [Footnote: 'March 5th,
    1883.--We turned to Tariff Treaties: Lord Granville and Mr.
    Gladstone wishing for a general and abstract declaration against
    them, and I, with support of Childers, urging most strongly the
    other view. The proposed declaration was a gratuitous piece of
    folly, for we were not called on to say anything at all.']

When the proposed treaty with Spain, and the changes in duties which it
would involve, were before the Cabinet on November 10th,

    'I am afraid I played upon Mr. Gladstone's favourite weakness (next
    to praise of Montenegro)--namely, abuse of the Customs, a department
    for the routine of which he always had a perfect loathing.'


III.

Queen Victoria's demand for investigation into the housing of the poor
[Footnote: See Vol. I., p. 509.] had led to prompt administrative
action, planned by Sir Charles before he left for his Christmas holiday.

    'While I was at Toulon there were issued from the Local Government
    Board the circulars on the Housing of the Working Class, which I had
    prepared before leaving London.... One circular, December 29th, 1883
    ... called on the Vestries to make use of the powers which they
    possessed for regulating the condition of houses let in lodgings.
    Another, December 30th ... called attention to their powers under
    the Sanitary Acts, and under the Artisans and Labourers' Dwellings
    Acts; and one of the same date to a similar effect went to all urban
    sanitary districts throughout the country, while a further circular
    with digests of the laws was sent out on January 7th, 1884. This
    action was afterwards repeated by Chamberlain and others, and taken
    for new, and again by Walter Long.'

But, naturally, the first man to do it stirred up a hornets' nest.
_Punch_ of the first week in January, 1884, derides the 'Bitter Cry of
Bumbledom' against Dilke and Mr. Hugh Owen, [Footnote: Years after Sir
Hugh Owen, G.C.B., wrote to Dilke: 'I shall always remember that I owed
my first step in the Order of the Bath to you.'] Secretary to the Local
Government Board:

  '_Us_ to blame? That's a capital notion! Drat them and their
      "statutes" and "digests"!
  "Convenience of reference." Ah! that is one of their imperent sly
      jests.
  Removal of Noosances? Yah! If we started on _that_ lay perniskers
  There is more than a few in the Westries 'ud feel suthin' singein'
      their wiskers,
  Or BUMBLE'S a Dutchman. Their Circ'lar--it's mighty obliging--defines
      'em,
  The Noosances namely; I wonder if parties _read_ Circ'lars as signs
      'em,
  If so, Local Government Boarders must be most oncommonly knowin',
  And I'd like to 'eave bricks at that DILKE and his long-winded
      myrmidon OWEN.
  The public's got Slums on the brain, and with sanitry bunkum's have
      busted.
  _We_ make a more wigorous use of the powers with which we're
      entrusted!
  Wy, if we are at it all day with their drains, ashpits, roofs, walls,
      and windies,
  Wot time shall we 'ave for our feeds and our little porochial
      shindies!
  And all for the 'labouring classes'--the greediest, ongratefullest
      beggars.
  I tell you these Radical lot and their rubbishy littery eggers,
  Who talk of neglected old brooms, and would 'ave _us_ turn to at their
      handles,
  Are Noosances wus than bad smells and the rest o' their sanitry
      "scandals."'

Sir Charles's main object in local government was to decentralize, and
he sought to move in this direction by stimulating the exercise of
existing powers and the habit of responsibility in local popularly
elected bodies. But inquiry was also necessary.

    'On February 8th, 1884, it had been decided to appoint a Royal
    Commission on the Housing of the Working Classes, and Mr. Gladstone
    had expressed his wish that I should be chairman of the Commission,
    on which the Prince of Wales desired to serve.'

    'On the 9th it was settled that Bodley, my secretary, should be
    secretary to the Royal Commission. I immediately wrote to Manning to
    ask him to serve, and he consented on February 12th.'

Lord Salisbury's name lent another distinction to the list, which was
completed by February 16th. [Footnote: In addition to the Prince, the
Cardinal, and Lord Salisbury, Dilke's Commission consisted of Lord
Brownlow, Lord Carrington, Mr. Goschen, Sir Richard Cross, the Bishop of
Bedford (Dr. Walsham How), Mr. E. Lyulph Stanley, Mr. McCullagh Torrens,
Mr. Broadhurst, Mr. Jesse Collings, Mr. George Godwin, and Mr. Samuel
Morley. To these were added later Mr. Dwyer Gray and Sir George
Harrison, for Ireland and Scotland respectively.]

    'A very difficult question arose about his precedence. I referred it
    to the Prince of Wales, who said that he thought Manning ought to
    take precedence, as a Prince, after Princes of the Blood, and before
    Lord Salisbury.'

The nice question was referred to Lord Salisbury and to many other
authorities, and finally to Lord Sydney, who wrote, from the Board of
Green Cloth, 'that in 1849, at the Queen's Levee at Dublin Castle, the
Roman Catholic Primate followed the Protestant Archbishop, but he was
not a Cardinal. _A fortiori_ I presume a Cardinal as a Prince of the
Holy Roman Empire would have precedence next to the Prince of Wales. It
showed, however, extraordinary ignorance on the part of the Lord Steward
to suppose that the Holy Roman Empire and the Papal Court were the same
thing.' [Footnote: The story of how the question of precedence was
settled in Manning's favour is given in detail in Mr. Bodley's _Cardinal
Manning, and Other Essays_ (1912).]

    'It was on February 12th that I received Sir Henry Ponsonby's letter
    announcing the approval of the Queen to the Prince serving on the
    Commission as an ordinary member under my chairmanship, and the
    Prince of Wales expressed his pleasure at the Queen's approval.'

    'On February 22nd the members of the Cabinet present (at a meeting
    at the Foreign Office) discussed my proposal to put Miss Octavia
    Hill on my Royal Commission, no woman having ever sat on one; and
    Harcourt having refused to sign the Commission if it contained a
    woman's name, Mr. Gladstone, Kimberley, and Northbrook sided with
    me, and Hartington with Harcourt. Lord Granville said that he was
    with me on the principle, but against me on the person. After this
    Mr. Gladstone went round, and said that the decision of the Cabinet
    was against me. Asquith put several women on a Royal Commission a
    few years later, but refused them the precedence to which they were
    entitled, and gave every male member precedence before them.'

Mr. Lyulph Stanley was included to represent his sister, Miss Maude
Stanley, whom Sir Charles Dilke had wished to appoint.

Later in the year Sir Charles successfully asserted the principle for
which he was contending, by putting women on the Metropolitan Asylums
Board. Lady Ducie had the honour of the first invitation to serve, and
Sir Charles afterwards added Miss Maude Stanley and others. The question
of qualification was discussed, only to be set aside. The law officers

    'knew the women would be knocked off if anyone raised the question,
    and in Lady Sandhurst's case this was afterwards made clear; but no
    one did raise it against my nominees, and they stayed on for life.'

    'March 7th.--I had now had several interviews with Lord Salisbury
    and the Prince of Wales about the Royal Commission, and the first
    meeting of the Commission itself was held on March 5th.... We really
    began our work on March 14th. My work was heavy at this time, with
    sittings of the Commission twice a week, for which I had to prepare,
    as I did all the examination in chief of the witnesses, and, indeed,
    found them all and corresponded with them in advance.'

    'The Commission was dull, although it produced a certain amount of
    valuable evidence, and almost the only amusing incident which
    occurred in the course of many months was Lord Salisbury making a
    rather wild suggestion, when Broadhurst put down his pen, and,
    looking up in a pause, said with an astonished air, "Why, that is
    Socialism!" at which there was a loud laugh all round.'

    'I wrote to Lord Salisbury on May 7th to ask him for his suggestions
    as to what I called "remedies" to be proposed by our Commission, as
    I had already made my own list, and wished from this time forward to
    examine each witness on the same heads, with a view to collecting a
    body of evidence for the Report, intended to lead to recommendation
    and legislation upon these particular points....'

Some of Lord Salisbury's suggestions were 'valuable, and still throw
much light on his temporary Radicalism, which unfortunately soon wore
off.'

    'It is clear that on May 9th, 1884, he was contemplating throwing
    the rates upon the land, and making a long step towards leasehold
    enfranchisement. Lord Salisbury's proposal on this last head was
    virtually one for "judicial rents," as far as principle went, and
    destructive of the old view of the rights of holders of landed
    property--although, perhaps, not one carrying much advantage to
    anybody!'

The Report of the Commission proposed the rating of vacant land, but
before it was drafted Lord Salisbury condemned the proposal in a
memorandum attached to the Report, which Mr. Goschen supported by
another independent minute.

Sir Charles sent also a request for the suggestion of 'remedies' to
Cardinal Manning, who, says a scribbled note, 'is our only
revolutionary!'

    'On Friday, May 16th, at the Commission the Cardinal handed me his
    list of suggestions, which were not only revolutionary, but ill-
    considered, and I have to note how curiously impracticable a
    schemer, given to the wildest plans, this great ecclesiastic showed
    himself. He suggested the removal out of London, not only of prisons
    and infirmaries (which no doubt are under the control of public
    authorities), but also of breweries, ironworks, and all factories
    not needed for daily or home work, as a means of giving us areas for
    housing the working class, suggestions the value or practicability
    of which I need hardly discuss.'

    'On May 18th, I having proposed to add to the Royal Commission a
    member for Ireland and a member for Scotland before we began to take
    the Scotch and Irish evidence, and having proposed Gray, the
    Nationalist member and proprietor of the _Freeman's Journal_, who
    was the highest Irish authority upon the subject, Ponsonby replied:
    "Although the Queen cannot say she has a high opinion of Mr. Gray,
    Her Majesty will approve of his appointment, and that of the Lord
    Provost of Edinburgh, on the Royal Commission." Sir Henry Ponsonby
    was a worthy successor of General Grey--a wise counsellor of much
    prudence, invaluable to the Queen.'

    'Early in June Chamberlain came a good deal to the Local Government
    Board to consider the evidence which he was to give before my
    Commission. His view was mine--that in the Metropolis the housing of
    the working classes could only be dealt with by imposing the most
    stringent obligations on the owners of property on which artisans'
    dwellings already existed; and Chamberlain was willing to go so far
    as to reserve such property permanently for the object, with State
    interference to secure fair rents. I argued with him that a strong
    case could be made against him on such points as extension of trade
    from the City into Whitechapel, extension of fashionable dwellings
    from Mayfair into Chelsea, and so forth. He then fell back upon a
    proposal for exchange, and said that at all events there was no
    practical alternative to his view, an opinion in which I agreed. On
    a later day in June the Cardinal wrote to me expressing his regret
    for absence from the Commission, "at which I should like to have
    seen Lord Salisbury examine Mr. Chamberlain." But the Commission
    kept up its character for dulness, and nothing noteworthy occurred.'

The Commission on Housing, to which so much of Sir Charles's time was
devoted, had an importance, now forgotten, in the modern development of
Social Reform.

    'Up to five-and-twenty years ago,' said a writer in a daily
    newspaper on Social Reform in 1910, 'when the living Sir Charles
    Dilke was the President of the Local Government Board, no one cared
    how the poor lived or fared. They could reside in the most
    ramshackle tenements in insanitary slums, for which, by the way,
    they were charged exorbitant rents, far higher than what they would
    now pay for the well-ventilated and well-equipped self-contained
    houses of the London County Council and building companies which
    provide accommodation for the industrial classes. Sir Charles saw
    the abject and helpless condition of the people of London, and
    resolved, when he succeeded to office, to try and remedy the evils
    under which they laboured. His enthusiasm in the cause of the poor
    caught on, and in a short time "slumming" became a fashionable
    craze. Committees were formed--the premier one being that which had
    its headquarters at the Mansion House--to improve the dwellings of
    the poor. In a short time the movement became a great success, and,
    that there should be no falling back, medical officers of health,
    whose sole time was to be devoted to their duties, and battalions of
    sanitary inspectors, were appointed in every district in the
    Metropolis.'

It cannot be said that 'no one cared,' for outside the great official
movement which Sir Charles Dilke directed were the devoted social
workers on whom he called for evidence at the Commission, and to whose
labours he always paid tribute; nor must be forgotten the Queen's fine
letter calling on her Ministers to act. But, as Miss Octavia Hill wrote
to him on March 22nd, 1884, 'you among all men realize most clearly that
action is more needed than words.'

The question of Housing is so inextricably bound up with all the
conditions of the poor, with hours of work and with those questions of
wages which Sir Charles had first studied with John Stuart Mill, that it
is natural to find him presiding over another inquiry which, though
prepared for in 1884, was carried out in the first weeks of 1885.

    'At the beginning of the new year of 1885 there were completed the
    final arrangements for my presidency of the Industrial Remuneration
    Conference, which was held at the end of January at Prince's Hall,
    Piccadilly, on three mornings and three afternoons. A large sum of
    money had been given for the purpose of promoting the consideration
    of the best means for bringing about a more equal division of the
    products of industry between capital and labour, so that it might
    become possible for all to enjoy a fair share of material comfort
    and intellectual culture--possible for all to lead a dignified life,
    and less difficult to lead a good life. The trustees who were
    appointed decided to promote a conference on the present system
    whereby the products of industry are distributed between the various
    classes of the community, and the means whereby that system should
    be improved. They then divided the subject into subheads, and asked
    certain persons to read papers, and an extraordinarily interesting
    series of discussions was the result. In my own speech in opening
    the proceedings I called attention to the nature of the German
    Governmental Socialism, and quoted Prince Bismarck's speeches,
    showing what was the object which the Prussian Government had in
    view--namely, to try experiments as to the labour of man with the
    view "to reach a state of things in which no man could say: 'I bear
    the burden of society, but no one cares for me.'" This Conference
    first introduced to London audiences all the leaders of the new
    Unionism, and future chiefs of the Dockers' Strike. Among the
    speakers were Arthur Balfour and John Burns, who told us of his
    dismissal from his employment as an engineer at Brotherhoods
    [Footnote: A great engineering firm at Chippenham in Wiltshire.] for
    attending as delegate of the "S.D.F."'

    'I am convinced,' wrote Mr. Burns in 1914 from the Office of the
    Local Government Board, over which he then presided, 'that few, if
    any, conferences held in London in recent years have done more good
    for the cause of social progress than the Industrial Remuneration
    Conference of 1885. The Conference focussed public opinion and
    sympathy upon a large number of important questions, which have
    since made greater headway than they would have done if the
    Conference had not taken place. I have the highest opinion of the
    value of its work, and of the good influence it exercised in
    stimulating inquiry and action in many directions.'

Six years later, when Sir Charles was before the electors of the Forest
of Dean as their chosen candidate, he discussed the whole question of
limiting by law the hours of work; and he told them how his experience
of those days spent in the chair of the Conference in 1885 had converted
him 'from a position of absolute impartiality to one strongly favourable
to legislative limitation.'

A speech delivered by him in January, 1884, to the Liberals of Bedford
Park, brings together the two sides of his work. For him political
reform lay at the very base of social reform; in his opinion the
government of London and extension of the franchise ought not to be
party questions at all; his desire was to call the whole people of the
country into citizenship of the State, and he would make exercise of the
voting power compulsory and universal. People said there was no 'magic
in the vote.' He wanted as many citizens as possible to have the right
to consider 'the sort of magic by which many persons contrived to live
at all under the existing social conditions.'

A proof of his friendship for the cause of labour, and of his desire to
associate manual workers with the administration, was given by him in a
use of patronage, in which he departed from his principle of confining
it to the men in his office, tendering the chance of official employment
to two leading representatives of labour in August, 1884.

    'I had a "good" appointment under the Local Government Board to
    make, and I offered it not only to Broadhurst, but afterwards to
    Burt. I expected both of them to decline, which both did, but I
    should have been glad if either of them would have taken it, for
    both were competent.'


IV.

As to his departmental work, Sir Charles notes in July, 1884:

    'I have said but little of my work at the Local Government Board,
    because, though heavy, it was of an uninteresting nature.'
    [Footnote: There are, however, many entries, of which this for 1884
    is typical:

    'September 8th.--With the Local Government Board Inspectors Fleming
    and Courtenay to the worst villages in England. I made my way from
    Bridport to Yeovil, Nettlecombe, Powerstock, Maiden Newton, Taunton
    and its neighbourhood, Wiveliscombe, Bridgwater, and North
    Petherton.'

    'Between September 21st and 27th I was visiting workhouses and
    infirmaries every day, and on the 27th I completed my visits to
    every workhouse, infirmary, and poor-law school in or belonging to
    Metropolitan Unions.]

    'My chief new departure was in connection with the emigration of
    pauper children, which had been long virtually prohibited, and which
    I once more authorized.'

Mr. Preston Thomas has fortunately preserved a note of another
innovation. The Guardians of a certain union in Cambridgeshire had
committed the offence of spending three shillings and threepence of
public money on toys for sick pauper children in the workhouse
infirmary. The case had occurred before, and the Board's legal advisers
had held the expenditure to be unwarrantable, and had surcharged the
offending Guardians. Dilke was questioned in the House about the matter,
and admitted the previous decisions, but said that the Board had changed
its mind. So the children at Wisbech kept their toys; and not only that,
but a circular went out from Whitehall suggesting that workhouse girls
should be supplied with a reasonable number of skipping-ropes and
battledores and shuttlecocks.

The appearance of cholera in French and Spanish ports disquieted the
public, and as early as July 25th, 1883,

    'I circulated a draft of a Bill to meet the cholera scare, which I
    carried into law as the Diseases Prevention Act. I did not much
    believe in cholera, but I took advantage of the scare to carry some
    useful clauses to deal with smallpox epidemics, the most important
    clause being one giving compulsory powers for acquiring wharves, by
    which we could clear the London smallpox hospitals, removing the
    patients to the Atlas and Castalia floating hospitals on the Thames.
    I was a strong partisan of the floating hospitals for smallpox. I
    used to pay frequent visits to them, and in the early summer of 1885
    stayed there from Saturday to Monday; and I used also to go to the
    camp at Darenth to which we removed convalescents from the ships.'

He notes that he was revaccinated before one of these visits:

    'September, 1884.--My arm was in a frightful condition from the
    vaccine disease, though I was still a teetotaller, now of about ten
    years' standing.'

During the autumn recess:

    'In the course of this week I was every day inspecting schools and
    asylums, the imbecile asylums at Caterham, Leavesden, and many
    others; and my smallpox wharves were also giving me much trouble, as
    Rotherhithe and the other places showed strong objections to them,
    which I was, however, able to remove.'

But the veteran official who has been already quoted attaches a very
different importance to this whole matter. In France and Spain, says Mr.
Preston Thomas, the Governments were chiefly concerned to deny the
existence of any danger. In England the medical staff demanded such an
increase in the number of inspectors as would enable them to take proper
precautions at the ports.

    'Fortunately, Sir Charles Dilke had become President of the Board,
    and carried with him a political weight which his two worthy, but
    not particularly influential, predecessors, Sclater-Booth and
    Dodson, had not enjoyed. He had one or two passages of arms with
    Childers, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when it was attempted to
    interfere with the estimates which he had put forward, and which he
    declined to defend in Parliament if they were curtailed. There was
    an appeal to the Premier, and Sir Charles Dilke had come off
    victorious. So when he proposed largely to increase the medical
    staff in order to make a sanitary survey of the entire coast, the
    Treasury's sanction was given, and the work was carried out with
    far-reaching results. The authorities of the ports ... were
    impressed with a sense of their responsibilities; not only did they
    organize special arrangements for the inspection of ships from
    infected countries, but they also recognized the necessity of
    setting their own houses in order in a literal sense, and many of
    them for the first time displayed activity in providing pure water,
    efficient sewerage, and a prompt removal of nuisances.... The
    communications of the Board's expert with the local authorities and
    their officers ... did something more than lay the foundations of
    that Public Health System ... which has saved us from any outbreak
    of cholera for the last quarter of a century, [Footnote: Written in
    1909.] and has reduced the mortality from preventable diseases to a
    rate which such countries as France and Germany may well envy.'
    (_Work and Play of a Government Inspector_, p. 148.)

It should be noted, too, that the first definite action of the Housing
Commission concerned the Local Government Board:

    'It was decided to ask Parliament to alter its standing orders with
    regard to persons of the labouring class displaced under
    Parliamentary Powers, and to insist on local inquiry in such cases,
    and the approval of the Local Government Board after it has been
    shown that suitable accommodation had been found for the people
    displaced. This was done by resolution of both Houses of
    Parliament.'


V.

The friendliness which had grown up between Sir Charles and Lord
Salisbury, and was later in this year to be of public service, is
illustrated by an amusing note in the Memoir. Sir Charles Dilke was
never a clubman, and had incurred the remonstrances of Sir M. Grant Duff
by refusing to take up membership of the Athenaeum, as he was entitled
to do on entering the Cabinet. But there is a club more august than the
Athenaeum, and here also Dilke showed indisposition to enter. He notes
in May:

    'Before this I had been much pressed to accept my election at
    Grillion's Club on Lord Salisbury's nomination. The Club considers
    itself such an illustrious body that it elects candidates without
    telling them they are proposed, and I received notice of my election
    accompanied by some congratulations. I at first refused to join, but
    afterwards wrote to the secretary: "Carlingford has been to see me
    about Grillion's, and tells me that I should have the terrible
    distinction of being the first man who ever declined to belong to
    it, an oddity which I cannot face, so ... I will ask your leave to
    withdraw my refusal." On May 3rd I breakfasted at the Club for the
    first time, Mr. Gladstone and a good many other Front Bench people,
    chiefly Conservatives, being present.'

The meetings of the Housing Commission had also increased the frequency
of intercourse between Sir Charles Dilke and the Prince of Wales, who
was in this May

    'showing a devotion to the work of my Commission which was quite
    unusual with him, and he cut short his holiday and returned from
    Royat to London on purpose for our meeting.'

On January 11th, 1884, the Duke of Albany wrote to Sir Charles that he
had hoped to call, but was not sure whether he had returned to England.
'I write to express a hope that your opinions will coincide with the
request which I have made to Lord Derby ... namely, to succeed Lord
Normanby as Governor of Victoria.' He referred to their talk at
Claremont of his 'hopes, which were not realized, of going to Canada.'
'The Prince went on to say that, as I had been in Australia, I was "a
more competent judge than some others of the Ministers as to the
advisability of my appointment."' He spoke of the matter as one in which
he was 'vitally interested,' and his 'sincere trust' in Sir Charles's
support. The Cabinet agreed to the appointment,

    'unless the Queen persisted in her opposition. The matter had been
    discussed at Eastwell (where I stayed with the Duchess of Edinburgh
    from the 19th to the 21st) by me with the Duchess as well as with
    Princess Louise and Lorne, who were also there. The Duke of
    Edinburgh was not there, but at Majorca in his ship. The party
    consisted of Nigra, the Italian Ambassador, the Wolseleys, Lord
    Baring and his sister Lady Emma, and Count Adlerberg of the Russian
    Embassy, in addition to the Princess Louise and Lome already named.'

    'On January 24th there was a regular Cabinet. The Queen had written
    that she would not allow Prince Leopold to go to Victoria.'

On March 28th 'we heard of the death of Prince Leopold,' codicils to
whose will Sir Charles had witnessed in the preceding year. 'All
newspapers wrote of the pleasant boy as though he had been a man of
literary genius.'

But anxious as Sir Charles had been to further Prince Leopold's wishes,
and in spite of his 'respect for his memory,' he could not allow a
principle, for which he always fought, to be waived.

    'The Queen wrote to Mr. Gladstone at this time (April 5th) with
    regard to provision for the child and possible posthumous child of
    the Duke of Albany, and I wrote to Mr. Gladstone that I could not
    possibly agree to any provision for them, for which there was no
    exact precedent, without the Select Committee which I had previously
    been promised as regarded any new application.'

On April 22nd Mr. Gladstone alluded 'to a letter to the Queen, but he
did not read it to us,' and Sir Charles again insisted 'upon inquiry
before the proposal of any provision for which there was no direct
precedent.'

    'At the Cabinet of Monday, April 28th, we found that the Queen was
    indignant with us for our refusal to make further provision for the
    Duchess of Albany.... None of the precedents of the century
    warranted provision for children in infancy. It was agreed that Mr.
    Gladstone was to write to the Queen again, but "our negative answer
    is only applicable to the case where the children are in infancy."
    In other words, we did not wish to bind those who might come after
    us, but the phrase was not to commit us as to what we would do in
    five years' time.'




CHAPTER XXXV

EGYPT

1884


I.

At the close of 1883 the destruction of Hicks's army had made clear to
all that the Soudan was, for the time at least, lost to Egypt; and close
upon this disaster in the central region had followed defeats on the Red
Sea coast. But Egyptian garrisons were holding out at Sinkat, some fifty
miles from the port of Suakim, and at Tokar, only twenty miles from the
coast. In October, 1883, a small force sent to relieve Sinkat was cut up
by the Dervishes under Osman Digna; in November, a larger column of 500,
accompanied by the British Consul, was utterly routed in an attempt to
reach Tokar. General Baker, with his newly formed gendarmerie, was then
ordered to Suakim. He desired to enlist the services of Zebehr Pasha, a
famous leader of men, but a former dealer in slaves. To this the British
authorities objected, and Zebehr was not sent. Baker went, attempted
with 3,500 troops to reach Tokar, and on February 2nd, 1884, lost 2,000
of them near the wells of El Teb. Both Tokar and Sinkat soon after fell
into the hands of the Dervishes.

Long before this event, the evacuation of the Soudan had been decreed. A
peremptory mandate from the British Government was sent to Cherif Pasha,
the Egyptian Prime Minister, who, as he had intimated that he would do,
resigned rather than be responsible for giving up so vast a possession.
On January 8th, Nubar took office to carry out the prescribed policy.
But the problem was how to get away the garrisons, and, since England
had ordered evacuation, the Egyptian Government looked to England for
assistance.

    'On January 16th I noted: "Baring wants to make us send a British
    officer to conduct the retreat from Khartoum. I have written to Lord
    Granville to protest." Baring had been pressing for an answer to his
    suggestion named above. I had all along fought against the "Hicks
    Expedition," and this seemed a consequence. The Egyptian Government
    had resigned, and the sole supporter of the abandonment policy among
    the Egyptians in Egypt was the Khedive himself; but Nubar was sent
    for, and accepted office (with a number of cyphers) to carry it into
    effect. On January 10th Lord Granville had telegraphed to Baring,
    without my knowledge, "Would Gordon or Wilson be of use?" [Footnote:
    Colonel Sir Charles Wilson. See his _Life_, by Sir Charles Watson,
    p. 244.] On the 11th Baring replied, "I do not think that the
    services of Gordon or Wilson can be utilized at present"; and after
    a reply had been received I saw the telegrams. The earlier Gordon
    suggestions by Granville, now revealed by E. Fitzmaurice from the
    Granville Papers, and expounded in Cromer's (1908) book, were never
    before the Cabinet. [Footnote: Life of Lord Granville, vol. ii., pp.
    381, 382.]

    'On the 14th Lord Granville telegraphed to Baring: "Can you give
    further information as to prospects of retreat from (? for) army and
    residents at Khartoum, and measures taken? Can anything more be
    done?" Power, our Consular Agent at Khartoum, had also been told
    that he might leave. On January 16th Baring telegraphed: "The
    Egyptian Government would feel obliged if Her Majesty's Government
    would send out at once a qualified British officer to go to Khartoum
    with full powers, civil and military, to conduct the retreat." Lord
    Granville then telegraphed for Gordon, and on the 18th I was
    summoned suddenly to a meeting at the War Office in Hartington's
    room, at which were present, before I arrived, Hartington, Lord
    Granville and Lord Northbrook, and Colonel Gordon. Gordon said that
    he believed that the danger at Khartoum had been "grossly
    exaggerated," and that the two Englishmen there had "lost their
    heads"; he would be able to bring away the garrisons without
    difficulty. We decided that he should go to Suakim to collect
    information and report on the situation in the Soudan. This was the
    sole decision taken, but it was understood that if he found he could
    get across he should go on to Berber. Gordon started at night on the
    same day.

    'On January 22nd the first subject mentioned was that of Egyptian
    finance, a Rothschild loan for six months being suggested, but
    nothing settled. The Cabinet approved our action in sending Gordon.
    But they had before them a great deal more than what we had
    done--namely, what he had done himself. On his road between London
    and Brindisi he had prepared a series of decrees which he
    telegraphed to us and which we telegraphed to Baring. In these he
    announced the restoration to the various Sultans of the Soudan of
    their independence, and he made the Khedive say: "I have
    commissioned General Gordon, late Governor-General of the Soudan, to
    proceed there as my representative, and to arrange with you" (the
    peoples of the Soudan) "for the evacuation of the country and the
    withdrawal of my troops." He then made the Khedive appoint him
    "Governor-General for the time necessary to accomplish the
    evacuation." He also telegraphed to the Hadendowa and Bishareen
    Arabs of the desert between Suakim and Berber, directing them to
    meet him at Suakim, and saying that he should be there in fourteen
    days. In sending these we told Baring: "Suggestions made by Gordon.
    We have no local knowledge sufficient to judge. You may settle
    terms, and act upon them at once, as time presses, or after
    consultation with him." Mr. Gladstone did not object, although
    strongly opposed to our undertaking responsibility in the Soudan,
    because Gordon still spoke in every sentence of conducting the
    evacuation; but reading his proclamations in the light of his
    subsequent change of mind, and desire to stay in Khartoum and be
    supported by force, it seems clear that he had deceived us and did
    not really mean evacuation. This, however, could not yet be seen
    from the words he used. I wrote to Lord Granville on January 22nd,
    to point out that in addition to the danger in the Soudan, which had
    been foreseen, there was a risk that Gordon might get himself
    carried off alive into the desert by some of the Arab chiefs that he
    was to meet, and that in that case we should have to send an
    expedition after him.

    'On January 31st there was a meeting at the War Office about Egypt
    between Hartington, Lord Granville, Edmond Fitzmaurice and myself.
    As the facts about Gordon were beginning to be misrepresented in the
    Press, Lord Granville set them down in writing. [Footnote: See _Life
    of Gladstone_, vol. iii., pp. 152-155; Life of Granville, vol. ii.,
    pp. 381-385 and 512, where a letter from Lord Cromer on General
    Gordon's instructions is printed; and chap. xvi. ('Gordon, and the
    Soudan') in _The Development of the European Nations, 1870-1900_, by
    Dr. J. Holland Rose.] It had been stated, and was afterwards
    repeated by Justin McCarthy in his history, that the mission on
    which we sent Gordon "was in direct opposition to his own ideas. He
    was not in favour of the abandonment of the Soudan or the evacuation
    of Khartoum." It had also been said that the whole mission had been
    forced upon us by the Press--i.e., by Stead, in the _Pall Mall
    Gazette_. Lord Granville gave me a memorandum saying that Gordon had
    acknowledged that the statements in the _Pall Mall_ were "not
    accurate." Lord Granville went on to say that he did not think that
    Gordon could be said to have "changed his mind. It appeared in his
    conversation with Wolseley on the Tuesday that he (Gordon) was not
    decided in his opinion, and that he was as likely to recommend one
    course as another.... I told him that we would not send him out to
    re-open the whole question, and he then declared himself ready to go
    out merely to help in the evacuation of the interior of the Soudan.
    He is not remarkably precise in conversation, though I found him
    much more so than Wolseley had led me to expect."

    'Lord Granville had previously written to me on this point: "The
    papers seem to think that Gordon is a new discovery by the
    Government under pressure of the Press. It happens that I consulted
    Malet on the subject months ago. But after communicating with Cherif
    he sent me an unfavourable reply. I subsequently consulted Baring,
    who agreed with Cherif that it was best not to do so. I consulted
    him again after the change of Ministry, with the same result. On the
    other hand Gordon was in Syria, having declared before leaving
    England that he would not enter the Egyptian service. It was only on
    his return to England that I heard indirectly that, although he had
    no wish to go, he would willingly obey the orders of Her Majesty's
    Government and act under the instructions of Sir Evelyn Baring and
    the orders of General Stephenson. Having got the full concurrence of
    Sir E. Baring by telegraph, the matter was arranged."

    'The fact was that it was Wolseley, Gordon's friend, who suggested
    that he should be sent and who induced him to go; but Wolseley's
    account of the matter could not, I fear, be trusted, as he is more
    inclined to attack Gladstone than to let out anything which in the
    light of subsequent events might be unpleasant to himself.

    'Edmond Fitzmaurice had drawn up an elaborate memorandum for our
    meeting at the War Office, which I have, with my own corrections. He
    thought that the public was hostile to us on four grounds: our
    non-interference to stop Hicks; [Footnote: General Hicks advanced
    west of the Nile, contrary to the views of Lord Dufferin, who wished
    him to limit his advance to the province lying between the
    bifurcation of the Blue and White Nile. See the _Life of Dufferin_,
    by Alfred Lyall, vol. ii., pp. 56, 57.] our failure to withdraw the
    garrisons of Khartoum and of the Equatorial Provinces in time to
    avoid disaster; our failure to relieve Sinkat; and, on the other
    hand, our decision to force the Egyptians to evacuate the Soudan in
    the face of defeat, a decision which had overturned Cherif Pasha.
    With regard to Hicks, we could only tell the truth, which was that
    our policy was to limit, not extend, the sphere of our
    responsibilities in Egypt; that we followed the advice we got, which
    was either for doing exactly what we did, or for a moderate support
    of Hicks, which latter we declined. Our opponents were prophesying
    after the event. We should have taken a great responsibility had we
    absolutely forbidden the Egyptian Government to make use of their
    own troops (not including any portion of the army officered by
    English officers under Sir Evelyn Wood for the defence of Lower
    Egypt) to crush the Mahdi. Hicks had at first defeated the Mahdi in
    every encounter and cleared him out of the whole country east of the
    Nile. [Footnote: Hicks Pasha complained that directly Lord Dufferin
    had left Cairo for Constantinople, he ceased to received adequate
    support from the Egyptian Government (_Life of Dufferin_. vol. ii.,
    p. 55).] The main point, however, and that of present importance,
    was our forcing upon the Egyptians the policy of evacuating the
    Soudan after Hicks's defeat. Fitzmaurice wrote: "The Soudan could
    not be held without the assistance of England, and it is not a
    British interest to hold the Soudan.... The cost of the Soudan is
    one of the causes which ruin the Egyptian Treasury." Edmond
    Fitzmaurice then went on to explain in his memorandum the reasons
    which had forced us to wait until January 4th before we had told the
    Egyptian Government as to withdrawal from the interior of the
    Soudan, including Khartoum--"that the Ministers must carry out the
    advice offered them, or forfeit their places."

    'On January 9th we had been told from Khartoum that, if a retreat
    was ordered at once, it could be safely effected; and it was on the
    next day, the 10th, that we offered the services of Colonels Gordon
    and Sir Charles Wilson, which were declined. It was not till January
    16th that we were able to induce the Egyptians, even under their new
    withdrawal Government, to ask for a British officer, and on the 18th
    Gordon was sent. Gordon, however--who had left us to go to Suakim,
    and for whom we had drawn up a route from Suakim to Berber, in case
    he should go forward, and negotiated with the tribes for his free
    passage, and of whom we had telegraphed to Baring, "He does not wish
    to go to Cairo"--went to Cairo, "at Baring's" suggestion. He did not
    even land at Alexandria, but he was stopped by Baring at Port Said
    when on his way to Suakim, Baring sending Sir Evelyn Wood to meet
    him. Baring had already given orders, through Nubar, to commence the
    evacuation. Gordon had telegraphed to us requesting us to send
    Zebehr Pasha to Cyprus--that is, arbitrarily to arrest him and
    deport him. Yet, when he reached Cairo, at his own wish he had had
    an interview with this very man, and shortly afterwards he
    telegraphed to us, asking leave to take him to Khartoum and to make
    him virtually Governor of the Soudan, which, indeed, would have been
    entirely outside our power; for Forster, supported by the Anti-
    Slavery Society and the Conservatives, would at once have upset us
    in the House of Commons and reversed the policy. Wolseley had
    already begun to press as early as the 23rd for the sending of an
    expedition via Suakim and Berber.

    'On January 26th Gordon had left for Khartoum without any
    communication with us upon the question whether he should go, and
    the last thing we had from him before he started was a memorandum in
    which, among other things, he said of the Soudan: "Few men can stand
    its fearful monotony and deadly climate." He insisted on absolute
    authority, and Stewart, who was with him, did the same for him, and,
    backing up his chief's arguments at this moment against Zebehr, said
    that Zebehr's return would undoubtedly be a misfortune to the
    Soudanese, and also a direct encouragement to the slave trade.

    'On February 1st we received a telegram from Baring, telling us that
    Gordon had taken with him proclamations of evacuation, and other
    proclamations less direct, with authority to issue those which he
    thought best; but "he fully understands that he is to carry out the
    policy of evacuation, in which he expressed to me his entire
    agreement. I have sent home by last mail my instructions to him,
    which leave no doubt on this point, and which were drafted at his
    request and with his full approval.... There is no sort of
    difference between his views and those entertained by Nubar Pasha
    and myself." Here ended our responsibility, because it must be
    remembered that Gordon at Khartoum was entirely outside our reach,
    and openly told us that he should not obey our orders when he did
    not choose to do so. From this moment we had only to please
    ourselves as to whether we should disavow him and say that he was
    acting in defiance of instructions, and must be left to his fate, or
    whether we should send an expedition to get him out.

    'Doubtless "we" wavered between these two opinions. Mr. Gladstone
    from the first moment that Gordon broke his orders was for the
    former view. Lord Hartington from the first moment was for the
    latter. Chamberlain and I supported Hartington, although we fully
    recognized Gordon's violations of his orders in much of his action
    at Khartoum, where he changed the policy agreed upon with Baring and
    with us to that expressed by him in the words, "Smash the Mahdi."
    Many members of the Cabinet went backwards and forwards in their
    opinion, but the circumstances were of incredible difficulty, and it
    must be remembered that we were not sure of being allowed to carry
    out either policy; and not only was it difficult to decide which of
    the two was right, but it was also difficult to decide whether
    either policy was possible--that is to say, whether the one adopted
    would not be immediately upset by a Parliamentary vote. The Liberal
    party in the House of Commons was divided on the matter, the Whigs
    generally wishing for an expedition, and the Radicals being hot for
    immediate abandonment of the Soudan, which meant abandonment of
    Gordon. The Conservatives were divided; most of them probably wished
    for an expedition, but they were afraid to say so; and Randolph
    Churchill, whose strength at this time was immense, was in full
    agreement with Labouchere and Wilfrid Lawson, and was denouncing the
    retention of the Soudan as a violation of the principles of freedom.

    'Gordon on his way up and on his arrival at Khartoum issued
    extraordinary proclamations. Arriving there alone, but with
    incredible prestige, he was hailed as father of the people; he
    burned the taxation books and the whips upon the public place; he
    released the prisoners from the gaol; he sent away the commander of
    the garrison with the words, "Rest assured you leave this place as
    safe as Kensington Park." He declared the Mahdi "Sultan of
    Kordofan." Gordon, of all men in the world, sanctioned slavery by
    another written document; and he then asked us to send the arch
    slave-driver Zebehr to his help, which we thought on Baring's
    truthful opinion of the moment that we ought not to do, and which we
    certainly could not have done. I thought and still think that Gordon
    had lost his senses, as he had done on former critical occasions in
    his life; but the romantic element in his nature appealed to me,
    and, while I could not but admit that he had defied every
    instruction which had been given to him, I should have sent an
    expedition to bring him out, although thinking it probable that when
    Wolseley reached him he would have refused to come.'

While Gordon was on his way to Khartoum, which he reached on February
18th, the defeat at El Teb had occurred, and the question arose as to
what should be done in the Eastern Soudan.

    'On February 6th the Cabinet met twice, and at our second meeting it
    was decided to send marines to Suakim.

    'On Thursday, February 7th, I visited the Admiralty with Pauncefote
    in order to take in hand the defence of the Red Sea coast against
    the Arabs, and then I went to the War Office, where I met
    Hartington, Northbrook, Wolseley, and Cooper Key, in order to
    concert steps. When I passed through the Secretary's room after the
    meeting, and stayed for a moment to talk with Hobart and Fleetwood
    Wilson, the Duke of Cambridge (whose room opened into theirs, and
    who had evidently been lying in wait for me) rushed out and carried
    me off into his room, and made much of me, with an enthusiastic
    desire to help an expedition. At night, Hartington, Chamberlain, and
    I met in Hartington's room and decided to press for relief of
    Gordon.

    'On February 8th Chamberlain wrote to me, "I should like to
    telegraph to Baring, 'If you think that employment of British troops
    could relieve beleaguered garrisons in Soudan without danger, you
    are authorized to concert measures with Evelyn Wood.'" A Cabinet was
    called at the wish of Hartington, Chamberlain, and myself, for this
    day upon this point. Hartington, Harcourt, Northbrook, Carlingford,
    Chamberlain, and I, were for asking Gordon if a demonstration at
    Suakim would help him. Mr. Gladstone and Lord Granville, very strong
    the other way, broke up the meeting sooner than agree.'

    'Gordon had acted as Governor-General of the Soudan without having
    told us that he had accepted this appointment, and we had had to ask
    on February 4th a question which had been answered by Baring on the
    5th, to the effect that Gordon had "at his own request" been
    appointed Governor-General. On February 6th Baring had telegraphed
    stating that Gordon had said that it was possible he might go to the
    Mahdi and not be heard of for two months, as the Mahdi might keep
    him as a hostage for Zebehr. On the same day we telegraphed to
    Baring approving his having told Gordon that there would be the
    strongest objections to his placing himself in the Mahdi's power. On
    February 7th we received a despatch by post from Baring in which he
    informed us that, while Gordon would probably ask for Zebehr, "it
    would certainly not be desirable to send him ... for he is
    manifestly animated by a feeling of deep resentment against General
    Gordon." At the same time Baring forwarded a shorthand report of the
    meeting between Gordon, Zebehr, Baring, Stewart, Colonel Watson, Sir
    Evelyn Wood, and Nubar, at which Zebehr had told Gordon that he had
    entrusted his son to him, "and told you he was thenceforth your son.
    He was only sixteen years of age.... I entrusted my son to you....
    But you killed my son whom I entrusted to you. He was as your own
    son." _Gordon_: "Well, well, I killed my own son. There is an end of
    it." _Zebehr_: "And then you brought my wives and women and children
    in chains to Khartoum, a thing which for my name in the Soudan was
    most degrading."

    'By the same mail we received a despatch from Baring in which he
    made it clear that Gordon's instructions had Gordon's full approval.
    "He expressed to me his entire concurrence in the instructions. The
    only suggestion he made was in connection with the passage in which,
    speaking of the policy of abandoning the Soudan, I had said, 'I
    understand also that you entirely concur in the desirability of
    adopting this policy.' General Gordon wished that I should add the
    words 'and that you think it should on no account be changed.' These
    words were accordingly added."

    'Between this Cabinet and the next we received, on February 9th, a
    telegram from Baring to the effect that he was sending home a letter
    from Gordon to the King of the Belgians in which he urged the king
    to appoint him Governor of the Equatorial Provinces, Gordon's idea
    being to go there from Khartoum; and Baring stated his own view that
    we should forbid Gordon to go south of Khartoum. In his letter,
    which was dated February 1st, Gordon said that the King of the
    Belgians had told him that he would take over the Provinces with the
    troops in them, when Gordon had been at Brussels immediately before
    we sent him out; but not one word had Gordon ever breathed of this;
    and when we first heard of it he was virtually beyond our reach,
    seated, when our answer arrived, at Khartoum, and little disposed to
    listen to us, although on some points, for a few days, he pretended
    to listen.

    'On February 12th Baring telegraphed that he hoped that "H.M.G. will
    not change any of the main points of their policy"; but, as will be
    seen a little later, Baring soon changed his own, adopting the new
    policy of Gordon, and pressing it upon us.

    'On February 12th it was decided, against Mr. Gladstone, to send an
    expedition to the Red Sea Coast.

    'On February 13th we had before us a statement which had been made
    the previous day by Randolph Churchill, to the effect that in the
    summer of 1883 General Gordon had offered to go to the Soudan, and
    that the Government had telegraphed to him accepting his offer, and
    then written to him declining it. Lord Granville instructed me to
    say that the whole story was one gigantic concoction. I then asked
    Hartington if he knew anything about it; and Lord Wolseley
    ultimately discovered that Randolph Churchill had confused the Congo
    with the Nile, an amusing example of his harum-scarum recklessness.
    Gordon had telegraphed from Syria in October for leave to accept
    service under the King of the Belgians on the Congo, and the
    Commander-in-Chief had replied by telegraph that the Secretary of
    State declined to sanction his employment. In transmission the word
    "declines" was changed into "decides," which exactly reversed its
    sense, so that Gordon had received a confirming letter consistent
    with the telegram as sent, but exactly reversing the sense of the
    telegram as received. He had told the story which Churchill had
    heard, but altered from one side of Africa to the other.'

On February 14th Sir Charles made effective use of this blunder in the
debate upon the vote of censure concerning Egypt. It was a debating
speech which, he himself notes, 'had extraordinary success.' Lord
Randolph Churchill had been more than usually aggressive, and Sir
Charles hammered him with detailed facts. [Footnote: He comments on the
20th on the opinions expressed to him as to his powers of debate: 'This
is a curious position for a man who has no natural gift of speech. I can
remember when I was the worst speaker that ever spoke at all.'] The
debate on this vote of censure, occasioned by the fall of Sinkat,
occupied the House for five days. The motion was defeated by forty-nine.

    'On February 14th I found that Lord Granville had not answered an
    important question from Baring about Wood's Egyptians which had been
    received by us on the 13th, and that because he had not seen it. We
    had started a red label as a danger-signal for pressing notes; but
    Lord Granville's room was full of red-labelled notes not touched.'

He records his remonstrances with Lord Granville as to the non-
employment of Sir Evelyn Wood's Egyptians. On February 18th there was a
Cabinet 'partly upon this subject. It was decided to send reinforcements
to Egypt.'

    'On February 21st there was another Cabinet which again discussed
    the Egyptian question and decided to send Wood's Egyptians to
    Assouan. On the 15th Gordon had reassured us by telling us that all
    communication between Cairo and the Soudan would be finally at an
    end within three months' (that is, that evacuation would be easily
    carried out). 'On February 18th we had heard that on the 17th Gordon
    had issued a proclamation saying that the Government would not
    interfere with the buying and selling of slaves; and this telegram,
    having got out from Cairo, produced a storm in England. On the 19th
    there occurred another matter which was considered by the Cabinet at
    the same time--the absolute refusal of Admiral Hewett, and very
    proper refusal, to issue a proclamation calling on the chiefs from
    Suakim to go peacefully to meet Gordon at Khartoum, inasmuch as the
    Admiral knew "that English troops are about to be sent against the
    people in question." The issue of this proclamation had been
    recommended by Wolseley, who thinks that Governments exist for the
    purpose of deceiving enemies in war for the benefit of generals.

    'On the same day, February 19th, we had received a telegram which
    had been sent off from Khartoum by Gordon on the 18th, asking that
    Zebehr should be sent to the Soudan, "be made K.C.M.G., and given
    presents." This was backed by Stewart, so far as that he said that
    someone should be sent, adding that he was not sure whether Zebehr
    was the best man. It was clear from Gordon's proposed conditions
    that Zebehr was to be free to prosecute the slave trade. In another
    memorandum on the same day Gordon said that we must "give a
    commission to some man and promise him the moral support of
    H.M.G.... It may be argued that H.M.G. would thus be giving ...
    moral support to a man who will rule over a slave state.... This
    nomination of my successor must ... be direct from Her Majesty's
    Government.... As for the man, H.M.G. should select one above all
    others, namely Zebehr." Baring now backed this opinion up, so that
    we were face to face with an absolute change of front on the part of
    Gordon and Baring, and a partial change of front on the part of
    Stewart. On the other hand, Baring, at the same time when he told us
    to appoint Zebehr, added: "I am quite certain that Zebehr hates
    Gordon bitterly, and that he is very vindictive. I would not on any
    account risk putting Gordon in his power.... He is, to my personal
    knowledge, exceedingly untruthful.... I cannot recommend his being
    promised the moral support of Her Majesty's Government. He would
    scarcely understand the phrase, and, moreover, I do not think he
    would attach importance to any support which was not material.... I
    doubt the utility of making conditions. Zebehr would probably not
    observe them long." Baring further proposed that Zebehr should be
    given money, and he left us to judge of the effect of the whole
    scheme on public opinion in England. Colonel Watson, who had been
    present at the meeting between Zebehr and Gordon, informed us that
    to let Gordon and Zebehr be together in the Soudan "would entail the
    death of either one or other of them." On the 21st Gordon
    telegraphed to the newspapers explaining away his slave trade
    proclamation, but its terms were even worse than could have been
    gathered from the first summary, which was all that we had received.

    'On February 21st we received the text of Gordon's proclamation,
    which contained the words, "I confer upon you these rights, that
    henceforth none shall interfere with your property," and spoke with
    apparent regret of "severe measures taken by Government for the
    suppression of slave traffic, and seizure and punishment of all
    concerned."

    'On February 26th there was a meeting of Mr. Gladstone, Hartington,
    Childers, Chamberlain, Dodson, and myself, to approve a telegram
    from Hartington to General Graham; [Footnote: General Graham was in
    command of the expedition to Suakim.] and on the next day again, the
    27th, a meeting of Lord Granville, Hartington, Northbrook, and
    myself, which decided to invite the Turk to show himself at the Red
    Sea ports. On the 29th there was a Cabinet at which it was decided
    that the Turk must approve our future ruler of the Soudan, and that
    British troops were to go as far as Assouan if Baring thought it
    necessary.

