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BOUGHT "WITH THE INCOME
OF THE
PERKINS FUND
190;T

Lord Rosebery
His Life and Speeches

BY
THOMAS F G. COATES

WITH TWO PHOTOGRAVURES AND
SIXTEEN PORTRAITS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

IN TWO VOLS
Vol. I.

New York
E. P. DUTTON & CO
31 West Twenty-Third Street

Lord Rosebery
His Life and Speeches

PREFACE
LORD ROSEBERY no longer leads a party;
but he remains one of the foremost men
in the country, and exercises perhaps unsurpassed
influence at home and abroad. His movements
are followed with keen interest, his possibilities of
renewed political power are constantly discussed,
and it seems a fitting moment, on the eve of
a general election, to present a book which
describes his public career, and includes speeches
which indicate the aims he has in view.
So far as the speeches of Lord Rosebery are
concerned, there will be found within these two
volumes a selection from his utterances in
Parliament, in the country, and in the Colonies,
from the day he first addressed the House of
Lords in 1871 to the present time. Many of
those speeches are reproduced by permission
of Lord Rosebery and the Times, and my

vi preface
hearty thanks for this privilege are due to his
lordship and to Mr. Moberley Bell. My thanks
are also specially due to Sir John R. Robinson,
manager of the Daily News, for his permission
to reproduce from the columns of that newspaper
many reports of speeches and quotations from
articles, and to Messrs. J. Ritchie & Co., of
the Scotsman, for a similar privilege in regard
their journal.
I have further to acknowledge my great in
debtedness to the proprietors of Punch, Vanity
Fair, the Westminster Gazette, and to Mr. F.
Carruthers Gould for permission to reproduce
their cartoons.
This work will, it is hoped, prove of value at
the present time to those who are interested in
public questions and political contests. T. F. G. C.
"The Grove,"
St. Margaret's, Twickenham,
September iqoo.

CONTENTS OF VOL. I

CHAPTER I
PAGE
Is he a Dreamer of Dreams? — Lord Rosebery's Unique
Position — The Ex-Premier's Ideals — A Party of Pro
gress — "A Plague on Politics! Come down and do
Something for the People ! " — The Test of Govern
ments . . . . i

CHAPTER II
Birth and Parentage — Inherited Love of Sport — The Middle
Classes Fifty Years Ago — Picture of a Tradesman's
Life — Interesting Address by Lord Dalmeny, M.P. —
A Talented and Beautiful Mother — Her Literary
Work — A Primrose Lecture on Art. . . . 13

CHAPTER III
Distinguished Ancestry — Notable Primroses of the Past
— Their Tastes and Doings in Stirring Times — The
Granting of the Peerages — The Housing Problem —
A Picture of the Poor Fifty Years Ago . . .34

CHAPTER IV
The Schoolboy — At Brighton — Fagging at Eton — Poaching
Eggs for Mr. Acland — A Defence of the System of
Fagging — Speaking at the Eton Society — His School
master's Appreciation— Mr. Cory's Letters— " Anyhow,
he will be an Orator "—" Such a Man as the Poets
Delight in "—" Floreat Etona ! "  58

viii Contents of DoL i
CHAPTER V PAGE
Undergraduate Days at Oxford — Antiquated Customs —
The Days of Reform — Dean Liddell's Improvements —
Social Distinctions Abolished — The Development of
Sport — A Difficulty about Horses  90

CHAPTER VI
Death and Funeral of the Fourth Earl — Succession to
the Peerage — Work and Study — The Political Arena
— The Queen opens Parliament — A Brilliant Scene-
Lord Rosebery's First Speech in the House of Lords
— Compliments of Statesmen and Journalists . . 96

CHAPTER VII
Early Days in Public Life — A Listener at First — Ladas
and the Derby — Gambling and Horse-Racing — Speeches
in Parliament — An Election Scene — Speeches in the
Country — The Young Earl and the Ladies — Edinburgh
Philosophical Society — " The Union of England and
Scotland" . . . ... 123

CHAPTER VIII
Interest in Foreign Questions — The Alabama Case —
Municipal Elections — Scotch Education — Life Peer
ages — Church Patronage — Lord Rosebery and Mr.
Toole, the Actor — Royal Titles . . . 145

CHAPTER IX
The Doctrine of the Brotherhood of Man — Work for the
Artisans in London — Relations with the Rev. Henry
Solly — The Club and Institute Movement — The Repub
lican and "Mr." Rosebery — The Social Science Con
gress — Presidential Address — Relations of Capital
and Labour .  !6o

Contents of IDol. i ix
CHAPTER X PAGE
Engagement and Marriage to Miss Hannah de Rothschild
— A Brilliant Ceremony — Some Wedding Presents —
Lord Rectorships, Aberdeen and Edinburgh — Eloquent
Addresses — Scottish History, Associations, and Charac
teristics — A Discourse on Patriotism . . 203

CHAPTER XI
Public Affairs in Lord Rosebery's Early Parliamentary
Life — The Election of 1878 — Gladstone and Disraeli —
Irish Church Disestablishment — Civil Service Reforms
— The Election of 1874 — Mr. Gladstone's First Retire
ment — The Eastern Question — Speeches on Foreign
Policy . . . . ... 284

CHAPTER XII
The First Midlothian Campaign — Preparing for Mr. Glad
stone — Speech at Hawick — "Imperium et Libertas" —
The Duty of Voters — Lord Rosebery's Illness — The
Second Midlothian Campaign — Rosebery versus Buc-
cleuch — " Watchwords of Liberal Policy " — " Peace
and Freedom throughout the World " — The Liberal
Victory — "The Uncrowned King of Scotland" . . 323

CHAPTER XIII
After the 1880 Election — Mr. Gladstone's Second Premier
ship — Lord Rosebery's Refusal of Office — Subsequent
Acceptance — Under-Secretary of State for the Home
Department — The Irish Question — Agrarian Troubles
— Coercion Measures— Gladstone and Parnell — Assas
sination of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr. Burke
— Foundation of the National Liberal Club — Dis
abilities of Peers — Lord Rosebery's Resignation — A
New Department of State — The Secretary for Scot
land Act  352

x Contents of tDol. i
CHAPTER XIV PAGE
A Tour Round the World — The Australian Colonies —
Mother and Daughter Countries — '¦ A Marriage of
the Affections" — Basis of Empire — "The Passion
of my Life" — A Busy Autumn — Great Speeches in
Parliament — The Franchise Bill — Redistribution —
Relation of Lords and Commons — Independent Peers
and " Reckless Demagogues " — An Urgent Appeal , . 382
CHAPTER XV
Bright Days at Dalmeny — A Royal Visit— Tree Planting
on the Lawn by Prince and Princesses — Mr. Glad
stone's Visit — The Midlothian Campaign of 1884 —
Notes by "Toby, M.P."— The G.O.M., the Axe, and the
Oak Trees — Lord Rosebery at the Trade Union
Congress — The Freedom of Aberdeen — A Letter to
the Lords ... ... 420
CHAPTER XVI
The Soudan Expedition — Gordon's Mission— Capture of
Khartoum and Massacre of the Garrison — Lord Rose
bery and Mr. Gladstone — The Speech at Epsom — Lord
Privy Seal and First Commissioner of Works — Lord
Rosebery a Cabinet Minister — Firmness in Foreign
Policy — The Threatened War with Russia — Peace
Secured — Defeat of the Government — Scottish
Liberals and the Earl . . . . 438
CHAPTER XVII
The 1885 Election— Mr. Gladstone and Lord Rosebery —
The Tories and the Parnellites— The Political Um
brella— "What is a Liberal?" — "I am a Follower
of Mr. Gladstone "—Liberal Imperialism defined—
The Freedom of Kilmarnock— Mr. Gladstone and
Ireland — Mr. Chamberlain's " Unauthorised Pro
gramme" — The Result of the Election — Irish Suc
cesses — The Tory Government — Mr. Gladstone returns
to Power ....  47c

ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOL. I
PAGE
Frontispiece. Latest Portrait of Lord Rosebery.
The Lady Wilhelmina Stanhope (The Duchess of Cleve
land), Lord Rosebery's Mother. . . -25
Lord Rosebery as an Oxford Undergraduate . -93
The Late Lady Rosebery .... . . 205
Cartoon of Lord Rosebery from "Vanity Fair," June 3,
1876 . . . 305
Mentmore Towers . . . . . .361
Dalmeny Castle  ... 417
Barnbougle Castle  475

LORD ROSEBERY
Ibis Xife anb Speecbes

CHAPTER I
IS HE A DREAMER OF DREAMS ? — LORD ROSEBERY'S UNIQUE POSITION —
THE EX-PREMIER'S IDEALS — A PARTY OF PROGRESS — '• A PLAGUE
ON POLITICS ! — COME DOWN AND DO SOMETHING FOR THE PEOPLE ! "
— THE TEST OF GOVERNMENTS
THE Earl of Rosebery is a man of many parts.
Few have equalled him in the versatility
of his genius. He is the head of the Primrose
family, which for centuries has given to the country
men of capacity in various walks of life. Some
of them have been men of distinction. He has
already been Prime Minister. Later, he chose
to withdraw from the leadership of the Liberal
party and from political life. The position he
has since held has been unique. The retired
politician, however brilliant his achievements, is
a man who, as a rule, is soon almost forgotten.
VOL. I. I

2 Xoro IRoseberg: Ibis Xife anb Speeches
Not so with Lord Rosebery. On the contrary,
every year since his withdrawal from the active
political field, his influence in the country and his
hold upon the people have increased. He has been
the man most talked about and most thought about
for the last few years. His position has been
described as that of Public Orator for the country
and for the Empire. In years when long reports
of speeches have been the exception and not the
rule, it is a remarkable tribute to the value of
his words and the interest of the public in him,
that, with the two exceptions of the Prince of
Wales and the present Premier, the Marquis of
Salisbury, he is the only man in England whose
remarks are invariably published in the first person
in the great daily newspapers of the country. And
whenever he has spoken of later years it has
been recognised almost universally that he has
given voice, with an eloquence and power peculiarly
his own, to the feelings and sentiments of the
great bulk of the nation. Whatever be men's
views as to political questions and to ques
tions of national policy abroad which partisanship
does not affect, whatever be in that party, of
which he was once the head, the views of par
ticular sections as to particular men, there is found
on every hand the conviction that, notwithstanding
his withdrawal for a time from political life, the
future of the country cannot be separated from
the great personality of Lord Rosebery.

Ube Dutg of Xeabers 3
This is a day of transition. Men recognise that
there are great problems, especially as regards
Imperial and social questions, which will have to
be faced in the near future ; and as to many of
them, men's minds have not been made up. They
rightly look for guidance to those men whose
capacities and experience give the right, and render
it a duty, that they should show the way. It
would seem to many that it is the duty of a leader
to lead. Men like Mr. Gladstone and his de
liberately designated successor, Lord Rosebery,
have often indicated that they felt it rather to
be the duty of the leaders to follow — when the
people had made up their minds. That is their
duty, no doubt. Yet, surely, when guidance is
wanted, those best able to give it cannot be
justified in withholding it. True, Lord Rosebery
has in name ceased to be a leader ; nevertheless,
the nation recognises him as one still. The future
must be left to show in what capacity Lord
Rosebery will maintain a position which his own
will alone, but not that of the people, took from
him a few years ago.
Whilst he was Prime Minister, a sketch of Lord
Rosebery was written by Mr. Arthur Wallace,1 who
said : " Lord Rosebery is one of the men who dream
dreams. When he ceases to dream, he thinks the
time will have come to give up being a Reformer."
1 " Lord Rosebery : His Words and His Work." By Arthur Wallace.
London : Henry J. Deane.

4 Xorb "IRoseberp: ibis Xife anb Speecbes
Mr. Wallace was paraphrasing a remark made in
one of his speeches by the popular Earl. Well,
we have seen some dreams of Lord Rosebery
realised, and others are in process of development.
Was Imperial Federation, with which the name
of Lord Rosebery has been so closely identified,
a mere dream ? Many believed that it was. The
Imperial Federation League, which Lord Rosebery
helped to found and for long led, died ; yet the
past session of Parliament has seen the Australasian
Colonies drawn together under just such a scheme
as is one of the ideals of Lord Rosebery. And in
connection with the South African war we have
seen the whole Empire, white men everywhere,
and "men of colour" in the great dependency
of India, most anxious to stand together and
fight shoulder to shoulder under the Union
Jack. The dream of Imperial Federation is
well on the way to complete realisation. To Lord
Rosebery "the British Empire is the greatest
secular agency for good ever known to mankind."
" Since I traversed," he remarked at Leeds in
1888, " those great regions which own the sway
of the British Crown outside these islands, I
have felt that there was a cause which merits
all enthusiasm and energy men can give it. It is
a cause for which any one might be content to
live ; it is a cause for which, if needs be, one might
be content to die." And again : " The future of
civilisation rests with the Anglo-Saxon race. . . .

llbe CoUectivist Spirit s
No race, no nation of old time, whether Jew, or
Greek, or Roman, had any such record as ours,
and none approached our possibilities."
As an Imperialist, Lord Rosebery has seen the
conviction grow and become almost unanimous that
there is a true Imperialism which is as far removed
from Jingoism as that of " Little Englandism."
His Imperial views have been no mere dream.
" Government of the Empire by the Empire for
the Empire " we are beginning to better under
stand, and its real meaning is very much like the
true spirit of " Government of the people by the
people for the people," of which we always hear
so much at election times.
Is Lord Rosebery a mere dreamer as to social
reforms ? In the next chapter I quote at some
length from a leading article which appeared in The
Times newspaper on the day that Lord Rosebery
was born. It is all about the pitiable condition
of the poor in London and the other large cities of
the country. It was considered then that the fear
of interfering with any " privileges " of certain classes
stopped the way of reform by legislation. To-day
there is a new spirit abroad. We have learned to
use the machinery of the law and the powers
of the local governing bodies to deal with
insanitary areas, to ensure that the poor shall live
under healthier conditions. And of this new
collectivist spirit that makes men think of the
welfare of others as well as of themselves, Lord

6 ftorb IRoseberg: Ibis ftife anb Speeches
Rosebery has dreamed as follows, to quote from
one of his Ministerial speeches :
" To what do you attribute that spirit ? I
attribute it to two things. In the first place
I believe, as England has been governed under
various suffrages for the benefit of various sections,
that, now the suffrage has been made accessible
to all, it is about to be governed for all. In the
next place I believe, in the further course of
the lowering of that suffrage we somewhere or
other light upon the conscience of the community.
I believe that at last the community has awoke
to its liabilities and duties to all ranks and classes.
And I believe the people are now inclined to
think that politics is not merely a game at which
the pawns have to be sacrificed to the knights
and the castles, but is an elevating and ennobling
effort to carry into practical affairs and practical
life the principles of a higher morality. I
believe that, increasingly, Governments will be
judged by that test. I believe the people are
coming to recognise that in that spirit alone
must Governments be carried on. It is all very
well to make great speeches and to win great
divisions. It is well to speak with authority in the
councils of the world, and to see your navies riding
on every sea, and to see your flag on every shore.
That is well, but it is not all. I am certain that
there is a party in this country, not named as yet,
that is disconnected with any existing political

Hit Hnnameb f>artp 7
organisation, a party which is inclined to say,
' A plague on both your Houses, a plague on
all your parties, a plague on all your politics, a
plague on your unending discussions which yield
so little fruit ! Have done with this unending
talk, and come down and do something for the
people ! ' It is this spirit which animates, as I
believe, the great masses of our artisans, the
great masses of our working clergy, the great
masses of those who work for and with the poor,
and who, for the want of a better word, I am com
pelled to call by the bastard term of philanthropists ;
and whether that spirit be with them or not —
and I am convinced, by conversation with many
individuals, it is increasingly so — you will find
that that spirit will spread, if Parliament is not
able to do something effective — you will find it
will spread higher and wider in the social scale ;
and I, for one, shaU not despair some day to see
a Minister, Prime or otherwise, who shall not
scruple, from time to time, to come down from
the platform of party and speak straight to the
hearts of his fellow-countrymen — speak to them
as Sir Robert Peel spoke to them when he was
hurled from power for cheapening the bread of
the people. Were that Minister here to-night,
he would, I imagine, ask you not to save his
Cabinet or himself, but to make a great effort to
save yourselves, to save yourselves by some noble,
by some direct, by some effective action, from the

8 SLorb iRoseben?: Ibis Xife anb Speeches
dangers that encircle a great population — the perils
of violence, of crime, and the greatest peril of all,
the peril of ignorance. We ask you to rob no class,
to rob no man ; but we do say that, unless effective
means are taken to deal with this enormous, this
incalculable population which is growing up around
us, half noticed, half ignored, there is a danger for
England such as war has never given her, and
which it is the prayer of this Government she
may escape."
There is, as Mr. Wallace remarked, " the ideal ;
is it possible to translate any portion of it into
the real ? " In the six years that have passed away
since that question was asked, it seems to me that
rapid progress has been made, showing that the
ideal may well be accomplished. Already much
has been done with the approval of all classes
in London for the benefit and health of the com
munity. The lungs of London have been purified
by the work of the London County Council. The
people of the metropolis are learning at last that
it is something to be a citizen of the great city.
The man who dreamed of the ideal which his
words described did more than any man to
strengthen the newly formed London County
Council for its work by his personal influence,
efforts, and example. And if the statesman who
dreams and who has worked so ably thinks that
a political party to carry out his social collectivist
ideals must have a new name, may he not well

WLhv not "progressives"? 9
look, not to the phrase " Liberal Imperialist," the
meaning of which it is so easy to distort and to mis
understand, but to that term "Progressive Party"
which would embody so comprehensively what
broad-minded reformers of all classes desire to see
accomplished in the future ? The Progressives on
the County Council, with Lord Rosebery at their
head, have accomplished great reforms not only by
the strength of their own party, but with the
approval and aid of numbers who in name were
and are their opponents. Shall we see Lord
Rosebery lead a Progressive party to a general
election, to win a victory that will place him as
Progressive Prime Minister of a Progressive
Government and Parliament, in the best position
to realise dreams which so many reformers share
with him ?
Lord Rosebery has not only dreamed dreams
and seen their whole or partial fulfilment ; he
has dispelled others. There was one that
Liberalism and a sound strong foreign policy
were dissociated.
It was in 1886 that he first took the foreign
portfolio. He had been Under-Secretary at the
Home Office from 1881 to 1883, Lord Privy
Seal and Chief Commissioner of Works in 1885.
As Foreign Secretary under the Premiership of Mr.
Gladstone in the first Home Rule administration
in 1886 he greatly distinguished himself, and won
for his party the credit of maintaining a firm,

io Xorb Ktoseben?: Ibis ftife anb Speeches
dignified, and safe conduct of our relations with
foreign nations. He believed in the continuity of
our foreign policy, holding, as he expressed later
on, the view that they should be removed outside
of party bias, and that the Foreign Minister must
be the mouthpiece not so much of his party, but
as of the entire nation. A firm dispatch to Russia
regarding the freedom of the port of Batoum
showed the mettle he was made of, and that the
" squeezability " which has been the fault of more
than one of our Foreign Ministers of late years
was no part of his constitution. In Mr. Gladstone's
fourth administration in 1892 he held the same
office, and at once showed the strength and inde
pendence of his character. During this second
tenure of the office he had enormous difficulties
to contend with, and on the whole increased his
reputation, notwithstanding the troublesome matter
with France in regard to Siam, in which he
certainly did not seem to get the best of the
arrangements which were made for the settlement
of serious differences. But on the whole Lord
Rosebery gained, and has ever since retained, a
great reputation as a strong and skilful Foreign
Minister, a reputation which, if he should return
to the political field, will undoubtedly increase
the strength of the party of which so many think
he is the only possible successful leader.
In the following pages I shall give as complete
a record as I have been able to compile and

Bn important Wesson n
compress within reasonable space of his life from
infancy to the days when he became Prime
Minister, to the later day when he astonished the
country by retiring from the leadership of his
party, and to the day when, as I have mentioned,
his speeches, though of late not frequent, have
possessed such interest and have so fully given
expression to the national sentiments, that he has
even been styled the Public Orator of the Empire.
Of him I join with Mr. Arthur Wallace in say
ing : " Like Pitt, Lord Rosebery lives in a great
epoch. Will he prove equal to the demands
made of him ? Of his devotion to his country,
of his purity of motive, of his courage, few can
entertain a moment's doubt. His speeches are
pregnant with high aspirations and inspiring
thought, and on his power of giving effect to the
worthier and more permanent part of them depends
his future and the verdict of history on his work."
That because a few years ago he retired from the
leadership of the Liberal party his days of political
work are over, I do not believe. Nor, I think,
does any one else. But when will he return ? I
wish I could answer, " I know it will be soon."
Probably it will only be when the Liberal party
has learned the lesson which Lord Rosebery
has urged upon them : that unity is strength.
When that will be, whether soon or late, only
the Liberal party can determine.
In his farewell speech at Edinburgh, after his

t2 Xorb IRoseberg: Ibis Xife anb Speeches
resignation of the leadership, Lord Rosebery
remarked that his sacrifice would have been in
vain if it did not bring unity to the Liberal
party. It has not produced that result. If Lord
Rosebery were to come out from his tent to the
political battlefield again at the present time,
many think that unity would be given and strength
found.

CHAPTER II
BIRTH AND PARENTAGE — INHERITED LOVE OF SPORT — THE MIDDLE
CLASSES FIFTY YEARS AGO — PICTURE OF A TRADESMAN'S LIFE —
INTERESTING ADDRESS BY LORD DALMENY, M.P. — A TALENTED AND
BEAUTIFUL MOTHER — HER LITERARY WORK — A PRIMROSE LECTURE
ON ART
THE present and fifth Earl of Rosebery was
born on Friday, May 7, 1847, at No. 20,
Charles Street, Berkeley Square, and the event was
thus announced in The Times and other newspapers
of the following day : " On the 7th insc, in Charles
Street, Lady Dalmeny, of a son and heir."
A few days later there was published the further
announcement that " Lady Dalmeny and her infant
son and heir are progressing as favourably as could
be desired," and from that day until September,
1 86 1, when he addressed a few words to his grand
father's tenants at Dalmeny on the occasion of a
volunteer review in Dalmeny Park, the newspapers
made no further mention of the lad who was
destined, before he had reached the age of fifty,
to hold office as the Queen's Prime Minister.
Looking back upon his interesting career, not
without the wonder whether the valuable work
accomplished and the brilliant promises of early
13

14 Xorb "IRoseberg: Ibis Xife anb Speeches
days are not destined to have an even more brilliant
sequel, it is worthy of note that there were some
who early recognised that exceptional capacities
were the lad's possession. It is the custom when
men become great for a number of persons to
declare that they have foreseen and predicted the
honours the future was to bring. Such assertions
as a rule have but a shadowy foundation. It is,
however, the fact that it is recorded that when
Lord Dalmeny, at the age of fourteen, had been
heard to deliver a schoolboy speech, Mr. James
Dundas, of Dundas, an old friend and neighbour
of the Roseberys, ventured to prophecy that the
speaker would become a future Prime Minister ;
while it is impossible to read the appreciations
of his old schoolmaster, Mr. Cory, which will
be subsequently referred to, without becoming
convinced that in his earliest days there were
evidences afforded of the exceptional abilities of
the young peer.
Lord Rosebery had not the privilege of know
ing, except as an infant, his father, who died in
January, 1851. Lord Dalmeny had been staying
at Dalmeny Park in the previous December, and
was seized with sudden illness. The malady was
pleurisy. A fatal ending was not anticipated.
A steady improvement was at first, and a rapid
recovery soon afterwards, recorded. On January 24
he went out driving. The next day he died
suddenly from failure of the heart.

H treatise on Htbletics 15
Lord Dalmeny was born in 1809, and died,
consequently, in his forty-second year. In 1843
he had married Catherine Lucy Wilhelmina,
only daughter of Philip Henry, fourth Earl
Stanhope. He was a steady supporter of the
Liberal party, and sat in Parliament as member
for the Stirling Burghs from 1832 to 1847,
having to fight for his seat several times. He
held office as a Lord of the Admiralty from
1835 till the fall of the Melbourne Ministry
in 1 84 1. He was a man of strong character,
fond of literature, and himself an able writer.
His skill and power with the pen, and his
qualities as a keen observer of the customs of his
time were indicated in a pamphlet issued in 1848
and entitled, " An Address to the Middle Classes
upon the Subject of Gymnastic Exercises." The
remarks of the father will be read with interest
as showing that Lord Rosebery's love of sport of
all kinds was clearly inherited from his father, who
doubtless would have been especially pleased if
he had lived to see how thoroughly the middle
classes learned the lesson he sought to teach.
How delighted, too, he would have been could
he have lived to see his son presenting prizes to
a successful football team at the Crystal Palace,
and the proud possessor of the winner of the
Derby, and to see a grandson distinguishing
himself with the bat at an Eton and Harrow
contest at Lords !

1 6 Xorb IRoseberp: Ibis Xife anb Speecbes
Lord Dalmeny's pamphlet appears in a volume
of "Tracts Relating to Gymnastic Exercises," and
is the only one in English which the book contains.
The others are either by German or French authors,
written in the language of their countries. Lord
Dalmeny's able address runs to over fifty pages,
and is full of interesting description and careful
argument, urging the middle classes to change
their ways and to become an athletic people.
He wrote :
"In this age of philanthropic theory and domestic
reform, when nations, laying aside their mutual
antipathies, apply to internal improvement those
energies formerly devoted to ambition, — at the
present moment especially when, while other States
are constructing or remodelling their political in
stitutions, England has embarked in the career of
social regeneration, when the material and moral
condition of her population not only attracts the
speculations of her philosophers, but occupies the
labours of her legislators, when the public health
and the public comfort are an object of the public
concern, when not only were sanitary schemes
proposed, but sanitary measures adopted, — no
man ought to withhold any suggestions or ideas
which may be serviceable to his fellow-citizens or
promote the welfare of society.
"It is on this ground that I venture to address
you upon Exercise — a subject than which few-
are more important and none more neglected.

^Legislation anb Ibealth 17
Numerous plans have been devised for improving
the dwellings of the people and for affording them
the means of personal cleanliness. Where these
plans have been carried into effect, they have been
attended with such advantage as to encourage their
extension. But none have been proposed for
providing the inhabitants of large towns with the
means of physical recreation and vigorous exercise,
without which the success of the best sanitary
code will be but partial and incomplete.
" It is a common belief that the sanitary measures
which are to unload the drains and purify the
atmosphere of our large cities will of themselves
be sufficient to ensure the health and vigour of
the whole community to which their enactments
may apply. No doubt these measures will, in
many localities, be effectual in preventing the
invasion of epidemics, in mitigating the ravages
of disease, and in delaying the visitation of death.
Legislation can do much to alleviate the afflictions
and reduce the mortality of mankind. It may
shield the whole nation from the breath of pesti
lence. It may purge the air of noxious exhalations.
It may proscribe and banish that hideous family of
plagues which have their origin in accumulations
of filth, deleterious effluvia, and foul habitations.
It may remove miasma, that corrupts the blood
and offends the senses.
" Legislation can do much, but it cannot do all.
I have stated what it can do ; I will now state
vol. 1. 2

1 8 Xorb IRosebers: ibis Xife anb Speeches
what it cannot do. It cannot protect any man
against that state of debility and disease which
is the inevitable consequence of his own luxury
and sloth. If it supplies him with a pure atmo
sphere, it cannot force him to practise the temper
ance and adopt those habits of exercise which
are indispensable to health. ... In fact, health
cannot be secured and guaranteed by Act of
Parliament. Such are the habits of our middle
classes that they would be far from possessing it
if they enjoyed the air of the Grampians. It is
not so much additional air as additional exercise
that they require.
" I address these remarks to the middle classes
because it is to the middle classes that they are
peculiarly applicable. The lower classes are con
demned by necessity to undergo the toil to
which the upper resort for the sake of exercise
or diversion. Poverty compels the one, pleasure
prompts the other, to adopt the habits and enjoy
the benefit of physical exertion. The daily labour
for daily bread maintains the vigour of the labourer.
The chase, the gun, the foil preserve the health
of the gentleman. Both these classes, no doubt,
abound in exceptions. Unfortunately, what is the
exception with the extreme classes is the rule of
the middle classes ; and hence I venture to offer
it a few words of warning and advice."
Lord Dalmeny then drew the following picture
of the daily life of a British tradesman of the day :

ttrabesmen ffiftg J^ears &go

»9

"In a political and moral point of view, it is
no doubt entitled to the highest commendation.
It is a pattern of industry, punctuality, and good
faith. But if we contemplate it under its sanitary
aspect we shall find that it deserves more censure
than praise. What is his daily life? He rises
early and begins business at eight o'clock, having
opened his shop before the majority of his customers
have opened their eyes. At nine he eats a hasty
breakfast, and immediately returns to his business.
By business he is engrossed till two, when he
swallows a beefsteak and returns to business. At
five he withdraws from business for a brief interval
to tea, when, having gulped down some cups
of souchong, he returns again to business. He
continues immersed in business till eight or nine,
when he begins to think that business may yield
the place to relaxation or amusement.
" What is the nature of this relaxation or amuse
ment ? Does he brace his nerves, reanimate his
spirits, or circulate his blood by any gymnastic
exercise, any invigorating game ? Nothing of the
kind. If fond of literature or politics, he retires to
read the last review or study the leading article
in The Times. If he be convivial, he strives with
a few boon companions to relieve the pressure of
anxiety and escape the persecutions of care. If
he be domestic, he seeks on the household hearth
the solace of conversation and repose. Heaven
forbid that I should denounce any one of these

20 3Lorb "ftoseberg: Ibis 3Life anb Speeches
habits, that I should attempt to decry the pleasures
derived from society, from home, from intellectual
employment. It is this blending of business and
domestic habits that has made England what she
is — the mart and model of the world, the emporium
of all trade, the asylum of freedom and order, the
shrine of public and private virtue.
" I am not about to propose any plan which will
obstruct or interfere with business, with domestic
enjoyments, or intellectual pursuits. I would
merely suggest certain descriptions of physical
amusement, which might be harmoniously com
bined with other important avocations, which would
restore the health which you have lost or impart
a health which you have never experienced, which
would infuse an energy and vigour previously un-
felt and unknown. I would avert the impending
degeneracy, whose immediate invasion is threatened
by the progress of luxury and care.
"In other countries the tendency is to think
too much of diversions and too little of work.
Here the tendency is the reverse : to devote our
whole attention to business and none to recreation.
The free citizens of England are the voluntary
slaves of toil, which is never, as in the case of
those who are the property of others, diversified
by amusement. We are indeed rich in literary
and scientific societies, mechanic reading- clubs,
schools of philosophy and art ; rich in institutions
for bewildering and oppressing the overwrought

TKahen Englanb was flbetrs 21
brains of our middle and operative classes with
crude speculations and ill-digested knowledge. But
where are the institutions for gymnastics ? Where
are the associations for physical exercise ? Where
are the arenas where the limbs, the sinews, the
spirits of our merchants may be recreated and
refreshed by manly diversions ? Where are the
noble sports of our ancestors ? Where are the
rude but invigorating pastimes which hardened
their muscles, steeled their nerves, expanded their
frames, exhilarated their spirits, and gladdened
their hearts ?
" What sports are there now to smooth the brow
of care, to dispel the vapours of spleen, to make
poverty forget its wretchedness, or sorrow smile
amidst its woe ?
" We are the wisest, the greatest, but the saddest
nation in the world. We throw the responsibility
on the climate, and abuse our fogs and murky skies.
Yet the climate in the days of Elizabeth was the
same as it is now, and ' merry ' was then the
chosen epithet of England. But in those days,
when England was not only called ' merry,' but
was merry, there were numerous popular festivals
where the yeomen and burgesses exercised them
selves in manly sports. The Stuarts actually
attached such importance to the due recreation
of the people that they ordered a proclamation to
be read every Sunday in the churches permitting,
nay, enjoining, the use of pastimes and games.

22 xorb IRoseberp: "Ibis 3Life anb Speeches
This proclamation and its injunctions were proscribed
by the Puritans, who, though they rescued our
privileges and liberties from destruction, have left
no slight taint of their fanaticism and gloom. The
national character still displays strong traces of
their ascendancy. With that indomitable love of
freedom it has retained no small portion of their
austerity. Since their days the old sports of
England have fallen into disuse, and with these
has disappeared the ancient joyousness of its
inhabitants. . . .
" But perhaps it may be said, ' All is very well
as it is, and where is the necessity for change ?
Every large community, every closely thronged
city must have its proportion of mortality and
sickness. This is the ordination of Providence
and the lot of humanity, and why engage in a vain
attempt to combat an established and immutable
order of things ? '
" All is not well, and there is a necessity for
change when want of exercise consigns numbers
to early disease and premature graves. . . . This
doctrine, that all is well that exists, is a dangerous
delusion, and is, after all, the lazy excuse of those
spurious philosophers who avert their faces from
abuses to escape the trouble of reforming them."
Lord Dalmeny urged that gymnastics should
form an indispensable part of the education of
youth, and went so far as to suggest that as every
parish had its church, its baths, its workhouse, and

H "(Rational XTenbenc? 23
its school, so ought it to have its gymnasium.
For gymnastics he adopted Webster's definition,
" Athletic exercises intended for the promotion
of health and diversion."
What the father so ably urged, the son has
indeed done much to bring about by his words
and by his example. How thoroughly the nation
learned the lesson Lord Rosebery's father tried
to teach was briefly referred to by the son in
the course of a speech delivered at the opening
of a free library at Shepherd's Bush on June 25,
1896. He then remarked:
" I think no one can watch the progress of
our nation without seeing the enormous predomin
ance that is given everywhere to-day to outdoor
sports. I welcome that tendency. I think it is
a healthy and rational tendency ; but of course
it may be carried too far. What we do see in
the tendency to outdoor sport at this time is,
that it weans the race from occupations that
might be objectionable, and it is rearing a noble
and muscular set of human beings ; and it sub
serves other objects which are not so immediately
apparent. For instance, I take it, the connection
between Australia and the mother country has
been rendered closer than it would have been
otherwise by the cricket contests which take place
between the two countries ; and I am given to
understand, though I have never seen one of the
great Northern or Midland football matches, that

24 3Lorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
they are almost Homeric in their character, in
their strenuousness, and the excitement they
engender. The rivalry they engender between
the various districts of the country furnishes a
subject healthy in itself and inspiring to all those
who witness it. I hope very soon to see some
such match, because I think we have lived in
vain if we have not seen one. I have seen
the crowds going to those matches, and I have
never seen anything in public life or elsewhere
comparable to the eagerness and the enthusiasm
of those crowds. Then there is bicycling. I
suppose nobody, not even the humblest pedestrian
with his arm broken or otherwise, is indifferent
to the bicyclist. I do not know what particular
effect the bicycle may have upon the conformation
of posterity. It seems to me it may produce a
race of beings of a Z-like shape. But, at any
rate, it has produced a race of hardy adventurers
such as those by whom our Empire was founded
— adventurers perhaps a trifle too hardy, but who
would have had no opportunity of visiting the
corners of our native land if they had not been
furnished with these useful wheels. All that is
a most interesting and striking feature of our
national life. We have to maintain a great Empire.
We have to develop a great Empire, and for
Imperial purposes you need a race of muscle, of
strength, and of nerve. All these are deve
loped by these sports. But, after all, this is not

Lady Wilhelmina Stanhope (The Duchess of Cleveland),
Lord Rosebery's Mother.

Gbe Earl's parents 25
everything. An empire cannot live by muscles
alone. It must have brains."
Lord Dalmeny's funeral took place at the church
of Dalmeny on the Friday following his death,
and The Scotsman of the following day remarked :
" The death of Lord Dalmeny has left a blank
in his family and society which must be long and
deeply felt. His amiable disposition and agreeable
manners and excellent morals, the religious principle
which marked his whole character, the great
attainments and high cultivation of his enlarged
mind, have endeared his memory to all who had
an opportunity of knowing his real worth and of
estimating his high qualities."
Such was the father of Lord Rosebery. Of
his mother a good deal also should be said, for
she is a remarkable woman. Lady Wilhelmina
Stanhope has the distinction of being honoured
with the Queen's personal friendship. She is now
the Duchess of Cleveland, as she married, for the
second time, in 1854, Harry George, fourth Duke
of Cleveland.
As Lady Wilhelmina Stanhope she was one of
the eight maidens of noble birth who bore the
train of the Queen at Her Majesty's coronation,
and again at the marriage of the Queen.
Writing of her in The Woman's World in May,
1897, Sarah A. Tooley says :
" Although the Duchess of Cleveland has never
held an official position at Court, and consequently

26 xorb IRoseberg: Ibis Xife anb Speeches
has not been about the person of the Queen in the
intimate manner in which other ladies included in
this series (' The Queen's Friends') have been, she
was marked out by Her Majesty's friendship, as
a girl, in being chosen to attend the young Queen
as one of her train-bearers upon the two most
important and interesting occasions of her life —
her coronation and marriage. In those days the
Duchess of Cleveland, whom to-day we know as a
wonderful and vivacious old lady, and the mother
of a son so distinguished as Lord Rosebery, was
the Lady Wilhelmina Stanhope, fourth daughter of
Earl Stanhope, and, without exception, the most
lovely girl in Society. . . . Lady Wilhelmina
appears also to have taken Lockhart by storm
when he met her at the Kent County Ball in
1843, and in a letter to Miss Violet Lockhart he
confesses that, though the staid father of a family,
he had been ' seduced by a Court belle of nineteen
— Lady Wilhelmina Stanhope— into dancing till
three o'clock in the morning.' "
The same writer adds :
" Not only was the Duchess of Cleveland a
celebrated beauty in her youth, but she was as
brilliantly clever as she was lovely, and when a
mere girl showed great artistic talent, her drawings
being quite beyond ordinary amateur productions,
and full of dramatic power."
Baroness Bunsen, writing of a dinner-party at
Earl Stanhope's in 1842, says:

"ttbe Battle Hbbeg iRoll" 27
" Lady Wilhelmina is a very fine creature, and
also a very agreeable converser, full of intelligence
and information ; but I was not prepared for the
genius which her drawings denote — original groups
from tales ; from history ; from an imagined cycle
of events in a female existence, beginning with
babyhood to old age and death ; from opera scenes,
not servilely adhering to theatrical representation,
but giving human beings with human reality of
feeling ; from ballads, in part, finely illuminated ;
extraordinary and individual conceptions of beauty,
expression without distortion, and a degree of
correctness of outline and proportion very rare
even among professors of the art."
It is, in fact, only necessary to read and study
the illustrations in " The Spanish Lady," a book
by the Duchess, to appreciate her excellence both
as writer and artist.
The Duchess of Cleveland undertook a valuable
historical work which was published in 1889. She
prepared the three volumes of " The Battle Abbey
Roll, with Some Account of the Norman Lineages."
It must have been a stupendous task, which she
well accomplished. The work is complete, and
the Duchess was the first who ever attempted to
deal with the subject so comprehensively. She
desired to have a complete work, " for, being a
resident at Battle Abbey, and entertaining a higher
opinion than is expressed by many of my con
temporaries for ' the scum of Bretons and rags of

28 Xorb 1Roseber£: Ibis Xtfe anb Speeches
France ' that conquered and colonised England, I
have felt an interest in the subject, and a desire to
do my best, at all events, towards elucidating it."
The result of her labour was a most interesting
work, for, in addition to the mass of facts collected,
the picturesque old legends that are a part of the
history of many notable families were retained.
What would De Vere be without its meteor star,
or De Albini without its conquered lion ? A vast
number of anecdotes, too, are given, furnishing
vivid pictures of manners and customs long since
passed away, and helping to make the work no
mere catalogue of descent, but an interesting and
fascinating volume.
The famous roll is believed to have been
compiled in obedience to a clause in the Conqueror's
foundation charter, that enjoined the monks to pray
for the souls of those " who by their labour and
valour had helped to win the kingdom (et pro
salute omnium quorum labore et auxilio regnum
obtinui, et illorum maxime qui in ipso bello
occubuerunt)." The great Sussex Abbey that was
" the token and pledge of the Royal Crown," had
been intended to be not only a memorial of his
victory, but a chantry for the slain ; and the
names of his companions-in-arms, enshrined on
this bede-roll, might thus be read out in the
church on special occasions, and notably on the
anniversary feast of St. Celiet.
The original roll does not exist now, and

a Defence of the IRecorb 29
it is not known precisely what has become of
it ; and its accuracy has, moreover, often been
impugned. The Duchess describes how from
some period shortly after the death of the Con
queror the monks, finding it became an object of
ambition to be on the roll, were always found
willing to oblige a liberal patron by inserting his
name. " Such hath been the subtlety of some
monks of old, that, finding it acceptable unto most
to be reputed descendants to those who were
companions with Duke William in that memorable
expedition whereby he became Conqueror of this
Realm, as that to gratify them (but not without
their own advantage), they inserted their names into
this antient catalogue." Thus Dugdale. Camden
declares many of the names were forged. Sir
Egerton Brydges, in the " Censura Literaria," con
demns it as "a disgusting forgery"; Mr. Freeman,
" a source of falsehood " and " transparent fiction " ;
the author of " The Norman People" declares that
its date is " a mere myth " ; while, not to be
outdone, a writer in the Sussex Archceologia settles
the question according to the summary process by
which Garibaldi disposed of the claims of poor
St. Peter, and declares that it never existed at all.
But the Duchess of Cleveland succeeds in making
out a good case for it, and roundly asserts that, so
far from being " principally composed '' of impostors
and intruders, the roll contains not more than ten
proved interpolations ; and certainly her diligence

30 3Lorb IRoseberg: Ibis 3Life anb Speeches
and long-continued labours led to the production
of three large columns that will be a source of
constant delight to those " to whom the great
names of the past remain a living memory."
The Duchess of Cleveland's account of Battle
Abbey, another work, is a complete record of that
grand historical place. The garden is described,
as well as the new windows put up in 1876 in
Abbotts' Hall, while an accurate ordnance map
is included. There is, too, a portrait of Isaac
Ingall, who lived with the Webster family at Battle
Abbey, where he had been a domestic for upwards
of ninety j years, and who died April 2, 1798, at
the age of one hundred and twenty.
The marriage of Lord Rosebery's parents took
place on September 20, 1843, and when Lord
Dalmeny died he left his widow with four children :
Lady Mary Constance, who married Mr. Henry
Walter Hope ; Lady Constance Evelyn, who
married Lord Leconfield ; Colonel Everard Henry
Primrose, of the Grenadier Guards, who died at
Abu Fatmeh, in Egypt, on April 9, 1885. The
third child was the present Earl of Rosebery.
Colonel Primrose, Lord Rosebery's younger
brother, inherited from his parents literary and
artistic gifts of no mean order. While he was
at Cambridge, a student at Trinity College, he
delivered a thoughtful lecture on " The History,
Progress, and Recent State of Art Education in
England," which is especially remarkable for its

Ubc Development of art 31
merit when it is remembered that the lecturer was
only nineteen years of age.
The lecture was delivered at the Old Schools,
Pound Hill, Cambridge, on December 4, 1867.
In his prefatory observations Mr. Primrose
remarked :
" I have taken especial pains to avoid all
arguments about such subjects as can be only
referred to questions of propriety and taste ; and
I have undertaken to trace, as far as I am able,
the gradual development of art in this country,
not to point out what I consider to be the correct
and most beautiful style. I have therefore abstained
from drawing any comparisons between what I
might establish as indisputably right, and that
which I might condemn as absolutely wrong ; for
I consider that it is not only difficult, but even
vainglorious, for one man, however educated and
refined his taste might be, to seek to determine
by his private opinions what others are bound
to admire and imitate.
"It is not by any contrast, however startling,
between ideal beauty and actual reality that we can
expect any greater artistic feeling to be developed
in this country, — for that which some might contemn
others might prize, and that which one might
deride another might loudly praise, — but it is by
a strict adherence to all the guiding principles of
Art, and an accurate investigation as to their sound
ness and truth, that such an object can be attained.

32 SLorb IRoseberg: Ibis Xife anb Speeches
" Art depends as much upon the mind as upon
the hands of those who attempt it. It is not a
mere question as to what attracts the eye or
rivets the attention : I have no doubt but that if
it were, many would infinitely prefer the garish-
ness of modern to the mellow tints of ancient
works but we have to consider further, when
we examine a production, the poetry and sentiment
that has called it forth, or the grace that it
expresses." To the establishment of a Royal Academy in
1768, and its development in 1868, Mr. Primrose
ascribed a great deal of the advance of painting
in England. Towards the end of the address
an amusing story was told illustrating how the
increase of art in the country and the greater
respect that is paid to objects of antiquity have
sometimes led to fraud. One of the most
peculiar of these frauds was the false story
related in The Cornhill Magazine. A certain
gentleman purchased for ^"55 a good copy of a
Venus painted by Titian, to which he imagined
he could ascribe a likeness to Mary Queen of Scots.
Having parted with this miniature to a dealer, he
happened to mention the fancied likeness he had
observed, and was immensely confused to hear
afterwards that this auctioneer had resold his copy
f°r .£560, as the only miniature ever painted by
Titian representing the unfortunate Queen of
Scotland. It was exhibited under this title, and

Crebnlons people 33
more than a thousand people visited and were
credulous enough to believe in its genuineness.
It will be seen from the foregoing that the
nearest relatives of the present Earl were men
and women of note ; and the extracts which have
been here given are deserving of particular notice,
inasmuch as they have a bearing upon some of
his chief characteristics.

vol. 1.

CHAPTER III
DISTINGUISHED ANCESTRY — NOTABLE PRIMROSES OF THE PAST — THEIR
TASTES AND DOINGS IN STIRRING TIMES — THE GRANTING OF THE
PEERAGES  THE HOUSING PROBLEM — A PICTURE OF THE POOR
FIFTY YEARS AGO
IN the early history of his family Lord Rosebery
has taken a deep interest, which has frequently
been manifested and has led to public presenta
tions to his lordship, such as that of the Hawick
Archaeological Society, who, finding in their
museum a bronze mortar bearing the inscription,
"Gilbert Primros, Chirorgrein, 1569," which had
belonged to an ancestor of the Earl of Rosebery,
presented it to him, after taking a cast of it for
maintenance in their museum.
According to Burke's Peerage, the founder of
the family, which derives its surname from the
lands of Primrose, County Fife, was Duncan
Primrose, " who was seated at Culross in Perthshire
in the reign of Queen Mary, and who married
Janet, daughter of Main, of Arthur House. They
had two sons. Gilbert, the elder, became principal
surgeon to James I. and to Queen Anne."
This Gilbert Primrose died in 161 5, leaving a
34

Canon (Btlbert primrose 35
son Gilbert, who became a canon of Windsor and
died in 1642, having established a great reputation
for learning and piety. He was educated at St.
Andrew's University, and subsequently went to
France, and was received as a minister of the
Reformed Church there, and had a distinguished
and useful career. At one time he got into trouble,
and was reprimanded by the king of France for
petitioning King James, on behalf of the Reformed
congregation of Rochelle, to set at liberty Andrew
Melville, who was then a prisoner in the Tower
of London. It was considered an offence by the
French Court for the people of Rochelle to
communicate with a foreign sovereign without
the knowledge or consent of their own.
In 1623 an Act came into operation forbidding
ministers of other nations to officiate in France,
and at the National Synod, which met at Charenton
in September of that year, the Royal Commissioner
presented letters from the French king intimating
that Primrose and Cameron were no longer to be
employed, " not so much because of their birth
as foreigners, as for reasons of State." Deputies
were sent to the king to intercede on their behalf,
but he would only consent to their remaining
in France on the condition that they should resign
their offices. Primrose was obliged to quit the
country. His banishment was mainly due to the
Jesuits, to whom he had given special offence.
On returning to London he was chosen one

36 Xorb IRoseberg: ibis %ifc anb Speecbes
of the ministers of the French Church in the
metropolis, founded in the time of Edward VI.,
an appointment which he held till his death ; and
he was also made Chaplain-in-Ordinary to James I.
The University of Oxford gave him the degree of
D.D., on the recommendation of the king, ample
testimony having been given to his high character
and eminence as a theologian. Four years later
his royal patron, with whom he was a great
favourite, preferred him to a canonry of Windsor.
This eminent divine published in 1623 a " Pane-
gyrique a tres-grand et tres-puisant Prince Charles,
Prince de Galles," dedicated to the " tres-haut et
tres-puisant monarque, Jaques I." It was written
in terms of high flattery such as it was the custom
to address to persons of high station in those
days. Later, this prolific writer published " Six
Sermons de la Reconciliation de L' Homme Avec
Dieu, preschez par Gilbert Primerose, ministre du
Saint Evangile, printed at Sedan, 1624," with a
preface, " A tres-haut et puisant seigneur, Messire
George de Villiers, Grand Admiral, et Grand
Escuijer d'Angleterre, Due de Bouquingam." This
prefatory note is signed, " vostre tres-humble, tres-
affectionne and tres-obeissant fermiteur, Gilbert
Primerose." The old printers at Sedan did their
work well, and the little book is well worth perusal
by those interested in theology. The sermons
are full of carefully reasoned argument and lofty
thought.

H Discourse on the Sabbath 37
This Gilbert Primrose had a son David, who,
after his course at Oxford, entered the ministry,
and was appointed to the French Protestant
church at Rouen. He wrote in French, and his
father translated into English, a work which was
printed by Richard Badger " at his shop at the
signe of the Glove in Corne Hill, 1636." The
volume was a " Treatise on the Sabbath and the
Lord's Day, distinguished into four parts, wherein
is declared both the nature, originall, and observa
tion, as well of the one under the New as of the
other under the Old Testament. Written in French
by David Primerose, Batchelour in Divinitie in the
University of Oxford and Minister of the Gospel
in the Protestant Church of Rouen. Englished
out of his French manuscript by his father,
G. P., D.D."
The work runs to nearly three hundred and
fifty closely printed pages. The translator (or
" Englisher," to use the old phrase) addresses a
note tQ the reader which is well worthy of quota
tion, for the style and line of reason are alike
interesting. He writes :
" I wrote to my sonne, preacher of the Gospel
at Rouen, desiring him to set downe in a paper
(distinctly and clearly) his opinion concerning the
Sabbath, with the confirmation thereof by such
arguments which hee should thinke most pregnant,"
and a solide refutation, of the contrary arguments,
which he did accordingly, but in the French

38 ftorb iRoseberg: ibis ftife anb Speecbes
Tongue, as writing onely out of a dutiful affection
to condescend to my desire, not thinking, and far
lesse desiring it should be Englished and made
publike here : Neither had I any such intention,
as being most unwilling that he, who is a stranger
to this nation, although not a stranger to the
Church should goe formost to break this yce. And
therefore I kept it by me three yeeres, till being
advertised that others were gone before, and their
Bookes were in the Presse, and finding no men that
would or could translate it into our Tongue, and
take the wearisome pains to place the additions
(which he sent me at divers times afterwards) in
their roomes : I undertooke this labour my selfe,
hoping that things being compared with things,
cause with cause, reasons with reasons, and the con
trary arguments which are to be found in so many
books, for and against the morality of a seventh day
of weekly Sabbath, being examined and conferred
one by another, the Christian, charitable, and
judicious readers should be stirred up, after they
have proved all things, to hold fast that which is
good, without impairing anything of that religious
service which they owe and yeeld publikely in the
Church and privately at home with their families
to the Lord their God, who heeds not the errours
of men (though never so specious) for the upholding
of his service. If in this end of my translation
I have done anything amisse, I say with David,
Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness,

"B ©reat Contro versie " 39
and let him reprove me, it shall be an excellent
oile, which should not breake mine head."
Having quoted so much of the translator's
introductory remarks, it will not be amiss to show
the state of the question on which David Primrose
wrote and the line he took regarding it, for some
of the views are still considered to-day. The
question was set up by the author of the treatise
as follows :
" (1) All men are bound to serve God every day
privately, in some measure, according to his word.
"(2) They are also bound to serve him publikely,
and to have a day stinted for his service.
" (3) There is among Godly and learned Chris
tians a great controversie about the originall,
nature, and observation of that day.
" (4) Some hold the sanctification and observation
of one of the seven days of the week to be morall,
and therefore of perpetual necessity, since the
beginning unto the end of the world.
"(5) Others maintaine, that the stinting of a day
of God's publike service is a point of order, and of
ecclesiastical governement, depending wholly on
institution. "(6) This treatise made for the defence of this
last opinion, is divided into four parts. In the first
I shall endeavour to prove that the institution and
observation of a seventh day of Sabbath is not
morall, that it began not with the beginning of the
world, that it had no existence till the people of

4° 3Lorb TRoseberg: Ibis Xife anb Speeches
Israel were brought from Egypt to the wildernesse,
and was not known in any part of the universall
world till then, and that the Commandement
whereby it was confirmed in Horeb, obligeth not
under the New Testament. In the second I shall
answer all the reasons that I have found alleged
for the contrary opinion. In the third I shall
discourse of the appointing of Sunday for God's
service and shew whence, in greatest likenesse of
truth, it taketh its beginning, and establishment in
the Christian Church. In the last I will declare
what was the cessation of workes enjoyned on the
Sabbath Day under the Old Testament, and how
farre alle are obliged unto it under the New
Testament. For these are the principal points
that Christians jarre and differ about in this matter
of the Sabbath."
Christians of to-day still "jarre and differ" on
this subject, and the following general note by the
Rev. David Primrose, written nearly three centuries
ago, is interesting. He enjoins the Christian " to
apply himself to outward actions belonging to the
lawfull and honest commodities and pleasures of
this decaying and troublesome life, when they doe
it with Christian wisdom, which must be the guide
of all our actions, leading us so warily, that wee
transgresse not the wholesome laws of the State,
or of the Church wherein we live, and that we
shunne all partialities, and cause of schisme, which
is the bane of the Church, dismembering, and

Ube first primrose peer 41
tearing in factious pieces the mysticall body of our
Lord Jesus Christ, which is the true doctrine of
faith and preserved from the poison of mortall
heresie." The second son of Duncan Primrose, the founder
of the family, was Archibald, who was employed
by the Abbot of Culross in settling the rate of
feu-duty to be paid by the vassals of Culross Abbey,
and in managing its revenues, a work in which he
acquitted himself with great credit. He married
Margaret, daughter of Bleau, of Castlehill. They
had two sons. James, the younger, was an eminent
lawyer, who was appointed by James I., in 1602,
Clerk of Privy Council, a post he held for forty
years. He married Miss Sibylla Miller, and by
her had seven children, of whom Alison, the eldest
daughter, married a celebrated Court jeweller,
George Heriot. James Primrose was married a
second time to Katherine, a daughter of Richard
Lawson, of Baghill, and by her had twelve children.
His sons by his first wife predeceased him, and
he was succeeded by his eldest son by his second
marriage, Archibald, who became a baronet and
also Lord Carington.
Sir Archibald Primrose lived from 161 6 to 1679.
He had a stirring career, and remained steadfast
to his royal master during the Civil Wars. On
September 2, 1641, he succeeded his father as
Clerk to the Privy Council, and he acted as Clerk
to the Convention of Estates in 1643 and 1644.

42 ftorb IRoseberg: Ibis 5Life anb Speecbes
After the victory of Kilsyth he joined the army
of Montrose, was taken prisoner at Philiphaugh
on September 13, 1645, and tried and condemned
for treason at the Parliament of St. Andrew's in
1646. He was not, however, to die in conse
quence of that. His life was spared, but he was
kept in confinement till the end of 1646. Then
he was released. He again joined the Royalist
army, and was knighted by Charles II. He took
part in the engagement of 1648, and was on
March 10, 1649, deprived of his office of Clerk
of the Privy Council by the Act of Classes.
Good luck, however, aided him again. He was
subsequently reinstated 1651. He accompanied
Charles II. on his march to England, and was
made a Baronet of Nova Scotia on August 1.
After the battle of Worcester Sir Archibald's
estates were sequestrated, and he remained out of
office during the Protectorate. The Restoration
brought a turn of fortune's wheel in his favour
once more, and he was then appointed Lord Clerk
Register out of many competitors, having bought
off, the " Dictionary of National Biography " states,
Sir William Fleming, to whom Charles II. had
given a grant of it during his exile.
He prepared " The Laws and Acts of the first
Parliament of our Most High and Dread Soveraign
Charles the Second, By the Grace of God, King
of Scotland, England, France and Ireland, Defender
of the Faith. Holden at Edinburgh the First of

IRecorbs of parliament 43
January 1671, By a Noble Lord, John Earl of
Middleton, Lord Cleremont and Fettercairn ;
His Majesties Commissioner for holding of this
Parliament, by vertue of a Commission under
His Majesties Great Seal of this Kingdom, with
the special advice and consent of the Estates
of Parliament. Extracted and collected from the
records of Parliament, by Sir Archibald Primrose
of Chester, Knight and Barronet, Clerk to His
Majesties Council, Registers and Rolls." This
work was printed at Edinburgh in 1661 by Evan
Tyler, His Majesty's printer.
The collection of Acts is of peculiar historical
interest, because it embraced all the Parliamentary
proceedings consequent upon the restoration of the
House of Stuart, commencing with the new oath
of allegiance, His Majesty's prerogative, relations
with his officers of State, councillors, and judges,
the calling and dissolving of Parliaments, the
making of laws, the annuity of .£40,000 a year
granted to the king, etc. That Parliament was
adjourned by the following
"Act of Adjournment.
" The King's Majesty Declares this Parliament
current, and Adjourns the same to the twelfth day
of March next to come, Ordaining all Members
of Parliament, Noblemen, Commissioners of Shires
and Burghs, and all others having interest, to
attend that day and that there be no new Elections

44 ftorb iRoseberg: ibis OLife anb Speeches
in Shires or Burghs, except upon the death of
any of the present Commissioners. " A. Primrose, Cls. Reg."
On December 14, 1661, Sir Archibald was
appointed a lord of session under the title of
Lord Carington, a Lord of Exchequer, and a
member of the Privy Council. He was responsible
for several important laws. He was a follower
of the party of Middleton and an opponent of
Lauderdale ; but he was diplomatic enough to
oppose the Act of Billeting, which was aimed at
Lauderdale, and succeeded in retaining his offices
after Middleton's fall from power. Owing, it has
been averred, to the influence of the Duchess of
Lauderdale, an intrigue in 1678 led to his removal
from the office of Lord Clerk Register, in which
he was succeeded by Sir Thomas Murray, of
Glendrok, a kinsman of the Duchess ; but " to
stop his mouth and sore against his heart,"
Sir Archibald was given the office of Justice-
General, from which, however, he received less
remuneration. This office was taken from him
on October 16, 1678, and on November 27,
1679, he died, and was buried in the church of
Dalmeny, in which parish is situated the charming
estate of Barnbougle, or Dalmeny, which had been
purchased by him from the Earl of Haddington
in 1662.
Sir Archibald has been thus described by Bishop

ttbe JEarlbom Bstablisbeb

45

Burnet, who, to quote again the " Dictionary of
National Biography," " was a contemporary, though
not unprejudiced witness, and has drawn his
character with some justice." Bishop Burnet says :
" He was a dexterous man of business. He had
always expedients ready at every difficulty. . . .
He was always for soft counsels and slow methods,
and thought that the chief thing that a great man
ought to do was to raise his family and kindred,
who naturally stick to him ; for he had seen so
much of the world that he did not depend much
on friends, and so took no care of making any."
Lord Carington married, first, Elizabeth, daughter
and co-heiress of Sir James Keith, of Benholm ;
and secondly, Agnesm, daughter of Sir William
Gray, of Pittendrum, and widow of Sir James
Dundas, of Newliston. William, his eldest sur
viving son by his first wife, succeeded to the
baronetcy. His youngest son by his first wife,
Gilbert Primrose, obtained a commission in the
ist Foot Guards on September i, 1680, served
on the Rhine and in the Low Countries under
Marlborough, and ultimately rose to the rank of
Major-General. He died in 1731 at the age of
seventy-seven. The only son of Lord Carington by his second
wife was the Archibald who became first Earl
of Rosebery. This son was born in 1661, and
lived to 1723. In his early manhood he spent
considerable time in foreign travel, and served

46 Xorb IRoseberg: Ibis Xife anb Speeches
with the Imperial army in Hungary. He was
opposed to the policy of James II. in Scotland,
and he was summoned before the Privy Council
on June 26, 1688, on the charge of " leasing making
and sowing discord among the officers of State."
Through the intervention of the Duke of Berwick,
the process against him was countermanded. After
the Revolution he was appointed one of the
gentlemen of the bed-chamber to Prince George of
Denmark. In 1695 ne was chosen to represent
the county of Edinburgh in the Scottish Parliament,
and, on account of his steady and zealous support
of the Government, he was, by patent dated
April 1, 1700, created Viscount Rosebery, Lord
Primrose and Dalmeny, to him and heirs male of
his body ; which failing, to the heirs female of his
body ; which also failing, to the heirs of entail
of his lands. He was sworn a Privy Councillor on
the accession of Queen Anne, and was created
Earl of Rosebery, Viscount of Inverkeithing,
and Lord Dalmeny and Primrose in the Scottish
peerage by patent dated April 10, 1703. He was
one of the Commissioners for the union with
England, and, after that work had been successfully
accomplished, he was chosen a Scottish representa
tive peer in 1707, 1708, 17 10, and 171 3. He
married Dorothea, only child and heiress of
Everingham Cressy, of Birkin, Yorkshire, repre
sentative of the ancient families of Cressy,
Everingham, Birkin, etc., by whom he had

Some 1Rare Boofes 47
twelve children, six sons and six daughters.
He died in 1723.
There is abundant evidence that the first Earl
of Rosebery was a man of considerable literary
taste, for in the British Museum to-day there
can be seen a catalogue of his books, which were
sold by auction in Edinburgh in 1724.
The front page of the catalogue runs :
A
CATALOGUE OF VALUABLE
BOOKS
Belonging to the late Earl of Rosebery, consisting
of Divinity, History, Law, Architecture, Husbandry,
Gardening, Travels, etc., with a great many Volumes
of curious Pamphlets. To be sold by Way of Auction
the 7th day of December 1724, at the House of
Mr. William Adams, Printer, over against the General
Post Office.
The Auction will begin every Day except Sunday,
at 3 of the Clock in the Afternoon, and continue to 6,
till all the Books are sold.
The common Rules of Auctions will be observed.
Catalogues are to be had at the Place of Sale,
Price 6d. which will be discounted to those who
buy Books to the value of 20s.
The Books may be seen 3 Days before the Beginning
of the Auction.

EDINBURGH
Printed in the Year MDCCXXIV.

48 Xorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speeches
There is a written note in front of the bound
volume of the catalogue by James Maidment, who
writes :
" This collection of Books belonged to Archibald
Primrose, first Earl of Rosebery who married in
February 1690 Dorothea, daughter of Everingham
Cressy of Birkin in Yorkshire — by whom he had
six sons and six daughters. He died on the
20th of October 1723 in the 59th year of his
age. This is the only copy of the catalogue of
his books I have ever seen. — J. M."
These books and pamphlets had all been
published between about 1526 and 1713. I have
been unable to discover why they were sold.
Doubtless their distribution has been deeply
regretted by every subsequent Earl of Rosebery,
and especially by the present holder of the
title. The first Earl was succeeded in the peerage
by his eldest son, James, who, on the death in
1 741 of his kinsman Hugh, Viscount Primrose,
inherited the family estate and baronetage of the
elder branch of the Primrose family.
To make the story of the succession complete,
it is well to quote from Burke's Peerage as
follows :
"Sir Archibald Primrose had acquired consider
able landed property by purchase, particularly the
noble barony of Barnbougle and Dalmeny, which
he bought in 1662, from John, fourth Earl of

©rber of Succession 49
Haddington. He was succeeded at his decease,
1679, by his second son, Sir William Primrose, of
Carington, who married Mary, third daughter
of Patrick Scott Esq. of Thirlestane, co. Selkirk,
and dying in 1687 was succeeded by his eldest
surviving son,
"Sir James, M.P. for the county of Edinburgh
in 1703, who was elevated to the peerage, 30 Nov.
1703, as Lord Primrose and Castlefield, and
Viscount Primrose, with remainder, in default of
his own male heirs, to those of his father, Sir
William Primrose. His lordship married Eleanor,
youngest daughter of James, 2nd Earl of
Loudoun, and dying 1706 was succeeded by his
eldest son, Archibald, second viscount, at whose
decease unmarried, in June 171 6, the honours
devolved upon his brother,
" Hugh, 3rd viscount, a lieut.-col. in the army,
engaged for some years in active service upon the
Continent. His lordship married (lie. 14 May
1740) Anne, daughter of Peter Drelincourt, Dean
of Armagh, but had no issue. He died 8 May
1 74 1, when the peerage is supposed to have
expired, being in remainder to the heirs male of
the body of Sir William Primrose, 2nd bart., while
the baronetcy passed to his lordship's kinsman,
" James, 2nd Earl of Rosebery, as 6th bart.
His lordship married Mary, daughter of the Hon.
Lieut. Gen. John Campbell, and sister of John,
4th Duke of Argyll, by whom he had issue
vol. i„ 4

s° ftorb IRoseberg: Ibis 3Ltfe anb Speeches
John, Lord Dalmeny, who died ii August 1755; 2
Neil, 3rd Earl, and Dorothea, the wife of Sir
Adam Inglis, Bart. The only surviving son,
" Neil, 3rd Earl, K.T., born in 1728, succeeded
his father 8 May 1756 ; he married ist, in 1764
Susan, sister and heir of Sir Randal Ward, Bart.,
and 2ndly, 1775 Mary, daughter of Sir Francis
Vincent, Bart."
The third Earl of Rosebery, it will thus be
seen, bore the same< name, Neil, as the present
Earl's second son. The fourth Earl, the present
peer's grandfather, was born at Dalmeny Castle,
Linlithgowshire, on October 14, 1783. His mother
was Mary, only daughter of Francis Vincent, of
Stoke d'Abernon, Surrey. The fourth Earl was
educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and
graduated M.A. in 1804. He was in Parliament
for the burgh of Helston in 1805 and 1806 and for
Cashel in 1806 and 1807. He succeeded to the
Earldom on the death of his father, January, 1814,
and for several Parliaments he was chosen as a
representative peer. Such selection soon ceased to
be necessary to give him the right to sit in the
House of Lords, for on January 17, 1828, he was
created a peer of the United Kingdom by the title
of Baron Rosebery, of Rosebery, Midlothian, which
is the title by which the present Earl sits in the
Lords. The fourth Earl took an active interest as
a Liberal in the passing of the Reform Bill of 1832.
He had been in 1831 sworn a member of the Privy

H picture of povertg si
Council, and in 1846 was made a Knight of the
Order of the Thistle. From 1843 to l^3 he was
Lord- Lieutenant of Linlithgowshire. He was a
Fellow of the Royal Society and of other learned
institutions. In 1849 he received the honorary
degree of D.C.L. from the University of
Cambridge. The fourth Earl married, first, Harriet, second
daughter of the Hon. Bartholomew Bouverie (after
wards Earl of Radnor), by whom he had two sons
and a daughter. The marriage was dissolved in
181 5, and he married a second wife, Anne Margaret
Anson, eldest daughter of Thomas, first Viscount
Anson (afterwards Earl of Lichfield), by whom he
had two sons. His eldest son by the first marriage,
Archibald, Lord Dalmeny, born in 1809, repre
sented the Stirling Burghs in Parliament from 1833
to 1847, and from April, 1835, to August, 1841, was
a Lord of the Admiralty. This peer's career has
been described in the previous chapter.
In numerous brief sketches of the life of the
Earl of Rosebery, reference has been made to a
striking leading article which on the day of his
birth appeared in The Times. It related to the
condition of the poor and to the housing question,
to which the future Prime Minister was later to
give his serious attention, and, as Chairman of
the London County Council, to contribute valuable
work. To indicate the condition of London then
it will be useful to quote from the picture which

52 QLorb IRoseberg: Ibis 2Ltfe anb Speeches
was drawn in The Times. The writer of the article
said :
" And the majority [of the population] is very
poor. The poor cannot afford to repair, decorate,
and excavate. What they have given them, that
they must keep. What they can't mend, that they
must endure. This is their condition in many
things, but in nothing so much as in their tene
ments. They may change from one to the other,
but they seldom change for the better. They may
leave a ruin that is in danger of falling, but it is
ten to one that they will find themselves under a
roof that admits the rain, or, if they fly from one
that lets in water above, they may become tenants
of an abode that has no water at all ; or, if they
get a supply of water, it is probably tainted with
the miasma of a myriad of contiguous and contagious
cesspools. Lastly, wherever they go, they are
studiously and universally forbidden that freest
of God's gifts to man — fresh air. This applies
to all large towns indiscriminately ; to all our
cities, and especially to London. Women have
been known to walk five miles, from one end of
the metropolis to the other, to the daily task
of charing, and the same distance back again
home. . . .
" And for all these discomforts who is responsible ?
The Government ? No. In England such things
are above the reach of Government. The landlord ?
Alas ! he has nothing to do with the water, — that

"Mhen Dotes was Wanteb" 53
belongs to a water company; nor with the cesspools,
— they are under the jurisdiction of the Commis
sioners of Sewers ; nor with the gas, — that's the
gas companies' business. But he has to do with
those foul, filthy congregations of bricks, mortar,
and unseasoned wood, tottering with their native
decrepitude, rotten with morbid moisture, reeking
with perpetual vapours, and breathing the infection
of ineradicable disease ? No, not exactly that,
either : he has, to be sure, a little interest in them
cottages ; he and another gent, a retired bricklayer
and a licensed victualler, took a short lease of
some ground thereabouts that was rather swampy
and didn't cost much. It was just after the time
of the Reform Bill, and votes was wanted, so they
just run up these little houses amongst them,
share and share alike between 'em, — and if one
of 'em don't interfere, why, then, neither of the
others will. So they stand just as they were
built ; and if they are not very good, they are
not worse than many others, and they are very
cheap, all things considered.
" So there they stand, not worse than many
others, but, like many others, damp, dark, airless,
cheerless, comfortless, where naught that lives
lives in health, and death often comes premature
to thwart the triumph of the lingering pestilence.
Such are the abodes which, with their unsightly
cumbrousness, make strangers stare equally at the
freedom of English taste and the powerlessness

54 Xorb IRoseberg: Ibis Xife anb Speeches
of the English Government, but of which the
exterior deformity feebly indicates the pest and
putrefaction within.
" We have spoken of other of our provincial
manufacturing towns. Bad, indeed, are the sites,
and worse the buildings, of the poorer class. The
Hunslet district of Leeds — the Irish quarter of
Liverpool — what can be worse than these ? We
speak of ordinary times and average suffering. This
year : Liverpool is groaning under an immigrant
disease and an alien famine. But we can assure
the world that, bad, wretched, and pitiable as
are these places, they do not exceed in misery,
wretchedness, and squalor some of the outlying
parishes and some of the most central parts of
the metropolis. Thread the passages of White-
chapel, dive into the alleys that tessellate Saffron
Hill, or descend into that moral Pandemonium
which is reached within five minutes' walk of
Westminster Abbey, and you will find such an
absence of all the essentials not only of comfort,
but almost of civilisation — such destitution, dirt,
and squalor as would hardly be tolerated in the
by-streets of Toledo or the Trastevere."
To give point to his assertions, the writer of
the article quotes freely from a speech delivered
by Lord Ethrington at the Mechanics' Institute
at Plymouth in the year 1845 :
" I will now give you an account of a visit
I paid, in company with my benevolent friend,

XEbe 1Rent of Cellars 55
Mr. Toynbee, to a number of dwellings in the
neighbourhood of Golden Square, close behind the
magnificent thoroughfare of Regent Street. It is
a quarter inhabited by the most respectable of the
labouring classes. Suffering, but not yet degraded,
they received us with courtesy. . . . These families
have for the most part but one room, about twelve
feet square, in which they sleep and live, and some
carry on their trade besides.
" I found many of them full of steam from clothes
hung up to dry across the room. In one there
lay a child, dead five days. We did not see
one healthy face, either of adult or child. Many
children were ill : some had measles, some with
fever, many with scrofula which had covered them
with wounds. In every family we heard of sickness
and death ; some had lost two-thirds, hardly any
less than one-half, their children.
" These houses were now partitioned off into
lodgings, at rent varying from sixpence a week
for a very bad cellar to five shillings for a large
upper room, the average being about half a crown.
In no case had they any but an intermittent supply
of water at the bottom of the house, which in some
cases was kept in water-butts of decaying wood.
We never found more than one privy to each
house, each containing thirty or forty inmates ;
this was sometimes in the centre of the house,
sometimes in a little hole of a backyard.
" Some of these rooms were situated over

56 Xorb "IRoseberg: Ibis Xife anb Speeches
crowded cow-houses, where cows, diseased by the
badness of the air, supply the neighbourhood with
diseased milk ; some close to slaughter-houses,
where I saw the steam reeking up from hot car
casses ; some over cesspools, cleaned out — some
once in five, others once in seventeen years. The
walls were filthy, the smells either abominable or
exchanged for a closeness still more oppressive,
the passages dark and tortuous. And yet here
were living the most respectable of the labouring
classes, porters, policemen, and such-like . . .
paying for their one miserable room as much as
Mr. Ashworth, of Egerton, a manufacturer such
as this country may well be proud of, receives
from his prosperous workpeople for cottages which
I saw containing five and six and seven rooms
each, with every convenience. . . . Hundreds
and thousands of human beings annually are born
into the richest of earthly capitals to thieve,
starve, or rot ; and for a Government to interfere
for the amelioration of their physical or moral
state would be deemed an invasion of popular
privileges, vested rights, and private property."
From the time that article was written to the
present day is just over half a century. There
is a striking likeness in the statements which have
recently been placed before the public on the
housing problem to the picture here presented of
the condition of the poor at the time Lord Rosebery
was born. Have we progressed since ? There is no

H jfielb for influence 57
doubt that we have — with the work of the London
County Council in clearing insanitary areas, in
erecting workmen's dwellings, in the " poor men's
hotels " which philanthropists and others have
built. Lord Rosebery, by his words and by his
acts (especially in connection with the London
County Council) has taken an important part in
such improvement as we have happily seen. It
may well be that in these social problems he may
find a suitable field in the future, with all the
power and influence once more of the first Minister
in the country, for much of his brilliant ability.

CHAPTER IV
THE SCHOOLBOY — AT BRIGHTON  FAGGING AT ETON — POACHING EGGS
FOR MR. ACLAND — A DEFENCE OF THE SYSTEM OF FAGGING —
SPEAKING AT THE ETON SOCIETY  HIS SCHOOLMASTER'S APPRECIA
TION — MR. CORY'S LETTERS — " ANYHOW, HE WILL BE AN ORATOR "
— " SUCH A MAN AS THE POETS DELIGHT IN " — "FLOREAT ETONA "
AS Lord Dalmeny the earliest school experience
of the present Earl of Rosebery was
at Brighton, at the establishment of Mr. W. R.
Lee, who well cared for the youngsters in their
preparatory period. Eton College was to be the
next scholastic home of the young Lord ; but before
he made his acquaintance with that institution he
had delivered his first speech. The then aged
Earl of Rosebery, grandsire of the present Peer,
took special delight in having the young heir near
him, and on one of these occasions there was a
volunteer review. The date was September 5,
1 86 1. Lord Dalmeny was enjoying a holiday from
school, and was staying at Dalmeny. The Earl of
Rosebery had invited the Linlithgow Company
of Rifle Volunteers to visit Dalmeny Park.
The volunteers mustered at Linlithgow shortly
after eight o'clock in the morning, and proceeded
to Winchburgh, from which place they marched
58

H Schoolbog ©rator 59
six miles to Dalmeny, where they executed a
number of manoeuvres. Afterwards they marched
to Barnbougle Castle, where they were given a
luncheon of a most substantial and sumptuous
description. The Earl of Rosebery, K.G., Lord-
Lieutenant of the county, presided, and Captain the
Hon. Bouverie Primrose occupied the " croupier's,"
or vice-chairman's, seat. Others present included
the Countess of Rosebery, Lady Emily Primrose,
Mr. Johnston Stewart, of Straiton, captain of the
volunteer company, Captain New, Lord Dalmeny,
and James Dundas, of Dundas, Vice- Lieutenant
of the county.
After the luncheon, Captain New proposed the
health of Lord Rosebery, who in reply frankly
stated that he did not consider himself a capable
judge of military matters ; but on the authority
of those on the ground who were able to judge,
he had much pleasure in complimenting the men
upon their smart and soldier-like appearance and
skill in the movements which had been executed.
He expressed the fullest sympathy with, and the
highest appreciation of, the volunteer movement,
and gave it as his opinion that whatever might be
the state of parties abroad, or the feeling of foreign
nations, the insular position of Great Britain
rendered it desirable that the volunteers should
maintain themselves in the high proficiency in
drill which he had observed with so much pleasure
in their evolutions that day.

60 Xorb IRoseberg: ibis Xife anb Speecbes
This address of the aged peer having been
listened to with great attention and appreciation,
other toasts were given, and the boy-heir had his
health drunk with enthusiasm. Being called upon
to reply, the future Premier, then only fourteen
years old, without hesitation rose, and, with a
modesty and clearness of speech which greatly
impressed those who listened, expressed his thanks
for the honour which had been done him. The
brief reports of the proceedings which were
published at the time unfortunately do not, so far
as the writer's researches have shown, give a
record of that first speech ; but there is enough
related of the interesting gathering to show that
the young lord acquitted himself admirably in the
few remarks he made.
Eton was soon afterwards entered. To that
college Lord Dalmeny was sent in 1862.
" Fagging " was then a subject which had been
curiously exercising the public mind. Dalmeny
of course had to go through the mill, and, like a
sensible boy, did not mind it. He was "fag" to
Mr. Acland, who was afterwards to be closely
associated with him in the political world. Speak
ing a good many years afterwards, at a political
meeting, Lord Rosebery recalled the fact, and said :
" It is a long time since you and I, Mr. Chairman
[Mr. Acland was presiding over the meeting], first
met. I have always been a little under your
presidence, because I began as your fag at Eton,

Hs jfag to Hclanb 61
and I little thought when I poached your eggs
and made your tea that we were destined to meet
under these very dissimilar circumstances. May
I allude to one other remark that you made ? You
said you were now an outsider. Allow me to say,
sir, in all that humility which befits our former
relations, that I trust you will soon be an insider."
While there may be differences of opinion on the
subject of " fagging " generally, the boys themselves,
who experience the system, should certainly be
listened to on the matter with particular attention.
Turning to The Eton College Chronicle of Dalmeny's
time, there is to be found a very interesting article
showing how the lads regarded the question :
" The public schools of England and their
management had shared," it was pointed out,
"a large portion of attention of late, and every
institution and custom observed in the m had been
criticised. The system of fagging at Eton had been
the subject of much conversation in many circles.
" The word ' fagging,' in the abstract, does no
doubt sound very harsh and disagreeable, and, like
slavery, seems at first sight to be an institution
unworthy of Englishmen ; and so especially of
those who are born out of its noblest families.
But both fagging and slavery have changed much
during late years, and the more gentle influences of
civilisation have extended even to those remote
regions where that detestable commerce in man
kind is carried on.

62 3Lorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speeches
" The fact is, that in the great schools of this
age there must be some distinction made between
those who are strong in body and those whose
strength lies in their classical proficiency. This
and every other usage has its abuses, and there
are, of course, some few instances when this
authority has been misapplied. But bullying is
now in public schools, at all events in this school,
unknown, and the suppression of bullying was
brought about by the introduction of fagging.
"The tender mother may have sad misgivings
about subjecting her pet child to the austere
commands of a rough ' fifth form,' and the
delicately nurtured offspring of some noble family
may think it beneath him to soil his hands by
preparing tea and toast for one, if not his equal,
very probably his inferior by descent ; but both the
one and the other may rest assured that in this
easy yoke is their chief and only safeguard against
the tyranny of youthful despots, who would lay
down the law of might against that of right, and
who — ' the little tyrant of these fields ' — require the
supervision of their more learned contemporaries
in order to restrain undue violence.
" Unless there be some recognised authority
and influence awarded to those who by their
abilities or industry have gained a high position
in their school, the ' fifth-form boy,' who by
his hard work or natural talent had climbed up
to the top of the tree, but was small in stature

ffagaina versus JBuIlging 63
or weak in body, would be at the mercy of any
powerful or lazy young reprobate who wished to
get his verses done for him, and who would thrash
his weaker but more learned playmate in the event
of his refusing to comply with his request ; so that
those who were the most powerful in body and
perhaps the most deficient in knowledge would
be the tyrants of their school and the bullies of
those who were really their superiors.
" Therefore the system of fagging is the only
antidote to that of bullying. The race must not be
to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but due
honour must be paid to whom it is due, and ' tribute
to whom tribute ' ; and this institution, while it acts
as an additional incentive to the industrious, is an
infallible bridle to the strong, but unlearned, and
the necessary protection of Real Merit and Proper
Discipline." All which is a sufficiently good defence of a
system which has done little or no harm and an
enormous amount of good.
A perusal of The Eton College Chronicle shows
how great was the interest taken in sport in the
early sixties. The pages are almost entirely
devoted to records of sport. The proceedings of
the Debating Society were recorded only in lines.
Dalmeny joined the Eton Society in 1864, and in
the following year, on July 20, the record of the
Society's proceedings thus stands in The Eton
College Chronicle :

64 Xorb IRoseberg: "Ibis Xife anb Speeches
" Discussion : ' Was Sir Harry Vane's an
Estimable Character ? ' Opened by Lord Dalmeny
in his favour. Noes, 16. Ayes, 3. Majority
against, 13."
Such brevities were evidently regarded by the
conductors of the Chronicle as sufficient for these
debates, in which many future men of eminence
made their earliest marks as orators. All sport,
on the other hand, was fully dealt with in its
columns, and Dalmeny's name frequently appears
in the aquatic notes, for he was particularly fond
of boating. Horse-racing had a great interest at
the college, and the same number which records
Lord Dalmeny's address to the Eton Society
devotes a two-column special article to this subject.
Lord Dalmeny was at Eton amongst a number
of men who have since made their names notable.
He entered the college in 1862, and his con
temporaries included Mr. Arthur Balfour and Lord
Randolph Churchill, who were his juniors. Mr.
Balfour was one year and Lord Randolph two
years younger than Dalmeny. Amongst others
whose Eton life was contemporary with his were
Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice, Canon H. S. Holland,
Lord Esher, Sir Stafford Northcote, the Earl of
Pembroke, Bishop Kennion, Lord Halifax, and
Lord Minto.
Lord Dalmeny had the advantage at Eton of
being influenced very considerably by Mr. William
Johnson, who subsequently changed his name to

ftbe j£ton Schoolmaster 65
Cory, by which I shall refer to him. This gentle
man was a writer of considerable ability. He
was a brilliant scholar and a keen observer. It
is impossible to read the " Letters and Journals of
William Cory," which were selected and arranged
by Mr. Francis Warre Cornish, and printed at
Oxford for subscribers only, without being con
vinced that it must have been good to have
been brought into intimate acquaintanceship with
that cultured and kindly character. The list of
subscribers to Cory's letters and journals is
only twenty -three, but it is a distinguished list.
It includes Lord Rosebery, Scott-Holland (or
H. S. Holland, as it is now the custom to see
him styled), Sir S. Northcote, H. O. Sturgis,
A. C. Ainger, E. C. Austin Leigh, A. C. Benson,
Hon. R. B. Brett, A. D. Coleridge, Capt. H. H.
Drummond, Archdeacon Furse, Sir F. Pollock,
W. Durnford, Charles Wood (Viscount Halifax),
Col. H. Hallam Parr, F. C. Hodgson, H. E.
Luxmore, Hon. E. W. S. Lyttelton, Lord Pem
broke, F. H. Rawlins, C. D. Williamson, the
Hon. F. L. Wood, and E. E. Vaughan. The
readers of the letters and journals must feel it
to have been a great privilege to have been
permitted to subscribe for the volume. With
many of the subscribers Mr. Cory had kept up
a correspondence, and letters appear addressed
to others of note — Mr. H. W. Paul and Mr.
C. Kegan Paul, for instance; Lady Pollock, Mr.
vol. 1. 5

66 ftorb IRoseberg: Ibis 3Life anb Speeches
F. Warre Cornish, Miss Margaret Cornish, the
Rev. E. D. Stone, Mrs. Rose Paul, Miss
Gwendolen Graham, and Miss Janet Bartrum.
For so young a lad, Lord Dalmeny, at the
time he went to Eton and met this master, William
Cory, must have had a marvellous appetite for
literature. The first mention of Dalmeny in the
Cory correspondence is in a letter dated Eton
College, February g, 1862, and addressed to Mr.
Henry Bradshaw. In that letter Mr. Cory shows
how his interest had already been aroused in his
new pupil. He suggests to Bradshaw that he
should come to Eton, as " you will have a new
motive if they let you see Hawtrey's books,
which will, I suppose, be sold. But come, any
how, to see the boys and young men. My friend
Dalmeny is looking forward to making your
acquaintance, with the natural eagerness of a
budding bibliomaniac. I took him last week to
Lilly's, and he forthwith inquired for rare tracts
printed by his ancestor, Primrose. We went on
to Evans's, and there he picked out a print
representing another Primrose of the seventeenth
century, preacher to the French Church in London.
At Holloway's he bought autographs, and finally
went and made acquaintance with my brother
and sister, and showed as much interest in a live
child as in dead books. He was quite taken, as
I was too, with Dufferin's show speech (do you
remember Dufferin ? — how Cookesley called him

"ibe will be an ©rator" 67
the ' orator ' ?) ; and when Wayte set theme out of
it, the boy put the peroration about ' Laboramas '
into flowing, simple, dignified Latin, and then
went with me through the last book of the
Princess. The night before I had translated to
him most of the beautiful bits of Agamemnon,
and I assure you he enjoyed the old poetry nearly
as much as the modern. I am doing all I can
to make him a scholar ; anyhow, he will be an
orator, and, if not a poet, such a man as poets
delight in."
It is almost impossible to conceive a more
beautiful picture than that of a future Prime
Minister at the age of sixteen ; a picture of a lad
who has already won by his good qualities and
exceptional abilities not only the interest and
esteem of this cultured and dignified master, but
his friendship, his admiration for skill in Latin
verse, his appreciation as an admirer of the old
poetry : ""I am doing all I can to make him a
scholar ; anyhow, he will be an orator, and, if not
a poet, such a man as poets delight in." There
is no one who has heard a number of addresses
in later life by the Earl of Rosebery who can
fail to understand how completely has been justified
that forecast by William Cory of the future career
and qualities of that distinguished pupil.
In a letter written from King's College on
April 20 of the same year there was a dissertation
upon the subject of Lord Stanhope's " Life of Pitt,"

68 xorb IRoseberg: Ibis Xife anb Speeches
which in the opening sentence indicates how great
was the interest already taken in the life of the
statesman with whose career the Earl of Rosebery
was subsequently to deal in a biographical sketch
Mr. Cory writes :
" I have been qualifying for an interview with
you by reading the ' Family Life of Pitt,' which
I find savours not nearly so much of the family
as of the Annual Register, being stuffed with
narratives of events which Pitt expressed no
opinion upon — such as the battle of Camperdown.
" I find the third volume much better than the
two first. There is really much valuable light
thrown on Pitt's resignation. It is a successful
book in raising one's already high estimate of
Pitt's character, but it is not at all an instructive
book for a politician ; e.g., the Budgets are treated
in a startlingly superficial way. The author should
at least have given us the benefit of a striking
history of Pitt's financial policy, given in a Budget
speech by Gladstone in 1853. . . .
" The biography ought to explain, I think, why
and how Pitt was estranged from Shelburne, who
was, at starting, his leader. I believe Shelburne
must have been a really bad man ; but the silence
about him after the break-up of his Ministry
puzzles me in all books, since he remained for
twenty years a leading speaker. . . .
" On the whole the book is [more] like a
shambling and scanty history of England, with

Earlg interest in flMtt 69
an occasional insertion of something about Pitt,
than a political biography."
That letter possesses very considerable interest,
remembering that it is written by the Eton master
to his pupil. It shows the keenness of the interest
which the boy was taking in Pitt, and especially
the close study he must have made of his subject,
for the master writes : "I have been qualifying
for an interview with you [the italics are Mr. Cory's]
by reading the ' Family Life of Pitt.' " Certain
it is that, when the time came for Lord Rosebery
to give expression to his own views on the career
of a statesman in whom he evinced a peculiar
interest, he devoted much consideration to explain
ing the estrangement between Pitt and Shelburne,
and made it a true political biography instead of
a scrap of history.
Again and again there are indications of the
schoolboy's special interest in Pitt.
The schoolmaster, writing from Penzance,
describes the gallery at Boconnoc :
" One end of it is a small, pleasant bookroom,
containing one or two morocco relics of the first
and last Lord Greville, amongst others a copy
given by him to his nephew, Lord Fortescue
(my courteous host), and the little book which
he edited, ' Chatham's Letters to his Nephew,'
with the letter of dedication to William Pitt,
beginning so coldly, ' My dear sir,' after they
had been so closely and dearly united in their

70 Xorb IRoseberg: Ibis Xife anb Speeches
sweet youth. Pitt never answered the letter, which
must have been meant, in Addington's days, as
an olive branch."
There are also in this letter some descriptions
of the scenery (which would not have been written
unless with the knowledge that the pupil would be
interested), concluding with a contrast of a piece
of broken land with the long troughs of woodland
" where the deer and the streamlets wander. It is
the most shady, soft, silent, dreamy, poetical spot
I ever saw ; and I like to connect my beloved
eighteenth century — the first age since the time of
Pliny when men were at leisure to worship virtue —
with so much truly natural beauty and repose."
For some time in the latter portion of 1862 the
master was forced to remain away from Eton for
a time through illness, and during that period his
work was done by his colleagues. Writing on
November 17 to Mr. F. Warre Cornish, he says:
" Did you ever read in Keble's ' Lyra Inno-
centium' the poem on shyness ? It should be in
every teacher's notebook. . . .
" I have sent these lads some modern history
questions, and Dalmeny promises to do them,
that he may thereby induce me to come back —
rather a circuitous reason. I would give you a
piece of plate if you would get that lad to work :
he is one of those who like the palm without the
dust. He writes me word that he got ' fair' for
his ' Lyrics,' "

Bronte ibanbwriting Criticiseb 71
From Torquay shortly afterwards came a letter
to Dalmeny :
" I wish you to read, though it is not much
of a book, Bourne's ' Life of Sir Philip Sidney.'
Bourne has learnt to admire virtue and liberty
for writers better than himself, and he writes in
much the same strain as Motley. The really
delightful part of Sir Philip Sidney's life is his
passionate yet intellectual defence of his injured
father, rewarded by the father's perfect admiration.
Of all human happiness, the crown is, to be able
to defend one's father, or to thank a son for his
championship." Lord Rosebery has given many evidences of the
fact that he is a Bronte enthusiast, and certain it
is that his schoolmaster helped to develop that
taste. Writing to his pupil on November 8, 1863,
Mr. Cory says :
" Mrs. Gaskell promised my brother a set of
her books, and gave him half a letter, with the
signature of C. Bronte. Her writing is not good
enough for the author of ' Villette ' : she turns her
d over, but she writes a good s, which I mean
to take up (a Greek s), and she makes a in the
Greek manner (a), or something like it. . . .
" I brought away from Staines as my own a
delightful Kentish dog called Bob. To-day Bob
went out to walk with me, and behaved charmingly.
I tied him up in a pro forma way, and left him
when I went to chapel. After chapel he was

72 Xorb IRoseberg: Ibis Xife anb Speeches
gone ... I suspect he has run back to Staines,
where he lately tasted blood, the blood of a
respectable parishioner, so that he cannot live
there, and must be sent back.
* # # # *
" Hartopp is very proud of having fought at
the Election riot. He says he knocked down a
man ; and we believe the man was more like a
wineskin than a man, and yielded to a push.
Behind the curtain on the landing, two hours
after the fray, I heard Rawlins and Lewis, K.S.,
ask E. Neville Lyttelton about his adventures.
Twice did he answer, ' I got a tap on the head,'
and then they went into the depths of Plato and
Livy. . . . My belief is that he knocked down
three fellow-creatures, and hurt his knuckles and
got some sort of eye. Willan had two black
eyes, Tumor one ; Candy, at the peril of his life,
rescued four captured hats ; but still some people
came down hatless, as I learn from Hartopp's
theme. . . ."
From the election fight the schoolmaster passes
on to one of the earliest references to politics in
this correspondence. Mr. Cory writes to Dalmeny:
" I was greatly stirred by the Emperor's speech,
and read it out at construing, with trimmings — that
is to say, a quotation from ' Locksley Hall.' He
is not the worse statesman for indulging an
' idealogue's' taste for visions such as young poets
and undergraduates generally take up with, about

Exceptional Umowlebge of ffrencb 73
' a Parliament of man, a Federation of the world.'
I like him better than his uncle ; but I would pay
income tax to put an Orleans King in his place
or in his son's place."
On November 28, 1863, Dalmeny was written
to thus :
" On Sunday I read from my new book (a
lovely bit of binding) a beautiful old poem which
you ought to know, Tickell's ' Elegy on Addison,'
all about Westminster Abbey, where I am to
be next Sunday morning. What can be better
than the combination of classical heroic lines with
the memory of classical, liberal, wise Addison —
mention made of statesmen and poets, in a setting
of perfect ecclesiastical associations ? "
Lord Dalmeny's acquaintance with French was
evidently exceptional. In Mr. Cory's journal at
Eton on February 2 it is noted, amongst a mass
of things that show how busy a life the school
master led :
" I looked over Dalmeny's verses : to alter them
was a long, delicate job, as they were not common
place pro forma things, but an honest attempt at
turning (of his own accord) some rhymes of mine
which he had read in manuscript on the French
lady who, on her deathbed, made her page play
on the lute ' La DeTaite des Suisses,' till he came to
' Tout est perdu,' then made him go over it again,
and died murmuring those last sad words. . . .
" Feb. 4. — F. Wood came to play chess with

74 Xorb IRoseberg: Ibis Xife anb Speeches
Northcote. . . . Looked over some French exercises
with the boys. Incidentally, boys like F. Wood
and Dalmeny learn a little by hearing me talk
over their mistakes : I appeal to them when in
doubt, but I am getting to trust myself more
than I did at first."
Dalmeny, in the year 1864, when he was sixteen
years of age, visited Italy under the excellent care
of Mr. Cory, who sent home some interesting
letters describing their doings. Thus he writes
to the Rev. C. W. Furse :
"That morning [April 4, 1864] I sent the
boys to see the old woman at the Minerva,
and they were mightily pleased with him (?)
and the other nondescripts.
" I strolled out promiscuously, hit upon the Pan
theon, and knew it by sight ; saw a church with
fleur de lys on it, and found it was dedicated to St.
Louis of France, which was rather gratifying. . . .
" Out again with Dalmeny. . . . He wanted to
see St. Peter's and St. John Lateran ; so we did
both, and made a vain attempt at the Sistine.
At the Lateran we were happy, reading the
inscriptions on the monuments. . . . We had
a royal view of the beautiful hills.
"Then we walked back by Coliseum, stumbled
upon Cloaca Maxima, with which I was charmed
and the boy disgusted ; we agreed, however, about
the two bell-towers, St. George, I think, and
Mouth of Truth, and I enjoyed them all the

Scenes in Jtalg 75
more because I had never heard of them. Indeed,
I think the second is the prettiest thing in Rome,
and well worth imitation as a church tower. So
I took the lad to Keats' grave, as we had nothing
else' to do, and I suppose I am the only man
that ever went there twice in one day.
" Negatively I enjoyed my escape from the
babble about art.  tried it on with me, but
I at once indicated a preference for Paris, and in
other ways showed myself Vandal enough to be
left to invincible ignorance. He was so good as
to suggest that I should devote the morning to
Overbeck's studio. . . . All the artists of this
century are dust compared to the creeper that hung
like a child's uncombed hair over a white garden
wall near the Lateran, a handful of the largesse
scattered by spring.
"April 5 we went to Civita. Vecchia, and took
diligence for Pollonica. This was an austere
journey, all the length of the Maremma — coming
down with a scream to a dark river (Ombrone),
and waiting on the bank for a ferryboat coming to
us silently with a Cyclops light. One village every
five hours. Ninety-four miles of wilderness without
rails. . . . That day we had the loveliest sunset at
Leghorn ; in the street at night we saw the awful
and deeply interesting sight of the Misericordia,
the black-calicoed masked men, with one great
torch, tramping fiercely down the street, and
stopping at a gin-palace for the coffin, ... If

76 Xorb "IRoseberg : Ibis 3Life anb Speeches
anything could add to the terrors of death it
would be that mass of live blackness. . . .
"We saw Sainte Chapelle and Notre Dame. . . .
We saw the tomb of Napoleon, which is a poor
concern ; we went to a review of three thousand
cavalry, which was beautiful ; we heard some fresh,
brilliant music, Gounod's Mireille ; we stopped,
we talked politics and history. Dalmeny is a
strong but wise admirer of both Napoleons.
Altogether he must be the wisest boy that ever
lived — and full of fun, too."
On April 19, 1867, when Lord Dalmeny was
again in Italy for a tour, Mr. Cory, however,
then being at home, there is a letter to Lord
Rosebery announcing that he is going to the
wild moors near Jane Eyre's country, and that
he is reading Burton's "History of Scotland"
out of sheer love of the country. He adds :
" If there is one thing I should like to do, it
would be to go with some one like-minded, some
one who Waverleyed and Marmioned at eight
years old, all over Scott's haunts, particularly the
Douglas-land which he visited at the very end of
his beautiful life, after writing ' Castle Dangerous.'
" Read all you can about St. Francis ; go to
Assisi. Tell the Italians, with my love, that I
have subscribed fifty francs to Manni's monument.
Insult Antonelli for me."
The letter is, as usual, signed, " Yours affectionately."

21 Hbarlow MaterHPartg n
There is a considerable interval next in the
correspondence, there being simply an occasional
letter, in one of which Mr. Cory describes an
amusing hunting-experience. In 1870 there was
a proposal for a water-party to Marlow. The
letter was written to the old pupil, now Earl
of Rosebery, from 2, High Street, Eton, on
June 20, and runs :
"Your suggestion does you credit, and I have
forwarded your note to the hero of the day. . . .
" The day must be, I think, John Bap., next
Friday ; and I will leave Wise's Yard in the good
old style at 12 o'clock for a Parslovienne 1 of
the most orthodox character. I burn my Rubicon's
cross, my scabbard, and throw away my bridge at
once by writing to order ducks and pie, etc.
" If you don't come I shall expect a telegram,
and I shall fill up with boy flesh lacking your soul
of wit and mirth probably ; but there are some
festive lads still here, and some that like ducks,
and one or two that like me ; so that I can fill
up gaps, but I must have a few hours to do
it. . . .
' Make an effort. You can go to a ball after
it, but don't ask me to let you ' catch a train ' in
time for dinner — that is pure slavery, having to
run to catch a train ; and it is that which sets one
against asking Londoners to come. Those who
1 A name for a water-party to Marlow and dinner at the Angler's
Rest, which was then kept by hospitable Mrs. Parslow.

78 Xorb IRoseberg: Ibis %itc anb Speeches
come should be altogether boys in their ways that
day ; tractable as well as merry, strictly obedient
to discipline, tender of the Parslovian roses, etc.,
etc. I expect you. . . ."
And the affectionate master was not disappointed.
On Lord Rosebery joining the Cabinet in 1885
his old master wrote to him, dating the letter
February 12 :
" I wish you joy of being in the Cabinet. . . .
" Mr. Gladstone ought never to have been Prime
Minister, because he is so invincibly ignorant
of British duties and interests outside Britain.
But he has not deserved to fall because Khartoum
has fallen ; and the cry about disaster is un
reasonable. " This is all that I inflict on you, except a kind
wish that you may escape flatterers and toadies,
Scottish, Colonial, or others, and will never
forget that great example of political dignity, Mr.
Pitt. . . . Farewell. Rule Britannia ! "
Of the very few letters that were subsequently
written, the following shows the keen interest the
young lord took in Scottish matters. The letter
was written to Miss Urith Collman. It ran :
" My old pupil, Rosebery, used to think, with
me, that Cockburn had the finest Scottish mind
ever known — he loved Scotland wisely and was
content with it. I remember that he noticed
with joy and pride the wonderful improvement of
Aberdeenshire effected in his own lifetime, the

Hn Etonian Banquet 79
sterility overcome by mind and by law guiding
and guarding industry."
Lord Rosebery in 1898 presided over a
unique gathering of Etonians ; and as " Floreat
Etona" was the whole spirit of the gathering, a
description of it may here be introduced. The
banquet was given in the Cafe- Monico, by old
Etonians, to three distinguished confreres, in
celebration of their appointment to high places —
the guests being Baron Curzon, of Kedleston,
who was shortly going to India as Viceroy ; the
Earl of Minto, called to the Governor-Generalship
of Canada; and the Rev. J. E. C. Welldon, then
Bishop-Designate of the Metropolitan See of
Calcutta. Their hosts were a most distinguished
band, two hundred and thirty in number. They
had been organised by a committee consisting
of the Marquis of Lansdowne, Mr. St. John
Brodrick, M.P., Mr. A. Lyttelton, M.P., Mr.
Walter Durnford, and Mr. Gerald Loder, M.P.
Even the decoration of the tables was remarkable.
It was a harmony in blue and white, the latter
colour displayed by an amazing number of baskets
of chrysanthemums ; the blue, which, as Etonians
and their friends know well, is the colour of the
college, appearing in silk bows on the flowers,
in a river of silk gauze running down each table,
and in the shades of the candles with which every
good restaurant-keeper thinks it necessary to poison
the air, in spite of the electric light. On the back

80 ftorb IRoseberg: ibis ftife anb Speeches
of the dinner-card was a list illustrating the success
of Etonians in rising to great posts. It showed
that of fifteen Governor-Generals of Canada, eight,
including the Earl of Minto, were trained at Eton,
and of sixteen Viceroys of India, nine, counting
Lord Curzon, had the same advantage.
Lord Rosebery, asking his hearers to drink to
the Queen, said it was recorded of one of Her
Majesty's predecessors that he remarked at an
Eton festival that Etonians were always to re
member that he was an anti- Westminster. Those
small polemics had disappeared. Our present
Sovereign took a larger view of her relation to
her subjects, not excluding those of Westminster.
But Etonians liked to think that her residence
near Eton gave her a practical interest in their
alma mater.
Lord Rosebery next proposed the toast of the
evening. This, he said, was in some respects
the most remarkable dinner at which he had had
the honour of assisting, A pair of smoked glasses
almost seemed necessary to contemplate the dazzling
celebrities who owed their success to Eton and
were assembled here. He well knew that on an
occasion like this the duty of a chairman was to
obliterate himself. He remembered a story that
the late Lord Granville used to tell. His lordship
was a guest at a dinner to a governor-designate
with very indifferent powers of speaking. As the
guest laboured through his speech, Lord Granville

Hn ©rator's Botes 81
cast his eye on the orator's notes and saw marked
in red ink and underlined, "Here dilate on the
cotton trade." Lord Rosebery forgot the end of
the story, but considering Lord Granville's readi
ness of resource, it was not difficult to surmise
that those notes disappeared, and the orator soon
followed their example. He (Lord Rosebery)
would not be guilty, and he trusted that the
numerous Viceroys that bristled around him would
not be guilty, of anything like dilation on the
cotton trade. Another reason made it impossible
to speak at length on this occasion. Every ship
of war was supposed to be the territory of the
country to which it belonged, and on the same
hypothesis he held that this apartment, which bore
all the characteristics of a London coffee-room of
the most refined and brilliant kind, was Eton
territory. No one who had had experience of the
debates in " Pop," or even of the conversation of
Etonians, would forget that brevity was the soul
of wit. Words such as " rot " and " bosh " were
usually applied by Etonians to any one who ex
ceeded three or four minutes in speaking. But if
this was Eton territory, one seemed to see through
a glass darkly a vision of these viceroys and
bishop designate drinking the " long glass " before
initiation on the present occasion. There was no
" long glass " at hand ; otherwise the company
would no doubt support the Chairman if he moved
that the ceremony should be performed. But the
vol. i. 6

82 xorb IRoseberg: Ibis 3Life anb Speecbes
associations of this company with Eton were getting
somewhat dim and distant. They were represented
by the presence of relations in the first, second,
or third generation, who were privileged to be
pupils within the walls of Eton, and he was not
sure that there was not an intensified feeling of
gloom when one found among his juniors at Eton
a Viceroy of India and a Bishop- Designate of
Calcutta going forth in the full maturity of their
powers to discharge the important functions of
their offices. But all had to drag the lengthening
chain, lengthening daily as regarded their connec
tion with Eton. There was one consolation which
an Etonian had in growing older — he always re
tained pride in the prowess of his school. The
Chairman had never known but one Etonian who
did not like Eton, and he very soon went to the
devil. It was a school which with everlasting
flow turned out viceroys and bishops and ministers
for this Empire of ours. The great Duke of
Wellington once said — it was a quotation the
company were sure to expect — that the battle of
Waterloo was won on the playing-fields of Eton ;
and he did not know how far those fields were
to extend, what treeless wastes they were to
encompass. But a great deal more than the battle
of Waterloo had been won on those fields. What,
for instance, would Canada have done without
Eton, seeing that of her last six Governor-Generals
all but one was an Etonian ? Lord Aberdeen was

Character /Ibafces the Empire 83
the unhappy exception, and no doubt if he could
he too would have been an Etonian. It was
infinitely pathetic that their alma mater should turn
out almost unconsciously the men who governed
the Empire, for however great the learning gained
at Eton, the highest and best part of the education
obtained there was not the education of the brain,
but the education of character. It was character
which had made the Empire what it is. One of
the distinguished guests on the present occasion
(Dr. Welldon) had been head-master of an estab
lishment (Harrow) which perhaps ought not to be
named on this occasion, but which was painfully
present to their minds about the middle of July.
Dr. Welldon, with his Etonian experience, had no
doubt moulded Harrow into something more like
Eton than it used to be. At any rate, making a
great sacrifice, and giving up one of the most
envied of English positions, he was going out
to take the Bishopric of Calcutta under circum
stances which must commend him to all Etonians.
He was going to fill the See of Heber animated
by that noble hymn which Heber wrote, and one
result of his stay in India would certainly be that
he would impart a new inspiration to Indian
Christianity. Then there was his (the Chairman's)
old colleague and contemporary, Lord Minto —
better known to some by the name of Rowley.
There raged in the Chairman's mind a controversy
which had never ceased to rage in it since he

84 3Lorb IRoseberg: ibis Xife anb Speeches
was thirteen years old — namely, which had the
greatest share in the government of the Empire,
Scotland or Eton ? He was quite prepared to give
the fighting glory to Ireland, for when we had
Wolseley, Kitchener, and Roberts all hailing from
Ireland, he feared that Scotland could not compete
with her ; but when, as in Lord Minto's case,
Scotland and Eton were combined, there was a
combination so irresistible that human eloquence
could hardly describe it. Lord Minto came of a
governing family ; indeed, at one time it was thought
a too-governing family. In former days it was
felt that the Elliotts bulked perhaps too large in
the administration of the nation. If they did so,
it was due to their merits. There had already
been a Viceroy Lord Minto. There had been
innumerable distinguished members of the family,
the most distinguished of all being that Hugh
Elliott who defeated Frederick the Great at the
very summit of his reputation, and went through
every adventure that a diplomatist could experience.
The Chairman was quite sure that the present
Lord Minto was destined to make an abiding
mark. Then there was their other guest (Lord
Curzon), who was going to fill the highest post
of the three — that of Viceroy of India. It was
one of the greatest offices that any human being
could occupy. He went to it in the full flower
of manhood and success, and everybody must -
wish him well. Lord Curzon had this additional

ftorb <£ur3on anb Jnbia 85
advantage, that he was reviving the dormant
glories of the Irish peerage. Some persons might
think that the fact implied a new legislative or
constitutional development on the part of Govern
ment, but it would be out of place on the
Chairman's part to surmise anything on the subject.
At any rate, it was certain that Lord Curzon had
shown, in his representation of the Foreign Office,
qualities of judgment, of debating power, and of
argument which had hardly been surpassed in the
career of any young man of his standing. It
would not be safe to say that he had done so in
defence of difficult positions. That would raise
a political controversy of the gravest kind. But
foreign situations were always difficult, and where
he had had to defend them he had defended with
success. He would have great advantages as
Viceroy. He had studied India on the spot. He
had even entered into amicable relations with
neighbouring potentates — and he would pass from
his home, Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire, to an exact
representation of it in Government House, Calcutta.
It was to be hoped that in his time India would
enjoy the prosperity of late denied to her, and
that immunity from war and famine and pestilence
might be the blessed prerogative of Lord Curzon's
Viceroyalty. Only one word more. As the First
Witch in Macbeth said :
When shall we three meet again —
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?

86 xorb IRoseberg: ibis aLife anb Speecbes
The guests of this evening might repeat that
question. Some, at any rate, of the present
company would greet them on their return. They
would then, no doubt, have to tell of stewardship
honourably undertaken and triumphantly achieved,
helping to consolidate the Empire whose interests
all had at heart, and adding to the glory of our
mother England.
The Earl of Minto remarked that he saw around
him so many old Eton faces that he could almost
fancy himself back at the old school.
Lord Curzon, of Kedleston, said that gathering
of old schoolfellows and old friends, who had
inherited the same traditions and were loyal to
the same collegiate mother, was a compliment
which the happy trio who were fortunate enough to
be the guests of the company were never likely
to forget. But if there was anything that could
enhance the special significance and value of that
compliment, it would consist in the fact that Lord
Rosebery had consented to occupy the chair. It
would ever be memorable to him (Lord Curzon),
whose public life had been associated with one
political party, that at this turning-point in his
fortunes his health had been proposed by one
who had been the leader of the rival political
party. It would be memorable to all three of
the guests that, as they were starting forth for
their different spheres of work, the farewell to
which they had listened should have proceeded

Etonians anb the State 87
from the lips of an ex-Prime Minister of England.
Surely there was something of good omen in that
combination, for after all they were each going
out to occupy, if the metaphor might be permitted,
a different thwart in that stout craft of Empire
of which Lord Rosebery once pulled the stroke-
oar. From his lips they had all on many occasions
imbibed lessons of an Imperialism exalted but not
arrogant, fearless but not rash — Imperialism which
was every day becoming less and less the creed
of a party, and more and more the faith of the
nation. Dr. Welldon rejoiced at the thought that Eton
did, by that gathering, seem to recognise in the
Imperial mission of her sons not only the forces
of law and civilisation, but something that lay
behind those forces, and that something the moral
or spiritual element which was the source of all
that was best and most sacred in the world.
"Floreat Etona" was proposed by Lord Lands-
downe, and responded to by the Provost of Eton.
Lord Roberts, of Candahar, then proposed the
health of the Chairman, remarking that he felt
grateful to the noble Lord for having broken the
silence of two years by those patriotic speeches
which had produced a feeling of satisfaction in
the whole nation.
Lord Rosebery, in reply, speculated humorously
On the reason for the success of Etonians in careers
of the State, and ascribed it to the condensation of

88 %ovb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
obscure error known as the " Eton Description
Book." Some learned by imitation, and some by
avoidance. "We," he added, "learned by avoid
ance." By studying the " Eton Description Book "
with some attention they discovered what was error
and what they must ever repeat as fact. He
thought that was a very remarkable and interesting
gathering, and should like to propose its annual
renewal, but he was going to do nothing of the
kind. He thought there was one obstacle to any
such renewal. There were such passions as
jealousy and envy. Think what it would be if
they annually paraded before the world the fame
and success of Eton. He went further. In various
organs of the Press it might some day be dis
covered that the Etonians constituted an aristocratic
caste which, united by the same bonds, governed
the country in the interests of that caste. What
would prevent the infuriated mob from falling upon
the Etonians, determined to massacre the innocents
before they grew up into the criminals of the
caste ? What would happen if some distinguished
foreign observer should come over to study men
and things on the spot ? He could dictate to them
what he would say at that moment. He would
say : This has been said to be a limited monarchy.
It is nothing of the kind. A despot reigns in
the Keep of Windsor Castle, and underneath
the shadow of that fastness there is carried on a
summary jurisdiction under the superintendence

a Scbool tlriumpb 89
of the Crown which governs the country — a
sort of Jesuitical class devoted to nothing else
than selection for that purpose, regardless of their
aptitude or talent. That is the way in which the
British Empire is conducted. They who loved
Eton must not allow insidious error to grow up.
Once in ten years was enough to enjoy such a
triumph as that. He urged them, if they had
at heart the interest of the school, not to tax too
much the patience of the community by trying
a further renewal of that glorious banquet.
It is needless to add that at this noteworthy
function every humorous allusion by Lord Rose
bery was thoroughly appreciated by his fellow
Etonians, and the banquet was one of the most
interesting and successful " school " dinners ever
held.

CHAPTER V
UNDERGRADUATE DAYS AT OXFORD — ANTIQUATED CUSTOMS  THE DAYS
OF REFORM — DEAN LIDDELL'S IMPROVEMENTS — SOCIAL DISTINC
TIONS ABOLISHED  THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPORT — A DIFFICULTY
ABOUT HORSES
THE Rev. Henry L. Thompson, in his " Life
of Dean Liddell," gives many interesting
details about the conditions of Christ Church,
Oxford, of which Liddell was appointed Dean in
1855. The Chapter at that time is described as
" a heterogeneous body : with none of its members,
except Dr. Jacobson, was the new Dean likely
to be in warm sympathy. Yet to the Dean and
Chapter then belonged the whole government of
Christ Church ; the students had absolutely no
power or authority. Though the censors and
tutors were responsible for the discipline and the
tuition of the undergraduates, they were without a
voice in all questions relating to the property or
the general administration of the House. The
Dean and Chapter were the sole governors."
As an illustration of the subordinate position
then occupied by the students, it may be men
tioned that the High Table or the dais in
90

"XTufts" at ©Eforb 9t
the dining-hall, at which the Dean and canons
sat twice a year upon the annual "gaudy" days,
was habitually occupied, not by the tutors, but
by the undergraduate noblemen, or " Tufts," who
ranked as doctors, and thus sat daily above their
preceptors at their common meal. It was a strange
survival from the sixteenth century, and it did not
endure much longer.
One great change which the first University
Commission had strongly recommended, Dean
Liddell witnessed and approved : the abolition of
the distinction between noblemen, gentlemen-
commoners, and commoners. Whatever must have
been the justification in older days, says Mr.
Thompson, for the formal recognition of differences
of rank among undergraduates, it was by now an
anachronism, and did harm, especially when young
men were admitted to the enjoyment of peculiar
privileges whose intellectual equipment was below
the ordinary level, and who were not even
nominally employed in reading for a degree.
When gentlemen-commoners appeared at col
lections, and were examined in Creasy's " Fifteen
Decisive Battles of the World " as the staple of
their term's work, it was time that " their order
should cease to exist within the walls of Christ
Church." They had degenerated into an idle
clique of wealthy men, enjoying certain immunities,
but bringing no corresponding advantage to the
college.

92 Olorb iRoseberg: ibis life anb Speeches
Some years before, Osborne Gordon had sent
a gentleman-commoner who was devoid of
classical tastes to a course of lectures on " The
Atmosphere," with a promise to examine him in,
collections, and find out what he had learnt.
"Well, Mr.  ," said Gordon, "what is the
atmosphere composed of?" After much hesitation
the man replied, " Zinc." " Thank you," said
Gordon, " that will do. Good-morning." It was
considered far better that distinctions which
rendered such things possible should vanish, and
the reform was effected under the Ordinance of
1867, in which it was enacted that "There
should be no distinctions in respect to academical
dress, designation, college charges, or college pay
ments among Undergraduate Members of the
House not being Junior Students nor Exhibitioners
within the House."
Lord Rosebery's sojourn at Christ Church, the
college where the Prince of Wales had matri
culated seven years previously, was notable, at
any rate, for the bringing about by Dean Liddell
of newer and better customs. When Lord
Rosebery matriculated in January, 1866, the
antiquated and injurious table regulations still
obtained ; but they were to go in the following
year, and even the "gaudy" days were ended too.
At Oxford Lord Dalmeny was exceedingly
popular. He continued to take the liveliest
interest in sport, and also read greatly.

Photo, by Hills & Saunders, Oxford.]
Lord Rosebery as an Oxford Undergraduate.

19oun0 Englanb anb Hthletics 93
Oxford men, who are and always have been
supposed to know everything, took an interest
in a wonderful variety of topics. How compre
hensive was the field is well shown in The Dark
Blue, a magazine which made its appearance in
1867, and had a brief career. In its first issue,
in May, it devoted much space to the consideration
of " The Present Crisis " everywhere. This was
a truly wonderful essay. It covered phases of
home and foreign politics, social questions, Indian
government, Church questions, the position of
Ireland, the condition of trade, party allegiance,
the diffusion of the Press, and the advance of
secular knowledge.
Having regard to the views of Lord Rosebery's
father on the subject of Athletics, it is peculiarly
interesting to note how keen was the interest in
athletics which was being taken at this time in
Oxford. The Dark Blue contains much about
all kinds of sport, and at this time had an article
which said :
" Athletic sports of every description have
increased and multiplied with giant strides, until
their growth has been pronounced precocious.
Those who condemn them as overgrown and
abnormal have the calm consolation that a reaction
must set in in the complainer's favour ; reactions
always do set in, so they have only to abide in
patient faith.
"If these aspirations of young England for

94 Xorb IRoseberg: ibis Xife anb Speeches
muscular excellence, or muscular Christianity (call
it which you please), be extravagant, they are also
suicidal, and if left to themselves will soon find the
' due mean ' and pursue a proper course without
exciting any one's bounties. But really we don't
see their extravagance. For the last two years, and
more especially for the last two terms, there has
been a great run upon them, but they have been
embraced by men who found in them a most suitable
field for the exercise of their ambition as well as of
their limbs. . . . And if only on the ground that
it promotes and prompts sensible activity, this
comparatively new athletic movement should meet
with encouragement and approbation.
" And so it does amongst the men themselves ;
it is only the deeper philosophy of the ' powers that
be ' which waxes wroth. . . . We conclude, like
M. Thiers, and recommend one and all to follow the
' policy of sound common sense,' the certain result
of which will be moderation and forbearance. Even
dons will tacitly consent to these virtues, learning
to let live what they dare not love, and the athletic
world will jog along in health and happiness."
This article is followed, too, by special notes
about the Derby of the year, the chances of the
various horses entered being discussed at con
siderable length. Many men in the University,
Lord Dalmeny amongst the number, were taking
a keen interest in horse-racing, and Dalmeny had
already determined to win the Derby if he could.

a Spirit of 5nbepenbence 95
He kept a stud, his horses had several times
been successful in steeplechases, and in conse
quence got into difficulties with the authorities,
the Dean disapproving the practice.
This difference led to Lord Dalmeny, who had
always a great spirit of independence, deciding to
leave Oxford without troubling to take the degree
which would have been easily his had it been his
pleasure to secure it. To one born to his estate the
matter was, however, of so small importance that
he preferred to follow his own inclinations entirely,
and did so. He left the University to the deep
regret of all his contemporaries, who admired his
spirit, and regretted the loss of a genial, unaffected,
and brilliant colleague. He had at that time
already given evidence that his political views,
like those of his father and grandfather, were
those of an ardent Radical.

CHAPTER VI
DEATH AND FUNERAL OF THE FOURTH EARL — SUCCESSION TO THE
PEERAGE — WORK AND STUDY  THE POLITICAL ARENA — THE
QUEEN OPENS PARLIAMENT — A BRILLIANT SCENE — LORD ROSEBERY'S
FIRST SPEECH IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS — COMPLIMENTS OF STATES
MEN AND JOURNALISTS
IN the year following that in which he left
Oxford, Lord Dalmeny, by the death of his
grandfather, became Earl of Rosebery. The fourth
earl died on March 4, 1868, at his London house
in Piccadilly, at the great age of eighty-five.
The remains were taken to Dalmeny, where
the funeral took place on March 13, the coffin
being placed in the family mausoleum at Dalmeny
church. There was a great gathering at the
ceremony, the whole of the tenants on the estate,
the servants, and representatives of societies with
which the deceased peer had been connected
attending, in addition to the relations and
connections. The body was placed, prior to its removal for
interment, in the drawing-room of the mansion ;
and the company assembled in the library,
where they were received by Lord Dalmeny.
96

funeral of the Earl's father 9?
In the drawing-room the opening portion of the
Church of England Burial Service, usually read in
church, was privately gone through, the officiating
clergy being the Very Rev. Dean Ramsey and
the Rev. G. B. Field, Domestic Chaplain to the
Earl of Rosebery. The devotions in the library
were conducted in an impressive manner by the
Rev. Robert Muir, parish minister of Dalmeny.
Luncheon was afterwards served in the dining-
room ; and the procession started from the mansion
about a quarter to two. The cortege was headed
by the tenants and chief servants of the deceased,
numbering over eighty, who walked four abreast,
headed by Mr. Glendinning, the respected factor
of the estates. Mr. Walker, one of the most
respected of the late earl's retired servants, was
also present, and received kind attentions from
Lord Dalmeny.
The handsome full-draped hearse was drawn
by six black horses, with postilions. Fourteen
mourning-coaches followed, eight of them drawn
by four horses each, and the remainder by two
each ; and this long line was further extended by
more than twenty private conveyances.
The immediate relatives and connections who
followed were Lord Dalmeny (chief mourner),
Hon. Everard Primrose, Henry Wyndham, Henry
Primrose, Henry Tufnell, Edward Primrose and
Gilbert Primrose, and James Dundas, of Dundas
Castle, the deceased earl's oldest friend and
vol 1. 7

98 2Lorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speeches
neighbour. The mourners included the managers
of the Scottish Widows' Fund, of which he had
been President.
The procession was awaited in the village of
Dalmeny by a considerable crowd, who had
gathered near the church. The coffin was borne
to the vault by six of the principal servants, and
the remaining' portion of the Church of England
Burial Service was gone through, the tenants and
others being afterwards admitted to the vault.
The coffin, of polished oak, with gilt mountings,
was ornamented with the coronet and the Star
of the Order of the Thistle. The inscription
was : ARCHIBALD JOHN PRIMROSE,
EARL OF ROSEBERY, VISCOUNT ROSEBERY,
VISCOUNT INVERKEITHING, BARON PRIMROSE AND DALMENY
IN THE PEERAGE OF SCOTLAND ;
BARON ROSEBERY OF ROSEBERY
IN THE COUNTY OF EDINBURGH, IN THE PEERAGE
OF THE UNITED KINGDOM;
BARONET OF NOVA SCOTIA,
KNIGHT OF THE ORDER OF THE THISTLE;
BORN 14 OCT., 1783
DIED 4TH MARCH, 1 868.
The sad and imposing ceremony over and the
conventional days of mourning passed, the new
peer set himself to understand the estates of
which he had now become the possessor. His

XTbe IFlew Earl's Stubies

99

heart was with the people always, and now he
determined to make the acquaintance of the
tenants, upon whom he called ; and, in fact, at
some of the houses — some of the smaller houses,
too — he was a frequent and always a heartily
welcomed guest. Wherever he went, the young
Earl made friends. It is certain, one must think
who has met his lordship at all frequently, that
he can never have made enemies except in the
political world, where a clever man, especially if
he succeeds soon, is sure to find them.
Lord Rosebery also at this time, as ever afterwards,
took keen delight in his shooting. He thoroughly
enjoyed the opportunity his estates gave him for
following this branch of sport. He became of age
a few weeks after his grandfather's death. He
took his seat in the House of Lords, and then
came a proceeding which in a remarkable way shows
how earnest Lord Rosebery has been in his life-
work. He then commenced a period, which was
to be greatly prolonged, of hard, steady, and well-
directed reading. Moreover, he travelled a great
deal, visiting not only the Continent, but crossing
the Atlantic. He was studying wherever he went,
learning how the people lived, what they thought
and desired, how questions which needed treat
ment in the future were being dealt with in other
countries, and how lessons which he learnt from
the proceedings of others might be applied to
his own country. And he was studying with

ioo Xorb IRoseberg: Ibis Xife anb Speecbes
exceptional closeness and unceasing application the
politics of his own country, and also the history
and politics and social conditions of the whole
world. He was indeed working for that political
career which he had marked out for himself.
And so a few years passed by.
And here again, on the threshold of his political
career, as at Eton, we find him speedily attracting
the notice of his master — the political master as
of the schoolmaster. Mr. Gladstone was early
impressed by the young Earl's abilities, and
distinction speedily came.
The year 1871 was one of great moment for
the young Earl. He made his first speech in
the House of Lords at the opening of the Parlia
mentary Session on Thursday, February 10. The
occasion was particularly noteworthy for another
reason — the Queen opened Parliament in person.
It was the third session of Her Majesty's eighth
Parliament ; and since the sad day when the
Queen lost the Prince Consort she had only met
Parliament in person on two occasions — in 1866
and again in 1867, and now was the first time
that she had personally welcomed the members of
the Reformed Parliament to the commencement
of the labours of the session. The Queen's
attendance always makes a brilliant scene of
what in her absence is a dull and unpicturesque
ceremony. One writer, describing the scene m
The Standard, says :

XTbe parliament of '71 101
"At twelve o'clock admission was granted. The
early arrivals were numerous. Ladies in the most
elegant and recherche of toilettes sat daintily down
on those red benches where one is accustomed
to see nothing more interesting than middle-aged
peers, whose figures and complexions are all
the worse for the wear and tear of political life.
Instead of black coats and bald heads, there were
clusters of beautiful— or at the worst beautifully
dressed — women ; and there was the rustling of
silks and satins and the faint whisper of feminine
voices to replace, agreeably enough, the eloquence
with which the House of Lords usually resounds.
It is the courteous custom of the peers to leave
their senatorial chamber almost wholly to the
ladies whenever the Queen opens Parliament.
The galleries are exclusively theirs, and they also
absorb about three-fourths of the seats on the
floor of the House. It is a veritable ladies'
Parliament for the occasion, and one only re
gretted that the charming transformation was so
essentially temporary in its duration. A few
benches were placed behind the clerks' table,
whereon peers were allowed to sit, and the front
Ministerial and Opposition benches were forbidden
to the fair sex. Here and there, too, in odd
corners or chance seats, a noble duke or earl might
be detected ; but for the most part they yielded
the positions to their fair friends, and decidedly
formed the least important portion of the spectacle.

to2 Xorb IRoseberg: Ibis Xife anb Speeches
"It cannot be truthfully alleged that their absence
was any loss in a picturesque point of view, for
neither the most prepossessing personal appearance
nor the most dignified carriage can make a peer
look anything but ridiculous in the grotesque
scarlet gown, heavily trimmed with ermine, which
he is obliged to wear on these occasions. The
self-sacrificing disposition shown by their temporal
lordships was imitated by the spiritual peers,
who gave up all their seats, except the front
one, to the ambassadors and the attache's of
the foreign embassies.
" Among those who were conspicuous were
Baron Brunnow and Count Bernstorff; and the
gay uniforms and innumerable orders and medals
of themselves and their colleagues gave that part
of the house an aspect of great brilliancy. By
half-past two o'clock the visitors were nearly all
seated. Lord Cairns (who was amongst the
earliest arrivals), Lord Longford, and others of
the leading Conservative peers were in their
accustomed places, and fronting them sat the
Duke of Argyle, Lord Dufferin, Lord Kimberley,
and some of their colleagues. The Bishops of
Winchester, London, Peterborough, and Gloucester,
and the Archbishop of York occupied the single
bench which had been kept for them, the back
seats being used by the ambassadors and attache's.
On the front bench immediately facing them there
Was the :Duke of Cambridge in field-marshal's

TTbe ingliness of ©fficialbom 103
uniform under his peer's robes, and looking as
if not thoroughly recovered from his recent fit of
gout. The spot usually occupied by the woolsack
was as yet empty, but just in the rear of it, on a
fanteuil, were grouped the judges of England, with
flowing wigs and white ermine, somehow reminding
an innocent spectator of a group of condemned
heretics waiting their auto da fd. At the table
was Sir Denis le Marchant, in gorgeous official
uniform, and Mr. Bethell, whose barrister's robes
contrasted oddly with the wealth and diversity of
the colours around him. Queer enough was the
appearance of the robed peers who sat on the
benches behind the clerks' table. Impossible,
or at least extremely difficult, it was to recognise
familiar forms clothed in that oddest and ugliest
of costumes. If those fashionable novelists who
insist upon making their aristocratic persons slim
and tall and haughty in appearance could only
have caught a glimpse of the originals in their
official costume, what a wholesome revolution
would come over the light literature of the
day !
"In the gallery by the throne were some
Oriental personages, all in a blaze of gold and
silver ; and one could not but contrast the
picturesqueness and striking brilliancy of their
garb with the dowdy official robes in which British
peers are expected to disfigure themselves in the
presence of their Queen. The ladies, however,

104 Xorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
amply made up for the deficiency of their fathers
and husbands and brothers. It would require the
training of a lifetime and the pen of a man-
milliner to do justice to the infinite variety of
their toilettes. We can only say, in general terms,
that they made the floor of the House of Lords
resemble a parterre of brilliant flowers. A more
beautiful scene it would not be easy to imagine,
and we should not like to speculate upon the degree
of enthusiasm it must have excited in the breasts
of the distinguished foreigners who witnessed it.
We remember once to have read a description of
a similar spectacle that was sent by a Frenchman
to a French journal. It was full of ecstasy and
points of admiration from beginning to end ;
but when he came to the entrance of the Queen
and the simultaneous disappearance of the mantles
in which the ladies had up to the time covered
themselves, he could do nothing but put a long
dash, and leave the scene to the imagination of
the reader. We shall presume to adopt the same
course when the right moment arrives.
" Meanwhile, it must be recorded that the first
of the royal personages to make their appearance
were the Princess Teck and Princess Christian,
who arrived together. The whole assembly rose at
their entrance and made a low salutation, which
was graciously returned. The Princesses took
their seats on the woolsack, facing the House.
Shortly afterwards the Prince and Princess of

ITbe Cfcueen in parliament 105
Wales came in, and were received with the same
marks of respect. Her Royal Highness sat on
the woolsack, between Princess Teck and Princess
Christian, and the Prince was conducted to a chair
on the right hand of the throne. He wore the
field-marshal's uniform under his peer's robes,
and seemed to be in the enjoyment of robust
health. The Princesses were in slight mourning,
on account, we believe, of the death of Princess
Auguste of Coburg.
" At ten minutes past two o'clock the guards of
honour, stationed at the entrance to the House,
were heard to ' present arms,' and in another
moment Her Majesty made her appearance,
accompanied by the Princesses Louise and Beatrice
and the Prince Arthur. Her Majesty was conducted
to the throne, and as soon as she was seated she
made a gesture for the assembly to do the same.
The Princesses Louise and Beatrice remained
standing on Her Majesty's left hand. Behind
them was Lord Granville, holding the Sword of
State. The Earl of Bessborough, with the Crown
of England glittering on its velvet cushion, stood
on Her Majesty's right hand, and beside him
was the Marquis of Winchester, with the cap of
maintenance. Prince Arthur stood by the chair
on which the Prince of Wales was seated. Her
Majesty was dressed in black, and wore a Marie
Stuart's widow's cap. She also wore a magnificent
necklace of diamonds and the Order of the Garter.

106 tuorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speeches
The Sergeant-at-Arms was dispatched for the
members of the House of Commons, and in a
minute or two were heard the first sounds of that
ugly rush with which the representatives of the
people persist in precipitating themselves into the
presence of their Sovereign. The Speaker, vainly
essaying to stem back the tide, found it hard
work to maintain his balance, and Mr. Gladstone,
objecting to the increasing pressure in the rear,
remonstrated in a somewhat vehement manner
with his unruly followers."
Describing the rush of the Commons into the
Upper House, The Daily News said :
"It was now that a faint rumble was heard in
the distance, and the bishops, peers, and judges
were seen to turn their faces with meek amusement
to the end of the chamber opposite to the throne.
Then the rumble grew into a roar. Then it
seemed as if some wild animal had broken loose,
and other wild animals were hunting it. Then the
rumble and roaring were succeeded by bellows and
the trampling of many feet. Then the Speaker of
the House of Commons, in wig and gown, stood at
the bar ; and Mr. Gladstone [then Prime Minister]
was shot, as if by a catapult, to his side. Then
came a turbulent mob of heated, struggling, pushing
men, who dug into each other's ribs, and made
toes of no account whatever ; and then a door was
slammed, and it was understood that no more of
the Commons could be admitted. Mr. Gladstone's

Iber flbajestg's Speech 107
earnest and pained face when he turned to protest
against being prodded by fists from behind, and
the helpless position he was in till the unruly
mob behind him had settled into their places, are
things to remember ; and it is clear that every
member of the Lower House wishing to present
himself before his Sovereign at the opening of
Parliament should first take lessons from a prize
fighter or in the wrestling of Cumberland. . . .
There was a striking lack of bald or grey heads
among the representatives of the Commons who
found their way to the Lords. That was a feat
only to be performed by the young and strong,
as many a baffled and elderly senator found out
that day to his cost."
" The general belief was that the Queen would
read the Speech herself; but she did not. Her
Majesty, who seemed to suffer some inconvenience
from the heat, and used her fan constantly,
delegated the duty to her Lord Chancellor ; and,
seeing what an exceedingly long one her Ministers
had provided her with, it is not surprising that
she found the task of personally delivering it one
beyond her strength. So the Lord Chancellor
came forward and said :
" ' I am commanded by the Queen to read to
you Her Majesty's Speech ; therefore, in Her
Majesty's name and in Her Majesty's own words,
I will now proceed to read it.' "
The Oueen's Speech on that occasion will show

108 Xorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speeches
the troublous times in which Lord Rosebery made
his entree into the political arena. It ran :
" My Lords and Gentlemen, —
"At an epoch of such moment to the future
fortunes of Europe, I am especially desirous to
avail myself of your counsels.
" The war which broke out in the month of July,
between France and Germany, has raged until
within the last few days with unintermitted and
likewise with unexampled force ; and its ravages
may be renewed after but a few days more, unless
moderation and forethought, prevailing over all
impediments, shall sway the councils of both the
parties whose well-being is so vitally concerned.
" At the time when you separated I promised
a constant attention to the subject of neutral
obligations ; and I undertook to use my best
endeavours to prevent the enlargement of the
area of the war, and to contribute, if opportunity
should offer, to the restoration of an early and
honourable peace.
"In accordance with the first of these declarations,
I have maintained the rights and strictly discharged
the duties of neutrality.
" The sphere of the war has not been extended
beyond the two countries originally engaged.
" Cherishing with care the cordiality of my re
lations with each belligerent, I have forborne from
whatever might have been construed as gratuitous
or unwarranted interference between parties, neither

Jforeion Questions iog
of whom had shown a readiness to propose terms
of accommodation such as to promise of acceptance
by the other.
" I have been enabled, on more than one occasion,
to contribute towards placing the representatives
of the two contending countries in confidential
communication ; but until famine compelled the
surrender of Paris, no further result had been
obtained. " The armistice now being employed for the
convocation of an Assembly in France has brought
about a pause in the constant accumulation, on
both sides, of human suffering, and has rekindled
the hope of a complete accommodation.
" I pray that this suspension may result in a
peace compatible, for the two great and brave
nations involved, with security and with honour,
and likely, therefore, to command the approval of
Europe and to give reasonable hopes of a long
duration. "It has been with concern that I have found
myself unable to accredit my Ambassador in a
formal manner to the Government of Defence
which has subsisted in France since the Revolution
of September ; but neither the harmony nor the
efficiency of the correspondence of the two States
has been in the smallest degree impaired.
" The King of Prussia has accepted the title
of Emperor of Germany at the instance of the
chief authorities of the nation.

no xorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speeches
" I have offered my congratulations on an
event which bears testimony to the solidity and
independence of Germany, and which I trust
may be found conducive to the stability of the
European system.
" I have endeavoured in correspondence with
other Powers in Europe to uphold the sanctity of
treaties and to remove any misapprehension as to
the binding character of their obligations.
"It was agreed by the Powers which had been
parties to the Treaty of 1856 that a conference
should meet in London. This conference has
now been for some time engaged in its labours,
and I confidently trust that the result of its
deliberations will be to uphold both the principles
of public right and the general policy of the Treaty,
and at the same time, by a revision of some of
its conditions in a fair and conciliatory spirit, to
exhibit a cordial co-operation among the Powers
with regard to the Levant.
" I greatly regret that my earnest efforts have
failed to procure the presence at the conference
of any representative of France, which was one
of the chief parties of the Treaty of 1856, and
which must ever be regarded as a principal and
indispensable member of the great commonwealth
of Europe.
" At different times several questions of im
portance have arisen, which are not yet adjusted,
and which naturally affect the relations between

Englanb anb the Xflniteb States

in

the United States and the territories and people
of British North America. One of them in
particular, which concerns the Fisheries, calls for
early settlement, lest the possible indiscretion of
individuals should impair the neighbourly under
standing which it is on all grounds so desirable
to cherish and maintain. I have therefore engaged
in amicable communications with the President of
the United States.
"In order to determine the most convenient
mode of treatment of these matters, I have
suggested the appointment of a joint commission,
and I have agreed to a proposal of the President
that this commission shall be authorised at the
same time, and in the same manner, to resume
consideration of the American claims growing
out of the circumstances of the late war. This
arrangement will, by common consent, include all
claims for compensation which have been, or may
be, made by each Government, or by its citizens,
upon the other.
" The establishment of a Prince of the House
of Savoy to the throne of Spain, by the free choice
of the popularly elected representatives of the
Spanish nation will, I trust, insure for a country
which has passed with so much temperance and
self-control through a prolonged and trying crisis
the blessings of a stable Government.
"I am unhappily not able to state that the
inquiry which was instituted by the Government

H2 %orb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speeches
of Greece into the history of the shocking murders
perpetrated during the last spring at Dilessi has
reached a termination answerable in all respects
to my just expectations, but I shall not desist
from my endeavours to secure the complete
attainment of the objects of the inquiry. Some
valuable results, however, have in the meantime
been obtained for the exposure and the repression
of a lawless and corrupting system which has for
a long time afflicted the Greek Peninsula
" The anxiety which the massacre at Tien-tsin
on June 21 last called forth has happily been
dispelled, and while it will be my earnest endeavour
to provide for the security of my subjects and their
trade in those remote quarters, I count on your
concurrence in the policy that I have adopted of
recognising the Chinese Government as entitled
to be dealt with in its relations with this country
in a conciliatory and forbearing spirit.
"The Parliamentary recess has been one of
anxious interest in regard to foreign affairs. But
I rejoice with you that my relations are, as
heretofore, those of friendship and good under
standing with the Sovereigns and States of the
civilised world.
" Papers illustrative of the conduct of my
Government in relation to the several matters on
which I have now summarily touched will be laid
before you.
" In turning to domestic affairs, I have first to

a IRogal fllbarriage 113
inform you that I have approved a marriage
between my daughter Princess Louise and the
Marquis of Lome, and I have declared my
consent to this union in Council.
"Gentlemen of the House of Commons, —
" The revenue of the country flourishes, and the
condition of trade and industry may, though with
partial drawbacks, be declared satisfactory.
" The Estimates for the coming year will be
promptly laid before you.
" My Lords and Gentlemen, —
" The lessons of military experience afforded by
the present war have been numerous and important.
" The time seems appropriate for turning such
lessons to account by efforts more decisive than
heretofore at practical improvement. In attempting
this you will not fail to bear in mind the special
features in the position of this country so favourable
to the freedom and security of the people, and if
the changes from a less to a more effective and
elastic system of defensive military preparations
shall be found to involve, at least for a time, an
increase of various charges, your prudence and
patriotism will not grudge the cost as long as you
are satisfied that the end is important and the
means judicious. No time will be lost in laying
before you a Bill for the better regulating of the
Army and the auxiliary land forces of the Crown,
and I hardly need commend it to your anxious
and impartial consideration.
VOL. I. 8

n4 lorb IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speeches
" I trust that the powerful interest at present
attaching to affairs abroad and to military questions
will not greatly abate the energy with which you
have heretofore applied yourselves to the work of
general improvement in our domestic legislation.
" I commend anew to your attention several
measures on subjects which I desired to be brought
before you during the last session of Parliament,
but which the time remaining at your disposal
after you had dealt with the principal subjects of
the year was not found sufficient to carry to a
final issue.
" I refer especially to the Bills on Religious
Tests in the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge,
on Ecclesiastical Titles, on the Disabilities of Trade
Combinations, on the Courts of Justice and Appeal,
on the Adjustment of Local Burdens, and on the
Licensing of Houses for the Sale of Intoxicating
Liquors. " The inquiry made by a committee of the
Commons House being now complete, a measure
will be placed before you on an early day for
the establishment of secret voting.
" A proposal is anxiously expected in Scotland
for the adjustment of the question of primary
education with reference to the training of the
young in schools on a national scale and basis.
That portion of the country has especial claims
on the favourable consideration of Parliament,
and I trust the year may not pass by without

H flbrettg Scene ns
your having disposed of this question by the
enactment of a just and effective law.
"The condition of Ireland with reference to
agrarian crime has in general afforded a gratifying
contrast with the state of that island in the pre
ceding winter ; but there have been painful though
very partial exceptions.
" To secure the best results for the great
measures of the two last sessions which have so
recently passed into operation, and which involved
such direct and pressing claims upon the attention
of all classes of the community, a period of calm
is to be desired ; and I have thought it wise to
refrain from suggesting to you at the present
juncture the discussion of any political question
likely to become the subject of new and serious
controversy in the country.
" The burdens devolving upon you as the
great Council of the nation and of this ancient
and extended Empire are, and must long continue
to be, weighty. But you labour for a country
whose laws and institutions have stood the test
of time, and whose people, earnestly attached to
them, and desiring their continuance, will unite
with their Sovereign in invoking upon all your
designs the favour and aid of the Most High."
There was a pretty scene at the close, the
Queen kissing the Princess of Wales, and giving
her hand to be kissed by the other Princesses
present. She also spoke to the Prince of Wales,

n6 OLorb iRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speeches
and then retired from the House, after making
a low courtesy to the assembly.
The Court Cirmlar states that :
" The Queen wore a black terry velvet dress,
with a train trimmed with miniver and crape, and a
long white tulle veil surmounted by a diamond
crown. Her Majesty also wore a diamond necklace,
cross, and brooch, the Riband and the Star of
the Order of the Garter, the Orders of Victoria
and Albert and Louise of Prussia, and Saxe-Coburg
and Gotha Family Order."
The Marquis of Westminster, at the adjourned
sitting later in the day, moved the Address in
reply to the Queen's Speech, and Mr. Gladstone
had selected the Earl of Rosebery to second
the motion.
The Earl of Rosebery wore the uniform of the
Royal Scottish Archers. He asked the indulgence
of the House necessary to a member addressing
them for the first time, and who could plead youth
and inexperience. His doubt and hesitation were
increased by the ability which had been displayed
by the noble marquis (Marquis of Westminster).
He wished to notice first of all the opening of
Parliament by Her Majesty in person, a circum
stance which was gratifying not only to the
Legislature, but to the entire nation, and was
rendered the more interesting by the announcement
of the marriage of her daughter, Princess Louise,
with the Marquis of Lome — a marriage dictated

jffrst Hbbress to the lorbs

117

not by dynastic feelings or traditions or State
policy, but by the purest affection, and welcome
therefore to the whole country. He hoped and
believed that the Marquis of Lome would prove
himself worthy of his high distinction, which he
would most fitly and naturally do by treading in the
steps of the noble duke (Argyle), the Secretary
of State for India. Their lordships must have
heard with satisfaction of a measure relating to
our military forces. It would be inconvenient to
anticipate on this occasion the discussion of that
measure, beyond expressing the hope that while
raising the efficiency of the Army, industrial pursuits
would not be interfered with, nor the national
taxation unduly increased. The fusion of law and
equity and the creation of a High Court of Justice
were likewise subjects of satisfaction, and the efforts
of the noble and learned lord on the woolsack
would, he hoped, this session be successful. Passing
to a subject of great interest to many, and to none
more than himself — viz., education in Scotland —
he might remark that no country was more de
serving of having its education fostered by the
Imperial Government. The leaders of public
opinion, from Fox to Chalmers, had persistently
pressed upon the nation the paramount importance
of education, and any who had visited Scotland
must have observed the results of this. Nothing
was commoner than to see a peasant working six
months in the year for the purpose of being

n8 lorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speeches
able to spend the winter months at the University,
barely keeping body and soul together on the
pittance he had saved out of the necessaries of
life. He did not mention this as pertinent to the
Government Bill which related to elementary
education, but as a proof that it would be a work
of love to further education in a country where
there was such a thirst for it. Turning to
University Tests, he was justified in saying that
public opinion had strongly affirmed the principle
of their abolition ; and the fact that now for the
third time within a few years the Senior Wrangler
of Cambridge was a Dissenter, and thus excluded
from the emoluments and honours which would
be lavished upon him were he a member of the
Church of England, showed the necessity for a
speedy settlement of the question. Her Majesty's
Speech referred with satisfaction, which would be
shared by all, to the circumstances that two
questions which had for a long time been the
subject of difference between this country and the
United States seemed likely at last to be disposed
of — the Fisheries Question and the Alabama Claims
were to be referred to a Joint Commission. It
might be to the interest of certain politicians in both
countries to keep these questions open, but a great
nation of kindred blood, language, and political
sympathies, and guided by distinguished statesmen,
must in the interests of civilisation, which both
had at heart, desire to cultivate the most friendly

TRUar rtftatters 119
relations. Their lordships must also, seeing the
disastrous effects of the war now raging on the
Continent, share Her Majesty's satisfaction at
the friendliness of her relation with all foreign
Powers. Just before the conclusion of last session
a great monarch, at the head of a vast army, and
having fortresses of vast strength, was moving
against the King of Prussia; but in less than a
month that army had melted away, those fortresses
were hopelessly blockaded, and that monarch, who
had for twenty years swayed the destinies and
kept the conscience of Europe, was a captive in
the hands of his enemies. Now, while these
events were occurring in France, Her Majesty's
Government had four objects to attain : first, the
preservation of our own neutrality ; secondly, the
neutrality of Belgium ; thirdly, the establishment
of an understanding between the neutral Powers
which would serve to limit the area of the war ;
and fourthly, the attainment of peace, or at least
of an armistice. There could hardly, he thought,
be any difference of opinion as to the success of
the Government in attaining the first two objects.
The third object Her Majesty's Government had
endeavoured to attain, not by making public
remonstrances against the policy of Prussia, but
by urging their views in a more private manner.
The fourth of these objects presented obstacles
almost insuperable. On both sides there was a
great disinclination for peace, and Prussia displayed

120 xorb IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speeches
a sensitiveness amounting almost to repugnance
at the least interference of the neutral Powers.
Indeed, she would rather give an ell without
interference than an inch with it. When in
France everything which represented organisation
and military power had vanished, nothing was so
surprising as to see Paris step forward in order
to form the nucleus of the national defence ; but,
after all, this circumstance greatly increased the
difficulties by which the neutral Powers were
surrounded, as the result was the establishment
of a dual Government in France. Still, Her
Majesty's Government did all it could, and, in
paving the way for negotiations and procuring
passes for the negotiators, displayed zeal, tact, and
prudence. Meanwhile, the King of Prussia had
been proclaimed Emperor of Germany, and the
most earnest wish of this country must be, after
the war, that the new empire would wield her
great power in the interests of peace and civi
lisation. He thought it might be asserted that
our confidence in France had not been shaken
by the war. With respect to the Black Sea
Question, he believed that the noble lord the
Secretary for Foreign Affairs had embodied the
views of the country in his able despatch, and
had earned the gratitude not only of England,
but of all Europe by his strong remonstrance
against the violation of treaties. After thanking
their lordships for the patient hearing they had

©pinions about the Speech 121
accorded him, the noble Earl concluded by formally
seconding the Address.
The Duke of Richmond, who immediately
followed, said :
" I wish to express my opinion of the admirable
speech in which the noble marquis moved the
Address, and of the conspicuous manner in which
it was seconded by the noble Earl who has just
sat down. It often falls to the lot of those
who rise on this side of the House to make
a statement of this kind, but I can assure both
those noble lords I intend my words to be not
a mere empty compliment, but a distinct ex
pression of the opinion I formed while listening
to their speeches."
Lord Granville complimented both the noble
lords (Westminster and Rosebery) on their speeches.
The next day The Times specially commented
upon the dexterity with which the speakers had
avoided the subject of the day — the war, and
remarked, " an order had been apparently issued
that as little as possible should be said about the
war." The Times praised Lord Westminster for
his first speech in the Lords, and added :
" Lord Rosebery was even more successful. He
spoke with a graceful emotion which became his
years, and it was evident that if he controlled
himself from dilating on the great events of the
autumn, it was not because he was deficient in
feeling, but because he was under the restraint

122 lorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
of a discretion which had been imposed upon
him. The mover and seconder of the Address
in the Lords, like the mover and seconder in
the Commons, were hampered by considerations
which impeded the flow of their eloquence."
The Daily News said :
" The noble Earl upon the conclusion of this
his first speech, for the reception of which he
thanked the House, was warmly congratulated
by the occupants of the Ministerial bench."
The Standard remarked :
" Lord Rosebery's speech was not very im
portant for the matter, but the manner was,
after a fashion, very good. The sentences were
well put together, and not ill delivered. But
we must wait for other appearances of the noble
Earl before we can venture to congratulate
the House of Lords upon the increase of its
debating power ; these good Address speeches
are so rarely followed by the acquisition of a
Parliamentary position."
The latter critic was wrong, for the young
speaker was to be a Minister of the Crown ten
years afterwards.