    'On February 27th Gordon had frightened us out of our senses by
    telegraphing that, having put out his programme of peace, and
    allowed time to elapse, he was now sending out his troops to show
    his force; and another telegram from him said: "Expedition starts at
    once to attack rebels." On the same day he telegraphed that he had
    issued a proclamation "that British troops are now on their way, and
    in a few days will reach Khartoum." It was very difficult to know
    what to do with this amazing lie: solemnly to point out to him by
    telegraph that it was a lie was hardly of much use with a man of
    Gordon's stamp; and what was done was to send a strong private
    telegram to Baring to communicate with him about it, but the result
    was not encouraging, for it was the first ground for the desperate
    quarrel which Gordon afterwards picked with Baring, and for his
    charge against Baring of inciting the Government to drive him to his
    death.

    'On the next day, February 28th, Gordon, having heard that Zebehr
    was refused, telegraphed his policy of smashing up the Mahdi, which,
    however, he seemed inclined to attempt with a most inadequate force.
    "Mahdi must be smashed up. Mahdi is most unpopular, and with care
    and time could be smashed.... If you decide on smashing Mahdi, then
    send another hundred thousand pounds, and send 200 Indian troops to
    Wady Haifa, and an officer to Dongola under pretence to look out
    quarters for troops.... At present it would be comparatively easy to
    destroy Mahdi." Gordon had also telegraphed to Baring to recommend
    that 3,000 black Egyptian troops should be kept in the Soudan, and
    completely throwing over the evacuation policy. Baring added for
    himself: "There are obviously many contradictions in General
    Gordon's different proposals"; but he went on to express his
    agreement in Gordon's new policy, strongly supported the selection
    of Zebehr, and sneered at us for having regard to uninstructed
    opinion in England. On the same day Gordon telegraphed: "If a
    hundred British troops were sent to Assouan or Wady Halfa, they
    would run no more risk than Nile tourists, and would have the best
    effect." At the same time Baring said: "I certainly would not risk
    sending so small a body as 100 men." It will be seen in how great a
    difficulty the Government were placed; but Baring's position was, in
    fact, as difficult as our own. We were evidently dealing with a wild
    man under the influence of that climate of Central Africa which acts
    even upon the sanest men like strong drink.

    'On the same day Gordon telegraphed to us completely changing his
    ground about Suakim. He had previously prevented our doing anything
    except trying to relieve the towns blockaded, but on March 1st told
    us to do something to draw the Hadendowa down to Suakim. On the 2nd,
    General Graham having beaten the Arabs at Teb, the Admiral asked us
    to send more troops and to threaten Osman Digna's main force, a
    suggestion which concurred with Gordon's. And on March 5th the
    Cabinet met and decided that, while it was impossible to send Zebehr
    to the Soudan, General Graham was to be allowed to attack Osman
    Digna's main force.... Chamberlain then suggested that I should go
    to Egypt: Hartington evidently thought that somebody should go, and
    thought he had better go himself. Lord Granville would not have
    either, as might have been expected.... I suggested a way out of the
    Zebehr difficulty, and wrote to Chamberlain: "If I were sent out to
    do this, I believe I should get away the forces from the interior
    and have Zebehr elected, entirely without our action, by the
    Notables at Khartoum. On the whole, this would do if we did not do
    it. This would, in my opinion, be improved by Turkish approval under
    Turkish suzerainty, but that you do not like." Chamberlain answered:
    "Perhaps we cannot help having Zebehr, but surely we ought not to
    promote him, directly or indirectly; not only because he is a slave-
    hunter, but also because he will probably attack Egypt sooner or
    later, and very likely with the help of our subsidy." I replied: "I
    am quite clear that we must not set up Zebehr, but if we retire we
    cannot prevent his election by the Notables; and they would elect
    him." In the meantime Gordon had completely thrown over Baring's
    suggestion that Zebehr should be sent (but so sent that he and
    Gordon should not be in the Soudan together) by telegraphing that
    the combination at Khartoum of Zebehr and himself was "an absolute
    necessity," and that it would be "absolutely necessary" for him to
    stay at Khartoum with Zebehr for four months; and Stewart had now
    completely come over to Gordon's policy about Zebehr personally. On
    the other hand, Baring and the military authorities in Egypt were
    unanimously opposed to the idea of sending a small British force to
    Wady Halfa.

    'On March 7th it was decided to give an inland district to the
    Abyssinians, but not to offer them a port (which was what they
    wanted), on account of its not being ours to give away from the
    Turks. The Cabinet would not hear of receiving a Turkish
    Commissioner at Cairo.

    'On March 11th we further considered pressing demands from Gordon
    and Baring for Zebehr. Mr. Gladstone had taken to his bed, but was
    known to be strongly in favour of sending Zebehr. The Cabinet were
    unanimous the other way, and Hartington was sent to see Mr.
    Gladstone, we waiting till he returned. When he came back, he
    laconically stated what had passed as follows: "He thinks it very
    likely that we cannot make the House swallow Zebehr, but he thinks
    he could." Morley has told this, but the words which he took
    verbally from me are less good. [Footnote: _Life of Gladstone_, vol.
    iii., p. 159.] Baring on the 6th had recommended a further attack on
    Osman Digna, which he thought might open the Berber route. On the
    9th we received Gordon's replies to our telegrams of the 5th,
    showing that he had done nothing towards the evacuation of Khartoum
    except by sending away the sick. He admitted that it was possible
    that "Zebehr, who hates the tribes, did stir up the fires of revolt,
    in hopes that he would be sent to quell it. It is the irony of fate
    that he will get his wish if sent up." On the same day Baring
    informed us that it was clear that Gordon now had no influence
    outside Khartoum, and that he contemplated the despatch of British
    troops. The Anti-Slavery Society had strongly protested against the
    employment of Zebehr, and they pointed out to us the records of
    murders "in which this man has stood the foremost and the principal
    actor.... Countenance ... of such an individual by the British
    Government would be a degradation for England and a scandal to
    Europe." W. E. Forster, amid loud cheers from the Conservatives,
    protested in advance in the House of Commons against the policy of
    sending Zebehr. On March 11th we had received in the morning from
    Baring twelve telegrams from Gordon, of the most extraordinary
    nature, which Baring had answered: "I am most anxious to help and
    support you in every way, but I find it very difficult to understand
    exactly what it is you want." Besides deciding that Zebehr could not
    be sent, the Cabinet changed its mind about the employment of Turks
    in the Red Sea, and decided that they could not be allowed to go
    there at present.

    'On March 13th the matter was again considered by a Cabinet, which
    was not called a Cabinet as Mr. Gladstone was in bed and Chamberlain
    was at Birmingham, and on the 14th we met again, still retaining our
    opinion; and on Sunday, the 16th, Mr. Gladstone at last unwillingly
    gave up Zebehr as impossible. [Footnote: _Life of Granville_, vol.
    ii., p. 388.]

    'I had been at this time working out the facts connected with the
    two routes to Khartoum in case an expedition should be sent, and had
    made up my own mind in favour of the Nile route; Wolseley still
    being the other way.

    'On March 17th, I wrote to Lord Northbrook to protest against a
    proclamation which had been issued by the Admiral and General at
    Suakim offering a reward for Osman Digna, and I wrote also to
    Hartington upon the same subject, stating that I would not defend
    it, and that if it were "not disapproved, and the disapproval made
    public, I cannot remain a member of the Government." Northbrook
    would not admit that he had disapproved it, but Hartington did, and
    also informed me that Northbrook had telegraphed. Lord Granville
    agreed with me that the proclamation was not defensible, and it was
    as a fact withdrawn, although the Admiral was very angry.

    'Mr. Gladstone had gone down to Coombe, near Wimbledon. On March
    22nd we held a Cabinet without him.... Harcourt was now writing to
    me in favour of the view "that we must get out of Egypt as soon as
    possible at any price. The idea of our administering it or of the
    Egyptian army defending it is equally out of the question." On the
    25th we had another Cabinet without Mr. Gladstone. Turning to
    Gordon, we decided that a force was not to be sent to Berber; but I
    noted in my diary: "It will _have_ to be sent next autumn, I
    believe"; but when I said to Berber, it must be remembered, of
    course, that there were two ways of reaching Berber, and Lord
    Hartington, Brett, and I, now turned steadily to the consideration
    of which of those two ways should be taken. It will be remembered
    that we already had a report in print as to the Suakim-Berber route.
    [Footnote: See p. 33; 'We had drawn up a route from Suakim to
    Berber.'] We now obtained from Wolseley a general report, which was
    afterwards printed and circulated to the Cabinet on April 8th. Lord
    Wolseley, preparing for the sending of a military force to Khartoum
    this autumn, stated that his force must be exclusively British, for
    he doubted whether the very best of our Indian regiments could stand
    the charges of the Arabs, besides which our natives took the field
    encumbered with followers. Lord Roberts, who was not given to
    boasting, told me, long afterwards, that he, on the other hand, was
    sure that he could have marched from Suakim to the Nile and Khartoum
    with an exclusively Indian force. It is the case that our best
    Gurkha troops have sometimes stood when white troops have run.
    Wolseley had now come round to a boat expedition, which I had been
    for a long time urging, upon information which I had obtained for
    myself from the Admiralty, and which was afterwards printed by the
    Foreign Intelligence Committee at the Admiralty, and circulated to
    the Cabinet in April, a further document upon the subject being
    circulated to the Cabinet in May. It must be remembered that the
    date of passing the cataracts was settled for us by the high Nile,
    and that there was only one time of year at which the expedition
    could be safely sent.

    'The Cabinet of March 25th further decided that Graham must soon be
    brought away from Suakim.

    'On the next evening, March 26th, when the Ministers were dining
    with the Speaker, we received a very unpleasant telegram from
    Baring, pointing, we thought, to a possible resignation unless it
    was promised to send an expedition to Khartoum. I suggested the
    following answer: "We adhere to our instructions of the 25th, 160
    Secret. We cannot send an expedition now, and entertain the gravest
    objection to contemplating an expedition in the autumn." This answer
    was rejected in favour of one suggested by Mr. Gladstone and Lord
    Granville. Our telegram 160 Secret had been an absolute refusal, and
    my additional words had been intended by me slightly to open the
    door, which was as much as I could hope that the Cabinet would do.
    But the telegram actually sent on March 28th (165 Secret, extended
    in 191) was to the effect that we were unable to alter the
    instructions, and it was accompanied by two long despatches,
    virtually written by Harcourt, and afterwards laid before
    Parliament, explaining our reasons for not sending Zebehr and for
    not sending an expedition. Gordon had been communicating with us
    with difficulty, as the telegraph was broken from time to time, but
    he had told us that if he was to evacuate Khartoum he wished to
    resign his commission and to take all his steam vessels and stores
    to the equatorial provinces, "which he would consider under the King
    of the Belgians." This Baring had told him he must not do. Baring
    had rejected every possible alternative except the sending of
    Zebehr, and Zebehr we could not have sent. In discussing the
    question of an expedition to Khartoum, Baring had told us that
    Gordon was "not in any immediate danger. He has provisions for six
    months." Gordon himself had telegraphed: "As I have been
    inconsistent about Zebehr, it is my fault, and I should bear the
    blame if Zebehr is sent, and should put up with the inconvenience if
    he is not." He had himself told us that he had provisions for six
    months, but had after this informed us that provisions were still
    coming in freely to Khartoum--as late as after March 15th, a week
    later than the date at which he had told us that he had six months'
    provisions in the town. I had made up my mind that we must send an
    expedition, but I did not agree with Baring that it was physically
    possible to send an expedition at this moment, and thought that if
    sent at high Nile it would be in time. On the 23rd, after Gordon's
    defeat, by treachery and shooting, of the two black Pashas, Gordon
    telegraphed: "I think we are now safe, and that as the Nile rises we
    shall account for the rebels." This we received on March 31st.

    'On March 27th there was a Cabinet without Chamberlain, who was
    listening to George Russell's speech which I had got him leave to
    make, and without Mr. Gladstone, who was still ill. The Cabinet
    decided against an expedition to Khartoum, but the Chancellor' (Lord
    Selborne) 'gave us to understand that he should resign if one were
    not sent in the autumn, and Harcourt intimated that he should resign
    if one were sent. Lord Granville observed that no Cabinet could last
    a day if it was to be exposed to going to pieces on differences as
    regards the future. Harcourt proposed to "clear out" of Egypt
    immediately. Lord Granville won an easy victory over him by proving
    that only three weeks ago he had wanted to take Egypt under our
    protection. Harcourt then said that as long ago as November, 1883,
    he had spoken in favour of clearing out. "Yes," said Lord Granville,
    "so you did; but I said three weeks ago."

    'On March 29th there was a Cabinet at Coombe Warren. Mr. Gladstone
    seemed pretty well, and had at least one good laugh. He still
    regretted Zebehr. The Cabinet considered Gordon, what we should do
    with slavery at Suakim, and House of Commons business.'

About this date the main body of the British troops was withdrawn from
Suakim in accordance with the decision of March 25th. They had inflicted
defeats on Osman Digna at El Teb, and again at Tamanieb; many Dervishes
and not a few English had been killed, but no effect of moment had been
produced, and the road to Berber was not opened.

A new complication now arose. Egypt was presented with Europe's total
claims for the losses to Europeans in the burnings at Alexandria. They
amounted to four millions and a half. How was this demand to be met?
Under the Law of Liquidation established in 1880, Egypt could not borrow
without the consent of the five Powers who had constituted the
Commission of Liquidation. The demand presented to Egypt had to be
considered by the one Power which was now _de facto_ supreme in Egypt.

    'On April 2nd there was an important Cabinet called on Egyptian
    finance. It began, of course, on something else. We discussed the
    future of Suakim; the replies to be given in the House on the next
    day as to Gordon; and then Childers' views upon Egyptian finance;
    while we were considering these, there came a letter from Northcote
    with the questions that he intended to put on the next day'
    (questions which could only be answered by a full statement of
    policy on all the points of the Egyptian problem). 'After going back
    to this, we went on again to finance, and decided to call a
    conference of the Great Powers to alter the Law of Liquidation. Mr.
    Gladstone had unwillingly consented to meet the Powers by proposing
    to reduce the charge for the British army; and he was anxious to get
    the money for the British taxpayer out of a borrowing operation on
    the future value of the Canal Shares. Chamberlain and I decided that
    if he did this the Tories would declare that Mr. Gladstone had
    become a pensioner on the bounty of Lord Beaconsfield. There was
    some talk at this Cabinet as to whether we should guarantee the
    Egyptian debt, to which I was opposed. Chamberlain had at one time
    been friendly to such an operation, but had now "gone round" on the
    ground that we could not "carry it against the Tories and the
    Radicals." "Is there anything else?" said Chamberlain to Mr.
    Gladstone as the Cabinet was breaking up. "No," said Mr. Gladstone,
    "we have done our Egyptian business and we are an Egyptian
    Government."'


II.

From this time forward the 'Egyptian Government' at Westminster had two
main subjects of concern--the question of extricating Gordon with the
garrisons, and the question of dealing with the international situation,
partly diplomatic and partly financial. France, increasingly unfriendly
to Great Britain, was above all unfriendly in regard to Egypt: while
Bismarck, doing his best to foment this quarrel, was at the same time
weakening Great Britain by menaces in Africa and Australasia, and the
danger of a Russian advance in Central Asia hung like a thundercloud
over the whole situation. [Footnote: Sir Charles wrote to Mr. Brett on
November 15th, 1884: 'I told Herbert Bismarck when he was here that it
was very silly of his father to get in the way of our Egypt plans, for
France would not go to war about them, and therefore, after threatening,
he would have to look on and see the things he had threatened against
done quietly.']

There were three groups of opinion in the Government in regard to the
Soudan. The first was for an expedition which should carry with it the
consequence of occupation more or less prolonged. Another was against
any expedition and in favour of immediate evacuation. A third section--
including Sir Charles Dilke and Mr. Chamberlain--accepted the need of an
expedition, but was determined that occupation should not follow. It was
incumbent on this last-named group to suggest a positive policy, and
Dilke, as will be seen, had his plan ready. There was a further decision
to be taken. When once an expedition was in contemplation, the route and
the character of the expedition had to be fixed. On this matter also Sir
Charles had early formed a resolve, but neither he nor anyone else could
pin the Cabinet to a clear course of action.

    'At this time' (April 2nd) 'Chamberlain wrote to me of Egypt: "Once
    more Hartington, and you and I, are at opposite poles. For one, I do
    not mean to be forced any further in the direction of protectorate."

    'Although they would not admit it, the Cabinet were rapidly coming
    round at this time to an autumn Gordon expedition, and Chamberlain
    wrote to me: "I believe it will come to this in the end"; while
    Northbrook was in favour of an expedition. I then made up a list
    from private information showing that six of us were favourable to
    an expedition, as against five the other way--several members having
    made no statement either way. Those for an expedition were
    Hartington, Northbrook, the Chancellor (Lord Selborne), Derby,
    Chamberlain, and myself; and those against it, Mr. Gladstone, Lord
    Granville, Harcourt, Kimberley, and Dodson. On April 21st, Egypt was
    discussed without decision, though with the note by me: "The
    majority now begin to see that an October expedition is certain."

    'On the 23rd a Cabinet ... considered the possibility of reaching
    Berber.... After the Cabinet of April 23rd, I advocated a naval
    expedition by the Nile on the ground that the Admiralty were likely
    to do the thing better than the War Office. [Footnote: A review by
    Sir Charles in the _Athenæum_ of October 24th, 1908, deals with the
    _Life of Lord Northbrook_, by Sir Bernard Mallet, and his allusions
    to Lord Northbrook's consideration, as early as April, of a 'rescue
    and retire' expedition by the Nile route for the autumn, 'it being
    assumed that the boats then ordered could not pass the various
    cataracts before High Nile.' See _Life of Lord Northbrook_, pp.
    185-186. A review by Sir Charles of March 28th, 1908, in the same
    paper, of _Modern Egypt_, by the Earl of Cromer, also deals with
    Lord Northbrook's pressure for a Nile Expedition in March, 1884.] On
    April 28th, Berber, Khartoum, and Gordon, on which there was nothing
    new, but Hartington insisted on a large and important military
    expedition.'

    'On April 29th Baring had now come over about Egypt, and attended a
    Cabinet to state his views. I saw him privately, and settled with
    him the details for a possible Nile expedition "small and early."
    The difficulty was at the sixth cataract. He also broached to me his
    scheme for a new control by the four Powers already represented on
    the Caisse de la Dette--namely, England, France, Austria, and Italy,
    with an English president.'

    'At the next Cabinet there was a proposal by Hartington that there
    should be a vote of thanks to Sir Gerald Graham and Admiral Hewett
    for the Suakim expedition--a proposal which the Cabinet rejected,
    having had quite enough of votes of thanks on the former occasion
    when Wolseley and Beauchamp Seymour were in question. The next
    matter was what we should say about our Law of Liquidation
    Conference, on which there arose an awkward question as to what
    should happen in the probable case of the representatives of the
    Powers not being unanimous. There was every reason to suppose that
    the French would not agree to anything, and precedents went to show
    that unanimity was necessary to render valid the decisions of a
    conference. Indeed, there was no precedent as regards questions of
    principle which told the other way; and at the Congress of Berlin
    Prince Bismarck had stated, as recorded in the first protocol, that
    as regarded substantive proposals it was an incontestable principle
    that the minority should not be bound to acquiesce in a vote of a
    majority.

    'Then came the consideration of the action to be taken by the
    Egyptian Government towards Mr. O'Kelly, M.P., [Footnote: Mr. James
    O'Kelly, then M.P. for Koscommon, a very adventurous war
    correspondent. He died in 1916.] Parnell's friend, who had been
    trying to join the Mahdi. We next considered Lord Salisbury's
    relations towards Tewfik as Khedive, as affected by the violent
    attacks of many Conservative members, put up by Broadley, upon
    Tewfik's character. Randolph Churchill had made a most ferocious
    series of attacks upon the Khedive, without one atom of truth in
    them. It is a curious example of his forgetful flightiness, that
    when, a few years later, he went to Egypt, he was struck with wonder
    at the Khedive's refusal to receive him. The terms of the French
    acceptance of our invitation to the Conference were discussed, as
    were the House of Commons questions as to Gordon, and the offer of
    Mr. Guy Dawnay, M.P., to go as a messenger to Gordon at his own
    cost. Then followed the internal condition of Egypt, as to which
    Baring's views were stated by me; then Harrar; then the employment
    of negroes or Turks for the Egyptian army; then the Turks at Suakim;
    then the Somali coast.

    'On the same day I had an interview with the ex-Khedive Ismail, who
    had gone downhill. He always had a certain difficulty in collecting
    his ideas and putting them into words, but on this occasion it went
    farther than I had previously known. He wished to impress on me the
    necessity for defending Egypt against the Mahdi at some given point
    upon the Nile, when occurred that incident of his continually
    working up to the name of the place and forgetting it. [Footnote:
    See Chapter XXX., Vol. I., p. 487.]

    'On May 5th there was a Cabinet. We considered the vote of censure
    as to Gordon, and decided that time must be given for it; and I then
    had some correspondence with Northbrook across the table as to an
    expedition. I said: "Northbrook, I should be glad to know all you
    know against the Nile route. Ismail, who knows all about it, thinks
    it quite possible." Northbrook replied: "My objections are
    uncertainty of getting steamers up at all (we know nothing of the
    140 miles beyond Wady Halfa), and necessity of assistance from
    natives, which may not be given. Key" (Sir Cooper Key) "is in rather
    a delicate position, as he does not like to go against Wolseley,
    whose opinion is for the Nile, and the responsibility is with the
    W.O."

    'On May 7th there was another Cabinet. It was decided that Nubar
    need not be brought to London for the Conference, that a fresh place
    in some other unhappy portion of the world must be found for
    Clifford Lloyd; [Footnote: A Resident Magistrate who had come
    violently into collision with the Nationalists in Ireland, and who
    had also proved himself a storm centre in Egypt, as he afterwards
    did in Mauritius.] and one was found, and he again fought with the
    local authorities as he had fought in Ireland and in Egypt. With
    regard to the attitude of France, it was decided that we could not,
    so long as we remained in Egypt, put up with a new international
    control. It was decided to bring the Turks to Suakim, although this
    decision was afterwards reversed. We then wasted much of our time on
    the consideration of what should be our attitude on the vote of
    censure which was pending in the House. Harcourt had drawn an
    amendment for Mr. Gladstone on which they had agreed. Chamberlain
    and I had agreed to support a mere negative, and we talked the
    others over....

    'On May 11th Fitzmaurice wrote to me complaining that no definite
    instructions had been given him with regard to the conduct of the
    Gordon debate' (on the vote of censure), [Footnote: See _Hansard_,
    vol. cclxxxviii., 3rd series, debate of May 13th, 1884] 'as was
    usual in such important cases, but stating that he expected me to
    speak. On the next day, May 12th, I learnt that Hartington had
    refused to speak, although he was finally made to do so by Mr.
    Gladstone. On Tuesday, May 13th, I made a good speech from 12.10 to
    1.10 a.m.--too late for the reporters. "The debate has (I noted in
    my diary) been the best I ever heard. Mr. Gladstone was not so good
    as usual, while Hartington and I were neither better nor worse than
    usual. But Churchill, Forster, Cowen, John Morley, and Beach, all
    spoke far above their usual level; and the rest were good. A
    memorable debate, which I do not expect to see excelled for interest
    and fire, and I am glad to have had the honour to wind it up for the
    Liberal party." Afterwards I noted that it "does not read well."

    'On May 14th Cabinet again decided that Nubar must not come over for
    the Conference; discussed internal affairs of Egypt, then the
    Conference again; and then called in Sir Evelyn Baring and discussed
    with him the same matters of Clifford Lloyd, Nubar, Conference, the
    Turks and the Red Sea ports, what was to be said to Waddington about
    the Conference, and the detail of a scheme of Childers upon Egyptian
    finance, which was extraordinarily unpopular with the Cabinet.

    'On May 17th at noon there was a full Cabinet (Spencer being
    present), and a long one. The first matter discussed was the Queen
    and Conference, [Footnote: Proposed Conference of the Powers on the
    Law of Liquidation.] and a strong objection on the part of Mr.
    Gladstone to tell Parliament anything about the Conference.
    Chamberlain wrote to me on this: "What a queer twist this objection
    of Mr. G. is!" To which I replied: "I really wish he would have gone
    to Coombe for this lovely day and let us go on without him. He has
    wasted an hour and a half. Mr. G. will fight a whole day in Cabinet
    to avoid telling Parliament something, and then after all will tell
    them twice as much in reply to Ashmead Bartlett." On this
    Chamberlain wrote:

    "Here lies Mr. G., who has left us repining,
    While he is, no doubt, still engaged in refining;
    And explaining distinctions to Peter and Paul,
    Who faintly protest that distinctions so small
    Were never submitted to saints to perplex them,
    Until the Prime Minister came up to vex them."

[Footnote: These were notes passed during the sitting of the Cabinet. On
Mr. Gladstone's inconvenient habit of giving information at question
time, see Vol. I., pp. 307, 384, 459, 535; and _infra_, p. 118.]

    'The Cabinet decided to send a telegram to Gordon through Zebehr, in
    order to obtain safe conveyance for it, offering free use of money
    among the tribes.

    'To Grant Duff I wrote on May 17th: "The Queen is much against our
    arrangements with France. If we 'let them out' we spoil them, and if
    we don't we shall be condemned for a 'secret negotiation with France
    by a moribund Cabinet.' Yet, though we look very wrong, we _are_
    right."'

    'On the 19th it was decided that the Nile was to be patrolled by the
    Navy as far as Wady Halfa.'

This was in the direction of the military policy which Sir Charles
favoured, but in which he was not to succeed. His diplomatic proposals
now have to be considered.

    'At this time I sent a box round the Cabinet as to the
    neutralization of Egypt, Northbrook assenting. In a minute dated May
    22nd, Lord Northbrook wrote: "I am disposed to think it would be
    wise to propose at once an international guarantee of the neutrality
    of Egypt, (1) It would give a substance and solidity to the French
    assurances." (To Grant Duff I wrote on the 22nd: "We have got from
    France an engagement not to go to Egypt when we come away, and never
    at any future time, except by the authority of Europe.") "(2)
    Without it I hardly see a chance of escaping from annexation.... All
    the circumstances of Egypt ... point to this solution, and ... the
    release of Egypt from the Soudan makes the solution possible."
    Chamberlain wrote: "I agree entirely with Dilke and Northbrook. (1)
    As to the intrinsic importance of such a proposal. If adopted it
    secures every essential British interest, and promises relief from
    the intolerable burden of a continued occupation. I am strongly in
    favour of making the proposal at once. It will give a real guarantee
    to the Powers of our good faith and intention to clear out of the
    country. (2) I attach great importance to it as forming a definite
    policy.... To make Egypt the 'Belgium of the East' is an object
    easily popularized. The phrase will carry the proposal." Kimberley
    wrote: "I agree with Northbrook and Dilke. The neutralization of
    Egypt will be a gain in itself, irrespective altogether of the
    question of its internal administration. It would also ... render it
    easy to establish a firm domestic Government in so far as it would
    put an end to the rivalries ... which exercise a very disturbing
    influence on all Egyptian affairs.--K." This minute received the
    support of the signatures of the Chancellor, Harcourt, and Childers.
    Lord Derby wrote: "I agree so entirely with the views of Lord
    Northbrook and Sir Charles Dilke that I need add nothing to what
    they have written. There is only one alternative in the long-run;
    guaranteed neutrality or annexation.--D., May 23." Carlingford also
    agreed, but Hartington strongly dissented; and although Lord
    Granville agreed with us, Hartington's dissent was so fierce that he
    succeeded in preventing Mr. Gladstone from expressing an opinion,
    and the view taken by ten members of the Cabinet remained without
    effect.

    '... On May 24th, the next matter discussed was the neutralization
    of Egypt, which Mr. Gladstone decided, in face of Hartington's
    minute, was "not to be immediately proposed."' [Footnote: The offer
    of neutralization was, however, made. See _infra_, Chapter XXXVIII.,
    pp. 94, 97.]

    'We then returned to our old business of Waddington and the
    Conference. Mr. Gladstone next complained that he had been
    catechized in the House of Commons on Monday, May 19th, as to
    whether he "told most lies on Monday or on Thursday." We then
    discussed the desirability of making a statement in the House as to
    the number of years that our troops would remain in Egypt;
    Northbrook and Hartington suggesting either five years or three
    years from January, 1885, and Carlingford suggesting one year, in
    which he was supported by the Prime Minister and myself; but three
    years prevailed. Next came Morocco; and then a Gordon
    expedition--Mr. Gladstone speaking strongly against it.

    'On May 27th there was a Cabinet before the Whitsuntide recess. It
    was decided what statement was to be made to Parliament about the
    Conference. Lord Granville had told Waddington that we should not
    stay more than five years in Egypt at the outside, and Hartington,
    who himself had been willing to limit our stay to three years, now
    fought violently against a limitation even to five. Chamberlain
    wrote to me: "As usual--the question having been twice settled,
    Hartington, in a minority of one, raises the whole question again.
    It is direct, unmitigated, and unconcealed obstruction." We then
    discussed the expedition to Khartoum and the making of a Suakim-
    Berber railway, but it was decided that orders were not yet to be
    given. On the next day Mr. Gladstone, who had gone to Hawarden,
    wrote:

    '"My Dear Northbrook,

    '"I have received and read this morning Sir Cooper Key's very
    interesting paper on an expedition to Khartoum. I write, however, to
    suggest that it would be a great advantage if two suggestions it
    contains were to be fully examined and developed. (1) The _small_
    river expedition which he thinks practicable. (2) The small desert
    expedition from Korosko to which he also adverts as an auxiliary
    method.... Clear as is the case for the railway from Suakim, as
    against the large expedition by the Nile, in every other view it is
    attended with the most formidable difficulties of a moral and
    political kind ... whether the 'turning of the first sod' of a
    Soudan railway will not be the substitution for an Egyptian
    domination there, of an English domination ... more unnatural, more
    costly, more destructive, and altogether without foundation in
    public right. It would be an immense advantage that the expedition
    (should one be needed) should be one occupying little time, and
    _leaving no trace behind it_.

             '"Yours sincerely,
                   '"W. E. Gladstone."

    'Of this letter a copy was made by Edward Hamilton, and enclosed to
    me with an autograph letter from Mr. Gladstone.

    'On May 31st I had received a further letter from Mr. Gladstone
    about the Soudan expedition, in which he said: "Suakim and Berber
    route has utterly beaten Nile route for a large expedition.... But
    the question of a small expedition has hardly yet been touched,
    while some believe Gordon is or will be free, and there need be no
    expedition at all." I sent this letter to Lord Northbrook, and to
    Lord Hartington, pointing out that Colonel Sartorius had written a
    letter to the papers in favour of an expedition of a thousand picked
    men armed with repeating rifles; and after receiving replies, I
    wrote to Mr. Gladstone on June 4th that I had not had much
    encouragement from Hartington and Northbrook, the fact being that
    Hartington was determined on giving Wolseley his big job. [Footnote:
    See _Life of Granville_, vol. ii., p. 395.]

    'On June 6th Lord Granville called a meeting to ask us whether,
    Waddington having now agreed to all our demands, we could devise
    some plan of getting out of them. He said that for his own part he
    should not have asked the question, but that Hartington had
    suggested it.... He said: "I must rather complain of Hartington's
    conduct--from so intimate a friend. If it had been Dodson I should
    have been very angry." After such an introduction, the meeting could
    hardly come to a conclusion favourable to Hartington's views.

    'On June 9th Sir Henry Ponsonby came to see me before the Cabinet,
    wishing to talk to me before he spoke to any other member, as the
    Queen thought that I was the most in agreement with her views, which
    was not the case, as regarded evacuation. He discussed with me two
    points: First the term of years, as to which I explained that, under
    the agreement, if at the end of three and a half years any one Power
    thought we had better stay, and we ourselves wished to stay, then we
    could stay. It was not my wish that we should. Secondly, as to the
    union of Bulgaria and East Roumelia, about which I did not care, and
    as to which I suggested that the Queen should propose to Lord
    Granville to take counsel with Austria. [Footnote: The union took
    place in 1885.] At the Cabinet which followed we discussed the words
    of our promise to lay our French agreements before Parliament, and
    also our answer as to the Turks and Suakim. The French having
    written us a disagreeable despatch, we agreed that they must be made
    to take it back.

    'On the next day, June 10th, there was a Cabinet to begin the
    railway from Suakim. and to consider the draft despatch to
    Waddington, and as the Government at this time was not very strong,
    it was decided to leave for our successors a Cabinet minute upon the
    subject of our relations at this time with France. After the Cabinet
    I had to see Mr. Gladstone from Lord Granville upon the question
    whether we should insist on a casting vote on the Caisse. Mr.
    Gladstone, against the unanimous opinion of the Cabinet, replied:
    "No, not to the point of breaking off."'

On June 12th Sir Charles made two notes in his Diary of that date:

    'I think that if Mr. Gladstone was to stay in, and live on, we
    should come as regards Egypt to evacuation and neutralization. Under
    the Tories, or under Hartington, the _status quo_ may be tried for a
    long time.'

    'When Bismarck offered Egypt to Dizzy, it was in order to embroil
    England with France.'


III.

From this point onwards in the Memoir the focus of the Egyptian question
changes; attention is centred on the diplomatic questions arising out of
the financial problem.

As between England and France the issue concerned itself with the
proposal to pay less than the promised interest on previously existing
loans. The French view, expressed through M. Barrère, the French agent
in Egypt, was that interest need not be reduced; the alternative view
was that the bondholders must make a sacrifice of part of their
interest, at any rate for some period of years, in return for the better
security they were obtaining.

    'On July 3rd Barrère called and explained to me a scheme of his on
    Egyptian finance, in which he was now highly skilled, having been
    French Agent in Egypt for some time. I put the matter before Lord
    Granville, who sent it to Mr. Gladstone and Childers. Barrère argued
    that it was not necessary to reduce interest, or, to use the slang
    of the moment, to "cut the coupon." We called a meeting of the
    Commons Ministers, and Chamberlain announced that he should resign
    if the coupon were not cut.

    'July 18th, 1884.--We had virtually decided on declaring Egypt
    bankrupt in order to force the hands of the French, but Waddington,
    at a meeting with Childers, had broached a plan, which had
    originally been suggested by the Germans, for a temporary reduction
    of interest, to be reconsidered at the end of a certain number of
    years.' (These proposals were discussed at the Conference, which met
    in the latter half of July, held seven sittings, and then broke down
    without arriving at a conclusion on August 1st.) 'The question now
    raised was--at the end of what number of years? The French said
    three, and we decided to propose ten; but with a willingness to take
    six or even five; we advancing 4 1/2 millions instead of 8, or, in
    other words, leaving out the indemnities due by Egypt. If this
    arrangement failed, then we were to fall back on bankruptcy.
    Harcourt was much against declaring bankruptcy, and in favour of the
    policy of "scuttle." Hartington was against bankruptcy, and for
    paying the differences ourselves; so as to force us into annexation.
    Spencer, Childers, Chamberlain, and I, were for bankruptcy or for a
    strong threat of bankruptcy.

    'On July 21st there was a meeting of members of the Cabinet after
    questions, at which Mr. Gladstone, Lord Granville, Hartington,
    Harcourt, Childers, and I, were present. The French had backed out
    of their proposals, and we considered a new scheme of Childers's to
    put all administrative charges in Egypt before interest of debt, a
    scheme which it was certain that the French would refuse. Harcourt
    was again violent against bankruptcy, which he announced he thought
    grossly "illegal," as if there were such a thing as illegality in
    such affairs.

    'On August 2nd there was a full Cabinet, every member being present,
    and we had to consider whether, the Conference having broken down,
    Baring should go back to Egypt or remain at the Foreign Office and
    continue to advise us. Lord Granville proposed that he should
    remain, and that Malet should go to Egypt. Chamberlain proposed that
    Goschen should go. Childers proposed J. K. Cross. [Footnote:
    Under-Secretary for India.] Dufferin was mentioned; then Lord
    Granville proposed Northbrook. All other names were immediately
    withdrawn, and Northbrook took time to consider, but evidently meant
    to go, and decided, I think, in the course of the same evening.
    Baring was then called in, and we once more began to chop straw by
    considering the "ulterior consequences" of the collapse of the
    Conference--i.e., bankruptcy. Lastly, Gordon was dealt with, and
    it was decided that a supplementary estimate should be proposed,
    with the understanding that we should spend more if it was wanted. I
    wrote to Chamberlain: "We always have two subjects--(a) Conference,
    (b) Gordon." And he wrote back: "The first always taking up two or
    three hours; and the second five minutes at the fag end of
    business."

    'On August 3rd I noted "we are going to send Northbrook to Egypt to
    put down Barrère."

    'On August 5th we considered the instructions to Northbrook, or
    rather whether he should have any at all, and if so, what they
    should be. Northbrook read us a scheme which he had written, which
    attempted to conciliate Turkey and Italy, so as to have great naval
    strength in the Mediterranean and to prevent all chance of a sudden
    occupation of Egypt by France. We were to express our continued
    determination not to annex. We were to stay five years at the
    request of the Sultan. We were again to propose to the Powers those
    arrangements with regard to the Canal which we had proposed already.
    We were to pay the indemnities in stock; and the next coupon in
    full; and we were to promise for the future not less than 4 per
    cent, on privileged stocks, and not less than 3 per cent, on the
    Unified debt, while we were in Egypt. Indian troops were to hold
    Massowah. Harcourt, in reply, read a written counter-statement,
    again proposing to "scuttle," and again threatening us that we
    should have war with France. Hartington again spoke for a guarantee
    by us of the whole Egyptian debt. After Hartington's observations
    the discussion was, as usual, adjourned. Chamberlain and I decided
    that we would ask for our old term of three and a half years'
    occupation, as against Northbrook's five. Next came Gordon, and
    Hartington proposed that we should embody some militia.

    'On August 6th there was another Cabinet, and the first question was
    that of Northbrook's scheme. Lord Granville agreed to a temporary
    use of Turkish troops provided that they were to leave Egypt when we
    left. Chamberlain would not agree, and wished to stick to
    Northbrook's phrase only inviting "co-operation." This view
    prevailed, and it was decided that if the Turks proposed to send a
    commissioner, we were to refuse. But the question of troops was
    really left open for more discussion. Next came the question of an
    advance of nearly a million which had been made by Rothschild to
    Egypt, and we asked him, as a favour to ourselves, to let it run,
    which was all he wanted us to do. Northbrook, who is not strong, had
    been a good deal fatigued with the discussion on his scheme, and
    instead of sleeping (his usual practice at a Cabinet) on this
    occasion fainted, and we had to get up and look after him at this
    point.

    'On August 26th I received a letter from Hartington, saying that
    Northbrook was going to Osborne at the end of the week, and starting
    for Egypt from there. Hartington told me he was coming up to meet
    him, and he afterwards wrote to me to fix an appointment at the War
    Office on the 29th. This I kept. Northbrook was deplorably weak. He
    had returned from Rosebery's completely under the influence of Mr.
    Gladstone's pro-French views. [Footnote: At Dalmeny Lord Northbrook
    "met Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone." See Life of Lord Northbrook, p. 190.]
    He had settled to spend a day at Walmer, and had telegraphed to Lord
    Lyons to meet him there. His plan now was to ask the French
    Government to send a man to Egypt in order that he and the Frenchman
    might settle matters together. Hartington and I pointed out to him
    that the Frenchman's instructions from his Government must either be
    to refuse all reduction of interest, or to consent to it upon
    obtaining from us a better political position than that given to
    France by the Anglo-French agreement. We explained to him that it
    would be impossible for us to tolerate such proposals. I wrote to
    Chamberlain a full account of the interview.

    'September 22nd_.--We decided with reference to Egyptian finance
    that Chamberlain should write a strong letter to Lord Granville
    protesting against any British advance to Egypt, unless accompanied
    by a cutting of the coupon. He did so, and on September 25th sent me
    a copy, and I sent the copy to Childers, and wrote myself to Lord
    Granville. On the 27th I received a memorandum from Chamberlain as
    to Lord Granville, Lord Derby, and Bismarck.

    'Chamberlain's memorandum was a fierce denunciation of the
    principles laid down in Northbrook's despatch No. 4, dated September
    13th, and received September 22nd.' [Footnote: Lord Northbrook had
    arrived in Egypt.]

Controversy now raged over Lord Northbrook's scheme, and added to the
difficulties of the Cabinet, which was divided on the question of
lowering or not lowering the rate of interest.

    'On 19th November the second matter mentioned was Northbrook's
    scheme, against which I fought hard.... I pointed out that early in
    April, when Mr. Gladstone had wished to borrow on the future value
    of the Canal shares, that proposal had not been accepted, and we
    laid down the principle that it was for the bondholders to make
    sacrifices. On July 3rd we had decided that the coupon must be
    "cut." On July 18th the whole Cabinet had taken the same view except
    Harcourt and the Chancellor, and four members--Childers, Spencer,
    Chamberlain, and I--had advocated distinct bankruptcy. On August 2nd
    we had seen Baring to lay our plans for bankruptcy. On August 5th
    Northbrook himself had proposed a reduction of the interest. On
    August 29th there had been a general agreement to the same effect.
    Northbrook's policy had enormously sent up Egyptian stocks. After my
    strong observations the opinions stood: Mr. Gladstone, Childers,
    Chamberlain, Harcourt, Trevelyan, and Dilke against Northbrook's
    scheme; for it, Lord Granville, the Chancellor, Hartington, Spencer,
    Kimberley, Derby, Carlingford, and Northbrook himself. All the Lords
    on one side, curiously enough, and all the Sirs and Mr.'s on the
    other; eight to six against us. But I noted: "Mr. Gladstone is so
    strong that we shall win." "As we did."' [Footnote: Letter from Sir
    Charles to Mr. Brett (afterwards Lord Esher):

    Local Government Board,
    Whitehall,
    _November_ 19_th_, 1884.

    '_My_ policy has always been bankruptcy and stand the shot, and if
    we had stuck to that we should have had no trouble with the Powers;
    but indiscretions have made that difficult. It is not pleasant to be
    called in too late. I quite agree in your general view, but how can
    the bondholder be got to make sacrifices without his consent?']

    'At the meeting of the Cabinet of December 2nd, Egyptian finance
    again came up. We were informed that Prince Bismarck suggested oral
    communications among ambassadors. For this Malet proposed Paris, and
    we replied Berlin.'

IV.

During this time the Government continued to waver as to the Soudan
expedition.

On June 21st

    'with regard to Gordon it was decided to wait ten days before
    settling anything, and to see whether we heard from him in reply to
    the silly questions which had been asked.'

On June 27th came the definitive news that Berber had fallen on May
26th. On July 5th

    'We discussed the Egyptian army of the future, and then the question
    of whether we should send an expedition to Khartoum, as to which we
    again could come to no decision; Mr. Gladstone still opposing.'

Dilke, backed by Chamberlain, was still pressing the military solution
which he favoured. On July 16th

    'Hartington on this occasion gave up the Berber-Suakim route, and
    pressed for a decision as to an immediate expedition by the Nile. He
    was supported by the Chancellor, Northbrook, Carlingford, and
    Dodson. Mr. Gladstone, Harcourt, and Childers opposed.

    'Chamberlain and I opposed a large expedition by the Nile, and
    supported a small expedition, under the control of the navy, with a
    body of picked men. Baring was called in about the police in Egypt,
    and his views in support of Nubar were approved. Nubar was to have
    his own way in the appointment of Inspectors of Police in Egypt.'

    'On July 22nd we found that Mr. Gladstone had again taken up Zebehr,
    and was anxious to send him to Khartoum in order to avoid a British
    expedition.

    'On July 25th there was a full Cabinet, Spencer being present, which
    first discussed the Conference and then the Gordon expedition, for
    which for the first time a large majority of the Cabinet pronounced.
    The issue was narrowed down to that of sending some sort of British
    force to or towards Dongola; and this was supported by Hartington,
    the Chancellor, Derby, Northbrook, Spencer, Carlingford, Dodson,
    Chamberlain, and me, while on the other side were only Mr.
    Gladstone, Harcourt, and Kimberley. Lord Granville said nothing. By
    the stoutness of their resistance the three for the moment prevailed
    over the nine.

    'On July 31st a storm was brewing about Gordon, and Harcourt went
    about declaring that the Government would break up upon the
    question. On the next day, August 1st, a way out of the difficulty
    was found in an agreement that we should ask for a small vote of
    credit, which we were to use or not as should be thought right
    later.'

It must be remembered that communications with Gordon were now
interrupted, though occasionally renewed, and this added to the
confusion.

    'On September 17th we received a telegram from Gordon which looked
    as though he were perfectly mad, although some of the other
    telegrams from him sent at the same time were sane enough.'

Since Parliament had risen and the Cabinet scattered, preparations had
been going on apace.

    'When Hartington came to me on September 15th he told me that he had
    already spent "£750,000 out of the £300,000" for the Gordon
    expedition.' [Footnote: 'On August 9th Lord Hartington again asked
    us for permission to embody militia or call out a portion of the
    First-Class Army Reserve.']

    'On October 4th Chamberlain had written strongly against Wolseley's
    great expedition, Harcourt was still opposing the whole thing. After
    this meeting of the Cabinet Northbrook wrote to Gordon a long letter
    based on the Cabinet decision. He stated that the expedition under
    Wolseley was not sent for the purpose of defeating the Mahdi, but
    only of enabling the Egyptian garrison of Khartoum, the civil
    employees and their families, with Gordon, to return to Egypt. He
    offered the Grand Cross of the Bath' (to Gordon) 'as from the Queen
    personally. He explained our refusal of Zebehr, and he suggested the
    placing at Khartoum of the Mudir of Dongola. It was easy, however,
    to write to Gordon, but it was not easy to get the letters to him;
    and we had to attempt even to send them by Tripoli and the desert.'
    [Footnote: As to the last communications with Gordon, see _Life of
    Granville_, vol. ii., pp. 397-399. Besides the authorities already
    quoted, the Parliamentary Papers Nos. 2, 6, 12, 13, and 25, for
    1884, may be referred to.]

That is the last detailed reference to Gordon in the Memoir until
February 5th, 1885, when the news of the fall of Khartoum reached
London. The matter had passed out of the hands of the Cabinet into those
of the soldiers.

This comment in the Diary may fitly end this chapter:

    'On February 20th I noted (conversation, I think, not printed), Lord
    Acton says of Gladstone: "Cannot make up my mind whether he is not
    wholly unconscious when working himself up to a change of position.
    After watching him do it, I think that he is so. He lives completely
    in what for the moment he chooses to believe."'



CHAPTER XXXVI

FRANCHISE AND REDISTRIBUTION

JULY TO DECEMBER, 1884.


In the summer of 1884 the Government Bill for extension of the franchise
had strong and even passionate support throughout the country; but that
policy threatened a breach with Lord Hartington, who in the opinion of
many was by prescriptive right Mr. Gladstone's successor. Still more
entangling were the difficulties in respect of Egypt, over which the
Government was so hopelessly divided that no coherent policy could be
pursued. Sir Charles notes that on July 18th Mr. Gladstone,

    'who had the greatest abhorrence for City dinners, proposed the
    extinction of the Lord Mayor's ministerial banquet; the fact being
    that the Government of London Bill and the failure to send an
    expedition to Khartoum had made the Ministry so unpopular in the
    City that he did not think it wise to subject himself to the torture
    which such banquets are to him.'

    'The Tory game,' Sir Charles wrote on May 24th, 1884, to his agent,
    'is to delay the franchise until they have upset us upon Egypt,
    before the Franchise Bill has reached the Lords.' [Footnote: This
    letter is also quoted in Chapter XXXIV.]

When the Franchise Bill went up to the Lords in the first week of July,
it was rejected for a reasoned amendment which declined to alter the
franchise except as part of a scheme dealing with redistribution of
seats.

    'On July 5th there was a Cabinet to consider what was called the
    crisis--our relations with the House of Lords over the franchise,
    and Spencer was present.... The question to be considered was that
    of dissolution or an autumn Session. Lord Granville, Hartington, and
    Lord Derby were for an immediate dissolution on the old franchise,
    which was at once negatived.'

    'On June 21st there was mentioned the attitude of the House of
    Lords. Lord Granville said something in favour of life peerages. I
    asked Chamberlain whether he thought that it was seriously meant,
    and writing passed between us in which he replied: "Serious, I
    think"; to which I answered: "You won't have it, will you?" Answer:
    "No."'

    'On July 7th Mr. Gladstone explained to me his plan for dealing with
    the House of Lords, which was not so objectionable to me as the
    schemes known as "Reform of the House of Lords." It was to imitate
    the French constitution, and in cases of difference to make the two
    Houses sit in Congress and vote together. From the practical point
    of view it would be as difficult to carry as the abolition of the
    House of Lords, and if carried would not be of much use to the
    Liberal party except on occasions when their majority was absolutely
    overwhelming.

    'On July 8th offers of compromise came to us from the Lords, but
    they would not offer terms which we could accept. We decided to
    propose to them a solemn resolution by both Houses pledging us to
    redistribution. This they refused.'

The extent of real agreement which existed between the two sides had not
yet been divined; and it was Sir Charles who set on foot the work which
finally averted conflict.

    'Early in July I began to take time by the forelock by preparing,
    without instructions from the Cabinet, a Redistribution scheme; and
    the first memoranda drawn up by Sir John Lambert for my use were
    written in that month, although it was not till after Parliament had
    separated for the recess that we got seriously to work. In the
    evening of July 14th Mr. Gladstone broached to me his views on
    Redistribution, and we practically hatched the Bill.'

Party feeling ran high, and the Queen intervened.

    'On July 9th in the morning Sir Henry Ponsonby came up to see the
    Duke of Richmond and some of us, and tried to settle the deadlock,
    but failed.... The Cabinet decided that Chamberlain must not take
    the chair at a meeting at the Agricultural Hall to denounce the
    House of Lords.'