CHAPTER VII
EARLY DAYS IN PUBLIC LIFE— A LISTENER AT FIRST — LADAS AND THE
DERBY — GAMBLING AND HORSE-RACING — SPEECHES IN PARLIAMENT
— AN ELECTION SCENE — SPEECHES IN THE COUNTRY — THE YOUNG
EARL AND THE LADIES — EDINBURGH PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY —
"THE UNION OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND"
THE young peer had made a very good
beginning in Parliament. He had taken
his seat in the House of Lords on May 22, 1868,
the Journal of the House on that date recording :
" Lord Rosebery takes his seat. Archibald Philip,
Lord Rosebery, sat first in Parliament after the
death of his grandfather, Archibald John, Lord
Rosebery ; his lordship having first, at the table,
taken and subscribed the oath pursuant to the
Statute." What little the House of Lords knew
of him for nearly the next three years was as
a listener, and not as a talker. The young man
was, for the most part, content to hear what
those older than himself had to say ; and, mean
while, he was preparing himself for a greater
future by studentship in a wider world than the
confines of the gilded chamber. His library, the
many well-informed correspondents he cultivated,
and travel filled up most of the time ; while he
123

i24 lorb "IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speeches
took a fair measure of pleasure, retaining a full
love of sport and enjoying the ordinary pleasures
of society with discretion. His clubs saw a good
deal of him, and in the season his bright face
and well-groomed figure were constantly seen in
the drawing-rooms of the rich. Of another part
of his London life — of hours spent in the clubs
of the artisans, to learn their ways and their
needs ; in artisan institutes, where he endeavoured
to supply those needs to some extent — I shall
write later.
It was in 1869 that he made his first attempt
to win the Blue Riband of the Turf. Lord
Rosebery has always run his horses for the honour
of the thing — to see a good horse beat competitors
for the prizes. Ladas was the only horse he ran
at the Epsom meeting that year.
It is impossible to turn over the files of the
newspapers of the time without noting how keen
was the public interest in racing. A year before,
for the 1868 Derby, the newspapers had been
full of news and comments upon the follies of
the young Marquis of Hastings, who, in that
year, with Lady Elizabeth, a hot favourite for
the Derby, had tried to retrieve the disasters
of his rash turf speculations. Lord Rosebery
avoided such follies. Those who, when he first
went to the turf, gleefully anticipated that there
was another rich young man to pluck, found
they were mistaken.

public interest in Sport 125
From his early boyhood Lord Rosebery has been
marked by coolness, steadiness, level-headedness.
These characteristics have marked him through
life, and they did not desert him on the turf.
When the Derby was about to be run in those
days, it was not a question of Parliament being
troubled as to whether it should meet on the
great day. What troubled a Government was
the making and keeping of a House even on
the day before the Derby.
In connection with the Derby of 1869 The
Times in one single day had two leading articles
running to over two columns. Then, as now, on
the Derby day " the nation of shopkeepers is
supposed to have for once forgotten the shop,"
and The Times could concern itself to the extent
of a leader of a column and a quarter even over
Sir Joseph Hawley's Resolutions concerning two-
year-olds. It also appealed to the rough element
of the public not, on the course, to amuse itself
by cracking open men's heads with soda-water
bottles, upsetting people's carriages, or annoying
ladies. During the same week even The Daily
News, The Standard, The Daily Telegraph, and
other papers devoted column after column every
day to Derby considerations.
Lord Rosebery was not so soon, however, to
have the distinction of winning the great race.
The first Ladas was disappointing. There were
twenty-two runners, and at the beginning Ladas,

126 lorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speeches
who got away well, ran at the head of the second
division. It was an exciting race, and several of
the horses got into collision. One was lamed.
The race was won by Mr. J. Johnstone's colt
Pretender, Pero Gomez being second, and the
Drummer third. Belladrum (owned by Mr. Merry)
and Ladas, according to The Times, trotted in
last, some distance in the rear of everything.
The first Ladas was a failure, and it was to be
many years afterwards before another horse of
the same name was to win the race for his noble
owner. What were the views Lord Rosebery held on the
subject of racing were mentioned in the House
of Lords in 1873. On February 20 of that year
he proposed an address praying Her Majesty to
appoint a Royal Commission to inquire into the
condition of this country with regard to horses and
its capabilities for supplying any present or future
demand for them. The following extract from
his speech, though not directly bearing upon the
subject, will be read with interest, having regard to
his connection with the pastime of horse-racing :
" Though he had no personal interest in the
matter, he could not join in the fashionable
denunciations of the turf as selfish, immoral, and
as provocative of gambling. It was the custom of
honourable gentlemen, well meaning, but possessed
of little practical acquaintance with the subject, to
go down to the House of Commons and inveigh

IRacing anb ©ambling 127
against what were somewhat absurdly called * our
Isthmian games.'
" If, in the month of September, an apprentice
robbed his master's till, grave magistrates bewailed
the fact as a lamentable illustration of what was
owing to the Saint Leger. If, in the month of
May, an old woman was run over at a crossing,
her misfortune was attributed to the Derby.
Against such denunciations he would set the words
of a gentleman who had certainly no prepossessions
in favour of racing, and who said, ' Of itself it is
a noble, manly, distinguished, historical, national
amusement.' That was a description which must
be accepted by noble lords on both sides of the
House as above and beyond suspicion, for it
proceeded from the Prime Minister.
" If noble lords still had doubts, he wished that,
like him, they could have seen two noble lords,
eminent for their character and their virtues —
Lord Falmouth and Lord Fitzwilliam — running
their horses on Doncaster Town Moor, without
a bet upon them or any interest beyond that of
testing their respective merits. While racing
was carried on in that spirit he should consider
that it was as innocent an amusement as large
numbers of people could possibly enjoy. Hunting
and shooting were only for the wealthy, but there
was no one so poor that he could not visit a
racecourse. He believed that gambling was on
the decline, and that there were few owners who

128 lorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speeches
now had as much ' on ' their horses as would form
the stake on an ordinary rubber of whist. As for
putting down gambling by abolishing races, they
might just as well, to quote the words of the
French wits, think that they could abolish rain by
suppressing the gutters."
Earl Granville, in reply, complimented Lord
Rosebery on his speech, and suggested the
formation of a Select Committee, rather than a
Royal Commission, to go into the subject. To
this Lord Rosebery agreed.
Lord Rosebery of course saw something of the
elections, which were carried on thirty years ago
in a much more violent manner than we know
them to-day. Broken heads are unusual now as
a means of electing a representative to Parliament.
They were common enough a generation ago.
Our fathers did not probably see anything remark
able in these proceedings ; other folks did, however.
There was, for instance, an election at Bristol in
November, 1868, and The New York Times
correspondent in this country went down to see
it, and supplied the following description to his
newspaper :
"Monday morning, November 17, at eight
o'clock, the rising sun struggling with a November
fog, I went past the Exchange, and found its
whole front occupied about ten deep with Tory
roughs, each with a blue card on his cap, in high
good-humour at being first on the ground, and

Hn ©lb Election Scene 129
ready to rush into the central court, where the
nominations were to be made as soon as the
great doors were thrown open. An impatient
streetful of annoyed Radicals was behind them ;
and the prospect of getting in or out with a whole
coat was not encouraging. Examining the position,
I judged it might be flanked, and soon discovered
a narrow side-passage, and by paying a shilling I
was allowed to go up on the roof overlooking the
hustings — a high staging of boards built up on
one side of the court, full of committee-men,
officials, reporters, candidates, and their friends.
" The clock struck nine, the doors were opened,
and there rushed in a yelling, howling mob of
eight thousand or ten thousand roughs — so very
rough that it was a perfect marvel where they could
have come from. Three times as many blocked
up the street outside. Then commenced one of
those extraordinary displays of popular sovereignty,
majesty of the people, British Constitution, and
so on which no other country can boast of.
" The sheriff of the county read the proclamation
and the writ. He might as well have given them
a passage out of ' Robinson Crusoe.' Gentlemen
nominated candidates and seconded them. They
might have been making bets on the next Derby.
Reporters stood up heroically, notebook in hand,
leaning round the pillars, and the speakers shouted
into their ears, and they guessed what was said
or intended. Not one single word was heard one
vol. 1. 9

130 lorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speeches
yard from the mouth of the speaker. It was all
one deafening confusion of roar, howl, screech,
yell, cat-calls, dog-whistles, and every conceivable
sound inside, mingled with rotten oranges, raw
potatoes, which hit several of the speakers, and
other missiles.
" Mr. Morley spoke, or was supposed to be
speaking, behind a brown umbrella held up to
shield him from the heavy fire. Mr. Miles stood
up and risked the shots, but was no more heard
than Morley. The sheriff called for a show of
hands, or was supposed to do so, for the time
had come for that ceremony ; and the Blues held
up their hands with the Blue Committee, and the
Reds with the Red Committee. As the Reds had
the most roughs within the enclosure, in spite of
the Blues getting the start of them, it was decided
that the show of hands was for the Liberals, and
a poll was demanded for the Tory candidate.
" This wonderful proceeding lasted half an hour.
It could have been spent with more advantage in
the roar of Niagara. It was of no more use
than if each man had yelped, groaned, hissed,
or hurrahed in his own private domicile ; but
as they did this sort of thing in the days of
the Tudors, and, for aught I know, in the days
of the Druids, they will have to keep doing it.
" An advertisement in the newspapers would
have answered every purpose, but even that was
needless. Everybody knew there would be an

H jfarcical fliroceebing 131
election on Tuesday. Why then get together
for a general yell, a big row, a pelting of the
candidates and each other on Monday. Yet
this stupid, farcical, red-tape ceremony, useless,
expensive, and dangerous as it was, had to be
carried out all over the country. Last April
rotten eggs were even thrown at the ladies on
the roof of the Exchange, and there was a
fearful row up there, and cries of ' Throw them
over ! '
"On Monday, when the High Sheriff was
roaring the few words he tried to say into the
ears of a reporter, he said :
" ' You are called together for the purpose of
proposing two fit and discreet citizens to represent
you in Parliament. I earnestly beg you to hear
every candidate, and I charge, entreat, and urge
you to act  ' The reporter thinks he was going
to say ' like intelligent Englishmen,' but at this
instant a rotten orange prevented the completion
of the sentence. It was of no consequence.
The infernal uproar had not one instant of
cessation. . . .
" On Tuesday morning the election began at nine
o'clock. Polling-booths were prepared in various
districts, as in America, though not so numerous
or so well distributed. The roughs on both sides
gathered early. It struck me that the Banker
Miles's boys, though a rough-looking lot enough,
cared more for money than for mischief. The

132 lorb IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speeches
Trades Unions and the Irish were on the Liberal
side, and they were in earnest, and ready to break
the peace and heads and windows.
" By noon on Tuesday there was scarcely "• a
whole pane of glass in a Tory committee-room
in Bristol. Gangs of Red Radical roughs — harder
customers I never saw — bludgeons in their hands,
stones in their pockets, eight hundred or a thousand
strong, went through the streets, and woe to the
shop or tavern with a Tory handbill upon it, or
to a man with the Tory colours. They smashed
a tavern, drank up the liquor, and then went on
to smash another. Tory colours disappeared from
the streets ; Tory voters dared no longer go to
the polls. There was a perfect reign of terror
throughout whole districts. The Radicals say
there was provocation given — somebody threw
a stone at Mr. Morley. That is likely enough ;
but nobody knows who threw it. Most of the
tradesmen kept up their shutters. The surgeons
at the General Hospital and Infirmary were actively
employed in attending to the severely wounded,
who were brought in by scores. Of course there
were hundreds of black eyes and bloody noses.
The Tories were driven from the field. Mr.
Miles had over six thousand votes at four o'clock.
Berkeley and Morley had over eight thousand.
I judge that the eight hundred Irish votes gave
the majority, counting the Tories they hindered
from coming to the polls ; and, after all, this

Ube xaniversitg TTests Bill

133

victory of physical force is as good as any,
and it is what, in the last resort, decides all
contests." Peers would seem to have something to be
thankful for, after all. They were able, even
then, to take their seats in Parliament quietly.
In Lord Rosebery's first session he said very
little in the House of Lords subsequently to
that first able speech in seconding the Address
in reply to the Queen's Speech. On May 8 the
University Tests Bill, for the removal of certain
religious tests prior to admission to certain offices
connected with the Universities, was carried
through Parliament by the Liberal Government.
Lord Rosebery supported an amendment to the
Bill, to make it apply to clerical fellowships, on
the ground that the present arrangement had a
pernicious effect. He mentioned that persons
intending to study law at Lincoln's Inn took
Orders for the purpose of obtaining these fellow
ships. This drew from the Marquis of Salisbury
the humorous remark that the noble Earl must
lately have been keeping very curious company.
The amendment, however, was not adopted.
About this time Lord Rosebery showed his in
terest in the affairs of Scotland by asking whether
the Government intended to introduce a measure
dealing with ecclesiastical patronage in the northern
portion of the United Kingdom. The Duke of
Argyle, for the Government, replied sympathetically,

134 lorb IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speeches
and made humorous allusion to the fact that
the Government had already been compelled to
begin the ceremony, which was called " the
Massacre of the Innocents."
While, however, his remarks in his first session,
1 87 1, after the speech at the opening sitting, were
few, the Earl of Rosebery was already being
marked as a man of distinction in the country.
He had made a considerable impression in
Parliament by that first speech on the Address.
He was in the same year to give a promise of
those brilliant after-dinner orations which were
to become one of his characteristics. It was on
the occasion of the great Scott celebration in
August, 1871, when the people of Scotland with
one accord commemorated the peasant-poet and
honoured him, on the suggestion of the Edinburgh
Border Counties Society. The great festival was
held in the Corn Exchange, Edinburgh. The
Earl of Dalkeith presided. The report of the
celebration occupied four pages of The Scotsman,
and the list of those present, representing every
district in Scotland, London, and other parts of
England, New York, and other places abroad,
made two closely printed columns.
Lord Rosebery's speech was near the end of
the proceedings. He had been entrusted with the
toast of the ladies — rather a trying ordeal, as a
rule, for a bachelor of twenty-four. Lord Rosebery,
in giving the toast, said :

TCbe attributes of Scott 135
"My Lord Dalkeith, my lords and gentlemen,
I rise to propose a toast at a somewhat unpropitious
moment. I heard to-day accomplished, by Sir
William Stirling-Maxwell, the task which, till I
heard him, I believed to be insuperable — to do
justice to the toast of the hero of the evening ;
but at this period of the evening, when your
appetites for oratory, however insatiable and
however refined, must be cloyed and clogged, I
have to rise and propose, not a toast to the hero
of the evening, nor simply the toast of the heroines
of this place at this time, but the heroines of
every age and every clime. They have advan
tages, besides, over the hero of this evening which
would be too long wholly to enumerate ; but I
may mention that they are not merely subjects
of the affection to lovers of poetry and fiction,
that they are not merely subjects of centenary
moments of admiration, but that they appeal to a
far larger and more appreciative class of students
than any hero that ever lived.
"At an earlier hour of the evening I should
have offered a few remarks on Scott in connection
with the female character. These remarks the
lateness of the hour have happily spared you, and
I only dwell on those more general attributes of
the day that we can dismiss in fewer words. We
may say at once that accident and language and
tradition have done more for the sex than for any
other body of human beings. Accident — and you

136 lorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speeches
will agree with me, I think, a happy accident — has
made our Sovereign feminine ; a happy turn of
language has made our Church feminine, and has
made our ships feminine. I am not sure, by the
bye, of the sex of the ironclads, because they
came in when nicety of language was going out.
A high tradition has made our country feminine —
that is, before the present time, when her wishes
and her practice have made her neuter.
" My lords, ladies, and gentlemen, there is a
feature connected with this celebration which is
unique, I believe, in the history of public banquets.
Hitherto we have sat down, grim and monastic, in
the body of these halls, while the fairest portion of
the sex have remained in the galleries secluded
behind lattices. This evening a change has come
over the meeting which I do not think can have
escaped the most casual observer. It is that we
are sitting here — except two unfortunate tables,
at one of which I am found — surrounded and
enlivened by the presence of the sweeter sex.
We have been a somewhat more convivial
Shakers' meeting.
" My lords and gentlemen, I would only touch on
one more point, and that is connected with this :
we have seen women's rights extended in this
particular ; but how in this city, at this particular
juncture, can we mention the ladies without
mentioning their suffrages and their rights ? But
I will do so in the most compendious manner at

a ©rowing IReputation 137
this hour of the evening by saying that it may
fairly be argued that no rights are required by
those who possess an inherent prerogative to
govern men, and that no Legislature can give them
a suffrage worth having who are accustomed to
receive the suffrages of all mankind. I will only
add one word more, and then I shall resume the
seat which suits me better than these legs. I shall
just hope for one thing — that no gentleman,
however old or however young, who hears this
toast proposed will do otherwise than think
privately, and in his heart, of one, or at most two,
of the other sex. If any gentleman — but I do not
believe that such a man exists — should be found
in this room to drink it without one object in his
bosom, or without sufficient enthusiasm, I may
hope that the short remainder of this night may
be spent by him in an agonising nightmare, in
which the ghost of our eccentric country-woman,
Miss Jenny Geddes, shall hurl a perpetual foot
stool at what she would expressively call his
' lug ' until he comes to a more suitable frame
of mind."
A greater honour and a greater tribute to the
growing reputation of the young Earl was to be
paid him a few months later, for in November
Lord Rosebery was invited by the wise men of
the Edinburgh Philosophical Institution to deliver
an address to them at the opening of their meeting,
over which Lord Colonsay presided.

138 lorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
Lord Rosebery took for his subject " The
Union of England and Scotland," and a most
interesting and able, as well as very long, address
it was, and it was thought so highly of by the
learned and cultured audience that it was subse
quently published in pamphlet form and had a
considerable circulation.
In the history of human civilisation and human
progress, he said, a fairer page would hardly be
found than that occupied by the Scottish Union,
for it was not an union such as bound torn Poland
to Russia or uncrowned Venice to Austria. Such
unions must enlarge a frontier ; they did not create
a nation. It added to both nations concerned
power, wealth, and honour ; it cost no drop of
blood, no shadow of shame as regarded Scotland.
It was like nothing so much as a poor man
marrying an heiress — mortifying to pride at first ;
irksome, perhaps, occasionally ; in the long run
harmonious, because founded on interest ; eventually
it must be moulded into love by the beauty of its
offspring. There was once promulgated a State taunt,
founded on the statement of a baffled plotter, that
the Parliament of Scotland had sold for hard cash
their support to the Union. One unfortunate
nobleman, Lord Banff, had been crucified for the
ridicule of posterity as having sold his country
and his religion for a ten-pound note.
It was true that the nation was poor, which was

Scottish ibistorg 139
no reproach, and that some peers were unable to
attend Parliament unless assistance was given them
towards their travelling-expenses. There was no
proof of any corruption more debasing than that,
a practice adopted by almost every nation upon
earth, notably by the newest and most enlightened
— the United States of America. Ministers also at
last received those long arrears of salary of which
Scotch statesmen at that period so constantly
complained ; but the charge of corruption was so
baseless as to be unworthy of notice, while
history passed over the Act of Union itself, its
jealousies, its discussions, its plots, to record in
letters of gold the great internal revolution.
At first, indeed, Scotland seemed but to have
made the bargain of Glaucus — to have given her
gold for brass, the worth of a hundred oxen for the
value of nine. Prosperity and contentment worked
slowly indeed, for the Union had not existed two
years before a Bill was introduced by the Scotch
to repeal it, which was only defeated by three
proxies in the House of Lords. The Union
had not existed five years before the right of the
kirk as to the patronage had been betrayed and
destroyed, whence flowed, in an unbroken stream,
heartburnings, disruptions, and secessions. Scot
land again lost in splendour by ceasing to be a
kingdom and becoming a province ; her aristocracy
became place-hunters in London, the pliant tools of
the Ministry of the day. She lost her Legislature,

i4o lorb IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speecbes
and gained in exchange a few votes in an alien
senate which in no one respect represented her.
She loved well all she lost, but the loss was
her gain. It was because of that very loss that
she had become, in the nineteenth century, on the
whole the most prosperous and enlightened portion
of the British Empire. Quiet, steadfast, and
vigilant, the Scotch citizens of our day had shown
more political capacity than the inhabitants of any
other part of the United Kingdom. The inter
course with England, however, came almost entirely
from Scotland. The English knew about as much
of Scotland as they did of Bceotia, and what they
knew they disliked.
Now, indeed, the jealousies and distrust which
once separated the two countries divided them no
more than did the Roman wall, while it would
be waste of time on a self-evident proposition
to enumerate the benefits which Scotland reaped
from the Union, and which enabled her to smile
contemptuously at sixty years of insult and ridi
cule. Perhaps the shortest way of doing so
was to enumerate on one or two points. Scot
land's poverty. Before the Union her judges
were paid but ,£200 a year. The Commissioners
of the Union did not extend the hackney-coach
duty to Scotland because there were hardly any
hackney-coaches to levy it upom Fifty years
afterwards there were no hackney-coaches and
not half a dozen private carriages in Glasgow.

English anb Scottish xanion 141
The whole currency of Scotland was not
;£ 600,000. Glasgow in 1709 was supposed to
have lost .£10,000 by the loss of a fleet, which
was deemed incredible. In the hundred years
following the Union the Excise increased to more
than fifty times the first yield. Scotland was rated
by the Union to pay less than one-sixtieth part of
the land tax paid by England. It was needless
to multiply instances of the kind ; they might
indeed be summed up by pointing out how strong
must be the counter-balancing advantages which
had made Scotsmen forget for ever the strongest
passions of their ancestors. And there was a still
further proof of an indirect kind of the enormous
change that Union effected in the fortunes of
Scotland. The question was constantly asked, " What did
Scotland give for all these benefits?" "What
did Scotland lose by the Union ? " Except her
Church, she lost all that she held most dear. She
was very poor, but she was intensely proud, and
she believed herself to be the equal of England
in all but the fortuitous circumstances of climate
and soil. She solaced herself in her troubles
with the notion that she had given England her
kings. The Union was passed, and the Scots
saw themselves, for the sake, as they thought, of
some commercial advantages which few understood,
and which the vast majority despised, reduced
from a king-giving kingdom to a province without

142 lorb "IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
a Legislature ; with a haughty aristocracy ignored
and despised ; with a capital inferior indeed in
size to London, or in refinement to Paris, but
still famous and brilliant ; shorn of its Court, its
society, and its Parliament, descending to the level
of a country town. Scotland lost that. To them,
indeed, the sacrifices might seem trivial. They
could neither, as subjects, regret the Stuarts, nor,
as men of business, the Scotch Legislature ; the
aristocracy were no longer ignored ; and as for
Edinburgh's history, for Edinburgh stripped of
her Court, of her aristocracy, and her estates, who
would say that they had not gloried in her ten
times more since she lost those ornaments ?
Had they to select the proudest period of
Edinburgh's history they should not choose the
century that followed in preference to any that
succeeded the Union. For a moment the de
throned beauty retired behind a veil, but only
to reappear in the fairer attributes of renewed
youth. During the splendid epoch which succeeded,
she sent forth, perhaps, more brave, more wise,
and more famous men than any city in the world.
Historians and lawyers, philosophers and states
men, doctors and architects, soldiers and novelists,
wits and economists, poets and rhetoricians, all
sprang from her fertile bosom. Their ancestors
put their hands to a mighty work, and it prospered.
They welded two great nations into one Empire,
and moulded local jealousies into a common

Sgmpatbg between Classes i43
patriotism. On such an achievement they must
gaze with awe and astonishment, the means were
so adverse and the result so astonishing ; but they
should look on it also with emulous eyes.
Great as was that union, a greater still remained.
They had in their generation to effect that union
of classes with which hitherto power was a phantom
and freedom a farce. In those days the rich
man and the poor gazed at each other across no
impassable gulf; for neither was there in this
world an Abraham's bosom of calm beatitude.
A powerless monarchy, an isolated aristocracy, an
intelligent arid aspiring people did not altogether
form the conditions of constitutional stability.
They had to restore a common pulse, a healthy
beat to the heart of the Commonwealth. It was a
great work — the work of individuals as much as
of statesmen, alien from none of them, rather
pertinent to them all. Each in his place could
further it. Each one, merchant and clerk, master
and servant, landlord and tenant, capitalist and
artisan, minister and parishioner, they were all
privileged to have a hand in this work, the most
sublime of all, to restore or create harmony between
man and man, to look, not for the differences which
chance or necessity had placed between class and
class, but for the common sympathies which
underlie and connect all humanity. It was not
monarchs or even statesmen who gave the country
prosperity and power. France in 1789 had a

144 lorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
virtuous monarch and able statesmen ; but the
different classes of the community had then become
completely estranged, and the upper crust of society
was shivered to dust by the volcano beneath. In
this country the artificial barriers which separate
class from class were high enough, but, thank God !
they were not insuperable. Let them, one and all,
prevent their becoming so. A great page recorded
the bloodless and prosperous history of the Scottish
Union ; a greater page lay vacant before them, on
which to inscribe a fairer union still.

CHAPTER VIII
INTEREST IN FOREIGN QUESTIONS — THE ALABAMA CASE— MUNICIPAL
ELECTIONS — SCOTCH EDUCATION — LIFE PEERAGES  CHURCH
PATRONAGE — LORD ROSEBERY AND MR. TOOLE, THE ACTOR —
ROYAL TITLES
FROM 1 87 1 onwards for several years the
voice of Lord Rosebery was not often
heard in the House of Lords, but when he did
speak it was always on some matter which showed
that he was taking a deep and earnest interest
in a great variety of public questions.
In May, 1872, we find Lord Rosebery indicating
his interest in our foreign relations by moving
for returns as to the number and nature of the
extradition treaties between the United Kingdom
and other nations.
On the evening of June 4, 1872, an important
debate took place in the House of Lords on
a motion, brought forward by Earl Russell, to
the effect that an address should be presented
to the Queen praying Her Majesty to give
instructions for the suspension of the arbitration
at Geneva relative to the famous Alabama case,
until the indirect claims advanced by the American
Government should be withdrawn. Earl Granville,
vol. 1. 145 10

146 lorb IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speecbes
on behalf of the Government, earnestly deprecated
the pressing of the motion, brought forward as
it was at a critical juncture. Lords Salisbury,
Derby, and others took part in the debate, in
the course of which Lord Rosebery expressed
himself strongly against the motion and in favour
of the position of the Government. He thought
it would be most unwise to break off the negotia
tions at this moment by passing a vote of censure
on the Government, which would be the effect
of passing the motion before the House. To
ask of Her Majesty's Government a declaration
that they would not go before the arbitrators in
Geneva if they did not first obtain the withdrawal
of the indirect claims was not a course which
ought to be adopted.
Lord Cairns, who spoke subsequently in support
of the motion, complimented Lord Rosebery on
his speech.
It remains to add that on the debate being
resumed, after an adjournment, three days later,
Earl Granville announced the receipt of a com
munication from the American Government, which
Earl Russell regarded as a withdrawal of the
indirect claims. The latter therefore withdrew
his motion.
On February 8, 1873, he again evidenced his
interest in the matter of extradition treaties by
inviting the Government to state generally the
present state of affairs as to these.

Ube ssaltot Bill 147
The second reading of the Parliamentary and
Municipal Elections Bill, briefly known as the
Ballot Bill, which had passed the Commons by
a considerable majority, was moved in the House
of Lords by the Marquis of Ripon on June 10,
1872. A hostile amendment to the effect that
the Bill should be read again that day six months
was moved by Earl Grey. Lord Rosebery con
tributed to the debate a speech in favour of the
measure, the second reading of which was carried
by a majority of thirty.
Lord Rosebery has on every possible occasion
indicated the keenest interest in Scottish questions.
On the occasion (July 5, 1872) of the debate on
the second reading of the Education (Scotland)
Bill, Lord Rosebery expressed his hostility to
the application of any portion of the rates to the
teaching of denominational religion. When the
report stage of the Bill was reached, a few days
later, Lord Rosebery moved the extension to
Scotland of the now celebrated Cowper-Temple
Clause. He could not agree that the religious
difficulty had no existence in Scotland. As for
the " Shorter Catechism," he thought that none
of their lordships who knew the document would
think it a proper one for children of between five
and thirteen years of age. He proposed his clause
in the hope of making the measure a peaceful
settlement of a long vexed question.
The amendment, which was strongly opposed

148 lorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
by the Duke of Argyle, who held that the attempt
to proscribe formularies was not a Liberal but a
most illiberal course, was eventually negatived
without a division.
A discussion took place in the Lords on the
subject of life peerages on July 4, 1873. Lord
Rosebery — to whose name is appended, in an ex
planatory parenthesis in The Daily News report,
the words "a very young peer" — raised a laugh
by remarking that any proposal affecting the
privileges of the House would have most interest
for those who in the course of nature might expect
to remain longest members of it.
Church Patronage in Scotland called for attention
in the same year, and on June 17 a discussion
took place anent a resolution adverse to the
appointment of ministers by patronage to churches
belonging to the Established Church of Scotland.
Lord Rosebery supported the motion, at the
same time expressing the opinion that the system
had for some time been practically obsolete.
In the following session the Government of
Mr. Disraeli, which had just come into power,
brought in a Bill to abolish patronage. Lord
Rosebery again spoke in favour of the course,
regretting that the late Liberal Government had not
themselves introduced such a measure during their
recent tenure of office. Subsequently, when the
Bill was being considered in committee, he opposed
an amendment which would have had the effect

(Questions about lpeers 149
of giving ratepaying parishioners, as well as
communicants, a voice in the election of a minister
for a parish. The amendment, after considerable
discussion, was eventually rejected.
In the same year (1874), on June 12, there
was a discussion on the Parliamentary position
of Scotch and Irish peers. Lord Rosebery moved
the appointment of a Select Committee to inquire
into the method of electing representative peers
for Scotland and Ireland, and to report whether
any changes were desirable. The appointment
of the desired committee was agreed to.
Subsequently (June 22, 1875) Lord Rosebery
stated that he did not intend to introduce any
Bill founded on the recommendations of the
committee to deal with the question of the
representative peerage of Scotland, owing to
the difficulties in the way of such a measure.
The question of the Irish peerage was considered
some days later, when Lord Stanhope moved
an address to the Crown praying Her Majesty
to relinquish her prerogative of creating peers
of Ireland. In the course of the debate, in
which a number of peers took part, Lord
Rosebery criticised the Government on the ground
that they had not ventured to enunciate an open
and plain policy on the matter. The motion,
in an amended form, was eventually adopted by
the Government.
Further interest in foreign matters was shown

150 lorb IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speecbes
on July 26, 1875. Lord Stratheden and Campbell
then submitted a motion condemnatory of a
note delivered in the previous autumn by Austria,
Germany, and Russia to the Ottoman Porte,
and regretting that effectual measures had not
been taken to obviate the conclusion of a treaty
between Austria- Hungary and the Danubian
principalities. In the course of the debate that
followed, Lord Rosebery remarked that the object
of the three Powers was evidently political rather
than commercial.
When Mr. Disraeli proposed the Royal Titles
Bill to give the Queen the title of Empress of
India, Lord Rosebery opposed the measure, which
throughout the country aroused a great deal of
feeling and displeasure.
On Monday, April 3, 1876, the Bill was debated
in the House of Lords. The chamber presented
an unusually animated appearance. The seats on
the floor were fully occupied, and the available
space was thronged with members of the Lower
House and many other interested visitors. The
motion to go into Committee on the Bill having
been formally made, Lord Shaftesbury moved an
amendment to the effect that an address should
be voted to the Queen, praying Her Majesty to
assume some title other than that of Empress.
The Lord Chancellor (Lord Cairns), on behalf of
the Government, opposed the amendment, which
Was supported by Lord Selborrje,

ttbe Queen's mtles 151
Lord Rosebery, after repudiating the suggestion
that the Opposition were animated by party feeling
in the matter, pointed out that it had always been
the contention of the jurists of this country that the
title of king was absolute in its nature, and that
it was fully equal to the title of Emperor. The
opposition to the Bill had not come from those
who were opposed to monarchical institutions, but
from those who had for the last sixteen or twenty
years been the advisers of the Crown. It was
no party feeling that influenced them. After a
humorous comparison of the title, to be used for
India only with the medicines " for external ap
plication only," he wound up by asserting that
the Opposition opposed the measure because they
believed it to be derogatory to the Crown of
England, because they believed it to be unwise
and unnecessary, and above all because they be
lieved that in touching the outward form of the
monarchy they in some sort touched its inward
spirit and dignity.
The amendment was of course lost, the majority
against it being forty-six.
We find Lord Rosebery, on March 13, 1876,
interesting himself in the administration of the
affairs of Heligoland, and asking for the production
of papers relative to the Constitution granted to
the island in 1864, and, as it seemed to him, some
what arbitrarily abrogated four years later. Lord
Carnarvon, on behalf of the Government, made

iS2 lorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
a conciliatory reply, with which Lord Rosebery
expressed himself satisfied.
During the year 1874 the progress of Lord
Rosebery's reputation and the great diversity of
his interests were shown in two ways. One was
by his being chosen to preside over the Social
Science Congress, and the other was the request
that he would preside at the farewell banquet
to Mr. J. L. Toole, the actor, just before he left
England for a tour in America.
These interests would seem to be as far as
possible apart, yet the young Lord Rosebery,
twenty-seven years of age only, was considered
the best to be asked to fill the positions. The
Era, in its description of the event, says :
" A distinguished nobleman, whose speeches in
the House of Lords had recently obtained for him
high distinction, at once acceded to a request that
he should preside on the occasion . . . with the
Earl of Rosebery in the chair — a young peer
of high attainments, whose speeches on a wide
diversity of subjects have attracted lately the
greatest attention. The most distinguished pre
sidency was assured."
The company over which Lord Rosebery pre
sided included Henry Irving, Barry Sullivan,
G. A. Sala, Douglas Straight, Thomas Thorne,
Edmund Yates, C. F. Partington, C. T. Mathews,
Lord Alfred Paget, Edward Ledger, W. S. Gilbert,
Charles Dickens, William Cheswick, John Billington,

a Gbat about TToole 153
W. P. Frith, R.A., Sir Julius Benedict, Horace
Farquhar, and Captain J. E. F. Sylmer.
Lord Rosebery, in connection with the loyal
and patriotic toasts, referred to the affection of
the Americans for the Queen. " From personal
experience I am perfectly sure that there is no
place "even in Her Majesty's dominions where her
name and her character are more dear and more
appreciated." Lord Rosebery proposed the toas"t of the
evening, " Success and long life to Mr. Toole."
He said :
"If ever there was an occasion for a bumper
toast it is the one that I am now about to propose
to you. ... I suppose there is not one of us
here who has not had the advantage more than
once of hearing those perplexing orations which
Mr. Toole is in the habit of delivering, which,
sublime in execution as they are, are yet so
complicated and so mysterious in their delivery
that they have often reminded me of what after-
dinner speeches of Shakespeare may have been,
if we can only imagine that the immortal William
was exceedingly drunk at the time. ... It has
only reached me by a side-wind that reliable
statistics have proved that no young man of my
age has ever spent so much money in stalls to
hear Mr. Toole as I have. I used attentively to
attend Mr. Toole's performances, and I have only
to mention as a drawback to those who may feel

154 lorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
inclined to follow my example that, though you
could have heard a pin drop in the house, and
though I had read Mill's ' Logic ' for hours and
hours before going to the theatre, yet when I
returned home and attempted to draw up an
abstract of the speech I had heard, it was not so
clear or so logical as I should have expected from
so eminent a man. They were brilliant sentences,
no doubt ; but when you came to put those
epigrams together according to the rules of Mill
and Aldrich you found there was the third
premiss wanting, which no human ingenuity could
supply. . . .
" I must say that it is impossible I can do justice
to my admirable and honoured friend in any after
remarks I may now choose to make. Steadfast and
true as has been his character in every walk of
private life, his public career has been so various
and so complex that one cannot touch upon all
the incidents in one evening's sittings. I should
like to see a series of banquets given day after
day in his honour until we had exhausted all the
various phases of his character. Still, although
that might redound to his immortal glory, I am
doubtful whether it would not result in his pre
cipitate death from indigestion. I should like to
see a banquet on the first day at which the Lord
Chancellor should preside, and at which the judges
of the Bar of England should be present, to give
their professional and legal opinion as to the merits

Dinners that might be 155
of Mr. Hammond Coote and Mr. Sergeant Buzfuz.
On the second evening I should like to have a
dinner over which Admiral Rous should be the
chairman and George Fordham the croupier, and
they should give an opinion as to the merits of
Mr. Toole in the pigskin ; and on the third
occasion I should like to have light refreshment,
with the members of both Houses of Convocation,
the entire bench of bishops, and the great clerical
dignitaries present, to dilate upon the manner in
which Mr. Toole had reformed the rogue, Don
Giovanni, by transforming him into a pusillanimous
and harmless young man.
" I am not a dramatic critic, but I can give you
in a very few words the result of my experience.
I have often been to see Mr. Toole, as I said
before, and whenever I have been to see him I
have always entered the house with a feeling of
discontent, grumbling to myself that I was perfectly
certain he would not be so good as he was the
last time I saw him, and I have always left the
house with the feeling that I had never seen him
half so good in my life. I cannot account for that.
" Then there is another feeling which I believe
has been felt by every human being who has
seen him, whether in town or the provinces —
that whenever he has seen Mr. Toole he has
not only spent a delightful evening, that he
has not only seen an actor of undeniable talent,
but that he has met an admirable friend, because

156 lorb IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speecbes
there is a geniality about his performances which
spreads an electric chain round about his audiences,
and makes them forget the actor in the friend.
"You will read in the third volume of a book
recently published a very curious account of how
an illustrious man, who has passed away from us
but recently — I mean the late Charles Dickens —
went down to Walworth at some personal incon
venience to see the beginning of a new actor.
Dickens admitted that he showed some promise,
and he wished to encourage him by his presence
and patronage ; and that actor was our guest of
this evening. I cannot help thinking that if that
great genius, Dickens, were able to revisit for a
day the scene of his early triumphs, he would
think it not the least of his successes in this
world that he had introduced us partially to an
actor who has been the means of evoking so
much happiness and so much sympathy in this
country. " We have seen the beginning, but we have not
seen the end. We see here a man who has not
reached the summit of his prosperous career. . . .
I have to arraign Mr. Toole on three counts, but
I will not interpose longer than I can help between
the jury and the counsel for the defence. I have
to arraign him on the possession of admirable
talents ; I have to arraign him also on having
"conferred more happiness, probably, than any
human being in this room ; and for having detached

appreciation of flbr. toole 157
us from our loyalty by making us all his friends,
and of possessing the magic and irresistible power
of creative sympathy.
" I have only one word more to say, and that
is an allusion to an anecdote that I heard of our
guest only the other day. He was told that a
few friends would like to give him a dinner before
he went to America, to whom the illustrious
guest replied, in a manner that I am perfectly
certain you can all figure to yourselves, though
I cannot imitate it, ' Why do they want to give
me a dinner ? I am not in the least hungry.'
I can understand that remark if Mr. Toole's
appetite was one for public applause, because it
must have been long ago satisfied. But I should
like to tell him in the presence of this company
why it is we have given him this dinner to-night.
We have given it to you, Mr. Toole, because we
appreciate the humour which is always' genial
and which is always pure ; because we are grateful
to you for the many happy evenings we have
spent in your presence ; because we feel that the
humour is one which is grateful alike to age and
to youth and to childhood, to the genius and to
the fool, to every class and variety and condition
of life. But we might have felt this equally, and
simply waited for stalls to go and realise it in
our persons ; but we wished, further, to give you
this dinner because we feel that we are about
to lose you. We are about to lose one who is

158 lorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speeches
a household delight to England, who has done
more to charm the nation than probably any one
man now living ; and that, to paraphrase a famous
writer, the harmless gaiety of nations is about to
be eclipsed.
" If we have to spare you at all we would rather
spare you to our cousins across the Atlantic than
to any other nation upon earth. It would be
difficult for any Englishman to obtain a cold
welcome in America. What we have to fear for
you is not a cold welcome, but that American
enthusiasm may induce you for a moment to
forget English applause ; and we can only express
the hope that American enthusiasm will not make
you forget English devotion of many years, and
that though you may leave your new acquaintances
with reluctance — and I have no doubt you will —
you will return to this old country with some
pleasure, remembering that you have here a nation
of friends, to whom we trust you may be spared
for many years to afford new delight. I will now
only ask the company to drink your very good
health, and may God speed you on a happy and
prosperous voyage."
Commenting upon the speech, The Era re
marked :
" The choice of the Earl of Rosebery for
President was the happiest that could be made ;
and the force and fluency of his speeches, associated
with the most winning mode of delivery, called

asb»imebnesbag 159
forth the warmest expression of admiration.
Nothing, indeed, was wanting to make the event
memorable in the history of the stage as a
splendid acknowledgment of the dignity of the
dramatic art."
Lord Rosebery again showed his interest in
the theatrical profession on March 5, 1875. A
question was then asked in the House of Lords
concerning the closing of certain theatres on
Ash- Wednesday. Lord Rosebery joined in the
discussion which followed, expressing the opinion
that it was hard upon the theatrical profession
that they were obliged to remain idle when all
other trades and professions were permitted to
carry on their avocations. If there was a peculiar
sanctity on Ash- Wednesdays, then people ought
not to go about their usual business ; but in
this case the theatrical profession alone was
prohibited from doing so. In the interest of
logic, some change in the law ought, he thought,
to be made.

CHAPTER IX
THE DOCTRINE OF THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN — WORK FOR THE
ARTISANS IN LONDON — RELATIONS WITH THE REV. HENRY SOLLY
— THE CLUB AND INSTITUTE MOVEMENT — THE REPUBLICAN
AND "MR." ROSEBERY — THE SOCIAL SCIENCE CONGRESS —
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS — RELATIONS OF CAPITAL AND LABOUR
IT was the doctrine of the Brotherhood of
Man, of the mutuality of the interests of all
classes of the community, that Lord Rosebery
preached to the Edinburgh Philosophical Society
in 1 87 1. That is what he has always believed in
and never failed to impress on suitable occasions
on his audiences. He has endeavoured, with
much success, to learn to know the working
classes at home and abroad. In London one
who was of great assistance to him in gaining
this knowledge was the Rev. Henry Solly, with
some of whose early efforts to increase the
technical knowledge of the artisans the father of
the compiler of this book was associated.
It was through this gentleman that Lord
Rosebery came into close touch with many men
who were working hard for the improvement of
the artisans — men like Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice,
160

politicians anb Urabe Xttnions 161
Prebendary Rogers, Samuel Morley, Arnold
Morley, Hodgson Pratt, G. J. Holyoake, Professor
Stuart, James Heywood, etc. Through Mr. Solly
he saw what was being done or attempted in the
club and institute movement for the industrial
classes, work the initial stages of which have been
described so fully in Mr. Solly's book.1 In striking
contrast with the splendid institutes of to-day
were the efforts of those who began the move
ment. Mr. Solly succeeded in getting established
a " Trades Guild of Learning." Earl Granville
was President. It started well, but was later
abandoned. Mr. Solly says :
" Seldom has any society had a better start
in the world, and everything promised for it a
useful and successful career. But its brilliant
commencement and magnificent proportions ex
posed it to the usual danger of attracting persons
to take part in it who would have their own
ends to serve, and were determined to convert
it, if possible, into an instrument for working
out their own purposes. In this case those ends
were not mercenary. They were men who had
long wished to gain influence with the great
Trade Unions of the kingdom, and with the
working classes generally, for purposes which
they considered to be of high importance ; and
they did not realise the injustice of winning the
1 " These Eighty Years." By Henry Solly. London : Simpkin
Marshall & Co., Ltd.
VOL. I. II

1 62 Xorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
confidence of the originators and managers of
this new movement — after all the labour and time
spent on laying its foundations — and using it
to secure their own objects, instead of forming
a society for themselves. Then there were
misunderstandings, with the usual jealousies and
suspicions, among some of the working men.
All this last would, however, have been over
come had it not been for the endeavours made
by the one or two more educated men (including
the appointment of a young friend of their own
as secretary) to obtain possession of the move
ment, and drive the coach themselves. The worst
of it is that in almost all such cases when dis
agreeable symptoms begin to show themselves,
and unpleasant altercations occur, the well-disposed
men absent themselves, so that those who are
still striving earnestly to keep the society to its
legitimate course find themselves deserted and
powerless at the most critical time. Thus, in
spite of every attempt to push forward our
operations, the time of the council meetings was
lost, and the temper and patience of the members
naturally exhausted by the secret yet systematic
obstruction practised. These delays gave oppor
tunity and occasion for all the minor elements of
discord and hindrance to come into play. Every
new society that commences on a democratic
basis is exposed to these evils, just as a turnip
crop is beset with insect pests — and both escape

artisan Ebucation 163
the danger only by rapid growth. Delay in growing
or acting is fatal for a time, perhaps permanently."
That was not a pleasant experience for the
pioneers of the movement, who were so dis
couraged that they left the guild, which came
to an end some little while afterwards. Mr.
Solly, however, set himself to work to start a new
and better body, and had men like the Earl of
Shaftesbury, Lord Lyttelton, the Earl of Harrowby,
Lord Rosebery, and Mr. Samuel Morley to help
it forward. About the same time, and largely
by the aid of the same men, recreation-grounds
were opened at Willesden, and flower-shows and
window-gardening for the industrial classes were
encouraged. At last Mr. Solly drew out a plan
for an " Artisan's Institute " for technical training,
for instruction in science and art, history, political
economy, English literature, grammar, elocution,
etc., with provision for " Mutual Improvement "
discussions and weekly entertainments. Mr.
Samuel Morley promised ^500 towards it. Other
support was given, and soon premises were taken
near Upper St. Martin's Lane at a rental of ^115
a year. There was space for five or six class
rooms and a lecture-hall capable of holding from
a hundred to a hundred and fifty people. Lord
Rosebery took a keen interest in the work, and
though, like Mr. Hodgson Pratt, he was unable
to attend the inaugural soirde, held on October 14,
1874, when Mr. Samuel Morley took the chair,

1 64 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
he sent a letter explaining why he was unable to
come. In the following year (1875) this Artisan
Institute sent a deputation to Mr. Cross, then
Home Secretary, on the subject of the " Dwellings
of the Poor," which had some effect upon legislation
then pending regarding the housing of the poor
and their displacement through the demolition of
insanitary dwellings or other improvements. Mr.
Cross subsequently saw Mr. Solly privately, and
was shown by him a card model of suggested
tenements for the poor in Westminster.
From the modest beginning of the Institute
much good proceeded, and several of the city
companies made small contributions. It was found,
however, necessary to get more funds, and an
attempt was made at the annual meeting of 1875,
which the Duke of Westminster allowed to be
held at Grosvenor House. The Duke took the
chair, and he and Lord Lyttelton urged the
claims of the Institute. Mr. Rogers, the rector
of Bishopsgate, was present, and had his interest
greatly excited by what he heard. Lord Rosebery,
who was also present, gave a handsome contri
bution to the funds. The publication of the pro
ceedings led to great public interest and enlarged
subscriptions, and the worries of Mr. Solly in
connection with the Institute's finances were
practically over. Mr. Solly recalls a curious and
characteristic scene one evening when they were
holding one of their larger discussion-meetings,

"flbr. "IRoseberg" 165
and the Earl of Rosebery had come to preside.
Mr. Solly says :
" I forget what the subject was that night, but
several friends of the Institute, among them Lord
Lyttelton and some other distinguished men,
were present. Early in the debate one friend, a
Republican saddler, rose to speak, and began :
' Mr. Rosebery,' whereby I rose at once and said
that Mr. Elliott was quite at liberty to abolish
the House of Lords if he could constitutionally, as
well as all titles into the bargain, but that he was
not at liberty to be rude to my guests, and that
I would not allow it. A considerable portion of
the meeting no doubt sympathised with Elliott in
his Republican views, but it went with me so
heartily that he did not repeat the offence, and in
a subdued tone briefly gave his opinions on the
subject discussed.
" When the meeting was over, and Lord Rose
bery was going, I said we were greatly obliged to
him for presiding, and I was sorry this man had
behaved rudely. ' Oh,' said Lord Rosebery, ' if
these men only knew how little we care for our
titles, they wouldn't make such a fuss about them,'
and seeing Elliott, with others, standing by the
coffee-bar as he went out, he held out his hand,
saying, ' Come, Mr. Elliott, let us shake hands ;
I'm not such a bad fellow, after all.' When I saw
Lord Lyttelton (who had gone away just previous
to this finale) a few days afterwards, and told

1 66 lorb "IRoseberg : "Ibis life anb Speecbes
him of it, he replied, ' Oh, I'm not in the least
surprised at Lord Rosebery shaking hands with
Elliott, I only wonder at Elliott's shaking hands
with him ! '
" Lord Rosebery was finely consistent and true
to his own view of the case in this matter of titles
when he was Chairman of the London County
Council ; and he has done a large amount of good
work for his country. But I doubt if he knows
how much he has been helped to gain the means
and opportunity of exercising his really noble
qualities and great abilities in her service by
beginning public life as the Earl of Rosebery
instead of as ' Mr. Primrose.' Yet he would have
become a great man and a true patriot (if adequate
health and strength were given him) under any
name or title. Not very long ago I was surprised
and gratified to learn that I had had the privilege of
being amongst the earliest to discern his capacities
for goodness and greatness ; for at the close of the
Annual Meeting of the International Peace and
Arbitration Society, held at the Westminster Palace
Hotel last year, Major de Winton, whom I had
frequently met at Social Science Congresses, and
who had just been moving a resolution at the
meeting which I had seconded, came up to Mr.
Hodgson Pratt and myself, saying, a propos of
something, I forget what, . ' Why, Mr. Solly, you
were the first to introduce Lord Rosebery to public
notice in London. Don't you remember it?'

an artisans' institute 167
' No, indeed I don't,' I replied. ' Yes, it was at
a meeting at the Society of Arts, and you intro
duced him, saying he was a young nobleman of
great promise and ability.' Then I began to have
some faint recollection of the circumstance, for I
certainly had an impression, given me long pre
viously, of the nature the Major expressed. May
he long live to fulfil, as he is now doing, the
bright and noble promise of his early years ! "
Subsequently the Social and Political Education
League was established, and Lord Rosebery
presided over one of the annual meetings, Mr.
J. A. Froude, Mr. James Bryce, Mr. Frederic
Harrison, Professor Dicey, Mr. Leslie Stephen,
Mr. R. B. Haldane, Q.C., M.P., Mr. Brassey, M.P.,
Mr. George Howell, Sir Harcourt Johnstone,
M.P., Sir J. C. Laurence, took an interest in
the work. Lord Rosebery strongly urged the
importance of the work. " The Artisans' Technical
Institute " was subsequently formed with the help
of Mr. Thomas Burt, M.P., Mr. J. Williams Benn,
M.P., Mr. John Burnett, Mr. O. V. Morgan, Mr.
Hodgson Pratt, Mr. Thomas Twining, and others.
Mr. Walter Hazell, M.P., Mr. (afterwards Sir
John R.) Robinson, Mr. Sydney Buxton, M.P.,
Mr. Pye-Smith, Mr. Manfield, M.P., were also
connected with developments of the work of
Mr. Solly.
It was no doubt owing to the part Lord
Rosebery had taken in the work of Mr. Solly in

1 68 aLorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
the early seventies that the organisers of the Social
Science Congress of 1874 sought to get Lord
Rosebery to preside. It is unnecessary to more
than state the distinction it was for a man of
twenty-seven to fill that position.
The Congress was held in September, 1874, in
Glasgow. Lord Rosebery, as President of the
Congress, delivered the inaugural address, in the
course of which he laid special stress on the value
of education for all classes of the community.
The occasion is interesting as being that of Lord
Rosebery's first visit to Glasgow, a fact to which
he made allusion. The address, of which a
report was given in The Scotsman, was thought
ful, earnest, and eloquent. The Lord Provost
of Glasgow (Sir James Watson) subsequently
expressed his astonishment at the varied in
formation contained in it, which indicated that
the speaker was a shrewd observer of the signs
of the times. That this appreciation was fully
justified will be indicated by a perusal of the
address. The Hon. Arthur Kinnaird, M.P., spoke
appreciatively of Lord Rosebery as a type of the
aristocracy of the future.
Lord Rosebery, in the course of his address, said :
" To my mind, a body like ours has no more
direct or important duties than the attempt to raise
the condition of the nation by means which Parlia
ment is unable or disdains to apply. Here we
have an illimitable field of operations. Parliament

Morfemen anb Dotes 169
can give a workman a vote, but it cannot
give him a comfortable home. Nor can it sift
and exhibit the many contrivances which may
be placed before him of bettering himself, of
increasing his capacities, and enlarging his
enjoyments. All this lies within our province, and
it is work incalculably more important than the
great mass of our Parliamentary legislation. In
this city we are surrounded by a great aggrega
tion of humanity — seething, labouring, begrimed
humanity ; children of toil who have made
Glasgow what she is, and alone can raise and
maintain her ; not mere machines of production,
but vehicles of intelligence, mixed in nationality
and various in opinion. You cannot appeal to
them by common feelings or uniform interests.
They are there a dark and mighty power, like
the cyclopean inmates of ^Etna. I must honestly
avow my conviction, though to those who see
how many there are who profess to represent
and understand the working classes it may seem
rash, while to others it will seem a truism, that
this vast labouring population of ours has not
made itself, its wants, its creeds, and its interests
sufficiently intelligible to many of us. How,
indeed, if it be otherwise, is it that the problems
connected with their condition have advanced so
little towards solution ? How is it, otherwise,
that each political party claims with equal certainty,
and on every point, to possess the sympathy and

i7° lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
the confidence of the working man ? How else
is it that, when the working class makes its
voice heard on any question, it comes upon us
like thunder in a clear sky? I avow myself
no exception to the rule ; but for that very
reason, perhaps, I can conceive no subjects more
interesting than those which relate to the welfare
of our labouring population.
" The moment is as suitable as the place
for the discussion of these vital and national
questions. In times such as these, of high
wage, of general peace, of immunity from furious
political discord, the well-being of the labouring
classes often appears secured, and does not
always attract the attention of statesmen. It
is, however, precisely then that it is possible to
take measures which, without exciting jealousy
on one hand, and suspicion on the other, may
secure that well-being in less prosperous times.
It is then that even the Greeks may innocently
bring gifts. But should there come a European
war such as we weathered successfully at the
beginning of the century, but which left us
surrounded for the most part with battered wrecks
and with stranded hulls, we might possibly find
our teeming population, confined within so small
an ark, a perilous and disheartening agency.
Moreover, while our numbers increase in a
greater proportion daily, it would seem that for
a few years our principal outlet for emigration

"Iflational Morfesbops 171
may be partially blocked up. It appears more
than probable that for some time, owing to late
commercial disasters, and it may be because
corn-growing in the west has been somewhat
overdone, the United States will not find employ
ment for that quarter of a million of emigrants,
more or less, that we are accustomed to send to
her. This is the most important problem that can
occupy statesmen, and at the same time the most
difficult for a statesman to face. For Parliament
can seldom see its way to interference ; nor is
it indeed desirable that it should do so.
" Legislatures and governments have at various
times attempted by direct laws to benefit the
working classes : but the most obvious instances
of this — the national workshops of 1848, and
the decrees of the Parisian Commune in 1871 —
have been conspicuous failures. It is well, then,
that in this present time, so peaceful and blessed
for us, we can here discuss, however slowly and
imperfectly, the pregnant topics which our pro
grammes suggest.
" And there is so much to be done ; our
civilisation is so little removed from barbarism.
At this moment there is a daily column in the
newspapers devoted to recording brutal outrages,
where human beings have behaved like wild
beasts. Every policeman in London is assaulted
on an average about once in two years. Within
the memory of living men, the workers at the

172 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
salt-pans of Joppa, only a mile or two from
Edinburgh, were serfs — adscripti glebce — and sold
along with the land on which they dwelt. Neither
they nor their children could remove from the
spot, or could alter their calling. The late
Lord Provost of Edinburgh, who bears the
honoured name of Chambers, records his having
talked to such men. What a hell, too, was that
described to Lord Ashley's Commission of 1842 !
In the mines were women and children employed
as beasts, dragging trucks on all fours, pursuing
in fetid tunnels the degraded tasks which no
animal could be found to undertake. We know
that equal horrors existed in the brickfields two
or three years ago, when there were thirty
thousand children employed, looking like moving
masses of the clay they bore, whose ages varied
from three and a half years to seventeen, and
when an average case was thus described : ' I
had a child weighed very recently, and though
he was somewhat over eight years old, he weighed
but 52^ lb., and was employed carrying 43 lb.
of clay on his head an average distance of fifteen
miles daily, and worked seventy-three hours a
week. This is only an average case of what
many poor children are doing in England at
the present time, and we need not wonder at
their stunted and haggard appearance when we
take into account the tender age at which they
are sent to their Egyptian tasks.' Then again :

a Ibumanising Ebucation 173
' All goodness and purity seems to become
stamped out of these people ; and were I to
relate,' says a witness who himself worked in
the brickfields, ' what could be related, the whole
country would become sickened and horrified.'
It would not indeed be difficult, and it would
be painfully instructive, to draw out a dismal
catalogue of facts to prove how little the splen
dour of our civilisation differs from the worst
horrors of barbarism.
" And yet, after all, we can only come to the
hackneyed conclusion, that the sole remedy for
this state of things is education, a humanising
education. It is not a particularly brilliant or
original thing to say, but severe truth is seldom
brilliant and original. There is a noble passage
in ' De Tocqueville,' known probably to all and
too long to quote here, which points out that
knowledge is the arm of democracy, that every
intellectual discovery, every development of science,
is a new source of strength to the people, that
thought and eloquence and imagination, the divine
gifts which know no limit of class, even when
bestowed on the enemies of the popular cause,
yet serve it by exalting the natural grandeur of
man, and that literature is the vast armoury,
open to all indeed, but where the poor, who have
hardly any other, may always find their weapons.
These, I say, are features of education which
all recognise, though some may profess to

174 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
dread them. But there is a general expediency
besides. " Take the case of machinery. The winter
nights of 1830 were bright with blazing rickyards.
No farmer in the southern counties felt his stacks
safe. There was a time of terror in England,
and of retribution. Or take the Luddite riots of
18 1 2 and 1816, where cunning and furious mobs
nearly stamped out lace manufacture at Notting
ham. The broken frames and the burning ricks
were ignorant protests against machinery. Well,
intelligence has marched a little, and what is the
case now ? What do the Associated Masters —
no unduly partial authority — affirm ? ' The
accuracy of this statement is manifest from the
fact that the operatives are now the earnest
advocates for improvements in machinery, whereas
twenty years ago it was no uncommon thing for
them to strike at the factory where they were
introduced.' Here, it seems to me, we can put
our finger on definite and tangible progress, due
solely to increased intelligence.
" Take another case which shows the need of
it. Wages were probably never so high in
England as in 1873. Nine years before an
increasing spirit traffic paid ,£9,692,515 to the
Excise. In the last financial year the Excise
receipts from spirits amounted to ^14,639,562.
I am not one of those who are appalled, certainly
not surprised, by this expenditure. But see how

a difference of Culture 175
it strengthens the argument ! A man who has
little but natural instincts to guide him comes
into a fortune, and at once procures himself an
increased quantity of what has been in smaller
doses an enjoyment and a solace. Has he been
educated to find his amusement elsewhere ? If
one of us should succeed to a large fortune
to-morrow, we certainly should not spend our
inheritance in drink ; but the difference, I venture
to say, is one solely of culture. Well, my con
tention is that in an educated country, among a
nation educated not in Shakespeare and the
musical glasses, but so instructed as to be able
to find amusement outside the public-house and
the skittle-alley, a great increase in wages would
not have been followed by so enormous an increase
in the consumption of spirits ; and an enormous
consumption of spirits means an enormous amount
of crime and pauperism. The assertion is capable
of proof which is almost direct. The best educated
country in the world is Saxony. This is what
a Saxon mining superintendent says : ' We have
a few who drink brandy, but as a rule they are
steady.' Take another country where education
is universal : 'In 18 19 compulsory laws, requiring
every parent to educate every child, were enacted
in Prussia. At first, of course, there was a violent
opposition and the usual hue-and-cry of " invaded
rights " ; but in twelve years crime and pauperism
have diminished 40 per cent.' Moreover, we

176 lorb "IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
not only suffer morally, but materially. Pay-day
in England is often followed, not merely by
drinking, but by a blank as regards work. ' If
you pay,' says Mr. Brassey, ' wages weekly on
Saturday, it rarely happens that any considerable
amount of work is performed on the Monday.'
" Take the colliers. The papers have been filled
for the last year or so with anecdotes of the
colliers, their immense earnings, their expenditure
in champagne, and horses, and hot-house fruit.
I am persuaded that there is a large section of
society which believes that the colliers pass three
days a week in sucking peaches and driving
tandem. But what is the state of intelligence
among even the younger generation of colliers ?
' Out of fifty [lads] examined in nine different
night-schools in 1867,' says Mr. Sandford,
' twenty-nine, or 58 per cent., could not read.'
And yet we wonder that our colliers do not
invest their earnings wisely !
" I will only put one more case. Improvements
in locomotion have made life more easy, but also
more cheap. Our lives are staked on the exact
intelligence of each of a great number of com
paratively uneducated men. When we recollect
the nice adjustment, the momentous punctuality,
which are required of a pointsman or a signalman,
and all that depends on them, we should ensure
that such responsibilities should not be cast upon
men whose faculties have not been carefully trained.

a Simple proposition 177
In addition to all the other chances of life, there
is but a point which separates a railway passenger
from death. And yet we act as though education
were desirable indeed, but not imperative.
" Well, but it may be asked, to what does this
recital of known facts tend ? To a very simple
proposition. I cannot believe that there ever
was a more clear necessity before any govern
ment or any country than the imperative duty
laid upon ours to institute a directly compulsory
education. Among the upper classes such com
pulsion exists, more stringent than any enactment
that a legislature can frame, and one which every
pressure in this direction laid on the lower classes
will increase threefold ; the compulsion is moral
and the penalty is extinction. If the upper class
shall become less educated than the class beneath
it, we may take it for granted that by a natural
process of subsidence that upper class will sink
to the bottom, and that lower class will rise to
the top. We are told that such an enactment
would be an interference with individual liberty,
and that the nation is not ripe for it. If the
assertion be true that the nation is not ripe for
the reception of an undoubted benefit, — a benefit
as clear and as certain as fresh air and pure
water — we can only be the more certain that this
education is greatly needed. If it be seriously
argued that the interference with individual liberty
is too stringent, we must call into the witness-box
vol. 1. 12

178 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
Macaulay's well-known schoolboy to assure us
that a policeman, a tax, and a railway bill are all
direct interferences with individual liberty. The
natives of Scotland are not considered unduly
servile, yet they submit to compulsory education.
The same cry was raised in Prussia more than
half a century ago, but the education of her people
has not merely effaced Jena and its consequences,
but produced the German Empire of to-day.
"In these days knowledge is strength and
immediate strength, and education has revived in
its most startling aspect the exploded doctrine
of the balance of power. It seems certain that'
that unhappy phrase, which, like a perverted rod
of Moses, was only applied to cause streams of
blood to flow, will be verified with regard to
educated and uneducated nations. We raise armies
with great distress and expenditure — armies from
which the annual desertions are little less than
six thousand — we never weary of forging plates
of iron with which to resist cannonades we trust
never to encounter — we construct artillery which
we hope may rather be superseded than employed
— we impose loads of taxation for all this, and we
heedlessly neglect the true leverage of all present
empire. I venture to suggest that a Social Science
Congress has no fairer field than to urge upon
Government this peaceful method of supremacy,
so congenial to its theories, and that no govern
ment worthy of the name should shrink from

Ebucational "iRequirements 179
an invasion upon these, forsooth, sacred liberties
of the subject.
" The question is one of security, but power
requires something more. We require, if we would
remain what we are, a special education of two
kinds. The first I would venture to urge, with
the more confidence, as your memorial on the
subject has done so much, is general instruction
in economical principles. The science of political
economy is not at this moment, perhaps, in
particularly good odour. It is fashionable for
people who pride themselves on being warm
hearted to flout political economy ; though I think
that those who have heard Mr. Fawcett speak,
or who have read the Autobiography of John
Stuart Mill, would deny that political economists
are bloodless beings. But, in spite of easy
sarcasms, the fact of direct utility remains.
" Take the case of strikes. Strikes are only
one development of that slow but gigantic process
by which, all over the world, capital and labour
are readjusting their relations, and that supreme
tendency in this age, of men as well as of nations,
towards glomeration. In the first clash of conflict
they may have disturbed our trade ; but, with a
larger intelligence, based on economical principles,
is it not certain that each side will discover that
their prosperity must be mutual and their inter
ests inseparably entwined ? Again, consider for
a moment. Strikes are rare in Germany ; in

i8o OLorb IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speecbes
Wurtemberg, where every individual in the king
dom above the age of ten can read and write,
they are unknown. It is true that in the United
States, owing perhaps to sudden commercial crises
that have occurred there, they are on the increase ;
but it must be honourably remembered that the
Executive Committee of the New York Tailors'
Union in 1869 announced the termination of their
strike, and at the same time their determination
to abjure strikes for the more valid support of
co-operation. What are the bloodiest and most
perilous strikes whereof we have record ? Surely
the strike of the Belgian miners in 1869, and the
strike at Creuzot of January, 1870, which was
suppressed by bayonets, and which anticipated the
Commune. In both countries 30 per cent, of the
population are unable to read or write. From
both countries proceed the wildest economical
theories Is it fanciful to see a connection between
these facts ; to believe that a comparatively slight
knowledge of economical truths would prevent
vexatious strikes ; or at any rate to hope that the
day may come when the relations of capital and
labour may be largely improved by the teaching
of political economy in our public schools ?
"If a State, after doing its duty, has time to
consider expediency (and this indeed, as the world
goes, is reversing the order of things), it should
consider whether in these days, when the essence
of prosperity is commerce, and the essence of

"IRiotous anb "IRecfeless living 181
commerce is rivalry, it be not well by special
training to fit the producers for production, and
the distributors for distribution. The want of this
special education is the real requirement of our
industry, without which certain natural advantages,
supposed to be inherent in the Anglo-Saxon race,
will not avail us in the struggle for commercial
predominance. It will not be new to you to hear
that, without technical knowledge, and without a
generally diffused knowledge of the principles of
trade, a nation may easily lag behind in the
world of commerce.
" We are living now riotously and recklessly ;
we are consuming far more coal than we need ;
we are spending selfishly the rightful heritage of
our posterity. Instead of this, our anxiety should
surely be to husband our powers, and to educate
our people, for we have no new dominions to
explore ; our island is no more capable of expansion
than a quarter-deck. We should look the future
boldly in the face. See the effects of technical
education in one simple face. Switzerland is
hemmed in with mountains, her climate is un
favourable, her soil is limited, her one resource of
water-power is precarious and expensive ; she has
no coal and no harbours ; yet she threatens the
silk trade of Lyons, and takes the ribbon trade
of Coventry. Her exports of silk alone rose in
the eleven years between i860 and 1871, 147 per
cent, in quantity, and 132 per cent, in value. Can

1 82 xorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
any cause be assigned for this but the complete
and special education which she gives in primary
schools, and practical schools, and trade schools,
and secondary schools, and cantonal schools, all
topped up by the great Polytechnic Institute of
Zurich ? The Swiss manufacturer lives simply,
he is a master of his business, and his workmen,
with whom he is perpetually in contact, respect
him for this. Master and servant have often been
at the same school learning their craft ; they know
it thoroughly, and though it is said that an English
operative will get through in ten hours as much
work as a Swiss in twelve, yet, judging by results
we may believe that the technical knowledge of
the one brings him on a level with the physical
capacity of the other. And the mention of
Switzerland leads me to say that technical in
struction is needed as much by the master as the
workman. Mr. Scott Russell, in his interesting
book on technical education, points out with great
force how the practical ignorance of the master
may earn him the contempt of the men. The
ignorance and the distrust produce the middleman,
who still further estranges the two parties, and
the result is complete want of sympathy on both
sides, with all the evils that that want implies.
The master becomes a remote figurehead, the
interest of the workman in his work passes
away, with the honour of perfection and the pride
of finish. Hence there originate those modern

IRational Commercial Ebucation 183
contrivances which designedly suppress superiority
in order to produce a dead level of wage for the
good worker and the bad — contrivances which
may serve the temporary purposes of strategy,
but which strike at the root of character.
" In another branch of technical education we
are almost entirely deficient — I mean a rational
education for commercial pursuits. The German
clerk who comes to England astonishes our
merchants not merely by his mastery over two
or three languages, but by his mastery of the
principles and rationale of his business. In a
nation like ours it would be supposed that there
would be ample means of instruction in commercial
principles and practice. As a matter of fact there
is but one professorship of the principles of
commerce in the United Kingdom, and that has
neither endowment nor scholarship. It is probable
that technical and commercial education will have
to be provided by the State in England ; it is
more than probable that it will not be provided
till our eyes have been opened to its necessity
by grave and painful facts. But here in Scotland
we have educational endowments bequeathed by
commercial men for the benefit of their class,
which are of little use at present, and which
might fairly be devoted to giving practical com
mercial and technical education. There is the
noble revenue left by George Heriot, who, from
what we know of his character, would have rejoiced

1 84 lorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
to see these days of prosperity in Scotland,
and to further that prosperity with his fortune.
A Royal Commission is giving its attention to
this subject, but it has no executive powers, and
public opinion has more influence on these points
than a hundred royal commissions. And it
should be remembered that if Scotland, out of
her endowments, could set on foot a successful
practical or polytechnic school, she would — to
paraphrase the words of Pitt—' having saved
herself by her energy, save England by her
example.' "Again, take the case of agriculture. It has
been said that the agricultural production of
England might be doubled if more capital were
put into the land. It is not easy to verify
statements of this kind, but it is certain that more
special knowledge of agriculture would have to
precede the larger application of capital. I suppose
there is no country in the world where so much
farming-capital is laid out to the acre as in the
lowlands of Scotland. But this was not the case
till Lord Haddington, at the beginning of the
last century, sent for farmers from Dorsetshire
(where perhaps a return of the favour might not
be unwelcome now) to give special agricultural
instructions in his neighbourhood. What a de
mand there is for special agricultural education,
not merely on behalf of young men who wish
to become British farmers or land-agents, but

Ebucating our IRulers 185
of those who intend to emigrate to our colonies !
See how many youths there are who come to
board with our great farmers as pupils in agri
culture ! The efficacy of this method is indeed
doubtful : the pupil has generally too much in
dependence, and the tutor not enough authority ;
but this very fact proves the strength of the
demand. And these are the men who go out
to our colonies and influence the destinies of
future empires. Would it not be well, then, as
the demand for this education exists, and as it
has so direct a bearing on the prosperity of the
country and of our labouring classes, that the
Government, or we ourselves, should devise some
means of meeting it ?
" The only class for which, so far as I know,
technical education is never even proposed, is the
class for which it is most necessary — I mean
our rulers. Is there any school or college in
Great Britain which professes to educate men for
government or statesmanship ? Eton, I believe,
trains a very large proportion of our legislators,
yet I have grave doubts if Eton provides any
special instruction for them in their future duties.
We have medical colleges, and clerical colleges,
and military colleges ; and some of the best minds
of the country are now devising schemes of legal
education. We have no hereditary surgeons, or
priests, or soldiers, or lawyers. We have, however,
a large body of hereditary legislators ; we have a

1 86 xorb "IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
considerable number of men who are hereditary
legislators during good behaviour, for they, and
their fathers before them, have sat in Parliament
so long as they were solvent and respectable.
But for these technical education is not provided
nor even contemplated. We agree that an artisan
cannot do his work properly without special in
struction ; but for those to whom we entrust our
fates, our fortunes, and our honour, no such
training is requisite. It is expected and assumed
that a peer shall take to politics as a duck takes
to swimming. Nor have we improved on our
fathers. Macaulay tells us that it was considered
wonderful that the elder Pitt had never read
' Vattel.' But can we feel any certainty that every
Member of Parliament has read ' The Wealth
of Nations ' ? Suppose candidates for Parliament
were examined like candidates for the Civil
Service, or for commissions in the Army, should
we discover the sure traces of training in political
history and political economy ? I venture to say
that there are many Members of Parliament who
would themselves be the first to lament the de
ficiencies of their education in their craft, and the
labour with which they had at a later and busier
period of life to repair them.
" But to return to the artisan class. The
agencies I have named are external, but there is
an internal agency by which workmen have
effected much for themselves — I mean by applying

a Great Social dliovement 187
the principle of union. It is true, of course,
that unions among workpeople, with a view to
the artificial raising of their wages, may hamper
production and harshly control freedom of action.
On the other hand, they have often been of real
service by promoting intelligent communication
between workpeople in different parts of the
country, and in ascertaining the due recompense
of labour. Few impartial persons will be disposed
to deny that, though it has caused bitter feelings
on both sides, as all such revolutions must, the
great social movement which has recently united
the English peasantry is likely to diffuse enlighten
ment, to encourage independence, and to place
wages on a more clear and rational footing.
The natural adjustment of the right proportion
between the profits of capital and the wages
of labour is a tolerably sure, it may be, but
certainly a very slow, process, and union among
workmen has had a beneficial effect in hastening
it. Strikes, which cause so much distress and
which so greatly hinder production, we must
lament. But so long as capital and labour continue
distinct and opposing interests, is it likely that
strikes will be rare ? Co-operation, indeed, is
the obvious remedy for all these troubles ; but
co-operation can hardly, so far, be considered
a success in this country. It appears to require
a more general intelligence and a greater accu
mulation of capital among the working classes

188 5Lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
than exists at present. The largest co-operative
association for productive purposes in this country
is that of the Ouseburn Engine Works. Yet
even here, with the strictest co-operative demo
cracy, a strike has recently taken place of certain
of the workmen against the association — that is
against themselves. In agriculture the Speaker
of the House of Commons attempted a co
operative experiment so favourable to the workmen
that, even had it succeeded, it would have been
no pledge for the success of ordinary co-operation.
Yet his men, although they were to receive
when the year was good, and to lose nothing
when the year was bad, did not, it appears,
take a single share. So that, as regards co
operation, we cannot say that at this moment
we have much reason to look for assistance from
that quarter.
" But union as a principle (and union of some
sort must of course precede co-operation) is the
great watchword of our age. Nowhere has the
multiplication of unions been more extraordinary
than in the United States. The very names of
some of them are quaint enough — the Advocates
of Justice, the Knights of Honour, the Sons of
Toil, the Brethren of Labour, the Sovereigns
of Industry. But incomparably above these there
towers the gigantic association of the Patrons
of Husbandry, commonly called The Grange, a
great agricultural co-operative independent union.