Liberals in general were, however, speaking out, and at a Cabinet a week
later they had 'some fun with Hartington concerning his Lancashire
meetings, with strong resolutions directed against the House of Lords
for doing that which he privately approved.' Also, there was a
tremendous demonstration in the Metropolis.

    'On July 21st I saw the Franchise Demonstration on this day from the
    Speaker's window, the procession passing from three till six.'

    'After the Cabinet on August 5th we congratulated Chamberlain upon
    his Birmingham franchise meeting, and he told us that Birmingham was
    "thirsting for the blood of the Lords"--saying to Bright: "You are
    too lenient with them. We won't stand them any longer." I told him
    that as the _Times_ had said that he was too violent, I had no doubt
    the Queen would say so also, to which he replied: "Probably, and if
    she does I shall most likely ... deny her right to criticise my
    speeches, although she may, if she likes, dismiss me, in which case
    I will lead an agitation against the Lords in the country." I
    answered: "Yes, but you cannot go alone in such a case, and
    therefore should not appear to contemplate doing so." He replied: "I
    am not going, but perhaps she can dismiss me. What then? I am not
    going to tie my tongue." I retorted: "In that case it would surely
    be even more essential than usual that I should go too." He closed
    the matter by saying: "If it really arose out of the agitation
    against the Lords and the interference of the Crown with the liberty
    of speech of ministers, I do not see how a Radical could stay in.
    Remember, I have observed Mr. Gladstone's limits. I have said
    nothing about the future; only denounced past action."'

Mr. Chamberlain's outside agitation coincided with Sir Charles's work
towards a peaceful solution. On August 9th

    'A Committee of the Cabinet was appointed to deal with
    Redistribution--to consist of Hartington, Kimberley, Childers,
    Chamberlain, and me, with the addition of Lefevre. They forgot
    James, who was anxious to be on it, [Footnote: Sir Charles wrote to
    Sir Henry James on the matter, and received a reply admitting that
    he had been "slightly touched" by the omission of his name, but
    saying that he would still give his services.] but I soon got rid of
    the Committee and went on by myself with Lambert.'

Parliament was prorogued on August 14th, but very soon compromise was in
the air.

    'On August 21st and 22nd I had interviews with Hartington at his
    wish, nominally to talk over the sending of Wolseley to Egypt, but
    really to see what I thought of a compromise with the Lords on the
    basis of Lord Cowper's letter in the _Times_--introduction of the
    Redistribution Bill in October.'

The situation was profoundly modified by speeches from Lord Salisbury,
which made it clear that the plan "hatched" between Mr. Gladstone and
Sir Charles was not likely to have any terrors for him. Lord Kimberley
wrote in September:

    'Now that Salisbury is going in for electoral districts, it will
    become a sort of open competition which party can go furthest. I
    should not be surprised if he were to trump us by proposing to
    abolish the House of Lords.'

    'I had now decided to agree with Lord Salisbury in advance, and
    divide the counties into single-member districts if Mr. Gladstone
    would let me; and Trevelyan, to whom I had broached my scheme,
    wrote: "I very much approve of the scheme of dividing counties. I
    hope to goodness you will be able to carry it out."'

The original draft, completed on September 18th, followed the lines laid
down in consultation with Mr. Gladstone. The object of obtaining fair
representation, and doing away with over-representation of vested
interests, was thus attacked and began with two great industrial
centres.

The scheme for England treated Lancashire and Yorkshire as urban
throughout, and divided them into single-member districts; but the
remaining 'rural' counties of England were divided into two-member
districts. Thus, 'the net increase of county members was 53.' Boroughs
which had less than 10,000 inhabitants (53 in all) were merged into the
counties; those with a population of between 10,000 and under 40,000,
which had two members, lost one. Thus, having added to the under-
represented, Sir Charles took from the over-represented, and adds: 'this
gave us 33 more seats.' Sir Charles in a secret memorandum added that he
thought the fixing of so low a limit as 10,000 showed 'an altogether
indefensible tenderness to vested interests.' 'I should carry the loss
of one member far higher than the 40,000 line adopted, and should take
away one member up to the point at which I began to give two' to a new
constituency. Dilke was in favour of carrying merger of small boroughs
to a greater extent than was adopted in the Act.

    'Summing up, on our English borough scheme,' he said, 'I am struck
    by its _extreme_ timidity. I do not see how it is to stand the
    revolutionary criticism of Lord Salisbury.' 'My plan for the
    Metropolis gave to it its legitimate proportion of members: 55 in
    all.... These figures should be compared with 22--the previous
    number.'

As to Ireland, he admitted that 'if you take its population as a whole
it was over-represented in our plan; yet the difference in favour of
Ireland is very small; moreover, Wales is vastly better treated than
Ireland.' Lord Spencer 'thought there would be a howl from Belfast,' and
wished for the representation of minorities. 'But the Irish Government
made no practical proposal,' and the whole of this intricate business
was left almost entirely to Sir Charles.

    'On September 29th Mr. Gladstone wrote at length conveying his
    general approval of my plan, and stating that he did not intend to
    "handle" the Bill in the House of Commons; and so wished to defer to
    the opinions of his colleagues. He gave me leave to add 12 members
    to the House for Scotland, instead of taking the 12 from England;
    and he congratulated me upon the "wonderful progress" which I had
    made.... On the same day on which I had received Mr. Gladstone's
    letter I saw one from Sir Henry Ponsonby to Mr. Gladstone with Mr.
    Gladstone's reply. Sir Henry Ponsonby made proposals.... Mr.
    Gladstone had refused both for the present; the former with scorn
    and the latter with argument. [Footnote: The first was "that the
    Lords should read the Franchise Bill a second time, and then pass a
    resolution declaring that they would go into Committee as soon as
    the Redistribution Bill reached them."]

    'On September 30th further letters were circulated, one from Sir
    Henry Ponsonby on the 27th, in which he said that the reform of the
    House of Lords must in any case come, but must come later, and that
    he would see the leaders of the Opposition about the second
    suggestion of his previous letter as it had not been absolutely
    refused (the suggestion being that the Lords should provide in the
    Franchise Bill that it should come into force on January 1st, 1886,
    unless the Redistribution Bill were sooner passed).

    'On October 4th Hartington made a speech which produced a storm upon
    this subject of Compromise as to Reform.' (He proposed that the
    Lords should pass the Franchise Bill 'after seeing the conditions of
    the Redistribution Bill and satisfying themselves that they were
    fair.') 'But Mr. Gladstone went with Chamberlain and myself against
    any compromise.'

Mr. Chamberlain put the point that no bargain could be considered unless
the Franchise Bill were first passed without conditions very plainly in
a speech on October 7th, and next day at the Cabinet

    'Mr. Gladstone expressed his approval of Chamberlain's speech of the
    previous night, and attacked Hartington for his earlier one. It
    seemed to me that at this moment Lord Salisbury might have caught
    Hartington by offering the compromise which Hartington had
    suggested.... I refused to discuss Redistribution with the Cabinet,
    telling Chamberlain that they would "drive me wild with little
    peddling points."'

The appreciation of Sir Charles's competence was general. It was not
limited to Parliament, and he met the expression of it when he appeared
on the platform in three great centres of the Lancashire industrial
democracy.

    'On Tuesday, October 14th, I spoke at Oldham, and on October 15th at
    the Free Trade Hall, Manchester, and on the 16th at Stockport. I had
    a wonderful reception at all these meetings, but especially at the
    Manchester meeting.'

Sir Charles's personal record served the party well, for the Tory cry
was that the Liberals wished to preserve the inequalities of the
existing divisions. To this he answered by appealing to the projects
which he had introduced year after year, and recalling their reception
from the Tory Government:

    'I have preached for redistribution in the desert, I have advocated
    it unceasingly for years, I have been a bore upon it in Parliament
    and out; even the franchise is no less important in my eyes as being
    that which I have a dozen times called "the necessary first step to
    a complete redistribution" than in and for itself. Redistribution
    is, however, if possible, of even more tremendous difficulty than
    importance. It offers a greater hold than any other subject to the
    arts of blocking and delay.' [Footnote: October 14th, at Oldham.]

    'On October 17th Spencer reported from Balmoral that the Queen was
    much pleased with her "Speech"; but not so with other people's
    speeches, being angry at the violence of the language used.'

Lord Salisbury had declared that if Birmingham was going to march on
London, he hoped Mr. Chamberlain would head the procession and get his
head broken for his pains. Mr. Chamberlain retorted that he would gladly
head the procession if Lord Salisbury would promise to come and meet it,
and then, if his own head were broken, 'it should be broken in very good
company.' On October 21st

    'I was sent for by Mr. Gladstone about Chamberlain's speech, and
    wrote to Chamberlain to ask him if he could tone it down a
    little.... On October 22nd at the Cabinet Chamberlain told me that
    he was willing to adopt the words of my letter in explanation of his
    speech.'

He agreed to write for publication a letter to one of his Quaker
constituents; but it was judged insufficient.

    'On October 28th Mr. Gladstone wrote to me: "I thought you and I
    were perfectly agreed about the unfortunate expressions in
    Chamberlain's speech ... and in the expectation that his letter ...
    would fully meet the case. I own that in my opinion it did not come
    up to the mark. All I had really wished was a note conceived in the
    same spirit as that in which he withdrew the 'jackal' because it
    gave offence. Can nothing more be done? You saw a recent letter of
    mine in defence, written when I thought the objections taken not to
    be just. I am precluded from writing any such letter with the facts
    as they now stand, but I hope that you may be able to bring them to
    the standard of our reasonable expectations." I sent this letter to
    Chamberlain, as was intended, with a note from me to say that it was
    clear that the Queen had written Mr. Gladstone a second letter about
    the matter, and asked whether I should say that I thought
    Chamberlain's letter met the case; and Chamberlain replied: "Yes. I
    cannot and _will not_ do more." This I communicated to Mr.
    Gladstone. Randolph Churchill had taken the matter up. He accused
    Chamberlain of having advocated violence, and was loudly
    threatening, even to me, that there should be "somebody killed at
    Birmingham next time." Chamberlain told me that Randolph had tried
    to get up a march against Highbury on the part of the Birmingham
    Tory roughs; but they were still on speaking terms, and often
    chatting together at the smoking-room at the House. On the same day,
    the 28th, late in the evening Mr. Gladstone sent for me about the
    Chamberlain matter, and said of the Queen: "She not only attacks him
    but me through him, and says I pay a great deal too much attention
    to him." When Chamberlain and I went home, as we almost always did,
    together in one cab, he broke out, evidently much worried and
    excited, against Mr. Gladstone.

    'Next day I warned Mr. Gladstone that it would not take much to make
    a serious row.'

On October 15th Sir Charles wrote to Sir M. Grant Duff that he expected
'they would sit till February, and send the Bill up a third time.' On
October 24th Mr. Gladstone was inclined to resign at the second
rejection, which was taken for a certainty. But as to the final issue,
it was becoming daily clearer that the Commons were going to win against
the Lords. Even in the home counties Liberalism had become aggressive.

    'October 24th.--Franchise and Redistribution seemed well in view
    when I discovered on this day that Nathaniel Rothschild, who had
    lately looked on Buckinghamshire as his own, was now down on his
    knees to Carrington about it.' Work now began on the details of the
    draft Bill.

    'On October 25th there was a full meeting of my Committee of the
    Cabinet on Redistribution. I took the chair, and Hartington,
    Kimberley, Childers, Chamberlain, James, and Lefevre, sat round the
    table. I got my own way in everything, and succeeded in raising the
    10,000 limit of merger to 15,000. Mr. Gladstone, who disliked the
    change, and who was the strongest Conservative living upon the
    subject, yielded to it on the same night by letter.'

Sir Charles now threw himself into getting as big a measure as possible
by a 'truce of God' between the parties.

    'On October 29th Mr. Gladstone told me that Lord Carnarvon had
    proposed to him that they should meet in order to come to some
    conclusion about Redistribution. He had declined, but had tried,
    through Sir Erskine May, to induce the Tories to appoint a Committee
    of their own to draw up a scheme. I saw Sir Erskine May and told him
    to tell Northcote that I would accept, and press the acceptance of,
    any scheme not obviously unfair, and not containing minority
    representation, which I should be unable to carry.'

    'On October 31st there was a Cabinet which was Trevelyan's first,
    and very glad he and his wife were to escape from Ireland,
    [Footnote: The Chief Secretaryship was offered to Mr. Shaw Lefevre,
    who refused on the same ground as had previously been taken by Sir
    Charles. Without Cabinet rank he was not prepared to accept it. Sir
    Henry Campbell-Bannerman was then appointed. Mr. Lefevre entered the
    Cabinet as Postmaster-General after the death of Mr. Fawcett, which
    occurred on November 6th, 1884.] which had aged him dreadfully....
    On the question of Reform Hartington told us that he had had several
    interviews with Sir Michael Beach, who had expressly stated that he
    was not authorized by his party to make suggestions, but had
    proposed total merger up to 25,000, and loss of the second seat up
    to 80,000. I, to clinch the matter, at once volunteered to draw up a
    scheme on this basis.'

    'James called my attention to some communications in the
    Conservative newspapers, stating that he had it on very high
    authority (which with James always meant Randolph Churchill) that
    the extremely large schemes hinted at were Lord Salisbury's, and
    would be supported by the whole Conservative party; but these
    schemes suggested minority-representation in urban districts, with
    single-member constituencies in counties; or, as Chamberlain said,
    "Tory minority represented in towns, and Liberal minority
    extinguished in county." Lord Salisbury, however, was only keeping
    his friends in good humour with minority-representation. In the
    evening Randolph Churchill sent me a message that he wished to have
    a conference with me about Redistribution, and by an arrangement
    made through Sir Erskine May, we met in the Office of the Serjeant-
    at-Arms. He then told me that Beach's scheme was his, and that he
    was convinced that an agreement might be come to on those lines. I
    assured him of my warm support for a large scheme. I think this was
    the occasion (about this time) when Randolph, who was thinking of
    going to India, vented his anger as to Salisbury. Winston Churchill
    told me in March, 1901, that his father had come to terms with
    Salisbury as to the future Tory Government before he started for
    India. I told him this could not be, as the possibility of forming
    one depended on the Irish, and that Lord Salisbury could not at this
    early date have agreed to buy them by the promises of (1) Enquiry
    into Spencer's police, (2) no Coercion, (3) a Viceroy personally
    favourable to Home Rule.

    'In the evening I dined with the Duchess of Manchester to meet the
    Dufferins, on which occasion Dufferin shone, but his health and
    spirits were now beginning to decline. Hartington was at the dinner,
    and told me that he had had a fresh interview with Beach, this time
    at his (Hartington's) request.

    'On Saturday, November 1st, I had some correspondence with
    Hartington about these interviews, of which I warmly approved; and
    on the 3rd Hartington wrote to me that he was going to see Beach
    again that day, and I placed all my scheme before him for
    communication to the Conservative front bench.'

Publicly there was war.

    'On November 4th was the laying of the foundation-stone of the
    National Liberal Club, at which Harcourt, after saying that he was a
    moderate politician, compared the House of Lords to Sodom and
    Gomorrah.'

But privately

    'on this day Hartington again saw Beach, and afterwards
    Churchill.... Beach said that Lord Salisbury unreservedly accepted
    the Queen's suggestion for a meeting of the leaders.... Conferences
    went on, but all through the month Beach declined to take a
    "representative character, or negotiate in such a way as would
    commit his party"--to use Hartington's words. Hartington now thought
    "Mr. Gladstone would be able either to come to terms with Lord
    Salisbury or to put him completely in the wrong." Hartington added:
    "Beach very much regrets the Lowther and John Manners speeches,"'

and probably Lord Hartington expressed regret for Sir William Harcourt's
references to Sodom and Gomorrah.

    'On the 6th there was a meeting of my Committee on Redistribution to
    consider Beach's proposals, at which I took the chair, but did
    little else, and left all the talking to the others, and their view
    came to this--that they were quite willing to agree to the Tory
    revolutionary scheme, provided the Tories would take the odium with
    the House of Commons of proposing it.'

    'On November 7th the Cabinet decided that I should be joined to
    Hartington as recognized plenipotentiary.'

On the 10th

    'I proposed and Mr. Gladstone agreed to write to Lord Salisbury
    "distinctly accepting the Queen's offers." On November 11th we
    confirmed our decisions at the last Cabinet as to completely taking
    away from Lord Salisbury the power of saying that he had accepted
    and we declined the Queen's proposals, by unreservedly supporting
    Mr. Gladstone's letter to the Queen.'

On November 15th Mr. Gladstone informed the Cabinet that the Lords were
unyielding.

    'Northcote had taken tea with him on the previous evening. The Lords
    would not part with the Franchise Bill till the Redistribution Bill
    was in their House. As regarded Lord Salisbury and Sir Stafford
    Northcote, Mr. Gladstone considered the door absolutely closed, but
    he was informed that the Duke of Richmond and Lord Cairns did not
    agree with the leaders. We then drew up a statement to be made on
    Monday, November 17th, in both Houses of Parliament as to the steps
    we had taken to produce conciliation, Harcourt saying: "This is the
    apple-woman spitting on her old apples and shining 'em up!"--the
    fact being that it was only done to put the Lords in the wrong.'

    'On Monday, November 17th, when I returned from Sandringham, I had
    to see Lord Rowton, who had been sent to me by the Prince of Wales
    to try and produce a settlement of the Redistribution difficulty,
    but we only sat and smiled at one another; he saying that he had
    come because he had been told to come, and I saying that I had
    nothing new to tell him, for Lord Salisbury knew all we had to say.'

    'On November 19th there was a Cabinet. The first matter mentioned
    was the arrangement with the Conservatives for an interview, and at
    four o'clock on this day, November 19th, occurred the first meeting
    of the parties: an interview between Lord Salisbury and Sir Stafford
    Northcote on the one side, and Mr. Gladstone and Lord Granville on
    the other. Lord Salisbury had written to me about it already, and
    had privately seen my papers the previous day at the Commission, and
    had asked me a great number of questions, and I had given him my
    division of the Metropolis and of Lancashire at his wish, and
    received from him the following note: "I do not know whether it will
    be possible to discuss the application of the one-member principle
    to the Counties and the Metropolitan Constituencies and the suburbs
    of the larger towns." The hesitating way in which he asked shows
    that we might have avoided the single-members had we fought upon the
    point. But, as I liked them myself, I fought the other way, against
    Mr. Gladstone. At the interview between the leaders of the two
    parties and the two Houses it was merely decided that the real
    interview should take place on Saturday, November 22nd, at noon
    between the two Conservative chiefs and Mr. Gladstone, Lord
    Hartington, and me, Lord Granville being left out as knowing nothing
    of the subject. On November 21st I continued my private conference
    with Lord Salisbury at the Royal Commission, and we settled who the
    Boundary Commissioners should be. On Saturday, November 22nd, I had
    a conference with Chamberlain before going to the meeting with Lord
    Salisbury. Chamberlain was in favour of two-member seats as against
    single members, especially for boroughs. He was as clear as was Lord
    Salisbury that the single-member system would damage the Liberal
    party in the Metropolis.

    'In the afternoon the Conference took place, and there never was so
    friendly and pleasant a meeting. I fully described it in three
    letters to Chamberlain, in which I said, among other things: "It
    looks as though Lord Salisbury is really anxious that we should pass
    our Bill." No memorandum on this day passed in writing, and the
    written compact was concluded between Lord Salisbury and me only on
    November 28th. The meeting of the 22nd was known at the time as the
    Downing Street meeting; and the other as "the Arlington Street
    compact."

    'On Sunday, November 23rd, Lord Salisbury wrote to me a letter which
    I sent on to Mr. Gladstone and which he kept. Mr. Gladstone replied
    on the same day undertaking to move the adjournment of the House for
    a week, and showing that he was not at all sure that Lord Salisbury,
    having got from us the whole of our scheme and given us nothing in
    writing which was worth anything, did not mean to sell us.
    Chamberlain wrote on the same day in reply to my letters, "I cannot
    make head or tail of Salisbury. He appears to be swallowing every
    word that he has ever written or spoken about Redistribution.... I
    wonder if he will carry his party with him.... On the whole, you
    seem to be doing very well."'

Discussion now went on by correspondence between Sir Charles and Lord
Salisbury, and it touched subjects which might easily have led to
friction. Lord Salisbury proposed to create a number of urban
constituencies by grouping; his plan being to get the small towns taken
out of rural districts which he looked upon as otherwise Conservative,
and to group them with small manufacturing boroughs:

    'I was aghast at this suggestion, because it was a very difficult
    thing, in a Parliamentary sense, to create a few such groups in
    England; and if the thing was to be carried far and not confined to
    a few cases only it would entirely have destroyed the whole of the
    work that we had done, because all the counties would have had their
    numbers altered. I therefore fought stoutly for my own scheme, which
    I succeeded in carrying almost untouched. Lord Salisbury's letter
    crossed one from me to him in which, after Mr. Gladstone's leave
    (conveyed in the words "I see no objection to sending him this
    excellent and succinct paper marked Secret"), I had communicated to
    Lord Salisbury my views and the grounds on which they were based.'

    'On the 26th, at four o'clock, we met at Downing Street, all five
    being present.... Lord Salisbury, yielding to my reasoning, gave up
    grouping,' on the understanding that the Boundary Commissioners were
    'to keep the urban patches as far as possible by themselves....
    Ultimately it was settled that single-member districts should be
    universal in counties, and that we should leave open for the present
    the question of how far it should be applied to boroughs.'

Lord Salisbury wished to retain the minority clause in places where he
thought it had worked well, but he did not ask for it in Birmingham and
Glasgow. 'All this showed great indecision,' says Sir Charles, and he
observes that 'Lord Salisbury did not seem to me thoroughly to
understand his subject.' It is probable, at all events, that he was no
match on the details either for Sir Charles or for Mr. Gladstone, who,
after the Conference, thus summed up his impressions in a letter dated
November 26th:

    'My Dear Dilke,

    'I send you herewith for your consideration a first sketch which I
    have made of a possible communication to-morrow after the Cabinet
    from us to the Legates of the opposite party. I think that if the
    Cabinet make it an _ultimatum_ we should be safe with it. There was
    a careful abstention to-day on their side from anything beyond
    praising this or that, and at the outset they spoke of the
    one-member system for boroughs "with exceptions" as what they
    desired.

    'Yours sincerely,

    'W. E. Gladstone.'

    'Mr. Gladstone's memorandum was on my lines. On the next morning,
    November 27th, Mr. Gladstone, Lord Granville, Hartington, I, and
    Chamberlain met before the Cabinet at 11 o'clock, and kept the
    Cabinet waiting, the Cabinet having been called for twelve, and
    Redistribution alone being considered at it. I announced at the
    Cabinet that the Tories proposed and we accepted single-member
    districts universally in counties, boundaries to be drawn by a
    commission who were to separate urban from rural as far as possible,
    without grouping and without creating constituencies of utterly
    eccentric shape. The names of the commissioners had been settled,
    and both sides were pledged to accept their proposals, unless the
    two sides agreed to differ from them. [Footnote: At the meeting of
    the 26th 'it was agreed that the Boundary Commissioners should
    consist of those gentlemen who had been advising me.']

    'The Tories proposed single-member districts almost everywhere in
    boroughs, and only positively named one exception--the City of
    London--but were evidently prepared to make some exceptions. They
    made our agreement on this point the condition of passing the
    Franchise Bill, of giving up the decrease of the Irish members from
    103 to 100 which they urged, of giving up all forms of minority
    vote, and of giving up grouping. My own opinion and that of the
    Prime Minister were in favour of agreement. Hartington, who much
    disliked what he thought would be the extinction of the Whigs by an
    omnipresent caucus for candidates' selection, was hostile to the
    single-member system. I pointed out that we already proposed in our
    amended scheme 120 single-member borough seats out of 284 borough
    seats. We had thrown out to the Tories a question as to whether they
    would accept, say, 184 single-borough seats, and give us, say, not
    more than 100 for double-member seats; or, if they liked, two-thirds
    and one-third; and they did not positively decline this suggestion.
    Mr. Gladstone proposed to "save from compulsory division those urban
    constituencies, not Metropolitan, which, now possessing dual
    representation, are to have their representation neither increased
    nor diminished." (This was the ultimate agreement.) Also, that
    "cities and towns which are to receive four members and upwards, ten
    in number, should have one central or principal area set apart with
    two members." (This was purely personal on Mr. Gladstone's part and
    was universally rejected.)

    'I argued warmly in favour of supporting Lord Salisbury's scheme
    (upon which he and I were absolutely agreed), I being delighted at
    having got seven more members for the Metropolis than were given by
    my scheme in its last form after the Cabinet had cut it down. In
    order to secure Chamberlain's support I told him "I might be able to
    save a seat for you and give the extended Birmingham seven if you
    liked to make that a condition, but in that case I must get one
    somewhere for Glasgow also out of the rest of Scotland, which is
    skinning flints."

    'The reception of our proposals by the Cabinet, to which Grosvenor'
    (the Chief Whip) 'had been called in, was not altogether favourable.
    Childers talked about resigning, and Grosvenor was most hostile. We
    had the enormous advantage, however, that Chamberlain and I and Mr.
    Gladstone were the only three people who understood the subject, so
    that the others were unable to fight except in the form known as
    swearing at large. I was sent off from the Cabinet to Lord Salisbury
    to tell him that we could agree. At three o'clock we had a further
    conference with the Conservative leaders, and came to an agreement
    on my base, Chamberlain, who was somewhat hostile, yielding to me, I
    going in and out to him, for he was at Downing Street in another
    room.'

Next day memoranda were exchanged between the parties to the Conference,
and Mr. Gladstone was pledged to stand by the heads set down in his
memoranda, and accept no provision outside of these without Sir Stafford
Northcote's agreement. One detail is of interest as illustrating Mr.
Gladstone's inherited Conservatism, which comes out all through these
negotiations.

    'Mr. Gladstone in sending this (memorandum) to me said: "You will
    see that Salisbury stands upon our printed statement as to
    Universities." Mr. Gladstone, knowing that I was strongly opposed to
    University representation, took this matter upon himself. He
    proposed a more general form of words in place of Lord Salisbury's
    pledge against new matters, and, as for Universities, wrote: "Assure
    Salisbury that I personally will _bind_ myself out and out to this
    proposition."'

    'In the afternoon I went to Lord Salisbury to settle the terms of
    agreement, and had to go four times from him to Mr. Gladstone, and
    four times back again, before we finished....

    'The next day I lunched with Mr. Gladstone to meet Miss Mary
    Anderson, the actress, and Princess Louise. I received at lunch a
    letter from Lord Salisbury making a few reservations ... none of
    them difficult of acceptance.

    'On December 2nd I got a note from Harcourt--to ask what I had been
    doing with the British Constitution in his absence. On December 8th
    I had a serious grumble from Spencer from Dublin as to my having
    settled with Salisbury who were to be the Irish Commissioners, and
    only asked the Irish Government after the thing was done. I had
    undoubtedly been wrong, and can only say that Spencer let me off
    cheaply....'

Sir Charles's holiday in the South of France, whither he went on
December 17th, was broken by copies of a correspondence between Lord
Spencer and Lord Salisbury, the latter writing 'with much sound and
fury' on the question of another Conservative Boundary Commissioner for
Ireland. 'Lord Salisbury had always been so extremely soft and sweet to
me that it was a revelation to find him writing to Spencer in the style
of Harcourt or of Chamberlain when in a passion.'

    'Sir Stafford Northcote also wrote to me upon the subject, and
    passing on to Scotland in his letter, added, "It is, I think,
    understood that we may have a free fight over the grouping of Scotch
    boroughs." This question of the Scotch boroughs was afterwards
    referred to me and Charles Dalrymple (M.P. for Buteshire), and I
    gave Dalrymple one or two changes that he wanted, which, I think,
    did not matter.'

Such difficulties were few and subordinate. The scheme was settled in
principle, for after the Arlington Street compact

    'I wrote the letter to the Boundary Commissioners the same night,
    and after I had signed their instructions on December 5th I had a
    pause in my Redistribution work for some time.'

But at the end of December Lord Hartington wrote:

    'I think it will take two of us all our time to work the Bill
    through; and you know so much more about it than anybody else that
    you must necessarily take the greatest share of the details';

and ended with an invitation to Sir Charles to stay at Hardwick to do
some preliminary work on the measure.




CHAPTER XXXVII

FOREIGN AFFAIRS IN 1884

Mrs. Mark Patterson


I.

During 1884 'I warned Lord Granville, Mr. Gladstone, Fitzmaurice, and
Childers, that I should not in future be able to speak on foreign
affairs on account of the terrible work of the Redistribution Bill, and
of the Royal Commission,' for 'I was now so busy with the preparation
for working the Redistribution Bill through the House, and with the
Report of the Royal Commission, that I objected to receiving Foreign
Office papers not sent to other members of the Cabinet ... but Lord
Granville insisted that I should still see them, and circulated a letter
to that effect.'

During 1884 and 1885 Foreign Office work was not only exacting, but was
connected with acute disagreements in the Ministry itself. It has been
seen how closely Sir Charles was occupied with the Egyptian question,
and how constantly he found himself opposed to Lord Hartington in his
views of policy. Moreover, out of the Egyptian difficulty there sprang a
general divergence from France, and this led to action by France in
various quarters of the globe calculated to offend British
susceptibilities and to injure British prestige. Sir Charles, friend of
France as he was, had been strong for resenting and resisting such
action, and this attitude had brought him into conflict with those who
on the whole had supported him in Egyptian matters. A new factor was now
introduced. Bismarck had previously been content to urge on the French
in their colonization policy, but in 1884 the German Chancellor, who in
1883 had been working out his schemes of national insurance, found his
hand forced by the Colonial party, and, in view of the coming German
elections, could no longer afford to ignore them. Bismarck, 'contrary to
his conviction and his will,' said Lord Ampthill, accepted a policy of
colonization, which had the secondary effect of harassing and
humiliating the British Liberal Administration. [Footnote: _Life of
Granville_, vol. ii., p. 355.] Sir Charles, who realized that every such
annexation meant the exclusion of British trade from an actual or
potential market, fought for strong British action, but he fought
against the older Liberals of the Cabinet. Again and again the Radical
leaders were overborne by Mr. Gladstone.

The German Government had demanded protection for a German firm of
traders who had established themselves in the territory of Angra
Pequena, on the west coast of Africa, 280 miles south of Walfisch Bay.
Lord Granville, after considerable delays, caused chiefly by the
necessity of consulting the Colonial Office, which in its turn had to
consult the Cape Government, where a change of Ministry was impending,
objected to the declaration of a German protectorate.

    'June 14th, 1884.--At a Cabinet at Lord Granville's house on
    Conference.... Waddington waiting in another room.

    'H. Bismarck was also in the house, and had been very rude to Lord
    Granville about Angra Pequena, which was mentioned to the Cabinet,
    which would do nothing.

    'June 2lth--... Angra Pequena was mentioned, and it was decided that
    Bismarck, who was greatly irritated with the Government, was to have
    all he wanted.

    'On September 22nd Chamberlain came to me on his return from abroad.
    He told me that H. Bismarck had told him that the German Chancellor
    was very angry at having had no answer to a full statement of German
    views as to Angra Pequena and other colonial matters, which had been
    sent to Lord Granville on August 30th, and he was astonished to
    learn that the Cabinet had not seen his letter....

    'On the 27th Lord Granville had in the meantime written: "I will
    send you my letter and Bismarck's answer, but I do not wish the
    correspondence to be mentioned.... My only excuse, but a good one,
    for acting merely as a medium between the German Government and the
    Colonial Office, was that I had continually the most positive
    assurances in London, and still more in Berlin, that Bismarck was
    dead against German colonization--as he _was_."' [Footnote: On this
    chapter of African history, see _Life of Granville_, vol. ii., chap.
    x., _passim_.]

This was the first of a series of instances in which, to Sir Charles's
great disgust, the British Foreign and Colonial Offices 'lay down to
Germany.'

Since the annexation of part of New Guinea by Queensland had been
disavowed in April, 1883, all Australia was vehemently concerned over
the ultimate fate of this territory, and pressed the home Government to
forestall other Powers by occupying it.

    'June 27th we discussed New Guinea, as to which Lord Derby was
    getting into serious trouble.

    'On July 5th there was a Cabinet called to consider what was called
    the "crisis"--our relation with the House of Lords over the
    Franchise. But so peculiar is the British Empire that, although the
    Cabinet was called upon this question, we immediately proceeded to
    consider for the greater portion of the day matters in Sumatra, in
    the Malay Archipelago, and the Pacific, and ... the affairs of New
    Guinea and so forth. Harcourt, Lord Selborne, and Mr. Gladstone
    violently opposed the occupation of New Guinea--Harcourt and Mr.
    Gladstone on anti-imperialistic grounds, and Lord Selborne on
    grounds connected with the protection of the aborigines against the
    rapacity and violence of the Queensland settlers. Hartington, Lord
    Granville, Derby, Kimberley, Chamberlain, and I, took the Australian
    view. The matter was adjourned, as matters always are adjourned when
    the Prime Minister is against the Cabinet.'

    'August 6th.--We then attacked New Guinea, most of us wanting
    annexation, some protectorate, and decided on the latter to please
    the Chancellor and Mr. Gladstone.'

    'August 9th.--We first discussed German colonies in the South Seas.
    Bismarck had seized North New Guinea, and we decided to stick to the
    long peninsula which faces both north and south.'

Bismarck's immediate answer was to annex, not only the north coast, but
what is now called the Bismarck Archipelago.

    'October 4th.--Next came New Guinea. Were we to insist, as we had
    done previously, on keeping the Germans off the north coast of the
    long eastern peninsula? The previous decision was reversed. The
    Cabinet, however, vetoed a suggestion for the joint commission with
    Germany as to land claims in the Pacific Islands being allowed to
    meddle in New Guinea. We then decided to annex one quarter, and
    several members of the Cabinet expressed a hope that _this time_ the
    thing would "really be done."' [Footnote: A useful sketch of these
    events has recently appeared in the paper read before the Royal
    Geographical Society by Sir Everard Im Thurn, K.C.M.G. See
    _Journal_, vol. xlv., No. 5, April, 1915.]

These instances did not stand alone. Two native chiefs in the Cameroons
had so far back as 1882 proposed to be taken under British protection,
and Sir Charles had pressed acceptance of their offer. The matter had
been discussed in the Cabinet, and Lord Derby and Lord Granville were
still debating what should be done, when a German expedition seized the
territory.

    'On September 18th I received from Chamberlain a letter from
    Leipsic, in which he said: "The Cameroons! It is enough to make one
    sick. As you say, we decided to assume the protectorate eighteen
    months ago, and I thought it was all settled. If the Board of Trade
    or Local Government Board managed their business after the fashion
    of the Foreign Office and Colonial Office, you and I would deserve
    to be hung."'

Those who thought with Sir Charles felt considerable anxiety about
possibilities on the East Coast of Africa. The Cameroons were lost, but
a protectorate over Zanzibar had been offered, and Zanzibar was the
outlet for an important trading district, which the forward party
thought of securing. The Prime Minister was opposed to all such schemes.
'On December 14th Mr. Gladstone broke out against the proposed
annexations in what is now called the Kilimanjaro district.'

He wrote to Sir Charles: 'Terribly have I been puzzled and perplexed on
finding a group of the soberest men among us to have concocted a scheme
such as that touching the mountain country behind Zanzibar with an
unrememberable name. There _must_ somewhere or other be reasons for it
which have not come before me. I have asked Granville whether it may not
stand over for a while.' [Footnote: The allusion is to the treaties with
native chiefs which were negotiated by Mr. (afterwards Sir) Harry
Johnston in 1883-84. These treaties were the foundation of what is now
known as British East Africa, and related mainly to the Kilimanjaro and
Taveita districts. It would appear that Mr. Gladstone himself had at
first expressed an interest in the development of British influence
'over this hinterland of snow mountains and elevated plateaux,' to which
his attention had been drawn by the report of Mr. Joseph Thomson.
Speaking subsequently at the Colonial Institute, Sir Harry Johnston said
that 'about twenty years ago he was making preparations for his first
expedition to British Africa. He had a very distinguished predecessor,
whom he regarded as the real originator of British East Africa: Mr.
Joseph Thomson, who died all too young in 1895. His great journey from
Mombasa was commenced in 1882 and finished in 1884.... His reports sent
home to the Royal Geographical Society had attracted the attention of
Mr. Gladstone; and there was another British statesman, Lord Edmond
Fitzmaurice, who perhaps more than most of his colleagues saw the
possibility of a white man's settlement in Equatorial Africa, and who
chose to select him (Sir H. Johnston) as one agency by which this work
should be commenced.' (_Journal_ of the Royal Colonial Institute,
1903-04, No. 5, p. 317.) The territory covered by the Kilimanjaro
Treaties was ceded to Germany under the arrangement made at the end of
1885, but the remainder has continued to be British (see Sir Harry
Johnston, _A History of the Colonization of Africa by Alien Races_, pp.
376-409.]

Mr. Gladstone could not bring himself to understand that the great
States of Europe had, almost without premeditation, moved into a field
of policy which involved the apportionment of regions scarcely yet known
in any detail to the geographers; nor did he realize the far-reaching
consequences of the acquisition or refusal of some of these districts.
The question of the Congo, for example, involved, as Sir Robert Morier
had foreseen, the settlement of the whole West African coast. In April
Sir Charles had recorded how he

    'had to read up African papers, and found reason to fear that the
    King of the Belgians was contemplating the sale of his Congo
    dominions to France. We had a meeting at the Foreign Office in the
    afternoon, [Footnote: April 26th, 1884.] at which were present Lord
    Granville, Kimberley, Chamberlain, myself, and Fitzmaurice, and,
    finding that we could not possibly carry our Congo Treaty with
    Portugal, we determined to find a way out by referring it to the
    Powers.' [Footnote: The following extract from an article in the
    _Quarterly Review_ explains the importance attached by Sir Charles
    to this Congo treaty, and the far-reaching results which it would
    have had:

    'In 1875 the results of Lieutenant Cameron's great journey across
    Africa became known.... They revealed ... the material for a Central
    African Empire awaiting the enterprise of a European or an Asiatic
    power. There is now little doubt that, had the famous treaty
    negotiated by Sir Charles Dilke, Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice, and Sir
    Robert Morier in 1884, been ratified and carried out ... the Congo
    Basin would have been added to the British Empire, together with
    Delagoa Bay and Nyasaland, before its time; with Dahomey also, and
    an all-British West African Coast between Sierra Leone and the
    Gaboon.' (_Quarterly Review_, January, 1906.)

It would perhaps have been more accurate had the author spoken of the
'treaty proposed to be negotiated.' The original plan of Sir Robert
Morier--part of a large scheme for the settlement of all outstanding
questions with Portugal--contemplated _inter alia_ some territorial
acquisition on the Congo by Great Britain. But the Cabinet put a veto on
this. The Foreign Office had therefore to fall back on the alternative
but less ambitious plan contained in the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of
1884, which was never ratified, owing to the opposition of Germany.
(_Life of Granville_, vol. ii., chap. x.; and supra, I. 418. See also
on this subject the observations of Sir Harry Johnston in his _History_,
quoted above, pp. 277, 278, 343, 405.)]

In October he goes on to relate how

    'Lord Granville had been frightened by Plessen, the Prussian, coming
    to invite him to a Conference at Berlin, but explained that he had
    been much relieved on finding, as he put it, that it was only about
    the Congo. It was, however, the famous Africa Conference which
    virtually settled the whole future of the Dark Continent.'

Sir Charles notes the result in January, 1885:

    'The sittings of the West African Conference, as it was called, were
    at this time taking place at Berlin, and the General Act was signed
    in the following month--that of February, 1885. [Footnote: He notes
    in this month, February 4th, at "a meeting at the Admiralty of all
    the Ministers in town, Childers and I stand alone in support of
    Portugal as regards the Congo. I stated very freely what I still
    believe, that we had behaved shamefully to the Portuguese; but this
    neither convinced Lord Granville at the time, nor excused the
    subsequent behaviour of the Portuguese." On February 11th Sir
    Charles wrote to a diplomatic friend: "I cannot quite follow the
    present phase of Congo, but I hope that nothing will be done to back
    up the rascally association against Portugal. I believe that
    Portugal will seize the disputed territory, and I certainly should
    if I were the Portuguese Ministry."] I was very busy with this work,
    in which I had long taken a deep interest, and was much relieved
    when I found that what I thought the folly of the House of Commons
    in upsetting our Congo Treaty, and preventing a general arrangement
    with the Portuguese as regarded both West Africa and South-East
    Africa, had turned out better than could have been anticipated,
    owing to the interposition of the Germans. My joy was short-lived,
    for King Leopold has not kept his promises.'

The interests thus claimed or created beyond the seas had to be defended
upon the seas. Either Great Britain must be prepared to abate her
pretensions, or she must strengthen her power to enforce them. Dilke and
Chamberlain were strongly against giving way to anything which could be
regarded as usurpation. Mr. Gladstone, on the other hand, pointed out
that to maintain a control, or veto, over the allocation of
unappropriated portions of the globe meant large increase of naval
expenditure, and he set his face against both. On December 2nd

    'Naval expenditure was mentioned. The Cabinet had been about to
    agree both to Northbrook's proposals (for Egypt) and to the sums
    suggested for the defence of coaling-stations, when Mr. Gladstone
    suddenly broke out, told us that he did not much care for himself,
    as he now intended to retire, but that had he been twenty-five years
    younger nothing could have induced him to consent. A loan he would
    not tolerate. Then there was a general veer round, and all went
    against the fortifications. Mr. Gladstone, however, said that he
    should retire as soon as the Redistribution Bill was carried.'

The affairs of South Africa, where Great Britain was consolidating her
position, are also touched on in 1884.

    'On March 22nd we had another Cabinet without Mr. Gladstone. The
    first matter discussed was Zululand, Chamberlain opposing Kimberley
    and Derby, who wished to increase the British Protectorate. At last
    Kimberley said: "I see the Cabinet do not want more niggers," and
    dropped the scheme.

    'On May 17th ... we decided to defend the Zululand reserve against
    all comers.'

Later in the year there are entries as to the annexation of
Bechuanaland:

October 4th, 'Bechuanaland was discussed, as to which Chamberlain wanted
to go to war with the Boers, and had written to me.'

And on November 11th 'there was a Cabinet called on the Bechuanaland
trouble, and we discussed votes of money for the Gordon and Bechuanaland
expeditions.'


II.

During this year the Central Asian question, always of first-rate
interest to Sir Charles, constantly claimed his attention.

    'On February 22nd there was a meeting at the Foreign Office which
    was intended to be a meeting about my Central Asian scheme, but
    which developed into a virtual Cabinet. There were present Mr.
    Gladstone, Hartington, Kimberley, Northbrook, myself, Fitzmaurice,
    and J. K. Cross, Undersecretary of State for India. The delimitation
    of the Afghan frontier was further considered and pretty much
    decided.

    'Pleasures of Office. I dined with the Dean of Westminster, and was
    called away in the middle of dinner to make a speech about Central
    Asia, and got back again for coffee.'

    'On March 5th Hartington suggested that we should recommence the
    Quetta railroad, and it was decided to give a hint to Lord Ripon to
    ask for it.'

    'August 5th.--Lord Granville informed us that the Shah was alarmed
    at the Russian advance upon the Persian frontier, and asked us for
    promises.

    'August 7th.--There was a meeting of the Central Asian Committee....
    Lord Granville, Hartington, Kimberley, I, and Fitzmaurice were
    present, with Philip Currie. As to the amount of support to be given
    to Persia Lord Granville wrote an excellent despatch, while we were
    talking. It was settled that we were to repeat our statements at St.
    Petersburg at a convenient opportunity, but to ask the Shah that, as
    an earnest of his good intentions towards us, the Persian rivers
    should be thrown open to our trade--not a bad touchstone. We
    discussed the Afghan boundary, and decided that, if the Russians
    would not agree to our proposed starting-point for the delimitation,
    we would send an Afghan British Commission without them to make our
    own, delimitation.'

    'November 18th.--Edmond Fitzmaurice consulted me as to Central Asia.
    The Russians had agreed in principle to the delimitation, but ...
    had made much delay in questions of detail.'

On the Committee Sir Charles and Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice were unequally
yoked with the lethargic Secretary of State for War. Lord Fitzmaurice
has vivid recollection of Lord Hartington's entry at one sitting half an
hour late, after his fashion. The question turned on the probable action
of some Afghan chiefs, whereupon Lord Hartington broke silence by
observing reflectively: "I wonder what an Afghan chief is like." Sir
Charles, with a glance at the high-nosed, bearded, deliberate face of
his colleague, pushed a scribbled note to Lord Edmond: "I expect an
Afghan chief is very like the Right Honourable the Marquis of
Hartington."'

Sir Charles's interest in this Central Asian question, where political
and military interests lay so close together, led to a correspondence,
and the correspondence to a friendship, with Lord Roberts.

    'In March I received a letter from Sir Frederick Roberts, not yet
    personally known to me, in which he enclosed a memorandum by him
    called "Is an Invasion of India by Russia Possible?" In his letter
    he said that he had given up the idea of returning to Kandahar, and
    only desired that we should make ourselves secure upon our new
    frontier, improve our relations with the Afghans, and clearly show
    that we could not allow the Russians to establish themselves in
    Northern Afghanistan. In his printed paper he showed that Persia
    might be looked upon as virtually Russian, and that what we had to
    do was to prevent Afghanistan falling into the same position. He
    incidentally admitted the strength of the view of those of us who
    had advocated the evacuation of Kandahar by saying that the Afghans
    "must be assured that we have no designs upon their country, and
    that even should circumstances require a British occupation of
    Kandahar, the direction of all internal affairs would be left in
    their hands; we must guarantee them the integrity of their kingdom."
    He strongly supported my view that no time should be lost in
    defining the northern boundary of Afghanistan.

    'Roberts went on to lay down the principle that the main body of a
    Russian army destined for the invasion of India must advance by
    Herat and Girishk on Kandahar, whence, if not defeated, the Russians
    must move by Ghazni, Kabul, and the Khyber. Sir Frederick Roberts
    pointed out that India could not place in the field, under the then
    conditions, more than 40,000 men, with from 130 to 140 guns. Part of
    the native army could be relied on, but, writing as Commander-in-
    Chief in Madras, he pointed out that the Southern Indian Sepoys had
    not the courage and physique to fight against Russian troops, or
    even against natives from the north. On the other hand, many of our
    northern native troops would be of doubtful loyalty in the event of
    Russia becoming predominant in Afghanistan. "Sir Fred" laid down
    the principle of completing railway communication to a point near
    Kandahar, with a bridge across the Indus near Sukkur, and generally
    described the plan of a vigorous offensive on the Kandahar side and
    a defensive on the Khyber line, which has since been adopted.'

    'At the end of May I received from Sir Frederick Roberts a letter in
    reply to mine, acknowledging the receipt of the Defence of India
    papers which I have named. I had told him that the real danger was
    that Russia would detach Herat by local intrigue without appearing,
    and that I did not see how we could prevent this alarming danger.
    Sir Frederick admitted the truth of my view, and again pointed out
    the importance of trying to win the friendship of the Afghans. He
    favoured my proposals for the delimitation of the northern frontier
    of Afghanistan. "But I much doubt Russia's now agreeing to any
    proposal of the sort." He ended by expressing his gratification at
    our issue of the order for the completion of the railway to Quetta
    and Pishin.'

Discussions preliminary to the Budget occupied the Cabinet in January,
1884, and Mr. Childers announced that the Army and Navy Estimates would
leave him with a deficit, chiefly because the newly introduced parcel
post had been 'a disastrous failure.'

    'In the course of this Cabinet of January 24th, I for the first time
    stated my views on the subject of army reform. I have a slip of
    paper which passed backwards and forwards between Chamberlain and
    myself, headed "The condition of the army." I wrote: "Do you
    remember my saying one night in our cab to you that I could not go
    to the W.O. because of my views upon this very point?" Chamberlain
    wrote back: "But that really is the reason why you should go. I have
    the lowest opinion of army administration wherever I can test it--
    contracts, for instance. It is most ludicrously inefficient." To
    which I replied: "The Duke of Cambridge and the old soldiers and the
    Queen would make it very nearly hopeless."'

The War Office never tempted Sir Charles as did the Admiralty, where, he
wrote to Lord Granville in 1885, 'I fear I should be extravagant.'


III.

A holiday home in the South of France had ceased to be easily accessible
to the 'most hard-worked member of the Government.' Though for many
years he retained his little villa of 'La Sainte Campagne' near Toulon,
nestling in its olive groves with, from windows and cliff, the view of
the red porphyry rocks across the deep blue of the bay, he had for some
time been negotiating for the purchase of strips of land by the
riverside near Shepperton, and among the pines at Pyrford.

In 1883 the building of the cottage at Dockett Eddy was begun, over the
door of which he set this inscription:

"Parva sed apta mihi, sed nulli obnoxia, sed non Sordida, parta meo sed
tamen aere, domus."

[Footnote: Thus rendered in English by the Rev. W. Tuckwell:

  ''Tis tiny, but it suits me quite,
  Invades no jealous neighbour's right;
  'Tis neat and clean, and--pleasant thought--
  I earned the cash with which 'twas bought.'

(It was bought out of his official salary.)]

This was to be always his riverside home, and in it he always slept,
even after the larger house had been built near by. There he was one of
the river's most jealous guardians, and in this year notes that he

    'gave evidence before the Select Committee on the River Thames, and
    was instrumental in securing the insertion of a clause in the Bill,
    afterwards produced by the Committee, which put an end to shooting
    on the Thames, and did a great deal to protect the quiet of the
    river.'

The Dockett cottage was not finished till 1885, and:

    'On Saturday, March 21st, I took a holiday on the river, starting
    down with my punt from Taplow Court, and bringing her down to
    Dockett Eddy, of which I now took possession, the little house being
    now finished.'