"ama3ing progress " 189
Its progress has been amazing. Its first Grange,
or lodge, was formed in the last month of
1867. There are at this moment 20,500 Granges,
with 1,311,226 members. At the end of the
year it is certain that they will have 30,000,
with 2,000,000 members. The order is practically
identical with the agricultural population of six
States, and with two-thirds of the farmers in ten
others. In Missouri alone there are said to be
2,150 Granges; they are making way in Canada.
Pennsylvania began the year with six lodges,
and at this moment she has 800. Why this
enormous increase ? The answer is simple, for
it is alleged that membership adds not less than
50 per cent, to the income of the Granges.
The Californian Granges have their own fleet,
and ship their corn direct to Liverpool, by which
they saved two million dollars in freights in the
year 1873. Their vessels bring as return cargoes
tea, sugar, coffee, silk, and other commodities,
which are retailed to members at cost price ;
and a system is being organised by which their
ships shall return with loads of every foreign
article which the members may need. They
are thus an independent mercantile nation. But
they are more : they have a social, religious, and
political, as well as a co-operative aspect. They
have a secret password, renewed annually ; Grange
banks, Grange plough-manufactories, Grange gro
cery-stores, besides Grange poems and Grange

1 9o lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
burial-services. They declare that they are going
to labour for the good of all mankind, of
which they intend to raise the standard. They
mean to secure obedience to the laws and
general brotherhood, and, on the other hand,
to suppress fashion, bribery, and selfish ambition.
Their very success has made them run into
extravagances : but that success is a social
symptom we cannot afford to disregard.
" To pass to the physical condition of our
workmen, a great problem at once presents itself
in the dwellings of our urban poor. This is
a subject which we hope to hear discussed in
one of our sections ; and indeed it is locally
interesting, for it is one of the fields in which
the present honoured Provost of this city has
gained distinction. Municipal improvements and
the increased value of land in towns are daily
thrusting the home of the artisan farther from
the scene of his labours. This in itself is by no
means an evil. The demolition which obliges the
crowded inhabitants of an alley or a close to seek
homes in a purer air may always be considered a
blessing ; where tramways exist it certainly is so.
Tramways have done much in many places to
solve the great question of healthy and handy
dwellings for our workmen. They are indeed the
inconvenience of the opulent and the luxury of
the poor. You may always measure exactly the
extent of democracy in a country by the extent of

Ube State anb "IRailwags 191
its tramways. But for a concentrated nation like
the population of London, tramways are insuffi
cient. Trains form the means of transit between
the work and the home of the artisan. Of late,
however, a tendency, to call it by a mild name, to
the discontinuance of cheap early trains, has been
shown by railway companies, partly because they
are not profitable, partly, it may be, as a means
of compelling the Legislature to abolish the
passenger duty. This raises the large question,
which is always perilous for undertakings of great
public utility conducted by private enterprise, how
far railways should be regarded as purely com
mercial speculations which need not regard national
interests in the very least. If the Legislature
shall once be called upon to weigh the privileges
accorded to railway companies against the con
veniences they concede, it will probably not treat
the question as purely one of dividends.
" But besides the facilities of railroad and
tramway, other efforts have been made to solve
in some degree this difficulty. There are the
buildings erected by the Peabody trustees, where,
however, some inconvenience is said to be caused
by the rule that no work may be done at home.
Nor is it quite clear that the tenants are of the
class for which the houses were intended. Then
there are several building companies which not
merely provide excellent dwellings, and thereby
raise the character of the other houses in the

192 Xorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
neighbourhood, but which pay fair dividends
besides. Thus the Metropolitan Association pays
an average dividend of 5^- per cent. The Improved
Industrial Dwellings Company pays 5 per cent.
The London Labourers' Dwellings Society pays
5 per cent. The Artisans' Labourers and General
Dwellings Company pays 6 per cent. This last
association has built the Shaftesbury Park town
ship, which was inaugurated under brilliant auspices
this year. There are no public-houses or beershops
on that estate, but the demand for the cottages,
some hundred in number, far exceeds the supply,
and the success of the undertaking has been so
great that the directors have just bought another
property in Harrow Road which will accommodate
fourteen thousand more inhabitants. ' While
Parliament,' writes the manager, ' is discussing
these questions, I venture to submit that we have
practically solved the problem.' Nor can I
disagree with him.
"In other countries we may notice the curious
experiment of the Social Palace of Guise, but
which at present is only an experiment, and one
which probably would not adapt itself to the habits
of this country, as well as the Cite" Ouvriere at
Mulhouse, which, however, affords us no assistance
as a precedent, for one half of the required capital
was contributed by Government. In Belgium,
also, the Messrs. d'Andrimont have erected a very
complete hotel, the Hotel Louise, for their colliers,

tlbe Case of Ittew H>orfe

*93

which gives a fair return for the capital invested,
and where the food is as economical and as good
as in one of the famous cheap dining-rooms of
this city. In New York the difficulty of getting
good houses for the poor is greater if possible
than here. The houses are built by great land
lords, most of them large owners of real property,
who lease them to middlemen, who in their turn
sub-let them at an enormous profit. The owner
gets 6 or 7 per cent, for his outlay, the
middleman makes from 15 to 30 more out of
the tenants. The consequence is that rents are
enormous, and in the opinion of many eat up the
difference between the wages of unskilled labour
there and the same wages here. It is only fair
to add that the case of New York is exceptional.
It is greatly overcrowded, owing to the immense
number of immigrants who, landing there, pro
ceed no farther. In Philadelphia things are much
better. An excellent system prevails there, by
which landlords build neat, small houses, and let
them directly to working men for about 6 per cent.
on the investment, with the privilege of buying
outright at the original cost during a certain
number of years. In this way there has grown
up in that city a large class of small freeholders
who are probably the most prosperous body of
their class in the world, and a very backbone
of strength and order in the commonwealth.
" Another great effort is being unobtrusively
vol. 1. 13

194 lorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
made for the comfort of the populace. The enjoy
ments of club life, which have such an attraction
for the Anglo-Saxon race, are being extended
to the artisan. The admirable promoters of
this movement believe, with fair reason, that as
public-houses offer social attractions to the tired
workmen irrespective of drink, so clubs are the
most formidable competition which the public-house
can have. There are at least five hundred and
fifty-five working-men's clubs in England and
Wales, and twenty-four in Scotland, embracing
altogether about ninety-two thousand members.
Here surely is a definite social agency with
indefinite possibilities.
"We all know to a certain extent the history
of factory legislation ; how the sacred tradition of
the great work was handed down by the first
Sir Robert Peel, whose claims to national gratitude
have been so beautifully obscured by the greater
claims of his illustrious son, to Oastler and Sadler,
and Hobhouse and Ashley, and Mundella. In
the last session of Parliament the main principles
of Mr. Mundella's Factory Bill, embodied in
a Government measure, passed through both
Houses, so that the hours of labour for women
and children are now limited to fifty-six and a
half in a week. But although much has been
effected, it may be regarded as serious that so
keen and independent a thinker as Mr. Fawcett
should have offered determined resistance to the

Women in factories 195
Bill. His argument was founded on the assump
tion that those whom the Bill is taking care of
are well able to take care of themselves, which is
at least a doubtful proposition, and that legislative
interference to be logical should be complete, and
should extend even to women employed in
domestic service. But no one would deny that
if great injury to women were to be apprehended
as an effect of domestic service, — that if, for
example, every master was a Legree and every
mistress a Brownrigg, — the Legislature would have
to interfere for the protection of maids. Nothing
of the sort is, however, pretended. Now we
have evidence, and very complete evidence, that
injury is done to women, and not merely to women,
but their descendants, by their undue employment
in factories. Parliament must, in consequence,
determine what limitation must be placed on
factory labour, not merely for the protection of
weak women now, but in its own Imperial interests
for the preservation of health in the children of
these women— the future citizens of the country.
Nor is it certain that Mr. Fawcett's other assump
tion, that the classes affected are well able to take
care of themselves, is in any degree correct. It
is certain that women, from love of approbation,
as well as from those feelings of unselfishness
which do honour to them as wives, are only too
easily led to work beyond their powers. But
ours is not the only field ; the battle has been

196 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
fought and won almost everywhere. If there
were no other argument, the factory legislation of
other countries, adopted in these feverish times
of commercial competition, would be sufficient
reason for action.
" But there is a higher ground for this legisla
tion with us than with any other nation, and one
on which every topic I have urged to-night rests
for its support. The conditions of life in this
country are rapidly reversing themselves. Wealth
is doubling itself, and increasing the population ;
greater care in management and subtlety in
mechanical appliances are diminishing, and must
further diminish, the proportion of persons
employed, especially in agriculture ; here is the
problem, daily a greater population, daily in all pro
bability less work, which means less subsistence.
"We are shut up by the sea with our surging
myriads — a source of strength if guided and
controlled ; if not, an immeasurable volcanic
power. Many of them must go forth to people
the world. Our race has colonised and colonises,
has influenced and influences, and in future ages
seems likely further to colonise and influence a
great part of the habitable globe. So great has
been our field of influence that we can only view
it with awe. It has been, and is, a great destiny
for this country to sway so mightily the destinies
of the universe. But the great privilege involves
a sacred trust. We must look to it that the fertile

'"Cbis "IRace of IRlngs" 197
race we send forth to the waste places of the
earth is a race, physically, morally, and intel
lectually equal to its high duties. At present
we will not compel our children to be educated,
however rudely ; at present, in one of our cities
nearly a quarter of the infants born die before
they are one year old. In one of your sections
you propose to discuss, ' What are the best
means of drawing together the interests of the
United Kingdom, India, and the Colonies?' I
submit that the primary means are to send forth
colonists who shall be worthy of the country they
leave and the destiny they seek.
" The different agencies I have noticed to-night
all tend to this : Whether we keep them in
England or they pass from us, we must look to
the nurture of this race of kings. We annually
distribute through the world a population nearly
as large as the population of Birmingham ; in
the last two years more emigrants have left our
shores than there are inhabitants in Glasgow and
Dundee put together. After all, whatever our
commerce or political influence may be, this is
the most gigantic enterprise in which this or any
other nation can be engaged ; and the responsibility
of its success, not merely for the present, but
for countless future generations, lies with us.
Will this great stream pass from us a torpid
flood, composed of emigrants like some we now
send forth, who shake the dust from their feet

198 3Lorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
and swear undying enmity to us, or shall it be
a broad and beneficent river of life, fertilising as
the Nile, beloved as the Ganges, sacred as the
Jordan, separated from us, indeed, by the ocean,
but like that fabled fountain Arethuse, which,
passing under the sea from Greece into Sicily,
retained its original source in Arcadia ? We do
not know what our fate may be ; we have no
right, perhaps, to hope that we may be an
exception to the rule by which nations have their
period of growth, and of grandeur, and of decay.
It may be that all we most esteem shall fade
away like the glories of Babylon. But if we
have done our duty well, even though our history
should pass away, and our country become
An island salt and bare,
The haunt of seals, and ores, and seamews' clang,
she may be remembered not ungratefully as the
affluent mother of giant commonwealths and
peaceful empires that shall perpetuate the best
qualities of the race.
" I am led to make these remarks specially
here, for we are constantly asked why we exist
when there are Parliaments and Convocations and
Synods who discuss with ample fulness every
imaginable topic. Now I have only mentioned
one of the topics with which a Social Science
Congress is specially fitted to deal ; yet how
vast this single subject appears ! Indeed, it is

"Ube IDolcanic influence of Social Ubeorg" 199
difficult to see any limit to the possible usefulness
of a meeting like the present. The questions
relating directly to the amelioration of our race
rarely occupy the attention of Parliament. The
existence of a Congress for the real promotion
of Social Science should be an important national
fact. Moreover, no one who would appreciate
a Social Science Congress can forget that we
live in remarkable times, times of social develop
ment so ominous that we may be approaching
a period of social revolution. What a change
from that old world whence this fertile brood of
nations sprang ! On the one side, a dark, surging
mass of barbarians ; on the other, the inevitable
stern immobility of the Roman Empire. Now
the whole universe seems undergoing the volcanic
influence of social theory. Everywhere there is
breaking out some strange manifestation. The
grotesque congregation of the Shakers, the agri
cultural socialism of Harris, the polygamous
socialism of Mormon, the lewd quackery of Free-
Love, the mad blank misery of Nihilism, the
tragic frenzy of the Parisian Commune, are portents
no observer can neglect. Some try to solve the
problem of life by abolishing property, some by
a new religion. Most of these experiments thrive
in America, which alone has room for such
diversities of opinion and practice. It is too
much the fashion to treat these various organisa
tions as a mixture of knavery and folly. Two,

200 xorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
indeed, of these phases of humanity will receive
more attention from the historian of the future
than they attract from their contemporaries — I
mean the Commune of Paris and the Church of
Latter-Day Saints. That eccentric Church is a
socialism founded on a polygamous religion, and
ruled by a supreme pontiff But it would be a
mistake, I think, to suppose that polygamy is an
essential part of Mormonism. The traveller in
Utah will be struck most, not by the plurality
of wives, but by the prevailing industry and
apparent external brotherhood. Again, whatever
may be thought of the Commune of Paris, which
issued quaintly ingenuous decrees, and which
ended in blood and iron, it will always remain
one of the sinister facts of our age. Like the
Ninevite king, it perished in a blazing pyre of
what was fairest in its habitation, and the world
lost so much in those flames that it cannot now
pass judgment with complete impartiality. But
as a gigantic outbreak of class hostility, as a
desperate attempt to found a new society in the
very temple of the old, it has hardly perhaps
received sufficient attention. Far be it from me
to attempt to palliate the horrors of that disastrous
conflict ; they are, however, only terrible acces
sories. But the ominous fact of that sudden
social revolution is a portent which cannot be
blotted from the history of humanity.
" While human beings then remain human

a Sacreb league for a Sacreb Enb 201
beings, and while efforts like these are made for
complete social reorganisation, a Social Science
Congress has even more scope than a Parlia
ment. Besides the special legal business by which
this association has long been distinguished, and
which is connected with its birth, it can, as I
said, watch and record civilisation ; it can attend
to those social matters to which Parliament cannot
or will not attend ; it can discuss and prepare
projects of legislation which may be subsequently
adopted by the Legislature ; it can criticise
with the advantages of special information and
freedom from party prejudice the Bills actually
laid before Parliament ; it can ventilate and sift
theories which are not yet ripe for reduction
into a practical form ; it can keep in view as
its special and supreme duty the furthering of
every scheme which has for its object the making
man more self-reliant, more comfortable, more
independent of Government and such external
agencies, better citizens, and happier men. And
in accomplishing this we achieve yet more. One
beautiful result of these labours is to bring to
gether, from all parties, from numberless nations
and creeds, so many real friends of humanity,
bound here in a sacred league looking to a sacred
end, however much they may differ as to the
means. Never was such a league so much needed
as now in the history of the world. Never was
there on all sides so much of energy and skill

202 xorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speeches
given to the preparation of those efforts by which
civilisation is retarded and mankind made
miserable. The armies of the four great military
Powers when on a war footing engross three
millions and a quarter of men in the prime and
flower of life. Three millions and a quarter of
men in four countries, with their swords ready to
the grindstone, form a portentous, silent fact which
we cannot ignore in the halls where we discuss
the efficacy of arbitration in settling disputes
between nations. In Spain we see a war of
dynasty ; in America a conflict of colour. The
night is dark and troubled ; we can but labour
steadfastly, hoping for the dawn, united by the
sympathy of the living, and animated by the
example of the dead. In this spirit, gentlemen,
I trustfully inaugurate this Congress, and com
mend you to your labours, convinced that,
earnestly pursued, they must be useful, and may
bring forth fruit an hundredfold."

CHAPTER X
ENGAGEMENT AND MARRIAGE TO MISS HANNAH DE ROTHSCHILD — A
BRILLIANT -.tEREMONY — SOME WEDDING PRESENTS — LORD RECTOR
SHIPS—ABERDEEN AND EDINBURGH — ELOQUENT ADDRESSES —
SCOTTISH HISTORY, ASSOCIATIONS, AND CHARACTERISTICS — A
DISCOURSE ON PATRIOTISM
SOCIETY, which had for long been concerned
as to the probability of Lord Rosebery's
marriage, learned positively at the close of 1877
that he was engaged to Miss Hannah de
Rothschild, the only daughter of the late Baron
and Baroness Meyer de Rothschild. Rumours of
his engagement had been many, and had extended
over a considerable period. They had been
specially numerous during his lordship's absences
in America, where the paragraph-writer had been
an active person long before his habits became a
feature of journalism on this side of the Atlantic.
Lord Rosebery's alliance with the great Jewish
family of financiers naturally created exceptional
interest. Miss Rothschild's father and mother had
kept a beautiful home at Mentmore. They were
large-hearted, broad-minded philanthropists. Their
riches were used to benefit the many. Charitable
works occupied much of their time and thoughts.
303

204 lorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
They were loved by all — friends, tenants, bene
ficiaries. Miss de Rothschild was trained in an
atmosphere of human sympathy. She, like her
father and mother, regarded wealth as a trust.
No one could have discharged that trust more
generously, more kindly, more ably. Had she
been the first Rothschild to marry outside her own
community, the religious aspect of the union would
have created more comment than was the case.
But the other members of her family had provided
precedents which helped to make her own action
less conspicuous than would otherwise have been
the case. The first union of the kind was that of
a sister of Baron Lionel de Rothschild with the
Hon. Henry Fitzroy, brother of a former Lord
Southampton. The second and third cases were
the marriages of the two daughters of Sir Anthony
de Rothschild — the one to the Hon. Eliot Yorke,
and the other to Mr. Cyril Flower.
It was on March 20, 1878, that the wedding
took place. It was a brilliant ceremony — the
society event of the year.
The Act of Parliament regulating marriages
by a registrar provides that a religious service
may, to satisfy the conscience of either or both
contracting parties, be afterwards read ; but of
course this reading does not legally strengthen
or in any way affect the actual bond of marriage,
which can only be once performed between the
same couple.

.."-.^^C-^^hT-^;. .v

The Late Lady Rosebery.

Zbc Civil Webbing 205
The permissive clause of the Act was taken
advantage of.
The first, or civil, ceremony was performed
at the district registrar's office, Mount Street,
Berkeley Square. The attendance of friends was
so large that the board-room was used instead
of the usual office, and this room was beautifully
decorated with plants and flowers. Accompanying
the Earl of Rosebery was Lord Carington,1 while
Miss de Rothschild came with her cousin, Mrs.
Cohen, and a few other friends. Before the
registrar, Mr. T. Worlock, the bride and bride
groom made the usual declarations of a civil
marriage, and afterwards signed their names, the
contract being attested by Mr. John Samuel,
Lord Leconfield, Viscount Lascelles, Miss Sarah
Cohen, Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, and Lord
Carington. The bride at this ceremony wore a
plain morning-dress of brocaded silk and a fur-
lined cloak. Her bonnet was trimmed with pearls,
with a jewelled rose in front.
After the declarations Lord Rosebery took
the wedding-ring off the superintendent-regis
trar's book and placed it on the wedding-finger
of the bride's hand. While the newly married
couple stood hand-in-hand before him, Mr.
Worlock said : " The marriage is now com-
1 The surname of Carington was confirmed by Royal license in
1880; subsequently in 1896 his lordship was by Royal license allowed
to assume the surnames of Wynn-Camngton

»o6 lorb "IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speecbes
pleted. I hope you will live long and be
happy." The religious ceremony took place at Christ
Church, Mayfair, where at half-past ten o'clock
there was a large and brilliant gathering. When
the service commenced every seat in the church
was occupied. One of the first to arrive was
His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge. He
occupied a seat immediately in front of the
communion table. Among others present were
the Prince of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of
Cleveland, the Earl and Countess Stanhope,
the Marquis of Hartington, the Earl of Orkney,
Lord and Lady Leconfield, Lord and Lady
Colville, Sir Coutts and Lady Lindsay, Colonel
the Hon. W. and Mrs. Carington, the Hon.
Edward Stanhope and Countess Tolstoy, the
Hon. Mr. and Mrs. Bouverie, the Earl and
Countess of Effingham, Mr. Christopher Sykes,
M.P., the Marquis of Stafford, and Mr. Banks
Stanhope. Lord Rosebery arrived shortly after half-past
eleven, accompanied by Lord Carington, who, in
the absence of Captain Tyrwhitt through indis
position, acted as best man. The bride came to
the church with Mrs. Cohen and Baron Ferdinand
de Rothschild, and at the church entrance she
was received by the Prime Minister, the Earl
of Beaconsfield, and by the bridesmaids.
Before the ceremony an allegretto from

1Xbe bribe's 2)ress 207
Mendelssohn's Lobgesang and the War March
from the Athalie were played by Mr. Stokoe,
organist of the church. The bride was led to
the altar by the Prime Minister, by whom she
was given away. She was dressed in white satin
with a brocaded train, and a veil of Brussels lace
with orange blossoms, but she wore no ornaments
except a very lustrous pair of diamond and pearl
earrings. Her four young bridesmaids were the
daughters of Lord Stanhope, Lord Leconfield,
and Sir Coutts Lindsay. After the ceremony
Mendelssohn's Wedding March was played by
Signor Randegger, and the register was signed
and witnessed by the Prince of Wales, the Duke
of Cambridge, the Duke of Cleveland, the Earl
of Beaconsfield, Lady Leconfield, and the Rev.
Prebendary Rogers.
Another account, written by one with more eye
for detail in dress, says the bride wore a princess
dress of the richest pearl-white satin duchesse,
with trimmings and deep flounces of exquisite
point d'Alencon, divided by orange-blossom fringes.
Over a wreath of orange blossoms descended a
large veil of the very finest point de l'aiguelle,
which descended to the flounces of the dress, and
corresponded in artistic design with the Alencon
flounces. The four bridesmaids were the Misses
Euphemia and Helen Lindsay, cousins of the
bride, the Hon. Mary Caroline Wyndham, daughter
of Lord and Lady Leconfield, and Lady Emily

208 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
Margaret Stanhope, daughter of Earl and Countess
Stanhope. They were attired in dresses made
in the style of Louis XVI. period, and composed
of white Sicilian, with long waistcoats richly
embroidered in white silk, and ruffles of old lace,
white silk hats of the same period, trimmed with
marabou-feathers and embroidery. Each of the
bridesmaids wore a gold pendant with mono
gram in rubies and diamonds, the gift of the
bridegroom. At the breakfast which followed " the health
and happiness of the Earl and Countess of
Rosebery, whose marriage they had met to
celebrate," was proposed in a few felicitious
sentences by the Prince of Wales ; and Lord
Rosebery briefly returned thanks for his wife
and himself. The breakfast was given at the
bride's house in Piccadilly, and Lord and Lady
Rosebery left town in the course of the after
noon for Petworth, Lord Leconfield's seat in
Sussex. A list and description of the presents occupied
over a column of The Morning Post the next
day. The presents, which included the Rosebery
family jewels, had been, at the suggestion of
the bride, surrounded by thousands of tea-scented
roses. The effect produced was described as
being as beautiful as it was novel. The Earl's
presents to his wife, in addition to the Rosebery
family jewels, consisted of an ancient parure —

Zhc Bribe anb tbe presents 209
namely, a wreath of jasmine and leaves, coronet
and comb, earrings of large drop diamonds,
and a necklace of single stones with a large
Maltese cross pendant ; the parure, made expressly
for the occasion, was entirely of brilliants, and
consisted of a lustrous court diadem, with some
unusually large stones ; a bracelet of Queen Mary
of Scots design, and another of three simple rows
of single brilliants ; a necklace of three rows of
brilliants with large rosettes or clusters, and a
pair of earrings en suite ; a pearl necklace of five
rows, of large size, roundness, and orient ; a large
bouquet or stomacher of roses and rosebuds in
diamonds, and four hoop-rings of rubies, emeralds,
diamonds, and sapphires ; a bracelet, brooch, and
earrings of large pearls relieved by diamonds ; a
neck-jewel of rare sapphire ; a jewelled fan and
bonbonniere of Marie Antoinette period, and a
mirror and two large candlesticks of old Venetian
work. These presents, as set out for the guests
to see, were divided by banks of lycopodium,
dotted with gardenias.
A pleasing feature of the numerous presents
was the many that came from tenants and others,
indicating the popularity of both the bride and
bridegroom. Among the bridal presents were
those from Miss H. de Rothschild's tenants of
Mentmore, who sent a large diamond pendant with
a congratulatory address ; the villagers of Ched-
dington sent her a pair of silver-gilt candlesticks,
vol. 1. 14

210 lorb "IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
also with an address ; from the villagers of
Mentmore, Ledburn, and Crofton came a silver-
gilt boudoir clock, with coronet, monogram, and
roses and primroses ; the schoolchildren of Ched-
dington sent a gold pencil-case, with coronet,
and set with forget-me-nots, accompanied by an
address ; the Mentmore schoolmaster and pupil-
teachers sent a silver inkstand ; from the inhabitants
of Wingrave came an illuminated address signed
by the Rev. T. Buts, the vicar, with an album
containing views with the improvements effected
by Miss H. de Rothschild in the village ; from
the Hoggeston villagers came a pair of silver
asparagus helpers ; from the Wingrave infant
school a Dresden china toilet glass ; from the
servants at Mentmore and Piccadilly a silver
epergne with flowers, the base formed of prim
roses and rosebuds.
The Earl received from the Prince of Wales
a dressing-case of Louis XVI. period of quaint
design, the outer case being mounted with old
silver-work. Amongst his other presents were :
from his Scottish tenantry a silver bowl, rosewater
dish, and a pair of tankards, the former piece of
plate being relieved with chasings of battle pieces,
etc., and the tankards being adorned with his
armorial bearings and inscription, and accompanied
by a congratulatory address wishing his lordship
and his bride prosperity and happiness. Another
portion of the tenants on the Scottish estates sent

(Breat Doings in Scotlanb 211
the Earl an ormolu and Sevres china boudoir
clock, also with a congratulatory address, the latter
as a present to the bride ; the cottagers of Post-
wick sent a silver bracelet for the bride and a set
of studs and links for the Earl, accompanied by
an address. Lord Rosebery's servants sent him
a silver travelling-lamp.
The officiating clergyman at the wedding
ceremony was Prebendary Rogers, rector of St.
Botolph, Bishopsgate, prebendary of St. Paul's, and
chaplain-in-ordinary to the Queen. Both the Earl
and Countess were on terms of intimate friendship
with him, and that friendship continued to the day
of the death of the much-respected rector, who
had been brought into close contact with Lord
Rosebery in connection with many of the move
ments for the benefit of the artisans which have
been referred to in association with the name of
the Rev. Henry Solly. In the wedding ceremony
Prebendary Rogers made no variations from the
wording of the Church of England Service.
At the time of the wedding Lord Rosebery was
thirty years of age and his wife twenty-six.
There were great doings in Scotland on the
night of the wedding in celebration of the event.
Lord Rosebery's tenants and other gentlemen
dined together in the Douglas Hotel, Edinburgh,
in the evening. Captain Tod, of Howden, occupied
the chair, and Mr. George Gardiner, of Carrington
Barns, and Mr. John Morrison were the croupiers.

212 Xorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
The chairman, after the dinner, read the following
interesting letter : "2, Berkeley Square, W.
"March 19, 1878.
" My dear Mr. Glendinning, —
" I wish you to-morrow night to express
the thanks of myself and one who will then be
my wife for the beautiful gifts with which the
tenants have honoured us. They have been
greatly admired by all who have seen them, and
gratefully appreciated by Hannah and myself.
"Those presents are only the last of a long
series of tokens by which the tenants have shown
my predecessor and myself their regard, which is
hereditary I think, personal I hope, and mutual
I know. " I cannot believe that anything but the
strengthening of those relations can result from
the coming among you of a lady whose life
has been spent in unselfish acts of mercy and
beneficence, and who already, by anticipation,
is fondly attached to her Scottish home.
" We shall both drink the healths of our
Scottish friend to-morrow, and meanwhile be
lieve me, "Yours sincerely, " Rosebery."
So warmly sympathetic a letter went straight
to the hearts of the company, who after the

tthe jfounber of "IRotbscbilb's Banfe 213
reading of the epistle immediately rose and drank
a bumper to the health of the bride and bride
groom. The chairman, proposing the toast of
their health, described the history of the Rothschild
family. The Earl of Rosebery had, he said, been
married that morning to a most accomplished
young lady. The name of Rothschild had long
been associated with great wealth and commercial
influence. Wealth, when acquired through industry
and honourable conduct, must always be regarded
with respect. He proceeded to tell an interesting
anecdote about the founder of the great bank
ing-house. After the passage of the Rhine by
the French, the whole of the minor princes
of Germany were obliged to abandon their terri
tories. Amongst those princes was the sovereign
of Hesse-Cassel, who, after collecting his money
and jewels, fled to Frankfort. At that time
Frankfort was the home of the Rothschilds. They
had a banking establishment there, and this Prince
of Hesse-Cassel went to Meyer Rothschild, and
after a great deal of trouble induced him to take
charge of his jewels and his money. To do
this at that time, when everything was in such
a critical state, was to take a great responsi
bility. Immediately after the arrangement had
been made the French entered Frankfort. The
first thought of M. Rothschild was for the
protection of the jewels committed to his care.
He set to work and had them buried in his

214 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
garden. Scarcely had he accomplished his
purpose when a party of French ' soldiers entered
his house, robbed him of everything there, but,
fortunately, they did not enter the garden, and
did not discover the Prince's jewels. The whole
of the citizens of Frankfort were reduced to
poverty, and Meyer Rothschild was unable for
some time to carry on his business. He was
not, however, the man to allow a talent to lay
long hid in the earth, and as soon as he found
opportunity he made use of the hidden money,
so that when peace was restored and the Prince
was able to return, Rothschild gave him back
not only his money and jewels, but 5 per cent.
interest on their value for the time he had held
them. The Prince of Hesse-Cassel was so much
touched by this action that he offered to allow
all the money to remain in Rothschild's hands,
to help him with his business. The offer was
declined ; but, by the Prince's relation of the
story at a Congress held later at Vienna, the
potentates there assembled determined to give
Rothschild their support, and this led to an
enormous development of his business, and
subsequently he was made a Baron of Austria.
One of the speakers at the dinner said " they
all hoped that at some future time they should
see the Earl holding a very important position
in the kingdom of Great Britain." Another
speaker — Mr. Glendinning — stated that he had

Mebbing Bells at H>almeng 215
recently received a letter from Lord Rosebery in
which it was mentioned that his lordship wished
to have deferred the Countess's first visit to
Dalmeny until the month of August, when the
place would be in beauty, but that her ladyship
was so anxious to see her new home, her new
neighbours, her new friends, and her new country,
that she desired to gratify that feeling by visiting
Dalmeny as soon after her marriage as possible,
so as to identify herself with the place.
On the Dalmeny estate, on the same day, flags
were hoisted. About one o'clock in the day a
telegram was received from Mr. Campbell, the
clerk of works, announcing the completion of the
marriage ceremony. The bell at the stables was
then rung, and, the workmen having assembled
in the riding-school, the telegram was read to
them, and three cheers were given for the Earl
and Countess. In the evening a great bonfire
was lighted on the mansion hill behind the
house, and formed the central feature of a great
number of bonfires which were lighted in the
neighbourhood. A firework display also took
place. In Queensferry, also, there were special
celebrations, including a lunch in the Council
Chamber, attended by the Provost, magistrates,
and Council. In response to a telegram, Lord
Rosebery sent the following reply to Provost
Borthwick :
" My wife and I are deeply gratified by the

216 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
sympathy and good wishes of neighbours we value
so much as the Provost and Town Council of
Queensferry." The festivities at Dalmeny were resumed on
the following day, when an entertainment was
given to the servants and tradespeople connected
with the estate. The gathering took place in
the riding-school, and was attended by about
three hundred persons. Mr. P. Glendinning
presided at the dinner. He mentioned that the
presents from them had been taken to the Earl
by Mr. Peter M 'Lagan. After the presentation,
it was mentioned, the gentlemen present lunched
with the Earl and Countess, " who made them
selves very agreeable."
One of the speakers at this dinner — Mr. Chesser
— in proposing " The memories of the late Lord
Rosebery and the late Lord Dalmeny," took
occasion to make the interesting prophecy " that
the day would yet come when Lord Beaconsfield
would have to make way for Lord Rosebery as
Prime Minister." Lord Rosebery, he added,
they all knew, inherited that kindliness of spirit
and that disinterestedness of action which had
always been the ruling characteristic of the
Dalmeny family. Several of the workmen on
the estate testified to the excellence of Lord
Rosebery as a master.
Lady Rosebery, as had been intimated in the
letter from Lord Rosebery which has been quoted,

a H>ag of "(Rejoicing 217
paid a visit for a few days to Dalmeny shortly
after the marriage ; but the visit was of a strictly
private character, the home-coming festivities
being, at the wish of the Earl and Countess,
deferred until August, when they came with the
grouse. Edinburgh was reached on August 5,
and a hearty welcome was given by a great
crowd which had gathered at Waverley station.
Three day afterwards Dalmeny was devoted to
rejoicing, the whole of the tenantry and trades
people giving themselves up to the work of
welcome. The special feature of the celebration
was a grand dinner, followed by a ball. A great
pavilion was erected within the grounds of
Dalmeny Park. The site chosen was the pictu
resque terraced lawn south of the ivy-clad ruin
of Barnbougle Castle, which commands one of
the finest views of the Firth of Forth. At the
back of a cross table at the north end of the hall,
where Lord and Lady Rosebery and their imme
diate friends sat, were emblazoned the Rosebery
arms, surmounted by a scroll bearing the motto,
" Long Life and Happiness." At the south end
on either side were oval shields bearing the
monograms of the Earl and Countess. Lord
Rosebery presided at the dinner, at which about
two hundred and fifty were present. As the
Countess of Rosebery entered the hall she was
presented with a beautiful bouquet by Bailie
Methven, of Edinburgh ; and when the noble

4i8 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speeches
host and hostess took their seats a band played
Mendelssohn's Wedding March.
Lord Rosebery, as chairman, proposed the loyal
and patriotic toasts. He found some difficulty in
dealing with that of " The Navy, Army, and
Reserve Forces," and also avoiding politics,
because " if they spoke of the Navy, they had
only got to say they had passed through the
Dardanelles ; if they spoke of the Army, they
had to remember that the Indian army had been
transported to Malta ; and if they spoke of the
Reserve Forces, they had to recollect that they
had been called out. . . . But he would only say
that he hoped the Navy might always remain
the most powerful navy in the world, because
they were likely to have need of it ; and of the
Army, that he trusted it might remain the most
efficient of its size in the world, and that it
might remain the smallest maintained by any
great Power. Of the Reserve Forces he would
only say, that he hoped they might not have
occasion to be called out again ; but this they all
knew, that if they were called out again, they
would behave as nobly in forsaking their occupa
tions and employments as they had done on a
recent occasion."
Lord Rosebery next gave the toast of " The
Tenantry on the Rosebery estates." In the
course of his speech he dealt with agricultural
questions, and thanked God they had no agrarian

"live anb let live" 219
crime in Scotland. He added : " The long and
blameless married life carried on by the late Lord
Rosebery and by the Dowager Lady Rosebery
on these estates makes my wife and myself feel
that we have indeed a hard task before us to
succeed. We can only endeavour to prove our
selves not wholly unworthy of the relations with
the tenantry of those dear ones who were our
predecessors ; but if at the end of our lives,
whenever that may come, you may be willing to
say we were not unworthy of them or of the
cordial feelings which you have always displayed
to us, we shall feel we have met with our amplest
reward." The toast was responded to by Mr. Grahame,
of Bankhead, the son of the oldest tenant on the
estate. He spoke of the "live and let live"
principle on which the Rosebery estates were
managed. An eloquent speech was made by Lord Young
in proposing " The health of the Earl and
Countess." Towards the conclusion of his remarks
he related how " it was very recently my happiness
to be her (Lady Rosebery's) guest at her own
beautiful home at Mentmore. You have all heard,
I dare say, or most of you, of the magnificence
of Mentmore, and you may receive my testimony
that on this occasion report has not exaggerated ;
but pray receive my testimony with this addition :
that the splendours of Lady Rosebery's home,

220 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
like the setting of a jewel, however rich and rare
and beautiful the setting, pales before the lustre
of the gem within, and were subdued even to my
unaccustomed eyes by the charm of the gentle
manners, of the noble mind, and of the graceful
and winning kindness through which the heart
must spring kindly back. My noble friend will
permit me in his presence to say so much — that
he has given earnest promise and raised expecta
tions with respect to his not remote future which
it will require all his ability and energy to fulfil ;
and he will allow me to express the hope and
conviction that in achieving those high distinctions
which are within his reach — though I am persuaded
he covets them chiefly or wholly because of the
opportunities of being useful to his countrymen,
which, i being achieved, they will give him — he
will find no such monitor, whether to impel or to
restrain him, no such helpmeet, as his wife."
Lord Rosebery in the course of his reply said :
" You have this afternoon conferred a nationality.
My wife, as you know, is a Jewess by race, an
Englishwoman by birth, and to-day, by adoption,
you have made her a Scotswoman."
Mr. Peter M'Lagan, M.P., remarked that " Lady
Rosebery succeeded to a princely fortune early
in life, and spent it in such a manner as to elicit
the encomiums of all among whom she lived.
She had erected schools, built reading-rooms for
the working people, and furnished them with

H Busg Hutumn 221
magazines, books, and newspapers, and she had
set aside grounds for recreation. He trusted that
if she carried out the same benevolent intentions
in this neighbourhood they would re-echo the
words ' God bless her,' and that Lady Rosebery
would be received by all in the county as one
worthy of the noble Lord whom they esteemed
so much."
Immediately after the dinner the ball began.
The ladies and gentlemen ranged themselves in
two open lines, and the Earl and Countess walked
up and down the pretty, animated avenues amid
the plaudits of the guests. The ball was opened
by a quadrille, in which Lord Rosebery had for
his partner Mrs. Peter Glendinning, and the
factor, Mr. Glendinning, had the Countess as his
vis-a-vis.
Dancing was kept up from nine o'clock till
midnight, and then the home-coming celebration
ended. Lord Rosebery spent a very busy autumn in
the year of his marriage. He attended numerous
meetings and went through an exciting election.
A new School of Science and Art was opened
at Falkirk on September 21, 1878. Lord Rose
bery delivered the inaugural address from the
pulpit of a neighbouring church, the hall of
the building being too small for the audience.
He raised a laugh at the outset by expressing
his ?sense of the disadvantage under which he

222 xorb "IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speecbes
laboured, being called upon, as he was, for the
first time to " wag his pow in a pulpit." He
welcomed the development of anxiety for in
formation on science and art as one of the
pleasantest signs of the times, and wished that
every town of forty thousand inhabitants could
have its public library and museum.
On October 18, 1878, he addressed a large
meeting of Scottish Liberals at Aberdeen. His
speech was devoted principally to a severe criticism
of the policy pursued by the Government with
reference to the Eastern Question. He was also
present at the opening of the winter session of
the Edinburgh Literary Institute on the evening
of Wednesday, November 6, 1878. Lord Rosebery
utilised the occasion to discuss the uses of such
institutions, to point out " that the study of
biographies tended towards the student forming
an accurate appreciation of himself," and contended
for " a patriotism which should seek the interest
of the country apart from party considerations."
The meeting at Aberdeen and his attack upon
the foreign policy of the Tory Government was
of exceptional importance, for the days of the
Tory Government might almost then have been
said to be numbered, and Lord Rosebery had just
been selected as the Liberal candidate for the
Lord Rectorship of Aberdeen University. So
the man who, being a peer, has been debarred
from fighting, as he would have desired, for a

lorb IRector of Hberbeen 223
seat in the House of Commons was at any rate to
go through an election which depended upon his
personal popularity and the approval of his political
views. At first Lord Aberdeen was selected to
oppose him, but, as Lord Aberdeen insisted upon
a non-party attitude, he was persuaded to withdraw,
and in his stead Mr. Richard Cross was put up
as Tory candidate. In these elections the language
on both sides is usually strong and the candidates
get hit as hard by the talkers as is possible.
Lord Rosebery was bitterly attacked by a number
of the speakers at the election ; he beat Mr.
(afterwards Lord) Cross by three votes.
Lord Rosebery's rectorial address was not
delivered until two years afterwards. On that
occasion — November 5, 1880 — he spoke to the
students in the Music Hall, Aberdeen, and a full
report of the speech was given in The Scotsman.
Lord Rosebery said :
" What am I to say to you, gentlemen ? That
is a question which has constantly occurred to me.
What is a young man to say to young men, unless
he is more learned or more able than they are ?
He can give them neither advice nor experience ;
he has no right to be didactic, he can scarcely
hope to be impressive. And yet, if there ever
was a conception which might lend inspiration
to dullards, it would be the idea of addressing a
body of men burning with the generous sympathies
of youth, strong with the robust qualities, both

*24 lorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
mental and physical, of the Scottish race, stand
ing under the shadow of an ancient University,
upon the brink of that world in which they are
so soon to plunge. They know some of the evils
which beset life, yet they are not afraid to face
them ; they contemplate the future not with
distrust, but with confidence ; they are prepared
for the responsibilities of manhood and the
citizenship of a great Empire.
" Day by day the burden of that Empire waxes
greater ; day by day the responsibilities of
manhood will become more onerous ; day by
day the future unveils itself before your eyes.
And at this critical moment of your lives I find
myself chosen as your Rector, and set to address
you ; chosen, I believe, as being, like you, a
young Scotsman, though much older than your
selves ,from sympathy rather than respect, from a
sense of kinship rather than a hope of guidance*
" Let me express, in the first place, a heartfelt
sense of gratitude to you for your confidence.
It was a great honour to me when, two years
ago, you chose me as your Rector ; and though
various unforeseen circumstances have prevented
my coming among you to deliver the address
which is the sign of inauguration, yet I have
been able to take a humble part in the business
of your University'. But I can never forget,
however slight my connection with you may be,
that you called me, having no local connection

XTbe J^outb of the IFtatfon 225
and being personally unknown, to this post,
rendered illustrious not merely by its own
importance and antiquity, but also by the
reputation of my predecessors; and though I am
conscious how inadequate I am to fill their place,
yet I must always remain by your spontaneous
action united in the bonds of affection and
gratitude to the University of Aberdeen. I have
spoken of the greatness, of the increasing great
ness, of the Empire. A share of that Empire
must devolve upon you ; and I confess that it
is in the spirit of that reflection that I consider
with awe the assembly before me.
" The destinies of a nation are in the hands
of its youth. How large a part of our destinies
must lie in the hands of near seven hundred
students, nurtured by the very fact of high culture
in the proudest aspirations, gifted with that fervid
spirit which is the distinction of our race, and
endowed, I doubt not, as many of you are, with
an intellect which is popularly supposed to possess
some of the attributes of that granite soil on
which you live !
" Do not mistake me, gentlemen. I do not
mean that those before me are necessarily to sit
in Parliament either in this country or in our
colonies. The executive and legislative powers
are only a part of the life of the nation. They
both depend upon the character of the nation
itself; and the nation must largely take that
vol. 1. 15

226 Xorb "IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
character from its educated class, of which you
will form, I trust, a powerful element. Whether
you enter the Church, or whether you practise
in law or in medicine, — whether you undertake
the functions of guiding the mind of youth, or
whether, without profession, you pass through
life as honest and cultivated men, you, in virtue
of the training you have received, must give a
colour to the society in which you live. Gentle
men, I sometimes think, in relation to this question,
that we are apt to forget what the functions of a
University really are with regard to the nation.
" We hear a great deal of the various Faculties
of new professorships, of the questions relating
to scholarships and endowments ; we have com
missions and we have reports. But there are
vital points lying outside the compass of this
radius of educational investigation with which
inquiry does not, and indeed cannot, deal. Are
we not a little apt to disregard the camel in
straining after the gnat, to consider culture and
to forget character, to lose sight of the end in
anxiety about the means ?
"What, after all, is the object of University
training, and indeed of all training ? Is it not
to produce a man,— a learned man, a cultivated
man, a brilliant man, if you will ; but, after all,
and before all, a man, and an honest man ? Now,
of course, a University can only partially effect
this purpose. Rousseau would tell you that

draining for flbanboob 227
learning is itself the bane, and that a University
is the worst place in the world to produce
virtue. He tells you that erudition is the sign
of decadence, and that lettered and cultivated
nations have always succumbed to the rude heroism
of barbarous tribes. Such a paradox is not worth
considering. The Germans of this generation
have completely demolished it, and I think the
Scots themselves form a very ugly problem to
a philosopher holding such ideas. But in the
doctrine, however extravagant it may seem, there
is a germ of truth. Learning is by no means
everything. " By far the largest amount of training for
manhood must be internal, must be undergone
without help from teachers or from libraries. ' In
weariness and painfulness, in watchings often,' in
blood and iron is the destiny of man wrought
out. ' I was not swaddled, rocked, and dandled
into a legislator,' proudly exclaimed Burke ; but
is any one so swaddled and dandled ? People
may be rocked and dandled into insignificance,
but they cannot be rocked and dandled into
eminence. And this formation of character, this
direction of energy, must be an internal process.
I speak, of course, of secular means ; for I would
not casually introduce the religious aspect of the
case into what I am going to say. It could not
form merely a part, and therefore, rather than
touch on it in a transitory manner, I deem it

228 Xorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
more reverent to omit it altogether. But as
regards the formation of character, the University
is only an anxious, unconscious agent. She
supplies rich and rare materials : not Solomon's
temple was supplied in a more catholic and
imperial spirit ; but she can only sit by and watch
whether the result be a shapeless block or the
perfect figure of a noble man.
" You have before you now, gentlemen — you
have within you, I would rather say — the clay
and the marble, the chisel is in your hand, the
dazzling models of antiquity are before you ; every
day that leaves the marble untouched is lost,
each day may add a masterstroke to a master
piece : can you not, then, understand how solemn
and suggestive a thing it is for the Rector of
your choice to address you at such a moment —
the crisis of your lives ? And it is no light
matter, this choice of a Rector. It may not
indeed be of such vital importance to yourselves
as it was to your predecessors of the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries. The crowd of students
from all parts of the world, who recognised
neither country nor language in the University,
but regarded it simply as one of a harmonious
sisterhood of such institutions spread over Europe
by the Church for the preservation and promotion
of learning, no longer need a Rector to watch
over their interests. The nations into which they
grouped themselves indeed exist, but no longer

tTbe "IRector's functions 229
include such varied races. Nor do you now
require an official to protect you against ecclesi
astical usurpation or baronial tyranny. In truth
the Rector, as regards his original functions, might
perhaps have followed his colleagues, the Censor
and Economus.
" But as a matter of fact all University Com
missions, however enlightened and however austere,
have always respected and preserved the office
of Rector, and, if I may say so, wisely respected
and preserved it. For it is not only the means
by which you connect yourselves with the govern
ment of the University, it is the means also by
which you keep up your connection with the
great world outside. From your ancient cloisters
you look forth every three years and select candi
dates, whose merits you sift and discuss, partly
as persons with whom you sympathise or whom
you admire in the abstract, and partly as persons
who, from local or accidental circumstances, may
be useful to your University. Sometimes, indeed,
the contest is almost purely political, and reflects
the passions that are raging outside ; sometimes
it is almost purely local, while sometimes it is
neither ; and we may arrive at the quaint spec
tacle of Mr. Ruskin and Mr. Bright in apparent
opposition and rivalry.
" The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge
give no such opportunities to their students, unless
the demonstrations in the theatres on honorary

230 lorb IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speecbes
degree days may be deemed articulate expressions
of opinion. But in Scotland we have Rectors,
and I hope we shall continue to have them as
an essential part of an ancient system, as a link
between the students and the governing body,
as a link between the University and the world.
And perhaps, then, as your representative in the
University Court, I may touch upon what appears
to me to be a striking defect 'in your University
system. " I have said that the University offers you the
noble models of antiquity for imitation. But I
venture to deem it a flagrant omission that she
hardly puts before you at all the giant and
immediate shapes of modern and mediaeval history.
It is an omission from the threefold • view in which
the University may be regarded (for she wears,
like the power which founded her, a triple crown) ;
she is the custodian and repository of learning, she
is the teacher of what can be taught, and, she
has that third function of which I have spoken,
which she can only partially and imperfectly fulfil,
the formation of individual character. It is
obvious, of course, that the partial omission at
any rate of the study of modern history from
the University in her capacity as a teacher, and
as a repository of learning, is a grave defect.
" I would, therefore, rather deal with it as
regards the formation of individual character, which
I have spoken of as the most important while it is

XTbe Storg of tmman Effort

231

the most indirect function of the University. For
what, after all, is history ? It is not merely that
history records the life of nations, and that the
life of nations and of men is much the same —
the dark infancy, the aspiring youth, the stern
realisation of manhood, the fruition or barrenness
of maturity, and perhaps also the decay of old age
— but that it is the story of human effort, the
treasure-house of human biography, and therefore
of noble models and of splendid inspiration.
" When we peruse the life of a great man, it is
common to find that his favourite reading was
Plutarch's Lives, and yet from how small a range
could Plutarch choose his subjects compared to
that which history can now present before us ! He
only painted on a few inches of an immeasurable
canvas, he only plucked a branch from a primeval
forest. Against history as a scientific study, or
indeed as a recreation, something may well be
said. ' Read me anything but history,' said Sir
Robert Walpole, ' for that must be false.' And
indeed it is doubtful if history can even remotely
approach accuracy. We know every day of
numberless reports which circulate as true, and
which remain uncontradicted, and which must of
necessity remain uncontradicted, unless men would
spend their lives in negation. There is no village
too small to afford proofs that exact record is almost
impossible, partly from the inherent carelessness of
gossip, partly from deliberate falsification, partly

232 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
from the unconscious colouring that an individual
mind will give to meagre facts.
" While history, up to the sixteenth century,
suffers from scarcity of evidence, the history of our
own times will suffer much more from a suspicious
amplitude of material ; the years of plenty will be
worse than the years of famine. And, taking this
gloomy view, it would appear that to urge the
claims of history, when we are unable to arrive
at a satisfactory conclusion about personages so
well known as Queen Elizabeth, or George III.,
or the first Napoleon, is a futile and, indeed,
a sarcastic effort. I speak, of course, of single-
minded search after truth. I am not thinking
of those ingenious writers who love to decorate
some great criminal with padded virtues, and
can, therefore, invest their narratives with all
the charm of imagination and paradox. Nor,
on the other hand, do I wish to allude to that
other class, the body-snatchers of history, who
dig up dead reputations for malignant dissection.
But however earnestly it may be pursued, historical
truth is difficult to secure. Like a wayward
vein of precious metal, it sometimes abounds on
the surface, and sometimes shifts in sands, and
again will bury itself in the heart of the hills.
" Take, for example, two prominent persons in
Scottish history. You could hardly find two
men whose names are more familiar to those
who have learned their alphabet than Macbeth,

Timbat we want in "Krfstorg 233
the henpecked murderer, and Rizzio, the soft
Italian victim of Scottish pride and Scottish
jealousy. We know that Rizzio was slain, and,
indeed, on payment of a small fee, you may see
his blood on the floor. We believe him to have
expiated in this way the dangerous fascination
which he exercised over a beautiful woman. But
we have no means of ascertaining his fascinations
or even his age, and probability points to his
having been extremely old as well as extremely
ugly. Macbeth, again, has been presented to
us by Shakespeare as a turbulent and unscrupulous
villain. It would not be possible now to paint
over what has been portrayed by supreme genius
but all our historians appear to agree in this,
that the reign of Macbeth was a period of un
exampled peace, prosperity, and justice.
"In fact, if we wished to hold up for singular
admiration a Scottish monarch, it would be
difficult to prefer any to the man whose hapless
fate it has been to be handed down to splendid
immortality as a great historical criminal. But,
indeed, admitting that history is inaccurate, it
does not follow that it is useless for our purpose.
I would go further, and say that for our pur
pose the accuracy of history does not signify.
What we want is the bold colouring of character
and the grand march of events. Whether Macbeth
was really a scoundrel or not does not matter.
If he had descendants, it might be important

234 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
to them to vindicate his memory. For us he
points a moral and adorns a tale. We see
the gradual march of guilt, the uneasy success
following crime, and the tragedy of complete
retribution. We want events to guide us and
characters to warn us, but we do not require
in events the exact detail of a Meissonier or
a Blaremberghe, nor do we insist on the proper
costume being placed on the actor so long as
he plays his part.
"In spite of the objection to history on the
score of inaccuracy, I humbly conceive that a
University is unable to perform its functions as
regards the formation of character without a
professorship of modern history. But there is an
omission of part of modern history which, strange
to say, is worse than the omission of the whole.
For I cannot help regarding it as a stain not
merely on this University, but on all our Scottish
Universities, that there is no provision for the
teaching of Scottish history.
" While history in general is valuable in the
one sense in which I wish to attribute value to it
on the present occasion, the history of our native
country is not merely useful and interesting, but
absolutely essential ; and I confess that it seems
to me the greatest of omissions that there is no
provision for teaching it. We must not lay the
fault on our founders ; they were employed in
making that history, and had no leisure to devote

Ube progress of tbe Scots 235
to narrative or research. There is no great fault,
indeed, to be attributed to any one, for during
the last two centuries the Scots have had so
much ground to make up, and have made up
so much ground, that they can hardly be charged
with sins of omission.
" Nor do I wish to be misunderstood. I think
there should be a Professorship of Scottish History
in Scotland, but not as representing an essential
school or faculty. I would rather have it like a
professorship of Belles Lettres, which is, as it
were, outside the academical course, but which
provides lectures which all may well attend as a
relaxation from that course ; or like the Chair of
Gaelic which is about to be founded at Edinburgh,
and which represents a patriotic determination not
to let that die out which is intimately connected
with the life of the country.
" Mr. Froude, indeed, has eloquently sketched
a more ambitious scheme — a scheme which would
realise the most extended hopes. If it could be
carried out it would renew and strengthen the
connection between the youth and the traditions
of Scotland. But I half fear lest there should
not be space in the academical course for so
complete a system. I suspect the history course
at Oxford is followed by a more leisurely class
than exists to any extent at the Scottish Uni
versities. Still, we can only bow to the authority
of that great historical master, while I feel that if

236 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
Mr. Froude's scheme could be adopted I should
rejoice ; but in default of that, if we could only
achieve a less ambitious professorship I should
be content.
" The great point is that there should be a
commencement, and that we should not be liable
to the reproach of producing highly educated
Scotsmen who know all about the Ephors and
nothing about the Lords of the Articles. It is a
truism to say that the knowledge of the history of
one's native country is not merely an educational
advantage, but a positive duty. We need not go
so far as Buchanan or your first Principal Boece,
and evolve out of our inner consciousness eight
centuries of imaginary reigns, with their proper
kings and appropriate Dutch portraits in Holyrood,
so that our records may be more complete and
more ancient than those of our neighbours. But
at the same time it does not seem desirable,
to put it on the lowest grounds, that we should
ignore what has occurred in former days, the
long agony of the country's growth and establish
ment, and bound our historical survey with some
date of modern politics such as the Disruption
or the first Reform Bill.
" The history of Scotland is not a cold register
of dates and treaties ; it stirs the blood like a
trumpet ; no stranger can read it without emotion.
But when we reflect that those who battled and
endured (for the history of Scotland during four

Scottish "Ibistorg anb ftrosperitg 237
centuries is little less than a long martyrdom)
are bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh,
when we consider that our qualities and defects
as a race are the direct result of those circum
stances, when we know that the country which
has charms to attract the whole civilised world
is but an empty scene to those who cannot
people it from the past, when we observe how
history is liable to repeat itself, and that, in
dealing with Scotsmen, we must expect them
to be made in the same mould as their pre
decessors, it seems one of those mistakes which
are worse than -crimes for a native of Scotland
to ignore the history of his country.
" If we were not natives of Scotland, we should
still be hardly justified in neglecting its history.
It is, in the first place, rich in bold personalities ;
and, in the second place, it has certain special
features which must attract the historical student,
however versed he may be in the annals of
other countries.
" As it is my anxious wish to attract your notice
to the history of Scotland, let me, as briefly
as may be, call your attention to one or two
of these singularities. Take for example this
peculiarity, that Scotland, while she had a history,
developed a striking character, but no material
prosperity ; but from the moment she ceased to
have a history, she developed a material prosperity
so marvellous as completely to obliterate her

238 lorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
national character. Until the union of the Crowns
the Scots nation were only known as a turbulent
race of hardy heroes — poor indeed, but poor
because they preferred poverty to dependence,
and were willing to sacrifice their castles and
their crops to prevent the invader having a
home or subsistence on Scottish soil.
" All this is now forgotten. The qualities
still exist, none can doubt it, just as the faculties
for industry and economy existed when there
was no opportunity for their exercise. But the
ancient reputation has been overlaid for two
centuries with the reproach of avarice and the
stigma of self-seeking. And why is this ? Because
from the time of the corporate union, when,
thank God, she ceased to have a history, this
little rugged country made an advance in pro
sperity resembling the progress of some state in
Western America, with free institutions planted
on a virgin soil.
" Nor is this difficult of explanation. The
very policy of Scotland required for the defence
of the kingdom that its most fertile portion
should be a desert incapable of yielding food to
the invader. We hear much of the heroism of the
Russians in burning Moscow. What then are
we to say of the Scots ? Why, for two centuries
Scotland furnished a succession of burning
Moscows. What is now the garden of Scotland
— nay, I might add, the garden of the United

tlbe Satisfaction of ©pulence 239
Kingdom — was given up to devastation in order
that the race might preserve its liberties and
assert its independence.
"There is no nobler fact in any history. It
was as if Italy had made Lombardy a desert in
order to starve out the incursions of the northern
nations. It was the sole chance that existed
for the preservation of that freedom which was
dearer to Scotland than all the wealth that the
world could offer. It was not that the Scots
did not appreciate the satisfaction of opulence.
It has been a stereotyped sneer against them
for two centuries that they care for little else.
But it was because they cared for freedom more,
and that freedom, weighed in the scales, counter
balanced every other consideration. When their
independence and liberties were secured, when
by the removal of their Sovereign to London
they might hope to enjoy that civil and eccle
siastical freedom which was always in peril so
long as they received the individual attention of
Mary Stuart and her descendants, they settled
down to repair the ravages of long centuries of
agitation. " More than thirty years did indeed pass without
serious disturbance ; but at the first whisper of
oppression, at the first raising of the mailed
hand, at the first revelation of a plot against the
security of what they had bled to secure, they
did not weigh for a moment the quiet and well-

240 lorb "IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
being they had earned against the sanctity of
that Kirk which was the breath of their nostrils ;
and when the king drew the sword, they without
hesitation drew the sword also.
" Nor was it merely the people of Scotland
that rose in arms. From every region of Europe
the Scots who had passed into foreign armies,
from restlessness, or poverty, or ambition, flocked
homewards to place their valour and experience
at the service of their country. Scotsmen who
had taken service with Mansfeld and had fought
for the Winter Queen, trained pikemen from'
Holland and from Denmark, veterans who could
show scars as others show medals won under
the Lion of the North, all rallied under a banner
nearer and dearer than any they had known.
Scotland took the initiative and indicated the
remedy to England. She began the great contest
between the people and the Crown which changed
the conditions of monarchy and deprived the king
of his life. She, with her poverty-stricken half-
million, showed the path to a wealthy population
ten times as numerous.
" Surely the history of a people so bold, so
disinterested, and so united, is not without
instruction to the outside world. The history of
Scotland presents this original phenomenon, that
the prevailing, constant, inextinguishable passion
of the people was for liberty and independence,
and that this was shown in an extraordinary

love of Jnbepenbence 241
attachment to monarchy. And this was no
paradox. To them the monarch was only a
sign of independence, like the lost Stone of
Destiny. " We see this by the constant efforts to obtain
the custody of his person, and at the same
time by his total want of authority. Where the
king was, there the Government would be ;
hence the constant kidnapping of the Sovereign.
But the king was to be only the symbol and not
the possessor of power ; he had but the attributes
of a living Great Seal. So that in fact the same
passion for independence which made them insist
on having a king for external purposes made
them reduce him to a nullity within his dominions.
He was to be a cheap pageant, decorating rather
than controlling the march of events — much less
than a constitutional sovereign, little more than
a Venetian Doge.
"When the crimes of Mary Stuart and the
defects and departure of her grotesque son had
robbed Royalty of interest even as a symbol, we
see all the love of independence and craving
for some outward sign of it find its sign and
centre in the Reformed Kirk. The ancient
Roman Establishment in Scotland seems never
to have had much hold upon the nation. Its
energy in the collection of property, real and
personal, attracted other feelings than sympathy.
Its prelates were a luxurious and, if they be not
vol. 1. 16

242 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
much maligned, a dissolute class. They were,
moreover, aliens in training, and their education
abroad left them little in common with their
fellow-countrymen at home.
" When the virtuous part of the nation was
scandalised at their corruption, and the worldlings
were irritated by their pride and covetous of their
power, it was not difficult to effect their overthrow.
Let us in passing be just. Before that proud
Church was hurled down in Scotland, she left
a supreme gift, nobler than the abbeys she had
reared and the wealth she had accumulated. In
the fifteenth century, as if conscious that she was
about to pass away from us, and as if anxious to
leave behind her the memory of a benefaction
for which her name should be, if not blessed,
at least forgiven, she determined to throw open
to the people at large the treasures of learning
that she had preserved ; she gave us the
Universities. Founded in a catholic spirit, framed
on liberal principles, open freely and ungrudg
ingly to all that thirsted for knowledge, these
Universities — and not the least our alma mater
who gathers us together in Aberdeen to-day —
give the ancient Church of Scotland a valid
claim on our gratitude.
" But whatever were her claims, she received
no thanks in those days. She was the Church
of the nobles ; the Church that was to succeed
her was to be the Church of the people. The

TTbe flfconarcbg anb tbe ifcirfc 243
Reformers were no respecters of persons. Good
Maister Jhone — as Knox is quaintly called —
saw in his sovereign only an eminent and heinous
sinner. His successor saw in James VI. only
a suitable object for interminable exhortation
and reproof. It is not too much to say that at
the end of the sixteenth century the parish
ministers of Edinburgh had more power than
the king in Scotland.
" Whether this be so or not, they represented
the national feelings and embodied the national
aspirations. The king had gone south — so much
the better for him ; the king had become a
name. The Kirk abided with them — so much
the better for them — and remained a reality.
The crimes of Mary Stuart coinciding with the
Reformation in point of date, it was easy, putting
spiritual considerations aside, to transfer whatever
loyalty existed from the monarchy to the Kirk.
" The loyalty of Scotland to the Stuarts
seems to have disappeared then and there. When
the wretched Queen returned to Edinburgh after
Carberry, she must have heard in the yells of
the avenging crowd, she must have seen in the
painted banners which recalled her crime, that
the feeling which hailed her birth even amid the
gloom of national disaster had vanished, and that
while she had sealed her own destruction, she
had also dealt a fatal blow at the monarchy she
represented.

244 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
" The Scots, indeed, took up arms for Charles II.,
but he was only to them a symbol of indepen
dence ; there was between him and them neither
liking nor respect. And as for the rebellions
on behalf of his unhappy nephew, it seems per
fectly clear that these were planned and carried
out entirely by the Highland chiefs for motives
which were not shared in by the great mass of
the nation.
" Again, in most old States we have to deal with
four factors — a monarchy, a church, an aristocracy,
and the people. Surely the history of Scotland
presents these four elements in a striking light.
The king of Scots, without power or money or
an army, was at once the most envied and the
least enviable of monarchs, asserting his imperial
independence abroad, and persecuted by his
subjects at home ; the Church, lax and splendid,
toppling over from the mere weight and canker
of corruption, and giving way to a far more
stringent form of ecclesiastical government, which,
in spite of its austerity, was adored by the
people ; the aristocracy, fierce, poor, and proud,
which, by dissension, after the manner of the
Kilkenny cats, had so weakened itself that at
the time of the Union it had fallen, if not into
contempt, at any rate into impotence ; and
slumbering beneath all, the nation, revealing itself
only now and then in wild Edinburgh mobs or
in stern West-country Whigamore raids, reserving

Strange Elements for Success 245
itself, as it were, for its moment of power and
supremacy. " These surely are strange elements out of which
to develop a successful nation. But I have no
time to dwell on that : my contention is merely
that these are elements which at any rate deserve
attention, not only from the historian or even
from a Scotsman, but from the student of human
nature and human progress. I have incidentally
touched on the king and the Church. Let me
explain in a very few sentences what I would
say of the aristocracy and the people. The
turbulence of the aristocracy, whose very repose
was only a sort of groundswell, was probably
caused by poverty and the ease by which,
under a system of constant forfeitures, large estates
could be acquired by successful agitation.
" The estates so quickly acquired were not
the less rapidly forfeited, it is true ; but the
losses of the gambler never prevent his seeking
perpetual windfalls. And it was not until the
great galleon of the Church lay helpless amid
these active privateers, and the acquisitions from
an adversary so disabled assumed a semblance
of security, that the nobles were content to settle
down in peace upon their lands. As soon as
dissension ceased, their influence terminated ; for
they required troubled waters to fish in. With a
very few exceptions, such as the Huntlys, the
Hamiltons, and the Argyles, the nobles in the

246 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
seventeenth century exercised influence only as
the representatives or instruments of the Anglicised
sovereign. " Before the Union, if tradition lie not, at the
end of each session, when privilege ceased, the
Canongate Jail of Edinburgh was wont to be
crowded with Scots peers. At that period the
influence of the Duke of Hamilton, clouded and
weakened by inherited irresolution, is the only
independent aristocratic influence that we can
trace ; for the extravagant outburst of Belhaven
was but the scarcely coherent expression, not of
the feelings of the nobles, but of the passions
of the populace. It may, therefore, fairly be
said that at that time the nobles of Scotland
had fallen into impotence ; and, so far as leader
ship may be associated with the idea of the
aristocracy, their place was taken by the Kirk.
" But where, meantime, was the people?
There is nothing to my mind so extraordinary,
in view of their energy and intelligence, as the
obscurity in which the Commons of Scotland
prepared themselves for the power they now
enjoy. Now and then a sudden, silent, fierce
outbreak betrayed the strength that was slumber
ing ; such were the mobs which lynched Porteous,
and insisted on the hanging of the captain of
The Worcester. Indeed, the first appearance in
history of the democracy of Scotland was, as we
have seen, when, after the surrender of Carberry,

XLbc people anb the Captive (Jlueen 247
the captive Queen was greeted on her return to
Edinburgh by the insults and execrations of a
vast multitude bearing the ghastly effigy of her
murdered husband. On that day the people first
came forth to show that the robe of majesty
should not shelter a great criminal ; and it was
surely a notable birth of public feeling.
" But it is strange that these strong — nay,
ferocious — instincts of justice and injustice should
so seldom have flamed up, and that, while men
sprung from the ranks of the people were
obtaining education and distinction all over the
Continent, the great mass should have pre
served so stern a silence. From the surrender
of Carberry to the time of the first Reform Bill,
the genuine forcible expressions of public senti
ment can be counted on the fingers, and yet
these were sufficient to show that public feeling
and public opinion were always in vigilant
existence. We have, of course, in France an
instance of a similar silent flood suddenly over
flowing its banks at the Revolution, but it may
fairly be urged that education among the masses
in France, as compared with Scotland, did not
exist. "In Scotland we see an energetic and intelligent
population, ruled by a remote Government and a
Parliament in which they were not represented,
patiently tilling the soil and sending their children
to the parish school till such a time as they

248 Xorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
should be strong enough to demand a share in the
control of their country's destiny. Such a spectacle,
in these times of agitation and public meetings,
is surely not without instruction ; it is at any rate
an original and perhaps a unique manifestation.
I have touched on only a few of the distinctive
features of Scottish history ; and, indeed, the
liniits of discourse will hardly permit of more.
" But to those who study men more than
events, our country's annals present no less
attractions. The romance of history, indeed, is
divided between two very different queens of
France — Marie Antoinette and Mary Queen of
Scots ; while she assigns a prominent place to
Charles Edward Stuart.
" Again, the history of revolutions is ever the
most interesting, because it is always inseparably
connected with some great man. The English
had its Cromwell, the French its Napoleon, and
the Scots its Knox. The student of human
character will surely pause over the rugged features
of Knox, ' who never feared the face of man.'
He will lament the melancholy destiny that
robbed Scotland at a singular crisis of Murray's
precocious statesmanship. He will contemplate
not without admiration the greatest and most
sagacious of Scottish kings — James I., the
Alfred of his country. He will be unable to
view without a sense of personal affection the
character of James V., the Scottish Henry IV.

Snbucements to Stubg 249
There will pass before him the Bothwell of
strange vicissitudes ; and Carstairs, perhaps the
greatest man that Scotland has produced outside
literature ; the sinister Morton, and the subtle
Argyles ; the Wallace and the Bruce, who are
not sufficiently veiled in legend to be secluded
from human sympathy and admiration ; the learned
Melville and the saintly Rutherford.
" Other names might be cited, but perhaps
these will suffice ; and indeed it is time that I
should end. But let me point out one more
inducement to the study I advocate. You are
in the city perhaps most calculated to give an
interest to the study of those times, for surely
no place ever suffered so much for its pro
minence. From the time that the Covenanting
Commissioners refused to drink the cup of Bon
Accord, and were followed by Montrose with
an army which slaughtered the dogs which had
been made the innocent instruments of satire, this
unhappy city was compelled to undergo as many
outward changes of compliance as the Vicar of
Bray or Bobbing John of Mar. Indeed, Aberdeen
had been so often visited by Montrose., and in
such various characters, that the authorities must
have found it difficult to ascertain in what capacity
they were to receive him.
"In those days the greatest seat of learning
in Scotland, it was the fate of Aberdeen, as of
Leipsic, to learn that a famous and hospitable

250 lorb "IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speecbes
University is no protection against siege, or
outrage ; while your well-sacked city, surviving
the successive onslaughts of Malignants and
Covenanters and impartial Highlanders, remains a
noble monument of the stirring and perilous past
of our country. But, gentlemen, I do not wish to
weary, but to attract you, if possible, to the close
study of Scottish history. I have thought that
by so doing I could, without presumption or
didactic affectation, best fulfil the duty imposed
upon me.
" You are the best judges how far such a pursuit
would suit your manifold dispositions. Around
you learning spreads her various wares ; you have
but to pick and choose. You are the generation
that holds for the present the succession to the
long roll of famous men who have adorned this
University. They have handed to you the light ;
it is for you to transmit it. The vestal lamp
of knowledge may flicker, but it never dies ; even
in the darkest hours of dormant civilisation
it found loving hands to cherish and to tend it.
To you that lamp has been given by those who
have watched over it in these ancient colleges.
I hope and believe it will not wax duller in your
hands, but rather that you will show forth its
radiance in whatever part of the world you may
be called upon to wield that influence which every
educated man must exercise.
" And, gentlemen, ' how solemn a moment is

H Sure Consolation 251
that passing forth from the cloisters of learning
into the great Vanity Fair of the world, there to
take, for good or for evil, the choice of Hercules
and abide by the result ! Even I may, without
presumption, indicate to you the crucial impor
tance of that crisis of your lives, when it lies
with you to decide whether your career shall be
a heritage of woe or a fruitful blessing and an
honoured memory.
" Day by day the horizon of human possibility,
which now lies so unbounded before you, must
contract ; the time must come when, under the
stroke of illness or the decay of nature, hope and
health, the pride and power of life and intellect,
which now seem so inseparable from your
triumphant youth, will have passed away. There
will then be no surer consolation, humanly
speaking, than the consciousness of honest hope
fulfilled, of health not abused, of life and intellect
exerted in all its strength and fulness, not like
water poured upon the sand, but for the raising
and bettering in some degree of some portion
of your fellow-men.
" I would fain hope that this living mass of
generous youth before me was animated by no
less a hope, by no lower an inspiration, and that
in coming years it will be my pride and privilege
to hear of some of you at any rate receiving the
merited praises of grateful mankind. And if I
might address your venerable University, which

as2 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
has conferred so gracious and so undeserved an
honour upon me, I would say, in the words with
which the Psalmist hailed the sacred city, ' They
shall prosper that love thee ' ; that love thee
aright, that love thee not merely as an end, but
also as a means, as the blessed link with splendid
traditions and with noble men, as the faithful
guide and the unfailing friend."
In the evening Lord Rosebery was privately
entertained to dinner in the Palace Hotel by the
senators, Principal Pirie being in the chair. The
students paraded the town after the delivery of
the address, and there was a torchlight procession
at night. Lord Rosebery had before the address
to the students presided over a meeting of the
Aberdeen University Court.
Lord Rosebery was not content to be a mere
titular Lord Rector. He took a deep and active
interest in the work of the University Court, and
his rectorial address on the subject of Modern
Scottish History, and especially the proposed Chair
of Modern History, attracted widespread attention,
numerous leader-writers of the day heartily sup
porting his proposal.
On the day after this address was delivered
at Aberdeen, Lord Rosebery was elected Lord
Rector of Edinburgh University, beating Sir
Robert Christison by thirty-nine votes. There
was again an interval of two years from the date
of his election to the delivery of the rectorial

a /Iberrg trime for Stubents 253
address. This was given on November 4, 1882.
The students had a merry time beforehand. Peas
were freely thrown about, and in this way the
glass of one of the large lamps at the entrance-
gate was broken. The new Professor of Greek,
Professor Butcher, in response to a cry of " Let's
give him a squeeze ! " had a bad time. There was
a great uproar in the hall. Crackers and peas
were everywhere, even being shot amongst the
ladies, who, on this occasion, included the Countess
of Rosebery. When the Earl came into the hall
something like quietude was restored, a hearty
reception was given him, and he was accorded
something approaching a peaceful hearing — for a
student audience.
Lord Rosebery said :
" I am here to-day, gentlemen, to thank you
for electing me Rector of your University, and
therefore this is a proud, though embarrassing,
occasion for me. I cannot pretend, and I shall
not attempt to express all I feel. At such a
moment I should be unworthy of your choice were
I not the proudest and the humblest of mankind.
The position of Lord Rector of this University is
one to which the greatest of our fellow-countrymen
have aspired. That you should have chosen me
to fill it, therefore, may well exalt me, while, on the
other hand, visions of who my predecessors have
been, of the grave responsibilities and greater possi
bilities of the office, of the splendid opportunity

254 lorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speeches
and the necessary shortcoming, may well come
crowding over me, and cause my voice, nay,
my knees, to fail me as I address this most
impressive assembly.
"It would have been a high honour for me to
have been elected thirty years hence, when I might
at least have had the claims of age and experience.
But I was younger than your Rectors usually are ;
I was already the Rector of another University; I
had neither learning nor reputation to recommend
me : yet you chose me in preference to one full
of years and honours and academical service and
European reputation. Moreover, we know that
it is rare for any one to be a prophet in his own
country ; but I had the good fortune to be selected
for distinction in the University of the capital, of
which I am a citizen in sympathy and a near
neighbour in fact. You can well understand that
all these facts fill me at this moment with a pride
which is nearly akin to the deepest humility.
" When I say that I am proud of being chosen
your Rector you well know that it is from no sense
of merit ; and that I am free from the insanity of
putting myself in any comparison, however remote,
with Sir Robert Christison. None can say what it
is at the moment that sways the fancy of youth :
it may be political feeling ; it may be a passing
freak ; it may be that that passion for something
new which moved the Athenians of old has its
influence in our modern Athens too. I, at any

What is patriotism? 255
rate, am too grateful and too satisfied to inquire.
But there was one feature of that rectorial election
which distinguished it among the three similar
elections which were held that year. Both your
candidates were Scotsmen — and, indeed, I cannot
doubt that I owe my selection to my nationality
alone ; while in the other contests there was but
one single Scottish candidate.
"I do not think that your action was taken on
the mere cry of ' Scotland for the Scots,' for that
seems to me but a narrow feeling at best : a
similar cry was the mainspring of a party in
America which called itself, or was called, signifi
cantly enough, the ' Know-nothings,' and which
has now disappeared ; while it may be remembered
that if other countries were to take reciprocal
action, no nation, I am proud to say, would suffer
as much as this. I suppose that you wished for
a resident Rector, and chose your candidates
accordingly. But all the same, that event set me
thinking of what is patriotism, of its adaptability
to our times and our circumstances, of its necessary
limitations, of its real nature and force and utility ;
and it struck me that I could choose no more
useful topic for my inaugural address, whenever
it should be required of me.
" That moment of trial has at last arrived, and
1 now offer you a few observations on the sub
ject I have mentioned. Few and feeble I fear
you will think them ; but the matter is large, and

256 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
my opportunities for putting them together have
been rare and occasional.
" In the first place, allow me to remark that
there is no word so prostituted as patriotism. It
is part of the base coinage of controversy. Every
Government fails in it, and every Opposition glows
with it. It dictates silence and speech, action
and inaction, interference and abstention, with
unvarying force and facility. It smiles impartially
on the acceptance and the resignation of office ; it
impels people to enter and to quit public life with
equal reason and equal precipitation. It urges
to heroism, to self-sacrifice, to assassination, and to
incendiarism. It rebuilt Jerusalem and burned
Moscow. It stabbed Marat, and put his bones
in the Pantheon. It was the watchword of the
Reign of Terror and the motto of the guillotine.
It raises statues to the people whom it lodges
in dungeons. It patronises almost every crime
and every virtue in history. The freaks to which
this unhappy word is subject, the company and
costume in which it finds itself, the crime, volu
bility, and virtue which it inspires deserve a
separate history.
" But I am not here to record its vicissitudes.
I will only offer a definition to serve my purpose
to-day. Patriotism is the self-respect of race. It
is a motive, or passion if you will, which has
animated the noblest efforts and inspired supreme
heroism. As regards our common allegiance to

TEbe Sentiment of iRace 257
the Empire, little need be said : it is the breath
of our nostrils. If I were to descant on it there
would be a general feeling that I might as well
discourse on the old inspiring theme of Virtus est
bona res. The patriotism I would speak of is
more restricted in area, more limited in scope,
but hardly less useful or less respectable : I mean
the feeling of affection towards a nationality
which is absorbed with others under a common
government. " The tendency of the age is to the agglomeration
of races with a powerful centre, just as villages
used to be built round castles ; but it is on
condition of respecting the various component
elements. Now, it is difficult in some circum
stances to unite with perfect compatibility the
feeling for the nationality with loyalty to the centre.
There is no such difficulty in Scotland. But the
question is interesting how far the separate
nationality may be asserted without danger to the
common bond. That is a question too wide for
me to discuss thoroughly to-day in all its bearings.
Still, I may lay before you a few considerations
which make me think it well that the sentiment
of race should exist, and should exist vigorously ;
and I shall point out some of the ways in which
it may be usefully exerted.
" The feeling in Scotland seems sometimes
unexpectedly fierce and sometimes unexpectedly
dormant. I do not know that it is in any danger
vol. 1. 17

258 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
of extinction. It is probably more subject to
misapplication ; but it is liable to a serious and
very natural decay, for it is apt to be considered
as a rare specimen or an antiquarian relic : as
Etruscan pottery or a toad in marble. Such a
view, though not opposed to its existence, is fatal
to its vitality : for it may be preserved as a
mummy for centuries after it has ceased to have
a vestige of life.
" I desire to-day not so much to extol its
abstract virtue as its practical usefulness, which
on consideration is hardly less obvious than its
natural limit ; and I shall deal more especially
with the case of Scotland — firstly, because it is
the case of which I am least ignorant ; secondly,
because I think that in England the sentiment of
this lesser or particular patriotism, if I may so
call it, is less fully developed, while in the case
of Ireland the ground is so dangerous with
ignes
Suppositos cineri doloso,
that I may well be excused if I am unwilling to
venture upon it.
"In England I think this separate sentiment
is weaker than with us, for her wealth, her power,
and her population make her feel herself to be
Great Britain, with Ireland and Scotland as lesser
gems in her diadem. Therefore, with an English
man, the love of Great Britain means the love
of England — the larger and lesser patriotisms are

ftbe Blenbing of IRations 259
one. He speaks, for instance, of the English
Government and the English army, without
condescending to the terms British and Great
Britain — not from heedlessness, but from self-
concentration. "Where the distinct English feeling shows itself
is chiefly in an impatience, if I may so call it, of
Scotsmen and Irishmen ; perhaps not an un
natural emotion, but not one on which I propose
to comment. When an Englishman conducts the
government of a country, he at once concludes
that it becomes English ; the thinnest varnish
of English law and English method makes it
English to his eye. He is satisfied. Every part
of the United Kingdom must be English because
it is a part of the United Kingdom.
" Now and then, indeed, some political develop
ment excites a passing doubt, but he either
spurns the doubt or relegates the country which
has caused it to the indolent category of
the incomprehensible. It is a noble self-posses
sion, characteristic of dominant races, without
which England would not be what she is ; but
it is a dangerous guide. Where nations do not
readily blend, their characters and humours must
be studied. It is open to argument whether it
is better that they should blend or not.
" But I wish to lay before you certain reasons
why I believe it to be better that, where the
national type is of a self-sufficing character, they

260 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
should not blend. In the first place, we may
assert with confidence that a race, however
striking and distinguished, is none the worse
for being varied. Nay, if the whole world were
peopled by a single race, however perfect, life
would lose much of its interest and charm.
And we, as patriots, although we must wish all
the races of the Empire to possess certain qualities,
cannot desire uniformity, any more than we can
wish that all our manufacturers should engage in
the same industry or all our men of intellect
in the same branch of inquiry. A great Empire
like the British should be a sheet knit at the
four corners, containing all manner of men, fitted
for their separate climates and work and spheres
of action, but honouring the common vessel
which contains them ; not like that massive glacier-
mill, the Roman State, which rounded off the
resisting bodies within it to a monotonous form,
while it crushed and annihilated the weaker. I
will take, as an example of what I mean, the
most compact aggregation of States which has
been recently effected — I mean the kingdom of
Italy. There have been amalgamated within
the last quarter of a century Rome, Naples,
Piedmont, Tuscany, Sicily, Lombardy, Genoa,
Venice, Parma, Lucca, and Modena, each of
which was formerly a State boasting a separate
and distinguished existence. When the repression
that had weighed on them was removed, their

Tlbe Hbvantages of "Glnitg 261
vitality was found fresh and unimpaired, as
vegetation thrives under the shelter of snow, and
bursts forth on a thaw.
" But this life was distinct and different in
its various forms. They are now one, not
possibly without occasional discontent and some
secret jealousy, but in the eyes of Europe one
and indivisible. The advantages of a united
government, the strength, the economy, the pride
of life, are apparent. But would it not be too
high a price to pay for even such a gain as this,
that separate countries should become provinces
in name as well as in fact, that these separate
types should be effaced, and that nothing but a
difference of physical appearance should be visible
between Turin and Naples ?
" I know well the danger to which we are
exposed in speaking of Italy, for we are apt to
take in some respects the point of view from
which an American considers English matters.
The American regards England as an ancestral
garden and museum, in which he has a historical
interest ; he is therefore rather conservative with
respect to it, and views innovation here with much
the same feelings as a landowner does a railroad
projecting through his park. In the same way we
regard Italy as the pleasance and gallery of the
world, and are apt to consider the march of events
there less as efforts of reform than as invasions
of the picturesque.

262 Xorb "IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
" Well, but I would urge that, for the sake of
Italy herself, it is better to keep up the rich rivalry
of great cities, which can borrow from each other's
abundance of character and idea without losing
the mould in which it casts its own citizens. I
take Italy, then, to illustrate the contention that
in an empire obliteration is not harmony, nor
monotony union ; that if a race has ever been a
separate civilised nation, it must still contain the
qualities which made it so, which are therefore
valuable, and part of the common stock of man
kind ; and that a government or a ruler who
neglects or wars against these principles is not
merely sinning against national life, but is wasting
a source of power as clearly as a general who spikes
his guns, or an admiral who scuttles his ships.
" There is a stronger case — the case of Austria.
It would be too long to work out in detail, and,
indeed, it might carry me beyond my point. But
was Hungary ever a source of strength to Austria
till she was recognised as Hungary, and treated
as Hungary, and not as an Austrian province ?
" Take the case of Poland. Russia has at
tempted the obliteration of Poland in that part
of Poland which belongs to her ; Austria has
recognised and respected the nationality of Poland
in her part. What is the result ? Poland, in
spite of Russia, is as Polish as ever ; but in
Austria she is loyal, and in Russia she is not.
These are extreme instances, I know. But from

"Cui Bono"? 263
these extreme instances, though they are not
strictly analogous, we may at least derive this
truth, that even in this practical nineteenth
century patriotism and nationality have to be
considered and respected. I almost hear the
question : ' Cui bono ? We may be obliged to
take this sentiment into consideration, but surely
we were better without it. The English race
is one of the noblest and most powerful, if not
the noblest and most powerful, in the world.
Suppose England had effaced your race, as
the ancient Picts were effaced, and colonised the
country with her own people, would Scotland have
lost much, or the world in general ? ' To which
I reply, that not merely Scotland, but England
and the world would have lost much. The
noblest race, indeed, is a generous mixture of
great races. Just as the Saxon, the Celt, the
Dane, and the Norman blend in the Englishman
of to-day, so the Moor, the Goth, and the Jew
helped to make up that dominant type, the Spaniard
of the sixteenth century.
" In the same way we may hold, without dis
paragement to the Englishman, that this island
is the better for containing Englishmen and
Scotsmen ; that there is more variety, more
depth, more stimulus, and more comparison.
Have not, for instance, the educational successes
of Scotland done much to stimulate educational
enthusiasm in England ?

264 lorb "IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speecbes
" While the lighter graces are denied to us,
is there not a dour depth in Scottish character
which the Southron may study with advantage ?
Would the fascination of visiting Scotland be as
great if it were colonised with the inhabitants of
Surrey and Middlesex ? Was England any the
worse for those bonny Highland regiments that
sprang the first into the trenches of Tel-el-Kebir ?
Is it not possible that while what remnant of the
Scots that escaped would have ceased to be
Scotsmen, they might have made but indifferent
Englishmen ? Would Bloomfield have been a
sufficient substitute for Burns ? Would Scott
have been a wizard in the South ?
" This may be a sentimental view, and far
below the cognisance of the philosopher ; but
sentiment has its power, and, like other gases, it
requires cautious treatment. However, I acknow
ledge that, in a country like this, the patriotism
of every-day life must have a practical basis as
well as its sentimental colouring. It must supply
a want ; it must have a reason of existence ; nay,
it must have outward symbols to cling to.
"If it has not these, it is a mere hysterical
platitude. But I contend that there is a very
broad principle, and a principle of the highest
importance in the preservation of a national
character in a country like this. I used just now
the expression ' self-sufficing,' and I used it de
liberately. A country like ours has reached a

Governments anb "IRations 265
stage of development when government is really
but a small matter compared with national
character ; and it is the respect for, and assertion
of, national character that constitutes patriotism.
" Up to a certain point nations are apt to
be largely influenced by their Governments, but
after a certain point Governments are the mere
outcome, the mere casual emanations, of the
nation itself. The nation has the Government
under its control ; the Government is its servant,
not its master ; its destines are shaped by causes
independent of Government. A race that has
long possessed its freedom and its free institutions
wears them like easy clothes ; they are indis
pensable, they allow the frame to act and the
mind to work without hindrance, but they do
not influence the operations of either.
" Take the history of a century or half a century
in this country, and what may seem a paradox
becomes at once a truism. In a century or half
a century important changes take place in a
country. You gaze on the face of a century as
you gaze on the face of a region ; you see great
works and transformations, but it does not occur
to you to ask who were the ministers by whom
they were executed. These are the results, and
that satisfies the mind ; it is left to the professional
historian to examine the details.
" But, indeed, how are the operations effected ?
By Government sometimes ; but that is only

266 xorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
their last stage. The thinker produces the idea
and casts it into the common good ; it often long
lies lost. Presently some one lights upon it, and
it reappears ; perhaps it may then vanish again
and yet again, till at last it is produced at an
opportune moment, and becomes the inspiration
of the country. How many old spinsters of ideas
have we suddenly seen developed into queenly
brides ! I will not, of course, allude to political
changes, though the same remark applies to
them. Nor will I take such an example as our
railway system, though that is a strong instance;
nor to our telegraphic system, though that is
perhaps even stronger, as the State stepped in
when that was an accomplished fact, and
purchased it.
" But take the general improvement in the
dwellings of our labouring classes. That in the
country has been caused by the progress of
enlightened ideas within the nation. In the towns
it has been largely caused by the gift and initiative
of Mr. Peabody ; and when his scheme had been
working for some time, Government took it up
and gave legislative assistance. Take another
movement which has passed all over England,
and has raised enormous sums from unimpression
able people, and without the stimulus of any
special enthusiasm : I mean that for the restoration
of churches, which was set on foot just half a
century ago by a handful of enthusiasts.

Changes come from the people 267
" Probably nothing would impress an English
Rip van Winkle more than this transformation,
which has never even had any point of contact
with the Government. Education, which is now
considered almost as much a necessity as air and
water, owes its present regulation, no doubt, to
Government ; but it would have lapsed in Scot
land had it not been for the people, and it was
only taken up in England long after it had been
urged and publicly exemplified by individuals. But
take the case of Scotland. I see that it is calcu
lated that after the Union Scotland contributed
only 2\ per cent, of the Imperial revenue, while
in 1866 it contributed 14^ per cent.; and that
during the same period, while the revenue of
England increased 800 per cent., the revenue
of Scotland increased 2,500 per cent. Was that
owing to Government ? Certainly not. During
four-fifths of that time there was but little govern
ment in Scotland, and that little as bad as it well
could be. The material progress of the country
was owing to certain qualities in the Scottish race,
which, on the lowest ground, I think these figures
show that it would be a pity to let die.
" But I am content to put that aside for a
moment, and I simply take it as an illustration
of the fact that the material progress of a country
is not necessarily dependent on government. I
hold, then, that the changes that affect the mass
of the nation proceed from the nation itself, that

268 xorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
the well-being of a free nation depends upon
itself. I believe that at this moment the people
of Great Britain are better, happier, and more
prosperous than their European neighbours, and
this mainly because their long enjoyment of self-
government has enabled them to know what
they want, and to obtain it. With a start of
centuries they ought long to be able to pre
serve their pre-eminence.
"It will be their own fault if they do not. With
them the hand and the eye, as with consummate
marksmen, are accustomed to act together. They
are not precipitate in making up their minds.
They allow every influence to operate. They
suffer the picture of a possible future to be tested
by practical experience and coloured by past
tradition : they place it in every light before they
allow it to inspire their conduct or to affect their
destiny. They are willing to receive and consider
all ideas : some they entertain, some they pass
over with polite indifference ; of some they adjourn
the consideration ; those that they accept they
lose no time in adopting. If this is so in England,
the case of Scotland is even stronger. Scotland
has been accustomed to be left much to herself.
Till Scott brought Scotland into fashion, the
country was little known and less liked ; and unless
a Porteous riot or a young Pretender troubled
the political atmosphere, England was only too
glad to leave Scotland to herself.

IRecessitg of Self=1Reliance 269
" And it was well for Scotland that it was so.
She attained her majority when other countries
are still in their political teens. When others
needed support and guidance, she stood alone.
And in the future she should find the value of
this. For in a cpuntry that is self-sufficing, that
governs itself, every element of national life is
of importance, not merely because the vitality and
the character of a race are intimately connected,
but because every part of the country requires to
be self-reliant. Every part of the country requires
to study and formulate its own wants and its own
ideas before it can hope to get a hearing for
them. Nay, every part of the country will have,
it is easy to see, to be left more and more to its
own methods and its own devices, for it is
impossible that any central Atlas can be found
to bear the burden. I remember that five years
ago there were some figures published which
were a waking nightmare. Mr. Hawksley then
calculated that, taking a generation to be forty-
two years, and starting from the present population,
at the end of the first generation the population
of England and Wales alone would be 44,808,000 ;
at the end of the second, 83,656,000 ; at the end
of the third, 156,000,000 ; at the end of the fourth,
291,000,000 ; at the end of the fifth, 544,000,000.
" What will happen two centuries hence, when
the population will have reached that figure, we
may safely leave to our five hundred millions of

270 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
descendants. But the growth of the population,
vast as it is, means this at the present time :
that it is well for the different divisions of the
Empire to be able to take a little care of them
selves, and not to hope for too much from the
powers of beneficence in London. Well, then,
my contention comes briefly to this, that it is
good for the Empire that we should preserve our
nationality, and that, as regards ourselves, we
should find a use for it.
" I pass by many kindred topics, such as the
great value of the Scottish character as a colonising
agency, because I fear to weary you, and because
I wish to keep within the boundaries of Scotland.
But how, for the purposes I have indicated, is
this nationality to be preserved and utilised ? It
is not evidently mere peculiarities of accent and
costume which are meant ; it is not by a barren
attachment to barren traditions ; it is not by
insulating the country.
" I have no time, indeed, to dwell minutely
on so great a subject, but if I might offer the
suggestion of what I mean, it would be, internally
by development, and externally by emulation. As
regards those who are not our fellow-countrymen,
let us endeavour to prove ourselves ahead of
them ; as regards ourselves, let us endeavour
so to raise the standard of our institutions
and our people that they may be the envy of
mankind.

XChe truest patriotism 271
" I see no Utopian hope in this : I see nothing
political : I see nothing in which the truest patriot
ism might not stimulate every individual of this
nation in his own degree and sphere to engage.
I see a work in which all might co-operate, an
edifice where all might build or help the builders.
Let the Scottish ploughman make it clear that he
is better than the ploughman of other countries :
the Scottish milkmaid prove that she is a better
milkmaid : the Scottish housewife neater than other
housewives : the labour of the day-labourer more
valuable than that of other day-labourers : the
fisherman and mechanic more expert than other
fishermen and mechanics : and all these will be
engaged in a work which will raise their country
and will find an immediate reward.
" If I take these humbler and manual avoca
tions, it is to strengthen my argument. It is not
apparent, at first sight, how an ordinary labourer
can raise the reputation of his country. But it
is none the less true, and I will give you an
instance. Scotland seems to supply the world
with gardeners.
"Now I venture to say that this fact raises
the reputation of Scotland. I further think that
the association of Scotland with that gentle and
beautiful calling has done much to lessen the
prejudice against our country. I think the
engineers of great steamboats are usually Scots.
I speak with apprehension and under correction,

272 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
and therefore do not emphasise this statement,
though I believe it to be a fact.
" But if gardeners and engineers can raise the
reputation of Scotland, how much more, as we
get higher in the scale of education and oppor
tunity, may we expect to find Scotsmen adorning
the name of their country. What will your
chances be ? I am not going to name to you
the roll of famous Scottish divines, and statesmen,
and lawyers, and physicians, who have been reared
here like yourselves : the roll is long and time
is limited. But I may at least say this : that
your chances of making your country proud of
you, and mankind proud of your country, are a
thousandfold greater than those of the classes I
have mentioned.
" Your truest patriotism, the truest of every
Scotsman, is to be capable and reliable ; wherever
a Scotsman goes he is taken as the sample of
his race : the best service, then, that he can do
to his race is to approve himself a meritorious
sample, and his merit will enhance the reputation
of the stock. This is not the mere thesis, Be
good and you will be happy. It is supplying
another and a common stimulus to the energies of
a nation which sometimes seems passionately to
desire a means by which it can show its patriotism
and its mindfulness of past achievement. We
cannot omit, in considering the practical and
practicable outlets for patriotism, the expenditure

"Scotlanb leabs the Mag" 273
of money. I need not speak of this in a generation
which has seen the Baxters and the Bairds, the
Coatses and the Carnegies, and not least my
noble friend, your latest doctor, the Marquis of
Bute. Great sums have been given and be
queathed for educational purposes, although the
flood of private munificence to our Universities
might perhaps have been even larger but for the
fact of Government subsidies.
" But still as regards the patriotic bestowal of
money, Scotland holds her own, and will, I doubt
not, continue to hold her own. As an example
of this and of the internal development, and ot
the righteous emulation which I advocate, there
is the Royal Infirmary, the best equipped in the
world, which now adorns this city. Scotland here
leads the way : her success will incite other
countries to build larger and better infirmaries, so
that by this great work she will have benefited
herself and society as well. Paisley receives
almost annual benefactions from the princely family
of Coats. Dunfermline has been adorned, I had
almost said revived, by the affectionate bounty of
one of her sons. Dundee has recently received a
University. Edinburgh has lately been adorned
with a cathedral ; Glasgow with a public library
and a college hall. I take these instances at
random, for there are similar cases of frequent
occurrence. " There is another patriotic method of spending
vol. 1. 18

274 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
money which I cannot omit in a seat of learning
like this, and in which Scotsmen have also borne
a distinguished part, — I mean by printing and
illustrating documents and pieces bearing on the
history or literature of their country. What with
the book-printing clubs and the liberality of
individuals, I suppose that few countries have a
mass of national information and materials so
fully set forth as Scotland.
" This may seem a minor matter, but, speaking
in the strict nationalistic sense, it is not ; for in
this way you preserve your archives beyond the
touch of time, and enrich the general treasure of
human erudition. But besides the gifts of private
benefaction, Scotland has a noble inheritance, of
which we are the trustees. For on three external
bases we retain the ancient symbols and facts of
independence. " Our systems of Religion, of Law, and of
Education are all essentially and outwardly different
from those which prevail in England. The Church
and the Law we kept strenuously and purposely
(and when I speak of the Church I mean, of
course, the Presbyterian Churches, whether esta
blished or not) ; the Universities remained not
by special effort, but because of their fitness for
the work. The Presbyterian system and our
scheme of jurisprudence would continue to exist
even if they were much less efficient than they
are because of what I may call the historical

"(Bang ower the jfunbamentals " 275
conservatism of the Scottish people ; the Univer
sities will continue, not merely because of their
present powers and usefulness, but because of
their constant readiness to adapt themselves to
the shifting conditions of human requirement and
intellectual effort. I plead, then, that over these
three distinctive systems we should watch with
peculiar care, with such constant anxiety both to
preserve and to improve, both to maintain the
spirit while accepting the suggestions of the teem
ing age, that those outside our boundaries shall
recognise that it is their excellences and the
sedulous anxiety with which every opportunity is
taken of still further improving them, that divides
them from other such systems, — not mere pecu
liarities and catchwords of form.
" Not that the people of Scotland have shown
a blind love of form, even as regards these
cherished institutions. Alterations are constantly
made and demanded in the law ; the Courts have
been the subject of constant modification ; changes
have been effected in the ecclesiastical bodies ;
the efficiency of the Universities is a subject of
constant and vigilant scrutiny ; but there is no
complaint so long as essentials are left untouched.
"When Norman Macleod went to visit an old
woman who was both a Covenanter and a
parishioner, she at once offered him the end of
her ear-trumpet, and shouted, ' Gang ower the
fundamentals ! ' and we may be certain that it

276 lorb "IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speeches
would be perilous for any statesman who was
dealing with Scotland to tamper with the funda
mentals. I spoke a moment ago of the historical
conservatism of the Scottish people. Nowhere is
that historical sentiment in its best and highest
sense so strong. It is that which has preserved
Scottish nationality, and it is that which will
preserve those institutions in Scotland which are
worth preserving. Nay, it is the practical deter
mination to keep what it sees clearly is worth
keeping, and to sweep away what is not worth
keeping ; its keen insight into what is valuable
and essential, and its indifference to form and
pretension, which not merely have preserved the
Scottish character, but are the Scottish character.
" There was, it is true, a shriek of dismay from
Scotland when she saw her Parliament disappear
and her delegates proceed southwards to London.
But a moment's reflection convinced her that the
Parliament had not been so efficient as to demand
many tears, or to preclude the possibility of
imagining a better on the banks of the Thames.
Year by year during the last century she saw
Edinburgh becoming less and less, and London
more and more of a capital. In many countries
it would have produced assimilation or obliteration.
In Scotland it produced nothing of the sort. She
had preserved her fundamentals. She retained
her Church, her Law, and her Teaching.
"Besides these she had here traditions, and the

Urue Direction of patriotism 277
fierce energy required to fight soil, and climate,
and poverty. She thus retained the resources and
guarantees of her national character. I maintain,
then, that both in its shrewd and in its sentimental
aspects the Scottish character is well fitted to
deal with its institutions, and to perfect them
and itself. I have indicated that that is, in my
humble opinion, the true direction for what is
called patriotism in this nineteenth century.
" We must all, I contend, bear this in mind ;
it should be part of our mental training ; it
should inspire our Universities and all the in
fluences that breathe on our youth. It should
become a factor in the national life, and it should
guide the enthusiasm which history evokes and
meditation inflames. But I hear you ask, Why
address this series of hints to us ? I speak them
to you, although they may not seem proper to
the occasion or the audience of a University
discourse, because I contend that they are not
merely pertinent, but vital to the present audience.
I speak them, too, knowing that you are by no
means all Scots ; but advisedly, as to those who
should understand, and explain elsewhere, why
we cling to our nationality, and who will, I
hope, bear westwards and southwards that second
and higher Scottish nature of adoption which
Brougham, and Horner, and Lansdowne, and
Russell took from their education here.
" Moreover, with this University and this city

278 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
of ours you will always have a sacred link. You
' will drag at each remove a lengthening,' but
not, I trust, a painful chain, of which one end
will be fixed in Edinburgh.
" Let me illustrate what I mean. In the last
century a Scottish adventurer called Dow ran
away to the East Indies, and took service and
rose to high command under the Great Mogul.
One day he was narrating how, when he had
charge of that potentate, with two regiments
under his command, at Delhi, he was tempted to
dethrone the monarch and reign in his stead.
Dr. Carlyle — Jupiter Carlyle — asked him what
prevented him from yielding to that temptation;
and he gave this memorable answer, that it was
the reflecting on what his old schoolfellows at
Dunbar would think of him for being guilty of
such an action.
" And so I venture to predict that, long after
you have quitted this University, its associations
will hold and control you, and that you will
often be spurred to good, and restrained from
evil, by the thoughts of what your old class-mates
in Edinburgh would think of you. These matters,
therefore, cannot be indifferent to any of you ;
but to the Scotsmen in this hall they are vital,
because on them, in the coming generation, it
depends to preserve Scottish tradition and main
tain Scottish character. Much of that character
has been taken away from us by the swift amalga-

{The "IReal anb the "Clnreal 279
gamating power of railways, by the centralisation
of Anglicising empire, by the compassionate sneer
of the higher civilisation.
" The present state of things soon passes into
tradition, facts become fictions, the real and the
unreal become blended in the haze of a decade.
Much is passing away, much more must pass
away ; and it is well. Your old draperies, your
old tapestries, your old banners, are clutched by
the greedy centuries, and carded and thrown into
the mill, that they may emerge damp sheets, for
your newspapers ; and it is well. Your old bones
are pulverised that they may dress the pastures ;
and it is well. Your abbeys and your castles
are quarries for dykes, and prize bothies, and
locomotive sheds ; and it is well. Your archives
cover preserves, your ancestral trees pave roads,
you sound for coal under your old tower, and
it tumbles about your ears, your clan emigrates
to Glasgow or to Canada, the glen is silent save
for the footfall of the deer ; and it is well. You
scale the dark brow of the mighty Helvellyn,
and you find a personally conducted tourist
drinking bottled beer on the summit ; and it is
well also.
" The effigies and splendours of tradition are
not meant to cramp the energies or the develop
ment of a vigorous and various nation. They
are not meant to hold in mortmain the proper
territory of human intelligence and righteous

280 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
aspiration. They live and teach their lessons
in our annals, they have their own worshippers
and their own shrines, but the earth is not theirs
nor the fulness thereof.
" For all that, however, these very annals, and
the characters they inspire and describe, are our
intangible property ; they constitute an inheritance
we are not willing to see either squandered or
demolished, for they are the title-deeds and
heirlooms of our national existence. And so,
gentlemen, I have ventured to consider with you
to-day some of the tendencies and some of the
limitations of what is called patriotism. In Scotland
I think that spirit rather requires direction than
sustenance. What we need is not the passive
recollection of the past, though the past should
never be forgotten ; it is not the mere utterance
of time-honoured shibboleths, though we need not
disdain these either ; it is not the constituting
the plaid a wedding- garment without which none
is welcome, though we may love the tartan well
enough ; — it was not thus that Scotland was
made, nor is it thus that she can be maintained.
" The spirit that I will not say we need — for
it exists, but the spirit that we wish to see
developed is an intelligent pride in this country
of ours, and an anxiety to make it in one way
or another, by every means in our power, more
and more worthy of our pride. Let us win in
the competition of international well-being and

Hbe Stanbarb of flbanftinb 281
prosperity. Let us have a finer, better-educated,
better-lodged, and better-nourished race than
exists elsewhere ; better schools, better universities,
better tribunals, ay, and better churches. In one
phrase, let our standard be higher, not in the
jargon of the Education Department, but in the
acknowledgment of mankind. The standard of
mankind is not so exalted but that a nobler can
be imagined and attained.
The dream of him who loved Scotland best
would lie not so much in the direction of antiquarian
revival as in the hope that his country might be
pointed out as one that in spite of rocks, and
rigour, and poverty, could yet teach the world by
precept and example, could lead the van and
point the moral, where greater nations and fairer
states had failed. Those who believe the Scots
to be so eminently vain a race will say that already
we are in our opinion the tenth legion of civilisa
tion. Well, vanity is a centipede with corns on
every foot : I will not tread where the ground is
so dangerous. But if we are not foremost we may
at any rate become so. Our fathers have declared
unto us what was done in their days and in the
old time before them : we know that we come of
a strenuous stock.
" Do you remember the words that young
Carlyle wrote to his brother nine years after he
had left this University as a student, forty-three
years before he returned as its Rector ? ' I say,

282 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
Jack, thou and I must never falter. Work, my
boy, work unweariedly. I swear that all the
thousand miseries of this hard fight, and ill-health,
the most terrific of them all, shall never chain us
down. By the river Styx, it shall not ! Two
fellows from a nameless spot in Annandale shall
yet show the world the pluck that is in Carlyles.'
Let that be your spirit to-day. You are citizens
of no mean city, members of no common state,
heirs of no supine empire. You will many of you
exercise influence over your fellow-men : some will
study and interpret our laws, and so become a
power ; others, again, will be in a position to solace
and exalt, as destined to be doctors and clergymen,
and so the physical and spiritual comforters of
mankind. Make the best of these opportunities.
Raise your country, raise your University, raise
yourselves. Your light, if you show it forth, will
not merely illustrate yourselves, but be reflected
here. " We, your elders, then, have at any rate a
personal interest in observing your career ; they,
your teachers around me, I, your transient head,
may well look forth with anxiety to see if the
great wave of learned life that will roll from these
walls into the world is to be an influence for good,
or an influence for evil, or feebly dwindle into a
stagnant puddle : we watch its curling crest without
knowing where it will break or what it will effect :
we can but mutely hope that it will neither wreck

ftbe love of Countrg 283
nor strand the vessel of the State, but help to
bear it safely on.
" The words of a moment or a speaker like
the present can neither bear a lesson nor bequeath
a memory. Were it otherwise, I should simply
pray you to love your country ; to add this one
ennobling motive to those other dead and living
influences of the past, the present, and the future,
which urge you on in the path of duty, which
sustain you in the hour of trial, in the day of
difficulty, in the very valley of the shadow of
death." After the address the students heartily sang,
" For he's a jolly good fellow ! " There was a
torchlight procession in the evening, and the
students thoroughly enjoyed themselves : they
smashed street lamps and windows, engaged in
a regular riot, got into conflict with the police,
and some of them made the acquaintance of the
police-court the next morning.

CHAPTER XI
PUBLIC AFFAIRS IN LORD ROSEBERY'S EARLY PARLIAMENTARY LIFE —
THE ELECTION OF l868 — GLADSTONE AND DISRAELI — IRISH CHURCH
DISESTABLISHMENT — CIVIL SERVICE REFORMS — THE ELECTION OF
1874 — MR. GLADSTONE'S FIRST RETIREMENT — THE EASTERN
QUESTION — SPEECHES ON FOREIGN POLICY
LORD ROSEBERY, in the earlier years of
his Parliamentary life, spoke seldom. He
was a listener to and a student of the public
questions to which his attention was necessarily
drawn. It was in the year he succeeded to the
title and entered the House of Lords that the
general election came, the great contest of those
great men, Gladstone and Disraeli. The result
was a victory for the Liberal party, and Mr.
Gladstone formed what Mr. F. W. Hirst in "The
Life of William Ewart Gladstone," which Sir
Wemyss Reid has edited, described as "the
greatest Peace Ministry of modern times," for it
" exhibited in its measures and its acts, in its
legislation and its administration, a harmony, a
unity, and an individuality which are never
observed in collective bodies except when they
are controlled by a master-hand and are sub
ordinated to a master-mind." 284

a "Ibawarben Election Hbbress 285
Lord Rosebery had in the House of Peers seen
the last days of the Conservative Government,
and was a keen observer of the events which
followed. Mr. Gladstone appealed to the country
on three main questions — the history of the last
Reform Act, Public Economy, and the Irish
Question. The election address from Hawarden
shows the attitude of the Liberals of the day
towards the questions which at the time were
dividing politicians and people. In that address,
issued to the electors of South-West Lancashire,
Mr. Gladstone said :
" From you, the electors of the South-western
Division of the County of Lancaster, I solicit a
renewal of the trust which was confided to me
in 1865, in a manner demanding from me peculiar
gratitude, by the constituency of the entire
Southern Division.
" I then came before you as the advocate of
a policy of trust in the people, tempered by
prudence, and averse to violent and hasty change.
" In the spirit of that profession, I was a party
in 1866 to proposals for the extension of the
franchise, which I thought the smallest that could
meet the just claims of the unenfranchised classes,
and which were studiously limited, in order if
possible to disarm jealousy, prejudice, and fear.
"We were met by an opposition, not indeed
as direct, but yet as persevering and detrimental,
as was ever offered to any measure. At length

286 Xorb "IRoseberg: 1bis life anb Speecbes
a point was reached at which the Government of
Earl Russell found that the resignation of their
offices appeared to be the most becoming method
by which they could secure the early triumph of
Reform. "We resigned accordingly. The result was that
the opponents of reduction in the franchise took
office, and found themselves compelled by the
public sentiment, after much vacillation, to make
proposals on that subject which, though not only
narrow, but strongly reactionary in the shape in
which they were presented to Parliament, issued
in the passing of a measure larger and more
democratic than the Bill which, in 1866, we were
told, by the highest authority, would reduce our
institutions to the pattern of the American
Republic. " From the extensive, though unequal, en
franchisement which has thus been secured for
the people, past experience and all present signs
lead me to anticipate increased strength for our
institutions, and a more vigorous march both of
legislative and administrative policy. . . .
" The rapid growth of wealth, especially among
the classes of the greatest activity and enterprise,
has led, for a number of years past, to a
diminished watchfulness, outside the walls of
Parliament, respecting the great and cardinal
subject of economy in the public charges, and
the relation between the income of the State

XThrfftg Hbministration 287
and its expenditure. I earnestly desire that the
paramount interest of the lately enfranchised classes
in thrifty administration may operate powerfully
to bring about a change. This tendency cannot
but be strengthened by the present decline of the
permanent revenue, and by the addition, since
the present Government took office, of three
millions (in round numbers) to the public charges,
apart from the demands of the Abyssinian War.
This increase has extended not less in the civil
than in the military and naval departments. In
my opinion it has not been justified either by
the wishes of the country or by the demands
of the public service.
" I perceive, with satisfaction, that attention
has of late been increasingly directed to the local
charges of the country. Their amount, the manner
of their incidence, and the means provided for
their administration and control appear to demand
careful consideration. It will, in my opinion, be
just and politic to allow to ratepayers, by the
principle of representation, a control over county
expenditure." As to Primary Education, Mr. Gladstone
referred to the two principles laid down by Lord
John Russell in 1839 on behalf of Lord Melbourne's
Government — that it was the desire of Her Majesty
that the rights of conscience ' ' should be respected,
and that the youth of the country should be
religiously brought up." Further legislation would

288 xorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
be necessary to establish the first of these
principles, and in order to enforce it the State
must resign the responsibility of teaching in its
primary schools the creed of a sect at the expense
of the nation. The address then proceeded.
" At this time one question, or group of
questions, overshadows all the rest. The state
of Ireland, and the actual temper of no small
portion of its people towards the Throne and
Government of the United Kingdom, imperatively
demand the care of all public men, and of all
good citizens, who would seek, not merely to live
by expedients from day to day, but, looking
onwards into the future, to make provision, as
far as human means avail, for the strength,
concord, and stability of the Empire.
" The object of a truly Liberal policy is, by
equitable but decided measures to make the name
of law in Ireland respected as it is in Great
Britain ; to make it respected by making it loved ;
and to create this attachment by creating in the
national mind the conviction that law is a friend
and not an enemy ; the friend of every class, but
especially of those classes which have the greatest
need of its protection.
" The present House of Commons has four
times been called upon to suspend the Act for
securing personal liberty in Ireland ; but it has
not forgotten the work of improvement in that
country.

Cburch (Questions 289
"In 1866, the Government of Earl Russell
addressed itself to one absolutely vital portion of
this work, by introducing a Land Bill, for
securing to tenants the value of their improve
ments, which the obstruction of the Ministers
now in power prevented from passing into
law. " But this year, those Ministers, rightly judging
that the necessity of coercion did not impair the
obligations of justice, very deliberately proposed
a policy for Ireland ; did not shrink from the
questions of Education and Religion ; asked to
establish, at the charge of the Exchequer, a
Roman Catholic University ; and declared their
readiness to recognise the principle of religious
equality in Ireland by a great change in the
status of the unendowed clergy of that country,
provided always that the Established Church
should be maintained in its integrity. In this
statement, for the sake of accuracy, I have
adhered as nearly as may be to the language
which they used.
" We thought that Ministers had mistaken alike
the interests and the convictions of the country.
We refused to open a new source of discord
through the establishment by the State of any
denominational University. We repudiated the
policy of universal endowment. But, agreeing
with the Government that the subject was ripe,
we proposed a counterplan of disestablishment of
vol. 1. 19

290 xorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
the existing Church, with strict regard to the
rights of property and to vested interests, but
without establishing any other Church, and with
a general cessation of State endowments for
religion in Ireland."
" The Established Church was the Church of
a minority of the nation. But its members were
not the poor ; they were the rich, the well-
educated, the powerful. Its funds were misap
propriated. Its existence was a standing memorial
of the oppression of the past. Its constitution
embittered theological controversies, and brought
the polemical spirit into politics.
" In the removal of this Establishment," the
address continued, " I see the discharge of a debt
of civil justice, the disappearance of a national,
almost a world-wide reproach, a condition indis
pensable to the success of every effort to secure
the peace and contentment of that country ;
finally, relief to a devoted clergy from a false
position, cramped and beset by hopeless prejudice,
and the opening of a freer career to their
sacred ministry. . . .
"In the manner of proceeding, we ought, I
think, to be governed by three considerations : a
regard for Irish interests and feelings ; an en
larged equity towards those who would lose in
point of civil privilege ; and a careful heed to the
spirit of equal dealing throughout the detailed
arrangements.

a Broab anb ©pen path 291
"After all that these rules can warrant has
been done, there may remain a considerable
property at the disposal of the State. The
mode of its application can only, in my judg
ment, be suggested to Parliament by those who
as a Government may have means and authority
to examine fully the provisions now made by law
for the various public and social wants of Ireland,
and to compare in each case both the urgency of
the demand and the facility of meeting it with
general satisfaction. It would, however, ill consist
with the principle of the measure for which we
are now contending, if the State, having dises
tablished the Church, were to apply its funds to
the teaching of religion in any other form.
" To sum up this great subject —
" Rest as we are, by common consent, we
cannot. Endowment of all, after the events
of the last Session, is out of the question.
Retrenchment or mutilation of the existing
Church, by reduction of its spiritual offices, has
been proposed by a Royal Commission ; but I do
not learn from the latest and most authentic
declarations of the Ministry that they adopt that,
or indeed any other, method of proceeding. We
of the Opposition, gentlemen, have done our part.
The matter now rests with you. One path, at
least, lies before you, broad, open, and well
defined. One policy has advocates who do not
shrink from its avowal. It is the policy of

292 lorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
bringing absolutely to an end the civil establish
ment of the Church of Ireland. It has received
the solemn sanction of the representatives
whom the nation chose in 1865. For this line
of action, the only one just, and the only one
available, I confidently ask your approval."
In the election speeches of the campaign it is
noticeable that amongst the Liberals, not ex
cluding Mr. Gladstone himself, Irish affairs were
very much kept in the background. The Reform
Act received foremost attention. Even the
Liberal leader usually left the question of Ireland
to be dealt with at the end of a speech, when
an audience had by his oratory been brought to
a fine point of enthusiasm. The Irish question
was not one which either English leaders or their
followers cared for in those days, and it was
probably owing to its influence that Mr. Gladstone,
though achieving great victories throughout the
country, failed to secure his seat for South Lan
cashire. He was beaten by the Conservative
candidates, Mr. (afterwards Viscount) Cross and
Mr. Turner. The result was undoubtedly a
severe personal disappointment to Mr. Gladstone,
who had been quite confident as to the result.
On the day of his nomination, dealing with an
assertion that he was seeking another seat, Mr.
Gladstone had said :
" I have not spoken a word, I have not drawn
a scratch of the pen, to obtain any other seat in

/Ifor. ©Israeli's "IResignation 293
Parliament than yours. And now the question
for you gentlemen is, when the voice of the nation
sounds in your ears, and speaks in accents which
not even Mr. Turner or Mr. Cross can mis
understand ... I ask you not to separate
yourselves from the body of the nation. You are
part of England. You are great ; but England
is greater. With England Scotland joins, and
with Scotland Ireland."
The Liberal organisers, however, had antici
pated defeat for Mr. Gladstone at the hands of the
South Lancashire electors, and, being beaten there,
he obtained a safe and easy seat at Greenwich ;
and he found himself, as the result of the elec
tions, with an overwhelming Parliamentary majority.
Mr. Disraeli resigned forthwith, taking the then
unprecedented step of resigning without waiting
for the new Parliament to assemble. The new
Ministers received their seals of office on
December 9, Mr. Gladstone's Cabinet including
Mr. Lowe, Mr. Childers, Mr. Cardwell, Mr.
Goschen, and Mr. Bright. Sir William Harcourt,
who had entered Parliament for the first time,
was invited to join the Ministry as Queen's
Advocate, but declined the invitation.
Early in the life of the new Parliament came
the memorable contest between the Lords and
Commons in connection with Mr. Gladstone's Bill
for the Disestablishment of the Church in Ireland.
A compromise was arranged, and the Bill became

294 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
law. Lord Rosebery, in this matter, had one
of his first experiences (as an onlooker only) of
disputes between the two Houses, to the con
ditions of one of which he so emphatically
objects. Lord Malmesbury makes a note in his
diary of July 22, 1869, which shows that Lord
Rosebery was in this, as afterwards in many other
matters, learning from his great leader and friend
Mr. Gladstone. The note in the diary mentioned
runs :
" The House of Lords has agreed to a
compromise. Lord Cairns settled it with Lord
Granville. . . . Gladstone wanted to throw up the
Bill after the debate of last Tuesday, when the
words of the preamble were re-inserted, but he
was out-voted in his Cabinet ; and it is said that
Lord Granville told him that if he gave up the
Bill he must find somebody else to lead the
Lords. He must have intended to provoke a
collision between the two Houses, and the feeling
he showed on this occasion proves, and not for
the first time, what his sentiments are against
that institution."
Mr. John Bright at this time was also ex
pressing strong views about the position of the
Peers, and hinted that " if they should attempt to
obstruct or delay the Irish Church Bill they might
meet with accidents not pleasant for them to think
of," — a statement which Mr. Gladstone explained
away in the House of Commons as follows :

Zhc Srisb lanb act 295
" I must say that the Government have
not thought it their duty, and will not think it
their duty, to consider in detail the particulars
of those opinions. . . . There may be many
things with which in the abstract, as propositions,
the Government would agree, and yet which as
a Government they might not think themselves
justified or warranted in stating with regard to
the action of a branch of the Legislature."
Irish affairs received a good deal of attention
in the next few years. In 1870 the Irish Land
Bill was introduced and passed. Its main object
was to secure fixity of tenure. During the same
session the Elementary Education Bill was passed,
and board schools popularly managed were created
to supplement the voluntary schools. The passage
of the measure was not easy. A great " Non
conformist Rebellion " arose, and several important
clauses of the Bill were in the nature of a com
promise, especially concerning denominational
education. It was the Conservative votes that
enabled the Government to carry their Bill against
a strong Nonconformist opposition led by Mr.
Edward Miall. The combativeness of this oppo
sition led to a somewhat bitter passage of words
between that eminent Dissenter and Mr. Gladstone.
It is interesting as showing how Mr. Gladstone,
a Prime Minister who was master because of his
great Parliamentary majority, could, when a matter
became acute, assert his authority in a way which

296 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
Lord Rosebery probably often reflected upon when
it was his lot, years afterwards, to be a leader
almost without power. Mr. Miall, on one occasion
during the fight on the Education Bill, com
plained, " you have led us through the Valley of
Humiliation ; but once bit, twice shy. And we
can't stand this sort of thing much longer." Mr.
Gladstone, too, was not in the mood " to stand
this sort of thing much longer," and he was quite
determined to get the Bill through. He thus
answered Mr. Miall :
" I hope my hon. friend will not continue his
support to the Government one moment longer
than he deems it consistent with his sense of
duty and right. For God's sake, sir, let him
withdraw it the moment he thinks it better for
the cause he has at heart that he should do so.
So long as my hon. friend thinks fit to give us
his support we will co-operate with my hon.
friend for every purpose we have in common ;
but when we think his opinions and demands
exacting, when we think he looks too much to
the section of the community he adorns and too
little to the interests of the people at large, we
must then recollect that we are the Government
of the Queen, and that those who have assumed
the high responsibility of administering the affairs
of this Empire must endeavour to forget the parts
in the whole, and must, in the great measures
they introduce into the House, propose to them-

Ube 3franco=(5erman Mar 297
selves no meaner or narrower object — no other
object than the welfare of the Empire at large."
Towards the end of the summer of 1870 there
came the outbreak of the Franco-German war,
which was to change the balance of power in
Europe in so remarkable a way, and which was
to be for a long while to come the main topic of
public interest the world over. Everything had
looked peaceful during most of the summer. July
appeared to open, so far as European politics
were concerned, peacefully and hopefully. The
great war burst with hurricane force and rapidity
almost immediately afterwards. As an anonymous
writer in The Edinburgh Review (who we know
now was Mr. Gladstone) wrote shortly afterwards :
" Every joint of the compacted fabric of Con
tinental Europe had been unset, and there was
not one considerable State whose positions and
prospects had not been fundamentally modified be
tween the 5th of August and the 5th of September.
The unclouded skies of a glorious July seemed,
at the commencement of that month, only to
reflect an equally cloudless tranquillity on the face
of Europe. . . . But, before one week of the
month had passed, the storm burst upon the world.
First came diplomatic mutterings, for which a
few days only were allowed. Then followed the
ring of weapons making ready for the encounter,
and the tramp of armed men. On the 2nd of
August, in the insignificant affair of Saarbriick, the

298 lorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
Emperor of the French assumed a feeble offensive.
On the 4th the Prussians replied energetically at
Wissembourg. And then, what a torrent, what a
deluge of events! In twenty-eight days ten battles
were fought. Three hundred thousand men were
sent to the hospitals, to captivity, or to the grave.
The German enemy had penetrated into the in
terior of France over a distance of one hundred
and fifty miles of territory, and had stretched
forth everywhere as he went the strong hand of
possession. The Emperor was a prisoner, and
had been deposed with general consent ; his family
wanderers, none knew where ; the embryo, at
least, of a republic, born of the hour, had risen
on the ruins of the Empire, while proud and
gorgeous Paris was awaiting, with divided mind,
the approach of the conquering monarch and his
countless host."
By the time Parliament met in 187 1, so rapidly
did events on the Continent move, the news
papers which reported the speech by the Earl
of Rosebery in moving the Address had their
columns full of special correspondents' letters from
besieged Paris. Political conditions at home seem
to show that by this time Mr. Gladstone's power
had been considerably weakened in the country.
The dissatisfaction of the Nonconformists regarding
the Education Bill was one, and may have been
the chief, cause. Yet the year saw a great
reform carried out in the Civil Service, for in

Civil Service Cbanges 299
midsummer, by an Order in Council dated a year
previously, all entrance appointments in the Civil
Service — the Foreign Office, Diplomatic Service,
and posts requiring professional knowledge ex
cepted — had been thrown open to competition.
Any lad of capacity had thus thrown open to
him the opportunity of a Civil Service appoint
ment, and the "fool of the family" — the family
of influence — no longer found ,£300 or ^"400 a
year waiting for him for condescending to hang up
his hat in a Government office and occasionally
cut a new quill. All departments of the State
during the same period had their administrative
machinery burnished, and a better system of pro
motion than had previously existed was brought
into operation. The Ecclesiastical Titles Act was
repealed the same year. University tests were
abolished, and the .Ballot Act to secure the secrecy
of voting had been passed by the Commons and
rejected by the Lords, who, however, passed it in
the following year. The throwing open of Civil
Service appointments to competition was followed
by the abolition of Army purchase, Mr. Gladstone
taking the sensational course of securing that reform
by cancelling the Royal Warrant, under which
purchase was legal, an executive act which un
doubtedly was approved by the bulk of the nation.
By this action Mr. Gladstone entirely superseded
the House of Lords, who, without rejecting a Bill,
had passed a resolution with the object of burying

300 lorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
the matter. It was a startling and completely
successful use of the prerogative of the Crown to
obtain a reform in spite of the House of Lords'
objection to it.
The passage of the Licensing Act of 1872,
compelling the closing of public-houses at mid
night in London and earlier in the country, was
another step which alienated support from the
Liberal party. Mr. Gladstone's Irish University
Bill of the following year was one which even
his influence was insufficient to commend either
to Parliament or to public opinion ; even The
Daily News described it as "a feeble com
promise." The Government were beaten by a
majority of three in the division, and two days
afterwards the Cabinet met and decided to resign.
Mr. Forster in his diary records, on March 13,
a pathetic incident in connection with that meeting :
" Cabinet again at twelve. Decided to resign.
. . . Gladstone made us quite a touching little
speech. He began playfully. This was the last
of some one hundred and fifty Cabinets or so,
and he wished to say to his colleagues with
what ' profound gratitude  ' And here he com
pletely broke down and could say nothing, except
that he could not enter on the details. . . . Tears
came to my eyes, and we were all touched."
Mr. Disraeli, always astute, declined the
Queen's invitation to form a Government, and
Mr. Gladstone was obliged to resume office.

Disraeli anb ©labstone 301
Later in the year some administrative irregu
larities at the General Post Office were disclosed.
Amongst other things this led to a rearrangement
of the Cabinet, and Mr. Gladstone, in addition to
the Premiership, took over the duties of Chan
cellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Lowe going to the
Home Office. In 1874 Parliament was dissolved,
on the ground, as Mr. Gladstone put it, "that
the authority of the Ministry had sunk below the
point necessary for the due defence and prosecu
tion of public interests." He went to the country
on a proposal to abolish the income-tax. To
again quote Mr. Hirst :
" Mr. Gladstone had undoubtedly made a mis
calculation in going to the country with a promise
to repeal the income-tax ; and he was surprised
and mortified at the result. The real reason
seemed to have escaped him. To the working
classes it mattered very little whether the income-
tax was abolished or not. The general public
had grown tired of domestic reforms, and Disraeli
accurately gauged the prevailing sentiment. There
was indeed a serious dearth of jingo material ; but
he had contrived to divert the eyes of the country
from the schedules of the income-tax to the map
of the world, and more particularly to the Straits
of Malacca, where, he said, the Gladstonian
Government had committed acts of astounding
folly and ignorance — they had even compromised
freedom of trade with China and Japan.

302 Xorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
The farmers of Aylesbury gathered to dine,
And they ate their prime beef and they drank their old wine,
With the wine there was beer, with the beer there was bacca.
The liquors went round,
And the banquet was crowned
With some thundering news from the Straits of Malacca.1
" Public opinion was beginning to undergo a
vast change. In the previous decade there had
been little or no national interest in foreign
countries. Merchants and manufacturers, who had
special knowledge of foreign markets, kept that
knowledge carefully to themselves. Ordinary
people did not try to conceal their ignorance.
There were few political upholsterers. Even
editors seldom saw, or thought they saw, across
the Channel. The strength of England was
respected abroad. At home there was quiet con
fidence, but no enthusiasm for ' stricken fields.'
Gradually, however, the miseries of the Crimean
War faded from the national memory. A new
generation was growing up with a craving for
excitement. " The difference between the two leaders was
not confined to foreign politics, or to politics. It
amounted to a complete antithesis. It comes out
in their rhetoric, if we submit them for a moment
to the acrid judgment of the satirist, Thorold
Rogers, in 1872 :
1 This squib was let off by Mr. Gladstone in one of his
electioneering speeches.

flbr. (Blabstone's IRetirement 303
Let Disraeli ventilate his shams,
And gull his dupes with hollow epigrams,
Gibe at all candour, act his studied part,
And mock his friends and foes with equal art.
Let Gladstone sentence upon sentence string,
Pile words on words, on periods periods fling,
And, highest skill which human power can reach,
Convey no meaning in a three hours' speech."
Mr. Gladstone, following the precedent set
by Mr. Disraeli, resigned office before the new
Parliament assembled. At the same time Mr.
Gladstone had sent a letter to Lord Granville,
in which, foreshadowing his coming first retire
ment from political life, he wrote :
" I should be desirous, shortly before the com
mencement of the session of 1875, to consider
whether there would be advantage in my placing
my services for a time at the disposal of the
Liberal party, or whether I should then claim
exemption from the duties I have hitherto
discharged." That resignation soon took effect, as in the
following year he wrote to Lord Granville again,
making the formal announcement :
" The time has, I think, arrived when I ought
to revert to the subject of the letter which I
addressed to you on March 12. Before deter
mining whether I should offer to assume a charge
which might extend over a length of time, I have
reviewed, with all the care in my power, a
number of considerations, both public and private,

304 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
of which a portion, and these not by any means
insignificant, were not in existence at the date of
that letter. The result has been that I see no
public advantage in my continuing to act as the
leader of the Liberal party ; and that, at the age
of sixty - five, and after forty - two years of a
laborious public life, I think myself entitled to
retire on the present opportunity. This retire
ment is dictated to me by my personal views as
to the best method of spending the closing years
of my life. I need hardly say that my conduct
in Parliament will continue to be governed by
the principles on which I have heretofore acted ;
and, whatever arrangements may be made for
the treatment of general business, and for the
advantage or convenience of the Liberal party,
they will have my cordial support. I should,
perhaps, add that I am at present, and mean for
a short time to be, engaged on a special matter,
which occupies me closely."
The " special matter " alluded to was theological
controversy, afterwards the subject of a pamphlet.
As every one knows, Lord Hartington was
elected to succeed Mr. Gladstone in the Liberal
leadership. The election of 1874, which sent Mr. Glad
stone into retirement and brought Mr. Disraeli
to power, was unexpectedly sprung upon the
country, and the circumstances caused a great
deal of inconvenience and criticism. Mr. P. W.

Cartoon of Lord Rosebery from "Vanity Fair," June 3, 1876.

Zhe Election Crg 305
Clayden,1 who of course looked at matters from
the Liberal journalistic standpoint, thus summed
up the situation :
" The issue placed before the country by Mr.
Gladstone was never definitely taken up. The
abolition of the income-tax failed as a cry
probably because the prosperity of the country
was so great that the mass of the people were
indifferent to questions of taxation. Mr. Gladstone's
colleagues took up his financial scheme, but it
was evident that they did not hope to win by its
means. Mr. Forster in his address referred to
that of Mr. Gladstone to explain the reasons
for the dissolution, and based his claim for re
election solely on the course of his own political
life. Mr. Cardwell named as the first thing the
new Parliament would have to do, the decision
by whom the distribution of the surplus should
be made ; and Lord Hartington expressed doubts
about the extension of the franchise to the agri
cultural labourers, and said that the new Parliament
would have to deal with the great questions of
taxation. Mr. Lowe was more combative. He
boasted that the Government had ' been able to
carry the country through a European war without
offending either party, without compromising the
dignity of England, and without any injury to
her allies. Had Government,' he continued,
1 " England Under Lord Beaconsfield." By P. W. Clayden.
T. Fisher Unwin.
VOL. I. 20

306 xorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
'been in other and "more energetic" hands, we
might have found ourselves carrying on active
hostilities against France, in order to prevent
the possibility of a French invasion of the Saxon
provinces of Prussia.' Sir Stafford Northcote in
his address followed Mr. Disraeli's example. He
told the public that it was ' vain to discuss schemes
of which the attractive portion only is presented
to our view.' He denied ' that there was any
reaction from that general spirit of progress
which had animated the people of this country
under different Administrations for the last half-
century, though there are many symptoms of a
reaction from the excessive confidence which has
been accorded to a particular school arrogating to
itself the title of Liberal, and of uneasiness at the
language held and the programme announced by
some of its more advanced disciples.' He wished
all great matters of legislation ' to be dealt with
in a liberal but conservative spirit.' This was
perhaps the truest approach made in any of the
election addresses to the actual condition of the
public mind. Mr. Goschen, however, in a speech
he delivered during the election in the City of
London, summed up the feeling of the middle
classes in a single happy phrase. ' It is said
that the country is weary of the Government.
If it is weary, it is the weariness of fastidious
prosperity, and not the passionate anger of a
poorer or less happy people.'

a "Iburrieb Contest 307
" The state of unreadiness which these election
addresses revealed in the leaders on both sides
soon became evident in the constituencies. Every
body was angry with Mr. Gladstone for springing
the dissolution so suddenly on the country. Mr.
Disraeli told the electors of Buckinghamshire that
it was ' essentially un-English.' Many members of
Parliament were abroad, and had to hurry home
to look after their seats ; election managers were
not ready with their canvassing-lists ; the Liberal
Committees had not looked out for candidates ;
everybody was taken by surprise, and everywhere
' there was mounting in hot haste,' as at Brussels
on the eve of Waterloo. In this confusion there
was no chance of adjusting differences, healing
divisions, or creating organisation. The opponents
of the Government were united enough on the
one point of opposition to it ; but nothing what
ever was done to rally its friends. Indeed, some
of the alienated sections of the Liberal party
thought that the financial scheme had been put
in the front for the purpose of driving into the
background the issue in which they were interested.
The London Nonconformist Committee, which had
played a considerable part in the discussion on
the Education Act, expressed regret and surprise
that the Prime Minister had almost entirely
ignored questions affecting religious equality, and
advised Nonconformists resolutely to assert their
views, ' to the disregard of mere party ties.' The

308 lorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
Nottingham Nonconformists resolved not to vote
for any candidate who did not pledge himself to
Universal School Boards, one Board School in
each school district, and the unconditional repeal
of the twenty-fifth clause. In many of the towns
and in the rural districts the Dissenters held similar
language. Their coolness to the Government had
been a main feature of the political situation for
three or four years. At a great Conference at
Manchester in 1872 energetic speeches had been
made and strong resolutions passed expressive of
want of confidence in its educational policy. An
active Nonconformist committee, with its head
quarters at Birmingham, had carried on a vigorous
agitation against this part of the Ministerial policy,
and the breach between the Government and this
large, active, and most important section of its
supporters was never healed.
"This agitation damaged the Government in
two ways. Among the active members of the
Liberal party in every constituency there are good
Churchmen as well as active Dissenters ; supporters
of voluntary schools as well as advocates of school
boards ; clergymen who think they ought to teach
their religious views to the children in the national
schools, as well as men who regard religion as
a purely private concern with which no public
institution should be mixed up.
" The elections began with a striking success.
The first day of the borough elections was

/Ihr. Disraeli's Cabinet

3°9

Friday, January 30 ; and on that day Mr. Bright,
Mr. Muntz, and Mr. Dixon were returned for
Birmingham unopposed. On the next day (the
31st) the Liberal losses began."
For the rest, the Conservative candidates swept
the field, and Mr. Disraeli found himself at the
head of a splendid majority, and made the notable
boast that he had discovered the Conservative
working man, congratulating Stafford and Morpeth
on having returned actual working men to
represent them in Parliament.
Mr. Disraeli's Cabinet was made up as
follows :

First Lord of the Treasury
Lord Chancellor.
Lord President of the Council
Lord Privy Seal
Foreign Secretary
Secretary for India
Colonial Secretary
Secretary for War
Home Secretary
First Lord of the Admiralty
Chancellor of the Exchequer
Postmaster-General .

Mr. Disraeli.
Lord Cairns.
The Duke of Richmond.
Lord Malmesbury.
Lord Derby.
Lord Salisbury.
Lord Carnarvon.
Mr. Gathorne Hardy.
Mr. R. A. Cross.
Mr. G. Ward Hunt.
Sir Stafford Northcote.
Lord John Manners.

It was in this Parliament that the Eastern
Question — the bugbear of English politicians ever
since, and one in regard to which Lord Rose
bery was destined to be particularly concerned at
important epochs in his career — came into being.