On May 22nd, 1884,

    'I settled to go on Whitsun Tuesday to look at Lord Onslow's land at
    Pyrford, for a winter house. I had forgotten that my ancestor Sir R.
    Parkhurst had been Lord of the Manor of Pyrford, and that my
    ancestor Sir Edward Zouche had lived even nearer to my new purchase,
    at old Woking St. Peter, whence I hear his bells.'

Late in the year

    'I settled on my motto for my cottage at Pyrford--a line of Ruskin,
    "This is the true nature of Home,--it is the place of Peace."

    'The selection meant in my mind that home was about to exist once
    more for me.'

    'In July, 1884, Mrs. Mark Pattison had been left a widow by the
    death of the Rector of Lincoln College. She went to live at The
    Lodge, Headington, near Oxford.

    'Later in the year we became privately engaged, and told Mr. and
    Mrs. Frank Pattison, Mrs. Westlake, Mrs. Earle, and Mrs. Grant Duff,
    as well as Chamberlain, but no one else. It was decided that others
    should not be told until much later, and to Lord Granville, who
    (without mentioning a name) congratulated me, I had to feign
    ignorance of what he meant. Mrs. Pattison settled to go to India in
    February, March, or April, 1885, to stay with the Governor of Madras
    and Mrs. Grant Duff in the hills, and to return in September or
    October for our wedding, which before her departure was fixed for
    October. Before the return there happened Emilia's typhoid fever at
    Ootacamund, and our terrible misfortunes; but the date of October,
    1885, was fated to remain the date, and Chamberlain, who had, before
    Emilia left, consented to be best man, was best man still. The place
    of the wedding alone was changed--from Christ Church Cathedral,
    Oxford, to the parish church of Chelsea. Mrs. Grant Duff wrote to us
    on being told a most pleasant letter.

    'Chamberlain wrote the best letter of his life to her.'

This was the letter:

    '40, Prince's Gardens, S.W.,

    'November 5th, 1884.

    'My Dear Mrs. Pattison,

    'Dilke has told me his great secret, and I sympathize with him so
    warmly in the new prospects of happiness which are opening for him
    that I have asked leave to write to you and to offer my hearty
    congratulations.

    'I venture to think that we are already friends, and this adds
    greatly to the pleasure which this intelligence has given me.

    'For many years I have been on the most intimate terms with your
    future husband; and while I share the general opinion of the world
    as to his talents and force of character, I have better reason than
    any other man to appreciate his generosity and goodness, and the
    chivalrous delicacy which a natural reserve conceals from casual
    acquaintance.

    'I prize his friendship as the best gift of my public life, and I
    rejoice unfeignedly that he will have a companion so well able to
    share his noblest ambitions and to brighten his life.

    'I know that you will forgive me this intrusion, which is justified
    by the fact that next to yourself I am more interested than anyone
    in the change which will bring so much happiness to my dear friend.

    'Believe me always,

    'Yours most sincerely,

    'J. Chamberlain.'




CHAPTER XXXVIII

DIVIDED COUNSELS

JANUARY AND FEBRUARY, 1885


At the close of 1884 Mr. Gladstone's colleagues expected that he would
resign, and it appears that he had really thought of doing so, provided
that a ministry could be formed under Lord Hartington's leadership.
Franchise and Redistribution were virtually settled, and there was no
legislative proposal before either the Cabinet or the country on which
Lord Hartington was in marked disagreement with his colleagues. But they
were still 'an Egyptian Government,' and here differences seemed to be
irreconcilable.

    'The Egyptian policy of the Government had now become thoroughly
    unpopular, and those of us who, although we had favoured
    intervention as necessary at the time, had deplored alike the
    engagements of our predecessors which had made it necessary, and the
    occupation which, unnecessarily in my opinion, followed it, were as
    unpopular as were those like Hartington, and the majority of the
    peers in the Cabinet, who had insisted not only on going, but on
    staying--at least in Cairo. It is curious to reflect how
    intervention in the East is judged by subsequent complications which
    do not affect the principle. The intervention of 1860-61 in Syria
    gave considerable popularity to the Government who agreed to it, and
    to Lord Dufferin who conducted it on the spot; and it was as popular
    in France which found the troops, as in England which found the man.
    By that intervention Syria was pacified and war in the East
    prevented, and ultimately it was followed by evacuation and
    reversion to what diplomatists style in their jargon "an improved
    _status quo_."

    'It is too often now (1891) forgotten that we actually proposed in
    1884 to France (in connection with a Conference which took place,
    obtaining therefore to some extent, it might be contended, valuable
    consideration for our proposal) that we would, at or before the
    expiration of our occupation, propose to the Powers and to the Porte
    a scheme for the neutralization of Egypt on the basis of the
    principles applied to Belgium. A document which we printed at the
    beginning of 1885 gave our suggested wording for the neutralization
    treaty, declaring that Egypt should be an independent and
    perpetually neutral State under the guarantee of the contracting
    parties; limiting the strength of the Egyptian army, the claim of
    Turkey to military aid from Egypt, and so forth.'

The suggestion was not welcomed by the Powers.

    'On New Year's Day I left Antibes for Paris, which I reached on
    Friday, the 2nd January, and quitted for London on Saturday, the
    3rd.

    'Chamberlain wrote to me that Mr. Gladstone was threatened with a
    return of his illness, that he required rest, that Egypt had been
    for the moment tided over, though it might at any moment break up
    the Government. It had been decided to send a firm but courteous
    despatch to France demanding immediate consideration of our
    proposals, failing which we should "take our own course."
    Chamberlain, however, added, "What that course is to be is the
    question on which agreement appears impossible. It is 'scuttle and
    bankruptcy' against 'protectorate and guarantee.' Sufficient unto
    the day is the evil thereof."'

Mr. Gladstone was with Dilke and Chamberlain in opposing protectorate or
guarantee in any shape. But there were other questions of Imperial
policy upon which the Imperialism of these two Ministers divided them
from Mr. Gladstone.

    'New Guinea had also been discussed, and Chamberlain was for
    demanding explanations from the Germans. Zululand had been
    mentioned. Chamberlain supported the annexation of the coast of
    Pondoland: Mr. Gladstone, with the support of Trevelyan, "opposing
    any attempt to anticipate Germany."

    'On Sunday, January 4th, Chamberlain wrote again from Birmingham.
    His letter shows that I was anxious for resignation on the Egyptian
    question, and Chamberlain replied that he could not find a
    satisfactory boat to leave the ship in, and that he thought that the
    Government had more lives than a cat. Chamberlain added that he had
    to speak on January 5th, and should find it difficult to steer
    between Jingoism and peace-at-any-price.'

    'He also was engaged in preparing a programme for the future to be
    set forth at Ipswich. This last was the memorable "Unauthorized
    Programme."'

A first instalment of this programme was given by Mr. Chamberlain in a
speech at Birmingham, which advocated restriction of game-preserving,
provision of land for agricultural labourers, and better housing. The
accusations of Communism brought against Mr. Chamberlain began at this
point; and they, of course, redoubled after he had proposed on January
10th at Ipswich to give local bodies power for compulsory acquisition of
land.

At this juncture Mr. Chamberlain was absent from London, and
communicating only by letter with Sir Charles, whom he had not seen
since the middle of December, when Sir Charles crossed to Paris, on his
way to Toulon; and before the unauthorized programme was launched Lord
Hartington contemplated forming a Government which would have given the
foremost positions to Dilke and Chamberlain.

    'On the morning of January 5th Harcourt had told me that Mr.
    Gladstone intended to resign, and that Lord Granville would follow
    Mr. Gladstone, in which case Hartington intended to make him,
    Harcourt, Chancellor, to move Lord Derby and Childers, to put in
    Rosebery, [Footnote: As Secretary for the Colonies.] to offer
    Chamberlain the Chancellorship of the Exchequer, and me the
    Secretaryship of State for Foreign Affairs. But, great as were the
    offices proposed, Chamberlain and I could not have consented to
    remain in if Mr. Gladstone had gone out notoriously dissatisfied. If
    he had gone out on grounds of health alone, it would, of course,
    have been another matter.'

In a letter,

    'probably of Monday morning, January 5th, Chamberlain said that Mr.
    Gladstone's retirement was possible, and might be necessary; that
    Hartington and Harcourt could bring it about; but that we must be
    most careful not to allow them to say that we had been engaged in an
    intrigue with them against Mr. Gladstone. He thought that we ought
    to tell them frankly that we could enter into no negotiations with
    them, and to put this in a Memorandum to which we could afterwards
    appeal. On the other hand, he was willing to state his views as to
    policy, provided all reference to personal questions was avoided. As
    his Egyptian policy, he stated "immediate bankruptcy, communication
    to the Powers of our fixed intention to leave, declaration that we
    would not allow intervention by other Powers in our place, and
    Conference to settle details of neutralization." As to domestic
    policy, he agreed in my suggestion that we should insist upon an
    immediate Civil List Committee, and proposed an inquiry into labour.
    He gave me leave to discuss his letter with Harcourt ("the latter
    has always been a most loyal friend, though he can not be expected
    to agree with us in everything"), and I did so before the Cabinet of
    January 7th.'

By this time Mr. Chamberlain had come to London, and there is no
indication that his speech at Birmingham had created friction. But the
party which wished to offer resistance to Germany's high-handed policy
had been strengthened by a new instance of usurpation.

    'Mr. Gladstone was absent from this Cabinet. The first matter
    discussed was that of Samoa raised by me. There had been received on
    the night of the 6th from the Governor of New Zealand a telegram
    saying that the Germans had made a treaty giving the whole authority
    of Government to the German Consul. While Münster had been telling
    Lord Granville that Germany would take no step hostile to Samoan
    independence, the Germans had sent warships there with secret
    orders, and had hoisted their flag in various parts of the islands.
    The next subject mentioned was that of Zanzibar, and it was decided
    that we should warn Germany that we would not brook interference
    there. At the same time I had much doubt whether Lord Granville
    would act upon the instructions of the Cabinet in this matter, and
    my doubts were justified. The third matter was that of the Pondo
    coast, and also the coast of Zululand. Mr. Gladstone alone objecting
    to a protectorate and being absent, it was decided to have one.'

    'Then came the old question of sending troops to Suakim; [Footnote:
    Colonial troops were offered about this time, and the Diary contains
    the entry, February 20th: "The sending of a Colonial force to
    Suakim. Hartington and Derby had snubbed the Colonists, and were
    snubbed by the Cabinet in consequence."] then that of Egyptian
    Finance, on which Harcourt broached his scheme by which the United
    Kingdom was to pay the difference caused by a reduction of the rate
    of interest, to which scheme Chamberlain and I were opposed. We were
    informed that the Queen "most strongly protested against our binding
    ourselves to leave Egypt."'

Meanwhile the Radicals in the Cabinet considered their concerted action
in view of a change of leadership.

    'We settled during the Cabinet that Trevelyan, Chamberlain, and I
    should meet at my room at the Local Government Board, directly the
    Cabinet was over, to discuss the terms on which we would join a
    Hartington administration; and we did so, finding Egypt and my
    proposed inquiry into the Civil List the only real difficulties. The
    Civil List could be got over, as it was certain that the Whigs would
    give in to pressure from us upon this point. But Harcourt had
    informed us that our Egyptian policy made the formation of a
    Government impossible, as Hartington would not consent to accept
    office on our Egyptian policy.'

It was very difficult to come to an agreement about Egypt. Lord Derby
had declared that the only alternatives were guaranteed neutrality or
annexation. Dilke and Chamberlain stood for the former, considering
their duty done if they prevented occupation by any other European
Power, and took steps to establish internal order--which meant
completing the organization of an Egyptian army. There was a third
policy; for Lord Hartington, who repeatedly in public repudiated the
idea of annexation, insisted upon the retention of a single control
during a prolonged occupation. In this he had the strongest backing from
the Queen.

    'Chamberlain at our meeting added a fresh proviso--namely, that
    Parnell or some other Irishman should be Chief Secretary. I
    afterwards informed Harcourt of Chamberlain's views, adding that
    Chamberlain was willing to avoid all personal questions, although he
    much wished that John Morley should be in the Cabinet, [Footnote:
    Sir Charles had noted his own strong wish to this effect in the
    previous year.] that he wholly rejected Harcourt's plan for Egypt as
    being a bribe to buy off the Powers, forced on us by unworthy fears.
    Chamberlain wished, if his own Egyptian policy was not adopted, to
    simply evacuate the country.

    'Chamberlain, I was empowered to say, had also mentioned the English
    land question, and was opposed to allowing Lord Salisbury to come
    in,' as this, he said to Sir Charles, 'would surely be a hopeless
    confession of weakness, and give him a chance with the new electors.

    'I argued against Chamberlain's Egyptian policy, not on the merits,
    but on the chances of our getting our own way.

    '"I doubt our getting our way as to bankruptcy, and am not sure that
    we ought to put that forward as sole or chief cause for not joining
    Hartington." To this Chamberlain replied: "True. But how can we join
    another Government without any settled policy about Egypt?
    Harcourt's alternative is impossible; then what is there? I should
    refuse to join Hartington unless we can agree as to Egypt policy,
    and if we do agree, there can in that case be no reason for letting
    Salisbury in."'

Egypt was in Sir Charles's view the main, but not the only, difficulty.
The Government policy of 'lying down to Germany' was another. At the
same date:

    'January 7th, Chamberlain and I had a conference with regard to
    Samoa, in which I pointed out that if we quarrelled with France
    about Egypt she would have all Europe behind her, whereas in our
    dealings with Germany about Samoa, Zanzibar, and other matters,
    Germany would stand alone.' [Footnote: A letter to Lord Hartington
    from his secretary, Mr. Brett, which is quoted by Mr. Bernard
    Holland (_Life of Duke of Devonshire_, vol. ii, pp. 38, 39),
    suggests that the Hartington section had difficulty in reconciling
    Sir Charles's attitude on other Imperial matters with his Egyptian
    policy: "It would indeed be a farce, after all the fuss about the
    Cameroons and Angra Pequena, to allow Suakim, which is the port of
    Khartoum, and the Nile to pass into the hands of foreigners." The
    answer is, first, that Sir Charles would certainly never have
    consented to let any port in Egypt or the Soudan pass into the hands
    of any European Power: his proposal was neutralization of Egypt
    under international guarantee; and, secondly, that the questions
    were governed by different conditions, which he set out in
    conference with Mr. Chamberlain about Samoa.]

January 9th, 'I had decided that if I resigned, or if I refused to join
a Hartington administration, I should mention four subjects--Egypt,
Samoa, Zanzibar, and (probably) the Civil List inquiry (if I were not
completely satisfied). On the same day I was at work on our draft
despatch to Sir Edward Malet as to Zanzibar, which had been settled on
the 8th after the Cabinet of the 7th, but which did not go off until the
14th. On January 14th I noted in my Diary, "The Zanzibar despatch went.
Seven days' delay. I know that two days' delay was caused by the
necessity of sending to Osborne and to the Prime Minister, but why seven
days?"

    'On January 21st the first matter discussed was that of New Guinea,
    in which we found ourselves in difficulties caused by absence of
    jurisdiction over foreigners, and we agreed in consequence to
    annexation.'

The situation with Germany was undoubtedly grave, but ought not, Sir
Charles maintained, to entail the sacrifice of Zanzibar. On February
24th Count Münster, the German Ambassador, told Mr. Alfred de Rothschild
that he expected to be withdrawn, but that New Guinea was the only
serious matter in dispute.

    'On Tuesday, February 24th, I breakfasted at Alfred de Rothschild's
    house, to meet the German Ambassador, Count Münster, at the latter's
    wish. Alfred de Rothschild did not sit down with us, and we were
    _tête-à-tête_. Münster was very free in his remarks about Bismarck.
    "No one ever contradicts him." "He sees none but flatterers." "His
    life is a period to be got through."'

Two March entries are apposite here:

    'On Wednesday, March 4th, Rosebery wrote to me to ask me to dine
    with him to meet "Herbert Bismarck," who had suddenly arrived, but I
    was engaged to the Speaker's dinner, and had to put off seeing young
    Bismarck till Thursday, the 5th. He had come over to try to force us
    to dismiss Lord Granville and Lord Derby. I noted in my Diary:
    [Footnote: Sir Charles's Diaries, to portions of which certain
    biographers had access, are at this point quoted by Lord Edmond
    Fitzmaurice in his _Life of Lord Granville_, vol. ii., p. 430. The
    passage runs: "Negotiations with Germany on the vexed colonial
    questions were meanwhile proceeding, more particularly with regard
    to New Guinea. Sir Julian Pauncefote proposed a plan which it was
    hoped might satisfy the German Chancellor, and Count Herbert
    Bismarck reappeared as co-negotiator with Count Münster in London.
    Lord Rosebery, who had just joined the Cabinet as Lord Privy Seal,
    also took part in the negotiations. 'Herbert Bismarck came over
    again,' Sir Charles Dilke noted; 'if at his former visit he had only
    tried to get us to dismiss Lord Derby, on this occasion he wanted us
    to dismiss Lord Granville and Lord Derby.'"] "He puts us in a
    difficult position as individuals, for how can we say to this
    personally friendly fellow that we do not think Lord Granville's
    speech in the Lords on Friday foolish, or how say that we think that
    the allusion to old Bismarck's dislike of Münster in a recent
    despatch from Malet ought to have been published."

    'On Friday, March 6th, I saw Herbert Bismarck again twice.... I
    having expressed anxiety about Zanzibar, he told me that his father
    had directed him to say that he "considered Zanzibar as independent
    as Turkey or Russia." It is to my mind shameful that, after this,
    Lord Granville should have begun and Lord Salisbury have rapidly
    completed arrangements by which the Zanzibar mainland, the whole
    trade of which was in our hands, was handed over to Germany.'

    'On March 7th we discussed Herbert Bismarck's views on the
    Cameroons, on German claims in New Guinea (on this head we settled
    with him), and on Pondoland.'

While the difficulties with Germany were being discussed, differences as
to Egyptian policy and our relations with France continued.

On January 20th, Egypt once more threatened to break up the Government.
France had proposed an international Commission of Inquiry into the
financial situation.

    'We discussed a French proposal which, as I wrote to the Chancellor,
    had at least one advantage--namely, "that it re-forms the majority
    in the Cabinet by uniting two of the three parties--yours and mine."
    Mr. Gladstone, Lord Granville, Kimberley, Derby, Harcourt, the
    Chancellor, Trevelyan, and Dilke, eight in all, supported taking the
    new French proposals as a basis. Chamberlain was absent ill.
    Northbrook, Hartington, Childers, to my astonishment, and
    Carlingford were against us. After the Cabinet Hartington wrote to
    Mr. Gladstone to say that he "could not accept the decision," and
    Northbrook supported him.' Next day, however, 'when we turned to
    Egyptian finance, Trevelyan went over from our side to the other.
    Mr. Gladstone announced that what we had decided on the previous day
    was not to prevent our arguing against the French proposed inquiry,
    and thus Hartington was kept in.'

    'On January 23rd I forwarded to Chamberlain a letter from
    Sandringham, which showed that the Queen had been alarmed at the
    possibility that my proposed Civil List inquiry might affect not
    only new grants, but also the Civil List arrangements made at the
    beginning of the reign. Chamberlain made a Delphic reply that, on
    the one hand, inquiry would be a farce if it did not include the
    existing Civil List, but that on the other hand there could be no
    intention to make any change in the arrangements with the Queen.'

    'On January 28th, I heard from Sandringham that the Prince of Wales
    was going to Osborne the next day, and would broach to the Queen his
    friendliness to the idea of a new settlement of the Civil List.
    Chamberlain was anxious that no difficulty should be made by us on
    the occasion of the marriage of Princess Beatrice. He wrote: "_If
    alone_, I should wait for something or somebody to turn up. Before
    Prince Edward wants an allowance who knows what may happen? But I am
    perfectly ready to follow your lead or to lead to your prompting."'

All arrangements were being made on the assumption that Lord Hartington
would become Prime Minister.

    'I had been left by Mr. Gladstone in a certain doubt as to whether I
    was to be completely responsible for the Redistribution Bill, or
    whether Hartington was to share the responsibility. I wrote to
    Hartington: "Mr. Gladstone sends me everything on Redistribution,
    and expresses no opinion of his own. Northcote and Salisbury write
    to me only, and the whole thing is more and more in my hands. If I
    let things drift, it is clear that I shall practically have sole
    charge of the Bill, for no one else will know anything about it. I
    do not shrink from this at all. It is work I like. But, as you will
    probably be called on to form an Administration immediately after
    the passing of the Bill, don't you think it would look well, and
    that our people and the Press and the country would like it, if you
    were to take charge of the Bill? If so, I had better have two or
    three days' work at it with you."

    'Hartington had asked me to stay with him at Hardwick to talk it
    over, but it was only a Saturday to Monday visit from January 10th
    to 12th, and there were many people in the house, and our whole
    conversation was but very short; and Hartington continued to show
    but little desire to work at the detail, and the Bill could only be
    handled by those who knew its detail.'

Although the Opposition leaders had accepted the compact, it was at this
time quite uncertain whether the House of Commons would consent to the
Redistribution scheme--affecting as it did the interests of every
member. The Fourth Party had not been consulted in the arrangement, and
inevitable friction followed.

    'On January 27th I had a correspondence with Northcote in reference
    to some mischief which had been made by Randolph Churchill.
    Northcote had been told by the Conservative Chief Whip, "Dilke told
    Randolph that the Government would have given more grouping if we
    had pressed for it." The Conservative party being angry at the
    absence of grouping of the boroughs, Northcote had taken up the
    point, but he now wrote: "Whatever Churchill said must have been in
    the nature of an inference of his own from what had previously
    passed, from which he had probably gathered that the Government were
    ready to concede grouping." But there was a lady in the case who had
    gossiped about what Northcote had said to her, and he promised to
    write to the offender.'

    'On January 13th Mr. Gladstone wrote as to the Redistribution Bill:
    "The difficulty as I see it about communication with Northcote is
    that he seems to have little weight of influence, and to be afraid
    or unwilling to assume any responsibility. I have usually found him
    reasonable in his own views, but obliged to reserve his judgment
    until after consulting his friends, which consultations I have found
    always to end badly. On the other hand, it is, of course, necessary
    to pay him due respect. What may prove to be best under these
    circumstances is--(1) not to be bound always to consult HIM, (2) to
    consult him freely on the easier and smaller matters, but (3) in a
    stiff question, such as the numbers of the House may prove to be, to
    get at Salisbury if possible, under whose wing Northcote will, I
    think, mostly be content to walk, (4) Or, if Salisbury cannot be got
    alone, then Northcote and Salisbury would be far preferable to
    Northcote alone."'

All these difficulties had to be met by Sir Charles. When the Bill
actually came before the House, 'Mr. Gladstone instructed James to
assist me in the conduct of it. But practically I had it to myself.'
Lord Hartington had rendered invaluable service in the preliminary
negotiations. But for such laborious work of detail as was needed to
carry through this Bill, neither temperament nor surroundings had fitted
him. His Hardwick home is thus described by Sir Charles in a letter
which he wrote to Mrs. Pattison:

    'I am writing in my bedroom, which is--bed and all--that of Mary
    Queen of Scots, who was the prisoner of Bess of Hardwick. It is a
    wonderful house, indeed--enormous, and yet completely covered with
    the tapestry and the pictures of the time.... The casement windows
    have never been touched since Queen Elizabeth was here, and are
    enormous. (There is a local proverb which speaks of the hall as "all
    window and no wall.") The result is that, in spite of heavy hanging
    curtains, the candles are blown out if you go near the windows....
    The portrait of the first Cavendish--who was usher of Cardinal
    Wolsey, and who married Bess of Hardwick, the richest lady of the
    day--is exactly like Hartington, but a vulgar Hartington--fat and
    greasy--a Hartington who might have kept a public-house.'

Mr. Chamberlain wrote to Sir Charles at Hardwick concerning his host:

    'The true Whig tradition is to keep abreast of the movement which
    they would willingly restrain, and do nothing to quicken, but it is
    difficult for a man of Hartington's temperament to make the
    sacrifice of pride which these tactics require.'

Mr. Chamberlain's Ipswich speech had made its mark, and Sir Charles
notes 'the beginning of the terror caused by the unauthorized programme'
in 'a letter which I received from Lord Salisbury, who was at Florence,
as to my draft Report of the Housing Commission.'

    'Lord Salisbury had greatly changed his views since he had sketched
    out socialistic proposals for me in his own hand. He now complained
    of that which I had said on "the burning questions of expropriation,
    betterment, and land tenure," and thought that Chamberlain's
    evidence had affected the report, and that such views "must now be
    considered in the light of the doctrines as to land he has recently
    laid down."'

That letter, received on January 30th, must have been written two days
earlier, and evidently at that moment there were plans of forming an
administration which should exclude the Radicals.

    'On January 28th Harcourt told me that he had stopped the Queen
    deciding to send for Goschen to form a Whig Ministry if we were
    beaten or if Mr. Gladstone resigned by telling her that Goschen
    would refuse, or that, if he consented, no one would join him.'

On January 29th, at Birmingham, Mr. Chamberlain made reply to his
critics in a speech which added to the Ipswich programme manhood
suffrage and payment of members, and which further declared that the
sanctity of public property far exceeded that of private property. If
land, for instance, had been 'lost or wasted or stolen,' some equivalent
for it must be found, and some compensation exacted from the wrongdoers.
[Footnote: 'The ransom theory,' afterwards alluded to (see Chapter
XLIV., p. 182).]

These utterances from a member of the Cabinet were not likely to pass
unchallenged.

    'On Monday, February 2nd, Chamberlain telegraphed to me that he was
    coming up on the next day, Tuesday, the 3rd, on purpose to see me on
    an important matter; and on the morning of the 3rd I received in a
    secret box the letters about which he was coming. There was one from
    Mr. Gladstone complaining of the unauthorized programme, and a draft
    proposed reply, and Chamberlain added: "Take them (Mr. Gladstone's
    letters and enclosures from the Whigs) in connection with the
    _Times_ articles. There is to be a dead set evidently.... There are
    three possibilities. (1) Mr. Gladstone may wish me to resign. (2) A
    vote of censure may be proposed in the House of Commons and carried.
    (3) Mr. Gladstone may defend me, and in so doing may to all intents
    and purposes censure me in such a way as to entail my resignation.
    The first would not, I think, do me any harm. The second would do me
    good. The third would not be pleasant. My object in proposed reply
    is to make Mr. G. speak more plainly, and to let me know where I
    stand. I have spoken in the first person because (until I see you) I
    have no right to assume that you will accept a joint responsibility.
    But I think you will, and then if we go out or are forced out there
    will be a devil of a row. I have been speaking to Schnadhorst to-day
    on the possibility. He says (you must take the opinion for what it
    is worth) that it would strengthen us in the country.... I assume
    Trevelyan would go with Mr. G.... I shall want to know what you
    think of it all, and whether you have any alterations to propose in
    the reply."

    'I noted: "I, of course, make common cause. The Whigs want to force
    him into a row with Mr. G., who, they think, will break him in place
    of his breaking Hartington after Mr. G. is gone." I admitted to
    Chamberlain when we met on February 3rd that there was, as he said,
    a dead set at him, and that the _Pall Mall_ for a wonder was backing
    it up. On his first point I was sure that Mr. Gladstone did not wish
    for his resignation, and knew that I should go too. On the second, I
    doubted any member being ready to bell the cat; and on the third
    point I was sure that Mr. Gladstone's defence of Chamberlain would
    not be such as to entail his resignation.'

Sir Charles thought, and told Chamberlain, that the object of the Whigs
was to force them 'to war with Mr. G. who is strong, and not with
Hartington,' against whom the Radicals would hold winning cards. 'We
therefore play into their hands by going NOW.' Meanwhile, he took up a
fighting attitude towards the rest of the world.

    'I had written to Mr. Gladstone very strongly backing up
    Chamberlain's right to express his individual opinion upon the
    questions of the future, and pointing out his patience in not
    repudiating some of Hartington's remarks, and saying that I could
    not let him go out alone.'

    'On February 4th I heard from Chamberlain ... thanking me for
    getting Carrington, who represented my Department in the Lords, to
    make a pro-Chamberlain speech.'

This was the more valuable because the whole Press was against the
"unauthorized programme." At the same time, Sir Charles did not fail to
point out that their position was an unsound one, writing first:

    'Our words as to the future are too wide. They would cover my
    preaching a Republic for two years hence, or your preaching the
    nationalization of land without compensation for the next
    Parliament.'

He urged also that the precedent which Mr. Chamberlain sought to
establish was two-edged.

February 5th, 'At night I gave Chamberlain a hint that some day others
might turn against him that freedom of speech which he claimed as
against Hartington; and he prepared a document which, under the form of
standing out for full right of free speech, really yielded the whole
point. He covered his retreat with great skill, and the document as
corrected by me would be valuable if it could be found. I have no copy,
but have memoranda which passed between us, in one of which I begged him
to keep the draft with my corrections as representing our joint view,
inasmuch as it might be important in the future. Chamberlain notes, in a
minute which I have, his acceptance of the general doctrine, with a
declaration that the present was an exceptional period; that there was a
new departure under the franchise reform, that it was essential to give
a general direction to the discussion, that his actual proposals were
moderate, and such as only to point to, firstly, a revision of taxation
which Mr. Gladstone himself had advocated, details being open, but the
principle being to secure equality of sacrifice; secondly, the extension
of power of local authorities on lines already conceded in Ireland.'

The two allies were fighting a hard fight at a critical moment. At such
times even the closest friends naturally seek to reassure each other,
and to a letter from Sir Charles Mr. Chamberlain made this reply,
January 11th:

    'The malice and ingenuity of men is so great that I should be afraid
    they would some day break our friendship if it had not victoriously
    stood the strain of public life for so many years. I will swear that
    I will never do anything knowingly to imperil it, and I hope that we
    are both agreed that if by any chance either of us should think that
    he has the slightest cause of complaint he will not keep it to
    himself for a day, but will have a frank explanation. In this case I
    shall feel safe, for I am certain that any mistake would be
    immediately repaired by whoever might be in fault.'




CHAPTER XXXIX

THE FALL OF KHARTOUM AND THE PENJDEH INCIDENT


    'On the morning of Thursday, February 5th, 1885, at 3 a.m., Brett
    went to Lord Granville with the news of the fall of Khartoum. He
    used to tell how he had been wholly unable to find the old
    gentleman, and how the servants had ultimately asserted that their
    master was at Walmer--which he was not. At the same hour the news
    was sold by a War Office messenger to one of the News Agencies. The
    resident clerk at the War Office had written to Thompson, of the War
    Office, in an unsealed envelope, instead of putting the despatch
    into a box. It did not matter much on this occasion, but it might
    matter in a great European war. A Cabinet was immediately summoned
    for the next day. [Footnote: The following correspondence between
    Mr. Brett (now Viscount Eslier) and Sir Charles throws light on the
    summoning of the Cabinet:

    War Office,

    Thursday morning, 3 a.m.

    Here is some bad news.

    No Ministers in town, except you and Chamberlain!

    Have tried Lord G. and Lord Northbrook. No results!

    So things must take their chance. There ought to have been a Cabinet
    to-morrow; but suppose it is not possible.

    R.B.

    Please return enclosed. Will send you a copy later. Have you any
    suggestion to make?

    You will see that W. proposes to keep this secret. Not possible for
    long in this Office.

    _Sir Charles Dilke to Mr. Brett._

    Telegraph to _Mr. G. and Hartington to come up to-day_, and call a
    Cabinet for to-morrow at 11 a.m. Make Hamilton telegraph to all
    Ministers at once. I'm prepared to take it on myself if you like,
    but you can send this to Chamberlain if he agrees.

    I agree certainly.--J. C.

    Local Government Board,

    February 5th, 1885.

    It is absurd not to make them come up _to-day_ in face of Wolseley's
    "_It is most essential that I shall have the earliest possible
    decision._"] Only three subjects were discussed: Khartoum, secrecy,
    and the question of the Italians as against the Turks in the Red
    Sea.'

On February 7th, 'The next matter was Wolseley, who had confused us by
greatly varying his statements.... Next came a proposal that Gordon
should be bought from the Mahdi.'

    'On February 9th Mr. Gladstone mentioned his intention to bring in
    Rosebery and Lefevre as members of the Cabinet. It was decided that
    the Italians should be allowed to go to Kassala--a decision which
    was afterwards reversed. The French views on Egyptian finance were
    named, the despatch of Indian troops to Suakim again discussed.
    Wolseley having asked that General Greaves should be sent to Suakim,
    Childers said that the Queen and Duke of Cambridge had stopped that
    officer's promotion because he "belonged to the Ashantee gang"
    (Wolseley's friends), and that the Duke had now complained that he
    did not know him. Chamberlain proposed that we should invite the
    Canadian Government to send a force to Suakim; and, finally,
    Childers was allowed to mention finance, which had been the object
    for which the Cabinet was called.

    'On February 10th I wrote to Chamberlain that Rosebery and Lefevre
    would help the Cabinet with the public, but would weaken us in the
    Cabinet.

    'On February 11th there was another Cabinet, five members being
    absent--namely, the Chancellor, Carlingford, Spencer, Chamberlain,
    and Trevelyan--owing to the suddenness of the call. It was on the
    Suakim command, Mr. Gladstone being very obstinate for Greaves, as
    against Graham with Greaves for Chief of Staff--a compromise. I
    supported Hartington--I do not know why--and we beat Mr. Gladstone
    by 5 to 4. Both officers were inferior men, and Graham did but
    badly. Probably Greaves would have done no better....

    'Mr. Gladstone complained that he and Hartington had received at
    Carnforth on the 5th a disagreeable telegram _en clair_ from the
    Queen, and Mr. Gladstone was very anxious to know whether the Tories
    had found it out, asking anxiously, "What are the station-master's
    politics?"

    'February 13th ... I was with Harcourt when Rosebery came to be
    sworn in, so I took the opportunity of making Rosebery help us to
    make Lord Derby uncomfortable for proposing to refuse the troops
    offered by the colony of New South Wales.

    'We began to discuss our Soudan policy with some anxiety.

    'Courtney and Morley had insisted in private letters that we should
    only rescue, and not attack the rebels, and the _Times_ agreed with
    them--unless we intended to stay in the country and establish a
    Government. Wolseley's policy would be represented as one of "smash
    and retire," and it was for this reason that Chamberlain pressed
    negotiations with the Mahdi, as he thought we should be stronger if
    we could show that the Mahdi had rejected a fair offer. It was on
    February 13th that Hartington most strongly pressed his proposal for
    the Suakim railroad, and invited me to be a member of a Cabinet
    Committee to consider the proposal.'

    'On Monday, February 16th, the first matter discussed was the
    Russian answer as regards Egyptian finance. The Soudan was put off
    till the next day, Chamberlain making a strong speech first upon our
    policy. Hartington asked for five million, to include the cost of
    his Suakim-Berber railway, and for leave to call out reserves.

    'On February 19th I had an interview with Mr. Gladstone, and found
    him anxious to be turned out on the vote of censure. Indeed, he was
    longing for it, in the firm belief that, if turned out, he would
    come back after the dissolution in November, while, if not turned
    out, he would be more likely to be beaten.

    'On February 20th the subjects discussed were Egypt (Finance and
    Suez Canal) and the sending a colonial force to Suakim. Chamberlain
    had developed to Childers at the same meeting a proposal that
    Hartington should form a Ministry to carry on the Soudan War, with
    the loyal support of those of us who went out with Mr. Gladstone.

    'On February 25th, Goschen having asked for assurances as to the
    Berber railway, Chamberlain wrote to me saying that if Hartington
    gave them, it might be a sufficient cause for our resignation, as we
    were not prepared to commit the country to establishing settled
    government in any part of the Soudan. Chamberlain proposed that we
    should resign before the division, and that the Government being
    beaten, there should then be brought about the establishment of what
    he called the combination or patriotic Government, which meant a
    Hartington administration. I, on the whole, preferred to go on as we
    were, so I stopped a box of Hartington's which was going round the
    Cabinet, and proposed an alteration of form which prevented
    Chamberlain going out on these assurances.

    'During the debate I went away to dine, and, not having heard the
    middle of Harcourt's speech, asked Chamberlain whether Harcourt had
    tried to answer any of Goschen's questions, to which Chamberlain
    answered, "Not one. He asked questions in turn," which is a good
    description of Harcourt's style. I then wrote on a slip of paper,
    "Forster is taking notes"; and Chamberlain replied, "Forster--
    against slavery, against Zebehr, [Footnote: Zebehr was arrested in
    Cairo on the ground of treasonable correspondence with the Mahdi,
    and interned at Gibraltar, but later was allowed to return to Cairo.
    He died in January, 1903.] and of course generally in favour of a
    crusade," a note which is also characteristic--of both these men.

    'At four o'clock in the morning of February 28th, when we got our
    majority of 14, after the first division, Mr. Gladstone, who wanted
    to go out, said to Childers and myself, "That will do." This was
    indeed a Delphic utterance.'

Sir Charles himself spoke, at Mr. Gladstone's request, at great length
in the third day's debate on February 26th, but it was 'only a debating
speech.'

    'After we had had a sleep, we met in Cabinet on Saturday, February
    28th. Lord Granville and Childers now anxious to go. Harcourt, who
    had at night been against going, was now anxious to go. This was a
    curious and interesting Cabinet. Lord Granville and Lord Derby, who
    were at loggerheads both with Bismarck and with their colleagues,
    were strong that we should resign, and they got some support from
    Chamberlain, Northbrook, Childers, and Hartington. Lefevre,
    [Footnote: Lord Eversley, then Mr. Shaw Lefevre, had joined the
    Cabinet after the news from Khartoum. Lord Rosebery had accepted the
    Privy Seal. Lord Eversley says that on February 28th opinions were
    evenly divided, but that one member refused to express an opinion on
    the ground of his recent admission. See, too, _Life of Granville_,
    vol. ii., pp. 421-422.] who had only just come in, and Trevelyan
    were strong for staying in, as was Carlingford; but the other
    members of the Cabinet either wobbled backwards and forwards, or did
    not care. At last it was decided by the casting vote of Mr.
    Gladstone, if one may use the phrase when there was no actual
    voting, that we should try to go on at present so as to carry the
    Seats Bill ourselves.

    'We then turned to the Berber railway, and decided that it should be
    a temporary or contractor's line made only so far as might be
    necessary for purely military reasons. We then decided that Wolseley
    should not be allowed to make himself Governor-General of the
    Soudan.

    'After the Cabinet Chamberlain and I continued our discussion as to
    his strong wish to resign. I told him that I wanted to finish the
    Seats Bill, that I thought Lord Salisbury might refuse or make
    conditions with regard to coming in, that Mr. Gladstone would not
    lead in opposition, and that we should seem to be driving him into
    complete retirement, and I asked whether we were justified in
    running away.'

Meantime the financial business of the year had to go on, and part of it
was a demand for increased naval expenditure, to which, as has been seen
already, Mr. Gladstone was opposed.

    'The Navy Estimates were first discussed, and then the Army, and a
    sum asked for for the fortification of coaling-stations was refused,
    and also a sum asked for for defending the home merchant ports. We
    all of us were guilty of unwise haste on this occasion, for the
    demand was right; but the chief blame must fall rather on Childers,
    Hartington, and the others who had been at the War Office than upon
    those who sinned in ignorance.'

This decision against naval expenditure was a cause of embarrassment to
the Government in the country, for a strong 'big navy' campaign
followed. The real question at issue in the Cabinet became that of
taxation. On March 2nd, and again in April, Sir Charles 'warned Mr.
Gladstone against Childers's proposed Budget'--the rock on which they
finally made shipwreck. 'Mr. Gladstone replied: "The subject of your
note has weighed heavily on my mind, and I shall endeavour to be
prepared for our meeting." I now sent him a memorandum after
consultation with Chamberlain.'

What Sir Charles wrote in 1885 is nowadays matter of common argument; it
was novel then in the mouth of a practical politician:

    'I stated at length that, as head of the Poor Law department, I
    ought to have knowledge of the pressure of taxation upon the incomes
    of the poor. As Chairman of the Royal Commission on the Housing of
    the Working Classes, I had had to hear a great deal of evidence upon
    the subject of the income of the working classes, and as Chairman of
    the recent Conference on Industrial Remuneration had had special
    opportunities of further examining the question. It was my opinion
    that the position of the agricultural labourers had declined, and
    that the Whig or Conservative minority on my Commission, represented
    by Mr. Goschen and Lord Brownlow, admitted this contention of mine
    as regarded the south of England. The labourers of the south were
    unable to procure milk, and relied largely on beer as an article of
    food. Their wages had but slightly increased in the twenty years
    since 1865, and had decreased considerably since 1879. Food had
    slightly risen in price, clothes were nominally cheaper, but the
    same amount of wear for the money was not obtainable, and house rent
    (where house rent was paid by the labourers) had greatly risen. An
    enormous proportion of the income of the rich escaped taxation:
    fifty millions a year of their foreign income at the least. The
    uncertainty of employment placed the labourer even lower as a
    partaker in the income of the country than the statisticians placed
    him. The calculations of employers, upon which the estimates of
    statisticians were based, were founded upon the higher earnings of
    the best workers; and when the matter was examined, it was found
    that variation of wages, loss of time, and failure of work, much
    lowered the average earnings. The taxation of the working classes
    rose to a higher percentage than that of the upper and middle
    classes. Mr. Dudley Baxter, who was a Conservative, had admitted
    this, and had advocated a reduction in the tobacco duty and the malt
    tax. Since that time the tobacco duty had been raised, and the
    duties pressing upon beer had been rather raised than lowered.'

Sir Charles's insistence upon this matter is all the more notable
because foreign complications were rapidly accumulating, and they were
of a gravity which might well have seemed to dwarf all questions of the
incidence of taxation.

There were not only the difficulties with Germany. There was also the
Soudan, where a large body of British troops was engaged, in a country
the perils of which England had now to realize.

    'On March 7th there was a Cabinet as to the Suakim-Berber railway.
    Northbrook and I, soon joined by Harcourt and Chamberlain, were in
    favour of stopping our impossible campaign. I argued that when we
    decided to destroy the power of the Mahdi, it was on Wolseley's
    telling us that he hoped possibly to take Khartoum at once. For some
    weeks after that he had intended to take Berber. Then he had told us
    that he at least could occupy Abu Hamed. Now he was in full retreat,
    and both his lines of supply--namely, that up the Nile and that from
    Suakim--seemed equally difficult. The Chancellor wrote on a slip of
    paper for me: "We seem to be fighting three enemies at once. (1) The
    Mahdi; (2) certain of our people here; (3) Wolseley." Nothing was
    settled, and we passed on to Egyptian finance.'

March 11th, 'In the evening a despatch was circulated in which Wolseley
said: "Please tell Lord Granville that I cannot wait any longer, and I
must issue proclamation, and will do so on my own authority if I do not
receive answer to this by the 14th. I hope I may be allowed to issue it
as Governor-General."

    'I at once wrote, "I understood that we had _decided_ that he was
    not to be Governor-General, and that the proclamation should not be
    issued in the terms proposed"; on which Lord Granville wrote, "Yes.
    Cabinet to-morrow.--G."

    'On Thursday, March 12th, the first matter discussed was that of the
    arrest of Zebehr. Then came Wolseley's proclamation, which was
    vetoed. We decided that he should not be allowed to make himself
    Governor-General of the Soudan.'

It now seemed more than likely that the British Government would have
work on its hands which would render the employment of an army in the
Soudan very undesirable; for more serious than the Mahdi's movements on
the Nile, more serious than the operations of German Admirals in the
Pacific, was the menace of a Russian advance upon Afghanistan.

Arrangements had been made for the demarcation of the Afghan frontier
which Sir Charles had persistently urged. A British Commissioner had
been appointed in July, 1884, but at the end of the following November
Russia was still parleying on questions of detail. These, however,
seemed to have been at length resolved; and in January, 1885, the
British Commissioner was waiting in the neighbourhood of Herat for the
Russian Commissioners to join in the work of fixing the boundaries. But
the Russians did not appear; they were, says Sir Charles, 'intriguing at
Penjdeh, and preparing for the blow which later on they struck against
the Afghans.' The Amir evidently felt this, for he renewed the proposal
that he should pay a state visit to the Viceroy, and on January 23rd
Dilke wrote to Grant Duff that this had been accepted.

February 4th, 'On this day I received a letter from Sir Robert Sandeman
at Quetta, in which he thanked me for the assistance that I had given
him in the retention of Sibi, Pishin, and the Khojak. "It was greatly
due to your support of my representations on the subject that our
influence on this frontier is at present all-powerful."'

On February 5th, a few hours after the fall of Khartoum was published,

    'there was a meeting of Ministers as to Central Asia. We decided on
    a reply to Russia drawn up by myself and Kimberley, Lord Granville
    and Northbrook somewhat dissenting, and Fitzmaurice and Philip
    Currie taking no part.

    'On February 18th we had a meeting of the Central Asia Committee at
    the Foreign Office with regard to the Russian advance in the
    direction of Penjdeh, Lord Granville, Hartington, Northbrook,
    Kimberley, myself, Fitzmaurice, and Currie. We ordered Sir Peter
    Lumsden' (Chief of the Boundary Commission), 'in the event of a
    Russian advance on Herat, to throw himself and escort into that
    city, and to aid the Afghan defence.'

On March 12th, after deciding to limit Lord Wolseley's schemes in the
Soudan, 'we took a decision that war preparations against Russia should
be made in India.'

    'On the 20th we decided that if the Russians continued to advance,
    20,000 troops should be concentrated at Quetta. We next gave
    instructions to Lord Dufferin with regard to what he was to say to
    the Amir of Afghanistan at the interview which was about to take
    place between them, and authorized him to renew our guarantee. There
    was either a regular or irregular Cabinet on March 24th. We decided
    that if the Russians advanced upon Herat, the advance should be
    treated as a _casus belli_, and orders to this effect were sent to
    Dufferin. At the meeting on April 2nd the Viceroy, Lord Dufferin,
    assured the Amir in the presence of his Prime Minister, of Mr.
    Durand, and of Captain Talbot, "that a Russian advance on Herat
    should be met by war all over the world."'

    'On April 8th, in public durbar, the Amir, without contradiction
    from Lord Dufferin, said: "The British Government has declared it
    will assist me in repelling any foreign enemy."'

Sir Charles was now discussing by letter with Sir Frederick Roberts the
proposals which were preferred by the Defence Committee in India for the
defence of the North-West Frontier, with special emphasis on the further
question whether there was any point at which England could strike at
Russia. [Footnote: See Appendix following on this chapter, pp. 122,
123.]

Early in April sittings of the Housing Commission in Scotland occasioned
Dilke's absence from a Cabinet at which important phases of the Central
Asian question were discussed.

April 4th, 'Chamberlain wrote to me an account of all that passed,
pointing out that the Russian answer bade us "give up everything, and
they offer us absolutely nothing by way of concession in return. This
attitude really leaves us no alternative. I am very uncomfortable about
it, because the more I study the matter the more I think that the
Russians are right both in form and in substance--i.e., they have the
pretexts on their side, and they also have a strong argument in favour
of their line, both on the matter of territorial right, and also on the
ground that this line is the only one which insures any chance of
permanent peace. But we cannot have the pill forced down our throats by
Russia without inquiry, or discussion on equal terms.... Harcourt
declares that we have 'closed the door of Peace and opened the door of
War.' The only difference between us is that he is inclined to accept
the alternative of the Russian zone which has been already refused, and
as to which the present Note says in effect that, though they are ready
to go back to this zone, yet it will be of no use, as they are
determined in the end to stick to their line."'

    'On Thursday, April 9th, there was a Cabinet, which I also missed,
    and which considered the conflict at Penjdeh.' [Footnote: On March
    20th, General Komarof with a Russian force had attacked and routed
    an Afghan army in the valley of Penjdeh.]

Every day now had its Cabinet. On April 11th, 13th, and 14th evacuation
of the Soudan was discussed, but Lord Hartington, by a threat of
resignation, secured repeated postponements.

    'This question was mixed up by some members of the Cabinet with that
    of Afghanistan, inasmuch as they said that we could not fight Russia
    in Afghanistan, and go on in the Soudan as well; upon which Mr.
    Gladstone said of the Soudan, "I am not prepared to go on upon any
    terms, Russia or no Russia."

A new trouble was added when the Egyptian Government suppressed the
_Bosphore Égyptien_, a local paper published in French, and closed the
printing office. Against this the French protested, and in the course of
the quarrel actually broke off diplomatic relations with the Egyptian
Government, which, considering the relations between that Ministry and
the protecting force of Great Britain, pushed unfriendliness very far.
Ultimately the _Bosphore_ was allowed to appear and to print what it
chose, until it died a natural death.

    'On Monday, April 13th, came a proposal from the Russian Ambassador,
    made through Lefevre and Brett, but which was really from Stead;
    Brett meaning Stead. Curiously enough, it was a proposal of
    Chamberlain's, of which he had previously told us, which had come
    back to him in this way. Chamberlain consulted me as to whether he
    should tell Mr. Gladstone that it was his, and I told him that I
    thought he had better not, as I thought it was more likely to be
    successful as coming from the Russian Ambassador and Stead than as
    coming from him. It virtually amounted to the plan of Arbitration
    which was ultimately adopted, although as a fact the Arbitration
    never took place.'

    'On Wednesday, 15th, there was an informal Cabinet, at which I was
    not present, because the Seats Bill was in Committee in the House at
    the same time. A form of words with regard to the Soudan was agreed
    upon which united Hartington with the others.'