310 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speeches
According to Mr. Gladstone, it was in 1875, in
the summer, that the question arose. Disturbances
commenced in Bosnia and Herzegovina. By a note
—the Andrassy note — the Powers, in the winter
of 1875-6, proposed concerted action, with the
object of compelling the Sultan to carry out
reforms which he had promised to bring about.
Nothing came of that. The Berlin memorandum
of 1876 was the next step; but this found no
favour with Mr. Disraeli, and was rejected by
the English Government. In the same year the
Bulgarian agitation arose, due to letters published
in The Daily News describing atrocious cruelties
which had been committed, reports which were
for long denied, but the accuracy of which was
proved up to the hilt and universally admitted.
In 1877 came the war between Russia and
Turkey ; and thenceforward the Eastern Question,
above all others, occupied public attention.
Lord Rosebery had, in the years to which the
preceding narration relates, been steadily coming
to the front as a Liberal lord whose position and
influence could not be ignored. He frequently
gave evidence of the keen interest which he took
in foreign questions, and in the country he was
beginning to be recognised as a man of ability
who had to be reckoned largely in the political
future of the country. On April 19, 1877, Lord
Stratheden and Campbell had drawn attention to
recent circumstances of the Eastern Question,

interest in foreign Questions 3"
particularly in connection with the Treaty of 1856.
His speech elicited from Lord Rosebery the remark
that he doubted whether, if a general election were
at hand, any one would get returned who expressed
himself willing to fight for the Turkish Govern
ment. Earlier, on February 22 of that year, Lord
Rosebery had challenged the Prime Minister with
reference to what appeared to be an inaccurate
statement on the part of the latter as to the actual
date of the commencement of the Bulgarian atroci
ties. Lord Beaconsfield replied in an amicable
vein, obviously recognising that the young Earl
was a man whose words were, even at that time,
considered by the country to have considerable
weight. In May of 1877 Lord Rosebery was again
pressing regarding Eastern questions, but on the
15th of that month he went so far as to ask
whether, in the opinion of Her Majesty's Govern
ment, the time had not arrived for entering
into an amicable arrangement with France and
Austria by which this country might be released
from the engagements of the Tripartite Treaty of
April 15, 1856. He on that occasion also said that
he did not believe that any Government in this
country could induce us to engage in war in support
of the Ottoman Empire. Lord Derby, as Foreign
Secretary, replied on behalf of the Government.
He said he had no complaint to make either of
the question or of the manner in which it had

312 xorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
been put. The question of fresh arrangements
might be considered at the end of the war, but
to act as Lord Rosebery then suggested would,
he thought, be injudicious and impolitic.
When the year 1878 opened, the Russian
troops were at the gates of Constantinople.
Plevna had fallen in the previous December.
On January 8 the Porte opened negotiations with
Russia ; on the 10th the Shipka Pass was forced
and a Turkish army made prisoner ; on the 23rd
the British fleet was ordered to the Dardanelles
" to accelerate peace " and to look after British
interests. On the 28th the fleet entered the
Dardanelles ; and on the same day, receiving fresh
instructions, retired to Besika Bay. These pro
ceedings led to the withdrawal of Lord Carnarvon
from the Cabinet. Lord Derby resigned two
months later in consequence of a decision to call
out the Reserves. Parliament was assembled
early in order that the Chancellor of the Ex
chequer, Sir Stafford Northcote, might propose a
vote of credit of .£6,000,000 towards increasing
the armaments of the country. Mr. Gladstone
opposed this expenditure, declaring at Oxford that
it appeared to him to be the most indefensible
proposition that had ever, in his time, been
submitted to Parliament. Lord Beaconsfield,
replying to this and other speeches, at Knights-
bridge, described his rival as "a sophistical
rhetorician, inebriated with the exuberance of his

areatg of San Stefano 313
own verbosity, and gifted with an egotistical
imagination that can at all times command an inter
minable and inconsistent series of arguments to
malign his opponents and to glorify himself."
The treaty of San Stefano was signed on
March 3. Prolonged negotiations, regarding
which the country was not taken into the con
fidence of the Government, followed, and the
policy of the Ministers was described by Lord
Rosebery as "obscurity enlivened by sarcasm."
Subsequently the fact transpired that the Cyprus
Convention had secretly been made, binding
Turkey to govern well, and England to protect,
enforce, and sanction that good government.
On July 26, 1878, Lord Rosebery, in the House
of Lords, called the attention of the House to a
memorandum purporting to have been signed by
the Marquis of Salisbury and Count Schouvaloff
on May 30. He took exception to the obscurity
which characterised the policy of the Government
on the Eastern Question. He passed on to refer
to the circumstances under which the agreement
was divulged in the Press a few days after it
was signed. " If," he proceeded, "this country was
to be left in total ignorance of such matters,
Parliament had better abdicate its functions and
act as a registration office for registering the
decrees of the Foreign Office." He did not con
tend that secret treaties were unknown, but he
believed that this was the first time that English

314 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
statesmen had gone to a congress with a view
to discussing great treaties and standing forth
on behalf of public law, and had bound them
selves in private at the same time to concede
the stipulations which they had denounced and
continued to denounce. He regretted that the
Government had not seen fit to trust Parliament
and the country. He expressed the deepest
sympathy with Greece.
The speech drew forth a lengthy reply from
Lord Salisbury (Foreign Secretary), who con
trived to combine a rebuke and a compliment
in a very happy manner. It may be worth
while to quote the passage in question :
" The noble Earl complains that it is not in
accordance with the traditions of English diplo
macy to have confidential communications with
foreign Powers. That statement shows the total
unacquaintance he has with the inside of a
Government office, and which, in the noble
Earl's case, will, I have no doubt, not last long."
Lord Salisbury evidently appreciated at that
time what the country fully recognised, that Lord
Rosebery was certain ere long to hold Ministerial
rank whenever the Liberals should return to
power. Early in August, 1878, Lord Beaconsfield and
Lord Salisbury came back from the Berlin Con
gress bearing in their hands the treaty which
was described as meaning " Peace with Honour,'

©n foreign (Questions 31s
Their policy and achievement were dealt with by
Lord Rosebery on October 18 of that year, at
a Liberal demonstration at Aberdeen. In the
course of a long address he delivered himself
as follows :
" But I have said that the policy that we
have to deal with is the foreign policy of Her
Majesty's Government. Now, the first question
I want to ask is this : Has there ever been a
foreign policy of Her Majesty's Government? We
are told, and they tell it pathetically occasionally,
that the Government had a foreign policy, but
that it was stamped out by Mr. Gladstone just
when it was beginning to work ; and this Govern
ment, with an enormous majority in both Houses,
with an enthusiastic country devoted to it, as we
are told, tells us that its foreign policy was
ruined by one man, and that man the member
of an insignificant minority in the Commons'
House of Parliament. Sir, we in this hall all
know and love Mr. Gladstone. You in Aber
deenshire, his native county, have special cause
to have affection for him ; but is it not esti
mating his power rather too highly to say that
he was able to suppress altogether the policy
of this powerful Government when he is only a
member of a party which is in a small minority,
and when he is not even the nominal head of
that party? Well, I am not one of those who
will declare that the Government have been

316 Xorb "IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
deliberately reckless and wanton in pursuing this
policy ; but I believe' that their policy, or want
of policy, has landed us very much where
recklessness and wantonness would have landed
us. Sir, it seems to me that the policy of
Her Majesty's Government is a drifting policy,
because we in Parliament have heard repeatedly
that the groundwork of their policy was the in
dependence and integrity of the Ottoman Empire.
"Where is the independence and integrity of
the Ottoman Empire? We often heard that the
basis of their operations was the Treaty of 1856.
Where is the Treaty of 1856? If a new Hogarth
were to arise and paint a new series of ' The
Rake's Progress,' he might make Her Majesty's
Government figure as the hero succeeding to a vast
inheritance, which they frittered away, bragging
with loud-sounding phrases of the independence
and integrity of the Ottoman Empire, then pro
ceeding to forbid Russia from concluding a treaty
with the Porte, and then doing the same thing,
and finally drifting perfectly eagerly into a share
of the spoils of the Ottoman Empire. Now I
should like to discuss for a few moments what
this 'Peace with Honour' really is. I believe
there have been few chances of a great European
settlement comparable to that afforded by the
Congress at Berlin. I believe that the Congress
at Vienna and the Congress at Paris afforded no
such opportunities. We had the two belligerents

Hbe Congress of Berlin 317
each exhausted by a long and harassing war ;
we had France anxious to refrain from any
thing that might disturb the existing state of
things ; we had Germany a good deal troubled
with her relations to the Pope and still more
troubled with her relations to Socialism. I think
there never was a more favourable opportunity for
a Government ambitious of an Imperial foreign
policy for really carrying out a very noble
foreign policy.
"Well, the result of it has been that the Congress
of Berlin appears to have afforded no settlement
at all. What have the Government done ? They
have partitioned Turkey, they have secured a
doubtful fragment of the spoil for themselves,
they have abandoned Greece, they have incurred
responsibilities of a vast and unknown kind which
no British Government had a right to incur
without consulting the British Parliament or the
British people. Sir, as to the partitioning of the
Turkish Empire, that is a result which some of
us may not be particularly inclined to regret. But
it is strange to find a Government that made the
integrity and independence of the Ottoman Empire
their watchword coming back triumphantly from
the Congress where that empire was partitioned
among five or six Powers. It has been said by
the adherents of the Government that there was
no partition of the Turkish Empire. It was said
that you might just as well say that Great Britain

318 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
underwent partition when she lost her American
provinces. Sir, I have yet to learn that there was
ever a moment when the great Powers of Europe
met round a table and parcelled out the provinces
of Great Britain. That is what has happened to
the Turkish Empire. At Berlin, as I said before,
the Powers meted out the territory of Turkey, or
what portions of it were desired, to four or five
Powers that asked for portions of it. But another
Power was engaged behind the back of the pleni
potentiaries in securing a portion for itself. That
Power, gentlemen, I blush to say, was Great
Britain. We rendered ourselves by that act
participes criminis — sharers of the spoil and of the
plunder of our ancient ally. We took away from
ourselves the right to criticise certain Powers who
were not very particular as to how they obtained
territory for themselves. . . .
" I venture to say that no defeat in battle
could have been so prejudicial to our prestige on
the Continent as the acquisition of the island of
Cyprus in the way we got it. We have taken
up the position, which we never held before, of
a Power that is not particular as regards the
method or the means by which it acquires terri
tory for itself. I honestly think that, believing
in our elevated integrity of purpose and in the
disinterestedness of the policy we were accustomed
to pursue, we were regarded as the police of
Europe. I ask you to judge how, after the

a ©olicg analgseb 319
transactions of the last few months, we can keep
up our moral reputation on the Continent. We
have flaunted the treaty of 1856 in the face of
other Powers as our banner and our motto, and
when it came to affect ourselves we treated it as
so much waste paper. Well, we have gained an
unhealthy island, of which we have had enough ;
but we have lost in exchange that of which we
cannot have too much, the sympathy and respect
of surrounding nations. . . .
" Well, though the acquisition of Cyprus is a
very doubtful acquisition both in its method and
results, it is a flea-bite compared to that larger
transaction of which it is part — I mean the
Convention by which, in exchange for reforms
promised by the Porte, we undertake the defence
of the Porte's Asiatic dominions. Sir, you will
remember that this news fell on the nation like
a thunderbolt. It was announced to us without
further explanation, and no further explanation
has been given. But what we gather from it is
this, that, in exchange for certain reforms to be
executed in Asia Minor, we promised to maintain
the frontiers of Asia Minor against Russia or
against any other nation. What do these reforms
mean ? We have heard absolutely nothing of
these reforms from the moment after the Con
vention was signed, and all that the Government
papers are able to telegraph from Constantinople
is that Sir Austen Layard has had an interview

320 xorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
with the Sultan, or Sir Austen Layard has had
dinner with the Sultan. Turkish reforms have
been promised with every sanctity of pledge a
score of times before. English ambassadors have
called on the Sultan countless times, but no
reforms have ever taken place. We arrive at
this dilemma : either the Turkish reforms are to
be undertaken by the Turks, in which case we
know from experience that there will be no
reforms at all ; or they will be undertaken by
Great Britain, by British officers, in which case
it will mean the practical annexation of Asia
Minor to this country. Well, at this moment it
appears to suit the purpose of the Government
to treat Turkey as if she were able to undertake
these reforms.
" You will have observed all through these
negotiations that we actually treat Turkey as a
great Power. Sir, there never was so deliberate
a mistake as that. Turkey is not a great Power;
she is an impotence. We talk of her as a great
Power when we find it convenient, and we treat
her as a great impotence when we find it con
venient. We are told that this great impotence,
as I venture to call it, is going to give a
large measure of reform in Asia Minor, and, as
Mr. Cross has said, we have conferred a great
benefit on the Ottoman Empire. That is not
the point we have a doubt about. The question
is whether the taxpayers of this country wish

©ur IResponsibilities abroab 321
to confer that benefit at great risk upon the
Ottoman Empire. . . .
"What I have to ask this great meeting is:
Are you prepared to undertake the responsibility
of defending the dominions of the Ottoman
Empire, and to undertake the civil reform of
that large country ? Have we not responsibility
enough as it is ? We have Canada, which, I
believe, has been coveted by others ; we have
Australia ; we have a great part of Africa ; we
have the whole of India. Are these not enough
for this island to undertake ? Are you prepared
beyond that to undertake the government of an
entire dominion besides ? Are you, as taxpayers,
to pay your money for this object ? Are you
as men prepared to shed your blood for the
maintenance of the Asiatic dominions of the
Porte ? Are you prepared, without consultation,
without having your opinion even asked, to under
take these enormous responsibilities, and this
enormous tax on the treasure and the blood of
this country ? . . . We are told it is not a matter
of choice ; that it is necessary for the preservation
of India. Sir, I believe it is no more necessary
for the preservation of India than it is necessary
that we should damage Spain in order that we
should keep Gibraltar. But I do say this, that
we may pay too great a price even for the
preservation of India."
During the closing period of Mr. Disraeli's
vol. 1. 21

322 lorb IRoseberg: 1bis life anb Speecbes
government the wars in Afghanistan and Zululand
occupied the attention of Parliament and the
country. Towards the end of 1879, the thoughts
of every one were turning to the coming general
election. The Opposition had long been de
manding it. It was certain that the contest at
the polls must take place in 1880. It came in the
spring of that year, and practically commenced
with Mr. Gladstone's first Midlothian campaign in
November, 1879, which saw Mr. Gladstone return
to the leadership and start the electoral fight in
which Lord Rosebery took a specially interesting
part.

CHAPTER XII
THE FIRST MIDLOTHIAN CAMPAIGN — PREPARING FOR MR. GLADSTONE
— SPEECH AT HAWICK — " IMPERIUM ET LIBERTAS " — THE DUTY
OF VOTERS — LORD ROSEBERY'S ILLNESS — THE SECOND MIDLOTHIAN
CAMPAIGN — ROSEBERY VERSUS BUCCLEUCH — "WATCHWORDS OF
LIBERAL POLICY" — "PEACE AND FREEDOM THROUGHOUT THE
WORLD" — THE LIBERAL VICTORY — "THE UNCROWNED KING OF
SCOTLAND "
IN the middle of November, 1879, Mr. Gladstone
commenced his first Midlothian campaign,
proceeding northwards and stopping en route at
numerous places where he addressed large public
gatherings. Lord and Lady Rosebery had gone
to Dalmeny at the end of October to prepare
for Mr. Gladstone's reception ; and for a con
siderable period before Lord Rosebery had been
carefully organising the Liberals of the Scottish
kingdom in the hope, which was to be realised,
that there would be at the election a great victory
for his party in the country which was his home.
Mr. Gladstone had resolved to leave his Greenwich
constituency, and he had refused several invitations
to stand for other constituencies, because he had
resolved to make the attack, which Lord Rosebery
was especially anxious he should do, upon the
323

324 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speeches
metropolitan county of Scotland, where the Buc-
cleuch influence was believed to be overwhelming.
There was no doubt that the bold attack of
Mr. Gladstone, in his seventieth year, upon this
stronghold, appealed with special force to the
chivalric Scottish character, and had no little to
do with the wild enthusiasm which was displayed.
Yet this journey in the autumn of 1879 was only
a preliminary success. The enthusiasm was to be
still greater a few months afterwards, when the
country was in the throes of the actual electoral
fight. Lord Rosebery having, during the first weeks of
November, carefully prepared the way for his chief,
was called upon to address a meeting of Liberals
on his own account at Hawick on November 15.
His speech was a vigorous and unsparing onslaught
upon the Ministry.
" There is no doubt," he said, " that the part
of a recent speech of the Prime Minister to which
we are meant to give attention is the watchword,
Imperium et Libertas. That is a watchword which
ought not to be rashly arrogated to any political
party. I will not discuss at any length whether
our Empire is liberty, but I maintain that the
carrying out of a very dangerous and wild policy,
which has involved a large expenditure and a large
loss of life, without consulting the country in any
way whatever, is substantially an infringement of
our liberties. If the country's taxes are spent,

tldorbs about Empire 32s
and the blood of its citizens shed, without the
people being consulted, I presume that they are
not in a state of absolute freedom. But it is
about the word 'Empire' that I always feel a
gloomy foreboding. Her Majesty's Government
use it as the last and sacred standard, and I confess
I am still trembling with foreboding when I think
of the way in which the Prime Minister used it
the other day. In the mouths of Her Majesty's
Ministers, ' Empire ' is not a word of good omen.
It used to be the boast of our greatest statesmen
that the English were proud to extend to others
those blessings they enjoyed themselves, and it
is the most regrettable part of the policy of Her
Majesty's Government that they have broken that
tradition and keep liberty as a luxury for home
consumption." The occasion of the Hawick meeting was the
affiliation of the East and North of Scotland
Liberal Association. Under any circumstances a
population so Liberal as that of Hawick might
have been expected to make much of such an
event ; but it need hardly be said, as The Scots
man remarked, " that the presence of the popular
nobleman who presides over the parent society
gave additional dclat to the public recognition of
a most promising daughter."
At a luncheon given at the Tower Hotel Lord
Rosebery, in responding to the toast of his
health, took occasion to refer to the usefulness of

326 Xorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
Liberal clubs. They were of use " not merely
in districts where contests existed, but as a means
of preparing for eventualities, not only in the place
itself but in the neighbourhood." The principal
speech of the day was delivered at a meeting
held later in the Corn Exchange. There Lord
Rosebery spoke also of the usefulness of Liberal
associations :
" Gentlemen, we must not disregard the im
portance of Liberal associations. You know well
that wherever there is a contest going on there
Conservative associations are springing up like
mushrooms, and wherever those Conservative
associations are springing up, whether they be
wanted or not, there is always some gentleman
or other in the midst of them — generally of the
legal persuasion — to exhort them, in order that
the pestilence of Liberalism may be stayed. If
these associations are necessary to preserve the
old wooden figure-head of Toryism, how much
more necessary are they to preserve the jarring
unities of the Liberal party ! And that to me is
the importance of these associations. We do not
require them to keep alive the sacred flame of
Liberalism, because although that may flicker
yet it never dies. Yet I think we do require
them in order that Liberals may learn by contact
with Liberals to rub off some of their separate
prejudices, and to know, by contact with their
fellow-men, how necessary it is to sacrifice a part

XTbe 2>utg of Doters 327
in order that one may obtain the main point,
and how difficult it is while securing a principle
to carry that principle to its logical and general
conclusion. "Now I should like to say one word — and I
think you will allow me, because I say it from pure
devotion to the party, and in a spirit of good-
humour — as to some of our best friends who feel
a difficulty in voting for Liberal candidates if
these Liberal candidates do not vote for one
particular question which they have very much at
heart. I have very many of those friends myself.
I know their high, their holy feelings in regard
to those questions, but I confess I am sometimes
surprised when they feel it necessary to take the
course that they do in regard to the election of
members of Parliament. Some of them feel it
to be their duty to abstain from voting altogether.
That seems to me to be carrying rather too far
the principle of total abstinence. But there are
others who go further, and who say, ' If our Liberal
candidate will not vote for our particular question
we shall be compelled, cordially as we detest
him, to vote for the Tory.' Now, that seems
to me an almost inconceivable proposition, that
because your Liberal candidate, with whom you
agree on every point but one, should decline, in
the honesty of his conviction, to follow your con
victions on that point, you should vote for the
Tory, who not only disagrees with you on that

328 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
point, but whom you consider mischievous and
misguided on every other point of politics. . .
The question of abstaining seems to me a very
serious one, because I think those who abstain
should consider this : are they justified, possessing
as they do the Parliamentary franchise, to keep
that talent hidden in a napkin, and not to ex
ercise it at all ? It seems to me doubtful if it is
not almost as great an evil as misusing the
franchise, to have the franchise and not to use
it at all."
Mr. Gladstone left Liverpool on November 24,
and there were enthusiastic demonstrations at
St. Helens, Wigan, Preston, and other railway
stations. At Carlisle, Hawick, Galashiels, and
elsewhere, addresses were presented and speeches
delivered. The arrival at Edinburgh was one of
the great scenes of the journey. On his arrival
at the Waverley Station his host, Lord Rosebery,
was awaiting him ready to drive him to Dalmeny
Park ; and Lord Rosebery, amid thunders of
applause, when the train had come to a standstill
at the platform, handed out of the saloon Mrs.
Gladstone, and then shook hands with Mr. Glad
stone and other gentlemen. The passage through
the streets, in an open carriage with Lord
Rosebery, was like that of a monarch, or a con
quering hero. The avenues leading to Dalmeny
were lined with torch-bearers, and bonfires were
lighted in the district at night. On the following

a ©reat Campaign 329
night Mr. Gladstone delivered a speech at the
Edinburgh Music Hall, and in the course of the
next fortnight he spoke nearly a dozen times —
often at railway stations. He was presented
with addresses by the corporations of Glasgow
and Edinburgh. At several of the meetings
Lord Rosebery presided, but it was particularly
noticeable how careful he was to keep personally
in the background as much as possible.
It was during this stay of Mr. Gladstone with
him that the love for his great leader was
evidenced. Some who were able to see a little
of the home life at Dalmeny at the time have
declared that Lord and Lady Rosebery cared for
Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone as tenderly and devotedly
as if they had been their dearest relatives. One
of the most brilliant events of this first Midlothian
campaign was a reception given by Lord Rosebery,
which was attended by many of the leading
Liberals from many parts of Scotland. Those who
attended were able to inspect the innumerable
gifts with which Mr. Gladstone had been presented
during his visit to Scotland. At a great meeting
in the Corn Exchange Lord Rosebery, in intro
ducing Mr. Gladstone to the audience, spoke of
" that silvery voice which has enchanted Scotland
and enchained the world. From his home in
Wales to the metropolis of Scotland there has
been no village too small to afford a crowd to
greet him, no cottager so humble that he could

330 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
not find a light to put in his window as he passed.
Mothers have brought their babes to lisp a
welcome, old men have crept forth from their
homes to see him before they died." Everywhere,
too, there was evidenced not only the love of the
people for Mr. Gladstone, but the deep affection
which was extended to Lord Rosebery, whose
popularity was such that he was spoken of in
the newspapers at the time as the most popular
man in Scotland. In December of this year,
when Mr. Gladstone went to the Glasgow
University, that institution made Lord Rosebery
an LL.D.
During the winter of 1879-80 several bye-
elections took place, the most notable being at
Southwark, where Mr. (now Sir) Edward Clarke
secured a Conservative victory, which entirely
misled Lord Beaconsfield as to the feelings of
the electors, and there is no doubt precipitated
the general election. The Parliamentary session
was opened by the Queen in person on the 5th
of February. In her speech the Queen spoke
hopefully of "the maintenance of European peace
on the principles laid down in the Treaty of
Berlin," and of the Convention with Turkey for
the suppression of the Slave Trade. She also
told of the disaster at Cabul, and the rapid
march of the avenging army ; and gave a hopeful
account of the state of things in South Africa. In
the domestic paragraphs of her speech the Queen

tCbe JEvc of Election 331
mentioned the Commission on Agricultural De
pression, the distress in Ireland, and the measures
of relief, some of which had already been taken,
and for which an Act of Indemnity was required.
There was a very small list of Bills to be proposed,
none of them of first importance. It was a small
programme, and nobody believed that the Session
would be a long one. But no hint of a coming
dissolution fell from the Ministers. They began
bringing in their Bills, and laying out the work
of the year with as much energy and seriousness
as though the seventh session of the Parliament
was going to be carried through. The country,
and Parliament too, however, scarcely regarded
the proceedings with patience, for all thoughts
were turned on the general election, which
could not be for long delayed. It was, how
ever, thought most likely that the contest would
be postponed till the autumn, and when the
announcement came, on March 8, that Parlia
ment would be dissolved as soon as possible
after the Budget had been brought in, a good
deal of surprise was felt. The announcement was
made in the House of Commons by Sir Stafford
Northcote, neither Mr. Gladstone nor Lord
Hartington being in the House at the time. On
the next morning the newspapers published the
following letter from the Prime Minister to the
Duke of Marlborough, then Lord Lieutenant of
Ireland :

332 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
" 10, Downing Street, March 8, 1880.
" My Lord Duke, —
"The measures respecting the state of
Ireland, which Her Majesty's Government so
anxiously considered with your Excellency, and
in which they were much aided by your advice
and authority, are now about to be submitted for
the Royal assent, and it is at length in the power
of the Ministers to advise the Queen to recur to
the sense of her people. The arts of agitators,
which represented that England, instead of being
the generous and sympathising friend, was in
different to the dangers and the sufferings of
Ireland, have been defeated by the measures, at
once liberal and prudent, which Parliament has
almost unanimously sanctioned.
" During the six years of the present Administra
tion the improvement of Ireland, and the content
of our fellow-countrymen in that island, have
much occupied the care of the Ministry, and they
may remember with satisfaction that in this period
they have solved one of the most difficult problems
connected with its government and people, by
establishing a system of public education open to
all classes and all creeds.
" Nevertheless a danger, in its ultimate results
scarcely less disastrous than pestilence and famine,
and which now engages your Excellency's anxious
attention, distracts that country. A portion of its
population is attempting to sever the constitutional

lorb Beaconsffelb's abbress 333
tie which unites it to Great Britain in that bond
which has favoured the power and prosperity of
both. "It is hoped that all men of light and leading
will resist this destructive doctrine. The strength
of this nation depends on the unity of feeling which
should pervade the United Kingdom and its wide
spread dependencies. The first duty of an English
Minister should be to consolidate that co-operation
which renders irresistible a community educated, as
our own, in an equal love of liberty and law.
" And yet there are some who challenge the
expediency of the Imperial character of this realm.
Having attempted, and failed, to enfeeble our
Colonies by their policy of decomposition, they may
perhaps now recognise in the disintegration of the
United Kingdom a mode which will not only
accomplish but precipitate their purpose.
" The immediate dissolution of Parliament will
afford an opportunity to the nation to decide upon
a course which will materially influence its future
fortunes and shape its destiny.
" Rarely in this century has there been an
occasion more critical. The power of England
and the peace of Europe will largely depend on the
verdict of the country. Her Majesty's present
Ministers have hitherto been enabled to secure
that peace, so necessary to the welfare of all
civilised countries, and so peculiarly the interest
of our own. But this ineffable blessing cannot be

334 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
obtained by the passive principle of non-inter
ference. Peace rests on the presence, not to say
the ascendancy, of England in the Councils of
Europe. Even at this moment the doubt, sup
posed to be inseparable from popular election, if
it does not diminish, certainly arrests her influence,
and is a main reason for not delaying an appeal
to the national voice. Whatever may be its
consequences to Her Majesty's present advisers,
may it return to Westminster a Parliament not
unworthy of the power of England, and resolved
to maintain it.
" I have the honour to be, my Lord Duke,
" Your faithful servant,
" Beaconsfield."
Three days after the publication of this letter
Mr. Gladstone and Lord Hartington issued their
election addresses. Mr. Gladstone " rejoiced at
the dissolution," but condemned the sudden inter
ruption of the session "as a striking departure
from established custom." The address added : —
"In the electioneering address which the Prime
Minister has issued, an attempt is made to work
upon your fears by dark allusions to the repeal
of the Union and the abandonment of the
Colonies. "Those who endangered the Union with Ireland
were the party that maintained there an alien
Church, an unjust land law, and franchises inferior

/ibr. ©labstone's "iReplg 33s
to our own ; and the. true supporters of the
Union are those who firmly uphold the supreme
authority of Parliament, but exercise that authority
to bind the three nations by the indissoluble tie
of liberal and equal laws.
" As to the Colonies, Liberal administrations set
free there trade with all the world, gave them
popular and responsible government, undertook to
defend Canada with the whole strength of the
Empire, and organised the great scheme for
uniting the several settlements of British North
America into one Dominion ; to which, when we
quitted office in 1866, it only remained for our
successors to ask the ready assent of Parliament.
It is by these measures that the Colonies have
been bound in affection to the Empire, and the
authors of them can afford to smile at baseless
insinuations. "The true purpose of these terrifying insinua
tions is to hide from view the acts of the Ministry
and their effect upon the character and condition
of the country. To these I will now begin to
draw your attention. With threescore years and
ten upon my head, I feel the irksomeness of the
task ; but in such a crisis no man should shrink
from calls which his duty may make and his
strength allow.
" At home the Ministers have neglected legis
lation ; aggravated the public distress by continual
shocks to confidence ; augmented the public

336 OLorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
expenditure and taxation for purposes not merely
unnecessary but mischievous ; and plunged the
finances, which were handed over to them in a
state of singular prosperity, into a series of deficits
unexampled in modern times.
" Abroad they have strained, if they have not
endangered the prerogative by gross misuse, have
weakened the Empire by needless wars, unprofit
able extensions, and unwise engagements ; and
have dishonoured it in the eyes of Europe by
filching the Island of Cyprus from the Porte
under a treaty clandestinely concluded in violation
of the Treaty of Paris, which formed part of the
international law of Christendom.
"If we turn from considerations of principle to
material results, they have aggrandised Russia,
lured Turkey on to her dismemberment, if not
to her ruin, replaced the Christian population of
Macedonia under a debasing yoke, and loaded
India with the costs and dangers of a prolonged
and unjustifiable war ; while they have at the
same time augmented her taxation and curtailed
her liberties.
" As to the domestic legislation of the future,
it is in the election address of the Prime
Minister a perfect blank. No prospect is opened
to us of effectual alteration in the Land Laws,
of better security for occupiers, of reform and
extension of local government throughout the
three kingdoms, of a more equal distribution of

Britisb influence abroab 337
political franchises, or of progress in questions
deeply affecting our social and moral condition.
It seems, then, that, as in the past so in the
future, you will look with more confidence to the
Liberal party for the work of domestic improve
ment. "In the mouth of the present Ministry the
claim is to ascendancy in the Councils of
Europe. . . . There is indeed an ascendancy in
European Councils to which Great Britain might
reasonably aspire, by steadily sustaining the
character of a Power, no less just than strong,
attached to liberty and law, jealous of peace, and
therefore opposed to intrigue and aggrandisement,
from whatever quarter they may come ; jealous of
honour, and therefore averse to the clandestine
engagements which have marked our two latest
years. To attain a moral and unenvied ascend
ancy such as this is indeed a noble object for
any Minister or any Empire."
The second Midlothian campaign commenced
on March 16, and Mr. Gladstone was again,
this time for nearly three weeks, the guest of
Lord and Lady Rosebery at Dalmeny. In the
meantime there had been a very trying period
for the Earl and Countess. Following upon the
first Midlothian campaign they had, just after
Christmas, visited Italy for a few weeks. Almost
immediately after their return, and while they
were at the town house in Piccadilly which they
vol. 1. 22

338 lorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
then leased, the Earl was attacked with scarlet
fever. His condition was for a time most serious,
and it was feared at one time that he would
not recover. The skill of the doctors, and
especially the nursing of his wife, who was with
him all the time, pulled him through. The
Countess permitted no one to interfere with her
wifely right to take every risk for the husband
to whom she was devoted. Lord Rosebery
recovered, and rose from his bed of sickness to
take his part in the contest which Mr. Gladstone
fought, and which Lord Rosebery had organised
against the Conservative influence — the influence
practically of the name and family of Buccleuch.
The fight at Midlothian was Gladstone against
Dalkeith, as the representative of Lord Beacons-
field's policy. But it was more than that. It
was essentially a contest between the Primroses
and the lords of Buccleuch.
It is twenty years ago, but there are many still
alive who witnessed the remarkable scenes which
characterised the beginning of this second campaign
of Mr. Gladstone. Four days before he left
King's Cross, sent away with the cheers of
thousands of admirers ringing in his ears, he had
addressed a meeting in Marylebone, and the
feelings which were aroused in many breasts
were well described in a word-picture of the
scene given by Mr. W. L. Watson in an article
in The Outlook.

"Electors of /Ibarrilbone " 339
" The occasion was not to be forgotten by
any one who had fought his way into the hall.
First came the rush and the crush and the resist
less sweep onwards ; then an hour listening to
local nobodies.
" At last there was a cheer and a huge
commotion. By mysterious magic a lane was
formed, up which, craning my neck, I saw ad
vancing a pale-faced, slim figure, with the head
of age and a rapt intense gaze, struggling forward
to the platform, followed by a simply clothed
woman, who busied herself in warding off the
hands of enthusiasts eager to touch him, or pat
his back, or help him forward.
" That is Mrs. Gladstone, with the soft face,
high-coloured as a girl's, and tremulous mouth ;
intent on one thing only in this life — her husband.
They step up to the platform by a reporter's
stool. A dozen willing hands would aid him, but
it is hers which grasps his ankle to steady him,
lest in his eagerness he slip. He does not sit
down, but exchanges a few rapid words with the
chairman. She begs a seat immediately behind
him. Forth he stands and begins at once : ' Mr.
Chairman.' She pulls at his overcoat, and one
sleeve comes free. Impatiently he stops while
she tugs at the other sleeve, and the coat has
scarcely gone from him ere he is flourishing in
our faces the free hand : ' Mr. Chairman and
Fellow-electors of Marrilbone,' for so he called

340 lorb "IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
our parish, doubtlessly designedly. Never shall
I, an unenthusiastic non-party man, forget those
tones. Surrendering myself to the prevalent
sentiment, it seemed to me as if some one had
touched the stop of a mysterious organ that
searched us through and through. Two more
sentences, and we were fairly launched upon a
sea of passion, regardless of Mrs. Gladstone, who
sat behind placidly folding her husband's overcoat.
In that torrent of passion the petty politics of
the hour figured as huge first principles, and the
opinions of the people became as the edicts of
eternity. As it went on we became persuaded
that the Government, whose resignation was then
impending, were the most incompetent set of
reprobates that an angry Heaven had ever sent
to curse a country. It grew upon us as a marvel
why we had not seen this earlier. Why we had
lived under such diabolical ineptitude astounded
us with a sense of shame ; and ever and again
was rolled out our patent of nobility, ' Fellow-
electors of Marrilbone,' until we became enlarged,
quickened, glorified by our fraternity.
"Oh the graces of that speech! 'Gentlemen,
this has been a liquid, aqueous Government. You
remember what it came in upon ? ' ' Beer ! ' we
shouted, and the orator bowed with a gesture of
infinite smiling consent. ' And you see what it
is going out upon ? ' ' Water ! ' we yelled, re
membering Mr. Cross's Bill ; and again he bowed

a Scottish Welcome 341
in acquiescence, like a conjurer who acknowledges
the applause that greets the production from the
breast-pocket of one of the audience of the watch
previously fired from a blunderbuss. In next
day's newspaper this passage read : ' Gentlemen,
this has been a liquid Government ; it came in
on beer and will go out on water.' Gladstone
never said that : it is but a miserable paraphrase
of what was said — of what we said. All through
a speech of long tortuous sentences he endowed
us with a faculty of apprehension we did not
know we possessed. And then the peroration :
' You are shortly to pronounce your verdict, you
and the people of these isles ; and whatever that
verdict be, as I hope it will be the true one, I
trust it will be clear.' We leaped to our feet
and cheered ; decidedly we should make it clear.
' I trust it will be emphatic' We waved our
sticks and hats in emphasis. ' I trust it will be
decisive, and that it will ring ' (here, with a swing
of the arm clear round his neck, and a superb
uplifting of the whole frame, he sent his trumpet
voice into every cranny of the hall till it rang
again) ' from John o' Groats to the Land's End,'
and a frantic mass of humanity roared themselves
hoarse for a full two minutes. When I stood in
the free air outside once more, it seemed somewhat
unreasoning, all this ecstasy ; clearly I had been
Gladstonised ; and I voted for him at that election."
Mr. Gladstone's welcome in Scotland surpassed

342 xorb "IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
that which he had received in the previous
November. The labours of that election would
have been magnificent in the ablest of men
twenty or thirty years his junior. That he was
able at his threescore and ten years to accom
plish so much was undoubtedly due to no small
extent to the loving care of the Earl and
Countess of Rosebery. " The uncrowned King
of Scotland," as Lord Rosebery has often been
called, and his wife watched over Mr. and Mrs.
Gladstone with that almost filial love and devotion
which they always displayed to their venerable
friends. The Earl — unable, because a peer, to
take an active part in the election — had secured
1 20, George Street, Edinburgh, as a central home
for Mr. Gladstone during this period. Nothing
seemed to tire Mr. Gladstone at first. He per
formed feats of endurance and labour that no
statesman has ever, probably, equalled. But his
host and hostess insisted upon him taking a rest
after the first week of the campaign, and, at
Dalmeny, Mr. Gladstone cut down trees as he
was cutting down political opponents, and planted
new trees in the park surrounding his host's
beautiful home which were to develop in strength
as the political power and influence of the talented
young lord were in the years to come to grow.
Mr. Gladstone laid the stress of this election
upon foreign policy, and as Lord Rosebery was
subsequently to become Foreign Secretary, some

a ©labstone IDictum 343
remarks of Mr. Gladstone at this time may be
recalled. Characterising as a slander the allega
tion that the return to power of the Liberals
would mean putting an end to the engagements
abroad entered into by the Beaconsfield Govern
ment, he laid down this dictum on the subject
of the continuity of foreign policy :
" Gentlemen, a more baseless fiction never was
conceived in the brain of man, for I suppose it
was conceived in the brain — I do not know that
there is any other organ that is capable of it —
and never was imputed in words by his tongue
or by his faculty of speech. We have no power,
gentlemen, to relieve you from engagements of
honour and good faith entered into by the present
Government through a summary process. How
ever we may disapprove them, however we may
deplore them, however we have striven to point
out — not to you, for you have not had a fair
chance yet, but to that majority in the House
of Commons which has been perfectly deaf to
our arguments — however we may have striven to
point out to them the mischiefs and the dangers
of the course they were pursuing, we must take
the consequences ; the country must take the con
sequences. Prudence, care, diligence, may do
much in the course of time ; but whatever good
faith requires must be accepted and fulfilled."
He also dealt with the Manchester School and
the " Peace-at-any-Price " faction;

344 lorb "IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
"It is said that if the Liberals come into
power the Manchester School will rule the
destinies of the country. I will endeavour to tell
you a portion of the truth upon that subject.
What is called the Manchester School has never
ruled the foreign policy of this country — never
during a Conservative Government, and never
especially during a Liberal Government. Do not
let me be supposed to speak of what is called
the Manchester School, or sometimes the Peace
party, as if I were about to cast disrespect upon
them. Gentlemen, I respect them even in what
I think to be their great and serious error. I
think it is, I will venture to say, like many
errors in our mixed condition. It is not only a
respectable, it is even a noble error. Abhorring
all selfishness of policy, friendly to freedom in
every country of the earth, attached to the modes
of reason, and detesting the ways of force, this
Manchester School — this Peace party — has sprung
prematurely to the conclusion that wars may be
considered as having closed their melancholy and
miserable history, and that the affairs of the
world may henceforth be conducted by methods
more adapted to the dignity of man, more suited
both to his strength and to his weakness, less
likely to lead him out of the ways of duty, to
stimulate his evil passions, to make him guilty
before God of inflicting misery on his fellow-
creatures. But, gentlemen, no Government of

Uhe Mar for libertg 34s
this country could ever accede to the manage
ment and control of affairs without finding that
that dream of a Paradise upon earth was rudely
dispelled by the shock of experience. However
we may detest war — and you cannot detest it too
much — there is no war except one, the war for
liberty, that does not contain in it elements of
corruption, as well as of misery, that are de
plorable to recollect and to consider ; but, however
deplorable they may be, they are among the
necessities of our condition ; and there are times
when justice, when faith, when the welfare of
mankind, require a man not to shrink from the
responsibility of undertaking them."
Lord Rosebery, although debarred from the
full pleasures of the electoral fight, found an
opportunity in the course of the campaign to
refer to the question of foreign policy. On the
evening of March 29, 1880, while the General
Election was in progress, he presided at the
annual banquet of the Glasgow University
Gladstone Club. In speaking to the toast of the
Club, he dealt at length with the assertion that
the Government of Lord Beaconsfield was more
acceptable to the Continental Powers than that of
Mr. Gladstone would be, pointing out that Lord
Palmerston, to whom the Tories referred as
their beau-ideal of a Foreign Minister, was
cordially detested by Foreign Powers, and con
tending that the approbation of the policy of the

346 xorb "IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
Government expressed in such a quarter was not
a point in favour of that policy. In concluding
his remarks, he said :
" But I will in conclusion give my rendering
of what I believe to be the policy of the
Liberal party : I believe that our watchword in
foreign policy — and I think you will confirm it —
I believe that our watchword will be the
cause of England, peace and freedom through
out the world. When I say peace, I do not
mean peace at any price. When I say freedom,
I do not mean license. When I say England, I
mean not merely these two islands, I mean the
great Empire throughout the world, which we
are as proud of as any Tory party can possibly
be — which we will maintain even with our blood
if necessary, but which we will not recklessly
increase at the cost of the people of England."
Two days later, on March 31, the inaugural
banquet of the Scottish Liberal Club was held at
Edinburgh. The principal speech of the evening
was that of Mr. Gladstone, who spoke to the
toast of the Club, to which Lord Rosebery re
sponded. He joined issue with the supporters of
the Government on several points, in particular
repudiating the idea that under the previous
Liberal administration England did not carry
weight in the councils of Europe. As to this
notion he uttered the following forcible sentences:
" The thing is absurd, and what I think is

liberals anb "IRussia 347
the most painful part of the absurdity is this —
that the present Government is supposed to have
brought England to her proper place in the
councils of Europe. Gentlemen, it was said by
the great Napoleon that we were a nation of
shopkeepers. Well, that reproach has vanished,
because under the present Government our trade
has vanished too. But, sir, it may some day be
said, if the Government is carried on as it is now,
that we are not a nation of shopkeepers, but a
nation of pettifoggers, prepared to go into the
councils of Europe with secret agreements with
Foreign Powers, and with little terminable leases
of foreign islands which do not belong to us, and
which we have managed to filch out of the general
scramble." He maintained that the Liberal party
did not sympathise with the Russian Government,
but were not afraid of Russia ; in this respect
differing from the Conservative party.
A personal reference also occurs in this speech :
" It was only about a month ago, when I was
confined to my room with illness, that the
Chancellor of the Exchequer was good enough
to say, in his place as leader of the House of
Commons, that whenever the subject of peers'
interference at elections occurred to his mind, it
was always associated with the name of Rosebery."
Lord Rosebery was greatly amused at some of
the attacks which had been levelled at him because
he as a Liberal, though a peer, was trying to

348 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
further the Liberal cause in Scotland. At the
banquet he read out some of the results of electoral
contests which had been decided ; and, cheers being
given for the Countess of Rosebery, he said,
amidst much merriment : "I am afraid that my
wife is a little apt to go beyond the rules pre
scribed for the inanimate nature of peers in her
sympathy with the Liberal party. Not that she
canvasses, or does anything wrong (at which re
mark the company laughed loudly and long), but
her wishes are so absolutely with the Liberal party,
that we shall be the better for the rest of the
week when she is acquainted with the results of
this evening."
Mr. Gladstone's last speech of the election was
delivered at West Calder, on April 2. Mr.
Gladstone, besides being nominated at Midlothian,
where he fought, had also been nominated at
Leeds, where he was elected by a great majority
to a seat which was afterwards accepted by his son,
Mr. Herbert Gladstone, who had been beaten in
Middlesex. The election in Midlothian, the key
to the general election, took place on April 5.
Mr. Gladstone's opponent was the Earl of
Dalkeith, son of the Duke of Buccleuch. The
result of the election was :
Gladstone . . . 1,579
Dalkeith .... 1,368
Majority . . , . 211

Gbe Statesman XHnmu33leb 349
It was the largest poll which had ever been
recorded in Midlothian, and the result was
received with exultation in the country, and with
wild delight by the Scottish Liberals. When the
news of the result came Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone
were dining with the Earl and Countess of
Rosebery at the house in George Street, and in
response to the demands of the huge crowd which
had gathered, they went out on to the balcony,
in view of the people, and lighted candles were
held on either side of Mr. Gladstone so that the
crowd might be gratified by the sight of his
animated, joyful face. Speeches, of course, were
called for, and made ; and at last the Earl of
Rosebery found himself free to address an election
crowd. He said :
" The election is over, and I am unmuzzled.
As a Midlothian man I can tell you that no Mid
lothian man, however old he may be, or however
long he may have to live, will have spent a
prouder night than this. It is a great night for
Midlothian, a great night for Scotland, a great
night for your county member, a great night for
Great Britain, aye, and a great night for the
world. It has been the fortune of this county to
be chosen as the central battlefield of that great
contest that is being waged at this moment. In the
county of Midlothian has been fought, not a battle
between Whig and Tory, or Liberal and Conser
vative, but a battle of constitutional government

3so lorb "IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
and of oppressed nationalities throughout the
world. And what has been the reward of Mid
lothian ? She has fought this battle — you have
fought this battle, by and for yourselves, and you
are rewarded by having, as your county member,
the foremost man of Great Britain, the greatest
champion of liberty that now lives in the world ;
and, to use the words of Pitt, I will only say
now that I trust that Midlothian, having saved
herself by her own exertions, will save Great
Britain by her example."
There were great doings in the city that night.
Mr. Gladstone, the victory won, left Edinburgh
for Dalmerty with Lord Rosebery in the evening.
Election results were known earlier in those days.
All England knew the result of the Midlothian
contest by half-past seven, and Mr. Gladstone
was on his way for rest at Dalmeny by nine
o'clock. The great contest had been fought and won.
Midlothian, no doubt, had a great effect on all
the contests which then remained to be decided.
" The father and son of the Scottish people,"
as Mr. Gladstone and Lord Rosebery were now
frequently styled, had won Midlothian. That
same night, when total results were counted, the
Liberals had gained sixty-one seats, counting one
hundred and twenty-two on a division, and it
was certain that Mr. Gladstone would succeed
Lord Beaconsfield as Prime Minister. When the

flbajorttg of ©ne "Ibunbreb anb twelve 351
elections were all over the Liberals had taken
one hundred and thirty-five seats from their
opponents, and the Conservatives had turned the
scale with only twenty-three against them. The
balance in favour of the Liberals was one hundred
and twelve.

CHAPTER XIII
AFTER THE 1880 ELECTION — MR. GLADSTONE'S SECOND PREMIERSHIP-
LORD ROSEBERY'S REFUSAL OF OFFICE — SUBSEQUENT ACCEPTANCE
— UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT—
THE IRISH QUESTION— AGRARIAN TROUBLES— COERCION MEASURES
— GLADSTONE AND PARNELL — ASSASSINATION OF LORD FREDERICK
CAVENDISH AND MR. BURKE — FOUNDATION OF THE NATIONAL
LIBERAL CLUB — DISABILITIES OF PEERS — LORD ROSEBERY'S
RESIGNATION — A NEW DEPARTMENT OF STATE — THE SECRETARY
FOR SCOTLAND ACT
THERE was no doubt that the country
expected Mr. Gladstone to become Premier
as the result of the elections. True, Lord
Hartington was at the time the recognised leader
of the Liberal party, and at the close of the
elections he was, in conformity with constitutional
usage, sent for by the Queen and asked to form
a ministry. It was clear, however, that Mr.
Gladstone's activities in the Midlothian campaign
virtually meant his return to the leadership of the
Liberal party, and Lord Rosebery expressed the
feelings of the bulk of that party when he said
that : " There would be no real gladness in the
victory if any other leader was to be given
them." Some little time, however, was taken
in settling this important question, and the
35*

/DMnistrg flbafcing 353
situation at the time was well described by Mr.
F. W. Hirst.1
" It has been asserted very commonly," he
wrote, "that Lord Hartington, out of 'loyalty'
to Mr. Gladstone, did not attempt to form a
ministry. The assertion contains one error of
fact and one of feeling. Lord Hartington did
not, nor was there much reason why he should,
entertain any feeling of loyalty for Mr. Gladstone.
He was still the Liberal leader in the House
of Commons ; he had only remained in that position
because, at the request of the whips, who did not
like to change horses while crossing the stream,
he had not insisted on resigning a post which
he knew to have been practically vacated in the
course of the first Midlothian campaign. He is
believed to have represented to the Queen that
it would be impossible for him to form an
Administration while Mr. Gladstone, who com
manded all that was militant and victorious in
the Liberal Party, remained a private member
in the terrible character of Free Lance and
Candid Friend, like a Cromwell in the army of
an Essex. At Her Majesty's bidding, Lord
Hartington, that same evening, called on Mr.
Gladstone and asked whether he would be willing
to take office in a Hartingtonian Administration.
The reply was brief and discouraging. No
amount of intrigue — and Lord Hartington was no
1 " Life of W. E. Gladstone," edited by Sir Wemyss Reid.
VOL. I. 23

354 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
intriguer — could have formed a Liberal Administra
tion without the victor of Midlothian ; and the
victor chose to be ' aut Caesar aut nullus.'
" On April 23, Lord Hartington and Lord
Granville, having visited the Queen together,
returned to London in the afternoon and sought
out Mr. Gladstone. They found him ' buttoned
to the chin.' The Cabinet was forming in his
mind ; Bradshaw was lying on the table. Before
dinner-time the veteran statesman had kissed hands
on his appointment as First Lord of the Treasury
and Chancellor of the Exchequer. He was Prime
Minister of England for the second time. In five
days the Cabinet was finally constituted. It was
a Cabinet representing all sections of the party,
from the followers of the Duke of Argyll to those
of Mr. Chamberlain. The Times, which had to
accommodate itself with unusual rapidity to the
swing of the pendulum, consoled itself for the
admission of Radicals by the large company of
moderate men who had been included in the
Cabinet. In their society Mr. Bright might be
expected to be reasonable in urging his peculiar
views, ' and even the admission of a younger and
more advanced Liberal to the circle need excite
no anxiety.' "
While the Cabinet had been in process of
formation, there was much discussion as to the
positions which would be offered to certain gentle
men, and the claims of Lord Rosebery came in

a "IRefusal of ©ffice 355
for special consideration. Scotsmen entirely and
Englishmen generally believed that he would be
included in the Government. The Spectator sug
gested that he should become Postmaster-General,
and that either Lord Dufferin or Lord Rosebery
should go to Ireland, where the latter " might
there make a court, often gloomy, brilliant and
attractive." Again the Spectator, having suggested
that Sir William Harcourt should be made
Chancellor of the Exchequer, remarked, " Lord
Rosebery is also inevitable, if only for the immense
services he has rendered to Scotland." A Cabinet-
making correspondent of the same review thought
he would go to the Local Government Board. All
the speculators were wrong, however : Lord Rose
bery did not take office. He had well earned
the reward, and Mr. Gladstone desired that he
should join his Ministry. Lord Rosebery, how
ever, declined ; the main reason, it is believed,
being that he felt that the prominent part he had
been taking in the development of Liberal feeling
in Scotland would have rendered his acceptance
of office liable to misconstruction. The Times of
April 27, 1880, in a leading article, referring to
Scotchmen and the Cabinet, mentioned the fact
that the Duke of Argyll entered it as Lord
President of the Council, and added : ' Another
Scotch peer has been invited to join the Govern
ment, but with rare modesty has declined the
honour as one too great for his present experience.

356 lorb "IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speecbes
As Lord Rosebery is the first to be asked
to enter the Ministry who has not been in a
Liberal Ministry before, it is to be regretted
that his honourable scruples should have led him
to reject the proposal. Some subordinate posts
have been declined from motives of a different
character. Those to whom they were offered
appear to have felt that the composition of
the Cabinet was not sufficiently wide and repre
sentative to be trusted with the faith which
subordinates must place in the superiors whose
decisions they must be prepared to support with
their votes."
Early in the new Parliament the Eastern
Question required attention, and England led the
way in the attempt to force Turkey to reforms.
The Powers joined in a joint note demanding
reforms in Armenia and the settlement of the
Montenegrin frontier. The Concert of Europe
got its way after a naval demonstration under
Admiral Sir Beauchamp Seymour at Eravosa. At
home the Parliamentary Session of 1880 was
rendered notable by the Bradlaugh controversy.
The Employers' Liability Bill, the Ground Game
Bill, and the Burials Bill were passed. The Malt
Duty was abolished, the Income Tax raised, and
a duty of 6.?. 3^. per barrel was put on beer.
The Irish Land Question caused much discussion,
and the throwing out by the House of Lords
of the Compensation for Disturbance Bill was

(Sreece anb Uurfceg 357
declared by Mr. Justin McCarthy to have been
the fountain and origin of the agrarian troubles
in Ireland, which led to the Coercion Bill of the
following year.
Lord Rosebery took very little part in the
proceedings of Parliament in 1880. Outside the
House of Lords also he made very few speeches.
On December 1, an influential gathering, con
vened by the Greek Committee, met in Willis
Rooms for the purpose of expressing sympathy
with the Greek nation, and with the Greeks of
Epirus and Thessaly. Lord Rosebery, who, as
President of the Committee, occupied the chair,
deprecated the idea of Greece engaging in a
war with Turkey, concerning the matters then in
dispute between the two Powers.
In the House of Lords, on February 22 of the
following year, Lord Rosebery made an effective
speech in favour of a motion for the opening of
museums in London on Sunday ; and on April 14,
1 88 1, he opened an exhibition of loan works
at the schoolroom of St. Jude's, Whitechapel,
whose rector was the well-known Rev. S. A.
Barnett, now Canon Barnett. He spoke apprecia
tively of the influence exerted by such an exhibi
tion, and referred with satisfaction to the fact that,
in a city so large that there was little neighbourly
feeling, it had induced many people gladly to lend
their art treasures to a neighbourhood with which
they were not in the least connected.

358 lorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
On June 13, 1881, the Earl of Fife (now the
Duke of Fife) raised the question of the desirability
of appointing a Minister for Scotland other than
the Lord Advocate. Lord Rosebery spoke in
favour of the idea, and said that it was significant
in regard to this question that the term " Home
Rule" was beginning to be heard in Scotland.
The discussion possesses exceptional interest from
the fact that it was in this session Lord Rosebery
first accepted office, becoming Under-Secretary of
State for the Home Department, Sir William
Harcourt being his chief. It was a somewhat
peculiar position, perhaps, for a member of the
House of Lords to occupy ; and from this period,
owing to the fact of his being a Peer, and also
perhaps to jealousy of the rapid rise of this young
lord, probably dates that "girding at Lord
Rosebery" which ever afterwards characterised
some men of his own side. Great satisfaction was
expressed in Liberal circles generally at Lord
Rosebery's acceptance of office ; and the feeling in
Scotland was one of intense gratification, for it was
understood that till some permanent arrangement
could be made for a direct representation of
Scotland in the Ministry in addition to the Lord
Advocate, the Earl of Rosebery was at the Home
Office specially to concern himself with Scotch
affairs. This he did in the most active and useful
way, and soon became popularly known north
of the Tweed as "the Minister for Scotland."

"as flbinister for Scotlanb" 359
Accompanied by Sir William Harcourt, Lord
Rosebery went to Scotland later in the year, and
addressed a meeting at Glasgow. Several meetings
were attended in Scotland, and at one Lord
Rosebery spoke of himself as "a backstairs Minister
for Scotland." Lord Rosebery wanted a front-
stairs Minister, and was later on to be responsible
for the creation of a new office specially charged
with Scotch business.
This first year in which Lord Rosebery knew
the sweets, and also the bitters, of office was a
notable one for other matters than those to which
reference has already been made. The Coercion
Bill had been carried early in the year, after
turbulent scenes in the House of Commons, during
one of which forty Irish members, including Mr.
Parnell, were suspended, At the same time Mr.
John Morley commenced in the Pall Mall
Gazette, of which he was then editor, an agitation
against the policy of Coercion in Ireland. Two
days before the Coercion Bill was passed by the
Commons there had been received in England
the bitter news of the disaster to Sir G. Colley's
force at Majuba Hill. The "settlement" of the
difficulty with the Boers followed, the " settlement"
to which Lord Rosebery subsequently referred as
a magnificently magnanimous experiment, as to
the results of which, however, he had always
had misgivings. In April of that year, on the
19th day, which is now commemorated by the

36o xorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
Conservatives as " Primrose Day," the Earl of
Beaconsfield died. The Irish Land Act was
passed the same year. The "No Rent" cry had
been loudly raised in Ireland, where the agitation
was so serious that it drew from Mr. Gladstone,
at Leeds, the speech in which he declared that
if a final conflict had still to be fought in Ireland,
" if the law, purged from defect and from any
taint of injustice, is still to be repelled and
refused, and the first conditions of political society
are to be set at naught, then I say, gentlemen,
without hesitation, the resources of civilisation
against its enemies are not yet exhausted. I
shall recognise in full, when the facts are ripe —
and their ripeness is approaching — the drift of
the responsibility of the Government. I call upon
all orders and degrees of men, not in these two
kingdoms, but in these three, to support the
Government in the discharge of its duty and
in acquitting itself of that responsibility."
The arrest of Mr. Parnell, his imprisonment at
Kilmainham, and the suppression of the Land
League followed. On October 26, 1881, a great
Liberal demonstration took place at Dundee.
Lord Rosebery, who was the principal speaker,
referred at the outset of his remarks to the
fact that since he last appeared on a Scotch
platform he had accepted a post under Govern
ment. He asserted that the policy of the
Government was founded on justice and right,

"IReceptions at lansbowne 361
and was intelligible to the people. Combating
the statement that Mr. Gladstone owed his power
to Mr. Parnell, he defied any one to find one
sentence in the Midlothian speeches touching on
the Land League or on Home Rule, but in terms
of the strongest condemnation. A few days later
(November 3), he addressed a mass meeting at
Greenock, and maintained that the gloomy heritage
of doubt and uncertainty bequeathed to the country
by the late Government had departed since the
advent of the Gladstone Government to office.
On December 8 of the same year Lord Rosebery
spoke at Hull, and, while admitting the serious
state of affairs in Ireland, claimed that nevertheless
on the whole the Liberal party had made an
advance in the effort to reunite Ireland.
During this year the Earl and Countess of
Rosebery had taken a lease of Lansdowne House,
where during the season they gave a number of
brilliant parties. The house became the central
gathering-place for the Liberals of the country
of all classes. Lady Rosebery was always the
kindest and most gracious hostess. Lord Rosebery
welcomed all who were working in the Liberal
cause, and the political gatherings there became
for that and some succeeding years a constant
subject of reference in the journals of the day.
Mr. Gladstone was frequently to be met there,
and during the years of his second administration
Mr. Gladstone with his wife spent a great deal

362 xorb "IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
of time with the Earl and Countess of Rosebery,
often staying at the Durdans, Epsom, for the
week-ends. No doubt this pleasant retreat so
near London largely helped the Premier to bear
the worries of these anxious years, when Ireland
was causing so much anxiety ; and no doubt the
close association with Mr. Gladstone was a cause of
much comfort to Lord Rosebery, who was holding
office under the exasperation of attacks by those
who supported him, yet later were to cause him
to retire from the position at the Home Office
which he was then occupying. The year 1882
was mainly notable for the Irish Question, regarding
which important developments were taking place.
Mr. Gladstone got into touch with Mr. Parnell,
and his views regarding Ireland appear to have
changed in a marked manner from that time.
Negotiations proceeded. Messrs. Parnell, Dillon
and O' Kelly were released from Kilmainham in
May. The Coercion Act was on the point of
expiration and Mr. Parnell had promised Mr.
Gladstone that he would use his influence in the
suppression of outrages. On the release of the
Irish members named, Lord Cowper and Mr.
Forster resigned their respective offices of Viceroy
and Chief Secretary for Ireland. They were
succeeded by Lord Spencer and Lord Frederick
Cavendish. On May 5 the new officials left
England for Ireland, and on the day following
came the dreadful tragedy in Phcenix Park, where

Crime in Jrelanb 363
Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr. Burke, the
permanent Under Secretary, were murdered. Two
days afterwards Mr. Gladstone gave notice of the
coming introduction of the Crimes Bill. He had
refused to accept the proffered resignation by
Mr. Parnell of his seat in Parliament. The Irish
leader had offered to take that course immediately
on the reception of the news of the Phoenix Park
tragedy, which he had described as " the deadliest
blow which it was in their power to deal against
his hopes in connection with the new course on
which the Government had just entered." From
that time, however, the Government's task in
Ireland was less hard, and the conditions there
began to improve. While the state of affairs
there in 1882 had been so deplorable, the
Government, however, had the satisfaction of
seeing some progress made in the carrying out
of the provisions of the Berlin Treaty. The
delimitation of the Greek frontier was completed,
and Mr. Gladstone was able to say at Leeds :
" I rejoice to say that, though no progress whatever
had been made eighteen months ago in the
fulfilment of that purpose, a country famous in
history, the country of Thessaly, inhabited from
end to end by members of the Greek race, to
which in old times we have owed so much — that
country of Thessaly has been handed out of
servitude into freedom, by the influence exerted
by the Powers of Europe, to which you have

364 lorb "IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speecbes
contributed your full share. And never, gentlemen,
in the course of my life have I enjoyed a purer
pleasure than in witnessing the accomplishment
of that work, the removal of that yoke, the
re-establishment of that union among Greek
populations of different regions, without the
effusion of one single drop of blood."
On October 20, 1882, a Liberal demonstration
took place at Ayr. Lord Rosebery, responding
to a resolution of confidence in the Ministry, cast
some good-humoured ridicule on a suggestion
recently made that four-fifths of the intellectual
ability, and five-sixths of the literary ability of the
country were ranged upon the side of the Con
servatives, and spoke in a congratulatory vein of
the popularity enjoyed by the Government.
Many things happened in the following year.
Lord Rosebery was active in Parliament and the
country, and in addition to making numerous
speeches, he laid down the responsibility of office
and proceeded on a trip round the world. In the
House of Lords, on March 6, 1883, he spoke in
support of the Payment of Wages in Public Houses
Prohibition Bill, saying that the facts in favour
of the Bill were overwhelming. On March 23,
1883, Mr. John Bright was presented with the
freedom of the city of Glasgow. Lord Rosebery
was present at the function, and, in response to
calls from the audience, spoke in eulogistic terms
of Mr. Bright, and expressed regret that the latter

Social "IReform 365
had felt obliged to resign his post in the Govern
ment during the previous year. On March 30,
as President of the Birmingham Junior Liberal
Association, he delivered his Presidential Address
to a crowded meeting held in the Town Hall of
Birmingham, which town he then visited for the
first time. The address was for the most part
a reply to a speech of Lord Salisbury, delivered
the previous day in Birmingham. In the course
of the speech he referred to the fact that Bir
mingham then " was recognised as the shrine of
English Liberalism." Elsewhere references have
been made to the deep interest taken by Lord
Rosebery in social questions. On June 1, 1883,
he gave practical evidence of this by the intro
duction into the House of Lords of a Bill for the
protection of young girls. He referred to the
fact that in 1 88 1, in consequence of certain facts
which had been brought under public notice, a
Select Committee of the House, under the presi
dency of Earl Cairns, had been appointed to
consider this question. In this Bill the recom
mendations of the Committee had been closely
followed. The proposal was discussed frequently,
hundreds of petitions in its favour were sent to
Parliament, numerous amendments to Lord Rose
bery's proposals were made, but the Bill was
passed, and was sent to the House of Commons
on July 5, and subsequently found its place in the
Statute-book.

366 lorb "IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speecbes
In May Lord Rosebery, Lord Granville, Mr.
Gladstone, and Mr. John Morley were the principal
speakers at the inaugural banquet of the National
Liberal Club, held on the 2nd of that month at
the Royal Aquarium, when eighteen hundred and
fifty gentlemen sat down to dinner. Lord Granville
occupied the chair. Mr. Gladstone was the first
president of the Club.
Lord Rosebery, proposing the Liberalism of the
Future, ventured to mention two features which
he believed would characterise the Liberal party
of the future. In the first place he believed that
the breath of Liberal nostrils was popular sympathy.
He believed that the Liberal party could never
get on without popular sympathy. The other
feature to which he would refer was this : that
the future of the Liberal party would depend upon
union. It was a truism to say that if the Liberal
party was united it need fear no foe. He ventured
to say that if the party was at peace with itself
and was in the full enjoyment of popular sympathy
it must always predominate in this country. The
nation knew that the principles of the Liberal
party were founded on truth, on peace, and on
justice between man and man. It was for that
reason that the future of the Liberal party was
the future of this country and of the Anglo-Saxon
race, and for that reason, if for no other, upon
it depended the fairest hopes of the well-being
and the happiness of the rest of mankind. With

"designation of ©fflce 367
those remarks he proposed the toast, coupling
with it the name of Mr. John Morley, " who, as
entering on a new political career, with an active
present and a brilliant past, fitly symbolised the
future of the Liberal party."
It was very shortly after that gathering that
the surprise came of Lord Rosebery's resignation
of the office of Under-Secretary at the Home
Office. It caused a good deal of comment, and
explanations were sought for and given in Parlia
ment. The real explanation only became clear
in later years. To go back to the time when
Lord Rosebery accepted the office, it is seen that
on August 24, 1 88 1, in the House of Commons,
in answer to Mr. A. Elliott, Sir William Harcourt
had explained the new arrangements made at the
Home Office. He said the relations of the Lord
Advocate with the political departments of the
State remained what they had always been. The
Secretary was, as he always had been, responsible
for the administration of Scotch affairs. In dis
charging that function he necessarily required the
assistance of officials specially versed in the business
of that part of the United Kingdom. That business
involved a variety of detail, consisting partly of
legal questions, partly of administrative matters,
with which members of the Bar had no special
acquaintance, such as county borough business,
highways, poor law, local taxation, asylums, fisheries,
education, prisons, mines, factories, etc. It was

368 lorb "IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
found necessary to give the Secretary of State
further assistance in dealing with matters of this
description by the appointment in the Home Office
of some one who could have leisure to devote
himself particularly to this class of business. It
was not to be considered that in providing this
additional aid for the Secretary of State any
political change had been made in the functions
or authority belonging to the office of Lord
Advocate. The Lord Advocate would continue
to take a principal part in the conduct of Scotch
business in the House of Commons.
"It was to undertake the work thus described by
Sir William Harcourt that Lord Rosebery accepted
office, and he fulfilled the duties thoroughly, and
greatly to the good of Scotland. When the news
of his resignation of the office became known there
was much anxiety as to the future of Scotch
business. In the House of Commons on Thurs
day, June 7, 1883, Mr. A. Elliott asked the
Secretary of State for the Home Department
whether, having regard to his statement in the
House of Commons on August 24, 1881, and to
the recent resignation of Lord Rosebery, he could
state to the House the nature of the rearrange
ments contemplated in the administration of Scotch
business, and when they were likely to be given
effect to.
i Mr. Dalrymple also asked, with reference to
Lord Rosebery's connection with the management

•Relations with Sir TWL ibarcourt 369
of Scotch affairs, if the arrangement was described
at the time as giving additional assistance at the
Home Office, and whether the right honourable
gentleman was correctly reported to have stated
that the arrangement never was intended to be
permanent, and was only intended to propitiate
Scotch members, and whether that statement had
anything to do with Lord Rosebery's resignation.
Sir William Harcourt replied : " I am very glad
indeed to answer the latter question before that
of the honourable member. I intended to ask
the House to be allowed to make a personal
statement on the subject. Statements have been
made, and apparently received with credence by
the honourable member opposite, that something I
had said or done had been taken amiss by Lord
Rosebery, and had conduced, in some manner,
to his resignation. All I have to say on my
part — and I am desired to say it on behalf of
Lord Rosebery— is that there is not a word of
foundation for it. It is an entirely untrue state
ment, which has not a colour of foundation of
any kind or sort. As to the relations between
Lord Rosebery and myself, they have been for
many years, and, I am happy to say, are still,
those of the closest political friendship and personal
affection" (a remark which The Times report
shows to have been received with laughter),
"which has never been disturbed for a single
moment. I do not know for what purpose
vol. 1. 24

370 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
statements of this character are made. I suppose
they are intended to give pain. If so, they have
succeeded in their object, but I am happy to have
the opportunity of saying that they are entirely
without foundation. Lord Rosebery wrote to me
this morning : ' I know what you must be feeling
under so undeserved an innuendo, but I am quite
as indignant as you are.' I do not think I need
say anything more," continued Sir William Har
court, " on the personal part of the question. As
regards the other matter to which the honourable
member opposite alludes, what I said the other
night I said with perhaps too light a manner, but
I had hoped that the language I had used would
have been understood in the sense in which it
was employed. It is perfectly accurate that when
Lord Rosebery was good enough to consent to
take the office of Under-Secretary of State to
the Home Department he took it as a temporary
arrangement, and it was so understood by the
Government, and so understood by Lord Rosebery
and myself, for the purpose of facilitating the
conduct of Scotch business, and it was understood
that it was at the desire of Scotch members.
That arrangement was made in order to meet
these views. I explained, In my answer to my
honourable friend the member for Roxburgh,
exactly what had passed, and stated that it was
in order to give greater assistance in what I may
call the lay, as distinguished from the professional,

tribute from flbr. (Blabstone 371
business of Scotland. It was never intended that
the arrangements, which had obvious inconveni
ences, should be permanently established, nor was
it the desire or the view of Lord Rosebery that
it should be so. On the contrary, he always
desired that there should be a different and more
permanent arrangement in reference to Scotch
business. It was prolonged beyond our expecta
tions, though not beyond my wishes, because I
think it was my personal urgency to Lord Rose
bery which induced him to continue to perform
those functions longer than was originally intended.
Lord Rosebery has always had at heart some
permanent and regular arrangement with reference
to Scotch business. In that the Government have
concurred, and they have already announced that a
plan of that kind will be introduced. My honour
able friend has asked me to state the details of
that arrangement. Being necessarily considerable,
they are being worked out, with the assistance of
the Lord Advocate, Lord Rosebery, and the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, and I hope we shall
have an early opportunity of presenting it to the
House. Sir W. Harcourt later on said the Secretary
of State (himself) would attend to the business.
Shortly afterwards Mr. Gladstone, in reply to
a resolution from the General Committee of the
Scottish Liberal Club in connection with Lord
Rosebery's resignation, wrote that " he fully

372 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
shared the regret expressed by the Committee in
this matter, and he joined in their hope that
Lord Rosebery's abilities might before long be
again turned to account in active public service."
It is a serious thing to be a lord, if you are
also a Liberal leader. Peers must not take part
in elections ; they cannot be elected to Parliament
themselves. If some people had their way it
would be impossible for a peer to be anything
that is useful, however anxious he may be to
serve his Queen and country, however great his
capacities, however earnest his desire to use them
in the public service. Such feelings have been
amusingly referred to by Mr. J. M. Barrie.1
In " An Edinburgh Eleven " Mr. Barrie deals
first with Lord Rosebery, of whom he tells some
excellent anecdotes. To recount one or two will
brighten a rather gloomy page of the Earl's public
career. Mr. Barrie says : " One day at Edin
burgh he realised the disadvantage of owning
swift horses. His brougham had met him at
Waverley station to take him to Dalmeny. Lord
Rosebery opened the door of the carriage to put
in some papers, and then turned away. The
coachman, thinking his master was inside, drove
off After going seven miles he reached a point
in Dalmeny Park where it was his lordship's
custom to alight and open a gate. The Earl,
not being there, did not of course alight as usual,
1 " An Edinburgh Eleven," British Weekly Extras, No. 3.

a Storg of BfsmarcR

373

With a quaking hand the coachman, when he
discovered his lordship's absence, turned the
horses back and looked fearfully along the sides
of the road. He met Lord Rosebery travelling
in great good-humour by the luggage omnibus."
Mr. Barrie also tells a good story of the Earl
and Prince Bismarck : " Lord Rosebery had
once a conversation with Prince Bismarck, to
which, ' owing to some oversight,' as Mr. Barrie
facetiously remarks, the Paris correspondent of
the Times was not invited. M. Blowitz only
smiled good-naturedly, and of course his report
of the proceedings appeared all the same. Some
time afterwards Lord Rosebery was introduced to
this remarkable man, ' who, as is well known,
carries Cabinet appointments in his pockets,' and
complimented him on his report. ' Ah, it was
all right, was it ? ' asked Blowitz, beaming. Lord
Rosebery explained that the only fault it had was
that it was all wrong. ' Then if Bismarck did not
say that to you,' said Blowitz, regally, ' I know
he intended to say it.' "
Mr. Barrie, however, commences the sketch
from which these anecdotes are taken with this
statement : " The first time I ever saw Lord
Rosebery was in Edinburgh when I was a student,
and I flung a clod of earth at him. He was a
peer; those were my politics. I missed him, and
I have heard a good many journalists say since
then that he is a difficult man to hit."