    'On Thursday, the 16th, Mr. Gladstone misinformed the House of
    Commons--the inevitable result from time to time of his habit of
    answering without notice questions upon dangerous subjects. A
    meeting had taken place between Lord Granville, Kimberley, and
    Philip Currie on our side, and Staal, the Russian Ambassador, and
    Lessar, the Russian expert, at which Lord Granville showed that we
    meant to let Penjdeh go. Lessar paid a newspaper for its support by
    telling them. Mr. Gladstone was asked, and replied that he knew
    nothing about the matter, while he suggested that Penjdeh was not to
    be given up.'

    'On the 18th the Queen agreed to retirement from the Soudan, with
    reservation of future liberty of action.' Whatever happened about
    Penjdeh, it was certain that resistance would be offered to Russia.
    'On this day, Monday, April 20th, there was a Cabinet, at which it
    was decided to ask for eleven millions in the vote of credit. We
    then discussed Lumsden's despatch of explanation as to the Penjdeh
    incident, which we decided should be published. The vote of credit
    was really partly for Russia and partly for the Soudan, and a
    question arose whether it should be proposed as one or as two, and
    we decided for one. After which we went back again to the Budget,
    and the minority proposed a penny increase on the income tax as
    against the increase on beer, after which the Budget was adjourned
    to April 30th, it being decided then that the vote of credit should
    be taken first.'

    'On April 20th I received from the Communalist General Cluseret a
    long letter in which he offered, on the ground of his profound
    sympathy, his services to England against Russia in the event of
    war--a document which would have done him little good had it seen
    the light when he afterwards stood successfully for my electoral
    division in the Var, at a time when French sympathy for Russia was
    predominant.

    'On Tuesday, April 21st, after the Cabinet, I had told Mr. Gladstone
    that I could not agree to the increase of the taxation on beer, and
    Mr. Gladstone wrote to me twice on that day about the matter. I was
    not very sure of Harcourt standing by us, and knew that the pressure
    was great, inasmuch as, in addition to the two letters from Mr.
    Gladstone, I received one from Edward Hamilton, also dated the 21st,
    in which he made the strongest appeal to me on personal grounds not
    to worry Mr. Gladstone by resignations. He said that Mr. Gladstone
    was overburdened, and that it would take very little to break him
    down. Edward Hamilton wrote: "It is a peculiarity of his ... that,
    while he can stand the strain of a grave political crisis such as a
    question involving peace or war, he succumbs to the strain of a
    personal question.... Mr. Gladstone, I know, feels that any
    secession, especially of one who has a reputation not confined to
    this country, would necessarily weaken greatly the Government, and
    from a national point of view this is of all times a moment when
    there ought to be a strong Government which can confront Europe and
    face the varied difficulties. No one would more gladly escape from
    office than Mr. G. himself; but the more attractive is the prospect
    of freedom, the less does he dare allow himself to contemplate it."'

Mr. Gladstone wrote saying that such a secession at such a time would be
serious for the Government, but also, he thought, serious for the
seceder, and Sir Charles replied:

  Local Government Board,
    Whitehall,
      April 21st, 1885.

    'I should always let the consideration of what was due to my friends
    weigh with me as much as any man, I feel sure, and I am also certain
    that considerations of personal loyalty to yourself are as strong
    with me now as they are with any member of the Cabinet. I should
    never let the other class of considerations--i.e., those personal
    to myself--weigh with me at all. Because I am fond of work I am
    supposed to be ambitious; but I fancy few politicians are less so,
    and I do not mind unpopularity, which, after all, generally rights
    itself in the course of years. I knew that this matter would be a
    very serious one before I went into it, and I should not have said
    what I did had I not felt forced to do so.

    'If others go with me, the extent of our unpopularity and consequent
    loss of future usefulness will depend on our own conduct, and if we
    do our duty by firmly supporting the Government through its foreign
    and general difficulties, I do not think that even the party will be
    ungenerous to us.'

But Sir Charles finally yielded, and drove a bargain.

    'On April 24th I had decided at Chamberlain's strong wish to yield
    to Childers as to the beer duty; Childers promising in return to
    take the Princess Beatrice Committee of Inquiry demand upon himself.

    'May 9th, the Queen now wished for immediate inquiry--that is, in
    other words, preferred the Parliament she knew to the new
    Parliament. The Government proposed "next year." It was agreed that
    the Government were to guide the Committee whenever it might sit,
    and that the Chancellor of the Exchequer should be in the Chair.

    'Mr. Gladstone wrote me a letter to ease off my surrender on beer
    duties, by pointing out the importance of the proposals which were
    being made to put realty in the same position as personalty as to
    Death Duties. "This must in all likelihood lead to a very serious
    struggle with the Tories, for it strikes at the very heart of
    class-preference, which is the central point of what I call the
    lower and what is now the prevalent Toryism."'

In the great debate of April 27th, in which Mr. Gladstone proposed a
vote of credit for eleven millions, of which six and a half were for war
preparation in view of the collision between the Afghans and Russians at
Penjdeh,

    'Mr. Gladstone made perhaps the most remarkable speech that even he
    ever delivered, and I have his notes for it with a map I drew for
    him before he spoke, to show him the position of the various places.
    [Footnote: On this speech see the _Life of Gladstone_, vol. iii., p.
    184; _Life of Granville_, vol. ii., p. 440.] At this time I wrote to
    Hartington to suggest that if we were forced into war with Russia we
    should attack the Russians at Vladivostock, and the Intelligence
    Department wrote a memorandum upon the subject. I also sent round a
    paper pointing out that we should fight at the greatest advantage
    from a Pacific base, that the help of China would be of moment, and
    that Chinese troops drilled and officered by Englishmen would be
    irresistible; and Northbrook strongly backed me up. Lumsden was
    sending us most violent telegrams, and while I was preparing for war
    I was also asking for the recall of Lumsden in favour of Colonel
    Stewart. Lord Granville wrote: "Lumsden was a bad appointment, and I
    for a moment wished to recall him. But it would be condemned here as
    an immense knock-under." [Footnote: See the _Life of Granville_,
    vol. ii., pp. 441, 442.] I also suggested that the engineers for
    whom the Amir had asked should be carefully picked, and should have
    a private Indian allowance for keeping us informed of what passed at
    Kabul, and Lord Granville conveyed the suggestion by telegraph to
    Lord Dufferin. (This was afterwards done.)'

Russia unexpectedly withdrew.

    'On May 2nd there was a sudden Cabinet on the Russian acceptance of
    arbitration, Harcourt, Chamberlain, and Carlingford being absent.
    Kimberley, the Chancellor, Northbrook, Derby, and I were for
    immediate acceptance of the offer; Hartington against; Lord
    Granville for amiably getting out of it; Trevelyan and Lefevre
    silent; Rosebery late. Mr. Gladstone at first sided with Lord
    Granville, then came half way to us, and then proposed that we
    should wait a bit till Condie Stephen reached us. I replied by
    showing that Condie Stephen was a Jingo, the friend of Drummond
    Wolff and of Bowles of _Vanity Fair_, and would make things worse.
    Then Mr. Gladstone came completely to our side. Childers drew up in
    Cabinet the form for the declaration as to the Select Committee on
    the Civil List, and I agreed to it. I wrote what had passed to
    Chamberlain, who was at Birmingham, and he replied on the next day
    that he trusted that the information about Russia would be
    immediately communicated to the House, and went on: "But, then, what
    becomes of the vote of credit and the Budget? It seems cheeky to ask
    for 6 1/2 millions of Preparations when the matter is practically
    settled."

    'On May 7th the Herat boundary was discussed and a line settled, and
    it was decided that either the German Emperor or the King of Denmark
    should be named as the Arbitrator about Penjdeh.' Later, 'There was
    a meeting of the Commons Ministers to discuss the situation created
    by the refusal by Russia of the German Emperor as Arbitrator, the
    Queen having previously refused the King of Denmark. The Queen had
    ultimately to yield. But, as I have said, the arbitration, although
    agreed on, never took place at all.'

The demarcation of frontier for which Sir Charles had so long contended
was carried through without any marked incident, largely owing to the
skill of Sir J. West Ridgeway, who had succeeded Sir Peter Lumsden.



APPENDIX


The Memoir gives the following account of the proposals made for defence
of the North-West Frontier in India in the spring of 1885, and some
observations arising from them:

    'The general idea was to hold the northern route by an entrenched
    position, and, as regards the southern or flank road, to fortify the
    mountains before Quetta. Roads and railways were to be made for
    concentration in the direction of Kandahar, and Sir Frederick
    Roberts afterwards very wisely noted, "It is impossible to threaten
    Russia's base, but we should do all in our power to keep it as far
    away as possible." Unfortunately, Sir Frederick Roberts afterwards
    forgot this, and suggested the possibility of advance upon Herat
    with the view to attack Russia at her Sarakhs base. The suggestions
    made in 1885 with regard to Kashmir and the Gromul Pass were acted
    upon in 1890. Sir Donald Stewart, however, went on to recommend a
    railway extension from Peshawur towards Kabul, and Sir Frederick
    Roberts, with greater judgment, on succeeding him, vetoed this
    scheme. Lord Kitchener revived it, but was not allowed to complete
    his work. Sir Donald Stewart's committee recommended the tunnel at
    the Khojak, which was carried out. Roberts reported against it, and
    he was right.

    'On the whole, when Sir Frederick Roberts sent me his view on the
    defence proposals, I was struck with the contrast between the
    completeness of the manner in which a defence scheme for India has
    been considered, and the incompleteness, to say the least of it, of
    all strategic plans at home. Sir Charles Macgregor put on record at
    the same time his view that a mere offensive on the North-West
    Frontier of India would be folly, if not madness, and that it would
    be necessary also to undertake offensive operations against Russia.
    Quite so, according to all rules of war, and if ultimate defeat is
    to be avoided. Unfortunately, however, it is not easy to attack
    Russia, and the proposals made by Sir Charles Macgregor would not
    bear investigation. Sir Frederick Roberts himself afterwards tried
    his hand at proposals of his own in a Memorandum entitled, "What are
    Russia's vulnerable points?" But I do not know that he was more
    successful, and I fear that his first question, "Has Russia any
    vulnerable points?" must, if we are looking to permanency, and not
    to merely temporary measures, be answered in the negative, except as
    regards Vladivostock--a case I put. After much correspondence with
    me on this last memorandum, Sir Frederick Roberts quoted me, without
    naming me, as having, to his regret, informed him that English
    public opinion would oppose a Turkish alliance, that a Turkish
    alliance would not be of much use if we could obtain it, and that
    apart even from these considerations we could not obtain it if we
    wished.'

The importance which Sir Charles attached to Vladivostock, as the
vulnerable point at which Russia could be attacked in time of war,
explains his regret when Port Hamilton, which threatened Vladivostock,
was abandoned. [Footnote: See _Life of Lord Granville_, vol. ii., p.
440; and _Europe and the Far East_, by Sir Robert K. Douglas, pp. 190,
248, 249.]

    'May, 1885.--The Port Hamilton matter began about this time. We had
    seized it, and, as Northbrook and I agreed, "for naval reasons we
    ought to keep it." Northbrook also wrote that he was laying a cable
    from Shanghai to Port Hamilton, which he thought a most important
    precaution in time of war; but Port Hamilton was afterwards given up
    because the sailors found it dull--an insufficient reason.'




CHAPTER XL

REDISTRIBUTION: COERCION AND DEVOLUTION

1885


I.

The year 1885 saw the Seats Bill, with its numerous compromises in
detail, passed into law, but not without attendant difficulties.

    'On Ash Wednesday, February 18th, I saw Sir Stafford Northcote, and
    settled with him, in view of the meeting of the House on the next
    day, the whole course of affairs for the 19th and 20th, under guise
    of discussing details of the Seats Bill. After we had parted,
    Northcote wrote to me that on consideration he had come to the
    conclusion that he must give notice of a vote of censure, but our
    amicable communication continued on the next day. "On
    consideration," with Northcote, always meant "After bullying by
    Randolph."'

In the process of settlement there were constant meetings with Lord
Salisbury and Sir Stafford Northcote together, with Lord John Manners,
with Sir Michael Hicks Beach; while on the Conservative scheme for Irish
grouping

    'I saw Healy for them, to discover if the thing could be done by
    general consent; and, although Healy did not oppose right out, the
    prospect of an agreement on details was far from promising. Healy
    and I took the opportunity to discuss the Parnell-Chamberlain Irish
    National Board scheme, of which I had written to Grant Duff on
    January 23rd, "Chamberlain has a grand scheme for an Irish Board."'

March 6th.--'Healy having told me that he was sure Lord Salisbury had
"rigged" the Irish Boundary Commission, and I having written this to
Spencer, I received an indignant denial. "If indignation were justified
at anything that Healy says, I should indignantly deny his accusation."'

    'Between March 11th and 13th the Conservatives had given me a good
    deal of trouble by trying, under pressure from their friends, to
    vary the Seats Agreement upon several points.... They then attacked
    the two-member towns in England, which, it may be remembered, had
    been insisted on by Mr. Gladstone against my wish; and Northcote
    wrote: "Lord Salisbury and I never liked that _privilegium_, and
    wished to have single-member constituencies everywhere"; he tried
    hard to get me to reopen the question, knowing doubtless that I was
    with him on the merits. He continued to press the question as late
    as March 15th, when he wrote: "Our men are getting hard to hold,
    and, having twice walked through the lobby almost alone, I have no
    taste for repeating the operation." Conference with Lord Salisbury
    followed, and the final stages were reached: from Monday, March
    23rd, I had the Seats Bill in Committee four days a week.'

The essential fact in these dealings is that emphasized by Mr. Howel
Thomas, Secretary to the Boundary Commission:

    'No political or other pressure would induce Sir Charles--and the
    strongest pressure was used again and again--even to contemplate a
    departure from the spirit of the compact. When once an agreement
    became possible, he would spare no trouble to modify details. But
    without agreement, however strong the argument for a change, nothing
    was listened to.'

    'On May 6th I received from Sir John Lambert, the retired Permanent
    Secretary of the Local Government Board, a most grateful letter
    about the Privy Councillorship, which had been announced to him by
    Mr. Gladstone, and which no man ever more greatly deserved as an
    honour, or by his character more greatly honoured.' [Footnote: John
    Lambert's letter to Sir Charles contained these words: 'I have had
    the opportunity of assisting you in a work which has placed you in
    the very foremost rank of statesmen, and I have formed a friendship
    which is one of the most gratifying incidents of my declining
    years.']

    'On the morning of May 9th I received a letter from Northcote,
    congratulating me on the manner in which I had conducted the
    Redistribution Bill "through its difficult stages.... Let me thank
    you once more for the great consideration, as well as the perfect
    loyalty, with which you have dealt with the numerous questions, and
    congratulate you on having brought your ship so well into port."'
    [Footnote: Upon a table in the larger drawing-room at 76, Sloane
    Street there stood always a bronze 'Victory' sent by Sir George
    Trevelyan to Sir Charles to celebrate the passing of the
    Redistribution Bill, with these words:

    'Dear Dilke,--The bronze is a Victory on a globe. The Victory is
    obvious. The globe below signifies the manner in which your conduct
    of the Redistribution Bill got the Tory Press under your feet. I am
    pleased to think that, as a work of art, it may pass muster even
    before such an artist as the future Lady Dilke.... It is a copy of a
    Herculaneum bronze.... I cannot help hoping that you will think it
    not unworthy of the event which it is meant to commemorate.']

But 'port' was not finally reached till after the fall of the Ministry
in June.

Work on the Housing Commission was also practically completed.
Throughout the year the Report had been under discussion.

On February 16th 'I told Chamberlain that the Labourers' Ireland
Committee had "advised taking of land under compulsory powers in order
to attach it to cottages"--a proposal which was afterwards carried; to
which Chamberlain replied: "And your Commission?" and I answered: "We
_shall_, I hope, but Lord Salisbury is jibbing since your speeches" (on
the unauthorized programme).

    'On March 11th, at the meeting of my Housing Commission, Lord
    Salisbury proposed what Goschen at once described as "Revolution,"
    and Broadhurst "Socialism." He wanted to give public money out of
    taxes to London. It may have been silly, but it was not either
    revolutionary or socialistic.'

When it came to the point of acting on the Report, the Tory leader was
very far from revolutionary; on June 4th,

    'I was also seeing Lord Salisbury as to the Housing Commission
    Bills, which he was to introduce into the House of Lords, [Footnote:
    Sir Charles was to take charge of the measures in the Commons.] He
    was strongly opposed to putting it into the power of Boards of
    Guardians "to build out of the rates as many cottages, with half-
    acres attached, as they like, taking for the purpose any land
    they please." In another letter he wrote: "I should provide that--
    (1) The Local Authority must pass a petition to the Local Government
    Board to apply the Acts. (2) The Local Government Board must send
    down and inquire with a long notice. (3) If the Local Government
    Board inspector reports (i.) that the poorer classes of the parish
    are not, and are not likely to be, sufficiently housed without the
    application of the Acts; (ii.) that the Acts can be applied without
    ultimate loss to the ratepayers, then a vote of the local
    authorities should be sufficient to apply the Acts. It would be
    better that a sufficient interval should be passed in these
    processes to insure that the second vote should be given by a newly
    elected local authority."'

On April 4th to 9th the Housing Commission visited Scotland.

    'On the evening of April 4th I dined with the Lord Provost of
    Edinburgh. On Easter Day I attended the Kirk with the Lord Provost,
    hearing a magnificent sermon by Principal Caird, and in the evening
    dined with the Lord Advocate. On Easter Tuesday I dined with the
    Convention of Royal Burghs. On Thursday, April 9th, we left
    Edinburgh for London.'

There remained only the question of inquiring and reporting with regard
to Ireland, and here perplexities abounded.

As far back as February 7th at the Cabinet, 'the third matter discussed
was that of the proposed visit of the Prince of Wales to Dublin as a
member of my Commission, or, by himself, in advance of the visit of the
Commission. It was decided that Parliament could not be asked for his
expenses without trouble with the Irish.'

April 9th.--'I now began discussing with Spencer the conditions on which
the Commission was to appear at Dublin, with regard to which there were
great difficulties. Gray was on the Commission, but could not be
Spencer's guest in any way, although, on the other hand, he and his
friends were willing to receive me in spite of my being a member of the
Government. [Footnote: Mr. Dwyer Gray, Nationalist member for Carlow in
1885. In 1886 he represented St. Stephen's Green, Dublin.] Spencer, in
inviting me to stay with him, wrote: "I do not think you will fear the
denunciation of _United Ireland_."

    'On April 17th I entered in my diary, after the meeting of the Royal
    Commission at which we signed our report: "Pleasures of Ireland. If
    we stay with Spencer, the Irish witnesses say that they will not
    appear before the Commission; and if we do not, I am told that the
    'loyalists' will not appear." On this day I wrote to Grant Duff: "I
    may go" (out) "with Chamberlain over Budget [Footnote:
    Correspondence with Mr. Gladstone on the Budget and the Beer Tax has
    been given in the previous chapter, pp. 118-120.] or over Irish
    Coercion." He replied, and my rejoinder will be found below.'
    [Footnote: Sir Charles's summary of this letter will be found in
    this chapter (p. 143).]

Trouble had arisen also over Mr. Childers's wish to increase the duty on
sparkling wines. This Sir Charles strongly opposed

    'on the ground that it would upset the French and make them withdraw
    the most favoured nation treatment which I had won, and the matter
    was adjourned.'

    'On Saturday, May 16th, there was another Cabinet. Childers proposed
    to raise the wine duties, to reduce by one-half his proposed
    increase on spirits, and to limit to one year his increase on beer.
    We all agreed, against Childers, to postpone any announcement of
    changes for three weeks, and Childers, thinking that this meant that
    we had agreed not to take his proposals, said that he would resign.'

April 24th.--'I had now received Spencer's consent to my quitting the
Viceregal Lodge, when at Dublin at Whitsuntide, for one evening, to
attend a party at Gray's, which was the virtual condition of our not
being boycotted by the Nationalists.'

Negotiations between the Irish party and both English parties were at
this time in the air, and it will be seen that this visit to Ireland
became connected with political issues quite different from its
ostensible and non-controversial object.


II.

Early in 1885 anti-Irish feeling, which to some extent had been allayed,
was again roused by dynamite outrages. One bomb was exploded in the
Tower of London, and two in the precincts of Parliament. The general
temper may be judged by an entry of February 7th:

    'I remonstrated with Harcourt as to the restrictions at the House,
    which he and the Speaker had agreed on, so far as they affected the
    Press. I said that it was ridiculous to shut out little Lucy, the
    "Toby" of _Punch_, and Harcourt gravely assured me that Lucy was a
    man who would willingly bring dynamite into the House himself; after
    which I had no more to say.'

It was in face of this feeling that Mr. Chamberlain had drafted a scheme
giving very large powers of self-government to an Irish popularly
elected body.

When Sir Charles was declaring for resignation, he received a
communication which made the Irish matter pressing.

    'On April 22nd Cardinal Manning wrote to me that he had some
    information of importance which he wished for an opportunity of
    making known to me, and he begged me to come to him on my way to
    Whitehall on the morrow. I had to see Lord Salisbury and Sir
    Stafford Northcote as to the Seats Bill, and it was not until the
    afternoon that I was able to see the Cardinal. He spoke in the name
    of Croke and another Roman Catholic Irish Archbishop, and of five
    Irish Roman Catholic Bishops who had been staying with him, the
    latter being a deputation of five to Rome who represented "the 14
    Bishops." He said that Croke had become frightened of the extreme
    Nationalists. The Cardinal declared that the Roman Catholic clergy
    were ready to pacify Ireland if we would pass Chamberlain's Local
    Government Ireland Scheme, with a Central Board such as Chamberlain
    proposed. The Bishops and clergy would be prepared to denounce, not
    only separation, but also an Irish Parliament. I had reason to know
    that Lord Spencer was unfavourable to any negotiation with Cardinal
    Manning, but on the 24th, having that day again seen Manning, who
    put the dots on the "i's" and volunteered that if the Irish Bishops
    got the elective board for Ireland they would denounce as
    revolutionary an Irish Parliament, I wrote to Mr. Gladstone stating
    Manning's views, and suggesting that Chamberlain should see the
    Cardinal on the morrow. [Footnote: See the next two pages, where
    accounts of these interviews and correspondence occur.]

    'I said in my letter to Mr. Gladstone: "I knew that the Pope, in
    sending for the Bishops to Rome, had acted on Manning's advice. I
    also knew that Manning bitterly resented Errington's visits to Rome.
    This was all I knew on the subject until to-day, when Manning
    suddenly proposed to me to bring about peace and good-will in
    Ireland on the basis of Chamberlain's Local Government and Central
    Board Scheme.... Manning has got a pledge from the Roman Catholic
    Bishops, including even Archbishop Croke ... and from Davitt, to
    denounce separation. He has got from the Bishops, including Croke, a
    declaration against an Irish Parliament, provided they obtain the
    Local Government Central Board. I suggested that he should see
    Chamberlain at once, and learn secretly the details of his
    proposals. He said nothing of coercion, and I, of course, avoided
    the subject, as I did not know whether a coercion Bill is to be
    proposed. I should suggest that Manning be encouraged to let the
    Pope have Chamberlain's scheme."

    'I sent this memorandum to Chamberlain and to Lord Spencer, as well
    as to Mr. Gladstone, and Chamberlain wrote: "I am quite willing to
    call on the Cardinal if Mr. Gladstone approves." Lord Spencer wrote:
    "The question of Mr. Chamberlain's seeing the Cardinal with a view
    of his scheme being made known to the Pope is for Mr. Gladstone's
    decision, but I would venture to say that he should not disclose his
    plan to the Cardinal unless the Cabinet agree to it." This last
    memorandum from Lord Spencer is dated the 25th, but on the 24th
    Chamberlain, Mr. Gladstone having consented, had seen the Cardinal.
    I also saw the Cardinal again on the 25th, and he told me that in
    his opinion it was essential that Dr. Walsh should be made
    Archbishop of Dublin. He also told me that he was going to see
    Parnell on the Chamberlain scheme. On April 30th the Cardinal saw
    Parnell, and told him that the Bishops would support Chamberlain in
    the Local Government of Ireland scheme. Parnell promised that he
    would support it, and would not obstruct the Crimes Bill. So O'Shea
    told me, and showed me a paper unsigned, which purported to be, and
    which, knowing the hand, I believe was, Parnell's writing, somewhat
    to this effect. On the 28th a Committee of the Cabinet had been
    appointed on Chamberlain's Irish Local Government and Central
    Council scheme. On May 1st the Cardinal told me of his interview
    with Parnell, and of a more completely satisfactory interview
    between himself and Sexton.

    'The scheme was one which proposed the establishment in Ireland of a
    national elective Council, to which were to be referred matters at
    present in the hands of some four Boards at Dublin Castle. Mr.
    Gladstone's consent to Chamberlain's interview with the Cardinal had
    been given in conversation at the House of Commons on the 23rd, and
    I have a letter from Mr. Gladstone stating this. I had probably, for
    some reason which I forget, both written and spoken to him after my
    first interview with Manning on the 22nd, and put the matter again
    in a letter (possibly to go to Spencer) on the 24th. I have also a
    letter from Chamberlain on the 24th, saying that his interview with
    Manning "quite confirms your minute, and the position is hopeful."
    With regard to the Cardinal's insisting upon Walsh, and his anger at
    Errington's interference, I had a letter which I sent to Lord
    Spencer, and which he kept, but returned my minute referring to the
    Cardinal's letter, endorsed only "S. 25-4-85." Chamberlain also
    wrote on the same day, again stating that his interview with the
    Cardinal had been highly satisfactory, and adding: "Do not let Mr.
    Errington meddle with the Archbishopric of Dublin." On April 26th
    the Cardinal had again written to me about the Errington business
    and the See of Dublin, and this second letter on the subject I kept.
    The only new point in it was that contained in the following phrase:
    "I have an impression that efforts have been made to represent Dr.
    Walsh as a Nationalist. He is not more so than I am; and whether
    that is excessive or obstructive you will judge."

    'On Tuesday, April 28th, the Cardinal again spoke to me as to the
    archbishopric, expressing his great vexation as to Spencer's action
    through Errington. I sent a minute to Spencer which he returned,
    writing, with regard to Manning's moderate opinions: "I wish it may
    be so. Responsibility does wonders. Maynooth is so bad that the Pope
    is now discussing it with the Bishops." Dr. Walsh, Manning's
    candidate, was President of Maynooth. I sent Spencer's minute to
    Chamberlain, who returned it with a strong minute of his own for
    Spencer, who again wrote: "H.E. the Cardinal is wrong in his
    estimate of Dr. Walsh." On April 30th Manning wrote mentioning a
    further conversation with Parnell, and adding: "The result is that I
    strongly advise the prompt introduction of the scheme I have in
    writing. It cannot be known too soon. But both on general and on
    particular reasons I hope that neither you nor your friend will
    dream of the act you spoke of. Government are pledged in their first
    Queen's Speech to county government in Ireland. Let them redeem
    their pledge. All the rest will follow." The "act," of course, was
    resignation.'

    'At the Cabinet Committee of May 1st on Ireland, Carlingford and
    Harcourt, in Spencer's interest, violently attacked Chamberlain's
    scheme; Hartington less violently; Childers, Lefevre, and Trevelyan
    supported. Spencer seeming to waver, Harcourt rather turned round,
    and Mr. Gladstone afterwards told Chamberlain that Carlingford's
    opposition did not matter.

    'On May 1st I again saw Manning, who told me of further interviews
    with Parnell and Sexton. I noted in my diary: "2nd to 6th. The Irish
    row--Mr. Gladstone between Chamberlain and Spencer: the deep sea and
    the devil, or the devil and the deep sea--continues."

    'On May 7th the Cardinal wrote: "How can the _Standard_ have got the
    Irish scheme? Nothing is secret and nobody is safe. My copy of it is
    both safe and secret." On May 8th I wrote to Grant Duff:
    "Chamberlain and I have a big Irish Local Government scheme on hand,
    which is backed by the R. C. Bishops--which may either pacify
    Ireland or break up the Government." On the 9th, Harcourt having
    come over, Chamberlain's scheme received the support of all the
    Commoners except Hartington, and was opposed by all the peers except
    Lord Granville. Mr. Gladstone said to me in leaving the room:
    "Within six years, if it pleases God to spare their lives, they will
    be repenting in ashes." At night he wrote to Lord Spencer and to
    Hartington that he intended to go out upon this question.

    'During Sunday, May 10th, Harcourt tried hard to patch matters up on
    the basis of "No Home Rule, no coercion, no remedial legislation, no
    Ireland at all."'

On May 13th 'Cardinal Manning dined with me, and we further discussed
the position of Chamberlain's scheme.'

Then suddenly a new and complicating factor was introduced:

    'On Friday, May 15th, there was another Cabinet, from which
    Trevelyan was absent through illness. A Land Purchase Ireland Bill
    was suddenly presented to us, to which I expressed strong
    opposition, unless it were to be accompanied by "Chamberlain's Local
    Government scheme"; and a Coercion Bill was also presented to us,
    against which Chamberlain, Lefevre, and I, protested. We, however,
    declared that we would yield as regards some points in the Coercion
    Bill provided the Land Purchase Bill were dropped or the "Local
    Government measure" introduced.' [Footnote: A Land Purchase Bill had
    been proposed in the end of April, 1884, by Lord Spencer, which
    after preliminary consideration by a Committee was discussed in
    Cabinet.

    'I opposed the whole thing. Lord Derby gave five reasons against it,
    all five unanswerable, and then supported it. Northbrook agreed with
    me. Childers, supported by a unanimous Cabinet committee, proposed a
    scheme of Chamberlain's suggestion for advancing the whole purchase
    money. Spencer proposed three-fourths. Mr. Gladstone had a scheme of
    his own which nobody could understand. Spencer insisted on counting
    heads. Lord Granville, who would, of course, have supported Mr.
    Gladstone, had gone away. Trevelyan, who had been called in, was not
    allowed to vote, and the result was that the majority pronounced
    against Chamberlain's scheme; Spencer who was for three-fourths, and
    I against the whole thing, voting together with Carlingford,
    Northbrook, the Chancellor, Hartington, and Dodson--a scratch
    lot--against Mr. Gladstone, Childers, Harcourt, Kimberley, Derby,
    and Chamberlain.']

    'On Sunday, May 17th, I dined with Edward Levy Lawson, [Footnote:
    Afterwards the first Lord Burnham.] and met the Prince of Wales and
    Randolph Churchill; and Randolph told the Prince and myself that
    which he had previously told the Irish members--namely, that
    Salisbury had promised to have no coercion; but I noted in my diary
    that I did not believe this. I was wrong, for Salisbury afterwards
    said at Newport that his mind had been made up against coercion long
    before the change of Government. I knew that Randolph had seen
    Parnell, as I had twice seen them together in Gosset's room, which
    only Randolph and I ever used before 5 p m.'

There were now two separate subjects of division leading to resignations
in the Cabinet. There were those who would resign unless coercion was
renewed, and there was the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who was
resigning because he could not get his way as to the Budget. His
resignation was 'suspended'; but Mr. Gladstone was evidently anxious to
be out of it all.

    'On the Sunday Childers informed us that he would go on for three
    weeks. On Wednesday afternoon, May 20th, Mr. Gladstone spoke to me
    at the House, and told me that he would go on until the end of the
    Session, and would then resign, and that Hartington would try to
    form a Government, although he might fail in getting one that could
    agree on Irish proposals. Mr. Gladstone said nothing about land
    purchase, but in the course of the afternoon he suddenly announced
    publicly the introduction of a Land Purchase Bill, thinking, I
    believe, that he had Chamberlain's consent to a Bill limited to one
    year. I at once wrote him a letter of resignation, and then sent off
    for Chamberlain, Lefevre, and Trevelyan.

    'Chamberlain's interview with Mr. Gladstone that had misled the
    latter had taken place after the Cabinet of Saturday--I think on the
    morning of Monday, the 18th--and their meeting was on the subject of
    Childers's Budget proposals. Chamberlain, writing to me about it,
    said: "We are likely to want four millions less money. Therefore,
    says Childers, let us have a new Budget and clap an additional tax
    of £300,000 on wine." Chamberlain also wrote to me, after his
    interview with Mr. Gladstone, on the Monday afternoon, telling me
    that Randolph Churchill was going to give notice of a Committee to
    inquire into the state of Ireland, that Churchill thought that we
    should be out by that time and supporting him, and that he
    contemplated a separation from his own leaders, and a union, on a
    Radical Irish policy for "Local Government," and against coercion,
    of the two sides from below the gangway. Chamberlain added that, if
    the Russian matter "were out of the way, Mr. Gladstone would let us
    go, and I think _we must go_." This correspondence had left me
    unaware of any change in Chamberlain's view, if there was any, about
    the Land Purchase Bill. As soon as Chamberlain reached the House on
    the 20th, and heard from me what I had done, he also wrote a letter
    of resignation; but he was not pleased, and perhaps rightly, at my
    having taken so strong a step without consulting him on the precise
    point.

    'In Chamberlain's letter, which was sent at 6 p.m. on the 20th, he
    said: "Dear Mr. Gladstone,--I have heard with great surprise that
    you have this afternoon given notice of the introduction of a Land
    Purchase Bill for Ireland, unaccompanied by any reference to the
    large scheme of Local Government, the promise of which for next year
    was the condition of the assent given by Sir Charles Dilke and
    myself to the proposal for dealing with Land Purchase during the
    present Session. I am convinced that a measure of the kind suggested
    by Lord Spencer will have a distinct tendency to increase the
    agitation for a separation between the two countries, and at the
    same time will seriously prejudice the success of any such scheme of
    Local Government as I have submitted to the Cabinet.... In the
    circumstances I feel that I have no alternative but to place my
    resignation in your hands."

    'On the morning of May 21st Lefevre informed us that he should go
    with us, and also wrote a letter of resignation, in which he said
    that he did not agree with us as to Land Purchase, but that as we
    went he must go, too, on coercion.

    'Mr. Gladstone sent for me on the 21st, and I suggested a way out,
    in our acceptance of the Land Purchase Bill, with a promise of "the
    Local Government Scheme" for 1886. Mr. Gladstone fell in with this
    view, and proposed that at Dublin, for which I was starting on
    Friday morning, May 22nd, I should try to get Spencer's consent to
    the limitation of the new Coercion Bill to a single year, and the
    promise of the "Local Government Bill" for 1886. On the 21st Mr.
    Gladstone wrote to me several times, as did also Chamberlain. Mr.
    Gladstone had written to Chamberlain on the night of the 20th: "I
    have never been in greater surprise than at the fresh trouble
    developed this afternoon. I believed myself to be acting entirely
    within the lines of your and Dilke's concurrence, and surely I am
    right in thinking that you could not have supposed that the notice
    of an intention to bring in a Bill offered the occasion on which to
    refer to the distinct though allied subject of Local Government.
    What I understood to be your and Dilke's procedure was to agree to a
    Land Purchase Bill with a provision of funds for one year, which
    would leave the whole measure ... dependent on a fresh judgment
    which might be associated with Local Government as its condition. It
    seems to me to be a matter which we may perfectly well consider, and
    hope to arrange, in what terms reference shall be made to Local
    Government when the Bill is brought in. Will not that be the time to
    part, if part we must, which I do not believe? I send a copy of this
    to Dilke, and will only add, to the expression of my surprise, my
    deep concern."

    'When I received a letter from Mr. Gladstone, enclosing a copy of
    his to Chamberlain, I replied (first showing my answer to Lefevre
    and sending it to Chamberlain) to the effect that the proposal to
    introduce a Land Purchase Bill had been discussed by and rejected by
    the Cabinet, that I could not concur in the reversal of its
    judgment, and that, thinking as I did that a deliberate opinion of
    the Cabinet had been disregarded without warrant, and having, so
    thinking, resigned, I should be unable to attend any meeting of the
    Cabinet if one were summoned. I have a letter from Chamberlain to Mr
    Gladstone dated 21st, and two later ones from Mr. Gladstone to
    myself. Chamberlain said:

    '"My Dear Mr. Gladstone,

    '"I fear there has been a serious misapprehension on both sides with
    respect to a Land Purchase Bill, and I take blame to myself if I did
    not express myself with sufficient clearness. I certainly never
    imagined that the promise of introduction would be made without
    further reference to the Cabinet, or without some definite decision
    as to Local Government. I doubt very much if it is wise or even
    right to attempt to cover over the serious differences of principle
    that have lately disclosed themselves in the Cabinet. I think it is
    now certain that they will cause a split in the new Parliament, and
    it seems hardly fair to the constituencies that this should only be
    admitted after they have discharged their functions, and when they
    are unable to influence the result.

    '"I am,

    '"Yours sincerely,

    '"J. CHAMBERLAIN."

    'They _did_ "cause" a split in the new Parliament, but Spencer the
    Coercionist and Chamberlain the Nationalist had changed places!'

    'I do not know which of Mr. Gladstone's two letters dated the 21st
    is the earlier. In the one Mr. Gladstone wrote: "I hope that my note
    may have shown you that the time for considering your difficulty (if
    there be one) has not arrived. Please to tell me if this is so, as
    if it were not I should have to summon the Cabinet this afternoon to
    report what has happened. The messenger will wait for an answer.--
    Yours sincerely, W. E. Gladstone.--This is also for Chamberlain." I
    replied somewhat curtly that if there were a Cabinet I could not
    attend. The other letter referred to a conversation which had taken
    place between Hamilton and Chamberlain, and said that the latter was
    "willing that his letter should stand as _non avenu_ until after the
    recess--i.e. (so I understand it), we should, before the Bill is
    introduced, consider in what terms the subject of Local Government
    should be referred to when the Bill is introduced. I am not trying
    to bind you to this understanding, but if you and he will come here
    at 3.0 we will try to get at the bottom of the matter." My reply
    was:

    '"21st May.

    '"I certainly cannot withdraw my resignation unless the incident is
    explained to the whole of the members of the Cabinet. If you could
    see your way to circulate a box explaining that we were not
    consenting parties to the reversal of the opinion of the Cabinet,
    then I would try to help find some way out. I am, however, hopeless
    as to the wisdom of doing so. We differ so completely on the
    questions which will occupy the time of Parliament for the remainder
    of the Session that I feel that the Cabinet cannot hold together
    with advantage to the country. Lefevre strongly agrees with this
    view Northbrook and Hartington, who, with Lefevre, were against
    Chamberlain and myself on the merits, evidently felt as amazed as we
    were at the reversal of the decision."'

    'At this moment Chamberlain wrote to Mrs. Pattison' (in India) 'to
    say that the times were "most anxious. Mr. Gladstone is certainly
    going to retire soon, and the influence which has held together
    discordant elements will be removed with him. Fortunately, we know
    our own minds, and are not deficient in resolution, but it is not
    always easy to see clearly the right times and way of giving effect
    to our decisions. I do not myself believe that the struggle between
    us and the Whigs can be long postponed. It has nearly come over the
    question of Ireland, and even now we may be compelled to break off
    on this vital point. In any case we shall not join another
    Government nor meet another Parliament without a decision; and if it
    is against our views, the split will be final and complete, and we
    shall be out of office until we can lead a purely Radical
    Administration. We must win in the end, but the contest will be a
    bitter one, and may lead us farther than we contemplate at
    present.... I was dining last Saturday with Lord Ripon, who
    professed to be well pleased ... and declared his full adhesion to
    the new gospel; but the majority of his class and school are getting
    thoroughly frightened, and will probably quicken and intensify the
    movement by setting themselves against it, instead of trying to
    guide and direct it. A good deal depends on Lord Hartington. He is
    constitutionally contemptuous of, and unsympathetic with, the
    democratic sentiment of the times."

    'By our telegrams of May 21st, I saw that on the 20th Sir John Kirk,
    our man at Zanzibar, had been snubbed by Lord Granville, and I felt
    that if I went out upon the Irish Question I should be able at least
    to speak my mind as to the manner in which we had pandered to the
    Germans on the Zanzibar coast.

    'On May 21st I wrote to Grant Duff: "Mr. G. will resign at the end
    of the session. I rather doubt Hartington being able to form a
    Government."

    'On the morning of Friday, May 22nd, I left for Dublin, and by
    teatime was at the Viceregal Lodge.'

On the previous day Sir Charles had written:

    'Local Government Board,
     'May 21st, 1885.

    'My Dear Grant Duff,

    'Off to Ireland, where I expect to be Boycotted by both sides
    [Footnote: It turned out the other way.]--by the Nationalists
    because I stay with Spencer, and by the Orangemen because we sit at
    the Mansion House.

        'Yours,
        'Chs. W. D.'

    'As Mr. Gladstone at our last interview had bid me convert Spencer
    if I could, and virtually promised that he would support our views
    if Spencer would, I had asked Trevelyan and Harcourt to back me up
    in letters. Harcourt made delay. Trevelyan wrote on the 23rd: "I am
    sorry the whole thing is in the newspapers, and see in it another
    reason for getting it settled. If you and Chamberlain make it a
    point to have the Bill for a year, I should be glad to see the
    concession made. The concession on the part of those who take
    another view would not be greater than was made by those of us who
    objected to have a Land Bill that was not based upon a new system of
    Local Government."

    'Early in the morning of Saturday, the 23rd, before the meeting of
    my Commission at the City Hall, I had had a long talk with Spencer,
    and I felt, more strongly than I ever had before, that his position
    in Dublin was untenable, and that he ought to be allowed to go. On
    Whit Sunday I attended church with Spencer, and in the afternoon
    took him for the only walk which he had enjoyed for a long time. We
    passed the spot where Lord Frederick Cavendish was killed, and
    accompanied by a single aide-de-camp, but watched at a distance by
    two policemen in plain clothes, and met at every street corner by
    two others, walked to the strawberry gardens, and on our return, it
    being a lovely Sunday when the Wicklow Mountains were at their best
    and the hawthorn in bloom, met thousands of Dublin people driving
    out to the strawberry gardens on cars. In the course of the whole
    long walk but one man lifted his hat to Spencer, who was universally
    recognized, but assailed by the majority of those we met with shouts
    of, "Who killed Myles Joyce?" [Footnote: One of several men hanged
    for the Maamtrasna murders. All the other men sentenced protested
    that Myles Joyce was innocent, and died protesting it. Strong
    efforts were made to gain a reprieve for this lad.] while some
    varied the proceedings by calling "Murderer!" after him. A few days
    later, when I was driving with Lady Spencer in an open carriage, a
    well-dressed bicyclist came riding through the cavalry escort, and
    in a quiet, conversational tone observed to us, "Who killed Myles
    Joyce?" At his dinner-party on the Sunday evening Spencer told us
    that a Roman Catholic priest [Footnote: Father Healy, parish priest
    of Bray, and most famous of modern Irish talkers.] who was present
    (the Vicar of Bray, I think, but not _the_ Bray) was the only priest
    in Ireland who would enter his walls, while the Castle was boycotted
    by every Archbishop and Bishop. On Monday morning, the 25th, Whit
    Monday, I paid a visit to the Mansion House at the request of the
    Lord Mayor of Dublin, taking by Spencer's leave the Viceregal
    carriages there, where they had in his second viceroyalty not been
    before, and was received by the Lord Mayor in state, which consisted
    in much exhibition of the most gorgeous porter (in green and gold)
    that my eyes had ever beheld. I afterwards went on to see Hamilton,
    [Footnote: Sir Robert Hamilton, who had succeeded Mr. Bourke as the
    permanent head of Dublin Castle.] the Under-Secretary. He offered us
    as a maximum County Boards plus a Central Education Board for
    Ireland, to administer all the grants with rating powers, and to be
    called a great experiment to be extended if it answered. In the
    evening I discussed this with Spencer, who went a little farther,
    and offered, in addition to County Boards, four elective Central
    Boards for Ireland, to discharge much the same duties which
    Chamberlain's scheme gave to the Central Board; but Spencer
    obstinately refused to take the plunge of making the four Boards
    into one Board. It was on this point that we broke off; and he never
    got farther forward until after the Government had gone out. He has
    since declared that his conversion to a more advanced Home Rule
    scheme than that of Chamberlain, which he had refused, was caused by
    the return of a certain majority of Nationalist members; but he was
    perfectly aware at this time what that majority would be, and I
    confess that I have never been able to understand why Hamilton and
    Spencer should have held out as they did in May against the moderate
    scheme, and have supported the extreme one as early as July, which I
    believe to have been the case. Had Spencer yielded at this moment,
    it is at least possible that the Irish question would have been
    settled. At all events, there has never been in our time so fair a
    chance of settlement.

    'On Tuesday, the 26th, I heard from Lefevre, who wrote strongly
    against the Coercion Bill for Spencer's benefit, but added in a
    separate letter that he regarded the notice in the _Birmingham Post_
    as indicating that Chamberlain had been talking freely about the
    dissensions in the Cabinet, and that if this was so he considered it
    unfortunate, as tending to increase the difficulty of getting any
    further concessions from Spencer or other members of the Cabinet who
    favoured coercion.

    'On Tuesday evening the Commission dined with Gray, and met Dr.
    Walsh, the new Archbishop; but at Dr. Walsh's wish I had gone to
    Gray's house half an hour before dinner to see the Archbishop
    privately, and to be thanked by him for the part that I had taken in
    trying to prevent opposition to the choice. In the evening Gray had
    a party at which both sides were represented, Chief Justice Morris
    being among those present. Gray's house, although the Spencers
    disliked him, was one at which the parties always met as much as is
    possible at all in Ireland. When Gray came out of gaol after his
    imprisonment he gave a small dinner, at which were present the Judge
    who had sentenced him, the gaoler who had had him in custody, and
    the prosecuting counsel. The most interesting man at Gray's was
    Fottrell, the man whose memoirs ought to be interesting, for he had
    acted as intermediary between the Castle (that is, Hamilton) and
    Parnell at the time when secret communications were passing between
    them, although openly they were at war.

    'Dickson, the Ulster Liberal member, [Footnote: M.P. For Dungannon,
    Tyrone, 1880-1885. He afterwards became a leading Unionist.] was at
    Gray's, and he announced that he had at last come over to
    Chamberlain's scheme. Now, Hartington was crossing the next day to
    stay at the Viceregal Lodge, and was to speak at Belfast under
    Dickson's auspices, and the announcement of Dickson's change of
    front was a startling blow to him and Spencer.

    'On the morning of Wednesday, the 27th, I wrote to Grant Duff: "A
    pretty pass you Whigs have brought this country to! I really think
    we Radicals ought to be allowed to try. We certainly could not do it
    _worse_. 'Poland' has been a byword, yet Poland is far less of a
    weakness to Russia than Ireland to us, and the Russians have now the
    Polish peasantry with them, if they have the towns and nobles
    against them. _We_ have _no_ friends in Ireland. All our policy has
    aimed at conciliating at least Ulster, and now Ulster is fast
    becoming as Nationalist as Cork. The Liberals carried Belfast
    freeholders in the late Antrim election to the cry of 'Down with
    coercion!' and 'No special legislation!' Hartington comes to-night,
    and I shall try to arrange some compromise with him and Spencer as
    to the future--probably an Irish elective education Council."

    'On the evening of the 27th I had a long conference with Hartington
    and Spencer, in which I "worked" Dickson much. Before this I had had
    the third meeting of my Commission, and then a public meeting in
    connection with the Dublin Ladies' Central Association, a body
    dealing with the Housing of the Working Classes. On the morning of
    May 28th Spencer came into my bedroom before eight o'clock, and told
    me that Hartington was very ill, suffering from sleeplessness and
    fever, and that it would be quite impossible for him to make his
    Belfast speech.... Dickson soon came to the Viceregal Lodge, and
    earnestly begged me to go to Belfast in Hartington's place, but
    under the circumstances I felt that it was impossible that I should
    do so, although he promised me that a special train should be
    waiting at the last moment if I would change my mind.

    'I received this day a letter from Cardinal Manning strongly urging
    that Chamberlain, Lefevre, and I, should stay in. "If you and the
    like of you leave the Whigs, they will fall back and unite in
    resisting you. So long as you are in contact with them, they will
    yield to reason. These are the thoughts of an Old Testament
    Radical." But the Old Testament Radical went on to make proposals to
    me with regard to the Roman Catholic vote in Chelsea which would
    have astonished the Old Testament prophets.

    'Another letter which I received this day was from O'Shea about
    Parnell's opinions on the Coercion Bill, but it is so obscure that I
    can make nothing of it. It was on a suggestion of Lefevre's with
    regard to bringing the Coercion Bill into force only by
    "proclamation." It shows, however, if O'Shea is to be believed, that
    Parnell was willing to accept a coercion measure of some kind, or,
    at all events, to haggle about its terms, if publicly resisting it
    as a whole.

    'By the same post I received a letter from Heneage [Footnote: Mr.
    Edward Heneage, for many years M.P. for Grimsby, and for a short
    time Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in 1886. He was afterwards
    a leading Unionist.] professing to state the general view of the
    House of Commons, and pronouncing in favour of a liberal policy
    towards Ireland. "(1) Non-renewal of the Crimes Act. (2) Amendment
    of the jury laws. (3) Amendment of the purchase clauses. (4)
    Abolition of the Lord Lieutenancy. (5) Improvement of Local
    Government." This I showed to Spencer, with a memorandum of my own
    in which I said that it was "a curious letter from a Whig." Spencer
    wrote on my memorandum in returning the letter: "It is an odd
    letter.... He wrote to me the other day about the abolition of the
    Lord Lieutenancy, rather apologizing for bringing it on. I replied
    deprecating any movement which might not go with action. To denounce
    an office without at once abolishing it would weaken the hands of
    him who filled it."

    'I wrote to Lefevre and Chamberlain that Hartington had come very
    well, and was very well at dinner, but bored at having to speak.
    "Walker told him what I told him as to the unwisdom of speaking in
    favour of coercion in Belfast immediately after the anti-coercion
    speeches of the Liberals at the Antrim election; and to-day he is
    ill. I do not know how far the two things are connected; but the
    papers will _say_ they are."

    'I lunched with Sir Edward Guinness and sat in the Speaker's chair
    of the Irish Parliament; dined with Sir Robert Hamilton at the Yacht
    Club at Kingstown; slept on board the boat and crossed next day;
    spent Saturday to Tuesday at Dockett Eddy; and on Tuesday was at the
    State Concert, where several of us tried to patch up some means of
    being able to meet in Cabinet on June 5th. On Thursday, June 4th, I
    had a long talk with Mr. Gladstone, and, on his agreeing to support
    the Heneage-Lefevre-O'Shea proposal, now supported by Chamberlain,
    for only bringing the Coercion Bill into force by a proclamation,
    agreed to attend the Cabinet the next day, but without withdrawing
    my resignation, which remained "suspended."

    'I began on the 3rd and ended on the 5th June a letter to Grant Duff
    in reply to one from him bidding me not break off from the
    Government on any but a clear and obvious issue. I told him that (1)
    Radicals in a minority would only ever get their way by often
    threatening to go, even on secondary points, and that they must not
    threaten unless they "meant it." (2) Mr. G. insisted he was "going."
    "Therefore we have to count with Hartington. We doubt if we can form
    part of a Hartington Government, and we can't do so if we do not ...
    impose our terms by threats.... This is why I have been forcing the
    pace of late.... Chamberlain is a little timid just now, in view of
    the elections and the fury of the _Pall Mall_. I could not drive
    Chamberlain out without his free consent, so I am rather tied.
    Still, we shall (June 5th) get our own way, I fancy, at to-day's
    Cabinet."

    'On the morning of June 5th my position in attending the Cabinet was
    weakened, if not made ridiculous, by a letter from Spencer in which
    he refused the Heneage-Lefevre-O'Shea compromise. But I went all the
    same, for I was not supposed to know what he had written to Mr.
    Gladstone. The first matter discussed was the Budget. I opposed the
    proposed increase of the wine duties from 1s. to 1s. 3d., and from
    2s. 6d. to 3s. (all bottled wine to be at the 3s. rate). I carried
    with me at first all except Mr. Gladstone against Childers, and at
    last Mr. Gladstone also. Childers then left the room; Mr. Gladstone,
    Lord Granville, Harcourt, and the Chancellor, one by one, went after
    him, but he would not come back. The Guards at Alexandria were
    mentioned, and then Spencer's letter to Mr. Gladstone against the
    proclamation clause read, whereon Chamberlain and I protested
    against coercion as a whole, and no decision upon any point was come
    to.

    'On June 6th I dined at Harcourt's Queen's Birthday dinner, and
    afterwards attended Lady Granville's Foreign Office party, but these
    were expiring festivities.

    'On Monday, June 8th, there was a Cabinet, at which the first matter
    was Irish Coercion and the proclamation clause. Spencer now offered
    proclamation by the Viceroy (i.e., not by the Government in
    London, which was our proposal) for all the Bill except the
    intimidation part, but refused to have it for the boycotting clause.
    Trevelyan now joined Chamberlain, Lefevre, and myself, in opposing
    Spencer; the others supported him, but tried to make him yield. We
    decided that if he yielded we should ask that a statement to the
    Cabinet should be promised to precede proclamation.'

On June 8th Mr. Childers moved the second reading of his Budget Bill,
which was met by an amendment moved by Sir Michael Hicks Beach,
condemning the proposed increase upon beer and spirits without any
corresponding increase on wine, and declining to increase the duty on
real property until promised changes were made in regard to local
taxation.

    'I made a good debating Budget speech, of which Sir John Lambert
    wrote "In Tea, Domine, spero," and I replied: "Since the time of Sir
    Thomas More all these profane 'good things' have come from devout
    Catholics."'

Other leading men followed, and Mr. Gladstone summed up by saying that
you must tax either alcohol or tea and sugar. But the division went
against him: 6 Liberals voted with the Tories, and 76 were absent. The
majority against the Government was 12. The end had at length come.




CHAPTER XLI

FALL OF ADMINISTRATION

JUNE TO JULY, 1885


On June 8th, as has been seen, the Government were defeated by a
majority of 12.

    'On June 9th there was a further Cabinet. We had been beaten on the
    Budget, but in the meantime Spencer had yielded, and Mr. Gladstone
    was very anxious to be able to say that we were all agreed.
    Therefore we discussed a Coercion Bill in the first place, but the
    four of us at once refused to agree to Spencer's concession as
    sufficient.' [Footnote: Namely, that the Coercion Bill should only
    have effect after a special proclamation had been issued. Sir
    Charles Dilke notes, September 20th, 1891, the receipt of a letter
    from Mr. Chamberlain, thanking him for extracts from his Memoir of
    1884-85 on Irish affairs, and saying that where it dealt with the
    same points it tallied exactly with his recollections.] 'It passes
    my understanding, therefore, how Mr. Gladstone is able to pronounce,
    as he has done, "unfounded" the statement that the Cabinet was at
    odds upon the Irish question at the moment of its defeat. Three of
    us had resigned on it, and our letters were in his pocket. The next
    matter discussed was resignation, which did not take a minute; and
    then the question of what Customs dues should be levied....

    'After the Cabinet there was a levee, at which I had some
    conversation with Lord Salisbury as to the Redistribution Bill in
    the Lords, and his reply showed that he meant to form a Government.'

    'On June 10th my discussions with Lord Salisbury as to the
    Redistribution Bill were continued, and it was decided that the Bill
    was to go forward in spite of the Ministerial crisis, although this
    was resisted by the Fourth Party in the House of Commons.'

On the previous evening Sir Charles Dilke addressed an audience at the
City Liberal Club in a speech of unwonted passion. Confidently
anticipating that the Redistribution Bill would go through in spite of
any change of Ministry and the resistance of the Fourth Party, he dwelt
on the magnitude of the change for which he had so long wrought. But the
central point of the speech was a eulogy of Mr Gladstone, which
reflected the temper of a scene that had passed in the House of Commons
the same day, and he demanded in the name of Liberalism that the battle
should be won, 'not only with his great name, but under his actual
leadership.'

This was the declaration of the Radicals against all thought of a
Hartington Administration. Referring to the speech, he writes:

    'I was greatly congratulated on this day on a speech which I had
    made at a house dinner of the City Liberal Club on the 9th.
    Chamberlain wrote: "Your speech was admirable, and I have heard from
    one who was present that the effect was electrical. You never did
    better in your life." He went on to agree with me in my wish that
    Herbert Gladstone should be appointed Chief Whip for the Opposition,
    and then to say that we must be very careful what we did, or "we
    shall destroy the Tory Government before it has done our work." I
    had asked him to sit to Holl for a portrait for me, and he said that
    he would do so, but that he was going to speak all over the country
    in support of the unauthorized programme. He did sit, and a very
    fine picture was the result.' [Footnote: Now at the National
    Portrait Gallery, to which Sir Charles bequeathed it.]

    'On Saturday, June 13th, I presided at the Cobden Club dinner, at
    which Chamberlain was also present, and our speeches attracted some
    attention.' [Footnote: Sir Charles from the chair advocated
    'destroying the monopoly in land,' and 'establishing an Irish
    control of Irish affairs.' Chamberlain advocated 'some great measure
    of devolution by which the Imperial Parliament shall retain its
    supremacy, but shall nevertheless relegate to subordinate
    authorities the control and administration of their local business,'
    and added: 'I think it is a consolation to my right hon. friend as
    well as to myself that our hands are free, and that our voices may
    now be lifted up in the cause of freedom and justice.']

    'On Tuesday, the 16th, we had a meeting of the leaders, at which
    were present Lords Selborne, Northbrook, Carlingford, Derby,
    Kimberley, Mr. Gladstone, Harcourt, Childers, Chamberlain, Lefevre,
    and myself. Salisbury, through Arthur Balfour, had verbally asked
    for (1) priority for Supply; (2) if we would, supposing that we
    opposed their Budget, support them in borrowing by Exchequer Bills.
    We decided to make as little reply as possible. In Winston
    Churchill's Life of his father he says we promised "facilities," but
    we refused.'

    'Randolph Churchill sounded me to know if in the event of his taking
    office he could sit for Birmingham, and Chamberlain answered: "If R.
    C. takes office _without_ coercion, we should not oppose him. If
    _with_, I should certainly fight to accentuate the betrayal."

    'On the afternoon of June 16th I had a serious talk with Chamberlain
    about manhood suffrage, which he had advocated in a speech, pointing
    out to him that this question of manhood as against adult suffrage
    (i.e., including women) was the only one on which we differed, and
    the only question which seemed likely to divide us. The outcome of
    our talk was that we should postpone as long as possible the
    inevitable difference, and make it last as short a time as possible
    by postponing it till the very moment when the thing was likely to
    be carried. When the time came that our people should be raving for
    manhood suffrage, and that I should have to join the Tories in
    carrying adult suffrage as against it, I might, if in office, have
    to go out by myself, but this could not be avoided.' [Footnote: A
    memorandum on this subject by Sir Charles, published by the Society
    for Promoting Adult Suffrage, in the last years of his life, is
    quoted on p. 409 of this volume.]

    'On the 16th, also, I wrote to Grant Duff that there was "no liking
    for Ireland or the Irish," but "an almost universal feeling now in
    both parties that some form of Home Rule must be tried. My own
    belief is that it will be tried too late, as all our remedies have
    been."

    'I told him how I had written to solicit a peerage for him, and that
    the Liberals would be in office again in "January," and when his
    term of office was to expire--a true prophecy.'

    'On June 18th there was another Cabinet of the outgoing Ministers,
    although Hartington and Lord Granville were not present. There were
    present Mr. Gladstone, Lord Selborne, Carlingford, Northbrook,
    Kimberley, Derby, Rosebery, Harcourt, Childers, Trevelyan, Lefevre,
    Chamberlain, and myself. Mr. Gladstone had heard on the previous
    night from the Queen, enclosing a letter from Lord Salisbury to her,
    asking for an undertaking that we would support him on his Budget
    and in Supply, as he could not now dissolve. We again refused to
    give any but very general assurances.

    'On June 19th, Randolph Churchill having blown up Northcote' (who
    had been removed to the Upper House), 'and shown his power by making
    himself Dictator, now wished for freedom and some excuse for
    preventing the formation of a Government, and a curious letter from
    him was forwarded to me by Chamberlain. In Chamberlain's covering
    letter there is the first allusion to our proposed tour in Ireland.

    'On Saturday, June 20th, there was a last Cabinet or "full meeting"
    of outgoing Ministers, all being present except Spencer and our two
    racing men--Hartington and Rosebery. We further considered the
    question of "assurances," at the renewed suggestion of the Queen,
    and finally declined to give them. Though this was called as a
    Cabinet, Mrs. Gladstone was in the room. Saturday to Monday I spent
    in a last visit to the smallpox camp at Darenth. On Monday, the
    22nd, I made a fighting speech at a meeting at the Welsh chapel in
    Radnor Street at Chelsea; [Footnote: The speech advocated not merely
    Home Rule, but Home Rule all round. Sir Charles expressed a wish to
    "study in Ireland a plan for the devolution to Welsh, Scottish, and
    Irish bodies of much business which Parliament is incompetent to
    discharge, and which at the present time is badly done or not done
    at all."

    "The principles of decentralization which ought to be applied are
    clear to those who know the two kingdoms and the Principality, but
    the details must be studied on the spot. As regards Wales and
    Scotland, no great controversial questions are likely to arise. But
    as regards the Irish details, it is the intention of Mr. Chamberlain
    and myself to inquire in Ireland of those who know Ireland best.
    Officials in Ireland, contrary to public belief, are many of them in
    favour of decentralization, but still more are the Bishops and
    clergy of various denominations, legal authorities, and the like.
    Some writers who have recently attacked a proposal which has been
    made to abolish in Ireland what is known as 'Dublin Castle' are
    unaware, apparently, of the fact that not only officials of the
    highest experience, and many statesmen on both sides who know
    Ireland well, are agreed on the necessity for the abolition, but
    that those who have had the most recent experience in the office of
    Viceroy are themselves sharers in the decentralization view which
    now prevails."] and on Wednesday, June 24th, I left my office.

    'My successor was Arthur Balfour, and I initiated him into the
    business of the Local Government Board at his request, after a first
    interview at Sloane Street. As late as June 21st Harcourt had made
    up his mind that the Tories would be unable to form a Government,
    and that it was his painful duty to come back; and he wrote to me
    that he had informed Mr. Gladstone that "I would stand by him if he
    agreed to come back _whatever might happen_." Chamberlain wrote on
    this that it was impossible if Spencer remained. "It will be bad for
    us and for the settlement of the Irish question."

    'Chamberlain and I were now intending to visit Ireland, but Manning
    declined to give us letters, and wrote on June 25th: "What am I to
    do? I am afraid of your Midlothian in Ireland. How can I be
    godfather to Hengist and Horsa?" I replied:

    '"Dear Cardinal Manning,

    '"I fear I have made myself far from clear. You speak of a
    Midlothian. I should not for a moment have dreamt of asking you for
    letters had not that been most carefully guarded against. We are not
    going to make a single speech or to attend any dinner, meeting, or
    reception, in any part of Ireland. Our journey is private, and our
    wish is to visit the Catholic Archbishops and Bishops and to find
    out what they want. It has sprung from your own suggestion, and from
    my conversation, held also at your suggestion, with Dr. Walsh. It
    would not conduce to any possibility of settlement and of future
    peace if, after proposing, at your suggestion, to go to men like the
    Archbishops Croke and Walsh, we should have to state that we
    renounce our visit because they refuse to receive us. You know what
    passed as to Dr. Walsh, and you know that if Mr. Gladstone had
    reformed his Government we had made that matter one of our
    conditions. Surely that was pretty clear evidence of our desire to
    act with you in a matter which is certainly above all party. But it
    is 'now or never.'"

    'On the same day Chamberlain wrote proposing that we should meet
    Trevelyan and Lefevre at fixed and short intervals to produce
    concerted action, and consulting me as to whether we should include
    Morley. The first consultation took place at my Royal Commission
    office at noon on July 4th, and Morley was present as well as
    Trevelyan, and I think Lefevre.'

    'On June 27th I had a last fight with Mr. Gladstone. The outgoing
    Government had given a baronetcy to Errington, personally my friend,
    but a baronetcy given under circumstances which I thought
    politically discreditable, and I protested strongly. I told Mr.
    Gladstone that it had long been my opinion that there is
    insufficient consultation of the opinion of the party, as well as of
    Cabinets and ex-Cabinets, on questions of the deepest moment. "For
    example, since I have been a member of the 'Inner Circle,' many
    decisions of the gravest moment as to Irish affairs have been taken
    without reference to the general opinion of the leaders or of the
    party. When Mr. Forster first induced Lord Granville to give letters
    to Mr. Errington, I stated my own view in favour of the appointment
    of an official representative of this country to the Roman Church,
    if there was work which must be done between the Government and that
    Church. I always protested against the secret arrangement, and the
    last straw has been the resistance to Walsh." Such was my private
    note.'

    'Chamberlain wrote: "Mr. G. has yielded to Lord G., and has done an
    act unfair to us and without notice. I have seen O'Shea. I think the
    'visit' may yet be all right." I wrote to Mr. Gladstone:

    '"I feel bound to express my dismay at seeing this day that honours
    have been conferred on that excellent fellow Errington at a moment
    when it will be felt by the great majority of people who do not see
    round corners that he is rewarded for the fight made by him on
    behalf of the defeated policy of resistance to the selection as
    Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin of the accomplished gentleman on
    whom the whole Irish Roman Catholic clergy and people had set their
    hearts. I have already described to Lord Granville in your presence
    what I thought the fatal results of this policy of interference
    against a unanimous Irish sentiment in the choice of the great Roman
    Catholic dignitaries in Ireland--a policy which has, in the belief
    of the thoughtful men of all parties, among whom I may name
    privately the new Lord Chancellor of Ireland, [Footnote: Mr. Gibson,
    afterwards created Lord Ashbourne.] undone the effects of your Land
    Acts of 1871 and 1881, and made the resistance to the Union stronger
    and more unanimous than it ever was before. Surely such an intention
    as that to specially honour Mr. Errington at such a moment might
    have been named to me when I so strongly expressed before you and
    Lord Granville my opinion of the policy. Mr. Forster, the initiator
    of the Errington policy, has returned to the Liberal front bench,
    and sat next to me there. I fear I must take the opportunity of
    leaving it, as I do not see how I can fail to express the opinion I
    hold of the conferring of special honour at such a moment on Mr.
    Errington." [Footnote: A letter from Mr. Gladstone to Mr, Errington,
    dated June 30th, 1885, is given in the _Life of Granville_, vol.
    ii., p. 292.]

    'Mr. Gladstone replied:

    '"1, Richmond Terrace,

    '"_June 27th_, 1885.

    '"My Dear Dilke,

    '"I feel that the coincidence of the Walsh appointment with the
    Errington baronetcy is unfortunate, but I think that the grant of
    the baronetcy or of something in that sense is unavoidable. I regard
    Gibson's confidential disclosure to you as an absurd exaggeration
    indulged in for party purposes. The policy, and any ingratitude to
    an agent of it, are wholly different matters; and your disapproval
    of the first never conveyed to my mind the idea of speaking to you
    about the second. You are aware of the immense stress laid by
    Spencer on the Errington mission, which Granville more traditionally
    (as I think) supported. For my part, I never did more than acquiesce
    in it, and I think it highly probable that no such thing will be
    renewed. As to 'diplomatic relations' with the Pope, I am entirely
    opposed to them.

    '"Sincerely yours,

    '"W. E. Gladstone."

    'I was not opposed to diplomatic relations with the Pope, but to the
    extraordinary anomalies involved in the Mission that was no Mission.
    My conversation with Gibson had been at a party at Lady Ridley's,
    where I congratulated him upon his high office. He began with a
    laugh: "I am popular with all parties. Whose congratulations do you
    think were the first that I received?" A happy inspiration struck
    me, and I at once answered "Walsh"--a lucky guess which completely
    puzzled him, for he said, "Who told you?"

    'Chamberlain wrote the next day: "Reflection confirms me in the
    opinion that Mr. Gladstone has not treated us well. I cannot resist
    the conclusion that on both occasions he concealed his intentions,
    knowing that we disapproved of them, and in order to force our
    hands. I would cordially join in a protest against this, although,
    as I have already told you, I do not think the last proceeding--in
    the matter of Errington--will justify a formal secession. People
    generally, especially in the country, cannot understand the
    importance of the matter, and would not back up our quarrel."

    'Chamberlain, writing on June 27th or 28th, [Footnote: It was on
    June 17th that Mr. Chamberlain had delivered his famous denunciation
    of Dublin Castle, and had declared that "the pacification of Ireland
    depends, I believe, on the concession to Ireland of the right to
    govern itself in the matter of its purely domestic government." He
    went on to speak of an Irishman being at every step controlled by
    "an English official, appointed by a foreign Government."] said: "On
    the greatest issue between us and the Whigs Mr. G. is on our side,
    and has told Harcourt that if he stands at the General Election he
    will make this a prominent feature in his platform, and will adopt
    in principle our scheme--Local Government and devolution. This will
    immensely strengthen our position if we finally decide to press the
    matter. I say 'if' because I wait to have more positive assurances
    as to Parnell's present attitude. If he throws us over, I do not
    believe that we can go farther at present, but O'Shea remains
    confident that matters will come right."'

On June 29th, Sir Charles replied to Mr. Gladstone:

    'My Dear Sir,

    'Harcourt, Chamberlain, and Lefevre, have all lectured me, and the
    former tells me that you have accepted a proposal to stand again for
    Midlothian. This is so great a thing that smaller ones must not be
    allowed to make even small discords, so please put my letter of
    Saturday in the fire, and forgive me for having put you to the
    trouble of reading and replying to it. I fancy that overwork and
    long-continued loss of all holidays except Sundays have told upon
    me, and that I must be inclined to take too serious a view of
    things.

    'Sincerely yours,

    'Charles W. Dilke.'

    'On June 30th Chamberlain wrote: "Ireland. I heard some days ago
    from the Duchess of St. Albans, and replied that we would certainly
    call if anywhere in her neighbourhood" (near Clonmel). "Next time I
    see you we may make some progress with our plans. I have a most
    satisfactory letter from Davitt--voluntary on his part, and assuring
    us that _United Ireland_ [Footnote: _United Ireland_, then edited by
    Mr. William O'Brien and Mr. T. M. Healy, discouraged the visit.]
    does not represent the views of the Nationalist party. See also an
    article in the _Nation_, and Davitt's own speech at Hyde Park.
    [Footnote: Davitt's leanings were always much stronger towards
    English Radicalism than those of most among his colleagues. But the
    decisive attitude was that of Mr. Parnell, whose power was then
    paramount, not only in Cork, but throughout all Ireland. He
    discussed the project with one of his colleagues, Mr. John O'Connor,
    to whom he expressed the view that Mr. Chamberlain was aspiring to
    replace Mr. Gladstone in the leadership, and that he would do
    nothing which could assist him in this purpose, because he thought
    that he "could squeeze more out of Gladstone than he could out of
    Chamberlain."] I shall reply rather effusively. I cannot altogether
    acquit Parnell of duplicity. I think he fears our visit, and that we
    may cut him out. I am sure that neither he nor anyone else will
    succeed in boycotting us. Parnell does not admit this feeling, but I
    am losing confidence in his honesty. We can go to Ashley's and
    decline Cork."' [Footnote: Mr. Evelyn Ashley, who had been Under-
    Secretary of the Colonies in the Gladstone Government, had a house
    and property at Classiebawn in Sligo, which had once belonged to
    Lord Palmerston.]

    'I hear very encouraging accounts of the feeling in the country. I
    am assured that we (the Radicals) never held so strong a position--
    that the counties will be swept for the Liberals, and that the whole
    atmosphere of the House of Commons will be changed after November. I
    firmly believe that this is true. A little patience, and we shall
    secure all we have fought for.'

    'On June 30th I wrote fully to Mrs. Pattison, who was ill of typhoid
    in the Madras hills, but without my yet knowing it. "I've been
    thinking over grave words I would say to you about politics." I went
    on to say that politics were not to me amusement. "I could not have
    heart to live such a life at all if the religion of life did not
    surround my politics. I chat the chatter about persons and ambitions
    that others chat, and, in my perpetual brain fatigue, shirk the
    trouble of trying to put into words thoughts which I fancy you must
    exactly share. How can you share them if you are never shown they're
    there? Dear Lady, please to try and feel, however unable I am to
    express it, that my life is now one, and that there are not things
    to pick among, and things to be cast aside, but duties only, which
    are pleasures in the doing of them well, and which you must help me
    do. It is in old age that power comes. An old man in English
    politics may exert enormous power without effort, and with no drain
    at all upon his health and vital force. The work of thirty or forty
    years of political life goes in England to the building-up of
    political reputation and position. During that long period no power
    is exercised except by irregular means, such as the use of threats
    of resignation. It is in old age only that power comes that can be
    used legitimately and peacefully by the once-strong man. I'm still
    young enough, and have of illusions yearly crops sufficient to
    believe that it can be used for good, and that it is a plain duty so
    to use it, and I would not remain in political life did I not think
    so."'




CHAPTER XLII

OUT OF OFFICE

JULY, 1885


After Lord Salisbury had formed, in June, 1885, what was called the
'stop-gap Government,' charged with carrying on business till the
General Election fixed for the following winter, the heads of the
Liberal party began to mature their plans. It soon became evident that
the cardinal fact to be decided was whether Mr. Gladstone should
continue to lead. This, again, was found to depend upon the policy
adopted in relation to Ireland.

The Irish Question was at the moment in an extraordinary position. Lord
Salisbury had appointed Lord Carnarvon, a known sympathizer with Home
Rule, as Viceroy. Further, the Tory leaders in the House of Commons were
refusing to take any responsibility for the actions of Lord Spencer,
which were challenged especially in regard to the verdict upon one of
the men sentenced for the Maamtrasna murders. This put Sir Charles and
Mr. Chamberlain, who had always disapproved the policy of coercion, in a
very difficult position, the more difficult because Mr. Trevelyan, a
member of their inner Radical group, was jointly concerned with Lord
Spencer to defend these actions.

    'On July 4th I received from Maynooth a letter of thanks from Dr.
    Walsh for my congratulations on his appointment to the Archbishopric
    of Dublin, and he expressed the hope that we should meet in Dublin
    when I came over with Chamberlain. On the same day, Saturday, July
    4th, there took place at noon at my office a meeting of Chamberlain,
    Trevelyan, Lefevre, John Morley, and myself, in which we discussed
    the proposed mission of Wolff to Egypt, resolving that we would
    oppose it unless the Conservative Government should drop it. We were
    wrong, for it afterwards turned out that they meant evacuation. Next
    the proposed movement on Dongola, which we did not believe to be
    seriously intended; then the proposal to increase the wine duty,
    which I was able to announce (on Foreign Office information) that I
    knew that Lord Salisbury would drop; then the succession duties,
    with regard to which we decided to support a motion to be brought
    forward by Dillwyn; then police enfranchisement, we deciding that I
    was to move an instruction on going into Committee to extend the
    Bill, so as to shorten the period of residence for all electors.'

    'Before we separated we discussed the inquiry proposed by the Irish
    members into the Maamtrasna business. Trevelyan thought that he was
    obliged in honour to speak against inquiry, but we decided that he
    must not press for a division in resistance to the Irish demand.'

    'On Monday, July 6th, I presided over my Royal Commission in the
    morning, and in the evening dined at Grillion's Club. In the
    afternoon Mr. Gladstone sent for me, and told me that whether he
    would lead that party or would not, at the dissolution, or in the
    new Parliament, would depend on whether the main plank in the
    programme was what I called Home Rule or what Chamberlain called the
    National Council scheme, or only the ordinary scheme of Local
    Government for all parts of the United Kingdom. If the latter alone
    was to be contemplated, he said that others would suffice for the
    task. Parnell's acquiescence in the Home Rule scheme he thought
    essential. If Parnell, having got more from the Tories, was going to
    oppose, he, Mr. Gladstone, could not go on: and he evidently thought
    that I should have the means of discovering what would be Parnell's
    attitude. Parnell had, of course, been for what I believe was really
    his own scheme, suggested to Chamberlain by O'Shea. But he was now
    in league with R. Churchill and Lord Carnarvon. I advised Mr.
    Gladstone to deal directly with Parnell, but he said that he would
    not, and I noted in my diary that he and Parnell were equally
    tortuous in their methods. Mr. Gladstone, failing me, as he said,
    would deal with Grosvenor and Mrs. O'Shea. But it was clear to me
    that he had already tried this channel.'

    'On the next day I received interesting letters from Dr. Walsh and
    Sir Frederick Roberts. The latter completely destroyed the foolish
    War Office plan of preparing for a campaign in the Black Sea, and
    once more laid down the principle that England must go to war with
    Russia rather than permit her to occupy any portion of Afghanistan
    in face of our interest and of our pledge to the contrary.

    'Dr. Walsh wrote that in going to Rome he was by no means determined
    to accept the archbishopric. "I am not Archbishop; acceptance is an
    essential point, and I have a view of certain matters to set before
    His Holiness before that stage is reached. I have sent on to Rome a
    written statement of my views, that the matter may be considered
    before I arrive there. I am thoroughly convinced that there is
    another position in which I could be far more useful both for Church
    and country. The Archbishopric of Dublin, now that it can be dealt
    with as a purely ecclesiastical matter, can be very easily provided
    for."

    'I suppose that Dr. Walsh wished to be Papal Legate. He went on to
    say:

    '"As to the Bishops you should see, I would say, in the South, as
    you begin there, Cashel and Limerick (Cloyne, unfortunately, is very
    deaf; otherwise I should like you to meet him). In the West,
    _Galway_, Elphin, Achonry. In the North, Raphoe (of whom Mr.
    Childers can tell you something), Clogher, Ardagh, Meath, and Down
    and Connor. In this province of Dublin our Bishops are either very
    old or very young in the episcopacy: they could not give you much
    information. All I have mentioned are generally on the popular side.
    Of those on the less popular or nonpopular side, we have Cork,
    Kerry, and _Coadjutor of Clonfert_. Clonfert himself is on the most
    advanced National lines. But his views are rather general. It might
    be well to see him. He is a great admirer of Davitt's.

    '"I remain, my dear Sir Charles,
    '"Sincerely yours,
    '"William J. Walsh."

    'I sent this letter to Chamberlain, who replied that it was very
    satisfactory.

    'On Saturday, July 11th, we had another meeting of our "party," I
    again being in the chair, Chamberlain, Lefevre, and John Morley,
    being present, and Trevelyan absent. We decided that Chamberlain,
    Lefevre, and Dilke should see Mr. Gladstone as to the Maamtrasna
    inquiry, in which we were strongly opposed to Spencer. With regard
    to the organization of the Liberal party, which meant the adoption
    of Schnadhorst by the party, Chamberlain, Lefevre, and Dilke, were
    also to see Mr. Gladstone.

    'On Saturday evening I went down to Dockett, where I stayed till
    Monday, Cyril Flower spending with me the day of Sunday, July 12th.
    On Monday, July 13th, I again presided at my Royal Commission, and
    again dined at Grillion's.

    'On the same day Chamberlain, Lefevre, and I, saw Mr. Gladstone.
    After talking over Maamtrasna, I repeated a statement which O'Shea
    had made to me, namely, that Fottrell [Footnote: Sir Charles, during
    his visit to Dublin, had been much impressed by Mr. Fottrell, who
    had acted as intermediary between the Castle and the Nationalists
    (see p. 140). He wrote to Mrs. Pattison that Mr. Fottrell and Sir
    Robert Hamilton were the only two men who counted in that city.] had
    had a two-hours interview with Randolph Churchill on Home Rule. I
    also informed Mr. Gladstone that O'Shea had shown me a letter from
    Alfred Austin,' (afterwards Poet Laureate) 'a hot Tory leader-writer
    on the _Standard_, asking to be introduced to Parnell for the
    benefit of the country. Lefevre having gone away, Chamberlain and I
    talked with Mr. Gladstone as to organization. It was decided that we
    should have an interview with him on the subject (Grosvenor to be
    present) the next day.

    'I was going out a good deal this week, and on the Wednesday was at
    parties at Lady Salisbury's, at the Austrian Embassy, and at the
    Duchess of Westminster's, and at one of them met Harcourt and
    arranged for a meeting on Thursday, July 16th, at my Commission
    office in Parliament Street, with Chamberlain and Harcourt, to
    discuss Schnadhorst; Harcourt favouring our view that he should be
    adopted by the party, which was done, and the National Liberal
    Federation installed at Parliament Street. But the Whips "captured"
    it! On Friday, July 17th, Chamberlain and his son dined with me to
    meet Harcourt and Gray of the Irish party and _Freeman's Journal_.

    'On Saturday, July 18th, we had our usual cabal, Trevelyan being
    again absent, and the same four present as on the previous Saturday.
    We discussed the proposed Royal Commission on the depression of
    trade; land purchase, Ireland; party organization; and the land
    question.

    'On July 22nd I heard from Mr. Gladstone:

    '"1, Richmond Terrace,

    '"_July 21st,_ 1885.

    '"My Dear Dilke,

    '"I cannot forbear writing to express the hope that you and
    Chamberlain may be able to say or do something to remove the
    appearance now presented to the world of a disposition on your parts
    to sever yourselves from the executive, and especially from the
    judicial administration of Ireland as it was carried on by Spencer
    under the late Government. You may question my title to attempt
    interference with your free action by the expression of such a hope,
    and I am not careful to assure you in this matter or certain that I
    can make good such a title in argument. But we have been for five
    years in the same boat, on most troubled waters, without having
    during the worst three years of the five a single man of the company
    thrown overboard. I have _never_ in my life known the bonds of union
    so strained by the pure stress of circumstances; a good intent on
    all sides has enabled them to hold. Is there any reason why at this
    moment they should part? A rupture may come on questions of future
    policy; I am not sure that it will. But if it is to arrive, let it
    come in the course of nature as events develop themselves. At the
    present moment there appears to be set up an idea of difference
    about matters which lie in the past, and for which we are all
    plenarily responsible. The position is settled in all its elements,
    and cannot be altered. The frightful discredit with which the new
    Government has covered itself by its treatment of Spencer has drawn
    attention away from the signs of at least passive discord among us,
    signs which might otherwise have drawn upon us pretty sharp
    criticism. It appears to me that hesitation on the part of any of us
    as to our own responsibility for Spencer's acts can only be
    mischievous to the party and the late Cabinet, but will and must be
    far more mischievous to any who may betray such disinclination. Even
    with the Irish party it can, I imagine, do nothing to atone for past
    offences, inasmuch as it is but a negative proceeding; while from
    Randolph, Hicks Beach, and Gorst, positive support is to be had in
    what I cannot but consider a foolish as well as guilty crusade
    against the administration of criminal justice in Ireland; which may
    possibly be defective, but, with all its defects, whatever they may
    be, is, I apprehend, the only defence of the life and property of
    the poor. It will be the legislation of the future, and not this
    most unjust attack upon Spencer, which will have to determine
    hereafter your relations with Ireland, and the 'National' party. I
    may be wrong, but it seems to me easy, and in some ways
    advantageous, to say: 'My mind is open to consider at large any
    proposals acceptable to Ireland for the development and security of
    her liberties, but I will not sap the foundations of order and of
    public right by unsettling rules, common to all parties, under which
    criminal justice has been continuously administered, and dragging
    for the first time the prerogative of mercy within the vortex of
    party conflict.' I dare say I may have said too much in the way of
    argument on a matter which seems to me hardly to call for argument,
    but a naked suggestion would have appeared even less considerate
    than the letter which I have written, prompted by strong feeling and
    clear conviction.

    '"Yours sincerely,
    '"W. E. Gladstone."

    'I sent the letter to Chamberlain, asking whether he thought he
    could say at Hackney, where he was about to speak, anything
    flattering to Spencer, and he replied: "I am not certain that I
    shall say anything about Spencer; at most it would be only a
    personal tribute."'

With these words ends the story of Sir Charles Dilke's official
relations with his party.

      *       *       *       *       *

Looking back on that story, Sir George Trevelyan writes: 'I never knew a
man of his age--hardly ever a man of any age--more powerful and admired
than was Dilke during his management of the Redistribution Bill in
1885.' This influence had been built up by the long years of sustained
work, of which the story has been told in his own words.

He combined two unusual characteristics: he was one of the Radical
leaders at home, and he also carried extraordinary authority on the
subject of foreign affairs both here and on the Continent.

The depth of his convictions as a Radical is attested by a note to Mr.
Frank Hill, [Footnote: Undated, but evidently written about this time.]
editor of the _Daily News_: 'As a _man_ I feel going out on this
occasion very much indeed, but Chamberlain and I are trustees for
others, and from the point of view of English Radicalism I have no
doubt.' Yet Radicalism never fettered his capacity for working with all
men for the great questions which are beyond party, and uniting their
efforts on big issues of foreign policy.

It was this gift which frequently made him more the spokesman of the
House of Commons than of party in Government counsels. The approval of
the House of Commons was, in his opinion, essential to the development
of foreign policy, and his views as to the undesirability of unnecessary
concealment were strong. While recognizing that everything could not be
disclosed, he thought that the House of Commons should be in the
Government's confidence as far as possible in diplomatic relations, and
he looked on the tendency to surround all official proceedings with
secrecy as more worthy of a bureaucrat than a statesman. Bismarck, Dilke
said in 1876, was the diplomatist of foreign Europe who was never
believed because he told the truth. He had no sympathy with the
isolation of Great Britain, which had been a feature of our policy
during his early career. But when Lord Beaconsfield would have plunged
into a war with Russia in 1878, without an ally or a friend, he opposed
that policy as suicidal. Of that policy he said at that time: 'English
Radicals of the present day do not bound their sympathies by the Channel
... a Europe without England is as incomplete, and as badly balanced,
and as heavily weighted against freedom, as that which I, two years ago,
denounced to you--a Europe without France. The time may come when
England will have to fight for her existence, but for Heaven's sake let
us not commit the folly of plunging into war at a moment when all Europe
would be hostile to our armies--not one Power allied to the English
cause.' [Footnote: Vol. I., Chapter XVI., p. 239.] The keynote of his
policy was friendship with France. His experience in the Franco-German
War had for ever changed the friendly impression which led him first to
follow the German forces into the field.

Germany at war and Germany in a conquered country taught him in 1870-71
a lesson never to be forgotten, and affected his whole attitude to that
Great Power. It has been seen how in the eighties he opposed, to the
point of contemplated resignation of office, the Governmental tendency
to accept German aggression--'to lie down' under it, as he said; and he
fought for the retention of the New Guinea Coast and Zanzibar in
1884-85, as later he fought against Lord Salisbury as to the surrender
of Heligoland. [Footnote: _Present Position of European Politics_, p.
242.]

It was this courage as well as consistency of policy that bound Gambetta
to him, and made Bismarck wish that he should be sent to Berlin at a
critical moment in 1885 'to have a talk.' [Footnote: _Life of Lord
Granville_, vol. ii., p. 439.] Strong men recognize one another.




CHAPTER XLIII

THE TURNING-POINT

JULY, 1885, TO JULY, 1886


[Greek: ou thruon, ou malachaen avemos pote, tus de megistas ae druas ae
platanous oide chamai katagein.]

[Footnote: It is not the rush or mallow that the wind can lay low, but
the largest oaks and plane-trees.]

Lucian in "Anthologia."

I.

When Mr. Gladstone's Ministry left office in the summer of 1885, there
seemed to be in all England no man for whom the future held out more
assured and brilliant promise than Sir Charles Dilke. He was still
young, not having completed his forty-second year; in the Cabinet only
Lord Rosebery was his junior; he had seventeen years of unremitting
Parliamentary service to his credit, and in the House of Commons his
prestige was extraordinary. His own judgment and that of all skilled
observers regarded his party's abandonment of office as temporary: the
General Election would inevitably bring them back with a new lease of
power, and with an Administration reorganized in such fashion that the
Radicals would no longer find themselves overbalanced in the shaping of
policy. The Dilke-Chamberlain alliance, which had during the past five
years been increasingly influential, would in the next Parliament become
openly authoritative; and, as matters looked at the moment, it was Sir
Charles, and not Mr. Chamberlain, who seemed likely to take the foremost
place.

Chamberlain's dazzling popular success had been of the kind to which a
certain unpopularity attaches. Moderate men of both parties were prone
to impute it to demagogism, and Dilke was in the fortunate position of
seeing those Radical principles for which he stood advocated by his ally
with a force of combined invective and argument which has had few
parallels in political history, while to him fell the task, suited to
his temperament, of reasoned discussion. Those who denounced
Chamberlain's vehemence could hardly fail to point a comparison with
Dilke's unfailing courtesy, his steady adherence to argument, his
avoidance of the appeal to passion. Some strong natures have the quality
of making enemies, some the gift for making friends, outside their own
immediate circle, and Sir Charles Dilke possessed the more genial
endowment.

This capacity for engendering good-will in those whom he encountered
certainly did not spring from any undue respect of persons. Members of
the Royal Family, whose privileges he had assailed, were constant in
their friendliness; high Tories such as Lord Salisbury, whose principles
he combated on every platform, liked him, and were not slow to show it.
On the other hand, the friendship which Sir Charles inspired did not
proceed, as is sometimes the case, from a mere casual bounty of nature.
In Parliament his colleagues liked him, but this, assuredly, was not
without cause. No member of the Ministry had given so much service
outside his own department. Lord Granville wrote at this time: 'I have
not seen you alone since the smash, or I should have told you how much I
feel the support you have given me both when we were together at the
F.O. and quite as much since. I shall not soon forget it.' Sir William
Harcourt at the Home Office, Sir Henry James in the conduct of the
Corrupt Practices Bill, had been beholden to him for no ordinary
assistance. Moreover, as he was good to work with, so he was good to
work under. Those who served him at the Local Government Board remember
him as in no way prompt to praise; but if a suggestion was made to him,
he never failed to identify it with the suggester, recognizing its
source in adopting it. If he made a mistake and was set right, he
admitted his error--a trait very rare in Ministers, who feel that they
have constantly as amateurs to direct the decision of experts, and are
therefore chary of such admissions. Sir Charles always gave his men
their due, and he took care that they should not be treated as machines.
When colleagues called on him at his office, and found him with one of
his staff, he never allowed the subordinate to be ignored in greetings.
The Minister in a hurry would be stopped with, 'I think you know
So-and-so.' These are small matters to set down, but by such small
things men indicate their nature; and one of the oldest servants in that
office summed up the matter in a sentence which is not the less
interesting because it brings in another name. 'When Sir Charles Dilke
was at the Local Government Board,' he said, 'the feeling towards the
President, from the heads of departments down to the messengers in the
hall, was the same as it was in the time of Mr. Walter Long, and I can
say no more than that.'

Nobody, perhaps, has a better right to be counted fortunate than a man
who can feel that he is strong, that he is liked, and that he is
successfully promoting principles of government for his fellow-
countrymen in which he sincerely believes. In July, 1885, Sir Charles
Dilke had all these grounds for satisfaction, and in no common measure.
Of course there were anxieties, politically speaking; Mr. Gladstone's
future course of action was uncertain, and Mr. Gladstone was so great a
force that he might at any time derange all calculations--as, in point
of fact, he did. Still, time was on the side of the Radicals, and from
day to day they held what they called 'cabals' of the group formed by
Chamberlain, Shaw-Lefevre, Trevelyan, Morley, and Dilke himself. At
these meetings Sir Charles regularly presided.

The work of the Commission on Housing was in its last stages; its
chairman was able to announce on July 1st, when laying the foundation-
stone of some artisans' dwellings in Hoxton, that the Commission's Bill
would be introduced in the Lords by Lord Salisbury, and that he himself
would have charge of it in the Commons. For a man who had so laboured
during the past five years such duties as these were child's play, and
Sir Charles was able for the first time for many months to take his
share in social enjoyments. He dined repeatedly at Grillion's; he went
to parties at famous houses both of his political allies and political
opponents; above all, he found time for restful days upon his beloved
river. He went to Henley in that July with his old rowing comrade
Steavenson 'to see Bristowe's fine Trinity Hall eight'; he spent Sunday,
July 12th, at Dockett in company with Mr. Cyril Flower; and for the next
Sunday, the 19th, he was engaged to be at Taplow Court with Mr. W. H.
Grenfell, famous among oarsmen. But of that day more has to be written.

Throughout the month one dark cloud had hung over him: Mrs. Pattison was
grievously ill in the Madras hills, and not until the fourth week in
July did he know even the nature of her illness. It was typhoid, and it
left her weak to face what had to come, like a 'bolt from the blue,'
upon her and her future husband. Her first marriage had brought her
discipline rather than happiness; now in the middle years of life her
vivid nature was blossoming out again in the promise of union with a man
before whom there lay open an illustrious career. Illness struck her
down, and while she lay convalescent there came to her as black a
message as ever tried the heart of any woman.

      *       *       *       *       *

II.

On the evening of Saturday, July 18th, Sir Charles Dilke was entertained
at a dinner given by the Reform Club--a very rare distinction--to
celebrate the passing of the Redistribution Bill into law. From this
ceremony, which crowned and recognized his greatest personal
achievement, he returned late, and found at his house a letter from an
old family friend who asked him to call on the following Sunday morning
on grave business. He then learnt that the wife of a Liberal member of
Parliament had volunteered a 'confession' to her husband, in which she
stated that she had been unfaithful to him with Sir Charles immediately
after her marriage.

His note in his private diary on Sunday is: '19th.--Early heard of the
charge against me. Put myself in hands of J. B. Balfour, and afterwards
of Chamberlain and James.'

Later Sir Charles Dilke went down to Taplow, and spent the day there.
This accusation found him separated from his future wife by many
thousand miles; worse than that, she had been dangerously ill; the risk
to her of a telegraphed message must be great; yet there was the chance
from day to day that newspaper rumour might anticipate direct tidings
from him to her. He was 'in as great misery as perhaps ever fell upon a
man.'

He returned next morning to preside at the last meeting of the
Commission on Housing, when, he says, 'the Prince of Wales proposed a
vote of thanks to me in an extremely cordial speech.' From that attitude
of friendliness the future King Edward never departed.

    'I had a dinner-party in the evening, which was one of several in
    preparation for our Ward meetings in Chelsea, which I had to
    continue to hold in spite of my private miseries.

    'I was engaged on the one night for which none of these dinners had
    been fixed to dine with Lord and Lady Salisbury, and to attend the
    Princess of Wales's Ball at Marlborough House, and I wrote to put
    off my engagements, for which I was much blamed; but I think that I
    was right.'

For three or four days Sir Henry James, Mr. Chamberlain, and Mr. J. B.
Balfour, the Lord Advocate of Mr. Gladstone's Ministry, moved to secure
a court of inquiry which would act without prejudice to the right of
legal action. But within the week it was certain that public proceedings
would be taken.

The blow had come suddenly; it came with dramatic incidence at the
moment when Sir Charles's prestige was most effectively recognized; and
from the moment that it fell he knew that the whole tenor of his life
was altered. On Thursday, July 23rd, four days afterwards, he wrote in
his Diary of the time this judgment:

    'Left for the last time the House of Commons, where I have attained
    some distinction. It is curious that only a week ago Chamberlain and
    I had agreed, at his wish and suggestion, that I should be the
    future leader, as being more popular in the House, though less in
    the country, than he was, and that only three days ago Mr. Gladstone
    had expressed the same wish. Such a charge, even if disproved, which
    is not easy against perjured evidence picked up with care, is fatal
    to supreme usefulness in politics. In the case of a public man a
    charge is always believed by many, even though disproved, and I
    should be weighted by it through life. I prefer, therefore, at once
    to contemplate leaving public life.'

Upon the first sentence of this he added in a marginal note, written
after his marriage with Mrs. Mark Pattison, and after he had, in spite
of that first decision, returned to the House of Commons: 'Chamberlain
overpersuaded Emilia, and, through her, me, but he was wrong.'

Of honourable ambition Sir Charles Dilke had as much as any man. Yet in
the innermost record of these days--in those letters which, not yet
daring to despatch them, he wrote to his future wife--there is not a
hint of his personal loss, not a word of the career that he saw broken.
These things had no place in the rush of feeling which overwhelmed him,
and left him for the moment unable to trust his own judgment or assert
his own will.

Through the months of Mrs. Pattison's absence in India one note had been
constant in his letters--the reiterated anticipation of what he hoped to
bring her. Up to the middle of July his letters, apart from the news of
his daily life, are filled with joyful forecast, not of his own
happiness, but of his and hers together--of his happiness in seeing her
happy. When the stroke fell, the note, even though it changed, was the
same in essence: 'I feel this may kill you--and it will kill me either
if it kills you or if you don't believe me.'

That was written down within an hour after he had the news. Never
afterwards did he consider the possibility of her failing him.

The next day he wrote:

          'Taplow Court, Taplow,
          _July 20th._

    'The only thing I can do in future is to devote myself entirely to
    _you_ and helping in your work. To that the remainder of my life
    must be dedicated. I fancy you will have the courage to believe me
    whatever is by madness and malevolence brought against me....'

He wrote again:

    'The less you turn from me, and the more you are true--and of course
    you will be all true ... --the more misery and not the less is it to
    me to bring these horrors on you. This thing is not true, but none
    the less do I bring these horrors on you.'

So desperate was the tumult in Sir Charles Dilke's mind that Mr.
Chamberlain strove to tranquillize him by a change of scene. Some spot,
such as is to be found in Sir Charles's own holiday land of Provence, at
first occurred to his friend, though this would have meant the
cancelling of all Mr. Chamberlain's public engagements at that most
critical moment in politics. But Sir Charles instead went down to
Highbury, where he passed his days much in the open air, playing lawn
tennis and riding with his host's son, Mr Austen Chamberlain.

Here he rapidly came back to something of his normal self. As news had
been telegraphed of Mrs. Pattison's gradual recovery, it was decided to
inform her of what had happened. Mr. Chamberlain undertook the delicate
task of wording the communications. She telegraphed back at once that
full assurance of her trust and of her loyalty on which Sir Charles had
counted. But it was characteristic of her not to stop there. A telegram
from Mrs. Pattison to the _Times_ announcing her engagement to Sir
Charles Dilke immediately followed on public intimation of the
proceedings for divorce. Lord Granville wrote to Sir Charles: 'I wish
you joy most sincerely. The announcement says much for the woman whom
you have chosen.'

Yet days were to come when the storm was so fierce about Sir Charles
Dilke and 'the woman whom he had chosen' that few cared to face it in
support of the accused man and the wife who had claimed her share in his
destiny.

When those days came, they found no broken spirit to meet them. Through
his affections, and only through his affections, this man could be
driven out of his strongholds of will and judgment; when that inner life
was assured, he faced the rest with equanimity. He writes:

    '_August 28th._--I continue to be much better in health and spirit.
    I was five and a half weeks more or less knocked over; I am strong
    and well, and really happy in you and for you, and confident and all
    that you could wish me to be these last few days.'

Mrs. Pattison, before she left Ceylon on her way to England, sent him a
telegram, the reply to which was written to meet her at Port Said:
'Nothing ever made me so happy.... Though it has been a frightful blow,
I am well now; and the blow was only a blow to me because of you.'

At first sympathy and support were proffered in ample measure. On being
formally notified of proceedings in the divorce case, he wrote at once a
letter to the Liberal Association of Chelsea, in which he declared that
the charge against him was untrue and that he looked forward with
confidence to the result of a judicial inquiry; but at the same time he
offered to withdraw his candidature for the seat at the forthcoming
election, if the Council thought him in the circumstances an undesirable
candidate. To this offer the Council replied by reiterating their
confidence in him. About the same time, yielding to Chamberlain's
advice, he returned to the House of Commons while the Housing Bill was
in Committee, and took part in the proceedings as usual.