374 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
Unconsciously Mr. Barrie did, however, hit a
mark there. He struck upon the real reason why
Lord Rosebery left the Home Office. " He is a
peer : fling a clod at him." That is what many
men, who would not have been great, whether
born peasants or peers, have been doing to Lord
Rosebery for years. In those early days of his
first experiences of office, he was having clods
flung at him because he was a peer. It was not
his fault — and it has ever been his great regret —
that he could not sit in the House of Commons.
It is probably not going too far to say that he
would never have resigned the leadership of the
Liberal party, which was afterwards his place,
had he possessed the privilege of leading in the
House of Commons instead of being forced to
occupy a place in the " Gilded Chamber," from
which it was impossible for him to attack his
political opponents, to defend himself from them
and from the veiled attacks of some who ought
to have been his loyal supporters. That it was
because he was a peer, and for nothing else, he
gave up the Home Office appointment, Lord
Rosebery made quite clear when, eleven years
later, to a great meeting held at the St. James's
Hall, on March 21, 1894, he was able to speak
to the people " as one of their elected repre
sentatives " for the London County Council. On
that occasion, referring to his tenure of office at
the Home Department, he said :

Experience of a "Cave" 375
" It was then found that that office was a
dangerous one to be entrusted to a peer, and,
under the pressure of public opinion, overwhelm
ing as I understand on that subject, I had to
relinquish it. It was then I took a solemn
determination I would never relinquish another
office on that objection."
Lord Rosebery had then his first experience
of a " cave," and gave up a post which he liked,
and in which he had been responsible for a vast
amount of most useful administrative work. He
was so impressed with the value of the labour
which had to be performed, that he persisted in
his efforts to secure a special Scotch appointment
in the Ministry, and the Government presented a
Bill for the purpose. On July 21, 1883, Lord
Rosebery was presented with the freedom of the
City of Edinburgh. In acknowledging the honour,
he addressed himself to stating the case in favour
of a Bill introduced by the Government, pro
viding for the establishment of a Scotch Local
Government Board, with a Minister for Scotland
at its head. Frequent efforts were made to
proceed with the measure, but it was not for
that session, nor for that Government, to see the
matter through. Yet — and the conclusion of the
matter may conveniently be introduced here — Lord
Rosebery in the next Parliament, on July 9, 1885,
moved the second reading of the Secretary for
Scotland Bill, when he remarked :

376 SLorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
" My lords, as regards this measure there are
only three changes from the time last year when
it was dropped by Her Majesty's late Govern
ment ; and this leads me to remark on the
extraordinary sinister influence which this measure
appears to have exercised on the deliberations of
this House. On the first occasion on which it
was brought forward it was in a very much
smaller shape than it is now, and it then arrived
too late to be discussed by the majority of this
House. On the second occasion it passed through
committee, and was down for a third reading
on the very day on which Her Majesty's late
Government had to announce that they could
proceed with no further measures. And this year
it came on for a second reading on the very day
on which it was the duty of Her Majesty's late
Government to announce in the language which
is suitable to the occasion that they had sent a
confidential communication to Her Majesty. My
lords, a bill which has survived such difficulties
is destined to float, and I do not think that
anything can now wreck it."
The Bill found much support, some peers,
however, strongly objecting to education being
included. Lord Salisbury said no doubt the Bill should
properly have been a Government measure ; and
in the House of Commons, if their lordships
passed it, it would be a Government measure.

"Ebe Scottish Secretarg 377
Looking to the conspicuous manner in which
Lord Rosebery had been connected with the
movement, the Government had thought it would
be rather ungracious to take the measure out of
his hands.
Matters relating to law would not, Lord
Rosebery explained, be placed under the new
department ; the office of Keeper of the Great
Seal would be added to it, to add to the dignity
of office ; and primary education would be placed
under the control of the Secretary. He believed
these changes commended themselves to Scottish
feeling. The Bill was passed by both Houses, and soon
afterwards became law. It is the 48 and 49 Vict.,
Ch. 61, and its provisions are :
" An Act for appointing a Secretary for Scot
land and Vice-President of the Scotch Education
Department. [14th August, 1885.]
" Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent
Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of
the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons,
in this present Parliament assembled, and by the
authority of the same, as follows :
" 1. This Act may be cited as the Secretary
for Scotland Act, 1885.
" 2. It shall be lawful for Her Majesty to
appoint a Secretary for Scotland (hereinafter
called the Secretary), who shall hold office during
Her Majesty's pleasure,

378 lorb "IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
" There shall be paid to the Secretary, out of
moneys to be provided by Parliament, a salary of
two thousand pounds a year.
" The Secretary may appoint such permanent
secretaries, inspectors, clerks, and other officers
as he may with the sanction of the Treasury de
termine. " The salaries of such secretaries and other
officers of the Secretary's office shall be fixed
with the consent of the Treasury, and shall,
together with such other expenses of the said
office as may from time to time be sanctioned by
the Treasury, be paid out of moneys provided by
Parliament. " 3. The Secretary, if not a member of the
House of Lords, shall, if otherwise qualified, be
capable of being elected to and of voting in the
Commons House of Parliament, and the office
of Secretary shall be deemed to be an office in
cluded in Schedule H. of the Representation of
the People Act, 1867; in Schedule H. of the
Representation of the- People (Scotland) Act,
1868; in Schedule E. of the Representation of
the People (Ireland) Act, 1868; and in Part
First of the schedule of the Promissory Oaths
Act, 1868, as regards England.
"4. The Secretary may adopt an official seal,
and describe himself generally by the style and
title of " The Secretary for Scotland."
" A rule, or order, or regulation made by the

powers of the ©ffice 379
Secretary shall be valid if it is made under the
seal of the Secretary and signed by him or by
any secretary or other officer appointed by him
for that purpose ; and the production of a copy of
such rule, order, or regulation, purporting to be
certified to be true by any secretary or other
officer appointed by him for that purpose, shall,
unless the contrary is shown, be a sufficient proof
that any such rule, order, or regulation of the
Secretary was duly made.
"5- — (1.) All powers and duties vested in or
imposed on one of Her Majesty's Principal
Secretaries of State by the enactments specified
in Part I. of the Schedule to this Act, and all
powers and duties vested in or imposed on one
of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State in
relation to the Universities of Scotland ;
"(2.) All powers and duties vested in or imposed
on the Privy Council by the enactments specified
in Part II. of the said Schedule;
" (3.) All powers and duties vested in or imposed
on the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury
by the enactments specified in Part III. of the
said Schedule, or the Local Government Board
for England by the enactments specified in Part IV.
of the said Schedule, so far as such duties and
powers relate to Scotland, shall, on and after the
appointment of the Secretary, be transferred to,
vested in, and imposed on the Secretary.
"Any report, act, or thing required or authorised

380 Xorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
by the said enactments, or any of them, to be
made or done to the said Secretary of State, or
Privy Council or any committee thereof, or the
Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, or the
Local Government Board for England, and any
report required to be made to Her Majesty by
virtue of any of the said enactments, shall, so far
as such enactments apply to Scotland, from and
after the appointment of the said Secretary, be
made to or be done by or to the Secretary.
"6. It shall be lawful for Her Majesty from time
to time, by warrant under the Royal Sign Manual,
to appoint the Secretary for Scotland to be Vice-
President of the Scotch Education Department;
and the Scotch Education Deparment shall mean
the Lords of any Committee of the Privy Council
appointed by Her Majesty on Education in
Scotland. " 7. From and after the appointment of the Vice-
President of the Scotch Education Department as
hereinbefore provided, all powers and duties
vested in or imposed on the Scotch Education
Department constituted under the Education
(Scotland) Act, 1872, shall, be transferred to,
vested in, and imposed on the Scotch Education
Department constituted under this Act ; and
wherever in any Act of Parliament, minute, or
regulation, reference is made to the Scotch
Education Department, such reference shall be
read and construed as applying to the Scotch

•Keeping iber flbafestg's Seal 381
Education Department constituted under this
Act. " 8. The Secretary shall have the place, trust,
and office of Keeper of Her Majesty's Seal, ap
pointed by the Treaty of Union to be kept and
made use of in Scotland in place of the Great
Seal of Scotland, with all such powers, privileges,
and liberties as do by law and custom belong to
the same.
" 9. Nothing in this Act contained shall pre
judice or interfere with any rights, powers, privi
leges, or duties vested in or imposed on the Lord
Advocate by virtue of any Act of Parliament or
custom."

CHAPTER XIV
A TOUR ROUND THE WORLD — THE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES— MOTHER
AND DAUGHTER COUNTRIES — '" A MARRIAGE OF THE AFFECTIONS "
— BASIS OF EMPIRE — "THE PASSION OF MY LIFE" — A BUSY AUTUMN
— GREAT SPEECHES IN PARLIAMENT — THE FRANCHISE BILL — REDIS
TRIBUTION — RELATIONS OF LORDS AND COMMONS— INDEPENDENT
PEERS AND "RECKLESS DEMAGOGUES" — AN URGENT APPEAL
LORD ROSEBERY, freed from the worries
of office, was able to take the tour round
the world which he had long desired to enjoy.
His wife accompanied him. The children, of whom
there were four, were left in the care of Lady
Leconfield, their aunt. The two eldest children
were girls — Lady Sybil and Lady Hannah. The
heir had been born at Lansdowne House on
January 8, 1882. He was christened at the
Chapel Royal, St. James's, Lady Lansdowne
being godmother and the Prince of Wales a
godfather. The names given were Albert Edward
Harry Meyer Rothschild. The fourth child was
also a boy, born on December 14, 1882, at
Dalmeny, and christened Neil James Archibald.
Lord and Lady Rosebery, immediately after
the Earl's resignation, made the necessary arrange
ments, and soon left England on a trip which
382

TKMcome to australia 383
was one of the most delightful periods of their
life together. They went first to America, where
their doings from day to day were recorded in
detail in the daily newspapers. They went
everywhere and saw everything worth seeing,
and met many distinguished people there. Mines,
workhouses, orphanages, hospitals, and municipal
buildings were inspected. Racecourses were
visited. To the Earl, especially, who was ever
a student of men, the trip was instructive as
well as pleasant, for he took care to inform
himself intimately on the social conditions of the
workers in the countries visited, and of the
manner in which social and industrial problems
were being dealt with abroad. Part of Septem
ber and October were spent on the American
continent, and then they sailed from San
Francisco for Australia, which was reached early
in December. From Sydney they proceeded to
Melbourne, which was reached on December 12,
Mr. Service, the Premier, receiving the Earl and
Countess at the railway station, and taking them
afterwards to Government House. In Australia
they received the most cordial and enthusiastic
welcome. The popularity of Lord Rosebery in
the home country was well-known to the Aus
tralian people, who, by means of a press as
distinguished, honourable and capable as that of
England, were thoroughly familiar with the work
he had done in England, and with all questions

384 lorb "IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
concerning politics at home and the relations of
the home Government with the Colonies. Lord
Rosebery was regarded, consequently, as one
whose sympathies with the Colonies were assured.
Shortly after his arrival the Highland Society
gave a banquet in his honour at Sydney, and
the company received from Lord Rosebery the
assurance that he and the Liberal party under
stood the feelings and sympathised with the
aspirations of the Australian Colonies, for whom
the Earl predicted a brilliant future.
Australia has always been largely interested
in sport, and the presence of Lord Rosebery
at cricket matches, and at the Royal Victoria
Club's race meeting at Flessington, were greatly
appreciated. The Earl visited mines, museums,
libraries. A visit was paid on the last day of
the year to Sandhurst. There the Earl saw the
Garden Gully mine, and had explained to him
the various processes of extracting the gold from
the quartz. He was presented with a souvenir
of the visit in the form of a piece of golden
quartz well laminated with minerals. At a
luncheon afterwards he commented upon the
great advantages the industrial workers in Aus
tralia enjoyed over their brethren at home.
On January 9, 1884, he was entertained at
the banquet given by Mr. C. Smith, Mayor of
Melbourne. Other chief guests were the Marquis
of Normanby and Sir William Des Vceux. Mr.

Unitg of the Empire 385
Service, the Premier, was present. Lord Rosebery
on that occasion delivered what the Melbourne
Argus described as " a pleasing and graceful
address, which is of value as indicating what will
be done by the noble lord in the inevitable dis
cussion of the Australian questions in England."
Another comment of the newspaper named ran :
"One of the great difficulties of the day in
England, Lord Rosebery remarked, is to restore
the local government which has been lost —
a remark which, it may be presumed, must be
taken as indicating not that the Earl of Rosebery
is ready to throw up the cap for Home Rule in
Ireland, but that he approves of Mr. Chamberlain's
plan of easing the work of the Imperial Parlia
ment by establishing county boards. . . . Lord
Rosebery earned rapturous applause by his
declaration that as the result of his tour it will
become a passion with him to lend whatever
aid he can to the preservation of the union
of the Empire. When he had finished, the
audience could understand why, apart from his
friendship for Mr. Gladstone, the Earl of Rosebery
holds a high position in Imperial politics, and is
regarded with hope as a coming man."
Writing of this now, when Federation of the
Australian Colonies has been brought about, and
when the test of war has been applied to the
affection of the colonists for the mother country,
it is interesting to quote from Lord Rosebery's
vol. 1. 25

386 Xorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
speech on that occasion a few sentences which
show how in this, as in other matters, Lord
Rosebery has accurately gauged the feelings of
the people and the true spirit of Empire. He
remarked : "I have heard a dread murmur
that if federation took place, and if Australia
became a dominion as Canada is, there would be
some danger of Australasia desiring to separate
from the Mother Country. I only mention that
as an argument which has been used. Now, I
don't profess to define for one moment what is
the basis on which the British Empire rests. I
do not believe that such a conglomeration has
everobeen seen since the world began, and I don't
believe that any one here or outside this room
can give any satisfactory account to the logical
mind of the basis on which that Empire rests,
because it is not a matter of compact or of civil
contract. The connection between Great Britain
and her colonies is a marriage of the affections,
or it is nothing at all. It has been said very
lately by a writer who has visited Australia, Mr.
Forbes, and who is entitled to great weight on
his own account, that the connection of Australia
with the mother country would not survive a war.
I have naturally no experience, nor have you, to
judge whether that is so or not. But my belief
is that the connection of loyalty between Australia
and the mother country would survive a war, and
would survive, as long as other things were equal,

"a Single 1Reb line" 387
as long as the home country and the daughter
country were allowed to preserve their positions
of mutual independence and mutual self-respect.
I believe that if those conditions are observed,
the connection of the colonies — and I am speaking
of Australia more particularly — will become closer
and not looser than before. . . . There is an old
tradition — I don't know if it remains good — that
in the British Royal dockyards every rope that is
manufactured, from the largest cable to the smallest
twine, has a single red thread through it which
pervades the whole strand, and which, if unpacked,
destroys the whole rope. That was a sign of
the Royal production of those ropes. Although
I distrust metaphors, I believe that that metaphor
holds good to some extent of the British Empire.
It is held together by this single red line, and
that red line is the union of races. When I
say the union of races, I mean to imply the
community of memories, of work, of object and
of aim which is implied by the communion of
races. I have always hoped that that communion
of races might exist as long as my life lasted ;
but since my visit to Australia it will become a
passion with me to endeavour to preserve that
union, and to serve this country of Australia, of
which I can never have any but the most happy
and delightful memories." Lord Rosebery in the
course of his speech expressed great regret that
he and the Countess would be unable during the

388 Xorb IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
tour to pay the visit to New Zealand which they
had hoped for.
Before leaving Australia Lord Rosebery wrote
a letter to the widow of Mr. Marcus Clarke, in
relation to the memorial volume to that talented
writer, which was then in preparation, the book
being compiled and edited by Hamilton Mac-
kinnon, and " respectfully dedicated by Marian
Clarke to Lord Rosebery, in grateful remem
brance of his kindness to her and her children."
The letter ran :
"Government House, Melbourne, January 16, 1884.
" Mrs. Marcus Clarke.
"Dear Madam, — I am honoured by your request
that I should allow the memorial volume of your
husband's works to be dedicated to me. I am
very chary about dedications, because I never feel
I deserve them. But this one, perhaps, I am
least unworthy of, and therefore, if you think that
my name can be of the slightest service to the
book, pray make use of it as you please.
" I say that I am not wholly unworthy of this
honour, and for this reason. I think, perhaps,
that of those who live in England, I am one of
the oldest and warmest of your husband's admirers
— so warm that I remember, when I read of his
death, feeling that my visit to Australia (which
has always been a floating dream of mine) would
lose one great attraction to me in his absence.

appreciation of /Ibarcus Clarfce 389
Long ago I fell upon ' His Natural Life ' by
accident, and read it, not once or twice, but many
times, at different periods. Since then I have
frequently given away copies to men whose
opinions I valued, and have always received from
them the same opinion as to the extraordinary
power of the book.
" There can, indeed, I think, be no two opinions
as to the horrible fascination of the book. The
reader who takes it up and gets beyond the
Prologue — which is for many reasons the least
satisfactory, albeit a very necessary part of the
narrative — although he cannot but be harrowed
by the long agony of the story and the human
anguish of every page, is unable to lay it down :
almost in spite of himself he has to read and
suffer to the bitter end. To me, I confess, it is
the most terrible of all novels, more terrible than
' Oliver Twist ' or Victor Hugo's most startling
effects, for the simple reason that it is more real.
It has all the solemn ghastliness of truth.
" Since I have been in Australia I have
employed some of the little time at my disposal
in carefully examining the blue books on which
' His Natural Life ' is founded, and during my
recent visit to Tasmania I made some personal
inquiries on the subject. The result has been to
bring conviction to my mind that the case is not
one whit overstated — nay, that the fact in some
particulars is more frightful than the fiction.

39° lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
Perhaps the most appalling chapter in the book
is that which describes the escape and cannibalism
of Gabbett, yet this is taken with almost verbal
accuracy from the narrative of the escape of
Pearce and Cox from Macquarie Harbour, in the
appendix of the Transportation Report of 1837-8.
That this should be so only enhances, to my
mind, the merit of the book.
" The materials for great works of imagination
lie all around us ; but it is genius that selects and
transposes them.
" I fancy that your husband's works are not
sufficiently appreciated in Australia, and am sure
they are insufficiently appreciated in Great Britain.
It is not, perhaps, wonderful as regards Great
Britain, but it is certainly wonderful (if it be
true) as regards Australia. For it is rare, I think,
that so young a country has produced so great
a literary force. I cannot believe but that the
time must soon come when Australians will feel
a melancholy pride in this true son of genius,
and Australian genius ; while as they read his
greatest work (written when he was but twenty-
five) they cannot but be thrilled at the thought
that the bright present they enjoy is separated
by so narrow an interval of time from the infernal
tragedy portrayed by him. And in England you
may find that — like another power in the world
of letters, not dissimilar in genius, I mean Emily
Bronte — he may have made up to him in

tEbe "Ibomewarb Sourneg 391
posthumous honour what was lacking in his
lifetime. " In any case, I rejoice at the publication of a
volume of those smaller pieces of your husband's
which are out of print ; and I hope to see at
no distant date a cheaper edition of 'His Natural
Life,' so as to bring it within the reach of the
great mass of the reading public.
" I am writing in haste, as in an hour or two
I leave Melbourne on my way home ; so I will
only ask you to believe me to be,
" Sincerely yours, " Rosebery."
The book embraces a great variety of writings,
and it is amusing to note that it even includes the
political song, —
Learn the lore of Mill and May,
And nerve your souls for politics, —
with the chorus —
Politics, politics, that's the trade, —
Turn 'em out, keep 'em out,
Fortune's made.
Robberies ! Jobberies, many be,
No Robbing like the Jobbing of the Treasury.
Before returning to England, Lord and Lady
Rosebery visited India, where also they had a
most hearty welcome. Then their faces were
turned homeward, where Lord Rosebery with

392 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
renewed vigour was to return almost immediately
to the political arena, and commence one of the
most active periods of his life, both in Parliament
and the country. In many of his speeches
subsequently to the tour abroad, it was evident
that the visit to the distant parts of the British
possessions had given him a greater idea of the
power and possibilities of the Empire. He was
in his place in the House of Lords soon after
his return. On June 20 he moved for the
appointment of a Select Committee to consider
the best means of promoting the efficiency of
the House of Lords. He suggested a few points
that might be subjects of consideration for such
a committee, and expressed the opinion that the
nation would regard with great satisfaction the
spectacle of the House of Lords endeavouring
to remodel itself without outward pressure. It
was the duty of the members of the House to
make it as powerful as possible, and to this end
reform was essential.
Lord Granville on this occasion said he
thought there ought to be some specific proposals
if such a committee were to be appointed — a
view which was generally endorsed by Lord
Salisbury. After a debate, in which a number
of peers took part, the motion . was negatived by
seventy-seven votes to thirty-eight.
On February 29, 1884, Mr. Gladstone had
introduced into the House of Commons the

Zbc franchise Bill 393
County Franchise Bill, by which the qualifications
in counties were to be assimilated to those in
boroughs, and two millions of voters were to be
added to the electorate. At first uncompromising
resistance was offered by the Conservatives.
Their attitude was, however, considerably modified
afterwards, and they contented themselves with
the demand that a Redistribution Bill should also
be introduced as a consequence of the measure.
On June 26 the third reading of the Bill was
carried. Mr. Gladstone at the time quoted, as
a warning to the House of Lords, the advice
of Polonius to his son : " Beware of entrance to a
quarrel ; but, being in, bear 't that the opposer
may beware of thee." So the Bill went to
the Lords, and on July 8, 1884, Lord Rosebery
delivered a great speech in support of its second
reading. The effort was admitted even by his
opponents to be one of the finest he had ever
made. The reference in the early remarks to
Lord Brabourne had a peculiar sting, for that
peer was one of those most recently created by
Mr. Gladstone, against whose party in the House
of Lords he had constantly voted after taking
his seat in the Upper House.
Lord Rosebery said :
" I cannot but regret the extreme anguish which
the noble lord (Brabourne) described himself as
feeling at being obliged on this occasion to vote in
a different lobby from Her Majesty's Government.

394 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
When I remember how frequently this has
unfortunately been the case, I can only look
on the noble lord's coronet as a crown of
thorns ; because, ever since he has had a seat in
this House, it has been his consistent and
miserable fate to vote against Her Majesty's
Government. The noble lord said he could not
bear to shut the door on these two millions
whom the Bill proposes to enfranchise ; but I can
comfort him by the assurance that he will not
shut the door upon them, because, whatever the
vote of this evening may be — and I regret, from
certain ominous signs on the benches opposite,
that it will not be favourable to the cause I
espouse — the result of to-night's division will not
be to reject, but only to retard the great measure
of emancipation now before your lordships.
" I am glad to hear the cheers that come from
the benches opposite, and I will ask noble lords
to consider whether the retarding of a measure
of this sort, in the way it is sought to retard it,
is altogether the most just and practicable method
of proceeding ? As far as I can gather from the
debate, there is no difference of opinion whatever
as to the merits of the Bill which is before your
lordships ; and what seems to be the unfortunate
part of the case is, that, having arrived at this
unanimous opinion, your lordships are equally
resolved, by a powerful majority, to reject the
Bill. Outside this House there are a great many

5rish IRepresentation 395
rude, honest, simple, ignorant people who are
unable, and will be unable, to understand how
that state of things has arisen.
" We on this side do not regard this merely
as a measure of expediency ; we regard it as a
measure of expediency, it is true, but we regard
it as a measure of justice as well — a long-deferred
measure of high justice to give this boon to two
millions of our fellow-countrymen. But with us
it is not only a question of expediency and
justice, it is a question of possibility. I venture
to say that any one who has regarded the state
of business in the House of Commons during the
last few years will see it would have been a
matter of impossibility to attempt to pass a Re
distribution Bill in connection with the Franchise
Bill. The noble Earl, the Secretary for the
Colonies, touched on this point in his able speech
to-night, and referred to the delay of debate in
the other House. Every member whose seat
would have been affected by the measure of re
distribution would have been able to raise a
distinct discussion on the point, and you will see
in this one measure of redistribution, there would
have been opportunities for obstruction which
could not have been resisted.
" There is the case of Ireland. Some maintain
that it is over-represented ; some maintain that
the over-representation is not so great as to make
it worth interfering with ; some maintain that its

396 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
distance from London justifies a larger measure
of representation for Ireland than is given to
other parts of the United Kingdom. But every
one of these questions would be raised on the
first breath of a measure of redistribution, and,
what is more, you will have the whole question
of justice to Ireland, which has been so pre
dominant a question for the last four years,
raised. " Then there is the case of Scotland. The
case of Scotland is not so clamant as that of
Ireland ; but Scotland demands and claims a
larger representation, and we may be sure that
the flock of faithful sheep who come from Scotland
would not be very willing that their claim should
be overlooked. And when you come to ask how
the addition to Scotland is to be found, you find
yourselves face to face with questions of the
most vital importance — questions as to how these
members are to be obtained — whether by addition
to the members of the House of Commons or
some other way.
"Then there are the questions of proportional
representation, the question of the representation
of minorities, — all these are questions which are
vital to redistribution. The noble and learned
Earl (Cairns) enumerated these points much
better than I can do ; but a strange thing in his
argument was this, that he had drawn from this
enumeration a conclusion the very opposite of that

Ube "IRebistributton (Question 397
which I draw. He seemed to think that because
there were so many difficulties and perplexities,
and so many opportunities of interminable dis
cussion, therefore it was necessary that the Re
distribution Bill and the Franchise Bill should
be brought in together. There are one or two
other points connected with this point of re
distribution which the noble and learned Earl has
raised. It is said that you are unwilling to make
this large addition to the voting power of the
country without a large measure of redistribution
as well.
" I will test that by a simple argument. The
question of redistribution as a part of this Bill
was settled on the amendment of the noble Lord
the member for Leicestershire (Lord J. Manners)
on the second reading of the Bill in the other
House. It was then put an end to finally and
for ever in the House of Commons by a majority
of 130. There was no more question then after
that of redistribution forming part of the Franchise
Bill. But at the eleventh hour, at the last stage
of the Bill, what did the front Opposition bench
in the House of Commons do ? Led by the
right hon. Baronet (Sir S. Northcote), supported
by the noble Lord (Lord J. Manners), they
brought forward a proposition, and argued it with
all the strength in their power, to add five
hundred thousand voters to the two million new
voters proposed by the Bill — I mean the women

398 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
vote — and this without the slightest provision for
redistribution. " The question of redistribution was dead and
gone ; it was on the shelf; it was hung up, but
that did not prevent the front Opposition bench in
the House of Commons raising this question. The
noble and learned Earl further said that if the
Government passed this Bill they might not, after
all, from various circumstances, fulfil their pledge
to introduce a measure of redistribution next year.
I am sure that was not meant as an insult ; but I
can conceive no greater insult to a body of men
like Her Majesty's Government than the idea that
they are coming here with false professions. I
tell noble lords opposite that should that breach
of pledge arise I would join with them, and half
the members on this side of the House would
join with them, in any vote of censure they might
bring forward for breach of faith.
" But the noble and learned Earl felt a panic
for fear the scheme of redistribution should be
rejected, and a new Parliament should be elected
on the new franchise, which would be so satisfied
with the present state of things that it might
decline altogether to entertain the question of
redistribution. I do not deny that when one is
well off one is content to leave things alone. That
is perhaps why noble lords on the front Ministerial
bench do not listen to the frantic demands that
are made on them to appeal to the country by

Confidence in the people 399
noble lords opposite. But I do not think the
measure that has been introduced will rest entirely
on the discretion of Parliament. I think you will
find the great constituencies that are unrepresented
will take good care that the question of redistri
bution is not allowed to slumber. I don't think
noble Lords need be under any apprehension on
this head. If those places would not take care
that redistribution was remembered, the great city
of London, with five million inhabitants, and the
kingdom of Scotland, from which I come, will
equally take care that redistribution is not for
gotten. I will only say further on this subject :
If there were to be an election under this
Bill without redistribution, I am in the happy
position which is shared by the noble Earl
(Dunraven) who spoke last night — I have so
much confidence in the great mass of my fellow-
countrymen that I am not in the least afraid
of their returning a House which would not
be worthy of the British House of Commons.
That, however, is a question of the individual
feeling, and I shall not say anything further
upon it.
" The noble and learned Earl (Cairns) and
other speakers have reproached the Government
because they represented this to be a pressing
matter, and yet did not introduce it four years ago.
The answer to that seems to me one of the most
elementary matters. The present Government

400 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
were returned to Parliament with a very complete
programme of work to be done. Would it have
been wise or possible on their part if they had
taken first the part of their programme which
alone necessitated a dissolution ?
" I go now from redistribution to another great
stumbling-block which has been raised by noble
Lords opposite as one reason why they cannot
vote for the Bill. They have not given it in so
many words, but they have shown a degree of
irritation on the subject which makes me feel that
it has a great deal to do with their attitude. I
mean the speech of Mr. Gladstone in moving the
third reading of this Bill. I venture to say that
I do not think any speech ever delivered in Par
liament — and I have heard many speeches very
much misunderstood — I do not think any speech
has been so completely and absolutely misunder
stood as the speech of Mr. Gladstone. I venture
to say that, so far from being meant in the sense
in which it has been taken in this House, that
speech was meant in a strictly Conservative sense.
There is no one who has the privilege and honour
of Mr. Gladstone's acquaintance but knows the
essentially Conservative bases on which Mr.
Gladstone's political opinions rest, and I venture
to say, from what I know of him, and from
reading the speech, that that speech was meant
not to threaten the House of Lords in the slightest
degree, but to prevent a collision between the two

front Bench Securitg 401
Houses, which no statesman, no Prime Minister,
would ever wish to force.
" But I take it that the policy of the Government
in regard to this matter should be taken, not
altogether in regard to Mr. Gladstone's speech,
but. as a whole; and I do not think the Govern
ment can be accused of any special wish to
injure the constitution of this House. No one
who was in this House a few weeks ago, when
I had the honour of proposing, not a modification
of the constitution of this House, not even an
external inquiry, but only a Committee of your
lordships' House to inquire into the best means
of promoting the efficiency of this House, can
forget the conduct of the Government on that
occasion. Some of my leaders on the front bench
left the House before the division was taken.
But there was one noble lord, a member of the
Government, who had the courage of his opinions,
and who remained in the House, not to support
the unfortunate motion which I had the misfortune
to bring forward, but to assist in crushing it.
Who was that noble lord ? Why, he was the
noble lord (the Earl of Kimberley) who moved
the second reading of this Bill last night in a
speech of singular ability ; and when noble lords
profess to tremble at the menaces of Mr. Gladstone,
they should recollect the great fund of security
afforded them by the front bench. I have not
had the privilege of a seat in this House very
vol. 1. 26

402 lorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
long, but I never recollect any important question
arising but there was a flutter of this kind amongst
your lordships, and it was said that Mr. Gladstone
or Mr. Bright had said something which would
render it impossible for your lordships to vote
according to your consciences or judgments, and
that your lordships must exercise a great and
wise independence, and show what your lordships
think of those reckless demagogues, and how
thoroughly independent you are. I venture to
think that the highest courage of all is shown, if
menaces are offered, by disregarding them, and
by taking the course you would have taken if
they had never been uttered.
" These are absolutely the only arguments
which have been brought forward to support this
most abstract resolution which is now under our
consideration. It is not contended by anybody,
I think, that this matter was not before the con
stituencies at the last general election. In the
Midlothian speeches you will find only one single
reference to the county suffrage ; but it is an
important one. Mr. Gladstone said : ' The question
had been so entirely before the country that it
was almost impossible to say anything new about
it ; but so far as he was concerned, he hoped
and believed that it would form one of the
earliest measures which a new Liberal Govern
ment would undertake ' ; and I venture to say,
when it comes to the fourth session of a new

ttbe "IRigbt of "IRefection 403
Parliament, that the Government have faithfully
and earnestly redeemed that pledge. The House
of Commons has passed the Bill so unanimously
that it spent a whole afternoon in discussing
whether two or three gentlemen said ' No ' in the
division on the third reading. And, therefore,
considering that the subject was well before the
country at the last election, that the Government
had an enormous majority, and that the Bill
comes up to this House with the almost unani
mous voice of the House of Commons, I am
utterly at a loss to understand the arguments
upon which the noble and learned Earl opposite
founds his resolution.
" There is another very important question — a
question which I cannot escape from myself, and
which has not yet been raised in this debate. It
is this : Every member of this House who objects
to this Bill has a perfectly indefeasible right to
reject it. I am not going to discuss this right so
called of the House of Lords, but I do deny that
the House of Lords has any moral justification
for rejecting this Bill on the second reading.
What is our interest in this Bill ? We have an
interest, as all British subjects have an interest,
in this Bill. We have an interest in the good
government of the country ; but I venture to say
that, as regards our interest in the good govern
ment of the country, it is materially affected by
three considerations. The first is this : If we

404 lorb "IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
had no voters on the register like the voters we
are preparing to introduce, I should say there
is some validity in the argument ; but we have
hundreds and thousands of tried and tested voters
of the same kind as those we wish to introduce.
Therefore we cannot say that this is any reckless
experiment in legislation.
"In the next place, I think we should not be
justified, if our object is merely to delay, in reject
ing the Bill. In the third place, I believe we
should have justification, if we were prepared to
reject it, as being opposed to all reform, and not
merely dictating, as we are prepared to do this
evening, the exact order and method of procedure
in which the House of Commons has to reform
its own constitution. What is our interest in this
Bill as compared with another important class of
Bills which we are not allowed to touch — I mean
money Bills? This House is supposed to repre
sent property ; but the House of Commons may
pass a legislative measure to-morrow profoundly
and injuriously affecting the position and property
of every member of this House; they may pass
a graduated Income-tax, or they may mortgage
the whole property of this country by a recklessly
enormous loan ; but when a measure comes up to
this House embodying these proposals, this House
can only bow to it, and accept it. In the year
i860, indeed, there was an appeal made to the
right of the House of Lords to reject money

a parallel Case 405
Bills, but I do not think that is a right which is
likely to survive the reception which it met with
on that occasion. But this is not a matter of
money. " This is a matter that does not concern us
directly at all. It concerns us only indirectly.
It has occupied and it concerns the House of
Commons in the most absolute and direct
manner. Let me take a parallel case, and then
perhaps you will understand what is the position
of the House of Commons. Suppose we were
to pass a Bill to reform ourselves, and, passing
it by acclamation, with only two or three dis
sentients, we sent it down to the House of
Commons, and that when it reached the House
of Commons it was met by a lengthy resolution,
and was turned out on the second reading — what
would be our feelings in regard to the Bill to
reform our own procedure ? Yet I cannot see
any great difference between the case I have
mentioned and the case of the House of Lords
with regard to this Bill. You can well meet me
with this argument, that the House of Lords in
1 83 1 did reject the Reform Bill of that day ; but
that is a fatal precedent. Think what a storm
it aroused. Think how near we were to the
brink of a revolution. But the cases are not
at all parallel. The legislation of 1831 was not
the completion of a measure of enfranchisement
already partly begun. It was a totally new, almost

406 Xorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
a revolutionary measure, brought into a House
totally unaccustomed to Reform Bills ; and it
came up to this House as a thing to be duly
weighed and considered before it was passed.
"I am not asking you, my lords, to limit
your prerogative ; but if this House is to be
strong it should be founded, not on the letter of
the law, but with good sense and on practical
considerations. You strengthen your prerogative
by narrowing it to what is useful and practical.
I do not in the least mean to deny your right
to do anything with this Bill that you choose. I
think an abstract right is a very useful thing to
possess ; but surely it is much more useful if it
is associated with some power of carrying it into
effect. " And this leads me to ask, What is it that
you have the power to effect by passing this
resolution, and by what means do you propose to
effect it ? What is the Archimedean lever by
which you propose to dislocate the balance of
the world ? What is behind you ? Are you sure
of yourselves ? There have been symptoms of
weakening even on the benches opposite. I
know that in all human probability you will have
a majority. The fiery cross has been sent out ;
the army is there — or thereabouts ; and I have
no doubt by the time the division is called the
army will appear. The noble Duke (Argyll) in
the able and eloquent but somewhat abstract

absentee peers 407
argument which he addressed to your lordships
last night, made a spirited defence of the country
peers, and drew a picture of them studying
politics in their rural retreats, and when the
tocsin sounded, hurrying from these rustic retreats
redolent of the library and the hayfield, ready to
confirm any decision which might be arrived at
by the front bench opposite.
" I do not blame the noble lords for non-
attendance, but whether we like it or not, by an
accident of birth we are compelled to take an
interest in politics, and that is why the country
peers are summoned to appear in this House on
great nights. It does not matter so much what
we think of the country peers. What we have
to consider is, what is the opinion outside of this
House as to the character of these votes ? And
when you analyse the large majority and find
that it is composed of those who have not
habitually attended this House, is that a weapon
with which you can with any confidence enter
into a conflict with the great majority of the
country or of the House of Commons ?
" What is it that, by the employment of this
instrument, good, bad, or indifferent, you hope to
gain ? You cannot prevent this Bill passing. In
fact, we have had a unanimous expression of a
wish from every peer who has spoken that he
was most anxious that it should pass, but they
are under the unfortunate necessity of rejecting it.

408 xorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speeches
My Lords, you cannot prevent this Bill passing.
You cannot even turn out the Government. If
anything is certain, the one thing certain is, that
by this action you will greatly strengthen Her
Majesty's Government. Whatever misfortunes or
mistakes they may have had — and there have
been something like half a dozen votes of censure
proposed in this session — you pass a wet sponge
over the slate by the resolution of this evening,
and the Government goes to the country ; it does
not go to the country in the technical sense, but
it presents this issue : ' Are you prepared to have
this measure rejected by the House of Lords?'
I am not a member of the Government, but if I
was, I should pray for nothing more earnestly
than this, that noble lords would give the oppor
tunity which you are anxious to give them by
your vote this evening. You cannot even secure
that appeal to the country. I know that the
wish is father to the thought ; and it has been
thought that you could secure that appeal. I saw
some not very obscure indications of that in the
speech of the noble Earl (Carnarvon) who led off
this afternoon ; but you cannot obtain this appeal
to the country.
"It is quite true that we gathered from the
cheers of the noble Marquis that there is to be
a second rejection of this Bill when it comes
before the House again. It is possible that then
you may secure this appeal to the country. But

"3t the Bill is TTbrown ©ut" 409
are you quite sure of your army with regard to
the second rejection ? I am not at all sure, after
the time that we are about to pass through
before this Bill comes up again, that the army
will not have melted away. Some will have
listened to the dictates of reason ; some will be
satisfied with one rejection ; some will have mar
ried wives and bought oxen, and done the other
things of which we are told in Scripture. There
will be a falling away, and if the Bill is thrown
out a second time, it will be by a majority which
will not at all strengthen the position of the noble
Marquis. The noble Marquis knows himself —
nobody better — what it was to lead a storming
party to the breach, and find himself alone.
There is a sinister sameness in the results of
these attacks. I implore him now, before it is
too late, to reflect on the character of the army
he is to lead. If he relies on the second re
jection of this Bill to give him the appeal which
he covets — and, as I think, covets in the most
mistaken and unfortunate manner — I do not feel
quite sure that he is more right in his antici
pations than he has been on previous occasions.
" My Lords, having considered what you can
not effect, allow me to put before you one or
two things that you can effect by your vote. If
your vote is uncertain in some respects, it is
absolutely certain in other respects. There will
be an agitation in this country of a violent and

410 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
terrible kind. I am not speaking in any sense
in the language of menace ; I am only predicting
absolutely certain results from which I myself
recoil. I cannot help noticing the signs we have
had of an agitation of a most deplorable nature.
It was only the other day that a friend of mine,
a guide and instructor of the youth of this country,
went to a public meeting and said that unfortu
nately only one member of this House was hanged
in the last two centuries, but he did not know
how many deserved to be hanged. He did not
explain how this miscarriage of justice had taken
place, but he hinted, not obscurely, that capital
punishment ought to be the lot of most of us. I
quite admit this was a reductio ad absurdum ; I do
not think that the House of Lords is weakened
by language of that sort. But that is only
prognostic of an agitation which would be odious
and horrible in its character, but which will not
be an attack on individuals, which would not stop
at individuals, but would go to generalities, and
would attack every member and the foundations
of this House. There is one more result which
is absolutely certain from an agitation of this
kind. You will have, if we may gather from
the experience of 1867, not a less but a more
violent measure of reform forced upon you by
the agitation which you are about to encourage.
That is the experience of 1866 and 1867; and
whether the more violent measure be passed, as

Citizens Meigbtg Worbs

411

on a former occasion, by noble lords opposite,
I venture to predict it would go further and be
wider than the Bill before the House.
" But there is another consequence of which I
implore your lordships to think. I do not think
that trade, or commerce, or agriculture is in the
state their warmest friends could wish. But there
is no such certainty as this, that the great dis
turbance they must suffer from the agitation, of
which you may see the beginning, but of which
I deny that any noble lord opposite can see the
limit, will be most injurious to them. Let me
quote the weighty words of the citizens of
London in the year 1831 ; they bear so much
on the present occasion. They besought their
' lordships to consider that the majorities by
which the House of Commons has pronounced
its own reform have been triumphant and over
whelming ; that the rejection or the mutilation of
a measure thus unanimously welcomed, and already
half-assured, must spread universal disappoint
ment and dismay ; and as their daily support
depends upon the undisturbed prosecution of their
industry, they contemplate with unfeigned alarm
the possibility of discontent and exasperation to
such a degree as would paralyse commerce, de
prive the labouring population of employment, and
fatally endanger public credit. They therefore
respectfully, but earnestly, implore their lordships
to avert these perilous consequences.' These

412 xorb "IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speecbes
words are not less appropriate now than they
were in 183 1.
" I want to ask your lordships this practical
question : Are you thinking most of the interests
of your party, or most of the interests of this
House ? I put aside the question of country, be
cause I give to noble lords opposite the fullest
credit for doing the best they can in the interests
of the country. I ask if you are doing the
wisest thing, not with regard to your party —
for I am afraid noble lords opposite would not
take my advice on questions of party strategy
— but whether you are doing the wisest thing
with regard to this House ? You are placing
this House, this ancient institution, in a position
for which it is most unsuited and most unfitted —
I mean the risky and unsuitable position of trying
to dam a torrent, of popular feeling. You may
have a thing which is valuable of itself, but you
may put it to a very bad use. A connoisseur
paid ,£4,500 the other day for an ancient, elaborate,
costly horn. That would be a very bad instru
ment for poking the fire with. That is precisely
what you are about to do on this occasion. You
are using an institution of the most ancient and
most valuable kind to poke up a conflagration for
which it is wholly unsuited, and of which I, for
one, cannot pretend to see the limits. Let me use
another consideration with regard to this matter.
This House would put itself in antagonism with

Morfemen anb the Dote 413
an army as large as that of Xerxes — two millions
strong — two millions of persons desirous of this
vote — and in the breach to resist these two
millions there is an army about as large as that
which defended Thermopylae. But the army at
Thermopylae had singular advantages which this
House has not. It had supports which I do not
think noble lords opposite have, because they
are fighting in a plain, without reinforcements or
supports of any kind.
"You may say, as was said in reference to
another military transaction, C'est magnifique, mais
ce nest pas la guerre. What is the feeling of
this host of two millions of men whom you are
trying to keep out ? You cannot substantially
retard the enfranchisement which they desire.
They will have the vote in 1886, whether you
pass the resolution or not. They consider, it a
birthright born of the general election and the
decision of the House of Commons. I am afraid
they will not understand your fine discrimination
as to the votes being valueless without redistribu
tion. I am afraid they will see the fatal flaw
which underlay the whole of the honourable and
learned Earl's ingenious speech. He said, ' Oh,
it is nothing to get a vote — it is the question of
redistribution which is important.' But the point
is this, not what noble lords here think as to
the value of the vote, but what the two millions
who want the vote think about it, and whether

414 lorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
the millions who have the vote already think it
absolutely valueless without an ingenious arrange
ment of redistribution.
" There are two classes of voters who will be
admitted by this Bill. There are the agricultural
classes, who have a fair right to look to the
Conservative party as their friends — who have
always looked upon the Conservative party as
their friends, and who, I am afraid, will not
understand the action of noble Lords opposite,
who appear determined to retard their enjoy
ment of the franchise. Then there is the non-
agricultural class. Each time those who belong
to that class cross the legal line which parts the
boroughs from the counties, they will reflect upon
the fact that they might have enjoyed a vote if
it had not been for the action of your lordships.
So often as they meet voters who live within the
magic line they will say : ' There is no difference
between us, but we are not voters, while they
are ; and this stigma is attached to us by the
House of Lords.' And I venture to ask your
lordships whether it is with a blessing or with
a curse that they will regard this House? These
are considerations which cannot be disregarded
by any House, however powerful or authoritative
it may be.
"If the people of this country be with you,
you are justified in the course you are now
taking. If the House of Commons does not

a Warning to the lorbs 415
represent the people of this country, you are
justified in the course you are going to take
to-night. If the three millions of voters who
already possess the suffrage are anxious to pre
serve the artificial legal distinction between the
town and the country, then, my lords, you are
justified in the course you are going to take
to-night. If the two million non-electors who are
reckoning upon the promises and the votes of
the House of Commons, and upon the practical
unanimity with which the Bill has passed, feel
that they are not entitled to the vote which you
are going to deny them, and are prepared to kiss
the rod with which you chastise them, you are
justified in the course you are going to take
to-night. " But, my lords, is it on such hopes and on
such prognostications as this that you are about
to face the storms of popular prejudice and
popular indignation ? The crisis is grave. We
stand by a precipice if we are not hurrying to it,
and I cannot console myself with any of those
honeyed expressions about our authority and our
standing in the country which afford so much
consolation to the noble Earl. I see a situation
as grave as the unwisdom of a leader and the
strength of a party in this House are able to
produce. I do think that when we consider
what we have at stake to-night, we have a right
to appeal to the more independent members of

416 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
this House. I do not pretend to say that we
have at stake to-night the existence of this
House, because I do not think so ; but we have
at stake that without which existence is not
valuable or tolerable — the weight and the authority
which is given by wise decisions and by sympathy
with the nation, that nation for which we legislate
and which governs us. I venture to appeal to
the independent members of this House to pause
before they vote for the amendment of the noble
Earl. I was delighted with the defence of the
cross benches which came from the noble Duke
(Argyll) who has sat so long during his Parlia
mentary career on the front bench, and I am
quite willing to endorse all that he said. But I
appeal to these crowded cross benches, which are
always asking to be enlarged — I appeal to them
— to those who can regard politics without being
influenced by mere temporary party prejudices —
I appeal to them to pause before they endorse
the action of the noble Earl.
" But, my lords, if I may make another appeal,
it would be to those right reverend prelates who
in this House represent a faith and who preach
a gospel which is not merely a message of peace
and goodwill to men, but which is also the
highest and the purest theory of democracy which
has yet been vouchsafed to men. I appeal to
them to assist us in giving this great privilege
to two millions of our countrymen, and I appeal

Photo, by y. Valentine*]

Dalmeny Castle.

franchise Bill iRejecteb 417
to them to separate this House from the storms
and anxieties that we must face if we pass this
resolution. I do not say that I regard this
motion as a wanton one — wanton is too strong
a word. I have no right either from my standing
or my age to use any such expression. But I
have the right to ask your lordships to pause
on every consideration, public, private, and per
sonal, which can influence an ancient and illus
trious Senate. I would ask you in the interests
of your order, of your authority, and of your
party, to pause before you pass a resolution
which may strike a fatal blow at your existence."
Lord Rosebery's eloquence, delivered in a
House absolutely hostile to his views, was not
likely to secure the passage of the measure ;
but it created stir and consternation, and efforts
towards a compromise between the two parties.
Nevertheless the Franchise Bill was rejected by
three hundred and fifty-one votes to fifty-nine.
The chief ground of objection alleged was that
the Bill was not accompanied by a Redistribution
of Seats Bill.
What happened afterwards was not, as had
been expected, a dissolution of Parliament, but
a campaign in Midlothian, Mr. Gladstone again
being Lord Rosebery's guest, and an autumn
session of Parliament. After a bitter contro
versy, a compromise was eventually arranged.
There was a good deal of consultation amongst
vol. 1. 27

418 lorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
party leaders, and a Redistribution Bill was
agreed upon. On November 13 the Franchise
Bill was passed by the House of Lords. This
led to an interesting exchange of views between
Mr. Gladstone and Lord Tennyson, who was
then Poet Laureate. The day after the Bill was
passed by the House of Lords, Lord Tennyson
sent to Mr. Gladstone the following lines :
Steersman, be not precipitate in thine act
Of steering, for the river here, my friend,
Parts in two channels, moving to one end —
This goes straight forward to the cataract :
That streams about the bend.
But tho' the cataract seems the nearer way,
Whate'er the crowd on either bank may say,
Take thou " the bend," 'twill save thee many a day.
Mr. Gladstone replied :
" Downing Street, Nov. 15, 1884.
" My dear Tennyson, —
" I think it a great honour to receive from
you a suggestion in verse. For three months I
have laboured to the best and utmost of my
ability to avert a crisis and an era of organic
change, which it seems to me that the Tory
benches have been inviting ; and I have been
quite willing to tread any path, direct or circuitous,
which could lead me to the attainment of this
end. Indeed, I have, as you advised, toiled in
the circuitous method; but unfortunately with this

Worfeing for peace 419
issue, that, working round the labyrinth, I find
myself at the end where I was at the beginning.
However, in any and every way open to us we
shall continue to work for peace. ' The resources
of civilisation are not yet exhausted,' and I will
not despair, provided our friends, and you among
them, continue, as I feel sure it will be, to give
us their firm and united support. Believe me,
"Yours most sincerely,
"W. E. Gladstone."
Between Lord Rosebery's address to the House
of Lords in July and the passage of the Franchise
Bill on November 13, there had been interesting
doings at Dalmeny, which will be described in
the next chapter.

CHAPTER XV
BRIGHT DAYS AT DALMENY — A ROYAL VISIT — TREE-PLANTING ON THE
LAWN BY PRINCES AND PRINCESSES— MR. GLADSTONE'S VISIT—
THE MIDLOTHIAN CAMPAIGN OF 1884 — NOTES BY "TOBY, M.P."
— THE G.O.M., THE AXE, AND THE OAK-TREES — LORD ROSEBERY
AT THE TRADE UNION CONGRESS — THE FREEDOM OF ABERDEEN —
A LETTER TO THE LORDS
ALL Scotland joined in the festivities which
marked the visit of the Prince and Princess
of Wales and their children to Edinburgh in
August, 1884, for the purpose of seeing the
Forestry Exhibition and spending a few days
with the Earl and Countess of Rosebery at
Dalmeny. Their Royal Highnesses had visited
Newcastle on August 21, where their reception
was described by The Scotsman as one " which
no European monarch could secure in any part
of his dominions." The same journal added :
"In Edinburgh the Prince and Princess of Wales
have a city of friends ; at Dalmeny they will have
warm hospitality and a chance of a few days' quiet
enjoyment of repose in the midst of scenery as
lovely as any in the United Kingdom." On
August 22 the Royal party reached Edinburgh,
where the welcome given them was of the heartiest
420

tlbe prince anb the Earl 421
character. The leading article in The Scotsman the
next day thus concluded : " One other gratification
the Prince and Princess must have experienced ; it
was to hear and see the demonstration of the
popularity of Lord Rosebery, their host. Every
where he was received with the warmest welcome.
Hearty cheers told how strong is the hold he
has on the affection of his countrymen, and how
ready they are to recognise worthy service in
their and the Imperial cause. In all this there
will be a pleasure added to the visit to Edinburgh,
and the strong promise of genuine rest and enjoy
ment at Dalmeny."
The Prince and Princess of Wales, with Princes
Albert Victor and George and the Princesses,
visited many places in Edinburgh. They spent
much time at the Forestry Exhibition, and took
a ride on the new electric railway, where it is
recorded the princes amused themselves by ringing
the electric bells during the trip. The Princess
of Wales on that occasion received a unique gift
— an electric bouquet presented to her by Miss
Binks, and consisting of beautiful flowers with
tiny electric incandescent lamps lighted and shining
amongst them. The Infirmary and other insti
tutions were inspected, and the Prince of Wales
and his two sons, accompanied by the Earl of
Rosebery, visited St. Giles's Cathedral.
On the way to Dalmeny the Royal guests passed
through a succession of triumphal arches, and

422 3Lorb IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speecbes
were warmly cheered by the villagers at Dalmeny.
Barnbougle Castle had hoisted above it a huge
flag. At Dalmeny the Countess of Rosebery
received the guests, and about nine o'clock the
party sat down to dinner, the company including
the Prince and Princess of Wales, Princes Albert
Victor and George, Princesses Louise, Victoria,
and Maud of Wales.
The district of Dalmeny is remarkable alike for
its picturesque surroundings and for its historical
interest. Within the extensive barony of Dalmeny
and Barnbougle the grounds by successive undu
lations rise from the shore to a considerable
elevation, and, tastefully ornamented as they are
with large masses of thriving plantation, so
arranged as to afford a rich variety of landscape,
they command at the same time numberless views
of the Forth and of the surrounding country
which cannot easily be surpassed in respect of
extent or beauty. The historical interest the
neighbourhood possesses is perhaps sufficiently
attested by its topography, embracing its Queens-
ferry, its Port Edgar, its St. Margaret's Hope,
and such-like. Not far from Dalmeny House,
too, at Cramond Brig, is the scene of Jock
Howieson's memorable meeting with his sovereign,
James V., "the gudeman o' Ballengeich," which
brought to the former the absolute ownership of
the land he then tilled, on the condition of doing
service to the Crown by presenting a basin of

Barnbougle Castle's Spectre 423
water and a towel to the sovereign whenever
called upon to do so.
The mansion of Dalmeny is quite a modern
edifice, having been erected in the beginning of
the present century by Archibald John Primrose,
fourth Earl of Rosebery. Designed by William
Wilkins, architect, it expresses a phase of the
Perpendicular style as it obtained in England
during the fifteenth century — its conspicuous
features being its four-centred arch, its mullioned
and transomed windows, its angular turrets at
the corners, and its battlemented parapets. There
are many fine works of art to be seen, among
them good examples of Murillo and Vandyke.
A few hundred yards from Dalmeny House
stands Barnbougle Castle, the ancient stronghold
of the Mowbrays, which has recently been
restored by the Earl of Rosebery. Built in
14 1 4 on a peak of land known as the Hound
Point (from a legend which sets forth that when
ever a lord of Barnbougle approaches death
the spectre of a man and a hound appears, the
man blowing a long, piercing note on the bugle),
the castle passed into the hands of the Primroses
two centuries and a half later — in 1662. Shortly
after the erection of Dalmeny House — towards
the commencement of the present century —
Barnbougle Castle fell into a dismantled condition,
and in its reconstruction the present Earl is
understood, according to The Scotsman, to have

424 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
had regard to the fact that the venerable pile was
marked upon the charts used by vessels navigating
the Firth of Forth, and that its removal would
have created confusion to navigators. In this
connection some signification may be assigned to
the quotation introduced by the present Earl in
a panel on the east side of the new structure :
" Remove not the ancient landmarks which thy
forefathers have set." The present edifice was
reared upon the original foundations. It has a
tower at the east corner eighty feet high. Ex
ternally the building expresses well the baronial
features of our national style, with its corbels,
crow-stepped gables, and turrets.
On the Saturday following their arrival at
Dalmeny the Royal party inspected the Forth
Bridge Works, and on the Sunday, after morning
service, lunch was served at Barnbougle. On
Monday the Royal guests left Dalmeny, and con
tinued their journey northwards. Before taking
their departure from Dalmeny Park the Royal
family commemorated the visit by planting seven
trees. This interesting ceremony took place on
the lawn in front of the mansion, the trees, which
consisted of plane and horse-chestnut trees, being
planted in a group. The largest of the trees
— a plane — was planted in the centre by Her
Royal Highness the Princess of Wales. The
Prince of Wales planted the next, and the other
members of the family in turn performed the same

ftblrb /DMblothian Campaign 425
ceremony. Their Royal Highnesses were accom
panied on the lawn by the Earl and Countess of
Rosebery. Mr. Allan, the forester on the estate,
and Mr. Campbell, the clerk of works, were in
attendance, and during the ceremony the Prince
took occasion to speak to Mr. Campbell, whom
he recognised as having seen on a former visit to
Dalmeny many years previously. The whole party,
as they stood on the lawn, were photographed
by Mr. Moffat, Edinburgh. Shortly afterwards
the Royal guests departed, the Earl and Countess
of Rosebery driving with them in the same carriage
to the station, drawn by four horses.
Two days after the departure of the Royal
visitors Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone arrived at
Dalmeny. The journey was undertaken for what
may be called the third Midlothian campaign, and
in many of its features it was a repetition of the
triumphal progress of the autumn of 1879. Many
things had happened since then, but nothing had
changed the feeling of personal devotion which
Liberals had for their great leader. Wherever
Mr. Gladstone went there were great and en
thusiastic meetings. There were demonstrations
at the railway stations as he passed northwards.
Deputations waited for him on the railway plat
forms, and many addresses of welcome were
presented to him. Brief speeches were delivered
at nearly a dozen towns on the journey. At
Edinburgh a great crowd awaited his arrival. He

426 lorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
was received at the station by Lord Rosebery,
who was accompanied by Lord Carington, Mr.
Cowan, and the Lord Provost. Mr. and Mrs.
Gladstone on that occasion looked the picture
of health. Taking Lord Rosebery's arm, Mr.
Gladstone made his way to the carriage. Mrs.
Gladstone and Miss Gladstone had some difficulty
in following them, for the station scene was one
of wild excitement. All the way to Dalmeny the
streets were lined with cheering people. On their
arrival the distinguished guests were received by
the Countess of Rosebery.
With the exception of a surprise visit to the
Forth Bridge Works, Mr. Gladstone spent the
next day at Dalmeny. Friday also was spent
quietly. The Forestry Exhibition and the Liberal
Club were visited by the Premier and Lord
Rosebery. On August 30 he made the first great
speech of the campaign at a meeting at the
Edinburgh Corn Exchange. The Franchise Bill
and the Lords was the subject, and " No sur
render ! " was the spirit in which the Premier
dealt with it. He also spoke of the Bill for a
Secretary for Scotland, and must have been
convinced that the people of Scotland ardently
desired it.
" An incident of the proceedings," commented
The Scotsman, " which it is impossible not to notice,
was the unmistakable evidences of the cordial and
growing feeling with which Lord Rosebery is

K>eers anb people 427
regarded by the Liberal party. Few politicians
receive such flattering marks of confidence as Lord
Rosebery received on Saturday in the assemblage
both outside and inside the Corn Exchange. He
found it impossible to resist the calls made for
him in the meeting, and when he rose he had
the whole vast audience standing before him and
cheering vociferously. It was a reception which
any statesman might envy."
Lord Rosebery did his best to keep silence ;
but the meeting in the Corn Exchange, like the
meetings held subsequently, insisted upon remarks
from him. The people shouted for him until he
was compelled to rise and speak in response.
He devoted his remarks on this occasion to a
brief appreciation of Mr. Gladstone and a few
words about the Lords. "There is a contest
between the great men of the nation which inhabits
these islands and the majority of fifty-nine peers,
which I cannot now analyse, but which I warned
them, before that division was taken, was no
weapon to use in a contest with the people of
this country."
The Sunday was spent at Dalmeny, a walk
being taken in the afternoon to Barnbougle Castle.
On the Monday, September 1, Mr. Gladstone
delivered another great speech in the Corn Ex
change, defending the policy of the Government
along the whole line of its proceedings both at
home and abroad. Mr. Gladstone on this occasion

428 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
spoke for only ten minutes short of two hours.
Once more the audience insisted upon a speech
from Lord Rosebery, who remarked that the
meeting was an emphatic answer to those who
had said and written that the Prime Minister, in
the face of two volumes of his speeches in Mid
lothian, did not wish to meet his constituents
again. " I suppose that every voter among you,"
he added, " and that every one among you who
ought to be a voter, would be proud to see
Mr. Gladstone under your roof ; and I can
assure him that there is the roof of one who is
not a voter, and never has been a voter, and
is never likely to be a voter, which is always
ready for him if he should care to add a third
volume to the Midlothian speeches."
The short, brief, and brilliant visit of the
Premier was brought to a conclusion by a
demonstration on the following day promoted by
the working men of Edinburgh and Leith, which
took place in the Waverley Market. Lord
Rosebery, after the Prime Minister had spoken,
was called upon for an address. He summed up
the Midlothian visit by saying, "We know that
the task of the Prime Minister has been not to
stimulate but to stay, not to excite but to soothe
the ardour and passion of a justly indignant
people." There were in the House of Lords,
he reminded the gathering, many who were
prepared to march with the people. "If any

Motes bg "Uobg, /i&.flX" 42Q
fresh evidence were needed," said The Scotsman
in its leading article the next day, "of the place
which Lord Rosebery has gained in the hearts
of his fellow-countrymen, it is supplied in the
magnificent reception accorded to him yesterday.
The confidence of Scotsmen is not readily won,
but it is given to Lord Rosebery in unstinted
measure  While the Upper House can
boast of many such earnest and active Liberals
as Lord Rosebery and Lord Reay there still
remains the probability that it will escape the
penalty of the folly into which it has been led
by the Opposition chiefs."
On Wednesday, September 4, the visit of Mr.
and Mrs. Gladstone ended, and they left Dalmeny
for Deeside. It was at this time that so much
was heard of the tree-cutting recreation of Mr.
Gladstone. In connection with this visit to
Dalmeny, "Toby, M.P.," wrote in Punch the
" Essence of Midlothian," which nearly every
newspaper quoted and which every one read.
Some extracts from the diary run :
August 27. — Edinburgh at last. What a
crowd ! Evidently want a speech. Shall I ? No,
let me dissemble. There's Rosebery, mine host.
And there's the Countess! This is too kind.
Whenever I go to strange house or strange
town, I want no better welcome than a look
from Lady Rosebery's kindly face.
"August 28. — Got out axe. Always carry axe

43° lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
about with me on these little journeys from
home. If any one axes for why,
I hit him a rap with my crook.
' It's Salisbury kills me,' say I.
" Put it that way only for metrical exigencies.
Mean to kill Salisbury to-morrow night.
"Steal softly downstairs with axe on my
shoulder. Household asleep. Stroll into park —
find nice promising young oak — just the thing to
take before breakfast. Rosebery turns up — seems
a little annoyed — asks if I do not think I'll tire
myself. ' Oh, no,' I say : ' used to it ; generally
take a tree, or half a tree, according to size,
when I get up in the morning.' Rosebery says
he'll show me where there are some nice trees.
Evidently hit upon a wrong one.
" Saturday. — Drove into Edinburgh. Immense
crowds. Of course can't go in for abolishing
Peers with Granville and Kimberley and Spencer,
and rest in Cabinet. Rosebery says he would
gladly exchange his coronet for a seat in the
House of Commons for Manchester, or Liverpool,
or some big town. But Rosebery's young and
enthusiastic. If Dizzy had still been in the
Lords, can't say what might have happened.
Certainly it would have been fun to abolish him.
" . . . Quite fresh after speech. Wanted to
walk back to Dalmeny, but that Rosebery said
would be late for dinner.

/Ibore "punch" "Ibumour 431
" Sabbath. — Went to kirk in Edinburgh. Rose
bery says proper thing to do is to go to morning
service — take oatmeal cake and slice of strongly
flavoured cheese to munch in interval succeeding
on morning service, and so be in good time for the
afternoon. We did this, and spent very pleasant
day. Morning sermon one hour and twenty
minutes ; afternoon discourse a little shorter —
only seventy minutes. Noticed pervading smell
of peppermint. Old lady in pew behind presses
lozenges on my acceptance, which I surreptitiously
place in the inner band of Rosebery's hat. In
teresting to watch Rosebery, when we leave,
putting on his hat, taking it off, looking inside,
finding nothing, and putting it on with troubled
brow. ' Anything wrong ? ' I ask. ' No,' he says ;
'only fancied I'd got wrong hat.' Strange how
these little incidents cheer me in midst of serious
business of life.
" Monday. — Not sure I shan't take a hand in
the games myself. Practising ' putting the stone '
this morning. After third throw I put it in the
vinery, where I'm afraid it did a little damage,
though Rosebery says not. Rather makes out
that he likes his guests to heave half a brick into
his glass houses and spoil his grapes. Wouldn't
think visit had gone off well without it. But that
is his politeness."
Mr. H. W. Lucy knew well the kindly dis
position of the Earl of Rosebery, who some years

432 lorb "IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
later did him the honour to preside at a lecture
which "Toby, M.P.," delivered on "The Parlia
ments of the Queen."
Soon after the departure of Mr. Gladstone from
Dalmeny, Lord Rosebery proceeded to Aberdeen,
where he delivered two speeches on September n.
The first was a special address to the Trades Union
Congress, which was holding its seventeenth annual
gathering in that city. Lord Rosebery attended
in response to a second invitation to address the
Congress. He had been invited to do so four
years before, a request to which, however, he was
not able on that occasion to accede.
The following is an extract from the report
of his speech, which dealt largely with Imperial
Federation. He said he thought it would be
very useful if legislators attended more often these
trade congresses. He had been asked to come
and speak, whereas what he ought to do was
to come to listen and learn. He would indulge
in no empty expressions of sympathy with the
working classes ; these were quite unnecessary.
Deeds and not words were what working men
required at the hands of those wishing to serve
them. The work of the Congress was, generally
speaking, of a kind profoundly interesting to every
patriot and politician. The delegates thrashed out
subjects which must eventually come before Parlia
ment, and they did so in such a practical manner,
apart from political partizanship, as enabled those

Workmen anb Colonies 433
subjects to come before the Legislature in a more
matured and fully prepared form. ... He was
also much struck with what he called the federalism
of their Trades Union Congress, which embraced
local or detached self-management for the different
unions with a common bond and centre of united
influence in their Congress. It would surely be
well if this principle of federalism was far more
widely applied to the Colonial concerns of the
British Empire. ... His main view in coming
there that day was to call the attention of the
Congress to this matter, because it was a vital
matter not merely to the Empire, but also to the
working classes, whom the delegates present so
largely represented. ... It might seem paradoxical,
but it was absolutely true, that this question was
more important even than the franchise question
which was now agitating the country. . . . Nothing
could be done in this matter without the impulse
that came from the popular will ; and the subject
must become one of principle and creed with the
working classes before it became one of practical
politics. In conclusion, he ventured to affirm that
the bond which united the various component
parts of this Empire must either become stronger
or weaker, and could not continue to exist in
its present somewhat indefinite form. He main
tained that it was most desirable that the bond
should become stronger, and that the working
classes who mainly peopled our Colonial Empire
vol. i. 28

434 lorb IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speecbes
should place this important subject in their pro
gramme for early and serious consideration.
Later in the day Lord Rosebery was presented
with the freedom of Aberdeen. In responding,
he dwelt upon the growth of great cities in the
present day, and the results which followed from
this. He noted, as one of the results that were
advantageous, that it tended to produce a race
of administrators fit for Imperial as well as
municipal concerns, instancing Mr. Chamberlain
by way of illustration of this. It would lead to
an extension of local Government in the future,
which was especially desirable in the case of
Scotland. Subsequently to the visit to Aberdeen, Lord
Rosebery stayed for a brief period at his Postwick
property, near Norwich. Then he went north
again, Mr. Gladstone being expected at Dalmeny
on September 23. On the afternoon of that day,
while Lord Rosebery was riding to Dalmeny,
his horse put a foot in a rabbit-hole and fell, with
the result that his lordship was thrown, and sus
tained a somewhat severe injury in the shape of
a broken collar-bone. The accident was especially
inopportune, and caused much disappointment to
the Earl, who was unable, in consequence, to
devote that personal attention to Mr. and Mrs.
Gladstone that he always loved to give. Lord
Rosebery was confined to his room for several
days, and indeed, at one point in his indisposition,

Hn awkwarb Hccibent 43s
some little anxiety was felt as to his condition.
The Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales
were among those who inquired as to the health
of the invalid. He progressed favourably after
the first day or two, but rest and quiet were im
peratively necessary. The patient at that time
suffered serious inconvenience in consequence of
sleeplessness — a misfortune which has since caused
him far greater trouble.
Some weeks afterwards Lord Rosebery had
sufficiently recovered to return to town, and he
appeared several times in the House of Lords
with his left arm in a sling. On December 3,
1884, he was the principal guest at a dinner of
the Liverpool Reform Club. Responding to the
toast of his health, after some preliminary references
to his recent voyage round the world — " I can
conscientiously say that no six months of my
life have given me equal instruction or profit " —
he dealt with the Navy, and the necessity that it
should be strong, and expressed himself as against
the evacuation of Egypt at that time. He re
marked: "We have duties to fulfil in Egypt.
One is positive, and one is negative. One we
owe to the Egyptians, and one we owe to our
selves. The first duty is to establish a stable
state of things in Egypt, so that when we leave
Egypt we may leave behind us a Government that
can stand alone — an independent Power, respect
able and respected — a Government which should

436 lorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
not leave room for foreign intrigue or for foreign
action. The second duty, that we owe to our
selves, and that we have to fulfil, is to take care
that, so far as in us lies, no foreign nation shall
take our place. Whether there be two schools
or not in the Liberal party on this question, there
is only one opinion on this point — that no strong
foreign nation should be permitted to occupy the
great highway between our Indian and Colonial
empires and ourselves." He dwelt with satis
faction on the recent agreement arrived at between
the Liberal and Conservative parties on the ques
tion of the franchise and redistribution, to which
reference is made in a previous chapter. He
pointed out that the idea of ending the House of
Lords involved revolution, and indicated his own
preference for a reform of the House of Lords
from within itself. In furtherance of this view
he, in December, 1884, addressed the following
letter (it was published on December 24) to a
large number of peers :
"Lansdowne House, Berkeley Square.
"December, 1884.
" My Lord, — I venture to ask you, if you are
favourable to the general principle of the reform
of the House of Lords (without pledging your
self to any particular method or to any views of
mine), to be so good as to communicate with me,
so that concerted action may be taken in the

"Gbe Sailor's "Ibome" 437
matter. Perhaps, too, you may be able to com
municate the names of other Peers who are
favourable to the idea. " I am, etc., " Rosebery."
The Lords, speaking generally, gave no sign
in response that they were at all desirous of
altering the constitution of their House.
On January 29, 1885, Lord Rosebery opened
a Sailors' Home at Leith-. His address concluded
with the following striking peroration :
"You call it the Sailors' Home — you call it justly
the Sailors' Home ; but the sailors' home is a much
larger thing than any building in Leith — or Leith
itself. The sailors' home is this island of Great
Britain, in which we stand at this moment ; and
so long as it is the sailors' home, I am quite
certain that we need not fear for the future of
our country, and that all the care, and all the
honour, and all the attention that you can pay
to these sailors of whom these glorious islands
are the home will be gratefully accepted and
richly repaid."