The Prince of Wales, to whom he communicated news of his engagement
before the public announcement, wrote warm congratulations and wishes
for dispersal of the overhanging trouble. Mr. Gladstone, who had
frequent occasion to write to him on public business, in one of these
political letters added congratulations on the engagement, though he had
made no allusion to the Divorce Court proceedings. But Mr. Gladstone's
chief private secretary, Sir Edward Hamilton, had written at the first
publication of them this assurance:

    'You may depend upon it that your friends (among whom I hope I may
    be counted) are feeling for you and will stand by you; and, if I am
    not mistaken, I believe your constituents will equally befriend you;
    indeed, I am convinced that the masses are much more fair and just
    than the upper classes. Anything that interfered with your political
    career would not only be a political calamity, but a national one;
    and I do not for a moment think that any such interference need be
    apprehended.'

This letter represented the attitude that was generally observed towards
Sir Charles Dilke by political associates till after the first trial.

Mr. Chamberlain's support was unwavering, though there were some who
anticipated that the misfortunes of the one man might disastrously
affect the political career of the other.

It is true that by the amazing irony of fate which interpenetrated this
whole situation the Tories gained in Mr. Chamberlain their most powerful
ally, and that Sir Charles had to encounter all the accumulated
prejudice which the 'unauthorized programme' had gathered in Tory
bosoms. But none of these things could be foreseen when Chamberlain,
then in the full flood of his Radical propaganda, invited Sir Charles to
make his temporary home at Highbury. Here, accordingly, he stayed on
through August and the early part of September, breaking his stay only
by two short absences. There still lived on at Chichester old Mr.
Dilke's brother, a survivor of the close-knit family group, preserving
the same intense affectionate interest in Charles Dilke's career. To him
this blow was mortal. Sir Charles paid him in the close of August his
yearly visit: ten days later he was recalled to attend the old man's
funeral in the Cathedral cloisters.

In the middle of September he crossed to France, and waited at Saint
Germain for Mrs. Pattison, who reached Paris in the last days of the
month. On October 1st Sir Charles crossed to London; she followed the
next day, and on the 3rd they were married at Chelsea Parish Church. Mr.
Chamberlain acted as best man.


III.

Return to England meant a return to work. The General Election was fixed
for November; and from August onwards Dilke had been drawn back by
correspondents and by consultations with Chamberlain into the stream of
politics, which then ran broken and turbulent with eddies and cross-
currents innumerable. Chamberlain, sustaining alone the advanced
campaign, wrote even before the marriage to solicit help at the earliest
moment; and from October onwards the two Radicals were as closely
associated as ever--but with a difference. Circumstances had begun the
work of Sir Charles's effacement.

When the election came, his success was personal; London went against
the Liberals, his old colleague Mr. Firth failed, so did Mr. George
Russell in another part of the borough, which was now split into several
constituencies; but Chelsea itself stood to its own man. The elections
were over on December 19th. Before that date it was apparent that the
Irish party held the balance of power, and Mr. Gladstone had already
indicated his acceptance of Home Rule. [Footnote: Chapter XLV., p. 196.]

Parliament met early, and by January 28th, 1886, the Tory Government had
resigned. Mr. Gladstone, in framing his new Administration, thought it
impossible to include a man suffering under a charge yet untried, and
wrote:

    '_February 2nd_, 1886

    'My Dear Dilke,

    'I write you, on this first day of my going regularly to my arduous
    work, to express my profound regret that any circumstances of the
    moment should deprive me of the opportunity and the hope of
    enlisting on behalf of a new Government the great capacity which you
    have proved in a variety of spheres and forms for rendering good and
    great service to Crown and country.

    'You will understand how absolutely recognition on my part of an
    external barrier is separate from any want of inward confidence, the
    last idea I should wish to convey.

    'Nor can I close without fervently expressing to you my desire that
    there may be reserved you a long and honourable career of public
    distinction.

    'Believe me always,

    'Yours sincerely,

    'W. E. Gladstone.'

Less than a fortnight later the divorce case was heard: the charge
against Sir Charles was dismissed with costs, the Judge saying expressly
that there was no case for him to answer.

The Prime Minister's attitude made it inevitable that while the case was
untried Sir Charles should be excluded from the new Ministry; but not
less inevitably his position before the world was prejudiced by that
exclusion. Had Parliament met, as it usually meets, in February; had the
whole thing so happened that the judgment had been given before the
Ministry came to be formed, exclusion would have been all but
impossible. We may take it that Mr. Chamberlain would have insisted on
Sir Charles's inclusion as a condition of his own adherence; it would
have been to the interest of every Gladstonian and of every follower of
Chamberlain to maintain the judgment. As it was, the effect of Sir
Charles's exclusion had been to prepare the way for a vehement campaign
directed against him by a section of the Press.

By the law a wife's confession of misconduct is evidence against
herself, entitling the husband to a divorce; but if unsupported by other
witnesses it is no evidence against the co-respondent. But a question
arose which afterwards became of capital importance. Should Sir Charles
go into the witness-box, deny on oath the unsworn charges made against
him, and submit himself to cross-examination? His counsel decided that
there was no evidence to answer; they did not put their client into the
box, and the course was held by the Judge to be the correct one.

In reply to the Attorney-General's representation that there was no case
whatever which Sir Charles Dilke was called to answer, Mr. Justice Butt
said that he could not see the shadow of a case. In his judgment he
said: 'A statement such as has been made by the respondent in this case
is not one of those things which in common fairness ought for one moment
to be weighed in the balance against a person in the position of Sir
Charles Dilke. Under these circumstances, I have no hesitation whatever
in saying that counsel have been well advised in suggesting the course
which they have induced Sir Charles Dilke to take, and the petition, as
against him, must be dismissed with costs.'

Dilke himself notes: 'On Friday, February 12th, the trial took place,
and lasted but a short time, Sir Henry James and Sir Charles Russell not
putting me into the box, and Sir Charles Butt almost inviting them to
take that course. Lord Granville had written to me: "Will you forgive my
intruding two words of advice? Put yourself unreservedly into the hands
of someone who, like our two law officers, unites sense with knowledge
of the law." I had done this, and had throughout acted entirely through
James, Russell, and Chamberlain. In court and during the remainder of
the day, Chamberlain, James, and Russell, were triumphant....'

For the moment it seemed as if misfortune had ended in triumph.
Congratulations poured in upon both Sir Charles and his wife; the
official leaders welcomed the judgment. Mr. Chamberlain sent an express
message to Downing Street: 'Case against Dilke dismissed with costs, but
the petitioner has got his divorce against his wife.' Mr. Gladstone
answered: 'My dear Chamberlain, I have received your prompt report with
the utmost pleasure.' Sir William Harcourt wrote direct:

    'Dear Dilke,--So glad to hear of the result and of your relief from
    your great trouble.--Yours ever, W. V. H.'

Lady Dilke's friends wrote to her, congratulating her on the reward that
her courage and her loyalty had reaped.

But in Sir Charles's Diary of that date, where notes of any personal
character are few indeed, this is written on the day after the case was
heard, in comment on the action of a certain section of the Press:

    'Renewed attempt to drive me out of public life. But I won't go now.
    In July I said to Emilia and to Chamberlain: "Here is the whole
    truth--and I am an innocent man; but let me go out quietly, and some
    day people will be sorry and I shall recover a different sort of
    usefulness." They would not let me go. Now I won't go.'

A man other than innocent would have rested on the strong judgment in
his favour and let agitation die down, but the attacks continued and
Dilke would not wait their passing. Chamberlain was included in these
attacks, 'for having kept me out of the box,' and wrote in reply to Sir
Charles: 'I was only too glad to be able in any way to share your
burdens, and if I can act as a lightning conductor, so much the
better.... Of course, if _you_ were quite clear that you ought to go
into the box, it is still possible to do so, either by action for libel
or probably by intervention of the Queen's Proctor.'

'This was the first suggestion made to me of any possibility of a
rehearing of the case ... and though Hartington, James, and Russell,
were all under the impression that I should find no further difficulty,
it was the course which I ultimately took,' and which he pressed on with
characteristic tenacity. And here laymen may be permitted to marvel at
the fallibility of eminent lawyers. 'No one, of all these great
lawyers,' foresaw the position in which he would be placed as a result
of his application. Yet from the moment that this procedure was adopted
it was possible that he might be judged without those resources of
defence which are open to the meanest subject charged with an offence.

In March Sir Charles Dilke applied to the Queen's Proctor for his
intervention in order that the case might be reheard. The application
failed. In April he moved again, this time by a public letter, and this
time the Queen's Proctor yielded. Application was made in the Court of
Probate and Divorce to the President, Sir James Hannen, that Sir Charles
Dilke should be made a party to the intervention or reinstated in the
suit.

The President laid down that Sir Charles was no party to the suit, and
had now no right to appear except as a witness, and might not be
represented by counsel. The question was then taken to the Court of
Appeal, but, on strictly technical grounds, the Court held that Sir
Charles was no longer a party, and that he could not be allowed to
intervene. Thus the first judgment, by declaring him innocent and
awarding him costs as one unjustly accused, led straight to his undoing.
He had been struck out of the case; he was now a mere member of the
general public. There never were, probably, legal proceedings in which
from first to last law and justice were more widely asunder.

Sir Charles Dilke was, in fact, in the position from which Sir Henry
James had sought to protect him--the position described in the course of
his pleading for reinstatement:

    'I have no desire to put forward any claim for my client other than
    one founded on justice, but I cannot imagine a more cruel position
    than that in which Sir Charles Dilke would be placed in having a
    grave charge against him tried while the duty of defending his
    interest was committed to hands other than those of his own
    advisers.'

The consequences which flowed from the technical construction put upon
the situation were these: In reality Sir Charles Dilke was the defendant
on trial for his political life and his personal honour. Yet although
Sir Henry James and Sir Charles Russell were there in court ready
briefed, neither was allowed to speak. Dilke's case against his accuser
had to be dealt with by the counsel for the Queen's Proctor, Sir Walter
Phillimore, who, though a skilled ecclesiastical lawyer, was
comparatively inexperienced in the cross-examination of witnesses and in
Nisi Prius procedure, and was opposed by Mr. Henry Matthews, the most
skilled cross-examiner at the bar. Sir Walter Phillimore also stated
publicly, and properly, that it was not his 'duty to represent and
defend Sir Charles Dilke.' So strictly was this view acted upon that Sir
Charles did not once meet Sir Walter Phillimore in consultation; and
witnesses whom he believed to be essential to his case were never
called. But that was not all. According to the practice of that court,
all the information given by Dilke was at once communicated to the other
side; but as Sir Charles was not a party to the suit, the Queen's
Proctor did not communicate to him what he learned from that other side.

In an ordinary trial the witnesses of the accusers are heard first. And
this order is recognized as giving the greatest prospect of justice,
since if the defence is first disclosed the accuser may adjust details
in the charge so as, at the last moment, to deprive the defence of that
fair-play which the first order of hearing is designed to secure. The
only possible disproof which Sir Charles could offer was an alibi. It
was of vital importance to him that the accusation should be fixed to
dates, places, days, hours, even minutes, with the utmost possible
precision. Then he might, even after the lapse of years, establish the
falsity of a charge by proof that he was elsewhere at the time
specified. But in this case, owing to the form that the proceedings
took, the opportunity which of right belongs to the defence was given to
the accuser. The accusation being technically brought by the Queen's
Proctor, who alleged that the divorce had been obtained by false
evidence, Sir Charles Dilke was produced as his witness, and had at the
beginning of the proceedings to disclose his defence.

Further, and even more important, the issue put to the jury was limited
in the most prejudicial way.

    'On the former occasion,' said Sir James Hannen, 'it was for the
    petitioner to prove that his wife had committed adultery with Sir
    Charles Dilke.' (This, as has been seen, the petitioner failed to
    prove against Sir Charles Dilke; the petitioner had to pay Sir
    Charles's costs.) 'On this occasion it is for the Queen's Proctor to
    prove that the respondent did not commit adultery with Sir Charles
    Dilke.'

How this negative was to be proved in any circumstances it is difficult
to see, and under the conditions Sir Charles had no chance to attack the
accusation brought against him.

Sir Charles's own comment in his Diary of the time was:

    '_July 16th_--My case tried again. I not a party, and--though really
    tried by a kind of Star Chamber--not represented, not allowed to
    cross-examine, not allowed to call witnesses; and under such
    circumstances the trial could have but one result, which was that
    the jury, directed to decide if they were in doubt that the Queen's
    Proctor had not established his case, would take that negative
    course. The trial lasted from Friday, 16th, to Friday, 23rd,
    inclusive, and the jury decided, as they could not have helped
    deciding, and as I should have decided had I been one of them.'

The situation may be thus summed up:

In the first trial the petitioner failed to produce any legal evidence
whatever of the guilt of Sir Charles Dilke; in the second the Queen's
Proctor failed to prove his innocence. [Footnote: Technically the
verdict, by dismissing the Queen's Proctor's intervention, confirmed the
original judgment, which dismissed Sir Charles from the case.]

The verdict of the jury at the second trial was not a verdict of Guilty
against Sir Charles; it was a declaration that his innocence was not
proven, the question put to the Jury by the clerk after their return
into Court following the words of the Act of Parliament, and being
whether the decree nisi for the dissolution of the marriage of the
petitioner and the respondent was obtained contrary to the justice of
the case by reason of material facts not being brought to the knowledge
of the Court. The Jury's answer followed the same words. [Footnote: See
report in _Daily News_, Saturday, July 24th, 1886.] When we add to that
the conditions under which the question was tried, we see that they were
such as to make the proof of innocence impossible.

Those about Sir Charles at this time remember how even at that bitter
moment he began to look round for any method by which his case might be
reheard. He wrote to Sir Henry James that it would be a proper course
for himself to invite a trial for perjury; and though Lady Dilke was so
ill 'from sick and sleepless nights' that she had been ordered at once
to Royat, he waited for three weeks before accompanying her abroad, to
give time for action to be taken, and wrote to Sir Richard Webster (then
Attorney-General) practically inviting a prosecution.

He did not abandon hope of a rehearing, and worked for many years in the
trust that the evidence accumulated by himself and his friends might be
so used, nor did he cease his efforts till counsel in consultation
finally assured him 'that no means were open to Sir Charles Dilke to
retry his case.'

Sir Eyre Crowe, a friend valued for his own as well as for his father's
sake (Sir Joseph Crowe, to whom Sir Charles was much attached), wrote at
the time of Sir Charles's death: 'How he bore for long years the sorrow
and misfortunes of his lot had something heroic about it. I only once
talked to him about these things, and was intensely struck by his Roman
attitude.' It was the only attitude possible to such a man. Placed by
his country's laws in the situation of one officially acquitted by a
decision which was interpreted into a charge of guilt; forced then, in
defence of his honour, into the position of a defendant who is debarred
from means of defence; assured after long effort that no legal means
were open to him to attempt again that defence, he solemnly declared his
innocence, and was thereafter silent.

'By-and-by it will be remembered that as a fact the issue was never
fairly represented and never fairly met,' was the estimate of Sir
Francis Jeune, afterwards President of the Divorce Court. And from the
first there were many lawyers and thinking men and women who would have
endorsed it. From the first also there were those who believed Sir
Charles's word. Among such faithful friends, Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice,
Sir Robert Collins, Mr. Cyril Flower, Mrs. Westlake and Mr. Westlake,
Q.C., Mr. Thursfield of the _Times_, Mr. Chamberlain, Sir Francis and
Lady Jeune, Sir Charles's old college friend Judge Steavenson, stand out
in memory. He himself says: 'I received after the trial ... a vast
number of letters from people who wrote to express their belief in me.
Some, as, for example, from Dr. Hatch' (the eminent Oxford theologian)
'and his wife, and from Dr. Percival, Head-master of Rugby, [Footnote:
Dr. Percival was President of Trinity College, Oxford, till 1887, when
he went to Rugby. He became Bishop of Hereford.] and his wife, were from
firm friends of Emilia, brought to me by their belief in her; some from
friends, some from political foes, of all sorts--all breathing
confidence and devotion.'

Mr. Chamberlain wrote: 'I feel bitterly my powerlessness to do or say
anything useful at the present time.' In such a case the testimony of
intimates is weighty, and Sir John Gorst sent in June, 1913, his
recollection of words used by Mr. Chamberlain in the autumn of 1886: 'I
assure you that, as a man of honour, I don't believe the charges made
against him. If you had been in and out of his house at all times as I
have been, you would see they were impossible.'

Then as now there existed a certain body of opinion which would have
discriminated between a man's private honour and his public usefulness,
holding that the nation which throws aside a great public servant
because of charges of personal immorality is confusing issues, and
sacrificing the country's welfare to private questions. Whatever is to
be said for this view, it was one to which Sir Charles Dilke wished to
owe nothing. He did not share it, and those whose adherence he
acknowledged were those who believed his word. From different sources,
then, Sir Charles had found confidence and support, but they were small
stay in that gradually accumulating torrent of misfortune.

As the Press campaign had developed in the spring, he found himself
avoided in Parliament and in society. In the House, where a few months
before he had again and again been the Government spokesman and
representative, he was retired into the ranks of private members. This
short Parliament of 1886 came to an end in June, and, in the General
Election which followed, London went solidly against Home Rule; and Sir
Charles, though as compared with other Gladstonian Liberals he did well,
found himself rejected by the constituency which had stood by him in
four contests. Such a reverse occurs in the life of almost every
prominent politician, and, though harassing, is of no determining
import. For Sir Charles Dilke at this moment it was a cruel blow. The
personal discredit against which he had to fight coincided with the
discredit of his party; and when the jury came to their decision in
July, after a week in which the newspapers had been filled daily with
columns of scandalous detail, public feeling assumed a character of
bitter personal hostility.

'Sir Charles's fall,' says the chronicler of that period, Mr. Justin
McCarthy, 'is like that of a tower. He stood high above every rising
English statesman, and but for what has happened he must have been Prime
Minister after Gladstone.' [Footnote: This article appeared in a
Canadian journal after the second trial.]




CHAPTER XLIV

THE RADICAL PROGRAMME _VERSUS_ HOME RULE

JULY TO DECEMBER, 1885.


[Footnote: This chapter and the next cover the same dates as the
preceding chapter, which contains the record of other than political
events, while these deal with the political history of the time.]

The period between July, 1885, and July, 1886, determined the course of
English history for a generation. At the beginning of this period, Sir
Charles Dilke was one of the three men on the Liberal side who, after
Mr. Gladstone, counted most, and he commanded more general approval than
either Chamberlain or Hartington. But from the first rumour of his
personal misfortune his influence rapidly dwindled; when the period
closed, many of those who had been his political associates had left
him, and from Mr. Chamberlain, in political life, he was irretrievably
sundered.

In July, 1885, the much-talked-of visit of the Radical leaders to
Ireland was abandoned, owing, it appears, to the change in Sir Charles's
personal fortunes. Meanwhile the first-fruits of the Tory alliance with
Parnellism had begun to appear, and on July 21st Mr. Gladstone had made,
as has been seen, [Footnote: See p.158] a powerful appeal to his Radical
colleagues for support of Lord Spencer--addressing it, after his
invariable custom, to Dilke. It was the last time that he did so, and he
wrote then without knowledge of the blow which had already fallen on Sir
Charles.

In the end Mr. Gladstone's appeal was disregarded, and, when Lord
Spencer's policy was assailed in the House, the Press noted the
significant absence of Dilke and Chamberlain from the front bench. It
would have been more significant had not Sir Charles been then engrossed
with his personal concerns. Not until the last days of August was he
'sufficiently recovered from the blow to be able to take some interest
in politics'; and then it was merely to take an interest, not to take a
part. Yet already the crucial question for Liberal policy had begun to
define itself.

On August 24th, Parnell, speaking in Ireland, declared that the one
plank in Ireland's platform was National independence. In reply, Lord
Hartington, speaking at Waterfoot in Lancashire, declared his confidence
that no British party would concede Parnell's demand. But Lord
Hartington did not confine his speech to this

    'A speech by Hartington in Lancashire read to Chamberlain and myself
    like a declaration of war against the unauthorized programme and its
    author; and when Rosebery wrote to me to congratulate me on my
    coming marriage, I replied in this sense. I had a good deal of
    correspondence with James as to what should be the nature of
    Chamberlain's reply at Warrington on Tuesday, September 8th, James
    trying to patch up things: "The ransom theory [Footnote: Mr.
    Chamberlain on January 29th, 1885, at Birmingham: "I hold that the
    sanctity of public property is greater than even that of private
    property, and that, if it has been lost or wasted or stolen, some
    equivalent must be found for it, and some compensation may fairly be
    exacted from the wrongdoer." See Chapter XXXVIII., p. 105.] startled
    a good many people, and dissent from it was to be expected. But
    surely such dissent does not cause a man to be unfit to be in the
    Liberal ranks...." James also sent me a memorandum from which I
    extracted the following sentence: "If it be once introduced as an
    admitted principle that no man can take office without stipulating
    for the success of every question to which he may have given a
    support, and if every man in Government is to be bound to reject all
    concessions to those with whom he has on any point ever differed,
    the practical constitution of this country would be overthrown...."
    On September 5th Chamberlain had received a letter from Harcourt
    which I afterwards considered with him "I set store by your
    declaration that you will try to be as moderate as you can. You have
    no idea how moderate you can be till you try. I am not the least
    despondent about the state of affairs. The Liberal party has a
    Pentecostian gift of tongues, and the Parthians, Medes, Elamites,
    and others, require to have the gospel preached to them in very
    different languages.... I suppose that Bosebery reported to you his
    phrase that 'he had expressed himself on the land question more
    clumsily even than usual!' It is impossible to be angry with such
    frankness...."'

Lord Rosebery had written at the same time to Sir Charles that the real
trouble arose from 'clumsiness of arrangement,' and quoted Lord
Hartington's words as accepting this view.

    'John Morley wrote also on September 4th to Chamberlain that Goschen
    was rather wrathful that Hartington should be so slow and infrequent
    in speaking while he, Chamberlain, was so active, but that he did
    not believe Hartington meant war.'

None adverted to the difficulty, which was nevertheless the central one,
of reaching an agreement concerning an Irish policy. Mr. Morley was
right when he said that there was not going to be 'war' in the Liberal
party over questions of English reform. The question which was to split
the party was Ireland, and Chamberlain in his Warrington speech joined
Hartington in repudiating Parnell's demand. But Mr. Chamberlain saw what
Lord Hartington did not, that a Liberal party must have a positive
policy, and his conception of a Liberal policy during these months was
to force the pace on social questions and leave Ireland alone.

At these critical moments of August and September, 1885, Sir Charles was
a guest in Mr. Chamberlain's house, and was in consultation with him;
but it was a consultation to which one of the two brought a mind
preoccupied with his own most vital concerns. Scarcely a month had gone
by since the petition had been filed, in July, 1885; much less than a
month since he had been on the very edge of a complete breakdown. He had
been dragged back, almost against his will and against his judgment,
into political life by that imperious personality with which he had been
so long associated in equal comradeship. Under the old conditions Sir
Charles and Mr. Chamberlain would have inevitably influenced each
other's action, and it is at least possible that Sir Charles's gift for
bringing men together and concentrating on essentials might have altered
the whole course of events. But it is clear, from what followed later,
that under the conditions which existed there was no thorough discussion
between them, since the line which Sir Charles took on Ireland when the
dividing of the ways came was a surprise to his friend.

    'On September 10th, 1885, there came a letter from Mr. Gladstone,
    addressed to Chamberlain and myself. Chamberlain replied, after
    consultation, in our joint names.'

They developed their views as to their programme of English as distinct
from Irish reforms.

    'Mr. Gladstone wished to issue an address (to his constituents with
    a view to the General Election), and had got Hartington to ask him
    to do so, and he now wanted us also to ask him. We stipulated that
    we must have (1) power to local authorities to take land for
    housing, allotments, and so forth, and (2) free schools: otherwise,
    while we could not object to his issuing his own address, we could
    not offer to support or join a future Government.'

    'On the 15th Chamberlain wrote to me to Paris that he gathered Mr.
    G. intended to issue immediately, without waiting his reply.'

He would write, however, asking for further allusions to compulsory
powers for taking land, and asked Sir Charles to write direct about
registration.

On September 20th Mr. Chamberlain wrote again, enclosing a copy of his
letter to Mr. Gladstone, and stating his opinion that the manifesto was
bad, and that he regarded it, especially the part referring to free
schools and education, [Footnote: Mr. Gladstone was never at any time in
harmony with the views of the more advanced section of his own party on
education. See the account of the curious controversy between him and
Lord Russell during the last days of the latter's leadership of the
Liberal party (_Life of Granville_, vol. i., pp. 516, 517).] as a slap
in the face to himself and Sir Charles. He added that he had written
frankly to Mr. Gladstone, telling him that he was dissatisfied, and
expressed his opinion that Mr. Gladstone would give way, and that his
reign could not last long. Through the somewhat involved phraseology of
Mr. Gladstone's letter, it seemed possible to extract some hope in
regard to extra powers for local authorities, and a revision of taxation
in favour of the working classes. He concluded by saying that if his
party could get a majority, he would make their terms on joining the
Government, and regretting that Sir Charles was not still staying with
him.

The letter to Mr. Gladstone spoke of the manifesto as a blow to the
Radical party, and went on to say that, in the event of the Liberal
party returning in full power to office, he would offer loyal support,
as far as possible, to any Government that might be formed, but that the
joining any Administration formed on the narrow basis of the programme
now presented would be impossible. It ended with the words: 'Dilke has
left me, but, from a letter I have received from him, I am justified in
saying that he shares my views.'

    'I told Chamberlain that in my first speech (and I had two to make
    shortly after my proposed marriage in October) I intended to attack
    Reform of the House of Lords from the Single Chamber point of view.'

He replied urging Sir Charles to give this question prominence and
importance, and to do so in the name of the Radical Party, as expressing
their policy, for fear that even Radical candidates should be under some
misapprehension. He also authorized him to use his (Mr. Chamberlain's)
name, as concurring in the views expressed.

    'On the 25th I received a letter from Chamberlain containing Mr.
    Gladstone's reply:

    '"My Dear Chamberlain,

    '"Were I engaged (which Heaven forfend) in the formation of a new
    Liberal Government, and were your letter of yesterday an answer to
    some invitation to join it, then _I_ should have read the letter
    with great regret; but I pointed out to you (as I think), in a
    previous letter, that it would (as far as I could judge) be an
    entire mistake to lay down a _credo_ of Liberal policy for a new
    Government at the present juncture. You and Hartington were both
    demurring in opposite senses, and I made to each the same reply. My
    aim was for the election only, in giving form to my address. As to
    what lies beyond, I suppose the party will, so far as it has a
    choice, set first about the matters on which it is agreed. But no
    one is bound to this proposition.

    '"Bright once said, with much force and sense, that the average
    opinion of the party ought to be the rule of immediate action.

    '"It is likely that there may be a split in the party in the far or
    middle distance, but I shall have nothing to do with it, and you, I
    am sure, do not wish to anticipate it or force it on. What I have
    said may, I hope, mitigate any regret such as you seem to intimate.

    '"I am at present busy on private affairs and papers, to which for
    six years past I have hardly given one continuous hour. Later on I
    should like much to explain to you my personal views and intentions
    in conversation. It would be difficult to do so in writing. They
    turn very much upon Ireland--the one imperial question that seems at
    present possible to be brought into immediate view. But, for
    Liberals generally, I should have thought that there was work enough
    for three or four years on which they might all agree. So far as my
    observation and correspondence go, I have not found that non-Whig
    opinion is offended.

    '"Sincerely yours,
    '"W. E. Gladstone.

    '"P.S.--A letter received from Dilke speaks pleasingly about the
    address.

    '"I may say that I was quite unconscious of interfering with your
    present view, which I understood to be that none of your advanced
    proposals were to be excluded, but all left open for discussion.--W.
    E. G."

    'On the passage with regard to Ireland I noted: "He means that he
    would go on as Prime Minister if he could see his way to carry the
    larger Local Government (Ireland) scheme, and not otherwise." But he
    meant more.'

Sir Charles also wrote suggesting that Mr. Chamberlain should, in his
correspondence with Mr. Gladstone, go into the question of the Whig
composition of Liberal Cabinets, and the latter promised 'to say just
what you suggest.'

Those who occupied the centre position in the Liberal party were
bewildered by divided counsels.

    'On September 28th I received from Chamberlain a letter enclosing
    one from Harcourt.... He (Harcourt) dwelt upon the delicacy of Mr.
    Gladstone's position. "He (Mr. Gladstone) says, if he is not wanted,
    he will 'cut out,' and he doubts, I think, if either you or
    Hartington want him. But I hope in this he is mistaken; for he is
    wanted, and neither section can do without him.... When I spoke at
    Plymouth I knew nothing of the contents of his address, nor indeed,
    that it was about to appear so soon, though, oddly enough, it came
    out the next day. I therefore spoke like a cat in walnut shells, and
    had, like a man who makes a miss at billiards, to 'play for safety.'
    I am quite with you on the subject of the acquisition of land by
    local authorities, and also on free education, which seem to be your
    two _sine qua nons_. As to what you say about remaining outside a
    new Liberal Government, forgive me for saying that is all nonsense.
    If a Liberal Government cannot be formed with you and Dilke, it
    certainly cannot be formed without you. You have acquired the right
    and the power to make your own conditions, and I am sure they will
    be reasonable ones."'

Sir William Harcourt omitted to consider the possibility of a Government
being formed--as actually happened--while the charges against Sir
Charles were still untried. Politically, he made an omission which was
less natural; once more there is no reference to the Irish problem and
its effect. Yet in Mr. Gladstone's mind it was daily becoming more
insistent.

    'On September 28th Chamberlain wrote enclosing a letter from Mr.
    Gladstone, and his reply:

    '"My Dear Chamberlain,

    '"I felt well pleased and easy after receiving your note of the
    21st, but there is a point I should like to put to you with
    reference to your self-denying ordinance making the three points
    conditions of office.

    '"Suppose Parnell to come back eighty to ninety strong, to keep them
    together, to bring forward a plan which shall contain in your
    opinion adequate securities for the union of the Empire, and to
    press this plan, under whatever name, as having claims to precedence
    (claims which could hardly be denied even by opponents), do you
    think no Government should be formed to promote such a plan, unless
    the three points were glued on to it at the same time? Do you not
    think you would do well to reserve elbow-room for a case like this?
    I hope you will not think my suggestion--it is not a question--
    captious and a man-trap. It is meant in a very different sense. A
    Liberal majority is assumed in it.

    '"Yours sincerely,
    '"W. E. Gladstone."'

When that letter reached Highbury, Sir Charles was in France, awaiting
Mrs. Pattison's arrival from India. Mr. Chamberlain's reply was written
without consultation on September 28th. In it he said that he had
assumed that Local Government would be the first work of a Liberal
Government, and that Bills for the three countries would be brought in
together. Mr. Parnell's change of front would, he thought, have limited
the proposals to the establishment of County Councils, with certain
powers for the acquisition of land by Local Authorities. He thought it
unlikely that Parnell would bring forward a scheme that any Liberal
Government could support; but if he did, he would do all he could to
assist the Government in dealing with it, whether from inside or outside
the Cabinet.

Chamberlain further urged Dilke to lay stress on the determination of
his party not to be 'mere lay figures in a Cabinet of Goschens.' He
regarded his party as indispensable, and if the Government tried to do
without them, they were determined to make trouble. He expressed an
earnest wish that Sir Charles Dilke could be working with them; but he
did not press this at the moment, if Sir Charles was taking a holiday
after his marriage.

Dilke took the briefest of holidays; on October 6th, three days after
his wedding, he spoke at Chelsea. After dwelling at length on
Chamberlain's proposal to give powers of compulsory land purchase to
local authorities, he asked for the widest form of elective self-
government for Ireland consistent with the integrity of the Empire,
[Footnote: 'In my individual opinion, the natural crowning stone of any
large edifice of local government must sooner or later be some such
elective Local Government Board for each of the three principal parts of
the United Kingdom and for the Principality of Wales, as I have often
sketched out to you. As regards Ireland, we all of us here, I think,
agree that the widest form of elective self-government should be
conferred which is consistent with the integrity of the Empire. No one
can justify the existence of the nominated official Boards which at
present attempt to govern Ireland. I care not whether the Irish people
are or are not at the moment willing to accept the changes we have to
propose. If the present system is as indefensible as I think it, we
should propose them all the same. If they are not at first accepted, our
scheme will at least be seen and weighed, and we shall be freed from the
necessity of appearing to defend a system which is obnoxious to every
Liberal principle. I would ask you to remember some words in Mr.
Ruskin's chapter on "The Future of England," in his _Crown of Wild
Olive_, which are very applicable to the situation:--"In Ireland,
especially, a vicious system has been so long maintained that it has
become impossible to give due support to the cause of order without
seeming to countenance injury." The bodies which would deal with
education, with private Bills, with provisional order Bills, and with
appeals from local authorities in matters too large for county
treatment, in Wales and Scotland and England itself, if I had my way, as
well as in Ireland, would, I believe, make the future government of the
United Kingdom, as a United Kingdom, more easy than it is at present.']
and went on to assume that the first session of the new Parliament would
be 'a Local Government session.' In the following week 'I made an
important speech at Halifax on Local Government which attracted much
attention.' 'Halifax will be all Local Government,' he wrote to Mr.
Frank Hill, 'which is necessary, as it is clear that Balfour and
Salisbury have cribbed my last year's Bill.'

    'I may note here that on October 6th, at my Chelsea meeting, George
    Russell told me that he had on the previous day induced Mr.
    Gladstone to send for Chamberlain to Hawarden. On October 7th
    Chamberlain wrote:

    '"Hawarden Castle.

    '"My Dear Dilke,

    '"I was sent for here, but up to now I do not know why.... My
    present object is to say that you made a capital speech, and that I
    approve every word of it except the part about London Government.
    But as to this I suppose that Londoners must have their way and
    their own form of municipal government though I doubt if it will not
    prove a fatal gift. Why will the papers invent differences between
    you and me? I verily believe that if I spoke your speech, and you
    spoke mine, they would still find the distinguishing characteristics
    of each speaker unchanged. I thought your last part admirable and
    just what I should have said. Yet the _Standard_ thinks it quite a
    different note to the South London and Bradford speeches. Mr. G.
    thinks Mr. Parnell's last speech more satisfactory I confess I had
    not perceived the improvement. He (Mr. G.) is still very sweet on
    National Councils."

    'On October 9th Chamberlain wrote:

    '"I am not quite certain what was Mr. G.'s object in sending for me.
    I suppose he desired to minimize our conditions as far as possible.
    He was very pleasant and very well, with no apparent trace of his
    hoarseness. He spoke at considerable length on the Irish Question;
    said he was more than ever impressed with the advantages of the
    Central Council scheme, and had written strongly to that effect to
    Hartington. But I do not gather that he has any definite plan under
    present circumstances. He thought Parnell's last speech was more
    moderate (I confess I do not agree with him), and I suppose that if
    we get a majority his first effort will be to find a _modus
    vivendi_, and to enter into direct communications with this object.

    '"As regards Radical programme I stuck to the terms of your speech,
    namely, first, compulsory powers for acquiring land to be inserted
    in the Local Government Bill. Second, freedom to speak and vote as
    we liked on questions of free schools. He boggled a good deal over
    this, and said it was very weakening to a Government; but I told him
    we could not honestly do less, and that I expected a large majority
    of Liberals were in favour of the proposal. We did not come to any
    positive conclusion, nor do I think that he has absolutely made up
    his mind, but the tone of the conversation implied that he was
    seeking to work with us, and had no idea of doing without us. At the
    close he spoke of his intention to give up the leadership soon after
    the new Parliament met. I protested, and said that if he did this
    our whole attitude would be changed, and we must and should ask from
    Hartington much larger concessions than we were prepared to accept
    from him. I expect the force of circumstances will keep him in his
    place till the end, though I believe he is sincerely anxious to be
    free."' [Footnote: Mr. Gladstone's account of this interview is to
    be found in Morley's _Life of Gladstone_, vol. iii., p. 224.]

On October 17th Chamberlain wrote 'on another letter of Mr. Gladstone's,
which I do not possess:

    '"I do not think it is wise to do anything about Mr G.'s letter on
    Ireland. I agree with your recollection of the matter. But Mr. G. is
    not far wrong, and we have our hands full of other things. The Irish
    business is not the first just now."

    'About this time I was taken as arbitrator in a considerable number
    of disputed candidatures, in most of which I acted by myself, and in
    one, the Walworth case, with Chamberlain and John Morley.'

    'I had been to see Manning, at his wish, with my wife, and he had
    spoken kindly about Chamberlain, on which I wrote to Chamberlain
    about him; and Chamberlain replied:

    '"Our experience in the Irish Question has not been encouraging. We
    understood the Cardinal cordially to approve of my scheme of
    National Councils and to be ready to use his influence in any way to
    promote its acceptance. On our part we were prepared to press the
    question at any sacrifice, and to make the adoption of our scheme a
    condition of our membership of any future Government. And yet, when
    the time came to ask the Cardinal for his help, he refused
    categorically so small a matter as an introduction to the Irish
    Bishops, and, as I understood, on the ground that the Conservatives
    were in office. Would not the same influence prevail in the matter
    of education? Besides, I do not see what Cardinal Manning has to
    offer. The majority of English Catholics are Conservative, and no
    concession that it is in our power to make would secure their
    support for the Liberal party. I am therefore of opinion that the
    differences between us can only be decided by the constituencies."

    'The Cardinal wrote concerning Chamberlain:

    '"Mr. Chamberlain was good enough to send me his scheme for Local
    Government in Ireland, in which in the main I agree, and did all in
    my power to promote its acceptance. The Government went out, and you
    asked of me to promote what I called a 'Midlothian in Ireland,'
    under the eyes of the new Lord Lieutenant. (I wrote on this to
    Chamberlain: 'I answered this at the time and have done so again
    now.') Did Mr. Chamberlain understand my agreement with his scheme
    as carrying any consequences beyond that scheme or any solidarity in
    such an aggressive action against any party whatsoever in power?...
    In the matter in which he was courteous enough to make known his
    scheme to me, I have promoted it where and in ways he does not
    know."

    'In a day or two there came another letter from Manning:

    '"It is true you did disclaim a Midlothian; but I told you that I
    know my Irishmen too well, and believe that even Paul and Barnabas
    would have been carried away. Moreover, if you had been silent as
    fishes, the moral effect would have been a counter-move. Your
    humility does not admit this. So you must absolve me for my one
    word."'

Mr. Chamberlain commented in strong terms on the diplomatic methods of
the great ecclesiastic. The 'countermove' implied that there had been a
Tory move in the direction of Home Rule with a view to securing Irish
support. Manning believed, as Mr. Gladstone also believed, that the
Tories meant business; later it became clear that they had no
constructive Irish policy at all. Yet the question grew daily more
pressing.

    'At the end of October Chamberlain wrote:

    '"I had a note from Mr. G. this morning urging unity, and saying he
    had an instinct that Irish questions 'might elbow out all others.'
    This makes me uneasy. I hear from another source that he is trying
    to get Parnell's ideas in detail. It is no use."'

To Mr. Gladstone, Chamberlain wrote, on October 26th, that he could not
see his way at all about Ireland. He emphasized his view that Ireland
had better go altogether than the responsibilities of a nominal union be
accepted, and that probably the majority of Liberals would not give more
than English Local Government; and that, if possible, Irish and English
Local Government should be dealt with together. Unless the principle of
the acquisition of land by local authorities was accepted, neither he
nor Dilke nor Morley, nor probably Lefevre, could join the Government.

The strife between Chamberlain and Hartington was maintained, and Mr.
Gladstone interposed by a letter to the Chief Whip, in which he advised
the intervention of Lord Granville in view of 'his great tact, prudence,
and experience.' On November 5th Mr. Chamberlain wrote to Sir Charles,
enclosing Mr. Gladstone's letter, and adding:

    'Mr. G.'s is the most definite proof I have had yet that he does not
    mean to quarrel with us. Lord Granville has just been here. He told
    me nothing about Ireland, but _I am convinced_ that Mr. Gladstone
    has been trying to make a treaty all to himself. It must fail.'

No such treaty was made, and on the eve of the General Election of
November, 1885, Parnell issued an instruction that the Irish in England
should vote Tory.

    'On Tuesday, November 24th, our poll took place in Chelsea, and on
    Wednesday, November 25th, the count, which showed that I was
    returned, although only by a small majority.... The Irish had voted
    for Whitmore, the Conservative candidate, my opponent, in
    consequence of the issue at the last moment of the bill, "Mr.
    Parnell's order--Vote for the Conservative, Mr. Whitmore. Irishmen,
    do your duty and obey your leader."'

    'I had been summoned by Chamberlain, who desired a meeting of our
    party within the party, in a letter in which he said:

    '"It does not look as if the Tories would have the chance of doing
    much mischief; but I should much like them to be in for a couple of
    years before we try again, and then I should 'go for the Church.'"'

Dilke notes that Chamberlain was persuaded to drop this line of attack,
on which he had already embarked. Disestablishment of the Church of
England had proved to be anything but a good election cry; the ransom
doctrine had not brought in more votes than it lost; and the 366 certain
Liberal seats with twenty-six doubtful ones which Mr. Schnadhorst
counted up at the end of October were now an illusion of the past. The
election was generally taken as a set-back to the extreme Radicals.

    'On Saturday, December 5th, we met at Highbury, and remained in
    council until Monday, December 7th. Mr. Gladstone, we were informed
    (that is Morley, Lefevre, and myself), had presented a Home Rule
    scheme to the Queen, who had shown it to Lord Salisbury, and
    Randolph Churchill had told Lady Dorothy Nevill, who had told
    Chamberlain, but no statement had been made by Mr. Gladstone to his
    former colleagues.'




CHAPTER XLV

BEGINNING OF THE HOME RULE SPLIT

DECEMBER, 1885, TO FEBRUARY, 1886


After the meeting of Radicals, December 5th to 7th, at Highbury, Sir
Charles went back to London.

    'On Wednesday, December 9th, I spoke at the Central Poor Law
    Conference.... I carried the assembly, which was one of Poor Law
    Guardians, and therefore Conservative, along with me in the opinion
    that it was desirable to elect directly the whole of the new bodies
    in local government, instead of having either a special
    representation of Magistrates or any system of indirect election or
    choice of Aldermen.'

He argued in the belief that the next session might still see a Tory
Government in power. 'If the Conservatives propose a Local Government
Bill,' he said at Chelsea, 'it will be our Local Government Bill which
they will propose.' He notes: 'They proposed two-thirds of it, and
carried one-third, in 1888.'

    'At this moment, not knowing how far Mr. Gladstone was willing to go
    in the Home Rule direction, and that there was, therefore, any
    chance of his securing the real support of the Irish party, I was
    opposed to the attempt to turn out the Government and form a Liberal
    Administration resting on the support of a minority, and I spoke in
    that sense to my constituents. My view was that it would be
    disastrous to advanced Liberalism to form a Government resting on a
    minority, as it would be impossible to carry any legislation not of
    a Conservative type.'

    'Chamberlain wrote to me on December 15th, with regard to one of my
    speeches, that I was too polite to the Tories. "This," he added, "is
    where I never err."

    'On December 18th I received some copies of important letters. Mr.
    Gladstone's scheme had got out on the 16th, [Footnote: Lord Morley's
    _Life of Gladstone_, vol. iii., pp. 264,265, shows that the "scheme
    got out" owing to Sir Charles Dilke's speech to his constituents.
    Mr. Herbert Gladstone came to town on the 14th partly in consequence
    of a speech "made a few days before by Sir Charles Dilke," and the
    talk it caused. The speech was "taken to mean" that the two Radical
    leaders preferred keeping the Tories in power "in the expectation
    that some moderate measures of reform might be got from them, and
    that meanwhile they would become committed with the Irishmen.
    Tactics of this kind were equivalent to the exclusion of Mr.
    Gladstone, for in every letter that he wrote he pronounced the Irish
    Question urgent." Accordingly, on December 16th there came the
    unauthorized version of Mr. Gladstone's scheme, given to the Press
    through his son.] and on the 17th he wrote to Lord Hartington a
    letter of which the latter sent me a long extract. [Footnote: The
    letter, which has been printed both by Lord Morley and by Mr.
    Bernard Holland, is that in which Mr. Gladstone detailed the
    "conditions of an admissible plan" of Home Rule, and expressed a
    determination "on no account to do or say anything which would
    enable the Nationalists to establish rival biddings between us." It
    is so germane to this discussion that part of it is again printed in
    the appendix following this chapter (p. 208).]

    'At the same time I received a letter from Chamberlain in which he
    said:

    '"Have I turned round? Perhaps I have, but it is unconsciously.
    Honestly I thought you went beyond us in your speeches, but I feel
    that your judgment is very likely better and certainly as good as
    mine, and I should have said nothing but for the flood of letters I
    received.

    '"The situation changes every minute. The announcement of Mr. G.'s
    plan makes it much more serious; and I altered my speech somewhat
    to-night to meet it, but unless I have failed in my endeavour I have
    not said anything which will embarrass you, and I had you constantly
    in mind throughout. Please read it carefully and let me know exactly
    what you think and how far I have succeeded. I would not put you in
    a hole for a King's ransom if I could avoid it.

    '"I agree entirely with you as to dissolution. The Tory game is to
    exaggerate Mr. Gladstone's performance and to go to the country on
    the 'integrity of the Empire.' I have endeavoured to reserve our
    position, and, as to taking office, to make it clear that we are
    opposed to it, unless we can get a big majority, which is
    impossible. Unless I am mistaken, the Gladstone business will
    exclusively occupy attention the next few days, and my speech will
    pass without much notice. But again I say that I have tried (and I
    hope and believe I have succeeded) to avoid anything which may
    appear like contradiction or opposition to your line.

    '"Finally, my view is that Mr. G.'s Irish scheme is death and
    damnation; that we must try and stop it; that we must not openly
    commit ourselves against it yet; that we must let the situation
    shape itself before we finally decide; that the Whigs are our
    greatest enemies, and that we must not join them if we can help it;
    that we cannot take office, but must not offer assistance to the
    Tories publicly; that we must say all we can as to their shameful
    bargain and surrender of principle; that even if they bring in good
    measures they will also bring in bad, which we shall be forced to
    oppose; and that the less we speak in public for the present, the
    better."

    'I had told Chamberlain that his speech had given the impression
    that he had turned round.'

Sir Charles, in a further speech to his constituents at Chelsea,
reaffirmed the principles which he had already publicly laid down.

    'In speaking on the night of Friday, December 18th, at Chelsea, I
    declared that we ought not to allow ourselves to be driven either
    forward or backward from the principles that we had put forward with
    regard to Ireland, and that our course should be to continue to
    propose the measures which we had previously proposed without
    reference to the Parnellite support of Conservative candidates. The
    scheme which I had put forward at the General Election was the one
    to which I adhered. If it had been generally adopted when first
    suggested, it would have received very large support in Ireland.'

He then quotes from the report of his speech this sentence: 'We are told
that now it is too late, but for my part I should not be inclined to
recede from it because it does not meet with general support.'

On this Chamberlain wrote:

    '_December 19th_, 1885.

    'My Dear Dilke,

    'The papers this morning seem to show that I have succeeded in
    avoiding any kind of conflict with you. Your own speech was most
    judicious. What a mess Mr. G. has made of it! What will be the end
    of it all? Why the d---- could he not wait till Parnell had
    quarrelled with the Tories? I fancy that a large number, perhaps the
    majority, of Liberals will support _any_ scheme of Mr. G.'s, but I
    doubt if the country will endorse it. The Tories, if they are wise,
    will throw everything else aside and go for the "Empire in danger,"
    dissolving at the earliest possible opportunity. The Liberals would
    be divided and distracted, and I think we shall be beaten into a
    cocked hat. Our game--yours and mine--is to avoid definite committal
    for the moment. Circumstances change every hour. Harcourt is coming
    to me on Saturday and Sunday.'

    'On the next day Chamberlain sent me a copy of a letter to him from
    Mr. Gladstone:

    '"_December 18th_, 1885.

    '"My Dear Chamberlain,

    '"I thank you very much for your references to me in your speech
    last night.

    '"In this really serious crisis we must all make efforts to work
    together; and I gladly recognize your effort.

    '"Moreover, reading as well as writing hastily, I think we are very
    much in accord.

    '"Both reflection and information lead me to think that time is very
    precious, and that the hour-glass has begun to run for a definitive
    issue.

    '"But I am certainly and strongly of opinion that only a Government
    can act, that especially this Government should act, and that we
    should now be helping and encouraging them to act as far as we
    legitimately can.

    '"In reply to a proposal of the Central News to send me an
    interviewer, I have this morning telegraphed to London: 'From my
    public declarations at Edinburgh _with respect to the Government_,
    you will easily see that I have no communication to make.'

    '"Be _very incredulous_ as to any statements about my views and
    opinions. Rest assured that I have done and said _nothing_ which in
    any way points to negotiation or separate action. The time may come,
    but I hope it will not. At present I think most men, but I do not
    include you, are in too great a hurry to make up their minds. Much
    may happen before (say) January 12th. The first thing of all is to
    know _what will the Government do?_ I know they have been in
    communication with Parnellites, and I hope with Parnell.

    '"I remain always,

    '"Sincerely yours,

    '"W. E. Gladstone."

    'I fancy that I was the cause of Chamberlain receiving this letter,
    as I had told Brett (who at once wrote to Hawarden) that Chamberlain
    was angry at not having been consulted.'

    'On December 21st we went down to Pyrford, which was now just
    finished, to stay there for the first time, and remained until
    Christmas Eve. On December 22nd I received a letter from Chamberlain
    from Highbury.'

In this letter Mr. Chamberlain chronicled Sir William Harcourt's
visit--who, after 'raving against the old man and the old cause,' had
left in better spirits. Mr. Chamberlain was in much doubt whether Mr.
Gladstone would go on or would retire after Lord Hartington's letter to
the Press, [Footnote: This is a reference to Lord Hartington's letter in
the Press of December 21st, 1885, which he alludes to, in writing to Mr.
Gladstone, as "published this morning" (_Life of Duke of Devonshire_,
vol. ii., p. 103).] and had written to Mr. Gladstone to say that he did
not think the country would stand an independent Parliament. He saw
nothing between National Councils and Separation, and wondered whether
Mr. Gladstone thought that--in the event of a separate Irish
Legislature--Ireland could be governed by a single Chamber, and England
and Scotland by two.

    'On December 26th Chamberlain wrote:

    '"I do not envy you the opportunity of speaking on the 31st. It is a
    dangerous time, and I am inclined myself to 'lie low.' Is it
    desirable to say anything? If it is right to speak at all, I think
    something like a full expose of motifs is necessary, and I put the
    following before you as the heads of a discourse.

    '"At present there are two different ideas, for settlement of
    Ireland, before the public imagination, viz.: (A) National Councils;
    (B) Separation.

    '"As to A, the fundamental principles are supremacy of Imperial
    Parliament and extension of local liberties on municipal lines. It
    is a feasible, practical plan. But it has the fatal objection that
    the Nationalists will not accept it. It is worse than useless to
    impose on them benefits which they repudiate. As to B, everyone
    professes to reject the idea of separation. If it were adopted, I
    have no doubt it would lead to the adoption of the conscription in
    Ireland; then to the conscription in England, and increase of the
    navy; fresh fortifications on the west coast, and finally a war in
    which Ireland would have the support of some other Power, perhaps
    America or France. Between these alternatives there is the hazy idea
    of Home Rule visible in Morley's speech and Gladstone's assumed
    intention. It is dangerous and mischievous to use vague language on
    such a subject. Those who speak ought to say exactly what they mean.
    It will be found that Home Rule includes an independent separate
    Irish Parliament, and that all guarantees and securities, whether
    for the protection of minorities or for the security of the Empire,
    are absolutely illusory.

    '"At the same time we are to continue to receive Irish
    representatives at Westminster in the Imperial Parliament, and we
    shall not even get rid of their obstruction and interference here by
    the concession of their independence in Ireland. To any arrangement
    of this kind, unworkable as I believe it to be, I prefer
    separation--to which, indeed, it is only a step.

    '"Is there any other possible arrangement which would secure the
    real integrity of the Empire for Imperial purposes, while allowing
    Irishmen to play the devil as they like in Ireland?

    '"Yes, there is. But it involves the entire recasting of the British
    Constitution and the full and complete adoption of the American
    system. According to this view you might have five Parliaments, for
    England, Scotland, Wales, Ulster, [Footnote: This is the first
    suggestion of a scheme under which part of Ireland would be
    separated from the rest.] and the three other provinces combined.
    Each Parliament to have its own Ministry, responsible to it and
    dependent on its vote. In addition an Imperial Parliament or
    Reichsrath with another Ministry dealing with foreign and colonial
    affairs, army, navy, post-office, and customs.

    '"To carry out this arrangement a Supreme Court or similar tribunal
    must be established, to decide on the respective attributes of the
    several local legislatures and the limits of their authority.

    '"The House of Lords must go, or you must establish a separate
    Second Chamber for each legislature.

    '"It is impossible to suppose that the authority of the Crown could
    survive these changes for long. One or other of the local
    legislatures would refuse to pay the expense, and, as it would have
    some kind of local militia at its back, it is not likely that the
    other legislatures would engage in civil war for the sake of
    reimposing the nominal authority of the Sovereign.

    '"As a Radical all these changes have no terrors for me, but is it
    conceivable that such a clean sweep of existing institutions could
    be made in order to justify the Irish demand for Home Rule? Yet this
    is the only form of federal government which offers any prospect of
    permanence or union for Imperial purposes.

    '"If English Liberals once see clearly that indefinite talk about
    Home Rule means either separation or the entire recasting of the
    whole system of English as well as Irish government, they will then
    be in a position to decide their policy. At present they are being
    led by the _Daily News_ and Morley and Co. to commit themselves in
    the dark."

    'Next day, December 27th, Chamberlain wrote:

    '"The situation (Irish) is now as follows:

    '"(1) The Government have been informed that Mr. Gladstone thinks
    this great question should not be prejudiced by party feeling, and
    that he will support them in any attempt they may make to give Home
    Rule to Ireland.

    '"(2) Mr. Gladstone has been informed that the Government will see
    him damned first.

    '"(3) The Irishmen have been informed that Mr. Gladstone will not
    move a step till the Government have spoken or until the Irish have
    put them in a minority.

    '"(4) In either of these events he will do his best to effect a
    thorough settlement. 'He will go forward or fall.'

    '"(5) I gather that he will not, as he ought, challenge Parnell to
    say publicly exactly what he wants, but that he will propose his own
    scheme, which is an Irish legislature with a veto reserved to the
    Crown--to be exercised on most questions on the advice of the Irish
    Ministry, but on questions of religion, commerce, and taxation, on
    the advice of the Imperial Ministry.

    '"(6) The Irish are suspicious, and have not made up their minds.
    Parnell says nothing, but the rank and file are inclined to give Mr.
    Gladstone his chance and turn him out again if they are not
    satisfied with his proposals.

    '"The Tories hope to get out Mr. Gladstone's intentions in debate on
    Address, and threaten another immediate dissolution if they are
    placed in a minority; I think, however, their true policy is and
    will be to let Mr. Gladstone come in and make his proposals. This
    will divide the Liberal party, and in all probability alarm and
    disgust the country.

    '"Was there ever such a situation? Test Mr. Gladstone's scheme in
    practice. The Irish Ministry insist on necessity of restoring Irish
    manufactures by protection. The Imperial Parliament veto their
    proposals. Thereupon the Irish representatives join the Tories and
    turn out the Government on a foreign and colonial debate, the same
    Government being in a great majority on all English and Scotch
    questions. How long can such a state of things last? Mr. Gladstone
    will have the support of a portion of the Liberal party--Morley, for
    instance, Storey, the Crofters' representatives, and probably some
    of the Labour representatives. How many more will he get? Will he
    have the majority of the Radicals? Will he have the majority of the
    Liberals, following the party leader like sheep? It is curious to
    see the _Scotsman_ and the _Leeds Mercury_ leading in this
    direction. What are we to do? Certainly I will not join a Government
    pledged to such a mad and dangerous proposal. But this may mean
    isolation for a long time.

    '"The prospect is not an inviting one.

    '"I have told Harcourt the facts as in the numbered paragraphs. Do
    not say a word to anyone else. Harcourt is perplexed and hesitating.
    I think he is impressed with the danger of Fenian outrages,
    dynamite, and assassination.

    '"For myself, I would sooner the Tories were in for the next ten
    years than agree to what I think the ruin of the country."

    'On New Year's Eve, the 31st, we went to Rugby, where I had to make
    the speech alluded to in Chamberlain's letter. I had received an
    invitation, dated December 29th, to a meeting at Devonshire House.
    Hartington wrote:

    '"My Dear Dilke,

    '"You know, no doubt, that Harcourt has had a good deal of
    communication with Chamberlain lately. I hear that Chamberlain will
    be in town on Friday (New Year's Day), and it is proposed that he,
    Harcourt, you, and I, should meet here on Friday at four to talk
    over matters, especially Irish. I have asked Granville to come up if
    he likes. I do not think there would be any advantage in having any
    others, unless Rosebery?

    '"Yours sincerely,

    '"Hartington."

    'I sent this letter to Chamberlain with an inquiry as to what he
    knew about the meeting, and he replied on New Year's Eve:

    '"The meeting to-morrow was arranged by telegraph.... I suspect Mr.
    Gladstone is inclined to hedge. He refuses to satisfy the Irish by
    any definite statements. I hope they may continue suspicious and
    keep the Tories in for some time."'

    'Yet it was Chamberlain who was to turn out the Tories. On New
    Year's Eve, at Rugby, referring to the Irish Question, I praised the
    speech made by Trevelyan on the previous night as being "a
    declaration in favour of that scheme of National Councils which he
    supports for Ireland at least, and which was recommended in an able
    article in the _Fortnightly Review_ for Scotland, Ireland, and
    Wales." I said: "I am one of those who have never limited my views
    upon the subject to Ireland. Mr. Trevelyan last night spoke as
    though it were only in Ireland that it was necessary to institute
    some local body to deal with purely local questions--with those
    questions which now come before nominated boards or branches of the
    Executive Government." I went on to speak in the sense of Mr.
    Gladstone's letter, in favour of the Conservatives being encouraged
    to propose such Irish remedial legislation.

    'On New Year's Day, 1886, an important meeting took place at
    Devonshire House between Hartington, Harcourt, Chamberlain, and
    myself. I did not see my way clearly, and did not say much; the
    other three arguing strongly against Mr. Gladstone's conduct in
    having sent Herbert Gladstone to a news agency to let out his views
    for the benefit of the provincial Press, in such a way as to put
    pressure on his colleagues. It seemed to me that the pressure,
    though no doubt unfair and indefensible, had nevertheless been
    pretty successful, as neither Harcourt nor Chamberlain saw their way
    to opposing Mr. Gladstone, although both of them disliked his
    scheme. Hartington only said that he "thought he could not join a
    Government to promote any such scheme." But, then, he would not, I
    pointed out, be asked to do so. He would be asked to join a
    Government to consider something. The practical conclusion come to
    was to write to Mr. Gladstone to urge him to come to London to
    consult his colleagues. On January 4th I heard from Hartington that
    Mr. Gladstone informed him that he had nothing to add to his
    previous letter dated December 17th. Hartington wrote:

    '"I have heard from Mr. Gladstone. He declines to hasten his arrival
    in London, but will be available on the 11th after 4 p.m. for any
    who may wish to see him. He will be at my sister-in-law's (Lady F.
    Cavendish), 21, Carlton House Terrace.... He has done nothing and
    will do nothing to convert his opinions into intentions, for he has
    not the material before him. There is besides the question of
    Parliamentary procedure (this refers to action on the Address). For
    considering this, he thinks the time available in London will be
    ample."

    'In forwarding the correspondence to Chamberlain with a copy of the
    letter of December 17th, 1885, as I was requested by Hartington to
    do, I added that Mr. Gladstone could hardly be said not to have done
    anything which had enabled the Nationalists to establish rival
    biddings between the two sides (to use his phrase), because we knew
    that he had asked Arthur Balfour to go to Lord Salisbury with a
    message from him promising his support if the Government would bring
    in a Home Rule scheme. This he had let out to the Irish.

    'After this we were in consultation as to whether we ought to see
    Mr. Gladstone separately; and Hartington wrote to me on January
    10th, 1886, from Hardwick, that he did not see how we could decline
    to see Mr. Gladstone separately, but that we might be as reticent as
    we pleased, and could all combine in urging further collective
    consultations; and it was arranged that Hartington himself should
    see Mr. Gladstone on January 12th--the day of the election of the
    Speaker. Mr. Gladstone then informed us all that he would see such
    of us as chose on the afternoon of January 11th, and Chamberlain
    then wrote:

    '"As far as I know, only Harcourt is going on Monday, and I on
    Tuesday morning. If for _any_ reason you think it well to go, there
    is really not the least objection."

    'I went on the 11th, but nothing of the least importance passed, and
    the same was the case with Chamberlain's interview on the 12th.
    Harcourt was present on the 11th, and evidently in full support of
    Gladstone.

    'On the 15th Labouchere gave a dinner to Chamberlain and Randolph
    Churchill, but I do not think that anything very serious was
    discussed. There was a sharp breach at this moment between
    Chamberlain and Morley, Chamberlain telling Morley that his speeches
    were "foolish and mischievous," and that he was talking "literary
    nonsense--the worst of all."

    'On January 21st we had a meeting of all the ex-Cabinet at Lord
    Granville's. Chamberlain breakfasted with me before the meeting, and
    he drew and I corrected the amendment which was afterwards accepted
    at the meeting as that which should be supported by the party on the
    Queen's Speech, and which was that moved by Jesse Collings by which
    the Government were turned out on the 26th. The adoption of our
    amendment was very sudden. The leaders had met apparently without
    any policy, and the moment Chamberlain read our "three acres and a
    cow" amendment, they at once adopted it without discussion as a way
    out of all their difficulties and differences. [Footnote: This
    amendment was carried by seventy-nine votes, and the Government thus
    overthrown.] The Government resigned on the 28th, and on the 29th I
    had an interview with Chamberlain as to what he should do about
    taking office.

    'On January 30th Mr. Gladstone offered Chamberlain the Admiralty,
    after Hartington had refused to join the Government. Chamberlain
    came and saw me, and was to go back to Mr. Gladstone at six. He
    thought he had no alternative but to accept a place in the
    Government, although he did not like the Admiralty. Mr. Gladstone
    showed him a form of words as to Irish Home Rule. It was equivalent
    to a passage in Sexton's [Footnote: Home Rule M.P. for S. Sligo,
    1885-1886; Belfast W., 1886-1892.] speech on the 22nd, at which Mr.
    Gladstone had been seen to nod in a manner which implied that he had
    suggested the words. The proposal was, as we knew it would be, for
    inquiry. Chamberlain did not object to the inquiry, but objected to
    the Home Rule. Chamberlain, before returning to Mr. Gladstone, wrote
    him a very stiff letter against Home Rule, which somewhat angered
    him. On Sunday, January 31st, Chamberlain wrote that for personal
    reasons he had sooner not accept the Admiralty. Mr. Gladstone saw
    Chamberlain again later in the day, on the Sunday, and asked what it
    was then that he wanted; to which Chamberlain replied, "The
    Colonies," and Mr. Gladstone answered, "Oh! A Secretary of State."
    Chamberlain was naturally angry at this slight, and being offered by
    Mr. Gladstone the Board of Trade, then refused to return to it.
    After leaving Mr. Gladstone he went to Harcourt, and told Harcourt
    that he would take the Local Government Board, "but not very
    willingly." On Monday, February 1st, I asked Chamberlain to
    reconsider his decision about the Admiralty, and found that he would
    have been willing to have done so, but that it was now too late. On
    the 2nd Mr. Gladstone wrote me a very nice letter quoted above,
    [Footnote: Chapter XLII., p.172.] about the circumstances relating
    to the trial then coming on which made it impossible for him to
    include me in the Ministry. Morley wrote: "Half my satisfaction and
    confidence are extinguished by your absence. It may and will make
    all the difference."'

Mr. Morley's apprehension was justified by events.

In 1880 the position of the Radical leaders, while only private members,
had been of such strength that Sir Charles had been able to secure, from
a reluctant Prime Minister, the terms agreed on between Mr. Chamberlain
and himself. He had obtained for both positions in the Government, and
procured Cabinet rank for Chamberlain. Now that the power of one of the
allies was demolished, and Mr. Chamberlain stood alone, Mr. Gladstone's
view of the changed situation was apparent. The 'slight' to Chamberlain
was followed by that course of action which resulted in his breach with
the Liberal party. Together the two men could, from a far stronger point
of vantage than in 1880, have made their terms; with Mr. Chamberlain
isolated Mr. Gladstone could impose his own. The alteration in the
course of English political history which the next few months were to
effect was made finally certain by Sir Charles Dilke's fall.

Lord Rosebery wrote on February 3rd to say that he had been appointed
Foreign Secretary, an office which in happier circumstances would, he
said to Sir Charles, 'have been yours by universal consent.' The letter
went on to state in very sympathetic words how 'constantly present to
his mind' was his own inferiority in knowledge and ability to the man
who had been set aside.

    'I had written to Rosebery at the same moment, and our letters had
    crossed. I replied to his:

    '"My Dear Rosebery,

    '"Our letters crossed, but mine was a wretched scrawl by the side of
    yours. I do not know how, with those terrible telegrams beginning to
    fly round you, you find time to write such letters. I could never
    have taken the Foreign Office without the heaviest misgiving, and I
    hope that whenever the Liberals are in, up to the close of my life,
    you may hold it. My 'knowledge' of foreign affairs _is_, I admit to
    you, great, and I can answer questions in the Commons, and I can
    negotiate with foreigners. But these are _not_ the most important
    points. As to the excess of 'ability' with which you kindly and
    modestly credit me, I do not admit it for a moment. I should say
    that you are far more competent to advise and carry through a
    policy--far more competent to send the right replies to those
    telegrams which are the Foreign Office curse. As to questions, these
    are a mere second curse, but form a serious reason why the Secretary
    of State should be in the Lords.

    '"I have always said that, if kept for no other reason, the Lords
    should remain as a place for the Secretary of State for the Foreign
    Department, and _I_ think also for the Prime Minister. Between
    ourselves, you will not have quite a fair chance in being Secretary
    of State for the Foreign Department under Mr. Gladstone, because Mr.
    Gladstone _will_ trust to his skill in the House of Commons, and
    _will_ speak and reply when the prudent Under-Secretary would ask
    for long notice or be silent. Lord Granville was always complaining,
    and Mr. Gladstone always promising never to do it again, and always
    doing it every day. [Footnote: See supra, p. 51 and note.] I am
    going to put down a notice to-day to strengthen your hands against
    France in _re_ Diego Suarez."

    'From Bryce I heard that he had been appointed Under-Secretary of
    State for the Foreign Department, and asking me whom he should take
    as his private secretary; and I told him Austin Lee, and he took him
    at once.'

    'To the Prince of Wales I wrote to say that I should not attend the
    Levee, and had from him a reply marked by that great personal
    courtesy which he always shows.'

Thus came into being Mr. Gladstone's third Administration. In 1885 the
continuance of Mr. Gladstone's leadership had seemed necessary in order
to bridge the gap between Lord Hartington and the Radicals. Now in 1886
Lord Hartington was out, to mark his opposition, not to Chamberlain, but
to Gladstone; and Chamberlain was in, though heavily handicapped. Yet
none of these contradictions which had defied anticipation was so
unforeseen as the exclusion of Sir Charles Dilke.



APPENDIX


See p. 196. Letter of Mr. Gladstone to Lord Hartington, December 17th,
1885:

    'The whole stream of public excitement is now turned upon me, and I
    am pestered with incessant telegrams which I have no defence against
    but either suicide or Parnell's method of self-concealment. The
    truth is I have more or less of opinions and ideas, but no
    intentions or negotiations. In these ideas and opinions there is, I
    think, little that I have not more or less conveyed in public
    declarations: in principle, nothing. I will try to lay them before
    you. I consider that Ireland has now spoken, and that an effort
    ought to be made by the _Government_ without delay to meet her
    demand for the management, by an Irish legislative body, of Irish as
    distinct from Imperial affairs. Only a Government can do it, and a
    Tory Government can do it more easily and safely than any other.

    'There is first a postulate--that the state of Ireland shall be such
    as to warrant it.

    'The conditions of an admissible plan, I think, are--

    '(1) Union of the Empire and due supremacy of Parliament.

    '(2) Protection for the minority. A difficult matter on which I have
    talked much with Spencer, certain points, however, remaining to be
    considered.

    '(3) Fair allocation of Imperial charges.

    '(4) A statutory basis seems to me to be better and safer than the
    revival of Grattan's Parliament, but I wish to hear more upon this,
    as the minds of men are still in so crude a state on the whole
    subject.

    '(5) Neither as opinions nor as intentions have I to anyone alive
    promulgated these ideas as decided on by me.

    '(6) As to intentions, I am determined to have none at present--to
    leave space to the Government--I should wish to encourage them if I
    properly could--above all, on no account to say or do anything which
    would enable the Nationalists to establish rival biddings between
    us.

    'If this storm of rumours continues to rage, it may be necessary for
    me to write some new letter to my constituents, but I am desirous to
    do nothing, simply leaving the field open for the Government, until
    time makes it necessary to decide. Of our late colleagues, I have
    had most communication with Granville, Spencer, and Rosebery. Would
    you kindly send this on to Granville? I think you will find it in
    conformity with my public declarations, though some blanks are
    filled up. I have in truth thought it my duty, without in the least
    committing myself or anyone else, to think through the subject as
    well as I could, being equally convinced of its urgency and its
    bigness.'

The remainder of this letter is not quoted in the Memoir.




CHAPTER XLVI

THE FIRST HOME RULE BILL

FEBRUARY TO JULY, 1886


The acute political crisis now maturing within the Liberal party had a
special menace for Sir Charles Dilke. It threatened to affect a personal
tie cemented by his friend's stanchness through these months of trouble.

On January 31st, 1886, he wrote:

    'My Dear Chamberlain,

    'I feel that our friendship is going to be subjected to the heaviest
    strain it has ever borne, and I wish to minimize any risks to it, in
    which, however, I don't believe. I am determined that it shall not
    dwindle into a form or pretence of friendship of which the substance
    has departed. It will be a great change if I do not feel that I can
    go to your house or to your room as freely as ever. At the same time
    confidence from one in the inner circle of the Cabinet to one wholly
    outside the Government is not easy, and reserve makes all
    conversation untrue. I think the awkwardness will be less if I
    abstain from taking part in home affairs (unless, indeed, in
    supporting my Local Government Bill, should that come up). In
    Foreign Affairs we shall not be brought into conflict, and to
    Foreign and Colonial affairs I propose to return.

    'I intend to sit behind (in Forster's seat), not below the gangway,
    as long as you are in the Government.

    'There is one great favour which I think you will be able to do me
    without any trouble to yourself, and that is to let my wife come to
    your room to see me _between_ her lunch and the meeting of the
    House. The greatest nuisance about being out is that I shall have to
    go down in the mornings to get my place, and to sit in the library
    all day....

    'Yours ever,

    'Chs. W. D'

When the first trial of the divorce case was over (almost before Mr.
Gladstone's Government had fairly assumed office), in the period during
which Sir Charles designedly absented himself from the House of Commons,

    'Chamberlain asked me to act on the Committee to revise my Local
    Government Bill, and to put it into a form for introduction to the
    House; and I attended at the Local Government Board throughout the
    spring at meetings at which Chamberlain, if present, presided.... It
    is a curious fact that I often presided over this Cabinet Committee,
    though not a member of the Government.'

    During the month of February, while the Press campaign against him
    was ripening, Sir Charles had little freedom of mind for politics.
    Yet this was the moment when Mr. Chamberlain's action, decisive for
    the immediate fate of a great question, had to be determined. Sir
    Charles had been a conducting medium between Mr. Gladstone and Mr.
    Chamberlain. He was so no longer. "I wonder," wrote Chamberlain,
    years after, on reading Dilke's Memoir, "what passed in that most
    intricate and Jesuitical mind in the months between June and
    December, 1885." Perhaps the breach that came was unavoidable. But
    at all events the one man who might have prevented it was at the
    critical moment hopelessly involved in the endeavour to combat the
    scandal that assailed him. [Footnote: There is a letter of this date
    to Mr. John Morley:

    '76, Sloane Street, S.W.,

    '_February 2nd_.

    'My Dear Morley,

    'As I must not yet congratulate you on becoming at a bound Privy
    Councillor and member of the Cabinet, let me in the meantime
    congratulate you on your election as a V.P. of the Chelsea Liberal
    Association. But seriously, there can be no doubt that you now have
    sealed the great position which you had already won. My _one_ hope
    is that you will work;--my hope, not for your own sake, but for the
    sake of Radical principles--as completely with Chamberlain as I did.
    It is the only way to stand against the overwhelming numbers of the
    Whig peers. I fear Mr. Gladstone will find his new lot of Whig peers
    just as troublesome as the old.

    'As long as I am out and _my friends_ are in, I shall sit, not in my
    old place below the gangway, but behind, and do anything and
    everything that I can do to help.

    'Yours ever,

    'Chs. W. D.

    'I _hope_ it is true that Stansfeld is back?'

It was not till March 3rd, 1886, that

    'I resumed my attendance at the House of Commons, and Joseph Cowen,
    the member for Newcastle, did what he could to make it pleasant. I
    wrote to him, and he replied: "It is a man's duty to stick to his
    friends when they are 'run at' as you have been."'

    'On March 4th a meeting of the Local Government Committee at
    Chamberlain's was put off by the absence of Thring, who had been
    sent for by Mr. Gladstone with instructions to draw a Home Rule
    Bill. I went to Chamberlain's house, he being too cross to come to
    the House of Commons, and held with him an important conversation as
    to his future. I tried to point out to him that if he went out, as
    he was thinking of doing, he would wreck the party, who would put up
    with the Whigs going out against Mr. Gladstone on Home Rule, but who
    would be rent in twain by a Radical secession. He would do this, I
    told him, without much popular sympathy, and it was a terrible
    position to face. He told me that he had said so much in the autumn
    that he felt he _must_ do it. I said, "Certainly. But do not go out
    and fight. Go out and lie low. If honesty forces you out, well and
    good, but it does not force you to fight." He seemed to agree, at
    all events at the moment.

    'On March 13th there was a Cabinet, an account of which I had from
    Chamberlain, who was consulting me daily as to his position. Mr.
    Gladstone expounded his land proposals, which ran to 120 millions of
    loan, and on which Chamberlain wrote: "As a result of yesterday's
    Council, I think Trevelyan and I will be out on Tuesday. If you are
    at the House, come to my room after questions." I went to
    Chamberlain's room and met Bright with him. But real consultation in
    presence of Bright was impossible, because Bright was merely
    disagreeable. On Monday, the 15th, Chamberlain and Trevelyan wrote
    their letters of resignation, and late at night Chamberlain showed
    me the reply to his. On the same day James told me that the old and
    close friendship between Harcourt and himself was at an end, they
    having taken opposite sides with some warmth. On the 16th
    Chamberlain wrote to Mr. Gladstone that he thought he had better
    leave him, as he could only attend his Cabinets in order to gather
    arguments against his schemes; and Mr. Gladstone replied that he had
    better come all the same.

    'On the 22nd I had an interesting talk with Sexton about the events
    of the period between April and June, 1885. Sexton said that he had
    agreed to the Chamberlain plan in conversation with Manning, but it
    was as a Local Government plan, not to prevent, so far as he was
    concerned, the subsequent adoption of a Parliament. It was on this
    day that Chamberlain's resignation became final. On March 26th I,
    having to attend a meeting on the Irish question under the auspices
    of the Chelsea Liberal Association, showed Chamberlain a draft of
    the resolution which I proposed for it. I had written: "That while
    this meeting is firmly resolved on the maintenance of the Union
    between Great Britain and Ireland, it is of opinion that the wishes
    of the Irish people in favour of self-government, as expressed at
    the last election, should receive satisfaction." Chamberlain wrote
    back that the two things were inconsistent, and that the Irish
    wishes as expressed by Parnell were for separation. But his only
    suggestion was that I should insert "favourable consideration" in
    place of "satisfaction," which did not seem much change. This,
    however, was the form in which the resolution was carried by an open
    Liberal public meeting, and it is an interesting example of the
    fluidity of opinion in the Liberal party generally at the moment. A
    rider to the effect that the meeting had complete confidence in Mr.
    Gladstone was moved, but from want of adequate support was not put
    to the meeting. I violently attacked the land purchase scheme in my
    speech, suspended my judgment upon the Home Rule scheme until I saw
    it, but declared that it was "one which, generally speaking, so far
    as I know it, I fancy I should be able to support." On this same day
    Cyril Flower told me that on the previous day the Irish members had
    informed Mr. Gladstone that it was their wish that he should
    entirely abandon that land purchase scheme which he had adopted for
    the sake of conciliating Lord Spencer. On March 27th Chamberlain
    wrote: "My resignation has been accepted by the Queen, and is now
    therefore public property. We have a devil of a time before us."

    'On April 5th there was a misunderstanding between Hartington and
    Chamberlain which almost shivered to pieces the newborn Liberal
    Unionist party. Hartington had taken to having meetings of James and
    some of the other more Whiggish men who were acting with him, which
    meetings Chamberlain would not attend, and at these meetings
    resolutions were arrived at to which Chamberlain paid no attention.
    Chamberlain consulted me as to the personal question between
    Hartington and himself, and placed in my hands the letters which
    passed.'

Mr. Gladstone was to introduce his Home Rule Bill on April 8th, and on
the 5th Lord Hartington wrote to Chamberlain announcing that he had
'very unwillingly' decided to follow Mr. Gladstone immediately, 'not, of
course, for the purpose of answering his speech, but to state in general
terms why that part of the party which generally approves of my course
in declining to join the Government is unable to accept the measure
which Mr. Gladstone will describe to us.'

Chamberlain replied on April 6th to Lord Hartington that his letter had
surprised him. Having tendered his resignation on March 15th, he had
kept silence as to his motives and intentions. He said he thought that
it was understood that retiring Ministers were expected to take the
first opportunity of explaining their resignations, and Trevelyan and he
were alone in a position to say how far Mr. Gladstone might have
modified his proposals since their resignations, and thus to initiate
the subsequent debate. He objected to what he understood to be Lord
Hartington's proposed course--namely, formally to oppose Mr. Gladstone's
scheme immediately on its announcement; and this he thought not only a
tactical error, but also discourteous to Trevelyan and himself.

    'Chamberlain went on, however, virtually to accept Hartington's
    suggestion, and the real reason was that he had not received the
    Queen's permission to speak upon the land purchase scheme, and that
    he did not want to make his real statement until he was in a
    position to do this. Chamberlain, in sending me this correspondence,
    said that Hartington's proposal was "dictated by Goschen's uneasy
    jealousy."'

Sir Charles at this moment believed it possible that Mr. Chamberlain
might carry his point against Mr. Gladstone as to the continued
representation of Ireland at Westminster, and, although he disliked this
proposal, desired its success because it would retain Mr. Chamberlain in
the party. This is the moment at which Dilke's influence, had he
retained his old position, would probably have proved decisive. What Mr.
Gladstone would not yield to Chamberlain alone he would probably have
yielded to the two Radicals combined; and Mr. Chamberlain, deprived of
the argument to which he gave special prominence, could scarcely have
resisted his friend's wish that he should support the second reading.
Sir Charles wrote, April 7th, 1886:

    'I don't like the idea of the Irish throwing all their ferocity
    against you, and treating you as they treated Forster. Unless you
    are given a very large share in the direction of the business, I
    think you must let it be known that you are not satisfied with the
    Whig line. I hate the prospect of your being driven into coercion as
    a follower of a Goschen-Hartington-James-Brand-Albert Grey clique,
    and yet treated by the Irish as the Forster of the clique. I believe
    from what I see of my caucus, and from the two large _public_
    meetings we have held for discussion, that the great mass of the
    party will go for Repeal, though fiercely against the land. Enough
    will go the other way to risk all the seats, but the party will go
    for Repeal, and sooner or later now Repeal will come, whether or not
    we have a dreary period of coercion first. I should decidedly let it
    be known that you won't stand airs from Goschen.

    'Yours ever,

    'Chs. W. D.'

    'Another meeting on the Irish Question in Chelsea led to no clearer
    expression of opinion than had the previous one, for it was
    concluded by Mr. Westlake, Q.C., M.P., who afterwards voted against
    the Home Rule Bill, moving that the meeting suspend its judgment,
    and Mr. Firth, who was a Gladstonian candidate and afterwards a Home
    Rule member, seconding this resolution, which was carried
    unanimously.'

    'On April 20th Labouchere wrote to me as to an attempt which he was
    making to heal the breach between Mr. Gladstone and Chamberlain.

    'Chamberlain wrote on April 22nd from Highbury: "I got through my
    meeting last night splendidly. Schnadhorst has been doing everything
    to thwart me, but the whole conspiracy broke down completely in face
    of the meeting, which was most cordially enthusiastic. The feeling
    against the Land Bill was overwhelming. As regards Home Rule, there
    is no love for the Bill, but only a willingness to accept the
    principle as a necessity, and to hope for a recasting of the
    provisions. There is great sympathy with the old man personally, and
    at the same time a soreness that he did not consult his colleagues
    and party. Hartington's name was hissed. They cannot forgive him for
    going to the Opera House with Salisbury. I continue to receive many
    letters of sympathy from Radicals and Liberals, and invitations to
    address meetings, but I shall lie low now for some time. The
    Caucuses in the country are generally with the Government, but there
    will be a great number of abstentions at an election.... Parnell is
    apparently telling a good many lies just now. He told W. Kenrick the
    other day, not knowing his relationship at first, that I had made
    overtures to him for Home Rule, which showed my opposition to Mr. G.
    to be purely personal. I have sent him word that he has my leave to
    publish anything ever written or said by me on the Irish Question,
    either to him or to anyone else.... I have a list of 109 men who at
    one time or another have promised to vote against the second
    reading, but they are not all stanch, and I do not think any
    calculation is to be relied on."

    'On April 24th Labouchere wrote that Chamberlain and Morley could
    not be got together, Chamberlain sticking to his phrases, and Morley
    writing that Chamberlain's speech is an attempt to coerce the
    Government, and they won't stand coercion.

    'On April 30th Chamberlain wrote to me from Birmingham to get me to
    vote with him against the second reading. "The Bill is doomed. I
    have a list of 111 Liberals pledged against the second reading. Of
    these I know that fifty-nine have publicly announced their
    intentions to their constituents. I believe that almost all the rest
    are certain; but making every allowance for desertions, the Home
    Rule Bill cannot pass without the changes I have asked for. If these
    were made, I reckon that at least fifty of the malcontents would
    vote for the second reading. Besides my 111 there are many more who
    intend to vote for amendments in Committee. The Land Bill has hardly
    any friends;" and then he strongly pressed me to go down to Highbury
    upon the subject.'

To this Sir Charles replied:

    'Pyrford,

    '_May Day_, 1886.

    'My Dear Chamberlain,

    'Lots of people have written to me, confident statements having been
    made that I was against the Bills, which I see Heneage repeats in
    the _Times_ to-day. I have replied that I was strongly against the
    Bill for land purchase, but that as regards the chief Bill I had
    said nothing, and was free to vote as I thought right when the time
    came. I have called my caucus for Friday. We don't have reporters,
    but I think I ought to tell them what I mean to do, and why.

    'As to our being separated, I am most anxious, as you know, that you
    should not vote against the second reading. I know the Bill is
    doomed, but I fancy the Government know that, too, and that some
    change will be made or promised, and it is a question of how much.
    My difficulty in being one to _ask_ for those changes you want is
    that I am against the chief change, as you know. If it is made--as
    seems likely--I shall keep quiet and not say I am against it, but go
    with you and the rest. But--what if it is not made? You see, I have
    said over and over again that, if forced to have a big scheme, I had
    sooner get rid of the Irish members, and that, if forced to choose
    between Repeal and Federation, I prefer Repeal to any scheme of
    Federation I have ever heard of. Now, all this I can swallow
    quietly--yielding my own judgment--if I go with the party; but I
    can't well fight against the party for a policy which is opposed to
    my view of the national interest. If it is of any use that I should
    remain free up to the last instant, I can manage this. I can explain
    my views in detail to the caucus, and not say which way I intend to
    vote; but I do not well see how, when it comes to the vote, I can
    fail to vote for the second reading.

    'The reason, as you know, why I am so anxious for YOU (which matters
    more than I matter at present or shall for a long time) to find
    yourself able if possible to take the offers made you, and vote for
    the second reading, is that the dissolution will wreck the party,
    but yet leave _a_ party--democratic, because all the moderates will
    go over to the Tories: poor, because all the subscribers will go
    over to the Tories; more Radical than the party has ever been; and
    yet, as things now stand, with you outside of it.'

Chamberlain wrote on May 3rd from Highbury:

    'My Dear Dilke,

    'Your letter has greatly troubled me. My pleasure in politics has
    gone, and I hold very loosely to public life just now.

    'The friends with whom I have worked so long are many of them
    separated from me. The party is going blindly to its ruin, and
    everywhere there seems a want of courage and decision and principle
    which almost causes one to despair. I have hesitated to write to you
    again, but perhaps it is better that I should say what is in my
    mind. During all our years of intimacy I have never had a suspicion,
    until the last few weeks, that we differed on the Irish Question.
    You voted for Butt, and I assumed that, like myself, you were in
    favour of the principle of federation, although probably, like
    myself also, you did not think the time had come to give practical
    effect to it. The retention of the Irish representatives is clearly
    the touchstone. If they go, separation must follow. If they remain,
    federation is possible whenever local assemblies are established in
    England and Scotland. Without the positive and absolute promise of
    the Government that the Irish representation will be maintained, I
    shall vote against the second reading. You must do what your
    conscience tells you to be right, and, having decided, I should
    declare the situation publicly at once.

    'It will do you harm on the whole, but that cannot be helped, if you
    have made up your mind that it is right. But you must be prepared
    for unkind things said by those who know how closely we have been
    united hitherto. The present crisis is, of course, life and death to
    me. I shall win if I can, and if I cannot I will cultivate my
    garden. I do not care for the leadership of a party which should
    prove itself so fickle and so careless of national interests as to
    sacrifice the unity of the Empire to the precipitate impatience of
    an old man--careless of the future in which he can have no part--and
    to an uninstructed instinct which will not take the trouble to
    exercise judgment and criticism.

    'I hope you have got well through your meeting to-night. I send this
    by early post to-morrow before I can see the papers.

    'Yours very truly,

    'J. Chamberlain.'

    'The meeting to which Chamberlain in his letter referred was that at
    Preece's Riding School, in which I announced that I had succeeded in
    inducing the Queen's Proctor to intervene.... The meeting was a very
    fine one, and the next day Chamberlain wrote to congratulate me on
    it and on my speech, and added: "Labouchere writes me that the
    Government are at last alive to the fact that they cannot carry the
    second reading without me, and that Mr. G. is going to give way. I
    hope it is true, but I shall not believe it till he has made a
    public declaration."'

Sir Charles replied:

    '76, Sloane Street, S.W.,

    '_Wednesday, May 5th_, 1886.

    'My Dear Chamberlain,

    '... It is a curious fact that we should without a difference have
    gone through the trials of the years in which we were rivals, and
    that the differences and the break should have come now that I
    have--at least in my own belief, and that of most people--ceased for
    ever to count at all in politics.... The fall was, as you know, in
    my opinion final and irretrievable on the day on which the charge
    was made in July last--as would be that, in these days, of any man
    against whom such a false charge was made by conspiracy and careful
    preparation. I think, as I have always thought, that the day will
    come when all will know, but it will come too late for political
    life to be resumed with power or real use....

    'You say you never had a suspicion that we differed on the Irish
    Question. As to land purchase--yes: we used to differ about it; and
    we do not differ about the present Bill. As to the larger question--
    when Morley and I talked it over with you in the autumn, I said
    that, if I had to take a large scheme, I inclined rather to Repeal,
    or getting rid of the Irish members, than to Home Rule. I don't
    think, however, that I or you had either of us very clear or
    definite views, and I am sure that Morley hadn't. You inclined to
    stick to National Councils only, and I never heard you speak of
    Federation until just before you spoke on the Bill in Parliament. I
    spoke in public against Federation in the autumn in reply to
    Rosebery.

    'I do not pretend to have clear and definite views now, any more
    than I had then. I am so anxious, for you personally, and for the
    Radical cause, that anything shall be done by the Government that
    will allow you to vote for the second reading, and so succeed to the
    head of the party purged of the Whig element; so anxious, that,
    while I don't really see my way about Federation, and on the whole
    am opposed to it, I will pretend to see my way, and try and find
    hope about it; so anxious, that, though I still incline to think (in
    great doubt) that it would be better to get rid of the Irish
    members, I said in my last, I think, I would be silent as to this,
    and joyfully see the Government wholly alter their scheme in your
    sense. I still hope for the Government giving the promise that you
    ask. Labouchere has kept me informed of all that has passed, and I
    have strongly urged your view on Henry Fowler, who agrees with you,
    and on the few who have spoken to me. I care (in great doubt as to
    the future of Ireland and as to that of the Empire) more about the
    future of Radicalism, and about your return to the party and escape
    from the Whigs, than about anything else as to which I am clear and
    free from doubt. I don't think that my circumstances make any
    declaration or any act of mine necessary, and on Friday at the
    private meeting I need not declare myself, and can perhaps best help
    bring about the promise which you want by not doing so. Why don't
    you deal with the Chancellor (Lord Herschell), instead of with
    Labouchere, O'Shea, and so forth?

    'I care so much (not about what you name, and it is a pity you
    should do so, for one word of yourself is worth more with me than
    the opinion of the whole world)--not about what people will say, but
    about what you think, that I am driven distracted by your tone. I
    beg you to think that I do not consider myself in this at all,
    except that I should wish to so act as to act rightly. Personal
    policy I should not consider for myself. My seat here will go,
    either way, for certain, as it is a Tory seat now, and will become a
    more and more Tory seat with each fresh registration. If I should
    make any attempt to remain at all in political life, I do not think
    that my finding another seat would depend on the course I take in
    this present Irish matter. This thing will be forgotten in the
    common resistance of the Radicals to Tory coercion. I think, then,
    that by the nature of things I am not influenced by selfish
    considerations. As to inclination, I feel as strongly as any man can
    as to the _way_ in which Mr. Gladstone has done this thing, and all
    my inclination is therefore to follow you, where affection also
    leads. But if this is to be--what it will be--a fight, not as to the
    way and the man, and the past, but as to the future, the second
    reading will be a choice between acceptance of a vast change which
    has in one form or the other become inevitable, and on the other
    side Hartington-Goschen opposition, with coercion behind it. I am
    only a camp follower now, but my place is not in the camp of the
    Goschens, Hartingtons, Brands, Heneages, Greys. I owe something,
    too, to my constituents. There can be no doubt as to the feeling of
    the rank and file, from whom I have received such hearty support and
    following. If I voted against the second reading, unable as I should
    be honestly to defend my vote as you could and would honestly defend
    yours, by saying that all turned on the promise as to the retention
    of the Irish members, I should be voting without a ground or a
    defence, except that of personal affection for you, which is one
    which it is wholly impossible to put forward. If I voted against the
    second reading, I should vote like a peer, with total disregard to
    the opinion of those who sent me to Parliament. Their overwhelming
    feeling--and they never cared for Mr. Gladstone, and do not care for
    him--is, hatred of the Land Bill, but determination to have done
    with coercion. They look on the second reading as a declaration for
    or against large change. They believe that the Irish members will be
    kept, though they differ as to whether they want it. Both you and I
    regard large change as inevitable, and it is certain that as to the
    form of it you must win. The exclusion of the Irish has no powerful
    friends, save Morley, and he knows he is beaten and must give way. I
    still in my heart think the case for the exclusion better than the
    case against it, but all the talk is the other way. The _Pall Mall_
    is helping you very powerfully, for it _is_ a tremendous power, and
    even Mr. G., I fancy, is really with you about it, and not with
    Morley. It seems to me that they must accept your own terms.

    'The meeting was a most wonderful success.

    'Yours ever,

    'Chs. W. D.

    'Since I nearly finished this, your other has come, and I have now
    read it. I have only to repeat that I should not negotiate through
    Labouchere, but through a member of the Cabinet of high character
    who agrees in your view. L. is very able and very pleasant, but
    still a little too fond of fun, which often, in delicate matters,
    means mischief.

    'I have kept no copy of this letter. When one has a "difference with
    a friend," I believe "prudence dictates" that one should keep a
    record of what one writes. I have not done so. I can't really
    believe that you would, however worried and badgered and
    misrepresented, grow hard or unkind under torture, any more than I
    have; but you are stronger than I am, and perhaps my weakness helps
    me in this way. I don't believe in the difference, and I have merely
    scribbled all I think in the old way.'

Chamberlain wrote:

    '_May 6th_, 1886.

    'My Dear Dilke,

    'The strain of the political situation is very great and the best
    and strongest of us may well find it difficult to keep an even mind.

    'I thank you for writing so fully and freely. It is evident that,
    without meaning it, I must have said more than I supposed, and
    perhaps in the worry of my own mind I did not allow enough for the
    tension of yours.

    'We never have been rivals. Such an idea has not at any time entered
    my mind, and consequently, whether your position is as desperate as
    you suppose or as completely retrievable as I hope and believe, it
    is not from this point of view that I regard any differences, but
    entirely as questions affecting our long friendship and absolute
    mutual confidence. If we differ now at this supreme moment, it is
    just as painful to me to lose your entire sympathy as if you could
    bring to me an influence as great as Gladstone's himself.

    'I feel bitterly the action of some of these men ... who have left
    my side at this time, although many of them owe much to me, and
    certainly cannot pretend to have worked out for themselves the
    policy which for various reasons they have adopted. On the
    whole--and in spite of unfavourable symptoms--I think I shall win
    this fight, and shall have in the long-run an increase of public
    influence; but even if this should be the case I cannot forget what
    has been said and done by those who were among my most intimate
    associates, and I shall never work with them again with the
    slightest real pleasure or real confidence. With you it is
    different. We have been so closely connected that I cannot
    contemplate any severance. I hope, as I have said, that this
    infernal cloud on your public life will be dispersed; and if it is
    not I feel that half my usefulness and more--much more--than half my
    interest in politics are gone.... As to the course to be taken, it
    is clear. You must do what you believe to be right, even though it
    sends us for once into opposite lobbies.

    'I do not really expect the Government to give way, and, indeed, I
    do not wish it. To satisfy others I have talked about conciliation,
    and have consented to make advances, but on the whole I would rather
    vote against the Bill than not, and the retention of the Irish
    members is only, with me, the flag that covers other objections. I
    want to see the whole Bill recast and brought back to the National
    Council proposals, with the changes justified by the altered public
    opinion. I have no objection to call them Parliaments and to give
    them some legislative powers, but I have as strong a dislike as ever
    to anything like a really co-ordinate authority in Ireland, and if
    one is ever set up I should not like to take the responsibility of
    governing England.

    'I heartily wish I could clear out of the whole busine&s for the
    next twelve months at least. I feel that there is no longer any
    security for anything while Mr. Gladstone remains the foremost
    figure in politics. But as between us two let nothing come.

    'Yours ever sincerely,

    'J. Chamberlain.'

    'On May 7th Chamberlain wrote:

    '"I hope it will all come right in the end, and though not so
    optimist as I was, I do believe that 'le jour se fera.'

    '"I got more names yesterday against the Bill. I have ninety-three
    now. Labouchere declares still that Mr. G. means to give way, and
    has now a plan for the retention of Irish members which is to go to
    Cabinet to-day or to-morrow."

    'On May 18th I presided at the special meeting of the London Liberal
    and Radical Council, of which I was President, which discussed the
    Home Rule Bill; but I merely presided without expressing opinions,
    and I discouraged the denunciations of Hartington and Chamberlain,
    which, however, began to be heard, their names being loudly hissed.
    On May 27th we had the meeting of the party on the Bill at the
    Foreign Office, which I attended. But there was no expression of the
    views of the minority.'

Mr. Chamberlain wrote to the Press some phrases of biting comment
concerning the meeting of the 18th, and Sir Charles made protest in a
private letter.

    'It is a great pity,' he wrote to Chamberlain, 'that you should not
    have done justice to the efforts and speeches of your friends at
    that meeting. Many were there (and the seven delegates from almost
    every association attended, which made the meeting by far the most
    complete representation of the party ever held) simply for the
    purpose of preventing and replying to attacks on you. For every
    attack on you there was a reply; the amendments attacking you were
    both defeated, and a colourless resolution carried, and Claydon,
    Osborn, Hardcastle and others, defended you with the utmost warmth
    and vigour.'

    'Chamberlain wrote to me (May 20th, 1886) about the attacks which
    were being made on him:

    '"I was disgusted at the brutality of some of the attacks. I am only
    human, and I cannot stand the persistent malignity of interpretation
    of all my actions and motives without lashing out occasionally. You
    will see that I met your letter with an apology. I might complain of
    its tone, but I don't. This strain and tension is bad for all of us.
    I do not know where it will ultimately lead us, but I fear that the
    mischief already done is irretrievable.

    '"I shall fight this matter out to the bitter end, but I am getting
    more and more doubtful whether, when it is out of the way, I shall
    continue in politics. I am 'wounded in the house of my friends,' and
    I have lost my interest in the business."

    'In another letter (May 21st) Chamberlain said: "Your note makes
    everything right between us. Let us agree to consider everything
    which is said and done for the next few weeks as a dream.

    '"I suppose the party must go to smash and the Tories come in. After
    a few years those of us who remain will be able to pick up the
    pieces. It is a hard saying, but apparently Mr. Gladstone is bent on
    crowning his life by the destruction of the most devoted and loyal
    instrument by which a great Minister was ever served." [Footnote: In
    a letter of January 2nd, 1886, Lord Hartington, writing to Lord
    Granville, said: "Did any leader ever treat a party in such a way as
    he (Mr. Gladstone) has done?" (_Life of Granville_, vol. ii., p.
    478).]

    'On June 2nd Chamberlain wrote: "I suppose we shall have a
    dissolution immediately and an awful smash." On that day I spoke on
    the Irish Registration Bills in the House of Commons--almost the
    only utterance which I made in the course of this short Parliament.

    'On June 4th Sir Robert Sandeman, who had sought an interview with
    me to thank me for what I had done previously about the assigned
    districts on the Quetta frontier, came to see me, to tell me the
    present position and to discuss with me Sir Frederick Roberts's
    plans for defence against the eventuality of a Russian advance.'

The defeat of the Home Rule Bill by a majority of thirty came on June
8th, and the General Election followed. [Footnote: See Morley's _Life of
Gladstone_, vol. iii., p. 337, which gives one o'clock on the morning of
the 8th as the time of decision. Sir Charles's Memoir contains among its
pages an article from _Truth_ of October 14th, 1908, marked by him. The
article, which is called 'The Secret History of the First Home Rule
Bill,' states that Mr. Gladstone's language did not make clear that the
proposal to exclude Irish representatives from the Imperial Parliament
was given up. Mr. Chamberlain, who had made the retention of the Irish
members a condition of giving his vote for the second reading, left the
House, declaring that his decision to vote against the Bill was final.
The _Life of Labouchere_, by Algar Thorold, chap, xii., p. 272 _et
seq_., gives the long correspon