CHAPTER XVI
THE SOUDAN EXPEDITION — GORDON S MISSION — CAPTURE OF KHARTOUM
AND MASSACRE OF THE GARRISON — LORD ROSEBERY AND MR.
GLADSTONE— THE SPEECH AT EPSOM — LORD PRIVY SEAL AND
FIRST COMMISSIONER OF WORKS — LORD ROSEBERY A CABINET
MINISTER — FIRMNESS IN FOREIGN POLICY  THE THREATENED WAR
"WITH RUSSIA — PEACE SECURED — DEFEAT OF THE GOVERNMENT —
SCOTTISH LIBERALS AND THE EARL
FOR the Gladstone Government, the sands
of office were rapidly running out in the
early months of 1885. Enthusiastic crowds at
meetings and at railway stations were a tribute
to the marvellous personal influence which Mr.
Gladstone exercised over the people for so many
years ; but they did not cheek the misfortunes nor
increase the popularity of a Government which
had to face the fall of Khartoum and the death
of General Gordon. Events in Egypt had been
followed by the public with intense interest, and
the fall of Khartoum — or rather the fact that
Gordon was not saved — was felt to be a national
disgrace, the responsibility for which was attached
to the Gladstone Government. Arabi Pasha had
in 1882 issued a manifesto, " Egypt for the
Egyptians," and ended the dual control of Egyptian
438

©ur 2>utg in Eggpt 439
finance. Gambetta's ministry in France had
fallen at the end of January, and his successor
De Freycinet was indisposed for Egyptian enter
prise. A combined French and English fleet was,
however, despatched to Alexandria, where a great
massacre occurred in the middle of June. There
Arabi, having restored order, entrenched himself,
and disregarded the joint orders and threats of
the English and French admirals. On July 1 1
the French fleet steamed away. The British
admiral, Sir Beauchamp Seymour, forthwith de
stroyed the forts, the feature of the action being
the plucky conduct of Lord Charles Beresford
and the famous signal: "Well done, Condor]"
A few weeks afterwards British troops were in
Egypt, and Arabi was defeated at Tel-el- Kebir.
Mr. Gladstone had objected to Lord Beacon-
field's Egyptian policy, but by this time his views
of the position were as thus set out :
" France, in the exercise of her undoubted right
to judge of her duties, withdrew, and left us to
confront the sole execution of the engagements
contracted. We set up the new Khedive, and
by setting him up we became morally bound to
support him ; and not only so, but we entered into
an actual covenant with the French to support
him. The consequence was, having in our hands
the effectual control of the Government, and
having on the throne a Sovereign whom we had
put there, and who had i not violated any of his

440 lorb "IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speecbes
duties, we were bound to sustain him. That is the
history of the embarrassments into which we were
brought in that country."
In that view he was not supported by some of
his colleagues, and was met by the resignation
of Mr. Bright and the withdrawal of the support
of other old friends who disagreed with him.
Nevertheless, after Alexandria and Tel-el-Kebir,
the justification of British policy seemed to be
made out by its success, in spite of the intrigues
of opposing diplomatists, disease, and the Mahdi.
In 1884 General Gordon's mission was despatched.
Speaking in the House of Commons on Febru
ary 23, 1885, Mr. Gladstone said :
" General Gordon went not for the purpose of
reconquering the Soudan or of persuading the
chiefs of the Soudan again to submit themselves
to the Egyptian Government. He went for the
double purpose of evacuating the country by the
extrication of the Egyptian garrisons, and recon
stituting it by giving back to those chiefs their
ancestral powers, which had been withdrawn or
suspended during the period of the Egyptian
Government." Mr. F. W. Hirst says : " Instead of carrying
out his instructions he attempted to re-establish
an Egyptian Empire." How it was possible to
carry out the mission described in the passage
from Mr. Gladstone's speech just quoted without
re-establishing the Egyptian Empire in the Soudan

Death of ©orbon 441
it is difficult to conceive. The Mahdi was not
exactly the sort of man to permit quietly "the
reconstitution of the country by giving back to
those chiefs their ancestral powers which had
been withdrawn " ; and the Gordon mission inter
preted by a general in such a position as
Gordon must have meant the smashing of the
Mahdi or nothing. But the Mahdi's time had
not yet come. Gordon found himself shut up in
Khartoum, and gallantly withstood a prolonged
siege. Owing to treachery the city fell, and the
garrison were massacred. Just previously Gordon
had sent to the gallant force which Lord Wolseley
was leading to his rescue a hopeful message,
indicating that there need be no immediate anxiety
for the safety of the city. The relieving force
had made one of the most brilliant and rapid
marches in the annals of the British Army. But,
by treachery within Khartoum, they arrived just
too late, and when the steamers with the relief
troops came within sight of the city, it was to
see only ruins where the garrison had been, and
there was nothing to do but return.
Early in the year 1885 the news of Gordon's
death came home, and public feeling was greatly
embittered. It was felt that the expedition to
relieve Gordon should have been despatched
sooner instead of being deferred until, apparently,
only the pressure of public opinion, and not the
anxiety of the Government, forced the step. In

442 lorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
Parliament the Government only escaped from
votes of censure by very narrow majorities ; and
even the firmness of Mr. Gladstone regarding
the Penj-deh incident (when, in view of the
differences between this country and Russia as
to the Afghan border, the House of Commons
unanimously gave Mr. Gladstone a vote of credit
for ;£ 1 1,000,000) did little to blot out the
memory of the Khartoum disaster. It was the
hour of need with Mr. Gladstone, and it was
in that hour the Earl of Rosebery came and
stood by his chief, when attacks were being
made upon him from all quarters. The story of
Lord Rosebery's resignation of his Under-Secre-
taryship at the Home Office has been told. If
things had gone well with the Gladstone Govern
ment subsequently, he certainly would not have
taken office again during that Parliament. But,
when disaster seemed imminent, he went to Mr.
Gladstone's aid, although his views of Egyptian
policy differed considerably from those of his
leader. Lord Rosebery would, had he been in
office, have favoured a much stronger and more
vigorous policy. On February 9 Lord Rosebery
spoke at the Epsom Liberal Club Of the situation
which had been created. That Gordon was dead
was then feared, but not positively known. He
moved the following resolution :
" That this meeting, while fully sharing the
national anxiety as to the situation in the Soudan

H Uest of lpatriotism

443

and the fate of General Gordon, urges on the
Government the necessity of perseverance in the
cause of domestic reform, and the desirability of
drawing closer the ties which unite Great Britain
with her Colonies. That this meeting congratulates
Her Majesty's Government on the passing of the
Franchise Bill and the practical settlement of
the redistribution question, and desires to record
its unabated confidence in the present Adminis
tration." He remarked : " There is one topic
which is now filling our minds to the exclusion
of all others — a topic which has seized hold of the
national mind to the exclusion of all others. I
need not say what that subject is. You cannot
walk through the humblest or obscurest village
without some labourer coming and asking if there
is any news of him. There is no need to mention
the name. All know who 'him' is, I cannot
help feeling as if the sorrow which has befallen
Great Britain has come to test the spirit and
patriotism of the country. The greatness of a
nation, like the greatness of an individual, is
shown not in the moment of prosperity but in
moments of adversity. . . . But even if Gordon
is dead, we should not mourn. We know that
he has died the death he would have chosen — a
soldier's death upon the field of duty, To every
man on earth death comes sooner or later, and
how can a man die better than for ' the ashes of his
fathers and the temple of his gods ' ? Continuing,

444 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
Lord Rosebery said he had been rather shocked
to see that one of the first thoughts in many
minds appeared to be that the fall of Khartoum
involved the fall of the Government. In this
hideous crisis it never occurred to him to think
of who might be occupying places or who might
be wishing to occupy places. He did not pretend
to have concurred with the policy of the Govern
ment in Egypt. On more than one occasion he
had exercised the right of a private judgment,
and had ventured to say that a bolder and
clearer course might have been adopted. But he
knew that the Government had had to deal with
a situation of unexampled difficulty, and, so far
from thinking that it would be important to turn
the Government out, it was a time in which he
trusted every Englishman wished to strengthen
the Government in every way. ... It seemed
to him the democracy would comport itself in the
hour of danger with dignity and with valour,
and would carry the flag of Great Britain, which
was entrusted to its care, as efficiently as the
generations which had preceded it. This disaster
was full of lessons. He hoped it would, if even
only for a moment, unite the nation. He should
be glad if it raised the nation, if only for a
moment, out of the atmosphere of party, in
which by various circumstances we were compelled
to live. After all, what was really peaceful
was firmness. There was nothing so warlike as

H Seat in the Cabinet 445
indecision. There was nothing so likely to bring
about war as anxiety at all events to avoid war.
He urged the importance of Colonial federation.
He trusted that good might come out of evil. We
did not desire to encroach or meddle, but to
unite and maintain our just authority, to keep
from the impeachment of waste our unselfish
interests for good, and to preserve and unite
together those nationalities which were to us a
pledge and heritage of our Empire.
Lord Rosebery, however, was not content only
to speak. He had resigned office when the
Government was strong. He resumed office when
it was tottering to its fall. The day after the
Epsom speech definite news came of Gordon's
death. On the day following it was known that
Lord Rosebery had accepted office as Lord Privy
Seal and First Commissioner of Works, with a
seat in the Cabinet. The appointment was
approved by the press throughout the country.
The Daily News remarked : " Lord Rosebery brings
into it (the Cabinet) a new and fresh force of
intellect and character, a keen perception of the
facts and forces of political life, and an inde
pendence of judgment which is essentially needed
in public men. Routine and formula have not
mastered him. Lord Rosebery's personal devotion
to Mr. Gladstone has been proved ; his enthusiastic
affection for him is well known. But Lord
Rosebery has not been overpowered by that

446 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
ascendancy of character and intellect which some
times seems to absorb inferior men into the mind
and purpose of the chief. He has shown himself to
be vertebrate and not molluscous, and without that
ostentatious or unseemly parade of difference which
marks the too consciously inferior person, has
known how to guard his own freedom of opinion
and give forcible expression to his views. His
entrance into the Cabinet is in itself a contribution
to the more cordial union of the Empire. It
will be welcomed throughout the Colonies. It is
also, we hope, a sign that a somewhat quicker
apprehension of our relations with foreign powers,
and greater promptitude both of speech and action,
will mark the conduct of the Government. His
acceptance of ministerial responsibility is an event
of political significance as regards the present, and
is full of hope for the future."
That view reflected the opinion of the bulk
of the nation. " Vertebrate and not molluscous."
It was felt that a much-needed backbone had at
last been given to the foreign policy of the
Government, and the satisfaction with which the
appointment was received showed the confidence
of the nation at that time in the ability of Lord
Rosebery to deal with foreign affairs in a manner
satisfactory and safe.
On April i, 1885, Lord Rosebery was the
principal speaker at the annual meeting of the
National Reform Union, at the Free Trade

firmness anb ipeace 447
Hall, Manchester. He objected to the terse and
alliterative language of those who described the
Government policy in the Soudan as one of
"butcher and bolt," which he maintained was
rather " a reasonable effort to leave the Soudan
better than they found it." He maintained that
the ground on which the Opposition claimed the
confidence of the country was their aversion to
Mr. Gladstone, but that the Empire could not
be ruled on that principle, especially as the vast
majority of the people of the country did not
share that aversion.
It was the Cabinet which now included the Earl
of Rosebery that decided to adopt the firm attitude
towards Russia in regard to the Afghan frontier
which led to the famous vote of credit for
^11,000,000. Lord Rosebery's presence strength
ened others in the Cabinet who considered that the
maintenance of a firm policy in foreign affairs was
essential to the interests of the country. Firmness
in this instance undoubtedly secured peace, when
a timid and uncertain policy would have almost
assuredly resulted in war. For weeks it appeared
that war was inevitable, and the columns of the daily
newspapers were crowded with " war preparations."
In India the Viceroy had presented the Ameer
with a sword of honour, which the Ameer said
he should be ready to draw against the Queen's
enemies. Fighting took place between Russians
and Afghans. Both Russia and England actively

448 xorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
pushed forward preparations for hostilities. In the
midst of the crisis a considerable flutter was caused
in Berlin by the announcement that Lord Rosebery
was on his way to the German capital. Several
journals had jumped to the conclusion that his
lordship's mission must have some connection with
the pending dispute between England and Russia ;
but the more general belief was that his errand
must be regarded as the complement of a visit
paid by Count Herbert Bismarck to London a
short while before. As Lord Rosebery and Count
Herbert Bismarck were intimate friends, the social
side of the visit was undoubtedly of interest, but
a Cabinet Minister was not likely at such a time
to devote all his conversation to private matters.
Shortly after Lord Rosebery's return a Cabinet
Council was held, and on April 21 Mr. Gladstone
asked for and at once obtained the vote of credit
of ^11,000,000, partly for the Soudan expedition
and partly for " special preparations." The speeches
of Mr. Gladstone and Lord Granville left but faint
hopes of a peaceful settlement of the Afghan con
troversy. A few days afterwards the Duke of
Connaught, who was then on his return journey
from India, was recalled to Simla. The situation
was critical. The Russian troops were mobilised ;
every one expected an immediate declaration of
war. Then suddenly the situation changed. The
tone of the Russian Government was modified ;
a conciliatory despatch was received on May 2,

3fate of the ©ovemment 449
and in a few days it was known that the crisis
was over, war had been averted, and a satisfactory
arrangement was shortly afterwards announced.
It was a great victory for the firm diplomacy
in foreign affairs of which the latest addition to
the Cabinet had been a consistent advocate.
In Parliament, however, the activity of Lord
Randolph Churchill, Sir Michael Hicks-Beach,
and Lord George Hamilton greatly embarrassed
the Government. Votes of censure were fre
quently moved, and defeated by only small
majorities. The defeat of the Government came
early in the morning of June 9. The Chancellor
of the Exchequer had moved a second reading
of the Customs and Inland Revenue Bill. To
this Sir Michael Hicks-Beach proposed the follow
ing amendment : " That this House regards the
increase proposed by this Bill in the duties
levied on beer and spirits as inequitable in the
absence of a corresponding addition to the duties
on wine, and declines to impose fresh taxation
on real property until effect has been given to
its resolution of April 17, 1883, and of March 28,
1884, by which it has acknowledged further
measures of relief to be due to ratepayers in
counties and boroughs in respect of local charges
imposed on them for national services."
Mr. Gladstone, in defending the financial policy
of the Government, described the issue as one of
life or death to the Ministry. The Government
vol. 1. 29

45° lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
treated the amendment as one of confidence. The
amendment was, shortly before one o'clock in the
morning, carried by two hundred and sixty-four
votes to two hundred and fifty-two. The
Parnellites voted with the Opposition. The
announcement of the figures was received with
loud cheers by the Conservatives, and, central
figure in a scene of great excitement, Lord
Randolph Churchill stood on a bench and, waving
his hat, shouted " Buckshot " and " Coercion."
There were absent from the division sixty-one
Liberal members unpaired.
The Cabinet met later in the day, and Mr.
Gladstone, when the House met, announced the
resignation of the Ministry. Lord Salisbury was
sent for by the Queen, and decided to accept
office. It was, however, certain that a general
election must soon take place, and both parties
actively prepared for the contest. During his
brief tenure of office Lord Rosebery had become
a man of first importance in the Cabinet, and it
was certain that if the Liberals should return to
power after the general election he would be
called upon to take a high place in the Govern
ment. He was to be actively engaged during the
rest of the year, and the most interesting gathering
of this period was the banquet given by the
Scottish Liberals to him during the Midlothian
campaign, when the fact that he had won his
spurs as a statesman was fully recognised.

Scottish liberals' tribute 451
The Scottish Liberals gave their great banquet in
honour of the Earl of Rosebery, on November 13,
1885, in recognition of his distinguished services
to Scotland and to the Liberal party. The
arrangements were made by the Scottish Liberal
Club, with Mr. Holmes Ivory as honorary secre
tary. It was recorded at the time that " the club
had for several years been anxious to record
their sense of Lord Rosebery's very remarkable
services, but he had always resisted their pro
posals. The project, however, suffered nothing
by the delay ; on the contrary, the services which
in the interval Lord Rosebery had done to the
party, both in Scotland and in England, deepened
the admiration and gratitude which Scottish
Liberals felt towards him."
In every way the gathering was thoroughly
representative of Scottish Liberalism, prominent
men from every district being present. There
had been no such gathering for half a century,
and the Reform Banquet to Earl Grey in 1835
is the only one cited as equal to it. The cele
bration was held in the Music Hall, Edinburgh,
the decorations of which included ornamental
shields showing the Rosebery arms and motto,
" Fide et Fiducia." Other inscriptions round the
hall included, " I speak, I have spoken, for Unity
and for the Empire," " Closer Union with the
Colonies," " Reform of the House of Lords,"
"Scottish Administration — the Welfare of the

452 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
Scottish People," and "Scottish History and
Literature." Beautiful flowers and foliage
abounded on the tables, laurel leaves were to
be seen everywhere. Seven hundred persons sat
down to dinner, and amongst them, to the delight
and the surprise of the great gathering, was
Mr. Gladstone, to do honour to his distinguished
young friend and colleague. The pleasure at
seeing Mr. Gladstone was enhanced by the fact
that his presence was the best assurance that a
slight indisposition from which he had been
suffering had passed away.
The Earl of Stair was in the Chair, having the
guest of the evening on his immediate right and
Mr. Gladstone next him on the left. Others pre
sent included the Earl of Aberdeen, the Marquis
of Huntly, Lord Provost Clark, Mr. G. J. Goschen,
M.P., Mr. Asher, Q.C., M.P., Mr. (now Sir) H.
Campbell-Bannerman, M.P., Sir George Campbell,
M.P., Mr. Buchanan, M.P., Mr. Campbell, of
Tilliechewan, Mr. E. Blake (formerly of Canada,
and now an Irish M.P.), Mr. E. Marjoribanks,
M.P., Sir R. Jardine, M.P., and Mr. R. W. Duff,
M.P. When the banquet was over a large number
of ladies came in to hear the speeches. They
included the Countess of Rosebery and Mrs. Glad
stone, who, of course, came over from Dalmeny,
and the Countess of Aberdeen., Lady Rosebery
was, on her entrance, presented with a beautiful
bouquet on behalf of the Scottish Liberal Club.

H future leaber"

453

In the course of a speech proposing " The Navy,
Army, and Reserve Forces," the Earl of Aberdeen
made an interesting prophecy regarding the future
of their guest. He said :
" This gathering represents, in a manner which
I suppose has rarely been equalled, the whole
Liberals of Scotland ; and not only that, but
it is regarded with the liveliest satisfaction and
interest not only by those many Liberals of
Scotland who are unable to be here to-night,
but also by the Liberals of the remainder of
Great Britain. And if anything was required
to add to the completeness of this most
memorable occasion, I think it is to be found in
the fact that, owing to a happy and, I believe,
unforeseen circumstance, this gathering is graced
by the presence of our illustrious chief and leader
(Mr. Gladstone), who thus joins with us in doing
honour to the man who is not only a trusted
friend and colleague of his, but a man who is
marked out not only by his own striking qualities,
but by the perceptive instincts of this country,
' as a future leader of the Liberal party.' "
This peep into the future was received with
approving cheers by the great company present.
Mr. Holmes Ivory then read the address, which
was presented to the Earl by the chairman. It
ran as follows :
" To the Right Honourable Archibald Primrose,
Earl of Rosebery. My Lord, — We, the members

454 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speeches
of the Scottish Liberal Club, and Delegates of
Liberal Associations throughout Scotland, attend
ing the banquet given to your Lordship on this
occasion, beg to express our deep sense of the
valuable services which you have for many years
past rendered to the cause of Liberal progress.
The interest taken by your Lordship in all
questions affecting the welfare of the Scottish
people, and your intimate acquaintance with the
history and literature of the country, have long
been regarded with admiration by all sections of
the community. In particular, the important
subject of Scottish administration will always be
associated with your name, and it is mainly to
your efforts that the people of Scotland are indebted
for the recent Act for the creation of a Scottish
Department, presided over by a Secretary of
State. This measure we regard as a great boon
to the country, and the fact that the Department
has charge of Scottish Education will, we trust,
secure the preservation of those national charac
teristics in our educational system of which Scots
men have always been justly proud. It is not
in Scotland alone that you have rendered impor
tant services to the State. The consideration of
the means by which the Colonies are to be brought
into closer relations with the mother country, the
grave subject of the reform of the House of
Lords, and many other Imperial questions, have
been elucidated and advanced by your exertions.

Scotlanb anb the Earl 455
Your countrymen of all classes regarded with
sincere satisfaction your entry as a Cabinet Minister
into Mr. Gladstone's Government. In Opposition,
the eloquent speeches which you have recently
delivered in England and Scotland have been of
inestimable value to the party, and have materially
assisted in making plain to the country the nature
of the issue which is to be decided at the approach
ing general election. We recognise from your
latest utterances, as always, you speak of unity
and for the Empire. We trust you may be long
spared to render important service to the State.
" Signed on behalf of the Scottish Liberal Club,
and by Delegates of Liberal Associations from all
parts of Scotland."
Lord Stair, having presented the address, said :
"It is now my duty to propose to you the toast
of the evening, ' The Health of Lord Rosebery,'
our guest. This large, influential, and enthusiastic
meeting, representing, I may say, Liberals ' frae
Maiden Kirk to John o' Groat's,' speaks for itself,
and proves, were proof wanting, the high place
that our noble guest holds in the estimation of a
large portion of his countrymen. We are met
here to do him honour to-night, not altogether for
those great talents which he possesses, and which
we all so much admire — because many men have
talents which they abuse ; but it is because he
has at all times been both ready and willing to
use those talents for the benefit of his countrymen.

456 lorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
Never has he done this more conspicuously or
more successfully than in his exertion for the
Liberal cause in his native land. Ladies and
gentlemen, it was a feeling of deep gratitude that
has induced us to-night, in this very inadequate
manner, to show him how highly we appreciate
his services to the Liberal cause. We cannot
forget that it was our noble guest who rescued
this county from the Tory dominion under which
it had been so long subjected. I have known
this county long. I remember when the spirit of
Liberalism used not to flourish— when, to use a
good Scottish phrase, ' it was sair hadden doon '
— and eventually it became completely smothered
in fagots. Well, gentlemen, our noble guest came
to the rescue. He produced a champion from
Dalmeny shade, who by his high character and
great eminence secured a victory for us not in
this county only, but secured a great Liberal
triumph over the length and breadth of the land.
So much for this county ; but Lord Rosebery has
done yeoman service elsewhere. We have only
to look back to the last few weeks, and we find
that he has not spared himself. He has attended
and addressed meetings not only in Scotland, but
also in England and Wales, where he advocated
that union which is so necessary for the smooth
working of the Liberal machine. Ladies and
gentlemen, on this subject of unity I see painted
on the wall, ' Closer Union with the Colonies.'

Services to the Countrg 457
I see opposite me, ' I have spoken for Unity
and for the Empire.' Always unity. The next,
' Reform of the House of Lords,' I think I had
better say nothing about. At these meetings
Lord Rosebery advocated a sound Liberal policy,
and at the same time exposed those fallacies by
which the Tory party expect to gain a great
majority at the next election. Well, politics apart,
we all remember the able manner in which Lord
Rosebery discharged the duties of Secretary for
Scotland when he held that important office, the
duties of which required both temper and tact.
You all remember how accessible he was, how
closely he investigated all the different questions
that came before him, proving that he is !not only
well conversant with all Scottish affairs, but that
he is a good man of business. I could go on in
this way a good deal further, pointing out the
services Lord Rosebery has done to the country.
I will say nothing more than a word or two on
the question of the Colonies. No man knows more
of the requirements of the colonies than he does,
and it redounds greatly to his credit that he has
personally visited some of those colonies further
most from our shores. And I feel sure that the
information he then acquired will be useful to
him at no distant date when he is once more a
prominent member of a Liberal Government. Our
noble guest has 'a great career of usefulness before
him, and in drinking his health I will ask you to

458 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
join me in wishing that he may long hold that
high position of usefulness that he has hitherto
enjoyed. I call upon you now to drink ' Lord
Rosebery's health,' with all the honours."
The toast was drunk with the greatest
enthusiasm, the band playing "The Heart of
Midlothian." Lord Rosebery in reply said :
" My Lord Stair, my Lords, Ladies, and
Gentlemen, — I should be something less or some
thing more than a man if I remained unmoved
at your great and enthusiastic reception. More
even than the address which you have been
good enough to present to me do I value this
great and representative gathering from all parts
of Scotland, representing not merely every part
of our native country, but every shade and
gradation of our party, from our leader to the
humblest private in our ranks. But, my Lord, I
will candidly confess to you that this banquet
has been something of a nightmare to me for
some considerable time past. On two occasions
I have successfully averted it, because I conceive
that to anybody of sound sense nothing can be
more distressing than a great gathering of which
he in some sort may seem to be the object or
the subject. And I am further distressed when I
look around this great body of people, and think
to myself, ' What came ye out for to see ? ' My
Lord, I was touched and struck by the innovation

Ube Birtbrigbt of jfreebom 459
on the customary form of this entertainment —
which is, that you have presented your eloquent
address to me in a very beautiful casket ; and
when I saw that, my mind was carried back to
proceedings somewhat analogous, in which I am
not altogether unversed, and I felt for a moment
as if you were presenting me, not with an
ordinary address, but that you were giving me
the freedom of the Liberal party in Scotland.
That freedom, however, I claim as a birthright.
I was free-born. You claim it as a birthright,
and you were free-born.
" Well, gentlemen, I need not dwell further on
that topic, because if we had not that birthright
we should not be here to-night. But I would
say one word as to the address which you have
been so good as to present to me. It is not my
intention to-night to say a word, or more than
a word, of the topics to which that address
relates, because, though I have been unable
altogether to avert the honour of this great
gathering, I have yet been exceptionally fortunate
in this, that whereas this meeting might have
been a meeting in some sort directed to myself
or to local matters, the fortuitous circumstance
of its being just before the general election leads
us away from all individual or from all private
topics. You have congratulated me, gentlemen,
on the efforts that I have made for a reform of
the House of Lords. But I have spoken at

460 lorb "IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speecbes
such length on that subject lately that it would
be almost indecent of me to refer to it again,
more especially as I believe — though there is a
somewhat strange alliance for leaving the House
of Lords alone between a section of our party
and the other party to which we are opposed —
I believe I represent the feelings of this great
gathering in saying that they wish for a reform
of the Second Chamber. As regards the closer
union with the Colonies I shall say nothing to
night, because on that I have often dilated, and
because I should be imprudent, and I may add
impudent, to say a word about the Colonies in
the presence of Mr. Blake, who is not merely
the leader of the Liberal party in Canada — and
whose welcome presence here to-night shows
that, however remote we may be from the
federation of the Empire, yet that Liberalism
all over the Empire is federated and united—
who is not merely the leader of the Liberal
party, but also one of Canada's most eminent
statesmen, and, I believe I am correct in saying,
by far her most distinguished orator. My Lord
Stair, I will not deal with these subjects for
another reason, which is this, that they are my
pet subjects, my favourite subjects, and I want
to set an example at this moment which, I
believe, every one in this hall will be willing to
follow, in putting aside these particular subjects
which I have myself at heart wherever they may

IFtational Hspirations 46i
interfere in the slightest degree with the victory
of the cause to which we are all attached.
" Of the third subject of which you have treated
— our own country and its administration — I may
say but one sentence more. We all fought that
great battle on behalf of Scottish administration.
But that was not a contest of a party, much less
the effort of an individual ; it was the contest of
a whole nation determined to see efficiency
restored to its administration. I was willing
enough to speak — too willing, perhaps, to speak — ¦
on that subject when the battle was raging ; but
now that victory has been won all along the line,
it seems to me that it best becomes us to be
silent. But let me say one word on the general
aspect of this question as I regard it. When I,
as Mr. Parnell would say, took my coat off in
that cause, I did it not merely on behalf of
Scottish administration, but because I believe that
there is one principle with which the future
of the Liberal party will have much to do, the
principle that where there is a vigorous and a
real and a loyal nationality, it is not wise to
suppress or to ignore that nationality, and that
the better policy is to satisfy its just aspirations,
for by so doing you will be promoting in the
highest and the best sense the efficiency of the
unity of the Empire at large.
" I have said that to-night we are somewhat
dispensed from speaking of our own personal and

462 Xorb "IRoseberg: Ibis life anb Speecbes
local topics. To-night we meet less in a dining-
hall than in a camp. Our watch-fires are burning
brightly around us. We hear — we hear too much
— the constant booming of the heavy artillery on
both sides. We hear the monotonous but the
agreeable cry of our sentries, ' All's well.' And
we have received the watchword for the combat
of the morrow, which is, ' Close your ranks.' I
believe we shall close our ranks, but I have
never thought it wise on any critical occasion to
ignore any difficulty that may stand in your path."
Lord Rosebery then spoke of some feeling which
had been created amongst a section of the
Liberals because the Church Establishment ques
tion was not placed in the forefront of the
Liberal election programme, and urged that
section to remember that Mr. Gladstone came to
lead a united party — " To lead it, not for those
issues which are interesting beyond everything to
ourselves, but which do not greatly or vitally affect
the Empire at large; but for Imperial issues."
Incidentally the speaker, referring to some
Liberals who had left the party in consequence
" of some mysterious menace directed by somebody
in the Liberal ranks against the English Church
Establishment," said they resembled the class
known in America as Mugwumps. A Mugwump
he defined as a "gentleman who leaves his party
on high moral principles, but under motives which
are imperceptible to everybody but himself."

partg Uactics 463
Lord Rosebery continued :
" Gentlemen, you must not pay too much at
tention to Lord Randolph Churchill. Naturalists
will tell you that it takes a wild duck forty genera
tions to turn into a tame duck, and you cannot
expect Lord Randolph Churchill to become a
serious statesman all at once. But I say, What
have you got to choose between ? On the one
side there is the Tory Government ; and what has
the Tory Government got to offer you in the way
of policy ? It has no policy to lay before you ;
and as it has no policy to lay before you, it has
taken a commanding position, and entrenched itself
within the Established Church of England. The
English Church is no more assailed at this
election than it has been assailed at any election
since 1832. But as they have no assailants they
are compelled to make sorties. They are com
pelled to find assailants, and what do they do ?
They have a very obvious mark to direct them
selves against. They have the recognised pro
gramme of the Liberal party — they have the
recognised leader of the Liberal party. Do they
attack them ? Not a bit of it. Lord Randolph
Churchill the other day, with perhaps more
accuracy than reverence, compared the manifesto
of Mr. Gladstone to the Authorised Version.
But then, what I complain of in their party
tactics is that, like a great many untrustworthy
controversialists, they leave the Authorised Version

464 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
aside, and spend all their time on the com
mentaries and on the targums, and on the margins,
and on the early fathers and on the later fathers
— dealing, in fact, with every point except the
vital point, dealing with every man except the
real man, both of which they avoid, as fallen
angels are said to avoid holy water. Gentle
men, you may make fun of this ; but it shows
the serious demoralisation of the Conservative
party. What are they doing ? They cannot
attack our programme and they cannot attack
our man by any fair method ; so they create
leaders and invent manifestoes, and then de
nounce them. A party which is reduced to
such straits as these is not very much worth
our consideration.
" What is the position of the Liberal party ?
The position of the Liberal party offers this
attraction to the choice of a doubting Liberal,
that it is a great party led by a great man, with
traditions which afford security for the future,
prepared and ready, if you give it your confi
dence, to deal with great questions. I know it
is said that there are now no great questions.
It is said that before the constituences at this
moment there are no questions great in the sense
of the Irish Church Bill or the Reform Bill, or
any other of the great critical questions of late
years. I am a heretic on that point. I may
be a heretic, I may be misinformed ; but to my

H Question of programmes 465
mind there never were such questions before the
country as there are at this moment. The mind
is oppressed by them. The time of the next
Parliament is mortgaged to them. I venture to
say that never in the history of this country, to
people who consider the subject soberly and
seriously, were there such questions to tax the
statesmanship and patriotism of Parliament as
there are now.
" But what I want to know is this : Of those
who have questions which they wish to put be
fore the public, as we all wish to put certain
subjects before the public — what are the questions
in our programme that you wish postponed in
order to find room for your own ? That is the
vital question. That is the point that must be
decided by any one who wishes to force any
questions before the points that have been put
by Mr. Gladstone in his programme. Is it the
reform of the procedure of the House of Com
mons, — is that what you wish postponed ? Now
as to that, my Lord Stair, I have to make a
melancholy confession. I can speak with no
practical knowledge. I have never been in the
House of Commons except as a spectator. I
have always thought, since I took any interest in
public affairs, that a man who had been in the
House of Commons, and had then entered the
House of Lords, and continued his interest in
public affairs, was like a man with a wooden leg
vol. 1. 30

466 Xorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
trying to walk with other men. And I have still
more strongly felt that the man in the House of
Lords who took an interest in public affairs, and
had never been in the House of Commons, was
like a man with two wooden legs. I am a man
with two wooden legs — but I believe that every
one of the audience I am addressing is, in one
sense or another, a man of business ; and I
venture to say that no man of business has ever
taken up his paper and read the Parliamentary
proceedings of the previous day without throwing
it down with some muttered remark such as this,
that if they cannot get through their business
better than this, they had better not attempt to
transact it at all.
"Is it, 'then, the question of procedure in the
House of Commons that you wish postponed for
any other question ? (There were cries of ' No.')
Then is it the question of the land ? I believe
that there is no question so near the heart of
the constituency as the question of the land, the
registration of the land, the freedom of the land,
land questions not so general as to whether
some relief cannot be found for those farmers,
particularly men in this neighbourhood, who
entered under the competition of hypothec and
under high-rented leases, fixed before the Agri
cultural Holdings Act was passed for their benefit,
and who find their spirits broken and their capital
sucked away by the payment of rents that were

local Government 467
fixed under former systems ; the question whether
some relief cannot be found, as we proposed in
Parliament last session, for the crofters of the
Highlands. Well, all these are branches of the
land question. Is it your wish the land question
should be postponed ? (Again there were cries
of ' No.') Well, then, gentlemen, we have the
question of local government. Local government
is the largest question in all its aspects that has
loomed before this country for years. Local
government comprises the control of the liquor
traffic. It comprises a fair and responsible
dealing with local affairs, so as to trouble West
minster much less, and to have your own affairs
managed in your own way by your own people.
Is it local government you wish postponed for
any other question ? Well, then, gentlemen, we
come to considerations of time. We know how
the last question of procedure was dealt with
in the House of Commons. We know that on
that occasion a session was taken up by doing
very imperfectly what we shall have to do again.
We may safely reckon that the procedure of
the House of Commons can well take up a
session. What are we to reckon for the reform
of the land, for registration, which, in an old
country like this, has long puzzled the lawyers,
and will puzzle them yet, for the cheapening and
facilitating transfer, which has long puzzled the
lawyers, and will puzzle them yet, unless their

468 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
wheels be accelerated to some extent. These
and other subjects I have treated, every one of
which is a great subject in itself. One of them,
indeed — the freeing of land — in some countries
would mean a revolution ; but in this country it
will only mean that the time and attention of
Parliament will be sedulously and lavishly given
to it. Then we have local government, which is
not merely a work of construction, but a work of
abolition — the clearing away of those vast and
complicated processes, honeycombed one over
another, piled one over another from before the
Norman Conquest up to to-day. Mr. Goschen,
whom I see beside me, knows something of this
work, and I doubt if he would give a very
sanguine account of the shortness of time in
which it can be got through.
" Well, gentlemen, these are the questions
which are inferior questions, which can be got
through apparently in a moment, because there
are other questions which ought to be dealt
with in preference. But I have left the greatest
question to the last. As it seems to me, far from
there being no questions of the future, these
great subjects come rolling towards us like the
waves of the Atlantic, that come straight from
the shores of America to break themselves on
the shores of Europe ; but high above them all
there comes the supreme billow of all, with
appalling volume and with curling crest — the

ftbe Srisb Demanb 469
wave of Irish demand and of Irish discontent.
I do not pretend to be any judge of the pro
cedure of the House of Commons, but I do
venture to say this, that if things turn out in
Ireland as we are told they will, that question
will elbow and shoulder away all others, and will
absorb the mind and the time and the energies
of Parliament, to the exclusion of every question
we may have to deal with. I do not pretend to
say how that question is to be settled, but I
believe it can be settled in only one direction.
If you can obtain from the representatives of
Ireland a clear and constitutional demand, which
will represent the wishes of the people of Ireland,
and which will not conflict with the unity or the
supremacy of this country, I believe that by
satisfying that demand, in such a way as not to
need further readjustment, but to meet the just
requirements of the Irish people, you will have
cut off for ever the poisonous spring of discon
tent, and that Ireland in the future may see in
this country, not her hereditary foe and her here
ditary oppressor, but her best ally and her best
friend. " These are the questions that we of the Liberal
party have brought before you as a programme
for this next election, and I think I have shown
you cause enough to feel that the time of Parlia
ment will be amply and fully engaged by them.
After all, my Lord Stair, in point of description,

47° lorb "IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speeches
the science of politics is a very simple one. It
only consists in doing the right thing at the
right time. It is very easy to do the right thing
at the wrong time, and it is very easy at the
right time to be found doing the wrong thing.
But we think we have presented before you a
programme of subjects not unworthy of your
acceptance. To offer a larger programme than
you can accomplish is an unwise and deceptive
method. But what you have to consider in
regard to it is this : Are you prepared to unite
with regard to that programme in achieving
definite and practicable, and immediate subjects,
to the possible exclusion of some that are not so
immediate or so practicable ? Is it your wish
that in the next Parliament, by sending a great
Liberal majority to control the course of that
Parliament, you shall have an Empire which
speaks in the voice of authority abroad, or simply
a weak, a powerless, an insufficient voice, which
foreign Governments would know represents a
Government paralysed in Parliament at home ?
Do you wish to deal with Ireland as a law-giver
or as a huckster ? Nay, is it your wish that the
Liberal party should exist at all in Parliament
at the next election ? For that is the question.
You can either have a Liberal party, or you can
have what is equally interesting in some respects,
more noble, but not so practical, a collection of
knights-errant, all moved by their own individual

ftbe Supreme Question 471
idea of chivalry, or following their own peculiar
Queen of Beauty, an assembly estimable beyond
everything in themselves, guided by the highest
impulses, interesting as a survival, but no more
able to cope with a united and disciplined party
than those Paladins of the Middle Ages would
have been able to meet the artillery of the
nineteenth century.
" That to me, gentlemen, is the supreme
question at this election. I care less for all the
subjects that I have named than that ; because
that, after all, is the subject on which they all
hinge. Do you wish to have a Liberal party
or not in the next Parliament ? If you do, you
must send to the House of Commons an un
broken phalanx from Scotland. I hardly like to
make a personal appeal to this assembly, it has
shown so much kindness to me ; but if I might
ask you to add one more honour to these
honours which you have heaped upon me, I
would ask this great assembly from all parts of
Scotland, that has shown so much goodwill
towards me, to drop that goodwill if needs be,
but to show a little goodwill to your party and
to yourselves. By pressing subjects which are
not authorised, which are not written on our
banner, you will not advance these subjects, but
you will fall into the trap of your opponents, and
cripple and destroy for the moment that Liberal
party through whose agency alone you can hope

472 Xorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
at any time to achieve success. I will not ask
you to waive or to suppress your highest and
best instincts and principles. Wherever they are
vital, you would not listen to me even if I asked
you to suppress them. But I ask you not to
press them to the destruction of the unity of the
party when they are not vital. By so doing
you can do one thing, and one alone. You can
only bring what nothing else will bring — the
Tories into power again. What is Tory power?
What does Tory power mean ? I cannot tell
you. No one can tell you. Mr. Gladstone can
not tell you. They have carefully avoided giving
you any honest or substantial policy. We can
only gather from analogy what their policy would
be. From their last administration we can gather
that it would be the policy of the late Lord
Beaconsfield without the late Lord Beaconsfield.
That I do not think will recommend itself to
you. But I know there are some who, in spite
of all one can say — in spite of every appeal we
can make — will say, ' We must go forward. Fiat
justitia, ruat caelum — Let justice be done, even
if the heavens fall.' To such I would say, 'You
will not achieve your object.' Neither will
justice, in your sense, be done ; nor will the
heavens fall. What will be done will be Tory
policy — whatever that may be. What will fall,
though only for a short time, will be the Liberal
party. I venture to repeat to you, as the last.

"TTbe ©reat liberal imperialist"

473

sentence with which I trouble you, after having
troubled you much too long — to repeat to you
the sentence that I uttered at Bo'ness, and which
I see opposite me now — ' I speak, I have spoken,
for Unity and for the Empire ' — for the unity
of the Liberal party, on which now more than
ever, in this great crisis of our fate, when we
have to deal possibly with a united and resolute
Ireland, on which now more than ever depend,
in my opinion — and, I doubt not, in your opinion
also — the strength, and the authority, and the
stability of the Empire."
Amongst the subsequent speakers at this in
teresting banquet were Mr. Gladstone, Mr. J. B.
Balfour, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, the
Marquis of Huntly, Mr. Campbell-Bannerman,
Mr. Buchanan, Mr. Goschen (who proposed the
toast of " The Empire "), and Mr. E. Blake.
Mr. Goschen referred to Lord Rosebery as " the
great Liberal Imperialist," and added :
"It is he who has made the round of the
world, and who has secured the sympathies of a
vast portion of our country— our English-speaking
Colonies ; and I believe one of the chief articles
of his political creed is to draw closer the bonds
of the Empire by the means of courageous
sympathy — sympathy with courage, and courage
with sympathy — courage which may attract the
Colonies, and sympathy that may win their
hearts,"

474 lorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speeches
Mr. Blake remarked :
" You have indeed shown in a most striking
manner the hold which your noble guest has
obtained upon the affections and the hearts of
his fellow-countrymen ; and I am quite sure that
he will be stimulated and encouraged to pursue
in the future, with even still more zeal and
energy than the great zeal and energy which
he has exhibited in the past, his bright career.
We, let me say, who live beyond the seas have
not left unnoticed the career of Lord Rosebery.
Bright as it has been, we have regarded it as
but the prelude of better and brighter things
to come, and we hope and expect for him that
it will be his lot to write in action at some
future day a glorious page in the history of
that Empire which he loves so well."

i t-v-^Ti — u— u— r.r-^j?*Tj

Photo, by J. Valentine]

Barnbougle Castle.

CHAPTER XVII
THE 1885 ELECTION — MR. GLADSTONE AND LORD ROSEBERY— THE
TORIES AND THE PARNELLITES — THE POLITICAL UMBRELLA — "WHAT
IS A LIBERAL?" — "I AM A FOLLOWER OF MR. GLADSTONE" —
LIBERAL IMPERIALISM DEFINED — THE FREEDOM OF KILMARNOCK —
MR. GLADSTONE AND IRELAND — MR. CHAMBERLAIN'S "UNAUTHORISED
PROGRAMME "  THE RESULT OF THE ELECTION — IRISH SUCCESSES
— THE TORY GOVERNMENT — MR. GLADSTONE RETURNS TO POWER
POLITICAL events in the year 1885 were
many and interesting. Lord Salisbury had
determined to accept office, and set about the
Cabinet making process ; but it was by no
means an easy task, and before it was completed
Sir Stafford Northcote was made Earl of Iddes-
leigh, and Lord Randolph Churchill became
Secretary for India. The new Government
allowed the Crimes Act in Ireland to lapse, and
negotiations took place between the Conservatives
and the Parnellites, and an agreement was come
to which led to a great deal of comment.
Preparations were meanwhile being made by the
two political parties for the coming general
election. Lord Rosebery went down to Edin
burgh on June 29, and presided at a meeting
of the Midlothian Liberal Association held in
475

476 Xorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
the Queen Street Hall. A very interesting letter
was read to the meeting. It was a direct refer
ence to the coming political greatness of the
Earl. The letter was addressed to Mr. John
Cowan, chairman of the committee of the
Association. Mr. Gladstone wrote :
" I rejoice that you meet under the presidency
of my friend and late colleague, Lord Rosebery,
who has to play, if his life be spared, an im
portant part in the future politics of the United
Kingdom." Lord Rosebery, in the course of his speech,
referred sarcastically to the recent defeat of the
late Government in the House of Commons,
which had resulted in the advent of a Conser
vative Government to office for the remainder
of the session, as effected by " the combination,
the holy and righteous combination, of the Con
servative party and the Parnellite party — parties
which had much in common, no doubt, but
which had not always professed the same prin
ciples." He disclaimed any wish on the part of
the Liberal party to harass the new administration.
It was in this speech that he introduced the
allusion to the political umbrella, which, as will be
gathered from the speech made in September at
Reigate, attracted some attention among political
controversialists. The passage, which occurs in a
portion of the speech dealing with differences —
such as those indicated by the terms Whig and

"Mbat is a liberal?" 477
Radical — existing in the ranks of the Liberal
Party, reads as follows :
" When I ask myself what is a Liberal, I re
member that the name of Liberal is good enough
for Mr. Gladstone, is good enough for Mr. Bright,
and I am quite willing to walk under an umbrella
with those two gentlemen."
He proceeded to define a Liberal: — "What is
a Liberal ? As far as I know what a Liberal is,
to judge from my own experience, it is this, that
we wish to move in company with the great
mass of the nation, rather in front of them than
behind them."
On July 10, 1885, the Duke of Argyll rose to
call the attention of the House of Lords to the
circumstances attending the recent change of
administration, and to the effects of them on the
political prospects of the country, and in the course
of a long speech passed some criticism on the
recent speech of Lord Rosebery, delivered at
Edinburgh in connection with the Midlothian
Liberal Association.
Lord Rosebery in his reply poked some good-
humoured fun at his august critic, and took occasion
to defend the definition of Liberalism which he
had given in his Edinburgh speech. He said :
The noble Duke rebukes me very much for saying
that my definition of Liberalism was a ' movement
with and in front of national movements.' Well,
my lords, I am quite willing to adhere to that

478 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speeches
definition. I do not mean fortuitous, or occasional,
or temporary national movements, but great
national movements which are unmistakable, and
which, if we do not place ourselves in front of
them and move with them, will move over us."
Neither Lord Rosebery nor any other politician
is likely to forget the " Liberal umbrella " he
created. It was just one of those things that
give a pleasant, light touch to an election. It was
mentioned everywhere. On September 28, 1885,
Lord Rosebery addressed a meeting at the Drill
Hall, Reigate. Lord Monson, who presided,
made allusion to the Primrose League, and re
minded the audience that the Liberals had also
their Primrose, who was about to address them.
Lord Rosebery, on rising to speak, humorously
took up the reference, complaining of the Tories
attempting to obtain votes under the shelter of an
honest though humble Liberal name. He passed
on to refer to the attention bestowed on a sentence
occurring in a speech delivered at Edinburgh
some time previously :
" Now I speak to you to-night as the greatest
benefactor of the human race that has existed
for some time. For the last two months I have
furnished to the speakers on every platform a
figure of speech, a metaphor, which has been of
incalculable use to them. That figure of speech
has reference to a useful domestic instrument
— I mean the political umbrella. That umbrella

Uhe political TUmbrella 479
has furnished an innocent source of delight to
many thousands of my fellow-countrymen. I am
extremely sick of the word ; but, useful as I
always knew an umbrella to be, I never knew
how useful it might grow until I read recent
speeches of my opponents. I was brought up
in the belief that it is always dangerous to
leave one's umbrella in a front hall, but it has
only been in middle and declining age that I
have learnt how dangerous it is to introduce an
umbrella into a speech. But, in spite of all the
reproaches that have been levelled at me in
consequence of my reference to this innocent
instrument, I still cling firmly to its handle. I
know what that declaration means, and I am
proud of it. It means that I am a follower of
Mr. Gladstone."
Lord Rosebery dealt also with general political
questions, and made reference to the desirability
of Parliament limiting the hours of labour, in
connection with which he made special allusion
to the long hours of railway workers.
During this autumn Lord Rosebery seemed to be
speaking everywhere. The charm of his eloquence
was famous, and he was in great request. On
September 10, 1885, a farewell banquet was given
in the New Hall, Beaconsfield, by Mr. E. L.
Lawson, in honour of Lord Carrington, who was
shortly to proceed to Australia as Governor of
New South Wales. Lord Rosebery, who was

48o %orb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speeches
among the guests, proposed the toast of " The
Empire." They had met, he said, in a county which,
according to the proper boast of Lord Beaconsfield,
had been the mother of so many Prime Ministers
and so many Chancellors of the Exchequer, to
send forth in the person of their distinguished
guest an emissary to take part in the great work of
the Empire. And when he mentioned Ministers
and Chancellors of the Exchequer he could not
forget that most distinguished man who had lived
in the neighbourhood, that giant who seemed to
him to outweigh all their Ministers and all their
Chancellors of the Exchequer — the man of Beacons
field — the great Mr. Burke. If Mr. Burke could
have been there now he would have rejoiced to
see such honours paid by the county of Bucks to
one of Buckinghamshire's most distinguished sons.
But he would have rejoiced also because of the
large interest which he took in the widest and
the most far-seeing sense in the Empire. The
word "Empire" was a tempting one to an advocate
of Imperial Federation. ... He was an advocate
of Imperial Federation, not in any party sense,
because it was no party question. The committee
and association which were interested in that matter
were no party committee and no party association,
but were composed of men of both sides, who
were willing to forget the petty rivalries — as they
often were — of party life. But upon that question
depended the future connection of Great Britain

H IDisit to "Ibawarben 481
and her colonies, and on the question whether the
tie became closer or looser depended the future
position of this country among the nations of the
world. ... He thought that that evening they had
given a signal proof of their wishes for the future
of the Empire. Were they not sending out one
of their best men to help to govern the Empire ?
The Times of September 11, 1885, published a
letter written by Lord Rosebery to a Scotch
correspondent on the subject of Disestablishment.
In it he deprecated making the question of the
disestablishment of the Church of Scotland a test
question at the approaching general election, the
main issue of which was whether the country
should be ruled for the next six years by Liberal
or Conservative methods. It was a question for
the people of Scotland to settle, but was not ripe
for settlement just then.
In the middle of September Lord Rosebery paid
a brief visit to Mr. Gladstone, at Hawarden Castle ;
and then, no doubt refreshed and strengthened by
the political conference with his venerable chief, he
entered upon a new and still greater period of public
speaking. At Paisley, on October 15, he spoke
chiefly upon Ireland and the Colonies. He dwelt
upon the fact that the Irish problem had assumed
a new and serious phase owing to the unavowed
alliance between the Conservatives and the Par-
nellites, and urged the importance of the electors
sinking minor differences at the general election,
vol. 1. 31

482 xorb "IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speecbes
and taking care that that alliance, which involved a
danger to the Empire, should be fruitless. Dealing
with the proposal of Mr. Parnell for the establish
ment of an Irish Parliament, Ireland to have the
status of a colony with the Crown as the only link
between Great Britain and Ireland, he pointed out
that, while the Colonies were loyal, Ireland un
fortunately was not loyal. Large developments of
Home Rule or local government, which he re
garded as meaning the same thing, were approaching.
The future, if it involved an Ireland in federal
relations with Great Britain, might also involve a
larger federalism in which the colonies would have
their share.
In his peroration Lord Rosebery struck a note
of Liberal Imperialism :
" To us Liberals I hold the Empire is most
dear. To whom else can it well be so dear, for it is
under us and under our party — under the guidance
of our party for almost all the last fifty years
of unparalleled power and unparalleled prosperity —
that the Empire has reached its present position.
We and our fathers have made it what it is. We
saved it from the horrors of civil war in 1832 ;
we saved it from the horrors of revolution in 1848 ;
we saved it, not by blindly resisting all changes
until the demand for them became overwhelming,
but by acknowledging and forwarding and even
anticipating the just wishes of the people. In
1885 we were enabled to set a seal to these

liberal imperialism Defineb 483
measures of advancement. Outside the United
Kingdom what have the Liberal party done for
the Empire ? They struck the chains off the
slaves ; they put an end to the system by which
our fairest colonies were flooded with the refuse
of civilisation — our convicts. We gave them Home
Rule ; we have favoured and fostered that com
merce which is our most practical link with them
at the present moment ; and, having so saved and
developed it, I hope and believe we will yet be
permitted to broaden and strengthen the founda
tions of that noble structure by basing them on
the affection, sympathy, and intelligence of the
scattered but united races of the Empire."
Lord Rosebery was presented with the freedom
of Kilmarnock on October 17. Three days later
he was at Sheffield at the opening of the Reform
Club, and his speech on that occasion is specially
interesting at the time of the publication of this
work, inasmuch as it contains his definition of the
term "Liberal Imperialist": "The other day I
was described, and I think truly described, as a
Liberal Imperialist. So far as I understand these
two long words, that is a perfectly accurate descrip
tion. If a Liberal Imperialist means that I am
a Liberal who is passionately attached to the
Empire, and interested intensely in the best means
of sustaining and promoting the interests of the
Empire, — if it means, as I believe it does, that
I am a Liberal who believes that the Empire is

484 lorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
best maintained upon the basis of the widest
democracy, and that the voice is most powerful
when it represents the greatest number of persons
and subjects, — if these be accurate descriptions of
what a Liberal Imperialist is, then I am a Liberal
Imperialist, and I believe that you are Liberal
Imperialists too." In the same speech, touching
upon the hours of labour, Lord Rosebery dis
claimed any particular wish to interfere with the
hours of labour all round, believing that trades
unions could act in this direction better than the
Legislature. There were, however, exceptional
cases, among which were the hours of railwaymen.
He urged that to secure an efficient House of
Commons, under the present circumstances, it was
necessary to give the Liberal party an overwhelm
ing majority over the Conservatives and the
Parnellites combined. To this end unity among
Liberals of various degrees was essential.
Amongst the interesting incidents of the electoral
campaign was what became generally known as
the " Unauthorised Programme," issued by Mr.
Chamberlain, whose influence in the Liberal ranks
was at the time very great. " Three acres and
a cow " also made their appearance in speeches
and on hoardings throughout the country. Mr.
Gladstone, after a pleasant voyage on the Sunbeam
with its notable owner, Sir Thomas (now Lord)
Brassey, returned to Hawarden Castle and issued
his address to the electors of Midlothian. London

Gbe IDoice from "Ibawarben 485
Government and Local Government throughout
the country, land registration, and licensing reform
were matters that pressed for attention. In the
concluding portion of the address came the all-
important matter of Ireland :
" I have reserved until the close the mention
of Ireland. The change just effected in our repre
sentative system is felt to have been a large
one even in Great Britain, but is of far wider
scope in Ireland, where the mass of the people
in boroughs as well as counties have for the first
time, by the free and almost unsolicited gift of
the Legislature, been called to exercise the
Parliamentary franchise. They will thus in the
coming Parliament have improved means of making
known through the Irish members their views and
wishes on public affairs. Without doubt we have
arrived at an important epoch in her history,
which it behoves us to meet in a temper of
very serious and dispassionate reflection. Those
grievances of Ireland with which we have been
historically too familiar before and since the Union
have at length been happily removed. . . . But
the wants of Ireland have to be considered as
well as its grievances. In my opinion, not now for
the first time delivered, the limit is clear within
which any desires of Ireland, constitutionally as
certained, may, and beyond which they cannot,
receive the assent of Parliament. To maintain
the supremacy of the Crown, the unity of the

486 Xorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
Empire, and all the authority of Parliament
necessary for the conservation of that unity, is the
first duty of every representative of the people.
Subject to this governing principle every grant
to portions of the country of enlarged powers for
the management of their own affairs is, in my
view, not a source of danger but a means of
averting it, and is in the nature of a new guarantee
for increased cohesion, happiness, and strength.
We have no right to expect that the remedial
process in human affairs shall always be greatly
shorter than the period of mistakes and mis-
government, and if in the case of Ireland half a
century of efforts at redress, not always consistent
or sustained, and following upon long ages for
which as a whole we blush, have still left some
thing to be attempted, we ought not to wax
weary in well doing nor rest until every claim
which justice may be found to urge shall have
been satisfied. The main question is whether it
is for the interests of all the three countries that
the thorough and enduring harmony which has
now long been established, but only after centuries
of manful strife, between England and Scotland,
should include Ireland also. My personal answer
to the question is this. 1 believe history and
posterity will consign to disgrace the name and
memory of every man, be he who he may, and
on whichever side of the Channel he may dwell,
that having the power to aid in an equitable

Claims of IKlationalities 487
settlement between Ireland and Great Britain
shall use that power not to aid but to prevent
or to retard it."
That reference to Ireland in Mr. Gladstone's
address did not at the time attract the attention
it deserved, nor was its significance recognised.
Liberal leaders were, on the whole, thinking of
other matters about which their differences were
considerable, owing largely, it is most interesting
to note in the light of subsequent events, to what
were deemed to be the dangerously advanced
views of Mr. Chamberlain.
Some prominent Liberals fled from the party
because they feared the socialism promulgated
from Birmingham. Lord Rosebery had, however,
always looked to the extension of local govern
ment as the panacea of a good many evils, for
Ireland as for other parts of the kingdom. His
remarks at a banquet in Melbourne in 1884 had
caused political writers in that country even then to
connect Lord Rosebery's name with Home Rule.
Ireland and local government had always been
questions very near to one another, to Lord
Rosebery's mind, and in several speeches delivered
during the autumn of 1885 he made references
to the subject. He had this in mind when he
enunciated the principle that, wherever a vigorous,
real, and loyal nationality exists, it is not wise
to suppress or ignore that nationality. " Satisfy
its just aspirations," he said, " and so promote

488 Xorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
the efficiency and unity of the Empire. I do
not pretend to say how the question of Ireland
is to be settled, but I believe it can be settled
in only one direction, if you can obtain from
the representatives of Ireland a clear and con
stitutional demand, which will represent the wishes
of the people of Ireland, and which will not
conflict with the unity and supremacy of England."
By conceding the just demands of the Irish
people, it was Lord Rosebery's purpose to " cut
off for ever the poisonous spring of discontent,"
and to make Ireland England's greatest ally and
friend. As long ago as June 1885 he urged that
almost every experiment had been tried in Ireland,
and had failed more or less conspicuously, and
he hinted that the experiment of the future
would have to be in the direction of giving
Ireland control of her own affairs. His special
remedy for discontent was a liberal measure of
local self-government all round, with special and
exceptional treatment for Ireland.
The Midlothian election campaign included
the banquet at which the Scottish Liberals en
tertained Lord Rosebery, an account of which has
previously been given. The campaign wound up
in November. Notwithstanding the references to
Ireland made by Mr. Gladstone in his address
and in his speeches, Mr. Parnell had been per
suaded that he was going to get more out of
the Tories than out of Mr. Gladstone. The

Election IResults 489
Irish leader issued manifestoes "proclaiming that
every Irishman who voted for the Liberals was
doing his best to deliver his countrymen to
imprisonment and death." That declaration lost
the Liberal party a substantial number of seats.
The result of the election was to make the Irish
members the masters of the situation, and ensured
early attention to Irish affairs.
The Tories found themselves, by the help of
their Irish allies, successful in the towns beyond
all their hopes ; the Liberals, disappointed in the
boroughs, had found compensation in unexpected
successes in the counties ; and the Irish Nationalists
had almost swept the board. When the gains
and losses of the battle came to be summed
up it was found that the English boroughs had
returned 114 Tories and only 111 Liberals; but
that the balance had been redressed by Wales
and Scotland. The boroughs of the Principality
had elected two Tories and nine Liberals ; and
those of the Northern Kingdom one Tory and
30 Liberals. The borough representation of Great
Britain was therefore 150 Liberals to 117 Con
servatives. In the English counties the Liberals
had got 134 seats to 100 which had been kept
by the Tories ; Wales followed with 1 8 Liberals
and one Tory, and Scotland with 32 Liberals and
seven Tories. With one Liberal and four Con
servatives for the University seats, the English
representation—exclusive of one Irish Nationalist

490 lorb "IRoseberg: ibis life anb Speecbes
for Liverpool — gave a Liberal majority of 28 in
the English constituencies ; which Wales and
Scotland swelled to 106. The Irish representation
had undergone a still more remarkable change.
Of 103 members for the sister island, 85 were
Home Rulers and only 18 were Tories. Adding
one Irish Nationalist for England, and two Tories
for the Scotch Universities, the new House of
Commons was exactly divided between the Liberals
on one side, and the Tories with their Irish allies
on the other. Of its 670 members just one-half,
or 335- were Liberals, 249 were Tories, and 86
were Irish Nationalists.
Lord Salisbury, of course, took office, and then
the obvious disagreements in the Liberal party
began to attract attention. Mr. Chamberlain's
"unauthorised programme" undoubtedly had some
considerable influence on the election, and the
question " Gladstone or Chamberlain ? " began to
be asked.
It was recognised that, as the result of the 1885
election, attention would have to be given to the
Irish question. On December 12, the day after
the last returns from the Irish constituencies had
been announced, The Daily News began its first
leading article with the words, " We are brought
face to face with the question of Home Rule
in Ireland, and we cannot doubt that it has
already engaged the attention of Liberal states
men." Further on in the same article The Daily

Discussions about Jrelanb 491
News remarked, " Why should not a small Com
mittee formed of both political parties, and including,
of course, a proper representation of Mr. Parnell's
party, be brought together to consider, not whether
Ireland ought or ought not to have some sort of
domestic Legislature, but what sort of domestic
Legislature it would be wise and safe to give her ?
Since some such arrangement has to be made, it
seems to us that this is at least one practical
way in which it might be approached and even
accomplished." Five days later, on December 17,
Mr. Chamberlain, speaking at the Birmingham
Reform Club, said : " I have hoped — I have
expressed publicly the desire — that the two demo
cracies, the English and the Irish, moved by
common aspiration and sympathetic appreciation,
should march shoulder to shoulder along the paths
of political freedom and progress. Mr. Parnell,
indeed," Mr. Chamberlain said, " had alienated
and embittered all sections of the Liberal party ;
but," he continued, " national questions of grave
importance must not be prejudiced by personal
considerations. We are face to face with a very
remarkable demonstration of the Irish people. They
have shown that as far as regards the great majority
of them they are earnestly in favour of a change
in the administration of their Government, and of
some system which would give them a larger con
trol of their domestic affairs. Well, we ourselves,
by our public declarations and by our Liberal

492 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
principles, are pledged to acknowledge the substantial
justice of the claim." Mr. Chamberlain then spoke
of rumours of negotiations between the Liberal
leaders and Mr. Parnell, which he declared, so far
as he was concerned, to be false, and he thought
that as they affected other prominent members of
the Liberal party they were equally groundless.
"As to Mr. Gladstone," he continued, "we know
what his opinion is from his public utterances.
He has again and again said that the first duty
of Liberal statesmen is to maintain the integrity
of the Empire and the supremacy of the Crown ;
but that, subject to that, he was prepared to give
the largest possible measure of Local Government
that could be conceived or proposed. Well, I
entirely agree with those principles, and I have
so much faith in the experience and patriotism of
Mr. Gladstone, that I cannot doubt that if he should
ever see his way to propose any scheme of arrange
ment, I shall be able conscientiously to give it
my humble support. But it is right, it is due to
the Irish people, to say that all sections of the
Liberal party, Radicals as much as Whigs, are
determined that the integrity of the Empire shall
be a reality, and not an empty phrase.
It was on the day Mr. Chamberlain spoke that
an anonymous paragraph appeared stating that Mr.
Gladstone was prepared to deal in a liberal spirit
with the demand for Home Rule. The paragraph
which became known as " The Hawarden Kite,"

"Ube Dawarben Ikite"

493

was described by Mr. Gladstone as an "anonymous
and irresponsible declaration." Still the discussion
went on. It was said that Mr. Gladstone had been
at work upon a scheme for restoring the Irish
Parliament, and an outline of the scheme was
published in The Leeds Mercury. Mr. Gladstone
at once repudiated it. " It is not an accurate
representation of my views," said Mr. Gladstone,
" but is, I presume, a speculation upon them. It
is not published with my knowledge or authority,
nor is any other beyond my own public declara
tions." Lord Hartington also issued a disclaimer ;
and Mr. John Morley, speaking at Newcastle on
the shortest day, declared that the published scheme
was the guess of " some enterprising newspaper
gentlemen," and that "anybody could see at first
blush that it was not a scheme that a man of Mr.
Gladstone's knowledge and experience would launch
in any way." In a forcible argument, based on
the expression of Irish feeling at the polls, Mr.
Morley passed in review the various plans for
dealing with the Irish difficulty ; and said, " I am,
for one, forced to the conclusion that before many
weeks are over you will see Parliament driven by
irresistible circumstances to consider the giving to
Ireland of some plan for a greatly extended govern
ment of herself." Glancing at the many difficulties
in the way, Mr. Morley in a prophetic moment
said : " The task will be a long one. It will stir
deep passions, it will perhaps destroy a great party.

494 lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
But whatever may be the outcome, I say it is the
duty of every one of us Liberals to view the
question as calmly as he can, and steadfastly feeling
that he is discharging as urgent a duty as has
been imposed on English citizens since the civil
wars of the seventeenth century." It was a trying
time for Liberals. Some of the leaders — but very
few — were taken into Mr. Gladstone's confidence.
The remainder were left unguided to inspect the
Kite. Meanwhile they were already disturbed
by conflicting feelings. Mr. Chamberlain's "un
authorised programme " appealed to a goodly
number. There were, in fact, at this time two
sections — the Gladstonian and the Chamberlain —
in the Liberal party, and when the split came this
helped to widen the breach and make it impass
able. The Conservatives at the same time were
supposed to be flirting with Home Rule, and the
situation at the time has been described in an
interesting way by Mr. Clayden.* It was rumoured,
and openly stated, that Lord Carnarvon had been
negotiating with the Irish Nationalists as to a
measure of Home Rule.
Lord Carnarvon emphatically denied that he
had ever officially communicated with any Irish
members, or consulted them as to proposals which
were before the Cabinet ; but he carefully avoided
saying that he had not given them an outline of
* England under the Coalition. By P. W. Clayden. T.
Fisher Unwin.

"XKniteb Self*<Box>ernment " 495
his own scheme, which he told the House of Lords
was one for " united self-government." The
Ministry had before them at Christmas a definite
statement of Mr. Gladstone's views, as to the way
in which the Irish question should be treated.
He had met Mr. Arthur Balfour at Eaton Hall,
the Duke of Westminster's Cheshire residence,
about the middle of December, and they had
chatted in the familiar confidence of private life,
and in an entirely informal way, about the state
of Ireland, and the change that the election had
made in the Irish representation. In the course
of the talk Mr. Gladstone expressed the opinion
that if some substantial concession was not quickly
made to the demands of the Irish people, as ex
pressed by their representatives, the party of
violence would take the matter up and there might
be renewed attempts to enforce their demands by
outrages in England. Mr. Balfour, according to
his own version of the story, remarked : "In other
words, we are to be blown up and stabbed if we
do not grant Home Rule by the end of the session."
In the same spirit Mr. Gladstone replied, with a
laugh, " I understand that the time is shorter than
that." Mr. Gladstone subsequently wrote to Mr.
Balfour — " On reflection, I think that what I said
to you in our conversation at Eaton may have
amounted to the conveyance of a hope that the
Government would take a strong and early decision
on the Irish question. For I spoke of the stir in

496 lorb IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
men's minds, and of the urgency of the matter,
to both of which every day's post brings me new
testimony. This being so, I wish, under the very
peculiar circumstances of the case, to go a step
further, and say that I think it will be a public
calamity if this great subject should fall into the
lines of party conflict. I feel sure the question
can only be dealt with by a Government, and I
desire, specially on grounds of public policy, that it
should be dealt with by the present Government.
If, therefore, they bring in a proposal for settling
the whole question of the future Government of
Ireland, my desire will be, reserving, of course,
necessary freedom, to treat it in the same spirit
in which I have endeavoured to proceed in respect
to Afghanistan and with respect to the Balkan
Peninsula." This letter was written on December 20, 1885,
and Mr. Balfour replied to it on the 22nd. " I
have, as yet, had no opportunity of showing it
to Lord Salisbury, or of consulting him as to its
contents, but I am sure he will receive without
surprise the statement of your earnest hope that
the Irish question should not fall into the lines
of party conflict. If the ingenuity of any Ministry
is sufficient to devise some adequate and lasting
remedy for the chronic ills of Ireland, I am certain
it will be the wish of the leaders of the Opposition,
to whichever side they may belong, to treat the
question as a national and not as a party one,

Ibome IRule IRegotiations 497
though I fear that under our existing Parliamentary
system this will not prove so easy when we are
dealing with an integral portion of the United
Kingdom, as it proved when we were concerned
with the remote regions of Roumelia and Afghan
istan." Mr. Gladstone replied on the next day
that, while expressing a desire that the Government
should act, he was not himself acting ; that so long
as he entertained the hope connected with that
wish he should not publicly state his views, but
only make known his anxiety that the Government
should decide and act in this great matter. Mr.
Balfour answered that he had shown Mr. Gladstone's
last letter to Lord Salisbury, who wished to express
his great sense of the courteous and conciliatory
spirit in which it was written. He thought, how
ever, that it would be better not to communicate
the views of the Government, but to wait till
Parliament met. Mr. Gladstone quite agreed with
this remark, and said he had not suggested any
such communication. When this correspondence
was published, in the midst of the election prepara
tions in 1886, Mr, Balfour intimated that there
was nothing in it which indicated what plans Mr.
Gladstone had in his mind, and that he only
assumed Home Rule to be meant in consequence
of the unauthorised rumour as to Mr. Gladstone
having thought out a Home Rule scheme which
was published in The Leeds Mercury.
The correspondence undoubtedly seems to show
vol. 1. 32

498 Xorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
that party leaders were prepared to negotiate,
and the Irish question might then have been
settled once and for all finally and satisfactorily.
But party leaders and parties are not exactly the
same thing. If Lord Salisbury and Mr. Balfour
were prepared to grant a Home Rule scheme,
the bulk of their colleagues and the mass of their
party were not, and the Conservative leaders were
in a quandary. Mr. Parnell's action at the
election had gained many seats for Tory candi
dates by Irish votes ; and the Tory Government
now depended upon Irish votes in Parliament
for its very existence. If the Irish Nationalists
in the House of Commons withdrew their support
from the Tories and remained neutral, it meant
that the Government would be in a minority of
eighty-six. If the Irish Nationalists voted against
them the Government were in a minority of
one hundred and seventy-two. Gratitude for help
at the election, and expediency alike, dictated con
cessions to the Irish Nationalists ; but in the end
those dictates were not followed, Lord Carnarvon's
Irish scheme was dropped, and the Conservative
Ministry in consequence met Parliament with the
certainty of a speedy defeat. Instead of Home
Rule the Queen's Speech talked of coercion.
The opening of Parliament led amongst other
things to the settlement of the Bradlaugh question.
It had been intended to make Sir Matthew White
Ridley the Speaker of the new House. He

Ube 3Brablaugb Question 499
had, however, been defeated at the polls, and
then the Government then proposed to elect Mr.
Arthur Peel, whose appointment was unanimous.
On the first day of the new Parliament the
Bradlaugh question was settled. As soon as the
Speaker had taken the oath he announced that
he had received a letter from the Chancellor of
the Exchequer urging that Mr. Bradlaugh should
not be allowed to take the oath. In reply the
Speaker announced that he could not allow any
interference with Mr. Bradlaugh if he wished to
be sworn. " When a member comes to this
table," said the Speaker, " and offers to take
the oath, I know no right whatever to intervene
between him and the form of legal and statutable
obligation." The Chancellor of the Exchequer,
rising amid Tory cheers and Liberal cries of
" Order," made two futile attempts to raise a
debate or to make a protest, but was at once
stopped by the Speaker ; and the long controversy
over Mr. Bradlaugh was thus at an end.
Meanwhile the fall of the Government was
getting nearer. Lord Carnarvon resigned the
Viceroyalty of Ireland, and Mr. W. H. Smith
was made Chief Secretary in the place of Sir
William Hart-Dyke. Mr. Smith apparently was a
convenient buffer between the two Tory sections
— those who favoured coercion, and those who
wanted to conciliate the Irish members by a liberal
measure of local government. Mr. Smith left

50° 3Lorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
for Ireland, and it was stated in the House of
Commons by Sir Michael Hicks-Beach that he
(Mr. Smith) intended to give his "immediate
and earnest attention " to the question whether
the Irish problem could be dealt with under the
ordinary law or whether additional powers would
be necessary. No Irish Secretary ever held office
for so brief a period. On Saturday, January 23,
1886, Mr. Smith attended a meeting of the
Cabinet. He forthwith left for Ireland, and
reached Dublin on Sunday. He attended Lord
Carnarvon's levde on Monday, was sworn in before
the Privy Council on Tuesday, and on Tuesday
night left Dublin for London. On the Monday
evening Lord Salisbury announced in the House
of Lords that within forty-eight hours the Govern
ment would introduce its proposals to remedy
"the terrible and scandalous state of things" in
Ireland. On Tuesday evening, as Mr. Smith
was starting on his journey from Dublin, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that on
Thursday, January 28, the Chief Secretary would
introduce a Coercion Bill for Ireland, and that the
land question would subsequently be dealt with.
The Government, seeing defeat coming, would
have liked the test question to be that of
Ireland. In that they were disappointed. It
was an item in the "unauthorised programme"
of Mr. Chamberlain, and not the question of Home
Rule, which was to defeat the Government and

"Don't forget Coercion" 501
show the dividing line in the Liberal party. Before
the Tuesday evening was over, Mr. Jesse Collings
moved an amendment to the Address, expressing
regret that the Government had proposed no
measure for providing agricultural labourers with
allotments. Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Chamberlain
supported it. So did Mr. Arch, who delivered on
the occasion an excellent maiden speech. Lord
Hartington and Mr. Goschen vigorously opposed
the amendment, but it was carried by a majority
of three hundred and twenty-nine Liberals, Radicals,
and Irish Nationalists against two hundred and fifty
Conservatives and Whigs — a difference of seventy-
nine. "Don't forget coercion on Thursday!" was
shouted from the Irish benches ; and, in fact, on
the night coercive measures had been promised,
Lord Salisbury went down to Osborne and tendered
the resignations of himself and his Cabinet, which
were accepted. On the following Monday it was
announced in Parliament that the Government had
resigned, and that Mr. Gladstone was forming
an administration. Both Houses adjourned till
Thursday, when Mr. Arnold Morley, Patronage
Secretary to the Treasury, who was heartily cheered
on making his first appearance at the table of the
House in that capacity, moved the writs. On
the following Saturday the Tory Government gave
up the seals of office and the Gladstone Ministry
went down to Osborne and received them.
The few days that Mr. Smith occupied the

502 xorb "IRoseberg: "Ibis life anb Speecbes
position of Chief Secretary for Ireland produced
from Mr. Alexander Paul some amusing and
sarcastic lines on the position of the Cabinet
regarding him. DIALOGUE OF THE DAY.
Lord Granville. Your Irish policy is dark,
Elucidatory remark
Is wanted to explain its pith.
Ministers. Wait till we hear from Mr. Smith.
Mr. Gladstone. Strategic cunning that may be,
But Ireland's dire extremity
Requires that you should act forthwith.
Ministers. Wait till we hear from Mr. Smith.
Lord Granville. But this obscure coercion hint
Which, read by light of Tory print,
Seems like a party shibboleth ?
Ministers. Wait till we hear from Mr. Smith.
Lord Kimberley. But what about Carnarvon then ?
Saith he not whether, where, and when
You need coerce our kin and kith ?
Ministers. Oh, wait to hear from Mr. Smith.
The Orange Members. Well, we dislike this foil and fence,
And work postponed on such pre
tence.
Is your coercion plan a myth ?
Ministers. Be patient till we hear from Smith.
General Chorus. They have no words to greet us with
But " wait to hear from Mr. Smith."

END OF VOL. I.

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